Remember your HLSG goals?

[Natasha]

Remember this thread, where we all stated our healthy living goals?
http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/Forum2/HTML/000048.html

How is everyone doing? I ll start. The goal of this is not to make anyone feel bad. For anyone who s feeling discouraged, take comfort in the fact that I haven t followed through on all of them so far ... but there s time for all of us! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif Good luck, everyone.

This is what I originally wrote (in bold), and my notes of how I m doing so far:

1.Keep training well (I m a runner who also cross-trains a lot.). Recently things got hectic, and I put running on the backburner (which I hardly ever do, but it just could not be helped) and am getting back into things now - knock on wood.
Yes, I m back into it, or at least I was. Injured now and trying to cross-train as much as I can within reason.

2. Don t get down on myself for not meeting time goals that I had set for myself before the setback. Just concentrate on getting back to where I was and better, and do NOT overtrain to make up for lost time. There s always next training season. I m already goal-setting for 2001 and 2002.
Hmmm - sounds like good advice for me to take right now...

3. Start getting more focused on my next big race (in a few weeks).
N/A because of 1. and 2.

4. Get enough sleep (I need a lot of sleep!)
Usually fine.

5. Eat well and strategically (the right foods at the best times), drink tons of water ... the usual stuff...
Again, usually good, but not always!

6. I have not weighed myself in ages (I refuse to.)...[but] I am estimating that I might benefit from losing 1 or 2 pounds of fat and gaining about 2-3 pounds of muscle before the end of the year (so either no net gain/loss, or a net gain of about 1-2 pounds).
I think I ve lost the 1-2 lbs. of fat but still wouldn t mind gaining a pound or two more muscle. My answer to no. 7 answers why this hasn t yet happened http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

7. Stick with Pilates and strength training at least 2-3 times a week.
Yeah, right!! I am far from consistent with this. Maybe this year...

8. Do not, not, not neglect to stretch after any cardio exercise!
Check.

9. Always take one day off a week.
Check. Lately it s been more.

10.Keep enjoying how great it feels to be fit!! Every day I am grateful for my health.
Have to keep reminding myself of this. Usually it works...

11.Stay uninjured if possible.
Uh, I think I missed the ball on this one http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif

12.Most importantly, keep laughing and keep on loving life!!!
Doing that for the most part...though of course I have bad days too. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif


[This message has been edited by Natasha (edited 01-07-2001).]

[Laura]

I couldn't post my prior posts in bold so the original ones are numbered.

1. Running a half-marathon. My problem is that since I moved my routine is way out of whack. So to achieve my half-marathon goal I need to run 4x/week a minimum of 4 miles.

I still have a goal of running a half-marathon but this past week was the first in many where I ran 4x and I only went 3 miles each time. So....I have a long way to go but currently feel motivated and am anxiously awaiting my first issue of Runners World to keep me going.

2. Eat healthier.

Hardly. Lately I have made it my personal mission to rid the house of all the remaining Christmas goodies by consuming them myself. I have cooked pretty well this week but I definitely struggle with portion control and snacking. I am trying to plan my meals for the week so hopefully I will do better. Thanks to BevP's faithful reminders I have been drinking more water though.

3. Cut myself some slack. I am 5'8'' weigh 140 and can bench press 125.

I have probably cut myself a little too much slack recently. So much so that I can only bench 100 right now. Yes, I am doing a diffrent bench incline machine but I have been lax enough to know that I have lost some strength. So much for going easy on myself. Actually I would like to lose a little weight but that is not so much a goal but hopefully will be result of my other goals.

So in case any of you are fearful to post, I have pretty much failed to meet any of my goals but do have renewed desire to achieve these and many more so Post away.

[BevP]

Well, it's a bit depressing to look back but here goes:

1. Lose about 20 pounds by aerobic activity 5xwk and weights 3xwk.

Hasn't happened. I have gotten a little better but still haven't made weight training a habit.

2. Be consious of portions.

Ditto, nope. I swear I'm gonna have to invest in a dozen measuring cups and measure everything. I absolutely abhor the idea though of measuring and weighing my food.

But in my defense, I've been amazingly stressed out since early October with a lingering tiredness that sent me to the doctor. No known causes yet but I'm not giving up. And since Thanksgiving I've lost both Grandmothers http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/frown.gif. A couple weeks at my Mother's house eating out for every meal. Holiday treats and testing recipes from one Grandmother's collection (I'm putting together a cookbook for the family). And getting ready for another trip for a memorial for the other Grandmother and more eating out.

OK they're excuses but they're GOOD excuses http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif! I hope to get back on track. I'll just procrastinate until the end of January. That will be my new year.

Good idea Natasha. Reminding us of our goals.

[HARRYET]

My inital goal was to exercise more and since that post on 11-6, I didn't start off to well, but am happy to say that since 12-26 I have only missed 2 days of exercise, now if I can only get the eating under better control.

Ann

[lindrusso]

Great idea Natasha! Congrats to you on attaining some of your goals!

Here are mine:

1. LOSE WEIGHT! I would like to lose about 15 pounds.

Well, this is ongoing. I don't remember what I weighed when I started this! Although I weigh in at the Y each week, I'm using my clothes and mirror more. However, the scale does give me a frame of reference. I won't worry if it doesn't go down as fast as I'd like, but I certainly don't want it to go up!!!

2. WATCH CALORIES! My ultimate goal is to get used to knowing what I can eat (without gaining weight) so that I don't have to count calories anymore.

Hmmmm - I'm definitely getting better, but I'm not there yet. I did manage to get through the holidays without gaining and I don't feel like I TOTALLY binged - at least not as bad as I have in the past!

3. EXERCISE REGULARLY! As far as exercise goes, I would like to keep to 3-5 times a week with the ultimate goal of getting to a regular 5 days a week.

This is one goal that I've kept up with pretty well. I'm averaging 3-4 times a week. Still not at 5, but over the holidays I didn't really expect that to happen. My goal now is to do aerobics more often - a step class or something - these classes always challenge me more than I tend to challenge myself. Plus they provide a break in the routine. However, I can't make it to most of the classes offered.

4. DRINK PLENTY OF WATER!

I started out great on this one (never mind the controversy I stirred up earlier - I still plan to drink more water http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif ), but have slacked off greatly.

5. INCREASE GENERAL ACTIVITY!

I have been doing this one - shoveling, sledding, etc. - it helped me get through the holidays on days I couldn't get to the gym.

I'd like to say that I really like Natasha's goal of enjoying her health and fitness. Think about how much we'd give to be able to do ANYTHING if something awful were to happen.

Maybe another one of my goals should be to learn how to write shorter responses http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/biggrin.gif .....

[emilycat]

Lindrusso,

We love your long responses! (Well, at least I do http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif )

I, for one, have accomplished absolutely nothing. I would prefer not to remind myself of that by re-plastering my unaccomplished goals here, but if you must http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif ), take a look at the link Natasha provided to see how anal and self-controlling I continue to be.

I haven't reverted back to any old habits, and I have gotten even better about learning to enjoy eating out instead of kicking myself in the butt for not knowing exactly how much olive oil is in my dish.

I knew when I posted them that my goals were going to take quite a bit of time to accomplish fully, but I'm glad you reminded us of them again, Natasha.

Emily

[Pat58]

Natasha, what a wonderful idea! When I visited the link to our goals of Jan. 2000 (has it really been a year??) the first thing I noticed was that the thread was two pages long! I think anyone who is still here has reached a goal for persistence, at the least.

My goals for 2000 were:

(1) "Maintenance is my primary goal. It took me over a year to get here, and I'm sick of yo-yoing." I went beyond my own dreams with this one! I not only maintained but lost a little more and now work for Weight Watchers.

No. 2 was to continue a.m. workouts despite cold New England weather. I've had my ups and downs but keep getting to the gym at least twice per week and usually more.

As for food, I vowed to continue eating healthy, keep starches down, veggies up, and utilize winter produce to its fullest until the farmer's markets open again. I managed to do all those things, and have learned that the types of carbs I need to avoid are "empty" carbs like refined flour products. We eat more whole grain products, I'm now the "soup queen of winter" which everyone in the family likes, and we're even learning to like tofu.

Finally, I vowed to keep a positive outlook and do more yoga. This one has been shakey, especially since my "real" yoga instructor left the gym and I would have to pay extra to attend class at her new studio. But overall, it's been a more "positive outlook" year than winters of yore.

Happy New Year everyone!

[mightyh]

I have only accomplished one of my goals, but it's an important one...

1. Lose 15 pounds--to better fit into my pre-baby clothes and feel better about myself.

Well... this one I haven't even come close to. Yet. Though, for my new year's goal, I have been more specific with myself on how to accomplish this and have already been seeing good results by eating healthily at every meal (and tracking myself in a journal), eating more fruits, having a vegetarian dinner at least three times a week, and going to the gym at least four times a week.

2. Exercise at least 4 times a week for an hour each time... and keep this up throughout the winter.

I did OK on this, so long as I was not traveling. But am refreshed and gung ho to make it work for me now... WILL do this in 2001 as a lifestyle change.

3. Run a 5K

Haven't run a 5K, but am not too worried about it. Just haven't signed up for one... Will do it sometime in the spring.

All in all, I've done alright and I think, by being more specific with myself, I will finally reach these goals sometime this year!

Thanks for listening each and every week and making me feel accountable. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif