Baby Step Milestones DAY 4

So this week we’ve seen some pretty big goals from Molly, Eileen and Maureen. Don’t know what Ripley (aka Sinead) has in store for us tomorrow.

But for me I’ve learned I can be a pretty spectacular failure at the big goals. I’ve spent almost my whole life (I’m not kidding either probably since age 12) battling my weight. I’ve had success but mostly it’s been failure and I’ve come to a point where I have to stop saying I’m GOING TO DO THIS… because the reality is I don’t. Need to lose 8-10 pounds – I’m your girl. Need to lose 20+ 30+, so far I haven’t found myself in it for the long haul.

 

For milestones, I’m trying another approach. I’m not going to get in shape to run a 10K. I’m not going to lose 20% of my weight (which I absolutely should). I’m not going to go vegan. Or commit to writing 2000K words a day (which I absolutely should).

For me in the next few months it’s all about baby steps. My favorite saying is “you can’t fight the war on all fronts.” In times of stress I tell myself I can’t do everything. I can’t work my butt off at my day job, and lose weight, and exercise, and write, and eat healthy. It’s too much. So I pick the one thing I want to focus on, and that does usually get done, but sometimes at the cost of other things.

 

This time I’m not going to fight the war. Instead I’m going to engage in minor skirmishes. My baby step milestone list:

1. Drink less wine. I don’t want to stop altogether (I like it too much) but I’m cutting back.

2. Go to bed no later than 11:00 during the week. There is no reason on work nights to be up later than this.

3. Get up a little earlier in the morning. (see above) The key to getting up earlier is to fit in a few more tasks.

4. Run 20 minutes a day a few times a week. Again – nothing crazy here. Baby steps. Easy things I know I can accomplish that are going to help get me in better shape.

5. Cook more.  I’m the opposite of most people. As a single person I cook on Saturdays and Sunday’s when I have time, but tend to eat out during the week. This leads to the wine and extra calories – so if I can find the energy to cook 1 more night a week at home this will help. 

And that’s it for now. If I continually meet these goals, I may up my game. But right now it’s all about getting started. I’m like a big slow train that needs to be pulled/pushed and manhandled out of the station to break some ingrained habits. The hope is that once the train gets rolling, I’ll be able to pick up some steam.

Wish us luck. For our readers… you know you want to join in. Give us your goals and come along for the ride with us!