Just Looking To Fit In - Defined Goals

I am currently a member of SparkPeople (SP) and am on a team called, "Just Looking to Fit In" (JLTFI). A lot of the teams on SP are related to specific eating plans, workouts, geographic locations, interests and etc. I always had a hard time finding a place to fit, because I'm not doing anything that specific and when you jump in on any of the other teams, you just don't feel like you belong. Well, JLTFI fulfilled my need for a team to get into and it's been great. We are getting ready to start a two-week challenge and were given the opportunity to post a blog for bonus points. I think the blog pretty much sums up the who, what, when, where and why I'm doing all of this, so I thought I'd just post it verbatim here.

I'm just going to get right to it and answer the questions as presented.

What are you realistic goals regarding your weight, fitness and/or nutrition?

Long term: My goals for weight loss are to lose 60 lbs in all, to get my down to 129. I hope to be a consistent exerciser and my long-term goal is to eventually have the confidence to do more than just a walking workout in public. Currently, all my workouts are done in my living room and back yard and I would LOVE to take up cycling again and maybe even running. Nutrition-wise, my goals are to eat nutritious, self-prepared meals consisting of minimal to no processed foods without going over calories. I would also like to get to the point where I know I'm getting most of my nutrients from what I'm eating rather than from vitamins and/or supplements.

For this challenge: I hope to hit my January goal weight of 183. For fitness, I am hoping to further solidify my current habit of working out six days a week and increase my intensity on some of my measurable workouts. Nutrition-wise, I am just shooting for two weeks of on-plan eating. I do not want to have a single over-calorie day in my food journal.


What behaviors or actions do you need to take in order to achieve these goals?

Long term: To lose the weight I want to, I need to be consistent at logging my food consumption in my food journal, not miss workouts for inexcusable reasons, not get off of my eating plan for any reason and I need to be kind to myself so that a slip-up does not lead to a day, week or month of binging. To increase my chances of increasing my fitness, I need to do workouts that I enjoy and not force myself to do the ones I hate just for the sake of doing them. I need to rate my workouts based on enjoyment level and only do those at the top and search for similar workouts to them to add to the mix. To better my nutrition, I need to really LEARN about the food I'm eating to make sure I'm actually putting healthy things into my body and also to ensure that I'm getting as many nutrients per calorie consumed as possible.

For this challenge: I need to monitor calories consumed and expended daily so that I know I'm on track to make my goal of 183 during this challenge. I need to make sure my workouts are scheduled and carried out to the greatest intensity I can muster. Finally, I will do research this week on all the new foods I am planning on bringing into the house so that I can make sure they're the best for my body.


How can your goals be measured so you can see the progress along the way?

The main source of measurement will be through my food and fitness journal. I will log every calorie consumed and every workout done so that I can have a very good understanding of what my body reacts well to. I will also use my weight (I weigh-in weekly) and the way my clothing fits as a measurement of my progress.


How would you feel when these goals are achieved?

I imagine I will feel much more confident in the way I look and extremely confident in my ability to tackle a huge task. I will always struggle with food and my weight, but I will come through this knowing that if I can do it once, I can do it again. I will be very proud of myself, but I pray daily that this will not lead me to being a vain person. That would make all of my effort not worth it.


What is the realistic time line/schedule needed to achieve these goals?

My goal is to weigh 129 when I go to the doctor for my annual visit because that will be one year to the day that she told me that 60 lbs. of weight loss would put me in great shape and right in line with what the right weight for my body would be.


Who can you be accountable to and share your progress with these goals?

I am accountable first and foremost to God. I have given this up to Him because I know that I can't do it without Him Secondly, I'm accountable to my husband. He is my fitness "coach" and a great motivator and, although he doesn't always understand, he is always there to listen to me and help me get through the rough patches. Finally, I will be accountable to my teammates and all the people who read this and my personal blog.


I will come back to this post from time to time for a reality check and to make sure that I'm on track. I am still planning a good, detailed post about some of my resources and I already have a health-related book to review, so there should be some new, informational posts coming soon! I just need to get back on track because this lazy weekend has been a bit of a bust in the logging department. I plan on being back tomorrow to catch up!