I was this close to scrapping this post all together, but then I watched Megan Gilger’s talk at Circles about sharing your story, and I felt compelled to finish. I’m just so out of the habit of sharing personal stuff on the blog that isn’t part of a series, but I really miss it. So today I’m going to share some of the personal goals that I set for myself at the beginning of the month. It seems like a good day since we are officially half way through!
{my little desk and my wall calendar where I’ve been tracking my workouts in red}
Fitness
This year when I listed out my goals on my birthday, one of the things that I talked about was accepting my body as is. And the hardest time to do that is coming off of the holidays. Don’t we all just want to complain about how we look after eating all the chocolate in sight for two weeks straight? Or is that just me?
In the past I would beat myself up (in my head, mostly) for eating so poorly over the holidays and for the way my clothes fit as a result, and then use that diatribe to motivate myself to get back in shape. And you know what? It usually worked. But this year I wanted to try a different approach. I wanted to make an internal shift in my mindset to make for a more positive outlook.
This year I wanted my overarching goal to be about how I feel. There’s no doubt that eating healthier and exercise make for a happier and healthier me, but for some reason that isn’t always motivating enough. I was determined to prove to myself that I could still do it without beating myself up.
So this year, instead of counting points or calories, I set 4 simple rules for myself for January. And I’m happy to report that it’s working rather painlessly.
1. Eat salad for lunch every week day.
I did this in 2012, so I knew it was totally doable. And you know what? I just really like salad. I give all the credit to January 2012 for that one.
2. No sweets for the first week of January.
It was tough, but I did it. And I actually felt a lot better not eating something sugary after dinner, which is usually the hardest part for me. I’m still trying to limit my intake, although I honestly haven’t been doing a good job the last few days.
3. One plate at dinner.
Confession: I am the queen of seconds. I have been known to get a smaller plate at first because I LOVE going back for more. It’s kind of a ridiculous habit though, and one that I would really like to get rid of. So far, so good. Although I may have slipped up a teensy bit when we had lasagna at my in-laws’ last week. But come on.
4. No spicy nacho Doritos. For the whole month.
We all really like these in my house, and for a while we were going through 2-3 bags a week. The thing is, I feel like CRAP whenever I eat them. But I do it anyway. That nonsense needs to stop, and so far I haven’t missed them.
That’s it! It’s been surprisingly easy to adhere to, and I definitely feel better. You’ll notice that I didn’t make any goals about working out. I happen to be on a good streak of working out 3-4 times per week, and since November or so I’ve made a habit of going to a yoga class and a strength training class once a week. Since that seems to be working, I didn’t feel like I needed to set any goals around that.
Finances
Brian and I have been working really hard on our finances this month. We have some student loan debt to pay off, and since we’re living with my parents for the next 3-7 months, we figured that now was as good a time as ever to really buckle down and get serious about paying down some of our debt.
I haven’t actually read any of Dave Ramsey’s stuff, but we’re using some of his methods thanks to some inspiration from my friend Liz (who happens to date my brother.) We made a budget for the first time ever this month, and I’m doing the cash envelope system for 4 categories: groceries, dining out / dates, necessities (like toiletries), and my “allowance,” which basically translates into coffee money or any other random things that pop up for me over the course of the month. So far it’s working pretty well, although I have had some unavoidable online purchases that had to be made which results in some money shuffling.
Coincidentally, I listened to Lara Casey‘s Powersheets webinar today, and she mentioned that Em for Marvelous has a lot of great info on how they paid down their debt recently. I’m excited to check it out!
Did you have any goals for this month? How are you doing with them? I’d love to hear about it, I think hearing other people’s goals is so inspiring!
I love your personal posts :) I think it’s great that you picked such personal, specific goals for your eating health because you’re so much more likely to notice changes from those rather than a general “stop eating out” or “no carbs” :)
I’m excited to check out these $ resources because Thomas and I are trying SO HARD to pay off a lot of our loan debts right now too. We both have student loans, and then some money we need to pay off from when Georgia didn’t work out. I think it’s doable, but it can seem so incredibly overwhelming. I find the more I read about it the more motivated I stay! xoxo
Thanks Eliza! January wound up being kind of a bummer debt-wise because a lot of unexpected stuff popped up- I’m hoping February is more predictable so that we can make more of a dent! Hope you guys are doing well!
I love that plan to eat salad every week day! I am a huge lover of salad, too, so I might have to try that as well! I’m working on a few things myself this month!
I loved reading your goals, Kory, I hope they went well for the rest of January! One of my clients sent me some homemade salad dressing recipes, so I’m making one of my goals for February to try them!
Oh man, yeah. The seconds thing? I wasn’t even hungry tonight, but I really, really wanted a second plate because it was SO GOOD. I JUST WANTED MORE OF THE TASTE. But I didn’t. Because like you, it was time to get back to feeling good. No seconds. More water. More movement. Le sigh.
Oy, I hear ya. I really liked this list of goals for January, and I think for February I’m going to tweak it a little just to keep myself moving in the right direction. I’m thinking no seconds (or dessert?) on weeknights, and maybe adding in some rule about eating more fruit.
Howdy and hello , KB!
I just graduated graphic design school last month (you’re work is a big inspiration, so thanks) and my two main goals for this month were to:
1) get back into a routine (now that I’m home and job searching is the agenda)
and
2) to work on my virtual persona (update my blog, created a website with portfolio work, etc.)
You can read some more about them here: http://amandaroseblog.typepad.com/my_blog/2014/01/january-goals.html
Thank you so much, Amanda, that means a lot to me! The holidays can be so disruptive to your routine, so I know the feeling! January wasn’t very good for my routine either so I’m hoping February will be better in that respect!
Love this post, mostly because I can relate so thoroughly! Your goals this month are pretty similar to mine.
I’m trying to take control of my health in an effort to feel less bloated and sluggish and tired all of the time. For me, this means cutting out gluten which I have a major sensitivity to. Once I get used to that lifestyle change, I’m planning on cutting out a lot of my sugar intake. For me, sugar = your Doritos.
And I’m also trying to tackle our debt. I’m so terrible at budgeting, but I’m really hoping to get that all ironed out this month. I’m also attempted a debt snowball and have started bartering for extras (ie doing writing work for a local children’s art lab to score my girls some free classes).
Thanks for sharing. Reading about someone else feeling the same feelings and going through similar things is so motivating!
That’s awesome, I love all the steps you’re taking, Jen! I hope the rest of the month went well.
My dad has Celiac’s (and my husband and I live with my parents currently) so I feel you on the Gluten free thing! It can be limiting but once you get into a routine it gets easier. Hope it’s going well so far!
I’m working on these two things as well! For fitness, I just signed up to go back to Curves for workouts. (I’m younger, but their circuit system is so easy for a non-workout kinda gal like me.) I’m also calorie counting and trying to eat smarter – more GOOD stuff, less bad stuff. And definitely less eating out.
My finance system is a little less formal than yours – basically, I’m trying to spend money only on my bills/necessities. I also am living with my parents, so I don’t have tons of expenses but I’ve been awful about not saving as much as I should and spending a lot of my disposable income on lunches at work or on Target finds. So far, so good!
That sounds great, I’m always really intrigued by circuit systems! And sometimes just being mindful of your spending can make a big impact. Hope the rest of January went well for you and your goals!
That’s so great that you guys are working on paying off your student loan debt! We used the Dave Ramsey method to pay off all of our debt, everything from our small student loans, to all of our credits cards, and both of our cars. We are so happy to be debt free (except our house, but we’re going to get there one day)! The budget is difficult to get used to but it’s really awesome once you figure out what works for you. It took us a while to pay everything off, but it’s so worth it, and the peace of mind is amazing. Good luck with everything!
-Miranda
Miranda Writes
Thanks for sharing that, Miranda- you guys are inspiring! We fell off the wagon a little bit with recording everything in January, but February feels like a nice fresh start!
Fitness is one of mine as well. I started doing 6 AM workouts which sound incredibly frightening, but it’s actually a really amazing feeling walking out of the gym at 7AM to get ready for work and know you are DONE for the day :)
-KT
I am SO impressed! I am the worst at waking up early. I used to get up at 5 for swim practice in high school, and I think it ruined me. You go, girl!
Your goals are awesome – especially your eating goals. They’re attainable and I think I might have to borrow them! :)
Thanks Melissa, go for it! I’m going to tweak these in an effort to mix things up and keep myself motivated for February :)