Goals

Okay, I know that it's always best to set goals - long-, intermediate, and short-term - in order to accomplish something and that the main reason that people don't end up accomplishing things is because they don't set goals. I have never been very good about actually sitting down and setting goals. At least, not all three levels of goals. I'll set long-term goals, but not the intermediate or short-term goals that I need to accomplish to get to that long-term goal. Why? Because I was never really taught how to break a long-term goal into short-term and intermediate steps.

Well, I'm working on that. I've started a weight-loss journal. Yes, it will have notes about food and exercise and all of that, but more importantly, it will have all of the various steps of goals. I'm still working on breaking down my long-term goals into reasonable short-term and intermediate goals, but the important part is that I'm doing it.

Basically, it goes something like this:

Long-Term Goals:

• Lose 30-35 pounds
• Wear a size 6
• Change my eating habits so I don't automatically reach for food when I'm stressed (which is a lot since I have a pretty high-paced job that pulls me in many directions all at once) or bored (the lulls between tug-of-wars at work)

Intermediate Goals:

• Maintain a consistent exercise schedule regardless of personal travel or work commitments
• Get into a routine of preparing healthy snacks and meals to bring to work so I don't go for the junk cabinet when I get hungry
• Run a 5k without stopping - I've never run a 5k at all, so just participating could be considered a milestone, but I can run 5k without stopping right now, it's just really slow and it's on a treadmill, which is a little different

Short-Term Goals:

• Increase my exercise from four days a week to six days a week
• Work back up to running for an hour at a time
• Increase my mile pace
• Lose 5 pounds a month

So, It's pretty basic so far, and I really should break the short-term goals into daily and weekly goals and the intermediate goals into monthly goals, but this is a start. Part of what I need to do is to study up on nutrition. The basics that I learned years ago did not stay in my brain, and I need to know more than the basics if I'm really going to lose the weight and keep it off. I dropped 15 pounds between Christmas and the middle of May (172 to 157), but then I quickly gained back 5 pounds and have maintained that weight since then. Now I just need to push past this and get back on the downward trail.

My son doesn't get back from visiting his grandparents until July 21st, so I can at least get started on some of my short-term goals and habits - breaking bad ones, forming new ones.