Goal Setting

I neglected to post yesterday, but I did spend considerable time debating my short and long-term goals for my health. I say "health" and not weight loss because I feel that if I focus on losing weight and working out, I will ignore the bigger picture: overall health and well-being. I include this pertinent quote from a fellow blogger:

Here's the thing, though: At the end of the day, the week, the month, or the year, all your body knows is whether you exercised and ate right, or if you didn't. No amount of excuses - no matter how "valid" - will change the physical fact that you either did the right thing for your body, or you didn't. Aaron Potts

I don't want to spend any more time in my life focused on what I will do when. When I'm thinner, stronger, healthier, more attractive, etc. I want to focus on each day as including separate goals so that I will be living in the here and now as opposed to the future or the past.

I felt my best when I was taking an adult ed. weight lifting class with Rod Record back in the early '90s. I remember how it felt to be strong and energetic. I especially remember the night that I was lying back to benchpress and felt something sharp under my back...only to check and then realize that it was a shoulder blade. I was delighted with that revelation, but couldn't wait to lose more so that I would be more socially acceptable. Even though I was strong and energetic and felt healthy, I wasn't satisfied with what I had. I still considered myself obese and FAT and ugly and I weighed 158 at 5'4". Living in the now and not the when is something that I constantly remind myself of. Back then, I was living in the future; I would feel better about myself when I was down to a size 10. Size 14 was not acceptable, apparently. Have I mentioned that I'm currently anywhere from a size 24 - 28, depending on the garment? What I wouldn't give to be in that size 14 again! See how past thinking comes into play?

So, keeping all of this rattling around in my brain, I divulge my goals:

Daily - eat three meals that meet the PCOS food plan guidelines
- drink 48 oz of water, minimum
- move more! (walk at school on lunch time, go to the gym, do vigorous yard work, walk at home, etc.)

Weekly - Weigh in and chart weight
- Plan and shop for meals for the next week
- Reach out to at least two people for support
- Post to my blog at least four times a week
- Lose between 1 and 2 pounds
- Treat myself to a non-food reward (new nail polish, flowers for the house, etc.) if I lose at least 1.5 lb.

Monthly - Lose at least 6 - 8 pounds
- Treat myself to a non-food reward ( motivational poster, pedicure, etc.) if I lose at least 6 lb.

These goals are not carved in stone and will be adapted and revised as needed. I have recently accepted and embraced the "carrot on a stick" concept and I delighted in seeing a movie at Railroad Square Cinema after working on and finishing my taxes. After being morbidly obese for sixteen years, I can no longer accept my own excuses for the why of this physical body and I need to live in the here and now of being healthier.