A little different

This month I have set a different type of 30 day goal. I decided not to do something that is everyday, as that started to kind of stress me out, but instead, have some broader goals-both for physical and mental health.

Goal 1: 400 minutes of working out
*currently, with three days to go, I already have 527 minutes!!!

Goal 2: complete the fall quilt I started a year ago
*this doesn't look like it will happen. I started to get a good go at it, and then life took over... But I plan to have it done in the next 30 days for sure!

Goal 3: complete a 4 mile run-no stops
*success!!! I've completed this goal twice this month.

Goal 4: survive my first month as an elementary music teacher
*with one day to go, I think I can safely say that I have survived well :)


I'm feeling good! Healthier than I have in a while. My eating habits have been better. I have two running partners that meet me every mon, wed, and fri morning (at 4:45-bah!) and it is motivating to have buddies to run with. I've even lost a couple pounds and my pants are feeling more comfortable. And I'm very happy to be teaching again.

Its been a wonderful 30 days this September. I'm looking forward to October.

Back on the tracks

Tomorrow marks the halfway point of this goal and I finally feel like I am back on track. Finding the time to exercise has been challenging since I've began a second job, but to counter that I've gotten up most days at 5am. I really dislike getting up early, buy it has helped me stick to the goal.

My biggest challenge right now is sweets! I'm doing much better with veggies and fruits, buy then other than a small portion of main meal, I have been eating way too many desserts and candies. I think I may have to incorporate a sweets limit goal into my next 30 day plan. Until then, I'm tryig to be "good". Today I succeeded! But we will see where my willpower is at tomorrow!!!

Back on the saddle

Ok, so I will admit, I am LOUSY at eating healthy and exercising when traveling! I did horrible this last week during all my travels, but by the end of it I was REALLY motivated to come home and kick some butt. I was feeling crumy by yesterday and realized how much I really do miss the feeling of a good workout.

I'm back on the saddle today with a new goal - and this one WILL be accomplished. I've even upped the anti a little bit - 6 veggie/fruits per day and 30 minutes of workout. I refuse to let a leisurely walk be my workout this time! I became way too wimpy trying my last goal and was not pushing myself. But if I really do want my shorts and swimsuit to fit this summer - I have got to start crackin' the whip on myself. 6 veggie/fruits will be challening, which is sad to say, but it is much needed. My goal is to start making these food groups more of the core or beginning of my meals, rather than the end to my meal if I have a little space leftover.

Therefore, today I ate my carrots, dried cranberries, strawberries, V8, and a huge salad. I also did my taebo workout tonight - and it kicked my butt in a really good way.  :)

40 days

I believe I was told the other day that it takes 40 days to setting a new habit and sticking with it before it starts feeling routine. So now I'm really wishing I had set my goals to a 40 day calendar versus a 30 day one. I had the best intentions this month to keep up my good work, but unfortunately I feel I've gone the exact opposite way.

This month was going to be hard and I knew that. I've been doing a lot of travel with more to come and I've had a busier schedule with church and work things. And yet, the days that I DO have the time seem to be the hardest to find motivation on! I just want to sit and do nothing when I get home!!!

It has also been interesting to see the affect my different workouts have played into this. In the winter I used videos that typically challenged me-but now with nice weather I have been
Jogging and walking more-unfortunately more of the latter though. :(

So, I'm a quitter. I need to be done with the current goal. But! That is a big but! I will start again after Easter when I am "home" again. I hate that this is the case but I want to start over correctly. I need to do 30-45 min workouts that get my heart going and it needs to be daily! I was doing too many days of an hour walk to make up for missed days - that has to end.

On a happier note- I've been doing awesome on my fruits and veggies! I'm still working getting more veggies, but I'm at least getting 4 servings of one of the two daily, often times 6-7.

I'm human and not perfect, I know that.
I will keep trying and will succeed! I will change my daily habits and routines so that exercise and healthy eating become natural versus a goal.

A rough go

My second 30 day goal hasn't been as motivated as the first... oy.

I've been doing really good with my fruits and veggies, but struggling A LOT with exercise. The frustrating thing is that I feel so good when I do exercise, and yet I have very little motivation right now to do so. My goal was to exercise 30 minutes each day, however I had some legitimate road blocks that didn't allow for that so I let myself "makeup" those minutes on a different day. It's worked, but unfortunately when I do more exercise I don't do as hard of a workout, so I definitely have not gotten as much hard cardio as I should be getting.

This month was going to be challenging, I knew that, but I thought I would still have the motivation. I'm slowly starting to find it again though I think. The last couple days I've had some really good workouts jogging with the dog. It is so refreshing to be able to exercise OUTSIDE again. I CAN complete this goal!

I also remind myself that I am human and nowhere near perfect. Changing life habits will be and is hard. If I keep going though, the life benefits it will lead to will be so great - that is my motivation... well, that and fitting back into my Capri's and shorts again this summer!  :)

Good night!

Jody's Confession

So, I started off on the right foot, but fell short of my commitment quickly, so TODAY I kicked off trial number 2 of my first 30 days with a 2 hour hike...whew...feelin' the burn.  I am so looking forward to tomorrow.  And a big WAY TO GO, MARA on completing your first goal and onto the 2nd!  You rock!

Goal #1 Complete! Goal #2 Beginning!

I did it! My first 30 day goal is completed!!!

Now off to Maurices....! I will have to get there sometime in the next week. With the gorgeous spring weather we are having, I'm excited to get a new top.

So, goal number two - after going back and forth in my head, I believe my goal is as follows:

*30+ minutes of exercise/day

*4 servings of fruits-veggies/day

Since my ultimate goal is help myself with a consistent lifestyle, I thought I'd be truthful and admit that 45 min. of exercise would really be pushing it the next thirty days. I will have many challenging days this time since these thirty days will fall over Easter break, numerous evening meetings, and busy weekends. 30 minutes of exercise will be hard enough and I don't want exercise to become a stressor in my life.

My other goal of fruit & veggie servings I plan to increase after the month. I know that in theory I should be eating even more than four servings, and many days I do, but I also know that many days I struggle just to eat a couple servings of fruits and veggies. So, I will start with a minimum of 4 servings and that will at least have me paying attention to what I am consuming during the day.

Have you started a goal yet!?!? Join me during my second thirty day goal. It's good stuff  :)