My weigh-in last week was 200! I’ve officially reached my goal weight!
Through the last six months, I’ve decided that this isn’t enough. Counting calories and eating healthier has developed into a natural habit and lifestyle for me. I naturally gravitate toward water instead of Diet Dr Pepper or alcohol. I find myself preferring fresh fruits & veggies over cookies and chips. No, this isn’t 100% of the time…let’s be real, I can only go so long without Famous Amos Cookies. But overall, counting calories isn’t something I feel like I have to do, but rather something I choose to do.
Naturally, I wanted to ride out this motivation. I started to really look at what I wanted for my life in the long-term. And honestly? I found out that there’s no reason I can’t lose more weight. So I got started making new goals, but this time, I went about it thinking, “What naturally healthier choices can I start making?” instead of “How fast can I get down to my goal weight?”
Here’s what I came up with – new goals!
- Goal weight is 150 pounds. No time limit. If it takes six months, great! If it takes a year, great! At that point, I will work to maintain this weight.
- Run a minimum of 6 5K races per year. Since there’s half a year left (I started this early July), the goal for 2017 is 3 5Ks (and I already have one down!).
- Only eat El Mezcal one time per month. This is NEEDED, because my self-control when it comes to that place is nonexistent.
- Track my exercise monthly through the rest of the year.
- Be able to confidently wear a bikini when I go on my best friends trip in September 2018.
- Keep going with no soda.
Those are six goals that I’m pretty much keeping myself to. No excuses, no cheats, just plain get them done. But since life is fluid, there are other things that I want to really focus on as secondary goals. These are things that I’d like to limit, see myself able to do, but I’m not going to feel guilty or really focus on them as main goals.
- Limit the following foods: sweets (pastries, cookies, cakes, etc), chips / veggie stix, grains (rice, bread, pasta, cereals). I’d like to limit my sweets & chips / veggie stix to one day a week, while still remaining in my calorie count. For grains, the idea is just to limit them – I don’t really know how yet. Haha.
- Be able to run a non-competitive 10K. I have no desire to run 6.2 miles for time or pay money to do so…but it’d be great to be able to wake up and know I could run 6 miles if I felt like it.
While deciding all of these primary and secondary goals, I needed a new “fitspiration” board! I’d had the same one for six months, so it was time to make a new one. Enter pinterest, new pens, & construction paper, and VOILA!!!!
I. LOVE. IT. It’s got rainbows, rewards, ways to keep myself accountable, motivational pictures & quotes…I just love it! It keeps me energized and it starts me on this new journey. Yes, there’s a curse word too. IT HELPS.
I kept the exercise calendar, weigh ins, added a couple things for my goals, and I added a thermometer! Clearly I have a long way to go, BUT I get prizes as I go! 10 pounds, I get a pedicure. 20 pounds, new movies. 30 pounds, new Vera Bradley. 40 pounds, the Harry Potter 20th Anniversary set! And 50 pounds means a NEW WARDROBE!
I also did something fun and bought myself surprise presents! I gave five of my friends / family $15.00, and with that money, they buy me a present! Every ten pounds, I also get to open one of those. Just a few new ways to keep me motivated to keep going.
I can’t wait to continue on my journey. Two weeks in, and healthy feels pretty good 🙂
