Friend-Makin' Mondays -- Goals

As a blogger/blog-fan, I'm much more of a reader/lurker than I am consistently a commenter/participant.  But sometimes I'll see or feel a prompt that makes me want to express my own thoughts.  Kenlie is always good at that, with her thoughtful Friend-Makin' Mondays posts.  Today's was one that gave me a push to play along...

Goals and More

1. Brag about some of your daily, healthy habits. I drink a lot of water, and I do not drink soda of any kind. -- I'm stealing Kenlie's answer here, because this is a new habit of mine that I'm really proud of.  I don't even miss soda.  Occasionally, I'll feel like I want something sweet to drink, but usually a green tea will do the trick.  I think I just get bored of coffee and water and need to introduce something new to my palate on a given day.

2. Do you track your daily food intake? If so, how? When I first started my journey after the Day of Reckoning back in late 2009, I counted calories.  It worked REALLY well. Now, I find that I resent it after a couple of days, and I don't necessarily eat well just because I'm tracking calories. So I don't track anymore.  I try to eat mostly natural things that come from the earth and aren't processed (very much), and I have become very aware of my portion sizes.  So far it's working and I feel great.

3. What do you want to change most about your daily routine? I want to get up earlier!! Whether it's to get my workout in early, or to be at work early so I can LEAVE early and ALWAYS have time to get a workout in. I am the worst about filling up my schedule and then making excuses about why I don't have time to exercise.

4. How often do you exercise? Several times a week...in a good week I'll work out 4-5 times, for at least 30 minutes.

5. How do you stay on track when you’re on the go? I'm....not very good at this.  But I'm trying.  Cutting out sodas and (most) sugar and all the stuff I mentioned above has led to me actually feeling SICK if I make a poor choice -- my stomach can't handle it -- but I'm trying to keep myself armed with good snacks and NOT put myself into a position where I'm starving, unarmed, and not thinking clearly.

6. What’s one excuse you use that prevents you from reaching your goals? "I've already lost _____ and my husband thinks I'm hot and I can wear super cute clothes, so why try any harder to meet my goal weight?"

7. What scares your most about your journey? This...this one almost deserves its own blog post.  I'm scared of doing all of it for the wrong reason -- which is vanity and selfishness and desire for attention. It got me into a REALLY BAD mental state last time, so I've been afraid to lose weight again.  I know, that's vague.

8. What do you think will change most when you reach your goal? (If you have reached it, what’s different?) If I'm doing it for the right reasons, I'm hoping that I will have made a lasting change in my life regarding what I put into my body and how I view my body.

9. What motivates you to reach your goals? My most recent motivation has been that my husband and I are probably going to start trying to start a family this fall.  I want to be in the best shape I can be before I'm a host to a fetus for nine months.  Also, I'd like to be able to get through L&D more easily, for which I can prepare by getting into great shape and trimming down. I also want to ultimately set a good example for my child(ren).

10. Share a few of your goals.

• Reach my goal weight (which is also my OB/GYN's suggestion for me) before I get pregnant.
• Be able to stop doing the modified versions of yoga poses and amp it up a bit.
• Be able to do a "boy push-up."
•  Make working out a habit, rather than something I sometimes have to force myself to do.