How will I measure success? Any well written goal is SMART, right? If you have never gone through a formal goal setting exercise, you are missing out!! I'm only partially tongue-in-cheek on this. Writing goals is very challenging and I believe we resist because it makes us accountable to what we've put on paper. We don't live or work in a vacuum (even though some of us behave as though we do), so there are critical things for which we can't control making goal setting all the more scary. Set some goals for yourself, if nothing else it forces you to get clear on where you want to go and clarity is so powerful!
What is a SMART goal? Its (the first term, major term and some minor terms in parenthesis)
| S | Specific | (Significant, Stretching, Simple) | ||
| M | Measurable | (Meaningful, Motivational, Manageable) | ||
| A | Attainable | (Appropriate, Achievable, Agreed, Assignable, Actionable, Ambitious, Aligned, Aspirational, Acceptable, Action-focused) | ||
| R | Relevant | (Results-oriented, Resourced, Resonant, Realistic) | ||
| T | Timley |
My goal as I've thus far described it is to lose 50lbs by my 35th birthday in mid February...its SMART, but I question the R in the goal being centered around weight. How this goal resonates with me is in the following way: If I make sound, consistent choices that promote an increased level of health, the bi-product of this consistent effort will be weight loss. Am I playing mind games with myself? Absolutely not. Too many times we are tricked by our society to equate health with a certain body shape, size and number on a scale. Let's face it, losing 50 pounds will not make me skinny, it will not make my stretch marks or battle scars (from years of bicycle crashes, field hockey sticks meeting my shins and sliding on not-so-great infields) go away--yet these are ways we are trained to believe beauty exists. For me its just not the case.
For me, weight is a bi-product and to this point in my journey, I've not had any shift in the scale, even though I've taken consistent action. Its hard not to view this as a form of failure, but I KNOW my body is changing and muscle weighs just as much as fat (contrary to popular belief) so for now I believe the weight will come off and in the meantime I'm rocking pushups and gaining some serious guns :) I am retraining my muscles and cells to accept the gifts of health I'm giving day in and day out. I believe fully that health is physical, physiological (are your cells happy? are they stressed? is your metabolism efficient?), spiritual (are you connected to and at peace with the journey?). Healthy to me really does mean from the inside out and outside in.
The Stats:
Shaun (personal trainer) and I agreed that the stat we would keep is % body fat as measured by the Skinfold - Durnin and Womersley. Calipers measure the skinfolds at 3 anatomical positions (my numbers as of June 10th):
Tricep - 26
Suprailium - 27
Patella - 12
Overall this is ~ a 'D' ~26% body fat.
Change in Weight- 0 (I'll record the delta (change), because that is what was advertised)
This is humbling and there is work to do!
Word of the week: gentle
Change of the week:
Last week's change didn't go so well therefore I'm re-booting the no dairy goal and being more aware. Exercise plan outcome was not bad, 5 of the 6 planned exercise days occurred!
This week's change: *note not all changes need to be subtraction of something, this week is addition of sleep!
Get more sleep:Lack of sleep is one of those stealth factors in health and weight loss. I will keep a strict time of in bed at 10:30 asleep by 11 and see how it goes.
Exercise Plan:
Tuesday-Run (using couch to 5k week 3 schedule)
Wednesday- strength workout
Thursday-Run and Softball Game
Friday-Strength workout-Live with personal trainer
Saturday- REST
Sunday Run or Bikram Yoga
Supplement Regimen:
USANA HealthPak + BiOmega + ProcosaII
...Coming Up on Project 50: how to celebrate without food as the reward! & What is RESET?
