If you are just getting started with this series, you might want to read the following posts first:
Meeting Your Fitness Goals Part 1
My Love/Hate Relationship with New Year's Resolutions
Meeting Your Fitness Goals Part 2
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Yesterday, we looked at 10 things I did differently in 2012 that helped me reach some of my goals. Today, we are going to take a look at those goals. What were they, was I able to make progress and if I did, how did I do it? So buckle your seat belts, cadets. We are going to blast through the goals of 2012.
1. Goal: Kick the sugar habit -- replace sugar with real foods that nourish.
Did I do it? Yes! It has been 1 full year since I was a sugar eater. I no longer crave sugar.
Have I had any sugar since January 2012? Yes, but I can count the times I have consumed sugar on my 2 hands. I didn't used to be able to count how many times I ate sugar in one day on my 2 hands. That's a great victory for me.
How did I do it? This was a big one for me. It would take far too long to cover here. But wait! I did a series on that. If you are interested, here is the link to How I Kicked My Sugar Habit.
2. Goal: Eat Whole/Real Foods -- No Junk.
Did I do it? Yes and No.
I definitely eat much more whole, healthy, nourishing food. It was a natural product of meeting goal #1. You can't just take something out of the diet -- you need to replace it with something better. My diet is generally better than most people I know. However, I also believe that we should eat what is set before us with thanksgiving. I don't make a big deal about the way I eat. I really don't like the idea of people having to fix something special for me, so when I am at someone's house or at a special event, I just try to do the best I can and enjoy the moment. I skip the dessert (except Thanksgiving. I ate a little then. And my birthday. I ate some dessert then, too.) For the most part, people don't even realize that I don't eat the Standard American Diet. I just play it cool. If you don't make a big deal about it and just focus on other people, no one really notices.
Also, on Sundays, our family often eats out after church. I relax my standards on Sundays. I try to order wisely, but I refuse to make everyone else choose a restaurant just to suit my food ideals. I just go with the flow and order as wisely as I can. Someone once said, "It isn't what you do some of the time that makes the difference, but what you do most of the time." I concur.
In the interest of full disclosure, you should know that sometimes I have weak moments. In those moments, I have been known to get into the kids' pretzels and salty snacks. If I properly nourish my body, I have much less trouble with this. Cravings are often a symptom. If you are dealing with cravings, try to find out why. Is it habit? Or emotional stress? Or did you let yourself get too hungry? Were the other foods you've eaten that day not as nourishing as they needed to be? Are you actually thirsty, not hungry? If you can find the root, you can deal with the symptoms much more easily.
How did I do it? Well, it is still a work in progress. But mostly, it was part of the process of accomplishing goal #1.
3. Goal: Eat at least 7 fruits and vegetable servings each day.
Did I do it? Yes! I usually get at least 7-10 servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Many days I have more.
How did I do it? I didn't accomplish this at the beginning of the year. I was lucky to get 3-5 servings back then. But I kept trying to figure out how to up my vegies. When I first stopped eating sugar, I ate a lot of fruit instead. Eventually, I decided to find ways to eat more vegies than fruit. Enter the Green Smoothie. I drink one nearly every day. Now I never have to worry about my vegetable intake. Yeah!
My lunches tend to be very vegetable dense, too. A typical lunch might be a plate full of fresh vegies with a 1/2 cup hummus, or a plate full of stir fried vegies with 1/4 cup almonds. Most of my dinners include a large green salad. Add the green smoothies and the fruit snacks. Now I am bumping 12 servings of fruits and vegies. I keep waiting for my skin to start turning green...
4. Goal: Become a runner.
Did I do it? Yeppity-yep-yep!! I have always wanted to be able to run. Somehow in my mind I felt that if I could learn to run, I could learn to do anything. I don't know where I got that idea, but there it was.
I decided that I would consider myself a runner when I could run 1 mile without stopping. Now I run 2 miles 3 times a week (a weekly total of 6 miles). If I keep up my current pace, I will be running 5K (3.1 miles) in a couple weeks. I feel so accomplished. :)
How did I do it? I thought and planned a lot before I even started. I found an app for my iphone that walked me through a couch to 5K program, only I wasn't even fit enough to do it in their time frame (8 weeks). I had started it once before and fell by the wayside. This time I decided I would not allow that to happen. I knew I couldn't do it in 8 weeks, so I decided I would just keep repeating a run sequence until I could do it, then I would move on to the next one. It has taken me 16 weeks to get where I am right now, and I should finish the program in 2 more weeks (18 weeks, total -- 10 weeks longer than the program was supposed to take). But I decided that it was better to get out there and do a little than stay inside and do nothing. So how did I learn to run? Baby steps. Itty-bitty baby steps done consistently. I have not missed a single run in 16 weeks. Some of those runs were grueling, some of them were embarrassing, a lot of them were cold or wet. All of them were early. I did them anyway.
5. Goal: Develop a habit of daily exercise.
Did I do it? Yes. I went from a daily exercise routine of... well... nothing. Nada. Now I work out 6 days a week. I practice yoga nearly every day, I run 3 days a week and I do strength training 3 days.
How did I do it? I did it by making a quality decision that I was going to do something every day. Then I searched around for what that something would be.
I tend to get bored easily, so I knew my program would have to change often. I also knew I wouldn't stick to something that made me feel like I was on a hamster wheel. (Just an aside: Apparently, it doesn't take much for me to feel like I'm on a hamster wheel. Some weeks ago, I had increased my run distance, but hadn't accurately planned my new running route. So I got to the end of my route before I got to the end of my run. I had to run up and down a country lane 3 times to finish up. I totally felt like a hamster. I could almost hear the wheel squeaking. If that drives me nuts, I don't think I would do very well with laps on an indoor track....)
I wanted my work outs to actually work, so my program would have to gradually increase in intensity. I wanted to improve significantly in stamina, endurance, strength, tone, flexibility and balance. That's a lot to expect from one kind of workout. After much research, prayer and personal reflection, I chose a short, but high intensity strength workout program from Holly Rigsby, and of course, my running program for endurance and stamina. After those workouts were well established, and my strength had increased, I began to add in Yoga (Lest you are picturing me in strange human pretzel poses and chanting "Om", let me put your mind at ease. I only started the Yoga a couple of weeks ago, so I'm not exactly at the human pretzel stage yet. I don't chant. Sorry, but no. And the Bible tells me to meditate on the Word of God, so you won't see me spacing out or anything. But my flexibility and range of motion has already improved. Yoga is really great for that.)
6. Goal: Sleep more. Specifically, I wanted to be regularly getting about 7 hours of sleep.
Did I do it? FAIL.
Why not? Hmmm.... mostly because I never did come up with a plan that would really work. I still have hope that I will get this, but I will need to learn better efficiency during the day. My kids are early birds and my husband is a night owl. That doesn't exactly help, since I try to be the first one up and the last one down. Some of the problem lies between my own ears, methinks....
On an up note, I do sleep more than I used to. I usually get 5-6 hours sleep with an occasional longer night. I used to average between 2-4 hours a night with numerous nights without any sleep. Sometimes, if I had a deadline, I would skip 2 nights in a row. That behavior is a huge reason why my health was declining. We just weren't created to push like that. At some point it begins to catch up with you. I did it for 15 years before it all came tumbling down. I don't recommend it.
7. Goal: Eradicate all my body flaws and look like the model in the pictures.
Did I do it? Sadly, no. I still don't have 6 pack abs and there haven't been any model agencies calling the house. Sigh...
Why not? First of all, it never was a real goal, just a wish carried over from high school, probably. Secondly, I don't have a hair stylist, make-up artist, lighting specialist, and photo shop following me around everywhere I go. Remind yourself of that next time you are tempted to compare yourself to the glossy ads.
My biggest goal and the one that all the others lead to:
8. Goal: Reverse the damage I had done from years of not taking care of myself.
Did I do it? Yes, I believe I did. I feel better than I have in decades. The hormonal symptoms I had developed have vanished, the adrenal fatigue symptoms are gone, I am no longer on a blood sugar roller coaster, I have lost weight, my skin looks better and I have energy again. My husband recently told me that he thinks I am healthier than I was when we married. (And if I lose a few more pounds, I will be as skinny as I was then, too.)
How did I do it? All these benefits were the result of gradually meeting or making progress in the first 5 goals over the course of the year. I started small and slowly worked my way up. And most of all, I got a great deal of help from the Lord. I know I could not have done it without His help.
I hope my baring my soul and sharing all this with you is an encouragement to you. You really can make positive changes. If I can make this make this much progress in a year, anyone can. Remember, I'm the girl that couldn't even run for a whole minute.
Have a great day!!
Angela
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Disclaimer: Just to make sure everyone is clear, I have no nutritional, fitness, doctorate or other degrees that would make me an expert in any of these areas. I am not licensed. Nobody pays me to say this stuff. I am simply a wife, mother and woman who wanted something different. This is what worked for me. I encourage you to do your own research and use wisdom. I cannot be responsible if something doesn't work out the way you planned. Again, please use wisdom.
You have accomplished so much in the past year! What an inspiration! It goes back to what you've taught at church too; that consistency is the key...whether its meeting fitness goals, organizational goals, or spiritual goals. :) Thanks for sharing all the wonderful tips and things you learned along the way. I'm going to definitely need the Lord's help meeting my own goals this year! For now, mine are centered more around getting debt paid off and becoming more organized, but the same principles apply, I'm sure!
ReplyDeleteYou are so right. Consistency is a huge part of reaching our goals. The Bible teaches us that through faith and PATIENCE we inherit the promises. That patience one gets us a lot of the time. I have been talking here about fitness because getting my health and strength back was a major goal of mine last year. This year I am building on those fitness goals, but I have several other areas that I am working on. And I agree with you. The things I learned last year will be so helpful in other areas. Let us know what you learn on your path to meeting your goals!
ReplyDeleteThis series is great. I appreciate that you are so down to earth and logical about it and also trust Him for help. Love it. I have been ignoring the fact that I need to cut back on sugar for years now. But I have slowly made positive changes like I juice once a day at least so I am getting lots of veggies in my diet now. I enjoy it very much. I crave it now actualy. Ok, but am noticing the massive cravings that things with sugar in them cause me when I have them and especially when I restrict sugar.
ReplyDeleteI have started cutting my sugary foods in half and it seems to still be satisfying. But I really dont like the crazy cravings. I dont like feeling slugish and tired. I want to be at peak performance and I am convinced sugar is hindering that.
Do you think that if I slowly cut it out like I am....I will still always live with major cravings? I am nursing and can not deal realisticly with a 3 day crash right now.
Also, I love your running goals and story. It is so encouraging to know that you started not being able to run long. I really have a craving for running and now I feel like I can start where I am.
Thanks again.
I am so glad you are finding this series helpful. Have you read my series called "kicking the sugar habit"? If not, you can find it in the side bar. In that series, I told how I went from binging on sugar to living virtually sugar free. The cravings were pretty fierce in the beginning. I tell how I got through them.
ReplyDeleteIf you have been eating the standard American diet, then very likely your gut flora is out of balance. If you have a yeast (candida) overgrowth, then that candida will actually feed on the sugar and processed flours you eat. When you stop giving it what it eats, it sort of throws back it's head and howls, so to speak. The cravings do get easier. Eventually you will experience a yeast die-off (it will make you feel like you have the flu), and then the cravings will slowly begin to subside. (Drinking Kefir or eating an unsweetened live yogurt can really help bring flora balance, btw. If you don't like unsweetened yogurt and kefir, you can try it like I eat it -- I just add real vanilla and stevia drops to taste, stir and chop up some fruit in there. Yummity yum!)
However, there are some serious precautions with breastfeeding. Toxins are passed through the breast milk, so you don't want all that junk to pass to your little one. My advice -- GO SLOWLY. Drink lots of water to help your body process the toxins easily. Make very small changes over time. Rather than doing a "cold turkey" change like I did, I would suggest making sure you fill up with super nourishing whole foods, so that you aren't as hungry for the things you are craving. Often cravings can be a sign that your body is deficient in some nutrients, too, so nourish your body well. It will also help you have wonderfully rich milk for the little one. Gradually ease up on the non-nourishing foods. If you begin to experience die-off symptoms, ease up on what you are doing for a day or two, drink extra water and get extra sleep. This will help your body take care of the toxins. While a die off is not harmful to you if you are generally healthy and not nursing, it is a sign that you are cleaning out more toxic junk than your body can keep up with. It is a good signal to slow down.
Your body will naturally and gradually detox every single day if you just give it the proper fuel -- no need to go through the ugly 3 day crash. Over time, as you nourish your body well and gradually make positive changes, you will experience all the benefits of a more abrupt lifestyle change. If you stick with those changes, the cravings do go away. Sometimes I still want something sweet, but now I am satisfied with fruit, or fruit sweetened goodies. That was never a possibility for me before. I also have great energy and no sugar crashes. It has been a year now, and I can honestly say it was worth it.
Hopefully that helps a little. It is so great that you are taking charge of your health and your life. Let me know how it goes for you, and let me know if you have any more questions.
Thankyou! I just have come to a point where I am ok with slow change. I used to only want instant change...if that makes any sense. I feel a lot different about things now that I am 30. A little more level headed I think.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, Maybe I could even plan on a detox week once I am done nursing.
Also, thanks for the info on how you set small goals. That helped me see goals clearer. I used to think goals were a disapointment waiting to happen but now I am very excited to break down bigger goals into small goals...like running for 60 seconds.
I will update you sometime. Thanks so much again. Your blog is very fun to read. :)
You are not alone. I think we all struggle with setting big goals and wanting instant results. I think that is why goal setting is such a disappointment to so many of us. But slow steady change, with small goals leading toward our big goals actually gets us there. It is about achieving balance.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you are on a balanced, achievable path to your goals. I would love to hear updates on how you are doing. It inspires me!