The Goal

I just used that as a title because it's the title of a book that I read when I was in grad school and I saw it on the bookshelf this morning when I was working out. It's good. You should read it. If you feel moved to read about transportation and logistics, that is.

Anyway, goals are on my mind lately because...I don't really have any. And when I don't have specific goals, it usually means trouble.

There have been some good milestones lately. I tried on some pants in a store the other day and they were in a size that I never envisioned I would wear. Ever. Never ever. Ultimately, I didn't buy them so I WON'T be wearing them--they were snug (but the fact that I could even put them on and button them is cause for a NEWS ALERT) and I didn't feel they were an appropriate expenditure of money heading into the holiday season where I need all of my funds to buy Christmas gifts and all of my calories for Christmas cookies. Bottom line: they probably wouldn't fit my bottom after a few Christmas cookies anyway so that size will wait for another time of year.

(FYI: I'm going to write about "vanity sizing" on my other blog because I feel certain it's why I could pull up and button pants of "that size.")

Anyway, last week I was all motivated and gung ho and then I totally hit the wall. Don't know what my deal was. I did make it through the week with my workouts, but my eating wasn't the greatest and I think that's probably contributing to fatigue. In the end, I had to take this past Tuesday off.

A day off! Right at the start of the week! I know! Crazy.

And then yesterday, I wanted to take the day off again, because sometimes I get lazy. I told myself to just get the DVD in the player and start and it would all work out. Which it did. I'm guessing I gave about 40% effort, but some days, 40% is better than 0%.

That's what I tell myself.

So a few points/lessons for myself today and maybe they will help you, too:
-I need a specific goal. Always. If I don't, I start floundering and a skipped workout here, a cheese stick there--and it all starts to come unglued. That may sound obsessive to some people, but I have definitely learned over the years how my mind and body operate. And I know that for me, it's a slippery slope that I'll descend very quickly if I don't keep things in check. Yes, I certainly loosen up and enjoy food and skip workouts, but it can't be more than a day or two in a row or then I struggle with my motivation and getting back on track.

I'm really writing this to wrap my own head around it, not to lecture to you, by the way.

Anyway, because my weight had popped up two pounds or so in late October/early November, I had a really agressive goal to lose 5 lbs. by the end of this month. I've decided to scrap that. It's just not realistic for this time of year when I do, indeed, want to indulge in some cookie eating. Instead, tomorrow I'm revamping my Bodybugg program to reflect maintenance until after the holidays. Whatever I weigh tomorrow, that will be my goal to weigh on January 2 or 3 or whenever the Christmas cake and cookies are gone (somehow those actions and my goal seem to be divergent, don't they???).

I am going to do as many Christmas treats as possible gluten free this year. That's another goal. Clearly not a goal that will contribute to weight loss, but one that will make me feel better, nonetheless.

-Another point for today is learning to listen to myself. Something else I've learned is there's a big difference between being so tired/exhausted/sick that you NEED and SHOULD take a day off and just being tired and not getting your butt out of bed day after day and skipping workouts. We're all tired, but that doesn't give us license not to workout. Tuesday? I needed to skip. I traveled for work on Monday and then stayed up very late trying to get caught up on all of the work that didn't get finished while I was traveling. My body told me I needed to rest on Tuesday. I didn't like it, but I did it. I hate getting off my WOWY schedule. Now that is something I'm OCD about, and I readily admit it.

Unfortunately, I felt like I was getting the same message on Wednesday. Hmmm. But after a little more soul searching, I realized it wasn't my body telling me not to get up, it was my brain and THAT is the voice that we all need to overcome--the one that tells you you're too tired, too sore, that bed feels more comfortable than your workout clothes. It was unpleasant to overcome that mental hurdle, but I did it and I'm glad. I did compromise--I did my workout a little later in the morning versus 5:30am, but talking over that voice in my head was key. My body was fine, my mind just wasn't in the right place. That's what I needed to fix.

And that is a key point when you're sore from a prior workout. One of the worst things you can do is to then skip a workout. Do something different when you're sore--stretch, walk, something lighter and more forgiving, but your muscles need to warm up and move a little to get through that soreness/stiffness.

That's my opinion.

So to recap in a slightly shorter format: I will be trying to maintain my current weight for the next 6 weeks.

The end.