Weekly Goals

Last Week Update: I did a great job achieving MOST of the goals I set for myself last week. Unfortunately, I had a procedure done on Wednesday and was not up to a full workout on Wednesday Thursday or Friday. With that said I didn't just sit on my butt, I got moving... for a little bit.

Here are the goals I set for myself last week... This week, I will try to achieve them once again... ALL OF THEM!!

1st Goal and probably the most important to me: Record everything!  You canNOT out exercise a bad diet, so recording everything is a BIG deal for me.  It helps me keep track!  I love the phrase, "If you Bite it, Write it!" and i'll be doing just that.

Download the MyFitnessPal app... It's FREE!  NO EXCUSES!

Guess what else My Fitness Pal does... Tracks your weightloss!  I weigh every Saturday and record it on My Fitness Pal.  Weighing every single day WILL make you CRAZY... Don't do it!!!  This Saturday I hit 20 pounds... WHOO HOO!

Speaking of excuses... IF only they burned calories, but they don't!  This week my 2nd Goal is to get in 3 workouts that burn a minimum of 500 calories.  It's not as easy as you think!  Every workout might feel like you are burning a gazillion calories (and I wish you were), but your not.  Bummer, I know!  With the help of my Mio and Garmin, I am brought quickly back to reality.

Water is VERY important and Goal 3 this week is to continue to drink a minimum of 8 glasses a day.

Along with my 3 workouts, Goal 4 will be get in two Yoga sessions.  Yoga is GREAT!

 

After a Holiday Weekend, Goal 5 is to get my butt back on track!  I LOVE this reminder!  No matter what, you can ALWAYS get back on track. 

 

I am linking up with Jess over at Operation Skinny Jeans for this week's Weekly Goals Link Party! 

This is a great reminder that if you fall of track, set a few achievable goals for yourself and you're right back on!

Life is Not a Competition

I want to start this post with saying that I AM a fan of friendly competition.  I enjoy it.  A sports game, a board game, a Spelling Bee... Bring it!  There is NOTHING wrong with a little friendly competition. 

Now... here's something that I've noticed lately.  It has become obvious to me that more and more people are comparing their lives to others.  They see a blog update about something fabulous going on and then get upset that it didn't happen for them.  When did we stop expressing happiness for others?!

  Then there are THOSE posts, we've ALL seen them, the fairytale, fantasyland living Facebook posts.

Do you REALLY think that people are going to share ALL of their ups and downs with you?!  HECK NO!  They want you to see the good, they want to embellish their lives and it's NOT to make it appear to you that things are better than they are, I think it's to make THEMSELVES believe that things aren't really how they are.

Let me say, sharing the downs in life is not as enjoyable as sharing the ups, but it's LIFE and that is what life is!  Full of UPS and DOWNS!  They mold you and make you who you are... BE PROUD OF THEM!

If you are motivated by what others are doing and get discouraged because you are not achieving the same results, traveling the same destinations, building the same house, rocking the same body or driving the same cars, STOP IT RIGHT NOW!  You WILL end up disappointed.  Refocus, because someone will ALWAYS have more and always appear to be better off than you, ALWAYS and let's face it... the things that you have right now in your life are the things that you prayed for at one time.  Enjoy them, because life is to damn short to live miserably!

My Best Friend has been on a workout kick for the last year and let me tell you... She is a BEAST!  Her workouts are tough and she gives them ALL SHE HAS!  I am motivated by her enthusiasm... I am not motivated by her results (even though I am SO FREAKING PROUD) and let me tell you why.  I will not achieve the same results as her, in the same amount of time and I will not get through the workouts she does in one piece and you know what, THAT IS OKAY!  I will give my workouts all that I have and I WILL obtain results if I stay focused.

Life is truly the journey and not the destination.  I'm learning this daily.  Life is NOT a competition... Stop trying to do better than others, stop trying to achieve their results, stop trying to be what they are.  The only person you should try to be better than, is the person you were yesterday.  If you do this, YOU HAVE SUCCEEDED!

Comparing yourself to others will only make you realize your own imperfections and insecurities.  REFOCUS!

Be proud of who you are!  Be proud of your ups AND downs!  Be proud that you are YOU and there is NO ONE else that could EVER compare!

And do you really want to get to the "Finish Line" before everyone else?!  :)

Women – Build Me Up Buttercup

Why do women insist on tearing each other down? Don’t we know how HARD it is to be a woman? Why can’t we encourage each other, build each other up and praise each other?

Is it jealousy?

Is it unhappiness within one’s self?

What is it?

Growing up, the majority of my friends were guys. They were drama free, non-judgemental listeners and I loved it. Every bit of it!

However, I had a best friend in high school who was high-strung (we’ll call her High-Strung Holly) and although she was a great friend who experienced some of the most exciting things in my life with me, she exhausted me. High-Strung Holly is what I like to consider a Spazmatic and would fly off the handle in response to any situation that went awry. One night Big D had a poker party and didn’t contact her boyfriend to play. Big deal, whatevs, move on. YEAH RIGHT! Boy did I hear about it… Over and over and over again and after that… we didn’t talk anymore. Her decision, Not Mine and it was probably better that way.

I stood up for myself and that really seems to throw people for a loop, because I’m normally a go-along-to-get-along-girl. I didn’t need (I don’t need) that drama and did not deserve the lashing from someone who claimed to be my friend. Build each other up, don’t tear each other down!

(This is bologna... BTW)

I read an article recently, which stated that we become like the five people we hang around most. WHAAAT?! REALLY?! Do we?! Does that get you thinking? It definitely got me thinking.

In college I met a girl who I will refer to Negative Nancy. I did not realize how much we become like those that we hang around UNTIL I met Negative Nancy. I would share stories that made me happy, she would find something negative in them and y’all, I begin to think of the negatively too. The stories that she shared were rarely positive, but I enjoyed her company. Little did I know, I began thinking negatively too! After talking with others and MUCH evaluation, I decided (after trying 2 times before) that walking away from the friendship was best. I cannot even begin to explain the overwhelming sense of relief that I had. Positive things WILL happen when you distance yourself from the negative!

Moving on… I began surrounding myself with positive women, who wanted to watch me grow and truly wanted me to succeed and who told me they were proud of me and actually meant it. What a great feeling! There are still times that I have to take a step back and re-evaluate and I am not afraid to make changes if necessary, but I am truly blessed and grateful for the Positive Pattys in my life.

This is not something new… This is something that has been around forever and will continue to be around, but we don’t have to let it affect us. Find common ground. Praise each other. Encourage each other. Tearing each other down hurts ALL women. 

Today, try to encourage the women in your life.  Give them a compliment, bring a smile to their face, because I can PROMISE you that it will bring a smile to your face too!

Refocusing

“Where have you been?”, you ask? Okay, you probably didn’t, but I’m going to tell you anyway! I’ve refocused, refocused on new things. Yes, I’m still cooking, baking and crafting like crazy. I wouldn’t be “ME” if I stopped these things, but I have added health into the mix. My health!

Weight has been a struggle for me since I can remember, like as far back as KINDERGARTEN. Kids are cruel, so I remember Kindergarten clearly. I’ve decided to take control of this, figure out how to change it and pray that with hard work and dedication that it works.

I started March 1st with adding 30 minutes of exercise 3 times a week into this mix and after a MONTH of doing this, there was NO change. I mean ZERO change! Why?! I wondered WHY?! Well, my diet… my diet didn’t change AT ALL. Not even a little bit, not even AT ALL! On April 1st, I decided to suck it up and start calorie counting. I downloaded My Fitness Pal and began calorie counting like a BEAST and what an eye opener it is. WHOA?! Wait a minute?! You mean to tell me that I ate THAT many calories in ONE sitting?! But, I ordered a grilled chicken salad with extra ranch. OH! It’s the extra that gets me every single time! Condiment Queen RIGHT HERE!

Once I was slapped in the face with the reality of what I was shoveling into my mouth I decided to buckle down and for 30 days I have been doing really well with counting calories. Even I amazed myself with being able to stay on track.

Now, calorie counting isn’t all that I’m doing. I WISH it was that easy! I’ve been adding a minimum of 20 – 45 Minutes of movement into my day at least 3 times a week. Kickboxing, walking/jogging, pilates, yoga and the stationary bike… just something! Am I seeing changes, well, I don’t know. One thing that I DO know is that between March 1st and April 1st, I became OBSESSED with weighing and every single day that I didn’t see movement it broke my heart. On April 10th I decided that I wouldn’t weigh-in until May 1st. Do you know how HARD this was?! It became even harder when I stepped on the scale this morning…

Stay tuned...