Wednesday, February 1, 2012

"I accomplished a goal!" Jessica's Journey, February 1st


Why set goals?

I was reading a few different websites that  talked about goals and why they should be set.  One comment that I found, which I thought was just hilarious but also very true, was the following:
"Without goals, we are just like a headless chicken running around a field without anything to aim for. A goal will help to provide us with guidance and direction and help us move forward in life."    source

A few weeks ago I set a goal to lift 200 pounds of weight with the glute hip thrust.

I had one thing in my mind when I went to the gym.  Put 200 pounds of weight and lift it.  I wanted to complete this goal today and was going to try as hard as I could to accomplish this goal.  The last time I did this exercise I got to 170 pounds.  Adding 30 more pounds was a stretch and I wasn't sure if I could accomplish this goal today.  If I couldn't reach the goal today, that was ok.  I would just try again the next time.

Today, I did it!

Now I am working on the next few goals that I have:

  • do a SLDL or RDL of 200 pounds.  I have a bit to go on this still but I will get there.  Today I did 140 pounds on the SLDL.  Slowly but surely I will reach this goal too.
  • keep track of my foods on www.myfitnesspal.com for one week straight.  I have not done very well with this lately.  Eating healthier is probably one of the hardest things that I have done.  I would much rather lift weights all day than keep track of what I am putting in my body.  Maybe it is the accountability part, maybe it is the fact that I am just lazy and don't want to do it (that's part of it) or maybe I think I'm hiding foods that I'm eating if I don't write them down.  Overall I know that I'm trying but some days are just tough.  My days are not usually quiet with my lunches and snacks all ready to go for the day and me sitting quietly at a desk or cafeteria.  Sitting down happens rarely during my mornings.  I usually need something that I can grab fast because fast is what I have time for.  Healthy foods that are fast require preparation for some and others that are just easily accessible.  Adapting to these changes is hard and is a challenge!  I will make this goal though.  Baby steps though...one at a time so I can make these changes my lifestyle.  Gradually switching out foods, eliminating certain yummy things that are my favs and getting rid of some things for good...baby steps.
  • I have been working towards one specific goal for over much more than a year now and the reality is hitting me that I will soon be reaching this goal as well.  I will be jumping up and down when it is accomplished.  I don't share this goal though with many so it is a secret for now.  
A great article by Jen Comas Keck talks about "eating an elephant".  People set goals and want to change the world and think that they need to change absolutely everything all at once.  This behavior will last a short time, but soon...all the bad habits come back, little by little.  

I have big goals for myself but to get to those big goals I first must make smaller goals.  Accomplishing the little goals gives me more momentum to finish strong and achieve what I have been working towards.  
An example of this is the glute hip thrust exercise.  I've seen videos of women that are a lot smaller than me lift 400 lbs.  My goal is 400 lbs.  To get to that big goal I am making smaller goals...200, 240, 280, etc.

What is one big goal that you have?  What are the smaller goals that you need to put in place to reach that big goal?

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