Goals for 2015. We all make them , but do we reach them ?

I am with everyone else when it comes to the new year.

I like to leave the old behind ,, look to the future and plan a lovely course of action.

But come the the end of the year , I don't even remember what my goals were.

So what am I going to do differently in 2015 ?

I signed up for a goal setting course. It is geared toward Dressage but fits all aspects of life.

Here is the link to the website for Your Riding Success : http://yourridingsuccess.com/

The course is reasonably priced, and the presenter very enthusiastic. Because this can be used to help me focus and achieve all my goals, I consider it an investment in ME. 

My goals are broken down to categories, fitness is goal #1 because it affects all other goals.

Then the goals in each category are further broken down in order of priority. 

Fitness goals. Lose 82 pounds, Run 1/4 marathon June 13th, Run 1/2 marathon November 1st.

Goal #1- Lose 82 pounds, by years end.

How:

January 5 pounds because I started the program late in the month.

every month there after 7 pounds. 

7x11=77 + 5 + 82

Goal #2 - Run a 1/4 marathon 6/13/2015 & 1/2 marathon 11/1/2015

How:

Follow 10K training program to reach 1/4 marathon goal.

once that is completed , change to 1/2 marathon training plan to reach 11/1/2015 goal. 

Riding Goals; Canter, ride training level test this show season. 

Goal #1 - Canter 

How: 

Ride horse more forward at the trot.

improve posting trot 

improve balance in saddle

improve position in saddle.

How: 

every schooling ride focus on an area and work on it.

Measurable by feed back from riding instructor.

Goal #2 -  Test at Training level in 2015 season.

How:

Get canter under control and correct leads confirmed.

measurable by  feed back from riding instructor and knowing i am on the correct lead and in control of the tempo, of the gait. 

Money Goal- Reduce debt by 10% more than what I am doing now.

How , pay 10% more toward bills each month.

Measurable but debt reduction at the end of the year. 

I think of all the goals the weight loss will be the hardest because everything in my life is around food.

So this will be the area I really need to focus on and success in this area will give me the self confidence to attack the riding goals .

I hope you , have set goals, I hope you achieve them.

stop by I will be doing weekly updates on my progress and feel free to post your successes in the comments. 

And here I am December 8 2014.
Still running but not on a food plan.

Back up, Novembers 10K run did not happen.. OH I was ready, I had my miles in and I paid to go.
My support, my team , didn't go. My husband was not available to fill in for my team, so I didn't go.
I just couldn't face doing my first 10K alone.. driving in alone, running alone , finishing alone and driving home alone. maybe after I get one under my belt but not my first one.,

So where am I now , what am I doing to support success.
Well yesterday we did the Ugly Sweater fun 5K. I walked most with a friend and jogged here and there. Our running training has been on hold with a really bad cold snap in November. It has us dedicated outside runners scrambling for cheap gym memberships to get us through the winter.
I don't want a repeat of last year , where I gave up all together because of ice covered roads.

Food, well now, there is the rub.. what am I going to do about that.. OH you say just eat less.. yea wish that had occurred to me.. Really I could teach Weight Watchers, and i truly know what to eat , when to eat and how to eat.. why is it the one area that is so difficult to control ?

I think of food as an addiction. And I have had mine. Smokes, gave them up cold turkey. See the difference is this .  I never ever have to smoke again.. but I have to eat. So every single day of my life i have to fight the dysfunctional eating habits that I have developed over the last 55 yrs.  Every meal , every day.. And that is why I think getting control of eating is the hard addiction to MANAGE. Because you just can't quit cold turkey now can you.. that is a whole nother issue.

How a fat middle aged lady started running & losing weight.

Hi all, or no one at all,

This blog is my journal, my way of keeping myself focused on the changes I have decided to make.
A way of keeping myself honest.
No hiding in the cyber world , its out here for all to see.

I will start with a bit of history on how and why I started to run again.
And will conclude with where I am today and why I started this blog.

History,
Back in June of 2013 I joined a running class.. I take classes for EVERY thing.
This class was a couch to 5K and was co-sponsored by my employer.
Who is also pushing us over weight group to do something about it or pay more for our insurance.
The choice is ours and we don't necessarily have to be successful we just have to Try.
So my try is to take up running again. I loved to run as a kid but never did anything with it.
Class started in June, met twice a week, and ended with our very first 5K on August 10. 2013
I was like really , meeting twice per week you will be able to get a 53 yr old woman that is 80 pounds over weight from the couch to the finish line.. OK I will give it a go. And go I did and fell in love with running.

Not easy that is for sure , lots of things come up in your head when you start to run, the insecurities, the what am I doing , the I can't do this.. I am too fat, on and on.. it really is true running is mostly between your ears. I discovered well yes I can , and that means YOU can.

So I went to running class the summer of 2013 , and I ran my first 5K in August as they had promised I would.. and I PUKED just before the finish.. But I really did not care about that.. except that is surprised me because I didn't know this was something that could happen.. But come to find out it does so be warned it can happen to you.. No big deal , wipe your mouth and carry on.

I continued to run that year up through November.
Wisconsin had a wicked winter in 2013. I love winter but running on ice was not for me. I stopped running and that was a mistake. All this time the running was helping me keep my weight in check because at this point I had not officially decided to join anything to lose weight nor did I put myself on any kind of food restrictions . I just figured weight loss would come with running. Well a tad does but not enough and running made me hungry.  Really all that happened was the running kept me from gaining weight from the extra eating I was doing. Once I stopped running I did not scale back on the eating and I gained MORE weight.

A new start:

Welcome spring and the desire to lose weight. Real weight , as in 100 pounds now, that I packed on a few over the winter.
I decided in April of 2014 to join Weight Watchers . I was going to focus on food this time.
I lost 8 pounds on my own before joining so my total loss to-date is 23 pounds.
This is NOT record breaking , I got quite discouraged about a month ago and decided to quit and restarted the next week after a friend reminded me that when I follow the program IT WORKS.
also because I have to think, if not now , when ? I am turning 55 TOMORROW. What am I waiting for ?
I also started running again in June of 2014
I worked my way up to a 5K by using a free app on my Iphone and meeting my running friends at 4:45 AM 3 times a week to get our runs in before work. We ran a 5K in July and again in August . We are now training for a 10K in November.
But let me make some thing very clear , you can NOT out run a bad diet. I dropped the ball , and let my emotions run my food program. Because of that I was not making progress in my weight loss and that is when I gave up.. Yes I came back but I gained 3.8 pounds while I wallowed around in self pity.
I am very strict in my running , regardless of what is going on I run.
I have to find that dedication with my food.
I have to learn to look at food as fuel and not comfort, or a way to stuff down emotions.
As I said I started this blog as a bit of a journal for me, and a way to keep myself honest.
Weight or should I say food is my Achilles heel.
And maybe someone out there will find that yup I struggle but continue to move forward and they can too.