Monthly Goals and Showing Mercy

I can’t believe that it is already November.  This year is flying by!  The last few months have not been easy for me with my weight loss journey.  Not at all.  It has been so ‘weird’ that I haven’t even done a monthly goal post.  I haven’t even thought about my monthly goals and quite honestly in the month of October I blew most of the goals off!  But it is time to talk about those goals and get myself straightened out!

Setting Monthly Goals

When I set my monthly goals, I try to set them with the idea that I will falter and mess up.  I am a human and therefore I will have stumbles upon my journey.  I also know that for me I tend to be an all or nothing.  If I set a goal that I am going to eat perfectly for 7 days a week and I mess up on day one, my tendency is to quit because “all is lost”.  So with that in mind, my goals are more loose and fluid to allow myself the grace and mercy to be human and NOT be perfect.

1     Track every bite of food.   This goal is set to help me stay consistent.  I know that when I track I tend to be more on target with what I eat.  But my goal is to simply track.  It doesn’t matter if I have a day where my calorie count is 6000.  I just need to track it to have the win!

2.      Save money.  This it not strictly a weight loss goal, but it is a life goal.  So I am including it.  Up until recently the goal was to save money. However recently I decided that I will be ok with a set amount in my savings account. If the total dips below that amount I will start dumping money into the savings but I’m not focusing on my savings at the moment.  What AM I focusing on?  Paying off the car!  You see, the car payment has what…3.5% interest (I’m just guessing…my paperwork is buried in files at the moment).  My savings account is earning me a whopping 0.1% interest (once again…guessing…and I think that is a high estimate).  You do the math.  Where is my month best spent?  Shaving off my principal on a loan meaning my interest will be reduced greatly over the years or earning that penny?   And once again, I’m not saying a certain amount.  Sure I would like to at least double my payment each month…but I’m not stressing about it as long as SOMETHING extra is paid!

3.       Weigh less!  I don’t care what I weigh at the end of the month as long as it is less then I weigh at the beginning of the month.  A hair less works!  Would I like it to be 10 pounds?  Or even 5 pounds?  Sure.  But ANY loss is a good one and considered a win!

4.       Be active at least 4 times a week. This is pretty easy to get….or at least it has been.  A simple walk outside with Jason after work suffices.  We do that pretty much every day. (I am not sure how the time change and the darkness that comes with it will affect us though!)   But 4 times a week…for a measly 20 minutes is doable.  I’m not asking for the moon.  I’m asking for just a few times!

5.       Keep my eating in line at least 6 days a week.  There will be events (hello Thanksgiving) and happenings that cause me to eat a bit more.  There are things that happen.  I have to show myself mercy and allow myself to have a day where I can eat more.  That day gives me the wiggle room to have a stumble and still not fail with my goals.  I would rather stumble and say “It’s allowed, so I better pick myself up because I used my one ‘get out of jail free’ pass!”  Versus “I messed up, I may as well eat every piece of chocolate that I see!”  That one day gives me room to mess up!

6.       Step count.  I know that they recommend 10,000 steps a day.  I would love to get that.  HOWEVER, with my lifestyle and work this is difficult.  So I am aiming for 5,000.  And yeah, that’s a struggle.  I allow an average of all the days of the month (and yes, those hikes save my behind many months).  I will also take out any days where I ride the bike instead of hike/walk.  If I’m spending my time doing something active that isn’t earning me steps, it shouldn’t count against me.  That’s my thought at least.  Once again…..grace and mercy!

Those are the standard monthly goals that I carry over from month to month.  And they will be my goals for the month of November for sure.  But November has a special goal.  IT has my Yogvember challenge.   For Yogvember I am challenging myself to at least three days of yoga each week.  Realistically that is my goal.  But I will let you in on a little secret…..I am actually aiming for 7 days a week!!!!

Goals are important.  But we have to make sure that they are attainable. We have to make sure our goals are not something that will actually derail us.   My goals are here….and with the room for stumbles, I’m sure that I can totally nail my goals in November!