SMART goals... revised.

My previous SMART goals didn't work so great. I did lose the 5 lbs I wanted to lose by December 31, but I gained back 2. It was the holidays. Oh, well. But even the slight weight loss didn't make that much of a difference.

One of the goals was to work out at least twice a week for at LEAST 30 minutes a session. That was the major problem. Food isn't always much of an issue for me. I'm a fairly healthy eater... even though I have a softspot for pastries, my willpower overcomes that weakness easily. I didn't get the workouts in, though! With our schedules, finding a 30 minute block is actually rather difficult. Instead of just finding a few minutes here or there (which I COULD do), I just waited until I did have 30 minutes of dedicated time. That failed miserably.

My job is extremely stressful right now, and I SIT a lot at work. I might be running from one building to another, but I'm still sitting 95% of the time. By the time I'm home, I'm exhausted. Hopping on the treadmill is the LAST thing I want to do.

So... here are my new and improved SMART goals. I think they're more realistic, and I'm not going to focus on how much weight I lose. My focus is to improve my health by more exercise, and I'm going to get moving gradually.

1. Week of January 16-20: wake up 30 minutes earlier and do 10-15 minutes cardio or strength-training each morning. This morning was strength; tomorrow will be cardio. That can be jumping jacks, jumping rope, or treadmill. At night, I will do another 15 minutes of strength-training.

2. Week of January 23-27: continue with morning schedule; increase evening activity to include at least 10 minutes of cardio.

In between the morning and evening mini-sessions, I'm also going to make myself walk away from my desk and move around for about 5 minutes or so... just around the perimeter of the office area. A brisk 5 min. walk four or five times a day should do wonders for my spirits, as well as my eyes (damn you, computer monitor!!!).

I asked the Farm Boy, Westley to bring the treadmill out of our back office/storage area--which does have a TV, but is so remote from the rest of the house that I can't get to a phone or kids or the front door very easily. Too easy to make an excuse not to do it. Moving the treadmill into our family room will remove those logistical excuses.

I know that I CAN do this. I'm only 15 lbs overweight, which seems like nothing to most people. But I know I'm not healthy, and it's only going to get worse if I don't tackle it now. It would be nice to fit into ALL my clothes again... not just the comfy clothes (read here: FAT pants).

You, Internets, can help me by asking me how things are coming. I'm a terrible liar, and I will feel like a loser if I have to say, "No, I didn't exercise at all today." Maybe I should strap the ol' laptop to the treadmill and blog from there. (Hey! Not a bad idea!) Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi INTERNETS! You're my only hope.