Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail

Hello there, blogosphere. It has certainly been a while, hasn't it? I promise that I haven't fallen off the fitness wagon, just the blogging wagon.

But I am going to put my plans out there today so that I will stick to it and stick to telling you guys all about it.

First, let me tell you about some meal prep I have been doing recently. Not a great deal, just staples that I eat a lot. Brown rice is something that I eat almost every night. It is delicious.

A few days worth of brown rice. My favorite!

 These muffins are about 75 calories each, and they taste amazing. They are made by mixing cake mix and a can of pumpkin. That's all. And maybe a little milk to thin the batter. A great little snack if I'm ever hungry for something sweet. But I have to be careful to eat them in moderation!

Spice cake muffins with pumpkin. Tastes like pumpkin pie!

Oh, and my mini frittatas! I adapted the recipe from Child Mode and used what I had on hand, spinach and mushrooms. I haven't figured out the calorie count on them, but it is very low. And they are tasty!

Mini Frittatas with spinach and mushrooms

Here's what I'll be eating this week. 

Meal #1 (Whenever I get up or after gym) - 2 mini frittatas with 2 tbsp salsa or oatmeal

Meal #2 (12:00 pm) - Carrots and hummus

Meal #3 (1:30 pm - before work) - Turkey on whole wheat wrap with chive and onion cream cheese

Meal #4 (6:30 pm - before gym) Muffin and a banana

Meal #5 (8:00 pm - after gym) Salmon and brown rice

What do you guys think? Am I eating okay? Please, I am accepting input. :) My gym's owners are big believers in eating 5-6 times a day. So I'm going to try it. Smaller portions, of course. And of course, with this meal plan, goes my big bottle of water that I am going to try and drink and refill at least 3 times.

Am I getting too far in here? I already pretty much eat like this, but sometimes cravings get in the way and I end up binging and feeling guilty.I'm hoping if I have a plan and stick it on the fridge that I will stick to it!

And here is my work out schedule for the week:

Monday, 7 pm - Leg day / Cardio 

Tuesday, 7 pm - Upper body / Abs / Cardio

Wednesday, 9 am (possibly) - Upper body / Abs / Cardio

Wednesday, 7 pm - Full body

Thursday, 7 pm - Lower body / Cardio

Friday, 9 am (possibly) - Abs / Core / Cardio

Saturday, 8 am - Full Body / Cardio

Sounds like fun, doesn't it?

 What's your plan for the week?

Monthly Goals - October

I know I say this every month.. but oh my goodness it is OCTOBER. It seems like just yesterday it was New Year's 2013. And here we are, not too long before the end of the year. 

So, since it is now October.. time for some monthly goals to keep me on track! But first, how did I do in October?

September Recap

• Blog more here. FAIL. I got a new job, and life has been crazy. I know, excuses, excuses.
• Attend every boot camp. This is Monday (Lower Body / Cardio), Tuesday (Upper Body / Cardio), and Thursday (Abs / Core / Cardio). Try and take my cousin's advice and do arms again on Friday. SUCCESS. I missed my first class tonight because of a meeting at my new job.. I was late a few times, but when I got there I busted my ass for sure! Plus my new job is very active, so I am hoping it will even out.
• No more soda. No excuses. It is not nutritious. It is not good for my teeth or my health. JUST STOP DRINKING IT. I had to get tough love a bit, right there. I was channeling Dakota. (Not sure who Dakota is? Read about him here) FAIL. I love soda. It's hard. I do try and drink a lot of water, though.
• Eat better. I am not sure if I want to go back to counting calories because it is not something I am fond of, but I need to just straight up not eat crap food. I will not eat food that makes me feel guilty. How about that? SUCCESS. Doing better. Trying to cook for myself more. Making healthier choices.
• Lose 10 pounds. I am interested in what I can with the boot camp working out as hard as I do and eating better. I will be doing the best I can, that's for damn sure.SUCCESS. (to me) I only lost 3 lbs. in September (As of September 26th, a month from when I started boot camp) BUT I lost 8% body fat. I can tell a big difference in my body. I am going to focus more on that number rather than my weight, because obviously I gained muscle. 

First picture of me here. First full length shot of me that I have made public in a while.



Can you see the difference between that and this, from June?

I can. That is for damn sure.

Anyways.

Goals for October!

• Try to cook at home 5 of 7 nights/week. Trying to go back to what I said here, and making my goal quanitifiable. And "Eating better" to me can mean making better fast food choices, and that's not what I want.
• Lose 5% Body Fat. I know last month I lost 8%, but I don't know if I can again. 
• Post Twice A Week. This is a lofty goal, but I love blogging. I need it in my life to be accountable. I would say I don't have the time, but I do. I just like to spend it being lazy. But in October, my goal is to post 2 times every week. Meaningful content.
• Continue going to boot camp. I have missed one this month because of work. The problem is with my new job, I work until 6, and boot camp starts at 6. I might have to go to the ones at the gym.. But I love my trainers. So I am trying to do my best to get there around 6:10 if I can.

What are your goals for October?

How to Set Goals Like A Boss

When I worked at my last job, I took a work experience class, so that I could work and go to school at the same time. I learned how to make a kick-ass resume, but I also learned about the importance of goals. (Well, in that class they were called MLOs, or Measurable Learning Objectives). Your goals are the starting point, your progress checker, and your finish line. If you don't set good goals, how will you know when you are headed in the right direction?

Our MLOs had to have a time frame, what specifically is to be completed or learned, how it will be completed or learned, and how your goal is measured.

Have a Time Frame

I try to use this standard whenever I make myself new goals. I like to do the monthly goals link up, so my time frame is built in. You may have monthly, quarterly, and yearly goals. They say the most successful people also have 5 year goals, 10 year goals. Honestly, I don't have that skill yet. Need to work on that.

Be As Specific As Possible

I try and make my goals as specific as possible. My goal used to be "I want to lose weight" but now it is more like "I want to lose x number of pounds" or "I want to be able to run a lap without stopping". If you leave your goal open ended like that, you are going to weasel your way out. Tough love, baby. I know this from personal experience. For example, if your goal was "I want to lose weight" and at the end of the year, you lost two pounds, but didn't gain any self-confidence, or happiness, and possibly feel even worse than you did at the beginning, is that really a win?

Looking back at September's goals (I need to do another check in.. ) I didn't follow my standards as closely as possible. "Blog More Here" is not a good goal. Maybe that's why I'm failing at it? I mean, I am blogging more than before, but am I blogging as much as I want to? No.

"Eat better" is also not a good goal. How am I going to eat better? Am I going to go low-fat, low-carb, paleo.. am I going to eat 1200 calories a day?  I should've been more clear.

Have A Plan

Now that you know what you want to do, how are you going to do it? One of my goals this month was to lose 10 pounds. Every day that number seems farther and farther off than what's happening, but that's beside the point. My goal was to lose weight, and I had a plan of going to my boot camp classes and eating better food.  If you have a goal, you need to back it up with a plan.

Make Your Goals Measurable

Your goals need to be something that can be measured. Losing a certain number of pounds, "eating better" is not. Eating strictly Paleo is. Blogging "more" on this blog is measurable, but it could've been made even better by saying "I want to blog on Finding the Inner Skinny 3 days / week". But that goes along with being specific. 

and the one I've learned most recently..

Write a blog.

Write your struggles, your triumphs, and goals for the world to see. Bare your soul. It makes you accountable, and it also gets you some new friends. I loved my old blog, because it focused on what I love, design. But many of my bloggy friends just didn't connect with it. It was very niche-y. Here, everyone relates with my struggle, thanks to a obesity epidemic and a country obsessed with getting fit and strong. (I love this new trend!) I love the connections I have with my readers now. It just more cements in my goals in my head. Every time I almost break, I think, do I really want to go on my blog and tell them I failed? I am very competitive and I do not want to fail you guys. I have, don't get me wrong, but I have failed much less than I would have if I didn't have you guys. Thanks for that.

My favorite post on goal setting is by Nerd Fitness. Steve relates everything to Nerdy stuff. I love it. He goes in deeper than I did on How to NOT Suck at Goal Setting. 

Skinny Vs. Fit

So.. my blog name is Finding the Inner Skinny. But I have a confession to make.
I don't want to just be skinny. Honestly, I suck at naming things (seriously.. my kids will probably be something boring like John or Michael..) and Finding the Inner Fit was already a blog's name. 

I want to be fit.

I want to do a regular push-up and not have my knees on the ground.
I want to run and not run out of breath.
I want to have energy.
I want to be able to out-run Dakota. (It has always bugged me, even when I was thin. What did I tell you? I'm competitive!)
I want to wear a bikini and not feel frumpy or fat or any other ugly word.
I want to show off parts of my body that I never have before.
I want to feel healthy.
I don't want high blood pressure.

Some of these are shallow. I realize that.
But some are for my health. I am too young for high blood pressure. It is hereditary, and my dad has high blood pressure. But that doesn't mean I have to at 22 years old. 

I don't want to lose weight at the expense of being strong.
I don't want to be thin and weak.

I want to be fit.

September Goals Check In #1

Well, my loves. We are already a week into September. Can you believe it? I can't. I can't believe it is even September. The year is three quarters of the way done!

I have decided that if I am going to stick to my goals this month, I need to be accountable. And the best way I know how to stay accountable? Write it out on the internet, for the whole world to see.

Source

Here's a little progress report about how things have been going.

• Blog more here. About my struggles, what I am eating, how I am working out, etc. etc. TAKE PICTURES. Because I am totally failing at the pictures thing.  So far, so good. I am blogging more, right? And I am trying to make it good content. Feedback!
• Attend every boot camp. This is Monday (Lower Body / Cardio), Tuesday (Upper Body / Cardio), and Thursday (Abs / Core / Cardio). Try and take my cousin's advice and do arms again on Friday. Haven't missed one yet. Actually looking forward to tomorrow's class. It is so nice to walk away, sweaty as all hell, knowing that I just kicked old Jessica's ass. 
• No more soda. No excuses. It is not nutritious. It is not good for my teeth or my health. JUST STOP DRINKING IT. I had to get tough love a bit, right there. I was channeling Dakota. (Not sure who Dakota is? Read about him here) Have had a couple. So.. fail. 
• Eat better. I am not sure if I want to go back to counting calories because it is not something I am fond of, but I need to just straight up not eat crap food. I will not eat food that makes me feel guilty. How about that? I have been trying..but I am still giving into my urges too much. I am going to take the coming week and try and not eat out at all.. no soda.. just clean food. 
• Lose 10 pounds. I am interested in what I can with the boot camp working out as hard as I do and eating better. I will be doing the best I can, that's for damn sure. I have lost about a pound so far. I am putting this as success.. but I have to keep it up. This will get better as I get better with my food intake as well.

Well, there you have it folks. I am a positive person, so I will say I am heading in the right direction, but really I have a long ways to go. But, every time I get up and go workout, or choose water over soda, or make any healthy choice, it is still better than the old me and millions of other people. So I'm going to be positive.

But I will be cracking down this week on my food and soda!

How are your goals going?

The Struggle is Real

It's no secret that I am overweight. It's also not a secret that I am not very fit (at the moment, I'm working on it.) What you might not know is that I have never had to work very hard for the body I had. When I was thin, I walked to school every day, my mom made dinner every night. Things naturally fell into place. I took one weight training class in high school and didn't really try. I didn't know the struggle that I do now. It's not that I know how to exercise and just don't, I never really learned. It was never important to me.

I have never been into sports or exercise, other than swimming, and I didn't do it competitively because my mom thought I wasn't competitive enough. She was probably right. But now, I am into it. I actually was a little sad on Monday that I didn't have boot camp class because of Labor Day. 

Last night we did, however. And it kicked my ass yet again. But this time I got worn out more easily, which is to say it will get worse before it gets better. My body did not want to do what I was trying to get it to do. I just concentrated on one spot on the horizon and told that part of my brain to shut up. And that I was going for it. 

That's my advice to you today, don't listen to that voice in your head. It doesn't even know what its talking about. 

September Goals

It's no secret I have fallen off the wagon a bit. Okay, a lot. But I am getting back on track, God help me. I am trying to eat better (but there is a lot of room for improvement, get me?) I am working out 3 days a week (except this week, we have Labor Day off) and it kicked my ass last week. I hope this week it will be a bit easier. I hope after the pain I went through last week that I am a bit stronger and have a bit more endurance.

Regardless of the pain, I do feel a lot better. After Thursday, which was Abs / Core / Cardio day, I woke up and my whole mid-section felt tighter. Firmer. Like I had lost like five inches. I hadn't (if only that was how it worked) but it felt like it. Ever feel that?

This is totally off-topic, but I bought my first sports bras the other day. They are like the best thing in the universe. I wish sports bras and yoga pants were acceptable clothing everywhere. Congress, are you listening?! Why didn't I take advantage of this awesomeness sooner?!?!

Anyways, I decided that one way to get me to blog is to make goals. That way I know in my mind, I have goals I need to beat. I am wayy too competitive for my own good. I think that is part of the reason why I get so wore out at boot camp, because there is no way in hell I am going to be last. Don't get me wrong, weight loss is not a competition, and I shouldn't compare myself to others at different places in their journey, but I will be damned if I am last. But if I make goals, I get competitive with myself and have to win.

September Goals

• Blog more here. About my struggles, what I am eating, how I am working out, etc. etc. TAKE PICTURES. Because I am totally failing at the pictures thing.
• Attend every boot camp. This is Monday (Lower Body / Cardio), Tuesday (Upper Body / Cardio), and Thursday (Abs / Core / Cardio). Try and take my cousin's advice and do arms again on Friday. 
• No more soda. No excuses. It is not nutritious. It is not good for my teeth or my health. JUST STOP DRINKING IT. I had to get tough love a bit, right there. I was channeling Dakota. (Not sure who Dakota is? Read about him here)
• Eat better. I am not sure if I want to go back to counting calories because it is not something I am fond of, but I need to just straight up not eat crap food. I will not eat food that makes me feel guilty. How about that? 
• Lose 10 pounds. I am interested in what I can with the boot camp working out as hard as I do and eating better. I will be doing the best I can, that's for damn sure.

Are you setting goals for yourself for September?

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