Posts Tagged ‘November’

Happy November: Beating the Winter Blues

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

First and foremost, I want to do a mini recap of my “Setting goals for October” post since we have now entered November – time for new goals, or rather time to achieve the previous goals that were left behind act.

In case you’re like me and have a bad memory, here is a brief overview of my “Setting Goals for October” post.

October Goals Revisited:

  • 45min to one hour of exercise or activity most days of the week (It doesn’t matter what -just get moving!) - I did on average 5 days of cardio, not all were 45 min, some were more and some were less so it’s safe to say it balanced out :)
  • Wake up 30 min early a few days to do some cardio before work (I’ve done this before and it really helps keep your energy up throughout the day – it’s just getting out of bed that sucks!) - Truth be told, this happened only once. 
  • Grocery shop on Saturday or Sunday to prepare foods for the week (so I can limit eating out.) - Could have done this each week, probably happened twice this month. I definitely ate out more than I wanted, but less than I have in the past!
  • Try new recipes! - I give myself an A+ for this one.
  • Stick to three meals a day (been on a snacking frenzy this past week and that needs to stop!) - I give myself a D- for this one… snack attack at its finest this month.
  • Work on my self-discipline!!!! (Halloween is around the corner and that = candy overdose) - The best I can say here is – WIP (work in progress)

Here’s my calendar full of stickers :)

I would love to say that I accomplished all of those listed goals, but for the sake of making this an honest blog – I won’t. I also forgot to add that signing up for a race was another goal of mine and I actually signed up for two (thank-you-very-much.) What I didn’t say was that I’d actually run the race… guess the joke was on you! Just kidding :) My first 5k is this Saturday and I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve been training for exactly a month now and I think I’m ready to go for this one… it’s the 10k on Thanksgiving that I’m worried about because with my luck we’ll have a crazy snow storm. Crossing fingers.

Let’s focus on November and how to beat those winter blues by setting some goals – and sticking to them ;) There are 23 days or a little over 3 weeks until Thanksgiving. That’s a perfect amount of time to start a workout routine/better eating habits and keep them going throughout the holiday season.

 Here are a few of my personal goals for the upcoming 3 weeks:

  1. No sugar – It takes about a week and then you no longer have cravings, but you must do this cold turkey. (Sugar = anything that ends in -ose, white starches (because those are ultimately sugar,) and all sweets.
  2. Continue my 5x a week exercise regimen with 3x a week running.
  3. Drink 8-10 cups of water a day.
  4. Complete my first 5k and 10k ;)

Remember, when you list out your goals you feel more accountable. Also, go buy yourself some stickers and a calendar. You’ll love how it looks at the end of the month – I promise!

Note: If you “cheat” on the weekends including Friday, that’s a total of 12 days which is almost half of the month!!! Keep that in mind! Thank you TIU for that reminder :)

“And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed.”

– Dr. Seuss