13 in 2013 – Week 2 Update

1. Spend less, save more – this weeks money saving strategy…making my own tea rather than heading to Starbucks for a chai latte (or two) a week. Since I used up my gift card this past weekend, lattes are back to costing me $4.80 each 😦

2. Run a 1:58 half marathon – We have pretty much decided to run the GoodLife Fitness Toronto Half Marathon on May 5th. Next step – decide on a training program to get me race ready!

3. Try one new clean eating recipe a week – Last week I actually made TWO clean eating recipes.

• Clean Eating No Bake Honey Peanut Butter Balls

• Spaghetti Squash with Chicken, Pears and Parmesan

Both recipes made a ton! There’s enough for lunch all week!

4. Become a certified RPM instructor – I didn’t make it to RPM last week, but did ride the bike a bit at work. I definitely need to get my riding legs back if I’m going to go for training at the end of March. With BodyAttack release week just around the corner my focus this week will be on learning choreography, so realistically I will only be able to make it to one RPM class this week. I’ve penciled in a bike workout for lunch on Thursday with plans of returning to at least two classes a week starting the week of January 27th.

5. Do 10 chin-ups – After only 1 week of the program, I can already do 2 FULL chin-ups in a row! Crazy! I’m super impressed with my progress and feel like I might actually be able to do 10 chin-ups by the end of June!

6. Build Strength – This week I am starting a 12 week strength training program. It calls for 5 workouts a week, which I think is a bit much considering everything else I am doing. So, for now, I’m planning on doing 3 “hard and heavy” workouts a week.

• Monday – Quads, Glutes, Chest and Biceps – I actually did this one yesterday and loved it!
• Wednesday – Core
• Friday – Hams, Calves, Back, Shoulders and Triceps

7. Go to bed earlier – I did much better at getting to bed earlier last week, making it to bed before 9:30 every night except for Saturday (date night) and Sunday (9pm soccer game). I think this is the biggest contributor to my finally feeling better, and will make it a focus again this week.

8. Blog more – 6 days last week, yay!

9. Run 3x a week – Last week I actually ran 4x, Tuesday, Wednesday (twice) and Friday. I ran a total of 13.3 miles which took me 2:07:32, giving me an average pace of 9:34/mile. I burned 1356 calories.

I have now completed 27 miles…only 73 to go before the end of February!

10. Drink more water – I’m still struggling with this one. I lost my Nalgene bottle two weeks ago at soccer and was drinking from a metal one and did not like it at all. I could taste the metal when I drank and it was deterring me from drinking. So I bought a new BPA free plastic water bottle over the weekend and I’m trying to drink one full bottle each period while at work. So far, so good!

11. Read 52 books – I’ve just started my second book – House of Sand and Fog, by Andre Dubus III, and am having a little trouble getting into it. I’ve heard it’s a great book – it’s part of Oprah’s Book Club – it’s gotta be good, right? Hopefully after a few more chapters, I won’t be able to put it down!

12. Take at least 2 family trips – ​Still in the planning stages for this summer’s big adventures.

13. Date night once a month – Dylan and I went on our first date night of 2013 on Saturday, it was awesome! You can read a bit about it here.

How are you doing with your 2013 goals?

Share your successes and struggles in the comments action below! Lets keep each other on track.

13 in 2013 – Week 1 Update

Well, we are officially one week into 2013…how are you doing with your goals?

Here’s where I stand after week 1…

1. Spend less, save more – 👍Our budget is pretty much set, money is set aside for saving, pension buy-back and the kids RESP’s. Our home phone is cancelled and we got a better deal on our cable and Internet…bonus!

2. Run a 1:58 half marathon – 👍 Off season training has begun. I’m running regularly and have started lifting weights to build strength.

3. Try one new clean eating recipe a week – 👍 This weeks recipe was Eat Clean Hash Brown, Sausage and Egg Muffins from the Nov/Dec 2012 issue of Clean Eating Magazine. They were delicious! I’ve eaten them for breakfast and lunch and still have a few more left!

4. Become a certified RPM instructor – 👎 I only made it to one RPM class once last week and it absolutely killed me! I am still having difficulty breathing and my endurance has definitely declined from being sick for so long! I’m hoping to build up to 2 classes a week once my pneumonia fully clears up, but in the meantime, I will continue to struggle through one class a week.

5. Do 10 chin-ups – 👍 Week 1, workout 1, complete! I found out I actually CAN do a chin- up, who knew? Workout 2 is tomorrow, and 3 will be on Friday.

6. Build strength – 👍Starting next week I am going to be following a 12 week strength training program, so this week I am doing random workouts. Yesterday I did this workout designed by Fitness Cheerleader, and to be honest, I’m a little sore today!

Thursday I will be doing the Fitness Blender 1000 rep workout, and Friday I’m doing Tone it Ups, Toned in 12 Ab Circuit.

7. Go to bed earlier – 👎 I totally sucked at this one! For various reasons, I just couldn’t get myself to bed by 9:30! This is definitly going to be a focus this week.

8. Blog more – 👍 Last week I blogged 5 days which is exactly what I was hoping for, but I didn’t blog at all on the weekend, which is something I would like to do.

9. Run 3x a week – 👍 Done! I ran Monday, Wednesday and Friday, for a total of 1 hour 53 minutes, I went 9.6 miles and burned 958 calories.

10. Drink more water – 👎 I do really well with drinking water while I’m at work, but since I wasn’t at work last week, I did not meet my goal of 2L once! Brutal! This too will be a focus this week!

11. Read 52 books – 👍 I am 2/3s of the way through my first book and hope to finish it in the next few days. I have the librarian at my school pulling her favourites and hope to start book 2 by the weekend. Any recommendations?

12. Take at least 2 family trips – 👍 I would really love to take the kids on a beach vacation, but do not want to be using credit to do so. So, I’ve started a little savings account with hopes of having enough saved for a 2014 March Break vacation. As for our 2013 trips, I’m thinking camping for sure, and still need to come up with a few more ideas.

Any Ontarian’s know when bookings open up for provincial parks?

13. Date night once a month – 👍 My husband and I have tossed around a few ideas for our first date night of 2013. We are hoping to go out next weekend and will be securing babysitting tomorrow…hopefully!

Overall, I’d say I’m doing quite well!

I’m reading, I’m running, I’m lifting weights, I’m saving money, I’m trying new recipes and I’m blogging more!

Yes, I realize we are only one week in, but I’m super excited about goals I have set and the plans I have made. I think that my goals are very realistic and attainable.

My focus for this week will be drinking more water and getting to bed earlier.

How did week 1 go for you?
What did you accomplish? What did you struggle with?
I’d love to hear how you are doing! Share your highs and lows in the comments section below!

My Action Plan

Yesterday I wrote about my goals for 2013, now I need to take it one step further and devise a plan of action. So, here we go:

1. Spend less, save more – For this to happen, we need to create a family budget. Since my husband is self employed, our family income is constantly fluctuating, which makes budgeting for our family a little more difficult. I will be doing some research over the next few weeks on creating a budget with a fluctuating income and will have our budget hashed out by the end of January.

Right off the bat, I can think of a few small changes we can make to save more money.
– Meal plan and grocery shop only once a week.
– Get rid of our home phone (which we actually did today).
– Borrow books from the library rather than buy them.
– Shop at Costco for items we use/eat frequently.
– Eat out less.

2. Run a 1:58 half marathon – I plan on running two half marathons this year, one in the spring (May) and one in the fall (October). I have training programs that I’ve used in the past, and will be starting my official 12 week training program for my spring race in February.

3. Try one new clean eating recipe a week – I have a ton of Clean Eating magazines and cookbooks with recipes I want to try already flagged. Each Saturday I will choose what I will be making for the week so I can pick up everything I need on my Sunday grocery shop.

I’ve already selected my January recipes:
– This week: Hash Brown, Sausage and Egg Muffins – Clean Eating, Nov/Dec 2012, p. 40
– Week of Jan 6 – Spaghetti Squash with Chicken, Pears and Parmesan – Clean Eating, Nov/Dec 2012, p. 75
– Week of Jan 13 – Kung Pao Chicken – Clean Eating Classic Comfort Foods, p. 96
– Week of Jan 20 – Dark Fudgy Brownies – Clean Eating, Jan/Feb 2013, p. 56
– Week of Jan 27 – Leek, Potato and Cheddar Soup – Clean Eating Classic Comfort Foods, p. 26.

4. Become a certified RPM instructor – I am planning to attend the March 30/31 training weekend and will submit my Certification Assessment video before the end of June.

5. Do 10 chin-ups – I am very fortunate to teach two fitness classes this semester, and next semester too, and found this 3x/week 8 week training program so I’m all set to go!

6. Build Strength – I am committing to 3 strength workouts per week. I’m not yet sure whether I’m going to follow a specific program or do a variety of workouts, but will get that sorted before I head back to work on Monday.

7. Go to bed earlier – For me to be in bed by 9:30, I need to get the kids to bed by 7:30, make my lunch and give myself a bit of time to relax and unwind.

8. Blog more – My goal is to blog 5 days a week.

9. Run 3x a week – My plan is to run at work Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I will run on my prep or my lunch and if the weather is too bad and I can’t run outside, I will stop at the gym on my way home for a treadmill run. To be successful I need to run before picking up the kids because there is very little chance of getting a run in after that.

10. Drink more water – I will carry a water bottle with me everywhere I go.

11. Read 52 books – Read one book a week (on average).

12. Take at least 2 family trips – Our trips will most likely occur during the summer, so we have a bit of time to choose where we will go and what we will do.

13. Date night once a month – In preparation for monthly date night, we need to choose a date, secure a babysitter and choose an activity.

For more information on how to Plan For Success, check out Fitness Cheerleader’s 31 Days to a Healthier You.

Well, it’s 9:40, I’m off to bed!

Have you written out your goals for 2013?
Have you devised an action plan?

I’d love to hear what it is you want to accomplish in 2013, let me know in the comments section below!

Goal Setting

Now that I am ready to start the journey towards a Happier, Healthier, More Fit Me, I need to take a few minutes and actually think of what it is I want to accomplish. I’m thinking that the best way for me to do this is to establish some goals. Setting realistic and attainable goals is important. Goals must be clearly outlined, measurable, and have a time frame in which to be accomplished. I totally realize that some goals are going to take longer to accomplish than others, and that within my big goals, I need to establish mini-goals to keep my motivated and on track. After spending some time thinking about what I want to accomplish, I also realized that there are a ton of things I could set out to do. I am however, going to limit the number of goals I set so that I am more likely to stick to them and actually accomplish them by the end of June.

Health Related Goals Are:

1. Get my pre-pregnancy body back – I want to be muscular, strong, healthy and fit comfortably (and look good) in my pre-pregnancy clothes. Before getting pregnant with baby #2 I weighed 130 pounds, I would like to get back to that but don’t want to focus solely on the number on the scale. I know that if I am running and working out regularly, I am likely to build muscle and that may affect my weight.

Fitness Related Goals:                 

2. Run a 2 hour Half Marathon – I have signed up for the Toronto Women’s Half Marathon taking place on May 27, 2012. It will be my first race in almost 3 years so I will have to really commit to my training program. I will also have to eat well and make sure I get enough rest.

3. Improve my Upper Body Strength – I want to be able to complete the entire upper body conditioning track in Body Attack class.

4. Try Hot Yoga – I think that it will really help with my flexibility and I am hoping that it will help me to relax and de-stress.

Nutrition Related Goals:

5. Eat Clean – Now that I have established somewhat of a dinnertime routine as a mother of two, I need to actually start eating better and preparing healthy meals.

6. Limit the Amount of Junk Food I Eat – I am a huge fan of junk food and I absolutely love Coke! My plan is not to bring it into the house, that way, it’s not there for me to eat!

7. Limit my Chai Lattes to one a Week – I seem to have a bit of an addiction to Starbucks Chai Lattes and although I’ve cut down quite a bit since starting my maternity leave (I was having one a day), I still sometimes have 3 to 4 a week – yikes!!

Personal Goals:

8. De-Clutter – It’s time to get rid of all the junk around our house. My plan is to tackle one room a week so I don’t get overwhelmed.

9. Read More – I would like to read at least 10 books this year.

10. Save Money – Being on maternity leave means money is tight, I am going to stick to a budget and spend wisely.

11. Make time for Scrapbooking – Not only do I have a ton of great pictures to scrapbook, I also love how relaxing it is. I am going to go to at least one crop every two months, and try to make time during the day to do some at home.

Have you established your goals? Have you actually written them down? What are they and how do you stay accountable?  I’d love to hear what you are working towards and how you stay on track.