Not Waiting Until Monday

I posted earlier in the week on my Facebook page about how getting exercise makes me think.  Sometimes I enjoy the direction my thoughts go and sometimes I don't.  I can really relate to Ann who talks about negative thinking and how it gets to her.  That's how my thoughts go sometimes.  Sometimes I really just get down on myself, thinking "there is no way I can do this. My legs hurt, I just need to stop.  I'm never going to lose weight.  I'm not good enough to do this.  I'm just going to fail again."  But then I just keep putting one foot in front of the other. 

On my Facebook page, I announced that I had some ideas rolling around in my head and I would start posting them after my Iron Girl event this Sunday in the Twin Cities.  But earlier in the week I was reading Hank's blog over at The Business of Losing Weight.  He was posting about the five things that hinder weight loss.  The first item on the list was "Waiting until Monday".  He wrote about how everyone's excuse it to wait until Monday but realistically we should just start right that moment the idea crosses our brains, the moment that self-doubt sets in. 

So that's what I did.  I couldn't even get work done until I got the goals written down while I was at work.  I wrote some goals on paper and then narrowed them down to three achievable goals to complete in 100 days.  100 days from Wednesday ends on December 28th 2012.  I think this is perfect because then I can evaluate my progress and make some goals for the new year. 

Here are my goals for the next 100 days:

1. NO EXCUSES
2. Lose 30 lbs
3. Run a 5k in 35 minutes or less

 Of course, the coaching supervisor in me asks for some action plans.  Action plans are the specific steps I am going to take to achieve each goal.  Here are my action plans for my three goals:

1.  No Excuses
     - Take ownership of my actions
     - Keep the goals in the forefront of my mind and my decisions

2.  Lose 30 lbs
    - Do some sort of cardio 45min/day, 5 days/week
    - Lift 3 days/week
    - Eat clean w/ one cheat meal per week (this was something I had to be honest with myself about)
    - Track calories on MyFitnessPal.com with a daily goals of 1500 calories (if you want to follow me there, my user name is my first and last name, no spaces)
    - Drink 100 oz of water daily

3.  Run a 5k in 35 minutes or less
    - Push myself during running workouts
    - Do some speed work on the treadmill or outside.

The next three blog posts will touch on each of these goals, why they made the first 100 days, and how I am doing on them.  Last year at this time, I made weekly mini goals and was able to maintain most of them through the end of the calendar year.  I contemplated doing that again but they didn't ultimately get me to reach my goals. 

So keep coming back to read.  I plan on posting on Sunday night or Monday morning about how Iron Girl 2012 went.  Here is to starting now and not Monday!

Ps. 94 days until Christmas.  If you want ideas for me: Running tights, long sleeved bike jersey, recommendations on good sports bras for us smaller chested ladies.  Smart Wool socks.