Saturday, June 13, 2009

Planning to succeed

I've put a lot of thought into how I plan to meet my fitness and health goals this weekend and I am hoping I have come up with a plan that will work for me.

First I am going to reorganize my goals, put like with like, because that just makes more sense. Oh, and I added a goal.

My Goals
1. Run a mile in 12 min. or less. (Current best is 13 min.)
2. Run 2 miles without stopping.
3. Take part in a 5K.
4. Do a set of 35 push-ups. (Current best - 20)
5. Do a set of 35 burpees. (Current best - 18)
6. Whittle my waist - get my waist measurement under 26 inches and my belly measurement under 31 inches.
7. Get my body fat percentage under 25%.
8. Become more flexible - be able to do side and middle splits.

My Plan
You'll probably notice that my plan is very open and not concrete. I like that because it allows me to adjust and make changes along the way. I need to not be too restricted, it just doesn't work for me personally.

I purposefully did not make any weight-related goals. This is about fitness and overall health for me right now. As I am not overweight, I don't think that I need to make any weight-related goals. I have also consciously decided to not have calorie counting be part of my plan. But I do plan to eat mindfully and log my food. This simply means that I plan on making a list of what I have eaten each day. Not an overly complicated or extremely detailed list, just a simple list to show that I am paying attention to what I put in my mouth and to keep myself accountable. For example, yesterday's list would read:
Breakfast (out)
1 pizza pretzel log from the Amish stand at the farmer's market
1 donut from the dutch bakery at the farmer's market

Snack (home)
2 beef sticks (think Slim Jim but... not mass produced) from Amish store

Dinner (home)
3 potato and cheddar pierogies
broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrot, green pepper and zucchini sauted in a little margarine
a little grated sharp cheese from a local creamery

Look! I have photos!

Veggies in the pan, just starting to brown up a little. Love it!


All plated up - yum!

Dessert (home)
1 piece blueberry crumb pie from Amish bakery stand at the farmer's market.

Pretty simple, right? In addition to that I am going to work on watching my portions, choosing lots of veggies and fruits, lean meats and whole grains. I also need to slow down and really paying attention to what I am eating. That's being mindful to me, slowing down and really seeing, tasting and enjoying what you're eating and trying to make healthy choices.

I also plan to exercise at least 5 days a week. I plan to do a lot of workouts that combine cardio and strength training. I would like to burn over 1500 calories a week.

Now onto my plan in relation to my goals...

Obviously my first three goals have to do with running. Running is very hard for me but I very much want to become a better runner and increase my running stamina and endurance. Currently I have been following the Couch 2 5K training program, though I am a little stuck at week 5. I have also mixed some interval training in with C25K. My plan is to look into some other training programs for new runners, find some additional workouts to try, in the hopes of improving myself as a runner. I will also try to complete the C25K program and will definitely continue with the interval training. (I am finding that I have a preference for the interval training right now.)

If any of you runners out there have some recommendations, I am all ears! Currently I primarily run on the treadmill. I'd like to do some more road running but my husband doesn't want me to run by myself (he doesn't think it's safe) but he doesn't want to run with me and I don't have anyone else to run with, so... treadmill. I also think I need to get new running shoes. How often should one buy new shoes?

Goals 3 and 4 are fitness goals and the only way I am going to achieve them is by getting stronger, which will allow me to build up how many repetitions I can do in a set. So obviously I need to work on getting in more strength training. I am going to try to do a workout that includes strength training at least 3 times a week. I did a 'goal test' today to see how many repetitions I could do for both push-ups and burpees and I managed a set of 20 push-ups and a set of 18 burpees. Of course, I did the burpees after the push-ups so my arms were tired. I perhaps could have done more if I hadn't done push-ups first. I had originally set each of these goals as a set of 25 but I wanted to challenge myself more after doing my 'test' this morning, so I changed that goal to 35.

Goals 6 and 7 will simply rely on me following my eating and exercise plan.

Goal 8 might be a little tricky but I am going to really work at it. I am already pretty flexible and I always stretch well after a workout. To try and increase my flexibility to the point of being able to do a split, I am also going to start stretching in the evening each day. Hopefully this will help me meet this goal.

So there it is. What do you think?

4 comments:

  1. You should replace running shoes about every 350 miles, give or take. If you start getting pains that weren't there before and nothing has changed (you're not going much faster, further, changed your form, etc) then they could be wearing down. 350 miles is about 9 months, probably. (That would be 14 miles a week, so they might last you even longer!)

    Your dinner looks delicious!

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  2. Good to know! My knees have been bothering me a little bit but I have been trying to go further and farther, so... But I think I have also had these shoes for 9 month too.

    Dinner was very good!

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  3. Good luck with your plan! I also need to slow down and be more mindful of what I eat ... I'm completely with you there.

    Hal Higdon has various training programs at levels from novice to advanced that you could check out. I'm doing an intermediate marathon program now.

    I can understand the hesitance about running outside alone, but I always do. I actually prefer it sometimes. I take my phone on runs longer than 10 miles (get shorts with pockets), I only run during daylight hours, and only places I'm familiar with (generally). You can carry mace, too.

    On the shoes, I usually can go about 400 miles before they need replacing. Admittedly, I push it, because I have to replace my shoes a lot.

    Good luck!!

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  4. I will check out Hal Higlon.

    I'm not hesitant about running outside, you have to speak to my husband about that one! He is way over-protective.

    Where do you get your shoes from?

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