S.M.A.R.T

Hey All! I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend! I was supposed to go to Cedar Point yesterday, but the plans fell through last minute and it ended up working out well.  Instead of going to Cedar Point, I went to the mall with a few of my friends and my hubby to go see a movie.  

Before we saw the movie my friend needed to get some new shirts/ties for his new job and I had a blast helping him pick out clothes.  We all pitched in and helped him pick out a few shirts and ties and this is what he ended up with:

You'll have to excuse the facial expression.  He was asking us which tie he should buy and I caught him at a weird point in the picture.  After we went to pick out shirts for him we headed to the movies.  We ended up seeing Snow White and The Huntsman.  Overall, the movie was pretty good and I would recommend everyone to go see it.  You definitely get involved with the characters and who doesn't love looking at Chris Hemsworth? He is just such a beautiful human being.

My scheduled run for Saturday was 8 miles and I have to say it was pretty difficult.  I got through the first 6 with no problem, then my legs decided that they had other plans for me.  During the longer runs I have been using the 2 minute, 1 minute principle and it has been working pretty well.  I run at 5.8 for 2 minutes then walk (briskly I must add) at 3.8 for 1.  The system was working great because I would average a 1/4 mile every 3 minutes.  I know that this isn't a very quick pace for the run, but when I am going longer distances, it is better than killing myself the first 2-3 miles then not being able to finish the rest.

This run was rather frustrating for me though.  Right in the middle of the run my hips/knees decided that they didn't want to go any further and I was forced to change the 2:1 ratio down to 1:1.  I could hardly get to the one minute mark by the time I reached the last mile, but I was able to finish and I am super proud of myself for doing so!

At the last Weight Watchers meeting they asked us to set a weight loss goal for the rest of the summer that we would like to meet by Labor Day.  It seems to me like Labor Day is a million days away, but at the same time oh so very close.  One of the things we talked about was the SMART principle in setting goals and it really struck me as a good general rule to live by.  What does SMART stand for you ask? Well let me tell you!

S- specific

M- measurable

A - attainable

R - realistic

T - timely

S - Specific.  When relating this principle to weight loss your goal needs to be specific.  We all understand that you want to lose weight but if you do not have a specific number in mind then you will most likely not meet your goal.  Specificity allows for you to focus on one point

M- Measurable.  Your goal has to be measurable.  In the case of weight, it could be the number on the scale, the number of inches off of your waist, or the size of your clothing.  You have to be able to track your progress otherwise you will lose focus.

A-Attainable and R- Realistic go hand-in-hand for this type of goal.  If I said to you that I wanted to lose 50 pounds by Labor Day you would probably think that to be a bit ridiculous.  In fact, I would have to lose over 1 pound a day to reach that goal! That is almost impossible, but more importantly, NOT HEALTHY.  You want to set a goal that that is within "arms-length" otherwise you will become frustrated and give up on your goal.

T-Timely.  This one, I think, is very important.  If you do not set a time frame for yourself, you will never reach your goal.   

My goal is to be down 15 pounds by Labor Day.  I chose this number because between last weeks meeting and Labor Day there are 13 weeks.  I would need to lose just over 1 pound a week to meet that goal.  To me, this seems like a reasonable goal to try to achieve.  Ultimately, I would like to be down 9 pounds by July 25, but I would have to lose about 1.25 pounds a week.  I think this is a reasonable goal, but I also don't want to over stress myself about meeting this goal.  We shall see!

Anyway, here is my weekly picture:

Again, I can't visibly see any changes, but I am sure I could if I looked at the first picture, then put it next to this one.

For Saturday's run, here are my results:

Time: 1 hour 58 minutes 54 seconds

Distance: 8 miles

Calories Burned: 944.6

Winded (scale 1-10): 7

Time of Day: 9:30am

Any Painful Spots: rib cage a bit.  No other spots though!

Song of Choice: None, watched HGTV again

Additional Notes: None today. :)

What types of goals do you have? Share them with me if you'd like and we can talk ideas on meeting our goals!

Thanks for checking in and I look forward to seeing you soon.

Over and Out.