January 2, 2010

Goodbye 2009. Hello 2010!

I don't know about you, but I'm ready to put 2009 behind us and I'm looking forward to 2010 being a happy, healthy year! I don't want to waste time talking about how stressful 2009 was for us; instead I want to focus on lots of positive energy to kick off this New Year! Being that 2010 is the beginning of a new decade, I think this is the perfect time to make some changes.

We all have good intentions when it comes to making our New Years Resolutions but how many times have you started out super, duper excited yet within a very short period of time, you lose focus? It's happened to me before, but this year I'm feeling really motivated and determined to achieve my goals.

When first read about the Ten in 10 challenge that was started by Lori of The Recipe Girl; I knew right away that I wanted to participate. If you read The Recipe Girl or follow RecipeGirl on Twitter, I'm sure you've already heard about the Ten in 10 challenge. It's got a nice ring to it, doesn't it? Ten in 10! I decided that my overall goal is going to be to lose ten pounds in ten weeks in 2010! 🙂

This challenge was officially kicked off yesterday and you can read the details of the Ten in 10 challenge to find out how you can join. Anyone can participate and there is no deadline to sign up so you can hop on board at any time.

I’m working on a few new ‘work related' projects that are going to require a lot of focus and time. In order to get everything accomplished that I want to get done, I'm going to have to work harder and smarter. I'm going to try to get to bed earlier so I can get up earlier and instead of working in my office for a few hours before my workout, I'll be doing my daily workout first thing in the morning. That way I'll start my day off right and won't get irritated if something comes up that prevents me from exercising. If I don't have that time for myself to relieve some stress, I'm in an entirely different mood for the rest of the day.

Since I’m already on a pretty regular exercise routine and have still managed to hit a plateau that I can’t seem to get past, I know that there are several specific things that I need to do in order to reach my overall goal.

Losing a pound a week doesn't sound like an unrealistic goal, but I know it's not going to be easy. It's time to get serious and crank it up a notch.

Here are my goals:

• Go to bed earlier so I can get up earlier.

• Plan healthier meals for the whole week and do all grocery shopping on Sunday.

• I've never done this before, but I'm going to write down everything I eat.

• Work out first thing every morning, Monday through Saturday.

• Add 30 minutes of weight training two days a week after one hour of cardio.

• Go to Yoga class three days a week. (I feel so much better when I do this.)

• Walk or ride bike for 30 minutes after dinner at least two or three nights a week.

• Restrict “weekday” cocktails.

• Have a piece of fruit for afternoon snack instead of cheese and crackers.

• Weigh in every Friday and track progress on WiiFit.

• Try to squeeze in one of the Jillian Michaels workouts once a week.

• Add 15 minutes or so of WiiFit Hula Hoop a day or two a week. (It's a great workout, but also a lot of fun!)

For me, this challenge isn't just about losing the weight; it's about eating leaner, exercising more, managing stress, and just basically feeling stronger and healthier.

I’m hoping that by participating in this challenge, I'll connect with some of the other participants who have similar goals and we can help each other stay motivated and on track to achieve our goals for 2010. I'm really excited about this and would love to see some of our readers join this challenge.

~LilSis