Wednesday, February 12, 2014

5 Goals Update

So it has been one month since I posted about my “5 Goals to a Happier Life in 2014”, and I wanted to give an update on my progress with those.
Some things I have done pretty well on and others, not so much. But it’s only been one month and I think any progress is good!

So I posted that I wanted to lose 30lbs by the end of June and I had set a goal to lose about 5 pounds a month. Well I FAILED! In January I didn’t lose a single pound. I was lazy and didn’t even really try. So to give myself a little more motivation I decided to try a reward and penalty. For every month that I meet my goal, I get to reward myself with a new outfit. And every time I don’t reach my goal I then have to divide my remaining weight for the month to the remaining months. So since I didn’t lose any weight last month, I now have to lose either 10 pounds this month or more realistically 6 pounds a month for the next 5 months. I have also changed my mindset of why I want to lose weight. I’m not just doing this for me. I’m also doing this for my wonderful husband, because he deserves to have a beautiful, healthy, happy and confident wife. Not that he doesn’t tell me I’m still beautiful, but I definitely don’t feel it!

Now, I have done much better when comes to my goal of paying our bills on time and sticking to a budget. I have gotten on a schedule of paying the next month’s bills ahead of time to avoid them being late. Since we literally live payday to payday (more like payday to 5 days before payday!) it has been difficult to get all of our bills paid on time. But anytime we have some extra money I make sure to pay some bills ahead of time. That way we aren’t so short on money at other times.

I had set a goal to work on my relationship with my husband, and this has definitely not been easy! Mainly due to the fact that we live on completely opposite schedules. You see, he works the graveyard shift. So he goes in to work @ 9 pm and doesn’t usually get home until after 8 am and he works 5-6 days a week. So that leaves a 1-2 days a week where we get to be together after the kids go to bed. And usually by that time we are both so tired we don’t have to energy to even stay up and watch a movie! We ended up not having our monthly date night in January, but we are going to try to have at least two this month. We had a spontaneous date last Saturday. We were deciding what to have for dinner and decided to ask my MIL to babysit for a couple hours. We went to Costa Vida for the first time and loved it!! It was so nice to have some adult alone time!! Hopefully we will be able to go on another date next payday.

For my cleaning goal, I started a weekly schedule. I’m not super great at following it every day, but it has definitely helped me keep the cleaning manageable. I have one main cleaning chore that I do each day, then I make sure to do the dishes and de-clutter the front room every night. I have gotten better at making the Princess pick up her toys every night to help. I also made sure to leave the weekends free of specific chores and one day during the week to use as a sort of “make-up” day so that if for some reason I didn’t get one or more of the chores done I have time to get them done before the weekend. But I can also use that day as a “day off” if I need it, too. It has also helped with my motivation that the missionaries come over every Saturday. So I have to at least clean on Saturday if not any other day.

I have been able to spend more one on one time with my daughter. We have played her games like, Hungry Hippos, Candy Land, and Cupcake Party. As well as computer games on pbskids.org. I have some folder games that she loves to play and we started going to the library. The games have turned into a lesson for both of us about patience. She has very little of it if she has any difficulty at all, and it drives me insane when she just gives up the first time she gets something wrong.

So all in all, I think I have done pretty well at keeping up with my goals. There is still plenty of room for improvement and I plan to continue working hard on it! I think my main focus for February is going to have to be my weight loss. I really don’t want to have to add on more pounds to the next few months again!!!

I will continue to give monthly updates about my progress. Hopefully this will help keep me motivated so I can have something good to report!!!

Did you make any goals for yourself or even your family?

How did your first month go?


4 comments:

Unknown said...

I made goals for February, but only 4 of them (there's a post on my blog about it).

I'm... well kinda failing too. I wanted to take more photos, but haven't. I need to clean up my yard after a long and windy winter, and that's scheduled for this weekend because it's going to be beautiful outside (highs in the 80s). I haven't organized my bedroom yet like I'd planned but, I'm putting the yard first since people actually SEE it. And my plan to "fix my face" is coming along great - my acne is clearing up for the first time in years! I feel like I'm actually going to be beautiful on my wedding day (this June).

Have you joined up with other people to help you meet your weight loss goals? Would it help if you thought of it not as "weight loss goals" but as "fitness goals"? Weight loss is a term that has so much negative connotations with it, but fitness is good no matter what, and really, that should be everyone's focus anyway. Fitness isn't determined by the number on a scale :) I'm underweight and I am SOOOO out of shape. Like I've had to go to physical therapy for lack of muscle tone and muscle tightness because I stopped exercising. That's kind of embarrassing!

I just started yoga at home because that's my physical therapy. I actually hate it lol, but it's effective. I bought a beginner's DVD for non-flexible people. It was like $10. Maybe you could do something like that too?

In any case, good luck and thanks for sharing on the Facebook "Share your Blog Posts" page!

Unknown said...

Hey Stephanie, Thanks for stopping by! It is definitely not easy to stick to your goals! I'm so happy for you about your acne finally starting to clear up. I know how that can affect your self esteem. I battled with it for a long time as well. It still is not gone completely but its at least manageable. Congrats on your engagement, too!!

I haven't teamed up with anyone yet but my best friend is just about to have her baby (any day now!) and we are going to start walking together once she has recovered. I'm also going to start walking with my kids as soon at it gets nicer outside. And I actually love doing yoga! I hate doing cardio and weight training. I have a post natal yoga video that I love because it targets all of the areas that I need to work on after having a baby. But it's also designed to not be too difficult.
My main problem is finding the time with two kids, housework, and pumping breast milk. It wouldn't be so bad but most of my free time in the morning and evening (when I prefer to exercise) is taken up by pumping. So it's definitely a challenge!

daniela said...

Oh man, goals are SO hard! But I am glad you see your goals as progress ... that's what I try to do! I don't always complete my goals, but I try to see the good that I tried to do and reset my goals for the next month. And I agree - date nights are so necessary! It's healthy to have that one on one time. Also, Ava gets impatient when she gets something wrong or can't do something the first time, so I totally get what you are saying! Thanks for sharing, as always. xo

Unknown said...

Daniela-Yes you have to keep thinking positive because the second you think of it as a failure it gives you an excuse to just give up. I have noticed that since I have been trying harder to spend more meaningful one on one time with my husband, we have become even closer!