Happy New Year. It wouldn’t be the month of January without setting goals for the New Year. Did you set New Year’s resolutions for 2016? You may remember that last year I set very specific goals for myself: I wanted to save $10k, I wanted to lose weight and I wanted to learn about SEO. I am happy to report that I achieved two out of the three.
Can you guess which two?
If you said money and SEO then you’re correct. I didn’t achieve any of my weight loss goal, not a single pound. In fact I actually gained weight. So this year I only setting one goal for myself, to lose 30 pounds – preferably by July 31, but I’ll take December 31.
I am looking at my weight loss in a whole new way this year and this is how I’m going to achieve it:
Ask for help from experts
It’s O.K. to ask for help when losing weight or with any New Year’s resolution. I’ve tried to do it on my own for a long time and I have come to the realization that I just can’t. I love to eat chocolate and bagels way too much, so I’ve enlisted some expert advice.
Financial Expert Jessica Moorhouse and Fitness Guru Jaclyn Phillips have created the Rich and Fit Challenge. It’s a 21 day plan to help change both your money and healthy habits for the better and it seems like exactly what I need. The challenge begins January 10 so if you want to get rich or fit in 2016 this may be for you too. I looking forward to getting expert advice on how to change my unhealthy ways.
Break it down into minor goals
I am sure we’ve all be told that what doesn’t get measured doesn’t get done. I am not really one to work towards large goals because I get bored and to be honest I find it counterproductive. I like to break down my larger goals into sub-goals and work towards achieving them on a smaller scale because it helps me stay focused.
Create a specific action plan
In addition to the daily goals set by the Rich and Fit Challenge I’ve decided to work towards one weekly and one monthly goal. My New Year’s fitness goal is to exercise four days a week which includes two one hour yoga classes and two 45 minute trips to the gym. I read in SHAPE magazine that strength and interval training are just as important – if not more – as cardio so that’s what I’ll be doing at the gym.
For my monthly goal I am going to change a.k.a. give up one unhealthy habit each month for 30 days. Hopefully at the end of the month I won’t want to go back to my old unhealthy ways. This is what I have in mind:
January – Stop eating chocolate
Why? I eat it probably twice a day now
February – Cut out bread
Why? I’m a vegetarian so I tend to over compensate on carbs
March – Don’t eat out
Why? I eat out a lot, sometimes all three meals per day. Unhealthy and expensive.
April – Drink only one iced tea every day
Why? I drink three or more per day right now. I love caffeine.
May – Avoid Diet Coke at all costs
Why? There’s nothing better with pizza or veggie burgers than Diet Coke
June – Stop eating pizza
Why? Because I eat it a lot and there’s a lot of bread and cheese which isn’t great for the waist line.
That’s six months of small goals that will hopefully lead up to my big major goal of losing 30 pounds by July 31.
What do you think? Should I add anything else onto the list?
If you want to discuss New Year’s resolutions for 2016 join me @TahnyaKristina and my co-host @CommonCentsMom tomorrow (Jan. 5) at 7 pm EST on Twitter for the #cdnmoney chat. We’ll be discussing how to set, work towards and accomplish all your goals this year.
PS – There are over $2500 in prizes to be won. So save the date and get your New Year’s goals on!
Your May and June goals are my biggies. I haven’t done my 2016 Goals post yet; however, I am supposed to be having my last Diet Coke tomorrow. Ugh! Why is it so hard to say good-bye to it?
Thankfully I am too lazy to shovel my walkway, so no pizza delivery! Finally a nice thing nice about snow. 🙂 I am saying no to chips/crackers in January. 🙂
It’s so easy to order pizza, and it tastes so good, and it’s cheap. Giving up pizza will be hard!