Putting my chips into the pot

I've been dancing around the subject of getting serious with my fitness for the past few weeks, playing games, dipping my toes in the water and backing away.

The spring weather we've had here over the past week though has straightened my priorities out. It seems to have had a similar effect on my wife.  So we're both putting aside the half-ass attempts and getting more serious -- with what has worked for us in the past and what we know we have to do now.

In a game of cards, there's a time when you say, ok, this hand is worth sticking with for a while, let's see where it goes. You decide you're okay with doing more than just anteing up and folding when things get serious.

It's time to put a few more chips at risk and let your opponents know you're serious. 

So I'm raising.

Goals - Week 2

So, the first week of my experiment had these goals.  I've added my comments and "grade" for each.

Salad for lunch, MWF.  1/3.
I ate salad on Monday, a vegetarian soup on Wednesday, and went out for Thai food on Friday.

Fruit snack every workday afternoon.  4/5.
I forgot my fruit one day, but otherwise had no problem with this one.

 No beer Sunday - Thursday.  5/5!
Success!  This is about Calories not alcohol, as I'm not trying to alter my drinking habits for any other reason. 

Three walks.  0/3
That's right, a big fat zero.  I've been overbooked at work and busy at home, with some home repairs and a toddler teething and ... well, these are all lousy excuses.

Total: 10/16 (62.5%)

Plenty of room to improve.  Plus I ate too much fried food and too many sweets. 

So, my goals for next week?  Let's change it a little bit...  Fine tune the goals and add a different area of focus.

• Salad for lunch, 2 days of 3 (MWF).
• Fruit snack every workday afternoon, and no vending machine cookies.
• No beer Sunday - Thursday.
• 2 walks
• Only permitted 2 deep-fried foods.

Iterative self-development

I set up some goals for myself this week ... it's a little game I am going to play to try and stay motivated.  Each week I will set some small goals and just focus on achieving them, and not sweat the big picture.  Not yet.  Get some small victories under my belt first.

My goals for this week:

• Eat salad for lunch Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
• To have fruit for snacks every workday afternoon.
• No beer Sunday - Thursday.
• Go for 3 "real" walks, indoors or out.

It doesn't sound like much but it's a few bricks in a row, and that's what I feel I need right now.

Today's progress: Salad and yogurt for lunch - check.  Apple for mid-afternoon snack, bypassing the candy on the admin's desk - check.