On Goals and Progress and Baby Steps
Jean Sexton muses:
Many people say you should set goals or resolutions on New Year's Day. That gives a shape to your entire year. This year, for once, I didn't even whisper "I resolve" to myself. I was too busy trying to recover in the hospital in Amarillo. In fact, I was moved out of ICU on January 1st.
I've decided that my goals are going to be set month by month. They may be the same (lose a pound a week, walk a little longer, walk a bit further, work on my balance), but each month I will start from where I am. I have a long way to go to meet my long-range plans (be at a healthy weight, be able to walk two miles, exercise a minimum of 40 minutes a day), but I will try to make progress each week on them. I can add a minute onto the time that I walk and do that until I am reasonably not really tired out by it. I can let my Wii show that my weight is trending down. (Yes, I know that by video-game standards my Wii is a relic, but it does what I need it to do.)
Why month to month? If I fail at a goal or my body isn't quite ready to walk faster, then I start from that point and move forward. I won't recriminate and brood on the fact that I missed the goal and that means I won't make the year's goal. I've done that before and then I give up on my goal. This way I cannot give up on my goal which is to be better than where I started.
I do plan on being forgiving with myself. During Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons, I think my goal will be to not gain weight rather than focusing on losing it. I do count walking in the grocery store as "walking" right now, because I get tired after shopping. (Remember that I never go directly to anything, but check out what produce looks good, what is on sale, and what would complement a meal I am planning.) With the Wii, if I cannot walk outside, I can take the time to walk inside. The idea is to make a little progress a bit at a time.
One of my friends calls these "baby steps" and reminds me that baby steps add up. With "baby steps" I weigh 30 pounds less than I did in January. When I got out of the hospital, I struggled to walk for five minutes at a time. Walking the tenth of a mile to get my mail (and another tenth of a mile back) was nearly an impossible trip even a couple of weeks later. I slowly built up to walking 10 minutes and then 15. Now I can walk half a mile and that takes around 20 minutes. In a month and a half I am doing things I didn't know I would ever be able to do again. And that walk to the mailbox? I am taking an indirect path back to my apartment so I get in a little extra walking.
Do I get discouraged? Of course I do. I am only human. But for me all I have to do is look at where I was a month ago to see how far I have come. (And if I forget that, my friends remind me!). And I look at this picture of me on February 21 (taken in Leanna's "girl cave") and see how much weight I have lost, see that I don't have an oxygen tank following me, and that (most importantly) I am alive which was not a forgone conclusion in December, 2015.
Please join me this year in trying to be a little healthier each month, in being a bit more forgiving of yourself, and in rejoicing in life. Take baby steps with me and let's encourage each other.
Many people say you should set goals or resolutions on New Year's Day. That gives a shape to your entire year. This year, for once, I didn't even whisper "I resolve" to myself. I was too busy trying to recover in the hospital in Amarillo. In fact, I was moved out of ICU on January 1st.
I've decided that my goals are going to be set month by month. They may be the same (lose a pound a week, walk a little longer, walk a bit further, work on my balance), but each month I will start from where I am. I have a long way to go to meet my long-range plans (be at a healthy weight, be able to walk two miles, exercise a minimum of 40 minutes a day), but I will try to make progress each week on them. I can add a minute onto the time that I walk and do that until I am reasonably not really tired out by it. I can let my Wii show that my weight is trending down. (Yes, I know that by video-game standards my Wii is a relic, but it does what I need it to do.)
Why month to month? If I fail at a goal or my body isn't quite ready to walk faster, then I start from that point and move forward. I won't recriminate and brood on the fact that I missed the goal and that means I won't make the year's goal. I've done that before and then I give up on my goal. This way I cannot give up on my goal which is to be better than where I started.
I do plan on being forgiving with myself. During Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons, I think my goal will be to not gain weight rather than focusing on losing it. I do count walking in the grocery store as "walking" right now, because I get tired after shopping. (Remember that I never go directly to anything, but check out what produce looks good, what is on sale, and what would complement a meal I am planning.) With the Wii, if I cannot walk outside, I can take the time to walk inside. The idea is to make a little progress a bit at a time.
One of my friends calls these "baby steps" and reminds me that baby steps add up. With "baby steps" I weigh 30 pounds less than I did in January. When I got out of the hospital, I struggled to walk for five minutes at a time. Walking the tenth of a mile to get my mail (and another tenth of a mile back) was nearly an impossible trip even a couple of weeks later. I slowly built up to walking 10 minutes and then 15. Now I can walk half a mile and that takes around 20 minutes. In a month and a half I am doing things I didn't know I would ever be able to do again. And that walk to the mailbox? I am taking an indirect path back to my apartment so I get in a little extra walking.
Do I get discouraged? Of course I do. I am only human. But for me all I have to do is look at where I was a month ago to see how far I have come. (And if I forget that, my friends remind me!). And I look at this picture of me on February 21 (taken in Leanna's "girl cave") and see how much weight I have lost, see that I don't have an oxygen tank following me, and that (most importantly) I am alive which was not a forgone conclusion in December, 2015.
Please join me this year in trying to be a little healthier each month, in being a bit more forgiving of yourself, and in rejoicing in life. Take baby steps with me and let's encourage each other.
posted by Federation Commander at 5:28 AM
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