Bouncing off the walls with newbie-joining excitement...

[connally7]

Hello, all you lovely people!

I turned 23 this past Tuesday, and reality suddenly hit me like a not-so-subtle ton of bricks. I am still three semesters away from a Bachelor's because I've worked my way through five majors, am over 60 pounds heavier than I was in high school, and spend very little time improving myself in any of the hobbies/activities I enjoy such as soccer, photography, or music. I spend every year saying "I'm going to be healthier/skinnier/more financially secure/happier/etc." and yet, have done little to nothing to accomplish any of those things. I have the attention span of a roving tree frog and a new life-long dream every other week. Never a solid goal to work towards, or a specific plan for the follow through. After reading a few articles on here, the lightbulb sputtered on. No more vague statements and meandering through life, waiting for it to get better. But no more.

Clear goals. Clear strategy to meet those goals. Clear rewards once those goals are met.

I am currently 5'2"-ish and 181 lb. Eventually, I would like to be between 125-135 lb., wherever I am healthiest. I'll be tracking my measurements, which I'll take sometime this week, and by taking a bi-monthly photo.

So, the specific goals:

1. switch to Paleo completely by Thanksgiving (11.22.2012)

2. have a savings account by Christmas (12.25.2012)

3. finish couch to 5k barefoot by 1.1.2013

4. fit in a dress size 6/8 by 4.1.2013

And the rewards for when I destroy those goals:

1. book an hour massage

2. purchase a pair of Vibrams

3. get my next tattoo

4. buy a new dress (up to $50) for a friend's wedding in April

Thanks for reading my introductory ramblings. I'm excited to be part of such a vibrant and supportive community:) You guys are inspiring!

Much Love,

Connally

[Animal_Nerd]

I just signed up too! This site has so many great posts and articles, I've found them helpful already! You have quite an impressive goal list, best of luck with achieving them! Keep us posted

[Diezel]

Welcome connally7! I like that your goals are specific and have a date attached. They sounds like great goals! I also like that none of your rewards are food related. I always want to reward myself with food which undoes what I have done. Good luck! I hope we can help keep you on track.

[connally7]

I just signed up too! This site has so many great posts and articles, I've found them helpful already! You have quite an impressive goal list, best of luck with achieving them! Keep us posted

Thanks! I know, I practically devoured every article I came across on here. I am a big fan of the honest, straight-forward writing style. Very helpful. I will definitely be updating my goals. Having an online support group is super exciting for me:)

Good luck with all your goals as well!

Welcome connally7! I like that your goals are specific and have a date attached. They sounds like great goals! I also like that none of your rewards are food related. I always want to reward myself with food which undoes what I have done. Good luck! I hope we can help keep you on track.

Yeah, I really aimed at keeping the rewards as things I never allow myself to do (mainly, splurging on "luxury" items) and not food (uhm, chocolate? lol). Though it does seem like such an easy and sensible reward. Thanks for the encouragement:) I'm super psyched to have supportive people to keep me accountable, and vice versa.

We're all in this together! (...and cue old scarring Disney musical soundtrack to begin playing in my head. Sigh.)

[connally7]

Thanks! And yeah, I have some small steps (mini-goals) within each goal to help me reach the end point. For example, I'm scheduling a walk/jog around 10-12 minutes 3 times/week barefoot for the next two weeks to help loosen up unused foot muscles and get used to running barefoot. I could extend it to three weeks, all depending on how I feel. And then start on my couch to 5k schedule.

The reason a savings account is a goal is because I've been on my own since 18 and have acquired some debt. Nothing major, but working full-time while having a full or overloaded course load was killer, and I barely squeaked by, especially financially. So some student loans and such, just enough to make my whole paycheck disappear each month. I've had a savings account twice in the last five years, but something big always happened to drain it completely and it was a struggle to get it back up, so I just went ahead and closed it last year so that I wouldn't have to worry about a minimum balance. But I know that's a bad spot to be in, so I'm examining my budget to see where I can cut costs and start building a savings back up again.

I haven't had soda since February, but I work in a tea room that has ah-maz-ing sandwiches! Like, seriously, they might be my kryptonite and of course, I get them at a killer discount. So my goal is to figure out other things on the menu I can have instead of the bread-heavy options. And I'm a pasta nut, so cutting that out might be difficult. So for now, bread and pasta are the two big things I'm working on cutting out.

Congrats! Yeah for new and smaller-sized clothes! I'm totally a thrift-store junkie as well. I'm excited to meet my goals since I gave myself rewards that I would never actually do otherwise, like spend money on new clothes. That way, there's no guilt involved like there usually is when I try to go shopping. I earned those new clothes!