Brand New Year, Brand New Goals, Brand New Planner

Last year was, to say the least, anti-climatic in terms of my weight loss and fitness journey. Strongish start, training for a 5K run that I completed in June, but then catastrophe struck mid-summer when I partially tore my Achilles tendon and basically stopped all forms of exercise. In retrospect, and after having completed my first swim of the year, I should have started swimming again when the pool opened in September, but at the time, my motivation to get out of bed in the morning was non-existent, and so here I am in January doing the walk of shame into the gym with all the other "back-atters" out there.

Not everything about last year was a write-off, if I sum it all up:

• Completed my New Year's Resolution to run a 5K race
• Lost 10lbs overall (first time I've had a net loss in a VERY long time, about 10 years!!) BIG WIN!!
• Found a real kick-boxing gym and re-discovered my love for hitting a heavy bag
• Found a portion guide that I really like
• Found a good milestone guide for weight loss
• Found several menu plans that are healthy and give me a variety of foods to eat

And probably my biggest accomplishment was the development of a program that lets me measure what I consider to be the most important habits I want to develop, and reward myself when I reach my goals. 

To start, here are my New Year's Resolutions for 2015:

1. Run a 10K (scariest goal)
2. Take a Krav Maga Beginner/Intro course (most exciting goal, see note about my love for hitting a heavy bag)
3. Unpack my boxes (have my house to myself for the first time since moving in; want to get it organized)
4. Do my taxes
5. Complete my PMI-PBA certification - left over from last year
6. Save $2500 towards Machu Picchu

Next up, the plan.

I first had to figure out what big timelines I had, and then what daily habits I wanted to develop or strengthen.

Not difficult, really, just getting detailed and required a calendar and a calculator. Still not weedy, though - that's up next.

High-level timelines (after a few adjustments) look like this:

• 10K planned for June 6
• Krav Maga probably in September
• Unpack 1 box per week, should finish in the fall
• Taxes are due April 15th, my target is end of February for this year, and some time in the summer for my back taxes
• Being audited for the PBA, so need to chase down the last of the paper work and then schedule the exam
• $105 scheduled to be moved into a savings account twice a month for the next 12 months

And now the weeds.

• What does going from sedentary injury recovery to running a 10K race in 6 months look like?
• How do I prep for Krav Maga so that I don't drop dead during my first warm-up session?
• What other daily habits do I want to develop?
• And how do I motivate myself to do all of this?

Because it's the shortest, I'll start with the details of the daily habits I want to develop/strengthen.

1. Healthy eating
2. Regular exercise
3. 8 glasses of water/day
4. Take daily vitamins
5. Brush and floss my teeth twice daily
6. Apply moisturizer twice daily
7. Apply hair product twice daily
8. Meditate twice daily
9. Get to work on time

Once I'd figured out what I wanted to focus on, I needed to figure out how to measure progress and motivate myself to stay on plan. This called for a daily tracker, and a two-tier rewards system. I scoured Pinterest for samples of planners and then I went into Publisher and started drawing boxes. What I've ended up with is this: 

• Water: 8 checks, 1 daily point
• Vitamins: 3 checks, 3 daily points
• Teeth: 4 checks, 2 daily points - must do one of each type for a point
• Skin: 2 checks, 2 daily points

• Hair: 2 checks, 2 daily points
• Spiritual: 2 checks, 2 daily points
• Food: 1 point for following a meal plan, 1 point for calculating calories eaten
• Exercise: 1 point each for: Morning, Evening, and Routine
• Timing: 1 point for getting to work on time.

This gives me a daily total of 18 possible points. If I get 110 points in a week, I get a reward.

In addition to daily point tracking, I am able to track my satisfaction after each meal, how I'm feeling overall during the day, how I feel about my workouts, jot down a note if needed, and track weekly stats.

The rewards for reaching 110 points in a week are one of the following, depending on my mood: new book, game or movie, flowers, manicure, pedicure, hair colour. 

The second tier of rewards are for when I lose weight, as follows: 

• 1lb: new magazine
• 5lbs: TBD
• 10lbs: Massage
• 10% loss: 3 new outfits (work, casual, workout)
• 25lbs: 50$ SDM GC from Sara 
• Next 10%: Massage
• 50lbs: 3 new outfits (work, casual, workout)
• Next 10% loss: Massage
• Next 10% loss: 3 new outfits (work, casual, workout)
• 75lbs: KitchenAid attachment
• Next 10% loss: 3 new outfits (work, casual, workout)
• Goal: Laser Hair Removal