I still feel like I’m getting used to it being January of a new year, but we’re already a month into 2017. Time is flying so far this year! This year, I set a few small goals to work on over the course of the year. My plan is to check in every month, and potentially revise some of the goals a little bit as needed, but ultimately, keep track of my ongoing progress. And so far, I’m doing pretty well.
My morning routine is probably my favorite goal that I set this year: a round of 10 pushups, 20 lunges, 30 shoulder taps. I only missed it one morning, when I got completely distracted after waking up; I ended up doing it a few hours later, between hitting the gym and showering. So, not too bad! But in order to keep this challenging, I’m mixing up my routine for February. 10 spiderman pushups (inspired by this pushup variation video), 20 lunges, and 30 plank leg lifts. Not terribly different, and it should still take the same quick 90 seconds or so to complete, but I’m excited to try something a little bit different this month.
Five minutes of walking every night has been working out really well for me – I’m now totally in the habit of marching in place while I brush my teeth, wash my face, and get ready for bed. A lot of nights I end up walking longer than five minutes – which is the whole point of small goals. I only have to do five minutes, but often I do more. Winning! And when I’ve had a particularly sedentary day, sometimes instead of reading in bed, I’ll stand at the foot of my bed and read while marching in place. Yes, I look like a goofball, but hey – that’s what I live alone for, right? 😉
As far as my yearly goals to hit certain numbers: I’ve read 7 out of 100 books (which puts me one book ahead of schedule – more to come on that tomorrow), and skied 4 days out of my goal of 10 for the season (so basically right on track assuming I stop skiing after March). I also volunteered three times in January (all at Denver Rescue Mission), which was a little better than my goal of twice a month. I also just attended training yesterday to start an ongoing volunteer commitment with a new-to-me program that I’m pretty excited about. So basically – all the numbers are right on track!
Finally, I said I wanted to start cooking more and sharing what I cook. If you don’t already follow me on Instagram, check it out – I’ve been really getting into their “stories” feature that lets me post lots of silly stuff without worrying if it’s a good picture or not. (Hint: most of my cooking, while delicious, falls in the “not a good picture” category.) I shared my prize-winning chili earlier this week, and if I get requests from people on Instagram/etc, I might start sharing a few more recipes too. Potentially the lemon poppyseed protein pancakes I made this morning? Really easy but also really fluffy and delicious – and I made up the recipe as I cooked so you won’t find it otherwise. But a lot of what I cook is inspired by things I pin to my Pinterest board, so you can always check that for much prettier pictures than what I’m capable of taking 🙂
Really, my only goal that isn’t coming along nicely so far is my goal to PR in the 5K and go sub-20. I’m nowhere near that happening yet, and in fact, I feel really slow every time I hit the treadmill lately 🙁 But that’s in large part because I’m not hitting the treadmill often – which is about to change next week. New client in a new city where it doesn’t look like there are any ClassPass options, so I think the Marriott fitness center is going to see a lot of miles logged!
How was your first month of 2017?