The obligatory 2010 Goals post...

Yep... it's that time again. One where the bulk of the holidays are over, the fridge is packed with leftovers, the sugar rush is starting to abate, and my body and mind are craving some semblance of order and normalcy to return to my life. It sets ones mind to thinking ahead to getting through the next few days so the schedule allows more focus, and a little less fudge. ;)

I had to look back to see where I was last year, and I came across this from December 30, 2008:

January Goal/Plan:
- 3 interval workouts per week
- 1 45-minute cardio session to increase speed/endurance
- 3 strength training workouts per week

Weekly goals:
1. Lose 1.5 pounds of body fat/0.5% body fat a week.
2. Increase lean body mass by .25 pounds a week

Daily plan
- Track food intake
- Consume 40% Carbs/30% Protein/30% Fat (this is my experiment to see what macronutrient ratios work best for me.)

Yeeeahhh... As far as the fitness stuff went, I started out with a lot of cardio and some strength training. Foodwise I did well with tracking and mostly hitting the 40/30/30 ratios. As for the weekly weight loss/muscle gains... I learned that, with a hypothyroid system, it does what it wants in its own sweet time. I also keep forgetting that muscle gains don't happen that quick.

As the year wore on I found myself wanting... omgpleasekillmeifIhavetodoonemorebicepcurl
... something different. In late June/early July I took the plunge and started doing CrossFit.

::insert sound of angelic choir::

Wowza! Different (always)! challenging (you betcha)! Fun (99% of the time yes, yes, YES!)!

*ahem*

Above all else, it, along with a lot of work on my brain, helped me really make that transition from weight loss/get fit mindset to who the heck cares about what the scale says, how much weight can I lift?! I looked at CrossFit for a while the way you look at the punk rocker with a 3 foot green & pink mohawk.

Fine for them, not for me.

I realize now I just wasn't ready. It's not you have to read a lot into it - they have workout plans the same as anyone. Follow them and you'll see your endurance, strength and body composition improve, like any program/plan. The key element, for me anyway, is the continual challenge - always strive to beat _your_ best, not anyone else's. That carried me through the rest of the year and I'm sooo looking forward to improving even more in 2010.

Without further adieu, here's some goals for 2010. There's no timeframes or specifics at the moment... those will be fleshed out in the next few days when I put my goal poster together, but here's some general things going through my brain:

[Just so ya'll know, I have many other goals, such as financial, home, personal, etc... I'm just going to focus on the fitness oriented ones here.]

A#1 goal: Get that *#$& test DONE! January 15th! That's it!

*clears throat*

Moving on...

Crossfit goals:

I still consider myself a beginner and am going to be working may way up to doing stuff the "big kids" can do:
Handstand Pushup
Unassisted Pull ups & dips
Ring dips
Muscle ups
Rope Climb

Basically, get to the point where I can support/lift my body weight consistently.

To get there I need to:

Get a pull up bar
Get olympic ring set

Other fitness goals:

Complete the Walk to Rivendell - 458 miles. I'm a total Lord of the Rings geek so this challenge made me go *squee*. I did 430-ish this year, and barely made 200 last year. And heck, I may exceed it and move on to the Rivendell to Lothorien.

Enter 2-3 competitive endurance activities. Not sure if that means all 5K's, or working my way up to a 1/2 marathon. Or picking up a new bike and doing a triathlon. It's still a work in progress in my brain.

Periodize my workouts to off set intense weeks with dialed back weeks to prevent overtraining.

Which brings me to my next bit of goals: Nutrition

A couple of months ago I decided to hop back on the Zone band wagon... for all my talk about being more concerned with my fitness level than the number on the scale, it was bugging the heck out of me that the scale. wasn't. moving. It was really rather annoying. Once I really started to dial in the Zone stuff... blam-o, movement on the scale, endurance was doing better, bloating was down. Fabu stuff. So heading into 2010:

Continue with Zone way of eating - lots of veggies, minimal grains. Stick to 3 block meals/2 block snacks for January, re-assess in February.
Re-feed day once a week (or less/more as needed)
Alcohol - only on weekends and very special occasion week nights

The other aspects of my 'program' have everything to do with the measure of success I've had to date: accountability & self development. It's the things that help me stick to my program and keep going when I'd rather just say "Meh" (unless I need to say "meh" and then I listen to my body. ;)

Accountability: I plan my workouts and track them daily. I check in daily (or nearly every day) with my CrossFit group and a private group and share the good, bad & ugly.

Self Development: Read my affirmations 2-3x a day; Listen to at least 15 minutes of positive material, reading positive blogs/books and/or fitness related materials (*cough* finishing test *cough*)

Overall, the goal isn't to get from one weight to another, it's to get my body from here:


(with the suit that I have had since my wedding. I *am* getting in that suit and will look awesome... even if it's just in my own home cuz OMG can you see my scary pasty whiteness?!)

to here:



It's not a question of *if* this is going to happen, but *when* during the year I'll achieve this accomplishment and maintain it. You can be sure I'll be posting several photos when that happens! :)