I’m writing this on a Saturday afternoon. I went hiking this morning and I’m about to head out later this afternoon for some outdoor fun at the park. I weighed myself on Friday and the scale showed 230lbs. Goal Achieved! However, what about all my other goals?
If you recall from 2 weeks ago, my plan for the past two weeks was:
- No drinks other than water
- No sweets other than fruit (no dried fruit either)
- No beef
- Three runs per week
- Three weights workouts per week
Goals
- 1 hour run at 5.5mph
- 1 set of bench press at 255
- weight 230lbs
Results!
- No drinks other than water – Other than last night’s bar crawl, I think I did pretty good. Sure, there were a few rare diet cokes but they were the exception and not the rule. I’ve drastically reduced consumption of anything other than water and I’m well on course for kicking the soda habit completely this week.
- No sweets other than fruit – Here’s a funny story. Monday, two weeks ago, right after the original post was published, I walked into work and discovered that someone had brought back two giant bars of Toblerone candy from the UK. My friends know that I have a particular weakness for this candy, second only to my love of Lindt Truffles. So there I was, full of motivation and resolve and I failed on the very first morning. That’s right, I had a chunk of that chocolate bar, and not a particularly small one either. Don’t you hate it when that happens? You come up with a plan, you’re resolved to see it through and you get derailed on the first day. My response? Oh well, let’s try again. So no, I wasn’t perfect on this one either but my sugar intake is down to about 25% of what it was before.
- No Beef – I wanted to cut down on the heavy meats and I did. I had one steak while I was in Austin two weeks ago but that’s practically required by law. Otherwise, I was good and stayed away from pork too.
- Three runs per week – Done
- Three weight workouts per week – Done on the second week. On the first week I was traveling and the hotel did not have a weight set for me to work with.
Boy, this sounds pretty bad, doesn’t it? I only stayed true to one of my objectives… Except wait a minute, I did lower my soda consumption, I did lower my sugar consumption, I did reduce my beef intake and I did work out more. Hey, that sounds pretty damn AWESOME! To quote Voltaire, “don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” In other words, yes, I didn’t achieve 100% of my goals but I achieved them 75% of the way and that’s pretty damn good. I also achieved my weight, run speed and bench press goals so that’s pretty darn encouraging too.
Focus On Your Accomplishments
Seriously folks, I see and hear too many people who focus only on their failures and that’s a mistake. You can’t keep at something where you constantly tell yourself “I’m a failure, I’m a failure, I suck!” You have to remind yourself of all you’re accomplishing too. I didn’t get fit by always being perfect. Far from it. I make mistakes and I imagine I always will. I strive for perfection but I’m also quite happy with pretty much any progress in the right direction.
Second period
Plan for the next two weeks is:
- No drinks other than water
- No sweets other than fruit (no dried fruit either)
- No beef
- No bread (this is new)
- Three runs per week
- Three weights workouts per week
Goals
- 1 hour run at 5.5mph
- 1 set of bench press at 255
- weight 225lbs (this has changed)
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That’s it. One new food rule (I’ll miss you bagels!) and a slightly lower weight goal. I believe in success through gradual improvement and that’s exactly what I’m aiming for here.
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