ThursdayÂ’s Roller coaster post generated some really helpful comments. To be honest, I didnÂ’t intend for that post to convey such negative feelings. When IÂ’m blogging, sometimes I just let it flow and write what comes out of my head. Then, other times I think about every single word that I put into the post. Maybe, as with everything, I should find the middle ground a bit more often.
Whenever I write a post like that, someone calls me out and tells me to stop whining about whatever is bugging me and start doing something about it. In this case, as heÂ’s done many times before, Dan was the one who read the deepest into my post, analyzed it and provided some suggestions.
So it seems that lately IÂ’ve been talking a lot, but not acting on those words. Other than running, I havenÂ’t been leading the life of fitness that I want to lead. Yeah, IÂ’m in good shape, IÂ’m not gaining weight, and I eat relatively healthy. But I definitely could be doing more to get to the fitness level that I want to be.
LetÂ’s review my 2010 fitness goals which I now understand are good goals but unachievable without a real plan.
- 175 pounds
- <18% body fat
- marathon
- ultramarathon (50K)
We all know goals donÂ’t get you anywhere. YouÂ’ve got to have a Plan of Action to get those goals achieved. So based on DanÂ’s comments, hereÂ’s the POA to get me through the year. IÂ’ve organized the plan into two components–offline and online.
Offline POA Components:
Dan is right about one thing. I donÂ’t like to let people down. If IÂ’ve got someone depending on me, then IÂ’ll get it done.
But IÂ’m NOT ready to take his suggestion of hiring a hot co-ed to stand next to me while I work out. It probably would make for interesting blogging, but I think IÂ’ll just get back into the swing of things at the gym with a trainer.
If I pay a personal trainer to put me through the paces (including weighing in and measuring body fat) every other week, then I know IÂ’ll be sufficiently motivated to get to the gym because I wonÂ’t want to look like a loser if my weight and BF% doesnÂ’t come down.
- I will call the gym and schedule a meeting with a personal trainer TODAY!
- I will go to the gym on Wednesday and Saturday mornings so that I will be able to keep up my training runs on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday.
- I will track and log my calories using my iphone and will still input my “restaurant calories” to the best of my ability.
Online POA Components:
Several times IÂ’ve thought about giving up on this blog. But I havenÂ’t done it. One of the reasons for this is that I really want to be successful because you guys want me to be successful. Part of the reason why I havenÂ’t been successful at getting rid of those last pounds is that I havenÂ’t been posting my weight online like I used to do.
- I will post my weight @GFS once per week.
- I will update my calorie/exercise tracking via thedailyburn @GFS once per week as well.
- I will eliminate negative posts about what “what [I] wanted to do but failed to, or planned to do but couldn’t.”
- I will get busy doing instead of talking about doing it!
So there you have it–Concrete, measurable steps to help me reach my fitness goals. I wrote them, you read them. Hold me to them!
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
I wouldn’t excluded the posts about your setbacks. Instead make them useful by talking about how you overcame the setback. As Vince Lombardi said, It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up.
I’m sure these steps will help. Good luck!
.-= AndrewE´s last blog ..Weigh-in Monday #2 2010 =-.
I was going to say what Ken said als0. You are human and it’s nice to hear from people who don’t always try to project something other than that! What I mean is it makes it easier to align with you when you are honest.
That is great Mac. I am going to do the same thing. I have some plan of actions, but for other things they are just goals written on my master list. I think you can still have posts where you are not happy, or where you are whining. We’re all human after all.
I’ve been reading your blog for more than a year and I think this might be my first comment. I don’t read any other fitness blogs and what I like about yours is that it’s “real”. I do miss some of your more in-depth posts so I’m looking forward to your new goals!
I have a TON of weight to lose (like 130#….gross, isn’t it?) and hired a trainer in late September…it’s one of the best moves I’ve ever made in trying to lose weight! He keeps me accountable and reminds me of how far I’ve come when I get discouraged and he pushes me much harder than I’d ever push myself. Since you’ve mostly been running I think you’ll see some really great results by adding in weight lifting but you might want to consider lifting three times per week and adding in some other activites. I’m actually at the gym 6 days a week and have lost 33 pounds and 54 inches in 3 months.
I’ve been wanting to start a blog since I began this journey but wasn’t sure because I know mine would be quite “raw” at times and besides who can compete with you?? Haha! But your honest and open posts recently have inspired me to reconsider it again.
Anyway, keep up the good work and I wish you the best of luck on your renewed fitness goals. I’ll be rooting for you and reading about your progress! And no matter how fit you become you’ll still have challenges and sharing those with everyone is part of the blog and shows people like me who are WAY out of your league that even fit people
CM, Sonja, Ken–I have a hard time not writing the negative posts because I want the blog to accurately reflect how I’m feeling. That being said, I can still write about those negative feelings in a positive way and will strive to do that.
Laura–Thanks for commenting! I’m glad you had the courage to do so. Good job on hiring the personal trainer. Even though they are expensive, I find that they are a priceless tool in terms of the motivation that they provide to people like myself (and maybe you) who have a hard time getting in to that gym! Regarding my gym workouts–I don’t have a ton of extra time to devote to weightlifting because I’m training for my first marathon. I’m going to need a few rest days to let my body recover from the mileage that I’ll be covering over the next 16 weeks. So right now, 1 or 2 days/ week is all I can go for in the weight room. But, my fastest weight loss period was when I was lifting weights, doing cardio, and counting my calories at the same time. I just don’t feel like I need to lose that much weight very quickly anymore so I’ll take the slow and steady losses while concentrating on my running. Thanks for the great comment!
Sounds like you have a great gameplan Mac. Noticed you were training for a marathon, that’s awesome! Don’t forget to mix in a consistent, higher-intensity weight training workout from time to time. This will increase your lung capacity even more quickly than running itself!
Looks good. One thing I would add it the M part of POAM – Milestones. That’s what we use at work for emergency plan development and it helps drive activity towards a goal. Rather than only look at the endpoint, have midpoints (e.g., finishing the marathon by XX if the final goal is the ultra by YY) that you can use to gauge your progress towards the final goal. I also agree with Ken about not excluding the negative posts – venting is good. What you should keep an eye on (and the readers will call you on) is getting into a funk and focusing on the negative instead of moving forward. (THAT is where I get into trouble, and need to get back to posting updates myself.)
Good plan! I like that these changes are relatively small.
How did your phone call with the gym go? This is a good example of the kind of content I think you should post: yesterday I committed to calling the gym; here’s how that call went and what my next task is. It might be a four sentence post, but it’s positive and oriented around accountability. You’re working out every day; a quick post a day to confirm that you did it can function as a kind of “virtual accountability partner.”
Also, what does a trainer charge? You’ve had a bunch of experiences with trainers in the past, some good, some bad. Recap this for us. Also, in the past, we discussed setting very specific goals with the trainer, and in this case your goal is reduce your body fat. I’d be interested in hearing what the trainer says about this, what trajectory is realistic, and what do THEY expect from YOU in order to reach this goal? (I would think that with the amount of running you’re doing, combined with calorie restriction, that your body fat percentage would drop pretty steadily.)
This plan calls for your working out six days a week. All of your running workouts involve an accountability partner. Only one out four of your gym workouts do, though. I still think you should find a pal for this. But also, I think you should be realistic about the likelihood of missing workouts. Your gym workout is the easiest to sacrifice when conflicts and unexpected events occur. This is going to take some micro-adjustments. When a kid gets sick or the car breaks down, what adjustments can you make? Building some flexibility in to the system to handle the obstacles you can’t predict are important.
Excellent work!
Dan–The phone call with the gym went well. I actually called the personal trainer business that is across the street from my gym. We’re going to meet on Monday morning when the kids are at school so we can hash out a plan together. If all goes well after the meet and greet, then we’ll train together every 2nd or 3rd week.
Regarding what trainers charge: At the gym, they’re $70/hr when you pay as you go. The price drops down to $55/hr when you buy 10 sessions up front–and I don’t really like any of the trainers there. They seem young and unmotivated. They pay more attention to the pretty girls than the hairy old guys also. The trainer I called is having a “kick start” special that cost $169 for 3 (1hr) sessions.
I’m totally aware of the 6 days per week conundrum, also. I’m planning on being realistic about missing workouts–and if workouts are going to be missed, I guarantee they will be lifting workouts not running workouts. My priority until May is running. That’s the way it’s going to be.
Are you targeting a specific body fat percentage with the trainer? How will you judge whether your work with the trainer is effective or not? Clearly, job one is to ensure that you show up at least one day out of four, but beyond that I’m curious about how you’ll keep from feeling “goal-less” at the gym. Goals motivate you. The usual trainer goal — “improve core strength” — is not going to cut it as a motivating tool.
Dan–We haven’t actually met to hash out our goals yet. We’re doing that on monday. But without speaking to him yet, I think a body fat target is the best way to go. FYI–the one thing that he mentioned on our conversation that stuck out the most…”80% of your fitness success are nutrition based!” Yikes I’m in trouble.