Start at the Beginning...

And when you get to the end, stop.

Sound familiar?  I think its a line from Alice in Wonderland.

Sometimes goal setting can feel that way; like you're in a ginormous room and everything seems so big, confusing, rushed, and impossible.  Every goal you've dreamed up looks way too big to scale, too large to fit into your brain and your plans, too impossible to even seriously consider.

When you break goals down, however, they aren't as scary, or confusing as Wonderland.  It's when you try in your mind to go from Biggest Loser to Supermodel overnight that your unrealistic expectations fail you.  When you imagine that this shake, this pill, this cleanse, this one thing will FINALLY be IT and you will never struggle with your weight again, and be able to eat what you want and and and...and you wonder why your first week being healthy didn't produce such results.  And then you quit.  Why bother?  It's too hard.

But if you decide it will take you a realistic amount of time, say a few years, to go from obese to a healthy weight, and determine that there will be sweat...tears...setbacks...challenges...yet you DECIDE you will DO IT anyway, no matter how LONG it takes or how HARD it is...

Then, my friends, you will see success.  And a shrinking profile in the mirror.

How do I know this?  I'm living this.

I have been at this for 29 months.

Sound like too long?

Well, in 29 months, I've traveled this far:

And guess what?  It's still not easy.  It still takes work, planning, dedication, sweat, tears, commitment, soreness, rest, and support from my family.

While it seems to be taking forever, I honestly can't look at these two pictures and be frustrated with how long it has taken.  I can only look at them and be glad I've made my goals SMART.  Specific, Measurable, Action-Oriented, Realistic and Time-Bound.

All of that leads me to sharing with you my new fitness and health goals for 2012.  I'm very excited about these goals and hope you share in my excitement.

Goals - 2012
Weight (starting weight 192.6 after holidays)	Measure	Deadline
185 pounds - 100 pounds lost (recoup after holidays)	Scale	1/31/2012
180 pounds - wedding weight (105 pounds lost)	Scale	2/28/2012
175 pounds - high school grad weight (110 pounds lost)	Scale	3/31/2012
170 pounds -  less than my hubby (115 pounds lost)	Scale	4/30/2012
165 pounds - GOAL weight (120 pounds lost)	Scale	5/31/2012
Body Fat % less than 25	24.9/Body Bugg	3/31/2012
Track food consistently	Food Log	Ongoing
Exercise (or do something active) 6 days/week	Body Bugg	Ongoing
Running
Improve 5k time to less than 30 mins	29:59 or less	6/30/2012
Improve 10k time by 5 minutes (to 1:06 or less)	1 hr 6 min or less	9/30/2012
Train for a half marathon	Begin Training	6/30/2012

You will notice that my weight goals are broken down into small, manageable chunks.  Pardon the pun ...but realizing that my last 30 pounds or so are going to come of more SLOOOOWLY than the first 100 have...I needed to be realistic about it.

I am also not someone who loses 2 pounds a week.  I'm just not.  And I'm completely cool with that too.  Since I know my body so well, why would I set goals that were not possible or likely for me to achieve?

Not only are my goals weight oriented, but also my athletic pursuits have their own goals.  When I became a runner, I imagined just being able to run a 5k without stopping would be it, then I'd be satisfied.  I never dreamed I would LOVE it so much...run 6/5k races, finish my first 10k race and be contemplating half marathon training.

Gulp.  Now I said it out loud. Now it shall be so.

I'm so jazzed about this year.  I'm feeling great this week, being back on track with my food and enjoying the taste of nature's foods and eating much cleaner than I had been for awhile.  It feels awesome and I know my goals are attainable with being back on track with my exercise and my good, consistent eating habits.

If you are looking for good consistent eating habits, read my Food Guidelines post from February of last year.  I'm going to tweak it a bit later this week and repost as I've learned even more about nutrition and the like this past year.  And even more about myself and how I can be most successful.

Your journey may not look like mine; but hopefully I can inspire you to get started and be true to yourself when you set your goals.  Set yourself up for success, not for failure.  Be honest, be careful and be realistic.  Then, be successful.  Two years will fly by before you know it and trust me, it is so worth being on this side of that journey.  I feel like I'm running downhill and I have tons of energy to spare, even if this is truly one of the hardest parts of the journey.

Leave me a comment if you have a question or visit my facebook page.  I'd love to have you follow my blog as well. Knowing there are countless people out there who are reading my story really motivates me to get off my tater and achieve these goals.  I can't do it alone.  Join me!

~Clara