goshery

two miles a day - I DID IT.

 

Yesterday I got on my treadmill and walked two miles.

It was one year ago today that I got on my treadmill for the first time in a long time, stared at a blank wall and huffed + puffed for two very long miles.  It was the beginning of a journey to meet a goal that I set, which was to walk Two Miles a Day . . . for one month.  I'm not gonna lie, that first day was hard but super exciting.  I was proud of myself for setting a goal and getting started.

At the end of January I celebrated meeting my goal!  I had walked Two Miles a Day for a whole month, and it was getting a little bit easier every day.  I decided to continue the goal for the month of February and maybe even longer.

On April 10th I walked Two Miles a Day for the 100th day in a row.  At that time I noted that on 96 of the days I had walked on my treadmill, 1 day I had walked on a treadmill at a hotel and 3 of the days I had walked outside.  By that time walking was a habit for me and I commited to making it a year long goal, rather than just extending the goal one month at a time.

On September 8th I walked Two Miles a Day for the 250th day in a row.  I reflected back on all of the things I'd seen as I walked, including lots of videos when I walked indoors and ice covered lakes, blue skies, knee high corn fields, and sunsets when I walked outside.

Yesterday, December 31st I walked Two Miles a Day for the 365th day in a row.  It was kind of anti-climatic, because I knew a long time ago that I was going to reach my goal.  In fact, when I started walking I didn't even think about the fact that at the end of two miles my goal would be met.  At some point as I was walking it hit me, and I stood up a little straighter and walked with a little more gusto.

When I reached two miles I pushed STOP on my treadmill and had a little moment.  I didn't laugh or cry or jump up and down, I just stood there quietly and let it soak in.  I did it.  I DID IT.

june goals.

My goals for the month of June are pretty simple.  May was a crazy busy month for me and I feel like I need to catch my breath and catch up on stuff.  This has also been a very strange spring/summer here in Minnesota.  As I'm writing this post here in the first week of June I'm wearing a t-shirt, a long sleeved shirt, sweatpants and I'm snuggled under a blanket.  And I'm freezing.

So here's a closer look at my goals:

Work on my flower garden.  Just last night I spent some time cleaning out my garden from last fall.  There was a lot of new growth mixed in with dead stuff - it was a real mess.  It definitely needs more work and I'd like to have it looking beautiful by the end of the month, if not sooner.

Walk two miles a day.  Yes, the goal continues.  I've still been walking most often on my treadmill because the weather has been so dismal.  Whether it's inside or outside, I want to continue walking every day.  Some days my walk may be behind my lawn mower, but since it takes me three house to mow my lawn (with a push mower) it will definitely count towards my goal.

Design a custom order.  I'm working with a very special bride-to-be to design wedding invitations.  The goal is to have them ready to mail by the end of the month.

Go outside and enjoy the sunshine.  As I mentioned, we've been having cool + rainy weather, so I need to remember to get outside any time the sun is shining, because it won't be long and summer will be over (ugh.).

That's it folks.  Summer is a good time to take it easy and my goals reflect that laid back attitude.  I'm starting a new college course mid-June so I'm bound to have some homework to take care of as well.

Here we go June - let's do this!

two miles a day on vacation.

When I initially set the goal of walking Two Miles a Day back in January I didn't really plan to continue all year, but as month after month went by and I stuck to the goal I decided that it was something that I wanted to continue.

In May I went on a road trip to visit family in Texas and I knew it would take some extra effort to make sure that I walked every day.  The trip was a total of seven days including driving there, a few days at my Aunt's house and then driving home.

Day One.  I got up early so that I could get my walk done before we left.  I was glad that I did, because we didn't get to our hotel until 9 p.m. and we had to watch Scandal!

Day Two.  We arrived at my Aunt's house around 1 p.m.  We got settled in, had lunch and I told my Aunt about my goal.  My cousin's son was there and he helped me map out a route (thanks Joel!) that was two miles long.  Relatives stopped by throughout the afternoon; at 8 p.m. I had to excuse myself and head out on my walk before it got dark.

Days Three and Four.  I got up around 7 a.m. and walked right away before it got too hot.  It was fun walking in a new area and checking out the houses in the neighborhood.  I had my phone with and used it to log my miles (using MyFitnessPal) and listen to music.

Day Five.  I slept a little later and just didn't feel like rushing out to walk.  Instead I enjoyed a few cups of coffee out on the porch in my pajamas, visiting with my mom and my Aunt and just relaxing.  Then we went shopping, out to lunch, and shopped a bit more.  By late afternoon it started getting cloudy and we heard about the tornado in Moore, OK.  Because it looked like it could storm any minute I walked up and down the block my Aunt lives on rather than my "usual" route.

Day Six.  We left for our trip home and drove until about 7 pm.  Luckily there was a big parking lot and mall next to our hotel so we had a great place to walk (my mom joined me on my walk that night).  We walked around the parking lot, through the very big mall and then back across the parking lot.  It was a nice night and it felt good to walk around after hours in the car.

Day Seven.  We arrived home around 4:30.  It was pouring rain so I hit the treadmill once I got unpacked.

Did it take some planning to meet my goal?  Yes it did, but it wasn't a big deal.  On Day Five when I was worried about the weather my Aunt asked if I could just skip one day.  I explained to her that yes, I could skip a day except that once I skip one day it would be easy to skip another day, and then another.  The best way for me to stay on track is to walk every day without exception.

Two Miles a Day - five months down and seven to go!

Note:  you can read all of my posts about my goal to walk Two Miles a Day by visiting the Archives page and selecting the Two Miles a Day category.

may goal wrap-up.

Oh hey June!  Where did you come from?

The month of May came and went - fast.  Since the month is over it's time to review my May goals and see what I got done . . . and what I didn't get done.  Let me preface this by saying I didn't accomplish many of my goals.  Here we go.

Read two books.  Well, no.  I had such good intentions.  I didn't have any book club books to read in May, I had a nice, relaxing vacation planned, and my college course wrapping up mid-month so it's easy to see why I thought I would have so much time to read.  Instead the month flew by and when I was on vacation I spent my time visiting with relatives rather than reading, and I'm so glad I did.  I did bring a book along on the trip and I read a bit, but I didn't finish one book, much less two.

Walk two miles a day.  Yes!  Even on vacation I made sure to walk at least two miles every day.  I have a post planned for this week where I'll share more information about that.

Document a road trip.  Kind of? ! had grand plans to make a mini album to bring along on the trip and come home with it all done.  That did not happen.  I picked out papers and embellishments for the album, but I don't have a good way to print photos when I'm away from home, and the more I thought about how to print the photos the less fun the whole project sounded.  So, I "scrapped" that plan (pun intended) and didn't bring any crafting supplies with me on the roadtrip.  I did take a lot of photos and I'll definitely be put them into some form of scrapbook, but I haven't decided what format I'll use yet.  My mom, aka The Navigator, did document gas prices, arrival & departure times, etc. so in that sense we did document the trip so this goal wasn't a total bust.

Catch up on Project Life.  Ahem.  No, I didn't complete this goal either.  I did work on the album a bit, but the monthly spreads for March, April and now May are not complete.  Yet.

Get back on track with my blog post schedule.  Yes!  I did have the entire month of May scheduled and I stuck to the schedule, except that I had a few posts planned about the completion of my PL spreads, and since I didn't complete the spreads I didn't have posts for a few of the days that I was on vacation.  I've started schedulin my June posts and I plan to stick to the schedule again because it really does help me stay on track.  You can read about how I schedule my blog posts in this here.

The month of May was a really strange month and I'm still reeling from it!  Typically May is the month that I get outside to clean out my flower garden, mow my lawn, etc.  This year between going on vacation, really cool, wet weather and helping four friends with graduation parties I simply got behind.  On everything.  The good thing about setting goals is that it give you some things to focus on, but sometimes life just causes you to change your focus and that's ok.

I'm working on my June goals - watch for them later this week.

two miles a day.

When I set the goal of walking Two Miles A Day back in January I had a few people ask why I decided to walk two miles every day instead of walking four or five miles a few days a week or some other variation.

There wasn't any magic to the number TWO, but my thought was that two miles is totally doable both physically and time wise, and if I set a goal that was too hard or took too much time it would be easier to quit.  Another thing I thought about was if I set a few days a week it would be really easy to procrastinate and end up not walking for four or five days and then walking two or three days in a row just to meet the goal.  Saying I would do it every day meant that there wasn't any decision to make (should I walk today?) it was an every day requirement.

I was kind of worried that walking Two Miles a Day wouldn't be enough, but I was hopeful that the consistency of walking every day, especially compared to what I had been doing (NOTHING) would make a difference.  And it has.

Here you can see the difference it has made from January 1st to May 1st.  On the first of each month I have taken a picture of myself wearing the same outfit.  I sure wish I would have cleaned the mirror before I took the January photo.  I've rearranged the room a bit since January so the background looks different but I've been standing in the same place every month.

I got the idea to take a photo from Cathy Zielske, one of my favorites in the craft world.  Cathy documented a year long fitness and weight loss journey a few years ago and shared her progress each month on her blog.  Unlike Cathy, I wasn't willing to share a "before" photo until I had an "after" photo!  Actually it's more of a "later" photo because I have a ways to go.

I haven't lost much weight (about 15 pounds) but I definitely see progress, and that's very motivational to me.  I have a long way to go before I'll feel like this journey is complete - in fact it probably never will be.  Even though I haven't seen much progress on the scale I'm still committed to walking every day for the rest of the year and working on weight loss mostly by watching the size of my portions and paying attention to calories.

I'll continue to post about my progress and my goal to walk Two Miles a Day every day this year.  Feel free to share your story in the comments - I'd love to hear what others are doing to live a healthier lifestyle.

may goals.

May is here and it's time to set some goals for the month.  When setting monthly goals I try to focus on things that I want to accomplish while keeping in mind the "must do's" that aren't necessarily goals.  Things like working my full time job, going to school, routine home maintenance and cleaning don't make the list but also aren't negotiable.  With that in mind, let's take a closer look at each goal listed above.

Read two books.  The book club that I belong to isn't going to read a book or meet in May because four of the six members have graduations coming up and they have too many other things to get done.  I'm going to take advantage of that break and read a couple of books that have been stacked up just waiting to be read.

Walk two miles a day.  This is a goal that I set on January 1st and have continued all year.  I'm going to be writing more about this later this week.

Document a road trip.  I'm going to be going on a road trip this month and I thought it would be fun to make a mini album while on the road.  I haven't quite figured out if I'm going to invest in a small, portable photo printer for the trip, wait until I get home to add the photos or maybe buy a disposable polaroid camera.  I have some time to make that decision, but I think it will be a fun challenge to craft along the way and come home with a completed album.

Catch up on Project Life.  I'm so glad that I didn't commit to weekly Project Life spreads and instead took a monthly approach.  I haven't finished March or April, and I want to get caught up before the whole project falls apart!

Get back on track with my blog post schedule.  In January I used a calendar to plan out my posts for the whole month and it worked really well.  I used the same system in February and March but didn't get a plan in place for April.  That meant I was scrambling to get posts done, and I missed about a week along the way.  This weekend I'm going to plan out my posts for May because I think having them planned in advance leads to more cohesive posts, and definitely keeps me on track.

There you have it, five goals for the month of May.  In just a couple of weeks I'll finish my current college class and then have a few weeks off before the summer session starts.  Not sure what else will happen in May because the weather has been so unpredictable.  I'd like to think I'll get some yard work done and plant some flowers, but it snowed again this morning so we'll see how the rest of the month goes!

This month I'll also be celebrating my daughter's birthday, my great nephew's birthday, my step-dad's birthday and Mother's Day!  Whew!  What a month!

april goal wrap up.

April is over and we've only had a few nice days here in Minnesota.  I heard the weatherman say SNOW this morning and I plugged my ears and said, "la la la la" until he was off my screen.

Since the month is over I thought I should remind you of my April goals and let you know how I did.

Make 100+ graduation cards.  Done!  In this post I wrote about making the cards, which are done and ready to be given to my friends.  Any time I'm making lots of one thing the hardest part is figuring out the design.  Once that's done it's just a matter of finding the right materials, cutting everything out and then assembling.

Finish my Springsteen mini album.  Not done!  I didn't make any progress on this goal, sad to say.  I went on a scrapbooking weekend with some friends and this was one of the projects I brought with, but I just wasn't in the mood to work on it.  I have all of the photos printed and they are all in an album with divided page protectors so all I really have left is to journal and add some embellishments.  I'll get to it eventually, but it didn't happen in April.  And that's ok.

Read at least one book + five magazines.  Done!  I actually read two books and five magazines - what an overachiever!  I'm going to do a separate post about the two books I read, so watch for that later this week.  Three of the magazines I read were work related (HR Magazine) which wasn't really what I was thinking about when I set this goal, but I also read two HGTV magazines which were a lot more fun!

Walk two miles a day.  Done!  If you've been reading my blog for a while you know that I set this goal beginning on January 1st and I've kept (and comleted!) the goal every month this year.  If you are a new reader - welcome - and check out the archives to find all of my posts about this.  Four months, or 120 days, of walking two miles a day.  I'm so glad that I've made this a priority this year.  Last Saturday I should have walked right away in the morning but didn't, and the next thing I knew I was heading out for the evening and I hadn't walked yet.  That meant that when I got home at 10:30 pm I had to change clothes and hit the treadmill.  That seems kind of silly, but deciding that I WILL NOT MISS A DAY means getting up early or staying up late - whatever it takes to get it done.

I'm working on my May goals - watch for them tomorrow!

100 days.

When I finish my walk today and I will have walked at least two miles a day for 100 days.  100 days in a row!

I set a goal on January 1st, 2013 to walk two miles a day every day in January.  It was hard at first, and by "at first" I mean pretty much all 31 days.  I dreaded it every day and was so happy when I was done.  I made it all 31 days and decided to continue with the same goal in February.  And then in March.

Now it's April 10th and I'm still going strong.  On 96 of the days I walked on my treadmill, 1 day I walked on a treadmill at a hotel and 3 days I walked outside.  I walked on my birthday, on days when I had to get up an hour early because I wasn't going to be home at night, on Super Bowl Sunday, on Easter Sunday, and lots of regular days when there were so many other ways I could have spent that 40+ minutes.

At some point along the way it became a habit and more recently it's become something that I look forward to instead of dreading.  That, my friends, is a big deal.

I've also been watching my diet and I've lost about 11 pounds, maybe a few more because when I started this journey I didn't own a scale!  I bought one late in January so I'm not sure what my exact starting weight was.  I didn't take any measurements when I started but I know that I've lost inches because pants that used to be tight are now baggy.  Last week the first "random" person said, "you've lost a lot of weight!"  I refer to her as "random" because she's not someone that knows about the work I've been doing.  I've also received a few comments from people who know about my walking goal and have been super suportive.  It's great to know that people notice, but the real reward is feeling better and stronger.

I have a really, really long way to go before I reach my goal weight but I know that if I just keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep paying attention to the food that I'm eating I'll get there, it will just take a while.

I've been hesitant to say that I'm going to keep this goal for the whole year, but I feel like I'm ready to commit to that now.  Just 21 days to go and I'll be one third of the way there!

april goals.

I sat down last night and thought about what I want to accomplish this month and came up with a list of goals that isn't super long but will still be challenging to complete.  When I set goals for each month I have to keep in mind that I work full time and I'm going to school, so although I want to do it all there are only so many hours in the day.

Here's a little more detail about each of the goals I set for this month.

Walk two miles a day.  This has been a goal of mine each month this year and I've made it a priority to walk every day.  I'm going to do a more detailed post about my walking experience later this week.

Make 100+ graduation cards.  I talked about this yesterday but in case you missed it I have offered to make 20+ cards for each of my four friends that have high school graduates this year.  I know what a busy, stressful and expensive time that is in a parent's life so this is one way that I can offer some help.  I came up with a card design yesterday and tonight I'm going to pick up the supplies I need so that I can get to work on this project.

Finish my Springsteen mini album.  I went to see Bruce Springsteen in November and took a ton of pictures (you can read about my experience here).  I have an 8 x 8 album, lots of pictures, some memorbilia + supplies and a PLAN so now I just need to put it all together.

Read at least one book and five magazines.  I'm working on a book club post where I'll talk more about the book I'm planning to read this month.  In addition to reading at least one book I also need to work on the growing stack of magazines in my living room.  I subscribe to four magazines:  This Old House, HGTV magazine, Creating Keepsakes and Martha Stewart Living.  I've subscribed to other magazines in the past but lost interest in them and didn't renew my subscription.  The four that I still receive are the ones I love the best but I am way behind on reading them.  I'd like to get somewhat caught up so I decided to include that as one of my goals.

I'm looking forward to a busy month.  On top of the goals that I set I also plan to keep my schedule of posting here 6 days a week and I'll be providing updates all through the month.

What are your favorite magazines?  I'd love to hear about them!

march goal wrap-up.

I have to be honest, I'm pretty happy to have March behind us.  Winter gets long in Minnesota and by March everyone starts to get a little twitchy.  We want fresh air and warm sunshine, and we want it now.  The minute the temperature hits 40 degrees you see people outside everywhere, avoiding snowbanks on their walks.  Yesterday the temperature was in the 40's and I saw two women out running errands in shorts.

So, March is over and it's time to look at the goals that I had set for the month and see how much I accomplished.

1.  Read two books.  I'm really disappointed to say that I did not accomplish this goal.  By now you're probably starting to think that I never read but really, I do.  I've noticed that I haven't been reading as much since I got my laptop in January because I've been spending more time surfing the net.  That's not good, so I need to make a conscious effort to set the laptop down and start reading.  I did start a book and I'll talk about that in a separate post this week.

2.  Walk two miles a day.  YES!  This is a goal that I did complete.  As of 3/31/13 I have walked two miles a day for 90 days in a row.  I'll also be talking about this more in a separate post.

3.  Make at least 30 cards.  Oh, so close.  I actually made 24 cards in March.  That number will increase by a lot in April.  I have four friends that have kids graduating this year and I offered to make cards for them to hand out since you tend to give cards to a lot of your child's classmate the year they graduate.  Knowing that they don't have to buy a lot of cards is a relief for the parents that seem to be spending money left and right between graduation prep and pre-college expenses.  So, I'll be making 100+ cards in April and I'll post about that as it happens.

4.  Finish my February Project Life spread.  I completed this goal and posted about it here and here.

5.  Complete an order for a custom mini album.  I completed this goal about 4 days before it was due, which was a bonus.  I didn't take any photos of the album since it was made for someone else, but I can tell you that it was more about organization than scrapbooking.  There were only a few photos in the whole project, but there were years worth of notes and documents that had to be sorted and put into some sort of order that made sense.  It's always fun to make custom albums because they are all different and require some creativity.