Hello April

I have a feeling you are going to be a fantastic month, and I have a lot of goals to achieve while you are here, But first a look back on my March goals

they were,

 1. Work towards completing 5 cardio sessions a week and try and add in a small weights session

I still haven't managed to get 5 in a week but i am still working hard on it!

 2. Lose another 10lbs

Proudly completed

I am not 20lbs down in my Weightloss and still trucking on.

 3. Carry on with the 30 Day Shred

This I didn't do, the weather has been too nice for staying inside and working out, instead I have been hiking

 4. Make time to Read more (not fitness related but very important for keeping my stress down) 

I have been working hard on this one and while I haven't read as much as I would have liked I did start the fouth book in the Of Ice and Fire series and started a new Gillian Flynn book.

5. Keep a written food and exercise diary. I do currently use MFP but i really prefer pen and paper for keeping me accountable.

Yes! I have been using my new FITBOOK

Review coming soon.

 6. Try a new meal every week! (and blog about it!)

Yeah I had high hopes for this but honestly once I get home from work all I want to do is just throw something quick in the oven, no time for experimenting or photographing.

Now for my April Goals

1. Lose another 10lbs! 

Summer is creeping ever closer and those bikinis are calling my name

2. Change up my Cardio routines to reflect the weather

Hiking, Running outside (fear zone) Swimming along with the usual Spinning and Treadmill

3. Get back on the Yoga train

Now that I am losing weight at a fairly rapid pace, I think I need some Yoga to help avoid too much saggy skin!

4. Beat my PB on the Treadmill

Currently I am able to run for about 15 straight minutes on the Treadmill, I want to get to 20

5. Keep logging food in my FitBook and eating healthily.

Self explanatory.

I promise I am going to try super hard to not make my next post a recap of my April goals and instead attempt to actually publish a variety of posts this month!

in the meantime let me know what YOUR goals for April are?? 

Fitness Goals

In January i made myself some goals, not all of them were fitness related but most, so i wanted to address them and add a few more :)

My goals were..

1. cut out junk food and anything that is overly processed

I did pretty good on this one, i certainly cut waay down on the junk food and my general diet now consists of healthy proteins and vegetables so a definite tick for that!

2. home cook as many meals as possible and try and blog new recipes

This i did really well! i think in the past two months i have home cooked around 90% of my meals, its not always easy and i do find myself eating a lot of the same meals again and again, so i think i need to get on pinterest and find some new healthy meals to try.

3. CARDIO 5 times a week in some form or another

This goal was really hard and if i am honest with myself i don't think i managed it once in the past two months, however i am now spinning between two to four times a week and i am trying to fit in some 30 Day shred as well so i am almost there for this goal.

4. my weightloss goal from now untill my 2 year anniversary with my lovely boyfriend on Feb 12th is to lose 10lbs

I DID IT!!!!!

i managed to get that magic number 1 day before my anniversary and it made me feel amazing!

5. be consistent with my skincare routine seeing as my mum bought me a lovely clinque kit for christmas.

and last but not least

I definitely failed at this one :( I really did not get along with the clinique kit at all, so i switched it out for a Mary Kay one which i am LOVING but i'm not great at using daily :/

6. complete the 30 day shred eek!

Pfft! I haven't even made it past workout 1 yet, but i am still going with it. I am using it as a supplement to my spinning so only doing it once a week at the moment.

and now for my March Goals.. 

 1. Work towards completing 5 cardio sessions a week and try and add in a small weights session

 2. Lose another 10lbs

 3. Carry on with the 30 Day Shred

 4. Make time to Read more (not fitness related but very important for keeping my stress down) 

5. Keep a written food and exercise diary. I do currently use MFP but i really prefer pen and paper for keeping me accountable.

 6. Try a new meal every week! (and blog about it!)

2013, Goals, Promises and New Starts

So it is that time of year again when the world and their mother is writing down resolutions and breaking them a few days later.

This year i have decided to try and set myself small monthly resolutions that are easy to stick to...i hope.

so here are my January Goals

1. cut out junk food and anything that is overly processed

2. home cook as many meals as possible and try and blog new recipes

3. CARDIO 5 times a week in some form or another

4. my weightloss goal from now untill my 2 year anniversary with my lovely boyfriend on Feb 12th is to lose 10lbs

5. be consistent with my skincare routine seeing as my mum bought me a lovely clinque kit for christmas.

and last but not least

6. complete the 30 day shred eek!

Obviously my goals are very health/weight orientated as our summer holiday to California is going to come up real fast and i have dreams of being able to wear whatever i want on the beach!

I am using the Kardashian sisters as a little bit of inspiration ;)

Bloggers Biggest Loser . Fitness Goals 2012

Hey Guys today i am linking up for..

and today we are talking about fitness goals of 2012!

Mine are the same as always although this year i feel focused! 

my goals are...

1. first and foremost lose weight, i have been trying for many years to slim down and get my body healthier but so far i have no succeeded it is often down to following impossible diets, a lack of will power and an overwhelming sweet tooth.

But this year i shall be following the

This isn't a crazy diet which makes you cut everything of joy out of your life, instead its a healthy and easy to follow plan! my colleague is on it and she has lost a lot of weight without starving her into a bag of bones!

My overall weight goal is to get to 125lbs

2. start running, i have tried running so many times but i just hate it!! this year however i really want to work on loving it! so i am trying the nike + walk to run program! and hopefully i will run a 5k this year instead of walk one like i did last time!

3. stick to my goals! plain and simple

yes it will!!!!

True Life: I'm a Healthy Living Blogger ... sort of

I am teaming up yet again with fabulousbutevil and Mrs Monologues for their TRUE LIFE series. 

This time it is True Life: I'm a Healthy Living Blogger! to be fair though i think my title should read

 True Life: I'm TRYING TO BE a Healthy Living Blogger.

I am in the process of trying to shed 70lbs from my 5"2 frame, through eating healthy and exercising regularly.

 My journey has just begun started many times over, often i go full throttle for a few weeks or even months, before i get distracted, it happens in most areas of my life, so i am doing my best to learn to stick with something! 

One of the techniques i have started to use is short term goals, medium term goals and long term goals. In order to encourage myself to reach those goals i have worked out some incentives in which i can treat myself. because who doesn't like to spoil themselves once in a while? and how much better does it feel when you know you have worked for it?

Here's an example of how my goals and rewards work...

Short term goals

Goal -10lbs  Reward - membership at the local gym

Goal  -15lbs Reward - buy a M.A.C foundation

Goal  -20lbs Reward - new rain boots

For every 10lbs i lose i will reward myself with a larger/more expensive treat and for the 5's in between something smaller but to keep me motivated 

Medium term goals

I have set myself a goal to lose at least 2lbs a week, every week until Christmas, you can see that post here!

Now instead of focusing on my far far away goal of a 70lb loss, i focus on my weekly 2lb loss.

Long term goals

everyone has that ideal weight they would like to be right? mine is 120lbs, whenever i think about giving up on this i look at the dress i bought a few years ago when i was losing weight but never got into, or i log onto MyFitnessPal and look at what i have done so far, or i visit Pinterest and look at all of the amazing weight loss/ exercise inspiration that is floating around! it really keeps me going!

now to break up this word heavy post...

Not that any of my readers are fat! but i sure as hell am ;)

If you would like to follow my journey or even better join me in it you can keep up with what i am doing my clicking the tab that says weightloss at the top of my blog!

Setting Goals and Rewards

One of the hardest things for me when trying to lose weight is sticking to it! I do great during the week and then Saturday rolls around and the BF offers me a beer which in turn ends up being a handful of chips, another beer, a slice of pizza and an extra 3lbs to end the week, which of course doesn't put me in the greatest mood for the new week. 

So i have been thinking of ways to combat the temptations and i thought i would share them with you.

• Setting reasonable weekly weight loss goals, although i know i could push myself the whole week and lose 5lbs i also know that if something happens to throw me off it can be very disheartening if i don't make the goal, so by setting myself a minimum 2lb a week goal it makes it easier to achieve, plus if my goal is 5lbs and i only lose 4lb it is a disappointment, if my goal is 2lb and i lose 4lb it is an added bonus.

• setting out small rewards to go with the goals, I'm not talking every week get a reward because i lose 2lbs, that wont make the bigger goals special, but saying to myself if i can lose 8lbs in the next month then i will treat myself to that pair of earrings i have been wanting for ages.

• Treat Meals, i learnt this from my personal trainer last year, every week i would have one treat meal on a saturday (or whenever i picked) it doesn't have to be something full of fat but it meant if i was craving a bowl of cheesy pasta all week, or a bag of crisps, i could have them without feeling guilty. I think by allowing treats it stops us breaking down and binging on them late at night.

• Pintresting motivational pictures- This is something new i have been trying, sometimes seeing something that you want to achieve can motivate you to work harder for it... here is one of mine..

• one last thing i do is think about the clothes i want to fit into, in fact i have my favourite goal dress hung up in my bedroom so i can always see it. and i have to say seeing it when i wake up definitely motivates me to keep going.

Sorry for the text heavy post today, i hope you enjoyed it anyway.

Do any of you set yourself rewards when you meet weight loss goals? or any goals for that matter? what kind of motivations do you use?

and remember...