Goals and Dreams

Well today I have been thinking a little about what my goals and dreams are. I think that dreams are the things I want but are not immediately attainable and some may never be reached. I can only work on my side of things so dreams that require other people to change may never happen but I can still hope.

Goals are benchmarks that I plan to reach at some point or at least work hard to get there. Goals I can work with but I need to accept my limits. That doesn't mean I can't push those limits at times but I am talking about setting reasonable goals. For example a weight loss goal of 40 pounds in a months is not possible for someone who is only 40 pounds overweight. I am not having weight loss surgery or having liposuction so it won't be happening. A goal that pushes the limits would be something like loosing 40 pounds in 4 months. It is not impossible but it would be extremely hard. I would have to limit my diet severely and workout a lot. If I were not going back to work I would say that could be done if I didn't wavier in my convictions. I don't want to try that I would like a goal that is going to be work but not one that will be so hard I am unlikely to make it. So I have decided on a goal of loosing at least 5 pounds a month until I reach my goal of a healthy weight. I lost 5 in January now I need to loose 5 this month. Including last month that would be 40 pounds in 8 months.

I am working on some financial goals like that too but I have so much trouble getting my husband to work on that with me. It stinks to work up a budget and have him not care and not want in on the planning of our future. He just wants to live life and have me manage the details. I hate it because I also have to make most of the decisions on my own. Good thing is he is a hard worker and he is not mean but I am a planner and it is sometimes really hard to live with such a passive person. So my big goal is to save to pay cash for a house and some smaller things are putting aside money for that tattoo I want when I loose enough weight and a new treadmill and a good set of free weights. I don't need a new treadmill now I have an extended warranty so it can be fixed if it breaks. It is getting pretty old so I am thinking that if I start a replacement fund now I will have no excuses not to work out if it breaks when the warranty is up.

None of those goals are impossible if we can sell the duplex eventually and bank the money from the sale and ad it to our savings it would only take us a few years to save up for a moderate house. If we want something more expensive I am also fine with paying for at least half the house price but I can't even get my husband to let me know what he is looking for in a house so that is going to be a challenge when the time comes.

I need to start making some other personal goals but I am not sure where to start. I might start with figuring out how to keep a cleaner house or how to be a better wife or friend. I am sure there are little things I can do for each area that would really help me.

Oh yes I wanted to journal my workouts here on this blog as often as possible so here it goes. I went 3.6 miles yesterday in 71 minutes on the treadmill. I had a 5 minute warm up to get my heart rate above 140 and then I did a bit of jogging to raise it above 160 so I could slow down for awhile and still keep it above 140. I realized that my work outs up until now have not been getting my heart rate up much at all. I also added a slight incline so I didn't have to jog the whole time and will up that as my bad leg gets used to it. I did a 6 minute cool down so I had a full hour with my heart rate in the target zones.

I also got my Weight Watchers materials out again and I will be trying to follow that plan until I can get a handle on this healthy eating thing. I might check ebay for a Weight Watchers cook book to help me with cooking so I am not having to figure out points in every recipe I make.