We are finally in the last month of 2021…what a year!
With a new month, it’s time for my monthly reflection on my previous wellness goals and sharing my new set of goals moving forward. I hope you enjoy it!
I’m linking up with My First 5K and More, Running With Attitude, Run Laugh Eat Pie, Runs with Pugs, and Zenaida for Fit Five Friday and Coach Debbie Runs, Confessions of a Mother Runner, Mile by Mile, Runs with Pugs, and Laura Norris Running for Runners’ Roundup!
November Goal Recap
- Execute my training plan for the Philadelphia Half Marathon. Grade: B. I already went into full detail of my performance at the Philadelphia Half Marathon, so I won’t get into it again LOL. But now that some time has passed, I feel much better about how things went. The course is hilly, I was running on newly recovered knees, and with all the mental challenges I had, I’m proud to have made it to the finish as strongly as I did! As many of you told me, I was WAY too hard on myself!
- Embrace my new nutrition plan. Grade: C. I have to be honest…every time I try to jump into meal planning, I find (at least) 2 other things to do instead! I had a good meeting with my new dietitian, but I am struggling a bit to get motivated. I do well with being given instructions, but I really do have to take the initiative in this effort. I’m going to be checking in with her again in a couple of weeks so I hope I can get it together by then!
- Go to bed by 10 pm each night. Grade: C. I just could not make this goal happen consistently. I’ve been craving my own quiet time and sometimes that means I end up in bed closer to 11 pm. I will say that I did have a few nights with over 8 hours of sleep, which is very rare, so I’ll take it!
December Wellness Goals
- Develop and practice a new meal planning routine. This month I want to focus on creating a routine that will work for me and that I’ll be able to practice consistently. So I think there will be a lot of trial and error. I already know that Sundays are not a good day for me to meal plan, so I’ll take it from there and continue to figure out how to make this work. Any tips or hacks that you can share would be appreciated!
- Complete 4 City Fit GIrls Stength Club workouts. Now that the pressure of race training is completely off the table, I want to focus more on strength training. The City Fit Girls app is awesome and I want to get it back into my fitness repertoire. Once a week seems like a reasonable goal!
- Minimize holiday and birthday planning stress. Christmas will be here soon and we’ll also be celebrating Baby E’s 2nd birthday in January, so I know that I am going to be stressing myself out trying to do all the things. I have to remember to give myself grace and remember that it’s all about spending quality time with my family, no matter how things go.
What are you looking forward to in December? Do you have any wellness or fitness goals before the end of the year?
I agree that stress is not a good thing but hard to avoid. That’s where running can help.
No big goals…just finish the year with 1000 miles which I am close to already.
but continue to get out and run no matter what the weather conditions are – no treadmill for me… Especially those weekend long runs as I have several half marathons planned for the Jan & Feb
Running definitely helps with the stress! Well for me, any kind of exercise is effective for me!
Congrats on reaching 1000 miles, that’s awesome! And I love the no treadmill goal. It can be a pain to head out when it’s really snowy/icy, but it always seems like it makes you stronger when you get through it!
Nutrition plans can be hard! I think you’re taking a very sensible step with developing a new meal plan routine.
I don’t plan my meals – in fact, I’m probably the worst meal planner ever. But I do have a strategy in that I mostly eat the same type of food: a lot of salads with varying ingredients.
Is your husband on board with your meal planning? That can make a huge difference.
It is reassuring to hear that others have found meal planning to be challenging! That’s great that you have a reliable strategy that works for you! My husband is the opposite of me, he doesn’t need to plan anything at all when he cooks, while my brain just can’t do it!
Oh, I just love the holidays in general. The lights and festivities make me so happy.
Meal planning is always the hardest thing for me. I have zero enthusiasm for it.
Such a wonderful time of the year! I’m looking forward to making new memories! Meal planning is the worst, lol!
Nutrition planning is not easy for everyone! I have my clients plan a few days at a time instead of a whole week. We come up with 3-4 proteins to mix up and into each meal. They will always have these on hand that they can add to breakfast, lunch or dinner. Planning 3-4 go to high protein snacks is helpful as well. Feel free to reach out if you have any q’s 🙂 Good luck!
Thank you Deborah! That is great advice, I may need to reach out as I continue to try to figure it out!
Awh, the little princess is almost two! How the heck did that happen??? I agree, you should be very proud of the Philly 13.1…you accomplished a lot, especially given all the setbacks you had to navigate through in recent months.
It’s crazy that she is going to be 2 in a few weeks! Thanks, Kim!
I hear ya on the holiday and birthday stress! Grayson’s birthday is December 15th, so this month is just a whirlwind. But we’re not doing a party so that makes it a little easier. But there is so much wrapping to do!
Aww, his birthday is so soon! I can only imagine how busy it is for you, hang in there!
It’s hard to get into a meal planning routine! I’m trying to do that more now, but sometimes I just default to a simple sheet pan dinner. I hope all goes well with E’s birthday! Definitely give yourself grace. I worked myself up more for Lala’s 2nd than I needed to!
Thanks! I definitely need to find those easy go-to’s that I can whip up for dinner no matter what! And thank you, I think we’ll have a nice small party for E at home and keep it simple!
I love your goals for this month, especially about minimizing stress. That’s so important all the time, but more so around this time of year!
Thanks, Kim! It’s too easy to get stressed this time of year, so I want to keep it at bay!
OMG I can’t believe baby E is coming up on 2! Where has the time gone? All the best with your goals. It’s been a flurry of travel and holiday parties here. My goal this month is to hold it together, be consistent with my workouts and minimize weight gain.
Thank you, Marcia! Those are great goals – holding it together can definitely be a challenge this time of year!