I’ve made a decision to improve my health. I’ve set some reasonable goals. Now I need to take some action steps.
Some of my goals have easy action steps, like regularly attending an exercise class at the gym. However, some of them are more difficult for me to figure out, like finding healthy snacks. I think the easiest thing to do is to list out my goals again and put some details with them. Whenever I look at my goals, I’ll have a clear action plan already listed with each one. So here we go.
Track what I eat and when I exercise
I took a closer look at sparkpeople.com, and I think I’m going to use this site to track my activities. They have a great setup for tracking meals, water intake, exercise, pounds and more. As long as I log in at least once a day, it should be fairly easy to keep up with my tracking.
Regularly attend a group exercise class at the gym
I discovered a free Zumba class at my gym. It both frightens and delights me. True, an aerobic dance class is really just a way to discover everything you hate about your body, but it’s also a great way to exercise for an hour without realizing it. The class meets twice a week, leaving me just one day to fill with other physical activities.
Find healthy snacks that will satisfy my need for crunchy, salty, sweet and filling foods between meals
This is the hard one for me. I love to snack; it’s a part of my natures. I’ve tried to overcome it by eating 100 calorie snack packs (not satisfying), fruits and vegetables (not filling) and low-fat granola bars (both unsatisfying and unfilling), but I just can’t get the hang of healthy snacking. So I’m going to check out David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding, best known for “Eat This, No That.” I think I’ll search for some other health blogs, too.
Pack my lunch when I can’t eat at home
This is another hard one for me. I don’t enjoy eating the same thing over and over again, and that’s what I’m afraid of when I pack my lunch. I can only eat so many frozen meals, sandwiches or soups before I get bored. To tackle this problem I’m going to sit down and make a weekly lunch menu. Then I can decide how bored I will or will not get with lunch.
Lose 25 pounds before I graduate
While this is a separate goal, I’m pretty sure that if I keep my other four goals, I’ll keep my fifth goal. However, there are some things I can do to boost my chances. I can replace at least two sodas per day with sugar-free flavored water mixes and take the long way every time I walk across campus.
If I can do these things, I bet I can do anything.
Next week: Motivation