Daily Bread #59

(I got some new exercise clothes!  My old ones were getting super-baggy.  It feels good to have a few things that fit.)

I have been thinking more about goals lately.  Stretch goals, the ones that you need to work at, are important, but they also need to be achievable.  There have been times in my life, in various careers and situations, where I set out to do something that seemed impossible at the beginning.  I helped organize a line management association at Social Security, and eventually we convinced the agency in add a new workload to our large inner city office, which saved jobs.  We also got upgrades for several positions that were under classified.  We didn’t know we could accomplish all of that when we started, but as we organized, the path became clearer.  We worked hard and we did what needed to be done.  We started small, mainly just securing invitations to participate in important meetings.

Ministry offered many opportunities to set goals and to meet them.  Stewardship campaigns were a yearly exercise in trying to increase the motivation to give.  For that, it helped most to celebrate the success we had already seen, leading to the hope that even more could be done.  Stretch goals were good there too.

When we wanted to pass a local non-discrimination ordinance In Ogden, Utah, it meant getting people to the city council meetings, hundreds of emails and phone calls, writing opinion pieces and letters to the editor, and it meant networking with many other groups and individuals.  It took us a full year, and although we were discouraged more than once, we got it done.

Going back farther, in junior high I realized I needed a scholarship if I was going to be able to go to college.  With that motivation, and some luck, ability, and hard work, I got straight A’s, aced my SAT’s and earned a full 4 year scholarship to UC Berkeley.  My life has been like that.  We wanted kids, and that took some serious planning for lesbians back in the 1980’s.  I could go on, but when I think about it, I am not all surprised at the success I have had in this weight loss program.  When I decide to do something, I work hard at it.  Success is never guaranteed of course, and luck, (and friends!) helps, but the hard work is always necessary.  I know how to work hard and to keep focussed on a goal.

Almost every week the facilitator tells the group that they need to commit to doing at least one thing that will get them back on track.  The assumption seems to be that most people aren’t “on track.” Maybe that is true.  It isn’t for me or for a couple of other people in the group, but that is OK.

We talked about plant based diets last night.  (11 people were there, including 2 new and quite delightful people).  I would like to be a vegetarian for all kinds of reasons, but right now, I am sticking with meat which gives me more protein for the calories than plant based proteins would do.  The protein keeps me from being hungry while I continue to lose weight.  We will see what I can do about eating less or no meat when I get done with losing weight and am simply maintaining. I am no longer diabetic, so the extra carbs in plant proteins wouldn’t be that much of an issue for me.

I adjust all my goals often to make them ones I need to work toward, but are also achievable.  I increased my step goal slightly so that I can make it every day, but sometimes need to work at it.  I decreased my calorie burn goal because it was way too high, and I could rarely meet it.

My FitBit went a bit nuts on Tuesday and I had to reboot it.  The swim function disappeared when I was about to get in the pool and “pilates” showed up instead of “swim”.  I don’t even know what pilates are.  The reboot worked and all is well, but I HATE IT when technical glitches happen!

L’Chaim!

(My stats for the last week – down  2.7 pounds, drank at least 7 gallons of water and exercised for over 705 minutes.  My cumulative weight loss so far is more than 115.4 pounds.)