Last week I went over the basics of my 2014 business plan but there is actually more that I want to do in the New Year. I know that everyone is busy with Christmas related stuff this week. I have been too! But with the New Year right around the corner I wanted to get all of my goals out there.
I have two more goals after this one that I am starting to make plans for that I’ll post about later this week or sometime next week. Until then I wanted to focus on one of my most important goals for the New Year: being healthy.
I know that you can’t just make general goals like “be healthy” and expect them to happen. If you want to achieve a goal you have to map it out.
Here’s the basics of how my “be healthy” will go.
Eating Healthier
Right now my eating habits aren’t great. I hardly ever eat breakfast and some days I won’t eat a thing until about 2pm. I think this is one reason that I feel tired all the time and get colds pretty easily. I want to start making myself eat three healthy meals (or at least two healthy meals) per day.
I’ve also been wanting to meal plan so these two goals will go hand in hand.
Breakfast (8:00 – 9:00)
I know to start off I’m going to have to eat something light for breakfast. I don’t like eating in the morning so here’s the beginning breakfast items I want to stock up on.
- Granola Bar (Already bought a big box at Sam’s Club)
- Yogurt
- Apple
- Banana
- Toast w/ Peanut Butter
Lunch (12:00 – 1:00)
Lunch is usually the meal that I eat the most. Here are some of the ideas I’m thinking for lunches:
- Turkey Sandwich
- Tuna
- Salad
Supper (5:30 – 6:30)
- Whatever I feel like making 🙂
The good thing is that I can eat the same food over and over without getting tired of it. So, on breakfasts and lunches I’ll be good with the repetition.
(I’m also going to start taking my daily vitamins which I have but always forget to take.)
Exercising More
I have some serious trouble with sticking to an exercise plan which is why I know I need to make this very realistic.
My oldest daughter and I have been doing her version of exercising this week. This pretty much consists of me trying to teach her how to do gymnastic related things. It’s fun and it’s activity. I’ll count it!
Once it gets warmer I can take walks but for right now I’m just not willing to walk around outside in the 20 degree weather. I’m thinking maybe some sort of a cardio exercise DVD that I can do three times per week. It needs to be fun though! (And preferably something a five year old can do alongside me) Does anyone have suggestions?
So that’s the being healthy goal for 2014.
If you have any suggestions or think I should make edits to my plan let me know. Living a healthy lifestyle isn’t really my forte so I appreciate any input!
Hi Alexa,
Will you be snacking in between your meals? It’s recommended that you eat 5 times a day (3 meals and 2 snacks) to help your metabolism. Happy holidays to you and your family.
I agree with Charles! And it’s highly recommended that breakfast be your largest meal.
I have such a hard time eating breakfast. I just bought some protein bars hopefully that’s a good start.
I think next year I will really need to start focusing on what I eat. I would like to have eggs for breakfast more to get some additional protein and to mix it up from the cereal that I usually have. I think the fact you are writing about it and planning things out makes you likely to succeed in your goal of living healthier in 2014.
Good call on eating healthier and exercising. Last year I committed to doing that and its made a lot of improvements. Now I rarely ever eat anything fried or fatty, and I’m much more conscious of how much fat or protein is in what I eat. Believe it or not Comcast’s On-Demand exercises have been so helpful for overall toning and diversifying my exercise routine. Some of them are really intense and challenging to complete. But I can see a lot more definition in the abs – the main thing I was going for!
That’s about the only thing I miss about Comcast. Their On Demand Content. AT&T UVerse DOES NOT have exercise content On Demand (as far as I can tell through the past 9 months).
I’m going to be more aggressive with my eating healthier and exercising this coming year. I lost about 17 lbs this year and my goal was 22 lbs. My 2014 goal is to start jogging! Wish me luck!
I cannot wait until it warms up so we can exercise outside again. We love going on hour-long family walks… So ready for spring!
I’m not much of a breakfast or lunch eater. I eat at those times but not a lot. I would suggest planning out your evening meals. That has helped me spend less on eating out, especially when I’ve had a long day and am tired. I know there’s a meal at home ready to cook and I just have to muster up a bit more energy to cook it.
Seriously, I’m eating oatmeal cookies for breakfast as I read this !
I skip breakfast a lot too and I know it’s really bad! I’m going to try to be better about it in 2014.
As for exercising, I watch Blogilates alot on Youtube. She has a some great workout video and she’s always fun and interesting to listen to. Plus, it’s free! 🙂
Oh, I never thought to check YouTube for workout videos! Silly me!
That’s an awesome idea. Why hadn’t I though of YouTube!!
I can’t imagine wait till 2 to eat! I have at least two meals and a snack by then! 🙂 Do you have a smartphone? Lots of free fitness apps. My favorite is Nike Training Club. If not try online videos. I prefer apps though. Good luck!
I used to struggle with taking a multivitamin as well. I take them more consistently if I have a week long pill box and put them in there and then set it on the bathroom counter. Another helpful thing that I have done is set a daily activity in my calendar reminding me to take my vitamin.
I need to get a pill box!! I’ve been telling myself this for months. Just the other day, I decided to put my vitamins and supplements in my bathroom in the vanity area (my toilet and tub/shower are separated by a door) so I remember to take them in the morning while I’m brushing my teeth.
It’s so hard to exercise with small kids around! I think that’s a great goal, even if you can do 20-30 minutes a day, I think you’ll feel really good and it’s a great habit to get the kiddos into. Best of luck.
You’re not alone, Alexa. Like a lot of people, I am using the new year to hit re-start on my fitness and eating goals. I’m going for a target weight by a certain date, with the hope that it’ll be specific enough to do something different than previous years’ goals have.
If you find success with something, let me know!
My daughter isn’t a sports or exercise kid but if I put on the radio she will dance with me forever. It’s great exercise and I work out my abs because we are laughing so much.
They’re super old school, but I like Denise Austin’s Fit Kids workout DVDs. You can probably snag a pre-owned game console such as the Wii or Xbox 360 4GB for a great price. I use that for my exercise. The cost of ownership versus joining a gym or buying expensive at home fitness equipment pays for itself. I love the Just Dance or other dancing series, plus the sports games. I prefer Xbox 360 with Kinect. We bought it a few years ago and I workout with the dancing games and UFC Personal Trainer in between gym visits. You might also try Yoga.
I think these are great goals! You may want to get a Crock pot so that you can prep dinner much more easily and free up some time 🙂
You can make some amazingly healthful dishes in the slow cooker, many of which can be made in batches and frozen. A few of my faves are turkey chili, chicken chili, beef stew, homemade chicken noodle soup, kielbasa with sauerkraut and apples, pulled pork for sandwiches or to add to baked potatoes (yes I still eat those on occasion, healthfully).
Looks like a carefully laid-out health plan. I am sure you’d be the next best-looking mom to land pages of magazines. I do my best to do the same but keep failing 🙁 … if only self-discipline can be bought but then that is against my frugal rules. Sigh!
Alexa – I normally comment on your posts using my other blog’s email address and website, so you may not recognize me. I began a journey to better health and wellness in July after suffering from excessive (STILL) undiagnosed joint pain. In July I started taking a clean supplement (not commercial adulterated off the shelf) that keeps me feeling amazing. It wasn’t long before I wanted to join a gym, but I waited until October 8th because I saw that they were having a special. In November, I quit caffeine!! I’ve been eating healthier the whole time, but the biggest thing that I struggle with is eating all of my meals, like you.
So, I’ve created a 2014 budget. With my grocery monies, I plan to STOP eating out for lunch. Breakfast and dinner are where I struggle. I don’t like eating in the morning either and really don’t like cold or sweet foods in the morning, but the shakes that going along with my supplements are going to be consumed every morning until I get used to it. I also tried something new this week. I used avocado with cocoa, bananas and coconut milk. You can’t even taste the avocado.
Other breakfast ideas are 1/2 a grapefruit, any fruit (i.e. berries), carrots and celery, peanut butter and celery, 1/2 a bagel with greek yogurt cream cheese (new discovery – it’s the bomb) or smoked salmon (expensive but worth an occasional treat), radishes, raw zucchini, homemade hummus with baked pita, muffins (healthy DIY), hard-boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, breakfast casserole, lightly salted (sea salt) avocados. Many of the lighter fares can be made for snacks, too.
For lunch, consider using Wasa crackers instead of bread. The Wasa website has tons of ideas on how you can make a Wasawich.
You might also consider adding a bit of chia seed or flax seed to your meals.
For dinner (and all other meals), I generally try to stay away from processed foods. I stick to the produce and meat/poultry/seafood sections and sometimes frozen for the vegetables (I far too often let fresh veggies go to waste).
And though I’m not a huge fan of sweets or desserts, I recently learned how to use avocado in desserts. I made an avocado chocolate mousse topped with strawberries and organic agave syrup. My 14 year old son and 36 year old significant other had NO IDEA there was avocado in it. Or I have a mini shake, which you can add superfoods such as Kale and barely taste it.
Again, I also ditched the caffeine. I drink decaf tea from Yogi, Zhena and Traditional Medicinals. I buy them when they’re on sale. Instead of drinking 2-3 cups of coffee per day, I have one cup of tea. Most of these teas are naturally sweetened so I don’t have to add any sugar or sweetener. For the ones that do require a sweetener, I use a few drops of Organic Agave Syrup.
I hope this helps!
This helps so much!! Thank you Melissa!! I am caffeine addict – well diet Mt. Dew, I don’t really drink coffee. But if I don’t start my morning with a diet dew I get headaches which is probably a good sign of addiction.
I’m going to come back to this post several times I’m sure!! Best of luck to you!
Nice! I also want to eat healthier and be healthier in the new year so I will be doing something similar. Eating breakfast every morning will be my first step!
The best advice I ever received about eating habits is this:
Breakfast = eat like a KING
Lunch = eat like a PRINCE
Dinner = eat like a PAUPER
Works for me! 🙂