Maintaining not Gaining: The Future is Yours

Maintaining not Gaining:

The Future is Yours.

'Tis the last Monday of January and the final installment of the "Maintaining not Gaining" mini series! Wahoooooooooo! We're doing it! We've all held on for four weeks of good habits, cleaner eating, exercise and more water than you could ever imagine drinking. And fingers crossed, the spirit of the New Year and the boundless possibilities kept this maintenance pretty relaxed and easy. Using that energy of opportunity is our greatest ally in setting up the trend of health.

However, now we realize: there are 11 months of opportunity left. 

You may start feeling that the gild is off the lily. These four weeks weren't awful, but you have to work and sleep and watch Downtown Abbey and that stuff is a lot easier to do when you skip the gym and order takeout.

And that's okay. Maintaining is not meant to be a year long plan...because, well, it can get boring! And we will surely become complacent, and then after that, sneaky.  Maintenance is for our "in between times." 2016 has so much in store and now that we've proven we can handle the day to day with ease, now it's time to add in the excitement to make this year friggin' awesome.

I know what you're about to say, "Rachel, you told us to ditch resolutions this year! Now you want us loading up visions of grandeur again?"

Not exactly.
It's true, I find that resolutions and long-winded goal-setting that really ask to much of a person are just disasters waiting to happen. "I'm going to lose 50 pounds this year." "I will do a Marathon, though I just started running!" Or even worse, the wishy-washy, non-quantifiable resolutions, "I will start going to to the gym," or "I will ride my bike more."

No, this is not my advice!

These are wishes really. It is TOTALLY possible for a person to lose those 50 pounds, run that marathon, go to the gym consistently and ride that bike every day. But those "goals" are asking too much without smaller stepping stones of progress along the way. Those stones are what this girl is talking about. I like to refer to them as targets.

No, I am not asking you give up on those long term goals and lower your expectations. HELL NO! Always dream big, baby! But let's start here with some fun targets to hit and feel like rock stars!  These can all act as a catalyst to your Big Kahuna target. The Boss Level, if you will. It's just important to give yourself chances for success throughout the year or through the process of your dream finale. It makes the hard work that much more exciting and fulfilling!

The final task of "Maintaining not Gaining" : Find your First Target

The Big Kahuna

The world is your oyster when it comes to your first target! I suggest making it a plan for the next 1-3 months. How about signing up for some kind of activity or event? Or buy a class card at your gym/yoga studio/spin class and commit! Just some quick suggestions:

• Train for a 5k
• Sign up for your first Weightlifting or CrossFit Competition
• Buy a 5 or 10 class card at a local Yoga studio and use them ALL in 1 month!
• Purge your closets and wardrobe of the unnecessary/doesn't fit/will never wear
• When the weather breaks, do the initial prep and planting for your Spring garden

I would absolutely LOVE to hear what your first target is, so please share with us! You can comment here, email me at rachel@rachelpinkstone.com, or find me on Facebook and let me know! 

Want to know what my first target is? 

Well, then check back in soon as we start up the next topic on the blog. I will share with you my next steps as Winter rolls in and out of these parts. ;) For now: Congratulations on a job well done through these 8 weeks of Maintaining not Gaining!

You are awesome.

-Be cool, Soda Pop -