Staying Fit in the OC

Goals

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal, nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong attitude.” – Thomas Jefferson

 

I cannot stress the importance in setting goals when it comes to achieving the level of fitness that you desire to reach, or for anything in life for that matter! It’s what will drive you to work harder, get you through the times you want to give up, and drive you to show up and do your best.

At the beginning of this year I set a list of goals for myself to achieve, and I thought that now would be the perfect time to check on my progress for those that I listed as “Fitness & Health Goals.”

1. Finish in the Top 3 for my gender/age group in the Race on the Base Triathlon. – I got 12th, but there is always next year!

2. Graduate from “Prescribed Weight” lifting at CrossFit to “Fire Breather.” – This is a work in progress. Depending on the lift, I’m at times lifting Fire Breather but others at Rx. I’ll give it the rest of 2012!

3. Be able to do Pull-Ups, with a kip, without a resistance band. – Definitely working on this one, too. I am proud to say that I can do not one but two pull-ups in a row without a resistance band!

4. Drop my mile time down to a consistent 8 minutes and 15 seconds. – Uh, done! If I really book it I can get down in to the high 7′s for time for a mile, but when I’m at a more consistent pace for endurance I’m in the low 8′s. Go me!

5. Continue to decrease my body fat percentage. – As I mentioned in my last post, I recently subjected myself to Hydrostatic Body Fat testing. I’m 2 weeks in to a 45-day Paleo Challenge with the goal of losing 9.9 lbs in total, having lost 3 thus far. Unfortunately there was some not-so-supportive comments about me wanting to decrease my body fat percentage, but I guess only athletes get why it’s important.

6. Participate in at least 4 competitions in 2012. – So far in 2012 I have participated in two events, the Race on the Base Triathlon and the Irvine Lake Mud Run. I’ve got at least 3 up my sleeve for the remainder of the year!

7. Eat Paleo. All the way. – Doing it!

8. Drink less Diet Coke. – As of two and a half weeks ago I am no longer a drinker of the Diet Crack. I mean Diet Coke. But hey, it might as well have been crack because I was certainly addicted to it!

There are a few more goals that I am keeping after that are not on this list, that are all CrossFit related, but nonetheless still important to me. One of those goals was to be able to do Handstand push-ups, and to be able to do these I had to undergo wrist surgery to remove a large ganglion from my joint. 6 weeks post-op and I am proud to say that I am now doing Handstand Push-ups, and when I was finally able to do them it was such a proud moment for me!

For me, goals certainly work. And for the majority of you out there, goal setting could be a crucial tool to allow you to reach the level that you want to be in just about anything in life. What have some of your fitness-related goals been for 2012?

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