Goal-Setting – Page 3

Stick with it Saturday: A New Routine

April 28, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

gym Ever feel like that? While that’s not completely true of me, I looked up one day and realized it had been since my middle daughter was born that I had exercised with any real consistency. There were reasons for that at the time, but over time, those reasons became excuses I couldn’t really continue to justify.

I had worked my way into more consistent exercise when we were back in Canada, but hadn’t begun again here until this week. However, I am happy to report that I think I may have finally arrived at the elusive perfect blend of exercises. I enjoy them, I have variety, and I can feel and see that they are bearing fruit.

So here is a look back on my workout routine for the week:

Monday

Hauled out the mini-trampoline that I own on this side of the ocean. Exercised for 20 minutes because I knew I should. Didn’t really enjoy it much. Not sure what it did for me, except I knew I’d made the decision to exercise and I was following through, so felt good just for that.

Tuesday

Did my first-ever Live Exercise pilates class using the Bodylastics bands we bought while we were in Canada. These were an investment–both at the time of purchase and in weight and space in the suitcase, but they weren’t really that expensive compared with what it would cost to join a gym. We bought them knowing that we wanted a good strength-training solution for both JavaMan and myself that wouldn’t mean having to find, pay for and spend time at a gym.

We are both extremely pleased with them. JavaMan has tried a number of different strength-training routines using them, and is very satisfied. Because of the range of bands available (we bought the Super Strong Man package in order to have enough for him and me, and keeping in mind we rarely work out at the same time). I hoped to use them mainly for pilates.

I didn’t have time to do the whole routine (it was 45 minutes) but put in my 20 minutes, and really felt it–then and the next day.

Get Your Body Back

Wednesday

Took a day off.

Thursday

Did my favorite new DVD workout: Get Your Body Back.

I bought this one just before we left Canada, and I’m really impressed. Technically it’s a post-partum workout, but it’s really just smart exercise–using the shortest amount of time to have the highest amount of impact by doing upper body and lower body exercise at the same time (squats while crossing arms in front, holding 5 lb. weights, for example).

And because it’s designed for post-partum, don’t expect it to lack intensity. You’ll definitely work up a sweat.

Friday

Intended to exercise, but woke up at 4:30 a.m. and was extremely unmotivated. Then, JavaMan was using the bands, and I didn’t think I could handle two days in a row of Get Your Body Back, so spent the time I should have trying to discover some way to spice up my mini-trampoline workouts. I found it!

Saturday

Classical Cardio

Used the five exercises and the tips in the following video by trainer-to-the-stars Tracy Anderson to bring life back to my mini-trampoline exercise. What a workout! Definitely worked up a sweat, but more importantly, I had fun and the time flew by! I’m kind of picky about the music I listen to, and a couple of podcasts with exercise music didn’t make the transition to my new computer, so I listened to Classical Cardio this morning. I found the music totally uplifting and fun, and I enjoyed this workout more than any other I’ve ever done on the mini-trampoline.

Here is the video by Tracy Anderson. I used all five exercise moves as part of my “routine” and rather than trying to switch them up really frequently, just did approximately one for song, switching it up if I grew bored (or tired)! I used Exercise 5 (the dance move) as a transition exercise and something to fall back to if I needed to switch from one of the other exercises, which were more intense.

I’m excited about exercise again! Plan to “Stick with it” again this week.

How about you? Have you found a favorite exercise?

- Carey Clark

April 3 in 30: Finding Balance

April 22, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

One of my goals this month was to work through Simple Blogging. I really see this ebook as blessing. At this point, I feel like it’s given me a tremendous amount to think about, and a longer list of things to do, but along with that, it’s given me a gift: perspective. The biggest impact it’s had on me at this point is to make me realize it’s not the end of the world if I don’t get a post up on a particular day. It’s allowed me to release myself from self-imposed guilt.

I’ll be working out some of the ideas for some time to come, I’m sure. In the meantime, here’s how my goals for this month are progressing:

Work through Simple Blogging: This is going well. My to-do list is growing, perspective firmly in place. I don’t have to work through it all today–or even tomorrow. One great tip I want to pass on is a personal goals website anyone can use for free that helps you track all kinds of personal goals–from simple ones like drinking enough water in a day to nutrition, exercise and work-related goals. Completely customizable.
Get into a proper routine. I’ve been doing better at keeping office hours. I need to follow one simple Simple Blogging tip: no email in the mornings. Get up and get on with my day. The author suggests writing posts in the morning, but that won’t happen for me. However, homeschool and the general routine have been going well–dare I say better–and we have been working through things and having solid blocks of time in the afternoon to do things. I still need to work out a balance between time in my kitchen and doing housework and having office hours, but I’m moving in the right direction.
Get Hold the MSG posts on a better schedule. I’m getting more efficient with this as time goes on. I’m learning my way around iMovie for one thing, and finding shortcuts. I’m also keeping the camera with me and having it at the ready to record more than one post at a time. We’re always engaging ourselves in conversations, and there’s always new material. I’ve also learned something that’s helping me explain my need for footage to people I meet. I tell them I’m using it to teach my own children. This is not an attempt to be dishonest. In fact, this is part of my motivation for the lessons, and it is really helping. Our kids are much more intentional about their learning than before, and Sprout, in particular, is much more involved and retaining far more than before. Their involvement has increased as well, since we added the bloopers to the end. It’s their favorite part. And it’s a more logical explanation to the new friends that we meet than trying to explain that I want to teach others. I show people their bit of recorded conversation afterward, and everyone is flattered to help. If you haven’t yet, take a peek. If it’s half as much fun for others as it is for us, I’ll be thrilled.

How about you? April’s more than half-gone. Has it been productive? Could you use a system like this to keep you going?

- Carey Clark

April 3 in 30: Keeping Up

April 15, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

I’m getting there with my goals. My biggest challenge at this point is that the amount of activity during the day is so much greater here than when we were back in Canada, that I’m not making the time to have “office hours” because there’s always something unfinished to do elsewhere.

Then it’s hard for me to keep my online activities relegated to the part of the day where they belong. Just in the last week, I made jam, froze a bunch of strawberries and mulberries, made homemade granola and homemade almond milk, baked two loaves of gluten-free bread in my toaster oven, started a batch of sauerkraut and a batch of kombucha, in addition to making and cleaning up three meals a day! Oh yes, and laundry–it all has to be hung out. There are no driers here.

I realize a lot of this is setting-up activity. I won’t have to freeze berries every week, nor will I have to start sauerkraut or kombucha. These are things I’m doing to get set-up in our new home. I’m also getting closer to a meal plan, so I can simplify my market-going.

I’m plugging away, and I know it will get better soon. Slowly, I’m getting into a routine.

My goals for this month are:

Work through Simple Blogging: I’m making my way through. Most of the tips are simple–things I can incorporate smoothly into my life. One challenge I’ll pass on: If Facebook is a time-waster for you, consider your goals for using it. Wow. I’m still thinking about that one. I want to stay connected to friends and family back home. That’s definitely one of my goals. But with Facebook’s new format, I find I’m often hearing about the trivial a lot and missing important events in some people’s lives. Is there a better way?
Get into a proper routine. I’ve been doing better at starting the day right, but I must confess, there have been mornings this week when the computer was on my lap when my kids woke up. I want to change that, and it means keeping to office hours in the afternoon. (Refer to the challenge mentioned earlier.) I do feel that the rhythm of things is getting better, and it will resolve as I work on it over this month.
Get Hold the MSG posts on a better schedule. The kids and I expressed our desires about this, but didn’t bring it into reality last week. With the kids and JavaMan pitching in, we’ve managed to think up several innovative posts for the next few and hope to get some material built up so that we can be ahead of the game. I’m also planning to set up subscription for Hold the MSG so people can be notified when the post is up, and we don’t miss out on readers, even when we don’t get the post up “on time” as planned.

Things are coming along. My overall goal this month is to bring life into a proper balance. I think I’m getting there.

- Carey Clark

April 3 in 30: Simplicity

April 8, 2012 by Carey Jane Clark

I’d like to be able to declare that all the bins are unpacked, my house is completely organized, and I am on top of it all.

In reality, it’s been a whirlwind since we arrived, with jet lag and the cold. We are furnitureless. We had houseguests approximately two weeks after our arrival and since they left, JavaMan has been in Korea addressing a visa issue. He returns on Wednesday. I’ll be so glad to see him.

I was so tired tonight, I sat down to watch the end of a movie with my kids and fell asleep on my bed fully clothed, with a sweater and an apron! THEY kissed ME goodnight, and I woke around 2:30 a.m. bewildered at what had transpired!

However, the homeschool room is looking like and functioning as a homeschool room, we’ve been posting weekly at Hold the MSG (Mandarin lessons for kids), and the kitchen is up and running. In fact, I’ve been downright experimental there. I’m determined to make gluten-free work here, since we’ve seen such benefits for Sweetpea. So far, I’ve located recipes for and/or experimented with:

pizza dough – nailed this one. It’s so good, and yes, I will share very soon
bread – found a simple recipe with easily accessible ingredients and tweaked it–the mix was slightly wet the last time, which with gluten-free results in a fallen loaf (although it wasn’t too bad). But going to take another run at it tomorrow and see what we can do to perfect things
dumplings! This is a huge coup! We’ll still end up in situations where we’re at someone else’s house or at a restaurant and can’t avoid it, but if we can make our own dumplings at home, gluten-free, it will go a long way.
crackers – yes indeed, homemade gluten-free crackers
matzah – this won’t be something we’ll eat every day, but it came in handy over the weekend for our traditional Seder dinner

I’ve continued to work on freezing strawberries and mulberries so we’ll have berries to eat for the rest of the year, and I even located a simple pectin-free strawberry jam recipe so I can deal with some of the strawberries I’d rather not throw away, but aren’t good enough to keep for eating. Today I figured out how to get my hands on jars for the jam.

But as more and more time gets consumed by living–not to mention that this week we slipped back into the homeschool routine–I’m feeling the need to simplify my online activities. So this month, I’ve joined the 3 in 30 featured challenge: Simple Blogging.

Here are my goals for April:

Work through Simple Blogging – This involves reading a set number of chapters per week of the eBook and incorporating changes into my blogging life. For the most part this week, I felt pretty good about what I read, although I confess to allowing myself to succumb to online distractions when I’ve sat down with the intention of blogging–what the author, Rachel Meeks, calls “productive procrastination.” At some points, I was able to pat myself on the back–for having a clear purpose for my blog, for example, or for using Evernote for organization–and at other points, I felt a gentle wrap on my knuckles for things I know to be doing and don’t do enough–like planning posts in advance. I tend to keep mental notes, which clutter up brain space and can be easily lost! I have begun to implement some of these suggestions, but still have work to do.
Get into a proper routine – Because our days are exactly the opposite to North America (12 hours ahead means I’m sleeping when most everyone I know is active), it’s very tempting to check email and Facebook first thing in the morning. Did so-and-so get back to me? Are there blog comments? What are my friends and family up to? However, this doesn’t work well with our family, and means my kids greet me in the morning with a computer on my lap. Not okay. It can also delay getting breakfast and homeschool started. I am determined to get back to a proper morning routine. We live here now, and if people have to wait longer to hear back from me, or I have to wait longer to hear back from them, so be it. My family is more important.
Get Hold the MSG posts on a better schedule – There’s quite a bit involved in posting the weekly posts. It takes 3 hours via VPN to upload the posts to YouTube, for example, and after a little meeting with the kids last week, we decided to break up the work into segments, so it’s not too much all on one day. We’re planning and working on the next post right after the last one is live. The great side benefit to this is that our kids are focusing much more on their own Chinese learning, and much more motivated to practice.

What does April hold for you? Are you spring cleaning or making any goals?

- Carey Clark

Carey is a homeschooling mother of three and author of the contemporary inspirational novel After the Snow Falls. She blogs here about the many adventures of her expat family.

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