Tag Archives: Goals

Balsamic Sage-Glazed Pork Chops

Posted in Food, Goals, Meal Planning by

I remember the marvelous Sundays of my childhood when we got home after church and could smell amazingness (spellcheck isn’t arguing that word hmm) in the oven. That smell promised a day of sweatpants and football and naps. Ahhhh. I’m sure everyone has their own idea of that smell. For me it was these five, scrumptious letters: G-R-A-V-Y. Yesss anything with thick, home-cooked, flavorful, gravy. In search for that same level of goodness and comfort, I came across this sweet and savory, Fall-ish creation.

Ingredients:

3 Bone-on pork chops

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2 tsp Sage, dried

4 T Balsamic vinegar

2 T dijon mustard

4 tsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp salt

2 T olive oil

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375, grease a pan with 2 T olive oil and place pork chops in pan.
  2. Whisk together garlic, sage, balsamic vinegar, Dijon mustard, maple syrup, and salt.
  3. Spoon or brush mixture over pork chops. Pour the rest into the pan.
  4. Roast for 35-40 minutes or until fully cooked.

maple-sage-porkchops

My desire for comfort food was on 10 so I paired my chops with mashed butternut squash (cooking directions similar to spaghetti squash here) and corn. No butter needed! It is a yummy alternative to gravy-soaked mashed potatoes!

BeccaSig

15-15-30 Update

Posted in Goals, Motivation by

June is here! At the beginning of last month, I shared my S.M.A.R.T. goals for the month of May (you can get caught up by clicking here). Since December, I’ve been in an exercise slump. Life got busier and exercise (and sleep) got moved down the priority ladder. This is not a good practice. Especially when you spend most of your 13-hour days sitting and listening to people! I am so glad that I took on this challenge for the month. I can honestly say that I haven’t worked out this much all year long.

So….drumroll….post a comment if you’re actually doing a drumroll right now….badadadadadadada….15 workouts completed (in ummmm 31 days because I was one short and needed to get it in at 9pm before I wrote this blog) and 7 pounds lost!

May Challenge

I’m aiming for the same goals in June but with much harder workouts. The massage is still on the table for June!

BeccaSig

15-15-30

Posted in Goals, Motivation by

It is hard to believe that Memorial Day is just 4 weeks away, especially with the cold weather that we’ve been having! Personally, I just came through a crazy busy season of life and am about to enter into another. However, these next two weeks are a tiny reprieve and I want to use them to get organized.

Reading past posts where Steph wrote about accountability (here) and Rah shared about goals,  got me thinking about S.M.A.R.T. goals. The following acronym is used in a variety of settings (you’ve probably heard of them) to help create goals.

Goals should be:

  • S –  Significant
  • M – Measurable
  • A –  Attainable
  • R –  Rewarding
  • T –  Time-focused

My SMART goal for the month of May is to complete 15 workouts, losing 15 pounds, in 30 days. My reward for completing this goal is to get a massage! I’m telling you now for accountability because I’ll update you in 30 days. Here is an inside view of my progress chart:

Plan

What do you want to accomplish by Memorial Day???

BeccaSig

What does a perfectionist look like?

Posted in about me, Goals, Motivation by

What might an overweight person whose weight fluctuates and a fit, exercise queen have in common? Although they may appear to come from opposite mindsets, perfectionism can be at the root of both great struggles and great successes. Often times, perfectionist thinking causes unrealistic expectations that lead to unfulfilled realities, especially in the weight loss world. Here are a few ways to accept progress, not perfection:

Celebrate Small Accomplishments. Perfectionists view themselves as either a success or a failure, nothing in between. Healthy living is a lifelong journey. To keep momentum and hope in the process, we need to be excited about accomplishments and the willingness to keep going, even after setbacks.

Build a Positive Self-Image. While it is important to recognize our accomplishments, our self-image cannot depend solely on achievements. We are valuable! It is my belief that I am valuable to the God who created every living thing and that his love for me isn’t based on my achievements. That helps ground me. Also, if we spend more time doing the activities that we love, learning new skills and being of service to others rather than being self-critical, we will be less likely to beat ourselves up over the little things. Our eyes will be on the big picture!

Learn from Others. Sometimes it is easier to accept other people’s mistakes than our own. If we take a look around to others who have learned from their mistakes and keep moving forward, we can put our own setbacks into perspective and join them in success.

Getting and staying healthy does not require perfection! We make mistakes, we learn, we make more mistakes, we learn some more. To deny this reality hinders our ability to recover from mistakes and can limit great successes from occurring!

So here is my visual example of accepting progress and not perfection. These are my weigh-ins for my DietBet competitions. It represents a span of 27 pounds with ups and downs, mistakes and achievements. I’m choosing to focus on the big picture!weight.png

BeccaSig

Are you busy? Like, bizzay??? Here are 4 Tips.

Posted in Goals, Motivation by

Black hair dye dripping down my forehead, sipping on a smoothie for a hands-free breakfast while designing a flyer for my church ministry with an audio book for my graduate class plays in the background and notifications popping off on my phone. Sometimes life is crazy like this, a compilation of responsibilities and unexpected, critical situations. We all have seasons of busy, so how do we sustain healthy lifestyles and find balance despite non-stop, 20-hour days? Here are 4 tips:

 

  1. Sleep. Back in November my doctor asked me “are you getting enough sleep?” I laughed a nervous laugh as my mind was flooded with images of  20-hour days and the ridiculous list of reminders in my phone. Blah blah blah you do all that you can to make provision for a good amount of sleep. I can’t make hours magically appear, but I can make it restful. No counting and obsessing about how many hours I’m not getting. No to-do lists for tomorrow. Phone off. Mind off. Sleep.
  2. Meal Prep. This keeps me focused throughout the week. Best tip: cut up all veggies at the same time & divide them out. If I don’t prep my meals then subway salads turn into “Yes, cheese. Just today.” That turns into “meh, I’ll grab a schwarma. Just today.” The lack of planning is no good.V
  3. Stretching & Exercise. I’ve moved from comparing my exercise schedule with other people or what I’ve done in the past. I know for certain that I have more energy when I move and stretch. So I fit it in as often as I can. This consists of 15 minutes on my exercise bike while I catch up on emails or sneaking off to do squats and stretches in the kitchen at work. The bottom line is that I know that I need it and that the regimented morning workout schedule will return in a few weeks. For now, I keep doing what I can. The key is to keep doing.
  4. Mindset. This is the most important so of course I left it for last. What kills energy? Comparisons, complaining, and hopelessness. I have important things to do (and so do you)! Many versions of this arrogant [prideful] meme have been floating around:

Picture1

I’d like to quote this frequent phrase of my sister (shoutout Nay-Nay) “how is that helpful?” Comparing my life to someone else zaps energy. I’m more busy because of ____. No. Just stop (very counselor of me, I know). And complaining. Yes, I definitely need to talk to others when life gets unbearable but lamenting on social media or whining to every ear that passes my way is not helpful. Also, our hearts and minds scream for hope! “One day it won’t be this busy…My busy season has a purpose…I’m serving others with my busy life.” Whatever the hope, we can remind ourselves of why we are busy.

So, despite this season of loco, I’m working to sustain a healthy lifestyle and find balance. What is working for you? Let us know in the comments!

BeccaSig

Goals – A New Way to Think About Them

Posted in Goals, Motivation by

It’s been three weeks since I put my goals out there for the rest of this year (work out consistently 4 times a week and lose 8 lbs over the next three months). Well, reality check. I have lost 0 lbs and have averaged getting to the gym twice a week over the past three weeks. Why’s that? Because I focused too much on the long-term (what I need to accomplish in the next three months) verses getting focused on the short-term (what I need to accomplish today).

Do you ever find yourself doing the same? You have these huge, awesome goals – I want to get back down to a size this or weigh that or lift this amount of weight, and the numbers are huge or really small (depending on which way you are looking at it), and probably very achievable, but we never get there because we focus too much on them.

So, I’m kicking off this whole thing again. That’s right, it’s a Friday and I’m starting fresh. There’s no waiting until Monday, it doesn’t matter that it’s the weekend – this starts now. I do have those long term goals, but in order to get there, I need to focus on today. Just get me through today, get to the gym and eat well. Then tomorrow, do the same thing again.

StephSquatBar

Focus on each day before you, making the right decisions that day, and those long-term numbers will come. I’m in for this, so let’s hope the next reality check in a few weeks is a delightful one. Hope you join me!

StephSig

Becca’s Very First 5k

Posted in Motivation by

I face-planted on rocky, New England dirt, next to a peaceful cemetery that was decorated with golden trees and stone walls. Face-planted. Hang on, let me back up a few moments and miles.

A few weeks back I registered for my very first 5k, which was also a fundraiser. I signed up to support the cause (Amirah fights human trafficking) and my friend, Fit Chick #3, Steph who is the agency’s director. I knew I would be in Boston at the time and it seemed too perfect. I had never really set out to walk a specific distance aside from the occasional one-mile walk near my parent’s farm. I had no idea what 3.1 miles would look or feel like to my body. I imagined it would be something like walking pleasantly through fall leaves, smelling the brisk air and reflecting on life. Then we arrived to THE LAKE. I got out of the car and looked at this mother of a lake. Freaking BODY OF WATER. Ummm I usually look for close parking spaces at stores. The distance around this lake was like as if I was headed to the mall at Christmastime and decided to park at the freaking expressway, nowhere near the freaking stores!!! It looked far!!! Have you entered into the drama that was spinning through my mind yet? I was freaked out. Like, ok I might make it halfway around this mug.

lake

Then we started walking. Quick shout-out to Steph & Dave (Steph’s husband). They each walked with me and kept me encouraged and a lot of the time, distracted with great conversation and hilarious stories. My mind vacillated constantly between “there’s no way I can finish this” and “oh my gosh, I’m freaking doing this!” My mind does that. I think most of our minds have that little evil voice that keeps stomping on what we try to do. We dismiss it or listen to it. Anyways, after a mile, I was breathing so loud. You know how you try to be cool when you walk up the stairs like “What?! I’m fit!” There was no hiding this. Imagine Beyonce’s song “Lose My Breath.” It was something like that dramatic gasp for air (YouTube the song). Then I made it to the beautiful, serene cemetery. It was gorgeous. I was almost done. I had about a half mile to go. I looked to the right, saw the gorgeous cemetery with golden leaves and seriously old headstones. Then I immediately face-planted into the dirt. I got up, dusted off and kept going. I don’t have any deep thoughts on the fall like “don’t take your eyes off the path that you’re on” or “when you fall, get back up and try again!” I just thought it was a funny part of the story.

When we finally reached the end of the path, I was excited. But that evil little voice came in and was like “uh, you know it was just 3 miles, right? It wasn’t a marathon. You didn’t run it. You walked 3 miles and some change.” So what did I learn from my very first 5k? We all start somewhere. That’s what I learned and that’s what I told that little evil voice inside. I pushed my body and walked a freaking 5k. For some, it’s going to be a marathon and for some it’s half a mile. We all start somewhere. And little evil voices can kick rocks.

First 5k

BeccaSig

Living Up to Our Name

Posted in About Us, Goals by

Why hello there. Welcome to our little blog. We are the “Fit Chicks from the Mitt.” You can read more in depth about us in our About Us section, but suffice it to say we are three friends, all from Michigan, who love each other dearly and have something to offer in this facet of eating well, living life fully and having a ton of fun.

To start off our very first blog post, we thought we would let you know our goals for the short term. So, you are hearing from all three of us in this blog. In future weeks, you can expect updates from each of us, points of views from all of us, recipes we make up and try, and lots of hilarious anecdotes along the way.

From Rah:

I stink at goal setting. There, I said it. Correction, I stink at accomplishing goals. I’m great at accomplishing things, but the accountability of goal setting first is hard for me. I’d rather not tell you what I’m striving to achieve beforehand. Ya know? That said, the achievements in my life that I’m most proud of were really goals, that I set or were set for me and I reached them. When it comes to healthy living and eating, my immediate goals are simple – feel good about what I eat, how I feel when I eat it and how I look as a result. I’d like to lose another 10-15 pounds to get closer to my goal weight by Christmas. That’s a super specific goal, but its something I’d like to work towards. Which means I have exactly 101 days to do that.  Completely accomplishable. Anybody want to join me?

RahSig

From Steph:

I’m a massive goal setter. I set goals in my work, in my workouts, in my cooking (last Thanksgiving I did a pumpkin challenge and incorporated pumpkin into all of my dishes), in pretty much every facet of my life. Sometimes though, once I smash the goal I had, I will get lazy again about that goal that I crushed. This is called maintenance. I’m incredibly disciplined when I have a number to reach, but once that number is passed, I am horrible about staying disciplined to maintain. So, I lost 34 lbs and then I gained probably 12-15 back. Yeesh.
So, my goal with this blog is to be real about the struggle of maintaining this life of discipline, to be real about the struggle of finding time in my day to work out and to be real about the struggle to get those 12-15 lbs back off (they were the hardest to get off last time, and are proving so again). My short term goals? Work out consistently 4 times a week for the next 3 months, and lose 8 lbs in the next 3 months.

StephSig
From Becca:

I’m great at making short-term goals but the long-term, more difficult goals rarely get a commitment from me. In April-ish 2015, Fit Chick #3 (Steph) asked me what my big, huge, long-term weight loss goal was. I freaked out as I thought about it. Then she mentioned a number and I laughed. I didn’t even know what to guess because I hadn’t been under 200lbs since probably early high school. Then something happened. I thought back to the goals that I had crushed in prior months (32lbs lost my first month, 65 total throughout the year) and still in 99% disbelief, I shared a number: 155 pounds. Typing that still makes me laugh. I still feel unsure about my very big goal, but I share it because I want it. I’ve learned that sharing my goals helps me push myself in reaching them. I’ve also learned that setting slightly-bigger-than-I-think-I-can-reach goals are helpful to me. That being said, my short-term goal is to to workout at least 7 times each week and to lose 40lbs by Christmas.

My goal in sharing with others is to share my own ups and downs of long-term, big-time weight loss. 2015 has been a rocky summer in the health and fitness department but its true that we can’t start the story over but we can start now and change the ending. Or something like that.

BeccaSig