At the beginning of the month, I love to set goals for myself. It is almost like with every month I get a fresh start to improve or work on myself in some way or another. And at the beginning of each month, I am usually all like:
“This month, I am going to run 6 times a week, do yoga everyday, cook balanced home cooked meals at every meal,….” And the list goes on.
Pancake Sunday: Vegan Oat Pumpkin Blender Pancakes with a side of frozen raspberries and bananas
But let’s get real. Life gets busy. I get busy. And all of the sudden, halfway through the month, I slowly start to dwindle. As in it’s already Thursday and I haven’t even made it out for a run yet and I am seriously considering take-out for dinner after a long day of work/school/studying.
I think it’s time to make goals that are a bit more realistic. Goals that are manageable within my daily time frame during the Fall. Because Fall is when things get seriouuuuslly busy around here. But staying active, eating a whole healthy plant-based diet (97% of the time) is what keeps me feeling my best, healthy, energetic and ready to take on the world and the million essays I still have to write this semester (#letsbehonest). At the beginning of October I made some personal goals for myself but I might have underestimated how busy I’d be this year finishing up the last year of my Master’s.
Dinner one night last week: A side of steamed frozen veggies with chili peppers, polenta “fries” sauteed in a bit of coconut oil and a big bean burger
So this Fall, I want to set realistic goals for myself. Goals that I can actually reach, manage and feel great about in my day to day life! My ‘big’ goal is to take the best care of myself by nourishing my body and mind with the best foods possible and staying active, as best I can, within the time I have available for myself. This means realistically setting time aside for myself during the day to stay healthy and happy even when it feels like there are never enough hours in the day. Because my “big” goal is a big tooo broad, here are some mini goals I plan on working on during the Fall to stay active, healthy, happy and all that good stuff. 😉
And I hope you enjoy my #MoveitMondays post as I love writing them. I started writing these posts to show my experience of living a ‘healthy lifestyle’ did not stop the day I stepped on the scale and met my “goal weight”. This journey of health is so much more to me than “losing all the weight”. It is about living a life where I set realistic goals for myself, eat an abundance of delicious, bright, nutritious eats and live a life where I am active in my day to day life.
Tropical Green Smoothie with Mango, Pineapple, Almond Milk and Spinach
It’s about living a balanced life where I can enjoy my green smoothie and run in the morning and enjoy a glass of wine and and a healthy chocolate cookie in the evening 🙂 Balance.
Wishing all my Candian readers a very happy Thanksgiving surrounded by love and lots of pumpkin treats!
Do you have any Fall Goals?
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Thanks for the inspiration, Ceara, I need to set goals for myself more often this season, I totally agree with you, Fall is definitely when things get seriously busy! These pancakes look pretty good! I love your Fall Goals, keep it up, Ceara, you have my utmost support and let’s kick some ass!!!! How are you doing with these goals so far?
That’s a great list of goals, Ceara! I often feel too overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done every day, but in my unwritten list of goals for every month I aim to have at least 4 workouts at the gym or outside per week, knowing that those workouts will make me feel so much better and help me deal with stress. Keep up the good work, glad I’ve found your blog!
Love it! I also like to make a too long, too unattainable goal list at the beginning of every month. I like the idea of making it a touch more realistic 🙂
Thanks Heather! Good luck with your goals 🙂
I feel like I always have the best intentions when making goals, but you’re right, sometimes they just aren’t realistic so it is hard to keep to them. I’m really trying to eat healthier more often and start exercising again this month. I think the cool fall weather really helps motivate me! Although I did try to go on a lunchtime run yesterday and it isn’t quite cool enough for that yet, I thought I was gonna die out there! Hopefully soon though 🙂
That’s amazing Isadora! And I can’t imagine that it is too hot to run here, it is getting super chilly here! I hope it starts cooling down for you over there so you can enjoy another run soon! 🙂
Ah it’s so comforting to know that I’m not the only one who makes small, personal goals like that! I symbolize my lists too so that anyone reading it wouldn’t be able to understand them haha, I must look like such a psycho to an outsider!
And sometimes, “dwindling! doesn’t even cover it…we all know that slippery-slope-im-about-to-give-up-so-fxck-it feeling, right…?
But I’ve been thinking about this recently…If you ever reflect back on a month, in addition to just *planning* ahead, you often find heaps and heaps of small things which you achieved that mattered. Whether it was spending quality time with family/friends via procrastination or meeting new people by going out when you should have been working…finding a life changing article while you were wasting time on the net, or producing some amazing work when you couldn’t bring yourself to stick to your to-do list…it happens! To do lists are just guides, they help us dissipate our creativity in the vaguely productive directions that we need to head off into. Once we stop adding value to the substance of our achievements…we start to feel happy about everything that we do, because every day is progress to reaching ourselves 🙂 It’s all about learning things day in and day out, – where else is there to go? 🙂
xox
I LOOOVE that you visualize your goals – that is such a wonderful idea. I cannot wait to try that with my goals this month! I love how you think –> “because every day is progress to reaching ourselves”. So beautifully said Tash. I need to focus more on reflecting on my feats as well (no matter how small). XO
Ha ha ha ha Ceara, you know that’s exactly what I sound like every Monday! Especially after a weekend of way to much salt. I always say I am going to get healthy this week, love these goals!! I am going to keep them in mind this weekend before I think about takeout this weekend!!!
I am happy to hear we are on the same page Shundara and that we think alike 😉 Here’s to being healthy! And too much salt never does me any good either.
I LOVE it and couldn’t agree more!! I’m all about a realistic, balanced approach to health! No need to go to extremes! 🙂 Good luck girly! You got this!
Thanks Cailee – hehe, I try to be all about the balance! 😉
I’m so with you on the annoyance of those overambitious goals! I love your new goals – good luck! I’m sure you’ll smash them!
🙂 Thanks so much Alessandra!
I think your goals definitely sound realistic – you’re going to MASTER them!! Wishing you a happy autumn! xx
Thanks so much Katrina!! Happy Autumn and Happy Belated Thanksgiving! 🙂
I loved this post Ceara! I totally agree, it’s so important not to get carried away with your goals and instead to focus more on setting realistic ones that you will be able to achieve instead. It’s all about balance and I love that you give thanks too 🙂 Happy happy Thanksgiving!:)
Thanks so much for the love and kind words Kelly! Hope your week is off to a fab start! 🙂
I WISH that I had a thanksgiving feast in front of me today, alas…. I did not, but I guess Canadian Thanksgiving is just whetting my appetite for November’s Thanksgiving! 😀 😀 😀 😀
Hehe, I love it! I love love love thanksgiving – I guess I might just have to celebrate the American one too 😉
I always have good intentions to reach my goals Ceara, but sometimes I am disappointed along the way. But you are right , we have to set realistic goals. Happy Thanksgiving Ceara!!
I know exactly how you feel Hadia – I have definitively felt that way many times before! Thank you for the Thanksgiving wishes – hope your week is off to a great start 🙂
Great goals! I’m with ya on that it’s more than just about weight, it’s about feeling good and definitely balance. That’s key! My goals are to go on more walks, watch my portion sizes & don’t snack unless I’m actually hungry (we can overeat healthy food too) be active with friends on the weekend whether it’s hiking or a hot yoga class and stay focused and committed to my goals in regards to business.
Thanks Lauren! I agree with you – so much of feeling great in my day to day life is balance and always coming back to that balanced place. Those are wonderful goals Lauren. Being active on the weekends with friends is the best (I love Fall hikes)! 🙂
Thanks for sharing this post Ceara! I should start setting “realistic ” goals from now on! It is very important, as I always try to push myself and of more, sometimes I just shouldn’t act like that. I love your way of doing it!
Thanks Mira! I wish you all the best in achieving your goals in the future 🙂
Having realistic goals is so important. I like your goal about giving thanks. Thanks such a good one!
Such an important one 🙂 You are so right!
So true to be gentle with yourself in goal setting! And, have you ever found an old “to do” list laying around from weeks or months ago? It will amaze you to see all that you did and accomplished off that list! Thanks for the reminder to give thanks. In all that goal setting, we can lose sight of what amazing things our life already holds! Happy Thanksgiving, Canada!
I love to-do lists Lori! I keep one right beside me taped on the wall near my desk! I love the feeling when I cross things off of it 🙂 Hope your week is off to a beautiful start 🙂
I always used to set goals then get dissappointed if I didn’t complete them so I just try to eat well and exercise 80% of the time and just be happy. My only fall goal of sorts is to be more organised which is going quite well!
That sounds like a wonderful goal – I should add being organized to my list 😉
It’s so easy to get carried away with goals, that I usually end up with a whole list that I never accomplish! I love that you set new goals for yourself each month, Ceara! And creating realistic ones is definitely the key (I need to remember that!).Sounds like you set some great goals for yourself this month!
I know exactly where you are coming from, Gayle! Hope your week is off to a great start! 🙂
Great post! So many times, we set such board and lofty goals for ourselves, and then feel disheartened we can’t actually achieve something so huge and all-encompassing. The key is to keep goals achievable, measurable and small enough to be manageable! And I looooove that you included giving thanks on your list – that’s my favorite of all! I heard somewhere once that’s it’s practically impossible to be in a black mood while simultaneously feeling thankful. It really works! Total mood-lifter to just focus for a moment on all that is good and right in your life … even better if you do it while jogging … you just can’t stay grouchy after that! 😀 Have a fab week, my friend!
You are spot on Shelley and that is exactly how I was feeling until I “rethought” my goals for Fall – there are only so many hours in the day 😉 I love giving thanks and I think it is so important 🙂 Hehe, I love the idea of doing it while jogging – will keep that in mind! Have a great week!!