200 calorie challenge update

After a review of the mid year on the annual goals, I decided to make a start on trying to bring up the success rate on the fitness goals.  A small step forward with a 200 calorie burn session for 30 days.  I am pleased to report that I have now done seven days straight. 

But it has not been easy, and that has nothing to do with the exercise part!  200 calories on the spin bike took 20 minutes the first time, and it is now down to 15 minutes.  How hard is it to find 15 minutes in a day?  Well some days it is hard.  Try telling a nine year old that you need 15 minutes.  The benefit of setting a goal is that you have to commit to finding ways to achieve it.  As a parent I want to set the example that health and fitness is important.  So we managed to do our daily reading whilst Mummy was clocking up the km's.

With a family schedule that has two full time jobs, two part time jobs, one uni course, three kids, two houses and varying child are arrangements we absolutely run with an internet calendar.  Although in saying that, I had the calendar for running one parent, one job and one child!  It is the cornerstone of managing my time, reminders to do things and a method to allocate time for working on various goals.  For the balance of the year I have an hour in the diary to complete my 200 calorie challenge. As I look at my diary each day for what is on I can see the appointment there, it is an anchor to the goal.  That doesn't mean it doesn't move around in the day, but it does make me think about it when I have to schedule over it.  For example Saturday night we had AFL tickets, so in the afternoon the family headed out to walk the dog for 30 minutes.  Now without the challenge the family would not have made the time to squish in the dog walk before the football.

Of course my scheduling does drive my Arian partner absolutely nuts, as does my goals and planning approach.  We are like oil and water in our styles, so the challenge is how to find the happy medium.  How does a carefree and restraint phobic Arian cope with the Capricornian need to plan everything?  Not well, ignoring was working a treat until I added yet another entry to the calendar! Of course I could simply create another calendar and hide it all, but that is not how I want my relationship to be.

Just as I need to schedule everything, I also need to have patience and understanding that my approach doesn't work for everyone. It is entirely possible that others are successful following their own approach, and that approach may not include writing anything down on paper, or placing it on the calendar!  How you progress on the journey is not the important part, just that you keep moving forward is.