With the new year comes a lot of thought about setting goals. I have many goals for myself but I need to work on defining them. I am working on creating new habits in many areas but I need to quantify them so I can look back and be able to say, “yes, I have accomplished that goal.”

One habit I want to create is exercising on a regular basis. My current goal is to exercise at least three times per week. I bought a work-out DVD to help motivate me. I’ve tried the video and I do enjoy it, but because it is lengthy it may just be a weekend thing. What I’ve been doing during the week is getting up early and walking a mile around the neighborhood. So far I’ve really been enjoying it but I want to be sure I stick with it, so I’m setting a specific goal to walk 125 miles in 2008. That’s an average of 2.4 miles per week. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but I want to keep it realistic considering I probably walked 5% of that in 2007.

My friend IRL, momteacherfriend, has set some fitness goals for herself (much more ambitious than mine) and she is posting her progress on her blog. I think it’s a great idea, so I’m going to post my miles walked and my weight loss in my sidebar. Hopefully it will help to keep me motivated. We’ll see!

I just said to my manager, “I don’t know why meatloaf’s got such a bad rep.”

Her reply: “Dude, he did so bad on American Idol two seasons ago! Did you see it?”

Ha! I was talking about the food. I pretty much know why the singer has a bad rep. Meatloaf the food however, is delicious, easy to make, can feed many, and makes for terrific leftovers. It’s part of my lunch today: meatloaf, tater tots, cottage cheese and zucchini. Love zucchini. I found that chopping it up and microwaving it with italian dressing and parmesan works really well. Nice and easy and adds to a healthy lunch. I’m still making my own jello and pudding cups but I ran out so no dessert today
About that “lose 30 pounds by 30″ thing… I don’t know if I’ve made any progress because I didn’t weigh myself at the beginning. Oops. We ought to buy a scale so I can start tracking it. I did give much thought to joining a gym but it turns out I’m too cheap. I would rather find exercise I can do for free. I did some stomach crunches the other day while watching “I Want To Look Like A High School Cheerleader Again”… does that count?

XM: Sarah McLachlan - “Train Wreck”
Mood: Happy happy joy joy

I shopped for groceries on my lunch break. I have no trouble getting all my fruits for snacking but vegetables are another story. There are not as many veggies that are easy to prepare for snacking. I could buy the packs where they are already cut but those are so pricey. So I bought carrots. No greens, unless you count the avocado, which is actually a fruit. I think I’ll have to buy some veggies later and just take them home to cut up and put into little snack bags.

I want to get back into doing some strength training. I talked to Mike about the possibility of me signing back up at Curves. When I was going consistently I felt so great and I even started to look better in my jeans (which I consider just a bonus for Mike because I don’t have to look at myself in jeans, so what would I care?). He told me he had been thinking about getting a bowflex and cleaning up the basement, and that way we could both workout at home whenever we want. So we are going to start saving and see where it goes. Until then we would like to find a cheap, used exercise bike. So if you’re ever out bargain hunting, keep an eye out for one! Or if you have one at home that has turned into a clothes hanger, let me know and I’ll make an offer to take it off your hands