January 02, 2017

Goals for 2017

Happy New Year, Friends! I'm hoping that 2017 is going to be a great one.

We spent NYE at Renee's with her husband and boys
Much like my last post about my end of the year post, I like to spend the beginning of each new year making some goals. I know that "new year's resolutions" are tired and cliché, so I don't really call my goals that--but there is something really special about the beginning of a new year when it comes to setting goals.

In the past, I've always had goals about weight--whether it was losing weight, maintaining weight, trying to change up my diet, etc.--it's always been at the front of my mind. This year, I'm actually not going to set any new goals in regards to weight! Of course, I'll always be working on losing/maintaining weight, but I have thought and written about it so much over the last decade that I just want to think about something else for a while.

There are a few things that I want to work on this year, though, so I will focus more on those goals.

1) I'd like to read more. Ever since I discovered "binge watching" shows on Netflix, I've pretty much just given up reading for pleasure. I'm going to set a goal to read at least one book per month. I know that doesn't sound like much, but at the end of the year, it'll probably be 11 books more than I read in 2016 ;)  I'm going to set aside at least 30 minutes a day to read. (If you have suggestions for me, please feel free to share! My favorite books are typically either thrillers (Dean Koontz is a fave) or popular young adult series (Twilight, The Hunger Games, etc.) Fun, easy reads, basically.)

2) I'd like to spend tons of quality time with my kids. I started making a list yesterday about all the things we can do together--from cooking dinner, to playing a board game, to visiting all the local state parks--and I'm going to make it my goal to do every single one of the items on the list sometime in 2017. My list is 110 items long, so it will definitely keep us busy. Some things are very quick and easy, and some require planning ahead, but the list is do-able. And hopefully I can create some nice memories with my kids! They're growing so fast.



3) Record 1 Second Everyday. My friend John shared a video that he'd put together from 2016 with an app called 1 Second Everyday. You literally just record one second of video every day, and the app keeps it nice and neat in a little calendar. It turns all the mini videos into one long video of your year. I started mine yesterday by taking a one second video of a pretty view of Lake Erie during my run. The video stays in this little calendar, so you can see at a glance what your videos are for each day. (I'm doing one series of just running photos, and another of one second per day of something I did.)


In my last post, I started by saying that I wasn't sure if I could find much good in 2016, but after writing the post, I realized that there was SO much good last year. I think that by doing the 1 Second Everyday video, at this time next year, I'll be able to conjure up 365 memories in just a few minutes! (And you don't have to start on Jan. 1--you can start anytime you like.)


Those are the three measurable goals that I have this year. Of course there are other things I'm working on--training for Indy, getting back to my goal weight (always, ugh), be more active, try new meals, etc--but they are things I'm always writing about!

I'm going to follow my training plan for Indy, which is a good amount of exercise; I'm going to count calories consistently; and continue to work on some habits. Somehow, I started drinking coffee again recently, which is so odd! I never feel like waiting for tea to steep, and since coffee from the Keurig is instant, I just started making it out of convenience. I'd like to switch back to tea. I have a ton of yummy tea just waiting to be steeped!

Another habit I picked up is snacking--when I was at my goal weight last year, I was eating three meals and one treat a day, and I was totally content with that. Somewhere along the way (probably in the summer), I started snacking again, which makes weight management more difficult. I felt much better before the snacking started! So, I'm going to try and switch that habit back as well.

I started training for Indy yesterday. I decided to do the Hansons Half-Marathon Method (the full 18 weeks, which includes base building). I'm not picking a goal time for Indy (just want to have fun and feel good throughout) so I may not focus on the speed work as much; but I feel ready to pick up the mileage for 2017. I have been enjoying running at my MAF heart rate, too, so I'll continue doing that for my easy runs. The first month is all easy running, so it'll be similar to November and December, just with more miles.

Even though I didn't make it all the way through the vegan challenge in November-December, I'm still glad that I tried it. It was much more difficult than I even could imagine. I'd always been curious if I could do it, and now I know :) 14 days is my limit, apparently! The reason I bring it up, though, is because I really like setting short term goals for myself (a maximum of 6 weeks) to just challenge myself in some way. So, I'd like to do more of that in 2017.

For January, the challenge is going to be not eating out. We ate out way too frequently last month, and it's kind of shocking to see just how much money that adds up to. The only exceptions we're making for this month are for birthdays--Eli's is on the 7th, and mine is on the 25th. I may choose to eat at home, but I know Eli loves going out for his birthday.

It feels nice to have some fresh goals going into this new year. Anyone else have resolutions or goals you want to share?

28 comments:

  1. That no eating out is a good one....I am going to try that for January too!

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  2. I love the idea of having 1 second of every day documented! We did one photo for every day of my daughter's first year of life, and it still makes me cry (happy tears) to look back on it. :)

    I also like the idea of shorter-term goals. Once you begin adding them all together, I think it really can create a much healthier "bigger picture."

    I have quite a few "focuses" for my 2017. I think an important one for me is to "Eat with intention." I turn to mindless eating quite often, and I know it's destructive. Ready to put that all in the past.

    Happy 2017!

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  3. Because you like Dean Koontz; search Donald Harstad. He's from Iowa (former State Trooper!) who writes thrillers / mysteries in the Iowa area, but a fake town. I've met him, he's awesome! If you start a book, read from the first publish date as they have a few of the same characters, but you don't need to read in order.

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  4. Since you love cats, I wanted to recommend the Warriors Series by Erin Hunter. It's actually a series my daughter started. I thought it was interesting so I started it too. It is addicting learning about all the cats in the different clans. It is a huge series and you definitely need to start at the beginning for everything to make sense.

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    1. I'm intrigued! I'd never heard of the series. From the description, it reminds me of Watership Down (I'm reading that with Eli right now) only with cats instead of rabbits? I'm going to add this to my list!

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  5. Oooh that one second every day video sounds awesome. I'm already stoked to see what all your runs look like next year. lol. I see your boys are much older now and running races along with ya'll too. That's pretty awesome. My husband and I made sure to have one last dinner out on NYE because we decided we wont be eating out for a long time either. It is insane how fast it adds up, especially if the kids are with us. We really enjoy having family meals together at home though anyways. Just been more on the go throughout the holidays but now that's over it should be easier to find time for cooking again.

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  6. My all time favorite series is the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. It's like no other book series I've ever read. Highly recommend it!

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    1. It's funny, I literally started reading Outlander just before writing this post! I'm a super slow reader, though, so it's probably going to take me forever to finish. Hopefully, I'll get caught up in it though and ready quickly ;)

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  7. I just finished the second book in the series "A court of thorn and roses", I thought it was excellent!

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  8. Young adult books by Richard Peck are great. Walk Two Moons is another YA favorite and Fever 1793. I'd love to see your list of things to do with your kids. Happy new year!

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  9. Do you know Goodreads? It's a social network for readers (though you don't have to be a big reader to use it). You can set a reading goal for the year, keep track of what you're reading and keep a list of future books you want to read and recommendations. The site will also recommend books based on what you've read in the past. It's a really fun and useful website.

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    1. I second this! Love that you can set a reading goal and see your reading progress :)

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    2. Yes! I've actually used Goodreads for several years, but I don't utilize it the way I probably should. I'm going to try and keep up with it this year!

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  10. Hi! I just wanted to let you know that if you have Amazon prime you can borrow books through there now. They don't have everything but you can "check them out" and then return them when you're done. I just discovered a new author that way and while they only had one of her books, it was a nice way to read something new!

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  11. Wow I love your goals, really inspiring! I definitely need to start reading more, too..

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  12. Katie!! I just rediscovered my love for reading! I am so excited to see reading books for pleasure on your list of goals for the year! I have been going to the library a lot lately, which is a community treasure I have long taken for granted!

    The book I just finished was "Big Girl Panties" by Stephanie Evanovich. It was a very fun, easy read! I'd love to hear what books you end up reading! Love getting suggestions! :)

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  13. I really like Liane Moriarty books. Big Little Lies was the first that got me hooked--that's being made into an HBO mini-series. It's suspenseful and hard to put down.

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  14. Unrelated to this post, but I watched your movie on Netflix yesterday - loved it!

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  15. I love New Year's resolutions! However, because I love them so much, I always make too many;). This year is no exception, but the Resolution I am most serious about is to meditate every day. I use the Deepak & Orprah meditations because they are directed, which I need, and just plain great! Happy New Year!!!

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  16. Since you mentioned your birthday, will you be doing your birthday 5K again this year?

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  17. I did a reading challenge last year. Made a goal of 10 books and ended up reading 14.5. It was very worthwhile and now reading has become a part of my lifestyle again. My goal this year is to get to work a few minutes early so that I am settled in and actually working by 8:30, instead of walking in the door at 8:35.

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  18. Since you mentioned you like mysteries and easy reads. I recommend anything written by Charlaine Harris.

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  19. I have not rushed into goal setting, but I have some goals set which also include more downtime in general.

    Happy New Year to you, Katie!

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  20. I love the Aurora Teagarden series by Charlaine Harris, Joanne Fluke mysteries and all thrillers. Thank you for your blog.

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  21. An 18 week build up the race sounds epic! Also, love your goals for 2017 :)

    For books, I can recommend the Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater. I also love young adult books, & this series is soooo good. Quality writing, & the plot is just different - like nothing else I'd read. It starts with The Raven Boys - https://www.goodreads.com/series/73675-the-raven-cycle Also well-narrated by Will Patton as an audiobook if you'd prefer a different medium (available on Audible). I listen to audiobooks when I run :)

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  22. YA book suggestions:
    --The Immortal Rules series by Julie Kagawa
    --The Scorpion Races by Maggie Stiefvater
    --The 5th Wave series
    --3 Dark Crowns by Kendare Blake
    --Six of Crows series
    --Gone Girl, especially if you haven't seen the movie

    Mystery Suggestions:
    --The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (aka JK Rowling -- really good series!)
    --The "Alphabet" series by Sue Grafton
    --Anything by PD James, but especially Cover Her Face, A Mind to Murder and An Unsuitable Job for a Woman
    --The Question of the Missing Head by EJ Copperman (3-book series)

    I had a Goodreads account for years, but last year, they got me back on the platform because of an email to set up my own reading challenge. I said I'd read 20 books, and I ended up reading 30. Plus, it's really helpful to keep track of what I've read and what I'd like to read (since my mind goes blank whenever I go to a library or bookstore).

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  23. I read You and then the second book called Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes. I actually listened to audio during the commute to work instead of read butthey were read so incredibly awesome you felt like the character was talking to you. But anyway, they are psychological thrillers. There is some foul language like swearing, etc but these books were so out of the ordinary that I really enjoyed them. Google them and see what you think.

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  24. I also have the 1 second a day app and love it! It's great to look back on little things I've done throughout the year. One of my favorite authors is Jennifer Weiner, I'd call her books 'Chic Lit' easy fun reading. Also, anything by James Patterson!

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