This morning, I sat down again and hammered out more concrete plans for my goals. I don't want to leave any room for error, any room to slip and get complacent. I want to spend the whole year pushing myself forward incrementally, so that 365 days from now I can look back and see massive improvement in every major area of my life.
The financial picture will be rough for a few months. I don't want to kid myself into thinking everything will be magically better and I will get my head above water without any effort. But a few things will help me a lot --getting rid of this huge ($400/mo) car payment, paying less in rent, my mom getting hired on full-time so she needs less help, and paying off my credit card and a couple of other monthly payments with my tax refund so that those are not hanging over my head anymore. In the first month or two, I will definitely be in the kind of place where every little bit helps. So those monthly payments not being due will be a big help.
Another big help will be moving back to Greenville, and spending so much less on gas. I will be even closer to work than I used to be, back when I was only using one tank of gas each paycheck. I am so excited I can barely stand it -- it really can't come soon enough. I almost want to hibernate until it's time to move, because I'm getting into a very tight spot with gas. I know I just have to buckle down and make it through -- I get paid again in a week. (Not that my next check isn't pretty much already spent on bills, but then I'll be able to start seriously thinking about filing taxes.) I am creating a budget that I will have to stick to religiously, and there's just no way around it.
Part of that budget is going to be my 4HB experiment. It saves me a lot of money in groceries (should be $3/24 eggs, $6/1 pound of turkey, $1.20/canned beans and diced tomatoes, $10/fish fillets, $6/veggies -- and I can always sub canned tuna for fish fillets for awhile, since things will be extra tight; also, I have a big bag of chicken breasts begging to be consumed). The 4HB experiment will do a lot for me beyond budget -- it's a great way for me to ramp up into a lifetime of fitness and good health. Beginning with a 3x/week posterior chain workout and 2-3x/week Zumba is a nice, no-pressure way to get started. Eating in a disciplined manner will help me get used to how it feels long-term. Taking bi-weekly progress pictures and shots of the food I'm eating will help keep me realistic and on-target. And the best part is, I think it's really going to work -- so everything else building from there will be even better.
I have counted out twelve weeks that I plan to do the 4HB experiment just as described. It takes about twelve weeks, they say, for other people to notice a difference. I'm going to stick to one thing long enough to make a noticeable difference, and then build from there. Twelve weeks brings me to 3/25, and then I will toss an extra week in there for a good baker's dozen. Beginning 4/2, I will do the nine week Couch to 5k program -- not instead of, but in addition to, what I'm already doing. So that will be a posterior chain workout 3x/week, running 3x/week, and Zumba 2-3x/week. Building, adding on, and improving -- the first half of the year will be dedicated to fat loss.
Beginning 6/1, I want to start tackling some more serious strength work. I would like to really master my body weight, so I will look at incorporating the You are Your Own Gym workout. Successive ten week workouts will take me all the way to the end of the year, getting stronger and stronger. Of course, I will not be giving up cardio -- I will simply lighten up the load a bit, to put the focus squarely on strength. I will most likely go the the 20 min Zumba, and I am not going to lie to myself -- I'm not going to be running outside from June until probably October, nor do I plan to get another gym membership ever, ever again. So unless we end up with a treadmill, running will have to wait until it cools off again (this opens up the possibility of another abbreviated or even full-length Couch to 5k at the end of the year, switching out Zumba for running).
The rest of my plans involve organization and education -- compared to the first two areas, these will be the easiest to tackle by far. I have to set up a space for school, and I have to set up a very specific schedule. I need to impose exam dates and "assignment due" dates, and I need to devote one day off a week to whatever needs to get done for school. I need to get everything organized in our new home and keep it that way, to make everything much easier in the long run.
This whole year is about putting everything into its place, developing better habits, and putting myself in the best position I've ever been in for the rest of my life. After all, 2013 will be the last year of my twenties, and I have to start tackling bigger and better goals! This year is all about the amazing changes I will make to prepare myself for the even more amazing things to come. And I am super ready.
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