Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Health Goals for 27

Today I am 27 years old, and today is a New Moon. What better time than now to set some intentions for what I want my life to look like this coming year? I have many goals that seem at once very far-fetched and yet very ordinary.  Today I envisioned my life a year from now, and two years from now. I haven’t got to envisioning much farther than that.


One year from now, I want to be healthier, stronger, and have more natural energy without caffeine. I want to spend less time staring at my phone, especially around my family. I want to have a stronger relationship with my husband, where we communicate more and understand each other better. I want to have a knitting business that I can keep up with, one that provides a good source of supplemental income for my family. I want to plan ahead better so that I can arrive on time to every appointment, big or small. I want to be free of “bad debt” and have a savings account that is growing every month.  Encompassing all of these goals is my goal of publishing frequent blog posts about anything and everything, including my journey of working towards said goals.


One year from now I want to be a better version of myself. Two years from now I want myself, Jade and Darlene to be welcoming another baby into our family. I haven’t confirmed that exact timing with Jade yet, but I believe that he will more or less be on board! Haha.  While I would love to be having another baby sooner, I feel that it’s very important for me to be on the path to achieving many of my personal goals before taking on the added responsibility of another child. So, this next year will be in preparation for becoming the woman I will need to be as a mother of two. That isn’t my only motivation for these goals, or even my biggest motivation, but let’s just say that having a second child is one of my longer-term short-term goals!


Since one of my main goals is to write more and put my B.A. in Writing to good use, why not write a Blog?! Even if no one reads my Blog (but I hope they do), it will make me so happy to be writing again. So here is a Blog post getting into the details of some of my health goals for the year I am 27! I should also mention that one of my most-broad goals is to develop some sort of practical schedule, or rhythm of my days, one where there is a time alloted for each of my priorities and responsibilities. I know from my past experience that I personally thrive and am very productive when I give myself a realistic, firm yet flexible structure. Maybe there will be separate blog post for when I figure out my schedule.  




Fitness Goals:

  • Yoga & Stretching: Daily stretching is both meditative and invigorating. Ideally I will do at least 15 minutes of stretching first thing in the morning, before Darlene wakes up. We’re talking around 4:30 AM. This sets the tone for my whole day. A few of my long-term stretching goals are to find my splits and increase my back flexibility. I want to be strong and flexible so I can get better at aerial hoop and circus type things! I want to be able to hula hoop with my foot in the air while holding wheel pose! I also want to be able to hoop on my foot while holding handstand! That’s a goal I’ve had for YEARS but haven’t gotten much closer to reaching because I haven’t set my clear intention. Well, I’m setting it now! Hand stand hula hooping I’m coming for you! I gotta be strong for that. Which leads me to my next point...





  • Strength Training: I’m just gonna say it, I want a nicer booty. I mean don’t we all? And I want my core to be so strong and stable so that my back pain disappears! After pregnancy especially, my core is basically non-existent, which leads to a whole slew of life-long problems if not addressed. SO, after my morning stretches I would like to do some sort of exercises using small weights or even just my own body weight. No-equipment exercises are my favorite! No excuses available!






  • Running: I used to HATE running. Like, I would feel like I was dying when I was running. And now I love running so much that I want to run my 4th half-marathon sometime in this next year! My favorite race, the Avenue of the Giants, is every May & October. Maybe I will do both dates this year! Since I’ve done this race 3 times before, this goal seems the most attainable to me. BUT how cool would it be if I ran my first FULL marathon this year? I know I could do it. And if I could do it, so could you! All it takes is starting where you’re at, even if that’s jogging half a mile. I think I’ll start with three 3-mile runs per week. That’s how I started to train for my last half. And combined with stretching & cross-training, I will be more likely to avoid injuries!






  • Hooping: Hula hooping has been a passion of mine for 8 years! Sadly, I don’t make time for it too much these days. But what I’ve learned recently is that even though I can’t have two-hour-long hoop sessions anymore, I can still squeeze 10-15 minutes in quite often! And I can still have a lot of fun in that short amount of time! If you haven’t hooped before, I highly encourage it! Just put your favorite music on LOUD, get a big ol’ hoop around your hips, and move! The amount of endorphins released is incredible! I equate a hoop sesh to a great yoga class or a long run, or even meditation! Just let loose and see how much better your day can get with some hooping thrown in there. As for hooping goals- see the section above about stretching.

  • DIET: So I have a LOT I want to write about this, and this is one of my biggest weaknesses... Sugar. If I’m being completely honest, I’m a full-blown sugar addict. So I would like to wean myself off of it, and reserve things like cake and ice-cream for special occasions, instead of every day. You think I’m exaggerating, but I’m actually not. I eat sweets in some form or the other Every. Single. Day. I’m also ALL about those smoothies though! And I love throwing things like spinach and avocado into smoothies. I have some bomb smoothies that I make regularly, and they’re basically just as good as any milkshake. I’d love to share some of my smoothie recipes on my blog too!

    • Besides limiting artificial sugars, I want to limit my meat & dairy consumption. I was a vegetarian for almost 6 years, and I started eating meat again when I was pregnant, on the advice of my midwives. Besides wanting to limit meat for ethical reasons, I know that there are other healthy protein sources besides meat, but meat has just become the “easy” way to feel like I’m getting nutrition. So I’d like to explore more of a plant-based diet, but one that is also high in iron and protein. Because nobody likes being anemic.

    • I’d also like to become a more well-versed cook in general. For the benefit of my family, I want to venture away from grilled-cheese and pasta, and move towards other delicious (but still easy and fast) dinners. Ain’t nobody got time for being stuck in the kitchen!

    • Caffeine: I basically feel zero effect from a quad-shot latte, which just isn’t right, ya know? Caffeine is a drug that I have built such a high tolerance to that I still manage to feel burnt-out even when I’m downing lots of coffee. A brief hiatus from coffee would do me well I believe. And I just want to feel energized without it.

    • Water: Drink more of it. Drink a big glass when I wake up, and before every meal. This will help with energy levels too.


So, I wanted to write one blog post about ALL of my goals, but I feel like this particular post has gotten quite lengthy with just some of my health goals for this year! So I’m going to make a separate post about my other goals regarding relationships, screen time, decluttering, financial goals, and more! If you’ve gotten this far, thank you for reading! I hope this post was enlightening and encouraging, and I’d love any and all feedback! What are some of your current health and fitness goals?