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| The abundance of planners that help keep me organised |
Showing posts with label Goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Goals. Show all posts
FITNESS | Top Tips for Balancing Life and Fitness
2015 New Year's Resolutions
Happy New Year!! I find it impossible to believe that another year has passed already, but it has and here we are! January 1st 2015. I wonder how long I'll keep writing 2014 for!! Every year it's the same hehe!
As I've done in previous years, I wanted to post my New Year's resolutions. Although, this year - I don't have any! As you may have seen from my Year in Review post, I have had the most amazing 2014. I really don't see how it could get much better. All I can really wish for and hope to achieve in 2014 is to maintain and improve! I'll explain in more detail below.
Finding Your Motivation
It's no secret that motivation is so important. It's what gets you up in the morning and what gets you through that gruelling workout. Without motivation, as I'm sure you've experienced(!), it can be easy for your drive to ground to a halt.
Changes to be Bikini Ready!
Today marks 5 weeks until I jet off to Kefalonia in Greece! Excited is an understatement! I NEED some Vitamin D!
It's no secret I've been working hard to feel amazing in that bikini when I'm there but with such a short amount of time before I go, I'm making some little changes that will make a whole lot of difference!
It's no secret I've been working hard to feel amazing in that bikini when I'm there but with such a short amount of time before I go, I'm making some little changes that will make a whole lot of difference!
Setting SMART Goals; a follow up post
Two years ago I saw in a relatively uninspiring Business Studies class and I was inspired. My teacher who was usually a laughing stock actually gave us some pretty sound advice which lead me to write THIS post about goal setting. To this day, that post is still one of my most viewed from the early days! If you haven't already read it, I really reccommend that you check it out!
I got an email from OnlineEducation.Net (who produced the graphic below) earlier on in the week about a graphic that had been created about the importance of goal setting and efficient ways to do it and I wanted to share it with you guys.
What I like is that they talk about the importance of writing your goals down. It really does help and it all goes back to the visualisation aspect of goal setting. What's more you've then got something to check yourself against. I also like the emphasis on having clear cut, achievable goals which goes back to my SMART SWOT method =D
Check it out and see what you think
Love and hugs,
Georgie x
I got an email from OnlineEducation.Net (who produced the graphic below) earlier on in the week about a graphic that had been created about the importance of goal setting and efficient ways to do it and I wanted to share it with you guys.
What I like is that they talk about the importance of writing your goals down. It really does help and it all goes back to the visualisation aspect of goal setting. What's more you've then got something to check yourself against. I also like the emphasis on having clear cut, achievable goals which goes back to my SMART SWOT method =D
Check it out and see what you think
Love and hugs,
Georgie x
Hydrate Before You Caffeinate! (+ Visualisation!)
Hello lovely people! How are you?! I hope you're all embracing 2013 and feeling positive about what the New Year will bring. I took a little time this afternoon to look back over my instagram pictures (my username is georgieedwards27 if you want to follow me!) from the summer and I am SO excited for this year! I cant wait to be even more confident!
I'm writing to share with you how I've been achieving one of my 2013 goals/resolutions so far! You'll remember from this post that I was aiming to drink more water this year. Last year, it went in waves (excuse the pun!) some days I would drink a LOT of water, but others I would have one glass. One way I have been becoming more consistent is by Hydrating before Caffeinating! (@ErrickPT on Twitter came up with this saying and if you don't follow him DO IT NOW!! He's a genius!)
Now, before reaching for the coffee when I wake up, I've been reaching for the water instead! I make sure that I drink at least 20oz of water before having a coffee in the morning. It's really really worked! I've also found that I'm less likely to 'crave' a coffee during the day and that I don't miss it first thing!
Try it! I promise you it will work!
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| One of my Journaled days this week! |
You'll remember that I've been embarking on the Tone It Up Love Your Body challenge this week! The girls have set up a 6 and a half week challenge (finishing on Valentines day!) full of fitness, fun and fabulous nutrition! Part of that challenge, on the first day, was to set out our goals of what we want to achieve throughout 2013 and before, Tone It Up have talked about the importance of vision boards.
Visualisation has become key in anything that I do. It really helps to get me to see what I want to achieve and how I can do it - and how amazeballs I will feel when I've done it! I do this by creating a collage on my Mac and printing it out before hanging it up somewhere prominent! I posted a YouTube video telling you all about it! Check it out!
Things have gotten a little chaotic over the last few days! I'm getting ready to go back to Uni and I've got three assignments and an exam to prepare for. I've spent the last few days finishing off the essays and getting my notes ready to review for the exam! The exam's on Wednesday and after that I have one last week off before getting back into classes! Bear with me - I promise I'll stick with it!
Love and Hugs,
Georgie
xoxox
Happy New Year! My Resolutions
This is it! Another year is over! It seems crazy that 2012 is done already. I can happily say that 2012 has been a year that I will remember for the rest of my life. Highlights include, meeting more of you!, the Olympics, going to Disneyland and of course, getting into the school of my dreams to do the perfect course for me; against all the odds!
Now I'm usually not one for making resolutions, because like most people I forget what they were three months down the line! For years my resolution was "This year I'm going to lose weight" and to be honest that's so broad that realistically it's never going to happen anyway! I like my goals to be specific (see be a SMART SWOT).
This year I've set myself some resolutions for all aspects of my life!
1) Be an amazeballs friend, daughter, colleague and sister
2) Drink more water (at least 1.5l a day)
3) Give everything I do my all, be it at school, work or fitness
4) Be brave, push through and inspire people as I have been inspired
5) Complete the half marathon
6) Be the change I want to see in my life
7) Continue to see the positive in everything
8) Blog more!! (I know, I'm sorry!)
9) Work harder at getting a better balance between work, school, health and fitness and me-time!
10) Get better at giving myself compliments
11) Let go of all of the negative people or people that don't car about me in my life. 2013 means change.
There you have it!
I have a LOT to look forward to during 2013! I'll complete the first year of my degree, I'll celebrate becoming twenty!! (Ahh that seems so old to me haha!) I'll choose and be approved by the American university that I'll be at for the 2014/15 academic year and you can bet I'm going to grow as a person!
I'm starting my year off in the way that a lot of people do; with a bit of a fitness kick ;)
Tone It Up are launching the Love Your Body Challenge (this challenge is linked with Victoria's Secret!!!!) on New Year's Day. The challenge runs through to Valentines Day, it's completely free and it will be 6.5 weeks of motivation, emails, vlogs, making new friends and more!! TIU Challenges never disappoint so I can't recommend joining this one enough!
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| At the Olympic Stadium |
This year I've set myself some resolutions for all aspects of my life!
1) Be an amazeballs friend, daughter, colleague and sister
2) Drink more water (at least 1.5l a day)
3) Give everything I do my all, be it at school, work or fitness
4) Be brave, push through and inspire people as I have been inspired
5) Complete the half marathon
6) Be the change I want to see in my life
7) Continue to see the positive in everything
8) Blog more!! (I know, I'm sorry!)
9) Work harder at getting a better balance between work, school, health and fitness and me-time!
10) Get better at giving myself compliments
11) Let go of all of the negative people or people that don't car about me in my life. 2013 means change.
There you have it!
I have a LOT to look forward to during 2013! I'll complete the first year of my degree, I'll celebrate becoming twenty!! (Ahh that seems so old to me haha!) I'll choose and be approved by the American university that I'll be at for the 2014/15 academic year and you can bet I'm going to grow as a person!
I'm starting my year off in the way that a lot of people do; with a bit of a fitness kick ;)
Tone It Up are launching the Love Your Body Challenge (this challenge is linked with Victoria's Secret!!!!) on New Year's Day. The challenge runs through to Valentines Day, it's completely free and it will be 6.5 weeks of motivation, emails, vlogs, making new friends and more!! TIU Challenges never disappoint so I can't recommend joining this one enough!
Whilst at the moment I am pleased to see the end of 2012, I will never ever forget this year as being the best of my life. I am so grateful for all of you and it's pretty amazing how much my life has changed in the last year because of each of you!
Have a fantastic New Year and I'll see you in 2013!!
All my love,
Georgie xx
Back to School Goal Setting
It's that time of year! Back to school for so many of us! I always take opportunity of this time of year to re-evaluate my position and look back on my achievements.
I've worked hard for my entire academic career. I've been blessed with good brains and I've worked them hard haha! I've always done well in school and in my opinion that's because I enjoy it! As far as I can remember, I've never not wanted to go to school. I love to learn and that's always worked in my favour!
University has always been something that's been in my path. I never thought that I'd do anything else after college (In the UK we have high school for 5 years between the age of 11-16, then you have the choice to go on to college for another 2 years until you're 18 before applying to University). I know for sure that I'm not ready to go out into the wide world of work yet but I know that some of my friends couldn't even begin to entertain the idea of going back to education. As I mentioned; I've always enjoyed school so this is just the next step for me.
It's also a huge step. To a certain extent, I'm stepping in to the world of the unknown. Nobody in my family has been to University. I'm the first (and yes that makes me so proud!) so there are a lot of things I'm unsure about and I know that I'm going to learn along the way. I'm going to make mistakes but that's part of life! I know for sure that I'm going to try my absolute hardest in all aspects of my University life and maximise the experience.
Related to all of this is an old tradition of mine; I always set goals for myself at the start of any academic year. They don't have to be school/grade related but it's great to check back on myself at the end of each term/semester to see how I'm progressing.
This year is no different, in fact it's even more prominent. I'm venturing into this new world and I'll need to keep myself grounded!
Some of the goals on my list at the moment (it's not finished yet!) include;
- Make the most of each opportunity presented to me, academically or otherwise,
- Get involved. Become a part of the campus societies and sports clubs
- Continue to actively motivate and inspire others.
- Share the Tone It Up love
- Make new friends!! Don't be shy - be myself!
- Work hard; do my best - don't take it for granted
- Play hard
- Make more steps to reaching my goal body!
That's it for now! Have you got any back to school goals? Share them with me! :)
I've worked hard for my entire academic career. I've been blessed with good brains and I've worked them hard haha! I've always done well in school and in my opinion that's because I enjoy it! As far as I can remember, I've never not wanted to go to school. I love to learn and that's always worked in my favour!
University has always been something that's been in my path. I never thought that I'd do anything else after college (In the UK we have high school for 5 years between the age of 11-16, then you have the choice to go on to college for another 2 years until you're 18 before applying to University). I know for sure that I'm not ready to go out into the wide world of work yet but I know that some of my friends couldn't even begin to entertain the idea of going back to education. As I mentioned; I've always enjoyed school so this is just the next step for me.
It's also a huge step. To a certain extent, I'm stepping in to the world of the unknown. Nobody in my family has been to University. I'm the first (and yes that makes me so proud!) so there are a lot of things I'm unsure about and I know that I'm going to learn along the way. I'm going to make mistakes but that's part of life! I know for sure that I'm going to try my absolute hardest in all aspects of my University life and maximise the experience.
Related to all of this is an old tradition of mine; I always set goals for myself at the start of any academic year. They don't have to be school/grade related but it's great to check back on myself at the end of each term/semester to see how I'm progressing.
This year is no different, in fact it's even more prominent. I'm venturing into this new world and I'll need to keep myself grounded!
Some of the goals on my list at the moment (it's not finished yet!) include;
- Make the most of each opportunity presented to me, academically or otherwise,
- Get involved. Become a part of the campus societies and sports clubs
- Continue to actively motivate and inspire others.
- Share the Tone It Up love
- Make new friends!! Don't be shy - be myself!
- Work hard; do my best - don't take it for granted
- Play hard
- Make more steps to reaching my goal body!
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| My Uni ID picture haha! |
That's it for now! Have you got any back to school goals? Share them with me! :)
Goals: How to Set Them, How to Meet Them
Goals are something I always have and always strive towards. It gives you something in the future to work on, to make yourself proud. I have both short term and long term goals as it makes you feel great when you reach the short term ones and makes you feel as if the long term ones are even more achievable.
I think that the benefits of having targets to reach totally outweigh the disadvantages. In fact I can't think of any disadvantages - other than the time it takes to think them up, which is minimal let's be honest!
For example, knowing you've got a 5k at the end of the month (which I do...eek!) is motivation to get your butt out of the door and work towards your best time ever - is it not?
Knowing that summer is really not that far away now (thank God!) makes you want to get in the gym and get toned ready to show of all those bikini's you've bought in anticipation.
Set goals, see results.
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| Yes this blog is going to feature lots of bikinis. I'm excited so shoot me =P |
How to Set
How to set goals is somewhat more of a challenge. (See my previous post, Be a SMART SWOT) I think the key thing is they have to be realistic. So it would be very unrealistic to set yourself the goal of using 50lbs in a month. Or to go from a size 12 o a size 6 in six weeks. Slow and steady targets help get results. If you set yourself an unrealistic and then don't get it - you'll be heartbroken, demotivated and ready to give up - trust me, I've been there.
Give yourself little challenges. I like the idea of six week, six month and yearly goals. I also like the idea of 'By the end of the month I'd like to achieve....' They don't even have to be fitness related. One of my goals for the next six weeks is to do something good and beneficial around the house every day. Just to help my family out. Another key idea is have your goals set to a time. If you've got a target date (your cousin's wedding on the 26th June or Prom on July 6th or your vacation on August 12th etc) you know exactly when you need to be ready by and the chances are you need to be ready a week before that because you'll be too excited on the week leading up to it!
How to Meet
Be opportunistic. Best friend doing a charity fun run in your area? Do it with her! Not only will you feel good as it's for charity but you will then be able to spend more time with your BFF and work on your fitness as well. Grab every opportunity you are handed because 95% of the time you only regret things that you don't do.
Plan for your threats. I live by the 6 P's - prior preparation and planning prevents poor performance. Know that you're headed to the Cheesecake Factory for a friend's birthday dinner next week? Make sure you get great workouts in to compensate and most importantly DON'T STRESS! You're not going to have a perfect day every day for the rest of your life so don't worry. Cut your losses, move on and make tomorrow even better. A bad day is not the cause of a bad week- it's a bad attitude that will do it. If you plan for these 'threats' in advance you can either compensate for them or plan to avoid them! (Totally not suggesting you ditch your friend's birthday dinner haha; I mean you can research the menu and calorie count etc in advance)
Finally....work your little behind off because good things come to those who sweat.
I'm looking forward to seeing all of you in your bikinis!
Georgie <3
My Top 5 Tips to Get out of a Fitness Rut
Have you ever gone through a phase of not having any motivation to work out? Were you so sick of the thought of going to the gym that you'd rather shake up your routine by going straight home to the sofa instead of the gym?
If so, that's ok. I've been there. I was there this week in fact. The last two weeks even. I'm here to tell you it gets better - your journey is not over. You CAN do this.
The last three weeks have been a whirlwind for me. First I had exams so a lot of my time was taken up by studying. The week after that I was on vacation (don't get me wrong I walked EVERYWHERE but didn't hit the gym) and this week snow hit so I have been unable to get to the gym or run as people in the UK are totally inept when it comes to dealing with snow. As a result I've not worked out really at all for the last 3 weeks. Sound familiar?
What have I done to get myself remotivated?
However I am 150% convinced that my fitness journey is not over - despite the fact I'm feeling great and my new Hollister jeans (which are a smaller size) are fitting unbelievably well. I'm not done yet and neither are you.
"It's a Lifestyle - not a Diet"
The change we so badly want is not going to happen overnight. So to stay motivated and on track here is what I do when I'm feeling fed up or 'stuck in a rut'.
1. Remind Yourself of Your Goals
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| My 'Ultimate Body' Goal Reminding yourself of why you started this all in the first place is likely to bring you back to the frame of mind you were in when you were at your most dedicated. Read old blog posts, look at your 'ultimate body' picture, read that article that prompted you to get a gym membership. We all think we've got all the drive in the world when we first start out - we can get it back. 2. Check the Tone It Up Website or the Tone It Up Youtube Page |
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| My Beautiful Trainers - Karena and Katrina If you're reading this blog, it's more than likely that you found me and my story through Tone It Up. These girls have changed my life for the better. They have a ton of fitness and diet tips and over 200 videos on YouTube ranging from follow-along workouts to quick 30 second checkins; holding you accountable. What I like to do is grab my headphones, log onto YouTube and watch videos for hours. I'll find by that point I'm so motivated to hit the gym it's like I'm starting all over again. These girls are incredible and if you haven't ever watched their videos or visited their website please do! Tone It Up | Tone It Up.tv 3. Pin! |
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| Pinterest is FULL of Motivation and Fitness Tips and Tricks Pinterest is a relatively new site on the web which basically is a virtual pinboard. You have to request an account but it takes no more than 3 days to come through. Pinterest have a dedicated subsection to Fitness 'pins' taken from various sites on the web uploaded by users. I've found workouts, challenges, inspirational images, recipes and all sorts on Pinterest and I've often found after five minutes browsing the Fitness section I'm ready to go workout. 4. Take Some Time Out 
"Just Chilling"
Sometimes taking a break is the best thing to do. It gives you the time to sit back and re-evaluate your goals. Maybe you set too high a weight loss aim or it was never realistic to expect to be in the gym 6 days a week. Taking time out to think about why you really want this can sometimes be the best thing for everyone involved. It doesn't have to be too long, or it can be weeks at a time. Remember that old saying; you don't know what you've got until it's gone. You'll probably find you really miss working out and there is where your journey picks up.5. Check in on Twitter and Facebook |
Finally, if like me, you are part of the Tone It Up Team you will have met hundreds of inspiring women who, just like you, are on a mission to improve their life and live the best and most healthy way they can. Just by posting on your Facebook page or sending a quick tweet can open the airwaves to a hoarde of replies intent on picking you up when you're down or just to check in with you that you're ok. This team is full of caring women so take advantage of them!
So there you have it! 5 tips to help you get back to the grind. Remember I'm here for you just as you're here for me!
Share, LOVE, Inspire, Sweat ♥
