Goal Characteristics #1 - Yours

Okay, so the first characteristic of a goal that this article lists is to make it YOURS. I have to own the goal. "To be effective, it has to reflect your true desire - not your husband's, mother's, or best friend's." So I'm going to make sure my goal of losing 50 lbs is truly mine. Again, why am I losing the weight? Because I carry my weight in my belly. That's probably numero uno. Women who carry their weight in the middle sections have a higher rate of heart disease. I am in my 30's (as much as I like to claim otherwise) and I'm obviously not getting any younger. I am not ready to leave my family behind if it's because of something I can control/change. I also HATE how I look in pictures. I hate it. I could be very happy never to have another picture taken of me at this size, but that's not a very realistic desire. I have found that I also don't want to end up with no pictures of me and my kids/husband which is about where we're at. I avoid the camera like the plague. I want my kids to have those videos/pictures to sit and look at longingly when I am not here, just like in the movies. You know the ones. The candid but ever so charming photo of the couple smiling big and obviously enjoying their outdoor-BBQ-fishing adventure-mountain climbing-fancy dress-windy day blowing the hair just right experience. I want that. :) I also hate not having any clothes that feel like they fit. I don't want to buy a larger size. I don't want to get into the plus size clothes. I'm not there (barely or maybe I should be there and I just keep squishing into my too small clothes) yet and I don't want to get there. No bigger sizes. Smaller. Only Smaller. So this is MY goal. Shawn didn't suggest it. My mother didn't push me (well maybe the fact that she's giving me all the clothes that are too big for her might have helped encourage me). I didn't have a best friend chanting in my ear that she's doing this so I should do it with her. I decided I was tired of being fat. I have no energy. I can't do the outdoorsy stuff with my family without getting seriously winded. This is for ME, not anyone else. If I don't succeed, I am only failing myself. I'm tired of failing myself.

Oh, for those that haven't heard (most everybody), Riley opened the chicken run to get eggs and then didn't lock it back up. I let Tig out to of his kennel (he won't stay in the yard so he gets locked up for most of the day) to get some exercise. Tig was out for probably an hour before he realized the door to the chickens wasn't really an obstacle. I asked Kyler to check on Tig to make sure he was in the yard and he alerted me, with a healthy dose of panic, that Tig was chasing a chicken up on the patio. Sure enough. Red (probably the favorite and boy does she lay HUGE eggs) was just barely evading the snapping canines coming at her. Well, she didn't really escape. She lost a lot of feathers, but actually only had one spot of any real damage and it was pretty minor and on the very edge of one wing. I was finally able to get Tig by his collar and kennel him and Rocky back up. Kyler and I then embarked on a chicken hunt. It took me a bit to get a hold of a very harassed Rhode Island Red and when I carried her back to safety, one of the Leghorn's was walking calmly back into the Chicken run. The other Leghorn (the white ones) was cowering in a back corner. She didn't fare as well as Red. She had a few bleeding puncture wounds on the top of her head. We weren't sure she was going to make it. So, we were only missing one chicken now. Kyler and I started to search the yard. I was expecting to find a dead chicken. I finally found the Sex-link (yes, that's really it's type) unharmed at the big gate by our woodpile. This was 2 days ago and so far they are all still alive and at least 3 of them are still laying eggs. 2 brown and 1 white each day. Oh, and our chicken's names are Tweedle, Dee, Dumb, and Dumber if you didn't know. You can't tell Dee and Dumb apart because their both white Leghorn's, but does it really matter? I crack up every time I say their names. :) Tweedle is the Rhode Island Red and Dumber is the Sex-link. Tweedle is the feistiest and Dumber is the bravest.

Boy, my post are just so dang long. Hope you like reading.