When I put plans and goals down for an entire year, they seem too big to even begin thinking about. I've decided to make mini goals each month. I've already listed my February Goals in a previous entry, but I want to outline some health goals to be more specific:

[] walk or cycle three times per week, for 20 minutes or more - unfortunately i slacked off for a week or more so my fitness levels have waned. also, in the middle of the house-buying process i am not going to have a lot of time. three times per week is an achieveable goal for me.

[] drink 1.5 litres of water a day. my goal is 2L, but I want to start with 1.5, as sometimes I just simply forget.

[] do not buy any more flavoured milk when at work. a big ask! it fills me up, which is why i buy it in the first place. i buy the low fat one which doesn't have as much calories, but at $3.10 per 500ml, it's just not a wise financial move.

[] begin to replace coffee and coca cola with teas. (green tea, caffeine free black tea, herbal teas)

[] do not purchase cakes or snacks when having coffee with friends, for the whole month of feb.

[] cut down significantly on processed/sugary/fatty foods. ie. limit it to be ALMOST non-existent in my diet (aim for 95% wholegrain, natural, processed sugar free, fresh etc)

[] begin to MAKE desserts. this will also decrease DF's consumption of sugary fatty foods (as he has an icecream and chocolate for dessert every night - i have been choosing fruit sorbets and fruit based desserts - which cost more though. by making them, i know what goes in them, they are cheaper, and healthier). desserts i will make: stewed fruit with yoghurt, crumbles, puddings etc.

[] consistently serve up smaller portions at dinner time. i have been practising this already, but i want to do it every night without forgetting (or having eyes bigger than my stomach!) I have also been using smaller bowls, which help. I want to start with reducing them to 3/4 the size of our meals now, then to 2/3, and then maybe 1/2, atleast for me.

[] chew my food. obviously its a given, but i find if i'm starving, i forget and wolf down my food, then realise, staring at an empty bowl, that i just inhaled evreything in about five minutes. terrible? i know. bad for me? very likely!

[] SNACK! I know most people try to STOP snacking, but my problem is I hardly ever snack, and then there are times I'm so hungry I end up eating a whole meal between lunch (which I hardly eat - I dont finish work til 2pm, then I think - why bother eating lunch if I make dinner at 5pm?) and dinner, when I really should have just some crackers or a piece of fruit. So more often than not, I'll go and have a 'coffee' with a friend, and end up ordering a plate of chips or something equally gross. Then I eat dinner! BLAH! So yes, this month I want to trial a few cost-effective, easily portable snacks which are GOOD for you. Any suggestions?

[] At the moment, because of lack of time/laziness/the weather/weekends away etc I haven't been able to go to the markets, so I have been buying veges at the supermarket. I don't like buying fruit at the supermarket (or veges, but it cant be helped) so I have been buying tinned fruit, in fruit juice. One of my goals is to keep this up, as atleast I get SOME fruit into my diet this way. I also aim to find the best deals on tinned fruit at this time, and package them in small containers for DF for his lunch too (otherwise he buys the snack packs - which are a ripoff!)

[] Weightloss of 1kg is my ultimate goal for the month of February in the health department. I want it to be an easy goal for starters, seeing as this month is going to be a little stressful. Atleast if I can tick this goal off, it will motivate me to try harder in March!

Hmmmm! I think that is all my health/diet goals for this month!