Goals

I have gone though a year long transformation to surpass my original goal when I started this heath journey. My main goal was to get down to 180 pounds. In October of 2023, being 248 pounds and 5 feet 6 inches, my body mass index was 40, which was considered Extremely Obese. The health implications of being extremely obese are extraordinary harmful. There is a higher statistical outcome of having type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke, breast & colon cancer, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, gallbladder disease, liver disease and increased hormonal issues when going through perimenopause. I was feeling the affects of these health issues already. I was borderline diabetic with my A1C level being 5.9 (a normal A1C level is lower than 5.7), I have a history of breast and colon cancer in my family, I was experiencing sleep apnea, I was having gallbladder pains and my hormones were all wacky. I felt horrible almost every day and didn't know how to make myself feel better.  

It is easy to say eat better and move more, but when your habits counter act your goals, then it is virtually impossible to make the positive change to make a difference. The book Atomic Habits was a huge game changer for me and realized that I didn't have to do huge changes in my life. "Getting 1% better every day counts for a lot in the long run" James Clear 

Just focusing on the end goal, can easily get you discouraged, burnt out and eventually giving up. Slow continuous improvement is what is needed to see higher progress over time. I see so many correlations between my own weight loss goals and the goals that we assign to our students academic or behavioral growth. There are several ways that we can promote and encourage continuous improvement. 

1. Do more of what already works - Progress often hides behind boring solutions and underused insights. You don't necessarily need more information. You don't need a better strategy. You just need to do more of what already works. 

2. Avoid tiny loses - Try the subtraction method. Focus on doing less of what doesn't work: eliminating mistakes, reducing complexity and stripping away the inessential. 

3. Measure backwards - make decisions based on what has already happened, not on what you want to happen. What did you do last week? How can you improve by just a little bit this week? 

Doing more of what works is so huge. The main point, is utilizing data to determine what is working. Data can be in a form of a journal, a chart or visual representation. For my students we use check-in/check-out charts to determine success or areas of need in behavior. We track the specific times of days that students followed expectations or where there may be more challenges. When you are able to observe and analyze this data, you can determine the strategies that are currently working to get the desired outcomes.  -  Within my own weight loss, what was working was becoming gluten free. In my food journal I recognized when I would eat bread, pasta, chips or alcohol is when I would become bloated, not able to digest appropriately and become sluggish. So cutting out those food items have made me feel better and able to then move more and exercise.  

The subtraction method is a wonder. Sometimes we try to add new things or try new strategies, but the best thing to do, is to step back and keep it simple. It can be highly beneficial for students to work on one thing to be able to focus on getting that skill to mastery instead of trying too many interventions, which can then confuse or counter act what you are doing in one setting, just to try to give them more. For example, students struggling with phonics don't need to be in pulled out of the classroom multiple times a day, but need multiple opportunities for practice of the targeted skill. They should not receive instruction in several different skills or with several different resources but use multisensory approaches and decodable reading practice on their specific focus skill.  -  Doing less can be very motivating. For a 40+ year old woman, it wasn't about spending hours as the gym, doing non-stop cardio, it has been about focusing on specific strength training and increasing my mobility. At the gym I only spend 15 minutes on the treadmill (4 incline & 3.5 speed) this allows my body to warm up, then I go straight to the weights. I do about 4-6 exercises (for 30-40 minutes) focusing on legs/glutes or back/shoulders/arms using the smith machine, cable machine or variety of exercise machines that help me with my form and do slow focused movements to target those specific body parts. Then I will do the rowing machine for 10 minutes on level 5 for a cool down. 

Measuring backwards is all about starting from where you are and doing that little bit each day to increase towards your goal. For our students I think about what we are doing in math to fill in the gaps of pacing backwards to ensure that all students receive instruction in the progression of mathematical skills and concepts that they need, to be able to perform more complex tasks that naturally build upon each other.  -  My progress with yoga ties in exactly with measuring backwards. There are several asanas and exercises that I was not able to complete without an immense amount of modifications. I think about the Thunderbolt pose where you kneel on the floor with your knees and feet together, then sit on the soles of your feet. This pose use to hurt me so much due to my ankle sprains, but the more I practiced it, the longer I was able to sit in this pose. Right now I'm working on side plank, where you keep you head and spine neutral as you engage your core, lifting your hips and knees off the floor. For now I have to keep my knee closest to the floor, on the floor because my core strength isn't quite there YET. I'm meeting myself where I am and trying to strengthen myself to be able to do more challenging poses for a longer duration of time. 

Everything I do, I try to find connections to develop my own personal or professional knowledge. How I can help myself, my students or my family. Looking ahead to 2025, I want to continue my health journey by continuing the habits that are working for me. 

Continuing to be Gluten Free

Not eating after 7:00pm

Limiting alcohol to only Fridays or Saturdays

Working out 3-4 times per week 

Bringing my workout clothes to work & driving to gym to work out, prior to going home. 

Journaling weekly & reflecting on my personal/professional practices

I want to continue to grow my leadership, curriculum and special education knowledge by setting aside time to read. I'm really good about reading during the summer, but I'm not as consistent during the school year. A habit I can implement is listening to professional literature while I'm working out and limiting my phone scrolling in the evening. For my family, I need to get better with money. Which means paying off debts and not spending on frivolous things that I don't really need. I want to continue on my health journey for myself to continue to reduce my BMI to get in the healthy range. I believe that I can achieve this by increasing the weight that I lift, little by little each week. Also, trying new exercises that focus on toning my muscles and support flexibility and stability. 

Goals are not enough!!! Purposeful habits and sustainable actions that support continuous improvement will get me to where I want to be.