Hi folks!

It’s that time of year again, one of my favorite times of year: I love moving into a new year. This is a time of year where it’s customary to make goals. Both Manatee and I are very goal-driven. As entrepreneurs, we have to be. You can’t be an entrepreneur without setting goals. Oh, let me rephrase that: You can’t be a successful entrepreneur without setting goals.
We are making (and re-making) goals all year around, complete with action plans, because a goal without a plan is just a dream. We review our goals on a regular basis and constantly evaluate how we are doing.

Am I annoying you yet?

I thought I would share with you some of my goals for 2013 and I would love to hear about your goals.

Blogging Goals

Redesign work: By the end of the first quarter, I will have a new header, new template, and the blog design will be more streamlined and easier to navigate.

Bring back the oldies: By the end of second quarter, I will bring back Badger Girl Book Club, the Healthy Blogger series, and finish my backlog of local chef interviews.

More posts on regular basis: Since finding out I was pregnant and finishing the Penguin cookbook (which happened about the same time), my posts have been a little infrequent. By the end of first quarter, I will have a new schedule of regular posts, 3-5 posts per week. Including a meal planning post which I will do every week because of a goal in the next category…

Diet and Health

Meal Planning: It’s easier to eat healthy when you have a plan. This year, I’m planning every week’s meals over the weekend and will post those plans on the blog. I can’t promise gourmet, four star dining, but the recipes will be quick, easy, and healthy.

Cleaning it up: I have gotten a little lax on the whole clean eating thing. Somehow boxes of crackers and freezer toaster waffles have ended up in our home. Not sure how that happened….With the new year, I am re-making my pledge to eliminate processed foods from my diet. And you know what? There is nothing wrong with falling off the wagon as long as you get back on it. Keep this in mind with your own goals.

Going Paleo?: So, I’m not really supposed to eat dairy and Manatee can’t handle much wheat. Enter the Paleo Diet. Essentially it’s high quality, grass fed meat with lots of veggies. No grains, no wheat, no dairy. I just received a Paleo Cookbook filled with tons of great recipes that I don’t have to modify for us to enjoy. We are very excited about it. Manatee is a tad more excited than I am. I am not totally ready to give up my grains, but I am willing to include more paleo-friendly recipes in our diet. Plus I don’t think either of us are ready to give up tofu, especially our beloved tofu tacos. So, let’s just say we are flirting heavily with Paleo for now, similar to how we have led on poor Vegan in the past. And don’t worry, Vegan, we aren’t totally ready to give you up either.

More Dried Beans– Yeah, I totally didn’t give up canned beans last year. It’s still lurking in the back of my mind….Encouragement from readers would sure be nice!

Fitness Goals

Events for next year: By the end of 2013, I want to have completed:

  • at least one half marathon
  • one triathlon, AND
  • one marathon

Yup, I said it. Knowing that a marathon will be lurking next Fall/Winter is keeping me running during my pregnancy. Clearly, it will depend on a lot of factors and I am not going to sacrifice injuring myself for it, but I would really love to do a marathon as a mommy.

Doing something active every day: So far I have been able to keep up my regular workout routine despite my pregnancy. People keep telling me that eventually I won’t be able to run/ do Master’s swim/ complete P90x workouts. Ironically, that has been great motivation: knowing that I will reach a point that I can’t do it, so I need to make sure keeping do it while I still can. When I reach that point, I want to keep doing something active, even if it is just going for a short walk.

Post-pregnancy activity goals: I want to complete one round of P90x2 and one round of Insanity (which Manatee just got from Santa).

Personal Goals

Should : The word “should” is no longer in my vocabulary. I don’t believe it’s a healthy word, especially as I move into motherhood. The connotation is either of regret or duty. I would rather focus on the future or make my thoughts/words more active.

Have a healthy baby– I realize that I can’t totally control this, but I want to do everything in my power to bring a healthy baby into the world, and yes, that includes daily praying.

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Tell me at least one goal you have for the new year.