Okay...ladies. I did 30 push ups today..woohoo! Now it was difficult, but I still did it. On my way to 100 by the end of February. Now we have a new month ahead of us. Starts tomorrow. What's your goals going to be? Your "goal girl" [e].

Oh...before I begin this post, just want to let you know that I completed 25 consecutive man push ups today!! Woohoo. Now I only need to work my way up to 100 by the end of February...haha. Anyway, I was talking to one of my older sisters today about goals. I told her that we are all goal oriented whether we want to admit it or not. She said, well I can never finish a book and I don't finish things that I start. I said, that's not true. I said when you wanted to lose weight...even though you didn't write it down you mentally had a goal and lost almost 100 pounds! I also said, you also did that in the way of your health. Mentally, you choose not give up and continue to fight. The goal to be well. I was so proud of her today when I saw a text message about goals that she completed just yesterday after our talk. We are all completing goals on a daily basis such as: watch a favorite tv show, workout, clean the house, wash your hair, do a good job at work, read your bible, spend

I have been wanting to do 100 consecutive man push ups goal for several months now. I saw a friend of mine on facebook and he did 100 push ups everyday for 30 days. I was so impressed by this goal and knowing me always up for a challenge wanted to at least make my way up to do 100 push ups straight by the end of February. I can currently do 20 straight, which I did today! :) Well I posted today on my facebook page saying I wanted to do this goal and the response has been extremely supportive and encouraging. So make sure to check back often to see my progress. I will make sure to mention it in the blogs to come. This is how I propose to do this challenge, with the suggestion of one of my facebook supporters..haha. I will add 3 additional pushups from the day before. So tomorrow I will do 23 push ups, Thursday 26 and so on.....this is the plan. And if I have to make adjustments I will. I'm giving it my best shot. And for those that say..."Um, I can't even do 1 push up&quo

Just a warning...you may need to get some tissues for today's blog post. Well as I pondered about what I was going to write today I came across this video and I want you to take a look at it. Please view it before you continue reading. fdafdasfdksjalf; During the video I must have cried and cried and cried. It really touched my heart for many reasons. I had thought about all the areas in my life that it seemed like I failed, but I kept getting back up again. I see although the process was painful just like the guy on the video...I have grown tremendously in every area of my life. I was talking to a friend this past Saturday. I have been at my job for several years, with no hopes of a promotion or increase in salary. She said to me....well Ericka create your own breakthrough. She said I believe alot of your frustrations will go away when you get a new job and recognize your worth. When I watched the video they told him he would never walk again and he was overweight. But he

I feel like I can be myself here on "U Goal Girl".....so here I go again with being transparent...haha. Have you ever wondered to yourself...I thought I would be somewhere different by this time in my life? Maybe you thought I should have at least been married, had some kids, career (that you love! :), wonderful relationships, you know...the dream life. Whatever your dream life may look like....that's how I would describe mine. But then you look around and you don't see what you initially envisioned. Well I have felt like that myself. At the beginning of this year the Lord had placed it on my heart to write "Everyday Thank You Notes To The Lord". I have a smartphone....so I opened an app and I created a note page. Every single day since Dec 31st I go in and write down something that the Lord did for me that day. Whether he gave me wisdom at work and redeemed my time....down to finding my lost pair of earrings! I thank God everyday, no matter how I feel, whet

When I started my first 30 day challenge in 2009 I began to use the calender to track my progress. Everyday I would weigh in and write down how much I weigh on the calender. It was something that I would look forward to doing. It kept me accountable for my weight and if I gained a pound or two I knew I would need to change something in my diet. I would also write down the workout I completed that day as well. I also created weigh in days on Monday. I would measure my chest, waist, hips, thighs, and arms. It helped me to not eat as much on Sunday, because I wanted a good weigh in on Monday. Another thing that I incorporated on the calender was when I spent time with God, if I prayed and confessed the Word. I would notice if I felt sad, frustrated, and discouraged I would take a look at the calender. If it showed I had not spent anytime with God for a week, I recognized why I felt so defeated in my thoughts. I also noticed that I would have weight gain during these times away from the Lo

Well, it is the month of January and it's almost over. At my church we were encouraged to fast for the month and expect God to do great things in our life. Since I have been fasting I have noticed God bringing me clarity in areas that I always seem to struggle with. Feeling rejected has been an area of frustration and sadness....but I have learned to combat those thoughts with the Word of God through the years. My Pastor spoke about fasting at Wednesday night service. He said that when you fast that you are able to get strong and overcome those areas that have controlled you. I can now recognize when wrong thoughts come to me and I thank God for helping me and I say the Word of God against it. Why am I talking about fasting on a goal oriented site? Well I see that this month of fasting has helped me tremendously and I propose a challenge for us. What about doing a fast every month. Something you can give up so you can become closer to God for the rest of the year in 2013. I am goin

I don't know about you, but I can get easily bored if I do the same kind of workouts over and over again. That is why I am always creating new goals for myself......new challenges that will excite me to workout and continue to be better. This also applies to other areas in my life which you will see throughout the next few weeks in my blog. In November, I did Jillian Michaels, Ripped in 30. It was a lot of fun and it was something new. I saw alot of results, but ready again for something different. Right now money was kind of tight....so I didn't want to purchase a new DVD so I decided to do a challenge I made up last week and it's called...."Mix It Up Month" and I started on Monday, January 14th and I have a little over two weeks left to go. With this challenge, I took all the workout DVD's I currently own and do one workout from one of the DVD's for 5 days straight. This is my current week of workouts: Monday (Chalene Johnson,Cardio Party), Tuesday (Jill

The first day I was so excited and pumped. I decided everyday that I worked out to post it on Facebook. Another form of accountability. Little did I know this would be a great support for me in the end. I also sensed accomplishment by posting and that I could go on. After the third day, my legs were very sore, I had to massage them for about thirty to forty five minutes before the pain would go away. But I did not let that stop me. This also happened other times during the thirty days. I made sure to eat correctly, I even fasted sweets and watched the fried foods that I ate. Every day of the challenge I pressed forward, even if I did not want to workout, I looked passed my feelings and looked at the end result. This challenge was one of the most difficult things that I have ever done so far in my life. The videos were extremely hard and they took great effort to finish them at least at that time. But as I began to count the days down, I began to see the results that I had always wanted

It was the fall of 2009 when I believe God began speaking to me about losing weight. I had been told earlier in the year in March that I was in a season of preparation for marriage. So to lose the weight would be apart of that preparation. God told me to get down to a certain weight that I had not been since high school, which seemed impossible at first. When He first told me to lose the weight, He told me that my husband would enjoy me at that size. Well little did I know by obeying God in the area of my health, that it would turn into so much more than losing weight, I would gain so much more freedom for my life. The Lord was very clear when I was to start losing weight………the day after my birthday, on September 28, 2009. Everyday He would have me document on a calender the weight I was that day and once a week do my measurements and an official weigh in. This kept me accountable each week and looking forward to seeing my overall progress. By documenting on the calendar my physical

I began a blog like this over two years ago. This is the second one I created. So, it's been a long time, but I plan to be consistent because I have alot of things I would like to share. Completing goals has alot to do with being consistent. I remember one time I went up to my Pastor (Pastor Robb) and told him that I have trouble being consistent. He said to me...."Well, that's not true!" He then asked me, "do you take a shower everyday?", "brush your teeth?", "go to work?", "go to church?" I said "yes". He said, "so it's not that you are not consistent, but you are." If you have said to yourself that you can't spend time with God everyday, I can't workout 3-5 times a week, finish a book, lose those last 5 pesky pounds, or whatever excuse you have of why you can't be consistent to ultimately complete a goal, I am hear to say that it is not true. You have the ability to complete any goal you de