Goal achievement, especially when it comes to health and fitness, can be a mystery. Most of us have no trouble with Step 1 (Setting the Goal). Setting a goal is the easy part, it's those other steps that can be a puzzle. But you CAN turn achieving your goals into a science with the right strategies. Here are a few of our favorites:

DO create a plan. DON’T wait for "someday" to roll around.
Setting the goal is just the first step. Know where you’re going, what resources you’ll need, who can help and – most importantly – what Plan B is when life throws a monkey wrench into Plan A.

DO start small. DON’T focus on too many things at once.
Try focusing on one goal at a time. Use a small goal that you know you can do each day for the next two weeks, like getting up without the snooze or drinking eight  cups of water. Build that first habit to boost your confidence and pick up speed.

DO write it down. DON’T forget to give yourself a deadline.
Deadlines turn wishes into goals. The act of writing down your goal is powerful enough to keep you committed and focused. Better yet, find a visual that represents your goal or how your life will be different. Seeing it makes it seem more possible.

DO be specific. DON’T deal in absolutes.
Avoid the words ‘some’ and ‘more’, as in "I will get SOME exercise" or "I will eat MORE veggies." It leaves too much wiggle-out room. Deal in measurable things that you have control over. And never say ‘never’ or ‘always.’ All or nothing is a common attitude that leads people back to bad habits.

DO leave room for failure. DON’T expect perfection.
Persistence is key. Accept the fact that you might not make it on the first try. In a recent study, only 40% of people who successfully followed New Year's resolutions did it on the first try; 17% of resolution achievers took six or more tries before they got it right – but they did get it right.

DO track your progress. DON’T fool yourself into failure.
Memory can be pretty selective. It conveniently forgets that extra brownie while remembering activity that never happened. The only way to know for sure is to track goals regularly with a checklist or journal.

DO reward your success. DON’T beat yourself up over failure.
This is the step that trips up most people. Negative reinforcement is all around us, telling us every day what we’re doing wrong. This is not the approach to take to succeed with your goals. Why not focus on what you’re doing right instead? If you take a step back, learn from it and take two steps forward.

DO find a support system. DON’T try to do it alone.
A goal buddy can make all the difference this time. People that can help are all around you – on the SparkPeople support message boards, at work, even in your own family. Just add one person to your support group, and you double your motivation, double your energy, double your commitment – and double your FUN.

DO make a commitment. DON’T ever forget that you can do it.

I'm finally done with classes.  I got a little relief since yesterday, with finishing my exams.  I, unfortunately, had to drop out of one because of the professor.  Ugh!!!  Well, stuff happens, as they say.  Ok, let's see.  I went on-line to meet with some people in my group for one of my classes and out of the four of us, only me and this other person turned up on-line.  It's a bit frustrating taking on-line classes.  All well.  Well, nothing much else to report, except, I am wondering where Summitt has gone to.  I'm getting a little worried about the 31st and thinking about taking over his job of planning Monica's b-day.  I thought it would be nice to invite Sherwin (I have a slight crush on him).  He's so ultra sweet and so so CUTE!!!!  He's Andrea's cousin and a doll, an absolute doll.  I just LOVE him.:)  I love also the fact that he shaved all of his hair off.  Ugh!  I just LOVE a man with no hair.  It reminds me of Vin Diesel, whom I absoultely idolize.  He's a dream, well, my dream man.  And, he's like one of those mystery guys too.  I want to get to know more about him because I know nothing of him.  He makes me curious.  But, I'm not just inviting Sherwin because I have a crush on him or because he shaved his sexy head like Vin Diesel to turn me on, or the fact that he's a mystery.  So many men are.  I thought Monica would like for him to come too since she did go to his b-day.  Anyways, not much else to report.  I live a totally low key life.  I'm so boring, but loving this beautiful and awesome life!!!! 

I just wanted to thank those who gave me the advice on what to do for getting fit and toned.  Thank you everyone for all your helpful comments.

On another note, I keep reading that people are looking for a non-fat yogurt that is really good - Lucerine makes a really good non-fat plain yogurt that is out of this world.  I don't know how much sugar or anything is in it, but it's very good and creamy and goes good with fruits that you can blend into it.  Hope this helps!

If you want to live a healthy lifestyle, the first step or ingredient is eating right and exercising.  I'm challenging all of those ready to make that commitment to themselves in eating right and exercising to do so.  First off, on the healthy eating, I would like to hear what everyone is doing to count calories and to eat right.  Tell me what kind of recipes you are making and how you are journalizing your calories, whether it be on here or in a journal you have in your house.  Secondly, I would like to hear what everyone is doing as far as exercising and making sure to get their 10,000 steps in a day.  So far I have lost over 113 pounds and still going and want to hear others tell me their stories of how they are going about losing their weight through healthy eating and exercise.  I want to hear some inspirational stories.  Take care all and hope to hear back from you! 

I plan to make the following healthy dishes this week for Valentine's Day and just for the week for me.  All recipes came from Cooking Light and I got them from the website www.myrecipes.com..................................................................

For the week, recipes I will make are:

Pan-Seared Salmon with Pineapple-Jalapeno Relish
Rotini with Chicken, Asparagus, and Tomatoes

For Valentine's Day, cooking for friends:

Creamy Mushroom Phyllo Triangles
Chicken with Sherry-Soy Sauce
Double-Chocolate Cupcakes
Red Wine to go with meal

For after Valentine's Day, for that special guy in my life:

Truffled Asparagus Crostini
Oysters over Angel Hair
Meringues with Fresh Strawberries and Chocolate Mascarpone
White Wine to go with meal

Also, my miles from yesterday, 10.06 miles and 21,251 steps.