September Goals

August is basically over folks!

Is this year just flying by or is it just me?

I am going to start doing this at the end of every month to reinvest in myself at the start of each month.  I think it’s a great way to keep focus and to center myself in the ideas that i want to keep in the front of my brain.

• Drink More Water.  I want to drink about a gallon a day which is roughly 128 ounces.  I have a water bottle that is 16 ounces which means I need to refill it 8 times throughout the day.  Challenge Accepted.  It’s no secret that water helps your body function better, and my skin could surely use it.
• Exercise 5 times a week.  This shouldn’t be hard as I tend to go to the gym almost everyday anyways, but I don’t want to become complacent.  I want to also try new classes at the gym…. may be zumba… who knows.  I miss spin but it isn’t available when I need it, and I refuse to go to the crazy Cycle Zone class…. they are insane.
• Putting Money Away for Savings.  My husband and I used to be vikings when it came to saving money.  We had a robust account and felt pretty secure.  When I left my office job, I was technically unemployed for a year so that savings went straight out the window.  I’m starting September by putting $1000 away in our savings account and not touching it unless we absolutely need to.  We aren’t saving up for anything in particular, but it’s nice to have a cushion.
• Try 5 New Recipes.  Other than Blue Apron.  We will be trying 3 new recipes a week with that, but I want to use the many cookbooks I have to branch out.  We always get stuck in the rut of cooking the same things and frankly there is no need to be bored with our food.  I feel that boredom leads to eating out too much and that is where the unhealthy habits live.  Boo unhealthy habits.

So there are my goals for September.  What are you changing up in your routine to reinvest in yourself?

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Weekly Weigh In

11.6 Pounds gone forever!

I was hoping to have lost a little weight this week but 2.2??? I was shocked.  My leader at the meeting hugged me and said just keep doing what you’re doing because it’s working.

It sounds trite, but I am simply following the plan.  I enjoyed all the food I ate this past week, and didn’t feel deprived.  But, it is just give and take.

I’m exercising and drinking my water, but I am also enjoying bagels, cheese, beer, and the like.  I’m just enjoying them differently now.  All of my vices are treats, as opposed to daily occurrences.

Workout plan this week:

• Tuesday – Elliptical
• Wednesday – Run or Elliptical (I need to get back to running because that is where I feel most centered.)
• Thursday – Elliptical and Strength Training
• Friday – Elliptical and yoga
• Saturday – Rest Day
• Sunday – Elliptical or Solo Spin (this is where I just use the spin room at my gym alone with a cool app I found that tells me when to switch positions.)
• Monday – Elliptical

I spend my life on the elliptical. It’s such a great workout that has no impact.  My knees aren’t screaming and I really push myself on it.

Dinner Menu for the Week:

• Tuesday – Homemade Pizza
• Wednesday – I can’t remember the recipe title but it’s ground lamb, eggs, tomatoes, onions, nuts and a greek yogurt sauce…. Looks delish
• Thursday – Not sure…… We didn’t grocery shop well this week, so I’ll stop at the store on my way home for inspiration (suggestions welcome).
• Friday – Out
• Saturday – Out or grocery store inspiration
• Sunday – Blue Apron arrives!  So most likely one of those cool dishes
• Monday – Blue Apron dish

I really need to be better with menu planning, and not be so fly by the seat of my pants, but oh well… there is always next week.

Weekly Goals

• Exercise 5 times
• Drink a gallon of water a day
• Track everything

 

The Difference Between Want and Interested

For a very long time, I believe, I was interested in losing weight.  I was interested in getting healthy, getting smaller, being active.  For a while it worked.  I was restricting my food, running 6 days a week, and religiously watching the scale daily.  If I was up, even a tenth of a pound, I felt defeated.

I was tracking with WeightWatchers online, and working my butt off, literally.

I was thin.  But I couldn’t see it.  I still thought that I needed to lose like 20 pounds.  I was desperate.  I became self destructive.  I was not mentally well, and it showed.  I started gaining weight and, again, felt defeated.

3 years later, and here I am.  Starting all over.

This picture disgusts me.

I look at this picture, and choose not to feel defeated.  I am choosing to feel empowered.  I am choosing to use this as a spring board.  I know where I have been, and I know I can get back there.

I want to lose weight this time.  I am far beyond interested.  I want to be healthy.  I want to look in the mirror and feel good about myself.  I want to fit into my cute clothes I own.  I want to wear a bathing suit and not feel ashamed.  I want to walk up stairs and not feel dead at the top.

I want to be a better wife, and feel positive for my husband.  He believes I am beautiful regardless of size, and I want to be that for him.  I need to actually believe that I am.  That starts now.

The difference between wanting and interested is simply a wake up.  You choose everyday to be better than yesterday.  You will slip up.  You will fall off the wagon.  You will wish that you could be happy at your heavier weight, but then you realize that you need to be.  You can’t change if you aren’t accepting of yourself.  You have to choose this every. Signal. Day.

I’m choosing this today.

Nothing Will Work Unless You Do

• Maya Angelou

I’m pretty sure she wasn’t talking about health and weight loss, but it rings true.  If you do what you’ve always done the results you get will be what you have always received.  I really stepped up my game this week.  I tracked, I drank a lot of water, and I hit my goal of 12000 steps a day 6 out of 7 days (I donated blood last Friday so there was no way I could exercise).

I am sitting here in my classroom eager for the kids to come back tomorrow.  I thought I would be disgruntled to return to school, and I must admit, that first day waking up at 5:00 am was in fact the worst, but, each day has gotten easier and I am finally in the excited stage.

So far the workout schedule has been going well with me being back at work.  Yes, I wish I could get it done first thing in the morning but my gym doesn’t open early enough for me to get a full workout.  But leaving work at 2:45 makes it easy to get it done in the afternoon… and coffee always helps.

I’m going to try clean eating this week – mostly plants – to see how things go.  I am going to cut out dairy this week because I think that might be a reason for me feeling so sluggish.  Ever since I switched back to Lattes from Iced Coffee I’ve noticed it.  Plus I’m bloated like whoa.

My menu for the day is as follows:

• Breakfast – Smoothie and coffee
• Lunch – Southwest salad
• Dinner – Gnocchi and side salad
• Dessert – Halo Top Ice Cream (If you haven’t tried this, you haven’t lived.)

My workout will be at least 4 miles on the elliptical.  Even if I hit my step goal before that, 4 miles is a good distance for a daily elliptical run.  ]Speaking of running…

I kind of want to sign up for a 5k.  I haven’t run-run on a treadmill or outside in over a year, but I am thinking that maybe I could get back into it enough to be stable to run a 5k in October.  Thoughts?  Is this possible?

What are your workout plans this week?

What are your clean eating dishes that I could try?

Are you ready for cooler weather yet?

Back 2 Skool

Today was the day!  After 10 glorious weeks off I woke up early, actually put make up on, did my hair, and drove the 17 miles to my school.

Ah, it was nice to be back.

I actually was feeling pretty down, tired, and blah before I walked in the door.  Then, it was like magic.  Everything came flooding back and I was excited.  It was like Christmas morning.  Then I saw my room, and was immediately overwhelmed.

In my haste to get things done, I forgot to take pictures, but I can tell you, it was a horrific mess before hand, and now, it’s a slightly smaller mess.

All I day I was on my feet.  I clocked in about 7000 steps before noon.  Before I knew it, it was time to leave.  I, exhausted, left and kept talking myself into the gym the entire way there.  “Just one mile.”

I hit one mile, and then kept going.  I wanted to finish my step goal before leaving so I kept my eye on the prize.  After 4.5 miles, I was done.  I basically crawled to the car and then drove home.

After a shower, I began to feel human again, but at the same time, so very tired.

I have the crockpot going for tomorrow’s dinner (Short ribs with veggies), but tonight might be a Panera night.  Jason is on his way home and I am barely keeping my eyes open.  I have lessons for the next two weeks done and typed up.  I think day 1 was a success, so I’m going to feel good about that.

 

Meals:

• Breakfast: egg and sausage scramble at school
• Lunch: Big salad with chicken, diet coke
• Dinner: We’ll see what Jason wants

Activity: 4.5 miles on Elliptical

My Why

It’s easier to sit and watch TV and eat pizza.  I’d much rather do that than pretty much anything else.

Instead, I get up, I work out, and I try to vigilant in what I consume.  I know that my body works better when I fuel it better.  I know that by putting the right kind of food in it, I’ll have more energy and feel less weighed down.

That doesn’t stop a cake from occurring in my life.  Or pizza.

But why do I do this?  Is it simply vanity?

At times the answer is yes.  When I have to go somewhere fancy and need to dress up.  When there is an invitation to an event that would require me to be in a bathing suit.  When I have to go to work and am staring at my closet looking at all the clothes that don’t fit quite right.

But mostly it’s because, when I am healthy and that pillar of my life is straight, all the others seem to fall into place.  I have a respect for myself that radiates through other parts of my life.

When I was running everyday and eating right, not only did I look good, but I felt amazing.  Stress was low, confidence was high, and I was mentally still.  Not stable, but still.  There was no mind racing of what if’s.

That’s what I miss and want to get back to.  I want to have those feelings again, but I realize to get there, I need to have those feelings now.

I’m working on getting my confidence to where it needs to be for this journey, and one step at a time, it’s getting closer.

7 miles done this morning!

Meals:

• Breakfast: Vegan Smoothie
• Lunch: BIG SALAD
• Dinner: Homemade Pizza

It’s weigh in day at Weight Watchers, so I usually have a comfort food for dinner.

How’s your day looking?

Brand New

I’ve done the blogging thing on and off for years.  I have had a serious blog, and then a not so serious blog.  I decided instead of resurrecting an old blog and trying to revamp it, I would just start fresh.

In case you are just joining me, here’s some history…

I started really trying to lose weight in 2010.  I had been overweight my entire life, and decided enough was enough.  I joined WeightWatchers, and a gym.  For 3 years I teetered around and then finally was at my lowest weight ever of 169.

For the record, I looked the same at 170, but 169 sounds so much better.

I was running like crazy.  I even ran a marathon.

That’s when everything hit the fan.  I was injured after the marathon and just stopped.  I stopped all exercise.  I stopped tracking.  I was drinking way too much (understatement) and just stopped caring.

I gained all the weight I had lost back plus more.

Flash forward to now… I am back on the wagon.  Because of my weight, running isn’t in the cards right now, but the elliptical is.  Spinning is.  Weight lifting is.

I’m back on WeightWatchers, exercising at least 5 times a week, getting 12000 steps a day, and focused on being the best I can be.

I don’t have a time goal of when I want this journey to end, because 1.) it never will and 2.) I want to take my time so these changes stick.

I’m 32.  I’d like to be smaller at 33.  That’s it.

So I’m sitting here with my water bottle, chugging along, hoping you will join me.