All aboard the health train!!!

It's time to get back on that train.  The health train.

Hi guys.  I met my goal this week and only ate out three times!  Three glorious times.  I also made it to the gym twice.  So things are looking up, I just have to really get back on the train.  No more waiting at the station for the next train.  It's time.  I have a bad habit of letting the eating out, bad food and no exercising add up and snowball but I am putting a stop to it.  Hopefully.  I have talked with my dear friend, K, and she is going to help me get to the gym more this week.  My plan is to make it there 3 times.  Getting off my lazy butt this week!  Woohoo!  Train, I'm a comin for ya!

In other exciting news, my sweet love turns 37 this week!  He's awesome.  I adore him and look forward to celebrating at least 37 more birthdays with him.  If you know him, give him some birthday love this week!!

In other other news, my all time favorite basketball team is in the final four and I am totally loving the tournament.  College basketball has always been one of my favorite things.  I was born in Lexington and come from a family of die hard University of Kentucky fans.  I love how quickly the pool is cut down from (now) 68 teams to only 1, in just three weeks.  Each game counts and some are just so exciting.  My cats are so much fun to watch this year, playing like a team that is cohesive and energized.  I just love it. 

Which train are you on or trying to catch?

xoxo

Finding it a challenge to keep up with challenges

I am going to try and write this from a forgiving and loving place...I am going to try and write this from a forgiving and loving place...I am going to try and write this from a forgiving and loving place....

This is one of those things that drives me absolutely CRAZY about myself and I want to change it but never have.  I don't keep up with things.  EVER!!  It really is so frustrating.  Here I am blogging about challenging myself every week and making weekly challenges so I will be able to keep up with it and I don't keep up with it.  Gar.  Come on, me!!  Pull it together!!  Two weeks in a row of not doing what I said I would do.  BUT on that same note, I did do some great things otherwise.  So there.  Some love.  Good job, me.

I did keep up with exercise and enjoyed playing more tennis, running, doing Comcast videos, going to the gym and doing Zumba.  So that is great.

We are having a lovely weekend - watching movies, visiting with some friends and just enjoying being together.  I really do love just hanging out with that guy, my husband.  He is so much fun.

I also wrote a few letters.  I wrote three thank you notes, a happy new home card and a happy engagement card.  I still need to write three more thank you notes and a new pan pal friend letter!  (thank for the letter, new pen pal friend, MS!!!)

So remember that at the beginning of this whole thing I told you about the inspiration coming from a friend who was picking a challenge each week?  Well the challenge she picked last week was to eat 8 servings of fruits and vegetables every day and drink 90 ounces of water.  She rocked it.  I am doing a modified version of that this week. 

Here it is, week 4's challenge:
eat a fruit and/or vegetable at every meal, including snacks

Now you wouldn't think this would be much of a challenge, right, but I have been finding that I don't eat as many fruits and vegetables as I should! We eat a ton of vegetables for dinner and lunch but I need to get in more fruit.  So I am looking forward to buying a bunch of produce at the grocery tomorrow and going for it.  Do any of you find this as a challenge too?  Any good ideas for me?  My friend HL is a rockstar at eating lots of veggies and fresh foods all the time, especially kale.  I should check out her blog for more ideas.

How is everyone out there doing?  How is your 2012 so far?

xoxoxo

Oh goodness - Week 3 Day 3

How am I already delinquent on posting and it is only the third week!?!  Yikes.  Gotta get on it.

So I wanted to tell you guys about a sign on a downtown dentist office that had some lovely words of wisdom this week.  Normally this sign is full cheesedom with silly puns and things of the like, but this week it says "Live a life you don't regret".  I love it.  How great are those words?  How great is that advice?  I feel like if you were to use those words to make big decisions, it would be so easy!  Maybe not, but it could be.  This week there was also an article or blog post or something going around FB written by a woman who works with people as they are dying.  She said she always asks them about any regrets they have or things they would have changed.  Throughout her years of doing this she found some common themes and this is the top 5 list (a woman after my own heart, and Rob Gordon's).  Most of them had to do with not working so hard, being closer to friends and living their own life.  Boom.  That is the whole theme of this blog and what I am trying to accomplish right now in my life - some balance and health and no regrets.  Living in the now and trying to remember that this is the only life we get so we should make it count, right?  I love these words of wisdom - live a life you don't regret.  It is a big goal but not impossible.

On that note - week 3's goal has been to keep up with week 1 and 2.   So we made exercise goals again this week and so far so good with that.  I was a little more realistic with my goals this week which seems to be serving me well.  As far as writing the thank you notes, I wrote 3 over Monday and Tuesday and have plans to respond to a new, awesome pen pal tonight.  I had another goal to drink more water and I have been rocking that now for over a week.  Woo hoo!

What were some of your goals for week 3?  Hopefully you weren't waiting around for mine.

Have a great week!

Welcome, 2012!

Hello All!

Happy 2012!  I, for one, had a wonderful 2011.  It was full of love and happiness - lots of weddings and babies.  My wedding was a true highlight, it was such a wonderful day.  The rest of the year has included traveling, seeing so many friends (many I haven't seen in forever), celebrating lots of couples I love and meeting lots of new babies that I also love.  2011 has also seen a lot of tragedy throughout the world - many natural disasters and sadness.  I am excited to be ringing in the new year and hope that 2012 brings all of us more than we expect.

As we all know, this is the time of year when people make lots of resolutions, many of which are impossible to keep, setting themselves up for failure.  I have done it time and time again.  Every single year on this day I swear to myself that this will be the year I will get my eating under control.  This will be the year I lose lots of weight and finally wear tank tops and bathing suits all summer long!  It has never happened that way.  Not even once.  So why continue to do it?  Isn't that one of the definitions of insanity - doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results?  I think I heard that on a diet infomercial once.  Well, insanity no more.

This new year I am not setting big ol' goals I can't meet.  I just want to be happy with myself, the decisions I make and the things I am able to do.  I read somewhere that instead of looking back at all of things I didn't accomplish in the past year, look at the things I did.  I married the best guy ever.  I had a lot of fun with friends and family.  I sang.  I ran a 5k!  I ran a 5k!!  I made healthy decisions.  I made unhealthy decisions but I didn't let them snowball.  I was happy a lot of the time.  I did good things in my job.  I had a good year.

This year I am planning on doing small things that won't completely disrupt my life and set me up to fail, but instead can fit in in ways that are positive and good.  If they stick, if big results come from them, excellent.  If not, that's ok.  There's always next week, and that is not a failure.

Week 1 was great.  It was not too hard since I was on break from school and had all day long to exercise or go to the gym.  Here's a recap:

Monday - I did 30 minutes of videos on Demand, some cardio dancing videos
Tuesday - I went to Zumba in the morning.  I LOVE Zumba.  It rocks my world.
Wednesday - I went for a 4 mile run (with some walking)
Thursday - I missed Zumba so instead Mike and I walked to the high school and "played" tennis for about 35-40 minutes.  Needless to say, it was a lot of running around, trying to catch the ball.
Friday - I went to Zumba.  It was awesome.
Saturday - I went for a 3 mile run.

Not bad.  I am excited to find those On Demand videos for days when I don't feel like going to the gym or for a run.  I can do some belly dancing in my living room.

How was your week 1?

Stay tuned tomorrow for Week 2's goal.

Happy 2012!  It's going to be awesome.  I can feel it.

52 card pick up - sort of

Since moving to California two and a half years ago, I have been slowly, and sometimes unconsciously, making changes in my life in hopes of being more healthy, more mindful, more balanced.  A lot of it comes from my surroundings.  Here in Northern California, being "healthy" is easier.  Being active and being outdoors is not only possible year round, it is a part of life.  Everyone spends time outside, walking, biking, hiking etc.  Food is so fresh here, making it easier to eat fruits and veggies year round.  It is part of the culture here to be mindful of your health, body, friendships, love, work and taking time for yourself.  These are some of the wonderful perks of living in this area.

Another part of it is just me getting older.  I am in my 30s now, married, with a steady career (yikes), and we are hoping to have children and own a home someday soon.  I am not to total adulthood yet though, I don't own any appliances (specifically a washer and dryer).

So with all of this, and as the new year approaches, I find myself making goals of how to lead a healthier life.  I don't just mean with diet and exercise, although those are certainly a part of it, I also mean hobbies (reading, cooking, art, knitting, singing), nurturing relationships, being spiritual, traveling and perhaps most importantly becoming better at loving myself.  I have never been very good at that last part but now as my life evolves to loving my husband and any future children, it seems more important to get better at that, in order to truly love them.

Ok, so here's the plan.  A friend of mine, who has been particularly amazing at setting goals and sticking to them, had the idea of setting one goal each week in hopes of making some healthy life changes.  I am taking her challenge and perhaps even adding a few extra things for just me.

Enough suspense.  The goal for week one is...

doing a 30 minute instructional workout class or video everyday.  I can do that!  However, I am also planning on doing a 10k in March so I need to start working towards that.

Here's my plan for the week:
Sunday - Christmas, Joining weekly challenge idea
Monday - 30 minutes of videos from Comcast (done!  I did Cardio Funk and Cardio Hip Hop.  Kind of fun)
Tuesday - Zumba (60 minutes) at my gym
Wednesday - run 3 miles
Thursday - Zumba at my gym (60 minutes)
Friday - day off
Saturday - videos from Comcast or Netflix/ run 3 miles

Don't hesitate to give me feedback.  I'll let you know how I did (that whole accountability thing).