Getting in the habit...

Bad habits are an easy thing to form and a hard thing to break, good habits are hard to form and easy to break, so what does that mean for the fit and healthy lifestyle?  You have to work at building new habits, but fitness and health should work for/with you, not against you.  That means working within your schedule and making compromises with friends, family, yourself, and your obligations.

What's the biggest reason people make for not being active?  "I don't have time."  Yeah, been there, done that.  I always thought my life was way to busy to squeeze in an hour of activity but then I really looked at how I was spending and (mis-)managing time to make time work against me and not for me.  There are only 24 hours in a day, take out 16 for working and sleeping and that leaves you with 8 more, how are you going to spend those 8 hours?  Some time saving tips that I've come up with over the course of my journey:

1.  Make a menu!!  I cannot stress how this is so incredibly useful this is for time management, money management, and health!  This is honest-to-God THE most important habit I have developed that is the best.  It saves me time because I sit down on Saturday or Sunday and come up with seven meals to serve for dinners (breakfast and lunches are usually pretty consistent).  Then I make a grocery list, I look through my pantry/veggies/fruit, see what's coming in the Suburban Organics box and I only go to the grocery store ONCE.  Imagine not having to waste time during the week because you don't have what you need to cook X, Y, or Z!!!  Imagine not having to waste money (or calories) going out to eat because you don't have a plan for cooking this week!!!!  One good dinner plan for the week can save you time, energy, aggravation ("What do you want for dinner?"  "I don't know, what do you want?" etc...), calories, and money.  Also, you can plan your menu around your family's schedule: I want to go to the gym these days so I'll plan a quick dinner, these days I have more time so I'll be able to cook something more elaborate.  This also allows you to try new foods!  I'm not a recipe person, per se, but I've got cookbooks out the wazoo so I'll look through them and pick a new food/preparation to try.

2.  Have workout clothes easily accessible.  I went to target and bought two of their cube fabric bins, one for workout bottoms and one for workout tops.  When I get home from work before I sit down on the couch (because that is my demon) I go upstairs and grab one from each and I'm ready to go.  Who cares if they match?  You're only running/going to the gym/walking/doing an at home DVD.... what do you care what they look like?  I've gone numerous times to the gym in black pants with a teal stripe, a purple tank top, and a pink head band...yes I am THAT girl ;-).  I don't have to hunt for clothes, and if they don't fit in those bins I don't keep them (yay for getting rid of clutter too!!).  This also enables me to easily put together a gym bag because sometimes carpool plans change (I tend to only go to the gym on days I drive so I don't even have the temptation of getting home and plopping on the couch).  Keep your sneakers somewhere visible!!  Then, when you haven't taken them out for a while, you're sneakers will be there staring at you, longingly desiring to be used.

3.  Turn off the "screen."  Last night, I went to clean the yoga studio (yay for free classes!!), then hopped down to the library, read for a little while waiting for one of my bestest buddies Gina's zumba class to start.  After that she and I decided to go out to dinner and just hang out (which is also a necessity in your life...time with friends), came home, showered, answered a few emails I'd been meaning to do, made a phone call to wish another friend happy birthday, but then I shut the computer off, climbed into bed, read and meditated my happy little ass to sleep, and slept like a baby I might add.  I didn't spend hours in front of the TV or on the computer.  DVR has been a wonderful invention for this kind of lifestyle.  There is no TV show I HAVE to watch when it's on.  DVR will get it and when I have extra time I get to sit down and watch it.  Dial down the number of hours you're staring at a screen, it'll free up time, it'll ease up the strain headaches, and climbing into bed and doing something NOT technology based will help your sleep patterns.  Sleep is insanely important people, you need it and you need enough of it and you need a regular schedule of it...but that's a whole other blog entry.

4.  The last, but probably the most overlooked/hardest....Ask for help.  Ask for what you need from your friends, families, neighbors, etc...  Your health is your priority, not theirs (their health should be their priority...).  There have been times I've pushed off cooking duties to Dave because I just can't handle doing it all (or eating would be really late if he waited on me to finish working out ;-) ).  I've asked my mom to push back our dinner appointment so I can accommodate my exercise time.  They don't know what you need unless you tell them.  No one is a mind-reader and the people in your life are there to help you, but they can't help you if they don't know you need help.

This is a lifestyle for you, designed by you.  Make it work for you.  I know, I hear ya, I get up at 5:30, stand on my feet, working with angsty teenagers all day, I have a house to clean, 5 pets to take care of, family to take care of and when I come home, the last thing I want to do is get off my couch, but the high is so worth pushing yourself for a few weeks.  After a couple weeks, these habits are starting to build and it gets so much easier.  Give one (or all) of these tips a try for a month and see what a difference it makes in your life.  I love my life and wouldn't trade what I have for the world, but it takes work to get there.

Ahh fall has come...

Yesterday I went on a 35 minute run through the neighborhood.  It was a beautiful afternoon to run, it was cooler then it has been and the dogs enjoyed the time to get out.  Since the bridge 10K is only 50 days away (eek!), I run up and down as many hills as I could find and today my legs feel awesome.  I changed my running stride based on some research that I did (coupled with the barefoot running movement) so my legs have definitely benefited from the new stride.  I am still wearing my nice comfy Saucony shoes, but the change in stride has done wonders for my leg fatigue.

Being back into the routine of work has been nice, back to hitting the gym and getting in my weight training again. I've got a new app on my phone that has help me set up two weight lifting routines, one for arms and back and one for legs and abs.  I'm so used to just wandering around the gym going "hmmm....which exercise do I want to do next?" Now I have a little more structure with the lifting so I'm looking forward to making real progress on the toning.

I went out shopping with my mom today and I used to hate shopping for clothes years ago because nothing fit, nothing looked good except for tents.  Now I have a shape, clothes fit, and I can look presentable.

Health and wellness is awesome :-)

Alright...it's over....

....Summer I mean.  I know that a lot of people are upset that summer's over (not officially but close enough!) but in all honesty, I'm not.  I love the change of pace that summer offers, things to do, people to see.  But summer is not my favorite time of year, although it is the host to my favorite holiday (my birthday!!), it is hot, sticky, and my life is all outta whack.  I worked a lot this summer, more than I care to admit to at a PT job that I'm hoping I never have to repeat again.  The place I worked wasn't bad, the people weren't bad, just the nature of the retail beast.  I don't like not having a set schedule, I don't like not being able to plan my week.  There were times when I was working until 10p and then up again to start at 9a.  Sometimes I didn't want to eat dinner until 10:30p, sometimes I had already had a full day by 7pm and was ready to call it quits for the day.  So with the end of summer comes cool nights and back to normalcy.  Sure I have to get up at 5:30a, but at least I have to get up at the same time everyday.  It makes getting my exercise in easier, it makes getting my meals taken care of easier, it just makes life easier when I have a weekly routine to follow.

For the summer, I have a net loss of 2 pounds, not stellar in my books, 2 pounds for 2 months sucks.  Yes, I look on the bright side, it's still down, but I barely worked out this summer, I didn't eat right, and I was just an all around terrible healthy person and I feel it.  I'm looking forward to getting back in the swing of things with a fresh start of the new year.  As the leaves start to turn and fall, running will be easier and gym time will be much more consistent.

Love for the new year, for a job that I adore, for a lifestyle that I want, and for the chance to have it all!  Besides, if I'm going on a cruise next summer (or to Chincoteague) I need to be bathing suit ready, bring on fall my friends!

Tomorrow I Kiss my 20s Goodbye....

I'm reaching a milestone, I'm going to be turning 30...but was does 30 mean in today's world?  Absolutely nothing....  Being 30 is really no different than being 20 at this point to me except I have more money and parents aren't breathing down my neck!!  Well, my parents never really breathed down my neck, they are awesome, but living under their roof at 20-21 did come with a set of responsibilities.

As I look back on the decade that is coming to a close, I see what the past ten years has been, a glorious ride of ups and downs and all arounds.  When I started this decade I was a college student halfway through my degree, stayed up late, got up later and did some studying.  I was able to finish my BS with two minors in 4 years with a pretty good GPA when I was 21.  May 2003 college graduation seems so long ago!!  Go CCC grads of '03!  I started working for a nonprofit agency and was stationed on Montclair State University.  I made a lot of contacts that I didn't use that year but it's all good!  If I had, I would have been living in NYC.  After that 9 months I got a job working at Delta with my good friend Todd.  Working as an environmental consultant was boring, sitting in a cubicle staring at a computer screen was not my idea of what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.  I loved my office and I will never ever have co-workers like that again, but I just couldn't stand the job itself.  After 3 years in the private sector I started teaching.  I love my job, I have found the job that makes me happy, I have found the job I could do for the next 20+ years, so hopefully that stays the case.

Relationship-wise I've had 3 main "adult" relationships in my twenties, the last one is crossing over into the 30s.  I was never really a "dater" per se, but each relationship has taught me many things that are important to continue living and dealing with people.  The relationships have all been a net gain of good, even the divorce.  I can't say that I'm thrilled to be a divorcee at 30 but I'm happy that things have turned out for the good.  And through that process I learned a lot about myself and my own behaviors.

I started out my 20s probably close to or over 300 pounds (I didn't exactly monitor my weight yet....) and I'm ending it close to being under 200 pounds.  10 years to lose 100 pounds isn't so bad!  I have turned myself into a conscious eater, a runner, a yogi, an all-around much healthier individual than when I was 20.  I'm not perfect, I'm still overweight and it's still a struggle from day to day sometimes but I'm better than I was then.  I feel better, I look better, I am just better.  I'm healthier in body, mind, and spirit which is always an accomplishment.

So as I look back at the past decade, and into the next decade I am starting out this ten years as a better version of myself that can only continue to improve.  I have things I know I need to work on as far as myself and dealing with others, but being aware is half the battle, so I can't complain that my next decade is already starting out on a better foot than my last one.

Here's to another year I've survived on this earth and to the next one where I'm going to continue to thrive.  Birthdays are always opportunities!!

My Love Affair with Running

If any of you have known me for a long time, I was not the fitness and healthy person I am now.  I'm not to an endpoint, but I'm farther from my start.  When I was younger, my only reason to run was if someone was chasing me with a deadly implement (not that anyone ever has, but that's what I said about running, "I'll only run when someone with a knife is coming after me, a gun and I'm already screwed...").  What changed you ask?  I tried something new :-)

At the beginning of my health journey, a bunch of women I was acquainted with decided to stop being "squishy" as we called it and decided to all register for a 5K race together.  A local, no frills, nothing special race but it was a goal.  Someone then informed me of the C25K plan, which really helped give me a guide to easing into the process, I can do anything for 30 seconds, and it grew from there.  After I ran my first 5K, personal stuff happened and I drifted away from a lot of things for many reasons.  But once the personal stuff was out of the way, I decided to get back into it, so I signed up for a new 5K this past March (the Colon Cancer Coalition 5K "Get your Rear in Gear" for my momma).  My friend Julius ran the race with me because he's awesome like that.  He then challenged me to run the 10K over the Ben Franklin Bridge here in Camden in November, so I said yes.

Over the course of my journey of running I have learned to love it, of course it's not always the perfect relationship, but the sneakers are always there for me when I'm ready to give them my time.  I never thought I would be a "runner" and I'm not a very fast runner but I'm still a runner.  It is a very active meditation.  When you're running it is you and the pavement (or the treadmill) and sometimes my dogs.  The outside world melts away as you focus on the rhythmic beat of your feet and the sound of the music in your ears.  It's time for things to "compost" as I call it.  I'm focused on the running that the other worries I have are allowed to work themselves out in my sub-conscience, I'm not agonizing over a decision, I'm not thinking out all the different possibilities, by the time I get done running, if I've had anything to worry about I have usually come up with a solution.  It is because of this that running has become part of my life.

And today I proved that by completing my longest single run yet (except for an 8 mile mostly walk with Julius last year) at 4 miles.  I didn't run the whole thing, but I ran and I made it through 4 miles on the treadmill (no outside running in this heat for me friends...).  Running and yoga are very similar to me.  It is your own practice and you just can't let yourself quit.  But in the end, being able to say I did it, is better to me than wondering what if I didn't??

Stepping Out of the "Normal"

I love to dance.  I always have ever since I started taking classes when I was 6 (thanks Mom and Dad!! I know it was just because I was annoying and you had to get rid of me but it was awesome :-D ), I miss the structured dance classes the way they used to be when I was a kid.  At home or at work, I can often be found dancing around to my iPod, the radio, or the music in my head.  I love just being able to move.  It's such a blessing to have the physical ability but it just feels good.  I don't know if it's because the endorphins are running around in my brain, but dancing always makes me feel better.  "Dance as if no one is watching..."  I often wonder what my neighbors think as they see me flailing around the house, but hey, I'm having a good time, so what does it matter?

What does the intro about dancing have to do with weight-loss/exercise?  I'm glad you asked!!  Today I redeemed a groupon (if you don't know what those are by now, shame on you!) with some girlfriends for The Art of Exotic Dancing For the Everyday Woman.  It was just fun.  Yes, the woman taught us a striptease for use if desired, but it was just a blast going and doing something different.  I sweated!  It was hard work, dancing for 90 minutes (in 3 inch heels..), but it was nice to let the body move.  Now granted I don't think I "learned" anything I didn't already know how to do with all my dancing, MTV, and club days but it was a good time, and it did make you feel good about yourself.  Not that I'm one who's known for having self-esteem problems, but staring at yourself in a full length mirror can at first cause you to judge yourself a little ("oh, my butt looks HUUUUUUGE in these pants" and "hey check out that arm flab!") and it shows.  But once the negative thoughts came out and I was able to squash them and make my peace with my lack of perfection, the giant mirror and I became friends.

A few lessons re-inforced today:

1.  Don't let the negative (anything) get in your way.  I've been playing with the same 2 pounds (up and down, up and down) for a month or so.  I was really annoyed with myself this morning when I weighed in but after I was done getting some endorphins running I just have to move forward.  I have to own up to my own excuses and just suck it up.

2.  Working out doesn't always have to be structured gym time or dedicated ("right now I am exercising") to the exercise.  Dancing around your house like a fool can work up a sweat, so next time you're cleaning the house plug in and move your hips :-)  Suddenly it won't feel like such a chore :-)

July Positivity

Every month I sit down and think about my affirmations and gratitudes.  It's a way to keep positive about myself and know what I'm thankful for.  These two things keep me grounded in good, healthy thoughts as opposed to allowing negative ones to creep in.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not always a rosy picture of joy and unabashed happiness, but I think I tend to be more positive than most.  I do have bad moments in bad days but being able to come out of those quickly tends to keep me on the right path instead of getting lost inside the myriad of negativity that one could sink into.

One of my favorite books as a child was the Anne of Green Gables series and one thing Marilla said was  "to despair is to turn your back on God".  And it's true.  If you despair, or always think in the negative, how can positive come into your life?  It can't.  When you are constantly being negative about yourself, about your life, your job, etc... you'll never have space for the positive to come in and lift you up.  If you're in despair you can't look up and see the beauty that is this life.

Of course being positive is an exercise all by itself, most people don't have the natural inclinations anymore, they've been beaten out of us as a nation by various circumstances.  Think about the number of people on psychotropic drugs in this country...  Think about the number of people addicted to various substances to "not feel the pain"...  It's not an easy road to take, but it definitely will make a big difference in the long run.  

Your greatest asset is your mind.  Your thoughts can bury you in pain or can carry you through the darkest hour, which will you choose?   It's been said: "change your mind, change yourself."

So, for July I will share these with you:
Affirmations:  I will work my 10K plan in preparation for November's run.  I will track the food that I eat.  I will enjoy everyday that is given to me.
Gratitudes:  I am thankful for a job that I love that gives me the summer to recoop.  I'm thankful for the ability to run, jump, and play with friends or my dogs and the health that comes along with it.