My (new) Healthy Lifestyle: Weeks Five and Six

My (new) Healthy Lifestyle: Weeks Five and Six

Monday, October 5, 2015

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These two weeks were definitely the best I've had since I started this challenge. My first week I had everything mapped out and was doing really well. Every day I got up, got my workout done, and was ready to tackle the rest of the day with all of my enthusiasm. I was going so non-stop, though, that towards the last half of the second week I ran out of steam. I might have a balance issue, haha.

I've also discovered that when I have big projects to complete, like cleaning my house or finishing a commission, I tend to put working out on a back burner. I don't know if that's okay, because projects should take priority, or if it would help me focus if I started the day with the shot of endorphins and clarity that a workout gives me. I guess I won't know until I've tried both!

I think in one of these posts I said I would continue this challenge for 6 weeks, but I'm going to extend that number to 8. That's right before my vacation, so I think I'll take a break while I'm on vacation, then I'll get back into it. I'd like to keep doing this for up to 12 weeks, so we will see how that goes!

 I completed so many awesome workouts the first week, including the Couch to 5k week one, a pilates video, a cardio video, and of course my yoga routines. But by Wednesday morning of the second week I was NOT feeling it. It was cold(ish) out, I kept stressing about that big project... I was deliberating all of the excuses possible. But then I looked at my dresser and saw my adorable new workout clothes from Wal-Mart, and I thought "I guess I could do 30 minutes of cardio or pilaties." While searching youtube for something to do I found Cassie Ho's "Bodypop Dance Routine" video and I ended up doing the whole dance three times (It was so much fun, and not much of a challenge at all). I'm going to embed this music video for the song here because it is just that adorable, not to mention hecka inspiring!

That plus some other of her videos had me working for over 45 minutes! Moral of the story: laying out cute clothes DOES work.

As far as food goes, week five was also a five star week. I watched what I was eating, but maybe a little too much! I need to get better at pacing myself and eating enough calories, which is a very weird/new thing for me.

I also tried out this recipe for Baked Spinach and Eggs from Manila Spoon, with adjustments for what I had in my fridge (egg whites and Munster cheese). It was so yummy... definitely something I'd suggest trying.

If you want to check out the other posts in this series, checkout the label "healthy lifestyle"

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My (new) Healthy Lifestyle: Weeks Three and Four

My (new) Healthy Lifestyle: Weeks Three and Four

Saturday, September 19, 2015

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Week three and four of this whole adventure were not pretty. I didn't feel well the first weekend, and the second the stress got the best of me. I didn't work out as much as I would have liked, and I might have eaten a whole batch of cookies by myself. 

Not a good start to two weeks out, but I think that mental health is just as important as physical, so I refuse to guilt myself just because I didn't follow my rules perfectly. There will always be bad days, and I will always make mistakes. So instead of focusing on that, I'll just let you know that I did a lot of other really cool things, like pulling out my guitar again and learning a few new songs, or starting a few really cool projects, or cleaning my house (whew- that's a workout by itself!), or hanging out with friends I haven't seen in a while. See, I feel better already!

I went on another walk at the beginning of the two weeks, trying to ease myself back into activity after a week and a half of nothing. Other than that, I've been having a hard time pushing myself out the door (maybe I need to set out some cute workout clothes before bed or something) so I looked up a few cardio videos on youtube and did them instead. We have a chromecast, and I use it to stream the videos onto my tv. It's really simple to use, and it sure beats trying to use my phone. Also, I get the joy of watching Odin freak out and try to catch the waving hands.

I did this 40 Minute Full Body Workout from Popsugar Fitness. It was great because the workout was broken into 10 minute segments that included cardio, strength, and stretches. I kinda wish there had been a little more cardio, but I will tell you that I was feelin it later that day. The instructors upbeat-ness was catching, and by the end of it all I was smiling. I definitely will be using this one again.

I also did POP Pilates for Beginners from blogilates (pictured above). This one was great because it showed the basic moves and pushed me to work out, but it was really easy to follow along with and totally felt do-able, which is sometimes a problem I get from these videos. I don't think I'll be using this particular video again, but it's more of because I feel like I've completed the challenge than I didn't like the video.  I love Cassey Ho (the woman behind blogilates) and have been following her stuff for a while, so I'm ready to move onto to the next challenge!

Remember how I said I ate a whole thing of cookies? So you can see that I don't have a lot of banner moments to share with you from this week. What I do have, though, is some tea that I've used to placate that sweet tooth of mine. 

This is Birthday Cake from DavidsTea. Yes, those are sprinkles in that tea. Yes, you can taste them. Yes, it is amazing. It's sweet and smells wonderful. I don't have much of it because it's a little pricey, so that makes each time I drink it even more special.

So that's been my last two weeks! Right after I finish this post  I'm going to write out my rules on a post it and sticking it next to my computer. I've got a few other tricks up my sleeve and hope to make the next two weeks something to be proud of. So, let's raise a water bottle to feeling good about little accomplishments, even if they weren't what you expected,  and to a healthy next couple of weeks!

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My (new) Healthy Lifestyle: Weeks One and Two

My (new) Healthy Lifestyle: Weeks One and Two

Friday, September 4, 2015

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the WHYs and the HOWs

My health story is the same as thousands of other people. Body positivity has been an issue of mine since junior high, and it’s never really gone away. I've always felt uncomfortable in my skin, I've just never done anything to improve it. My end goal of this adventure isn’t to look like a model. It’s to feel better about myself, and hopefully be able to complete some fitness goals, like running for more than 5 minutes at a time. (For outrunning the zombies, obviously.) I’ve started and stopped a bunch of times before, but all of my attempts have seemed half-baked. I do the workout part, but eat taco bell every night. Or I do the eating right part, but I’m not any more active than normal.  (Have you been through this, too?) I know in my gut that it isn’t right, but my self control is lacking, and that Volcano Burrito looks AMAZING. 

I’ve been following Bri’s fitness journey on DESIGNLOVEFEST, and her method of making a weekly post of what she’s done seems like something I would like to try. It feels weird because its so far out of my blogging comfort range, but I think checking in will be a good thing. It gives me motivation to think about what kind of workouts I can find and share, or how good that pretty picture I took on my walk would look on my blog. Plus it gives me a place where I have to own up to my mistakes, and hopefully that will help me think twice before breaking my rules.

The How’s: Rules (they’re more of guidelines, really…)

-Cook a healthy meal at home at least once a week. - I’m horrible at this. I’ve lived in this house for  two years now, and I think I’ve cook like… 5 full on healthy meals.

-Workout for 30 minutes every day. -This includes dancing, walking, running, yoga, or whatever else I feel like. But it has to be intentional. And sometimes (most of the time) it will mean waking up early. (blah…)

-Count calories. - I don’t mean it like I’m going to count my calories, and if I go over a certain number I’ll freak out and stop eating. I’ve just found that when I’m counting calories I’m more aware of what I’m putting into my stomach.

-Tea and Water are my best friends. - That’s pretty much self explanatory, but it goes hand in hand with my next rule which is…

-I can only have soda on special occasions. - If you know me personally, you know that energy drinks are my vice. (sometimes I feel like a very cliche gamer, haha) I know they’re bad for you, but it helps me focus, and it tastes really good (excuses, yeah?). I’m not going to cut them out completely, because I would be very grumpy about that, but I’m going to try to pick occasions a couple of weeks apart where I’m allowed to have them. Until then I’m going to be sucking down tea like it’ll save my life.

So that’s it. Five rules. Let's get started with week one!

You know... running is the worst. And the best. At the same time. Like, while it's happening you're pretty sure your legs are going to find a way to kill you in your sleep (if your lungs don't get there first), but you're also thinking about how you should do this every day because how great it would be to be able to run 15 minutes straight (one day...). I'd been trying to walk/run (lets be honest, at this point there is way more walking) every other day for pretty much all of August. It's nice, because around here we are surrounded by parks and preserves, so there's a whole bunch of nature and fun trails to enjoy. I alternate runalking (sweet word, right? no?) with yoga. Yoga is perfect for stretching out my calves of steel (well that's how they feel at least) and it has the add bonus of a little bit of strength training.
Then last Friday I came down with the flu. I had been pushing through some other stuff to get my workouts done (like minor wrist pain), but I took this as my body sayin "Dude... you need to let me repair a little bit." So I did. I took a break from workouts til I was sure I could at least breathe, then I eased back in with some awesome 10 minute yoga workouts. I'm still coughing and snotty as all get out, but at least I can do a downward dog pose!

Dang is eating healthy hard. Week one was a crap shoot. I'd eat well for lunch, have a great salad, then eat way too much at dinner. One day I drank a gallon of water. The next I drank none. And the soda rule? Out the window. I had soda every. Single. Day.

Week two I got better about the soda thing, but I also got sick, so I just tried to keep my body as nourished as possible.



I considered not posting this week, after the sickness and such, but I realized that I was waiting for a "perfect" set of weeks to start posting it was never going to happen. So here I am, showing of my first two imperfect weeks on my healthy journey. And you know what? I'm proud of myself. For getting out of my seat, for trying at all. It's 100% more than I was trying before, haha.

My challenge to myself is to keep updating for 6 weeks starting now (that's 3 more posts), and then we'll see where we go from there. Would you like to join me? How would you challenge yourself? Let me know, or share some links! I'd love to hear how your journey is going!

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