Wednesday, January 30, 2013
"When you are inspired by some great purpose..."
"When you are inspired by some great purpose, some extraordinary project, all your thoughts break their bonds: Your mind transcends limitations, your consciousness expands in every direction, and you find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be." —Patanjali
Just in Time
My Wii JUST DANCE 1 came today!!! That was really fast. I think I just ordered it on Monday. When I got home, I immediately plugged it in and got started. 20 minutes went by fast. It was SO fun. 80s and 90s tunes, man! Cyndi Lauper, Blondie, Rednex (yeah, Cotton Eyed Joe!), BLUR, PotUSA, and this fine, fine JAM:
So, I'm totally PUMPED.
The only problem is that its 7:30 and it's going to take awhile to make dinner...I bet Dave wouldn't mind making a frozen pizza for himself so I can have leftovers... Hmm.. I should pull chicken out for tomorrow's dinner tonight.
Anywho, today was a great first day. I weighed in this afternoon at WW At Work, had a good breakfast and lunch (leftover alfredo squash pasta!) and healthy snacks, got my meditation in this morning and had a pretty productive work day. Time to chow down (slowly, mindfully) and relax.
So, I'm totally PUMPED.
The only problem is that its 7:30 and it's going to take awhile to make dinner...I bet Dave wouldn't mind making a frozen pizza for himself so I can have leftovers... Hmm.. I should pull chicken out for tomorrow's dinner tonight.
Anywho, today was a great first day. I weighed in this afternoon at WW At Work, had a good breakfast and lunch (leftover alfredo squash pasta!) and healthy snacks, got my meditation in this morning and had a pretty productive work day. Time to chow down (slowly, mindfully) and relax.
It's a Good Morning for a Pep Talk
Not Cool, Robert Frost! But what if there really were two paths to take? I wanna be on the road to awesome.
What if Michael Jordan had quit? He would have never made Space Jam... And I looove Space Jams.
Cutuest video ever.
Also, my new meditation jam: calm.com.
On the brink of change, thank you.
Tonight, on the brink of change, I say goodbye forever to mindless eating and slovenly ways. May my future days contain whole and delicious foods in appropriate volumes, lots of physical activity, and a mindful presence!
For the past few days, my email has been inundated with all for your incredible messages of support!! Thank you!! I'm so excited to embark on this journey and love knowing you're right there with me. You guys really know how to make a girl feel loved. I'm totally and truly in awe of your support and am so glad to have found a few of you that are ready to ride! Hiking and biking are right on top of my list of activities to do this coming spring, so I'll be ready to take you all up on your outdoor offers when the time comes.
Last night, a good friend called to congratulate me on starting this journey and to give me my first challenge: to visit him and his wife and go hiking with them on the Appalachian Trail in Tennessee. I couldn't be more happy to take on this challenge because it coincides with one of my pre-established rewards. In mid-March/early April, once I achieve several weeks worth of food logging, workouts, journalling, etc., I should reach my 5% weight loss mark; this check-point goal will be rewarded by a trip to TN to visit the challengers!
Meanwhile, I still want a few more challenges. What have you got for me?? BRING IT. I'm ready to go.
PS - If I haven't responded to you yet, don't worry I will soon!
For the past few days, my email has been inundated with all for your incredible messages of support!! Thank you!! I'm so excited to embark on this journey and love knowing you're right there with me. You guys really know how to make a girl feel loved. I'm totally and truly in awe of your support and am so glad to have found a few of you that are ready to ride! Hiking and biking are right on top of my list of activities to do this coming spring, so I'll be ready to take you all up on your outdoor offers when the time comes.
Last night, a good friend called to congratulate me on starting this journey and to give me my first challenge: to visit him and his wife and go hiking with them on the Appalachian Trail in Tennessee. I couldn't be more happy to take on this challenge because it coincides with one of my pre-established rewards. In mid-March/early April, once I achieve several weeks worth of food logging, workouts, journalling, etc., I should reach my 5% weight loss mark; this check-point goal will be rewarded by a trip to TN to visit the challengers!
Meanwhile, I still want a few more challenges. What have you got for me?? BRING IT. I'm ready to go.
PS - If I haven't responded to you yet, don't worry I will soon!
Monday, January 28, 2013
Yum Yum - Spaghetti Squash
I made the best meal tonight and I couldn't wait to tell you all about it! Spaghetti squash makes an awesome substitution for pasta, and when you add shrimp, broccoli, spinach, and a little bit of whole milk alfredo sauce, it makes for a very nice, 8 WW+ point meal!
Because I haven't officially kicked off yet, I had toast and 2 (yiiiikes!) glasses of wine with it. Without the wine, I would have made my point goal today. Oh wells, I'm soaking up my last days. :)
Because I haven't officially kicked off yet, I had toast and 2 (yiiiikes!) glasses of wine with it. Without the wine, I would have made my point goal today. Oh wells, I'm soaking up my last days. :)
Committing to a gym class this week
I'm not sure why, but YMCA charges money even to members to go to ZUMBA, and they are only scheduling classes from 8-9pm at night twice a week, and once on Thursday mornings from 8-9am. I don't think I could ever work out that late at night, and I really don't want to pay. This week, I'm I have scheduled meetings at work every day, which means I'm skipping the one opportunity (usually Thursday) to work from home this week. Well, maybe next week I'll try ZUMBA on Thursday morning, but this week I think I'll go with Step class on either Friday evening or Saturday morning. (Friday evening's is only 30 minutes...is that cheating? I didn't give the gym class goal a time requirement...hmmm.)
What do you think? Is there anything else on this list I should try? I'm thinking about Cycling, CXWorX, and Yoga, too. Maybe Body Pump. Or maybe I should just concentrate on one thing at a time? I hate being bad at things, so I think it's going to be frustrating for the first few classes trying to learn the routines, especially for Step. I've been through Step classes before and think they're pretty fun... but you can easily look or feel like a complete idiot noob until you really get used to the routine. It's hard enough to get the very basic Wii Fit step workout perfected. haha. At least I'm the only one around when I do it, though.
What do you think? Is there anything else on this list I should try? I'm thinking about Cycling, CXWorX, and Yoga, too. Maybe Body Pump. Or maybe I should just concentrate on one thing at a time? I hate being bad at things, so I think it's going to be frustrating for the first few classes trying to learn the routines, especially for Step. I've been through Step classes before and think they're pretty fun... but you can easily look or feel like a complete idiot noob until you really get used to the routine. It's hard enough to get the very basic Wii Fit step workout perfected. haha. At least I'm the only one around when I do it, though.
Sunday, January 27, 2013
This is it! The big KICK-OFF!
This is my big week! The time has finally come, after a month or so of reading up and planning, to KICK-OFF my journey into healthy living and weight loss. You can read more about my goals for this journey on the About page.
I'm so excited to get started that I can hardly wait (and I'll probably end up starting a few things a bit early, anyways!). Starting Wednesday, January 30th (because I weigh in on Wednesdays via Weight Watchers at work), I will be logging all the food I eat into WW tools, exercising for 20 minutes, and meditating for 3 minutes every day for 4 weeks. Each week, I'll also go to 1 gym class, meditate for 10+ minutes three times, write 1 blog post, take 1 photograph of myself, plan meals and shopping lists, create an exercise plan, and work for 1 hour towards designing a motivational or positive affirmation poster.
So after 4 weeks, I'll have logged food for 28 days, exercised for 21.3 hours, meditated for 3.4 hours, written 4 blog posts, taken 4 photographs of myself, planned delicious healthy meals 4 times, created 4 exercise plans, and designed 1 motivational poster! Oh, plus, I'll be rewarding myself with a mani/pedi, new gelish nail polishes for DIY mani/pedis, fun new pillows for my office futon, and a hair cut and color by the end of the month.
Then, I'll plan for the month of March, tweaking my goals and rewards, creating another monthly meal plan, adding to my exercise regime, and writing a month recap blog post, and more. Over time, my workouts will increase in length and intensity, I will develop an arsenal of WW-approved recipes, I will complete 12 motivational posters, and get better and better about planning and implementing for my new healthy life. I'll be writing on here much more often than I have in the past year or so, too.
I have been thinking a lot about how to involve my friends and family. I know I can't do this alone and I need a good support system! Of course, Dave is going to get on board and help make meals that are WW friendly, but he's not too interested in going to the gym or exercising. He'd take walks and hike with me, but it's FREEZING outside right now so that won't happen until spring or summer. So, since I don't live near many of my friends and it won't be easy to get together and work out often, I would like to open up a conversation with some of you near and far about how we can connect to support and motivate each other.
First, there's one simple way you can participate with me: give me your own advice and tips, send encouraging well wishes, or forward me great healthy recipe ideas or workouts, etc. Feel free to share them publicly or privately, on Facebook, Pinterest, email, comment on this blog (MAKE SURE YOU SIGN YOUR NAME to your post!), or any other method you choose. By doing this, you can help me stay on track, inspire and motivate me to continue achieving my goals. I would be so glad to do the same for you, too! Just let me know what I can do!
Secondly, give me a workout challenge. I have the Wii Fit and have already started some of the games and exercises on it. I'm also in the process of purchasing Just Dance for Wii. I'm thinking about finding some yoga and other workout videos.games, too. Plus, I belong to the YMCA, where there is plenty of treadmills, ellipticals, strength training equipment, bikes, and classes (ZUMBA!). I love to go on walks and hikes (when it's warmer), especially with friends. So, now that you know what I have (and what I don't have?) at my disposal, challenge me to a workout of your choosing. It can be as simple as "come over and workout with me at my gym" or "complete 4 ZUMBA classes". I just ask that you just give me an achievable/appropriate deadline for said challenge and your name. Once I receive the challenge, I'll make plans to achieve it, and when I do, I'll give you a gift of some kind. If I know you personally, I'll make sure it's something you'll love, too!
Finally, as I work towards achieving my goals this year, I plan on hosting a few brunches, lunches, or dinners focused around healthy living. I hope to see you at one, a few, or all of them!
I'm so excited to get started that I can hardly wait (and I'll probably end up starting a few things a bit early, anyways!). Starting Wednesday, January 30th (because I weigh in on Wednesdays via Weight Watchers at work), I will be logging all the food I eat into WW tools, exercising for 20 minutes, and meditating for 3 minutes every day for 4 weeks. Each week, I'll also go to 1 gym class, meditate for 10+ minutes three times, write 1 blog post, take 1 photograph of myself, plan meals and shopping lists, create an exercise plan, and work for 1 hour towards designing a motivational or positive affirmation poster.
So after 4 weeks, I'll have logged food for 28 days, exercised for 21.3 hours, meditated for 3.4 hours, written 4 blog posts, taken 4 photographs of myself, planned delicious healthy meals 4 times, created 4 exercise plans, and designed 1 motivational poster! Oh, plus, I'll be rewarding myself with a mani/pedi, new gelish nail polishes for DIY mani/pedis, fun new pillows for my office futon, and a hair cut and color by the end of the month.
Then, I'll plan for the month of March, tweaking my goals and rewards, creating another monthly meal plan, adding to my exercise regime, and writing a month recap blog post, and more. Over time, my workouts will increase in length and intensity, I will develop an arsenal of WW-approved recipes, I will complete 12 motivational posters, and get better and better about planning and implementing for my new healthy life. I'll be writing on here much more often than I have in the past year or so, too.
I have been thinking a lot about how to involve my friends and family. I know I can't do this alone and I need a good support system! Of course, Dave is going to get on board and help make meals that are WW friendly, but he's not too interested in going to the gym or exercising. He'd take walks and hike with me, but it's FREEZING outside right now so that won't happen until spring or summer. So, since I don't live near many of my friends and it won't be easy to get together and work out often, I would like to open up a conversation with some of you near and far about how we can connect to support and motivate each other.
First, there's one simple way you can participate with me: give me your own advice and tips, send encouraging well wishes, or forward me great healthy recipe ideas or workouts, etc. Feel free to share them publicly or privately, on Facebook, Pinterest, email, comment on this blog (MAKE SURE YOU SIGN YOUR NAME to your post!), or any other method you choose. By doing this, you can help me stay on track, inspire and motivate me to continue achieving my goals. I would be so glad to do the same for you, too! Just let me know what I can do!
Secondly, give me a workout challenge. I have the Wii Fit and have already started some of the games and exercises on it. I'm also in the process of purchasing Just Dance for Wii. I'm thinking about finding some yoga and other workout videos.games, too. Plus, I belong to the YMCA, where there is plenty of treadmills, ellipticals, strength training equipment, bikes, and classes (ZUMBA!). I love to go on walks and hikes (when it's warmer), especially with friends. So, now that you know what I have (and what I don't have?) at my disposal, challenge me to a workout of your choosing. It can be as simple as "come over and workout with me at my gym" or "complete 4 ZUMBA classes". I just ask that you just give me an achievable/appropriate deadline for said challenge and your name. Once I receive the challenge, I'll make plans to achieve it, and when I do, I'll give you a gift of some kind. If I know you personally, I'll make sure it's something you'll love, too!
Finally, as I work towards achieving my goals this year, I plan on hosting a few brunches, lunches, or dinners focused around healthy living. I hope to see you at one, a few, or all of them!
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