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!
Way to go Kate! I know you can do this! I'll be checking in often and cheering you on!
ReplyDelete-Doug
Thanks, Douglas!! :)
DeleteThis is awesome, Kate. I've actually started something similar, dubbed my Life Plan by my therapist! I'd love to compare notes. Here's what I've started so far...I journal three pages every morning after doing one (just one) sun salutation to wake up my body a bit, I've added three servings of fruits/veggies to my diet (so far, my goal is eight), five days a week I do some sort of physical exercise even if it is only 10 min (working up to various goals), and I meditate for five minutes (so far) every evening just before bed. It is very frustrating to start so small but I think it will serve me better in the long run. Let me know if you want to share and learn something from each other!
ReplyDeleteTina
Wow! Sun Salutations! I've heard of it, but never knew what it was. Cool. I think I'd kill myself on the Cobra, though. I have a little bit of a lower back issue. Anyway, I think our plans are pretty similar! So far, I like meditating in the morning. As long as the cat isn't in my office, it's easier not to be distracted (since I'm still pretty new new at meditation). Plus, since I've just woken up, my mind is sort of clear anyways. But, meditation before bed probably has a lot of benefits... I'm sure it must help you fall asleep faster!?
ReplyDeleteI read recently, also, that people who exercise daily tend to fall asleep faster. How interesting is that!? I must say... I think it might be true because last week I definitely fell asleep faster than I usually do, which is great because sleep is SUPER important!
Back to meditation, I didn't meditate on Friday morning and noticed my resolve weaken a little bit that day, wheras I felt rock-solid on the days prior after meditating in the AM. I'm not sure it's a pattern, really, because I've only been on this plan for a few days, but I'm going to keep an eye out for that more often.
Why is it frustrating to start small? Do you feel like you're not accomplishing as much as you could be? I think I worry about that a little bit, too. But at the same time, I wanted to start small because its not as overwhelming. For instance, its much easier to think about working out for 20 minutes. That's like a quick drop-in-the-bucket. If I tried doubling or tripling that time everyday, I think that would deplete my mental energy before I even got started.
What's funny about this is that I think its really mind over matter. It's mostly all head games. It's difficult, i think, but you really have to psyche yourself up for working on your goals. I think motivation is half (if not more) the battle! That's why I'm creating motivational posters for myself...and why I have a rewards plan. I can't say whether it'll work or not, but I'm hoping it will. Plus, designing the posters will serve two purposes at once (which is AWESOME). I hope to share a few, once I get them going!