I'm doing it, Dang It!

Last week was a great week. I went running a couple days on my lunch break then my calves started hurting way too much to continue with that, so I made myself at least go walking every day. I also watched my diet better, I didn't eat any junk until the weekend.

For dessert on Sunday I made dark chocolate zucchini brownies. They were okay, I've had better so will probably not use that recipe again.

And Yesterday I started with the running on my lunch break again. My calves are really tight, but I'm going to keep it up and try to run every day on my lunch break this week.

Last week was Great!

So I've started going running on my lunch break as I have mentioned. And last week I went running at least 3 times. and walking at least 1. Friday I gave myself a break. Which I probably shouldn't have, since it lead me to doing nothing on the weekend. But that's beside the point.
I ran a mile. 1 mile straight from start to finish. I can't tell you how proud of myself that I did that. It wasn't fast or graceful, but I did it and I'm really happy. I haven't been able to run a mile in years. I'm going to try to keep it up this week and maybe I can go longer. We'll see.

Good Job, Me!

I'm patting myself on the back today. I actually went running on my lunch break. And when I say running, it means more like jogging with some walking. I am not a runner, never have been. I wish I was, I wish I liked running. I don't. I find it to be one of the most boring ways to workout every. My brother loves running, he runs marathons for fun. Freak. Just kidding, I have a lot of respect for that guy.

Anyways, back to me, I think I ran a total of a half mile. I've measured before that around the block I work at is almost exactly a mile. I ran about half of it. Also, aside from that, today is day 2 that I have done my 4 minute workout. I wrote about it here. I'm feeling pretty good about myself.

I also started my meditation class yesterday. The teacher talked about setting an intention. Hers was faith. Usually the intention set is one word. I think mine will be action. I don't want to be a lazy couch potato, I want to get up and do things. I want to live in a clean apartment that isn't cluttered all the time by junk not put away. I don't need to leave 5 pairs of shoes out on the floor in the living room. You get the idea. I want to be the person that takes action. Something needs to be done, I want to go do it. I think I'm on the right track.

Holiday Season 2013 and New Years resolutions

Well, sorry for the delay in writing, I got preoccupied by the Holidays, and family fun and dancing. I did want to tell you what I have been up to. I did 3 days of a 7 day cleanse and lost 8 lbs. I only gained back 2. So I was really happy about that. I haven't seen the scale go in the right direction in a really long time. I told my mom about it and she tried and didn't lose anything, so maybe it only works that well when you've been eating crap for a while.

I found this cleanse on Pinterest with this picture. 

Here are the first three days:

Day One All fruits except bananas. Your first day will consist of all the fruits you want. It is strongly suggested that you consume lots of melons the first day. Especially watermelon and a loupe. If you limit your fruit consumption to melons, your chances of losing three lbs. on first day are very good.

Day Two All vegetables. You are encouraged to eat until you are stuffed with all the raw or cooked vegetables of your choice. There is no limit on the amount or type. For your complex carbohydrate, you will start day two with a large baked potato for breakfast. You may top the potato with one pat of butter.

Day Three A mixture of fruits and vegetables of your choice. Any amount, any quantity. No bananas yet. No potatoes today.

On the fruit day, I drank a green smoothie for breakfast, then for lunch I had some watermelon which I ate all off and I got some cantaloupe, which I snacked on for the rest of the afternoon, thus keeping my hunger at bay. I also had some apple slices. I figure, fruit is good, I could probably do a fruit day once a week. And now that the holidays are over, I plan on starting that again.

You also need to be drinking enough water. I take a big jug of water with me to work and most of the time I have it all gone by the time I go home. Makes it kind of awkward on the way home if there is a lot of traffic, because then by the time I get home, I have to dance a jig on my way to the bathroom because my bladder is beyond full.

As for this new year that's starting, I'm going to write down my goals here. I'm not going to set a goal of how much weight I want to loose, because that never works for me. Instead, I'm going to write the goals that I think will help me get there. I'd like to focus on three different aspects. Physical, emotional, and spiritual.

Goals:
Physical:
Start doing Yoga regularly, as well as pilotes. I love Yoga when I do it, so setting this goal will help me get motivated to do it more. As for pilotes, I hate it, but there is no denying the benefits.

Emotional:
Start Meditating, I've signed up for a web based class to get me started. My sister in law is good friends with a meditation expert, and hooked me up. Here is her website if you are interested in getting started as well:
http://www.treeoflifekundaliniyoga.com/webinarsclasses.html

And Spiritual:
I'd like to start reading my scriptures more and praying everyday. This is stuff I should be doing everyday anyways, but it slips my mind and I forget to do it. So I want to make a concerted effort to do it. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, some people call us Mormons. So I'm really lucky that I have not only the Bible to read but the Book of Mormon as well which is another Testament of Jesus Christ.

So these are my goals. I will keep updating on how they are going.

Frustration and new game plan

So last week I worked my butt off. I walked or ran sprints on my lunch break every day, I worked out with my friend, I went to zumba, I went running on Saturday and then I did another hour and a half of Just Dance XBox Kinect game. I worked as hard as I've ever worked, and I have nothing to show for it. Not one single pound. I'm annoyed. What do I have to do? I tried to be really careful with my diet last week too.

So one of my friends came over last night to visit, and she's been dieting and actually losing weight, so I asked her what she was doing. She said she has an 8 hour window for her to eat. And she's trying to eat low carbs, low meat, and high fruits and veggies. And she is seeing success. So I think I'm going to see if I can get myself to try it. I'll keep you posted.

In other news, My husband and I are going to a dance convention this weekend. We West Coast Swing dance and there is a huge community that does this same specific dance, and we love it and sometimes go to events. We compete in the "Jack and Jill" competitions, which is basically you get a random partner and the competition is to see if you can lead and follow well. There are different levels, Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, Champion, and All Stars. I'm still in Novice since I haven't been competing that long, and Jeremy is in Intermediate. It's a ton of fun. So that's what we will be doing Friday through Sunday.

Update on my weekly goals

So last week, I walked every lunch break. Goal accomplished. This week my goal was to start running sprints. I ended up walking on Monday because it was still too hot outside to run. So I started my sprints on Tuesday, and I did them again on Wednesday, and let's just say that I can definitely feel it.

Tuesday I also worked out with my friend and we did a 20 minute kickboxing cardio workout. Wednesday after work I went to Zumba class. Turns out I was the only one there besides the teacher. Weird. But still a great workout.

Today I am giving myself permission to take a break and just do my mile walk at lunch. Then I'll be doing a ball workout with my friend after work, then we usually go for another mile walk after. So I'm definitely moving.

If I don't see any results next week when I go to weigh and measure myself, I am seriously going to consider quitting.

Goal Accomplished

I accomplished my main goal for the week. Mainly that I walked every day on my lunch break at least a mile, usually a bit more. I'm really happy and proud of myself. Let's keep this up.