5 out of 6!

I created some goals for myself to help in being healthy. Yesterday I hit 5 out of 6 of them!

Bring/eat a healthy lunch
Include Fruit/Veggies with every meal
Exercise every other day
Cut down on carbs from grains 1 meal
Eat a light dinner
Don't eat 3 hours before bed

I didn't have a healthy lunch, but I did limit myself to only 2 pieces of deep dish pizza at Pizza Hut.

I put these 6 goals on a "To Do" list on my google homepage. As I go through the day, or at the end of the day I can check which ones I accomplished and get a qantified # to evaluate how I am doing in the healthy department that day.

Its not something I heard about anywhere, but it reminds me of when I was going to a "thin and healthy" counselor. They would have me rate how I thought I was doing this week in terms of sticking to the diet and how I felt. I am a more realistic hard numbers woman, so this method will be good for me!

Healthy Environment

Some of you may find this a bit off topic for our blog, but I think it fits well. Being Healthy is not just about being fit but about having healthy things around you and being nice to our environment.

I already started doing "more" lately to help the environment. Getting more strict with the thermostat, starting to recycle thin cardboards and office paper and a few other things. This article here takes it so much further than I have gone... and it might give you some ideas as well. In the comments section there are even some humorous ones like "use your toothbrush to clean the toilet, a little bleach and you are sanitized and as good as new".

More than anything I just wanted to document this link so I can refer back to it later.
http://www.cleverdude.com/content/50-ways-to-save-money-by-not-wasting/

What do you think? One thing we do that I didn't see mentioned there is not throwing away plastic silverware. If it can live through the dishwasher (and most of it does) we wash it and re-use. This was more important when we were bringing lunch each day.

Spring is here

Hello my friends!

Anyone making any changes to their routines now that spring is here? Maybe some workouts outside?

I have a goal to help more with the yard work and garden this year. Also we are getting ready for summer hiking trips so some more afternoons at Quarry Hill will be a lot more fun than the treadmill... even if I can watch TV while on it.

Initiative and Action

Some of the blogs I read focus on career aspirations. A couple of these caught my eye today related to developing your initiative (not just by practice as most people say) by focusing on results and following something you are passionate about.

http://www.brazencareerist.com/2008/04/08/6-keys-to-developing-your-initiative/

http://jonathanmead.com/2008/03/27/whats-keeping-you-from-taking-action/

Its an interesting shift of your focus from external definitions of success to internal, and making use of what you are passionate about to drive that focus, instead of the brute force method which has never worked very well for me. I don't want to do this, but I'm going to make myself do it every day for 30 days etc... Those plans never work out long term.

On the way...

...to achieving my short term goal. I ran 3 miles on my treadmill yesterday at 5.0 for 2.75 miles and 6.0 for the last .25 mile. I pushed myself hard because I knew I could do it even if I would end up almost dead. Brian made it all better by giving me a leg massage :-) All joking aside, I was extremely sore after the run, but this morning I'm not sore at all!!! I strongly believe it's a result from the massage last night...now I know the cure of sore muscles after a good workout :-D

I plan to run 3 miles on Saturday or Sunday, that would be 3 miles twice this week. I will work towards running for 3 miles 3 times next week and continue this for at least 3 more weeks. Then I'll add .5 miles at a time until I reach my 5 miles 3 times a week goal! In the meantime, I'm going to add some strength training 2 or 3 times a week to build stronger leg muscles.

I'm so excited about getting this close to my goal...I'm determined to achieve this by mid July!

~J

Slow and Steady

My working out and eating plans can be described as slow and steady.

• Walking outside or on the treadmill 30 min.
• Introducing healthier options for my favorite fatty or otherwise bad for me snacks.
• Include fruit with every breakfast, and veggies with every lunch and dinner.

I think I'm going to introduce some weightlifting this week in addition to the treadmill. I might design my own routine or follow a portion of the Beach Body Power 90 routine.

How is everyone else doing with the April showers?

Down an inch

I don't want to jinx my progress, but I've lost an inch from my waist! bye-bye! I don't know if I've worked out any more than I did before, but I am definitely eating more veggies and not eating right before I go to bed. I think that is helping a lot. And I'm loving my soup. I just made a curry soup. Yum. I love the smell. I'm hoping the light in the evening and warmer weather will make it easier to get out and walk or bike after work more often.