Living Healthy!

We all know how to live healthy, eat healthy, be healthy! But we tend to forget to do it on a daily basis. We will talk about starting to do it tomorrow, or next week; when we know we need to start it now! I lived a very healthy lifestyle for nearly 2 years, I felt awesome, I felt like I would never stop. I rarely even felt deprived! It is 3 years later and I am almost back to my original weight that I was at February 2009. How did I let myself get back to this? Why did I let myself get back to this? I can make excuses, first I hurt my ankle, then my knee, then my dad passed away. At this point it doesn't matter, all that matters is that I am making the healthy living choices today, not next week, not tomorrow, but today! How am I going to do this?
1. I wake up each day and say today I will walk an extra 500 steps, climb an extra flight of stairs, eat 3 healthy meals plus 2 snacks a day and drink lots of water.
2. I make a choice when I open the refrigerator, go to the cafeteria at work or to a restaurant to choose the right foods for me. I know I can do this, I have been successful and will be successful again.
3. I decide that just because I may mess up at some point in the day that it is not OK to use that as an excuse to eat bad the rest of the day. I accept my failure and do my best to eat healthy the rest of the day.
4. I will do some sort of exercise everyday, even if it is walking around the block, climbing up and down the stairs, or doing my workout for core performance.
5. I will log my food that I eat everyday. The good, the bad and the ugly!
6. I will weight myself once a week and post it in my Fitbit account.
7. I will review my food logs and decide what I did right and make a full hearted effort to correct the bad food I ate, this should limit my tendencies to eat bad things.
8. I will start each day as a new day, and learn from my past to make my future healthy!
What will you do to keep you mind on Healthy Living?

Getting Back to a Healthy Lifestyle...holding myself accountable!

For almost 1 1/2 years I was strong, I worked out everyday, ate the right foods, and did everything I needed to be in my new "Healthy Lifestyle".  But then I got injured and couldn't do some of the cardio exercises that kept me going, I slowly stopped working out.  I maintained my weight for months, then I started eating crappy again.  I am in a rut, I know what to do.  I know I need to eat and exercise to stay healthy and continue to lose weight, but I don't seem to have the motivation I need to get going again.  I worked so hard to lose weight, and to gain some back is killing me!  I know I need to just take the first step and get my butt back to the gym.  Once I take that first step I am sure I will get the high back that I used to feel when I worked out reguarly.  My healthy eating lifestyle needs to start up again as well.  I start out the day great, eating a healthy breakfast, snack and then lunch comes and I make bad choices.  So maybe my first step is to start holding myself accountable again, getting myself up and working out every day, making the right choices in my daily food intake and yes even writing in my blog again.  Accountability is the one thing I can do, I started losing weight for me, for my health, for my life, and I need to get it back for me.  So today is the first step of getting myself back.  Wish me luck and I will be back soon, writing how I am doing keeping myself accountable.  Here is to a healthy life for me and you!

It's all in how a message is delivered!

Had an GREAT, POSITIVE, INSPIRING and ENCOURAGING...talk today with Intel’s health coach. He helped put a few things into perspective on my weight loss journey. It's not about the end result, it's how I get there and what steps I take to achieve that final goal, it is about me continuing to make healthy life choices and working on my goals. I need to work at my goals in steps with positive and healthy people surrounding me! His analogy was about the HS wrestling team he coaches wanting to take state championship.  It isn't enough that they just say "I want to take state" over and over, they have steps to make along the journey to get to state, practice, stay in their weight class, lift weights, eat healthy, etc.  The same way I have steps along my journey to lose weight! I have to continue to be mindful of what I eat, continue exercising, drinking plenty of water and balancing my meals.  I can't just say I want to lose 50 lbs, I have to take the steps between my current weight and my desired weight to get to that goal.  I have the desire to lose weight, I have the knowledge, I just need to put everything that I have learned in the last year and a half into practice.  Yes I have heard all of this before...but it is in the way it was told to me today...POSITIVE, INSPIRING and ENCOURAGING!  Thanks Jason for the encouraging words today!

Becoming INTENSE Again!!!

I have been working out for a year now. Working out is a big commitment, a big part of my daily life. I did waiver a little over the last few months. Not that I didn't work out, but more like I didn't work out as intensely. I used to work out INTENSE, by INTENSE I mean at least 2 hours a day. I would wake up and go to the gym, I would go do PT in the middle of the day, I would go to the gym after work. I loved to work out, I loved going to the gym, I was INTENSE. I stayed INTENSE for months, going to the gym twice a day, working out constantly. I did boot camp 3x a week, I started to do 5k runs, (I did 5 ). Then one day it stopped! Why, I am not sure. Maybe I was burned out, maybe I was lazy, or maybe I was just tired of doing the same old same. Don't get me wrong, I still worked out, but it slowed down, way down. Along with the slowdown of working out, was the slowdown of weight loss. I had worked hard to lose 75 pounds in 6-7 months, then in 4 months I only lost an additional 10. How disappointing is that, when I think about it I ask myself “What went wrong?” Why did I lose my INTENSE?? I don't want to say burnout, cause I still worked out, I still did boot camp 3x a week. What did happen was I stopped going to the gym, I stopped running, I stopped loving the work out! I knew I had to get it back, the love, the INTENSE, and the joy. I had to get it back, I need to get it back, my goal is to get the love, INTENSE work outs, and joy of daily work outs back. To do this I have started going back to the gym, I am making it a point to go at least 5x a week, this is on top of boot camps. I also committed to running not only on the treadmill, but outside at least one time a week (this week I ran 2.86 miles to boot camp, then did boot camp immediately following it). My new motto is INTENSE, to be successful I need to be INTENSE, to lose weight I need to be INTENSE, to be the best that I know I can be I need to be INTENSE!! Next time you see me be sure to ask me what am I doing to be INTENSE, to stay INTENSE, ask me if am I sticking to my new motto, and finally ask me am I doing what I need to do to be successful in my final journey of weight loss, am I being INTENSE?!?!

My first 5k

Eight months ago you would not have seen me near any type of organized run or for that matter any type of exercise. I wouldn’t have even thought anything about it when I saw posted information on the fitness center, running clubs, hikes, etc at work I just walked by them. I don’t even think I knew how far a 5k was in terms of miles. That all changed recently during a Business Update Meeting (BUM) a slide was presented with things that were happening with the United Way Drive during the pledge drive. The slide that caught my eye was the 5k run; yes I thought to myself “I need to do that run”. When I got back to my desk I sent a message to the presenter asking him for more information on the 5k run. He sent me the URL and I went in and printed up the form to take with me the next morning to the 5k run. This was going to be my very first official 5k run, I was excited, nervous, and anxious, do you get the picture? Sure I had run a 5k on the treadmill and outside a few times but never one that was an organized event with lots of other people. This would be a new adventure for me; after all I had just started running a few times a week a little over a month ago. The next morning I arrived at Tumbleweed Park in Chandler at 7:00 am for late registration, as I stood there in line I started to think what was I getting myself into. I looked around the park and saw all these people that looked like they knew what they were doing, that they had done this before. Who was I to think I could do this? Then I reminded myself I was one of these people, I had trained for the last 8 months with a great trainer, someone that had taught me that the words “I can’t” shouldn’t be in any part of your language ever! He taught me how to breath, to not run to fast, and to stay at a pace that I was comfortable at. I knew I could run on the treadmill at a 4.7 or 4.8 and felt good, like I wasn’t going to die, so I figured I would do that, running at that pace is about a 14.5 minute mile. I envisioned myself going over the finish line last, but all that mattered would be that I did it, that I had ran my very first race. As the time got closer to the start of the race I realized I could do this, I was going to do this. It didn’t matter if I came in last; I was accomplishing something that just 8 short months ago would have not even been in my thoughts. I started the race at a nice steady pace, I felt good I could do this. When I was about 1 mile into it I started to have my doubts as I realized how far 3.1 miles was; but I had started and I was going to finish. I walked for a few minutes and then thought to myself “I am not having a hard time breathing, I was running at a nice steady pace, and the longer I walked the longer it is would take me to finish”, so I started jogging again and each time I felt like walking I looked ahead and thought the end is near I can do this, I am almost done. As I approached the finish line and saw 36 minutes and 35 seconds on the time clock I knew I had done it, I was going to finish and I knew that my first 5k was a success. It was a success not because I finished in 37 minutes, not because I did 11.53 minute mile, it was a success because I didn’t give up, it was a success because I ran across the finish line! Yes a lot has changed in 8 months, there have been many transformations in my life, they are all because I didn’t quit, because I didn’t say “I can’t”, and because I did it for me, BECAUSE I AM WORTH IT!! Do something for you today, do something that you will be proud of, and most of all do it because you can, because you are worth it!

I'm Worth It...me me me!!

I have been on this healthy lifestyle journey for almost 7 months.  I have done things that I never thought possible, I have achieved things that I thought would take me years.  I have done all these things by will power, determination, support from family and friends and a wonderful trainer, Ryan.  I started running a few weeks ago.  First I would run for a short time and when I say short time I mean short time...like maybe 20-30 seconds.  I would walk for a while and try again.  I really dislike running, but I know for my personal goal I need to do it.  I ran for one mile with out stopping a week ago, it was a great feeling.  Last Sunday I ran (and walked a little) 3 miles in 38 minutes; that is 12.66666 minute miles.  When I accomplish things that I thought I never could do I am proud of myself and I realize I'm Worth it and it is all about me, me, me in this journey!!   I feel that I need to do a 1/2 marathon, I like to accomplish the impossible (at least what I thought was impossible).  I am starting to get off the worn path and beginning to take new paths.  It is a great feeling trying new things and doing them despite not loving everything I do.  I try them anyway, I do the best I can and try not to complain too much.  Change up what you are doing, take a new path, and do it for you, do it because YOUR WORTH IT!!

It's a Lifestyle

When you start a lifestyle change it takes willpower, want, and support. When you are starting a lifestyle change, be serious and dedicated and call it a lifestyle change, not a diet. I know diets don't work; you have to make the commitment to make a change for you, for life! Eating is one of the hardest things to change; especially when you have a family to prepare dinner for, a husband that won't embrace the healthier foods you are choosing to make. I make 2 dinners sometimes, I make what I want and what my husband will eat. I do 2 different types of pasta, rice, tortilla, or whatever side I make. I made a choice to not do regular pasta, bread or tortillas. Everything I eat is whole wheat or whole grain, I only do brown rice, and I prefer high fiber breads. I rarely eat red meat anymore, it is mostly chicken and occasionally fish that I choose to eat. My husband is pretty supportive, when he grills steak he always throws chicken on for me, he knows I won't eat red meat. He will set aside veggies for me before throwing butter and salt on them. He understands for the most part that I am doing this for me and that I choose to eat healthier for my life and he can choose what he wants to eat. I want to lose weight I have lost nearly 75 pounds and plan on losing at least 75 more (100 more is my ultimate goal). Because I want to lose weight my willpower has been one of the best kept secrets, something I did not realize I had. I would love to have a slice of pepperoni pizza, but I made a deal with myself that I wouldn't eat any until I lost 25 pounds, when I got to 25 I decided I needed to lose 50 before having any pizza. I got to 50 pounds and I had 2 slices of pepperoni pizza, it was good, but not enough to sit and eat the whole pizza. (Which I would have done in the past). To maintain my willpower I set goals, I let myself have a treat every once in a while, something small, something I would have sat and ate 2 maybe 3 times the amount that I now allow myself. The only person that will hurt from your indiscretions is YOU, you decide to make a lifestyle change for you, not your kids, not your husband, and not your sisters or parents. I used to let my husbands pressure gets to me when he would tell me how hard he worked on dinner, and he would make me feel guilty that I wasn't having what he made. I would give in and eat it, it made me mad, so I would eat too much of it and stuff myself. Now I just tell him no, I choose to make my own dinner, I choose to change me for me. I made a lifestyle change and with the support of friends and family this lifestyle change is working for me. It is part of me, it is my life, not looking back, only looking forward to a happier, healthier and a sexier me! Make your lifestyle change today, make it for YOU, and in the end it will benefit all around you!