This portion of my new goals might be the section I've been most excited to write. Physically I've been in a slump for at least the last six months. I was doing really well with running this previous spring until my running buddy's knees gave out (Ryan). Any little excuse works to not exercise, I'll take. I'm tired of that though, I'm tired of being a couch potato and saying "I'll do it tomorrow". I've been reading The Berry a lot lately and been paying a lot of attention to their "Daily Motivation" section. It shows pictures of women getting fit, healthy food and exercise ideas. I have been envious long enough so it's time to bust my butt.
Exercise- I have tired many times before to get into a routine and failed a week in. One night I will come home too tired or will get distracted by other things and I'll let myself slide. I'll make excuses for myself to myself and I'll say "Hey, I'm still human". That may be true, but I haven't been comfortable with the thought of people seeing me in a swimsuit since high school. I'll suck in, cover up and basically avoid being seen in skimpy outfits in any way I can. This isn't right. I should love my body, imperfections and all. I could go on ad infinitum about the perils of being a modern day woman, but that's not what this post is about. Many people have said to me, "you have a great body, why do you need to work out?" Well, the simple truth is that though I might be most people's goal weight, I'm not comfortable with my lumps and bumps. I've had the same body forever, I can still fit into my high school clothes, but I've never had the satisfaction of working my ass off to achieve a certain result. And I've come to the realization that now is the time. Like right this second. I'm 26 and if I'm going to have the body of my dreams, I better start working because I'm not getting any younger.
That all being said, I've (again) started the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. I've had this damn DVD for over 3 years now and I've never been able to stick to it before, but this time I'm dedicated. I'm on week two, last week having worked out 5 of the 7 days, this week so far I've worked out every day. Even after this short amount of time, I'm feeling myself get stronger. The push ups aren't so horrible and squats don't make me want to rip my legs off as much. My goal is to obviously finish the first stage in 30 days, the second medium stage in the next 30 days and finally the third hardest section to round off 90 days of working out. Every time I come home and I feel myself sinking into my normal routine of excusing myself from physical activity, a thought pops into the back of my mind. It's usually something along the lines of "The time you don't want to do something the most is the time that you most likely should". Usually I only use that line on myself when I'm internally talking myself out of going to an AA meeting, but the same can apply here. Also, I feel like when I least want to work out, I'll be browsing around the internet and here pops up Jillian Michael's face. That bitch is everywhere, haunting me, making me feel real guilty if I'm not in workout mode! I did make a rookie mistake by not taking "before pictures" so that I could show end results, but I'll go do that tonight. This is one of the things I use to keep myself motivated:
Eating Right- Everyone knows that getting fit is about 50% of what you do in the gym and 50% of what you eat, give or take. If you keep eating the same things you always have, I feel like you're probably going to look about the same regardless of how much work you think you're doing. That being said, I have eliminated pasta, a lot of breads and anything highly sugary/fatty from my diet. I'm sticking to oatmeal, fruits, veggies, greek or plain yogurt, chicken and a lot of spinach. I don't like to think of myself as being "on a diet", I am just thinking more about what I'm putting in my body (the vice I won't be giving up? My daily PB&J for lunch). It's also surprisingly saving us a lot of money. Not having to think about what you're making week to week is REALLY nice. Ryan is finally on my healthy bandwagon, so I don't have to worry about what he's going to eat and make a second meal different from mine, it's a relief. Along with all of this, I've been trying to be really conscious of my water intake. Two liters a day is my goal and so far so good.
Sleeping- Ever since getting sober, I have had some strange sleeping patterns. I've heard it said around the recovery community that you should expect that for the first couple of years of sobriety. I'm a damn cranky girl if I don't get an adequate amount of zzz's. A goal that kind of came about unintentionally is to lay off the coffee. Every day, I guzzle down copious amounts of coffee, energy drinks, whatever in attempts to feel AWAKKKKKE. Well that awake feeling has been lasting well into my sleeping hours, so it was time for a change. Right around the first of the year I got really sick and a result of that cold is that I haven't had coffee since before the first of the year. I was sick through the time I would have the caffeine withdrawal headaches so it's been an easy transition. I also picked up some melatonin the last time I was at Costco for those nights where sleep evades me or I wake in the middle of the night. For me, the best way to stay active and healthy is to make sure I'm getting enough rest each night, about 7-8 hours.
With all of these goals in mind, watching what I consume, resting enough and getting my heart pumping, I hope to be feeling more fit, energized and stronger by Spring. I'm sure I'll hit lulls along the way and I'm sure I'll come up with ways to overcome that. Until next time!!
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