I need to get back on the exercise bandwagon. 3 weeks is way too long. Now that we are back on a stay at home order it should be easier to fit this in my day. And I will continue to walk 10K steps at least Monday to Friday. Time to get back into a routine that includes weights.
My shoulder is feeling better and my chiropractor gave me some exercises that have been helping. I need a massage or 6 but now is not the right time. I think I need to start a proper stretching routine. The tension in my shoulders and upper back needs to go away.
The other thing I need to get under control is my late night snacking. I have an alarm that tells me to stop eating at 8:30 every night and I always ignore it. Whether it is boredom or dehydration I really need to get serious about not eating late into the night. It gets harder on the days I work until 8 but it is not impossible.
Wait there is one more thing … sleep. I really need to get to bed at a decent hour more nights and not. Sunday nights are the worst. The procrastination is strong. I do have a bedtime alarm and yes I ignore it too. 😦
I am still mainly working from home. Still encouraged to come in more often if I want. I have really gotten into a great groove when working from home and I don’t want to mess with it. I go for an hour long walk at lunch and am starting to explore my neighbourhood. I am usually on the phone with a friend who is also walking their neighbourhood. This makes the time pass quickly and does wonders towards getting me to meet my 10K steps per day. I surprised myself by surpassing my 5 days per week goal last week and walked 10K steps 6 days in a row. I took today as a rest day but still managed to get over 8K steps.
I learned something new 2 weeks ago. Let me start this by saying I was not brought up participating in any religion nor do I currently follow one at this time. Having said that I have given up meat for Lent for at least 10 years now. I always thought Lent was a 40 day period that went from Ash Wednesday to Good Friday. Imagine my surprise when I learned it is actually 46 days. So I have cut my no meat period short this year. Mainly because 2 of my favourite meals were on the menu in the cafeteria on two of the days I went in to the office. But no more cheating for me. There will be no land animals going down hatch until Easter. I will still get 40 days in.
I went back to counting calories last week. I do not like it. While I don’t think I eat anything too calorie heavy on a regular basis I had a feeling that my portions might have grown. Some did and others didn’t. The eye opener for me it looking at how much fiber and protein I get. Protein is better than fiber. Salads for dinner is back on the menu. I am doing well on the water front and get at least 8 cups of water every day. My goal is 12. I think I actually do get that as I drink 2-4 mugs of tea every day but I am only counting water.
Tomorrow I will measure and weigh myself. Things feel like they are going in the right direction. Hopefully the numbers support my feelings.
Last weekend my friend was posting her steps for the day and she was hitting 12K+ for multiple days so on Monday I commented with my awe and support. And like a true friend she challenged me to join in the “fun”. I “included” another friend of ours as misery loves company. We decided to do a 10K steps per day challenge for 5 days a week.
Firstly I want to state the obvious. 10,000 steps is a lot of steps … way too many steps. It is like a second job. Takes quite some time to get it all in and even then I still had to do laps around my place in order to get all the steps in. Our cut off time was 10 pm.
I started on Tuesday and went for walks outside at lunch on both Tuesday and Wednesday. 40 minutes is not enough to get all those steps in. Thursdays I had to go into the office so I got up early to do a 30 minute Leslie walking workout. I don’t know if it is because I am walking in place but I don’t think my watch captures my steps correctly when I do Leslie workouts. Friday it was colder than I thought was reasonable to be outside, so I did for the very first time an hour long Leslie 4 mile workout. I thought I was going to fall down. And I still didn’t hit 10k steps. 😦
On top of all of this I was still doing my 20 minute weight/walking workouts. AND I STILL HAD TO DO LAPS!?! I went from 20-30 minutes of exercise per day to 75+. By Friday, I was done. My legs were on fire. I decided to take the weekend to rest. Tomorrow we start again. When I step on the scale I am expecting to see big results or else I’m going to be so mad.
The beginning of the year brings renewed energy to make changes and this year is no exception.
I decided to get back on the exercise bandwagon and vow to workout for at least 20 minutes every day. This past Monday I stepped on the scale and was beyond alarmed. I knew I put on weight but didn’t think it was so much. This explains why all my pants are tight. Operation Get Back To Healthy is now back in swing. Every Monday morning I will continue to weigh myself. I also managed to remember to measure my self to have a starting point. I will measure myself monthly. I have some lots of work to do. I have been challenged by a co-worker to fast on Tuesday so we shall see if I am able to do it.
Next thing to tackle on the health plan is controlling what goes down my piehole. I am going back to meal planning and eating salad for dinner. Last weekend I finally used my instant pot for the first time. I made spaghetti and meat sauce. It was very saucy but the texture of the spaghetti was not a favourite for my kids.
Since everything is on lockdown, my bank accounts are getting fatter. I still have to nail down this year’s budget but I feel like it will be a quick task. The building I live in is now offering internet as part of our amenities, so no more internet bill for me. 🙂 With the lowering interest rates, I have renegotiated my mortgage. I am going to keep the payments the same to pay it down faster. No or reduced eating out means more money goes into savings.
Once I settle into my new exercise/lifestyle routine, I will move finding a new job higher up my to do list. I appreciate having employment during this pandemic but the job duties are no longer challenging. I don’t see a place for me to grow in this company. I love the people I work with, but the time to move on is coming.
I have rekindled my love of reading. Not being being able to go anywhere certainly helped with that. I challenged myself to read 40 last year. I read 42 books. This year I am upping the anti and challenging myself to read 45 books. I have recently finished “The Meaning of Mariah Carey“. It was interesting to learn about Mariah according to Mariah.
Decluttering is always on my list of things to do. I am slowly getting rid of things I no longer need. Last Sunday, our microwave started sparking, so out it went. I am going to see how long I can live without getting a new one. My kids give me 1.5 weeks. Out of spite I am refusing to buy another one. Stubbornness is my middle name! Plus I think if a microwave comes in this place, it should not be on my dime.
I think that is enough for now. I will revisit every quarter to make sure I am staying on track.
This year I am determined to get back to healthy. The tipping point for me was feeling my back fat when walking around. Not a fan LOL
Until the end of March, I am reducing the amount of carbs, sugar and dairy that I eat. I have one cheat day when we have our monthly town hall meeting at work and there is cake. I bought more tea than is reasonable over the holidays and that is my after dinner “treat”. It is taking some getting used to but I’ll get there. Flavours like Red Velvet Cake and Creme Caramel help a lot. 🙂
In addition, to watching what I eat, I am also exercising 5 times a week.
These 4 DVDs are in heavy rotation now. I have committed to doing each of the Callanetics workouts once a week and the other two are done in some combination for the remaining 3 days.
Mondays and Fridays are my rest days as those are my longest work days. Now if I could only move my workouts to first thing in the morning, that would be ideal. Small steps, right?
Yesterday was workout class #5. So far it is going well. I am feeling stronger. Still have lots of work to do. Really need to figure out how to breathe when doing cardio. Right now it feels like my chest is going to explode. I know it will get better and the ladies I workout with are very encouraging.
Still haven’t taken my measurements so I can measure my progress. My clothes are still tight. I realized I need to change my lunch eating habits. The cafeteria serves us large portions and I used to eat it all. Small salad and soup included.
Now I eat the soup and salad and half the entrée and pack the rest up for dinner. So far it is working very well. I hope to reap some rewards from paying attention to my eating.
I was feeling good until this morning when one of my coworkers asked me if I am pregnant …
Guess I will be joining the next session of exercise classes.
So I went to the Dr last week for my annual physical. He told me I had gained some weight since my last visit 4 years earlier … Don’t ask, clearly self care is sometimes lacking.
I knew this, but it was still difficult to hear. Since I have fallen off the wagon somewhat, I have joined the workout class at work. It happens twice a week for 1 hour each session with a trainer. Cost is $10/class and requires a 10 class commitment.
Today was the first class and I hurt already, so tomorrow is going to be fun. There were many moments of being out of breath. I really need to work on this and it makes the workout harder. On top of that I am fighting a cold. I am hoping to get over it quickly.
The gym at work was deserted at 5:30 so I am thinking that I should go after work every day. Even if it’s only for a 30 minute walk on the thread mill. According to my Dr, I need at least 150 minutes of exercise a week. The workout classes well get me to 120, and I can manage another 30 minutes on my own.
I am making some dietary changes as well. For the most part I am giving up flour and am trying harder to a more plant based diet. Still haven’t tried out my Vitamix blender. Bought some veggies yesterday but the energy to make anything is lacking right now.
I hope these changes make some positive changes on the scale. I need to get myself under control.
Oh how I wish this was the number on the scale. Instead it is the number of days in a row that I have exercised. While I feel stronger and am becoming more toned, the number on the scale remains relatively unchanged.
Starting Thursday I am going to start watching what I put in my pie hole. I would start today but I have several good-bye lunches to attend. I will go back to tracking every morsel of food in My Fitness Pal.
I am also going to maintain my early morning get up time and work out in the morning since I will be starting 90 minutes later than I currently do. I love getting my workout done first thing so I can truly relax when I get home. Or throw in a second workout if it’s been a particularly calorie heavy day.
Stepped on the scale on Monday …. If I didn’t know before that I have put on weight I definitely know now!
I feel very obsessed with this new revelation and have been getting up in the morning to workout before going into the office. Given that I go to work for 7:30 am, this is no easy feat. Nothing like feeling badly about yourself to motivate you to get up and moving. 🙂
Today I am going to make the 4 hour drive to Ottawa to attend the funeral of my BFF’s father. He passed away last week after a long battle with cancer. *cancer sucks* My BFF and her father only recently attempted to have a relationship but I feel like it was too little too late. She is being pressured to speak at the service and her eulogy was filled with bitterness. 😦 It has since been edited.
The funeral is at 3 pm and afterwards I will be driving back to Toronto. Madness, I know. But I didn’t want to take too many days off for this. I am hoping that my cousin who lives in Ottawa will be home before I leave so I can see her for a quick minute.
I was going to try to pretend like I having been MIA for the past 3 months but you’re smarter than that!! LOL
Truth is I has little to say, then I got a life. I tried on-line dating and went on more than my fair share of first dates. Met a guy I thought was cool, he claimed to feel strongly for me. This creeped me out as we had not known each other long before he professed his love. As it turns out “love” to him has a very different meaning to him than it does me. lol
Met another guy, who seems to be entertaining to say the least. He does not require nearly as much attention so I am back!!!
Dating makes you fat. There I said it. So it is back to on the exercise bandwagon for me. Much to the dismay of the new dude as he likes the extra size. Crazy!!
Project Get Healthy (PGH) is back in swing. I have recruited some friends and coworkers to join me on my quest to reduce my size. First thing I am committing to is daily exercise in some form. So much so that I came home tonight at 2am and did a quick light (non-Jillian) workout so that I could count it for January 1.
The next thing I need to do is get back to tracking my calories. That will be Tuesday’s fun. Can’t have too much going on all at once. **tee hee** 😉
Work has been crazy. We started flex hours which means I come in 1 hour earlier and leave at regular time IF I am lucky. I am going to try harder to get a handle on this as time progresses. Really need to get my work/life balance back.
I am so behind in my blog reading. I am reading posts from early November … OCD me will not let me skim ahead or work backwards. I was hoping to catch up over the holidays and I made great strides just not enough yet. I will get up in a few and get back to it.
Other than that life is good. My kids are doing well and have not driven me to drink in a while. Touch wood as now that I’ve said it I feel like I have opened it up to the universe.
Life is full of Sunny Days 