simple, doable, but is it enough?

Since September I've had the goal to exercise a minimum of 400 minutes each month. The first two months I surpassed that by another 200 minutes - this last month, not so much. I found myself taking a couple steps back in the healthy department. I can't totally bash myself, I did clock 422 minutes, so I did meet my goal; however, I haven't been the healthiest eater lately. I've been playing with different goals that I can try to do with food, but it is really hard for me, because reality is that I have a hard time sticking with food goals - ESPECIALLY this time of year! I know in order to make a difference in my body, I have to stop eating as much sugar and start eating more veggies and fiber. In the summer I do a decent job of this with all the fresh food - but in the winter, it really is a struggle.

Any ideas on how to approach my food intake? I don't want to be on a "diet". I just want to keep healthy eating that stays regular, not just for a couple weeks.


In other exciting news (that I forgot to share a couple weeks ago!) - I made it to SIX miles jogging!!!!  I was soooo proud of myself. I'm tempted to not only try for a 5K, but possibly also a 10K next spring - now that is a fun goal to think about!  :)

A little different

This month I have set a different type of 30 day goal. I decided not to do something that is everyday, as that started to kind of stress me out, but instead, have some broader goals-both for physical and mental health.

Goal 1: 400 minutes of working out
*currently, with three days to go, I already have 527 minutes!!!

Goal 2: complete the fall quilt I started a year ago
*this doesn't look like it will happen. I started to get a good go at it, and then life took over... But I plan to have it done in the next 30 days for sure!

Goal 3: complete a 4 mile run-no stops
*success!!! I've completed this goal twice this month.

Goal 4: survive my first month as an elementary music teacher
*with one day to go, I think I can safely say that I have survived well :)


I'm feeling good! Healthier than I have in a while. My eating habits have been better. I have two running partners that meet me every mon, wed, and fri morning (at 4:45-bah!) and it is motivating to have buddies to run with. I've even lost a couple pounds and my pants are feeling more comfortable. And I'm very happy to be teaching again.

Its been a wonderful 30 days this September. I'm looking forward to October.

Back on the tracks

Tomorrow marks the halfway point of this goal and I finally feel like I am back on track. Finding the time to exercise has been challenging since I've began a second job, but to counter that I've gotten up most days at 5am. I really dislike getting up early, buy it has helped me stick to the goal.

My biggest challenge right now is sweets! I'm doing much better with veggies and fruits, buy then other than a small portion of main meal, I have been eating way too many desserts and candies. I think I may have to incorporate a sweets limit goal into my next 30 day plan. Until then, I'm tryig to be "good". Today I succeeded! But we will see where my willpower is at tomorrow!!!

Back on the saddle

Ok, so I will admit, I am LOUSY at eating healthy and exercising when traveling! I did horrible this last week during all my travels, but by the end of it I was REALLY motivated to come home and kick some butt. I was feeling crumy by yesterday and realized how much I really do miss the feeling of a good workout.

I'm back on the saddle today with a new goal - and this one WILL be accomplished. I've even upped the anti a little bit - 6 veggie/fruits per day and 30 minutes of workout. I refuse to let a leisurely walk be my workout this time! I became way too wimpy trying my last goal and was not pushing myself. But if I really do want my shorts and swimsuit to fit this summer - I have got to start crackin' the whip on myself. 6 veggie/fruits will be challening, which is sad to say, but it is much needed. My goal is to start making these food groups more of the core or beginning of my meals, rather than the end to my meal if I have a little space leftover.

Therefore, today I ate my carrots, dried cranberries, strawberries, V8, and a huge salad. I also did my taebo workout tonight - and it kicked my butt in a really good way.  :)

40 days

I believe I was told the other day that it takes 40 days to setting a new habit and sticking with it before it starts feeling routine. So now I'm really wishing I had set my goals to a 40 day calendar versus a 30 day one. I had the best intentions this month to keep up my good work, but unfortunately I feel I've gone the exact opposite way.

This month was going to be hard and I knew that. I've been doing a lot of travel with more to come and I've had a busier schedule with church and work things. And yet, the days that I DO have the time seem to be the hardest to find motivation on! I just want to sit and do nothing when I get home!!!

It has also been interesting to see the affect my different workouts have played into this. In the winter I used videos that typically challenged me-but now with nice weather I have been
Jogging and walking more-unfortunately more of the latter though. :(

So, I'm a quitter. I need to be done with the current goal. But! That is a big but! I will start again after Easter when I am "home" again. I hate that this is the case but I want to start over correctly. I need to do 30-45 min workouts that get my heart going and it needs to be daily! I was doing too many days of an hour walk to make up for missed days - that has to end.

On a happier note- I've been doing awesome on my fruits and veggies! I'm still working getting more veggies, but I'm at least getting 4 servings of one of the two daily, often times 6-7.

I'm human and not perfect, I know that.
I will keep trying and will succeed! I will change my daily habits and routines so that exercise and healthy eating become natural versus a goal.

A rough go

My second 30 day goal hasn't been as motivated as the first... oy.

I've been doing really good with my fruits and veggies, but struggling A LOT with exercise. The frustrating thing is that I feel so good when I do exercise, and yet I have very little motivation right now to do so. My goal was to exercise 30 minutes each day, however I had some legitimate road blocks that didn't allow for that so I let myself "makeup" those minutes on a different day. It's worked, but unfortunately when I do more exercise I don't do as hard of a workout, so I definitely have not gotten as much hard cardio as I should be getting.

This month was going to be challenging, I knew that, but I thought I would still have the motivation. I'm slowly starting to find it again though I think. The last couple days I've had some really good workouts jogging with the dog. It is so refreshing to be able to exercise OUTSIDE again. I CAN complete this goal!

I also remind myself that I am human and nowhere near perfect. Changing life habits will be and is hard. If I keep going though, the life benefits it will lead to will be so great - that is my motivation... well, that and fitting back into my Capri's and shorts again this summer!  :)

Good night!

Jody's Confession

So, I started off on the right foot, but fell short of my commitment quickly, so TODAY I kicked off trial number 2 of my first 30 days with a 2 hour hike...whew...feelin' the burn.  I am so looking forward to tomorrow.  And a big WAY TO GO, MARA on completing your first goal and onto the 2nd!  You rock!

Goal #1 Complete! Goal #2 Beginning!

I did it! My first 30 day goal is completed!!!

Now off to Maurices....! I will have to get there sometime in the next week. With the gorgeous spring weather we are having, I'm excited to get a new top.

So, goal number two - after going back and forth in my head, I believe my goal is as follows:

*30+ minutes of exercise/day

*4 servings of fruits-veggies/day

Since my ultimate goal is help myself with a consistent lifestyle, I thought I'd be truthful and admit that 45 min. of exercise would really be pushing it the next thirty days. I will have many challenging days this time since these thirty days will fall over Easter break, numerous evening meetings, and busy weekends. 30 minutes of exercise will be hard enough and I don't want exercise to become a stressor in my life.

My other goal of fruit & veggie servings I plan to increase after the month. I know that in theory I should be eating even more than four servings, and many days I do, but I also know that many days I struggle just to eat a couple servings of fruits and veggies. So, I will start with a minimum of 4 servings and that will at least have me paying attention to what I am consuming during the day.

Have you started a goal yet!?!? Join me during my second thirty day goal. It's good stuff  :)

I've made it!

Tomorrow is my last day! Well, today should have been, but tomorrow is a make-up day due to my "thumb injury" a couple weeks ago. I'm quite proud of myself and what I have achieved. Now to just finalize the new goal....that is the hard part. I have lots of ideas of things I want to do. I want to keep the goal simple, but I also want to make it a little more multi-faceted this time. I'll let you know tomorrow....!

Feeling Good

I'm so close to the end of my first 30 day goal and I can already feel a huge difference, physically and mentally. My ultimate goal would be to have my pants fit much looser, but I know that will take time; and in the meantime, I've felt so many more changes. I feel refreshed in the morning with so much more energy. My stomach tends to feel bloated often and I get stomachaches after eating - these have become almost extinct since starting regular exercise. I feel firmer, there is no urge to "suck it all in" during the day, my posture is better. I'm eating healthier overall because I don't want to totally blow the work I'm doing. AND I sleep better. If those aren't all good enough reasons to keep this up, then I don't know what is.

It has come time to start thinking about my next 30 day goal. I believe I'm going to keep the 45 min. exercise routine, but add a healthy food initiative. I have been working on a health initiative through the school I work at and we have to eat so many fruit/veggie servings a day. I thought I did well at eating my fruits/veggies, but I was sadly mistaken once I started keeping track. I haven't narrowed down what my goal will be exactly, but I still have a handful of days to figure it out!

Have you started your 30 day goal yet? If you have, keep up the good work!

Inspired!

Thanks to my friend, Mara, I have been inspired to get off my duff and be a healthier woman and mother.  Today is day 1 of my 30 days of exercise....woohoo!  Ready to rock!  The "real" me is under here somewhere.  I fully intend to reunite myself with the healthier me.  Thanks, Mara!

31 Day goal... it happens.

REALLY didn't want to do this, but sometimes there are days where you just may not be able to get in an exercise - but only for Great circumstances - such as an evening in Urgent Care  :)

A couple days ago I had to skip my day of exercise because of, well... um..., my thumb. I stabbed my thumb with an epi-pen by accident, which landed me in urgent care to get my heart tested and hand x-ray's. I'm absolutely fine now, however between the rise and fall of the epinephrine medicine and my thumb absolutely throbbing, I decided that night it was best to hold off on my exercise.

I hated the next day, I could feel a difference because I didn't exercise. But I will make it up on day 31. I will be extremely happy to mark out that box that day - so because of that lucky day of mine, I have 8 days left. YEY!!!

I also believe I have my first couple "victims" following me on this journey. One may even start blogging with me - how exciting!  :)

Energy

I'm feeling really good so far this week! Quite sore from some harder workouts, but the knowledge that I've been working hard gives me a ton of excited energy!
AND my pants are starting to feel just a smidgen less tight - yey!

1/2 way slump, followed by...

Today I completed day 17 of my 1st 30 day goal. I feel so proud of myself today!!!! Especially considering day 14 & 15 - I wasn't feeling so hot.

One frustration I have with making exercise a daily routine in my life is that I usually only get the time late at night, after my son has gone to bed. Yes, I could wake up in the morning, but then that would mean getting up around 4:30 and then I usually don't have enough energy yet to really do a good job at my workout. My 1/2 way point, day 15, fell on the worst day of all... a FRIDAY. NO energy could be found in my body. So, I moved during those 45 minutes. Very little excitement was put into that movement, but by george, I got off of the recliner and moved.

Then came Saturday, a morning workout, and I felt refreshed! And then the real excitement for me today - I put in a Taebo workout video that I've had for many years. I've done this workout frequently in the past. I'm not a fan of it, not because it isn't good, but because it is hard! I haven't used the video during these 30 days yet, but thought it is time to up the anti. I kicked butt during that video today!!!! So proud of myself!!! It has to be the best I've ever done it. I kept up with the fast moves, did All of the moves, and still feel like I had energy at the end of it. This reiterates for me that I am gaining some strength and energy from my daily workouts.

I feel strong!

Lazy snow day

Today was one of those days where I was happy to have a goal (especially one looking me in the eye on my refrigerator). We were snowed in today and had a relaxing, fun day as a family. The last thing I wanted to do was focus my time on yet another workout video - a Real movie sounded so much better.

The time came for me to exercise. My son was in bed, my husband was biking on his trainer, and I had no excuses. I vary my workouts so to not only keep myself from wearing out physically but also mentally. Today instead of a cardio focused video I chose a strength training and stretching video..... I feel awesome! Thirteen days into my goal and even though the scale isn't showing much change, I can definitely feel a change. Ooooh, I might even look swimsuit worthy this summer! :)

My mind is already thinking about my next goal. I'm trying to decide if I want to up the anti to an hour a day. Somedays 45 min is really pushing it for my schedule, but I need a little more jump drive so I can be more physically active this summer. I'd like to be able to run a 5k soon, but have a hard time getting past two miles. I'm hoping all this time indoors with videos is getting me ready for some great outdoor workouts soon - spring couldn't come any faster!!!!

Please note- I do not do hard cardio everyday. I do understand the importance of some rest for the body. So every few days I do low impact, such as a mild step aerobics or go on a walk with the dog.

We can do this!

I'm almost half of the way done with my first 30 day goal: 45 minutes of exercise everyday. Making a red "x" over each day that I meet my goal makes me smile from head to toe.

I realized this new goal for myself is becoming more than meets the eye. Yes, the ultimate goal is to loose weight and become healthier, and I am keeping weekly track of my numbers; HOWEVER this GOAL is not about the numbers, it's about crossing off 30 days of boxes. To me, this is much more attainable than playing the numbers game. A game that leaves me feeling lousy if I don't succeed at a fast rate. Instead, I have promised to myself that I will do something healthy everyday and that promise sticks whether or not I have a poor diet that day or the scale spits out a nasty number.

After the first 13 days I feel awesome so I can only imagine how I will feel at day 30! And on that day - my reward - a new shirt at Maurices! Plus the knowledge that I completed my goal.

I want to share this with my loved ones. If we can stick to a 30 day goal without worrying about the numbers games, I believe we can start a huge network of people that are healthier in so many ways!

So in the second half of my first goal, I have started narrowing down my first new comrades. There is always strength in numbers!!!! I want to pick 2-3 of my closest family and friends to join me on my second month. Their goals may be different, but as long as they become actively healthier they will succeed. And then after they've completed month one, my prayer is they reach out to another two people each... And so our network of support for each other begins.

I truly feel I've found an idea that could be life-changing for myself. If you are reading this,my prayer is you also think about joining me on this journey.

We will become healthier! - 30 days at a time :)


My first red "x" goal chart (plus a couple random "x" marks from my 3 yr. old)