Healthy Eating

Is it as hard for you as it is for me?

Because I slowly came to the realization this holiday weekend that I basically just a whole lot of junk. Fried, salty, unhealthy junk.

Fourth of July? Barbecue.
Mom's birthday? Cookout.
Sunday? Pizza.

The only remotely healthy meal I had was Monday, when my dad made teriyaki chicken with rice and I made edamame. Even that is truly healthy but hey, it's better than pizza, right?

I visited my parents from Friday until Tuesday, partly for the Fourth, partly for my mom's birthday, and partly for a dentist appointment. I need to find a new dentist!!

When I got home, I really started thinking about how unhealthy I've been. And then I thought about all of the food that I'm going to eat on my cruise (filet mignon, warm chocolate melting cake, and the bread. Oh god the bread.) So, I made the decision: for the next week, until I get on my cruise, I will be eating healthier. I went to the grocery store and picked up fruit, vegetables, eggs, chicken, and green tea.

Yesterday was the first day of my new healthy eating plan, but I did very well! Hopefully I can keep it up until my cruise and even get back on track afterwards. There is no way I will be able to eat healthy on my cruise. That warm chocolate melting cake is just entirely too delicious.

Back on Track!

At least, kind of.

This morning, I woke my roommate up at 6am (she wasn't too thrilled) and we took her dog for a walk at the Riverwalk!! (Sorry, my phone is broken and I can't find my camera, so no pictures.)

The temperature was perfect for walking and there weren't too many people around, plus Cappie (the dog) got in some exercise, so overall it was great!

We walked a total of 3.13 miles (that .13 is very important, okay) and afterwards I treated us to some frappuccinos at Starbucks. Okay, so the coffee basically ruined it with all of the empty calories, but it was delicious and totally worth it.


I also bought a fitness ball recently and have been doing a few exercises with it. Have you ever done a plank on a fitness ball? That thing is hard. I could barely make it 15 seconds, and I'm a pro at planking. On the nice, hard ground.


My diet hasn't really been matching up with my health goals (I ate an entire pizza the other day...with bread sticks. Oops), but I'm doing better. Sort of.

Last night, I made pasta and asparagus. That's healthy, right?? Okay, considering all of the olive oil and spices I put on the asparagus before baking it, it miiiiight not be that healthy. And let's not even talk about the salt, butter, and cheese that I put on the pasta.

But still. Progress is progress, right? Sure, I might give a nutritionist a heart attack if they saw what I eat in a day, but at least I'm back to exercising!!

If anyone has any tips for how to make healthy eating easier, or any fitness tips, I would absolutely love to hear them!

Failure

My blogging has been rather sporadic over the past couple of weeks. I've been back and forth between my parents' house and mine, searching for a job, searching for another job, and overall just doing entirely too much.

And it has taken its toll.

All of the healthy lifestyle changes I had made have suddenly gone out the window.

And I've gained 8 pounds. I mean what? How did I gain 8 pounds so quickly?

But I know exactly how I did it. I started eating a crap-ton of junk food and I stopped working out. Obviously I was going to gain weight.

But not anymore. I am going to get back on track and follow my schedule.

I've always been a schedule kind of person, so living without one since my college graduation has been rather hectic. I tried to stick to my normal schedule, but waking up at 5am and having absolutely nothing to do all day makes a person crazy.
It also makes a person take a lot of naps.
And eat a lot of junk food.

But NO MORE.

I will make a schedule and I will stick to it.

And hopefully you all (is anyone out there??) are going to help me hold myself accountable.

This schedule will help me keep tabs on my nutrition and exercise, as well as other tasks I need to do throughout the day, such as cleaning and blogging.

I can't decide if I'm nervous or excited. Probably a little of both.
Because I'm afraid of failure.
And it feels like I've already failed.
I'm just terrified that I'm going to fail at my attempt to learn from my failure.

Healthy Living

So, I made a goal to live healthier this year, and I was doing so well, I swear.

But basically all I've had to do lately is lay around my apartment and it's been driving me absolutely insane,  so I've been stress eating and oversleeping and I gained back all of the weight I had lost PLUS THREE POUNDS. We're not even going to talk about how much that totals up to (in just a MONTH!).

But I swear I'm going to turn it all around.

I had an interview this morning, and I think it went very well, so ever since I was full of energy and ready to get stuff done.

I cleaned up my apartment (which I really let get entirely too messy), I did a short Zumba workout, and I cooked decently healthy meals for myself (friend quinoa for lunch and grilled chicken and corn for lunch, YUM).

And I took Snickers on a walk! We walked just a little over a mile around the apartment complex and when we were finished, Snickers was exhausted! He didn't even want to climb the stairs to my apartment! I'm not saying I felt like a spring Daisy or anything (WOW am I out of shape), but Snickers was hilarious. And adorable.

Tomorrow, I'm meeting one of my closest friends to walk around our college lake (which is honestly more of a pond) and I think I'm going to do some more Zumba in the morning.

I highly doubt that I'm going to reach my goal weight in time for my cruise--it's in just a little over a month--but I can do whatever I can up until that point! Maybe I'll even exercise on the cruise...well, we'll see.

Passing the Time

I actually went running today, guys!
Since I've planning on starting that for, y'know, 4 days, I'm really proud of myself for actually getting out there and doing it today.

And, okay, I didn't actually get out to run, really. It was raining again, so I journeyed over to the complex gym and hopped on a treadmill. (Let's not even talk about the interesting characters that I encountered)

And if I'm being completely honest, I didn't run the whole time.
Like I mentioned in my well woman post, I downloaded the Couch-to-5k app, and I did the first day's workout today. Basically, I walked for 5 minutes and then alternated between running and walking for 20 minutes.
Which means I exercised for 25 minutes today! Woo! Slowly making my way to being almost healthy. Almost.

And tomorrow I'm going to the Riverwalk with one of my friends to run (walk) some more!
We're both pretty out of shape, so we know neither one of us will feel inferior during our run (walk) haha

And River Walk is so beautiful.
It's an "outdoor community" that recently opened--and by recently, I mean like a year ago--but I haven't actually had a chance to go!
My roommate has taken her dog there and talks about how great it is, so I cannot wait to go tomorrow!

I'm probably going to try and take tons of pictures, so I'll have those to show you. Pictures of the beautiful scenery of course, not my friend and me; I don't want to scare you away with my post-workout redface.

Be a "Well Woman"

In case you haven't heard, this week is the National Women's Health Week!

It's almost over, but it's never too late to make a pledge to yourself to become healthier!

I myself have pledged 2 things:

1. Pay attention to my mental health
2. Get active

I hope to pay more attention to my mental health by getting more sleep and by trying to better manage my stress. 

The sleep one is probably going to be especially difficult for me, since I've got moderate insomnia and usually only get about 4.5 hours a night. Sleeping more is going to really throw off my schedule. But that should, in the end, help with the managing stress thing!

I'm also going to be constantly reminding myself that I cannot possible do everything and that is okay. I'm going to make a manageable to do list and if, somehow it does not get done, I will remind myself that it is not the end of the world!

As for the get active part, that's going to be quite a struggle. I'm not going to lie to you: I'm pretty lazy. I used to do at least 10 minutes of blogilates every morning, but it's been a while. And I tried to running thing, but I'm not really a fan.

But I'm going to try it again (okay, maybe I'm going to try walking first.)

I've downloaded the Couch-to-5k app from RunDouble, I have my alarm set for my usual 5am, and I am more motivated than ever! 

I want to look good in my bikini for my cruise in July (Eeek, so excited!) and so I'd like to lose at least 5 pounds. I have 2 months and some determination, so I know that I can DO THIS! 

And the two pledges/goals will apparently help each other out, too!

I've been told that getting regular exercise actual reduces stress levels AND can help you sleep better, so I'm excited! And sleeping obviously helps build energy for exercise, so there's that.

Let's just say that I am super excited about these pledges I've made and the changes I am making in my life! I can't wait to see what I can do and the person I can become. 

Has anyone else made a pledge for Women's Health Week? Or just a general goal you've set for yourself? I'd love to hear about it, and it would be absolutely fabulous to get some inspiration!!