115km/hr

Have you ever hated the situation you were in so much you contemplated jumping out of the car going 75 mph on the freeway? Because that's where I'm at right now. Awesome. 

Physical Education

Oh my goodness! I haven't been doing so great updating (at all), mainly because I didn't want to report that I'm not doing as well as I feel I should, but I decided that it's probably that much more important to update in times like that because it keeps me on the ball with things--it makes what I'm doing (or not doing) more real, making it so I really do want to do better. Call it accountability--facing the facts.

I was reading this month's Ensign, and it seemed like in every other article there was something about the importance of physical fitness. If the prophets are telling me I need to do it, then it's definitely something I need to make a top priority in life.

Physical fitness is something that helps keep you balanced in all the other areas of your life. If something seems off with me, I remember these letters: ESP. ESP stands for emotional, spiritual and physical health. If one of those is off, it throws the rest of them off. All three of them need to be balanced for me to be balanced. So... my new goal is going to involve more physical exercise. I've been getting at least 8,000 steps per day (4 miles) and that's great--more than the average person--but it's not enough. I know I'm out of shape and I've even started to get embarrassed wearing short sleeve shirts because of how flabby and chubby my arms are looking. :( I don't want to dread wearing something because of the way I feel about how I look, and while it is true I need to love myself no matter what and blah blah blah, I do need to improve how I look on the outside--physically--because that will help how I feel inside.

I've also decided to limit my computer time to thirty minutes twice a day. I read that teens are now spending on average over fifty hours per week on the computer/video games/television/internet via smart phones, etc., I found that statistic astounding, but at the same time could easily see how it could be true. A little here, a little there, it adds up! And how sad to spend over fifty hours of your week with not much to show for it. Yup, I definitely need to cut back. Although I'm not horrible, I can improve. Even an hour a day is a lot, but it will be better than I'm currently doing, and I'll be able to find much better use of my time. (More time to fill = more time to exercise!)

desk job not required

I can't tell you how glad I am not to have a desk job. No, a gas station isn't my dream job, but it is a job and it keeps me active. There are always things to be done and it keeps me going all day long. I love it! Someone asked me the other day "What is a pretty girl like you working at a gas station for? Tell me honestly, do you hate working here?" To be honest, I was a little insulted. To me, no job is 'beneath' me. No job should be beneath anyone. I told him "I actually love it here. Someone could have the best job in the world and hate it. It's all in your mindset--it is what you make it." He was really surprised by my answer and I could tell he felt dumb (as he should.)  No, I don't plan on making a career out of this job, but I am so grateful for a job and I'm treated very well there. I'm appreciated by my employers and they let me know that every time they see me. And, because of my job, everyday I'm exceeding my 8,000 steps per day goal!
Tomorrow Nadia is coming over and we're going to make mussels. I'm excited! I've never made them before. I've had them, they're absolutely delicious, and now we get to make them!
I loaded up on snacks--bought string cheese, rosemary and garlic crackers with Laughing Cow cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, more frozen berries for the shakes I love making... lot's of good, healthy and sustainable things to keep me going all day long. I've been pretty good (not perfect though) about drinking two liters of water every day. I cannot tell you enough how much I LOVE that water bottle I bought!

walk and walk and walk

My water bottle came and it's been one of the better purchases I've made. It's really easy to tell myself 'okay, two of these today', and then I've got two liters of water taken care of. LOVE it.
My other fantastic purchase that came was my pedometer. I found this website where they challenge you to walk 10,000 steps per day (roughly five miles). The average person walks anywhere from 3,000-7,000 steps per day. I decided I was going to try and get at least 8,000 per day. Success! It's really nice having something to remind me to keep active. Today I walked 9,000 and yesterday I did over 11,000 steps (thank you Costco and University mall!) It's going really well.
I've been really good about my fruits and vegetables as well, although I could do better on protein. Today I got around 8 or 9 fruit/veg servings and about 3 servings of protein. I'm not a huge fan of meat and whey protein has me going into anaphylactic shock so that's a no-go. As far as soy protein... not sure. It might be a good time to find out.

Catching Up

It's been a while since I wrote, I apologize. I had a very hectic holiday weekend and over it, I finally realized something: if you don't get enough sleep, no matter what else you're doing, you're going to feel like crap.
I'm going to be better about getting to bed at a reasonable hour (before midnight) as well as waking up at a decent time (before 9) so I don't feel as if my whole day has gone to waste.

I've done really well at cutting back on soda, but not so good at upping my water intake. That's okay though, it's an easy fix. I ordered this bobble water bottle off of amazon.com. I got the 32 oz in blue. It's really neat--it filters your water as you drink it! It was $13, which is really cheap considering how much I've spent on bottled water over the years. It filters 300 bottles of water, and then you can just buy replacement filters. I'm really excited and it should be here tomorrow. YAY!!! :) My yoga DVD will be here on Friday--I can't wait to try that either.

My pedometer came on Saturday! I wore it on Sunday and then lost it, but found it yesterday again. :) I didn't wear it yesterday though, because I was sick, got someone to cover my shift at work, and didn't even leave my apartment. Truthfully I'm not feeling too much better today, but I can't really miss another day of work. I've just got to suck it up, take a lot of medicine and go in anyway. It's a six hour shift so it won't be too horrible.

Today's goals: 5 fruits/vegetables, 1 liter of water, and 5 ounces (or equivalent) of grains (3 of those being whole grains). I need to get some protein as well -- I don't much care for meat so I know I'm lacking in that. I can't really set a goal for the number of steps I take yet because I'm not sure how many I take in an average day, so once I establish that, I'll be able to set goals there.

Thursday

It's Thursday! Nadia is coming over to make dinner with me, I'm really excited. I actually have a little bit of time to cook with no work today.
I've spent the better part of the afternoon trying to organize my closet and in doing so, realized that the things I complain about ('needing' a bigger closet because I have too many clothes), are quite shameful. My complaints sound exactly like something that would be found on whitewhine.com--a website devoted to collecting people's 'first-world problems'. I really need to get outside of myself.
I'm really excited, because on Monday I'll have an opportunity to do just that. It's a holiday so there's no school, and BYU, UVU and United Way have teamed up for a day of service. How neat is that? I love people and I am passionate about helping and serving, but it's something that seems to be lacking in my life as of late.
On another note (an active, healthy, happy note), I ordered a yoga DVD I've wanted for quite some time. I also got this pedometer. Turns out, people with pedometers walk more! I'm big on setting little daily goals, so trying to reach a certain amount of steps will be fun! It will also be a good marker to see how active (or not active) I am going about my daily life and to try and find little ways to improve.
I absolutely love doing yoga and I love Rodney Yee's approach, so I'm really excited for that. :)

Intuitive Eating

Intuitive eating is something I very strongly believe in. Simply, I eat what my body wants! I don't tell myself I cannot eat sugar or carbs or fats (or any other food). There is a fantastic book that covers why you shouldn't tell yourself you can't have a certain food. Surprise! It's called Intuitive Eating. Of course you need to be reasonable, but it's psychology that if you tell yourself 'Okay, no more sugar', then that is all you start to crave because you have told yourself it is off limits and can never eat it again. Instead, simply tell yourself "Today, I'll focus on eating X servings of fruits and/or X servings of vegetables." By default, you'll be eating less ice cream and chocolate because you've replaced your focus on what you CAN'T eat to what you WANT to be eating.
I haven't been following this in the way that I should, but with my newfound motivation, I'm going to reread my copy of Intuitive Eating and use it as my guidelines for my new active, healthy, happy lifestyle.

The book Intuitive Eating goes over everything you need to know. It's a fantastic read and well worth $11.