Week 3

Week three is in full swing. My pants are a little looser, my tush is a little smaller, and my legs are a little less sore. Hooray!
My biggest challenge this week has been finding time to go through a real workout. I have gone to the gym twice this week, and it's only half over. That puts my goal of going three times a week well within reach. But, both times I've gone I've been crunched for time. On Monday I spent 30 minutes on the elliptical, and bolted out the door to get to my first class on time. This morning, i only got through about 20 minutes of cardio before I had to jet. I'd like to do a little work with weights, and core workouts, and other things you're supposed to do to really make the gym a healthy habit, but I'm already giving up showers, sleep, and my morning cup o' joe for the part I can do now. That being said, I want to do it anyway! Does anyone have any good tricks for light strength training at home? I don't have any equipment, but I have lots of space to move around.

Starting Over Week 1

So, I'm starting over. My life took some crazy turns in August, but now it's September. School has started. I have a workout partner. I have a routine. I have a new environment. I'ma get this done!

My week 1 was very successful. I went to to the gym three times. I did lots of cardio. I did an ab workout twice. I did some light upper body weight lifting once. I spent about an hour at the gym each day.

Part of my being able to motivate myself to go to the gym has been my lovely friend Liz. Liz is a very encouraging person. She and I are very different in our physical abilities and shape, but she's a phenomenal workout friend. We're helping each other overcome our dislikes and fears. I dislike exercise, and she's afraid of the gym. We both know a few things here and there about how to use the weights, how long to keep our heart rate up, and some exercises for the abs, so we're not quite the blind leading the blind. More like the needs glasses leading the blind. We're learning together as we go, and that helps. Sometimes it's frustrating to surround yourself with people who are better than you. Liz is my gym-going equal.

The benefit of this week of work is that I'm already noticing a difference. Not just in my waistline, though those results were encouraging, but in my outlook. I forgot I was hot! Plus, I can't say no to a good post workout high. I feel fantastic for a few hours after I work out, gooey muscles, sweaty face and all.

As I start week two, my goal is simply to keep going. It often takes two or three weeks to make a habit. This week, I just need to keep up my good work, and go to the gym. After this next few weeks, working out will become routine. Then I can focus on diet, and other factors.

TO THE GYM!!!!

Day 10.5

I say 10.5 because the date is technically the 30th, but I'm posting for the 29th.

Last night I had a pretty emotional night. I spoke with a friend about my self esteem and body issues. We talked about why we wanted to lose weight. Some of the acknowledgements I had to make were tough. I wanted to lose weight for the wrong reasons, but I think very few people want to lose weight for the right reasons. A lot of women will say that they just want to be healthy again, but most of them are harboring a desire to be more attractive. Well ladies, me too. My twenties are supposed to be the peak of my health and physical attractiveness, and so far my peak was in 5th grade. The hard part about me motivating myself to do this is to make sure my goals are about me. Even if I fully admit that I want to be hotter, I have to not think of specific people. I have to tell myself not to even think about men in general. It has to be about me walking out my front door with a swing in MY step, a smile on MY face. We'll see how it goes, eh?

Second Topic. Yoga.

I'ma have to get me into a class. So far, I've done a beginner workout from a youtube video. While it somehow gets me relaxed and sweaty all at the same time, I could probably benefit from a class. In a class, a teacher can make sure I'm doing all the bending and contorting without hurting myself. I like the benefits of a relaxing workout. Improving strength and flexibility in a way that also gets rid of world stresses sounds like a GREAT plan to me. Maybe I'll see if there's an open slot fall semester, or if there's an affordable class in Tacoma.

Oh yeah. My pants fit better already. That's success...

Samantha

Day 9

This entry is going to be more of a request for suggestions than a record of what happened over the last few days.

The basic rundown is that I went out of town to visit family and friends for about four or five days. The hard part was finding time to exercise. I couldn't go for walks in the mornings while my friends were sleeping, because I didn't have keys to their houses. I didn't want to leave activities to get exercise. The only real physical activity I participated in was walking back and forth between my friend's houses, but they were almost next door neighbors.

What kinds of activities do you all suggest for at least getting my heart rate up, or working my muscles a little without sneaking out of my friends' houses to go run/walk/exercise?

Day 4

I didn't update on day 3. I didn't really do anything on day 3. I walked to a coffee shop, but it was only about half a mile, so walking there and back didn't take up my whole half hour of walking. I also only drank about half a bottle of water.

Curse the three day hump.

Falling off the horse on day 3 makes day 4 feel like day 1. Got that? Great. The three day hump is a huge factor is making or breaking lots of habits, like drinking water, smoking, thumbsucking, or coffee drinking. That third day gets people. They decide "one day/smoke/cup won't hurt. I'll just keep going," and turn into that third day junkie. Day 3 is a killer of dreams. Now it's day 4, and I have to haul my happy ass out to the park, and I don't even want to get up. "What's the point?" I ask, "I'll just quit again by Saturday anyway."

Now to the positive, which is ultimately my motivation.

My roommate Tealah gave me a fantastic idea a while back, to use a ribbon to measure my waist instead of a tape measure or a scale. The theory is that I wouldn't have any focus on numbers, and I would just focus on my progress. I did my first measurement on June 25th. Since then, I checked once and found that my waist had grown just a smidge. Yesterday, I happened to find my ribbon and I checked again. I've now lost half an inch since the 25th. Hooray me! It's nice to see progress, no matter how small. Knowing that what I'm doing is, in fact, making a difference makes it a lot easier to convince myself to get off the couch, stop watching SG-1, and GO do something.

So, on with day 4.

Samantha

Day 2

Day 1 is always easier. There's the excitement of new ideas, the not being sore from what you did yesterday. Day 1 is great. I not only did my half hour walk, but I cleaned the house, mowed the lawn (burned 650 calories doing it too!), drank double the water, and played on the beach. Day 1 was an active day.

Day 2 was lay... zeee.....

Motivation was way harder to come by today. I didn't leave the house to go walk until almost 7:30 pm, and I haven't gotten even close to finishing my water. Luckily, I had a puppy to walk. I took Koda over to the park, and got not only a work out for my legs, but a work out for my arms holding back the leash, and a workout for my patience, trying to leash train the dog.

It takes a while to break or form a habit, especially one that cuts into half an hour of the time one could be watching bad sci-fi TV on Hulu. Here's hoping for a slightly easier tomorrow.

Samantha

Day 1

Last night, I got off the couch and said, "uhhhhh." I am 21 years old. I should be climbing mountains, running around Portland, and going on adventures with my friends, waking up the next morning, and doing it again. I should not be groaning as I claw my way off of the couch.

So, day 1 has begun. I moaned and croaked my way out of my living room, put on tennis shoes, sweats, and threw my hair in a ponytail, and I've now completed my inaugural walk around some paths of Rood Bridge Park. I walked for half an hour and didn't see the same path twice. It's actually pretty lucky I managed to find my way home afterward. I enjoyed some paved paths, some barks dust trails, some flora, and a lake. The fresh air felt great, and according to the calculator I just used, I burned about 250 calories. Hurrah!

So, here's to no more groaning. Here's to having my giant jar of water in hand. Here's to the mountain climbing, the train jumping, and the adventuring of my future. Here's to day 1!

Samantha