Buddies, veggies and fruits. Oh my! Part 1

It can be difficult to begin on the road to an active lifestyle. It's similar to inertia- objects at rest tend to stay at rest. But there's the other side of that equation to bear in mind- objects in motion tend to stay in motion. There will never be a step harder to take than the first one that starts the ball rolling. Just taking that first step means you've made a decision to take care of yourself and the next step is easier, and the next and the next. Before long you find that instead of looking for ways to avoid activity you start looking forward to opportunities to sneak it into your day to day life. You might decide to walk to work or take the stairs instead of the elevator or walk to the bus stop to go to the mall instead of driving, or going for a hike on a gorgeous day, or throwing a ball around with your kids, or, or, or... You start to notice how good it feels to move, how alive you feel after you've gotten your heart pumping for a little bit. You notice that you seem to have more energy in your day to day life. Long story short, living an active lifestyle makes you feel good. It makes you feel better physically AND it makes you feel better about yourself because you're doing something positive and taking care of your body. It doesn't get much better than that.

Even knowing all this, even experiencing it first hand I still have my days that I just don't want to do it. I know I'll feel better after, I KNOW it, but there's just that initial push to get me started that I just struggle with from time to time. I was wracking my brain trying to figure out how to motivate myself. It was just so easy to roll over and go back to sleep, or get on the computer and play instead of getting up, grabbing my shoes and getting out the door. I just had no qualms about letting myself down.

One night while I was talking to a friend online who was feeling very discouraged about her health it occurred to me what the solution was. While letting myself down doesn't seem to bother me much, letting someone else down... Well, that's another story altogether. If I say I'm going to do something I intend to do it and if for some reason I can't follow through I feel AWFUL! And that's where my solution was. I needed someone that was counting on me to motivate and encourage THEM. So I said "I'll walk with you if you want me to" or something to that effect and she seemed to think that was a good idea too. Long story short we've started walking together in the mornings, it's so nice!

I LOVE having a walking buddy to encourage and to be encouraged by. It's been a good experience for me and I'd recommend it to anyone. Walking is not a chore on a nice day when you have a friend to talk to along the way and in fact it becomes a social event to be looked forward to.

I think everyone should have a fitness buddy- someone to encourage and be encouraged by, someone to help keep you motivated when part of you wants to just sleep a little bit longer. It can be anyone, anyone that you don't want to let down. A friend, family member, co-worker. It does help a lot if you actually enjoy their company too :D

Once you've got your buddy you need to get together and do whatever it is you've decided to do: SCHEDULE IT!! Set specific times and dates to get together. "sometime this morning" has a tendency to fall by the wayside, trust me. "8 am walk with Jane" is more concrete and more likely to be followed through on. Make it as official as you need to so that you stick with it. It could be as simple as "see you tomorrow at 8" or as formal as writing it in on your day planner or calendar. Whatever you decide, DO it!

Once you've got your buddy and you know when you're getting together it's time to set goals. Start slow and be realistic. If you're really out of shape it might be as simple as one lap around the block, 5 minutes of hula hooping, 5 reps with 3 pound weights, 1/2 a mile on a bike, whatever. You're not gonna start off running a marathon and you'll probably hurt yourself if you try. In the beginning you are just trying to establish the habit and mindset of being active and start building up to more serious work outs later. There's no rush, any exercise is better than none and will get you closer to a healthier you!

FLog:
Breakfast- 3 cranberry apple walnut breakfast cookies, creole coffee
Lunch- spicy tomatoes, corn and okra with shrimp (recipe below, it was yum!) and a string cheese stick
Dinner-
Snacks- a pretzel rod and a tsp of almond butter, a small handful of walnuts and dried cranberries, a pear
Also drank 2 cups of coffee at work and had 2 beers this evening when I got home

I'm somewhat pleased with today's food choices. I don't think that it's good that I missed dinner, I just wasn't hungry for it so I didn't think of it till later when I DID get hungry and ate a pear.

ELog- hooped with a friend this morning and then worked on my feet all day. Actually worked up a sweat this evening- we were hopping like crazy for a while there!


Recipe:
Spicy Tomatoes, corn and okra with shrimp
Makes 2 lunches

1 can diced no salt added tomatoes
handful of frozen corn
handful of frozen okra
Spices (use what you like)
drizzle of olive oil
8 large frozen cooked shrimp


Simmer the veggies together until the okra is tender
season to taste however you would like (I used crushed red pepper, granulated dried garlic, minced dried onion and a few dashes of green Tabasco sauce)
add thawed peeled shrimp and simmer until they are heated through
drizzle with olive oil


Some notes: This was a total spur of the moment thrown together right before work type of deal so I didn't exactly measure much of anything. This made enough for me to have 2 small lunch portions that I could have with some crackers or a cheese stick or another little side item to round it out. It was quite satisfying.

One foot in front of the other...

Very short post. It's late. I'm tired. Here goes:

1. A support buddy is the best thing in the world for making healthier choices. I now have a walking buddy and it's awesome. Days that I would roll over and go back to sleep instead of walking if it were just me I now grumble, get out of bed and go meet her to walk. It's actually sad that I'm so willing to let myself down. But whatever, it's working :D

2. Planning ahead really does help. I can resist unhealthy temptation all day if I just have the right healthy snacks with me. Today was a small handful of brazil nuts and a ripe juicy pear. Helped me resist chips and candy so yay!

FLog-
Breakfast: Wendy's- 4 nuggets, oranges, bottle of water and about 1/3 of a kid ice cream.
Lunch: healthy choice frozen dinner thingy, a biscuit and a bunch of water.
Dinner: 2 small home made tacos.
Snacks: Apple, pear, Brazil nuts, tiny ice cream cone. drank water all day, had 1 cup of coffee.

ELog-
Walked with friends for a while. worked 8 hour shift on my feet.

Testin testing... I can now update from my phone, yay! <Celeste :D>

The importance of packing a lunch...

Today started off so well. Sauteed some veggies and whole wheat noodles with some ginger, garlic, red pepper and oyster sauce. Was yum. Had an apple- fruit is good right? Hooped for about an hour at the park in the gorgeous sunshine.

Off to a great start right?

Then I got to work. I don't recall if I've mentioned it before but I work around food all day. Not healthy food either. Convenience store/fast food/diner fare. I got hungry and realized that I forgot to bring something from home. Then I got REALLY hungry and availed myself of said convenience store/fast food/diner fare. Oh dear. Sigh even.

I've learned from today. I have GOT to get in the habit of planning ahead and sticking to it. If I'd had some fruit or veggies handy I'd have been much better off.

No worries about fast food temptation tomorrow as I don't have to work, but we are heading out of town to places with fast food chain restaurants. I think perhaps I should plan on eating a hearty healthy breakfast and taking some fruit and water to stave off the munchies? Maybe some nuts or something... I DO plan on hooping there too though, with a friend even. Looking forward to that :D

FLog:
I don't wanna talk about it :(

Ok ok- breakfast: whole wheat pasta and veggie stir fry, apple, coffee (with half and half today- the skim milk wasn't cutting it. I don't use a lot, so don't give me a hard time ok?)

Lunch: Chicken wings, a small handful of fries and a tomato. (TOLD you it wasn't pretty...)

Dinner: 2 cheese sticks, 2 chicken nuggets, a small scoop mashed potato and gravy. (I know, I know)

Snacks: didn't have time for snacks really... I did drink a coffee at work and a ton of water.

ELog: Much happier with this one today! About an hour of hooping and working up a sweat. 8 hours working on my feet.

So here's hoping for a better day tomorrow! I will admit that I do plan on hitting up a Starbucks while I'm up there. There isn't one less than an hour away from here and I need a fix!

Until tomorrow!

Curses foiled again...

Was all set up for a healthy day's worth of food choices. Had lean roast beef sandwich on whole wheat for breakfast (it sounded good, only thing missing was some horseradish!) lunch was home made hot and sour soup with rice noodles and fish. Low cal but spicy and satisfying. Dinner was ... I think I forgot to eat dinner... planned on some fruit and maybe a v8 for snacks. The problem was the introduction of a birthday party. With cake. Strawberry cake with whipped cream frosting...

I have decided that I like food way too much. *sigh*

But I think I am making progress in the right direction, and with more planning and self control I'll be fine.

FLog:
Breakfast- 2 slices lean roast beef, 2 thin slices provalone, 2 slices whole wheat bread, coffee with skim milk
Lunch- hot and sour soup with fish and rice noodles
Snacks- strawberry cake with whipped cream frosting, lolly pop, whole fruit smoothie thingy

ELog:
Worked an 8 hour shift on my feet. A BUSY 8 hour shift...

So, tomorrow should have some hooping in it and I will bring some healthy goodies to snack on and help me to avoid temptation. Now if no one has a birthday party I should be ok!

Ooooh, also- the shorts that just barely fit me before the beginning of winter are now nice and loose, yay!

On the road again... (or spring cleaning!)

So, every spring most people have a round of what we all know as spring cleaning. Opening up the windows, dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, deep cleaning, airing out and fixing up. Basically getting the winter blahs out of the house. Well, here's to spring cleaning... ME! Time to dust off my hoops, hit the park, kick my bad winter habits and get back on the road to a healthier happier me!

Glad to say that I spent all day at the park today with my son and husband. I hooped, I showed a bunch of kids how to do it too :D. I also got to throw an Aerobie (Frisbee type ring thing) around with my husband, what fun! Tons of fresh air and sunshine and music, I think I'm getting my head back on straight :D

All in all a nice active day. Food choices weren't, well... choice. To say the least, but portions weren't out of control and that's a start.

Daily FLog (food log)

Breakfast- coffee and skim milk with hazelnut syrup, tons of water (bad Celeste, I know breakfast is important!)

Lunch- Buffalo chicken pizza and chicken wings. Water. (Terrible terrible. I can only defend myself by saying that this is why we are supposed to eat breakfast. I hooped for an hour or so before hand and was SO hungry!)

Snack- small handful yogurt covered pretzels. (should have had fruit *sigh*)

Dinner- Shrimp Alfredo spaghetti with spinach. (Home made, a lot of spinach not as much pasta... not TOO bad...)

Snack- 3 musketeers truffle crisp bar... (chocolate. nuff said.)

ELog (exercise log)
All day long at the park hooping and playing and so on.

Looks I'm back on track with physical activity, but I definitely need to get my eating back under control if I'm going to get where I want to be before it gets cold again!!

No idea where my weight is, but I did have to switch to a smaller ring on my wedding ring finger, so that's a good sign :D (I want to get my wedding ring sized down to fit me, but we're waiting till I get where I want to be first)

Ok, I did it, blogged 2 consecutive days, yay! Go me!

Oh noes! I dropped the ball!

Again!!!

Ack! Alas! And Alack!

Ok, enough of that. There were several contributing factors that added up to me basically putting the whole thing down for the winter (lack of progress due to lack of exercise, my computer crashing etc...) I am happy to say that while I have not lost any weight over the winter I also have not gained. (ok, up and down with the same 5 pounds all winter, but all things considered that's not TOO bad right?)

I think the fact that I work a job on my feel all day, and that while not stellar my eating habits are not too bad either contributed along with an improved metabolism from all the exercising I DID do over spring and summer.

So it's finally getting nice out again and I NEED TO GET BACK ON TRACK!!!

So without further ado, here is my first post. I have found the most awesome breakfast cookie recipe that is ACTUALLY GOOD FOR YOU!! It's basically fruit and oats with some spices and not much else (ok, I added about a tablespoon of molasses, forgive me!) If you think that a nice portable fruit and oatmeal breakfast sounds like a good idea you can find the recipe here.

The possibilities for modification and add ins are endless and I'm planning on making a few batches on my day off for the freezer. Has GOT to be better to grab in a hurry than a cardboard toaster waffle loaded with syrup right?

Sorry about how rushed this is, I have to get going to work now. Stay tuned for more entries!! Coming soon to a blog near you. (And by that I mean THIS one, lol!)