Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

Please tell me you have David Bowie singing in your head now!  If you have ME singing in your head...I'm sooo sorry!


The past few months I have felt terribly lost inside.  No matter what I did, I was gaining weight fast due to my hormones being out of whack and not-so-great eating or exercising habits. That led to a horrible hit on my self esteem, which made me lash out in different ways.


Finally, I had enough.  I sat down with Gary and outlined a plan for us to follow to finally make a REAL change in our lives.


I feel like we're deep enough into our plan {4 weeks} for me to tell you about it.


CLEAN EATING


Except for 4 meals this whole month {including our Anniversary Dinner}, I have cooked every meal we eat, including breakfast at 5am.  It's HARD working full time, then coming home and making dinner, but 3 things have really helped.

1. Prep - I've been making 2 week meal plans, the spending the weekend chopping as many veggies up as I can so I am not so overwhelmed when I get home.
2. GARY - Misery loves company {especially in the kitchen}.  Instead of complaining about eating clean and begging for In-N-Out, Gary has stepped up and helped in any way he can.  He is now a MASTER of making a Cucumber Salad, which has been a side dish quite a bit lately.  He even makes up some for a snack at work.  
3. KISS - Not the band.  Keep It Simple, Stupid!!  Our dinners have not been very exciting lately.  Only a few ingredients, focusing on lean protein and veggies galore. Snacks are easy, too - cucumber salad, boiled eggs, etc.

ACTIVITY

Gary & I have come to the realization that there IS so much room for activities....in our daily schedule.


Can we dedicate 2-3 hours a day?  No way.  But we CAN take a 2-mile walk or a 5-mile bike ride.  30 minutes a day, 4-5 times a week is what we have been achieving.


ATTITUDE


Taking control of your health can be hard and stressful, to say the least, but having PCOS makes it a million times worse.  I've had 2 doctors tell me that in order to lose weight I'll have to work twice as hard as a woman my age with no hormonal issues.  It used to make me want to have a fit, but what good does that do me?  Instead of focusing on weight loss directly I am now focusing on changing my attitude to reflect my need for fueling my body.


Healthy, REAL food = 90% of the time
Desserts & treats {planned} = 10% of the time with no guilt!


Saying "no" to a free Starbucks or a deli sandwich SUCKS when you have the attitude that you are turning down delicious treats.  But when you turn it around and realize that neither of these will fuel you in the same way homemade food will, it's empowering!  


Saying "no" to these spur of the moment treats lets me say yes to treats that I know are coming up, like this delicious homemade chocolate cake with strawberries that one of our staff members daughter made for us.

I knew this was coming for 2 days, so when I craved chocolate the night before it was easy to tell myself that I only had to wait a few hours before I got to indulge.


SUPPORT


Poor Gary has gone through so many food changes with me over the past 12 years. There was my Weight Watchers stage, where I bought all the pre-packaged food they told me was so good for me.  There was the Atkins Diet, where I are NO carbs.  Now it's focusing on lean proteins and oodles of veggies.  He has been a trooper through it all, but this is the first time he is REALLY on board and being a part of the change.  


It's not just Gary though.


My mom now know that when we come over for dinner, there does not always have to be dessert.  And if she wants to serve dessert, we are fine with fruit.




It's the support of my co-workers, who know I bring my own lunch to work, so they don't tempt me with Chinese takeout.  


Signing up to run 5k's and trying to train as often as possible with my friends gives me support AND keeps me accountable!


And definitely, it's the support of all my amazing blog friends!  Bloggers are a unique bunch, I am finding out, because you all want to gain readers and have a following {drink the Kool-Aid...mine's organic!}, but we all "get" each other in a way no one else can.  Am I struggling to find the motivation to workout?  All I need to do is log on Twitter or read the comments in previous blog posts and I see how much my "Blends" mean to me!


So what does clean eating, activity, attitude and support lead to??


Besides a positive outlook on life, it means a 14 pound weight loss for Gary and a little over 8 pound weight loss for me!!  


There's still a ways to go in my journey, but I didn't gain this weight overnight, so I sure as heck will not lose it overnight.


Thanks for sticking around as I document my journey to a healthy life!

2012 Goals {Check In #4}

Back in January {which seems like a lifetime ago} I set 4 goals for the year.


For the fourth time this year, I am checking in to evaluate how I have done.


1. Take more time for me.  Not so good, but not horrible.  Honestly, I just didn't have time this past month to take time for myself.  Even the fun things I did included other people, which is not a bad thing, but it did not give me much time to focus on myself and MY inner peace.


2. Get back on track health wise - eating.  As in March, this was not stellar.  But I did up my game a little bit, so some improvement is better than none.


3. Get back on track health wise - exercise. Ah.Mazing!!  I've been religious about getting workouts in at least 3 times a week.  I've even added a few 20 minute walks in at work, which has helped me reach my personal goal of 10,000 steps a day.  Signing up for a 5k was the best thing I could do to motivate myself!


4. GO ON VACATION!!  We're going on a road trip!!!  Oregon, Washington, the coast....I am in heaven!  And the BEST part is that we've saved enough money to do this vacation and not stress!  :)


My grade this month - A-.  I really need to get back on track with eating well 90% of the time, so I can indulge that 10%.  One thing I'm doing is making my own iced coffees to take to work.  Basic ingredients, no extra crap that Sbux put in and waaaay less calories!  My 5k is one month from tomorrow and I'm pretty confident that by then I'll be able to jog 1.5-2miles of it.

2012 Goals {Check in #3}

WAAAAY back in January, I set 4 goals for the year.

For the third time this year, I am checking in to evaluate how I have done.

1. Take more time for me.  This month I learned that taking a jog around the neighborhood or lifting weights at the gym NEEDS to count as me time.  I love getting lost in my thoughts as I spend time working on my health.

2. Get back on track health wise - eating.  Ouch.  I need to be honest...I have indulged in too much junk food this month.  I don't know what is wrong with me...as I eat {or drink, because you KNOW Sbux has been involved} what I "shouldn't be" I feel guilty.  I have a million excuses I could spout off, but that is all they are....excuses.  I need to up my game in April.

3. Get back on track health wise - exercise. As bad as I have been with eating, I've kicked ass on this goal.  A few weeks ago, I created a training schedule for my 5k and have followed it about 90% of the time.  But I am making sure to get my workouts in!

4. GO ON VACATION!!  We are still on track for this goal.  I have a million travel guides and magazines on our living room table to help me plan!


My grade this month - B-.  I know that what I put in my body is even more important than exercising, so I MUST figure out what is going on in my head and work towards my goals.  I have some more thoughts on the food thing and will share them with you later this month.

2012 Goals {Check In #2}

Happy Leap Day! 


Since I will be at a conference for my school today through Saturday {yay!}, I thought I would check in a few days early!


In case you have not read about my 2012 goals, here is the link.


Here's how I feel I did for the 29 days in February:

1. Take more time for me.  I'm doing a lot better with this one.  Mostly because I have had a whole week off of work, which gave me plenty of time to do most of the things I wanted to do.

2. Get back on track health wise - eating.  MUCH better this month.  I did a 2 week detox, which I feel helped reset my body. Since then I have been good about 80% of the time.  My goal is to eat well 90% of the time, giving me a little bit of room to splurge!

3. Get back on track health wise - exercise.  Last month I said I was making better decisions, but would not be running a marathon anytime soon.  TRUE, but I DID sign up for my first 5k a last week!!  This has really helped keep me on track with working out daily.  I even made it to the gym for the first time in MONTHS this past weekend!  I will be working on a training schedule next week, which will help me out even more.

4. GO ON VACATION!!  Our goal to go on a vacation this summer is looking positive!  We're putting money aside each month, so as long as no major issues come up {knock on wood} we will be going SOMEWHERE in a few months!

My grade for February: A++!!  I have not been this proud of myself in a long time...I feel like 2012 is really the year I am going to get back to the Mo I used to be {just older & wiser}.

I won't be posting anything else this week...as I mentioned above, I will be at a conference for school employees who are directly involved with school leadership.  Don't feel bad for me - it's in Reno and there's lots of dancing & booze.  But we will also get a lot of ideas and feel overwhelmed trying to fit them into everything else we already do.

I will be on Twitter when I can {follow me}!

Run, Forrest, Run

AAAHHH!!!  I ran for the first time in over a year today and I feel A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!

I started my day with a good, healthy breakfast of 1/2 cup hash browns sauteed with mushrooms and 2 eggs, some strawberries and grapes.

That held me over for about 4 hours until I had a salad very similar to last night.

Today's salad had less bacon {boo!}

I MAY have also indulged in a very rare midday treat:

Leftover Nutella from a baking project

It's not every week that I can enjoy such a sweet treat on a Tuesday afternoon!

The whole morning/early afternoon I did laundry and sat on my butt watching Hart of Dixie and Biggest Loser.


I was BORED out of my mind.

So I knew what I had to do.

Get up.

Get out.

And GOOOO!!

I planned on walking my normal mile route, but something inside of me wanted more.  So I went with it.  And probably freaked Sasha out...poor dog didn't know what she had gotten herself into.

Out of my mile, I probably jogged half of it total.  Yay!

Then I came home and did strength training for 15 minutes.

I cannot say loud enough how proud I am of myself!!  Not only did I feel a fire inside of me to do something active, but that fire pushed me to do something I was uncomfortable with.

Watch out world, here I come!!

Feeling good after my workout, yo!

I'll leave with pictures of Sasha pre AND post walk...I do not think she has moved in the hour we've been home!

  

2012 Goals {Check In #1}

On January 1st I set my goals for 2012.  Since I really want to stick to them, I thought it would help for me to revisit them at the end of each month and share my progress.

In case you need a reminder of my goals, here they are.

And here's how I feel I am doing:

1. Take more time for me.  Honestly, this is the one I struggle with the most.  But I have been able to finish 2 books I started after Christmas, so this shows me I am taking a bit more time for myself than last year.


2. Get back on track health wise - eating.  Easier than I thought it would be...at times.  When I am good, I am GOOD.  When I am bad, I am BAD!  But I am making much better choices overall.

3. Get back on track health wise - exercise. I am killing it on this one!!  Gary & I are taking Sasha for walks at least 4 times a week and trying to go for a LONG walk {just the two of us} once a week.  Will I be running a marathon anytime soon?  No, but I am making better decisions.  Instead of driving to the Redbox that is a little less than a mile from us, we walk to get and drop off movies.  In the past that would have never happened.  I am also working with my resistance bands and doing other toning exercises at least twice a week.  GO MO!!

4. GO ON VACATION!!  My goal is for us to take a vacation this summer, and we are saving money to do this.  It has been tough and money is tight, but I truly believe that it is important to travel and get out of your regular routine a few days a year.  Our vacation may not be luxurious, but it WILL happen!

Overall, I give myself an A- for this month.  I really need to work on the relaxing and being more selfish with my time.  I can honestly say that this is the 1st year I have stuck with my goals, and I know it's because I am blogging about my life.  Blogging has been my biggest motivator to keep up with my goals and keep myself accountable.  So thank you all for reading about my crazy, mostly boring, life!