Like I stated in my 'about me' area, I've not had the healthiest of habits. I've gotten to the point that I want to start living a more vibrant lifestyle. Wanting to be active and feeling great. The best way I know how to do this is to changing my habits of the past to a new way of the future. Creating lifestyle changes that are not outlandish but can be maintained throughout my life.
I started and quit this process multiple times in my life. What is different you ask? Finally I realized that if you want a different result, quit doing the same thing over and over again. Feeling like a hamster on a wheel going round and round is not what I want to keep doing. I'm ready to live! Many choices in the past has created a sedentary and unhealthy lifestyle.
For about a year I've been trying to figure out what will work for me. A lot of thinking and not a whole lot of doing was the result. Now I'm 'doing' to see what works and what doesn't. Last October, I hit what I call my 'Fat Peak' (the heaviest that I had ever been), that was a mild wake up call but also what hit me was a blood test that I received that basically stated that my unhealthy habits were going in a downward spiral. At that time I wanted to do something about it but didn't have the desire to change. I wanted things to change around me but wasn't willing to put forth the effort. Up until10 months ago, I had lost around 10lbs.
Then about a month ago, I committed to giving this 'thing' that has been plaguing me all my life an honest effort. A couple of things that I want is to like to exercise and to make good food choices all the time. When I committed to exercise, I signed up for another 1/2 marathon in Feb 2012. In the past when I have participated in these races (3 Half Marathons to date), but don't like the idea that I'm walking for nearly 4hrs.
A goal of mine was to lose some weight before I started training. This was going to happen with smart food choices. I started an Arbonne health regiment, with protein meal replacement shakes. Also two other things have helped me out - #1 Stop eating when I'm full, no matter how little is on my plate. #2 When making my plate do not fill it to capacity, make sure that I see the plate. Usually I would fill my plate in a mound fashion, didn't know where one food started or another food ended. Now that I see my blue plate under the food, I know that my portions are smaller. That equals less calories in, less calories to store in my body and less calories to burn. By working on my food portion, it has benefited me in a way that I didn't think could be possible. In one month I have lost 10 pounds. I feel lighter, not as sluggish, and have found myself being more active around the house.
Since I have more energy, I've decided that it is now time to start exercising. A couple of days ago, I signed up to run a 5k (3.2 miles) on Thanksgiving morning. I thought that this would be a great way to start training for my race in Feb. I have about 2mo to train for the 5k. I found a great resource from the Mayo Clinic website for a 7 week training to run a 5k.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/5k-run/SM00061 This is an awesome resource for people like me that have not ran or do not have the stamina yet. Check it out!
Today I wanted to see what my capabilities were as far as breathing and distance. So my goal was to go out for 30 mins (who doesn't have 30 mins?). I ran intervals of 15 secs and walked 2 mins. Very surprised that I felt good running in those 15 seconds and the 2 min recovery was very helpful. It made me feel that this plan could work for me. I'm not sure how far that I went, but ended up being out for 40 mins. Even though the first day, first week, first month is hard, it is totally doable. I think writing in this blog will help out tremendously. With support of others will give me the extra boost of confidence to keep going. My other hope is that it will help you too. Let's support each other!
