Ugh - It's Hard!

This is kind of a whiny post (not wine-y), so please bear with me.

Someday's I just wish I was naturally thin and in shape.  It is hard work trying to plan & manage your food!  It is so much easier to just eat whatever is available & whatever you feel like.
I think that is my internal roadblock with food.  I have to be so intentional to eat healthy.  For me, it does not happen automatically or naturally.
This means sometimes I feel cranky about it (like right now!).
I want to stop thinking about it & just let life happen.  I know what happens when I do this, so I have to keep fighting, even when I really don't want to, to make good choices.

I think what is harder for me than feeling cranky about trying to manage my food is how I feel when I do not.  I get so frustrated with myself & I feel terrible.  If I overeat or make bad choices or whatever, I feel physically bad & mentally I beat myself up.

Sometimes there is no winning!

So I will try to be less cranky about managing my food b/c I know if I do  not, the second part of the emotional roller coaster is worse!

I will continue to work through this!
What is the hardest thing about being healthy for you?

Life in the Green Room

Goals!

Goals!

I am super excited & proud that I hit my goal of hitting 10,000 steps 7 days in a row!  It was one of my goals for this year & I was not sure when I would be able to hit it!  I think the key to hitting this goal was Friday night.  I was exhausted & ready for bed.  I realized I had 9700 steps & decided to push myself to walk the halls of our apartment building to hit 10,000!  (Not sure how I'll get over this hurdle in the new house - maybe walk around the yard??  The neighbors won't think I'm weird at all!)

I am kind of obsessed with goals.  I have read many different books & articles on goal creation & obtainment.  I am super thankful that Jackson gets this about me, & in fact, likes to set goals too. 

This year we sat down & each made a list of goals for the year.  Some of them were the same (buy a house!) & some were different.

I followed an article I read (I think by Scott the Nametag Guy) that suggested making a list of 100 goals.  I thought I would never be able to list out 100 goals, but it was surprisingly easy to think of 100 things I wanted to accomplish in 2015.  I listed goals for personal, finance, work, health etc.  Now I do NOT expect to meet all 100 goals, but as the article stated, if you list a lot, you'll be amazed at how many you can accomplish!

10,000 steps 7 days in a row was Goal #99.

This is also the 23rd goal of my 100 that I have completed.  I feel good about this pace b/c I have a lot of goals that require commitment for the whole year, so I cannot possibly be done with them already!

Jackson & I try to review our goals together every few months.  This helps keep them top of mind (I can be forgetful sometimes!) & helps us hold each other accountable.

What are you goal setting tips??

 Life in the Green Room:

Snack Attack!

When Jackson & I talked about our plan to get healthier, one clear thing we needed to do was cut back on snacking.

But it's so fun!!!

We got rid of most of our snacks (the bad ones) & have been diligent about not bringing more into the house.  This has been one of the toughest parts.  We are always wanting something after dinner.....  just because.

We love both sweet & salty snacks - we don't discriminate!

When we want to snack, we try to figure out why.  Bored?  Habit?  etc.

Also, we still buy a few snacks, mostly healthy.  Since we want a long term plan, we cannot go cold turkey, no snacks ever!  This is the kind of stuff that makes me feel trapped (from last blog post).

So next time there is a Snack Attack, we are hoping to stop it in its tracks with more healthy options!

Check Out: Life in the Green Room

Claustrophobic! Please don't make me track everything!

One of my goals in our health journey is to find a way that we can make progress & have successes without tracking every single morsel that we eat!

I feel so claustrophobic!  I've done this in the past & I think that is why those programs have not worked for me long term.  I get scared.  Then I want to cheat & not want to capture everything.  Then I want to really cheat & have a day where I don't track & I binge...

I am committed to getting healthy so I am open to trying a tracking method if it gets right down to it.  But I will go kicking & screaming (meaning, to the best of my knowledge I have tried every other option known to man!).

We've been really cutting back processes foods & upping the fruits &  veggies.

I'm trying to find the balance between being open-minded & also learning from what has & has not worked in the past.  I'm also looking for balance in being healthy & it not consuming my every waking thought.

Check Out: Life in the Green Room

Deep Fried Bacon?

Why does Deep Fried Bacon sound (& Look) so Good??

So I have mentioned sustainability a few times recently.  To me that is the key for us to figure out.  My next challenge is to NOT unnecessarily temp myself.  There will be lots of times in real life that we will be at events or hosting events with lots of unhealthy foods.  Got it!

I just don't want to feel like I am missing out on things along the way.

So, I am not sure I can watch any of the cooking channels anymore.  This is such a bummer, b/c it is one of the only channels Jackson & I agree on!  (We do not have the same tastes in television!)

We had one of the cooking channels on the other day & it was featuring deep fried bacon.  It looks so delicious!  After, I was craving deep fried anything.  So I think one of my goals will be to limit the amount of temptation (or food porn) I watch.  No sense making things harder !

Check Out: Life in the Green Room

Week 1: Off to a Great Start!!

One week in & we have not given up yet!

This is progress!

Jackson & I both lost a few pounds which is great.  It feels good to see progress.

We didn't work out as much as we wanted to this week.  The real key to our success was the planning.  It was tedious, but we mapped out our meals and planned enough left over for me to take for lunch.  We also spent a few hours last Sunday prepping meals & snacks.  NOT Glamorous work, but it helped us stay on track!

The one thing I will note, excitedly, is that I felt great all week.  My stomach was much better then the usual.  Funny what happens when you don't eat a bunch of processes foods!  It's also worth noting that I was not hungry at all during the week.

Now that we have started we need to keep it going!

I've heard the first steps are the hardest and you can build momentum from there.

I hope so!!

Check Out: Life in the Green Room

I am so Sore!!

Part of the plan to get healthy is to workout.  But I am so sore!  ha!
Friday morning I dragged Jackson to the gym & I went to the 6AM Les Mills body pump class.  I have attended this class regularly earlier in the year.  April got away from me & I did not attend the class since early April.  After missing for only one month, I have lost it!!

I went really light on the weight b/c I knew I had missed a month.  Still by the third song my legs (quads & IT bands) were completely quivering.
Saturday morning when I woke up I almost fell out of bed b/c my whole body was sore.
Sunday morning, I am doing better but my triceps are still totally sore.  

I plan to take the class again this week, so hopefully I can work my way back up to being the 'good sore.'  Good sore to me is you know you had a great workout, but you can still function :)

How do you measure sore??

http://www.lesmills.com/ 

Check out Life in the Green Room:

Learning How to Be Healthy in a Busy World!!

OK!

I know it's been awhile since I have posted anything, but I am going to get back out there!

A lot has changed in the last 6 years or so.
I have moved to Chicago, and I am now engaged!

Our wedding is in a year and we have one crazy year planned.  We are in the process of buying a house, planning a wedding, & trying to have a life.....  Oh, and one more thing, I'd love to get healthy before the wedding!

I'd like to lose some weight to increase my energy and confidence and overall I want to feel better!!  So just adding one more minor thing to the pile, no big deal :)

So my plan over the next year is to talk to you about what works, what doesn't work, what we are trying etc.  My fiance & I differ in about all philosophies of weight loss, so there will be some good debates!

Most important for me is to find a system that does not make me feel claustrophobic (the thought of writing down everything I eat makes me want to poke myself in the eye).

We welcome all & any comments and want to learn together on our journey to health while keeping our sanity!

Hope you can join us!
Heather