I love Christmas Season I simply do…I know that for the last couple of years my life has changed and the way I used to celebrate is totally different now (I didn’t have a Christmas Tree last year, cuz I was moving) but I am getting better this year. It is weird how sometimes you think that you have things sorted out but you simply don’t, because life comes and gives you unexpected opportunities.
Christmas season always gives me the inspiration for writing, the feeling of having a little time off from work, focus on the things I enjoy doing and I can’t normally do because I am crazy busy with other things. The feeling of having some “me time” to sit in my desk in front of the laptop and start typing while my oldie but goodie John Mayer tracks go on its invaluable.
This takes me back to my first years of writing, when I was too afraid to publish my thoughts to the world because I was too worried that people would not like it or point it out. Well, now at 30 years I decided that “life is just too short and I don’t care anymore”. I think that motto has taken me more places than I expected, maybe because when you stop caring about what others think is when you really start living and enjoying what you do.
Today was the first day I felt so good of not feeling sick . It’s not that I’m being dramatic here, but last week I woke up and felt very very bad. I am normally a healthy person, but that day Oh men I felt like a car ran over me and kept going. As I was still working with month end, I turned on my laptop and started to browse over my e-mails. Then I could not take it anymore, I called my hubby and told him to take me to the hospital.
He even got scared, because I think I never have told him that before, but the pain I felt was so bad, I could not help it, I felt a horrible pain in my lower back and what would look like very bad cramps. So we rushed to the hospital which felt for me like hours. Long story short I only had an infection, which is thank God not that bad.
Today is my last day with antibiotics and I really feel good, and I just felt grateful, because it makes me remember how many times I don’t do things because I get lazy, and stop living life because of that. So being in that state even if it was for a short time made me feel like there are no excuses in enjoying life and working out, eating healthy, and do productive things.
I do feel a bit tired still, and I know I need to rest, but believe me that feeling healthy has no price!
I am very excited today to start this week by talking about a breakthrough I had last week, It was as if it was there all the time but I was not ready to see or grasp it. The breakthrough was that I am turning 30 this year and I know is just a number so I don’t get overwhelmed by saying I am getting older, but hey I am not getting any younger either. Also, I am getting married soon (finally!! Lol). And still I haven’t been able to achieve that healthy state where I’ve been wanting to be for the longest time.
So I started working out again, this started 2 weeks ago, I’ve been going to the gym doing Zumba, Cycling, Swimming, Abs, and all that you could think of to keep my mind sane and mostly stress free. I have been working out because I feel more alive, which is something that happens when you move your body.
My next step was food (uhh the tamed subject that has haunted me all my existence!!), and I said to myself why does it have to be so hard? Why do I let food be an important part of my life to the point it controls me?, Why nothing that I’ve done works out? Basically because deeply I know that I am kind of weak with food especially bad food. I am in a cycle of eating healthy on weekdays and then the weekends “my cheat day” I go and break every single good habit I could have.
Last week, I knew that definitely I needed to break that cycle once and for all, and I needed to forget about everything I knew about diets and eating healthy, because basically I knew nothing and because nothing has been working out for me. Plus I needed to be open minded because if I don’t open my mind to new things I won’t be able to succeed.
While thinking about this and trying to see what to do a friend introduced me to The 100 from Jorge Cruise, and yes I admit I had to investigate if it worked, people testimonials and all that stuff to be 100% in. So I gotta say it doesn’t sound bad, it actually made sense and I decided to put everything and do it. So today I am in my day one and what better way to document my experiment that in my blog.
So if you are interested stay tuned in the next following weeks I will be updating you in my new lifestyle and what I’ve been feeling about this diet, I am also thinking in recording my experiment to see what happens. But, we shall see.
Saturday! The perfect day to wake up late (if you don’t have to work), have a relaxed and luxurious breakfast and enjoy free time ahh…That used to be my life in the past…but now I try to make the best of my mornings. Today my alarm went on at 7:00 am to get ready and head to the gym for my zumba class which I’ve been enjoying A LOT!!.
Even though after going to the gym I feel completely different I still have some trouble making it, which I believe tends to be because I really haven’t regained my habit and still trying to figure out the perfect schedule for my workout routine to be accurate and complete. So there’s no surprise I almost missed today’s class, but my conscience couldn’t allow it and I put my sneakers on and went to my class.
So instead of talking about the bad stuff of why I don’t feel like working out most of the times, I decided to focus on the good stuff of how do I feel when I do work out.
1. I feel great after working out, I am in a good mood and everything is awesome.
2. It helps me to sing, yes it really does, I mostly sing in my car and my shower (LOL) but working out really improves my voice plus singing makes me happy.
3. My mind clears, especially if I have to go back to work afterwards, it helps me concentrate.
4. My day goes smoothly when I workout in the mornings.
5. I remember that I can breath, because I get very unconscious about this especially when I feel stress.
So this is what working out does for me..Now I want to know what working out does for you please comment I would really like to know 🙂
I’ve been working out for 3 weeks straight and today I thought that I was ready to write about it. Basically I’ve joined a gym since last December and I was going after work (a couple of days a week). While this “routine” worked for a couple of months I got to a point where I just could not handle it. I just remember feeling tired and not wanting to go anymore.
One night after a hefty dinner I could not sleep, it was 3 in the morning I believe, that guilty feeling for eating a lot and the fact that my birthday was a month away made me say to myself I cannot do this anymore (it was like my AHA moment!) 2 hours later I jump up off bed, got my stuff ready and hit the gym.
What started as an abrupt decision of me going to the gym at that Insane hour became a habit, I only was planning on doing this for a straight month, only to see what it felt (after all I’ve never did this in my life), but honestly I think that this has become my new way of living. I wake up every day at 5:00 am and get ready for my 6:00 am gym time, after that I get ready there and go to work.
Today I want to share with you all of the great things that have happened since I have been doing this:
I feel more awake. Yes people often say that morning exercise really helps you feel more awake during the day. And it really does, my work requires my brain to be awake so since I started working out I completely forgot about “needing a coffee to wake up and start my day”
I think faster and give more accurate solutions. Sometimes there are situations that need to be fixed fast and correctly, before working out early I felt tired all the time and lazy, now I find an easy way out when I have to solve a problem at work or take better decisions.
My breathing has improved. Before this I would say I breathed normally, but believe me when I tell you that every day I leave the gym ready to start my day my breathing is different and feels good, I feel that I can really expand my lungs, which makes me feel pretty alive.
I don’t stress anymore. I used to be a person who could get stressed pretty easily, when I went to the gym after work I went and got out all the “stress of the day” but REALLY, now that I think about it, working out in the morning helps me not to have stress during the day.
I smile more. It is easy to smile when you are awake, have good natural energy and feel awake.
I sleep better. Incredibly I do, I don’t have any more problems with my sleeping habits plus I sleep early because I wake up at a bloody early hour every day.
I eat better (ok I try). I am still lacking a bit on this side, but I believe I become more selective because I do think more before putting stuff in my mouth and if it is a snack and it doesn’t taste good why bother I just won’t eat it.
And basically that is it, I know I have more to go, but today when my alarm rang and I woke up with no hassle and started getting ready without nagging I realized that it already became a habit for me and nothing can beat that.
If you really want to be healthy and lose weight you need to follow this equation:
Now it sounds simple, but in my head and looking at my background I thought that things were different, I mean I thought that 80% was the exercise and 20% controlling what I put in my mouth. Well that hasn’t taken me any farther so now I am under an experiment.
This experiment started last week when the hubs and I felt really down and with no motivation for working out or taking care of our meals. Until he was like ENOUGH I can’t take it anymore, and I was like yeah sure…(in my mind I couldn’t take it either but I was just craving some desert that I didn’t want to listen).
Does this situation ring a bell to you?
After that declaration we cleaned our fridge (with all my pain) and made a healthy groceries list. We redefined our goals for losing weight which resume in:
We will lose at least 2 pounds per week (until we reach our personal goal)
We will weight weekly and take our measurements once a month.
We will go to the gym at least 5 times a week (1 hour minimum).
We will not eat any junk food, processed food and Sodas are way out of limits.
We will eat more Veggies and Fruits (that is how we get our sugar from).
Dinner after gym will only be salad and a small protein portion (tuna or chicken).
Ok at this point I was going to cry LOL. But took the determination of saying, if you want different results you have to do things differently.
My first week just went by and let me tell you my experience, I did have some freaking cravings which are not fun, these cravings were due to the fact that I was in the junk food cycle, you know, the more you eat that type of food the more you desire it. BUT the gratification of seeing my weight in the scale this past Saturday was WORTH IT, I lost almost 4 pounds (even though I must confess that I did cheat twice over the week, but I don’t care).
I am not saying that I am over it, and that from now on things will be easy as pie, but if last year was the time when I became from an exercise hater to a person who enjoys it, this year will be the one when I will become a person who enjoys eating healthy.
In my belief, although willpower is important while conquering losing weight or any other goal (because you have to say NO to the good to say YES to the best), I also think that the words commitment, patience and perseverance play a big role. Why? Well because losing weight is not a thing that happens from one day to another, you have to let go of old patterns and develop a new way of life, which makes you a patient and perseverant person, and you do have to be committed all the time, is not like “I eat healthy on weekdays and have 2 free weekend days to eat what I want”. No it does not work like that, if you do that you are only fooling yourself.
Now, I am starting week number 2 now I want a Krispy Kream donut, but that’s OK because I am human, so what am I going to do? I am going to my fridge and eat a bit of chopped strawberries before hitting the gym. It is all about the choices, and though it takes willpower, I don’t want to restrict myself, because if I do I will fail. So I am just weighting my options and taking the best one. I know a donut right now will bloat me and will give me energy for like 10 minutes, while strawberries will be fresh, low in sugar and will reduce my craving for a longer period.
Ok so last week was very hectic for me I must say, if you go a couple of posts back you would know that I was involved in a car accident and I’ve been going on and off dealing with car insurances, yara yara…anyways besides this I had tons of work and a dentist appointment (which was stressful). My mood was awful.
I was only able to fit 3 gym days and yesterday I was feeling grumpy and I didn’t know why? I only felt bothered at everything and very very tired. I didn’t even feel like going to my spin class, but that was when it hit me. I had to go more than ever because I needed exercise to feel better.
So after work I put my sneakers and hit my spin class. I must say I felt great after, and the instructor just puts you in this great mood always. He was saying to us “Smile just for 20 seconds, it’s free and it will make you feel good” so that’s what I did, even if those were the hardest 20 seconds of our strength class, that made me feel amazing.
Of course that you need to hear your body and if you feel physical exhaustion you do need to rest, but in my case most of the times is anxiousness from the day, that I do need to release by exercising. So next time you start feeling depressed and not so good, put your sneakers and go to the gym or just go for a walk, the thing is to do something different than be sitting in front of your computer or watching TV believe me your body will thank you later.
So it has been a while since I did my last being healthy-losing weight update. You know it, if you are familiar to my blog you are aware that since last year I decided that I did not want to live in the same situation, a.k.a. gaining weight, eating junk food, and being as sedentary as a manatee (are manatees sedentary? If not sorry for the reference)…
Anyways, January has passed as a big flash that comes and goes (and this is where I stop with my weird analogies). I have to say that I am proud of myself, OK going to the gym 21 days out of the 31 that January had beats my lifetime record of exercising. (I know this because every time I hit the gym I mark it in my calendar).
Also, I started recording again in SlimKicker (If you don’t know what SlimKicker is please check out here) I just think that this is a great app that helps you stay in balance and their community helps you when you are struggling with your food, mood, and working out issues. I was able to record all my meals for January, all the calories I burned at the gym, and my weight every Monday.
In total I lost 6.82 Pounds (3.1Kg) for January honestly I do think this is amazing because I have to admit I did not do any diet, and I did not stop eating sweets, BUT I tried to limit my portions at dinner and stopped drinking soda for the most part of the month.
In retrospective, maybe if I would have been better with my eating behavior I would have lost more weight, but right now I am at this point where if I start cutting cold turkey on things I know I will fail. So instead of having the two Reese’s pieces (My favorite chocolate) I only eat one, and when I do I just won’t eat anything sweet the rest of the day.
All these things give me confidence to keep moving forward, and now crunching some numbers I feel strong to accomplish my goal for this year.
In the past I remember telling myself this story, “I need to work out and have a healthy diet, but I have so many things to do like school, work, and house chores, that I don’t have time. Maybe I need to wait until I graduate, move, and have enough money to get into a gym and start working out”
In my mind, those were the things that limited me into being a healthy person, now I just see them as excuses, because if life has taught me something, is that there isn’t anything like “the perfect moment”. If we wait and wait to do something just because we need the perfect moment to arrive, that time might never come, and you will be losing valuable time instead of living your life.
Today I know, that if I want to do something the perfect moment to start is NOW, Sometimes we even restraint ourselves of doing something we really want only because we are afraid; of failure, of what others might think, etc. But, I have learned as well that if you are scared of jumping you have to do it because it will help you grow, and you shouldn’t care of what others might think, I mean you cannot please everybody and you are doing this because YOU WANT TO, not because you want people to think this or that.
Hello everyone, happy Monday, I hope you are having a fantastic beginning of the week, I know I am because weather in our town is being more benevolent (I just can’t stand freezing temperatures). Anyways today I have an update on my no spending month project. If you don’t know what I am talking about please read here But in short words I am not allowed to spend any of my pennies in Makeup and Clothing for an entire month. Something that is very hard for me to do if someone asks me.
Phase 1 of my project started on January 8th, almost 2 weeks have passed, which is around half of the month, since this time I have gone 2 times to Target and I have victoriously evaded the health & beauty section (because I know that if I travel down those aisles I will get sucked in). I really feel very proud of myself, I mean maybe is not a lot time, but believe me in the past when I went grocery shopping I would get even something small like a nail polish.
I have not even gone through the clothing section because I really feel that I will buy stuff until I lose more weight, so right now I don’t want to spend money in things I don’t need. Exercise has been helping me a lot as well, I go every afternoon after work (1 hour min) and it really has helped me with my shopping impulses.
Now on my savings side, well I think it goes good, last week I joined a savings fund and hopefully this will help kick in my incomes by the end of the year, besides it’s better to have that money safe than in my spending account. Right now, I am starting to feel a bit more comfortable with my life, I remember last year in January I was completely broke and guilty of my spending behavior. Now I feel a bit better (some Inner Peace kicking in) I know I am not at the point where I want to be yet, but still I know I am on the good tracks
Organized Journal 