Wednesday (aka-only 2 more days till Friday!)

Good morning! I am on day 5 of no soda and I am so LOVING it!! I have had to find a source of caffeine to get me through my day, but I found a much healthier source than Dr. Pepper. I have been drinking black tea, which has about 30mg of caffeine per 8 fl oz serving. Plus, since tea is made with water (duh!), I am also upping my water intake. That is helping me reach goal #3 (Increase water intake)! I feel so much better without soda in my diet. Also important, I am getting less sugar now. I feel much less jittery and I don't have the "slump" when it gets out of my system late morning/early afternoon. I also don't crave sweets as much without that sugar to rev up my sweet tooth. I'm not sure why that is, but I'll take it! :-) I do know, however, that increasing the amount of water I drink helps to cleanse my body and aids my metabolism and weight loss. Also, I thought it would be hard to start drinking more water, but it seems that the more water I drink, the thirstier I am. So that makes it easy to drink more water, because I am more thirsty! Of course, all the extra water makes me have to run to the little girls room more often, but I think I can handle that! (Lol)

I have been doing fairly well as far as eating right. I slip up a bit in the afternoons, and I am going to have to find a way get a hold of that. All the rest of the time, I do really good, though. For breakfast, I have been eating the cereal called "Optimum Slim" that is really good. It has 9 grams of both fiber and protein! I've been having lactose-free milk with it (Almond Breeze-Vanilla), which is super yummy. Today I have actually not been hungry at all yet, and it's been 4 1/2 hours. So I would say that the cereal is really filling! For lunch, I usually end up with a sandwich of some sort. Yesterday I had crunchy peanut butter (yay :-)) on Arnold's sandwich thins (wheat). The sandwich thins are fantastic! I love that they don't taste really course and grain-y, but they are really smooth and tasty. I also bought some carrots at the store that I have been munching on, as well as some cantaloupe and HONEYDEW MELON!! Can you tell that honeydew is my favorite fruit? Well, it is. I am really proud of myself for cooking dinner both nights so far this week. I made a beef-and-vegetable-skillet on Monday that had lots of veggies, and last night I made tacos with lean meat and went light on cheese (which is hard for me, because I love cheese). I have been watching my portion sizes too, because even healthy food can be bad if you eat too much of it.

I haven't stepped on the scale in about a week, so I'm not sure if any of this is making a difference in my weight. I do think that I look a (little) bit thinner, but that could just be wishful thinking! I will try to remember to weigh tomorrow morning and I'll post it then. I'm not too worried about weight right now though; I am focusing on just becoming more healthy overall. I think that if I start eating right and exercising regularly, weight loss will follow. Maybe taking the focus off losing weight in the beginning will be the key for me, and it will happen because I am focusing on being healthier. I know that I feel better, so that is one step in the right direction!

I would also like to talk about an article I found this morning. It is about how kids being overweight from (supposedly) school lunches is keeping them from enlisting in the military as they become old enough to. I think that childhood obesity is tragic, and can be avoided more often than not . I do agree that school lunches are, for the most part, extremely unhealthy. However, it is my opinion that the solution starts at home for most of these children (and adults, for that matter). Parents need to step up and teach their children to eat better and to get out of the house and exercise. Also, others in our society, such as teachers and other leaders, need to help get the point across. If parents made lunches for their children, they wouldn't have to complain about the school-offered meals. As caretakers though, schools should take the initiative and start offering healthier things to eat, as well as smaller portion sizes. Parents and leaders also need to set the example for children. If children are told to eat right, but they don't see an example set before them, it won't be effective. "Do as I say and not as I do" is never the right way to teach a lesson. Okay, I will get off my soapbox about that now. Here's the link to the article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_school_lunches_threat .

Wow, this one is pretty long, hopefully not too long.

Do something healthy for you today!

Hello, Monday!

Good morning on this lovely Monday! I'm not really sure why I'm so chipper this morning, but I am :-)
I have achieved a goal today!! I have officially cut out sodas, starting today! We will see if I continue this, but I am not feeling too bad yet, so I think I will be able to keep it up. I can tell I haven't had my caffeine, but it's not all that bad. So I can check off Goal # 4!!
On another note, I found a great article that I wanted to share. It is on the Real Age site, and it is about motivating yourself to achieve your healthy goals. Here it is: CLICK HERE . Hope it is helpful for others, I know it is for me! I am making a list of reasons for #1 (Create a compelling reason to change). I think that #2 (Don't associate pain with the desired action) is a good point, because if I go into a workout thinking "Oh, I'm gonna be sooooo sore" then I will be less likely to put my best effort into it. If I think "This is gonna make me feel so great afterwards" then I will have a much better workout. I like #3 (Disrupt the routine). The way she explains it is quite funny. It's true though, if I am thinking of drinking a soda and I think of something completely random to replace that thought, not only do I lose the desire for soda, but I have a little laugh as well to cheer up my day! Love it! #4 (Change the story) is interesting and I have never thought of it that way. But it is a great way to break control of a negative thought over your brain. I will have to think of what my negative thought process is that keeps me from being my best, and break it's hold over my thoughts. And for #5 (Don't wait until you feel like changing), well that is SO true. If I waited until I felt like changing, I would never do it. It's so hard to change your routine, who wants to do that? I know I get comfortable in whatever rut I am in and find it really hard to get out of it. If I waited until I WANTED to change, I would never do it, or I would be so far away from reaching my goals that I would just give up on trying to change.
Well, those are my thoughts for today, hope you have a great Monday!

Again check out these great new tips!

First Day

Today was my first day of workinng on living a healthier life. I am a bit disappointed in myself, but all in all I think I made improvements. I still had my soda this morning (that I KNOW I shouldn't have) and I didn't make the smartest choices at lunch. However, I had a healthy breakfast of a banana and soy milk and a healthy dinner of a chicken sandwich. I used sandwich thins and added a slice of provolone cheese, a few slices of chicken breast and some pickles. It was very yummy :)
Also, I walked with a friend for about a mile and a half this evening, and it was really nice. The pollen of course didn't help but it was so invigorating to get some exercise outside! I know that as soon as I get some exercise, I always feel better, but I still can't seem to get myself moving some days. I'm glad that I did today. I think that having someone to do it with was helpful. I got some new running shoes too, so I think that helps as well!! They are Nike Lunar Glides, and they are bright blue (which is fantastic!!). I haven't gotten to use them for running yet, but they are pretty comfy for walking.
Well, it's getting late so I must go to bed. I will do my best to do better tomorrow, and I'll update on how I do!

Goals

My first post!! Yay! Ok, now that I'm over that excitement, I want to use this first post to set up my goals. Goals are the first step in getting to where you want to be in life. Personally, I have no motivation without having a goal to work toward. If I don't have something to work for, I just won't do it at all. There are many steps in achieving goals, so none of these goals are going to be attained immediately. The feeling of reaching a goal is a very satisfying feeling, and it helps keep me motivated to reach the next goal. That is why some of the goals are short-term and easier to reach than others that are more long-term and take longer to finish. So, without further ado, I present my goals:
1. Eat 5-6 smaller meals a day consisting of carb and protein combinations.
2. Include more fruits and veggies daily.
3. Drink more water daily, try to get to 8 glasses a day.
4. Cut out sugary drinks and sodas.
5. Go to the farmer's market to get fruits and veggies, to get fresher food and to support local business.
6. Make more dinners at home, and therefore eat out less often.
7. Exercise at least 5 days a week, even if it's only a short walk with the dogs, but preferably more intense exercise.
8. Run a 5k by this summer (2010).
9. Run a half-marathon (long-term).
10. Run a marathon (very long-term).
11. Lose 10 lbs to attain my happy weight.
12. Get a flat belly and toned arms.
13. Have a healthy and fit pregnancy (whenever that time comes).

Ok, so those are my goals. Some of them are more long-term than others, and #13 is unknown as to when it will happen :).

That's it for now, have a happy day!