Inspired.

An area of my life that I have been striving to be better is in the sense of health. I have been on a healthful journey since mid-May. At that time I picked up a bunch of Groupon type deals for local fitness centres. I started with two months at Curves. It was a good start, and it slowly eased me back into the world of exercise. But to be honest, Curves was never my thing. After my time at Curves, I moved onto a month at World Health Club (a Alberta-based gym). I loved it!

Once that deal ended, I decided to take as much advantage as I could of our late summer. So I began running. It was a slow start, and at times painful. A sore knee initially, then some bruising on the ball of my foot. I began increasing my distance, and was easily managing a 5km run. I am now in the 7-8km range. I'm definitely not the fastest runner, but I do love being outdoors and feeling my body work. I do worry what winter will do to my running routine, but I've been getting out regularly on the weekends.

I also started up a weekly class at my local Spa Lady (another Alberta-based gym for ladies only). Its a 45 minute Circuit training class. I love the instructor. She is a lot of fun, encouraging and really present with the group. They even have a daycare on-site where I can plunk Gabe for 2 hours and get my sweat on while Abbi is at school. This has been working out nicely.

I've also been delving into yoga one night a week. I'm really enjoying yoga. I've gone to hot yoga a few times with Rob on Friday nights, and during the "centering" portion, I literally could not shut off my brain. These days I'm finding that easier. Or perhaps more necessary. So now I have one evening, per week, where I can give my brain 1 hour off of life, its brilliant. Your focus is on your breathing and having awareness of your body. I also love this instructor. Her voice seriously needs to be recorded, its amazing. And often she'll say "Notice." Seemed hokey at first. Notice what? But I'm finding it amazing when you consider your body; what's straining, what's at ease, what needs some work. I've also been trying to practice a little at home. I'm amazed at my increased flexibility in such a short amount of time.

On the healthful eating front, I've been making huge gains. I think the change for me this time (compared to the other gazillion times I've tried to lose weight) is that I'm trying to do it in the most balanced, healthful way possible. So no pills, no shakes, no starvation, nothing that is not manageable in the real world. At least in my real world. So I'll still eat chocolate (although I eat considerably less, and actually rarely crave it). I still drink coffee, although I'm trying to swap out my afternoon cup with some green tea. I eat a lot of the same foods, just less of them. For the most part I'm avoiding greasy foods and fast food, although I will indulge from time to time.

I'm not sticking to any one program, but rather doing my best to educate myself on a few different strategies and incorporating aspects of each. I recently picked up this book from the library and we were pleased with so many of the recipes and simple, easy to come by, ingredients.
I've also been reading this book, trying to gain a basic understanding of how my body works, and what nutrients it needs. I'm fairly certain I missed that entire section in biology. Or perhaps I was too busy passing notes...
I also picked this book up from the library. Rob has read his other book, and while I don't see myself being vegan anytime soon, I do think a lot of the principles stand for a diet that includes reduced amounts of meat. Plus, he's from Vancouver so he already gets my vote.

I've also been posting things around the house to keep me on track and inspired. Rather than putting up a picture of a supermodel, I put up a picture of myself from our honeymoon on the side of our fridge. Conceited? Perhaps. But at least my body of old is far more attainable and achievable than that of Cindy Crawford's.

For fun, I also put up Rob's "skinny picture." Crazy! Him and his best friend, Jason, circa 1997 (ish).
I've also have this on the side of our fridge, as I've long believed that long-lasting weight loss and healthfulness will be a result of hard work and consistent decisions. Not to say I don't make some bad decisions, but the point is to trying you best to make the next decision is a good one.

A friend sent this to me in an e-mail forward last week called "Forever Young" and I absolutely love it. "Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help."

So in 5 months I've lost a total of 16 lbs! I am thrilled. I still have about 8lbs to go to be a healthy weight according to the BMI charts, but I already feel a huge difference in my energy levels, in the way my clothes fit (I've gone down 2 sizes), and in my overall confidence! My goal is to be at my goal weight in time for my 30th birthday. That's been part of the motivator, as well as just knowing that there will always be excuses not to get in shape, but even more reasons to do so.

Care to share any healthful tips that work for you?