The media is evil. It preys on our insecurities, telling us we are too fat, we eat all the wrong things, our skin looks terrible, and our clothes are sooo last season. I realize it's a new year and slightly cliche to be working on creating a new me, but so many things have changed in my life in the last month that the best way I can deal with it, is to reevaluate myself and start over. Keeping what I like from before and improving what I can.
May I accept the things I cannot change, have the courage to change the things I can and have the wisdom to know the difference.
I have the power to change my mind and my body. I can meditate to work on clearing my mind, being more aware of myself and living in the present as well as figuring out what I want. I can reduce clutter both mental and physical. Meditation will help clear my mind, I need to practice daily (like learning the piano). All my stuff is currently in my mom's garage (or in my car). Moving is such a harsh reminder of how much stuff I own. It is also a reminder of how much stuff I own that I never use, or is worn out. To respect yourself is to take care of your appearance. It doesn't have to come from the media, it doesn't have to be expensive and it shouldn't be for anyone but yourself. It's funny how it is possible to get so focused on something in the future that you forget the present. Reading about meditation, trying to practice it, and reading articles in yoga journals, have been helping me a lot to realize that life is now. Life is how we will be in 2 years, life is not going to happen when you get through something. I spend a lot of time thinking 'After I get through this things will be better.' It's a toxic way to think. Pain is inevitable but suffering is optional - it stems from attachment. Attachment to thinking I can control anything other than myself. I cannot change the weather, I cannot change other people, I cannot change what happens to me or to other people. I can only change or control my response to what happens to and around me.
Tonight I will be hitting up my first yoga class (in a long time and with new inspiration for doing it). I will chronicle my yoga/meditation/beautification/wardrobe updating experience here as well. It may seem that I share too much at times, but I have never really understood keeping things to yourself because we are all human and go through experience and how do people learn? By sharing experiences. In tough times especially is when the heart can heal with the help of words of others' experiences (I love you mom!)
May I accept the things I cannot change, have the courage to change the things I can and have the wisdom to know the difference.
Showing posts with label fitness challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fitness challenge. Show all posts
Monday, January 11, 2010
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Working out at home
I recently stumbled upon this website, exercise.tv, because I was looking for exercise videos I could get for FREE!!!
I just tried this free cardio kickboxing one and I really enjoyed it! (It helped me feel warm in my cold apartment!)
They way I got myself to finally do it (I found this site several weeks ago and didn't do anything yet!) I set a timer for time I coudl do work and then when the timer went off I got my workout clothes on and moved my chair aside and did the workout in my office/living room. I feel pretty pumped and it's nice. I miss exercise. I used to do a boxing class at the gym across the street form my work and I loved it. I'd never done kickboxing before, I'm sure my kicks aren't as high or as properly formed as they could be but I think if I continue to do this video I'll get better.
I'm excited about this! I also got Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred workout on my netflix cue, should receive that real soon and then decide if I want to purchase it.
Some things to try for to convince yourself to exercise
(good luck remembering them, try writing reminder notes, and setting alarm reminders for workouts):
I just tried this free cardio kickboxing one and I really enjoyed it! (It helped me feel warm in my cold apartment!)
They way I got myself to finally do it (I found this site several weeks ago and didn't do anything yet!) I set a timer for time I coudl do work and then when the timer went off I got my workout clothes on and moved my chair aside and did the workout in my office/living room. I feel pretty pumped and it's nice. I miss exercise. I used to do a boxing class at the gym across the street form my work and I loved it. I'd never done kickboxing before, I'm sure my kicks aren't as high or as properly formed as they could be but I think if I continue to do this video I'll get better.
I'm excited about this! I also got Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred workout on my netflix cue, should receive that real soon and then decide if I want to purchase it.
Some things to try for to convince yourself to exercise
(good luck remembering them, try writing reminder notes, and setting alarm reminders for workouts):
- take note of how great you feel at the end of a workout and remind yourself every time you don't feel up to working out
- bribe yourself for workouts. Every workout is $1 towards new lingere, every workout is $1 towards a new book, every workout is $1 towards your next vacation. Get creative, think about the things that will encourage you the most
- Write notes to yourself (I have one on my mirror that says "DON'T BE LAZY, work out, go for a run, don't forget to stretch")- it all depends on how you talk to yourself :P
Friday, April 3, 2009
Tracking your eating an exercise habits
Tracking what you eat and how much you exercise is a great way to stay on top of things and keep yourself in check and shape (so long as you keep it up and review it). I've struggled with physical fitness most of my life and after graduation from college I started to focus on my health because it had been so neglected during school. Here is a bit of the chronicle of my attempt to keep track of my health improvements and slips.
I used peertrainer for more than a year (with a few times of falling off the wagon). It was great because you could just list what you ate, instead of having to fill out endless pull-down menus to choose things that vaguely represented what you ate/ made for yourself. It was up to you to make sure you were making good choices. There are groups and teams and I liked this idea however my group only had one other person in it who actually was there most of the time. We had people join, say/post nothing for a week and then leave the group. There is a hand conversation box to the side and you can see what other people in your group are eating and what exercises they are doing. If I could have found a more solid group I think I would have kept it up. I tended not to post on weekends because I wasn't sitting at a computer all day like I do on weekdays. I generally posted my dinner and snacks from the previous night on the following morning at work.
I have also used a notebook created for training and keeping track of exercises and food consumption. I liked that I could carry it all the time and even to the gym to really keep track of my weight training which I have a tendency to forget (how much weight, what exercise, how many sets). At that time I was training with a friend from work for a 5K race. I'd set a goal of 45 minutes and I beat it by about a minute and a half. This was pretty fantastic for me because in K-12 I was one of the kids who walked the mile run. I did track and field... but really just field. I watched the runners in awe of their fit bodies and ability to jump hurdles (which scare the crap out of me.) I wanted to sign up for another race, in fact my running buddy and I talked about doing a marathon (she'd already done one) but then life happened (and winter) and we fell out of running and then she became more interested in hot yoga. This notebook was I think my favorite method of tracking my weight. It wasn't so strict in what kind of information you can put in, it had spaces for weight training, cardio, vitamins, glasses of water. Probably even better would be to have a personal trainer you talk to at the beginning of using it and when you finish the book- or even once part way through.
I have also created spreadsheets with graphs to keep track of my weight in the past. (Have I mentioned that I love spreadsheets? 'cause I do.) I like seeing a graph of progress. (Being a visual person seeing a line graph was encouraging rather than having to sort through numbers.) Excel and Google Documents makes it easy to create graphs with information, all you have to do is input the information. You can even set up your chart for how ever many days you want then all you have to do is plug in your weight/ waist measurement when you take it and watch your chart update (hopefully in a downward motion!) As you can see I was doing great for a while then I fell off the wagon. I'm trying to get back on now, hence the flurry of weight related posts! That's frustrating to look at now- I hadn't opened this file since last summer. I was so close to my goal. I wonder what happened that pushed me so far off track... time to review some calendars from last year and learn more about my habits and what happened in that sharp uphill turn!
(* I just checked the dates and that was 4th of July weekend. When the holiday and the food and the family time got the best of me. I remember being really frustrated after that!)
There was a Weight Watchers free online trial for 14 days that I did two summers ago. I joined again last year for a couple months, but failed to go to a meeting because of schedule and location options. I found the website annoying to use because you had to list everything in such detail, and a lot of things weren't easy to list (this was on the points system).
Visiting KE's sister (also KE!) in Philly, I got a glimpse of Wii Fit and I loved it. It made keeping track of your weight fun and balance exercises fun (which is something I really need to work on as my main goal for getting in shape is to be a better snowboarder). Unfortunately I don't have a Wii Console, I'm keeping my eye out for deals though! Perhaps I'll get one for myself when I'm at grad school... hmm....
Now that I've pulled that graph out from the past I'm excited to get back to my lower weight. I've just signed up for another online tracker- this one is weight and waistline tracking at RealAge. This site was suggested to me by a friend who knows I get a high of tracking things and charts and graphs and visualizers of success. I've just joined and input my goals and starting date information. Time to get back on track! I'm excited, are you excited!? Woot!
I used peertrainer for more than a year (with a few times of falling off the wagon). It was great because you could just list what you ate, instead of having to fill out endless pull-down menus to choose things that vaguely represented what you ate/ made for yourself. It was up to you to make sure you were making good choices. There are groups and teams and I liked this idea however my group only had one other person in it who actually was there most of the time. We had people join, say/post nothing for a week and then leave the group. There is a hand conversation box to the side and you can see what other people in your group are eating and what exercises they are doing. If I could have found a more solid group I think I would have kept it up. I tended not to post on weekends because I wasn't sitting at a computer all day like I do on weekdays. I generally posted my dinner and snacks from the previous night on the following morning at work.
I have also used a notebook created for training and keeping track of exercises and food consumption. I liked that I could carry it all the time and even to the gym to really keep track of my weight training which I have a tendency to forget (how much weight, what exercise, how many sets). At that time I was training with a friend from work for a 5K race. I'd set a goal of 45 minutes and I beat it by about a minute and a half. This was pretty fantastic for me because in K-12 I was one of the kids who walked the mile run. I did track and field... but really just field. I watched the runners in awe of their fit bodies and ability to jump hurdles (which scare the crap out of me.) I wanted to sign up for another race, in fact my running buddy and I talked about doing a marathon (she'd already done one) but then life happened (and winter) and we fell out of running and then she became more interested in hot yoga. This notebook was I think my favorite method of tracking my weight. It wasn't so strict in what kind of information you can put in, it had spaces for weight training, cardio, vitamins, glasses of water. Probably even better would be to have a personal trainer you talk to at the beginning of using it and when you finish the book- or even once part way through.
I have also created spreadsheets with graphs to keep track of my weight in the past. (Have I mentioned that I love spreadsheets? 'cause I do.) I like seeing a graph of progress. (Being a visual person seeing a line graph was encouraging rather than having to sort through numbers.) Excel and Google Documents makes it easy to create graphs with information, all you have to do is input the information. You can even set up your chart for how ever many days you want then all you have to do is plug in your weight/ waist measurement when you take it and watch your chart update (hopefully in a downward motion!) As you can see I was doing great for a while then I fell off the wagon. I'm trying to get back on now, hence the flurry of weight related posts! That's frustrating to look at now- I hadn't opened this file since last summer. I was so close to my goal. I wonder what happened that pushed me so far off track... time to review some calendars from last year and learn more about my habits and what happened in that sharp uphill turn!(* I just checked the dates and that was 4th of July weekend. When the holiday and the food and the family time got the best of me. I remember being really frustrated after that!)
There was a Weight Watchers free online trial for 14 days that I did two summers ago. I joined again last year for a couple months, but failed to go to a meeting because of schedule and location options. I found the website annoying to use because you had to list everything in such detail, and a lot of things weren't easy to list (this was on the points system).
Visiting KE's sister (also KE!) in Philly, I got a glimpse of Wii Fit and I loved it. It made keeping track of your weight fun and balance exercises fun (which is something I really need to work on as my main goal for getting in shape is to be a better snowboarder). Unfortunately I don't have a Wii Console, I'm keeping my eye out for deals though! Perhaps I'll get one for myself when I'm at grad school... hmm....
Now that I've pulled that graph out from the past I'm excited to get back to my lower weight. I've just signed up for another online tracker- this one is weight and waistline tracking at RealAge. This site was suggested to me by a friend who knows I get a high of tracking things and charts and graphs and visualizers of success. I've just joined and input my goals and starting date information. Time to get back on track! I'm excited, are you excited!? Woot!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
oh jeans, how I loathe you
The problem with loving to bake and trying to perfect a chocolate chip cookie recipe is all the calories. My jeans (freshly washed and line dried so slightly shrunken) didn't fit this morning. I have been horrible at eating well save the nights KE and I cook together and make a full correct meal (meat,veggie, starch). I need, once again, to reevaluate what I'm eating. My favorite days are days that I bring veggies to snack on. Today I have red grapes, baby carrots and snow peas. I can fill up on those. I didn't have breakfast- the morning bagel, tasty as it is, is probably not the best way to keep a caloric budget. Not to mention that some mornings it is just too hard to get up early to eat breakfast (let alone exercise). I think this summer, when I'm working outside and on my feet all day, I will be bound to loose weight so long as I don't use it as an excuse to binge on unhealthy food all day. I've already looked up the farmer's market for the area I'll be staying and have been figuring out what kitchen things I will take with me. I think I just decided that I won't be taking any baking supplies. It'll be summer- I will have no excuse for not eating fresh fruits and veggies for those 3 months. I'll be keeping track of that on this site so hopefully we'll ass see some progress!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Saving money and time
I started my day early today. I wanted to start running (outside- I cancelled my gym membership to save money) but needed the motivation of someone expecting me so I found a running buddy in my neighborhood on craigslist. This morning we had our first (short and cold) run. We will be doing it again on Friday (I need to make/fashion an ear band!). Cheaper than a personal trainer, and I was outside! Now I just need to lift eh weights I bought at home. Other than being headbutted by a dog that seemed to enjoy jogger bowling, it was a pretty good morning.
This way I'm saving time by still having my eveings and lunch hour to do as I wish. I just nuged the start of my day a little bit and I feel more awake. After I finish my breakfast (yogurt, blueberries, honey and granola) I'll pop in the shower and assemble my salad and head to work! I feel so productive!
This way I'm saving time by still having my eveings and lunch hour to do as I wish. I just nuged the start of my day a little bit and I feel more awake. After I finish my breakfast (yogurt, blueberries, honey and granola) I'll pop in the shower and assemble my salad and head to work! I feel so productive!
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