13 for 2012 ;-)

I wrote this huge post… and then I realized that you all don’t need to know the nity grity details of every. single. goal. I have made this year. So here is a list:

1. Read more. The first goal is to read at least 2 books a month. I love reading, and realized that I haven’t done very much of it lately.

2. Plan our trips better. We love to travel, but have been slacking in the planning department. Which usually means our trips are very last minute and thrown together. So this year, we are going to plan for it more… oh and step one is to open a Savings account for travel.

3. Become a better photographer. I love photography, really. Working in the field has also opened my eyes to how much there is to learn. So this year I’m doing Project 366, committing to shoot in manual only, and learning how to better my shots.

4. Watch at least one documentary a week. I love documentaries, I love learning about history, I love learning new things. A friend of mine posted a link to the Top Documentaries. These are awesome, there are hundreds of documentaries and most are totally free to watch. No downloading needed.

5. Become healthy. I’ve been healthy, and in general I am pretty healthy. But I’d like to get rid of the jiggle in my thighs, and tone my arms and butt a bit more. I really just want to create a healthier lifestyle for the husband and myself.

6. Do house chores throughout the week. I am one of those people who always leaves everything for one day in the month. This includes, vacuuming, cleaning, grocery shopping, laundry, dusting and so on to just one day… and this one day ends up being the worst day of my life as I run around the house trying to do 12 loads of laundry, clean out the fridge and vacuum the floors. So, in 2012… I am going to attempt to get things done throughout the week and not waste my weekends.

7. 30 for 30 Challenge: I’ve been meaning to do this since I started this little bloggity of mine. I found Kendi’s blog and fell in love with her and the idea of using the items you have in your closet. I have a shopping problem… however I need to get it under control… so I am challenging myself to do the 30 for 30 for at least 1 month in every season.

8. Work out at least 3 times a week. I need to get back on the workout path. So I have decided to reward myself. Every workout I complete, I put $5.00 in our travel savings account. Three workouts a week is $15.00, that’s $60 a month… and if you are as good as me at using a calculator… it’s $720 a year. Which can go a long way when it comes to vacations… and only if I’d work out 5 days a week…

9. BUY a house and move. While this is more of a need rather then a goal, I’m putting it on here because it’s one of the many things on our bucket list. We’ll most likely be moving at the end of May beginning of June and will have our very first house bought by this time.

10. Be a better blogger. The last few months of 2011, I sort of dropped off the face of the earth, or at least the bloggy world. This is totally due to my lack of organization these past few months. I’m never disorganized, but apparently there is a first of everything. So, this year… I will blog at least 5 times a week. welllllll I will try!

11. Be responsible with money. I am awful with money. Really… the more I have, the more I spend. The worst thing is that the hubs is kind of the same way. We spend a ton on travel. Any time we have a few extra pennies we book a trip, or buy a new car or a new computer, or a new TV or… you get the idea. SO, this year, we’re trying to be responsible without really giving up our travel. So we’re cutting back on TVs, computers, anddddd sadly shoes.

12. Clean out our belonging. We have a lot of crap. Most of it in boxes, sitting in the basement of my parents’ house. We need to clean it up, get rid of things we don’t want to move. Sell the furniture off before we move into a new house. I refuse to move things we don’t want or want to replace with us.

13. Be happy.

A feel good weight

While I’ve been away from the blog world I’ve been stuffing my face with all kinds of things.

Husband has been on a kick of cinnamon rolls… you know the size of your head messy goo covered in even sweeter glaze?!

And guess what this chick has been doing?! Give up? Been stuffing her face with the giant balls of fat and calorie. I think I read somewhere that one of these babies has 900 calories… or something to that effect. How freaking gross am I?!

I’ve also been indulging in a glass too many of sweet red wine, soda and of course those sinful little huge margaritas the hub makes. It’s been nice, sitting at home in the hubs flannel pants, eating and working away. Since I work from home, I haven’t really needed to fit into pants or any other form of proper clothing for weeks. So it came as a surprise when I tried to put on my favorite pair of jeans, and ripped a belt loop trying to pull them up.

I did the wiggle, and tried to dance around to get into my jeans. I finally succeeded but it was a whole workout of its on. I literally huffed and puffed my way into the jeans, and than plopped my fat behind on the couch to take a breather.

How freaking ridicules is that?  

I have a nasty habit of getting to my feel good weight, which usually correlates pretty well with getting into my jeans comfortably weight, and than stuffing my face and not going to the gym. So, here is to trying to break the vicious cycle.

I’m going to a 5:30 AM spin class tomorrow morning at the gym. I feel that if I get my workout done early in the morning, I’ll have more energy and time to spend on everything else during the day. My biggest excuse for not going to the gym is that I haven’t finished enough work and still have so much to do. If I get the gym out of the way first thing in the AM then I don’t have anything to worry about for the rest of the day.

I’ll also be back on My Fitness Pal tracking my routine, calories and so on. I’m going to add in three days of spin at the gym, and a mix of P90X. It has been, by far, one of the best workouts programs I have done, with serious results.

Hope this new routine works out for me. My fat hinny needs to fit back into my jeans… because jeans are freaking expensive and I am not about to throw away or replace my $150+ jeans. No sir.

Back to my ROOTs

 

When I started to blog, my intention was to blog about my attempt at a lifestyle change. From eating junk and sitting on a couch to actually getting my butt in gear, eating healthy and exercising more. Well… it worked for a while, and they I got caught up with other things and stopped going to the gym. Granted, I stilled paid my little large fat tax.

Now I’m back into the swing of things. Yesterday, I went to the gym for the first time in months and it felt great! I didn’t spend too much time there… well under an hour… but I did get a good sweat out of it, and felt pretty proud of myself.

However,  I did come home and stuff my face, which completely cancelled out everything good I did in the morning. Today, I’m going to be addressing my eating issue as well. I’m going to start using myfitnesspal again and get back into being healthy and fit.

I won’t be dieting… I hate that word, and I’ll post more about my hatred for the word soon. I am simply changing my habits so that I can live healthier.

This was breakfast this morning. A turkey breakfast burrito with black beans, and homemade pico de gallo.

I don’t really know how healthy this is, but all the ingredients are fresh, and instead of pork sausage I used lean ground turkey. So I’m going to go ahead and say it was a healthy breakfast in all. Pretty dang delish!

Today, I’m going to try and workout at home and save myself the drive to the gym. Should be much nicer.

Hope you all are having a great Wednesday!

  

Keeping Fit at 79

 

After this post, about my grandfather. I thought it would be nice for you all to hear from him and how he keeps fit. So I asked him to write a bit about what he does. Here it is:

I like to keep my fitness routines interesting and varied.

From Spring to late Fall I ride my bicycle an average of 2000 miles, splitting the miles between my race bike and my all-purpose road bike.  I am an urban rider and can get in a 60 to 80 mile within an area between Parker and Boulder.   I tend to ride 25 to 30 miles before a stop, and continue that routine throughout my trip.  At the speeds I ride, I burn about 620 calories per hour.   Cycling is great for legs and lungs.

During the Winter I lift weights to maintain muscle tone and bone density.  Cyclists and Runners should do weight training, because those sports do not favor muscle tone and bone density.   Weight training burns an enormous amount of calories, not during the exercise, but afterward when the body repairs the muscles.  Weight training is also good for the heart, lungs, and balance.

These two fitness programs have been my routine for years and kept me fit enough for my cancer operation.  The trick is to keep your fitness routine fun.   If it's not fun, you're not going to want to do it.

A thought about mind and body:  The power of mind and body working together toward good health and fitness can't be ignored.  From my bicycle racing days I learned that the mind is more than half the race.  If the mind-set is to win, then winning becomes not only possible, but inevitable.

A very successful friend had buttons made up saying "Ya Gotta Wanna".  He gave me one in 1966 and I've kept it for forty-five years.  It's the heart of any endeavor.

As my grandfather says: If you don’t wanna, you ain’t gonna.

My grandfather is an avid reader of my blog, so if you have any questions or comments for him go ahead and leave them at the bottom! He’ll be more than happy to answer them all.

Thank you so much for writing this Grandpa! Love you!

A Resolution to a Healthy Lifestyle

 

I have been wanting to start another challenge to promote healthy living in our society and community. And I know there are a ton of people like me who know that they need to be healthy but don’t have the time, the motivation or don’t know where to start. So I will try and help as much as I can through documenting my own journey.

Today, I am linking up with Suzzie from SVSmiles for her blog challenge of making a healthy resolution.

I’d like to start off by telling you guys a little story about my grandfather and why I believe living healthy is important.

My grandfather in 2007 at my high school graduation party.

I think many of you saw my posts in March about my grandfather’s surgery and fight with cancer, I mentioned it shortly here and in a few other posts. Today, I want to tell you his story.

My grandfather is currently 79 years old. He has served in the Navy, and is a vet for Viet Nam and Korea. He has been a successful employee and a world traveler. He is still a small business owner and an avid bike rider. The man does anywhere from 30 to 80 mile bike rides, several times a week (if weather permits).

In May of 2010 he was hit by a car while out on his bike. He practically walked away with a few bruises and some broken ribs. Through his checkups the doctors noticed a “bruise” on his lung. They biopsied it and it came back clean. A few months later during another checkup, they noticed that what they thought was a bruised lung had actually grown. They did another biopsy and in January 2011 diagnosed my then 88 year old grandfather with lung cancer.

At my birthday lunch in February before the operation

The doctors said that he would have to go through chemo because they could not operate. If they operated they would have to remove half of his left lung, and they did not think that my grandfather could survive on only on one and a half lungs. The news was shocking to all of us, and at one point my grandfather stated that if he had to be on supplemental oxygen then he wouldn’t do anything at all. In that case he would have about a year to live.

However, we all thought he would be just fine on one and a half lungs, since he was still riding his bike for miles without breaking a sweat and being out of breath. The surgeon said that he would operate if the test results for Oxygen levels came back where he wanted them to. Well, low and behold, they put my grandfather on a bicycle test, which he passed with flying colors. EVEN with the cancer taking up half of his lung he was able to preform at such levels that the doctors were amazed. Surgery was scheduled for March.

The surgery took about three hours, and through the whole process we were getting updates from the operating room. At one point, when the nurse called to update us, my grandfather’s daughter asked how he was doing, the nurse replayed “he’s doing good… no wait… he is doing GREAT.”

When the surgery was over and the doctor came out, he told us that the cancer was much bigger then they had been anticipating, and it was actually pushing on his pulmonary artery, meaning he was getting even less oxygen into his system. He also told us that my grandfather should be feeling even better after the surgery and he did not think that he would need any supplemental oxygen when going home.

True to the surgeon’s words, my grandfather walked out of the hospital about a week later, with no oxygen and feeling great. His blood oxygen levels were actually higher then his pre-op, and he was feeling significantly better.

And he was there for my college graduation a few weeks after his surgery!

The doctors said that if it wasn’t for his biking and his outstanding physical health, he would not have been considered for surgery and God knows how affective Chemo would be.

Just this past weekend my grandfather did the annual Kaiser Permanente Moonlight Classic ride, around downtown Denver. He was also asked to speak to lung patients at the hospital and given an award at the Moonlight ride.

Here he is post op and at the Moonlight Classic.

 

Moral of the story. Get healthy and stay healthy. It will save your life.         

So what are you health/fitness resolutions?

The Fat Tax

 

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It is officially true that I am a bum when it comes to the gym. I had a really great two months of going, and then once finals came around I took a week off, that week turned into two and I am currently on my third week off from the gym…

When I made this observation to the Mister, he stated that I’m just doing my part in paying the Fat Tax. The Mister went on to explain what he meant by the Fat Tax after he so my completely confused face.

The Fat Tax is the money you shell out every month for a gym membership that you never use. In short, when you are paying $40.00 a month and skipping the gym altogether you are paying your Fat Tax.

I thought that was cleaver, but it also made me really think of the fact that I am wasting $40.00 a month if I don’t go to the gym, and while we have pretty much a full gym set up in our basement it is just not the same.

Hence, I am going back to the gym tonight. Reluctantly, and a little sad that I have to get off my comfy recliner and drive in the 40 degree weather to the gym, then get out of the car and actually walk into the gym, but I am not going to waste my Fat Tax anymore! $40.00 could get me a new pair of shoes, but I’ll settle for a less jiggly booty.

Are you paying a Fat Tax?

A Month of Goals – May Edition

 

In April, I started setting mini-goals to accomplish throughout the month that will help me in my journey of a healthier, happier and overall more positive life.

My goals included sleeping for 8 hours a day, cutting out soda and junk food, exercising daily and regularly, writing more, planning and cooking meals at home, reading at least 2 books, and organizing my closet. While, I didn’t get to all of them, I feel that I’ve made some progress.

Successes:

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I’ve cut out all soda and fruit juice consumption from my diet. I can tell you that I crave Dr. Pepper, especially when the Mister sits in front of me with a big glass of it, but I’ve been super good about avoiding all soda. I have seen a difference in my energy level, as well as my weight. I’ve lost a solid 5 pounds in the month, and I am attributing a good portion to the lack of soda in my diet.

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I’ve tried to be good about going to bed early and getting up on time with 8 hours of sleep under my belt. On most nights, about 80%, I did get my 8 hours of sleep. There were a few days here and there that I had to stay up doing homework and studying, as well as a few days where I stayed up with the Mister just because.

I sure felt the difference between getting 8 hours of sleep compared to my usual 5 to 6 hours of sleep. So this will be going on my goals for May… get 8 hours of sleep daily, no excuses.

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I’ve been super good about going to the gym, Body Pump classes, and working out at home. I had a few bad days due to my knee, but I got down to the gym at least 3 times a week. The 25 Days of Fitness was also fantastic and really kept me motivated and accountable. I also, read a ton about nutrition and exercise and increased my knowledge and obsession. Next up is clean eating!!!

Failures:

This list is a bit longer. I defiantly did not cook as much as I would have liked to, and we indulged in take out and fast food, less then usual but some non the less. My closet was completely ignored, and I’m still living in two pairs of jeans, handful of t-shirts and gym clothes. It was quite a disaster when both of my jeans were dirty… not a good day in the this household!

I also put my reading goal on hold due to the amount of homework and studying being forced upon me by Chemistry. BUT… today was my last class… Monday is my final… so this is the last push before I can read whatever the heck I’d like

May is going to be a big month!!!

Not only am I done with school but I have had several exciting opportunities come my way, including a research project that I get to work on on my own, with the Anxiety Clinical Director as my Supervisor. This is super exciting because the study is regarding eating disorders and anxiety. When the research is analyzed and papers published my name will be on them, which means I will be armed with an admissions ticket to almost any PhD program in my field. WOO!

Aside from this bit of news, here are my goals that I will be working on this month!

1. Drink more water
2. Eat at least 2 servings of fruits and 2 servings of veggies a day
3. Drink protein, and take my vitamins daily
4. Sleep 8 hours a day
5. Cut out fast food. All of it. No excuses.
6. Catch up on my reading
7. Organize my closet

For now I am going to stick to these lovely 7 goals, which should be pretty easy without the extra worry of school!

Time to head to the hospital! I’ll be back later for the link up with Lindsey at Mr. and Mrs. Smith regarding the weight loss challenge.