Gym?

Sometimes, I get questions about where I work out or what gym I go to. Well… I don’t go to a gym… at all. For one, during my single mommy days it just wasn’t feasible, some gyms don’t have childcare and for some reason babysitters frown upon the idea of coming to your house at 5:30am.

I did work out DVD’s and some of them I love (P90X for example) and there where others I didn’t. And I realized that I didn’t like doing the same thing over and over and over and over (and did I say “over”) again….. Then I found Nike Training Club! Oh my. I. Fell. In. Love. It’s amazing.

First off… it’s a free App! (Gotta love free.) Second you pick your workout level: Beginner, Indermediate or Advanced. I personally jump back and forth between Indermediate and Advanced. Then from there you can pick if you want to “Get Lean” (cardio), “Get Toned” (light weights), or “Get Strong” (strength training). From there you have a slew of workouts that range from 15 minutes to 45 minutes to pick from. In addition if you are not sure how to do the exercise they are asking you to do, you just tap the screen and a small video pops up and shows you. Again… can I say pure workout bliss. The workouts are challenging (you will break a sweat and feel a burn) and you will work your little rear off.

The best part with this? I do a complete workout in the small space that is between my bed and dresser. With my own weights, yoga matt, that little space at the foot of my bed and my smart phone I have created my own gym! Now for those of you who used the NTC app and got bored with it; guess what, they revamped it. Like, allot, revamped and it’s freaking amazing! Because now you can also go in and tell it what moves you like better than others. You can also create programs and the app will tell you what workout to do (for those of you who can’t make up your mind what you should be doing in the wee hours of the AM).

So no gym. No gym membership. Just me. Weights. And a small area of carpet. That’s it. In the two year journey I’ve not once stepped into a gym and to be honest, I don’t know if I ever will? I won’t ever say I “never” will because I may find that at some point I need to, but right now and for the last two years I haven’t. The commute time is perfect, pj’s to sports gear and I’m there. There’s no waiting for equipment. And the instructor can be carried around in my pocket for when I travel. Nice.

So what the moral of this post? No excuses. Just get up and make one change towards a healthierME. You don’t need a gym – just yourself and the will to make a change. 🙂

The Bag Lady

I joke (allot) that I’m the bag lady. Why? Well you should see what all I carry back and forth to work! It’s heavy, bulky and there are 3 of these things I carry! Yes, I carry on an average day 3 bags to work. Why would I do such a thing to myself you ask? Well lets talk about that.

First there is my purse… It holds my wallet, checkbook, small first aid kit (yes, I have a first aid kit… I have a kid and he’s a boy… enough said), my glasses, my sketch book (I am an artist), my journal (I do love to write), a small notebook for lists of things I need to do, a small baggie of honey packets and tabasco sauce (I would say don’t ask, but I think letting you use your imagination might be a hair more fun), a 1 litter water bottle, and an assortment of random legos parts, rainbow loom bands and motrin… again I am a mom… to a boy….

So that right there is a good, 5lbs (give or take). There there is my lunch bag… yes that grey looking purse that’s almost as big as my purse… that’s my lunch bag. Now before you get all, “go good grief” let me explain. When I started this journey I had a small (average size) lunch bag. But it never really fit everything I would bring which is: breakfast, lunch and 2 snacks. Which I know doesn’t sound like allot… but it adds up. I was trying my best to cram everything into it and I did find that certain containers fit it better than others. It was almost like a game of Tetris each morning.

After almost two years of playing the puzzle game I found my son’s athletic lunch box. No, there is no such thing as an athletic lunch box. This was just the lunch box that my mum got for my son to bag his food in during his sport games. But being that at the time my son wasn’t playing sports, I started using it because it was bigger. And yet even with being bigger, it still wasn’t big enough.

Then one day while wandering around (of all places) Costco I stumbled on this amazing new and even bigger lunch bag. It’s advertised as the lunch purse. It has two zipper pouches where you can store food on one side and your “essentials” on the other side. Personally, I fill this thing to the brim so using it as a purse doesn’t really work. But what it does do is hold all my food when I go to work and any food that I need to carry around with my on the weekends. And Yes I do carry food around with me on the weekends. Mostly snacks. But, there are the few times I bring more than that.

Next we have the string bag. Depending on week will depend on how many times I run on my lunch break. Some weeks it will be 1; others up to 3, but it averages out to 2 times a week. And yes your visual of me changing clothes, going outside and going for a run is completely right. Now, I don’t have a shower at work. And yes, I stink when I’m done. But what I do have is an office and a door where I can close myself off to my employees. Shoot, sometimes I don’t even change back into my work clothes. I’m blessed that the people I work for know that run and why I run and they don’t care (or at least they don’t say anything, but then again I am half those people’s boss and I can’t really see anyone telling their boss they stink… perks 🙂 ).

I do however try to work out or run in the AM before work. Sometimes though the choice of running in 35 degree weather at 6am seems less tempting than running when the sun is up in 45 degree weather. Plus, I find the hills over by my office a great challenge.

I won’t lie, on days where I bring all three I let out a little grown shuffling everything in and out of the car and into my office, but how I feel at the end of the day when I know that I conquered the hills, ate right and got a full days work in is one of the most satisfying feelings.

People have asked how I make time to work out and eat right and I just tell them they have to schedule it in their day. I know before the work week what’s going to be for breakfast, lunch and dinner and when I will run at lunch or work out in the AMs. Just knowing that makes everything a whole lot easier. It’s easy to say “forget” or “I don’t feel like it today” (and yes we all have those days… even me), but I try to focus on how I know I will feel after the fact. Sometimes that is motivation enough to spend those few extra minutes planing lunches or packing up your meals for the day. Not to mention, think about how much money you would save just bringing your lunch to work? I used to eat out at lunch 3-4 times a week. That averaged out to $30-40/week… that’s $120-160 a month I get to save.

Living a #healthME lifestyle isn’t always easy, but it is rewarding. Even if you do become a bag lady. 🙂

healthy 14

I know, I know. Bad Blogger! What can I say? Planning a wedding, staying fit, combining households…running a marathon sounds WAY easier than all of that. But I will say that I did stay on track (for the most part). I got off the bike, got back on, coasted for while, pedaled a little more, got off, got on, fell a few times, but I’m back on and I will try to promise to document a few things as I have made a few new and rather hefty goals for myself this year.

So hefty might not be the right word? Challenging? Tougher than normal? For me? Well let’s just put it out there, because you know when you share it with the world, everyone keeps you accountable… right?

Before we get into that, let’s start with the goals I made for myself in 2013.  At the start of 2013 I was able to run 3 miles no problem; anything farther… eh… By the end of 2013 the farthest I ran was 10 miles in one run and my average long runs went up to 5-6 miles (hey look at me go!) But in all seriousness I was told a long time ago from coaches that I was never built for distance, only speed. And guess what? I believed it. I know, stupid me. I put limitations on myself because someone told me I’m not “built” for something? (insert head shaking) Needless to say, I wanted to prove to myself that wasn’t the case and that I’m built for what “I” want to do. So I did. #iCan #iWill #watchME

One of my other goals for the year was to keep on my healthy ME lifestyle. I’m happy to say I did! I’m amazed by how much I’ve learned about fitness, nutrition and just overall how the human body works… why are we not taught these things in school and I’m ashamed that it took me this long to figure it all out. (side note – it’s been 2 years since my last soda! – yeah me!)

Now onto my goals for ’14. 

Run a 15k.
Yes on Feb 8th I will run a 15k (9.3ish miles). This is my first non-5k so yes the nerves are getting to me a little, but I also know I can do this. I’ve been training since October or November for it and I’m hoping that I can finish in 1:30 – 1:35. I think that is doable. #iCan #iWill #watchME

Run a Half Marathon.
Yes. The choice was made awhile back that I will do this, the question was always “when?” Now, I have my answer. On March 23rd I will run a half marathon. Why a half? Because I’m only half crazy… (insert crazy laughter). But in all seriousness, this is something I wanted to do for awhile. I just never never thought it possible (again believing in other’s own opinions about my own physical abilities). My goal is to finish in 2:20-2:25. #iCan #iWill #watchME

Family 5k.
SO my hubby was told that he needed to change from running to biking to ease the joint pain in his lower back (he pretty much doesn’t have any padding between his disks.) So while running with me on my goals would be more than awesome I understand he can’t, but we have planned to do a Family 5k. What is that? Well we are going to find a 5k sometime in the spring or fall and we are all going to run it. It won’t be about time, but about us all running together as a family. Our son is so excited to do this and I’m excited to help him learn how to truly run. Kids are so “all out” or “all nothing”. It’s going to be fun to teach him all the little things I learned along the way. He will be 8 when this happens and I think he’s ready to take on a challenge such as this.

Mentally HealthyMe.
So I don’t like to talk too much about faith on my blogs because everyone has different faiths and even within those faiths can be different beliefs. But I plan to spend the year reading my bible more and meditating on Philippians 4:13 and 2 Timothy 3:13-14. For those interested you can look up the verses, I won’t preach on this site. 🙂 And if you see random hashtags of #phip4:13 or #2tim3:14 you will know what that means.

Baby-Maybe?
So ever since I got married the question of “when can we expect a baby?” has come up… a lot… My hubby and I are getting into a routine with married life and our family right now, but we do have a timetable that we are not sharing (insert evil grin). However, with that said, I plan on using the year to look up and do research on how I can continue to work out and eat healthy during the important 9 months! When I was expecting with my son I thought I did what every pregger woman should do… I ate for 2 (more like 3 or 4. eh… more like 5) and I gained 70lbs… in the last 20 weeks of my pregnancy! OUCH! Yeah, it wasn’t healthy and it made labor and recovery hard. So I plan to learn what I can to make the next one, if it happens, be as healthy as possible for both baby and mommy.

What are your healthyME goals for ’14?