2012 - It's Gonna Rock

I decided that I'm not going to start off this post by lamenting over all the things that I didn't accomplish from my goals list in 2011. All that accomplishes is about 10 minutes of frustration and disappointment in myself - and quite frankly, I don't think that sort of attitude is a good way to start off a new year. Instead, I am going to share with you a list of things that I did accomplish last year and then share with you some things that I would like to accomplish this year.

So what happened in 2011? Here's a short list of some things that I am excited about over the last year:

• I was able to read more books than I had in 2010; according to Goodreads, I completed 17 books during 2011. Right now I have 3 more in process, so I am glad that I was able to focus more on one of my favorite passtimes over the last 12 months. 
• Steve and I have done a much better job at keeping God at the center of our marriage than keeping ourselves there. The fruits of this have been amazing; we feel closer, conflict is much easier to handle, and we feel a more genuine sense of optimism & excitement about the future of our marriage as a result. 
• My prayer life has gotten stronger and I have gotten more comfortable with opening up to God in conversation. This is something that has been a huge struggle for me in my faith, and truthfully the book "Mystically Wired" helped me change my perspective on prayer. 
• My running improved! I reached a point where while outside I was able to go longer between "walking periods" which was very exciting to me. Of course my "speed" was still just about a jog, but I was excited to need to take less walking breaks. That, however, got put on the backburner because...
• We're having a baby! In September we found out that we'll be expecting our first little one, and in December we found out that our little one is going to be a little boy. We're super excited and so far the pregnancy & baby have been going quite well. (The pregnancy put my running endeavors on hold per doctor's orders... but it's worth it!)

Now we're in 2012, and I am excited to set some goals for the year that I know have a good chance of being accomplished. Why? Because I am determined this year. This year my goals are not being set out of obligation or some sense of "this is something I should do; this year's goals are in place because I want to accomplish these things. Period.

Goal Number One - Read the whole Bible: This year, our church is going through the narrative of the Bible from start to finish over the course of 12 months. As part of this, they have shared a reading plan that gets you through the Bible over the course of the year. In the past, I've set Bible reading goals only to fall flat on my face because I don't take the step of setting up some sort of way to hold myself accountable. Because our whole church community is reading on the same plan (or at least has the option to), it will serve to keep me on track during the course of the year. I am excited about this endeavor and know that I can see it through to the end.  

Goal Number Two - Successful Breastfeeding: I am excited to meet our little boy and welcome him into our family - along with all that entails. Yes, even the poopy diapers. One of the things that I am super excited about is nursing him and being able to provide him the nutrition that he needs from my own... person. I know that breastfeeding is hard work and it doesn't work for every person, but I am more than willing and determined to do everything I can to make it work. I have been praying that he not have digestive or latching issues, and will be signing up for a breastfeeding class that's offered at the hospital we will be delivering at. I also have had several women offer their expertise that I trust and value their opinions/advice, so I think that I have a great framework in place to be successful in this endeavor once our little man gets here. 

Little Man at 18 weeks, 3 days. Isn't he a cutie! 

Goal Number Three - Read More Books: In 2011, I was able to complete 17 books before the year was out. This year, I'd like to go back to my middle school days and hit the 20+ book club. I really don't see any reason that this goal cannot be achieved, but hey - you never know. I have a slew of books and a library card that are just aching to be read and/or used, plus I'm already off to a great start with 3 books in process. I LOVE reading, and hope that we can set a good example of how awesome reading is to our little one once he gets here. 

Goal Number Four - One 5K Race in the Fall: I am blessed to have a husband who encourages me in my running endeavors... and who also finds the value in everyone having time to themselves to do the things that will help them relieve stress. Once our little guy arrives and the doctor has cleared me to start jogging again, I can't wait to start to get back into the groove of it. My ultimate goal is to run in another 5K - either the same one I did before or one closer to home - and beat my last time of... whatever it was. Basically less than 38 minutes start to finish. I know that with Steve's support this is something that I can definitely achieve and I am excited about it.

There they are - my goals for 2012! I'm excited about these and I have a fantastic feeling about 2012 - I know it's going to be a great year. 

What goals do you have for 2012? 

Do you have a system in place to achieve the things you want to achieve? 

Setting the Bar for 2011

Today is the first day of the new year, and I am excited to say that I spent it with Steve setting up our budget and then having a day-date pilgrimage to Foxboro to hang out at Patriot Place. It was indeed a great start to the year.

The last few days I've been wondering what exactly it is that I want to accomplish this year, and truthfully I've been a bit stumped. This morning as I stood in my office I realized that there are 4 things that I want to do and getting them down in a written form is a good first step in getting going with them. In no particular order of importance, here are the things that I want to accomplish sometime in the next 365 days.

1. Finish the "Afghan of Doom". I taught myself to crochet about 8 or 9 years ago and it was right about that time that I bought a bunch of yarn and decided I was going to make myself an afghan using nothing but double crochet stitches and an "H" hook. To this day I have still not finished that blasted afghan and I'm pretty sure I haven't set a stitch into the thing in over a year. Rather than have an unfinished project continue to take up space in my closet, I'm going to finish the thing before the year is out. Period. This goal is non-negotiable. I'm tired of the doubt I have in my heart and mind that the blasted thing will ever be done - it must happen.

You're mine this year, Afghan of Doom. Be prepared to be completed.

2. Study at least one book of the Bible per month start to finish. As I mentioned in my post re-capping my 2010 goals, I did not complete this goal this year. I did end the year having spent more time in God's word than ever before and really enjoyed the time I spent studying scripture. What I did learn through this (besides not having a plan and not setting aside time being key factors to incompletion), is that there are several books of the Bible that I definitely want to dive into and spend time in. Among these are Isaiah, Jeremiah, Acts, Revelation (to name a few)... I really think that if I plot out at least one book to read and study per month, that will be significantly more attainable for me than trying to read the whole book in a year on my own. I know my own limits, I know how I spend my time, it's best to take a moderate step on this and surprise myself later rather than a huge leap.

3. Read at least 15 books before the year is through. Last year I set out to read more than I did in 2009, and I increased my total from 4 books read in 2009 to 13 books read in 2010. This year I'd like to read at least 15 books; considering I used to be an absolutely voracious reader and I love reading - this one is one I think I can achieve.

These poor books just want to be read... don't they look sad and lonely?

4. Run in two 5K races and achieve progressively better times. I ran in my first 5K race in 2010, and I loved it. I have grown to really enjoy running and can feel myself getting stronger and being able to run longer. Having said that, this year I'd love to be able to run in at least 2 races and improve my time with each one. My first time was 37:48, so I think that's something I can definitely succeed in as well.

Four seems to be a good number for me, so I'm going to keep it to this list for things that I want to accomplish this year. I'm excited about them. Now if you'll excuse me... I have a cup of tea, a pile of yarn and a crochet hook in the other room waiting to be paid attention to. Might as well get right down to work!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

2010 Goal Recap - How'd I Do?

At the beginning of the year, I set some goals for myself. The year progressed and a lot of things happened in the Athanas household this year:

• We bought a house that we absolutely love.
• I hit a huge weight loss milestone - even in the midst of the holiday season.
• Steve was able to travel for business twice, which he loves. 
• I started to use my cookbooks more and blogged about it.
• We sent our fish to a better home where they could be better taken care of and we gave our 90-gallon tank away to a single mom who wanted to set one up for her child. 
• Steve and I both experienced rebuilding/healing of relationships in our immediate families, which has been pretty cool.
• God answered our prayers for additional volunteers for the youth ministry more than we ever could imagine - we'll end 2010 with a staff of 8!

Home Sweet Home - Athanas Homestead, Est. 2010

There are lots of other things that were of note in 2010, but those are the things that immediately are coming to mind as I reflect on the year. However - this post is not about those awesome things. It's about how I did on my goals. Our friend John said once that when you set goals, transparency in goals is important - so I'll be honest as I go through each of these and let you know how I did without any fluff.

1. I set out to read the entire Bible in a year: Well... if this were a complete pass/fail - I would absolutely fail. I did not read entire Bible this year. Having said that - I will say that just setting this goal at all did draw me to God's word more than I ever have been drawn in the past. I spent more time reading scripture this year than I ever have, and in fact got so caught up in Psalms one morning recently that I lost track of time and was late for work! I think that there are two things that did not happen that would have made this goal a complete success that I will definitely keep in mind for next time.

1. I did not set out with a plan. With all the reading plans out there to read the entire Bible in a year, do you think I looked at ANY of them? Nope. Not a one. If I decide to reset this goal - this is one thing I would definitely make sure I had in place.
2. I did not set aside time each day to read scripture. Without proper time, no goal can ever be achieved.

Again - I don't consider this goal completely missed as I did spend significantly more time in God's word than I ever had before. That in and of itself makes me feel that something was accomplished here.

Almost... but not quite...

2. I thought that maybe, just maybe, I would finish more crochet projects in 2010. Yeah right sure. I'm not even going to attempt to bring some positive spin to this - I did NOT complete more crochet projects this year than last. However - if I play my cards right - there's a very decent shot that I will complete a larger project I've been working on for a while for a gift before the year is out. Stay tuned... I'll let you know. I can't reveal it quite yet because, well, it's a gift.

3. Read and complete more books! This one I definitely did, and I'm psyched about it. Two of my favorite passtimes/hobbies are reading and crocheting; reading has been since I was a small child. According to my Goodreads tally, I completed a total of 13 books this year. That's 9 more than I completed last year, so I really kicked this goal's butt. Very excited about that! My favorites that I read were "Snowflower and the Secret Fan", "The Shack", "The Vertical Self", and "Before Green Gables". I'm wondering if I can beat 13 books for next year... do I toy with fate and reset this goal for 2011?

4. Participate in and Complete a 5K race: Well... any of you who know me and/or read this blog know that I did this one in November. I ran in my first 5K with my friend Laura and completed the race in 37 minutes and 48 seconds. I was so pumped. I also closed out the year with a great milestone for myself this morning on the treadmill - I was able to jog for 38 out of 45 minutes I spent on the machine, and completed the 5K portion of my workout in just about 36 minutes. Considering how boring running on a treadmill can be, I was pretty pumped about this. I'm giving all the credit to my new running pants I got at TJMaxx last night.

Finished! Check one off the list...

So - I would give myself about a 75% on the year, which is better than most people do with their annual goals. I'm excited to think about and establish goals for 2011 - I have a really good feeling about next year!

What about you? What goals did you achieve this year? What are you thinking for 2011?

*Blink Blink Blink*

In August 2008, I weight 225.6 pounds.

For as long as I could remember, my doctors told me that I needed to lose weight. The physicals and bloodwork I had in 2007 and 2008 indicated that my weight was starting to effect my health - insulin resistance was setting in and my "good" cholesterol was out of balance.

When I got married in 2007, I knew I couldn't continue to be heavy forever. I wanted to be able to run around after our kids and didn't want to be the butt of too many "your mom's so fat that..." jokes as they got older.

So, after a bit of discussion, Steve and I decided to set out on a journey together to change our lifestyles. Right before Labor Day in August of 2008, we resolved to get our weights down to a healthier level. We started off by spending a few months eating less, then after our first 10-15 pounds were shed we got gym memberships and started exercise. We worked with our doctors to set goals for our weights, and both my PCP and OB/GYN advised that I should be between 135-145 to be "healthy" for my body.

This was not going to be easy, I knew it from the beginning.

I have been through streaks of weight loss, vacation weight gains, plateaus, sinus issues that prevented me from exercising, stress eating battles... you name it. For the last 6 months or so, I have been in the plateau of my life. I was convinced my body would not let me drop below 153-155 pounds, no matter what I did.

All along the way on this journey, I knew that if I could just get to 150 I could make it to the end. 150 pounds would mean that I was in the homestretch before I hit the top of my goal range. I could get very excited at 150 pounds, it would mean that the goal was seriously attainable.

But still that stupid plateau persisted. 153-155 pound range, no matter what I did. No matter how hard I exercised or skipped out on office cake when it appeared.

Oh yeah - and the holiday season with all of its parties and ridiculousness just started, by the by.

This morning I got on the scale and blinked. I got on again because I didn't believe it the first time. Still not believing it - I got on and off again.

Third time - no change. The scale was not lying or having a malfunction.



150.0. On the button. Three times in a row. I had to take a picture to capture the moment.

Two years and almost 3 months later, I hit the magic number I was waiting for.

And now... I'm in the final lap of the race. Come on, goal range!

Run, Baby, Run!

At the beginning of the year, I laid out a few goals for myself and one of them was that before the year was out I would run in a 5K race. A little bit later in the year, I identified what that race would be and then as I continued to work towards adding more running into my routine - I realized that I CAN run and I ENJOY running. Yesterday... all of those thoughts came to fruition when I laced up my shoes and hit the pavement to run in my very first 5K race ever!

I was super blessed to have my good friend Laura join me in the 3.1 mile race around Lake Quannapowitt in Wakefield, MA. I had kept my fingers crossed all week that there wouldn't be any rain - there wasn't, but Laura & I both had coughs. Neither of us were going to let that stop us from enjoying the fall day and jaunting around the lake.

Laura & I before the race - ready to go! I don't know who that other chick is, but she has a number - so she must have run too. Good job, other chick!

When the horn blew, we started out at a good comfortable pace. During the race, Laura was a great encourager every step of the way. We talked about lots of different things, she was understanding when I needed to walk, and pushed me to go just a little bit further before I took breaks. The jaunt around the lake was really pretty - both the lake and the houses we passed - and because it was relatively flat it was a great way for me to try out a competitive 5K. When we reached the orange cones and started to come to the finish line - I didn't believe it when Laura said "We're under 40 minutes!". I turned the corner and saw for myself; the clock was at 37:30 and ticking! As we crossed the finish line - I watched as the clock ticked over to 37:48. I was so excited - I wasn't expecting to be less than 45 minutes with my cold, never mind a good amount under 40 minutes!

Here is one of the NE 65+ Runners that beat us. Behind him you'll see a red vest - that's me! You can tell I'm still running at this point.

Me & Laura right after we crossed the finish line. Whoo hoo!

Once we were done, we got our t-shirts and some free snacks. We waited for our official results to post (they got mine wrong - but whatever - they said I did better than I did) and then we headed with our moral support (AKA - husbands who cheered us on) to get some lunch. I really enjoyed the race and having someone to run with made it even better. We both are excited to do another race sometime in the future - maybe in the spring - and better our times.

The sense of accomplishment of finishing a 5K was amazing. I wanted to just tell everyone I saw - "Did you know I ran a 5K today? Do you know I used to hate running?". I refrained, but it really was an incredibly feeling. I'm so grateful for Laura for running with me and for Steve for being willing to stand at at the finish line waiting for me with a camera, a kiss, and a big hug.

Time to start researching for springtime 5Ks! Anyone know of any good ones in Eastern MA?

I'm SO Not a...

For years and years, I always said "I am so not a runner."

I remember very clearly when I was in drum corps and we'd have to do laps around the school. I was almost always the last one to finish, and while the encouraging cheers and good-jobs from my corps-mates were nice - it always felt awkward to be last. I never participated in track & field days, and the one time I did was the 50-yard dash. I got a ribbon for 4th place... out of 5. I'm pretty sure the 5th kid tripped.

So needless to say - I always said I am so not a runner.

Sometime last year I decided I wanted to give running/jogging another try. I don't know what moved me to this decision, but I put on my sneakers at the gym and got on the treadmill. I alternated between 2 minutes walking and 1-2 minutes jogging at first, and felt great. Over time, I took that walking/jogging routine outside when I could and at the beginning of the year I made one of my 2010 goals to state that I would participate in and complete a 5K race. Somewhere in the middle of April or May I realized that if I was going to do this, I needed to take my feet outside and get used to jogging on pavement (it's harder - I think - to run on pavement than a treadmill because the latter offers less resistance and helps you move).

Then we bought a house, and for a while exercise in general - never mind race preparations and getting used to jogging on pavement - went by the wayside.

The last couple of weeks I've made sure that once per week I get outside and literally pound the pavement. I've discovered three things doing this:

1) I need new sneakers if I'm going to be running outside. The ones I have are... well... they're good for using an arc trainer or dancing in a Zumba class, but they're getting a bit worn for running.

2) The more I run outside, the better I've gotten. I push myself a little bit harder each time, and I'm getting further. Last week I did 2.12 miles in 29 minutes, this week I did 2.25 miles in 30. It's improvement - and I like it!

3) I'm (slowly) becoming a jogger. Not sure about "runner" yet, but I think I could get there at some point.

That's right. I said it. I'm becoming a runner/jogger. When I got home this morning from my jog/walk - I was sweaty. My muscles were tired. I was breathing heavy. But it felt GOOD. I had a flashback to when I was at the hospital in back in high school to get a stress sprain on my ankle looked at and the doctor asked me if I was a runner.

"Psh. No," was my flat response.

He looked pensive. "Huh. Wow. People with internal tibial rotation* usually are good runners. You should try sometime, you might be surprised."

Well... Doctor-whose-name-I-can't-recall... thanks. You were right, and I am surprised that I actually enjoy my time outside with the sun on my face, iPod music in my ears, pushing myself to jog a little bit further between each period of walking. More importantly - thanks for reminding me not to write myself off, think I can't do something, and underestimate my own capability.

I CAN do it. I WILL do it. I AM doing it. 

 I'm SO becoming a jogger.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Side note: Internal Tibial Rotation is a condition I was born with that makes my lower legs (tibias) turn in. I wore corrective shoes for a while as a kid. Pay attention next time you see me walk, I bet you notice now that I pointed it out.

Balancing the Diet Budget

Those that know me personally know that about a year and a half ago, I started out on a journey to lose a whole mess of weight. So far I've lost about 65 pounds and have another 20-25 left to go; I have to say that I feel the best I have ever felt.

Part of this process has been recognizing certain things about how I eat and how I have eaten my entire life. To this point, the biggest focus of my diet has been calorie restriction. This means that I have not paid a ton of attention to what I eat but instead have just been eating a heck of a lot LESS of it. This combined with exercise has drastically helped me to lose the first 65 pounds. It's also taught me a lot about foods that are better for you than others as well as the fine art and smart practice of reading food labels. I've learned what appropriate portions look like (as in an actual serving of pasta instead of the American idea of a serving) and how to cook just enough for one or two people. It's been a great experience.

All of that said, there are several things I have NOT been paying attention to in this process - namely the amount of fat, sugar, sodium, and cholesterol I have been taking in. Then yesterday I had a rude awakening when I was looking over my Livestrong for the day. My sugar count was as 399% of my recommended for someone trying to lose 2 lbs/week at my current weight.

That's right... sugar count at 93 grams. And look at how low my fat & cholesterol are! Bad - you betcha. That was before dinner which was Chili Mac... which surely would have raised some of those low numbers, but more sugar surely would have been added in the pasta and chili.

Needless to say - this was the slap in the face I needed. My family has a history of diabetes and so a reduction is necessary for me to stay healthy long term. My diet is not terribly well balanced - clearly - so some changes need to be made in order for me to get on the track I want to be on.

I immediately went through the list and found the heavy hitters for sugar and thought of ways that I could lower my sugar intake. The biggest culprit was the yogurt I was eating. The prepackaged, preflavored yogurt I had yesterday offered up 29 grams of sugar - which is over the recommended for my pre-exercise calorie limit! By going to the store and buying plain yogurt, fresh strawberries to mix in, and flavoring it by adding vanilla & cinnamon I decreased the sugar count to 10.1 grams - a 19 gram reduction! Another heavy hitter is the granola bar that I chose for myself this week; it offers up 13 grams of sugar per serving. Next week when I'm out of granola bars, I'll be switching this out to one serving of nuts instead (probably almonds or cashews - yum!).

Here is what today's totals look like after adjusting my almond milk (unsweetened vanilla instead of sweetened), switching the yogurt, and making sure the sugar count in my lunch was under 10 grams:

This is before dinner, but as you can see I'm about 35 grams down from yesterday - which is a positive move! My sodium is pretty darn high, but that's due to the can of soup I had for lunch today (gotta love the high sodium in canned soup... or something... chug chug chug the water!). Next week I'll be making further adjustments to raise the low and decrease the high, but overall as I move into the homestretch of my weight loss I'm excited to be balancing my diet and becoming more and more aware of the things that I eat.

What do you do to keep your diet balanced?

I am Free to Run...

When the year started, I set out some goals for myself. I am admittedly doing better in some than in others, but one that I am really setting my eyes towards is being able to run in a 5K race. A bit of searching on the intertubes revealed that there are quite a few of them in the Merrimack Valley alone (the area of New England I live in), but if I broaden that search to the whole of Massachusetts and New Hampshire there are even more to choose from.

I did some searching yesterday and tracked down one race in Wakefield, MA on Lake Quannapowitt that I think could be a good one for someone who's never run in a 5K (about 3.1 miles) before. It's a flat course around a big lake that lots of people run; in fact, a couple of the people I work with run/walk it on a regular basis. The link to the race page did not work, so I emailed the contact to make sure that the race is still "on" and to verify the date. I heard back from him and it's on November 6, 2010.

Quannapowitt Reflections Originally uploaded by excard1970

I've decided that this will be the race that I run this year. A while back, Fit This Girl had offered a piece of advice that it makes it easier to train for a race when you've actually signed up for one. Since the sign-ups aren't available yet, the best I can do is mark it in our calendar so that I have the goal in mind.

Now that I have one, I have to work on my time. From what I've been able to tell from some online research, it seems like the average time to be able to run a 5K is between 30-40 minutes. In the fall before we went to Jamaica, I did my first go on a treadmill (our gym has a treadmill with a 5K loop setting) and my initial time was 44 minutes, 54 seconds. Last night I did it again and found out that I have shaved 3 minutes off of my time; I was able to complete it in 41 minutes, 54 seconds last night. This means I'm not far off from the average run time, which makes me excited.

For now, I'm still not able to run the entire 5K on the treadmill which means there's no way I'd be able to run the entire thing outside yet (treadmill offers less resistance than actual road surface). I'm getting closer and closer the more I work for it though, which is encouraging for someone who was never really a runner. As soon as the weather is consistently nice, I'm going to start running outside and maybe even try to get over to Quannapowitt once in a while after work just to try the course out.

I'm excited about having a path towards reaching one of my goals before the year is out.

Legs Do It! - Final Week!!

It's the final week of the Legs Do It! Challenge... and of course it's the busy week right before vacation. Here's my plan for this week; you'll notice I'm doing 3-days of sculpting/strength and integrating stretching in before/after. With the way my life tends to work out, I've found that incorporating my stretching into my routine this way is more in tune with how my life flows.

Tuesday: Sculpting
- 35 jumping jacks
- 100 total up/downs on the plyobox (50/leg)
- 25 lunges/leg (I think I'm a masochist... my legs are barely recovered from Saturday's lunges. But - I don't want super sore legs in FL next week, so I'm doing them now).
- 15 minutes legs only on the elliptical (3 minute intervals forward/backwards)
- Stretching before/after

Wednesday/Friday: Strength
- 20 minutes on the bike
- Weight machine routine
- Stretching before/after

Thursday: Running
It worked out really well to do my jog/walk routine before work last Thursday and shower here, so I think I am going to do that again.

Well that's that! It's been an awesome challenge and I'm looking forward to being more attentive to my legs in my workouts going forward. It's been great to have a bit more variety to my workouts as well; keeping the variety has kept it interesting!!

If I knew enough upper body/ab routines, I would offer up a challenge to people next month to work on those things... but I don't. So I think instead I'll just make a concerted effort to pay more attention to those areas during my exercising as well. It's all about honoring the body that God has given me!

Legs Do It! Challenge - Week 3 Update

I altered my original plan a bit from what I wanted to do just based on how the week went. No worries, however, because my weight is finally moving back down and my legs feel like they've gotten a workout this week - which means I did something right!

Here's the snapshot of the attention my legs got this week:

Monday/Wednesday: Strength
I did 22 minutes on the bike on both of these days, followed by a routine on the weight machines. I did increase my weight on one more machine this week, so this means that my legs are getting stronger. I am VERY excited about this!

Thursday: Run-ning (like Forest Gump... ha!)
Thursday is Youth Group day, which means my time is crunched. I went to work and used the treadmill there to get some time in on my walk/jog routine (I'm trying to increase my time until I can jog for the straight half-hour; I'm almost there, I did 18 jogging minutes and 12 walking minutes). Here's why I'm counting running as some attention my legs get and not just general cardio: every time I jog (I'm not quite at "running" yet, I don't think), my legs feel like they've been beaten. I never ran much growing up, so training myself to do something new is good but means muscles that don't normally get used - get used. And appreciate it. And show me that by being sore.

Yay!

Friday: ZUMBA!!!
Zumba is a full body work-out, but your legs get a ton of attention because you're dancing. And your soul gets some attention because you're having fun too - especially when you're doing it with other beautiful women who you love dearly (it was part of our Youth Group girls' night, my great friend Priscila was recently certified and taught an amazing class). LOVE IT! We went for about 50 minutes or so, and I think I could have done another half hour easily!

Saturday: Sculpting/Stretching:
This morning I got up and did:
- 35 jumping jacks
- 10 burpies (which are hard, and look like this)
- 25 lunges w/ 3.5 lb. weights
- 20 squats with body weight
- 20 side leg-lifts per leg
- 20 front (flat) leg-lifts per leg
- 10 minutes of old-school color guard stretching focusing on my legs

When I did these, I put my Pandora on the "Just Dance" station I have; there's something empowering about doing exercises to songs like "Sexy Can I" (Warning: explicit lyrics!).



I feel great - probably the best I have all month. Excited for next week - going to give it my all and go into my Disney vacation feeling amazing, I can feel it!

Hopefully next week I can give myself a gold star.

"Legs Do It" & Adventures With My ENT - Double Update!

So - confession time.

Last week was an overall bust for Danielle with the "Legs Do It" challenge. I did my first day of paying attention to my legs on Tuesday (lunges, steps, etc.) - and then I ran into issues.

I think I mentioned in my first post about my sinus issues that I have a routine that I follow every night in terms of making sure I don't run into any problems. Well I ran out of Sudafed and didn't get to get to the store to get any, so I went two days without. I could feel this starting to catch up with me - and then I didn't give myself enough "upright" time with my nasal rinse. By Wednesday my sinuses were not in a good place, Friday I could feel myself starting to fight a cold on top of it - and Saturday I had a massive headache (probably unrelated, but still not a help).

Needless to say - we learned about what happens when Danielle strays from her routine that took her forever to arrive at. And while I did get to the gym, I did not get in the amount of leg-specific work that I wanted to. I got some time in on the elliptical just so that I could stay active - and was happy with that.

To close out the ENT update: I had a CT scan on 5th and was given a CD. Tomorrow afternoon I meet with my ENT doctor to go over the scans and see if I am to proceed on to meet with an allergist or not.

Now - On to the "Legs Do It!" challenge!

Monday/Wednesday: Strength
- 20 minutes on the bike (since that is concentrating mainly on the legs)
- Weight Machines (I was excited yesterday to note that my weight is increasing on a couple of machines - that made me happy).

Friday: Sculpting
- 25-30 lunges per leg (Going to see if I can push it - I didn't get much pain last week)
- 40 jumping jacks
- 100 steps/leg on the plyobox
- 15 minutes lower body ONLY on the Elliptical trainer (3 min. intervals front-back)

Saturday: Strength
- 30 minutes on the Elliptical
- Weight Machines

Stretching:
Rather than dedicate just one day for stretching, I am going to make sure I stretch every day both in the morning and at night. I find that I don't really have a good place to do Yoga at home, so this will be the best way for me to stretch I think.

That's that! Let's see if I can manage to follow this a bit better this week, shall we?

"Legs Do It!" Challenge - Update!

Last week was the first week of the "Legs Do It!" Challenge - and my legs are on their way to getting whipped into shape. Here's where I landed:

Monday (Sculpting): I went to the gym after work and did the following (which was a slight modification, but still a good workout) -
8 minute elliptical warm-up
25 lunges per leg
35 jumping jacks
15 minutes on the elliptical, alternating every 5 minutes between backwards and forwards using ONLY lower body (no arms)
100 steps total (50 up on each leg) on the plyobox. For those of you who don't know what that is, here is a picture. I did the steps on the smallest one, which is about a foot tall (higher than a normal stair):

Tuesday (Stretching): Tuesday I did the Yoga video that I mentioned in my previous post and I learned that Yoga was hard. However, I also learned some life lessons when I reflected on my first Yoga experience - and that was awesome.

Thursday/Saturday (Strength): After a quick warm-up, I did some work on strengthening my legs using the weight machines at Planet Fitness (where I have my gym membership).

Challenging my legs was awesome and they felt great come Sunday. However - I am noticing that my upper body and core feel neglected, which means I need to be sure I'm incorporating those into my routine pretty soon as well.

Here's what my plan is for this week:

Tuesday: Sculpting - I will be repeating the same series of things I did above, as I was incredibly sore and felt that it gave my legs a good challenge.

Wednesday: Stretching - I'm not sure if I'll do the same Yoga video or find a more novice one to use. We shall see. Wednesday is supposed to be a snowy day, so that might be a good day for Yoga.

Thursday/Saturday: Strength - Same as last week. Potentially upping the weight on a couple of the machines depending on how I feel after sculpting. Last week it took from Monday night when I did it until Friday to stop being sore. But it'll be worth it!!!

"Legs Do It!" Challenge - Schedule for 2/1 - 2/6

I announced a few days ago that I would be participating in the "Legs Do It!" challenge 'sponsored' by Fit This Girl. Well it starts today... and I realized when I woke up this morning that I hadn't yet set up my schedule for the week of what I am going to commit to do! So here is my commitment to my legs this week:

Monday (Today): Sculpt
I am going to be having a beverage with one of the girls from our youth group tonight, but after that I am going to head over to Planet Fitness and do some sculpting. Since this is my first sculpting go-round, I'm going to keep it light and do:

• 30 lunges
• 30 jumping jacks
• 15 calf raises
• 10-15 minutes on the Stairmaster

Tuesday: Stretch
I am going to try out this Yoga video early in the AM before work that Fit This Girl (whose name is Mary, so I will just call her Mary from now on) has posted on her site. It's about 45 minutes long, so I'll need to make extra sure that I start it right at 5:30 or 6:00 AM to be sure I have enough time to do it before work.

Exercise TV | Workout Videos | Free Full Length Workout Videos

 
Thursday and Saturday: Strengthen
I have a strength routine that I do at Planet Fitness that I need to be better about doing (since I'm not doing it regularly). This includes 3 sets of 10-12 reps on about 5-6 different machines that target different muscle groups on my legs. I am committing to make sure I do a lower-body weight routine on both Thursday and Saturday. This means I have to make darn sure I'm up and at 'em early on Thursday morning... which may be difficult, but I know I can do it.
 
I'm pretty excited about the next 4 weeks of this, and hope that I am able to develop some good habits by incorporating some leg-specific exercises into my routine. Of course I'll continue with my running and elliptical work, and hopefully getting to more Zumba! classes as well.

Physical Challenge!

So with all the sinus issues I've had over the last few weeks that are finally starting to settle out, getting to the gym has been the last thing on my mind. This of course means I am not working on my goal of competing in a 5K this year... which is really annoying and frustrating. One of the blogs I follow - Fit This Girl - is offering a "Legs Do It" challenge for the month of February... and I'm signing up!

The basic premise of the challenge is simple - to take care of your legs! Here are the areas that are to be focused on at least 4x/week:

• Strengthen: using weights with my legs: lunges, squats, dead lifts etc!
• Sculpt: Step, lunge, & lift my way to sculpted legs
• Stretch: Yoga, or stretching at home to help build lean muscles and reduce injury!

I need some motivation these days, and I am excited about this challenge! Not only will it help me to get back into a routine, it will help get my legs ready for more running.

Anyone else in?? Head on over to Fit This Girl's post to find out more.

I Don't Believe in Resolutions

Most people don't keep most - if any - of their New Year's resolutions. A Google search run by yours truly found a few statistics saying that somewhere in the neighborhood of 75%-97% of resolutions made at the start of a new year are not kept. That means that most of us start the year with all sorts of good intentions to better ourselves, but for some reason - probably that we are all creatures of habit - we do not complete what we set out to do.

As such - I do not believe in New Year's resolutions. I do, however, believe that setting goals for ourselves is a good idea. These goals should be SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Bound); if you do not create a goal that fits into most or all of those categories, it is destined for failure. For example: the number one New Year's resolution is to lose weight. A lot of people will start the year and say "I am going to lose weight this year!". That is not a good enough goal; a better goal would be "I am going to lose 30 pounds by Thanksgiving". Do you see the difference?

So - for 2010 I have set out a few goals I am going to do. Nothing too crazy, and definitely things that are doable.

1. In 2010, I am going to read through the entire Bible. I have never read the whole Bible before and there are several plans out there to do so. I have a journal that details out a plan to read over the course of the year beginning in January. This makes it easy to start at the beginning of the year rather than somewhere in the middle. I am very excited about diving into God's word and getting closer to Him just at a time in my faith journey that I am starting to feel His presence more.

2. In 2010, I am going to complete more crochet projects. There are a few hobbies that I really enjoy that had fallen by the wayside during 2009 - crocheting was one of them. Considering that this year I think all I accomplished was maybe a few dishcloths, this should NOT be difficult to measure. This is attainable by using my time at home better and making sure that I do take time for myself to do these hobbies.

3. I will read and complete more books during 2010. Again - this one should not be a difficult one to attain and is another hobby that has been neglected. I am a bookworm at heart, and this year I only completed 4 books according to my GoodReads page, where I track what I read. Seriously? I miss reading. I need to get on top of this - I have some to finish and start!

4. I would like to be able to run in and complete a 5K road race. This is a big one for me and probably the only "Shoot for the Moon" goal I have. There's a local road race that is held every year on Thanksgiving Day called the Feaster Five. I've never been much of a runner, and I don't need to place in the top 10 - but I would like to be able to at least run in the race once and complete it. I've been trying to start running more and it's been much easier since I've lost weight; I actually enjoy my time on the treadmill at the gym. I can't wait for the weather to start getting nicer and start running outside.

There you have it. My goals for 2010 laid out and written down (which "they" say is a step in the right direction for accomplishment). I hope to be able to come back here on December 31 with some good news.