The Perfect Saturday

A while back I started a new Saturday routine and I absolutely love it! This new routine includes two hours at the gym, a nice healthy lunch, and a long hot bath and facial when I get home. It is the perfect way to end a long week.

At the gym I usually do Bodyjam for an hour, followed by an hour of Bodyflow. Lately, I have switched out Bodyjam for an uphill walk on the treadmill. I love Bodyjam and I still go on Tuesday nights, but two Bodyjam classes a week was getting a bit boring. Now that I am training for BWC, I will be running on Saturday mornings before taking the Bodyflow class.

The combination of cardio and Bodyflow is divine! Bodyflow is a mix of Tai Chi, yoga, and pilates, so there is lots of stretching, deep breathing, and calm, positive energy. Don't get me wrong, I definitely work up a sweat. But, in a much more relaxing manner. After a long week of ripping and running, Bodyflow is just what I need!

Once I leave the gym, I feel peaceful and my mind is clear. I usually enjoy a nice salad or a scrambled egg with veggies. Then I revel in a steaming hot bath and pamper myself by giving my skin the royal treatment. (I recently started using this organic skincare line that works wonders!)The rest of my Saturday involves relaxing and keeping positive.

Thinking back to the old me, a great Saturday would have involved anything but time at the gym and healthy eating. I am also not sure how much relaxation it would have involved. But, I have come a long way to where taking care of me is enjoyable and does not mean stuffing myself with unhealthy food. I now see challenging myself physically and eating healthy as two of the greatest things I can do for myself. Of course, a long hot bath and a facial have always been a great idea!

Keeping My Goals in Mind

It has been about five months 7-10 hours per week, my fitness level is the best it has been my entire adult life, and I have lost 15 pounds. While I am often tempted to feel that I should be further along with the weight loss, I remind myself that this is a process and that slow and steady is best.

In terms of fitness, I am working on two goals at this present time:

• losing at least 20lbs for the  8-week "Extreme Brickover" competition at my gym
• training for the Baltimore Women's Classic 5k in June

In terms of the weight loss competition, we are in week 5 and I am down 10.2 pounds. I really need to make these next three weeks count, if I am to reach my goal. I have been a bit lax since Easter, but I will be tightening up immediately!

I am really excited about training for the race. I ran the BWC for the first time in June 2010. It was the first 5K that I ran and it was hard...but I finished in a little over 57 minutes! My goal for this year is to finish around 45 minutes. This week was my first week back to running in a while, and I am doing a 17-minute mile. To meet my time goal, I need to be at a 13/14-minute mile. While it will be a challenge, I am excited to have something other than the scale to focus on.

I would like to get this blog going again as a way to keep me on track. With the semester winding down, I am sure that I will be able to write a post at least once a week. Please stay tuned and follow me on my weigh!

A Different Approach

I have recently been feeling the need for some extra support and accountability in terms of my weight loss efforts. With my increasing responsibilities at work and at home, it has become so easy to forsake exercising and eating right on busy, stressful days. This has resulted in some significant weight gain over the past few months. I will not even get into how unhappy I am about that. Instead, I will focus on the fact that what is done is done and all I can do is move forward on a better path.

I contemplated a few different options but decided on 1) starting back with Diet-to-Go, 2) reviving my blog and 3) joining a gym and working with a personal trainer. I started the meal plan and joined the gym last week. Initially, everything was moving along fine. But, yesterday, my emotions and my body rebelled like nothing I had ever experienced. So, I gave in. I had the chicken ranch pizza that I was craving and I did not bother to feel guilty about it. I simply made up in my mind that I would get back on track today.

With that in mind, I am on my weigh to the gym for 45-60 minutes of cardio and a group exercise class. I will let you know how that goes!

I'm Back!

I am so ashamed at how long it has been since my last post. But as you may have guessed, life was more than busy. I completed my Ph.D., the holidays came and went, and yet another semester at work is now underway. While life has been busy, it has been good! I am so happy and I have a peace that I haven't experienced in a very long time. I am experiencing a new level of clarity and I have taken on some new challenges on my journey to shed the weight. I am so excited about all that is going on in my life and I will be sharing the details with you in the posts to come. I am back on my weigh and I hope that you will reconvene the journey with me!

Re-evaluating My Relationship

Now that I am once again working towards my weight loss goals, I have been reflecting on my relationship with food. In doing so, I have come to realize that over the past few months food and I have developed a very unhealthy love/hate relationship. I am the first to admit that I love food! I want food when I am happy, sad, proud, angry...the list could go on and on. The bottom line is that there is no mood, situation, or circumstance that food can't get me through. However, food has also been a source of guilt, anger, frustration and stress for me.

A few weeks ago, Hubby brought to my attention the negative conversation that I have with myself almost every night regarding food. No matter how little or how healthy I eat, I end the night beating myself up about my eating. The crazy thing is that this routine has been so ingrained that I do it without even being aware that I do it! How crazy is that?! I end every night fighting with my food!

What I have realized is that I really need to re-evaluate my relationship with food. Food is not my enemy. After all, there is no way that I can live without it! But food does not need to be my best friend. So as I move along on my weigh I will be conscientious not only about eating healthy but also about keeping my relationship with food in proper perspective.

Beginning Again

A few months ago I made the decision to focus all of my time and energy into completing my dissertation. Part of this shift in my focus meant that my weight loss efforts had to take a backseat to my research and writing. It was a very difficult decision to make but it was also very necessary. As much as I would like to think that I am great at multi-tasking, there comes a point where juggling too many tasks at one time could be disastrous.

Don't get me wrong, I did not totally abandon the healthier lifestyle that I began at the start of this blog. However, my exercise was sporadic at best, my healthy eating was inconsistent, and I developed quite the cupcake addiction. So, here I am desperately needing to get back on my weigh.

The good thing is that I have completed my dissertation and I will be graduating in December. This leaves me with a lot more free time and the energy and enthusiasm to restart my journey toward a healthier, more fit lifestyle. To get back in my groove, I am taking it back to the basics. My initial goal is to exercise every day for at least 30 minutes. At least two days a week, I will run for my 30-minute workout. In terms of my eating plan, I will stick to a strict 1600 calories per day. To help me accomplish this, I am going back to diet-to-go for at least some of my meals.

Perhaps you too are ready to begin again. Well there is no time like the present! My philosophy is that every day is another chance to be better, to do better, and to get back on my weigh! Stay tuned for more inspiration and progress updates.

To Be Continued.....

As you probably have noticed by now, it has been a while since I have blogged. I have been in the throws of my dissertation for the past few months and have had no time for any other writing. But, I am happy to report that the dissertation is coming to a close and I will resume writing very soon. So just in case you thought I was done with this blog please know that I will continue.