Taking the plunge!

Ok! I’ve done it!  I’ve made the commitment!

No…. I’m not getting married!  I’ve committed to the Nerd Fitness 6 Week Challenge!

What this means is for the next six weeks – starting September 24th – I’ll be working towards four specific fitness and life related goals.  Three will be fitness or health related, and the fourth is a “life goal”.

For example, here’s what I wrote down for my goals (copied from my thread on Nerd Fitness):

Goal 1 – NF’s Beginner Workout x3 a week - Right now I’m sedentary, and really need to get my ass in gear. The beginner workout is probably as good a place to start as any. Hopefully I’ll be able to work myself past it? [ +3 STR, +2 STA ]

Goal 2 – Yoga x2 a week. I was doing Yoga steadily for a while, but fell out of the habit months ago. I felt really good while I was doing it, so I think it’s a practice I need to get back into. [ +2 STA, +1 CON ]

Goal 3 – Learn to eat Paleo up to 80% - That’s really what brought me here. I’m excited to change my eating habits to something that, to me, just the thought of it feels healthier. With a small vacation coming up at the end of September, this will be a difficult starting point, but I’m up for the challenge. [ +3 CON ]

Goal 4 – Life Goal - Start steps towards getting into grad school. First steps would be getting tour of the University, meet with the Advisors about my undergraduate grades (which weren’t so great :/ ) and getting my Transcripts sent. [ +2 WIS, +2 CHA ]

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention – NF treats fitness goals like a role playing game, with stats for your Strength, Charisma, Constitution, Wisdom, Stamina and Dexterity.  You can increase your stats by achieving your goals.  It sounds kinda fun, so why not try it out, right?  Anything that can make fitness that little bit more fun is all good to me.

The first steps on this Challenge are going to be hard, as I’ll be out of state next weekend, so it will be harder to control when I get to work out, or where I get to eat.  I’ll do my best to keep up with things though!  I’m an Advenurer!  GRRR!!

Do I run? Only when chased…

Wow, it’s been a while since I updated and I apologize for that.  I haven’t had much progress fitness-wise – with my diet or with exercise.  Finally, I have something to write about.

Couch to 5K

Vague you say?  Well hear me out.  I follow a lot of blogs.  A LOT of blogs.  Most of them are either food related or fitness blogs.  A good percentage of them also happen to be owned by runners.  I couldn’t understand it.  Why were they all runners?  What was the draw?

Honestly, I have to admit that I was a bit jealous of all these runners.  I felt like they had something I was missing.  Maybe it’s the sense of community.  Maybe it’s the ecstasy of the wind through your hair and the endorphins pumping through your body.  I don’t really know, but honestly, I was taken over by the green-eyed monster.  I was just plain jealous.

Recently, however, I got to thinking.  Sure, I’ve walked a few miles here and there, and didn’t have much problem with it.  Why not add some jogging in here and there?  Why not actually try running?  What’s it going to hurt?

I do worry about a few things.  I worry about the cost, because I can’t afford running shoes, so for now I’m stuck running in skate shoes (which can cause shin splints and other unpleasantness).  I worry I’ll be bored.  I just worry – it’s in my nature.

On to Couch to 5K.

It’s a training program that claims that in nine weeks you can go from a couch potato to running a 5K run (3.1 Miles) or 30 minutes, 3 days a week.  The program has a huge following and is held in high regard, or else I wouldn’t bother trying.  Now, part of what got me thinking hard about this was the fact that my walks were already 2.5 miles, and I didn’t think it was all that far.

It starts you off with some interval running – running faster for a short period of time, then slower for a short period of time.

I think this is a really good opportunity for me to get a bit more fitness into  my life.  I need to decide when I’m going to run – mornings or evenings (the heat is a big deciding factor), and what my route will be.  The roads around my apartment complex are super busy, so I’ll try my best to find something safe.

Wish me luck!

I Love Food! I Hate Exercising!

Sorry folks, this one is going to be a long one.

I love food!

This is kind of a recent realization to me.  It never occurred to me until now that this was the case.  In the last few years, I’ve become somewhat of a foodie, and I eat out way too much.  I consider this the result of living a more prosperous lifestyle than I have in the past.  We’re not well-off.  We’re only maybe lower middle class.  But I’m eating much better than I did years ago.

Four and a half years ago, I left my home state of Connecticut to live in more inexpensive pastures.  While I was living in Connecticut, I had no car, so I walked or bussed everywhere I needed to go.  Our budget was extremely tight.  Early on, it was a “ramen three times a day” budget.  Later on, we could afford better than ramen, but not much.  Many days I only ate one meal a day.  I weighed in at about 165lbs on my 5’7″ frame – about twenty pounds higher than my pre-pregnancy weight, which to me, wasn’t bad at all.  I wasn’t terribly unhappy with my weight at the time.  I know it wasn’t the healthiest of situations, but it was what it was.

Fast forward to four and a half years ago.  I moved and ended up in a better financial situation.  Three meals a day!  Wow!  A year later I moved again, and in with Baron, a self-professed butter addict.  There were three meals a day, junk food and dinners out.  My weight shot up from 165 to 205 in just over the first year.  I was floored.

Now I’m trying to make dietary changes, and having such a hard time with it.  Last night I had two and a half bowls of pasta slathered in ricotta cheese.  TWO AND A HALF BOWLS!  It tasted so good I couldn’t stop.  I gave myself a tummyache.  Sadface.  I know I want to eat better, and eat less, I just can’t get myself away from stuff that tastes just so damned good!  I don’t know if this means I have food addiction, or some kind of eating problem or what.

I’m not sure where to go next.  I really need some control in what I eat, and to get over my lack of willpower.  How do I reign in my out of control appetite?

I hate exercising!

I really, REALLY do.  Like I said before, back when I lived in Connecticut, I walked everywhere, and while I had difficulty sometimes (my fibromyalgia sometimes made walking difficult, I’d use a cane when things got too painful), it still got me where I needed to go.  Now, here in Florida, the city I live in is too spacious, and nothing I need is really within walking distance.  I have a car, and the convenience I think has adversely affected my activity level.  I know it has.

I would love to get more exercise into my routine, but I’ve had the damnedest time trying to find something that doesn’t bore me within a week’s time.  I can’t afford a gym membership, I don’t own a bike, and home exercise machines are out of my budget.  I tried doing some at home exercising – like yoga and pilates videos – but again, I got bored.  I was trying to walk every other day – two miles or more – but alas, bored again.

Why can’t I find the right exercise for me?  Is there such a thing?  Am I supposed to just push through it and do it anyways, no matter how bored or unenjoyable it is?  I’m jealous of all the blogs and posts I read about people thrilled about how many miles they’ve done on the treadmill or how many hills they’ve done on the exercise bike.  I want to feel that kind of pride in my accomplishments, too.

I guess that’s where I’m stuck at the moment.  Too much of one thing (food) and not enough of the other (exercise).  I need to figure out how to turn myself around and overcome these obstacles.  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!  Do any of you out there run into the same problems I do?  Please share!

Pilates Video!

So I’m still trying to do the Yoga Challenge from Yoga Journal, though I’m not doing it every day because it’s making me stiff and painful.  Every other day or so.  Someone recommended to me to mix things up a bit, and throw some Pilates into the mix.  I came across a beginner mat workout – only about eight minutes long – and I’m going to give it a shot today after I do the yoga routine.  I think I’ll be surfing YouTube for more beginner workouts, just to keep things lively.  I’ve already made a playlist for them, and I’ll probably post more about that once I have more workout videos on it.

Here’s the beginner mat workout by Erin Huggins:

Thyroid Follow-up and Yoga Challenge Update!

Today was my follow-up appointment with the Clinic regarding my hypothyroidism and my thyroid hormone levels.  I went and got my bloodwork drawn last week and the results were excellent today.  They went from an 8 to a 1.2, which the doctor said was well within normal range.  I’ve got another follow-up in four weeks to make sure the levels aren’t fluctuating (which she says can happen sometimes).  Crossing my fingers that it’s not an issue.

She asked if I was feeling any better, and I commented that no, I felt the same, and was still having problems with constant headaches and fatigue.  She suggested I go on a multivitamin specifically with B12.  Since I had to go to Walgreen’s to get my prescription filled anyways, I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone and get a multivitamin as well.  Do you know how hard it was to find one that had B12 in it, so I wouldn’t have to buy a separate pill??  I ended up having to buy the generic Centrum Silver, which is typically for people over age 50.  I already have a Calcium supplement here at home, so I can add that to the mix.  I wanted to get a Fish Oil supplement for my Omega-3 and Omega-6 needs, but alas they were far too pricey.  Perhaps next payday?

Update on the Yoga Challenge!  I kind of failed a bit on this one.  Day one and two went by fine.  I was a bit shaky and unbalanced, which I attribute to being a complete and utter noob at yoga, but hey, at least I’m trying, right?  My cat, Gaz, seemed to think that me rolling around on the floor meant it was playtime, so she didn’t help matters any.  By day three, I woke up with stiffness and spasms in my back and shoulders.  I assumed this was because my body was adjusting to all the movement.  On day four, I had to work all day, and didn’t have time to exercise.  Shame on me.  Today is day five of the challenge, and I’m determined to get back on the ball.

I asked around a bit on Fitocracy if this kind of pain is normal and should I push through it, and was given the consensus that it’s to be expected, and I should just work through this transitional period, maybe adjusting my schedule to every other day instead of every day.  I might do that, I’m not sure yet.  I’d like to keep going with the yoga though.  I really like it.  Unfortunately, there’s nowhere in my area that I can find that’s affordable with my budget, especially that I can get to by bus.  There’s a YMCA up the street about twenty minutes from me, but the bus doesn’t go that way.  Sigh.

That’s it for the updates for now.  I’m still mulling over that post about sugar, and I have another post that might be up later today about a cookery surprise that Baron made for me the other day.  Toodle-oo!

Quick Blog: New Beginnings

It’s Monday, and if I’m going to try something new, I try to do it on Mondays.  I don’t know, maybe somewhere in the back of my brain, it’s the first day of… something… so that’s where beginnings should be.

Last night Baron and I did some late evening grocery shopping to try and get some eats to hold us over til we could do more concrete grocery shopping on this upcoming Saturday.  We got a few things that are good for you, a few things that are maybe not so good, and did a ton of label reading.  We’ve been trying to keep an eye on things like fat content, calories, sodium and high fructose corn syrup and other sweeteners.  We’re not always successful, but at least we’re making the attempt.

My first step to Monday wellness was getting up at a reasonable hour, about 8am.  As someone who regularly sleeps until noon or beyond, it’s a bit jarring.  I waited my half an hour after taking my thyroid medication, and had a nice breakfast that consisted of peach yogurt, a banana, 1/4 cup of sunflower seeds and a glass of orange juice.  I even measured out the single serving size of sunflower seeds – go me!  The breakfast seemed healthy-ish, though sugar-heavy-ish.

The other thing I’m trying (after I get my living room cleaned up) is Yoga Journal’s 21-Day Yoga Challenge.  It started today, and (obviously) runs 21 days, with a new video each day.  They also have recommendations for eating at least one vegetarian meal a day, and an audio meditatinon as well.  I’ve needed to get back on the exercise bandwagon for a while now, so I figured this would be a good start.  Hopefully I’ll keep up with it. *crosses fingers*

Just a short blog post this time.  Hopefully I’ll keep up with these “resolutions” this time.  Wish me luck!

Looking forward to the New Year

Well, the Holidays are now behind us, and with it I just celebrated my birthday as well.  Forward lies the New Year, and with it talk of resolutions and life changes.  I know the last few months I haven’t been seeing the success I’ve aimed for in my diet and health goals, so hopefully with a new “starting point”, maybe I’ll be able to refocus and get my butt in gear.

I think right now the hardest thing I’m looking at is trying to make exercise a part of my daily life.  To me, it’s boring and repetitive.  There’s just nothing that I’ve been able to find that’s enjoyable enough for me to want to do it over and over again.  I’ve always been fascinated with Yoga, but my balance has always sucked.  High Intensity Interval Training interests me, but boy does that wipe me out!  It’s hard!  That’s the whole point of it, I guess?  I know exercise is important, both for physical well-being as well as mental health.  It’s something I need as an important part of my life.  I just need to find out what’s the best course of action for me to get the fitness that I need in my life.  Le sigh.

On my personal wishlist I have the Wii and Wii Fit.  Discussing it with Baron, we’ve decided that we’ll pick it up when we can afford it, which will most likely be around income tax time.  I’ve heard good things from friends of mine about the exercises on them, the Yoga options, and the balance board which also doubles as a scale.  I also love some of the other Wii Sports games, like bowling and tennis.  I think it’d be a fun way to get me off the couch or away from my computer, and get a little bit of physical activity into me.

I’ve also signed up for Fitocracy, this really neat site that lets you track not only your fitness goals, but what exercises you’ve done.  It issues you points for the exercises that you’ve done, and you level yourself up based on the points you accrue, kind of like a video game.  You can also unlock achievements for specific sets of fitness goals completed.  There’s also forums and groups.   I’m looking forward to trying out more of the site once I’m exercising regularly and able to post my progress on the site.

Also in the coming year I’ll be focusing more on my diet.  For the Holiday, I was gifted with two vegetarian cook books, so I have plenty of recipes to play with.  I’m looking forward to increasing my fruit and veggie intake on a daily basis, and decreasing my animal proteins substantially.

All in all I’m trying to approach the new year with a positive outlook.  Hopefully I’ll succeed this year where I’ve previously failed.  If I can just change my habits from negative ones to positive ones, I’ll be on the right track.  Happy New Year, everyone.

Motivation To Exercise And How I Got Off My Butt Today!

I hate exercising.

There.  I said it.  I think everyone who has started on a weight loss journey, no matter how great their goal, has started it with those three words.  Before now in my life, while I was never really happy with my weight, I considered myself healthy enough to walk myself all over town.  “Town” was a fairly small city, and without a car, walking was the primary mode of transportation if I wanted to get anywhere.  It was something I did with regularity.  Since moving from Connecticut to Tennessee, and then to Florida three years ago, well, that changed everything.  Tampa is a very spread out city and nothing is really in walking distance.  Plus we have a car.  I’m not getting out for the fresh air and exercise that I used to on a daily basis, and it started to show.  My weight jumped up forty pounds.  I started retaining water in my legs and ankles.  I feel awful.  My doctor finally told me I need to cut out the salt and get out and exercise.

I can’t afford a gym, as much as I’d like to.  So I’m left with the basics.  Let’s just start with walking, shall we?

About two-plus or so months ago, I started walking regularly.  I had an alarm set on my cell phone to remind me when to walk every night, Monday through Friday – just before sun down, when the sun wasn’t unbearable, the Florida heat was letting up and I wouldn’t get a sunburn.  I would do circuits around the apartment complex, because outside the complex, I live on some pretty busy thoroughfares that aren’t very conducive to nice walks.  I thought I was doing ok.  Bumped 2 laps up to 3.  Was about to bump my 3 laps up to 4 when our vacation time came around – New Orleans!

OMG the amount of walking we did while we were in New Orleans I thought my legs were going to fall off!  We enjoyed the time away, and I was ready to get back into my routine, and then the worst happened:  I got sick.  I got hit with a nasty headcold-flu-thing that laid me up for at least a week and a half, maybe two weeks.  Since then, I just haven’t been able to motivate myself back onto the exercise bandwagon.  Each night my alarm goes off, each night I turn it off and make an excuse.

Yesterday, I read a bunch of fitness blogs, and a ton of personal stories about people overcoming their hatred of of exercising, and learned a lot of them started from right where I am.  I need to buckle down and take my goals seriously.  I promised myself that I was going to do this, that I was tired of failing myself and my goals.  I popped open Google maps and made a plan – I was going to walk a mile out from my apartment, and a mile back.  2 miles, I think that’s an ok start?  There was a particular University building I was using as my 1 mile marker.  Once I reached that building, I was going to turn around and come back.  I popped “Dune Messiah”, the second Dune book, on my iPod and headed out at 6:05pm.

Things did not go as planned.

First, some of my mp3s were messed up.  How annoying.  Second, I could not for the life of me find that building.  I looked, checking each building on the street, but it wasn’t there.  I was nearing the next major intersection, which I knew was too far.  I decided to head back, re-check my maps, and see where I went wrong.  I really wished I had a pedometer, it’d have made this so much easier.  Thinking I had cut myself short I was disappointed in myself.  I didn’t want to fail again.

I got home, tried to unwind a bit, and checked the map again.  I didn’t cut myself short.  I had actually passed my goal, by about .3 miles!  My total walk was 2.6 miles in all.  A whole .6 miles past my goal.  I’m elated!  My legs ached a bit and one foot was kind of hurting, but I think if I keep at it, my body will adjust.  Time will tell.

Tomorrow, my alarm will go off at 6pm, and I’ll head out to make the same walk again.  I’ll be doing my damnedest to maintain at least this level of activity from now til Friday, and see how my body responds to it.  I think this may be the start of something amazing.

First post! An Introduction…

Welcome to my first post on Grimm Reality!  In the coming posts, I’ll be sharing the changes I’m making to my life in order to live happier and healthier.

Life these days can leave us all jumbled and drained.  In the last few years, I’ve found myself sick, without energy, gaining weight and thoroughly unhappy with myself as a whole.  Since relocating from Tennessee to Florida three years ago, my life had grown more sedentary and I gained forty pounds.  Recently, I started retaining water in my legs and began worrying about early symptoms of diabetes.  My doctor told me to cut out the extra salt and to get off my butt and exercise!

I’ve never really had to exercise before, and until now, wasn’t really concerned with my diet either.  My weight was always relatively stable.  But since peeking into my medical file at the doctor’s office and seeing where she wrote “Overweight” on her chart, I’ve been a bit more motivated to get my act together and start shedding the extra pounds.

I changed my diet a bit, tried to cut back my portion sizes, and stepped away from my computer to walk five days a week.  Since that time, I’ve lost ten pounds – which is 25% of my goal!  Seeing progress has become a major league motivating factor!

With all this motivation, I decided that I wanted not only to record what I’m doing to improve my health, but I wanted to share it with others.  Who knows?  Someone else might be interested in these real life changes, and might make changes for the better in their own lives.

The way I’m breaking down this site is that I’m organizing my posts into the following categories: Body, Food, Life, Mind and Spirit.  In each of these sections, you’ll find:

BODY: This section will be about things of the physical variety, whether they be sickness, health, doctors, fitness, exercise, etc.

FOOD: Kind of self explanatory.  I’ll be covering diet changes, my own eating habits, and maybe a few recipes, too!

LIFE:  Life changes.  A lot goes on in life, and this is where I’ll be putting a lot of miscellaneous stuff that doesn’t really fit into the other categories, but is still important to overall well-being.

MIND:  I suffer from mental illness, and have for the last twenty three years, for which I take medication.  This is where I’ll be documenting any mental health related issues.

SPIRIT:  Spirituality is important.  I try my best to live by Buddhist teachings and principles, and will be putting any spirituality related posts under this heading.

Wow!  That’s a long post!  I think that’s all for now.  I’m really looking forward to seeing where this journey takes me, and also looking forward to sharing each step with you.  Namaste.