My 2018 Health Journey So Far
Here I am on a Friday night after midnight (well... I suppose that would make it Saturday then, but minor details!) with the sudden inspiration to write. I probably won't share this post until morning but I wanted to write while the inspiration hit. Now that January has come to an end and we are into February, I am going to share my new schedule and how I have been doing so far in my journey to get healthier this year.
Well the bottom line remains as it usually is when I start up a new routine. I have been making an effort to eat better, drink enough water, and make sure I stick to a workout schedule. But I have been doing things a little differently this time around. I honestly think this has helped a lot.
I always make sure I eat breakfast. I leave myself a good 20-30 minutes in the morning before I have to leave for work to make sure I get breakfast. Sometimes its some scrambled eggs with just a little cheese and hot sauce, sometimes I make overnight oats, and more specifically I make protein smoothies on the mornings of the days I am planning on going to the gym after work. I save these for gym days because they do have more calories in them (that I can burn off at the gym), but they also give me a huge boost of energy and keep me fuller longer. Usually because of this I eat my lunch later at work when I have them, which is good because it holds me over until dinner since I eat dinner later as well on gym nights. I have a handful of favorite recipes, but I am planning on sharing those in a different post.
As far as meals go, I am trying to not eat as many carbs, eat as many vegetables as possible, and not eat after 8PM. I still eat carbs of course. I personally could not do one of those diets where carbs are either extremely limited or not allowed. I am not going to lie at all. I love carbs. Most of them are bad for you but I love them. I am just trying my best at this point to cut them where I can. I will not lie to you and say my diet is perfect. I absolutely need some work still but it is getting better. I still cheat. Weekends are the hardest, but when I can I am choosing to make better choices. I know personally that if you limit yourself too much you are only setting yourself up for failure. I honestly believe I went too hard too fast the first time around, and that was the main reason I got off track and gained a lot of that weight back. I only drink water as well. That was hard at first because I used to love soda, but honestly I don't want anything but water anymore. Sure I have the occasional soda or juice, but not too often anymore. I also drink tea and coffee sometimes, but lets be honest who doesn't?
As far as the gym goes I have been sticking very well to my three days a week schedule. At this point I am doing 30 minutes of cardio and then working on my arms one day, and my legs another, and the final day is just the cardio to close the week with a lighter day. My overall goal is to go to the gym four days a week, but I am working my way up to that. I have already worked up my tolerance for exercise again and this journey getting back into the gym has been easier this time around. I really think just jumping right into the three days a week instead of just two and working my way up to three like I was planning on was the best thing I could have done. I am still so thankful my friend gave me that push of tough love to make me realize that was the best thing for me. I already am not feeling like I am a hot sweaty mess after my cardio anymore like I was that first week. I take the stairs at work instead of the elevator (unless I very occasionally bring hot coffee. I know my clumsy self too well to tempt fate with stairs and hot coffee) and I am not all out of breath and worked up anymore when I get to my floor. I still pack the same gym bag and bring that to work with me, and head to the gym that is right behind the building I work in. That small distance is such a big blessing as well since I don't have time to talk myself out of going then.
Overall I have just been doing the basics to get my health in order this time around. Some changes and ongoing changes to my diet, working out on a frequent basis, and most importantly sticking to that. In just about five weeks I have lost 11.5 lbs which is a pretty decent number for that amount of time as a 2 lbs loss per week is said to be ideal. My weight has been flip-flopping for quite some time now, and this is the longest I have steadily gone down instead of up and down in a very long time. More importantly, however, is how I am feeling. My overall resting heartbeat is down 9 bpm. I have been sleeping better (I promise writing after midnight is not a frequent occurrence). I have not had a single headache in these 5 weeks. It is rare that I feel sleepy mid work day now, and I really just have a lot more energy. Clearly I am doing something right and my body is thankful for it. Those are all great signs telling me to keep it up and that I am doing something right.
Those are the basics to my first month on this new path. I really want to do another check in like this in another few months and share my progress. I am actually really excited about that. I am not sure what it is, but something feels different this time around. I truly want to stick to this and it doesn't feel like a chore. I already feel the changes in my body in this short time and that is wonderful. I think I am capable of far more than I was telling myself originally. As far as future posts, I mentioned reviewing a product in an upcoming post. That product isn't shipping until this Monday, so it probably won't be the next post as I had hoped. I am still pretty excited about it though. I just want to have enough time to really use the product first before I do a review, so sit tight.
I hope this post inspired you to makes some small changes that can lead to a big effect in your life. Thank you for reading and I will see you in the next post!
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