The Unadventures of Tracie

Pretend I posted this yesterday because it was supposed to be. So my family is doing a 9-week "Healthy Habits" challenge. We're participating as teams and there's hopefully going to be some kind of prize at the end for the person and/or team who gets the most points. I'm pretty excited about it. The healthy habits are Exercising for 30 minutes Having "self-control" (sweets, junk food, fried foods, etc.) Drinking 64 oz. of water daily Eating 5 daily servings of fruits and veggies Eating 3 servings of grains (preferably whole grains) Avoiding eating after 8 p.m.  You get points for each "habit" you complete every day. You get one freebie in each category a week. At the end of the 9 weeks, you get bonus points for each 1% of body weight you've lost. What I like about this is it focuses on a positive goal instead of a negative goal. That is, instead of focusing on losing weight, it focuses on being healthy. Which means you could ...

So remember how I said I while ago I wanted a gym pass? Well, I got one! For a really good price too. A perk of Austin's new job is gym passes to Gold's. They're not free, but it's a really good deal. Austin didn't have to sign a contract and for every time he goes, he get a dollar off. (If he doesn't go at all, it's $20.) So if we go 20 times in a month, it's free! (For Austin anyway.) I had to sign a two-year contract but it's okay because I love going to the gym. And mine is only 17/month. We were going to buy an elliptical because I really love them but the one I wanted at Walmart increased in price and we weren't really sure we'd have the room. So now we're going to go to the gym, which is close enough to walk to, 3 to 5 times a week! I'm obviously excited. :) Oh, so we went for the first time tonight. It was great, and it felt really good to work out again. I'm going to start my work-out-every-day thing again, starting today...

(3 posts in a day!) I’ve recently made the decision that I was going to work out every day. No matter what. No excuses. Every.single.day. It doesn’t matter how long I exercise or what exercise I do. The main thing I wanted to focus on was to create a habit of exercise in my life. Though I do want to lose weight, that is no longer my objective. My objective is to become healthier just by incorporating daily exercise into my life. So far, I’m doing pretty good. Fourteen days in a row now. Some days have been longer or more vigorous sessions. Some have been just a walk around the block. But I have done it, every day, for the past 14 days. Though I haven’t lost any weight yet (I’ve actually gained a pound), I can definitely feel changes. My body is getting stronger and firmer. My endurance is increasing. I feel better. I’m sleeping a little better as well. And the only thing I’ve changed is incorporating at least 10 minutes of daily exercise. Though I’m trying to eat better, I’m not really...

Ok, so many of you know that I have long fought the battle of the bulge. It’s something that I’ve always had to work on. I’ve never been able to eat what I want, and I’ve always had to work really hard to get into shape. I really do like to workout, but I’m often tired or feel I don’t have the time. Austin and I have been trying to lose weight since the beginning of November. And while I must admit that we do workout more frequently than we did when we were first married (which was almost nil), we still haven’t lost weight because of our inconsistency. I’ve done really good for a week and lost a pound, and then gained it back the very next week. It’s been like that for months now. The problem is it is really, really hard for me to start working out if I haven’t worked out in a while. And once I am working out, if I miss a day, I’m screwed because my motivation goes out the window for some reason. So it’s been depressing trying to get back in the habit because working out for 30 minutes...