Friday, May 11, 2012

WELLNESS: A NEW JOURNEY

Photo Via
Today marks 29 days of a new lifestyle change. I made a decision 4 weeks and 1 day ago to change the way I take care of myself, to be more intentional with my health and what I eat. This decision was a long time coming...to be honest, I've never really cared much for my health. I always had a fast metabolism, so I *thought* I didn't need to worry about what I ate. I've never been the athletic type, so exercise wasn't always on my to-do list. ;) I know me and if I don't make a decision with my full heart and am 100% bought-in, then I won't follow through. BUT when I DO make decisions, then I do it, I'm committed and bought-in. So, what lead me to finally make this commitment?? A few things:

1. I want to be healthy for me. I want to feel my best, have energy, and be proud of myself. I want to feel strong, have endurance, and feel like I'm treating me the best I can. I want to live.

2. I want to be healthy for my husband. There's so much to be said for feeling confident in your body. I want Jon to see that confidence and, frankly, I want him to really like what he sees!

3. I want to be healthy for my future children. One day, when Jon and I decide to start a family, I want my body to be in good shape to carry the little darling through pregnancy. AND I want to keep up with the little rug-rats. I want them to have memories of their mommy playing with them and being there fully.

4. I don't want to die early because I didn't care for my body well. One day I will die, BUT I don't want that to be because I didn't care for my body how I should.

So here I am. :) A month into healthy eating and exercising, I've gone through a lot of feelings, changes, and have set some exciting goals.

Old habits die hard ---> Let me put into perspective my previous habits. No exercise, nothin'. Sometimes a random dance party might break out, or I'd help a friend move, but other than that, my day to day "exercise" consisted of walking to my car, my desk, and into the kitchen. My eating habits might have been worse. Here is just a brief list of my frequent cravings and comfort food habits: french fries, Cheezits, bread, cream cheese, potatoes, cheeseburgers, chili dip, Dr. Pepper, Mountain Dew, and sweets!! Whatever I craved, I ate. My one GOOD habit was that I would stop eating when I got full. But I didn't think twice about eating whatever I wanted. This was my lifestyle. I never struggled with my weight, so I always assumed I was fine and didn't need to exercise or eat really healthy.

Steps in a new direction ---> Once I made this new decision for my life, I set up an appointment with my personal trainer//nutritionist, Christy. I've been blessed with access to a free, beautiful gym at my 9-5 job and decided to finally start taking advantage of all they had to offer. The first day, Christy sat down with me and assessed my "body age" through various strength, flexibility, blood, and body fat tests. These results show how healthy my body is by giving it an age. My ACTUAL age is 23 (almost 24) and my results were 28. Ouch. It may not seem so bad, but I actually took this test for fun 1.5 years ago and my body age then was 19...so in 1.5 years I've "aged" 9 years!! The test shows that my obtainable age is 18. So that was a huge wake-up call. We talked about my exercise goals, she showed me around the gym, and then we talked about nutrition and she gave me a set of great goals. Another wake up call...my resting heart rate was at 97...without any caffeine, and technically it shouldn't be above 70...GAH! Way too high!

Changes ---> I've definitely experienced some exciting changes over the past 29 days. I'm sleeping better, getting up more naturally, I feel like I have about 10% more energy, I feel happier, I feel more confident, I feel more lovey towards Jon, and I'm starting to really see some differences in my body! My arms are getting more toned, I'm seeing some definition on my stomach, AND I feel stronger.

Feelings ---> Even though the changes I've been experiencing have been AWESOME, I've definitely gone through some ups and downs in the feelings department. Initially I felt optimistic, determined, and excited. During the first week, after making these drastic changes, I was surprised to feel myself mourning?? It's weird to explain, but I deeply missed my junk food! These feelings really shocked me and made me feel really emotional for the first two weeks. Now, four weeks later, I'm feeling better, still determined and trying to get the hang of making these choices a habit and lifestyle shift.

Day-to-day ---> Currently I'm exercising 3-4 times per week. I have one personal training session each week with Christy that serves as my butt kicking exercise time and form of accountability. We mainly focus on weights during this time. On my own, I do a weight routine 2 more times and include 10-20 minutes of cardio and then I like to add in a cardio-only day somewhere in-between. I workout at the gym at work, at my apartment gym, and sometimes in my living room.

With my nutrition, I'm going with the "handful" method. I'm eating three meals a day and trying to make sure those include 1 handful of fruits, 1 handful of veggies, 1 handful of protein, and 2 handfuls of grains (which can also be subbed out sometimes for a handful of fruit or veggies.) For snacks, I try to have about 1-2 each day that are healthy and varied.

Photo 1 & 2
My Goals ---> These are the goals I've developed for myself based on conversations with Christy and personal goals. I intend on growing these and developing more, but here's what I'm starting with: :)

1. Be at my obtainable body age of 18.
2. Use portion control by using the handful method with meals and snacks.
3. Eat breakfast everyday.
4. Only enjoy a soda on the weekends, if I want.
5. Cut down on the cheese! Only have cheese at one meal, if any.
6. Get my resting heart rate down to 65.
7. Get abs!!

I'm so excited about this new journey. I'm really becoming passionate about it and I love feeling the conviction of caring for myself. I want to be healthy and active! I'm excited to journal my experiences and share them with you. :) I would LOVE to open up the comments for general tips on being healthy. Got any good resources? Favorite reads? Snack recipes?!? Please share! I would love to hear. :)





21 comments:

  1. when i lost weight for a surgery problem a few years ago, i used to drink every morning instead breakfast (because i couldn't tolerate anything more heavy too early) 3 spoons of oatmeal with 1 apple and water (not milk) it cleaned my arteries and help me with other problems.
    I used to make pilates too
    and for snacks i loved granola bars and of course carrots and cucumber with lemon.
    Thank you so much for sharing this, really i've been thinking of taking more care of myself since both of my parents are diabetics, and of course there's a big chance that i can be one day, i want to be healthy too, seriously, this inspire me to make a commitment with myself

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  2. Long ago, I decided I would take better care of myself.
    But unfortunately, I ended up leaving that goal aside. What does not make me very proud of me, same.
    But seeing their excitement and improved quality of life, strength, disposition ... I feel like getting back this project. I want to take it seriously now. And that is what I do!
    Because I also want to live, live long, live well! Being healthy, willing, happy with her body and the life I lead.
    Thank you for encouraging me. Thanks for the inspiration.

    What good is good, you're feeling better. I am very happy for you.
    Kisses: *

    (And I'm sorry if English is not good.)

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  3. Anonymous12.5.12

    I don't have any specific recipes to share but my all time favorite healthy cookbook is "Cooking Light: The Essential Dinner Tonight Cookbook". The phots are fabulous and the recipes are delicious-I haven't made something from it that I don't love. I've been procrastinating about exercising for some time and really need to start doing something. This post is inspiring and I'm looking forward to following the posts on your progress!

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    1. Oooh!! Thanks for the cookbook recommendation! I'll be sure to check it out. :D

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  4. I'm going through the same thing. I'm slightly overweight and when I was analyzed for my body age, I was really embarrassed and upset when I found out. So a couple months ago, I made the decision to eat healthy (cutting out sweets was extremely hard for me to do). After that first month, it got a lot easier. I'm not down to my goal weight but I'm definitely on the right path to getting there. It makes you a much more confident person! Good luck and thanks for sharing your story :) It's inspirational and a comfort to see other people going for the same goals.

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  5. Four years ago I started riding my bike to work everyday and eating from the local Farmer's Market whenever possible.

    I lost about 20 lbs. just with these two changes.

    I highly recommend finding a Farmers Market near you and buying more and more of your food fresh.
    Lots of the nutrients in food are lost when it sits in transport, storage, etc.

    I promise you'll notice a difference...Good luck with the change. You'll see that once you start eating healthier...you won't even want to go back to all that junk :)

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    1. Great advice!! I just checked out a local farmers market recently and LOVED it. I'm hoping to make that more of a regular habit. :)

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  6. Thanks for posting this, Savannah, it's really inspiring. I'm like you, I eat what I want and last year I cut out exercise (I moved house and started commuting where as before I was walking four miles a day!) but I don't put any weight on so I always thought I was just 'lucky'.

    It wasn't until I started training in January for a 5k that I truly realised how unfit I was. I've also noticed how this lifestyle has just zapped me of all my energy too - not good.

    I've introduced exercise back into my routine, but am finding it really hard to kick the junk food so I hear ya! However, you've inspired me to give it another go.

    P.S. I bought a ring from you before you closed down your shop and I just wanted to let you know that it arrived in the UK safe and sound. The packaging was beautiful and I love wearing it! Thank you. x

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    1. I wish you the best in your journey as well!!

      AND I'm so glad the ring got to you safe and sound. :)

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  7. For the past 10 years I've been an extremely healthy eater and am very conscious of what goes into my body, but since we got married 3 years ago I let exercising slide a bit. I'm finally getting back into having a routine and am already feeling so much better! Keep up the great work with your new lifestyle...sounds like you're doing great :)

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  8. Yay I'm so happy for you on your get healthy journey! It sounds like you are making excellent progress. And I'm totally with you on the not exercising and the bad diet. It sounds exactly like me. I have started exercising though and man, it feels awesome.

    I have a lot of health issues and problems going on so I too have been trying to work on my health to get me to my best. With what I'm dealing with, I really need to go on a long term(possibly 2 or 3 months) no sugar detox diet. Meaning only veggies, beans, meat, nuts and oatmeal is basically all i can eat. It's sooo hard and I really struggle to stick to it. This post has inspired me to try harder. Only we can better our health & so I need to make that change. So thank you for writing this!

    Can't wait to hear how the rest of your get healthy goals come along! :)

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    1. Whew! A no sugar detox WOULD be hard. I hope that goes really well for you!! I've been playing with the idea of trying something like that...

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  9. P.S. I would just like to say that I'm SO sorry for writing novel length comments. I do this all the time! haha

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  10. I am SO excited for ya, girl!!! I'm working on going vegan, AT LEAST temporarily/part-time, losing weight (going from 190lbs to 125lbs), exercising more (especially biking), etc. so if you need a wellness buddy, hit me up, yah?

    Here's my e-mail addy: lariatsandlavender@gmail.com

    Good luck and well wishes!!!

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    1. Vegan is hard work girl!! I'd love to know how that goes for you!! I've thought about experimenting with vegan or vegetarian but haven't fully decided what the best course would be for me. :)

      Best wishes to you as well!!

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  11. I'm with you! I'm trying to reform my life a bit, organize more and get in shape-- I wish you the best on your journey to wellness :)

    xoxo,
    Nat
    modernbuttercup.blogspot.com

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  12. This is awesome! So happy that you are feeling good and doing something good for your body and mind!

    one thing I noticed (I am a vegan), once I gave up cheese, after about 20 days, I no longer wanted it or craved it. Andddd it also started to smell bad, not the gooey mozzerella I came to know and love. Also, when you give up cheese (if you end up going that far) you will notice your body feeling a lot lighter and less congested. Even vegan cheeses mess me up.

    Helpful Hint (which I am sure you already are noticing): when you eat better your body responds better and you will be able to tell what your body wants more. Follow your body's intuition when it comes to food and exercise, you will thank it later. :]

    I am not in the best shape (due to some personal troubles a few years ago) but if you would like some help or motivation, I'm here.
    My name is Amy by the way :]


    :]

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    1. I've been hearing that your body DOES start to crave healthier food! I'm definitely looking forward to that and have been noticing some of those changes.

      I've played around with the idea of experimenting with vegan but I'm just not sure how...or good alternatives...would you suggest any good resources??

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  13. You go girl! I can't wait to hear how you get on!

    Lisa x

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  14. Ooh this is really great! You have set some great goals for yourself! I'm hoping to start making more healthy recipes & sharing them on my blog, so once I do I'll be sure to let you know! :) Do you have a juicer? That's a great way to get lots of healthy fruits & veggies into your body and help curb cravings! I've been sharing some juice recipes on my blog.

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    1. I don't have a juicer YET, but I've been thinking about getting one! I've mostly been experimenting with smoothies (i love the texture). I'll be sure to check out the recipes on your blog!! --- And please let me know when you start sharing more recipes!

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