The Plan

So here's my plan, starting this morning:
Fitness:
Monday, Wednesday, Friday:
Walk 1 mile (15 minutes)
Turbo Jam Cardio Party (45 minutes)
Pilates (20 minutes) or 20 crunches + 20 pushups -> Before bed
Tuesday, Thursday:
Walk 1 mile (15 minutes)
Turbo Sculpt (40 minutes)
Saturday:
Walk 2 miles (30 minutes)

Food:
Breakfast:
High fiber cereal
Skim milk
Snack:
Fruit, Veggie, Protein
Lunch:
Lean meat and cheese on whole wheat bread
Small salad
Snack:
Fruit, Veggie, Protein
Dinner:
Baked/Grilled Chicken Breast
Veggie
Brown Rice
Snack:
Fruit, Veggie, Protein

We can't become what we need by remaining what we are. - Max Dupree

Reading this quote today really made me think. I can't expect change when I'm not doing anything to cause that change to happen. Be it exercising and eating healthy to lose weight; studying for tests, doing homework, and going to class to do well in school; or cooking meals instead of eating out, refraining from impulse purchases, and comparison shopping as often as possible to save money. All of these require changes in my behavior to accomplish. I can't logically expect my dreams to magically come true while I'm sitting around just wishing and praying for them to. I have to get up and get out there and make them happen! This week, starting TODAY, I'm going to have a goal to accomplish for each of those categories: I will eat a healthy breakfast and do at least 20 push-ups and crunches everyday, I will work on homework/study for at least 1 hour everyday, and finally I will eat at home everyday. Small steps, but eventually by adding more and more, I will accomplish all the changes and meet my goals.

Reality Check

I went to the doctor yesterday to get my thyroid re-checked. About a year ago, I went in because I was tired all the time, so the doctor ordered blood work from me, and found out I had hypothyroidism. In my words, it means my thyroid is lazy. I've been on Synthroid ever since. When I went in yesterday, I saw a new doctor (I use the health center at my college). He asked how I've been feeling since being on the medication. I'm honestly still tired, more like exhausted actually, and I still am having a hard time losing weight. He suggested I make an appointment to see a counselor there, because he felt I might be suffering from depression.

Depressed? Me? Well, I guess it's not totally out of the realm of possibilities. I have been especially down ever since my parents decided not to come to my wedding. Since then, I haven't been doing well in school, I cry a lot, and as I mentioned, am exhausted and want to sleep all the time. I made an appointment to start seeing a counselor at school next Tuesday, September 20th. Hopefully I can work through my issues and start feeling better. I had to fill out a long form, that included questions about what problems I would like to work on. I included "depression" on there, but also wrote down "emotional eating", as I feel I could use some help getting over my issues with food. I think my problems are all interrelated though. I am depressed over my family, which leads to me doing poorly in school, which leads to more frustration and sadness, which leads to my binges. I try to watch TV, movies, anything, and stuff my face to distract myself from the pain I feel when I think about things.

I really want to become a more positive person. I really am cynical when it comes to a lot of things. Some people truly believe that your attitude about things affects the outcome. If you think negatively, you're going to get negative results, but if you're positive, you will be successful. Well, I'm not sure exactly how much I by into that, but I do believe that how you feel about things affects your actions. Your actions directly affect your outcome. In that line of thinking, I guess your attitude really does influence your outcome. Perhaps I should try to think positively and confidently about my projects, and then perhaps I will act accordingly and be more successful. It's worth a try anyway, isn't it?

One small step back, one HUGE step forward

Well, yesterday I was actually doing very well with my eating. I had a healthy breakfast (high fiber cereal, skim milk, vitamin) and a healthy lunch (reduced-fat peanut butter and low-sugar jelly on whole wheat bread) and even did well when we went to grill out with my future in laws (fat free hot dog, wheat bun, vegetarian baked beans, and I even brought a big green salad for everyone, with light dressing). A few hours afterward though, I felt very hungry so I ate a lean cuisine meal, which was okay, but I didn't listen to my body afterward. We were watching television, and as usual, I munched on chips the entire time. They were baked lays, but I ate almost the entire bag (it was full before last night!) which was over 900 calories!

However, I am counting yesterday as an accomplishment, because instead of doing my usual routine of binging and then hiding the mostly empty bag in the cupboard (or throwing the container away if I ate it all) and pretending it didn't happen (and later being baffled as to why I'm not losing weight), I came online and logged it in. I'm so proud of myself because I feel for me, acknowledging my binges is only going to help me. I feel I've been in a state of denial for so long about my nighttime binging and coming clean about it is the only way for me to overcome it. So this is a huge step for me and I know that I will be able to get past this nasty little problem and I will be successful.

Turbo Jam

So, I own a zillion workout videos. Okay, not a zillion, more like 28 workout videos/DVDs. I've been doing workout videos for about as long as I can remember. I've never LOVED anything enough to stick with it though for more than a week or 2 at a time. I've owned lots of workout equipment too. Treadmills, bikes, gliders, weights, mats, a body ball, ab machines, resistance bands, you get the picture. I've also had a few gym memberships that never panned out for me. I shudder to think of all the money I've thrown away on trying to lose weight. Oh and the workout equipment expenses don't even include all the money I've thrown away on diet pills, healthy food that never got eaten (especially fresh produce that would always go bad before I ate it), unhealthy food that I'd throw away because I wanted to "start dieting" again. I've just been so wasteful! I'm ashamed to think of how rich I could be if I had lumped all of that wasted money into a savings account instead of blowing it.

However, it's all worth it if it meant finding the one workout that motivates like none other.

TURBO JAM

Chalene Johnson, the instructor and creator of Turbo Jam, is in one word, insane. Her pumped up energy and positive enthusiasm are outrageously contagious. She motivates and inspires like no one else ever has. The workouts are addictive and BELIEVE ME, they work! Do just one workout, even one of the shorter ones, and you will feel it tomorrow. I currently own 8 out of MANY turbo jam workouts and can't wait to own them all. Not because I get tired of any of them, but because they are just so addictive I want to use them all. I alternate them daily and each day I surprise myself with how much more my body can do than it could before.

These workouts help me stay active and they inspire me in the kitchen too. After working out so great, I can't fathom blowing it with junk food. I am inspired to eat to fuel my body for my next workout, because I know, I'll need all the energy I can get. Just this morning, I did the Fat Blaster workout, which is a super charged 30 minute interval workout, during which I drank an entire liter of water. There it is, half my daily water requirement, fulfilled! I LOVE Turbo Jam and when I finally reach my goals, I know I will be forever indebted to Chalene for inspiring me to keep going through the whole journey.