become crazy healthy in June

Weight at the start of the month was 157.0. Weight at the end of the month is 152.0! So, a five-pound loss overall, which I think is quite good, given the sickness and changes of routine that June has rolled into motion.

• exercise makes me feel good. If I do it first thing in the morning, it brightens my mood for the rest of the day.
• food isn’t to be eaten as a happiness substitute (a particularly useful lesson from my detox). I do medicate with food at times, and I want to change that.
• I drink too much, to put it bluntly. I know I’m in the wake of a break-up, and I’m a student (and living with that whole “work hard, play hard” mantra), but we’re an addictive lot, my family, and I will not make the mistake of going down the excessive drinking route.
• medication is vital. It’s done me so much good, and, when I forget to take it one day, I suffer with dizziness and disorientation the next.

All in all, some really good things have been garnered from this month. Am going to ponder for a while, and then rejig my July goals to incorporate some of these lessons.

It’s well past time for a healthfulness check-in. I must say that, even though I haven’t been exuberantly healthy for the last week or so, this goal has somehow developed a little prompting voice that pipes up in the back of my head at intervals throughout the day (for example, whenever I am tempted to snarf a packet of chips). It’s most useful, and I think this goal is serving its original purpose of making me much more aware about my health.

I am, however, reclaiming what is left of June with the following crazy healthy affirmations:

• I will take my vitamins and medication every day.
• I will drink eight glasses of water every day.
• I will exercise for five of the seven remaining days of the month.
• I will complete a three day detox before the month is out.

These are all entirely achievable. On with the doing.

Crazy healthy June is officially off to a good start. Today is Monday, and that’s supposed to be weigh-day, but it’s that time of the month, and I’m too scared that my weight will be hormonally jumping all over the place and I will be discouraged.

• cardio – my goal was five times in the week, and I did it! (Despite being snuffly and sick!).
• medication and vitamins – a perfect score of 100%.
• pilates – daily was probably a bit unrealistic – have managed four days out of seven.
• weights – twice in a week.
• eating – a vast improvement on weeks gone by. Went out for breakfast, opted for plain old eggs on toast. Avoided the temptation to indulge in treats on Thursday. Only blip was on Tuesday at the dinner party, where I had a few crisps. 6/7.

I’m tailoring my plan to postpone a few items I had on it. Am starting The Mindful Way when I go home, as I’m not feeling it at the moment – think I need slightly more peaceful surrounds. The “fish for dinner” plan is getting the chop, as I am dosing up on Omega 3 fish oil tablets daily.

On to week two! Real focuses for this week are to keep drinking lots of water, and to implement the 10 minutes of stretching per day idea. I will also weigh myself mid-week and will report on what I hope will be good progress then. Really am feeling positive about this goal – I do hope it will lead to a maintainable lifestyle change.

My grandma had the lap-band surgery in the beginning of the year and has so far lost 40lbs. I wasn’t excited about her decision to do such a thing; I thought it was too risky for her health, especially since, in my opinion, she hasn’t really put the thought or effort into changing her eating habits and she certainly won’t exercise. It seemed like something that should ONLY be a last resort. Thank goodness the procedure went well but she’s still having a really hard time with her eating habits. She’s eating much, much less, sure, because she can’t physically consume more but she’s still eating crap. And I’ve yet to hear her mention exercise…
So I was just talking to her and she went to the doctor today and only lost 2 lbs last month. Ooops… She and her doctor made the goal to break 200 this month.

I haven’t stepped on a scale in… months and months and months. I have no clue, really. My last weight was somewhere between 212-215. Since moving to Portland alone, a few things have happened. I noticeably lost weight the first month with the initial change of having no car and walking everywhere and I would say that continued until about March when I became a bit more sedetary, staying in on my computer sending out resumes all day and riding the bus/MAX (lightrail) more. I don’t think I gained much back until late April/early May, though. During the whole preggo scare, I noticeably gained weight. Some things were even barely fitting… I had also started eating meat again. I stopped dancing all the time and became even more sedentary living in this new place feeling like the world was collapsing around me. I’m starting to feel a bit more back to normal now and I would say I’m probably back to where I started, 212-215 so I’m figuring I might as well get in on my grandma’s goal!

I’ll have to find a scale somehow and figure out where I really stand and maybe I won’t be able to feasibly break 200 this month but if I walk/jog FP every week, take a walk every night and start thinking about the things entering my mouth again, I’ll bet I can get close enough to do it next month for sure!

What this goal really means to me is getting back on track. Being so broke and relying on others for food, my eating habits have taken a total dive. I’ve been eating meat often and without thought. Aside from those meat meals, I’ve been living on ramen, rice & mac n cheese. I don’t think I’ve gained any weight but I certainly feel sluggish.

In June I would like to cut out meat, start eating fruit in the mornings before work and taking a pre-made lunch with me everyday. I’d also like to hit up Forest Park at least once a week, do yoga once a week and swing at Wallace Park at least every other day.

HELLOOOOOO June!

I’ve had some pretty significant lifestyle changes, and my newly single state has lead to many some rather unhealthy habits (i.e. copious amounts of red wine! I’ve been falling back on the “one glass a night is good for you” philosophy, but barreling all those nights into one!).

A friend and I are keen to rectify this situation by casting off our less wholesome ways and emerging, phoenix-like and purified, come July. This plan also fits in nicely with the fact that I’ll be returning home for two weeks this month.

How to give my lifestyle an overhaul?

• Exercise – 20 mins of cardio 5 x per week. Weights 3 x per week.
• Food – fish twice a week. General healthy eating. No takeaways. Intuitive eating.
• Yoga – bikram yoga twice per week.
• Alcohol – one glass of red wine per night maximum. Ideally, many drink-free days.
• Stretching – ten minutes in the morning and evening, everyday.
• Water – lots and lots.
• Emotional health – follow the programme outlined in The Mindful Way.
• Vitamins – to be taken everyday.

I’m also going to consider a detox for the time I’m at home – that would be the ultimate healthy boost.

My plan is to draw up a wee table, so that I keep track of how I’m doing. I might even use it to create charts!