Tag Archives: fitness

We Can Always Improve

Today marks Ash Wednesday, which is a very important day for Catholics (and maybe more religions, but being Catholic, I don’t know!) as it marks the beginning of Lent. Lent is a time when you make a sacrifice, or go out of your way to try new things. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about what I want to do this year, I ultimately came up with a list of goals. These are things that I really want to be committed to and follow through on. I am always looking for ways to improve, and thought now was a great time to put my goals into actions.

So here I go:

Devote time each night to be technology free. I am pretty much addicted to my phone. If I am not on Facebook, I am on Twitter. If there is nothing new on twitter, I read blogs. All of which I enjoy. My point is that I always have my phone in my hand. Even while eating dinner or talking to my parents, I am probably on my phone checking something. I want to spend less time doing this. I think I do it out of habit more so than any other reason, but it’s still not healthy. I will start small each night just turning off my phone and laptop and hopefully it won’t be such a habit anymore.
Prep meals ahead of time. I am usually good at this, but I could be better. Some nights I’d rather lay on the couch instead of making my lunch. I would like to make a weeks worth of breakfasts and lunches at the beginning of the week so all I have to do is throw it in containers, saving myself some time and stress in the morning.
Listen to my body while working out. I admit it. Sometimes I become obsessed with calories and pushing myself to the max. After receiving a heart rate monitor for Christmas, I try to scale back the intensity when I am in my max zone, but I could do better. I also need to listen to my body when it’s begging me to take the day off, but I am too focused on getting that workout in. My body tells me what it needs, and I need to listen to it more.
Limit after dinner splurges. I do so well with my eating during the day. I eat meals, I eat snacks. I try to stick to a eating every 3-4 hours. For some reason, though, I cannot keep this up after dinner. It seems that I am always reaching for something even when I am not hungry. Because I get up to work out first thing in the morning, I am not opposed to eating something after dinner to hold me over, but my eating turns into too many calories and food that I shouldn’t eat ever let alone after dinner. I need to work on making better choices with what I do decide to eat.
Be a better listener. This is something that I feel everyone can improve on. It also goes back to my technology goal. Constantly having my phone or laptop makes it harder to listen to others. I want to focus on the person talking to me, and not be thinking of everything else going on. I need to stay in tune with the person I am talking to.
Let Go and Let God. This is harder than it sounds. I have type A personality. I don’t like to wait, and have a hard time being in stressful situations that I am not in charge of. I like to get things done and usually stress about them until I finish. I worry about the future all.the.time. With this goal, I am going to try to let my stress go, live in a more carefree way, and let God handle my problems. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

I know this seems like a lot, but they are all small changes to make daily and will hopefully result in a happier life for myself and everyone in it (NOT that I am unhappy in any way! Always room for improvement). Jesus gave up his life for us; I can certainly change mine for the better.

Questions:

Do you participate in Lent? Would you rather do things or give things up? I feel that in my life now, there isn’t anything I would do well at giving up. In the past when I have given up food, I have done worse with it and ended up going crazy eating it in the end.
Are you good at letting go in situations or do you stress? I’m trying really hard to be better at this!

In a Tizzy!

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In a tizzy

Boy, oh boy! Today did not start the best way possible. I was rushed. I hate to be rushed. It was my fault, though. I took a sub job at the high school right up the road, and had planned to wake up at 5:15 to work out before having to go to work. Great plans, huh? Didn’t happen… Knowing I would be home at 2:30 made my sleepy self decide I could use more sleep this morning as my alarm was sounding. So, I reset my alarm, and accidentally set it for pretty late. I felt rushed from that point on until I actually got to school.

In my crazy rushed state, I decided to go for some cereal this morning. I had already planned on it last night, though. Sometimes, it’s just a cereal type of day! I was craving something sweet, and my most recent cereal kick I’m on is Trader Joe’s Frosted Maple and Brown Sugar Shredded Wheat. It served the purpose and kept me nice and full! I also had a glass of Vanilla Almond Milk.

Other than that, I’ve had quite the easy day. I am subbing for math, and have a student teacher teaching all day! Needless to say, I haven’t done too much 😉

I did manage to have some delicious chips with lunch! I’ve been really enjoying the veggie chips I bought at Trader Joes!

I apologize for the picture. As a teacher, I had less than 30 minutes to shove food in my mouth so I snapped the picture super fast!

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While I was walking around the school today, I began thinking of what I thought mattered in high school, and many think still today, but how it doesn’t really matter in the long run. I saw girls walking around making sure their sweatpants said “BeBe” on the butt, and everyone needed to have a Coach purse. And the guys? Well, they have the latest clothes obsession, and wear hoodies and hats that I just know cost a fortune.

This led me to some thoughts. Is it really worth it? Are your friends only going to be friends with you when you wear the latest craze? What if you wear a hoodie from Kohls and not American Eagle because it was $30 cheaper. Nowadays, everyone is so caught up in where they shop and having designer labels. Don’t get me wrong, I do own some, but I am just as happy shopping at Kohls or Target when things are on sale. I don’t need any clothes just because of the label attached. Especially now. When I see the price difference, and how I could save more shopping when there is a sale and have a coupon, you are more likely to see me shopping at those stores!

I wish high schoolers, and even younger, could realize it doesn’t matter what you’re wearing or what you own. The stigma attached to having name brand needs to go. Especialllyyyy when you do it for the wrong reasons. If your friends won’t be your friend anymore without name brands, then I would say they aren’t that great to begin with! Everyone has a different sense of style and fashion, so just find what makes you, you,and not someone else!

As Powercakes says, #BeTRUEtoYOU

Enjoy your night! I’m off to complete my workout that put me in a tizzy this morning, eat a yummy dinner, and relax while cheering on the Penguins!

Questions:

Have you ever decided to sleep when your alarm goes off because you know you have time after work to exercise? Please tell me I’m not the only one! (And I know I haven’t been too happy today because of it!)