52 Weeks of Change

You may have noticed I forgot to post my weekly change last week.  Well, that's because I completely forgot to do it.  I really haven't been myself the last 12 days and am getting back into the habit.  So for now, we will skip last week and count this week's as Week #6. 

This week I am forcing myself to do something active outside three times this week.  I went golfing yesterday and am going out again tomorrow.  Hoping for beautiful weather on Saturday for a bike ride. 

Week #5: Change Challenge

So far, I have been doing great about continuing my challenges even after the weeks have ended.  The only one I can't seem to keep up is reading before bed without TV.  TV in bed is like my crack.  I crave it and need it.  

Or at least I convince myself I do...either way, its crack that I like :)

But besides that one challenge, I am drinking more water, walking a few extra blocks to work, and flossing.

Week #5: Work out 3 days this week

Now, that I have gotten into going to the gym once a week, I want to bump that up to working out 3 days this week which will hopefully stick and increase as each week goes on.  I am going to be heading there tonight for sure to burn off the extra calories I consumed this weekend at my Easter lunch!

Week #4: Change Challenge

Week #4: This week I vow to change one major thing in my life: To drink more water

Years ago I began getting kidney stones, and let me tell you, they are NOT fun.  Every year to year and a half I am reminded of these crazy buggers that hide out in my kidney.  Recently, my doctor informed me that I need to start drinking 1 - 2 liters of water a day to help flush them out and prevent them from coming back as often.  Sadly, I will have problems with kidney stones my entire life, however, if drinking water helps to prolong the time in between each episode, I am in full support of acting on that.  This week, I vow to drink 1 liter of water a day.  WOW...I hope my bathroom stalls at work don't run out of toliet paper, I feel like I will be peeing every 5 minutes!

Week #3: Changes

I have to admit, last week's minor change of attempting to floss everyday has started to become a natural part of my daily routine.  Maybe these small changes will have a big impact on my life.

This week, my change is something that I hope to carry out throughout the summer.  During my morning commute to work I have the option of riding up to the front door of my building (forcing me to transfer trains at a certin point) or metroing and getting off a few stops early walking the rest of the way.  

In the past, the warm weather always encouraged me to get off the train early and finish the commute by walking.  Somehow over the winter months my lazy bones began riding the full way.  Now that the weather is nice again I am implementing this routine back into my schedule.  

Week #3: Change: Walking the few extra blocks to work

Who knows, maybe this one little change will kick up my weight loss.

Update: I have lost 6 lbs within the last few weeks. 28 more days until my next milestone this year...and I have 15 lbs I want to lose before then.

Sleeping in the dark

I wanted to recap last night's realization.  

My room is dark. 

VERY DARK.  

I never noticed it before.  Mainly because I used to fall asleep with the TV on. On a normal night I bet I would have had trouble falling asleep to the silence.  The dark room filled with absolutely no sound.  However, last night I was beat.  I had done a full day and was so exhausted by the end.  

Run Down of my day 

(you should feel bad for me -- ;))

Woke up at 7:30 a.m.

Cleaned the kitchen

Threw a load of laundry in

Went to Party City, Dollar Tree (my favorite store), DSW, and Michaels.  

(Mind you, these stores are not located near each other 

so I basically drove all over Northern Virgina)

Tried to catch a food truck so that I could finally say I ate from a DC Food Truck 

(side note, I forgot my camera and the camera on my phone is broken so I have no images)

I went to a movie alone 

(I love doing this...especially when I need to clear my head)

Went to 7/11 and the gas station 

(Why is gas soooo expensive?)

Made some homemade bread (this takes 3 1/2 hours)

Made a home cooked meal

Folded the laundry from earlier

Cleaned my messy room

Made centerpieces for a bridal shower

(photos to come soon)

Caught up on emails

Visited with my roommate when she got home from work

Watched my TV shows

Ran to the bank and the grocery store

Layed in bed (without tv on) and only got through one chapter 

before I shut off the lights and went to bed.

Ok, you don't have to feel sorry for me.  It was actually a great day just to spend time with myself checking things off my to-do list.  I got so much done and felt so accomplished by the end of the day.  Sort of made me wish I worked from home or was a stay at home mom.

And at the end of the night it was great to fall asleep without the TV on.  I don't know if I could do it every night, but for this week I will.  6 more days of the challenge left!

52 Weeks of Change

Is change good or bad? Does change, change who you are, or does it just change the way we think, live and react?


Prince Phillip of England once said: "Change does not change tradition. It strengthens it. 
Change is a challenge and an opportunity; not a threat. "

As I look at my life, I wonder opportunities I could embrace with a little change.  What areas of my life could be improved with one minor adjustment? Would certain changes affect my life for the better or would it go unaffected.  


In a way to challenge myself, I am going to begin 52 weeks of change.  Each week I will test out a minor change in my life to see what affects it has on my life and my routine.  


Week #1 Change:  Reading before going to bed.  


Normally, in my life I fall asleep to the television.  Sometimes I even drift off before putting the sleep timer on.  This week I will challenge myself to read for 30 minutes before bed.  Will it affect my sleep pattern for the week? We will see. :)


Happy reading...more importantly, happy sleeping. 

Change

Ghandi once said

We must become the change we want to see.


I can't believe we are already 10 days into March and I haven't done much in terms of changing my eating and exercising to lose the weight.  I keep stressing over making sure I lose the weight, but I have a million excuses as to why I can't exercise that day.   


The things I want in life to change for the better won't until I start making the change myself.  My goal was to start implementing 30 minutes of physical activity each day.  Leaving my "fat friend" label behind is not going to be easy journey, but am I ready to push myself for that change? On the exterior I can't think of anything I want more, but why can't I mentally push myself to start making this change? I need to jump start my routine tonight! No excuses.