Okay, I'm the first one to admit I hate to exercise and my pant size reflects that, lol. I've always struggled with my weight. I can fluctuate 2-3 sizes just based on how I eat alone. In high school I was on my school's cheerleading squad year round, played softball in the spring, swam a lot in my pool and I still was a size 10/12. Right before my senior year started my father passed away and the stress from losing him brought me up to a size 16. Ever since then I've dropped down to a 14 and I've been as high as a size 22. Currently I am a size 14/16 (14 on a good day...a REALLY good day). I don't care how tall I am (I'm 5'9") or how "big boned" I am, a size 22 doesn't look that great on me! I remember being a size 8 during my sophomore year in high school and I weighed 175 pounds. Sounds crazy but my height combined with my body frame has always been a threat to my scale.
Sooo...all this talk about weight leads me to the reason for this blog entry. I wanted to drop by and say 2012's resolution is not to lose weight but to live healthier. Each year I say I am going to lose weight and sometimes I do but by the end of the year I lose sight of my goal and I feel that living healthier as a whole is more important than losing weight. Of course the healthier you live, the more likely you are to lose weight. I feel that if I make a post about my goal, then I will stick to it better. I lost 50 pounds around 5 years ago and I've struggled over and over to keep the last 10 pounds off. Some days I feel huge and other days I think I look good. I know eating right alone will no longer do the trick. I always try to eat sensible and I avoid soda like the plague. Ask any of my friends at work and they will tell you that I always have my seltzer water with me, lol. The problem is that the older you get, the more effort it takes to lose those pesky pounds.
Finding an exercise plan that is right for me is crucial to the success I want. I work long hours at a stressful job (I supervise a team of social workers) in addition to being a mother and wife. Each day begins at 5:30am and doesn't end until I come home (which is usually after dark). My husband usually helps get dinner on the table and then before you know it, a new day starts. The problem is that I sit most of my day behind a desk. I don't get to move as much as I would like which is not an ideal situation. When I get home I move somewhat but usually my brain is fried and I just want to lay down and go to sleep. I find that if I exercise right when I get home, I won't have a chance to get lazy.
Since my work hours don't allow time for a gym membership and my weekends are all about my family, I have turned to running as my exercise of choice. I remember running during cheerleading practices in high school and that I liked the way it made me feel. I hate running short distances but I love running longer distances so I could have time to think to myself. Now that I have an iphone full of my favorite songs, it should be easier to run. I also have a great neighborhood and I need some motivation to go buy some great workout clothes, lol.
The icing on the cake was an app I found last week for my iphone called "Get Running". Basically you run every other day with the help of a coach. The coach tells you how long to warm up, how long to walk and how long to run. The goal is to build up your endurance so by the end of 9 weeks you are running for 30 minutes straight. Another cool feature about the app is that the coaching voice and time left prompts fade in and out of your music so you can still run to the beat of your choice without slowing down. I tried the app on Sunday and I am proud to say I made it through!
The first week you walk for your warm up, then walk for 1 and 1/2 minute intervals between 1 minute running sets. You end your workout with a cool down of about 5 minutes. The total time is 30 minutes. As the weeks progress, the running sets get longer and you will walk less. I hope to finish my 9 weeks (end date is March 15th-as long as I don't miss a day) by running for the full 30 minutes. My biggest goal of all is not actually losing weight but to live healthier, find a new hobby and run in a 5k at some point this year. My lifetime to-do list always had a 5k run on it (written way at the bottom) but I've been too scared to try it...hopefully this is the year I finally go for it.
If you are interested in running or if you have some tips you can share, feel free to leave me a comment. You can find "Get Running" on the itunes app store or you can visit the creator's website here for more information about the app.
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