Finding the Right Groove

I'm a music fanatic. I love finding new music, undiscovered artists. It's like an adrenaline rush for me when I find a new song with that perfect beat. I especially love when I find a new work-out song. Some songs are good for working out and some are absolutely not.

As I've been working out the past few weeks, I've been browsing my iPhone for some good songs to listen to while I run. Eventually I will search online and download some new ones but for now, the two that I'm really loving are:



For me, finding good, upbeat music to run to makes me be able to run farther and longer, and that's always a good thing!

Speaking of working out... I'm a little nervous about leaving town this weekend. Every time I've gotten into a good work out routine, I've left it in the dust when I went on vacation, and never picked back up when I got home. I'm DETERMINED that this will not happen again. I'm giving myself the day off tomorrow if I choose, but who knows I may decide to go for a run when I get to my dad's. After that, I am probably going to have to run during the day on Saturday & Sunday and just toss Brayden in the stroller :) How do you keep on track with your work outs when you're on vacation?

PS- Found my camera cord! Yay! So I'll have fun stuff to share in the next week. Here's a preview:



And just because my baby is so darn cute.. here's some snapshots of him playing outside. It's starting to cool off a bit in the evenings (by "cool off" I mean it's 85 instead of 95), so it's making it a tad more bearable to be out there for any amount of time. I never thought I'd admit that I'm ready for fall!

Standby

Well, I have lots of fun, new things to share. BUT - I cannot find my camera cord ANYWHERE! So, since I think blog posts with no pictures are bor-ing, please standby until I find my camera cord or get a replacement! Hopefully in the next day or so!



be back soon!

Keep Going

Your legs are not giving out.
Your head is giving out.
Keep Running.

Just a hop..

skip, and a jump away from our house, buried in the mountains is this:






And on the way back home from all that beauty, along comes this:





We were just on a short cruise and found this lake unexpectedly. But, I'm looking forward to making a day trip up there sometime, hopefully soon!

A Mom is...

...a hairdresser?

Well, not quite, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

BEFORE:


His hair was in his eyes, over his ears, hanging over the back of his polo shirts. Yeah, it was bad. But he's such a worm that I didn't want to take him somewhere and have some grumpy hairdresser get frustrated, or accidentally poke his eyeball out :) So, I figured I couldn't mess it up TOO bad... I trimmed it a teensy bit over the weekend, then finished up tonight.



AFTER:






Muuuuuuuch better!

The Beginning

Today when we got back to town, I just decided that I was going to work out. I was going to put Brayden to bed, put my running clothes on, put my tennis shoes on, and I was going to run. If I ran for 5 minutes and wanted to quit, then fine, but I was going to get on the dang treadmill. Of course once I START running, I have no problem going for 20-30 minutes at least, but allowing myself to have the thought "I can quit after 5 minutes if I want" makes it seem easier. Try it!

I did Week 1 Workout 1 of The Couch-to-5k Program. It consisted of a 5 minute warm up, followed by alternating 60 seconds of jogging with 90 seconds of walking for 20 minutes, then a 5 minute cool down. Some people think watching the clock while your running makes it drag, but having to watch the timer to know when to switch intervals actually made it go by much faster for me.

What is it 30 days to make a habit? Something like that, anyone know? Whatever it is; day 1- check!

Accountability Needed...

I was browsing the good ol' interweb the other night (a hobby I indulge in far too often) when I came across a quote that said "People's unhappiness is caused by sacrificing what we want most for what we want right now". How flippin' true is that?! I'd say it's pretty close to 100% accurate in my life. Our society has taught us to want what we want, and want it right now. Everything is about instant gratification. Much to our dismay, good things take time. Anything worth having is worth waiting for.





My problem is that I get "too busy". I put other things higher on my priority list. I don't work out unless I can dedicate a good chunk of time to it. If I break down and eat something unhealthy, my day is "wasted" anyway so I continue to eat unhealthy, or choose not to work out. I make promises to myself that I know I can't keep, but still feel disappointed when I have failed to keep my promise. Change is gradual. How can I (or you) expect to go from not working out, to working out every day? Or from not caring about what you eat, to eating a strict diet? This time around (I feel like a broken record), I am making a commitment to ACT HEALTHIER. To LIVE healthier. To THINK healthier. To make healthy CHOICES. I am not going to punish myself for slipping up now and again. I am not going to view myself as a failure if I go to bed without working out. I am simply going to work towards becoming healthier, a little bit at a time.

I have heard a lot on other blogs about The Couch-to-5k Running program. I finally decided to check it out and it really doesn't seem too difficult. It works to build endurance, slowly. I am thinking about giving it a go, but I am so incredibly OCD that I'm afraid if I miss a day, or don't follow the program to a tee, my mind will go crazy over it. I can commit to the program three times a week, but I'd like to try to be working out more than that, so I'm considering following the program, and if I choose to work out on a "rest" day, I will either do a P90X video, or the 30 day shred video.

I am going to try to post one or two times a week about my progress as far as when I have worked out and what I have been changing in my diet. My ultimate goal is to lose about 20 pounds, but mostly I want to be back to the weight I was at pre-pregnancy. Currently I'm +11. Anyone else making commitments to work out more? Eat healthier? Let's be accountability partners!



[Note: Images are not mine, both were found on Pinterest, and I just noticed the 2nd one has a typo but I like the quote so I'm leaving it!]