So....

...I signed up for a marathon (insert laughter here). I'm running the Nike's Women Marathon in October in San Francisco. I'm hoping that this will help keep me motivated through the summer. I signed up for this site Mapmyrun.com so that I can track how much I run per day and per week. I also looked up other sites on how to train and found an 18 week beginner runner's plan so I'm pretty excited about this. My mom and my sister ran last year and this year all three of us are going to do it. This will be my first marathon ever!! I used to be a pretty good runner, so let's hope I can pick it up again! Wish me luck!!

Ridiculous...

So last week I reached my goal for the first time. It's ridiculous that it's taken me until week 13/14 to accomplish this...

Score!

I took a walk today. Score one for me!

So I have been reassessing my goal and trying to figure out what motivates me. I know I work very well with a reward system, which I find comical, but also makes most people think of dogs. Anyways, not many people know this but my boyfriend smokes (I know as a public health professional and a dental hygienist I should be disgusted), he has cut down in the recent year and has attempted to fully quit several times. He and I were on the phone the other night and I was complaining about my goal and how I don't have motivation. His solution was that we do it together, not the working out part but the changing part. He said that for everyday I worked out he wouldn't smoke. This was supposed to start Monday (yesterday) but I was actually really busy so I started today. I took a walk!! After my walk I promptly called him, asked him if he had smoked today and told him if he had he couldn't smoke tomorrow. He hadn't smoked today but now he has to refrain for the rest of the day and tomorrow we hike so that's another day of not smoking. I don't know how well this will work on his end but it has me motivated!

The stats...

So last class we talked about our goals and what we can do to re-motivate ourselves. Ana suggested that Joan and I work out...yeah not so much, Joan and I have a more of a let's eat together relationship (and I like it that way). So then Rachel suggested that I post a picture on here of me in a swimsuit and I'm sorry that I just don't have the guts to do, nor do I know how to because I've tried to post things on here before (apparently blogger.com and I don't see eye to eye on that kind of thing). So I'm still not that far on my goal but I did walk around campus a lot today so I feel good about that. And over the Easter weekend I took my boyfriend on a walk to Starbucks, which in the end was probably counterproductive after we got our flavored lattes and a little breakfast sandwich. But I am counting these two instances toward my goal and it's the closest I've come thus far to my goal. So go me!

Here are some statistic I looked up about walking for your health courtesy of the Mayo Clinic:
1) Lower bad cholesterol (LDLs)
2) Higher good cholesterol (HDLs)
3) Lower blood pressure
4) Reduces your risk of Diabetes Type 2

All things I already knew and I'm sure most people know (or could guess), but it still makes your think.

This week and next week are going to kill me...scratch that the month of April might kill me! This week starting with last Friday, has just been one thing after another. All weekend I had a ton of homework/catch up work and the hits just kept rolling in come Monday. So I'm trying to save my sanity by dong little things that will help me de-stress but working out just doesn't seem to be one of them. Eating chocolate from the Easter basket my mother sent me--check, watching TV--check, calling a friend--check, but working out not so much. On another note what's up with this weather? Everytime I do feel inspired to get outside and work out it's like the rain comes in. So all in all this week has been challenging and it doesn't look like it's getting any easier. Wow I feel better getting that all out. Maybe I will go for a walk...

So apparently being in Northern California has inspired me to be healthy and work out...or maybe my mom thinks I'm a dog and likes to take me for walks. Either way I'm dong better up here than down there. And that could be for a variety of reasons 1) I like it better up here 2) I know the area so getting outside is easier 3) I don't have a ton of school work or other commitments (I think this is the most important factor!). Hope everyone is having a wonderful spring break!

Gumption!

I've got gumption. Well maybe I do. I have a renewed passion. Mostly because I just found out I'm going to 7 weddings in the next 7 months and I want to look good, I mean you're not supposed to upstage the bride but that is my goal as of right now. Let's hope the motivation continues! I found two really cute dresses too that I'm looking forward to wearing...here they are!

http://static3.modcloth.com/productshots/0035/5996/11542-1.jpg?7f4f0c36da59950c5525ed15781166c27a0e2ef5

http://static1.modcloth.com/productshots/0035/0875/11402-1.jpg?7f4f0c36da59950c5525ed15781166c27a0e2ef5

I hope these show up...

Helpful hints...

Yeah I don't really have any helpful hints or sites. OK maybe that is lie. Since I decided to make yoga part of my goal I have been using thee youtube videos that are for beginners. I like them enough, they aren't really what I expected when I said I would start yoga but they are free and it's better than nothing. I have found three poses that I really like, downward dog, child's pose and cobra. They all stretch out my back which is where I carry a lot of my stress.

Here are the links, in order, in case you feel inspired:
1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H3vLZqPZxZE
2)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fMUPZ4IMQQ
3)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1Bxd4B7spw

Now I have to say I have not really been keeping up with my routine. I'm going to try and restart it this weekend. I haven't pencilled myself in yet and so I'm still struggling with making it a habit. I heard somewhere that it takes doing something 22 times before it really becomes a habit/routine. If that's true I'm not even half way there, uh oh.

Barriers...oh the barriers

Still recovery from being sick so I haven't really done much this week either, I did take one of my infamous walks to the grocery store though so I'm counting that!
I think I'm the biggest barrier to my goal. I don't have motivation to be active and whenever I say I'm going to do it I just find some excuse not to or rationalize that I can do it tomorrow. A second barrier to my goal is not having a constant work out partner. Even though I convince my boyfriend to be active with me, we only see one another ever two weeks. I don't think only working out every two weeks is really conducive to trying to start a habit or get into a consistent schedule of working out. A third barrier is that I haven't really set a time for myself to work out. I said I wanted to workout three times a week and one of those times would be yoga but I didn't really carve out anytime in my schedule for it. I haven't designated a time and place when I would work out every week. I think I'm going to do that, I live by my planner so I'll pencil myself in and see how that works!

It's been a bad week...

I've been sick since our last class so I've done yoga once and nothing else.
Someone who has been very supportive of my change has been my boyfriend. And not in the way that most boyfriends (or my past boyfriends) try to be supportive. I had one boyfriend who when I told him I wanted to start working out he said "yeah you could lose some weight", I wonder why that one didn't work out? Anyways he's decided to do the challenge with me, so when we are together we make sure that we do something active (he's tried yoga with me). It's been kind of fun too because we're trying new things together. His support has made this change easier and I have an accountability partner so it's been good.

Inspiration...

I don't know if I can site one person as my inspiration but rather three, my mom, dad and sister Claire. My sister and I have both recently gained some weight and we used to be more active when we were younger. So when Dr. A asked us what we wanted to change, exercise and my sister instantly came to mind. I mentioned in the last blog that I used to work at Curves and now my sister does. So she is working out up there and we are encouraging each other to stay on track. Our drive has inspired my mom and dad so now they are on bandwagon of change with us, so the four of us are making a change. My dad had heart surgery last year and my mom has been very health conscience since then. She and my dad both have changed their eating habits and my dad bought a Boflex so that he has no excuse not to work out and stay healthy for my mom and us. It was a very scary time when he had his surgery and I think that it has been the biggest inspiration for me to try and be healthier by changing my eating habits and staying active.

My motivation for change...

I used to work at Curves for Women when I first started college and I loved it! The women were so nice and I was able to work out every time I worked. I miss how I felt when I worked out. I felt healthy, my clothes fit better and I was complimented on how I looked. I started my dental hygiene program at USC and where I lived we had a gym directly across from our front door so I was still able to work out from time to time however it decreased significantly. While I was in the hygiene program they talked to us about taking care of ourselves and proper ergonomics because hygiene is so tough on our bodies. So now that it's almost a year after graduation and I still haven't gotten back into my routine of working out, I'm starting the habit again. I have a bad back and I'm already feeling the burden of hygiene on my body so I want to continue to work out, build muscle and be able to maintain proper posture so that I can practice hygiene for many years to come.

Rain, rain, rain...

I got in two workouts this past week, however this rain is putting on a damper on my physical activity! It is making me want to curl up with a movie rather than get up and be active!

Here we go!

So as I stated in class my goal is to exercise 3 times a week for at least 30 minutes. I started today when I got home I walked to Pasadena City Hall, which is actually a 40 minute walk so I'm off to a good start...let's hope it continues. Until we meet again.