My turn!

Becoming a father can change you in some ways and reinforce who you are in others. One of the biggest ways it has changed me is not really a behavior so much as a state of mind. I've never taken my long term health too seriously. Everyday stuff that people deal with like colds, sprained ankles, pulled muscles and the like were what I would deal with. But never long term health.

When I was 16 I went to a walk in clinic for some random illness, maybe even a sports physical and the doctor said my blood pressure was high. I didn't really understand what that meant just that it was bad. I have had high BP ever since. A few years ago (pre children, hell pre Amanda being pregnant) we were in Atlanta staying with Lauren and driving somewhere. Somehow during the course of the conversation I asked her "If there was something about me you want me to work on or change what would it be?" In my mind I was thinking along the lines of selfish, or communication or self esteem. But her response took my by surprise. "Your weight" she said. I was taken aback and in kind of a stunned silence. "I just worry about you Matty, I want you to be around for a while"

My weight has been a struggle since middle school. But thankfully being involved with sports kept things under control. I was still big and got called names and made fun of a little but nothing too extreme. Weight room rolled around in high school and coaches yelling at me all the time really helped. Also wrestling was a HUGE factor as well (senior year I was down to 265ish during wrestling season, 20 lbs less than my football weight, 70 lbs less than I am currently and 90 lbs less than my heaviest).

I got to college, stopped working out because I had no one to make me and packed on the weight. It was something like the freshman 30 for me. My weight has gone up and down over the years as I've gone through phases of exercising and not exercising (never really eating all that well). I've broken chairs just by sitting in them, seen my gut hanging out of my shirt in pictures but none of this has ever really been enough to make me consistently stay with exercise.

Then AJ was born. I wish I could say that things changed immediately. But they didn't. Less than a year ago Amanda's Uncle Tom died. He was an avid runner in his early 50's. That really got me thinking. My dad died when I was 6. I don't want my children to grow up without me being there. The men on my mom's side have a history of heart trouble and I really feel like unless I change things I might be on the fast track for a heart attack. And the scariest part? I know that all that will be enough to get me to start taking care of myself but might not be enough to get me to stay with it. I'm hoping it does.

Wow that was freaking looooong. So here are my goals:

Short term

Some form of cardio at least 3 days a week (this will probably start with walking and build into running)

Make the bed everyday (I'm stealing this Baykur cuz doing this the last two days has really helped me be productive and not be such a layabout)

Explore some type of weight lifting option (joining a gym is kind of out right now unless i can get a membership pretty cheap)

Look into yoga classes (yeah I said that, this one will also depend in the cost and when the classes are held)

Lose 20 lbs

Long term

Lose 80 lbs

Beat off the ensuing onslaught of ladies with a stick after losing 80 lbs

Don't die young

My start date will be Monday April 16th (at the latest, going to try for walking tomorrow)

Thanks you guys for getting this going again. I am really excited!

Peace

Matt

I need some accountability like my dogs need to cuddle.

I've been in a big ole rut for a while now. For a while after the move I would use the excuse that I just moved and was really busy and too tired to make it out the door. Then it just turned in to "I don't want to".....not helpful. It then turned in to "Man I REALLY need to make my body move" and that would last for a couple of weeks and then something would come up where I couldn't get out on the road. Which would then throw off my whole schedule. Dumb, I know, but it's just how I operate. I like schedules haha.

The other hard part is holding myself accountable for running. It's been difficult to make it out there when I don't feel like anyone expects anything from me. Does that make sense? And I know that I should be doing this for myself, which is definitely true, but it really helps to have someone with me. Even if that means via the ole interweb. ;)

So here's my short term plan:

- Start running on a regular basis. And keep it up.

- Regain control of my eating habits.

I'm doing the Peachtree again this year, so I really want to get in good shape for this race. I was pretty good about my diet for a while and then Easter hit, and with it, all of my favorite candy.....sometimes you just need some straight up sugar. :) But I am pretty determined to make this stick. Homegirl's body is not healthy.

So here's the long term:

- Run the half marathon down in the ole hometown in October. And make a better time. :)

- Run a marathon. (I think we all know this has been a goal for me since the beginning, and I want to make it happen!)

- Turn the "diet" in to regular eating habits.

I'm really glad we're getting the gang back together. :) We're gonna get back on the awesome train!! :)

Official start date: Monday, April 16. :)

HONK!

Beloved blog... Resurrected!

So, here we go again. This week I've just sort of been noticing I don't feel strong. I went hiking a month ago and my hip flexor is still killing me even just walking. (Which means adopting a running plan is currently out of the question). I rearranged the furniture in my room here in Chapel Hill, and I'm still sore from that (um, none of this furniture is full size, so I shouldn't be in pain). And then this weekend I saw a crowd and just kinda realized how I would NOT be able to defend myself well if I were attacked. I know it's a little silly, and I am not overly paranoid about it, but I do feel vulnerable being so short.

So, now on to developing a plan. I keep trying to adopt habits and hobbies and not getting very far, or getting overwhelmed 2 days in and totally giving up. The one thing that has managed to stick is making my bed. I've probably managed to do that for close to 2 months. Which I'm actually pretty impressed with; I've never been one to make my bed, or care either way about it. I love it though. That is MY space in this house, and when I come home from work, it is just so clean and fresh (and inviting!) looking. Even if I take a nap in the afternoons, I'd rather be able to do so in a pre-made bed. I don't have much rhyme or reason for whether or not I remake it if I nap yet. Shrugs. ANYWAY. Back to the development of a plan.
- I am going to keep making my bed
- 10 minutes of working out a day
- 10 minutes of blogging or journalling in some form or fashion
- Generally eat more mindfully, especially eating more plants!

I know that looks like very little, but I know how much I keep trying to do, and I think the 10 minute rules will keep me from getting overwhelmed, AND from making excuses. I mean really, if it means that exercise becomes a habit, no matter how little, I think I win. And considering lately I'm doing ZERO minutes, 10 is a big improvement :) . As far as my vague nutritional plan, I just don't have enough control over the shopping, cooking, and budget here to be more specific. I will just do my best to add in healthy things and to be more purposeful in how much and what I choose to eat. And in the process I'll think of things I want to eat more or less of when I move out of here! The other issue is that I am currently taking on more chores in the house to get out of cooking, so 4 nights a week I am at the mercy of the rest of the house. I hope to cook a lot when I leave here, but I am really tired of having to cook around the picky appetites of 8 people, as well as trying to cook keeping in mind everyone's schedule and house meetings, etc. Also, cooking on this budget is getting really old. I am all for budgeting, but I am a quality over quantity person, but some people in the house eat SO much that we can't afford to not buy some cheap junk. ick.

Anywho. The other aspect of my plan is longer term goals:
- Get back into running, be able to run 5K's without walking breaks
- Yoga!!
- Journal pretty extensively (dreams, book reviews, goals, gratitude, etc)
- Be able to touch my toes with straight legs
- Just be generally more toned
- Cook more to save money, and to eat high quality food
- Do vegan or vegetarian days

My official start date is tomorrow, Sunday, April 15. :)

Let the games begin.

more walking, which is distantly related to running

Today Matt and I were going to walk and talk on the phone at the same time, but our schedules were pretty much exactly opposite, so we had to split up the walking. Anyway. I think I really enjoyed my walk. I don't really even remember thinking about the walking as I was doing it, I was just daydreaming about whatever, which I think is a good sign that I enjoyed it. I actually took a mini walk on the beach and a more purposeful walk on the street. During the walk on the street I saw two live crabs and one dead snake! (at first I wrote snack instead of snake. gross). The crabs were little, their bodies were about the size of a quarter, and I was surprised that they were just hanging out on the curb in two different places. The snake was maybe 18 inches long, and nondescript. Well, I say that, but if I were a snake scientist I might disagree. The other day I saw probably a 4 ft long snake that was still alive, smack in the middle of the path to the beach, but the second he caught wind that my Mom and I were headed towards the patch of sun he was lounging in, he quickly bolted for the thick ivy nearby. He didn't want anything to do with us. Since then I've taken to looking for him, but no luck thus far.

Anyway, this isn't supposed to be just my personal wildlife blog. Moral of the story- I liked my walk today and I'm surprisingly looking forward to one tomorrow, as well as maybe some biking. Who knew I'd voluntarily like exercise?

little engine that could

well, still no running, or jogging, even. But I did get in my walk today. And I was right, it was infinitely easier to just get out there today, now that i didn't feel doomed to fail. There was no arguing back and forth with myself, no feeling of dread or avoidance. I assumed I'd go walk after lunch, but I wanted my food to digest a bit first because for some reason, my body gets really displeased if i try to incorporate too much activity too soon after eating or even drinking. In fact, it pitches a tantrum in the form of killer side stitches stopping any exercise plans in their tracks, ambitious or otherwise. So I hung out on the porch and read for a while before heading out. But even then, it was just kind of like, "well, it's time to go," and then I was out there. After I got back, I did stretch a little bit, sort of picking out some yoga moves and modifying them into static stretches. So I didn't do the DVD or anything, but I did dip my baby toe into the metaphorical yoga pool. Today, I give myself a gold star.

someday I'll be a runner again, i'm sure of it

This poor blog is all dusty and neglected, huh? Well, I'ma swiffer it till it shines. I tried to run W1D1 with Cory. The ol' IT band was none too pleased. And by that I mean, by the end of the jog I was in agony from both knees and the right hip flexor. Apparently the tendon gods are demanding I give some attention to those yoga DVDs I bought a couple months back. Which I mean, I want to do anyway, it's just finding the motivation I suppose. sigh. ok ok, I'll start looking harder. Found some: a Yoga Body should be motivation enough, huh? Done. 

i didn't run, per se

uh, i might have only run for half a minute, but i got to use my cool heart monitor and distance calculator i got from cory for my birthday. so i'm counting it. my max heart rate was 176 and the average was 139 over 27:13 minutes and 1.75 mi. I am kinda wondering if I actually have it calibrated right... at one point it claimed my pace was 6:51 min/mi and i just doubt it was actually that fast.. just sayin. it reported my average pace to be 15:32, which seems accurate since i was really just walking to the library to drop off a DVD as an excuse to wear my gadgets. although it would be really cool to be able to run an entire mile at that pace, instead of just like 10 feet at that pace.

For my stretching, I did some stuff from my yoga book. I have recently been made aware of just how NOT flexible I am. sooo the yoga is supposed to help. when I actually do it. anyway. on one of my recent unintentional all-nighters, i went through the book and checked off the moves I could easily do and made a couple goal moves and routines. cory is supposed to be doing yoga too because he is eternally knocking things over, bumping into things, etc. i mean, i know he grew up in a household of boys, but geez. can you say bull in a china shop?

anyway, yoga. I ordered some dvds as well that should arrive this week! i'll keep everyone posted on how they work out; i am sure you all are really curious.