How’s it going?

I’m writing this post to ask y’all a few questions: How is your February change coming? Are you succeeding? Are you finding it hard to stay with this change this month? Are you still stilling to the change you made in January?

I want to hear from you. You are important to me. You keep me going. So, please share with me.

As for me, I kicked it into high gear in the middle of January with drinking more water. Since then, I have actually learned how to drink water. I know this may sound weird but it’s true. I would drink a 16 oz. bottle in the morning then not drink anything until after 12. I was then cramming 60-80 ounces of water down my throat in 4 hours (I wanted to be done by the time I left work, which is 5 pm). Oh man, that just lead to a lot of bathroom trips. I learned that you have only drink when you are thirsty and space it out. Now, it’s much better.

February started off well. I was exercising 3-4 times a week. I was eating healthier. Things where going well. Then the weekend with ALL the food. Then the UTI hit. I didn’t exercise all week until Thursday. I felt it. I know that I need to get back on track. I’m just having a difficult time keeping myself motivated. I’ve done this before. Why is it so hard this time?

As good as it started, so it stop….sort of

Have you ever had a weekend that was just full of food? So much food that you don’t know where it all went?I live in the South…we eat

Yeah, that was a few weekends ago for me. I ate so unhealthy . It started on Thursday with pizza, then Friday with Taco Bell, then Saturday brunch at Jolie’s (OMG….if you ever come visit me, we will go eat our hearts out), then chilli at grandma’s, then breakfast Sunday morning at Dwyers (again, if you come visit me, we will have breakfast Sunday morning here), followed by fish tacos at PJ’s parents house then stuffed pork chop, stuffed jalepeno, stuffed mushroom and corn on the cob at our friend’s house for the Walking Dead premier.

Y’all….that A LOT of food consumed over the course of a weekend.

I wasn’t feeling good Sunday night and woke up Monday morning feeling worse (turns out I have a UTI- I’m on meds now and it’s getting better). I weighed myself. I wasn’t that surprised with the weight gain I saw on the scale. I was disappointed. I was disappointed that I let it happen. I don’t want to see that again, but it’s difficult to work out when you have to go pee like every five minutes. What do I do?

I need some help here.

So here’s the thing…

Hi fellow changers, I am San and I blog at theinbetweenismine.com.
I thought I would check in and say ‘Hi’ to everyone.

I usually am not big on New Year’s resolutions, but our ’12 changes in 2012 project’ sounded like a really good way to tackle goals and as with everything else in life, it’s easier to do things when in good company. It’s a huge motivating factor and breaking the list down into one resolution at a time makes the whole thing feel more tangible

Having said that, my goal for this month is going extremely well.

And I think I also know why.

So, here’s the thing: When you started working on your list of 12 changes for this year, did you notice that there are two types of goals?

The “shoulds” and the “wants”.

There is a fundamental difference between things you “should” be changing and things you “want” to change.

Clearly, my first goal in January – to make drinking more water part of my routine – was a “should” and my results were mediocre, at best.

This month’ goal – meal planning – is a “want” and I can already see how much more effort and energy I put into the achievement of this goal.

This leads me to the conclusion that I have to set more “should” goals for the rest of the year and work at them as hard as if they were “wants”, because I know that the wants will eventually get done, when I make enough time for them…. but the “shoulds” will always be struggles.

How do you feel about the goals that you set for yourself?

But, I didn’t…

Last week, I wanted to throw my hands up and say ‘I quit!’ But, I didn’t.

I wanted to say ‘screw it!’ to calorie counting and eating healthy. But, I didn’t.

I wanted to sleep in that extra hour. But, I didn’t.

Instead, I kept going. I held my head up high, gave myself little pep talks and continued on the elliptical (I even think I am finding my stride). I set my alarm 15 minutes EARLIER so I could get out the door on time. I am now enjoying the food that I am nourishing my body with instead of not caring what it was and just eating to eat.

No one said this was going to be easy. I knew this going in. I also knew that I really needed to do this early so I could make it stick.

Here’s to the journey!

February Changes

Hey all! I’m Melissa from Press Play, just checking in real quick on this little blogger project of ours.

I can’t believe we’re already well into February and well into our second change of the year! January went really well for me; I had set out to begin a healthier eating lifestyle for myself & accomplished just that by cutting junk food out of my life for most of the month, as well as going vegetarian for the last two weeks.

As of right now, I’m still semi-vegetarian (by choice!) and only indulge in junk food once in a while. Cutting things out of my diet drastically doesn’t always work for me- I tried coffee once, did NOT like that experience- but every once in a while it turns into a great experience. Cutting meat out of my diet for the most part has done amazing things for me and for right now I don’t plan on looking back to what I used to eat.

In February, I really wanted to continue on this healthy eating track and add in a fitness routine. I’ve never been the kind of person who LOOKS FORWARD to exercise, but after trying out fitness classes last summer I’ve been wanting to get into that kind of exercise more regularly. I was doing so well in January that I ended up activating my new gym membership a week early.

I was feeling great about it until February hit- I haven’t been to the gym yet and we’re already one week into the month! I was putting it off for the first few days, but now I’m just focusing on getting better from a little cold. I was told that exercising while sick isn’t the best idea, so I’m postponing my challenge for a few more days while still focusing on eating extremely well and getting healthy again.

I’m kind of sad to not be able to jump right into Change Number Two after such a successful January, but that’s just part of life, right? Things aren’t always smooth sailing and you just have to go with the flow. I’ll have a little bit less time to get my butt into gear & get into a good fitness routine- I’m not too worried though. I’m so excited to get into shape, I think I’ll find ways to make it work.

As of right now, I’m most excited to get back into a Jillian-Michaels-kicking-my-arse-routine every day as well as fitness classes 2-3 times per week. I’m hoping that by mid-February I’ll be getting my fitness routine worked out and once March comes around I’ll be ready to add my Third Change into the mix. As of next month I’m moving away from health and incorporating other aspects of my life into my changes, so I really need to make this month count if I want my Jan/Feb changes to be long term! 

How have you been doing so far with your February? Have you hit any road bumps along the way in the past month and a half?

 

What a month!

Greetings everyone! I’m Amanda and I blog over at Teasingly Diverse.

One might say (and one would be making the understatement of the century) that I’m what they call “goal oriented.” I’m just about as Type-A as they come, and I love a good checklist. So it’s no real surprise that on top of being 4 months into my second Day Zero Project (aka 101 Goals in 1,001 Days), I was all for this 12 Changes project when I heard about it from Katherine and Stephany. Then again, those girls could probably get me to do almost anything!

When I was coming up with my 12 changes, I tried to think of things that would coincide with some of the life events I knew would be happening this year, as well as pulling some things from my 101 list. I didn’t want them all to come from there, though, and in the end not many did.

My change for January was one of those, however. #15 on my list was to go an entire month without hitting my snooze button and I’m really proud to say it was a big success! I slated it for January because I knew that I couldn’t afford to sleep in at the beginning of the month – I was driving cross-country to move from California to Tennessee and had a set number of miles I had to reach each day. One of the keys to being successful for the rest of the month was figuring out how much sleep I actually needed and when I should go to sleep. I’m not a night owl, so staying up late usually wasn’t the culprit behind me hitting snooze a few too many times. It turned out that I didn’t have a good grasp on how much sleep I needed or when I actually had to wake up so I was setting my alarm too early!

My change for February is to MOVE by exercising 3x a week. So far it’s not off to as awesome a start as January’s change, but it’s coming along. Couch-to-5K is my real motivation for this – I need to hop back on that horse.

For those who are curious, here’s the rest of my list:

March :: Menu Plan

April :: Budget

May :: Take Time for Me

June :: Get Out (explore my new hometown)

July :: Read

August :: Hydrate (drink more water)

September :: Intentional Relationships

October :: Organize & Prepare

November :: Write

December :: Practice Gratitude

What are you tackling in February?

Wow….where did the time go?

Can anyone else believe that it’s February already? Yeah, me neither.

So, here I am….facing my second change. I had a tough time deciding on this one but I think I got it (and I may have started a little early….sorry!)

I am going to start exercising and eating healthier. This means that I have to add something to my list because these where two separate things on my list originally (I already know what it is but y’all will have to wait and see lol). I am still drinking water, but have learned that I have to drink about 101 ounces of water a day to stay hydrated and lose weight.

I started exercising last week. It all started with having to buy new jeans the weekend before. I was not to happy when we left the store (on the up side, I do like the jeans I bought). PJ and I decided that something needed to change. We are working out three days a week together. I have dance on Monday nights, along with Zumba and dance on Thursday nights. We have even started drinking the green monster smoothie! OMG…..SOOOO GOOD! You MUST try it! This morning, I used apple juice in place of milk. I liked it just as much as with the milk.

To be honest, I was scared to put this change up. I’ve always struggled with weight lose and exercise. I know I can do it. It’s the sticking to it part that I have a hard time with. This is why I decided to make this change early. I know I am going to need all the help I can get.

What’s your change for February?

 

It’s time again!

It’s it’s the first day of February, and as it stands for most of us “changers,” the beginning of our second month. I had a pretty awesome first month, as far as all of the changing goes. The whole 1:1 ratio of my favorite drink to water was just the ticket for me. With the exception of the last two days, when I’ve been sick, I had less than no problem getting all the water that I had in mind.

So what’s in store for February?

Honestly, I’m still not 100% sure.

Scratch that. I am sure. I’d started the water thing a few days before January started, and without intending to, I’d tried to start February’s change early as well. Except for that thing that I mentioned about being sick. Hell, as I write this, it’s just after 3 AM on the first of February because I’ve slept so much in the past 36 hours.

Obviously I need to be getting to bed if I’m going to make this change happen. Yet here I am typing!

I think what I’m really trying to say is that I think this change is going to be a bigger challenge for me. But so many of us have already made changes this past month, and with your support and your tips from last month, I believe I can get through it!

What are you going to be changing this month?