Sliding Board

I’ve been thinking a lot about my weight loss/get healthy/fitness journey getting back to where I was a year ago. You know, back before working all the time and then suffering through two ridiculous injuries. Back into the groove I used to thrive in.

Today the realization hit me that I have gained back just under 40% of my weight loss. That number hurts my heart. Not because I feel fat or hate the idea of being the weight that I currently am but because I know what it took to lose it all and how ‘easy’ it was to gain 40% of it back.

Now I should start by saying, I am still super proud of maintaining that loss for almost 5 years. And maybe had I never gotten injured I would still be kicking ass in maintenance mode. But that is not what happened. And now I am here. Fighting every day to get back to that place where I once was. Not necessarily a weight but a lifestyle. An active and healthy lifestyle that I enjoyed so much.

After three weeks of focusing my energy into making better decisions – eating more whole foods and moving my body more- I had a really rough two days where I just did not GAF. My eating wasn’t off the rails, although it could have been better, but that wasn’t the issue. The issue was I just had this gloomy “I really don’t care anymore” feeling that I could not shake.

Even getting up today took a solid hour of convincing that I needed to get out of bed and get my booty to work.

My journey towards health has always been a mental battle more so than physical. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t easy exercising at 300 lbs and it really isn’t easy now either at 200 lbs as my fitness level is super low. BUT the physical hurdles were (are) nothing when I compare them with the mental battles.

Now whether or not this is true I am not sure, but it certainly feels to me that I can ‘lose’ any mental battle way faster than I can the physical ones.

When I think of my biggest struggles (convincing myself I am worth it and then motivating myself to have my actions reflect that belief) I picture a sliding board.

Convincing myself I deserve to be healthy and fit and talking myself into doing the ‘right’ things can some days feel like I am climbing up a sliding board. Here I am at the bottom feeling low, and trying to get back to a healthy, positive, loving, caring mindset is a series of small, challenging steps. I need strength to push forward and I need focus to stay the course. Each day am navigating myself to the top of the slide- to that place where I need to be.

But then I take a misstep, I give up on myself, and boom! I am quickly back on the bottom of the slide. Usually I stay here for a day or two (or week or month) before I turn back around and start to climb again.

It seems so easy to slide back down when you are barely strong enough to climb.

I know that I every time I fall I am not falling to the bottom. And I know that every time I start to climb it will get easier. Even when I think about my sliding board now I know it is not nearly as steep or as long as the one I set out to climb 6+ years ago. I’m a different person now, so my life challenges are different too. Maybe my sliding board is more like this one:

Side note: I grew up calling this a sliding board but apparently that is a regional term and most people call this a slide. Hopefully the title of this post was not too confusing for you :) 

I do feel like this time around it has been more challenging. I am not sure if that is because the circumstances are so different or if it is because I feel like I lost so much this past year or if it is because I cannot envision what my healthy lifestyle will look like now that I have so many activity restrictions. Probably a mixture of it all.

I think that 6 years ago it seemed easier because I had nowhere else to go but up. I was super lazy with terrible eating habits. Something, no matter how small of a change, was so much better than where I had been. Now the changes I need to make aren’t huge, I mean even at my worst during the injury, I still packed my breakfast and lunch every day. I did eat some processed foods but not a ton. I was probably closer to 60/40 than 80/20 but I still rarely drank or ate out. I was just completely inactive. And that is what led me here today.

Maybe I just have too many expectations of what my life should be based on where my life used to be. I think maybe I just need new expectations, new goals, and new dreams instead of wishing back the life I used to have.

Tomorrow I see my doctor for my semi-annual checkup and will get back the lab results from my blood work I had last week. My last check up back in the fall, even though I had already started to gain weight from the injury, my doctor was still super impressed with my lab work results. She said she was not concerned with the weight gain because I was internally the picture of health. I wonder how much they have changed after a solid 6 months of no activity….

I will let you know tomorrow.

Lastly, I really need to thank you for allowing me a place to talk about these deeply personal feelings. Trust me, although it may sound really negative I merely want to showcase the side of the battle I am fighting right now. We all have our own hurdles, and right now this is mine. It’s no different than yours. But when I talk about mine it helps me to put things in perspective and begin to really focus on the underlying struggles and issues. Because at the end of the day, I want to be healthy again. I want to be fit and full of energy. I want to treat my body, mind and spirit the way that they deserve to be treated because I only have one life. And I intend to live it fully.

xoxox,

Dacia 

Today *the original title was too long

Aside from taking care of my sick puppy and then scraping the heck out of my heel on some brick, I was having an awesome morning. I had an appointment to see my chiropractor at 730a so I am feeling pretty great right now. Plus, he is just the nicest guy so I always enjoy my time there. Thursday’s are usually very stressful days for me – they are almost always the busiest work day of the week and then when I am home I am usually swamped with LuLaRoe party stuff. That means I usually end up going to bed much, much later than my norm and waking up much, much earlier on Friday- to take care of business stuff -before I leave for work. During a typical week I pretty much feel a little more exhausted every day from working during the day and night every day and by the time Saturday hits I am a full on zombie. If I am lucky, my body will let me sleep in on Sunday but usually my internal clock has a different idea.

For the past few weeks, as we are starting to prepare to close up our LuLaRoe shop, we have been able to step back a bit and make a little more time for ourselves. Did I tell you why are we closing our business? We are in the process of getting ready to put our house on the market because we have a contract down on a new build home that should be ready sometime this fall. 

We knew that once our house was on the market (hopefully by June 1) we would not be able to run our LuLaRoe business again until we were settled into our new home later this year. It would be a logistical nightmare to try and make it work so we made the difficult decision to close. The close may be temporary, or it may be permanent- we still don’t know for sure. But I am trying not to stress about that. Or the 1,000 pieces of clothing I need to sell before we list our home. Or what this means for my LuLaRoe group and the connection I have made with some of the most amazing women. I am trying to not stress over any of that.

Which you know that means I am absolutely stressed over all of it.

Which is why I am trying to get into a daily meditation routine and am practicing daily self-care acts.

It’s also why I am trying to eat better and be more active.

And why I am trying to spend more time with friends and Erick and have a ‘normal’ life again.

Now more than ever I need to control the things in my life that are controllable and try to NOT STRESS over the ones that are not.

So today I am going to start something I hope to be able to do weekly- a ‘what I am going to do to take care of  myself today’ post.

Today I will:

1.       Take a walk out in the beautiful sun during my lunch break and literally stop and smell the flowers

2.       Stand at my desk (I now have a variable height desk, post injury) for a total of 4 hours

3.       Eat an amazingly yummy and healthy dinner with Erick and NOT have my phone out at the table (which is pretty hard to do when you run an online business)

4.       Jump on my fitness trampoline for 20 minutes

5.       Meditate

6.       And most importantly (and the most difficult)- I WILL NOT STRESS EAT!!!

Those are my six goals for today to help me feel good about myself, find balance between work and self-care, and end the day on a positive note.

What are you doing for yourself today?

xoxox

Dacia

Mic Check...Is This Thing On?

Wow! It has certainly been awhile, huh? (I won't tell you that it took me 10 minutes to figure out how to log into my Blogger account. SMDH)

Let me take a minute to wipe off some of the dust that gathered on this ole bloggy blog and then we can get started.

The last we saw each other I was celebrating my five year blogiversary by apparently never blogging again. LOL! I have not written a new post in over a year, and yes the last post was my 5 year post. Kind of weird, right?

Maybe from the outside, yes. But something big happened just a few weeks after my 5 year post that changed my life completely. In early March 2016 I signed up to become a consultant with LuLaRoe (super amazing clothes that helped me to feel comfortable in my skin and find my self-confidence) which on the surface seems like maybe not too big of a deal, right? It’s just direct sales- no big deal, right? Nope, it is a huge undertaking that I have spent 40+ hours a week on top of my full time job and still working on my doctorate running this new business.

I was (and still am) ridiculously busy. It’s a lot. At least, a lot for me.

We (Erick and I- he is pretty much my business partner in LuLaRoe) live our life with no margins. (See post here: http://carlabirnberg.com/2017/04/10/the-importance-of-living-with-margins/) We have said no to so many life events, passed up on spending time with friends, no vacations, just work, work, work 95% of the time. *We do try to take 12 hours to ourselves on the weekend when we can although I am still always connected and never really ‘off’. I am not complaining, I love my business, but I can say with certainty that I did not know exactly how time consuming this would be when I signed up.

And of course, you can probably guess what else has been sacrificed over the past year- our eating and exercise habits. Long gone were the days where I would make every meal from scratch and in its place is junk food/ convenience foods I can make super quick before I need to get back to work. Our gym routine went out the window early on as working every night made it impossible to get up early to hit the gym. Sleep has been complete crap too.

And then, late last August/early September I hurt my hip and back and that made that whole terrible lifestyle situation even worse. A tear in my superior labrum and bursitis in my hip, coupled with degenerative disc disease and bugling discs which created a mess with my sciatica, I got to the point where I could barely even move my right leg.

Doctors, steroids, Orthopedist, Chiropractor, physical therapy, more steroids and after months and months of pain, extremely limited activity and terrible side effects from the steroids I am FINALLY finished with PT and meds (well, only as needed) and am cleared for light activity. Yay!!!

So why am I telling you all this? Because this past year has really changed my life to the point where I don’t even recognize myself. And I don’t just mean that because I have gained weight (which I have, a whopping 50 lbs in one year!) I mean that the person I was, and worked so hard to become, the one that loves to be active, eat well to fuel her body, and focuses on taking care of her mental well being- seems to be gone. Or maybe just buried.

After a rough start in March where I found myself on antibiotics and feeling like a hot mess, I finally started to take some action and control back in my life. Right now, for April, I am focusing on daily, weekly, and monthly goals that are slightly challenging yet still doable. I am using the Goal Digger tracking sheet from Brooke’s blog (Link: http://brookenotonadiet.com/2014/07/11/goal-digger-free-printable/).  I tack my steps and sleep on my Garmin, my water intake on the Plant Nanny app and am even trying to move back to food tracking using My Fitness Pal.

Week one for April was pretty good and I am hoping week two will be even better. I have also started meditating at night. I am trying to work my way up to making that a daily habit. My exercise right now is mainly walking but I am hoping to start a 3 week yoga program in the next couple weeks. I also bought a fitness trampoline for some low impact exercise. AND once I close up my LuLaRoe shop (more on that some other time) I want to get back into weekly bike rides like we used to go on every weekend. I am trying to slowly re-introduce things and not try to take it too fast because I really, really, really don’t want to reinjure myself. So I am definitely baby stepping back into fitness.

Meal planning has been going really well and I love having time again to cook every day. I am really looking forward to summer and grilling out a lot. We tend to eat more lighter foods in the hotter temps and it is really helpful when I am trying to not overindulge too much.

Oh, and I am also doing a self-care challenge in my LuLaRoe group for the month of April and taking time each day to focus on me...it is such an amazing feeling. A daily self-care routine was very much needed! 

I have so much I want to talk about right now but I don’t want to make this post any longer than it already is. But I really hope to get back into a blogging routine. I need the accountability. It was so amazingly helpful the first time around. And right now I am trying so hard to fall back on the good habits that got me to a 130 lb weight loss. I know it’s not starting over, but honestly some days it does feel that way. I just keep telling myself- it’s not a new book, just a new chapter.

xoxox

Dacia 

It's the 4 Week Countdown!

I’m leaving in 4 weeks for my honeymoon. We’ll be spending 2 weeks in Cabo. It’s going to be amazeballs. When we get back we will be heading out again to spend the rest of the holiday with E’s family so we will pretty much be gone for three weeks. I can’t believe it, it is going to be the absolute best way to close out the most amazing year!

But I am nervous, though. Not gonna lie. I am worried that I am sliding into the vacation mindset already and I still have a month before it is here. I need to switch back into weight loss mode. I need to keep paying attention to my choices, I need to bring back mindfulness into my life.

So I decided I needed a challenge – something to help keep me motivated and moving these next four weeks. I really wanted to do Brooke’s Skinny Snowman Challenge but since I will be out of the country for a big chunk of it (during which I will be completely disconnected from social media) I thought it better to come up with something I can start right now. Even if it is just me participating.

However, I am still using Brooke as my inspiration for this challenge since I am going to steal use her Goal Digger chart to track my goals. You can download your own copy here of the free printable. The way Brooke set it up is you have daily, weekly, and monthly goals. This is perfect for me to help bring back that focus to weight loss during the holiday/end of semester/about to vacation madness.

My month (well, four weeks actually) will start tomorrow, Saturday, November 14^th and run through Friday, December 11^th- the day before we leave for Cabo. Perfect timing, right?

My goals for these next four weeks are:

Daily

Track every day- WW and MFP

Hit step goal – determined by Garmin, based on average movement

At least 7 hours sleep a night

Follow meal plan for the day

Weekly

Workout 5 times/week (minimum 30 minutes)

Drinkend ONLY (no beer except on the weekend- exception being Thanksgiving)

80/20 with meals (limited to 4 meals out a week)

Write weekly WW post for accountability

Monthly

Lose 5 pounds

Follow HM training plan (starts 11/23)

Attend 2 yoga and/or fitness classes

Ok, so now I am all set with my goals. I know I can bring back some focus and mindfulness if I just make the choices that will help me to achieve these goals. I think this is exactly what I need for the next four weeks- recommitting to myself; my journey and my health.

Want to join me? Let me know in the comments if you will be participating too. J

Love and hugs,

Dacia

xoxoxoxox

Serendipity...Sort Of

I’ve been getting hit in the face lately with a lot of truth bombs. It’s that whole serendipity thing, but not in a fortuitous way. The universe is speaking to me and it is telling me I’m not fooling anyone.

The other night I read (in the most random crime short story from the 90’s) a passage where the author, talking about drug addiction, wrote:

"Sometimes a man quits trusting his strengths and starts trusting his weaknesses. His weaknesses are more apt to be dependable"

Yeah, that blew my mind.

Then I was reading this post from Andie Mitchell over at CanYou Stay for Dinner and she was talking about goals and making big changes that are impactful and when I got to this part:

"Sometimes when we feel stuck, any movement feels good. And while it’s true that doing something is better than nothing, we can trick ourselves into thinking we’re making progress when we aren’t doing anything meaningful. When we’re just doing the minimum and checking the small projects off of our To Do lists every day, at a certain point we have to stop and ask ourselves, Am I growing? Am I moving toward my goals…or am I just getting by?"

I was floored.

TRUTH! 

SO. MUCH. TRUTH.

And it felt like a roundhouse kick to the head.

I always am talking about small changes, something being better than nothing. Heck, I love the whole idea of #wycwyc (what you can, when you can) because it works into my self-proclaimed crazy, busy life. But is it helping me?

I mean it has to be. Something is always better than nothing, right? 

But...

Am I growing?

Am I progressing?

Am I moving towards my goals?  

Jeez, some days I don’t know.

I know that on any given day I can look over the choices I have made and find those that could have been better and those that could have been worse. I mean, hell I preach constantly about balance and 80/20 and never engaging in extreme behaviors. But it’s a fine line, right, between balance and complacency? And I have to stop for a minute and ask myself - am I coasting?

Am I trying to fool myself into believing I am doing enough?

Or worse yet…

Am I starting to trust my weaknesses more so than my strengths?

That’s so easy to do.

So how do I know? I mean seriously though, how can I honestly know I am taking meaningful actions in my life that are helping me reach my goals? 

Am I just following the path of least resistance?

Maybe it shouldn’t be this easy

Or should it?

I wish I knew. 

Love and hugs,

Dacia

xoxoxox

WW Weekly Recap: Week 9

Week 9 has come and gone and although it wasn’t what I had hoped it to be, weight loss wise, I am not letting my weight gain and missed goals stop me from trying again this week.

So how did last week go? Well, it started off strong but then got a bit crazy by the end. My goals for last week were to:

Complete week two of half marathon training – yes! Although I had to move the long run to Sunday I did not miss a single run this week

Train with M for the kids marathon- yup! We logged another two miles last week

Go to the gym twice with Anna- yeppers! Day 1 I did my warm up on the treadmill followed by a 5K on the rowing machine (in just under 25 minutes) and day 2 was 5 miles on the treadmill (as part of HM training)

Track everyday- Yesiree! Even when it got a bit out of hand and hard to remember (cough, cough – beer fest)

90K steps or more- Nope!  I fell just over 5K short on this goal. I would have crushed it if I had kept my long run on Saturday. NBD, it happens. This week’s step count will be super high J

Try to limit how much I drink at the beer fest- Kind of…I probably could have been better, I definitely could have been worse. Actually, the drinking wasn’t really the bad part- the snacking and 10p dinner out was what got me and the scale showed it.

Ignore my weird sausage toes...LOL!

You see, I debated on whether or not to weigh in Friday morning instead of Saturday since I knew I would be out drinking and eating late Friday night. Friday morning I weighed in at 170.0 (a gain of 0.4) but I opted to not record it. Instead I weighed in Saturday morning at 171.4- a gain of 1.8 for the week. Eh, it happens. And it was kind of expected. It had been 6 weeks since my last gain, it was only a matter of time.

Emerald Coast Beer Fest- always a great time! 

The important part- I just keep focusing on healthy habits and actions, even when life is tough. It’s no secret that I have been feeling a lot of stress lately. For me, now is the time I really need to be more conscious about the decisions I am making. Even though eating half a bag of tortilla chips and a tub of salsa seemed like a good idea in the moment (this happened Saturday) it only made me feel worse, physically and mentally. Sunday was spent recuperating from treating my body like shit but making sure I got in my long run, taking care of a ton of wedding stuff, meal planning and prepping, and a little relaxation on the beach (which was actually part of wedding stuff) helped to get my mind right.

View along my long run- the church where E and I will be married... <3

Vegan brunch at End of the Line- my favorite!

Salt Life

Gordie is my co-pilot...

This week there are some changes ahead which you will see in my goals…

Complete Cize Week 1 (yup, I am back at it. I loved it so much I just needed to bring it back into the routine)

Love me some Cize!!!

Complete Week 3 HM Training

Track Everyday

Log 100,000 steps

Catch Up on Schoolwork – I am falling behind (which is so unlike me) and that is adding to the stress

Try a New Recipe

Complete Photo-A-Day Challenge the 15^th-19^th

Feel free to join in and use the hashtag if you post on social media :)

Until next week….

Love and hugs,

Dacia

xoxoxoxox

Is Fitness Broken?

I read this post written by a fitness center titled “Fitness is Broken”. It talked about the common focus on the first two months of being active/joining a gym/changing habits and ignoring the long term. It was a great read, and not just for someone just starting out. You can check it out here…don’t worry, you can go read it. I'll wait.

That post made me think about my current/next two months. You see, right now I am kind of in a transitional period. Hmmmm….maybe transitional period isn’t the right phrase. Right now my focus has transitioned to different forms of movement and activity in order to help me better focus on my goals; strength, flexibility, balance, and some inner fucking peace. 

What does that look like?

Yoga, gym time with Anna (which is a mix of cardio and strength training), hiking with Erick and Gordie, relaxing on the beach or in the hammock or really anywhere outdoors, walking and exploring where we live and when we travel, trying new classes just for the fun of it, joining a cornhole (bean bag toss) league. It’s really whatever I feel like my body needs and honoring that.

I was asked the other day what does a normal week for me look like in terms of activity and my response went something like this. I typically aim to be active 5-6 days a week but I count any type of intentional activity as activity. I am not limiting what I consider activity to going to the gym or a class or a run but instead I classify activity as any time I intentionally choose to move my body. Not that I am not saying I don’t plan out my activity for the week or try to set a schedule to follow because during the week I really need to. Not just for me but for E and now Anna, both who need me to commit my time to something in order for them to be able to get in their activity too. But stating that I am aiming for 5-6 days with intentional movement allows for some flexibility too. It means taking yoga instead of running, or lifting weights instead of cardio machines. It allows me to focus more on my body and less on a plan.

Which after pretty much a year of following training plans for half marathons, Ragnar and working with a physical trainer my body is so ready for some flexibility, literally and figuratively.

Why do I write all this? Well, because that article brought home some really good, and applicable, points about the purpose of being active.

It’s good to be focused on my next two months but it is also good to focus on the big picture and how these months play a big part of it. In two months I will be changing up my routine again and starting back into half marathon training. These two months are key to preparing for that. Like the article said “the next two months are about doing something that will make the months to follow even better”. That is my focus, taking care of myself in the now/short term in order to make my long term better. My focus needs to include both.

Also, the article talks about consistency and how the idea that we need to be motivated in order to exercise is poisoning our mind. Exercise should be drama-free and stress-free and something we WANT to do. Something that should come to us as easily as reading, practicing an instrument or any other hobby, not something we need dread, fear or something requiring an outside element (motivation) in order to do. If this is how we are feeling about the exercise/activity we are doing it will be a difficult and unlikely habit to maintain.

The article makes a lot of really great points (yeah, you really should read it) and I think it resonated with me so strongly because this is where my head is out now. This is how I feel about exercise and being active: it’s a gift. It is something I enjoy. It is something that I know will help make my future better. And I hope you feel that way as well.

And I hope that today you are also able to make decisions that will help maximize your life and set yourself up for future successes.

Love and hugs,

Dacia

xoxoxox

The Next Four Week Challenge

I mentioned on Monday that I would come back and recap the last four week’s goal challenge so here I am. And looking back over my paper goal sheet, I think I kicked some serious ass. I did struggle with a few daily goals here and there, which happens- especially on the weekends, but all in all I am really proud of what I accomplished and the result of these last four weeks in action, I will explain more about that in a bit. First up – the goal recap….

Daily Goals

8,000 Steps a Day- 26/28

Stick to Meal Plan- 27/28

Track- 22/28 (some days I tracked, but only partially so I did not count them)

25 Minutes a Day Activity- 27/28

There was only one day where I didn’t hit any of my daily goals and that was a day I stayed home sick from work. Other than that day I was active every day and stuck to my meal plan, I missed 8K just one other time but I did flake a bit (on the weekends) with my tracking. Like I said, I only counted the days I tracked everything.

Weekly Goals

Drinkend Only- 4/4

Run Three Times a Week- 3/4

Eat Out Four Times a Week (or less)- 3/4

Weigh-In Only Once a Week- 4/4

I was really impressed that I was able to limit my drinking to the weekend only. Not that I drink all the time/every day normally, because I don’t, but because we have had both social outings (where I was the only one not drinking) and stressful days (where I just wanted to drink a beer and lounge on the couch- but hit the gym instead) that made this one challenging at times. But I made it through. Same with the scale. This one wasn’t too hard but it was definitely a change from my daily scale routine. But it’s a change I am glad I have made. As far as my other two goals, well I came close to 4 out of 4 on each only once did I miss my three runs a week goal but I still got in two, so close. And then one weekend we had an impromptu road trip and I ended up eating out lunch and dinner Saturday, breakfast and lunch Sunday which is only four but then earlier in the week I ate out at a work party….

Monthly Goals

Two Active Adventures- 2/2

Two Bike Rides- 2/2

This month I was able to work in a few active adventures; exploring Fort Pickens, kayaking and a lighthouse tour (which is both adventurous in that I sometimes freak out from heights and active as it is a steep and windy climb up to the top) and it was awesome! I also made it a goal to get in some bike rides using this as a motivator to start riding again. One was a ten miler around my neighborhood and the other was with Erick out in Orange Beach, AL where we rented some cruisers and logged about 15 miles out on the trails. It was nice to be able to spend an afternoon out on the bike with my favorite person. This was our second ride together, and although we decided this back in February, it helped get our butts over to a bike shop to find a bike for Erick, which we did. Stay tuned for more bike adventures! 

As for my reward (a dress from Anthropologie)- yes, I think I earned it. I hit 120 out of the 132 goals  which is over 90%. I think my ‘A’ in goal achievement has earned me a new dress. We are heading to NOLA next weekend and I plan on swinging by the Anthro there before we head home.

 

 

As for the next four weeks…

Well, I sat last night mulling over a clean goal sheet trying to plan out my attack strategy.  I loved the goals I had last month but things are changing (half marathon training, more traveling, etc.) and I wanted to set goals that set me up for success by providing a way for me to live in balance these next four weeks.  You see, what I learned last months was that those goals were designed to both challenge me and keep me motivated. It was all about incorporating in the behaviors and habits that are healthy for me and at the same time through in some fun goals to keep it fresh and light-hearted. Balanced.

So, as I sat there last night strategizing about my new goals I turned to E for some help. He suggested a weight loss goal (don’t get up in arms- the man doesn’t think I need to lose weight) and to which my reply was this…’if I am meeting these goals I have set on this sheet, then I don’t really care if I lose weight’

For me; meal planning and tracking, being active and walking every day, training for a half marathon, not obsessing over a scale, limiting my alcohol consumption, reading books and riding bikes…that is my balance of happy and healthy. And if I lose weight doing it, that’s awesome. If I don’t, that’s cool too. Because these types of goals are more like a way for me to reinforce good habits and good habits are what I depend on to keep me living this amazing life.

Goals for August 13^th through September 9^th

Daily

Track (only full days count)

10,000 Steps a Day (now that I am in full on HM training, I expect most days for this to be easy. It’s the rest days that get me)

30 Minutes of Movement/Activity

Follow Meal Plan (set on Sunday)

Weekly

Weigh-In Once

Four Runs (basically this means follow HM training plan)

Drinkend Only

No Eating Out During Work Week

Monthly

8 Bike Rides

Read Two Books

My Reward….well, I just noticed I left this part blank. I have been toying with the idea of getting the Garmin Vivofit BUT I may end up needing to replace my GPS watch so I am going to wait and see on this one. More than likely it will be something from Garmin though.

What about you? What are some healthy habits you keep in your routine? 

 

From a year ago(via the TimeHop app) - channel your inner Tim!!! 

Love and hugs,

Dacia

xoxoxox

Why Not Start Tomorrow???

I am not really sure what is going on lately but whatever it is, it's not working.  I think the tiny dictator in my head is getting lazy. Even though I have been kicking ass at the gym (meeting with my trainer twice a week and running) and doing T25 in the mornings I am still struggling with seeing much downward movement on the scale. I know its time for a little tough love and a reality check that maybe everything I am doing isn't enough.

Enter Brooke and her 'Goal Digger' four week personal challenge/goal setting plan thingy.

I saw her ideas and thought that it was probably something I needed to get on board with too. And since it's never too soon to start I thought why not tomorrow? Even though it's the middle of the month and kind of the middle of week why not?

Tonight I set printed out the downloadable tracker and filled it with my goals for the next four weeks and am here now to tell you in order to help keep myself accountable. You have my permission to call me out if I need it. 

In total I set 10 goals for this month; 4 daily goals, 4 weekly goals, and two monthly goals. I tried to keep my focus on diet and exercise and attempted to make these goals measurable so I can't BS my way around them. This is what I came up with:

Daily

• 8,000 steps per day minimum 
• Stick the meal plan for the day
• Track (I suck at this...really need to focus on getting better with this one)
• Be active every day (minimum 25 minutes)

Weekly

• Drinkend only (totally stole this term from Brooke, drink only on the weekends)
• Run three times a week (half marathon training officially begins August 18- I need a better base)
• Max meals out of 4 (that's 20%)
• Only weigh myself once a week on Friday (because sometimes it does more harm than good)

Monthly

• Two active adventures 
• Two bike rides (I need to start riding outdoors again, something that I have done very little of since moving to Pensacola)

Oh, and the best part- there is a reward at the end of the 4 weeks if I meet my goals. I am aiming for at least 80% but closer to 100% would be awesome. My choice of a reward- a new dress from Anthropologie. E and I will be in NOLA the end of August so if I meet my goals I will be making a detour to the store there to pick something out :) 

My goal tracker covered in my chicken scratch ;)

Now, it's time for bed. I have T25 in the morning and a run at the track after work and I need my beauty sleep.

Love and hugs,

Dacia

xoxoxox

My New Year's 'Resolutions'...

This year, I am choosing to stray from the standard fare resolution. No more big, year long goals or proclamations for me. Not for 2014 at least.

I mean, yes, I am sure there will be some things that will continue to be a resolution for me; year in and year out, like staying active and focused on a healthy me. Those won't ever go away.

But this year, thanks to friends who turned me onto this idea, I wanted to try something different.

This year is all about actions. This year is all about making the life I want. A good, happy, fun life. A life that allows me to grow and become a better person. A life that allows me to be active and adventurous. A life that knows no limits.

So instead of resolutions I will be doing 52 individual weekly challenges/actions. I created a list of things I want to do this year; all of which can be done with little or no advanced planning.  I will write them each on a notecard, place them in a bowl/jar (apparatus TBD) and then each week I will select one and complete it at some point over the following seven days, then a week later pick another.

Sounds easy enough, right?

My hopes are that it will help keep me focused throughout the year on what I really want from 2014; excitement, adventure, love, happiness, and fun. And of course, lots of laughter- once I am able to laugh again.

So, without further ado here is my list for 2014

1.     Cook a new Indian dish

2.     Take a long walk on the beach

3.     Watch Life is Beautiful (or other favorite movie) again

4.     Ride my bike

5.     Dance under the stars

6.     Cut my hair

7.     Try a new activity

8.     Donate unused clothes/household goods

9.     Buy someone a coffee

10. Go to a comedy club

11.  Play Italian cards

12.  Write a thank you note

13.  Tell someone I love them

14.   Go to a sporting event

15.  Create something

16.  Donate to charity

17.  Spend a day inside, relaxing

18.  Spend a day outside, being active

19.  Go on an adventure

20.  Go someplace new

21.  Get dirty

22.  Bake cookies to bring to work

23.  Buy something just for me

24.  Buy something for someone else, just because

25.  Climb the rock wall at UWF

26.  See how many numbers of Pi I can memorize

27.  Watch a documentary

28.  Send my mom flowers

29.  Take a friend out for dinner/drinks/a show

30.  Go to the Pensacola Art Museum

31.  Try a new food/restaurant

32.  Make soup in the Vitamix

33.  Go to a brewery/pub crawl

34.  Listen to live music

35.  Send someone a postcard

36.  Meditate

37.  Create a new recipe

38.  Jump rope

39.  Wash my car

40.  Leave someone a love note

41.  Go ice skating

42.  Take the dogs to the park

43.  Read a magazine

44.  Take a bubble bath

45.  Get a massage

46.  Spend a day with loved ones

47.  Watch a scary movie

48.  Plan a night out (date night, girls night, etc) and dress up

49.  Go out dancing/take a dance lesson

50.  Watch the first Lord of the Rings movie

51.  Spend a day electronics-free

52.  Call a friend

There it is folks, my to-do list for 2014! Sounds like a lot of fun to me. I am pretty excited to get started!

What about you? Will you be making any resolutions, goals or plans for the New Year?

Love and big celebratory hugs,

Dacia