mini wake-up call

i read a spark blog by VirgoGuRL4 that was a letter from her goal weight.
you can read the whole thing here. it was really cute, but beyond that, it was really interesting and helped me realize what i've been doing to myself lately.

my weight has been creeping up over the last few weeks. i've been slacking off, not tracking, not getting exercise in, not making sure i'm getting enough water or veggies every day, etc. my weight had gotten down to 24 lbs down....now i'm only 14 lbs down. i'm 30 lbs away from making my goal for new years. it'd be pushing it to reach that goal, but my NEW goal is to get as close to that goal as i can. it's up to ME to make that happen.

so i'm stealing part of her letter and making it my own:

Take out the index cards. It's time to write down your goals. And time for the new rules. I want those in your wallet too!

GOALS:
-cease to be obese (an eventual goal range of 160 to 170 lbs, which may become lower as i get closer to that goal) :)
-fit into a size 16 or smaller
-get my cluttered house under control
-get knocked up :)

RULES:
1) Six servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
2) At least 64 ounces of water a day.
3) Meal or snack time every 3-4 hours. Tea or water is fine in between.
4) Go to bed by 11:00 every night work or a special event doesn't prevent it. TV shows, reading "one more chapter" or looking at "one more page" online ARE NOT special events. Get up by 7:00 every morning, unless you are ACTUALLY sick.
5) Start doing 10 minutes of simple exercise (yoga, crunches, push-ups, jogging in place, etc) EVERY morning.
6) Walk (or do some sort of cardio) on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for at least 30 minutes.
7) Develop an at-home strength training plan to do on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.
8) Start planning most of your meals in advance.
9) Look your best each and every day. Take a shower, put on real clothes (things that won't get you put on PoW), and be ready to DO something with your life.
10) Stay involved and engaged with SparkPeople (or others who have similar goals). You get as much as you put out.
11) Keep cleaning, sorting, and getting rid of stuff at home. Nobody else is going to do it for you.

what are your goals? what's your plan to reach them?

a little MIA

well, the holiday season is in full swing. which really makes my head hurt. i'm working more hours (not a lot more, but still more), and weirder shifts and there are more stupid people and less down time and i'm already sick of people that are all bubbly about how great the holidays are. no, the holidays kinda suck for me. they remind me that i'm working a crap part-time job that somehow manages to work me during all the holiday events i'd like to participate in (family and community both) while still not giving me enough hours to be able to buy decent presents for most of my friends and family. they remind me that i don't have kids to take to see santa. i've been thinking about putting up my Christmas tree this year, but i really don't have a reason to put it up....and it honestly sounds like a lot of work.

i've been spending a lot of time in my head lately and generally haven't felt like writing. but i figured i should pop in and post something and let everybody out there who cares know that no, i have not fallen off the face of the earth or given up on my goals. (i have taken a few steps back, but such is to be expected when i'm "down" and stressed) i'm still around here.

c25k fail

apparently, the mall frowns upon people running/jogging there. i guess it's a liability issue. so now i'm trying to find another place that we can jog indoors. i think i'm going to have to join a gym....i don't have room in my house for a treadmill or something like that, and i don't have the money to buy a decent one anyway.

i kind of don't want to join a gym. when i have in the past, the times i'm most likely to go seem to end up being their busy time. and i really want to RUN....but i'm self conscious about all the noise i make running on a treadmill. and while the idea of "someone seeing me" work out - which i know is a big issue for a lot of overweight folks - doesn't really bother me, the idea of a whole bunch of someones does. and if i have to wait for a machine to be free, i lose momentum and usually end up cutting my work-out short. which doesn't help anything.

i'm seriously leaning towards continuing to walk at the mall like three days a week and then trying to c25k program again in the spring. i mean, there's the track at the civic center that's a full mile - and it's really a pretty nice, central location. it'll be awesome when the weather is nice. and, according to route builder the "block" i live on is half a mile around, so it could be an alright place to do my workouts when my partners in crime aren't up for it. i think i'm going to start walking outside some when the weather is half-way decent now.

i need to do something to keep from gaining all winter.