Finding Focus

This week I have been doing a lot of "focused" work outs and have been thinking a lot about the goals and ambitions that I have for my future. It has been a great week, and I feel that I have been renewed with the energy needed to meet my desired goals.

Last night I planned out my 2010 training plan and that was really motivational for me. I found several races - 7K, 10K, 13K, and Half Marathon - that I want to compete in throughout the year. My training will be towards the goal of 10K, but eventually I will train for a Half Marathon in August. I feel like in 9 months I should be ready for the big race.

More than just working out a plan, I have been focusing on the biggest challenge of all - The Mind - I read a wonderful book this week called, The 5 Rules of Thought, and it was very enlightening. Just to remind me to focus on what I want to accomplish and "see it done". To think positively about my goals, because you will indefinitely become that which you think you will be. It is amazing what the mind can do...

Also, I have been reading a lot of yoga books and taking my yoga practice to a new level. I feel like my life is really balanced right now and that is bringing healing to my life. My desire is for this "balance" to continue even in the midst of the more stressful moments once I start school. It is easy to get caught up in the challenges of the moment, and my desire is to stay non-reactive during those times.

It has been a great week - technically I still have one more day before week 3 is finished, but I wanted to blog tonight...

"You are what your deep, driving desire is. As your desire is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny."

Week 3 of 14

The challenge continues - This week my real struggle was my silly hip that keeps bothering me. My right hip seems to be fighting against my desire to improve and increase my running distance. I believe this pain is from over training, and therefore this week I took a break from running and did the stationary bike every day instead. My hip seems to be healing from that, but still is weak.

My focus this whole week has been on strengthening exercises for all the muscles which support my hip. I have incorporated this into my daily yoga practice as well as my work outs. Hopefully it will make a difference.

Yesterday we did a 7 hour tramp up a steep mountain. (It was up hill most of the way with an occasional area of slight incline.) I was really worried about overdoing it on my hip so I tried really hard not to put too much pressure on it. I think by this focus I was able to accomplish that because my hip is feeling fine today. - Although as a consequence my knees are sore! I guess you just can't win until your body's muscles are ready to handle what you give them...

I feel great and felt like this past week was a good one despite my setbacks. This week I am continuing with my focus on healing and strengthening for my hip, but I will also try gradually bringing running back into the picture. (I still REALLY want to make a 5 miler by the end of December, and I'm getting so much closer!)

Week 2 of 14

Tomorrow will be the start of my second week of intense workout. This week was amazing...Having the time to put in really makes a difference. I have been working out between 2 and 3 hours a day with a variety of stuff from running/lifting/abs/yoga etc.....My muscles feel great. My legs are incredibly sore right now from so many lunges etc, but they will heal today as it is my FREE day. Tomorrow they should be ready to go again! - While I know this kind of work out isn't really sustainable, I want to build a strong base while I can. Besides, I will still try to keep most of it up once school starts by integrating in 1/2 hour sessions here and there throughout the day as "brain breaks"......We will cross that bridge when we get there.

Not much weight loss progress - I am only down to 68kg (roughly 149lbs) but at least I am under the 70kg threshold where I have stayed for a while. Mostly I have been gaining muscle. While I haven't lost much weight I actually look different and I feel great about that. It feels like my goals are really starting to come into reach. I still have about 17 lbs to loose, but I think that it is definitely doable.

Still holding true to my no sugar/no chocolate deal. I have successfully cut down to one latte a week now and no coffee. I have some green tea during the day and one cup of earl grey in the mornings, but otherwise I am off caffeine which feels great as well.

On and even brighter note, I have been cooking a lot of vegetarian meals lately and have convinced Travis to cut down on meat as well!!! (He gives it up really reluctantly so I still cook him some on the side most days.) I am certainly not a "strict" vegetarian, but eating more grains/legumes/vegetables etc makes a huge difference for me and I love it!

The other changes I have made is that I have cut way back on my alcohol intake. (While I never drank much anyway, it's still a change.) I don't even buy wine much anymore and if I do I just have a small glass every few days. It's been at least three weeks since I had a glass now.....Not giving it up for any reason other than to save money! haha.....I guess it still counts.

14 Week Challenge

Well, I found that due to traveling around so much I couldn't really stick with my Body for Life challenge. I have been really faithful to running and yoga though so I have seen some great results from that. Not sure how much weight I have lost, but I can definitely tell my body is tightening up so that's awesome.

So, here is my new challenge since I am in a home now (well, apt.) and can stick to something more solid......It's 14 weeks until I start school so this is my challenge to stick to my program until school starts and by then I will have a good base to branch off and work out a new schedule at that point.

I found that BFL just doesn't have enough running involved so I am adapting my own program based on the "concept" of some of the principals I learned from BFL. Plus I want to try a new lifting routine so we will see how that goes......

I have a detailed schedule, but will spare you the details: suffice it to say that I will be running four days a week, (mixture of distance and speed) lifting upper body twice a week and lower body twice a week with two days of cross training at the gym (bike/elliptical) and one free day a week. Each day I also have a selected yoga practice to complete and abs interspersed. It's a lot, but I basically have a lot of free time right now so it's no big deal.....

That's where I'm at right now......Eating TONS of fresh vege and fruit and cooking a lot of grains etc. Really focusing on healthy meal choices and loving the availability of produce here!!!

Update

Well, we are back in Napier for the weekend. It was a great three weeks of working and looks like all that outdoor labor paid off with a few pounds shed. I'm down two more pounds. Although it's not much, it counts for something!!!

It's been hard to cut back on food intake when you are working so much because you need that extra energy....It all balances out. Everything we have been eating has been very healthy and consists a lot of eggs and toast - our staple while WWOOFing! haha......

Still running faithfully and doing my yoga so things are going well. Hopefully the weight will drop off gradually and soon I will be back in shape again! =)

Week Four

Okay, so technically I should be starting my fourth week on my Body For Life program. However, since we decided to start WWOOFing (Willing Workers On Organic Farms) - see my other blog for info on that - it has really thrown a wrench into my workout program because I am no longer able to go to the gym and lift weights......

So, in the mean time I am going back to running two days on, one day off. Gradually I want to increase my distance to 5 miles, but right now I am averaging between 3-4 a day. I have been really faithful to running and have been embracing the challenge of running in the rural country side.

The other big change has been my yoga. I have been really faithful to doing my yoga on a regular basis now. I am doing shorter sessions for now (around 30 min. on most days and then 60 min. on the days that I do "power" yoga) I decided that if I didn't have to do 90 min. then it would be a lot easier to stick with it EVERY day. Some days I even do it twice a day. This has been really big for helping me not be so sore when I'm doing harder outdoor labor. (I admit that I am NOT used to outdoor labor! haha.) Last week there was this one day that I weeded for four hours and my body was so incredibly sore and I just ached all over. I was so tired, but I did some yoga that night and was totally shocked when I woke up the next morning and was barely even sore!!! Yoga is amazing......

My diet has been challenging since we aren't really living in a situation where you can control your food......Basically instead of being able to eat small amounts all through the day, I only get to eat three meals so they are a little larger than I would normally eat. Still very healthy though, as all the places we have stayed so far eat very organic and healthy - lots of veggies!!! YES - Last week the host made dessert each night though so that sucked because it was so good and so hard to stick to my plan!!! (I allowed my self to cheat, but only to cheat SMALL.) Luckily we only had dinner there three nights. - She was a great cook though!!

Not planning to weigh myself until I get back to Napier, so we will see how that works out......Just trying to be faithful to myself and not be too hard on myself either. I won't be posting every week since I really won't have a way to tell if I'm making progress. Just updating on Daily Mile.

Week Two

It's been another great week on Body for Life and I am feeling so healthy and strong. I love eating healthy like this without all the processed foods and sugars, it just makes me feel lighter.

I ran really well this week and felt like I am finally past the "struggling" phase of my running. I am dedicated to keeping it strong and being faithful to my running so as not to have to go through the starting point again!! I am hoping that my health will hold out this time and allow me to keep with it.

Being back and in the gym is amazing and I totally love it. My only concern is that if I cannot stay in the gym I won't be able to stick to such a strict lifting program. Right now I'm doing a lot of weight lifting and I want to stay faithful to that, so my hope is that things will continue in this way...we will see.

This week I only lost one pound, but that's good considering that I'm probably putting weight on from lifting. I feel stronger and leaner, but the scale doesn't show that much difference.

It's really all about staying faithful to a healthy lifestyle and right now I'm meeting that goal so I'm happy.

Healthy Enchiladas

So, last night I made these amazing enchiladas for dinner and it turned out so well that I thought I would share the recipe since it's such a healthy version.....WARNING - it's very spicy. If you want to cut down the heat I highly recommend starting off with just 1Tbsp chilli powder and then adjust it accordingly. Of course, Travis loved it spicy.....Plus, there was enough sauce to freeze and use next time!!

Sauce:

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp Flour (I used wholemeal flour)

2 Tbsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp cumin

1 Cup tomato sauce

2 Cups water

1/4 tsp garlic powder - or minced garlic

Heat oil, stir in flour and chili powder. Cook 1 min. Add remaining ingredients and boil for 10 min. Pour 1/4 of sauce in bottom of pan.

Inside:

1 lb beef (I only used half and froze the other half)

1 small onion

6 whole wheat tortillas

2 cups shredded cheese (You actually need less than one)

1 can sliced olives 1/2 red pepper

1 can black beans

spinach

oregano

1 chopped tomato

Brown the beef with some ground oregano and then set aside. Mix the black beans with oregano, chopped tomato, red pepper and onion as a mixture. Set aside. Coat the tortillas in the remaining sauce and fill with either beef or bean mixture and cheese. (for mine I did just the black bean mixture with spinach....for the guys I did the meat mixture and then also added some of the bean mixture to theirs.) Cover with remaining sauce and olives and cheese. (I didn't use very much cheese, just enough to decorate.)

Preheat oven to 175c and cook until bubbly. Serve with brown rice on the side and some freshly chopped parsley or cilantro.

Anyway, this was a wonderful meal and just thought it would be worth sharing since it's so good for you!! Enjoy!

Week One

So, my first official week of following a strict exercise program - Body for Life - is finished! (I say that assuming that you know I have been working out for a year so far, this is just a NEW program that I am one week into! And while I mentioned the start of a 12 week program two weeks ago, I didn't actually get to stick with that because we spent a week hiking and stuff....So, I started it over this week and I am now calling THIS week my official start!)

I had a really wonderful week of running/lifting/yoga/and other cardio activities. It was wonderful being back at the gym and I am totally loving that! I don't think I can ever move to a place without a gym again. I just love all the variety of equipment and chances to change things up....besides all that, I LOVE the sauna!!! I also found these really cool logs that you can download from Body for Life and I have faithfully been writing in them all week. One is for keeping track of all of your work outs and what you lift and what intensity you ran at or whatever. The other one is a food log where you journal everything that you eat/drink and then you can get a better feel for how balanced your diet is.

I am now down to 156 which is pretty much back to square one - HOWEVER, my muscle content has grown tremendously over the past year and I think that accounts for a lot of it because my actual measurements are not far off from where I need to be. My goal is still to get down to 132, but it's a long time in coming and I'm okay with that. I am really happy with where I'm at in my life right now and I know that I am being faithful to myself and to my health by setting these goals.

It feels so good to have goals and to be faithful to my plan. I have still done really well with no sweets and chocolate. Lately we have been on a kick of making apple crisp at night, but it's just baked apples with oatmeal and nuts and spices - I don't add any sugar or butter or anything, so it's pretty healthy but gives the flavor of something sweet. I feel great and know that this is definitely a better way of life for me.

Feeling Faithful

So, this has been a great week for me. I'm feeling so faithful to my program and to the possibility of eventual success! I was reading the GI Diet book this week and ironically discovered that I was already completely following this diet without even knowing it (since I have focused on a vegetarian diet.) I am still using the guidelines from the book and allowing myself to continue to eat a healthy diet and exercise accordingly.

My real successes over the past week or so have been my dedication to no sugar and chocolate. I have totally kicked my chocolate habit and also done without any sugar. I feel so much better already and think that it will really make a difference in the long run. I was so tempted by ice cream and some of the very best chocolate that were offered to me this week, but I politely declined!!! (Not like me at all.)

I am determined to get back into good shape........We hiked three days this week so that was really good and really hard + I ran three days this week.

Just staying focused and trying to make progress one day at a time......

12 Week Challenge

Today I started my 12 Week Challenge. It got a little delayed since I have been so sick this week, but I felt well enough to run this morning so I kicked it off well.

Basically I'm going to follow the Body For Life fitness program that I did back in Korea - basics of running/cardio ,weight lifting, and eating healthy. Nothing really crazy, but just being dedicated and focused.

I am proud to announce that so far I have held true not only to my "No Chocolate" stance, but I have also been faithful to limiting my sweets intake. I have also been more faithful to my yoga - which I thoroughly enjoy having the privilege to do out on the front porch!!!

I don't suspect I will make any actual progress for a few weeks, but just knowing that I'm committed makes me feel good.

Goals and a New Beginning

Don't dream it, do it!!! - Be Committed

My short-term goals for the next two weeks: Stick to my running program and give up all chocolate for two weeks.

My mid-term goals for the next three months: Increase my yoga to no less than four times per week and start a new weight lifting program.

My six month goals: Lose 10lbs and get my arm muscles toned back up.

My long term Year Goal: Lose 20lbs of body fat and get back the toned muscles that I desire for my all around better health.


Some changes to make in my daily diet - I am giving up chocolate for two weeks initially to kick my sugar habit and then I want to really start limiting my intake of non-neccissary sweets and snacks. Also, to help lessen cravings, I want to lower my intake of carbs (mostly breads)

I will be posting weekly in the future as best as can be - mostly just to encourage myself to stay faithful to my personal committment towards a healthier and happier life. =)

Starting Over

Hey, girls!! Hope your summers all went well. It seems like everyone has been making amazing progress and I'm so proud of each of you for sticking to your plans and working out and eating right! You go girls!!

As for me, well, I had a very challenging summer. While they had promised us a full on salad bar and fruit and healthy food every day, it turns out that it was just a load of crap to get us to come out there! The food was probably some of the worst food for your body that you could eat being that everything was drenched in heavy cream etc. I did my very best to avoid most of it, but it was hard since there was nothing else to eat! They would serve us old stale food and pretend like it was great. It sucked. Anyway, needless to say that despite my very best efforts I definitely gained weight this summer - about 10 lbs!!! - I'm so sad about that because I thought I had been doing pretty well, only to come home and weigh myself and find out otherwise. How sad!!! I decided that rather than beat up on myself and feel sad and depressed I'm just going to move right on past it and start over again from the beginning.....

So, here's to new beginnings - Cheers -

This summer I did a TON of hiking and walked and ran between 5-10 miles a day. (Yes, apparently that wasn't enough!)Since we are soon to move again I feel a fresh new energy that I will be able to get back in shape in no time. I am devoted to eating totally healthy and giving up all snacks and goodies for a long time. I just want to loose some weight because I know that I have strong muscles underneath it all from all the running and abs etc. that I have been doing.

I got up at 7am nearly every morning and did a half hour ab routine with my friend Hannah and then walked a ton every day too. Plus I was running and hiking and doing yoga. I want to continue being faithful to this sort of routine, but definitely adjusting the type of food I take in. Maybe some of it has to do with hormones or getting older too? I don't know. When I look back on my summer I thought that I had really done well in spite of what we had to work with.....I guess you never really know unless you have a scale to keep track! ha.....

Anyway, that's my latest update - sorry to disappoint, but life is just like that sometimes - I WILL eventually make my goal, it's just a very LONG time in coming...Never give up, and start fresh every day! I love you girls and enjoy hearing about where you are at as well! Any suggestions for me to get this weight off would be much appreciated, but I'm just going to stick with the old fashioned "exercise and eat less" philosophy for now.....Tomorrow is a new day!