Re-committing to Healthy!

Last fall I finally got fed up with my post-baby body and my lack of commitment to changing it.  I continued to feel down about how I looked but also continued to make less than healthy choices with my eating.  So, I committed to making better choices.  I gave up soda.  I learned how to stop myself from going into the pantry for a couple of goldfish, or a dried mango, or having two cookies with the kids after lunch.  I made "friends" with more vegetables and started adding spinach and kale into my smoothies.  It was also the first time ever that I had eaten eggs but limited the amount of yolks (I would make a scramble with 1 whole egg and three additional egg whites)...

I also committed to changing my workout routine.  I did more cross-training and less straight running.  The running that I did do, I tried to do high intensity intervals - focusing less on distance and more on effective fat burning.

and ... it worked!  I got back down to my pre-baby weight (pre-baby as in pre-Karen!).  I was back into clothes that I hadn't been in for several years.  I still did not have quite the same shape (my middle still has quite a bit of stubborn "stuff" hanging on) but I was finally feeling comfortable in my own skin!

2013 Redux - Balance {Monday Meditation}

Back in January, I shared my word for the year... Discipline.  That was (and still is) a primary focus for 2013.  I am finding though, as I move further into the year and work on discipline, that there is an element in life (my life at least) that needs more attention in order to be successful at the areas I want to be more disciplined in.  Balance.

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Balance - (noun) a state of equilibrium between contrasting, opposing, or interacting elements. - (verb) to bring into harmony or proportion.

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Life... while it may occasionally be a static balance, a momentary state of equilibrium; it by its very nature, is dynamic.  Life balance is the action of distributing in correct proportions all the elements of your day so that life is in harmony and then perpetually re-evaluating and redistributing as necessary! 

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I guess that is the hardest element of balance for me:  Remembering that it takes very little to tip the scales in one direction or another.   It feels as though I work to get a good balance in things and then before I know it, I realize that balance is gone!  As I said, working on discipline has brought this perpetual act of balancing to my attention... so in a sense, balance and discipline go hand in hand... you must be disciplined in being purposeful about the balance of your life!

So as I evaluate the elements in my life, it comes down to this list (in priority):

1. Faith
2. Family
3. Friends
4. Finances
5. Fitness
6. Food

There are areas within each element that I need to work on bringing into balance.  In addition, I need to work on the elements as a whole so that when I look at my life, the priority I have them listed above is obvious.

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In the remaining five weeks of Lent, I'll spend a little time on each element and share my goals for balance for each one. 

Ultimately, my desire is the same as with discipline - to be an example for my girls on how to live humbly, wisely, and purposefully as a daughter of the King.

2013 Fitness "Goals"

What is the start to a new year if you don't at least think about some goals that you would like to work towards, right?  I realize I'm a little late to the game - but hey, it's still January!

1. Half-marathon.  I want to race one. Period.  I need to get and keep my legs healthy.  My running speed has seen the benefit of my cross-training and I really feel that an 8:30 - 8:15 HMP  is achievable.  I would LOVE to accomplish that this spring!  The Windermere Half is May 19th.  I may look to see if I can find out in April or even late March though
2. Bloomsday.  Another goal that I am starting to feel is reachable is a 1 hour or sub-1 hour 12K.  Bloomsday is a tough course with some hills, but it would be a great warm-up to the Windermere Half.
3. Continue cross-training and building strength.  I've been doing a variety of programs most based on either high intensity intervals or cross-training or both.  I love how my body has changed and gotten stronger by adding this to my running.  This needs to be a consistent part of my fitness routine!
4. Maintain. Maintain. Maintain.  I am finally back to pre-pregnancy weight.  Maybe not quite to pre-pregnancy size, but that's ok.  I've had three babies - it's not going to be the same!  I want to continue to be DISCIPLINED and build healthy habits so that maintaining my weight, fitness, and health is a part of my every day routine!

There you have it... short and sweet for 2013.  Now to work on my training plans to set myself up for success with #1 and #2!

2013 - the Year of "Discipline"

Have you noticed a theme to my last few posts?  Over the last few months, one idea has been on my mind more and more.  Discipline... exercising my will for the choices I should make instead of the ones I want to make in the immediate moment.

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I realize how much our days are influenced by my choices.  I also realize how easy it is to give in to procrastinating - it can always be done tomorrow, right?  The many bad patterns I am still working through after months of struggling with post-partum depression.  (which is infinitely better by the way, it's just time to kick the remnants that have taken up residence in my every day living to the curb!).

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But besides working on eradicating bad patterns, I am finding more and more the harmony that is present in my house when I exercise self-discipline and work to form good habits.  From something as simple as picking up little kids shoes and coats into the closet after we walk through the door instead of kicking the shoes onto the mat by the door and piling the coats on the washer/dryer.  Both actions take roughly the same amount of effort but the latter used to be my modus operandi.  The former leaves my room looking clean and neat and me feeling like my house (at least this small part) is in the correct order.  A small thing, yes, but so powerful!  To something less simple, like choosing to prioritize morning prayers and scripture reading ahead of computer time or housework.  It is easy to fool myself into thinking that time is too busy to sit down for 10 or 20 minutes... but I find the time to catch up on computer!  Again, harmony comes when I choose to make time in my day for God... everything seems to fall into place better.  It becomes a matter of making choices Self-discipline.

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I want to set an example for my kids that acts of the will, choices we make, choices we DON'T make... are the things in this world that we can control.  That ultimately it is up to us how we choose to live and whether those choices will be for our good or not.  That the more care we take to be disciplined in our thoughts, in our actions, and in our deeds - the stronger we become!

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