What I’m currently doing to be my best

Hi everyone!

Today, I want to continue to discuss my new found outlook on life (thank you for all your comments, btw – they meant the world to me!). Being my best. In the past several weeks, I’ve made some changes. Some are small and some are big. Here is my current thoughts on these changes and goals:

Train for the Pittsburgh Half Marathon: So far, I’m right on track with finding my groove and the intrinsic motivation to run. Even as I write this, I’m craving my afternoon 30-minute run. It’s like a drug and I love the feeling that overwhelms me! The biggest thing here is actually doing it. There are so many times when I don’t feel like it. I’m too tired or I make excuses. Once you just get up and do it, the benefits will come. For me, I am just a happier person when I run. I’m not talking about running 10 miles today – just 30 minutes or for me, about 3 miles. I notice a huge change in my mood and productivity when I’m exercising on a daily basis. Right now, I’m trying to run 4 times a week for 30 minutes to set my base for my real training that will start in January or February (depending on what method I use).

Drink tea everyday and try to avoid coffee if possible: So far, I’m loving how my body feels when I drink tea! Even my reaction to caffeine is changing because I’m probably drinking about half as much as I was when I drank coffee. Funny story: Last week, I went to Starbucks to study with a friend. My body wanted tea, but I thought, Well, hey, I’m at Starbucks so I might as well have a frappachino! I ended up with a grande Java Chip with some peppermint plus a low-fat cinnamon coffee cake (and we all know it’s not really low fat!). I indulged, but it wasn’t what my body was craving. My body wanted tea and something healthy. At at that point, I only had grapes for dinner. It was such a bad decision, and later on, I realized how bad it was. Around midnight as I was trying to get to sleep, I was wide awake. The caffeine was way too much for my new drinking habits. Additionally, I was starving! So with that, around 12:30 am, I got out of bed and had some cheese and crackers. Ahhh, my body was happy again. But, I was still wide awake for half the night.

Lesson: Indulge only when your body wants to indulge. My mind was telling me to drink that frap and eat that coffee cake but my body was saying “NO!”

Note that I’m not talking about gaining weight or numbers. I’m talking about how I’m feeling. I want to be happy and my best and to get to that goal, I need to listen to what my body is asking for.

Eat a fruit or vegetable with every meal: Luckily, this comes pretty easy for me because I grew up eating and appreciating fruits and veggies of all kinds (Thanks Mom!). (Except apples, I hate apples because of the crunch and texture. Not sure why but I love apple cider and pie! Haha!). The trick here is to always have fruits and veggies on hand. When I’m hungry for a snack, I tend to reach for fruits more often when they’re staring me in the face.

(Btw, check out this website to learn about the veggies currently in season and how to eat them!)

Eat a filling breakfast: Research has been showing recently to have a big breakfast – even if you’re not hungry. For me, this is very true. When I wake up in the morning, I’m not necessarily starving, but there’s a void. You have to realize that your body was at rest for 7-8 hours when no nourishment. Give it what it needs! My typical breakfast includes something like this:

- A banana and a high fiber/protein yogurt

- A banana and a 100-calorie English Muffin with jelly (I love the low-sugar kind!) and/or peanut butter

- A bowl of low-fat vanilla yogurt (just one serving!) with cut up banana and high fiber cereal mixed in (I got this idea from Tyra!)

As you can see, a banana is a staple in my morning. They are also great foods if you’re pushing your body because they can help you recover quickly. If I’m out of banana’s, I have grapes or veggies – always. If I don’t have a fruit, I always notice a difference in my energy level throughout the day. (Quick tip: If you know if you separate your bananas from each other, they last longer?!)

Additional exercise: I’ve been tweeting recently about seeing a personal trainer at my gym. I’m so happy I took this leap of faith. So now on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I see a trainer for about an hour. We go through tons of different machines focusing on either my upper or lower body. I’ve only been once but I already notice a difference. It’s expensive – yes – but I figure it’s very much worth learning about my body, what I’m capable of, and how to use the machines properly. I can take that advice and go very, very far!

Eating natural sugar: On top of switching to tea, I’ve also made a silent effort to reduce my intake of fake sugar like Splenda or diet pops. I never thought I’d do this because I was all about “losing weight and looking at my numbers.” But, I want to feel my best. Therefore, I’m eating sugar when sugar is needed. I’m having diet pop less than once a week. Again, I’m feeling better. Whether or not it’s because of me giving up the fake sugars is debatable because of the other changes in my life. However, I feel good about doing this. Bring on the REAL sugar!

So, that’s my health-update for you! Oh! Also, I ordered my first batch of Glo Bars! I keep hearing about them through other bloggers so I figured I’d try them for myself. (Oh She Glows is the master-mind behind these babies!) Shipping is pretty steep, but if you order more than 10 you get a discount. In the future, I plan to partner up with Julianne with our order so the shipping is cheap for the both of us. I plan to do a review of the bars when I try them (in about a week and a half. I had them sent to Dan’s house because that’s where I’ll be for over the holidays). I promise to give my HONEST opinion!

Do you have any health-goals you want to share? What works or doesn’t work for you?

I hope you all are well! Have a great day!

Julie