Stronger

As I was browsing through the wallpapers for my phone I found one that says "Stronger".  I went on and didn't look back.  When I couldn't find one that I liked, I went back to stronger.  For some reason it stands out to me...

I think I know why.

Lots of things have happened in the last year.  I am a stronger person because of the things that have happened.  Everyday the things that happen make me a better person.

For example, I am 9 days without soda.  To be honest, I don't miss it.  Iced tea, coffee and water seems to be enough.  I admit that I saw a co-worker with a Diet Cherry Coke today and wanted to rip it out of her hands and chug it.  I even tried to figure out if I had enough money to buy a pop.  I decided to chew a piece of gum and that seemed to fix the craving.

My body is stronger as well.  I was amazed at how much stronger I was today while doing my strength training.  4 months ago I never would have imagined myself here.  I am lifting weights, running 1 mile in 1/2 mile increments and preparing for a 5k.

If you can make it to the 6 month mark, you have changed your lifestyle and can keep it up.  I have made up my mind that this is a permanent change.

I am a stronger person for making these changes.

Overall, stronger is my new motto.

What's your motto for your new and better life?

*There is no thought of the day, just the question above.  What you do with it is up to you...

Gorda, grassa, то́лстый, gros, мазнина, 脂肪, λίπος, שומן, 지방, ไขมัน,

What do all of the words in my post title have in common?  Some of you may know the first word is the feminine of fat in Spanish.

All of the other words are fat as well.  Today a lovely kindergarten student called me a gorda.  I know I'm fat.  I'm changing that.  But you know, don't be rude and a brat.

So to make myself feel better, I decided to get my pictures from February and from April to compare.

So here they are!

I hope you can see the difference.  I posted this a few weeks ago but I am going to remind everyone again...

I think this is true! 

I really hope you are seeing changes in your body.  The feeling is awesome!  

On a side note, I dyed my hair last night.  

It's a little wet in the picture but I love it!  I'm going back to my cherry cola days!  I may not be drinking pop (8 days and counting) but I can wear it!

I have lots of work to do on a paper.  So Until tomorrow....

Thought of the day:

Happy Easter!

Today was one of those days when I just didn't want to do anything.  I woke up about 8ish and continued to feel awful.  My allergies are bad right now and my head feels heavy.  I've rinsed out my sinuses with a saline flush twice today and my jog tonight wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Instead of going to the track I decided to take a lap around the complex.  I downloaded Endomondo to track my distance while I run. I got 0.92 miles in tonight.  The track is flat, the complex is not.  But I will say, that I did run the majority of it though.

To be honest, I would rather be surfing Pinterest right now instead of blogging.  Pinterest doesn't take brain cells to mindlessly look.  Blogging takes some.

So until tomorrow...

Thought of the day:
Do what makes you happy unless it makes you unhealthy.

ouch!

My thigh muscles are so sore!  Even though I wasn't feeling good, I still went for my run.

I did the same thing I did last night, 1/4 mile walk, 1/2 mile run, 1/4 mile walk, 1/2 mile run.  I got home and now feel like crap.

I think my allergies are getting the best of me plus when it's that time of the month, well, yay cramps!

I'm feeling more confident about the 5k in June!

I think I'm going to go to bed a little earlier tonight then I normally do on Saturday.  Ah well, I have to take care of me.

Until tomorrow...

Thought of the day:
Be positive, be happy, be yourself and be healthy!

Focus on Fit

While looking up something entirely not related on WebMd today, I came across the article "Focus on Fitness, Not Fatness".  I had to stop and read it because it sounded interesting.

As I was reading the article, nothing new was discovered, no "aha!" moment was had.  But what it did have for me was the moment when I discovered that what I'm doing is correct.  Here is a link to the article...
http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/focus-on-fitness-not-fatness

The author of the article is right, America and the Western civilizations are obsessed with weight and skinny.  Google fashion magazine covers, what do you find?  You will find the skinny mini models that have been photoshopped anorexic.  This kind of behavior from photo editors should not be tolerated.  I want to be seen as me and not as something Photoshopped.

Don't get me wrong, I have wanted to Photoshop myself skinny to see what I would look like but I have refrained from it for many reasons, the biggest reason is because it is not healthy for me to do so.  Why do that to yourself?

On the exercise front...
I went to the community college tonight for my exercise.  I walked one lap (1/4 mile), jogged 2 laps (1/2 mile), walked 1 lap (1/4 mile) and jogged 2 laps (1/2 mile).  So that would be jogged 1 mile and walked 1/2 mile.

I got to ogle the police academy guys running.  That was motivation tonight :)  Yummy eye candy!

I can totally see why people run.  I never thought I would be running.  I enjoy the high that I get when I'm finished.

I'm hoping the weather remains nice this weekend so I can go back to the track.

Until tomorrow...

Thought of the day:

April 5th

Today was one of those days when you just want to curl up in bed and cry.  Things were going great until I had 2 small conversations that twisted my day around.

It's odd though, once I started teaching again after lunch, it's like nothing else happened.

As far as food and eating my emotions, I tried my best not to.  I was still under my calories.  I didn't exercise today, I decided that it was best to rest my body.  Not to mention I had a lot of school work to do and needed to focus on that.

Today was day 5 without pop.  I feel really good about it.  I'm craving it but instead of drinking a pop, I drink some Vitamin Water Zero.  I get something sweet but don't need much of it.  After a few drinks of it, I end up back to my water or tea.

I have researched pop/soda drinking and diet.  Here are some good articles:
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/how-can-i-stop-drinking-so-much-soda
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/sodas-and-your-health-risks-debated
http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/trying-to-lose-weight-watch-what-you-drink

Drinking your calories isn't a good idea... try to find alternatives...

Unfortunately, tonight is another quick discombobulated post.  Homework calls... again.

Until tomorrow..

Thought of the day:
Get your mind set to cut one unhealthy thing out of your day to day eating habits.  How can that change your overall health?

Comment below on what you are cutting out, I will check back with you.

April 4th

After an exhausting day, I managed to get a good workout in.

10 minutes on the Wii doing balance and strength training.  Then I did 20 minutes jogging.  I had to stop twice because my toes were going numb.  Once I got the feeling back in them by walking (about 1 minute or less) I kept going.

Today I was way under calories and oddly enough I'm not hungry.  I have no idea how I managed that

For now, I'm tired and want to go to bed.

So...

Until tomorrow...

Thought of the day:
Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right!

April 3rd

Day 2 with no pop of any kind... How do I feel about it?  Well, I feel great!  No headaches yesterday and the only reason I have one today is because I slept funny.  It's my neck that hurts and is causing the headache.

I understand that running on the Wii is not completely accurate but I'm going to take what I can get.  Yesterday my 10 minutes yielded 1.351 Wii miles, today it yielded...

My Mii is even happy for me!

My calves are sore but I've made it 3 months.  2 months, 3 weeks and 4 days until the Color Run.  I definitely am on the right track.

Tomorrow, if it is not raining, I want to go run on a track.  Get some outdoor work in.

Get out there and move people, if you don't do it, nobody will do it for you!

Until tomorrow...

Thought of the Day:

Happy 3 monthaversary!

First, Happy Birthday Mom!  I love you and hope you had a good day!

3 months ago today I started on this journey.  January 2nd was the first day of my new life.

I've had some ups and downs but in general, life is good!  It did take some pictures tonight to track progress but I'm not posting them tonight.  I didn't get them uploaded to the computer so it will just have to wait.

I did some jogging tonight on the Wii.  I don't think the distance is exact but it's pretty darn close.

Here is what I did tonight...

This was a 10 minute "Free Run"

I will definitely be running the 5k in June!  I'm hoping to work my way up to 20 minutes by next week.

I am also planning on doing some jogging outside.  That is part of the issue.  It's one thing to do it in the A/C but another to do it outside.  I know jogging on a track would be best just because I can track how far I'm going.

I'm learning how to breathe while jogging.  It's quite difficult to change your breathing.  Put a hand on your stomach and one on your chest.  If your stomach is moving, then you are not breathing correctly.

Well, today was a good day but it is time for bed.

Until tomorrow...

Thought of the day:

April Fool's Day

I woke up from a nap today thinking it was tomorrow.  It was that moment when you felt like you had slept all night.  In reality it was only about an hour.  It still felt invigorating.  Afterwards I was able to get quite a bit done.  YAY!

So I've decided that I have to cut out diet pop from my diet completely.  I was only drinking one can a day but after some research, I have found that it is not only the artificial sweetners but it is the carbonation.

See this website for more: http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/weight-loss/want-to-lose-weight-fast-cut-out-soda-from-your-diet.html

I drank iced tea for my caffeine today.  So far no withdrawal.  I'm hoping by cutting pop out, I'll move some of the weight off.

Tomorrow, I won't get home until late but I will be working out regardless.  It may just be on the Wii but at least I'm moving.

Until tomorrow...

Thought of the day: