The gym hasn’t seen too much of me this week. I swear, it seriously is a time issue. Sure, I could get up an hour earlier every morning to squeeze in some gym time, but since I am already getting up freakin’ early (5:30 a.m.), I really can’t.
However, I made it a point to take the bus to work and get in a 15 minute-walk across Campus to my office every morning. Walking counts, right?

I think (or I am trying to convince myself that) I made some progress with the water drinking issue. I’ve been better about taking a 32 oz. bottle of water to work (and almost finishing it!) every day before leaving the office! Go me! That is a huge accomplishment for someone who hates drinking water. I can only hope that I’ll be able to keep it up (it’s not like I haven’t tried before and failed miserably).

My goals for this next week:

• Actually seeing the gym from the inside again.
• Cooking fresh and healthy meals (from scratch!) every night.
• Keeping “Operation Less Squishy” in focus and do some weights at the gym
  (I tend to just hang out on the cardio machines and maybe do a few crunches – I know that I can do better than that.)
• Getting enough sleep.

I know, this last goal doesn’t quite fit in with “being active”, but I’ve learned about myself that I am less likely to get in a workout, when I am not only completely burned out from a long work day, but also didn’t get enough sleep in the first place. Therefore, I really have to make it a habit to be in bed by 10 p.m. (lights off!).
7,5 hours are the minimum amount of sleep I should get every night (possibly more on the weekends!).

How I can tell that my body was just “burned” this week? I slept away the whole Saturday. It rarely happens that I just sleep away a whole day, but when it happens, I know that I was seriously running on empty.

How did your week go? What are your goals for the coming week?

To be honest, this week was a complete fail workout-wise. I had so much going on that I didn’t make it to the gym once since last Sunday, which is somewhat upsetting.  But when you leave the house at 6:30 a.m. every morning and when you don’t come home until like 7 p.m. and then have something going on every night, there really was no time to squeeze in some gym time.
I feel bad.

However, I just returned from the gym and are proud to say that I worked out for an hour and 15 minutes, running on the cross trainer for 3.1 miles and doing some weights and 120 crunches.
I’ve also planned out the coming week already, so the next update should be a little bit less about excuses and more about real workouts.

Regarding the healthy eating, I can happily report that I have cooked (from scratch!) every single night this last week and I didn’t use any “processed” ingredients, besides one jar of (pre-made, but at least organic, and sugar-free!) marinara sauce. (Can someone please tell me why pretty much every single jar of pasta sauce at the supermarket has sugar listed as an ingredient? There really doesn’t belong any sugar in pasta sauce.)
I didn’t do so well with drinking enough water – as I said, it’s an issue. I just don’t enjoy drinking water (in general, and especially when I am not thirsty at all) and pretty much have to force the bottle to my mouth. It’s a pretty awful feeling, almost like you’re trying to get food down your throat if you really feel stuffed already.
I know that with the drinking, my body is pretty much fooling itself and people have told me that you can “teach yourself” to drink more. (Any tips?)
Hopefully I’ll be a fast learner.

I also have to admit that I had to eat out once, because there was a group lunch at work, but regardless of that, according to my food log journal I’ve stayed within or below my calculated daily burned calories. This is making me feel giddy, because I have at least accomplished something this week.

So, we’re starting a new week and I am motivated.
If you jumped on the bandwagon, how did your week go?

As I outlined in my goals for the New Year, I am planning to get back into a regular work out routine. What better way than to do this along with the encouragement and mental support of some lovely ladies that have begun the new decade with the same goals.
Wishcake has started  the “Work it out weekend”-posts and in an effort to hold myself accountable, I am joining the endeavor and am planning to post every weekend about my efforts during the week to become healthier and fitter.

I think I am off to a good start. I’ve been working out at the gym at least 3x a week  since the new year started and it makes such a huge difference in my energy level already, even after barely two weeks.  I can hardly explain.

I have not yet found a new class that I’d like to attend regularly. I am doing a mix of cardio and weights right now, timewise adding up to about an hour and fifteen minutes. My newly passed down, very own Ipod helps with motivation. I’ve already put a workout playlist together (however, any suggestions?) and I enjoy the opportunity to consciously listen to some music again during my workout.
As you can imagine, there is only one person that decides on our “home playlist” 95% of the time and – what a surprise!- it’s not me! (Ok, fortunately, I can say that J and I have a very similar taste in music, which definitely helps.)

Here are my goals for the coming weeks:

• DRINK MORE WATER. This is a major issue for me; I just don’t drink enough water during the day. I have been trying to substitute with (pots of herbal) tea during the winter months, but I still need to get this under control. I am planning to finish at least one 32oz. bottle of water at work (additional to the tea) and another one when I get home. (Expect me to spend an extensive amount of time at the bathroom. I might have to blog from there.)
• WORK OUT AT THE GYM at least 3, better 4, times a week.
• Lose up to 8 pounds. Even though I don’t feel I necessarily have to lose weight, I wouldn’t mind shedding a few pounds.  My main goal though is taking care of the “squishy-ness”. I might be slim, but I am not toned or firm.
• Shop and eat more consciously.
• Keep track of my calorie intake – just for the heck of it. As you know, sometimes we easily kid ourselves into believing that what we’re eating is healthy, when, in fact, it is not. (HELLO unhealthy, but oh-so-delicious Cesar Salad.) I am trying to get a better sense of how much calories I am consuming vs. burning with the easy food log journal on FitDay.com.

And on that note, I am off to the gym. Wanna join?

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Please, if you haven’t done so, read my post below about “The Help Haiti Blog Challenge” and consider leaving a comment on the post by January 18, 2010.
I am sure you would want me to give an extra dollar to a good cause.

THANKS!