Time To Get Healthy

So the title of my blog is "Sarah Gets Healthy." (Hopefully since you're here, you already know this). But I have a confession: I have not been so healthy as of late. Work was super crazy before I left and I skipped workouts and didn't cook (aka ate out. A lot). Then I was on vacation and had every meal out: Chinese, fries, burgers, etc. Plus, I didn't workout at ALL while on vacation. I knew I'd be up a few pounds but reality struck when I got home from my flight and stepped on the scale. I am up 15 pounds since this time last year. 15 POUNDS!!! How the hell did I do that? Well, I know how, but how could I let myself do that??

I'm worried that I am slipping back into old habits again and I'm going to gain all of my weight back. Mucho bad!!

Then, I started to think about my habits lately:

1. My working out has been fairly consistent, but I've been working out less (4-5 times/week as opposed to 6 days) and my workouts have been much less intense. I run, but not nearly as much as I used to. Uh oh...

2. I eat out a lot! When you hit your "maintenance" weight, it's hard not to slip back into old patterns because, heck, you deserve it! And that brownie didn't make me gain 30 pounds so why not another? Well, not anymore! When I first started to get healthy, I didn't eat out for a long time. And when I did, I paid attention to what I ordered. I quit doing this and the pounds have come back on. Coincidence? I think not.

3. I never walk Jack anymore. I used to walk Jack morning and night. Without fail. Come hell or high water. Now besides our trips to the dog park, I never walk him. This has to change. People are saying he's gained weight too!

So it's time to take control (once again) and change my habits for the better. I need to take control of this before I've completely ruined what I've accomplished in the past year!

I will do so by doing the following:

1. Cooking more. I used to look up healthy recipes, cook meals, and incorporate lots of fruits and veggies into my diet. Time to do this again! Also, I'm going to make a weekly meal plan. Planning out my meals and knowing what I'm eating everyday (and looking at yummy, healthy recipes) will help me stay on track and avoid easy fast food.

2. Working out more consistently. I don't care how busy work gets, I will take my lunch hour to work out. And I need to start training for the Twin Cities 10 Mile in October! I will also get quality workouts when at the gym. No more 20 minutes of half-hearted weight lifting!

3. Walking Jack more. While this isn't a huge calorie burner, it used to be so nice to begin every day with some activity. Yeah, I had to get up earlier, but I was generally more alert in the morning after a nice walk. When I got healthy in January 2009, this was the first thing I changed about my routine and it really helped me stay motivated. Plus, you all know how much I love to spend time with my pooch! No, not my belly pooch, my dog!

4. No more diet coke. While I'm not sure how much this has impacted my recent weight gain, it's bad for me. And I'm seriously addicted to it. My diet coke consumption has been much less than before, but I still have a few every week. Time to cold turkey that stuff!


So I started my new plan right away with a nice, healthy Sunday yesterday. I didn't wait until Monday! Good sign.

I spread out my cookbooks to make a meal plan for the week.

I have tons of cookbooks! Now time to use them!

Then I made a looong grocery list with all of my ingredients. I bought tons of produce. Already shows I'm off to a good start.

After grocery shopping on Sunday morning (So nice. No crowds!) I went to my mom's to pick up Jack and spend some time with the family. My brother was in town from Madison (he's a Badger) so the family threw together a nice BBQ. I said no to chips and tried to keep my burger light.

Then my mom and I went to play tennis. Tons of fun but so hot! Seriously, yesterday was a rough one! After about 45 minutes of tennis we called it quits. But after that I wanted to workout more (I was craving some activity after my vacay) so I ran around the neighborhood. No easy feat with the heat yesterday, but I did it! Probably only ran 1.5 miles, but I'll take it. Plus, the route I did is one that I used to conquer all of the time when I was out of shape and I would have to stop many times. This time, even with the heat, I didn't stop!

Then I came home and made some soup for lunches for the week and made a nice, light dinner.

Already feeling good about my new outlook and excited to take this on! Hoping I can fix my months of messing up! Wish me luck!