Hiking at Red Cliffs

Something I have been thinking about lately is how being healthy shouldn't be a fleeting moment for a few weeks of your life. Change is hard. It requires discipline and willpower. It requires sacrifice. It requires persistence and courage! Have you ever noticed that? Not just for health and fitness, but life in general. Usually when you strive to become better, it always involves changing your habits. It is always challenging.

BUT that doesn't mean it has to be boring, monotonous, or miserable! I always say if you are not having fun, you are doing something wrong! Do activities you enjoy! Dance, run, bike, hike, box, weight lift, walk, garden, clean, redecorate, do yoga, play outside with your kids, go to the park, window shop (and try not to spend money! haha), swim, ski, snowboard, basketball, soccer, volleyball, wake board, skim board, paint, build something. There are SO many things you can do to become more active. Working out doesn't always have to be a hard core run and a couple hours at the gym.

Since this is a lifestyle change, you need to find things you love to do in order for it to last. This past weekend was my birthday and the weather was a perfect 70 degrees! I wish it could just stay that temperature forever! Something I love to do is hike. I've already mentioned this, but let mention it again. I LOVE nature. There is something about it that rejuvenates me! So we went for a hike out at Red Cliffs in southern Utah. It was beautiful! It is a pretty short and simple hike, which is good but it also has a few little challenges to make you stretch a bit! :)

I left this place feeling so good! If you live in Southern Utah, or visit here there are a lot of trails to go on! Click here for a link of different trails to explore! 

Now go outside and get some fresh air!

new found loves.

Uhm wow. It has been two months since I posted already? Looks like I have been a slacker on my blogging. But here is osme good news! I have spent more time outside exercising, and more time trying to cook healthy! :) So here's the update:

 

My new found love: biking. I always enjoyed spin class, but since the gym is across town now, I went and got my bike and I have been riding 2 times a week. Being outside with the wind in my hair and sunshine on my face has been sooo refreshing! The other day I was out on a bike trail and there was NO ONE else around. And it was a good thing they weren't. Because I sang. On the top of my lungs. It was so liberating! And let me tell you, it made my workout like 30 times more fun!

 

 Another new found activity that I love/hate: stadium stairs and walking/jogging the track. I love it because I KNOW it is working based on the fact that my legs feel like jello when I get to the top. every time. I love getting to the top too because I have a great view of St George. The LDS temple is right down the street, which is a great reminder of the spiritual side of things. My only fear is coming back down because I feel like I might collapse! And I hate it, well because it sucks and it hurts and it is hard.

New found love #3: Bountiful Baskets. I get so much good produce for such a good price. It gives me a variety, and I get excited every saturday to see what I get. My favorites so far: asparagus, purple/yellow tomatoes, strawberries, and pineapple. Not so much: radishes and cabbage.
It has also made us spend less on groceries! The beaskets are $15 for 50/50% fruits and veggies. Sometimes I will get some extra veggie packs or a box of fruit. So good.



As far as results go, I haven't weighed myself in about a month. To be honest, I sorta don't want to. I haven't seen results or maybe I haven't done enough to get any yet but I will say that I have made a bigger effort these past few weeks. Numbers get me discouraged too easily. So instead, atleast here at first I am just going to keep doing what I am doing until it becomes habit. Maybe in another month or two I will check in on my weight.

Something I did start, that has been surprisingly motivating is printing out an adult coloring page. (I'll have to show you the one I chose later, its not on this computer.) But everytime I do a 30 min workout, I can color in a little section! So kid-ish, but hey it makes me want to go workout! When I get it all colored, then I can go reward myself.

One other thing I have started with my family (lots of starting new things here! its good!) is an 8 week WELLNESS challenge with a point system. At first it was just going to be for health/weightloss but then we decided to add in some spiritual things. Each of us who wanted to participate threw in 25 dollars and whoever has the most points at the end of 8 weeks gets the pot of money. It has helped me alot too! Maybe its a little sad that I have to have some sort of reward in order to keep me motivated doing things I should ALREADY be doing, lol but atleast I am doing them now. Even if I don't win, I feel better. I'll give more details on that soon too! :)

me and my husband. :) he makes me happy

So yeah, I feel pretty good about the progress I am making, even if I am not seeing any "physical" changes yet. I sure feel mental and spiritual changes, and it feels so good!

brainstorm

I am super excited for this time of the year!! I love the fresh start feeling that comes with New Years. I have already written out my resolutions, which I am also super excited about! :) I want this new year to be a good one! My awesome husband got me a crap load of art supplies. Which, believe it or not, I think will help me in my weight loss goals! I haven't painted in such a long time and I am so excited to have something new to occupy my time.

I want to go into more detail of what I want to accomplish as far as fitness goals go, and I am just brainstorming ideas of how to accomplish this. I've tried a lot of things, and by tried I probably just mean I made a plan and didn't stick to it. I think you could make weight loss work if you just stuck with it. So, I have got to make it stick this time!

Ok, so here are some ideas that have crossed my mind of what I want to do:
No eating after 7 pm. Only water!
Juice once a day. (to get those nutrients and veggies and fruit, and use the pulp to make muffins and stuff!)
I think a huge part of my success is going to depend on portion control, so I must measure and track everything I eat!
Obviously exercise/being more active will be a part of all this and these are the ideas I have about that: at least walk for 30 min a day, do fitness classes at the gym (as long as they are free!), run, do stairs, bike, hike, spin class!, strength, paint, keep the house clean, yoga?

man, I totally just had one of those nostalgic feelings. I remembered how I felt at the gym, lifting weights and running and spin class, getting all sweaty and then walking outside in the cold and feeling so good. I miss that feeling so much. and how it felt to have jeans that were loose. that is why I want to do it again!

mostly I just want to do new things this year. I really don't want to look back and wish I had done more things. what I am afraid of is letting myself down again. which really is pretty silly because I am in charge of my decisions, so you'd think that I would choose to do the things I want to do! the problem is I have had many days that I just don't want to do anything but sit at home. it is those days that I really need to work on. it is okay to have them once in awhile, but I definitely had more than I should have.

anyways, I tend to ramble a lot but it helps me work through my thoughts and motivates me to do better. I'm really doing this blog for myself and I don't really care if anyone reads this or if you think I have issues. ;) this is for me and if it in anyway benefits someone else then great!

gosh, I am so ready for a change!