June: Twenty Three and a Half Hours

I’ve read that it takes 28 days to form a habit.  If you do something for four weeks, it will become routine for you.  Maybe not effortless, but it will feel weirder if you don’t do it than if you do. 

It was this line of thinking that led me to my newest plan.  Each month, I will tackle just one of my unhealthy habits.  Because clearly, it did not work for me to tackle all of my bad habits at once.  Baby steps, people.  Baby steps.

As inspiration for what bad habits to tackle first, I’ve looked to two health videos that have recently been brought to my attention.  The first is called, “Twenty-three and a Half Hours.”  It’s worth watching, but basically, the gist is that the best possible thing you can do for your health is simply to spend 30 minutes everyday exercising.

That became my goal for the month of June:  exercise for 30 minutes, five days a week.  The other twenty three and a half hours of each day could be spent drinking coke, loafing on the sofa watching Big Bang Reruns, and sneaking cookies when the girls were otherwise distracted.

And so, Monday thru Friday, I spent thirty minutes on the treadmill.  My goal is to eventually jog two miles for my weekday workout.  Which is a kind of torture for me, because I hate to run.  I abhor it.  Absolutely loathe it.  And when I’m done loathing it, I hate it some more.

Only the top picture is what I WISH I feel like when I run.

This is how I actually feel.

But despite my less than euphoric attitude toward running, I also feel that it is somehow the most accurate mark of fitness.  If I could run 2 miles every morning, and it eventually became ‘easy’ for me, I would feel fantastically fit.  In shape.  Able to catch Nicole when she decides to run off.  In my defense, she is very fast for a kid who is not even two yet.

I started out running just one quarter of a mile, and I’ve been adding another quarter of a mile each week (I always walk the remainder of my 30 minutes).  Last week was my 4th week, so I am up to running one mile at a time.  Many of my friends have started running, and they have begun to love it and crave it.  They start with 5ks and then suddenly are signing up for half marathons, whole marathons, or triathlons.  This has not happened to me yet.  I do not feel empowered when I run.  I do not feel a rush of endorphins.  Mostly, I feel like I am going to die.  Until I stop running; then I feel fabulous.  But I think it’s more the kind of fabulous you feel when somebody has been kicking you and then they stop.  Maybe it takes more than one month to fall in love with running.

I may not be in love with running, but I do love working out again.  I love it even though I haven’t lost a single ounce since I’ve started.  (To be honest, I think I gained six single ounces.)  Alas, you can’t exercise away a bad diet.  Which brings me to the second inspirational video and my goal for July:

The video is called, “The Bitter Truth,” and it is supposed to scare you away from eating sugar.  Ever.  Again.  It makes some very logical points, most of which you will already know on an intuitive level, but it’s nice to hear the scientific reasons behind them.

Soda is bad for you.  In every possible way.  Shocker, right?  It’s also delicious and refreshing, which is why I’ve had such a hard time kicking the habit in the past.  But, I’ll give it one more go.  My goal for July:  no more soda.  I can guarantee I will not be a fun person to be around in the next month.  My apologies to anyone I must come in contact with, especially during the next three weeks (which is apparently how long to expect the symptoms of sugar-withdrawal to linger).

How I feel when I think about not drinking anymore coke.

If I survive, I will let you all know how it went at the end of July.  :)

Thirty by Thirty? Now what did I mean by that.....

Hey, do you guys remember that time I started a blog about losing thirty pounds by my thirtieth birthday?!?!  It was so exciting and inspiring the way I got within just four pounds of my (revised) goal weight.  And it was such an interesting twist when I gained six pounds on my vacation to Washington, but guaranteed I’d be at goal before I turned 31.  That’s when I mysteriously disappeared from the weight loss blogging world for the next ten months.  Ahhhh--  What a hoot, right?

Only, wrong.  Because the moment I turned thirty, two things happened.  One:  My metabolism lurched to a halt, causing me to gain a pound every time I ate an extra cracker at lunch, and Two:  My memory was hi-jacked, and I thought my goal was to gain thirty pounds, not lose it.

Well let me tell you this folks, mission accomplished.  Mission.  Accomplished.  I wish that I were lying, or at the very least, exaggerating, but alas I am not.  For those of you who are not math majors, I’ll summarize my calculations:  I am now approximately 10 pounds heavier than I was when I started my whole 30 by 30 blog last February.  Depressing, no?

And it’s not as if I don’t know how it happened.  Basically, I grew tired of healthy living.  I missed my trio of old friends High Fructose Corn Syrup, Salt, and The Drive Through.  And somewhere along the line I forgot my reasons for wanting to lose weight in the first place.  Sure, it was nice to actually enjoy clothes shopping again, but it seemed nicer to enjoy dining out again.  I really enjoy dining out.

Also, with the purchase of our first home, my love of clothes shopping was immediately replaced  with my love of home decor shopping.  And let me tell you, there are no fitting rooms in Pottery Barn.

So basically, I spent the last 6 or 7 months delightedly free from any sort of diet.  I went from room to room adding homey touches here and there, [mostly] oblivious to the fact that I was putting on weight faster than I could say, “I’ll have a number ten, and make it a SUPER-SIZE!”

But as they say, “All good things must come to an end.”  And for me, the end of my ‘this-is-so-much-fun-eating-whatever-I-want-calories-be-darned phase was the day my elastic pants felt a bit snug.  I have oft touted the benefits of warm-ups, but lovers of the elastic pant beware:  they can, eventually, be outgrown.  Sad, but true.

And the day that I outgrew mine marked a cross-roads of such.  I was faced with two choices: A.  Do something about my unhealthy choices, or B. Buy bigger pants.  Decisions, decisions.  To tell you the truth, I’m still not quite sure which road I will take.  Obviously, I want to be healthy, but I’ve tried to start a diet and exercise plan several times with no real gumption.  I just seem to lack motivation...and a metabolism that can burn more than two carrots and a banana.

Some of you may now be thinking, “Why is she telling us this if she hasn’t even decided what to do!?”  Well here is why:  In about two months, I will be going back to Washington State to visit, and I want to avoid that awkward moment when my friends and I see each other and we’ve already said, “Good to see you again!” but now they are thinking, “Wow, she got kind of chubby” and I am thinking, “OMG, they think I’m chubby--I should have warned them!!” but neither one of us wants to say it out loud, so we just keep staring at each other with these weird plastered smiles on our faces.

You’re welcome.


In all seriousness, I could use some inspiration, some motivation.  Some wise words of encouragement to aid me in my decision.  Also, I could use a personal trainer and chef.  You may send donations with checks addressed to “Rebecca’s Home Decor Fund”, er, wait that’s not right....