New, One-Month Goal: Exercise 5 days/wk

I’m having all my Personal Training clients set one-month goals, so I am too. My problem is that my goal since May -- to fit into all my clothes again – has become stale, so I set a new goal: to exercise 5 times a week, including abs. I’ve been good at 3-4 times a week, but that 5^th day is a really tough one. That used to be a habit; now it’s a goal!

Steps to achieving my goal: Figure out a 30-60 min. time each day to do it!

1. Monday, 30-45 min. of cardio + abs after my shift at HBC: 9:00 p.m.

2. Tuesday & Thursday, 30-40 min. of toning exercises at either 6:30 a.m. (if I sleep well) or at 11:00 a.m. (before I take a stretch class at noon).

3. Wednesday, 30-40 min. of running at 6:30 a.m. If not, 9:00 p.m. cardio, after my shift.

4. Friday, 30 min. of cardio either before or after I teach Aqua Aerobics at 10:30

5. If I skip a weekday, this weekend I’ll make-up that damn 5^th day.

Obstacles to achieving my goal are:

1. Lack of a regular exercise schedule

2. Chaotic sleep pattern (depending on whether my kids wake up during the night)

3. Toddlers to raise alone 11 hr/day

Ways to work around the Obstacles:

1. Plan when the best time will be each day, being flexible

2. Either push through the fatigue or have alternate exercise times planned

3. Tu, Th, F put the girls in the HBC Childcare Center while exercising there

Living the SWEET Life Saves the Day (or Month)!

Sleep
I slept well last night. It's nice not to have to set an alarm on the weekends. However, a couple other nights this week, I didn't sleep well. Once because I woke up at 3:30 and couldn't get back to sleep, and another night because I woke up extra early to get some stuff done while the house was quiet.

Water
I need to pay more attention to drinking enough. I don't think I did, yesterday. Well, I guess that depends on whether you count the 2 cups of coffee and the 3 alcoholic drinks I had yesterday. I don't usually count alcohol and caffeine because they are dehydrating.

Eating
I've been trying to pay closer attention to my eating, to make sure I get the variety of nutrients I need.

Exercise
I'm a bit behind on exercise this week, only having exercised 3 times so far. I need two more times to make my goal of 5 times/week. Strangely, I feel like I've been getting out of shape, even though I've continued to exercise!? I've been doing some exercises from a fitness magazine, but I think some of them are too easy for me, so I'm not getting as much of a workout from them. Also, I've been using an AMT cardio machine at the gym, which I don't think gives me as much of a workout as running does. It also seems to hurt my lower back, so this week I switched to the treadmill instead. I feel like I'm hunched over, my belly is pooching out, and my lower back hurts. Also, my pants seem to be getting tighter in the waist. So what do I need to do?

• For my hunched shoulders, I need to strengthen my upper/mid-back to pull my shoulders back in place.
• For my belly I need to strengthen my abs to hold them IN place.
• For my lower back, I need to strengthen and stretch it to relieve the pain. Stronger abs will also help my lower back feel better.
• For the tight waistbands, I need to cut out unhealthy calories (i.e., Valentine's chocolates) and make sure my workouts are burning calories and building muscle. All of those will increase my ratio of calories out vs. in.
  

I think another problem I have that could be contributing to all of these problems is that I need a new computer chair. Poor sitting posture, especially if it's for extended periods of time, can definitely make all of these problems worse.

Tranquility
I had one of the few massages I've ever had in my life yesterday. It was wonderful! I told the guy my aches, and he spent most of his time working on those parts of my body. Unfortunately, I felt like I rushed around all morning before the massage, and my girls didn't nap after my massage, so I didn't get to spend some time relaxing myself before it (i.e., in the sauna or hot but), or afterwards. I had to jump full speed back into mommy mode. But it was definitely a special, tranquil treat.

How did I do, and how do I feel?
Yesterday, I had a S_EET Life.
Honestly, because I've been so busy with other things, I have been paying increasingly less attention to living the SWEET Life, and the result is that I feel like I'm getting out of shape, despite having the habit of exercising. I know that it's a simple matter of paying more attention to living the SWEET Life, which doesn't necessarily take more time. I just need an awareness of how I'm living the SWEET Life.

At the same time, I know that I would be in much worse shape, and probably sick, if my SWEET Life habits weren't already in place. Without the SWEET Life, in the past month I probably would have gained weight from poor eating and lack of exercise, which I haven't. I'd feel exhausted from dehydration and lack of sleep, which I'm not, and I'd feel stressed out from lack of tranquility, which I don't. So I thank living the SWEET Life for keeping me pretty healthy during the past month of an overly busy life.

Challenge the Body!

Sleep
I slept really well last night. I woke up this morning with Zoe in my bed instead of Nick, but I don't really remember when that switcheroo happened. I'm 4 for 4 this week.

Water
I haven't been paying too much attention to my water intake, but I think I have enough of a habit of drinking 2 qt. of water per day that I've continued to drink ample. I'm 4 for 4 this week.

Eating
The fridge is looking bare, but I've been trying to still eat healthy. The benefit of having mostly healthy foods in the house is that no matter what you have to scrounge up to eat, it'll still be healthy. What I really need to do is plan some meals, make a grocery list, buy some food, and cook! This week, I'm 2 for 4, but today is still wait and see.

Exercise
On Tuesday, I tried some new exercises I found in a magazine. Boy, was I sore yesterday! It's good to change exercises every month to challenge the body and defeat boredom. The problem was that a lot of the exercises said they were for the "arms" when they really just used the shoulders, not biceps or triceps. There were a lot of exercises for the legs, which became the most sore, and shoulders, but not much for the chest, biceps, or triceps, so I had to supplement. I also started doing new ab exercises and will take an abs class tomorrow. I suppose I should change my cardio workout too. This week, I'm 3for 4, skipping today because I have a lot of other stuff to do.

Tranquility
I've had tranquility time this week, which I've used to do whatever came to mind. The problem is that I had some important things to do during that time, which didn't get done.
I'm thinking about getting a massage, which I've only had a few of in my life. I can get one pretty cheap at the health club where I work. I'm 4 for 4 this week.

How did I do, and how do I feel?
Yesterday, I had a SWEET Life.
I feel a little stressed and tired. I teach an ESL class tonight and I have a lot to do to prepare for it, which is why I feel stressed. I don't like being so dependent on the girls napping in order to get important things done. I'm tired for a variety of possible reasons: it's towards the end of the week, my family has been sick so I might be catching something, it could be stress-related, etc. I'm torn between taking a nap to feel refreshed or having some caffeine and staying awake to have more time to prepare for my class.

Exercise Burn-Out

Sleep
I'm a bit fuzzy on how much sleep I got last night. I just remember feeling very sleepy last night after coming home from work at 9:30 and having a beer with my late dinner. Because of that I think I went to bed early, but I don't remember the time. Zoe, as usual, woke up screaming her pretty little head off in the middle of the night because she was cold. I brought her into my bed and she kicked around for a bit before falling asleep. This morning, I was too tired to get up and exercise (same thing yesterday), and we all slept in until about 7:30. It seems to me I must have gotten 7-8 hr sleep out of all that.

Water
I tried harder today to pay attention to how much water I drank. I hadn't been very good about keeping track for the past few days.

Eating
I'm also paying more attention and using the SWEET Life Plan to track my food intake these days because I hadn't been very consistent about doing that.

Exercise
Once again I was both too tired to get up and exercise, and I'm feeling a bit burned out on my workout. Both yesterday and today I found time during my girls' naps to exercise, fortunately. But that won't be a consistent, stable situation. If I'm burned out, then maybe I should change my workouts. It's getting really hard to get up in the cold, dark mornings. Last winter I had a couple friends whom I worked out with, so we motivated each other to get up. The winter before, I was pregnant and on bed rest. The winter before that I had a very portable baby who took a lot of jogs and walks with me during the daytime. Hmm, I'll have to think more about what will get me out of a nice, warm bed on a cold, dark morning to exercise. . .

Tranquility
I'm very motivated to get my website (livingthesweetlife.net) up and running. I spent 2 hours of my "free time" transferring info from documents to a website creator. It felt good to get 6 pages done, at least in rough draft form.

How do I feel?
I have a lot of little things to do to keep up with life, but I also need some time to think about how to revise my exercise plan so that I'll keep doing it.

The Holiday Stress is Building . . .

Sleep
I slept well the past couple nights. It always helps when the rest of the family sleeps through the night, too.

Water
I've been drinking enough water.

Eating
I've been trying to keep track of my eating on the SWEET Life Plan. Sometimes I'm impressed with how well I fill in the amounts for each food category, but sometimes I'm surprised at the holes in my eating, especially veggies.

Exercise
I woke up and did my toning exercises yesterday morning, as usual on Tuesdays, and I ran down the beach and back, as usual on Monday and Wednesday. This morning was particularly cold. That's when I really appreciate having good quality winter workout clothes.

Tranquility
I started cooking for Thanksgiving, yesterday, and I enjoyed it. I enjoy coordinating all the elements of a big family party: planning, cleaning, shopping, cooking, decorating, etc.

How do I feel?
I feel stressed. Last night I came up with a list of 11 things to do after I got home from work at 9 p.m. and before bed. Some were just daily things to do; some were leftover from previous days; some were special Thanksgiving things. My Thanksgiving things are taking longer than I had anticipated, so I've fallen behind on my schedule. Now, it's the day before, so I may be up late tonight getting stuff done.

It's really hard for me to accomplish things while raising my 2 daughters. I don't know how other parents manage to maintain a train of thought while being constantly interrupted by toddlers, and I don't know how other parents manage to ignore the constant noise and pleas for attention. Somehow, around my husband, my kids play quietly by themselves, but not around me. The minute I try to do anything, they need my undivided attention. Sometimes I try to involve them in what I'm doing, but it typically takes twice as long with them "helping" me. At the same time, it's also fun to do things together.

Sleep Makes Me a New Woman

Sleep
I woke up feeling refreshed and ready for the day. What happened? I hadn't felt that good in the morning in a long time. Ah! There were no children in my bed! The girls didn't wake up at all during the night! Maya didn't crawl into our bed at 3 a.m.! All four of us woke up happy and rested. How wonderful!

Water
I drank at least 8 cups of water throughout the day.

Eating
Despite Nick going to the grocery store last night, I didn't eat well today. I started off well enough with oatmeal with raisins and coffee. Lunch was at La Pinata: half a big, chicken burrito. Not bad, but it lacked fruit. The problem was that I also finished of Maya & Zoe's quesadilla, a large tortilla with cheese, folded in half, and I ate half of it! Then I was stuffed. Despite that, later in the afternoon, I finished off my burrito and was stuffed again! Then I had dinner, chicken-mozarella raviolis with sauce and a big spinach salad with raisins, almonds and dressing and a beer. After that I was once again stuffed and uncomfortable! Looking at my SWEET Life chart, I crossed out the amounts pretty well, just a bit lacking in dairy products, but I over-ate, and I've felt uncomfortably stuffed for much of the day.

Exercise
Thursday is my quick and dirty strength training day, so I did my exercises for each major muscle group while watching the news. Maya came in near the end and asked what I was doing with her soccer ball. Since it's a new month, I was trying some new ab exercises (I try to change them every month), which involved a medicine ball, which I don't have, so I used her soccer ball instead. One was to balance on your butt and pass the ball over and under each leg. You get so involved in passing the ball that you forget how much it's working your abs! The other one was to balance on your butt, hold the ball with both hands, and tap it to one side and the other to work your obliques. They are good ones!

Tranquility
After a very busy morning, my girls and I finally had our "quiet time" at 2:30. Surprisingly, I fell asleep, despite having slept so well last night, but after my little nap, I had my tranquility time to get a few things done for myself.

How do I feel?
I feel bloated and uncomfortable. I'm surprisingly awake for 10:30 p.m. on a Thursday, but I need to get to bed.