Week 3

Today I finished my last day of week 3.  Week 3 was a 5 minute warmup, running 2 minutes, walking 2 minutes, running 3 minutes, walking 2 minutes, repeat this cycle twice, and a 5 minute cooldown.  I definitely found week 3 to be challenging. I guess every week will be challenging.  I am nervous to move on to week 4.  I have even thought about staying on week 3 for another week but I've decided to give week 4 a try. 
I was pleased with my running schedule last week.  I took last Monday off, trained on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, took Friday off, then trained Saturday and today.  I also did 2 days of strength training which is progress for me.  I have been doing the Green Mountain Express which is one of the DVD's I bought at GM, it was designed for busy people.  The GM Express is a full body strength training and is only one set of 15 for each exercise.  I paused the DVD after each exercise and repeated so I could get in 2 sets. 
Most days after work, I have found that the easiest place to run is the track across the street from my apartment.  I don't mind the routine of running around the track.  It's actually good for me to measure my progress.  When I started week 1, I was only able to run around about 1/4 of the track.  Now that I am on week 3, I've been running around about 3/4 of the track.  I'm hoping that by next week, I will be able to run around the entire track once without stopping. 
I picked up a really cool new water bottle today.  The strap fits around your hand so that you don't have to hold the water bottle.  It also has a little pouch on the front that fits a phone, keys, and ID.  I have an armband for my phone that I really like but I liked that I could put my keys in the pouch.  I totally copied Beth because she already has one but I don't think she'll mind :) 

Today I went to run on a trail called the Mount Vernon trail.  It is in Old Town Alexandria and runs along the Potomac River.  The trail itself is 18 miles long.  My favorite part of the trail is near George Washington's home Mount Vernon.  There are lots of trees and usually a nice breeze off the river.  The trail today was busy with runners and bikers.  It was nice to get away from my usual track and the scenery was so nice during my run.  I completed the 5K training program and then continued on for a total of 2.3 miles.

My favorite part of the run today was running over the bridge.  I took a

 scenery break on my way back to capture these shots.

I was aiming for a total of 3 miles today but I ran into a little problem.  And in this problem, I learned my lesson for the day.  After parking and walking over to the trail, I realized I needed to use the restroom.  I was less than excited to use the provided bathroom facilities and decided that I would hold it.  This was a bad idea.  By the time I made it back to my car, I was in misery.  The fact that I was drinking water during my run did not help.  Had I put aside my bathroom standards, I probably could have finished the entire 3 miles. So, on race day, I need to suck it up and use porta potties if that's all there is.  For some people, this may be no big deal.  For me, this is a huge deal.  I'm the girl who walked the entire St Jude Half Marathon without stopping to use a porta potty. 
Next week I am starting on week 4.  I am planning on running Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and possibly Friday.  The program is actually only 3 days a week.  Week 4 is a 5 minute warmup, running 3 minutes, walking 3 minutes, running 4 minutes, walking 3 minutes, running 5 minutes.  It has not gone past my notice that, as of this week, the 5 minute cooldown is gone.  I'm ok with that because I can always walk a cooldown on my own.  I am also very nervous to see a 5 minute run and think that will definitely be a huge challenge for me. 

 

On to week 2

This evening I moved on to week 2 of Couch 2 5K.  Week 2 is a 5 minute warmup, then jogging 90 seconds, walking 90 seconds, jogging 90 seconds, walking 2 minutes, repeat this cycle 3 times, then a 5 minute cooldown.  This equals a total of 9 minutes of jogging and 21 minutes of walking.  I walk/ran 1.87 miles.  I was definitely winded after each jog but found that I was able to recover sufficiently during the walk and was ready to start jogging again when the next cycle started.  I felt very proud and, at the end of the run/walk, I had to reflect on past attempts with this app.

Having tried to do the Couch 2 5K app in the past, I never made it past week 1.  Last fall, I attempted to do the app with my (now former) coworkers.  I found that because I wasn't consistent with doing 3 days a week of training, I was never able to work up the endurance to get past week 1.  In fact, I really think that I only got in one run/walk a week.  I remember not being able to do all the runs in week 1 in the beginning.  (If I didn't say before, week 1 is a 5 minute warmup, then jogging 45 seconds, walking 90 seconds, jogging 45 seconds, walking 60 seconds, repeat this cycle 5 times, then a 5 minute cooldown).  I do think that I managed to complete one full run/walk without having to walk any of the runs last fall.  Probably around that time, I gave up and stopped the training.  I specifically remember that this was sometime around last October or early November because it was getting cold and getting dark earlier.  Around this same time, I found out that I had gotten the scholarship and that Green Mountain was finally going to become a reality instead of a dream.  

Today, as I completed week 2 day 1, I realized that even with my issues with inconsistency, I am in better shape now than I was last fall.  After coming home from Green Mountain, I was disappointed that it was so easy to fall back into my old habits.  It was actually much harder than I WANTED it to be to keep up the workouts and healthy eating.  Obviously we were prepared by the staff at Green Mountain not to expect a sudden and miraculous transformation and to set small and attainable goals. Even though I came home repeating to myself, set small goals, be kind to myself, I still thought, in the very back of my mind, maybe I could have a miraculous transformation, that it would somehow be different for me.  And as usual, I was unrealistic in my expectations, setting myself up for disappointment.  This something that most of us women struggle with.  

While I definitely have my challenges and days and even weeks where I  don't work out and don't eat healthy, what I learned and what I gained at Green Mountain is still there.    

So enough of all that mushy reflection.  

Successes for this week:  I did fit in one day of strength training this week and one day last week.  Which is more strength training than I had done in a while.  So next week, I hope to fit in 2 days of strength training.  I was disappointed that my yoga class was cancelled last Tuesday because I really enjoy at least one day of yoga a week.  I also successfully tracked my food on My Fitness Pal Monday through Thursday.  Even though I wasn't trying to track my calorie intake, I seemed to get about 1700 calories on average every day.  I packed my breakfast and lunch every day except today, took my coffee to work (because if I go to Starbucks to get coffee, it is physically impossible to not buy a blueberry scone.  Seriously), and ate a salad with my dinner.  I got a chance to play tennis with Allison (my Green Mountain DC friend) and we actually got a few good volleys going.  I'm hoping that means my tennis game is improving , however, it could just be because we were using a foam practice tennis ball.    

My GM BFF Beth and her sister have both started their 5K training.  We also picked up an extra team member, a participant at Green Mountain that was there after I left but while Beth was still there.  We are all registered for the 5K in Boston at the end of October.  We have started an ongoing group text message between the 3 of us to motivate and share our successes.  Thanks to unlimited text messages, it is, in fact, possible to train for a 5K together even though we live in 3 separate cities.  We have also come to the conclusion that our lives would be much easier if we lived in the same city but I don't think we can agree on what city that would be (go DC!!).  We are planning to wear costumes in the 5K (it does fall at the end of October so a lot of runners will be dressed up for Halloween).  I'll keep the costumes we have settled on secret until the big 5K day.  

Well friends, have a great weekend!

Making big decisions, losing my way on the path, finding my way back...

When I decided to keep up this blog once I got home from Vermont, I promised to share my challenges and my accomplishments.  In the past month, I have failed in that promise.  Mostly because there have been more challenges than there have been accomplishments.  Today I want to dedicate myself to updating my blog much more frequently. 
Since I've updated in July, I have made a huge life decision and that is to go back to school.  I happened to be spending a fun day at the pool with my friend Annemarie and her 2 little ones.  She was telling me how she wanted to go back to school and I made a flippant comment to the effect of, if you go back to school, so will I.  The next thing I knew, I was going back to school.  I am going to get my Masters of Science in Nursing Education.  This is a decision I have been putting off for years.  I've been out of school for 12 years.  I enjoy my free time, reading whatever I want, not having to worry about papers and schoolwork.  However, I have also reached a point where I realize that movement in my career requires me to get more education.  Now that I have made the decision, I'm excited to get started and also a little apprehensive about what I am getting myself into. 
The program I am enrolled in is an online program.  I will continue to work full time in the job I have now.  I am worried about how adding schoolwork to my schedule will affect my ability to exercise after work.  I do not want to sacrifice my workouts to do schoolwork.  Once I get started with my first class and see what the course load will be like, I am going to make a schedule to get my schoolwork done without sacrificing my exercise. 
While it was a huge decision, once I made it, things seemed to move very fast.  I was accepted to the program, approved for financial aid, and enrolled in my first class before I could change my mind.  I'm sure that there will be plenty of times over the next 2 years that I wish I wasn't in school but I am very sure that I will be happy I did it when I am finished. 
Over the past month, I feel that I have lost my path.  And what path is that, you may be asking?  It's my Green Mountain path.  I knew this wouldn't be an easy path to stay on.  It never has been, the whole 34 years of my life.  Acknowledging that I've lost the path is the first step to getting back on it.  Sometimes I get glimpses of that path and I know I am close to it.
Food has been a problem.  At Green Mountain, we learned that we should eat what we want and not restrict or deny ourselves.  Well, I seem to have taken that in the most literal form possible.  I went for a time in the last month where I just didn't deny myself anything.  If I wanted to eat a donut that a patient's family brought us for breakfast, I ate it.  I ate it and enjoyed it.  Before Green Mountain, I would have denied myself and then craved it the rest of the day.  Or I would have eaten it and then felt horribly guilty the rest of the day.  So I ate the donut and enjoyed it and then let it go. 
When I got on a kick of making little homemade pepperoni pizzas for every dinner for an entire week, I ate them and enjoyed them.  Every night.  Monday through Thursday.  They were good although rather nutritionally limited.
On a good hand, if I can say it is good, I ate those things and didn't feel a bit guilty about it.  But there has to be some moderation there.  There has to be balanced and smart choices.  Green Mountain doesn't say eat a diet of junk and don't deny yourself.  They say, don't deny yourself but eat a healthy, balanced diet of vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and lean meats and allow yourself to have the treats on occasion.  Maybe I needed that absolute freedom to eat what I wanted and not feel bad.  Maybe it was good for my mind to know that I would not deny myself what I wanted.  Maybe that sounds crazy and like I'm trying to justify my lapse in good food judgement.
Now I need to step just slightly away from that absolute freedom.  I need to make balanced choices.  I need to stop and ask myself how much I really want that treat.  I need to make sure there are vegetables and fruit in my fridge.  I need to make sure there are healthy choices in my pantry.  I don't want to go back to that diet mentality where I deny myself and feel miserable with every choice I make.  I need to find that middle ground.
On that line of thinking, I have decided that I am going to start keeping track of my food on My Fitness Pal.  I have done this in the past with some amount of success.  I am not going to keep track of my food so I can count every calorie and weigh and measure everything I eat.  I am going to keep track of my food to give myself accountability.  If I decide on a certain day that I don't feel like tracking my food, I won't do it.  On most days, especially during the weekdays, I will keep track of my food.
The way that I am talking about eating whatever I want makes it seem like I must have gained 10 pounds or more over the last month.  I am happy to say that is not the case.
On to exercise.  I feel like I am writing a confessional.  Exercise has been my usual lack of consistency.  Some good weeks and some not so good weeks.  I definitely had 2 weeks straight that I came home from work and sat down on the couch (or my bed) and ended up waking up an hour later after I took a nap.  I guess for some reason my body needed more rest and I gave it what it needed.  However, I also had some good weeks where I got in 2 or 3 days of workouts after work.  I have let my strength training fall to the wayside and want very much to find a way to get that back into my exercise routine.
I have had the pleasure of reconnecting with one of my Green Mountain friends that lives in the DC area.  We have met up a couple of times to play tennis.  We try for every Thursday but our schedules, being what they are, haven't always worked out.  Playing tennis with her is fun because we have a similar level of skill.  That is to say, we both need some practice.  We have a great time, chat the whole time we are playing, and get in some great exercise. 
Talking about tennis, I have found a form of exercise that I really enjoy.  My boyfriend and I play tennis frequently on the weekends.  I have no formal training and I will admit that I play tennis rather poorly.  I'm hoping that I improve with practice.  But I enjoy it and isn't that what matters. 
In the past week, I decided to restart the Couch 2 5K app on my phone.  I have tried to do this training program for running in the past and have never successfully completed it past the second week. Like I said, consistency has always been my problem.  Apparently my motivation to pick up training to run has rubbed off on my Green Mountain BFF Beth.  After a few text messages from her, we've decided to train together.  In a figurative way, of course, considering she is in Denver and I am in DC.  Along with Beth's sister, we decided to sign up for a 5K in Boston in 10 weeks, the last of October. 
Now I know that for some of my friends out there who have completed half and full marathons, a 5K may sound like a small goal.  However, our goal is to run the whole 5K.  I have never been able to run more than a mile at a time and that was quite a few years ago.
I bought new running shoes today.  Those new shoes are my way of taking this step seriously.  Day 3 of week 1 is tomorrow. 
 

These shoes were made for running

My love/hate relationship with Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition

Well, once again, I sat attached to my tv last night watching Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition.  I'm pretty sure I haven't missed an episode since it started.  I addicted, I'll admit it.  

As I watch the show, I feel emotionally moved by these people who are on such a drastic weight loss journey.  I don't get this reaction from other shows like Biggest Loser.  I especially get emotional when the lucky recipient of Chris Powell's participant for the week is a woman.  I have been moved to tears.  

I start to think, as the show progresses and the person starts to lose weight, I need to do that.  I need an extreme makeover.  I want to go on that show.  Wouldn't we all be so lucky to have Chris Powell helping us lose weight.  I've even gone as far as researching how to go on the show.  

Here is where I pause, I become conflicted.  The essential concept of EMWLE is so far from what I learned at Green Mountain.  I wonder sometimes if watching the show is the best thing for me.  So here are my pros and cons of watching EMWLE.

  

PROS:

1)  Chris Powell talks about this being a "lifestyle change," its not a diet.  Although the first 3 months are extreme, the participants eventually have to learn how to incorporate exercise and eating healthy into their everyday lives.  

2)  Exercise is an essential part of the program.  They have to do both cardio and strength training.  Chris always asks them, what have you always wanted to do.  So some participants learn how to ride bikes and eventually go on a bike race.  Some learn to run and do a marathon.  

3)  They are held accountable.  Chris gives them goals to meet and they are held responsible if they don't meet those goals. 

4)  They get to have skin removal surgery.  OK, so this is a pro for me but others may not think it is.  I have always wanted to lose enough weight to qualify for skin removal surgery.  For me, this is a huge pro that the participants get at the end of the show.  

5)  Chris Powell is a hottie.  Who wouldn't want him to be their trainer.  I'd be inspired to lose weight too.  Just saying.  

CONS

1)  The essential idea of the show is unrealistic.  These people have huge amounts of weight to lose.  They lose it in a year.  One thing I learned at GM and that might apply to this show also is that the time period on the show might not actually be a year.  For example, on Biggest Loser, every week, the participants stand on a scale and get weighed and lose huge amounts of weight.  In actuality, the weigh in times on Biggest Loser are longer than a week.  The mass American audience is made to think that these huge weight loss numbers happen in one week but it is more like 10 days to 2 weeks.

2)  Expanding on #1, even if it is an actual year, the weight loss is unrealistic for everyday people like myself.  There is no way I could ever just take 3 months off of work and dedicate my every waking moment to exercising with Chris Powell.  Of course they will lose a huge amount of weight doing that.  However, it makes us create unrealistic goals for ourselves, we don't reach these goals, get frustrated, give up, and its a never ending cycle that never ends in us losing the weight we want.  If I just realized that this takes time, it may take 2 or 3 years to lose as much weight as I need to lose, maybe I wouldn't get so frustrated with myself.  

3)  It probably isn't really all that healthy to lose that much weight in that amount of time.  Most doctors, weight loss experts, etc, say you should realistically aim for 1-2 pounds a WEEK.  Not a day, which is what some of these participants lose.

4)  The show emphasizes the exercise but doesn't really say much about food.  It does talk about eating healthy but it really doesn't go into too much detail on what kind of diet the participants are put on.  More than likely, the participants are on very calorie restricted diets.

5)  When I watch the show, I do become very emotional at the weight loss achievements of the participants.  I want so much to be that person and it sometimes leaving me feeling worse about myself.  

6)  Shouldn't I embrace getting and being healthy over losing weight?  Didn't I learn at Green Mountain that it is not about the numbers on the scale as much as how I feel?  On EMWLE, it is absolutely about the numbers on the scale.  I'm sure losing weight will come hand in hand with getting healthy.  However, the amount of weight I would lose might not be as extreme as my mind thinks it wants to lose.    

I think my cons are actually stronger than my pros.  Some of my cons even contradict my pros.  

Will I keep on watching the show?  Probably.  But hopefully I can separate my journey, my achievements, and my disappointments from the journey of the participant.    

Overcoming Exercise Obstacles

We all know that exercising is an important aspect to our health.  I know that when I exercise, I feel better, stronger, and happier.  I feel like my clothes fit better, even if my weight has not changed at all, and I feel more confident.  When I don't work out, I feel sluggish, tired, and very self conscious.  I don't like the way my clothes fit and I don't like the way I look.

So, knowing all this, why is it so hard for me to be consistent with my workouts?  I do great for a few weeks and then I have a week like last week where I don't work out at all.  

One of the big concepts I learned at Green Mountain was to stop thinking about it as exercise and to start thinking about it was moving.  The word exercise makes you think of 30 minutes of walking on the treadmill followed by 20 minutes of lifting weights.  To me, that sounds boring and monotonous.  

What types of movement that I like might be totally different from what types of movement another person likes.  That was one of the reasons we tried so many different types of movement at Green Mountain.  We had choices every time exercise was on our schedule.  That way we could try something new or even avoid exercise that we knew we wouldn't enjoy.  I learned that I did not enjoy the cardio on the fitball but really liked Nia and Vermonting.  

So what is the point I am trying to get to?  I need to work harder on making my exercise less monotonous.  If I don't feel like doing the Jillian Michaels workout maybe I should go for a walk.  If I am tired after a really busy day at work, maybe I should go to the pool.  The whole idea is to get moving.  Of course we want to get our target heart rate up
but, like I learned at Green Mountain, something is better than nothing.  

I've always wanted to play tennis.  For some reason, I never really got into it.  I tried to sign up for a beginners tennis class back in the spring but it was cancelled because of lack of participants.  This weekend, my boyfriend bought a tennis racket and we went and played tennis both yesterday and today.  This morning's tennis game included a 2 mile round trip walk to and from the tennis courts.  I wore my Polar heart monitor and definitely got my heart rate up.  Probably because I was running after the ball so much.  Although I was not good at the game, I had a lot of fun and I think I want to play more often.  So if anyone wants to play a game with me, just let me know!

I had on my most capable tennis outfits.  I definitely think it helped me play better.

Dealing with stress

Stress is an inevitable part of our lives.   Learning how to handle stressful situations was one of the most beneficial things I learned at Green Mountain.  But just like with everything else I learned at Green Mountain, incorporating these techniques into my life takes effort and does not happen overnight.  In other words, while I am doing better dealing with stressful situations, I am not an expert at it yet.    Recently, I have found myself in some very stressful situations.  I can't say that I have handled the stress in stellar fashion. However, I also think I'm doing good considering the circumstances that I was put in. And while I would like to say that I feel like everyone has been supportive, there have been some instances where I've felt like I was thrown under a bus and run over. Repeatedly. 

I've tried to use what I learned at Green Mountain to help me deal with this stress.  But in a highly stressed moment, it is hard to remember those things.  It's all well and good for me to know that my most effective stress relieving techniques are to remove myself from the situation, such as going into the bathroom and locking the door so that person can't follow you, washing my hands or putting lotion on my hands, taking deep breaths, and slowly drinking water, preferably through a straw.  Others may not understand that those are stress relieving techniques  and take offense, especially the one where you remove yourself from the situation, i.e. walking out of the room while someone is causing you stress.  I try to remind myself that not everyone has effective tools to deal with stress and it might be less than helpful to recommend they should learn some. I do have a habit of handing out handwritten affirmations to my workmates.  So far I've been met with favorable responses to that.  

My eating habits seem to always be the first to suffer when I get stressed.  While at Green Mountain, we were encouraged to eat on a schedule.  However, there are days that I've been so busy I realize it is 2 or 3 in the afternoon and all I've eaten so far is a yogurt and a banana.  As a nurse, I often skip lunch or wait until late in the afternoon to eat lunch.  When I finally get a chance to eat, I am so hungry that I grab the first thing that comes to hand.  Sometimes it is a healthy lunch that I have packed myself.  Other times it is a cupcake, donut, or bag of chips that has been brought in by a well wishing organization or family.  And yet, how can we expected to do our jobs effectively if we are hungry?  How can we handle the stress effectively?  No wonder people lose their temper or act rudely when they are under stress.  Maybe they are just hangry (hungry and angry).  It's like those Snickers commercials where a person is losing their temper at another person and their friend hands them a Snickers bar.  You just don't act yourself when you are hungry (or hangry, whichever). 

Of course, we are trying to provide our patients the best care possible.  I often feel guilty if I delay going to draw a patients labs by 5 or 10 minutes so that I can eat a few bites of lunch.  I know that the patients want to be done in clinic so that they can go home.  But, in reality, does that patient really want a nurse who has a pounding headache and feeling slightly lightheaded because she is so hungry to draw their blood or give them chemo??  We must first take care of ourselves if we are going to take care of others.  

So in this high stress time, I am going to try very hard to stop myself before I get too worked up.  Once my stress level has gotten to a certain point, it is hard for me to calm down.  I got out my Green Mountain binder to remind myself of some of the great stress relieving techniques that we learned.  I wrote out some new affirmations to tape to my computer.  I cannot rely on others to know how to control their anger and stress.  But I can try to not let myself react in the same way.  

A month in retrospect...

Hello friends.  I realize it has been a while since I've updated my blog.  It has been a stressful month.   

In so many ways, I look back at that "Green Mountain me" and think, where is that girl??  I'm sure she is there.  She just gets a little lost with work and the stresses of everyday life.  

There are 3 nurses in the clinic that I work in, including myself.  Julia, Katie, and Christie.  We named ourselves the "dream team."  We've worked together for the past few years in a small, cramped office.  9 hours a day, 4 days a week, I've worked with these women and gotten to know them very well.  We have shared our happy times and our sad times, supporting each other through it all.  We've taken care of our patients, celebrated together when they finish treatment and mourned together when they don't.  In the span of the past 2 weeks, both of my coworkers left the clinic to pursue new adventures.  I'm happy for them that they have these opportunities but sad for myself that I've lost these coworkers and friends.  

Now I have to look forward.  What else can you do when you have lost 2/3 of the nursing staff in a 2 week time span?  We still have patients to take care of.  We have 2 new nurses starting and both have to be trained.  That will fall mostly on my shoulders.  I'm equally excited to begin and nervous about the idea of training 2 new nurses almost simultaneously.  

The stress of the past month has definitely effected my eating and exercise habits.  I let myself fall into a lot of my old habits.  I also used a lot of what I learned at Green Mountain to get me through.  I tried very hard to be kind to myself, to be patient with myself.  I was not always successful doing that.  

Before Green Mountain, I would have seen myself as failing whatever diet I was trying to be on at the time.  I would give up completely.  But this isn't just any diet I am on now.  If I view this as a new way of life, then I have to accept there will be ups and downs.  There will be weeks or even months where I can't seem to put it all together, where I slip back into my old habits.  During those times, I have to be patient with myself and work towards getting back to where I was.  It is three steps forward and one step back.  I will count this past month as one step back.  I am not going to let that completely undo the two steps I am still forward.  I did not lose any weight this month but I also did not gain any weight this month.  I count that as a success.  I can still feel a difference in my clothes.  I felt confident in my body during social events.  I used self soothing techniques that Darla taught us at Green Mountain during some very stressful times. 

Now I will try to get back that one step I took backward.  My goal the past week was to work out 4 days during the week, Monday through Thursday.  Monday and Tuesday, I did the Jillian Michael's DVDs that incorporate cardio and strength.  Wednesday was supposed to be a cardio only day.  I came home from work and ended up putting on my pajamas.  Then I just decided I was going to do it. I put my exercise clothes on and went for a 35 minute walk.  Thursday, I took a nap instead of working out.  So I didn't meet my goal.  Or maybe I set my goal to high.  I will be proud of the 3 days I did work out instead of being overly critical about the 1 day I didn't.  

My diet is definitely not where I want it to be.  When I say diet, I don't mean "a diet," I mean my overall eating habits.  I have accepted the fact that I am not going to want to cook every night after I get home from work and exercise.  So I am going to allow myself frozen meals from Trader Joes.  These were mentioned by the nutritionist at Green Mountain as being nutritionally better than a lot of the frozen meals found at the grocery.  I will mix these in with home cooked meals so that some nights I eat a frozen meal and others I cook a quick stir fry or grilled chicken.  Easy options is the only way for me to go, otherwise, I fall into ordering out or eating out on my home.  

So my goals for this week.  I realize that last week I may have set my goal too high by wanting to work out 4 days.  So my goal next week is to match this week and work out 3 days.  This weekend promises for nice weather and I am hoping to get in some activities outside.  As for my diet goals, I am going to pack my breakfast and lunch for work and not buy food at work.  This is actually a very easy goal for me.  I am also aiming to cook dinner 2 nights and have leftovers so that I only eat a frozen meal once or twice for dinner.  

So those are my goals.  They are small goals.  If I don't meet my goals, I will be kind to myself.  I will be proud of what parts of my goals I achieved and know that, just because I did not meet my goal, I will not give up.  

Have a great Memorial Day weekend!