Week One -- Update on Healthy Living

It's been about a week since I decided that I would make some changes in my diet and lifestyle.  I purposely was vague in my last post because I wasn't sure what changes I would make.  It looks like I committed to two different lifestyle changes to support my "healthy living"  recently.  I plan to continue these changes this week, and that is my week two goal.

The first change that I made was to cut out unplanned snacks at work.  Certain people are well known for bringing in food to share at work.  Some bring Krispy Kremes, cupcakes, cookies, chips and dip, etc.  For the past week, I passed on all of the unplanned snacks by making sure that I prepared my own meals and snacks--like health-conscious sandwiches, fruit smoothies, fruits and veggies, etc.  By making sure that I don't go hungry/starve while I work, I am more likely to forget and pass on the junk food available.  In the long run, I'll be able to cut out unnecessary calories and fat, which will make me feel better both mentally and physically.

The second improvement I made this week was committing to a more consistent cardio work out.  I really wanted to run 21+ miles last week, but I only ended up running 15+ miles.  During my last run some environmental factors (read: a small, yappy dog and 50-some small elementary children) got in my way/running path, keeping me from running the last six miles I needed to reach my goal.  Initially, I was really upset that my cardio work out had been foiled, but I decided that I can try to reach my goal again this week.  I want to hit 15 miles again this week, and if it's feasible, I want to reach 21 miles.  I'm running every other day right now and it's helping me sleep and I can see the changes in my body.  They're small, but they're there, and I'm happy with that.

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with myself with how I'm slowly turning my crappy eating habits around.  I don't want to add too many changes this week and get discouraged.  So for week two I'm going to continue skipping the junk food at work and continuing with my current cardio work out plan :)  I'll provide an update next week on how things are looking.

S

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I've neglected writing in this blog for a little bit.  I have a few updates on my cousin and updates on myself.

My cousin was discharged from the hospital six days ago and he is doing well right now.  It took him a few days, but he's able to get up and down the stairs now (quickly nonetheless).  Today we had a surprise birthday party for him (and my dad) and it was fun.  I don't think it was really a surprise--I'm 99% positive my aunt told him in advance that we were coming...We made a lot of food, ate a lot of food, talked, ate cupcakes, and just sat around. 

To be honest, all this family closeness has slowly been getting on my nerves.  I've been experiencing a lot of difficulty with the responsibility over my cousin's medical care, finances transportation, translation, and disability claim.  It's getting really stressful and I'm getting pretty grouchy :-\

To deal with my new responsibility, I've been "stress eating."  I'm really ashamed of admitting this, but I've been so unhealthy the past two weeks.  And of course, once you get into unhealthy habits, it's hard to get out of them.  So, I've decided that I'm going to change up how I've been living.  It's not going to be a huge change, but I think I need a little more organization in my life.  I'm working on creating better meal schedules because it gets hectic with the hours that I work.