Day #58: Takin' Care of Business!
rafting rahong pangalengan

Day #58: Takin' Care of Business!

Helllloooooo Bloggies!

Alright, I'm officially out of my funk! I was able to make it out of the house for about an hour today so I think all I needed was some fresh air! :)

LOTS of business to attend to today!

First up on the list....

1) Job Update:
Well... I got offered a job yesterday! Don't get too excited- I haven't officially accepted the offer yet, because I still have an interview on Monday for the job that I realllly want. The job that was offered to me is a decent job- I think I could be happy there, it's not too far away, and most importantly it fits w/ the schedule that I need it to. The downside? I'd be making a dollar less than I was before. I know in this economy I should take what I can get but still. Either way, whether it be the job I was offered or the one I'm interviewing on Monday for, I am no longer on the job hunt which just makes me want to get up a do the boogy- b/c I HATE looking for a job- wait... does anyone NOT hate looking for a job!? lol I'll be sure to keep you all posted!

2) Evaluating February (via my Feb goals):
It seems like this was a bit of a rough month for the blog world- we saw quite a few bite the dust and completely deactivate their blogs, even more still struggling with fighting cravings and the social temptation of food, and a few kick butt; either way- in my eyes if you are still chuggin along, you have NOT failed- I am most certainly in that boat.

I look back on February and it definitely brought some unique challenges in regards to this journey...
- Snowmaggedon occured here in Pgh and besides leaving the house only to go to work, my gym routine was threatened and cut short for a little over 2 weeks where I was only able to get there 2-3 times a week instead of the 5 that I'd been aiming for.
- I lost my job and dealt with some SERIOUS stress w/ my mom. These events EASILY would have thrown me off course before but it didn't even phase me one bit- I just kept chugging- and it was my ability to stay true that really showed me how far I've come.
- I identified my 4 Pitiful Pitfalls and also had an epiphany about what it will really take to lose 100lbs this year.

Overall it was a month that wasn't bad, wasn't great, but was most definitely NECESSARY. Alright, let's get to the goals!

I'm trying not to look at things so cut and dry so I've come up with this little system to evaluate how I've done: ***= Goal Achieved! **= Halfway there! *= Needs improvement!

Goal 1: Try 3 New Veggies

2/10/10: Spinach
2/20/10: Broccoli
2/21/10: Celery (by itself)
Result: ***Goal Achieved! As you all know, veggies are foreign objects to me, so even these tiny steps that I'm making are huge for me! I'm ready to step out of my comfort zone a little more and will be adding in some more veggies very soon!

Goal 2: Track Calories for 1 Full Month
Result: ** Halway There! I really must say that I'm proud of the effort that I did put into counting/tracking calories this month, I wasn't perfect but there were MANY days where I tracked even though I didn't want to. I have a new plan for this for March that you'll just have to wait to hear about until I share my March goals :)

Goal 3: Incorporate 1 serving of fruit in per day for 1 week

Result: * Needs Improvement! Yea- I'm not sure why this didn't happen- I feel like my grocery shopping was a bit out of wack this month due to the weather but um HELLO I did buy groceries this month and easily could have bought fruit! I guess eating fruit is just something I've never done a lot of so it's easy for me to just forget that it exists. I have been eating apples ever now and again but definitely nothing consistant. I know that this needs to change.

Goal 4: Work out at the gym 5x's a week for 1 month!

Result: ** Halfway There! I really wish that I could give myself three stars on this one b/c I gave a seriously valient effort but alas, not 5x's a week every week. But I must share this- in February, I went to the gym EVERY day that it was possible (aka no snow storm) except for 1 day. This usually worked out to going anywhere from 2-4 times a week. At least I can say that I know that it wasn't b/c of my laziness that I didn't go and I'm still suprising myself every time I'm at the gym of how much I enjoy being there and working out b/c those of you who have been following me for a while know that was NOT always the case! (Karen, I still remember your comment the day I got my membership :)

Goal 5: Try Every Machine at the gym!
Result: **Halfway There! You all probably remember me saying that there are some machines at my gym that I'm afraid to go on because I don't know how to work them or I think people will judge me for being on, so I made a goal to try every machine at the gym so I could conquer the apprehension that I have about it. I did pretty good- being that my gym time was limited this month I found myself really wanting to utilize the time I had there doing what I'm good at but I did step out and try a few new thinigs: the cycle plus (a recumbent that utilizes your arms at the same time), and all of the strength training circuit equipment. My gym isn't huge but there are still 2 machines that I've yet to try (I'll share about these little beasts another time)!

Goal 6: Walk 2 miles in 30 minutes
.
Result:** Halfway There! Ok so here's how my Mr. T time usually goes- no matter how much I up the mph I finish my 30 minutes at 1.75 miles- I'm thinking that in order to do 2 miles in 30 minutes I'm gonna have to start jogging or something because I'm not sure that it's possible when I'm just walking- anyone have any advice for this? I will say that I have made progress with my speed- when I first started doing the treadmill (aka Mr. T) I was walking at 3.3/3.4mph and now I average 3.5/3.7 mph. A small improvement but one that puts a smile on my face :)

Goal 7: Do the elliptical for 15 minutes straight!

Result: *** Goal Achieved!!! Ok I am just SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO friggin excited about this!!! On January 23rd I was only able to do the elliptical for 5 minutes without feeling like my face was about to explode and I hadn't really stepped on the elliptical more than 2 times since then, so when I was looking over these goals a week or so ago I was thinking..."Hmm...maybe I need to adjust the goal to 10 minutes instead of 15 b/c this is just wayyy too hard," and then Wednesday I decided to hop on and did 15 freakin minutes!!!! I'm sure for some this probably doesn't sound impressive but this has been one of my proudest moments at the gym. And just to be sure it wasn't a fluke I did 15 minutes again today! This just proves to me that my endurance is improving and I am becoming more fit! :) : ) :) I do have a question though- does anyone know what the equivelant of being on the elliptical is to actual running? If you can do the elliptical for 30 minutes does that mean you can run for 30 minutes?

Goal 8: Weigh no more than 315 on February 28th
Result:
??? My weigh in is tomorrow and truthuflly, I'm not thinking I'll be seeing 315- maybe something more like 317- but you never know. Whatever the scale shows me I'm going to be FINE with because my body is changing, my endurance is growing, and I am doing all of the right things! Still- it would be nice to achive that goal tomorrow! We'll just have to wait and see :)

And one last order of business....

Shout Out Time!

Today I have 2 Shout Outs to give to 2 VERY inspirational ladies!

1- Nicole reached a MAJOR goal of hers the other day when she ran 3 miles non-stop!!! She has a race coming up in a few weeks and I know she is going to do AMAZINGLY. I'll be cheering you on all the way over here in the Burgh Nicole! :)

2- I also want to say CONGRATS to Sunshine Mama! If you haven't checked out her blog YOU NEED to! She is hard-core... no really- she has some serious guns! And she just announced the other day that she is expecting her 6th child!!!

Alright, that's enough for me for today (sorry for the lonnnng post!) but be sure to check back tomorrow for my weigh in!

Oh and of course I got to give ya'll some sweat proof! (Warning I'm lookin a bit funkified but whatev- it's all in the name of sweat!) Today's workout included: 30 minutes on the hybrid bike (8 miles), 15 minutes on the elliptical, and a strength training circuit. Love ya bloggies!
rafting rahong pangalengan