Doesn't everyone work out in 4" heels?
I’ve been feeling pretty frustrated with how well I treat my body. Every since I got married, my diet hasn’t been the best (we eat out for lunch almost every day for example) and I have done little to no exercise. Lately, I’ve started to feel the effects – muscles getting pulled way too easily, quickly running out of breath when I walk Ollie, and a growing pair of love handles. I’m over it! I know that it will only get harder from here on out to maintain a healthy food intake and exercise routine, so I’m coming up with a plan. It’s time to get healthy again!
So, I’m going to share with you all my goals, and hopefully this will help me stick to them better. The first goal is making time in my schedule to exercise. This is the hardest part for me. I honestly work from 10am until 8pm, with breaks for lunch, dinner, and some play time with Ollie and Jony. I have such a hard time pulling myself away because I always feel like there is more for me to do. So, I’ve decided before dinner I will do 20 minutes of workout time, six times a week. 10 minutes of stuff to get my heart rate up, and 10 minutes of stretching and crunches. It’s not perfect, but it’s a good start.
Next up are my eating habits. I’m really going to cut down how often I eat out – another thing that is not easy when you work a lot. I’m going to make a conscious effort to start making my lunches again, and try and cut it down to three meals of restaurant food tops.
It is going to take some effort, but especially living in America, being healthy has really taken a wayside in our lives. Working on the computer and at home definitely has its benefits, but also its huge (pun intended) downfalls. Now I don’t want to do this alone, so I challenge you all to join me in getting healthier. What are some areas that you could improve upon? How do you keep yourself healthy? I’m all ears!
shauna
1 year ago
I have been feeling the same way lately! Luckily, my husband is taking a nutrition class right now and super excited about eating more healthy. And we have a lot of fun cooking with/for each other. I have been pruning my cooking skills and there is something rewarding about making a good meal for someone. We have also taken to doing nightly stretches and exercises to help tone up. I have noticed that since doing my blog photoshoots I have started to lose a bit of weight – all that running back and forth between the camera. I would like to be more disciplined at doing yoga every morning though.
Maria Reply:
June 21st, 2010 at 9:55 am
I think eating right is such a huge step – something I need to work on. I’d enjoy learning some of the recipes you guys put together, I appreciated the chicken ones you had sent me earlier!
geneva
1 year ago
As a mom of 4, being healthy is something that has been laid on my heart pretty heavily recently. Not only for MY growing love handles(working on crunching them away too:), but to help shape their ideas of what is healthy. So much food we buy has junk in it! My frustrating moment this week was to find a loaf of bread without high fructose corn syrup in it. We have a small garden with basics: tomatoes, cucumbers, greenbeans, peppers, squash and herbs. They love to water, pick and help me cook new dishes. I would like to plant a fall garden and expand it.
I’m having issues finding a good exercise routine. I like to run(but not consistant with it), take yoga once a week and my husband has convienced me to do p90x a few days with him this week…very painful. Anyways, sorry for the long reply, this is a Great topic and you gave me useable ideas. I will try the 20 min routine/day routine:) Thanks!
Maria Reply:
June 21st, 2010 at 9:58 am
I really appreciate that you are teaching your kids at a young age how to be healthy – I think it’s a habit that once built is hard to break! As for the bread, have you thought about getting a bread maker? My dad’s is brilliant – just put in the ingredients and if does ALL the work!
Thanks for you reply!
P90X is intense! Let me know how that goes – I don’t think I can handle that hahaha. They say if you can at least get your heart rate up for 10 minutes then that makes a world of difference, so for now that’s my goal
Nichole Medrano
1 year ago
How funny weren’t we just talking about this last night? I fell of the Weight Watchers wagon about 3 weeks ago but as of this morning I’m back on and my personal goal is to get moving more!! I also need to challenge myself to engage that target heart rate daily. Thank u for this reminder Maria!!
Maria Reply:
June 21st, 2010 at 9:59 am
Yes! I think summertime is truly one of the hardest seasons for being healthy – it’s so easy to eat junk and give in to gluttony!
Felicia
1 year ago
Making exercise part of your daily routine helps so much and makes it easier to stick to.
Plus, once you start seeing/feeling results it gets a lot harder to talk yourself out of it!
Maria Reply:
June 21st, 2010 at 10:00 am
This is so true – I just need to get into the habit and then I know it’ll be hard NOT to be healthy. I heard something like if you do anything for 40 days in a row, it becomes a habit, so that’s my first goal
Natasha
1 year ago
I am the same way!! I don’t struggle as much with eating, as I eat tons of veggies and fruit and not much meat during the week, but on the weekend, I tend to break my good eating habits. And, I do have a weak spot for sweet! However, when it comes to working out, I am such a slacker! Two weeks ago, I made a commitment to myself that I would start exercising, and so far, I’ve been keeping it up. Not sure if you are up for workout videos, but I really like Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred. It’s a 20 minute workout, and it includes strength, cardio, and abs. It has three different levels, all of which you can modify to make easier or harder. It’s really ideal for people who are busy and just don’t have time to spend an hour or more at the gym. Anyway, good luck! I’ll be trying to get back in shape right there with you!
Maria Reply:
June 21st, 2010 at 10:01 am
I’ve heard the Jillian Michael’s stuff is pretty good, I will check this out. Videos definitely help me, if I do it by myself I never push myself hard enough lol. Lately I’ve been doing zumba videos I find on YouTube (lol!), but I’ll look into this. We can do this girl!
Meghan @ Out of Order
1 year ago
Go girl! I agree, it’s hard to make time for exercise when you’re tired, over-scheduled or just plain want to sit down and read with some cake!
I work 10 to 8 four days a week too, but not from home, so blogging and sewing is usually what I spend my free hours doing, and exercise really takes a back seat to that. For a while I was trying to alternate between a few sets of upper or lower body work each morning, figuring it’d equal up to a few good workouts per week. But it’s been rough; I usually don’t want to work out first thing in the morning, and then the only time left is after standing for ten hours. Bleh.
I wish you the best in your workout intentions! Someday we’ll figure out the perfect balance ;]
Happy Weekend!
Maria Reply:
June 21st, 2010 at 10:03 am
Exactly! I knew you’d get it being a DIYer as well, that free time usually goes into doing projects and otherwise fairly low-energy activities. It’s so good that you stand during work though – I’ve read that when you sit, your body’s ability to get rid of fat cells goes WAY down, and just by standing it makes a huge difference. Thanks for the encouragement!
Janine
1 year ago
Uh yeah, I am putting on way more pregnancy weight than I intended. The problem is that it’s all going to my arms! I am limited in my usual exercises but my goal is to do arm workouts daily.
Maria Reply:
June 21st, 2010 at 10:04 am
You’re still looking great to me. What type of arm exercises are you doing? Lifting weights?
Leah H.
1 year ago
I’ve been feeling pretty gross since summer started, honestly. I’m usually the laziest during the winter and the summer. I never want to work out! Unless I have a work out buddy, I rarely do. But lately I’ve been using my parent’s treadmill and doing belly dance exercises. I hope that in a week I will look good for my wedding but that I will keep up my routine for the rest of the summer!
Good luck to you!
Maria Reply:
June 21st, 2010 at 10:05 am
Work out buddies really help me too – I get so bored! I’ve been doing zumba videos because it’s the only thing that keeps me interested right now, I’ll have to look into the belly dancing stuff though. I’m so excited for your wedding, and your amazing honeymoon! Can’t wait to hear about it
Melissa M Reply:
June 23rd, 2010 at 1:02 pm
hahaha ZUMBA!! Oh maria, when EVER i hear Zumba, I always think of our aerobics classes and laugh/smile on the good memories.
I would love to take an aerobics class again. I think that’s about the only thing that really keeps me motivated since you’re “required” to attend the classes. We’ll see how it goes! Good luck to you!
Angeline
1 year ago
Oh my goodness Maria, you are expressing my thoughts. How did you get in my head? jk (a little). I’ve always been slim (still am) but have put on quite a bit of weight since I got married and settled into my full-time office job (going on 3 years for both of those). It’s gotten to the point where I’m more lethargic (from lack of exercise) and my clothes, even the ones I bought just last year) barely fit. I have a traditional 8-5 schedule (with a half hour on each end for the commute), and in the evenings I blog and have social activities, and try to squeeze in some quality time w/ the hubby, too. It gets pretty exhausting.
My husband and I have started cooking more and eating healthier (packing our lunches, buying more fresh veggies and fruits) and being more active. I really like Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD and have done that a few times in the morning before work, and plan on starting that up again this week. Other than that, I’m mainly managing my eating habits and food portions (I’m a sucker for french fries and dessert!).
Maria Reply:
June 21st, 2010 at 10:07 am
Hahaha!! I’m glad you’re on the same wavelength as me! Okay, this is the second Jillian Michaels suggestion, so I’m thinking that’ll be a good investment. I totally get the random cravings too – sometimes I just NEED a spring roll!
Cafe Fashionista
1 year ago
Luckily, my main motivation for working out is that I feel amazing after having done so – therefore, I never slack off in that department.
Maria Reply:
June 21st, 2010 at 10:07 am
This is what I need to get to, lol
CarolAnn Edie
1 year ago
I’ve been making efforts to eat better, and the biggest difference I could make in my health right now would be to exercise more.
I want to start dancing again. When I was a sophomore in college, I joined the Ballroom Dance Team, and was dancing 15+ hours per week. I felt great, looked great, and had a ton of fun. I miss it.
I know we’ll get back in to it, I just hope it’s sooner rather than later.
Love,
CarolAnn
http://CharismaU.com
Maria Reply:
June 21st, 2010 at 10:08 am
I saw some of your dance pictures on your blog – that is so cool! I really enjoy dance as well, I would love to get into it more (maybe I can convince my husband??). We can do it!
CarolAnn Edie Reply:
June 21st, 2010 at 10:24 am
Awesome! You should take some lessons. It’s so fun, it really can get you in shape, and it’s something that you can do forever! I love that.
Make sure to post about it if you do decide to learn. And hey – next time I’m in California (you are in CA, right?), give me a call and we’ll come give you a lesson!
Love,
CarolAnn
Kimberly
1 year ago
Hi Maria,
I started reading your blog a long time ago and things got really busy so I forgot about it for a while, so I’m playing catch up. I know this is an older post but I wanted to tell you about something really neat that I read a while back and thought you might like it, so I hope you see this comment. My husband gets the Affilite Summit magazine and shared with me this article about a Texas-based affiliate marketer named Lauren who works while walking on a treadmill. I did a search this morning and found the article for you. It’s really neat and I hope that you enjoy reading it. I’m so glad they have their archives online!
Here is the link:
Walking the Walk in Affiliate Marketing – By Shawn Collins
http://feedfront.com/archives/article002103
Also, I was talking to my hubby last night about how neat it would be to have this kind of set up in our house and this morning in one of his rss feeds he had this article that he emailed to me to read also. It was really good too!
How to set up a treadmill desk:
http://www.macworld.com/article/156988/2011/01/treadmilldesk.html?lsrc=rss_main
It totally think it’s healthy to have more than just this as an exercise program, but I think it’s a neat idea and hope you like it too!
Maria Reply:
January 11th, 2011 at 1:43 pm
Hey Kimberly! Thank you for the links – I’ve heard of doing this before but wasn’t sure how easy it would be to set up, so this really helps me get a better idea
Don’t remember if I posted about this, but I heard even just standing instead of sitting while you work burns calories 2x faster…What strategies are you using right now yourself?
Kimberly
1 year ago
Hi Maria,
I have been reading more and more about how bad it is to sit at the computer all day, so I’m trying to figure out how (and get hubby’s help) to raise my current desk (my temp solution until I can get a treadmill desk). For now, I’ve been making myself either walk about a mile (round trip) to go to the grocery store (we live in a small little town) or I have a mini-trampoline (or rebounder) that I use when I don’t want to leave the house. When I use the trampoline I do intervals. I have read some articles that talk about that being more effective than an hour of aerobic exercise. The idea is to go as fast and hard as you can for 30 seconds and then do an easy pace for 90 seconds. I usually warm up for about 2 minutes and do a total of 20 minutes of the intervals. I’ve been too lazy to do my weights too, but I need to start getting out my free weights and doing that also. I learned some really good weight training exercises that I can do with free weights at home from the Body For Life book several years ago, so those are my go-to exercises for the free weights.
Here’s an article about interval training if you want:
http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2010/09/13/interval-cardio-on-treadmill-for-fat-loss.aspx
Since this post was a while ago, are you still getting your 20 minutes in before dinner? I probably only exercise 3-4 days a week, so I struggle to get from the starting phase of exercise to a place where I feel like I’m actually getting more fit.
Went shopping today and that seems to be a good motivator.
Hope it’s going well for you.