Thursday, January 23, 2014

Takin' the Stairs, like a Boss!

Back in April of last year I switched jobs within the same company and moved to a new building. In the previous building I was on the 2nd floor of a 3 story building. Now I am on the 6th floor of a 9 story building. When I first moved I was excited about the opportunity to take the stairs instead of the elevator to get in a little mor activity but I quickly learned that it was not an option for me to do so.

(It's cute how I say I wanted to take the stairs for "activity" that's totally a lie, I actually hate elevators. I don't like being that close to strangers. I also say I park in the back lot because it's a farther walk. That's a lie too. I'm terrified of parking garages.)

Last week one of my coworkers walked by huffing and puffing saying she had just taken the stairs and was out of breath. I made her immediately turn around and show me where and how she got into the stairwell. Another coworker overheard and tagged along because he was also interested in taking the staris! Next thing I know, they are online ordering Fitbits and I am drafting up a calendar to keep track of how oftern we take the stairs up and down!

I was on cloud nine that whole day. As many of you who follow me on Twitter know, I have don't have the best relationship with people I work with. I mean, my new team is NOTHING like The Bitches from my previous job, but I've never felt like I belonged.

Well, that was last week. On Monday of this week two other coworkers noticed what the three of us were doing and JOINED IN! Now all 5 of us are taking the stairs when we get in each morning, and any time we need something down stairs. What's even better is that when one of us is going down we say "Stairs?" and everyone (who is available) gets up and tags along!

My heart is so full right now for all the positivity and commradery. Who would have thought something so simple would bring us together? It is awesome.

And the best part? My thighs. It's been a week and I can already feel a difference. I had no idea that it would be so hard to walk up 6 flights of stairs (a total of 154 total stairs to be exact). I am winded by the 5th floor and struggle the last bit. Expecially in the morning when I am carrying my purse and lunch bag.

Also, just by adding the daily stairs I have increased my daily step count enough to reach my 5,000 goal every day this week! Usually I only get my goal on the weekends! (If you want to add me as a friend on Fitbit, my user name is SuperErizzle. I can't figure out how to add friends, so you have to add me.)

In my last post I talked about how small changes really do add up, and this is just more example of that! If you are struggling or having a hard time or feel overwhelmed by your goals, just do ONE thing different. Then do one more thing. And then one more.

Also, don't be afraid to talk about your journey with others. You never know who you will inspire or who will inspire you.

I haven't seen any difference on the scale yet, but that's not really what matters in the grand scheme of things.

And speaking of the scale...I'm above my goal weight again. Not by much, but by enough. I'm working hard to get it back down. I've tracked 100% for 2 weeks straight and that's the first time I have done that in...well...I can't even remember. The scale may not be showing a number I want right now, but I am SO happy with everything that I am doing. I'm taking yoga once a week, I'm back on a training schedule (15k, Baby!), I'm drinking 100oz of water a day, and I'm tracking honestly every day.

Oh, and I was thinking of finally taking the plunge and buying my own domain name and creating an actual real website for all my random blogging. If any of you readers know how to do that and are willing to help, please let me know. I feel really restricted in this current format and I would really like to grow this little blog a bit more.

xoxo

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Small Changes Really Add Up!

While eating dinner the other night my Mr. and I had the episode of Big Bang Theory on where they all buy the time machine. Randomly I said "If I had a time machine, I would go back 10 years just to tell you that not only would you eventually be married to someone this hot, but you would be eating a vegetables every night by choice. I bet you wouldn't believe me". He agreed. We discussed for quite a bit how different our eating habits are now from when we first got married. It really is unbelievable how far we have come in 7 years! And the most impressive part about all of them is that we keep it up. We enjoy the changes and look forward to making more.

What kind of changes have we made? Okay, well…to begin with we eat vegetables every night with dinner. Without fail. My vegetable-hating husband always picks. 5 years ago, if we ate veggies it was corn. Maybe green beans. And that’s it. I've always loved veggies but I never cooked them because Mr. didn't eat them. But when it became important to my lifestyle to have them, I started cooking them for myself, he would try them and most of the time he actually liked them! Now we eat broccoli, bell peppers, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, spinach, kale, and asparagus pretty regularly and barely eat corn any more. Green beans will always be a family favorite though. And we buy fresh local, or frozen (preferably organic) veggies. I can't even remember the last time we bought canned veggies. Which is what we used to always eat. Just the idea of eating a canned vegetable grosses me out now. (I keep a few on hand though. In case of the apocalypse. Just enough to tide us over until we can plant/can our own after society collapses.)

Other things different about our diet now that have slowly changed over time:
1) Limited artificial sugars - no HFCS or aspartame. Splenda or Stevia only. (Cutting back on the Splenda where we can.)
2) No palm oil! (Save the orangutans!)
3) We eat breakfast. I started this when I got on Weight Watchers and then talked the husband into doing it too. We both really aren't morning eaters but with some trial and error we found what works. I have yogurt and fruit usually. He has a V8 and a "breakfast bar" (which is what everyone else calls a granola bar).
3) We make it from scratch instead of buying packaged if possible.
4) Buy local when possible. (And yes, we are willing to pay more for it.)
5) Fresh ground spices and spice mixes from a spice store. (They may be more $$ but they taste better and have less added crap like salt.)
6) Dropped from 2% milk to 1% milk 5 years ago when I started Weight Watchers. Last year we switched to organic milk. It tastes better and lasts longer. (Seriously, check the expiration date on organic vs. regular. It is actually a cost savings to buy organic if you don't use it quickly like us.)
7) Limited diet soda intake. I used to drink a minimum of 32oz a day. Now I have like 1 a week and never caffeinated. I have an addiction to sparkling water though. It's all about the bubbles! The Mr. is down to 1 can a day from 2 years ago when he was up to 4 a day. He wants to be 100% off it by the end of the year so we are currently looking for alternative caffeinated beverages for him. (He hates coffee and most teas).
8) We don't eat McDonald's. We used to go weekly. I would order 2 double cheeseburgers, a large frie, 9 piece chicken nuggets and a side of tartar sauce. For myself. Then when I started Weight Watchers I had to quit eating like that because of the Points. I only splurged on it maybe once a month for years. Then 2 years ago I found a left over double cheeseburger in the back of my fridge that had been there for so long I didn't even remember putting it in there. It did not rot or mold. It still looked like a double cheeseburger. But just hard as a rock. Haven't eaten there since. I find food that doesn't rot or mold to be revolting. (We still eat Taco Bell. I can't quit that shit. I know it's terrible. But tacos are life's blood. Shut up.)
9) We read labels. If it is full of chemicals we don't buy it. The shorter the ingredient list the better. (Also, the information on labels is also surprising! Did you know that the first ingredient in most coffee creamers is oil? Gross. Who wants oil in their coffee? Not me!)

But how did we do that? And how have we kept it going for so long?

We did it slowly over time. And we didn't do it all at once. One little change let to another. And those little changes really add up over time!

I honestly don't think that had we just said "Okay it is January 1st so no we no longer eat fast food and drink soda, and we only eat all organic diets from now on" we would have failed pretty quickly. Like probably 2 weeks due to Taco Bell.

Because these aren't "rules" but choices we make it's easier to keep making them. If we chose to buy or eat something that doesn’t fit our "norm" that's okay too. And we keep making adjustments and new changes too. I think in 5 more years our diet will be drastically different from what it is now too. Hopefully for the better!

I don't really know what my point is here, but I think it is this: Small changes really add up! Do one thing different and when that feels natural, do another thing. And so on!


xoxo