New journal, apartment gym, and lunch

As mentioned previously, I scrapped my old fitness journals and created my own 7-day journal and on day 4 of my first week using it, I LOVE IT! I will share more about the journal soon, but for now, just know that I absolutely love it! It works for me. I love that it is small so I don't feel conspicuous if I pull it out at work to record my lunch or something I forgot to record earlier in the day. I love that I also included a section to track my financial fitness, although I might revise that part.

After making my little fitness journal, I decided to try out the gym at my apartment complex. I knew it was tiny, but I was hoping it would better than it looks. Nope. It was kind of awful. There was no way to change the channel on the television as it was too high to reach and I couldn't find a remote. One treadmill was broken and the other one was too flimsy to run on. There were three pieces of weights machines but they were limited to one exercise each rather than being a system where you can adjust arms or levers or bars or whatever to do multiple exercises on one machine. There was a dirty looking yoga mat and two dirty looking fitness balls and a small rack of dumbbells. Oh, and two elliptical machines, but that is my least favorite piece of equipment second only to the stair master.

I tried one of the treadmills but my plan was to walk 4 minutes, run 1, and repeat until I had gone the distance of a 5k. Ugh! I couldn't run on the thing because it wasn't sturdy enough. Even walking at a fast pace was difficult because of how awful this treadmill was! I struggled to get in a good workout and finally quit. It was so frustrating!

My goal was a 5k (about 3.2 miles) in 35 minutes, not 1.5 mils in 27 minutes!

Even worse, there was a constant breezy draft despite my making sure the door was shut completely and it was coming from behind me. I was alone in there, but the entire time it felt like someone was standing right behind me and watching me! It was totally creepy so I didn't feel too bad cutting my workout short! I don't believe in ghosts but the little gym felt totally huanted!

Today, instead of the gym, I got through part of Yoga for Surfers III - Unleashed which I LOVE. It has been a while since I've done this yoga workout (or any yoga workout) though so it was tough! I am not a surfer, but I hope to be some day. Even if you aren't a surfer this is a vigorous workout combining traditional yoga moves with core building exercises and some moves that get your heart rate up. You will definitely sweat with this one!!! It is narrated and led by Peggy Hall with surfers Garret McNamara, Tom Carroll, and Brian Conley.

I am also working harder at taking nutritious lunches to work and tracking these lunches, along with everything else I eat, in my new journal. Today's lunch (and my legs, hahaha!):

• six pieces of veggie rolls (vegetable sushi)
• grape tomatoes
• granny Smith apple slices
• almonds
• sliced roast beef

Not pictured are black coffee, sparkling water instead of soda (soda is my biggest dietary problem! I love Coca Cola!), and a high fiber, high protein smoothie.

If you are interested in Yoga for Surfers III or the other two workouts mentioned in the clip, you can find them with these links:

• You can get Yoga for Surfers III Unleashed HERE. 
• Yoga for Surfers I is available HERE.
• Yoga for Board Sports is available HERE.

Please note, the links for Yoga for Surfers DVDs are Amazon Affiliate links.

Progress - my favorite shirts

I have three t-shirts, three pairs of pants that I really hope to fit into again someday without the dreaded muffin top and a pair of shorts. Well, I am happy to report that I can pull on one pair of the pants and the shorts AND get them zipped and buttoned. They aren't exactly comfortable though, but I am making progress!!!!! I still can't really get any of the t-shirts on or the other two pairs of pants though, but I'm getting closer!

I hung up the three t-shirts I hope to wear again. All three are WAY too small right now! And, yes, those are stuffed animals in the corner of my closet! :)

I will admit, I have been totally lazy in the working out department! However, I have been doing pretty well in eating and nutrition! I made it a goal to eat a minimum of two servings of fruit per day as fruit is something I often don't enjoy. By focusing on eating fruit daily, I've managed to eat far more fresh fruits AND vegetables daily and far LESS junk! WooHoo! I have a bit more energy (not a lot, to be honest, but a bit...), am sleeping slightly better, and I'm more comfortable in my clothes. I also have far fewer digestive issues recently.

I recently decided to make another big change in my routines and THROW AWAY my old fitness journals! I found it really discouraging to use journals that span many months. If I miss more than a few days of exercise, chances are I'm going to spread that out to a few weeks. It can be depressing to look back through the journal and see so many blank days. :(

Over the course of the week I've realized that if I had a shorter journal, say a journal that spans only one week at a time, I would be more likely to commit for that duration. So, I have created a one-week fitness journal and will be using it starting today! I can commit to a week, right???? YES, I CAN! The journal will be up in my Etsy shop later tonight.

A month or so ago I couldn't even button these shorts! They certainly aren't comfortable, but the fact that I can get them all the way up, zipped, and buttoned is HUGE progress and all from eating right!

Side view of the shorts.

Some of what I've been eating - not the soup though. The soup is for my son.

Check back soon for the fitness journal and please consider following my blog to keep up with my journey towards fitness, health, and well-being! The fitness journal will be available in my Etsy shop and includes sections for exercise, nutrition, and financial tracking. I included financial tracking as it seems as if physical fitness and finances are tied together for many of us. Weird but true!