January's Journey To Health Update

It is said that a habit is hard to break. It is also said that it takes 21 days for a habit to establish itself. I know many people set New Year's Resolutions this time of year. I also know that many of those resolutions don't make it until the end of January. I used to be one of those people. That is why I don't set resolutions for myself anymore. However, this year I did set forth some wellness goals for myself. YAY...I have to say I am pretty excited about my health goals for January, 2012. I met every goal that I had set for myself. YAHOO!!!

Weight Loss: My goal was to lose 5 pounds and I lost 6. Only 6 more to go to my goal weight. Ok...I didn't have a whole lot to lose but that "Holiday 10" had to go. My clothes were getting snug and I can't be having any of that...LOL! I worked too hard 3 years ago to get out of the plus size clothing section. If my weight is something that I can control (not health related)...I am going to be responsible and take care of myself.

I'll be honest....at first I was a bit discouraged about "only" losing 5-6 pounds.  I mean the first two weeks of changing my diet and adding exercise felt like torture....I was always hungry and my body was sore in all different places.  Surely, I should have lost more than 5-6 pounds??  Then I watched What Does 5 Pounds of Fat Look Like?.  After I watched this video I no longer felt like all my work was in vain.

Working Out: My goal was to work out on average 4 times a week and I met this goal. I was so excited about this. My strategy was to workout 6 days a week. I followed this schedule:

Mon-Weds-Fri: Walk/Jog on the treadmill for 45 minutes.
Tues: Pilates for 60 minutes
Thurs-Sat: Strength Training

I haven't ever worked out 6 times in a week...but as long as I have certain activities scheduled for certain days I have no excuse. The motivation is there when I already know what I am going to do for a workout. I have found this method to be very successful. YAY!

Program: Last time around I used Weight Watchers. This time I am using www.sparkpeople.com. SparkPeople is a program that counts calories, encourages exercise, and emphasizes an overall healthy lifestyle. It's not just about changing one aspect of your health...but as many as you can for complete wellness.

One aspect of the program that I really like is that you can run reports to keep up with your progress.  The  picture below is a screen shot of my "Calories Burned from Workouts."

There is also an iPhone and iPad app for Sparkpeople. I use my iPad all the time to log my food and exercise. Very handy! I don't think I would have been this successful had I not used the iPad app.

Overall Stats for January:

Minutes Exercised: 759 (averages out to about 25 minutes a day).
Calories Burned by Exercising: 2750
Workouts: 4 times a week.

**I didn't keep track of my mileage for January**

I am really excited to see what I can accomplish in February!!!