Chaney in action...
Don't worry, this isn't turning into a fitness blog! But after my post on Tuesday, I've gotten a lot of questions about my cooking, running, the app I use, how I make time etc. so I thought I would take today to answer some of those questions. :)
These changes started back in September but then in October we really embraced this new lifestyle. During that time I had some health issues and what ended up being diagnosed as fibromyalgia. Even though the symptoms and tests were fairly conclusive I wasn't officially convinced that's what I had going on but either way I knew that I needed to reduce my stress levels, exercise more, and eat better.
So when I realized last year that we needed to change the way we ate as a family I knew that fell largely on myself. I also felt a tad bit guilty because I hadn't been doing a very good job of setting a healthy tone in the kitchen for the rest of my family. It was up to me to start cooking more healthy and to also make sure we were making better food choices away from home i.e. lunches at work and school.
Now I work full time and so does Steve. Working had previously been my main excuse for not cooking very much. It's tough to work all day and then go home and make a healthy meal, eat dinner together as a family and then clean up the kitchen on top of all the other weekly activities like violin, judo, homework, etc.
That's where once a month/freezer cooking came up and I blogged all about that, including recipes, in this post.
Here's the time management part...
Now that school has started again, this week we have settled back into our weekday routine. I love routine. :) I had been running in the mornings but lately I've been waking up achy with a lead-like body. Some of that is probably because it's been cold in the mornings but I know that as the day progresses, my body feels better. Because I feel better in the evenings I've been running when I get home from work; something I never thought I would do. If I do happen to workout in the morning I just have to make sure that I'm in bed before 10pm otherwise it's really hard to get up at 5am.
In the evening I get Chaney started on her homework/violin practice and because dinner is already basically done, I have time to run or workout. Steve is awesome and takes care of any side vegetables, etc and keeps Chaney on task while I'm working out. I take a shower and then by then it's time for dinner. Kitchen clean up is super easy and then I have the rest of the evening to spend with my family, read, sew, etc.
I really like this new routine!
What program am I using?
I'm using the 10K Runner app on my iPhone. If you have heard of the Couch to 5K program, this one of very similar. This app also has a 5K, 21K, and even a marathon plan. I'm really enjoying this program because it eases you into running and for ultra-competitive, don't-listen-to-your-body people like me, it keeps you on a track so that you can minimize or even eliminate injuries as a beginning runner.
I'm running my first race in ten years tomorrow. Chaney and I are running a 5K together! She's been watching me and has been asking to start running too. It really is true that our kids watch us closely and are influenced by our good {and bad} habits. I'm also running a 10K in February and then I'm running the Portland Half marathon in May... which also happens to coincide with quilt market in Portland. I love it when things just work out on their own!
I'm running 3 days a week right now and on the other days I do some sort of cross-training, yoga, or weight training. I take one rest day a week.
How am I feeling since making these changes?
Much better! I'm sleeping good {for the most part}, I've lost weight, my stress levels are under control, and while I still have days where I don't feel good, they are fewer than before.
Now I've always secretly rolled my eyes at people touting that you always have time for exercise, you just have to make time. So now you can roll your eyes at me too... because it's true. ;)
But to limit the eye rolling, I have a separate blog for all this running and such. It's appropriately named That Girl Runs With Scissors and I think I'm very clever with that name! With this new obsession I've realized that a lot of quilters also like to run/workout so feel free to take a look at my other blog too. :)
Have a great weekend!