blog reset.

Hello, dear friends! It's been a while.  I stopped blogging nearly two years ago.  Life got so busy, and I wasn't doing much running, and this just kind of fell to the wayside. However, I've recently decided to get things going again on here. I think having a place to report on my successes & failures at maintaining a healthy lifestyle is good for me - it helps me feel accountable.  To that end, a few updates and goals I'm working towards:


*EATING HEALTHY & COOKING*
Cooking continues to be something I enjoy quite a bit, and the more I cook the easier it is for me to eat healthy. Primarily, I'm trying to stay in a certain calorie budget each day by tracking my food intake on LoseIt!, but I've also been trying to pay more attention to my ratio of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. My focus has been on increasing my fruit & vegetable intake and to do so I've begun relying on fruit smoothies (with frozen fruit, milk, and Greek yogurt) as my breakfast staple, I'm packing fruit as a snack/side for lunch, and I'm eating a side salad with dinner each night, but I think I might be eating relatively too many carbohydrates, and not enough proteins and fats, and am trying to figure out fixes for that. I've continued using the Betty Crocker cookbook that started this blog, and have also been using a Biggest Loser cookbook quite a bit, in combination with recipes from Cooking Light's website or random internet searches.


Food-Related Goals:
-Stick to a daily caloric budget I've chosen on LoseIt!,
-Incorporate fruits & vegetables regularly
-Eat plenty of fiber (25 grams per day),
-Try to find the right balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats (I'm thinking 40/30/30%, but I'm not as committed to that yet).


*WORKING OUT & PHYSICAL ACTIVITY*
From that first twinge of pain in 2013 until today, I've never really been able to get back into running. Physical therapy was helpful while I was doing it as a means to treat acute pain, but I never got "better." I've tried to restart several times, using the Couch to 5K plan, but I've never gotten to a point where I could run more than 1-2 miles without pain, so I've temporarily decided that running is not on the table for me and am focusing on other types of exercise.


Since moving to CT, I found a gym near my house with spinning  classes. My goal right now is to go twice a week - Tuesday and Thursday evenings. I'd love to also go once on the weekend, but have yet to make it to a weekend class. In addition, I'm trying to incorporate HIIT-type workouts - recently I was doing the 30 Day Shred, but I'm now trying to learn about some of the Beach Body options. My ideal would be to find 30 minute HIIT-style workouts I could do before work.


Also, about a year ago, I purchased a Jawbone UP!, which is very similar to a FitBit, just a different brand. My Jawbone tracks my steps and sleep, and helps me to estimate how many calories I'm burning. I don't have the fancy one that includes HR monitoring (see: my wish list), but I do like tracking my steps.


Physical Activity-Related Goals:
-10,000 steps per day
-30 minute HIIT-style workouts 5 days per week
-2 spin classes per week


*WEIGHT LOSS*
Sadly, I've gained a lot of weight since I had to stop running in 2013. At first, I think the significant decrease in physical activity coupled with not changing my eating habits contributed to weight gain. Then I went through a period of time where I was traveling a lot and didn't have a very structured schedule, so finding ways to eat healthy and incorporate non-running workouts was difficult. Then in 2014, I moved to Mississippi where I never really found a good workout regime and continued gaining. Since moving to CT, I've lost a bit of that weight, but mostly have just maintained.


Weight Loss Goals:
-Return to the weight I was in late 2012 / early 2013 (that's about 20 pounds from where I am today)
-Fit comfortably in clothing I was wearing in late 2012 / early 2013 (typically size 4)


I've taken some measurements and weighed in this morning, so I'll try to update how I'm doing on my goals, share successes and failures, and let you know about any yummy recipes I discover.