Healthy is Beautiful

February 27th.  Today marks the first day of many changes I'm making in my life.  I'm very excited about this.  Saturday Kyle and I were having a little husband/wife heart to heart and he said, "This time in your life is really when you have the chance to be in the best shape.  If you took a picture of yourself and looked back on it in the future would you want to say, 'this was me at my prime?'"  Obviously, you know the answer.  No, I would not want to look back at a picture of me today and say that this was me in my prime.  Wake up call.  So, I'm making changes and I'm glad I have his support.

1.  The first change I am making is waking up early and exercising.  I'm starting P90X again (the lean version).  If you have ever done P90X then you know that by the end you pretty much hate Tony and it might just be me, but I end up hating Dreya too.  The lean version of P90X Day 1 is Core Synergistics - every exercise involves strengthening your core.  There are exercises like Banana Rolls which if you just heard the name you'd think, "Yum, banana rolls," but they are not like they sound.






 Pretty much you start like this and hold it for 10 seconds.  While staying in this position you roll to your right side, again holding it for 10 seconds.  Then you roll to your stomach, hold for 10.  Then roll to your left side, hold for 10. Then you are back to the first position on your back and repeat it all again for who knows how long.  I tend not to watch the time because it's kind of like watching a pot boil. 

There are also Bow to Boats.  These are rough, especially on Day 1.  Last time I did them I was a pro by the end, but I was reminded today of how difficult they are when you are out of shape and weak. 

So basically you start like this (bow) and hold it for 10 seconds.

Then you roll over and get in this position, boat, (quickly, mind you) and you hold this for 10 seconds.  Then you roll back to bow and repeat this numerous times.









It's killer but the results are great and I'm ready to get my butt in gear and make these changes. 






2.  The next change I am making is drinking water and water only.  To help me in my effort to drink water only and more water than I usually drink, I purchased an Aladdin Insulated Tumbler.  I have had it since Thursday and has been one of my favorite purchases.  I drink way more water when it is cold and when I have a straw and this tumbler has been awesome.  I've already been drinking way more water and this morning I added slices of cucumber to my water to give it a fresh taste.  Yum.




3.  What goes with exercising and drinking water?  Eating right.  This one is very difficult for me because I really like certain foods (chips, breads, cheeses, etc) that are not really the best for me.  I'm pretty sure that I am pretty normal in that I don't eat enough vegetables, so that is one of my changes with food.  I eat pretty well, but I could stand to eat more fruit and vegetables.  So, today I started off my day with a piece of whole wheat toast garnished with cottage cheese and cucumbers.  Sounds kind of yucky, but it wasn't bad.  And it was an easy way for me to get some greens.  I think tomorrow I will put tomato and spinach instead of cucumbers for a different twist.  Lunch is really the trickiest meal of my day because I'm usually in a rush to eat quickly before I leave for work and so I want easy meals.  I think today I will do a salad and some turkey for lunch. 

Americans often think, "Oh, I will just not eat as much at my three meals and I will lose weight."  Wrong.  The best thing you can do is eat small meals but about every three hours.  So for me, I had my breakfast at about 8:30 (got a little late start - normally it will be about 7:30) and at about 11 I will have an orange and some almonds.  Then about 2:00, I will eat my salad and turkey.  Then at about 5 I will have a couple carrots, then at about 6:30 or 7:00 I will have some chicken and veggies.  Really, you don't have to eat a lot, just eat more times throughout the day.  When you don't eat for so long, your body goes into starvation mode and starts to store stuff thinking that it might need it later.  So for all of those people who say, "I will just have a big lunch and I'll be fine," good luck.

Those are my biggest changes I am making and I'm super excited about them.  I want to be healthy.  It's not about being skinny (though I want to look good) because skinny is not always attractive.  Perfect example:  Angelina Jolie at the Oscars last night.  It doesn't look healthy.  So for all those people who look at overweight people and make comments about how unattractive or gross they are, look at the other side of the spectrum.  Too skinny is not good either. 

To me, Zooey Deschanel is one of those women that I'd like to be like (physically). She looks healthy.  She looks like she takes care of herself and that she doesn't overdo it. 


That's what I want to look like, healthy.  Not like a twig.


Love,

Nicole