Lists Galore!

Goals:
Be able to do a sit-up with good form without struggling
Go to bed at or before 11pm at night (especially work nights)
Wake up in time to take the beagle on a good walk in the morning
Wake up no later then 9am on weekends
Finish the active.com beginning weight loss fitness plan

Victories since starting to exercise most days:
I sleep better at night
I wake better rested in the morning
I'm generally in a better mood and more cheerful

Extended Hiatus: Over

So the last month to two months haven't been the greatest in terms of healthy living accomplishments.  But there have been a host of other accomplishments that I've achieved.

• The Big One: I GRADUATED!!  School is officially and perhaps forever over!  No more worrying about papers, no more worrying about blackboard, no more crappy professors.  IT. IS. OVER!
• The other, not quite so big, one is that I made it through Christmas.  It was touch and go there for awhile.  My family loves to pile on the stress, guilt and what-not to make something that is supposed to be wonderful absolutely awful.  But I made it through Christmas and, even if the weeks leading up to Christmas were pretty much horrifying, Christmas Eve and Christmas day were actually rather relaxing and drama free.  

New Year's also went very well though it wasn't exactly what I was planning/hoping/expecting.  But, que sera sera.  I was extremely happy to see the New Year though because it inevitably means that December 2011 is over.  January means more free time, more time to accomplish the other goals that I have, those that are more healthy living oriented.  January means less stress, less drama and in general a quieter life.  I had been craving January for a several weeks.  So far, it's lived up to it's expectations.  I am started to get my equilibrium back.  I'm starting to NOT feel exhausted all the time because I simply don't have time to sleep.  I've been walking my dog more and I've been cooking more.  It has been wonderful.

This brings me to the purpose of this post.  It's a little late for New Year's resolutions, but it's never too late for goals.  That said, I am starting out simple.  I would like to increase my cardio workouts.  I think that this will help me in the future for dealing with the aforementioned familial stress.  Maybe next Christmas won't make me so crazy.  To start, I am going to try to make it to the gym 1-2 times per week to use the elliptical, take my dog on at least one half hour walk every day and give one of the classes at the gym a try.  Probably Zumba, because I've been extremely curious about that.

I'm also going to go back to my meal planning on the calendar.  I would like to plan to prepare about three nutritious dinners every week.  I say "about" because the leftover situation may call for more or fewer nights cooking.  I'm also going to try new things for lunch because I'm really tired of the sandwiches that I've been bringing.  This week I made a pasta salad that is delicious.  I substituted whole wheat penne pasta for the egg noodles and didn't use all of the dressing to reduce the calories.

Last night I made a delicious batch of minestrone soup, courtesy of Clearly Delicious.  That, combined with the good lunch of the pasta salad means that I am currently feeling a lot better then I have been.  I just have to keep this up!

Anyway, toodles for now.

I trotted, sort of...

My friend Amy and I, along with 3000 other people, participated in the Lansing Turkeyman Trot on  Thanksgiving day.  Of course, I completed this event after only two hours of sleep since I was up most of Wednesday night cooking for Thanksgiving.  But, I still completed it!  Hopefully next year I won't be so sleep deprived.  Also, next year, Luna the Puppy-Dog will be joining us, possible dressed like a Turkey.  I'm sure that she'll enjoy that, or not.  But she doesn't have a choice in the matter.

But Amy and I walked the entire way, except for the last 50 feet or so at which point we jogged.  We completed the entire thing in 57 min and 4 seconds.  The goal for next year is to beat that time, along with the beagle dressed like a turkey and my friend Amy.  But, regardless of the time it took to complete, I will get Vitality points.  Especially since I already turned in the form to get those points.

In other news, I am now coming on the last couple weeks of school until GRADUATION!!  I'm so excited about graduation, but really NOT excited about the work I have to do before then.  That includes:

• Finish the ePortfolio
• Finish the Microsoft Encoder video
• Write the 15-20 page paper on some information behavior (I'm thinking the topic is going to be blogs)
• Maybe buy yet another textbook and take each chapter quiz as I read the chapter
• Continue to keep up with the discussion board

Hopefully that's all.  Hopefully...  The 15-20 page paper is actually due AFTER the graduation ceremony, but my goal is to complete it beforehand so that the ceremony actually is the end and there is some sense of closure there.

Anyway, wish me luck!