Fitness Fridays

So my internet friend Courtney from Type B Mom Stays Home decided to start blogging about her muffin top mission fitness endeavors each Friday and asked if anyone else wanted to join in. Since I remain in a funk when it comes to regular exercise and eating in a way I feel good about, I'm joining it. I always do better with clear goals and accountability and this will provide it. Each week I'll make two goals for myself - one for exercise and one for eating and then check in the following Friday.

I'm going to set the bar very, very, very low for myself because I have learned the hard way that setting what seems like a reasonable goal is just not reasonable given my current life. And now that Bella is really not napping and a disaster as independent play...well, this means 13-hour workdays. I do have two 25 minute chunks of time when she watches a TV show on Netflix each day (my personal comfort level of TV-watching), but I don't know how well it would work to exercise during that. Little Miss Social will want to join in. Plus the treadmill is in the room that Oliver sleeps in during said TV show watching. Plus I have to get everything else done during that window - dishes, laundry, cooking, blogging, coffee drinking, etc... Bah. Obviously my day/life needs some restructuring to make this all work. I think I need to embrace waking at 5 am each day to give me an hour and a half before the kids get up. Or something. Or perhaps going back to the gym that has childcare for which I am paying monthly dues will help... (Whoops.) (Husband, should you feel the need to mention anything about this I will politely refer you to the fancy hand weights and P90X laying untouched. I know all your secrets so I win! WHEEEEE!)

I am currently not looking to lose weight, or at least not any more than a couple pounds. I lost weight at an alarming rate back in January on the thrush-diet-of-doom, but then it stopped abruptly when my body got to it's normal 155-ish pounds (I'm 5' 8 1/2"). That always fascinates me - that my body really, really wants me to weight around 155. Even when I upped my daily calories considerably after I abandoned that diet, my weight hasn't gone up more than a couple pounds. But anyway - weight loss is not my goal, but an improved diet is my goal. I want to get back to cooking more dinners, getting more veggies in, snacking on fruit more often, etc. And I want to pay more attention to what foods are making me feel funky, like dairy and gluten. I am toying around with the idea of tracking another week's worth of food like I did last year.

On the exercise front, I do get activity each day in the form of getting outside with the kids, but I am craving consistent, regular exercise that is kid-free. Running, long walks, yoga, classes, shredding, etc. But finding WHEN to do it remains so challenging. I need to re-prioritize and also acknowledge my limitations. First thing in the morning or the gym are pretty much my only options. I have to figure out a way to make it work and get into a routine.

This week's goals...

Eating: No dairy in morning coffee.
Kind of a weird goal, except the thing is that cream or milk in my coffee means I start off the day bloated and uncomfortable and it sets my day off on the wrong foot. It's a hard thing to give up because I'm not a fan of black coffee (and not really into sugar in my coffee), but I know I'll feel better if I do it. [Edited to add: I have an allergy to soy milk and get a similar really itchy throat from all other non-dairy milks...I like to be extra fussypants like that.] Knowing I would be posting this today had me choosing a double espresso at Wilde Roast (from where I am blogging) so look! It's working! Also - I'm WIRED after mainlining caffeine like that.

Activity: Start Couch-to-5K.
This is definitely low-balling as far as a goal for me. I ran for 20 minutes a couple weeks ago without too much struggle, so I don't need to baby step back into running but it seems like a good idea. Couch-to-5K translates to me only needing to do 3 formal half hour workouts this week. I can do that and more importantly, I will do that.

Anyone else want to join in for Fitness Fridays?