The Grandest Intentions

I did happen to mention I am lazy, right? Ok just making sure. Not that you couldn't tell since it has been SIX MONTHS since my last post. That's not to say that I have done nothing in all that time. Back in January, with some Christmas money, I picked up a Fitbit for myself. Now I do have to say that seeing the number of steps you take a day can be a motivator. When I first got my Fitbit I discovered that I was lucky if I took 2,000 steps a day. Just a smidge below the recommendation of 10,000 steps a day. So for the next couple months I started to push myself, first to get 5,000 a day and then on to 7,500 steps. I admit that I struggled. A lot! Then I started using my breaks and lunch at work to walk. Very quickly my goal was moved to 10,000 a day. After hitting that goal almost every day these last couple I months I see a new goal on the horizon. It is no longer such a struggle to get to 10,000 steps, so in the coming days it will be time to set a new goal. I have impressed even myself! I honestly don't know that I would be doing all this walking now if I had not bought the Fitbit. It has been a great motivator for me. So much so that on those days where I am close I make myself do more to ensure that I hit my goal. But the best days are the ones where I don't even have to try, it just happens!

Now that I am trying to so more, let's hope the blog starts to see more attention too!!

~ current daily steps: 5635

Location:Harrisburg,United States

Sugary Saturday

So for the first snacky post of the new year I give you freeze dried fruit! I have recently discovered that i can buy this at my local Target store. It is a good alternative for those you want something sweet. The WHOLE package, for the sliced strawberries, only has 90 calories and 24 carbs. There is no added sugar in this so that makes it a better choice right there. The only ingredient is strawberries. When eating freeze dried fruit you still get most of the benefits of eating fresh fruit. Some nutrients are lost in the process, but not all. And you still get the great strawberry taste, with a nice crunchy texture. So the next time you are craving sweet, pick the freeze dried fruit over the sugar loaded snacks.

A new year

So here it is, the start of another year. Last year I told myself I would do better and blog more, but obviously that did not happen! People think I joke when i say I am like the laziest person ever, but really it is true. That is why I can't seem to blog more. I just can't be bothered to come up with a post. Lately i have been thinking about a lot of changes I need to make in my life and I think this blog could help. So this year one of m goals will be to blog more. I want to start out trying to get in at least one post every couple of weeks. And work my way up! I certainly don't expect to make a lot of changes overnight. It takes time to develop new habits. So I am going to work on it.

I am still coming up with some goals that I want to set for myself. I am more comfortable calling them goals, rather than resolutions mostly because to me resolutions are usually something you don't make happen. Some of my goals are personal, while others are charity based. One of my personal goals is that i need to start checking the fluids in our car more often. I am not good at remembering to do it, so I want to get in the habit of checking things the first of every month. And I can say this month is good! I checked the fluids earlier today and topped off the ones that needed it. Another is to get healthier. I have been trying to eat better, and it is slow going. I also need to get exercising and moving more. In that department i have been seriously failing. I do not plan to jump right in and get to the gym every day or anything. I will work on it more slowly, starting to try to get some exercise in a couple times a week and work my way up to maybe 5 times a week. I know i need to better and I will.

Another thing that I want to start doing this year is to give more. And I plan to start by giving more to the local Humane Society. Once a month I plan to do a bit of shopping and purchase items that they are in need of and donate those items. It is just not people who sometimes need help, but the animals do to. So this year I plan to give more to them and help them out!

Happy New Years!

~Traci

Injuries

So earlier this year I sprained my MCL. That took me a couple months to recover from. At that point I had not even managed to go two months into the year without being injured. A week before my last checkup for my knee I injured my back. I had a nasty back spasm that left me hurting for a couple weeks. So needless to say I was in no rush to get back to exercising. Well last week after seeing I had gained a bunch of weight back I decided it was time to get back to the gym. I started back this past Sunday. It was a good start. I did not want to go to the gym after work yesterday but I made myself. Now I kinda wish I hadn't. When I first got there, in the locker room, I smashed my pinky toe into the solid metal leg of the bench. That did not feel good! I went to get it looked at this morning to make sure it was not broken, which it is not. It is just sprained. So now I am back to not being able to go to the gym for a couple weeks. My toe is sore, bruised, swollen, and stiff. So here I lay, in bed that resting my poor toe.

So now my injury free clock resets. I made it about three months and 2 weeks this time without any injuries.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

So I was really excited about doing the The Health Activist Writer’s Month Challenge, but I find that I am not inspired by the topics at all. Some of them seem a little interesting, but I find that i am not inspired much to write about a lot of them. So I might post a few of them, but I don't think I will be doing too many of them.


~Traci

Day 11 - Theme Song

Well it is probably cliche, but really the best song would be Eye of the Tiger by Survivor. I mean really, what better y to keep yourself on track than this song. Everyone has to fight with themselves, and sometimes others, to get to the top. Everyone wants to succeed and be their best. This is really the only song that I can think of that fits.

Location:Harrisburg,United States

Day 9 - Keep Calm and Carry On

Day 10 - Dear 16 year old me

If there was one thing i could go back and tell my 16 year old self it would be to get off your butt and get active! I am now struggling with my newly turned 35 year old self to get into better shape. And when I say struggle, I really mean it. I struggle daily with trying to eat healthy and get enough exercise. If only I could go back in time and tell my younger self how much easier it would be to be healthy later in life if only I had been more active and ate better when i was younger. Things would be a lot easier now if i were healthier. There is a a good chance that i would not be struggling with Diabetes now if I had started being healthier when I was younger.

~Traci

The Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge

Hey everyone - I just wanted to tell you about a new activity I'll be doing this April. The Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge hosted by WEGO Health. I will be writing a post a day for all 30 days. I hope you'll join me in writing every day about health. It's going to be a lot of fun and I'd love to see what you have to say about each of the topics, too. All you have to do to join is sign up here: http://info.wegohealth.com/HAWMC2012 and you'll be able to start posting once April rolls around. Looking forward to writing with you!

I only just found this, so I am a little behind. I am going to jump in on the current day, but in some cases you might even see a few posts a day so i can play catch up and get them all in!

~Traci

Mundane Monday

So obviously I am not the greatest at keeping this blog going. But change is always possible and just maybe I can make a go of posting more regularly. However to be fair, life has been crazy for me these last couple months. Back in the beginning of February I slipped and fell while visit family and ended up spraining my MCL. Took a couple weeks to be diagnosed and then another month of physical therapy took place. I was just discharged from PT this past Friday. I am not completely healed up, but just about there. So I can start to get back on track with things in my life. I have not been doing my best at taking all my meds, but I have addressed that and am getting better. Luckily while hobbling around with a bum leg, I have still been able to lose weight (thank you PT!). Since starting my renewed weight loss mission back in October/November I have lost about 20 pounds. I am about 7 pounds from having lost 10% of my starting body weight. So I am doing good on that front. It is just taking time and patience. Currently I am trying to cut some carbs from my diet a little at a time, starting with potatoes. That is my main carb source and it needs to be dealt with. But it will take time, because I just love my potatoes!

Here's to being more regular in my posting . . . .

~Traci

Location:Harrisburg,United States