This weekend I attempted to give a boost to my exercise and healthy living routines through shopping. I picked up a couple of pieces of workout clothing, a new gym ball and dvd, an interesting little heart health kit from Dr. Andrew Weil. (Non-contributing things bought were two pairs of shoes and a cute sweater from Eddie Bauer – you can’t keep a girl down.)
I’m totally excited about the gym ball — I did the dvd routine this morning and it was surprisingly strenuous. I’ve been using it as a chair at my desk, too, which requires me to balance and use my leg muscles rather than just sit here like a lump. I’ve found that I need to switch out to my regular chair after about an hour, more for the need to lean back and rest my back than anything to do with my legs.
I’ve been walking an hour every other day for a few weeks now, but it’s not enough. I’m trying to add things to my daily life so that just living causes me to exercise. I have my standing desk, too, which I hope to get painted this week so I can put it to use. Between the ball sitting and the desk standing, maybe I can turn being at the computer all day into something a bit less sluggish.
I picked up two shirts for walking/biking. One is just a cute brown hoodie, but made of very lightweight cotton, so I won’t have to worry about getting too hot. It has a cool kind of hippy-ish flower print on the front and back, too. The shirt I’m most excited about has pockets! Woohoo! It turns out that I do not own one single pair of gym shorts, workout pants, or any t-shirts or biking shirts with pockets. So when I walk, I have my keys in my hand, or tucked into my waistband, which is not ideal. Sometimes I take my phone, too, in case a nice photo op presents itself (you know, like a really still squirrel or nice tree blossoms – important stuff that must be blogged). Shirts with pockets rock!!
The Healthy Heart Kit by Andrew Weil is in a nice little box and has a 52-page workout, 2 audio CDs and 25 heart health cards. I just got it for fun and because it was on deep sale, since it’s been for sale for a couple of years. But, it’s also kind of cool. The cards are made up of six diet/exercise cards with varying topics. Other card categories are heart inspirations, mind body, and self care. That will be something fun to play with and look at when I need a boost from boredom.
Tonight when the temps cool down a bit (expected high of 94 today), I’ll go for my regular walk. And I did the ball workout already, so I feel good about today’s bit of exercise. I announced today on Facebook that I want to lose 10 pounds by July, which means dietary restrictions for me. The plan is to eat only fruits and veggies, and my two eggs for breakfast. Which leaves me with my usual coffee dilemma. Coffee = sugar in my world. We’ll see how it goes — I think my best option would be an “every third day” plan or something similar, where I have coffee every few days as a treat.
Wish me luck! I’ll keep you posted on the success or failure of my weight loss over the next month.
14 Months to 50 