Step Away From the Cake

After being unemployed for 6 months, I finally landed a job but recovering financially is slow. I've decided to put a donation button up to see if it does any good. I know that I frequently donate to various blogs for various things so I thought I'd ask. If you feel inclined to donate a dollar or two it would be much appreciated.

One of the things I know that works well for me is logging my food. The thing is I hate doing it. I will write the food down in a little book I carry with me but when it comes to actually logging it into a program I drop the ball. A lot of the reason is that I can't find a program I like. Most of the programs you have to search for the food, find it, edit amount eaten, etc, log it then go and start the whole process over. And I've found that the programs usually change pages between each step which just slows things down and takes forever. I end up losing interest. But I just found a new website that I really like the logger on. It's called FoodsDatabase . The site looks nice, I really like the design. I love the food log interface, when you do a search the item pops up in a new window, you edit the info, add it to your food log and close the screen but you are still on the search page and you can go right on with another search. Fabulous. They have an activity log

I've never been good at this, well in some areas I have been, but I need to do it now. Today I restart my workout and fitness program (I'm trying not to think of it as a weight loss effort). While I do want to lose some weight I'm trying to focus more on the active, fitness side of things. When focusing on weight loss I get too caught up in the numbers, on the scale, calories, fat, etc. I get so obsessive that's all I think about and I end up stuffing my face. So I'm trying to focus on fitness. Working out to gain strength and muscle. Eating to support my workouts and lifestyle. Things like that. No obsessing allowed. But my problem is I need to have a goal. I need something to work towards and a marker to know if I've succeeded, except I can't think of any that don't involve the numbers. Losing pounds. Losing % bodyfat. Lowering my BMI. Etc. I want to be fit and healthy but how exactly do I measure that? I could go with inches lost. May

I know that exercise works for me. I know that it sets me up emotionally, psychologically, and physically for success. Success in my eating and energy. Success in my life. I know that energy creates energy. I know that initially a workout program tires me out but eventually, very quickly actually, it will give me more energy than it takes. I know that I waste far too much time sitting in front of the computer and doing nothing. I know that I enjoy being active. I enjoy the movement. I enjoy the activity. I enjoy the way my body feels. I enjoy it. I know that when I complete a really good workout I feel like an absolute rock star. I know that I like feeling like a rock star. I know that I need to restrict my visits to the scale, it messes with my head. I know that I need to watch what I eat but not obsess about it. I know that I want to be healthy and fit and able to do whatever I want to do. I know that I need to start now.

I actually plan on starting this weekend. Come Saturday it's all about working out. I just need to get through this week. We went this afternoon and put an offer on a house. OMG!!! What exactly have we done??? It's a nice place though. The kitchen has been redone and there are brand new sinks all throughout. It's a great, small place and just perfect for us. I hope it works out but I'm scared to death that it will. What the heck have I done???

to work, to the schedule, to just about everything. I'm able to stay awake during the day and evening. I can get up and workout in the morning. I have the energy to teach my classes and generally make it through the day. Now it's time to kick it up a notch. I want to get back to the fitness I had a few years ago. It's going to take work and it's not going to be easy, but I think I'm ready to take it on again. I'm going to start slow but not too slow. So here's what I'm thinking. I've been working out in the mornings, not consistently enough but it's not that hard to do, I want to do that everyday and add some evening workouts in too. I'm thinking of starting with 3 days a week strength training, I haven't done that in a while. Maybe Tues, Thurs and Sat. I think that's not too crazy and should be doable. It's funny. If I scale back for awhile, like I have been, I get itchy to exercise more. I guess that's a good th

and I'm glad it's over. I got up this morning and worked out. I now have no reason not to workout more. I find much more time on my hands these days. So I'm going to start working out in the morning and running/ strength training in the evenings. I really have nothing to say. I want to blog but I just have nothing to say. I guess I'll call it a day for now.

I've been sitting here trying to write this post for about 40 minutes. It's not that it's that deep or gut wrenching, it's just that I don't know how to put what's in my head into words. Let's see... There are so many things going on in my life right now. I started teaching which is tough. I'm finishing up my masters degree, which is tough. I took on two young dogs who have no real training, which is tough. I have a bird that is part psycho, which is tough. I feel pulled in a million directions by these and other things. I want to be an organized person and I'm not. We are looking to buy a house, that's scary. I want to eat right and work out and I don't as often as I would like to. I have a sense of lethargy. I have so many things to do that I don't know where to start. I feel paralyzed by the weight of everything on me. I don't know what to do. How do I shake this? I woke up at my regular time this morning with all the