Sunday, October 30, 2011

Get Up!

My favorite tune to motivate me...my alarm on my phone to wake me in the morning....Enjoy!




I stopped making excused, and I got it done!!  Yes sir and yes ma'am, that means that I, Ashley, am working out regularly.  How you ask?  Well that's a wonderful question.  I'll be glad to answer it, but first I'd like to share the journey with you.  

The last time we talked, I told you that I wouldn't post again until I had put my money where my mouth was.  I went out that same weekend and bought what I thought was a new pedometer.  Now, any sane person would have tried to use theirs right away.  Not me though; I waited until Monday morning to try and take it out of the box and put it on.  Of course, that's when I realized I had purchased the wrong product.  Then, somehow my schedule was so jam packed that I couldn't exchange it for an entire week.  I know none of the people reading this have ever done that before.  You all have it all together all the time.  So just bear with me and my adventure if you are one of those people.  

Fast forward to the 2nd week of October.  I have my pedometer, and things are looking good.  I set a personal goal to hit at least 10,000 steps per day.  That's what every website and all the research has shown we should aim for to be healthy.  Well, I blew that right out of the water.  I hit 13,500 on my first day wearing it.  The 2nd day, I set a record of 18,450 steps, which I have been trying to match ever since!  Something about wearing the pedometer makes me want to get up and move more, so I have done exactly that.  

I also began to do my Insanity workouts again the same week.  Have I mentioned to you before that I HATE Insanity...nothing against Shaun T.  I promise, the annoying quality of his voice is only a minute part of the reason for my detesting the workout.  I love the actual workout.  I love the way I feel afterwards.  What I hate, I mean what I absolutely detest beyond any feeling I have ever before experienced....that would be the warm-up.    Who warms up like that?  The warm-up drives me the most crazy because it makes me feel like I'm doing a DVD.  Running in place, jumping jacks, the Heisman, lol, and the rest of them are so completely confining.  I am an outdoors person, and that makes me know that I am stuck in my house running in place.  The workouts remind me of something I could have done in the gym or back in the day at my peak.  Those I can handle.  The screaming through the pain is all me!  But that jogging in place is for the birds! I'd rather run around the block and come back and stretch than do that mess.  

And that brings me to my next point, why do people have to infuse yoga into every workout they sell??  I don't like yoga, nor do I truly agree with all of the centering it asks you to do.  Why do I need to do the downward dog to stretch my back?  Is there not another way??  

But all my complaining to the side, I've done well.  I have not been able to do everything that I want to do, but I have done 10 times more than what I had been doing.  I'm proud of myself.  I will continue to move forward.  I think I'll start by setting a new goal.  Last year I was all pumped about the marathon, until I remembered how much I hate running distance, lol!  Seriously though, I have to set some new goals to keep me motivated.  I'm going to think on them over the week and get back to you soon!  

I fulfilled my goal of coming back...honestly, without excuses, and on the road to success.  If you care to join me I'd love to have the company.

Special shout goes out to Frankie J. for letting me know that my blog posts helped to motivate her.  Knowing that I am making some sort of difference in somebody's life is what keeps pushing me to keep posting.  Feel free to drop me a line and let me know if I help, if you have questions that I can answer, or if you just think I'm silly and you can't hold it in any longer! 

Until next time....

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Hello...Is It Me You're Looking For?

Well, you may have found me at the Texans game today!! I spent all of my time planning for the birthday surprise of the century!  I had a great time, and I did a GREAT job of moderating how much I allowed myself to indulge in the atmosphere.  You know what I'm talking about....giant nachos, footlong hotdogs, turkey legs bigger than your head!!  Well, I only had 2 things, both of which I split with my wonderful husband.  If that's not called self-control.  I don't know what is!  


On another note, I must admit that this school year has been THE hardest yet.  For the first time in a very long time (ahem, wve days, ahem) I actually wanted to quit.  Employee morale is sooo low....which surprisingly helped me out.  Somehow, knowing that everyone else on my campus is as disgusted and disheartened as I am made me feel better.  It's not onen of those "misery loves company" kind of things.  It's more like a "I'm not crazy; this is not just me" kind of thing.  Which, now, I'm sure you can see why it made a difference.  I understand that change must come...but all change isn't good.  I wish people understood that more.  But, I must confess, this has made me even more dedicated to my students.  It's going to be one of those "close my door and mind my own business" kind of years...I can see that already. The saddest part of it all is this:  a lot of good teachers have NO interest in returning to our campus next year.  How do I know this?!  Well let's just say that when anyone in my profession tells you "I'm keeping my options open," that really translates to, "I'm looking for a job, and if I get an offer I'm outta here!"    What am I doing you ask?  Well, let's just say I'm keeping my options open, lol!

My action item for this post is: developing an exercise routine/schedule.  I know what you're thinking, and yes, I too have trouble finding time to exercise.  With no marathon to train for this year, I haven't had the motivation that I'm used to having.  But, where there is a will, there is a way.  So the next time you hear from me, I'll be updating you on what I am doing to make sure that I find time to exercise.

On a final note,  I want to stress to you that God is able to exceeding, abundantly above all that you can ask or think.  I know that He can do it for you because He does it for me EVERYDAY! 

Until next time....