1 Down, 11 To Go

One of my goals for 2012 is to read twelve books this year.  And I don't mean non-fiction books, self-help books, or anything related to work or school.  I need something that will take me away to another place, something that I look forward to reading every night, something that I just don't want to put down.  That being said, I just finished my first book of the year.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book, particularly the second and third sections on India and Indonesia, respectively.  I felt that these two sections really spoke to my heart and that there may really be a take-home message there.  This book has especially encouraged me to look into including meditation into my prayer life.  I'm looking forward to reading the "sequel", Weddings and Evictions .

Next up on the reading list: The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone

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Goal #1 Update

On my very first blog, I established a set of goals I set for myself, the first one being:

1. Return to my pre-wedding clothes size.
a. Work my way back into a running program.
b. Portion control
c. Prepare meals from scratch with organic/local/environmentally friendly ingredients
d. Drink eight 8oz. glasses of water a day
e. Take a multivitamin and calcium chew every day

So how am I doing with the very first goal I set myself? Well, I've started a new running routine and am supposed to run a 5k on halloween. However, last week my knee and ankle started hurting when I tried to increase my mileage. Since I have a tendency to get injured, I'm going to back of the mileage for a little while. It may wind up that I have to walk a lot of that 5k, but at least I'll finish it!

My husband and I somehow managed to fit a gym membership into our tight budget, and until last week we had been really good about using it almost every day. I think last week we both lost motivation. For my part, I am frustrated because I've been doing all this working out and I'm not seeing the scale budge or much of a change in my body shape. I also get bored really easily, so I think I need to try out some different weight lifting machines.

Portion control is still an issue for me. I've even tried using a small dessert plate, but that doesn't help if I keep going back for seconds (or thirds). I think my lack of self control is at its worst when I'm eating dinner at church. I'm not sure how to remedy this--eat slower, drink more water?

My husband and I have been doing fairly well with cooking from scratch, although I haven't taken any pictures of our yummy creations recently. I did find some pictures of the feast we prepared for Cinco de Mayo, though, that I never posted!

Honestly, I haven't been keeping track of how much water I've been drinking, but I'm certain it's not anywhere near enough. I also left all my vitamins at my parents house when I moved back here and I haven't bought a new stash. Vitamins are expensive!

Bragging Rights

I have to admit that I'm proud of myself. Yesterday was a good eating day and instead of driving up to the drug store at the end of our street when I need to replenish my toiletries, mom and I walked up there. That means I did a good thing for the environment and I got some exercise (by walking more than 11,000 steps!). Hopefully this trend will continue...

New Work

So I've started my new job, and not even 24 hours into it, I get sick. I still went in, though. I know, I'm a horrible person, but summer hires don't get any sick or vacation days! Luckily, I'm starting to feel much better and hopefully I'll be more or less back to normal tomorrow.

Now that I'm working a full-time job, I'm finding it much harder to get things done. I get up at 5am so that I can be at work by 6:45am, and it's usually 5:30pm before I get home. After eating dinner, I've been pretty much vegging out since I've been sick. I don't understand how working moms everywhere do it. How do they find time to work a full shift, cook dinner, clean, work out and do everything else that comes with taking care of a family? They must be sleep deprived.

So obviously I have not made very much progress on my goals. I have not worked out hardly at all. Until I got sick, I was pretty good about reading at least one bible chapter before I went to bed. I have been pretty good about taking my vitamins and drinking water. I make so many trips to the women's restroom during the day! Hopefully once I'm over this sickness for good I can find time to run in the evenings. If not, I have a 45 minute lunch break and may consider bringing sneakers to the office so I can walk around the block a few times. I'm not sure how well that will work once it starts getting really hot, though. Looks like I'll just have to get used to running in the dark.

As always, suggestions and comments are always welcome!