First Month Done

I have been exercising for a month now.  I wanted to update everyone with what my goals had been for this first month and to let you know if I made them.  I had not really written them down but rather had them in my head.  There are people that will tell you that it is best to have these things written down in order to have a reference to go back to make sure that you have made them and to be held accountable to them.  I would agree with that and that would be why I am going to be doing that for this next month.  To be honest, I didn't really think that I was going to stick with this and I thought that it was going to be something that was just a passing fad.  That is why I didn't write it down.

I can now say, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this is not a passing fad but a lifestyle change.  I am changing the relationship that I have had with food and it is no longer something that I am craving and NEEDING to have in my life but it is fuel to get me through the day.  I am finding myself craving exercise.  I am finding myself trying to find ways to get in a walk in different ways in my day.  I know that I need to lose some more weight before I can consider getting into jogging but it is something that I would like to do again.  I did it in high school and it is something that I would like to do again.  I don't think I want to do it for long distances but maybe for a couple of miles.

So far, for this first month I have lost 8.1 pounds.  My silent goal was to lose 8 pounds so I have done it.  I am amazed that I have made it and yet I am not.  The reason why I am surprised is because I have only been watching what I have been eating for the last 16 days.  Sure I have been exercising for the past month but I feel that if you are not watching what you are eating you can exercise all you want and it is not going to do much.

The reason why I had started exercising first, was the simple fact that it was the hardest thing for me.  I knew that it was the component that was going to be hard for me to keep up and I wanted to make it a habit.  I can say that I have made exercise that habit.  If I do not find a way to exercise at least somehow every day I become a raging bitch.  I am sure that Lefty can confirm this.  It can be putting in Dance Central, going for a walk with Storm, or just walking up and down the hallway in the house, but I have to do something.  Otherwise I am a stir crazy bitch.  I am actually glad to see this.  I know it seems crazy to hear that but it is true.

So where do I go from here?  I keep going.  This next month I have 4 goals that I want to keep to and I am going to post them here so you, my readers (maybe all 3 of you.  Let me know if there are more) can keep me to them:

1.  Lose at least 8 pounds. ( that is 2 pounds a week)

2.  Drink 64 ounces of water a day. (this can be hard being a teacher but I am getting there)

3.  Walk at least 10,000 steps each and every day (you can follow me if you at me at fitbit.com. just ask)

4.  Work out at least 3 times a week beyond walking.

You can all add me on My Fitness Pal.  I am mrsleftybrown on there.  Just do it.  If I make my goal for this coming up month I am going to get a new outfit.  That is going to be my reward to myself.  I know I can do it.

Music is the Beat

With all the dancing that I have been doing with Dance Central 2, I have found myself listening to tons of music.  I have downloaded Pandora to my iPhone and my iPad and listen to it whenever I have some free time.  Not only that I am also listening to it in my classroom when I have time before school and I am correcting papers or after school as well.

I love the program because it is free and I am able to put a song that I am grooving to at the time and it will then create a radio station based upon that song.  Or I can put an artist that I like and it will do the same thing.  This is such a wonderful thing to have because it has started to expose me to different artist that have not know of.  I may have heard their music on the radio but didn't know who the song was performed by.  Also I am starting to hear other songs by artist that I already knew of.  Not only that but Lefty is not having to go out and buy me music by artist that I am going to like for just a moment and then not want to listen to again.

Another thing that I am finding myself doing is creating my own dances to songs that I am listening to.  I am doing between 25 to 40 minutes of Dance Central 2 every day.  This means that I am really getting to know the dance moves that the different songs have within them.  It is true that I may not know the names of them but I do know what they are.  Therefore, they are becoming a part of my everyday life.  If a song from the game come on in my day, watch out I may just break out in dance.  I actually have to watch myself because it could be an embarrassing situation.

More embarrassing is the fact that I am finding myself car dancing.  A song will come on and if I am at a light and have a couple of seconds, I will start breaking out in dance.  That is right, everyone around me gets to wonder what the crazy lady in the Altima is doing.  I am sure that it doesn't look like a dance to anyone else, but to me it is the best dance in the world.  I am dancing so good that I could make it on So You Think You Could Dance.  Would I try out?  Hell no, because I would be laughed off and be the one that every single one of you would be making fun of at the water cooler the next day.  But I know I look good.

I am really good that music is a part of my life and it will continue to be a huge part of my life because I love it so much.  It has been a part of it my entire life and will never go away.  I am always going to have it on when I go to sleep at night and have it on when I am doing things around the house and doing things at work.  That is who I am and there is nothing wrong with that.  It is like a heartbeat to me.  It is part of my life and it needs to be there.

Dancing My Ass Off

So I have been dancing so much that I may just dance my ass off. I have been playing Harmonix's Dance Central 2 every day for at least 20 minutes. This has resulted in me losing weight. Now I promise that I am also watching what I am eating as well. I am not going out and eating whatever I want and then coming home and exercising. I am counting calories and making this a lifestyle change. I have been doing this consistently for 3 weeks and it is truly becoming a habit.

I mentioned on Lefty's, my husband, and my site The Married Gamers that I had been playing for over a month now every day. That is completely true. It is just that within the last 3 weeks that I have been watching what I have been eating. This is what is making the difference in my life. It is making me realize what I am putting in my mouth and how it impacts my weight. I will not put out there as to how much I actually weigh because I don't think that it is important, however I will tell you how much I have lost month to month and what my goals are for the next month.

So on Tuesday is the end of my four weeks, or a month, of really starting to take control of my diet. I have only been using My Fitness Pal, where you can add me at as mrsleftybrown, consistantly for the last 12 days but wow what an amazing 12 days. I have to admit that those 12 days have really changed the way that I look at what I am eating. To me this diet app, which is available on the iPhone and iPad and on the computer as well. I also like the fact that I am able to share my diary with friends so they can see what I am eating. This is great because I can see what my friends are eating and get ideas for myself for places to eat or what to make at home as well.

This weekend Lefty and I are going to be joining a gym so I will be once again stepping up my fitness. I can't wait to find another place to burn more calories. This will be a fun place for me to get out of the house and to burn, baby, burn away what I have eaten for the day. I will admit that the weekend is the hardest time for me to get the steps I need in my fitbit, so it means putting the dog on the leash and going for a walk or putting my shoes on and just going for a brisk walk myself because I don't want to wear out a hole in my carpet in the hallway.

Is This Thing On?

I decided to shake the dust off of this old blog and restart. I am not going to be writing on here for long, as Lefty, whom you can find here has said he will buy me my own url once I can come up with something unique and creative. We have looked at a few and they are already taken. If you can come up with something share it with me and I will take it into creative.

So what has been going on with me? Well within the last month I have decided to take control of my body and try to get it under control. I have always struggled with my weight my entire life. I have been participating in Dance Central's Fitness Month and have recently bought a Fitbit. Along with that I have been using My Fitness Pal on my iPhone and the web to map out what I am eating.

I really like My Fitness Pal because of the fact that I am able to track what I am eating and also it has an infra-red scanner that uses the camera on my iPhone to scan the little codes off of the food I am eating at any given meal. Not only this but I am able to find friends, local and also across the nation, who are also using the same program to encourage and encourage me. My friend, Marcia Webb, who is also a writer at our website The Married Gamers, and I are using it to encourage each other to eat better and to keep up our weight loss. It is a great motivator to make sure that your food intake it lower than your exercise output.

I have just really started pushing it hard within the last 2 weeks and have lost 4.1 pounds but I am really proud of those pounds loss. I have quite a ways to go but I have goals along the way and I know that I am going to make them. I am not going to put them out in the world because if I don't make them I don't want to get super depressed but I am going to be updating how I am doing. I will tell you that if you follow me on Twitter, @mrsleftybrown, be prepared to see quite a bit of information about what I am eating and talk about my exercise because I want to have encouragement. The same is can be said about my Facebook page. It is just the way things are going to be this year.

I think that is the way it has to be when a person wants to change the way they are. If they are trying to change they are looking for encouragement and they are going to be talking about it quite a bit. If there are people who don't like it then they can stop following them. This does not mean that I won't be talking about video games and other things as well, because I will be. But there is going to be quite a bit of conversation about diet and exercise as well.

A Fresh Coat of Paint and a New Post

Well I have given the blog a fresh coat of paint. I have the weekend and then a new school year starts for me. I am trying to figure out ways to keep this year as stress free for me as possible. I think one way is going to be for me to write. I really enjoy writing. I have been doing that over at our site, The Married Gamers, every so often but that is a bit restrictive as it has to be about video games. Here I can just write about things that are going on in my head. I am going to try to keep my posts as positive as I can. That is one thing that I am going to try to do. Keep positive.

This year should be good. I have a great discipline plan in order that is very positive in thought and I know that it is going to work. I am going to be very strong going in and not let the students run the classroom. They are going to know who is boss in the classroom and there is no other way around it. It is going to be a great year. I know that.

New Medical Issues and a RANT

Well since I came down with what the doctors think was H1N1 in January, I was diagnosed with asthma. I have been having to go into Kaiser to get breathing treatments and they are still trying to figure out what are triggers and what not. It is quite frustrating with my general care doctor on maternity leave.

Apparently, Kaiser has this great catch all that when a doctor is out you see whom ever happens to see you. I completely understand this if a doctor is going on vacation for a couple of weeks or is out sick for themselves or a family member. But if they are going to be gone for any extended period of time I would think that there would be some better type of program. I have had other medical insurance before and they have always set it up where patience A through whatever would see Doctor A and so forth. Doesn't this makes sense. Okay it does to me.

Well anyways. Since my primary doctor has been out on maternity leave for 3 months and I have been on and off sick for this past 3 months I have seen 12 different doctors. You read that right 12 different doctors. So I have to go through explaining to them exactly what I have had and what they think is wrong with me and then they have to explain that when my general doctor gets back she will have to run all sorts of test to make sure that what they are doing for me is correct. This is kind of scary to me. I don't know. I am just a bit concerned.

I mean I know when I am not feeling well. I know when I can feel wheezing going on in my chest something is not quite right. I know when I have a fever that there is something going on. I know when I have a deep cough and I am coughing up green stuff from my chest and my nasal congestion is clear that there is something going on. I am almost 36 years old. I can figure stuff out and I also have a school nurse who can listen to my chest and say, "something isn't right here you need to be seen by a doctor today." Yet when I call at 3:20 in the afternoon and then don't get a call back and I have to call back again 3 times only to be told the final time I call at 7:00pm that they have no time to see me until the next day, I know something is wrong with Kaiser's system.

OKAY RANT OFF

Sorry guys and gals. I am just a bit frustrated.

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