Hallo, my name is Steven

It's midnight, and this is what my family is doing . . .

(I'm already dreaming of the consequences I will face tomorrow for posting the picture of Jett in all his glory ... ahhh ha ha--payback baby, for deleting all those embarrassing photos I always take! )

And this is what I'm doing . . .

In other news, yesterday I kept getting phone calls from an area code I didn't recognize. Seriously, ever hour from 4 to around 8 this same number called, never leaving a message. This morning I had another missed call, and another call while I was checking the missed call list. I answered this time, and the convo went a little something like this:

Caller: (In a STRONG Asian accent): Hallo, my name is Steven, I am calling from continuing your education online degree.com. I would like to talk to you about about continuing your education online degree.

Me: I am a semester away from a master's degree, I'm not interested in continuing my education online.

Caller: I would like to talk to you about continuing your education online degree. (Proceeded by a bunch of words that I'm sure were a mix of English and some other language that I didn't understand).

Me: I'm not interested, please take me off your calling list.

Caller: Ok, goodbye.

Now, I see many things wrong with this encounter, but here are a few of the most frustrating to me. And let me preface this by saying that I understand that everyone's just trying to make a living like the next guy. But, don't call me over and over. Especially not early in the morning or late at night. Secondly, why would you employ someone to sell your product that doesn't speak the language of the audience that he is selling to? Thirdly, this same company called me over and over again around this same time last year and only quit after my husband matter of factly told them to quit calling or else. And lastly, and most importantly to me, seriously, was this guy's name really Steven? His fresh Asian accent and dual language product pitch sure didn't make him sound like a Steven to me.

And in the news that this blog was actually made for, days 3 and 4 of my 30-day challenge.

Yesterday, I wrestled my bike off of our bacolny where it now calls home after we got a rather rude letter from our apartment complex telling us to move it out of the breezeway or it would be removed for us ... thank you very much. I rode in the area, since it was getting dark and was pitch black by the time I made it home. I found some awesome trails in the neighborhood right next door that I'm sure to take advantage of more often (it's amazing what you find when you actually make it outside to do something). I also discovered that my hind end and a bicycle seat are not like pb&j, lock & key, or hand & glove. Catch my drift? AKA, my butt is largo and my bicycle seat is hardo.

Today, again I waited until 8:30 to remember that I'm trying to be a better person. I also seem to forget every day that it now gets dark at 8. So I took my largo backside to the gym and placed it on the treadmill. For 27 minutes to be exact. And only about 12 of those were actually running. Then I plopped that backside in the recumbant bike seat and pedaled away for the remaining 18 minutes. Lesson of today: when you remove yourself from the couch after being a potato for many many months and then use your legs every day, they will probably hurt. Also, if you eat Chick-fil-a as your only meal of the day, you will not feel fabulous.

However, I will put a check mark in the success box for days 3 & 4.

2

Having to be up at 5:30 in the morning for clinical = very quick recap of today's 45 minutes.

Didn't stop cleaning, schooling, cooking/eating dinner until after dark tonight, so I went to the gym for a run. I walked 1:30 minutes then started running. My goal was to run continuously until my playlist ran out, but my mp3 player froze at song 5 of 6. I was at around 29 minutes, so my new goal became to run until 30 minutes. At 30 minutes, I was at 2.66 miles, so my new goal became to run until the 5K mark. So I did. I ran (except for the first minute and half) 3.1 miles for a total of 34 minutes, then walked for the remainder of the 45.

Day 2 = success.

Day 1 Success

Sundays always FLY by for me,and today was no different. After a really long grocery story trip (why don't I ever learn my lesson about trying to save money by shopping at super Walmart for groceries?) and a disappointing end to the Panther's game, I decided I'd start my 30 days off by going to Colonial Lake for a run/walk session. I think it's about 1/2 mile around the lake according to driving distance and mapmyrun.com. My husband even agreed to come with me! The plan was for me to run and him to walk with the dogs. But, the dogs had their minds made up differently. We have two 50-something pound pups (one we're quite sure is a Border Collie/Aussie mix, the other possibly a Australian Cattle dog/Aussie mix). They are spoiled beyond belief and have become even more so since I've been in grad school and home with them a lot of the week.

So, on my 3rd lap around I came up to the hubster (who's real name is Jett, by the way) at a standstill with Rosemary and Duncan. Apparently they were pulling like crazy (we left their harnesses at home) and trying desperately to find me. So, I offered to take Rosemary along with me to run. Ha. That lasted about 1 mintue before my arm felt like it was going to fall off. We walked the rest of the time with them.

I have no idea how far I went, because my ADD kicked in about a lap into it and I lost track of how many laps I ran before stopping to walk. My watch was at 20 minutes when I stopped to walk permanently, and I'd run all but about 3 minutes of that. One more slip up ... I accidently stopped my watch at 37 mintues but didn't realize it until I looked down to see how long we'd been moving. Although, I'm positive it was at least 45 minutes and probably a bit longer.

So, all in all I'll chalk day 1 up to a success!

The First Post is Always the Hardest . . .

Ok, so I’ve never actually written a first post. But I have written more first paragraphs than I can count and more first pages for essays than I care to think about. And those are always the hardest. Sometimes I just skip over them and come back at the end. But alas, you can’t skip the first post of a “make yourself better” blog and then come back and write it after you’ve “made yourself better”.

I guess my goal is not necessarily to make myself better, but to help myself feel better. And to help me feel better about myself. So here I am. My husband calls the desire to start a blog just another addiction to the internet. I call it an effort to help me stay motivated, keep me accountable, and give me an outlet (and maybe even to find a little encouragement along the way).

I am not an inactive person. But I am much less active than I have ever been. And my clothes, the scale, and my attitude show it. I like to chalk that up to my desire to spend quality time with my newlywed husband and my never-ending pile of grad school work. But really, I just find myself making excuse after excuse. I’m in a slump and I need to get out of it. So, I’ve put it off and put it off but here’s my plan: do something active for at least 45 minutes for the next 30 days. Starting tomorrow. Now I don’t plan to stop at the 30 day mark, I’m just making that my short-term goal in hopes that I won’t give up and by that point it will be easier to drag myself off the couch. I’ve heard it takes 21 days to create a new habit. But my body seems to be slow to respond to everything else in life, so I better give myself an extra week. I would like for this activity to be primarily running, as I’ve always dreamed of myself as a runner and dabbled in it here and there. I’ve actually run two races in the past (only because I made a promise to the same friend both times, and I don’t break my promises if there’s any way around it). I ran a 5K in 2007 (34:22) and a 10K this past April (1:14:48). But both times I only ran a week or so before hand just to make sure I wouldn’t die on the course. And since then, I’ve run a time or two here and there, but never consistently. So, I will run. But on the days I’m not running, I will do something else active—ride my bike, take a walk with my dogs, swim, anything. I know I can’t run every day of the week (and who would want to!), so I will fulfill my 30 days in other ways as well. Hopefully, my clothes, the scale, and my attitude will all improve in the meantime.

So join me as I take responsibility for how unhealthy I have become and try to get my life back on track. My plan is to start to tomorrow—but we all know what can happen to the best laid plans . . .

Stats

Height: 5’8.5”

Weight: A whopping 161 lbs

BMI: 24

One more thing . . . did I mention that I don't like to run?!