Happy Martin Luther King, Jr Day! Most people have the day off--enjoy! It is ICY cold here and snowing on and off--what a perfect day to stay inside and cozy up to a cup of hot cocoa.
Today's song is: Just Dance by Lady Gaga & Colby O'Donis
Anyone know who Colby O'Donis is? I don't, but nevertheless. I bought this song because I like the upbeat tempo...helpful when I'm working out! I'm not a huge fan of Gaga, but she has some good songs. This is one of them, in my opinion.
Enjoy!
Monday, January 21, 2013
Sunday, January 20, 2013
New Goal Sunday
Happy Sunday! It's still a little early, so bear with me as I try to both type and keep my eyes open.
I have written down my New Year's Resolutions and posted them in my bedroom. I have tried to be more specific about it, but I was thinking my weekly goals would be the more specific versions of the general New Year's Resolutions.
Here is my new goal, another 2-parter:
Post my written goals in places where I'll see them often--on my computer or fridge, in a picture frame on your desk, as a bookmark, and in my wallet. These reminders will help me stay focused and on track.
Develop an action plan for every goal. For example, a healthy eating resolution may involve: learning more about good nutrition, visiting a dietitian, finding ways to adapt your recipes, buying containers to pack lunches, learning how to prepare new foods, and planning extra time for shopping and cooking. Don't overwhelm yourself with every action step at once, but focus on a few things each day.
These goals might take a little longer than the last one...wish me luck!
I have written down my New Year's Resolutions and posted them in my bedroom. I have tried to be more specific about it, but I was thinking my weekly goals would be the more specific versions of the general New Year's Resolutions.
Here is my new goal, another 2-parter:
Post my written goals in places where I'll see them often--on my computer or fridge, in a picture frame on your desk, as a bookmark, and in my wallet. These reminders will help me stay focused and on track.
Develop an action plan for every goal. For example, a healthy eating resolution may involve: learning more about good nutrition, visiting a dietitian, finding ways to adapt your recipes, buying containers to pack lunches, learning how to prepare new foods, and planning extra time for shopping and cooking. Don't overwhelm yourself with every action step at once, but focus on a few things each day.
These goals might take a little longer than the last one...wish me luck!
Friday, January 18, 2013
Happy Friday!
Happy Friday! Today is a SLOW day compared to the rest of the week--I only have one reeharsal from 7:30-9 tonight for a show for tomorrow night. Normally on Fridays, I like to blog one personal thing, just so you readers can get to know me better as a person. I had originally thought of posting a picture of something from my room every week, but I have so much stuff, it would be impossible to blog it all! So, I am thinking of breaking it down into different segments. This month will be about what I am doing in my multiple jobs.
I will start with my first job I got in August: St. John Lutheran Church musician/choir director.
I am working my way through preludes, postludes, offertory, and communion music in my first organ book. The further I get through the book, the harder the music gets, and now I am using 2 manuals (2 keyboards, one hand on each) AND pedals! It is getting tough, which means more and more practice! BUT, I am getting great compliments from the congregation, who think my playing is "outstanding"! The extra practice is worth it.
Have a good weekend (3-day weekend!) and I will be back on Sunday!
I will start with my first job I got in August: St. John Lutheran Church musician/choir director.
I am working my way through preludes, postludes, offertory, and communion music in my first organ book. The further I get through the book, the harder the music gets, and now I am using 2 manuals (2 keyboards, one hand on each) AND pedals! It is getting tough, which means more and more practice! BUT, I am getting great compliments from the congregation, who think my playing is "outstanding"! The extra practice is worth it.
Have a good weekend (3-day weekend!) and I will be back on Sunday!
Monday, January 14, 2013
New Goals and music
Hello again! Happy Monday. This week is swamped for me, with something going on every night (and most days). I will do my best to try to blog more than last week (once).
New goal: a 2-parter...
If I haven't yet settled on my top goals for the year, do so now. Writing down your goals (in specific terms) means I'm more likely to achieve them.
Are my goals specific and positive? Rather than vowing "to exercise" for example, reword each goal so that it is clear and measurable: I will walk 30 minutes every day. I will complete a 5K race. I will do a yoga DVD twice a week.
Basically, write my goals down and make them specific. I've already written some down, but now I need to make them more specific. I can do that.
And a new song from my favorites:
Taylor Swift--Love Story
No matter how much everyone puts her down, I still like Taylor Swift! This is one of my favorites of hers from her album, Fearless.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xg3vE8Ie_E
New goal: a 2-parter...
If I haven't yet settled on my top goals for the year, do so now. Writing down your goals (in specific terms) means I'm more likely to achieve them.
Are my goals specific and positive? Rather than vowing "to exercise" for example, reword each goal so that it is clear and measurable: I will walk 30 minutes every day. I will complete a 5K race. I will do a yoga DVD twice a week.
Basically, write my goals down and make them specific. I've already written some down, but now I need to make them more specific. I can do that.
And a new song from my favorites:
Taylor Swift--Love Story
No matter how much everyone puts her down, I still like Taylor Swift! This is one of my favorites of hers from her album, Fearless.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xg3vE8Ie_E
Monday, January 7, 2013
O Come All Ye Faithful
One quick blog post before I go workout (I'm on top of it today!). Today is Music Monday, which means time for a new song suggestion from my iTunes.
This week's is: O Come All Ye Faithful from Bing Crosby.
Who doesn't love Bing? And a classic holiday song? This kind of music is playing all the time in our house!
Enjoy your week!
This week's is: O Come All Ye Faithful from Bing Crosby.
Who doesn't love Bing? And a classic holiday song? This kind of music is playing all the time in our house!
Enjoy your week!
Sunday, January 6, 2013
New year, new me
Happy New Year/Epiphany (to those who celebrate)! I have a large handful of resolutions, but I have begun to break it down into weekly/monthly goals to help myself stick to them!
Some of my more broad New Year Resolutions include:
Lose weight
Eat healthier
Try new foods
Connect more with friends
Become a better musician
Get my life organized
Budget appropriately for my "wants"
Here is my weekly goal for a healthier lifestyle--
Immediately after waking up, put on my workout clothes, put in my headphones, and get some music going.
This is a goal that...flows with the rest of my previous goals. Here's how the goals went: Lay out my workout clothes at night. Put my alarm clock far enough away to have to get up to turn it off. Set a bottle of water and breakfast bar near my clock. Don't hit the snooze button when my alarm goes off. When I get up, take a swig of water and eat the breakfast bar. And finally, this week's goal.
Other updates:
-- I haven't focused at all on other goals
-- I go soon to test for diabetes--wish me luck!
-- I might be getting sick (can't tell--sore throat comes and goes)
-- I DID try grapefruit (SOMETHING NEW)...as of now, not for me (too sour)
That should be it! Sorry this is so short and blog posts have been sparse. I will do my best to keep up (another NY resolution!).
Some of my more broad New Year Resolutions include:
Lose weight
Eat healthier
Try new foods
Connect more with friends
Become a better musician
Get my life organized
Budget appropriately for my "wants"
Here is my weekly goal for a healthier lifestyle--
Immediately after waking up, put on my workout clothes, put in my headphones, and get some music going.
This is a goal that...flows with the rest of my previous goals. Here's how the goals went: Lay out my workout clothes at night. Put my alarm clock far enough away to have to get up to turn it off. Set a bottle of water and breakfast bar near my clock. Don't hit the snooze button when my alarm goes off. When I get up, take a swig of water and eat the breakfast bar. And finally, this week's goal.
Other updates:
-- I haven't focused at all on other goals
-- I go soon to test for diabetes--wish me luck!
-- I might be getting sick (can't tell--sore throat comes and goes)
-- I DID try grapefruit (SOMETHING NEW)...as of now, not for me (too sour)
That should be it! Sorry this is so short and blog posts have been sparse. I will do my best to keep up (another NY resolution!).
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Weight journey update and a new goal
Hello--I'm back again! Today has been a busy day, what with church, making cookies, cleaning the house, etc... Fortunately, I have a bit of free time to quickly catch you up on my weight journey--after all, isn't that what this blog is about?! Of course.
First, I'll start with a new weekly goal:
Put my alarm clock far enough away that I have to get up to turn it off.
I have a tendency to plug my iPhone in on my nightstand and then turn off the alarm and not wake up for some time (occasionally I don't even know I turn it off). I do have a digital clock that I set up on my dresser (across the room) with the numbers facing away from me (I read in an article that the bright digital light from a digital clock can keep you up). *sigh* If I must get up, I must get up. I hate getting up early.
I will also be maintaining the goal from the previous week:
Lay out the clothes I plan to work out in before and set my socks and shoes at the foot of my bed.
I REALLY like this habit I'm starting to form. This makes my pre-workout morning minutes SO EASY and stress-free. When I wake up, BAM. There are my clothes, ready to go. Cell phone charged to listen to music. The only problem is that I love leaving all my shoes downstairs, so many mornings I forget my sneakers downstairs in the kitchen. Surprisingly, I like my shoes upstairs better because I then know where my entire work-out outfit is.
Now for the update on my weight loss journey:
At the end of November (the 25th to be exact), I officially reached my highest weight yet. I don't feel comfortable disclosing it yet, but needless to say, I was extremely disheartened. On top of that, I could constantly feel my blood pressure rising, as day after day, I would be stressed, exhausted, and worn down. I kept going through my head of reasons that my bp and weight were up so high: Thanksgiving, chocolate, pop, PIZZA, mac and cheese, burgers (we just got a new 5 Guys in town--love it), not working out as much, dealing with a new lifestyle pace I was not used to...but all that really kept popping up was: what a LETDOWN. I won't lie--I cried on the way home from the gym. It felt like an impossible task, and in some ways I still believe parts of it might be. A week ago today, that changed.
On the 26th of November, I made a daring effort: I would work out 5 days IN A ROW. That had never happened before--my workouts were sporadic at best. 1 a week here, nothing for a month, 2 a week there at the most. Not thinking about the past, I just took the bull by the horns and ALMOST did it. I went 3 days in a row (more than I had ever gone in a week since joining). I worked my BUTT off each day using the Anytime Health workout planner that came with my membership. I was EXHAUSTED and sore after day 3. I quit for about 3 days, then went back and started up an every other day routine.
This past Saturday, I noticed what looked like red spots forming on my neck and throat. I went to the Urgent Care facility and found out it was "contact dermatitis". This is when red, sore, itchy spots break out on your skin because of something I came in contact with. It is not contagious or life-threatening. It's just annoying. SO, I just finished taking Me.tt//.refn rwhjlGFNLUI something like that and am still using Caladryl lotion on it...unfortunately, it hasn't gone away yet, which means another doctor appt. tomorrow...uck.
ANYWAYS. THE IMPORTANT PART. Of course they make you take your height, weight, and blood pressure. The nurse took my height: 5'4" (YES I GREW 1/4"; I AM NOW TALLER THAN MOM). Then, I stepped on the scale. For once, I was not nervous because I knew it was bad. The nurse said ok and I looked up. Tears formed in my eyes. I had dropped 7 LBS. 7 LBS!!!!!!! I couldn't contain my excitement. I squealed and told the nurse what I had done (she looked at me like I was nuts at first). After congratulating me, I bounced into the room and she took my blood pressure. After taking it twice (the cuff popped off of my arm) she said, "ok". What was it? I asked with intrepidation. The last time I had it taken, it was high...like 140 over 96-ish, I admitted. She looked at me and says (oh so nonchalantly), "You're normal. 128 over 76." WOAH. WHAT. 3 DAYS OF WORKING HARD AND I DROP 7 LBS AND 20 POINTS OFF OF MY BLOOD PRESSURE. I almost started crying right there. This poor nurse had no idea what was going on with this teary-eyed patient. I was just so......proud of myself. I did this...all by myself. Just me. You have no idea how good life can be until YOU take ahold of your life and make it go YOUR way. Now I just want to go run in the streets, but since it's raining, I'll keep it bottled inside for now. Until I hit 10 lbs down. Then, I'll probably publicly sob.
Until tomorrow.
First, I'll start with a new weekly goal:
Put my alarm clock far enough away that I have to get up to turn it off.
I have a tendency to plug my iPhone in on my nightstand and then turn off the alarm and not wake up for some time (occasionally I don't even know I turn it off). I do have a digital clock that I set up on my dresser (across the room) with the numbers facing away from me (I read in an article that the bright digital light from a digital clock can keep you up). *sigh* If I must get up, I must get up. I hate getting up early.
I will also be maintaining the goal from the previous week:
Lay out the clothes I plan to work out in before and set my socks and shoes at the foot of my bed.
I REALLY like this habit I'm starting to form. This makes my pre-workout morning minutes SO EASY and stress-free. When I wake up, BAM. There are my clothes, ready to go. Cell phone charged to listen to music. The only problem is that I love leaving all my shoes downstairs, so many mornings I forget my sneakers downstairs in the kitchen. Surprisingly, I like my shoes upstairs better because I then know where my entire work-out outfit is.
Now for the update on my weight loss journey:
At the end of November (the 25th to be exact), I officially reached my highest weight yet. I don't feel comfortable disclosing it yet, but needless to say, I was extremely disheartened. On top of that, I could constantly feel my blood pressure rising, as day after day, I would be stressed, exhausted, and worn down. I kept going through my head of reasons that my bp and weight were up so high: Thanksgiving, chocolate, pop, PIZZA, mac and cheese, burgers (we just got a new 5 Guys in town--love it), not working out as much, dealing with a new lifestyle pace I was not used to...but all that really kept popping up was: what a LETDOWN. I won't lie--I cried on the way home from the gym. It felt like an impossible task, and in some ways I still believe parts of it might be. A week ago today, that changed.
On the 26th of November, I made a daring effort: I would work out 5 days IN A ROW. That had never happened before--my workouts were sporadic at best. 1 a week here, nothing for a month, 2 a week there at the most. Not thinking about the past, I just took the bull by the horns and ALMOST did it. I went 3 days in a row (more than I had ever gone in a week since joining). I worked my BUTT off each day using the Anytime Health workout planner that came with my membership. I was EXHAUSTED and sore after day 3. I quit for about 3 days, then went back and started up an every other day routine.
This past Saturday, I noticed what looked like red spots forming on my neck and throat. I went to the Urgent Care facility and found out it was "contact dermatitis". This is when red, sore, itchy spots break out on your skin because of something I came in contact with. It is not contagious or life-threatening. It's just annoying. SO, I just finished taking Me.tt//.refn rwhjlGFNLUI something like that and am still using Caladryl lotion on it...unfortunately, it hasn't gone away yet, which means another doctor appt. tomorrow...uck.
ANYWAYS. THE IMPORTANT PART. Of course they make you take your height, weight, and blood pressure. The nurse took my height: 5'4" (YES I GREW 1/4"; I AM NOW TALLER THAN MOM). Then, I stepped on the scale. For once, I was not nervous because I knew it was bad. The nurse said ok and I looked up. Tears formed in my eyes. I had dropped 7 LBS. 7 LBS!!!!!!! I couldn't contain my excitement. I squealed and told the nurse what I had done (she looked at me like I was nuts at first). After congratulating me, I bounced into the room and she took my blood pressure. After taking it twice (the cuff popped off of my arm) she said, "ok". What was it? I asked with intrepidation. The last time I had it taken, it was high...like 140 over 96-ish, I admitted. She looked at me and says (oh so nonchalantly), "You're normal. 128 over 76." WOAH. WHAT. 3 DAYS OF WORKING HARD AND I DROP 7 LBS AND 20 POINTS OFF OF MY BLOOD PRESSURE. I almost started crying right there. This poor nurse had no idea what was going on with this teary-eyed patient. I was just so......proud of myself. I did this...all by myself. Just me. You have no idea how good life can be until YOU take ahold of your life and make it go YOUR way. Now I just want to go run in the streets, but since it's raining, I'll keep it bottled inside for now. Until I hit 10 lbs down. Then, I'll probably publicly sob.
Until tomorrow.
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