My very first workout post

I've been going to the gym with my mom or before class sporadically over the past year. After the actual work out I feel good, but there haven't been any long lasting effects. I've been taking small steps to try to get healthier overall and finally found a good motivator and a buddy to do it with.

In November Missa and I are going to Disneyland!
Three full days - open to close.
That is going to take some serious walking!
Padded on either end with a few days in Pacific Beach for a 10 day trip, where I won't be driving at all so we will have to ride bikes and walk everywhere we want to go.

My main goal is to be ready for all the physical activity during the trip. My secondary goal is weight loss - because really, if I'm going to feel better I'll need to be putting less stress on my body.

Missa and I get together on Wednesdays for lunch, so we decided to use that as our starting point. Instead of eating every time we hang out, we would only do lunch every other week and counter it with work outs. We'll meet each other at the gym Tuesday and Thursday on "Lunch" weeks, and Monday, Wednesday, Thursday on off weeks. Then work out on our own the days we aren't meeting. I'll meet my mom at the gym on my off days so I always have someone to keep me motivated!

We are also both using a diet tracking app called My Fitness Pal that we can plug in our meals and snacks, and even keep track of our work outs. I've been trying to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables as snacks, and replace fast food meals with breakfast shakes (chocolate meal replacement shakes) and "Lean Cuisine" type frozen meals. I'd also like to phase in "real" foods where ever necessary, for example raising my own meat (rabbits and chickens), eating eggs from my own chickens, and would love to try using real dairy products fresh from local cows and goats. While these things might be higher in fat or sugar, I think my body will feel better eating fats and sugars with less artificial additives.

I stuck to my "diet" for a school week and felt great! I felt full, I had energy, and I even ate less calories than my diet app's max without trying, just only eating until I was full. then the weekend hit. After hosting the whole family for enchiladas on friday, having pizza on saturday, and eating fast food on sunday, I felt like crap. I can really FEEL the difference between my no breakfast, cookie/chocolate/ice cream laden diet of the past and my fresh food and light food diet in less than a week! That alone is ample motivation.

Part of my workout plan is to keep record here on my blog of my weight, measurements, workouts, eating habits, and of course new healthy recipes to stay motivated.

My plan heading toward my Disney Trip is to change my habits to healthier ones while I have the motivation so that living a healthier life will be easier in the future.