Fitness Plan

So, I have failed miserably at my exercise goals that I set a few weeks ago. I don’t feel that badly about it though, because I have for the most part been doing other things that are productive. And while not entirely comfortable with my body, I am more so than I was at that time.

This doesn’t mean I don’t think I need to become more fit. I definitely do. But I think all the writing I’ve been doing and the focus I’ve had on completing other goals has helped my overall outlook, too. In a lot of areas, I feel more confident than I did.

This isn’t to say that confidence couldn’t all come crashing back down. It definitely could, and has before. But I’m just trying to keep it going and ride it as long as I can. I’m trying to limit my focus to a couple things at a time outside of my normal day-to-day routine, instead of trying to do everything at once and setting myself up for failure.

I knew I was probably doing it at the time, but I definitely set myself up for failure with how many workouts I scheduled. I don’t have the time or energy at the current time to do 2 workouts a day, 6 days a week, even if 1 or both of them are short. I’m not sure why I thought I could even entertain that idea. 

So I think, from here, I’ll restart my plan today, and only commit to the 3 workouts a week that FitOn gives me. And now that Tank has a good, bulldog-functioning harness (I love that lol), I might throw in some more walks with he and Kam. 

And from here, we’ll see how it goes this time!

Walking It Off - Writing Challenge, Day 5

Remember how I said I was trying to get back into being active again?

I've honestly and truly slacked for the past month or so.  I've walked periodically but haven't been going consistently for a month.  I started trying again this week.  I've been feeling pretty sluggish and blah, so I need to do something to turn that around.

I'm thinking about starting to do some yoga and other at-home workouts here and there too.  Fitbit has tons of good stuff on its apps.  I actually paid a while back for a year's subscription to some of it so I could unlock more of the workouts, but there are plenty to get you started that are free, especially if you already have other things you're incorporating into your exercise regimen.

In the meantime though, walking is, for me at least, a good way to slowly push myself into moving more.  Then I'm a little more limber when I get into the workouts.

Tuesday evening I hit my goal of 10,000 steps for the first time in forever!  Then I followed that up with doing it again on Wednesday. Thursday, I took a break. I started the day with the intention of trying to hit 10,000 again, but holy crap....I’m so sore! And I kind of can’t believe how pathetic I feel since that was only 2 days of upped movement. But I decided to do some other stuff and then settle in for a more relaxed evening. I didn’t even come close to my goal, but I’ll pick it back up today. I’m planning to potentially go to the barn this evening, and I always get way more steps than I realize I’m doing when I’m out there.

Getting Healthy - Writing Challenge, Day 2

This year has held so many ups for me...there honestly haven't been a whole lot of downs.  Sometimes my downs in the past haven't been things other people really knew about - they weren't necessarily big, life-changing events, so much as my own frame of mind and how I felt about myself or where I was going (or not going) in my life.

This year, I've felt good.  Sure, there are moments when I doubt myself.  There are days that I just feel like I'm in a funk, and I can't easily shake it.  I think everyone has those days.  But so far this year, I've had so many less down days than in the past, and it's been great.

Part of that has been because I've taken better care of myself.  I don't remember having to go to the doctor even once this year.  I usually hold off as much as possible at any given time when it comes to going to a doctor anyway, but I truly haven't had anything that I wasn't able to kick on my own this year.  Most of the year I focused on eating healthier.  I focused on moving more.  I wouldn't say I was hitting the gym or doing home workouts - I did a few times, but the thing I stuck with the most was just movement in general.


I bought a Fitbit in February (click the picture above to see the one I have), which made it very easy to track how active I'd been at any point in the day.  I didn't just focus on steps though.  I also focused on my heart rate - since I have IST (inappropriate sinus tachycardia), my heart rate can randomly jump when I'm just sitting at my desk at work, making me feel dizzy and nauseous.  If it gets high enough, it can make me pass out.  It's not happened at work before, but it's happened at other times over the years, long before I actually knew what was causing it.  So, when I decided to get a Fitbit, I was pretty adamant that whatever I got had to not only measure steps; it had to also measure heart rate.  I don't have these attacks very often at all; I can sometimes go years without one.  But if something were to happen, I'd like to be able to document it, and since I have a history of my heart rate now when I'm wearing the Fitbit, I have that.

I started tracking my meals, snacks, anything I put into my body, with the Fitbit app.  I utilized the whole package.  Because I'm tracking what I'm eating, I'm tracking calories in.  And since my Fitbit tracks heart rate, it's more accurate with how many calories I burn.  So not only am I keeping track of my heart health, it's much easier to track my calories in vs. calories out.  I need to lose weight, not just because I want to look better, but because there are a lot of health issues that run in my family, and being overweight helps none of them.

I also track how much water I drink each day.  My goals is to drink 80 oz. per day on a normal day.  I'm not always great at hitting that.  The past couple of months I've seriously slacked on tracking everything, honestly.  I'm working on that.

But the water part is something that affects my IST, too.  The doctor who diagnosed me explained that there isn't a cure for it.  It's a problem with the sinus node that controls the rhythm and pace of your heart; sometimes it just gets temporarily out of whack and increases my heart rate.  Staying hydrated lessens the risk of having an episode.  That, along with knowing the signs of an episode coming on (sudden dizziness, nausea, tunnel vision - all usually within a couple seconds), are really the only things I can do to help it.

Like I said, it doesn't happen often, but staying hydrated helps prevent it.  And if one were to happen anyway, I just have sit down wherever I am so that if I do faint, I don't hurt myself - that's what led to getting checked out in the first place and learning all of this.  One thing I've found that helps when I'm in the middle of an episode and feel like I'm going to faint is focusing on my breathing.  Deep, slow breaths.  It doesn't always prevent the fainting spell, but it has kept it at bay in the past.  I don't know if it just naturally forces my heart to slow back down, but it does seem to help.

The Fitbit I have also tracks my sleep stages.  It does seem to be pretty accurate from what I can tell, so it's cool to see that and compare it to how I feel and function the next day.

So, with the help of Fitbit, I've been working on getting healthier throughout the year.  I've gone through a slight hiatus of logging food but have still been watching what/how much I eat for the most part, and I haven't walked as much recently - it's been so hot most of the time I just haven't been able to talk myself into it - but I've definitely still been able to tell a difference.

Healthy Living

I'm turning my life around, in more ways than one.  



1) Doing things that I love.


          a) I moved Orion closer so that I can finally see him and do things with him on a regular basis.  He's less than ten minutes from where I live now.  


          b) Proofreading.  I've always loved to read, and I've always loved to write.  While I'm still working on writing more, I've taken up proofreading on Fiverr.com.  It's time consuming, but this is what I get out of it: I get to read new stuff almost every day.  I'm reading a lot, something I haven't done since I was in high school or younger.  I'm making a body of work better.  I hate coming across stuff in books that I read that is just wrong and thinking that I could have written or edited that so much better...now I am.  I love the feeling of knowing that, while it's still the author's work, the book, document, etc. is going out into the world with my mark on it as well.


          c) Reading.  In addition to proofreading, I've decided to take advantage of this extra free year before I start grad school.  I'm reading every book I can get my hands on (and I can get my hands on a lot because I have a TON that I've collected since college started that I just never had the time to read. Add to that the ones that have come out recently that are sequels to or by the same authors as books I've read in the past, and it's quite a long list.  Maybe I'll post it sometime.)


          d) Spending time outdoors.  This.  It's true that I can spend time outdoors anywhere, but there are specific places that I want to go, and very soon, it will possible for me to go to them whether anyone wants to go/can go with me or not.  


          e) Writing.  I love it.  Blogging and writing fiction are two of my favorite things in the world.  While I don't want it to be my career, I do want to keep this a prominent hobby for as long as it holds my interest and brings me this much happiness.  And when (not if) I finally do publish some of my stuff, it will be nice to potentially make a little money by doing something I love, as well as to know that what I wrote might be bringing someone, somewhere, some joy and entertainment.  That's one thing that I hope happens with this blog, aside from it being my chronicle of my life for me to look back on from time to time.  I hope that it helps people in some way, whether it's with a problem they have or just by putting a smile on their face.



2) Speaking of why I can do all of that traveling very soon without help: I have a car.  Until I broke my collarbone, the plan was to go test for my driver's license for the first time in my life two weeks ago.  Now I have to wait, but having a car gives me (and everyone involved in helping me get there) so much more incentive to get on the ball and do it.  I can't wait to be able to go where I want, when I want.  Feeling restless and nothing to do at home?  No problem.  Hop in the car and go to the barn....to a friend's....just for a drive in general...  I. Can't. Wait.



3) Applying to grad school. (Hold on tight; this is a long one!) Seriously, this is something I have struggled with since my freshmen year of college.  Not the application, but the decision of what I want to do.  Not long after my program lost its accreditation my freshmen year, I realized that my future plan was really someone else's.  Yes, I was very interested in the field of health care.  Yes, I love science, and the human body interests me.  But suddenly I realized that being a PA just didn't feel like the right fit to me anymore.  I think I kind of fell in love with the idea of going to AB for that program, going back to the town that I grew up in and loved so much, and going into  PA school made my family really happy.  Next to going to med school, it was the next best thing.  I just got swept up in it and convinced myself that it's what I wanted, when really, I didn't know what I wanted.  It ended up being a really long road figuring that out.  Along the way I considered med school, vet school (specializing as an equine veterinarian - surprise surprise!), nursing school, something in environmental science, something in GIS, and now, finally physical therapy.  And thank God, I think I've finally got it.  I have finally found something that feels right, I'm extremely interested in, and in all honesty, has pretty much been under my nose the whole time.  I was just too focused on other ideas, or the idea that I just didn't know what I wanted, to see it.  So the only thing left to be done is to take my GRE (very soon), finish my applications, send them on their way, and wait.  



4) Eating healthier.  This has actually been going on for a while, so I'm not going to dwell on it, but it's something that I've been trying to concentrate on for the past year, off and on (but mostly on - there have only been a couple of times that I slipped up for a while - the rest of the time, which is most of it, I've been doing fairly well).

5) Exercising.  I have a home workout plan that I was starting before I broke my collarbone.  A lot of it isn't really possible right now because since it's a home plan, a lot of it involves exercises that use your own body weight (think of push-ups as an example), and obviously that's not going to work right now.  However, I do plan to start hiking.  I love running, and I hope that once I'm in better shape and have lost more weight, I can take that up again, but right now, it kills me.  I'm not saying it's impossible, but it's not enjoyable.  So instead, I want to hike.  I want to get outdoors more; the trees and other plants in the woods (and this is WV, so really everywhere) are the most gorgeous green right now (we've had a bit of rain recently).  I really just want to get out and enjoy that, take it all in, and get some good pictures.  Hiking is conducive to all of that, plus I'm getting a good workout in while I do it.  I have the Endomondo Sports Tracker app on my phone and my iPod, so I can track my hikes with GPS the same way I try to track any long horseback rides that I do.  There are places on my grandpa's farm that I can go, but even more than that, as far as this town goes anyway, I'm excited about going on the trails at the new stable (more on that here).  



6) Looking for a new job.  I like the job I have right now.  I don't completely love it, but I like it.  I've been there for going on 6 years now, and all things considered, I have it good as supervisor, safety manager, and restaurant manager, but with everything else I have going on, I just don't really feel it anymore.  It was never meant to be a career, which my bosses know and understand (none of this is a shock to them; I've already discussed it with them).  I really never meant to stay as long as I have, but with this extra year before grad school tacked on, that I didn't anticipate originally, I really want something that will mirror what my class schedule will be like (i.e. day time instead of late evening/night shifts - 12am).  There's also the matter of going into a health care job such as physical therapy - while I'm not qualified to actually work as a physical therapist right now, I would like to get some sort of job in a hospital, preferrably the one here since I'm trying to establish myself here for the next few years, just so that I have some experience in that area since all I have right now are volunteer hours.  There's nothing wrong with volunteer hours, but I just feel that working at the hospital in some way would benefit me in addition to those volunteer hours.  



So there it is.  That's pretty much my life right now, in a long, rambling nutshell.  I'm happy with what I have and what I'm working towards.  The only thing I have not mentioned here is getting my own place.  Since I now have a bunch of medical bills to pay in addition to my car payments and car insurance, I'm thinking about staying with my grandpa a little while longer until I have some of that taken care of.  However, as soon as I have the money saved up and can swing it, I plan to get my own place around here somewhere.  I'm more than ready for it.  It's been overdue for a long time now.

Fitness!

So technically it's "wordless Wednesday", but I have a chance to write while I'm waiting on ArcMap software to load on my computer, so here I am!

(Don't worry, you still get a picture of this cutie.  She's finally big enough to jump on top of her house and did it for the first time last night.  What a racket she made, wheeking and singing and hopping all over the place in happiness afterward....right as I was going to bed. -_-  She's too cute to annoy me though.  I just went picture crazy instead.)

So, as of late, I've been trying to get healthy. I get on a healthy kick every once in a while, and it usually tapers off. This time I feel like it's different though.  I truly want to. I'm tired of being exhausted and feeling crappy all the time, and there's just no time for all of that.  I have too much stuff on my plate to deal with feeling like that.

I've been eating healthy stuff and cooking for myself more often.  And don't get me wrong, I'm still eating what I want...if I'm actually hungry.  And if I am hungry and what I wanted isn't something super healthy, I allow myself to have it - just in a small portion.  And then if I'm still hungry, I find myself something else healthier to fill me the rest of the way up.  But the bottom line is, I'm only eating when my stomach actually feels hunger - not when I'm craving whatever and I'm not actually hungry.

It took about a week (I'm halfway through my second week of this), and my cravings have pretty much stopped. I actually look forward to working out, which I've been doing almost every day.  I've started running again (in smallish amounts - I downloaded the C25K (Couch to 5K) app to my phone and have completed the first week + repeated one of the first week runs (4 runs total) so far).  I haven't done any week 2 runs yet because I have absolutely HORRIBLE shin splints that are killing me at the moment.  Instead of running like I wanted to yesterday, I went for a hike instead.  It still hurt, but at the same time it felt good to be moving around and outside and just doing something.  

It's good that I'm living where I am at the moment.  My grandpa has a treadmill I can use if the weather is bad.  There is plenty of open space where I can go to run outside when the weather is decent.  I have access to a full kitchen with every possible cooking tool imaginable (my grandma was an amazing cook and cooked all the time, so she had everything).  I'll eventually be moving back home for a while and will still have the kitchen part, but not a treadmill, so as far as getting started, I'm glad I'm at my grandpa's, at least to establish some good habits.  They'll be easier to keep up once they're drilled into me.

So far, I've lost 3 lbs since last week and a couple of inches from my waist.  I didn't think I'd be seeing progress this soon, so I'm super excited.

I'll keep updating when there's time!  I hope you're all doing well!

Workin' on My Fitness

Taken from Pinterest. :)

I'm working on this New Year's resolution of getting in shape.  So far this week, I have concentrated on getting back into good eating habits. It started out slow, but I've been doing well for the past few days.  No slips ups since after the first day. :)  

I did part of a cardio yoga workout on Tuesday.  It was 50 minutes, and I did maybe 20 of it before my partner in crime and I decided that if we did another downward dog position we were going to end up on our heads because our arms felt so weak.

Thursday I did the easy workout on my Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred DVD. And let me tell you, it's not labeled 'easy' because it's actually easy.  It's only easy in relation to the other two workouts on the DVD.  Although, I have to say, I didn't have as much trouble with it as I did when I did the same workout religiously for a couple of weeks a couple years ago when I first got it.  I powered through and didn't die...though in the ten minutes or so after my cool down, my arms felt like jelly, my legs felt weak, and my back was so tired I didn't think I could sit up straight for very much longer.  JM knows what she's doing! Crazy!

Last night I only did a short workout. I worked for four-and-a-half hours (which really didn't involve that much work because the cafe was dead, but it did involve standing the whole time), so I was pretty beat by the time I got back to the dorm.  Plus, since I thought I was going to die after my JM workout the night before, I thought I'd give my muscles a slight break until today.  I did 30 lunges (15 on each leg). 35 regular crunches, 35 reverse crunches, and 45 bicycle crunches.  Then one minute of jumping jacks for cardio.  The "cardio" probably didn't amount to much because it was super late by the time I finally decided to do anything, and I was afraid of waking up the people under me, so I didn't do it for very long.  I'll get back into it today and do some Zumba or another JM and then probably some yoga too.  

Eating on Friday didn't go as well as could be hoped, simply because I was fairly rushed the last half of the day.  Dinner wasn't exactly healthy because by the time I got off of work, the cafeteria was closed (no salad *sad face*), and the only option I had was the Cave/E.J. & Emma's (I still can't get used to calling it that since they changed the name...The Cave is what it will always be to me).  I had a small order of fries. :(  And it really was small.  I actually think I got a little jipped, but I won't complain because I really would have preferred something different anyway.  Their choice in yogurt last night didn't appeal to me, and the last couple times I got the grilled chicken sandwich...well, let's just say it wasn't great.  I went with fries.  Today will be different.  I'm getting back on track.  This getting in shape business is intense.

I've been using my It Works wraps too, and I can see a little bit of a difference a day and a half after the second one. I'm not expecting miracles right away, but common sense tells me that as long as I try to maintain a healthy diet - as much as is possible on a college campus, this campus especially - and work out, my results should happen even quicker.  Yay!  Muscle-building will happen at the same rate it always does, but the wraps and such should help the extra unwanted pounds come off a little faster.

By the way, I'm selling It Works now (see It Works Distributor badge to the top left!).  If I remember right, I set the badge up so that when you click it, it takes you to my website.  So if you're curious about it, check it out, and email me with any questions!

That's all for now, folks! :D

Equestrian Discussions: New Year's Resolutions

Finally getting to this!

The first discussion question I asked was what New Year's Resolution(s) you've made for yourself and your horse.

I got some cool responses on this post.  Thanks for participating, guys!  (If you missed out, don't be afraid to still go and share your resolutions there!)

For Orion and I, I'm sure I'll come up with lots more in the next few months, but for now, here they are:

• I want to get him completely bomb-proof.
• Secondary to that goal, is to take him in one of the Forest Festival parades in October if he's ready.
• Work on "emergency dismounts".
• More solo rides.
• (For me) be able to run...in an English saddle. (I've never purposely been on a running horse before.)
• Try to get Orion in better shape (as well as myself!).  He gets winded and acts like he's gonna die from trotting around the paddock for five minutes.

And alas, I'm sure I missed some.  I'll probably address more in future posts.  For myself, as far as horse-related resolutions go, I just want to be a better rider, both for Orion and my own safety.  I also want to get in better shape - so I can feel better about myself and be healthier, and so that Orion doesn't have to haul my big butt around anymore. -_-

For Thursday, January 17th: "What's your favorite thing you've taught your horse to do?"

Surprise Party Success!

Surprise b-day party for the roomie: SUCCESS! :D

I felt like a secret agent part of the time yesterday, sneaking around so she wouldn't suspect anything.

She almost caught me with her b-day card once but apparently didn't notice it in my hand.  I went to the bookstore to buy it when she was supposed to be printing some stuff at the library and then going back to the room.  So imagine my surprise when she walks into the school's cafe, Jazzman's, as I am taking a picture to text to our other friend who was doing the party (my "personal trainer" V).  A walked in and said my name, and I went into semi-panic mode trying to shove the card into my bag while saying semi-casually-but-not-really, "Hey! What are you doing here?"

Inside said: Some things never change.

I decided to go to the library to get in a little studying in the hour before we were supposed to go to V's for the party (or as A thought, our physics study group).  V called and asked if I could help her set up for the party.  So I told A I was walking down to a friend's to take him my physics notes for the class he missed, and he'd be taking me to V's, so I'd see her there!   She thought it was legit, and off I went to help set up.

All in all, it was a success!  Just a casual party with pizza, homemade cake courtesy of V, and a semi-scary movie.

Yes, as for my fitness plans....I screwed them up last night with two pieces of pizza and a small piece of cake (I did stick to drinking water with it though!), so I'm going to be extra good for the rest of the week.  

V's adorable cat, Bonnie. Left: Stalking the streamers.  Right: Holding hands with a bunny.

Interesting note though: I found that I wasn't really all that enthused on that kind of food.  The pizza was kind of eh anyway, though the cake was really good, but it just felt so heavy.  I definitely feel better with what I've been sticking to lately, which has basically been leaner meats, scrambled eggs, fruits, and veggies.  And water.  Lots and lots of water.  I drink tons of it.  When I start craving food when I really shouldn't be eating, I guzzle water.  It works!  It holds me over until my next meal or snack anyway.

Sunday I worked out for an hour and ten minutes on the treadmill, cross-trainer, bike, and then more treadmill.  Altogether, I burned around 458 calories, according to the machines. And I felt amazing afterward.  I was proud of myself. :)  I'll probably be working out again tonight - I'd already planned to anyway, but after last night...I need to. lol

Music Monday - Workout Playlist 1

In light of my recent fitness goals, I thought I would post a workout playlist.  I put together the most amazing one on Saturday night....with a little help from this article that I found on Pinterest.

Going through the songs on the site made me sooo pumped!! I love most of them and it motivated me to make my own..using a lot of those songs as inspiration.

So.  My playlist is reeeeallllyyyy long.  So I'm going to break it up and post it in sections every other Monday.

Create a playlist at MixPod.com
It's a bit random....and for this one at least, the majority is not new...but I love these songs.  And the whole playlist is very eclectic, so you can expect some very different stuff on the next one.  Hope you enjoy!

Looking Back Over the Week

Day number 6 of my diet and exercise.

I feel great!  I've been working really hard to maintain eating only healthy stuff.  So far, I've had no slip ups other than dinner on the first day.  I didn't work out last night like I had planned to because I was feeling a bit under the weather and had a lot of homework I was trying to finish so as not to have to worry about it this weekend.

Screw you, physics.

But anyway...I've had tons more energy and haven't been feeling all weird like I was before I started this.

Also a plus for this week is that I've been in a MUCH better mood than before.  This may be a partial effect of eating healthier and working out too, but it's also been contributed to a lot by me just having the attitude change of, "This isn't who I am, and I need to drag my butt out of this funk I've been in because I'm sick of it."  Not kidding.  I made that decision Monday along with the decision to be healthier, and I stuck with it.

I guess you could say I'm just trying to work toward being a healthier me in general.  And that includes working on everything and owning up to my responsibilities.  I'd been letting things slide and not dealing with them, but I'm not doing that anymore.

And that includes today. Haha. I'm planning to spend the rest of the day catching up on reading for classes that I'm behind on. -_-  I'd rather be reading Game of Thrones, but c'est la vie.

Great, now I have the B*Witched song stuck in my head....90s kids will know what I'm talking about, I'm sure. :P

Fitness

Well, I've done it.

I've finally started a fitness plan..sort of. Ish.  I've been complaining for forever about how out of shape I am, how I need to eat healthier, how I need to work out more, blah blah blah.  I've started things to deal with that in the past...but never have the motivation to stick with it.

This time, my friend V has decided to be my "personal trainer".  She got herself into awesome shape a couple summers ago, and is going to kick my butt into shape now.

Let me just say... I'm excited.  I'm also terrified.

I'm doing the whole shebang - healthier eating and working out every other day in the gym.  Monday evening, after stretching, she had me do 10 minutes of very fast walking on the treadmill (I seriously thought I was gonna fly off the back of it), 20 minutes on the cross-trainer, and 10 more minutes of treadmill.  Afterward we did ab excercises and more stretching.  I thought I was gonna die.  And that was a fairly simple workout.  Just shows how out of shape I am.

Afterward we sat there and talked about how much I've changed since high school.  I showed her some pictures, and she was shocked.  I was too when I looked back through some old ones a few weeks ago and saw them.  I've gained 20+ pounds since I graduated high school.

Four Years Ago:

May 2012

August 2012

The last, most recent, is the most embarrassing.... That shirt is the same one I was wearing in the first picture above.  It was really that that hit me hard when I was going through these.  It's probably the best motivation I've had for a very long time.  I miss being in shape and being able to simply walk up a steep hill without feeling like my heart's going to beat out of my chest and I'm going to pass out.  I miss being able to wear size 5 pants...I'm in anywhere from a 10 to a 13 now. O.o  It's so frustrating.

But here's the kicker: in one of my classes last week, a girl asked me if I was pregnant. 

W....T.....F.....

Yeah.

I was so shocked and embarrassed, the only thing I could do was say "What?? No!!" and then not look at her for the rest of the class.

Then I started looking through old pictures again and looking in the mirror and decided that I had to start doing something about it.  Right now.  

Image aside, I just want to feel healthy again.  My family has a lot of health problems, many that can be avoided by lifestyle choices, and I don't want to end up making the wrong choices.  I want to turn it around.

So.

That's my story for the day.

The embarrassing pictures are out there for everyone to see, so now I have to stay motivated to do this.

Feel free to leave any tips or motivation!

Summer Fun

Hola everyone!! Having a nice summer? I hope so!  Mine's been...semi-uneventful, but in a mostly good way. :)

I'm going to try to force myself out of my writer's block of the past few weeks.....starting now!

Horses

It's been a slow week without the option of a ride out to the barn.  Friends I normally go with either started work for the summer or are known to be super busy so I don't ask...but I will remedy that soon enough!  

Nom nomming on a willow tree.

I started going out on my third or fourth day home from school, riding for a bit the first couple of days, exploring a new trail that a friend showed me (it's my favorite yet - and this time of year, everything is SUPER green and beautiful!), but mostly hanging out and loving on our horses.

Orion was slightly jealous when I fed Glory instead of him.

Orion was super sweet and willing to please the majority of the time - with the exception of not wanting to go through the gate, which we argued over for a few minutes.  I won.  He was great, albeit a bit jumpy for some reason.  

Taken just after his bath.

The dogs usually never bother him, but two days in a row, I got to experience him jump straight into the air and skitter sideways as he realized one of the - now grown - pups was nearer to him than he'd apparently realized.  That was a fun feeling - usually resulting in a "WTF??" exclamation from me and a huge sigh from him as he hung his head in relief upon deciding a terrifying monster was not about to eat him!

Bath + summer sunshine = beautiful  =)

One day last week, he actually came to me from the other side of the field when I whistled and called for him.  I was giddy - yes, giddy - that he'd actually done it from that distance. Then a couple of days ago, I tried again...to no avail.  He didn't even give me the courtesy of lifting his head in acknowledgement.  So across the field I trekked, and he still didn't visibly acknowledge the fact that I was there until I was about three feet from him.  Thanks buddy.  I felt loved.

Books

I finally decided to copy a friend's idea last week and made myself a summer reading list.  Reading is something I love doing.......but unfortunately something I usually don't have time to do during school without neglecting other important things. :/

So this summer, I set myself a goal.  The list is comprised of various books that I've been meaning to read for a while - in some cases, years - that I never get around to.  Most of them are ones that I don't have on my Kindle, because I want to save those for when I go back to school - that way I'm downsizing on how many books I take back with me.  Especially since I'll have a roommate next year and more limited space than I was used to previously.  

I've already finished two of the books on it, and am about a third of the way through my third.

Here's the list:

Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

The Lucky One  by Nicholas Sparks

Out of Oz  by Gregory Maguire

Mirror Mirror by Gregory Maguire

Snakehunter by Chuck Kinder

The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger by Stephen King

The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King

The Dark Tower III: The Wastelands by Stephen King

And that's it. For now.  I'm sure upon cleaning my room - another chore on my to-do list this summer - I'll probably find more that I haven't read or want to re-read.  There's a few I've considered that probably won't make the list unless I can't find something else...simply because I want to read as much new stuff as I can while I have the time!

So far, that has been the extent of my activities this summer - horses and books and working out, though it's a bit hard to write much about doing Zumba and Wii Fit.  Another fun thing was going camping with my two best friends at the beginning of the week - but I'll add more about that later.

Tuesday starts my babysitting job, so I'm sure I'll some humorous stories to tell about that.  There's never a dull moment when my younger brothers are together all day long!!

Fitness!

Yes, fitness is going to my goal this semester.  Along with passing Organic Chem II.  


I've already started, and I'm quite happy so far (even if it's only been two days of exercising).  I did about 40 minutes of Zumba yesterday and another 20 or so of just dancing around to my new Just Dance 3 Wii game that I received for Christmas (thanks Mom!).  I'm looking to lose about 10 lbs....but as long as I start to feel physically and mentally and emotionally healthier all around, and I start to look a little more like what I looked like when I came to college 2 1/2 years ago, I'll be happy no matter what weight I'm at.  I'm more geared towards being healthy and getting into good habits.


I plan on mixing in yoga, as I mentioned a while back, and probably some Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred workouts too.  I want to challenge myself and exercise but also keep it new and interesting from week to week.


My school has finally finished our new student center, to be completely and officially unveiled Thursday night, and included in this center is a new fitness center for non-athletes (athletes will still have their workout/weight room and equipment down in the coliseum).  I'm pretty sure there are supposed to be some ellipticals in our new fitness center, and I'd like to implement those in my routine from time to time as well.  My ankles don't feel so hot after running on a treadmill or, worse, the road ever since I messed them up when I tried to run track in high school.  When I was in physical therapy, they had me do a lot of work on an elliptical, and it helped greatly.  So hey, it can't hurt, right?


Today I danced with the "Just Sweat" mode on Just Dance 3 for about an hour and felt like I was going to die by the end of it...but in a good way.  Hmm..if you can imagine feeling like you're going to die..in a good way... Anyway. lol  It felt really great to be moving.  I was tired and kind of sore, but it felt awesome.


Looking forward to this semester. :)  


Let it all begin tomorrow!