I did it! And plan to do it again!

Guess what? This morning, at the dark hour of 5:30 a.m., I dragged myself out of bed (not that hard actually) and went to a yoga class at 6 a.m.!

I did it! And it felt great!

My plan was to start slow, and not scare my body too much on the first try with something too intense. So yoga seemed perfect. What a lovely way to start the day. I found it slightly ironic that we were doing sun salutations in a room filled with windows without the slightest hint of sun -- but whatever, the darkness was nice too.

I'm going to try and incorporate lots of different classes into these morning workouts. The gym I attend offers hot yoga three times a week, a cardio/strength class three times per week, spinning classes four times per week and a regular yoga class once per week – all at 6 a.m. So lots of variety!

I'm excited to continue and see results of my efforts in a few months.

No more excuses!

Well 2012 just started and already I feel in a rut. Generally, I like order and organization in my life -- all parts of my life. Since the Christmas break, I haven't been to the gym because in order to get myself to the gym, I need to plan -- spur of the moment trips will just never happen. In addition, I do group exercise classes pretty exclusively. I find it motivates me, I'm stuck there for an hour and I end up having a "good" workout. So if you're following me here, you'll notice that schedules (mine and the gym's) need to align and I haven't been making that work.

Lucky for me, the gym I attend has the most classes of any gym I've ever come across. This is perfect. Now to just get there...

I have this grand idea in my head. To execute it, however, will take A LOT. You see a bunch of classes start at 6am. In fact I could do a class a day at 6am and get cardio, strength, yoga in during the week -- a little bit of everything, which in turn would be awesome for the bod! I love it!

The downside, you probably already noted: six freaking a.m. I am so not a morning person... I want to be, but ever since I was a wee child I've had the worst time getting up. My mother used to threaten to pour water on me when I was a teenager, now I just ignore my alarm clock and then when the time comes that I know I'll be late for work, I just swear at the clock (and myself) and get up, begrudgingly.

Now my hate for mornings has nothing to do with not getting enough sleep, I easily get my 8 hours per night (sometimes more). So what's my issue? I have said for the longest time that the worst part of my day is the moment that my body goes from horizontal to vertical, i.e., getting out of bed. It's awful.

But getting the gym out of the way first thing in the morning, starting my day with a great adrenaline rush and having time to get ready at home afterwards (gym is only max 5 minutes away) is all very enticing.

I love the idea. Execution is the problem. But as Meghan says, no more excuse-itis. I've got to give it a try.

But ideas on getting my a$$ out of bed and into gear are more than welcome and appreciated!

Update: I followed through on my plan and it was great!

21 days (plus a few more) later...

In my last post, I went on raving about Meghan Telpner's 21 Days To Health. Well the 21 days have ended and what have I took away from it? Lots! Let's recap.

So as a refresher the premise of the 21 days is to incorporate one new change each day and build until the 21 days are complete. This is based on the idea that it takes 3 weeks (21 days) to form new habits.

Now it's pretty hard to incorporate all of them, but I'm doing my best and I know many of the changes I have made have stuck so that in itself is something to be proud of. I'm not going to go through the full list of 21 changes, but I will touch upon some of the things I have incorporated and maybe bring a little inspiration to you!

My new habits!

• Drinking lemon water first thing every morning. This was the very first point in the book. Drinking warm water with a couple tablespoons of fresh lemon juice (i.e. from lemons, not squeeze bottles) is a great cleanse for the liver. Meaning it flushes out the liver and gets rid of all the toxins that the liver works so hard at removing from the body.

• Meditating or sitting quietly for at least 15 minutes each morning. This is to stop the fidgeting and to bring calm to yourself and just focus on the breath. I was having a hard time at this one, but recently put together a little morning routine so that I made time for it in the morning. I now have put 15 minutes aside each morning to do this. I also drink my lemon water while doing this (always a multitasker!)
• Flossing - every time I brush my teeth. I've always flossed my teeth, but never with any regularity. I'd be really good for a few days and then slack off. But I can honestly say that in over a month I have flossed each and every day. I'm now working on doing twice per day -- morning and night. My dentist is going to be oh so pleased, I almost can't wait for my next visit!
• Getting to bed 15 minutes early. My old bedtime was around 11:00 p.m. and now I make sure I'm getting ready for bed by 10:30 so that I'm actually in my bed by 10:45. The extra sleep helps with getting up earlier for my quiet time.
• Brown bagging. I'm doing a much better job at bringing my lunch to work. I like how this affects my bank account.
• No more going for seconds. I now make a mental note to not eat a second plate of food no matter how good it is. One serving is all my body needs. The goodness can be saved for my brown bag.
• Cutting out all the refined sugar. I'm super aware of this now. By making your own food, this is super easy to do.
• Cutting out some toxic body products. I recently posted about my soap-making endeavours, but I've also recently changed my toothpaste, deodorant and have stopped using body creams and replaced them with edible oils, like coconut oil. Because anything that goes on the skin should also go in the mouth because it's all the same... either way it ends up in the bloodstream.
• Drink more H2O. I've been making a conscious effort to drink more water and herbal teas. Since doing so, I get a headache in the evenings when I don't drink enough water. Your body tells you everything you need to know if you listen closely enough.
• Meal planning! So important. But I had a head start on that one, I've been doing it for a while!
• Cut out the booze. I've drunk alcohol very sparingly for the last year -- just the odd glass of wine or cider here and there -- but it's a treat! And since going gluten-free I haven't had any beer. So check mark here too.
• Dry skin brushing. This practice is new to me -- I've only become familiar with it recently, but I'm doing it! So good for the skin and for the lymph. More to come on this in a future post, because it's an easy thing to do that I gather most people know nothing about. So stay tuned for that!

I'm pretty proud of what I managed to incorporate in just a few short weeks. Think about how much healthier a society we would be if we all just adopted one or two of these things!

What changes have you made recently to improve your health?

Approaching 30

There are currently 25 days until I turn 30 and while turning 30 doesn't bother me at all, I feel like it's an important milestone worth acknowledging, if not celebrating.

So, to help me acknowledge this milestone, I've decided to set some goals for let's say the next year – and hopefully beyond!

First, for my health:

• Floss everyday! Even though I know how important this is, I'm terrible at doing this regularly. I can manage a couple times a week, but this has to become a regular routine. I've never had any problems with my teeth before, not even a single cavity, but I may not be afforded this luxury forever.
• Take my vitamins and supplements regularly. I've been taking a host of vitamins and supplements for years now. I used to joke that I took more pills than my grandmother. Well my hope is to stay on the vitamin variety and to keep off the prescription variety for a very long time. So I need to be more prescriptive (pardon the pun) about taking them daily, including weekends, which are currently my downfall.
• Continue my gym regiment. I've been pretty good lately at this, so it needs to continue into the new year as well.

Next, for my brains:

• I need to read more! Much more. Reading has never been part of my regular daily activity. In fact I can read the same book for 6 months because that's how infrequently I'll pick up a book. Mind you I get nauseous quite easily when I read on the bus or anything moving. I could consider that an excuse, but the point of this is not to point to excuses but to focus on the future. I currently have 4-5 books on my nightstand. Must get through them! Reading has been a big part of the bf's life, and his knowledge from simply what he has read (which is a lot) just astounds me! I know I'll never be able to read as much as he has, but I can definitely aim to read more.

Ok that's only 4 things. I think I can handle that.

I guess this blog is another outlet for this milestone. I find myself reading a lot of blogs and figured this is the time for me too. It feels right. I need this creative outlet. I hope you keep with me!

Here's to a healthy and smart start to my 30s!