A New Year

As promised: two posts in one day!

I am super excited to start blogging again and am looking forward to the inherent accountability that comes with sharing my daily activities with the world (or just my mom).  I am also extremely motivated right now and can't wait to tell you about my plans for 2012.

First, I rang in the New Year by spending the last three days demolishing my apartment.  I think I singlehandedly filled the dumpster with all of my belongings, and that was after taking an entire carload of junk to Goodwill.  I scrubbed all of my pots and pans and reorganized my kitchen, took everything out of both of my closets and put them together in ways that made actual sense, and cleaned off my desk to give away to make room for my new bookshelf.  I haven't cleaned yet - like, scrubbing, vacuuming, dusting, etc. - because just sorting through stuff and putting it back took me THREE days.

I am wiped.

Second, I have some really great plans health-wise for 2012.  First, I am starting a bootcamp tomorrow with Max Life Fitness & Nutrition.  It looks awesome: it meets six days per week, and the activities are varied, unlike Farrell's.  There's everything from kettlebells to kickboxing to cardio to abs.  When I called to reserve my spot, the guy on the phone told me that the workouts lasted anywhere from 20-45 minutes.  When I said, "Twenty minutes?!" he said, "Just you wait."  It's going to be awesome.  So tomorrow is the testing day: I'll get my photo taken in shorts and a sports bra (quite a scary sight for the photographer, let me tell you), get measured, and do different tests (I'm assuming sit-ups, push-ups, and the like).  I am super nervous but also really pumped.

The second of Healthy 2012 is more running.  On a whim, I signed up for the Lincoln National Guard Half Marathon.  So, I am in the process of creating a race schedule to coordinate with my training, and here's what I'm thinking so far:

• January 14th: Forey Fest 5k
• February 11th: Red Flannel Run 5-mile
• April: AIDS 5k
• April 24th: Grand Blue Mile
• April 28th: Drake Relays 8k
• May 6th: Lincoln National Guard Half Marathon
• June 2nd: Dam-to-Dam 20k

I will also be running the FULL IMT Des Moines Marathon this year on October 21st, so there will be many more races throughout the summer to prepare for that.

Throughout all of my training, I am going to be sure to incorporate a lot of cross-training; I strongly believe the lack of cross-training really affected my injuries during my last training session.  That will not happen again.  Swimming and weight training will become my friends...I hope.

The third part to my Healthy 2012 is better eating.  My mom and I are going to be Abs Diet buddies.  Essentially, the Abs Diet is just smart eating.  There are twelve key things to eat:

1. Almonds (and other nuts)
2. Beans (and other legumes)
3. Spinach (and other green veggies)
4. Dairy
5. Instant oatmeal
6. Eggs
7. Turkey (and other lean meat)
8. Peanut butter
9. Olive oil
10. Whole grain bread and cereals
11. Extra protein powder
12. Raspberries (and other berries)

On the "diet" I will eat six small meals every day.  To make sure that actually happens, I already created this week's meal plan and went to the grocery store (and spent an arm and a leg).  I will have to go tomorrow to get fish, but other than that, I shouldn't have to go to the store again, which will be nice.

I am going to drink LOTS of water.  I was good about doing this during marathon training, but I wasn't so good after that finished.  My plan is to have my daily cup of coffee (with a little milk and Truvia) in the morning and nothing but water after that.

I am also going to start taking vitamins again.  I bought another thing of chewables today (I swear - it's like eating gummy bears), and I also bought Fish Oil pills to help my Omega-3 intake.  I know they're super beneficial, but I've never taken 'em.  Time to start.  :)

The cool thing about the diet is that they strongly suggest you take one "free" day per week.  This means that you eat whatever the heck you want.  My free day will be Saturday, and my exercise-free day will be Sunday.

I am really, really excited to see what this workout and eating plan will do for me.  Hopefully nothing but good things: I have to look good in a bridesmaid dress in August.  :)

Okay: time to get a few last-minute things before I have to go back to school tomorrow.  It's shocking how fast a break can go, especially when you're super productive.  I will for sure be back tomorrow with a recap of my first day of bootcamp and Abs Diet!  

Get excited - I sure am!!!