2010, let's review it again

It's New Year's Eve, so I'll continue last year's tradition with a blog today about the year's progress, and one tomorrow about my new year plan. Here's how I did:

1. Running: I spent much of 2010 dealing with plantar fasciitis that began around Christmas 2009. So I did not achieve my goal of running a 10-miler. However, I did run the 10k on Thanksgiving again and finished about a minute faster than the year before, again with little training and hotter weather. I did transition to barefoot shoes, which allows me to run with less heel/arch pain. However, the adjustment in my leg muscles is still ongoing!
2. Staying active: In my 200-minute/week plan, I achieved this 19 of 52 weeks (about 37% of the year). January and December were my best months with more than 1000 minutes (1151 this month alone!) I averaged 25/mins of activity a day. I had 80 days off, more than last year's 70, but I did have the injury to thank for some of that. My lowest months were September and October, which tells me I must continue to work to make activity a priority, even when I'm busy, as it's better for me overall.
3. Eating: Since the new Weight Watchers plan rolled out after Thanksgiving, I've been MUCH better about writing down what I eat, no matter how "bad" it may be. This, in combination with the activity, helped me lose 2 pounds compared to this time last year. Pretty cool considering most adults gain 1-2 pounds a year in their 30s and beyond. So that's as if I kept 4 pounds off my frame! I am continuing to work on getting more fruits and veggies in.
4. Professionally: I did not take the CFRE (Certified Fundraising Executive) exam, but I did get accepted into Leadership Houston ... which I decided was a fair trade-off. It's been a great experience so far and I'm learning so much that will benefit me personally and professionally. Plus I have some really fun classmates!

So as far as my "resolutions" went, I was able to stick to some, I had to sideline others but mostly due to circumstances beyond my control, or other opportunities that presented themselves. They say the best part of being a leader is staying flexible. I think I did a pretty good job of keeping 2010 in stride.

On to 2011!! I expect many big things to come in the new year. We'll celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary, which means I will also hit the decade mark in my fundraising career. I have some ideas of what else I'd like to achieve ... but you'll have to come back tomorrow for that!

Some like it hot

So this morning I ventured out of my comfort zone and tried a hot yoga class. I've been to yoga plenty of times, but never the hot variety, though many friends have raved about it.

This summer, I bought a Living Social deal for 5 yoga classes at Yoga One. At $25, even if I only used it twice I was ahead as a guest class is $15.

In true former journalist style, I procrastinated until the last minute possible to start using my pass. I decided that my extended break out of the office for the holiday would be a great time to use as much of the pass as I could. The studio is in Midtown, which with no traffic, is 20 minutes tops from Casa Burns.

As YOH's website notes, hot yoga is done in room 102-105 degrees (though I think the thermometer read 110 by the end of class) and 50-60% humidity. So basically, it's like a Houston day in August but less humidity.

Upon entering the room with my mat, towel and bottles of water (I took about 48 oz.), the warmth hit me immediately. Participants are encouraged to arrive early to acclimate to the temperature. Seeing as I'd just gotten up about 90 minutes earlier, I enjoyed the chance to lie quietly on the floor. In fact, I would have liked to have just napped right there! I'm one of those that needs to be warm to sleep.

We were encouraged to stay in the room for the whole 90 minutes, and if it got tough at all, feel free to take a break, grab some water, and rejoin when all was good. I only had one point, about 45 minutes in, that I plain needed to just lie down for about a minute. I did take a few more water breaks than the rest of the folks but that was minimally disruptive to the routine.

Our practice consisted of pretty standard poses. Most I had done in other classes before. I noticed the heat in the room made it a little easier to push myself a little further (in fact, I can already feel that some in my legs now!). The breathing is more key in this kind of yoga than others, and once you get the hang of it, feels quite refreshing. I went in still having a little bit of the sinus issues tickling my throat, and those are greatly reduced now.

Another difference: you SWEAT. Boy, you sweat! Like dripping off you as you stand there. Like soak the bath towel through. I don't even think I've sweated that much running! But it felt awesome. I felt so clean. I felt like I didn't want to put any bad food in my body anytime soon. In fact, I didn't get hungry until a good hour after the class, and the scrambled eggs I ate then were the BEST eggs ever. I drank all the water during the class, and another 16 oz. on the way home. I have never felt so hydrated and it feels good!

I'm a little worn out now, but am relieved to know I've gotten my exercise in for the day, so now I can just enjoy the day as it progresses. I have a lot to do on my list today, but I feel pretty peaceful about it.

So I think I'll be going back Thursday morning for another round. Who's in?

Level up!

So the good thing about not fitting into all your clothes is it makes you take a hard look at yourself and your habits. And I realized it might be time to go a little boot camp on myself. I have been giving myself a lot of excuses these past 3 months to take it easy on the exercise (walks around the block are better than nothing but nothing close to a good gym trip, run or class) and on my nutrition (everything seemed to be a special occasion and I have eaten way too much bad stuff).

I decided I would start making some small changes that would be easy to implement, and keep adding until I wipe a lot of the bad habits that creeped in away. First up was a new snack rule: "Nothing but fruit after dinner." This started last night. I had some delicious clementines and an apple. There was a good sale at the store so I stocked up. Usually by dinner, I've eaten most of my Points allotment for the day, and now that fresh fruit is free, this is a good way to hit that sweet tooth.

Another one, at least for the short term, is that I'd like to workout every day for the rest of the year. No easy workouts. I hit the elliptical and weights yesterday when errands got in the way of a run before dark, and totally busted it in kickboxing tonight. I already have the rest of the week planned: repeat of Sunday tomorrow and Thursday nights, Zumba on Wednesday, a class or cardio on Friday depending what time I make it to the gym (as I have a pending car repair to deal with but there's a gym across the street!). If I get through that, then I'm off on vacation the rest of the year and remaining scheduling should be much easier.

The next change I want to tackle is two fold. I want to cut back on afternoon coffee for several reasons: 1) even though I get a nonfat latte, it's still 90 calories. 2-3 of those a week are worth a decent workout, 2) I'm a sucker for Starbucks, so this would save $8-12 a week. That's a new piece of clothing by the end of the month! and 3) it helps with part 2, making sleep more a priority. I need to get back to 7 hours a night during the week. I need to make 11 p.m. a usual bedtime. This will be the hardest change, so I'm giving this one a few days to do it.

I'm hopeful that these changes, while small, will be the start of some big progress. Time to take things to the next level! (Speaking of ... I plan to blog again this week about exercise intensity. Stay tuned and bug me if you don't see it by the weekend.)

More sweat, less salt!

I had my follow-up doctor's appointment on Friday. The good news? I can go from monitoring my blood pressure daily and now only need to do it occassionally? The bad news? Three months of results have me at an average 120/80, or just BARELY pre-hypertensive. This prompted several pieces of advice: follow the DASH diet (which emphasizes fruits and veggies), cut back on sodium where I can, and aim for 45 minutes of exercise a day.

The goal is to fight the slight increase in BP I'll get as I age, so that I don't become hypertensive and need meds. So when I got home Friday night, Adam and I started scouring labels. It's really something to see how much sodium is in the items in our pantry! Sure, canned/jar food is going to have more than fresh, but it was quite an eye-opener.

This was good timing, actually. I've been following the new Weight Watchers PointsPlus program since it came out almost a week ago. I've been eating at least an extra piece or two of fruit a day thanks to not having to count them anymore. My new routine is an apple when I get hungry after dinner. Then if I'm still peckish, I have a few small squares of organic dark chocolate (translation: pretty low in points) and that does it. I used to carb up with toast, waffles, etc.

I even had a banana before my run today! I am not a fan of bananas, but I'm learning to love them since they help with muscle cramps and I don't have to count them anymore either. This week, I'm going to try to make bananas my breakfast (except the 2 mornings I have meetings) and keep up the nighttime apple habit.

The exercise recommendation has led me to settle on a goal of 300 minutes a week next year. I'm really going to have to work to schedule that in. I am already seeing benefits in an energy boost since kicking off my latest batch of activity on Thanksgiving.

The biggest other change? Having to visit doctors more frequently. Have to go back to my main doc in 6 months, and she said I should also be seeing my endocrinologist every 6 months also to monitor the synthroid. But if it makes for a healthier me, I'll do it. Just a big shift from someone who pretty much goes once a year and doesn't get sick much.