Ericka: The Game Plan 1.8.14

Lack of preparation gets me every time. You can't just get up and say, "I'm going to make a change" without the tools to actually help you accomplish your goals. Well, at least I can't. For me, the battle of the bulge struggle is real.

Healthy Food Choices:
The first thing I need to attack are my food choices. Two weeks ago, I went to the grocery store and purchased all of this healthy food. I pretty much stuck to the outer aisles, i.e the fresh fruits & veggies aisles. Although my refrigerator was stock piled with a lot of food, every time I opened the door, I didn't know what to cook and didn't have any quick go to snacks. I ended up making a delicious salad (my go to for the last 2 weeks have been a caprese salad, a kale salad with avocado in it, and a red cabbage salad with cilantro and Asian sesame dressing) and devouring the entire salad at once. Lessons learned: (1)Plan my meals prior to going to the grocery store, and (2) add protein to salads to make them more filling.

Exercise:
Here is my dilemma. I no longer have a gym membership. Chris' membership was paid in part by his last job, which took some of the financial burden off of us.We were members at Elmwood Downtown with access to the main gym on the weekends starting on Friday evening. It was convenient, because I could walk to the downtown location and get in a workout on my lunch break. In addition, the main gym had childcare which was very helpful on Saturday mornings. So now that a gym membership is no longer in the budget, I have to figure out other ways to make time for exercise. I am an early riser so in theory I could work out first thing in the morning at 5:30 a.m. In actuality however, getting out of my nice cozy bed that early is not very appealing. It would be easier if I had a partner that was getting up too, but Chris is definitely not a morning person. However, I am making it my mission to commit to waking up early 3 times a week and exercise for at least 30 minutes. This will require packing all of our lunches and picking out my work outfit the night before. Oy vey! When I get home from work, all I want to do is chill out and decompress. I also want to get back to jogging. I swear I lost the most weight when I adhered to a jogging routine. I always felt a sense of accomplishment after a jog. I could measure my success through my jogs. I saw myself go from walking most of the jog to jogging the entire 30 minutes.  Now I have to start all over again. I'm considering working through lunch twice a week in order to get off a little early for a jog through downtown. Right now, I'm all about free exercise.

Support System:
As aforementioned, I like a work out buddy. I hate to admit this, but I am a misery loves company kind of gal, at least when it comes to exercise. I don't want to get up early in the morning and watch my husband sleep blissfully as I put on my workout gear. I want Chris to be my workout partner, but I don't think he is mentally ready for it. When we did have a membership, he rarely went during lunch. In fairness, although the gym was close to his job, walking distance even, it would take him 15 to minutes to get there vs my 5 minute walk. Driving wasn't an option, because by the time he got out of the garage and parked, he wasted 20 minutes. He did make it sometimes, but he never went to the HIIT class I begged him to go to with me. He went once, walked out of the class after 15 minutes and never tried it again. Yes the class was intense, but it was doable. I think he got intimidated. He blamed it on his head cold. We were doing the Saturday thing for awhile, but working out once a week is not going to cut it. Every once in awhile he joined me for a Nike training routine, but  we couldn't get it in most evenings. It just isn't feasible. Between picking up Deuce, spending time with him, cooking, and preparing for the next day, our evening is over before it even starts. In the summer and spring I could take Deuce to the park after school and push him in my jogging stroller, Chris usually didn't join me. But going to the park in the evening is not an option right now, because it gets dark so early. So what am I going to do? Chris has his weekly bowling league; I need something for myself. Perhaps my sister would be interested in meeting up once a week to exercise at each other's homes. I also need to learn how to motivate myself without the support of others.

If you guys have any ideas, be it healthy meal suggestions, how to fit exercise in a busy schedule, or meetups please feel free to comment.

E

Ericka: Resolutions 1/3/2014

It's a New Year, so why not take this time to reflect on the good and the bad of 2013, and resolve to do better in 2014.

2013:
The Good:

• 9 weddings. While that seems exhausting, and it was, it was also quite beautiful to be among the few who were selected to witness such a loving commitment between 2 people. 
• My son- humble brag alert: Deuce has proven to be a force to be reckoned with. He is intelligent, funny, silly, inquisitive, loquacious, and bad as hell. The boy's vocabulary has expanded from about 10 words by the time he turned 1 to communicating using 7-8 word sentences by the time he turned 2 in November. Some of the words have been choice words, and while it can be quite embarrassing, he sure knows how to use the words and phrases appropriately. At first blamed I my dad for my child's foul language, but after taking an inventory of my own communication skills, I realized I am to blame too. But then again, I am my dad's child, so it's still his fault! I am so proud of my little boy, and he embodies the phrase "Love is you."
• My husband- Chris has stepped out of faith and left a very good job in order to pursue other career endeavors. 2014 is your year baby, and I am proud of you. 
• My Family- We have seen each other through some good times and  tough times. The Garnett-Windon-Smith-Stanfill-Cunningham clan is still in tact and closer than ever. 
• Myself- I've started to take my career by the horns by networking, which I loathe, and even creating a new program at my job. This blog, based on the feedback from a lot of folks, has shown me that I have another talent. While physical fitness is still my goal, I may incorporate a lifestyle aspect to this blog.

The Bad:

• This year I've learned being content and happy with the status quo. The only way to get to where you want to be is by pushing yourself to do better and be better.
• I didn't meet my fitness goals, but I am going to keep on trying. Nothing beats a failure, but a try.
• I've lost some loved ones this year, and I miss them dearly. However, I have to believe there is something bigger than us in order for me to cope with these losses. 
• Watching your loved ones deal with the loss of the child and not knowing how to help. A child represents hope and bright possibilities. When you lose a child, you lose a little bit of your heart. However, my loved ones who are going through this are proving to be quite resilient. I know they will have another baby one day. 

Not too bad. Clearly I have room for improvement, which we all do. I am a work in progress.

2014 Resolutions:

My friend suggested writing down what I want to accomplish, and perhaps that will make me stick to it more. I would hate to be making the same resolutions on January 1, 2015. 

1. Get Healthy- Eat better, live better, and exercise. I definitely want to restart exercising at least 300 minutes a week. When I had a goal, it was a great motivator. I also want to try out new & revisit various exercise programs. Bikram yoga, jogging consistently, and maybe even crossfit, are all on my to do list. I have to start going to my Saturday morning class more often. When I went last Saturday, I was seeing stars and my lower back started getting sore after the 1st 5 minutes; a sign that I am out of shape. 
2. Treat My Hair With Respect- I decided to stop getting a relaxer back in May of 2009. I love the versatility of natural hair. If I want to wear it big, I can. If I want to wear it sleek and straight, I can. However, the maintenance is the same as when I used to get relaxers. I have been lax in the maintenance department. I go longer than I should between washes, I don't do nearly as many deep conditioning treatments as I should, nor as many trims, and I do not have a proper night time routine to prevent breakage. If I want the really big hair that I crave, I have to do better. I may do a 30 days of protective styles challenge. We shall see.   
3. Get Pregnant- Yeah that's on my list, and I slipped it in at 3rd. Hopefully my mom doesn't read this and get too excited. (Mom, if you are reading this, don't get your hopes up and no pressure).This resolution is out of my hands for the most part. What is in my hands is preparing my body for pregnancy through eating right, exercising, and getting on a consistent vitamin routine.
4. Be a better wife, sister, friend, daughter, granddaughter etc. I noticed that I am not good at keeping the lines of communication open. I am usually the callee/textee not the caller/texter. With my husband, I leave my problems at the front door, which is my coping mechanism. However, I need to share all aspects of my life with him. He is, after all, my partner. 
5. Cook more and eat out less. Self-explanatory.

Here's to making new memories in 2014. Happy New Year!

And now a glimpse of 2013. A retrospective in pictures.