Week 3 Recap and Self Evaluation

Hello all! I don't know what happened, but I blinked and the week was over, just like that!  Nothing out of the ordinary happened, it just went super quick.  I did all my workouts as per suggested by the Country Heat Deluxe workout calendar, and for the most part I ate relatively healthy throughout the week.  I did allow myself one day of indulgence, when my hubby took me out for dinner.  I know I shouldn't have and I consumed way too many calories that day.  But I'm not stressing about it because, I'm all about making lasting changes and not temporary ones.  If I don't allow myself to be careless with my diet once in awhile, I'm not really going to enjoy life.  Based on past experiences, when I did not allow myself these periodic indulgences, I would "fall off the wagon" and take years to get back on.  I'm working to break that cycle all together.

Goal #1 - Hydration

I have been struggling with this all my life.  I am an "out of sight, out of mind" type of person.  If it is not a top priority item, and its not directly in front of my face, I just don't think about it.  I needed a way to remind myself to grab my water bottle and drink.

Originally, I was planning to buying a Ulla.  This neat little device helps you to remember to drink.  You simply strap it to your water bottle and when you haven't picked it up to drink in awhile, it has a light that blinks to alert you that you need to drink.  Pretty cool right?!  I almost made the purchase but than I stopped to think for a minute.  The only way this device would be practical for me is if my water bottle is right in front of my face.  Which in that case, the device would be pretty useless because if my bottle is in front of my face, I don't really forget to drink.

I am constantly moving around, even when I'm just relaxing at home.  My house is very divided, and between kids, housekeeping, and the other random activities I partake in throughout the day, I'm hardly ever in the same room.  My water bottle is constantly being left where I am not.  Most of the time my water bottle gets left behind because my hands are usually pretty full (literally).  I needed to figure out a way to remind myself without taking on extra burden, something incorporated into what I have and use already.

Since, growing a third arm isn't really an option, I decided to use a different but just as useful method of reminding myself.  Alarms!  Early in the week I decided to put alarms on my phone to remind myself to drink.  I set it for about every 30 minutes.  At first this seemed to be working pretty good, but than it wasn't.  Though I have my phone on me more often than my water bottle, I didn't always have it on me.  After two poor hydration days in a row, I came up with a similar but better way to remind myself.

Alarm                                                             Alert                                                                    Drink                               

My FitBit!  I have the original FitBit Charge HR, it has an internal silent alarm.  The Charge can be set to vibrate on your wrist, its meant to ease you awake in the morning.  I had to set it to one hour increments because it will only allow up to eight alarms, so I had to spread them out a bit. This only gives me enough alarms for the first half of my day but that's the time day when I need the most help remembering.  Now that I have implemented this reminder system, I have been hitting my target water intake everyday!

Goal #2 - Stay Active Throughout the Day

In all honesty, I didn't focus on this as much as I intended to.  However, I did make an effort to have music on and do some dancing with the kids everyday.  This is a great way to spend family time, and get up and move.  I like to do this because it helps to encourage the kids to be active.  Unfortunately, the weather here in NY turned chilly once again so we did not spend anytime doing outdoor activities.  Sadly, it doesn't appear that it is going to get any warmer anytime soon, so I'll need to find indoor activities to do instead (besides working out and doing chores).

Goal #3 - Stretch More

I feel I didn't focus on this the way I should have either.  I love Country Heat, but there are several moves that involve twisting the hips and doing moves that can be a little uncomfortable on the hip joints.  Even though I have modified the moves (doing the moves with less exaggeration or minimal twisting) and I have done the end of workout stretching, I need a to do a little more.  I only incorporated extra stretching on the days my hips actually were experience discomfort.  Until, I'm in-shape and my hips are physically stronger, I need to focus on stretching everyday so that I don't injure myself.  I am debating about talking to my physical therapist to find out what other stretches and strengthening exercise I should incorporate.

Because this week went by so fast, I feel that I never truly got in front of it.  I basically, spent the week just keeping up.  I did take a look at my measurements in the middle of the week to share with a Facebook support group that I am part of, however, I'm not going to share those with you yet.  I'm going to make you wait till I've finished the entire Country Heat program.  I did see some fluctuation in my weight throughout the week, but this is typical for every person, so again I'm not sweating it.

I'm slightly disappointed with this week because I feel like I didn't make the most of it.  I set goals and I didn't really focus on them the way that I wanted to.  I'm okay with that because I know that there will be good weeks and bad weeks, and weeks that are mediocre like this one.  I like setting these mini goals because they give me something to push for and focus on.  I know that I'll have to revisit some of my goals multiple times.  Overall, I am pleased with what I've done, and how I am approaching my goals and fitness development so far.  I am feeling great all around, and that is what it's really about for me.

These are the things that I would like to focus on this week.

Goal #1 - Ease Into Meal Planning and Balancing My Diet

Though I have been monitoring my caloric intake, and being careful (most of the time) to not under or over eat, I am not really making sure that I am eating a balanced diet.  I try to incorporate some fruits and vegetables everyday, but I feel its not enough.  I also don't plan very far in advance and often find myself settling for something that is easy to make last minute, instead of what is the healthiest option.

This week I want to plan ahead, and work on balancing out my diet in advance.  Though I probably won't prep all my meals, I'll at least prep stuff that is practical to prep.  I feel like this will really allow myself to focus on eating properly.  Plus it will make for a less stressful meal prepping and dining experience on a daily basis.  There are Portion Fix Containers that you can purchase through Beachbody, I was lucky enough to get some from my sister because she had an extra set.  I will be using them to help me with portion control while still calorie counting.  I know that the containers are meant to replace calorie counting, but I've been calorie counting on and off my whole life so it is what I am most comfortable with at this point.

Goal #2 - Fit and Healthy Away from Home

This weekend I'll be going out of town to spend time with a friend.  I am really looking forward to spending time with my friend, but I'm not looking forward to trying to work out away from the comfort of my own home.  I am still debating whether I am going to double my workout in advance of going out of town, or reserve it and double it up when I come back, or a little of both, or to try to do it while I'm out of town.  Because Beachbody on Demand is available wherever I have internet access, my possibilities are endless.

Eating healthy and balanced will also be a challenge, because I will not me preparing my own meals.  This will making it more difficult to monitor my intake, so I'll have to be extra diligent with my portion control and staying away from "bad" foods.

Goal #3 - Stretching Everyday

I feel I really need to focus on this because I am starting to feel more and more discomfort in my hips as I am progressing further into the program.  I really don't want to injure myself for obvious reasons, but I really don't want to start over again. I'm tired of repeating that cycle.

I am so excited that I am moving into week four of Country Heat and a little sad too.  I'm having so much fun and I really don't feel like I am working out.  Being that Country Heat is a 30 day program I will not be posting next Monday.  Instead, I will be posting all my results on Transformation Tuesday.  I can't wait to share my progress with you, my thoughts on Country Heat, what I've learned and what my next program will be (which is currently undecided).  I am so excited to be on this journey!!! Thank you all for sharing this journey with me, whether you are just cheering me on, or sweating right along side of me, I really appreciate your support.  See you next week.

Just Me,