"I'm freezing my ass of, yo" - Thomas

I just finished all my exams! The weight that has been lifted off of my shoulders is incredible. I didn't honestly think that nursing was going to be this bad (its really not - just this week sucked). But 5 exams in a week?! Plus all of the stuff that has been going on with my grandma. I had to put a lot of shit on the back burner this week. I had one or two break downs, but over all I am really happy with how I handled everything. I pretty much just ate, got enough sleep to function properly, studied, and socialzed enough to not feel absolutely alone. But whatevzz. Its over. And I am fucking excited!

*2 days later* 

I started writing this post in Anatomy lab, and never got around to finishing it. I also took that picture in Anatomy lab and let me just say - its really hard to get a good picture in class without looking like a total weirdo. Hence the bad angle and awkward expression. But anyways, my exams are over! The end-of-exams-celebration wasn't as lovely as I had hoped, but the idea of it is what got me through the week, and I guess thats what matters? Also, can we just quickly talk about the fact that I should just run of the next week straight, because I am gaining some serious lbs? But I am going to work on it, now that I have some time to breathe and get my priorities straight. 

Health Goals

This summer I did a lot of thinking about health and how I feel about it, but I didn't do much to actually keep on top of my heath. However, armed with my new knowledge and opinions on how I would like to deal with my health, I am ready to make some changes and take some action this fall. These are my goals:

1. Commit to some form of cardio, three times a week. This is not for weight loss (because weight loss is not the goal). This is to sweat out the toxins, to have more energy, to have an excuse to be outdoors, to relieve stress. There are a ton of reasons why this should be done - weight loss is not one of them.
2. Take vitamins, daily. Since I do not eat meat most of the time, I do not get a lot of vitamin b12, and vitamin b12 gives you energy. But also, I think it is just important to make sure my body is getting all  of the necessary vitamins - not just b12.
3. Go to bed early, and wake up early. The morning is my favorite part of the day, I am usually just too tired to wake up early and enjoy mornings. Its going to be hard to go to bed early and wake up early - especially in college. But I did it last semester, so I know I can do it again. Not to mention, working out in the morning is da bombbb.
4. Sunday morning long runs. Theres never anything going on at Rutgers during weekends in the morning, so there is literally no reason why this shouldn't happen. Plus, I wait to train for the Philly Half Marathon again, and possibly a Full Marathon some time in January, so long runs are going to have to become apart of my routine.
5. Join the Triathlon team. This is pretty self explanitory. I will meet people with the same goals, and stay motivated.
6. Meditate. Ugh, how I wish I was really into meditating. It seems so relaxing and wonderful. I will try and commit 5 minutes every morning, after breakfast to meditating.
7. Eat a big breakfast. I notice when I eat a big, nutritious breakfast, I am less likely to get really hungry/get cravings for unhealthy foods through out the day.

Do you have any goals this fall?

One habit at a time

I just read a really interesting post by a blogger called No Meat Athlete. It was about how after struggling for a really long time with developing healthy habits, he was able to by tackling one habit at a time each month. I find that concept really interesting because like the blogger, I often spontaneously decide that tomorrow my life will be forever changed and I often end up failing miserably. The problem, as this blogger mentions, is that often people decide to tackel too many habits at ones; eating healthier, working out more, waking up earlier, reading every day .... and all of this becomes incredibly overwhelming. Rather, we should devote a few minutes every day for an extended period of time to just one habit. Then, this blogger explains, at the end of the years we will have successfully developed 36 new habits which is pretty freaking awesome. So I am going to give this a go!

The first habit I want to develop is one that this blogger (named Matt; I just found his name on his blog!) worked on. Matt is a runner, but he explained how he would go days without running sometimes and so to develop the habit he started running everyday for just 20 minutes. I am pretty sure I can take 20 minutes out of my day to go for a jog. I really want to start working daily exercise into my life. Hopefully daily exercise will motivate me to eat better and accomplish my goal of losing some lbs this summer. 

Heres a list of habits I'd like to develop, one at a time.

1. Running every day

2. Meditating every morning

3. Practicing piano for 5 minutes every day

4. Drinking a cup of tea every day

5. Taking my vitamins

6. Making sure to get my 5 serving of fruits and vegetables

7. Replacing my constant chocolate cravings with something healthier

8. Planning outfits the night before

9. Sunday grooming

10. Waking up earlier every day

11. Reading every night before bed. 

Some of these are super simple such as taking my vitamins or drinking tea every day so I know I can accomplish more than one goal at a time. But for now, I am just going to focus on running. I obviously still want to try and take my vitamins and drink tea, but I'll put more energy into those later. 20 minutes of running tomorrow will be so lovely!

The exciting this is, I know this is possible. While I was away at school I started developing quite a few healthy habits such as making my bed, making sure my room is clean before I go out and washing my face and brushing my teeth everynight. These are habits that took time and daily practice to develop, but now I seriously can't leave if my bed isn't made and I always make sure my room is tidy before I go out. Its kinda cool how these things start to become second nature and I am excited to start developing a few more heathy habits!

"I can't wait for the next workout"

So I am pretty sure I mentioned on here that one of my goals this summer is to get into better shape. Well, I have been working on it, and its quite exciting! Yesterday I didn't do as well as I would have liked; to work out I only did a simple relaxing yoga workout, and I had this enormous slice of pizza for dinner. Thats okay though, mistakes are going to happen and I can't change that. Anyways, today has only just begun, but I had a nice protein filled breakfast and I did this workout video: 

The people who make these videos are incredible. Its only a 30 minute workout, but it takes me like 45 minutes because I have to constantly stop and take water breaks or catch my breath or just sit and watch in awe. I really like these workouts though; they're nice and quick, and I really feel it while I am working out and the next day! With a combination of these and other workout videos, running twice a week and a good diet, I hope I can reach my goal by the end of the summer!