Money Saver or Time Waster?

About a month ago I made a list of the things that complicate my life. A recurring theme I noticed was the never ending flow of all types of paper-from junk mail to invitations to bank statements to birthday cards. I tackled a box of paper of all types in our office with the help of my husband and decided to move on to a better organizational system for the flow of paper in the kitchen.

I like to save money. Most people do. I go through sporadic periods of crazed coupon clipping. I get them in the mail and the promise of free money becomes intoxicating. The problem is that I end up with lots of neatly clipped coupons and never remember to use them. Unused coupons are nothing more than trash, but because they offer that tempting promise of money, they end up saved long past their expiration dates.

I thought I had a system of organization in place: three magnetic trays attached to the side of our fridge. When I went through the mess I found coupons that had expired over two years ago. Past system of organization=failed! I kept the trays but now I can use one for our gift cards, one to hold my new file system and one, well I am sure we will find something to stuff in it.

Check out the new system. Now, whenever I get that urge to cut, all I have to do is file by expiration date month- then whenever I glance in there and notice it is September and the May-August files still have coupons sitting in there, I can trash them. Anything without an expiration date gets put in the front and gift cards get there own home.

I know the dynamics of organizing coupons, etc. may seem incredibly boring to some, but for me it is one more baby step to living The Skinny Life.

BEFORE AFTER

Practice Makes Perfect

When it comes to getting in shape, I am by far my worst enemy. I can easily find any other thing to do with my time besides using it to get fit (many of these options include my television). Yesterday was not perfect, but I have to say I was pretty proud of myself for putting in some practice. Yesterday, I ran.  I know it wasn't pretty, but at least I forgot about what bystanders must be thinking and put foot to pavement. The weezing and heel pains weren't great, but it did feel good to be outdoors and to feel like I was doing something good for myself finally. I was right about needing to walk part of the way which was sort of a bummer, but walking is still better than sitting on my couch. My total amount of running was probably around three blocks-I walked quite a bit more. I know to most people that may not sound like a lot, but it is the most I have run since around 1993, so I am damn proud of it. Next time....four blocks baby!

Ready to Run

In 2003 I bought a pair of great walking shoes. After ruining them on my honeymoon, my husband replaced them for me for Christmas that same year. I loved these shoes. Then a few months ago I realized that my feet would hurt after walking in them for a while. I finally stopped and thought about it....hmm...I know they rarely get use, but even so, 6 years seemed like a long time. So I did some research and found out that shoes should be replaced every 300 miles. Well, even with my minimal usage, I am sure I hit that number years ago. My miles were walking miles, but hey, they were still miles.

I decided it was time to replace my walking shoes with running shoes. At first I planned on stopping by Marshalls and getting a great deal, but then I realized I knew absolutely NOTHING about buying a good pair of running shoes. It was time to contact a professional. I found a running shoe store walking distance to my house called Movin. I had no idea what I was in for. The thorough and patient gentleman at the store had me not only try on shoes, but also run across the parking lot outside in each pair. He watched each short run and helped determine the best pair for me. This turned out to be the Asics 2140

I am really excited to begin the journey to becoming a runner. I don't really care if I am ever able to run a marathon, but I sure would like to no longer be afraid of running. It would be nice to feel like that is something I can do instead of having it in a list of things that scare me- along with spiders, clowns and rollercoasters that drop straight down.

I may sound like a crazy person with an irrational fear, but the last time I ran a mile was in the 7th grade when my gym teacher humiliated me. Running was always really difficult for me. I always had an abnormal amount of trouble breathing and pain in my heels from a condition where my heels have tiny cracks in them. The blood circulation to heal the tiny cracks gets disrupted when I run and the continuous pounding causes pain. This almost never bothers me now, but as a kid when you are expected to run more often, it was quite a bit more painful. I was the tiny middle school girl running almost 12 minute miles. Weird since I found out later that I can walk one in 14 minutes. Since my miles were so slow, my gym teacher made me run them by myself until I could do it in 9 minutes. I think the 8th grader she had timing me finally felt pity on me and may have fibbed a bit. After that, I got a note from my doctor and became a permanent member of the "walking team". And apparently I stayed on the "walking team" until now.

Well...I am not afraid anymore. Slightly cracked heels be damned! I will learn to run! I know I will be starting out slow. Maybe even a block at a time, but the good thing about my new shoes is I can walk in them too. I guess in fitness, as in life, a walker is not always a runner, but a runner is most definitely also a walker at times too.

Coming soon:
A fitter me
A fear-conquering me

Hydrate

Obviously I know that staying hydrated is essential for bodily functions. Not so obvious is the reason behind my body's need to sabotage itself. And I am not the only one with this problem. Did you know that 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. 75%! That is insane! I don't know what everyone else's problem is, but mine is laziness. Downright, full bore laz-i-ness. This has been an issue for as long as I can remember. Even my hairstylist/friend Juju has told me repeatedly that the reason my scalp is always so dry is because I need to drink more water. She even crams it down my throat when I go see her. I am too lazy to get the water, too lazy to unscrew the cap of the water, too lazy to screw it back on, and way too lazy to pee repeatedly after I drink all this wonderfully hydrating water. Water is so important for our bodies to work properly. It clears toxins out of our body and helps our metabolism. Also, I just found out that because the thirst drive in most people is so weak, it is regularly mistaken for HUNGER! Great, so not only is my scalp dry, but I am getting fatter too?

What a dummy I am. I had tried everything to snap me out of this laziness. I had bought fancy water bottles with twists and built in straws. I bought super cute trendy looking ones, and I even bought the en vogue metal ones thinking that being environmentally conscious would snap me out of it. I know I need the water I just had to find the lazy girl's way to get it in my mouth. 

My mom was the one who unknowingly found my solution. I know I am going to sound like a commercial for these water bottles, but I don't even care. www.gocontigo.com. Everyone should have one. I have one for water (the pink one to the left) and one for hot liquids. They don't spill and all you have to do is squeeze. Also, they don't have the bad plastics that cause cancer. I just got the hot liquids one, and the no-spilling component is completely awesome on that one. I have been using the water one for a few months and I carry it everywhere. It can even clip to my bag for easy transport. I buy a 2.5 gallon jug of water and keep it in the kitchen and fill it all the time. Ideally, I will at some point figure out how to hook up my PUR water purifier so I am using less plastic. Living life should be easier so I have finally "skinnified" my water drinking and I am finally getting the hydration I need.

Hell Hath Frozen

Yes, I thought that is what would have to happen before I ever got motivated enough to enter a gym again. I was a "member" of a gym for years and went only a couple times a year. When we moved out of that area, I finally realized that if I couldn't get off the couch when I lived 5 minutes away from the gym, I probably wouldn't do it if I lived 20 minutes away. Gym membership-cancelled-2006. Fast forward to my ass getting wider and wider-2009. Time to get off the couch, get myself to Costco for the deal of the year on gym memberships, and get myself to 24 Hour Fitness. If you are trying to get motivated or looking for a cheap gym membership, try looking at Costco. It was $299 for 2 years. That breaks down to only $12.50 per month. And, this time I am going to get my money's worth. Weight today: X-2.5 pounds.

Is it weird that my toes went numb while on the elliptical?

Oh, yeah.

If I thought sticking to healthy diet once summer was over would be easier, I was sadly mistaken. Even though summer was filled with parties and dinners and barbecues and going out, going back to my job as a school librarian has proven even worse over the last three days. So far I have been tempted by yummy items on a table in the lounge every day. I am proud of myself for resisting all but some mini cinnamon rolls- come on, who could resist those?

I know that table in the lounge almost always seems to hold something that can derail days of healthy eating, so this year I plan on staying well fed with healthy goodies and turning up the dial on my will power knob. Go me!