"The Plan"

What's "the plan?" Well, I'm sure that's what you're asking yourself right about now. "The plan" is actually quite simple. You see, today I did 5 minutes on my elliptical. Yes, five measly little minutes. I know it doesn't sound like much, but I plan on starting my routine on Monday. Since I have bad knees, I thought I would slowly get them used to the elliptical with 5 extra minutes per day until Monday. This was by then, I will be at about my half hour work out stage.

I will admit, this elliptical thing is a lot harder than I remembered it being. My knees get a little achy, but it's not too terrible. I was in shape the last time I used one of these things, and now I can tell just how out of shape I am. On the plus side, the elliptical automatically adjusts resistance during the workout on a scale of 1-8 so that you get a vigorous workout. I think just like the cardio I was doing, that in a few weeks time I will be feeling much better. My aim is for half an hour per day, five days a week. Although, I'm being told that I should probably only start with 3 days a week and work my way up. (What do you think?)

I've got a new goal set for myself with my elliptical. I always see the goals that Brooke and Quinn post, so I thought I'd make a few for myself. Are you ready yet, get set, awwwwwwwwwwww here it goes... (you'll get that if you're a 90's child who watched Nickelodeon.)

• Do my elliptical routine 3-5 days a week, for 30 minutes a day to start. (this may be broken into several workouts throughout the day. Maybe I will work out 3 times a day for 10 minutes each, or twice for 15 minutes each. Either way, I will get in 30 minutes. Once I find that is becoming too easy, I will increase to 45, then 60, etc.

• Start eating breakfast again. I know this is a simple one, but I have forgotten breakfast for the past week and a half. By the time I get up, and get Emma fed and ready for the day, it's so close to lunch time that I don't even think about breakfast. 

• Try out my new cookbook! I can't wait to go shopping and get the things I need to try some tasty new meals. Plus, it will be nice not having to look at my laptop while I'm cooking, or having to constantly write down the recipes I want. 

• Worry less about eating out. My husband likes to eat out. We have cut our fast food intake by 90%. Sure, it's not completely gone-but I don't think that's ever really a possibility for us. When we are out on the run, and it gets too late to cook we just stop and grab something. Lately I've been getting ham and cheese sandwhiches from Pals. They are DELICIOUS, and HUGE with 380 calories and are fat free. I have pretty much forgone french fries though. *wipes away a tear.*

• SODA! I still haven't had a Dr. Pepper. That's right people, I can proudly say that I haven't had a Dr. Pepper ALL YEAR! This is a big achievement for me, because a lot of the time I do want one, and then I feel guilty for thinking about it. I have been drinking more milk, chocolate milk, sweet tea, and TONS of water. (Thats a first for me.) I know that the Sweet Tea isn't much better for you than soda, but If I want something sweet, thats usually what I reach for. It sure beats a Dr. Pepper. Every once in a while I will have a Sprite, Root Beer, Or Seven Up. Most of those (if not all) are caffeine free. The root beer does make me feel bloated, but the feeling is gone by morning and I don't end up feeling sick for days like I do with Dr. Pepper.

• Walk, walk, walk. I don't walk enough. I spend my days stuck in the house. It's so cold that I can't really take Emma out for walks, and Andrew doesn't trust this neighborhood enough for me to do so. I bought my pedometer, and forgot about it after 2 days. It got stuffed in a drawer, so I will get it out today and re-start that program. I don't know how, but Emma keeps hitting my reset button, and then I'm at a loss for what I've walked! Ugh. Anyways, I spend my days mostly sitting on the bed, the couch, or the chair. I get up and around for probably a few hours a day when it comes to cleaning, chasing Emma, getting the mail, taking out the garbage, etc.  

• A non weight loss goal of mine is to find my passion and creativity again. Earlier this week when my poem was featured as poem of the day on pathetic.org I was so overjoyed. That joy later turned into depression when I realized that only two people had even cared enough to say anything about it. I felt like that was a very big achievement on my part, and everyone wrote it off as nothing. I later felt a little more encouragement, when I posted my old and new photography on facebook and had several people tell me how talented and creative I was. One friend even told me I should be doing freelance photography, which I just don't think I have the talent for honestly. It made me miss those two things that were once a HUGE part of my life. 

• And finally, school. Yes, I know we go over this all the time. I feel like I'm stuck. I need to take tests to get into school, and have shots and doctors appointments that I can't afford. Even if we had used all of our tax money, we couldn't have afforded these doctors. They charge $500 just for a visit, its hundreds of dollars per shot, and any blood drawn is another $500. The placement tests I have to take are $80, and its $20 to apply to school. (I find that strange for a community college.) On top of all that cash, I have to finish getting Emma's daycare papers filled out, and get her enrolled before I can do much of anything. I am still sad about her going to daycare, but I think she is becoming too attached to mommy, and needs some kids her own age to play with. I have filed my fafsa, and I never recieved a call from anyone! (Which is what their records stated would happen next.) 

So, that's a short list of my yearly goals. I am not sure what I will accomplish. All I know is that I'm almost 24 years old, my daughter is fast approaching pre-school age, and I don't want to become one of those housewives who are so out of touch with reality, they never quite find their way back into the real world. I don't want to spend my life cooking, cleaning, ironing, laundering, decorating, sweeping, mopping, and vacuuming. I want to interact. I want to MEET people. I want to know that if I have a bad day, there are friends that will be there for me. The longer I sit in this house, alone, going crazy..........the more depressed I feel. Working out is the one thing that makes me less stressed out, and THEN if I don't do it for some reason I feel guilty all over again. It's just time to get my life back in order.

And THAT'S "The plan."