Week two of my healthy challenge

Another week and another update on the healthy living front.

My main goal this week was to work on my sleeping habits. My hope was that if I managed to get my lack of sleep under control the rest of the process would fall in to place.  After doing some research I found several tips for a better nights sleep.

I found a free sleep meditation app for my android phone. The app got bonus points from me for not requiring any access to personal data on my phone. After several nights of use I have found my favorite mediation to be a 13 minute instructor led session guided towards relaxing into sleep.

I also dug my essential oils out of storage and set up a jar of dried lavender flowers next to my bed. I added a few extra drops of lavender essential oils to the dried flowers for a little extra boost of scent.

Lastly I started turning the television off at 9pm and going to the master bedroom to relax. We have a giant bathtub in our current rental and I have been taking advantage of it each night. I have found a long soak with a good book to be a wonderful way to relax before bed.

All of these things have worked wonders! I am out cold by 10pm and up and feeling refreshed at 6am. I was shocked the first morning I woke up at 6am feeling refreshed and ready to go for the day. My husband about fell over the fist time I texted him at 5:55am!

Next up was my exercise goals. I dug my fitbit out of a drawer and set a goal for myself to hit 10,000 steps a day. This was just as hard as it sounds. I quickly found out exactly how horribly out of shape I have become. Those first few days were filled with lots of sore muscles. I have finally settled into a routine of three workouts per day. I know it sounds like a lot but I have found that three 30min workouts per day is the best way for me to reach my 10,000 steps.

I have been doing a 30min hills and valley workout on my stationary bike, a 30min circuit workout with weights, and a 30min walk each day. By breaking the workouts out over the entire day and alternating what I am doing I am able to fit it all in and combat any boredom.

I am happy to say that I have hit my 10,000 step goal for the last 6 days! I am considering beginning to train for a triathlon again. I seriously hurt myself last time and it took a year to recover. There are several beginner triathlons in our area. I however need to start working on my running before even considering a triathlon. Definitely something to think about!

Last up was my goal to work on my diet. My goal for this week was to work up some meals for the freezer and calculate the calories for each. I wanted to begin recording my calories each day but have been having trouble finding the time to record everything within our school day. By having the meals already completed and the calories all worked out I am hoping to cut some time out of the process during the week.

I managed to get everything settled and put together in the freezer. After a little bit of time working on the laptop I managed to get all of the meals entered into my tracking software as well as my normal go to snacks. I have managed to track everything for the last 6 days without issue. It has been nice to get back into the process. I feel less overwhelmed with the process and ready to continue next week when we begin working on our school work again.

So far my scale is not reacting to my new healthy habits. I however am feeling MUCH stronger. I am now able to work at a higher resistance on my bike and complete more high impact exercises during my circuit workout. I am holding strong and ignoring the scales lack of motion.

My goals for the coming week: This week we will be starting our 3 weeks of school for July. I want to continue my current level of activity, recording of calories, and sleep habits while adding the chaos of school work. Should be a piece of cake I am sure.