Five on Friday: Get Healthy Edition

This week brings you five healthy habits I've stuck with so far this year. (I know, I know...it's been less than a week. But I figure that if I tell all my readers i'm sticking with these habits, it will hold me accountable and I won't give them up.) As a bonus, i'll share with you the five habits I still need to work on.

Healthy Habit Success Stories:

1. Exercise. I've been doing both strength training and cardio every day this week. My husband, who works for a University, has a few weeks off this month, so I'm taking advantage of him being home at night. I put Stephanie to bed at 7, and then use the Wii Fit for 30 minutes while Dan holds or feeds Joseph. I feel happier, less stressed, and healthier. It's amazing what a week of exercise can do for you.

2. Eating less. I cut out my morning snack, and instead only eat breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner. I also cut out eating after dinner. I have not had one morsel of food once the final meal is finished all week. This is huge for me, since I have a tendency to pig out at night.

3. No alcohol. I'm not giving up my wine completely, but right now I need to lose weight and get healthy, so my plan is to limit it to two glasses per week. So far I haven't had any since New Years Eve.

4. Tea at night. I keep hearing about the benefits of green tea, so I've been making myself a cup every night after my workout. If nothing else, it helps me relax and makes me full enough to not turn to snacking.

5. Sneaking in exercise. I look for every opportunity during the day to burn a few more calories. When Joseph is fussy and i'm bouncing with him, I engage my ab muscles. When Stephanie is being whiny, I put music on and we have impromptu dance parties. While i'm brushing my teeth, i'll do a few squats. When I walk to the car, i'll skip with Stephanie. I know these are tiny examples, but I figure every little bit counts!

Things to keep working on:

1. Drink more water. I keep forgetting to do this, even though I find myself so thirsty during the day. And of course we all know that being hydrated is key to weight loss, as well as being a general healthy habit.

2. Incorporating healthier options into my meals. I don't eat nearly enough vegetables, so I am going to make it a goal to have some with both lunch and dinner every day.

3. Eating less at meals. I think i'm making up for the lost snack by adding extra food into my lunches. For example, yesterday I made a salad with turkey & cheese in it, and some strawberries on the side. Then I said hmm, I think I might still be hungry, so I ate a Nature's Valley Granola bar. In reality, I know that should have counted as my snack, but I still had another one with Stephanie at 3:00.

4. Sleep. I know how important this is to my general help, and I also know i'm not getting enough. Joseph no longer gets up to eat in the night, but he does wake frequently, and every time he does, so do I. I get out of bed, pat him, and put his pacifier back in. This disrupts my sleep cycle and makes me tired all day long. I know there isn't anything I can do about it right now, but to make up for it I want to start going to bed at 10:30 instead of 11. This way I can get an extra half hour of sleep while he is in the middle of his longest stretch of restful snoozing.

5. Sticking with my plan. I have a habit of being all gung-ho about eating right and exercising, but then letting it fall away after a week or two. My continued goal is to stick with it! I want to see results, and i'm really serious about working hard to get down to my pre-pregnancy weight.

*I'm trying out "Five on Friday" instead of "Friday Fives." I like that a lot better...

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