What I'm thankful for: April 5

Today I'm thankful for...

The healthy living program at work!

I'm a somewhat competitive person. It's really bizarre to me because I've never played any type of team sports or participated in activities where competition is a benefit, but in my daily life, I'm pretty competitive. So, when my employer announced a healthy living program that included a challenge against other people, I was in! I've been doing it for about 2.5 months and while I haven't lost a significant amount of weight, I have started to eat healthier and have been exercising a lot more. I've been making healthy lifestyle changes that were spurred by competition with others but will be continued because of competition with myself. Thanks program at work that has kind of died down but will hopefully have a resurgence in the fall for helping me take the first steps to being healthier!

What I'm thankful for: April 4

Today I'm thankful for...

My fitbit!

I don't remember how I first heard about the fitbit (on another blog, perhaps), but as soon as I did, I wanted one (because I'm impulsive like that). When you read the description of it, you might wonder what the big deal is. When you see the price, you may really wonder what the big deal is. For the record, I got mine on eBay for below the list price, and I still had buyer's remorse! Now that I've had it for a couple of weeks, I have to say that I'm hooked on it! It's a pedometer, sleep tracker, and activity tracker (among other things) all rolled into one. It integrates with myfitnesspal.com (see yesterday's posting!), so it gives me a good idea of how active I really am (or how sedentary unfortunately). Plus, I contacted customer service about buying another base so I could synchronize it at work, and they're going to send me one free. How nice is that? So, if anyone has one or decides to buy one, let me know so we can become friends on the fitbit site and have some healthy competition to see who's the most active!

What I'm thankful for: April 3

Today I'm thankful for...

Myfitnesspal.com!

I absolutely love this website! It allows you to track food and exercise, join groups, track weight loss, post on forums, and receive support. It has just about every food and drink I've ever put in (the exception was a diet Dr. Pepper and pineapple from Sonic, but it had them listed separately so I was able to track it that way). Tracking is essential for losing weight and getting healthier, and this (FREE) site does a great job of letting you keep up with everything. Plus, it has iPhone and Android apps, so you can track on the go.

Okay, enough of the commercial for tonight. If you join or are already on the site, find me! I'm a m b e r i a m (there aren't any spaces, but I figure that will keep spammish things from finding me...maybe?).

What I'm thankful for: April 2

Today I'm thankful for...

Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred DVD!

Okay, this is one of those things that I think if I say I'm thankful for, it might make me appreciate it more. Maybe. Ha. Since this is a 4 day workweek (for many people) and the beginning of April (which really marks the beginning of Spring for me, despite what the calendar says otherwise), I've decided to do kind of a theme week.

Introducing...4 days of fitness!

For those of you who aren't acquainted with the 30 day shred program, it's a DVD from Jillian Michaels (formerly a trainer on The Biggest Loser) that consists of 3 levels. I'm only on level 1 still, which is 3 circuits of 3 minutes strength training, 2 minutes cardio, and 1 minute of ab work. It doesn't sound like much, but it's brutal. However, I've heard so many good things about it, that I've decided to give it a try. Wish me luck since I can barely lift my fingers to type this, and I'm not even too far into it!