Week 1 Update

It's Mighty Mommy Monday! Laura of Pug in the Kitchen and I have decided to challenge you on a weekly basis.  Claim the Mighty Mommy title for yourself -- every day, not just Mondays. Every week, we’ll host a link up for you to tell us what you’re doing to take care of your health: workouts, menu plans, how to keep your family active, etc. I’ve set a few goals for 2014, but my biggest is to swim a total of 50 miles this year. I even started a new blog to chronicle the process: Mighty Mermaid Mommy!

Update on My Progress

The past week has been a crazy one! I started the new year strong with a visit to the pool and completed my first mile in my 50 mile goal for the year. Only 49 to go! New Year's Day is a busy one at the Y, and I ended up sharing a lane (and "circling") with three people. It could have been intimidating, but it was just he push I needed to be able to swim a mile all front crawl, instead of alternating crawl and breast stroke. Breast stroke is more of a "resting" stroke that enables you to breathe more often, but if I really want to swim in a race or open water some day, I need to build my crawl (or "freestyle") endurance. Since the lane was so packed, I decided to swim as much crawl as I could so I didn't end up accidentally kicking someone -- which I have done twice before and I'd like to not do it again. Also, since we were swimming in a big elongated circle instead of splitting the lane the long way, I ended up trying to match pace with the other people in my lane so they didn't pass me quite so often. They wore flippers for part of their work out, so it was a fast pace! I ended up swimming my entire mile freestyle! It's funny how I thought I couldn't, but it was all in my head. My time was 39:24, which I was pretty pleased with!

I also started doing a fitness DVD after the kids are in bed. I got Jillian Michael's Six Week Six Pack from Santa this year and I was really excited to use it. The moves are quick paced and they're fun! I was worried it would be all crunches but there are a lot of new moves that I learned that I really like. It is definitely a challenge and I'm having trouble with the side plank moves, but I've gotten better at it each of the three times I've done it in the past week. Jillian says you're supposed to do it five days a week, but I'm just doing the best I can. I figure three is still pretty great. It's a tough workout and I'm sore the next day, but it's actually fun and I enjoy doing it.

I've been counting my points with Weight Watchers, though I'm not looking to lose any more weight. I just am trying to learn to maintain where I am, which may be even more challenging than losing! I went over my allotted points a few times, but I'm not too worried about that. All this exercise has my metabolism up and I'm hungry!

We went back to school on Thursday, but I had to leave work early because Joshua got a stomach bug. Poor kiddo was really sick and slept all afternoon, then all night long. The good news was that he felt much better the next day, which was a snow day! I'm looking forward to getting back into a routine in the next week as I head back to work. I feel like it's easier to maintain healthy eating when I'm not around the house all day and too busy to snack at work. The negative is that it's harder to find the time to exercise, but I'm still planning to swim on the weekend and do a DVD at least 3 nights a week.

Some Thoughts on Getting Started

If you want to start exercising but are a little concerned about getting started, you're in good company here. I was so nervous about going to the pool and having people see me in my bathing suit. Since the Y is right in our town, I felt guaranteed to run into someone there. Once I got over that fear once it got easier and easier. The reality is that there are only about 30 seconds of time when I'm in my bathing suit, not wrapped in a towel or in the water. It's the moments from when I hang up my towel and get into the pool and when I get out of the pool to get my towel. Otherwise I'm in the water swimming. The other reality is that the people in the pool are so focused on their own workouts that they really don't notice what I look like in my bathing suit. The only other person at the pool is the life guard, and I want him or her to keep an eye on me! My best advice is to just go and conquer your fear. The only way to look better in that bathing suit (or yoga pants, or whatever) is to go exercise! So just go! You'll be so glad you did.

What progress did you make toward your health & fitness goals in the past week? Share in the comments and/or go write a post about it and come back to link it up here! Feel free to use our Mighty Mommy Mondays badge in your posts or on your side bar, with a link back here, to spread the word. In the spirit of community and encouragement, please take some time to visit the other posts linked below and see what kind of goals everyone else has set for 2014. And don’t forget to come back here or to Pug in the Kitchen every Monday to share your progress!