This week’s focus has been on eating healthy, and making our way back toward better health, post-holiday-palooza. We’ve got the no sugar challenge, we’re cleaning out our workout gear, and generally getting our ducks in a row for a physically strong and healthy 2017.
Which makes me consider the health of other members of my family. Namely, my dog, and my husband….respectively. First, Milo—our dog. Fat and furry sums him up. When I take him to the vet they say, in a solemn tone, “Your dog is fat, real fat. Reduce his food to 1 ½ cups a day, starting NOW.” By a cup and half do you mean 6 cups? Because on a moderate day that’s probably Milo’s portion size. Have you seen what a cup and a half of dog food looks like? It’s nothing. It’s like an appetizer. It looks small next to his paw….like a crumb. So as it is now, he has his bigger than normal portion size plus I can’t even quantify the amount of food he vacuums off the floor that we (i.e. kids) drop during meals (by accident or on purpose, depending on what I made). Plus there are the random food sneak attacks, like when he ate 25 cupcakes off the counter in the kitchen overnight that I had baked for Romeo’s birthday party, or when he goes ninja on me and uses his stealth to sneak a piece of pizza from the table when no one is looking (he actually NEVER does it if he thinks he’ll get caught).
He’s large and in charge….weighing in at a svelte 95 lbs. (on a good day), he enjoys sleeping, and sleeping, with a little extra sleeping on the side. He’s incredibly furry, and not the expensive non-allergenic no-shed kind. I mean the opposite of that. I do take him running sometimes, but honestly it’s an enormous pain in the butt for me because he’s so big, and strong that he literally runs me. I spend the entire time trying not to trip on him, or get pulled into a tree, or dragged across the street so he can smell some dogs’ butt. Given a choice, my walk is much nicer without taking him. Studies say owning a dog gets the owner to exercise more. Not true, sometimes I will make the decision to NOT walk simply because the thought of taking Milo sounds like too much work. Yes, I know how bad that sounds. Don’t judge.
Milo likes the crappiest dog food out there. We use to buy the expensive, no corn, all salmon and rice “gourmet” dog food, but he hates it, and waits until he’s starving to eat it. Ironically you would think that he might eat less of it, but no, he has to keep up his girth so he eats just as much, but pouts about it. So now we get him the cheapest dog food at Safeway. He loves it. LOVES. It’s like doggie crack. I haven’t figure out how to go about making him healthier in 2017—there’s the obvious answer that I could feed him the “diet” amount, but I don’t know if I can deal with the doggie begging—because he would not be down with the restrictions AT ALL. Instead I think I am going to pledge to take him out on a walk 4 days a week. I know that’s not every day, and there are dog owners cursing me right now, but 4 days a week is a solid start (and about 3 more times than he’s getting now), so give me a break.
The other person in the house who is getting a health revamp is John. Also fat and furry. Just kidding. He’s a bit furry though—thank the Italian blood in him. He is however, in all seriousness, a solid 15 lbs. heavier than he should be (and I’m probably being kind) and no one likes it (probably me more than him because men seem oblivious to the proverbial beer pooch/man-pregnancy situation). 15 lbs doesn’t sound like a lot, but you have to take into consideration overall frame—he’s not a 6’3” big build guy. His healthy weight is 15 lbs (probably 20) lower. So we have started another training routine for a 10k run on April 2. It’s a 12 week program (we did one once before), with runs three times a week AND on top of that, we are each committing to walking 10 miles during the week at some point (alone or together). Being accountable for specific goals is really important in setting up habits you’ll actually follow thru with. I have no problem exercise shaming John, and he knows it.
I’ve officially killed the Zen in my bedroom by allowing the treadmill to be set up in it. It’s an eye sore, not relaxing to look at, and takes up WAY too much room but I’m trying to be a supportive spouse and there really isn’t anywhere else convenient to put it. It has a trial 3-month membership in the bedroom, if it doesn’t perform, it’s out of here, but at least it gives us one more convenient option for getting miles in (because convenience is also an important part of habit--if something is inconvenient it's way less likely to happen.)
I’m forcing John to be super specific, both by making him do the training schedule, and on top of that forcing him to pick the days at the beginning of the week. I don’t ever exercise on the fly, I need to mentally prepare, and commit. I need to know on Sunday, exactly when I’m going to do my dreaded workouts that coming week. This is something I know about myself. I would like to be the person who has a workout that they “look forward to.” Me, not so much. If it's penciled into my calendar specifically though, I do it.
So the way I figure it, if I just actively participate in the overall health of my dog and my husband the health benefits to me by default will meet my personal health goals. Win all around. FYI, so far I’ve logged 5 miles and gone on two runs…5 more walking miles and one more run to go (I won't bore you, but I know exactly when I'm going to do it.)
I’m getting myself a little treat today too, not a reward, just a treat....because my book said I should. When I did my closet cleanout I retired my Hard Tail Plie Leggings. They were seriously faded, and I think I bought them a size bigger than I should have. I'm getting a brand spanking new pair, AND, because it's coming back in stock today, I
'm getting this Hard Tail Long Skinny Dip Horizon Tee. I've been eyeing it for a while and it's been out of stock, but it's arriving today JUST when I need a treat so it's practically a sign that it should it be mine.
Signed, ME {lv}
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