According to my fitness plan I am using to help whip me into shape for this half marathon, today is supposed to be a low impact workout like swimming or biking. Well here is the dilemma, since I own a treadmill I do not own a gym membership (this was part of the justification of the purchase last December) so I do not have access to a pool. Also, I am not really the mountain biking type nor will you see me in uber tight spandex cycling. Even though I plan to purchase a spin bike within the next few months I do not own one right now.
So, I decided to take Chloe Mae (yes, she has a double name) on a short walk and then do a little POP Pilates workout DVD at home. Not only have I been starting to set my alarm clock for 7:00 am but I have actually been able to manage to get out of bed at that time too. The whole thing has been insane, I mean honestly who would have thought that getting up early would make you feel productive and not like the biggest sloth/slug ever. Well, here we are...at...wait for it...7:15 am about to take a tour of the neighborhood. And yes I realize I said we but it is just my squirt, there is no way ya'll get the chance to see me fresh out of bed. Even Chloe looks a wee bit tired.
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| Chloe is sleepy but ready to walk |
After our walk around the neighborhood it was time for business aka time to actually workout. I have not had much experience with pilates but ever since I downloaded this video I have been hooked. You know how some instructors can be ridiculous over a video like over enthusiastic when you are in total pain, yeah she is not like that at all. She is just the right amount of happiness and she also does a very good job explaining everything so you can be certain you are doing it right and in the correct form. This POP Pilates video is targeted for beginners because she really explains all about lateral breathing and some of the key movements like pilates stance, the hundred, and others. If you are not very familiar with pilates or are looking for something different I encourage you to try it. I find pilates to be a silent killer of sorts because when you start doing it you will catch yourself saying things like, "How bad can this be when you are laying down?" or maybe even "Oh please isn't this kinda like yoga?". Once you are doing the moves you will know what I am talking about because everything is about strength and body control so you may not be dripping sweat afterwards but you are sure to work your body in a completely new way.
Check out Cassey and POP Pilates!
Since I have started this whole self improvement kick I have decided to really really work on my budget. Relatively speaking I do not have a stack of bills or student loans to polish off but I do have a teensy little sum of credit card debt that I would like to take care of. I say teensy because we are literally talking that, very small. I have also decided that my using www.mint.com has become more hassle than it is worth because my accounts keep not wanting to link up due to security interference. So here we are in the 21st century and I am counting my money like it is 1942, on paper on my refrigerator. I do not have any cold hard cash in the freezer though. I will be marking any money spent on a calendar on the day it was spent in hopes to physically see where my money is and when it left my bank account.
Cash is sometimes harder to spend, but now a debit or credit card that spends easy because you are not physically sacrificing anything out of your pocketbook. Here is my system. As you can see I have a sheet stating my estimated budget for purchases or bills, calendar, and then at the bottom another sheet which shows weeks in the month and purchases based on category. This bottom chart will help me see how much I am spending on certain categories on a weekly basis. I found this website via Pinterest and that is where the printables came from:
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| My refrigerator chalk full of budget sheets |
I will warn you that some things on this website are teacher cutesy, but I promise the budget sheets are not too bad. Not to mention if you like that sorta thing you will be able to print out paper dolls and stuff to organize your whole house.
And if you look closely in the picture you will see dancing candy corn in costumes on the calendar and a couple pictures of me and my sister, Blaine.
So here's to health and money. May your waist be skinny with healthy work and may your wallet be fat by abstaining from beautiful leather high heels and gorgeous riding boots. Dry your tears, you can do it!
Love,
Alaina M.
