The past few weeks have really been a whirlwind in the Bibbings household. Jason and I have finally had some time to sit down and plan out some of our goals for the short-term as well as long-term. One of the most important goals is to lose some weight and get healthy. It’s definitely not easy, but totally worthwhile.

Oh, Exercise

In the end of June, we got back into the Couch-to-5k plan that we had started earlier this year before we lost a family member and began planning the wedding. We have made it through 4 whole weeks so far and I’m very pleased with the progress.

We’ve definitely come a long way and I would highly recommend the program to anyone who thinks they can’t run or hates running. I hated running when I started because it seemed so impossible. The couch-to-5k plan shifts the focus from distance to time.

We also have started to integrate strength training exercise on some of our off days from running. Some days we do circuits of workouts with dumbells, while other times we opt for yoga.

The “D” word

Though we’re not following a specific diet plan, we’re watching our food intake by counting calories. We started out using a web app called Hot Cal, but have since discovered MyFitnessPal which seems even better. I have to say, counting calories is not my thing. I hate counting calories and having to figure out exactly what is in every single thing I ingest. Thankfully, Jason doesn’t seem to mind and has been faithfully calculating our meals. It has been really eye opening to see the numbers and how having a sedentary job makes losing weight even more difficult.

The positive thing we’ve discovered is that you can eat pretty much whatever you want a couple times a week. It’s really all about balancing it out with lighter meals and/or exercise.

New Job

To go along with all the changes in our personal lives, I’ve made a change in my professional life as well. I have accepted a position with the Center for Educational Networking, which is where Jason currently works as a Web/Multimedia Specialist. Everyone we’ve told so far has been left aghast when we explain we’ll be working pretty closely together, but I’m actually not too concerned. We have always made a good team and I think we’re both professional enough to make it work.

It has been a rough year, and we’re excited to start this new chapter in our lives.