Changing Locations, Changing Myself

So it's back to school time, and that applies to me as well. That's right- Senior year of college! I'm not exactly thrilled about the lack of summer, or the excessive studying/senior project that I am about to be doing..BUT I am excited to be back in the gym. I LOVE the gym. It's so easy and not 5,000 degrees. It's right next to my dorm and already in my fees.

Monday, I knew I needed to wake up early (in order to get into a morning routine) and go work out. That Monday was crucial to getting back into the groove of things. And it worked out perfect. I got up, put on my new running clothes, and headed out the door. I went in, grabbed a fitness class schedule, and studied it as I ran/pushed/hammered down on the elliptical. I took it easy the first day. Mainly because I went in without a fixed plan of what to do. Next time I'll have a HIIT workout ready for the elliptical. HIIT being High Intensity Interval Training, where I will basically be switching up the inclines and resistance every few minutes so my body doesn't get bored or used to what is going on.


This is an example of a HIIT program, and I am about to bust this bad boy out come Friday morning! Here's a link to see it bigger if you aren't able to see the information



The shirt (from Old Navy, clearance) says "Run to Live, Live to Run" --How Fitting ;) Here's the link to the plus size v-neck version of this here, it's on sale for $12, so I had to let y'all know haha

Because I'm living in the dorms, I am close to my cousin Robyn, and we decided to become running buddies on Tuesday and Thursdays early in the morning. By early, I mean like 5:30 - crazy, I know. So this morning, I jumped right back out of bed and walked outside to get into her car and drive to this trail thing that is real popular at the school (yet I have no clue where it is). However, from my lack of running the past 2 weeks, I forgot that it was still pitch dark at that hour. So instead we ran around campus in the soft glow of lampposts. It was amazing though, because we did C25K week 4, day 1. Which, like I previously mentioned, I haven't been running so this should have been week 6, but I honestly don't care because no time like the present lol. I ran 5 minutes straight for possible the first time in my life. In fact, the first 5 minute set went by incredibly easy. And this was all without an iPod and talking! With all the running intervals we totaled 16 minutes and we never quit. I was really proud of us, and I couldn't believe we never stopped. There at the end those 5 minutes were ridiculous!! I'm pretty pumped to do it again Thursday. I'll have to be thinking of other safe places to run in the meantime.

I love wearing these hats from Old Navy to run in!

Also, as far as eating, I have been amazing! Props to me. I went out and stocked my fridge in the dorm with nothing but fruits, veggies, meat, and a thing of skim milk. I've been doing the MyPlate thing (see post here) and it's all worked out. I also did not buy any cereal, I switched my bread to Nature's Own Whole Wheat, and I got healthy snacks (fiber one brownie, quaker oats rice cake minis, and whole grain popcorn). I felt really proud of my decisions. 



Also, does anything know anything about deli meats vs pre-packaged meats? I've read that pre-packaged isn't very good for you, and I'd be fine switching to deli, but I don't know much about it. Comments appreciated!