I ditched my gym membership; I just couldn't justify spending what amounted to about $6/workout. I bought a bike (this one from Walmart), I'm eating healthier, and I bought a heart rate monitor (this one from Sport Chek).
Within the past month I've spent just over $230 on "sporting goods". I've sacrificed a great balcony space for pieces of equipment that will improve my fitness and overall health.
I've also been eating healthier. This is what I made for dinner tonight:
I've been shopping the perimeter and included only fresh ingredients found on the outside aisles for this meal: tortilla with 12g of fiber (so this puppy will keep me full for while), avocado, red leaf lettuce, cucumber, shredded carrots, grilled onions, red/green peppers, mushrooms - cooked in EVOO. Alongside a big glass of water. I did cheat and use 1 tbsp of store bought salad dressing. For any fellow calorie-trackers....only 395 calories for both the wrap and salad!!
Back to finances....Since I started eating healthier I've actually spent less on groceries. I've been budgeting $240/month on groceries and I've been able to stick to it. My fridge is always stocked with healthy foods and my freezer is full of ready-to-reheat-at-work for balanced lunches.
While getting into smaller clothes (I'm down from a 16 to a snug 13) might be a budget booster for most people, I have been a smaller person - a 10 is the lowest I've been as an adult out of school. I literally have an entire suitcase and 1 dresser drawer worth of clothes sized 10 and 12. I know, not practical to store and move a wardrobe worth of clothes I don't fit into across the province, but I knew that I'd get down to a comfortable weight at some point.
Thank you again to all PF bloggers on twitter using #pfworkout. When I check twitter every morning and see the hard work everyone is doing -- while I was getting up at my usual 7am -- it's an incredible motivator!!
Congrats to you! I think I'm going to have to join in on this pfworkout idea. I have a contract with my gym through the summer, but I'm thinking of switching to a contract-free gym for the winter and then dropping it entirely after that. Are you vegetarian? We try to go meatless as much as we can, but I'm finding that it's hard to stay really healthy when we drop the meat.
ReplyDelete(And FWIW, I also have a lot of my favorite clothes from my smaller size!)
@destinationdeclutter - I had a look over your posts....I have a tendancy to hoard (hello, entire wardrobe for 3 sizes) so I'm loving your blog!
ReplyDeleteI've also always wanted to be a runner. I did the C25K program a couple of years ago and made it to about week 4, then quit because I didn't think I could do anymore.
Do you live in Ottawa? We can train together ;)
Definitely don't live in Ottawa, but we could still do it together :) We'll need to start next week though, as I can only wear backless shoes due to a wicked blister I managed to get while wearing my "cute" shoes the other day. Dang vanity!
ReplyDeleteI'm in!! How about Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday (weather permitting - no running in the rain, I'm too clumsy)?
ReplyDeleteAll I want to say here is... GO YOU! We've already talked about how delicious that meal looks but it's so exciting to read how motivated you are in all areas of health and fitness. I feel like I haven't been eating that well lately and have started looking back at what I was eating in March that helped me lose 8 lbs. in one month, lol. I need that to happen again! PS, congrats on squeezing into 13's. I went from a 16 down to a 14. They are still comfortable but I want to be a 12 by July 1!
ReplyDeleteGah, wordpress/blogger isn't letting me post, but I'm down for Tu/Th/S for running. AWESOME!!
ReplyDelete