Motivation « Covet Living

via Chapman Interiors

My resolutions have been dancing around in my head for weeks, but I haven’t been ready to say them out loud just yet… because saying them out loud makes them REAL. And maybe I needed extra time to think. Or just one more solid week to eat inordinate amounts of oatmeal cookies and pasta. Whoops.

oatmeal, chocolate chip and pecan cookies via smitten kitchen

arugula ravioli via smitten kitchen

Here goes…

1. Eating Clean(er) and Getting Back to Spartan Shape. This means more gym & more veggies / less beer & tater tots… and every evening, doing a little thing I like to call my superpower secret weapon – my Jane Fonda ab video, ca. 1984. On VHS. I’m going to be (holy pajamas) 30 in March, and I’d like to look something like this by then:

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Alright, let’s get serious. My waist wasn’t that small when I was 4. But for real, it’s about 12 past time to get a bit healthier. Not only for vanity’s sake, but because sweating it out every day improves my quality of life in E-V-E-R-Y possible way. YAHTZEE!

2. Less Facebook. More REAL Books.

via isuwannee

I am a Facebooking FOOL. #1 – because I have the cutest little nieces and nephews EVER, and feel it is my solemn duty as their Aunt Stephie to keep up with them.

#2 – because social networking is a big part of blogging and growing your business. #3 – because when all that’s done, it always seems like a good idea to see wassup with the girl I sat next to in the 2nd grade or, ye know, whether or not my ex-boyfriend got fat. Stuff like that that makes me lose brain cells. Plus, I love to read – why don’t I do it more often? Goal = one book per month. Currently reading this (…so original, right? Eh, I had to see what all the fuss was about):

3. Re-Master French.

via la dolce vita

Remember the time I studied French in college, tutored other French majors/minors, was near-fluent, then lost it all when I didn’t use it for 7 years? Sacré bleu! Thank heavens for Rosetta Stone. I’m on that like white on rice. Starting with 30 minutes per day. Je don’t mind if I do.

4. Stop Texting and Driving. Coincidentally, I’m typing this as I finish my online “Traffic Safety School” course – a mandatory torture device from the time I turned left when there was a ‘No Left Turn’ sign posted. Oosie. (In my defense, it was dark, raining, and totally inconspicuous.) But texting and driving – even though I can text with one hand without looking – is my WORST bad habit. Oprah would be so disappointed in me.

via msnbc.com

UPDATE: I just received the email below from my grandparents. If it’s not the cutest thing I’ve ever seen, then I dunno what is…

“Dear Steph: I have been watching the TV and they have told how many people have been killed because they drive and text. I hope that you will WAIT until you are not driving to text. It just takes a minute off the road to wreck and your life is much more important than texting. So please WAIT to text. You are too precious to lose your life because you texted and drove. Don’t mean to boss you but you are everything to us and we certainly don’t want anything to happen to you.

Hope you are getting along O.K. and keeping warm. Give my great grandpuppy a hug for me. Hope to see you before too long. It’s freezing here. Brrrrr.

Love and Kisses,
Granny and Old Ugly”

5. Organize My Universe. This entails a slew of different things, including: Cleaning out closets…

Jenna Lyons’ House. Swoon.

Finishing the oodles of design / artwork / furniture restoration projects currently underway…

Finding a better way than a check register to keep track of finances. Perhaps I should get on board with the 21st century. Suggestions on what works well are appreciated.

Cataloging the bajillions of design magazines and torn-out articles into neat little binders for clients (and for my own sanity), and shelving/recycling the rest.

Wouldn’t this be nice?

Going to the family doctor I don’t have to get a full physical, since that hasn’t happened in 12 years. Whoops.

from normal rockwell’s collection

Streamlining my daily routine, so I don’t feel like this:

via lesueur interiors

Writing in a journal at night – something I always forget to do, but think is excellent for your mental well-being. There’s something about the transference of your thoughts and worries onto a piece of paper that seems to lighten the load, or help you work through things that might be all jumbled in your head. And that also helps you to remember and celebrate the small triumphs of the day… though I guess we all spout those as our Facebook status updates these days.

via by nature

The thing about goals & resolutions – for me at least – is that I can’t just say it and cross my fingers it comes to fruition, I have to chart HOW I plan on doing it. Ever heard the expression, “When you fail to plan, you plan to fail?” Truer words were never spoken. When I have a lofty goal – or if something seems insurmountable – it helps me to chart it out day-by-day, or week-by-week, and break it down into baby steps so it’s not so overwhelming. And if I know what I need to have accomplished by the end of each week, then I’m cognizant of that in the decisions I make every single day. My college volleyball coach (what up, Sher-Bear?) used to always say that you have to get better EVERY day in the gym. I’m no expert, but it seems to me that the same probably goes for most things in life. So when I lay my froey little head down at night, I want to know that I did something to help somebody… soaked up some knowledge… had a few laughs… accomplished something, however small… and maybe hauled a little ass on the treadmill that day. Stuff like that.

What are YOUR resolutions? Do you have a trick for keeping them?

xoxo,

Yowza. Mama’s let herself go a little lately, and I don’t just mean for Thanksgiving. Not sure if it’s the cold that makes me want to eat comfort food that sticks to my ribs whilst I’m wrapped in a Snuggie, or if it’s just one of my boycott working out phases, but dang. It’s time to resurrect my old friendship with the treadmill again, before I up & bust a seam in my pants… or sprout a muffin top. Because there are fun, sparkly Christmas & New Years get-ups I’d like to wiggle into. Plus, I realize winter’s right around the corner, but I’m not a polar bear, and I’m not heading into hibernation, so this extra layer of goop on my person is just not necessary. I’ve been eating a lot of this lately:

…and not working out. And as a result of which, this is actually what I feel like on the inside:

Buzz, your GIRL-friend… WUF!

Here’s the thing: I’m still a size 6. From the outside, it doesn’t look like much has changed, cuz I’m tall and it’s all spread out. But in reality, I’m 15 pounds heavier than someone my height should be. That takes a serious toll on your joints, holmes. And since I had my blood pressure, BMI (body mass index) and all kinds of other things checked recently, I know that my innards and my heart aren’t as healthy as they have been in the past, or should be. I also know that my “easy workout” was a real grind this week, so getting my a$$ back in shape is as much about staying strong and healthy as it is about looking good in my jeans.

With that said, here are some of my favorite Superwoman Songs that always get me movin (Parental Discretion Advised):

1. Bad – U2: This one’s pretty mellow but with a good beat that kicks up as it chugs along, like it’s climbing stairs or something. I like it as a warm-up. It makes me think I’m running on a long, country road at sunrise.

2. Smoke Weed Everyday – Snoop Dogg ft. Dr. Dre: First of all, I do not puff the cheeba, and I’m not tellin you do it either… but this jam chills hard, kind of quietly kick ass, and makes me run faster. It reminds me of warming up for college volleyball matches, so sometimes I throw a few air punches on the treadmill with a scary scowl on my face. Rawr.

3. Lose Yourself – Eninem: What up, epic SoCon Championship Match 2002? This bomb diggity ditty was blaring in my Discman all weekend during the conference tournament my senior season of college volleyball. The same tune that inspired me to ping balls on the 10-ft line then is like the wind at my back on a treadmill now. PS: Smell ya, Georgia Southern.

4. Good Vibrations – Marky Mark & the Funky Bunch: …You heard me.

5. Teddybears – Cobrastyle: Pretty peppy with a fun beat and indiscernible lyrics. It makes me feel like I just drank Gummi Berry juice.

6. Kids – MGMT: Not only does this song make me want to run, it also makes me want to jump up and down, dance, and run around in circles. And scream and bang on pots & stuff.

7. Holding Out For A Hero – Bonnie Tyler: Listening to this song makes me feel like I just strapped a CO2 cartridge on my back. I could literally barrel down the treadmill at full speed for an hour with this on repeat… while air boxing. I usually put it at the beginning of my climb / uphill sprint, because if feels impossible for me to get tired while I’m listening to it.

8. Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! – ABBA: I get REAL excited at right about the 1:04 minute mark when the chorus is about to kick in. This song is so perky that it helps me sustain a good, long stride during my “sprint.”

9. Maneater – Nelly Furtado: If I ever thought about hacking up a lung or heaving, this one with its killer beat keeps me trucking.

10. Let It Rock – Kevin Rudolf & Lil Wayne: Makes me want to sprint 1,000 miles and box someone in the face at the end.

11. Poker Face – Lady Gaga: I get it. It’s passé. Over for the rest of the universe. It’s still hangin’ tough for me though. It’s like someone just lit a fire underneath my painted-on little spandex shorts.