July 1 Goal: Learn Guitar

Quickly going to apologize that I haven't posted my third month goal, I've been super busy and short on time and I really don't want to write it after a long day where It'll be sloppy and short, I want to take my time and explain my reasoning for every goal. On the flip side though I am not starting my goals on the first day and I feel like I am cheating myself, so starting after this month I will be completing and starting every goal when I said I'm going to - at the beginning of the month and at the very end!

I love music. I honestly wish my life had a soundtrack for everything I did. Whenever I find myself in a certain feeling of emotions there is always certain songs I can relate to and will play repeatedly. There has always been a tinge of jealousy in my body when people have great singing voices, where I on the other hand sound like a dog with a shock collar on still trying to bark. (Great example, I know) But there is something I can do that is still musical, and that is teach myself how to play an instrument.
When I was eight years old I used to play piano, I was very good but my heart wasn't in it, when you're young you don't really know what you want and I was in it because my mother wanted me to and thought I enjoyed it, but when I would go to my lessons I would fool around and slack, I would despise going home to practice and when you are naturally good you're teacher pushes you to play more classical when you would rather just play itsy bitsy spider, you know this isn't something you should be doing. I would win first place talent shows even but there was no pure desire. At nineteen I wish I had stuck in piano and just sucked it up for a little while longer because now I would do anything to be able to still play how I used to. Luckily I still remember how to play notes and understand chords so I thought to myself, why not try a different instrument? Ergo, guitar. My father had an old acoustic guitar he never played and he gave it to me. I haven't really touched it since he's given it to me because there was just no desire to teach myself nor did I have the time. So I think now is the perfect time to make this my goal.

I've decided I will teach myself all the notes and chords, learn some basic strumming and then focus on learning one song to perform at the end of my blog (The song choice I will leave as a surprise for the end of the month!) I am going in with a bit of an advantage having piano under my belt and my father teaching me the basic strums of Smoke on the Water by Deep Purple.
Wish me luck and if you or you know anyone who does play the guitar and could give me a few pointers on what I am getting myself into, that'd be fantastic.

Fighting!
Savi

Here is my beaut of a guitar! She's tuned and ready to be played.



June 30: Be Healthy - COMPLETE!

My second goal is done and I feel amazing.

One word I'd use for this months goal is, determination. If you want to work out you really have to be determined because it takes time out of your day and you are constantly pushing yourself for the whole time you are there. Not only is the actual work out hard but eating properly is a task on it's own.

What I think of being healthy; It's a difficult task to keep up but you have to just stick to it. I will admit I am a hypocrite, I thought I would prefer running outside and that being majority of my workout but a friend of mine got me a free month pass at his gym so I decided to give it a shot...and I ended up loving it. When I do work out at the gym there is a little bit of pressure around you from the other people working out but if you just focus on yourself and get into it you realize none of them matter, they're there to do their own workout and you're there to do yours. I was quite naive to think that cardio would be the only thing I'd have to do. My friends showed me a good work out for what would work for me and would help me what I want to achieve. I would go everyday after work around seven for an hour, plug my ipod in and run my bottom off to aggressive music like Foo Fighters, Coheed and Cambria, and My Chemical Romance.
While changing my food diet, eating healthier has made me become more aware of what I am putting in my body. When you really take the time to look at what ingredients and calories are in the food you realize that, that moment of something full of sugar that gives it that rich taste is going to have a huge downfall on your body and make you crash easily.
Be Careful. STOP if something feels wrong! Sadly during my work out experience I started to feel an uncomfortable pain in my knee after I would run which would leave me limping afterwards and almost unbearable to walk on. I had developed something called "Runners Knee" (Patellofemoral Pain). The cartilage in my knee was starting to wear and it could be very dangerous and result in having to get surgery. I was ignoring it at first and trying to walk it off until it got more serious and started to effect my walking day after day, so I've had to take care of it so it can heal properly by wearing a knee brace, not running on the treadmill but going light on the elliptical and bike and icing it after every work out. Don't be silly like me and if something is feeling wrong with your body while you work out, find out immediately, don't wait around until it gets worse deal with it before you keep going so you can prevent it from getting worse! 

None of this was easy, it was something I definitely underestimated. But the reward was always amazing, you feel so refreshed after pushing your body and in a few days you feel as if you can push just a little bit more.
If you've been wanting to start working out, what have you been waiting for? If you're unhappy with your weight or you just want to get toned - like me - you just have to tell yourself you can do it. In the next day just go to the gym, pay for a monthly pass so it forces you to go or ask them for a free week trial so you can see if you feel comfortable. Trainers are always available to help you out or just ask someone who goes frequently that knows what they are doing. The best feeling is sticking to what you tell yourself and actually accomplished it. With every goal I do and complete I feel so achieved and have more belief in myself, there's nothing more rewarding I find then doing what you want.

Just because this goal is over doesn't mean I am going to stop. I have learned a lot about my own health and will continue going to the gym to get my body where I want it to be, but also I will be continuing onto my next goal! Which I will be posting about tomorrow. Thanks everyone who continues to look at my blog and supporting me and asking me about it through e-mail or in person, it's an amazing feeling to know there are some people I'm helping out there, seeing 750 views on this was mind blowing!

Fighting!
Savi






Here is a before and after shot of my body, so far so good it is getting there.



My workout

I start my work out with a drink of water that's mixed with something called eboost, it's full of caffeine and vitamins so it burns the good fat and gives you a great boost of energy and it's sponsored by Oprah, who doesn't love Oprah? They have three flavours but my favorite is the pink lemonade, yummy.



At the beginning of the month I would walk on incline for five minutes, run for five minutes, so on so forth for half an hour. Now on the treadmill I run for twenty five minutes straight then do a light walk for five minutes. (With my knee messed up at this time though I do the elliptical for half an hour on a medium resistance then bike for twenty minutes)
Then I do aerobics for half an hour.

I begin with squats, fifteen reps of five sets with a 24lb bar



Then I move onto abs

Eight sets - fifteen reps of sit ups with a 10lb weight

fifteen reps of bicycle movement

fifteen reps of crunches

then plank! (Which is the worst)

                                                 

                     

                   

After a tough work out it's time to flex your sick pipes in the mirror and show off your wicked bod you just worked out...Until your friend comes along and shows you up with their huge muscles...

Good Luck.