New Year's Eve

I love New Year's Eve. I think it's just the anticipation of the New Year and all the new beginnings that are possible. I know it's just another day but it represents so much more. I always make NY's Resolutions but I read on a blog the other day that the French don't call them resolutions but wishes instead ...I like that. However these are wishes that I will put energy into. 

First an ode to 2011....Top 10 List 

1. Started skookum with Court

2. Bought my first car (by myself)

3. Became a Zumba addict

4. Went to WV and saw family and had a great vacation with my mom

5. Bought a mower and mowed the yard by myself (a first)

6. Became a grill enthusiast(here's to more grill nights in 2012)

7. Had my first garage sale

8. Ran my first 5k

9. Quit 2 jobs (hopefully 3rd times a charm) 

10. Spent a lot of time with friends and made some great memories

Onto the Resolutions(wishes) ...broken out into 3 categories

Health #1 

1. Water intake (80 oz a day) I'll have to write in another post the conversation Court and I had the other day about when to drink water)

2. Exercise 4 times a week at least

3. Try new classes and keep up with the running 

4. More strength training and muscle buildup

5. Blog consistently (doesn't have to be everyday)

6. Eat mindfully

Finances #2

1. Car payments so I can payoff car in 2.5 years

2. Roth IRA

3. Only eat out once a week (this is a resolution every year but I've seen how much money I waste by eating out and it's also harder on the calories)

Spirituality/Other #3

1. Read the Bible (I'm following a guide on how to do this in a year) I feel like I've grown up in church however I am not very versed at all in the Bible. I would at least like to read it and be able to form my own opinions and know what I'm talking about when others discuss it. 

2. Attend meditation class at least once a month

3. Find a place to volunteer here in OKC 

4. Gratitude journal (already have my composition book ready to go) 

5. Go to Spain (this plan is in the works)

Prepping for the New Year

Well I'm about to head out to Walmart to get groceries so I can start out really well tomorrow! I don't think I've ever been more excited or enthusiastic about getting back on track. I'll probably regret those words, as well as my decision to go to Walmart here as soon as I get to that awful place...

Hope you have a fabulous New Year's Eve!!

New Stuff for the New Year!

Well, I've been working on some fun stuff and thought I'd share it!  I've created a weekly workout sheet you can either print or fill in on the computer.  I got the idea from the meal planner that I downloaded (which I've also included).  I'm excited!!



Weekly Workout Planner (PDF)

Weekly Workout Planner (xlsx)

Weekly Meal Planner (PDF)


Hope they are helpful to you as well!

Wednesday 12/14/11

Wow, it feels amazing outside!  Like Spring!  Now if it would only stop raining.

Breakfast: blackberries and yogurt, coffee
Lunch: Kilkenny's with a friend--going to get 1/2 a sandwich and a salad
Dinner: ribs, salad, mashed cauliflower
Activity: treadmill for an episode of Sons of Anarchy= -400 (only watched half an episode)
So Monday I sat down and got most of my Christmas shopping done, which is a huge relief!  Only thing left to do is to finish making Mom's and go pick out the thing we are getting dad.  And to wrap everything too.

Tuesday 12/13/11

Breakfast: oatmeal with apples and walnuts
Snack: 1/2 an apple
Lunch: turkey sandwich on wheat, baby carrots, baked cheetos
Snack: 2 snackwells cookies
Dinner: small bowl of chicken and noodles
Snack: oatmeal


I seriously want the rest of James' birthday cake for dinner.....especially since he already said "no" to IHOP for dinner...I wanted waffles!

At least I passed up the cookies, and candied pretzels AND fudge that were thrown at me today!

Tuesday 12/13

Breakfast : Strawberry poptarts

Lunch: lean cuisine meal

Dinner: leftover spaghetti

Activity: Zumba

I made need an intervention.

Monday 12/12/11

• Breakfast: 1 cup blackberries, 1 serving of icelandic yogurt, coffee with 0.6 oz half and half=166 kcal
• Lunch: 6 slices turkey bacon, 1 cup acorn squash, 0.2oz butter, 1/2 an apple, 1/2 clementine=303 kcal
• Snack: 1.5 clementines= 52kcal
• Dinner:  baked BBQ chicken leg, green beans, acorn squash with 0.2 oz butter=410kcal
• Snack:  2/3 an apple with whipped PB, sugar free mint patty=245kcal
• Activity:  treadmill for episode 1 of Sons of Anarchy=750kcal
• Total calories= 1176 kcal 

Well this weekend was full of indulgences! Cake, ice cream, eating out, cookies!  It was good and fun, but I feel like crap (as always).  Today I am getting back on the exercise wagon!  I'm excited!

Monday 12/12

Breakfast: oatmeal

Lunch: Soup

Dinner: White chili? I need to go to the grocery store bad!

Activity: Gym

I've made out a list of the things I need to do this week but I have a new rule that before I do any of my Christmas fun stuff I Have to go to the gym for at least 30 minutes.

Friday 12/9

Breakfast: Oatmeal

Snack: Yogurt

Lunch: Lean cuisine dinner & cookie

Dinner: with you!

So excited about today!! Can 2:00 hurry up?!?

Friday

Breakfast: sugar free oatmeal with 1/2 an apple and 0.7oz walnuts added, coffee
Lunch:
Dinner: Kilkenny's
Snack:

Found this link on Pinterest:  http://tumblrgym.tumblr.com/zumba

If you click on the menu on the right, you'll find all kinds of cool workout videos, inclusing p90x, Insanity, Zumba, etc....

Thursday 12/8

Breakfast: Oatmeal

Snack: Chobani 2% Pineapple yogurt

Lunch: Mom's leftover casserole or leftover chili

Dinner: Whatever I didn't eat at lunch, haha

Activity: Zumba or gym. I need to get some shopping done today for Brad and for Christmas in general. I am way behind!

Thursday

Breakfast:  acorn squash, turkey bacon
Lunch:  ham, acorn squash, tomatoes, 1/2 an apple
Dinner: quesadilla with sour cream, apple cider
Snack: 1/2 apple, clementine

I think I need to get more protein in.  I've been really hungry lately.  It's probably also all of the sweets I've been eating making me want more sweets.

Wednesday 12/7

Breakfast: oatmeal

Lunch: healthy choice dinner

Dinner: mom and dad are bringing food!

No activity since the parents will be in town.

Motivation is lacking over. I did force myself out in the cold last night to go to zumba but that also means that I felt I needed to because they brought in Gigi's cupcakes for us yesterday and you better believe I had one. I did pretty well on everything else so I told myself that zumba cancelled out the cupcake (yeah, right) but I can still think it right?

Are we still on for Friday??? I hope so!

Wednesday

OK, ENOUGH.  NO MORE COOKIES, DONUTS, CAKE, CANDY, ETC WHILE AT THE HOSPITAL!!!  STOP TELLING YOURSELF, "BUT IT'S FREE!?"  IT'S NOT FREE, IT COST A BAZILLION CALORIES!!

Breakfast: sugar free instant oatmeal with 1/2 a chopped apple added, coffee
Lunch:  1c. spaghetti noodles, 1/2c. sauce
Snack:  apparently I SUCK ASS at saying no to cookies--1.5 cookies
Dinner: ham and cheese quesadilla with sour cream, cherry tomatoes, 1/2 an apple, clementine orange


Why can't I say no to cookies?  I love sweets waaaay too much I think.  Especially if they're free and everyone else is eating them.  Or if I'm bored.

Friday 12/2

Okay. I'd like to start December over. haha Last night I made a bad decision. After a good day of eating (even at dinner because we went to Cool Greens) I was still hungry and really wanted a cupcake which in hindsight I should have just went and bought. However, I thought about making cookies so I went to Wal-Mart and bought the already made cookie dough and came home. My thought was I could eat 2 cookies with skim milk and take the rest to work and it would actually be cheaper than driving all the way over to Cuppies & Joe and buying a cupcake. So I put the cookies in the oven, washed dishes and then when that was done they were ready to eat. Needless to say I ate WAY MORE than 2 cookies. I did bring the rest into work this morning but I feel gross today. My scale was even up 2.5 pounds this morning but I'm sure part of that has to do with the fact that not only did I eat a ton of cookies and milk last night but I did it at like 10. Bad decision all around. Next time I will either just go and buy the cupcake or make a smarter decision than making 2 dozen cookies.

Back on track today!

Breakfast: Apple cinnamon breakfast bar

Lunch: Soup & Crackers

Dinner: Home w/the fam (mom said she was making a casserole)

Activity: I'm going to try and hit the gym for an hour before I head to Perkins

Thursday December 1st!

I'm so glad Brad is in recovery. I heard it's going to be a very long process but it looks like he will make a full recovery. So relieved! I think I'll wait until he feels better to go visit. The message I got said he's still very sick so I doubt he's up for a lot of visitors right now. This thing sure has put everything into perspective. I get so worried about money and jobs and what people are going to think about every thing I do but then something like this happens and you just sit back and think the only thing that matters is the people in your life that you care about. All this other stuff is just stuff.

I was praying before I went to sleep last night about everything in my life that I'm so thankful for and somedays I forget to include health in that. We are so lucky to be young and healthy and able to make healthy choices (even if that means sometimes we don't). We have that ability and the means to do so. We have legs to run with and healthy hearts and arms that can lift weights even if they get sore afterwards. Sometimes as I'm running I will think about dad and how I shouldn't take for granted that I'm able to run...even if I may not love it. Why take the body we were given for granted? It makes weight seem so insignificant when you look at the whole picture. I'm sure you think about this everyday since this is your chosen path. It's crazy how sometimes I forget how lucky we all are.

I feel even more like December goals are in order. Here's to making health something that I'm more aware of everyday!

1. Workout at least 4 times a week. I have made a schedule that I will post.

2. Get more sleep. Need to start going to bed at a consistent time. 11:00 will be my absolute latest.

3. Track my food consistently. (Other than Christmas Eve and Christmas day)

4. No eating out/Starbucks for the month except for planned events with friends.

5. Limit processed food. I'm trying to make my daily percentages for fat/protein/carbs a little more balanced. I'm shooting for less than 60% carbs, At least 25% protein and the rest fat. This is at least something to keep in mind. I need to eat more fruits/veggies. I've gotten away from that since it's no longer summer but there are still so many different options for fruits/veggies that I need to take advantage of.

6. Make 2 new holiday recipes.

7. No buying for myself for the rest of this month. Tis the season for others!

Breakfast: Oatmeal

Snack: Peach greek yogurt

Lunch: soup w/crackers

Dinner: out w/Sarah. We are having a girls night.

No activity for today

Wednesday 11/30

Well it's already the last day of November. Man, that flew by. Time to see how I did on my goals.

November Goals:

1. Track every day (except Thanksgiving...let's be real. That will not be happening) I did really well for the first 2 weeks and then I backed off (right after church Thanksgiving, go figure)

2. Work out at least 4 times a week I worked out 4 times a week until the week of Thanksgiving. See a trend developing.

3. Make a weekly meal plan and only eat out twice a week (this will help with food and money budget) I didn't do well on meal plans except that first week but I have cut my eating out down quite a bit. I would like to see that pattern continue

4. Try 2 new zumba classes at different YMCA's (I'll look up the schedule later this am) I only tried 1 new zumba class but I tried kardio kick and loved it so I hope to get to keep doing that!

5. Re-join Weight Watchers. I think this will help me get to my weight goal. Opted to not do this so this goal should be removed.

6. Make a money budget and stick to it for the rest of the year. I did create a newly renovated budget and have been sticking to it. My savings goal for the year I think will be met. It's a little harder to track now because of the car but I was mainly saving for a down payment so I'm still good with that. Now it's time to look to 2012 for a new savings goal and to make sure to not blow my Christmas budget.


7. Go get my annual physical Did it and feel so much better now!

Well  over all I don't feel too bad about how November went. I'm down about 1.5 pounds and considering Thanksgiving and everything I Feel really good about that. I'm excited to make December goals!


Breakfast: Oatmeal

Snack: Blueberry Greek yogurt

Lunch: Soup w/crackers

Dinner: veggies & pizza

Snack: Cocoa

Activity: YMCA zumba

Tuesday 11/29

Breakfast: coffee with cream, sugar free oatmeal
Snack: mac and cheese
Lunch: small ham/cheese/tomato wrap, 1/2 an apple,  acorn squash
Dinner:  mini mushroom meatloafs, spaghetti squash
Snack: apple cider


I will be making homemade apple cider again this afternoon!  I'm so excited!  It makes the house smell amazing and tastes SO GOOD.  And it's not bad for you either--I use splenda to sweeten it.  


Also, my first attempt at a Bento lunch:

Turkey wrap, apple slices, cherry tomatoes, and acorn squash!  I love this!  It really encourages me to get a variety of veggies!

Tuesday 11/29

Breakfast: Oatmeal

Snack: Greek yogurt

Lunch: soup and crackers

Snack: Peanut butter bar 

Dinner: frozen veggies & lean cuisine pizza

Snack: cocoa w/mini marshmallows (not super good for you but not that bad either and it tastes like christmas in a cup) 

Activity: Zumba (hr avg = 167, high 186)

I think I may be getting sick. My throat is getting itchy and I'm developing a cough. Stay away sickness!!!

Monday 11/28

Aww, poor Lizzy!!!  :(  Hope she's better soon, poor thing.

What kind of cars are you looking at?  I know that car buying can definitely be stressful!  But new cars are always fun, haha!

I haven't finished decorating either.  It is a mess in here with all of the boxes out too.

I'm going to start back tracking hardcore again tomorrow.  I didn't have groceries (our fridge looked really sad) until this afternoon, so I will be back on track now.

Breakfast: apple, coffee
Lunch: crispy chicken sandwich from Wendy's, a few fries (they were gross and I trashed them).
Snack: PB&J on low-carb tortilla
Dinner: making stew right now!  I subbed butternut squash for potatoes, and am pretty excited!   So apparently subbing "HOT" rotel is not a good idea for just adding more flavor....the stew is so spicy I can't eat it.....on to plan B.....


I am really thinking about getting these lunch sets so I can start doing this!!  I feel much more satisfied when I have a wide variety of small things like this!  http://easylunchboxes.smugmug.com/The-Best-Lunchbox-System/Yummy-Lunch-Ideas/10136835_YSuyb#696914291_YxmUd

Monday 11/28

Breakfast: Oatmeal

Snack: Yogurt

Lunch: Soup

Dinner:Broccoli & cheese, lean cuisine pizza

Activity: Nope....didn't get Lizzie back til 6:05. No time for kickboxing. I will go Wednesday!

Feeling a little overwhelmed. I had to take Liz to the vet because she's sick and has abscesses on her head (from a fight) so I feel stressed that she is there and scared to death. I'm starting to look at new cars so I have called around this morning so that's weighing on me and now back from a 5 day break to a desk of work (well it may not have that much work on it). I just feel out of sorts.

I still haven't finished decorating for Christmas. I'm just starting to feel behind. I'm going to create a to-do list at lunch so I can feel a  little more in control.

So I bought a car!!! Woohoo! A 2011 Nissan Juke. I am in love with it! 

I'm wiped. Lizzie has 2 huge spots on her face wide open. I think she's already feeling better. I may run over that other cat that scratched her and caused her all this pain.

Today's food wasn't so bad. Pretty much prepackaged but most of it was healthy. Ready to get back to a routine tomorrow. Today was crazy.

Saturday 11/26

Hello! I'm glad you're back. I want to hear all about your travels. Seriously, we need to get together asap!

I was reading on beth's journey yesterday and the best thing I read was "Today is a new day". Amen sister. I don't believe in counting calories on holidays. However, I could have done a much better job at counting calories and working out the week up to the holidays. Oh well, no guilt and moving on. Ready to get right back to my routine.

I'm heading home today to get chores done and all my holiday decorating finished up. Today is also small business Saturday so I feel it's my duty to support some of the city businesses and hopefully get some Christmas shopping done.

Back to tracking. 4 weeks til Christmas and I would love to make that a very healthy 4 weeks. I'm going to make another workout schedule. It worked out really well for November (well, until this week). I'm also going to do weekly menus. This seems to be something that really helps me out.

Just reconciled my bank account. No more starbucks until at least 2012. Such a waste of money and I just calculated how many I've had in the past month. Nutso! Now, after typing that I realized I should just categorize no more eating fast food period. Usually I don't count Starbucks but now I will. No more fast food of any kind for the rest of the year!

I'm thinking maybe we could do some sort of holiday challenge. What do you think?

Breakfast:cottage cheese & pineapple (the cottage cheese didn't taste very good so I didnt eat much of it)

Snack: Oatmeal

Lunch:Polenta w/pizza sauce

Dinner:

Activity: gym time

Wednesday

I'm back!
This past week was a long one, and I am very thankful that it is over!!!
The interviews all went well though, and it was fun to get to see some new places.  Kansas City is so fun and Omaha is surprisingly pretty (although it was really cold up there!!).

I'm super excited to get a full thanksgiving break!!

Breakfast: pumpkin spice coffee with cream (YUM, so glad they make this for the kurig!), icelandic yogurt with blackberries.

Saturday 11/19

Breakfast: Venti nonfat chai from Starbucks. (my travel drink)

Lunch: ???

Dinner: Thanksgiving at Church

Activity: Running around Boomer

Today is one of my favorite days of the whole year. I love this Thanksgiving at our Church. Seeing my whole church family and getting to deliver meals to those that can't attend around the community. I love every single thing about it. I think it also reminds me of granny and grandpa too so that makes it really special. It's at this time of the year that I really start missing granny more than usual. I'm just happy I have so many memories of them especially around the holidays. I hope that some day I get to pass those down.

I hope you are enjoying your re-energizing day at home. I've been thinking about you and all your traveling and interviewing. I hope it's going great!!!!

Friday 11/18

Snack: cheese & pita chips

Lunch: Schlotsky's turkey sandwich & baked chips

Dinner: ???

Sorry for not updating sooner. Wednesday was Junior Achievement so we went to an elementary school and taught all day and then I went to YMCA for zumba class and was so tired I just passed out when I got home.

Thursday I actually had a lot of work to do and left early so I could meet Sarah at Harkins Theater for Twilight Marathon. 10 hours of sitting in a theater but it was so worth it!

I took today off to take Lizzie to the vet to get her shots. She is not a happy camper and I am definitely not her favorite person right now. I came home and cleaned the house and did some laundry. I'm thinking about baking a pie later for our church Community Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow.

Tuesday 11/15

Breakfast: Banana Bread oatmeal

Lunch: Spinach salad w/fixings, pita w/butter & honey, pineapple

Snack: Rice krispie treat
Dinner:  Soup w/baked cauliflower

Activity: Zumba

I don't know what's going on but I am extremely hungry today. I can't seem to get full.

Monday

Breakfast:  6 slices turkey bacon, 1/2 c. icelandic yogurt with 1/2c. blackberries, coffee with half and half
Lunch:  turkey quesadilla, 10oz. acorn squash
Snack: 1/2c. icelandic yogurt and 1/2c. blackberries
Dinner: taco night!

Going to be a pretty crazy couple of weeks for me!

Tuesday--rotation stuff
Wednesday--final exam; dinner for Tulsa residency program
Thursday--Tulsa interview; drive to Kansas City and try to make it to dinner for University of Kansas
Friday--University of Kansas interview; drive home
Saturday--re-group day
Sunday--drive to Omaha
Monday--University of Nebraska interview
Thanksgiving
Working in the ER on nights the weekend after thanksgiving

Monday 11/14

Breakfast: Oatmeal

Snack: Strawberry greek yogurt

Lunch: Spinach salad w/black beans

Snack:  No snack, wasn't hungry

Dinner: Chicken tortilla soup, english muffin w/butter 

Activity: Going to try out a kardio kick boxing class at the downtown YMCA. Excited and nervous.

Kickboxing class was awesome!!!!!! My hands are swollen and 2 knuckles are bloody but it was totally worth it. I punched the crap out of that bag and envisioned every person that has been making me not super happy. So stress relieving. Love it! What a great ending to a Monday. 

Sunday

Breakfast: acorn squash, coffee with cream

Snack: apple

Lunch: salad, hamburger patty, butternut fries, acorn squash

Snack: pumpkin roll
Dinner: steak, cauliflower (not much of an appetite tonight, so I really didn't eat much...)

Went to my parent's this morning to help Mom and Lauren make holiday pumpkin rolls (we made a lot to be frozen and used throughout the season).  They are by no means healthy, but man are they good!  

Sunday 11/13

Breakfast: Leftover pizza (too good not to heat it up) and now it's all gone

Lunch: ???

Dinner: ???

Activity: Either run or gym time

To Do List:

1. Laundry
2. Reconcile checkbook
3. Wash dishes
4. Plan weekly menu

Saturday November 12th

Breakfast: 2 poached eggs w/english muffin

Lunch:??? Pop chips, celery w/hummus, turkey pepperoni

Dinner: Cauliflower pizza, pumpkin pizza crust pizza, salad (The girls are coming over for homemade pizza and movies. I'm making 2 kinds of crust and trying to make everything as healthy as possible)

Activity: Running outside - Didn't happen

Lots to do today. Have to get everything ready for tonight.

To Do:

1. Wash Dishes
2. Laundry
3. Grocery shop
4. Reconcile checkbook
5. Decorate Christmas tree
6. Make pizza dough
7. Clean floors

I ended up only making the pumpkin pizza crust because it made 2 pizzas. One half for everybody so they could choose their own toppings. It worked out so well and the crust was awesome. I got it from Neverhomemaker's blog. They make pizza all the time and have a ton of recipes. That same dough can be used to make garlic knots which now I really want to try. Here is the recipe. 


I ran out of time to do everything else today so tomorrow I will get up and start laundry and get my checkbook reconciled and see what else I need to get done before I got to Shanetha's intermural game at noon.

I'll also run the nutrition on the crust to see what it comes out to. There still is flour so I know for you guys it still can't top the cauliflower crust. Edit: I just ran the nutrition and for two slices the crust (it's pretty thick) turned out to have 450 calories. That's pretty high but 2 pieces is more than enough and it's super filling. And to know that you made it your self and it's all natural is really awesome.

Saturday

Time to get back on track!!  Seriously.

Breakfast:  coffee with half and half, sugar free oatmeal
Lunch: acorn squash, quesadilla
Dinner:  butternut squash fries, baked BBQ chicken legs

Sounds like you have a really fun night ahead!  The pumpkin pizza crust sounds good!!  Do you have a recipe??

To Do:

1. clean out garage   (Yay for being able to use it again!)
2. wash work clothes
3. wash towels
4. do dishes
5. clean off kitchen table
6. clean out fridge
7. hang pictures in hall
8. pick up living room
9. study for test
10. give dogs a bath

Kind of an ambitious list....haha.  

Friday 11/11/11

Breakfast: english muffin w/1 tsp earth balance, pineapple chobani

Lunch: Kaisers with mom (either a buffalo burger or a salad) Mom's doctor appt ran too long so I ate with Sarah instead. Ordered the hummus sandwich which is just hummus and veggies on naan bread. I forgot it came with fries so I might have eaten them. They were so good! And it wasn't a huge portion so I feel okay about it.

Dinner: ???? Maybe a hummus melt

Activity: Rest Day

I have declared today (other than Veterans day and a really cool date) Decorate for Christmas day. I'm going to watch Christmas movies, eat some lowfat popcorn, maybe drink some cocoa and decorate my house until it looks like Santa's workshop exploded, haha.

Thursday

Breakfast:  Turkey Sandwich w/cheese

Snack: Pineapple chobani (I have started buying the 2% instead of 0% because I heard that it makes you soak up the calcium more so than with fat free)

Lunch: Turkey sandwich w/tomato & spinach, apple w/cheese

Snack: Cottage cheese & pineapple

Dinner: Stuffed eggplant and chicken patty

Dessert: Chocolate mint soy milk

Activity: Zumba class (57 minutes, average hr = 154, peak = 179)

I got up this morning and the scale was down 1.5 from yesterday and down 3.5 from last week so I'm feeling super good! I have done really well this week with tracking all my food, planning out all my food, not eating out and exercising everyday. I will take a rest day tomorrow.

Feeling a little worn down tonight. It was a little bit of a struggle to make it through class but felt good when it was over. I think I'm ready for the weekend. Need to rest and make some decisions. 

Thursday

Breakfast: quesadilla, acorn squash
Lunch: Panera 1/2 a panini, small amc and cheese, cookie (didn't do so hot here!)
Dinner: stir fry with no rice and lots of veggies!

I'm finally back!  So, I did really good at these interviews--I will post more about it tonight!

So taking the oatmeal and packing lots of snacks helped a ton!  I felt much better on this trip!!  I turned down donuts and bags of candy, which made me feel good!!

Wednesday

Breakfast: 2 poached eggs w/cheese on english muffin

Snack: Cinnamon roll oatmeal

Lunch: On the Border 2 chicken tacos (no chips!!!)

Snack: Trail mix at the office (I was starving and didn't bring a snack with me. I'll do better on snacks tomorrow)

Dinner: Stuffed eggplant & chocolate mint soy milk for dessert (their new holiday flavors are AMAZING!)

Activity: Trying out new zumba class at Northside YMCA (The class was really great. It had toning zumba at the end which I love and the instructor was really good. I think I shall go back.)

Tuesday

Breakfast: 2 poached eggs w/salsa on an english muffin

Snack: Oatmeal

Lunch: Soup w/crackers, apple w/cheese

Snack: pineapple & cottage cheese

Dinner: Mexican Casserole

Snack: Greek Strawberry yogurt

Activity: Zumba

Heard back from the doctor yesterday and all my results came back normal so I guess I'll just start taking birth control again to regulate all my hormones and I should be fine.

I'm feeling really good about this week. I've been sticking to my workout schedule and my menu. I think I'll be able to only eat out once this week so everything is really back on track.

I read a pin yesterday that said weight is not the ultimate goal and it showed a girl at 127 pounds and then at 136 pounds and she looked so much better at 136 pounds. This again reminds me of why I quit Weight Watchers in the first place. Yes, it holds me accountable but I'm not sure I believe in the ultimate goal anymore. When I workout and eat right I feel so much better and start to not care about the scale because I know I'm doing something good for me. I think I'll try it on my own for November and see if I can keep up the mindset.

Monday

Breakfast: 2 poached eggs on english muffin w/salsa

Lunch: soup w/crackers, apple & cheese

Snack: cottage cheese & pineapple

Dinner: Mexican casseroles (from Beth's Journey blog)

Activity: Gym Time (28 minutes on elliptical & 25 minutes on treadmill) 550 calories burned, 4.75 miles

Sunday

Breakfast: Apple w/laughing cow

Lunch: Interurban veggie plate w/only half of the honey mustard and no bread

Snack: 1/2 c. cottage cheese w/pineapple

Dinner: Rest of spaghetti squash w/kale mixture & poached egg

Activity: Gym time - 1:08 on elliptical (Average hr = 159, peak = 175) burned 706 calories. 6.06 miles

To Do List:
1. Clean kitchen
2. Clean kitchen floor
3. Grocery shop/Meal plan for week
4. New workout clothes


I think this may be the first time I have crossed off everything on my to-do list. Feeling really great about this week. I made a workout schedule last week for the whole month and I've made my menu with two new recipes on it for this week. I'm excited to get back to being super healthy. I'm also going to join Weight Watchers tomorrow. I'm just trying to decide when the best time to go to a meeting will be.

PS I also went to the doctor on Wednesday. She did blood work to check my hormone and thyroid levels so hopefully I'll be hearing back from her tomorrow. I got my pap results back on Friday and everything was fine so I'm interested to see what the hormone levels say.

Sunday

Breakfast: acorn squash with butter, 4 slices turkey bacon, iced coffee
Lunch:  low carb chicken quesadilla, sour cream, acorn squash
Dinner: pulled pork on a thin bun, baked cauliflower, pickle
Snack: sugar free cherry pie filling

So I reeeeeeally need to go get groceries, haha.  No idea what I'm gonna have for lunch or dinner.

I've been kind of pouty about food lately.  With these interviews, I'm really not sure how it is going to be possible to as healthy as I'd like because they are the ones that provide the food. I suppose I could pretend to have a gluten intolerance?  Last week was awful and my stomach still hurts from all of the crap I ate (donuts, cookies, a goodie bag full of candy, pizza, bagels, Dr. Pepper).  Hopefully this coming week will be better.  I need to make a good effort to at least try to pick good foods.  Airports and hotels are really difficult to find healthy food in.


I went and got some sugar free instant oatmeal, some almonds, and some thin buns.  I made up some trail-mix with the almonds and some sugar free chocolate chips and fiber-one cereal.  I'm also going to make a couple of peanut butter sandwiches on the thin buns.  That should help me avoid all of the sweets on this trip. I'm going to try really, really hard to track on this trip.  I leave for Kentucky tomorrow and get back on Tuesday, so hopefully I can keep it up for two days.

Saturday

Brunch: icelandic yogurt with blackberries, 4 slices turkey bacon, 1.5c. butternut squash
Snack: small bowl of cereal with almond milk
Dinner: 1 chicken enchilada, veggies, pappas, chips

Saturday

Yay for the weekend!!! Was able to make it to toning zumba this morning for a great workout and had a healthy breakfast. Now time to clean the house and get it prepped for....CHRISTMAS!!!


Breakfast: 1 egg, 1/4 c. egg beaters, 1 jalepeno, 1 c. spinach, 1 tsp olive oil, 1 english muffin w/salsa and a side of red bell pepper strips

Lunch: Healthy Choice soup, 1/2 apple w/laughing cow

Dinner: Kale w/spaghetti squash & poached egg(recipe from Beth's journey blog)

Snack: smart pop Kettle corn w/diet coke

To Do List:

1. Laundry (in the washer)
2. Clean the kitchen
3. Clean the bathroom (I have to do this today. I have been putting it off like crazy)
4. Pay bills/Bank Reconciliation
5. Clean kitchen floor
6. File away documents in study
7. Buy some new workout clothes

What day is it?

Had an interview for a couple of days this week and am still SOOOOOO tired from it and the traveling.  I've been eating crummy too and too busy to post much.

Going to go take a nap now.  Going to try to do better this weekend.

Thursday

Sorry for not posting....really busy these past two days. I'll update first thing in the morning!!!

Hope you're having a great week!

November 1.

Breakfast: acorn squash, turkey bacon, coffee
Lunch:  quesadilla
Snack: 1/2 an apple
Dinner:  cauliflower "rice" skillet
Snack:
Activity: cardio balance and recovery (-500)

I feel so much better about things today.  I had the morning off, so I worked out, and I think that really helps.

November 1st (New Month!)

I woke up this morning feeling energized about getting back on the healthy train. These next two months I know can be the hardest due to all of the holiday celebrations but I am bound and determined to go into 2012 at goal weight and to not have weight as a New Years resolution.

Over at Beth's Journey she does a list of goals each month and then reviews them at the start of the new month then sets all new ones. I love that idea! So I shall do that too.

November Goals:

1. Track every day (except Thanksgiving...let's be real. That will not be happening)
2. Work out at least 4 times a week
3. Make a weekly meal plan and only eat out twice a week (this will help with food and money budget)
4. Try 2 new zumba classes at different YMCA's (I'll look up the schedule later this am)
5. Re-join Weight Watchers. I think this will help me get to my weight goal.
6. Make a money budget and stick to it for the rest of the year.
7. Go get my annual physical

DAILY

Breakfast: 1/2 serving of cinammon roll oatmeal, chai made w/coconut milk

Lunch: Soup w/triscuits and an apple w/cheese

Snack: Rice krispie treat(got hungry and this was the healthiest thing at work. Need to pack snacks)

Dinner: Turkey cutlet, cauliflower, strawberry greek yogurt & a kiwi

Snack: Oatfit w/golden raisins

Activity: Zumba class

By the way. I bought one of those camelbacks and I love it!!! What a great idea. Thanks for the tip dude!

Monday

Oh Monday...how I loathe you.

Breakfast:  quesadilla, coffee
Lunch: apple, beef and veggie stew, 1 sugar free chocolate
Dinner: fancy hamburger patties and butternut fries
Snack: blackberries

I don't ever sleep well on Sunday nights, even with sleeping medicine.  My first interview is this week, which I think I am stressed (read as: freaking out) about.

Sunday Funday

Good morning!

This has been a great weekend so far. I've had some really nice relaxing time, some good times with friends and some good exercise. I love when life feels balanced.

On Friday I went and saw Ides of March (work was so boring I had to get out of there). Then I came home and chilled, went to see Courtney at the Food Truck Gathering then met Megan and her friend at Harkins to watch Dream House (if you haven't seen it I wouldn't recommend seeing it in theaters. I would classify it as a renter). It was a good day though.

Saturday I woke up late, had some breakfast then went to Zumbathon for 2 hours. It was even better this time. More people and they had it at OCCC gym so the place was much, much better. They have a bunch of instructors so each one does just one song. One of the instructors came over afterwards and said that she had been watching me and thinks I should be an instructor. There have been 3 girls that have said that at our zumba studio too which I thought they were just being sweet. They have instructor a couple of times a year and honestly I'd been thinking about it and this just pushed it over the line. I'm going to look into it. I think it would be great to have something to make a little extra money at and by doing something I love. Zumba is something I never feel like I "have to" do. I just want to do. It's just something I like to do for me because I love it so much. So this is an exciting adventure to be embarking on.

Last night I met Betsy for some pizza at the Wedge then we went to Courtney's friend Jon's birthday party. He has 3 acres in the middle of the city and had a bonfire so that was really fun. I haven't been to a bonfire in so long. And no drinking for me which made me feel good. I'm trying to cleanse all drinking from my life. I fully support anyone in my life who wants to drink but I have decided that for me I just can't have it in my system. I thought it might be hard and there will be times where it will be a struggle for me to not have a glass but I felt good about it last night and even better about it this morning.

Today I'm just going to try and get caught up on chores, go grocery shopping and try to finish painting my china hutch.

To Do List:
1. Laundry
2. Clean the kitchen
3. Grocery shop & Menu
4. Bank Reconciliation
5. Paint China Hutch
6. Clean bathroom

Resolutions (Carryover from Friday discussion)

So I found my resolutions. Some have to be changed and adjusted but I think it'll still turn out well.
1. Save $8,000 (I'm not far off on this one. I just need to look at where I am today and make some savings goals for November and December)

2. Green Yard (well time is up for this one. This year was clearly more a struggle than I had anticipated. I did water every day with sprinklers and I did mow my yard and did all the yardwork myself so I feel okay about this one. I will still continue to work on  my green thumb next year)

3. Eat Out only once a week  - this one clearly didn't go anything like I had anticipated. I now have so many different groups that I hang out with it that it's almost impossible to only eat out once a week because I try to not turn down seeing any of my friends. I need to think about how to handle this because I still think it's a good goal but it's just not possible at this time.

4. Lose 20 pounds - well I've lost about 8 since this beginning of the year. I would love to still make this happen. I would really love to get down to my lifetime WW weight. I'm contemplating going back to WW because I still struggle with food on a daily basis and it's the only plan that's every truly worked for me.

5. Volunteer - this hasn't happened and I really want to change that. I have tried mulitple times to get on the schedule at the hospice and they never call me back. I need to contact a different one. There are so many opportunities out there and I really want to give back to the community in someway.

New Resolutions:

1. Track food everyday. (Seriously when I do this I'm so much better. Why can't I just do it consistently?)

2. Become a zumba instructor

3. Find more 5k's to motivate myself about

4. Try 2 new recipes a week (I found this as a fun and easy way to cook healthy at home and not get bored)

Saturday--Beware, this is a long post....

Brunch: low carb Mac and Cheese, coffee
Dinner:  veggie beef stew and flax bread
Snack:
Activity:
Mini Goals For Today:

1. Start cleaning the garage
2. Really focus on getting my water in
3. grocery shopping (today or tomorrow)
4. Pick up the living room and kitchen
5. Stretch out really well
6. Teeth whitening strips
7. bubble bath (Amanda, you've got to shave your legs for goodness sake)
8. Study a little bit
9. Try a new recipe

Yesterday I ate A LOT of crap.  Today's a new day though.  Going to make sure to get my activity in today (I've not been doing so well the past couple of days).  I've decided that I really should take my lunch every day because if I don't I make really bad choices, like eating cookies for dessert.  If I bring my lunch, I am always satisfied and happy with it and feel proud of myself for eating so healthy.  I think yesterday was some emotional eating for sure...not sure what had me "upset" though, but I ate two cookies at lunch, a pack of pop tarts from the vending machine (this is what I am most ashamed of) and then went out to eat last night and couldn't pass up the sopapilla (my reasoning was "it's free," even though I was stuffed).  I'm trying really hard to not feel guilty about this eating, but I do and that just makes it worse.  Even when I decided to go for the pop tarts yesterday, I KNEW it was not because I was hungry, but because I was emotionally eating......yet I still ate them.  Definitely a "binge" type eating (which I even recognized while scarfing them down).  It's like I get this mind set of "who cares about all the hard work I've done the past 4 weeks? Not me!" when I am like that.  Then that attitude continues, as in this morning when I had mac and cheese for breakfast (not terrible, but definitely not a very acceptable breakfast).  I wonder if maybe I was "emotional" because I hadn't worked out in two days?  I know when I work out, I definitely eat a ton better!  I don't know, but I sure wish I could stop with the pop-tart binging that I do every couple of months.

Ok, so I feel like I need to make this post more positive or my sour mood will continue.  Here are the positives that have been happening:

• I can definitely feel my body changing.  My legs are really firm (curse you repeated squats) and I am developing some "guns."  James even commented yesterday, "Wow, you've got some definite back muscles!" (I suppose this is a good thing!) 
• Clothes fit better.  While my number on the scale is variable (It was down 4 pounds the other day, only to be back at its usual range the next day....haha), my measurements have decreased overall.  I do think I have built some muscle, so I do think that is why the scale isn't really changing.  
• I really, really, really, love winter squash.  Acorn and Butternut.  Who knew squash could taste good???  Three or four years ago I wouldn't have dared to try either one!!  I always assumed that a squash is a squash is a squash and that they would all taste like yellow summer squash or zucchini, neither of which I really love.  
• I think in general, I've really started accepting some of the things I didn't like before.  I'm currently embracing my pale, freckly side rather than covering it up with fake tanner (which I've done for SO long).  I really like that the pale red heads are popular in movies/tv right now (I love Emma Stone) and am trying to embrace that side.  I'm trying to get back to being "girly" and enjoying clothes a bit more, which during medical school has really fallen to the wayside (I'd much rather wear scrubs).  Just in general I've been taking better care of myself as a whole, and I think that my body and mind really appreciate it.  

Friday (Time to Dance!)

Breakfast: Chai latte (homemade), 3 chickpea cookies

Lunch: Egg sandwich? Running low on food already, oops.

Dinner: Hummus melt

Activity: Going to the Y. I went to zumba last night and there were only 3 people so opted to not do it. I hate dancing with so few people. There's another zumbathon tomorrow for 2 1/2 hours so I plan on doing that.

I started thinking about resolutions I made at the beginning of the year. Instead of re-assessing where I am around New Years I want to do it now so maybe I can make some of those items happen before the end of the year. I am going to go home at lunch and get my list. I need to make some changes not just health wise but life-wise.

Thursday

Breakfast: Iced Chai (made from really good Chai mix I got at Whole Foods)

Lunch: Chicken Enchilada Suizas (lean cuisine), 3 chocolate chickpea cookies, 1/2 c. nonfat milk

Dinner: Hummus melt, garden veggie medley, 3 chocolate chickpea cookies, 1/2 c. nonfat milk

Activity: Zumba (gonna actually record my heart rate correctly this time)

Thursday

Breakfast: squash, turkey bacon, coffee
Lunch: sliced ham, squash, apple, cookie
Dinner: baked chicken, mac and cheese, butternut squash fries
Activity: cardio recovery


I'm ready for the weekend!!

Wednesday

Breakfast: squash, turkey bacon, and coffee
Lunch: squash, 2 baked chicken legs, 1 sugar free chocolate
Dinner: tilapia, fresh cauliflower with cheese
Snack: half an apple with PB
Activity:  plyometrics (-600)

Wednesday

Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Soup w/crackers and an apple
Dinner: Hummus melts, roasted purple cauliflower

Activity: Jillian workout

So I slept in this morning and didn't get to make my eggs but I found I still had oatmeal so I'm feeling like I at least started the day out on the right foot. Ready to get back to tracking and working out. I feel super tired and am ready to catch up on my sleep but I'm hoping eating right and working out today will make me feel a ton better.

Wednesday To-Do List
1. Laundry
2. Reconcile Checkbook
3. Clean Master Bathroom

Dinner: Hummus Melts

Cookies: Chocolate Chickpea cookies

I'm in love with this blog. I love how simple and clean the recipes are. So good!

Tuesday (even though it totally feels like Monday)

Sorry for the absence yesterday. I was pretty worthless. I flew in and got back to the house aroud 9:30 last night. I ate Taco Bell for dinner and then Taco Mayo for lunch so needless to say it's time to get back on track.

I got a food processor for my birthday so I am going to look up recipes today so I can try it out. I'm also dying to go to Whole Foods and check it out. Maybe now that it's been open for about 2 weeks it won't be as insane. I'm so glad we have one. There were 3 Whole Foods within a 2 mile radius of Melissa's apartment. Denver isn't lacking in the health department - that's for sure.

I have to run to Stillwater tonight though and pick up Lizzie so I'm not sure what I will get accomplished. I just have to get the store to have some healthy options at home. It's like when I don't have groceries I take that as a green light to eat bad.

I read your post about one day sabotaging the whole week and I think I agree with you. When I had a cheat day on WW even though I read it was okay I think it really held me back. It's nice to look forward to that day but sometimes I wondered how much harm it was doing. You've been doing so well with food and working out that I wouldn't worry about the scale. It's like when I was doing really well but my weight wouldn't budge and I got so frustrated. I think you just have to give it time. Have you taken a rest day or two and upped your food a little? I think that's when the scale really moves. I'm sure most of the weight not budging is muscle or water don't you think?

I'm sorry you're on a crappy rotation right now. How long do you have to do that for? Is your November going to be crazy with interviews?

I found a new blog that I really enjoy and thought I'd share it with you to see what you thought. I think her recipes are so simple that I can actually picture myself making the recipes. http://bethsjourney.com/

I will gather some recipes and be back to update this post with what I find.

Okay so I will be having egg cups in the morning with bell pepper, cheese and jalepeno and then for lunch soup and then tomorrow night I'm going to make homemade hummus and have hummus, spinach melts on english muffins. Now I'm hungry again, haha.

Monday

Breakfast:  squash, coffee
Snack:  apple
Lunch: 1/2 a ham wrap, 1 small bag of baked cheetos
Snack: tortilla with PB
Dinner: chicken quesadilla, squash
Activity: Half of a workout (-330)

Sunday

Well, I am sort of sad today because I have to start a crappy rotation tomorrow--Geriatrics. (yuck).
This past week I've been spoiled by being on Fall Break with James.  I just finished a great book (This won't hurt a bit) which is a funny and great easy read about the struggles of making it through a medical education.

I feel a little bit frustrated about weight/health/etc this weekend.  I've been working really hard, but haven't really seen the scale move much at all (which is why I said screw it and agreed to buying oreo's this weekend).  Do you think that splurging once a week is ruining the rest of the week?  I'm starting to think it is.

Breakfast: coffee with half and half
Lunch: acorn squash, cereal with almond milk
Dinner: soft tacos?
Snacks: 1/2 apple with PB
Activity: pure cardio + cardio abs (-780)

Sunday

Ok so here's hoping this post works. Denver has been amazing! I flew in Thursday night and melissa had diet coke stocked in the fridge and she baked A chocolate cake. She had to work on Friday til 1 so I went and explored the area around her house. There is a beautiful trail that leads all the way To down town so I ran some and walked all over. I got a little lost and ended up walking over 8 miles but it was so pretty that the time flew by. Friday night we went to the Jason Aldean concert and that was such a blast. Yesterday we went to Estes park which I absolutely loved! We had some great Mexican food and then had the best ice cream I'm ever tasted. It was Mexican chocolate and was a little spicy! So good. Last night we went to this awesome movie theater and watched 50/50 which I totally recommend btw. The theater was so cool bc you get unlimited Popcorn and soda with your ticket purchase. After the movie we were going to go dancing but everyone was so tired we just came back and crashed Which was good with me because I was getting really tired. Today we are going to the zoo and then maybe to a haunted house tonight. Tomorrow boulder and to see this awesome food truck before I have to catch my plane at 6. Hope you've had a great weekend!

Saturday

Breakfast:  breakfast quesadilla, coffee
Lunch: cauliflower soup
Snack: 4 oreos and 1 c. skim milk
Dinner: pork roast, acorn squash, sauteed mushrooms
Snack: 5 oreos and 1c. milk (they're gone now!)
Activity: plyometrics (-750)

Friday

Breakfast:  squash, coffee
Lunch: Ghengis Grill--no rice
Dinner: roast with veggies, cauliflower soup
Snack: 8 oreo's with milk (yes, we bought a pack of Halloween Oreo's as a treat, and I am pretty excited, haha)
Activity: Insanity Power and Resistance (-550), walking at the zoo

Thursday

Happy Birthday Dude!!!
Hope you have fun in Colorado!  Is it a fun trip or a business trip?  Hopefully just a fun one.

Breakfast: fiber one cereal and coffee
Lunch: chips and queso (tried to limit how much of this I ate), 3 mini street tacos
Snack: apple with PB
Dinner:  cauliflower bisque, garlic butter chicken breasts
Snack: 2 sugar free chocolates
Activity: cardio recovery (-350)

Wednesday

Breakfast: Breakfast burrito

Lunch: Johnny Carinos (Margaret's retirement luncheon)

Dinner: Grilled turkey burgers on 80 cal wheat bun, sweet potato fries

Activity: I tried one of those workouts from pinterest.  I just pinned it today. It was pretty awesome. It was nice because I didn't have time for a long workout but I felt I got my moneys worth out of that one.

Tuesday

Breakfast: turkey and cheese quesadilla, coffee with half and half
Lunch: Fiber One 80 Calorie, almond milk, turkey bacon
Dinner: chicken legs, butternut squash "fries"
Activity: pure cardio and cardio abs (-575)
Calories: 1074(75%)--> 931 deficit

So I was really low on calories today, but just wan't that hungry.  The volume of food I ate was a lot, since I basically at almost an entire butternut squash, haha.


Ok, so butternut squash fries (from pinterest) are AMAZING.  They taste like sweet potato fries, and are seriously good.  Good healthy option!

Tuesday

Breakfast: Oatmeal

Snack: Almond bar

Lunch: Amy's tomato soup, special K crackers, 5 pumpkin spice kisses

Dinner: Frozen dinner

Activity: Zumba

Monday

Breakfast: Oatmeal

Snack: apple cinnamon bar

Lunch: Amys black bean soup and sweet potato chips

Dinner: Amy's light spaghetti

Snack: pumpkin spice hershey kisses (shouldn't have bought them but they are so worth it!)

Activity: Ran 3.38 miles without stopping. Felt so good. The weather was awesome!

Had a crappy day at work but working out made me feel so much better. It also made me feel good to run the whole time without stopping.

Monday

Breakfast: blackberries, turkey bacon, coffee
Snack: apple with cheese
Lunch: total raisin bran with skim milk
Dinner: tilapia with butter and seasoning, baked cauliflower
Activity: plyometrics (-558)
Calories:  1396 (98%)-->524 cal deficit

I'm loving the rain and cold weather!!!!  Hope you guys get some nice fall weather too!
Makes me want soup!  Maybe I can talk James into making his baked potato (cauliflower) soup this week!

Sunday

Breakfast: coffee with half and half, blackberry/blueberry yogurt smoothie
Lunch: pulled pork sandwiches, cucumbers, celery, tabouli, cheesecake
Dinner: homemade fajitas
Activity: Fit Test #2 (-450)
Calories:  1837 (128%)-->deficit of 43 calories


Here are the results of my fit test at the end of my second week.  The way it works is you have one minute to get as many reps of these as you can, with a one minute break in between each.  The first number was how many I got on day one of Insanity.  It's amazing how much improvement you can make in 2 weeks!

•  Switch Kicks: 86(43)-> 110(55)
•  Power Jacks: 28-> 40
•  Power Knees: 75-> 90 
•  Power Jumps: 15->25
•  Globe Jumps: 9->9
•  Suicide Jumps: 12->15
•  Push-up Jacks: 10->20
•  Low Plank Oblique: 30->45   

 Here's an idea of what these exercises look like.  

Saturday

Breakfast: carrot cake cupcake (leftover from last night. It counts as carb loading, right?)

The race was great! So many people. I think they said 11,000. We started at 8:30 and I was done by 9:05 so not too bad. Some of the hillier parts I walked but I was okay with how it turned out. Definitely want to improve and do another one!

Now I have to get all my chores done so I can enjoy the rest of the weekend. Courtney is having another taste testing tomorrow at my house and I'm staying the night in Stillwater after Brad's wedding because my parents want to take me out for my birthday tomorrow so Busy weekend! I need to get my house in order before Courtney can cook though.

To Do:
1. Laundry
2. Clean Kitchen/Do Dishes
3. Weedeat/edge yard
4. Clean floors
5. Reconcile checkbook
6. Buy kitchen cart and assemble

Saturday!

CONGRATS on your first 5k!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What an accomplishment!  So proud of you dude!
Can't wait to hear all about it!


I'm feeling rather guilty about last night.  I feel like I do really well during the week and then blow it on the weekends with my eating.  Nothing to do but get back on track for the rest of the weekend I suppose (even though it's my dad's birthday this weekend and there will be cake tomorrow).

Speaking of birthdays, your present should be arriving around Tuesday of next week!  I just had it shipped to your house, hope that's ok.  Can't wait for you to get it, I think you're really gonna like it!  It's nothing fancy since I'm on such a budget right now, but it's pretty cool.

I didn't get the second workout in yesterday either, so I will do it today since today is usually a rest day.  I think  it works out better for me to just take a rest day whenever I need it rather than having it scheduled only to Saturday.

Breakfast: coffee with half and half
Lunch: ham and cheese quesadilla
Snack: apple with PB
Dinner: steak, fresh green beans
Dessert: acorn squash with butter, cinnamon and splenda (tastes like pie!)
Snack:  icelandic yogurt with blackberries
Activity: Insanity Pure cardio + Cardio abs (-750)
Water:  (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) x x
Calories: 1367 (96%); deficit of 813 cals

Friday

Breakfast: Apple cinammon bar

Lunch: Went to Cafe 501. Had tomato soup and half of a salad w/pumpkin seeds, walnuts and lemon dressing

Dinner: ????

Activity: none- going to a double feature w/Megan, Betsy and Shanetha

So I didn't end up working out last night or Wednesday. I feel like every time I set a goal that's when I end up not working out. It's like I put too much pressure on myself which sounds weird I know but I think it's true. Wednesday we didn't get done with our Skookum meeting til 9:45 and my gym closes at 10 so that was a no-go. Then last night I went out with Sarah and we were done at 8 but Shanetha texted and I asked if I wanted to come over and watch Grey's with her so I did. I would rather see them any day than work out which I know is human nature but I just have a hard time saying no to friends for exercise. I don't think I want to change that about myself either. I just have to be focused on days that I am by myself. And maybe I should plan and if I know I'm going out with someone that night I will do my best to workout that morning. I need to figure out a plan for this.

The good news of the day is I went and registered for the 5k tomorrow and got my t-shirt and number. I will be running starting at 8 so I'm really looking forward to it.

Fit Friday

To Do:

1. finish last night's workout- cardio power and resistance
2. give dogs a bath
3. laundry
4. do a load of dishes
5. pick up bedroom and closet
6. vacuum
7. pick up living room
8. dust ceiling fans
9. Call insurance
10. start looking at hotels for trips
11. do today's workout-Pure cardio + cardio abs
12. put out rest of fall stuff (still haven't done this!)
13. take progress pictures

Breakfast: acorn squash and coffee with half and half
Lunch: the other half of my squash, haha
Dinner: Kilkenny's then ice cream

Thursday

Breakfast: ham and cheese quesadilla, coffee with cream
Lunch: icelandic yogurt+blackberries, sliced ham, 1.5 oz colby jack
Snack: apple
Dinner: soft tacos, 1 small avocado, 1 tbs sour cream
Activity: will do insanity later this evening     Made it through the warm up and just wasn't feeling it.  I've got some sinus congestion and am just kind of out of it.  I'm going to try and finish this in the morning and do tomorrow's workout in the evening.
Water: I'm doing crappy today (X) (X) () () () () () () and I've had tea....broke my rule.

Boring day-->I'd eaten my lunch by 11 and then I was starving this afternoon.

Thursday

Breakfast: Apple & PB

Snack: Oatmeal Didn't get hungry so didn't eat it

Lunch: Amy's Soup w/wheat crackers Ran errands at lunch and got shoes and gift for Brad's wedding. Went to Arby's on the way back to work. Jr. Roast beef (dry) w/ baked lays and Diet DP

Dinner: Somewhere w/Sarah (She is thinking about going to Sauced so pizza it is!)

Activity: hopefully I can make it to zumba. If not I'll be working out with Jillian.

Wednesday

Breakfast: 3/4 granny smith apple & oatmeal

Lunch: Potato & Leek V8 soup, crackers w/chobai yogurt and 2 granola cookies

Dinner: Dinnner w/Courtney in Paseo district

Activity: Gym time

We are having a Skookum business meeting tonight so dinner will be out. Hopefully we will finish in time so I can hit the gym. If not I'll just run outside when I get home. I'd much rather go to the gym though so hopefully that can happen.

Wednesday for the Win

So I'm having another lazy day today.  My preceptor is golfing today.  I'm trying really hard to enjoy the free time and not get bored to tears, haha, but it is honestly hard for me.  So, I am focusing on being fit and healthy!  I keep telling James I need a hobby, but I just realized this morning that working out and being fit could be my hobby.  Exploring new foods and trying new things could be my free time.  That was kind of an Ah-Ha moment I think.

Also so you know, you can go to "My Diet" on the right sided menu of Fat Secret to change your RDI to your calculated calories.
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Breakfast:  ham and cheese quesadilla, coffee with half and half
Lunch:  4 mini chicken drumettes, 2/3c. blackberries
Dinner:  Gehngis grill with Lauren
Snack: fro-yo
Water: (X) (X) (X) () () () () ()
Activity:  Cardio Recovery (-400)
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Tuesday

Breakfast: Oatmeal

Snack: Apple & PB

Lunch: Amy's tomato soup w/wheat crackers and greek yogurt

Snack: Bear Naked Granola cookie

Dinner: 5 fried green beans, 4 pieces of spicy shrimp roll, shirataki noodles w/veggies (Went to Panchinko Parlor with Betsy for dinner)

Snacks: popcorn & bear naked granola cookie

Activity: Zumba - tonight was a really great class. I love Natalie!

So it's crazy you talked about the 500 calorie deficit because I had a telephone coaching meeting this evening with my health mentor for work(we have to do this once a month for the next 5 months to get our $75 gift card but I just wanted to do it. They talk about goals and give advice. It's a pretty cool program. It goes hand in hand with our biometric screening) and he talked about the same thing. He also talked about the 30 minute window after working out when it's best to get in a good 4-1 carb:protein snack to help rebuild muscle and replace what you lost during the workout. We also talked about working out hardcore for 3 weeks and then taking a rest week where you still workout but you just do low intensity. He said even athletes do it. So my 2 goals for the next month were to track everything and to give myself a rest week after 3 hardcore weeks.

Sorry I'm so late posting. I had to go back to work after zumba and I just got out of the shower and am trying to relax before going to bed. Thank goodness for Bon Iver pandora.

I'm going to go figure out my baseline metabolic basal rate and see how that measures up with what I've been doing. What great stuff to learn!!! 

Edit: Okay so I just calculated it and it says baseline is 1500. So I guess I shoot for 1,000 calories with working out??? Is that right? I think that's totally do-able. If I'm not working out I'll just need to watch what I eat really carefully but that's probably how it should be anyway.

Tuesday

Breakfast: breakfast quesadilla, coffee with half and half, acorn squash
Lunch: acorn squash, 1.5oz colby jack, apple with PB
Snack: small tortilla with PB
Dinner: spaghetti
Snack: 3 sugar free chocolates
Water: (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X)
Activity: Insanity plyometrics--this was really hard today.  I had no energy going into it and I'm glad its over with.

I found out good info today!!  I chatted with Gena and asked about how many calories you should eat back from those burnt in a workout.  She says it doesn't really matter as long as you aim for a 500cal deficit per day.  You can cut back 250 from your diet and burn 250 working out or you can burn 500 working out, or just however.  If that's too strict, you can spread it out more, but obviously it'll be slower weight loss.  I think as long as you have the deficit you want.  It was much simpler than I thought.

Here's a fancy formula for how many calories you start with --Ok, so this formula is to estimate your basal metabolic rate or how much you burn everyday just living.  So I figure this is about what you need to maintain?  This is called the Harris Benedict formula and is usually in kg/cm, but this version corrects for that. 

Adult female: 655 + (4.3 x weight in lbs.) + (4.7 x height in inches) - (4.7 x age in years)

Monday

Today's been pretty good.  Got to come home early and take a nap, which is always good.  Did you get the day off since banks are closed??  I hope so!

Just get back on track, you can do it.  I think looking at the "fitness" section on Pinterest has really helped me this week to stay motivated.  Except when I ate 4 muffins last night....I kinda of binged on them, but at least they were sort of healthy apple/raisin/cinnamon muffins.  Probably had a little bit of fiber, right?  Anyway, I keep imagining how fit I want to be after browsing Pinterest and it really helps my will power and motivation.

Breakfast:  blackberries, turkey bacon, coffee with half and half.
Lunch: meatloaf and acorn squash
Dinner: spaghetti with homemade sauce
Snack:  tortilla with PB
Activity: Insanity Pure Cardio (I'm gonna die)
Water:  (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) () () (), (X)1 coffee (X)tea?


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I've got variants of these guys in between each bush.

My new pretty. 

My front door minus pumpkins (I'm too lazy to retake it, haha)

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Monday 10/10

Breakfast: Apple & Oatmeal

Lunch: Amy's Organic Soup & crackers

Dinner: Kashi meal & veggies

Dessert: Bare granola chocolate cookie

Activity: Gym (Run for 2.5 miles & Elliptical for 30 minutes) 35 minutes on treadmill, 30 minutes on treadmill = 622 calories. Feel really good!!!

New Goals: Workout 5 times a week. Track all food. Get my water in. I want this to become habit.

I didn't do well on eating this weekend. I went to my parents on Friday and Saturday to see Jim & Loretta and we had pizza, hotdogs, cupcakes and all sorts of candy. Needless to say that was bad. I just chilled at home yesterday and finished getting all of my Halloween decor up. I started feeling pretty guilty yesterday evening about everything. I did go to zumba on Saturday morning but that was really the only activity I had for the whole weekend. It's amazing how much better I feel if I just do things that are good for me. I woke up re-energized this morning and ready to tackle the week.

You've been doing great! I love how it seems like only one of us does well at one time but I see you exercising and eating right and it makes me want to get back on track. Thanks for the inspiration dude!

I decided to post a picture of Halloween. You should post a pic of the new car!

Sunday

Breakfast: turkey bacon, blackberries, coffee with half&half
Lunch:  chicken leg
Dinner: grilled chicken salad, french onion soup
Snack: apple/raisin/cinnamon muffins
Activity: insanity power and resistance

I found out that there is Zumba here in Mannford!  They offer it 4 days a week, I'm just not sure what time--going to look into that tomorrow.  I really want to try it!!!  Also found that there is a small gym that has a pool.  I may have to take advantage of that this winter.  I love swimming laps, but haven't done that since college!

Saturday

Breakfast:  coffee with half and half
Lunch: 2 chicken legs, apple with PB
Snack: blackberries
Dinner: steak, acorn squash, cauliflower
Snack: apple and PB
Activity: insanity plyometrics (-650)

Friday

Breakfast: coffee with half&half, blackberries
Lunch: out to eat with Mom
Snacks: apple, cheese stick, macadamia nuts
Dinner mini street tacos, 1/4 of a dessert at On The Border

Weird day.   I took my car in to get the oil changed at WalMart and they told me that my engine had no oil and that I had a leak-but they couldn't fix it or add oil or anything because they don't actually have a mechanic there. Had my Dad look at it--there was oil in it and no visible leak (plus no spot on my drive way), so we concluded that WalMart is just full of dubasses.  I had rolled over 100k miles on the way to WalMart, so no more warranty=scared Manda. Took it to an actual shop and had them change the oil and look at it--they said it was fine (and it drove fine).  Started to panic a bit about the possibility of something bad happening soon while on the interview trail.  Went to "just look" at new cars last night and ended up coming home with a newer one, haha.  Anyway, I didn't eat until after 10pm because we were at the dealership for so long, and I definitely didn't get my workout in.

Thursday

Breakfast: 2 kashi waffles, 1 tbsp earth balance pb, 1 tbsp honey

Lunch: somewhere w/Sarah

Dinner: Somewhere in Stillwater with BAP

Happy Friday to you! (A little jealous)

Hoping to do better today. I really want to try something new-something to re-motivate my food. I'm really motivated about working out (most days anyway) so I just need idea for food. Any thoughts?

Thursday

It's my Friday! YAAAAAAAAY.  This month is just kind of a boring month.  I don't get to do a whole lot, and you know how I get when I'm not super busy--BORED.

I'm getting back on track today--lots of veggies and fruit. My tummy still hurts from yesterday's eating out; I just feel bloated and gross.

Breakfast: acorn squash, turkey bacon, coffee with half&half
Lunch: meatloaf, green beans, acorn squash
Snacks: apple, cheese stick x2, cereal
Dinner: chicken drumsticks, acorn squash, mac and cheese
Activity: insanity pure cardio

Wednesday

Breakfast: turkey bacon, greek yogurt with blackberries, iced coffee
Snack: apple
Lunch: low-carb wrap from Camille's
Snack: cheese stick x2
Dinner: ate out at our little mexican place
Snack:
Activity: insanity cardio recovery
Water:  (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) () ()


I ate out too much today and feel pretty crappy about it--blah.  It just makes me feel yucky.  

Wednesday

Sorry for no post the last couple of days. Work was pretty busy yesterday and then I went to zumba and when I got home I just crashed.

My eating hasn't been very good this week. I feel like besides lunch and dinner yesterday every meal has been eaten out. It's probably because I didn't go to the grocery store on Sunday and I only have dry pasta left at my house. I will be going shopping after work though.

Also going to go to the Y tonight to run/elliptical.

Hope you have a great Wednesday!

Ok so I didn't want to go the gym tonight but I forced myself and ran for a good 20 minutes and then did the elliptical for like 15. I couldn't wait to leave because I had to tell my mom I ran into Kirby from EB and he basically said that he may have a position opening up and I would love to go back to work for him. I feel like it's meant to be! How exciting.

I have so much I need to catch up on. I did get bills paid and was able to make it to the grocery store. I really need to go fold clothes and wash dishes. I may just fold clothes and call it a night.

I will be making another trip to Stillwater tomorrow for Beta Alpha Psi and another dinner out. I also am going to lunch with Sarah tomorrow so it'll be another day of eating out. Friday I'm going to stillwater again because Jim and Loretta (great aunt & uncle) are coming into town. We'll be going out to dinner with them. I guess I can't complain about all the outings I just wish it was easier to eat out. I'm really going to start watching what I eat. Obviously that didn't happen today. Breakfast burrito and nutter butters??? disgusting.

Tuesday

Well today I had an eye appt, so basically I had a free day!  Woo!
I was pretty sore all day though.  I didn't know if I was going to make it out of bed, haha.  Then when I went to do my workout, it started skipping with 10mins left.  So I just did some more pushups and stretched and called it a day.  My muscles were pretty spent and I'd already burnt like 500 cals anyway.  So I'm good with it.

Breakfast:  quesadilla, coffee with half and half
Snack: apple and cheese stick
Lunch: chicken and pecan salad (chicken was breaded and dressing was pretty sweet)
Snack: tomatoes and cheese stick
Dinner: veggie loaded meatloaf, fresh steamed green beans
Snack: cereal
Activity: 3/4 of a workout
Water:  (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) () ()

Monday

Well somehow my post from yesterday got deleted.....  hrm.

Also, just wanted to let you know that if people click on your user name from the Skookum blog, they can trace back to this one--not sure if you knew that or if that was ok with you or not?

Hope you had a good day at OSU!

I did have a question for ya:  what's your daily schedule like??  Work, dinner, exercise?  Work, exercise, then dinner?  Just curious how you make it work in the evenings.  Tonight I am going for the work, dinner, exercise (and hope not to be sick) approach.

Breakfast: breakfast quesadilla, coffee with half and half
Snack: tomatoes and cheddar cheese
Lunch: 2 chicken legs, acorn squash
Snack: apple
Dinner: hamburger patty, baked cauliflower
Snack: snow cone
Water (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X) (X)
Activity: insanity plyometrics
Plan for tomorrow:


Ok, so I need your input.  I have an idea of what to get you for your birthday, but I need to know if you already have something similar.  What workout gear/clothes/equipment/accessories do you use most days?

Sunday

This weekend has been so busy but it has been full of such awesome things that I would gladly be this busy all the time if it was like this!!!

Friday we went to the regatta which was amazing and then went to H & 8th which is the monthly food truck rally in OKC. We stayed there til midnight. Such a great night for OKC.

Saturday we went to the Plaza district festival. More food trucks, great local vendors and musicians. Seriously? Am I still in OKC? It doesn't feel like Oklahoma when all this great stuff happens all in one weekend.

Today I'm taking Melissa to Cheevers for lunch/brunch and then I'm taking Courtney to the slow food picnic at the Harn Homestead. It's her Birthday and there will be local farmers there and all the great local chefs preparing their food so it's like work/fun all wrapped in one.

Tonight I'm heading to the parents because we are interviewing students at OSU tomorrow. My lunch and dinner will bought by HT tomorrow so I may not be tracking. It's so hard and frustrating to do when you have no control. I'll try and limit fatty/horrible food though.

I am going to try and run tonight. I really want to run the Susan G. Komen 5k on October 15th. I ran 2 miles on the treadmill yesterday, then did 6 miles on the bike (30 minutes) and then did 30 minutes on the elliptical for 3 miles. It felt great. I was going to go to zumba but no one showed up which was a first. I feel like if I keep running for most days until the 15th then I should be ready for the 5k on the 15th. And even if I'm not I can still walk just a little then get right back to running.

I will start hardcore tracking again on Tuesday. I sort of let my food get away from me. This week has had such great eating from the food trucks which I feel is my duty to eat to Saints, the new irish pub, to Cheevers and Slow food today. It's so hard to pass that up. That's why I feel like if I exercise at least I'm somewhat balancing it out, haha. Probably not but it's making me feel less guilty.

Saturday

Sorry I haven't been very good this week at posting (or at eating right either).  This will change this week.

Last night James and I went to the fair, which was super fun.  We haven't been in forever.  We split a fried dessert (cookie dough--it was awesome) and have pledged to be back on track hard core at least until Thanksgiving.

Hopefully I can get motivated.  Motivation has been severely lacking lately.
Maybe going and getting groceries will help!
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Breakfast: low-carb quesadilla, iced coffee
Lunch: 2 small low carb quesadillas (I'm apparently obsessed)
Snack: pistachios, sugar free mint patties x2
Dinner: steak, cauliflower with cheese
Snack: apple and PB
Activity: working outside, walking all over the pumpkin patch, and cleaning around the house.
Water:  Meh, I've drank a lot of tea today.  I'll work harder on this tomorrow.
Goals for tomorrow: more veggies, more water, limit of 1 quesadilla.
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So sorry that you keep hitting speed-bumps with the truck.  Maybe you can find a bigger and better truck now!  It'll all work out like it is supposed to!  I still can't wait to try your food!!

Friday

Good morning!

Wow. What a crazy past couple of days. I've been through so many up's and down's the past 2 weeks and it's starting to catch up with me. I'm going to just try and chill this weekend and get everything reorganized and back on track.

Breakfast: Granola Bar

Lunch: Maybe subway. I have to change banks at lunch.

Dinner: Food truck party. They're having a whole round up of trucks and live music every Friday of the last month. Courtney works on Big Truck Taco's Truck so I"ll go and see her. I think we're also going to the regatta this weekend.

Activity: Really feel like running.

Wednesday the 28th

So bad news. The truck went to get inspected yesterday and my mechanic told me to NOT buy it. So we will not be buying it because it has so much wrong with it. This will not stop us. I still want us to have a booth at Homecoming and we'll still be doing markets and hopefully start getting some catering gigs. It just pushes our plan back a little but that's fine we will adapt. Yesterday was pretty rough though. It's hard waiting and doing all of this just to find out that the truck is not what was promised. At least I didn't buy a crap truck though.

I didn't eat super well yesterday. Went to lunch with Sarah and ate dinner with Betsy and Courtney which included drinks. Then went to Cuppies and then had one more drink at Big Truck because Betsy was still hungry so not that great. Back on track today!

Breakfast: Light Gluten free waffles w/honey

Lunch: Amy's spinach pizza

Dinner: Not sure yet. Maybe some grilled zucchini and light pasta w/tomato sauce.

Activity: Going to the gym

Tuesday that felt like Monday (that's a good thing, right?)

Mmmm, I love gross chocolate oatmeal!!  Haha, just kidding.  It sounds like things are going great!!

I read the blog and love it!  Added it to my favorites.  Maybe I can come to one of the events where the food truck will be!  Is the pic on the blog your actual truck???  So cool--all of it!  So glad you are making your dreams come true with all of this hard work and creativity!  It is truly inspiring.

Today I am just tired.  Not sure why because I didn't do much all day at work--just sat and observed.  Maybe that is why--I'm so used to running around that when things are boring I just get sleepy.

I will try to post a pic of my fall decor tomorrow when it is light out!