4/3/12

Hello there! It’s a happy Tuesday in my world because I have tomorrow and Thursday off of work! Nothing like an extra weekend in the work week! J

Last night we didn’t do much… I got Nora and we went to dinner with Andi and her mom (I shared veggie fajitas with Nora and had some rice & beans) and then we went home and read some books and got ready and went to bed… I could not sleep AT ALL last night but I have still managed to survive the day without Starbucks! I had gotten into a really bad habit of drinking at least 1 vanilla soy latte nearly everyday and I’m trying to cut the caffeine out of my diet again. Much easier said than done when I’m averaging probably 4 hours or less of sleep a night L

Anyway…

Food Today

Breakfast

½ c granola w/ ¼ c light soymilk

Fresh fruit/veggie juice

Snack

½ c fruit & nut trail mix

Lunch

Black bean salad

Chips and salsa (I tried to resist, I promise…)

Snack

Protein tofu

Dinner

TBD – cooking for 1 tonight but I am determined to cook something so I have lunches for the next few days as well!

My plan for this evening is to jog to the gym, do some upperbody weight training and then jog home. That’s my plan. I’m super tired and don’t really have the energy to do it but I’m realllly going to try to get my ass there!

Tomorrow I plan on working out again in the morning and then I’m going to see Titanic in 3D! I’m so excited I can hardly stand it! We’re getting dressed up and having mimosas! If you know me at all, you know how absolutely obsessed I am with this movie and you understand my excitement lol. If you don’t know me, let me just tell you, I am OBSESSED with this movie! It’s actually the only girly-romantic movie that I like… and I like it hard.

Anyway, that’s about all I have for today… I’ll try to update tomorrow with a gleeful report of how great my workouts were tonight and tomorrow morning! J

Until then….

4/2/12

Annnd it’s Monday again! Funny how it always comes back around…

The weekend wasn’t as active as I had hoped… crappy weather on Saturday and a baby shower that I almost forgot about on Sunday put a damper on my plans of hiking with miss Nora.

It was a relatively uneventful weekend…

Friday after work I got Nora and we went home and made mushroom and black bean tacos for dinner and then played a bit and went to bed.

Saturday, miss Nora and I both slept in (needed!) and then we went grocery shopping and ran some errands then over to my parents’ house to watch the UK game. For dinner, I ate some pizza (bad, I know!). Obviously it was a cheese-less veggie pizza, but the crust was pretty oily. And I may or may not have had a few beers during the game. (emphasis on may)

Sunday, Nora and I got up, I made a big pitcher of juice for the week, my granola and some vegan banana cranberry bread! Then I cleaned house, did some laundry and we got ready and went to my cousin’s baby shower. No formal exercise but I did spend about 20 minutes catching/throwing toddlers and then Nora and I walked down to the park and I dominated some monkey bars… turns out, they’re pretty damn hard!

Last night for dinner I had a grilled Portobello burger on WW bun, grilled asparagus, cherry tomatoes and onions and some grilled pineapple for dessert! Needless to say, dinner was AMAZING. I LOVE grilling season so much!!

Food Today

Breakfast

½c granola w/ some blueberries and light soy milk

Snack

½ c fruit & nut trail mix

Lunch

Carrots & roasted pine nut hummus

Snack

Protein tofu

Dinner

Going out for Mexican with miss Andi and Nora J

So I’m a little confused with my scale right now…. On Saturday morning I was really excited because it told me that I lost around 5 pounds last week! (putting me down to 226) So I was pumped and put it on facebook and blah blah… then I weighed myself yesterday morning and it said that I was at 237?! I have a hard time believing that I gained 11 pounds overnight. I’m hoping that there was just something wrong and I’ll try again later this week lol. Regardless, I know I’ve been eating a lot less (however, drinking more) and I did actually workout last week so… ? I don’t know. I stopped worrying too greatly about the number on the scale some time ago, but it is nice to see the numbers go down… and they really haven’t in a while. I’m ready to get back to the downward cycle.

I’m having trouble with… well, life in general right now. I mentioned briefly in my last post that I’m feeling really out-of-place with everything in life and I don’t feel like I fit in anywhere, and that is still completely accurate. I’ve been really depressed lately, especially as of the last week, and I don’t know what to do about it. My brain is craving a giant road trip with the windows down and music up… but I’m thinking that’s not going to happen for like…. Oh, I don’t know, 16 years? I want to go hiking/camping but fear that I may die in the wilderness so that’s probably not a good idea… I just don’t know what to do with my brain. I feel like being in northern Kentucky is clouding my mind and I need some freaking clarity! I have headaches nearly constantly and I’m really tired all of the time. I just want to feel normal and healthy again. One of these days….

So, after that uplifting and motivating schpeel… I believe it’s time for me to head out today.

Until tomorrow…

3/30/12

Holy Happy Friday! I’m so excited for the weekend! Well, just to not be working, really. Ha!

Not a ton to report today… last night I had 3 pretzel sticks from Cock n Bull (if you’ve had them, you understand my succumbing to the temptation) after work and then had a little left over spaghetti from the other night. Nora and I didn’t do much, she was a very sleepy little girl so we kept it pretty simple. J

Of course, no gym this morning. The weather is looking pretty good for the weekend though so I’m going to try to get in as much as exercise as I can!

Food Today

Breakfast

Organic/vegan fruit & nut clusters

Snack

Fruit & nut trail mix

Lunch

Carrots & hummus

Snack

Nothing

Dinner

TBD

Um I’m sure you can understand why I’m freaking hungry right now. I had almost no time to pack lunch this morning so I just grabbed some stuff…

I’m not sure what Nora and I will be doing for dinner tonight, we’ll see what she’s in the mood for! J

I’ve been feeling pretty down lately. This whole ‘find yourself’ thing is much harder than I anticipated. My whole life I’ve had this lingering feeling that I just don’t fit in anywhere… and as an adult I still feel the same. I always try to adapt my personality/hobbies/habits to the group of people I want to be surrounded by, but that obviously never works out because I’m just lying to myself. I’ve discovered that I’m really bad at being alone, hence the reason I’ve been filling more of my time than I should with partying these days. I’d love to be surrounded by like-minded people but I’m still trying to figure out what MY mind is like… so that’s making things a bit more difficult. I’ve always been incredibly impressionable (and this is one of the reasons for my separation) and I’m trying to work on that, among many other things. My mind is pretty confused right now and it’s making it only that much more difficult to maintain focus on my path to weightloss and overall health. I’m hoping that I can get this worked out relatively quickly… but I also know that something as important as one’s own identity should be given adequate time. Ugh. My brain is exhausted.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to what should be a nice weekend with my little girl! I have some time off of work and I’m considering taking a trip somewhere by myself, I feel like my brain will thank me.

We’ll see…

Have a great weekend, blog world!

3/29/12

Happy Thursday!

Yesterday was a good day – sorry I didn’t get to post, I was with Nora all day and didn’t have much down time!

Brief recap:

I went to the gym and did another upper body workout – focus on the front of the body this time. Not really any cardio, just a 5 minute warmup on the elliptical. I did that in the morning and then in the evening I went on a 3ish mile fast walk with a friend on a nice and hilly path! It was awesome!

Food yesterday wasn’t much… protein shake and peanut butter & banana sandwich for breakfast, a bit of trail mix snack, veggie sandwich on WW bread and chips (shame!) for lunch, then some carrots and hummus for snack and no dinner. I made a pretty poor decision last night and went to a bar and drank WAY too much and stayed up WAY too late and I’ve been regretting it all day! Somehow, I didn’t over-sleep for work but I certainly didn’t make it to the gym this morning. I have Nora tonight through Monday night so I probably won’t be going back to the gym at all this weekend but, providing that the weather is nice, I’m going to try to get as much walking/hiking with Nora in as I can!

The food today hasn’t been great. I’m hungover and was in a rush this morning so I had some corn tortilla chips and coffee for breakfast and a black bean salad for lunch. I know, I know. I’m not sure what Nora and I will be having for dinner, possibly just some leftover pasta that she loved so much!

I am really excited that the weather is turning and it’s a great time to be outdoors! I love the summer so much and am looking forward to this one especially. J

Just a quick post today – almost time to go home!

Until tomorrow J

3/27/12

Ohhh good day, fair readers.

I woke up today in less of a panic than yesterday (remembered to set my alarm) but still not in a great mood. I’ve been pretty down/depressed all day and I don’t like it. Merp.

Food Today

Breakfast

Oatmeal w/ raisins, cinnamon & blackberries

Snack

Giant soy latte from starbucks (necessary, I promise)

Lunch

Carrots & hummus

Snack

Protein Tofu

Dinner

TBD

Last night I made some really yummy spaghetti for dinner! It was kind of cheating b/c most of it came from a can or jar but the combination was yum!

½ box Whole Wheat Spaghetti, cooked as normal

1 jar Emeril’s Roasted Gaaahlic Spaghetti Sauce

1 can Kroger Italian diced tomatoes, slightly drained

½ jar marinated mushrooms (in olive oil and garlic)

½ jar roasted red & yellow peppers, chopped

½ jar marinated artichoke hearts, chopped

-          Toss it all together and party!

I served it w/ whole wheat Naan bread that I brushed w/ EVOO, sprinkled sea salt and granulated garlic and baked at 400 for a few minutes..

I’m leaving work in a few minutes and we have a little going away happy hour for a few people that are leaving the company… but I really want to workout tonight so I’m going to just have some water, chat for a bit and then head home to get my sweat on! I’m going to (again) attempt to run to the gym, workout, then run home. Hopefully with better results than the last attempt!

Well, that’s all I have for today. Until tomorrow!

3/26/12

Hello! Sorry about the lack of post Friday… I committed to it before I remembering that I don’t have internet at my apartment just yet! Oops… getting that hooked up today. J

I didn’t have Nora this weekend and I’m still getting used to this whole being alone thing… It’s much harder than I anticipated. I really don’t like being in my apartment by myself so, rather than doing something productive like going to the gym, I drank. A lot. Aside from walking around the city in 4” heels Saturday night, there wasn’t much exercise happening. I will say that I didn’t eat terribly, mostly because I didn’t really eat that much. This coming weekend I have Nora and I’m keeping my fingers crossed for good weather! I’d love to be able to take some walks with her or maybe even go on a little hiking adventure, but of course that’s all sky-dependant.

Food Today

Breakfast:

½ c granola w/ ¼ c light soy milk and blueberries

Snack:

Roasted pine nut hummus w/ baby carrots

Lunch:

Black bean salad and chips and salsa

Snack:

Probably nothing, I’m still super full from lunch!

Dinner:

Spaghetti

I found a recipe on Pinterest for Smoked Sweet Potato Hummus and… good god. It. Is. Amazing. I’ve already gone through 2 batches!

So delicious and super simple to make! Give her a shot…. I don’t really measure when I make things like hummus… I just do everything to taste. I made the second batch with a little more chipotle than the first and it was perfect J and I also used lemon juice as opposed to lime because I didn’t have any lime for the 2^nd batch. I ate it with multigrain pita chips and also with pretzel crisps, both amazing!

Well, I’m pretty unhappy with what’s happening with my body right now. I’m not gaining weight and I think that’s in large part to the fact that I’m losing muscle and I’m also eating a lot less than I was (not necessarily a good thing) but where my abs were firming, they’ve reverted back to a ‘softer’ state.. my legs aren’t as toned and my arms are less than attractive. I know that I’m the only one that can correct these things and I’m not sure why I’m having such a hard time getting back to working out? It’s not impossible to workout at home, I just don’t do it. And I don’t like working out at night. And I’m just making any excuse possible to replace my exercise with booze. I just need to get control here.

Oy. That’s all I have for today… hopefully tomorrow will be better. On a happier note – I don’t have another full 5day workweek until July! Color me pumped!

Thursday 3/22/12

Hello good neighbors!

Okay, I don’t know why I always think that I’m some super-human and I can defy all powers of addiction and change all bad habits with the snap of my (freshly manicured) fingers, but – I can’t. One of these days I’ll learn to embrace the whole idea of ‘one step at a time’. I didn’t go back to the gym last night, or this morning for that matter. I went shopping last night to get my bathroom accessories and a few other things and then Branden needed me to bring something to him and Nora so by the time I got back to my apartment it was 9pm… and then I still had to hang/put away all of the stuff that I had bought! After that, I cleaned my kitchen, did some laundry and did some organizing and by the time I got to sleep it was almost 1am. Obviously, I wasn’t just sitting on my ass all night so I’m far from saying that I had a ‘lazy night’, but there was no formal exercise. This morning, I woke up and was completely exhausted and did not make it to the gym again. I’m regretting that decision now but it’s a little too late at this point… I would like to say that I am going to take Nora for a walk tonight but I have to go with my boss to a happy hour thing with a customer after work so it all depends on how long that lasts.

Dinner last night was non-existent… I was busy and forgot to eat then by the time I remembered to eat it was almost 11pm and I was exhausted so I didn’t bother.

Food Today

Breakfast

½ c granola w/ ¼ c light soy milk and blueberries

Snack

Roasted pine nut hummus w/ baby carrots

Lunch

WW Penne pasta w/ roasted zucchini, squash, eggplant, onion and cherry tomatoes

Snack

Edamame

Protein Tofu

Dinner

TBD – yet again.

I took the day off of work tomorrow and I’m getting my hair done then spending the rest of the day with my Nora! I’m excited! Not sure what we’re going to do yet, just depends on the weather.

I will be SO excited when my apartment is finally in order and the way I want it. It’s making it really difficult for me to stick to the schedule in mind (workout/meal plan-wise) when I look around and see so many things that need to be done/I want to do. Not to mention the fact that I’m spending way too much money! Ha!

Oh well… I’m just trying to stay positive and hopeful in the thought that things will soon settle down and I can get back to my normal priorities. J

Until tomorrow, friends…