Been Awhile

So I know it's been awhile since my last post, but let me tell you, grad school is NO JOKE and the workload is crazy. With everything going on, I am finding it hard to find time to exercise, which is probably why today was the first day I've gotten to in awhile. Not only do I have a 12 page paper due on Weds I also have a major presentation on Asian American Culture that has to be an hour and 15mins long! I am exhausted cuz I still have a handful of papers to write, a Directory to put together and a final exam on the 27th! Wish me luck that I have the strength to get everything finished, and still manage to have hair left. :0)p Anyways.... So I've done really well with the salt challenge. I haven't touched the salt shaker to add salt to my meals yet, however I DO still cook a very little with it. Sometimes you need it for flavor! Today even though I exercised I brokedown and had a piece of pizza from Domino's. I felt guilty, but I've ate really well all day and have a healthy dinner packed so I won't binge at work. The pizza really messed my stomach up, so technically I think I got rid of it immediately! (TMI, i know lol). Sooo I feel like that might have been karma for messing up my good eating streak, however, I think it's a good sign that my stomach is having adverse reactions to greasy foods! Maybe that means it's slowly getting used to eating clean healthy unfattening foods, and that's exciting. So, next week I think I'm getting rid of all carbonated beverages for my weekly challenge. NO SODA ahhh!! :) I think i'll be JUST fine, and it will give me more incentive to get my water in. Hope everyone has a good Easter. Good luck with yalls weekly endeavors!! :)

Food:
cabbage soup
1 lean cuisine
2 small slices pizza
10 rice cake crisps
banana
2 eggs, 2 thin sliced ham, 1 bagel thin, one slice low-fat cheese,
1 cup coffee
lots of water
1 soda

Exercise-
Jillian's 30-day shred
30 mins walking

PayOff!! First Weigh In :)

First, I know I haven't been on in a couple of days, but it's been hectic. I've come to the realization that I'm not always gonna be able to blog everyday, so hopefully at least three or four times a week. Yesterday we packed up and went to my grandparents house to stay for a few days while they are at the beach, (were watching their dog Raggs). This was fine with me because there is something extremely comfortable about my gparents house, something warm and inviting and it relaxes me instantly. However, I had all good intentions when deciding I would exercise while away, and then completely forgot my dvd at my house! WTF. So we watched a movie (The Band Played On, it's about the early breakout of the AIDS epidemic.. I highly recommend it because it is so informative :)) and afterwards I did exercises and ab-work on my own before taking a shower. I have ate really well all week, so I was extremely proud of myself this morning when I stepped on the scale and it showed a FIVE POUND LOSS!! WOOT WOOT!!! I was suprized because I haven't gotten the chance to workout as much as I'd like, but apparently I did something right! Now I just need to keep on getting things done, and not slack. Hopefully my results will continue on a DOWNWARD SLOPE. :) hope everyone is having a great healthy day!!!

ps.. my challenge for this week is to give up SALT until next monday. wish me luck, I LOVE SALT so I will need all the willpower I can muster.

Food I Will Eat:

Breakfast:
coffee
2 scrambled eggs
2 pieces of bread
1 piece of american cheese

2 pieces of low-fat graham crackers w/peanut butter
strawberries w/ fat-free whipped cream

turkeyburger w/ brown gravy
broccoli
80-cal mashed potatoes w/ spray butter

WorkOut:

30 min walk
ab-work

Energized!! What Do You Love About Yourself??

Today I actually was supposed to have off, but instead, as usual I was needed at work so I went in at 5 to close. However, I was able to sleep in and do my own thing for most of the day, which was a much needed break from early mornings and morning traffic. :) I woke up around 10 am and ate a healthy breakfast before chillin' around the house with my cat (Sophie! only the cutest cat you'll ever see! :) ) I was able to have coffee in PEACE and not worry about it getting cold because every two seconds some asshole wants to push the button at our Pharmacy drive-thru like we all didn't hear it the first 14 times you push it!?! sorry, just wanted to vent. As I've mentioned, I work at a retail Pharmacy and we are CONSTANTLY busy, and we CONSTANTLY are catching crap from customers because of one issue or another. I don't understand how many different ways we can say it or how many different languages we have to say it in, but prices are NOT set by us, INSURANCE sets the prices... and if YOU don't like the prices or think something is wrong with it maybe YOU should call the insurance YOURSELF!!!! It's not like we do things just to make people angry, and every customer seems to think it's a personal vendetta. lol. ok enough. :p So, I watched tv and lazed out on the couch with a good book for awhile, and then was motivated to get my fat ass up and exercise!!!!! I got dressed and went for a 40 minute jog/fast-paced walk and then came inside and ate some lunch. I finised my workout with Jillian's 30-day shred. I felt so energized and it helped with my mood! :) I took a much needed shower and got dressed and even did my hair before going in for work. Funny how exercising makes me feel better about myself and makes me feel stronger and prettier, even if its just for a few minutes. (I had forgotten that feeling...) On my way in to work I realized something, I may not be in the shape I want to be in YET, but my body is amazing in what it allows me to do, and sometimes I forget that I am blessed and that things in my life COULD be alot worse. So, I decided to make a list of things I love physically about myself. Hope everyone had a great, happy and healthy day. :)

Food:
1 cup of multi-grain cheerios with 1/2 c skim milk
1 small banana
1 lean cuisine
1 sandwhich: bagel thin, 1 piece of provolone, 2 pieces of pepperjack turkey and 1 tbsp of miracle whip
1 ww cake
1 light and fit yogurt (peach mmmm)
10 rice cake cheddar snacks
10 baby carrots
Lots of water and ONE soda
4 chips w/guacamole

10 things I love about myself physically:

• I have my mothers eyes
• I am ABLE to workout
• I have strong legs
• I have a big butt (not always a bad thing ladies ;))
• I have a cute nose
• I used to have nice shoulders and back from playing tennis (they're still strong, just need to be found again, under all this "untrained muscle" hahaha)
• I have nice hands and they are very strong
• I am not physically impaired in any way and I understand what a blessing it is not to need assistance physically
• I have red hair. (this may sound dumb, but I used to get teased as a kid, and now everyone WANTS my hair color, big ego boost)

ps... remember to appreciate everything ladies, not everyone is as lucky in aspects as we are. :)

just workin on my fitness!

Today was a good day! I woke up at 10am and made sure to do the laundry and dishes that had been piling up and then did jillian's 30-day shred. Let me tell you, it was killleerrrr. However, it was AMAZING and I felt very accomplished once I was finished. I recommend this dvd for anyone that is short on time but want a good workout. :) I went to lunch and had a fruit cup and a sugar-free lemonade from Chic-filet. (For anyone who loves lemonade this is an excellent choice...you'd never think it was DIET!) I realized after working out how much I truly miss exercising. (especially since I was an athlete and play three sports in high school..) I haven't been able to workout in such a long time that I forgot what a great stress reliever it really is. Also, it just makes me want to exercise more. However, I realized this is a bad habit that I get into. I workout every day several times a day for a long while, and then I stop. It's a cycle I am aware of, so I have to make sure I am consistent and make it a life choice to continue being healthy ALL the time and not just in spurts. All in all it was a productive day. I got some of my massive work done, met my group and got the cultural project I am working on done and was motivated to eat well. Hopefully tommorrow I will have the same amount of energy and gumption to workout and eat well again! We shall see.... Hope everyone had a good day. :)

Food I ate today:
a fruit cup and sugar free lemonade
3 bottles of water
chef salad with low-fat italian on the side
2 pieces of whole wheat veggie pizza
one BITE of cheesecake
a beer (i know alcohol is not great for a diet, but on WW's a light beer is only 2 points! i am in school so... lol)
strawberries and blackberries with fat free whipped cream


P.S. I have decided that to keep myself going and staying strong...that I will reward myself with "prizes" for every 20 pounds lost. :) I'll speak more about this subject tommorrow! (maybe a pic??)

goodnight all. <3

Exhausted and Overwhelmed..

Today I woke up early to go to work before driving an hour and a half to get to school, where I endured three hours of class. I had every intention of doing the new workout dvd I have (30-day shred) and instead I got completely sidetracked with work and being around friends. My friends are amazing, but I allowed them to deter me from my workout, so luckily for me I ate pretty well today. Okay okay, I ate well EXCEPT for the cheesecake I inhaled after my super awesome healthy meal I cooked for me and my girlfriends. Peer pressure is awful for my figure lol. I know that I shouldn't have ate it, so I am feeling slightly guilty, but what can I do? Tommorrow is a new day, and I will definitely get my workouts in. :) As much as I want to workout EVERYDAY I am not sure if it can be my reality right now. :/ Well, I am off to bed, hope everyone had a successful and healthy day.

Today's food:
10 baby carrots
1 starbucks frap
WATER
1 sugar free punch
1 lean cuisine
2 slices of homemade whole-wheat veggie pizza
1 salad w/ranch
1 small slice of cheesecake

Hopefully tommorrow will be better.

:) wish me luck!!

First Day

Let me first start off by saying that I am EXHAUSTED! Today I have decided to start my official weightloss journey. I have lost and gained, and lost and gained over and over since high school, and it is time to grow up and either lose it for good, or continue being semi-happy with my life and how I look living it. This is my way of being accountable for my actions and hopefully it will be a rewarding experience by trying to share my struggles and successes as well as learning from other bloggers! I think it could be fun! :) Last year I started my senior year of college and didn't realize how heavy I had truly gotten until I went through and looked at some tagged pictures of myself on facebook. I was embarassed by how big I had gotten and realized I needed to do something. I joined weight watchers and loved it. I lost a little over 20 pounds between the time I started (Feb) and the time I had to sadly leave (Aug). I was pleased by the progress, but because I had yet to find a job since I had graduated in May, funds were low so I had to stop going to meetings. So now, I work full-time as a pharmacy tech and I am a Grad student trying to get my Masters. I am over-worked, under-paid, and I have more stressors than I know what to do with, and even so I know that these cannot continue being excuses for me not to continue trying to lose weight. So...here I am..

Today I woke up around 9am and weighed myself for the first time in about a month. To my suprize I have only gained back about 6 pounds, and some I am sure is due to it being that time of the month. :/ My first goal is to lose 5 pounds by April 1st and then losing 10 pounds a month from April to January. I have decided since I liked WW so much, that I would use all the tools and do it myself and use my blogs as sort of mini-meetings. I also want to use this blog as a way of me posting recipes I come up with and find (i love to cook!) and list the foods I eat and the exercises I find helpful. Hopefully I will try and write everyday, but with my course load it might be hard to attain.

Today menu went as followed:

Breakfast: 1 cup multi-grain cheerios and 1/2c skim milk

snacks: one starbucks frap, greek yogurt, 1 grapefruit, ten baby carrots

Lunch: homemade cabbage soup and a sandwhich

Dinner: Salmon, steamed asparagus, and a small portion of red roasted potatoes

LOTS OF WATER!


Unfortunetly I didn't get a chance to workout, but that will change tommorrow. :) I have Jillian's 30day Shred and I'm excited to see how it works. I hope it kicks my ass! Well, I am going to bed. Hope everyone had a healthy happy day. :)