30 days of me!

I stole this from my friend Becky, and by doing this it will also keep me motivated to stay consistent with my blogging!

Day 01 → Something you hate about yourself.
Day 02 → Something you love about yourself.
Day 03 → Something you have to forgive yourself for.
Day 04 → Something you have to forgive someone for.
Day 05 → Something you hope to do in your life.
Day 06 → Something you hope you never have to do.
Day 07 → Someone who has made your life worth living for.
Day 08 → Someone who made your life hell, or treated you like shit.
Day 09 → Someone you didn’t want to let go, but just drifted.
Day 10 → Someone you need to let go, or wish you didn’t know.
Day 11 → Something people seem to compliment you the most on.
Day 12 → Something you never get compliments on.
Day 13 → A band or artist that has gotten you through some tough ass days. (write a letter.)
Day 14 → A hero that has let you down. (letter)
Day 15 → Something or someone you couldn’t live without, because you’ve tried living without it.
Day 16 → Someone or something you definitely could live without.
Day 17 → A book you’ve read that changed your views on something.
Day 18 → Your views on gay marriage.
Day 19 → What do you think of religion? Or what do you think of politics?
Day 20 → Your views on drugs and alcohol.
Day 21 → (scenario) Your best friend is in a car accident and you two got into a fight an hour before. What do you do?
Day 22 → Something you wish you hadn’t done in your life.
Day 23 → Something you wish you had done in your life.
Day 24 → Make a playlist to someone, and explain why you chose all the songs. (Just post the titles and artists and letter)
Day 25 → The reason you believe you’re still alive today.
Day 26 → Have you ever thought about giving up on life? If so, when and why?
Day 27 → What’s the best thing going for you right now?
Day 28 → What if you were pregnant or got someone pregnant, what would you do?
Day 29 → Something you hope to change about yourself. And why.
Day 30 → A letter to yourself, tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself.

It's official

I have finally hit 125! I haven't been this weight since my junior year of high school. Insane! Although I weigh that much, I am so bloated it isn't even funny. It has been a few days since I went number 2...sorry tmi...so I feel gross and swollen and fat! My intestines literally hurt. This is not good. Anyway, so today I have to get Derek's oil changed in his car, and if I am feeling any better this evening I will go walking. My throat hurts and my head is congested so who knows, but it's only 11:45 AM so you never know :)

Oh and by the way here is my banana bread that I made last night.


For breakfast today I had some yummy oatmeal with raisins and some Splenda brown sugar. It was so good and hit the spot for a sick girl. I have a headache coming on again so I better go doctor that. More updates later!

**update

My banana bread was made without a single drop of sugar. That's right, and it tastes completely "normal"! I replaced sugar with Splenda, and just to make sure it tasted sweet enough, I added in about a half cup of Splenda Brown Sugar Blend. It is amazing. I also put in bananas by how much I personally wanted. I know a lot of recipes just call for a generic "1 cup of mashed banana" well I just broke apart about 4 bananas and threw em in then blended them up with the rest of the other ingredients. Simply delicious and about 50 calories less per serving!! :)

Lazy Sunday

I slept in today until 11:30! What's even crazier about that is I went to bed at 12:30 last night, so I slept a nice, solid 11 hours. I must have needed it. I got up, had a quick breakfast, went on a 35 minute walk to just wake up and cleaned up the apartment. Then my friend Amber came over and we went to the beach for a get-together the unit had for all the wives. It was alright. I'm more excited about the pot luck we are having next Sunday! After the beach I came home and just relaxed, made dinner watched some football, and then I went walking for 65 minutes. For dinner I baked some chicken that I had dipped in fat-free milk and then covered them with some flour, cajun seasoning and bread crumbs. I also got a couple small tomatoes, drizzled them with olive oil and spread some minced garlic, salt, and pepper on them and baked them until they popped and browned. It was delicious and light!

I am going to make homemade banana bread tonight too. I'm so excited! I will post a picture of it when I'm done.

On the downside today, I feel like I am coming down with a cold. I also feel so gross and bloated almost like my whole body is feeling the swelling. My stomach looks huge :( I just really hope everything "flushes" out soon!

Week 1 in review

Soo counting calories is the best thing you can do (in my opinion of course) if you are trying to shed pounds. I am not really trying to lose weight, but more like tone up and target these last little areas of improvement (my tummy, underarms, and back fat...typical woman areas). I am now down to about 125 pounds. When I started trying to lose weight about a year and a half ago I weighed between 148-150! My how things have changed!!! I eat more now, however I go walking a ton and do strength training and yoga so it keeps my metabolism constantly ablaze.

ANYWAY!

So this past week I decided that I needed to reevaluate how I handled my day because before I got promoted I was able to take scheduled breaks and lunches because I was working hourly. Now that I am salary I pretty much decide when I take my breaks and lunches. For the couple weeks prior to this past week I had gotten off track and felt sluggish and blah because I was sitting at my desk all day long and not getting to get outside and get a few laps in to recharge and clear my head. this last week I made it a point to get back to my routine and it felt great. I had a great week! I also weighed in and the last time I had weighed myself I was 126 and I got down to 125 woohoo! To end the week on an amazing note...I went to Wilmington today with my friend Ashley and we had lunch and went shopping and just enjoyed the day, I went walking a couple times, anddd I got to talk to Derek for...TWO HOURS! Ahhhhhh that's craziness! It's the most we have gotten to talk the entire 2 months almost that he's been there! It will be 2 months the 22nd, so pretty much 2 months lol.

Tomorrow I am going to the beach for a battalion event and to get some sun. I will also go walking and I think I want to make a chicken recipe for dinner. Hope you all have a great weekend!

Day 2

Today was my second day of getting back on track. It was a somewhat hectic day at work. I had to terminate an employee, and my goal to coach a lot of people was stopped one person short due to the que of callers we had. That added a little stress to me, but I told myself to breath and to still take my breaks and lunch. 2 fifteen minute breaks and a 30-45 minute lunch don't seem like they can make a difference, but they do! When I go walking around the building on my breaks, it helps me clear my head and re-energize. Walking is soooo good for you! On top of previous mentioned things that happened, I had to cover for the closer of the night. Which meant instead of working my 10:30-7:30 shift, I worked 10:30-11:15 PM. 15 minutes short of a 12 hour day :). But I still am not in a bad mood and I think it's because I have my exercise breaks back in control and it makes me happy inside which effects me on the outside! It's almost midnight and I'm beat. I don't go into work until 2 tomorrow because tomorrow was my original day to close. Today the food intake was okay, besides eating a couple reeses mini cups and 2 bite size Kit-Kats. Lol. I got to go walking and do lunges before work for 70 minutes and I did about 50 minutes total of walking today at work so it made my end calorie balance a positive one :) I am trying to shave off these last couple pounds of fat that line my body so I am counting calories! Lol. Goodnight world!

Starting over!

Yesterday I had an epiphany. I saw what work was doing to me emotionally and physically. Not having a game plan at work was making me stress out, not feel like working out, and I was eating without the exercise to compensate for the calories. So I decided that in order for me to be a more successful manager for my agents, I need to be happy and on the ball. So today I did two hours of work, and then took a break, did 3 hours of work and then took a lunch, worked for two more hours, took a break and then worked for another hour. I was able to go walking like I used to do every day and I was SUPER productive at work. Everyone thinks that Team Leaders don't have time to take breaks because there is too much work to do, but that isn't true. I did MORE in just today while also taking my breaks, than I was doing daily last week without taking breaks and hardly taking a lunch. I love it! I went walking before and after work too. I will be doing some push ups and crunches here in a bit. I started a food and exercise journal to keep up with my calorie intake and output. It really helps me keep myself accountable. Here's to a new, better me!

So up and down.

Since Derek left my appetite has been doing all kinds of weird things!!! Almost to the point where one would think I was pregnant, lol....btw I'm not hahaha. The first month and a half or so was me having absolutely NO appetite. Now for the past 2 weeks, I just want to eat everything in sight!!! Watching the Food Network does not help one bit :( Everything sweet is appealing and I find myself tempted to eat when I'm bored. This weekend I tried fighting the boredom by going on a walk when I got bored and had a craving. I went on 2 30-minute walks yesterday, and worked out for an hour with my friend that evening!!!!!! Anyone have any tips? Any diet pills that really work in curving an appetite? This is ridiculous! I have actually lost 3 or 4 pounds since he left because I am not eating out like we do normally or eating Coldstone lol. I am terrified of gaining any weight :( This deployment is for me to tone up what bit of flab is left!!!! Help!!!!!!!! :(

I do have to say that having "diet" treats around really helps because I am getting a fix, without all of the calories as a regular snack. Before I got promoted at work I was working hourly so I had 2 scheduled breaks and a 30 minute lunch. During those times I would walk laps around the building at work. Now that I am a manager I have a lot more responsibilities and find myself barely taking a lunch and not getting any breaks (even though we are still allowed to have them). Beginning tomorrow I am going to stick to a routine so I can still have those breaks and take some time during lunch to walk also. I have to get my life back in order!!! I just now realized that work really has a lot to do with this plateau I have hit as well. So here we go on a new action plan!