Still goin' Strong 9.26.12

HUMP DAY! 

Well, good evening folks! Today has been a really and I mean really good day! My mindset has been a good one and my head and heart have followed suit! THis will probably be a quick post, but I wanted to report a few things for you all before I head out for the day!

My food for the day :)

Breakfast:

coffee with 1 tbsp pumpkin spice creamer (sugar free) from coffee mate

smoothie (Curves vanilla protein powder-2 scoops, 1/4 cup berries (frozen), ice and water 

Lunch:

smoothie (Curves vanilla protein powder-2 scoops, 1/4 cup berries (frozen), ice and water 

1/4 cup chili mac (last of left overs)

Snack: 

1 small red delicious apple

1 tbsp no stir natural creamy peanut butter

Dinner: 

Pulled pork (homemade in the crockpot)

BBQ sauce (sweet baby rays honey chipoltle)

1/2 healthy life whole wheat bun

sweet potato french fries (1 serving)

peas (1 serving=1/2 cup)

Dessert:

Froyoz (I have calories left over...i swear :) 

How I felt today :) 

Today has been a really good day! I can't describe it really but I feel as if I am getting my life back in order somewhat! The chaos of my normal day to day life is slowing and I am able to manage everything on a more consistent basis. I have come to the conclusion that I really need a set schedule and understanding of how my day is going to go in order to really be productive! Today, I have learned to trust in how God wants my day to go! I cannot do any of this without Him, because HE is my source of everything I could need in life. I just came to the realization of something, I need to have some type of control of something in my life....the one thing I can have control of is my relationship with God. I run to him, turn to him, pray to him and trust in him always and he provides. Nothing is more important than my relationship with God. He controls the universe and therefore sets the control of things for my life! I am learning a lot about myself through this changing process! I am learning that I am stronger than I appear and that I really can do this! Though I have had some setbacks in the past, I can get past them because i have a support system around me to help me! That is going to be all for today! Matthew and I are going to try this new thing where we don't have computers, cell phone, tv, ipad or anything on like that to distract us from each other and Pumpkin starting at 7:30. We have found that we are spending WAAAAAY too much time on these devices instead of spending quality time together with each other and our puppy! I am excited about this because I believe it is going to help us grow closer to each other :) 

Until tomorrow...

Love always

~Brittany 

I'm back! 9.25.12

Fresh Start...again! :)

This was my facebook status yesterday:

"Today is a fresh start...eating healthy, working out, just an all around healthier attitude about life in general :)"

It was true too! I did so good yesterday...I ate well. No unauthorized snacks or anything that was really horrible for me! I didn't go to the gym, however I did salsa dance for an hour which worked out pretty well (I sure did sweat). So yesterday was a success!

Tuesday :)

I have come to the conclusion that I'm going to have to plan better to get up and go workout before work, because after work doesn't work out very well. I never want to get up early though because I am so tired! I have to get better at this! I didn't get up and go to the gym today...and we have something going on tonight so I won't get to workout tonight :( WAIT! Maybe Matthew and I can take a walk around the apartment complex or something or I can do 20 minutes of Zumba on the Xbox Kinnect! That would be good :) Either way, I'm going to figure out how to get some type of exercise in today! I know that I can do this! I know I can...I have to do this! My mind has been refreshed and I have a whole new outlook on life! I am strong and I can do this :)

Food today :)

Breakfast:

Vanilla Greek Yogurt (1 container)

1/4 cup frozen berries (organic berry medley)

coffee :)

1 tbsp sugar free french vanilla creamer

Snack:

1 apples and cinnamon fruit and grain bar

1 orange

1 20oz bottle of water with lemon

Lunch:

Chilli mac (1 bowl=1 serving)

1/2 PB sandwich

15 oyster crackers for inside chili

1 20oz bottle of water with lemon

Snack:

Carbmaster strawberry colada yogurt

oats and chocolate high fiber bar

1 20oz bottle of water with lemon

Dinner:

Yoke Banquet- will report from there
grilled chicken breast with italian seasoning
1/4 cup scoop of mashed potatos
baby scoop of green beans
salad with fetta cheese and 1tbsp ranch dressing
brownie with nuts

How I felt today :)

Today has been a surprisingly good day! :) I have felt pretty awake and alive! Which is good, because that does not normally happen. I am feeling empowered and really ready to do this! I have to get better on the working out part! However, its 2:10pm and I am straight up starving at the moment! It's craziness! But I definitely have a snack planned in 20 minutes! I just have to keep the mindset right! Last night, we had some friends over, they are a really good couple who are christians and I feel that we are going to be fast friends! This makes me very excited and gives me a new excitement to life in general because I miss that part of that fellowship with couples our own age who believe as we do and understand how we work! It is WONDERFUL! :) Today after work, we are going to a banquet....so I will definitely have to watch myself on that one for sure! I even did Zumba when I got home from the banquet since I didn't go to the gym! I broke a sweat and everything :)

Well, thats all for now folks!

Love always,
~Brittany

Hump Day....THANK GOD! 9.19.12

Hump Day...Otherwise known as Wednesday :-)

Good morning everyone! So as stated yesterday, there was a minor, ok potentially major, fail in the watching of the eating. However, today is a new day and we can get this done!

Today has been a pretty good day which is a really good thing! I had my breakfast and my snack at 10am...I haven't had any unauthorized snacks today or anything that i'm not supposed to as of this point! I haven't had any water, which is not good. i'm going to have to get on that when I return from work because otherwise I am never going to lose this weight or fix yesterdays screw up at all.

How I'm feeling to today :-)

I am feeling pretty good today...a little worn down but ok! I haven't really had time to sit and want to eat because I have been running around all day doing a bunch of things for work!! HOWEVER, my pipeline is definitely up...34 people total! Ready to go is still 4, but thats ok! It is getting back up there! I'm a bit worn down though, I really am kind of tired and just want to sit and rest, but its ok! I can do this! I know that I can!

Meals for today :-)

Breakfast:
1/2 cup light vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup granola cereal without raisins
1/2 tbsp of milled flax seed
1/2 tsp of cinnamon (ground)
1/2 tbsp of cocoa powder

Snack:
2 wasa multigrain cracker thin crisps
1 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 tsp sugar free honey

Lunch:
Vegetable Soup
7 crackers

Snack:
yogurt covered raisins
apple

Dinner:
Vegetable Soup
7 crackers

Dessert:
Banana ice cream

Well guys....today didn't really work so well :( I'm having some minor issues with commitment and motivation :( this needs to be fixed and I'm out of answers :( any help guys?

Love always,
Brittany

Tuesday Blues 9/18/12

Rainy days :-)

Well good morning everyone, its 9:55am and it's one heck of a rainy day outside! This normally constitutes a very unproductive day for me, because I don't want to do anything and every single joint injury I've had in my entire life aches on days like this! Like not even kidding, every ounce of my body is just hurting...aching...I can't describe it but it is not pleasant! There is something going around out here and I better not be getting it! I don't have time for it at all! :(

Daily Food Log :-)

Breakfast:
1/2 cup very vanilla dannon light and fit yogurt
1/4 cup kroger granola cereal without raisins
1 tbsp of flax seed
1/2 tbsp cinnamon
COFFEE (with 1 tbsp of kroger sugar free french vanilla)

Snack
Wasa thin crisps with 1 tbsp of great value no stir creamy natural peanut butter and a drizzle of sugar free honey

Lunch:
1 can of 98% fat free beef ravioli

Snack
Yogurt Covered Raisins

Dinner
Davidson Vegetable Soup
grilled cheese sandwich

Snack
Banana ice cream (homemade)

How I felt today :-)

Just talked with the manager, and we get to work three 10 hour days and two 12 hour days so we can get some rest in between! Otherwise, we are both going to get run down tooooo fast! So yay! Today is a 10 hour day and then maybe tomorrow a 12 hour and then 10s the rest of the week! YA FREAKING WHOOO!! I am quite happy about this so that is good! :) Other than that, well I put 5 people to work today so that makes me rather happy! Got the pipeline up to 31 people total :)

Confession time :-(

So today might have not been the best day in general! I had some unauthorized snacks that included Cheezeits (two servings of them) as well as some pretzels and peanut buter and pretzels while I was working and waiting on Matthew to get home and eat dinner! In my defense, it is totally that time of the month and I can't control my cravings...however, i do know that is nothing but an excuse! :( So with that being said, today didn't go quite as planned but that is ok! Tomorrow will be a new day! Until tomorrow...

Love always,
~Brittany~

12 Hour Day...9/17/12

Loooooooong day :-)

Good evening folks! Sorry for not being able to blog earlier today! According to my boss, it is imperative that our on premise team work a whole lot more hours (he suggested 12, but we are to plan that ourselves)...which in usual talk means "you need to work 12 hour days!" With that being said, my cute butt was at work at 6am this morning and didn't get off until 6pm! I did take lunch and come home to my sweet puppy...which is probably all that kept me going!

To report my food today :-)

Breakfast:
1/2 cup vanilla yogurt (dannon light and fit)
1/4 cup kroger granola cereal without raisins
1/2 tbsp of milled flax seed
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
3 blackberries (its all we had left)

Snack:
wasa multigrain thin crisps (2)
1 tbsp of great value no stir natural creamy butter
1 tsp of sugar free honey

Lunch:
Peanut butter and jelly sandwich on whole wheat bread
baked Cheetos!
light mozzarella cheese stick

Snack:
100 calorie pack blue diamond dark chocolate almonds
1 snack box of yogurt covered raisins

Dinner:
chicken tenderloin sandwich (chicken club)- homemade
sweet potato fries

Dessert:
Banana ice cream (not ice cream flavored like bananas, actual bananas turned into ice cream)

How I felt today :-)

Well, I woke up this morning rather rested, which is a shocker considering I had serious anxiety issues before going to bed last night because I was dreading the whole 12 hour day thing until the pipeline fixes itself (or as we see it, until the end of time!). I had tightening in my chest, almost like an acid reflux feeling (like I had dry swallowed a pill and it got stuck in my throat)...for about 2 hours while trying to go to sleep! I must have fallen asleep at some point....I do remember waking up like 3 times to use the bathroom (darn drinking lots of water). My alarm went off at 4:45am and then again at 5:00am and I was up! I had everything out and ready so I didn't have to try and fumble around to find things! While I was getting ready this morning, I put on the "relaxation" station on pandora...just something nice and soothing to help me just chill out before the start of a long day! It really helped! I listened to that same music on the drive to work. Once I got to work, I just got everything organized for the day and really just kind of cleared my mind and attempted to get in the right mindset. It worked pretty well!

I did really well on drinking water today....I drank 100 ounces of water today :) 5 water bottles full! I don't know if that is too much! But it really kept me hydrated and feeling alert and awake! I tried to eat every so often to ensure I didn't get too hungry! Hence the snacks during the day! I did really well until about 5:00 and then I started to get a headache from being hungry again and then from being tired and staring at the computer all day! *note to self: i might have to take my glasses with me to switch out*

Got home, and I feel pretty chilled...tired...and I'll probably go to sleep pretty well! But I know that I did my best at work and I can't do anything else!

To sum it up :-)

With that being said, I did go over my calories today and I did not work out! Those are my confessions! However, on the calorie end, I didn't really eat anything that wasn't "good" for me! I mean I didn't mindlessly snack on things all day and not realize it! I was intentional about my food eating! So thats good! As for working out, well I might have to take a rain check on that one and work on getting used to working 12 hour shifts...and THEN add the work out part in! Though, honestly, I should just suck it up and go do at least 30 minutes on the cybex to that awesome "workout" station on pandora! :)

I hope everyone enjoyed this one....but this girl is out! Its time to curl up next to my hubby on the couch and relax and enjoy my time home with him :)

    Love always,
~Brittany~

Sunday=Lazy Day 9.16.12

Lazy day weekends!

Well good evening folks! This weekend has been absolutely amazing! I've had some time to just relax and not really do anything at all! It has been, well rather rejuvenating! I haven't felt this relaxed or rested in a very long time...and considering I get to start working 12 hour days until my boss is pleased, I need to be as relaxed and rejuvenated as possible!

How today went...

We slept in this morning, til like 9:30 (well technically I woke up at like 8, but we stayed and lounged in bed until we were really awake...and Pumpkin was too :) Then Matthew took out Pumpkin and I made some french toast and turkey sausage for us for breakfast! Believe it or not, I basically have NEVER made french toast before so I had to look it up! I'd say it was a success, considering that my husband said, "I think you have found something else you can make!" He loves it when I make breakfast, and I love that he loves that! I had my morning coffee in my mug that Matthew gave me for our wedding! It has our wedding vows on it! Every single time I drink out of it or see it, I instantly remember him standing in front of me, saying the vows he had written to me! It almost makes me tear up when I think of it :) He sure is a special guy in my life and I am truly blessed! 

Well after breakfast, we got in the cleaning mode! We made a whole bunch of changes...well not really. Just mainly gave pumpkin her own room :) She truly is our little girl and we love her so very much! 

In between all of this, I cleaned and Matthew moved all the stuff around to move Pumpkin out of the laundry room and into her own room :) We really got the house picked up really well! :) I love having a clean house, it makes it a lot easier for the week coming up! Although, we totally still need to unload the dishwasher and put all the dirty dishes in the sink! 

Confession Time:

It's healthier right?

I do have to admit one thing! While we were out getting the little one some dog food! We did go to Taco Bell, BUT i ate the healthier option instead of my normal over 1000 calorie meal I eat! So with that being said, we are having cereal for dinner tonight! Which I was already planning on anyways! 

Oh one more confession: there was a Venti Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks consumed (actually, I'm sipping on this beauty as I write this) 

With that being said....so today wasn't the best day on the food end of things. However, I really relaxed and didn't have the self-loathing and self-hatred type thoughts that I normally have! That in itself is an accomplishment for me :)

Weights and Measurements :)

Oh! I forgot to report to you all! I did my first monthly weigh and measure today (with help from my oh so amazing husband). Here is the reports:

Bust: 40

Waist: 35.5

                                   Abs: 43.5

                                    Hips: 43.25

                                   Thigh: 24.5

                                  Arm: 13.5

                                    Weight: 182.2

I will continue to report back to you all next month with a full set of weights and measurements! I will also give you all weekly reports on weight lost as well :) 

My Motivation :)

This is my motivation right now! I want to get back to how I looked and more importantly felt in the top portion of this picture! I also want to be healthy for myself, my husband and my future kids! I want to make sure I am in the best health possible when we decide to have kids, because I want my kids to be just as healthy as their momma! This is probably where I am going to leave off for the night! Everyone have an amazing rest of the night and I'll round back up with everyone tomorrow :)

Top picture: 1st home game 2011
Bottom picture: 1st home game 2012

9.15.12 Last half of the day!

Well hello there everyone!

So, today was actually a really good day! We literally didn't do anything! We didn't go anywhere, spend any money or do anything that could possibly stress either one of us out! That is an accomplishment! Not stressing or worrying, well thats not something you would normally see me doing. I'm a worry-wart, a naturally stressed person. It just happens! I have to process EVERYTHING that happens and its a lot to take in at once with me! But anyways...here is the report for food today!

Breakfast:
2 multigrain waffles
sugar free syrup
sugar free honey
*syrup and honey were both less than the recommended amounts
Mocha light starbucks (100 calories in the bottle)

Lunch:
chicken tacos (salsa and taco seasoning and shredded chicken)
    -wheat torilla
refried beans
mexican rice
sour cream
shredded cheese

Snack:
popcorn (94% fat free)
10 cheezits

Dinner:
steak
baked potato with butter and sour cream (less than recommended amounts)
sautéed vegetables with extra virgin olive oil, garlic and teriyaki sauce

Snack:
2 "jiffy" chocolate chip muffins and a glass of milk
1 screwdriver :) -hey i needed it to get through this poor excuse for a football game on TV)

Now, I must confess that in between the snack and dinner (or rahter while making dinner), I did have a handful of chocolate chips and butterscotch chips). They are all gone now, so that can't be a temptation anymore!

Showered, a tad depressed from the game :( but ready for bed! It was an overall wonderful, amazing day! Maybe not so much on the food or exercise (btw...that will change tomorrow because that medical condition...well its gone now!!!)...but all in all....today has been one of the best days I have had in a while! Relaxing is not something I get a chance to do and it was seriously needed! With that being said, tomorrow, Matthew is going to weigh and measure me....I WILL report these numbers to you all and I want you all to help me! :) Tomorrow will be good because I say it will :)

Goodnight all!
Love always,
Brittany

According to my email...

Google and blogger think my blog is a spam blog! It's legit! I'm working on getting it fixed! Hopefully it won't take too long :)

Ok...Today begins a fresh perspective on every single thing in my life! 9.15.12

Revitalized and Refreshed :-)

Well everyone, I guess I should welcome myself back to my own blog since I haven't been here in a while! This past week has been well, not the best one! Work has been very stressful, lots of things not going the way the should be, progress not going in the way my bosses expect it to...all that on top of having a slight medical issue that took me out of working out all week! Which meant, I was stressed from work, and couldn't work out which turned into Brittany eating way more food than I should have because I felt I had nothing better to do! Now, don't get me wrong, I know that is so the wrong mindset, but sometimes it happens and we just have to deal with it and get back up from falling flat on our face...and for those of you that know me....I fall flat on my face quite a bit (usually from my left ankle turning on me and down I go). 

Encouragement :-)

Anyways, I was talking with my  best friend over facebook chat. I should mention one thing, she has been my best friend for 20 years and knows me better than I know myself sometimes. She is the one who can take one look at my perfectly smiling face and know that something is really bothering me. She is the one who can encourage me, make me laugh, make me cry (from being so sweet or from doing something absolutely hilarious), and make me realize that I have to love myself and accept myself for who I am before I can try to make a change. She is wise beyond her years and I am blessed to have her in my life. She always says the right thing at the right time. Even though we don't get to see each other all that often because of our schedules and crazy lives, I know that the second we see each other or talk, its like we've never missed a beat! Best friends like these are hard to come by! God has blessed me with a close knit group of friends who have these same traits and I wouldn't know what to do without them :) 

So with that being said, she encouraged me to write a mantra and put it on my mirror and say it every single day when I wake up and look in the mirror. This is what I came up with..."I am a beautiful woman. I love every single part of my body because they keep me alive and kicking! I am someone that my husband, family and friends can depend on! I am who I am, and that is enough for me!." Ok, I had some help from BB2, but its ok! It makes me feel much better about myself. 2nd thing I did...I bought me an orange leather type journal that is going to be my "journey to a healthier me" journal. I am going to write in it every day....keeping a food log, a feelings log, workout log and anything else that impacts my journey to a healthier lifestyle! :) 

Day to day things :-)

This morning, I woke up around 9:15 (well technically I woke up at 7:30 but we didn't get out of bed until 9:00)! Matthew got up and got the puppy taken care of and then went on to Gresham to work a bit! I had planned on going back to sleep for a bit, but Pumpkin had other ideas! She wanted to play! So we got up to play and then I began cleaning! I changed the sheets, put the bedskirt back on, started laundry, sweeped all the hard surfaces in the house and "green worked" sprayed the kitchen! I put up the dishes in the dishwasher and then put all the dirty ones in the dishwasher! I even folded some clothes! At 11:52am, I have the last load of laundry in for the weekend and we are watching College Game Day on ESPN! We elected to not go to the game so we could actually have a full weekend to relax after a rather stressful week for us both! I am so ok with this! :) I love my VOLS, but I can love them from home in my comfy clothes :) 

Ok! I'm going to take a break now and go get some lunch! The next go around, I'll report my food throughout the day as well as give a breakdown of the rest of my day! :) 

With love always,

Brittany :-)

I'm so sorry....

So I promises you all that I would keep up with this blog....so far I have fallen off twice! I apologize! I still need to be held accountable! I'm finding it hard to muster up the motivation to eat right and healthy because I just love food! I honestly wonder if I have a slight addiction to it because my entire mood can shift if I am denies the food I really want to eat....and that is not a good thing!! Any suggestions on how to help me get through this hurdle? I need help to get me going again! I weighed 182.2 today...down but I'm no where near where I should be! Do I have a food addiction problem? My mood shouldn't be tied to the food I eat!!! Ahhhhhh! More to report tomorrow! Night all!

Hiatus...basically I fell off the wagon

So terribly sorry for the lack of posts recently! I most definitely fell off the wagon...stress from work kicked in and work took over my life and then sleep took over what little life work left over! But...it's monday, I'm back on the wagon and life will level itself out eventually! So more to come later! This is just an "I'm back" post!

Third time's a charm right?

Praying that today is much better than yesterday!

Today was well...

Well everyone...today is what we can call an epic fail! eating bad, no gym, stressed out...weigh in will not be good tomorrow! Oh well, its back on the wagon tomorrow!!

Until tomorrow!

Feelin' Pretty good so far today! 9.4.12

Welp, today is back to work! Something I definitely do not like doing after such a nice long weekend with my hubby! However, since the bills do not pay themselves...I suppose I shall suck it up and get over it!

Also, I totally have to get back in the swing of drinking more water than anything else! My goal today is to drink 5 of my 24 ounce tumbler cup while I'm at work! Challenge on!

Breakfast this morning:
Fruit, Granola and Yogurt Bowl with a mug of coffee (1 tbsp of sugar free french vanilla creamer and 2 splenda) total of 233 calories!

Snack at 10am:
chocolate fudge brownie kids clif bar (130 calories)

Lunch:
Turkey, lettuce, tomato and cheese sandwich on whole wheat bread
harvest cheddar sun chips
string cheese (light of course)
dessert: 7 life saver Gummies

Also! I have had 2 of my five waters! Also quite proud of myself for the simple fact that I just resisted the urge to go to Starbucks and get a pumpkin spice latte :-)


Snack at 3:45
Apple

Dinner:
Grilled chicken (left over from cookout yesterday)
Broccoli
brown rice?

Last half of the day on Wednesday 9.5.12

Well as most of you know by now, I took a half day due to my well "blonde moment!" However, I still got paid for it so that wasn't too bad! :) Gotta love that part of having paid vacation! :) After I went and sat for about 30 minutes to get my glasses fixed (mind you I was completely blind and could hardly even see my phone without my glasses), I had to stop by Target to pick up a prescription which is where I got my Skinny Tall Pumpkin Spice Frappucino (200 calories) and it was AMAZING! Then I came home and took out the puppy and made me some lunch (exactly what I had for dinner last night for lunch today!)

Then I bet you can guess what I did....ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! I sat on the couch (well laid really) and watched two of the Twilight Saga movies (Breaking Dawn and Eclipse) and just chilled.

I do have to confess three things today!
1. I had a snack of a bag of 94% fat free popcorn and 1.5 servings of cheese bits (kroger style)
2. I did not work out today
3. I did go out to eat with my husband...however I did eat well! THis was my dinner
     -1 grilled lemon pepper chicken breast
     -steamed broccoli
     -green beans (no butter or anything added)
     -salad with fat free ranch dressing (and I didn't even use the whole cup they gave me...only 1/2)
     -I did share some chips and salsa with Matthew, but not very many

So, confession again....I made blueberry cheesecake muffins....but I WILL NOT EAT ALL OF THEM! I will just eat some! I needed something sweet!


However, tomorrow it will be 100% back on the wagon again! One thing Ih ave learned is that you cannot just stop every time you screw up...because you will screw up in your diet and exercise...its a given! However, we can pick ourselves back up off the floor from the food coma (or at least that's what normally happens to me) and get back on it again! It is an everyday battle to learn to eat healthy and exercise and have that daily drive to be an all around healthy person! We just have to get to the point where we actually WANT to do the healthy stuff and the unhealthy stuff doesn't appeal to us anymore!

Until tomorrow all...hope everyone had a great day :)

Day 2: still goin strong 9.5.12

This morning was a pretty good morning! Had me some yogurt fruit and granola and my coffee for breakfast! However, in my rush to get to the talbot career center I totally forgot to get my 10am snack and now I am starving! I have to pass so many restaurants on the way back to get my glasses fixed! Which reminds me-fin y story for you all!

So this mornin my contact and my eyes were having a fight! I wore my glasses and that was cool! Well I get to work and realize that I left my badge to get in the gates and doors at home..or somewhere! So I have to get the guard to let me in the gate and get Jennifer (my boss) to let me in the door! Well I lean into the window to see if she was there and "BAM" I slam my face straight into the glass and break my glasses, losing the screw to hold the ear piece on! For those of you who don't know, I am basically BLIND without my glasses or contacts! So, I have this career event I have to go to and I have my glasses paper clipped! Long story short, I am gonna take a half day to go get my glasses fixed an figure out what is up with my contacts! Yay for paid vacation I can official take as of today!

Anyways, so once I leave here in Talbott, I'm going to go to east Towne mall and get my glasses fixed and then I'm going to stop by star bucks and get a Pumpkin spice latte (skinny of course) and go home and curl up with my Pumpkin Pie (also known as my puppy)!

Until later my friends!

Last part of the day :) 9.4.12

Well, I have made it through going back to work...which we all know I didn't want to happen! However, I did make it...I got off to work, went to tan, came home, took the puppy out, fed the puppy and now we are going to feed me!

Dinner tonight:
grilled chicken breast marinated in italian dressing
steamed green beans with a bit of garlic salt to taste
brown rice :)

At 7:30, I will be in Zumba class for an hour and will burn a crap ton of calories! I'm excited about going....seriously! :) FYI....as I am standing here cooking my dinner...I am having a really hard time resisting the chocolate chip muffins from last night! Like I could eat the whole lot of them...all 6 muffins that are left...dunked in milk after being warmed up in the microwave with that ooey gooey chocolate chip....OK I have to stop! Goodness, I have a love of food...and I need to find a love of BETTER food for me :)

So, I'm sitting here writing this and surfing through my facebook as my brown whole grain rice cooks and I come across this article from Godly Woman Daily entitled, "Let Your Will, not Mine, Be Done." I have attached the link here for those to read. It is really something to think about, and something I struggle with! Some days, I just don't want to get up and do anything....eat, drink, exercise, go to work, pray, anything at all...I mean all I want to do is lay in bed under the covers where nothing can touch me! This is not how God envisioned us to be. Laying in bed staying away from everything. He gave us a body and a life and purpose and a reason to go out into the world and be the light to those around us. I encourage you to read this article and think about what it says! I'm really going to try to do this...be a more Godly woman. I have fallen back on some things that I know are so very important because I've fallen into this "trap" of not wanting to do anything at all! This is my pledge to you all, I will work on changing this, with God's ever-present faith and love :)

Back from ZUMBA! One hour of amazingly fun cardio dancing and 520 calories burned later...I'm home and pooped! I'm totally ready for bed :)

Today has been a success...I think I am going to shower and drink a cup of sleepytime tea and call it a day!

Until tomorrow my fellow friends :)

Food today :)

So today, I will do good! So far I have had a fruit and grain apples and cinnamon bar, a homemade fruit juice drink and a light cheese stick! The challenge today is going to be the Labor Day Cookout! I can do it though, but Matthew is going to have to help! FYI...I did have a gummy life saver but only one :)

Lunch was a success...grilled chicken breast with some baked beans, small bit of pasta salad and cold slaw...dessert was a tad small bit of everything :)

More to report later :)

Dinner came and we had Ramon noodles and grilled cheese! Not the best but it was quick and easy and we were tired! However, I do have mini chocolate chip muffins in the oven now for dessert....I WILL NOT EAT ALL 6 !! I won't do it!

Getting Started :) 9.3.12

So this morning, I was laying in bed desperately trying to talk my husband out of going to spin class because I was really tired and just wanted to be lazy for a whole day. This was not exactly how I expected my day off to start, with us getting into a slight disagreement about me wanting to be healthy but not wanting to anything to get there. I have asked him numerous times to help me and motivate and encourage me...but I always tend to push him away. I haven't really decided why it is that I do this...because I really do need help! I don't know if it is a pride thing or a "I want to do this on my own thing but in all honesty I really don't" thing, or what...but it has got to stop. So basically, long story short, we did go to spin and I'm really glad we did because I feel a whole lot better about myself in general!

So you might ask, what made me decide to start this blog....actually it was with the encouragement of my husband. We are driving back to the apartment after our work out and he goes, "I have an idea!" I was thinking that you should start a blog with pictures and updates to your fitness journey. Talk about your struggles, your temptations, your successes and even your failures. Maybe something about having it publicly shared will help motivate you and may even help others as well :)

Well here we are! I'm going to do it! It struck a chord in me because I had been thinking about doing it for a while...almost like an online virtual accountability tool to help me out! Plus, it will make me more aware of what I do and don't do, eat and don't eat....because I'll have to share it with the world!

With that being said, these are the things I plan on blogging about:
-Exercise
-Eating
-Struggles
-Successes
-Failures
-Recipes
-Tricks and Tips
-Anything else that comes to mind :)

Well, its off we go now! The Journey to a Healthier me has now begun! :)

Where I started in 2007, right after graduation from Powell High at 236lbs. 

My Bachelorette Party...July 9, 2012...Best in shape thus far at 165.1lbs. 

Where I am now...backsliding just a little bit...back up to 182.2lbs