Ugh

Out of it. Need to get back in it. In other news, I fell in love with this dog:
His current name is Dewey and his absolutely adorable and precious, incredibly well behaved. Just an awesome dog. Tart rescued him and I'd really like to adopt him, we'll see what happens.

Didn't work out today, again. Tomorrow's not looking so great either. Fail fail fail. :/

I've been in a funk

I didn't do much working out for March and I'm not happy with that. In fact, it just feels like a giant failure really. Out of 4 weeks, I was sick 1 and a half, had a mild sprain for 1 week and kind of took it easy on myself for the remainder of the time.

I know I shouldn't beat myself up, because it won't do much, but its really hard not to. I think I have to revamp my efforts. I still haven't worked them all out yet but there are going to be intense.

Anyway, more later. :|

Bleh.

Well, turns out I'm a clumsy ass mofo. Sprained my ankle, a mild sprain, but a sprain nonetheless, about 5 days ago. Went hiking on it twice, stood for far too long on it, tried wearing heels on it today and yeah finally had to go in to the doctor. I have to wear an aircast sort of splint thing for about a week, elevate, ice and try to take it easy. UGH. Total mood buster. :(

Early mornings

suck ass.

Pardon my French, but they really do. I got to sleep in all of last week because I wasn't taking Van to class, but now we're back to the grind.

Anyway, going to have my some Stoneyfield yogurt and my PB&B&H sammich for breakfast. I want caffeine!

Food. Food. Food.

My Sunday's revolved around food. Not in a fatty kind of way, but in an informational sort of learning experience. BULLETS!

"Food, Inc.": I'm kind of a weirdo when it comes to movies and books. Like I've said before, I like media that I can learn from. Stories about other people, research, reference. One of my favorite books is this giant dictionary-sort of book on Ingredients! It's awesome, and Food Inc. is as well. Director Robert Kenner take "Fast Food Nation" to another level altogether. Kenner, with help from Eric Schlosser, author of FFN and Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore's Dilemma, showed the many levels of where food is coming from today. It was all very eye-opening, very close to home and very informative. Please watch if you care about what you're putting in your body and what goes on behind the scenes.

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution: Americans come off as hard-headed jackasses. It's a pity because really, what does Oliver have to gain from trying to show Americans how to better their lives? We come off as callous. But there's hope. There's hope in the form of a mother who wants to do the best by her kids. There's hope in kids who don't want to get picked on anymore in school. There's hope in kids learning to make better choices and learning about fruits and veggies. It's an interesting premise and I'm excited to see where the show will go.

Health Care Reform: Let's face it, health care wouldn't be getting so expensive and out of control if people treated their bodies with a little more respect, whether it be quitting smoking, exercising more or eating less-processed foods. Thank goodness the vote passed, but we, as a nation, should all be taking better care of ourselves.

Anyway, I'll stop before I get preachy. This week is going to be intense. I'll try to update more frequently. :D

I've been a bad blogger

I haven't been updating on the daily and I'm sorry. Again, I've been busy but I should be able to find time to blog...jeez.

Anyway, my goal weight for this month is 251. I'm at 252.2 as of this morning so all the crazy amounts of cardio is paying off. I've been going for at least 45 minutes and yesterday I did an hour and 10 minutes. Ok, just wanted to update for the sake of updating, back to work :|

I'm back

Well....here's the thing: I came down with some sort of respiratory thing. I'm finally over it, though so that's good. Last week was a test of endurance and I honestly don't know how I could have done it 2-3 months ago.

At the same time I didn't keep working out. Partly because I was sick, but also because I was "busy." Yeah, being busy sucks but I have to find that 1 and a half for myself. No one else is going to find it for me. Needless to say, I have to be better at planning things out. I have to run to the store and get some milk, nanners and what not...I'm crazy exhausted, my ankle hurts and I need to do laundry...oh well.

In other news: The Taylor Swift/John Mayer concerts I went to Austin for last week were flippin' amazing. I can't stop listening to either of their catalogs...which is making me a little love sick but I'll get by. Definitely some of the best shows I've ever been too. :D

Anywhoo, back to work.

I've been sick

So yeah...no posts. :( Sorry about that.

*sniff*

Well, I think I need to mainline some tea/chicken noodle soup/gatorade/Emergen-C...right. now. I'm not feeling so hot, it's probably just sinuses. I was around a lot of smoke on Tuesday night and then it was really windy the next day so there was probably something in the air.

There's an awards ceremony dinner tonight for work. Going to that and then heading home. I need to go mimis so I can get up, get my oil changed and then go work out twice...Tomorrow's going to be super fun! Yeah!

Food for today:
Fiber 1/Soy milk
Naked smoothie/banana/cup of frozen berries
Hummus/Cherub tomatoes/crackers
turkey/mustard/spinach/cheese sammich
raw almonds/dried apricots

I'm guessing dinner's going to be chicken fajitas, rice, beans and other delicious things. :D

Justin the Trainer is trying to kill me

I'm mostly kidding...kinda.
So I met with him today for the trainer Design Your Own Program session and its seems as though he wants to kill me.
Here's what my work outs are going to look like for the next month:
Day 1: Lower Body with more reps and sets than in February, plus 40-50 minutes of cardio.
Day 2 & 4: 40-50 minutes of cardio.
Day 3: Upper Body with more reps and sets than in February, plus 40-50 minutes of cardio.

I technically started on Day 2 today with 40 minutes on the elliptical never letting my heart rate get under 160. It was hard. My right calf is still twitching an hour more than an hour after I was done. Tiredsies. March is going to be a loooooong month.

Anyway, while I was working out I chose to watch Oprah. The main topic for the day was Beauty so it seemed fitting that Jessica Simpson should be the celebrity guest. The peg for the interview was Simpson's battle with weight criticism and the media and her new show...I thought it was all a little contrived. But that's because that Jessica gains 10 pounds and she's labeled a cow when really, this Jessica would probably do some crazy shit just to get anywhere near her weight.

But Simpson realizes that it really doesn't matter what People or US Weekly says about her, what matters is how she feels about herself. Right now, at 255, I'm feeling pretty awesome. I'm seeing results and I'm trying to work through any obstacles (read: cupcakes) that come my way, but, again, I'm sure I've said this before, this is going to be a long journey. Annoyingly long.

The episode also featured Beauty Around the World with reporting by Lisa Ling. Ling visited this insane amounts of plastic surgery. It costs about $300 dollars to get a eyebrow fix in China and these beautiful women were going in there in scores to get more Western-looking eyes. It really bummed me out. Especially when I think about how gorgeous Asian women are, prominent eyelids be damned! Then Ling went to the other facility where people go to grow: Again more insane surgery, this time involving bolts and screws and saws. All so that they could be anywhere from 3-12 inches taller. Now, I'm not the tallest, but I can deal. Either that or I'm a weinie and I a) Don't have $40 K and b) I'm not down with spending up to a year in rehab. Way intense.

I'll leave you with one of my favorite pieces written in National Geographic. I read it right before I went into high school, so it stuck with me. I'm going to re-read the Enigma of Beauty and think about it the next time I'm sweating buckets at Planet Fitness.

I'm off to find some dinner in my fridge, I have to make my way to H-E-B at some point...running out of key things!

Blogging from work...

Rebel.

Luckily, no one knows who I am, what I do or where I sit usually, so I'm risking it.

Anyway, I stepped on the scale this morning and I hit my goal weight for February: 255 lbs. As Mansee put it, if February was 31 days I woudl have been good. But it doesn't and it's not like I can just pretend I didn't eat all those cupcakes...Which by the way, I had a cupcake last night...I traded it for flour tortillas (mostly because I find it hard to find flour tortillas I like).

I'm meeting with Justin the Trainer today to design March's program. I'm pretty pumped about it. When I started working out using his design, I was at 264 so yay for differences!

Let's see what have I had to eat today: Breakfast was 2 scrambled eggs on a piece of bread and a slice of cheese and a banana. Yogurt was my mid-morning snack. Now I'm eating some baked chicken and broccoli and I have about a cup and a half of strawberries for dessert. Noms.

I'll post an update of today's Trainer session later.

Morning Blog

Well, it took long enough but I finally dragged myself out of bed. It was an ordeal, for sure. Anyway, I'm off to the gym! I don't have to get into work until noonish or 1 p.m. because I'm working the election results tonight (nothing awesome, just data entry, but 5 more hours on the time sheet!)

Hope everyone has an awesome day!

Brand Spanking New

Or more like Brand Spanking Renewed attitude. March is here and I'm ready for it.

Last night before bed, I made overnight oats with 1/3 cup rolled oats, 1/3 cup soy milk and 1/3 cup blueberry yogurt. Then this morning I threw in some walnuts, flax seed and a banana. Nom nom nom. That pretty much held me over until 10 a.m. when I started chomping on some Farmers Market carrots. Tastytown.

Later I had lunch with Stef and Joaq. I had baked some chicken breasts and I heated some wild rice and a sweet potato. And of course, a Dark Chocolate Jell-O mousse. NOMS.

Anyway, during lunch we had a brief Meeting of the Minds and I was reminded of some stuff I'd said about two weeks ago: I have to find time for myself. Not just time when I can sit around and do nothing. But I'm-worth-it time. Because that's how things get done.

So I made my way to the gym which was cuh-razy packed: The first Monday of the month is Pizza Night so you have all these people working out and all these people eating pizza. It's completely contradictory, but I think they had some apples and oranges last time.

I had to wait around for machines and ask people how many sets they had left, but I finally got my upper body work out in. It was awesome and then it was time for Cardio. Yes, I capitalized Cardio, because it was 40 minutes of intervals that kicked my ass. It was hard (I swear if someone even thinks "That's what she said" ...) and I got all sweaty and gross. But eventually the 40 minutes were up and Cardio was done.

Now, I'm home. I'm going to rap up because I realized I'm monologuing. My friend Kate suggested I measure myself so I can observe changes numerically (besides just hopping on the scale). I had been putting this off, mostly because they're not the best numbers but I might as well face them. Here are my measurements as of March 1:

Bust: 46 inches
Waist: 45 inches
Stomach: 53 inches
Hips: 53 inches
Left Upper Arm: 15 inches
Left Thigh: 31.5 inches
Left Calf: 16.5 inches
Right Upper Arm: 15 inches
Right Thigh: 32 inches
Right calf: 16.5 nches

There. Let's see what a new outlook, renewed food changes (I refuse to use the D word), and a new work out can do. Like I said this morning: Bring it on, March.

Why do we fall?

So we can learn to pick ourselves up.

Bad news: I didn't lose the 5. In fact, I only lost three. I'm not posting the photo because it felt crappy to take it. I'm at 258. It kind of blows, but it's also reflects a lackluster month. Needless to say, I have to step it up.

For starters, I'm going down to bi-monthly weigh ins. It'll help keep me on check.

I have to go back to weekly goals and trying to accomplish said goals.

I have to watch what I eat like a hawk. This was kind of my downfall for the month: I ate three cupcakes in less than 24 hours. Bleh. That just sounds so horrible. There's a reason I haven't had pasta or sweets. I can't stop myself. I suck at moderation. :( Boo for disappointment.

But I still have 10 months to go. More or less 310ish days to kick ass and take names.

I'm going to go plan my week in meals. Send good vibes my way...I'm not feeling awesome right now.

Evaluating February

OK. We could go a lot of different ways with this one...but let me start with the negatives:

1. As much as I'd like to think that I'm completely happy being completely, utterly single, I'm not. Evidence: I had a liberal amount of cupcakes, ice cream, chocolates (Godiva, because if you're going to be bad about something, you might as well go for the good stuff) this month. Especially around V-Day. I wish I was strong enough to avoid the chocolaty goodness that comes around every Feb. 14 but I'm not. I'm human (I don't usually like admitting that, breakthrough?). Shit happens.

2. I stopped setting/accomplishing weekly goals for myself and that was a serious downfall. It's the only way to keep me accountable for me and I didn't do it. Taking this up again in March.

3. I haven't been stepping on the scale as often...for fear I might not be doing something right. I need to stop being afraid. Being scared of my weight is what got me here. Dammit.

Now for the good stuff:
1. I'm seeing changes in my body, clothingwise. It's minimal, but it is there.

2. I decided to give up going out to eat for lent, which aside from last night's blip (which I'm so paying for today), I'm doing pretty well. I have to think about what I'm going to eat hours ahead and it works to my advantage, even when I am pressed for time.

3. I signed up for a Design Your Own Program session for March 3. I'm guessing we'll be upping the ante by adding more reps and more weight....This should be fun...!

I'm supposed to go to the gym later today and for a quick hike (I told you I was going to be paying for my blip). Have an awesome day!

Something I might never be able to do right

is accept compliments.

Most anyone that knows me can attest to this. I can't. I usually start protesting, I say no, I say the shirt's a dress and it fits weird, I shake my head... but I'm working on it.

I'm trying to just say thanks. I'm trying to just accept said compliments. I think the hardest ones to accept are the weight loss ones. Whenever someone says I look leaner or smaller, I usually say no. I just don't think people really see it but I guess they do? I see changes in the mirror sure...but not substantial ones...or at least I don't think they're substantial enough to be mentioned. They're not substantial enough for all of my body issues to go away...stupid long road ahead of me...I'm still getting used to the concept of a new body...

Sigh.

When I was done with today's workout, I got my stuff from my locker and went over to the front desk to sign up for another "Design Your Own" Program sessions. One of the managers at the gym said, "Hey, you've been looking good lately. I've been meaning to tell you but you're always rushing out." I responded with a startled look and a stammered thanks and then some awkward silence while I was finding a date for the session. I'm an awkward turtle...maybe one day I'll get it right.

Haven't felt like writing

in a while...look forward to a long post soon. I need to vent.

Slacker

I like lists...That's why I make list blogs....Here's one right now!

1. Been stressing out lately. Almost thought about not going to the gym today and I realized that I spend most of my days preaching about exercise being such a good stress-reliever...and I ALMOST DIDN'T GO?! I'm a couple of things, hypocritical isn't one of them. So I made my way to the gym, kicked my own ass during my lower body work out and then during my cardio. Fun, fun! I felt great afterward. It was pretty effin' awesome.

2. I had pasta for the first time in over a month. It was wheat...I don't like wheat but this wasn't so bad. We substituted tofu for ricotta and it turned out quite well really.

3. That's really about it. Haha! I'm going to be crazy busy...I'll try updating. One week until weight in! Two pounds to go! I like exclamations points!

Day 1

Quick blog before I go pick up Van.
Here's what I had for breakfast: Oatmeal+Flax seeds+dried cranberries+Green Tea. Noms.

Lunch, outside in the patio with Joaq and Stef. Turkey+provolone+field greens+mustard+ 2 slices of bread+carrot sticks+Sun Chips+ a banana. NOMS I was totally starving during lunch.. OH and most of an apple, that I had technical difficulties with.

And now dinner! and NEW PLATES! :D

And I left out the salmon:

Total noms. Day 1 wasn't so bad. Gonna go plan out lunch for tomorrow :D Hope everyone had an awesome day!

I swim for brighter days Despite the absence of sun

Short blog cause I need to go mimis:
Went to the Jack's Mannequin concert at the White Rabbit tonight. It was amazing. So glad I finally got to see the band.
My legs are killing me. Lots of dancing and bopping around. The show made me miss someone I shouldn't really miss...but I couldn't help it. Should have been there, you would have loved it.

I'm giving up going out to eat for lent. This WILL be hard. I'm a social butterfly that loves going to lunch, but I have to save money if I really want to go to school in the summer. It also helps that by cooking my own meals, I'll know exactly what goes in. There will be a more conscious effort on my part to know what goes in and how much. It's going to be hard but I'm going to get through it.

The next 40 days are going to be interesting. I'm putting up photos of the new plates ASAP. But right now, I'm off to bed.

Woohoo!

I HAVE 6 STARS! Woo hoo! Obama's going to be so proud!

Moving on, I got some new plates (pics up later, I promise) that'll hopefully help me want to plate things and show them off. Woooo for Home Goods and Anthropologie!

I hung out with my favorite Canadian today, did some shopping and some lunching. We're ladies that lunch :D Tomorrow should be a fun time, need to get to work early, leave early, go to the office and design my butt off and eventually make it to the Rabbit for a Jack's Mannequin show :D

Did 40 minutes of cardio today...That's kind of a lot for me. My knee's stiff and my whole leg is iffy but it'll get better. Yes. It. Will.

Anywhoo, I'm hyper and I should go to bed. Night!

Confession time

I've eaten chocolates. All day. :(
Yeah well. Back on the wagon tomorrow. Two weeks until weigh in for February. Back to work time.

The best kind of work out

leaves your legs shaking. Totally in a rush right now to go meet a friend that I'm designing a brochure for. Then off to the mall :D Have an awesome day everyone!

Guess what

I'm crazy tired so you're in for a bulletblog:
1. I walked all over downtown for a friend. Totally worth it cause she was crazy busy and couldn't leave her desk and I got an extra 20 minutes of walking in.
2. I'll elaborate on this later but please listen to the Diane Rehm Show that was on Feb. 11 at 10 a.m. They talked about obesity and what M. Obama is doing about it. Good stuff. I've never heard Rehm get into it with a guest that fervently.
3. I have 17 days to lose 4 pounds to be on track for February. Stupid hormones. Stupid short month. Whatever, I'm doing it so.....suck it, February.
4. Man, my ankle hurts and my knee feels weird. Usually happens when I do my arm days because I do more cardio. UGH. Soooo tired.
5. Finishing "Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief" tonight so I can go watch the movie tomorrow morning. It's basically Harry Potter 2.0, but I like it.
6. Still need to use the cabbage and swiss chard. That means cooking tomorrow night. Nom nom nom.
7. Yeah...no more. Off to read and relax.
8. I LIED! When I finish this week in the Presidential Fitness Challenge, I'll be getting my SIXTH star! OMG I'm so excited! I know it's cheesy but eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :D
Now I'm off. :D

Icky weather

We're in for a bit of cold, rainy weather these next few days, and I've already talked about this but, who cares, I'm going to say it again: I don't function in cold weather. Van usually calls me a bear and I'm starting to think she's right.

Anyway, a quick blog post since I'm at work: I'm writing down what I eat in addition to trying to take photos of it. I know in some ways that's almost neurotic but I'm sticking with my accountability goal in choosing to know exactly what I'm putting in my body. I'm still in the learning stages (and really, I think it'll always be a learning experience) with moderation. Such a simple little concept that I fail at. Some people can have all the crap they want and not gain and pound and that's great for them. It's not the case for me and let's face it, it won't be.

Moving on, I made a tasty lentil soup last night. Having it for dinner again tonight with some grilled chicken and some veggies from the farmer's market. Anywhoo, it's back to the gym for me tonight, took the day off yesterday because I wasn't feeling it and I needed to think some things out. Luckily for me, my best thoughts come to me when I'm working out or when I cook. Let's just say the lentil soup was extremely cathartic.

Anyway, I have an article to write, a calendar or two to put together and all of it by 1 p.m. when I rush off to lunch with my favorite Canadian who has been quote by CNN and Perezhilton.com in the last day. She's famous. Maybe we'll have some paparazzi :D

Look what I did!

Finally made etouffe :D



Anywhoodles, stayed in for the Super Bowl, just too tired to try moving. Besides the etouffe took ages. Also, just because I made etouffe doesn't mean I'm rooting for the Saints. I only want the Colts to win because that's what Van wants.

Onto goals for the week:
1. Water. Water. And more Water. Jillian Michaels recommends 100 milliliters of water a day and I think I've only been having 64-ish of them.

2. I'm making lentil soup. Got some lentils. Nom nom nom.

3. MUST TAKE PHOTOS OF FOOD. MUST. TAKE. PHOTOS. OF. FOOD.

4. At least 2 vegetable servings per meal. I still don't think I have enough.

Anywhoo, gonna go finish watching the game or clean up or something. Hasta luego!

Disclaimer:

I'm going to bitch about my period. So if you're a guy friend, just don't read this.

OK. I've never really been one for cramping, but lately I'm completely useless when it comes to that time of the month. I don't want anyone to look at me, I'm in a shitty mood, I hate life and I'm heinous to people I love. Having said that, Van and Mans, I really don't know how you live with me. I should be locked away in my room during these 4 horrible days. LOCKED AWAY.

Anyway, I've been kind of lazy lately and it'll started on Friday. I got my work outs in, but foodwise, I haven't wanted to cook and I've been eating food I shouldn't be eating. It's not horrible, but it's not great either.

So because of my lackluster attitude right now (and because Mansee is awesome and reminded me why I'm doing this), I'm making a mini list of why I'm doing this. Here are some of my main reasons to get in shape:
1. Health. No painful walking, no heavy breathing, no migraines, no bullshit.
2. I want to see my collarbone at some point in life..
3. This also applies to my hip bone.
4. I want to stop using my weight as a shield.
5. I want to wear skirts.
6. I want to erase ill-fitting from my vocabulary.
7. I want to try new sports...or any sports for that matter.
8. I want to feel as awesome as I do on the inside.
9. I want to not jiggle as much.

I'm leaving it at 9. But there's more, just need to sort them out.

That work out left me pumped. Gotta get some lunch, clean some more and head to HEB for snacks.

Tiny victories

I finally took some food photos! I missed breakfast (Mini-wheats, soy milk, banana, yogurt), but here's Lunch:

A delicious Spinach salad from Guillermo's downtown. They're amazing, really crowded during lunch time but totally worth it. Joaq and I were joined by the fabulous Imelda, she's a riot. Totally want to be like her when I grow up.

I went to the gym after work and did my Upper Body work out today. It was super packed but there was a hottie on one of the treadmills that made the arm work a lot easier to do. Anyway, hit up the cardio machines and stretched, I'm totally exhausted.

Van helped me with dinner (parm roasted broccoli, grilled chicken and spring greens), here's what that ended up looking like:


We're watching "The Hangover" now, but I'm going to digress for a bit and talk about BMIs. I hate my BMI. This silly little Body Mass Index has been such a bummer for most of my fatty life...For instance, at 5 feet 3 inches I'm supposed to weigh between 107 (BMI of 19) and 135 (BMI of 24) to be considered healthy. I don't honestly think I can do that. I know I'm supposed to have this amazing, idea of what I'm doing and where I'm going with the working out and the eating right and the conscientiousness...but 107? 135??? Sigh.

Now, when I started my goal I was at 268 pounds and my BMI was a 48. Now, I'm 261 and its at 46-ish. Yes, the number is going down...but I'm still considered MORBIDLY OBESE (basically the nastiest words in the English language, EVER). Ugh. I hate, hate, hate that label.

As I continue my path and, hopefully, reach my goal of 200 pounds by Dec. 24, my BMI will be around 36, or overweight. My ultimate BMI goal that I'm giving myself more than a year to complete is 29, just below "Overweight" and circling around 163 pounds. All this math is making my head spin. Anyway, BMI's are crap and they make me feel optimistic/rundown at the same time. I'm going to finish watching "The Hangover" and cheer up. It's not like I'm not doing anything about the situation. I will fix this. Like Obama said last week, "We don't quit. I don't quit."

Hope everyone has an awesome day tomorrow, I'll be going out for the first time in months! This should be fun!

My body is a temple

But really it's been more like a Greek temple for Bacchus, the god of partying, good times, drinking and such things.

I'm working on getting it to a more controlled temple, where the floors and walls are clean, the attic organized and good things happen. I probably sound really loopy right now... you must forgive me, I just got back from the gym so I'm usually a little out of it right after.

I figure if I don't take myself and my body seriously, no one else is going to do it for me. No one's going to make me work out, or make me eat right. My body is the only one I have, there isn't a spare (c'mon stem cell research! jk). I have so many things I want to do in life and I really don't want to keep being this size, or using it as a crutch for not getting out there. Not to mention I want to look good doing these activities! I figured this out, now I just have to keep at it.

Anyway, I'm still failing at taking photos of the food. Gah. Bad Jessica. Any tips? I have a few blog post ideas that I need to flesh out, so come back for those. OH! I found this quote and I loved it. Made me giggle and get my ass to the gym so maybe it'll keep you inspired as well:

"A bear, however hard he tries, grows tubby without exercise." ~A.A. Milne

brrrr

I don't function quite well when it's cold. Today was my day off, well, workout-wise at least. Also, I'm not doing the best at taking photos of what I'm eating....I need to remember to take my camera with me everywhere! Sigh. Anyway, back to the gym tomorrow doing a lower body/cardio work out. Should be fun. need to make the broccoli and the cauliflower, grill some chicken breasts, plan how to use my "meat" crumbles...

Brrrr..OK, off to bed. It's goign to be rainy and cold tomorrow and I'm taking Van to class in the A.M. Hasta luego!

I'ma leave yall hanging

but I'm not measuring myself tonight. I've been cooking and cleaning the kitchen all night and I'm just wayyyyy to exhausted to try dealing with all that. You're lucky you're getting food photos ;)

Breffast was made up of a scrambled egg with turkey, a banana nut muffin and some OJ, medium pulp, you know this.


Lonch is brought to you by the Taco Truck on the corner of UTSA Blvd. and UTEX. They're fabulous and they had enchiladas today. Here's my plate of enchiladas Poblanas, sabrosisimas. And yes, this was my cheat meal. Hello, refried beans...


Dinner's the Pièce de résistance: Mini Turkey Meatloaves, Brussel Sprouts (my first try...needs work), and some Spring Mix greens. Nommy.



Now onto Jessica's final thought:

This month was hard. I worked out. I worked out, a lot. Twenty-three days to be exact. So collectively, I had a week off out of five weeks in January. I made conscientious decisions regarding physical activity and foods. It was hard. I might have had a whole cupcake for the entire month, and that's saying a lot. I LOVE BAKING, and now must of my baking things are hidden away. :(

January was tough and really, I've only built a 1-month foundation for what will be a life-long struggle with my weight. I'm excited for this year. I'm excited to keep up with the weight training program Justin the Trainer designed. It's definitely paid off, and I'm only on day 3. I'll leave you with one last photo. It's blurry, and my feet are front and center, but it makes me happy because it means I'm doing something right:



Bring. It. On. February.

Photos of food I eat

Eventually I'll put them on daily, but here's a sampling of what I've been eating lately.

Here's my first try at Quinoa. Finally made it!



This is Breakfast for today, smoothies out of the Skinny Bitch in the Kitch cookbook:



Didn't take a pic of lunch :( But here's dinner! I made collard greens I got at the Pearl Brewery Farmer's Market and I used a Tyler Florence recipe. Yum. We also got some purple cabbage, tomatoes, brocoli and brussel sprouts.



And I made some Banana Nut muffins! Also yum, but I need a new recipe that doesn't call for a stick and a half of butter.



Tomorrow's weigh in and measuring...It's been a long month...

A Quickie

I'm wayyyy exhausted tonight, so I'll put up the photos I took today. I need to get into the habit of taking photos of everything all the time. Erika gave me her old camera case, it's super cute! Anyway, had my upper arm working out training thingy today and I'm sore already. I had to be there crazy early and Trainer Justin is a morning person. Well, so am I but not at 8 when I'm trying to learn things. Ouchies.

Anyway, off to bed. We're going to the Pearl Brewery Farmer's Market tomorrow! Yay for veggies and delicious things :D

GoodnewsBadnewsMoreGoodNews

Well, everyone, I hit my goal for the month 4-days short of Jan. 31. Now I just have to keep it at that (or lower?!) until Sunday. Very exciting, very encouraging.

Bad news...I forgot to take a photo of my lunch and my dinner :( So I'll just run through what I ate real quick.
Breakfast: Overnight Oatmeal courtesy of Mans, with walnuts and flax seeds, banana, boiled egg (no-yolk)
Lunch: Spring mix, chicken breast, tbsp of green olives, cup of brown wild rice
After work out snack: Berry Liscious from Keva
Dinner: Spring mix, couscous, flounder
After dinner snack: two squares of dark chocolate courtesy of Mans. (She feeds me a lot, <3 her)

I had my lower body machine training today with Justin the Trainer. He's kind of a goober and completely cute and pocketsize (still threatening cause, well he's a trainer and he's good looking and has an insane amount of definition everyone).

Anywhoo, he showed me how to use the Leg Press, Leg Extension, Leg Curl, Hip Abductor, Hip Adductor, some ab machines, a funny spinny one and a machine for my lower back. All in all, it wasn't bad. I did that and then I did 30 minutes of cardio. Good work out. I go in for the upper body training (yay for getting rid of arm flab!) at 8 FREAKIN' A.M. It's OK, it's a good thing.

:D I'm starting to feel the soreness...:D

State of the Union shout out

"We don't quit. I don't quit." Good speech overall, campaign Obama was in the building. Let's get to work.

Camera Fail

Sooo I was going to start posting my photo food journal today, but my camera wasn't charged. Fail. I'm charging it tonight so I can start tomorrow.
I'm kind of spazztic right now, so bear with me. This will be an all-over-the-place kind of blog entry.
1. I want a bike. I'm thinking mountain cause I don't see myself riding in the city, and really I think trails are more my thing. Add that to the wishlist.
2. I want to try that overnight oatmeal Mansee keeps talking about, but I'm a bit put off by the mush factor...weird, I know.
3. I didn't wear flat shoes today and my feet felt wonderful. I hate being flat footed. I hate not being able to find cute shoes. I hate overpronating. GRRRR. I'm on the search for sole inserts...Any suggestions?
4. I'm really excited to start my training program. I hope I can keep up! I have a good feeling about it.
5. I love my friends and family. I couldn't do this without any of you. You all know who you are.
6. Planning some changes and revamps to the blog, so I can post the links of my Facebook statuses. I'm terrified. For some reason, having all of my contacts know how much I weight is starting to make me feel a little light headed. But I'll get over it, just like I'll get over this.
7. Thinking about making at least one meal a day completely vegetarian. No meat, no eggs, no cheese. I'm looking into my options. I have plenty of books on recipes. Look forward to that.
8. I weigh in on Sunday morning, and I'm scared. I'm trying to make these last few days until then count.
9. I hate work, but at least I have a job.
10. My green messenger bag broke today. *moment of silence* I'm deeply saddened, it's been with me through some rough times, interesting friendships and countless interviews. Thanks for everything, bag.

Anyway, now I'm just rambling. I hope everyone has a fabulous day!

Designing a program

For $10 a month, Planet Fitness is a pretty awesome place (lunk alarms, old people, clean machines), but there's more. They have group design and training sessions-- FREE group design and training sessions. I signed up for a "Design Your Own Program" session for today and I met with the PF trainer, Justin (Let's just say it's a good thing he wrote everything down because he was really pretty and I might not have been paying attention).

J asked about my goals, how often I go into the gym (4 days a week), what I'm eating (I promise I'm eating more veggies and fruits), what machines I use (Treadmill, elliptical, OH! The black machine is called an arch trainer!) so on and so forth. At the end of the session he showed me his suggestions for a work out plan. It's doable. I'm excited.

I also signed up for group training sessions on Thursday and Friday, where basically Justin'll walk us through the gym and show us what machines to use and how to use them. This might be the best part: I've been terrified of the weight room so I haven't traipsed in there, which I should because it helps burn calories and build lean muscle mass. Very excited to start the program.

Moving on, I figured out how I'm going to keep a food journal without having to lug around a notebook of sorts: I'll be taking photos of my meals and posting them on the blog. This way, I add color to the site and I keep track of what I'm eating. I start tomorrow :D

Anyway, I'm getting ready to go to dinner with some friends. I'll have to watch Biggest Loser next week. Or maybe I can get Joaq to let me watch it at his house LOL. Hasta pronto!

I'm starting a list

of things I want to eventually own:

Bosu Stability Ball:
Look how fun it is! I used to use it at the rec center all the time but I'm not sure Planet Fitness has one. I was pretty good at it to. Oh the amount of exercises you can do on one of these! Sigh. Alas, it's $100 at Target.










BoddyBugg: They started using it on the Biggest Loser last season. It counts calories burned and keeps track of God-knows-what else! Too bad the cheapest one is $79.


That's it for now. :D

Goals for the week

I'm in the middle of cleaning my room. I'm counting that as today's work out, mostly because its taking forever and I'm basically doing I don't know how many squats and stair runs. Anyway, here are the goals for the week:

1. Eat QUINOA: I still haven't tried it. What a fail.

2. Water only. Unless I'm making smoothies, in which case, OJ will be acceptable.

3. Four days of gym, 2 days of strength.

4. Keep a food journal. I need to start writing down what I eat. I tried this last year, and it just got kind of annoying. But I have to know what I'm eating so I don't sit around wondering if I've had enough of everything.

5. Have fun. Yeah, January's almost over. Time for Month 2 of Project 200 Below. Must start upping the ante.

6. Plan out blog ideas so I don't forget to write about them.

Anyway, I think that's it for now. I hope everyone had a great weekend. It's back to the grind in the morning. :(

Bad News

I think I'm growing lactose intolerant. I had gelato today and my stomach wasn't having it. I have a dinner party to go to later tonight...Also, my ankle's killing me. I think I need new Chucks. Today's my day off. :D Hope everyone's having a good Friday!

ch-ch-ch-changes

pa pa pa pa...Sooo I don't know the rest of that song. *shrugs* I'm exhausted! Here's a growing list of ailments: Right knee, right ankle, right elbow. Basically my right side needs to cut it out.

I finally got to meet my dear friend Erika's brother, Gaven. Super cool, and he gets it from his fabulous big sis. I helped Erika make Key Lime Pie and bits and pieces of dinner which consisted of pork chops and cauliflower gratin. Maybe not the most nutritious, but definitely delicious.

Anywhoodles, I'm going to try getting in some strength training in for tomorrow. Off to bed.

Why?

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Why? is one of my favorite questions. It usually throws people off during interviews. During tonight's episode of The Biggest Loser, Jillian was trying to break through to one of the contestants who wouldn't open up about her feelings. I'm not the most private person in the world but I usually try not wearing my emotions on my sleeves. It just doesn't bode well all the time, so I connected with Migdalia.

I couldn't answer the WHY? that Jillian was asking. I can be pragmatic about this and say that I have reached this weight because I didn't know how to limit myself, because I was eating, and later drinking, my feelings. So I sat there racking my brain wanting to come up with one good reason why I did this to myself. My mom used to say, "No te quieres a ti misma" and I was always dumbfounded by what she said. Basically, she didn't feel like I loved myself enough...and I really hate to say this, but she might have been right. I didn't know what I wanted out of life, I was lost in a sea of awkward mixed in with puberty and growing up.

I think what I want has become clearer as I work toward my goal and I continue seeing little results here and there.

I want to be Happy.

That's it. I'm not saying I've been completely miserable for the last however many years, but I could afford to be happier. I'm finally doing something about it and it feels great. There was definitely a light bulb moment tonight.

Tomorrow's an early day so I'm off to bed. :D

Up all night!

Ha. So a few things tonight (and I'll likely hit on most of these at later times) :

Forgot to make goals for the week: How much of a failure is that?! Well, really no more fail-y than not fulfilling one of my resolutions for last week--eating Quinoa. In my defense, HEB as out of it when we looked last week. Anyway, I finally got some, so expect to hear my full review of it later this week. Now for this week:
I'm going to up my gym-going time to four days a week. This way, I'll get four days of moderate cardio and two days of something else.
I'm taking the stairs. I've been terrified of the two flights (sounds pathetic, right?) it takes to get to my cubicle for far too long.
I'm keeping up last week's goals of eating right and living right.

Which brings me to my second note of the night.
Eat more veggies: I'm just not having enough. Usually at around 4 p.m. I'm sitting around thinking...have I had all my recommended servings? And I've likely not. It's not that I don't like veggies, I just make excuses for not eating/preparing them. I have a few recipes I want to try out. for this week, and I've plenty of frozen ones that shouldn't take long to cook. I just have to remember to get them all in.

Note numero tres: I really cannot stress how much all the sugar I had yesterday messed with me. I had a headache all day, it was almost like I was hungover. And I didn't feel particularly good about those choices. Also, I had a pretty bad food day today: my oatemeal spilled over in the microwave at work, so I ended up with about a third of the original amount. I didn't get around to eating lunch until about 4, due to a cute, but completely swamped waiter. I passed out at around 8 and woke up at 10:30 and had a bowl of cereal at 11. So my metabolism is not happy with me. I need to learn how to plan for days like these!

I'm going to wrap-up with a few more things: I can't count. Last week I said I had two weeks left before weigh in. I actually have two weeks as of yesterday, which is nice. I have more time to work on my goal, but I feel a little sheepish. Anyway, that's all I have right now. I need to go to bed, tomorrow's going to be a long day.

A two-parter

UGHHHHH! It's like I don't know how to stop...
I made snacks for tonight's viewing of the Golden Globes and I don't think I've had so much sugar in a really long time so my tummy's not very happy with me right now. UGH. Must research healthy snacks for upcoming award shows.

Moving on, MTV's is kind of redeeming itself with it's new show, The Buried Life. Basically four friends got together a few years back and decided to create a list of things they want to do before they die. Some of the stuff is goofy, but some is more serious. Perhaps in a very un-MTV way, the best part is that the guys help out someone else whenever they scratch something off their list. All of this got me thinking about my bucket list, which I've never particularly put in list form. I'm going to list a few of my items and get back to this post later...mostly cause I haven't sorted all of them out. Here are the first 10...in no particular order.

1. Have kids.
2. Find/Marry the love of my life.
3. Go on a foodie tour of France, Italy, Spain (for now, these are my top destinations. I'm dying for an authentic buttery, French crossaint, some Proseco, PAELLA! Tapas! Olives! *Drool*
4. Run again. I find it horribly ironic and sad that just when I started enjoying some sort of sport, my ACL/LCL/Meniscus decide to snap. Totally unfair. I want to be able to run for more than 30 minutes straight...without my knee feeling like it wants to explode...
5. Go to cooking school. It's happening. Summer 2010. Wait for it.
6. Learn to forgive faster.
7. I should probably learn how to swim...
8. Open my own awesome restaurant
9. Write a cookbook
10. Be happy (this one's ongoing :) )

Anyway, I'm going to think about what else I want to do...Off to bed! Work and then lunch with my favorite Canadian.

Being a bookworm

My favorite kind of book is non-fiction. Now, I'm not saying I wont read anything else, I just find non-fiction books so much more compelling: real people with real stories learning real lessons. Here are two books I'm into right now.

The first is "Half-Assed" by Jennette Fulda, who at one point in her life was around 372 pounds. She decided to make a lifestyle change and overhaul her bad habits and fix years of damage. I found myself connecting with her because she was around the same age as I am now when she decided to get healthy. Fulda also didn't have a huge life mishap to blame for her weight–she just had to find the right level of control to make her changes happen. She's also ridiculously hilarous and realistic about what her weight meant to her and to people around her. The best part about the book, which I just recently finished, was that she knows that she's going to have to make good decisions about food and exercise for. the. rest. of. her. life. It's a scary realization, but also a very necessary one to have.

Book number two is Gretchen Rubin's "The Happiness Project." I first heard about this book from the Today show. Rubin started the project to become more appreciative of the people and things around her so she could ultimately be happier. She mapped out her year-long project by dividing it into 12 different themes like Boost Energy, Remember Love and what not, and breaking those up into smaller resolutions to help the ultimate goal. For instance, she tried going to sleep earlier, de-cluttering, handling nagging tasks and exercising better. It's a nice how-to instrospective book that help you think about your own happiness. I'm a happy person, but there are definitely things I could do that would make me happier. With that being said, I'm going to try focusing on happiness and how to get it. Look forward to my mini Happiness Project here.

Anywhoo, we're watching Chuck.

Thinking time at the gym

Warning: This will be a longish blog. Bear with me if you will.

When I was a little girl, say around second grade, I was put on a diet. My parents were concerned I had thyroid issues, I got all sorts of tests done and I ended up at a nutritionist's office, being told what I could and couldn't eat.

Now, as a silly little (well I guess not so little cause I was being put on a diet, but I wasn't huge or anything) 7-year-old, I didn't really know what was going on. Our nanny would bring my food to school ( I vaguely remember it usually being boiled chicken–ick) and I'd eat that instead of whatever was in store at the cafeteria. It wasn't a horrible thing, I actually did lose quite a few pounds and I made some money. That sounds wrong but let me explain: My Dad (and we'll probably end up talking about this issue later) paid me $5 per pound and who knows what I did with it, I was 7 after all.

So this afternoon, while I was kicking my own ass at the gym, I was bombarded by all of the Haiti coverage on every news outlet. Now, let me start with this: the damage caused by the earthquake is horrible and devastating. Especially in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, where 80 percent of the population is below the poverty line and disease wreaks havoc.

But at the same time, I also saw how a lot of Americans are trying to help the Haitians. It's nice seeing people come through for others, especially when America is going through its own economic hard times. So in lieu of losing a whole 4 pounds since I started, I'm reinstating my dad's $5/pound incentive and donating $20 to Haiti along with prayers that the country gets back on its feet.

For anyone that finished reading: go you! and maybe think about making your own donations of either cash or good vibes...anything helps.

I'm working on my faults and cracks

Brief post before I go work out.

Mans joined Planet Fitness! Yay for more workout buddies :D

I'm in love with Zachary Levi.









Bought the new Ke$ha album (fabulous for working out–It's basically Katy Perry beats meets Gaga style and Boys-are-fun-to-play-with-but-don't-fall-for-them-'cause-that's-just-a-bad-idea anthems.)

and the new Vampire Weekend album (which has good Afro-beats to try jogging along to–keyword try, I have a shitty knee after all.)I'm also digging on RX Bandit's "Progress" CD for elliptical sessions. It's got their best stuff. Check it out if you can. Anyway, gotta go change and lace up my Nikes. Tootles.

Star completed!

Yay! I filled in all five points! *happy dance* Not much to talk about today, still hate my job, still need to lose weight, still trying and doing (shout out to Yoda) things to work toward that goal. Feeling good. Off to buy "Julie & Julia" cause I still don't own it and that's just plain wrong. Hope everyone's having an awesome day!

Goals for the week

I figure weekly goals are nice, especially considering I'm exactly two weeks away from my first month mark. So this week I'm going to really watch what I eat, make sure I have lots of veggies, lots of water, lots of lean protein. Must remember to eat a big breakfast. Included in those food goals is trying quinoa. It's supposed to be super delicious and healthful, so I might as well.

Now's as good a time as any to tell you a little about the President's Fitness Challenge. Basically about two weeks ago, my friend Helen asked if she could ask me for a crazy favor, which turned out to be the PFC. In it, we're challenged to work out at least 30 minutes, five days a week to try and achieve an active lifestyle. We log in our activity every time we work out and get certain points for it and fill up a star. After six completed stars, we're supposed to get some sort of certificate from the President.

It's a little cheesy, but it works. I usually end up logging in right after I work out to get the points, fill the star. It's a nice way to keep myself in check...and if I don't do it then not only am I letting myself down, but I'd also be letting down the team, aaaaaaaaaand the President. Bam. So yeah, just picture Obama shaking his head at my fatty self every time I don't work out. Again, it's nice motivation.

School starts tomorrow for Van and I'm taking her in...to her 8 a.m. class. Hey, at least I get to leave work early...woo and hoo.

I get by with a little help from my friends

Today was the first meeting of the Nameless Support Club. Good friends and good food (in a healthy form, of course) where we got to talk about our hopes and dreams regarding our struggles with weight. It's nice knowing I have people to count on and keep me accountable. We're meeting again in two weeks to discuss the progress, and there will be progress.

Also, it left me feeling inspired and so I dragged Van to the gym with me for a Saturday afternoon gym session. Anywho, now I'm just dicking around trying to figure out what to do with myself. Woo to finding things to do!

Jimmy Fallon is my favorite

He usually does Thank You letters on Friday, they're totally funny, check them out if you get a chance. His are usually jokes about the week's events, or him bitching about slow walking tourists, or other things of that nature.

While I love his concept, I don't think I'm entirely funny, so I'll just try sticking to heartfelt Thank Yous for the week.



This week's Thank You goes to my baby sister, Vane. She's been mentioned a few times before (haha, few), and she's been helpful in our efforts of staying in and making dinner. She's also signed up for Planet Fitness and is now going to the gym with me. As everybody knows, going to the gym with a buddy helps keep you in check. In this same respect, Van usually asks when we're going, if we're going, what we're doing, if I've logged in that days activity in the Presidential Fitness Challenge (which reminds me I haven't blogged about)...so forth and so on. She even did some yoga with me this week! LOL That was an ordeal...I should have taken video but I was trying to focus. Anyway, yes, this is me saying thanks to a wonderful sister who helps keep me accountable.

Tomorrow should be interesting. I want to make it to the gym in the morning but with the temperature being in the teens, I keep having a hard time unraveling myself from my comfy, cozy bed. Then its the first meeting of the We're Here For Each Other Club (name still in progress), then a friend is coming in from out of town so I must play hostess...I'll let you know how it goes.

A different kind of Yoga DVD

Shout out to Barb, for loaning me a sweet, sweet yoga DVD. "Yoga for Indie Rockers" by Chaos, it's definitely worth checking out, especially if you're into different music than just soothing oceans or whatever.

I took Vane to her first Spurs game with the free tickets I got for signing up for Planet Fitness. She was so happy. Yay for games (and yay for them actually winning)! Also, do you know how hard it is to avoid beer at a sporting event? Sooooo hard. I wish they had like carrot chips everywhere that would make my life so much easier.

Anyway, we're in for a FREEZE here in Texas...I'm not a fan, I don't function in temperatures under 35 but whatev. Off to shower and get ready for work tomorrow.

Yoda knows what's up

“Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try.” - Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back

He's so green, so wise. It's the quote of the day.

Anywhoodles, made my way to the gym with Vane today. She signed up for her membership and we did half an hour of cardio. It felt good to be back at the gym, since I hadn't been back since Saturday afternoon, but jeez, could there have been more people?

At first I was kinda cranky about it: Who do all these resolutioners think they are, coming to my gym, using my equipment??? WHO?

Then I realized I was mostly self-conscious about my jiggle. Hello, at my weight, I'm bound to jiggle. I was freaking out about people looking at my jiggle. At my jiggly arms, at my jiggly thighs. I'm just keeping it real.

After getting over myself, I thought to myself: Who do I think I am? Everyone's got the right to try and be healthy, and really I wouldn't really like it if people were looking at me thinking I was just a resolutioner who was going to bail on the gym 2-3 months from now. The more the merrier. I'm there for a reason, and that's to feel good and look good.

Here's to making gym friends!

Took the day off cause I'm crazy sore. I'm kinda walking funny. Moving on, Vane's signing up at Planet Fitness tomorrow! Yay! Now, I can work out with her, too. This week is going to be super busy...it's a test...and I'm going to pass it, dammit.

I'm kind of a salad fiend lately. Had an amazing Spinach salad at Guillermo's downtown, then had a late dinner (mostly cause I didn't plan well) of gumbo and salad at Jason's Deli. Shout out to Stef for talking soo much about gumbo that I had to have some tonight. I'm sticking with making my plate colorful when it comes to making my own salad: I piled on the field greens, cherry tomatoes, artichokes, yellow bell peppers, some green olives...yummers!

Anywhoo, OK so this is going to sound ridiculous but I have an eating problem: I eat too fast. Not only does it leave me feeling not full and therefore I overeat and feel stuffed after, but I've been working on it. I'm making myself savor every bite, which is a little aggravating but I'm brainwashing myself into thinking I'm developing my palette (which I problably am). In order to do this I chop most everything into tiny bites, make sure there's a little bit of everything in each forkful and chew about 12-18 times. I really pick up on the earthiness of the greens, the sweetness of the bell peppers, the tartness of the olives...hmmm...good stuff.

I'm totally ending this abruptly, but I'm tired. Off to shower and get cozy on my bed. Night, yall!

Ugh, it's almost Monday again.

Pretty relaxing weekend. Stayed home for the most part. Started watching MTV's Jersey Shore. Total guilty pleasure. Bart and Tara totally came through for an interview on their wedding bands. I'll make them dinner. Yes, that sounds like a plan.

Anyway, I'm crazy sore and I have to be up early for work and all that noise. Monday, be nice to me.

Do this work out

Now. I'm dead serious.

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/total-body-kettleball-workout

My apartment has a upstairs/downstairs...I did this and then tried going downstairs...That was fun.

UGH

I can't really go into the details of my shitty day, but just know that people are assholes. With that being said, I got home from a botched interview and I really, really wanted to sit around and eat cookies. Talk about emotional eating...I'm not though. Just having an orange and feeling sorry for myself. ugh ugh ugh.

Anywhoo, dinner with Barb later. My allergies are acting up so we'll see if I get around to the gym or maybe I'll do some kettle bell exercises. More to come later.

So this is the new year

...and I don't feel any different.

Back from the gym. I went to the locker room after I stretched and I was bright red. Yay for pushing it. Also, I was terrified that it would be crazy packed by all these Resolutioners, but it wasn't. There were maybe 20-25 people in the whole gym. Guess everyone's still hungover :D

I took yesterday off because I got sucked into a SVU Marathon and then had to get ready for Barb's shindig. Also the gym closed to early...and I got lazy.

There I said it. Might as well admit it. But just like every magazine article I've been reading says: I can't be so hard on myself. One bad day doesn't mean I stop, it just means I have to get back on the horse.

So yeehaw!

If the pollen counts aren't so bad tomorrow, I might go for a hike. We'll see.