Let's Vlog :)

It's almost...

My favorite time of the year. I love fall. I love the weather, I love the clouds, I love the colors of the changing leaves, I love apple cider and bonfires and hoodies. I love fall? My dad keeps telling me it's not fall yet, and Mother Nature is on his side... 90 and muggy today, but that doesn't stop me from being excited for Saturday which should be a nice, chilly high 60's kinda day on the lake :)

One of my BFFs, Danielle, and I share a birthday month. She made me the cutest OSU wreath to display on my front door. She got my creative juices flowing and I made her a wreath for her own birthday. We were both inspired by Pinterest, go figure.

 

Annnd now I want to make a crap ton more and try to sell them. They are SO cute. In other news... I have a cold that will not go away. Urgent care insists that it is my allergies. I'm sorry, but this gunk coming out of me is not allergy gunk, it's head cold gunk... get it right Mr. Volunteer Dr.

 

This weekend my cousin Michael and his gal Jenna are getting married. This will be my 5th wedding this summer with three more to go. So excited to see all my cousins and family and celebrate the happy occasion.

 

I've officially gotten into Insanity. I did my day five workout last night. I was supposed to do Cardio Recovery but I didn't have that video available to me... so I did Pure Cardio. I had gone to the gym earlier in the evening to get my chest/tricep lifting in, then got a quick 10 minutes in on the elliptical, then Insanity and then went for a walk with Kristy and Colbie. I'm tired, BUT I feel like I'm slowly getting back on track with my exercise... now to get hardcore on diet.

 

 

Today's lunch is similar to this photo below minus the sweet potato. I'm having a clean the cupboards month... so I found a can of tuna for a tuna salad sandwich and a side salad.

 

Alright, I'm not feeling very bloggy today, so here's your update, have a great weekend!

 

Fit Test Time

Alright, I started Insanity officially. I randomly did a random workout about a month ago, it was not the fit test although that's what I thought I was doing. That one went well... this one, not so much. How did I do better on the harder and longer work out than the fit test?

The only thing I can think of is that I ate a horribly heavy breakfast/lunch and then attempted to work out without a water bottle handy.

Moral of the story, is the next 60 days will more than likely suck. Bring it on Shaun T, bring it on.

Hello Rut, my name is Lindsay.

I'm having the hardest time keeping up to date with this thing... similar to losing my drive to continue towards my skinny life. Even knowing I'm in a wedding in March hasn't gotten my weight loss juices flowing.

Hello Rut, my name is Lindsay.

The one thing I accomplished was successfully turning in my petition to get the clubhouse gym open from 6-8AM in the winter. I would love to get half my work out done in the morning so in case something popped up that evening at least I wasn't too far in the hole. I don't know how the board received it, but I should know by next week!

In an effort to show some of my half hearted efforts (I had a semi good streak going for a week), here are some meals that I've downed recently.

 

Alright, so the above picture was the one and only cookout I've had on my deck. For some reason the cookouts have all taken place somewhere else. We have here a sweet potato (with non of the butter and brown sugar I would normally add), romaine with light balsamic and then a black bean veggie burger with extremely low cal bread, fat free Kraft Single and Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce.

 

This was delish, hands down, a new summer favorite. I'll be sad to see my summer squash go into hibernation. Above we are looking at spaghetti squash, zucchini, summer squash and red onions. Add a little salt and pepper to taste and boom. Scarf time.

 

Last but not least, whole wheat, flax seeded low cal tortilla roll ups with grilled chicken, red/yellow/green peppers, onions, fat free ranch and fat free cheddar cheese.

Kates said...

give paleo a try. I did well on Monday then Tuesday I went to Hoggys. :)

Let's start at the very begining... it's a very good place to start. When you sing you begin with do re mi...

I promise not to let this blog get anymore scatter brained!

Alright, so Monday was a good day. I had a peach for breakfast, an apple for a snack, a sweet potato and grilled chicken for lunch, and finally spaghetti squash, green and red peppers, red onion, grilled chicken and light spaghetti sauce for dinner. It was delish and I wish I had taken a picture BUT I was too hungry.

I didn't go to the gym but I was so long in calories that I didn't feel quite so guilty. Then Tuesday happened. Hoggy's totally happened. Corn muffins, bbq pulled pork and mac and cheese so happened. Everyone will cringe when I say that after my apple for breakfast followed by that cluster fudge of a lunch I didn't eat for the rest of the day. I went to the gym, started my new weight lifting routine for an hour (see paragraph below), did ten minutes on the treadmill before heading outside to walk with the dog for an hour and fifteen minutes. I'm sure that didn't completely offset my dangerously bad lunch but I feel better for doing it.

Now, to share with you my new inspiration. Behold.

http://lauramustloseweight.com/

Laura is a girl, just like me. Imagine that! Laura is a girl who was almost my height, almost my weight and just as unhappy as myself. She made a change in her life and BOOM, girlfriend is looking diesel! She's inspiring and listed the weight training regimine she follows, the diet/food she eats and the cardio plans she uses.

For the first time, I went to the gym and did a workout that I put together, not my trainer... While I still felt a little out of sorts and like I was doing something wrong (which I did), for the first time I felt like I could do this on my own again. Yesterday I did a combo of the shoulders, biceps and back exercises she listed. Tonight I move on to legs... FUN!

Today I've had a banana, some delicious bag o' watermelon, I plan on downing a peach here soon and following up with a lunch of my sweet potato and grilled chicken. Dinner is a plan of peppers, onions, zuccini and squash paired with the light spaghetti sauce. (I know that the sauce is processed and not really following Katie's paleo, but I need a little somethin somethin!)

Completely Insane

Today was pretty good. I only had two cups of coffee... BUT coffee is good for you! So take that! I also had my gallon of water, boom boom!

For breakfast I had reduced sugar oatmeal because it was left on the counter and I took it. I had no breakfast food, sooo yeah.

Snacks today consisted of watermelon, hard boiled egg whites, and a banana. Lunch was a lunch and learn on nutrition, perfect right? They brought in Subway. I had a 6" veggie with no cheese, no toppings on wheat. It was delish.

I went to the gym do to some lifting and of course, everyone in the neighborhood decided to hit that tiny gym. Sooo I left and tried my first attempt at Insanity. I found a link that had all the workouts, so I decided to give the fit test a try.

Guess what, it wasn't the fit test :( As you can tell by my expression, I'm not quite sure what happened, but I think it was an actual work out. It was hard. I sweated, and now with this breeze blowing on through the house, I'm FREEZING! Colbie just sat and watched me the whole time and she desperately wanted to join in...

As I was preparing to cook my dinner, I realized that Colbie didn't have any food. Soo we took a little trip to the pet store and I got my lifting in after all! I got the giant bag of food and had to muscle that around the store with a dog pulling me every which way ;)

So now on to the fun part! Foooooood! Here's what we started with...

We always have to include my peppers and onions, dinner just wouldn't be complete without them! Pre-heat the pan to medium and layer the whole wheat tortilla with fat free mozzarella and peppers and onions. Fold over and spray the top of some cooking spray, flip, spray, flip, flip and take out of the pan once the cheese has melted and glued everything together. Cut and serve with the Light Prego sauce and you have a yummy pizza quesadilla!

I'm really excited for lunch tomorrow, not gonna lie. I packed another whole wheat tortilla, fat free cream cheese mixed with freshly chopped green onion and basil, turkey breast and lettuce... I'ma gonna have me a wrap!! Pair it with a salad covered in peppers and I'm gonna have a fantastic lunch hour.

I'll try to document it, but I'm pretty sure I'll eat it before I realize my camera is still in my pocket.

It's ok, I know I suck at updating.

Thanks to my cousin Becky, whom I've tasked with riding my butt for blog posts, I'm finally writing an update.

Work is NUTS! My team lead was out this week on vacation and I essentially was tasked with covering his list of active candidates on top of my own. Mind you, my list can barely be considered a list. I've now learned how to get H1 documents together and ready for the immigration department to send out to our attorneys... lesson learned, don't forget to make copies of your offer letter and employment agreement before turning them in to HR. I sent one of his candidates his offer letter and employment agreement and then I helped two candidates get their new hire appointments set up so they could start with ICC. Now if only I could do this for my own candidates, life would be swell.

Last week was a good week for me and the gym. We were buddy buddies. Then this week happened and with it went the gym visits and my good will to eat well. I'm getting p-r-e-t-t-y bruised up from falling off this wagon so many times. It's getting harder and harder to jump back up and climb aboard. But ima gonna give it another go, especially in light of the five weddings I still have yet to attend this summer.

Today begins the renewed urge to track everything that goes in my mouth. So far we've broken the over night fast with pineapple Greek yogurt (I'm still an advocate of Aldi's brand, $.89 a cup, come on!), I had a salt craving so I had a serving of chips and I'm fine with that as long as I drink extra water to make up for it. Lunch is comprised of delicious watermelon and this num num entree.

Can anyone guess what I have here? One hint, it's only 200 calories give or take for that entire thing.

Also, why did summer decide that she wanted to visit early? It's so dreadfully hot that I've had my air on continuously for over a week. I dislike not being able to sleep with my windows open, Colbie hates it too. I'm also grumpy about the hot weather because I'm not able to enjoy it poolside on the weekends due to having to drive home so often! I bought two new swim suits that I'm dying to wear (first off, I never die to wear a swim suit, does that tell you anything?)

My cousin Katie has said that she's enjoying a diet that consists of zero processed foods. I've come to realize that when I buy groceries on my own, I don't usually buy the standards of processed foods ie: cereal, bread, pasta. I do however, for convenience purposes, get things like rice cakes, breakfast bars, and veggie straws (my chip attack was a random thing that should never have happened). I used to have lean cuisines at lunch almost every day, and those were easy for me and kept my intake to a minimum but I no longer buy those because my wallet always says no.

This weekend I'll be heading back up to the Dusky to visit Put In Bay with a close friend of mine who will be in town from DC for the weekend. It should be beautiful and not too hot. My challenge will be to make the right decisions for my body. Try to eat before I leave or if I have to get food on the island, make it a dry salad. Drinking will be the biggest hurdle. I've adopted the lowest calorie approach of vodka and diet soda or water when not available. I will be sure to put a water or two in between every drink, but need to be conscious that every drink adds up!

As I stated to my cousins in a conversation a few weeks ago, next summer I want to be in a bikini on a beach, making men stare long enough to run into signs when passing by. Instead of "who let that whale on the beach" it'll be "hey, can I get your number". Take that!

My name is Lindsay

and I'm addicted to food. I'm always honest in my posts... and it is so hard for me to say that I've gained 15 pounds total ever since I stopped watching what I was eating, working out and training with Heather... I think since before the start of the year. That's way too much weight to gain in so little time.

I feel bad and tired and grumpy all the time now and know that I need to re-learn the smart choices, re-dedicate myself to the gym and eating right.

I had a long week this week. It was MidwestUX 2012, a conference that I was part of planning and running. It was quite tiring and I was only home to sleep for 5-6 hours a night before heading back to start the next day of the conference.

Since I haven't had any time to walk or cook my own food, today I woke up and immediately went to the gym to hit some weights and get some cardio in. I was dripping sweat and feeling so tired after only an hour... disappointing :(

Came home, had a salad with fat free ranch and two veggie burgers. Then I tackled painting the kitchen. I'm going to log that as exercise, cause let's be honest, painting is a WORKOUT. Especially in tiny spaces where you are standing on the counter, ducking and painting at the same time.

I succeeded in giving myself a migraine, so the rest of today was spent sleeping, ordering a pizza (which I only ate a little of, considering I had nothing the rest of the day, not such a horrible decision)

I am going to try so hard to be a gym rat again by taking my clothes to work and changing so I can go directly after.

Wish me luck, I have to do some damage control.

Wow... not good!

I must update my diet plan as of right now. This GM thing is nuts... I'm already shaky, dizzy and have a headache. I didn't feel bad doing my last diet, nor did I feel hungry. Tried and true is the way to go. I'm going to find that dedication and wrangle it by the horns.

Portion control, fresh produce mixed with a healthy amount of protein and carbs, followed by exercise.

Let's do this instead of fad diets. There's a reason I feel like poo only 7 hours in.

Hi, my name is Lindsay and I've fallen off the wagon

I've fallen off the wagon so hard that part of the ground embedded itself into my skin... I mean, that's the only reason that I've gained 10 pounds... pavement is really heavy, so yeah...

I have been an adult for almost 5 years now and there is one thing that I've noticed, time flies. Literally. As the time flies, my ability to overindulge in yumminess has increased and my diet minded self took a vacation. She must be in France, or Italy, maybe even China, because those dishes have made quite the appearance in my daily meals. It's so frustrating to know that I am addicted to bad food (it tastes so good).

All that dedication and ability to focus solely on making the right decisions has fallen by the wayside. I've been telling myself its okay because I'm slightly stressed and lonely. But again, lonely calories don't make for an attractive person, it sets me back in my goal of feeling attractive.

I knew stepping on the scale this morning wouldn't make me feel like a good person. I knew that it would make me want to crawl into bed and just cry my eyes out... instead, I'm attempting a crazy diet. Yep. Why not start back in an insane and untested way?

The GM Diet. Yep, General Motors felt that their employees needed a way to cleanse their bodies and lose weight to enjoy work better :::crickets::: I'm not going to lie, I didn't hear about this idea from a friend, coworker, trainer or anyone that I know. I saw it on Pinterest... and since Pinterest is all knowing and truthful, so here we are.

Day 1 consists of eating only fruit, excluding bananas. The site suggests eating mainly melons. Kristy and I decided we would do this together. We went grocery shopping and I bought watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew and apples. I'm not a huge fan of fruit, so I think today will be the most difficult for me and so far it's proving true. I'm not satisfied with my cantaloupe nor my apple. With every diet plan, water plays a large role. So I have to hit ten cups, easy breezy.

I think lunch will consist of my watermelon and tons of water. Snack will be apples and the honey dew. Dinner... well, you get the idea.

I don't think this is unhealthy for those of you thinking this is crazy. Yes, I'm not eating any carbs, but everything is fresh and good for me and I get to eat as much of it as I want. I'm not limited to 500 calories and if I'm hungry I just eat more of my daily allowance.

I think this is more of a test of my ability to say no to my cravings. I need to regain my steel backbone that can withstand temptation in the form of cupcakes, mac and cheese, pizza and crab rangoon. I need my fitness drive back, I need it back so I don't feel guilty and horrible. I liked in shape Lindsay, she was fun and confident and hot. Hopefully her vacation is over and she's ready for this, cause it's on!

Lost in Time

Well, as my cousin Becky has pointed out multiple times... I haven't updated in quite a long time. I lost my drive, interest and frankly, I've lost a lot of time. I've recently started training to take the next step in my career and while it's not a TON of new information, my responsibility and my visibility in the company have grown by leaps and bounds. I'll soon be held accountable in driving a small portion of ICC's daily business. Eek... scary! But I'm ready for the challenge as I was growing a bit stale. I have noticed my wine intake having jumped a bit, but I think that's just cause I love an excuse to drink that delishious feet smushed liquid.

I've been horrible in watching what I eat, how often and how much. I know I've gained some weight back and I feel more slow, tired and overall unhappy. I looked in the mirror and lectured myself on how far I've come, it's not fair to me to stop now. I lecture really well (just ask my little sister) and convinced myself that the bandwagon was still waiting out back for me to jump on. To start my renewed "skinnybitchskinny" plan I portioned out my veggie straws into seperate bags. Again, we all know you can eat whatever you want in life as long as you keep it on the small side and/or account for those calories in your daily allotment. I also packed myself a hardboiled eggwhite, low fat string cheese, Chobani greek yogurt, a baked sweet potato and a Morning Star California turkey burger.

In my defense, I've made half good choices and half bad choices during the past few weeks. I've ate some pretty yummy and bad for you things like mac and cheese (REAL mac and cheese), Chinese, Pizza, Beer/Wine, Chips and Dip... you get the idea. I've also become obsessed with sweet potatoes. Well, I've been obsessed for a while but only recently felt brave enough to prepare them myself. I've made fries and baked potatoes... please add this orange spuds of delight to my list of amazing low calorie/good for you foods! 1. Spaghetti Squash 2. Sweet Potatoes 3. Fat Free Ranch :)

Please observe my new found sweet potato culinary skills and a few other items I've consumed :)

I have my first 5k on Sunday and let me tell you... I haven't been "training" aka running for longer than 5 minutes like I should have been. Mother Nature is dead set against me participating in outdoor activities. She's sent her silent killers out to attack my eyes, nose and throat so badly that when I attempted to run at the metro parks, instead of running I was flinging snot left and right. I will NEVER run without a fanny pack full of tissues EVER AGAIN. Since I'll never run with a fanny pack, I guess I'm back to my slogan of not running unless someone is chasing me.

le sigh.

I told Becks that I would run at least one mile every day this week and randomly choose one day to shoot for the whole 3.1 miles. Does this outlook seem remotely good for being outside and making your lungs work overtime?

 No, I didn't think so! I will push through, but I'm not sure how happy I will be about it. This week is a test. I must not cheat, I must not over eat, I must not skip my workout. Here we go!

Hunger Games & More!

Yes, I am a fan of The Hunger Games series. So I've been eagerly awaiting the release of the first movie. Friday rolled around and I watched that movie was noshing on some popcorn with butter :::gasp::: followed by chicken fingers and a baked potato :::heave::: and topped it with a handful of jelly beans :::womp:::

The movie was great despite my horrid behavior :)

I ate pizza for two meals out of my three on Saturday. Does that give you ANY idea as to how the rest of the weekend went? I own up to it. I was craving pizza so bad as I am a firm believer that Columbus pizza sucks, so while in Sandusky I needed real nom nom pizza.

So overall, I was bad Friday and Saturday. Sunday we made some red skin mashed potatoes, baked chicken and broccoli. I might have had two biscuits. Sue me.

I've been extremely good today, back on the boat... (I prefer boats over wagons personally, smoother ride). I welcomed the day with my toast and sugar free jam, snacked on some carrots and hummus, indulged in a lean cuisine for lunch and snacked again on a turkey, lettuce, hummus wrap in the afternoon.

The challenge of the day is my cupcake decorating groupon class that Kelly and I will be participating in tonight. I have 6 cupcakes I'm responsible for learning to frost and decorate... and NOT EAT. I plan on taking them to work tomorrow to show off my mad skill and to pawn the calories off on some unsuspecting soul :) After cupcakes I get to dominate in volleyball. I'm very excited about this round of indoor as my sister is playing and I know together we will wipe the court... if not with the other team, then with each other ;)

Update on ICC Biggest Loser... since I so frustratingly gained and not lost this round, I've opted to push my weigh in out to July. I want to meet my personal goal of 5% fat loss or 5% muscle gain. I know that I haven't put my foot down and I know that that has to change! I still have weight and inches to lose, and damned if it doesn't happen by July.

I suck at basically everything right now!

Posting, following my diet, acting normal and being nice to not just people in general, but my co-workers. Ugh, it's awful. I'm awful. I suck!

It started with St. Patty's Day, went downhill and I'm still trying to recover. I had a lot of beer, a lot of alcohol, fried food and no exercise. Boom, two pounds of bloated, awful feeling me on display for the world.

I also have been so busy the past two weeks, living the life of a childless mother. The dog has been with the parents, enjoying tennis ball heaven and I've been out every night. I'm exhausted. I consider myself social and people oriented. I like telling funny stories and being the center of attention sometimes ;) I've changed my mind on being a social butterfly that goes out on the town every night, because I'm tired and cranky. I'm so sick of having to talk that at work all I do is put on my headphones til I have to make calls and... you guessed it, talk!

I'm gonna lay it out for you, because I know you're thinking 'It can't be that bad!'

Tuesday the 13th - Conference Planning meeting til late in the evening
Wednesday the 14th - Dinner at this fabulous Indian restaurant in Grandview (Aab) and shopping with Katy and Amber.
Thursday the 15th - Happy Hour and more shopping with Katy, Kristy and Kelly.
Friday the 16th - CYP Social & Happy Hour at Fado with Kelly and other random friends I've made in Columbus (Stacey, Scott and one of my friends from Dusky, Maggie C!)
Saturday the 17th - Dayton trip with Sarah to celebrate the awesomeness of the Irish
Sunday the 18th - Irish celebration number 2 with Amber, Katy and other friends (I now love the corned beef, cabbage and dumpling combo).
Monday the 19th - Ran errands out and about that needed to happen
Tuesday the 20th - Annual Meeting for ICC (allll night, so tired the next day).
Wednesday the 21 - Cancelled my plans because I was super grumpy and not in the mood to mingle.
Thursday (today) - Going out for drinks ;)
Friday (tomorrow) - HUNGER GAMES!
Saturday (two days from now) - Bridal Shower.

The end. I'm done, I need a nap.

I will show you my delicious dinner from last night, yesterday I got back on the healthy band wagon by eating lots of protein, and strictly counting my calories. I made some spaghetti squash topped with balsamic vin dressing, cherry tomatoes and fat free mozzarella. I paired all that with my favorite summer protein, Morning Star California Turkey Burgers.


Nom Nom Nom!

40 Days of Honor - Day 20 Kmae

Dearest Kmae,

I honor you on the 20th day of Lent because you are a rock star. You are the reason I started to believe that I could lose the weight, you were my original inspiration. I wanted to be active and happy just like you. I saw your posts about training for marathons and being out and about. I knew that it would be hard, but reading your blog and seeing that you faced the same trials, it helped knowing that I wasn't alone. I was able to run 3.1 miles the other day without stopping, and while that is not a half marathon or a full, it's that much closer to being like you!

You are so very brave for putting your emotions and feelings out where the world can read. It's hard to share the depth of yourself that you have, and I honor you for doing it. I know it's got to have helped others just like it did me.

Thank you for you! May God continue to bless you in life with friends and family that are supportive and caring :) You've got places to go and I'm excited to follow along!!

40 Days of Honor - Day 19 Terry & his Mom

For the 19th day of Lent, I'm honoring two people who came into my life recently and quite randomly. It was a Saturday lunch shift at the OG and I was sat a table of two. An older gentleman and and even older woman. She had a walker and instantly reminded me of my Grandma Connelly. They ordered a bottle of White Zin and he had the spaghetti with sausage with a side of zuppa soup while she had the salmon and a salad with ranch and extra olives only.

Terry and his Mom continued to visit every Saturday and soon become known as Lindsay's regulars. Not many servers at the OG have regulars other than Chris, so I felt special. Terry always left my $15 for my tip even if I wasn't able to stay and talk with them as much as I had the week before. They were always kind and it was nice to see their familiar faces at my table.

They made my Saturday shifts more pleasant and for that I thank them. They could have easily come in and just had any other server take care of them for that day. I wanted to honor Terry and his Mom for being caring and honest folk who understand the joys of working in the service industry ;) May the Lord continue to bless her with good health and Terry with the growth of his family.

40 Days of Honor - Day 18 Micha

40 Days of Honor - Days 10-17

Day 10: Keith


Keith is one of my cousin's and he's a pretty cool dude. Chill, doesn't create drama and is really tall. I dedicate my day 10 post to Keith because I look up to him and respect him both as my cousin, but as a person who has served in the armed forces as a Marine. He put his life on the line to protect my life, the lives of our families and everyone in the US. I can only imagine the strength it take to travel over seas to a foreign land and walk among potential enemies. Keith doesn't let the knocks in life get him down, he's a great guy. He has a gorgeous wife, an adorable daughter, and another baby on the way! Keith, thanks for being my cousin and thanks for just being awesome.

Day 11: Stuart Raleigh


This man is special to me because he scared the shitza out of me my freshman year of college. I auditioned for Baldwin-Wallace's College Choir and remember him asking me to sight read a few lines of some random piece of music. I had warned him before hand that I didn't sight read well. Afterword, I remember his reply of "Well, that was interesting" or something along those lines... the point is, he was dry, droll, (sounded semi-english for some odd reason) and old. But let's not forget fabulous. Stuart was one of the best choral director and pianists I've ever had and I don't know if anyone will live up to him. He called anyone on their shitza if they messed up their parts and he usually made it as embarrassing as possible. You would think that no one would want to be in college choir knowing his reputation, but that's the thing, I just kept coming back for more. He was the reason that I auditioned for my second, third and fourth years even though I had transferred out of the conservatory. I loved it and as a result kinda loved Stuart... in an old man kinda way :) His sweaters were also as awesome as he was. Sadly Stuart is no longer teaching at Baldwin-Wallace, but I know where ever he is, he's rocking it out.

Day 12 - Tony

Ok, so Tony is this guy that I see at the gym everyday. He is working just as hard, if not harder than I am to change the way our bodies operate, look and feel. Tony is usually a happy dude and is always ready to talk about anything and everything. The thing about Tony is, he says that I motivate him to get healthier. I've never been the reason that someone has said to themselves, 'Hey, Lindsay is looking good, you should work out too'. It feels so wonderful when he says "You inspired me". When I'm feeling down and unmotivated because I haven't lost any weight that week, seeing Tony reminds me of how far I've come. I may have a long way to go, but Tony is right there, ready to encourage me to keep going. I honor Tony today for being my new found strength and determination to keep fighting this weight loss battle.

Day 13 - Random Girl at the Olive Garden

It was late last year and I was working a section in the bar for lunch. If you aren't aware, the Olive Garden bar area sections can be make or break... usually there is no in between. I had a table of a mother, father and daughter who had just come in from church. They were a little short with me and from that vibe I figured I wouldn't be getting much tip for my services. Despite feeling a little put off, I complimented the girl on her shoes. They were totally adorable and I wanted to know where she had gotten them. She ended up working for the company she bought them from, wrote down the name and information and told me to get them because they rocked. I was feeling a bit better and was resigned to whatever tip the dad decided to leave. When I walked by right before they left, the girl handed my $30 and told me that she wanted me to get the shoes and thank you for the awesome service. I want to honor that girl, who's name I'll never know, for reminding me that not all people are mean or dishonest.

Day 14 - JC Penny Sales Clerk

I was returning an item to JC Penny on a sunny fall afternoon last year. I remember feeling like it was a decent day because the sun was shining and I was wearing a cute skirt and had done my hair curly that day. The girl at the counter said something that made my day, and still makes me feel awesome to this day. She asked me if I was a model. I called my mom immediately and squealed out what had happened. That was a turning point for me in understanding that I was not some ugly fat girl that I still sometimes see in the mirror. Mom's can tell you that you are beautiful til they are blue in the face, but when a complete stranger says something, it's just different. It's not a pity comment or a way to win favor from someone you know... it's unsolicited and honest. I honor her today for helping me start to understand that everyone sees something different... and that day she helped me see that I can be pretty too.

Day 15 - Karen Prelipp

Karen worked for my Dad as the company accountant among other random duties that fell her way. She bakes awesome goodies that never help with diets but are impossible to resist. She deserves honor for helping me through the reorganization of The Scissor Factory and all the months of closing that hadn't been done before I took on the project. She has put up with many late night calls of me crying because I couldn't get the $.73 cents to balance for June two years prior. She is a patient and kind woman who helped me understand my abhorrence for numbers wasn't just a feeling I felt, but that my mom did too ;) Karen was and still is so helpful to me and my family, so I'm honoring her today. Karen, you rock... and so does your white cake filled with strawberries and topped with whipped vanilla frosting :)

Day 16 - David Bechtel


David Bechtel was one of my bestest friends growing up. We used to pass drawings back and forth in between classes, adding things to each other's paper as the day went on. I remember one such page full of this giant house on a hill... random. He was always the better artist and while I changed paths and picked up my music, David continued on with creating beautiful things on canvas and now film. David is just a funny and caring person and has always followed his hopes and dreams. I honor him because he is a successful photographer and is currently in Paris, Rome and other awesome places taking pictures of beautiful people! If you dream it, you can do it!!

Day 17 - Dawn Meyer

I first met Dawn in my second year of JO Volleyball. My first year had been fun but not so successful and I was determined to have a great season with my two friends Laura and Danielle. Dawn was a young and energetic coach and super fun. I remembered meeting her and immediately feeling better about the team. We had so much fun and I learned a lot from her. She went on to become a coach and teacher at Perkins, where I went to school. I think Dawn was one of the reason's that I remember JO as being the best years of my teenage life. She helped make the sport into something I will have passion for til the day that I die. Thanks Dawn, you are a great coach and motivator!

No excuse for laziness

I have been so remiss in updating both the fitness and the Lent side of this blog... womp.

I also forgot to weigh in this morning as I was rushed to get the wild bush woman hair sorted so people at work didn't stare. I am now presentable, but wishing I knew if I lost any weight last week.

(A little less red than usual after running)

I did accomplish something extraordinary for myself. I ran 3.1 miles last night without stopping once... and I did it in 35:11. Wahoo! I'm paying for it right now though, my knees are killing me and towards the end of the run last night, my hips were protesting as well. BUT this gives me hope for the 5k at the end of April.

I made some mini meatloaves last night after dinner, they looked so good I wish I hadn't eaten earlier. Alas, I'll have to wait til lunch today to enjoy one of those awesome little balls of meat ;) Paired with steamed broccoli of course!

I'm working out with Heather tonight and hope that I'm not as grumpy as I was last week. It's so wrong of me to take my anger and disappointment in myself out of her. I hope she kicks my butt so I can feel that soreness that I love!

I'll be updating later this evening to make up for the days of Lent that I've missed. Stay tuned if that's your thing :)

40 Days of Honor - Day 9 Father Dave

40 Days of Honor - Day 8 Grandma

Weigh In Wednesday/Thursday

Let me start this post by saying that I thought today, through out the ENTIRE day, was Wednesday. I didn't remember starting this post yesterday morning... when it was actually Wednesday. So please pretend that this was posted yesterday/today ;)

---

Another pound gone, whew. I was a bit anxious to step on the scale this morning... I hard a complete breakdown yesterday and somehow I ate both a McDonald's small fry and a Shamrock Shake. I'd never had a Shamrock Shake before, so that was a little planned, but the fry was out of left field... oops? And now that my trainer has the link to this blog... oops oops? I incorporated those calories into my daily allotment, I promise!!!

Went to the regular gym for the first time in two weeks, and it was just as boring as I was anticipating. I ran on the treadmill because I have to start training for that 5k, or I might die. Literally. Right there on Akron's campus, die in my cute little purple running shoes.


It'll be like the wicked witch of the west's sister, minus the house... and my shoes are purple.

I digress.

So I ran, was bored, did some push ups, was bored and did some crunches... BORED. Why oh why does the boxing gym have to be so expensive! When I win the lotto, I'm paying off my CC debt, my school loans, my medical bills, my mortgage and then I'll get that membership ;)

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Now pretend it's a day later and Thursday!

I got to train with Heather today, wahoo! I have to apologize to her for being so grumpy at the beginning of our hour together. I was frustrated that I wasn't able to do one of the things she had planned, so I had to do an easier version. I was so pissed I wasn't able to get my body to do it. After a year of working out, getting fit and building muscle, I am still weak in certain areas. She patiently explained that I'm always going to have areas I need to work on. She put up with my attitude but she shouldn't have had to :(

I was also having a day where I felt fat. I was facing myself in the mirror and all I could see was the old me. It's so frustrating to have to work twice as hard as last time to lose the weight. I know as I get more fit it'll be harder and harder to drop pounds, but I'm really starting to freak out that I won't hit that 5% mark before the end of the contest.

I also still see my arms and legs and think that they are flabby, which they are, I just had hoped to see less jiggle when I run. I have to be positive and know that I'm on the right track, it's just hard knowing that last year at this time I was close to a 30 pound loss already and this year I'm still struggling to re-lose that 8-9 pounds I put on over the holidays.

Here's a quick look at my num num dinner. I was going to grill out but it wasn't nearly as warm tonight as it was yesterday. Tomorrow is supposed to be 65, so I'll make a turkey burger for dinner tomorrow :)


This is hat awesome 100 calorie whole wheat pita pocket by Arnold, some cubed chicken, fat free ranch, spring mix and Roma tomatoes, plus a side salad :)

40 Days of Honor - Day 7 Heather

Heather Ricardo is my personal trainer. She rocks my world and kicks my ass. She is one of the reasons I'm where I am today in my weight loss journey. She's a beautiful person and I one day hope to be as fit as her. No matter how bad a day I'm having, she knows just the right thing to say. She pushes me hard and doesn't listen to my excuses.

She has taught me how to exercise and eat right for life. She makes me feel good about myself and all that I've accomplished and she doesn't let me be negative about bad weigh in days. She's able to balance three children, a husband, job and my training sessions :) So she deserves a little honor today.

I hope Heather knows what a great person she is and how much she's influenced my life!

40 Days of Honor - Day 6 Amanda

I remember Amanda like all grown ups do some of their childhood friends. Warm but slightly fuzzy memories. Who knows, this could totally not have happened, but this is what I remember. I don't even remember her last name either, just her.

Amanda and I were close in 3rd grade. She seemed to come out of the blue. She was cool but not a "cool" kid. We both liked art and we both had brown hair and horrible bangs. For some reason, I remember feeling like we were twins. We played four square and tether ball and competed to see who could get higher on the swing set, I'm pretty sure we tied, cause I would remember if I won or lost ;) Competitive nature and all.

I think it was the last week of school, and one day before we left to get on the bus Amanda turned to me and said it was her last day and that she was moving. I don't think I realized she was serious, because it didn't sink in til the fall that my friend wasn't coming back. I vaguely remember (this is the part that my brain might be making up) her saying that she was a ward of the state, something had happened to her family and she was being put into foster care.

Today I honor Amanda as she taught me that I am truly blessed to have the life and family that I do. I can't imagine the fear, stress and pain that she must have felt having her life changed so quickly. Where ever you are Amanda, whether this event really did happen or not, you've taught me to appreciate everything that I have and that my parents and sister are together, happy and healthy. You were a great friend and maybe we'll meet again.

40 Days of Honor - Day 5 Bach

This day of honor might seem like it's coming from left field, but hear me out.

Today I honor Johann Sebastian Bach. Born March 21, 1685, this man is one of my all time favorite composers. His early life was riddled with the death of all but one of his siblings and mother and father by the time he reached ten years of age. I won't lie, I just wiki-d all that information. You would think that when honoring someone during this journey, I'd be more familiar with their life story... as it might lend some merit to WHY they influenced me.

I won't say he directly influenced me as much as his music does. Continuously! It's absolutely perfect that my two favorite pieces of his relate directly to Lent, Easter and to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. I was first introduced to The St. Matthew Passion and the St. John Passion during my time at Baldwin-Wallace College... (although now it's just Baldwin Wallace College). I associate some of my best memories of my college years with Bach's music and college choir. I find myself, during the spring, longing to get out that blue bound score and sing the notes written on those pages. To hear the glorious twining of the choral voices telling the story of Jesus' death. To sing in the oldest collegiate Bach Festival in the country was one of the best times of my life.



(I'm on the far left of this picture, top row! I was one hot looking alto 2!)

The two Passions are truly some of the most moving music I have ever sang. I weep when we get to the crucifixion as it's already an emotional story, but when told through the musical lines of Bach, I find myself appreciating more the sacrifice that Jesus made for us.

So Bach, I thank you for your gift of music to this world. I appreciate and honor your supreme talent and thank you for the joy it brings to my life.

40 Days of Honor - Day 4 Colbie Jack

Okay, this may seem cliche, to honor my dog. But let me start off by saying that this being is also a creation of the Lord. She was made and put on this earth by God, just the same as you and me! She is my roommate, my guardian and a best friend. Every minute of every day, Colbie is waiting for me at the door when I come home from work. I haven't always been perfect to her and she still comes back to me, she always loves me. I take that for granted. She has taught me patience, soooo much patience. She may be 4 years old and potty trained, but she's still my furry child who gets sick and feels horrible about chewing up things that shouldn't be chewed, my furry child who can't help her muddy feet from doing her business outside, my ADHD child who doesn't understand why she has to be alone all day.

I used to get so angry about her inability to learn that eating my shoes was bad. I even hit her a few times. That was the worst thing I could ever do, it kills me that she flinches from my hand when raised. I am no better than someone who hits their spouse or loved ones. Dogs never forget what you've done to them, neither does God. I pray for forgiveness every night for the things I do wrong, and sometimes it's not appreciating the gift that is my Colbie Jack.

Colbie has done nothing but love me. She has taught me about unconditional love and responsibility. Today I honor her and her beautiful, playful self.

40 Days of Honor - Day 3 Megan

40 Days of Honor - Day 2 Dad

40 Days of Honor - Day 1 Mom

Lent is here, what are your Lental goals?

I received a text from a friend that challenged me to something I've never considered as a Lent goal. Everyone is giving something up, and yes I plan on attempting to wean myself from cursing... something that the Lord really doesn't look down on and say, 'Awesome choice of words Lindsay, keep it coming!'.

But on the flip side, there is the idea of being thankful for our lives because we wouldn't be here if Jesus hadn't sacrificed himself for us.

I pass along the challenge that Bailey sent to me, please take a moment to read her blog post and challenge yourself to honoring someone who has changed your life for the better each day of these 40 days...

http://baileyblue52.wordpress.com/

Forgotten

I had the best intentions to get up at 5:30AM today and go to the gym for a boxing class. My alarm went off and I literally couldn't open my eyes and I was still tired from the work out at 8:30PM last night... needless to say, I did not get to the gym, nor will I make it there this evening. I have a night of relaxation and friend time scheduled with my bff. We're going to go grab dinner at Potbelly, yummmmm Chickpea Veggie Salad with Nonfat Vin! Then we're going to go see This Means War, where I will proceed to demolish some popcorn smothered in butter. Cheat day is happening people. It's happening hardcore and if this bothers you... well, I apologize. I'm not perfect and won't ever be, but I'm conscious of my decisions and will accept the consequences.

However, when I turned my alarm off and crawled back under my awesome aqua sheets, I forgot to set the reminder that this morning was weigh in Wednesday. So, as the title of today's post states, it was forgotten. I wish I had weighed in because this past week was full of all those boxing classes and I wanted to see if they made a difference compared to my usual routine. I'm afraid after my cheat day today, my weight won't be properly reflected on that scale :/

Alas, it'll have to do. Fred here at work told me I shouldn't work out more than 4 days a week other wise my body isn't getting enough rest. Does anyone else have an opinion on what the ideal time logged at the gym is? I know not to lift more than every other day, but is 5 days of cardio too much?

Weekend Update 2.19.12

Having Saturday off was so amazing. I've forgotten what it feels like to have a "weekend", where you don't have to worry about anything. I almost feel rejuvenated, and that was only one day off. I can't imagine how much more I'd love my life if I had two days of downtime.

I also took two days off from the gym. My body was really sore and tired from four days of those boxing classes. I didn't sit on my butt though, I made sure I got 30-45 minutes of brisk walking with Colbie. It was so gorgeous out on Saturday I was hoping that it would continue to Sunday, alas, it was a bit chillier and we didn't stay out as long.

I have a busy week coming up where I'm going to have to drag my extremely white ass out of bed at 5:30AM almost every morning to get to the gym. I have 8 days left of my two week trial at Title and I want to use it to my advantage. I don't know whether I'll be extremely chipper and energetic at work or if I'll be a walking zombie. Grr Argh.

A quick trip to Kroger for spaghetti squash also resulted in these awesome 100 calorie pita pockets by Arnold. I was intrigued by trying to recreate a new found food that I'm slightly obsessed with. Pitabilities is a food truck that randomly visits my office building and they have the best chicken veggie pita, ugh, I'm craving it as I type this entry... and I've already ate my version of it only an hour ago! Anywho, I sauteed some peppers, onions and chicken, a dallop of ranch and a sprinkle of mozarella, shove it in the pita and top with lettuce. BOOM!



I have to go get ready for this early class tomorrow, but I hope that this week goes well and that I've been making choices that will result in some weight loss!

TGIF

I can't express how excited I am that it is Friday. For the first time in over three weeks I will have one day where I don't have to work. Saturday will be my first day off in over 20 days (that doesn't seem like a long time, but it is!) I understand that having large student loans, a mortgage, car payment and CC debt is something I've done to myself, and is my burden to bear. But I think I'm a pretty responsible person in acknowledging that debt and working a second job... that doesn't mean I have to like it. In fact, I'm hoping in the next few weeks or so I can put in my two weeks at the restaurant as I'm moving on up at my full time job... which should mean more money from that side. It'll essentially equal out to the same amount as what I'm doing now, but I'd have two days off a week! That hasn't happened since January 2010!

On top of that, I went to boxing for the third day in a row. So far I've had three different instructors for the classes, and each have had a different focus on what we work. Last night I threw more punches than any of the other nights. Also, last night I was waiting in line to get my hands wrapped and a guy I've never seen before offered to wrap me. So I held out my right hand and he started at it... and boom, boob graze. He was like a dear in headlights, it was hilarious. I explained to him that it was ok, they get in my way allll the time and apparently they get in yours too! He was so flustered he had a hard time wrapping my hands correctly. Would you know that he was the trainer for the class? He wouldn't look at me straight on the entire hour!

Also, I have a few new things to add to the list of exercises I despise.
-Burpees
-Bearcrawl
-Yoga-ish move that you are on your hands and feet and dip your head towards the ground, body following and push up, then reverse it back... (my body doesn't move as gracefully as everyone else.)
-Flutter Kicks

I'm sure the list will continue to grow, but as much as I hate these moves, I love to hate them and I will conquer them! I'm also loving how fast the hour of intense activity goes. I dislike the treadmill and elliptical so much, and I'm realizing how much more work I do at these classes. I sweat like it's no one's business, and I'm tired halfway through. You know it's a good workout when you go to toe off your shoes and your calves cramp up just from that tiny movement! I'm dreading when my two weeks of the boxing are over and I have to go back to my mundane routine. I inquired about a boxing membership, but I think what he said to me was $69.99 a month on a year contract! As much as I like losing weight, I will NOT spend that much money on a gym. If I do go back to paying for a membership, it will be at Urban where I can take yoga, spinning, water and zumba classes as well as use all the equipment.

I leave you with one inspiring thought on this sunny Friday morning... we have exactly 29 days til St. Patrick's Day!

Upset beyond belief!

You would think that the anniversary of my 27th year of singleness would be the cause for my anger, BUT, it's not. I'm in a tither this morning after weighing in! Really weight loss gods? I lost NO WEIGHT this past week? I worked out with the trainer twice, I went to two boxing classes and did cardio EVERY DAY of the week along with religiously watching my calories. How is this even possible?

ARGH! I don't care if I'm a female and it's harder to lose weight or that I'm smaller now so it's harder to lose weight. I worked my Beyonce off last week, more so than I have in a long time and the result slapped me in the face this morning... not a pound gone.

I sure as hades better be putting on muscle like it's my job. I only have 49 days left in this dang competition and I am broke as a joke. I need my $50 enrollment fee back, along with the additional $50 I'd get if I lost/gained that 5%. Let's not even get to the, "want to win the whole thing" topic.

Now that my rant has settled my nerves, let's chat about this boxing club. It's fun, it's a great work out and it's never the same class twice. With the disappointment I feel over the lack of loss this past week, I'm thinking cray cray at this point. (I like using cray cray in place of crazy... I don't care if this bugs you or paints me as a stupid, jersey shore loving wack job, it's my blog. Go away if it bugs you that much!) I'm feeling like I'm going to attempt two a days. The boxing club has classes at 6AM that I want to hit up and then I was going to add the 7:30 class as well. The biggest problem I see in this is that I'll have to do laundry halfway through the week vs just once as I'll run out of sports bras :) Seems like a good problem to have. If football guys can pull two a days in 100 degree heat, I can go hit a bag a few times and push out a few rounds of squats and wall sits.

I leave you with a this letter that I composed...

Hey there fat, how are you doing? I know we've been pretty close for a long time, but I've got some bad news, you've got to go. I'm going through this process where I'm letting go of the things and people that don't care for me anymore. You put on a good act, but you're really holding me back from achieving my life goals of marrying Chris Pine... and fitting into a size 8. Both seem equally impossible today, but since I saw Chris' face on that giant billboard while driving to work, that goal feels checked off the list for now. I'm feeling the urge to go buy a size 8 aqua dress to hang over my TV to help with the other goal.

Sorry if this makes you sad, a little part of me feels sad too. Sad that I let it get out of hand and that we built such a strong relationship to start off with. We wouldn't have this horrible break up if I had just spent more time with my other friends like Gym, Subway Veggie Delight and LiveStrong MyPlate. I hope you understand and wish you the best of luck where ever you go after this.

Goodbye,
Lindsay

My weekend was spent working... yet again. And unfortunately the money I earned can't be used til next week :( Heather is not able to do any sessions this week, so I'll be on my own. Since this past week was strict and extremely hardcore in exercise, I was hoping to continue until at least Wednesday with the same schedule. I will have to improvise and hopefully re-create the two workouts that she had me do most recently. Womp.

I caved at work and had a bite of smoked mozzarella fonduta :/ It was sitting there, bubbling cheerfully at me, I had no choice but to partake! I did however, record it as calories consumed. Whereas before I would have pretended like it didn't happen... wahoo. For dinner on Saturday night I made a flat bread pizza that my friend Sam mentioned she had tried out. I used a 100 calorie whole wheat tortilla by La Tortilla Factory, 1/4/ cup of Heart Smart Prego sauce and 1/4 cup Kraft Fat Free Mozzarella cheese. Bake at 350 for 5-7 minutes and it totals 190 calories :) It was delicious and the edges crisped up to give it a little crunch.


It was slightly lacking in flavor, so Sunday night I tried out a ranch flat bread with red and green bell peppers, onion and mozzarella cheese. Different flavors and equally num nums.


I have volleyball tonight, we have to win... I hate losing. It sucks, and I'm grumpy. When I have a game at 10PM, lose and have to sleep on a loss, I usually wake up double grumpy. My mother would say, "Oh get over it Lindsay, it's just a game." I really can't though, this stupid sense of competitiveness won't leave and I just hate losing.

Happy Monday people, have a good week.

Boxing

Well, I survived! I was so red afterword that I looked like I had ran a mile on a 100degree day with a parka on, but I survived! Those boxing guys may be fit and good at instructing classes, but they're shit as photographers! This picture does nothing for me, but I don't mind as my class was free and I don't look nearly as sweaty as I really was.


We started our free class at Title Boxing Club by getting our hands wrapped, picking out loaner gloves and finding an empty bag near the front of the room. The room is just a large open area filled with hanging bags. I was slightly reminded of the scene from Killer Clowns where all their victims were hanging from the ceiling wrapped in cotton candy. I almost left right then and there.


I stayed, but it was a close thing. I'm glad I did, cause I had a lot of fun and felt extremely good after. Such a better way to work out then being tied to the elliptical or treadmill! I had my gloves on and was ready to start wailing away at the bag when the trainer said, let's run! Whaaaa?? Hello? Just like volleyball, I say, why run? It's not like the bag is going to scamper away every time I swing! So I start to run and then he yells out punch out! So we're running around punching out, then up, then out, then up. Then we shuffle sideways, my knee does something wonky, I look like I'm about to face plant, the trainer tells me to be careful and I decide that I'll sub in a weird cross shuffle instead. So we're side shuffling and doing a 1-2 punch, then we're doing side lunge squat thingies and the 1-2 punch, then we're running, then high knees, running, high knees with punches. It felt like this went on for 10 minutes, but really it was pry only five.

Then came the wall sits. I'm not going to lie, I was really excited, I'm the shit at wall sits. My legs look super hot when doing wall sits, and anything that makes me feel fit is awesome. Then he tells us to punch, fast. I'm not so great at wall sit punching. Nor am I used to switching to putting your weight on your toes and switching back to entire foot while punching. Wow. Wall sits just turned into my worst nightmare.

FINALLY we went over to our bags and got to hit the daylights out of them. A lot of different combos combined with more high knees to get random bursts of cardio to keep our heart rates up. Then we mixed in abdominal work as well, which, surprisingly was easy the first set and much harder the second set.

We finished with abs and then had to clean the bags, spray the gloves and put the smelly wraps into a wash bin. Overall, totally fun and worth it. I'm so glad that I have a pass to take a week of free classes, that will totally change up my routine and make working out that much better!

Also, I had to change my design just for the sake of my mother. She couldn't get her iPad to read the white font... so please enjoy the beach scene. Mom, are you happy now? Hopefully it will instill a frantic urge to start watching what you eat and working out cause beach time is right around the corner!!

Weighing In

2 pounds. After a week of pretty diligent watching of my diet and getting some form of body movement every single day, I've lost 2 pounds. I'm slightly disappointed as I was hoping for another 7 pounds loss, just like the last time this happened. I hit up the doctor today to see if I can find a solution to this problem. Fingers are crossed. I'll take a 2 pound loss over a 4 pound gain. I am taking the advice of Becky and going with a measuring tomorrow, so we'll hopefully see some differences from last time.

In an attempt to yet again, jump start this losing journey, I've agreed to take my one free class of boxing at Title Boxing Club with my friend Kelly. I'm going to convince her that before and after pictures are completely necessary. This club boasts that it's classes can burn up to 1000 calories. Sceptic that I am, I can't track my calorie burn as I don't have a nifty device like Kmae called the fitbee, or was it a fitbug? I'll just have to judge by sweat, and the look of death that might be on my face in the after picture.

I also worked out with Heather last night and plan to work with her again tomorrow. I asked her to push me as much as she can in 1/2 hour sessions twice a week to spread out my weight routine. Last night I learned how to do Olympic lifts? Those babies are kinda fun :) Mind you, I was using a little bar, not a full bar. Womp. I'll get there, it's a new goal.

I've also almost promised to do a second 5k with a friend here in Columbus. I've also almost said I would go on a trip to Spain with another friend... I kinda have a hard time saying no. It's getting me into a lot of trouble, le sigh.

Also, check this out. I have 9 weddings that I've been invited to for 2012. 9. As my friend Aziza pointed out, she's moved onto the friends having babies portion of life and I've hit the peak of the weddings portion. I'm having a vague sense of Carrie Bradshaw's baby/wedding dilema.

I'm off to grab some more coffee, make my snack of Aunt Millie's 35 calorie wheat bread with sugar free jam. I hope that you make and hit at least one goal this week, even if it's just climbing the steps at work vs. taking the elevator!

Let's salsa!

Well, it's Wednesday. I'm up again... there are reasons to this, and I hope to get them corrected soon. Let's just say that being a girl really sucks.

I decided to buy two things that have been on my mind recently. Frozen chicken breasts and spaghetti squash. The last spaghetti squash wasn't as tasty as I was aiming for, so Monday night I made it goopy style. Fat free ranch dressing, some 2% shredded cheese, broccoli, cauliflower and carrots. It was num nums. Also, the last squash I got didn't result in nearly the amount of squash I got from this one... and my next one is even bigger! I had enough for lunch twice over after my dinner. Also, I didn't cook it as long, and while it was more difficult to scrap out of the rind, it had a bit more texture, similar to el dente pasta.

Yesterday's lunch was bad... I had a chicken schwarma pita with fries. No need to yell, I already did and then said, wait, why am I yelling? RUN! It's gorgeous outside, 55 and sunny, so after the sun set and it was back to 40 and chilly, I went for a run with the pup.

Then it was dinner time :) Salsa chicken baby! I used my mini crock pot to make a smaller portion of this easy as pie entree. You will need one chicken breast, 1 cup of salsa (level of heat to your taste), 1/2 cup of black beans and 1 cup of corn.

Combine the ingredients in the crock pot starting with the chicken and layering in the rest. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high 4-6 hours. The chicken will soak up all that juice and just come apart when you mix it a bit. I usually top mine with a bit of cheddar or Mexican blend cheese and serve with a small portion of rice or tortilla chips.

Step 1: Place frozen chicken breast at the bottom of the crock pot.


Step 2: Add 1 cup of salsa (I use mild because I'm a wimp)


Step 3: Add 1/2 cup of black beans


Step 4: Add 1 cup of yellow corn.



Normally I would have a finished product for you, but I was a tad hungry and scarfed it before I could show you... I promise, it looks as good as it tastes :)

On to an activity check in! Had a volleyball game Monday night. We lost to a team with only 5 people. We stupidly let them not take a penalty for missing their sixth person... won't make that mistake again. I'm really banged up from that night, observe:

Scraped up my knuckles:


Dove a few times and landed quite hard on my knee (the good one, soon to be bad) PS - please excuse the extreme whiteness, that can't be helped!


And finally, skidded on my palm hard enough to burst a few vessels, that was fun :/



Moral of the story kids? I'm not as young as I used to be and while it still takes me a bit of effort to bruise, it can happen. Wear pads and don't kill yourself trying. Easy to say, hard to do!

I have a session with Heather tonight, and I'm pretty sure I'm gonna die. My legs are mucho sore from running the past two nights. Last night was awesome though, how often in January do you get to run outside without dying?

I showed you!

Take that weigh in Wednesday! I lost 7 pounds last week. Of course that's a combination of finally not being that time of the month and having everything line up with my diet and exercise plans. BUT it happened! Wahoo!

It's been a while since I've updated mainly for one reason, I can't stand the site of those cupcakes from the previous post. Just writing about them makes me nauseous! Somehow, whether it was the cupcakes of the lean cuisines I had for lunch/dinner, I got food poisoning. I was up all night Wednesday night in the bathroom puking and having other tummy related issues. It was not fun and now my life will forever (the immediate future) be devoid of cupcakes or cake in general, cool whip, and sprite. Ugh.

On to this week :) It's CYP's Date 2 Remember Charity Fashion Show/Date Auction and I'm one of the date participants. My package includes the sports tickets to the Cavs, Bengals, Clippers, Crew, Blue Jackets and the new pro lacrosse team, as well as a gift card for the arena district. It's an awesome package that my friend Kelly and I will represent walking down the runway in some spring fashions. I'm quite nervous as I'm clumsy and tend to trip/fall down. I tested the fates by playing volleyball on Monday. It was my first indoor game since I injured my knee back in 2008? Or was it 2009? I keep losing track of my years, blah.

Let me tell you... it felt wonderful! I was just telling my mom, skinny volleyball playing is SO much more fun than fat volleyball playing :) It was an awesome game, we killed them in 2 and I didn't even feel a twinge in my knee! I did however, managed to over stretch both sides of my groin, so I'm a bit sore today. Just in time for another kick ass training session with Heather tonight.

Back to CYP, the event is Saturday and I'm getting my first official spray tan (free, only way I'd consent to getting one). I'm not sure how to feel because as much as I curse my whiteness, I know it works for me. I'm pretty sure orange is one of the few colors, along with yellow, that doesn't look good, so I'm hoping that's not the color of my skin afterword. My appointment is over lunch Friday, I'll be sure to share befores and afters... We get our hair and makeup done by Charles Penzone's and then I play on hitting up downtown that night to enjoy my fake hotness ;) I'm sure there will be a boatload of photos come Sunday afternoon, so have a good week until then! Make smart choices :)

Night of BubbleCakes

How can your night suck after eating this?

It can't.

I mean, that cupcake right there only has 84 calories. So I ate two of them :)

Not convinced? Let's look at it from another angle...


Obviously my love of cheesy pasta is closely followed by cake. We must have discussed this before. CAKE! Definitely can't live without it, wouldn't want to. Hence my very serious life's mission to find a low calorie substitution. I think I can rest easy after tonight.


If you would like to give this a try you will need 12 ounces of diet soda, I used Sprite Zero. You will also need a box of Pillsbury Sugar Free Yellow Cake Mix. The frosting is just a 8 ounce tub of Fat Free Cool Whip. I pour the soda in the bowl and add the cake mix after, keeps the soda from fizzing too much. Mix until smooth and fill cups halfway. Bake according to the box directions and let cool completely. Once cool, fill a large ziplock with thawed Cool Whip, cut off the top of the bag to desired width and swirl on top of the cup cake... then shove it in your mouth and enjoy.

Please note if you are a chocolate cake person they have a Sugar Free Chocolate Cake Mix that you can combine with Diet Coke.

That's all I have for tonight. I hit the gym... drooling the entire time, knowing that I would get to eat a cupcake. 30 quick minutes on the elliptical followed by a scrumptious Mushroom Tortellini Lean Cuisine. Soreness is about to set in from yesterday's work out, love it! I'm already looking forward to next week's torture session ;)