Minnie Me

FEELING GOOD TODAY!

I always weigh myself on Sunday night between 8 and 9pm if at all possible. I started out weighing myself all of the time as is recommended  but I found that this did nothing but drive me completely batty as the number changed all of the time due to little fluctuations throughout the day. I also always wear the exact same thing even though it's getting huge on me so that it doesn't affect my weight in any way because I can be kind of a control freak and I can't weigh myself in my birthday suit in the living room now that we share an apartment with our friend James. lol I also weigh in on my wii fit which has been really accurate for me. 

Last week was a bit of a bummer, I've been loosing weight even if just a little every week since I really got serious about weight loss and the week before I had just celebrated loosing my first 20 pounds...and then I gained 2 back....To be fair, this was very likely because we ordered in pizza, went out for Thai and for Italian food all in the same week and I overate in all three places and your weight can fluctuate for a lot of reasons besides all of that. Erm...also I went on like one walk for exercise all week...lol...who knew that as much as I love food, changing my eating habits is actually tremendously easier than getting my butt of the couch. ;) The point being that it was deserved and even expected but disappointing none the less and I felt like this week I had to make up for it. 

I worked my butt off this week and with 1,719 calories under my calorie budget this week I was expecting good things but it's always nerve wracking. Somehow with all of my hard work, I still feel like the numbers are going down magically and so anything can happen! lol I even started taking measurements in case I started building muscle and was getting leaner but wasn't loosing numbers in a week so I wouldn't get discouraged if I was getting leaner but not lighter. I've been measuring my waist through the whole process and last week after the slight gain I also measured my upper arms, chest, hips, thighs, and calves. 

This week I lost 4.4 pounds! That officially puts me at 159.4 pounds. So psyched to be out of the 160s range now! The weight loss definitely makes up for last week since I have lost this much in a week once before but usually only loose a pound or two a week. I also remeasured for kicks before I weighed myself and found that since last week, I have lost 1/2 an inch in my arms and thighs and about an inch in my chest and hips. Feeling so accomplished and drinking a celebratory FUZE Slenderize which I am name dropping because it's super yummy low calories. I'm drinking the Tropical Punch low cal one right now and it's only 10 calories for the whole bottle! 

I also started something new this week to change up my flagging exercise regimen that I am very excited about!

Drum Role Please.....

After years of excuses for why I don't run, I signed up for the Color Me Rad 5k Run in August and suddenly got really excited about attempting to train for it.

So, I found this app on my phone called Ease into 5k. It's 2 or 3 bucks and there were some similar apps for free, but this one was really highly rated and I decided it was worth a 2.99 investment. :) 

Usually when I have tried to run before, I think I always did too much too soon. I'm excited about going about this in the right way to build up stamina and endurance so I don't get discouraged as easily as in the past. Yesterday was a simple 5 minute warm up then 9 intervals of running for 60 seconds and then walking for 90 seconds followed by a 5 minute cool down walk. I ended up just hitting the treadmill since I basically decided to do all of this at like 9pm last night. I ran about 2 miles with a run pace of 10:54 min/mi according to the app once I figured out how to adjust the walking and running pace. (I was walking and running faster than it thought I would, but I think it's OK because I was at a comfortable pace for me. What can I say, I'm a brisk walker.) 

Everything I know about running is basically provided by Google so if any of you runners have any suggestions I am open to feedback! My current running play list is a random last minute pick of songs that I already owned last night that had a faster tempo or could be somehow inspirational. I'm gonna share them because they are probably not what you would usually find on a suggested play list for running but I had fun with them. :D

1. Are You Gonna Be My Girl - Jet 

2. Evacuate - The Boxer Rebellion

3. Fighter - Christina Aguilera

4. I'm Too Sexy - Right Said Fred

5. If I Never See Your Face Again - Maroon 5

6. Little of Your Time - Maroon 5

7. Moves Like Jagger -Maroon 5

8. Oh, Pretty Woman - Roy Orbison

9. Only Girl (In the World) - Rihanna

10. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing) - Michael Jackson

11. Supermassive Black Hole - Muse

12. Tonight Tonight - Hot Chelle Rae

13. Wanted - Jessie James

Fun Stuff!

So that's where I am today. I got my food scale in the mail on Friday and used it for the first time today. No more guesstimating dry ounces, yay! lol....Funny that this excites me now...haha

Hope everyone had a lovely Easter! We had a nice quiet relaxing one and I did my ritual egg coloring while watching the Easter Parade with Judy Garland and Fred Astaire so it was lovely all around.

BLESSINGS TO YOU!

Weight Loss: My Journey Thus Far

Hello all, here's my new attempt at finding something worth blogging about. ;) I'm coming clean here and laying a foundation, so this one is a little long. I am hoping that blogging about this will help to keep me accountable as I forge ahead. Bless you if you bear with me through the whole thing. ;D

Weight Loss: My Journey to A Healthier, Hotter, Better ME!

Back Story

I don't really remember caring about my health or my weight too much until I was in high school, so I'm going to go to start there. I was around 147 pounds throughout most of high school without really trying very hard. I'm 5' 5" and have always been more curvy then lean. At the doctors office I remember being told that I was slightly over what my weight and BMI should probably be but that I wasn't in a danger zone by any means. I've never been athletic per say, but at that time, I was forced to take PE, I walked across our little town to and from school everyday, I enjoyed bike riding out to my grandfather's ranch house occasionally, I loved the pool in the summer, and I was often doing something at the theater that involved a little bit of dancing. My meals were also mostly dictated by a school lunch program and the food provided by my mother who happens to be a home health care nurse who knows a thing or two about nutrition.

Then came college. I don't really know how I managed to do it, but I maintained that average of a curvy 147 pounds through my first year of college avoiding the dreaded freshman 15. Maybe it was because I was running all over the UW campus all day long eating like a broke college student who couldn't stand eating ramen 3 meals a day, which meant I had to get creative at meal time. Maybe, it was because I occasionally went to the gym (and I do mean OCCASIONALLY) to hit the elliptical or catch a badminton game with a girlfriend since it was included in tuition and I didn't believe in not using facilities I was already paying for. Or maybe, just maybe, it was because I was stressed out about living in Seattle while my fiance was in Dayton (Eastern Washington for those of you that just went, Ohio?), having to plan our wedding over texts and MSN messenger all the while knowing that I had already bought my wedding dress....a year before the actual date....In any case, my weight stayed right where it was and as before, I didn't give it much conscious thought.

And then, I got married. lol I started making a little extra money, commuting from Everett to Seattle and back everyday by bus, and settling into a comfy but extremely busy existence with my wonderful husband who has never been demanding an any way about my appearance. And then I was approx 40 pounds heavier in what seemed like an overnight gain to me although I guess it was a gradual thing over a span of a few years. It was the kind of incremental weight gain that happens in such a subtle way that it just sneaks right up on you. The weight gain was me in focus, layering on in places where I already was curvy. If I had gained 40 pounds in just like my stomach and my backside, I think I would have noticed a lot sooner....

So all of this means that I just kind of ignored it if I noticed at all until, I started to see a double chin in every single photo of me. Everyone who has gone or is currently going through a journey like mine has a point when they realized that enough is enough, for me, it was as simple as noticing that weight gain in my face. I quite suddenly felt uncomfortable in my own skin, a foreign feeling to me up to this point, and was newly oversensitive to how the rest of my body had changed. A huge part of it was and is vanity, but I also realized how sluggish and older than my years I had been feeling lately and how I was always getting sick even before I started working in a preschool. ;) I just wasn't feeling healthy either. So, when my soon to be sister in law Tiara started loosing weight using this app on her phone, I was inspired by her thought it sounded easy enough to try.

Long story short, I use a free app called Weight Loss on my phone to track my calorie intake, calorie burn through exercise, protein intake, carb intake, and fat intake. I measure my food, pay attention to serving sizes, pre make my lunches, etc. I started working out more, hitting the small gym at our new apartment complex, regularly using the burn mode on our Just Dance 4 game, starting a once a week belly dancing class and walking on my lunch breaks when possible.

When I started my new job as a floating teacher at Lake Forest Park Montessori, I lost 5 pounds. I don't count that weight loss because it was before I really stepped up my game and started using the phone app. I started really sincerely trying after Christmas of of 2012. I started out at 183 pounds on January 1st. As of last Sunday, March 24th, I weighed 163.8 pounds. I've had a few ups and downs with it, but I am very proud of my progress thus far and am feeling fabulous and a lot healthier already! I am about to change it up a little to keep from plateauing at 20 pounds lost and am ready for the next 20!.

In my next blog I'm going to tell you all about that. For now though, that was a lot of reading! If you hung in through all of that, THANK YOU!

To Be Continued....

BLESSINGS TO YOU. 

     

Just a few little things to share.

Hello Friends!

I am one of those craft loving individuals that is always in the middle of at least a dozen projects and thus never really get anything done.  

So today, all I really want to do is share two things that I finished and never posted anywhere even though I am excessively proud of one of them in particular, and another that I finished just today. For anyone who cares to see, here they are! :-D

First Off, is a knitting project I finished months ago. It's the biggest and most complicated knitting project I have completed to date being that my crochet abilities are still much stronger. I made this project for my dear  friend Lori who is an amazing woman, a true friend, and most importantly for this project, a fabulous teacher. Incidentally this friend helped me get my current job as a floating teacher at the same school she works at so someday I hope to get around to making one for myself. 

Here it is, the pencil scarf! 

It's rather long so I just took a shot of the ends that show the important bit. :) 

**Pattern used from http://zakkalife.blogspot.com/2007/10/knit-pencil-scarf.html **

For this same dear friend's Birthday I also cross stitched her a fun 'Dolly Mamma' pattern from a store bought kit. Below is a terrible picture of that. lol

Laugh until you tinkle in you panties.

And last, but not least is my completed just today, basket weave crochet scarf! (The color didn't come out great in the pictures, but you get the basic idea.)

** Pattern inspiration from http://diamondcrochetcrafts.blogspot.com/2012/01/basket-weave-scarf-pattern.html **

On to the next few projects! Thanks for having a looksie!

HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY! 

CAUTION: Health Care Reform. I just can't stand the callous way we speak about others.

Caution: You are about to get a whole crap ton of my opinion on this matter. Proceed at your own peril and understand that this is absolutely a built up frustrated rant on the subject and chances are, something will disagree with you.

You've been warned. 

ON MY MIND
Lot's of people talking about Obamacare today. It saddens me that issues of the constitution, political views, and who everyone is going to vote for in the upcoming election aside...what really strikes me about a lot of the comments I have heard today is what sounds like a lack of humanity, a lack of love for our neighbor, a viewpoint that seems to care little if anything for those less fortunate than us.

THE WAY I SEE IT (Seriously, WARNING and sorry about any language you might find offensive, I'm feeling offended too.)
I cannot believe at the end of the day, any "hard working american" should complain about helping someone in need receive healthcare. How jaded have we become that we are now a society that sees thiefs and pickpockets when we should see say single parents, students, the elderly, and all other types of the thousands of Americans who have matter of fact, worked their asses off and still may for multiple reasons receive no healthcare.

And since I am being judged severely for feeling the way that I do and have been called many unkind things, I will say what is on my heart, I Am Ashamed for us, that we appear to see and care for only what will benefit us, and refusing to look past ourselves. My "hard earned money" has always and will continue to go to many things I don't support or agree with, and if I could choose among them, I would definitely choose to support and provide healthcare for those that are not as fortunate as I.

We live in a society where we are sold the classic dream of pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. We "earn" what we have and people who don't have what we have clearly haven't worked hard enough for it and don't deserve it. Well, while I'm sure like anything else, there are people who fall into this category, for the most part, that's just entitled crap. Anyone who's lived a life of hard, grueling work and maybe still were struggling below the poverty line and didn't receive health care or any of the other benefits "slackers didn't deserve"; can I get an AMEN.

(And seriously if I hear one more person who has never in their entire lives really wanted for anything and certainly never had to live off food stamps talk about how others should just live off food stamps.....AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH. Please enlighten me on how are some kind of expert on the subject...)

Not only is it crap, but it's just plain ignorant for anyone to think that we all have the exact same opportunities. As it was once explained to me, even if you started out literally shoveling shit to get where you are today, someone let you and payed you to shovel their shit, so don't think for one instant that you did it "all by yourself". To live in a world where inequalities don't exist and all you have to do is "work hard" is a privilege not accessible to all.

DON'T GET ME WRONG, I UNDERSTAND, IT'S MY MONEY TOO.
I understand that it's your money, that it's my money. I understand that you worked hard for it, that I worked hard for it. I understand that we are weary of being taken advantage of by crooks and con-artists and I understand that we are worried about our own loved ones and taking care of them. But please, don't talk to me about your views on Obamacare if you are going to insist on talking in only monetary terms or showing me how much of a constitutional expert you are and leaving out the bit about the people we are discussing being living, breathing, human beings with certain unalienable rights. (In my opinion, good health and subsequently health care is one of them).

Call me a communist, socialist, idealist, child, hippie, whatever the new trendy term to throw around is when someone tries to speak up for the actual people involved in the discussion who already have less than us who are privileged enough to have our voice heard; until you have a better solution, they can have that small portion of my money to live a healthier happier life, I give it gladly and freely.

Maybe we should all stop and just love each other a little more.

HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY

Forever Young

Maybe it's because my June graduation from university has yet to really sink in.

Maybe it's because I find myself at the beginning of a new journey as I fit myself into the position of "adult" and start to worry about paying off debt and building good credit.

Maybe, just maybe it's because I dreamed last night of things I haven't done in ages like pick huckleberries for hours, or blackberries until my fingers were stained purple for days, or raspberries until my hands prickled with little thorns; or wade through a creek bed looking for crawdads to catch; or swim in a genuine swimming hole, or sit by the river and marvel at lady bugs come to mate so thick on the bank that it's nothing but a sea of red. Or spending a little time with my grandfather who always had time for me to hunt for morel mushrooms behind the ranch house, or have a good old fashioned bacon eggs and hash browns breakfast at the local diner, or take me to the big city for some retail therapy. Or things like bake sales and lemonade stands and bike rides, hula hoops, gemstone friends, pinkie promises and whispered confidences.


Maybe it's a combination of all of these things and the beautiful sunshine today that always makes my step feel lighter.


Whatever it is, as I spent today unpacking, organizing, washing clothes, scrubbing walls and running errands; I thought about youth. I thought about eyes that see wonder and beauty in everything. My eyes that used to look at a passing ice cream truck without suspicion. The child I was for an instant that had seen ugly things and yet still saw more good than bad around me. The child that implicitly trusted and could eat a chocolate bar completely guilt free and believed in magic. 


And I thought about adulthood. With bills and credit card statements, responsibilities, mood swings, and that extra ten pounds and I decided that although I wouldn't go backwards for anything, and I'm loving where I am right now, the not so secret secret must really be to stay young at heart. 


So I giggled and popped the bubble wrap I pulled out of the unpacked boxes today and turned the radio up and danced when I did the dishes and I took my shoes off and walked through the grass on the way to the grocery store and bought that little tub of cream cheese frosting that I really just want to eat with a spoon....and it was absolutely glorious.


And now, all that's left for me to do it wish you all that fresh feeling of childhood in the smallest of things and all of the happiness life can bring. 


P.S. In the midst of about 4 or 5 fairly big projects, can't wait to share! :-D


Have A Beautiful Day!        

Easter Eggs and a Moogle?

HELLO ALL!

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

We had a crazy busy fun filled Easter weekend here. Friends, and food and one heck of a Bachelorette Party and I still had time to color a few eggs just for fun while watching my traditional Easter movie, The Easter Parade. :-)

I also ended up watching the 1995 version of Persuasion because...well...I could!

As far as egg coloring goes, I had a good time! Like many things, I resent being made to feel like it's an activity reserved for childhood. ;-) It's great fun and a piece of JOY I wish to hold onto. 

I am however glad I didn't make too many because it took me a lot longer than I thought it would, and I'm glad I had the foresight to wear an apron....I was shooting those slippery suckers all over the place! haha! I got quite a bit of color on my hands. :-P

*Take Note* Waiting to cut my too long nails till after I was done was a stroke of pure genius, my hands were sooo messy and looked soooo much cleaner after I trimmed my nails!

I only bought a dozen eggs and after my husband and I boiled them, there were only 9 left. lol As it turns out, we've never really boiled eggs at home because he's really not a huge egg eater and well...I don't do much resembling cooking. haha So we managed to break a few, but 9 turned out to be the perfect number for me this year. I didn't realize how long it had really been since I colored eggs, but I think it just might be possible to loose the knack. lolol 

In any case, here they are all ready for me! 

I used two of the three inexpensive coloring kits my mother happened to send in a recent box.

FYI: The Coloring cups were a lot easier although the wax crayon was a joke. The eggs I colored using the cup kit also dried really fast. The speckled eggs were messy to make, but I liked combining colors. Biggest downside for me is that these eggs took two days to dry and even now are slightly sticky....

Anywho, here's my final lovely eggs. :-D

Yay! On a final side note, I finally finished a crochet hat project that I have been working on for almost a year. I started it when I was still just learning to how to crochet and have figured out or made up a piece of it here and there when I felt like it. It's kind of funny as this makes it a compilation of several stages of my learning process and not necessarily the best hat I could make now.

However, as it was made on request for and by my husband Billy and he seems to like it, I will chalk it up as  a success for now. :-P

It's mean to be a Moogle. I honestly don't know exactly what it is, but it's from one of his games...I want to say Final Fantasy Eleven, and it looks something like the image below on left.

Cute right?!

I have honestly been practically done with it for awhile but couldn't decide how to finish the pom pom thingy coming out of it's head....

Almost Done!!!!!!

We have decided to attach the poof I made over one eye so it doesn't flop about, but here's the basic final product. :-)

Ta Da! :-D

That's all for now, thanks for reading my friends. I find out about my big job opportunity with Teach For America on Thursday. Wish me luck! :-)

HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY!

Life Lesson In A Pot Of Jam

HELLO ALL!

Ran across this gem of a story today on THIS great blog, that I have shamelessly swiped this wonderful story from, Random Thoughts n' Lotsa Coffee! Please do check out the blog, it's great fun with lotsa coffee! :-) As for the story below, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. <3
--------------------------------
There once was a professor of philosophy, who in front of his Class, took a large empty pot of jam and without saying a word, began to fill it with golf balls.

Then he asked his students if the jar was full. The Students replied: YES.

The professor then took a box full of marbles and poured the marbles into the pot of jam. The marbles filled the gaps in between the Golf balls. The Professor asked the students again if the jar was full. Again, they replied: YES .

At that point, the professor took a bag of sand and poured it into the pot of jam. Of course, the sand filled all the remaining gaps and the professor asked again if the jar was full. The Students unanimously answered: YES.

The professor then added two cups of coffee to the contents of the jar thus filling the small gaps between the grains of sand. The students started laughing. After they stopped, the professor said: "I want you to realize that the pot of jam represents Life.

The golf balls are the very important things in Life such as family, children, health, everything you are passionate about. Our lives would still be full even if we'd lost everything else and these were the only things that remained.

The marbles are the other things that count in our lives such as work, house, car, etc ...

The sand represents everything else, all the small things in life.

If we had first poured sand into the pot of jam, there wouldn't have been any room left for anything else such as the marbles or the golf balls.

It's the same thing in Life. If we put all our energy and all our time into the small things, we will never have any time/space left for the things that really matter.

Pay attention to the things that are really important to your happiness. Play with your children, take time to go to the doctor, have dinner with your spouse/partner, exercise or take time to enjoy your favorite pass-times.

There will always be time to do the cleaning and fix the taps on the kitchen sink ...

Take care of the golf balls first, of the things that really matter. Choose your priorities, the rest is just sand."

One of the students then raised a hand and asked what the coffee meant.

The professor smiled and said: "It's good that you ask. I only added coffee to show that although your lives may seem full and busy, there is always room for a cup of coffee with a friend. Good day to all ..."

~ Author Unknown ~

HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY!