Dress for Success

Monday:

Shirt: New York & Co

Sweater: Target

Pants: Kohl's

Shoes: Target

(Not my best outfit, but I couldn't really find anything I felt comfortable in).

Tuesday:

Shirt: Old Navy

Pants: New York & Co

Shoes: Target

Wednesday:

Dress: Kohls

Sweater: Kohls

Shoes: Target

Thursday:

Shirt: Marshalls
Pants: Kohls
Shoes: Target

Friday:

I forgot to take a picture..

Saturday: 

 

Shirt: JCPenny

Pants: New York & Company

Shoes: Target

Sunday:  

 

Shirt: Old Navy

Short: Kohls

Shoes: Old Navy

I'm not really proud of the outfits I picked this week. I wasn't really in the mood to put outfits together and since some of the mornings I went to the gym first I used it as an excuse to just pick something quick out of my closet. Part of it was also that I was changing before I left work as well, so I need to work on still having pride in my outfits while I'm wearing them and not just put on clothes to cover my body.

Currently

After reading a blog a while ago (HelloMissKelly) I came across a post that I really liked. She found this particular type of post here.

I'm planning on posting a new "Currently" update on the first of every month. I think that will give me enough time between posts for things to have changed. And I can add my current measurements, BMI and body fat % and even our net worth as well.

Loving: Fashion. This isn't a new development, but one that I am getting more serious about. I love the way that clothing makes me feel when I can put an outfit together and not just throw on pants and a t-shirt. There is just something about being put together that makes me hold my head a little higher and have a smidge more confidence about myself. This love of fashion often times has me searching pinterest for ideas which in turn makes me wish that I had these clothes. I know that for now I can make due with what I have and just continue to keep my eye out for cute clothes and good sales.

I've been using pictures off of pinterest for inspiration to make cute outfits with the clothes I have. I just wish my clothing selection was bigger, but I'm working with what I have. Here are a few of the pictures I have saved:

Reading: I am in the middle of a few books. I tend to do that and then I just randomly stop because I feel like I have too many things going on at once and because other things in my life take more priority over reading. I love to read, even if I am a slow reader, but sometimes my time is better spent on other things that make me happy as well, most importantly being my family. But I also enjoy crocheting and other crafty things, so it's just a matter of making the time to read daily, even if it is only for 10-20 minutes before bed.

Watching: I have very few shows that I watch on a regular basis. Same goes for movies. I'm just not a big fan of either. Since it is summer, I do have my guilty pleasure of Big Brother. I try to watch it live, but I tend to forget when it's on so I DVR it and catch up when I have some free time. The only show that I watch religiously is American Dad weeknights at 10pm on Cartoon Network. Most adults my age are either sleeping or watching the 10 o'clock news, but I just cannot handle it. I would much rather watch something light that makes Patrick and I laugh then something that I personally find depressing.

Anticipating: Isabel starting kindergarten in 18 days! I cannot believe that she will be starting elementary school and I just know that I am going to be a mess that day. My little girl is growing up, and since the chances of Patrick and I having any children of our own is pretty small, this may be the first and last time I have a kindergartener. She is so excited to be starting school and I am so excited (as well as terrified) for her. She is a smart little girl and I can only hope that her teachers notice that and work with her instead of her getting in trouble. I took the entire day off of work so that I can be there to drop her off and pick her up. It's such an exciting time!

Planning: I am beginning to plan my training schedule for the next few months leading up to Santa to the Sea. My awesome sister already created a schedule for our long training runs on the weekend, however she is currently still debating whether or not she is going to be running LA this year. I am in desperate need of a weekday training plan and figure there is no better time to work on that. I am hoping that despite Patrick's schedule (which we won't know until the week before) that I will have full support of my parents and of Patrick to make sure I get in these workouts when scheduled. It may be time to start going to bed earlier than I do in order to wake up earlier to get my workouts in before work. That could eliminate a lot of problems. I'm planning on printing out this monthly schedule and posting it at work at my desk, at home on the refrigerator and the bathroom mirror, and maybe even in my car. The more I see it the more accountable I will feel to accomplish the daily workout.

Working on: Scheduling and following through on workouts. It would help me to see a monthly workout schedule, but I can already tell it's going to be an issue without knowing Patrick's schedule ahead of time. I would love to get into the routine of going to the gym in the morning before work, but on the mornings that Patrick opens I can't go because I won't be home in time to be with Isabel, get her up and take her to my parent's before heading off to work. It's not the end of the world to go to the gym after work on those days, but I would feel guilty working out for an hour and a half when I get off of work rather than an hour in the morning and a half hour at night. I know it will all work out, but for now it is slightly frustrating.

Wishing: That we already owned a house. We are still a ways away from even beginning to look at houses, but that doesn't keep me from wishing that we arlready owned a house. I go with my mom once a month (except I had to miss this month) to a swap meet nearby. I am always finding great deals on little miscellaneous items. I have also found some things that I would love to put into our home, but our current home is just too small. No, buying a house because I want to decorate it is not a good enough reason to start looking, but it does inspire me to work harder towards saving so that it can happen sooner rather than later. Since we have only just fixed up our budget and are only just beginning to implement it, we really have no idea how long it will take us to save enough money for a down payment. I would like to have a decent amount before borrowing from the bank and it may take us a few more years to get there.

Measurements
Arm (L): 

Last month: 13"
This month: 12.75"

Difference: -0.25"

Thigh (L): 
Last month: 27"
This month: 26.75"

Difference: -0.25"

Bust: 
Last month: 41"
This month: 40.5"

Difference: -0.5"

Waist: 
Last month: 35.5"
This month: 35"

Difference: -0.5"

Hips:
Last month: 45"
This month: 44.5"

Difference: -0.5"

BMI: 
Last month: (From weight taken on 7/7) 27.91- overweight
This month: (From weight taken on 7/28)-  27.32- overweight

Difference: -0.59

Body fat %: 
Last month: (From weight taken on 7/7)- 31.37%
This month: (From weight taken on 7/28)- 30.98%

Difference: -0.38%

Net worth:
Last month: (As of 7/26/13)- $19,046.59
This month: (As of 8/1/13)- $20,593.46
Difference: +1,546.87

What are you currently up to?
Be sure to respond in the comments, or link back here! (Again I got this idea from Kelly @ Hello Miss Kelly and she got the idea from Cara @ The Marvelous Flight of Cara )

Dress For Success

In an attempt to be more organized, and to stay more on topic with weight loss, fitness and running, I have decided to post one weekly fashion post with my outfits from the previous week.

I am still highly focused on fashion right now and improving my self esteem by dressing my best. It's such a simple thing I can do and it's such a simple thing that I enjoy doing that it's not a chore. It's enjoyable for me to pick out my outfits at night, to pair a shirt, pair of pants and shoes. To add an accessory or two (if I remember). To feel put together.

Monday:

 

Sweater: Kohls

Shirt: Marshalls

Pants: Marshalls

Shoes: Target

Scarf: Handmade by me

Tuesday:

 

Shirt: Kohls

Pants: Kohls

Shoes: Target

Scarf: Walmart

Wednesday:

 

Shirt: Kohls
Pants: Kohls
Shoes: Kohls
Scarf: Handmade by me

Thursday:

 

Shirt: Kohls

Pants: Kohls

Shoes: Target

Friday:


Shirt: Old Navy
Sweater: Marshall's
Skirt: Target
Shoes: Target

Saturday:

Shirt: Marshall's
Sweater: Kohl's
Pants: Kohl's
Shoes: Target

Necklace: Avon

Sunday:

Shirt: ??
Pants: Marshall's
Shoes: Target

Ariel's Beach Bash

About a month and a half ago I received an email for our nearby pottery painting place inviting us to Ariel's Beach Bash. I immediately signed Isabel up and the day is finally here to go. She got to listen to stories, paint pottery and dance with Ariel. She is beyond excited! In the email it suggests you dress up like Ariel, or in your best beach attire. We don't have an Ariel costume, so instead we both found whatever we could to dress like her and came up with green bottoms (for her fin) and a purple top (for her shells). Isabel also picked out her pink sandals that "look like scales".

 

 

 

 

This was something that I would definitely do again and was 100% worth the money spent on it. It would be a nice monthly mother/daughter date.

My Current Top Ten Future Personal Goals

1. Save up enough money to send my children to college

2. Save up enough money for a down payment on a house

3. Have more pictures taken of myself instead of always being behind the camera.

4. Make a chore chart and stick with it to keep a clean and organized home.

5. Read more.

6. Keep a written journal and stop tearing pages out of it.

7. Stick to planned budget and track spending.

8. Limit personal shopping trips.

9. Limit eating out to 2 times a week.

10. Continue to dress for success.

Directions

I am having a difficult time deciding which direction I want my blog to go in. I want to stick with the health, weight loss, running, fitness theme, however I find that I am consistently setting and failing my goals. I highly doubt that anything I have put out there has been considered inspiring or insightful and that's really not the way I want to go.

I wanted to make a blog mainly for myself. A place to write down my thoughts and my accomplishments. A nice, neat place I could go to that held everything I wanted/needed to remember about this journey I'm on. Keeping a journal didn't seem realistic since I wanted to include photos and I could only imagine what number journal I would have filled by now. So I decided to start this blog.

I will not lie or pretend that I didn't care if I had any followers. Of course I do want people to read what I have to say. I don't consider myself to be inspirational or full of good advice, but in all honesty I was hoping that maybe I could be relatable. I want to share my experiences of successes and failures so that maybe, just maybe one person could know that there is someone out there dealing with similar things (weight struggles, self esteem issues, motivation issues, a love for running, etc).

I honestly don't know if I have been able to do that for anyone. All I know is that the way it's been going has not been working very well for me. My hope was to blog daily or at the very least 5 days a week. There have been weeks where I have had more to say and weeks where I am too exhausted at the end of the day to type out what I had to eat or the silly things that have been going through my mind.

So I'm thinking of changing the direction of my blog. I want there to be a specific thing I talk about each day. One day I will write about my running adventures, successes and failures for the previous week. Another day I may talk about personal training (as soon as that starts up). I am thinking about including a "throw back Thursday" where I include past pictures of myself (granted there are not that many since I'm usually behind the camera). Maybe a "thankful Tuesday" post to list a few things that I am thankful for from the past week (both about myself/my body and about the people in my life who support me along the way). And maybe once a week showing the outfits I've put together for work since dressing up helps with my self esteem.

I think having more of a schedule of things to write about will help with the direction I want to go in and make it less stressful when I'm sitting there trying to think of something to write about and have nothing insightful to say. It may continue to be thoughts that are not insightful, but at least I will be consistently posting and staying on topic.

Keep an eye out for these changes! I'll be incorporating some of them now, however I will be committing to all of these changes starting August 1st.

I am hoping that if I continue to see success with my weight loss and fitness goals then I will become somewhat of a motivation to other people, but more importantly I want to motivate myself. I need to be my number one cheerleader and I need to be the only one holding myself accountable. It is not up to my husband, my mom, a personal trainer..

If I'm not willing to do any of this for me then I know I won't do it for anyone else. I need to want this weight loss for me, my health, my happiness. I need to want this fitness challenge for me, my health, my happiness. And most importantly, I will find success, I will be healthy and I will be happy.

Weigh In Day and a Weekend Recap

We went out last night. Like grown ups do on a weekend night. And Isabel stayed with Patrick's parents, all.. night.. long..

This is rare for us to have her stay with his parents. I feel weird asking them and that ends up to us not going out for dates as often as we should. In fact, we often go months without going on a real date. It's not unusual for Isabel to stay the night at my parents once a week, but that's usually for her benefit for the night before both Patrick and I have to work early.

She had a blast at Grandma and Grandpa's though, and Patrick and I had a blast both last night at the party and this morning when we woke up at 9:30 in the morning.

I decided to try a new outfit for the party. I bought the pants a few days ago and paired it with a bright shirt. I'm not quite sure how it turned out, but I thought it looked cute and pretty well put together when I included the scarf I made.

The party was for a friend of my parents. It was his combination 60th birthday party and retirement party. It was a casino themed party, complete with a poker table, black jack tables and a crap's table. I don't understand how to play craps, so Patrick and I tried our hand at black jack. We were doing pretty well, but as soon as my parent's sat down to play Texas Hold 'Em, I knew it was time to get serious.

My dad is a poker player. He is at the nearby poker room no less than three times a week, and in Vegas about once a month. He's always being invited to play in tournaments and it is pretty intimidating playing with him.

So last night I thought it would be fun to play since it was a "friendly" game. The dealer was awesome and we were having such a great time. The plan was to stay until 9 or so and then Patrick and I were going to find something to do after, but we were having so much fun that we didn't leave until 10:30 or so, right after I knocked my dad out with an awesome hand that he thought I was bluffing on.

















This wasn't really my hand, but all of those chips were mine... I started the evening with $500 in chips and ended the night with $1960. If only that was real!

It was a great night and I feel so lucky to have in laws that are willing to watch Isabel over night, as well as a family that I can actually have a wonderful time spending time with. Three hours of playing poker with my parents and husband is one of the highlights of my week.

Which brings me to this morning...

Patrick and I were lucky enough to sleep in until 9:30 AM again this morning. The second day in a row! This is so rare for us. Rare and appreciated. Glorious would be the best word.. Between Patrick usually working on the weekends, swap meets, training runs, children and other odd interruptions, I honestly couldn't even tell you the last time we slept in together.

Being Sunday morning that means that it is weigh in day and the start of my week for weight loss and fitness.

Last week's weight: 186.6
This week's weight: 186.2
This week +/-: -0.4
Total +/-: -2.6

Thoughts: I am so happy to see a loss this week! I was honestly anticipating a gain with the way this week has gone, and was just hoping to not have gained it all back and then some. But I ended up losing and am using it as motivation to do better this week.

I went off track this week. By off track I mean that I stopped tracking. After working with the trainer for a measly 10 minutes on Monday I felt extremely sore for three days afterwards. To the point where I moaned and groaned standing and sitting. To the point where I think I was less sore after the LA Marathon. Yes, I am that out of shape..

It made me realize that I need to go tomorrow after work to sign up with the trainer. No excuses! I desperately want to improve my numbers (weight, BMI, body fat % and measurements). I want to be in the best shape I can be in and that means that I need to make my health, my eating habits and my fitness a top priority.

I think I'm too focused on the end result, how long it's going to take to get there, and the frustration with it not happening faster, that I am not as invested in the process. I need to realize that this is not just about the end result. It's a daily struggle and it's a long process. If I focus on the day by day, and maybe even the meal by meal successes then my goals will be reached eventually.

So it's back to tracking today and back to picking healthy choices. Hoping to get in at least 4 cardio workouts this week, two at the gym and two running, and two strength workouts, one with my personal trainer and one on my own. I am not sure exactly what days I am going to get these workouts in, but I am committed to fitting it in when I can.

This coming week I am also planning on picking out some really cute outfits for work. I have purchased some new clothes from Kohl's and Marshall's and am really excited to play around with different outfit combinations. I think that it's a positive way for me to appreciate my body. Even if it has a negative impact for my bank account...

Thursday July 11th

Day three! This is usually when I stop picking out my outfits, stop taking pride in my clothing and body and stop waking up early to do my makeup. Don't be surprised when I have a picture of jeans and flip flops tomorrow. I will still be dressing nicely (or at least what I think is being nicely dressed), but it's Friday, so I think more casual is doable.

Necklace from: Caffe Aroma

Dress from: Target

Shoes from: Kohls

Goal: 1200
Food: 1695
Exercise: -1025
Net: 670

 

Breakfast:
Greek Yogurt Strawberry (140)
Oatmeal (150)

Lunch: 
Three Cheese Baked Ziti (300)

Snack:
Dark Chocolate Raspberry Popsicle (80)

Dinner: 
Lasagna (310)
Garlic Bread (110)
Caesar Salad (150)
Pink Moscato (135)
 
Exercise:
1.37 mile walk (-173)
2.10 mile walk (-243)
3.10 mile interval run (-609)
40 Donkey Kicks
Calories burned: -1025 

Positive: I told myself last night that in order to skip my run I had to go the next day (today). I went tonight and had my best run yet! Not only did I run faster than normal, but I felt great while doing it.

I do not have the energy or time tonight for good/bad and thoughts. It was a long day at work and we are getting ready to take the kids down to the pool for a little while before bed. I have some thoughts that I wrote a post about that will be posted tomorrow morning.

Wednesday July 10th

Another wonderful day at work.. Another outfit planned out..

Shirt from: JC Penny's

Skirt from: Target

Boots from: Kohl's

 

 

Goal: 1200
Food: 1550
Exercise: -469
Net: 1081

 

Breakfast:
Greek Yogurt Raspberry (140)
Old Fashioned Oatmeal (150)

Lunch: 
Garden Vegetable Medley (140)
Santa Fe Style Rice & Beans (310)
 Snack:
Red Velvet Cake (260)

Dinner: 
Chips & Salsa (240)
Grilled Shrimp Meal (310)
 
Exercise:
1.37 mile walk (-180)
2.10 mile walk (-289)
35 Donkey kicks
 
Calories burned: -469

Positive: I am officially an Underwriting Assistant! I received my offer today and gladly accepted. Patrick's promotion and raise and now my promotion and raise will help us tremendously. Patrick and I will use this opportunity to redo our budget and we will stick to it this time!

The Good: My coworker/best friend and I are getting back into our walking routine. We have made the promise to each other to do at the very least our 1.37 mile walk every day. Depending on the heat we will do both, but the temperature has been in the high 80s, low 90s and walking in the middle of the afternoon (half uphill) is just not a smart idea. I'm just glad we are both on the same page and I can get in some workout during the day while at work.

The Bad: I skipped my run tonight. Smartest decision? No. But by the time I got home, dressed and waited for Patrick to get home it was already past 8:30 PM and I do not like running that late at night as there are some streets I run on that don't have lights. I will have to either run tomorrow night or add it onto my workout on Friday. It's not that big of a deal, but still frustrating that I skipped it. I knew I should have just gone.

Thoughts: 
* I am very happy with my raise and am so grateful for this opportunity. My manager could have very easily filled the position 3 months ago, but instead waited for me. That means a lot to me and shows that I was deserving of it. Training is all next week and it is going to be awesome.

* I love my job. It just continues to get better each day. I do not feel stressed. I do not feel like I have too many responsibilities (as of yet). I do not feel like there is an evil spirit working two cubicles away. I feel hopeful. I feel like the attitude around the office is lighter. I feel like everyone knows the reason as to why we all hated going to work so much. Now that this person is gone, and we are fully staffed everyone seems happier. And the new employees all seem so nice so far.

* My mom went in for surgery today. She was in and out in about 20 minutes. Such a relief to get the text message that everything was fine.

* I spent a good 10 minutes tonight having a conversation with my cat. She totally talked back the entire time. Granted I don't know what "meow" means, but she was talkative and I love hearing her be so vocal. We bonded. It was great.

* This bonding experience may also be part of the reason that it pushed my run past 8:30 and why it was canceled for this evening. I will do it though. Before Sunday!

* I want to buy a house. I don't necessarily want a house right now because I think I would be overwhelmed with keeping it cleaned... But, I want to decorate our home and I especially want to have a backyard. I cannot keep a plant alive, but Patrick can, and since I really like succulents (and it takes a lot to kill those) I feel like I can make a nice little outdoor getaway.

* Marley is currently smacking Patrick in the face with her tail. It is hilarious... I am laughing hysterically inside right now. You know he loves her because he's not making her move.

Back to Work

I started back at work this morning, and I thought it would be best to start off on the right foot.

Necklace from: my mom (I think it's from Avon?)

Shirt from: Old Navy

Skirt from: Target

Shoes from: Kohl's

 

And I felt great! We are a casual office, but it's always nice to get done up (especially when it helps you feel more confidence). I really think I'm going to try to get dressed up Monday through Thursday (aka- no jeans) and then go casual/cute on Friday's.

Goal: 1200
Food: 1298
Exercise: -217
Net: 1070

 

Breakfast:
Whole Wheat English Muffin (110)
1/2 Tbsp Creamy Peanut Butter (42)

Lunch: 
Sushi (560)

Snack: 
Swedish Fish (225)
Dinner: 
2 Slices Cheese Pizza (360)
Exercise:
30 Donkey Kicks, 1.37 mile walk  Calories burned: -217

Positive: I started back at work today and I rocked my outfit. I looked good because I felt good. I had confidence in myself and I really think it showed.

The Good: First day back at work and so much has changed since I left. So much good changes that I can't even begin to explain how excited I am to be back. A few people have left (and all but one will be missed). A few people have joined. I start training next Monday and cannot wait to learn my new job. I am no longer on the bottom of the totem pole!

The Bad: It's difficult being away from Isabel. I have gotten used to being with her all day every day for the past three and a half months. I don't want to leave her in the mornings, but it definitely helps if she stays asleep. If she wakes up before I leave there are a lot of tears on both ends. I miss her during the day when I'm at work, but am thankful that she is with my parents and that they have her call me. When I get home, she usually wants nothing to do with me and has a horrible time listening to me. It's a difficult balance we have yet to find.

Thoughts: 
* I am hoping to get to bed earlier tonight. I tried going to bed early last night, but could not fall asleep. I think tonight might be a little easier, but since Patrick is closing and doesn't get home until close to 11 I will probably wake up then.

* I am having a difficult time with the 30 Day Push challenge. I made my 10 goals for the year, but thanks to some help from some friends who are also doing the challenge, some of my goals are not measurable. I will need to focus on making more measurable goals next week (since this assignment is done weekly). I'm going to keep these ten for now:
1. Have more confidence in myself
2. Be more positive about my body and what it can do
3. Go back to school for marine biology
4. Save over $10,000 in our house savings account as a starting point
5. Sign up for the Dopey Challenge
6. Make weekly workout schedules and stick with it
7. Be more organized at home
8. Be more comfortable in the kitchen
9. Start my own business cross stitching my photography
10. Buy a new family car

* I realized today how much I love my job. I left feeling very stressed about things and came back with an entirely new outlook. Training is going to be all week next week and I have such an amazing feeling about how things are turning out.

* My mom is having surgery on her back tomorrow. Nothing serious, and in all honesty it is a routine surgery. But routine in my family has not always ended well. Almost four years ago my dad's heart stopped during a routine surgery. It was the fault of the anesthesiologist, and I have never really dealt with the feelings about that day. Fortunately, the hell of that month is far behind us and he's a pretty healthy man, but every time one of us has to have surgery it washes up those memories and it's a scary few hours until we get the call that everything is okay.

Sunday July 7th

I decided to start over this morning and in doing so I updated my profile on My Fitness Pal. In doing so I decided to change my weekly goal from losing 1 pound a week to losing 2 pounds a week. This will lower my daily calorie goal from 1540 to 1200. I will also be eating the calories I burn. I think when I was eating 1540 calories I was eating too much, which was why I wasn't losing any weight. That may not be the reason why, but I think it is the most obvious and I feel like this change may be what I need to start seeing the scale move in the right direction.

I will weigh in monthly as well as take measurements monthly. I will also be focusing my food intake on the good healthy guidelines set by Weight Watchers. These include dairy, whole grains, protein, fruits and veggies and water, among a few others. If I can focus on eating healthier foods then I know I can succeed.

I made a workout schedule for this week and hope to stick to it as best as I possibly can. Obviously things may change, but this is what I would like to have happen.

Sunday July 7th: 20 Donkey Kicks, 30 minutes stationary bike, 30 minutes elliptical
Monday July 8th: 25 Donkey Kicks, 30-45 minute interval run
Tuesday July 9th: 30 Donkey Kicks
Wednesday July 10th: 35 Donkey Kicks, 30-45 minute interval run
Thursday July 11th: 40 Donkey Kicks
Friday July 12th: 45 Donkey Kicks, 30 minute stationary bike, 30 minutes elliptical
Saturday July 13th: 50 Donkey Kicks, 5 mile run

I also decided to start Chalene Johnsons 30 Day Push again. I watched the first video yesterday and am feeling dedicated to making it the full 30 days. I have seen a few people make it through the entire program and experience such wonderful changes in their lives that I want to put in the work to get that positive change myself. I made it about 2 weeks last time and am focused to complete it this go around.

Day one was all about getting started and the daily homework was to write down your values, what's important to you, what you want people to know you for, what you want to be remembered for, what the guiding principles in your life are, and what things you feel have a calling to you. It was more difficult than I thought it would be, but I did it. Today I've been working on what my priorities are and I am still trying to make it through that. We'll see how the next 28 days go and if I become more organized and focused on my goals.

Goal: 1200
Food: 1922
Exercise: -898
Net: 1024

Breakfast:
Chobani Flip Cups- Key Lime (180)
Soy milk- Regular Light (60)

Lunch:
Chicken Caesar Salad- dressing on the side (503)

Snack:
1/2 soft pretzel (200)
Swedish fish (150)

Dinner:
Taco Bell Chicken Cantina Bowl (560)
Taco Bell Pink Lemonade Freeze (270)

Exercise:
20 Donkey Kicks
35 minutes Stationary Bike (9.59 miles)
33 minutes Elliptical (2.91 miles)
Calories burned: -898

Positive: I made it through my scheduled workout at the gym. I felt like quitting a few times during both the bike ride and while on the elliptical, but I pushed through and I am really proud of myself for sticking with it.

The Good: I started over today instead of waiting another day. The binge-fest did not need to continue as the vacation is over and it is back to reality. I very easily could have put it off a day and started at the beginning of the week, or better yet I could have waited until the 12th so that my challenge would have ended on our one year anniversary. But I didn't do that, I tracked my food and worked out.

The Bad: I need to go grocery shopping and buy fruits and veggies. I am hoping to do this tomorrow so that I have some healthy foods to bring with me for my lunches for work starting on Tuesday. I know that if I bring healthy foods to snack on and have for lunch then I will have nothing to worry about. As long as I bring only what I'm going to eat for that day then I will be fine. Until I make it to the grocery store to get these healthy foods I am a little stuck searching for foods in our slightly bare cupboards and refrigerator.

Thoughts:
*Donkey kicks are going to do wonders for my backside. I hope... I only had to do 20 on each side today and towards the end of the second set of 10 I could definitely feel the burn. I am looking forward to toning up and getting through a challenge. Getting up to 100 is going to be painful. Painful and so worth it.

*It was nice being able to sleep in this morning. I woke up a few times between 6 am (when Patrick left for work) and when I got out of bed at 8:30 am. After waking up no later than 7 am while on vacation I needed the extra sleep. I can say that I am looking forward to getting up at 6 am when I go back to work on Tuesday. Yes, you read that right. I am looking forward to it. I love having a schedule and going to work every day is the best kind of schedule.

*I am trying to decide if I want to go to the gym before work or after work next week. Since I am only going to be going 2-3 days a week I need to see how busy the gym is when I get home from work before I decide if it's worth it to get up extra early to get in an hour workout, shower at the gym and then go to work on those few occasions.

*It felt great getting back to the gym tonight and I am so glad I went and that I stayed for the entire time scheduled. I also talked to someone about my two free training sessions and am hoping to set those up sometime this week. I received an email last week while on vacation that said the following (mind you while reading this email I totally felt confident in my choice to join this gym):

"As a new member in our club, it is our duty to get you started on the right track to reach your fitness goals. Nothing is more important to us than providing our members with the finest fitness programs.

Body Xchange trainers have been trained extensively for weight loss management, overall fitness performance, muscle toning, athletic training and post rehabilitation exercises. With your membership you will receive two orientation sessions ($120 value).
 

If you are an existing member that has never had the opportunity to work with one of our fitness professionals, please sign up immediately for your two sessions.

Our belief is......"Results cause Motivation", so if you're not getting them we want to help.

Remember one thing: You will not change your health and physique overnight. Be patient and the results are guaranteed. If you are new to exercise, we recommend 2-3 times a week at about 45 minutes each workout if you are able to. If 45 minutes is too much, do what you can and add a few minutes each visit. Within 30 days, you will do just fine. THERE ARE NO MAGIC PILLS!"

 

*I hate doing laundry. HATE IT!

 

*My husband is annoying to live with. I only type this because he just said "I must be really annoying to live with" and because I know he reads my blog occasionally. I am hoping he will read this so that I can see his reaction. Truth be told, he is not annoying to live with.

 

*I already have the outfit I plan on wearing for my first day back to work. I know it is fancier than need be (we are a casual office) but I like dressing up and I feel more confident when I get dressed nicely and put on make up and do my hair. Can't promise I'll be doing my hair, but I am planning on doing my make up.

 

*I am having mixed feelings about going back to work on Tuesday. On one hand I like having the schedule, I'm excited to make my promotion official and to start training for that position and I'm excited to see my coworkers again. But on the other hand I have not made the best use of my three months off of work and I feel like I spent the majority of the time lounging around in a near depression. I am going to desperately miss the time I have been able to spend with Isabel. I never thought I would be the type of person who wanted to be a stay at home mom (at least not full time), but now that I have to go back I don't want to.

 

*I am ready for success. I am ready to allow myself to experience success. I deserve to be successful. I can only get out of this what I put into it. I am so ready to work my ass off (literally) in order to be healthier and more physically fit. I am ready to be in great shape so that training can be easier and so that I can enjoy running again.