Wait... It's JULY?! Oh no... I overslept...

Hmmm... How to start...
 
The last few months have been a whirlwind of change. I spent plenty of time wishing things would clear up and work out the way I thought they should. Spent time waiting for one thing or another before I really got on the ball with working out. There was always an excuse, always something on the horizon that would make it easier, make it clearer, make it work better.
 
The truth is, there isn't. Life happens. Things change. The difference between me and the people I see that really seem to have their stuff together is that they MAKE the time to get it together. They don't wait around for the time to find them.
 
So, at the start of this year, I was waiting to find a full time job, and waiting for school to be done. Those were the big changes I just knew would make it easier for me to find that time for myself. After months of not being able to find a job, and school creeping closer and closer to an end, I started really fearing that I would not be able to find those things and help get my little family back on our feet. Then I caught a break.
 
I got a job. Full time, and I am using the job as my internship, so I'm doing a little multitasking lol
But interestingly enough, now that I have found those things I was searching for, have I been working out the way I should? Nope. Sure wasn't.
 
A few weeks into the job, we decided to have a weight loss challenge in our office. Top floor against the bottom floor. But even better, my co-worker and I have a challenge of our own on the side. So I went down with her to weigh in on the first day, officially weighed in at 318, higher than I have been in these nearly three years. I was shocked, sad, disappointed to say the least. Just a few weeks and I had put on more than 12lbs. Well, that most definitely is not the direction I intend to go in now that things are finally coming together, so this challenge couldn't come at a better time. She and I are keeping each other going, and have even worked in a water challenge to get each other to drink more water.
 
I have to say this is the most excited and motivated I have been in a really long time. I feel like I have been imagining what my life would look like once school was done and I had that great full time job (and those great paychecks) and until now, it hasn't really been what I pictured. This challenge is motivating me to keep myself accountable and really be realistic with my time and expectations.
We weigh in weekly, so the next week I clocked in a loss of 4lbs. Not too shabby. But the following week I gained 3 of those lbs back. Clearly, this is going to take concentration, determination, and no more bs. This week I started using my MFP again, and linked up with a few new friends, and it has been working out great. Makes me wonder why the hell I ever stopped using the app. It really is amazing, and SO easy to use! (I highly recommend it!!) Logging my calorie intake and output makes it really foolproof overall, because there is no questioning where my calories are at, and if I am getting close or even go over my goal, I know that I need to make adjustments to my workout to compensate for those calories.

As of this morning I am back down to 304. Since this whole journey started, the lowest I managed to hit was 296. That's only 8lbs away. I don't really know why, but I feel more positive about this whole experience than I have in a long time. I feel almost excited about making progress and working toward my goals. I've set a series of shorter term goals rather than just keeping my eye on my end goal weight. But what about everything else along the way? Sometimes I forget to stop and enjoy the now.

If I can impart any wisdom here, I hope it's this... Don't get so lost in planning for your life that you forget to live it.

As always, thank you for reading and sharing in this with me.
-Curvy

Marching on with the madness...

Hello again all!!

Just coming back from Spring break and getting back into the rhythm of everything. Wow did that go by faster than I anticipated lol... but doesn't it always?

So... do you watch "the Biggest Loser"? Yea, I do, hardcore. Don't worry tho, no spoilers cus I haven't even watched the last episode yet. Just an interesting idea came from the epidose that we watched the other night. Bob was wearing a shirt that said "3 on, 1 off, 365 a year". I thought, hmmm... how interesting is that? That's something new that we have never tried. We went to the gym Monday, and decided we were already a third of the way through, so let's give it a shot!

Today was Day 2.
Just... Wow. Tuesdays and Thursdays are already pretty tough due to scheduling, and by the time I get home, I am nearly psychotically grouchy and just exhausted.

                                  (My poor hubby. God bless him and his infinite patience.)

These are usually the days I end up not going.
But you know what, we fought for it and went, as hard as it was. The workout was pitiful compared to what I normally pull, but shaky and awful as I felt walking out, there was definately a part of me that was so proud that I went. The truth of it is, that 400 calories I burned and sweated out is 400 more than would have been accomplished if I sat on the couch pouting about feeling like crap. Now I can sit on the couch and feel like crap and be proud that I got a burn in lol!

I think this is an interesting idea because I would say a good 90% of my difficulities in the workout arena are in my head. I know I trip myself out and then end up struggling.

For instance, when I'm on the elliptical, if I'm fighting to keep going and having a hard time, if I look at the time, or the calorie count, it almost works against me... or I should say *I* work against me lol. I just get the feeling like "Oh my goodness I have SO much left to do", instead of, "wow look at how far I am" or even "cool, I got off my ass and made it here" which is, more often than not, the hardest part.
But when I close my eyes and/or focus on my music, I can instantly feel a difference and I know I just need to get out of my own head. Once I can do that, it flips and I feel like "alright, already made it this far, might as well hit the next goal".

It also fits nicely because we break up our weight training into three groups, so each group will be trained, we'll have a day off, and start the rotation again. The days will cycle differently each time so, for me at least, it will seem new and different each time so I won't get bored with having a set schedule. (Unfortunately, I seem to rebel when things are too scheduled and planned when it comes to working out, which is nonsense because I know it is in my best interest.) If I'm scheduled to do cardio, I go in and want to lift. If I'm supposed to lift, I just want to do cardio...

                                Oi. Who's got two thumbs and is a phenomenal pain in the ass?? Lmao...


 Anyway... It will also mean that without stressing about it, we will be getting the blood pumping 6 days a week (most weeks lol) which is infinitely better than going weeks without working out at all.

I feel really positive and excited about it, and look forward to seeing it progress. Will definately keep you posted!!

NOW, on to the Pintrest Foodie Finds I told you about!
I'm thinking I might just share one each time, cus if I just went ahead about all the pins I'm excited about, whew! I'm sure you guys already know how insane (and dangerous) Pintrest is lol

Ok, so my big junky cravings are usually ice cream, pizza, and some kind of brownie or cake-ish chocolatey goodness. In my search for healthy cheats in these categories, I found a recipe for ...

Dah dah DAAAAAAHHHHH...   Cauliflower Pizza Crust.

                                                                     Holy Cow.

Not only is it simple, it was AMAZING. The texture was different, so you could tell it wasn't bread, but holy damn did it TASTE insanely good.
Awesome awesome trick to have in your back pocket for a rainy day. I know I saw a similar recipe to use it for garlic bread rather than pizza crust, and one of these days when that craving hits, I will most definately be trying that one as well!!

I usually have low sodium tomato sauce on hand, and I used thinly sliced mozz and kept it really simple... and this is how it turned out!!

 
So this pizza serves 6, and shakes out to about 230 calories per slice.
Woohoo!! Give it a try if it sounds interesting... definately worth it, IMHO.


Alrighty guys, signing off for the night. Hope this was fun, and as always, thanks for reading!!

Happy Valentine's Day, strangers!!

Bonjour, all! I feel like it's almost appropriate to reintroduce myself to you, seeing as it has been nearly 4 months since I've posted. And boy, oh boy, has a lot happened in that time...
 
*Dramatically takes in a super-long breath like Ace Ventura*
 
Last post was October first. Happy Halloween! We had a costume party themed around a murder-mystery game we bought. We all got costumes based on our characters and then took so long getting ready we didn't have time to act out the game lol. Still, awesome night.
 
November; Mom's birthday and Thanksgiving. I made some awesome food, my first turkey (just the breast hehehe) and great family time.
 
December; the fiancee and I, in a crazy whirlwind of whimsy, decided on the 3rd that we should get married before the end of the year. We got married on the 21st!! I have no idea how we pulled it off in 17 days, but it was a hot mess of crazy, and it was perfect. We got married, by one of my best friends in the world, under a tree alongside a lake. It was absolutely amazing. And no, I'm not pregnant lol I got lost too many times in my Pintrest boards and decided the big crazy affair wasn't what I really wanted after all, so I let him talk me into the impulsive awesomeness.
 

Best idea ever. <3 
 
January; soooo this is where it gets interesting... I know, MORE interesting?! Yea. So my internship fell through. I was planning to be done with classes in December, but instead I enrolled in a full schedule for the spring. College Algebra, Pathophysiology, and Spanish 201. Whew! How quickly things can change...
 
So, that pretty much brings us up to speed. Just rolling with the punches!
Today, things are pretty much the same, save that whole "I'm a wife" thing hehehehe. *blush*
 
We are still on the same road, trying to find that ever elusive balance, trying to fit everything in a day that we want to accomplish, still trying to achieve consistency.
 
It feels like I blinked and 4 months elapsed lol. Now that things seem to be settling- wait, who am I kidding... life is never settled lol but I definately do not want to go this long without a post again!!
 
That being said, I'm thinking of starting to incorporate some of the awesome recipes I have tried from Pintrest, as they have been making a big splash the last few months. Thoughts?
 
Ok, thanks for sticking around in the silence, and I will see you guys soon!!
 
<3Curvy