Goal of Losing

June Challenge - Week Three

2013-06-17T22:14:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I weighed in and was happy with the result!

Down a couple LB's from last week. Alright!

I'm about half way through my June Challenge and I'm happy to see the scale drop (it like it's hot). It definitely has something to do with tracking my food for 5/7 days last week, drinking all of my water and getting a little exercise in there. Who would have thought that would help? Wink, wink.

Adding some fruits and veggies to my meals has been helping the weight loss lately, too. Just another reason to love summer. Fresh, fresh, FRESH fruits and veggies!

Meal Plan for the Week:

Monday: Spare Ribs, Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans - DONE and YUM!
Tuesday: Steak with Asparagus and Corn on the cob
Wednesday: Chicken Salads with Corn on the cob
Thursday: Chicken with Asparagus and Corn on the cob
Friday: Chicken with Asparagus and Corn on the cob

I had to quickly fit grocery shopping in to our Father's Day plans yesterday, so my meal plan for the week isn't as creative (laugh) as usual. I will change up the way I prepare the chicken, but in essence, that's what I picked up for us to eat this week. The spare ribs, mashed potatoes and greens beans for tonight, though, came from my awesome mother-in-law; and it was all good!

Exercise Plan for the Week:

Monday: 30 min workout - DONE!
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 30 min workout
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 30 min workout

I chose to do Wii Fit Yoga for my 30 minutes of exercise tonight. Thanks to that game, I pretty much have become a Yoga Master. How do I know? The game tells me so!

Burning 119 calories for 30 minutes of looking silly in my living room (a/k/a doing yoga); you just can't beat it! Especially when you're back hurts and you don't feel like running. Yoga is a good alternative! Between pain in my feet and back these past couple weeks, I have kind of transitioned away from running and stuck with alternative exercise. Don't worry, I know this running break won't last too long. Even though my back was in some serious pain today (for no apparent reason, might I add) I still wanted to run on the treadmill. I think the pain is from inflammation, so I talked myself in to staying low impact until the pain goes away. A girl has to work; and an injury just wouldn't be fun right now. Summer is just beginning!

I'm not sure if you remember or not, but I recently was contacted by a secret person who asked me to review a secret product and also host a GIVEAWAY for the secret product so that one of my secret readers could win a secret prize. WELL, the secret products secretly came in the mail today! I was SO excited when I got home! (Actually, the product doesn't have to be a secret, and I will definitely be revealing it all soon, I just like to keep you guessing!)

I am excited to reveal the products that I will be testing for myself this week and giving away to one of you lucky readers very, very soon!

For now, I'd like to know what your guess is as to what exactly I may be giving away! Let me give you a hint; it's one of my favorite things, it starts with an f and rhymes with mood. Ready, set... guess!

Busy Weekend & Father's Day

2013-06-16T14:36:00.001-04:00

Happy Father's Day!

I had a very eventful weekend! I met a couple friends out for dinner on Friday to celebrate my friends birthday. Great food and friends made for a fun night!

After dinner, I treated myself to a new book from Barnes and Noble. I bought "The Spark Solution", a book from the people at www.sparkpeople.com. I am excited to start reading it and will share any useful information I gain with you along the way!

Saturday was a little crazy. I spoiled my goal of not drinking in the month of June. Our friend from high school is getting married this year and Saturday was their stag and drag. We had fun though and it was great to see people that we don't get to see very often!

Today is Father's Day and we have four fathers to celebrate! We are spending the day visiting with each of them.

What are you doing for Father's Day?

Greesy Craving Self

2013-06-13T18:29:00.001-04:00

Tonight was BLT night!

My Thursday self is very thankful to my Sunday self. Why? Well, because that's the day that I decided that this Thursday would be BLT night.

Yum, yum and more yum! It was hard to stick to only one sandwich, but I made up for it with a second side salad. Healthy choice!

I had thoughts of greesy burgers and fries for dinner, but shook those thoughts when I realized it was BLT night. I have been having strong greesy cravings lately because its "that time of the month" for me. The bacon on my sandwich was kind of greesy, so that was good enough (or so I'll tell my greesy-craving-self).

New Age Tie-Dye

2013-06-12T22:40:00.001-04:00

Day 3 of 3 for sticking to my meal plan, tracking calories and water intake; I'm on a roll!

Happy hump day, everyone!

When I got home from work, I quickly made dinner. We had the best BBQ chicken (baked) with a side of green beans and a baked yam. It was delicious!

After dinner, my husband and I went to visit my sister-in-law! We had a great time visiting and helped her tie-dye some t-shirts while we were there!

Did you know that you don't have to use a bucket of dyed water anymore? I thought we'd be tie-dying what I believe now to be "the old fashion way" but learned something new when we arrived; you can now tie-dye using squeeze bottles! Something that hasn't changed though is that you still have to wait the 6-8 hours for the shirt to dry before you can see how they turned out. Not to worry though, my sister-in-law said she'll text me a picture of the results.

Hail to the Fruit

2013-06-11T14:38:00.001-04:00

Meal planning and grocery shopping early this week is paying off already! If you saw my post on Sunday, you'll know that I have a lot of healthy options for snacks. I have been eating cherries, peaches and cantaloupe for snacks at work (along with my usual string cheese). It's day two of eating these fruity snacks, and I am already feeling better!

All together, now: "Hail to the fruit!"

While grocery shopping, I also picked up these new (to me) stick-on nail decals. The package said that they last for up to 10 days. I thought they were super cute, so I decided to try them. Surprisingly, they only lasted ONE day. I could have probably made them last longer but I type a lot (for work and for my blog). The decals started peeling off at the edges, which was a little annoying, so I peeled them off this morning. It may be nice for a special occasion, but if I get them again, I am not going to count on them lasting any more than a couple days.

Last night we had summer for dinner. Sweet corn on the cob, grilled chicken and a side salad. It doesn't get much more summer than that! I actually forgot how good sweet corn on the cob tastes. I haven't had any since last summer. That's way too long! We are scheduled (according to our meal plan for the week) to have corn on the cob again on Friday. Just another reason why Friday is going to be awesome, aside from the usual last work day of the week business.

On another note, I think it is time to provide an update on my current June challenge as it stands right now. Here are the running stats:

June Goals

No beer, wine or alcohol this month. (2/4 weeks done)
Weekly Dinner Plans (2/4 weeks done)
Weekly Exercise Plans (2/4 weeks done)
Weigh-in with scale picture on Sundays (2/4 weeks done)
Track calories 5/7 days a week (0/4 weeks done)
Track water intake 5/7 days a week (1/4 weeks done)
Make 4 new recipes (0/4 recipes done)

The only issue I have run in to thus far is tracking my calories. It was hard to do while on my business trip last week. I did track my calories for most of the days, but not for all 5 out of 7 days, as I had hoped for. This is a fresh week, though, and I am tracking calories for today and finished yesterday under 1,800 calories. Tracking while eating out is tough to do; so for the remainder of June, I shouldn't have too much of a problem meeting this goal! Especially with my meal plans all set out for me!

Today, I got a super exciting email asking me to review a product and host a GIVEAWAY! This is the first time I have been *asked* to host a giveaway. Prior giveaways were done by me personally.

I am b e y o n d excited about this opportunity for both you and me. I love to review products and I know you love getting products for free. Stay tuned for more about the giveaway, I am responding to this email right now!

June Challenge - Week Two

2013-06-09T14:37:00.001-04:00

This past week was kind of a wash. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time out of town with my husband for my business trip. I had a little too much of a good time, though. That's why the week was a wash, I gained a couple pounds and I didn't do much as planned.

We had fun trying new things while we were out of town. We were constantly exploring, which is why I didn't have much time to blog.

Kiwi yogurt is one of the new places we found. It is exactly like Menchies, and we love Menchies!

Despite leaving town with some healthy eating tips for eating out in the back of my mind, we didn't eat healthy for a majority of our meals. I knew better, but I didn't follow through. What's done is done though and the proof is on the scale. No sense dwelling on it, time to press on!

I am currently in a challenge; The June Challenge. I have a plan for the week and I'm ready to move on!

My husband and I went grocery shopping this evening, so we are all stocked up on healthy food for the week. No business trips, no need to eat out for meals, and no excuses to get off track this week!

Healthy Tips for my Business Trip

2013-06-05T06:42:00.005-04:00

Last night, instead of having chicken with stir fry vegetables, I made steak. I just couldn't pass up the BOGO steak deal at the grocery store this week!

The cuts were fairly large, so I only had half a portion of steak for dinner. The other half I'll eat for lunch today with the leftover veggies. I tried to get away from my usual stir fry vegetables (green pepper, mushrooms and onions) and branched out to zucchini, red pepper and onions. I'm living on the wild side, I know!

I'm only in the office from 8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. today, then my husband is driving me to Harrisburg for my business trip. Usually, my sister would come with my on business trips. It's nice to have somebody to tag along because the drive is kind of long at 6 hours. It will also be nice because my meetings are over at 4 p.m. tomorrow, so my husband and I will have the rest of the night in Harrisburg.

Since we will be eating out for our meals while out of town, I have dug up some eating out tips from USDA's www.ChooseMyPlate.org.

As a beverage choice, ask for water or order fat-free or low-fat milk, unsweetened tea, or other drinks without added sugars.

Ask for whole-wheat bread for sandwiches.

In a restaurant, start your meal with a salad packed with veggies, to help control hunger and feel satisfied sooner.

Ask for salad dressing to be served on the side. Then use only as much as you want.

Choose main dishes that include vegetables, such as stir fries, kebobs, or pasta with a tomato sauce.

Order steamed, grilled, or broiled dishes instead of those that are fried or sautéed.

Choose a small" or "medium" portion. This includes main dishes, side dishes, and beverages.

Order an item from the menu instead heading for the "all-you-can-eat" buffet.

If main portions at a restaurant are larger than you want, try one of these strategies to keep from overeating:

Order an appetizer-sized portion or a side dish instead of an entrée.
Share a main dish with a friend.
If you can chill the extra food right away, take leftovers home in a "doggy bag."
When your food is delivered, set aside or pack half of it to go immediately.
Resign from the "clean your plate club" - when you've eaten enough, leave the rest.

To keep your meal moderate in calories, fat, and sugars:

Ask for salad dressing to be served "on the side" so you can add only as much as you want.
Order foods that do not have creamy sauces or gravies
Add little or no butter to your food.
Choose fruits for dessert most often.

On long commutes or shopping trips, pack some fresh fruit, cut-up vegetables, low-fat string cheese sticks, or a handful of unsalted nuts to help you avoid stopping for sweet or fatty snacks.

I'm going to use some of those methods to get me through this business trip!

Do you have any other tips for eating out and still staying "on track"?

My 25 cent Lunch

2013-06-04T07:00:00.000-04:00

Even though Ramen Noodles with chicken flavoring isn’t the healthiest option for lunch, it sure is the cheapest! I bought a bundle of 6 packages for $1.50. A serving of the noodle soup is half of the package, so I have been splitting each package for lunch. One bag last two days, which means I have been eating lunch for only 25 cents!

Now that I think of it, I guess that isn’t completely true because I have been eating a side salad with my soups; but, since I buy bulk lettuce, my entire lunch can’t be more than 75 cents.

Since the noodle soup is so high in sodium, I actually can’t even imagine eating two servings of it, as packaged. Don’t get me wrong, I use to be able to many years ago; it just doesn’t appeal to me anymore.

For breakfast yesterday, I had a bowl of banana nut cheerios and a side of cantaloupe. The cantaloupe was actually from a friend at work, so my breakfast was pretty cheap, too.

We desperately needed to go grocery shopping, so I had come up with a creative idea for lunch this weekend. It’s brilliant, actually and less than 300 calories for two “pizzas”.

Some more creativity came to me yesterday when I felt like getting some blood flowing at work. My printer needed more paper, and I had the great idea to use each ream of paper as a weight. The reams weigh 20 lbs each, so I did two sets of 10.

After doing that, I decided to do high kicks. I did two sets of 30 for each leg. I also did 2 sets of 20 squats. I actually did more strength training yesterday in my office than I have in the past 6 months. Side note for self: work on this.

Do you have any other creative ideas for fitting fitness exercises in at work?

Total calories for yesterday: 1,398
Day 1 of 5 of tracking calories - check!

Total ounces of water for yesterday: 64

Day 1 of 5 of tracking water intake - check!

Photos are Fun

2013-06-03T07:00:00.000-04:00

This weekend, I had a lot of fun! My husband and I took family photos for a friend of the family.

I am still working on editing them, and I'm having so much fun while I'm at it! I love taking pictures, and editing can be just as rewarding. I love to bring the shots to life! Fun, fun, fun!

Anyways, if you missed my post last night, you may want to check it out. I have begun a new challenge for June! Basically, it looks a little something like this:

June Goals

No beer, wine or alcohol this month.
Weekly Dinner Plans
Weekly Exercise Plans
Weigh-in with scale picture on Sundays
Track calories 5/7 days a week
Track water intake 5/7 days a week
Make 4 new recipes

I weighed in and posted the picture on yesterday's blog post. The meal plans and exercise plans were there too, but I'll recap those for you while I'm at it:

Dinner Plans for the week:

Sunday: Cheese and Mushroom Calzone
Monday: Subway
Tuesday: Stir Fry Chicken
Wednesday: *Business trip*
Thursday: *Business trip*
Friday: *Business trip*
Saturday: Chicken Salad

Exercise Plans for the week:

Sunday: Rest
Monday: Run 1 mile
Tuesday: Walk
Wednesday: Walk
Thursday: Run 1 mile
Friday: Walk
Saturday: Run 1 mile

Having dinner at subway tonight is going to be nice because we have a little bit of grocery shopping to do, and subway is right next door to the grocery store. It's turning in to a tradition to eat dinner there before grocery shopping!

We don't have too many groceries to get this week because I have a business trip in Harrisburg from Wednesday - Friday. I have a lot of work to get done before then, so managing my stress will be high on my priorities. I can start by getting in my 1 mile run as scheduled today.

Do you have any workouts on your schedule for today?

June Challenge - Week One

2013-06-02T22:30:00.000-04:00

On Friday, I had mentioned that I would be starting a new challenge for June. I began brainstorming some goals I would like to track in Friday's post, but I have finally decided on the following:

June Goals

No beer, wine or alcohol this month.
Weekly Dinner Plans
Weekly Exercise Plans
Weigh-in with scale picture on Sundays
Track calories 5/7 days a week
Track water intake 5/7 days a week
Make 4 new recipes

There are a lot of goals for June, and I am excited to work toward reaching them! I am not going to limit myself to a specific amount of weight I'd like to lose in this challenge, rather, my goal will be to just lose weight.

Sunday weigh-in picture:

Dinner Plans for the week:

Sunday: Cheese and Mushroom Calzone
Monday: Subway
Tuesday: Stir Fry Chicken
Wednesday: *Business trip*
Thursday: *Business trip*
Friday: *Business trip*
Saturday: Chicken Salad

Exercise Plans for the week:

Sunday: Rest
Monday: Run 1 mile
Tuesday: Walk
Wednesday: Walk
Thursday: Run 1 mile
Friday: Walk
Saturday: Run 1 mile

The first week of June is a little "off" since I will be going on a business trip from Wednesday - Friday. I'm not quite sure where we will be eating dinner, but I will be sure to choose the healthiest options while I'm out; and I'll keep you all updated, too!

What are your goals for the week?

June Challenge

2013-05-31T12:43:00.000-04:00

I made something delicious, again. I made a recipe that can be found in the recipe tab at the top of this page.

Jalapeno Popper Stuffed Chicken. Hands-down amazing! You have, have, have to try this sometime! You won't regret it, I promise!

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Since today is the last day of May, and I have yet to break in to the 220's, I am going to make a new action plan for June. I'm going to create a new challenge for myself. Since I'm not feeling super creative right now, I will just call this the "June Challenge".

Sometimes it helps to take a step back and evaluate what may be keeping you from reaching your weight-loss goals. I'm going to spend some time thinking about this tonight and tomorrow. Something that sticks out to me immediately is that I have been drinking more socially this year. I've been going out with friends and attending more events that include beer, wine, and alcohol. These are "empty calories" that I would like to give up for the entire month of June. I'm not a big advocate for "giving things up" in order to lose weight, however; giving up drinking is something I can definitely agree with, especially for just a month.

Another thing I would like to work on is sticking to my meal plans and exercise plans. Making the plans is the first step, and I seem to have that part down; sticking to those plans is what I'll be focusing on this month!

I'm also going to make it a goal to plan my lunches ahead for the week. This is something new that I haven't done in a challenge before! It may take a little more effort at first, but I feel like it will pay off in the end.

Any other suggestions for my June Challenge? Will you be doing a June Challenge of your own?

Guest Post: Use Smart Goals

2013-05-30T06:00:00.000-04:00

I was recently contacted by Michelle Pino. Michelle has recently taken an interest in what inspires others to live a healthy lifestyle. With her knowledge of health and wellness, people tend to ask her what she does to stay healthy, so she figured a guest post on my blog would be a great opportunity to share her knowledge with others.

To Michelle, the daily stresses and life’s challenges make it so important to make health a priority and inspire us to treat our body right. That motivation morphed into habit once she knew how great taking care of herself felt! Here are some tips she would like to share with you:

Use SMART Goals To Get Healthy

In these contemporary times, the health industries are booming as more and more people seek out products and services that will help them optimize wellness. Despite this fact, however, many people find themselves falling into health ruts that preclude them from quitting bad habits or maintaining their health and fitness regimens. Some of the challenges people in health ruts may face are a fear of failure, difficulty adjusting to lifestyle changes, and lowered self-esteem resulting from an inability to meet goals. In order to overcome these challenges, you can greatly benefit from creating the SMART goal outlined below: 　

Specific
This first word emphasizes your need to ensure that your goal is clear. To make your goal clear or specific, make sure that it addresses questions like: "What am I trying to accomplish?" and "Where will I complete it?"

Measurable
This second word represents your need to develop clear criteria that enables you to measure your progress as you work towards your goal. The thought behind establishing a measurable goal is simple: If your goal is not measurable, you have no objective criteria through which to determine whether your current activity is contributing to or detracting from you accomplishing the goal. To determine whether your goal is measurable, ask yourself if it answers questions like How much? and How will I know when it is accomplished? 　

Attainable
This third word represents the importance of ensuring that your goal is realistic. This does not mean that the goal doesn't involve work. Indeed, it can require that you work hard to achieve it. At the same time, however, it should not be too extreme. Once you establish an attainable goal, you enable yourself to cultivate the abilities, financial stability, skills, and attitudes necessary to accomplish it.

Relevant
The fourth word highlights the fact that your goal has to matter. An example of a goal that couldn't meet this criteria when one is trying to lose ten pounds would be "I'm going to study three hours each week to bring up my Chemistry grade." While this goal is specific, measurable, and attainable, it is at best only tangentially related to the task of losing ten pounds. To determine the relevance of your goal, make sure that it can answer yes to questions like "Does this seem worthwhile?" and "Is this the right time?"

Time-bound
The fifth word emphasizes the importance of giving your goal a target date. For example, if you decide to eliminate french fries from your diet, will you begin abstaining from the food in one week or will you gradually decrease your consumption of the nutritionally void item over the course of a month? Making your goal time-bound is important and effective because doing so enables you to focus on completing the goal either before or on the established due date.

Although many people have challenges establishing and completing health-related goals, using the SMART goal guide can help turn your dream of being healthy into reality.

May is National Physical Fitness & Sports Month, which makes for a great time to get out and get motivated! Try creating your own inspiration board to help get on track. Use images and quotes that inspire you to live a healthier, better life.

Photos: 1.) Yoga focuses the mind and body, teaching ourselves to find a spiritual balance. 　I also love that yoga can be done anywhere, even the beach! The beach is so relaxing, a great place for yoga or walking. (Source: Yoga Class)
2.) Love this quote; so simple but so true! Source: Eatthewords
3.) Last spring I started learning more about gardening. 　I enjoy the being in the garden and watching blooms take life as the warmer weather approached. Lilacs are one of my favorite flowers, plus the smell wonderful! (Source: Lilac Flowers)
4.) I’ve started to golf as a way to spend more time outdoors. The resort near my work is a great option because I go with a big group, half of us can do nine holes and then go grab a bite at one of restaurants of the resort, and the rest of the group can golf the full eighteen holes. (Source: Turning Stone Resort)
5.) Eating poorly is taking an effect on my energy levels during the day. I’m looking to experiment with healthy recipes and swapping bad snacks for healthier options. There was a short article on which gave some great options for healthy snacks. (Source: Real Simple)

As you move towards your target, your goals may change or expand. 　Take time to update your fitspiration board whenever it feels out of alignment with your aspirations. 　Make sure what is on the board is what you really want. 　Taking the time to create and maintain a fitspiration board is a fun yet powerful way to keep you motivated on the path towards the fit lifestyle you’re yearning for. 　

Thank you, Michelle for sharing these tips! If you would like to contact Michelle personally, you may do so by emailing her at PinoMichM@gmail.com.

Family Pictures and Struggling

2013-05-29T21:32:00.001-04:00

I enjoy taking pictures as a hobby. I've taken pictures for wedding, engagements and families. Tonight, I took family pictures for my in-laws. It was a tricky task since I was to be in the pictures. My sister came over and snapped the pictures after I set them up, which was a big help!

I think the pictures turned out great. Our backyard is so green right now, I love it! The pond was a good backdrop for some photos, as well.

I had to be a little different, I guess, in that I wore a red dress. It was 80 degrees out and humid. There was just no way I was going to make it through that shoot in jeans!

Family pictures were a success! I have finished editing them already, too. Just in time for bed...

I am hoping to make more time for myself the rest of the week to stick to my mini-goals. So far, I have been struggling with fitting in the time for my runs and walks. Tomorrow I will make myself a priority and I will get my mini goal done!

Is "putting yourself first" a challenge for anyone else out there, at times?

Mini Goals for the Week

2013-05-28T13:10:00.000-04:00

How was your Memorial Day Weekend? We had a blast! More about our Memorial Day party, tomorrow (when I can post pictures).

I went a little overboard at our own picnic on Sunday and I am ready to get back on track for the week! Last night, as I laid in bed, I made sure to make a list of meals I would like to make for dinners this week and a plan for workouts this week.

We are going to have subs for dinner tonight because Subway is right next to the place where we buy our groceries, and we have a lot of grocery shopping to do after work tonight!

Since it is rainy outside, I am going to run a mile on Nordi (my treadmill) tonight. I am actually looking forward to it! I was eating leftovers from our picnic all day yesterday. I could really use a good run!

I am going to try to stick with some mini-goals for this week, just as I did last week.

Mini-Goals for this week:

1. Drink 64 oz. water each day
2. Follow meal plans
3. Follow exercise plans
4. Get 7 - 8 hours of sleep each night

Each mini-goal is just as important as the other. I'm going to start tracking these mini-goals today.

Do you have any mini-goals for yourself this week?

Party Weekend

2013-05-26T09:01:00.001-04:00

This is party weekend!

We had a birthday party for my cousin on Friday, a birthday party for my friends son on Saturday and today, we are hosting a Memorial Day party. We were actually invited to another party for tomorrow, but I had to decline. I am going to be partied out after today!

The party yesterday for my friends son was so cute! Christopher turned one. I can't believe it myself!

I was good at the party, with on eating half of a cupcake and not going overboard with the picnic food.

I'm hoping I will be too busy to go overboard with the food at our party today. So far, my workouts for the week and my efforts toward staying within my nutritional ranges have paid off! I'm back down to 231.8 lbs. That's a nice loss, especially during Party Weekend!

Do you have any parties planned for this weekend?

Good Intentions

2013-05-23T19:21:00.003-04:00

I was going to skip running tonight, but I didn't.

Whenever I got home from work, I put chicken and carrots in the oven. I changed in to my running clothes and before I knew it, I was on the treadmill. As I started my run, I realized that I forgot to grab both my phone (for music) and my laptop (for Netflix). I haven't run on Nordi (my treadmill) without either one of those items, to date. I was too lazy to go downstairs and get these items, so I just continued to run. Yes, you read that right. I was too lazy to walk down stairs, but I voluntarily ran a mile tonight.

This run was boring; it was just me and the treadmill for 14-some minutes. What did people do before the wonderful distraction of music and Netflix during treadmill runs? I can tell you what I do without it; I do math. It's funny because I don't even like math. Come to think of it, I don't like running very much either. It's a love/hate kind of thing. I enjoy running most when I'm finished. The feeling after running is what makes me run again. That, and the joy of beating a previous personal record. I can be kind of competitive against myself. Anyways, back to the math. I don't do algebra or anything like that, I just simply count the seconds, minutes, distance, etc. before I'll be finished running. If I bump the speed up a bit, that changes everything and I need to re-calculate. Trying (and usually failing at) math during my run, held my attention for a majority of the time.

Something else that caught my attention toward the end, was my husband pulling up the driveway. Tonight was his last night of class for the school year! I was on my last lap whenever he pulled up. When I saw him pull in, I smiled and bumped up my speed so I could go see him. I watched him get out of his work van with a pizza box in his hand. At that time, I remembered it was his last night of class, so he must have brought home pizza from their party.

I probably would have happily eaten ~~two~~ four pieces of pizza for dinner, if I hadn't just run a mile. It also helped that I already had chicken and carrots in the oven, and that the timer on the oven had just gone off. I still opened the pizza box, took this picture and contemplated eating a piece of pepperoni before closing the box and putting it in the fridge. Skipping over this pizza to eat chicken and carrots for dinner is a big accomplishment for me.

The lesson I learned from tonight is that half the battle is starting with good intentions. I started my night off with good intentions of eating well and exercising. These good intentions helped me say "no" to something less-than-healthy, and stay "on track".

What have your good intentions helped you to avoid?

Smoothie and Spaghetti

2013-05-22T21:35:00.001-04:00

This morning I made myself a smoothie for breakfast!

It was a peanut butter smoothie. It was low calorie and tasty! I used 1/2 cup of skim milk, 2 tbsp smooth peanut butter and a tall glass of crushed ice. Mix well and there you have it!

Since I didn't have a lot going on, I took advantage of my time after work by laying out with my dogs. I had a small salad, then decided to go to my moms house to visit my brother and sister. We went to Walmart, and I bought a new shirt. Very exciting, I know.

My mom made spaghetti with butter mushrooms for dinner. I had a couple bowls of that and managed to stay within my calories for the day. Success!

What was your success for today?

Nothing Could Have Tasted Better

2013-05-21T20:06:00.001-04:00

Last night my mother and father-in-law stopped by!

They came just in time for dessert and brought with them two ice cold coffee's from McDonalds. I don't know if they know it, but the best in-law award goes to them! Nothing could have tasted better at that very moment. It was warm last night (85 degrees) and those iced coffee's really hit the spot!

On Sunday, I made some mini-goals for the week. It's now Tuesday and I'm happy to say, so far, so good!

~ Mini-Goals: May 20th - May 24th ~

1. Drink 8 cups of water a day (2/5 days done!)
2. Get 7-8 hours of sleep each day (2/5 day done!)
3. Eat within my nutritional ranges as provided by Sparkpeople.com (2/5 days done!)
4. Exercise at least three times this week (1/3 days done!)

------------------

I'm proud for staying within my nutritional ranges today. It was definitely a challenge! I worked over today at work and didn't get home until 7:30 p.m. I was starving by that time and wanted to eat everything in sight. I refrained, however, and made myself a couple BLT's for dinner.

I must have been hungry, or maybe I was tired; I bet it was a little of both because I forgot to add the lettuce to my "BLT" before taking this picture and before eating both sandwiches in a matter of two minutes. Since I choose to eat two sandwiches, dinner ended up being about 540 calories. Considering I was too busy at work today to even think about food, that was a good amount of calories to compensate for the date. Let me rephrase that... I had less time to think about food at work; of course I still thought about it!

What did you have for dinner, tonight?

Are you a fan of BLT's? (I love them, even more so when I remember the lettuce!)

Heebie-Jeebies and a Painful Run

2013-05-20T22:28:00.003-04:00

I've got the heebie-jeebies.

Ever since my husband told me that he saw a HUGE spider outside on the patio, I've been a little freaked out about everything that touches me. "Spiders" have been attacking me ever since. A spider, I mean a leaf, blew in to my hair; I had a mild heart attack. The spider, I mean the sweat rolling down my back after my run tonight made me nearly jump out of my skin. It's been a tense evening.

Speaking of my run, I did it. That's about all there is to say about it. Nothing special, except -- I finally ran on Nordi, again. It's been weeks, maybe even a month, since the last time I ran on Nordi (my treadmill).

Nothing against Nordi, it has just been so nice outside lately. Since it was about 9:30 p.m. when I decided to go for a run tonight, I thought it would be a nice time to catch back up with my old pal, Nordi. I wasn't really feeling a run as much as I just wanted to get my legs moving a little. No records, here; just a nice run/walk.

An intense side cramp may have had something to do with my lack of interest while running. It was quite painful. I guess that's why you aren't suppose to drink a glass of water and then decide to go running. Don't ever do that; ever. It's not good!

Something that is good though would be our bacon-chicken-ranch salads we had for dinner. I bought a huge container (16 oz.) of baby lettuce and we have been using it a lot. Lunches, dinners... yep and yep! It seems to stay very fresh in the container, however, I only give it until about Wednesday before it's all gone. We kind of love it!

Have you ever had the heebie-jeebies?

Bags of lettuce or containers of lettuce? (I think you know where I stand.)

Back to Reality and Mini Goals

2013-05-19T21:02:00.002-04:00

Since I spent last weekend in Virginia Beach, and the entire last week reliving that vacation through pictures, I guess it would be time to get back to reality and back to working toward my goal of losing weight.

"Peace out" Virginia Beach, back to reality!

The reality is that I'm a little overwhelmed. I get anxious when I look at my calendar because it's so full. It's full of work meetings, business trips, and many fun events, too. I tried to schedule a couple "open" weekends for us, but have been finding that doesn't work very well. If somebody plans something big on our "open" weekend, say a graduation party, I just can't say no for the sake of having an "open" weekend. I would feel too guilty. Therefore, time to ourselves is limited; which is just another reason why I really enjoyed our time together in Virginia Beach.

I finally stepped on a scale since my vacation, and I am up a few pounds. I weighed in at 233.4 to be exact. This is a little disappointing since I was down to 230 lbs. right before the trip. This extra weight is temporary, though and I will push on!

I am going to try something a little different this week, as I strive to get refocused. I am going to set some "mini-goals" to accomplish for myself this week. I have found in the past that by setting and reaching mini-goals, it only gets you closer to your larger goals in life. It's so true that "every little bit helps".

~ Mini Goals ~

1. Drink 8 cups of water a day
2. Get 7-8 hours of sleep each day
3. Eat within my nutritional ranges as provided by Sparkpeople.com
4. Exercise at least three times this week

Those are my basic mini-goals; the ones that have helped me to lose 35 pounds thus far. I can always turn back to monitoring those four things for results. It just takes focus, something I will not let myself lose this week!

What are your goals for the week?

Virginia Beach - Day Three

2013-05-18T11:58:00.001-04:00

I am having fun stretching out the recap of our vacation! Our final day was very fun!

We spent the morning walking the boardwalk. It was a beautiful day! A lady offered to take a couple pictures of us, which was nice!

That afternoon, we drove about 5 minutes away to visit the Cape Henry Lighthouse. It was $5/per person, and it was a nice adventure!

After the lighthouse we went back home... I mean, back to the hotel. It definitely felt like home to us!

It was around dinner time when we took one of our last walks on the boardwalk. We found a cute outdoor restaurant to eat dinner at, called Johnny Manana's.

We got the "best seat in the house".

I'm not big in to mexican food, but my husband loves it!

I ordered chicken tenders and my husband got their enchiladas. Both were very good!

After dinner, we walked the beach. We were laughing, holding hands, and just enjoying the world around us.

We sat down by the pier and played in the sand for literally an hour before going back to the hotel.

This is where I get sad. We spent our last hours on the balcony, before leaving for home that night.

It was really hard to say goodbye to that view, but we missed our dogs.

Next time we go (because there will be a next time) we are considering bringing our dogs and family. I really missed them while we were on vacation.

Then again, if we brought them, it would be even harder to come back home. We LOVED this vacation to Virginia Beach. Our first trip there was a success!

Virginia Beach - Day Two

2013-05-16T06:00:00.000-04:00

Day two at Virginia Beach was a lot of fun!

We woke up early and went down to the beach. There weren't very many people out as the sun rose over the ocean that morning.

It was very peaceful. We spent some time on the beach, and some time of the balcony that morning. Just watching the waves.

The picture above is taken right outside the back door of the hotel we stayed at. Very convenient!

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we were completely thrilled with the hotel room that we got. The oceanfront balcony was just wonderful!

After eating our (complimentary) breakfast, we explored the town some more.

We found a truck show on the beach, therefore my husband was officially in heaven.

It was a hot day at 84 degrees. We stayed on the beach for only an hour before we got burnt.

After spending some time on the beach, we explored the town even more (it was a big town).

I was very excited when we found a Sweet Frog, it just like Menchies, and I love Menchies.

We definitely got our share of exercise from all of the walking we did that day!

Virginia Beach - Day One

2013-05-15T21:06:00.003-04:00

Virginia Beach. Sigh. What a wonderful place.

We arrived in Virginia Beach on Friday around 3:00 p.m. The weather was amazing when we arrived!

We were extremely pleased with our room. We stayed at the Fairfield Inn and booked an ocean front balcony suite. This is a hotel I highly recommend if you are considering a trip to Virginia Beach!

The view from our balcony was amazing!

We spent a majority of our trip, relaxing on the balcony. It was our own little piece of paradise for the long-weekend.

The balcony was shaded for most of the day, which was nice for when you still wanted to watch the waves, but wanted to stay out of the heat!

We were only a few blocks away from the fishing pier, which also had a great view!

We spent our first night roaming the town, taking pictures and trying to decide where we wanted to eat.

Of course, we spent some time on the beach that afternoon, as well.

In the picture above, the hotel in the background was ours. We were on the eighth floor, which definitely helped our view!

The water was too cold for us, but there were a few brave people who were swimming in it all day long!

Before we ordered dinner, we bought a 12 pack of bud light platinum to last us the weekend. We spent an hour drinking beer, watching the ocean, and watching people on the boardwalk below.

We ended up eating a pizza from a place called Albee's. Their pizza was phenomenal. Definitely order from there if you make a trip to Virginia Beach. A-maz-ing!

As the sun began to set, we went exploring the boardwalk some more. We heard music and followed it until we came across a band playing at the amphitheater. There was a Dairy Queen nearby, so we got ice cream cones and listened to the band for a while. It truly felt like summer this weekend!

We finished our ice cream cones as we walked along the beach, under the stars. This is something I've always wanted to do. It was so nice to walk barefoot on the beach while holding my husband's hand.

A night we will never forget.

Back from Vacation

2013-05-14T06:00:00.000-04:00

We are back from vacation and are feeling relaxed, refreshed, thankful and full of love.

Those are just a few pictures from our awesome long-weekend vacation to Virginia Beach. I will update more once I go through all of the pictures (we took a lot)!

I decided for my own sanity that I wouldn't weigh myself this week. A weekend of cold beers on the beach and eating out while on vacation isn't going to make the scale happy. Instead, I will just use this week as a transition back in to my routine of drinking enough water each day, getting enough sleep, eating better and exercising. Sound good? I think so.

So, how was everyone's Mother's Day? I want to wish all of the mothers out there a happy belated Mother's Day! We were actually still on vacation during Mother's Day so we sent our moms a video message of us on the beach. How nice of us... I know. We actually delivered their Mother's Day gifts a week before we left for the trip. We had so much fun on this trip that my husband already started to plan our next vacation to Virginia Beach while we were laying in the sand by the ocean. We can't wait!

What did you do this weekend?

Time to Unpack

2013-05-13T22:00:00.003-04:00

Hi there! We are back from vacation!

More on that, tomorrow. I just wanted to post a quick plan for the week ahead.

Dinner Plan:

Tuesday - BBQ Chicken and green beans
Wednesday - Grilled Chicken Salad
Thursday - Buffalo Chicken and green beans
Friday - Grilled Chicken Salad

Exercise Plan:

Tuesday - 1 mile run
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - 1 mile run
Friday - Rest

Dinner's aren't very creative this week. I've got a lot planned with little time. More in the morning. Time to unpack, now!