It’s March!

Okay okay I know. I am the worst about consistency and posting all the time. So here’s kind of a recap of what is going on in my life: I put my two weeks in today at my full time job. It’s something I usually don’t do. I always have a backup plan and I don’t just ship unless I know I’m one of the elite women and children that get to have a life boat in the event of a sinking ship. But, this time, I just jumped. I don’t have anything lined up. I had an interview on Thursday with a women’s detox center but I’m not sure how that interview went. To be honest I really don’t care what I end up doing I just now that it’s not answering calls from senior citizens and walking them through how to use a computer and talk about insurance. That is just not my passion.

Another exciting thing that happened is that I started my teacher certification to be a fitness hoop instructor! I don’t know what I want to do with that yet, like everything in my life, but I’m excited for the opportunity. The class itself is super fun! It’s a workout with weights and has Pilates mixed into it all while you are hooping! Maybe I’ll make a video or something, I’m not sure.

Yesterday I spent most of my night meal prepping! I went crazy! No excuses! I made a big batch of lentils, quinoa, beans, steamed veggies, etc. then I put celery, cucumbers, carrots, pretzels, granola, and nuts into tiny Ziploc bags. I want to make sure that everything is easily accessible so when I wake up 5 minutes before I’m supposed to leave for work (aka today) I can just grab and go.

I’m starting blogilates workouts again today. I just love them! She is so much fun! Here are some of my goals for this month. I’m not sure how well I’ll be able to do them because I think my parents are coming to visit for spring break and you know, the whole job search thing.

Use my whitening lightening pen every day (for my teeth)

Wear my waist trainer up to 3 hours every day

Wash my face with my Clearasonic

Meal Plan

Finish blogilates March calendar

Do yoga twice a week

Take my advocare pills

Drink tea with lemon juice in the morning.

Monday After the SuperBowl

Just like I originally suspected, I am really bad about updating. Especially today since it’s been such a busy day. It’s the Monday after the super bowl which means I’m super extra hung-over. I had to host a toastmasters meeting today after spending about half an hour trying to make my eyeliner even which I never achieved. Needless to say, it’s been a rough morning.

This weekend was good. Our super bowl party was a success. I managed to drink half a bottle of vodka all by myself. I’ve been doing really well about working out. I moved from 5 pound weights to 10 pounds. I know this isn’t a lot of weight but it’s a lot of reps. Today I am starting this new thing on my Nike plus app that is a “coach” to run a half marathon. We will see how this goes because in case you couldn’t tell, my biggest struggle is commitment.

Some good news though! Since yesterday was the first of the month I decided to weigh myself and I lost 5 pounds! I’m so excited! Since I’ve been doing a lot of weight training and squats I didn’t think I would lose much but I did! This month I really want to work on eating clean. That will have to start tomorrow since I am eating chipotle as we speak.

My friend Jessica made me something special for our super bowl party last night. She made vegan buffalo wings! You use cauliflower instead of chicken and they were so delicious! I think this is all I can report today because I can’t even spell my own name.

Pole Dancing

Can you believe that we will be in February on Sunday? It’s so crazy! What are your goals for February? I’m not sure what mine will be. I know I want to try to eat more fruits and vegetables instead of the usual rice, pasta, or bread that I eat. I want to work on meal prepping so my food won’t go bad. I would like to do yoga at least twice a week. I want to run 50 miles. I guess those would be good goals. I really don’t like to stick to anything because I’m really enjoying this whole different workout thing. Yesterday I went to my pole dancing class. I bought a Groupon a long time ago for a pole studio by my house. I went once and I was sore for days. I’ve been putting it off since then. I finally went back and it wasn’t too bad. I think that because I’ve been working out so much, my muscles weren’t shocked. I’m actually really excited to go back and am even thinking about purchasing another Groupon for 10 more classes. Pole dancing is so much fun because you feel so sexy doing it, at the same time its very empowering. Its a mixture of yoga, Pilates, dance, and strength and it kicks your ass! In my opinion it is way harder than Insanity or running 6 miles. I’m going to my hula hooping class tonight and I am super excited to see all my hooping friends and my awesome teacher.

Last night I blended my spinach and kale together to make more ice cubes! It is so easy to make smoothies when you have everything all ready. The hard thing about trying to eat vegan is that everything you buy expires so quickly. I’ve thrown out so many things this week. I think I’m just going to start shopping for what I need for dinner.

I’m really excited for this weekend! Actually I’m excited for all of next week! I have so many cool things planned! Also, I get to see the kids at the rehab which is what I look forward to every week. I’ll try to update more when I actually do stuff. Tuesday I just had school so there’s not much to say on days like that. P.S. I realized I never took a picture of the painting we made.

I really want to get a better camera, and by better I mean not an iPhone J maybe when I break open my piggy bank.

Weekend Dates

Happy Monday! I had a really really good weekend. Joe and I are trying to do more date nights so on Friday night we went to this hole in the wall place I found on Yelp called Cocina de Consuelo. It is this tiny Mexican restaurant that is BYOB, the whole theme is that you are supposed to feel like you are at your grandma’s house in Mexico. Joe ordered Milanesa and I got Tacos Al Pastor which are my favorite and I always eat them in Mexico. I really loved the concept! It feels like you are eating in your kitchen! Except you don’t cook or clean up the mess afterwards. After dinner we went to an arcade called Pinballz which is also a BYOB place. They had so many games! They had all the old school ones and the new ones! Joe is really good at those reflex games where you have to stop the light at a certain point. He hit the jackpot of course. They also had our favorite game which we love to play and get really competitive when we do. Its called Big Bucks something something. It’s weird because I love to play that game but it’s everything that I hate in the world. It’s a shooting game where you go to Africa and shoot animals. You get more points if you shoot big animals like elephants and cheetahs. I think hunting is disgusting and especially hunting for fun. I didn’t take pictures. I honestly forgot. I think it’s more beautiful that way.
Saturday, I had to work the morning shift and since we went to all of those BYOB places, saying I was hangover would be an understatement. After work I came home and started getting ready for our next date. As I was driving to the grocery store I felt like I was going to fall asleep at the wheel I was so tired. Our date was at Painting with a Twist. If you have never been you should really try it! It is so much fun! We painted a sunset together, Joe did the right side and I did the left. I was having a really hard time just trying to be chill and not be controlling or OCD. It worked! I just drank my wine and decided this painting didn’t have to be prefect because it was a fun date with my husband.

Yesterday I worked a 12 hour shift. I was exhausted! But guess what? When I got home I went for a run and I hit 500 miles on my Nike app! I was super excited about it! I hope to get to 1,000 by July! I finished Perks of Being a Wallflower last night. It was beautifully written and I wish it never ended. I wish Charlie would just follow me around and tell me everything about life!
Its Monday again. Although I hate Mondays just as much as any office employee, I like them because they are the New Years of the week. With that being said, lets kill it this week!

Quick snacks FTW

Being vegan is really easy when you work a lot. Joe and I went grocery shopping and we bought a bunch of easily transportable vegan snacks. One of the snacks I brought at Sam’s Club is one of my new favorite snacks. It’s a chia green leaf kale pouch. It’s really tasty and it fits in my purse. Another great thing is that it’s really hassle free to eat. I do want to stay away from too much processed food which can be hard when you are looking for quick snacks. Maybe I’ll make a video later to show you some of the stuff I got.

I went on a run during my lunch yesterday, people at work are starting to know me as “the weird girl that runs during lunch.” The area I run in during lunch has a ton of hills so it’s a pretty good workout. I need to start going to the gym in the morning though because I feel so self-conscious after getting all sweaty.

Today is my first day of school this semester and I did not plan out my meals. I did wake up early and burned 400 calories though! I guess I can figure out my meals later.

Chegan

Hello lovelies!

So like I said, I usually don’t write on the weekends. So let’s catch up. On Friday I worked until 5. After work I went to the dollar store to buy containers because I’m trying to redo the pantry. I always forget how amazing the dollar store is. You can find so many things to organize for a DOLLAR! I started the pantry but by the end of the night it just turned into a food party in the kitchen and it stayed like that all weekend (sigh). When my husband got home from work we went grocery shopping which is literally our favorite thing to do! We bought all healthy things of course and another thing I want to work on is preparing lunches for work so we bought a bunch of stuff that is easy to just carry around.

Saturday was our cheat day. We went to Chipotle and got EVERYTHING! We had a concert to go to that night so naturally we started drinking several hours before the concert! We met up with friends and ate pizza. The concert was fantastic! I had so much fun singing and dancing along.

Yesterday (Sunday) I had to work. I woke up pretty late so instead of working out and getting sweaty I just did chores. I had to work 2 to 10. Work was good. The second shift which is 2 to 10, is a lot harder than 1^st shift. I think that’s because the kids are more awake. After work, I went to my coworker’s house and had some drinks. I met their roommates and one of them goes to the same yoga studios I go to!

I decided I’m going vegan again. Except it will be different. We will call it “Chegan”. So I’m going to eat vegan which to me means no meat, eggs, milk, or cheese. I’m going to buy vegan bread and pasta, but if I go out to eat then I won’t care. I will still eat vegan but I’m not going to make a fuss about the bread having milk in it. So I just won’t directly ingest meat or dairy. This is mostly because finding granola bars and protein powder and stuff is hard. Also, on my cheat day, anything goes. I just can’t give up pizza forever. I know this may seem stupid to the vegans out there but hey! I’m trying! So starting today, actually yesterday, we will see how it goes!

I hate yoga

Hello everyone! I didn’t write yesterday mostly because I was super lazy. I’ve actually been working out a lot. I’ve been struggling with cravings and not wanting to workout. On Wednesday I ran 1.5 miles during my lunch and then went to yoga afterwards. I want to say that I love yoga, but that is a complete lie. I actually hate yoga. Every single pose is torture, I am not flexible, or patient, or strong. During a 60 minute class all I think about is “when the hell is this over?” “how many minutes are left?” ”why can’t I find my breath?” It’s horrible. After yoga however, I feel like the whole world is mine, I’m in a bubble of happiness that can’t ever be burst! I sing in my car on my way home, not caring what anyone thinks about me and feeling so connected to everything around me. So no, I do not love yoga, I hate it!

I’m currently reading (or listening to on my audiobook app) The Perks of Being a Wallflower which is keeping me sane during my runs. I am also re reading Skinny Bitch just because I think it’s a wonderful book that I wish I could just memorize.

I am booked up this weekend! Lots of plans and lots of fun planned because I start school next week, BOO! I’m looking forward to my cheat day with my husband and I’m super excited to go grocery shopping for the week.

Contradicting Diets

So I went way over my calories yesterday because of snacking at the office and drinking wine with friends. I have to admit it’s pretty hard trying to be healthy and fit while still having social life. I know, I know, “you don’t have to drink”, “you can order something healthy”, “you don’t have to go”. Another thing that is very difficult to determine what fitness advice you should take. My friend and I were discussing how contradicting it can all be. Peanut butter has a ton of calories and fat but everyone that is into fitness promotes eating peanut butter. Don’t get me wrong, im all about peanut butter and eating it for protein and all, but when entering it into a calorie counter it can be misleading.

Here are some of the things that I feel are contradicting.

When people say not to do cardio but to lift weights instead. But then other people will say that you need to do cardio to see results.

Don’t eat carbs, but raw till 4 says to eat carbs to fuels your body, also there are diets that say to not cut out carbs.

Eat low calorie. I’m sorry but this one to me is just not making sense. I cannot in my head ever think that a 300 calorie lean cuisine is better for my body than a smoothie made with fresh fruits and veggies. The fact that people cut out fruits from their diets because it has a lot of sugar just makes me want to punch everyone. That just seems ridiculous.

I think the diet that makes the most sense to me is the Skinny Bitch diet, the only problem is, I don’t have enough will power to make it a life style. What are your thoughts?

My Weekend

So as you can tell by now, I don’t write on the weekends. Mainly because I don’t have time also because I’m lazy and don’t want to type things while I’m at home. So let’s catch up shall we?

Friday: I had to work at my “regular job”. I got off at 5 and went straight to Fry’s to get a stereo installed in my car. I know, I know, super 1990’s but hey! I’m broke okay? It was either get a new car (which will never happen) or get a stereo so I can talk hands free and listen to MY music and not Ariana Grande on the radio over and over. It’s great having it! I keep wanting to take the longest routes just so I can enjoy the ride! Another great thing about it is that I love listening to Audiobooks so now I can listen to them in the car and not just on my runs! After my car was done I went home and did Blogilates again.

Saturday: I worked 6am to 2pm at the rehab. After work Joe and I had our first cheat day. We just sat on the couch watching TV and ordered stuffed crust pizza which besides Joe, is my one true love. I don’t care that its not vegan! I can eat it on my cheat days! We drank way too much, Joe had beer and I had my drink of choice, Ruby Red Grapefruit Vodka by Deep Eddys and soda water. I drank too much because I fell right asleep when I woke up, we got Taco Bell! It was really nice having a cheat day because it really changes my “all or nothing” mentality. I can eat bad one day and be lazy and enjoy myself and then go back to the normal grind the next day.

Sunday: was my “day off” of all my jobs. I cleaned and lounged around. I took my pre workout just because I wasn’t feeling it at all (I’m sure it had to do with all the crap I ate the day before.) I started doing some weights and then it just turned to me dancing and singing around in my living room. I decided to just do yoga instead. I decided this wasn’t going anywhere so I should just go along with my day. Some of my favorite kids finished the program at the rehab, which means they get to leave and I will never see them again. I wrote both of them hand written letters and just told them how proud I am and how much they mean to me. I bought them some DVDs at the discount store. You get 10 DVDs for $15. I also stopped and got them donuts. As I was driving there (which once again it’s about 35 minutes away from my house), I started thinking, why am I doing this? Why am I spending MY money and MY time to bring these kids stuff? I got there and all the kids were so excited to see me! They just kept yelling “Miss Lizz is here!” a lot of them came up and hugged me and thanked me for the donuts and the movies. I got to talk to the kids that are leaving and gave them their cards and they were so appreciative. They told me how much they would miss me and how much they enjoyed spending time with me and going on trips with me. Then I realized why I do this, those kids mean so much to me than they will ever know. I think about them 24/7. When they are happy I’m happy, when they’re sad, I’m sad. I wish I could just hug all of their pain away! I wish that I could watch over them once they leave and give them good advice and talk to them. A lot of these kids don’t have parents, and the ones that do, I wouldn’t really call them “parents” as they are dealing with their own addictions. Anyway, I’m glad I decided to stop by and bring a little bit of love and happiness into their life even if it’s just for a little bit. I think the thing I hate about that job is the fact that once they are done with the program, that’s it. Im not allowed to have any communication with them. So I spend time with them, make memories, fall in love with them, and they its gone. That really hurts my heart. The only hope I have is that one day I run into them. One day maybe years from now, I would love to run into them and have them tell me how great they are doing and how they changed their life around.

After that, I went home and Joe got home from work. He wanted to go on a run because he just signed up for the Spartan Race! I got a little bit jealous and decided I wanted to go on a run too. My goal was to run 2 miles since I had “worked out” earlier that day. I ended up running 3 miles because I bought Taylor Swifts Blank Space and listened to it on repeat. Most of yall don’t know this, but I HATE Taylor Swift, but damn her songs are so fricken catchy! So thanks Taylor for my awesome run.

Today I woke up extra early and went to the gym. Today was ab day. I did 45 minutes of ab workouts and then walked uphill for 30 minutes. I love walking uphill because it burns a TON of calories. You don’t really feel like you are doing anything because it’s not hard but you end up dripping sweat! I burned 400 calories in 30 minutes! I love watching music videos while doing this, it keeps me distracted and motivated at the same time.

My goals for this week:

Wake up every morning to workout

Run at least 10 miles this week

No coffee, only tea!

Remember to take my vitamins

Babysitting is not real work

I realized yesterday that I over eat when I’m not prepared. When I don’t have food at work all I think about is where I’m going to go for lunch, usually, it’s not a healthy option. So I decided to go grocery shopping for food in my office. When you think about it, you spend 40 plus hours a week at work, so there is no reason that your office shouldn’t be stocked like your home. I bought quest bars, protein powder, nuts, hummus, Amy’s soups, and fruit.

I had to babysit yesterday and it was kind of last minute so I was a little bit bummed out that I wasn’t going to be able to work out. The people I babysit for are always really healthy so luckily, they always have yummy and nutritious options for dinner. I made a salad with turkey meat and fruit and nuts. I am one of those weird people that like to have fruit in my salad.

The kids wanted to play with the easy bake oven and make cookies. I am very blessed in this world because I do not like sweets. I will eat them, but I just don’t enjoy them at all. You can put a tray of brownies in front of me and I will never touch them or even be tempted. People always say how lucky I am to not like sweets, but trust me, I make up for it in pizza, Cheetos, French fries, etc.

The kids I babysit are 6 and 8. They are the cutest little kids. They are very fun, loving, respectful, and oh so intelligent. The little boy who is 8 is always updating me on current events. Like my quote at the top says “pretending to be an adult until I actually become one”, I truly believe this statement completely encompasses anything that is me. The reason I have so much fun with these kids is that they have the same hobbies I do. Watching cartoons and Disney movies, hula hooping, flying kites, coloring, discussing superheroes, climbing things, video games, etc. They would honestly be my best friends if we could drink together. But getting paid to spend time with them isn’t bad either.

They had bed time at 8:30 because it was a school night. I hate putting them to bed. One, they never want to go of course, and two, once they go to bed I’m all alone and have no one to play with. I decided that even if I wasn’t prepared, that didn’t mean I wasn’t going to work out and have that be my excuse. So I ran outside and grabbed my pre workout. I started doing jumping jacks, calf raises, squats, pushups, sit ups, bicycle kicks, high knee kicks, etc. So there I am in the living room with a sweater dress on, full makeup, and boots, just jumping around. I got sweaty and I probably looked like a crazy person but I worked out and that is all that matters!

P.S. this is a picture the little girl drew for me after I asked her to draw me something that I love. Hahahahah