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.

Fire Hooping Etc.

Happy Monday! Let the countdown begin for the weekend! So on Saturday I had to work in the morning. Since we only have 31 kids right now we had too many people and I, being so nice, volunteered to go home. I went back to bed and I didn’t wake up until 11! I haven’t slept in that late in ages! It felt so good and I’m sure my body appreciated it because I went on an awesome 4 mile run afterwards. The run itself is easy, cardiovascular and leg wise I’m golden, it’s just my damn calluses. I literally feel my feet burning off! When I got home and looked at the huge bubble, I was mortified. I even used double socks! I’m not sure what else to do, to be honest I’m kind of afraid of running again.

After my run I studied until it was time for my fire hooping class, yes that’s right! FIRE HOOPING! It was everything that is amazing in the world! It was so fascinating, incredible, wonderfully unbelievable, and every other cliché thing you could think of but not cliché! I’ve never felt so free! It’s kind of weird to explain and I probably sound like a weird hippie that never shaves when I’m explaining it but I just felt it in my soul. So you are spinning and there is fire around you and you just move your body with the music and you almost mesmerize yourself. Once you stop spinning, you look up and you kind of forget where you were and that there are other people around watching you. In that moment you are somewhere else, you are spinning and nothing in the world matters, all the problems, and all the insecurities that you have just disappear. I honestly can’t wait to go back and I might invest in a fire hoop so I can practice at home.

After hooping Joe and I went downtown to meet with an old friend of mine from Chicago. He actually use to be my acting coach. He was in town shooting a commercial for a company and invited us out. Can I just say, I HATE DOWNTOWN. I do like to people watch. I love seeing drunk people interact and watch what our society considers the norm.

Sunday morning I got a bunch of chores done early in the morning before work. I think there is something about waking up and drinking your coffee in bed with your cat and staying in your pjs until after 12 that is just absolute bliss. I love working on chores while watching TV and dancing around. That is my relaxing time. I had to work 2 to 10 yesterday which is just such a horrible shift because the kids are so damn rowdy! Sometimes when its lights out I think I’m in a zoo with a bunch of little crazy monkeys just throwing shit around and jumping and jumping and screaming! It’s like a horror movie. I got really really mad at one point which I try not to do with them. It’s very rare that they get yelled at by me but yesterday it happened multiple times.

I have to run 3 miles today. I’m scared about my feet. I might also go to a dance class tonight but that all depends on how much studying I get done during lunch.

Cheat Day Again?

I swear we have more cheat days than anyone else I know. It’s just that our schedules are so weird that we have to fit it in on a random day. So since we will be working a ton this weekend we decided to go out yesterday. We went to Kona grill. They have a fantastic happy hour. We got potstikers and calamari as appetizers. For entrees we shared a margarita pizza with no tomatoes because my husband is a weirdo, a pepperoni pizza, I had Philadelphia rolls, and Joe ordered “pig wings” which are kind of like buffalo wings but from a pig. I tried eating one but I just kept picturing a pig and trying to guess what part of the pig I was chewing into and I didn’t want to. I know it’s weird because I had no problem with the peperoni but I think when you have the name of the animal you are biting into, it’s different.

Yesterday was my rest day from running so I woke up early and did weights. Although the new 10 pound weights aren’t that heavy, they still kick my ass. It was nice taking a break from running. I have to run today. I have an annoying little reminder taunting me. I think once my feet stop killing me, it shouldn’t be so hard.

My friend Haley came over last night after dinner and had a couple of beers. She taught Joe and I a new drinking game called “Drunk Bus” and of course I won because whenever I learn a new game I always win, but then I play again and I lose all the time. Beginners luck is my middle name.

Bad Food Fights Back

As you can tell yesterday was not my best day. Joe and I had Pluckers for dinner which is a wing place kind of like Buffalo Wild Wings. I had fried mac and cheese YES FRIED! Were in Texas so everything that you can think of has been fried. But that was just the appetizer, I also got 10 wings and fries. Oh lawd my stomach was feeling it last night and this morning! I don’t think I want to eat bad for a long time and it’s not because of weight gain or anything like that it’s because I just feel so horrible. All day yesterday I felt so exhausted. I even went to bed at 9! 9!!! Like a grandma! Starting today, I will only eat foods that give me energy, make me feel good, and are easily digested.

So naturally I started off my half marathon training by you know… not running. I was supposed to run 3 miles last night but lord knows that wasn’t going to happen. I had to run 4 miles today. I thought about doing the 3 miles I skipped yesterday, but I thought that wasn’t fair. So I woke up at 5:30 this morning and ran 4 miles. It wasn’t as hard as I thought. However, I had 3 problems. 1) the Pluckers was fighting back and I contemplated stopping at a gas station to use the restroom (sorry TMI) 2) I started getting calluses on my feet, yep from ONE run! Does anyone know how to prevent this? 3) Since it’s going to rain today and I get horrible allergies before it rains, my body was full to the top with mucus. I kept spitting and blowing my nose and nothing helped. I felt like I was entirely made of mucus. Like an amoeba boy from the Power Puff Girls. If you are too young or too old to know who that is here is a picture.

i started my morning off with a banana, peanut butter, and protein smoothie. I don’t know what ill have for lunch or dinner yet since I wont be home until late. I have class tonight, I really need to start reading the book. I haven’t found any time. I’ve been too busy drinking and stuff. Woops.

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?