Where have I been??

Hello all!

So of course, as you can see, I have been on somewhat of a hiatus. Spring Break just didn't really give me much time to write stuff on here (it was SO BUSY but so much fun! Spent some days asleep at 1 just to be up at 6:30 the next morning for a whole new adventure!)

Health-wise, Spring Break was definitely a let down. Darn. I had a great time, but quite frankly, my family isn't all that health-conscious, and even though I did buy some of my own food for myself, it didn't really pan out. Dinners of chili, homemade enchiladas, barbecue and breakfasts of pancakes and breakfast tacos (and there was Birthday cake and Ice Cream involved too...) Obviously, a heck of a lot different compared to what I usually eat! But now I've been back on track at home, and I feel confident that I can keep at this.

I haven't done the food and exercise journaling on here, because in the beginning, that really was a tool to help me get into new habits. Now, I don't need those guides to lead me into the right direction. I exercise almost every day, I buy mostly vegetables, fruits and healthy non overly-processed foods, and yes, while I might slip up every once in a while, that's ok. I'm only human... just hopefully a much healthier human!

Little changes I want to be trying soon...

Well, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (and any other day I'm at the UTA campus) I exercise for at least an hour at the gym there. I don't have time to go exercise before school because I get up every morning at 8 or earlier to get ready and leave for school. So MWF, I exercise in the afternoons or evenings. But I want to get better at exercising in the mornings on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday/Sunday. I know that it's better for you to exercise in the mornings because it helps your metabolism or something, so that's what I'll do.

On the food side of being healthy, I did buy a blender last week! I figure I'll make healthy smoothies every other day for breakfast, probably after those morning workouts I just mentioned. But don't worry, I'm trying my darndest for these not to be the sugar-loaded kinds that are possible. I want to look into what powders and vitamins I can put in as well. Might look at that next time I go to the store. Any little bit helps! You can never be too nutritious, and I can use all the help I can get!

So, there's a little update, and I'm just continuing to push myself because I know this is what's best. It's not about numbers or clothes sizes, but about being healthy. That's what counts!

For the record.

I am never going to say anything detrimental to my supposed children.

The words "useless" and "annoying" will never coincide with them. Other people may say those things, but it is never a parent's place to verbally humiliate their child. I think that some people just say what pops into their heads and don't think about the consequences. I myself may be included in that category at some times, but some people seem to come to it regularly.

Dress

It fits... it fits... it fits!

I got a dress oh about a year ago, and even though I bought it, it didn't quite fit right. It was uncomfortable and too tight. I found it in the back of my closet and I totally forgot about it! I decided to try it on...

and it fits! In fact, it's a little too big! It looks and feels so much better on me, and I am very excited. Only intensifies my motivation to keep going and go even faster!

Harder.Better.Faster.Stronger.

3/4/12 Accountability

Let me just say, I'm such a dork right now. I just got really excited because today's date has a mathematical equation to it. 3 x 4 = 12! doorrrrkk.

Anyway, back on track here...

Food Journal...

Breakfast: An apple and almond butter

Lunch: 1 slice of turkey, lots of chopped up fresh spinach, 2 eggs, all cooked and scrambled together.

Dinner: Baked sweet potato, asparagus

Snacks during the day: Triscuits, grapes and trail mix.

I don't know why, but I was in a really snacky mood today! Probably not a good thing... but since I have relatively healthy snacks, and not just something like cookies and potato chips, it's not ALL that bad. Maybe since I was so busy studying and cleaning today, I just felt the need to have something? Not a good habit.

Exercise for the day...

Ok, I have two major tests this week, and I'm leaving for Spring Break straight from school on Friday (after time at the gym, of course!) So today I was very busy with that stuff. Cleaning my room and doing laundry so I wouldn't have to worry about it as much during the week, studying and doing homework for the two tests coming up, and just generally kept myself busy. I woke up early and planned on working out (I even wore my gym clothes all day just in case) but just kept seeing more I had to get done instead. That's ok though! School really does come first, and once the school week gets going, I'll be back into my routine.

3/3/12 Accountability

I'm definitely looking forward to doing that chart thing instead, because this is getting old fast...

Food Journal...

Breakfast: NOT a good breakfast. Sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit from Whataburger. I was in a hurry to get meet with someone to work on an upcoming test at 8am.

Lunch: Some triscuits at 11ish before exercise, and a thinkThin bar (FAVVVV) afterwards at 2:30

Dinner: Just heated up some leftovers of whatever I had in the fridge. Some whole wheat pasta, green beans, and peas.

Exercise for the day...

- Stretches

- 1 mile walk/jog on track

- 3 miles (30 minutes) on Elliptical

- 30 minutes weights

- 15 minutes rowing

- Stretches

Seriously, those thinkThin bars are one of my favorite foods now ever! I'll get a couple more this week, I think. I'm starting to think about what it will be like to go home for a whole week over Spring Break. I need to keep eating healthier and exercising. This week, I will start planning when I can go to friend's apartment gyms with them, or even meet up with anyone to play tennis at the park or go on long walks or rowing on the lake or something. I still want to do some exercise for at least an hour every day, preferably two. Even when I have family visiting us at the end of break, I want to go on long walks/jogs in the morning before we start our fun days. If my family cooks burgers or makes fresh pasta like we tend to do, I'll ask for Dad to make me a grilled chicken patty for my 'burger' or I'll be sure to eat more vegetables and pasta and stuff like that. I'm not going to let this week throw me off. No way, Jose!

Exercise possibilities for tomorrow...

Gym (this is a must!)

with the possibility of also...

Pilates or long walk/jog in the park. The weather's supposed to be beautiful!

Long

thinkThin Protein Bars

Oh my goodness, I have definitely found my favorite bars! And no, not bars to go out and get drinks, but nutritional bars! (even though my favorite bar downtown did happen to close last week.)

I have gotten different bars at Sprouts before. Usually I get whatever's on sale. I read the labels for grams of sugar, fat, and just the general calories, ingredients and stuff. I usually got Cliff or Luna bars, but were never really all that impressed. I could tell they were really sweet and I thought overly processed to be really all THAT healthy. So, I saw these thinkThin bars one day and decided to try them out. Y'all, I am in heaven with these babies! I like to get the Blueberry and Mixed Nuts bar to replace having trail mix some days, and today I tried the thinkThin peanut butter bar. I opened the package and *duh duh duhhhhh* there was chocolate on it! I was like, "Oh come on!" I didn't get the flavors like chocolate-covered strawberry or lemon cream pie because I thought those were too similar to dessert. Well, turns out these bars have natural cocoa something or other for a coating, even though the bars have 0 grams of sugar. I looked at the ingredients on the label, and cocoa is pretty low on the list, so that's why I didn't notice it. It tasted delicious though! Not chocolately necessarily, but lots of good flavor! It was filling too. I had it for my post-workout meal at probably 2:30, and it kept me full till dinner time. (Till just about now, anyway. My stomach's starting to grumble at me, and it IS time to start making dinner after this post! It's 5:45 right now.)

So, long story short, I highly recommend thinkThin bars to everyone! They're not expensive, yummy, healthy, and are great for breakfast or lunch. I buy three every Wednesday when I go to the store. They're me fav!

A little switcheroo!

I've decided that I am going to keep updating the blog, but instead of daily accountabilities, I am going to update once a week. What I am going to do, is make a little chart on a Word document or something, and every day THERE is where I will update what I ate, how much I exercised, and just little tidbits here and there. I will then at the end of the week (Sundays, maybe?) Post the full chart with just a summary of the week. The updating daily thing is getting to be a bit time consuming and almost a hassle, so I'm just trying to mix things up to keep it interesting.

Since the chart shows Monday - Sunday, I will keep updating regularly here this weekend, but am looking forward to the new change next week. I think it will also give me a better visual of how my week really went health-wise.

3/2/12 Accountability

Today is a day I DEFINITELY need to be held accountable. Did NOT have a good dinner, and I definitely am feeling it.

Food Journal...

Breakfast: One scrambled egg with spinach, piece of toast with almond butter

, grapes

Lunch: A nut-fruit bar and triscuits

Snack: A little trail mix after work-out

Dinner: (So close to a healthy day till this!) I made whole-wheat pasta with peas, asparagus and carrots BUT I put in Alfredo Sauce. BAD IDEA. I seriously feel sick now and really regret that decision.

Exercise for the day...

A little over an hour exercise class. Today we did a lot with BOSU balls and weights. Lots of different styles of lunges, crunches, planks and stuff.

After having lunch and doing some homework, I then power-walked on the track for a mile to warm up, then I did 7 miles (30 minutes) in the bike. I'll be back in the gym tomorrow for a some good weekend exercise!

My plans for tomorrow's exercise...

30 minutes Elliptical (at least)

Weights

Rowing

Track

Maybe try a new machine?

3/1/12 Accountability

March 1st!!! Oh my goodness, where did that come from?!? Wasn't it just Christmas break a few weeks ago? Goodness. Well, I just have to say, I had a WONDERFUL day! A great start to one of my favorite months of the year :) We get Spring Break, my Birthday, St. Patrick's Day (It's fun to dress up in green!) and sometimes even Easter. I think March has some of the most beautiful weather out of the year too (if you don't count the allergies that come along with it.)

Food Journal...

Breakfast: Cereal, blueberries, almond milk

Lunch: Panda Express mixed veggies and beef and broccoli

Snack: Almonds in the afternoon

Drink: Tall, skinny iced mocha from Starbucks (funny story about this.)

Dinner: Leftovers of my Chili's grilled chicken sandwich from last night, with steamed broccoli leftovers I made on Tuesday. It's nice to have convenient dinners right there that are healthy too.

BEFORE you freak out and think, "Oh my gosh- fast food?!?" just listen to what I got. I knew I was going to have to eat on campus today, so I looked ahead at the menus of stuff offered at school. I've gotten Panda Express from there before, so I went to their nutritional calculator to see what was the healthiest option for me to get. Turns out, it's the mixed veggies (duh!) and beef and broccoli. I was thinking the black pepper chicken or green bean chicken would have been healthier, but I'm glad I checked first! That beef and broccoli is by far the healthiest option on the whole menu; HUNDREDS of calories and several grams of fat less than everything else. Now I know what I can get for 'fast food' on the rare occasion.

And onto the Starbucks story. So, I had a FULL day at school today. I had no class, but I had assignments to work on and study for. I was at school from 9-5 today, and by 4 o'clock, I was fading. I knew I wanted to stay for the office hours at 5 I needed to go to, but I had to have something to boost me up, or I was just gonna pass out! I knew I couldn't just get a soda since that is one of the things I have given up, so I decided on the Starbucks just down the street to use up the last of my gift-card (how I will miss you and your convenience!) Now, usually I would get a tall non-fat cafe latte, but the weather was so beautiful out that I wanted an iced drink. I got in the line and just kind of rushed with my order. My only guidelines were 'tall, cheap, and skinny or nonfat.' So I quickly ordered a tall skinny iced mocha. When I sat down with my book (Pride and Prejudice) and coffee, I took a sip, and realized, "Wait a second... I got chocolate!!!!" Of course! How could I have been so stupid! I essentially was drinking an iced chocolate milk, and that totally went into the no-zone for Lent! I knew I couldn't take it back or ask for a different drink; I just think that's rude and wasteful. So I had my drink (seriously, it was just a nice, cold chocolate milk) and even though I thoroughly enjoyed it, I kept thinking, "Sorry, God! Technically this isn't a dessert, but from now on, I will be more mindful of what I'm actually getting." I felt kind of silly about it afterwards :P

Exercise for the day...

In about an hour, I'm going to go to the gym for a bit. I'll update about that later tonight.