I stepped on the scale
Monday...I felt like I was ready to face the truth.
After losing 30-ish lbs,
and starting my crazy school schedule, I learned that I have gained back 15.1
lbs from October 4th-November 20th.
Using my highest weight
from back in April, I have lost a total of 19.1 lbs.
I know the number on the
scale doesn’t define you and it’s how you fit into your clothes and how you
feel and blah blah blah, but I’m not happy with what I see on the scale. And
not keeping track of a number for the last month and a half is the reason why
I’m where I’m at today. Moving backwards.
I have no inspirational
images. No workout tips. No music. No favorite workouts. None of that. Just words, my
truth. My goal is to lose 36 total lbs by December 31st. I have 41 days. Time
to make it happen :]
Who else is on this weight loss/health kick journey? Struggles? Successes? Let me know!
Still not posting my weight. Props to those of you that do.
By the time you read this...I will be on my 3rd consecutive visit to the gym. Actually, it depends on what part of the world you're on. It sounds like something small and insignificant, but since this semester started in August, finding 3 consecutive days to work out has been impossible. I'd dropped in here and there, but nothing habitual. My load has lightened...sort of. I'm done with observations, and tutoring has dropped to once a week, so I have my nights back. There's still homework and credential packet prep to get done. Ahh!
Anyways, back to the point. Because I'm visiting the gym more often...I created a new playlist that I can dance to jam to while I put in some miles and crunches. I think I've finally perfected a playlist that keeps me moving for an entire hour. Working out for that long sucks, but the good upbeat music makes the time go by faster. And fret not, I spared you all my Disney artists that pump me up. You're welcome. I figured I'd share my playlist with everyone :] They all link to youtube if you want to give them a quick listen before you buy...or rip, Just kidding. Don't steal music.
So what do you think? Any songs in there you love? Any I'm missing? Let me know! Also, how cute is that pup?!! No idea where the original image is from. I found it on Pinterest and tried to track it down, no luck. So if it's yours and I stole it from you...sorry. Happy hump day folks!
Today is November 6th,
2013. Back in early October I hit -30 lbs. And then I started observations in
the mornings and tutoring in the evenings. In between…school and work. I had no
time to make myself any sort of food and for the last month 75% of my meals
have been drive thru. Also, with the exception of one visit, I haven’t been to
the gym in a month and a half. I’ve been too scared to weigh myself, but I’m
pretty certain I’ve gained 15 lbs in the last month. My schedule has been
kicking my ass and my weight is suffering because of it.
This past Monday, I woke up
motivated like hell for like the 18th time. What inspired this motivation?
Not fitting into my jeans again, I’m back up a size in shirts, and a friend who
is totally going beastmode at the gym and posting little video clips of
workouts on instagram.
I went to the gym yesterday, did
some running, and gut workout…since I don’t have abs yet, and squats. Man. I am
hurtinggggg today.
I’m finally done with
observations and although school is still crazy, that month break was all that
I’m cool with. Time to take control of my life again and finish up this weight loss
thing I started. Well not some much finish, because it’ll be a life long
struggle, but to hit my goal and maintain.
I’m still not ballsy enough to
post my current weight for the internet to read…instead, enjoy some
motivational quotes courtesy of pinterest. Have a bomb.com Wednesday everyone :] P.S. Don't forget about that giveaway I'm part of! Have you entered yet?
It’s fall! Well…sort of. Sunday
night was the first time since April that a chill rolled into my bedroom and I
had to sleep under the covers. San Diego doesn’t get too much change between
seasons, but hey, it’s something!
I absolutely love summer, but
there’s something about fall that makes everything feel so…cozy. Red and orange
color schemes have taken over Pinterest, people are losing their minds over
Pumpkin Spice Latte’s and Pumpkin M&M’s, and an outfit that consists of leggings,
and oversized sweater, boots, and a messy bun is acceptable again :]
Today’s post is kind of a random
compilation of things I love and look forward to doing this fall!
-Playoff Baseball.
Did anyone really expect anything
else to be at the top of this list? I’m pretty positive neither of my teams [Yankees
& Padres] will be playing in the fall classic this year, but it makes my
heart happy to know that I’ll be able to turn on the TV when I get home from
work or school and baseball will be on. Unfortunately the rivals of my favorite
teams did make it to October. That doesn’t mean I won’t be watching…I’ll just
be rooting for the Red Sox and Dodgers to not win!
-Apple Beer.
I learned about Apple Beer/Cider [whatever
it is] earlier this summer when I had it at a BBQ and liked it a lot. Since
then, I’ve had it here and there…but I plan on fully embracing it this fall. I
think one of the reasons I like it so much is because it reminds me of
Manzanita which is apple soda…a staple in Mexican households! It’s like the
grown-up boozier version of Manzanita! Both are worth checking out!
-Salted Carmel Hot Chocolate.
Pumpkin Spice Latte’s can take a
seat, my favorite seasonal drink from SBUX is the Salted Carmel Hot Chocolate!
Heavenly is probably the best word I can use to describe the way it tastes. I
don’t know enough coffee connoisseur approved adjectives to properly describe
it…just take my word for it, it’s damn good.
-Abuelita’s Hot Chocolate.
I you know, you knowwwwwww.
-Comfy Clothes.
If you’re looking for a fashion
blog…look elsewhere. I endorse leggings and sweats. I live in leggings. So I’m
happy that it’s we’re in the season where it’s acceptable to wear them again!
Oversized sweaters go well with leggings and adds to that comfort level. Put on
some calf length boots and throw your hair in a messy bun and you’re good to
go! Can’t forget about seats though! I have a large collection of sweats, they’re
one of my favorite things to wear…around the house, to run a quick errand, head
to school. Pretty much to do anything but go to work.
-Cinnamon Roll Crust Apple Pie.
I learned to make this like 2
years ago. It was pretty freaking delicious. Can’t wait to make it again :]
-Pumpkin Picking & Pumpkin
Fudge.
So I’m from a small country-ish town
in North San Diego county. It’s famous for its surrounding casinos…and that’s
about it. The only time traffic gets crazy is in October when pretty much all
of San Diego flocks here to pick pumpkins in the crazy awesome pumpkin patch
Bates Nut Farm has…better known to the locals as Nate’s Butt Farm :] Haha. I
actually haven’t picked pumpkins here for like 6 years, but I’m making it
happen this year! Bates has like 20 different flavors of homemade fudge in
their shop which is ridiculously rich and soooo good, but the best flavor is
Pumpkin fudge which they only roll out every fall!
-Dia De Los Muertos.
It’s a Mexican holiday that
honors and celebrates deceased relative and loved ones. I’m kind of infatuated
with sugar skull art, and if I ever get courageous enough to get a tattoo, the
first will definitely be a sugar skull and some roses. Old Town in San Diego
has done this cool event thing for the last few Dia De Los Muertos and I really want
to make it out this year!
Last But Certainly Not Least…
-SYTYCD Tour
One of my favorite things of the
summer is So You Think you Can Dance. One of my favorite things of the fall is seeing the top 10
contestants on tour doing my favorite dances of the season. Amy, Jasmine, Nico, and Tucker were some of my favorites, but my #1 of the season was Aaron. He's such an incredible dancer anddd I might
have fallen in love with him. I was so sure he was going to go
from not making the cut [again] during the green mile to winning the whole
competition. When they said Fik-Shun’s name as the winner, I immediately yelled
“SHUT. UP.” I couldn’t believe Aaron lost. It broke my heart and I am still not
over it. If I make to the tour this year, you can bet everything in your pocket that I will camp out for hours after the show for a shot to meet him!
<3
That’s it folks. Or at least
everything that came to mind when I made this list. What do you think of it?
What’s on your list? Anything missing that should be on mine?
P.S. I'm not one who uses the word "cozy" regularly...so don't judge me based on my use of it in today's blog. Ha.
P.S.S. I'm gonna mention that I don't own any of these images, all were stolen from google and pinterest...please don't sue me.
Remember when I made chocolaty goodness like a month ago? Finally blogging about it :] I help my mom clean a house every other weekend and the lady we work for has a cabinet full of wine! She is super sweet and gives us a few bottles every now and then, but unfortunately it's merlot and I can't really put down any wine other than muscato. A few weeks ago she gave us like 6 bottles of merlot and 2 of chardonnay so I'm kind of scrambling to find recipes to use the wine in! Dark chocolate merlot cookies were on the list. I haven't posted a recipe in a while so for anyone that's new to reading my blog, you should know I'm hopeless in the kitchen, so every time I try a recipe, it legit is a disaster waiting to happen. I foundthis recipeon pinterest but tweaked it a little...I made just under 3 dozen late one night and among a family of 4 and within 30 hours they were gone, so I'm gonna say this was a success.
What you'll need:
1.5 cups of all purpose flour
1 cup of cocoa powder
1.5 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon of baking powder
0.5 cups of softened butter
0.5 cups of granulated sugar
1 cup of brown sugar
2 medium sized eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
0.5 cups of merlot
8 ounces of good quality of dark chocolate
-Pre-heat the oven at 375.
-Mix together the flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking soda, and baking powder, and set to the side.
My favorite part of baking other than eating the final result is mixing the dry stuff. I think it looks so pretty! Hahaha.
-Mix together the granulated sugar, brown sugar, and butter until the mixture is "light and fluffy" and then mix in the eggs, vanilla extract, and merlot.
As a rookie baker (...or whatever you'd call me) the "wet" mixtures always make me a little weary and am convinced that I will end up with some kind of sweet soup concoction that I'll have to throw out instead of in this case chocolatey goodness. I'm still working on trusting all these internet recipes, because I don't know what stuff is supposed to look like.
-Add the dry ingredients you've already mixed into this wet batter and stir together.
-Chop up your good quality chocolate and mix it into your batter.
Originally, I purchased that Godiva bar thinking it'd be enough, but it wasn't so I ran over to Sprouts and grabbed what I thought was dark chocolate...instead I purchased this:
I didn't realize it had hazelnut and dried currants [I'm gonna pretend you all know what that is because I have no clue] in it, but it gave the cookie some extra flavor and some crunch.
Marty Mess-up: cocoa powder, and then decided that it'd be too rich so I added more flour, and then decided it had lost the sweetness of it so I added a little cinnamon sugar mix. Don't add any of the extra stuff. Stick to the numbers and steps above and you'll be good to go.
-Butter a cookie sheet [I used a cake pan because for some reason I thought the batter would run some...it didn't] and dollop about 1 teaspoon of the batter about 2 inches apart. I was kind of messy with this so do whatever works for you
-Bake at 325 degrees for about 12 minutes or until they set but are still soft. Pull the sheet, let it cool. I had some left over chocolate crumbs, so I sprinkled that over the cookies as they were cooling.
Once they're done...enjoy!
If you follow this recipe, or the original one...let me know how yours turn out!
Bleh is how I feel today when I think about how much I weigh right now...especially since I totally fell hard off the wagon during my
6 day staycation last week that included concerts and baseball. I logged all of
my food and booze and managed to put down about 16,000 calories in 6 days! Barf city. I know a lot of people (including myself) are like “Meh,
it’s okay…it’s just a slip up. No big deal. I love my body. Blah, blah, blah”
but 16k calories is totally NOT okay. Excusing this kind of shit is why I’m a
fatty in the first place. No slacking though, I’ve already been paying for last
week in the gym this Monday and Tuesday with a run/walk combo of 10.5 miles and an arm workout. I’ve also
been flushing my system of all the grease and booze I ate last week by drinking
water and eating fruit. I’m pushing the moment of truth back a week because I
don’t really want to know what I gained last week! Hopefully I can make up for
it!
15 weeks into this weight loss
thing, and this morning I officially hit -25 lbs!
I have learned that the squat
challenge is no joke after day 7. Don’t fall behind!
I don’t think my booty has grown,
but I’ve still got 20 days to go...so we’ll see :] I do know however, that my
legs are definitely stronger! Last night I cranked out 40 squats before it
started to hurt.
I’ve been going to the gym on the regular since July 9th, and have managed to rock out 21 miles in the last 15 days! I’d say it’s 50/50 on my run/walk ratio so I’m pretty happy about that! Hopefully I’ll be able to kick up the speed soon and add to the distance I run. My goal with these runs is to add 1 more mile of consecutive running than the week before. We’ll see how long that lasts!
I did an arm workout yesterday
and the soreness is kind of killing me at work today each time I reach for the
phone to answer it. Moral of this story...don't call my work today.
I’ve gotta stay extra focused
this week because I’m taking some time off work next week for a concert and
some baseball games and I highly doubt I’ll be watching what I eat.
Better late than never? Let's go with that! Today was a crazy busy day, but I'm glad to FINALLY be home :]
Day 15 – A photo of yourself and a new friend you met this year. So I have real life friends and internet friends. I don't think any of my internet friends are crazy, at least I hope they aren't. Actually that probably doesn't matter since I've got some pretty crazy real life friends. Anywayssss, Jer and Jessica were internet friends and I finally met them in person this summer. They both, and their super cute daughter Aja, do Tahitian [Hawaiian? Polynesian? idk] dancing and their group does a performance and buffet dinner/dessert thing with a hotel out here over the summer. My friends and I checked it out...SO AMAZING.
