Here we go!

Day One!
Meg and I are starting our 30DS today, I just finished up and I am glad to find that it isn't as bad as day one last time. I still suck at a couple parts and I can really tell that I have been a work out slacker the last couple of weeks, but I feel good - unlike the first time around where I wanted to kill myself for the first three days. Talk to me about this tomorrow and I might change my tune depending on how sore I am.

The one thing I really like about doing the 30 Day Shred is that it really motivates me to eat better. I used to feel like if I wasn't eating perfect, then there was no point in percussing because I was already eating like a fatty. I have since changed my outlook, and I figure if I can do anything that is good for me I should just go for it. I am going to keep trying to eat better, but I am really sick of counting points. My goal for the rest of December is to eat healthy and make better choices. I am planning on tightening things up after the holidays are over and transitioning to counting calories. I have never counted calories before, but I was always a pretty good point nazi during my WW days.

In other news... I spend my entire Sunday morning pulling out nails from the rafters of my "house'' - Saturday morning Mark and my Dad pulled down the old celing of the second floor, it was a MESS! Sunday we cleaned up and I began my never ending job of pulling out nails while standing on a ladder. I am not what anyone would call a coorndated person, so this was a little chalanging at first, but once I got the hang of it, it wasn't too bad.

 

 

Nice mess.. huh?

Our relocated mess...

We are almost done with the demo portion of this fun adventure. At first we didn't realize there was going to be so much to do to get ready to out it all back together. We ripped out all of the plumbing, wiring, hvac, and most of the dry wall and insulation. Some of the things we thought we could use, like the new dry wall and insulation that the previous contract has started, ended up needing to be ripped out because of wiring or because it wasn't up to code. This whole adventure hasn't been easy on us, but I'm hoping things start looking up. I'm excited to do the shred again - hopefully that will help me feel better and have some more energy.

Blogger Swap and Random Brain Dump..

I got my Blogger Swap package on Sunday.. well it was here on Saturday but I was a dingbat and forgot to check the mail! I LOVE everything that Meg got for me. The picture frame and dry erase board is totally up my alley! I love all office supplies, probably a little obsessively, but hey there are worse things to be obsessed with right?!  I can't wait to paint my nails and try out my new polish! I definitely think Meg and I were BFF's in another life! She got it right on!

In other news, my parents got two puppies, which they brought home on Friday. They are a mix between a Chorkie and Bichon Frise (they were oops babies!). They are so cute and so tiny, they only weight 1.3 pounds each since they are 8 weeks old. At first I was a little nervous about this whole thing, since my Zoey stays with my parents when I work overnight. I had awful visions of Zoey biting the puppies or something, but so far so good. Here is a little dose of cuteness...

Smudge

Middy

 

 

 

 

 

 

Randoms:
We got the blue prints from the architect today, so things should get going with the house in a week or two. We just have to make some small changes to the blue prints, and the the framer will come in and do his thing. I started my last class today for my Bachelor's Degree, I will be very happy to be done, but this class looks like it may be a royal pain in my ass! I'm hoping that I can make it through and get back on track with working out too. I know that without school it would be easier, but I can't wait 2 months to get back on track, I need to do it now. I need to prevent packing on the Christmas pounds, so at least if I can exercise and eat well now, I will be able to enjoy Christmas goodies, when it is time.

Blogger Swap

I just finished putting together my blogger swap box! Of course I finished just on time, I really wanted to sent it out earlier in the week, but I got a little OCD and wanted it to be perfect! It was a good little project to get my mind off everything and who doesn't love shopping for other people, I know I sure do! So, I'm off to the post office first thing in the morning, I hope it doesn't take too long to get to my girl Meg!

Ha.. I'm such a nerd! (I really just didn't want to temp the stalkers, since I forgot to take picture before I put the address on!)

Well Hello Stranger...

Okay so I have been on a completely unintentional blogging hiatus lately, thanks to our awesome work in progress new house. Ever since this little adventure has started I have been completely thrown off my game. It kind of feels like someone threw in another juggling ball and I let them all come crashing down. I am trying to get it all straightened out, but man, I am busy with things that I never really imagined I would have to find time to do, like meetings and floor plans and lots of cleaning. Why is this house so stressful, well because this is what it looks like inside! Why did we do this you ask? Well.. because we just don't do anything the "normal" way - what fun would that be anyway! It is going to be really cool when it is all said and done, but it is going to be quite the adventure. On the bright side I now have some new blog content, because who doesn't like to watch a car crash a good before and after. Stay tuned for all of my fun projects to come!

The Grand Entryway!

 Since Ry is still overseas, his parents and I have been cleaning up and doing some demo work on the weekends. So far we have cleaned up the yard, power washed the house, demoed some stuff in the basement, and have been reveiwing 100's of different floor plans. We met the architect today, which will give us some much needed guidance with the layout and getting everything up to the current code standards. I am a huge girl when it comes to anything to do houses, renovations, or anything close to that, so I am getting a crash course education on everything there is to home "renovation" - if that is what you call what we are doing...

The crap we pulled down from the basement...

 School has been extra fun as well, I started taking an elective class last week and sorta wigged out and then dropped out of the class, but because of my mini meltdown, I figured out that I don't need to actually take that class, and that I can test out of the elective. This means that the class I start on next Tuesday is my last class! Since there is a 2 week holiday break, it will be split up, 3 weeks now and then 4 weeks in January. I am beyond excited about this, for whatever reason one class is so much more doable that two classes. Now that I have this all sorted out, I feel much better, and in turn I hope that I can keep up the momentum and get organized and get my ass back on track. I am a feen for a routine - I am completely OCD, I like to keep everything planned out and I try to stick to it, which has been hard to do lately. I am feeling much more positive and a little bit more grounded today. So bring it on life!

Falling Off, Trying to Get Back On...

I'm not going to lie, I am struggling hard core with shit right now.  Last week was major issues with school work and a total lack of motivation. I got that all back on track, but ate like a fat cow while doing it. I don't know if it is my anxiety that takes over in these situations, but it's like my brain can only process so much, so when I get into panic mode I totally forget about anything healthy and go back to bum mode. I did decent with my October challenge, I am currently debating posting my before and after, maybe I'll do that post tomorrow.

 Oh yeah.... we bought a freaking house! This sounds really cool, which it is. BUT, we do not do anything "normal" - we bought said house from a tax auction - without ever seeing the insides. Ry and I have been talking about buying a house for a long time, that is one of the main reasons that he is in a Afghanistan right now. He and his dad had been doing a lot of research into this particular auction ad the proprieties that were up for sale. We ended up with six possibilities, so my FIL to be, Mark and I, went to the auction Tuesday morning. This was the most nerve racking experience of my life. I almost peed my pants during the bidding for our first potential properties, which we did not win. It was my first choice, a cute little town house in a really nice neighborhood. It was a fixer-upper, but it seemed very manageable. At this point I was so disappointed, I was ready to call Ry and tell him this was all for nothing. Then before I knew it we were the highest bidder for a seemly nice 4 bedroom house in an older neighborhood. It took a minute to sink in that we actually just bought a house, pretty much sight unseen. Ryan's dad finally was able to get a peek at the inside over the weekend (legally we aren't supposed to do anything with the property until the paper work is finalized).  There isn't much to see inside the house, because it is practically gutted. No kitchen, no downstairs bathroom, not much drywall, oh and no stairs down to the basement. We wanted a fixer-upper, and boy we sure got one! Holy shit... I mean we have a lot of people willing to help and that have enormous amounts of talents, including my FIL who is an electrician and my dad is an awesome DIYer, not to mention that Ryan is pretty handy himself. I know that we will be able to make this house in to an actual home - it is just going to take forever a while. This past week has been full of research, ideas, planning, and a little bit of apprehension. This is a really cool thing, and it is going to be awesome when it's done, but I can't help but to be a little nervous! Plus, there are going to be so many projects to document and blog about!! ...and a legit reason to be on Pintrest so much!

The House!

So I'm thinking that there is no coincidence that my down hill slide to fat girl status started on Tuesday and has just kept right on trucking this whole week. I worked four nights in a row, which were four awful nights of being totally exhausted, and a whole extra hour of work on Saturday night, thank you daylight savings time. I really tend to struggle when I have so many things on my plate. I'm going to keep trying, one step at a time. That is all I can do, I need to get over myself and get my shit together. I don't know how some people have it so together, or maybe they are just better at pretending than me. I can't lie, I cannot wait until the day when school is over, this will be soon, but just not soon enough. Some times I think that if it wasn't for school, that my weight loss would go easier, but this isn't true. I lost the first twenty pounds while I was in school, so I know for a fact that it is possible. It would give me more time and more flexibility, but being in school does not mean that I can't eat healthy or exercise. I need to remember this and tell myself that I can do it.

Teetering..

I have kind of slack off the last couple of days. I really need to get my shit back on track. I had a "cheat" meal on Sunday night at my parents (and someone opened the Halloween candy early at their house). When I am trying to eat healthy, I really tend to turn in to a hobbit. I don't hang out with people much because I don't have control of what I can eat when I am at someone's house or if I go out to eat somewhere that I'm not familiar with. I have always been a really picky eater and I am kind of self-conscious about it.

I don't want to be the type of person that cannot have cheat meals, but I think that might be the case. I need to use my flex points and eat those types of things in small portions, while keeping myself accountable. Case in point, cheat meal Sunday happened and then my future FIL took me out to lunch on Tuesday, where I ordered a chicken sandwich (which I sorta thought was grilled, and ended up being fried!). It was so good, but so bad! My body was so mad at me! So basically I have had a handful of day where I have been eating mindlessly and I need to get back on track. I feel like I self-sabotaged my Jillian Challenge, I did so great for 27 days and now I am teetering on blowing it all to shit. I am going finish, I will be a couple days late doing so, but two, maybe three more days of shredding and I will get to finally do my measurements and see my results! After that I am going to figure out my plan for the next 30 days. So rather than siting here and relishing in my failure setback, I am going to get my shit together and get back on track. There are going to be setback and life is going to get in the way of my plans, so I have to get my shit together and do it!

Still Shredding!

So this morning I put my big girl panties on and finally moved it up to Level 3 of 30 DS. It was hard, but I think I like it better, it wasn't impossible to do, but it will take me a couple days to get the moves down, since I lack me some serious coordination.

Speaking of which, I totally bit it during level 2 this morning (yes I did two in a row!). I was doing the pendulum lunges, which aren't too bad anymore (still doing the modified-ish move), and some how I lost my balance/twisted my ankle resulting in my ass hitting the floor and my weight smashing my thumb.  However, I got myself back up and continued on with the next move. This is HUGE! I know it just seems like no big deal, but a month ago, I would have gotten pissed off, frustrated, maybe shed a few tears, and I would have sat on the couch and quit.

I still can't believe I have stuck with this challenge, there have been a few days where I had to make up because I missed a day due my awesome night shift scheduled, but even with those I am really proud of myself. I don't know if this is the time that I will stick with it, but I do know that it is the time that it feels different. I feel good, I feel stronger, and feel proud of myself. So that in itself tells mel that this time is different for sure.

This is my little workout buddy, Zoey - She is obsessed with that ball and she stands over my face anytime I am on the mat for a move in an attempt to distract me from Jillian.

6 Pounds Lost.. and I Won't Be Finding Them Again!

Yesterday was weigh in  #3 for this month, and I am pretty pleased with my progress this month.  When I lost weight two years ago, I lost 20 pounds over about two months, I got down to 154 (from 175),  I maintained for a while, lost a few more pounds, but the lowest I have ever been (in the last few years) is 150. I would LOVE to see the 140's! My personal goal right now it to be 142 or less when Ryan comes home in the beginning of January. I think that's a reasonable goal, I have always had a hard time when I get to this point. I'm not sure if it is because of my body or my mind that I have struggled getting in to the 140's.

This is my progress since starting the Jillian Micheals Challenge, I am down 6 pounds in the last three weeks!  I am definitely happy that I am losing and I am going to keep this up next month with Ripped in 30. I think this was the kick in the ass I needed to get started and I'm hoping it helps me get to the 140's sometime soon! I have stuck to the challenge pretty well, there have been a few days that I didn't have time, but I have been really strict with myself and I make myself make those up, even if it means doing two in row. One day, at the beginning of level 2 I started and stopped and started and stopped, and no matter how much I told my brain to do it, by body was just not having it. It only happened that one day, I chalked it up to a rest day, and that is the only day that I really did not do a workout for. I could probably still make it up so that I can really say I did 31 workouts in 31 days. I'm pretty sure my OCD will get the best of me and I will end up making it up.

My mini goal for this week is to eat better, I have been sticking to my WW points, but there are some days where I probably should have eaten more fruits and veggies, but instead I had an extra 100 cal pack for a snack. I am by no means a clean eater, I think I might be too picky for that, but I am really trying to expand my horizons a little more and eat a more balanced diet, rather than just focusing on staying within my points range.

Do it!

I am on my way to being SHREDDED! I have done 11 days of the shred and I think I am actually "liking" it - and by that mean hating it and sweating my ass off so much that I want to die. I only missed one day, and I made up for it by doing two in a row this morning. I did my last level 1 and moved on to level 2. Holy cow! Level 2 is so much harder! I still have to figure out exactly how to do some of the new moves. This challenge makes me want to be better. I want to eat on plan and work at being healthy. It's like if I'm going to bust my ass every single day for this whole month, I am NOT going to blow my hard work by eating shit. I am feeling good and feeling sore, but I really hope that this is really clicking for me right now and I can't wait to keep going!

Ass Kicked.

I'm feeling frustrated today. I kicked ass yesterday on day 1 of 30DS, I knew I was going to be sore as fuck today - so I don't know why I'm surprised that I could barely do day 2. Anything that requires my legs doing more than walking right now it so painful. I was really sore when I woke up, but then I took a nap (since I was awake at 3am) for a couple hours and woke up so much more sore. Holy shit. I definitely don't feel that super awesome exercise high like I did yesterday. I finished it, cheating my way through jumping jacks and but-kickers... but at least I finished right? I'm going to just keep going, it's better than sitting around browsing pintrest doing homework on my ass all day. Seriously though, I am really trying not to let school be an excuse not to exercise, I probably waste an hour plus dickin around before I actually do anything productive for school, so I need to just workout or run and then start looking at pintrest my homework. Perhaps I need a 12 step program to kick this habit we call pintrest, it is seriously my crack.

Next up for tonight: throwing out anything tempting and them a much overdue grocery trip tonight. I absolutely need to go get some healthy groceries, my fridge is barren. I walk a thin line when my food rations are low, they make calling up my fav pizza place seem like such a good idea when I am starving. Maybe I should take my before pictures, print em out and plaster them to my fridge. That might deter my junk food habit. Maybe.

Jillian is My Bitch Too!

So I did it! I'm on my way to being a shredhead! Day one of my 31 day challenge. This was my first time EVER doing the 30 Day shred, I have never even watched it out of curiosity before.. That's how scared I was of Jillian. Now I get it.. I love her and hate her all at once.. Just like how I feel amazing and like death at the same time. I did every modified move I could, and I was really afraid to do the jumping jacks at first because if my crazy downstairs neighbor, but after I got going, I stopped caring and just went for it. Fuck em all, I'm going to get fit and I don't care about any of my old excuses!

I have been staring at my ML fit camp notifications for the past two weeks.. I kept thinking.. I could probably do that, but I never would commit to it and click yes. It finally clicked yes this morning.. I was laying around pretending to work on homework, when I realized that I need to kick my own ass in to gear. I reading everyone's plans and their comments on the Fit Club's FB page and it just all came together in my head. I really want do to this crazy thing that is 31 days of JM. I think I may have lost my mind, but maybe that's a good thing! I need to make my health number one. So I'm doing it. Now. No more excuses, 31 days of 30DS, this is my birthday present to myself, I'm going to change the one thing that I can change right now, me!

My Random Randomness

I'm all over the place. Seriously, I am - and I think I'm okay with that. So this is my blog and it is all about my randomness, my journey to being healthy, my long distance relationship, and everything in between.

Why do I feel the need to have verbal diarrhea in an electronic form? I I don't want a bunch followers, I don't need people to build me up, actually... I don't really expect anyone to read this at all. I just want to hold myself accountable and I want to remember how I feel when I skip my run or eat half a pizza. I want to be a better me, and no matter how corny that sounds... it is really what I need in my life. I can't have everything I want right now, but I can do this. This is one thing that I can do right now. I don't have to wait for anyone else to be ready or to be present. It is all on me. I can do this, I am starting now. NO MORE EXCUSES.