Journey to Glam

So I’ve decided that I want to start another blog…you know to blog about my life outside the gym and the kitchen. Except that I’m a little neurotic about organization and keeping it “all together” so I can’t decide…add a component to this blog and start blogging on that page or start a second new blog all together or just write things about my life in this blog and people who don’t want to read it can jump straight to the weight loss stuff? hmm, I dunno what I’m gonna do though if I do add anything at all, I know I’ll probably switch to wordpress. Blogger is great but its like your tricycle, after a while, you need to take off the support wheels and wordpress just offers more features that I can play with! So what do you think?

GO VOTE on the side bar! —–>

* I’ll be honest…part of the thrill of this post is that I never knew I could add a POLL to my blog!! how cool…END WIDE EYED EXCITEMENT.

I believe…that one day I will say that it will be okay and believe it. I will know why the things of the past happened the way that they did and trust that the future explanations are coming.

I believe…that its okay to want to mingle with the rich and famous and be them one day even though deep down you know, you probably would never fit in there anyway.

I believe…that in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, its okay to make mistakes, to learn the consequences of your mistakes a little too late and to still have a chance to fix them.

I believe…its okay to give people a second chance and wait to be surprised.

I believe…that its okay to not know every SINGLE measly detail about the elections and still be proud to be American.

I believe…that its been one hell of a year and theres more to come but surviving this will make everything else to come that much easier.

I believe…that something that doesn’t kill us, does make us stronger…but we sacrifice a part of us to learn that lesson.

I believe…that watching full house over brunch on a Saturday morning can be considered a guilty pleasure and a chance to relive middle school life.

I believe…that its okay to name drop in desperate situations.

I believe…that its okay to not want to say hello to everyone you run into on some days and reserve the happy greetings for someone that truly makes you happy.

I believe…sitting outside and enjoying a beautiful day or a sunset enriches your soul and reminds you that theres something more.

I believe…that being able to down 5 shots of tequila without getting sick is worth talking about.

I believe…that some days, its okay to desperately wish for a Hollywood ending and hope that someone hears.

I believe…that its okay to want to stay home alone on a Friday night and do nothing…even though college is apparently a time of drinking, mingling, socializing and dancing.

I believe…that its okay to secretly hope that a miracle that will blow your mind will happen.

I believe…its okay to want something so bad it hurts.

I believe…that one day, my story will tie up into a neat bow and the answers will come tumbling down to me.

I believe that I will survive…flourish and thrive.

I believe that its important to live in belief , to give believing a chance, to give faith a chance, to give hope, goodness and miracles a chance.

Above all, I believe that believing in belief, believing in faith, believing that we will survive helps us to survive, to flourish, to thrive.

Sorry that I’ve been MIA lately ( I feel like those times when you travel to a foreign country and you lose track of your daily routines like blog writing, TV watching, news and current events and the days just blend) but at least its been a hella productive week. Notice I said blog writing though. I have been having tons of fun reading all your blogs all week Everyone seems be doing so awesome with their healthy eating and exercising…you guys ROCK! Off to catch up on more blogs and shower…I went to a cardio dance class today. It wasn’t as challenging as I would like it so I probably won’t go back but it was a fun one time thing!

I will be back tomorrow ladies but tonight, I just need out…from any more reading or typing or writing. My 14 hour day today really wore down on me…my eyes are glassy, my skin feels pasty from not seeing sunlight all day. I’m not saying I’m tired…everyone works hard and has long days but I am saying I need a nap so I can wake up and repeat till May 10.
Wake me up when May ends.

Today was a pretty speedy day and it was jam packed…my alarm went off at 5:15 this morning and I hit snooze till about 5:45! I had planned to go to bed at midnight but I lay in bed for hours reading b/c I couldn’t fall asleep. Well I got some reading done this morning (my two favorite morning activities are either studying or working out…both require a lot of energy and I have a lot when I wake up) and was off to class by 7:30. Well I got out at 9:30 and I was pooped…the lack of sleep was definitely showing so I just came home and CRASHED for an hour before my 11 am class. Fast forward through classes, meetings, work and its 6pm and I decided to hit the gym early today. Usually on Mondays I go to a cardio kickboxing class that is AWESOME at around 8 so I usually hit the gym at 7, do a little cardio, lift some weights before the class.

Well going to the gym early was a bad idea.
There were SO MANY people there…did EVERYONE within a 100 mile radius decide to start working out today…seriously, the people to cardio machine ratio was like 10:1. Anyway, so at a time like this when people are literally circling the gym for ellipticals and treadmills, common courtesy advises that you limit your workouts to 30 mins…heck, I don’t even care if you do 60 minutes and if you do 90 minutes, well Hallelujah! You are doing what I can’t do everyday. What AGGRAVATES me is when you do finish your run and you stand on your treadmill to stretch for FIFTEEN minutes! I mean, clearly there are mats all over the gym for you to do that and if you need the treadmill type bars, we have that too! Heck we have a whole “system” (I have no idea what the technical name is for it!) for stretching. Okay, even this I was ready to forgive…maybe she did a REALLY hard run today…its okay, cut her some slack. What aggravates me to no friggin end is when you finish your damn stretching and you are watching a show on the tv in front of your treadmill (we have those personal TV’s per treadmill/elliptical type setup) and you put in a 1.0 mph pace on the treadmill just so you can continue watching the show. So there you are virtually standing still, watching your TV show for 25 minutes. This now totals your use of the treadmill for purposes other than walking or running to FORTY MINUTES…that makes for ONE really great workout or two short workout session…I mean REALLY!
I was about to get off my elliptical and tell her to get her ass off the treadmill so the other 4 people that were eyeing it could use it but luckily I got a treadmill that was open just as I was heading over there…she was saved from my angry ranting…I was going to politely inform her that there were THREE perfectly comfortable couches and lounges in our 4 floored gym that could accommodate her TV watching to her heart’s content (though it was so ridiculous that it was a little funny at the time)
I did 3 sets of 3 min runs with 3 minutes walks in between. Its a little more than Week 3 of C25k but little less than week 4 b/c I wasn’t up for starting that today.
I followed that up with a butts and guts class for 30 minutes that KILLED ME…I hobbled all the way out of that class and to my car and theres a dull aching building up in my lower body right now which promises to turn into full blown hellish pain tomorrow.

Well anyway, I have an International Finance Exam to study for and a 7 am staff meeting tomorrow morning! See ya then

The first phrase is something that I am learning is true the older I get and the more decisions I have to make on my own. My mom always used to tell me as I was growing up that “nothing is as good or as bad as it seems at first; Life goes on.” I’m learning more and more that this is true. The past year has hands down been one of the more defining years of my life because I’ve faced a lot of challenges that I didn’t anticipate in my life and I’ve had to brush them off and just keep going. And it was hard and first–No scratch that, its always hard but it’s easier everyday because I’m still here and I’m still surviving and theres still something to smile about everyday. No matter how much you think your world has shattered around you, the sun still rises the next day.

The second phrase “Just do it” is something that I’m learning to incorporate into my life recently. You may have seen me use it on my blog and I think it rings true for all walks/facets of life. I used to be a procrastinator, dwell on the past, not move on sort of person but I’m learning more and more that sometimes you have to Just do it with life. No second guessing, no excuses just jump in head first. You wanna go running…DO IT! before you talk yourself out of it! You wanna get that assignment done…just DO IT! right now! You wanna pursue that dream of yours…DO IT! Don’t put off what you can do now to the future…who knows what rewards you might be missing out on. This is true for weight loss too. For years and years I “wanted” to weight loss, I was “on a diet” but it took a change in thinking, a change in my perceptions and an attitude of “I’m gonna do it NOW” that finally gets me to see results!

Okay, told you I wasn’t one for brevity

Hmm, I have no idea who to tag…it seems like everyone I visit in blogosphere has already been hit! I tag 30 down-10 more to go!, Randi and Chocolate Ramblings
Okay I’m out! If I find more people, I’ll tag ‘em later

OH and P.S. MY TV BROKE TODAY!! *many tears were spilled in the writing of this post*
I’m in mourning at the moment. Good bye pre-bedtime Sex and the City…good bye in between classes What I like about you (yes, I actually watch that even though I think Amanda Bynes is a little whinny and annoying) …Good bye Law and Order: SVU and CSI, good bye new shows coming on in April (The Office and Grey’s), good bye CNBC and early morning stock tickers, good bye CNN and up to date news. Goodbye life outside the college bubble.

Hi Everyone! Just checking in to say that I did make it to a meeting today and lost 2.2lbs which is all of what I gained last week + a bit more. I’ve been having some crazy stomach problems for the past two days (think food poisoning like symptoms without any chance of actually getting food poisoning b/c I’ve been eating at home and really low key foods) so my eating has been pretty sparse…just whatever I can keep down. I chugged down some sprite today but apparently even that is not good enough for the bod at the moment eek! I did hit the gym today and completed Day 3, Week 3 of C25k but it was TOUGH going in the beginning with all the stomach stuff but I felt great after. Anyway, I’m off to enjoy the last bits of the long weekend! Have a great Sunday everyone. Gosh is it sunday already?? where does the time go?

Hey everyone…did you miss me? Well I sure missed you but my blogging hiatus was sort of unplanned and unavoidable. I hate to be that girl that says that she has no time, but with 13 hour work days and working out everyday, I really had NO TIME.
Onto better business…in case you were dying to know, I haven’t given up on WW, actually I’ve been tracking pretty diligently but I’ll spare you from 4 days of tables and give you a quick synopsis:
1. I ate 65 (HOLY FREAKING MOLY) points on saturday because I picked and picked and picked all day on really high calories foods like pizza, fast food, fancy food–we had a small dinner gathering at home and boy did my mom outdo herself in the kitchen (As you may remember, I was at home all week last week up till Monday)
2. I subsequently ate 13 points only on Sunday b/c my poor body was still chugging along trying to digest the beastly amounts of food I shoved in my pie hole.
3. I’m averaging about 32.1 points (take that for precise!) per day including activity points…Am I happy with it? Probably not but I can live with it considering how stressed I’ve been and how I’m an EXTREMELY emotional stress eater.
4. I intend to ramp up my activity in the next few days so I can get that average down to the 20’s a bit more.
5. Seeing the average that I am eating a day really gives me insight on why I’m not losing weight faster.
6. I had THE MOST kickass workout today–I went to a kickboxing class that had only two other people that showed up! Awesome 1-1 training and the instructor was AMAZING. I mean an hour later, the two of us were dying and the instructor barely broke a sweat. AWESOME! Then I ran Day 1, week 3 of C25k. A bit challenging and I needed a few breaks but overall, I felt great. 7 Ap’s earned!

I was going to do a section updating you guys on other things going on in my life, but honestly…I don’t even know. The past few days have just been a blur, I can’t remember the end of one day and the start of another and everything in the middle is basically history in my memory. So in a few words these past few days have been efficient, productive, busy, stressful but I’m loving it! I thrive on being busy and a little bit of pressure genuinely makes me work better!

Song of the moment: With or Without you – U2
Currently watching: Law and Order: SVU
Currently loving: Endorphins and the thrill of a job well done and the satisfaction of crossing things off a to do list thats down considerably!!
Currently not loving: Being on call for the next 4 days…i.e. house arrest

Heres the menu for the day…I know you guys missed these

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Morning
3/4 cup uncooked oatmeal	4
Subtotal	4
Midday
spinach wrap – Quick-added food	7
Subtotal	7
Evening
1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal	2.5
1 cup plain fat-free yogurt	2
3/4 serving Bear Naked Granola 1/4 cup	2
3/4 cup cooked black beans	2.5
Subtotal	9
Snacks
trail mix – Quick-added food	5
Subtotal	5
Food POINTS values total used	25
Food POINTS values remaining	0
Activity
30 min aerobics, high-intensity	5
15 min running (9 minute/mile)	2
Activity POINTS values earned	7
Check off these important items daily:
Water Milk & Milk Products Fruit & Vegetables Multivitamin Oil Activity

I didn’t think that one day I would open up three pages of unread emails and have a major coronary…

I didn’t think that one day I would be so tired that I would sit in the locker room of the gym and dose of for a second as I changed between work pants and workout pants…

I didn’t think that one day, carrying books between my car and my home would count as a week’s worth of bicep curls…

I didn’t think that one day eating a spinach wrap in three minutes would be considered too long…

I didn’t think that one day, shaving my armpits in the shower would be contemplated as an unnecessary time waster…

I didn’t think that one day, I wouldn’t have enough time to dig around my bag for chapstick because I didn’t stop moving all day.

I didn’t think that one day, I would become the student that writes to the professor the night before a paper with what seems like an excuse but really really is not.

I didn’t think but here I am…I’m at the end of my rope and tying a knot to hold on requires too much effort.

The dreaded MCAT studying season is upon me and my skin, body and mind do not appreciate me starving them of sleep.

The only thing that could be better at the moment is some sleep.

Or a way to shove years worth of science knowledge into my head…see where I went with that? Right back to the MCAT. Medical school here I come.

Hey everyone… I had no idea that I haven’t blogged since Wednesday! Staying at my parents house really throws me off track. As much as I’ve loved staying at home this week and having great food and spending time with the fam, I’m actually excited to start back up at school and work again–I need a schedule and a plan to stick to and having all these snacks and food is just not healthy for me! I haven’t even been able to track these past few days because I’ve been nibbling so much. In our family food and good times and family times are all pretty much synonymous and my mom is probably the most amazing cook I know. She’s also cooks pretty healthy (pretty much core ingredients) to accommodate for my Dad whose a diabetic but lets face it, thirds, fourths and fifths (!) of healthy food is still pretty unhealthy! And I have barely hit the gym…it showed on the scales this morning…up 1.8 lbs this week. Ugh, its like 2 steps forward, three steps back…tell me why I do this to myself? I’ve made myself a goal this week to eat core–I’ll still track flex but I’m eating all CORE foods all week. We’ll see if this doesnt get me out of this funk I’m in.

I probably wont be back till Monday. Busy weekend ahead!