So remember that documentary I mentioned during my last entry? Well, it has reaffirmed my desire to get a juicer in the worst possible way. I am in the process of purging all the junk food out of my apartment, and I want to get a juicer straight away.
The difficult part is that they can be super expensive AND there are so many to choose from that my head is spinning a little!!
Back in December when I was still going pretty strong, my friends Laura and Lacy posted quite a bit on Facebook about juicers/juicing, and I was highly interested in getting one back then, but I never took the plunge because I had just spent a great deal of money on a new camera and Christmas gifts for my loved ones. Being Hungry for Change has really brought back my desire to get a juicer with a vengeance.
I want to do a detox because I certainly need it after all the crap I've been eating pretty much since Thanksgiving. Juicing is a brilliant way to do this, but I kinda need a juicer to do that!
There are countless more, but I feel like I'd be here all night long if I posted all the decent ones I've found. Do you have a juicer??? If so, which one and why would you recommend it?? I'd love to hear from you as soon as possible!
Until then, I shall now go for a BIKE RIDE!! I'm so excited that it seems silly, but I'm just so happy that the weather is awesome AND I feel well enough to go bike! I have only coughed about ONCE the entire day, so I'm feeling beyond ready to get a workout in. Cheers for now! I hope to get some feedback from y'all.
So all the running around and not taking care of myself over the past couple of months finally caught up to me. I spent the last week coughing my brains out with some kind of upper respiratory mess. I didn't have a voice for about a week, and I'm just now feeling like myself again.
All that coughing made sleeping extremely difficult. It took me 3 hours to fall asleep (despite taking cough medicine that contained codeine) almost every night last week.
Not being able to speak, being extremely sleep deprived, and just feeling crappy in general really made me feel depressed. I haven't felt this down in a really long time, and I spent a lot of time beating myself up for letting myself slip so much with so many things in my life lately. I haven't been blogging, exercising, practicing lettering, eating right, or doing much of the things I enjoy because I've been so busy going here and there over the past several weeks.
Granted, not all the stuff I've been doing has been bad. I AM happy that I've gotten to spend time with some of my favorite people over the past few weeks, but I'm also ready to have some me time this month so that I can really work on getting back on track with some kind of routine again.
I used all my traveling and working as excuses to eat crap and sit on my ass too much, though. I know that my laziness contributed to my immune system being compromised. When I was feeling at my lowest last week, I happened to read this during one of my many mindless checks of the Facebook feed:
It was kind of like a slap in the face to wake me up. WHAT have I been doing for the past few months!? There is a reason why I've been gaining weight. I'M EATING CRAP AND I'M NOT MOVING. This Facebook thread was just the beginning of the wake up call that I needed.
After that, I saw THIS posted by my former trainer Will:
I refuse to return to where I started. Seeing those words couldn't have happened at a better time.
I feel like I need to confess how terrible I've been eating lately. Oreos, Whataburger, and macaroni & cheese just to name a few... There's something about being sick that makes me want to eat comfort food.
Since moving too much made me cough way more than I liked this week, I tried to do what I could by eating a little better over the past 2 days. I also I forced myself to watch two food documentaries on Netflix today that would help me get motivated into remembering WHY eating junk is bad.
I watched Hungry for Change and Forks over Knives... I HIGHLY recommend these documentaries! After watching them, I feel extremely motivated to really consider what I put into my body so that I can feel better and stay as healthy as I can. I'm also realizing just how addicted to high calorie, low nutrition food that we are, and it's quite terrifying! I want to eat clean and reap the benefits of doing so!
Hungry for Change Trailer
Forks Over Knives Trailer
Last night (Friday night), I was able to sleep for a good cough-free 14 hours!! My body needed it so desperately. I feel like a whole new person, and I believe that I'm on my way to feeling like myself again now that I'm coughing much less and I was able to catch up on my sleep. I intend to bike a lot this week in the marvelous warm weather, and if it rains, I intend to see the inside of my gym! I was able to do this before, and I will do it again.
I want to be able to make a Facebook post like this one:
Chelsea, if you're reading this, you *truly* inspired me to get up, dust myself off, and get back at it to try again. THANK YOU!!!
My fitness discipline been on the decline since my mom was hospitalized in November, but now it's time to stop making excuses and get back to it. Thanks to everyone who still believes in me! Your encouragement truly makes me want to keep going. I truly do not want to let any of you or myself down anymore.
I'm getting fat again. I'm sitting in my chair and I can barely breathe because my pants are way too tight. I've been sick with some kind of upper respiratory plague, and I can't help but want to be lazy because I need to rest.
Avocado, smoked salmon with sriracha, blue corn chips, cauliflower, broccoli, and edamame hummus
Wow. It's amazing what a little under a week of eating better will do. I'm back down to 137.8 with hopes that the 140s will never be seen again.
I've only been able to work out twice in the past week, though. I have been working late the past several days because I have a couple of big projects that I've needed to complete SOON this week. I biked 11 miles last Wednesday (the 8th), and I just did one of the Insanity recovery week workouts this evening. My calves are probably not going to be pleased with me tomorrow, but that's OK. I miss the soreness.
I can't believe how weak I've become just in the past 6 weeks. If that's all the time it takes to lose muscle and strength, I can't imagine how people who never exercised a day in their life feel. I'm learning that life is just going to keep on being busier and busier, so I'm going to have to make time to work out like I used to so I can feel better and have more energy to do the stuff I want and need to do.
I've been happy with my intake over the past week. Check it out:
hummus, avocado, cucumber, tuna, and baked wheat thin chips
I'm so disappointed in myself right now that it's making my stomach turn. I didn't blog at all during the month of April, and I have managed to pack 6 pounds back on since the last time I posted. An ugly blue 140 glows and glares back up at me on my dusty scale right now, and my clothes are starting to get snug again.
I didn't even get to blog for my one year anniversary of this journey! April 25th was the year mark since I began this blog, and I intended to be in a completely different place. Alas...there is no use in dwelling upon the "shouldda, couldda, woulddas."
I could dish out all the excuses in the world. Yes, March and April WERE ridiculously busy for me, and I could have done some short interval workouts, but I didn't. I should have made better eating decisions during the past several weeks, but I didn't. I only biked about 4 times since the last time I blogged, and otherwise, I had to work really hard on other things...
I let the success of my weight loss from before get to my head, and now I'm paying for it because I slacked off too much.
March, April, and the newness of May have been full of so many glorious things such as two baby showers for my dear friends Nicole and Alisa, Easter, my dad's birthday dinner, and a fantastic conference that I attended in Austin last week thanks to work just to name a few. We all know what glorious things mean though, right? They mean too much food and too much time in front of the computer planning, and in my case as a graphic designer, work, work, working by sitting on my ass in front of said computer.
Easter = Food
Auntie Beth's Birthday = Food
Nicole's baby shower = Food
Alisa's baby shower = Lots of planning + Food
Dad's birthday dinner = Food
Trip to Austin for conference & to visit family = LOTS of AUSTIN food (most of it free, which didn't help!)
Planning a series of 3 huge retirement parties for my college art history professor = Stress AND Food (Totally beyond worth it, though)
You get the idea, right? I have been a super busy pants.
I can feel a significant difference from how I felt while I was hitting Insanity hard. Now that I haven't been exercising regularly, I feel sluggish, I have barely any energy, and I can even tell that my moods are pretty blah and my patience is low.
I don't want to feel like this anymore. I've got to regroup and get my bum back in gear. I'm just angry at myself for slipping this much. I knew I was going to slip a little because of the insane amount of activities I've had to deal with over the past several weeks, and I was mentally prepared for that, but I never ever thought I'd be in the 140 range again. That's how quickly things can get out of control. I haven't been taking care of myself, and I'm paying the icky, fatigued, bloated price.
Time to pick myself up, dust myself off, and get back to it, guys. I'm back, but I'll need some support and encouragement, please! I just need a little push to get my self-motivation gears going again!
So, I'm pretty ashamed of how long it's been since I last updated this blog. 3 weeks and 4 days? Really? Wow... I put the blog on the back burner because I have a lot on my plate right now. I've got a ton of stuff going on at work, I'm helping plan a baby shower for my bff Alisa and a big career celebration party for one of Nick and my dearest friends/mentors/professors from college, PLUS I'm taking a lettering class online, and it's Easter weekend. Whew! Listing all that stuff out doesn't seem like it's much, but all those things involve a lot of intricate work and planning. I also feel like I'm leaving out some things.... Blah, I hope you guys understand!
I'm also ashamed to say that I stopped doing the "Insane" workout as religiously as I was before after the recovery week. I just got bored. I miss(ed) being outside, especially now that there's sunlight begging to be biked in now that the glorious daylight savings time has returned. I do intend to do the "insane" workouts on rainy days when biking isn't an option. I just love to bike too much to not do it, and I don't think my knees or my full schedule could handle doing both.
During my blogging absence, I got to visit my dear bff Krystal on St. Patrick's Day weekend and we had a lovely active Saturday! We brought her groovy dog JD to the dog park and we walked him around the hike and bike trail close to where she lives in this place called Bear Creek Park. Um....SO JEALOUS. This park made Beaumont's hike & bike trail look like a blank sheet of paper next to a Van Gogh painting. This place has a mini zoo with all kinds of beautiful animals, tons of baseball/softball fields, a dog park, equestrian center, golf course, and a ton of other stuff. If you're ever in Houston, I highly recommend visiting this magical place.
Yeah, that's a bison.
Happy faces!
I biked while Krystal & JD walked (hence the helmet)
And then Krystal took the most
epic photo of me EVER.
I made some bird friends, too.
JD's FIRST visit to the dog park! He had a blast!
Yeah, JD needed a good scrubbing after his first romp at the dog park.
Even after ALL that craziness, I was still committed to doing the Insanity thing during that week, so I did it when we got back to Krystal and Ross's house because I'm nuts.
Dedication or mental issues?
And even thought we were EXHAUSTED by the end of that Saturday, we still made time to cook a delicious healthy meal. It wasn't done till after 9 p.m., but it was totally worth it!
Baked butternut squash
Just FYI, peeling a butternut squash SUCKS. Be sure you have really sharp knives and a really sharp peeler before you try to tackle one of these big bad boys. It was a workout to just peel and cut the dang thing! I'm hoping to find FROZEN butternut squash from now on.
Mashed cauliflower, shredded chicken, and quinoa
I've tried quinoa before, and I didn't like it, but now that I've tried how Krystal makes it (in the rice cooker), I'm pretty much addicted.
Speaking of addicted, I visited my cousins and Goddaughter on the way home to Beaumont on Sunday, and Cici introduced me to the deliciousness that is the affogato (espresso poured over ice cream)
I WANT THIS EVERY DAY, BUT I'LL GET FAT.
It was a fab weekend for sure!
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LAST Sunday, I got to do a little creative exercising with my mom and some lovely ladies whom I've known my whole life from my church. We went to Painting with a Twist and had a wonderful time...
Here's mine! I hung it in my bedroom.
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Zooming forward to today, I wanted to start biking the DAY daylight savings time began, but the weather was not ideal. This March has been particularly windy, and I didn't think I could handle it. I went for a ride today for the first this spring, and it was GLORIOUS. I went to the good ol' hike and bike trail this afternoon and did 6 laps (12 miles) + 3 miles on the straight path (1.5 mile each way) = 15 miles biked!
It felt great to be out there again! I kind of did something that usually annoys me when other people do it, and I played music on my phone using the Pandora app, but it helped. I don't like to use headphones while I'm biking just incase a faster cyclist needs to pass me and I can hear them approaching, and for safety's sake. I put it on the Michael Giacchino station, and I got to bike to some pretty epic music. How can you not be inspired to pedal faster when music from the Incredibles is blasting at you? A lot of John Williams music came on as well, so the hearing Superman theme was a great way to finish.
So I guess you could say that today was truly a great GOOD FRIDAY. I got to bike and enjoy God's beautiful blessings of nature with a strong, healthy body, and I got to play guitar and sing at a very meaningful Good Friday service at church this evening. I may be swamped, but I am grateful for all of it. I hope everyone has a good Holy weekend. I hope I get to update again sooner than later!
P.S. In addition to celebrating Christianity's biggest day of the year, I get to eat bread and rice again starting Easter Sunday! Let's see if I can control myself, haha!
I'm addicted to sugar. There, I said it. I'm addicted to carbs and sugar and horrible delicious food. That's part of the reason why I had to start this journey in the first place. Even though I have been great about not eating bread or rice since Fat Tuesday, I've still been eating things I shouldn't.
I've been justifying that cake and brownies aren't technically "bread" over the past couple of days, and technically they aren't since I wouldn't make a sandwich with them (haha), but it's got to stop. I want to really get serious about what I need to restrict myself from eating because I know that I will get so much further in my progress if I do so. I'm not sure what my deal is other than being addicted... Sugary food makes me feel better for a little while, and then I feel like crap shortly after. It's got to stop. What drives me more crazy is that I know better, and yet I still do it. You suck, addiction.
On a happier note, I just did my 2nd fitness test with the insane regimen I've been following lately, and I did better than the first go! Gosh, imagine how much better I'd be doing if I weren't eating sweets here and there...
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not binging and going nutso and eating NOTHING but sweets, BUT I know that even just the tiny bit I have been eating the past couple of days are affecting my progress. I attended a fun little Stella & Dot jewelry party on Saturday to help out my cousin Celina who's trying to make some money while she works as as stay at home mom, and I splurged more than I probably should have on the goodies that were at the party. A little brownie here, a small cookie or 3 there, some chips and queso, some ginger ale/sherbet punch, a glass of spumante....... It adds up!
Speaking of jewelry, my cousin convinced me to host an online trunk show so that I could try to earn some discounts and free jewelry. I figured if it's just online, I don't have anything to lose and it'd help her out at the same time! If you'd like to treat yourself to something nice, or need a gift for a loved one, click this link and get ya something: Melanie's Stella & Dot Online Trunk Show
I've got to get my self-discipline back in check. It's been slipping so often lately and I keep faltering over and over, which is why I haven't made much more progress. I measured myself over the weekend, and I haven't lost any inches since the last time I measured myself MONTHS ago.
On the bright side, at least I feel stronger! Insane workouts have been kicking my butt, and while I'm not painfully sore like I was in the beginning, I still feel like my body is changing in good ways. It's only been 2 weeks, so I must be patient and I must be more disciplined about eating better.
I'm just tired of this cycle, and I want to break out of it. WILL POWER. WHERE ARE YOU!? SHOW YOURSELF.
