Monday, July 15, 2013

IML: Halfway thru July

It is hard to believe that I have been here for almost 2 months by now. It is also crazy to think how much my world has changed in that time. I am overflowing with happy and life is great! And while my workouts have slowed down a bit, thanks to a budding social life, I am still pretty satisfied with my current regime and the fact that I'm keeping it part of my daily routine, no matter how hectic the days/nights become.

1) Do what needs to be done: Just about to send my final CT excise tax in mail..good riddance, you overpriced state!! Now I just need to go to the DMV and get my NC license plates and I will be officially transitioned over! Awesome. I also made appointments to see my first doctors in NC and (hopefully) end up having lasik, which will be an amazing life change (hello, glasses since 4th grade...)

2) Maintain exercise goal of 3x/wk: Since I moved here at the end of May, I have been able to meet this goal every single week, which is pretty awesome. I have a tumultuous workout history and tend to do some binge exercising for a nice stretch before falling off the wagon for an even nicer stretch. C'est la vie. But I'm proud of the fact that I have been able to meet this goal. Last week, I did Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred 4 days out of 7, which is pretty good, if you ask me! Looking forward to much of the same this coming week and the coming weeks after :-p

3) Make more conscious food choices: Things like birthdays, boyfriends, holidays, sister visits, and travel make for difficult meal management. I've had my fair share of ups and downs in this department (and mostly down this past weekend), indulging in sweet and savory goods and lots and lots of alcoholic bevvies. Starting the morning off right with some blackberries, fat free yogurt, craisins, almonds, and cashews. For lunch, I have truffle mac'n'cheese and a banana. Will be having an omelette with peppered pork, black beans, scallions, and rotel for dinner. Damn, I love menu planning.

Other planned meals:
Tuesday: peppers, mushrooms, onions & kielbasa w/ creamed spinach and whole wheat pasta
Wednesday: spinach artichoke dip stuffed chicken and sesame sauteed bokchoy
Thursday: spinach salad w/ chicken, sesame sticks, strawberries, craisins, gorgonzola, strawberry champagne dressing

Yogurt w/ fruit & nuts for breakfast. Every day.
Leftovers from dinners for lunch. Ever day.

Things to avoid:
- coffee w/ lots of sugar or other flavored syrups
- snacking (no more food @ my desk!!!! and get rid of this chocolate)
- soda

4) Enjoy my hobbies: got my piano/sing on this past week. Felt nice to launch back into the musical side of things. Listened to some sweet jams during a sweet roadtrip to a new place with great people. Did a pub crawl/scavenger hunt of epic proportions. Reading a really great and thought-provoking book ("Visible Man" by Chuck Klosterman). Did some cooking. Some eating out. Some eating in. Some puppy snuggling. Life is grand and I'm enjoying it all!

5) Keep my close friends close: I've maybe slacked a little in this department. Did not engage in two phone calls I was looking forward to. Boo to that. But I've been branching out and trying to make new friends. I (think?) I have a friend at work, which is cool. And of course, Boy and his friends are all phenomenal. So is my fam, who I talk to on the reg.

6) Do what I can for my health: I think this is the first weekend I've had in a long time where I didn't wake up Monday morning feeling sleep deprived. I got some epic sleeping in this weekend, mostly due to not having to worry about walking the pup in the a.m. (sorry, Monster! I still love you). I've still been flossing before bed on nights that I'm home (I know -- I can't believe it, either!). And I have some doctor's appointments scheduled that will hopefully lead to big some major bodily changes for me.

Overall, as I've said a hundred times in a hundred ways, Life Is Good. :) I hope it stays this way!


Monday, July 1, 2013

Life overhaul: a journey in pictures

It's that time again: progress photos.

As usual, pretty shocked by photographic evidence of improved fitness.

Let's not forget where I started in January, 2012 (ew):



By April, I had somewhat gotten my act together:



Life got a little crazy and by the time I moved to NC, I had taken a few steps back (photos taken on June 9, 2013):




Now, less than one month later and about 20 days in the 30 day shred and a whole lot of sweating, dog walking, and miscellaneous cardio, as of July 1, 2013:




Biggest differences: my back, hips, and my arms. SOOOO much better. I am in the best shape I've been in in about a decade (gross, I'm old). I look better, feel better, and I am never going back to January's sad sack. Hoping that by the end of this year, I'll just morph into Jillian Michaels :)