What's been going on with me?

I don't like to always be super personal in my blog posts, but I know that in the past I've mentioned things here and there about what I'm doing when I'm not working out!

Well, I have been so busy lately. The Holiday's are fast approaching. I've been busy with work, baking, working out, hanging out with my boyfriend, hanging out with friends, and having tons of November birthdays! 

Truthfully, I've been falling off the blogging bandwagon. I struggle to find time in the day to make posts. There are some days that I feel like I will have time to sit and write, then I will have to work late or meet some other obligation that pops up out of no where. 

When I do have time to write, I will try to write like 3 or 4 blogs. I will have so much on my mind that I want to blog about, and I just can't stop until I get it out! I carry around paper scraps in my purse with blog ideas on them. 

Also, I've been really happy with the guy I've been dating and when I do find free time, I find ways to fill it by spending time with him. I'm still trying to find the perfect balance of everything I need to do and want to do. I'm sure it's nearly impossible to find the perfect balance for anything! Let me know if anyone has the perfect balance in their life, I would like to know what you are doing!

I'm really looking forward to the Holidays. I love Thanksgiving and Christmas. I just love how that time of the year feels. I love everything about the holiday season. My boyfriend does not so much care for Christmas, but I think I will convert him. Who doesn't love Christmas??

Let's catch up

Well, I was on a roll there for about a week! I was able to post like 3 times! Crazy, I know.

Anyway, since then I've had a lot going on. 

1. I turned 30. Woo hoo! I had an awesome Mexican Fiesta Birthday party at my mom's house. Not the healthiest night, but I had fun and I'm glad I let loose on my birthday. Ok, I had some bomb-ass Mexican food (made by my mom) and 5 beers. I fell asleep on the couch at 11 PM and my friends were still hanging out in the back yard. What can I say, I'm not much of a drinker these days!

2. I had a bod pod. Not proud to admit it, but I gained about 2 pounds in the last 3 months. I have to rethink some things and figure out how to live my life the way I want to live and still not gain all this weight back. It's a very difficult thing. I want to feel like I'm getting to do and eat what I want, without going overboard, but still continue to lose a few more pounds and whatnot. I know there is a way to do it. I know there is a way to be happy and healthy. I just have to find it again. I used to be able to follow meal plans to a T and be happy and healthy. Now, I'm feeling unhappy when I'm following a meal plan. I feel like I have no freedom to live and make my own choices. I feel like I'm letting Zach and Janelle down if I don't follow a meal plan. I'm in an awkward spot in my weight loss. I need figure out what direction I want to go. 

3. I'm still running. I'm in week 8 of the plan I've been following. It's crazy to think that I've been following for this plan for 8 weeks. I'm jogging for about 30 minutes at a time. CRAZY! The entire time I'm on the treadmill I'm in total disbelief that I am even running. Some days I think it's just too good to be true! I mean, me.....running? I guess so! I'm able to go a little further each day and each week. I can go over 2.5 miles in my 29 minutes this week! I think that's pretty damn good!

4. I swear, I'm reading your blogs too! I just read them on the fly between my classes that I teach and on my breaks from other random jobs. It just gets hard to comment! So, keep reading and I'll keep reading yours!

Update

My updates have been behind lately. Sorry! I'm still weighing myself when I'm supposed to. I just don't get on here in a timely manner to get my status out there!

Well, August was another month where I didn't lose, but I also didn't gain. I'm still at 133 pounds lost. 

I'm consistent with the working out. I think I actually work out more these days. I know for a fact that working out will be part of my routine for the rest of my life. Sometimes, the food still scares me. I'm afraid of slowly slipping back into bad habits and over eating habits. I know I'm not the only one that has that fear, but it's scary! 

I get nervous when I know I'm going to a cookout, party, night out with friends, etc. I get worried that I'm going to "get out of control" with the food. I know I'm still learning how to eat in moderation. I'm working hard to make it the norm and not something I have to think about every time I step out the door. 

Looking ahead....

I have to get a bod pod soon. I'm trying to get one scheduled for this week. 

September is my favorite month, because it is my birthday month. I seriously celebrate for the whole month. This year I'm going to be 30. I'm not really worried about it though. I'm healthier now than I have really ever been in my whole life. 

I'm still here....

I'm still around! I promise! I've just been enjoying my summer! A lot of weddings, birthdays, and fun activites going on! (And a lot of temptation)

I've been a little too relaxed, I think. I'm still on meal plans and working out 6 days a week. I think I've been finding too many excuses to "celebrate" and have too much to eat.

I've been jogging at the end of every workout. I jog for about 15 minutes and that gets me to about a mile or mile and a half, depending on how fast I'm moving.

My 30th birthday is coming up in September. I'm asking my friends and family for cash donations, because I want to get my personal trainer certificate. I want be a personal trainer for extra motivation and some extra cash! I think I will continue to be successful if I even have one person that I'm working out with a few times a week. I need to stay motivated!

I'm still tossing around the idea of making a Facebook page for my blog. I think I would be much better at updating! I have tons of funny little things I see and notice while I'm working out and I could update my status really fast!

I actually have some time tonight and I'm going to try to catch up on some blog reading! Wish me luck!

Well, I survived

I managed to stay sane on Thanksgiving. I used all the self control in the world and managed to not stuff my face and make myself sick from eating. Whew....it was a tough task.

I'm not sure if you know this or not, but my mom is the best cook this side of the Mississippi and on the other side of the Mississippi, the rest of her family are the best cooks. We've got the country on lock down for the best cooking. All of this fantastic cooking makes a person want to stuff their face.

Anyway, I did not snack all morning before dinner time. I ate every three hours like I'm supposed to. I know I didn't get the right amount of protein, but there were a lot of things I wanted to try so I ate tiny portions when it was my time to eat. I planned the day so I would have to eat when the whole family was sitting down to eat. I only had a small spoonful of the foods I wanted to try, and I totally passed up seconds.

I did have to walk away from the table before everyone else because I was done eating and I did not want seconds, but I could not stop thinking about the delicious food all around me. I think it also helped that we did everything buffet style this year and all the food was on the counter and buffet behind us. There was no food on the table. That really helped.

After I was done I spent some time playing with my niece and nephews. I was hoping to burn off some calories. I was trying really hard to not just sit on my butt for the rest of the day.

I did have dessert though. My mom makes apple pie twice a year. There is no way I could pass up apple pie. I cut my own piece and it really was a little baby piece of pie.

Overall, I think I managed pretty well, but I know that November has been a rough month for me. I've had 4 different family birthdays, a graduation, and Thanksgiving. I've also done a ton of baking, but for some reason that didn't even make me flinch. I was totally in control and able to bake without sampling.

Yesterday I did my regular workout and took a walk at the Reserve for an hour. It was pretty nice out. I figured I needed to take advantage of the nice weather. I also had a Bod Pod yesterday. I think I was trying to torture myself by getting a Bod Pod the day after a holiday full of eating, but that wasn't even that bad. Janelle did have to talk me down a little afterward. I was hoping for better.

Trying to stay positive.

Basically, I'm a little irritated with myself.

I said the other week that November is a rough month because of birthday's and Thanksgiving. My sister had a November birthday and my neice and nephews were all born in November. Busy, busy, busy. This year my sister also graduated from college. All of these events mean going out to eat, celebrating, eating, blah, blah, blah.

So, I've probably gone out to eat more this month than I have in the past year and a half. I've researched menus to find food that will fit into my meal plan, calories, protein, saturated fats, and I planned my whole eating schedule around what time we were going out to dinner. I even ordered food that I would never have ordered or eaten a year and half ago.

I ate freakin' salmon! I hate fish, but knew it was a good choice and it was really all that would fit into my meal plan. It wasn't even that bad either. I'm not sure if I will ever eat it again, but I tried it once! I didn't eat dessert, I didn't drink booze, and I didn't pick off other people's plates.

I also didn't lose any weight in the last two weeks. I'm pretty disappointed.

So, I'm trying to find the positive in the past two weeks. I didn't lose, but I didn't gain. I maintained. I also know that I made better food choices and I didn't pig out. I know that a year and a half ago I would have stuffed my face and ordered delicious deep fried foods. I know I would have ordered drinks and I know I would have ordered dessert.

I'm trying to remind myself just how far I really have come and how much my food choices and self control have changed. I guess I'm learning how to maintain my weight, but I'm not in a maintaining weight mode, I'm still in a losing weight mode.

I still have to make it through Thanksgiving this week. I know I'm not going to be perfect on Thursday. My family Thanksgiving is made up of foods that we only make once a year. We have decided to cut back on the desserts and we are cutting a lot of recipes in half as well. Everyone in my family wants to make better food choices that day. We all want to be able to taste and sample everything,  but we don't want to pig out. I know that my family as a whole wants to eat less and we all are making the effort to cook less!

Really, I keep telling myself that I've made it this far and I'm going to keep going. I don't like to be disappointed with myself, but there is nothing I can do at certain times of the year. I feel like I would be rude to skip family things because of food or going out to eat. I also think it is rude to just sit at a restaurant and not eat anything. I have done that in the past and my family has dealt with it. I have to make some choices that I'm not always happy with, but that's just life. Birthdays and holidays come up from time to time, but 4 birthdays, a graduation, and Thanksgiving all in one month is way to much for me.

Crazy November

November is my busiest month of the year. My neice and nephews were all born in November, one of my sisters was born in November, Thanksgiving is in November.....and a whole bunch of other things go on this month.

Birthdays and Thanksgiving are fun, but they all have one thing in common...food. Damn food.

Last night we went out to eat at a new restaurant downtown that is all local and organic, so that's cool. I ordered a tuna burger and didn't eat the whole thing.  I was pretty proud of myself. Then one of my sisters suggested dessert. I'm sure she was totally right about how good the ice cream is and how delicious everything else is.

Ice cream is my weakness. Total weakenss. I can't even tell you the last time I had ice cream. The server started rambling off the flavors of ice cream and I just put my head down and put my hands over my ears. I'm sure it was quite a site and I probably looked like an asshole, but I was in hell at that exact moment.

To make matters worse there was no way I could just get up and go outside while everyone had dessert. The restaruant is very small and we were all packed in at our table. I would have had to make 2 people get up to let me out.

So, I sat there. I sat there and I watched everyone eat cake and ice cream. I was so freakin' happy when everyone was done.

Today I have to go to my nephew's birthday party. There will be a lot of food there. A lot of food made by my mom, who is the best cook in the world. I'm trying to figure out what the hell I need to do. I'll figure it out. I'm getting ready to go to the gym and I usually have some of my best thoughts when I'm at the gym.