Well it sure has been awhile. I must say, I love reading other people's blogs, but when it comes to my own, I am not doing so well! Regardless, I just wanted to write an update as to how things have been progressing in my life.
This summer was very difficult but great all at the same time. What made it difficult was having NOTHING to do every. single. day. Now some people may be like, stop whining, but for me I love being active and busy. So having my days filled with nothing became extremely tedious. Another issue I had this summer was my eating. While my working out never faltered, my eating sure did. Since May I have been struggling with my eating. I've got to the point where I was so sick of stressing about every calorie going in my mouth, and just wanted to relax. With that being said, the scale is constantly moving up and down, up and down. I like the fact that I am not so strict about tracking every morsel, because lets face it, I was mean. However, I am not able to find a good balance either. Right now I am working on the 80/20 rule of eating. 80% of the time eating right, and 20% of the time indulging. So thats that.
School this year has been amazing! While I still have a ton to learn, I feel like this year things are really clicking for me. I've been able to put stars by more lessons that went well and I would like to repeat in years to come.
Jack and Alphie are doing so great. They are truly the best of friends and it warms my little cat loving heart! Right now they are cuddled on the couch, Alphie's arm around Jack, just snoozing away. They constantly are together. Another great perk of adopting our second cat, is Alphie has lost so much weight! He has go this little ball of energy keeping him moving all the time!
That is about all that has been going on since summer. Hopefully I can update my blog more frequently because I always enjoy going back and reading what I've written!
Happy Monday!
Monday, November 17, 2014
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Top 10 List for this Summer
Well school is out for the summer *cue music* and today is the first official day of my summer break! I thought I'd make a list of 10 things I'd like to do this summer!
1. Enjoy spending time with our new kitty, Jack! We adopted a new kitty Sunday and we are working on introducing him to our current fur baby. It is going well!
2. Read, Read, and oh yeah, READ! I love devouring new books. I've already finished "Gone Girl" and am working on a new novel. I have a whole list of books to read. My plan is to visit the library a great deal this summer and tear through some good books while sipping coffee at Panera!
3. Yoga. I did yoga last summer with a good friend and it was so much fun! I plan on picking it up again this summer along with running in the morning.
4. Afternoon walks. I've been doing so well with my fitness and healthy lifestyle, I don't want to back track because I don't have to work right now. My goal is after lunch (or depending on the weather) I want to take a leisurely walk to keep the blood pumping!
5. Decorating. I really want to work on decorating my home with funky things I find on Pinterest. I've already got some plans for our "Great Reading Room" and a wall full of our initial.
6. Spend time with my husband. Walks after dinner, working out, cooking together, building forts, putt putt and whatever else we can think of!
7. Plan for next year. This will take awhile to get to! I need at least a couple of weeks to decompress, but I always get so excited to plan for the next school year! I have crafts I want to do, and new strategies to try out!
8. Enjoy my mornings. Reading blogs, sipping coffee etc.
9. Wardrobe update. Since losing 57ish pounds I'm severly lacking in the clothing department! My goal is to buy some clothes that actually fit!
10. Cooking. I've found so many new and healthy recipes that I am dying to try out! I don't want to get stuck in a rut of cooking the same meals week in and week out.
This is a to-do list that I am happy to work on all summer long :)
1. Enjoy spending time with our new kitty, Jack! We adopted a new kitty Sunday and we are working on introducing him to our current fur baby. It is going well!
2. Read, Read, and oh yeah, READ! I love devouring new books. I've already finished "Gone Girl" and am working on a new novel. I have a whole list of books to read. My plan is to visit the library a great deal this summer and tear through some good books while sipping coffee at Panera!
3. Yoga. I did yoga last summer with a good friend and it was so much fun! I plan on picking it up again this summer along with running in the morning.
4. Afternoon walks. I've been doing so well with my fitness and healthy lifestyle, I don't want to back track because I don't have to work right now. My goal is after lunch (or depending on the weather) I want to take a leisurely walk to keep the blood pumping!
5. Decorating. I really want to work on decorating my home with funky things I find on Pinterest. I've already got some plans for our "Great Reading Room" and a wall full of our initial.
6. Spend time with my husband. Walks after dinner, working out, cooking together, building forts, putt putt and whatever else we can think of!
7. Plan for next year. This will take awhile to get to! I need at least a couple of weeks to decompress, but I always get so excited to plan for the next school year! I have crafts I want to do, and new strategies to try out!
8. Enjoy my mornings. Reading blogs, sipping coffee etc.
9. Wardrobe update. Since losing 57ish pounds I'm severly lacking in the clothing department! My goal is to buy some clothes that actually fit!
10. Cooking. I've found so many new and healthy recipes that I am dying to try out! I don't want to get stuck in a rut of cooking the same meals week in and week out.
This is a to-do list that I am happy to work on all summer long :)
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Weigh In and What's Cooking?!
Yesterday was weigh in and to be honest I'm a little confused. The first time I weighed, the scale said I only lost 2 pounds (which is totally cool by me since we are still heading in the right direction) but then I weighed a few more times- ya know just to be sure ;) and it said I lost 3 pounds. So I'm not really sure which one is accurate. Regardless, the weight is still coming off which is great! I'm going to go with the 3 pounds for obvious reasons, but I wonder if the way I look at the scale, or shifting my weight is causing the problem. I'll have to look it up and see what I may be doing wrong. Anyway I'm still happy because the weight is still coming off!
For this blog post I wanted to focus on a few of my favorite healthy meals. Eating healthy during the day is a cinch, it is at dinner time or on the weekends where I am getting stuck finding healthy recipes that are yummy as well.
This first meal is a family favorite, Baked Zucchini! My husband and I love it. Plus it is super filling, healthy, but most importantly delicious! Used to we had salad and bread with this meal, but recently we just have this and salad since I tried to cut out a lot of my bread intake.
The next meal we've come to love is Tuna Stuffed Avocado. At first this sounded gross to me, but the end result was very filling and again, super delicious! Lesson learned though, be careful of the cilantro, a little goes a long way :)
The last meal I want to share is a healthy version of Sloppy Joes! My original intent on my healthy lifestyle change is I still wanted to eat the meals I loved, just in moderation and as healthy as I can get them, this one fit the bill! Instead of using a whole can of Sloppy Joes mix I only used a cup (which was more than enough) I opted for ground turkey, and took the top part of the bun off.
All of these recipes can be found on my Pinterest board under "Healthy" or "Recipes". If you notice as well we have stopped using the full size dinner plates and are now using our salad plates to eat meals. When we used the bigger plates it looked like we were eating nothing which can cause over eating. However as you can see from above, using the smaller plates fills up the plate with the correct portion of food.
With love,
Stephanie
For this blog post I wanted to focus on a few of my favorite healthy meals. Eating healthy during the day is a cinch, it is at dinner time or on the weekends where I am getting stuck finding healthy recipes that are yummy as well.
This first meal is a family favorite, Baked Zucchini! My husband and I love it. Plus it is super filling, healthy, but most importantly delicious! Used to we had salad and bread with this meal, but recently we just have this and salad since I tried to cut out a lot of my bread intake.
The next meal we've come to love is Tuna Stuffed Avocado. At first this sounded gross to me, but the end result was very filling and again, super delicious! Lesson learned though, be careful of the cilantro, a little goes a long way :)
The last meal I want to share is a healthy version of Sloppy Joes! My original intent on my healthy lifestyle change is I still wanted to eat the meals I loved, just in moderation and as healthy as I can get them, this one fit the bill! Instead of using a whole can of Sloppy Joes mix I only used a cup (which was more than enough) I opted for ground turkey, and took the top part of the bun off.
All of these recipes can be found on my Pinterest board under "Healthy" or "Recipes". If you notice as well we have stopped using the full size dinner plates and are now using our salad plates to eat meals. When we used the bigger plates it looked like we were eating nothing which can cause over eating. However as you can see from above, using the smaller plates fills up the plate with the correct portion of food.
With love,
Stephanie
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
3 pounds!
I forgot to blog about last week's weight loss. I lost 3 more pounds for a total of 14 pounds lost since January 6th! Weigh in is tomorrow, wish me luck! I'm really nervous about this week, so we'll see!
Monday, January 27, 2014
Poof! 4 more pounds off my body!
*Insert happy dance here*
We just finished Week 2 in our Biggest Loser Challenge at work and boy am I super pleased with how it is going! I am down 11 pounds so far! I really can't believe it is actually working! Honestly I think the reason most of my "lifestyle" changes have failed in the past is the simple fact that I:
A) Wasn't weighing myself
B) Wasn't keeping a food journal
C) Had no accountability
Now that there is money involved and people at work watching me, I sure am a lot more mindful of what I eat! I think this will help change my entire mindset on food and working out. I do have to say along with losing weight, I have way more energy than I used to, and I don't get winded talking or walking down the hall anymore! How embarrassing to be talking to your class and have to stop to catch your breath?! No more for me! Week 3 weigh in is this Wednesday, and I am a little nervous. I've been doing so well that I am so terrified to start gaining weight. I don't want to feel like I failed and stop trying. I really want to change my life and be an example of a healthy lifestyle for my students, friends, husband, and future kids. I just am to the point where I am SO sick of myself and how I look/felt!
This weekend was a little rough though. On Saturday my sister came down and we went to this cute little tea place. I really had to control myself because the first thing they bring you when you sit down is a SCONE....umm yum! I didn't eat it, but I wanted to. It just wasn't worth it. The meal was fine, I had a quiche, salad, and soup. Instead of eating the 4 squares of cheese, I only had one. And finally dessert was brought out. This was the hardest part. I had the waitress box it up and sent it home with my sister. I just wanted to swipe my hand through the frosting once, but kept seeing the number on the scale...again not worth it!
Overall, I feel pretty successful. I don't feel deprived and my body is feeling 10x better. I wake up with more energy and have a good amount of energy for the rest of the day! Hopefully we can keep it going in the right direction!
With love,
Stephanie
We just finished Week 2 in our Biggest Loser Challenge at work and boy am I super pleased with how it is going! I am down 11 pounds so far! I really can't believe it is actually working! Honestly I think the reason most of my "lifestyle" changes have failed in the past is the simple fact that I:
A) Wasn't weighing myself
B) Wasn't keeping a food journal
C) Had no accountability
Now that there is money involved and people at work watching me, I sure am a lot more mindful of what I eat! I think this will help change my entire mindset on food and working out. I do have to say along with losing weight, I have way more energy than I used to, and I don't get winded talking or walking down the hall anymore! How embarrassing to be talking to your class and have to stop to catch your breath?! No more for me! Week 3 weigh in is this Wednesday, and I am a little nervous. I've been doing so well that I am so terrified to start gaining weight. I don't want to feel like I failed and stop trying. I really want to change my life and be an example of a healthy lifestyle for my students, friends, husband, and future kids. I just am to the point where I am SO sick of myself and how I look/felt!
This weekend was a little rough though. On Saturday my sister came down and we went to this cute little tea place. I really had to control myself because the first thing they bring you when you sit down is a SCONE....umm yum! I didn't eat it, but I wanted to. It just wasn't worth it. The meal was fine, I had a quiche, salad, and soup. Instead of eating the 4 squares of cheese, I only had one. And finally dessert was brought out. This was the hardest part. I had the waitress box it up and sent it home with my sister. I just wanted to swipe my hand through the frosting once, but kept seeing the number on the scale...again not worth it!
Overall, I feel pretty successful. I don't feel deprived and my body is feeling 10x better. I wake up with more energy and have a good amount of energy for the rest of the day! Hopefully we can keep it going in the right direction!
With love,
Stephanie
Monday, January 20, 2014
6.4 Pounds Down!
At work, we have started the 'Biggest Loser' competition. While I really wasn't sure about doing it at first, I can say after only two weeks I am SO glad I signed up! After one week of walking every night, and eating healthy I lost 6.4 pounds! I also was the biggest loser (never thought I'd be happy about those words) for the week. Now we are almost done with week two and I'm a little nervous. I've still done good, however, I'm not sure if the pounds will continue to be lost, or if my body was in such shock last week that I lost more than I should have. I know losing 6 pounds in a week isn't the norm, and I'm not sure what to expect for this coming up week! Plus I'm really competitive and I've enjoyed being number one the first week :)
A lot of people asked me what I was doing to lose the weight. First, I downloaded the 'Lose it' App on my phone. I've been counting calories on that and it has helped a lot! You don't realize how many calories you are really eating in a day unless you see the number. It is kind of shocking! Second, all I've drank for the past two weeks is water! Some coffee, mostly water. Third, I go power walking everyday. This is probably my favorite part so far! It is a nice way to decompress after work and have some quiet time. I also have been eating 5 small meals a day versus 3. I try to stack the majority of my calories towards the beginning of the day and have a light dinner. I also won't eat after 7ish. So far that is mostly what I've been doing.
The best piece of advice I can give so far is do not deprive yourself. I refuse to eat lettuce and bland chicken. Nope, I won't do it. However I am making smarter choices with the foods I do enjoy. For example I love me some tacos. But I only eat the serving size now, and I cook it with ground turkey versus ground beef. Serving size is a huge factor to weight loss. I didn't realize you weren't supposed to pack away half a bag of chips in one sitting....Wow who knew :)
Anyways, just wanted to share how it was going so far! Wednesday is the next weigh in and I'll let you know how it goes from there!
With love,
Stephanie
A lot of people asked me what I was doing to lose the weight. First, I downloaded the 'Lose it' App on my phone. I've been counting calories on that and it has helped a lot! You don't realize how many calories you are really eating in a day unless you see the number. It is kind of shocking! Second, all I've drank for the past two weeks is water! Some coffee, mostly water. Third, I go power walking everyday. This is probably my favorite part so far! It is a nice way to decompress after work and have some quiet time. I also have been eating 5 small meals a day versus 3. I try to stack the majority of my calories towards the beginning of the day and have a light dinner. I also won't eat after 7ish. So far that is mostly what I've been doing.
The best piece of advice I can give so far is do not deprive yourself. I refuse to eat lettuce and bland chicken. Nope, I won't do it. However I am making smarter choices with the foods I do enjoy. For example I love me some tacos. But I only eat the serving size now, and I cook it with ground turkey versus ground beef. Serving size is a huge factor to weight loss. I didn't realize you weren't supposed to pack away half a bag of chips in one sitting....Wow who knew :)
Anyways, just wanted to share how it was going so far! Wednesday is the next weigh in and I'll let you know how it goes from there!
With love,
Stephanie
Monday, January 6, 2014
Change it Up
As the new year has come and gone, I've been reflecting a lot on things I've accomplished. One thing I haven't ever been lucky with accomplishing is a healthy lifestyle. It has always been so hard for me to stay on track with being active and eating right. This year I'm going to once again attempt to change my lifestyle. This is not to say I won't eat anything I love, because lets face it, if I deprive myself it is only a matter of time before I forget the whole thing all together.
Today I ate normally, however the one thing I did differently, even though I'm exhausted, is I exercised for 30 minutes. Now I know this may seem like nothing, but for me it was a big step. I can always justify "doing it later" but in actuality I never do. Tonight I made one of the biggest steps, which was actually being active. I think everyone has certain things that work for them, like running. To be honest I despise running. So for now that won't be a part of my exercise routine. I do love to dance, so I made that part of my exercise routine tonight. I need to change it up because if I don't I'll get bored so easily and give up.
Hopefully I can keep this up. I think if I allow myself to eat things I love in moderation, not kick myself if I miss a day of being active etc. I'll be alright. We shall see!
Today I ate normally, however the one thing I did differently, even though I'm exhausted, is I exercised for 30 minutes. Now I know this may seem like nothing, but for me it was a big step. I can always justify "doing it later" but in actuality I never do. Tonight I made one of the biggest steps, which was actually being active. I think everyone has certain things that work for them, like running. To be honest I despise running. So for now that won't be a part of my exercise routine. I do love to dance, so I made that part of my exercise routine tonight. I need to change it up because if I don't I'll get bored so easily and give up.
Hopefully I can keep this up. I think if I allow myself to eat things I love in moderation, not kick myself if I miss a day of being active etc. I'll be alright. We shall see!
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