Vacation Mode

SW: 207.7

Last Week's Weigh In, Apr 16: 205.0

Today's Weigh In, Apr 23: 205.3

Gain: 0.3

Overall Loss: 2.4

Not really much to report this week for my weekly weigh in. I stayed the same because less than half a pound doesn't really count as a gain in my book.

I didn't go grocery shopping this week because I really didn't want to deal with having to throw food away or eat it all before I leave Saturday. Not exactly the healthiest way to live but it's going to get the job done. {I have frozen waffles and cereal to live off of.} When I come back it will be back to meal planning and prepping!

As far as running goes I haven't pounded the pavement in a week now. I let that winter weather last week knock me off track and I just haven't gotten back to it yet. Horrible I know but with vacation ahead of me, knowing that I was planning to take that week off, I just feel like what's the point. I know that's not the right way to think about it but it's where my head is at right now. I'm not giving up on running, just putting it on hold until I come back from vacation.

I'm happy with my weigh in this morning considering I'm not putting in any effort to really lose weight right now. Now the real trick will be to see how I do while in vacation mode for a week.

Checking In

Well I hope y'all had a great weekend! I know I enjoyed mine since there was a bit more family time thanks to Easter Sunday. It's always hard to leave when the weekend is over.

I'm here to report how I did on my goals from last week. Before I get started I just want to say that it feels pretty great to follow through and achieve a goal so I need to remember that great feeling the next time I'm struggling to get it done.

[ONE] Run 3 times this week. This was not the goal I was feeling great about following through with that's for sure. I ran 1 time last week. Some winter weather came into play and I just let myself be lazy about it and didn't even try to make it up when the weather was better. Really all I have is a bunch of excuses for why this didn't get done.

[TWO] 64oz of water a day. This is the goal I'm feeling pretty good about. Last week I killed my goal 5/7 days. Two of those five days I reached 100oz while the remaining three days I reached 80oz. Weekends have always been my downfall when it comes to any of the changes I'm trying to make so it wasn't surprising to me that Saturday and Sunday I had no water. I managed to only have a Mountain Dew twice during the week and only after my goal was met. Huge accomplishment for me! But I made up for skipping a few days during the week by having two on Saturday and Sunday. So not a complete check on this goal but it wasn't horrible either.

[THREE] Sleep at least 7 hours. I knocked this goal out of the park! According to my FitBit I was actually asleep at least 7 hours every night last week. So huge check mark here but yet this doesn't give me as great of a feeling as that water goal does. Probably because it's not that hard for me to reach this goal. It just takes a little bit of conscious effort and it's easily done.

Moving on to this week.

[ONE] 80oz of water a day {Tuesday-Friday}. I totally skipped out on drinking water yesterday but I'm back today. I'm struggling with the last 20oz for today but I know I can get this done. Saturday I am flying to the east coast for a week long vacation to see my bestie and I couldn't be more excited. That being said, I know Saturday and Sunday I won't accomplish 80oz of water so for those two days my goal will just be to make sure I don't skip out on water completely like I did this past weekend.

[TWO] Clean my apartment before leaving Saturday. Not that my place is overly messy right now it just need some good organization and a run through of all of my cleaning chores. I want to leave my place neat and organized so when I come back the only thing I have to worry about is unpacking.

[THREE] Make a list for packing and start early. Chances are I can pack a good portion of the clothing I want to take on vacation because it's more casual than work allows {And it's warmer there than it is here!}. I don't want to be stressing about stuff Friday night so by starting to pack early and having a list will help. There are of course things that cannot be packed until after their used Saturday morning {make up, toothbrush...} so a list will be a huge help in avoiding something being left behind.

My goals are a little different this week but they're still focused on a healthy lifestyle. Less stress and clutter in my life this week leading up to vacation is just what I need. I want to be able to relax and not worry about a thing on vacation. Speaking of which, I should probably make sure I pay my bills before leaving no?

I'm off to chug the rest of this water so I can reach my goal for the day. {And probably regret waiting until bedtime because I'll have to get up a million times now.} I'll be back tomorrow morning with a weigh in. Let's hope Easter lunch doesn't knock me down!

Friday Favorites - Blogger Edition

Welcome welcome Friday! I might have to go into work today but I'm still glad you're here. After reading Jessi's post this morning I just knew I had to jump on this new link up. Especially because I had already planned to blog about some of my favorites anyways.

I want to spread the love and share with you who some of my favorite blogger ladies are. {In no particular order.}

First up is Jessi from Jumping JE. This lovely lady found me recently thanks to a link up and has been commenting on every post I put out into the blogosphere ever since. She's been incredibly supportive and encouraging even though she doesn't really even know me since our friendship is just budding. We are now snapchat friends so I'd say things are getting serious. We'll have to see where this goes but I definitely wouldn't mind maybe some day heading out west and visiting her in Portland! {Be sure to check out Jessi's second blog, Not the Average Bear, that's all about is all about balance in life which includes health and fitness.}

Tammy Jo is another one of my favorite blogger ladies turned friend. She's always there for me when I need advice or to vent about something. I am beyond thankful to have found her thanks to blogging and it's friendships like hers that make me thankful I stick with blogging. I would love to visit Tammy Jo in Texas, just probably not in the summer months since I'm pretty sure I would melt. I'll be the one to visit in the "winter" months and be running around without a jacket while those poor Texans think it's cold.

This next blogger is another one of those that is always commenting on whatever I throw out there for you lovely readers to read. Nikki is someone I could see myself being real life besties with. Almost everything Nikki talks about doing or wanting to do is something I would do or have done myself. She shares my taste in the men of country music as well. I actually mailed her a copy of the amazing Off the Beaten Path album by Justin Moore because I knew she just had to have it. Be sure to stop by her blog though if you enjoy almost daily Luke Bryan pics! {Girl, I promise you a dating stories post is coming...some day.}

And this last blogger I want to share with you awesome readers today is Carolyn from Fitnasty For Life. She doesn't have a button so be sure to click on the link to head on over to her blog. I feel like Carolyn has taken me under her wing for everything weight loss and running related. She answers my endless questions with no complaints {I hope!} and is always offering great advice. Her weight loss story inspires me and helps me to know that I can achieve my goals because if she can do it so can I. And now that I have taken up running her journey inspires me in that aspect as well. She's been running since the beginning so I know that I can start now rather than wait until I've lost a few pounds. So if you need some major inspiration in your life be sure to check her out. This lady is amazing!

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend and that if you have today off you enjoy the three-day weekend! I'll see you all Monday for the Weekly Goals link up with Carolyn.

Currently

I've been meaning to do a post like this ever since I saw Carolyn's back in March. And now I have seen a few more of these posts pop up recently so it has sparked my push to get it done. So here goes!

Reading The Perfect Hope by Nora Roberts.

Making myself hurry up with this post so I have time to take get ready for work and stop for coffee before work.

Cooking nothing at this exact moment but I made scrambled eggs with green pepper and mushrooms and a turkey sausage link on the side for breakfast.

Drinking at least 64oz of water a day. I've been killing it so far this week!

Wanting this snow to GO AWAY!

Looking forward to vacation that starts next Saturday!!

Playing Justin Moore's Off the Beaten Path album on repeat all day every day during my commute.

Wasting too much time on the computer every day.

Wishing that I lived closer to some of my favorite bloggers because I would love to meet them!

Enjoying my new snapchat friend Jessi!

Waiting for this week to be over. I could do without this monthly week from hell thank you very much.

Needing this snow to go away so I can get back to running.

Wearing high school football shorts {don't ask me how I got them cuz I don't know} and a Duck Commander tee. {My pjs.}

Noticing that I need to take better care of my nails, both sets.

Knowing that I will achieve my goals no matter how long it takes.

Feeling sleepy. Darn you Nora Roberts for sucking me into your book and making me stay up later than I should.

Winter Wednesday

Oh Wednesday, you're not really a friend of mine this morning. Sure, sleeping in was great but waking up to seeing more snow on the ground and it's still falling from the sky just put a huge frown on my face. Winter Wednesday, you can go kick rocks!

But on the bright side, it's Weigh In Wednesday and I have some good news to share!

Starting Weight: 207.7

Last Week's Weigh In, Apr 9: 205.7

Today's Weigh In, Apr 16: 205.0

Loss: 0.7

Overall Loss: 2.7

If you recall last week I had gained slightly so you can imagine how happy I was to see that I lost that slight gain plus a half pound! Looks like I'm back on track guys!

Now a quick update on where I'm at with my fitness and diet.

I had a plan for running this week and it looks like mother nature is deciding that it wasn't a good idea. If you were here yesterday for Tough It Out Tuesday you know that I ran on sidewalks that were not shoveled after Sunday night's snow showers. It wasn't ideal and I really hoped I wouldn't have to do it again. Sadly it has snowed again and it is predicted to keep snowing through tonight. So while the forecast for Thursday has looked good all week it seems like my running route won't be in such great conditions. I may have toughed it out Tuesday and completed my run it also wasn't the most safe conditions for me to be running and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Which includes myself. As much as it frustrates me I will be putting my running on hold if the sidewalks remain in poor condition.

Huge thank you to everyone who commented on last week's WIW post with suggestions for how I could make some changes to my diet! I went to the grocery store on Sunday with a list of better choices and even did a little meal prep that evening. Things have been going well with the diet as a result. The hard part though is that I think I underestimated how much food I really need in a week. I might need to make a second trip to the grocery store for a few more things to eat. Lesson learned I guess!

How do you know how much to buy at the grocery store if you're not following an exact recipe?

For those of you runners that contend with winter, any tips for not letting the snow stop me?

April [Snow] Showers Bring Snow Plowers

Last night and even this morning before I got out of bed I was wondering what I would blog about today. I didn't really want to write about running again because that seems to be all I've been doing lately. But then I took my ass outside for my run and knew right then and there I would be writing about running. And it fits in perfectly with Tough It Out Tuesday.

As part of my goals for the week I made sure I went to bed early. I'm talking in bed by 9 and lights out by 10. According to my FitBit I was able to sleep for almost 8.5 hours. It was wonderful!

And then my alarm went off at 6:30 and I was whining about having to get up. I just can't win when it comes to sleeping. No matter how much or how little I will always want to sleep more. Or maybe that's just part of being an adult?

Anyways, so I managed to get up and out the door. Boy was it chilly! You would never guess it's the middle of April right now unless you're from Wisconsin and this crazy weather is somewhat normal to you. I decided I could handle the cold since I've done it before. Not even 5 minutes after I started I was seriously doubting if I should continue though.

It snowed Sunday night and I guess because it's April people decided they didn't need to shovel their sidewalks at all yesterday. I didn't know if my whole route was going to be like this or if it was just this section. Falling from running on ice/snow was not in my morning plan so I wasn't sure what to do.

Pretty quickly I decided to tough it out and just get it over with. I knew at around my half way point I would be done with sidewalks for a while and that I was going to be on a less busy street on my way back so I could run in the road if needed. It was less than ideal but I got it done.

Hopefully that's the last of these April snow showers so I don't see any more snow plowers!

Now please excuse me as I'm off to take a hot shower to warm up!

Goals for the Week

Apparently I was bit by the blogging bug in addition to the running bug. This is my fifth post in a row! Now for some of you that's no big thing. But for me it is considering  my blogging has been less than consistent for quite some time.

But anyways, moving on to the reason I'm here.

Time to get back in the groove of setting weekly goals for myself and what better way to do that than to link up with the lovely Carolyn from Fitnasty for Life! {FYI there is no better way lol.}

[ONE] Run 3 times this week. I was able to run three times last week which earned me my first trophy on Nike+. Right now it says "won 1 time" and I want to see that number increase. And in addition to that, three runs a week is what the c25k program calls for so I want to do my best to get that done. Based on the weather forecast it's looking like Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday will be my running days.

[TWO] 64oz of water a day. I have been really slacking on drinking good ol' H2O lately. When I don't drink water I'm drinking Mountain Dew and we all know I really shouldn't be drinking empty calories if I'm trying to lose weight. And with running my body needs water rather than high fructose corn syrup coursing through my system. This is a totally feasible goal since I've done this many times in the past. Now it's just time to get it done. My reward for reaching 64oz of water a day will be that I can have one can of Mountain Dew. But none before that water goal is met.

[THREE] Sleep at least 7 hours. Some days I'm really good about getting to bed at a decent time and other times I'm sucked into something on the Internet {blogging, watching tv online...} or reading a book and I can't put it down which leads to me staying up much later than I should. I'm realizing I function best when I have a good night's rest under my belt and it makes early wake up times for running a little easier to handle.

My weekly goals have stayed the same since I started linking up with Carolyn but until I believe I have a good foundation laid {I'm easily achieving these three goals every week} I'm not comfortable changing them or adding in new goals. These three goals are still a challenge for me so they're still good goals for me to be setting.

Do you reward yourself daily for reaching a goal?

5 on Friday

Before beginning to type this I was sitting on my bed staring at this white screen cursing myself for not jotting down those ideas I had earlier in the week because right now I feel fresh out of ideas to put down.

Okay, I'm still cursing myself.

Anyways I'm sure I'll come up with something once I get this party started.

{ONE} Remember this post about seventy-five in twenty fourteen? For a while it seemed like I wasn't interested in reading any more and hadn't really been making progress on my reading challenge. Now all of a sudden it's like I only want to read. I've managed to knock out 16 of 75 books but am still four books behind schedule. I'm sure I'll catch up in no time at the rate I'm going though. I'm reading number 17 and have number 18 on hand ready to go. Curious what I'm reading? Head on over to my GoodReads page to check it out.

{TWO} I am just 14 days away from a week long vacation to see my bestie in Maryland. Who has two thumbs and is super excited? This girl! As if visiting my best friend for a week wasn't enough we're also going to the Richmond International Raceway for the Toyota Owners 400 {NASCAR race} straight from the airport. I am beyond excited about this. Hurry up vacation!

{THREE} Speaking of a week long vacation, would anyone be interested in guest posting for me while I am gone?? The topic is open to whatever you want to share with us. Let me know if you're interested!

{FOUR} The weather in Wisconsin is finally getting its act together and it has been super nice. And yet I'm just not ready to put away the flannel sheets for the year. I put my cute and cuddly penguins on my bed for one last time this morning. We'll see how long this lasts before I'm too warm at night to even sleep.

{FIVE} I'm headed home this weekend {as I do every weekend} so I can see my sweet boy. Not seeing him every day is probably the hardest part since I moved out. I definitely try to make the most of my visits home but sometimes that darn pup just won't cooperate and let me smother him for hours.

And speaking of going home I better get moving if I want to pack anything to avoid having to stop at my apartment after work! Have a great weekend everyone!!

The Struggle Is Real

Last night was a rough one as far as sleep was concerned. After getting sucked into the end of a book {because that's when it gets really good don't ya know?} then realizing that my FitBit was dead and frantically running around my place looking for the charger. And deciding once said charger was found that I couldn't sleep without my FitBit to track my sleep so I started a new book to pass the time. Before I knew it it was almost 1am and I was just deciding that I better get to sleep with a half charged FitBit if I wanted to run in the morning.

Fast forward to this morning, I was so close to saying f&%$ this shit and sleeping in. But I dug deep and thought about what all of my supporters would say to me if they knew I was being a lazy bum and wanting to stay in bed instead of run on a perfectly good Thursday morning. I am pretty sure I dragged my own self out of bed at that point. {I'm picturing a ghost like version of myself being up and pulling me from bed.}

And now that it's over I am so glad I just got up and did the damn thing. I do not doubt the power of a work out after what just happened in roughly 30 minutes. I went from being dead tired and grumpy about pulling myself from my nice warm, comfy bed to run to being in such a good mood that I thought today was Friday. {Because good moods on work days are only appropriate on Fridays, right?}

This map looks so much better than the one I posted from the actual app to Instagram, no?

Shameless plug time...if you want to follow me on Instagram and see what I mean about the difference in the way the maps from Nike+ look you can follow me here.

And thanks to the pretty button at the beginning of this post you know I'm linking up to share my non-scale victory today. If you haven't picked up on it yet my NSV for this week is that while the struggle is real each and every morning I decide to get up early and start pounding the pavement I'm doing the damn thing! Crazy what actually {dare I say} enjoying my work out can do. Sure my runs haven't been exactly on schedule right now but I'm still getting them done and not totally hating the experience. Much better than I could say for the 30 Day Shred.

What's your NSV for the week?

Diet Help Needed!

Starting Weight: 207.7

Last Week's Weigh In, Apr 2: 205.5

Today's Weigh In, Apr 9: 205.7

Gain: 0.2

Overall Loss: 2.0

I don't really have a lot to report this week. A gain of less than half a pound really isn't a gain in my book so I'm taking this weigh in as staying the same. But here's a look at where I'm at with my fitness and diet.

I skipped out on running this morning. And by the looks of the weather forecast that probably wasn't my smartest idea. At best I will get in a run tomorrow and then have to wait until Monday since it's supposed to rain all weekend. I'll stay optimistic though that it won't be raining when I want to run.

As far as my diet goes I've been eating less which is probably a huge part of the slow loss I've been seeing the last couple of weeks. But I know I'm not choosing the best foods to fuel my body or eating less calories in the most healthy way. I want to do more than just eat less calories than I burn. I want to fuel my body with good healthy foods. Something I have never really done. So I need your help figuring out this diet thing. {I'm not referring to diet in terms of restricting foods and what not.}

Any tips for grocery shopping for healthy foods on a budget?

How do you build your meal plan for the week?

How do I ease myself into eating clean? I'm afraid to try and go full out right from the start.

A Running Update

Good Tuesday morning my friends! Crazy that I can say that before 8am on a work day but I'm in a good mood this morning so I'm just going to run with it.

Remember back on Wednesday when I filled y'all in on how I decided to start running again? Well mother nature decided to not cooperate Friday morning to allow me to get my second run in as planned. Freezing rain and snow Thursday night to more snow Friday morning meant the roads were crap and as I told Carolyn and Tammy Jo, I'm too young to slip and fall or be hit by a car.

And despite the really awesome weather Saturday and Sunday I was more of a bump on a log than a runner. Let's throw in one more day of being a bump on a log on Monday for good measure while we're at it.

Any time I'm at work seems to be the optimal time for me to feel motivated and want to get my act together. And wouldn't ya know, I got bit by the running bug yesterday afternoon while slugging along during a busy Monday at work. I took advantage of it though and set a run reminder on my Nike+ Running App, changed my alarm to 6:30am, and just got it in my head that I would be running the next morning.

It was so in my head apparently that I woke up twice before my alarm thinking, "crap I missed my alarm to run now I can't" only to check the time and realize it was way too early to be worrying about not being able to run.

When my alarm finally did go off I got right down to business and was out starting week 1 day 2 of the C25K program before 7am.

After getting two runs under my belt I'm feeling pretty good about this running thing. Let's hope it continues that way!

I think I just might be crazy but I'm going to run again tomorrow morning to finish out week 1 of the C25K program. I'm a day behind schedule but I think it will all work out in the end.

By the way, I should probably mention what I am training for. It's not an actual organized road race but a virtual 5K race through the SparkPeople website the week of June 8-14. It's free, I can run any 3.1 mile route I choose, and it can be done when it fits into my schedule any time during that week. I figure this way I'm training for something rather than following the program just for the structure of it.

This may just be the time I finally complete the entire C25K program!

Did you sign up for a race to train for when you started running?
What is your favorite part of running that makes you stick with it?

It wasn't that bad!

Back in the middle of March I blogged about some goals I set for myself for the week. One of them being to do the 30 Day Shred 5 times/week. And while I started off strong, completing 3 days in a row, I never actually pulled through and finished.

So the following week I made it a goal again, minus blogging about it. I crashed and burned after completing one day. And since then I've been a huge couch potato.

Until today.

After reading Carolyn's blog yesterday I felt like I was in a V8 commercial where someone bops you on the head saying, "you could've had a V8" only she was saying "you could be active and on the wagon!" And because Carolyn is a runner {a kick ass one too} I was beginning to think about starting to run again.

The Shred just wasn't working for me. Doing the same work out 5 days in a row, and not one that I particularly look forward to completing was becoming torture. And while I know a work out isn't supposed to be easy I also know there is a difference between something being hard but doable and hard but dreadful. So I knew it was time to start looking for another work out.

Finally around 5:30 yesterday I sent out a text to Carolyn and my other favorite running blogger Tammy Jo simply telling them I was thinking about starting to run again. And I'm so glad I sent that text. Those ladies gave me nothing but support and encouragement that I could do it {and should do it}. Carolyn even helped push me to start today instead of Monday {because everything starts on a Monday, right?}.

And even after a 6:30am wake up call, 1.91 miles, and 29:25 minutes later I'm still so glad I sent that text! Thank you, thank you ladies!

It wasn't that bad!

It's Wednesday so that also means that it is time to link up for Weigh In Wednesday.

And oh boy has it been a while since I participated in one of these. But here goes.

Starting Weight {highest recorded weight}: 207.7

Last Weigh In Wed., Feb. 12: 206.8

Today's Weigh In, Apr. 2: 205.5

Loss: 1.3

Overall Loss: 2.2

Heck yes! Seeing that I'm losing some weight, even if it's small amounts here and there, is encouraging! And honestly, I would rather lose it slowly {although frustrating sometimes} and keep it off long term than lose it quickly and see it come back just as quickly.

And that's it. That's all I've got to report this fine Wednesday morning. Can you tell I'm in a good mood? :)

Do you need a push from friends/family to take an idea you're thinking about to something you're actually doing?