... and the sky is blue!

This was part of my lunch today.. Avocado Salad Roll. It's avocado and fresh veggies wrapped in tapioca paper. I'm going to try to make this at home :) It was so tasty and fresh!

I'm sure I am last to comply, but I've been tagged!

Thanks Melissa and Monica for tagging me!

Here's 5 things about me that you probably didn't know:

1. My emotions are plain weird. I will cry at a good commercial and appear completely emotionless when someone tells me good news. Just trust me- weird.

2. When I was 11-years-old, I convinced my mom that we needed a farm by placing a baby goat in her arms. Needless to say, she fell in love. The one goat turned into 3 goats, 2 pigs, 20 chickens, 30 ducks, 2 lambs, 4 geese, 2 turkeys, 8 cats, 3 dogs, 1 horse... Yes, I am just that persuasive!

3. A few years ago (maybe 5?), my family served as a host family for an exchange student from Germany. Now that I think back on it, it was en enriching, fun experience. But at the time it was tough to be 14 and have all of the attention on a girl who is 2 years older and from another country! It had its hard moments. Just this week she found me on Facebook and she's engaged!

4. I am a total maniac on the road. I haven't lived in NYC since I was little, but I somehow inherited the traits of a very skilled New York City driver! "You don't want to let me in front of you? Oh yeah? WATCH THIS!" (I win!) I am very familiar with my horn and how to use it.

5. In December I will graduate with my bachelors in public relations. I love communicating with people, so my degree suits me well. But my other passion is health and fitness, so my dream is to one day combine the two. This is where my passion for Whole Foods might one day come in! (Do you hear me, WF?!)

From what I've seen on the other blogs, everyone else has already been tagged! If you haven't, consider yourself it!

p.s.- I hit a car today. Unbelievably neither car was hurt. It wasn't me being distracted this time, it was my brakes. Need to get some new ones.... (If you remember, I got in a very costly accident when I ran into the back of a Chevy Tahoe less than a year ago.)

p.s.s.- On my Challenge, I decided to press restart on my eating. Moving on! Now I've sketched out 21 days on my calendar. Other than Fathers Day and a planned trip to Ruths Chris and a surprise restaurant I'm taking David to, I have no reason to get off plan! And...I got my exercise plan together. Here is it:

Each full week:
- 30 min Cardio, 4/week
- 20 min Pilates, 2/week
- 25 min Strength, 3/week
- 8-min abs video, 1/week

Crazy! I can do it. This week is a "do my best" because I'm starting halfway through, but come Monday, that's it. It will rock!

The apartment I'm looking at has cherry wood floors and peach/tan/yellow walls. I have this nice comfy couch with teal fabric that's just not my taste. I tried a slipcover. I'm thinking my colors will be chocolate brown with orange, yellow, white and black furniture. What do you think?

This is what I get to sleep with tonight!

Huh?

Really, it's a great concept Women's Health came up with. Here, you'll find an interactive tool that has models testing out bathing suits that you should buy for your shape. Funny, though- none of the models looked like me. Take a look at the models they selected and let me know what you think. I understand some women are in great shape and have that build, but when you set up a feature designed to include all women, you're going to have to realize that not all women are 5'10" and 120 lbs. Let me know what you think.

Hola!

I've been tagged to share a few things about me.. and I promise I will! I'll try for tonight.

Right now I am consumed with work, classes and looking for a place to live! Also, my computer broke and had to be sent away. It just cracked all of the sudden. Weird!

BUT, I had to fill you in on my 20 day challenge.

1. I am doing my clean eating/slight detox plan. I've put myself down for 20 days to rid myself of processed and junk foods. Yesterday was Day 1. I slipped a few times (hello, habits!), but today is 100% on so far! The key is planning.

2. I've fallen off the exercise wagon and can't get back on! When I'm exercising, I LOVE it. I make it a priority everyday because I know how good it makes me feel. But when I don't get one good exercise in for 3 days, I have a lot of trouble getting back into it. Right now I am not into it. As a result, I am lethargic and moody. I'm going to try to hit the gym for a good session tonight, but I also want to create a structured plan to go along with my eating challenge. I'd like to incorporate strength (upper, lower and abs), running, a bit of other cardio and Pilates once or twice a week.

So that's where I am. YAY on food, NOOOO on exercise. Maybe I'll devise an exercise plan by tonight and post it along with my response to the tags!

Summer Picnic!

I can't wait to catch up on all of your blogs (and your great comments on my last post), but I wanted to get a few photos up in the meantime. The picnic was a blast! The video is by far the best, but I have to figure out how to upload that.

About 20 good friends came. I have some fun friends! They brought tons of delicious food and drinks. We socialized, ate.. and then played games! First we broke into 2 teams to compete in a series of challenges:

1. Egg Race- One spoon for each team; carry 1 egg with the spoon to and around cone and back to starting line to pass to next person in line. If they dropped the egg, they had to start over with a new egg. In the end, everyone just threw the eggs at each other.

2. Jumping Race- Each team had to send out one person to jump rope around the cone and back to the starting line to pass off to the next member. Watching these big, muscular guys jumping roping (sparkly jump ropes, of course!) with serious looks on their faces was the best!

3. Dirty Water- One bucket at the starting line, one bcket for each team at their respective cones at the end. Each time has a big sponde and must soak up as much water as possible and race to fill up their bucket with more water than the other team. We couldn't find a place to get water, so we used a bucket of muddy, seaweed-y pond water! Ewww!

(My team won!)

Also, we played Red-Rover and 500! I haven't played Red-Rover since elementary school!

Mostly, we ate toms of food and ran around silly like we were 8-year-olds set free at summer camp! SO much fun!

Goodness

I got a raise!

With the extra funds from my raise + money saved from gas, I can now afford to comfortably move near my work. This would end my 3-hours each day commute. I will be within a mile from work (and gyms, awesome restaurants, movie theaters, the Florida Aquarium, historic districts, SOHO and more!) and about 10 minutes from my school. I am so excited about this.

1.I will be able to walk more places and leave my car behind.
2. I will have an extra 3 hours! each day. (Hello, morning workouts and afternoon runs!)
3. Living solo will make me more accountable for my sleep, activity and eating habits. Everything I put into that kitchen and eat will be my choice. Hello, Whole Foods (5 minutes down the road!)!!

I don't have an exact place yet, but 'll keep you posted! =)

This is Bayshore, .5 miles from my work. I love running this!

About The Plan. I'm giving it 2 weeks hardcore to start. Monday May 26- Sunday June 8. It will be clean eating, a set bedtime and a guideline for exercise. This isn't about limitations- it's about treating my body to what makes it feel great! More to come!

Addicting!

Stop the madness!

Yes, this is madness. I have fallen into this cycle. Headstrong and going great for a few days, when X happens (family stress, money, old habits, big event, pressure) and Boom! I mess up. And I mess up baaaaadddd. So I mess up a bit more, skip my exercise and go to bed. I wake up and woah! I feel like crap. My clothes fit even less and the scale is giving me an ugly number (I will ready my scale every morning. I am obsessive- don't even challenge me on this!). So I plan on letting it not defeat me.. but a tiny temptation/pressure/stress comes and goodbye! Downward spiral. So I do that for a few days, regain my burst of motivation and I'm back on track. For a few days.

You see, I am fantastic when it comes to setting goals, crunching numbers, talking about it and even great when it comes to getting to the gym. But when one ounce of stress/pressure/an event comes into my life, I crumble.

I believe we program our bodies with the way we eat. I plan on doing a month of clean eating/light detox to reset my habits, but that will have to be after my picnic on Saturday. (I'm being realistic here.) But tomorrow... TOMORROW... "I'm craving this!".. "But we're all going out to eat!"... "It is my favorite food!" .. "But the container is open!"... "One bite won't hurt."... "Nobody will ever know" ..and.. "I don't have to tell the bloggers!" will not work.

100% clean tomorrow. THAT'S IT! Pressure me here, people. Tell me to cut the crap. To stand up for what I want. Tell me that I do not have to have 2 pieces of that cake just because it is there!

Detailed plan and take-no-excuses tactic to come.

flickr

Trunk Monkey

Do you have a Trunk Monkey? David showed this to me and it is FUNNY! Video is under 6 minutes. You'll wish it was longer!

Stop and Think

source

Wonderful Sagan posted an interesting video on her blog and made me think of my own experience with the issue:

A few days ago I posted a video from YouTube on my site. It was basically a long series of "Your Mom.." jokes- I thought it was funny. But when I got a comment from a blogger who found it offensive, I really took a step back and evaluated my thinking.

Kelsey (didn't have a blog linked) left me this comment: "I found this to be very tasteless. For a "healthy-eating" blog, you sure aren't promoting a healthy perspective with this. Rather, this video promotes judging and making fun of people who are overweight or obese. "

I watched the video again to see what she was talking about. I realized all of the jokes had to do with this (never pictured) mom who was in the hospital and way overweight. "She's going to need her own zip code".... You get the idea. I decided to take the video down. I never want to offend anyone- especially when it comes to an issue such as weight.

I am very passionate about a lot of things. I will speak my mind on any injustice. So since I care so strongly about healthy living and want others to follow suit, was it right for me to find humor in a joke that essentially makes fun of overweight people?

There is security in humor. After all, we laugh in awkward situations when we don't know what to say. When I found out some of the worst news of my life, I laughed. I didn't know what else to do. Humor stretches our limitations, tests just how far we will go.

But are we allowing such humor to degrade us? Obesity is a serious issue. Obesity can take away the quality of one's life as well as open the door for sickness. Is this something to laugh about?

Is laughing at obesity sending the wrong message about weight and body image? Are blonde jokes telling blonde girls that they're not smart?

We as a society should build one another up. So is there still room for this type of humor? Tell me what you think.

Review: 365 Organic

Product Review: 365 Organic Organic Honey Roasted Granola Bar

Ingredients: Rolled Oats, Honey, Peanuts, Raisins, Almonds, and Crisp Brown Rice. Sold at Whole Foods Market.

What's not to love about this bar? It's got a healthy balance of protein, fats and fiber and kept me full for quite a while. The bar is a good size, so I didn't feel scammed. The taste is heavenly and the texture is pleasing. It's not too sweet. Lots of chunks of peanuts, raisins and almonds. Oh, it is just right.

And you get all of this for 160 organic calories.

I will definitely buy this again. Lots of these bars, actually.

** 365 Organic is Whole Food's brand. My love affair with Whole Foods is growing. I really want to work there some day. DID YOU READ THAT WHOLE FOODS?! PICK ME!!**

Like I Won An Oscar

After church Sunday morning I was browsing the internet to find something to do when.. wowsa! Health and Fitness Show?!?!?!?!?! That's for me!! Needless to say, I quickly assured David of how he too was incredibly excited and just must attend this wonderful event.

"The show will feature over 150 exhibitors in the health and fitness industry, aligned down three tracks entitled: Family Fitness, The Active Adult, and The Serious Athlete."This show will feature several tracks that will appeal to a wide range of individuals," said Todd Johnson, the show's director. "Our goal is to bring motivated health-centric people together with top-of the-line providers, so everyone wins, especially the residents of Orlando."

We basically walked to all of the tables that were giving away something free! It was $10 to get in- we were going to get our money's worth! I'll post some product reviews later, but I have to tell you about my favorite part!

There was a table of personal trainers who were giving free body fat tests. I was curious, so I signed up. She asked my height, weight and age. Stand there a minute holding a contraption...

17.1% !!!!!!!!

Lady: "Wow! Wow. Well, I guess we don't have to tell you anything. What do you do?!?! That is so impressive!"

I felt like a rock star!

She proceeded to show all of the other trainers my great results as I told them all about my exercise routine and diet.

Here's a guideline on body fat percentages:

Yes, 17.1% is A-T-H-L-E-T-E! Not even Fitness- Athlete! I was so super excited after hearing that. It's a nice treat to see my healthy efforts are paying off within my body even if I am unhappy with my weight. On the other hand, I now have to live up to this! I want to keep this 17.1%! That will be on my mind next time I want to skip a run or eat another bowl of ice cream! Whatever it takes, right? =)

I couldn't wait to get home and tell all of you. Seriously.. 17.9%! Yay!

Going Green

Women's Health put out an article on 18 Ways to Go Green. Is it just me or is Going Green everywhere lately? Everyone seems to be paying a bit more attention to how they treat the environment and use our resources. Maybe rising gas prices have something to do with it? I'm paying $3.70 a gallon- and that adds up commuting 3 hours each day and driving to Orlando every other weekend... But this new movement is a huge step in the right direction. Anyway... a few highlights from the article:

- " Cut down on your food miles Food typically travels 1,000 miles before it gets to you, and each of those miles involves the emission of CO2." Whole Foods incorporates a lot of local produce. And all of the fresh farmer's markets I've been to have lower prices than regular grocery stores.

- "Let the dishwasher work Scrape your dishes off rather than pre-rinsing before loading the dishwasher. You'll save as much as 20 gallons per full load, and your dishes will be just as clean."

One more thing to mention: The St. Petersburg Times put out an interesting article on natural medicines to common ailments such as migraines, dandruff and the common cold.

Feelin' Good!

This is my lovely puppy last night. I can not get enough of her! The tongue sticking out? Yeah, that's how she usually sleeps!


Of course I took advantage of Dunkin Donuts' Free Iced Coffee Day! I quickly stopped in after work and before class. I don't like the service much at DD. They move me along so quickly and I never understand what I've just ordered. Sometimes I'd rather give a few extra dollars to Starbucks and be treated special. I am all about customer service. (But the coffee was goood!) Make sure to get your Iced Coffee before 10 p.m.!

And thank you everyone again for your comments a few days ago when I was feeling down. I have since hit the gym and planned my diet with mostly clean foods. My mood perked up right away and I'm feeling in control, healthy and psyched to reach my goals! I've also joined SparkPeople to aid me a bit. I've found that the more involved I can get, and the more obsessive about something I can be, the better I do. Weird, but that's how I am. Some people need to not think about it (weight, calories, etc.), but thinking and planning and number-crunching and imagining is what makes me tick. Yay!

I hope you all are having a fantastic Thursday. Friday is right around the corner!

Free?!?! That's For ME!

Our friends at the all-natural Dunkin Donuts are giving away free 16 oz. Iced Coffees tomorrow, May 15th-Thursday, 10am-10pm. I think it's about time to start drinking iced coffees! Do they have soy milk?

Love/Hate Running

How's your relationship doing?

I'm an Asics girl, but this video is awesome!

It's Summer!!!

I'm feeling 10% better from yesterday. I've found a bit of motivation and realization that if I let this keep me from my goal.. well, then I won't ever reach it! Today I am eating clean. I have all of my fresh, whole food packed. Thanks, girls!

David and I went with my family out on my Dad's boat this weekend. We had so much fun! I applied sunscreen before we left, leaving my back so someone could put it on for me. But I forgot. I am scorched. So sore. My poor skin :(

Anyway, I love pictures and thought some of you might, too. So here's what went on....




And here are a few from Mother's Day. Everything went so well. Recipes to come!

Wait a Second...

.. didn't this blog begin with me committing to get to my goal weight (now revised to 136)? Oh yeah...instead I gained 4 pounds that will not leave me.

I've had a series of ups and downs, all coming close to (but never actually hitting) my start weight (no, not goal. STARTING weight) of 144. I've made lots of improvements, really. But my weight remains up. And this weekend it got worse.

Thursday I was doing really well. In spite of having plans to go out to eat with friends every single day of the week, I was exercising, eating right and feeling great. And then it happened.

Thursday
9:00pm- Close to my starting weight. Feeling great... set my alarm for early next morning to run...
10:00pm- An unexpected, no control moment with a big bowl of full-fat ice cream. And a second bowl.

Friday
7:00am- Scale shows +2. I know I didn't gain 2 pounds, but I feel horrible about how I let myself down. I was this close.
7:10am- No workout- I feel like crap. Weekends are busy and food-packed for me. Losing my motivation on Friday just sets me up for disaster. But I took responsibility, scrambled up some motivation and did pretty well eating wise. I even crammed in an awesome intense run.

Saturday
7:30am- Scale shows +1. "What the *^@*^?!?!?"... "It's okay. Just remain calm and kick butt. You'll see a good number tomorrow."

Sunday
7:24am- Scale shows +.2. It's Mothers Day. I can't let this get me down.

Sunday
6:55am- Scale shows +1.2- a number I have NEVER seen before. Up 5 pounds in 4 days? All motivation gone. Gone.


All my life I maintain at 144 (always doing weights and eating 90% well), and now this? It is not just a number. It is my body, my confidence,. my clothes, my fitness, my success, my health. And right now I feel like crap all around.

Mothers

When I was younger, my mom would take me out for "date" nights. We'd dress up, go to dinner at Carrabba's and giggle like schoolgirls. On the way home we'd listen to the Grease sountrack with the windows rolled down, shouting the lyrics without any pride.

Nobody is like my mother. We can fight like dogs, but without her, I wouldn't be what I am today.
Mothers, you have the future in your hands. Happy Mothers' Day.

Better Than Rush Hour

Every day I drive over State Road 60- a simple road over the Tampa Bay connecting Clearwater and Tampa. Water spans from both sides almost as far as the eye can see. Buildings and bridges appear far in the distance, over the deep blue water.

For years I would take special drives over 60 just to roll the windows down and take in the fresh air. Something is so lively about driving 80mph over such a beautiful, fresh landscape.

A year ago I decided to relax by the water after work. Instead I got in my first accident 20 feet away from the Bay. Needless to say, that did not go as planned.

Since I've taken up running, I've imagined leaving rush hour behind and running along the waves. But aren't we always too busy with something? Well, yesterday I stopped.

In the heat of rush hour, I enjoyed a 40-minute run along the crashing waves. In the last 10-minutes, I watched a duo of dolphins leap in and out of the water. Watching wild dolphins perform under the warm sun? That was worth missing rush hour traffic.

I listened to this:

It Was Always Burning..!

This just makes me want to run!

summer picnic

I've lost touch with many of my friends and will throw a picnic to bring us all together for a fun afternoon in the park. It will be in 3 weeks with about 40 people. I plan to bring a lot of dishes and have others contribute some side dishes of their own. And of course there will have to be fresh brewed iced tea! I'm planning on Frisbee, football and music.

Any other ideas for a fun afternoon? Recipes, games? I need suggestions here!

Kale. Eww?

I made Kale chips this weekend. I washed and tore the kale into pieces, tossed with a bit of EVOO and salt, spread onto a pan and baked at 370. I checked it every 10 minutes to see how long they needed to be cooked until edible.

After a while I took them out. They were horrible. I mean GROSS! Not even the "oh, I will like this because it is good for me" thing. So I put the "chips" into a container to let them dry out more before I force-fed them into my mouth.

Thank God my dog jumped up on the counter and ate the good majority of them before I had to. It was a miracle.

p.s.- I've steamed and sauteed Kale before and loved it. These chips, however, were a different story. Any tips?

helpful tips

Often I face a battle between healthy, happy me and habit, junky me. I posted about this before and got some great tips that some readers use when they are faced with a tempting situation. I love real-world tips, so here's what they had to say:

- writing down everything you eat gives you time to think when you're tempted

-sometimes we don't feel the fulness right away. "Feel the fullness and take the time to adjust. Respect your body so it respects you back."

-ask yourself: "is it really worth it for x number of calories when I can have all these other healthier foods for less calories & more satiety..."

-sometimes just remembering: "eat the crap, FEEL LIKE CRAP"

-wait and go do something else. If you still want it after 20 min then go ahead.

-always remember tomorrow is a new day. Don't beat yourself up about it.

-when possible, keep "bad" food out of the house. "I am pretty sure that one day I will be able to have it around and not be so tempted, but for now I just don't."

-repetition helps some: "I try to eat the exact same thing for breakfast just about every morning, because if I don't have it planned out then I'd likely start to eat something and then think "ooh, but I've got ____ in the fridge- that'd be tasty!", and I'll end up eating 2 breakfasts instead of 1"

-sometimes a binge can happen when your body is lacking in something.

-Linds says reading French Women Don't Get Fat help her with her eating habits. Worth a try?

Thanks for all of the great tips. We all face those "oh, just eat it!" moments... followed by the "ugh! I will NEVER eat ______ again!" moments, so every tip helps. Lets make decisions that allow us to feel, look and be our best.

Working Workout

It has been so long since I last posted! Since we last talked, I finished the semester, my grandmother went in the hospital (she's out now) and I've been catching up with family and friends. I only have 1 1/2 weeks until school starts again, so I'm going to make the best of it! Oh- and I've been exercising hard! I missed it so much! I'll be responding to your comments asap. You girls had such great things to say! Thanks!


Women's Health has a great article about how to burn calories at work. Some of the suggestions just aren't realistic, but a few are good to know. A few I liked:

- keeping candy in an opaque dish. We are more likely to cave in if the candy is out of site.
-catechins, antioxidants found in green tea, may stimulate the body and aid in weight loss. I am going to go make myself a cup now..!
- if you keep tempting snacks at your desk, put them in a drawer to your left side. We are more likely to reach to our right.

My best advice: Get up and stretch every hour!