a new day, a new lady

Well I went to Houston this weekend, hence the lack of posting. I had a FABULOUS time though! It was my Dad’s birthday on Saturday so I had to come in to help celebrate. Now, unfortunately, EVERY meal that we “planned” got changed in one way or another, i.e. being invited out to a different restaurant then originally planned or just going to a restaurant when you thought you were going to be cooking at home. Either way I am happy to report I made VERY wise and healthy decisions! I’m getting the hang of this, FINALLY!

So Friday after work I drove to Houston where my mom greeted me with a Mexican Martini, lol…and people wonder where my love for tequila and margarita like drinks come from! She told me that one of our closest friends (one of my brother’s exes - they were together for like 6 years back around high school time - we always thought of her as a sister) that she wanted to have a girl’s evening with us since it had literally been over a year since we had last hung out together. My input is that I want to go to a place that serves a GOOD grilled chicken dish. So where do we decide to go? You guessed it ladies! MEXICAN FOOD! hahahaha! I did NOT do as good with limiting my alcohol intake this time around though - oh well! I made good food choices so I think I was allowed to slack off in the margarita department (or so I rationalize). Anywho, after dinner and many drinks we came back to house where my brother and dad were having drinks of their own, listening to music and playing cards - Gin. I LOVE cards! My grandparents taught my brother and I to play and we are dang good if you ask me (I mean I Gin Rummied (?) on my friend three times in a row when no one else did all night! hehe)! So the ladies joined in on that action. Basically we were up until 4:30 in the morning, playing cards (Gin and Spades), listening to music and yes, drinking. Although I maybe nursed one beer ALL night long because I have my limits (plus, I’m not crazy about beer). But it was SUPER fun! I might post a couple pics. from that night.

Saturday, I don’t get up until around noon, lol…I was a tired girl! I haven’t had a night quite like that in a LONG time. But I hurry up and shower and my mom and I head out for a girl’s day of shopping - EVERYWHERE! I LOVE coming home and going shopping with my mom. Interestingly enough we did more cosmetic, hair product, etc. shopping than anything else, haha. That evening, we were planning on cooking for my dad’s actual birthday. A flank steak and I was going to make Roni’s Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes! My parent’s best friends and my Godparents wanted to take us all out to dinner for his birthday though. So we did Italian food Saturday night. I did a grilled chicken breast and salad there though. So again, good food choices - but several glasses of wine. What can I say? I’m 23 and I LOVE my parents and their friends! So we did all of that goodness and returned back to house for more drinks, dessert and dancing! MAN can my parents and their friends get down. I literally felt like I was with MY friends! That’s why I don’t ever mind hanging out with them. I mean, I look at my parents and I’m like “So THAT’S where I get that from!” haha…it was a wonderful day and night!

Sunday, my mom and I did some last minute shopping. We try to take advantage of every moment that we have together since I really don’t get to come visit very often. One fun thing we did do was our trip to Sports Authority. Um, can I just say that there is no way to look sexy in a one piece bathing suit? lol! I decided I want to swim laps because other than walking that’s the next best thing to do to strengthen my back. So I needed a one piece - doing laps in a bikini is a bit dangerous! I found a “cute” one though. I have yet to start with the laps but whenever I do, I’ll be sure to let y’all know how that goes! We also went over to the fitness equipment department and pretty much played on EVERYTHING! Ab machines, treadmills, I tried out different resistance bands, weights - we were goof balls! We always have uncontrollable laughing fits whenever we hang out together! Part of the reason I love her so much! But yeah, I ended up buying the heaviest resistance band to do some leg and arm work at home. So I was pretty pumped about that! I also bought a new pair of running shoes. I’m back to my New Balances - Nike has too high of an arch on the OUTside of the food and it just starts to make my foot ache after a while. So yay for new comfortable running shoes! We made a quick stop at the grocery store, which is always nice for me because I can basically get “free” groceries while I’m home. I didn’t get much though, really just some fruit and pita chips and shampoo, lol. Anywho, we finally returned home and then finally we DID make the flank steak, salad, and Roni’s sweet potatoes! Ta da!

So after a scrumptious dinner (they loved the sweet potatoes just as much as I do!) I packed up and hit the sack because I woke up at 5am this morning to drive into Austin to be at work by 9am. And even that didn’t get me down!

But yeah, I really can’t complain about the weekend. I took the above pictures on my cell phone so whenever I get the pictures off my camera from the weekend, I might share a couple so you can see my silly family and I in action! I hope everyone had a great weekend too! I’ll be reading and commenting throughout the rest of the day so I can’t wait to hear all about y’alls weekend adventures! Oh and I’m going to work out again today too. No class today, well - maybe, it depends on when I get off work. I’ll let you guys know! Until then, have a fantastic day!

That’s the work out class at the YMCA that I tried this morning! Y’all it was TOO cute! It was a group of like 7 older ladies (most likely 50s and up) and we worked out to SHOW TUNES! Now, I loved this because I’ve grown up in choirs and attended all sorts of musicals and Broadway shows, so I was rocking out! But these ladies were just so cute. They really were grooving away to the show tunes and I just wanted to scoop each one up because I thought they were so precious! By the end of the class they all knew my name and were encouraging me to please come back next week! It was the sweetest thing!

Now I’m debating attending the Dance NRG class this evening. And I have to share a funny story with y’all. I definitely had a blonde moment earlier today. This whole time I’ve only ever seen Dance NRG printed on a handout sheet. So I never really said it out loud, just browsed over it. There was no description for the class so I began to wonder what NRG was? Hmmm…I assumed I’d figure it out once I attended. Well I was talking to one of my best friends today and told her I had plans to attend the Dance NRG class and it was like LIGHT BULB! I seriously was like, OHHHHHHHH ENERGY!!! NRG! I GET IT! hahhahaha…I cracked myself up! It’s ok…you can laugh, I laughed at myself!

Further news would be that I had weigh in yesterday. It wasn’t the greatest weigh in but I knew that going in so I wasn’t like shocked or disappointed or anything. What I am excited to share though is in class, we were discussing REACH to Become Active!

Recognize an excuse
Ease into activity at your own pace
Ask for help
Change negative thoughts
Have fun with it

Simple enough! Each one is really pretty self explanatory. But it got the class to talking about the different things that they liked to do. Some like solitary exercise such as running. Others needed a group experience like Step class, etc. Well fortunately, I do well with both! As long as I have music I can totally work out alone and then of course I am totally a people person so group classes make me happy (I also want to teach group aerobic classes so I guess that’s really right up my ally). Anywho, one of the members was talking about how she was learning to run and had joined a marathon training running group. Once my back is stronger I totally want to join one of those groups because I would love to run a 5K (although is it true that you can’t have an ipod or anything?? or is that only in the hardcore races? Because I don’t know if I could run ANYTHING without music!) But I digress, so this particular member mentioned that in her group was a man who taught people HOW to run. Not just like training for a marathon but the actual correct way to run and swing your arms and everything. This made me SO excited!! I spoke with her after class and asked for his information, she’s bringing it next week. But you see, on the treadmill, I am a toe runner. Like, I run on the balls of my feet. Which evidently is a sprint run. I’ve heard people say that you are supposed to make full contact of your foot to the floor - like heal, midfoot, toe, etc. - well, I’ve never really been able to do that. Not on a treadmill anyways. I think I have a little more success running on the actual ground. But still, I could learn SO much from a running coach. It was like God knew I needed this because I have seriously been contemplating asking someone, anyone who I see running, exactly how they place their foot and make it all work, lol. So this honestly was a God send! It’s ALSO really exciting because evidently, there is a way to swing your arms properly. I THINK I DO IT WRONG! When I run or am even on the EFX and swing my arms, I tend to get this pain in my left shoulder/neck/back area. I’ve had an MRI on it before and it showed definite muscle spasms but nothing was like out of place. So I’m wondering if I am just swinging my arms in such a wrong way that it’s causing me this pain? I mean how great would it be if that’s the actual problem and there is an actual way to FIX IT!! I just can’t wait to get this guy’s number and call him up because I think he will just be able to do wonders with me! So the meeting just made my day - well week actually.

Oh, I also bought the Weight Watchers Start Living, Start Losing - Inspirational stories that will motivate you now - book. I LOVE inspirational weight loss stories! I mean I think we all do or we wouldn’t have gravitated towards Roni’s website and this blogging community! So I am really happy to begin reading it and just have a new story and inspiration every day! I’ll be sure to let y’all know what I think!

Well, that’s all for now! I hope everyone has been having a successful week - I know I’m still on cloud 9 from Ali’s win on the Biggest Loser! haha…talk to y’all soon. Oh and I’ll be sure to let y’all know about the Dance NRG class if I am able to make it tonight!

 OK well I didn’t make it to the dance class tonight because I went and had a mani/pedi at 5pm (at a place I’ve been dying to get into but they just opened up and it’s been pretty packed and they had a cancellation, lol) and it has been my experience that if I AT ALL try to wear any close toed shoes on the same day of the pedicure that they WILL get smudged. Nothing drives me more crazy than messed up toes and nails, especially immediately after I got them done! So that’s why I didn’t go tonight. Besides, I already worked out once today and truly did get a good work out in. Plus, I don’t want to overdue it and two classes in one day with my back, might not have been the best decision anyways. So yeah…but I WILL be trying it next week!! So once I do, I’ll let you guys know!!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am SO FREAKIN EXCITED!!!!! I had to stay away from the blogs so as not to find out because I didn’t get to watch it last night and I didn’t want it to be spoiled (man, not logging on here was tough! lol) But OH MY GOODNESS! I could NOT be MORE happy right now!!!!! I feel as if I have won the show or something! lol!

I have tons more to say and will say it ALL tonight but I just had to get it out there that WOOOOO FREAKIN HOOOO!! FIRST FEMALE BIGGEST LOSER! Let’s embrace the “impossible” ladies!!!!! I love you all!!!

I had an excellent weekend - the weather was SO BEAUTIFUL! It was screaming at you to BE OUTSIDE! haha…

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to work out Friday I worked late because we are having a HUGE training in Dallas today and tomorrow. But I was compiling these training binders which required a LOT of standing and bending over the table - NOT good for my back. So I went home and rested my back, iced it down and I’m happy to report it’s feeling a million times better. However, nothing is stopping me from going to the gym today! On the plus side, it was fun to watch Miss Texas win Miss USA 2008! “Everyone loves a Texas girl!”

Saturday I spent with one of my best friends who was actually precisely 9 months pregnant on Saturday. We did a healthy Mexican lunch - only one fajita and one margarita! I’m getting good at this! And yes, I could probably eat Mexican food 3 times a week and be the happiest little Texan alive! haha…so then I ran a couple errands with her in the gorgeous weather and when we parted ways, I had to do some phone time - I have another best friend who lives in VA and we usually talk for at least an hour, so I did that outside too! That evening I had a girl’s night and kept it to only three drinks (2 Knock Ya Naked Margaritas and one Pink Panty - how do they come up with these names?! lol) Although I do need to rave about the “Knock Ya Naked Margaritas” because they are GOOD!! It’s one can of limeade (like frozen lime concentrate for making margaritas), then you fill the can all the way up with tequila, add two cans (the empty limeade can, not real cans) of 7Up and one Corona - SUPER YUMMY! And since I’m sharing, the pink panties are made of pink lemonade concentrate, vodka, vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream. They are WAY too sweet for me - hence me only having one. But they are kinda fun for the first couple sips! lol

Sunday, I spent with another best friend out at the pool ALL DAY LONG! I even got a little pink, which does NOT happen to me! lol…just attests to how long I was outside. We were good girls and walked to get Subway and brought them back to the pool to enjoy. I spent the rest of the evening cleaning up the house and preparing for the week! Not to mention making the yummy Southwestern Chicken pizza (see below for pictures and recipe!) It was just a very relaxed and enjoyable weekend.

On and in case anyone is wondering why I didn’t go to the gym Saturday or Sunday - aside from resting my back to make sure it was totally healed - my gym was having a Kid’s Fun Weekend and I just knew it was going to be crazy overrun with families - which isn’t a bad thing but not the best when you are trying to get in and get out! I am going in about 45 minutes though and I can’t wait!

Also I’m excited because I have plans with Barbie, the pregnant friend, to get together with our cookbooks and meal plan for the week. When I shared my idea with her, she was ALL about it! I also turned her on to Roni’s GreenLiteBites and she’s already made a couple of her recipes! So all in all, it was a great weekend and I’m having a Marvelous Monday, lol…I hope everyone else is in good spirits too!

I’ve been cooking up a storm this past week and weekend! AND since I was feeling all crafty and proud of myself, I took some pictures of two of the three (I forgot about the third one, lol).

One being Roni’s Zucchini and Spaghetti Squash Lasagna. Now, TRUST that I know mine isn’t nearly as gorgeous as Roni’s (I totally skipped the step about sucking out the excess water with a turkey baster because I don’t have one, lol) but I don’t think it effects the taste whatsoever!

Then I made a vegetable pasta dish - it doesn’t really have a name. My friend who is a vegetarian came up with it and it’s super delicious! It’s whole wheat pasta, sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives, mushrooms, onions, and a little bit of olive oil. You saute the veggies and add it to the cooked pasta and it is mmmmMMMMmmmm good! Oh and I added a tiny bit of pesto to the noodles for a little extra flavor - pesto is one of my FAVORITES!!! So, unfortunately I forgot to take a picture but I know I’ll be making it again and I will take a picture then. I also think it’d be yummy to add some grilled chicken and maybe some pine nuts to the dish. Oh and I calculated it to maybe 5 points a serving - SUPER delicious!

 And finally, I made a recipe from one of my Weight Watcher’s cookbooks - Southwestern Chicken Pizza and it was TO DIE FOR!! One slice is 4 points and one slice is pretty dang huge!!

Oh there are two pieces missing from this picture. But still, you can see just how huge the slices are! I’ll go ahead and post the recipe because seriously, yall should make it - especially those who have a weakness for pizza - it’s delish!

• 1 (10 ounce) Italian cheese-flavored thin pizza crust (like Boboli)
• 1 cup refried beans (I used fat free so that actually might take the recipe down in points - hmmm, just now realized that, lol)
• 1 (4.5 ounce) can chopped green chilies, drained
• 1.5 cups shredded or chopped baked or grilled chicken breast (I used baked chicken breast, it’s easier to do in bulk)
• 1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded reduced-fat Mexican bled cheese
• 1/2 cup refrigerated fresh salsa
• Chopped green onions (didn’t have)
• Chopped fresh cilanto (didn’t have)

So then you…

1. Preheat oven to 475
2. Place pizza crust on an ungreased baking sheet; lightly coat crust with cooking spray; bake for 5 minutes (I didn’t use the spray either, lol - I was going pretty fast)
3. Meanwhile, combine beans and chilies in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave at high 1.5 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
4. Spread bean mixture evenly over baked crust. Arrange chicken over beans. Sprinkle evenly with cheese.
5. Bake for 9 minutes or until cheese melts and crust is golden (this was about 15 minutes for me). Spoon salsa onto pizza. Top with green onions and cilantro. Cut into 8 slices. Serving size: 1 slice.

There you have it! A delish low point, super filling pizza!!

Well, I hope everyone has had a fabulous weekend. I’ll post more about mine tomorrow while at work, lol. But I need to go take a shower and start getting ready for the day tomorrow! Until then, keep having fabulous “day one’s” and making awesome decisions!

I am QUITE frustrated at the moment. I have some personal issues going on - to break it down, I just have a very selfish and inconsiderate person in my life. But I don’t like to talk about negative things or even devote my time to them, I just can’t wait to go work out all this anger and frustration. I just needed to share it, vent it somewhere because it’s bottling up inside of me!

On a positive note - it was a gorgeous day yesterday (once I got over said selfish and inconsiderate person) and I was able to wash my car. That relaxed me A LOT! Then I went and worked out the remaining frustration and anger. However, the person has struck AGAIN this morning and now I just can’t wait to get off work and go run out all this anger!

GRRR!! lol…ok, I’m sorry. I realize I probably sound really scary at the moment but I just needed to get it out. I can’t really talk to anyone at work and this is my outlet. And it IS weight related - exercise - so yeah…lol…but I promise I’m not a scary person. I hardly ever even get that upset. It actually takes a LOT to make me mad. So you can just imagine. But I already feel better just having written this post. Thanks for letting me vent!

I hope everyone is having a MUCH better Friday than I am with MUCH more positive people in their lives

Oh my goodness! I just watched it this morning and oh it made me SO happy (and of course cry, lol…I don’t know if there has been a single episode where I haven’t cried or at least teared up a bit, haha…I’m such a sap!) But honestly, two GIRLS in the final 3?! I mean, I know it happened last year as well but Bill was just a powerhouse and everyone knew he was going to win. Ali could SERIOUSLY win the Biggest Loser! A girl winner for the first time in BL history! That would just be so amazing. And she truly is an inspiration. As is Kelly! I mean, I never thought she would make it to the end in a million years! But I am so proud of her and it makes me feel kind of bad for doubting her. But she proved me wrong and I just can’t wait until next week to see the results!

With that being said, I am currently debating whether or not I am going to work out today or not. My AAC was to work out at least 3 times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes. Thus far I have worked out twice this week, each for an hour. My body is a tiny bit tired but I don’t know if I should push through the tiredness (is that a word?) and then maybe it will just jump my body into official work out mode, or if I should give it a break today and work out tomorrow and Friday? Oh yeah, even though 3 times a week at 30 minutes is my AAC, I’m totally pushing it further than that. Mainly because if I do well this week working out 4 times and my back doesn’t have problems then I am going to re-open my membership with 24 Hour Fitness and really just go for it! Well, either way I will let you know what I do.

However, I am happy to report that last night went really well. I guess I technically had 2 margaritas - one at my friend’s house before we left, and one at the restaurant - but the one at the house was small and on the rocks so I don’t think it was near the points of the restaurant one (or perhaps that’s just my silly rationalization! lol) But I did only have maybe 12 chips and only ate ONE of my skinny tacos, with a little bit of black beans and a small amount of brown rice. And I was completely full when we left the restaurant! So I’m giving myself a pat on the back for that one, I think I did really well!

OK, well either way I have errands to run today. I will check back in later to let y’all know my work out decision. And by all means if you have any thoughts on the matter, share your 2 cents…I’ll probably take it, haha. Hope everyone is having a great OP day OR in my case, a great third “day one!”

but the morning weigh in read 189.5!! Umm, a 5lb weight loss in one day? I’m not too sure about that! Unless it was as suggested and I was just SUPER retaining water, salt, bloating, all those glorious side effects. I don’t know but I will take it!

I did cardio for an hour yesterday and did SUPER healthy eating. Somehow I had 3 points left at the end of the day but I just couldn’t bring myself to eat them because I seriously wasn’t hungry!

I’m working out again today…hopefully I will be incorporating some weights to this work out. I just want to make sure to take it at a slow, healthy pace for the sake of my back. But it’s hard once I get a taste of how good exercising feels and those endorphins begin to flow, I just want to go for it full force! I KNOW I can’t do this though. So maybe I won’t do weights today. Maybe I’ll just stick with cardio, especially since it’s only my third “in a row” work out in quite some time. But yes, I AM working out again today!

However, I am also going for Mexican food tonight with one of my best friends. She and her boyfriend are getting ready to leave for Europe for three weeks this Saturday and I’m watching their cat for them, haha. So this is my “thank you” dinner. I already looked at the menu online though and I’m going to order the skinny tacos. Whole wheat tortillas, with grilled chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, and lite cheese. Served with rice and black beans. I think I’ll only have some of the black beans though. AND I might do like Hungry Girl suggested on one of her recent Weight Watchers post and just stuff everything into ONE tortilla, saving me those extra tortilla points, even though it IS a whole wheat tortilla. We will see. My downfall is going to be the margaritas. I am a margarita girl, there is no getting around it, haha. But I’m going to try my best to limit myself to only one. The only thing about it is that we have plans to go chill in her hot tub afterwards and that’s always more fun when you are a little tipsy, lol. But I don’t want to go back to the way I was feeling after my weigh in yesterday morning. NOTHING feels as good, tastes as good, whatever…as being healthy and smaller will FEEL. So there, I solved that problem, haha.

Anyhow, I’m doing some house chores at the moment and as soon as I’m done with them I’m off the gym. I’ll post my AAC number then.

Finally, I just want to say a big THANK YOU to every one’s comments of support yesterday. I don’t know what I’d do without this community. Y’all have been a God send, I swear! So thank you. It was the support and positive commentary that I needed to completely fuel my healthy, on points, exercise filled day! I love you guys, I really do. Thank you again!

AAC: 65/195 - I had a great 65 minutes on the elliptical machine. I actually “ran” a total of 5 miles, which was my goal, so I was extremely happy about that! Now I am pretty tired so I think I’m going to lay down for a bit before my Mexican dinner tonight! I hope everyone is having a wonderful OP day or a successful “day one!”

So I already mentioned earlier that I had a turning point/wake up call this morning. After a long, super fun, super delicious food filled weekend, I stepped on the scale to see (uhh I hate to even post this) 194.5lbs! I haven’t seen that number in over two YEARS! I mean granted its only a couple pounds heavier than when I started this blog but SERIOUSLY, that is NOT ok! I told myself I would never get any higher than the weight I was when I started blogging. Well this weekend put me over the top.

I had a plan and the plan just fell through. Too many un-foreseen things happened this weekend. I did really well on Friday (I made Roni’s yummy Spaghetti Squash and Zucchini lasagna for dinner) until I went to eat a string cheese and some grapes when I noticed that my roommate (my super skinny roommate) had eaten almost ALL my string cheese AND my grapes!! So then I’m pissed, I was going to snack healthy and I couldn’t because my super skinny roomie (and super rich, btw…so it’s not like she’s pressed for cash to buy food) ate my food. So I go to get my BRAND NEW BAG of Baked Cheddar Sour Cream chips and guess what, she’d eaten the WHOLE bag too!! Just left me crumbs in the bottom of the bag! I WAS LIVID! So not only am I hungry but I’m also pissed the heck off. So what do I do? I totally emotionally angry eat! Granted, it was all 1 and 2 point items but they ADD UP! What made it even worse was the fact that she had stopped into the grocery store earlier that day to pick up lunch for herself and she could have replaced my stuff then, but no, she didn’t. She just ate it and didn’t even bother to replace it, tell me about it, nothing! She was out of town this weekend so I haven’t confronted her yet but this isn’t the first time she’s done something like this. However, it’s usually something really small and she usually immediately replaces it. This was just UN-acceptable!

So I finally go to bed Friday…get up Saturday and have nothing to eat because I emotionally ate the one bowl of milk and cereal I had left the night before. So I get mad all over again and eat MORE 1 and 2 point items in place of a healthy breakfast. I finally calm down when I get invited to go with friends out on the lake. However, the couple I was with, LOVE to cook and LOVE to eat. Of course somehow they are super small, but whatever, lol. It was all really healthy (basically) stuff: homemade chicken and veggie salad, broccoli salad, roasted artichokes, beef tenderloin, spaghetti, salad and creme brulee, oh and chips and queso too - the one real bad item but I did pretty OK there. However I totally drank alcohol the whole time too and I was with them from like 2pm until midnight - so that’s alot of alcohol and food. So there goes another day down the drain.

Wake up Sunday and go buy milk so I can have oatmeal. I’m off to a good start. UNTIL I go to my friend’s baby shower and there is yummy food everywhere. I mean just to give you an idea of the cupcakes, they were homemade strawberry cupcakes with the middle being a combo of marshmallow cream and strawberry jam, with homemade cream cheese icing on top with strawberry sprinkles. That was JUST the cupcakes!! I limited myself to one of everything. I didn’t go back to the table and graze but still, one of everything wasn’t exactly healthy. So I come home, and I’m bound and determined to get back on plan - I was going to eat the Spaghetti Squash and Zucchini lasagna I had made Friday night UNTIL (lol) I talked to my mom and they were eating hamburgers from my favorite hamburger place in Houston so I just HAD to order a hamburger from my favorite hamburger place in Austin (with a small order of fries, of course). So NATURALLY when I stepped on the scale this morning, it was just DISASTROUS!

My reasoning used to be that this isn’t a diet, it’s life and there are always going to be occasions where you get off track and such but SCRATCH that! It’s my life and there are ALWAYS going to be occasions with the potential to get off track, LEARN TO EAT HEALTHY AND SMART DURING THOSE OCCASIONS!!

I can’t do that anymore. It’s not worth it and it’s just not right. So after the horrible scale reading this morning I pack my lunch: a 4 point lean cuisine, with a bag of grapes, carrots, a kiwi, and mandarin oranges. Not that I plan on eating it all but I’m armed with ONLY healthy stuff whenever hunger hits! I also packed my gym bag so I can go exercise as soon as I get off work. I also KNOW I am eating my healthy lasagna tonight, NO MATTER WHAT!

I do also want to pat myself on the back because we celebrated a co-workers birthday this morning and there were bagels with cream cheese, all sorts of breakfast tacos, and chocolate! lol…and I didn’t touch ANY of it! I’m sorry (well no, I’m not sorry) but it’s just not worth it! NOTHING is worth or can taste as good as being healthy and in shape will FEEL. That’s all there is to it!

So with all this being said, I get on this morning looking for inspiration to help me stay on track and read this excellent newcomer’s blog. She discusses how when you start a new program or plan, even though you intend it to be a LIFE plan, you have awesome momentum for the first day, week, maybe even month but then you lose it somewhere along the day. She talks about how she’s going to treat EACH day like it’s “day one”. Um, can we say GENIUS! I think this is an excellent idea and I have already adopted it to be my own!

So once again, I am armed with a PLAN, a brand new OUTLOOK and the gut feeling that I KNOW I am going to be successful this time. I can feel it from within! It’s not terrible to fall short, or have a turning point, it allows you to learn from your mistakes and make it RIGHT the next time around. And I’m happy to announce that this is my LAST time around!

AAC: 65/130

AND I just want to say thank you for all of the wonderful support! This is SUCH an amazing community and I am SO grateful to have found each and every one of you. Thank you continued for the love and support!

This morning was a MAJOR turning point…at first I’m keen to say it’s over something totally bad. But the more I analyze it I think, maybe it’s a good thing because it’s my TURNING POINT!

 I’m dashing out the door to work so I can’t write more at this moment, but you better believe I am sharing this (unfortunately (?)) as soon as I get a free moment at work.

Yikes!