Oh heavens not again

I've become a blog slacker. My new goal: post once on Tuesday, once on the weekend, and hopefully a third time during the week. It's been crazy around here and by the time I get home from my Bar Method class, its almost 8pm and time to make dinner! I need to plan better so I can have dinners ready when I get home so I can sit at my computer, write a quick post, and catch up on my DVR! I don't even have pictures to post because I haven't even plugged my phone into my computer in quite a while. This (again, sorry) is going to be super short. I need to clean my apartment. I'm 27, not in college, so my apartment needs to be CLEAN to reflect that. Then it's time for a quick shower and Saturday evening church.

Quick diet bet update: I failed drastically. 4 weeks to lose 5 lbs is seriously not a big challenge, and I failed. Pretty much exactly where I started. I'm working out 5 times a week and definitely feel stronger and more flexible, but I'm just not seeing results. Definitely not seeing results on the scale and I don't feel like I've traded fat for muscle. So disappointing! I don't know what to do.......I am thinking of starting my day with a green monster smoothie every day for a week. Beyond that, I just don't know....Kicking it up to 2 workouts a day? I just don't know!! All I know is that I have 10lbs of flub I really need to get rid of and fast. I sure hope I can get my act together ASAP. Hmph.

Ok lovelies I'm off to clean!!

No Numbers Weekend

Yes, you read that correctly...no numbers! This weekend I did *not* ....count calories....count carbs....weigh myself. I wanted to just focus on what I was eating, instead of the numbers behind it. Granted, I am pretty well-versed in calories and carbs, so I had an idea of what I ate, but I didn't track it. After this diet bet, I am thinking about getting into the habit of not relying on the numbers. I want to eat what is good and in proper proportions, instead of constantly number crunching. I want to wake up in the morning and go to work, without having to step on the scale first. If my pants are tight, I need to workout more and eat healthier, regardless of the numbers. However, studies show if you record what you eat and weigh yourself regularly, you lose more. Like I said a few days ago....it's the balance. Tonight I even indulged in a bit of No Sugar Added, Reduced Fat, Lactose Free, Cherry Cordial ice cream, and it was dang good! I went to the new bar studio (The Dailey Method) yesterday morning, and I am feeling it today! My plan is to get back into my regular routine with my original Bar Method studio. They have a contest that lasts for a month. If you go the most, then you win some stuff, including an hour massage!! Everyone that goes to at least 20 classes during the month will receive a free long-sleeve t-shirt. I want a shirt! I doubt I will get the massage, but I will try. :)

Tomorrow I will upload pictures from the past few days/weeks so you have something to look at besides my ramblings!

Good night lovelies!!

Eeeks!!

Sooooo soooorrrrry! I've been super busy moving, and finally got my wireless internet all hooked up today! I promise I will have a new blog post soon!!

Goodnight my lovelies! :)

I quit. Boo.

Welllll so I quit on my detox. Didn't make it all 5 days like I wanted to. Quick recap of today.

I woke up ridiculously late. I rushed to get to work and looked like poo and super sleepy. Lo and behold, I was the first one in the office. I could've taken an extra 10 minutes to make my hair look presentable. Argh! I did weigh myself before I went to work. Unfortunately, I was up 1.2 lbs. Not what I needed today! Needless to say, I was uber grumpy by the time I got to work.

Not happy.

I'm the green one.

I wanted to share with you my "micro-scrambled" eggs that I eat almost every morning. Do you ever think you don't have enough time for breakfast? Never fear with these eggs! Simply crack an egg or two in a coffee mug, add in approx 1 tbsp water per egg, scramble with a fork, and microwave! It literally takes 1-2 minutes for your eggs to be done. Some tips: Spray the inside of your mug with non-stick spray. It will be much harder to clean if you don't spray before! When the eggs are done, use your fork to break it up. It will be one big egg chunk (that sounds disgusting) but if you break it up, it will be a much more familiar consistency. Add seasonings! Add cheese! From plain with S&P, to spicy with hot sauce and salsa, or cheesey with err cheese, you can be creative and have a yummy breakfast quick! Today I kept it simple, since of course I was still doing the detox. Just 2 eggs, a bit of water, and a scoop of ground golden milled flax. PS If you are adding flax for the nutrients, you're going to have to add more water. It absorbs most of the water! If you don't use flax, then you will have a bit of water in the bottom of the mug when you're done.

Totally not the best pic!

OH the most important tip. Buy a plastic, microwavable soup bowl that has a lid. I bought mine at TJMaxx for about $5. I thought I would use it for soup or lunches, but I ended up using it only for eggs! It is perfect!! I just googled it and you can buy one at Shop Get Organized for less than $7. As often as I use mine, totally worth it!

Eggs for breakfast, 1 green bell pepper for early afternoon snack, 2 packs of tuna for lunch, 23 boiled seasoned shrimp for dinner, and a ton of asparagus (1/2 pound?) for dinner. I broke my detox after lunch when I had super stinky breath. I was not in the mood to have stinky breath all afternoon so I had one serving (2 pieces) of trident white gum. Then I needed more. Had 2 pieces of Extra Dessert flavors gum. At the end of work today, I was definitely not as hungry as yesterday, but I had broken my detox :( And yes, approx 670 calories later, this girl was still hungry. (Who wouldn't be hungry with only 670 calories?? 15 from gum!) I broke down again, and had a Carbmaster yogurt. Another 60 calories, 8 protein, and 4 carbs. I love that they taste so good and have so little stats, but sadly, against the detox :( 

I wasn't planning on breaking my detox today with yogurt and gum, but I was definitely planning on breaking it with a glass of wine during Grey's Anatomy. I'm still going to have it, but I'll be bummed in the morning when I'm up weight again. Le sigh. I will at least enjoy it tonight! Ed. Note: Tried the wine, it's skunked. I haven't had that happen in a while!! Either I run to the liquor store and get wine (definitely getting boxed wine so it lasts longer) or I not buy wine, save 120 calories/3.7 carbs, and finish my detox half way decent....

All in all, it's about balance, isn't it? I've read no less than 3 blogs in the past 24 hours that talk about finding the balance, so I know I'm not the only one out there struggling to find the balance. I'll do semi-detox again tomorrow, and start my Saturday with Bar Banter-focus on abs (yay!) move, then get back to a routine on Monday. Alright...I'm headed to the liquor store. I can't watch the premiere of Grey's Anatomy without a glass of wine...I just won't drink the whole bottle ;) Balance!

My apartment stinks :(

Detox sucks. I wouldn't recommend it the way that I'm doing it. If you want to do a cleanse, then talk to a doctor/nutritionist and get a plan that suits you and still works to detox.

Let's recap the past few days.....after I posted on Monday night, I decided to cook up some mushrooms. Instead of sauteeing like I normally do, I steamed them. They actually didn't taste bad and I (errr) ate them all. And then.....well.....Meredith said on her detox "regularity is a bonus." Um how about full blown COLON CLEANSE. I don't think you need to know anymore than that about night one!

Day 2...not bad at all! Eggs for breakfast, no flax. Lunch: 2 packs of tuna. Lettuce was frozen so I didn't eat that. Dinner: lemon pepper sole dover, little bit of chicken, asparagus (duh), grilled/broiled bok choy. Finally filled and good to go. No real complaints except not being able to have the following: propel zero/powerade zero, yogurt, cheese, more coffee, gum, oh and my fatty meats (bacon! red meat!).

Bok Choy on the broiler pan. YUM!

Bok Choy round two....slightly burnt! Eeeks

Observations after 2 days. It's really not that bad! I've dropped a few pounds in a few days and realized that 1) I don't need to eat as many calories as I normally do or normally think I do [I haven't been counting things or watching portions at all] 2) I don't need to always count calories and carbs. That is a nice bonus! 3) I don't really need to use butters or oils.

I'm looking forward after detox where I plan on combining things like.....less fats and artificial sweeteners, with adding back my regular foods and portion control/counting calories. I think that way I can get the best of both worlds. Oh! I haven't been exercising this week, so adding that back in!

Day 3: IT SUCKS. I think I need to be snacking more on veggies during the day. I don't think I'm doing this properly. You definitely have to eat more veggies during the day. By the end of today (no caffeine!) I was dyyyyyyyying. So tired and no energy. Day 3 was not fun at all. I came home, at my leftover fish and cooked up some cauliflower. I ate a shit ton of cauliflower cuz I was starving. And let me tell you, I am not satisfied. Full, yes, but not satisfied. I am still exhausted, didn't enjoy my food, and dislike the lack of variety.

I think even my version would work, but the key is planning ahead. Make sure to have enough snack veggies for work. Have enough variety to make something yummy for dinner....boiled cauliflower with cajun spices is not the answer. I started some hardcore Paleo/workout fab bloggers, who have some amazingly healthy and delicious looking recipes. I don't think I could ever go full Paleo, and my life will never be that hardcore working out, but again, I think I want to take bits of that and adapt it to my life.

One day (probably a cold snowy day this winter) I will write my whole "weight issues" story/history.....but here is a quick part....At one point when I was living in Houston, I was eating around 650-900 calories a day, keeping to about 25 total carbs a day, and 100g of protein. I'd workout 6 days a week. I got down to my lowest weight probably since Junior High. I looked great, felt great, and was able to run my first 5K in less than 28 minutes. But let me tell you, eating that way was not healthy and I didn't have much of a social life. There are many positives from that time period that I would love to get back to again (I hardly drank at all! low fat! exercise!) So being where I am right now....is difficult to say the least. I want to go back to where I was in 2011, but I know it wasn't the healthiest way. It was quick & easy....but not the best. So I'm torn. I want to get there quick and easy so I'm hoping this detox gets me partially there. Today I weight in at 135.8lbs, I'm 5'8...so I know 900 cals plus working out is not what I need. 

All that being said.....I'm trying to be on my way to get back to that point, but in a healthy way. Hopefully this blog will just be one outlet for me to get there....the right way.

3 Cheers to getting healthy and losing weight The Right Way. Good night my lovelies. I'm so tired I just wanna crash early tonight!

Detox is tough!

Day one of detox.....is almost over. Well, it wasn't hard until about 20 minutes ago, when I had already eaten dinner, but still feel like I'm starving. I'm about to go back to the kitchen to figure out what veggies I can eat. Breakfast was relatively normal: 2 eggs micro-scrambled with a scoop of flax. Lunch wasn't bad either: 2 packets of chunk light tuna in water, and a garden salad-tomatoes, cauliflower, broccoli, and a bit of lettuce thrown in. Easy peasy. Dinner was yum! I had a bit of leftover baked chicken as an appetizer because my stomach was getting hungry. The actual meal was asparagus steamed with lemon pepper mahi mahi. I bought roughly a pound of asparagus last week, cut the big nasty ends off, and threw them in my pot to steam. It took only about 3 minutes on boil to have the nice "al dente" crunch. I ate half of that with salt and pepper as I waited for for my mahi mahi to come out of the oven. And then I munched on some more stalks. And had the rest with my mahi mahi. I love my asparagus! It was odd not to put melted butter or shakey parm cheese on my asparagus, but I love it with some S&P so no worries there. The seasoning on the mahi mahi was amazing as well. It was also odd not to even spray my oven pan with non-stick canola oil. Just say no! Thankfully my fish didn't stick. However, like I said...I'm still hungry! I even have seconds of the mahi mahi. I guess I will need to dig into more veggies with my evening tea.

Asparagus.  I love this stuff!!

More asparagus and Mahi Mahi!

I would have to say the hardest part was realizing that I cannot have gum! Sugar-free gum & mints have artificial sweeteners!! Stinky breath for sure today. Ooops. I'm honestly not sure how effective today was from a "cleanse" or "detox" day, but I will say it was definitely healthy. Who can argue with vegetables, fish, a bit of chicken, and 2 eggs?

I'm super pumped about this week....new fall tv! Tonight I'm watching The Voice, 2 Broke Girls, and it was supposed to be How I Met Your Mother but I just realized I MISSED IT. Crapola. How did that happen?!? I thought I set my phone app to give me a reminder for all my shows today! :( Bummer. Let's hope CBS puts it online tomorrow. Well, I'm not about to miss 2BG, so I'm gonna bounce! Adios lovelies!

What's your favorite healthy food? How do you satisfy hunger pains? What are you watching tonight??

Well Hello!

I hate when I do dumb things......like brushing my teeth and then immediately eating a dill pickle. GROSS. Now that I've got that off my chest haha

Inspired my one of my high school friends -who is now a TV Meteorologist in Florida-super cool job if you ask me- I am going to do a mini detox this week! Meredith is blogging about her "Find Your Fit Challenge"  and you should check it out to see what how she is getting fit. I am/have been on my own personal journey to get fit and healthy, and I've never done a detox before. I normally am anti-detox, and definitely anti-cleanse, but I've been feeling gross on the inside. Ya know....too much processed crap and what not. I've been doing so much better, back to low carb, but I want something different. My detox is not going to be the same as Meredith's detox, but it will be adjusted to me. I firmly believe that everyone's diet and exercise regime should be tailored to the individual. I am not a nutritionist, and am creating my own detox, so please don't follow mine without talking to your doctor first. That being said, here is my plan:

As many vegetables as I like. I am still planning on sticking to low glycemic vegetables, so that eliminates some. Goal is to have veggies at every meal, including breakfast. They will either be raw or steamed. Or roasted.

I would also do low glycemic fruits, but I've never been huge on fruit, so I might not have any this week. I normally don't. Hmm maybe I should start incorporating low glycemic fruit back into my diet (in moderation)....just a thought...

One or two eggs for breakfast with my scoop of flax. Not sure how I will incorporate flax in my breakfast because I usually put it in my yogurt. Maybe in my microwaved scrambled eggs?

No dairy. That's right. NO CHEESE. No low carb yogurt!! This will be difficult, but I'm only planning on doing this for 3-6 days.

No alcohol. Duh. It's a detox.

1 cup of coffee per day. Just one. Eeeks. Lots of water and tea.

No artificial sweeteners! Yikes!

Lean protein. This will be eggs for breakfast, tuna or chicken at lunch, and fish for dinner (maybe chicken). I stocked up discount fish today (score!) so on the menu will be Mahi Mahi, Salmon (ok that is fatty, but good fats, so maybe that will wait till Thursday) Tilapia (I think? I don't remember!) and shrimp. All will be lightly seasoned and baked/broiled/grilled. No cooking with oil or butter! Oh and I think I have leftover chicken.

No oil, butter, ranch dressing.

Basically, not much different than most of my days. I'll be increasing my veggie intake, cutting back my fat intake (much needed) not having artificial sweeteners, and the biggest change.......no dairy! I live on my yogurts and love my cheese. I should be able to make it three days, maybe six max. I will let you know how it goes and how I feel after. If it doesn't work, maybe I will follow someone else's proven plan.

I realized after Bar Method yesterday that it was the last day of my pass!! Sooooo sad! I will be buying a 3 month pass, but since I am moving this week, I've decided to delay a week. There is a studio near my new apartment, but I've started to have a connection with my studio, so I don't think I will switch. I did buy a Living Social deal for 3 classes at the new studio, so unless I have an instant, better connection, I will not be switching. I did actually think of a Spend Less tip, however. Most studios have a discounted price for new members. The new studio has one of those, so I could save $26 for one month at the new studio. I just have to decide whether I want to "cheat" on my current studio. I really love my instructors and classmates, so it will be difficult switch and save money. The positives are 1) saving money 2) close to my new apartment 3) Tuesday evening classes 4) Sunday classes. I mean I would go to new studio Tuesday, Saturday & Sunday, and my current studio Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.....but that would be $99 at studio new, $125 at studio old. And that is not Spending Less! Would I even go 7 days a week? Probably not. Plus, I want to start doing Zumba again. Maybe I can find a Zumba place by my new apartment and do Zumba 3 days a week and Bar Method 4-5 days a week.....

Wow, I think this blog post today is more of a "dear diary" format, with a stream of thoughts and asking myself questions. Whoops! Sorry lovelies, I hope it wasn't too boring for you!

This weekend was a bad weekend for football, so I am beyond ready to go to sleep and wake up to a new week! Good night my lovelies!