Weigh In Wednesday- Where is My Motivation?

January 28, 2015 15 Comments

Riley FlowersI weighed in at 1.4 pounds less than last week. This is actually a good amount to lose, and it’s my first loss since week one. I’m down 4.2 since I started January 1, but I feel defeated. I’m not doing particularly badly, and my habits have been good overall (good compared to the past, anyway). I am happy about the loss and encouraged by it, but I still feel like I’m doing a bad job.

The problem is I’ve kind of stopped caring. I mentioned last week that I might need a cleanse. I don’t really want to do that, but for some reason they really tend to jump start me.

My husband sent me these flowers yesterday “just because”. He said that he knew I had a long day and wanted to cheer me up. He picked these because my dogs are white. Isn’t the arrangement so cute? I guess my point is, there are good things going on. Life can only get better if I focus more on my health. I’ve been putting stuff off so that I can spend more time with my puppy. That’s kind of an “excuse”, kind of a “reason”. Puppies do take a lot of work, but I know I need to strategize.

DakotaIn other puppy news, I met this little darling on Sunday. His name is Dakota and he belongs to my little niece. He’s a 10 week old Siberian Husky. So precious, I could not put him down.

Today’s goal is to put work outs and meal planning in my calendar. Once it’s in the calendar, I have to do it, right?! I also brought three green smoothies with me to drink during my work day. Wish me luck…

Jillian

Filed Under: Weigh In Wednesday Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Weigh In Wednesday- Getting Back on Track

January 21, 2015 24 Comments

lemon meringue pieI have good news and bad news. The good news is, I made the lemon meringue pie version of the drink recipe that I posted last week. It was so delicious. You should make one immediately.

The bad news is, I have totally flopped on my diet. I have been eating good food, but I have been adding in too much junk food. I had a fried food binge on Friday, and just too many little snacks over the weekend. Yesterday I pretty much ate just candy until 1:00pm. I have a bunch of soup, and I’ve started eating that to get in more veggies.

Maybe it’s time to do one of the cleanses that I put on my goals? Anyone want to do a cleanse?

I weighed in at a gain of .4, which makes the running total a loss of 2.8. I feel gross, and I don’t want to fail. My personal training session got cancelled yesterday, and I actually rowed at home for 50 minutes instead of using it as an excuse to do nothing. I am counting that as a big victory, because it’s the closest thing to victory I’ve had this week.

Riley pieI’m super tired because ever since Riley the cutie pie got spayed, she has been nothing but trouble. She has been getting into everything (stealing my laptop and trying to blog!), whining all night, and in general trying to rip her stitches open. I think that once I can let her play hard again she will be fine, but she is just frustrated that I won’t let her get her energy out.

I don’t understand how all of the parents out there function without sleep. I have lost all desire to do anything that I don’t absolutely have to do. What is your secret?? Am I doomed to not have a baby because I can barely function with a puppy? Help!

Jillian

Filed Under: Health and Fitness, Weigh In Wednesday Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

35 Goals to Meet Before I Turn 35

January 16, 2015 36 Comments

birthdayI decided to join Alex’s project! Alex has started a list of 35 things that she wants to accomplish while she is 35. Click here to check out her site and see her list– she is updating as she goes. I adore bucket lists and I turned 34 today. I think that 35 things before 35 is a super fun idea! She wants to get 100 people, so you should think about joining the party as well.

I thought I would provide the adorable picture of Kuma the Shiba Inu’s eighth birthday for motivation. How can you not want to better yourself when you see that face?

My list of goals to accomplish is below. Many of them are ongoing, so the challenge will be pretty intense. I will update on this page when I accomplish a goal or find it needs to be modified. Let me know if you have any great ideas or want to join in the fun!

The list has been edited to show what I accomplished. Italicized items were completed. Some things were partially completed, and the number following will show how much.

Health (1-8):

  1. lose 50 pounds
  2. work out four times per week 2/52
  3. Use my Happy Herbivore meal plans for at least a month (June/July)
  4. lower dose or go off cholesterol medication
  5. do two cleanses (2nd done 7/6/15)
  6. create shopping schedule (7/13/15 combining with Happy Herbivore)
  7. practice yoga at least once a week (can be at home) 23/52
  8. Try a month of Muay Thai

House (9-19)

  1. minimalism: bathrooms (1/18/15)
  2. minimalism: closet/clothes (1/17/15 did main clothes closet and dresser, 1/18/15 did guest room and bedroom closets)
  3. minimalism: guest room (1/18/15)
  4. minimalism: game room (1/18/15)
  5. minimalism: kitchen (2/14/15)
  6. minimalism: living room (2/14/15)
  7. minimalism: garage (4/17/15)
  8. minimalism: linen closets (1/16/15 did main floor linen closet, 2/7/15 did downstairs closet)
  9. minimalism: bedroom (2/28/15)
  10. minimalism: car (smashed car and got free detail with repair, 1/28- unintentionally part way there//finished 6/8/15)
  11. minimalism: shed (4/17/15)

Friends and Family (20-22):

  1. meet up with a friend once a week 42/52
  2. visit at least one grandparent once a month 12/12
  3. send someone a card or letter once a week (thank you cards do not count!) 22/52

Personal (23- 30):

  1. get a new tattoo- possibly a white Shiba on my right wrist
  2. Work harder at planning cute outfits to look put together 
  3. find cuter things to wear at home so my husband doesn’t always see me looking like a slob (4/17/15)
  4. wash face every day and stop using disposable cleaning cloths (used up the last of the disposable cloths, replaced with a stack of colorful washcloths 1/27/15)
  5.  Pay off student loan (12/15)
  6. Budget for Vermont trip (taken and paid off May 2015)
  7. stay strong- do not chop off hair
  8. Take puppy to training and help her graduate (4/27/15. She also finished her second class in September.)
  9. Stick with therapy until I feel confident (7/27/15)

Work and Blog (31- 34):

  1. get blog posts on a dependable schedule (1/18/15- posting every day at 7:00 EST, by 11:00 EST on Wednesdays)
  2. After getting on a schedule, I abandoned the blog. Decided that pressuring myself would make for a bad blog. I’m now  trying to do once a week. 
  3. build blog to 500 followers
  4. Meet annual work goals

Does anyone else want to join me, Alex, and Chloe?

Jillian

Filed Under: Annual Goals, Beauty, Health and Fitness, Minimalism Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Weigh In Wednesday #2

January 14, 2015 10 Comments

Happy Herbivore Stuffed Bell PeppersThis week was my first time using the Happy Herbivore meal plan (all vegan, oil free, whole foods based) exactly as intended. The idea is that she provides a meal plan (for every meal for a week, including snacks) that gives you around 1,200 calories a day. You also get a shopping list, recipes, and prep plan. The prep is meant to take about two hours and sets you up for the WHOLE WEEK. It took me four hours and thirteen minutes, including cleaning the kitchen. I think I will get faster with practice. It’s a little crazy cooking several meals at once time, and I wasn’t really ready for this level of multitasking. Three to four dishes at once was the most I could pull off. The prep plan was so cool- she tells you what grains to start (like rice and pasta) and what to do with each veggie. Once you start cooking you have everything ready for every dish! The meal pictured is the Stuffed Bell Pepper.

The one I did this week had me making all meals except for a few quick breakfasts that I put together on the go. I was very skeptical of this idea, worrying that the food would go bad. I’ve previously just made the meals every day. However, a huge stumbling block for me is eating whatever I can find that is ready to go when I’m hungry. This results in eating french fries at work, chip type snacks or cookies at home, anything I can find and it is always unhealthy. Having healthy food ready to go is incredible!

My weigh in has me at a gain of one pound. So, that brings me to 3.2 pounds lost in two weeks. I wish I had actually lost this week, but I actually feel really good about using the meal plans. I can’t blame them, since I have been eating extra snacks and it’s also every woman’s favorite time of the month.

I’m worried that I will lose stamina on spending a huge block of time on the weekends cooking everything, but it was so beneficial this week and I’m hoping I’ll be able to remember that when I’m feeling lazy. It saves so much time during my crazy work week, and definitely helped me avoid junk food. Now I just need to stay stronger!

Next week I have my first personal training session at the Diva Den (I got a great deal on a three session package on Black Friday), and I am excited to see how it goes. I already had the consultation and I loved my trainer. We had a great talk about how I do have a big weight loss goal, but my end game is to be thin, toned, and strong. My focus needs to be to stop eating anything that isn’t on the plan, but it is almost my birthday and I think that the rest of this week will bring challenges on that front.

I have been asked if I will post before and after pictures. I’m considering the yellow dress picture in this post my before picture, and I will post some photos along the way as the loss becomes noticeable.

Here is my journal link if anyone wants to check it!

Jillian

Filed Under: Health and Fitness, Weigh In Wednesday Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Weigh In Wednesday #1

January 7, 2015 7 Comments

calories for the weekI decided it would be best to just do a weekly update on my diet, aka lifestyle change, so that no one gets overwhelmed (including me!). I am trying to weigh myself just once a week, but I have not been able to resist a few check ins. These are done while wearing tons of clothes, so they’re not very accurate; but they let me know that at least I’m not gaining. This is good for calming down my weight freak outs and motivating me to not binge eat. Today was my “official” weigh in. I lost 4.2 pounds this week! I am so excited, because it really motivates me to keep going when I see that first week big loss.

This first week has not been the start with a bang that I usually go for (discipline wise), but I actually think that is probably a good thing. I typically start a new diet with some sort of fast, based on the premise that after that I would be grateful for any food (even healthy food). I greatly suspect that it is extremes like this that get me in trouble in the first place. I’m not saying that I won’t throw in a juice fast, master cleanse, et cetera- just that it doesn’t feel right at the moment. Maybe in February?

skinnier JillianThis week has been about controlling my portions and not snacking. I haven’t been perfect. I have only done two work outs, when my goal for a week is four. I have gone over my calories three times, but still have been under what I would normally eat each day. I also haven’t started my Happy Herbivore plan yet. That will be my big goal for next week. Her plans give you 1,200 calories a day without having to count, which is so fantastic I don’t even have words. I don’t know why I sabotaged myself by not doing it this week. I’m using another old picture for motivation, the one that I posted on the left. Or maybe I’m just wishing I had a drink in my hand?

Knowing that I have you all watching my back is a big help! Thank you so much 🙂 I have bl3ss3dfitn3ss helping me out- does anyone else want to join us? What are your goals? I am very serious about losing weight and getting back in shape to run. I want this Spring to be a great one full of gorgeous runs, and I would love to be able to go off my high cholesterol medication. You can still follow my eating and exercise on my Sparkpage, if you’re curious to see what’s really going on over here. You don’t have to sign up for anything, you just follow the link and click on “shared food & fitness trackers”. It’s about halfway down the right hand side. I’m hoping this week will be less embarrassing than last week.

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

Jillian

Filed Under: Health and Fitness, Weigh In Wednesday Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Day One of the New Year

January 1, 2015 9 Comments

workoutI did it! I know it’s day one and it should probably be the easiest, but I had a very hard time getting motivated to work out today. Still, I didn’t want to let myself down, so I sucked it up. I rowed for 30 minutes and did a few strength exercises. I’m starting to get sick, so I’m losing motivation quickly. Isn’t getting sick the worst? It’s so easy to get derailed, but I’m determined to stay strong. I just took a shot of DayQuil- time to power through!

I also went to visit some awesome friends today and that recharged me. It’s amazing how much stuff like spending time with friends can get pushed aside for the “to-do list”, when it’s what we really need to be happy!

 

 

 

happyherbivoreI know that I will need help sticking to a good food plan, so I decided to do something I’ve been considering for a long time. I bought the annual Happy Herbivore membership! Lindsay puts together weekly menus of vegan, oil free food (she has options for soy, gluten, and nut free too!). She gives you a shopping list and a plan for how to make most of the week’s food in one shot. It takes about three hours. I’ve only purchased individual weeks before, but today she had a big sale and I just knew I had to go for it. The part that’s the best for me is having the food already made. If I have a snack ready, I can eat that when I get home from work instead of reaching for chips or cookies. The first time I shopped for one of her meal plans, the cashier commented that I had the healthiest groceries she had ever seen. It’s mostly vegetables and fruit, so that makes me feel really good. I’ll let you all know how it goes! I won’t start until this weekend because I’ll need to make a big shopping trip.

Happy New Year! Anyone have any big plans?

Jillian
 

 

 

Filed Under: Health and Fitness Tagged With: , , , , ,
«Previous Page
Next Page»

Post Archive