SNOW!!! and February Goals

Well, North Texas got to kick off the first day of February with snow (yes, REAL snow!!) and the school district I work for shut down today so I get an extra day to rest and recover from this nasty cold! We Texans are gigantic babies when it comes to snow, it's quite ridiculous. Everything pretty much shuts down even if we get just an inch of snow. I know, it probably sounds pathetic. BUT 100 degree days are nothing to us whereas people up North think that's like a sauna, so I guess it evens out :) I feel almost 100%, but it was nice to get an extra day to rest. There is no such thing as rest where I work, so this was almost like it was sent from the big man upstairs :)

This is the snow that shut down all North Texas schools and a lot of places of work. It may not look like much to people who see more snow, but to me this is awesome!!

I slept in until 9am (and to think I used to think 9am was waking up early...LOL) and had a nice hot bowl of oatmeal with 1/2 C canned pumpkin, some cinnamon, allspice, a squeeze of agave nectar, and a small spoonful of peanut butter. YUM!

Now, to preface my February goals. Today, I dropped my membership to WW Online because it just doesn't feel right for me right now. I don't really have a good reason other than counting points is just not my thing. I'm thinking about trying the program my parents have been doing called Healthy Lifestyle Secrets. You don't count calories/points and it teaches portion control and healthy eating. Best part is that I don't have to pay for it because my parents have all the information about the program from their work places doing it for the staff.

February Goals

• Eat sensibly and not gain any weight (hopefully lose some weight in the process)
• Find a way of eating that works for me
• Save my money as much as possible- don't spend more than $100 a month in "luxuries" I don't need
• Keep learning more effective ways to help my first grade kiddos so I can help as much as possible!
• Read at least one book

What are your February goals?

1994

This post was inspired by a post I saw over at Carrots 'n' Cake and thought it would be fun to post.

Sorry for the fuzziness, this picture was taken by my camera phone a long time ago (picture of a picture, anyone?).

Anyway, I turned 5 years old in 1994 and started kindergarten that year. I was very into playing with my grandma's makeup as you can see, and I loved wearing bows and cute dresses and skirts. That phase didn't last too long until I went through the tom-boy phase and then sort of adopted a middle ground between girly and tom-boy. My favorite TV show was Barney, and I also liked to watch Thomas the Tank Engine. Pocahontas and The Lion King came out when I was 5, as well (although they either came out in 1994 or 1995- I was still 5 for part of 1995) and they were my favorite movies of all time. One year I was Pocahontas for Halloween and had Pocahontas clothes, dolls, and sheets. I think I even had a Pocahontas sleeping bag! haha. Pocahontas was the first movie I ever cried in (when they were about to kill John Smith) and The Lion King was the second movie (who doesn't cry at the part where Mufasa dies?) I ever cried in.

I learned to read in 1994 and had a hard time drawing inside the lines. My handwriting was horrible, but hey I was making large academic strides that year :) When I was 5 (not sure if it was the 1994 part of 1995 part) I also got a black eye from a pinata incident at a friend's birthday party (her mom sat us too close to the pinata and the kid who swung at the pinata hit my eye instead- OUCHHH!) and soon after burned my hand with hot coffee at the 7-11 while my grandma was in line paying for cigarettes for herself and an icee for myself (I got too impatient to wait so I started to get coffee and it spilled on my hand instead) and the hot coffee burned the skin off my hand. This pretty much explains my still persistent lack of patience, but it's progressively getting better.


Who were you in 1994?

No motivation

This post will be short and sweet.


I did track my food intake on Monday like I promised, but that's it. I haven't tracked my food intake since then. I don't know why, but I haven't been feeling very motivated. I'm still feeling like I need a break so I don't get burnt out on WW and give up on it for good. I'm not sure which route I should take- stop paying for WW and just try to eat reasonably on my own (while still weighing in) or keep my membership and come back to it when I'm ready?

I just don't know what to do. It doesn't help that I've been sick practically all week when I just came off a horrendous cold less than 3 weeks ago. I guess it's just going to take some getting used to for my body to adjust to being around sick kiddos all the time. I feel like death :( For the past few days the medicine I've been taking has just made me there but not really there. I've just been going through the motions, but I feel mentally detached from everything, like I'm just floating around in a daze everywhere. I hate how medicine does that! UGH.

Any advice on how to get myself back on track would be appreciated :)

Confession

Forgive me WW, for I have sinned. It has been two days since my last tracking.

I haven't tracked my food intake since Friday. Even then, I didn't track my dinner and my lunch- both of which were very unhealthy and very high in points.

Last night I went out for Thai food with my boyfriend and his parents for his dad's birthday. I had an eggroll, 2 coconut shrimp, half an order of pineapple fried rice with shrimp (YUMMMMM!), and some dessert. Friday I had pizza at lunch and for dinner we had mashed potatoes and some white cream gravy with pieces of steak chopped up in it. All of these meals were absolutely amazing and I don't regret a bite.

I just felt like I needed a break from tracking for the weekend. Usually I track every single bite that enters my mouth, but sometimes you just need a break to stay on track in the long run. At least I do.

I will 100% be back to tracking tomorrow, at least that's my intention for now :)

Anybody else in this spot and/or have been here before? If so, how do you deal with it to move forward?

Crazy whirlwind of a week!

I started my new job last Thursday as an orientation sort of thing but really really started getting into the work on Tuesday (we had MLK day off). If you want to know my job, scroll down a bit and it'll have a description somewhere in there haha. Anyway, this has been one crazy week! My job is so fun, and so busy. One good thing is we only get half an hour for lunch (because that's how long the kids get) and the school I work at isn't close to a restaurant really. This pretty much forces me to pack a lunch, which makes me more inclined to pack a healthy lunch. Also, when you spend 8 hours on your feet walking around answering questions of inquisitive first-graders, you burn lots of calories.

All this has led to a 1.6 pound weight loss this week! I've been playing with the same numbers ever since I moved home a month ago so it's nice to see a loss. This brings my total weight loss to 6.6 pounds lost. This is still snail speed since I've been on WW since November 11th, but at least I haven't GAINED weight. The scale is moving down, and that's all that matters. I wish I could lose weight Biggest Loser style, but the truth is that most of those contestants gain back a lot of that weight because no reality can accommodate 6-8 hour workouts a day and super clean eating 100% of the time. I'll take what I get as long as it's weight lost :)

Sorry I have been a bad blogger, by the way. My job is so exhausting and I'm still getting used to it. Right now, every day I come home from work and get in my PJs and just veg out. I'll get used to it and not have to crash so soon. For now though, sheesh I am tired!

I will say that my job has been very rewarding so far. It's nice to work with kids who give you hugs, say you look cute and beautiful, compliment your clothes and jewelry, and actually listen when you tell them to do something. These kids are great (most of the time hehe) and I really enjoy them :)

How was everybody's week? TGIF!

Commitment Issues

I have serious commitment issues with weight loss. When I was 12, I lost 30 pounds and gained back 50 (I wasn't very overweight because I had gotten soooo skinny after losing those 30 pounds, almost underweight actually). I didn't look too chubby, but I felt chubby by the time I was 19, almost 20. In 2009, I lost 24 pounds and felt awesome! Then I gained back 25 and started WW again. I've lost 5.8 pounds total so far at a snail speed of around .5 a week (because of a couple gains I've had) and here I am again...lacking motivation and doubting my commitment to weight loss.

I don't really know what it is, but I think it's because I'm used to seeing myself look average, maybe a little tiny bit chubby, instead of being one of those thin women I'm always jealous of (in terms of body shape). It could also be the fact that I like to eat all the foods that are bad for me, and not enough of the ones that keep you thin/losing weight.

Exhibit A? I was supposed to weigh-in (WI) today but I had a pizza fest last night and had to get up at the butt-crack of dawn this morning, so not much time to WI. I only like to WI in the mornings so I'm holding off until tomorrow. HOWEVER, I just had a mini-pizza binge again from the last night's pizza leftovers. I only ate like 3 slices worth  (they were cut into small squares with thin crust) and think I actually had the points for it today but that sodium may make me have a gain in the morning.

For now I'm going to just keep going and tracking and just hope I find some motivation. I think maybe I'm not feeling much motivation/commitment right now because I just started my new job today and I'm feeling kinda stressed about it. I had a great first day, but change stresses me out. When I'm stressed, I eat bad foods. Blah.

Anybody else going through this issue, too? I'm not going to give up, but I sure feel like it right now.

Drunken Pooch

Is it just me (and my mom) or does Marshall look drunk?

 

LOL. I have the goofiest dog on the planet!

I don't really have anything interesting to say today. I'm not sure how many more lazy days I can have until I'm processed for my new job through HR so I went full-on lazy today. No makeup, stayed in PJs all day, sat on the couch and watched TV. 

Court went back to school today (not school school, but just back to the town) and stopped by to say hi/bye on his way out. I gave him a bunch of casserole leftovers from what I made tonight to make sure he has enough to eat and I'll get to see him again either mid-week and/or this weekend. This weekend should be for sure, but mid-week dinner is up in the air. It feels weird for him to be going back to school and I'm still here at home. No textbooks to buy, no going back to school. 

I'm starting a new big girl job, though! It's my first job that requires a college degree so that feels pretty cool. Part of me is saying that HR needs to get me processed through so I can start working ASAP and the other part of me wants to go back to college and do all the things I got used to doing for the last 3 years. 90% of me is excited to be "growing up" and the other 10% wants to stay a kid forever. Sure, I'm not a full-blown "adult" yet since I still live with my parents and I don't pay ALL my bills yet, but it's a transition. I'd rather transition into it rather than be thrown into it saying "good luck!". Gradual change is my friend. I do not like change so it's optimal for me to sneak into it until it feels ok. Hey, if I get into grad school I can get back in my element of being a student and feel a little more comfortable again :)

I'm a lifelong learner, for serious. In 2 weeks I'm starting a photography class at TCU with my parents so we can learn how to use our super sophisticated cameras more effectively. I also want to work on being a real certified teacher and go to culinary school (those are both possible things, not necessarily mandatory- more like things that I want to do if I can ever find the time to do them haha). Oh and of course start grad school in August to become a School Psychologist and eventually get a PhD to be a college professor (those two things I really really really want to do!). See? School is my thing LOL. At least I get to work in one :)

Hmmmm...turns out I had something sort of interesting to say for today haha

How did you deal with the transition into adulthood?