Finding time

I started a new job back in October. Ever since I started I have not been able to find the energy or time to go to the gym. I wake up at 5:30, 30 min. after my husband wakes up. Get ready for work, leave by 6:00-6:15, then work until 2:00 PM. Since I travel to and from work with my hubby, because we only have one car, I do a lot of waiting around. I wait until 7 to clock in, then I wait until 2:50 for him to get off work. Fall was marching band season so on MWF he did marching band usually until 5:30, during this time I wait, because seriously there is not much else to do in Somerton. We get home around 6:00 figure something out for dinner, and by this time i'm way too tired to go and work out, or too hungry to work out until after dinner, which I have to cook. On Tues/Thurs we would get out by 2:50 so occasionally I'd be able to go work out, but most days I spend walking around or standing, no sitting, so I'm tired by the time we get home. This year his schedule will be a little different. Hopefully he will be done by 4 or something to that effect. I can hopefully think of some more slow cooking/crock pot meals so I can not have to worry about cooking when I get home. Hopefully this will help me be able to work out more. My goal for 2012 was to loose 30 lbs. I lost 10 before Christmas, gained most of it back after Christmas. We recently participated in a pioneer trek, walking 28ish miles in 4 days, I'm hoping that helped with all the weight I gained back over Christmas. I'm still going to keep trying! I think that is most important, not giving up when you feel like you're not succeeding. I can say that right now I'm battling weight, and neither of us are winning. I haven't lost a lot of weight but I haven't gained anymore either. I sometimes wonder how people do it. They seem to be able to work all day long, then go to the gym after work and still have time to do stuff at home to relax. I feel like I have no time to do anything! I get home and I'm so completely tired that I just eat sleep, and work, and the cycle continues. Well here's hoping 2013 will be better than 2012.

Making progress...

I've been making some progress, but not a huge difference. I got a gym membership because it is only $10 a month...pretty good. I did some math and figured that if I can loose the amount of weight that I want to in a year then it is worth the gym membership because even for a years worth at $10, it's still cheaper than if I bought a work out machine.

I googled some work outs that you can do at the gym. They said one of the best work outs is to do interval training, at least I think that's what it's called. Essential you have to find the right kind of machine, they said the rowing machine or treadmill. Then you warm up, for about 2-5 minutes, you run for 60 sec, then decrease your speed and walk for 2-3 min. You do 10-12 intervals of this. When I first tried it I stupidly chose the treadmill next to the door, there were a lot of people there. It is really hot outside and well it was the worst possible treadmill to work out on. I was drenched in sweat, and I only did 7 intervals because I was a little hungry before I went, and I started feeling sick-from not eating. 2nd time I made it to 10 intervals, but still sweaty, just not as bad-found a cooler spot. I also thought that Pandora was going to work in the gym, it didn't. Plus you have to bring your own towel. I will be prepared this time. I think the interval routine really works. When I first tried it I didn't work out the rest of the week and I lost like 2 lbs.

 I've decided that MWF are going to be my interval days, and TThS will be weights. Now I just need to actually go every day of the week. I will go one day, and then not want to go for the rest of the week. I also have these spurts of motivation. If I don't go when I'm motivated then I get lazy and just want to stay home and relax. I also have to wait until my husband gets home from work. It hard because when he gets home I just want to stay home and spend time with him. I really want to loose weight though. I think it would really help me health wise, just to feel good about myself and maybe keep me from becoming diabetic or or health issues I am probably doomed to get. I've been trying to eat better, but it's been hard. I have been searching for super healthy recipes that are quick and easy. It seems like those don't exist?! If you want it to taste good you have to spend an hour making it, at least that is what it seems like. You also have to buy a billion different things from the grocery store. Well I really want to loose weight and keep motivated, I think writing this blog helps remind me of what I want and what I've done, and or accomplished.

My goal just got real...

I know I said before that my goal was Hawaii if I loose weight. Now my goal has become real. Nick promised me that if I loose 65 lbs by May 1, 2013 that we will go to Hawaii. He wrote it in our calendar. This means that it will really happen!! I'm trying to figure out how to exercise when we move to Yuma. It is going to be really hot, which means outside activities will probably be limited. Plus we've heard that the area we are going to be living in is a little shady, which means I can't go running at night by myself. It's really weird but I am definitely not a morning person. I tried running early in the morning one time and I hurt my leg. I think I pulled a muscle. I'm also seriously considering getting a gym membership. However I know nothing about gyms. Where we are moving to there is a Curves within walking distance. It 's only 5 min away. But there is also a big Planet Fitness gym about 10 min. away that I could ride my bike to. I don't know how bad the heat is going to be in Yuma, so I don't know if even thinking about riding my bike to get around is a bad idea? Most likely I will probably want to go to the gym either after breakfast or right after lunch, but during the day time so that If I'm walking or riding my bike hopefully I don't get attacked or anything. I might be totally paranoid about being attacked but we'll see. I really want to achieve my goal. I have heard so many success stories from people I know. It seems like the trend right now is to loose weight. I think if you do curves they help you with nutrition as well, but I didn't see any prices online so I will have to wait until I can go in and talk to someone. Does anyone have a suggestion on whether I should go to Curves or a biger Gym of some sort? Sometimes I forget to blog or I feel like I have nothing to blog about. I will keep you updated though, who ever is reading my blog?!

Pita Pit...food.

Working at Pita Pit is helpful. I'm getting tired of pitas, but at least when I'm running late and forget to eat I get to eat something healthy at work, as opposed to a burger or something bad.

I think writing a schedule has helped, especially with eating. I am working on actually exercising like I say I will. Luckily our pool has recently opened this weekend. We decided to go swimming today. I love swimming because it is one form of exercise that is actually fun. Once we get to Arizona I think we'll be swimming ALOT.

We really wanted to go to Red Robin today, but we are trying to save our money for moving expenses and what not. It is so dang hard to not eat out! I might just have to resort to eating healthy when I eat out. I like having the deal that once a week I get to eat whatever I want, whether it be unhealthy or healthy. If you're forcing yourself to eat healthy then having this one meal where you can eat whatever is an incentive to keep eating healthy the rest of the week. When you're hungry and you're thinking, "man a burger sounds really good." You can say well I already ate out, or ate my one whatever I want meal. Or if you haven't you can think really hard and long about whether a burger is what you want to spend your one meal on. It's like having $5. You can only spend it once, so you want to make sure it's a good choice.

I made orange chicken. I think I am almost to perfecting it. I have combined some of the recipes that I've tried together. When I made it this week it had the right flavor but the breading on the outside of the chicken was mushy. My crock pot is being weird too. I had it on high for a little bit and then turned it on low and it cooked the chicken too fast. I wonder if crock pots can be broken and cook things too fast?

Something else we tried that was really yummy, but I'm not exactly sure how healthy it is, is Pansit. It is something Nick use to have in the Philippines. Basically it's Chili flavored Ramen. You cook the noodles, drain all of the water and then you mix 1 tbsp of soy sauce and 1 tbsp of olive oil with the seasoning packet. then you pour that over the noodles and mix it really well. Then you serve it on top of white rice. In the Philippines you eat everything over white rice I've learned. Well I've figured something out that really makes it taste good. I grill bell peppers, and if you have any chicken it's good with that too. Yesterday I grilled bell peppers and mushrooms. It's really good, and really cheap! I don't like it super spicy so when I make it I use half the seasoning packet, but Nick likes the whole packet. It's super filling too. When we do the grilled veggies we split the pansit, and then just have lots of rice. It makes it go farther and it's still really filling.

This week I'm going to attempt to make buffalo shredded chicken from skinnytaste.com and maybe a teriyaki chicken. I will let you know how they turn out.

Well I'm going to continue to blog every week. Keep you posted on my achievements/failures/goals. I hope that by making a schedule I'm not just doing it temporarily, but actually making a life change. Something I will continue to do for the rest of my life. I think that is why I'm not trying to focus too much on not eating just salad or anything, but finding yummy meals that are healthy, and something I actually want to eat.

I made a list.

Today during church I planned out what we will be eating this week. I think this would be a good habit for me. This way I won't be tempted to eat out, because I've already planned something for every meal, and none of my plans involve eating out. I made a box for every day of the week. In each box I have BLD-Breakfast Lunch and Dinner. I also have Exercise, and then things I want to get done for the day. So for example this is what Monday looks like.
Monday-Work 5:30-11:00
B-Oatmeal and toast
L-Corn Dogs
D-Orange Chicken
Exercise: Tennis
-Pack one box
-Clean bathroom
-Do laundry
-Grocery shopping


And the week continues like that. The meals aren't super healthy, but they're what we have. the week gets healthier after I go grocery shopping. I also made a grocery shopping list at the very bottom of the page. If you didn't notice I got a job. Of all the "fast food" places I could get a job this would be the best one to help me loose weight. I work at Pita Pit. It is a Mediterranean food, and it's a lot like subway. Instead of carb-loaded bread we use pitas. You can get unlimited veggies on them and you can choose what type of meat, if any. They have normal sandwich type meats, or meats you put on the grill, and they have their Mediterranean meats. I've tried the Gyro(pronounced Euro) and the Souvlaki, which is basically a seasoned chicken meat. I didn't care for the gyro-which is beef and lamb strips. It's a lot like bologna except it's made from beef and lamb. One thing people don't know about pitas, is how to make them taste yummy. Yeah you can pick your meat, but you really need to load the pita with veggies to make it taste amazing. I would suggest getting hummus, it's really good, and then all the veggies you like, then they have a greek tzatziti(pronounced tah-zee-kee) sauce. All it is is a yogurt garlic cucumber spread. So kinda like sour cream but healthier. When I first tried it I had a cucumber with it, and I didn't really like it that much. But when I tried my Souvlaki pita I decided to try it on the pita as a whole and it was amazing. When I make my pita I like to grill some of my veggies, this really makes the pita taste a million times better. I grilled roasted red peppers, mushrooms, and green bell peppers. Super yummy! So I'm going to attempt to make pitas at home. I'm going to buy some veggies and hope it turns out good. If you haven't tried Pita pit you should!! Another good thing about working here is we get $2 pitas. If we work a long shift we get a free pita. I'm actually glad that I'm only working part time. Even though it's not a bad place to work, I still don't love it.


I have written down a schedule of exercising. I really am planning on doing all of it! I want to be a healthier person! We're going to California in 2 weeks. I know I'm not going to really change anything, but I think it would be nice to look a little better than I do now. I will keep you posted, every Sunday.

Creating better habits

I was reading an article I saw on Facebook. A guy managed to pay off his really expensive student loan debt within a year. I would love to do that, but I don't think that will happen for us. It would help if I got a nice job. Then we would have that extra income to pay for our student loans. Something I learned from reading his experience is that he had to really become disciplined and committed. I always want to change things about myself. Not that I'm not happy with who I am, but I always feel like I could be a better person. My problem is that I'm so use to the way that I am that changing is difficult. I have very bad discipline! I am a person who lives for the moment. I'd rather relax than work out, or eat out than stay home and find something to make for dinner. I didn't use to always be this way. I remember when I was in college I tried to keep my room cleaned (for the most part). If there was something I wanted to change about myself I would just do it. I don't know what it is but for some reason I am just not pushing myself like I use to. I wonder if it has to do with being married. I have someone who will love me no matter what so why should I try to improve on the person that I am? I know that is silly thinking, but I think sometimes that might be the underlining reason. I keep thinking that maybe later on when I have kids, I'll have a reason to make myself better. I'll want to cook dinner every night for my kids, keep the house clean, exercise so I can keep up with them. That may be true, but I don't know. I just know that I want to change. I need to start forming better habits. My biggest bad habit is eating out. I have some weird associations with eating out. My family would always eat out, so I associate spending time with loved ones, with eating out. I know that there are different things we can do to spend time with each other, and it doesn't have to involve eating out. I just need to really try my hardest and not eat out anymore. I think once I find the self control for eating out, then It will open other things I would like to change, like exercising, and cleaning. Well, if you have any suggestions for me on breaking bad habits I would appreciate the help.


Oh, so I decided I would try running in the morning, really early with Nick. I forced myself out of bed, and we tried running just around our apartment complex. I made it like half way, and then had a cramp. I got home, and I definitely pulled a muscle in my hip. I'm not sure how I did that, but it hurts to walk. Running when I'm not fully awake (me or my body) was a bad idea. I think I'm more of an evening type of person.

I've been terrible....

So I have definitely fallen off the wagon. I've stopped trying. I don't know what it is, but I get to a point where being lazy is more important and I forget what I really want. I thought I was doing good, and then my work out videos got boring, and junk food(fast food) sounded really good. For awhile I was loosing weight. I am still almost 10 lbs lighter, but I know that if I don't start working out, eating healthy, and just trying harder I will gain it back. I found some inspiration online, via Pinterest.http://undressedskeleton.tumblr.com/ 


I really like hearing about people's weight loss stories, it really makes me want to try harder. I like this girls story because it's not some sad sob/amazing story, but the actual story of a girl, who went from bad habits to good habits. I haven't read the entire page, and some of the recipes seem very complicated/expensive. But I feel the way she has always felt. I know I'm not the weight I really want to be, neither am I healthy. I want to be healthy for many reasons, looking good is just one of them. She puts it pretty simple too. You just have to make adjustments and stick to them. 


When I decided to stop trying to loose weight, and every time I've done this I always try to convince myself that I just need money, so I can buy a membership to a gym, or buy the healthy foods-like actually buying vegetables and fruit. We pretty much stick to the staples and make what we can. Fruit and veggies are so expensive, especially for someone who is poor. I think I am just going to have to try portion control, and actually stop eating out! I like that on her blog she says to let yourself eat whatever once a week. Basically she's saying if you deny yourself what you want, then you have the chance of going overboard and giving up. I know this is going to be hard but I've made a weekly schedule to help me. I think that if I actually write down my goals, and put it up so I can see it every day then my chances of actually doing it will be greater. I've also decided to try different exercises every week. I like her weekly schedule. She does a different type of exercise everyday of the week and she rests on Sunday. I know there are different types of exercises I can do, and it doesn't require me going to a gym. Nick bought us tennis racquets and balls for my birthday. I just need to learn how to score now. I'm so glad that he is willing to help me. I know he hates it, he's told me. But I still enjoy it, even if he doesn't. Another thing she mentioned was that one time when she was just really upset she went for a walk to clear her head but ended up enjoying the walk, and basically she doesn't walk/run because she has to loose weight, but that it's more about clearing your head, and being at peace with yourself.

Well here's a pic of my weekly schedule, it's very simple, but I can work on it as I go. I really liked making the schedule. I like being crafty :) feel free to use it if you want the publisher file let me know.