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.

Motivation part 2

Nothing motivates you more than  seeing yourself loose weight. This morning I weighed myself and I was at my goal for the end of this month. They say you fluctuate between 2lbs a day. Well I guess weighing yourself when you first wake up, your weight will be lighter? I know that I'll probably change weight throughout the week, but as long as I'm going down then that's good. Seeing my weight made me want to loose even more. I worked out today and ate smaller portion sizes. One of my big problems is eating late. Because we don't have jobs we end up staying up late, and then I get hungry. A new goal for this week will be to go to bed early. It will be easier now because we don't have internet. Also we didn't eat out today even though we both really wanted too. Nick made BBQ pizza and it was really good. Now I just need to focus and stay motivated!

Motivation

I think the key to staying motivated is remembering what your goal is, and exactly why that goal is important to you. I am really getting tired of working out, doing the same video every other day. It's boring, and it makes me exhausted and sweaty. I hate being sweaty! Today I really didn't want to work out, I told my husband that I didn't want to and he said, "okay." I said, "no your suppose to help me to keep exercising." He said, "okay, do you want to go to Hawaii?" That made me remember my fantasy of me relaxing on the beach and not being self-conscious about my fat hanging out everywhere. At my current state I definitely would not look like what my fantasy(goal) is. I don't know that i'll ever be as beautiful as my fantasy, but at least maybe I could be fit enough to look good in a swimsuit. When my husband and I were having the discussion about loosing weight and having Hawaii as our goal, I told him that he needed to help me stay motivated. He said, "well what if you don't listen to me?" I told him to remind me of Hawaii and how I want to look good in a bathing suit. I'm actually surprised it worked. I think one of the ways that I seem to get distracted and unmotivated from working out is that whenever I should work out I focus on other things and forget the ultimate goal. I think in order for you to stay motivated you need to constantly think about your goal, maybe even everyday! Take the time to think about what you really want and think of the ways your going to reach those goals. I also think having this blog is helping. Thank you to my readers, the few of you out there. It really did help me work out today. I kept thinking, I really really don't want to do my video today, but then I remembered it was Monday and that I was going post a new blog today. I thought what would they think if I didn't post, that I failed like all the other times. I can feel my determination wavering but I still have my goal and I just need to focus on that.

I weighed myself on the Wii fit today, I decided to wait a week in between weighing myself. I reached my goal that I set, as well as my monthly goal. It is not technically the very last day of the month, but I can say that I lost 2lbs this month! It may not seem like a lot now, but down the road those 2 lbs will add up! I'm thinking about increasing my monthly goal. For now my new goal for February is still to loose 2lbs, but Maybe in March I can set it a little higher depending on how confident I feel that I could really achieve it.

My successes this month were: actually exercising at least once every week, last week I actually exercised every day I said I would. I haven't been eating/snacking too much because we're low in the food/snack area currently. That might become an issue later on when we have more money to buy food.

Failures: Not exercising MWF like I said I would every week, I splurged with the little money we had and bought chips and dip. It is my one food item that is just too hard to resist. I did not walk or exercise 30 min on Tues, Thurs. and Sat. like I said I would, I really have been failing in that goal.

Success: I did loose 2lbs this month.

To reaffirm my goals I will write them again, that way I can remember them throughout the month.

-Do work out video Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
-Exercise 30 min. Tues, Thursday, and Saturday-MUST DO BETTER ON!
-Eat healthier-I'm hoping this will be easier once we have an income.(Nick was finally able to put his papers in so now he needs to apply some more and hope jobs appear.) I would love suggestions on any healthy recipes if anyone has some.


The thing about recipes, is that unless I have all the ingredients I usually don't make them or I improvise. I hate spending too much time in the kitchen as well. I would like to figure out some really easy, yet healthy recipes. Most recipes I see online are really complicated and ask for fancy ingredients.

When I go to Hawaii I would love to see some sea turtles!

Found this on the web, it said it was a friendly sea turtle