Randomness

Sometimes, I have a million little things floating around in my head and I have a super hard time focusing on just one of them.

• I used to think I had ADD, but now I realize that it usually only happens when I am extremely tired. Or bored. 
• Like, right now, I should be prepping for a meeting that is in 30 minutes, but I am reading blogs instead.
• I really, really am enjoying this clean eating thing, but why can't there be clean french fries? I mean, seriously. And don't try to sell my on sweet potato fries, I have tried them and I didn't like them.
• Why do I hate hot tea, but am seriously loving these Chai tea latte K-cups I got last weekend? My dad's wife (ok, I guess she is my "stepmom" but that seems weird to call her that since they got married when I was 26...) recommended them to me and they are delish!
• I really want to redecorate our apartment. Specifically our bedroom and living room. But, we are trying to save our money for a house next summer so I really can't justify it.
• I wish it would be warm enough for the pool this weekend, but it's only supposed to be in the high 60s/low 70s. WTF. For real.
• I need a new swimsuit. Mine doesn't fit very well anymore, but I don't have the cash to shell out for a new one from VS, and I don't know of any place that sells inexpensive suits that chesty girls can wear. I tried one on at Target and almost cried. Seriously.
• Speaking of, why do so many clothing designers discriminate against those of us with larger chests? There are so many things that I can't wear because of it, and it is annoying. I can't wear button up shirts, I can't wear anything with a built in bra, I can wear things that have stitching for the bust part, the list goes on and one. Not fair. 

And now that I have mentioned my boobs in two bullet points, I should probably move on and get ready for my meeting.

That one time...

Two posts in one day, say what?
That really doesn't happen too often around these parts. Actually, it is more likely that I skip days...
Err, so anyways.
I stumbled upon this link up, and just had to join in, it sounded like so much fun!

Back in college there was that one time I "auditioned" for the Real World...

And it was hella awkward.

This show was the first reality show, and I had a slight obsession with it. Especially the original New Orleans one. I didn't even realize that they had made another one of those until I went to google it. 

Anyways, my sophomore year (I think) of college, they were doing auditions here in Columbus, and my good friend Briana and I decided that we thought we were perfect for the show. Like the night before.

They have you fill out this application and bring in a head shot. Yeah, didn't have one of those, so I printed off my Facebook profile picture (on computer paper, and I think it was even in black and white), and we headed downtown that morning. 

Apparently we didn't get the memo that the line would be forever long, and it would start raining. Oh, and that apparently who have to be a prostitute to get the producer's attention at the open casting call.

Our group that we were stuck with was a bunch of crazy people (as in my sorority life living, beer loving self could not even dream of keeping up with), and we were very quickly overlooked. 

I do still remember though the girl who was wearing a trench coat and claimed that she had her "walk of shame" on the way to the auditions. Yeah. Classy.

Needless to say, neither of us got a callback, and we watched that next season being bitter and constantly talking about how much more entertaining we would have been than any of them.

Honestly, as much as I thought I wanted to do it then, I am glad that I wasn't anywhere close to being chosen. And I can now look back on it and laugh because I am really quite a boring person so I had no idea why I thought that I was so damn entertaining back then.

Linking up with Meighan!

Cleat Eating Update

I must say, I am on my 4th day of clean eating, and I feel great. After today, I probably won't update as much, but figured that with a few days in I could let y'all know what I am eating.

I start off every morning with a glass of ice water with lemon on my way to work. I have read many, many articles that states that this should help boost your metabolism.

Once I get to work, I eat my Greek yogurt with blueberries and granola. It could be better if I made my own granola, but it is >5g of sugar, and like I said, my goal is 80-90% clean.

I also drink my Chai tea and lots and lots of water. My water cup is with me all day everyday.

My goal was to have a mid-morning snack, but I have been slammed with classes and meetings this week, so I have to hold off until lunch where I have low fat cottage cheese with veggies and then some fruit on the side (usually strawberries or watermelon).

My pre-work out snack is always an apple with peanut butter. Seriously, favorite.snack.EVER.

For dinner, I stick with a lean protein, starch such as brown rice, and lots of veggies. Last night I made stuffed bell peppers which has all of those things. 

It's not perfect, but I am already down 2 lbs since Monday, so I can definitely tell a difference. I've also changed up my workout routine to be a little more cardio-centric for the time being until I can get my food part figured out. 

My body has also felt better. Like, it's felt "cleaner" if that makes sense? Maybe I am just weird.

I was craving junk yesterday, but I think that was just mental and because I was stressed and tired.

So there you have it. I am actually sticking to my plan (so far), and it is working. What you eat affects your body just as much as how much.

Weekend Shenanigans

This past weekend was filled with quite a few much needed things.
Friday included some much needed down time.
Saturday a much needed date night.
And Sunday, some much needed distractions, pool time and clean eating.

Of course, the only night that I remembered to take pictures was on Saturday.

1) OOTN. Love the bright shorts (Target!)
2) Some lemon martini thing with champagne. IDK. The first drink I ordered tasted horrible so our server recommend this one on the house! Such a sweetheart!
3) Yum! Probably my last splurge on food in quite a while. Clean eating started yesterday
4) Stella. Has to be my fav beer.
5) We were supposed to go to the movies, but decided to check out a local band on the patio at the bar next door instead
6) My handsome husband/date

Sunday we rested (I cannot handle being out late anymore). Then, met up with our friends at the pool. Came home, rested some more. Grocery shopped and food prepped for the week.
This clean eating will happen and I will be successful.

As a completely side night, I just want to express how much I am grateful for my friends in my life. Yesterday was a hard day for me. It marked 11 years since my older sister passed away. It's a bad day every single year. But, waking up to sweet texts from my best friend, friends who didn't know I needed it but provided a distraction, and sweet facebook messages from old friends that I haven't talked to much over the years, helped to ease the ache in my heart a tiny bit. I can't change things, they are what they are, but I know that I am lucky to have such wonderful people in my life that care.

So, hug the people you love extra tight, and make sure that they always know how much you care. Life is short, but sweet for certain.

Cleanin it up

After this post yesterday, I realized that I need to stop whining and just put stuff into action.
Yeah, losing weight is hard. Yeah, it sucks sometimes, and sometimes I don't feel like eating lots of broccoli and greek yogurt, but ya know what? It makes me feel better. Eating crap makes me feel like crap. Not working out because I am "tired" makes me more tired. Weird? Yeah, but that is how it is.

I decided to do some research. Look into eating a 90% clean diet all week long. Make a meal plan and see what happens. And it wasn't that hard. I browsed Pinterest and healthy living blogs, and found a lot of great ideas.

I even came up with dinners that my husband will eat with me. He is one of those that can eat whatever he wants and still look great types. Actually, he has to force himself to eat more than what he wants at times because he has a super fast metabolism and works a very physical job for 9-10 hours a day. I also came up with breakfast and lunches for him that were clean, yet high in healthy fats and protein to give him more energy.

I am a pretty healthy person naturally. I crave fruits and veggies for the most part, and you will never see me without water at work. I have my bad weeks (like this week), but then I just have to push myself to do even better than before. (Plus side, when I went to the doctor for my check up earlier this week, I am down from where I was a year ago. Not a lot, but still seeing a smaller number made me happy.)

I know this isn't perfect, but here is my plan for the week:

Breakfasts- Greek yogurt with granola and berries. Chai tea latte (this is replacing my current coffee with cream and sugar)
Lunch- Grilled chicken salad, or salad with hard boiled egg. Fruit. I try to eat meat only once a day, so most likely I will be going with the egg for my protein.
Dinners:
Sunday-Baked chicken parm with whole wheat pasta and sauce, salad
Monday-Honey Lime Chicken, brown rice, green beans with evoo
Tuesday-Stuffed peppers (I make these with lean ground beef, brown rice, tomato sauce, spices and throw some diced tomatoes and peppers in there usually. I do top is with low-fat/part-skim mozzarella cheese)
Wednesday-Chicken burrito bowel with brown rice
Thursday-Pork with brown rice (potatoes for Julian) and corn
Friday-take out (either Chipotle or the healthy Chinese place near us. They do not use any hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup, their chicken is baked and not fried, I could go on and on, plus the food is AH-MAZ-ING)
Saturday-Date night/cheat meal/cookout--not quite sure yet.

For snacks I will do almonds (I always keep some in my desk at work) and apple with peanut butter. Also, I am going to start my mornings with ice water and lemon.

For my meals, I try to stick with this format: Breakfast: Protein, Fruit, Starch   Lunch: Protein, Fruit, Veggie  Dinner: Protein, Veggie, Starch

I also plan on working out at least 3 times next week (preferably 5), and taking Tucker for lots of long walks. Now that my allergies have cleared up a bit, I have no excuse.

I know this is a lot of info, and probably boring to most who read here, but I am trying to keep myself accountable and to finally stop making excuses.

If anybody has any tips/suggestions/anything important that I missed in moving to clean eating, please let me know! :)

Lacking

I did super good for about 4 weeks of working out and eating super healthy. And I lost no weight. I stuck to my calories, I worked by butt of in the gym, and nothing. 

Then, I got discouraged. 

I still watched what I ate for the most part this weekend, but I definitely loosened my rein on what was "allowed". I also skipped the gym Monday (because we were meeting Julian's fam for dinner) and Tuesday (I claimed because my shoulder hurt, which it does, but I was actually just being lazy). 

What the heck? Where did my motivation go? Why do I let the dang scale dictate if I am working hard or not. I know that when you life weights you usually don't lose weight because your fat is transforming into muscle, and muscle is more dense (no, muscle does not "weigh more" than fat. 1 pound of muscle=1 pound of fat. 1 pound of muscle just takes up waaaaay less space and is better for your body), but it doesn't help that the stupid BMI chart says that I am "overweight." To them 170 pounds=170 pounds whether you are comprised of muscle or fat. 

I am so frustrated with all of this, and I know that I put way more stress on myself than necessary. I eat pretty healthy. I am pretty active. Even when I don't go to the gym, I take Tucker for walks, I take the stairs instead of the elevator at work, I move a decent amount.
I don't want to try a fad diet. I don't want to do just cardio for 6 weeks even though I could bet you money I would lose pounds faster that way. I want to be healthy, but I don't want to get discouraged from the scale. 

Any suggestions from those of you going through something similar, other than breaking up with the scale? I try that, and try to go by how my clothes fit, but none of my clothes fit right anyway from when I gained a whole bunch of weight a few years ago, and I have been too broke to do much shopping. 

Sorry, I know that it sounds like I am throwing myself a pity party over here, and I kind of am. But don't we all need a little pity party every now and then? IDK...

What I looked like a couple of weeks ago during the middle of my workouts vs what I looked like in NYC (January) before I really started trying to change my lifestyle. I know there is a small difference (even with the bulky coat), but I have a hard time remembering that...

When my pup turns 5 and I completely forget...

I am a horrible fur mama. I look at my calendar today while at work and realize that yesterday was Tucker's birthday. I seriously hope that I get my act together before we have kids, because how awful would that be? "Oh I am sorry sweetie, mom forgot your birthday because she was too busy with other things."
So, in honor of the little shithead (seriously, he can be a little difficult at times), here are some pics of my sweet little fur child.
I apologize for the mass amount of pictures. He takes up probably 85% of my instragram too (@bethjoy5)

Tucker likes to pretend that he is farm animal and can operate all of the heavy machinery.

He hates car rides usually unless he is sitting on top of you and you are constantly telling him everything is going to be ok.

He loves to go for walks, but be careful of his allergies because sometimes he has to stop and you have to calm him down from his wheezing attacks.

He loves visiting other dogs and it wears him out. Especially because he tries to mount certain female dogs no matter how many times his dad tosses him in the pond for it. (Not in the deep part, just where it is super shallow)

He has a collection of shirts to keep him warm in the winter, including his polo that makes him look super "fancy"

He loves to be cuddled, and that is when he takes his best naps

He also will give you those puppy dog eyes anytime you don't let him up on the couch

When he was a puppy he would sleep on anything that smelled like me while I was at work.
Apparently, I was also a slob when I was in college...

He loves his mama

He likes to dress up for Halloween, and for his first one, he made a very convincing "bat dog"

Sometimes his skin allergies get out of control and we have to protect him with the "cone of shame"

Also, sometimes he gets loose while we are at work and I have to leave my brand new job to go chase my dog around the apartment complex in heels, in the rain.

He also loves his dad

In the winter, he was to wear his sweater so he doesn't freeze outside in all of the snow.

Sometimes, he likes to pretend his is a cat and sleeps on top of our couch. We now have a permanent dent up there from him.

 But, his favorite place to sleep is curled up with whoever is laying on the couch. It's best if there is a blanket over him and he uses your arm or leg as a pillow.

Happy 5th Birthday Tucker-bubs!