Check-in

My eating habits were super good this week. For the eating plan I'm trying, I decided to go ahead and just eat everything that was recommended exactly like they said. Normally, I would add a few things here and there, or make swaps for things that I thought were close, but obvi that's not the point, and probably why it hasn't worked in the past for me. The foods and dishes I made this week were things like 4oz of chicken breast with salt and pepper, with a spinach salad with tomato, low fat feta, and oil and vinegar. Honestly, everything I've made so far as been DELICIOUS, no joke. Even steamed artichokes WITHOUT dipping the leaves in butter (who knew??) and only using lemon and salt and pepper.

I did cheat a few times, though. The diet wanted me to make shrimp and pasta, but the shrimp was freaking expensive so I didn't buy it during the last shopping trip, so we just ordered pizza. :) But I got a veggie pizza and only ate a few, plus a salad. And I also went to happy hour an had beer, and made a vodka cocktail last night after (healthy) dinner. So...hit and miss I guess.

Every dinner recipe features a different protein so far (this week: beef, salmon, pork, chicken, sausage), so Seth calls it the Meat Carousel diet.

I haven't weighed myself for the week, because I don't own a scale (and I'm nervous). But I took my measurements, and I lost about an inch off my waist, and a half inch off my booty. Yay! I noticed that I also have a TON more energy now. I think it's partly because I was super lazy over the break, and partly because work is CRAZY right now, so I have to keep up.

Anyhoo, here's what's going on now:
1. Work is bananas. School started last week, and students are coming by the office in droves trying to sign up for tutoring. We started taking appointments on Thursday, and the first tutoring sessions start tomorrow morning, bright and early. I have to make sure everyone gets an appointment and starts tutoring in a reasonable amount of time. With our director out on maternity leave, it definitely puts a bit more pressure on everyone else to step it up. In the past, I knew that if something crazy came up, or if something fell through the cracks, she would help us keep it together. With her out, we all have to be extra careful about getting everything done, and we're all helping each other, but it's one less set of eyes and hands. Jesus take the wheel.

2. We're going home!! Thanks to a super generous contribution from Kacie's Mom, Seth and I are heading down to Louisiana next month. SO EXCITED!! I already have a huge list of things I must must see and do and eat, so hopefully we'll get everything in. We're spending about a week in Shreve, then a week in Lake Charles, and eating everything in between. Plus, it's Mardi Gras, which you can't beat, ever.

If one of you is near a Sonic, please go eat a sonic burger with mustard, ched'r peppers, and route 44 cherry limeade for me, please. Thanks.

Fitness

January 2 is the busiest day of the year at the gym.

Instead of making my healthy changes part of a New Years' resolution, I want to use it to start setting mini-goals for myself. Today I'm starting a new meal plan that I found through Women's Health magazine (which I love love love), and a super flexible workout plan that is gym-optional. It's a combo of weight training and cardio, with days built in for additional anything-goes workouts like yoga or spinning or piloxing or whatever I want.

For the record, I really wish my gym had piloxing, because it looks awesome.

So, my first short goal is to do the first week of this program and lose ONE pound. Or, like, half an inch off my belly. My first big goal is to lose at least 6 lbs by the end of this 6-week plan. That's it. I just want to find something stick-to-able, and learn how to apply self-motivation and not-give-up-ed-ness.

Anyway, I'll try not to blog too much with this-is-what-I-ate-today posts, or whining about feeling fat, or embarrassing before and after tummy photos. Oh, no.

But I did make a pinterest fitspo board if you want to know what I'm going for.

Laters!