Hi there, and Happy Hump Day! Over a week has flown by since my last autumn slim down update, so today I'm filling you all in with how things have been going the past week. Since my main thing with toning up is portion control and keeping my calorie intake around 1,400 a day, I'm happy to say that I've been right on track with that and lost a bit over 2 pounds from last Monday to this one. I indulged a bit on most days, but all in moderation. A few of my sweet tooth eats included a lollipop on Halloween (though I remember Blow pops being better?!), a mug of hot chocolate, and these pumpkin pancakes with dark chocolate chips: Sometimes eating pancakes for dinner just does the soul good! As far as workouts go, I fit in lots of good exercise time last week. One of the days I really ... [Read More]
weight loss
Focusing on the Positive
Well, we've figured out a Halloween costume for my dog. She's a Cone Head. Or, as my hubby's referring to it as, a Satellite Dish. I kid, I kid. Harley has had this rash-y looking kind of thing on her tail that she won't stop messing with, so I took her to the vet today to get some medicine and the dreaded cone. They think it's an allergic reaction, which is weird because I was just at my doctor last week for a rash due to my never-ending allergies. So we both have annoying allergies! I felt bad leaving her alone after our traumatic doctor experience, so I did an at-home workout instead. A few minutes into my workout, I turned around to see her creepily staring at me. A little while later, she moved really close to me and, I swear, continually gave me dirty looks. If that's not ... [Read More]
How Much Exercise Do You Fit in Weekly?
Hi and Happy National Nut Day (I kid you not)! I always find random food holidays to be amusing, and this morning I found out about today's holiday via Twitter. Cashews and almonds are my favorites! I love to top my yogurt bowls with them or eat nuts with fruit for a snack. On National Nut Day I can't forget about my nut butter obsessions. Peanut butter, almond butter, hazelnut butter.... I never get sick of them! I actually just bought cashew butter to try, and I'm a little afraid of how much I'll probably love it given my fondness of cashews in general. Week 1 Recap: Eats Since talking about my plans to shed a couple of pounds last week, I decided that I'll do a weekly recap as a way to share my journey with you all. I'm happy to say that my first week went really well. ... [Read More]
Autumn Slim Down to Find My Ideal Weight
Hi friends! Today's post is about a topic that a lot of people struggle with: finding, reaching, and staying at their "ideal" weight. It feels very personal for me to write about, but I'm doing it because I know a lot of other people have a hard time with it, and why be afraid to be honest and talk about my journey right? My Weight Story I'll spare you the sob story about how life isn't fair, but I've never been a person who can just be thin without eating right and exercising. The reason why I've never been heavy is because I've (thankfully) never eaten a standard American diet, and I've been active my entire life. I'm so blessed to have grown up in a household where healthy living was just a way of life, and I've carried that mentality with me as an adult. I've never been a ... [Read More]
Participating in a DietBet
A few weeks ago, I heard about FitFluential's January DietBet. I had never heard of DietBet before and was intrigued. Here's how it works: DietBet is a social diet game that involves $$. You cough up some mula to join or start a challenge - in this case it was $25. Everyone puts in the specified amount of money, essentially betting that they can lose 4% of their body weight in 4 weeks. At the end of that time, whoever lost the 4% splits the pot evenly. Here's how the weigh-ins work: You have to take a full-length picture of yourself in ''airport attire" standing on a scale, then immediately take a photo of your weight on the scale at the beginning of the bet. DietBet is pretty smart about reducing cheating, and they email a secret word to you right before your weigh-in, which you need ... [Read More]
Health & Fitness Goals for 2013
While I'm not too crazy about the term ''New Year's resolution," I am most definitely a lover of goal setting in general. I jot down to-do lists all the time, which in essence are a bunch of short term goals I want to accomplish (even if ''do your laundry" is a rather small one!). For 2013, there are a few goals related to healthy living that I want to work on. I thought I'd share them with you, so here goes: For around 3 months, I've been going to physical therapy to rehab my torn calf. I'm happy to say that it's been feeling really good lately! The injury had been causing problems in my achilles and foot, but lately I haven't had pain in those areas. I think that taking it rather easy for a few weeks over the holidays did my body well and gave it some extra time to heal. My first ... [Read More]