There's a Storm Blowing Through (Literally and Figuratively)

Hey everyone.  Hope you all had a good weekend.  Mine?  Not so great.  I seem to be having pretty bad luck lately, and it's really starting to affect me.  I think I'm due for some good luck soon.

First the fire on Monday.  And on Friday?  Well, a big storm blew through the Twin Cities.  I was in Minneapolis at the time, and this happened...

Yes, that is my car.  And I was in it at the time.  I was lucky I didn't get hurt, but my car is not so lucky.  I'm so upset, because I just got my bumper fixed from a previous accident.  Now the same side is dented again. And the cover on my spare tire is busted, and flapping in the wind.  I'm so tired of all these stupid things happening to me - especially my vehicles.  This is my 3rd vehicle, and all vehicles I've put dents in.  My first car was totaled.  And the icing on the cake?  After my last accident, my parents decided to put me on liability, because my insurance rates doubled.  That was about a month ago - so insurance won't cover the damage from the tree.  Great.

Just a side note - it was a pretty bad storm.  Trees were down everywhere, blocking a ton of roads, and some were on power lines.  Some people had it much worse - trees on their homes, or ruining their cars more than mine.  And there were many people without power the entire weekend.  I was out of power (kind of - the power in my kitchen was working?) for the night and part of the day Saturday.  Grocery stores were empty because they had to throw out all their produce, eggs, milk, etc. and many businesses were shut down for the weekend.

I know I should be thankful I'm okay, but it certainly puts a huge damper on my spirit.  Plus, there is something else that happened over the weekend (that I'd rather not share) that completely ruined a lot of things.  I'm going through a really hard time right now because of it.  I wish I could just get these toxic people out of my life, but sometimes I just feel I can't be mean, and I need to help them.  I don't know what to do, and at this point, I'm just so exhausted trying to please everyone.

Sorry for the down-and-out post.  I'm sorry to say that this blog will be on a little hiatus as I sort through this mess.  There are certainly still some good things in my life right now - I just need to hold on to those and remember that it could be much worse.  But my "real life" needs attention right now, so the blog will be on hold.  I'm sure I'll still be reading everyone's blogs, and commenting here and there.  But no posts on My Inner Butterfly.  I don't know how long it will be.  Certainly not more than a month.  Maybe even just a week?  Who knows....I just need to get out of this funk.

Friday Weigh In – 6/21/13

Mornin’ everybody.  It’s Friday again, and that means this crappy workweek is heading out the door.  Good riddance!!  Well, until next week.  Shoot. 

Anyway, this weekend I have a few plans.  Tomorrow I’m going to look at an apartment.  I’m moving (yet again), and good lord, it is turning out to be quite the search.  It seems no one has anything available for August.  My tour tomorrow is actually at the apartments I lived at a year ago.  I loved those apartments, and hated that I listened to the boy when he said he wanted to move.  Because the second we moved, he said he missed it.  Note to self: never listen to a man again.  Anyway, they have one apartment left.  And the girl worked her special powers to get me in at 11:00 – a half hour before someone else is going to look at it.  Score!

 
Sunday I’ll be going to another play – War Horse.  I have no idea what it’s about.  All I know is there are horses.  Lots of horses.  I’ve heard the movie is fantastic – we’ll see how the play is.  Really I just wanted to score another *free* dinner and some theatre time. 

----

Okay, now on to what you’ve all been waiting for.  I have not been entirely consistent when it comes to workouts and my goals this week.  I worked out once so far this week (I still have the weekend….uh-huh).  But I have been consistently tracking my calories and attempting to stay under my calorie goal (1400).  Anyway, my current weight….

157

Last week I was at 157.2…..I will take it.  Slow and steady wins the race! 

That’s it for today – hope you all have a great weekend!

Workout Wednesday - BBBC

Morning, lovelies!  I’m in a great mood today, because I actually got some sleep!  I got in to bed at 9:30, and fell asleep shortly thereafter.  I. Love. Sleep.    :)    No fires last night – so that’s a good thing, ha!

 
Today is the link-up with the oh-so-motivational Skinny Meg – Workout Wednesday.  Today I’m going to go over my workouts for the week, and also kind of explain the plan that I’ll be doing for the next 8 weeks. 

Like a lot of people in blogland, I’ll be doing Best Body Bootcamp.  I’m really excited about this program.  I did the first strength workout on Monday, and I have been sore…like, really sore.  Towards the end of the day yesterday, I found it hard to move around.  I love that – it really makes me feel like I’ve gotten a great workout.  And I’m sore in places I’ve never been sore. 

 
I think this is going to be an all-around great plan.  You basically have 2 strength workouts every week, with an optional bonus 3rd day of some core strength work – looks like a lot of planks!!  The strength workouts are full body, and they’re supersets.  I love supersets – they’ve always been my favorite.  It really helps beat boredom, and gets the heart pumping.  As for cardio, she makes some suggestions for cardio, and you pretty much do cardio every day (except Saturday and Sunday, which are optional rest days).

With the plan (which is only $50!! – for those late starters like me), you get the workouts (in 2-week increments – each phase is 2 weeks long), some progress/goal tracking sheets, you get entered each week to win some moo-lah, there is a grand prize at the end (prizes and cash are all based on consistency), and there are a ton of cardio workouts.  And I mean, a lot!! 

I’m really excited about this plan, and I really believe it will help get me back on the workout wagon.  I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to stick to this one, because of how flexible it is.  It’s seriously like having a personal trainer for 8 weeks – for only $50!!  Over the next several weeks, I’ll share my thoughts and such on the plan.  I can’t share a lot, just because it is something that people have to pay for, but I’ll share enough so that you get an idea of what I’ve been doing.  And of course, you’ll get to see my progress/results.   :)

Looking forward to the next 8 weeks….stay tuned!

A Fire! + Accountability Tuesday #2

Last night was quite eventful, to say the least.  A car in my apartment complex underground garage caught on fire, and it spread to another car.  13 fire trucks were called to the scene, and 2 firefighters were injured.  My apartment?  It’s right above the garage door.

 

The firefighters did a great job, and were able to keep it contained to only the garage.  I was freaking out, because I left my cat in the apartment.  You see, a few weeks ago, the alarm went off because someone burnt their food while cooking.  I figured it was another false alarm, so I decided I’d just stay in the apartment and wait it out.  That is, until the firemen came and banged on the door, telling me I need to get out.  My cat was hiding under the bed, and I couldn’t get him because he kept running away from me.  So I left without him. 

 
It was a long 3 hours, waiting to go back in the building.  When I finally did, Ricky was okay.  A little scared, but he was okay.  I am tired today.  Thank God none of the apartments were damaged.  The car fire spread to another car – the poor people lost their cars.  Thankful today for those brave firemen/women.

 
----

Now on to Accountability Tuesday #2.  Let’s go over last week’s goals first, and see how I did.

1. Drink more water.  I did okay with this, but definitely could have done better.  I failed to even go fill my water bottle up a couple days.  But I did try to drink at least half of my giant water bottle.  The weekend was no better.  I give myself a D+.
2. Count calories.  I did well with this until the weekend neared.  I tracked every day, except Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  It helped to enter all my planned foods in the mornings.  I really need to get better at tracking on the weekends.  C
3. Weigh in regularly.  I had my weigh-in last Friday.  Obviously it’s hard to measure that one, since it’s only been a week (not even).  I guess that was more of an overall goal for the coming weeks.  So A for that one.
4. Move more.  This kind of went like my calorie goal.  I did well towards the beginning of the week, but it kind of went to the wayside as I neared the weekend.  C
5. Make a plan – and a back-up plan.  I planned well, and made back-up plans where appropriate.  A

Overall: B-  I did okay for week 1, but there’s definitely room for improvement.

This week will be a little different.  I’ll only have 3 goals, and with the start of Best Body Bootcamp, I’m focusing on some different things.  I also found a great web site with some awesome printables, including Desercise BINGO!  I can’t believe I didn’t know about this web site before.  I’ve been stalking for the past couple days like mad.

Anyway, here are my goals for the week:

1. Count Calories.  Specifically during the weekend, even if it’s looking bad.  No excuses!
2. Drink water. I’m aiming for half that big jug of water per day. 
3. Deskercise BINGO. Complete the entire chart, and get my prize of a new workout tank.

----

That’s it for today.  Make it a great one!

Menu Monday #2

Hello, hello!  I’m a little late to the party today – work has been keeping me busy.  Oh, and I’ve been catching up on blogs.    :)    I left work early on Friday – I had a half-day – so I had lots of reading to do today.  Speaking of work and blogs, I’ve noticed that little by little my company is blocking more and more web sites.  I can’t write up a post using Blogger anymore, so I’m using Live Writer.  I also noticed that I can’t comment on blogs!!  It’s making me so angry!!  I do this at work, because, well – my work just does not fill up my day.  I also do it because I’m busy cooking and working out in the evenings.   And there’s no way I’ll get up at the crack of dawn to write a blog post or catch up on blogs and commenting.  So, sorry about the non-commenting lately.  I’m reading your blogs (and sometimes forgetting I can’t comment, so I write up a comment, only to find out I can’t…womp womp); I’m just a little silent these days.  I’ll work up a solution somehow!

And before I get to the Menus for the week – Monday isn’t Monday around these parts without a little Garfield.   :)

----

On the Fitness menu this week…

Monday: Run 1 mile | Fitness Tests | Workout A
Tuesday: Imax 2
Wednesday: Workout B | Run 1.5 miles
Thursday: Workout C | Imax 2
Friday:  Run 1.5 miles
Saturday: HIIT
Sunday: Run 2 miles

I’ll go in to more detail on Wednesday, but I have decided to sign up for Best Body Bootcamp!!  I’m really excited about this, and am expecting some great results!  Like I said, more to come on Wednesday for the Workout Wednesday link-up!    :)

----

On the Meal menu…

Breakfasts: Smoothies (my new love)
Lunches: A mix of Trader Joe’s Vegetable Fried Rice, Turkey Sausage, and Bell Peppers!
Snacks: Watermelon/Almonds and Wheat Thins/Laughing Cow Queso Fresco & Chipotle Cheese
Dinners: Rotisserie chicken, Chicken Fajitas, Chicken Alfredo, Fish, and Chicken Drumsticks – leftovers during the weekend

----

That’s it for today.  Goals for the week will be up tomorrow!

Weigh In – 6/14/2013

It’s finally Friday – free again!  First of all, thanks to everyone who commented yesterday – I appreciate all of your comments and support!

Now let’s get to the good stuff, because I know that what everyone really cares about.  So today is weigh in day.  I haven’t (officially) weighed in, in a while.  For the past 2 months or so, I’ve stayed at about the same weight.  Well, that’s really no different than today.  I stepped on the scale, and I’m at:

157.2

Not what I had hoped for, seeing as a couple days ago I was at about 156.6.  But I’m not going to sweat it.

I also took some “before” pictures (again).  They’re terrible.  Seriously, I can’t believe I look like that, and I can’t believe that I’m still here after making my decision to change my lifestyle almost a year ago.  Since then, I haven’t made any progress, and I’ve actually gained about 7-10 pounds.  It’s so disappointing.  And I feel like I am letting everyone down all the time.  It’s like I have enough motivation in me to keep going, but not enough to lose the weight.  I only have the motivation to maintain. 

I mentioned a week ago that I noticed some pictures in my boyfriend’s phone that made me really wince.  Are these pictures my ah-ha moment?  Honestly, I don’t know.  But what I do know is that I don’t like what I see, and that it is worse than what I had thought I actually looked like.  I decided to share these pictures with you today.  As embarrassing as they are, they need to be put out there.  And one month from now, I’ll post my “before” pictures that I took of myself today (in my undergarments), along with my progress pictures that I will take.  But for now, I’ll leave you with the pictures that lit this current fire in me….

Ugh!  Like I said before – where is my neck???  Do I even have one??  And my boobs – I absolutely hate them.  I really hope I lose them when I lose this weight.  And if not?  I will be getting a reduction – because I’m pretty sure insurance would cover it, they’re so big!

----

Okay, enough of that.  Hope you all have a great weekend!

NSV Thursday

Today I'm linking up with Katie for some good old NSV's for the week.  I feel like this week, my momentum has started to get back on track, and I really think that my blogging schedule has been a huge contributor to that.  And that brings me to my first NSV.

• I've gotten back in to the swing of things, thanks to my blogging schedule.  A couple times, I was so tempted to go off track with my eating or not work out, but then I thought: "Oh, but I have to blog about this tomorrow."  And I don't want to report to everyone how much I'm sucking it up (like usual)!!  Ha!

• Yesterday I went out to a lunch meeting at Granite City.  One of the girls ordered a Mountain Dew, and my ears perked up.  Um....Mountain Dew is like crack to me.  But, no....I remembered my #NoSodaSummer challenge, and I ordered water.  It was actually quite refreshing!

• With regards to that same lunch, I had scoured the menu before going, and there really weren't too many healthy options.  Even the salads were close to 1,000 calories!  Yikes!  So I told myself I'd treat myself.  I ordered a regular cheeseburger, and I only ate about 1/2 my fries (about a cup).  

• I've gotten back on track with running.  Yes, I'm only running about a mile at a time and dying, but I'm running.  And it feels good.  Love that hot, sweaty, unstoppable feeling I get!  Today's run is supposed to be 1.5 miles.  

----

That's it for now.  I'm doing pretty good so far.  Just gotta take one day at a time.  Tomorrow is weigh in day!  See you then!

Workout Wednesday

Hello, I'm here!  This post is a little late today, but better late than never!  Today is Workout Wednesday, and I'm linking up with SkinnyMeg!

On Monday, I shared my workout plan for the week.  It includes a lot of short runs, because.......well, because my running sucks.  I feel like I'm back where I started before C25K.  Seriously.  How can taking off a few weeks make me take a bazillion steps back?  I can't even run a mile anymore.  How did that happen??  So I'm getting back in to the swing of things and starting slowly (though not as slow as C25K was).  My longest run this week will be 1.5 miles.  Maybe.

In addition to that, I'll be doing some Cathe workouts.  I originally planned to do her Cross Train Xpress series, but decided against it.  Yesterday I put in her Cardio & Weights workout - I was drenched in sweat, and my face looked like a tomato!!  It's basically 3-5 minute bouts of step, with step focused on legs, then some upper body work.  Then you move on to the next step/leg/upper body circuit.  It's about an hour-long workout.  Check out a description and a (nice and long) video clip here!

----

And one last thing before I go.  It's my baby boy Ricky's birthday today.  He's turning 2!!!  Love him to pieces!!  :)

Accountability Tuesday #1

I know, it's not a very "catchy" title, but I wanted to do this on Tuesdays (partly because it doesn't fit in anywhere else).  So today I'll go over my goals for the week.  For this week, I plan on sticking to my "Back to Basics" bullet points I mentioned last week.

(Hehe, I just thought this was a cute picture)

1.  Drink more water.  I've been filling up my water jug every day.  Right now, I'm aiming to drink at least half of that thing (hey, I have to start somewhere) every day.

2.  Count Calories.  So far so good - I've been logging everything I eat.  Even that darn chocolate cake I ate yesterday - why did someone have to bring that in the office yesterday?!  And now there is a box of chocolate brownies from Davanni's sitting pretty close to my cube.  Must. Stay. Away!

3.  Weigh In Regularly.  I've decided my weigh-in days will be Fridays.  Stay tuned for my first weigh in post in quite a while (at least officially), coming on Friday.

4.  Move more.  I posted my workout plan yesterday for Menu Monday.  Yesterday went well.  As soon as I got home yesterday, I put my workout clothes on and left right away for my 1-mile run.  I was so proud of myself!  And my workout?  Well, that's another story.  I'll go a little more in-depth tomorrow, but let's just say I can really tell I haven't run in a few weeks.  It was so disappointing, but motivating at the same time.

5.  Make a plan - and a back-up plan.  Yesterday I posted my plan.  My main problem is my workouts.  Lately, my schedule has changed quite a bit.  I used to put on my workout clothes at work, and then head straight to the gym after work.  Now it's summer, and I froze my membership for three months.  That means I need to find the motivation inside myself to go home and workout, and NOT sit on the couch.  With my schedule change that I mentioned (I have something going on pretty much every night after work), I plan on bringing my clothes to work again, and changing in to workout clothes before leaving work.  That way, I'll be able to run no matter where I go.

----

Next week I'll go over my goals, grade myself, and discuss what went well, etc.  I'll also post next week's goals at the same time.  Tomorrow is Workout Wednesday, which is the one and only linkup with SkinnyMeg!

Back to work - here's to hoping I can stay away from those brownies!

Menu Plan Monday #1 & A New Blogging Schedule

Morning , er good afternoon everyone!  It's been a busy one - though I hate Mondays, the day usually seems to go by fairly quickly.

My weekend was pretty good, albeit the terrible weather.  June 10, and still the weather has been cold and rainy.  I'm over it.  Looking at the forecast, though, it's about to get better.  I went to visit with my grandpa on Saturday morning - it's always great to visit with him.  He's my only grandparent left - his wife died when I was 7, and my grandparents on my dad's side died when I was still a baby.  I wish I would have had more than one grandparent growing up, but I think "Gramps" has more than made up for it!

----

So last week, I mentioned that it's time to get back to basics, and that it's time to come up with a blogging schedule.  I think that coming up with a schedule will hold me more accountable on this journey, rather than randomly grasping at straws trying to come up with a blog topic every day.  So, without further ado...

Menu Plan Mondays - I'll go over my fitness menu and meal menu for the week.

Accountability Tuesdays -  I'll go over my goals for the week, and will recap how well the previous week's goals went.

Workout Wednesdays - I'll go over how my workouts are going so far, and probably give some reviews and share the details of some of my workouts.

NSV Thursdays - I'll link up with Katie on Thursdays for some good old NSV's - to get my mindset in a good place before....

Weigh-In Fridays - Weigh In day!  And I'll recap the week - what went well, what didn't, etc.

----

That brings me to Menu Plan Monday.  Not just my meal menu, but also my fitness menu for the week.

Fitness Menu (I'll go into more detail on Wednesday for Workout Wednesday)

Monday - 1 mile run

Tuesday - Power Circuit + 1 mile run

Wednesday - 10-10-10 + 1 mile run

Thursday - All Step + 1.5 mile run

Friday - Step & Intervals + 1.5 mile run

Saturday - Kickbox + 1.5 mile run

Sunday - Off

Meal Menu
My menu is pretty simple.  For breakfasts I'll be having my Pineapple-Mango smoothies.  Snacks will be mango with string cheese, and also wheat thins with Laughing Cow cheese (2 snacks per day).  For lunches I'll be having Lean Cuisines.  I know, not the healthiest, but I need the convenience of these this week.  I promise, in the future I'll be eating cleaner, but for now - these are going to have to do!  Dinners will be as follows....
Monday - Italian Pasta
Tuesday - Chicken Dinner (drumsticks with boiled potatoes, plantain, and veggies)
Wednesday - Stew meat with plantain and veggies
Thursday - Fish with rice and lentils

**Weekend meals are usually eaten out or consist of leftovers.  I'm hardly ever home on the weekends, and usually go with the flow, so it's hard to plan for those.  Once I get the hang of this meal planning, I'll attempt to come up with some kind of solution to that problem.

----

That's it for now.  Come back tomorrow for Accountability Tuesday!!

Um...Who Is That??

Last night, I was looking through some old pictures on my ex's phone.  And then I came across some pictures of me (these were not taken too long ago - maybe a few weeks ago) sitting in a lawn chair, and a few from his brother's wedding.  I thought I looked great that night.  I had splurged on a dress at Macy's, and felt like a million bucks.

Um...what was I thinking???

I. am. fat.

There is no way around it.  My God, I didn't even recognize myself.  I knew I could stand to lose a few pounds, but I did NOT realize how unhealthy I look.  There were a few pictures of me looking to the side - my neck looks like it belongs on a turkey.  Where is my jaw line?  No where to be found.

I can't believe I look like that.  Needless to say, it was the kick in the pants that I needed.  I'm still debating about whether or not I want to share those pictures here on the blog.  Maybe some day I will, when I can post an "after" or "during" picture at the same time.

All I wanted to do last night was cry.  And stuff my face.  And starve myself.  All at the same time.

I truly know what it means now to be "in denial" when it comes to weight loss.  I have been in denial.  All this time, I thought I was a little chubby, and that all those people who were saying I was fat (mainly my ex's friends, who thought I didn't understand Spanish....joke's on them) were just stupid men who only liked how little girls looked - not how a real woman looks.  Yes, I have curves, but they are way too big for my 5'1" frame.  Ugh, I'm so.......I don't even know the word.  Disgusted?  No, that word doesn't do justice for my feelings right now.

Many of us know what we have to do to lose weight, but a lot of the time, we don't do it.  We make plans, only to let it fall to the wayside, or don't even start them at all.  We make excuses for ourselves: "I worked out extra hard today, I deserve this ice cream."  We tell ourselves that we have time, and it's not like we have "that much weight to lose."  Or the biggest one yet....."I don't want to."

No.  I don't want to.  But after seeing those pictures?  I want to.  I have to.  I am not a little chubby.  At 5'1" and 156.2 pounds, I am on the verge of the "obese" category, and my body fat % is more than 30%.  That's not chubby.  And that's not healthy.  Not one bit.  Not even a little.

Random - What's Up Lately

I finally did my nails last night....

:D  I figured it was about time....I think the last time I painted them was last summer.  Oops!  I tend to put that kind of stuff on the back burner.  But I love it when I actually do it.

----

I was thinking today that I need to come up with a schedule of blog posts.  Like on Mondays, I weigh in.  On Tuesdays, I do a link up.  And so on.

It's so hard coming up with random topics all the time.  And I think that the schedule would help me focus more on my goals.  If I know I have to weigh in on Monday, I won't indulge so much on the weekends.  If I know I need to recap my workouts for the week, I won't slack.  Get what I mean?  That'll be my homework for today.

----

I have been so un-motivated lately - both with my diet/exercise, and with work.  I just don't want to do anything.  I don't know why I go through these bouts of not being motivated.  Maybe it's the weather.  It has been un-seasonably cold and wet here, which makes it hard to push myself to go out there and run.

And I noticed that when I was running and exercising regularly, I was really exceeding at work, and always in a happy mood.  It's such a vicious cycle.  I'm hoping the days get warmer and sunnier.  This weather is just depressing!

----

That's it for today.  Short and random - which is why I really need to come up with a schedule.  Happy Friday Eve!!!

Back to Basics

Good morning, and happy hump day - Friday can not come soon enough!!

So today I was wandering around Facebook and stalking looking at various profiles, when I noticed a post by a brother of an old friend of mine from middle school (she moved right before high school).  He had tagged her in a post, and mentioned that 2 years ago today, he lost his sister.  I was shocked - I had no idea she died.  So I did a little Google search, and found an old news story - she apparently died in a motorcycle accident.  She rear-ended a car that had stopped for some baby geese to cross the road, and she wasn't wearing a helmet.  I'm still in shock, and can't believe it.  Just a little reminder for me today that life is so short, and we shouldn't take anything for granted.

----

Yesterday when I got home, I noticed that my bike was laying down on a small hill not far from my apartment's balcony.  So someone took it for a ride and decided not to put it back?  And someone stole my ex's bike a few weeks ago.  We had them both sitting by my balcony - I guess we're too trusting.  I have new neighbors, and I'm thinking it's their kids.  The bikes have been sitting there for almost a year, and now one got stolen.

So last night I put the bike on my balcony.  Not a pretty sight when looking out the window - I'll have to stop being cheap and spend the few dollars it is to get a lock.  Luckily, my parents own a sporting goods store, and they said I can stop by to get myself a new bike any time *for free*.   ;)   ::spoiled::

----

When I started my journey, I was all gung-ho about my weight loss techniques.  I've continually tried to create plans/challenges for myself; sometimes I succeeded, but a lot of times I've failed.  My most recent plan is turning in to a fail.  I can not get out of this funk.  It seems whenever my schedule or something else in my life changes, I fall out of my workout/diet routine.  A few things have happened in my life recently (that I don't feel comfortable sharing here right now) that have made me go way off the train tracks.  For the past 3 weeks, I've struggled to get into a routine again.

I've printed out my plans and posted them on the refrigerator, only to leave them blank, with no X'es to mark the days off as "complete."  I really want to run the 5K before the 4th of July parade in my hometown, but I'm having second thoughts - I don't want to end up walking in that race.  I know too many people that will be watching.  And I haven't run for about 3 weeks.  Part of the reason is that my routine has changed drastically, but also because the weather has sucked - rainy and cold pretty much every day.

I know, I know.  No excuses.  But something has to change.  Often times, people get burnt out (or don't even start, like me) when they make plans that are far too big.  It's back to basics for me.  These are great tips for beginners when it comes to losing weight, and they're also great for someone who has gotten off track and needs to slowly build momentum again.  

1. Drink more water.  Ugh, if I hear this tip one more time, I am going to scream.  I'm not a water drinker, and I'm guessing a lot of you may know how addicted to soda I am.  I will still be doing the #NoSodaSummer challenge, and I've recently bought this huge jug of water....

Well, I guess this picture doesn't do it justice, but that baby holds 2.2 liters of water.  My goal is to eventually work up to drinking 1 of those things every day.

2. Count calories.  It's what I love to hate.  But I have to do it.  I haven't been tracking on My Fitness Pal lately, and it's time to get back in the saddle.  My user name is MyInnerButterfly - be my friend and kick my butt in gear!!

3. Weigh in regularly. I have been in an on-again, off-again relationship with that B from the start.  Heck, I could be off-again as soon as next week.  Another problem of mine is that I keep forgetting to weigh myself.  I'll be putting a reminder on my phone calendar so an alarm will go off every Monday morning.  For anything lost each week (even if it's .1 pounds), I'll put $20 in a jar.  Still deciding what I want that money to go towards.  More than likely, clothes.   :)

4. Move more. I'm going to start wearing my FitBit again.  I'm going to wear it for the rest of the week to see my average movement every day, and create a goal from there.  I've read several times that, if you work at a desk all day, a 1-hour workout hardly makes up for all the damage you do to your body when you're sitting all day.  I want to try to get up and move around at least once every hour.

5. Make a plan - and a back-up plan. Weekly meal plans will become a regular in my life again.  I'll also be creating weekly workout plans (that are not too complex, and don't take a lot of time).  And seeing as I like to come up with lots of excuses as to why I can't work out, I'm making back-up plans.  

----

It's basic.  It's simple.  Sometimes you just have to take a step back in order to move forward again.  I'm hoping this will be a refreshing change for me, and will get the ball rolling again.  Please hang in there and stick with me - I'll need all the encouragement I can get!

Weekly Plan (6/3/13 - 6/9/13)

Nothing like good old Garfield to cheer you up on a Monday.   ;)    Hope everyone had a fabulous weekend.  I was able to get some much-needed cleaning done (well, most of it) and get the billion loads of laundry done.  Now all I have to do is put away said laundry.  *Sigh*   That is the worst part of doing laundry - anyone with me?

June is off to a good start.  I did my challenges (#kickassjune and plank challenge) this weekend, and indulged in NO soda.  My plan for the week....

I haven't made my menu plan for the week, but I do know I'll be having smoothies for breakfast (frozen pineapple, frozen mango, greek vanilla nonfat yogurt, and almond milk...delicious!!), Lean Cuisines for lunch (along with some kind of veggie), and some kind of fruit, nuts, and hard-boiled eggs with guacamole (like deviled eggs, but no yolk, and just guac as the filling) for snacks.  Dinners are up in the air.  I'm still making plans.

I almost had a weak moment today.  I really wanted to get a soda with my lunch, but ultimately decided against it.  I was sooo close.  I had the money in my hands, but ended up not going to the cafeteria to heat up my lunch - just went to the coffee area (it has a microwave) closer to where I sit.  Phew!

Today will be my first day back to running in almost 3 weeks.  I did run one day in the past 3 weeks, but it was terrible.  Wish me luck!!  

And now it's time to get back to work.  Make it a great one (as great as it can get for a Monday)!