July 15th

I weighed this morning, and it was not a happy time. You guys... I gained 4 pounds. GAINED. 4. POUNDS. I was devastated, but I was not surprised. Remember in my last post when I said I was eating everything in the world. That lasted for the next week. I made multiple bad food choices, and that's what I get.

I was really upset with myself and feeling down. I texted a friend who is one of my biggest supporters. I told her that I had gained, that I felt terrible, and that I did not want to blog about it. She told me that I should blog about it and reminded me that one of my goals with my blog is to be accountable. How could I argue with that? She was right. So here I am.. sad! My friend told me to stop feeling guilty and to do something active during my lunch. I took her advice, and during lunch I did yoga. And you know what? I felt better.

I did not sleep well last night so I did not get up and go to Camp Gladiator this morning. I thought about going tonight even after doing yoga, but then thought my mat and weights were in Jimmy's car. So I texted my friend from CG, and she said she and some of the other CG girls were going to a Body Combat class that was free and asked me to go. Normally, when I don't know what I'm getting myself into, I say no, but I felt like I should say yes. I felt like I needed to kick my own ass after the last week.

I assumed it would be like a self defense class. When I walked in, I felt like I was walking into my own personal nightmare! It was a huge class full of all skinny girls and there were mirrors. There was a trainer at the front with a headset on. I've never been to a class like this. I immediately wanted to leave, but I rode with one of my friends, and I was stuck! Well.. gotta suck it up. I immediately knew I was in over my head. Time to get started. Off we go.. we are jumping around.. kicking, throwing punches. Watch a video of it here. It is high intensity cardio, and it lasted an HOUR! If we got a break, it was less than 30 seconds, and there were only like 3 of them. But you know what, I DID IT! I was not able to go as fast as everyone the entire time, but I did not have to stop, and I kept moving. It was actually kind of fun, and the hour went by pretty quickly. I sweat SO much. I haven't showered yet, and I'm pretty sure I smell terrible. :) Even though it was a ton of cardio, we punched so much and did lunges and squats so it was also strength training. I felt like I was successful in kicking my ass. There were 4 trainers; each one did a 15 minute segment of the exercise. After we were done, 2 of the trainers told me that I did I great job. They were probably just surprised to see a fatty jump around for an hour. I know I was surprised! One of them was like "you just looked so happy!" Happy?! Are you kidding? I guess I'm glad I looked happy because I didn't FEEL happy. Because a friend brought us, we all get 2 free weeks. I think we are going back on Thursday. EEK.

I've had a really good food day. I had two eggs with pico this morning, a salad with corn, black beans, pico and salsa for lunch, and for dinner we had freakin vegans on corn tortillas. Maybe I needed the 4 pound weight gain to kick myself into gear.

So.. remember how I said I was going to start keeping a journal of the things I eat, exercise I do, my weight and measurements? BOOM. I also did this today - (btw - the letters are GOLD. I'm super into black and gold lately.)

And with that.. the journey continues.

4th of July

Having a holiday in the middle-ish part of the week is always fun. On the 4th we went to Top Golf with some friends. Top Golf for those that don't know is an indoor/outdoor driving range. It is kind of like sitting on a patio, hitting golf balls. There are fans, tvs, and waitresses to bring you food and drinks. Even if you don't feel like playing, it is still fun. It is the bowling of golf, and we love it even if I am TERRIBLE.

I ordered a bloody mary (hey - had to get my veggies in, right?) while we were there, and it came with a Beef Jerky Straw!! Who doesn't like getting a free snack with their drink? I did not think I was a fan of bloody marys before, but I think I may be on the bloody mary wagon now. Check this thing out.

After Top Golf, Jimmy had a free ticket to see Iron Man 3, so we went to see that. It's been out for 2 months already, and I honestly had no desire to see it. I was pleasantly surprised and really liked it! After the movie, we came home and grilled veggies and hot dogs. You have to grill things on 4th of July! We have recently become obsessed with skewering and grilling veggies. It is so easy, fast, and really good. I finish my skewer and find myself wanting more vegetables. How often can you say that? Exactly.. And they're so pretty!

We did not go anywhere to see fireworks, but upstairs from our bedroom, we could see the fireworks in Kyle and Buda at the same time! So that was fun. We also had a patriotic dessert!

We didn't do anything too crazy because we had to get up at 5:15 the next morning to go to Camp Gladiator! Jimmy and I were the only 2 there!!! It was a tough workout that focused mainly on arms. I was sore ALL weekend. Edwin (trainer) said that he was going to do that workout again on Monday because he was really proud of it. He did put quite a bit of effort into it. It was all 4th of July themed. We did exercises including the Statute of Liberty, George Washington, Uncle Sam, Firecrackers, and Apple Pie. It is hard to explain each exercise here, but they were very creative.

SO, because I was thinking we were doing the same thing again this morning, I REALLY dreaded getting out of bed at 5:15 this morning. But I did it! Luckily, there were 2 other people there this morning, and we did not do the same exercises. Edwin is really tough, but I like him.

I have been kind of craving pudding lately. Weird right? (No.. I'm not pregnant!) Anyway, I looked at the back of the pudding box at the store, and I couldn't even tell you all the crazy things listed in the ingredients. I've started shying away from buying or eating products that have things that I couldn't recreate at home. I decided to look up how to make pudding!! Turns out, it is SUPER easy!!! I used this pinterest recipe. I added peppermint extract so that it would be chocolate mint pudding. I could not believe I made pudding. It was so easy, but I was REALLY proud of myself. One thing I will say is, the recipe says to stir until the mixture will stick to the back of the spoon. When the mixture got to that point, I did not think it was thick enough, so I continued to stir and kept it on the heat. Bad idea. It is SUPER thick. Other than that, it's good!

I'm not sure why, but Sunday and yesterday I feel like I've eaten EVERYTHING. I just can't stop eating. I'm starving! (Again - NOT PREGNANT). I'm going to assume it is because I'm working out. In the middle of eating everything, I haven't made the best food choices the last 2 days. Normally this would really bum me out. I'm not going to say I'm happy about it, but I don't feel like just because I didn't have a great day that everything is ruined.

I think I've decided that I'm going to get a spiral notebook, a really pretty one, and I'm going to start writing everything down. I'm going to write down what I eat, the days I exercise and what I do, my weight on the 1st and the 15th, and I'm going to start taking my measurements. Some days I get discouraged by the scale, but I can still tell that my body is changing. So if I keep track of all of those things, I'll be able to see it. I also think I need to start taking photos of myself at least once a month so I can actually SEE if I am changing.

Since starting to weigh on the 1st and the 15th, I find myself weighing every single day. Don't do this. I repeat, don't do this! Our bodies, especially for women, change so much each day. Weights go up and down each day. You can see a steady decline over a period of time, but on a daily basis, you are going to gain and then lose. Weighing every day can discourage you. Don't do that to yourself. I'm going to stop doing that to myself. I'm going to stick to the 1st and the 15th. I've got 1 week until my weigh in! Wish me luck! Have a great week.

Weigh-in 2 and other fun things

Well.. these 2 weeks have not been that great. I am only down 2 pounds! A total of 13 since starting my blog and 78 pounds overall. Not going to lie.. it is discouraging to only lose 2 pounds in 15 days. Camp Gladiator starts up again this week, and I'm going to work really hard. I'd like to lose at least 5 pounds by July 15. Here's hoping!

We've been staying busy! It seems like there is always something going on. This past weekend we went on a mini BBQ trip on Saturday. +Jimmy Ho really loves BBQ, and he has started his own BBQ blog! Check it out at http://thesmokingho.blogspot.com. It is pretty difficult to eat healthy when you eat bbq unless you eat chicken, turkey, and beans. The bad part about that is, it is the brisket, ribs, and sausage that are so delicious! I ate pretty small amounts of meat, and I did not eat any bread at the 2 places we went. I did eat some peach cobbler though.. so.. fail, but also, win! Ha.. In between the two places we met up with a friend and went swimming though, so I totally worked out! :)

Sunday we got up and went and worked out at the track. We took the dogs, and oh my goodness, they LOVED it. I was just walking, and Jimmy took off running. The dogs took off with Jimmy, and they led him all the way around the track and caught back up to me. They ran a lap and a half with their stubby little legs. It was SO cute! They would stay with me for a little while, and then they would run across the middle to catch up with Jimmy and run with him again. I'm pretty sure Bentley got in about 2 miles. That made me feel crappy because I only went 1.25!!! I did jog about .3 of that at the end though, and I felt okay while jogging! I was breathing well and moving along okay. I'll take a pic or video next time we take them.

After that, we went to the store and came back to hang out and watch a movie. I had some blueberries that needed to be used before they went bad. So I looked up a recipe for healthy blueberry bread. I found this one. So I didn't have any allspice. I had pumpkin pie spice, which contained nutmeg and allspice. I used that with a dash of cloves and called it a day! While the movie was going, I decided I would make this bread. It also gave the opportunity to use my +Vitamix to grind my own flour! I don't know why I have been putting this off, but no more! I put my wheat berries in my Vitamix, and within 1 minute, I had fresh, whole wheat flour! It is amazing! Check out these pics!

And here are some pics of the final product! I really like it and love all the blueberries.

After some time at home, we loaded the dogs up and took them to the dog park in San Marcos, and then we all went to dinner at a place with a patio so the dogs could go. They had a pretty fab Sunday. Look how happy they are!! And then you can see how tired they were on the way home yesterday evening. Haha.

As you know, we've been cooking a lot at home. We've been making things we like in healthier ways. I made a tuna salad, but like the egg salad I made before, I used avocado instead of mayo. I love the creaminess that avocado adds!

We also really love Chipotle! Who doesn't right?! It is easy, cheap, and healthy to make chipotle type bowls at home. I used black beans, brown rice, homemade pico, a little cheese, and some salsa. It is SO good. You can also add chicken, but I had it for Meatless Monday so I didn't.  I think this is my new favorite thing.

Eating healthy at home is pretty easy (most of the time), but what about when you go out? I live with a man that works out so much he can eat whatever he wants, and most of the time, he does. So Wednesday night, what does Jimmy want to do for dinner? He wants to go to Logan's and eat steak and unlimited shrimp. Does this surprise you? It shouldn't. So we go to dinner. Jimmy gets his steak and unlimited shrimp with mac and cheese and has like 5 rolls. Logan's rolls!! Ugh.. so good. What do I get? A 6 oz sirloin with a sweet potato and a vegetable skewer with no butter on anything. I know right?! So proud of myself! I did have a roll and 1/2, but I was proud of myself for not eating like 10.

This past week I also got to meet up with an old friend from Lubbock for lunch who was in town. We had TexMex, which is my favorite! It is so hard for me not to want to eat the entire basket of chips and salsa with enchiladas and tortillas and tacos.. basically everything. But, in trying to make better choices, I ordered grilled chicken tacos on corn tortillas, and I did not eat my rice. I'm not cutting out carbs, but I am trying to decrease the amount of carbs I eat every day.

We also went to a wedding of two dear friends on the 21st. It was so beautiful, and I'm so happy for them! Congrats to Brad and Nicole! Here is a pic of us from the wedding!

I'm going to try to post more frequently! These last few weeks have been so crazy, but that is no excuse. I think my blog keeps me on track, and it encourages me to cook. Hope you all have a great week!