Healthy Snacks on the Go! - Day 21

If you're like me, and you are a wreck in the mornings, you know how hard it is to get out of the house with healthy snacks in tow. I'm always rushing getting all my stuff together and literally run out of the house. So now that I am transforming into a healthy lifestyle, most of my food has to be prepared ahead of time or I have to plan for a healthy place to eat. I used to grab prepackaged bars, muffins, or bagels nothing that's really good for me. I'm not always prepared with the right foods, so I found some tips for snack foods on the go... healthy office snacks, healthy protein snacks, and portable snacking tips  from my favorite website for weight loss SparkPeople.

Todays' post is for Wednesday 10.28.15 day 21 of my journey. For lunch, I had brown rice with eggs, avocado, cilantro, green onions, and roasted seaweed. You can buy the seaweed from Trader Joe's or any Asian market. I just put a little of everything on a piece of seaweed and fold in half, it's one tasty bite! Dinner was one of the best salads I have made in a while, brussel sprouts, butternut squash, carrots, onions, garlic, on top of a bed of arugula with a lemon and olive oil dressing.

I'm having good and bad days when it comes to preparing my food. I think like exercise you just have to do it, otherwise you'll feel bad about it later. I know I do, I hate feeling guilty! It's all about trying to do better...one step, one day, one meal, one exercise at a time. Don't quit or beat yourself up for snacking on let's say some dark chocolate Milano cookies, um yeah about that...it happened and I'm going to try to avoid the temptation next time. Let's stay focused on what we know is good for us and just keep at it! I'm wishing you a healthy day full of healthy choices!

Got to Get it IN! Exercise Must Become a Priority! - Day 20

This blog is for Tuesday 10.27.15 day 20 of my healthy journey. I woke up late morning, got some work done, made lunch, and in the evening went to an Entrepreneur's Meet-Up at Next Door Cafe. The meet-up was scheduled for 1.50 hours, but with all the networking, the time was doubled and I got home late and had to finish some work for a client. I ate a light dinner and remembered that this was day 2 of my C25K training, "oh no" I say to myself it was now 11:30 p.m. I got dressed, put on my running shoes and went own to my gym and wogged (walked/jogged) day 2 of Runmore's C25K Training App. So I'm counting my day 2 as started on the right day 11:59 p.m. LOL Yes, I know kind of pathetic, but I finished the run and felt good afterward.

My lesson learned is that I need to get my exercise done earlier in the day, mornings preferred once I correct my sleep habits. I found some tips that may help 15-tips-to-restart-the-exercise-habit.

Lunch for today was salmon, avocado, tomato, cucumber, fresh lemon, and cilantro with brown jasmine rice.

I hope that the issues I come across and the remedies/advice that I find are helping you as well. Take time for yourself, you are worth it! Have a wonderful and healthy day!

Early Bird Gets...Not Me! Trying to Convert to an Early Riser - Day 19

I have a terrible sleep pattern! I stay up late and wake up at noon some days, other days I stay up late and have to wake early, thus not getting enough sleep. It's getting disruptive and I need to get a handle on it. I'm a freelance Interior Designer and since I am no longer work part-time as a Teaching Assistant, I work from home 100%. Well, I do spend a few hours at cafes and shared workspaces, but I have few time commitments that get me out early on a regular basis. Not having a routine has put me in a constant state of chaos, lack of order, and really it's just starting to drive me nuts!

I am trying to correct several flaws, bad habits all at once and I didn't properly plan for this overhaul, so now I'm spinning and spinning, hoping to land in the world of stability. I looked for some tips to help me conquer this sleep deprivation and how to become a morning person this article provides some great tips to turn your sleep cycle around. I didn't know that you should only change your bedtime by 15-minute increments, I think that's one of the reasons I keep rebounding.

So this post is for Monday 10.26.15 day 19 of my healthy journey. I had 2 persimmons for breakfast and an almond milk latte at @NextDoorChicago trying to make breakfast part of my day when I wake up before lunchtime.For lunch and dinner, I had my favorite salad (butternut squash salad) from +Nando's  Nandos Peri-Peri. Yes, this salad is two meals!

I'm trying to get better at snacking on the bad foods appear out of nowhere in the house that I share with my mother. I can't control what's being brought in, but I have to get control of what I chose to eat! Okay, I'm going to try stepping back my bedtime gradually, have a wonderful and healthy day!
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First of Day of Running with an Awesome App Called Runmore C25K Trainer - Day 18

I started off today super congested and my stomach was a little queasy. I thought, no way am I going to accomplish anything today. So I made breakfast from my leftovers and added an egg. This just made things worse! I think I had a mild allergic reaction to my dinner last night, which as delicious as it was, it did not agree with me. It was either the farro or the short ribs, I'm guessing both since I haven't had red meat since I started my journey and I have a wheat sensitivity (I didn't know farro was not gluten-free, I should always ask!). What is Farro? After taking Claritin D, some Advil, drinking lots of water, and resting for a few hours, I felt so much better.

leftovers plus an egg...tasted so good, but not good for me :-(

By evening on this day, Sunday 10.25.15 day 18 of my healthy journey, I decided to try this new app
Runmore C25K. It's so simple to use and a great design. You can play your music on your phone and Runmore will lower the volume of your music and announce what you do next, "Walk for 90 seconds", "Run for 60 sixty seconds) then return to the original volume level. I love not having to look at my phone to know what to do next. Sometimes, I veg out when I'm walking, so it's great to hear a very nice voice tell me, hey get your butt moving now! Surprisingly, I was able to complete all the running (right now it's a slow jog for me) which was 8 minutes out of a 30-minute session. After my workout, I ate two persimmons...my favorite fruit, well that and avocado.

I ate a late dinner, well since my sleep is still screwy it's really not that late, I stayed up past midnight. Tonight's dinner was brown jasmine rice and Chicken Adobo sa Gata chicken adobo-sa-gata recipe I modified a lot though and just used 1/2 c of coconut milk from a can, added tomatoes, and cilantro. I don't really like fish sauce enough to buy a bottle of it even though it's cheap, so it was omitted. 

I'm starting to get a hang of making healthier food choices; it's probably the most challenging part of this process for me. As a young child/teenager, I was pretty active, I played tennis, swam, went downhill skiing, roller skated (yes, I'm that old, lol), ice skated, played basketball (not very well though), and I took ballet, tap, jazz, and modern dance, so working out is not the hardest part to do physically. The challenge is mental, getting myself motivated, staying  focused, persistence is not my strong suit. I can usually sustain a workout regime for two to three months, then I just shut down and become my same old lethargic self again. 

I've mentioned it before, but one of the reasons I started blogging was to help hold myself accountable. I realize that may sound crazy to some of you, but I've been battling with weight issues for over two decades and have tried numerous ways to lose weight. Some worked, but only short term, so I had this great idea to start blogging about my journey even though I'm pretty green at blogging. So, that's it for tonight, I'm still staying up way too late and on Tuesdays blog post you'll know why. Have a wonderful day and make healthy choices!

Fat Shaming, Just Don't Do It! - Day 17

I can remember the first time someone told me I had a pretty face; I said thank you, but wondered what about the rest of me, why single out my face? I wasn't even really fat then, maybe 25 lbs overweight. I've heard guys say that women are pretty or beautiful without isolating the comments to just their face; they were of course, more fit or just not fat women. So are they saying that fat women can't be beautiful or pretty as a total package? I kind of feel like just don't say anything to me, if you're only going to compliment what you consider the acceptable part of my being.

One of my biggest pet peeves, I mean it really, really irks me, is when a thin person says "OMG I'm so FAT!" It takes everything in me not to slap them. My thought on this is if you 'the thin one' say/think you're so fat, then what must you think of me?? Sometimes they see the look on my face and realize their faux pas, but it's too late at that point, no backsies. They try to back-pedal and say, but you're not fat or not "that big". Um, I'm fat, actually I'm obese (that took me awhile to absorb that reality) and I know that, please people stop skirting around the obvious. I mean don't call me fatso, but be cognizant of what you're saying to people, no matter what the differences may be.  This goes for religion, politics, etc. I'm not big on being totally P.C., but when people are inconsiderate, I have issues with that. 

So this article I read, 7 Sayings That are Fat Shaming is fairly accurate, except the part when smaller people lose weight. For me losing any amount of weight is a victory no matter what size you are and I don't begrudge them their accomplishment. That would be really shitty of me.

This post is for Saturday 10.24.15 day 17 of my journey. I finally got to spend time with my girlfriends and had a great dinner at Beatrix (on the corner of Grand and Clark, in Chicago).

  

We split the salad and quinoa, my dinner was short ribs and for dessert we tried to split the 'chia seed, coconut milk, and pomegranate pudding' but I was the only one who liked it. Yes I ate it all, it was that good to me, not too sweet and it's fairly healthy.

Going backward, my lunch was a gluten-free pita with leftover veggies, scrambled eggs, the last of my bianco sardo cheese and some cilantro.

I'm ready to go to sleep now, so I'll say good night. I hope you have a great start to your week, be happy and healthy!

Reached My Daily 12K Fitbit Goal! Woo Hoo...I'm Learning to Be My Own Cheerleader! - Day 16

I'm am writing this post for Friday 10.23.15 day 16 of my healthy journey. I managed to get over 15K steps in this day, I'm very excited about that accomplishment. I have not done that in a couple of weeks. Now that I'm feeling better, I need to start going to my gym, which has not seen my face in months. I always get anxious upon my return to the gym, when I have had long lapses between gym visits. I feel like a newbie all over again and seem so discombobulated like I've never been in a gym before, it's probably entertaining for the gym regulars.

I've been a member at this gym for over four years, they have made a lot of money off of me and I have yet to see a good ROI. In trying to get healthy physical and emotionally, I'm also trying to get in better shape financially. I will not let them just have my money anymore, I will try to keep the cost per visit under $3.50, which means I have to go to the gym at least 19 days out of every month. I just took a deep breath after typing that.

I had beet, carrot, and ginger juice from #BrazilianBowl and for lunch a Mediterranean Tuna sandwich from L'Appetito #Lappetito (Tuna, capers, sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, black olives, olive oil, no mayo, balsamic vinegar). 

                                   
Dinner was tilapia (I just read how terrible this fish is for me, but I had already bought some and really couldn't throw it away, but now I know better), leftover veggies, and 1/2 c. brown rice. I was able to get 105 oz. of water in today, along with 16 oz. juice (above), and a cup of decaf coffee. Yes, it was many trips to the bathroom.

Well, today was a great day! I want to have many more days like this, follow my journey and see how I do. Wishing you a healthy weekend!

A Belated #TBT, a Blog from Yesteryear..."Big Girl on the Bus!" - Day 15

So I guess, I'm not a total blog newbie, but this blog post is from my SparkPeople page and was viewable to only a few members of that site. It unfortunately still rings true for me today. The post is from

Wednesday, February 22, 2012, it's called, Big Girl on the Bus.

So I know I delved into this a bit before, but it's getting to the point where it's starting to get disturbing! I live in the city of deep dish pizzas, hot dogs, abundant steak joints, fried chicken, and well every delicious food a food junkie would love! So how is this related to Big Girl on a Bus?? Well, I am seeing a steady increase on the number of very overweight women (and men too, but they're not the ones having this issue) riding on the bus.

When the bus is fairly crowded, heavy set men tend to squeeze in wherever, or just stand. Women, on the other hand, tend to search for the seat with the least discomfort for herself and her seatmate(s); they will stand if they're able to, but usually that's not what they do. It's embarrassing to look for a seat, especially when people are watching and hoping you don't sit next to them, this coming from one of the Big Girls! Today I watched two women discern which was the better seat....it's sad because I can see the frustration and embarrassment on their faces.

The first woman sat at an end seat, clearly uncomfortable because it had a pole on one side of her that was digging into her leg (I've sat in that seat before...not fun!!)). The second woman looked at at least 4 different options before choosing her seat. She didn't just stand in one place and size up her options, she went from seat to seat and looked down to see if she'd fit. I see this all too often and feel it's increasing all too quickly!

I am sick of being that Big Girl and feeling the shame that comes with not fitting into a normal seat (oh the psychosis of it all!). I mean, I see average size women just plop their behinds down wherever, no thought involved other then maybe eww the fat girl is taking up more than one seat and on a rare occasion giving a look or sigh of disgust!!  There are the considerate people though that I cannot forget to mention who actually see the distress I'm feeling and they try to scoot over and give the smile or nod that says "you'll be fine, go ahead and sit down".

In a world where we are judged on appearance first, heart and mind second, it's hard standing out and getting judged every time I get on a bus with anywhere from 40 to 60 people (I know not all people do, but a lot of the time it feels that way). It's almost like being that smelly homeless person that comes on the bus and gets glaring looks of disdain.

Of course this is all over dramatized, because honestly how many people really even care??? My lack of self-worth, confidence, you name it I'm lacking in it, really plays a huge role in making myself feel more out of place, less deserving than others, and oddly sometimes even invisible.

I'm going to add that as one of my goals....butt size equal to bus seat! But seriously, seeing the struggles and feeling them, is really pushing me into a new mode of consciousness. This is the last time I will complain of this issue!!! Now don't begrudge me complaining of train seats, lol.

I have a lot more to discover about why I am the way I am, but it appears this time around I am willing and sometimes eager to unveil the layers that have made me who I am today. So onward with my journey, may we all have some enlightenment in our lives that puts us on the right path!

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Well, I actually have a pic of me on sitting on a bus somewhere, I can't seem to find it, but in looking I found these pics from over four years ago! Not much has changed, I'm 255 lbs. in these photos at my gym.

June 17, 2011, at my gym.

June 17, 2011, at my gym.

June 17, 2011, at my gym.

June 17, 2011, at my gym.

A bit disgusted at myself for not having any positive changes in my health since I took these pics. I was pretty sick though from 2008-2012, so I guess I should be thankful that that health issue has been taken care of and I no longer need to worry about it. Now on to fixing and repairing with kindness my weight and other issues.


This blog post is for Thursday 10.22.15 - day 15 of my health journey.
Lunch for this day ...

salmon with brown rice and veggies (okra, green beans, butternut squash, tomatoes, lacinato kale, onions, and garlic
**just an FYI that plate is an 8" plate and the rice is a 1/2c.** 

dinner - a protein shake with almond milk and 1/2 a banana

Hope you're doing well on your journey to a better you, be it in health, work, or life in general. Best of health to you!