The Struggle Is Real......

So as many of you guys know I am currently unemployed so going to the grocery store and loading my cart up with delicous goodies just doesn't happen anymore, and when I say delicious I mean healthy as well. You really can change your eating habits in 21 days, especially if you are broke, and no I haven't reduced myself to eating off the dollar menu. Just because you may not have $200 to spend on groceries doesn't mean you can't eat healthy food for less. It just means that you need to stick to the essentials. What are my essentials you ask? Well I will break that down for you:

Salad Mix 0.99 cents

Open Nature Drumsticks $2.96

Strawberries & Cream Oatmeal $1.62

Taco Seasoning .75 cents x2

Wheat Bread $1.09

Deli Lunch Meat $0.69 x2

Honey Nut Cheerios $2.50

Butter $3.29

Tillamook Ice Cream $3.99

Total Spent: $19.32

So for $20 I was able to purchase enough food for a week of meals, plus a splurge item (I have to buy tillamook icecream when it's on sale its so good and a scoop goes a long way) Now you may be asking where is the milk where are the eggs what about other protein besides chicken? Well we currently have a total of 17 chickens so eggs are never an issue for me, milk I am set on and thankfully I still have turkey in the freezer, btw speaking of turkey I love going to Safeway on $5 Friday and stocking up on the big packages of ground turkey, I can easily get 5-10 meals out of a package of ground turkey. I have found that buying in bulk and then freezing them in individual packages just makes meal time so much easier, no fussing with cooking too much or too little. It's funny I recently read an article on facebook about a mother who said she needs more funds from the government to afford to live healthy because she can only afford junk and that is why she is obese. But truth be told it's not difficult to eat healthy, I find that unhealthy things are most of the time more expensive because you end up eating more then the recommended size and therein lies the weight gain. Now not everyone chooses to shop weekly for food but I have found that it works best for me, many a time I have went the grocery store and dropped a pretty penny only to end up eating out or not wanting to eat what I purchased so then it just all goes to waste. The only thing that I do stock up on is meat, if there is a sale on turkey or fish or chicken then I will be happy to stock up on it but everything else I buy on weekly basis because lets face it, those grapes might sound good now but are you going to single handidly go through 2lbs of them before they get gross? Probable not considering we all know what happens when you eat too many of them! So the next step I would like to take is planning my meals out a week in advance, just planning not preparing and freezing just planning so that way when I go shopping I know exactly what I need and there is less of a chance of something not so good finding it's way into my cart. I have also started a food journal to help me, and it's not going to be a typical food journal, i'm not counting calories i'm just writing down exactly what i've eaten and at what times to see if there is a pattern. Or I have a craving i'll write down what I replaced it with and see if it makes the cravings subside. I have a problem with bad food and it's time to take control, i'm not going to completely eliminate sweets or entire food groups but I would like to start following the 80/20 rule, aka 80% of your meals must be healthy and 20% can be cheat meals so essentials if you eat 3x meals a day (snacks are not included) then 18 meals per week must be healthy and 3 can be cheat meals, you can still have your cake and eat it too. Just don't eat the whole cake....

Progress Progress Progress

So it's been almost six months since I re-started my weightloss journey in February, i've had my ups, ive had my ups and i've had my downs, I think everyone experiences these in any type of journey, i've come a long way but I still find myself struggling in certain areas, for example I was all cardio for the first couple months and now it seems i've given up cardio so to speak, i've been focusing more on weight training which of course has caused my weight to go up because we all know muscle weighs more then fat, I have been losing inches and i've created an excel spreadsheet to help me track my progress, i'm also exploring more options such as starting to try a protein supplement with my first shaker cup~! (I got an awesome offer from GNC through facebook that includes a free gold card and shaker cup just for showing my college ID! it's a $30 value so thank you facebook and GNC!) One great thing about weight training is that i'm starting to see more definition in my arms and legs which is great but I really wish I would see it in my stomach, it is getting harder and i've lost another 1/2" but I wish it would just melt faster! Which brings me back to cardio, I need to up my cardio game but (and yes this sounds like an excuse and thats fine if you take it that way) the weather has just been so bipolar! It's either scorching hot or raining and as much as I hate to use this excuse but the other huge factor is that I don't have a lot of places to run unless I drive somewhere first. I live right off the highway and there isn't always a lot of space to walk/run on the side of the road, i've almost been hit several times and that is scary enough, not to mention some crazy guy could stop his creeper-mobile and kidnap me (yes I know this is highly unlikely but we all know it's still in the back of my mind) anyways with that in mind the fact that I am jobless right now and not getting any unemployment makes it a little tough to drive to go running, and yes I try to coordinate doing cardio when I am in town but that is getting fewer and fewer, it's funny I used to only want to do cardio on the eliptical at the gym and never wanted to do it outside and now it's like reversed, sure I am getting back into my gym routine and feeling better and better about my workouts and Brian has been pushing me hard at the gym everytime we work out together but I want more. I'm not happy with how slow my progress has become and granted I probably lost weight too quickly in the beginning because I made poor choices but now that i'm comitted to doing it the right way it seems like it's harder then ever. I can't wait to be working again, I definitely made too many excuses about not working out after work because I was too tired and I only worked out before work once and now that I have all this time on my hands I want to work out but I don't have the gas to drive to the gym constantly, I know what you're thinking, why don't you join a gym thats closer to home? Well to answer that I did, and unfortunately the gym didn't have pretty much anything that I wanted out of a gym so that was a total bust, and since I am planning to be moved out by early next year I just need to tough out the commute until then. I can tell you it will be so nice when i'm like 5 minutes from work and the gym. If I get the job that I interviewed for then I could literally walk to work and to the gym from the apartments I want to stay at which would be a HUGE change.    I would be able to go to the gym anytime I want and not have to worry about the gas or the longish drive. I envy people who have a treadmill or elipitical in their house or live close to walking paths, I mean sure they probably envy me because I live in the country but it's not like I live on a back road I live on the main highway so there are log trucks and speeding cars coming down my road and they don't always pay attention to people walking on the side of the road let alone the speed limit (I know i'm guilty of the second one) Anyways so back to the topic at hand. My six month check in, I really need to start focusing on my eating habits because that is where I am failing. I don't think I want to go as far as meal replacement shakes but I really need to get down my calorie intake which is hard because my metabolism has spiked so i'm hungry more and not all of my choices are the healthiest, I am trying but not hard enough. I feel like I really need to start expirimenting more with my cooking because i'm getting like food boredom, sure i've cut out ground beef and replaced it with ground turkey and I have chicken but I need more options or I need a wizard to magically make it taste completely different because thus far the only things i've tried with ground turkey is meatloaf, meatballs, spaghetti and tacos. What other healthier options of meat are there? I won't do Tofu, I will occasionally have some edamame but not as much as I used to since reading the Perfect 10 diet book I told you guys about, i've had some salmon and lobster tails but lets face it thats a champagne taste on a beer budget. Thus far I have only ever had cedar plank salmon when i've had it at home. There has to be more options then that but I just don't have the funds to be having salmon every other night and i'm not sure what some of the other fish options could be that might be cheaper. I really need to start doing my research because I am in a food rut. Everything I want to eat or I am used to eating isn't healthy and although i've searched for healthy alternatives I haven't actually tried making them in the kitchen. LOL it's not even New Year's and I already have my resolutions all picked out.....

March March Baby......

Hello March! So as of today I am 17 days in on my challenge and i'm doing good, as I said before i'm not going to measure myself until I hit day 30 but I can definitely tell a difference in the way my clothes are fitting which has been nice, but of course the only downside is that my favorite and only pair of Miss Me jeans are starting to get a little baggy which means I have to constantly wash and dry them to get them to shrink a bit but of course by the end of the day they've stretched out again :( But of course its a small price to pay and i'm sure I can sell them on eBay and then just buy a new pair. Thankfully I have my AE jeans in sizes 4, 6, and 8 so hopefully it'll be an easy transition. Anyways back to the topic at hand, on top of finishing my challenges, starting my new workout and doing my running challenge on Nike I am also going to be drastically changing my dietary habit this month. I was planning on starting today but well I woke up this morning and literally forgot what day it was and that it was a new month and I ended up having a soda and club sandwhich with my friend up at OHSU today which means it will start tomorrow. So what is the change in my eating habits you ask? Well first off i'm going to start counting calories again, I did it awhile back and I did pretty good with the weekdays but when the weekends came I used them as cheat days and well all the weight I lost from calorie counting just came back on plus some. Since I am going to be doing weight training 3x a week and running 2x a week (or more) i've determined that 1500 calories a day is the goal I am going for. I was doing 1200 the last time I started doing it but I wasn't working out, and obviously if I feel like my I need to up my calories I will do so but this is a starting point. Besides counting calories i've also decided to seriously restructure my diet, i'm doing better than I have been in the past but there is always room for improvement, I've decided to start The Perfect 10 Diet i've told you guys about in the past, so for the first 3 weeks I will not be eating any grains such a bread, pasta, cereals...you get the idea, I also will no longer be drinking soda and since I rarely and I mean rarely drink alcohol i'm not worried about that not being allowed. I have 4 months left to lower my cholesterol before i'm rechecked in June and well I want to be thin and fit before I turn 30, before summer would be even better but there is no quick fix to become toned and fabulous and although i'm inching closer to my goal weight I feel like i'm not going as fast as I could be. I've got the fitness bug and i'm itching to get more and more accomplished. I can't wait to see how I look and feel at 90 days. Now until my gym membership is unfrozen i'll be doing my workouts at home but either way i've made sure that my workout routine can be done at the gym or at home and i'm planning on making all of my workouts that way so if I don't feel like driving all the way to the gym or i'm not in the area I can easily do it as soon as I get home. Maybe i'm so much more motivated because I really want a new Triangl bathing suit that costs $79 each and I have atleast 2 minimum colors I want. Idk lol,  either way i've found my motivation and even though there has been days where i'm tired or frustrated or whatever and I don't want to do my challenges i've sucked it up and i've done it. Lets face it suck it up now and I won't have to suck it in later! i'm kind of stoked because by eliminating grains and soda etc for 3 weeks I will lose up 14lbs in 21 days and well that puts me over my first goal of 20lbs! It would actually put me at approximately 26-28lb loss which would be absolutely fantastic. So ready.....set.....GO!!!

Extreme Couponing......Healthy Shopping

So lately i've been OBSESSED with watching Extreme Couponing on TLC, now obviously I wouldn't purchase half the things that they do because it seems like a lot of what they purchase is very unhealthy...(Um   a wall of 2-liters????) 500 hundred boxes of  poptarts?? No thank you. Now one thing i'm horrible about is actually having a food budget set up, in the past I never had a grocery budget because I would spend all my money eating out and then just eat whatever was at my house that was quick and easy, But now that i'm older and trying to eat healthier I've determined I need to have a food budget, but how much is enough?? It seems like when I have tried having a food budget I always overspend or I end up buying food and then I eat out and the food goes to waste or I don't buy enough food and I run out of stuff really quickly, I've thought about going shopping weekly as opposed to bi-weekly or monthly. I wish that I could get into extreme couponing so that when I go i'll pay next to nothing for my groceries but lets face it most coupons are for pre-packaged, unhealthy items that I should not be eating, rarely do you see a big coupon for lean turkey or produce. I've thought about trying to find coupons for things like that but so far i've come up short. I personally try to shop mostly at Fred Meyer and Safeway just because of the fuel points, I probably shop at Safeway more though because their Just For U app is just amazing, I love getting special discounts on things that I buy constantly. For example a couple weeks ago I bought 2 packages of Jenny-O ground turkey, normally its $6.99 for a little over a pound of it but it was on sale for $5 Friday, and on top of that I got a digital coupon for another $1 off each package which means I got an amazing deal, I wish I would have bought more than 2 packages but when your on a tight budget you buy what you can. So that brings us back around to couponing and why it's important. Now I don't have the time or the patience to be an extreme couponer but; i'm attemping to try to atleast be somewhat of a couponer because lets face it, I am not a millionaire and I want my money to stretch. So back to the conundrum of me trying to decide if it's better to shop weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. How often do you shop for groceries? I think it's easier for me because well, there is just me i'm feeding. If I was in a larger family I probably would just shop monthly because trying to go to the grocery store weekly might be a hassle. Anyways, one thing I'm super excited for that is coming up next month would be the meal prep party i'm going to on March 8th, this will be the first one i've ever been to and i'm really looking forward to spending an afternoon with some awesome ladies AND making a month of dinners that all I will need to do is re-heat them up in the microwave. Can't beat that! Now one thing that is definitely a challenge while shopping is trying to avoid all of the unhealthy, processed, artery clogging food that is spread throughout the aisles, you really have to look at the labels of what your putting in your shopping cart, i've found soybean oil is in almost everything nowadays, which makes it really really tough to find healthy alternatives unless you head to Market of Choice, New Season's Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, all of which are not exactly down the street for me, If any of these places are close to you I highly suggest shopping at them, are they more expensive? Yes, but you can't put a price on your health. That fact is true. So what is your go-to healthy items that are aways on your grocery list? Personally mine is ground turkey, chicken and salad mix, I would love to just go into the store with an unlimited produce budget so that I could get all of the fruits and veggies that my heart desires...But...thats just me!

Crazy Week

It's amazing how quickly things can go downhill in a week, long story short this has been the worst week i've ever had in a very long time. Although I only got 1 run in I did make sure to do my challenges everyday that was required this week. But other than that I couldn't do much this week in regards to my fitness, I won't go into details but lets just say I have one of the best excuses in the world for being out of it this week and only wanting to sleep and cry. But anyways, I can't let things that have happened get me down so I am working on the next challenge for March/April and will be posting it soon in my group on Facebook, btw little shoutout to everyone in the group you guys are amazing!!!! I love seeing all the positivity and great attitudes in it! If your reading this and you want to be in the group just look up "From Fit to Fabulous Weightloss Support Group" and request to be added and I will be more than happy to add you! As for the challenges i'm doing now I am now halfway through and feeling fantastic, I haven't re-measured myself but I feel like some clothes are fitting a little bit looser now and I can feel it everywhere when i'm planking. Today it was 1.5 minutes and I was shaking and had to drop for a second and then get back up, it's hard to believe that when this is over i'll be able to plank 5 minutes! I feel like 1.5 minutes is an eternity so I can't imagine how 5 minutes will actually feel! I'm so ready to be fit and happy, I kinda feel special too because a whole new crop of fitness people have asked to follow me on instagram!!  LOVE IT!!! Well that's all I have to report for now....Check back next week!

10.3 is the way to be

This was a good week and it makes me excited for the weeks to come, as of today I've lost 10lbs, I did 10.3 miles this week, got my hair done, hottubed it up and had a girls weekend!! Ha ha I can't say that chuck e cheese is really considered a hot spot nowadays since they don't have a ball pit anymore (yes I know what is chuck e cheese without a ball pit?!?!?!) but we definitely had some fun and I can say it's probably the best form of birth control between the crying kids, the ones cracked out on cake and the ones who don't pay attention to where they are going and just run into you. Anyways before that my buddy Angela and I went for a run around wilsonville, 4.25 to be exact which means that I am 0.2 miles ahead in the challenge at this point, I told her we are champions because it would literally be pouring then stopping then sprinkling it couldn't make up it's mind, by the end of the run we were soaked and decided to run through a deep puddle to finish us off, but let's face it it's true if your waiting for perfect conditions you will never run. So this week I did 10.3 and next week I'm shooting for 18.0 miles, 6.0 miles x3 days  that is what im shooting for but as long as I do over 10 miles I will be happy, I want to push myself but not overdo it since I am only a couple weeks post op, I was excited because I got my ear warmers and my new nike to-shirt, that says bestest ever, just do it, I had to have it when I saw it lol it's definitely motivation! So onto my challenges I'm doing good I am definitely sore and I'm sticking with it, tomorrow is day 5 and my rest day which I am looking forward to. So anyways in more exciting news today I tried on a pair of nike workout pants that Brian bought me a little over a year ago and when he bought them they didn't fit as good as I liked and today I put them on and they fit amazing!!!!! Can't wait to wear them tomorrow on my run :) well that's it for today! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

                          New hair

                    Cheese ballin

                       Girls night 

                  Just a little rain

                         Awesome

30 Day Challenge Take 2

So it's been a little short of two weeks since my knee surgery and i've been chopping at the bit and today I started back at it after a short stint away, My gym membership is frozen until next month so what a more perfect time then to start 3 new 30 day challenges! I'll be doing a plank, squat and ab challenge, I found one that I really like because instead of progessively increasing it is completely random, one day I could be doing 50 squats and 90 abs and the next it could be 25 squats and 180 abs, I plan on mixing up the exercises as well, for example if it says do 50 squats I might do 25 regular squats and 25 plie squats just to mix it up, keep my body guessing. I've even created a calendar to help remind me to do my exercises each day and also keep my running schedule, yesterday my goal was to do 3.5 miles and I surpassed that goal!! I did 6.03 miles in less than 2 hours which is better than my last 6 mile run/walk time. I definitely pushed myself which I need to do more often, there is only 9 days left in my monthly challenge to do 30 miles in 30 days and as of right now i'm only 4.02 miles behind Brian, I may not reach 30 miles in 9 days but i'm sure going to do my best to atleast beat him ha ha. I love running, I just wish I could run longer (it's not just the knee, I seem to get winded easily so I have to stop and just walk to catch my breath) I know it's a work in process and in a year i'll be running long distances without stopping but for right now it sucks, I think my method that I use to run longer and longer is helping my endurance though, and i'm pretty proud because right now in Brian's neighborhood I can run from his house all the way to the first stop sign which is about 3 blocks. Essentially what I do is I pick a mark, a sign, a house, a bush whatever that up ahead in the distance and I tell myself run to there and stop, sometimes I keep running and I keep making my mark farther and farther away until I can't run anymore and then I stop and walk for a bit then start running again, i'm not sure if it has to do with the weather or my breathing (which is not as easy to control when your running btw all you new runners know what i'm talking about) I think weather does play a part and we Oregonians don't have a steady climate, one day its sunny the next its raining and then the day after that we get a snow storm. Running in cold weather is not easy and afterwards I feel like I just dry cleaned my lungs (not a pleasant feeling for sure) Either way it felt good to be out and running again, the only downside was the fact that the water fountains that are in downtown Oregon City were not working so I definitely was dying of thirst. At the end of it all I was sweaty, tired and I felt like I wanted to collapse but i'm glad I did it. I was planning on running today but its literally pouring outside as I type this and while I don't mind running in cold weather running in pouring down rain just isn't smart to me. I've only done my challenges for 2 days and i'm already feeling it, sore is definitely the new sexy and I cannot wait to re-measure myself! As of yesterday when I started my measurements were 46" hips 44" waist and 13.5" arms, part of me wants to re-configure my challenge schedule and add and arm challenge in there as well so that way i'll be covering all the major muscle groups. My arms are definitely one of my major trouble spots and while planking does help work your entire body I don't know if it will give me the desired results that i'm looking for if i'm only doing that whereas incorporating weighted arm exercises like tricep dips etc will help me get rid of the excessive amount of underarm fat I have.....lol. I'm ending this post on that note, can't wait to update you all in 28 days!!! :)

Here's the calendar I told you about!