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.....