new beginnings

I want to take this blog into a different direction. I still want to do outfit posts, but since I could use a therapeutic and creative outlet, I'm going to also focus on being healthier and happier. So I'm going to use this blog to document my path to happiness and contentment. Hopefully it can be a reminder of where I came from and the struggle it took to get there. I started a new approach to some things at the first of the month, so it would've been ideal to refresh my blog then, but 5 days in is still pretty good. I've made out some goals for May, but they really apply to my life from now on.

MAY GOALS:
1. lose 7 lbs (already down 1!)
2. buy no clothes (already failed that one!)
3. do more freelance
4. get serious about clean eating/meal plans/meal prep
5. be more responsible about daily chores
6. no eating out unless it's healthy (already failed that one too!)
7. gym 5 days/week (went 4 last week)
8. only pay for things with cash/debit, no credit (failed that too)
9. only clear alcohol/wine, sparingly
10. read The Great Gatsby again before seeing the movie
11. brush n' floss regularly! (failed so far)
12. bring lunch to work
13. get to bed by 11pm
14. plant my garden
15. keep track of bills
16. sell clothes & things on eBay

That's a pretty big list... but then again, some of those things are permanent changes I want to make. I also think I'll start blogging just about every day with a recap of what I ate, and how I felt... that should help keep me accountable. Starting with ugh... today I guess. I'm trying to hit about 1360 calories a day. I'm using My Fitness Pal to track my calorie intake, etc. and if you want to follow me my profile can be found here.

Breakfast — 338
Instant oatmeal with a tbsp of Bee's Knees Peanut Butter & Co. peanut butter, half a banana, and a cup of coffee with 6 tbsp of Silk soy creamer.

Lunch — 180
Muscle Milk peanut butter protein powder mixed with half a cup of Silk light soy milk and 3/4 cup of water

Dinner — 800
2 slices of leftover Papa John's pizza with onions, bell peppers, mushrooms and pepperoni and half an order of fries from Ruby Tuesday that my mom dropped off for me (I just can't say no to free french fries)

Total: 1318

Not bad for eating pizza AND french fries in one day... I might have a glass of wine later which would bring me up to 1418 but we'll see. I'm going to start including pictures/recipes of what I eat too.

july recap // august goals

hello

It's been quite a while since my last post. I have some good reasons, and then I also have none at all. For the past 2 weeks at least, I've been battling a strange virus that I thought was a sinus infection that went away for a day or two, came back as an allergy attack, then morphed into a crazy rash. Ugh. Why can't I just get the flu and be done with it?! Ha. I was freaking out when I started breaking out in the rash this past Wednesday... I thought I was having an allergic reaction, so I left work to go to an urgent care clinic where the doc-in-a-box was completely dumbfounded by my condition, worrying me even more. So I called my mom, talked to my allergist, arranged an appointment, and drove an hour away back to Mobile to figure out what the hell was going on. Turned out that the sinus infection I thought I had a week ago, was actually a virus, which was subsequently causing the rash. Phew. I always have the weirdest things happen to me! The rash is finally almost gone, so I can stop wearing thick leggings in this 90° heat.

In other news, I got my nose pierced yesterday!

It was totally on a whim, but I have been thinking about getting it done for a long time now. I talked to a friend who has had hers done and she gave me no reason not to, so I did! It hurt and my eyes watered like no tomorrow. My pain tolerance has definitely decreased since the last time I had anything pierced about 5 years ago. I'm getting old!

SO anyway, to recap my goals from July:

1. lose 5lbs (get down to 155lbs)
I guess I'll count this one as being done? I actually lost the 5lbs, but thanks to the sickness/medicine, I gained 10lbs of water weight, basically overnight. UGH.

2. blog 3x a week (12 times for the month)
obviously, FAIL.

3. no bingeing (especially with Chris' birthday and the 4th this month, it'll be difficult)PASS! Even though I didn't eat perfectly and I did gain that water weight, I still kept my eating under control and did eat out of boredom when I wasn't hungry!

4. sketch/brainstorm more ideas for an etsy store (come up with a name)
erm, FAIL.

5. set date to open said etsy store
also, FAIL. Being sick made me just feel like laying on the couch and watching Netflix.

6. bake something yummy (healthy a plus!) at least twice
PASS! I baked a strawberry/blueberry trifle for the 4th, and cakepops for Christopher's birthday!

7. explore a new part of town
PASS! Chris took me to see a part of town that his extended family has some land, etc. and saw a creepy graveyard.

8. pay off credit card
eee, FAIL. I actually added some more to it... oops.

9. work with Chris on doing our first screen-print
FAIL. Partly because we still need to get the rest of his stuff from his parents' house.

10. no "new" clothes (thrifting/etsy okay, in moderation)
PASS! I actually only bought a purse from the thrift store at the beginning of the month, and nothing since then! (but boy do I have some things lined up come tomorrow!)


GOALS FOR AUGUST
I'm going to take it easy on myself this time and focus on only 5 goals, since I definitely failed at least five.

1. pay off credit card
2. lose 5lbs. (I'm going to use this as an umbrella goal and include 'no bingeing')
3. blog 3x a week
4. visit Mobile (this time not for a rash, haha)
5. get at least halfway through my current book (it's pretty big)

I think I can handle that. I just told my mom that I got my nose pierced, so she's freaking out, but maybe it won't be so bad once she sees how cute it is :]

goals: july

I'm starting a new little habit of making a list of goals to accomplish in a month's time. I started last month, just to see how it'd go, and even though I didn't really stick to it, I actually got close to accomplishing some and I think having the goals in mind really helped! So here are my goals for July:

1. lose 5lbs (get down to 155lbs)

2. blog 3x a week (12 times for the month)

3. no bingeing (especially with Chris' birthday and the 4th this month, it'll be difficult)

4. sketch/brainstorm more ideas for an etsy store (come up with a name)

5. set date to open said etsy store

6. bake something yummy (healthy a plus!) at least twice

7. explore a new part of town

8. pay off credit card

9. work with Chris on doing our first screen-print

10. no "new" clothes (thrifting/etsy okay, in moderation)