A Smooth NSV Thursday

Hi, all! It is CRAZY at work, so this will be a super quick update. This week my NSV is “smooth” because I’ve decided to start making fruit/spinach smoothies to drink for my breakfast in the morning! This is a super healthy step in the right direction, and man, these smoothies are yummy! The other night when I went grocery shopping, I bought strawberries, bananas, oranges, apples, and baby spinach. I spent HOURS (well it was prob just 20 min but I hate to chop fruit/veggies so it felt like hours) putting together 10 of these bags:

Each smoothie has each of those fruits I mentioned as well as a large handful of baby spinach. I also put a container of Yoplait Greek yogurt (vanilla) and some ice cubes in the blender, blend it up, and put it in my blender bottle the night before. I really hate most green veggies so this is a great way for me to “hide” spinach and still get it in my system. For this morning’s smoothie, I added a squirt of hershey’s chocolate syrup..yum! The first one I made ended up this horrible vomit looking color, but this morning’s was closer to the green I was looking for. It was delicious! Because I made these bags up ahead of time, I threw them in the freezer and then in the morning of each day, I move a bag to the fridge so it can thaw and I can use it to make the smoothie the night before. It saves a LOT of time, and I’ll definitely use all of the fruit that I bought. I’m sure many of you can relate to buying fruit, letting it sit in your fridge, and then before you know it it has gone bad before you can use it! So I’m pretty proud of myself for planning ahead w/ this one and getting so many fruits and veggies.

What’s your NSV this week?

Weigh-In Wednesday

Guess what day it is?! Guess. What. Day. It. Is. WEIGH-IN WEDNESDAY! Woo:

“–29.6”

YES! I lost another 1.2 lbs this week, putting me at 206.4 lbs; I also lost 1 full inch off my thighs (finally) and a 1/2 inch from my hips, putting me officially in the “40s” inch range for my hips. Onederland, here I come! I should also note that I am now at 66.6 lbs lost…FREAKY. I am super happy with this loss, especially considering that it’s TOM week. I had way less of a problem eating only 33 points this week than my 34 last week, so that was pretty exciting. Actually, sometimes I’m now finding it difficult to make sure that I eat all of my activity points in addition to my daily points. How is that possible?! I find that in a lot of situations now, I’m like “what else can I eat…” lol! That hardly ever happens in my life, but I won’t complain about it. Here’s what I did activity-wise this past week:

Tuesday: 60 min zumba sentao @ Y
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: 60 min regular zumba @ Y
Friday: rest
Saturday: 30 min walk on bike trail
Sunday: 15 min quick mile DVD walk
Monday: 60 min regular zumba @ Y

Although I didn’t *quite* stick to what I had planned this week, I still got in activity on almost every day that I had planned, except for Wednesday. Oops. Oh well, I still lost, and I feel great about it. I think the zumba sentao has really revved up my workouts and metabolism to optimum fat burning–it was KILLER last night. I mean seriously, I thought I was going to die, throw up, or both. Ugh. It has never been that hard before–I’m wondering if maybe it’s because it’s TOM week. Ew. It was bad. But I did it! So here’s what I have planned for this week:

Tuesday: 60 min zumba sentao @ Y (done did)
Wednesday: 15 min walking DVD
Thursday: 60 min regular zumba @ Y
Friday: rest
Saturday: 45 min walk on trail (if it’s nice!)
Sunday: 30 min zumba or 2 mile walking DVD
Monday: 60 min regular zumba

That should get me some great activity points in. I don’t have any “big events” food-wise to be worried about, so I can choose to use my activity points on a treat or just save them up for our meal out after church on Sunday.

We are swamped at work this week. In the admissions world, this is the time of year (as some of you may know if you’ve ever had a child go through the college-search process) in which high school seniors are down to the wire to make their college decisions. They have until May 1 to commit somewhere, so we are really in the “race to the finish line” right now, and we have about a gazillion visitors on campus who are admitted seniors and prospective juniors. It is a madhouse in here–but in mid-May, it will all settle down. I can’t wait! (With this all being said, if any of you ever want or need any advice from an admissions professional about the college search process, give me a holla.)

I’m so ready for spring. Ugh. This cold weather has me in a funk! Hope you all have a great WIW. Thinking of you all!

Weekend Rewind

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

It’s snowing here. Again. On March 25. That can stop happening anytime, Mother Nature.

At any rate, we had a very pleasant but busy weekend. Friday night was a Cthulhu game night (where our characters all actually survived without going insane…say what?!) and I must pat myself on the back for making those delicious cupcakes. The alcohol flavor in them was really not too overwhelming, but just right. Next year I will probably make them “Irish car bomb” cupcakes and add some Bailey’s somehow. IDK, I’ll pinterest the ish out of it and find something, I’m sure.

On Saturday, I went to Founders’ Day at the local chapter of my sorority (technically a fraternity, but we won’t get into that), Delta Gamma. Even though I didn’t graduate from this chapter, it is so lovely to still be involved as President of our Alumnae Association and to see what all of the lovely gals are doing. They are SO awesome, and super classy. I was so impressed by all of their adorable outfits! They had asked me to be the speaker, and even though I was nervous, I think it went really well. They even presented me with flowers to thank me for all that I’ve done as Alumnae President!

I was so touched. It was such a nice little luncheon–oh, and by the way, guess who passed on the tiramisu for dessert? That’s right–this girl. I was super proud of myself!

The rest of the day was spent lounging on the couch (watching Dr. Who obv) and doing laundry. Patrick and I did squeeze in a 30 minute walk with Clara on the trail. It was chilly, but not super cold, so it wasn’t too bad.

On Sunday, we had church, went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch (I was super craving this!!), and then looked at 4 HOUSES. Yup, 4 houses, all in a row. One of the houses that we looked at we are in love with–we brought my parents to see it so that they could give us some input. See, we’re young…we don’t know anything about house-shopping and what to look for. So my parents were super duper helpful. They helped us come up with a list of the things we’d need to do with the house that we really loved, and it would be feasible, as the house is way less expensive than the amount of money we got pre-approved for. BUT, we’ll see. Our lease isn’t up until August, and I’d really prefer not to break our lease (ummm cause we can’t afford it), so we’ll see. Trying to not to put all our eggs in one basket.

Sunday night was the Walking Dead…oh, and cuddling with this little guy!!

His name is Gaius (after Gaius Baltar from BSG), and he is the newest addition to Scott and Bre’s family. He is the cutest little wrinkly, fat cuddlebug! I love him.

Weigh-in Wednesday results coming tomorrow–have a great day, friends!

A Super Random 5-on-Friday

1. This has been on my brain for days–does anyone else try to prounouce the nonsense words that blogs make you type for word verification when you’re trying to comment on someone’s post?! OMG I do that EVERY time, I am such a weirdo!

2. I started the UK version of Being Human yesterday and absolutely LOVE IT. It is so good!

3. Can’t wait for game night tonight, for multiple reasons…
a. Jason is making greek sandwiches w/ yogurt sauce, yum!
b. I made those guinness cupcakes
c. We’re playing Cthulhu, which is super fun
d. Bre and Scott got a 2 month old english bulldog puppy and named it Gaius…I am going to CUDDLE THE CRAP OUT OF THAT THING

4. I was asked by the local chapter of my sorority to be their speaker tomorrow at their Founder’s Day luncheon, since I am the current President of our city’s Alumnae Association. I was dreading it all week because I had no idea what to say, until I buckled down this morning and wrote my speech. It was WAY easier than I thought it’d be…I’m nervous, but excited for the opportunity!

5.

This, my friends, is how good I felt on the plane ride to and from Atlanta–being 65 pounds lighter made flying way easier and way less stressful! I did not, however, put my leg up on the door like that. Could’ve if I wanted to, though!!

Hope you all have a great weekend. I have Founder’s Day luncheon tomorrow, then we have church, house-hunting (I know I haven’t blogged about this at all yet…but we are house hunting obv) and The Walking Dead. I still haven’t seen last Sunday’s episode of TWD (no spoilers, plz) but have heard that it’s cray, so I can’t wait!

NSV Thursday

Good morning, friends! I am happy to report that I have what I consider to be two HUGE NSV’s this week!

1. I was able to fit in my seats on the plane rides to and from Atlanta–COMFORTABLY! Not to mention–the seatbelt fit, and even had probably 3-4″ slack!!!! ZOMG I almost started crying on the plane ride there when I buckled the seatbelt. The last time that I had been on an airplane was in 2012 when I was 65 pounds heavier at 273 pounds, and I could BARELY even get the seatbelt to buckle. Once I had, I felt like all the circulation to my hips was being cut off, and I could barely move in the seat. The armrests weren’t even close to being at the right place, and now they are! I also didn’t feel like “That fat lady” that no one wants to get seated next to–I felt perfectly average and comfortable. Get this–I could even CROSS MY FREAKIN’ LEGS on the plane. What. the. eff. It was a glorious moment for me!

2. I saw my family doctor yesterday for the first time in a year and a half. Shout out to her–she is the best doctor in the world and I love her! She practices integrative medicine, so she is very conscious of what is good for the body and what is not. At any rate, I hadn’t seen her since I lost the 65 pounds and she was SO HAPPY. (I only see her every so often–because she is an independent physician and spends minimum of 1 hour with her patients for physicals, she doesn’t accept most insurance plans. I actually asked my mom for the $ to see her this year for my birthday present from my parents, lol!) She kept congratulating me and I could just tell that she was absolutely thrilled. She kept saying, “Wow, Kelly, you are in such great shape.” She had complete confidence in me to lose the rest of the weight that I have to lose, partly because I have that confidence in myself. When she left the room for me to get dressed after my physical, I started tearing up. I felt really silly about it but honestly, it was so great to hear my doctor tell me that I’ve done a fantastic job with my weight loss journey. It is such a welcome change–I’ve never heard anything other than, “well, if you lose weight, your health risk factors will decrease significantly” at the doctor…so this was truly amazing. I went home on Cloud 9, and am still feeling super excited about it.

In other news, I made Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Whiskey Frosting last night!! Yummm..since we didn’t get to go to game night last week, I thought this week could be St. Patty’s day celebration dessert:

Yeah, that is as crafty as I get decorating-wise, lol

I can’t wait to eat one of these! 🙂 Hope you all are having a great Thursday…we’re almost to the weekend!

Weigh-In Wednesday

Well, here it is again–weigh in day! I was totally shocked when I stepped on the scale yesterday morning:

“–28.4”

This means that I lost 2.4 lbs this week–I also lost yet another half inch off my waist, putting me at a 35″ waistline. Smh…sometimes I just don’t get it. I really think that all of the walking I did in Atlanta (a lot of it was uphill, downhill, and back) got me some key calorie-burning, since I didn’t really do zumba at all last week. This means that right now, I weight 207.6 lbs! That means I GET MY NEW PIECE OF JEWELRY FOR MY 209 LBS REWARD!! So, this is what I’m fairly sure I’ve settled on: http://www.etsy.com/listing/165913055/refuse-to-sink-aluminium-silver-metal?ref=sr_gallery_21&ga_search_query=anchor+motivational+jewelry&ga_order=most_relevant&ga_ship_to=US&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery

This has a double meaning for me…refusing to sink means refusing to give up my weight loss journey. The anchor to me means A LOT because it’s my sorority’s symbol (Delta Gamma!)–I even have a small one tattooed on the inside of my left wrist! I wanted a bracelet that I could look down at when I’m feeling discouraged or like giving up…cause lord knows that happens! At any rate, I’m pretty excited about being 8.6 lbs away from onederland…here I come, baby!

I went to zumba sentao last night and almost died…no really…it was so hard! I stuck around for 45 minutes until he had us put the chairs away, and then peaced out before the last 3 or 4 toning songs. I’m sorry, but I could NOT handle zumba with even just one-pound weights after all that crazy body weight workouts that we did. Phew…it was rough. But, I went, and I did 45 minutes of it! I was proud of myself for getting back in the game. Here’s what I plan to do this week:

Tuesday: 45 min zumba sentao @ Y (done did!)
Wednesday: 30 min regular zumba at home
Thursday: 60 min regular zumba @ Y
Friday: rest
Saturday: 30 min regular zumba @ home
Sunday: 30 min (or rest, depending on how the day goes)
Monday: 60 minutes regular zumba @ Y

Now THAT’S more like it. Even though I had apparently lost 2.4 lbs, not doing all this zumba was making me start to feel lazy–but I’m back in it now.

On another good note, I’ve discovered that I have what I’ve come to think of as a light switch inside of my head regarding the food decisions I make. Last week, the switch was totally turned off…I ate way more than I should have and picked some things that were not super healthy. I found myself reaching for snacks (salty AND sweet) most of the day, and falling back into my old patterns. It was easy to do, because the switch was off. However, when I made up my mind to turn it back on yesterday, it was easy. I’m so excited about this–I’ve always felt like before, the switch was perpetually off…I just had to forcefully override it or something. It’s a welcome change. In addition, with this last weight loss this week, I’ve been given 33 points a week now instead of 34. I feel like I JUST got bumped down to 34, so that’s kind of exciting!

Hope you all have a great weigh-in. Just keep swimming!

Atlanta: An Illustrated Journey

And by illustrated, I mean that this post will be full of pics!

Hi ya’ll–I was in Atlanta for work this weekend, and I had a fantastic time. The weather on Saturday was absolutely gorgeous, so I spent almost all afternoon walking around downtown and soaking up the sights. I stayed in the Marriott Marquis downtown, which was reeeeally nice:

That bottle of water was $6!! Yikes

I was on the 42nd floor–this was my view down from outside my room…can you say vertigo?

The view outside my room by day

The view outside my room by night

I just wandered around downtown and found a yummy ATL place to eat–the Landmark Diner. I had a monte cristo sandwich–turkey, ham, and swiss cheese with french toast for bread! It was de-lish, but I could only eat 1/2 of it! I also may or may not have indulged in a slice of their red velvet cake for my dinner; I have no regrets!

In addition to walking around all over downtown, I decided to pay a visit to “The Wonderful World of Coca-Cola” museum. I’ve always been a “coke” gal–none of that Pepsi stuff, thank you! It was really super fun, and I took LOADS of pics:

Old-fashioned soda fountain

Obv had to take a pic of dice!!

The “round” coca-cola bottle was invented in my hometown, Terre Haute IN…so I had to take a pic!

Each state has its own unique version of the Coke bottle–here’s ours!

That’s the olympic torch from London 2012…I had to snap a pic (you Whovians out there will get it!)

First coke machine to go in space!

I work at an engineering school–had to take a pic of this!

We all got “free” coke bottles as souvenirs!

In the last room, there are over 60 flavors of pop that coke makes from all over the world that you can sample. You can try all of them if you want–I only tried 2 or so from each “continent.” My faves were actually apple-flavored pops…they were most popular in Asian and South American countries. I didn’t care so much for the almost licorice-tasting one from Tanzania…but it was so cool to be able to try them all! If you’re ever looking for tourist-y things to do in Atlanta, I’d def recommend this museum, esp if you are a Coke-lover. There is a nice Norman Rockwell (and others) art exhibit and TONS of coke paraphernalia, not to mention a great gift shop where you can buy anything and everything Coca-Cola. Lots of history, too. Did you know that the Coke company sold for FIVE CENTS?! Cray. Next year if I go to this fair again, I’m going to try the CNN tour or the aquarium.

I walked SO MUCH between downtown ATL and the ATL airport that I got more than my fair share of exercise…which is good, as I barely did anything else last week with being sick. I weighed in today–let’s just say it was a huge surprise–will post tomorrow! Have a great Tuesday, everyone!

NSV Friday

Oops, forgot to take a pic of my NSV this week so I have to link up today instead of yesterday ! Oh well, here it is:

Those are one of my fave pairs of work pants (I know, I know, they’re way too long on me) because they are cute and comfy. It’s hard to tell, but they’re a light greyish black pinstripe with just a hint of sparkle thread in them. OK seriously when I describe them like that they sound absolutely hideous but I promise they’re not!! I love these pants..they are so comfortable! I got them at Old Navy many, many moons ago and they are a size 20. Look…they’re actually BIG on me now! I had these pants in storage because I knew that for the past 3 years or so, they’d been too tight. I couldn’t even zip them up. But holy wow look at them now! This makes me feel so good, even if I had a small gain this week.

Speaking of–I’m preparing myself for a steady stream of small gains in the next 2 weeks (the week after next is TOM week…boo). I have basically lost all self control this past week due to being sick, and because I’ve been sick and on the couch..I’ve not been working out. I totally was not able to do a mile on Wednesday night and I didn’t feel up to zumba last night, but I am feeling SO much better today–I think the drugs finally kicked in. We aren’t doing game night tonight because I need to go to bed early (I fly out tomorrow for a college fair), so I should be able to get a quick mile in. To say that I dread working out after a brief stint of inactivity is a complete and total UNDERSTATEMENT. I have to remind myself that I’m in way better shape than when I started working out 62 pounds ago, and that I can handle it…but it is always harder after a break. Ugh. I can do this! I am really excited, however, to see how the seatbelt on the plane fits me tomorrow. The last time I flew, I weighed 270+ pounds and could just BARELY buckle that sucker in. You know when you open a can of crescent rolls? Yeah, that. But not this time, baby!

Anyone have fun weekend plans? I’ll be hanging out in a city I’m not very familiar with but am pretty excited for the trip 🙂 Pics to follow! Happy weekend everyone!

Weigh-in Wednesday

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I am so sorry for the hiatus–I have been sicky sick and was also out of town in Fort Wayne on Monday and yesterday for college fairs. Needless to say, those were not fun experiences, plus my hotel didn’t have hot water in the shower. It was AWESOME. At any rate, here it is:

“–26.0”

Up 0.8 lbs. Actually, I was surprised it wasn’t more…I have zero excuses for this week’s gain, and can explain it with three words: pie, cake, pizza. lolz. Also, I only got 15 activity points between me being sick and having weird atypical weeknight commitments that kept me from working out. Usually I can maintain control when I travel, but the fact that I’m sick on top of it really sucks. I did only eat my daily points and my activity points, so that was good and for that I’m proud of myself, but pie and pizza and cake are pie and pizza and cake, lol. At least it’s only 0.8 lbs; going to dust myself off and pick myself back up! At this point in my journey, I really have learned to not let a small gain get me down. I’ve lost 62 lbs, for goodness sake…I can lose that 0.8 lb again!

I’m going to the health center at work today to see if I can get some drugs. Ugh. I wish I could say this week would be normal too, but I’m going on another work travel trip this Saturday and Sunday. It will be all I can do to not just stay in my hotel room and get take out and sleep if I still don’t feel well! I’m going to try to force myself to do a quick mile walking DVD tonight and maybe if I get drugs today I will feel well enough for 30 min of zumba at the Y tomorrow night…we’ll see!

Here’s to me feeling better soon and all ya’ll out there who are also weighing in today–I hope you have a great weigh in!

5 on Friday

Linking up for the first time with 5 on Friday! I love these linkups.

1. BIRTHDAY WISHES TO MY LITTLE BROTHER KYLE! His birthday was Monday, but we are celebrating tonight and tomorrow. He’ll be in town with his girlfriend, and they’re coming to our game night tonight. Then we’ll party at our parents farm tomorrow. My little bro is so awesome…HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE! I LOVE YOU! I can’t believe he’s 23 now. Dang.

A very rare somewhat normal looking pic of Kyle and his beautimous girlfriend Wendy

This is really how they prefer to take pics and what most of their pics look like…y’all don’t kill me for finding these on facebook

2. I have been kind of feeling like poop, for lack of a better term, this week. I think my allergies are flaring up because I’m running out of flonase and our humidifier filter needs changed. I should be acquiring both flonase and a new filter in the next day or so, so hopefully I’ll feel better soon.

3. Tonight we’re hosting game night because Scott is visiting Bre @ her army training. I almost ALWAYS make dessert for this, but I had no time this week due to Ash Wednesday church service and other various things. So, I’m making Patrick get two pies from Grand Traverse Pie company. Don’t even care–so excited about pie.

4. I think zumba got close to killing me last night. WHY is it so easy sometimes and so hard other times?! I think my asthma/allergy flare up had something to do with it, but holy crap…I was seein’ Jesus about 30 minutes in!!

5. I started watching the old classic Hitchcock “Psycho” this morning before work, but haven’t finished it. I have been keeping up with Bates Motel, and as I’d never seen Psycho (I know, I know!), I wanted to watch it. Freddie Highmore TOTALLY nails Norman Bates in the TV show, does anyone else agree?

I for one am so glad it’s the weekend. Anyone have fun plans? We’ll be celebrating Kyle’s bday, doing laundry, church stuff, and Walking Dead. Woo! I must warn you all that I probably won’t post again until next week’s Weigh-in Wednesday…I’m out of town Monday and Tuesday working some regional college fairs. Happy weekend, everyone!