Vacation Recap and Getting Back into a Rhythm

Hi! So I've decided that instead of doing multiple posts about my visit stateside I'll just do one long one and get it over with. This will help me get back on track with my blogging and focusing on what this blog is really all about, my weight loss journey. 

My trip started on June 13 with a flight from Amsterdam to DC. Then continued with an 8 hour drive from DC to Lansing, New York, where my bridal shower was. It was a long day and by the time I finally got to sleep I had been up for 26 hours. Traveling is fun. 

My bridal shower was on Saturday June 14 and it was amazing, except for the weather. Up until that morning it had been forecasted to be 75 and sunny, but ended up being 60 and cloudy. It was cold! Nobody was prepared for the cold weather because the weather man screwed things up so bad, but other than the cold it was great. My maid of honor did an amazing job! 

Everything was pink and white! I had a really cute white dress on, but due to the weather had to cover it up with a leather jacket. The sign says 118 days 'til she's hitched. Now that number is 94 days! I can't even believe it. 

We played some games, but not too many like you have at some bridal showers. 

Isn't that a beautiful cake? It was chocolate cake with buttercream frosting and it was covered in pink roses. My new initial is also there :) 

It tasted as delicious as it looks. 

By Tuesday I was in North Carolina with my parents. This was my real vacation week. I spent a lot of time lounging in the sun by the pool. That was relaxing. 

The following Tuesday I was in Richmond and had meetings with wedding vendors all week: DJ, bakery, wedding planner, photographer, florist. I won't bore you with all the details, just know I was very productive! 

Friday the 27 I went with some friends to Busch Gardens! I love roller coasters. Well let's correct that, I have a love-hate relationship with roller coasters. We had an amazing time! The weather was perfect and because it was a weekday there was hardly any lines! 

Taking inappropriate pictures on the rides is kind of our thing. Notice how Michelle (on the right) is pretty much all the way out of her seat. Good times. 

Saturday we went to brunch! Naturally there were mimosas involved, also kind of one of our things. 

And then I left on Sunday June 29 :( 

I had an amazing trip. 

So here's the breakdown/highlights of my exercise and horrible eating. 

I only exercised 3 times while I was home. Horrible, I'm aware. I ran once and swam laps twice. 

Eating. Well I went out frequently. I had McDonald's for breakfast once, ate at panera too many times to count, went to Logan's Steak House once with my parents, Cheesecake Factory, Cold Stone, Sweet Frog, Joe's Inn, The Whaling Company, and finally dinner with my parents for my dad's birthday at some hole in the wall BBQ joint, who's name I can't remember. Oh, and wayyyyy toooooo many veggie sticks. I have a problem with veggie sticks. They're amazing. 

I gained two pounds, one of which is already gone. 

It took me awhile to get back on track with the gym, but it's Tuesday and I've already been to the gym twice this week, with plans to go again tomorrow. 

I'm sure most of you already knew what I had done while I was visiting, but just incase I do have any readers out there who don't know me, I hope you enjoyed my recap. If you are a consistent reader that I don't know personally leave a comment and say hi :)

Okay, bye. 

Long Time No Blog

Hi everyone. I know it's been a long time since I've blogged but since most of you know me personally you know that I've been on vacation, sort of. 

I've been in The States for the past two weeks, having my bridal shower, doing wedding planning, and visiting family and friends. 

I have lots to blog about but need to do some planning and figure out everything I want to say. 

I'll leave you with a piece of good news, my wedding dress is too big and needs to be taken in.  

I'll post a real post soon :) 

Veronica 

Balance

Man, I forgot how tough this working thing is. Finding a balance between work, life, working out, and all of the other things I would like to get done on a daily basis, seems impossible. 

Because of this blogging has fallen to the wayside. 

The good news is that my working out hasn't. I made it to the gym four times this last week, and made it today. Starting off the week right is always a plus. I work tomorrow, Wednesday, and Thursday. I have plans to go to the gym everyday after work because I cannot go again until at least Monday and more likely Tuesday next week. 

My eating has been mostly eh, not the worst it's ever been, but there's room for improvement. The other trouble I've been having is that because I've been getting up insanely early (by my standards after 18 months of unemployment) I'm feeling exhausted and as a result of that feeling hungry. Constantly hungry. I'm working on it and trying to fuel myself with foods high in protein and fiber. 

I think adding the stress of leaving for The States on Friday isn't helping my balancing act. We'll see how things go. I've got lots of plans for exercise on my vacation. 

Thanks for stopping by :) 

Veronica

Meal Prep and A New Diet

Yesterday I started doing some research on the "if it fits your macros" ( IIFYM, as the cool kids call it) diet. This was formerly known as flexible dieting, and it's not really a new concept, but I did some extensive research on it yesterday and thought I would give it a try. I'm a little concerned about the amount of protein I need to be eating. I can't imagine getting that much protein every day considering it's more than double my current intake, but I'll buy some protein powder and go from there. 

If you don't know what IIFYM is or want more information about tit, google it. There's tons of information on it, and I'm not knowledgeable enough to explain it adequately, but basically the concept is that if it fits into your macro nutrient goals (fats, carbs, and protein) then you can eat it. Of course it shouldn't be used as an excuse to stuff your face, but it's designed so that you can indulge and not feel deprived in your new lifestyle. 

I'll keep you posted on how it goes. 

I work the next four days, granted Friday-Sunday are only four hour shifts, they require me waking up at 5:15. That's too early. Even though they're only four hour shifts, they're the busiest four hours and my body is just simply not used to turning, bathing and cleaning people anymore. I used to work 12 hour shifts 3-4 times a week and now a 4 hour shift terrifies me. A year and a half of unemployment has not been good to me. 

Anywaaay. I know myself and I know that I am not going to be up to cooking meals. I also know that because I will be exhausted I will feel hungry. In order to avoid complete derailing all the progress I've made this week (the scale is trending down again! woohoo!) I will be making healthy snacks and planning meals today. 

I'm going to make roasted chickpeas to take to work: 
recipe here
I'll be making the garlic parmesan and spicy blend. 

I'm going to make parmesan garlic flatbread 
recipe here

I'll also be making whole wheat pizza crust and whole wheat tortillas.

I need to plan meals for the next four nights as well. Planning is the most important part of weight loss. I know this, I just need to keep reminding myself of that. 

Okay, I need to get to work! 

Happy hump day :) 

Gym Annoyances

this was me this morning 

There are several things that annoy me while I'm at the gym. Things I try to ignore and stop myself from seeing. A lot of the time because it involves me judging people. Like the women who jack up the incline on the treadmill and then hold on for dear life for an hour and a half while they "work-out." Or the women who lean on the elliptical and move at a crawl pace. People talking on the phone, and taking too long on the equipment when they're not really using it. Those things annoy me, but I can ignore them because it's not my business and I should be nicer. (Be nicer has been on my New Year's resolution list since I was 11). Still needs improvement. 

The one thing that I absolutely can't stand is when the gym is messy and people don't clean up after themselves. I get to the gym every morning right when it opens. It's my humble opinion that whoever is the last employee at the gym at night should clean up after the people who don't do it themselves. That seems like it would be in the job description. And honestly, how hard is it to rerack the weights you use?! It's not. 

Today I got to the gym right a 8am. Usually the employee working opens the doors around 7:55, but there's one guy who won't open the doors until precisely 8am. That's fine, except that today he didn't open the doors until 8:05. Usually this wouldn't bother me, but today I wanted to get to yoga at 9. That gave me only 55 minutes to get through my work out. By the time I had my shoes on and was in the workout area it was 8:10. 

There is a little section of the gym with yoga mats, a stability ball, a bosu ball, and some other equipment. I choose to do my free weights here as to avoid the muscle men who like to throw weights around in the free weight section. It was a disaster. The mats were not in order, weights were everywhere, the step up blocks were turned over. So with my minor OCD habits I had to fix everything before I could start. 

By the time I finished it was 8:15 and I needed to do my entire arm workout and try and squeeze some cardio in before 9 am. 

So I powered through 8 upper body exercises: 

pushups 3 sets of 10 

tricep dips 3 sets of 10 

chest press on the stability ball 3 sets of 10 with 10kg weight in each hand 

shoulder press on the stability ball 3 sets of 8 with 7kg weight in each hand 

hammer curls 3 sets of 10 with 10kg weight 

lying tricep press 3 sets of 10 with 7kg weight

barbell bicep curls 3 sets of 8 with 20kg bar 

overhead tricep extension 3 sets of 10 with a 10kg dumbbell

Also, I ALWAYS rerack my weights. Always. Even today when I was super short on time.  

I then only had 20 minutes left for cardio. I did 10 minutes on the stationary bike and 10 minutes walking on the treadmill. Since I've stopped trying to run my ankle hasn't given me any more problems, so for the mean time I'm going to put my running goals on the back-burner. 

I made it to yoga in with seconds to spare and then did a 45 minutes yoga class. 

My weight climbed from yesterday :( It's continually frustrating especially when I'm calorie counting, eating healthy, and working out hard. 

We'll see how things play out. I may have to go back on medication for my PCOS, regardless of the horrible side effects if I can't get back on track.  

A Happy Monday

It's Monday and I find that if I start off well on Monday the rest of the week falls into place pretty well. So far today has been a happy Monday. 

I got up this morning and had plans to do a virtual spin class at the gym, but when I got there the TV was broken so they couldn't play the route. I had my biking pants on (yes, I wear biking pants to spin class, those bikes are so uncomfortable!) so I decided to do 25 minutes on the upright bike and 5 minutes on the stair climber instead. After that I finished my leg and ab routine. I felt pretty good afterwards and am already looking forward to tomorrow's gym trip, which will hopefully include yoga!  

My weight is 91.5kg this morning. STILL :( We had Chinese for dinner last night :( 

One thing I've already learned about being employed that food prep is going to have to play a huge role. With both of us working we won't always want to spend 30 minutes cooking dinner. 

I've set a small weight loss goal: back to 90kg by June 13. I leave then to go to The States for 2 weeks and would desperately like to be back to 90kg. I'm going to work very hard these next 11 days to make that happen. 

I'm very worried about gaining weight on my trip. I start off with my bridal shower, which will be full of goodies. When I'm staying with my parents there won't be a lot of eating out and I'm going to try and find a gym where I can pay for a week long membership, but when I get to Richmond I'll be going out to eat at least twice. I'm just going to have to focus on making good choices and working out hard even if it is vacation. 

Tonight I'm making jambalaya for dinner. I'm working Thursday-Sunday this week, which means on Wednesday I need to start meal prepping and figure out the best way to go about that. Meal prepping has never been my strong suit, and that's often led to poor decision making. 

Happy Monday :) 

Transitions

This past week I entered a new phase in my life. A new phase, including employment. For those of you who are unaware, when I packed up all my belongings and moved across the ocean, I did so without any job prospects. I've spent the last year unemployed and desperately searching for work. 

During this time I have been able to put my health and fitness very high on my priority list. I may not have always chosen to do that, but the opportunity was there. Now that I'm working I'm going to have to readjust me workout routine, and figure out a way to maintain my goals as a priority. It's a transition. One I'm looking forward to, but one that will definitely come with a few challenges. 

I worked Friday morning from 7-11. That doesn't seem that bad, and it's really not, but 5:15 is EARLY. Oh my goodness. I forgot what it's like to be up before 7am, and I didn't miss it. Hopefully when I get my first paycheck I'll remind myself how worth it, it is. Friday night we had people over for a BBQ. Everyone was bringing something with them, and I had put myself in charge of dessert specifically so I could make something on the healthier side. I made brownies with coconut flour. They're refined flour and sugar free, and they were actually pretty good. 

Recipe 

Ingredients: 

1/2 cup coconut flour 

1/2 cup cocoa powder 

3/4 cup honey 

1tsp vanilla 

3 eggs at room temperature 

1/2 cup + 2tbs butter, melted 

oil for greasing the pan 

Method: 

preheat oven to 300 degrees 

1) In a large mixing bowl stir coconut flour and cocoa powder together

2) Add eggs one at a time, stirring after each addition

3) Add melted butter, honey, and vanilla extract and mix until combined 

4) Grease a 9X9 pan with the oil of your choice ( I used coconut spray oil) 

5) Pour mixture into the pan and cook for 25-30 minutes

recipe adapted from Empowered Sustenance 

They were delicious and everyone at the BBQ loved them. 

I also topped the brownie with some pecan-caramel ice cream. I also had another serving of that Saturday night and then it was promptly put down the drain. 

Today we had another long Sunday walk. 

Tomorrow I'm planning a gym day. Cardio and legs. I'm looking forward to it. Today was a weigh day, but I forgot so I'll do it tomorrow, although I'm not looking forward to it. We'll see. My measurements also show gains, and that's the opposite of what I'm trying to do. i just have to stay focused. Remind myself why I want to make good choices and that I've come so far. I've lost 37lbs (17kg) and that is something to be proud of. I just have to keep going.