Sunday, April 28, 2013

Falling off the wagon.

Well. It's safe to say this week I've fallen off the wagon. I got in some kind of funk over the weekend and I'm still not out of it. I went to the gym once this week. And when I did go to the gym, it took me OVER AN HOUR to get there. My schedule this week was 8am-430pm, which is prime rush-hour traffic time. I have a 30 minute commute as it is. So the traffic leaving work made it absolutely ridiculous. I know, I know....excuses. But who wants to sit in extra traffic to go to the gym? It's just annoying.

I also went out to dinner/to a baseball game/out to lunch multiple times. It's what happens when you're dating. But I had one too many cheat days and far too few workout days. Effffff.

HOWEVER........remember how I couldn't make it up that damn mountain last week??? Well guess whaaaaaat....I did it yesterday!!!!! Hoolllllllllllllllllllaaaaaaaaaaaaa. And it was actually a date. Which made it more fun. It also made it more nerve-wracking because I really, really didn't want to look like an unfit drama queen in front of this guy. But, I didn't drink a ton of wine the night before, we went before it got sweltering hot, and we took gatorade. It wasn't easy, but we only stopped a few times to get the gatorade out of the backpack and take a few sips and keep going.

The view from the top of Iron Mountain was pretty great:


Total distance was 6 miles. I was proud of myself. So even though I've fallen off the wagon this week, I still managed to squeeze in a wonderful Non-Scale Victory!!!


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I know, I know, a few days late. Sue me.                   :) 

Anyway, this week was also the start of kickball!!!!!!! I haven't written about this at all and I'm not sure why, but about a month ago I signed up for a govavi kickball team with some friends. One friend of mine played last year and loved it and has been bugging me to sign up with her. Well, when I finally got a new job that allows me to have a social life (what a strange concept), I signed up, and got two other girlfriends to sign up too. Basically, you join a team based on location and the night of the week you want to play--or you can join a specific team with friends--and each week you play against some other team. The games are 'sponsored' by a local bar, and after the game you go to that bar and enjoy a couple free pitchers together and have fun. It's all silly. But keep in mind I've never, ever, ever been athletic in my life. I have zero hand-eye coordination (or foot-eye) and I have a giant fear of getting smacked in the face with a ball. As in dodgeball. Kickball entails a little dodgeball element so I was pretty worried overall about looking like an idiot and getting hit in the face with a ball. 

To give you an idea, this is me (courtesy of WhatShouldWeCallMe)

PLAYING SPORTS

Some people:
Me:


Well, I did manage to make myself look like an idiot (in a cute, endearing way according to my team.....) but I didn't get hit by a ball. Win for me!! 

We lost the game, but still had fun. 

I highly suggest if you live in the San Diego area and like playing any random sport and meeting new people, sign up for a govavi league. You can play anything from kickball to beach volleyball to flag football, and they also have clubs, like running and hiking. 

Alright, now it's time to get my ass out of bed, make breakfast, and go to the gym. This is a new week. And I WILL be going to the beginner cycle class on Wednesday at my gym. 

Happy Sunday everyone!



Tuesday, April 23, 2013

How to work out in the circuit room

OK people. After today's workout, I had to write this post. Now, I'm no expert at working out--in any way, shape, or form. I'm just a girl who's struggled with her weight the majority of her life, has never been athletic, and is trying to get her ish together.

But, I am a damn good direction-follower!!! 

I first heard of circuit workouts when Curves became a huge hit many years ago (which feels crazy to say. I'm so old.), but back then I wasn't motivated at all to put any effort whatsoever into changing myself for the better and getting healthy. Fast-forward to 2013 when I joined Chuze Fitness here in San Diego, I discovered the circuit room, which you can read about here. I thought it was an awesome concept and really feel like I'm truly getting in a good workout every time I do it. 

However, I am getting really sick and tired of being cut in the circuit (see below), and seeing people wasting 30 minutes of their time in the gym because they're not doing it right. Again, I struggle with gym etiquette a lot and tend to just keep my mouth shut about everyyyyything. But this is my blog so I'm going to write about it. Here's how to get a workout in, in the circuit room. 

-Read the instructions. They should be posted on the wall. Or ask someone who works at the gym!!!

-It's designed to be a 30 minute, full-body workout. Therefore, if you're all done and look at your watch and see you've only workout out for 10, 15, or 20 minutes, you didn't do it right

-When you're starting on the circuit, you are supposed to pick any machine or cardio step to start on. To avoid cutting someone in line, which is extremely rude and inconvenient and disruptive to their circuit, wait for the current minute to go, then watch where everyone goes during the 30-second changing period. Then, pick a machine or cardio step that is open. This seems like common freaking sense to me, so I'm continuously baffled as to how this is so difficult for people to do. 

-PUSH. YOUR. SELF. The alternating minutes to the ones where you're doing a weight machine are designed...for cardio!!!! What a concept!!! Don't stand there and lift your legs up and down. Step up and down at a quick pace and get your heart rate up. Doesn't anyone remember good ole-fashioned 90's aerobics? Do something you remember your momma doing in front of the TV. She was getting her heart rate up big time. The time to let your heart rate drop is meant to be when you get to the weight machine, not when you get to the cardio steps. 

OK, that last tip is a bit personal. And I'm sorry. I understand everyone's version of pushing themselves is going to be different. But just think about the overall purpose of the circuit workout and ask yourself "am I doing this the right way?" If you don't feel like you're getting in a full-body workout, you're either doing something wrong in general, or you're not pushing yourself hard enough. It's not meant to be some easy-peasy copout to a real workout. It IS a real workout!!

Also, for me personally, I don't feel like the amount of actual cardio I get in a circuit is enough, so I start with at least 15 minutes on the treadmill, elliptical, bike, anything to break a sweat for an extended period of time. 

OK, off my soapbox I go. 

On a completely different note, this weekend consisted of a fun-filled, exhausting day of wine tasting with my mom, her friend, and my friend. Does anyone else think wine tasting is extremely tiring??? Anyway. It was a blast. And an absolutely gorgeous day. 

Here's the view from one winery: 

And the same view at sunset: 

Doesn't that just take your breath away? California really is beautiful. 

Here's a pic of my momma and me: 

My friend and me: 

We were super excited about wearing our hats,
courtesy of her boutique. I mean closet. 

And our little fabulous group:


Yes, my mom's shirt does say "drink up bitches." God, I love her. 

Here's also a pic of our little spread at the first winery. They had a fish-taco food truck, and we got some cheese and crackers from inside. And a bottle of their rose. 


It was a fun, fabulous, sassy weekend to say the least. I also go to lay out on our little patio area on Saturday with my sweet Winnie Pooh. She loves the sun just as much as her momma: 


That face!!!!

Ahhhh. Life is good. 




In all honesty, life is hard. Really, really hard. And I have some major struggles going on in my head and my heart right now. But I'm so thankful for the blessings in my life. And I'm thankful that I keep up on this blog and remind myself of those blessings on a pretty regular basis. Because going your entire life without recognizing the amazing things God has placed in it is just miserable in so many ways

Anyhoo. I'm currently obsessed with Carrie Underwood's Blown Away CD. I'm obsessed with her in general, but this CD is just amazing. One of my favorite songs on it is called "Nobody Ever Told You." Part of the song goes

Mirror mirror on the wallActing like it knows it allTells you lies of vanityIt doesn't care what's underneath
All hung up on the negativeDoesn’t have to be the way it isWish you could see yourself the way I do


I know, I know. I'm getting real deep this post. But I can't help it. Carrie Underwood does that to me. I'll leave you with a video of the song: 


That's all for now, loves. Happy Taco Tuesday!!!





Saturday, April 20, 2013

I am my own worst enemy.


Happy Saturday!!! And what a happy one it is indeeeeeed. 

OK, to be honest, this week has been a little rough. I won't go into any juicy details, I'm just having a hard time with some personal things. But I still LOVE my job and my puppy and my friends and that's all that's really important. 

But today is a new day. And to kick off this glorious weekend (it's seriously gorgeous here in San Diego this weekend) I went on a hike with one of my best friends. She's always had athletic ability and hikes pretty often, so I was already intimidated to be going with her, but I was the only one who screwed myself over. See....we all know by now that I'm a wino. Well last night I had too much wine to not follow up with a buttload of water--especially considering I was planning on waking up early and going for a hike. Instead, I went straight to bed, and didn't even have my first sip of water until we started the 6 mile hike (3 miles up, 3 miles down). Bad idea. Oh, I also didn't eat any breakfast. Because I woke up, got dressed, took a picture (see below) and left. Baaaad ideaaaaaa. We were about a mile from the top of the mountain and I felt like I was going to faint. My first thought was, this can't seriously be happening. I'm in MUCH better shape than I was the last time I went on a hike and I knew I could make it up without much of a problem. But I couldn't shake the feeling that I was about to pass out, seeing stars, the whole 9 yards. My friend semi-scolded me for not drinking any water or eating breakfast and it was pretty obvious the problem was that I was dehydrated, not unfit to finish the hike. I finished my bottle and half of my friend's, but we logically decided to head back down because it was already at least 80 degrees and only getting hotter. 

I'm bummed and disappointed in myself.  I feel like I sabotaged this goal in a way. Dunno why, but that's what I feel. I mean it was an accomplishment to make it a 4 mile hike and it was a gorgeous trail up Iron Mountain, but I wish I hadn't have prepared the way I did. Or didn't haha. Anyhoo, next time I know to do it differently. Here's what I wore: 


You can take the girl outta the country but you can't take the country outta the girl. Realtree visor, orange top, and realtree otterbox on my iphone. And of course I just love cheetah too much. Anyway, here's the start of the trail we hiked: 


Pretty amazing, right? Unfortunately that's about the only shade you get the rest of the way lol, and I was too busy trying not to faint to take any more pictures. But there will be a next time, and I will take pictures. 

And just because it's funny, let me tell you about last night. Two girlfriends and I had a relaxed night just hanging out, drinking wine, and chatting. My one friend who's house we were at literally could open a boutique out of her bedroom. She has rows of necklaces, then more rows of bracelets, then more rows of hanging earrings, a bowl of stud earrings, a row of sunglasses, a stash of hats--ranging from fedora to big and floppy--scarves, purses, it's INSANITY. After about 3 glasses of wine my other friend and I couldn't help ourselves and decided to play dressup. When in Rome, right? 

Here's our finished products: 


We could have played dressup all night. Literally. And my other friend actually bought a pair of her sunglasses for 2 dollars hahaha. It was a good time. 

Anyway, follow me on instagram and you would have seen the collage of our looks, and my amazing ThirtyOne bag that finally came today!!!!


I. Am. Ob. Sessed. 

I can't WAIT for it to just be freaking summertime so I can fill that baby with booze, snacks, magazines, and tanning lotion and head to the beach--or to a country concert tailgate :) Ahhhh sooooo closseeeeee. 

Alright, that's all for now. At least I now have completed my goals of going on a hike and taking a class at my gym. Baby steps. 

Have a lovely weekend lovelies!


Thursday, April 18, 2013

My boobs are shrinking.


Well I missed WILW, because I was just having too much fun drinking wine and hot tubbing with my best friend last night. Ooooops. Thank God I don't have to be at work until noon today otherwise I would not have been a pretty sight this morning. Instead I'm wearing an outfit I've been envisioning for a while now....


Can you tell I'm a little obsessed with my ankle pants? I am. Also, they're my only black pants at the moment that aren't too big and look like I'm wearing a trash bag. The sequin shirt is from J Crew Factory. Another obsession of mine. 

Anyway, yesterday I completed one of my GOALS! Heck yes! Unfortunately my friend and I got to the gym just too late to get passes for that spin class. That's actually the first time I've been disappointed in my new gym since I joined. Just kind of annoying when you still get there 15 minutes early and don't get passes...maybe next time I'll shoot for 30 minutes. Anyway, there just so happened to be a TurboKick class at the same time that was wide open (which scared me even more), but I was determined to take a damn class this week, so we did it. 

It was fun! We both looked like fools because we didn't know the routines like most of the class, and I'm not coordinated at all...but I didn't feel like anyone was judging us at all. I actually felt like the regulars were happy to have new people and teach us the ropes a little bit. I think I'll definitely go back. 

Today I'm sore as hell though. 

Anyway, another goal WILL be completed this weekend because I don't work and I am going on a hike on Saturday morning! Yay!

Also, I wore one of my new shirts last night and loved it, but I did have to wear a sports bra underneath. Maybe there's no hope. I mentioned before that my boobs are shrinking (so much so that I couldn't wear my laying-out-bikini yesterday because the top wouldn't stay on) so it almost seems like the top part is too big but I like the rest of it to be a little loose. Maybe if I went down to a size medium it would fit like it's supposed to....but I don't want to wear a super tight shirt when I'm working out. Maybe when I'm super skinny. 



What do you think?! 

And just to make everyone who doesn't live in San Diego jealous, this is how I spent my afternoon yesterday: 


Sorry if my white legs are blinding you. I'm working on it. 

Alright time to go to work. Hope everyone has a wonderful Thursday! And maybe a thirsty one if you're into that :) 


Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Weekly check-in and goals (a day late...)

Well. I'm posting this a day late buttttttt oh wellllllll. Sue meeeeee.

Anyway, my goals last week were:

-Go to the gym at least 4 days out of the week

-Take a class at my gym

-Go on a hike

-Track food on myfitnesspal 4 days of the week

I didn't do so hot. But it wasn't entirely my fault...ok about half. I couldn't go to a class or on the hike because of the work schedule I was given after I had made the plans. I have a new job, people, I can't say no! So see, 2 out of the 4 were out of my control. The other two, however....................

I DID track on myfitnesspal 4 days out of the week. It's actually starting to become a nice reminder for me. And still, it blows my mind that it's basically the same exact system as weight watchers online, yet it has every food I've tracked so far already in it. Maybe I would have stuck with WW if it had that and I didn't have to sit and figure everything out I was eating?

Anyway. I went to the gym 2 days last week, had a very glutenous weekend, and then last night I went for a run because it was too late to go to the gym. So I did ok. Not great. But that's ok.

Operation Skinny Jeans


So my goals for THIS week are.....

#1: Go to a class at my gym. I've got a date with a girlfriend for a beginner's cycle class tomorrow at 6pm. God help us.

#2: Go on a hike. I have the whole weekend off (hoollllllllllllllllllllllaaaaaaaaaaa) and I'm hoping one of my hiker-friends can go with me. Not to be a total downer but bad stuff tends to happen to single women around these parts who go on hikes/runs alone. Chelsea King, anyone? Yeah. I'm not going on a hike by myself.

#3: Track my food 5 days out of the week.

#4: Make it to 180 by Tuesday. That's 2 pounds away. Gotta pull out all the stops haha.

I also got the shirts I ordered off ebay this morning. They actually fit pretty great and, let's just say you can't tell if my high-beams are on or not, so that's always a good thing. I'll post a picture tomorrow since I'll be wearing one to the gym for the cycle class.

I hope everyone else did better on their goals than I did! But that's why we continue to set them, right? Anyway, at least Jess did awesome.

In other news, today was my first day on the phones at work! Basically they let me loose haha. It was terrifying, but I'm slowly getting used to it. I have tomorrow off so I'm sure Thursday will be a little rocky at first but I know it will get easier and easier. I'm loving my new job!!!


Alright, time for bed. Night night, world!



Monday, April 15, 2013

In memory of Sarah

Well. I don't even know how to begin a blog post considering the horrible thing that happened this morning in Boston. Boston holds a very special place in my heart. I haven't told the story of why or how I wound up there for one very important year of my life, so in a nutshell here it is:

I spent my whole life here in San Diego with frequent visits to my dad's house in East Tennessee. I was stir crazy by the time I graduated high school and wanted to get out on my own and experience something totally different. I don't know where my fascination with Boston came from other than maybe it's because I have New England in my blood? My mom's from New Hampshire and that's where her whole side of the family is. Either way something drew me there, and I applied to a few prestigious schools there. Northeastern was the most competitive school I got accepted to and I couldn't say no, so in August, 2008 I packed my whole life up and my mom dropped me off 3000 miles away from home. I spent the first 3 weeks crying myself to sleep every night terrified I had made a mistake and missing home, and then I found the most amazing group of women when I went through sorority recruitment. I finally felt confident in my decision to move so far away from home. I also became best friends with one of my roommates, Sarah. She will always be one of the most amazing girls in the entire world to me, and she passed away two summers ago--something I'll never get over--but anytime I think of Boston now I think of her. She grew up in a suburb of the city, had a classic Boston attitude and sense of humor, was a die-hard Sox fan, and has a huge, awesome Irish-Catholic family. I don't think I would have loved Boston as much as I did if it hadn't been for her. Anyway, back to the story. The the economy tanked in 2008 in case anyone forgot. As a result, my dad lost his job. And the prospect of getting a good job after graduating even with a degree from an amazing school began looking grimmer and grimmer, and I knew I would be literally drowning in debt for the rest of my life if I stayed. So I had to leave. I wound up in Memphis because I didn't want to come home, for 1, and second of all I would have had to go to a junior college and then transfer into any state school in California. Ain't nobody got time fo' dat.

Anyway, looking back I'm extremely thankful for the year I had in Boston and the 3 years I had in Memphis. I learned SO MUCH about life and myself and grew up a ton. And I still have lasting friendships with my sisters from both cities (as different as they may be haha). So you can imagine now how I felt when I saw what happened this morning on Facebook. It was a mixture of heartbreak and extreme anger. And it makes me sick to my stomach to think about the moment we find out who exactly was responsible. I mean the two possibilities would both completely suck. Either it was a terrorist attack from some 3rd world country that hates America, or it was someone or a group of people from America who hate America. They. Both. Suck. I personally love America--like in a "statue of liberty started shakin' her fist and the eagle will fly and it's gonna be hell when you hear mother freedom start ringin' her bell" kind of way.

Anyway, I realize now that wasn't exactly a nutshell of a story but oh well.

I don't know if the pent up anger I had toward today had anything to do with the fact that when I got off work at 8:30 at night all I wanted to do was run, or not, but I've recently decided I hate to run on a treadmill so when I got home at 9, I changed and went for a quick run around the hood.


I feel a little better now. And I'm going to do some arm workouts while I watch The Real Housewives.

In other news, I've been wanting to get some actual tank tops designed for running, with the sports bras built into them. So I found these on ebay:


They're new with tags and were only 12.99 each so I ordered the green one (duh, I'm a Kappa Delta) and the orange one (duh, I'm kind of a redneck).

I hope they look ok and I'm growing increasingly nervous because I went to Khol's and tried a few other brands' shirts on and the bras were hardly actual bras. I don't have necessarily big ta-tas, and they've gotten smaller since I lost weight, so I don't understand what kind of wonder-shirts the girls at the gym who have clearly bigger ones than me are wearing to hold them down so well!

I guess we'll find out in the next few days.

Anyway, that's all for now. Please keep Boston in your prayers. I know I will.

And in honor of one of the craziest years of my life, here's a few throwback pictures:

This would be Sarah. Summed up in one picture.

What a year. Now that I'm getting all teary I'll sign off for the night. Rest in Paradise, sweet Sarah. 

Tonight I'm also linking up with KTJ at KTJ Weighing In for her Spring Training 5K Challenge. 

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Friday, April 12, 2013

See ya later, 20 pounds!!!

Yeppppp I woke up this morning (after deciding not to go for a run...) and before I hopped in the shower I decided to weigh myself. Just for shits and gigs. And I'm sure glad I did because I discovered I've lost a total of 20 pounds since I kicked it into high-gear back in January!!!!!!!!!!!

To say I'm excited would be the understatement of the world.

And it couldn't have happened at a better time. I was losing motivation fast. So now I refuse to ever let those 20 lbs back on my body in any way, shape or form even if it means I have to do silly exercises while sitting at my desk at work. Dammit.

Anyhoo, gotta run to work now but here's a picture of me with 20 pounds officially gone :)


I figured out a way to take pictures with the weird lighting and have it turn out OK lol. Yes I know, the dress doesn't really show any figure at all, but I don't care. I see it (and feel it) most in my legs and upper-body (bye bye boobies).

Also, I decided to try making my own workout tank last night. I used the t-shirt my gym gives you when you join. Here's what it looked like before...


And after...

I didn't do anything weird with the back like making it a racer-back by tying a bow around the middle or anything you see in a lot of the tutorials on pinterest because, well, I didn't feel like it #1, and #2, how do those hold up in the washing machine and dryer?

Anyway. Enough of my rambling.







TWENTY POUNDS!!!!!!







Thursday, April 11, 2013

Thursday ramblings and goal updates

Happy Thirsty Thursday, y'all! If only I was actually celebrating a 'thirsty' Thursday... I digress. Again, today was on the unhealthy side at work. People bring my office sweet treats for some reason. And I have ZERO self control. Like, not an ounce of it in my body. That's how I got in this little weight predicament to begin with! Ahhh. So I might have had a cookie. Well really it was a peanut butter and jelly cookie sandwich. Yeah. YOU say no to that. And then a chocolate peanut butter ball.

And maybe one more at the end of the night.

But other than that I ate well...

And I went to the gym after work. I did 30 minutes on the elliptical you can add an incline to, and cranked the incline and the resistance up so I felt like I was actually doing something (read: my aversion to ellipticals and stationary bikes). Then I did some of Mama Laughlin's Arm Workouts (love these) and some leg presses. And then I tanned.

It's almost summertime, people! And I gotta look better than I did last year in a bathing suit. God, help me.

So the new plan is to take a 10 minute break at work every two hours and just get up and walk down the hallways we're allowed to walk down (joys of working in a 5-star hotel), then on my lunch, I will either make my own or hurry down to the cafeteria and make a sandwich, and go out and walk around outside. I do work at one of Southern California's most iconic beach hotels, after all.

Hopefully this helps me not feel like such a fat fattie after I get off work.

Also, I took dorky pictures of myself this morning to show off one of my new work outfits:


That top has buttons down the back if you can tell...sorry for the bad lighting. I live in a tin box so there's not much as far as decent lighting for picture-taking is concerned. Anyway, the top and ankle pants are from New Yrok & Co, my favorite store for buying work clothes. BTW, I'm in a Large/12 hellllll yeaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!!!! And the shoes are from Aerosoles. Sometimes they do have some redeeming cute shoes. 

And I'm loving being a blondie again. 

Now let's talk about those goals I set on Monday. 

I'm actually surprising myself at how great I'm doing! Unfortunately I do work on Saturday so my planned Saturday hike with some girlfriends has to be postponed. And I work too early to be able to attend the morning cycle class at my gym on Saturday. BUT I have next Wednesday off and there's a beginner's cycle class at my gym at 6PM, so that goal will be completed at least once next week! The hike will have to be put on hold temporarily. I'm doing a prettttty good job tracking my food on MyFitnessPal--and I'm loving how many more options it has loaded into it than Weight Watchers did. Yeah it might not be exact when I'm making a sandwich and I select 'turkey sandwich on wheat with mayo' in the app, but it's close enough. 

I guess that's all for now. 

Happy weekend everyone!



Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Another WILW

It's Wednesday!


Today I'm loving.........

MY NEW JOB! It's been amazing so far. Everyone is so nice and welcoming, and I love feeling appreciated, especially when all I'm doing is LEARNING how everything works. I know I'm a fast learner and pretty good at what I set my mind to, so it's nice to be reminded of that by someone else. However...I'm getting legitimately freaked out for what this job is going to do to my metabolism! I guess you could say I was lucky to have my last job be sooooo on-your-feet-all-the-time. (OK, that's a lie. Remember the swollen ankle that wouldn't go away? Yeah. Eff that.) It's just a big adjustment sitting at a computer for 8 hours straight. My brain hurt when I got off today. And I felt like a fatty. Time to make a plan! I'll keep you posted as soon as I figure that ish out haha. Which brings me to this question: Any of you out there have desk jobs? Please let me know what you do to make sure you maintain healthy habits at work!!

I'm also loving wearing cute clothes to the new job I love. I'll take an outfit pic tomorrow like a weirdo.

I'm also loving my puppy. That's nothing new. But I snapped this sweet picture of her in her favorite sleeping position on my legs last night. I was laying on the couch watching a TV show.


I just love her.

Alright that's all for tonight. Sorry it's nothing exciting. See you later!


Tuesday, April 9, 2013

My new fitness obsession

I found my new favorite thing to do at the gym (and least-favorite)....the CIRCUIT ROOM! I didn't want to be a total creep and take a picture of it, and this is the best I could find on google...


The machines look similar to that, but in the center of them is a row of aerobic steps, so it's basically like that Curves gym--btw, is Curves still around even???? Anyhoo, it's 10 weight machines and you start on any one of them, do it for 1 minute, switch to a step and do some aerobic exercise for another minute, go back to the next weight machine, and so and and so forth until you've done a whole body workout in 30 minutes. It's legit. 

HOWEVER, and this is a big one, it's clearly very easy for people to 'do' the circuit workout and not actually do anything beneficial for their bodies. In the two nights I've done it I've seen multiple people basically waste 30 minutes. Mainly it seems they don't know what they're supposed to do for 'aerobic exercise.' And frankly I probably wouldn't either if I hadn't grown up watching my mom and her friends do the 90's step workouts in the living room lol. But still. And tonight there was this woman, bless her heart, who was doing 1 minute on the weight machine, then during the 30 second transition period she would do her version of an aerobic exercise and then do another minute on the next weight machine. I'm not sure if she realized she'd been doing it wrong by noticing she completed it in 15 minutes instead of 30...but is that a huge gym no-no to tell someone they're doing something completely wrong? Or is it helpful? What's the gym etiquette on that exactly? 

And speaking of gym etiquette, I almost went mean-old-lady-crazy on a couple of 12 year olds in that circuit room tonight. First of all, when I was a teenager (a TEENAGER, NOT A TWEEN) I was only allowed in the gym if my mom was there with me. So why were these kids allowed to roam freely? Anyway, they just jumped in on random machines, cutting people off, messing with the weights just to basically play, and nobody said a word. I almost lost my mind. Maybe it's because I was half-raised-in-the-south that it drives me nuts how kids act in these parts, or maybe I'm just a prude, but come on. Parents, anyone? 

OK I'll get off my soapbox. 

So far I'm doing well on my goals, but the hike isn't going to happen because of my schedule :( 

But my first day of work was WONDERFUL! I can't wait to see where this job takes me. 

Alright that's all for now. I'm hoping starting this circuit workout regularly with running in my neighborhood (because I've discovered I actually prefer it to the treadmill which forces you to keep a pace when I'd rather do my own thing) will help me reach my Operation Red Bikini goal!! Woot woot!


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That's all for tonight. Farewellllll!!


Monday, April 8, 2013

Weekly Goals!

Happy Monday everyone! It feels so good to say that and not think to myself how it's NOT actually my Monday. It's great to be on the same page as the rest of the world :) Anyhoo, Jess at Operation Skinny Jeans does this weekly goals link party and I decided to join in. I need to start setting goals for myself, especially as I try to get into the swing of things at my new job. I haven't been able to maintain any sort of schedule since I moved locations at my old job back in February, so I'm starting to get anxious. 

So here it goes:


Operation Skinny Jeans

Goal #1 is to go to the gym at least 4 days out of 7 this week (including today) 

Goal #2 is to take a class at my gym. It'll be the first class I've taken since switching gyms, so I'm nervous because I'm a baby like that and am scared to look like an idiot. I also don't know my work schedule yet so I don't know if this goal is even actually possible but I would like to do a cycle class on Saturday morning so we'll see if that pans out!

Goal #3 is to go on a hike. Last time I went on a hike was over the summer and I almost died. Not even joking. OK maybe a little bit but it was NOT fun. I'm hoping it will be enjoyable since I'm in much better shape than I was back then. 

Goal #4 is to track my food on MyFitnessPal at least 4 days of the week. I've talked before about how I struggled with Weight Watchers due to my inability to remember to track my food, so this should be interesting considering how absent-minded I am haha. 

What are your goals for the week? I hope I can make at least some of these happen!!

In other news, since I will have to stay at work for my lunch breaks now as my new job is about a 30-minute drive from where I live, I bought this book today to entertain me: 


I'm a huuuuuuge Real Housewives fan (and pretty much any other Bravo show) and I actually really like Brandi, so I'm hoping this is as funny as I find her on the show. Have any of you read this???

Alrighty that's all for now!!!




Sunday, April 7, 2013

Whatta weekend


Well. This has been one helluva weekend. It's had many ups and a few big downs, and I feel really weird about everything right now. 

I won't even talk about the downs because it's not worth it. 

The ups were as follows: 

Friday night consisted of going bar-hopping with a friend in North Park, an area of San Diego I've always considered to be 'too cool' for me. Honestly it's very up and coming, and full of 'trendsetters' and 'hipsters' and, well, that just isn't me, y'all!!! I listen to country music. I wear pearl earrings and bright colors. I like chevron. The list goes on and on to prove I am NOT cool enough for North Park! But one of my best friends (who is cool enough) just moved there and is walking distance to some neat little places. We found a whiskey bar and I about died when we walked in. It's called Seven Grand. I ordered a Kentucky Mint Julep, obviously. 

Pretty cool presentation.

Then we walked out and saw directly across the street a place called Splash Lounge and under it it said "wine bar" and since we're both winos that was the obvious next stop. It's AMAZING. I referred to it as an alcoholic arcade because it's set up like Dave and Busters with a little card you load with money (like their power card) and they have these wine-vending-machine-things that each have different prices for the tastings--the cheapest was fifty cents and the most expensive was 10 bucks. Tempting, but that's ridiculous for a single tasting portion of any wine in my opinion. I prefer two buck chuck. Anyhoo, we shared a card with twenty bucks on it and had a grand ole time. 


We went to one more bar after that which was a little out of my comfort zone, had one drink and left, then went and got garlic fries at a place across the street from her house. Drunk munchies. And no, none of what I consumed that night went on MyFitnessPal. Ooooopsies. 

So Friday was fun. Saturday I got my hair done. 


Gotta love looking like you're trying to communicate with another planet. I go to Diesel in Kensington and it's amazing. Extremely expensive but totally worth it. Finished product: 


Blondddddeeee!!!! I love it. 

The rest of Saturday sucked ass and we are now moving on.....

Today started with bottomless mimosas at Cabo Cantina in Pacific Beach. PB is much more my style than North Park I must say haha. Then I saw a little boutique across the street with an amazing chevron dress on display outside, so even though I was probably an entire size bigger than I was on Friday from all the food and alcohol consumption, I went in to try it on. Unfortunately they only had a medium in that particular dress, but then I found this one...

Ignore my awkward face. I snapped the pic to send to my
friend who left before I tried it on.

My friend didn't like this dress on the hanger but when I sent her the picture she decided she liked it. I LOVE IT. And the little gay boy made me put on an overpriced belt with it. It looked cute so I think I'll go buy a reasonable one at Target but I DID buy the dress. I can't wait to wear it!

Can I just say this was a huge deal to me? I have NEVER been able to fit properly into clothes at little boutiques like this that only have S, M, and L and usually run small. I was high on life when I put that dress on. 

Oh, I also prettified my iPhone! I used the app cocoppa after finding out about it on pinterest. It's a weird app, but it's not too tricky once you get the hang of it. I referred to this blog post to walk me through it. Cute right?!



And in case you were wondering, no, I did not work out at all this weekend. Womp womp.... But tomorrow I have the day off (Yes I got a 4-day weekend during this job transition. Hollllaaaaaa) so I'm going for another morning run around the hood and then later will go to the gym. Two workouts in one day. I may die. 

Anyway, that's all for now. Sorry for the monster post. You can also find all of those pictures on my Instagram so follow me!! 

Here's to a good day tomorrow and an amazing start to a new chapter of my life when I start my new job on Tuesday. I'm. So. Excited!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's all for now....