Day 2 - Challenge

Today is the 2nd official day of the challenge that my Fiance and I have started... The winner will clearly be me!

So far today, I'd have to give my motivation a 10! I'm raring to go work out tonight, which I actually didn't do yesterday because of a storm. Long story short, I could go to the gym and get done right when tornado-type weather hits with rain and walk home in that, or I could walk the 1.5 miles home straightaway - so I skipped the gym. I figure the 1.5 mile walk is great (even though I'm training myself to do that after I work out anyways) as a form of exercise.

Food Diary:
Yesterday's Dinner: Salad with garbonzo beans, romaine lettuce, tomatos, hard boiled egg (whites) and olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
I also had an ice cream cone :) - Yummy, and worth it! My little treat!
Later I had a small handful of almonds

Breakfast (today): Light and Fit vanilla yogurt with fresh strawberries.
Snack: Banana
Lunch: Small handful of almonds, instant oatmeal
Snack: String Cheese

Dinner is TBA, probably will just have to write that stuff down tomorrow again!

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Things going on other than being motivated and eating right, well there's the obvious stressors but I think things are going really well! I'm going to check out wedding venues in my college town this weekend, and hopefully set a date!!! Between you and me (and the world) I want to get this nailed down THIS weekend, better tell the Fiance to get his checkbook ready cuz we're making a deposit if things go as planned!!

Other wedding stuff, I have no idea how to plan for a certain number of guests! Honestly, I think we're going to have like 250-300 people show up. That's so nerve racking! Mostly because that's a lot of names to remember! More than anything I hate it when I can't remember one person's name out of a group of people, then when a new person joins our conversation I feel obliged to introduce and don't because I don't want to have the awkward "what was your name again" speech... sigh... I'll have to take pictures and study them at any showers that are held and such.

Any tips you have to remember names? I'm not going to use the Michael Scott method.

CHALLENGE ACCEP-wait for it-TED

So the fiancé and I have placed a bet. A “Biggest Loser” type bet where we see who has lost the most percentage body weight by July 22, 2010. That is one month as of yesterday.

I know I’m going to win! Why? Because I’m motivated and have steadily maintained a 15 pound loss for this year so far. ALSO I have you guys!!!

I know the whole maintenance thing is kind of depressing as I was doing such a great job there for about 2 months when I lost that weight… I gotta be honest though, I don’t regret being here at this maintenance level for the past few months. I’m actually quite proud and feel accomplished that it wasn’t just something that I did for a few weeks, found success and then gained it all back!

So the plan is to hit it hard! I’ve got my gym routine still in place, although I’m going a little less intense so I don’t a) overwork myself, b) get bored/anxious before going to the gym. When I first started working out in the burbs, my system was fantastic, I would get off the train and work out for nearly 1.5 hours before I got picked up by my then boyfriend/now fiancé. Well – I’ve gotta be honest with you ladies and gents, it’s hard to maintain that type of routine MOSTLY because it gets really boring to work out for that long!!

New Routine (I heard once that you should shake up your routine every 2-3 months to keep your body “surprised”)

Work out for 30-45 minutes 4-5 times a week, alternating cardio and resistance days. Yesterday was lifting for me. I find that I can do about 6 different machines, 15 reps, 3 sets each and that takes me a ½ hour. I don’t like lifting while I’m doing it but the next day I feel the DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness – thank you Dr. Fiance). Cardio days I’m not stuck on the treadmill, but I mix it up with the elliptical, stairclimber or bike. When all is done, then I walk about 1.5 miles home! Whew, sounds pretty doable if I do say so myself.

My goal for you folks at home is to report what I’m eating on a daily basis and NOT lie about it.

Breakfast – 4 egg whites, hard boiled
Lunch – Small handful of almonds, string cheese, spinach and garbonzo beans (with olive oil), and a banana
Dinner is TBA, however I plan on getting some sort of protein because I’m donating blood today…

Feeling at the moment: Satisfied, full even! I'm eating all of the food I brought in today BEFORE I donate blood.

Since I’m newly engaged I’ve got a new mantra, “would the bride want you to eat that”. I’m trying to consider my mindset about a year from now and think back to what I ate that made me feel uncomfortable in my dress… Keeping this in mind will be a good motivator until the big day. After which, I’ll need some more mantras to keep me at that level so I don’t balloon up like I hear some new brides do (I read recently that newlyweds gain on average about 20 pounds in the first year of marriage!).

:)

I GOT ENGAGED!

May 24, 2010 - After driving home from Iowa City the day before, and arranging with our work that we'd take off Monday to recoup, my boyfriend suggested that we go for a walk the next morning in the nearby park where we have walked several times. The place is beautiful, in the middle of a bustling suburb there are multiple paths, both paved and gravel, surrounded by trees and birds... and those little floating cottony things everywhere (that part kind of reminded me of Avatar)

I should back up, this day was HOT! I mean really REALLY hot! So before going on any walk I insisted that we get ice cream. We began a search:
Ben & Jerry's - CLOSED

Dairy Queen - CLOSED
Wendy's - OPEN, ok sold. We went in and I got a cookie dough twisted frosty and he got a strawberry shake.

We started our walk and these white cottony things were flying everywhere, that and the fact that my ice cream was quickly turning to liquid made me think we needed to sit down in the shade.

We walked up to one of those park shelter's (for my own memory, and for the stories that I plan to tell my future kids, I want to take pictures of this place), right away we noticed that birds were flying everywhere so I nixed the whole sitting under the roof part. Next we sat on a picnic table just outside of the shelter but still close to the birds, and right adjacent to the dumpsters.

I think something inside me knew I wanted to make this nice moment special so I moved us over to a nearby tree which offered us plenty of shade. We sat down and enjoyed our ice cream (finally!). Nearby there were some remote control airplanes flying overhead - which when you first hear them sound a lot like cows mooing - so we sat and watched those for a second.

Time came to get going with our walk so I picked up the cups from our ice cream and threw them away. When I returned to the tree, he rose from sitting on the grass to on one knee and asked me if I would marry him. I was shocked but of course I knew my answer had to be "YES!" I looked at him and the ring for a few seconds and then said that he needed to put the ring on my finger (I insisted, rather).

LOOK AT THAT ROCK! He picked it out himself!!! It's just so pretty I can't stop staring at it! Or taking pictures of it!

I Suck! Here are my excuses!

I haven't been to a WI lately dangit! Ok, let me tell you why:

-I'm lazy
-I haven't been doing as well as I thought (I'm mostly maintaining right now)
-I've had things to do on the weekends when I normally go WI (Weddings, Vegas, Another wedding next weekend, my bro's going away party the following weekend, then MOVING)

So I wanted to apologize for the lack of updates once again. Good news is that I am still keeping myself on track maintenance-wise. Other than that I know I could be doing better.

How about something personal to share since I can't give you the standard update??

I'm planning a trip to Germany next summer!!! So far it's just me, possibly my bestie and possibly my boyfriend... really depends on how the year goes. My new life's ambition/short term goal is to learn German using Rosetta Stone - and dedicating at least 3-4 hours a week on it. I plan to make the time to do this by eliminating TV shows from my regular viewing schedule.

The shows that don't make the cut
-Reality Shows (Biggest Loser, Extreme Home Makeover etc)
-Desperate Housewives, I'm on the fence about this one... this season has been random

The shows that do
-Lost - only a few more episodes though and when it's over then my Tuesday nights will be so much more free with the exception of,
-Glee - this show is too darn cute to miss, makes me smile!
-30 Rock - Common, it's TINA FEY and ALEC BALDWIN, nuff said

Ok, so I probably need to limit my TV watching in general and hit the gym more, which is why it's great that Rosetta Stone has an MP3 version of their software so I can let it sink in while I'm sweating!

I need to shake up my routine and I am eager to take suggestions!

Yours truly,
That Easley

Whoops

I'm sorry, I know I'm behind on an update - like 2 weeks at least? Don't worry, it's going "well" at least, not fantastic but definitely not badly!