All Hallows Eve

Tags

The Journey

Halloween

Image via Wikipedia

Well, it’s that terrible time of the year again when all the “food holidays” are hitting one after another and while I can’t say that I have been a saint, I can say that I have been pretty good and have only had a few pieces of Halloween candy so far. I am going to make sure that the left over candy is put out of sight since for me out-of-sight truly is out-of-mind. It would be one thing if the candy that was purchased was only the sugary candies, but there are also chocolates and worst of all (since I love them so much) there are peanut butter cups. 

Peanut butter cups aside I am determined to continue of my path of weight loss during this season of food driven holidays and am also still committed to reaching the 170′s by my birthday in a few weeks and my major goal for this year which is to get down to 170 by New Years Eve. Next year I will be shooting for my ultimate goal of somewhere around 150-160 which I would like to accomplish by June since that will mark 10 years since I’ve graduated from High School and there is the possibility of a reunion. 

Craziness!

Tags

The Journey

Well, the last couple of days at work have been crazy. They haven’t been overly busy or anything, but they have been very dense and full of a lot of information and processes that must be not only learned, but mastered in a short amount of time. Myself and two co-workers have been training for the last few days and have been leaving work each day in a haze due to info overload. Thankfully tomorrow is the last day of training and then I will have a day off. I can’t wait for that day off since I haven’t been running for almost a week now. I also haven’t been able to do my 30 Day Shred since there is almost always someone in front of the TV by the time I get home in the evening. I have mostly just been watching my daily calorie intake since I’m not really exercising much this week.

I better news I have now perfected my morning breakfast drink that I have been drinking on my way to work. It’s a chocolate and peanut butter concoction of deliciousness that I will share on Tuesday when I have time to type it up. I still love my oatmeal in the morning, but this drink is great because I can drink it while I’m getting ready in the morning and finish it in the car on the way to work. I love it because not only do I get to sleep in a bit longer since I don’t have to spend 20 minutes cooking something, but I also spread my breakfast out so that I’m not eating breakfast at 6.30a and then waiting until my lunch break at 12.30p to eat again if I miss my break. SO be on the look out for the recipe on Tuesday! : )

Spanish Rice Recipe

Tags

Dinner, Lunch, Recipe, Rice

The Story:

I have been making Spanish Rice out of a box for as long as I can remember because it’s easy. While I don’t love the amount of sodium in it, I do love the flavor and spice, so it was really hard to give up and I don’t really know why, but I didn’t realize how easy it was to make. I had the day off today and was craving some rice, so I decided that is was now or never to try my hand at a recipe.

I found a recipe in a cookbook that I had, but as usual I didn’t have everything that I needed, plus I wanted to make the recipe a bit healthier, so I changed it around a bit. I was very satisfied with the outcome and now have some leftovers to enjoy for a few more meals, so that makes it even better.

Getting Closer

Tags

The Journey

Well, today was another full day of stocking our store and I was moving around all over the place all day which was a great way to get in my exercise without having to go to the gym. I have been moving around so much during my shifts that I have been super hungry by the time my breaks roll around. This is good, since I’m so hungry I know that I am burning a fair amount of calories, because on days where I’m off I don’t get hungry that fast after a meal.

Our store is starting to look nice and full of product and is finally looking like a “real” store. I can’t believe how far it’s come in just a few days. It’s been so nice having help from so many other people from other stores. We are going to be having a Friends and Family night on Wednesday and even though the store is looking full, there is still a lot of work to do with stocking, cleaning, pricing, etc. I can’t wait to see how it looks when I get in on Wednesday evening!

Saturday: The Day After

Tags

The Journey

Image via Flickr

Well, this last week was the first week of my pre-planned menu experiment and I have to say that I was thrilled with the outcome. Yes, it was a TON of work up front, but overall I felt like it saved me a lot of time during the week and I can proudly report that I lost a bit of weight this last week.

I already knew what I was going to put in my lunch cooler each day which saved me time when I was packing it and it allowed me to sleep in a bit longer. It was also nice because I already knew what I was going to be making for dinner and most of my ingredients were ready to go which is a god send when I get home and am ravenous. Most of the time I ate a snack during my second 15 minutes break at work, but some of the times I wasn’t hungry and didn’t really want to eat something. But I quickly learned to eat some whether or not I was hungry since I ended up being too hungry by the time I got home in the evening. 

Friday: Day 7

Tags

The Journey

Thoughts

Image via Wikipedia

Well, not much to say about today except I was really glad that I had my cooler again today so I could just sit and relax once lunch time hit. We were going, going, going again, this time with training and my legs were so tired from standing all day. 

I didn’t work until the afternoon, so I weighed in and found out that I’ve lost a few pounds since my last weigh in! : )  Because of this I treated myself to a coffee drink while I was out running errands. I enjoyed it so much more since I haven’t had one in quite a while. Tomorrow I have a last minute store meeting, so I am not going to have the day off like I was planning, but that’s ok, because that just means that my paycheck will be a bit larger when I get it. Here’s the menu for today: 

Thursday: Day 6

Tags

Menu, The Journey

Thoughts

Image via Flickr

Wow, today was a nonstop day. We began stocking our store today since it’s getting closer and closer to our grand opening next Friday. When we walked into the store this morning it was empty with the exception of all the shelving, and a few pair of skis and some snowboards. But by the end of my shift the store was really starting to come together and look like it was starting to get filled up.

Even though I had to get up about a half an hour extra I was really glad I had packed my lunch to take to work today. Having my cooler was great because it kept me on track with my eating, but I was also really glad that I had my cooler since we only have 30 minutes for lunch. Many of my coworkers went to buy lunch and they were scrambling to get it and then eat it in about 5 minutes. Instead of stressing about getting buying my lunch and eating it in time, I was able to grab it and sit down out in front of the store, enjoy the sun, and relax a bit. You can bet that I will be bringing a cooler EVERYDAY for sure. The only time that I would even consider buying is if I overslept so late that I didn’t have time to pack a lunch. However, I don’t anticipate this happening, so packed coolers are the answer for me. 

BLAH!

Today was bunk, and I have an even crazier day tomorrow, so I will have to catch up on Sunday. Sorry all. Good night!

Wednesday: Day 5

Tags

Menu, The Journey

Thoughts

Image via Wikipedia

I was really glad that I got up earlier than usual. I knew how long it would take me to get ready if I were only showering and then getting dressed and eating breakfast, but I didn’t know how long it was going to take me to pack my lunch cooler. I knew what I was going to put in my it, but I still had to put it into the containers and make it all fit inside.

I ended up having just enough time after packing my lunch and managed to get to work with a few minutes to spare, so I ate my morning snack since I had eaten breakfast so early and did want to be hungry in the first hour. Work wasn’t bad, but I knew I was going to do the second round of 30 Day Shred today, so I decided to skip the gym. I’ll hit the gym tomorrow and do yet another round of 30 Day Shred (depending on how I’m feeling as far as my muscles go).

Tuesday: Day 4

Tags

Menu, The Journey

Am Thoughts

Image via flickr

Well, I totally overslept this morning. Thankfully I didn’t need to be anywhere since I don’t work until the evening again, but I have a tendency to like to keep to a routine of getting up around 7.15a or so even on days when I’m not working. If I don’t keep myself getting up early then I stay up later that night and then sleep in later the next day and stay up even later that night and it just becomes a ridiculous vicious cycle. It’s all because of the fact that I’m more of a night person than an early riser. However, I don’t really want to ride the wave of staying up until the crack of dawn and then have to get up early for work and be exhausted all day because I couldn’t fall asleep the night before.

As I figured yesterday, when I woke up this morning I was really stiff and I definitely have some sore muscles thanks to my first day of 30 Day Shred yesterday. I know I was planning on hitting it today for a second day, but I have a feeling that it wouldn’t be smart to hammer on my already painful muscles. I will absolutely be on it for the second attempt tomorrow. Today I’m just going to go walking instead.