Under Construction

Please be patient with me today as I try to edit my blog page..

I'm a girl and as a girl I have the right to change my mind frequently and for no reason. And I've decided that I don't like the look of my blog page, so I'm going to change it. By myself.

Basically I'm saying I'm a DIY-er at heart and so I plan on DIYing my blog page rather than pay to have someone design one for me (definitely not hating on you if you did this, more power to you, and you're probably way smarter than i am). I don't know a darn thing about html code, however. But Google is a beautiful thing. So I'm slowly researching how to edit my blog on my own.

This is time consuming. I have to fit it in where I can. It just so happens that today at work, I have the time to tinker with it. So instead of spending time writing a super wonderful and exciting blog post, I'm going to edit my blog page.

Which means if you're reading this and the background is fluorescent orange or the font is itsy bitsy, teeny tiny, then something has gone wrong and I'm attempting to fix it.

Love you all so much and I'll be back with your regularly scheduled programming blogging tomorrow.

nsv - the trifecta

It's Thursday, so you know what that means! Or maybe you don't? Well it means it's Link-up day with Katie and Lex..

for this weeks NSVs! Can I get a whoop, whoop! (i swear i'm usually not this weird)(i'm lying, i'm always this weird)

Anyway, let's get on with it.. As you may or may not remember I was in a bad mood on Tuesday. Because of that I was determined to go to the gym after work. Best decision ever and NSV #1.

Christie, our instructor, worked us hard. It was "Cardio Blast" day, so we did kick boxing. And I'm fairly certain I couldn't feel my arms for the last 20 minutes of class. But I felt so good afterwards. Then I got home to make dinner and made good choices because I didn't want to waste all of the work I had just put in. NSV #2.

But I went to bed later, because I had a ton to get done, so I thought for sure I'd be exhausted the next morning. Turns out, I really wasn't. I was in a super good mood. I was talking to one of my older brothers about it and he said it's probably the after affects of all of the exercise I've been doing. It's sending out good and happy endorphins. So all day yesterday I made good food choices because I was loving that feeling and didn't want to waste it. NSV #3.

It was the perfect trifecta of non-scale victories! They all revolved around my exercise. Which was exactly the boost I needed to keep going. And now I'm making better food choices and I'm even going to start meal-planning (more on that later).

my yummy snack today

So I'm a happy, happy girl once again!

The Little Things, featuring Cranky Kay

I wasn't going to post anything today, because I can tell I'm starting to get sick and that makes me cranky.

I also gained 2 lbs this week. Which makes me cranky.

I really wanted a cookie last night, but I didn't eat one. Not because of my awesome willpower, but because I didn't have any and I had a headache and didn't want to go to the store. That makes me cranky.

I burned my finger on the curling iron this morning. That made me cranky.

I dropped my toothpaste into the toliet. That made me cranky.

It was 15 degrees this morning and I had to scrap frost off of my windshield. That made me cranky.

I got to work 10 minutes late because of said scrapping. Then someone dropped their coffee on the ground next to me and it exploded all over my legs. That made me cranky.

So I'm cranky today.

You're lying if you try to tell me you've never had days like this. When everything and everyone makes your bad mood, worse.

It didn't help that Monday wasn't really a great day either (if you follow me on twitter, you got to see some of my frustration). So I'm feeling a little defeated this week. And I didn't work out last night. I had a headache and a (super attractive) cough, so I didn't go.

Needless to say I was in a funk this morning. When I finally got a chance to get on the computer to check my emails, I had 43. I checked my email at 8pm last night. So from 8pm to about 8:30am I had gotten 43 emails. So I was already in a funk and now I'm instantly annoyed. So one by one I started going through them. Then I noticed I had some comments on a few of my blog posts. This is big news, because I only have 19 followers, so it's not like I get a lot of comments. So I quickly ignored the rest of my emails and hopped on Blogger to see the comments.

This is when shit got real.

Kate from Not Your Typical Jersey Girl left a comment on my post from yesterday.

It started with "Let me tell you this, I have been there.." and ended with "..Remember we are in this together!"

And right away I was reminded of why I started blogging. Originally I started simply so I could comment on other blogs. I read A LOT of blogs. I had them all bookmarked in their own special tab on my browser. Swear to goodness. Some of them are still there.

So I read all of these blogs (lots of diy, photography, and organizing blogs, my weaknesses) and recently I started reading a lot more weight-loss blogs. Girls who were trying to lose weight the same way I was. No miracle pill. No special pulsating stomach wrap thing that gives you abs (does anyone else know what i'm talking about? they're on commercials late at night all the time!). Girls/women who were losing weight the old fashioned way. Eating better and exercising. Which is so much easier said than done.

So every time someone posted about a struggle they were having, I wanted to give them some words of encouragement. Maybe even just a quick "Hey, you can do this! Keep up the good work!". So I created a blog.

Then I thought to myself, "Self, why don't you write about your weight loss too. Maybe posts some of your Pinterest projects? Some of those recipes you steal from your mom?" And so I did.

I guess what I'm trying to get at in the super long, rambling post, is that Kate said exactly what I needed to hear this morning. It has completely turned my morning around. And now I'm determined to go to the gym tonight for Cardio Blast.

So maybe what I'm really saying is that sometimes you have no idea how your actions or words are going to affect someone's day. Sometimes a simple "Good job" might be all they need. Sometimes they might need a little bit more. Sometimes they just need a smile and a comforting "I'm here for you".

So today, when you're walking the aisles of Wal-Mart, smile at the person you squeeze by trying to reach that bottle of shampoo. Give someone a call, just because. Take the time to tell your secretary/intern/file clerk/assistant/coworker that you do appreciate what they do. Give your kids an extra hug tonight before bed. Because the little things, are the big things.

Food Intentions

I've been thinking about this post all morning. I started thinking about it in the shower, then while I was doing my hair. Then on my way to work I started planning out what I was going to say. Then I got to work and really, really didn't want to write this.

Why? Because this is another case of Kay having really good intentions and failing miserably. And talking about herself in the 3rd person.

I had a busy weekend. I went out on Friday night with 2 separate groups of friends. Drinks with one group, then a concert and boozin' with the #dgrm group.

Somewhere in the middle of that, I "forgot" to eat dinner. Mistake #1.

So after a few hours of sleep, I got up (hungover) at the ass-crack of dawn and shoveled my car out of the snow so my sister and I could go to ESPN's College Gameday at IU on Saturday morning.

It was so much fun. And totally worth going even without any sleep. But on the way there, I was starving.. So we stopped at McDonald's for breakfast. Mistake #2.

IU player #0 Will Sheehey

After that was all over, I went home. And slept. But I work for IU Athletics, so even though IU played a 9 o'clock pm game against Michigan Saturday night, I had to be at Assembly Hall at 5pm. And because I took that nap, I didn't have time to eat any kind of a dinner. So at the game I ate popcorn and a pretzel with cheese. Mistake #3.

Oh, and #3 IU beat #1 Michigan, for the record. But after the game, I immediately went home and fell asleep. Well because the life of an IU Athletics employee is never boring, I then had to wake up early again on Sunday to work the IU Women's Basketball game.

 It was also the Breast Cancer Awareness game, so I was extra busy. Super.

Because I knew I was going to be busy, I knew I was going to have to eat breakfast before I got to work. So I woke up in plenty of time to make myself breakfast. However, I had an internal battle. I didn't want to dirty a bunch of dishes and I really didn't want to get my toaster out. And I really, really didn't want to dirty my blender for a smoothie. So I didn't do any of those things. Instead I went to McDonald's again. Mistake #4.

I should point out that I don't even like McDonald's. I really don't. It's just so convenient.

I didn't want to write this post because it's embarrassing. But I did want to write this post because I want to hold myself accountable. Seeing my unhealthy weekend out there in writing is humiliation motivation.

I also wanted to acknowledge that every time I ate the McDonald's, I had a discussion with myself. I would say "just this last time, then I'll eat healthy again tomorrow." or "well eating this is better than starving myself and binging later." or "this will be the last time I eat out for a month!" I'm not kiddin, folks. Those were real things I told myself. After I finished my McDonald's yesterday morning, I felt so awful. I really beat myself up about my weekend last night while I was laying in bed. So I woke up this morning with a new attitude and decided to write this post. Today the Dietbet starts. I will get this shit under control. Amen.

Also check out this Link-Up and these girls. Hilarious-ness. I die.