Hey Mr Blue Sky

My all time favorite workout song, how can you not get in a good grove thinking about nice weather? :-)

So far I'm having a good week, I was OP Monday night, with pizza and salad for dinner. M came over, and we watched Friday Night Lights. We started this show as a break from Breaking Bad (which is just heavy man. So good, but hea-vy), and it is so good! I hate that I hadn't discovered it till now! After we finish season one we are going to go back and watch the most recent season of Breaking Bad, and then season 2 of Friday Night Lights. And so on, and so forth. I love getting into new shows and watching them by their seasons. sometimes you get into a movie rut, and I love our nights of TV :-) Last year we did Lost, I don't think we went out ever haha we did the entire series in about 4 months, it was disgusting!

Then last night We grabbed dinner at Panera, and went to see Thor. It was actually really good! I was a bit hesitant. I like super hero movies, don't get me wrong, but it just seemed really cheesy. But it was really entertaining, they did the story really well. My only critique was I didn't think the whole earth part was that believable, they should have added more scenes to develop his relationships with them a bit more. But overall  it was great :-) We then went for a drink at Hingham Beer Works. I love beer works, I do. But I hate the hingham one. I wish I didn't, because it's so pretty and right on the water. But The service is just awful. I've only been twice, but both times I've been talked down to or completely ignored by the bitchy bartender who is visibly irritated to be interrupted from talking to her friend.

Last time I went I asked what kind of beer X is, her response? "It's dark. *turn to M" Would you like to try it". Because obviously I was asking for him, why would I want to try a heavy beer? I had 2 other conversations much the same and was soo annoyed. This time I didn't even bother asking what type of beer each was, I just picked one myself haha. But it was the same attitude, I just hate it. M's parents went there for a meal a few weeks back and had similar service at a table. And the food was awful according to them. Undercooked and bland.

But the beer was good :-) And hey, it's the South Shore, what should I expect really?

I came to a decision yesterday about my vacation and Weight Watchers. I decided I'm not going to track at all. Now before you start attacking me, here me out:

• Lately I've been feeling burnt out from tracking. I find myself sneaking more food, and feeling guilty for enjoying myself at all, which isn't right. If this is going to be a lifestyle change I can't feel bad about enjoying myself from time to time.
• Portland is a mini foodie city, and M and I have a list of hidden gems that we are looking forward to trying, including but not limited to
• Duckfat, belgian style fries
• A thai noodle house
• a top rated fish and chips place right on the water. Tracking that is going to make me feel bad for having it, which I don't want!!
• In the past when I'm away from my routine, my plans to stay on track and track tend to blow up in my face. If I go in with a better gameplan, I feel like I'll do less damage
• I don't plan on falling off the wagon. In fact, I plan on adopting positive lifestyle choices. I will watch my hunger singals, walk everywhere and focus on my portion sizes.
• I never go away. Like, ever. And after this it may not be for  a long while.

So as I said, I think I have valid reason and also I think it will be best for me. It will truly allow me to relax and not stress about what I'm eating or life in general, which I need :-)

It's Starting to Get to Me

The weather, that is. It's just nasty outside!
I thought about it after posting, and realized that I need to stop getting impatient. For the past year I've been so ok with losing .4 and .2, because I was losing, and that's all the matters. And hey, over the past year I've lost over 50 pounds, and that is ok with me :-)

I think it was more I was hoping to hit somewhere in the 204 Friday, and still being in 205 was dissapointing. I think 204.8 would have been very different, which is silly :-)

Anyways, friday night M and I had a beer, ordered burgers (which were delicious and I devoured, because I was that hungry), and then headed over to our friends place for a party. It was a lot of fun, I only went one beer over my plan (which was probably unrealistic anyways) and stopped myself about 2 hours before we left, partially because I didn't want to get drunk and have to stay, and partially because I knew I had enough :-) Highlights include a rousing game of flip cup which My time dominated and sang the victory song after each round (you know, the one they play at hockey games when they win?), my car almost being towed and me running like my life depended on it to make sure I moved it before the truck arrived (the truck was down the street btw. sketch it is public parking there was no need for me to be towed), and getting to see a whole lot of friends that I haven't seen in awhile.

Saturday I was happy to wake up sans hangover, and M and I grabbed stir fry from Hannafords. Which was delicious, and 5.50, which was even better :-)

After a lazy day I headed out for a walk with the puppy. Our entire walk looked like this:

Which made me think, huh, today would be a great day for a run! So I had a mini snack, refilled my water, and headed out to a different park. When I got there it looked like this:

minus the horses. Seriously the clouds just came in!

So I went to the gym with my sister instead, and did about 45 minutes of cardio and 15 minutes of strength. My final number was 760 calories burnt, which isn't too shabby :-)
Sunday I slept in, which was nice and relaxing. I didn't get out of bed till about 11, and am proud to say that I woke up and did the 30 day shred. Nice way to start the day, I was psyched. I kept up my healthy with making a nice scrambled egg breakfast, and getting ready to go out with some friends.

We went to see Bridesmaids, which was absolutely hilarious and I loved it! I highly reccomend it and am totally making M watch it with me when it comes out on DVD. It was a nice blend of both physical and witty humor, and I officially have a small girl crush on Kristen Wiig, haha.

Afterwards we went to Target, where I got the cutest dress. I'm so excited to wear it, maybe this weekend if the sun comes out, if not definetly on my vacation next month! I had a minor irritating moment, because one of mt HS friends was in a weird mood, and maybe it was in my head, but I felt like everything out of her mouth was a dig at me for whatever reason. Gotta love the passive agressiveness. Oh well I'm brushing my shoulders off, I have no need for negativity in my life, right? The weirdness was counterbalanced by one of my other friends telling me that she wanted to be discreet, but that she thought I looked really good and asked what I was doing, which felt great!

I was thinking about all this yesterday, and realized that a year ago, I would have been really upset about my friends behavior, and what's more, I would have been hurt  by it.I remember when I first came back from abroad thinner than when I left, she would make comments about how I was anorexic and needed to eat more, which made me uncomfortable, and want to overeat in front of her just to make her be quiet. Which is awful, a friend should never make you feel like that.

   I've reached a point where I am actually becoming happy with how I look and feel, and realize that I'm doing this journey for myself, and no one else. I love the positive reinforcement I get, and I'm so lucky to have so many supportive people in my life (my family, M, most of my friends, etc). But what is most important is that I don't need it. I've been doing this journey for over a year now, and my friends only started to comment on my weight loss in the last 3-4 months. And yet, I've been losing consistently without it.

Is it nice? Hell yes! But I'm not doing this so I'm more attractive to other people, or so people can envy me. Why would I want that? I was telling M about what this "friend" said yesterday, and all the little jibes I got, and the conversation turned towards my weight loss and how awesome I looked. I hate the stigma that him saying that I'm more attractive now gets, because when he said it, he felt like he had to cover his tracks, when I totally got what he meant. It's not that he didn't find me pretty before, but obviously as I lose weight, I become more attractive to him. I have no doubt in my mind that if I gained all the weight back (lets knock on wood that doesn't happen) he would love me just as much. But as he put it, I seem happier with myself as well, and that just adds to it. Which is an awesome feeling that he can notice that :-)

Enough rambling, It's just sort of interesting to look back on how I've changed the past year. I'm so happy and proud of myself for all that I have accomplished, and I know that I will make my goal, I'm strong and confident in my ability. I also have a clearer sense of what I am and who I want to be. I realize that a lot of my time in the past has been spent gossiping, putting others down for one reason or another (out of hurt feelings, or insecurity), and that regardless of those feelings, it's never ok to do that. I have made a promise to myself ever since my blowup at Mohegan that I'm going to focus on being a better person, and not talk as much. It's already making me happier, see things clearer, and feel better about myself.

This weight loss journey isn't just about what shows on the scale. As cheesy as it is, I feel myself changing in all parts of my life. And it's all change for the better, which is awesome :-)

I realized today

I am going to kick ass at maintaining. Seriously :-)

I was down .4 today, and I Know what you're going to say, so don't even say it. (a loss is a loss). I'm happy I lost, really I am. But it's so frustrating to have seen the 4's all week, and end at 205 even. I weigh in daily, even though I know I shouldn't. But it keeps me going, keeps me accountable. Ahh well, I am going to do just as well this week, and hopefully see a nice low number next week :-)

That said, I think I had a pretty good week :-)
-I kept my drinking to a moderate amount
-I worked out 4 times, burning 2650 calories in total
- I ran 2.6 miles without walking last night (my total was 3 even with warm up and cool down)
-I ran 3.2 with walking Monday night (my total was 3.5 with warm up and cool down)
-I resisted ballpark food and drink (mainly because of the cost. 8 bucks for a beer, really Fenway?)
-I only had one beer last night, even though M tried to tempt me to have 2 (that bastard)

Things I could have done better:
-I have this weird feeling that I could have tracked better.  I'm going to work on being more honest this week.
- I had dessert 4 times this week. And I'm pretty sure that only one of those times was due to hunger or a craving. The rest of them were out of habit/because everyone else was doing it. Which is dumb.
-I need to pretrack my meals. End of story.
But, overall I had a good week WW wise. I think the fact that I had dessert, a salty dinner, and a beer may be influencing my body to gain. I'm going to go with that :-)

This week here is my plan:
-Work out both Saturday and Sunday- one can be a lighter workout. A video, a walk, etc. The other I want to go to the gym. shouldn't be too hard.
-Work out Monday Wednesday and Thursday- if I work out both days over the weekend, then I can take Thursday off if needed
-Track Everything. Ahead of time if possible.
-Focus on portion sizes. Something I've been slowly let slip lately!

Happy Friday! Hopefully the sun comes out at some point!

Another Dreary Tuesday

Calls for another travel recollection!

I could fill up an entire blog with my study abroad experience in London alone. I'll get there, I promise. Even though it was over 3 years ago, the pain of leaving is still pretty fresh. I'm lucky that I've stayed close with most of the girls I befriended while there, so a part of me gets to relive our fun times every few months. (These weekends normally involve movie marathons, excessive drinking and ridiculous hangovers. And food. Lots of food. And I wouldn't change any of it :-) )

ANYWAYS, before I get all teary-eyed and wistful, My flashback on this rainy tuesday is of a place about an hour south of London. Now, I know what you're thinking. It's raining, you are trying to bring some light into the situation, doesn't it rain more over there?

Not in my experience :-) I got lucky, and went fall 07, when England as a whole had unseasonably mild weather. Did it rain? Yes. But it was nice out more often than it rained. It was warm enough to go out in a sweater until the end of November. So to come home to a terrible snowstorm was disheartening to say the least. Either way, one of those gorgeous days was spent visiting the seaside town of Brighton.

If I remember correctly, this was about 3 weeks after we had arrived, so while I knew everyone, we weren't extremely close yet. My roommate was still on crutches (she attempted to jump a fence, and it did not work out in her favor. She ended up screwing up her knee), and we spent most of the day walking through the little shops of the town, trying to find our way to the beach. It was a really nice day, and everyone was in a good mood. It was the first trip I had taken with my new friends, so in my mind it is an incredibly meaningful memory. I'll always remember standing on the beach throwing rocks into the ocean, just looking out and feeling so different. For the first time in my life, I was more than 3 hours from my parents, my friends. I was in a situation where I had to be myself and not prove myself to anyone else. Everyone was there for the same reason (to enjoy their abroad experience), and I found so little judgement that it allowed me to really find myself, as cliched as that is. This was one of the first times that I really felt like I understood that feeling.

 After exploring the beach, we sat at a bar where we met a group of guys who were in the English version of High School Musical (or so they said). It was awesome :-)

A beach full of pebbles :-)



I'm infamous for these... a young 19 year old self!

 It was a great day :-)

Beer Tastings and Lawn Mowing, you know, the usual

I mean, that's what everyone's Saturday looks like, right?

:-)

So Friday night M and I made the eggplant parmesean from http://www.emilybites.com/. If you've never been over to her website, I highly reccomend it. This is the second recipie I've made of hers, and it was just as good, if not better than the first (we made taco bowls and I overcooked the shells a tidbit ). They came out crispy and delicious, full of flavor. Really and truly just an awesome meal. Coupled with some beers, a trip to the fat cat for a few drinks and to watch the end of the Red Sox game, it was an awesome Friday night. Lately with little squabbles and all the excitement over M's job, we have been sort of in a different place than we are used to, but Friday night we had great conversation, and got over whatever hurdle we were currently climbing, which was nice :-) Sometimes you need little date nights like that, right?

Anyways Saturday consisted of lunch at Boston Market (which cost me 20+ points), and a beer tasting at the liquor store. It was a lot of fun, and I got to try some great beer, which was awesome :-)

I came home, and was so tempted to just pass out for a few hours, sleep off my buzz. Or settle in with some food and a movie.

But I did not! I instead mowed the lawn for my mom, and burnt 380 calories in the process. Not too shabby, huh?

I also planned to go out Saturday, but those plans fell through. So I had some ice cream (Just Jimmies is the BEST) and watched Black Swan with my sister. It was a bit out there for my taste, but I Can see that it was a good movie. Just... different :-) I was so tired that I ended up going to sleep around midnight, crazy Saturday, I know :-)

Sunday was more of the same. Wake up, have some cereal, go to the gym, grab coffee ,etc. I was well within my points for the day though, and even got to have a mini brownie sundae as well. Sometimes it pays off to have a small lunch, even though I was starving by the time dinner came around :-)

All in all, a pretty good weekend! I did drink a bit, but I combated it with healthy meal choices, and getting in my activity. I have a very busy week ahead of me, so I'm glad I got in activity while I could!

Here's whats up
Monday- Gym time, going shopping with M to finish making him into an adult and finding work clothes :-) (he hates when I call it him growing up, but it makes me laugh!)
Tuesday- I'm going to try and get in a quick workout, and then heading to my sisters concert
Wednesday- Red Sox game with my mom and 2 /3 sisters, our Mother's day present.
Thursday- quiet night, complete with gym time and watching the office finale with M :-)

So i will still get in my 4 (hopefully 5) days of workout this week. And thankfully, I have no money till Friday (thanks ridiculous car payment/me trying to save as much as humanly possible for the moveout), so I won't be tempted to buy food at the game, and will eat beforehand :-)

Happy Friday!!

It is indeed a happy Friday! The sun is shining, I just took the nicest walk to CVS to buy stamps, and enjoyed every second of it.

5 Things I'm happy about today!

1. Another Loss!
I lost 1.2 today, bringing me down to 205.4. When I first weighed in it read 204.0, and I double checked just to make sure, and it went up to 205. I was a little bummed, thanks to my tricky scale! but totally pumped about a loss!! 5.4 to go till I hit 200!

2. I Won!!
 The lottery that is! Now don't get too excited, I only matched my last 3 numbers, so it was 300, not the thousands it could have been, and technically half of it is M's, so we are putting it towards our first month's rent. But hey, I won the freaking lottery! I never win!

Every week M and I each play once, same numbers. Our deal is if either of us wins, the other gets half. So that is why half is technically his. I won't lie though, I responded to his text that I had won saying that he really shouldn't have told me this while I was at the mall... Just to freak him out a little bit :-P

3. Awesome Runs
I had a killer run yesterday. I was going to go to the gym, per usual, but it was so nice outside, after days of rain, and I felt like I could use a good run.

So I went to the pope park, and ran for 45 minutes looking out onto this:

I mapped it out today, and my total was 2.76 miles, including my 5 minute warm up, a 3 minute walk to work out a cramp halfway through, and a one minute walk to refill my water.
Not too shabby if you ask me :-)

4. Red Sox games on a Friday night

 I know, I know, they haven't been too great, with the "amazing" offense under performing, and the awesome pitching, well, not pitching awesome at all. But those guys still have a place in my heart, and I'm confident most of them ( I honestly don't hold much hope for John Lackey. I hate his attitude and the fact that he can give up 7-8 runs and have the balls to say he pitched well) will get up to where they should be :-)

And seriously, what is more exciting than a Red Sox Yankees series, anyways?

I'm so looking forward to sitting back with a beer tonight, and watching the game :-)

5. Funny Dog Videos on youtube

 Because really, sometimes you just need to laugh:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGeKSiCQkPw

Traveler's Tuesday

Something I don't mention on here much is that I love to travel. I love cities, and countryside. Historical places, and exploring the nightlife and culture of a city. One time in my life I will always remember was my trip to Barcelona. We left at 4am November 1, after being out till 1 on Halloween. I was exhausted, and needed a nap before we went exploring. I went with two girls, both very nice. One of them was not a big drinker (which I knew, and was fine with) and the other was a bit more like me, where she drank but wasn't a crazy partier.

We came across a major issue while traveling together that we probably should have talked about beforehand, and that was the fact that the girl who didn't drink would get really annoyed when I would suggest going out at night. She would claim that we were "making this trip all about drinking", which wasn't true at all. I think it is just as important to enjoy the nightlife of a city as it is to enjoy the museums and the sights. If you just sightsee during the day and go back to your hostel during the night, well you aren't really getting a feel for the city, and you aren't really enjoying the culture, especially in a place like Barcelona where so much of their culture is based in drinking, dancing, and socializing.

We ended up compromising, and having a blast (I seriously saw more sights in Barcelona than I did anywhere else!), but I'll always remember how strange I thought that was. I in no way fault people for not wanting to drink or party, especially if they still socialize and have a good time. But she made me feel judged for wanting to go out while traveling, and I will never understand that. But oh well :-) To each their own, I say. I am happy to report that while the nightlife scene wasn't for me (too club-esque), We went out, and experienced it for ourselves, and it was worth it :-)

So on this overcast, dreary Tuesday, I found myself (for whatever reason) thinking about my trip to Barcelona. I haven't really talked about my traveling much, mainly because I haven't really been anywhere since Toronto in 08. But it is a huge part of me, as the months I spent abroad were some of the best of my life, and I want to share them in some way, and "relive" them, in a sense.

And hopefully, soon I'll have more recent trips to share :-)









 

Barcelona Olympic Stadium. Seriously my favorite part. and there's me!

The best part of Barcelona was that for 10 euros we rented bikes for a day, and biked around the city. Such an awesome experience, but really limited the amount of pictures I took :-)

What's this? An OP weekend?

I have my lack of going out to thank for this, but yes, I am going to say that I had the most OP weekend in a long time!

My reasons:
-I did not drink at all on Friday night. I just didn't feel like it after babysitting, and M was already drunk at that point, so instead of grabbing a beer, I just said nah, and had some water :-)
- I brought chili with me to heat up while babysitting, instead of eating out. I also brought a bag of Munchies, which back in the day I would have easily demolished. I am proud to say that I ate about 1/4 of the bag, and realized I was very full. Which for me is huge! I have this bad trait that on nights I'm not drinking or going out, I tend to over eat or overindulge, just because I feel like I have all those extra points. Bad bad thought process.
-I was in a terrible mood on Saturday, mainly due to something that happened on Friday night, but instead of eating my feelings, I went to Hannafords, grabbed  a chobani and a banana, and headed over to the gym with Matt. I had a great workout and felt so much better afterwards!
- I had a big lunch (read 10oz burger with fries), but I portioned out my fries, and only ate half the burger. I was so full afterwards, but didn't feel like I overdid it by any means.
- Due to my large lunch, I had a small dinner of pasta with salad. It was tasty, filling, and low point. I also had 2 beers later on in the night, but only ended up over my points by 5.
- Sunday I made an omelet, munched, and tracked everything. I only went over by 1 point, and was proud that even though I didn't workout I still tracked everything, and took a much needed nap :-)

All in all, a good weekend :-) I brought leftover roasted turkey for lunch today, and am feeling good about the rest of the week :-)

My only problem this week is getting in workout times. But I think I may have it figured out :-)
Tonight I have a dentist appointment, and then am babysitting. The kid is going to get sick of me :-) He was really fussy on Saturday, because his allergies are bothering him. He took forever to go to bed, and then woke up at midnight wailing and coughing. It was so sad to see him so hurt :-(

If I get out of my dentist appointment by 630, I may try and do the 30 day shred for a fast workout, just to get in some quality time. While I'm happy I had a rest day yesteday, I also feel a bit guilty, because it makes getting in a good workout this week that much harder!

Tuesday night  I am planning on going to the gym for a half hour of cardio, just to get something in (every little bit counts, right?. It'll make things rushed, but I'm confident that I can do it!M and I are going to Pizzeria Regina in the North End to celebrate his new job. I'm really excited, it'll be our first real date night out in awhile :-) I'm going to eat lightly all day to prep, but I have so many weeklies left, so I'm not too worried about enjoying myself. I loove their pizza, and have never actually eaten there, so I'm excited :-)

Pizza: my ultimate vice

Wednesday and Thursday I will also hit the gym, or maybe try and run outside/do a video one of those days! Either way I hope to hit 35 APs this week, if not more :-)

Hopefully  I stay on this track! I'm really enjoying how I've felt these past few weeks. Strong, empowered, and most of all, healthy. I've done everything in my life with my weight loss in mind. Even the not so great things. I've really adapted the make a mistake, pick up, and move on from it approach, which was really hard for me even a month ago. Here's hoping it sticks!

New Look, Same Blog

So I updated my blog a bit, changed some things (Including the background. I love scenic pictures, especially of the Europe variety. I used to spend hours of unemployment looking at pictures of places I've been, places I want to go to, etc. Another story for another day). I figure my blog should be a reflection of me, and my personality, and I feel like this layout is a better reflection of who I am :-)

I also changed the web address. I had changed it once before, because I was dying to get away from the original one, which really didn't say anything about what my blog is about. unfortunately, where I'm using blogspot, all the urls I wanted were already taken, so I went with my weightlossbalancingact.blogspot.com. Not exactly easy to remember/ didn't have a nice ring to it, am I right?


But, I like the name of my blog, because I feel like a big part of my weight loss has been finding that secret balance between work and play, you know? So I'm happy with my new URL:
mwbalancingact.blogspot.com. A little easier to remember :-)

I'll update about my weekend tomorrow!

Five Things Friday

I saw this on a few other blogs, so I figured I'd give it a go. It's been one of those days. 5 things in my life that are making me smile today! :-)

1. My Loss
That's right ladies and gents, down 1.4 today! I would have actually been pretty pissed if I gained this week. I earned 38 APs, was conscious of my eating all week, and honestly was feeling pretty damn good about myself. This just confirmed that feeling, hehehe.  I feel like I'm totally back on the wagon this week (with the exception of my 15 point sandwich for lunch today. Hey, we all gotta splurge sometimes!), and that my friends, is a good feeling!

2. M's New Job
Because he has one!!!! He went for a second interview on Monday, at a bank that he actually really likes (the people, their mission, etc), and it lasted over 2 hours. Tuesday he sent out thank you emails, and recieved a request for references. He found out they called on Wednesday, and then Thursday he was made an offer! And a pretty good one at that! He's making a decent amount, definetly more than he figured he would, will have benefits, and be working in the city. I couldn't be more excited :-) The poor guy has been job searching for almost 2 years now, he definetly deserves this. Plus, we can make plans to move out now, which is equally exciting and scary.
3. Babysitting as a Side Job
I'm babysitting both tonight and tomorrow night, for seriously two of the cutest kids in the entire world. One of them is in bed by 730, and I haven't seen in awhile, and the other one I've sat for every saturday for about 2 months now. I hated my retail job, and while I may need something else, this is an awesome way for me to make money, while enjoying myself. Sometimes it can be hard, but for the most part, it's so relaxing to just run around outside with little kids, or read silly stories together. I loved it in college and I love it just as much now! I hope to find something one night during the week to help my income just a little bit more, but hey, as of right now, I'm happy!

4. Hitting a New Level with Running
I don't know what the hell changed, but in the past month, I feel stronger. My run last night was a bit rough thanks to allergies, but I honestly felt like after a quick break, I could have gone on a bit longer. I still have a little ways to go, but I love the way it's feeling right now. I feel so powerful when I run, like nothing really matters, and that I can literally feel myself getting healthier, which is an awesome feeling! Here's hoping I can keep this up!

5. Spring Turning into Summer
Hey, I had to make a fun one, right? I'm so excited, mainly because I have 5 new skirts, and a new dress (hoping to get 2 more) to wear this summer, and a bunch of cute tops (including the one I'm wearing today). And seriously, what is better, than sitting outside on a warm summer's night, drinking beer/wine/liquor/sangria (let's be real, I ain't picky), enjoying the company of your friends/ boyfriend/family? Nothing. There is nothing better in my mind. That is where my fondest memories are formed.

And with that, happy Friday!!

Positives and Negatives

Overall, my weekend went pretty well. M and I had plans to go hiking Saturday, but we got a bit distracted, because someone (Me) got drunk on Friday (off four beers. FOUR. I don't even want to tell you how many it used to take me, I'm quickly becoming a lightweight), and somehow, somewhere, dropped my phone. I was so sad, and embarrassed, and angry. It was going to cost me a 90 dollar deductable, but I ended up getting my old phone working somehow, so I'm using that :-) It's slow, and glitchy and I remember why I hated it so much, but hey, it's a phone, it works, that's all I can ask for. :-)

I did manage to have good days on Saturday and Sunday, staying in my points,eating healthy meals, and getting in my activity (even though we didn't hike on Saturday, I ended up playing outside with the little boy I babysit for. 2 hours of running after a 3 year old should definetly give me something! haha) and having a really good workout on Sunday, even though while running my stomach started to cramp up for no reason at all. Grr...

I also decided to give running outside a go again on Monday. Again, it was awesome :-) Maybe it's just that beach, haha. I ran 2.47 miles in about 35 minutes. Slower than I normally would in a 5K, (my time was 42 for the full 3.2) but I did take a 3 minute break halfway to try and work out the shin pain I was having, and I walked in the begining and end. So I should have no problem working that extra mile up :-) I'm definetly going to start running outside more too, Maybe 1-2 times a week. I can't help but really like it more, it's very peaceful and I feel so accomplished by the end of it :-)

After my awesome run I went out to dinner with a friend of mine, which was another victory. I got the chicken philly, which is basically chicken and cheese with fries, but it is amazing :-) I only ate 2/3 of it, and about half my fries, so I didn't do a terrible amount of damage. with the two beers I had over the course of 3 hours of good conversation, I only put myself over my dailies by 10, which I definetly had to use. It was a really nice night. This is a friend who up until a drunken meltdown a month ago we hadn't really talked much, and had definetly moved away from one another a lot. It was nice to be able to talk again like old times, and be honest with one another, it was a good time :-)

Unfortunetly, it was followed by my worst allergy episode in a long time. I normally get sinus infections about 2X a year. this was different.

My throat was swollen, I was exhausted, I couldn't stop sneezing and blowing my nose. It sucked, really bad. I feel better today, after a night full of allergy meds, gossip girl, and Friday Night Lights with M(he did not participate in the first two. The boy would not be caught dead watching gossip girl, sadly)

But thankfully, unlike most times I'm sick, I didn't just eat everything in sight. I ate full meals, and honestly wasn't that hungry. I did treat myself to a raspberry lime rickey, but hey, I had like 8 points left for the day :-)

So WI on Friday, and I'm hoping for something. I've been good this week, gotten two good workouts in (with two more planned), and a weekend full of babysitting (two different families, lots of money!), which leaves little room for the temptation to fall off plan :-)

And now, Fitness Goals Check in!

By Memorial Day: (started December 1)
533/600 APs
19/28 LBS

April Goals:
-Focus on GHG's- Definitely did this better than I normally do.

-Work out 4X a week -

-Earn 150 APs- Hit it! 153 baby!

--Limit indulgences to
         -2X a week for alcohol- I need to get better

         -3X a week for dessert/snacks- I need to be better

-Track 95% of my food -
        -work on trying to pretrack more!- Definitely did better with this! Every Friday I took a  moment to focus on this more.

-Be at 205 by May 1 Ended at 208, so I was disappointed with myself. I definitely could have done better.

April was a tough month. I fell off in many ways, and while I ended up loosing 2.4 for the month, I know deep down I could have done a lot better. May is going to be focused on being on top of things, eating less junk, staying on top of my goals and working as hard as I can to prep for the Milton Road Race and

My Vacation!!! M and I haven't been away since October, and that was only for a night. Technically we haven't been away for more than a night since January 2010. I found a great deal on a hotel (80 a night, thanks AAA!), and we are going to road trip up to Portland Maine for a long weekend June 10. My goal is to be under 200 by then. 8 pounds, 6 weeks, I think I can do it. NO. I know I can do it!! It'll be such an awesome feeling to be able to enjoy myself, eat delicious food, drink delicious beer and have an all around relaxing weekend!

Financial Goals- April

Hit 7400 in Savings (500 going in for tax return)- I'm only at 7400 (6015 in my account plus the 1400 I lent my mom), so I'm doing ok. I also paid off my credit card and one of my loans, so I consider this month to have been a success!

Spending:
necessities:
Car insurance110
car payment: 223
Phone: 95
groceries Goal: 150- lets try and spend 30 less this month 147 so I was within. Next month my focus will be on getting even lower!
Gas: Goal:160 (about 40 a week) 154, so I was within this!

entertainment: Goal: Try for 20 again -Try 0! woohoo!
Alcohol and Bars:Goal:80 -88, a little over, but not terrible. My goal next month is to withdraw cash and not spend over that. Debit cards and bars are a dangerous combo!
Clothing : 30 -14. I did spend more than this, but I used cash, so I don't count it :-)
Health and Beauty: 35-32.Not bad, but I wish it were less, I don't think it's necessary  to spend that much at cvs
Resaurants: 20- 17, so i was well within my means!
Travel : 20 -11, I was good about not taking cabs
Cash : 70- withdrew 100, so i could have been better about this, especially where my spending elsewhere didn't go down!
Coffee Shop- 20-32. Somewhere to improve! I gotta quit those trips to Marylou's!

Budget:1033
Actual: 1023

Not bad, but with my loans starting up and me hoping to move out, I need to be more careful, and cut out all the little things that aren't necessary. I'm really going to work on this this month. If I don't need it, I'm not going to buy it!