Blogger's Block

Hey. It's been awhile. I really miss blogging, but to be honest I don't feel like I have much worthwhile to say...even if it's not really true. I'm in a funk, that's for sure.
It's not that I'm not doing anything with my life--quite the opposite. I'm overwhelmed by school and wish I could spend my days pinteresting or painting my nails. I feel guilty when I'm not doing homework or being productive. I need balance back in my life. I need to find the joy in this journey...easier said than done. Working on a group project and doing all the work & barely keeping your head above water in your Energy/Science class can really suck the fun out of life.

On a happier note...I have found comfort in these things, they help take the edge off...

-Hanging out with my family. Chris and I were lucky enough to get a couple days off to go down to Utah. We saw Red Dawn at midnight with his brothers and my sister. It was AWESOME. Josh Peck has blossomed into a handsome young man. Any other Drake and Josh fans out there?

-Running. It's hard to say it....and it's still a little bittersweet. I hate the way I feel while I'm running, I'm sure I look like I'm having a stroke or something. I love the way I feel after; healthy, clean, and happy. With time, I'm sure I hate the actual running part less. Anyway, the whole fam ran a 5K on Thanksgiving. It was good times.

-Castle. Such a great TV show. I haven't been this addicted to a show since Lost.
-Taylor Swift's new album, Red. She speaks to my soul.
-Thanksgiving. I got to see my Grandma & Grandpa Jenkins and talk with them. I got to see two of my cousins who I hardly ever see. Good food and good people. I am truly blessed.
-Games with my family. We're a little crazy and are Nazi's when it comes to the rules...but we have a blast and laugh constantly.
-Flannel Jammies from Victoria's Secret: they make being lazy a little more glamorous.

Now, all I need is to get through the next few weeks and it'll be party time all over again!

Slacker

This morning, I slept in. I didn't go to the gym or do anything...I just slept. Until 7am.

I am not ashamed.

Sometimes, you just need to sleep.

And cuddle.

Turkey Trot

My mom talked Chris and I into running a 5k with her and the rest of the fam on Thanksgiving. I was super excited about it, until I ran for the first time on Saturday. I was amazed at how hard it was...I hadn't run since my 10k on September 1. Regret. So, I'm kinda back to square one, but I'm glad I didn't wait till it warmed up again to start running!

On the flip side, Pinterest has some super fun treadmill workouts that takes the edge off. This is my poison of choice this week:

It will kick your butt, but (haha) in a lifting & firming kind of way. I'll take it!

Love Always, Monday

Mondays are hard. Let's be honest, we've all whined about it on Facebook.
I always felt picked on by Mondays, getting back into the weekly routine always felt like a slap in the face. Normally, my peak productivity kicks in about Wednesday-Thursdayish....just in time for the weekend to roll around and get me all out-of-whack again.
October 22 was nothing special- I went to the gym, worked, and did assignments. I was deliriously happy....and strangely productive.
I realized that I had made an accidental attitude change. I had been less than pleased with the past few weeks; I was excited to have a clean slate....a new week to be successful. I was driven by an obsession to improve and make this week better. 
I realized today that I had made it to the gym every morning this week at 5ish am.

Proof

(Ok, it's more like 5:30--but I wake up at 5!)

I made some diet changes and actually stuck to them and our apartment always seemed to be clean. Monday made a difference.

Snow didn't even phase me, I was secretly excited.

The cherry on top of my week? Hearing Chris express how proud of me he is.

Life is good!

Side Note: Anytime Fitness is great! I highly recommend it if you're looking for a gym membership.

Early. Early. Early.

What a pal! Thanks, Siri!

Ever since school started, I've had to adjust to getting up fairly early to get my workouts in before school or work. Granted, I don't have to do it first thing in the morning....but my success rate of actually getting to the gym is about 10% after 10am.

Thanks to pinterest and my own creative inspirations I've compiled this list of tricks that help get my bum out of bed. Maybe something I've learned can help you too.

1. The night before, lay out all of your workout gear: clothes, shoes, iPod, watch...etc. Have everything all ready to go, so its as easy as possible to get your bum moving!
2. Have a water bottle ready & waiting in the fridge (& maybe a little stickie stuck to your clothes to remind you to grab it).
3. Eat something; it will wake up your metabolism & start your burn. I usually eat a banana or greek yogurt.
4. Remember this: according to FITNESS magazine, women who workout first thing burn 18% more during (& after) their workouts.
5. Set a goal. Early in the morning you have a hundred excuses to stay in bed. If you have something specific you’re working towards, its going to give you that extra push to work towards it. My current goal is to make it to the gym all 6 days consecutively.
6. Have a motivator phrase. (You guys are gonna think I'm such a cheeser, but...) I have something I repeat in my head when I'm struggling to get out of bed....something to the effect of "You can sleep in when (insert personal goal here)..."
7. Have a motivator image. I made a collage of things I found on pinterest that make me want to get to the gym ASAP. When my alarm goes off on my phone, its the first thing I see. Here it is: 

8. Be positive. Remember that real change won't happen overnight (....or in a week, or a month). This one is the hardest for me!

If anyone else has a early morning tip, I'd love to hear it!

6.21 [Check]

Today was race day! Despite some stressful bumps beforehand (aka locking the keys in the trunk....losing my headphones...) I had a really great experience. 

I finished in 79:31 with an average of 12:48/mile. When I first started, it took me about 15 minutes to run one mile!

Now, I know I haven't accomplished anything super impressive in the wider scheme of things...there are people who ran faster and longer than I did. I met the woman who took second place in the marathon, finishing in a little over two hours and thirty minutes (!) and she said to me; everyone has to start somewhere.

six.two

September 1.

I signed up for a 10K. I don't run, probably haven't run more than 3 miles at a time. I have a little over a month to train.

I realized a couple of days ago that I had hit the wall, fitness wise. I wasn't really getting anywhere, and (to be honest) I was digressing; gaining the weight back and finding more and more excuses. I needed to find something to get my butt in gear; something to hold me more accountable, a goal to work towards.

I'm lucky to have a lot of support from friends and family. I'm going to need it!

Let the training begin...yesterday

Weekend

I know I've been MIA for awhile...I'm not really sure if anyone noticed (or cares, haha), but I've missed blogging a lot and I've been looking for something fabulous to write about...haven't really found it yet, so for now its about my weekend.

We came to Utah so Chris could run his first half marathon (13.1 miles). I am so proud of him- he ran it in 2:28...thats averaging an 11 minute mile. NBD. Being there, at the race was a great motivation for me, it just looked like a blast.

I read the amazing article from The Weed. It's all over Facebook, but if you've somehow missed it click here...you'll be glad you did.

I learned that I love babies and can't wait to be a mom...well, let me rephrase that....I love babies and I am so excited to be a mom, when the time is right.
I didn't eat very healthy, but I got to eat some of my "Utah Favorites;" including In N Out Burger, The Pie, Zupas, and Subzero.
Just so you all know....Semi Annual Sale (SAS) for Victoria's Secret starts Tuesday June 12 @ 7am. There are going to be some screamin' deals. I am sure I'll be full of stories for you all about women fighting over bras from the sale bin.

Intervention

So, this weekend in Utah I experienced the interventionee end of an intervention.

Premise: I went to Nordstrom to try on jeans, and after one pair I was in tears and refusing to try on anything else- I refer to this event as "the dressing room meltdown." To be honest, this was not a great way to start off my weekend.
Mom&Dad are currently on the Weight Watchers program and are showing results thus far.
Also, I have this "being married makes you fat theory." And I've tried, a few times, to develop a health and fitness plan; all of which fizzle out and fail. Frustrating.

I was whining about not being able to afford WW, and because of this I was doomed to stay fat and unhealthy- might as well resort to the Moo-Moo now.
Of course, Mom&Dad responded with, "You don't have to be on Weight Watchers to be healthy." (Of course, again) I rolled my eyes and came back with some excuse like "It's too hard" and "I don't know how." [Side note: this season of The Biggest Loser is themed "No Excuses." haha]
Well, I (basically) asked for it. In an instant there was a stack of recipes, Weight Watchers printouts, the Change One diet guide, and a simplistic "how-to" cook book. Then came the string of questions I didn't want to answer;
What do you eat on a typical day? Grapefruit, Ramen, and Cereal
How often do you exercise? On a good week? Once, maybe twice
How much sleep are you getting? Average: 8.5 hours
Yikes! No wonder I feel like crap ("crap" meaning exhausted, cranky, and unmotivated)! I was getting enough sleep, but was always tired. Saying those things out loud to my parents was painful, but also eye-opening. I had become so lazy in regards to my health. I was justifying my bad habits with a grapefruit. Literally.
Mom&Dad offered to help me the next day with a monthly dinner meal plan and I went to bed overwhelmed and a little disheartened- there was so much to change.

The Plan:
Mom sat down with me on Sunday night and we planned the next 28 days of meals; based off of things I already knew how to cook. We have Soup Night, Breakfast-for-Dinner Night, Pasta Night, Potato Night, Leftover Night, Out-to-Eat Night, and Sunday Dinner. We made a grocery list and I was prepared for my next trip to the grocery store- I was going to go grocery shopping with a purpose, not just buying things because they were cheap or yummy. 

The Intervention:
It was Monday afternoon and we were getting ready to leave. Mom&Dad were offering their last words of advice and encouragement. I made a sarcastic comment (something to the effect of "Ok. Intervention. Check." *insert sarcastic air check mark*). Then, Mom said "I am only saying half of what I want to say. You have a sugar addiction." Of course, I laughed. Addiction? That's too strong of a word. Then, Chris jumps in.
"Its true!" He unzips my backpack and pulls out a handful of strawberry flavored frooties. Then another. And another. ....And another. Ok. I admit. Kind of ridiculous. Then, he brings up the whole bag of chocolate I ate over last weekend.

I might as well go to a Sugaraholics Anonymous meeting.

"Hi, I'm Melissa and I'm a Sugaraholic." 

"Hi, Melissa."

Basically, I can go on and on about all the stuff that I have eaten in the past that I shouldn't have. I could make you uncomfortable with more and more "too personal" information regarding my weight and jeans issues. But, I won't. I wanted to share all of this so that I can own up to it. I shouldn't be confused when I gain weight the way I eat. I shouldn't feel like I'm a victim of "bad genes" and a slow metabolism. This is my fault and its up to me to fix it.

That sounded way more dramatic than I intended. Haha. I am happy with my epiphany and I am so grateful for my loving family who were willing to intervene between me and my unhealthy habits.

If you are in the same chocolate-frootie boat as me, I'd love to hear from you. Or, if you're not and you have some amazing trick for curving your sugar cravings I'd love to hear those too.

746 words later, I think that's all I have to say. :) Thanks for hanging in there with me.

Productivity

Today has been a very productive day. Before 9:45 am I...
-Worked for 3 hours
-Cleaned the whole apartment
-Did a 35 minute yoga workout
-Showered and got ready for the day
Getting up at 3:30am has its perks.

Now to only continue this motivation/productive streak the rest of the day....

Elliptical Epiphany

Tonight at the gym, I was meditating on the Elliptical about several things,  some of which I would like to share. So, I present to you my "Elliptical Epiphanies"

#1. I've been on my Facebook fast for almost a week now. Prior to this project, I believed that Facebook was the way I "stayed connected" and "caught up" with my friends and family. Tonight I realized that this truly wasn't the case. I don't feel disconnected or out of the loop at all; the people who I am truly close with and who cared to know what was really going on in my life found a way to contact me other than FB. Also, I found that if I was thinking about someone, wondering what was going on with them, I found a way to contact them in a more meaningful way (via phone call, text message, or e-mail). I realize that texting or e-mailing aren't too different from some methods of communication used with Facebook, however it was genuinely more personal. I wasn't trying to decipher a status or photo to figure out the wellness of friend or family member or posting a public wall post to ask superficial questions that didn't really ask what I wanted to ask. In conclusion, I am going to have to find a new way to justify my use of Facebook or discontinue it. What do you think?

#2. The best time to go to the gym is after watching The Biggest Loser. Its so motivating to watch someone else lose weight and see the results. On this week's episode some of the contestants dropped 15 or 16 pounds. That is insane! If someone who is considered morbidly obese can work out every day, why can't I? In truth, its a lot easier for someone who is "average" or "normal" weight- though you aren't going to be dropping such big numbers. But I'll take what I can get.

#3 Listening to Josh Groban while working out can be more beneficial than the normal (slightly inappropriate) choices. I remember back when I was 16 or 17 there was a fireside given at girls camp. I don't remember the speakers name or what her topic was, but she did encourage us to listen to uplifting music while working out. She gave a specific example of running to "You Raise Me Up" and having it work wonders for her. I thought she was crazy. I continued listening to my upbeat (and slightly inappropriate) work out playlist; until tonight. Remembering this talk, I decided to give it a try. I set my iPod to only play Josh Groban songs (to be accurate). It worked. Something about the uplifting messages and raw talent coming from my headphones sustained me through my workout with little effort on my part. The question is, is it Josh Groban or the uplifting nature of his music. Or both?