This evening, the temps outside reached around 80. Initially I wanted to come home, put on sweats and be lazy. I'm exhausted. Then I walked through the door, saw Bruce Wayne and decided before I had a chance to be lazy, I changed into my new Old Navy compression capris (Which are amazing. Get some. Now.) and headed down to the park with the pupster in tow. 

How beautiful is puget sound!? I love that this is 1 minute from my house!

I do have to say trying to speed walk/jog with a dog as friendly and lovable as mine, created a ton of "stops". A little boy kept calling him "little baby puppy" over and over again while rubbing his hands all over Bruce's face. Of course Bruce took it like a champ and loved all over him.

I just had to add the photo below.When I saw this on my phone, I actually laughed out loud. This was my attempt at getting a picture with Bruce....... enjoy a laugh at my expense. Seriously, the longer I look at this, the more hilarious it gets!

I think it's safe to assume I also gained approximately 237 new freckles from my short jaunt out into the sun. Too bad all those fabulous little brown spots never ran together to create one giant epic tan like my mom promised me they would when I was little!

     

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Zumba Rush

I love doing Zumba, but I rarely do it. The local YMCA's scheduled classes really do not fit with my schedule at all so it's hard for me to get to a class. But when I do, it kicks my butt. 

I've tried other fitness games, and even have the Biggest Loser game for the Kinect. I end up getting really annoyed because they don't read my movements correctly or my little avatar in the corner that is tracking my body movements resembles Patrick from Spongebob, so naturally I quit the game. I had been eyeing Zumba Rush for a while and finally bought it pre-owned.

I had such high hopes and excitement for the game. Even Bruce Wayne was excited (and also decided to photo bomb me).

What ended up happening is I made it through 4 songs (the full length class was 14.....epic fail) which resulted in an extremely sore left hamstring with me flat on the floor thinking that I might die. 

The game was a ton of fun though, and I will definitely being doing on a regular basis because it gets you up, moving, and brings the sweat!

I wasn't gonna let my short workout go to waste, so my dinner consisted of baked salmon and a large spinach, heirloom tomato, and apple salad. 

A bunch of little changes will eventually lead to big changes in my body and lifestyle!

It's a journey not a sprint people!

     

Workout Wednesday

I adore Skinny Meg. She's hilarious, down to earth, shares my love of all things chevron (the pattern not the gas station!), and is very motivational. She's lost a ton of weight on her own and has guns for days. Seriously, I have total arm envy, but she works hard for those pythons!  Anyways, enough fan-girling for the moment! She hosts a link up party every Wednesday called Workout Wednesday. 

I decided this week I would participate! I do not claim to have come up with these 5 quicky workouts - I found them on Pinterest (isn't everything on Pinterest?) and it looks like the workouts came from BackonPointe.tumblr.com. 

Try any of these when you first get out of bed in the morning and I guarantee your booty will be a burnin'!

     

Memorial Weekend

This weekend was great. 

My niece Kendall and I went to her very first swimming lesson. She did amazing and I was so proud I almost burst into tears while in the pool took her to the park to play as a reward.

The was a good amount of Hubster time.

 

There was fire pit time time with the Garcia side of the family.

During which I discovered my sister in law Alex has freaky insane amazing control of her toes and can do things like roast marshmallows with them.... 

Today ended with a pizza party to celebrate Memorial Day. This weekend was not the best diet wise, but I've already got my gym clothes set out for tomorrow morning.

4:45 AM is gonna show up sooner than I'd like, but I'll be ready! Bring it Monday TUESDAY!

     

Weigh In Wednesday, Week 1

I weighed myself this morning. I decided that every wednesday, I would weigh myself. No matter what scale said, that's what it would be. I'd celebrate my accomplishments, big or small, because this is a slow jog not a sprint. 

So I ramped myself up, got on the scale, and recorded a whopping ..... 1.6 lb weight loss. Sad times!

Was I hoping for more? Of course. 

Did I give myself 100% this past week? Not really, maybe like 75%. 

Did I drink enough water like I am supposed to? Nope. 

Did I get to the gym? Not once. 

Am I going to wallow in self pity and give up? 

NO WAY. 

I am chalking this week up as a learning experience, and moving on. It's a new day, new week, but not a fresh start. I'm gonna keep on keepin' on. I am not giving up because I know I'll have just as many low weeks as high weeks. I'll deal with it and I'll succeed. 

Suck it up Buttercup!

With that, I'll leave you with some photos/videos from the couple hours of Auntie and Kendall time on Sunday:

Happiness is swingin'. Pure and simple happiness. I also got several videos, but the video below was too precious not too share. Apparently, Kendall knows she is cute and adorable. According to her, boys are not.....

"Good thing there's no boys in there!"

Good thing Kendall, cause we didn't even go in the sand! Keep thinking boys aren't cute until you are 25. Thanks. HA!

     

Morning Coffee

I am a self proclaimed Starbucks addict. Every morning, I go to get my venti raspberry mocha without fail. Oh yeah, and of course the whipped cream! I have been doing this religiously for several years. Its quite convenient there is about 59 coffee  shops between my house  and my office.

Not only has this been harmful for my pocketbook (at $5.16 a time!) I hadn't realized how many of my daily calories I am drinking for breakfast!!  I am doing weight watchers currently, and I looked up the points value of my usual....I stopped adding it up when I saw the tally was over 14 points!!!!! Holy crap. To put it in perspective, I get 38 "points" for the day. Using that many points for a coffee is personal sabatoge!!!

This morning I came up with a (much) lighter alternative, that still tastes decadent! I modeled it after the Starbucks Skinny Vanilla Latte and am thrilled to tally my morning coffee up at 3points+!!

1 cup of 1% milk 

4oz of espresso brewed coffee
Sugar free vanilla syrup
Splenda for extra sweetness if ya need it!

That's it! I don't have a milk frother, and the frothed milk is what makes a latte in my opinion. I actually heat my milk up in the vitamix. It heats the milk quickly and infuses so much air it makes it so velvety and smooth,  you will totally forget you are drinking lowfat milk! Plus, the vitamix creates a killer layer of the best foam around! If you dont have a frother or a vitamix,  heat your milk in the microwave then dump it into a blender on high to get that froth!

Last Beginning

This is it. My fresh start. My clean slate. My do-over. 

Do you know how many times I've said this to myself (and to everyone around me)? Too many times to count. I am the queen of starting over in the diet department. I am also the queen of slipping a little, which turns into an epic downward spiral, and then quitting. Yup, I've been a quitter. At least I'm being honest about it right? 

I'm at a point in my life where I am not only unhappy with my weight, but I am unhappy with myself and my self image of who I am. I know, deep inside, I am capable of so much more. Capable of a better, amazing me. I also know that the number on the scale shouldn't be my end all be all. It shouldn't dictate the way I feel about myself. I know all of this. But, it does. 

My size dictates the way I feel about myself. The way I feel others feel about me. What I'll allow myself to do. When I think of flying somewhere on vacation, my very first thought should not be - if I go, this time I might need a seatbelt extender. 

I've always jokingly said I am a skinny girl trapped in a fat girl's body. I've recently come to realize, I am a fat girl trapped in a fat girl's body. No one has force fed me all the processed crap I've eaten to get this way. No one and pinned me down to the couch, and forced me to win the gold medal in being lazy. 

It's on me. I cannot blame anyone but myself and that's a really sobering thought. It gets overwhelming when you finally own it and process it all - all the fault, blame, anger, sadness, and self loathing.

Luckily, I have an amazing husband and family that loves and supports me no matter what size I am. I know I can succeed, and having a support system like I do, I know I truly am blessed.

So here's to my new beginning. The very last new beginning I will have on my weight loss/self loving journey.