Wow.

So, I've noticed that I've been going somewhat easy on myself, and maybe that's why I haven't seen the results that I've wanted.

Well, that and the fact that I'm become very lax with my diet and exercise. But, I'm vowing to get back into this. I'm tired of feeling fat and tired all the time. And I want to look good for graduation. :)

So, I've been doing workouts on the SportsActive for the Wii, and I've had it set on medium intensity since, well, since I got it a couple of years ago. So, I thought it was time to up the intensity.

And boy, did setting it on high intensity really up the intensity. I honestly thought I was going to collapse before I finished. And I was sweating by the time I finished the 3rd exercise in the routine. However, I'm proud to say that I made it through, and, even though my legs are sore and not really able to support me at the moment, I feel really good right now. :)

I'm doing the 30-day challenge again, and I'm very hopeful that I'll see results by the time the 30 days are up. And this time, I'll try not to stop exercising after the challenge is over like I did last time. This time, I'm determined to make exercising a permanent part of my life.

Ughhhhh.

Today was not good exercise wise. I didn't reach my 250 calorie goal....in fact, I was about 100 calories short. And it sucks. I'm putting on weight, which baffles me. I guess I'm eating more than I realize, which means I'll probably have to go back to keeping a food diary again. I might not calculate calories though. That was way too much of a hassle last time. But, I can tell by looking at what I've ate whether I've done good or not.

I also need to give my workout variety. I've been doing the same exercises, and they're not really working my whole body. I do a lot of cardio and arm exercises, but that's about it. I need to look for exercises that target my abs, since that's what I'm really wanting to work on.

I'm also going to cut out my snacking after dinner. The only thing I'll have is my post-workout smoothie. I've found that I look forward to my smoothie, and it's a great incentive to actually workout. Plus, it's a great way to soothe my sweet tooth. I was craving chocolate earlier, but my strawberry-banana smoothie has hit the spot! :)

I'm not going to let today discourage me. Even though I'm feeling kind of crappy because of all this, I'm determined to get past it. I'm determined to have more good days, and I'm determined for tomorrow to be better. I will not let today get to me.

Improving Myself

I used to always go into each new year thinking, "New Year, New Me!" And that's a saying that you see everywhere. It's like we all have to reinvent ourselves each year and become something else. But this year, I'm not doing that. There is no "new me". I like who I am. And the people in my life like who I am. So why would I change that? So, no new me...just an improved me. I'm going to work on the things in my life that need to be worked on. This is the year that I conquer certain things in my life, and I'm really excited about that aspect!

I have been exercising the past couple of days, and I'm really proud of the progress I'm making. I've made it a goal to burn at least 250 calories a day, and so far, I've surpassed that each day. And I only have 82 calories left to burn until I reach the goal for today! :) I've also started noticing the difference in my body since I've been working out like this. I feel my sides slimming down and my "love handles" slowly disappearing! Yay! :)

I'm also trying to be better at spending and saving and monitoring my money. I still live with my parents, so I don't really have any bills to pay, but I know that will change in a few months. So I'm trying to start now on teaching myself how to manage my money. I've got a spreadsheet set up, and I track all of my spending. This way, I can look and see what I'm spending my money on, how much I'm spending each month, and how much I'm saving each month. I've also started doing something that my dad has been doing for a few years now. Heo saves all of his $1 bills and all his change. Each year, he's managed to save over $1,000 by doing this. So, I've started doing it, too. And I'm putting it directly into my savings account. I made my first deposit last month, and it was $8.50. But that was after just a week or so of saving. I'm hoping to have more put in this month. And I've noticed that I don't really miss the $1 bills or the change that much.

I'm pretty excited about this year. Big things are going to happen, and I can't wait! :) And I'm also looking forward to improving myself and coming out of this year even better than I started it. :)

It's A New Year!

So I know I dropped off the radar after my 30 day challenge. I got really busy with school and the holidays and vacation. I also stopped my exercising after those 30 days, and that was a mistake. I ended up gaining the weight back, and I started feeling horrible again.
But it's a new year. And this year, I am determined to lose the weight. I graduate in May, and I'm hopefully going to start a new internship in the fall. And I want to be ready for those thing. This will be a life changing year for me, and I am determined for it to be the best year so far. And that means I need to get healthy.

I started getting back into exercising last week. I got up at 5am Monday-Friday to do a 5-minute running workout I created using EA Sports Active for the Wii. I know that 5 minutes doesn't sound like much, but it woke me up and got my blood going. It definitely helped me focus on the day. I would also exercise every night. And I was feeling really good.

However, Atlanta got hit by a snow/ice storm this week, which means that I've been stuck in the house. I've eaten more than usual, and I haven't exercised like I should have. I did get back to exercising tonight, and I was really proud of myself. I worked out for about 45 minutes and burned 254.4 calories. That's going to be my goal for every day--to burn at least 250 calories a day.

I'm going to be posting in the blog with my updates on the weight loss adventure. I noticed that when I was doing the 30 day challenge, I would not make excuses for not exercising because I knew I had to be accountable and update my blog. So that's what I'm going to do this time. No more excuses. This will become the thing that keeps me on track this time.

Day 30!

Well, my 30-day challenge has come to an end. And it was pretty incredible. :)

I definitely got into the habit of exercising a lot more than usual, and I love it. If I go a day without doing some kind of exercising, I can definitely tell a difference in how I feel and in my attitude. I definitely miss exercising if I don't do it, which is a pretty good thing. Hopefully I don't stop exercising. It's a really good stress reliever, and I love that I'm starting to feel better about myself. :)

I definitely feel that there are more changes in store for me, and I'm so excited about that. I have so many dreams, and I'm gaining the confidence that I need to believe that they will all come true. I love how I've started to change over the past 30 days. It's been so exciting. I just might have to do another one of these challenges at some point. :p

Thanks for keeping up with me for the past month. Feel free to continue to check in and see what else I'm up to from time to time. :p

Days 28 & 29

So, yesterday was good. I did a little shopping with the boyfriend (Walmart and Michael's....I pretty much live at those two stores here lately). I also had a meeting at work (my last one ever...). The meeting was actually pretty fun. We got to wear our pjs, and everyone also brought in food. It was a long meeting, but it was good. There was a lot of information to soak in, which made me so glad that I was there for holiday last year. But anyway, it was a pretty good--especially since I was one of the winners for best pjs. :)

Today ha been pretty good too. I got a new product listed, so go check it out. :) And if you haven't become a fan of mine on FB, go do so! I have a great deal going on right now for my FB fans. You'll definitely want to check it out.

There was also some huge news for me today. I passed my GACE!! So, once I graduate, I will be certified to teach language arts in grades 4-8 in the state of Georgia. In January, I'll take the social studies GACE. I'm really nervous about that one because I've heard that it's extremely hard. Hopefully I'll pass that one, too.

Well, I better go to bed. Tomorrow is internship day (my last full day until January). And it's also the last day of my challenge. Hopefully it ends on a high note. :)

Days 26 & 27

So, I know I didn't post last night. And I'm not going to focus a lot on yesterday. I'm actually not going to focus a lot on today, mainly because nothing major happened on either day.

However, there's a issue that has come up, and I feel like venting about it. I'm starting to question a friend's sincerity, and it's really getting to me. This is someone who's been a friend for awhile now, and I've loved that. But lately, I get the feeling that they aren't being straight with me. And that bothers me. For way too long, I dealt with "friends" who were fake--they lied to me and essentially led me on, only to decide they didn't want to be friends anymore, and that it was entirely my fault. One friend never gave me a reason for ending the friendship (and that hurt the worse), and another basically told me that I was never there, even though this particular "friend" flaked on me a lot, and only wanted me around when she was having problems. She even went so far as to get mad because I had other people that I wanted to hang out with, too, even though I spent the entire afternoon with her driving around and listening to her vent about her problems. But, to her, I wasn't a good friend. And you know what? It's honestly whatever at this point. Those two people did nothing but bring unwanted drama into my life, and I've been so much happier without them.

But with this person today, I'm getting pretty angry. I'm sick of having people lie to me, and I'm sick of feeling like I'm being left in the dark. I'm sick of not being entirely sure who my friends are and who I can trust. I tend to be a very trusting person, but honestly, I've been burned so many times that I'm not sure I can be anymore. And that sucks. I've always liked that I felt that I could trust people. And I liked that even after the crap I've been through the past couple of years that I felt I could still trust people. So for me to not know if I can continue to trust....it sucks. And I hate it.

Hopefully this situation will get better.