Me: Days 26 – 30

Day 30: September 2, 2016

I made it to Day 30. I’ll recap my thoughts in more detail in my summary post in the next few days, but right now I’d give myself a B for my 30 Days of Me.

I made a lot of progress on my goals – health-wise and debt-wise. There were some things I did really well at, and some decisions I could have chosen more wisely.

I’ve got about month and half before the deadline for those goals, so I am going to keep working on them to the best of my ability, and I plan on having an update for everyone mid-October with good news. =)

Day 29: September 1, 2016

Damn you Matt! I sent him to Publix to get some wine for the dinner recipe and he shows back  up with French Onion dip and Ruffles chips. There’s a reason why we don’t keep that stuff in the house – it’s waaaaay too tempting. Le sigh. I guess a few won’t hurt…

So bad, but so good…

At least I worked out today and followed up the chip indulgence with a healthy dinner – Parmesan-Crusted Avocado Benedicts. I think I found our new go-to weekend brunch staple.

Day 28: August 31, 2016

PAY DAY!!!!!!!!!!

I have been waiting for today for the past month, as we get paid out our monthly bonus on the last paycheck of the month. July was my best month ever, so today’s paycheck was the highest one I have ever received. I used the proceeds to pay off my two credit cards and add to our savings. We still have about $1,800 left on Matt’s Amex from recent travel purchases we had to make for upcoming trips, and about $2,150 left on our Line of Credit from when we moved. (It turns out that coming up with the first and last month’s rent AND multiple deposits adds up quickly.)

That leaves us with about $3,950 before we are debt free again.

I am hoping we can have that taken care of by the end of September, or by my birthday at the latest, in accordance with my goal. That means we have to tighten the belt a bit when we are home over the next few months. Good thing we have a ton of shows on Netflix we want to watch…

PS: I paid off the couch today. The boys love it…

Day 27: August 30, 2016

Bam! Double dippin’ today. I hit up the gym in the morning and over lunch. It’s actually not so bad to workout over lunch. The few times I have done it now, I am able to make it there, change, workout, change back, and return to the office in under an hour (or just about). I brought my blow dryer to the gym, too, which definitely helps reduce the sweatiness when I return to my desk.

For dinner tonight I tried another new recipe for artichoke cakes. The were good, but a little too artichoke-y for my taste. Matt doesn’t like artichoke very much so he didn’t like them. I think if I made it again, I would make it as a dip and add more vegan Parmesan cheese…

Day 26: August 29, 2016

Let’s talk about Mondays for a sec. Like Fridays, I find it crucial to workout in the mornings on Mondays. I don’t know what it is, but when I get home from work on a Monday, the last thing I want to do is work. Or workout. If I don’t do it in the morning, then it doesn’t get done.

Adding to the mix is the fact that on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays there is a class at LA Fitness at 8:30am, which means I have to be done working out around 8:15am at the latest lest I risk the wrath of the ladies who like to come in early and set-up their area. Which is fine, except that Matt is in charge of waking us up in the morning, and on Mondays especially he likes to hit the snooze one too many times. Normally I can let this derail me and skip the gym, but today I made sure to squeeze it in, even though I was rushed.

Success!

Me: Days 21 – 25

Day 25: August 28, 2016

Today was the first time in over two months since we moved into our new building that I actually went up and used the pool!

When we lived at our old building, we didn’t have a pool, so we were so excited to move in here and to finally have one again. But then we didn’t use it. Doesn’t that always happen? But I was determined to try it at some point this weekend, so we ended up going up today after the grocery store. It was nice, but the sun had already set enough that it wasn’t directly shining in the pool area anymore, but still. I read some more of my new book and relaxed, which is something I needed after a busy week.

I even had time to whip up some vegan chili, which I must say, was pretty fantastic.

Day 24: August 27, 2016

ALWAYS WORKOUT FIRST THING IN THE MORNING ON THE WEEKENDS.

If you don’t, you will fall into the traps I fell into today, which were errands and hunger.

I woke up with great intentions, but then I was hungry for breakfast and had a sandwich from Panera and a coffee from Starbucks. Well, you can’t workout right after you eat, so then I started picking up the house and getting ready for errands. By the time I had digested, it was getting into the early afternoon, and then I wanted to get our errands done so we could relax. By the time we made it to the mall, we were starving, so naturally we went to California Pizza Kitchen. Turns out we got a free appetizer for signing up for the rewards program. And if you’re going to have an app, you might as well have a glass of wine, too, right?  You can see where this is going. Needless to say, no workout happened today.

Day 23: August 26, 2016

Ahhh…. Friday. Almost my favorite day of the week.

I love Fridays, but I find that they are the worst for me in terms of workout motivation after work. That’s why I make a bigger effort to get to the gym in the morning on Fridays, because I know if I don’t go in the morning, the chances of me working out are about 1%. The same is true for Mondays, oddly enough.

That’s why I got up today and got my butt to LA Fitness in the morning to do a Hammer & Chisel DVD.

After work, we decided to hit up Rocco’s for some dinner and drinks. I know that drinking while working towards a weight loss goal isn’t recommended, but I have learned over the years and the many, many workout programs I have done, that if I restrict myself too much, then all hell breaks loose when I’m done. That’s why for the past few years I have tried to really focus on making long term changes and consistently making smarter choices, than restricting myself 100%. For example, at Rocco’s tonight I faced two extremes: 1) Drink the giant watermelon margaritas that I love and consume epic amounts of sugar and calories, or 2) Drink nothing at all.

I know from past experience that if I choose #1, I’ll wake up tomorrow and feel guilty and crappy, and it will have negated three days worth of workouts. I also know that if I choose #2, that is fine, but if I do that every time, then when I reach my goal, I will fall way off the wagon and ricochet back the other way since I have been restricting myself from what I want for so long. Hence, why I chose option #3, which was to have two “ranch waters,” which is basically tequila with club soda and a splash of lime. Moderation.

Day 22: August 25, 2016

Some days the motivation is just better than others. When you are lucky enough to have those days, don’t question it, just go for it. Today was one of those days for me.

I actually had a little help, to be fully transparent, because we had to have the repair guy come to fix our dryer, which meant I had to work from home starting at 1pm. He wrapped up around 4pm, and Matt was taking the bus home and wouldn’t be home until after 5:30pm, so I had about 90 minutes to spare that I could fit a workout into. I went upstairs to the gym at our building and brought my little DVD player and knocked out the Dirty 30 Extreme workout. I think I’ve said this before, but that workout is no joke!

I followed that up with a new recipe for Cauliflower Piccata for dinner. It was actually pretty filling, which was surprising.

Day 21: August 24, 2016

I gotta say, those jackfruit tacos were just as tasty as leftovers today for lunch as they were yesterday for dinner.  They are so good, in fact, I texted the recipe to my two friends who are doing the 90-day workout challenge with me so they could give them a try with their carnivorous families.

Speaking of working out, I hit up the gym again this morning, but go stuck on a conference call over lunch time. I’m going to have to start scheduling in the hour for the gym every day if I want to get serious about fitting that second workout in. For now though, I will pat myself on the back for a third day in a row of working out. Go me!

For dinner tonight I didn’t really feel like cooking, so Matt and I went to one of our faves, Mellow Mushroom. It’s interesting how much more we’ve been going there and to Panera now that we live on this side of town, and how much less we make the 10 minute walk to Kabuki and Roccos. I guess it just goes to show you how important it is to consider the culinary options within walking distance when you are deciding where to live. If you only have unhealthy restaurants surrounding you, you will probably eat unhealthy food more often. Versus having a healthy option nearby, which could encourage you to eat better. Have you had that happen to you when you moved?  Either for the better or worse?

 

Me: Days 11 – 15

Day 15: August 18th

This morning I was one of three instructors for a Continuing Education (C.E.) course my networking group offers that was held at our office. Needless to say, the gym didn’t happen this morning. (And, as per my post from a few days ago, it didn’t happen after work, either. Mer….)  This class was particularly meaningful for me, as it was the first one I have ever done as a newly appointed C.E. instructor for the state of Florida. I didn’t get appointed for work, but rather because we hold CE classes often and I wanted to be able to be one of the instructors instead of a student for once. Plus, I feel like that’s always a positive thing to be able to tell your employer, “Look at me, boss! I went out and did something for us that could benefit the company, just because!”

We also finished Stranger Things tonight, which I won’t say too much about in case you haven’t watched it. While there were many questions that were answered, Matt and I came up with a list of about 10 that we still needed resolution for. I am hoping Netflix will approve a Season Two, which, I hear from a few articles I have read from the creators of the show, will attempt to answer many of those.

Day 14: August 17th

Another morning, another workout completed. Check, check! I have to say, I never considered myself a morning person, but going to the gym in the morning and getting that checked off the list before I even step into the office has become one of my favorite things. Then there is no/a lot less guilt in the evening when I come home from work and all I want to do is eat dinner and watch tv because I am exhausted.

Speaking of tv… A few more episodes of Stranger Things were consumed tonight. I say “consumed,” because I think that is an appropriate verb for the ravenous appetite that develops when you watch a good tv show and it’s all you can think about all day. That’s why we haven’t started Breaking Bad yet; I just know it is going to be a commitment of body and mind, because from everything I hear, once we start it, we won’t want to stop. What tv shows do you “consume?”

Day 13: August 16th

This morning at the gym I got back into the spirit of weight-lifting and made it through the Chisel Balance workout from Hammer & Chisel. Every time I start back on weights I am impressed by how much cardio you can actually get in, especially when you removing quickly through different moves. I always used to shy away from weights in my twenties because I never thought you could get a good enough of a workout in doing just weights alone. Clearly, I had never met Autumn, lol…

After dinner tonight, I did something for myself that doesn’t really have anything to do with my goals, but that I have been wanting to do for a while: we started Stranger Things on Netflix. We only made it through the first two eps, but I am starting to see why everyone has been talking about it. I have no idea wtf is going on…

We have decided to pace ourselves and only watch a few episodes per night, which I think it one of hardest things to do when you’re watching a good Netflix show and all of the episodes are right there…

Day 12: August 15, 2016

This is the first day of the 90-day workout challenge I am doing with my two friends. I decided to take advantage of not having to drive Matt to work today, and I worked out in my living room this morning. It was nice to be able to actually take a shower in my own shower in the morning, as I usually end up showering at the gym in the morning when I workout.

After work we went to the grocery store so we can have good food to eat this week. We have determined that it is essential to get to the grocery store immediately after travel. Otherwise, it’s too easy to eat out for one day, then two, then before you know it you’ve had Wendy’s for lunch for three days in a row. So after work, I had prepared our shopping list last night and we got our supplies. I ended up making another Thug Kitchen recipe for dinner tonight – Deviled Chickpea Bites. They were pretty tasty, and  I’m thinking they will be a lot nicer on the gastrointestinal system than actual deviled eggs are (if you know what I mean)…

Deviled Chickpea Bites

I also picked up a bottle of natural statins that one of the ladies in my networking group said really helped her to lower her cholesterol. AND, I’ve decided to follow the internet’s advice and have one glass of red wine per day with dinner, in the hopes that it will also help lower my cholesterol.

To summarize, my main methods of attacking my cholesterol for the next two months will be: working out, avoiding foods with cholesterol (such as dairy and meat), taking the natural statins, limiting oils, and one glass of red wine at night.

Natural Statins

I hope this works…

Do you have any other suggestions I should explore?

Day 11: August 14, 2016

Today is the last day of my Weekend of Me, as Matt gets back from Minneapolis tomorrow morning. I spent last night having a few cocktails and watching all of the movies that Matt would never watch with me, and relaxing on the couch with the cats. It was glorious.

I was hoping to continue my streak of what some may call laziness (but I call relaxation), but I forgot that I had my annual Board get-together for my networking group. It’s always a fun time, but forgetting about it until my iPhone alarm went off this morning meant I hadn’t gone grocery shopping for anything to bring. Luckily, I have the “Thug Kitchen – Party Grub” cookbook, and was able to make a quick trip to Whole Foods and get the ingredients to make the “Boozy Watermelon Salad.” It has watermelon, papaya, red onion, cilantro, and jalapeños, all mixed with a tequila/olive oil/vinegar/maple syrup dressing. Needless to say, it was a big hit, as is everything I make from Thug Kitchen.

After the event, I came home, took a nap on the couch with the cats, then made myself some dinner and watched the Olympics while I finished up the laundry and cleaning the house for Matt tomorrow.

It definitely hasn’t been the most exciting weekend of my life, but that’s exactly what I wanted.

Me: Days 6 – 10

Day 10: August 13, 2016

With the weight of the test off my shoulders, I decided to start today off by doing something productive for my other goals. I went up to the gym at our apartment building this morning and did 30 minutes of interval running on the treadmill, followed by a quick round of weights for the biceps, triceps, and shoulders.

After that, I decided to knock off some of the items on my to-do list, including hitting up the pet store, and Aveda to get new shampoo. I even ended up using my $10 off coupon at DSW and got myself a new pair of tennis. I was in desperate need, as the ones I had been using were A) specifically for running, not cross training, and B) almost three years old.

I guess they call “Cross-Training” shoes just “Training” shoes now, which I discovered after doing 15 minutes of research on my phone in the clearance section of DSW. I wanted to make sure that by “made for training,” that they meant all forms of training, not just weight lifting, which was the picture on the shoe box. I’m excited to give them a try. What do you think are the benefits/detriments of buying “trainers?”

The new “trainers”

Day 9: August 12, 2016

TEST DAY!

I got up this morning and went through my flashcards again that I didn’t know from last night, and made acronyms to help me remember the concepts that I was struggling with (for a good time, ask me what PUFF, BUMF, SECQ, and VLAD stand for).

I got to the testing site about an hour early, and luckily they were able to get me in. They give you three hours for the exam, and I had about 5 minutes left when I finished. AND I PASSED!!! Woo hoo!

I’m actually pretty proud of myself for passing, as this was one of my main goals to reach before my birthday. If I would have failed, I could have retaken the exam after 30 days and still made my goal (potentially), but I am glad I don’t have to take it again.

A lot of my relief comes from the fact that I can put the studying behind me now, and really focus on my cholesterol and fitness goals, which had admittedly taken a backseat to the exam. Two of my close friends and I decided to do a 90-day workout challenge starting on Monday, so I am looking forward to getting back on the workout wagon full time and for achieving my other goals.

But that starts Monday. Tonight, I celebrate!

Celebratory drinks with Matt by day…

…Surprise birthday party/Mexico retreat reunion by night.

Day 8: August 11, 2016

This is it! The last day of studying before the big test tomorrow. I spent lunch going through my flashcards again, and then for dinner tonight, Matt and I went over to Mellow Mushroom and had dinner and a few glasses of wine while he quizzed me on all of my flashcards.

We separated them into piles of 1) ones I got right and know for certain, 2) ones I was close on, but want to go back through, and 3) ones I either got wrong or had no freakin’ clue on. Since my brain is pretty fried right now, I am going to postpone going through groups two and three until tomorrow morning, when my mind isn’t mush.

Day 7: August 10, 2016

It’s the final countdown… Only one more day until the big test. In light of that, I decided to put my workout goals on hold until the exam, so I can use the mornings for study time, too.

I did two more practice exams over lunch and after dinner, and am still stuck at the 75% range. It’s enough to pass, but there’s not a lot of wiggle room, so I’m going to spend most of my day tomorrow reviewing my flashcards and notes and will probably skip any more practice exams.

So many flashcards…

Day 6: Aug 9, 2016

For my workout this morning I wanted to be able to multitask and go through my flashcards at the same time, so I chose to do 30 minutes on the recumbent bike. I was actually surprised by how much I was sweating at the end of it. I guess I’ve never really done the recumbent bike before for a workout, but my legs were definitely grateful the half hour was the extent of the workout.

I decided to use my lunch hour and after work today to take two practice exams. Each exam is 130 multiple choice questions and you have to get 72% overall to pass. I only made it through about 1/4 of my flashcards when I was biking, so I decided to use these two practice exams as my litmus tests to see where I was knowledge-wise with what I already know and just from reading the book.

The first practice exam I took in test mode, where you answer each question and then they give you the score at the end. I got 74% (not good, but technically passing if that were the actual test). Then tonight, I decided to take the next practice exam in learning mode, where they tell you if you got each question right as you go along, and then provide the rationale for the correct answer.  Again, I got a 74% (aka: 97 out of 130).

My goal is to pass with at least an 80%, which means I need 104 questions correct, or, 7 more than I am getting correct now.

Me: Days 1- 5

Day 5: August 8, 2016

I had two goals for today: 1) workout in the morning, and 2) finish reading the book for my exam.

I am happy to report that I achieved both of them.

For my morning workout I did the 21-Day Fix Extreme Dirty 30. That Autumn chick is not messing around! I don’t have the 21-Day Fix, but this workout came with my Master’s Hammer and Chisel set and it has quickly become one of my favorites. Not only does it do a number on your shoulders, but it’s only 30 minutes, and you really can’t make an excuse not to workout when it’s that short. I’m sure I’m going to be way sore tomorrow, but I actually don’t mind that so much, since being sore reminds me that I actually did something positive for myself the day before.

As for studying, I spent another lunch hour in the conference room getting through about 30 more pages, then I finished up tonight after dinner. It feels good to have the book done, but now the hard part begins – memorizing the key words and concepts, and sorting everything out in my head so I actually learn what I am supposed to be learning.

Day 4: August 7, 2016

More studying…  I at least finished Chapter Three and got a start on Chapter Four tonight (the last chapter!). I had hoped to be done with the book by tonight, but Chapter Three proved to a bit more of a strain on my brain than I had originally anticipated.

I did all of my food prep, though, so I have healthy food to eat this week leading up to the exam. See below for our dinner from tonight: BLTA sandwiches with homemade lemon dill vegan mayo and tempeh back, with steamed cauliflower on the side. It was pretty tasty, if I say so myself.

I decided to forego working out again today in lieu of studying, but I am planning on getting back on the workout wagon tomorrow morning and am going to shoot for 5 for 5 on the am workouts this week. My test is this upcoming Friday, and I am looking forward to having my afternoons free again to workout.

I am also going to contact a lady I met through my networking group tomorrow regarding natural statins. We were talking about cholesterol at a meeting a few months ago and she had mentioned that she was able to lower her cholesterol quite significantly using natural statins. Has anyone had any experience with that or have any natural statins that you would recommend?

Day 3: August 6, 2016

In light of yesterday’s decisions, I decided to spend the day today working on my nearest goal, which is to pass my Series 65 exam next Friday.

First, though, I had to clean the house. I don’t know about you, but I find it incredibly hard to focus on anything, let alone learning about options, when the house is a mess. So Matt and I did the laundry, vacuumed, put away the dishes, finished unpacking the suitcases, and cleaned the deck. Once all of that was done, I settled in to study.

I am pretty proud that I got through Chapter Two and am starting on Chapter Three. It doesn’t sound like that much, but each Chapter is over 100 pages and there are only four in the whole book, so I am over halfway done. t takes me a while to get through the materials as I am following my study protocol that got me through high school (#5 in my class over over 500, thankyouverymuch) and college (3.75 GPA, thankyouverymuch), which is to make flashcards or key phrases and concepts as I go. It’s arduous, to say the least, but it definitely helps with retention.

Speaking of studying, I should get back to it, but since there are no pics in this post yet, here’s one of Oscar trying to distract me and my study aide (aka: wine – And yes, that is ice in there; gotta keep it classy).

Day 2: August 5, 2016

Well, I’m two for two in the old morning workout category. Woo hoo! Again, I decided to be a bit gentler on myself and did another T25 dvd this morning. This time it was Upper Focus, and I can already feel like that chest is going to be sore. I was only using 8 pounders, so that tells you how long it has been since I’ve lifted weights (much to my dismay).

Lunchtime brought another solid hour of studying, which I am intending to keep up all next week, as well.

I did pretty good during the work day today as far as eating habits are concerned. Minus the indulgence of a grande iced soy latte from Starbucks, I ate pretty clean throughout the day.

And then the evening hit (le sigh).

It’s not that I didn’t want to hangout with our friends. I love hanging out with our two friends who watch the cats for us while we are out of town. I feel like we don’t get to hangout enough, so it’s always nice when we get to see them. And they did just watch out cats AGAIN while we were up in MN for my sister’s wedding, so we needed to see them to give them a card and get our keys back. “It will just be a quick drink,” I told myself. “We have nothing here for dinner, anyway.” (Lies.) I knew that I should have said no and studied, but I didn’t. Instead we had a great time grabbing a drink at The Alchemist and then I had my special vegan nachos at Rocco’s Tacos. (See? I tried! Granted the nachos were washed down with a Corona and a shot of Corzo, but those are minor details, right?)

Needless to say, I didn’t get any studying in tonight, but I am going to bed happy, so I am counting that as doing something for myself.

Day 1: August 4, 2016

This morning I threw a little notebook in my purse so I can keep track of all the things I do in a day. I did a good job of writing down the proactive things I did for myself today, but I realized that I also need to record the things I say “no” to, as that is something that I am doing for myself, as well. I’m going to work on that moving forward…

The first thing I did for myself today was to get up and go to the gym. After a week+ hiatus, it felt good to get a workout done in the morning and start my day off with a “win.” I did the Speed 1.0 from T25, so it wasn’t the hardest workout in the world, but it was a great one for Day One.

I also spent an hour over lunch studying for my exam, and finished up the first chapter’s practice exams and study questions tonight. Only three more beasts of chapters left to go…

I made some positive choices for my meals today, including oatmeal with fresh blueberries, a green smoothie made in our new Vitamin blender (that thing is badass), and a Greek 4-part lunch box from Whole Foods with two falafel patties, a scoop of tabouleh, roasted beets, and tzatziki sauce. Granted, I am typing this now with a glass of wine in hand, but I’d say that’s doing something for myself, too. =)