A Girl's Gotta Start Meal Prepping

Life is a mess filled with hectic schedules, unfinished piles of laundry and too many hours staring at computer screens.

As much as I'd like to take comfort in the monotony of my weekly routines, they make me nuts. They make me feel like everything is just flying by and there's no time to do anything fun. While time goes by ever faster, my waist just keeps on expanding and the number on the scale just keeps on rising.

What's a girl to do about it? A girl's gotta try meal prepping apparently. 

About two weeks ago, The Boyfriend and I decided to start cooking meals on Sundays to last for the workweek in hopes that getting back on track would help us be more in control of our eating habits - less fast food and less junk in general.

It's also good practice for whenever we move in together, but that's a whole other ball of wax!

Anyway, the first week we meal prepped went pretty well! I lost about two pounds, probably just water weight, but I'll take it!

Week 1's meals included: lentils, brown rice, salmon (for me), beef/turkey meatballs (for him), chicken breasts and various roasted veggies.

Then the weekend came, and it was The Boyfriend's birthday, so there was booze, and cake and hibachi and the scale went back up, but we prepped for the second week which didn't go as smoothly.

Week 2's meals included: brown rice, pork chops, egg "muffins," roasted butternut squash and roasted spaghetti squash.

The pork chops didn't go over to well with either of us, the egg muffins were the bomb and I've repeated the dual squashes for Week 3.

Week 2 didn't leave me feeling as "light" as Week 1, but I also didn't stick to the meals as strictly on Week 2. There was Wendy's involved and peach cobbler and other forbidden fruits, but I digress!

Week 3 (the current week) is back to basics. 

On my menu for Monday 10/13/14) through Friday (10/17/14) are:

Breakfast: Two eggs, a toasted English muffin
Snack: Greek yogurt
Lunch: Baked chicken, lentils, squash and asparagus
Dinner: Salmon, brown rice, squash

I need to add in some more healthy fats and definitely fruit -- maybe I'll add in an after dinner snack of a smoothie with fruit.

Either way, I'm pretty sure this is going to be my go-to meal plan for the work weeks for the next foreseeable future. I'm pretty full and satisfied throughout the day and it only requires minimal cooking and preparation the night before when I pack up for lunch.

Now, if I could only wrap my head around incorporating exercise regularly again I'd be unstoppable.

I think I've fallen in love with CrossFit

So I tried CrossFit last week thanks to a ready-to-expire Amazon Local coupon for $80. And I'll be honest- it's really tough, but I kind of love it.

I like how challenging it is and every time I finish a workout, I'm impressed with myself and feel like I want to do better next time, which is the whole point of making progress, right?

My first class was last week and it was the free non-member class, which was a great day to start since I'd be there with other beginners.

We warmed up with some jump rope and air squats before moving on to an overview of some barbell movements.

Then onto the actual workout, it was a 15-minute workout, five exercises, one minute each for a total of three rounds.

Wall balls, burpees, sit-ups, kettlebell swings and pushups were that day's particular poison.

After keeping track of how many reps for each exercise you know have a baseline to use later on should you do that particular workout again.

Everything that people say about CrossFit, has been true so far.
The welcoming people.
The hard work.
The sweat.
The soreness.

It's all been true. But it's all so gratifying and I can't wait for the next class.

It's way too early for shopping

Le Boyfriend's sister got engaged around Thanksgiving and will be wed in June. I am ecstatic for them. Not only because of their upcoming nuptials and the inevitable fun times with their riotous family but for a slightly more selfish reason - it (somewhat) takes pressure off of Le Boyfriend and myself for a while.

That last statement isn't really as true as I hoped it was, ha, but whatever. With the focus on his sister and her beloved, my sweet boy and I don't get peppered with questions about when we'll get hitched quite as often. (Again, I'm trying to convince myself that statement is true.)

Honestly, since I've decided to make 2014 my year, I feel like I've made a lot of huge changes to my life.

1. I have really dedicated myself to eating better, more wholesome meals (with exceptions here and there).
2. I've committed to working out at least three to four times every week. 
3. I've been spending more time focusing on job hunting including follow-up emails, updating my resume, reading about what kind of jobs I could be applying for and I've even attached myself to two creative staffing agencies to do some of the legwork for me. 

All three of those items that I've been trying to focus on are tangible goals that I'm doing my best to keep up with and I think they're paying off.

I've lost about seven pounds since the beginning of January and I can actually tell the difference. T-shirts that were pretty tight around my midsection that were quickly on their way to a fate in the back of the drawer, are now fitting much looser and more comfortably.

I've applied to a few jobs that I definitely feel qualified for and FINALLY one of them contacted me back for a phone interview and a possible in-person interview later this week. (Wish me luck!)

Now let me try and reign in my thoughts over here, the whole point of this post was to say that since Le Boyfriend's sister is getting married in June, I now have a goal date to reach that's realistic and I can hold myself accountable to; Friday, June 27, 2014.

As of this point, that's only about four months away. In four months, I could potentially lose at least 20 pounds. In four months I could potentially GAIN 20 pounds. I'm pulling for the former rather than the latter.

The reason I started writing this particular blog post was because I decided to start looking at dresses for the wedding that's four months away and I was tempted to buy one already.

The dress is from Dorothy Perkins. It's a simple, pencil dress with a notched neckline, a silhouette that I'm a huge fan of. I think it's the fact that I enjoy showing off the curves of my waist and bum and I've been a big fan of my calves lately... but I digress. It's the color that really stood out to me, it's a lovely coral color, perfect for a June wedding, and I won't clash with the bridesmaids. And the added bonus is that I'll most likely already be somewhat tan from the summer sun so I feel like I'm just gonna be glowing in it. (#justsayin'.)

After a quick text to Le Boyfriend, who reaffirmed that it is in fact too soon to be buying dresses for a wedding four months away, I thought to myself;

"Self, why don't you wait and see how much weight you lose before buying anything. You'll probably be a few sizes smaller by then, Self, which will TOTALLLLLYYY save money on alterations."*

So in the end, I've decided not to buy this lovely dress and have somewhat made a loose wager with myself that if I lose at least 15 pounds I'll buy something new and if I don't, then I'll wear something old.

Chances are that I'll probably buy something new regardless, just because I can't resist.

*Notice how that statement is all in the affirmative. Yeah buddy, Ana's getting stuff done this year, lol. 

Self-pity Party

As I'm sitting here, watching POTUS deliver the State of the Union, I can't help but not pay attention and have a self-pity party on my couch.

I'm severely unemployed. I've applied to numerous jobs that I feel I'm qualified for and not one has called/emailed/sent a carrier pigeon. It's pretty insulting and incredibly disheartening.

The last time I was unemployed for this amount of time, which is now at this point six months, give or take a three-week stint as a temp in October, I at least had a full-time school schedule to keep me busy.

Now, I have the pleasure of filling my days staring at the same job listings over and over again.

I don't know where I went wrong in life. I guess it was that journalism degree. Maybe I should've been a doctor/lawyer/businessperson.

Honestly, I don't know where to start to change my situation and it's such a bummer because I'd really like to start living an adult life.

2014 will be MY year

I say this every year, but this time I mean it. (I also say that every year).

I started out 2014 the heaviest I've ever been in my life. 207 lbs. Yeah, I said my weight on the internet. Whatevs.

I've never really had low self esteem that I can recall, and I've never been very humble either. If I think I'm awesome at something, I'll let you know.

But back to the point. I'm over weight and I have been most of my life, I'm very much aware of that. However for the first time in a while, I'm feeling uncomfortable about it.

My back aches, I don't dig the way I look in my clothes sometimes, I'm having some serious muffin top issues lately, it's just not cool anymore.

So this year, I'm actually going to follow through on my plans to do something about it.  (Again, something I say every year.)

I don't know why, but 2014 feels different. Maybe I've finally matured. Maybe not. Maybe a year of following fitness boards on Pinterest and fitspo Instagramers has finally gotten to me.

Either way, my resolution for 2014 is to just get stuff done. Whatever it is. Weight loss. Get it done. Finding a job. Get it done. Keep my room clean. Get it done.