Maximize Your Happiness Potential

Great article on taking control of your own happiness with great practical ideas about how to lift your mood, maintain a positive outlook, and reap all the benefits that come with it.

Day 1

3:30 am 1/2 salmon wrap w/ lots of veggies and a little avocado
4:30 am a bunch of super yummy pan popped popcorn from a co-worker
6:40 am String Cheese
4:00 pm Cereal and soy milk and a hard boiled egg
6:30 pm -7:30 pm PROJECT POOLSIDE @ SCOTT FITNESS (aka boot camp for your booty)
7:40 pm Shake w/ Big B (my new B vitamin mix, made the shake yummier and healthier at the same time)
8:10 pm Skin from left over baked potato
9:40 pm Amy's Kitchen Burrito w/ homemade guac; spinach salad w/ guac and a little dressing and 1/4 c frozen yogurt

Total Approx. Calories = 1550

Not bad for the 1st day back on track.

Today's...

Best Stuff: Went to class, stayed in calorie range, got new Big B vitamin powder (that I won on-line)and I like it, took a power nap before work, got the whole CC (children's center)cleaned in 30 min.

Areas to strengthen: Walk Jersey longer, do 8 Min in AM, make better food choices (should have eaten less popcorn, and cereal I had was high in sugar but it's gone now so no more)

Things I learned today: Wear good gym clothes. I didn't today because I was in a hurry so I wore baggy sweats and a t-shirt to class. Bad idea. Not only was it discouraging to look in the mirror it was a pain in the butt. I had to tuck the t-shirt in so it didn't come up or hang down. I will definitely take the extra 2 minutes to put on my stuff designed for the gym from now on.

I also read a great article on the need for sleep. Nothing super shocking but reinforced the power of sleep and the importance of getting enough of it especially if you are trying to lose weight.

The Numbers

I weighed and measured today. These numbers are the starting line. Everything before was the warm-up now it is go time.

Smallest part of waist: 37"
Biggest part of belly (around belly button): 41"
Hips: 44.5"
Bust: 43"
Chest: 38"
Right Thigh (at largest part): 25.5"
Right Upper Arm (at largest part): 12.75"
Total inches: 241.75"

Weight: 206.4

Goal

Lose 30lbs and 30" by 30

Weight: 176.4
Total Inches: 211.74


I will update these numbers every Sunday from here on out.

Once I stop hacking up green stuff daily I will do two trial runs one to see how fast I can complete a mile and one to see how far I can run maintaining a 5 mph pace. And rotate these goals weekly for updates.

Goals

Speed: 6 min mile (just one mile all out)
Distance: 13.5 miles

Gina Carano

My boyfriend worships her and so do I. She is my go to for inspiration. She is a healthy bad ass. We have a few things in common that allow me to pretend that all this is worth it because in the end I might look a bit more like her. We are the same height, have a similar build (the boobs I will have to buy later), we have the same hair color, eye color, complexion, smile and dimples. It would be out of this world if I could rock a dress like this for the big 3-0!

How This All Got Started

Food journals and posting them are nothing new. Every book, magazine and health nut advises people to do it but not until my cousin Jessica started doing hers on FB did it hit home. I have wanted to be like her since I was a kid so of course the instant she started this "thing" it became cooler. It grew into something much bigger friends and strangers were supportive, I became addicted to writting everything down, and something really cool happened I had a support network instantly. I am hoping this new format adds a new demension to this healthy habit and continues to cultivate and grow this support source. Antoher crazy thing happened I did it purely to motivate myself but magically it motivated other people. I can't wait to see how this grows and develops and pushes me forward in my quest.

ShrinkYourself.com

I knew I used food as a stress reliever but I had no idea to what extent or what to do about it. Going through the therapeutic process on-line through shrinkyourself.com taught me a lot about myself, my issues and how to deal with them. Although the cookie cutter approach wasn't a perfect fit for me and my issues (but pretty dang close) it was definitely worth the small fees. I encourage anyone looking to change their relationship with food to check it out.

It is never to late to be what you might have been

Like the match.com commercial says, "here's to the beginning." Everything is so fun and exciting in this phase even a thing as daunting as changing your entire life. The ideas are intoxicating, the potential invigorating and the reality challenging. And I am ready to take it all on.

Here's a quick overview of how I see this blog thing playing out. I work weird hours so if I don't pick a specific 24 hour period to call a day my life gets hectic and keeping track of a daily food journal is impossible. I have decided that a midnight to midnight approach is really the best way to go accountability wise. So, starting tonight at midnight I will beginning recording everything I eat and when I exercise. I will then report back to the world at the end of the 24 hours with the results.

Whenever I feel like it I will post all kinds of additional stuff. Pictures, links, quotes whatever gets me motivated that day. I have a lot I want to post to bring everyone up to speed, things like inspirations, books I am reading, websites that have been helpful, runs I want to complete, songs that get me moving and visualization exercises that really helped. I will be working on getting these things up ASAP.

Just FYI this is my first blog ever and I am not 100% how it works or how it will go. I will attempt to link it to my FB page to keep in touch with the folks there whom have been so supportive.