Back

Wow. SO many things have been happening in my life lately that blogging has been pushed to a back burner. But I have recently had a breakthrough that will impact my future in a positive manner, and I HAD to talk about it.

My last blog post was about how I wanted to cut back on mochas--starting at 7 (one a day) and working down to 6. Eventually, after 2 months, I would be down to one mocha a week. That never happens. I have had this goal for...I would guesstimate a year and a half now...and it NEVER works. One week might be rough, and I feel the need to have a frozen mocha everyday. And BAM. Like that, I am back to square one, working from 7 mochas to 6, to 5, etc...

I have now been working at Panera for 2 months, and I find that, on the days when I work, I never get a frozen mocha. Frozen mochas are now something I savor for a long period of time. It can take me 30 minutes or 3 hours to completely finish a frozen mocha. At work, I have a 30 minute lunch break, which includes time to order, wait for food and/or drink, sit down, and eat.

Last Saturday, I was thinking about health problems I've been having lately, and why I'm having them. I won't go into detail, but let me just say...every day (it seems), I feel like I ate/drank too much dairy and am lactose-intolerant and didn't take a lactaid pill to help with the side effects......

I go to the restroom a lot. There.

This is nearly everyday. ESPECIALLY during rough weeks when I'm having a frozen mocha everyday. ESPECIALLY on days when I have frozen moch--CLICK.

See the connection? No? Me either, at least not for MANY years.

Have frozen mocha=YUM= sick later
Not have frozen mocha= :( = NOT sick later

Ahha! The frozen mochas are making me sick--literally!

Words cannot express how truly HAPPY I was when I realized that there is a way to stop my constant sickness. I had one more Sunday morning (goodbye frozen mochas!) and got really sick...

End result? I've stopped drinking frozen mochas for good. What will I replace it with? Today, I tried the Starbucks Mocha Cookie Crumble Frapp (deelish), and I don't see any signs of sickness. I'm not a HUGE fan of Frapps, so I don't know how often I will go there for one, but if I feel the urge, once a week wouldn't be bad. I heard that Starbucks came out with a lemonade (???), and I want to try that, too.

Other than that, summer going...ok...lots of applications filled out, one job declined, one job INTERVIEW COMING THURSDAY (just got the call today!!!!!!!), and more hopefully afterwards.

What drinks would you suggest to substitute for a frozen mocha?

Have you tried the Starbucks Lemonade? How is it?

New Goal Sunday

Time for New Goal Sunday, where I choose goals to work on in the week ahead (Sunday-Saturday).

This week's goals:

1.) Give up one fast-food meal and frozen mocha per week.

Start: 7 fast-food meals and frozen mochas per week (1 every day)
Goal: 6 fast-food meals and frozen mochas per week

2.) Take 2-3 minutes to record what I eat after each meal.

I have slipped on both of these goals and hopefully can get back on track. Working at the place where I get my favorite drink--a frozen mocha--is going to be quite a challenge!

Hey! Over here!

Hey, remember me? I've been gone a long time...and not only from this blog, but unfortunately, also from the gym, and from eating healthy, and from...everything about changing my lifestyle that I wanted to do....so it's time for me to get back on track and back to blogging.

I realize that I don't post many pictures on this blog. I used to, but now I just do a lot of writing. How boring! My goal to better this blog is to add more pictures: of me, of things I do, of food I eat, etc...
BUT. I am in no way "tech-savvy", so I will be figuring this out as I go.

Here's my first pic/update: THAT is a delicious frozen mocha from Panera, because soon, VERY soon, I will be making these myself! That's right, I got a 5th job at my local Panera Bread bakery-cafe! For now, I am in training, and I'm doing great, according to my trainers!

I also got a 6th job as an accompanist for the local community theatre's summer production of Legally Blonde: The Musical. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh you guys! I am so excited about doing this!! Auditions start next week, and I will be playing for some of those!

You might be reading this and thinking, "6 jobs?!?! Are you nuts?!?! How do you manage your time?!"

One VERY IMPORTANT concept I've learned is how to ADAPT. This word has become my mantra lately. Life has thrown me bucketsful recently, but I just adapt to changing situations. I adapt to last-minute happenings. I adapt to anything that I need to. Fortunately, I work with many people who are very gracious and tolerant of my ever-changing schedule.

Also, 2 of my 6 jobs will cease during the summer (subbing and accompanying at a local high school), which will open up my days more.

Lastly, I have picked up 2 more students, and another student who I should be able to fit into the schedule during the summer. That's 5-6 students total!

So, I'm back. And I HOPE to be back for good, or at least on a normal schedule.

Sickness Update

Update on what's going on this week:

I'm sick. Like, really sick. It started 2 nights ago, when I started getting the shivers. I am one who is normally cold (bad circulation in fingertips and toes), but give me a blanket, and I'll be fine. But I couldn't get warm that night, at all. I was shivering uncontrollably under 2 blankets. After 6 hours of sleeping uncomfortably in a chair in our den, I was finally warmed up. I got up (this is yesterday) and felt lousy all day. Fortunately, it was a snow day (number 15 million, I swear), and I didn't have anything going on all day. Then, last night, I felt fine, but couldn't make it up to my bed because I was so dead tired.

This morning, I woke up and BAM. It hit me. I couldn't move my limbs. I felt like I had gotten beaten up last night, and every muscle ached. I called off of work, as did Mom, who is feeling generally the same symptoms, but feeling them much worse. I woke up at 5:15 to see Dad off to work, and then went back to sleep until 7:30, when I woke up to have breakfast. I crawled back under the covers on the couch, and fell asleep until 10:30. I tried to lift my head, but it felt like my head was the size of a watermelon and weighed as much as one of those giant pumpkins you see winning fair prizes. I couldn't lift my arms and couldn't move my legs. I (begrudgingly) got off the couch and took 2 pain pills. Within 2 hours, I felt good enough to eat and had lunch. For the rest of the day, I felt ok, but very tired.

Mom started feeling better around 4:30...which is just when I started feeling worse. My nose started plugging up, my head felt full, and a sore throat is starting to form. Currently, my nose is super congested, so anytime I try to blow my nose....nothing happens except more plugging up....

Hopefully, next week will be a better week....as we creep closer to the Lent season and musical time, I'm afraid of how this cold/congestion crap will affect my accumulating schedule...

Motivation Monday

~Know your limitations, then defy them~

New Goal Sunday

Happy Sunday!

I'm off to a great start this week. This morning, after a FANTASTIC weekend at the music education professional development conference in Columbus, I had a healthy breakfast of a bowl of Special K Chocolatey Delight cereal with skim milk (clearly I love chocolate at all times of the day) and a glass of water. I filled up a water bottle and was on my way to the gym. I did gain some pounds back (3 to be precise) after not going to the gym for 1 week. I was up to 424.6 last week, but that number is already falling (I checked!).

My January fitness goal (even though I never told you) was to "up" the intensity of some of my workout in the gym. The long-term goal from this? Get the maximum benefit out of each workout. Here are some of the intensity boosts I've given myself lately at the gym: ramp up the incline to .5% during down times and 1% during small intervals on the treadmill; stop the treadmill halfway through for 30 seconds to catch my breath--stop for 15 seconds--stop for 10 seconds--stop for 5 seconds--don't stop (I made it through 15 minutes non-stop today!!!!); add 5 pounds to chest press (30-35-40), do 1 pushup, do 5 pushups, do 10 pushups;

Today, I upped the intensity by going non-stop on the treadmill, as in, not stopping at all during my 15 minutes! This is a big step for me. My palms were really sweaty and I was so self-conscious about how much I sweated onto the machine, but it felt so good!!

When I got home, I had (one of) my February goal(s): a healthy post-workout snack. I had lowfat vanilla yogurt with cereal pieces and a cup of diced pears.

In the middle of church, my stomach started making growling noises, and by the time I was done, I needed food, and STAT. Now I'm wondering if just a bowl of cereal is not enough for a good breakfast. I'll have to figure something else out...

My new goal this week is:

Have 1 frozen mocha and 1 fast-food meal per week

I can't believe it. If I can accomplish this goal, then I will be done with focusing on frozen mochas and can add other goals. Wow. It's been a long struggle, but I finally have those mochas and fast-food meals under control!!

Lastly, today, I put on this cardigan that I could never wear before because it looked painted on (especially in the arms). If you check out my Facebook or Twitter, I Instagrammed a pic of me wearing the cardigan with very baggy arms! I am a VERY happy person today. Have a great week!

Happy February!

It's month 2 of 2014 (wow, January went fast), and things are officially on a roll in my life. Piano lessons are starting back up after a hectic holiday season, subbing calls are slowly coming back (even though we've been in school for what...5 days since January 5th? Thanks, bitter, nasty winter), accompanying is back on a regular schedule, and church responsibilities are picking up as we get closer to Lent. I don't know if any other readers have seen the harsh winter we have. Maybe you've had worse, but Ohio's governor has asked the state to extend calamity days from 5 to 9 for this one year because that is just how bad this winter is. We had 3 "arctic plunges" in January, where temps dipped into the negatives, and wind chills dipped to the -40s. A lot of our school closings are because of temps, not snow. I think there was one REALLY bad storm where my county was on a Level 3 road warning (driving was illegal except for emergency crews), but that was over in a few days. I think we're all ready for spring....

EXCEPT FOR ME!!! I LOVE WINTER!!!!!!! Make it snow EVERYDAY, PLEASE!! I really do love winter. I could live in this climate. This is my favorite season, mainly because I have a TON of winter clothing (sweaters, 2 pairs boots, long-sleeved shirts, etc...) that I love wearing and I LOVE snuggling up to a warm fire with a cup of hot cocoa.

Ok, start of a new month, start of some new goals. 

I know it's not Sunday yet, but I thought I would get a jump start.

First of all, an update on my "resolution" to lose 50 lbs by the end of the year. So far, I have dropped 8 pounds! Not bad for one month...not bad at all!

Next up, I have decided that weekly goals are good, but now I'd like to add more: monthly goals.

February's monthly goals: 

Aim for 2 DAYS OF REST; that means I am striving to work out 5 days a week.

Try new post-workout snack: Fruit & yogurt

My new weekly goal:

Give up 1 fast-food meal/frozen mocha per week

Start: 2 Goal: 1

Have a good week!