NSV & Dogs

It's NSV link-up time with KTJ!

I feel like it's been forever since I have had a non-scale victory, and I didn't think I was going to have one to share this week, but I do!

Without even making an effort, I have not had any candy or sweets this week! (with the exception of one brownie bite after Anna's returning-home dinner last night).  It didn't even occur to me that I haven't had sweets until I ate the brownie bite last night. Usually, after I finish lunch or dinner, I immediately get a craving for sweets.  Lately, I have been good, and I have just been having a tootsie roll.  Other times though, I devour a full candy bar and blow 200-300 calories.  This week though, I have not even noticed cravings, therefore, I haven't had any candy or desserts!  

I am not sure what I have been doing this week to make this happen, but I sure am glad it is happening!  Perhaps since I am focusing on eating lots of fruits and veggies this week, I am getting enough natural sugars that my body is not craving artificial sweets?  

Transforming My Morning

1.  I am thankful for my dogs and the constant companionship and entertainment they provide.  When I need a laugh, they do something goofy to make me smile.  When I am sad, they feel it too, and snuggle up with their momma.  They never judge me. They could care less if I was 150 pounds or 300 pounds, as long as I return the love they show me.  They are gentle creatures that love unconditionally, and I am so happy to call them mine!

Skittles Marie

Molly Elizabeth

If you're a dog love, read this.  So sweet & sad. 

2.  "Whoever said diamonds are a girl's best friend, never had a dog."

3.  You are a enough.

4.  Meditation.

  

Weigh-In Wednesday

Super busy at work today, so this is a quick post.

Transforming Your Morning Challenge

1.  I am thankful that I get to see my bff, Anna, again tonight and spend a little more time with her before she flies back to New Jersey tomorrow morning.

This picture went into my mini journal because it's hilarious! 

2.  “Good friends are like stars.  You don’t always see them, but you know they’re always there.”

3.  FOCUS – again.  I have a lot to get through at work today so I really really need to focus.

4.  Meditation

Weigh-In

Last week: 167.5

This week:  167.3

Small loss, but it’s a loss all the same.  I really need to start busting my ass if I want to win the 10 week challenge between me and Nick.  I should be at at least 165.1 to be on track.  Still totally doable to lose the 10%, it’s just going to be difficult.  I have faith though.  Nick forgot to weigh himself this morning, so we don't know his weight today.

Have a lovely Wednesday my friends!  

Transforming Your Morning Challenge & Balance

Last night, I decided to try out Erika’s 30-Day Transforming Your Morning Challenge.  People get so wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of life that they forget to take a moment to be thankful, zoned, and appreciative.  Erika is asking her readers to do one of four things when they wake up in the morning:

1. Write one thing down that you are grateful for. You could write this down in a journal or diary.

2. Read something inspiring, such as a quote or daily devotional.

3. Have a mantra/positive affirmations for the day.

4. Meditate or pray.

I originally read the post wrong, and actually did all four things this morning.  Here is my breakdown from Day 1:

1.  I am grateful for Nick and all the support, love, and kindness he shows me on a daily basis.

2.  “It took more than a day to put it on.  It will take more than a day to take it off.  Move.”

I can get easily discouraged if I do not have weight loss every week, or go over my calories, or just plain eat shitty all day.  I need to realize that the extra poundage I have put on since high school isn't going to magically fall off.  I am not going to wake up one morning and miraculously be 130 pounds.  It will take time, and I have to work for it, but one day, I will be 100% comfortable in my own skin.

3.  FOCUS

I have been distracted lately.  Distracted at work.  Distracted from my fitness goals.  Distracted from my friends.  Each time I feel distractions coming on when I need to get something accomplished, I will just repeat, FOCUS.

4.  I am neither religious nor spiritual so I opted to meditate.  When I arrived at work, I sat at my desk for a few minutes with my eyes closed, and I focused on my breathing for a couple minutes.  I imagined I could see the oxygen flowing through my body from my lungs out to the tips of my limbs and back out again.  When I opened my eyes, I felts so calm, peaceful, relaxed, and re-energized.

 

I wrote all of this down in a little notebook, and as a little extra motivation for the day, I taped in this picture

She just looks so focused and peaceful.  I feel that this picture really fits in with my theme today.

If you need a little help finding some balance in your life, check out Erika’s full post on the Challenge.  Better yet, just check out Erika's blog in general.  She is gorgeous, a super badass runner, a mega badass cop, and soon to be first time mommy.  I aspire to be as awesome as her someday.

Speaking of balance, I also saw this on Sara’s Facebook page today. 

Sara blogs over at Eat. Feel. Fresh. and shares a TON of health advice and recipes.  She is a Certified Raw Nutritionist so she knows what she’s talking about.  Sara only posts on her blog a few times a month, but you can also follow her on Facebook which she updates daily.  

What are you tips and tricks to finding focus and balance?

My BFF & Goals

Happy Monday, my peeps!  I had a fun filled weekend spending time with my bff and her family.  

A whirlpool tub full of beer.  We are a classy crew.

Petting zoo at the Lanesboro festival.

Sampling beer at the marvelous Grumpy Troll.

One of the greatest pictures of all times!

I am pretty sure I have mentioned it before, but my best friend from 7^th grade has been living in New Jersey for about 4 years so I do not get to see her very often.  We have the kind of friendship where we don’t see each other for a year, but when we are together, it’s like we were never apart.  I have been a little spoiled this year, and she has actually been home to visit twice this year already. 

I love being able to spend time with Anna, but when we are together, my ambition and self-control goes out the window!  This weekend was filled with a ton of fun, but it was also filled with tons of booze, fried food, and no exercise.  I guess we did walk around a lot, but not enough to combat the poor food choices.  Oh well, YOLO.  I will just have to work extra hard to burn off anything I may have gained over the weekend. 

And now, it’s time for some goals.

Last week, my goal was to track every little thing that I ate.  I did AWESOME with this goal, until Friday…  I tracked every damn thing Monday –Thursday, and then the weekend happened and I didn't track a single thing.  I didn't track anything over the weekend for two reasons. 

1.  I did not have access to a computer and I barely had my phone on me so I couldn't use MFP.  BTW, if anyone wants to be MFP friends, my name is aloeffelholz34. 

2. I was eating and drinking a lot, and in all honestly, I preferred to be denial about how much I was going over my limit.

Those are my excuses, and now, I am moving on.

I have two goals for this week.

First, I will be doing at least 30 minutes of cardio EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. 

Second, I am going to be focusing on fruits and veggies this week.  I am going to build my meals around lots & lots of fruit and vegetables.

Those, my friends, are two easy peasy goals that I am going to rock hard this week!   

Foodie Pen Pal Goodies

After taking a few months off, I joined the Foodie Pen Pal exchange again in July.  This exchange is hosted by Lindsay over at the The Lean Green Bean.  It is awesome to be part of, and makes it seem like Christmas is every month!  For those of you that have not heard of Food Pen Pal, here are details straight from Lindsay’s blog:

-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you can choose to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month.
- Foodie Penpals is open to US, Canadian residents & UK residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. So, I’m going to keep two separate lists and match US w/ US and Canada w/ Canada!

***If you’re in the UK, please contact Carol Anne from This Is Rock Salt at rocksalt@thisisrocksalt.com to get involved!

If you would like further info, check out Lindsay’s blog here.

On to the fun stuff:  what I received from my pen pal, Sydney.  Sydney is the writer at Syd theWyd, but she has not posted since February.  Hopefully she starts posting again because her blog is quite interesting!

 I was on vacation over the week that the Foodie packages were sent out, so I had Sydney send mine to work so it did not sit out on our front step the entire week.  This was great because I had actually forgotten about it while on vacation so I had a nice little gift waiting for me when I got back to the office on Monday.  

The first picture is of homemade S'more bars Syd made for me.  I was thankful I received the goodie package at work because these babies were so delicious that I would have eaten them ALL by myself.  Since I was at work, I shared with my co-workers so I would not be tempted to eat every single piece.

Besides the bars, I got black lava sea salt, black cherry balsamic vinegar, Kokomo Verjus wine, Gatorade energy chews, and a lovely hand written note explaining each item.  The sea salt is good to use as a rub on meats, or to add a little salty crunch to bland foods.  I need to strain the cherry out of the vinegar today, and then the vinegar can be used in as a dressing, or reduced and eaten over ice cream.  Kokomo Verjus is a wine that is more often used in cooking or salad dressings, but it can be drunk chilled.  Syd says it is also delightful if mixed with something carbonated to give it some bubbles.  She added the Gatorade chews because I told her I am training for a marathon.

Other than devouring the S'more bars, I actually have not opened any of my other items yet.  I am saving the wine to have with my bestie who will be visiting this weekend so I will have to report next week how it is.  I think I am most excited to try the vinegar so I am very happy that it is finally the 31st and I can now strain it and use it.  I love cherries and I love balsamic vinegar so this sounds like a match made in heaven!!!

Overall, I am super impressed with Syd's goodie selection.  She chose really unique items, and she put a lot of time and care into hand writing the adorable labels, and my card.  It was also very thoughtful of her to remember my marathon training and add the energy chews.  I am going to be jealous of the person that gets matched up with her next month!

I sent goodies over to Dawn at Spatulas On Parade.  Make sure to check out her fabulous cooking blog for some recipe ideas!  Dawn loves chocolate and lemon, so I themed her items around those two flavors.  You can check out what I sent her by reading her post here. 

If you love food, and receiving packages, I definitely recommend joining Foodie Pen Pal!!