Day#99: Birthday Week Madness

Hey all, yeah sorry it's been another week past since my last post. LAME! I know... I say May is cursed, cursed with craziness, and so many things to do. Particularly this past week which happened to be my birthday week.

Happy birthday me, 28 is blowing my mind, I'm not really sure how I got to be that old. (Shrug) Nothing I can do about it except rock the heck out of it, 28 prepare to be made awesome! ;)

Tuesday May 24th, was my birthday, and since it was in the middle of the week it wasn't going to be as huge a deal as birthday partying over the weekend. But me, I'm a sucker for arcades. I think it might just be the fact that it's the closest i'll ever get to gambling... Man I play the heck out of arcades. Love Um!!! So got my boondocks on and invited my siblings to come and join me. We ate and played, and mini-golfed - It was epic. Love <3

As I gussied myself up for the day, I decided to wear a set of earnings and a ring that my mom had given to me on my birthday the year I graduated from High School (way back in 2006). I thought, what a great way to celebrate my birthday and have mom close. #beautifulbling



Sorry didn't take any pics that day other than my coworker Anna's awesome cake present she got for me. Behold, the awesomest fruitcake you'll ever see or eat! YUMmmm! feel free to be jelly, it was fabulous times a million!



Thursday May 26th. I arranged a Crape party because another co-worker of mine, Edna was also having a birthday this week, Friday in fact. She's awesome, and I enjoy having so many good girlfriends at work. I don't think i've ever had that before! it's fabulous.

So Wednesday night Edna came over and we made Crapes. We took an early lunch and went to a nearby park to bask in the sun and enjoy the food. Edna snapped a pic of all of us.



From Left to right: (Me, Ashley, Ashley, Holly, Anna, Parrin, Gwen, and Edna in the very front) I'm truly grateful for these ladies that make working in a stressful job easier. Yes, Design is stressful... Gosh! You don't believe me? It is gosh darn it! ;( (hence the need for crape parties!)

Saturday May 26th. I forced everyone to celebrate again with a BBQ and CAKE!!!! If you didn't know by now, let me tell you something that is fact... FACT!!! My sister Melisa is basically the most awesome baker in the world. Her cake is to die for! I'm more of a pie person myself, but I'll tell you right now; I will always eat Melisa's cake, she's da-bomb-diggity-dog-times-a-million-kissed-by-angels-awesome-sauce. I don't even lie. (nope truth TRUTH!) She made me a coconut Pineapple Cake, with custard. It was amazing. I'd eat the crap out of that tastiness. (hangs my head, I kinda did. Let's be honest. I couldn't resist.)

We Todd's don't do anything half way, we make up some pretty spectacular eats. Steak, chicken, salmon, a variety of salads and corn on the cob, drinks, and even shrimp-n-veggie kabobs! That's right, all ya'all's bbq's can hang their head's in shame. We rock that harder than those other people at the park who had KFC. (shakes head sadly, poor people!)



(Note: this pic was from my bbq last year, but this is a very accurate shot of what we did last Saturday as well! Oh yeah!!!)

Following Saturday I got to celebrate even again with my aunt Gracie's family. She's so sweet to make me a meal of my choosing. Leave it to me to pick something that she's never made before HAHA! oppsies. She totally rocked those Fajita's though I'll tell you what! Yum!

Been working on a bunch of projects this week to. I'm making a Wedding Guest-SignIn book for my friend Cambry. She's so adorable. It's been a bit of a challenge but I think it's coming together, all that's left to do is to finish up the binding and it'll be done. I do so love building books. This one is a cute one. Designed the inside and then stitched it together. (I'm telling you, there's a reason I don't usually do the coptic binding on books... it's hard. But because of the way I decided to produce this book, it was inevitable; coptic was the best way to bind it. Phew!)

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I've also been working on a design for my family's reunion tee shirts. That happened crazy fast; I think it turned out really well though!



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Don't doubt it, I've still been working out, granted not as diligently as I know I should. June is going to be good, I'm going to step it up and get back to where I want to be. That mean's no more giving into the temptation of tasty cake. And working out 4 days a week... Rough patch over. NO EXCUSES! ;) Doing my best, forget the rest right?

So, Here's some backlog #sweatyselfies for you peeps:







Oh, did I mention that I'm down another pants size? Well Holla! Even with not doing as well as I wanted this month, I still have made progress. Every little bit is worth it! Had to get new pants so they wouldn't fall off my nonexistent butt!



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Oh, Yeah. Also Signed up for the SLC Color Run this August! What??? That's right. I don't know if I'm going to "run" per say, maybe do a bit of intermittent speed walking/jogging. But I'm doing it with some of my awesome office ladies and my sister Melisa. So this is going to be cool. I guess that's a new count down... only 81 days till that fun Happens! Yeah!

(see the lady covered in colored-gross... that's going to be me!) MUAHAHAHAhahahaha....




I'm all registered, committed to this madness! :) You can register here to if you want to do it!

Day#91: Weight isn't going to stop me now

It's been a whole 3 months and a day since I started this journey.

I'm amazed at how May has been super crazy. It's been really hard to keep on track with my working out. I'm really hoping with June will come better days, with less excuses. Haha, I'm so good at making those to myself. (Ashamed face)

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So here I am playing catch up! Here's some highlights from this past week. I've learned a lot about myself and how I think about goals. I've decided that I'm not going to let my weight keep me from doing things, from trying things that I've always wanted to do or been too scared to do. This is my new strategy!

I'm going to make goals based on experiences. These will be both rewarding and challenging. This means that as I prepare for my new goals that I'll be training and getting myself ready to take on those new experiences. Just how I got my feet and endurance ready for the challenge of Disney World; I'll use this method to get myself motivated.

I started asking myself "What have I given up on, or not even attempted because I've always assumed I couldn't do it because of my weight?"

I'm putting together a list:

- Rock Climbing
- Scuba Diving
- Skydiving
- Water Skiing/Wake Boarding
- Snowboarding or Skiing
- Surfing
- Hiking a Mountain
- Kick Boxing
- Ball Room Dance
- Running (Race)
- Zip-Line

These are just the beginning of my brainstorming. I need goals that challenge me, and put a bit of fear into me. I've got to be determined and be willing to put myself out there. I've already told a coworker that I'll do a color run/walk with her in August!

When I mentioned to Kendra Today about my new way of deciding on goals, she was so excited because she's apparently way way into rock climbing. She knows how to get me prepared for it. I'm so glad! WooHoo! She's so eager to see me succeed and that feels amazing.

 (Yes I did a training Session on a Monday, that's because tomorrow is my Birthday.)

I can do hard things, and I can feel good about my success. This weekend I went and purchased 2 pairs of pants, because my current pants are falling off. I'm so freaking excited. I've lost another pants size! that's three pants sizes since I started. It's pretty amazing being in the same size pants that I wore in High School!!! WooHoo!

Total of 22 lbs gone. The past couple weeks have been slow, and crazy. I've slacked off more than I like to say. I'm ready to get back on track though. I already know I can do it, I've already been doing it! Yay!

Catch up #sweatyselfie





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Tomorrow I'm turning 28. I'm not sure I like that much, lol. That's alright, 28's going to be even better than 27. I'm already on track to make it that way.

Day#85: What motivates me?

So, Tuesday... only one week till my birthday, crazy how time flies. I'm kinda in denial, I don't want to be 28. But there ya go! I've got to come to grips with it. ;) eventually.

Working out today with Kendra, man work out today kicked my butt. a dripping mess I guess at least means that I'm trying and not taking it easy right? Kendra says she was mean today, I don't think that's really possible. She's to awesome to really be mean. New workouts are just challenging. But I can do hard things. Thats what makes them easy things eventually right?

#sweatyselfie

I've come to the realization that my goal isn't very motivating. I can't feel or see a difference in my arms, so it's not making me feel like I'm achieving much. I need to find goals that motivate me. I just don't know what that can be. What motivates me? I've never really had to think about it before in the context of achieving goals.

Deadlines motivate me. Pressure motivates me. Guilt motivates me to a degree but isn't really a healthy way. Excitement motivates me. Progress motivates me.

WDW was like the trifecta. I had committed to the trip - Deadline. I knew that my feet would have to get me through the adventure, and that they weren't up to snuff - Pressure. Knowing that only I could make sure that I had a good time, and that if I didn't get up to snuff it was my own fault - Guilt. Walt Disney World, a trip that I never really thought I'd get to take ever - Excitement. And Progress, seeing myself improve as I worked on my goal - Progress.

How can any goal compare to WDW? Sigh!

As of now my goal to loos a .5'' around my arms isn't a goal that really hits any of my motivators. I don't see a visible difference, so progress isn't motivating me there. I'm not excited because I know that it's a really hard area to tone. I don't really feel pressure and my deadline isn't something I really fear. Nobody at my 10 year high school reunion is going to give a flip or notice if i've lost a half an inch in my arms.

So my goal is kinda dead in the water.

I told Kendra that I didn't feel motivated by my goal. I couldn't tell her why at the time, because I hadn't really figured out why. All I know is that I've not seen a change; that gets discouraging. So we decided to add a waist goal of a .5'' loss at the same time. Hopefully that's a goal I can realize and get excited about. I don't know. Maybe if my reunion was a dress-up kind of thing and not a bbq I'd reward myself with a new outfit or something. Mmmm...

Hope I can do better. Every day a new day right?

Day#84: Just a Note

Today is Monday, and is with all Mondays, it's slow and a period of-reajustment into work life. I'm usually ready to take a break only a couple hours into it. Today wasn't really different; what can I say? I love sleep, sleep loves me... I wanted to be sleeping. ;)

However today, my boss Greg walked over to my desk this morning and handed me a card. Saying he wanted to give it to me a couple weeks ago but between my vacation and his, this was the soonest he could get to it. So I open it up, and read this:



It reads:

Elyse - Thank you for the professional and timely manner in which you handled the Pet Catalog. Several people from Sales and Product Development approached me with high praise for your work. They love working with you, and you made the entire department look good! Thank You. - Greg

Woah!!! Talk about feeling good! I worked hard to make sure my catalog rocked, and it's so nice to see that others noticed my hard work to. Enough even to mention it to my boss which is crazy. #feelingappreciated

Following that encouraging note, I came home and paid bills and then went to the gym.

#sweatyselfie



Feeling out of shape today, I really need to buckle down and get back to 4 days a week. I was feeling so much better when I was doing that. This month is super busy though, I hope I can keep up with everything... and I'm already half way through it. Took on some freelance and am behind schedule. Grr... Stupid procrastinator in me! Oh well, I can do it!

Just a Note: I did decide that my posts won't be daily anymore, at least for a while. With my freelance project and work... I'm slammed! I'll post as often as I can though have no fear I'll still be around to annoy you all with my Facebook posts. ;)

Its another week my peeps. Good luck!

Day#81: Hot or Allergies

So, The temperature is climbing. I was fooled when I returned from WDW with Utah's unseasonably cool weather and excessive rain; no it was not going to last forever. I now find myself in a literally sticky (you could say sweaty) situation, that only I could get myself into.

It is currently 82 degree's in my apartment. I haven't turned on the AC because aside from the tortured daemon noises it makes, it's expensive to run. I haven't opened the windows because I'm currently dealing with Allergies and opening my windows to the pollen laden breeze outside my window seems like asking for continued torture. And I'm not supposed to eat ice cream anymore, I'm doomed!!!

It's a tossup, do I cool down the apartment, and at what price? These are the real problems facing me. Not the fact that I'm so penny pinching that I won't turn on the freaking AC!!! What's wrong with me??? WHAT?

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Worked out at home today... My home needs work.

After getting home from WDW I've kinda run my apartment into the ground. I need to do laundry and I need to clean dishes. It's a bit of a nightmare. I'm such a good procrastinator, another wonderful skill I've honed. Right up there with sarcasm and pirate accents.

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Happy Friday. Hope You're all staying cool. Tomorrow it's supposed to get into the 80's. I'm already prepping for that - Suckers! In reality I'm sweating off all this weight, not working out, Had you all fooled huh? (insert evil laugh)

Day#80: Still Here, Cakes Gone Wild!

Okay, I've had longer breaks in the blogosphere than 4 days, but it's been a monster of a week. I love making excuses they help me feel less guilty... okay, not really but they sound good - I'm a SHAM! (cries in dark corner)

No really, as much as I want to say work was crazy, and that other things kept me from blogging for four days, they are all lame excuses. The real reason I had a brief hiatus was because of guilt. I didn't work out last week the way I wanted to, and this week was no better. I'm ashamed in myself. We already know how hard I am on myself, it's been established.

So, trying to remember "Do your best, forget the rest..." but its harder some days than others. Going to be really real with you guys. Somedays sleeping is so much more appealing than the gym.... and sometimes sleep hits you over the head like Mr Plum with the led pipe.

I've had some allergies this week, not sure exactly when I got allergies. I never had them as a kid, sometime between when Pokemon was cool and when Pokemon came back in style... that's when allergies got ahold of me. They now wait in the dark shadows, preparing to attack at the worst times. Sneaky Evil things...

I really hope it's allergies, the alternative is a cold, and I really really don't want one of those.

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At much as I've failed at being accountable to myself this week, I've still remained accountable to Kendra. That's good, still better than nothing, two out of four days is alright!... Got to remember where I once was, you know... working out only once in never!!! haha! :) Still did 200% Better than only 80 days ago.

So I share with you my two #sweatyselfies for the days I've actually worked out this week.

I know that there are three more days this week in which I can make up the days... but I don't often seem to be able to get enough gumption in my umph to do Friday or Saturday workouts. Maybe I'll feel guilty enough to really just do it anyway this week. We'll see, Guilt is a powerful thing.... I really need to find a different way to get the same result without self-abusing my feelings with guilt. mmmm.... I'll ponder on that.

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On a different note. Monday was my cousin Samuel's birthday. He's like old now.... eww... 16 or was it 61? I get those confused. ;) Well. Here's the story. I was browsing Pintrist, like I do... and I saw that someone had made a cake out of rice crispies that looked like a watermelon, I thought; Hey! That's awesome, someone like Samuel who has Celiacs can eat a cake out of rice crispies... I told this idea to my Aunt, and suggested that we make a cake for Samuel out of rice crispies. She was gungho!

So Monday I endured rush hour traffic from SLC to Orem and got there in time to enjoy tasty food and then help make our mock-cake for Samuel.

The idea was simple, we'd layer different kinds of rice crispies to look like layers of cake and frosting, then dump chocolate over the whole thing! YUMMO! So we constructed and layered... then assembled the beauty!

Behold!

And a close up of those tasty layers. Chocolate Flakes for the chocolate layers. Fruity Tuties for the rainbow layers and Kix for the frosting layers.

Even before the warm chocolate drizzled atop it's majestic top tier, the fractures began to form...

We unfortunately had not let the rice crispies rest, and settle long enough - Our masterpiece was quickly becoming a Pintrist Fail!!!

OH NO!!!! (I cried out like an eagle from Lord of the Rings had swooped in to steal my first born child) The entire back side of the cake began to shift. Falling along fault lines, the structure crumbled... (haha crumbled.) It was the fastest song of Happy Birthday this family has ever sung. All extensive 3 verses of it in fact!

Words and disjointed notes fell from their lips as they beheld the glorious cake crumble before them. the massive candles unable to withstand the onslaught of their quicksand like foundation. They too took a near tumble.

Quickly plates came to the mountain of sweetness's aid... plates and pans, scooped the sloping sides the crumbling edifice as it fell into ruin. Consumed with little regard to the glory it once was... for all of like 2 minutes.... or less.

Everyone seemed to enjoy it anyway! Here's Samuel with his cake mess on a plate, eating it in true Samuel fashion, like a lizard with a long tongue.

Angela (in front), seems confused by this glue-like confection binding her fingers... she eats it anyway. What a Trooper!

They aren't the only one's enjoying Krispie Meltdown Mountain! My uncle Alan also helped with cleaning this mudslide up.

When all said and done, there was more than enough of this beautiful cake to last till breakfast the next morning. Which I imagine was the tastiest of meals! The BREAKFAST of HEROS!!! My aunt sent me this picture the following morning, letting me know that three of her youngest kids all want their own "Falling Cakes" for their birthdays! Haha!

(Falling Cakes) Patent Pending ;)

Day#75-76: The day without a Mother

When I started writing this post it was very negative, and after reading through it I deleted it.

I've always kind of resented Father's day, having never had much to celebrate on that day; and now with my mother's passing; Mother's day is also a tough one. I was going to complain, lament my situation and how much I miss my amazing mother. But, I've changed my mind.

Today I visited my Aunt Grace's house for Mother's day, and for my cousin Ammon's Birthday. The day before I spent time with my brother Taylor and his wife Kyra and my two adorable Nephews - Xander, and Mason. I realized how fortunate I am. Despite it all, God still loves me. My family still loves me, and if we all can love each other on a day that I wish wasn't celebrated, it can't be too bad really. Not really.

I'm blessed to know some amazing woman. My aunts, and my sisters. Especially my sisters! I don't know what I would do without them. I'm very blessed. I look forward to the day when we are all called to be mothers in our own way's and we can support and uplift each other. For now I get to support and uplift Kyra and her calling as a mother and that's pretty cool.

It's hard to have this day honoring mothers; for those of us who's mothers have passed, or for those who are struggling to become mothers. Those who deserve to be and those trying hard to be. I know it's hard for a lot of people. I would be ungrateful for my amazing mother and to all the wonderful woman in my life if I were to turn this day into a day of pity.

My mom was supermom. I will never feel differently. Even when I miss her; and I probably will always be a bit sad on mother's day. But... now I have a greater understanding of why my mother's favorite hymn was What Songs of the Heart. "...Nevermore from our loved ones to roam..."

Those we love don't leave forever, and while they are away, God puts people, good people, strong wonderful women in my life. Happy Mother's Day Everyone!

Day#74: The Doormat Struggle

I struggle with a lot of things. I struggle with making my voice heard, I struggle with getting too emotionally invested about other peoples issues - taking those on as my own. I struggle with feeling adequate. I struggle with feeling like I'm a good artist, a good friend, sister or person. I struggle with my failings, and accepting compliments for my achievements. I struggle with loosing weight and getting the umph it requires to stay motivated. I struggle to remember that I'm loved and appreciated.

I struggle!

Today however I struggled with being kind and being patient. I struggled with being a doormat. I've found out a lot about myself over the last few years. One thing that I've learned is that I'm constantly finding myself in situations where I allow myself to be walked over, stepped on or treated poorly. I recognize this as an issue and I've been working on recognizing when I'm allowing myself to be used.

Unfortunately this is a process, and I'm still learning. Today at work I was faced once again with a coworker who I've come to recognize as someone who has a lot of potential for being a great designer but their ego is gargantuan. They do not see how much they hurt me when they talk down to me, interrupt me, or when they are disrespectful. I don't know how to tell this person these things without seeming like I'm attacking them. I want to be a team player, but I don't want to be a doormat. I shouldn't have to put up with being treated rudely or with contempt.

How do I bring this up, how do I call this person out on their crap. Since they were hired they have been given a free pass, not checked not monitored, not held accountable for mistakes or for missteps. I'm growing annoyed, I'm growing impatient.

I don't know what the answer is. I hope that I can be diplomatic. I hope I don't explode from holding back my feelings. Political correctness, and the mentality that we can't and should do or say anything that might be offensive; these things are tiresome. How can I have respect and get respect if the other party refuses to even acknowledge their behavior as wrong?

End rant.

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On another note, It's Friday, hallelujah! It's a rest day today.

Day#73: Ballerinas, Interns, and Tee-Shirt Triumph.

Today was a Wednesday pretending to be a Friday!

Another Day on this fitness trip. Second trainer session since being back from vacation. Yay. Kendra is awesome, I can't brag enough about how great a decision it was for me to make myself accountable to this spunky encouraging little lady! #mytrainerrocks

I was reading a blog post today about the pitfalls that come for people who loose weight on diets, and loose a lot of weight very quickly. It talked about how it basically doesn't give a person's metabolism time to adjust and kick into gear, lots of people end up gaining lots of weight back and get supper bitter and depressed that they aren't able to keep the weight off. I became really grateful for how I'm going about my weightless adventure. I'm loosing weight by working on eating right (not over eating too) and exercising. I know deep inside myself that a diet just wasn't going to work for me. Not only because I've done diets in the past and failed at them, but because Diets always seemed like a temporary fix. I don't want to be overweight, unhappy and plagued with self damaging thoughts and feelings about myself anymore! NO MORE I SAY!!!

Driving home today I thought about how I'm feeling... and I kinda surprised myself by realizing that even with my sore muscles and everything, I felt really good. Better than I have in a long time. That right there, is what makes it worth it. I just wish I could go back in time and tell myself in my teens that it's worth it. That I can do hard things. I still have a hard time believing that I've done this work out stuff now for 73 days! That's only 17 more days until I hit 3 months! Ahhhh! three months, that's a whole quarter of a year! HOLY COW!

As silly as it is, I feel like choosing to start working out was one of the hardest adult decisions I've ever made. I'm proud of adult Elyse, she's pretty cool sometimes. ;)

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Today my crazy co-worker Jane told me I looked like a ballerina, Ha! Thanks Blue leggings. I guess?!?



Today for work-out, I was running out of clean shirts, I need to do laundry again. Dang it! So I grabbed this green tee that I've worn to the gym like once, since it was clean it was my go to. I wasn't excited about wearing it because last time I did it was more snug that I would have liked, not comfortable... But today I owned that tee shirt, it actually was comfortably loose. Yay! feels good to wear a shirt I got in young woman's camp back in 2004 and have it fit! That's coco loco!

#sweatyselfie



Training today was good, having taken it a bit easier yesterday my jelly legs from Monday had finally calmed down. I think that's the first time I really believed the burnt tootsie roll helped me out. Did stretching with it yesterday night and ta da! Mobile Elyse is born.... again... or something like that... (awkwardly laughs and shuffles away.)

Today was a unique training session though because Kendra had an intern she was training. She was nice and followed us to the workout mats... Kendra then told her that she would be leading the training session. Okay... (I put on a smiling face) Being watched as I work out by two people - Only felt mordified really awkward for the first little while. She was nice and so it was okay in the end.

Saw that same intern girl later moonlighting another trainer, (I feel bad, can't remember her name...) this happens to be the same guy who I had once witnessed was kinda meanly pushing his client a few weeks back. I found myself hoping she takes more from Kendra than she does from that mean trainer guy. Boo Meanie, Boo YOU!

Tomorrow is Friday! YeahBaby, I can do this.

Day#72: Mild Wednesday

Today is Wednesday, a complete whirlwind at work as everyone scrambles at work to get Catalog files finished two days past deadline. Yikes. Stayed late at work to help a co-worker. I didn't mind, I know she'd have done the same for me if she could. I have to say, I have some pretty amazing co-workers. They are the reason I go to work really, People helping people. :)

So Today I decided not to go to the gym, instead I did a mild work-out at home with lots of stretching because my legs and thighs still hurt from Monday and Tuesday... I pushed myself a bit too far coming back into this... my muscles were too tight and had to loosen them back up getting into work-out mode again.

But it's good I feel like tomorrow I'll be ready to go strong and full gym work out once more. My legs just needed a bit of recuperation time I guess, go figure! ;) I doubt that Kendra would be disappointed in me working out at home... It;s me who is the one who's my biggest critic and judgey-judge-pants.

Hey At least I'm coming to realize this about myself! That's improvement right there!

Kendra has encouraged me to start a daily goal of movement... Meaning, that I get up every hour and move... it can be walking, dancing or just standing up and down... just to keep myself from remaining motionless. So add that to the list of things I'm trying to work on.

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Not much else to report! No sweaty pic either, I'm afraid it's a rather boring post. But that's okay! Just like life, not every day is grand or DisneyWorld.

"Just keep swimming... just keep swimming, swimming, swimming... what do we do? we swim... swim!"

Day#72: Astonishing Myself at 20 lbs gone!

Elyse Power!!! (fist pump)

So today I had my first training session with Kendra since Vacation, Wowie... feeling sore in my legs and thighs! Squats are no fun, but seem to be challenging me for sure, which is always the goal! Today we did do measurements! I went in with low expectations... Especially since I didn't watch what I was eating nearly as strictly as I told myself I was going to in WDW. However, I actually have good news.

I LOST 7 LBS since last weigh in! AHHhhhh! For real! That's so awesome, I can't believe it. Kendra was all smiles and I feel very proud of myself. So that's a total of 20 lbs total that I've lost since I started this thing back in February. I can't stop smiling.

Arms: still no movement :(
Waist: lost .5''
Hips: lost .5''
Thighs: lost .25''

Huzzah!

Today I wore my new tee-shirt from Harry Potter Land, It's one of my new work out shirts I've decided. I'm training to be on the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team; wink wink... LOL #sweatyselfie



New Goal! So... Since my vacation is now come and gone, It's time for a new goal. So here it is: By my 10 year high school reunion in June, I want to make some improvement on my arm measurements... that really stubborn one that hasn't moved since we've started this thing! So the goal is to loose .5'' by June 11th.

Added bonus, This will help me feel better about my chicken wings... summer is upon us people, my arms need to look good in a swimsuit right? ;)

Back in the grove of things, did 20 minutes of strength training and then an hour of cardio. Feeling Good, And it's only Tuesday!

Day#71: Back to the real world, and into the saddle again

Hello from the other side... Disney World Count Down Complete!

So, I'm back from Disney World, and the best vacation i've had in a very long time. I didn't realize just how much I needed a vacation until I was on it. I realized it even more coming back to work today, it was tough getting back into the swing of things again after enjoying the magic of not having responsibilities. I really get now why Heather, and I quote "Can Disney just pay me to live here?" haha!

Being back wasn't as bad as I was expecting (knock on wood) at least not yet. Throwing myself into work again will be good for me; as will getting back onto my weekly workout grind! Today was my first day back in the gym after vacation, and boy it's tough... I really didn't realize how much my health can change in just over a week of time without going to the gym. Let me tell you, it can.

#seatyselfie

I think though over all, I'm very very proud of what I've accomplished, both generally as well as in preparation for Disney World. My feet survived, I survived and was 200% happier than my trip to Disneyland last year.

Fun tidbit: I didn't wear my Fitbit all the days that I was at the parks, I did wear it on a couple and figured that I averaged around the same or between these two numbers each day... One day I walked 33132 steps, and another day I walked 18971 steps, that comes out to approximately 9.1 - 15.7 miles a day that I walked. Way cool! I can do amazing things.

I do feel a bit ashamed on the other hand though, I didn't eat as well as I told myself I would. However, I don't think it'll hold me back from continuing my progress. Tomorrow I see Kendra again for the first time since vacation! Yay! I'm not sure if she'll want to do the measurements tomorrow or Thursday... to see what damage WDW did. Maybe she'll just forgo it and we'll wait another week before doing that again.

I'm anxious though to see Kendra again, eager to make new goals and to move forward. No looking back. I've done my best I'll forget the rest. ;) Got to decide on a new goal to work toward, One that will actually motivate me. Hard to compete with WDW but I'll think of something.

Happy Monday All! Happy May!

(No, I haven't forgotten about posting pictures from my trip. I'll do that soon, I promise)