Here goes

Me with new-born baby Chevy, my nephew.

October 22nd, 2012. That was my last blog post. Since then, I've gotten unengaged, bought a wedding dress, become an auntie, and been accepted to (another) graduate school to finish my MLIS.

But I'm not here to talk about all that. The way I've handled the last four or five months haven't been, well, ideal. I pissed a lot of people off, and some of them are probably still pissed off at me. But, like I said, I'm not here for that. I'm here, on my little piece of internet real estate, to talk about how I'm bettering myself as a person, both mentally and physically.

When you go through major changes like I did this year, you learn a lot about yourself, but you also learn a lot about others, the ones you associate yourself with. I know I'm not going to stay friends with every-single-person I meet. That's unrealistic. When I ask my mom or dad how many friends they still have from high school, or even college, the numbers are quite low. Yes, you might have a high number of Facebook friends, but let's get real, many of those friendships are fake. Oh hey, girl-I-haven't-seen-since-high-school, happy birthday bestie!! Do you think that girl who has over 1,000 Facebook friends is 'actually' friends with over 1,000 people?! No. Anyway, I guess sometimes major changes 'need' to happen, because then you know who really has your back.

Anyway, switching gears almost completely, I'm seeing someone new, named Peter. He is a body builder, who knows how to take care of himself, both mentally and physically. He's pretty freaking wonderful, you're probably going to be hearing a lot about him.

I miss blogging, I'm going to do it more often, promise. Great ready, because loveyourself-todayy is back in business.

moving fail.

Remember when I was supposed to move back to Chicago the weekend of the 23rd?

Nope.

Complications arose, which forced me to stay in Montreal for at least a week longer. Which means my start over healthy lifestyle got postponed another week. Did somebody say cookies, chocolate, soda, and cupcakes?! (ugh.)

I've been thinking about my start over. Here are my goals:

• I want to cut out most processed foods. Boxed mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, ketchup, BBQ sause, cookies, hotdogs, etc. I want to abide by the rule of ingredients. Saying if the ingredient list contains more than 10, it's not for me. So I'll eat more veggies, nuts, fruits, stuff like that. 
• I'm going to start DDP Yoga and follow the provided routine. 
• I'm going to do cardio every other day. Spinning, running, elliptical, biking. Rotate what I do so my muscles do not get into a routine. 
• I don't want to count calories anymore. I was becoming obsessed with the numbers, and it's just not me. If I eat mainly unprocessed foods, I don't think I'll need to count calories anyway. I still want to record what I eat, and how much I exercise, but I don't want to obsess over it. Why? Because I know I won't want to count calories for the rest of my life. 
• I want to record my weight weekly (Tuesdays) and record my measurements (waist, hips, thighs, etc) and take progress pictures on the 1st of the month. 
• No more soda.
• No more picking.
• I want to brush my teeth twice a day. 

Honestly, aside from this blog, I want my journey to be a bit more private. The encouragement is great, but I don't want to do all this and only strive for that "Way to go!" comment on My Fitness Pal. Like satisfaction will come out of a lousy comment made by some person I don't know. It's more annoying to me than anything else. 

SO! This all begins once I move someplace where I control what I eat. 

Absense

I've been away for a while. I've been slacking on the Vs Thursdays and Feel-Good, Freak-Out Friday, and for that, I apologize.

I haven't been slacking, though, with my "healthy" life. I've been eating at a higher calorie intake (1864) for about 2 weeks now. While it feels good knowing I can eat more than I was accustomed to, I found myself eating worse than I was accustomed to. For example, last weekend, Julien and I went out or had take out or fast food for 4 days in a row, yet I was always under my calorie goal. I felt like crap, but I was under, and I don't think that's how it works. I should be eating healthier higher calorie foods. Just because I have room to splurge with a cheeseburger, doesn't mean I should.

Since then, I've gotten better with food. Still not the greatest, but better.

When it comes to a healthier lifestyle, working out and getting active isn't going to be my problem, it's the heathy eating and the vegetables. I'm thinking about making my green smoothies again, since it's warm outside and a nice treat after a workout. I don't like green/yellow/red/orange peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers. Last time I ate raw broccoli I felt like puking, and I only see myself eating asparagus at dinner time. I'm not sure what a healthy salad looks like, though I'm sure I can find recipes.

I just love food, and I have a hard time saying no and/or eating in moderation. Because, let's face it, if there is an open bag of Doritos in front of me, I won't hesitate to eat the whole bag, and feel terrible about it afterwards.

'roid rage

I saw this post on the MFP forums, and I definitely felt the need to share.

So I cant believe that in this day and age, there is still stereotyping going on at the gym. I went to the Y today to do some strength training... I was doing some bench presses.. now Ive JUST started adding strength to my workouts, so Im still only doing 35 lbs.. Im proud of my 35 lbs press... I plan on increasing it soon, but I know it looks kinda dumb to those guys who can bench press a gajillion pounds. 

So Im happy bench pressing away with my Ipod and this huge beefcake roidrage looking fool taps me on my shoulder.. so I put the bar up and pull my earphones out and say "Yes?"... Well he points to the treadmills and says "The cardio section is over there, where those girls are" so I say "Thanks, I knew that already though, today is my strength day"... so he actually has the balls to say to me "Little girl, this is the MENS area... I think you are lost"... So, I gather up my courage... look him in the eyes and say "NO, this is the 'everyone who pays to be here' area". He stood there looking at me like he might pick me up and carry me to a treadmill... and we have our little wild west stare down and he walks off muttering something about "knowing my place"... 

I couldnt believe it!! Is this 2012 or what?? Any other of you lady weight trainers deal with this kinda crap?