When life gets in the way

There is no way around it.... I have been slacking! Hardcore slacking, like not running in 2 weeks and barely getting to the gym type slacking. In the past three weeks I have only attempted to run once and made it to the gym only a handful of times. This is a definite issue because today my wonderful friend reminded me that I only have 4 weeks until I am running a 10K in Grand Rapids. No I know I have ran further than that but I am not at the point where I can just go out and run 6 miles without proper training.

I have also been slacking on the food front, the last few weeks have been crazy busy and I have really quickly lost motivation to prepare and plan for meals ahead of time. The BF and I are usually really good about planning but in the last few weeks we have lost it. Most days I can find something to eat for breakfast and lunch (although quite boring) however dinners have been mostly eating out and take-out which is not usual at all!

So what is my excuse? Change and uncertainty, which are two things that I do not tend to enjoy.

So first I am moving which has two huge pieces of chaos. The first is that the BF and I have decided to live with each other for the summer to save money and to kinda do a "trial run". For most people this would be exciting however for me it is terrifying. I lived with someone in the past and it didn't work out well at all, it is actually what led to our break-up so going into it this time is a little scary. I may be over there all the time but I know firsthand it is a huge difference then actually living with each other. The second piece of chaos is that after the summer I will be taking over the lease from my current roomie in our new house which is still to be located (with less than 2 weeks until we move out). Finding a house/apartment is a pain in the a** and every time we find something we love it is leased before we even have the chance. We have a few more places to look at this week and hopefully we will find something so we can get it done with!

And the next and biggest part of life right now is that the BF has decided to attend grad school at the University of Minnesota. Since we began dating over a year ago I knew he wanted to go to grad school full time which is something I 100% support. I know he is meant to do big things in the business world and the only way to get there is for him to get his MBA from a reputable school. He applied to 2 schools in Michigan and 1 in Minnesota (his home state) because they were the best in the Midwest. After a few months of interviews and campus tours he finally decided on Minnesota. I know in my heart that it is the best school for him and the place he will excel the most which is what is important but it still does bring on a lot of stress that I wasn't prepared for. We have already discussed that we are in this for the long haul but it has now made the next 2.5 years very uncertain. Because of my job and his first year course load we have decided to do long distance for the first year, LDR's suck there is no way around it and historically I haven't been very good at them. I am a time person and I feel most loved when I am given someone’s time which is something the BF will not be able to provide his first year. Since we both know this the current plan is for me to make the move in spring of 2014, which will solve one set of problems but bring on a whole new set. I love my job, and to be honest I am damn good at it. I have excelled faster than most employees and have the potential to excel well into management and a six figure income in the next few years. Working for the federal government means that there is usually a lot of room to transfer but sadly there is nothing in Minnesota. This means that I will be starting over new, and will be switching from the public to the private sector which will be huge! I know that in the end this is what will be best for the BF and I since it will give us the life we both want but in the mean time I am just trying by best not to freak out and be supportive as possible even when it hurts.

So what is the outcome? That I need to pull up my big girl panties and suck it up. If I can't keep to my goals during this type of stress there is no way that I will be able to keep it up later in life with kids, a house, a hubby, hopefully a few dogs, and lord knows what else. I need to make working out and eating right a priority because it will make everything else in my life just a little bit better. Today I packed my food and I have a great meal planned for tonight, this weekend I am hoping to unwind and just enjoy my friends and BF. This weekend I plan to make a weekly meal plan and grocery list to try to keep myself more organized so that I can't blame time anymore. I guess it took me 3 weeks but I guess this morning was my realization that I need to make some changes!!

What's for lunch?

So this week was a little rough for me in terms of lunches!  Work was much busier and I was actually in training offsite for 3 days which made it a little more difficult to pack not knowing if I would have a place to store or heat up my food.  We also had a potluck one day which is always difficult!

I did do a few smart things though that can keep anyone on track.  I knew I would be short on time so I ordered a large salad from one of my favorite places and broke it in to three separate meals, 1 dinner, and 2 lunches.  I made a little more dinner then I normally would so I would have extra leftovers readily available, and when I went out I made sure to immediately box up half my meal so I would not only eat less but have a prepacked lunch.

So here are some of the lunches I have eaten lately!

 < Chicken with grilled veggies and Quinoa, this is the meal I ate out the night before and loved it the day after

> Black Bean Quinoa Burger over lettuce with Mac n Cheese light prepared

 <Potluck Day: Chili with fritos, potato salad, baked beans, salad


> Chicken noodle soup, veggies and honey mustard yogurt dressing

< Greek salad with slice of pizza


> Greek Salad, with some ranch quakes





Yup maybe not the healthiest week of meals but I figure I can try really hard most weeks so that on weeks like this I am able to let it go a little more!

What's for lunch?

I think one of the keys to keeping your diet on track is to make your own meals as often as possible.  I love to go out with my friends or the BF for a few dinners throughout the week so I make sure to make my own breakfast and lunch as often as I can.  Work for me starts at 6:30 which means that I have become really good at being able to pack breakfast and lunch the night before so I can quickly grab it in the morning.  Being "too busy" really isn't an excuse, packing my breakfast and lunch usually takes me about 5 minutes each night, the key is having your fridge and cupboards stocked with healthy and tasty foods.

Here is a look as my usual lunches:

< Chicken tortilla soup, light string cheese, carrots

> Canned noodle soup, half chicken breast with BBQ, mixed greens

<Tuna and egg salad over mixed greens on a slimwich, carrots, roasted red pepper hummus

> Quinoa, craisins, spinach, feta cheese with some juice on the side

<Chicken Tortilla soup, with a side salad of

mixed greens, peas, and yogurt dressing

>Grilled chicken, brussel sprouts, and brown rice with soy sauce, with an applesauce cup

Breakfast for me is usually an Oatmeal Smoothie, yogurt, dry cereal, fruit, hard boiled eggs, oatmeal, or anything else that sounds good and is easy to pack.  I try to keep my breakfast and lunches under 300 calories, high in protein, and high in fiber.  I also add about a tablespoon of ground flax seed to one of my meals.  Its an easy way to boost my fiber intake and is easily mixed into applecause, smoothies, or juices!

I had to post this because I thought it was funny.. my lunch for today is Chicken Tortilla soup, hot tea, and a day quil.  I have of course caught one of the many colds going around and thanks to an insane work/school schedule I had to come in so this is what is getting me through the day today!

Bottomless anything is not a good idea!

This was supposed to be a 4 day weekend for me thanks to my Bi-weekly Friday off and MLK JR day but it ended up into 3 days of weekend fun!

Friday I ended up putting in 7.5 hours of work on my day off but when I get to turn that into vacation time it will be well worth it.

Saturday started off with a lunch in downtown and car shopping.  I actually test drove 2 of my top 4 cars and I have officially written one off my list.  I am pretty sure I will be buying the Chevy Equinox but I still want to look at a few more before I really decide!  Saturday night I decided it had been far too long since I had danced so a big group of us went to a new club in downtown Ferndale to shake it.  The club was a classic dance club which didn't make the boys too happy but us girls had a blast.  I also was able to wear my new statement necklace which I bought on a whim and am still trying to convince myself that I don't look like a freak wearing it!

Sunday Fun Day!!  A big group of us had made plans to meet up at a local brunch place and have a good long day of drinking.  The restaurant offered bottomless mimosas and bloody marys and my oh my did we get our fill.  We stayed at that bar for about 4 hours and I lost count of my refills about 10 in!    Needless to say the rest of the day is a little blurry... we went from there to another bar and continued until about 5.  That means we clocked in a full 7 hours of drinking... I haven't drank for that long since I was in college and boy did I feel it.  It was an amazing day with some great friends but I can tell I am still paying for it today.  I'm not sure where the random lion was but this picture is pretty much one of my favorite of the day!

Thank goodness I didn't have work this morning and I made it count by sleeping in until about 10 and getting in a bunch of relaxation.  I did finally get my booty to the gym and got in a solid 4 miles on the treadmill and a full upper body lift.   I can't believe that the run is coming up in about a month and I have to get my butt into full gear if I hope to run at well as I want to.

Cupcakes are the enemy

Today the enemy is the ever so tasty German Chocolate Cupcake!!

My whole life I have loved to bake, and loved to share the things I bake with those around me.  I am the go to girl in the office when it comes to any birthday or event, and happily take on the role.  This however means that I make, carry, distribute, and of course eat an absurd amount of cupcakes. 

Can we please take a note of my super awesome cupcake carrier for a moment.  Yup that thing is amazing and probably the best $20 I have ever spent.  I ate one last night (for tasting reasons duh) and today I have already had one.  Here is to hoping my willpower will kick in so that I stay away from the rest of the container. 

Didn't get to run yesterday thanks to a 10 hour work day and 4 hours in class so today I will be making up my 4 mile run.  Fingers crossed it goes well so I can work off the extra 200 calories worth of cupcake I just consumed!

Looking up!

So last week was a little rough... but it ended on a very very high note! 

Thursday night the BF returned from his work trip, and my wonderful sister came into town.  We had a quiet night and I made some amazing Shepard's pie and just relaxed. 

Friday I got two amazing emails.  The first was telling me that I got the job I applied for a few weeks back.  I have already been sitting on the position but there were a ton of people that interviewed and I was nervous.  But I thankfully got the job, and the pay raise to go with it WAHOO!  And the second came from a slightly important person The President!  Well not specifically to me of course, however as a DOD employee we can only be given Christmas Eve off as an official order of the president and with all of the other crap going on in the nation we didn't think that we would be getting it this year.  However he came through at the last minute and let us know that Monday would be a paid day off, and that I would be having a 5 day weekend!

Saturday the BF was nice enough to bring my sister, roomate, and I to the bar so we could have some cocktails and celebrate the holidays!  Needless to say we had a few too many but it was a really fun night and a great kickoff to Christmas!