Weekly Update: Week 1 of my 2016 Journey!

Hello fellow humans! I have returned.

It's been 8 months since my last post, and I've found that staying healthy while living the life of a busy college student can be a pretty extreme challenge.

During the month of February, though, I was able to stop dead in my unhealthy tracks and see this "falling out" experience as a giant learning opportunity.

As of last week, I am back to counting my calories, exercising, and implementing the right healthy nutrients into my everyday diet.

Without the time to write while busy with homework, friends, and events, my motivation had dropped dramatically. I started to eat whatever and whenever I liked. I stopped working out. I even started to forget this entire journey and how amazing it felt to step on the scale and see 1-3 pounds disappear each week.

Throughout the rest of the summer months in 2015, I left this blog alone but kept working hard. I reached a yearly low of 193 pounds (my last recorded weight on the blog being 204 pounds). At the very beginning of May 2015, I weighed a whopping 223 pounds, making my total weight loss of 2015: 30 pounds. This was within a span of 4 months, averaging out at seven and a half pounds lost per month, which is pretty quick.

As of today, I weigh 198 pounds. Over the span of August to February, I gained just over 10 pounds back from the time that I was 193 pounds. While assuming I'd gained (at least) all of the weight back by that point, I dreaded stepping on the scale after I'd finally mustered up the courage to weigh myself (which took months!)

I wasn't impressed with the weight I'd gained back after summer ended, but the number on the scale was still much lower than expected. My determination shot through the roof. I was immediately motivated to return my healthy lifestyle.

The fruit, veggies, lean meats, and elliptical trainer welcomed me back with open arms. And within a few weeks, I was right back on track toward my weight loss goals.

Last week, I lost a whopping 3 pounds! But instead of starving myself and working out profusely, I simply implemented the right nutrients into my diet while staying under my preferred amount of daily calories and went on a few light walks a day to get myself back into the "clean routine."

So, in conclusion, I'll try to post AOAP (as often as possible) while tackling midterms and the rest of the semester ahead. I'm so, so excited to be back to exercising and eating clean! Healthy living, university life, and fitness tips updates in the near future!

Work hard, eat clean, and most importantly, have a great day!

Current Weight: 198 lbs

Pounds Away From Goal Weight: 53

Goal Weight: 145 lbs

P.S.

It's almost spring! A.K.A. bikini season is coming soon. Get outside and work for that bikini! #FITSPO

Weekly Update: My Numbers at Week 8

Hello friends!

My upcoming weight-loss goal for this Friday is to lose 1 more pound, which would be a total of 20 pounds gone, and hopefully for good! If I accomplish my first big-time goal, I'll be ecstatic and will have to celebrate with Tiger cuddles.

I try to reward myself with things other than bad foods, and since I don't always have extra money to reward myself with, I find smaller things that I can do that don't cost as much money. For example: my favorite juice smoothie or a movie I've been wanting to watch. Although, besides these smaller rewards, when I reach my goal weight of 145, I plan to get my belly button pierced! I've never been able to pierce my belly because I was never body-confident and always had a little extra pudge on my tummy. But hopefully by the time I reach my goal weight, I'll be confident as can be and ready to flaunt my stomach at the indoor pool, and I hope to keep it off so I can lay on the beach with a flat tummy and a toned, thin figure by summer!

My family has noticed that I've gotten more shape after losing 19 pounds. My waistline and bust used to be the same measurement, and now my waist is much smaller than my bust. Inches count, too! Even more than pounds. I'm getting the shape I had 4 years ago, and it's gonna stay that way! I'm only about a fourth of the way to my goal, but the pounds are falling off pretty fast!

My bestie and I are planning a shopping trip for a huge goal-weight reward. I'm gonna get belly piercings, tons of crop shirts and tiny shorts, and splurge on lingerie at Victoria's Secret. I absolutely cannot wait!

It's super easy to lose weight when your best friend is taking the same journey along with you. We encourage each other and share low-calorie/high-nutrient food tips. We even hit the gym together when I'm home from college for the weekend. I'm thankful to have her in my life, and she motivates me every day.

Current Weight: 204

Pounds Away from Goal Weight: 61

Goal Weight: 145
*as of June 2015*

University Life: How to Be The Most Organized Freshman at Your School

Worried about organization issues when it comes to being on your own for the first time? Don't worry any longer! We've all been there, and I've got the tricks to being super duper organized through your classes, due dates, and homework assignments (even if you happen to be as lazy as me)!

I've got tons of tips for keeping your homework and classes in order. The most important one I can tell you: get a planner. If you're anything like me (the organized and tidy A-student), you'll be using it! You can also use washi tape to outline important due dates, like this! Pictured to the right.

Another way to keep super organized and prepared for due dates is to create your own dry-erase calendar with a cheap glass frame and paint chips from the nearest department store. It's way easy and super preppy-cute! Pictured down and to the left!

Another super easy way to organize homework and due dates is by using different-colored pens to highlight different types of events in your planner, or even in your notes! Lectures can be difficult to take in all at once, so consider purchasing a tape recorder so you can take notes later. Even consider taking notes on your laptop instead of on paper, typing is much faster than writing everything down in a split second! An added bonus to using a computer to take notes: the ability to use different fonts, colors, and charts/graphs to organize.

Using multi-colored pens with notes can help you highlight key points and important study items. Also, make sure that you leave space in between your notes. Crammed notes can get confusing and downright unorganized (no fun in the long run!). It'll be much easier if you leave at least a line in between each point, and take notes with graphs and visuals. This makes note-taking more interesting and much easier to study later!

Need help remembering classrooms, teachers, and courses on the first day of classes? Look no further! Make your class schedule your lock screen and you'll have your new schedule at the palm of your hand at all times! I also recommend that you keep the times of your classes closeby so you're aware of how much time you have in between events. A useful thing to make may be a color-coded schedule with an accurate timeline. I keep mine (and my boyfriend's!) schedule on my wall so that I can keep up with where we both have to be at all times, and of course, what times we'll both be available to hang out. Especially since we're both working full-time college students and don't always have the time to see each other 24/7 like we'd like!

Another tip: if you have several classes in a row around a mealtime, pack snacks and water! You'll be thanking me after long hours of lectures and rumbling tummies. When I started college at NIACC, I didn't consider while scheduling classes that I might have to miss mealtimes at the dorms. Make sure you'll have enough time to eat (or enough snacks to tide you over)!

Overall, college is something that you'll get the hang of after either a few days, or in my case, a few semesters. By my fourth semester of NIACC, I was finally feeling comfortable in my own skin. I'm now able to navigate buildings and classrooms, talk to strangers with confidence, and feel educated on the social structure of community college. Ironically, I'll have to start all over when I transfer to a university.

All in all, that'll be a great experience too, just like NIACC has been. My point being: you'll learn to love the new atmosphere of college! Don't take things too seriously, and if you slip up grade-wise, don't let your determination suffer. College is difficult sometimes. If you put your best foot forward, college can be a blast. Keep up with homework, spend as much time with your friends as you can (while making decent grades), and make sure to make memories that'll last a lifetime. When I leave NIACC, I already know that I'll be missing my group of friends desperately. College is a social experience as much as it is an educational one. Remember to take things one day at a time.

University Life: Preppy Dorm DIY Ideas

Adorable, preppy dorm room? Yes please! If you're anything life me, you LOVE to decorate. And I've even got a few of my favorite DIY's to decorate like a preppy college girl!

A few of the most popular preppy-girl decorative staples are pretty monograms, floral/paisley/chevron/polka dot prints, and tons of bright colors. Keep this in mind while shopping for college, and pick up anything pink, floral, sparkly, or all three!

1. Glittery/Floral Letters

Decorate your walls with a cute glitter or floral monogram! You can cut letters out of cardboard or even purchase wooden letters from a department store. Smother the letters in glue and pour your favorite colored glitter over the glue, or even hot-glue fake flowers onto the letter(s) for some pretty floral wall art!


2. Create Your Own Headboard

Most dorms don't have headboards for the beds, but having one makes it feel a little more like home while you're away at college. Good news, it's extremely easy to DIY your own! Hot glue fake flowers or a pretty printed fabric onto cardboard to bring your own piece of home to college with you!

3. Cut Out Your Home State In Glitter Paper

Want a piece of home to bring with you to the dorms? Carefully cut your home state out of a map and then copy the pattern to glitter paper. Cut your state out of the glitter paper and glue it to a sheet of colored paper. Frame your gorgeous new memento to remind you of home throughout your crazy college life!

Now are you ready to have the most stylish room in your building? You better be! Also, coming soon: How To Be The Most Organized Freshman At Your University!

Remember, college dorms are pretty compact. Don't bring your entire DIY collection, but make pieces that'll hang on the walls or stay close to them so you'll have space to move around! I'm an over-packer if I've ever met one, so I know what it's like to want to bring your entire wardrobe, each purse, and your whole collection of pretty decor. You will want a cute, original dorm, but keep the decorations to a happy minimum!

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful afternoon!

Healthy Living: How Nature Can Benefit Your Life

Are you down in the dumps? Tired for no reason? Bored, sick with a cold, or simply not satisfied with life? Nature could be your personal wellness awakening. Listening to the birds sing and feeling the warm breeze against your skin is just about as therapeutic as you can get, if you ask me.

1. Bring animals into your life.
If you haven't already! Having a pet to care for, or even going to the local petting zoo or Humane Society can help you see the world as a much happier place. If you have friends with a farm or friendly pets, visit them often to see how animals have affected their lives! Animals are very therapeutic; this is why hospitals and nursing homes have pet visits or an animal to keep the residents company. Animals are able lift people's spirits. They're also a perfect way to increase your overall happiness on a day-to-day basis.

2. Buy a potted plant.
Or several! Plants help clean the air, and if your room is stuffy, a potted plant can give you fresher oxygen and more of it! Plants are also therapeutic to care for, and they're perfect for brightening up crowded dorm rooms or small apartments. Having nature around could make a serious difference in your emotional and/or physical wellbeing. Having more oxygen in your air can help you think more clearly, help your mind feel more at ease, and even ease body aches and pains!

3. Walk or jog on a nature trail.
And make it an everyday thing! You wouldn't believe how much better I felt today, just lying outside on the lawn. I go on walks at a local nature trail, and it benefits me so much more than you'd assume if you've never gotten truly in touch with nature. The combination of fresh air, aesthetic beauty, and a true sense of belonging can really help you get out of a funk or depression. My school is located right by a nature trail, so it's a great thing to do when stressing about exams, assignments, finances, or anything else. The combination of exercise, time to think or chat with a friend, and a peaceful breath of fresh air will lift your spirits and keep you healthy.

4. Cure wounds, infections, or serious symptoms with plants.
I'm not much of a healer, but I can say that I know a couple natural tricks to help infections or wounds heal a bit quicker. Plantain leaves are seen almost everywhere, they're very common along sidewalks or in your lawn, and since they're so high in vitamins A and C, they are able to help heal serious wounds! Your natural band-aide! Plantain leaves can also be made into tea that can help relieve symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, diarrhea, hemorrhoids, diabetes, kidney/bladder infections or problems, and even ulcers! The leaves can also be used on the body's exterior for bee stings, rashes, poison ivy, yeast, cuts, and bug bites.

5. Hit the beach for Vitamin C.
I can't emphasize this enough. Most public beaches are free to attend, and lying in the sun to catch some rays is as therapeutic as a spa day. Vitamin C is crucial to feeling well, so getting out and enjoying these beautiful - and limited - summer days could be just what you need to improve your life! Bring a few magazines, sunscreen, and sunglasses! And most importantly, have a good sunbath!

Healthy Living: My Very Own Fresh Blackberry Pancakes

Ever since I began to cook my own healthy food, which was only about a month ago, I began to become a lot more confident in my own baking skills! I realized that healthy food really can be yummy, and I've proven myself right several times.

This time, I was lying on the trampoline in my backyard looking for blog post inspiration in the gorgeous sun. Jotting out almost 30 posts in a week can be exhausting, and since I'd hit my fairly rare case of Writer's Block, I decided I'd get outside and do some serious relaxing.

My backyard is absolutely perfect for a free mind-body spa session, meaning that I lie out in the yard and get a taste of Vitamin C while meditating, or simply thinking about things that make me happy, like my boyfriend and the adventurous future we have ahead of us. There's so much fresh air in my small town in Minnesota, and my backyard is engulfed in bright, lustrous green. There's plenty of gorgeous blackberry trees lining the yard, and as I was lying underneath one, a berry fell onto my nose. I guess this is where the inspiration came from.

A few minutes later, I was preparing my pancake batter and mixing in freshly-picked blackberries. And a few minutes after that, I was chowing down my pancake with syrup and a few berries on top.

The sweet, rich taste of the berries was absolutely delectable with the yummy, thick cakes. A great flavor mix! (And no, this is not my photo. I had to find a more aesthetic picture to use, as mine was a little blah. But the pancakes tasted just as good!)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• blackberries (as many as you like!)

How To Prepare:

1. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
2. In a separate bowl, mix milk and eggs.
3. Mix both bowls together and carefully stir in berries.
4. Melt a small bit of butter in a frying pan or on a griddle and heat over medium-low heat.
5. Add 1/2 cup-fulls of batter to pan and cook till golden brown and bubbly on the edges.
6. Flip and repeat!

Thanks for reading! I highly recommend blackberries because their flavor is perfect for pancakes, and you just need a bit of syrup.

Remember to eat clean, meditate, and most importantly, have a great day!

Weekly Update: My Numbers at Week 7

Frustrated with weight loss, or the lack thereof? This is definitely not an easy journey, but you will get used to the struggles, and they will fade as time goes by. The portion control and the workouts will get much, much easier. The pain will gradually fade and the cravings will go along with it.

Temptation and cravings fade and change. Believe it or not, this information is legit. Day 1 of clean eating: you're tempted to eat a burger. Day 20 of clean eating: you're literally tempted to eat fruit. If you cut it out of your diet, chances are: you're not going to want it anymore. It goes both ways: if you cut healthy foods out of your diet, you crave junk. If you cut junk out, you begin to crave healthy foods. Simple as that.

When I started cleaning up my diet, I weighed 223 pounds and since I'm a teenage girl who's only 5' 4", that was an awful weight for me personally. My BMI was off the charts of obese, and I was about 80 pounds away from a healthy weight. Instead of hitting my freshman 15, I hit my "freshman 50" over the course of 9 months. Fast food will do it to you! Be so careful as to what goes in your body, I promise it'll change your life.

I used to crave cheeseburgers, garlic bread, mac and cheese, and brownies. Now, 50 days in, my top 3 cravings are green beans, fresh grilled fish, and berry blast Naked juice. I've had a cupcake in my gym bag for a couple weeks and I haven't even thought of touching it. That's progress. I just adore the new me!

As far as my weight loss journey goes, this is Day 49. Tomorrow is seriously already Day 50, and the time is flying right past my eyes! I exercise each day, and after about Day 30 or so, the inflammation and pain that came with my workout completely vanished. My legs used to ache badly every time I'd walk lightly. Now, I can power walk for hours or use the elliptical machine for 45 minutes with no trouble whatsoever. So keep at it and never give up!

Something to consider about weight loss: that's just it. Weight is just a number. If you slip up, your previous efforts don't simply go away. The more effort you put in, the more it'll pay off in the future. Even a 10 minute walk a day can make a difference in how you feel.

I've heard people say that they feel that once they're messed up once in a day (by eating an unhealthy food or not exercising), they decide to give up for that entire day and start fresh tomorrow. This is useless. Each healthy thing you implement into your day will end up making a difference, so don't give up for the day just because of one slip-up! Continue to work hard for your prize, and it'll come.

So, if you're haunted by the "giving-up virus," don't let it stop you anymore.

I eat around 1,200 net calories a day, but in total: about 1,500-1,700. This is just the suggested amount for my height, age, sex, and weight loss preferences, and the amount of calories you eat a day is entirely up to you. If I end up going over my self-decided appropriate amount of calories, I just try harder throughout the rest of the day.

Whether you count calories or not, it's okay to mess up every now and then. My personal preference is to count, but being too obsessive about the amount of calories you're consuming isn't going to help anything. If you're trying to be healthy each day, your work will pay off. The degree of specifics when monitoring calorie-consumption is entirely up to you. Everyone is different! Different methods work for different people.

In conclusion, day 51 is my 7th weigh-in, and am I excited to see the progress? You're damn right I am! I've been working so hard, but let me tell you, it is beyond worth it.

On Sunday, I'll update the end of this post with my current weight, how many pounds I am from my goal weight, and my total weight loss at the point of Week 7! Thank you for reading, and remember, this journey is a lot more fun than you may think. Switching up workouts, finding new favorite foods, and even seeing progress are all great feelings! In fact, some of the best feelings in the world.

Current Weight: 205 lbs

Pounds Away From Goal: 62 lbs

Total Amount Lost: 18 lbs