Abs are made in the kitchen.

I want abs.

I want abs very, very badly.

Apparently, not badly enough to put down the pizza so I am going to try round thirteen million of the Fit Girls Guide recipes and see if I can cook myself skinny. [You can check out their website here]

This time, I am going to try to be a little less and more structured at the same time: I have made myself a weekly 'menu' of sorts so I have to stick to specific meals, but I have given myself many options because I get bored easily or don't have time for a certain recipe which tends to lead me to flake on my plan. I also want to start tracking everything again, which I will hopefully keep up with on here. Go easy on me if that doesn't happen, I'm a busy girl lately ok?!

Listed below will be relatively what I will be working with for the next week or two, potentially switching it up as I find bumps in the road or can see it not working so well with my wonky schedule.

Breakfast: 300 calories

Hot oatmeal with fruit

Yogurt parfait

Eggs with fruit and carb

Lunch: 400 caloriesVeggie Power Bowl

'Faux-potle' bowl

Fit Girl cobb salad

Snacks: 200 calories*

Hummus/dip and veggies

Cottage cheese with pineapple

Fit Girl Smoothie

Dinner: 400 calories

Sweet potato tacos

Bacon apple quesadilla

Thai stir fry

Dessert: 200 calories*

Ricotta with strawberries

PB&B bark

Bananas Fit Girl

*Either a snack or dessert each day

Now, because I know that 90% of these meals taste great and I have given myself plenty of options to mix and match, I think that I can be successful this time around. It also helps that I am trying to quit smoking [today is day 2] to focus on my health, so maybe I can swap a very bad habit with a very good one! I'm sitting right now at about 138 pounds and my goal is to get down to about 125-130 pounds, and I am giving myself until April to make this change- 8 to 13 pounds in 10 weeks seems a little far fetched but I do think that if I can change my eating habits and get at least 30 minutes a day of exercise for at least 5 days a week, I can get very close if not reach that goal. It is all about keeping goals reachable and reasonable right? [I've even started budgeting... say what?!]

I will make try to check in once a week to let you know how it is going, whether I am actually following my plan or not to stay accountable. Wish me luck! 

Holiday camera roll

Some pink chalk to show off the new 'do

First haircut done by Kelli

He totally hates the dog... obviously...

Since there were 3 days of presents, I couldn't tell you which one this is... but I'm pretty sure it is Christmas morning.

My big girl just keeps getting bigger!

[hello 2017]

It is officially 2017 and the year has started out wonderfully.

A few updates from last month to start us off...

• Last semester was AWESOME and although I did get that B in theology, I feel very proud of myself for sustaining a 3.8 GPA during my first semester in college with everything else going on in my life

• The holidays were insane, but so wonderful. Doug and Shannon came down and stayed for Christmas, I cooked dinner mostly successfully [three cheese mashed potatoes are still good even if they have the consistency of soup, who knew?!], and Atti made out like a bandit! We seriously do not have the space for all of the toys, but she is enjoying them all- thankfully a lot of people got her puzzles and books! Check out my holiday camera roll for some pictures of the festivities.
• We did in fact get a dog! Meet Coco Bean- she wasn't the first choice but she was absolutely the best. We have adopted the sweetest, most loving and cuddly rescue on the planet. She is house trained and terrified of the cat, and lets Atti be a toddler all over her without much issue. She plays well with other dogs and we have already taught her to sit! I think that even Blade would agree that she is a great addition to this family.... and look at that face!!

 

• School has already started back-shortest break in the world- and I think the classes will be great this semester: Cultural Linguistic Diversity, Neural Bases, Ethical Theory, Statistics, Audiology, and Interpersonal Communications..... Yes, you read that right. I am taking six classes this semester and I still have high hopes for it going well. I finally feel like I am going places :)

Truth be told, I have very high hopes for this entire year. I am excited for what it will bring and can only see myself growing from this place. Atti, Blade, school, my health, budgeting---> everything is getting started on the right foot and I hope to read this in December and smile knowing that I didn't let myself down!

Cheesy as it may be... cheers to a new year and a new me!