Dating, Single, and Happy

It's that time...dating update!

If you remember in my post called Dating Highs and Lows I mentioned that I had met someone through mutual friends; we hit it off and starting seeing each other. Over the next couple of months we had a lot of really fun times; and in addition, I learned a lot about him, dating, and especially me. At some point I think we both just realized our lifestyles and future plans didn't really go together. It's okay that it didn't work out between us. I still think he is a really wonderful guy who I hope to stay friends with and keep in my life. 

So back to the single world...

I always take myself on the best dates...like shopping!

Truth is, I don't mind being single. Sure I enjoy having someone in my life, but sometimes having the wrong someone in your life is worse and way more lonely. Yup I am speaking from experience. 

So very true

So what am I doing with all my free time...duh...going to the gym! I re-signed with my trainer, Mark. I am determined to make working out something that is always part of my life. I am also having a blast playing in the kitchen more, yes more food posts in the near future. I am going to try and switch up some of my food choices to see if  I can jump start my weight loss again, I will keep you updated. Plus I have been having the best time being more involved with my fire company, being creative and taking pictures again. 

I've learned it is important to be happy with yourself!
Live and enjoy

While I am perfectly happy being single, I find that my friends who are in relationships are not happy about me being single. I have a formal dinner for my fire company at the end of the month, I can count on one hand the amount of times I brought a date to this event. I don't believe in just bringing someone so I am not alone. If I bring you, it's because you mean something to me. Recently a friend of mine asked if I was going to have a date for the dinner, when I told her no, she made a very sad face, sighed, and said "don't worry someday you will meet someone and until then you have us to hang out with". I tried so hard not to laugh. I'm not worried, at all. I do believe I will meet someone for me someday and if that's not in the cards, that's okay too. I knew she was just being sweet, but she was way more upset than I was about going alone to the dinner.  Me? I am really looking forward to the dinner. I get to hang out with an amazing and fun group of people. Wear a really cute outfit. Take photos. Eat good food. How could I not be excited?!? 

I can't speak for everyone, but I know that I don't need a date to have a fun time. I promise to post some pictures after the dinner. 

For my final dating though on this post..... I believe that when you are being true to you, enjoying life, smiling, and laughing all the right people come into your world at the right time.  

I love Lady Antebellum music!!
This song made me get up and dance in my living room

Picture Hanging Mission Accomplished

I pride myself on the fact that for the most part if there is something I want to do or want done, I do it. If I want to try zucchini, I find out how to cook it and then try. Sure I have had some epic failures, like the time I tried to make taco meat and it came out tasting like rubber and for some reason my tongue was tingling for about an hour. But I tried. There has always been one thing that I refused to try. Hang pictures.  

Last April my family and I redid my bathroom. Truth, they did most of the work so that I didn't have to take off from work, but I pitched in whenever I was home. It came out absolutely incredible!! Since April, the only thing left to do was hang things on the walls. So since April those poor walls, in my beautiful bathroom remained bare, because I was too chicken to hang pictures and make a mistake.  

My bathroom remodel Those yellow walls had to go!
It truly was a family project.  Who knew my bathroom could mean so much to me

I know I know, sounds silly, but it's true. I would wait for my dad to be available to come over and hang things, but weekends were meant for fun things, not hanging pictures, so I would forget to ask him to come over. My mom and sister would encourage me to try, but I refused. I'm pretty sure my irrational fear of hanging pictures stemmed from not wanting to fail. What if I didn't put the nail in the right place and now I had crooked pictures and hole in the wall? I would have to move..okay maybe a little dramatic.  But you see where my thoughts were at...until recently. 

Huge difference.
This is why I didn't want to mess up the walls with holes

Time to conquer fears. I woke up one day recently, tired of my blank white walls in my beautiful bathroom. I had already picked out what I wanted on the walls, months ago, I just had to do it. So I went and got my little tool kit, took a deep breath, tried to remember the steps my dad would always take when hanging things. Biggest thing, match the nail to back hangy thing (technical term) on the picture NOT the top of the frame. 

My little tool kit has been with me since I first bought my place

So how did it come out you ask?? Gorgeous. I love how it came out! It really is amazing how just adding those few pieces to the wall brightened up the entire room. The best part, I did it! Every time I walk in the bathroom I smile...yeah that sounds weird, but it's true. I am so proud of myself for finally conquering that fear of mine. Now as I find great pieces for my walls, I won't be afraid to come home from the store and hang them. No more waiting almost a year. Bring on the DIY (Do It Yourself) Fun. This girl is on a role. 

Tada!  Yup I did that

Just what the walls needed to add character

Writing from the Soul

I was recently wandering the aisles of TJ Maxx during one of my many holiday shopping trips. I love stores like that, because you never know what you might find. So there I was wandering around, enjoying the holiday music, luckily it was before the holiday rush so it wasn't too crowded, on my present shopping mission. I was sorting through some piles when I came across this notebook. 

Love what the outside says...I create the inside

When I read the cover it made me feel warm and happy inside. I put the book in the "maybe" part of my shopping cart. I told myself, you don't need another notebook. What will you even use it for? When it was time to pay, I couldn't seem to put the notebook back on the self, so it came home with me. 

I love my notebook.  When I was younger I used to write in a diary, not sure why I stopped, but this reminded me of that. One night I wasn't able to sleep, too much rolling around in my head I guess. I took out my notebook and just started writing. I wrote down things I didn't even know I was worrying about or feeling. My thoughts jumped around from work, dating, health, goals, you name it...It felt great to get them all out. I wasn't worried about spelling or proper grammar, I just wrote what I was feeling. Once I was done I put the book away, shut my light, and went right to sleep. 

I have continued to write in that back almost every night. It's like I am writing my fears and worries away. I am releasing them and can move on. Who knew a simple notebook that caught my eye in TJ Maxx would come to make such a big difference for me. 

End of Year Shenanigans

I'm back!  Sorry it has been so long since my last post. I feel like these last few months of 2014 flew by. Thank you to my blogging buddy Gwen for reminding me to get my butt back here. For those of you who don't know Gwen she writes a blog called The Sunny Coconut. If you are looking for honest, sincere, and success please check out her page. When I am feeling blah I read her posts and they usually get me moving again.

Even with all the craziness I am proud to say I have kept up with my workouts and yes, counted ever calorie and carb that went in my body. Even wine. On days when I knew an afternoon workout wasn't possible I got up early to at least get a run in.

5:21 a.m. I took this photo as workout proof for
 trainer Mark that I got a run in

So what else have I been up to...

Work holiday party. This is now a favorite outfit!

No complaints about the food by me...yum!
I shared leftover with my dad later that night

Hanukkah! The best part of Hanukkah for me, is watching my nieces open there presents. Now that they are older and really appreciate things, the look on their faces makes me a big puddle of Aunt Cindy.

Hmm, yeah they got a few presents

Hanukkah selfie with my favorite girls

Can't forget a silly selfie

I think this is our first family photo in many years.
thank you to the Iphone timer feature

And just to add to my fun and shenanigans, I got to ride with my fire company and Santa around town. Still not sure who gets more excited about Santa coming around town the parents, the kids, or me.

Great people, fire trucks,
candy canes, Santa, a lot of fun and so many laughs!

That's the quick and fun of my last month. I know everyone is big on New Years Resolutions, but I must admit it's not my thing. I try and look at every day as an opportunity to grow and enjoy even the little things.  Something that I do like to do throughout the year is make goals. Big ones and small ones. So what are some my goals? I want to play more in the kitchen and share my ideas and yes even failures with you. My goal to health, fitness, and weight loss is an ongoing process.  I would also love to save up for a new camera so I can play around with my photography skills a little more and be creative. These are just a few.

I would like to thank all of you for reading my posts and wish you a very happy, healthy, and safe New Years!!

On a Quest for Protein

One of the biggest things I have come realize is the large role food plays in our daily lives. I don't just mean because it tastes good or stops your stomach from grumbling during a meeting. I have noticed how certain foods make me feel. Some fuel me for a workout while others make me want to take a nap. Finding the right food for me to eat before working out has become a large part of my journey. I have discovered some really good food options, check out my chicken in a can blog post for that delicious option, I absolutely love eating that on just my cardio days. On days when I train with Mark I am really pushing myself and started feeling like I need a little something extra. I asked around the gym and found a lot of people drink protein shakes or eat protein bars. The next time I was good shopping I checked some labels and was bummed. A lot of them are FULL of carbohydrates, high calories, made with soy, gluten, tons of sugar, and not what I wanted. There goes that idea I thought, until one day on twitter someone mentioned QuestBars. I decided to check them out and was very pleasantly surprised.

My favorite flavor of QuestBar
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

The QuestBars weren't full of sugar at all, low in calories, gluten free, low in carbs, not full of so many crazy ingredients that I can't even pronounce. I was excited, but thought how good could these taste. I found out they sell them at the GNC down the street and off I went. I picked up a bunch of different flavors like, chocolate chip cookie dough, cookies and cream, white chocolate raspberry, and apple pie. These are just a few of the flavors they offer. The next day before my workout with Mark I ate the chocolate chip cookie dough bar. I loved that I was able to eat it in the car on the way to the gym, my meeting ran late and I wouldn't have had time to sit down with a fork and eat anything else.  So how did it taste you ask?  DELICIOUS!!!!  I loved it. Perfect texture, perfect flavor, didn't leave a weird after taste or leave me craving for more sugar or bad stuff.  Now the big question...how did it hold up against a Mark workout? PERFECT!  I was well fueled throughout the workout and even earned the nickname tiny beast.  I now have a bar before every workout.

There are so many different delicious flavors for you to choose from
Trust me you won't get bored!

I tried most of the other flavors and have to say the chocolate chip cookie dough and cookies and cream bars are my favorite. I buy them by the box at GNC. I have also used them as a dessert substitute. There aren't many desserts I can enjoy these days without feeling yucky after or guilty. One night after having dinner with my family I felt a little blah because I wanted the dessert, but knew I would regret it. I remembered I had a bar stashed in my purse so I took it out and got to enjoy dessert with everyone else without feeling guilty. I wouldn't recommend doing that all the time as the bars are high in protein, but for the occasional treat with friends and family I say indulge and have fun.

The box description talked me into giving them a try
so very glad I did

For more information about the Quest bars and ingredients check out the Quest website at http://www.questnutrition.com/ingredients/

Disclaimer:  I am in no way affiliated with Quest. I just love their product and wanted to share my new favorite find!!

Holiday Weight Loss Determination

I know it's been a while since my last post, I'm sorry about that, the month flew and I got swept along with it. Unfortunately, that meant I didn't workout as much and some days I slacked in watching what I ate. The end result....no weight loss and hardly any inches lost. On the positive side, seeing the numbers not change has snapped me back into gear. With the holidays approaching I know it can be a scary time for those of us trying to get in shape and be healthy; parties, food, drinking, and crazy schedules.

True, so true!
http://www.shoestoshiraz.com/2014/11/fitness-and-me-through-ecards.html

I am not afraid this time around, I am determined! I will not let the winter blues sideline me, the parties are meant to be social and have fun not to eat all the food. Most important, my workouts!! I have my amazing trainer Mark, who keeps me constantly challenging myself and trying harder. The entire staff at the gym I go to is really fun to be around, I look forward to going and seeing every one. Tomorrow Mark and I are meeting to go over a plan and my goals for the next 6 months. I'm looking forward to it. I may have slacked last month, but this is a brand new month and the best present I can give myself, is taking care of me and not losing sight of that!!

You can't change the past, but you can use the knowledge you gained and grow from it!

How are you planning on staying healthy this holiday season?

More Than Weight Loss

A few months back when I starting eating healthier, working out, and reading labels, my plan was to mostly lose weight and feel less sluggish. I had no idea how many twists and turns this journey would lead me on and how much I would discover about myself along the way. 

Look inside yourself for the strength you need to keep moving forward

Now, my hard work means way more to me than just losing some weight. This journey has made me look deep within myself and wonder, what am I made? Who am I? What do I want for myself? While I don't have all the answers yet, I am way more aware of my thoughts and feelings. I realized I am a lot tougher than I even knew, both physically and mentally. 

Excuses are easy...being true to yourself takes commitment to yourself

I look back at how I have treated my body over the years and wonder why I disrespected myself so much. I ate terrible foods, didn't work out, was miserable in my own skin and never took solid action to change that. I would say I can't do it, I will never be a gym person, but I just want to eat what I want. Now I am learning to treat my mind, body and soul with respect. In some ways I feel like I am experiencing things for the first time with clear eyes. I don't want to eat the food that makes me feel sluggish inside, it might taste good, but I love myself enough to fight the urge. Now when I miss a day or two of working out I feel it and I miss it. I even decided to step out of my comfort zone to attend a conference to learn more about my job. In addition, I discovered I love to dress nicer, do my hair every day (unless it's raining), and take pride in who I am. It feels amazing!!

I love playing with different styles these days
I wore this dress to a wedding a few weekends ago

I don't let anyone else disrespect me why would I do that to myself. I'm sorry it took me so long to get here, but glad I finally have!  I'm sure I will have many more ups and downs along the way, but I believe if I stay strong and believe in myself I can achieve anything my heart desires.  

Self love is the biggest lesson I had learn and
never knew I was lacking