Day 1 & 2 of the 45 Day Challenge!

 Yesterday I wrote about how I had 45 Days to get in shape for my Engagement Pictures...

I stuck to it on Day one and I was really pleased with myself. I'm starting to think I will actually be able to pull this off!

This was my picture yesterday, and I weighed in at 154 lbs

Yeah... I have been putting off this picture for a LONGGG time!! The last thing I wanted was to take picture proof that I wasn't at the weight I had worked so hard to be at... but here it is!

These past 2 months I have been drinking soda DAILY, eating lots of processed foods and sugar..and all the while over eating daily. It has been BAD. 

I felt like I was out of control..that I couldn't change again. 

But Yesterday I proved to myself that it was possible! I COULD get back to where I needed to be!

Today I weighed in at 152! Yes - I know the 2 lb loss was just bloating and water weight coming off from the clean eating but it felt GREAT to know that even one day makes a difference!

 To celebrate the 1 day of progress, I made this delicious salad. 

Here's to change, progress and 44 more days!

Dani

44 Days

It's been no secret that ever since I got engaged, I slipped up on my diet and workout routines. 

After Christmas this year (my usual splurge season) I just couldn't get my eating back on track. 

I fell farther and farther away from the person I had worked so hard to become. 

So here's the deal.. I gained about 10 pounds. 

Here's the other deal: I have 44 Days until Jeff and I are taking ENGAGEMENT PICTURES!

 I wishhh more than anything that I had the foresight to take them in November right after we got engaged.... BUT I didn't. So now I have 44 days to get engagement picture ready!

I had allot of excuses that I've been too busy with school... But in reality I had plenty of free time. 

Well I start a new job this week.. a new job where I work EARLY Mornings and Afternoons!

YIKES!

I'm really going to have to buckle down on my eating if I want this to work, and start taking better advantage of the little bits of free time I will have. 

I started using a NEW FITNESS APP that is SO COOL! It's Called Pump Up and its a fitness APP that works just like Instagram, except it is specifically for people to log their workouts, food, and progress. 

Follow me on there:

http://pumpup.co/thatfitnesschic

I am going to start keeping track of my food and exercise like I used to, and it will be easy for me to update there daily :)

I am SO EXICTED that I have this 44 day wake up call to get me back where I need to be!

xoxo

Dani

Upsizing - The Down Side of It

I have not been dedicated to my health and fitness plan for some time now. 

It's weird how weight kind of sneaks up on you.. Each little bit you gain doesn't seem like a big deal, but all of a sudden BAM! You have reached the point where there are major problems. 

I hit that point today. I was trying to find something to wear and nothing was fitting. I started to panic a little - then I went to the scale. 

Last year at this time I weighed around 138-140 but I was doing crossfit so I was pretty lean and muscley. 

This year I weigh TEN POUNDS more than that. Most of the weight is sitting awkwardly around my stomach and inner thighs. 

All my "skinny" clothes I bought over the last 2 years no longer fit me. 

Now that spring has arrived here in Arizona, I can no longer hide under my layers of loose winter clothing. 

I am heartbroken that I let myself get this far. That I let myself go and stopped working out. 

I'm sad that I spent SO LONG to get where I was, and I wasted it away in about 4 months. 

I'm just so darn busy with school, and I'm having a CRAZY hard time balancing everything. 

I've also always been an emotional eater, and that was something I was learning to control when I was taking better care of my body. 

My wedding planning has been such a nightmare - worse than any cheesy wedding movie I have ever seen. 

I have never felt so stressed and lost in my whole life,  and I have definitely been turning to food as a release to make me feel better. 

I have made up so many excuses as to why I should be able to eat whatever I want and why I have no time to workout, I could not even list them all. 

I am writing this post as a cry for help... to myself and from the people around me who support me. 

I feel like I have "hit rock bottom" as they say - and I want desperately to get back to where I was. 

Not even the weight... I want to get back to that healthy and happy mindset. I want to get back the feeling of comfort I felt in my own skin. I want that feeling of accomplishment and awesomeness after finishing a hardcore workout. I want to get my life back! My healthy life! The one where I was training for a triathlon, I had proudly run a spartan race and I had been known by all my friends and classmates as the girl that does crossfit and eats gluten-free. 

I need a serious priority check and I need it quick. I feel like this is the 3rd post now where I've written about how I've let myself go. I'm hoping this is the last one!

Here's to change. 

A change in diet, a change of mindset, a change of priorities and a change of spirit. 

I know what I want and I know how to get it, I've done it before!

-Dani

Sick.

After I wrote my last post, I was SO excited to finally be doing what I needed to be doing. 

Eating healthy, back on the exercise train, determined...

Then the next day I woke up SICK. 

Of course. 

Not just a cold, but a fever with a disgusting sore throat that makes swallowing seem like an impossible feat, a cough that sounds like the rasping of an old man who has been locked in a damp dark dungeon and has not seen the light of day for many years...

Okay, maybe I'm being a little over dramatic, but the moral of the story is that I have NOT been working out because I feel about as good as a sack of crap and when I do anything remotely physical I end up bent in half coughing until my lungs feel like that can no longer produce an adequate supply of air. 

(yes, I am a bit of a drama queen). 

Some good news that came out of this, I cancelled ALL plans to focus on getting healthy and my mom forced me to go search for bridal gowns in my spare time. 

I was hesitant at first, because I've gained weight and I was sick so I was hardly done up very prettily, (and the dresses looked WAY better when I was done up nicer). 

But I wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it myself, I FOUND MY DRESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After trying on over 35 different dresses from 4 different Bridal boutiques I found my dress at a discount store that I thought I would hate but I absolutely LOVED!

My dress made me feel like a princess and I can't wait to see it when it's finished being altered. (I am adding sleeves). I WISH I could share a picture here but I'm afraid Jeff might see it! (not that he reads this very often anyways). 

So even though I feel like crap and may be visiting the inside of an Urgent Care today, something good has come out of being sick!

I feel so much closer to being married! Somehow just buying the dress has made this all seem so much more real. 

YAY. 

-Dani

I Did It!

Thank you for all the encouraging and sweet comments on my last post. That was an extremely hard post to write and even harder to publish. You guys are really an amazing Support group to me!!

Yesterday I stuck to my goals of getting my eating back on track and I jogged a mile. 

Breakfast Smoothie! Strawberry, Pineapple & Yogurt

I carried a Glass of Lemon Water with me ALL DAY! Here's to hoping that it boosts my metabolism! (and don't you love the new cup Fiance got me for Christmas??)

For Lunch I ate a Huge Italian Salad with grilled chicken, Red onions and a Sprinkling of Cheese

After a Dinner of Pork, Green Beans and Sweet Potatoes, I went for my mile jog! It went great, aside from the yucky feeling in your chest that jogging in the cold gives you. 

So I am back where I need to be! It feels good to control your portions, to plan your meals and have no regrets after eating.

Today I started my day with some weight loss Yoga from Home! I had no idea that my TV could play YouTube Videos! The Possibilities for at home workouts now seem endless!

- Dani

New Year, New Challenges.

It's time for me to be honest with myself. 

It seems that its so easy to pretend that your body isn't changing

That you can eat whatever you want like the rest of your  friends and family

but then you start wearing sweat pants more often and baggier and baggier T shirts. 

You start to be in denial why your jeans get too tight. 

You start to lie to yourself daily - TOMORROW I will do better. 

I'm so sad to say that I Gained Weight. 

Weight that I worked SO HARD to lose. 

It took me almost a year to lose 19 pounds by eating healthy and exercising daily. 

But ever since I went to Disneyland in October, I haven't been able to reign in my eating habits. I haven't been able to stop finding excuses not to workout and not to have to eat clean and reasons why it would be okay to get a cookie with my salad at paradise....

I could feel myself slipping slowly into my old habits. Lying to myself and the people around me. Binge eating daily. Treating everyday as a cheat day. Using the Holidays as an excuse to eat like I was at a buffet. 

But I did all of these things. I did it and I was too ashamed and scared to step onto the scale. I kept thinking that I would go back to eating healthy and that I would go back to the way I was before. But of course it's not that easy. I finally had the courage to weigh myself today and I've gained 10 pounds. 

TEN POUNDS that took me MONTHS to lose. 

10 pounds I lost by WORKING MY BUTT OFF in a CrossFit gym that I no longer have the time or money for. 

10 Pounds that came from ordering salads when everyone else was ordering pasta, from eating fruit when everyone else ate ice cream, from prepping meals at night when everyone else was watching T.V.

I think you get the picture. Those 10 pounds were hard work, and I feel like I've just thrown in all down the drain. 

I remembered a quote that used to fuel me in the beginning. It was: "Eat to live, don't live to eat". I feel like I used to really know what that meant. I used to live by it. I would feel bad for the people around me who were fueled by the food they would get to eat, so excited for the dessert. 

I would feel power from turning down the bread and I would feel more motivated the more I stuck to my eating plan. 

Tomorrow I start, I mean REALLY start going back to the habits I had worked so hard to acquire. 

I will eat clean, healthy and fresh foods. 

I'm starting a new challenge to motivate me to workout daily (even if its not a crossfit wod) called the Spartan 30. 

I will take new pictures of me at my new weight -  even though I am extremely embarrassed that I let this happen and that I am not the person I wanted to be this year. 

Its 2014, and I hope to be able to make the most of it. 

- Dani

Fitness and Health New Years Resolutions

I absolutely LOVE making New Years Resolutions. The problem is, I usually don't keep them :/

Last Year I did AMAZING (not to toot my own horn) I pretty much stuck to my healthy eating/fitness goals all the way until about this October... Ever since I got engaged I have been eating TERRIBLE!

You'd think with an impending wedding I would be stepping up my game?? I have gained several pounds, my skin looks unhealthy and I am reverting back to old habits. 

THANK GOODNESS FOR THE NEW YEAR!

I always feel like the new year is a fresh start, where we can erase the mistakes of the old year and welcome the change of the new year. 

I plan to do just that! I have 4 months to get back into shape for my engagement pictures. 

Not only that, LAST year my goal was to do the Spartan Race, which I did and you can read about my experience HERE. 

This year my new fitness goal is to do a Sprint Triathlon this summer. A Sprint Tri is a ¼ Mile Swim, 12.5 Mile Bike, and finished with a 3.1 Mile Run. 

I started training for this in the end of this last summer but then became consumed with school and gave up my training. This semester, I am putting aside excuses and committing to training for the sprint tri!

There is one on May 19th that I am going to keep in mind as a goal!

Here are all of my fitness & health goals:

Happy New Years everyone!

-Dani

How to Pack the PERFECT Healthy Lunch!

As most of you know, this year I embarked on a new part of my life: The Life of an Education Major!

I spent many days eating lunch in classrooms, eating in teacher's lounges and eating lunch on the go. 

I knew if I wanted to maintain the healthy lifestyle I had worked so hard to create for myself, I would need to put in the extra time and plan my lunches ahead of time.

It took ALLOT more work/thinking power than just buying my lunches from the subway in the cafeteria, or just packing a traditional sandwich. 

Here is my recipe for packing my lunch:

I tried to stick to these rules as often as possible! I also packed things like full fat yogurt, cheese sticks, hummus and I ALWAYS pack a dark chocolate square for a treat!


Last but not least, I recommend BUYING A LUNCHBOX THAT MAKES THIS ALL POSSIBLE. I had a few different lunch boxes I would try out, but it was like lugging around a small suitcase with all the Tupperware stacked inside.

Then I found this cute website http://www.laptoplunches.com/ on Pinterest one day when I was pinning lunch ideas. I kept seeing people pinning Bento Boxes or Laptop Lunches and I was like - Those are SO cute! I ordered one in the mail, (quite possibly the most expensive lunchbox EVER) but it was SO worth it. As you will see from the pictures of my lunches below, it kept my food organized and neat. I no longer had to lug around a cooler of food and it incidentally kept my portion sizes PERFECT. (this is no advertisement, I am just a HUGE FanGirl).


Some of the Examples of Lunches I Packed:
I wasn't able to snap pictures of ALL my lunches, but I managed to get a good amount of examples! I always fill one container with protein, one with veggies and then wing the rest.

Chicken Salad, Banana Chips, Carrot Sticks, Full Fat Greek Yogurt Sprinkled with Slivered Almonds and a piece of Dark Chocolate.

Chicken Salad, Full Fat Yogurt, Cheese Stick, Carrots and Hummus, Cashews and Dark Chocolate (This Bento Box was packed to get me through a full day-night at school, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.)

Steamed Veggies, Ham and Cheese Roll Ups, Almonds, Grapes and of Course, My dark Chocolate!

Chicken and Hummus, Steamed Veggies, Watermelon, Almonds, Cheese Stick and Dark Chocolate

Diced Chicken, Sweet Potato Fries, Grapes, Cashews and Dark Chocolate

Chicken Stir Fry, Grapes, Carrots and Hummus, Cashews, Cheese Stick and Dark Chocolate

Roast Beef, Apple Slices, Cashews, Yogurt and Dark Chocolate

Air popped popcorn, ham and cheese roll ups, carrots and hummus, and pinneaple

Ham and cheese roll ups, Pirates Booty, Trail Mix, Grapes

Turkey and Cream Cheese Roll Ups, Avocado, Peaches, Carrots, Almonds and Dark Chocolate

Ham, Salad, peaches, trail mix, dark chocolate

Egg salad, steamed veggies, peaches and yogurt

Chicken Lettuce Wraps Insides, Cantaloupe, Cashews, Yogurt and Dark Chocolate

(Skipped the Veggies today?? WEIRD!) Ham, Cottage Cheese, Almonds and Yogurt

Diced Chicken, Salad, Almonds, Yogurt and Dark Chocolate

Some of these lunches may look a little big... It's because they were packed to keep me full for 10 hours! Most of the time I packed, I USED LEFTOVERS! That is my main tip for you if you are going to try and pack lunches, it is SO much easier to make a little extra dinner and pack that, than have to create a whole separate meal. 

So Glad I finally got this post out there :) I hope this helps anyone struggling with packing lunches! Keeping it Gluten Free and Healthy kept me full the whole day, kept any uncomfortable bloating away and really helped me stick to my eating plan!

Love, 

DANI

I'm BAAaaaAAck!

I'm finally done with the most difficult semester of school I have ever been through!

I am SO exited to be able to write what I WANT to write about... Fitness, Food and FUN!

For the next three weeks, I don't have to write a single education paper, and it feels OH so good ;)

I celebrated the end of the semester by lifting! Woot Woot! What better way to celebrate?

Unfortunately, I lost ALLOT of my strength from not being as consistent in my workouts these past few months :/

I have to say, it was a little depressing to not even get close to my old max and get fatigued. 

HOWEVER! I know that with a little perseverance I will get right back where I was before ;)

Here's to getting back in shape!

xoxo

DANI

LAST DAY OF FINALS

TODAY IS MY LAST LATE NIGHT OF STUDYING. 

Wanted to leave this picture with you from the day after Jeff and I got engaged ;)

Back to my math....

Thanksgiving Workout!

Do twice, PLUS a set for each serving you had of each dish. I'm doing this 3-4 times through... 

I had an AMAZING Thanksgiving surrounded by friends and family. 

I actually made it to TWO dinners in one day. This was Jeff and I's first year at going to both Holiday's. 

My stomach really hurt by the end of the day, but it was so nice to be able to spend time with my current family and future family!

I'm finishing up all my final papers right now in order to be able to enjoy Christmas Break.. 

AND COME BACK TO THE BLOGGING WORLD!

I'm so excited, I've missed it so much!

xoxo

Dani

Halloween, Hill Workout and Wedding Plans!

This year I celebrated Halloween at school!

My friends and I were the 3 Blind Mice. Can you tell we are all a bunch of Elementary Ed Majors!!??

I love being in classes with people who share similar passions to me.

We were the only people walking around campus in costume.. and we LOVED it!

Stabbed Eyeball Cake Pops I made for the party at school!

I got in this AWESOME Hill workout this week. Jeff and I have been really into riding our bikes 3 miles to a park by our house and working out outside while the weather is SO nice!!

 Gecko Push-ups... I love them, but I hate them. I especially Hated doing them up hill. 

If you don't know how to do them, there is a video HERE explaining how!

DEAD at the end of the workout. 

ALSO Jeff and I have officially BOOKED our Venue!! Its at a pretty little place called the Shendoah Mill. I stole these pretty pictures off their website, because my phone really didn't do it justice:

This is where we will hold our ring ceremony and quaint little reception! We are so excited. We always wanted a cute little, simple reception and we think we found the PERFECT place for us! We are in LOVE! Now to figure out where we are holding our open house the next weekend......

xoxo

DANI

I'M ENGAGED!!!

I am on cloud NINE you guys. I had the trip of a lifetime, I am SO happy!!

Of course I had written I was going to Disneyland, I was SO excited!

Well (as you can see) I was totally shocked when, on the log ride, Jeff PROPOSED to me!! IT was like a dream

Immediately after returning from our trip, we booked our venue (because we want the shortest engagement possible) so my wedding date is October 25th 2014!!!

I have been busy with wedding planning and school, BUT I am making it a priority to start blogging again...because I still have some weight to lose!

It would be nice to lose 10 more lbs before we take our engagement pictures in February!

Right after we got engaged, my eating was OUT of control. But I'm back on track now and going to work harder than ever!

I packed my lunch today:

Small Parisian salad: (feta cheese, craisins, vinaigrette) Chicken with Hummus, Yogurt, Almonds and a piece of Dark Chocolate

I hope to eat well this whole week (except Halloween) and get some good quality workouts in!

I am SO excited ti document my "get wedding fit" journey!!

XOXO

Dani