31 days.

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Thirty-one days. For thirty-one days I have been meticulously inputting every single thing I put in my mouth (good AND bad) and every single time I've exercised into My Fitness Pal.

Here's what I've learned:

• I'm not perfect, and that's okay. I didn't expect myself to be. I know some days it's going to sound like a LOT more fun to go eat Margaritas for lunch than to eat my turkey sandwich and carrot sticks. And I'm not beating myself up about that.
  
• Portion. Control. Since I'm not all about depriving myself of everything I love, I have been trying to eat things in moderation--and that's working out.
  
• The 'skinny version' is usually just as good as the 'not-so-skinny' version. Starbucks skinny vanilla latte, I'm lookin at you.
  
• There is such a thing of overdoing it on exercise. One day early on in the month, I could barely get out of bed after I showered after my run. I was proud of myself, but then I remembered the fact I have already had one knee surgery and if I don't want to have another one, I need to take care of myself--and some days that means you need a day off. Working out 7 days a week indefinitely is NOT good for you. A rest day is not just okay--it is NECESSARY. That goes for all of my friends that are working out as well.
  
• It's not all about the scale. This past weekend I was in St. Louis and Sam and I ate so. much. food. I'm talking massive amounts of food--our favorite breakfast place, sushi, pickleman's, an oyster and crab festival, AND late pizza. It was enough to feed a small family for a week. Anyway, the point is that I felt disgusting after this weekend. Don't get me wrong, it was all amaaaazing food, but I didn't feel as great about myself a few days after that meal as I did a few days after eating healthy consistently...even though the number on the scale didn't go back up. Moral of that story: have a cheat meal, or two. Don't have seven in a row.

More or less, I think I'm doing a good job. And you know what? I think that's all that matters.


I'll leave you with one more little pearl of wisdom...

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Interesting thought, isn't it?

strange but true facts

Do you ever stop to think about the qualities that make you you? I was thinking about this a lot this past weekend because I drove to St. Louis (and back!) so I had a solid 8 hours of thinking time. Dangerous when you're freaked out about a lot of things.

1) I think a lot about getting in car accidents. This stems from the fact that I got in a pretty bad one in Chicago one time (luckily everyone was fine, albeit sore and shaken up for days). It was pretty much all my fault, and I'm a much much MUCH more conscientious driver now than I was in my early driving days. I flinch every time the person in front of me even taps on their brakes.

2) Checking my email is like a nervous tick. Pretty self-explanatory. Replying to my emails? Not a nervous tick....

3) I'm terrified of deer. Terrified. Keep them far far far away from me.

4) I get irrationally excited about really little things...and those little things include using up post-it notes, pens, and the holy grail: chapstick. Just did that for the first time EVER today. Usually I lose it before I can use it all.

5) I don't really like much on TV, so I usually just watch Friends on DVD. I've watched the whole series through at least 5 times in the past 3 years.

6) I'm intense. There isn't a really good way to describe it otherwise. I'm lucky enough to have people in my life who get that, who appreciate it, and who love me anyway.

7) Silence is NOT golden. I can't sit in a room without the TV on or music playing. I can't fall asleep without something playing in the background. Harry Potter on tape is my weapon of choice for falling asleep. I don't even care if that makes me weird.

What makes you you??

sunday runs

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Okay people. I know you're all dying for an update!

First up, I've lost ~5 pounds since the beginning of January, which is pretty much all of the encouragement I need to keep going. Some positive encouragement from friends has definitely kept me on track (especially my school friends, thanks guys!!).

That being said, I'm not doing so great on the run front. I only ran twice in the last week :(. I have a million and five excuses as to why I didn't run enough, but none of them are really good enough.

Here are a few of my excuses:

1) Talking about nursing boards and job interviews makes me want to throw up from anxiety about every 15 minutes.
2) I hate the treadmill.
3) I had a huge blister from my running shoes, which I also hate.
4) I was hungry when I got home from school most days.


And here are a few reasons why my excuses are terrible:

1) Running gives you endorphins, which make you happy. The day I was the most stressed out I ran for 3 miles and felt instantly better. And I had a lot of time to think about my decisions.
2) It was 20 degrees most days, and I dislike being sick more than I dislike the treadmill.
3) Put a bandaid on and suck it up. And then I bought new running shoes. Problem solved.
4) If I would run instead of eating, I'd feel a lot better about myself, and usually after I run I'm not as hungry.


I'm slightly behind on my pace to run 500 miles in 2012, but I'm not sweatin it. Check out that tab and leave a comment to keep me on track!

The MFP calorie counting thing IS going well, and I've logged my food for 22 days straight! yeah! That's some success in and of itself!

dear blogoverse...

I'm sorry I haven't written lately.

You see, I'm stressed. Maybe you got that from my last post about insomnia. I'm happy to report that the exercise and sheer exhaustion from school are fully kicking in so I've been sleeping better. I'm going to save you the bore about the things I'm stressed about, because I could type for a really long time and then you would also be stressed at the end of the post.


So what's makin' me happy lately?

This handsome man (preparing for an afternoon at the Missouri History Museum).

My favorite cat, Ms. Maddie.

A fun new hat from J. Crew (on super sale!).

Trivial Pursuit with my parents...Sam and I got "trounced" and by "trounced" I mean we lost at the very end after my parents got super, super lucky ;). At least we filled our whole pie! I call that a success.

A trip to the American Girl store with my cousin for some doll beauty care.

No lie-- Ms. Molly McIntire joined the party. Pretty sure these people thought I was a crazy 24 year old who still played with dolls...In my defense, it's not my fault that when I was 7, Zach unbraided her braids and they have NEVER looked the same. Now she's perfect. And not to be touched by anyone, ever. Okay fine. I'm a creepy 24 year old (who does NOT play with dolls).

This cutie who is getting oh so big.

Pretty winter sunsets.

Knitting projects.

This is an awful iphone pic..sigh.. but this sweet puppy makes me happy because SHE is so happy to see me :). 

Why are you happy lately?

insomnia.

When I was a baby, my parents took me to my first check up and the doctor panicked. He said, "how often are you feeding her?! She isn't gaining enough weight." My mom replied, "Well, I just feed her when she wakes up. She sleeps a lot."

I slept all. the. time. They had to start waking me up (you are never supposed to wake a sleeping baby, or so I hear) to feed me. If it was dark outside, I was asleep. Forget those sleepless nights for my parents, those didn't come until Zachary came along. If the sun went down at 5:00, so did I.

Which brings me to now. I'm still ready for bed super early. Tonight I was in bed, with the lights out, at 9:30. What happens is that...

1) I am stressed. I like to play off that school isn't that hard for me, and it's not. College sucked big time because chemistry and biochem were like taking Mandarin Chinese lessons for me, but otherwise I've been blessed as far as learning goes. It's always come pretty easy. However, being in nursing school means that I have to worry about and take boards at the end of the year, and that terrifies me. I didn't do great (understatement) on the MCAT, which was the last big test that meant something about my life. Doing poorly changed the entire course of my life. What if I don't pass boards? I can't change my entire life again, nor do I want to do so. I actually like nursing.

2) My brother listens to weird stuff all night. I love my brother dearly, but seriously, it's weird stuff. Like video game soundtracks or something. I know what you're saying, "just close your door." Can't--I get claustrophobic in a room with the door shut. No one in my family sleeps with their door shut. Nick tries to (which would alleviate the weird music thing), but since he has epilepsy I like to be able to hear if he is having a seizure (which has happened more than once).

3) Bella still wakes up in the middle of the night. I'm a really light sleeper, so the minute she jumps off my mom's bed (yes, she will not sleep with me), I'm awake. I feel as if this bodes well for my maternal instincts, but it's so annoying.

4) Sometimes I have to get up for clinicals at 4:00 A.M. If that was the case, I'd be up for the day right now. However, I DON'T HAVE SCHOOL TOMORROW and I'm still awake. 

It's no wonder I'm awake for an hour or two every night in the middle of the night. I'm going on an hour and a half right now and I'm really annoyed. I thought I'd been sleeping better since I'd been working out, but that my friends is a falsehood.


Does anyone else have this problem? Does anyone take anything for this problem? I'm thinking of trying out melatonin since it's more natural than other things OTC. There unfortunately isn't a solution for shutting your brain off, except maybe meditation, but I've never been good at sitting still. And my brain never shuts off.

sunday runs

I have been wondering how I should keep everyone updated on my 'healthy living' progress, because I know you're all super interested (that's not total sarcasm, my last blog post got the most hits I've ever had!). I've decided on a couple of things. First up are "Sunday Runs" posts, which will be an overview of the week or a specific thing about exercise/dieting that stuck out for the week.

Second, as you may have noticed, I've added a tab at the top of the page called '500 miles' where I'm keeping a running log of how many miles I've ran this year (in case you haven't checked it out, I'm up to 9 miles so far!).

This weekend was a little rough--my mom's birthday was Friday so we went out to dinner AND to Coldstone Creamery (guys, I told you--such a vice). I made up for it yesterday by sticking to my allotted calories even though I didn't run, and then today I ran and felt so much better instantly.



I love running outside because I get so bored on the treadmill. It's okay if I have the TV on, but I would rather be outside. My mom told me it was "so nice!" outside when I woke up, so I threw on some warmish clothes and headed out. Um, I'm not sure what my mom's definition of "nice" is, but it isn't mine. My favorite running weather is overcast and about 60 degrees. Well it was overcast...but it was also spitting snow..SNOW..and was about 35 degrees. Needless to say, I ran a little faster and set my "best mile time" according to Paula Radcliffe on the Nike+ app. I know it's not actually my best time because my best time was actually 6:52 when I was in 7th grade, but I felt proud of myself for getting better. Seeing progress makes it so worth it!

Also, I'm blessed to live in a pretty part of our town...a mile away from my house is this view:

Not too shabby. It's really peaceful when it's empty of annoying boaters/drunk people and I feel like I can actually think when I'm over there running. At the risk of getting stalked I'm not going to say exactly where this is, but if you're ever looking for a gorgeous place to run, let me know and I'll let you know how to get there :).

Another source of motivation: I've lost 3 pounds since last Sunday! Woo hoo! After polling several people, I've decided just to weigh myself one day a week. I will get discouraged if I don't see enough progress, and I know weight fluctuates throughout the week (especially for females). I haven't decided if I'm going to make it Sunday or Monday yet, but after this week, I'm picking one day and sticking to it!


Hope everyone else's "healthy living" is going well!

pre-test randoms

Tomorrow is our first exam of the semester, so you know what that means... time for 10 random thoughts in 10 minutes! I technically haven't started studying for the test yet, so I am not really taking a study break, but oh well.


1. Right now it is 60 degrees (and the sun is almost down!). So unseasonably warm for Missouri this time of year. 11 months ago we were buried under 2 feet of snow (literally) in what was to be known as Snowpocalypse 2011. I have my window open, my mom is grilling, and Bella and Albert are running around in the backyard and if I close my eyes, I can make believe that it is May 12, 2012 and that I am done studying for tests for school (and just have the NCLEX to worry about!).

2. During my shopping trip with S & J to the Plaza, we hit up Anthropologie and I scored this adorable mug...

...for only $4! What a steal. It is so cute and I wish now I had bought them for everyone I know to give out on their next birthdays. I also wish that I had more than one name so I could have at least 3 or 4 of them.

3. I never did a Christmas/birthday post about everything I was lucky enough to receive. I'm so fortunate to have the money to by myself things I NEED throughout the year, and receive things I just dream about during the holidays. I got everything on my list (did I mention how blessed I am?) including some pretty fly rainboots that I'm really excited about:

4. My brothers are funny.

5. I rented "Friends With Benefits" to watch while studying (super conducive to studying, right?) and now that I know JT is engaged to JBiel, I'm kind of wondering if it'll ruin the onscreen chemistry for me between Mila and Justin.


6. I read The Hunger Games trilogy over break...in 3 days, to be exact. SO GOOD. Not quite HP standards, in my opinion, but if you know how much I love Harry and his friends, you're probably not surprised by that. It was leaps and bounds better than Twilight though. Not hard to do. Don't get me wrong, I am totally on the Twilight bandwagon, but let's face it: not the most well-written story in the world. And Katniss is such a BA heroine (albeit the weird name) , whereas Bella is pretty wishy-washy.

7. My hair is getting to the length where I stop wanting to grow it out and instead want to cut it to this length:

YUCK. This is also maybe the only time my hair has been shorter than S's.

8. I get to see my second true love, Andrew McMahon, sing live w/ my BFF A in 15 days.

 
9. If I spent as much time studying as I do writing pointless blog posts or reorganizing my closet/bookshelf, I would probably get 100s on all of my exams.

10. Yesterday I overdid it a little bit when I was running, and I thought I was going to have all of my muscles cramp up at night. Lesson learned. Only do what I'm ready to do.

Time to study!

healthy living, and all that it entails.

From mid-March to mid-July, I have 8 different bridal events to attend, ranging from showers to bachelorette parties to weddings to receptions. Eight. I am so excited for all of them, because there's nothing I like more than a good wedding.

One thing I'm not excited about? All of the dresses and pictures that are involved in said bridal events.


My best friend A is getting married in June is Florida, and since I'm one of her bridesmaids (and not to mention there are beaches in Florida), I have been trying really hard to change my "school" eating habits into some healthy eating habits. Some days it works, some days it doesn't. No Spend November helped a little in this aspect, because I have virtually stopped eating fast food. I don't miss it in the slightest, which makes me wish I had put myself in a spending freeze a long time ago. Starting January 1st, I cut out any kind of soda that has calories in it. This kills me because I love Coke and I hate Diet Coke. I do, however, like Diet Dr. Pepper so that's going to help wean me off of the soda all together because I'm of the opinion that diet soda causes cancer and rots you from the inside out {okay maybe it doesn't, but just let me think that}. There are two major vices GONE.

Remember when I said during the month of no spending that having someone hold you accountable makes all the difference in the world? My friend Chelsea was one of the people instrumental in that lesson and turns out she's pretty instrumental in this one, too. We use an app for the iPhone called "My Fitness Pal" where you can log all of your food and exercise and it gives you all sorts of great nutritional info. It also has a bar code scanner that I swear will change your life. If you eat, say, a granola bar, you just scan the bar code and it uploads all of the info right away. And, if you don't log in for a few days, it tells your friend that you need some encouragement. How great is that? Knowing that she can see if I worked out or if I met my calorie goal makes me try harder to meet both goals.

My friend L is also attending A's wedding in Florida, and she's working hard to get in shape not only for the wedding but also just to better herself. I'm always really motivated when I see her twitter or blog about how she worked out, and think to myself, "Listen, you don't want to be the only one on a beach embarrassed about being there, so you better get up and get on that treadmill!" Her husband challenged her to run 500 miles in the 2012, which sounds like a lot, but if you break it down it's less than 1.5 miles each day. I asked her if I could adopt that as one of my goals too, and she was very sweet as to say yes.

So why are you reading all about my sad attempts to get in shape? Because I want you to hold me accountable, too! If you see me in class or on the street or heaven forbid in a Coldstone Creamery (ice cream is another vice), remind me about this blog post. Ask me if I have worked out today.

While I would love to look like this...

Who else loves Miranda Kerr? I also think her husband, Orlando Bloom, is an attractive fellow.

I would totally settle for this:

Which is admittedly 4 years ago, yet totally achievable if I really set my mind to it!

So for now: 3.5 miles down, 496.5 to go.

A visit from S&J

After finals, two of my very best friends, Sara and Jackie (S & J, obviously) came to visit me. We hadn't seen each other since last January (eek!) so to say that we were excited to see one another is an understatement.


We did a lot of exciting things that other people may not think are quite so exciting, but hey, that's why we're friends, right?

The first night they were here, we went and saw The Nutcracker at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. It was so lovely! We all love the ballet and this was actually the second that we've seen together.

 The Kauffman Center is gorgeous. It's brand new and if you're ever in the KC area, I recommend you check out a performance here, because the architecture and design is almost as exciting as the show.

Seriously? How pretty is this?

A sunset view of Kansas City

 The next day we spent our day doing some Christmas shopping, some baking, and some knitting!

The master candy cane sprinkler.

We had some enthusiastic helpers in the kitchen!

Our sugar cookie log sprinkled with a LOT of sprinkles

First day of school picture! With a cute little owl backpack.

 And on our final full day together, we headed to the Plaza for some shopping. I was super lame about taking pictures while they were here, but I know between the 3 of us we have some good pictures.

I miss you both so much already, and can't wait for a next trip together!!! Love you guys.

an organized closet

Tired of seeing holiday posts on every blog you frequent? Here's a little change of scenery.

I have to start back up to school tomorrow, and my room had fallen into some serious disrepair over the previous semester. Before Sam got in town for my birthday/NYE, I took the opportunity to do a major closet overhaul. Now I can actually find things in it, and I have one less distraction from my test on Friday :). You heard that right people...starting school tomorrow, test on Friday.

Also, I was too lazy to go down and get my DSLR camera when I was taking these pictures, so I used my iPhone (using my DSLR is one of my new year's resolutions...one I'll actually keep).

First, I took everything out of my closet and dumped it on my bed (and forgot to take real "before" pictures)...

...and on the floor.

I seriously took EVERYTHING out...

And then I put everything back in. I like to separate long/short sleeved things and then arrange them by color. Sweaters and extra bags are in the pink Sterilite container. On top of that pink container is a tote (from J!) with all of my knitting things and my clinical bag for nursing school for easy access.

I folded all of my comfy v-necks and long sleeved shirts in this white hanging thing.

Along with all of my camis and cardigans for easy access.

The crate next to my AMAZING NEW RAIN BOOTS holds shoes I don't wear as often.

On the opposite wall my dad hung some fun knobs from Anthropologie up for me to hang on all of my necklaces on.

Seriously, how cute is this knob? I love it.

I learned some valuable lessons similar to the No Spend November lessons while cleaning out my closet.

First, I had 9 pairs of slippers. 9. Do you know how many pairs of slippers you can wear at one time? 1 pair. I got rid of 4 of them, so I still have 5 pairs, but still.

I had 6 thermals and 20 cotton long-sleeved t-shirts from various clothing stores. 20! I got rid of all but 9 of the cotton long-sleeved shirts. I know that 15 shirts that are basically the same might seem excessive, but I wear them all the time under sweaters, sweatshirts, and more importantly, I'll wear them under scrubs because I get cold all of the time in the hospital.

I made myself get rid of a few other things that I had in my closet, but I'm going to try something that my friend Lauren found on Pinterest: once you wear something, turn your hangar the opposite way of everything else in your closet {it's recommended you turn everything the "wrong way" and then turn it back once you wear it}. Then, 6 months later, if you haven't worn it, throw it out, donate it, or resell it. If I haven't worn something in 6 months, chances are, I'm never going to!


Hope you're all having a great first day of 2012!