IM GOING VEGAN: day 22 ... JOURNEY COMPLETED

Today felt normal. No anticipation that it was the last day. I don't feel different.


TMI MOMENT!!

Except for the Lady in Red trying to creep upon my person. UGH

I'm confident that I lost inches, definitely in my belly. BUT weight... with lifting, I know I'm adding muscle & like I just said the Lady in Red is coming, so its going to fluctuate.

---

So over graduate school.

Meals:
banana, gluten free Oats & Honey granola

vegan bean soup, raw spinach, bean burger,

raw spinach/grape salad:
------sauteed brussels sprouts, onions, fried tofu, vegan chickn strips,- w/ olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette.
honey roasted peanuts
.5 miso soup packet

Water: 60 oz -- try to hit 90

No Workout. booooo. I know.




Will post my measurements/weight results tomorrow. I actually don't have a scale so I won't be able to weigh myself until I go to the gym.... so I might try for a true weigh-in later this weekend. I really need to update my VeganVlogs. lol eek

2013 BEACHBODY-- Black Friday/Cyber Monday Holiday Promotion November 27 , 2013 – December 2 , 2013

 

Items will sell fast so don't wait too long!!!

1. Click this link http://www.teambeachbody.com/87pages 

2. Click Shop All Products
3. In the search Box--- type in HOLIDAY
4. Choose a program and don't let that Turkey get you! :)
  

               

30 Day Push Goal Challenge: Day 2

How to determine your priorities:

So it's been over a week since I began the 30 day challenge and true to form I fell off the wagon. I really didn't want too but I just felt so overwhelmed with life...and blah blah blah. I HAD thought I was taking the bull by the horns due to creating a color coded schedule for working out, work, school work, hobbies, and life. Kinda realized I went over-board when my printer went schitzo on me. eek

Like most experts, Chalene says "it takes 21 days of consistency to create a habit. But what's the point if you haven't learned how to create the best possible habit?"... Which ties into why I'm posting today: Chalene ask's "The first step, the step that so many people neglect in our fast-paced world is to determine what you want! What are your priorities? It sounds so obvious, but you won't believe how many of us forget to ask this of ourselves. What do you really want? What is meaningful to you?"

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH was my original response lol. Now my more educated response :)


Chalene says: "1. Priority Brainstorm: Use the area below to list any and all areas of importance to you in your life today. The bigger the list the better! Think about what makes you happy, what gives you pride, what you wish to be remembered by at the end of your life, what you want people to know was most important to you. Consider what makes you feel good about yourself, gives you confidence and what gives you pride."

• 1. What makes me happy is living my life. 
• 2. What gives me pride is when I think outside the box and go beyond my comfort level. 
• 3. I wish to be remembered as person who lived-- who was honest, frank, compassionate, comfortable, internationally savvy. 
• 4. My priority is my happiness and not being stagnant OR being forced to settle for what others assume I should be happy with. 
• 5.My priority is loving God and being a Godly wife... 
• 6. I'm confident when around open-minded people and I don't have to alter my way of thinking or living or having to assimilate to make others comfortable --racially, ethnically, spiritually, gender-wise, socially, physically, mentally... etc.

Chalene says: "2. Now star the top five areas of importance to you."

• I think I only mentioned five! lol ok so it was 6.. I guess I'd cut #2, because its similar to #6. 

Chalene says: "3. Next, write down your top three priorities in no particular order– Use just a few words like, “faith”, “family”, “Helping the underprivileged” , “Creating financial security for my family” “Helping others” “My health and fitness”, etc. "

• God/Me
• Marriage
• Living Happily

Chalene says: "4. Rewrite the above list in order of importance to you." 

• My number one priority -- God/Me
• My number two priority --Marriage
• My number three priority --- Living Happily

Chalene says: "5. Take the priority you’ve listed as number one and complete the following statements: The reason why I have placed the greatest importance on this area of my life is because:" 

• God is Love and I crave love.  He is everything I aspire to become and when I praise Him I feel calm and safe.

Chalene says: " I will honor my number one priority by vowing to do my best to always:"

• Learn more about his Word, treating others kindly, Loving and Living my life and family. Loving myself and making sure I have mental clarity and physical fitness. 

Chalene says: The following action(s) would be inconsistent with my commitment to my number one priority: To honor my number on priority I will limit:"

• Adultery, Unfriendly behaviors --instead of refusing to interact with individuals, give them a chance , not reading the Bible. Refusing to engage personal development due to being "busy."participating in gossip-fests, judging a book by its cover. participate in self-doubt ..slack because I don't see results. 

Chalene says: "To live my life according to my number one priority I need to make the following changes:" 

• More personal development. If I don't understand the Bible seek aid in interpreting His word. Journal my goals and refuse to slack if I don't see immediate success. 

Chalene says: "6. Be as detailed as possible. Create a Top Priority clarity statement in the space below:" 

• My number one priority is to love God and the life He has blessed me to live. By taking seriously my academic & professional career; by accepting and loving myself, my husband, my family despite our flaws;and by engaging happiness. If there is something I don't feel supported, trusted, or productive or successful in than it is my duty to make that change AND seek assistance. 
• Trust my husband with my dreams and aspirations. Get a stronger vocabulary and have better follow-through in my personal life. So many decisions I fling away but today I want to be stronger and finish. My concrete fitness goal is 140 lbs and wearing a size 6. I refuse to munch away on junk food-- I'm focused on getting fired up!!!! Fired Up for Life! 

30 Day Push Goal Challenge: Day 1

Yesterday, my boss asked me what was my ultimate career goal. I was at a loss because when I think about the past 9 years I've accomplished the majority of my dreams. I graduated from college, I traveled throughout most of Western Europe and a bit of Asia. I'm married and in graduate school to become an Academic Advisor. So what else is there? I asked my boss, do I need new goals? She laughingly replied "No, you just need to build off of them."

Talking to another graduate student 30 minutes later and while discussing her career and personal goals, I sat there stupefied, the only thing I had somewhat in common is that we both felt like we've accomplished a lot in our short lives, but the difference was she had more goals and ideas and I... well. I felt lacking and if there's one thing about me is that I hate to lack something.

It's so interesting that today I started Chalene Johnson's 30 Day Push Challenge, and for Day 1, she asks:

My Goals:

Its crazy that I don't have a concrete answer? I'm constantly comparing my goals on the basis of superficiality. But that's crazy right? Or is it even crazier that I don't have goals.... I mean I do but I don't.

Like I want to have a successful Youtube channel and Blog. I want to be super fit and retain my hair growth. I think I want to inspire people. I also want to learn how to re-connect with people I'm not fond of in my family. Maybe as we have matured we can talk easier ... or maybe there is a reason why we aren't close.

Career wise- I want to work in student affairs/academic advising, and re-shape university academic structures......annnnd 3 languages... and work internationally and travel. Guess I do have some goals.

My Values/Most Important:

I value honesty and frankness. I value having a job/career that I can be happy in. I am important to me. My happiness and my relationship with God. My husband is important to me and I want to be a good and Godly wife. My family and friends are important. Community service is important to me.

What do I want people to remember me by:

I think this is what scares me the most. When I'm dead will people remember me? I just hope to impact one person and just know that "I was Here"....

Guiding Principles: I think I have new guiding principles since college. I'm against burning bridges and discarding potential networking due to personality differences. I'm trying not to judge on appearances or perceived qualities.

Things that feel like a calling for me? Traveling, International Relations, Marriage, Motivating people (admittedly I need to work on my people skills lol ), Working with college students, and having fun lol .. I think I might retire as a librarian.

Hmm...this was fun ...scary and challenging but kinda fun. I'm a bit in shock perhaps? lol



Time for some tea to reflect a bit more.

Thanks, Chalene.

ps. stay tuned for Day 2's report of the #30daypush :)
pss. Chalene Johnson Facebook https://www.facebook.com/chalene?ref=ts&fref=ts
psss. Be sure to follow me on Instagram! @87pages


*************CHALENE UPDATE*******
"PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: Your goals MUST have clearly defined measure. I'm so excited to read your GOALS for 2013, but I'm seeing a BIG PROBLEM! ***GOALS THAT ARE TOO VAGUE***

To truly be successful at goal mastery, make sure your goals meet the following criteria:

1. They should be written in first person and thought of as if you've already accomplished them. "I am fit and running 3x a week." vs "start running."

2. Goals need clearly defined measure... like a number of days you're exercising, amount you've saved, percentage of body fat, earnings per week, contacts per day, resumes sent per week. Goals need numbers. "I have lost 25 pounds" vs "I will lose weight."

3. Set reasonable but aggressive timeframes. We all work BEST with short term, pressing deadlines: "I am saving $200 per week." vs "save more."

Take a look at your goals list. Rewrite it in first person. Add measure and a shorter deadline! If your PUSH goal is to save $52,000 this year, then rewrite your goal to say ..."I have cut out all needless spending, kicked up my focus on my business, and I am saving $1,000 per week!" --Chalene Johnson, 1/5/12

Heavenly Hibernating Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato, Spinach Curried Soup #nomnom

Hey Kids,

As you know I'm trying to get my life together by working out and eating right. I've gained a workout buddy/Beach Body coach (Shanee) and we meet at her house to do Turbo Fire (at 6am!). We've also been hitting the gym for the Total Body X, TRX (Shanee also blog's. Click the link to see her latest post), Zumba, and Spinning classes (I LOVE Spinning!). I even tried out P90x (not a huge fan) and Insanity <--- iDIED!

Shanee and I have motivating each other and made a goal to burn 1000 calories. I've hit that 1000 several times, which is super exciting. I'm in my 4th week of consistently working out (6 days a week) and on Sunday I'll be re-measuring myself. Hopefully I lost some inches. I don't think I lost any pounds. My husband notices a difference but that might just be him encouraging me. He also tries to bribe me with CHIPS! (smh)

Spinning & TRX

So today we did a Turbo Fire HIIT 25 session, and only burned 192 calories. I didn't push hard, like at all. I need to work on getting my legs off the ground. Darn you thighs! grrr! I've only had a tablespoon of peanut butter since I've been up (545am), and I want a burger... chicken wings... french fries... brownies.. reeces cup, steak... sigh I need to get my life!

I keep saying I'll make a green smoothie: kale, baby spinach, frozen strawberries, and celery. <-- hasn't happened yet!

But the thought keeps annoying me! For some reason I have lasagna in my fridge!!! Darn you hubby. I don't even want pasta but I keep glancing at it. lol

Trying to motive myself to eat healthy and workout, is getting harder. It's colder. I want to snuggle & cuddle. Watch K-Drama's. I have my final class for this semester, something about literacy and I'm determined to ignore it.

Go away school, papers, discussion classes! 

I'm pretty sure I should be hibernating right now! 

To get my mind off school work, that annoying pile of laundry I've created without a recipe my very own Butternut Squash, Sweet Potato, Baby Spinach Curried soup! #yum .. I think I'll make this soup for Thanksgiving! <--deets coming soon :)

1 butternut squash
1 medium size sweet potato
2 tbsp purple onion chopped
2 tbsp purple onion blended *
1/2 bag of baby spinach 
5 baby carrots

almond milk** as needed. I used maybe 3 cups for this soup.**

Culinary Broth Thai Coconut Curry** as needed. I used over half of the container for this soup.**

ground ginger
1 tsp Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste **I added in maybe 3 tsp**
2 tsp cayenne pepper

olive oil

1 garlic clove blended*

1 garlic clove chopped

Sea salt and ground pepper, to taste

1. Roast: Butternut Squash & Sweet potato on 400 F for 1 hour. I sprayed Pam's olive oil spray on both veggies, placed them on a tin foiled cookie sheet.
2. Once the veggies are done. Put them in a bowl, with a top. Pop in the fridge for the rest of the day.
3. Use a pot: heat the olive oil over medium heat and stir in the chopped garlic & onion 
4. Blend the sweet potato (skin included), pour almond milk & the culinary broth in the container. Once blended add to the sizzling oil, garlic, and onion. Don't forget to stir!
5. Pour in 1 cup of almond milk
6. Blend the butternut squash, garlic clove, onion, baby carrots, culinary broth, almond milk (skin included, discard the seeds and the stringy stuff) --don't forget to chop off the root. Add to the pot. STIR! 



NOTE! Make sure you check your blended items. You don't want chunks in the soup. That'd be rude! :)

7. Between adding the squash, et, al- to the pot, throw in some baby spinach leaves. Stir it in the pot. Add in the curry paste as well.

If your soup is sitting low, add in more culinary broth. We want the broth to be a bit higher than the veggies. I'm aiming for a creamy soup. If you want it thicker add flour.

1. Add in the rest of the baby spinach. Remember I used half a bag. 
2. STIR!
3. Please note I did not add in spices yet! Taste the soup. It should be sweet. 
4. Now turn the soup low, give a few shakes of cayenne pepper (I like spicy food), several shakes of the ground ginger, and a healthy shake of black pepper. 
5. As of now I have not added in salt. I'm aiming to reduce the sodium in my life. :)  I also let it sit for awhile and than added in 1 tsp of butter, just for a bit of richness.
   

   

   Bon Appetite.

   ps. omg I love Korean dramas!!! Currently watching The Princess's Man via Hulu. Also check out Moon Embracing the Sun via Hulu. I can sit on hours and just watch K-Dramas!
   
   
   pss. I'm also annoyed because I've noticed the water is drying out my skin & hair. I'm super itchy and now I'm on the hunt for a water filter or water softner. Any suggestions?