Category Archives: Health

A weekend away.

Hi everyone! Sometimes I forget I run a blog. Clearly the last week has been one of those times. Here is a rundown of the last week and why I went MIA.

  1. Work has been crazy. Good crazy though
  2. It snowed again this week, which led to two missed mornings at the gym. Which completely threw me off track,
  3. I travelled to Washington, DC this weekend, which meant serious laundry and packing Wednesday and Thursday night.

I love Washington, DC. I went for the first time about three years ago with Nick (our first vacation together!) and loved everything about the city. My best friend moved down there for graduate school about 5 years ago and has been there ever since. This weekend was just a girls weekend. She’s in the process of planning her wedding so I headed south for a bit of R&R and to see where her wedding will be!

DC!

Let’s just say I didn’t think twice about what I consumed the entire weekend. I was surrounded by delicious food and I took advantage of it. Friday night, after traveling much of the day, I was ready for a few drinks and dinner. Yuengling was on top at her favorite place and I indulged. I can only get Yuengling when I head south so I totally enjoyed!

After spending some time at The Ugly Mug, off to Matchbox we went for dinner. Chicken Pesto Pizza and their house special French Onion Soup was on tap that night!

Saturday morning, we got up and while she got ready, I took her adorable dog Amos for a walk around the block. Felt good to get up and move. It was so peaceful and her Capitol Hill neighborhood is absolutely gorgeous.

Once I returned, we headed off to Pound for their amazing breakfast sandwiches and coffee. I was also exposed for the first time to the art of creating designs in lattes.

After devouring breakfast, off to Annapolis we went, where she will be getting married in October. She gave me the grand tour of the Naval Academy, including the chapel and Officers Club where the wedding and reception will be. I was blown away by the size and beauty of everything. It was just stunning!

The Wright Brothers plane

Inside the Naval Academy chapel

The chandeliers in the Officers Club

After doing a bit of shopping, we enjoyed lunch at The Dock Street Pub where we sat outside and got some sun. I enjoyed another Yuengling, a bowl of Crab Chowder and a Grilled Tuna Caeser Salad (amazing!). Annapolis was stunning and I can’t wait to be back there in October!

After going to be super early on Saturday night, we got up Sunday AM and decided to take a nice long walk before meeting up with some people for brunch. I decided to give my CharityMiles app a try and since we were in DC, we chose the Wounded Warriors project. Despite it being a bit chilly, the walk was beautiful and I really enjoyed walking in a different location.

Loved this walking view.

Not too shabby!

My trip concluded with brunch at Tunnicliffs Tavern where I tried the most DELICIOUS and SINFUL breakfast I have ever tasted. The Farmers Omelette. An omelette filled with mashed potatoes, bacon and cheese and topped with sour cream. HOLY. MOTHER. OF. GOD. My favorite things combined into one delectable breakfast. Totally a heart attack waiting to happen.

Needless to say, with the amount of things I indulged in this weekend, I was sure glad we were constantly moving and walking. My scale wasn’t angry at me this morning and that made me happy! Back to normal eating habits again today.

At least, all of my cravings have been fulfilled!

Waking with the Sun.

Oh Monday. I can’t believe you’re here again already. I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!

After a great workout on Sunday AM, I realized just how much I am starting to enjoy going to the gym. Maybe it’s because I’m finally taking my health seriously. But I also couldn’t wait for the start of a new routine; hitting the gym before work. Yep. I’m actually excited to get out of bed when its still dark out to work out. Shocking. Especially coming from the person who has struggled to get to the gym very recently.

Lucky for me, I’ve been pretty used to waking up at 5 AM for a couple of months now since that’s when the other half has to get up for work. Although, in the past, I would just roll over and go back to sleep. Not today! I woke up at 4:54 AM. Clearly my body was just so excited to get moving that it didn’t want to sleep for an extra 6 minutes.

I was dressed and out the door by 5:07. No coffee (huge step for me!) and it was FREEZING this morning. My car said it was 17 degrees out. I was pretty thankful for my auto starter this morning. Also thankful it decided not to go off this morning too and wake up the whole neighborhood.

My babies.

I was shocked to see how empty the gym was when I arrived. I mean, I got front row parking. If you go to Latitudes in Salisbury, you know how coveted that is. Granted it was 5:15 am in the morning but still…
I climbed on my favorite treadmill, set it to 40 minutes and off I went! I decided today was the day I was going to start the Couch to 5K program. For years, I’ve started and stopped this program despite my longing to run a 5K. I’ve been saying for four years now ‘This will be my year to run a 5k!’ It hasn’t happened yet but Week 1, Day 1 of training kicked off today.
I was surprised at how I did considering how out of shape I am. Oh, and the fact that I’m totally not a runner. But I was pleased with myself when the workout was done. I fact, I felt great!
After showering and rejuvenating myself with a nice hot cup of Cinnamon Hazelnut coffee (I’m seriously obsessed), I got myself ready for work and packed up my food for the day. I mixed a little bit more almond milk into my Overnight Oats before getting them ready to take to work. I sampled a little bite and was hooked! Getting into work would not come fast enough.
Officially. Obsessed. With. Overnight. Oats. Holy mother of god. So easy and so delicious. I topped mine with banana slices a tablespoon of The Bee’s Knees Peanut Butter from Peanut Butter and Company. And of course had a cup of Yogi Tea’s Slim Life Blueberry Green Tea.

New obsession.

I love the little messages on the Yogi tea bags

I LOVE thick oatmeal so this was just perfect! And the cinnamon and brown sugar I added was totally soaked up overnight. Yummmmm.

I also made a delectable salad for lunch, filled with lots of good stuff and topped with salsa as my dressing (a delicious trick I learned from Weight Watchers!)

I’m definitely looking forward to kicking back and relaxing my sore muscles tonight. And it feels even better to not have to fit the gym in after a busy day at work!

When is your favorite time to work out?

Weekend Splurges

Sometimes, I can’t even believe how fast the weekends go by. They are here and gone in a blink of an eye!

Nick and I had a bit of cheat weekend. We definitely needed a break from our heavy focus on watching everything that we were eating. Which meant Friday night, on our way to do some groceries, we stopped at our favorite local eatery Las Olas Taqueria. We discovered this place about 3 years ago and have been obsessed with ever since. Everything is always freshly made and delicious (Make sure to go on a Wednesday or a Saturday and try the Tilapia…yummy). We usually go for the quesadilla, but this time we both stuck with a burrito. When I think burrito, I usually think GIANT. But they make the most perfect sized burritos. Just enough to fill you. I enjoyed mine with Cajun shrimp, rice, black beans, tomato, lime juice and a dash of sour cream. While not the healthiest meal, I figured I could have eaten a lot worse.

Saturday was a typical day for me. Arrived at the barn at 7:30, cleaned my stalls, threw some hay down from the loft and taught my lessons. It was the first Saturday in a few months that I had all of my lessons. For background purposes, I teach 10 lessons on Saturdays beginning at 10 AM and ending at 3 PM. I had 9 this week. As exhausted as I was when I got home (but a good exhausted because I love teaching kids how to ride!), it was decided that we old go out for dinner again! This time we were off to our favorite sushi restaurant, Sake, in Portsmouth. We love sushi. Like obsessed with sushi. We’ve even tried to make our own a few times. I branched out for a change (I usually get avocado and cucumber rolls) and went for a King Crab California Roll and a Spicy Scallop Roll. They were delicious! I couldn’t get enough.

Almost exactly what the scallop rolls looked like. That’s. Spicy Mayo on top, not cheese.

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Sunday was a lazy day for us. We cleaned, organized, sat around and eventually went grocery shopping. We then went out for our THIRD dinner of the weekend. We NEVER go out to dinner this much unless we’re on vacation! This time it was off to The Community Oven in Hampton. They are a Flatbread-esque restaurant and we have become huge fans! The pizza is freshly made and delicious. I had a taco pizza while a Nick tried their Chucken, bacon, ranch calzone. Amazing.

Now it’s Monday again. And back to our healthy diets! But boy did it feel good this weekend to splurge! Best part, I didn’t gain any weight :)

Back to normal….almost.

It's FRIDAY! My sinus infection is on the mend and I can talk again, although its sounding a bit more like Fran Drescher circa The Nanny at the moment then my real voice.

You can totally hear here laughing right?

At least I'm function again.
Since I've been fighting some form of illness since the end of January, I have listened to my body for the past week and haven't exercised, or really have done anything besides go to work and go home, for the past week. On the positive side, I have made sure that I've continued to eat healthy, staying within my calorie limit. Granted, I've had a few splurge moments. Who doesn't when they aren't feeling great? I totally rocked a PB&Fluff in a wrap and a Tuna Melt.
Anyways, Monday is back on track for me in terms of the gym. After last Friday's gym sesh, I was on such a high! Now I can't wait to get back to gym.
This weekend is bound to be a busy one. Barn tomorrow which means cleaning stalls, teaching lessons and hopefully jumping on a horse for a few! Need my fix. Grocery shopping is also in our future. And a birthday party for a friends kid on Sunday. Hopefully some reading and relaxing thrown in there too!
At least it's March. The warm weather will be here before we know it!

 

An Active Weekend

Happy Monday everyone! Big surprise, we got more snow overnight. Oh the joys of living in New England. At least it made for a lovely morning with the sun shining off the snow covered trees!

Downtown Amesbury

My never-ending cold is currently ahead in the standings. Just when I though I was beginning to feel better this weekend, I woke up on Sunday morning minus my voice. Touché cold…touché. I could talk a little bit yesterday, however today, it’s gone. Cold – 1 Eryn – 0.

Despite my cold, I had a great weekend and I hope everyone else did too! I started it out on the right foot, beginning Friday night by hitting the gym with Nick. I was in a bit of a funk on Friday afternoon and after a solid 45 minute workout, I felt great and back to myself. Instead of my normal 2 miles on the treadmill, I decided to up my workout by climbing on the elliptical. I turned my music on and went to town. Despite my miles screaming and gasping for air, I zoned out and just went as hard as I could. All of a sudden, 12 minutes had gone by! I couldn’t believe it. Initially, I planned for a 30 minute workout, but instead of aiming for that goal, I started giving myself little challenges. First, I wanted to hit 2 miles, which I did around the 20 minute mark. Then I aimed for 2.5 miles, followed by 30 minutes, which quickly turned into 3 miles. At one point, I had my speed up to about 7.6 (never happened to me before!). When it was all said and done, I had completed 3.03 miles and burned 315 calories in 35 minutes! I was so proud of myself. I haven’t done that in a long time!

The proof.

While I waited for Nick to finish up on the Stairmaster, I hopped on a bike for about ten minutes. 45 minutes and 370 calories later, my weekend had begun.

Dinner is usually the real adventure in our house. At night, we are usually both so exhausted that we eat the easiest thing we can, which usually is salads or sandwiches. Friday night, despite being exhausted, I wanted to make ‘pizza’. A restaurant across the street from my work began making pizzas using tortilla wraps as the crust this past week and I was DYING to try it out myself. Nick made his Mexican in style while mine was more Greek. Below is how I made it.

Tortilla Pizzas – Greek Style

  • Taco sized whole wheat wrap
  • 2 tablespoons of Tribe Everything Hummus as the sauce
  • 2 oz of Grilled Chicken
  • 1/2 cup of chopped mushrooms
  • 1/2 cup of black olives (my obsession, although probably not a healthy one)
  • 1/2 cup of Mexican Cheese (Clearly not Greek, but only shredded cheese we had)

After completing putting it together, we baked the pizzas for about 10 minutes at 350. Basically until the tortilla looks crispy and the cheese fully melted.

When we pulled them out, they smelled DELICIOUS! I couldn’t wait to dig in.

All done!

Eating it was a challenge. We ended up folding it like a taco….thus turning it from a pizza…to a taco.

I also treated myself to a glass of one of my favorite wines, Cupcake Pinot Grigio. I’m a huge fan of all of their wines. They are inexpensive and well-made!

Saturday was a typical busy day for me. I teach riding lessons at the farm I grew up riding at. I teach all beginners and love every second of it. After arriving a bit early to see what my day would look like and realizing I had a bit of time, I saddled up my favorite lesson horse and headed to our indoor arena for a morning ride. Horseback riding has always been my escape. It’s my yoga. Every time I ride, I hop off feeling refreshed and ready to conquer the world. This ride was no different. Lucas and I had a great ride and we spoiled with a yummy peppermint after.

He’s just the cutest.

The rest of the weekend was filled with errands, cleaning and a bridal shower for one of my good friends on Sunday (I’m a bridesmaid!). And of course, trying to coax my voice to come back. Doctors appointment today to see what’s going on!

This morning did start on the right foot, despite not being able to talk. A cup of hot coffee was waiting for me thanks to my wonderful fiancé (Current coffee obsession: Vanilla Macadamia Nut by Kauai) and a protein shake for breakfast. I’m a big fan of the Lean Protein for Her shakes. They aren’t chalky and they taste like chocolate ice cream. In the past, I’ve mixed it with water but today I used Silk Almond Milk. We recently made the switch over to Almond Milk in our house and are loving the change.

Planning to hit the gym tonight as long as the coughing fits subside and the doctors says its okay. Either way, it’s day 3 of The Gorilla Workout!

What did you do over the weekend to stay active? Did you discover a new favorite recipe?

Gorillas and Pickles

We last left off at Day 1 of the 3 Day Military Diet. Let's just say Day 2 never came to fruition as the said cold turned into a killer. And by killer I mean, I ended up flat on my back for three days with an Upper Respiratory Infection (URI). Yep, instant de-motivation to get healthy. When I'm sick, the last thing I want to do is focus on what I'm putting in my body. Which, looking back, probably would have gotten me healthier quicker.
Just as I'm starting to recover from that, thanks to some strong antibiotics, and preparing myself to jump back on the healthy train, I received some news that kept me derailed. My wonderful 92 year old grandmother had passed away in her sleep. Even though I had 'prepared' myself for it, it never makes it any easier. The week after that was full of comfort food and beer, while trying to fight might URI turned cold.
After about 2 1/2 weeks of comforting myself with my favorite foods, Nick and I decided that it was time to get our butts back in gear. For real this time. Normally, I go straight to Weight Watchers. It worked in the past for me, but after signing up and losing $55 bucks more than once in the last year, I decided to change it up. Instead, I signed up for MyFitnessPal.

The view of my home page from my iPad!

I've heard great things and know a lot of people who have been successful with it so I figured I would give it a whirl. I've never counted calories in the past. I tend to get a bit over obsessive about it. But this time, it's been really keeping me on track!
Initially it was allotting me 1200 calories a day, which I quickly learned was absurd for me. I also learned that I had somehow set my weight loss goal to the hardest one possible thus effectively starving myself. After making an adjustment, it now had me at 1520 a day. Much more attainable. I started with the app on 2/11/13 and weight in at 188.7. As of yesterday morning, I was at 184.4 for a total of 4.3 pounds lost so far! I'm being strict, but I'm also allowing myself for that splurge. It's only natural!
Okay. Enough on the background…again. I tend to do that every time. Guess I better get into more of a routine with this! What's really happening is my new found favorite workout known as 'The Gorilla Workout'.

I'm obviously at level one.

If you haven't heard of it, go check it out at my link above. It sounds silly, but let me tell you, for someone who is as out of shape as I am, it works. I could barely move on Tuesday. Needless to say, Tuesday was a rest day for me! But tonight, it's back at it! 2 reps of 15 dead bugs and 15 supermans!
The name of it definitely has me wondering if someone was obsessed with The Jersey Shore… Or with Snooki. But hey, if it works, I will totally promote it.

Coincidence? I think not.

Unfortunately, I haven't made it to the gym, but I have discovered some cardio videos on Comcast that I do enjoy. They aren't super high impact, but they are making me realize just how out of shape I am. I'm taking it slow, but will hopefully start my Couch to 5K training soon! It may not be pretty, but I'm going to become a runner!

Pretty much says it all.

I'm also happy to report, I'm back to horseback riding! For those of you who don't know, I was an avid rider from the time I was 9 until about 21-ish. Pretty much when I graduated college and begin teaching riding lessons more and riding less. It became more of a once a month thing, instead of a two to three times a week thing! Thankfully, I'm making the time to ride at least for a short amount of time on Sarurdays when I teach and in an adult group every other week (except last night because… SURPRISE! I am sick…again.)

Riding back in the day.

Also, for the record, I learned last night that a WHOLE dill pickle (the kind you buy in a giant jar from Sam's Club), yeah – they are zero calories. Now I know why Snooki had an obsession with them!

 
 

 

The 3 Day Diet — Day 1

I’m not one to try out ‘fad’ diets, but when I heard of one that boasts ‘Lose up to 10 pounds in 3 days!’, I’ll admit, I was intrigued. Once I found out a friend was partaking in it, Nick and I decided it was time to learn more. After reading more about it (Google, Blogs, Articles), we decided we would give it a try. It’s only for three days and seemed utterly doable. It totally is a ‘fad’ diet, but whatever, I’ll go back on my word just this once.

Monday afternoon meant grocery shopping for all of the essentials. Off Nick went to the grocery store and I vowed to start the diet on Tuesday morning despite having a nasty cold. Of course, that would change if I was dying from said cold.

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How I felt as of Monday evening….
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Day 1 wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. The real challenge wasn’t eat the foods they wanted you to eat, but not snacking in between meals. They want you to drink as much water as humanly possible (without throwing up of course…). Thankfully, I drink at least 3 Nalgenes a day, so upping that wasn’t completely insane.

Day 1 looked as follows.
Breakfast: 1/2 grapefruit, 1 slice of toast, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and coffee or tea
Lunch: 1/2 cup of tuna, 1 slice of toast and coffee or tea (must be caffeinated)
Dinner: 3 ounces of any meat, 1 cup green beans, 1/2 banana, 1 small apple and 1 cup of Vanilla ice cream.

Breakfast was already more than I normally eat. A slice of toast with peanut butter and coffee is a typical morning for me. I learned quickly that… I don’t like grapefruit. At all. In small doses…fine. Bt shoving a 1/2 of a grapefruit down my throat…not so fine. I was surprisingly full until about 10:30 am at which point I was ravenous. Let me just tell you how excited I was for my lunch of dry tuna and toast. Seriously. I couldn’t wait to eat it.

Once lunch came, I couldn’t wait to eat. I love tuna. I hate dry tuna. I like my tuna with olives, mayo, salt and pepper. Not straight from the can. And one piece of toast? Seriously? This lunch was about a 1/4 of the size I normally eat.

Honestly, it wasn’t all that bad. I put the tuna in the bread and folded it to make a mini sub. Besides being dry as hell, it wasn’t horrible. Once I was done, I couldn’t believe how full I felt… Very strange.

Dinner was delicious. Ground turkey and green beans cooked together in salt and pepper. My apple was delicious as was my banana. And the ice cream just topped it all off. Lets see what day 2 brings!

Now the real test is to see if we actually lose weight. I weighed in at 183.4 lbs on Monday AM. I am down 4 lbs since I started this blog though! I won’t myself again until Friday morning (Thursday evening is the last meal).

Until then, I’ll keep posting updates. I’ve heard really good things and really bad things about this. Day 1 wasn’t horrible; but ask me after Day 2 since I’m not allowed to have coffee…..

Tough Love and Motivation

After my previous post, I really thought long and hard about what motivates me. You would think it would be something simple; the goal is to be healthy. But sometimes that goal is just not enough for me to get off my overweight butt and hit the gym. It’s much easier said (or written in my case), then done.

After receiving a very long series of text messages from one of my closest friends and fellow blogger over at Just Your Average Athlete, I realized that seeing those around me make changes in their lives to get healthy is motivating. Not too mention, Molly’s tough love and her quest to help me get healthy is also SUPER motivating. Thanks Molly! In all honesty, while I knew in my heart it was time to get healthy, her messages truly motivated me and touched me to the core.

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So, since my last post, I’ve thought long and hard about what is motivating me. Here it goes.

1. My Health: I have a history of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, thyroid problems, high blood pressure, etc. in my family. I have a lot of odds working against me. I am determined to not end up with ANY of the above, unless its the way nature intended for it to happen. I want to be a role model to my younger family members and to the kids at the barn where I ride and teach. I want people to see me posting about my latest work out adventure and say ‘Wow! How motivating is that?! If she can do it, I can too!’

2. Four Weddings: Yes – I’m not going to lie. I have FOUR weddings to attend this year and I want to look amazing for all of them. One in April, June, September and October; two of which I am a bridesmaid in. What’s motivating about this? I don’t want to look fat in my dresses!

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3. My Wardrobe: Now, this may sound a bit conceited, maybe even a bit contrived, but I love clothes. More specifically, I love my clothes. And when I look in the closet and don’t want to wear any of my clothes because they cling in all of the wrong places or they are just too tight, it’s motivating. I REFUSE to go buy all new clothes, two sizes bigger. I REFUSE! I want my clothes to fit.

4. My Family and Friends: Corny as it may sound, it’s true. Lets be real for a second. When someone in your family or one of your closest friends is on a quest to get healthy of are in the best shape of their lives, it motivates you. Or when you see someone that needs the support to do those things; it motivates you. I want to be both of those people. I want those around me to see me getting healthy and want to join in. Molly, who was mentioned above, has been a huge motivator for me because I see how happy and healthy she is! My fiancé is also a huge motivator because we want to be healthy for each other so we can spend many happy and active years together.

I’ll be brutally honest. I had a completely unhealthy weekend. I ate a lot. I drank wine and beer and had a wonderful time. But now that its the beginning of the week, I’m lethargic and can feel just how awful all of that is affecting my body. My energy is constantly low. And I refuse to pump myself full of coffee.

So yes, I’m being that person who says ‘Start of a new week; Start of a healthier me!’ but in reality, I’m just telling myself that the rest of my life begins today. A better, healthier me. I’m saying ‘No!’ To Weight Watchers (even though it works wonders), at least to the counting points, but sticking to their values of portion control, and focusing on eating healthier. And a lot of exercise. It’s not about a fad diet. It’s about learning to live and doing it on my own.

It also helps I have to check in with Molly by 6:30 PM every night to make sure I do something active every day (Tough Love at its finest.)

Stay tuned for my first night back at the gym. It should be an adventure to say the least.

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The Five Stages of Grief

You know that moment when something happens to you that is so profound that it literally makes your jaw drop to the floor. Have you ever had that moment happen to you after stepping on a scale? Because I have. In fact, it happened this morning. And not in a good way.

I have a FitBit Aria Scale. It doesn’t lie. It is probably the most dead on scale I have ever owned. In fact, I’m pretty sure it’s too dead on.

My fantastic (and slightly evil) scale.

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See, sometimes I like my scale to lie to me. Just a little bit. If I’ve gained 3 pounds, I want it to tell me I have only gained 2.5 lbs, just to make me feel better (I’m convinced my old scale did this. I’m also convinced it was not good for my head.)

I’ve been telling lying to myself for weeks now that I’m jumping back on the healthy wagon. And everyday something comes up, and suddenly I find myself gorging on pizza. And then I try to justify it by telling myself “It’s okay. You ate healthy the rest of the day!” Clearly I’m just lying to myself.

We just moved into a new apartment. Granted, we bought lots of healthy foods and we cook, but we also bought a lot of beer and wine. Because if friends come over, we have to be ready!

So this morning, I decided that Weight Watchers Round 10 was going to begin. I was prepared and ready to go. Last week, I had jumped on above scale and saw that I had only gained 2 pounds through the holidays. Instant win in my book, even though I was still closing in on my post-college graduation weight. Convinced that I had probably lost a pound or two since then because I was eating healthier, I hopped on the scale.

I have never seen my scale jump to a number so fast in my life!

Nor did I like the number staring back at me.

187.4 HOLY CRAP!

I think I went through every stage of grief at 6:30 this morning while looking at the scale.

1. Denial: ‘No frickin’ way! You are lying to me! I’ve been SOOOO good all week.’ (hops off scale and checks it) ‘Maybe your just off balance…’ (Good try, it’s on a tile floor). ‘Are the batteries dying?’ (Brand new!)

2. Anger: No, I wasn’t angry at the scale. Even though its totally the scales fault. I was so angry at myself for even LETTING myself get back to this point. I had promised myself I would never see that number on the scale again. And here I was, nearly 5 years later, back at that point.

3. Bargaining: ‘Now, if I get back on you, you’re going to show a MUCH lower number this time, because come on. Really? I’m not that heavy,”

For the record…. I am that heavy.

4. Depression: Yes. I cried. It SUCKED seeing that number staring back at me. It was horrible and a god awful way to start my day.

5. Acceptance: And then it hit me. This is nobody’s fault but my own. No one forced food down my throat, or told me to have one more beer. It was all me.

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Which means, it’s on me to conquer it.

I can officially say things can only go up from here (or hopefully down in my case)!

The Road Begins

Today marks the first step on a long road. This is not going to be a typical ‘weight loss blog’. I’ve done those in the past. This is going to chronicle my journey to finding and settling into a healthy lifestyle that I so desperately need. Yes, I do need to lose weight (about 40 lbs to be exact) and yes, there will be some updates and such in here. But I am going to heavily focus on the changes I’ve made, the exercises I enjoy and those little successes and health finds that make everything that much better.

So hi everyone. I’m Eryn and I’m overweight, despite having a passion for health and exercise. I’m overweight because despite my passion, I have failed at and lacked motivation to do the things I read about. This is changing. I’m sick of ‘dieting’. Instead, I’m changing how I look at my daily life and am working to incorporate healthy new things to it each day. Your love and support would be GREATLY appreciated. Yes, I am still doing Weight Watchers as well, but that’s to keep me honest :)

So I am jumping right in. Today is day one. And day one meant, first day without coffee. I LOVE coffee but I’ve decided to take a step back from it. Mainly because of what I put in it. This morning was a delicious cup of The Mighty Leaf Organic Bombay Chai. Needless to say, it turns out I don’t need coffee to survive (or wake up) as much as I thought. Just a little bit of caffeine and I’m raring to go!

Breakfast also was the second change. I love carbs. I love anything that is comfort food. I LOVE Dunkin Donuts. But I ignored my cravings and instead got an Umpqua Oats JumpStart Oatmeal at the local coffee shop this morning. If you haven’t had one of these, they are fantastic for an on the go. Definitely didn’t hold me over, but I feel better.

I promise, my posts will be far more entertaining than this one. I just needed to get my thoughts down on paper. I have a long road ahead of me, but I’m ready to get healthy and enjoy my healthy lifestyle.

Here’s to a new and improved me!

What is your motivation to live a healthy lifestyle?