I lost 4 pounds this past week! That's four of these guys! Motivation.

Got a smoothie maker today and I'm stoked. Tomorrow is my first weekly weigh in, wish me luck! What is your favorite smoothie recipe?

3.5 lbs in 3 days!!!! Watch me work!

So a workout didn't happen this morning and now I am feeling a little guilty. I spent the majority of the night trying to tune out my roommate drunkenly having sex with her gross ex and had to sleep a little so I could tackle two classes of first graders today. Tonight, it's double time.

In case you don’t know much about Austin, it is one of the fastest growing cities in the US. Which means, the prices are going up much faster than the income. I work in theatre, which does not pay the bills most of the time. I finally reached a point in my life where I am not scraping for change and don’t have to worry about which bill to pay. I have finally gotten to a stable place in my life and realized there are other things that I need to focus on. I have made it to a place where I can focus on me and it’s about time because how I feel about myself has been on the back burner for far too long. It was easy to not focus on the weight I gained because I was worried about making ends meat, but now it is time I look inward and focus on me for a bit. So, I finally got my mind in the right place to really motivate myself and move towards my goal.

So there it is, my incentives. What do you think?

I used to be a step aerobics instructor and it is something I really enjoy. I decided to start with the things I really like doing to keep myself motivated. I realized quickly that I was no longer the 18 year old aerobics instructor, but a 28 year old teacher that had really let things go. I started out with a 20 minute step routine, it was hard, but I freakin made it through. I am also using a Pilates bar with resistance bands to work out at night. As things get easier, I will start working up to things that I really don’t enjoy doing, but I know are good for me. As a start though, this is going good for me. One of the problems I have had in the past is me channeling the high school athlete mentality and I push myself too hard. I either hurt myself or end up being so sore I start making excuses and slack off. I am much more motivated this time around but starting out slow is going pretty good so far. I have hopes to start Jillian Micheal’s 30 Day Shred in a few weeks.

I generally enjoy healthy foods. I live in Austin, so there are tons of options for heathy and natural foods. My problem comes from Chipotle burritos and beer. I love beer, I’m a Small town Texas girl and, well, beer is awesome. Problem is beer is empty calories. So, I am keeping within my calorie count everyday and can only drink beer socially (one or two times a week). I am also cutting out fast food and (sigh) Chipotle entirely. I bought pre made salads for lunches and the better tasting lean cuisines for dinner. I eat a Fiber One brownie for breakfast and eat baby bel cheese, bananas and cutie oranges for snacks. It is working well so far. My worst habit is going all day long and finally realizing I’m starving around 6 pm, so at this point I have destroyed my metabolism. My first week is going to be rough because I am pulling my body out of starvation mode. When you don’t eat very often, your body starts storing everything because it doesn’t know when it will get food again. I may be disappointed after this week, as far as, weight loss, but I hope that I will be rewarded in the weeks to come! My Diet Coach also send me push notifications on my iPad to help remind me to eat during the day.