Happy Birthday to Me!

The past few days have been filled with so much awesomeness!  I was blessed to be able to celebrate the gift of another year on the 16th and it was only fitting to keep the party going alllll weekend. Here are the top six reasons my birthday weekend was off the chain.

1. Best. Brunch. Ever.  I love food and no real celebration (for me at least) is complete without good eats.  I have been wanting to check out Batter & Berries for a while so when my sweet parents offered to treat me to a bday brunch, I knew exactly where I wanted to go.  Hands down, it was the best brunch I've ever had in my life! First, we shared a french toast flight with different flavors--blueberry, white chocolate, raspberry and more!  For my main dish I tried the deconstructed chicken fajita omelet with cheesy hash browns. Words can't explain the party that was going on in my mouth!  The food was delicious and the service was unlike any I've experienced in a long time.  I'll definitely be hitting B&B up in the near future.  If you are from the Chicago land area, you should too! You will thank me later.

 

2.  Sunshine.  Besides the random clouds on Friday (boo), the weather this weekend was beautiful! I am convinced that I am at my absolute best self when the sun is shining.  I made it a goal to be outside as much as possible to take advantage of the weather and it did not disappoint.  I had some great outdoor workouts (no days off!) and in some very weird way, I think I might be starting to enjoy running.  Just a little bit though, lol.  This might sound corny, but I really felt like God was smiling down on me through the sunshine this weekend. Thanks Lord!

3.  Pink Berry.  I know, I know....another mention of food....but ya'll already know! I have totally been sleep on this place. There was a line out the door and it was definitely worth the wait. I tried a small cup of coconut frozen yogurt with kiwi, mango, blueberries and yogurt chips.   So yummy and pretty healthy for a dessert.  Just like B&B, I shall be back very soon.

4.  Better BMI.  I went for my annual check up and got some great news:  Thanks to consistency with working out and eating more healthy, my Body Mass Index (BMI) is officially under 30!  BMI is measure of body fat based on height and weight.  A BMI over 30 is considered obese.  Yep, I was obese.  I'm still not where I want to be, but am praise dancing all over the place for the strides I have made to get healthy and thus lower my risk for all kinds of terrible health conditions.  I hope you catch the vision too.  You won't regret it!

5.  The Dress.  2 months ago, I saw a dress that I absolutely loved but was too small for me at the time. I decided to buy it anyway and set a goal to wear the dress on my birthday.  Well, I wore the dress (see below) and I can't lie....I felt darn good in it! Hard work and dedication pay off and don't you ever forget it.  Time to pick a new goal dress!

6.  My Peeps.  Birthdays are always a time of reflection and a reminder of how blessed I really am.  I am thankful to my family and friends that helped make my birthday extra special.  Your love and support means so much.

There are some things that I'm not pleased with in life right now, #nofilter, as I think the kids say these days, lol.  But in the midst of it all, I know that I am blessed. There is purpose in pain and God has a plan. The joy of the Lord is my strength.  Flowing from my heart is gratefulness.  (*Warning: Prepare to go in while listening to this song...I know I did.)  Glory to God!

Keep on Trucking!

Loosing weight is hard.  Apparently, so is keeping this blog updated.   I had such high hopes to keep this thing fresh and now it's been months since my last post.  Boo.

I have enjoyed every second of every post that I have written so far.  So why the crickets?  The sad but true answer is that I haven't been the best steward of my time.   I've found myself spending more time on things that have been depleting my energy vs. giving me the refill that I  need to live a fulfilled life.

I had lunch with a friend a few weeks ago who helped me see that perhaps I was spending too much time maintaining who I am today vs. investing in the person I want to become.  Boom.

I'm in the process of identifying the things that feed my soul and working on rearranging my life in a way that allows me to do more of that stuff and less of all the other crap.  I am purposed for more than what I am currently experiencing.  It's up to me to take action.

So on to what you really care about.  How am I doing with my fitness journey?  Well, I'm still on it.

My birthday is next week and according to a post from January, I was supposed to be 50 pounds lighter and in a two piece bathing suite by then.  Yeah, um....that's not going to happen.  My comfort level in a one piece is still questionable.

However, I'm doing a lot of things right.  I exercise 4-5 days a week and eat more cleanly, but there is definitely room for improvement in the food department.  My "cheat days" have gotten a bit out of control.  I guess I started feeling myself and forgot that all it takes is a trip to White Castles, Dairy Queen or any type of Italian or Mexican meal for me to gain a pound, or two or three with the quickness. Anyway, I'm back to allowing myself one cheat day a week.

So far I am down 35 pounds and overall, I feel great!  I can see more muscle definition and I feel major strength and endurance improvements.  For example, running a mile when I was heavier felt like death.  Now I can run 3 miles non-stop.  That's gotta count for something.

The picture on the left was taken last March when I ran (quite slowly and painfully) the Leprechaun Leap (5K).  The picture on the right is a gym pic from about a month ago. Definitely not where I want to be, but I'll keep on trucking!

While it's too early to fully celebrate, I think it's important to acknowledge the mile markers along the way on this fitness journey.  While I'm not going to hit my goal in May, I will get there at some point.  And perhaps there will be photos to prove it.