Treat Yo Self!

If you don't watch Parks and Recreation you probably don't understand the amazingness of "Treat Yo Self" but you should! Treat yo self is a way of life and it's what I am about to hit you with...

Since it is the start of a new year I know you are all kicking off your resolutions. And this is an addendum to my previous post about resolutions that delves into the "health" aspect of my goals. Here we go...

I claim to be an expert on nothing except one thing: being chubby. :)

I have lofty health goals and at times the mountain seems pretty daunting despite how many times I sing Miley Cyrus' "The Climb." 

To combat the inevitable bad days, weeks, months... I try to set myself up for success by acting as though every little thing matters. It does matter. You can't lose 50 lbs until you lose the 1st lb. This means I am a firm believer in rewarding yourself every step of the way.

HOW CAN YOU DO THIS?

1) SET YOUR GOAL.
My personal goals are to lose 17.5% of my body weight by our anniversary (Which we will be celebrating in Vegas! Holla!) and to exercise for a minimum of 30 minutes a day. Those are two very manageable goals. They are also challenging. Just because you CAN do something doesn't mean it will be EASY. 

2) IDENTIFY WHAT MOTIVATES YOU
I am motivated by treats...clothes, shoes, certain activities... I'll delve more into that later. What motivates me about these things is that I don't always spend money on these things. I would suggest picking things that are actual rewards and not things you'd just go out and buy anyway.

3) GET IN IT TO WIN IT!
No seriously...

I keep my "rewards" list on my phone in a note. I delete things from it as I go along. I have two sets of rewards- a treat for every pound lost and a treat for every 10 days that I don't miss a workout. It looks something like this:

REWARDS FOR LOSING ONE LB EVERY TEN DAYS (Very very doable)
January 10- Pair of Shoes
January 20- New Book
February 1- Nail Polish/Lipstick
February 10- Movie Date
February 20- Dress
March 1- Manicure
March 10- Bowling
March 20- Spa Day

REWARDS FOR NOT MISSING A WORKOUT FOR PREVIOUS 10 DAYS

January 10- Donut

January 20- Cake

February 1- Frozen Yogurt

etc.

***Yes I know people say don't reward yourself with food BUT I don't believe in depriving myself. Believe me, if I knew the only way I could have a slice of cake from Cheesecake Factory was to workout every day...I'll be sweating forever! I would never reward myself for losing weight with food, but I will reward myself for working hard. Even if it is counterproductive. 

So yeah, some people might think it's a bit overkill to reward yourself for every measly pound. Maybe that's true. But consider this my blessing and encouragement that you would do the same thing with whatever your goal is. I know that if I only reward myself every 5 or 10 lbs I would certainly become discouraged. So set your goal, hang in there, and TREAT YO SELF!

An Ode to My Dear Friends: Chips & Salsa

It's about 10:30 PM here on the west coast and I am desperately searching for one last recipe before I hit the stores tomorrow. Just one recipe between me and my beautiful inexpensive IKEA bed. 

I'm going to tell you a little story about how this is all my fault. 

I remember with longing a time in the not so distant past where I ate dinner for one. Hummus and pita. Chips and salsa. Both pretty common dinners for a single gal throwing her paycheck to rent and the outfits and alcohol that make for top nights out with the girls. It was a beautiful time and I realize now the beauty in the simplicity of a life where grilled chicken breasts in a George Foreman was an elaborate dinner. 


I didn't learn how to cook when I got married because I am a sometimes genius who selected a marriage partner who is an outstanding cook. Not only is he good at cooking, but he likes cooking AND likes experimenting with new recipes. It was a wonderful arrangement. He did almost all of the cooking and when he didn't feel like cooking I urbanspoon-ed us a nice restaurant. Also, a beautiful time. 

So simple. For me at least. Fast forward to California. 

We arrived and husband had a job that started right away. I on the other hand spent most of my time applying for jobs and starting this blog about working out and eating healthy.

Naturally I had more time on my hands than husband. In between looking at gifs on tumblr and rolling out the yoga mat I had a thought, like sometimes morons do, that I would learn how to cook. 

What. An. Idiot.

Now I do almost all of the cooking. Yep, a kitchen novice is feeding two people on a nightly basis. 

I may or may not have mentioned that my mother, while a great cook, really served a majority of pasta dishes. To the point where I thought we WERE Italian. We aren't. So that was pretty much the only thing I knew how to make. 

I learned to boil water. (Who knew salt was so important?)
How to brown meat. (That sounds disgusting.)
And other various simple kitchen tasks. (Let's not discuss the litany of questions involving my first go at the rice cooker)

Then I realized that by cooking I had control over our grocery budget.
I was so excited that I started making 2 week-at-a-time meal plans. I used that as my template for trying out new things. The learning curve though has been rough. Like eating the same rotation every two weeks. Husband went from cooking every night to never cooking because he wasn't going shopping. 

Knowledge is a funny thing.
You think I'd be happy now that I know how to properly scramble eggs and substitute Greek yogurt for sour cream, and I am.
But right now, as I distract myself from searching for one last easy recipe to finish off a two week plan, I can only think how happy I was to eat chips and salsa for dinner. 

I wonder what husband would say if I put that on the table tomorrow?

Resolutions and Solutions

Happy New Year!

Admittedly 2012 wasn't the greatest year. It took from me both of my grandmothers and I'd be lying if I said that moving to sunny California has been anything other than a challenge. Somedays Husband looks at me and says, "let's just go home." 

But there are silver linings to every dark cloud.

Like most new years eves, Husband had to work. We decided to have dinner at a little Greek restaurant to celebrate since a year would come and go and that's something to celebrate.

At dinner we talked about our resolutions for next year.

It took Husband all night to decide that his resolution was to feel less emotional about his sports teams. I'm sure it won't be easy but I think his poor heart deserves a break.

My resolution is to finish 2013 feeling healthier than I feel today. I do believe in and have measurable goals (get moving 30 minutes a day, lose x amount of lbs, etc.). I just felt like this was the most important. 

I DO feel healthier than I did a year ago and that's not something to scoff at even if the scale doesn't make me smile as much as I'd like.

Together we agreed that we would start focusing on the positives of being out here in Los Angeles. More emphasis on the reasons we came here in the first place.

We came for a two year adventure. To see places we'd never go otherwise. We didn't come here to settle roots and we both agreed that when we try to make California our "home" it just fails to meet our expectations. I'd hate to think that we'd move home in a year and a half and not have seized this great opportunity. I saw somewhere the saying that, "Comparison is the Thief of Joy," and in my experience that's been 100% true. 

Today at lunch we are finally going to make an actual "California Bucket List" and I suspect it will be amazing. 

So I hope you all have real resolutions that will make you happier, healthier and maybe a little bit more grateful. Good luck with your resolutions and share them here if you'd like. :) Happy New Year!