day 4 meal plan, a baby and a little insight

today is day 4 of "making the cut" meal plan. i've been doing pretty good, staying on my caloric goal for 2 of my 3 full days, having a major lapse Tuesday which is TOTALLY excusable because my baby niece Chloe was born!! she is absolutely beautiful and my sister and brian (and family and friends...) couldn't be more excited!

i've been pretty good at sticking to the meal plan except for the last two days of lunches. yesterday i even tried a brand new meal - Garlic Chicken and Grilled Fennel. it was...interesting. fennel has an "anise/licorice" aftertaste, and i do NOT like any of that, but it was very mild when grilled. the charred bits of fennel tasted like a grilled sweet onion, which i enjoyed. i'm proud of myself for trying something different!

i was thinking last night about the last time i lost a good amount of weight. almost five years ago i was in a weird stage of my life. i was working at Walmart in the Photo Department (quite a bit), plus going to school, plus i was mostly broke (though living with my parents) so i didn't eat much (also because i would spend hours in the studio) and i wasn't in a very healthy relationship. during this time, i somehow managed to drop almost 30 lbs lower than i currently am, and i did this by doing NOTHING. i was not eating better or working out. i know that things in my life were not good, and there was a point i dropped down to 119lbs and i remember looking at myself in the mirror and realizing this was not good. i could see my collar bone popping out.

so, i started making some changes. relationships changed, my job changed, school was almost over. i was happier. i was healthier. and i gained weight back.

i know i'm at a healthy weight now and i'm more happy than i've ever EVER been, but i'm definitely not in good physical shape. it's hard to remember the time i lost so much from doing "nothing" as i walk/jog/run on a treadmill for 25 minutes after already doing 30 minutes of other work outs...but, i have a goal now, i have a good reason for wanting to be in shape. i've been to the gym four times in a week (this is a record, people), and i've been enjoying it and look forward to going back.

i want to enjoy working out because it's good for you.
i want to be happy about eating healthy because it's beneficial.
i want to fit into my clothes better because i can't afford to buy anything else!
on a shallower note...i want to look awesome for our wedding and honeymoon!

a lot of exciting things are happening in my life right now. the next five months are going to be one awesome thing after the next.