Winter Break, Take Two

Along with much of the Midwest, I've been snowed/cold-ed in for the last several days. This is the longest stretch of unexpected days off of school I have had in my entire life. I have not been to work since last Friday.

It has been so nice.

(Before I get any further, though, I have to say that while it has been nice for me, I know it has likely been challenging for many of my students, particularly those who do not have reliable housing, those who rely on school for food, etc. We were also supposed to have the food pantry come to school on Monday -- a service on which many of our students depend -- but we had a snow day. So, I am constantly trying to reconcile my feelings of joy and relaxation with empathy for others' situations.)

School was called fairly early on Sunday -- for Monday. And then on Monday afternoon, both Tuesday and Wednesday were called due to temperature (-50 degree windchill), and Thursday was called last Wednesday afternoon. It's been absolutely bonkers.

Raygun is the best.

On Monday, I slept in and went to a later Pilates class. It was pretty darn cold, and the roads were a bit slippery, but it wasn't horrible. Then I came home and shoveled so got a "bonus" workout.

On Tuesday, I slept in again and went to another Pilates class. When I first went outside, I was like, "Okay, this is chilly, but it's not the worst." Then I went tanning (hey, I'm going to Florida in a couple of weeks), and it was across the street from Bibelot, an amazing store that is closing and therefore offering huge discounts, so I wanted to check it out. I was outside for maybe three minutes, and that was enough for me: it was the coldest air I had ever felt. It was honestly hard to breathe! After that, I went to Firestone for an oil change, where they promptly told me I needed a new battery or my car would not start on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, I slept in and had plans to do absolutely nothing. The wind chill was -50, and there was no reason for me to venture outside for even a second. Jesus, though, was going to run an errand with my car; however, it wouldn't start -- despite my brand-new battery.

Today, I picked up my car from Firestone (apparently it was flooded?) and went to my training session (and leg-pressed seven hundred and twenty pounds). I have to say that it was kind of nice to get out of the house, even for just a teeny tiny bit.

Also, today's -4 degrees felt -- dare I say it? -- WARM. I'm clearly a Minnesotan now.

What, might you ask, have I done in the last six days?

1. I watched a lot of TV: The Ted Bundy Tapes, Catwalk, The Assassination of Gianni Versace, and lots of random shows like Grey's Anatomy, This Is Us, Schitt's Creek, Big Mouth, Criminal Minds, Seth Meyers, etc.

2. I read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and absolutely loved it; I hope there will be a sequel. I started The Lost Girls and am excited to read more of it today.

3. I did an entire 1,000-piece puzzle in approximately 12 hours.

She's such a good helper.

4. Jesus and I played a lot of Backgammon. And when he went to the basement to paint, I also played myself in Backgammon.

5. I did some online shopping because, well, Florida.

6. Jesus and I had a mini spa day with facials, and then I painted my nails and took a bath with a bomb and bubbles; it was glorious.

7. I snuggled a lot of kitties. I think they're going to have a rude awakening when we have to go back to work tomorrow. (Although, they'll be back to their new reality when we're home again on Saturday and Sunday.)

Not pictured: the girl kitty who only wants attention when we're trying to do something, like putting together a puzzle, playing Backgammon, or cooking.

What I haven't done is clean the house (aside from vacuuming the stairs), do anything for school, put on makeup, plan any wedding things, be productive, drink enough water, or stick 100% to my nutritional plan.

But you know what? I've kind of needed this lack of productivity. Our actual winter break felt super busy and go-go-go, so having these unexpected days off only a month later has been really nice and has been a time for me to actually breathe.

So, I'm going to soak up these last few hours of "bonus" winter break by reading, relaxing, and rejuvenating.

"See" y'all soon!

Expectations: Met

Last week started off super strong on the nutrition front, and then it kind of tanked.

This may fall under the realm of TMI, but if you're a long-time reader of my writing, you know that we're past that point. I mean, remember these posts?

If you didn't click on that link yet, go ahead and do so now: you will see that nearly five years ago, I opted for an IUD. As a result, I haven't had a "real" period since, and it's been glorious. However, likely because my body is realizing that this device's time is nearing its end, the ol' monthly visitor has been slowly but surely making a reappearance -- and has been bringing all her baggage right along with her.

Cut to this weekend: all I wanted was pizza and French silk pie.

Pizza, I can understand: it's seriously one of my all-time favorite foods, and prior to Weight Watchers, I bet we ate it once a week (or at least once every two weeks). I haven't had pizza since prior to Thanksgiving, and I was craving it something fierce.

French silk pie, though? I don't know where the heck that came from. Sure, I like pie, and yeah, I like chocolate, and I suppose French silk used to be my favorite (like, years ago). But I haven't had a craving for pie ever, nor have I even eaten French silk pie in probably ten years.

Nom Nom Nom

Cravings are weird, y'all, and they're something I haven't missed in the last five years.

The intense desire for pie started on Thursday or Friday, and I kind of brushed it away: I did not need pie. By the time Saturday rolled around, though, and the craving hadn't dissipated, I acquiesced -- and picked up a frozen pie on my weekly grocery run.

So for dinner on Saturday? We had pizza, French silk pie, and -- wait for it -- salad. I mean, we couldn't be totally unhealthy, right?

I also had two pieces of pie yesterday: one for breakfast and one for after-dinner dessert. And yep, I finished off one slice this morning. (And now the whole thing is gone, THANK GOD.)

So needless to say, I gained weight this week.

Even though this was a direct quote out of my mouth a few hours ago -- "I ate the last piece of pie and now hate myself" -- I'm actually okay with it.

I know that a few factors contributed to the weight gain: the aforementioned nutrition, a few days of not getting enough water (and too much sodium), and missing a day of working out. (I know realistically that one day of missing a workout isn't going to kill me, but...I still wish I would have been able to make it happen.)

I'm trying hard to be optimistic about this week, but there's a lot of lack-of-routine happening: we had a snow day today, and tomorrow and Wednesday are already cancelled due to crazy-low temperatures. And honestly, I will not be super surprised if we don't have school on Thursday either. Time will tell.

I thrive on routine, which is why weekends are kind of hard for me on the nutrition front -- which is also why I really wish I would've chosen any day but Monday to weigh in. :) So, the fact that we have what is effectively a five-day weekend right now is tough.

Today could have been better on the nutrition front (hello, pie), but I'm going to refocus and start anew tomorrow morning. Although, all I want to do during Polar Vortex 2019 is drink wine and eat alllllll the carbs.

Accurate photo of me preparing for hibernation.

Stay tuned, y'all! And stay warm! :)

Phew

Yesterday, I mentioned that my week started off super strong but then tapered off a bit as it continued. I thrive on routine, so while I am a rockstar during the week at school, I tend to fall off the wagon a bit at home on the weekends. Like, I drink so little water, I eat a box of gummy lifesavers (what? I don't even like gummy lifesavers), etc.

So needless to say, I was -- per usual -- a tad worried to step on the scale this morning.

But, per usual, I had no reason to worry. Weight Watchers works, y'all: there's a reason they give you weekly points.

Yep: I am down 2.8 pounds this week. For those keeping track at home, that is a whopping twelve pounds overall, twelve pounds since Thanksgiving.

I am feeling better, I am looking better, and I am stronger. I am pretty darn proud of myself.

Today, I slept in, am going to do a bit of work for school, hit a Pilates class, do some more work for school, get a haircut/color, and meet with our wedding venue representative. For a "day off" of school, it's a pretty jam-packed day. But, after a lot of lounging around yesterday (save for a tough Pilates class and grocery shopping), I'm ready for some productivity.

And then maybe some more binging of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. Y'all, that show is amazing.

Plus, it has Ricky Martin -- ooh la la.

I hope y'all have a great day!

Seven Days for Every Body

I included this photo in my last post and mentioned that I intended to write more and not simply focus on weight loss. 

And here I am, six days later, and I haven't touched on any of these topics.

Because I have some free time right now (and some motivation to write), I thought I might as well write about all seven.

My 2019 Mantra

Balance

I have gotten pretty good at this over the past year or so -- especially in the last couple of months. But, there is always room to improve, and I want to continue working on balance.

Yes, I need to continue to balance work and home: as a teacher, it is very difficult to leave work at work. There are always lessons to be planned, papers to be graded, etc., but my students also take up a lot of my thoughts; I work in an alternative school, and as a teacher who values authentic relationships and who encourages her students to speak their truths, I often have students unload on me, and it can be very emotionally taxing.

I will say, though, that I have gotten much better at this in the last several years. However, even as I was focusing on balance, I thought to myself that I should really, really be planning my next unit right now. So, I clearly have some work to do.

In addition to work/home, though, I also need to balance some other things: time with my partner, time vegging out in front of mindless TV, time reading, time planning the wedding, time with friends, time writing, etc. Again, this has improved in the last several weeks, especially through the use of my habit tracker, but I know I can still do better.

And, I want to be better about balancing being super-duper healthy (i.e. working out like crazy, eating very healthy, etc.) with being a little more relaxed (i.e. taking a rest day, not freaking out about having a brownie). I am continuing to improve in this area -- and Weight Watchers has certainly helped, especially with the mindset around food -- but yes, there's still room for improvement.

My Go-To ZeroPoint Food

Weight Watchers has a list of more than 200 zero-point foods; these are foods that can be eaten in unlimited amounts. (I mean, these foods still have calories, but they are deemed "zero points" because it's a lot less likely to binge on a bag of chicken breasts than it is to down a bag of chips.)

I have two favorites:

Sometimes I wonder when I'm going to turn orange due to carrot consumption. Jesus's former roommate, actually, used to tease me non-stop about the amount of baby carrots I brought over.

What can I say? I love 'em.

I'm also a huge fan of apples and bananas; they are a constant on my grocery list, and I panic if we're getting low on them. I know that eating all that sugar likely isn't the best, but I usually eat one banana and one apple every day.

My Why

In Weight Watchers, the "why" is essentially your motivation: why did you join Weight Watchers? Why do you want to lose weight?

This certainly deserves a longer post, and I will definitely write it soon. For now, though, I will just say that my "why" is to feel more like myself. Sure, I want to look better, but I also want to continue feeling better. And, of course, I want to look smokin' hot on my wedding day. (But, that is also not my ultimate why. I don't think it's healthy to focus on just appearance or on just one day.)

A Fitness Move/Class I Love

I think y'all already know this one: I love Pilates, and I love lifting. (I would really like to be able to love running again, but I'm not sure that's in the cards for me with my shoddy ankle.)

Speaking of lifting, I had another amazing victory the other day: I leg-pressed 680 pounds for 20 reps. Prior to getting on the machine, my trainer (Tyler) told me that we were going to hit 20 today, and when I saw the weight he added, I was like, "Bwahaha!" He told me to just do as many as I could, and we would adjust accordingly.

Around rep 16, I told Tyler that I didn't think I could do anymore, and he said to keep pushing, that he was right there with me. With a teeny tiny bit of assistance from Tyler, I pushed out the last three reps (and even held the final one for almost the full 15 seconds -- which, let me tell you, is super freaking hard). I think that both Tyler and I were surprised that I was able to do the entire set at that weight.

These big-ass legs are good for something!

I will say, though, that I did a lot of sitting down the rest of the day -- and I was thankful that I forgot my wedges at home and had to wear my Uggs all day instead. My legs during my workout on Friday morning, too, were totally shot; my muscles were pooped.

Fave Weight Watchers Freestyle Recipe

This is another topic about which I would like to write an entire post, similar to what I did for the Whole30 a long time ago on my previous blog.

I have made a lot of amazing recipes, and most of them have come from Skinnytaste -- both online and from her cookbooks, all three of which are incredible.

One of my favorite recipes that I have made from the Weight Watchers website, however, is Creamy Mexican Dip. I made this as part of "taco night" when I hosted book club at my house a couple of weeks ago, and I also plan on bringing it to a potluck at school on Wednesday.

It is sooooooo delicious and does not "taste healthy" at all. I could eat it by the spoonful -- which would actually be better than the 18,000 tortilla chips that I would prefer accompany it.

Compliment Yourself

You know, I am doing really great, and I am really proud of myself. I have been kicking butt -- both in the gym and in the kitchen. I have lost weight, and I have gained incredible strength. And, I'm starting to finally notice that I'm looking a bit different; Jesus and my trainer reassured me that I am, in fact, looking different, which is obviously nice to hear.

The face of someone who is awfully proud of herself.

I'm excited to continue pushing forward, improving both my fitness and my nutrition.

Show Off Your Support Squad

My number one support person is my mama; she's the one who encouraged me to join Weight Watchers, she's the one who's answered every question I could possibly have, she's the first one I call when I'm excited about various things, and she's just the very best mama in the world.

Jesus is also super supportive of me and is my everyday cheerleader. He also eats what I cook and tells me it tastes good, which is always nice. :)

Best Company Ever

I also get a heck of a lot of inspiration from people who don't even know I exist on Instagram. I'll have to accumulate a list to share at some point. Stay tuned.

Well, that's it for now, friends! I'll "see" you tomorrow with our regularly-scheduled "weigh in" post. Hopefully I'll have good news to share (although, the week started out way better nutrition-wise than it ended...eeek).

Peace out!

That's What I Like to See

Well, friends, I'm back on track, and the scale is moving in the right direction yet again:

Unfortunately, this still means that I'm two pounds over where I was two weeks ago, but I am confident that it'll keep creeping down as I continue.

I have, however, been a little hungry lately, and I'm wondering if I'm not getting enough food. Also, as I've mentioned before, Weight Watchers seems to limit fat, so I'm wondering if I'm not getting enough fat in particular. I also know that I'm working out pretty intensely (like, really intensely), and I'm wondering if I should be factoring that into my daily points.

(I do get "activity points" for Weight Watchers, but I tend to just use those "as needed" rather than factor them into my daily points. Maybe I should average those out over the course of seven days and up my daily points accordingly? I don't know.)

What I should really do is have a stash of hard-boiled eggs and other zero-point options at hand all the time.

Also, on a completely random side note, I have realized that I should not have tortilla chips in the house: they are a major weakness of mine. I'm fairly confident that the additional two pounds is comprised entirely of tortilla chips.

Two things to note:

1. I went to the doctor on Friday, and I was honestly dreading the scale a little bit. For some reason, I feel like the scale there is totally different from the scale I have at home, and I was worried that it wouldn't show weight loss. But, it did! It showed that I have lost seven pounds since the last time I was there (in October, I think). Considering my app is showing that I have lost 9.2 pounds since I started tracking (and I went to the doctor after school and had all of my clothes and shoes on), I was pretty pleased!

2. I did something I was sure I would never do: I signed up for a Diet Bet. A few bloggers that I follow regularly host these challenges every so often, and I've always frowned on them (Diet Bets, not the bloggers); and honestly, I'm still frowning on the idea of these challenges. But, I decided that since I'm actively trying to lose weight and have had success thus far, it might be beneficial to add another layer of motivation.

Essentially, if I lose 4% of my body weight in four weeks, I get back my entrance fee ($35) and split the pot (that is currently up to almost $36,000). Truthfully, that seemed totally manageable -- until after I paid (kind of by accident via PayPal) and actually calculated the pounds I would have to lose.

It's going to be rough, y'all. So, bye-bye tortilla chips.

Before I wrap up for the night, I'm going to leave you with this:

I saw it on Instagram and immediately took a screenshot as writing inspiration. I can't promise that I'll write every day for the next seven days, but I am going to write about each of these at some point.

I certainly don't want to just write about my health journey via this blog, as I am so much more than just a number on a scale. But, I have so many other things going on that make writing regularly relatively challenging. Since I want to be sure to track my progress, though, I feel like talking about weight and Weight Watchers is all I'm doing.

Here's my schedule: I wake up at 5:15 every day, workout, teach, get home around 4:45, clean up, cook dinner, veg out for a hot minute, take a shower, and go to bed (hopefully before 10:30 p.m.). Sprinkle in some reading, some wedding planning, some hanging out with my boo, and some TV watching, and I have very little time left over.

But, writing is one of my "habits" that I'm tracking, so I would like to get into more of a routine.

So, that being said, other than the above ideas from WW's IG, what are some topics you would like me to cover?

Peace out for now, friends. "See" you soon!

The Time Has Come

Unfortunately, my holiday "binge" caught up to me. As expected, I gained weight this week.

(Of course: as soon as I make the blog "public," I gain weight for the first time throughout this whole thing. Awesome.)

Truthfully, though, I'm not too worried about it.

First, I felt super bloated this morning when I woke up, but that quickly changed after two cups of coffee and breakfast: without going into the realm of TMI, the bloat quickly disappeared.

Second, I know that I did not do an amazing job tracking during the latter half of the week. My soon-to-be step-daughter was in town, and we took her to United Noodles, an amazing Asian market, for ramen and to explore (she is a "Koreaboo" and thought it was the coolest thing ever). Then, we went out for a second night in a row -- to a Chinese buffet, of all places. (I abhor buffets, but it was Xio's choice, and since it was her last night in town, we obliged.) On Saturday, I indulged at Laurie's birthday gathering, and on Sunday, I had a couple glasses of wine while watching the Golden Globes.

Side note: I love watching awards shows "with" my mama. Even though we're in different states, we text throughout the entire thing, and it makes me so happy.

I really wanted them to win all the awards.

Third, I know that I have been slacking in the water-consumption department lately. I'm not sure I drank any water on Saturday, and I did not have much yesterday either. This is absolutely unlike me; I typically guzzle it all day long. Staying super hydrated really does a number on how I feel and, I think, how much I weigh.

So anyway, I gained weight this week. I'm still down more than seven pounds overall, and I know that I will lose again next week. (Heck, I may even be down a few pounds by tomorrow; scale fluctuation is real.) I'm back to tracking absolutely everything, maintaining more control over what I put into my body (i.e. cooking rather than eating out), etc. Healthy choices will be happening this week.

All in all, though, I'm not stressing about this week's weight gain, and I think that shows a lot of growth.

Also, it turns out that blogging is wayyyyyyy easier during winter break. I'm exhausted, y'all!

School started back last Wednesday, and Xio left on Saturday. I feel like I have been go-go-go since before winter break, and I am absolutely wiped. So with that, I'm going to go chow down on some zero-point chili, drink a glass of water, and likely knock out fairly early.

Adios!

A New Year

At this time last year (366 days ago, to be exact), I was reflecting on 2017 and setting intentions for 2018. I think it's important to do the same this year.

Reflections

I know 2018 was rough for many people, but for me, it was a great year. 

The first big event happened in February, when I traveled to Washington, D.C., as part of my fellowship for Teachers for Global Classrooms. I finally got to meet the other fellows, people with whom I had been conversing, collaborating, commiserating for the fall semester prior. And, I got to hang out with my Colombia cohort, people who have since become some of my favorite people on the planet.

In March, Laurie and I headed to South Beach for Spring Break. I think the two of us brought a total of nine books with us, and we did a lot of laying by the pool, drinking good drinks, eating good food, and reading good books. It was the best.

In May, I did a lot of cool things, including selling earrings and art with Jesus at our neighborhood's Cinco de Mayo festival, seeing Lizzo and Haim with Laurie, and reading a lot. But the best photos are from when we went to Art-A-Whirl, a super fun event in Northeast Minneapolis.

Me + my tall, rockstar friends.

Some of my favorite people in the world.

June was a month of transitions: I finished my time at a school where I had taught for three years, and I moved over to our district's alternative high school. It could not have been a better move for me -- in so many ways.

Jesus and I also taught our third Summer Academy program, and it was bigger and more successful than the other two years (possibly even combined); we smashed it.

Oh, and we saw Emmanuel Jal and Xavier Rudd (insert heart-eye emoji here) at the Minnesota Zoo's concert series.

In July, I got to travel to Colombia, one of the most beautiful places in the world. It was the best experience of my life -- truly transformative -- and I cannot talk about it in just a two-sentence blurb. So, check out the blog I wrote while I was there.

Barichara

Students with whom I worked in Bucaramanga

Bogota

My incredible friends

In August, Jesus and I presented (for the second year in a row) at Des Moines' Summit on School Climate and Culture.

Oh, and then we got engaged!

And then my mom and my aunt came to town, and I "said yes to the dress," and Jesus and I also "said yes to a venue." Wedding plans were underway!

In September, I officially started my new job.

My best friend, Katie, also came to visit me, and I had dinner and drinks with my high school friend, Matt, whom I had not seen in probably more than 15 years (which makes me feel super old).

In October, I had several other visitors: my friend Michaela (whom I have known since third grade and who was my college roommate all four years), my sister (who was super-duper pregnant), and my friend Caitlin (with whom I traveled around Colombia).

We also had our engagement photos taken:

Photo credit: Nicki Lynn Photography

And, I traveled to Omaha for my sister's baby shower and a "bachelorette" dinner for me. It was so nice to see my sister, my sister-in-law, my mom, and my next-door "mom" -- my favorite women.

In November, I went to France. (Who am I?!)

Jesus, Xiomara, and I also hosted Thanksgiving for the third year in a row. I really love this tradition that we have going.

And then in December, my nephew was born!

After meeting Andrew in Knoxville, we went to Omaha to spend the weekend before Christmas with the rest of my side of the family.

It was a wonderful, wonderful year.

Now, let's check in with how those intentions (a fancy word for "resolutions") went:

Fitness: I definitely hit that mark. Not only did I attend four Pilates classes per week, but I also upped it to include one day of personal training to get back into my weightlifting regime. And I'm smashing it in both arenas.

Nutrition: I ended the year on a high note with this one. I started off attempting several different things: Whole30, Avatar nutrition, etc. But I've finally found something that works for me and is sustainable, so I'm feeling confident that 2019 is my year.

Water: I did a fairly solid job of consuming all the water, especially in the last couple of months of 2018. I look forward to continuing this trend; honestly, I just feel better when I'm super hydrated.

Books: I fell off the wagon with this one -- hard. I did not read nearly as much or as often as I wanted to, but I'm hoping that with my new habit tracker, I'll get back into the swing of things, back to reading voraciously.

Social Media: Well, I started off strong with this one (and even deleted Facebook from my phone). And then I reinstalled it, and the mindless scrolling continued. Sadly, I'm going to have to chalk this one up to a loss.

Nails: This one was pretty hit-and-miss throughout the year. I had some periods of long, beautiful nails, and I had other (more stressful) times where I picked at my nails like you wouldn't believe. Currently, they are shorter than I would like, but I'm hoping to change it around again -- starting now.

Looking Forward

I know that 2019 is going to be my best year yet. First, I get to marry the love of my life! I truly just wish the wedding were tomorrow: I mean, it's going to be so much fun, but I just want to be married to my best friend now.

Also, Jesus and I get to travel to Peru! We're chaperoning a group (mix of students and adults), and I cannot wait to see yet another beautiful country, this time with my boo.

I'm also super excited about a girls' trip my best friends and I have planned for February: Florida, here we come.

And, since it's the New Year, I am also excited about setting intentions. But truthfully, I did this already, just a few weeks ago: I created the new habit tracker, which really encompasses most of my 2018 intentions. (It does not cover nutrition or nails, however, but I am going to continue working on those two things as well.)

I wish you all -- friends and family -- a beautiful, peaceful 2019. 

Cheers!