Healthy commitments.

On Sunday morning, I woke up deciding I am ready to start my healthy life style again. In the past few months my body has went through some major changes. I was unaware of these changes up until about a month ago. Now that everything is physically back in order (Still working on the emotional side of things), I decided it is time to get back to where I left off.

Getting healthy starts in the kitchen, not the gym believe it or not. Of course the gym helps, but mainly it is what food you put into your body.

Eating healthy is about losing the weight, feeling energized, and ultimately just feeling better about yourself.

I prefer clean eating. No this isn't a trend I just jumped on. This is something I transformed my eating habits to, about 3.5 years ago. First of all I can't believe it has been that long already. I don't "live" on clean eating, it is just something I prefer most of my meals to consist of. There is a difference between eating well and eating clean. However, I still believe in doing both. I plan on having cheat days.

I believe in drinking beer, and there is nothing "clean" about that, unless you are using it to clean out a wound. I believe in eating chocolate. And I believe in eating all kinds of mexican eats. It is just something I have to limit, and eat in moderation. I have to be able to say no sometimes, and I will.

Here was a look at my first day of eating clean and eating healthy.

Sunday's menu in photos:

//Breakfast//

Oatmeal & Coffee. 

Oatmeal is a very filling food, and keeps my full all morning.

//Lunch//

Liquid egg whites, egg beaters && light cottage cheese.

This might possibly be my *favorite* meal ever. Not just for a healthy meal, for ANY meal. It is right up there next to mexican, and that is including the chips and salsa.

//Dinner//

98% Lean turkey burger on an arnold sandwich thin, with a half slice of pepper jack cheese. With loaded veggies (garlic grilled red and green peppers, and garlic steamed broccoli)

I LOVE turkey burgers! I have one almost everyday. So filling and absolutely delicious. I don't even miss eating beef burgers. I can't even remember the last time I even ate beef? I always go with a half a slice a cheese. The pepper jack adds amazing spicy flavor and there is no need to eat an entire slice when half a slice gets the job done.

//Snacks//

Typical snacks are: Apples, bananas, string cheese, 100 calorie pop corn with drizzled extra virgin olive oil, and hot decaf tea with a lil moo and splenda. (I only eat snacks if I'm hungry, if i'm not then I skip over them)

I will keep everyone updated on my progress.

xoxo

Advice for the day.

My advice for the day:

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Happy Sunday Y'all!

xoxo

High low/five?

Longest week. E  V E R. So thankful it is Friday. Linking up with Lauren and these are my highlights of the week. I think a few of these could be referred to as lows of the week.

1. The foot - Yes this week I stepped on a piece of glass. Last week a glass candle fell off of my counter top, I thought I cleaned up all the glass. However, that was not the case. I small piece flew into my bathroom and when I was getting out of the shower is when the damage was done....It is almost a week later and the glass is still in there! Tonight is operation cut it out of my foot on my own. At least I had a reason to use my sweet hello kitty band-aids!

2. The workout - I fully planned on working out this week and getting into my work out routine. I brought my work out bag into work and everything. I found out I wasn't cleared to work out for another week or two per my doctor. So I had this great idea of ignoring my doctor and going for a run anyway. Then ironically this is when I stepped on a piece of glass. That theory was completely thrown out of the window.

3. The yard - I did manage to hop around my yard this week and get my grass cut! I have a pretty big yard, so it was a good work out as well. I was proud of my yard, I think it looks pretty good! However, with all the rain we got this week I already have to cut it again :(.

4. Cheat day - I eat primarily a healthy diet. You know oatmeal, egg whites, veggies, lean ground meat, fruit, etc. However, sometimes you just have to indulge in a cheat day. I did just this. These are THE best french fries in the entire universe! Don't believe me you have to try them. Fried in beer. AH-MAZE-ING! Totally worth it!

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5. Run Ruckus - The reason for needing to get my work out on (see above 1 & 2) is because I am signed up for this bad boy this week. A mud obstacle course run. Four miles of crazy mud, monkey bars, and all that jazz. I need to prepare, and I need to prepare yesterday.

xoxo

Love yourself, be yourself, stand up for yourself.

Today I am linking up with Jenni for blogging every day in May. I'm not participating in the entire month, but I felt like I have something heavy on my heart I'd like to share, and today's topic is relevant.

My advice:

Love yourself.

Be yourself.

Stand up for yourself.

Recently, I have went through something that was slightly traumatic to my human existence. I'm not going to get into that now, maybe not ever. However, I can share what this particular experience made me realize. 

Loving yourself.

Before you can truly and honestly love someone else you have to be able to love yourself first. You have to be willing to accept yourself for who you are. The most important person in your life is you. To be able to provide and nurture another human being, you have to love you. If you aren't accepting of yourself, there is no way you can fully experience the ability of loving someone else. 

Once this is accomplished you can learn to become selfless, and share your love with others. You can gain the confidence so you can reach all of your goals and live all of your dreams. 

This is something I have personally struggled with for as long as I can remember. I undoubtedly have always loved myself. However, my issue was loving myself enough. At 27 years old I am just finally learning how to love myself, and love myself the way that someone should love their self. I always wondered why I've had so many broken relationships. Wondering why I have been taken advantage of, because let's just admit I have a habit of being a human doormat. 

Then it hit me...I always love someone else more than I love myself. The reason I am a human doormat is because I allow myself to be. The point of this story? Love yourself.

Be yourself.

This is something I have also struggled with in my life. I have noticed that I have a habit of acting differently in each social situation I am in. I feel more comfortable and open around one group of friends than I do with a different group of friends. I have a strong personality, but when someone in the room has a stronger personality I tend to shy away because I am uncomfortable. 

I have always be critical of myself, because I always wanted everyone to like me. Unfortunately, not everyone will like me, and not everyone will like you. Don't pretend to be someone your not just to appease others. 

Genuinely be yourself, it is much more appreciated when someone shares their individuality with the world.

Stand up for yourself.

Obviously, I have a pattern going here, but I have also dealt with a lot of insecurities when it comes to defending myself and my beliefs. You need to remember that you need to stand up for yourself because ultimately it is your life, and you're usually the only one that will. 

Don't let someone take advantage of you, don't let others sway YOUR opinion, or influence a decision that impacts YOUR life. Don't choose to do something just to benefit someone else's feelings. Speak your mind (in a nice tone of course) Remember your existence matters, and remember you deserve to feel like you matter. 

If you're like me I LOVE to take care of and nurture other people. Where I think one of my flaws come into play. I learned it is perfectly okay to take care of others, but let someone take care of you as well. That is so important. If you are constantly giving and giving and receiving nothing in return and there is no appreciation.. you are going to get burnt out. Only you are in control of your own life. 

xoxo

Home office: The inspiration.

I have been remodeling my spare bedroom since August (and when I say August, I mean I started painting the walls one day in August and never finished...yes August of 2012.) I haven't really been motivated to get this done until recently. So I've been browsing pinterest for a bit of inspiration and I am hoping I can complete this project within the next few weeks and share with my audience the results of what the office space will turn into, because my living room couch isn't cutting it for being my office.

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Which one is your favorite?

xoxo