Just a few things that make me happy

So sorry I have been MIA these past few days. Some crazy stuff happened on Friday and I am still in shock. Plus I had to go home for a wedding this weekend. I got to watch one of my favorite people marry her best friend! She looked amazing!

Day 14 of the challenge is about things that make you happy! I can talk about this all day long, so here you go ma HAPPY LIST!


1) LSU Football. There is absolutely nothing better than being in Tiger Stadium on a Saturday night in the fall.

2) Capri, Italy is my magic place. I joke all the time that I could move there, get a job picking lemons, and marry a guy who drives tourist to the Blue Grotto everyday. 

Capri, Italy

3) I love books, if I had the time I would probably read a book every couple of days. Books just take me to my happy place. You can pretend you are some where else. You can become someone else. Books help you plan magical adventures. They give you wonderful ideas. 

4) Paris is another place that makes me happy. Paris is always a good idea. I can honestly say I felt at home the minute I stepped off the plane. It was like the city enveloped me in a huge hug and didn't want to let me go. I feel the tug of Paris every day. 

5) So I am a huge dork and I love quotes. I always feel someone else can say it best so I carry a journal around with me every where I go just in case I stumble over a quote I fall in love with. I've got journals filled with quotes all over my room. I've probably been collecting quotes like baseball cards since I was in high school. 

6) Cupcakes make me happy. I have to restrict myself from eating them because I love them that much. I remember one birthday I received cupcakes from almost every single person that gave me a present. So crazy!!!! For the record the best cupcakes I have ever had come from Lake Charles, Louisiana.

7) Pilate's on a megaformer. Honestly it takes everything in me to get me to the studio but I absolutely love being there once I get there. I love the way Pilate's has transformed my body. I still have fat but I have watched my body grow stronger and muscles form.

8) My friends are my world. They make me laugh, they know when I am down or in trouble. They each hold a special place in my heart.

My best friend

9) Travel in general makes me happy. Travel takes you to a whole different place. You meet new people, you learn more about yourself then you ever thought you could. 

View from our home in Mexico 

I love football so much that I visit other stadiums.

10) Music! There is almost nothing better than seeing your favorite bands live in concert. Or driving down the road with the sunroof open blaring your favorite tunes, singing them at the top of your lungs. 

Kenny at the wharf

Better than Ezra at the House of Blues

11) Last but not least I love wine. I love finding a great bottle and sharing it with friends.

Hope everyone is having a great week! 

Such a Klutz

So I have been trying to get back in my workout routine and so far this week I have been pretty good. I've made it to my SPX (Pilates on the Megaformer) class three times and I have run 3 miles three times this week. I'd say that is pretty good. I'm trying to makeup for what I know isn't going to happen next week. I have a work conference all week next week where I have to be at work for 6 AM and probably won't be done till around 11 PM each day. Not sure when I am going to find time to workout but I will do it, just maybe not as much as I should. Food next week will be a problem because I basically have to stay onsite and that means eating what is provided to me.

So I thought you guys would get a kick out of how much of a klutz I am and how I seriously think I am on my own version of the Truman Show (you know that movie with Jim Carey where they are following him around with cameras and everything is fake. Made up by the producers). Or maybe my own version of Punked and no one has jumped out yet yelling Punked!

Last night I went to Pilates to get my workout on. See example of the machine we workout on below. Yep, looks like a torture device! Literally almost all the parts of the machine move in some way so you have to be careful not to pull or push something while you are performing a move or you will jack something up. If you know me you know that is an absolutely stupid request to make! I have a hard time not doing what I am not supposed to do. Not because I am a rebel but because I am a klutz! Remind me to tell you a story about how I embarrassed myself in front of the entire LSU baseball team when I was in college (this baseball team included at least 4 now major league players). I'll save that for another day. You only get to laugh at me once today.

Anyway, I almost fell and busted my teeth 3 times last night. I need to warn my dentist that I may be calling her a couple of times a week at the rate I'm going! Twice last night we were performing moves on the front of the machine (area closest to you in the picture. Away from the mirror.) You see those handle bars? Well they shift and move. I was on the moving bed holding onto the handle bars and they kept popping out causing me to almost fall. They must have oiled the handles or something because I had a hard time keeping them steady and they aren't usually that easy to move. This all happened at the beginning of the workout so I had anxiety for the rest of the workout.

The last piece of klutziness happened towards the end of class. So there are two platforms on the bed that don't move and the middle is a moving carriage. We were all performing a move where our left leg was on the stable platform and our right leg was on the moving carriage. To stabilize our self we were supposed to hold onto the red handles (you can see them tucked in the front in the picture below). So here I am in squat position, holding onto the red handle, using the red handle to stabilize myself. So the move is sit in squat position and push the carriage out with your leg as far as you can go. It works your thigh muscles. Burns!!!!! Anyway, I was fully extended holding onto the handle when I don't know how the handle came off the rope and I was flailing around like the damn coyote that falls off the cliff after chasing around the roadrunner! I am sure it was a sight to see but I was on the end and everyone was facing the window so I am the only one that saw the whole thing go down! See I knew I picked the end bed for a reason! The only reason the instructor knew something was up was because I was cursing and there was a thud from me jumping off the carriage. I really thought I was going to fall and break my teeth. See I told you I needed to keep my dentist on speed dial (it's OK I was in her wedding).   Anyway, after that I just reattached the handle and finished my workout. If that isn't a enough to make you quit I don't know what is! But I won't quit. I haven't lost any weight but that damn torture device has helped me lose to dress sizes in inches so I will keep at it.

Megaformer at Bodyfactory Baton Rouge

So this weekend I am really pumped! A few of my friends and I are doing the Color Run! Can't wait to be covered in Color. I have this friend who hates to get dirty and she is doing the run with us and I can't wait to see how this works out for her.

www.thecolorrun.com

I went to Zoe's to grab a bite to eat this week and when I clicked on their app and this is what popped up! Who knew Zoe's had daily Inspiration!? Hope you guys enjoy your weekend! 

Weekend Rewind

Good Morning! Hope everyone is having a fabulous Monday. Here's a little weekend recap for those of you that don't follow me on instagram.

Yep it's this lovely selfie I took mid 5k on Sat. Was running for the donuts!

See donuts! I totally turn into Homer Simpson when donuts are involved but because I am watching my calories I only had one. My clean eating group lead was not impressed!

Headed to the Farmers Market downtown and had to stop and admire the pretty flowers!

I love strawberries! I had to restrain myself from buying all of these! The only thing I love more is peaches.

Stopped at Magpie Cafe and got some green juice and a sandwich. This stuff may look gross but it taste so good!

Had a coffee too! Ran into multiple friends which made my coffee that much more enjoyable.

Went see a friend in his very first play! He was so good and the play was really funny!

Sometimes the grocery store will surprise you!

Did I mention my boyfriend won the MASTERS! Yep Adam Scott! I have adored this man for years! So handsome and I know that green jacket will never look better.

Ended my weekend with this machine!

Resolutions

"We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential."

                                                    Ellen Goddman

I needed this quote today. I have been trying to get back and find my motivation. I needed to remember why I made those resolutions in the first place. Why I have been working out. I need to remember it's all for me and no one else.

Today was rough, it was pouring down rain and I had a 5:15 AM Pilates appointment to make. Nothing makes me want to stay in bed more than hearing the rain hit the windows and well I wasn't in the mood to get wet. I will say I pushed past the warmth and made it to Pilates. Everyone must be on Spring Break this week because I had the studio all to myself Monday morning and today. I don't mind because I get a kick ass workout but man it is always nice to have someone there to suffer with you when your legs are shaking.

I've got two 5K's coming up and I need to get back on the training bandwagon or they are both going to suck! Hopefully I motivate myself to run tonight. This weekend is going to be extra hard to motivate myself because I will be in Lafayette. I will just have to make time for a run each day. Carve out a space, it only takes 30 minutes!

Commitment and Non-Scale Victories

I needed this quote this weekend. It's been a pretty rough past two weeks when it has come to sticking to my goals. I kind of fell off the wagon when it came to diet and exercise. I needed to fully recommit myself.



I had an aha moment on Saturday when I was getting dressed for a friends Birthday dinner. I put on a dress that has always fit and well it didn't fit anymore. I could gather handfuls of fabric on either side of my waist!

For the record the black dress with the cream feathers is the dress in question.

I was so stoked! But then again I wasn't because what the hell was I supposed to wear to dinner? And looking into the future what was I supposed to wear to that wedding in May? I eventually found something for the dinner at least.

That dress being too big was a sign. I think I needed to see all those early mornings on the Pilates mega-former, running on the dreadmill, and all those meals I've been cooking at home have paid off. As all those bloggers I've been reading mentioned a Non-Scale Victory (NSV). So the numbers on the scale haven't been moving (which has caused me major frustration) but apparently all that hard work actually have been paying off. So I am officially back on the bandwagon.

I'm totally trying to take advantage of running outside right now because if you have ever been in South Louisiana in the summer you will know that it gets so hot you think you are in Hell some days! I live pretty close to the LSU Lakes here in Baton Rouge and Sunday I took off for a run because it was just an amazing day outside. Cool Breeze and Gorgeous Sunshine made for what turned out to be a pretty good run. (So if you step out of my door and head for the lakes it is exactly 3.1 miles round trip.) I've never been able to complete the loop without stopping. Well Sat I did it! I ran the whole thing without stopping (I'm not counting when I ran in place because I thought a crazy man was going to grab me and pull me in his truck. Pretty sure that put my heart rate into overdrive anyway). I just kept telling myself just get to that stop sign, just make it to the golf course, just make it to the tennis courts, till eventually I just made it to my front door. It was such a great feeling and I even ran my fastest mile ever. Go Me! I even powered thru a side crap that I thought was going to have me doubled over in pain.

Just a picture from my Sunday run. It's always so pretty.

So that is where I am right now. Stuck at 155lbs (been there for a month and a half) but cherishing the Non-Scale Victories and the amazing weather while I can. Hope you guys had an amazing weekend!