How Often Do You Drink?

How often do you drink... water?! Did you think I was referring to alcohol :)

While I love this stuff

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I need to love more of this

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Growing up I always drank a lot of water, I was in sports and the coaches always push the stuff on you... add in my runner/fitness mother I drank a gallon a day.

But my freshman year of college- present day I stopped drinking it. I had access to this:

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And I really thought the water at school tasted awful! Plus the lack of money to spend on bottled water, it got cut out of my diet.

Now that I'm really trying to lose weight and exercising more I need to love this more

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A goal for this week was to drink 64 oz of water a day. This was my initial thought

I have to drink this whole thing?!

These little lovies helped a lot!!

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The hardest time I had with drinking water was visiting this place!!

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Being a teacher you only get 1 bathroom break a day, and that is during lunch. Definitely learned a hard lesson... do not drink a lot of water during the day!!!

A 16 hr Tuesday

Happy Tuesday everyone!! I know I usually do a Tuesday Tangent blog but today I don't really have anything to go on a tangent about. So instead I thought I'd give a glimpse into my typical Tuesday.

I worked from 7:30am-3pm so I packed my lunch. This is super easy and delish. It's a Morning Star Farms California Turkey Burger with ketchup on the side. I grabbed the patty frozen, microwaved it in the container and packed the bun in a zip lock bag. Highly recommend it!

(P.S. Sorry for the shotty picture qualities they came from my phone)

I really like these Ready Snax. They're very affordable ($2.50 in Michigan) and only 22o calories. This one had hummus, carrot and celery stix and sunflower seeds.
After work I have class from 4-7 but thankfully we got out at 5:45 this week! Hip, Hip Hooray!! I decided to go to our College of Ed (my college :)). We have this awesome seating area and coffee shop that provide comfy seating w/lots of plugs and free wifi... I will miss this when I graduate.
Me trying to study but decided to take pictures on my Mac w/photobooth. Very fun and a good study break. The book is called Behavior Management, it's an ok book. They mostly use data instead of examples of special education in the classroom but it is very informational.
At 7:30 I had a TEAM (Tomorrow's Educators for the Advancement of Multiculturalism). I'm the President and put together monthly meetings with Powerpoints that discuss different issues in the classroom. I didn't take a pic of this... Epic Fail on my part.

I got out at 9, participated in FitBlog on Twitter and went home. Made a quick dinner of a turkey/avacado wrap and finishing up some homework while watching MTV reality shows. It's now 11:30 and I can finally go to bed for 6 hours :)

Good night all and thanks for reading!!!

Chobani Giveaways!!

So lately I've been in LOVE with ChoBani. I've never been a yogurt fan, the weird texture and all the milk made me turn away. But I've been reading a ton about it on Twitter and my blogs so I thought I'd give it a try. It is soooo good!! It's light and full of fruit and the 0% ones don't make my stomach hurt. I highly recommend it!

Here a few links to giveaways of ChoBani :)

http://cookinfanatic.com/2011/02/chobani-giveaway/

http://www.wordsearchpuzzledreams.com/2011/02/chobani-review-and-giveaway.html

http://www.everylittlethingblog.com/2011/02/chobani-giveaway.html (Ends at 11:59 pm on Wednesday, February 23rd.

Quadruple "S" Sunday

I can't believe it's Sunday, February 20th already!! I graduate in just over 2 months!! Yay!

Onto the first "S" in quadruple "S" Sunday. These are Snoozies. They are slippers but they have grips on the bottom and fit like socks. They keep my feet very warm and am thankful to my roommate Kelsey for getting them for Christmas. She tried to get me moisturizing socks but since I wear a size 3 in kids shoes Snoozies were the next best thing. I don't mind at all ;)

My 2nd "S" stands for Sandwich. This is my Sunday off from teaching Sunday School so I went to 9:30 service and was able to come home and make a giant mug of coffee and this super tasty sandwich.

I really wanted an egg sandwich but not the same-old, same-old kind. I dug through my fridge and freezer and found Morning Star Veggie Bacon, left over avacado/ranch condiment, pepper-jack cheese and an apple. Individually they wouldn't seem to go together but they mushed perfectly. The avacado/ranch condiment added a wonderful taste along with the spicy cheese and the crunch and tartness from the apple was a perfect finish. I could only fit 1/2 the apple on the sandwich so I ate the other 1/2 with peanut butter. Delish!!
The 3rd "S" is for Snow! I spent all day at my younger sister's apartment. She lives right across the street from me and needed some help cleaning. It started snowing in the afternoon and continued till I got home around 9ish. Here is a pic of Michigan's Winter Wonderland (view from my porch)

The picture doesn't do the depth fairness so I took a pic of my boots outside. I'm 4'11 and the boots come up almost to my knees. The snow is to the top of the boots. A mathmatician would have a formula but I looked it up on weather.com and we've gotten around 4-6 inches already!
And finally our 4th "S".... Sushi!! I wanted a quick meal that would be light before bed so I had some left over sushi and steamed veggies. Quick, easy, and not a lump in my tummy.
And of course I had to finish with 1 1/2 homemade cookies from my Grandma :)

What is your favorite breakfast food?

* Breakfast sandwiches or french toast from Golden Harvest

What is your favorite Sunday activity?

* I often find myself cleaning and doing homework... not my fav but productive :)

Do you have anything to look forward to for the week?

* Not really... I only have 1 quiz and get to watch a movie in the dreaded English class so "knock on wood" it'll be an easier week!

Hair, Grandma, and Vodka with Cookies

How do you wear your hair to the gym? I usually don't pay attention. I roll out of bed, pull on clothes, brush teeth and throw my hair up. Today though a girl comes up to me and says, "wow, I love your hair. It's like a spice-girl turned ballerina up-do". This cracked me up. Here is a pic.

And another pic. My hair looks a little red which I like :)

After the gym I made a larger breakfast. It was around 11:30 by the time I ate so I had a whole wheat bagel w/ homemade veggie cream cheese. 1/2 banana with peanut butter, and a blackberry, blueberry, Chobani yogurt, and chocolate granola parfait. It was super and kept me full until I ate dinner around 5.

Today is my Grandma's birthday! She is 81 and is amazing. To celebrate we (my parents and I, Aunt Lisa and Uncle Larry, and older brother and sister-in-law) went to her house and made dinner and visited. I love my Grandma. She's only been a part of my life for the last 4 years because she's my Step-Dad's Mom, but she makes me call her Grandma and treats me like one of the grand-kids. This is a picture of all her sisters at Christmas, she is the 2nd from the left :)

After dinner I was helping her clean up and she pulls the vodka out of the freezer. She MADE me take it, along with cookies! How awesome is that?!

What hair dos do you wear at the gym?

* Like I said, I throw it up.

Who is an important person in your life? How do you celebrate their birthday?

* My Grandma obviously, and my Mom and older sister and younger sister. Both my sister's have the same birthday (crazy that they are exactly 6 years apart!). We always cook our favorite meals and have Sam or Costco cake.

Does your Grandma, Grandpa or Parents ever give you gifts on random visits?

* My Grandma ALWAYS gives me her whole pantry (or so it feels), and the parents take me grocery shopping... they all understand I'm a broke college student!

Day 1 of Challenge

This is part of the Eat In Challenge that I'm doing... I highly recommend it!!

Breakfast

• Asiago Cheese bagel with 1/3 less fat veggie cream cheese
• Black Coffee
• Apple

Lunch

• Salad with lots of veggies!!
• Water

Dinner

• Plain Chicken breast
• Vegetables

New Year, New Goals

So I realize this post is coming a little late but better late then never!

I've always been a larger girl/woman. I used to blame it on genetics (still do a little) but deep down I know it's because I need to exercise more and eat better. 2011 is the year that I'm going to do it. I've already joined the gym on campus (IM West), made a schedule of classes to go to (If you want to join please come! it's $3/class) and made a plan of healthy meals. During the month of January I will also be doing the Eat In Challenge. I can't eat out AT ALL, this will be great for healthier eating and my budget!

So along with losing a healthy amount of weight here are my goals for the year 2011:

1) Lead a healthier lifestyle (better eating, more water, exercise)

2) Run the Relay for Life 1/2 marathon in Portland (July)

3) Run the Disney Princess marathon in December

4) Be on the honor roll for my last semester at MSU

5) Create a support system of people who love me, cut out those who don't.

6) Keep my room/car/school life clean and organized!!

7) Give myself more credit and positive reinforcement

8) Start to manage my money better (maybe start paying back student loans???)

9) Visit my older sister and brother in Washington D.C and Chicago... it's hard to get away from work and school.

10) Be nice to a random person and make them smile at least once a day.

What are your 2011 goals?

Biggest Loser Update

Whoo Hoo Whoo HOO I'm down 12 pounds in a month!!! The competition at my apartment complex ended and I won it!! I received this great yoga mat, Jillian Michaels and Juliane Hough work out dvd's, a $25 giftcard to meijers and a BPA free water bottle!!! I'm definitely motivated to keep losing... my motivation is my brother's wedding in October :D. If you have any advice or success stories let me know!!

Biggest Loser Time

So, My apartment complex has just started a biggest loser competition. I signed up. I'm incredibly scared. I've always been overweight, well not always but for over half my life. It's attributed to genetics, a metabolism disorder, and plain gluttony and laziness. I've always wanted to lose weight but never had the ambition/will power to. I'm hoping that this will kick my butt! I have to weigh in every friday so I'll try to keep my progress posted! So does anyone have any advice? I don't have a trainer and plan on running. I want to do the chicago half marathon with my family in August! So wish me luck!!