Today is my 24th birthday! I’m excited to be 24 and to see the excitement that this age will bring.

Since today is my birthday, I’m going to take a deep breath and forget: how badly I’ve been eating the past 5-6 days and enjoy myself on my birthday (cheese fondue, a few drinks and those blondie desserts I posted the other day) and not beat myself up about it and get back on it tomorrow, that I’m working 37 hours at my new job from Thursday-Monday and that I have two exams next week that I need to 4.0 and have no time to study for.

That’s right, I’m going to forget all that stress and enjoy myself today because it’s my motherfreakin’ birthday, y’all! You don’t turn 24 everyday, now do you? No! So cheers to that.

(I guess this is one big excuse post, but I don’t care because it’s my birfday!)

Oh, hell yeah. I’m totally making these for my birthday dessert (Wednesday). Look at them! Aren’t they beautiful? They are flour-free, egg-free, gluten-free, low calorie, rich in omega-3, and from the comments on the site, absolutely delicious. AND MADE WITH CHICKPEAS! What?!

OK, here is the recipe (from the site)…

Genius Blondies

(makes 15-20 squares)

• 1 1/2 cups chickpeas (1 can, drained and rinsed) (250g)
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• heaping 1/8 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1-2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup ground flax (20g)
• 1/4 cup peanut butter (or other fat source)
• optional: 1/3 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Blend all ingredients (except chips) until very smooth. Mix in chips, and scoop into a greased (or tinfoil-lined) 8×8 pan. Bake for 38-40 minutes. You want the blondies to look a little undercooked when you take them out, because they’ll firm up as they cool, and you don’t want them to get hard.

And…the best part: The Nutritional Info [one serving]…

• Calories: 74
• Fat: 2 grams
• Sugar: 6 grams
• Protein: 2 grams

I’ll let you know how it goes! I’m so excited. And the best part is they are healthy enough to not be considered cheats! I’m not telling my fam that they are made with chickpeas until after they eat them. muuahaha.

(The source is listed below - her site an a bajillion healthy, delicious-looking recipes! Check it out!)

To be honest, last week was a mixed bag. I had a great week - eating well, exercising, drinking water…and then the weekend hit.

I knew the weekend would be tough, because of my gram’s birthday, my birthday “party,” and the Superbowl, but I guess those are just excuses. My brain is trying to write off the overindulging I did this weekend (with excuses), but I know there really aren’t any. Some things I overindulged in: pizza, lemon bars, beer, Chinese food, and homemade pretzels.

The only thing I can do now is 1) look at my success from last week, and 2) stay on track all this week (except for Wednesday, my birthday, and ONE cheat meal this week - cheese fondue! and I’m thinking the clean Peanut Butter Cups, thanks to The Fame of Health and Fitness, for dessert so that only the meal is the cheat).

Successes

• Ate clean and within my calorie bracket (+/- 150-200) each day, with scheduled, healthy snacks/meals, limited my grains and ate more protein and fruits/veg.
• Worked out 5 of 7 days for 45 minutes. 
• Drank 4 liters of water each day, M-F.
• Drank 2-3 cups of green tea each day, M-F.

I know I can stay on track during the week, and I know the weekends are always the hardest, but this weekend I vow to keep up all my goals, no matter where the weekend takes me, (and that is my goal for this week).

This weekend is going to be interesting. I think I’m up for the challenge, and have an outlined plan in my head, but…here are the challenges ahead…

• Friday (Today!): (a) Today is my gram’s birthday. There will be pizza, alcohol, cupcakes and other snack-y things at her “party.” I think there will be salad there, so I’ll just have a salad, and then eat more of a dinner after, at home. (b) Today is also a friend’s birthday and I’m going out to celebrate, but already offered to be the designated driver so I have an “excuse” for not drinking. And, I plan to eat enough of a dinner before so I won’t be tempted to order something out. Soda water and lime for me, plz!
• Saturday: Saturday is going to be a tricky day. My birthday is next week, so I’m celebrating this Saturday. It is going to be my one time per week to consume alcohol. Also, Saturday dinner is going to be my one cheat meal for the week. The key here is going to be moderation. However, one of my friends has already threatened to continually buy me shots, but I told her I didn’t want that and she started giving me crap…
• Sunday: Sunday, as most Americans know, is Superbowl Sunday. I don’t care about football or the Superbowl, but my friend invited me over to her place for “beer and snacks.” I’m not really keen on the idea, but I’m getting better at saying no to alcohol/cheats/treats, so I don’t foresee it being too much of a problem.

The thing about this weekend is that I know I could easily blow the progress I’ve made. And, especially because the progress I’ve made isn’t extremely measurable (mostly that I simply feel healthier/thinner/better), I know I need to keep up my work to get some tangible results. I will be hitting the gym everyday this weekend to work off those cheats/alcohol!

TGIF, everyone! Hope you enjoy the weekend. :)

I’m feeling far, far too lazy to post my intake/output and training updates for the past two days. But, not lazy enough to post that I’ve been within my calorie bracket and I’ve stayed in line with all of my No Excuses meal goals, which makes me pretty happy.

Today, I took a rest day, though. After my usual brekkie smoothie, I got an upset stomach for some reason (I did change up the usual recipe, but I don’t know what made me ill) so I decided to skip the gym today. This is OK too, since, if I go everyday for the rest of the week (which I mean to) I’ll still be over my goal of gymmin’ it 4 days/week. So I’m good on the fitness goal, too.

I have decided I’m going to invest in some quality green tea, for the rest of this month (since one of my goals is to drink more). Any recommendations?

So, so far, on Day 3 of the No Excuses Challenge, I am really happy with where I am. This challenge is making me more conscientious and giving me an “excuse” to stick with my goals. (Ha, like that pun there?)

thefameofhealthandfitness:

Day 9/142:Today is a Visine kind of morning. I could have EASILY stayed in my warm bed but I got up. Tomorrow is a DAY OFF work for me! YAY! I plan on sleeping in, doing 30-60 min of cardio and an hour of yoga. Last I am going to see my chiro. My back, hip, and neck all feel better but I think it’s better to be proactive to avoid anymore injuries.

TIRED TIRED TIRED today but I’ll get over it soon. It’s time to get my sweat on!

PS: Quote of the day from the NO EXCUSES 30 Day Challenge, “I am thinking more about what I’m eating with each meal.” - participant.

THIS IS AWESOME!!!!

Ooh, I said that Quote in my No Excuses Day 1&2 post :). And it’s true! (my name is Alaina. Nice to meet you all, again! :))

Also I want to shout out to Theresa (thefameofhealthandfitness) because she’s been so awesome setting up this challenge and reading (and liking) all of our posts!  You’re such a sweetheart!

Keep it up, everyone! I’m having fun following along with the challenge/progress and pushing myself to stay accountable. 

The past two days of the No Excuses Challenge have gone great for me. Most of my goals are in line with the way I’m been trying to eat/workout for the past two-ish weeks or so, so there have not been any drastic changes.

Though, I am thinking more about what I’m eating with each meal. I don’t have any large problems eating clean (or, “cleaner”, at least) but I’m trying to include a fruit/veg with each meal/snack and a pure protein with most of them and grainy carbs with only a couple. I like how these goals get me to think about my meals/snacks differently. One day, I hope this to be something that is second nature (I find myself almost constantly thinking about food now, which I don’t really like).

I’m been to the gym every day this week, and yesterday I had a particularly good recumbent bike workout (though I still feel silly on a recumbent bike..). I did intervals and worked up a mean sweat.

One major success: I went out with a friend for drinks yesterday. I ate before I went so that I wouldn’t be hungry and tempted to each there (Italian food). I didn’t order an alcoholic drink or any food or touch the bread basket. All I had was 4 soda waters and lime. It is possible to go out and not sabotage all my hard work!

It is January 31st, and the beginning of February 2012: No Excuses Challenge. I’ve set my goals, and I am pumped to see where this month will take me. I took my measurements today and considered not posting them until the end, but in the spirit of true honesty (hem, Rule #3) I am posting them here.

Bust: 40.5”
Chest: 35.5”
Waist: 33.5”
Hips: 42.75”
Thigh: 26”
Calves: 16.5”
Upper arm: 14.5”
Forearm: 11.5”
Neck: 13.25”
Weight: 178.2 lbs

What is with me and .5”? Hmm. Oh, and this is me! [in workout clothes, post workout] Hi, my name is Alaina :)

Along with making those stats smaller, I would like to zip+look hot in this little black dress I have (which I bought 2 years ago, and it fit…..) but that might take longer than February.

(please excuse my face.)

I took bikini pictures, too, but will not be posting them at this time…..

Cheers to beginnings! February is my bitch. :)

I’m so excited to do this challenge. :)

Here are my goals/rules:

• Get my sweat on for at least 30 minutes a day at least 4 days a week
  • Running, Elliptical
  • Every Sunday schedule in my workouts for the week
• Eat a clean meal every 2-3 hours (4-5 meals a day, 1200-1500 calories)
  • Eat pure protein with 2-3 of my meals
    • Meat, tofu, Greek yogurt, nuts, eggs
  • Eat pure carbohydrates with 1-2 of my meals
    • Oatmeal, Kashi, brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread, whole wheat English muffins
  • Eat at least one type of fruit or veg with each meal
  • Cut out all added salt and sugar
  • Cut out all white flour
• Drink 4 liters of water per day
• Drink 1-5 cups of decaf green tea a day
• Limit Diet Coke consumption to 3 cans per week
• Limit alcohol indulgence to one evening per week
• Schedule in 0-2 cheat meals a week
  • If I plan on cheating also plan on what I will be having before the day
• Say“No thank you” to treats that are unplanned
• Ditch your excuses, it’s only 30 days - I’ll live

Most of these are taken directly from the suggestions, but I liked them, and think that I will be able to adhere to them.

However, I am taking a vacation from February 17-23, and while I believe I’ll still be able to eat well, it won’t be as strict. Furthermore, I know I will be consuming more alcohol than I should and probably will not get an opportunity to exercise. So, I’ll have to really hit the challenge hard before and after this vacation.

Like with exercise scheduling, I’m going to try my hand at meal planning on Sunday for the entire week. This is something I’ve been wanting to try, but haven’t, and now seems to be the perfect time. This will give me the chance to go to the store on Sundays and purchase what I need for the week.

Good luck, everyone! I’m exciting to be on this journey with you all! xx

Gained 1.5 pounds. What? Gah.

Going to the gym later, and then working out my challenges/goals for the month of February. I need some results.