Keep on keeping on.

I had a good week of workouts. I think I ended with 5 this week. I started this week off well too. Good eating and 45 mins of yoga and a short jog/walk. Tomorrow I'm getting up early to do some cardio before work. I like when my life feels in balance. When I eat well, workout and still have fun with my friends. It's tiring but its worth it to me.

On a side note. Dating is still a fail. I still don't know how to deal with this body and how I feel about it. I'm a work in progress.

Dating. What a disaster.

Sometimes I just sit and giggle at all the bad dates I've gone on. There have been a plenty. When you are a bigger girl which I was a solid 3 years ago... I was so jealous of people that always had dates or guys hitting on them. It was honestly one of the reasons I started to become healthier. Now it's just for me that I stay this away. In this body and mindset I do get hit on and go on dates. However, the majority of the dates are terrible and most of the guys that hit on me I wouldn't touch with a ten foot stick. I'm trying to make a point here I think. Getting the wrong attention is almost as bad as not getting any.  I do like the attention from time to time but maybe not from the guy who smells weird at the bar. I haven't lost hope that I'll meet the man of my dreams. I think being happy with yourself is the first step. To be loved one must love themself.

How being stubborn helps staying healthy.

I come from a long line of stubborn. Today I'm thankful for that. I am not the biggest fan of running. Most of the time I hate it. I know that it is a great workout so I keep trying. Today I did 6.2 miles. The longest I have ever run. I have a 10k in two weeks and I was getting ready to punk out. Not anymore. I will conquer it.


Thanks mom and dad for making me stubborn!

A breakdown on why Thursday was pretty frickin good....

Good morning world! It's friday! Wahoo I have some exciting plans this weekend including a long run, a night out dancing, and breakfast out :)

Thursday is a good an example of a great day in maintaning weight loss. After work i went to the grocery store and bought healthy tasty food and bought a couple new things. I'm on an Amy's organic frozen Indian meals as of late. After grocery shopping I went home and made black bean lettuce wraps. Pretty much a Mexican and vegetarian version of the chicken lettuce wraps. After dinner, digestion and some tv watching I know I should probably workout of some kind. Monday and Tuesday I did about an hour of cardio on each day, Wednesday I swam laps for about 45 minutes. I could have skipped yesterday. It would have been okay. But I didn't. Instead I did about 25ish minutes of yoga. A lot? No. Helpful? Yes. Yoga is a great arms and legs workout for me because I do not like weightlifting. It's all about finding the motivation to do some form of physical activity when you REALLY don't want to. I was perfectly comfortable on the couch. But I knew I would feel better if I did something. Today I appreciate it because my arms a little bit sore.

All in all a good thursday. Good healthy eating and a small workout.

Have a lovely friday all :)

What I eat....

Contrary to popular belief (aka my mother's) I eat a lot. This is actually the reason I keep the weight off. For example, I love breakfast foods. For breakfast this morning I had scrambled egg whites, some turkey sausage, a little avocado, on a sandwich thin with a banana. Eating a lot of healthy protein throughout the day keeps me satisfied so I don't feel the need to eat the beckoning cheetos at 2pm. I needed the big breakfast this morning after swimming laps yesterday. I am not a great swimmer and it makes me starving. But I like that it works muscle groups and burns calories. So I am going to try and do it once a week. Currently I can swim about 36 laps (not in a row!). In another month I want to be able to swim 50. Little goals...

Just keep swimming right?

Getting to know me. Getting to know you.

I am not a writer. In fact, English was my worst subject in school. So why do I want to start writing? Becase I need to. Hello. My name is Amanda but I go by Manda. I'm 24 nearly 25 (eek) just graduated from grad school and got a great job in public health. I love my life. Now.

My story.

Growing up I was a dancer and a competitive gymnast. At one point in my life I even had a 6-pack. Which looking back is really weird for a 12 year old girl. After multiple injuries and setbacks I quit both in the 7th grade and that's when life went downhill. In 7th grade I was 5'3 and 85lbs. In 8th grade I was 5'8 and 180 lbs. Quite a turnaround. I went through a hell-ish puberty and awkard stage. The weight slowly crept up through undergrad until magically at 21 I was 5'10, 235ish pounds. I hated myself. I blamed it on my newly diagnosed hypothyroidism and the fact my knee is jacked for life after an injury in high school.

For the last 3 and  a half year I have been fighting. Fighting for me and being healthy. I've finally won the battle. But the war is never over.

So I plan to write. My daily struggles, motivations, battles with temptations, thoughts, feelings, my life.

Trust me it won't be pretty....but it will be honest.