In need of some help

Okay, here's the deal: I've never been a skinny girl. I've never been obese, but I have been overweight in the past. I've not always been interested in fitness, but I have always been interested in FOOD :-) I CAN help it, but sometimes I honestly don't want to. I'm a typical female- put food in front of me, & I'm gonna eat it!

Get ready, a woman is about to be honest about how much she WEIGHS!!

I know that I fluctuate normally between 150-155 lbs. The smallest I've been (for a SHORT amount of time) is 147 lbs when I auditioned for Sea Gals in the last 2 years. It's a normal weight for my height of 5 ft 8 & 1/2 inches, but I don't currently feel like I LOOK the part a "fitness instructor". I don't look at myself and think that other women could view me as a fit female role model.

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

I've enlisted the help of a PERSONAL TRAINER!! :-)

Her name is Lainee, and she takes my Hip Hop fitness class at C-Fit. We had our first session today and have established that I A) Do not drink enough water (I was cramping a lot during my workout) & B) Have been telling myself for too long that because I teach fitness, that must mean that I (myself) don't need to workout otherwise.

WRONG!!

Yes, I teach upwards of 10-12 fitness classes per week, but this does NOT mean that I have 10-12 full workouts per week.

I will be working with Lainee once per week doing different workouts every time. She's very excited to help me with my journey towards feeling like a fit female role model, and I have to say, I'm excited to see what we can accomplish together!!

Lets be honest

Alright, so I started the "3 Day Military Diet" on Sunday with hopes of kick-starting my holiday fitness goals. I liked the idea of it only being only 3 days long, & it didn't seem that difficult to follow. 

WRONG!

As stated in my last blog, I got massive headaches the first day, & the second day was even worse!! Not only did I have headaches, but my energy levels were incredibly low. I completed Days 1 & 2 to the letter, but after only having lost 1.2 lbs, I decided that it wasn't in my best interest to continue the diet. Other people who tried the diet said they lost around 4 or 5 lbs their first day. Maybe I didn't lose that much weight because my body fat percentage isn't as high as those who tried the diet before me. Either way, the diet didn't work for me. It's not to say it won't work for someone else in the future, or has worked for someone in the past, but being completely honest, it just wasn't for me. 

In other news, I got a JOB OFFER to work as a Massage Therapist at the Urban Yoga Spa in downtown Seattle! It's a little over 7 miles from where we live in Northgate. I walked into my interview yesterday and was taken aback at how gorgeous the space was! Downstairs was devoted to reception, locker rooms, and 2 large Yoga studios, while the upstairs was where they kept their spa. The massage room was gorgeous, & the table was hydraulic! I had used hydraulic massage tables when I worked at The Red Door Spa, & I've got to tell you, they're so much more convenient than tables you have to manually adjust! I spoke candidly during my interview & found out the massage lead (who was conducting the interview) is from the midwest as well and is a group fitness instructor like me :) I gave him my availability and after I performed a practical, he told me I was the last of his interviews and he wanted to offer ME the position!! I was a little apprehensive about working downtown because parking is a NIGHTMARE and I would end up spending more than a decent amount of $$ on parking than I wanted to, but he said, "Oh, that's no problem. We have EMPLOYEE PARKING." !!!! WHAT?? Who has parking for their employees DOWNTOWN?! URBAN YOGA SPA! That's who!! 

I have another interview later this afternoon at a spa that is only 2 miles from our apartment, but I have a feeling since it's owned by Aveda, I won't have the "yes" feeling that I had yesterday. Something about working for a corporation doesn't sit well with me. Having have experience with both, I prefer working for a personally owned spa rather than a corporately owned spa. The woman who owns Urban Yoga Spa worked at Nordstrom's for 30 years and decided to open her own yoga studio/spa after exhausting herself in the corporate world. We'll see how I feel after this next interview though. I already got an email from Urban Yoga Spa practically begging me to officially say "yes, I will work here" & set up a time to come in & fill out new hire paperwork. Bonus: If I work there, I get free yoga classes :)

Oh, & my personal hairstylist (& friend!) Bethany came over last night to cut/color my hair, so now I have full bangs :-) I've had side-swept bangs for YEARS and decided to take the plunge. I LOVE them, but I can tell they're going to be hard to get used to!!

I might be crazy after all...

I seriously think I may have developed an issue with anxiety. I first noticed when Chase & I went to COMICON earlier this year. The aisles were packed like sardine cans. Not just people, but strollers too. They would stop to look at something or talk to someone holding the rest of us up to form a claustrophobic pile-up. My heart was racing & it felt like I was going to implode. We had to leave the crowd several times so I could catch my breath & calm down.

I'm a mess.

Also, a few weeks ago, Chase & I were merely DISCUSSING the possibility of a trip home to IA & my heart started racing, my breathing was off, & I sweat right through my shirt all because I started thinking about how many people we have to see in a short amount of time when we go back.

Again, I'm a mess.

In other news, thanks to Pinterest, I've started the 3 day "Military Diet". It really has NOTHING to do with the military, I just think that's the name b/c its strict. Like "Bootcamp" classes being NOTHING like actual military bootcamps, just difficult (as pointed out to me by my sister who is IN the military). I've wanted to try this diet before, & know of a few people who want my feedback after I try it, so here's my Day 1:

I ate breakfast (1/2 grapefruit, 1 pc toast, 2tbsp peanut butter) -while I skyped with my older sister who is stationed in Germany- around 10:30am. Then, lunch (1 can tuna, 1pc toast & coffee) after I taught at 1:30pm.
BIG headache. Right around 2 or 3pm as I was in the middle of my Urban Striptease Instructor training.
I practically ignored Chase & his cuteness altogether when I got home so I could finally eat dinner at 7pm (4 oz meat, 1 cup green beans, 1sm Apple, 1/2 a banana & 1 cup vanilla ice cream). By the time I finished, I was in HEAVEN.

I don't know what the scale will say tomorrow, but my last meal definitely made up for the entire day. I'm not looking for criticism, or negativity of any kind. So please, keep your thoughts about my diet choices to yourself unless you have a legitimate question.

Thanks :-)

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.8

I need a new computer

This-is-sad. I would be able to do so much more if I didn't spend an hour waiting for my computer to send a simple email. Yes, my computer is old. It's a DELL 600m from 2005. It's served me well & hasn't quite crapped out yet, so I'm gonna use it until it's DEAD, but holy moley...this is getting ANNOYING!!

What's also annoying, is the fact that I bought a birthday card from my little brother's birthday (which is next week) on Sunday-wrote & put the $$ he asked for (that he's saving for a trip with his 8th grade class to Washington DC) in it, addressed it, put a stamp on it, & put it in my day planner so I would remember to send it. When I looked in my planner yesterday morning- it was GONE. I don't remember sending it, nor do I remember a time where my bag wasn't with me when someone could've gone through my purse & taken it! I called my family to let them know what happened, & if I somehow sent it without knowing, to have them keep an eye out for it this week. If it doesn't get to him by the end of the week, I'll have to buy another card & put in that card MORE MONEY :-( I turned my house upside down & my car inside out looking for this card. I only hope that if someone DID take it, that they needed the cash that was on there more than he needs it for his trip. UGH!!! It still makes me sooo frustrated.

On another note, today I got Chase & I tickets to the Uproar Festival which is on Sept. 22nd by donating 2 bags of non-perishable food items to the ROCK OUT HUNGER food drive. I spent $19.10 on canned food items...not a bad price for concert tickets!!

Chase & I try to live as frugally as possible...we shop at a great store that I'm OBSESSED with called Grocery Outlet. It's a store that sells overstocked items & closeouts of name brand & private label groceries. They offer fresh & ground meat, chicken, produce, frozen items, boxed items, milk, eggs, bread, etc. I made us a steak dinner with baby red potatoes & asparagus for around $8 per serving!! Which is around the same as going through the drive through, & MUCH LESS than going out to an actual restaurant :)

The CB's update :-)

If you've been keeping up with me on Facebook, you know that CHASE GOT A NEW JOB!! He was really unhappy at his job with PNTA & it was taking a toll on our everyday lives. We weren't doing bad relationship-wise, there was just a gloom over our household :-( Chase didn't expect to hate his job when he moved to Seattle, & he didn't expect finding another one to be so difficult. It made me SO sad to see him come home everyday & not be excited about anything. 

A few MONTHS ago, I was approached by one of my Barre Fitness students that manages a luxury apartment complex about a half mile from our house. She was looking for someone interested in sales, marketing, & leasing. AKA- a Leasing Consultant ;) I told her that Chase used to be a Baseball Sales Associate at Scheels in Iowa City & I thought would be GREAT when it comes to anything sales oriented (but then again, I'm biased!). She gave me her business card & told me to give it to him so he could email her his resume. An interview was set up within a few days, but wasn't a normal interview. Apparently it was just an "informative interview" which was so they both could get a feel for if he was right for a PROSPECTIVE position that wasn't open yet. We got pretty disheartened, but the manager kept in touch with him via email & called Chase out of the blue on Monday to tell him that one of her leasing agents' boyfriend got into a bad accident & she needed to leave the company to take care of him. Pretty sh*tty circumstances, but what great  opportunity for Chase!! I was jumping up & down on the bed when Chase told me- & Apollo got a little bit upset with me doing that, LOL, he doesn't like when anyone's feet leave the ground to jump or if they're being picked up by someone else, anyone doing headstands, summer-saults, skateboarders, or runners...he's quirky like that! I've seen AND experienced his "tackles" to get someone to stop running or to get you back down on the ground...

ANYWAYS...

Chase went in to get his letter of hire from the company in downtown Seattle & I made him a sign & put it up over our sliding glass door that said "CONGRATULATIONS!!!" He laughed at it, but he deserved it, I'm so proud of him :-) He's been training for the past few days & we found out that he doesn't have weekends off anymore (BOOOOOO!) so I'm going to be trying to find some more classes to teach on the weekends to keep myself a bit busier & try to get rid of the class I teach on his day(s) off. 

Granted, we don't get a discount on living at the apartment complex he works at (b/c it's LUXURY LIVING) but some other perks we've found out so far about his job are: 

*We get to go to the preview of "The Dark Knight Rises" next week!! The company he works for bought out the IMAX movie theater (which is right by where he works) for their resident's to go to the movie & reserved two rows for employees & their friend's :-D 

*Any furniture that residents leave behind can be taken by the leasing consultants...now, any other apartment complex I would be skeptical about, but this is a LUXURY complex so the stuff left behind is a lot nicer than what the average person would leave behind. One of Chase's co-workers said she once got a set of matching Lay-Z-Boys! Yesterday Chase brought home a white mirror that hangs over a door since I've been wanting one for a while :)

So far, the job is already more rewarding for him & our entire outlook on living here has changed for the better :-)

What's new with ME?!

I'm still teaching my Dance & Fitness classes, but July is pretty slow since I'm not teaching any kids classes this month. August will pick up since along with my regular teaching schedule I'll be teaching a Kids Hip Hop series as well as a Cheer Camp. I'm going to try to find another part-time job though because I find myself sitting around quite a bit when I'm not teaching or walking Apollo. 

On Monday, I applied at Living Social to be a a Part Time Experience Coordinator. I haven't heard anything back yet but lets all keep our fingers crossed because a job that let's you play for $$ is the best kind of job!! (Which is why I've stuck to teaching for so long!! I love it!!) 

That was a little long winded & took over a half hour to type. The sun has come out a little bit, so I'm gonna go walk Apollo :) Hope you enjoyed the CB's update !!

Unique Sweets: BROOKSTER

Hello everyone!!
Today on a whim, Chase turned our TV channel to a show called "Unique Sweets". It's a show about places around the United States that have unique ideas for sweet foods :) I got this particular sweet idea from a place called BAKED in Brooklyn, NY. It's called the BROOKSTER!! It's a scoop of brownie batter into a muffin tin & then cookie dough on top of the brownie batter. I chose to make my own low-fat brownie batter (see recipe & nutrition details below) and store-bought cookie dough.

LOW-FAT BROWNIE BATTER
7 tbsp flour
1/2 cup cocoa
1/4 tsp salt
2 egg whites
1 large egg
3/4 cup white sugar
8 tbsp applesauce
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
Combine flour, cocoa, & salt (mix well)
Whisk together egg whites, egg, sugar, applesauce, & vanilla
Add egg mixture to flour mixture & mix until blended
Pour 1 tablespoon brownie batter into greased (I use olive oil PAM) individual muffin tins

Roll & flatten out cookie dough, place on top of brownie batter in muffin tins

Place in oven for 18 minutes

Makes 24 Brooksters

128 Calories (each)
4.5g Fat
2g Saturated Fat
7.5mg Cholesterol
108.5g Sodium
20.5g Carbohydrates
13g Sugar
2g Protein

Dance Fitness with ME!!

I know my last blog was about how I'm trying not to check Facebook as much anymore...but that only lasted so long because I decided to pursue a Facebook page to help advertise my Dance Fitness classes in Seattle. So far, a lot of people I invited to LIKE the page have LIKED it (thank you!!) Not all though...which is okay! There are plenty of people not on my friends list that have LIKED my page as well. Some who have taken my class, & some who haven't. I added a LOT of photos & am hoping to add videos soon of me explaining the choreography & performing it so people who want to "practice" before coming to class or after, can :-)

If you haven't already, go ahead & visit my Facebook page & click LIKE!! Yes...I've become one of THOSE people!!

http://m.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.249080155193768.40424.115126335255818&type=1&__user=507058095#!/profile.php?id=115126335255818&__user=507058095

Published with Blogger-droid v2.0.4