I finally got around to working out. Since I was kinda tuckered out and sore, I only did 30 minutes instead of an hour. If I have time for a full hour tomorrow, I'm going to do that. As long as I'm going something, that's all that matters! Now, I'm just going to settle in with some Netflix and call it a night!

Ohhhh god I'm tired and don't want to exercise but I really really should...

Oh god, I just remembered how back early in the summer I would write down every single thing that I wanted to do that day, planning it out to a tee... It's not that that habit was bad, because when the summer started I was much more productive, I just tended to not do a lot of the things I had planned out since I am rarely motivated. I should really try to do that more often. I already use a planner for my assignments at school, so maybe I could start writing a few extra things in each day to do around the house or for workouts, etc. I do love crossing things out!

Welp, cleaning took next to no time at all, but at least I can cross it off that list!

Only 3 questions left for me to answer tonight, so I may as well take my break to clean some now! I think I'll also get rid of some of the old scarves that I bought but never wore and other things of that nature to give myself more closet space.

Only 5 more questions to answer until I've reached my goal for the day!!!! YESSSSS!!!!!! Once I've answered 2 more, I'll take a break and go through my closet some. 

Goals for Today

Since I have so much to get done today, I'm making myself a checklist.

• Answer 14 of the 19 questions I need to answer for my Heart of Darkness work. I've already answered 5, so I have 9 to go.
• Exercise, of course! I want to work out for at least 30 minutes. Hopefully I'll have time to do a little more than that, though!
• Clean my room some. It's always in need of some work. My closet especially could use some extra space, so cleaning it is definitely a must. I have a TON of purses and bags and stuff that I don't use, and some of the Vera Bradley stuff I could try to sell on eBay so I can have extra money for college. The rest of the stuff I would donate to Goodwill. If I don't get a lot of this done today, that's okay, I just want to do a little bit of work in there. 

Speaking of school...

I HAVE ONLY TWO DAYS TO FINISH HEART OF DARKNESS AND ANSWER A BAJILLION QUESTIONS I AM GOING TO DIE!!!!!!! 

I am kinda worried that my progress will slow down a bit once I get back to school, since it'll be harder for me to make time to exercise. I'm not too worried about tracking my food, since that's pretty easy. I will be surrounded by worse foods and the temptation to get a lot of fast/unhealthy foods, though... I'm just going to have to take things one day at a time and make the best of the time I have. 

Since the new semester is starting soon, I'll at least have a much less demanding school schedule! No more Honors Government or Economics, and I'll have a study hall and "advanced" Video Production (which can act as a study hall when I'm done with my work in that class)! So hopefully that'll make it easier for me to find time to exercise after school.

So I weighed myself this morning, and I was right! I did make a lot of progress! I lost 3 pounds since I first started documenting my food and exercising regularly! I can't wait to see how much total I lose. My goal is to get down to 145 pounds by spring break, but at this rate I think I can get to 140. I was at 165 once I started. Even though my body carries that weight relatively well, if I didn't start taking care of myself I would only go downhill as I aged. I'm feeling pretty good about things so far!

Goodnight!

Diet Update

Well I'm beat! I managed to get in that workout (yay!) and a post-workout snack in order to stay "healthily" under my calorie limit for today. I'm really sore and I'll probably pass out once my head hits the pillow! Side note, I need to make sure my mom gets some chocolate almond milk. That stuff is delicious, and chocolate milk on its own is apparently a great post-workout snack. It's even better if it's almond milk! So far, I think things are going well. I'm only on my fourth day, but I feel like I'm making progress. I'm going to weigh myself tomorrow morning and see what I've done so far. Fingers crossed I'm a little lighter?!

Lunch today with my family was pretty great! I had a 3-Cheese Grilled Cheese with smoked tomato bisque and french fries. It was delicious! The cheeses on the sandwich were smoked Gouda, cheddar, and frontega cheese. The fries were probably the best that I've ever had; at the very least, they were the best fries I've had in ages. The restaurant itself was pretty nice as well. Now, I just have to make sure I exercise a lot today in order to work off some of what I had and to help my metabolism.

Today I'm going out to lunch with my family, then once I get home I'm going to be hauling ass on my homework and exercising again. I also forgot that I need to be off book by my next rehearsal for one-acts... oops...

Point is, I have a ton of work to do today!

Her tore out my heart and beat it with a sledgehammer, but ohhhhh my goodness it was fantastic!!! On that note, goodnight!

I'm going to watch Her now! I'm really excited!

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention that I'm kinda on a diet now?

I said something about not going past the calorie limits in my diet, and yep! I'm on a diet. Well, it's not so much a diet as much as it is an effort to eat better and exercise more (with the goal of significant weight loss, but overall health is important here too!). I'm using the MyFitnessPal app and it's been very great for tracking what I'm eating and monitoring what I need to eat/avoid. Strangely enough, I haven't had to change that much. i'm just making an effort to be conscious about what I put into my body. I'm also trying to exercise regularly as well. Even if it's something small like 15 minutes of Pilates/calisthenics, it helps a lot to get me into better shape. Today I did a Wii Fit workout for slightly over an hour. It was pretty great, so I think I'm going to do the same workout again and maybe do a few other exercises that weren't a part of that workout. 

When it comes to my weight, I never really have much trouble caused by eating. The major issue for me is exercise. I spent so much of my childhood despising and avoiding anything active that it was incredibly difficult for me to even start exercising around 7th grade. And then with my schedule being so so full, I find it very difficult to fit in exercise, or I'll be too tired/stressed from everything going on that I'll be too worn out to even try. If I can maintain a routine, I'll be in great shape in no time!

As far as why I'm even bothering with all of this, I have a ton of reasons. Yeah, a lot of them are superficial, but that doesn't mean that they aren't valid. Firstly, my sister, mother, and aunt are going to Aruba over Spring Break. Secondly, my family is full of diabetics so I am genetically dispositioned to become one if I don't shape up and clean up my eating habits. Thirdly, I'm going to college in slightly over six months. I want to be in my best form possible for that new leg of life, and I want to create habits that I can maintain while I'm there. Fourth, I want to be healthy and fit for a long life with Andy. Not too long after we started dating, he told me about how he was going to do everything he could so that he could live longer and better for me. He started eating better (like actually eating salads!) and exercising regularly, whatever it would take for him. And I have completely failed at doing the same for him. I want to turn that around while I still can. When I'm 35, it's going to be a lot more difficult to change my habits than it is when I'm almost 18. Finally, I want to do this so that I can be pleased with the girl I see in the mirror. I feel like a hypocrite sometimes for preaching self-love and denouncing media portrayals/photoshopping of women (see my multi-genre research project [aka my pride and joy] from junior year), but I do not like the way that I look, I do not like my body, and I know that there's a way for me to be healthier and more fit and hell yeah I'm going to go for it! 

Yeah, so y'all will probably get to hear all about how I'm doing over the next few weeks. Fingers crossed I actually stick with it this time. 

I managed to finish my Biology, so that gives me about 2 and a half hours worth of time to read/answer questions for English! 

Welp my goal may not quite be reached... Fingers crossed though!

I only have three and a half more days of winter break left, so I really have to haul ass on my homework. My goal for today is to finish all of my AP Bio work and my AP Bio extra assignment, then to read 15 pages of Heart of Darkness and answer 5 questions. I want to have this finished by no later than 9:30, that way I can watch Her before I go to bed. Andy's in Canada, so I won't be slowed down/distracted from texting him or anyone else, and I'm going to wait at least one hour before taking a break. Here goes nothing...

Last Night

Last night was a ton of fun! Abby and Dylan got along great with Andy, and he was actually sorta social which is a huge step for him! I was really happy to see that he was having a good time. He told a few stories (which is rare when he's even around his own friends), responded to questions with more than just two words, and overall looked like he was very happy to be there! It was great to see. 

We ate a TON of food (but I managed to stay within my calorie limit for my diet, miraculously), watched Good Morning, Vietnam and Bob's Burgers, nearly fell asleep before midnight (Abby did fall asleep a few times, though), and then watched the Ball Drop in Times Square! It was a great night in great company, and I wish that they all could've spent the night.

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM OHIO!!!!!

I have about an hour until everybody comes over, yay!!!!

It's been a pretty lazy day so far, but currently my allergies are destroying me. Ugggggggh I hate sniffles!!!!

New Year's Eve Y'all

Good morning!!! Well, almost noon, but whatever!!! I'm pretty excited for today, because New Year's Eve is one of my favorite celebrations! I love thinking forward and looking towards the future, and what better time to do that than New Year's Eve? It's such a hopeful, pleasant time if you're in the right company. Typically, we ring in the new year at our neighbors' house, but this year we're hosting. A bunch of my parents' friends are coming over, and then Abby, Dylan, and Andy are coming as well! I'm SO FREAKING EXCITED!!!!!