I'm So Gifted At Finding What I Don't Like The Most

It's 9:30 on a Saturday night and I'm at home alone writing a blog. How cool am I? It's so hard to be responsible. I would have really enjoyed going out tonight, but alas, I accepted 12 hours of overtime tomorrow, so I must be good and go to bed early tonight. This whole weekend has been so not cray. I worked the first 8 hours of my first day off. Then I was tired so I didn't go out last night. Then I'm not going out tonight. And I won't be doing anything fun tomorrow between getting off work and getting ready for work the next day! So yeah. Blah.

Either way, I spent these three days off mostly trying to get rid of my Gettysburg weight. So yeah, no weigh in for me this week! Haha. I didn't gain a lot, but enough to get on my nerves and feel depressed about it. I just hate how frickin hard it is to lose 1 pound, but to gain 5 is sooooo easy! It can be so frustrating. And I can tell so easily when I've put on just a little. I see it. I think every single time I go to the bathroom I stare at myself in the mirror and critique my body for a few minutes until it makes me mad and I just move on.

I try my best to be positive, but sometimes I need to be hard on myself if I wanna make any progress. When I start to let things slide is when I start to gain weight. So I must be my toughest critic. I am being positive by not telling you how much weight I gained though! I'm sure I can get it off pretty quick... hopefully. I really don't like setbacks, but I know they will happen every now and then so I just try to accept it and move along.

Today was fun! I went to the CrossFit Regionals with Katie who is a friend of mine in the department and we watched them do their thang. It was awesome!! I had a great time and it was such good motivation to become stronger and more ripped!! I so want to do what those girls can do. It's amazing!

After that I came home and went to the mall to get my eyebrows did. I like getting my eyebrows threaded so I go to this place at Columbia mall. I always try to get the same lady because she does an awesome job! While I was there I decided to make a little pit stop at Elite (Sports Authority) and look for some new shoes. I wanted some that I could wear while lifting and doing my classes like Kickboxing and Total Conditioning. I needed something more light and stable. My shoes are all running shoes so they're really not meant for the kind of workouts I do.

I ended up getting these. Nike Free's Trainers. They're so light and comfortable! Very flexible too. I can't wait to try them out tomorrow when I go workout! I picked them out of the three I tried on because they were the most comfortable but also, they're black lol. If you know me, you know my favorite color is black and that's pretty much all I wear. So I was sold!

I think when I get off work tomorrow night I'll stop by 30 and get my sweat on. I'm definitely gonna try some of the workouts I saw at CrossFit today. I'd be too scared to try them at LifeTime because I'd probably mess up and embarrass myself! Hahaha!

Ok, I have a question for people. I encountered an issue tonight. I always have this problem... Peeling hard boiled eggs! Arghhhh. I've tried a few tricks that people have told me and still I always end up with some ratchet looking eggs! I got this plastic egg timer thing from William Sonoma and I thought it worked great at first. You're supposed to leave the egg in the water until the egg timer turns a certain color then take them out of the water. I've also tried adding salt to the water and that didn't work. Anyone have any advice?!

I'm starting to freak out. 1 more week till we head to Nags Head, NC for a week. I'm excited obviously but my paranoid workout addict self is kicking in and I'm so worried I'm going to gain like 50 pounds while I'm away. I'm hoping that my crazy workout streak will keep me committed to doing something every day. Even if it's just something small, I have to. And I really, really need to watch what I eat. I need to not give into my bad vacation habits. I'm going to come up with a chant to tell myself over and over again before we get there and throughout the trip!

One last thing before I hit the hay. Has anyone tried getting wrapped? It seems like the new craze and luckily I know someone who does it so I am going to give it a try! I've heard from a few people that they've had good results. Even if it is just temporary, I'm still willing to give it a shot. Even if it just makes my flabby stomach look a little better before the beach, I'll be happy! I'll make sure to take before and after pics/measurements so I can post them on here. I'm going Tuesday so I will update after that!:-)

I'm tired now! Bed time for me. Hope tomorrow isn't too busy on the ambulance!

Have a wonderful weekend peeps!

P.S. I love hearing from people that they read my blog! It's such a pleasant surprise and it makes me happy. BTW, I'm almost at 10,000 views!!! I <3 you guys!

My Strange Addiction

I'm a slacker, I know. I haven't updated in a little while. I seem to always have an excuse though. Usually it's because I want to wait for a weigh in, or because there's something I want to talk about but it hasn't happened yet, etc. But in this case, I kind of just wanted to wait for the end of the month so I could showcase all my hard work! Just wait till you see my calendar, it's epic!;-)

I went to the tattoo shop yesterday and got more color done on my back. My artist had thought she might be able to finish the whole thing but we both underestimated how much was actually left! She was able to do the pagoda, the mountains, the two butterflies, and lots of leaves and branches! All we have left now is the clouds at the way top, the sun behind the peacocks head and the leaves and branches on the lower right area.

All of that is gonna have to wait till around fall time. As much as I would love to have it finished now, I really don't want to sacrifice anymore fun in the sun, pool time! I love tanning too much to have a new tattoo throughout the summer so this is it for now. I think it all blends together pretty well so you can't tell that I have a few spots missing.

I have been working out like craaaaaaay. Pretty sure I'm addicted. Some people have actually told me that. I feel like some people admire me for it, and others think I'm crazy. Either way, I don't give an F what people think! Nobody knows how hard I've had to workout to get the decent body I have now. People try to say that I'm good and I don't need to lose anymore weight. Ummm, ok. It's not like once you get to the weight you want to be that you can just stop! Obviously that happened to me while I was in the academy and it didn't work out so well. Apparently my body needs strict diet and intense workouts just to stay in decent shape!

I guess my problem is I feel scared that if I don't work out, I'll automatically gain weight and fall back into old habits. Which is easy to do! And I never, ever, ever wanna go back to old Anna! So I do my best to work hard every day. Can't help it!

My favorite cardio equipment is the stairmaster. I mean, I kinda hate it, but it works the best. Look at that thing! It's covered in my sweat. That's after 45 minutes of being on there. It's torture but it's kinda cool to see your own sweat dripping off of you. I'm like "bye bye fat!" I love it! Always makes me feel awesome afterwards.

Well since I missed 2 weigh ins (again) I'll post them now!

Previous Weight - 152.8

Next Weigh In - 152 (5/22) 0.8 pounds lost

Current Weight - 149.8 (5/28) 2.2 pounds lost

Now maybe, juuuuust maybe, I can lose some more! This is right around where I got at my lowest weight ever, so I need to get past it! I'm aiming for 145. We'll see!!!

For the most part, I'm happy with my body. The main things I want to improve on are: my stomach, my back fat/love handles, flabby armpit area and the back of my thighs. I'd say that's about it. I've been working on ab/core work sooo much and I can actually see a lot of definition, the only problem is it's covered with my old, saggy skin. I've come to terms with the fact that I probably won't ever have a nice, flat stomach unless I get surgery. It's sad, but I can live with it. I will keep trying my best to work on that area and tighten it up the best I can. Maybe I can find some kind of cream to help too? Maybe? lol

Soooo, I'm starting to train for a competition I'm doing in September called "Iron Team Endurance Competition" It's a 4 person team competition with police departments, but I guess fire departments can join in as well.  Here's the flyer...

PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY POLICE
SPECIAL OPERATIONS DIVISION
EMERGENCY SERVICES TEAM
FOURTH ANNUAL
IRON TEAM
ENDURANCE COMPETITION
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
0900hrs
Each four-person team will perform the following exercises:
Chain drag ( perform while wearing a gas mask)
Monkey bars ( perform while wearing a gas mask)
Team tire flip ( perform while wearing a gas mask)
Push ups
Sit ups
100-yard Zodiac boat paddle *
100-yard Zodiac boat carry (land)
35-yard water crossing *
3.5 mile trail run
50-yard equipment carry
Barrel roll
Clean and Press
25-yard tire pull
Pole flip/ carry
Individual tire flip
Low crawl
*All participants will don life vests prior to entering the water, and will be required to wear them until they exit the water.
 Above events are from 2012, distances are approximate and subject to change for 2013

 Highlight video of the competition

Not gonna lie... I'm kinda scared. Mostly for the monkey bars and clean and press, but everything combined is gonna wear me out so I really need to start training hard for it. Right now I'm mostly working on my clean and press. I'm getting pretty good at it, just need to up my weight. Anyways, I'm excited!

There you have it ladies and gentleman. My goal for the month of May was to workout every single day with no breaks. Well, I did it! Not to mention I had worked out 5 days consecutively at the end of April, plus today, so that makes 37 days straight!! Now, I know most people disagree with me. "Ohh, you have to have breaks every once in awhile!" Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm aware of that. But honestly, I just really wanted to see how committed I could be and obviously, I AM. My diet may not have been perfect that whole time, but my workouts were epic.

If you've been following my blog for awhile, then you kinda know my color scheme on my calendar, but if you don't... Basically, purple is any workout I did at my gym, dark blue is a workout at Co. 30's gym, pink is some form of running or walking, and green is any workout I did while at work. Generally the green workouts aren't as good because I really don't have the time to get in a killer workout while I'm on my shift.

It's officially June and probably one of my favorite months! So many fun things going on. Charlie's birthday is Monday, we go to Nags Head, NC the 16-23, Roch's birthday is the 22nd, and Rick's is the 28th. But we'll be celebrating the 29th at his annual birthday BBQ bash! Can't wait. Also just excited for the endless amount of hours I'll be spending at the pool tanning! I have so much to look forward to and I'm so excited!!!:-D

I guess I'll go start my laundry and do boring before-my-shift stuff. At least I'm on the engine tomorrow! Yay! Hope we get some good calls;-)

Have an awesome week!

Anna

Reach... It's Not As Bad As It Seems

Hello my amazing readers! I hope you all have been having a great week. It's almost the weekend and I'm a little excited. I have to work tomorrow so it's not as cool, but at least I'm off Saturday and Sunday.

Last Saturday was the Color Run in Baltimore. We ran it with our friends Caitlin and Tim, and Caitlin's brother Collin. It was Charlie's first 5k ever! He was able to run the whole thing in 33 minutes. So proud of him! It was pretty fun. We didn't get too colorfied, even though I definitely tried to! As far as organized goes, it was not. It was packed and the pathways were uneven and confusing. The most annoying part was all the walkers! It's fine if you need to walk, but stay to the right so you're not getting in the way of the people who actually want to run. Geez.

I'm actually signed up for the Color Run at the National Harbor on Sunday too. Not for sure if I'm going yet though. I would be by myself so if the opportunity to work overtime comes up, I might just take that instead. I really don't want to run a race by myself!

After the race on Saturday we went to the Howard County Fire/Police Department vs. Prince George's County Fire Department hockey game. It was a benefit game and all proceeds went to Firefighter Nick Garner. Charlie and him went through the academy together and they are the same age. He developed cancer and has been battling it for awhile now. It was a GREAT turn out at the game. They had tons of raffle prizes and silent auction items. Unfortunately for me, PGFD lost, but I was happy for Charlie. We also won a crossfit package and a white tail deer hunt package so that was cool!

So I've been sticking with my good eating habits and it's really paying off. I've been logging everything and really have cut back on my drinking. Even when I did go out drinking, I didn't eat any bad bar food, so that definitely helps. My workouts have been tough, awesome, and consistent! So far I am at day 21 in a row of working out. I really will feel so guilty if I skip a day, so I will try my best not to, unless I have no choice!

The best part of this blog is that I have two weigh ins to catch up on! I totally forgot to do my weekly weigh in from last week, and then my one from yesterday. I suppose every Wednesday will be my weigh in day. It works out well being in the middle of the week, I think. Here's what I got!

Previous Weight - 155 (5/1)

Next Weigh In - 154.4 (5/8) - 0.6 pounds lost

Current Weight - 152.8 (5/15) - 1.6 pounds lost

Yay! I'm so happy to finally be seeing progress again! I feel like my hard work is paying off and I'm loving it! I can see a difference in my body, the way my clothes fit, and my endurance. Also my guns! I can't believe how strong I'm getting. I never really thought I'd get into lifting but now I love it. I love being a strong girl!

People keep telling me "Don't get too big" but seriously, I'm not going to become some ripped body builder. I just want to have toned arms, nice legs, and abs! I've also had people tell me that I shouldn't lose anymore weight. Really? First of all, no one should be telling me what to do. Second, most people haven't seen me naked! I mean yeah, maybe from pictures I look slim, but under my clothes there are still flaws that I need to work on. I still have love handles and back fat. I can lose more weight and still be ok. I mean, according to my BMI, I'm still in the "overweight" category! Which is crazy, but oh well. I would just love to get to 145 and see how that feels then go from there!

Well, just wanted to update those weigh ins. Time to go do laundry for work!

Crossing my fingers for a good weigh in next week:-)

xoxoxo
Anna

No Alcohol April: The Results

 

Sorry that it took me almost a week to finally post my weigh in! I just got kinda busy with work and working out and I had a few events to attend so I just didn't have the time, but I'm finally getting to it!

As you all know, I gave up alcohol for the month of April as well as the scale. I did not weigh myself until May 1st. It was definitely hard not to wake up and weigh myself every morning because that's what I usually do. But I was so excited to finally get on the scale and see how much I lost! Here's the results!

April 1st - 161.2

May 1st - 155

Weight lost - 6.2 pounds

Yes! Finalllllllly some results! I was so happy to see that number. I'm so much closer to my lowest weight now. And only 10 pounds away from my ultimate goal.

It's hard to say for sure how big of a part the no alcohol played because not only did I cut that out, but I also got extremely strict with counting my calories and had tons of crazy workouts. As you can see from my calendar, I finally started working out at work. That, and really cutting back my portion sizes at work has helped tremendously.  Either way, I'm glad I did it and I think I will continue to cut back on my alcohol.

Thursday night I went to my friend Caitlin's jewelery party and that's where I had my first drink: tequila sangria! I had just a few drinks throughout the night, then we all decided to do shots so naturally I took a shot of tequila. Gross. It was not pleasant! And then crazy old me decided to go to the gym after the party!

I just felt too guilty not to work out. I like keeping my workout streak going. Like towards the end of April, I was on a roll. The only reason I had to skip one day was because I did overtime from 0700-1500 and when I got home I had to immediately get ready for the Caps game, then we didn't get back until almost midnight so I just didn't have time! Of course I was bummed about that, but I suppose I need a break everyone once in awhile.

I discovered a new little gem while I was at work the other day! Monster Muscle. It's an energy drink with protein! I was so excited. I love Monster Ultra Zero so I figured I would like this one, and I do! It tastes good. Now if only I could find it at a 7-11 near me. Lately I've just been drinking tons of protein shakes from the cafe at the gym. I always get either "Ultimate Protein" or "The Body Builder" haha.

So, Saturday was Hero Rush and it was soooo fun! I had a blast. It was similar to Warrior Dash but firefighter inspired obstacles. The whole course was about 4.4 miles and a lot of the running in between was uphill and through mud. I did pretty well running in between all of the obstacles. A few of the steep hills I decided to walk just so I could preserve some of my energy for whatever the next obstacle was going to be.

I enjoyed all of the challenges and in my opinion did awesome at all of them EXCEPT for the rope climb! That part was a pain in the arse! It was a 1 3/4" hose line with knots tied in it and you had to climb up to the top and get onto this platform. Yeah... not so fun. After standing in line for over 20 minutes to do it I had gotten really nervous but I really thought I would have no issues after watching a few other girls go up. Wrong! It was so much harder than it looked and I couldn't get up my first try. I was about to just skip it but then a few of my PGFD team mates asked me to come try it again with them so I did.

I felt like I was doing a little bit better the second time around and I was so close to the top and my arms just couldn't go any longer. I had to use the scaffolding on the sides to help pull myself up. I felt really disappointed in myself because I was really proud at how much I had improved my upper body strength recently but apparently it's still not what I need it to be. I guess the fact that I've never even climbed a rope before also didn't help. What I really need now is to practice the actual act of climbing a rope. I want to be able to do that with no problem. Next year I will do Hero Rush again and I will own that hose line!

The rest of the race was great and a few of us finished together as a team. We hung out for awhile afterwards at a picnic table. Just talking, drinking and eating some food. It was kind of chilly out that day, but the sun was shining bright and it felt so good on my skin that I didn't really think much of it. Well, later on when I got home I realized that I had gotten really burned! My face, arms and thighs are like lobsters! Oops!

So I think I decided I'm just going to stick with weekly weigh ins from now on, just to try and kick my scale habit. It gets on my nerves to see my weight fluctuate so much so I'll try to just do once a week and then only update when I have a loss:-)

Well, time to get ready for Total Conditioning class at the gym. It's my favorite! Then I think it's going to be a relaxing lazy day on the couch! Thanks to all those who supported my alcohol free month. It was tough, but I did it!:-) Thank you for following me and inspiring me every day to keep doin what I'm doin!

Love,

Anna

Dedication

KTtape for "IT band syndrome" wrap

I'm sorry, but I have to go on a little rant real quick. Lately something has really been bothering me. It's been happening for awhile, but for some reason, I just can't stand it anymore.

Ever since I started losing weight and working out, I've been asked by many, many people "How did you do it?" Not just in that way, but in many sometimes encouraging, sometimes annoying ways...

"OMG, what's your secret?"
"I wish I could lose weight like you!"
"I want to lose weight, tell me exactly what you did."
"Hey, I've really been wanting to lose weight, would you mind telling me what you did and what you ate?"

And the list goes on.

I appreciate the fact that people admire me for losing weight, but I don't appreciate disrespectful people that ask me for all my "secrets" and "tips" and when I go out of my way to explain it, they just say "thanks" and disregard all of my advice.
I can go on all day telling you exactly what I ate, and what exercises I did, and what apps I used, but the one thing I can't teach you is dedication. That is the number one thing you need to do to lose weight; be dedicated. If you're not in it for the long haul, it's never going to happen. You also need to be motivated and I can't tell you how to do that. I can't explain to you how I woke up every day and worked out hard, even if I really didn't want to. I can't tell you how I was able to stick to 1,200 calories a day and avoid bad foods even during events and holidays. I just can't.

This blog is not to anyone specific, but there has just been quite a few people lately that have asked for my help, and when I offer it, I get shot down. If you don't want to do it, don't ask for my help! I don't want to waste my time and energy on someone who doesn't really want to be healthy and get in shape. I'm tired of people's constant excuses. If I made an excuse every time I needed to workout, then I wouldn't be where I'm at today.

All I'm saying is if you want to lose weight... BE SERIOUS ABOUT IT. It's not just a side thing, it's not a phase, or a part time thing. It's a lifestyle. It's something you have to be thinking about all the time. Don't half ass it!

Rant over.

Anyways, it's April 28th and "No Alcohol April" is almost over! Time sure flew by. I'm not going to say it was easy, but it definitely wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. And I did end up going to a lot of events where there was temptation, but I never had a single drop. I even went to the bar a few times and only had water:-)

I'm pretty proud of myself and I'm not gonna lie, I think it has helped. Not only the fact that I haven't been consuming alcohol, but I haven't been drunk wanting to eat all that bad bar food, then I haven't been hungover wanting "hungover food" like Chinese or pizza. Not being hungover has helped because it hasn't interfered with any of my workouts, so I haven't skipped any days because of it.

Of course I look forward to drinking again, but I definitely think I am going to cut back and try to keep it a "social event" thing only. No unnecessary drinks. And when I do drink, I still need to NOT eat any bar food. And remember to drink tons of water!:-)

A new goal of mine that I've been doing very consistently is drinking lots of water. What I do is get a gallon of water at the beginning of the day and drink it throughout the day, finishing the whole thing by midnight! So far I've been pretty good at accomplishing that. I think it helps by making me feel nice and hydrated and also makes me feel kind of full, so I don't eat as much.

I've been eating very well EXCEPT for Thursday night haha. I had a little splurge day, which was a nice treat. Charlie and I went to a Caps game and got to sit in the "Acela Club" which is sooo nice and they have an unlimited buffet of LOTS of delicious food! I tried to be pretty healthy and got salad, vegetables, fish, etc. BUT, the dessert table was irresistible! I loooove sweets, so yeah, I went a little over board in that department! The game was really fun though, and I had a great time!

It's funny, I'm actually more excited for weighing myself in May than I am for drinking. I've noticed a big difference in how my clothes are fitting and I've had a lot of people tell me that I'm looking slimmer! So I'm really hoping the scale shows me something good!

Friday morning I did the National Fallen Firefighter bridge run. It starts around the National Harbor then you run across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge to the VA side, then run back. All together it was 4.41 miles (according to my RunKeeper app) and I finished in 36:30! I was super happy about my time. Out of all the people running, I was the 4th one to finish. Granted, it wasn't technically a race, but in my mind it was;-)

Sooo yeah, everything has been great, I'm feeling awesome, loving life and working hard. I couldn't be happier with how things are going. I don't wanna sit here and brag, but I love my life!:-)

Anyways, if I can, I'll update May 1st with my weigh in, but I work that day so I might not be able to. If I can't, I'll do it on the 2nd. I can't wait to see!

Check back for a (hopefully) epic weigh in!

Anna<3

Juicy, Juicy!

So, it's officially been 1 week since I started "No Alcohol April" and so far so good. I've encountered a few "temptations" here and there, but nothing that made me crave alcohol or anything like that. The hardest part has been trying to explain to people why I'm doing it. It's tough because I really don't have a great explanation. I'm doing it for a couple reasons. To challenge myself, to see if I feel better physically, to lose weight, and that's about it. It's not a bet or a dare, and it's not religious for sure, and I didn't have some kind of terrible experience that made me say "whoa, maybe I should take it easy for a few..." I'm just doing it because!

My version of the "Mean Green" juice

As you can see above, March was a VERY good month for me! I was diligent about working out every day I was off work. There were only 2 days I didn't, and I think they were legit excuses... The day after my birthday (hungover!) and the 27th. I got off work that morning and was super tired. I had planned on working out before getting the tattoo because I knew afterwards I wouldn't feel up to it, but I also had to work overtime that night at 11:00PM so I decided to nap before the appointment instead. I just ate really light that day to make up for it.

Mean Green!

Regardless of the fact that I worked out like a mad woman, and ate pretty well, my weight still hasn't gone down. It's quite depressing, but the fact that I can see my muscles getting bigger and my tone improving, still gives me hope. I'm starting to focus more and more on just eating healthy and getting strong. Before I was more into running and going long distances, which I still do enjoy, but now my knee is interfering with that. Now, I really love the challenge of weights. I like to push myself and see how heavy I can go. It's really cool to see the progress happening in front of your own eyes. I've gone from squatting 180lbs to 230lbs. Bench pressing 85lbs to 115lbs. Doing no pull ups to 3 pull ups... yes, that is an accomplishment, trust me! lol:-)

My eating habits are definitely starting to get back to where they used to be. I'm starting to eat more whole foods again and trying my best to log everything on myfitnesspal. As usual, my only hold up is work. It's the hardest part for me; to deny delicious food at work! As if the meals aren't enough, then I have the temptation of dessert. Random ice cream in the freezer, Oreos at the hospital, Eddie buying me candy lol. It's really tough! But that's why I try to counter it by eating really well on my days off. Still, I don't know if it's enough:-/

My mom gave me a juicer that she didn't want anymore so I gave it a try and it works great. I've been using it a lot! I like that you can get all those fruits and vegetables all at once, in just a cup or two. Pretty much anything you make with fruits in it turns out good, but the original "Mean Green" juice recipe? Not so tasty. I made it the other day. The ingredients are:

• 1 cucumber
• 4 celery stalks
• 2 apples
• 6-8 leaves kale (Australian tuscan cabbage)
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 tbsp ginger

The ginger is what makes it gross. Yuck. Maybe without it, it would be ok. At first I didn't have any cucumber or ginger so I substituted the cucumber with grapes and just left out the ginger and that tasted really good! I also prefer spinach over kale. Walmart has these huge bags of spinach and another one that is spinach, red and green chard, and baby bok choy. It tastes great mixed with other stuff!

I like to replace a meal or so with juice, but after my workouts I definitely still prefer a protein shake. Depending on how much time I have I like to use the blender and mix in a bunch of stuff. The ingredients in the picture above are:

Two scoops of vanilla protein powder (100 cals)
1 cup of vanilla almond milk (30 cals)
2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed w/ walnuts, brazil nuts almonds, and Q10 (95 cals)
1 tablespoon of chia seeds (55 cals)
1 banana (110 cals)
1 cup of sliced peaches in 100% juice (100 cals)
6 large strawberries (35 cals)
Total= 525 calories

Kind of high in calories but it has so much good stuff in it! And it makes 2 huge servings so you could just eat half and refrigerate the rest for another workout. Sometimes I'll just do the protein powder mixed with almond milk and mix it in my shaker. Also, the nice thing about my gym is that they have a cafe and they sell all types of protein shakes and they're yummy!

 If you haven't noticed, the weather outside has been AMAZING these past few days! So naturally I've been running. My stupid knee is starting to bother me again. Yesterday I got a knee brace from Dick's Sporting Goods and it seemed to help a little. I also got KT Tape which is kinesiology tape and supposedly helps with injuries and pains. I'm gonna try that next!

Now, time to go out and enjoy this beautiful weather. I'll update later!:-)

Anna

So Long, 24

Be forewarned, I'm starting this blog off on a negative note. Despite it being my "birthday weekend," I can't say it was the best weekend I've had. My actual birthday was great. I spent it with my family. We went out to eat at Old Line Bistro and then had my favorite dessert, flan, back at the house. It was very nice. Friday was spent shopping and prepping for what I had hoped would be a great party. Everything was great. The food was awesome, the flowers were beautiful, the cupcakes were cute. Everything we put together was wonderful. My sister and I put a lot of effort into my party for what turned out to be a very small crowd.

I can't blame anyone, and I'm trying not to let it get me down so much, but I can't help it. I guess you just can't take people's word anymore. Whether it be on facebook, through text, or to your face... people don't seem to mean what they say anymore. I just can't help but to feel a little disappointed.

We made the best of it though. We enjoyed all the delicious food and cupcakes and the TONS of wine we had. The vodka gummies that Charlie made were a hit. The cupcakes were delicious! I wish we didn't have any left because I'm having a real tough time not eating all of them!

We got pretty lucky and the weather was nice during the first part of the day. By the time people started showing up though, it was getting a bit chilly! And crazily, it snowed today! Not cool at all. It's spring! There should not be any snow. But my mom always likes to remind me that it did snow when I was born, so I suppose it's acceptable. I still don't like it.

After the party, we went out to Looney's. It was ok. It was nice to see another group of friends there. I surprisingly did not drink as much as I usually do on my birthday. I managed to remember everything and not throw up or have to be carried anywhere. So it was a success I'd say. But the next day I did feel terrible, and it made me decide something... Alcohol Free April. Yup, you heard me right. I decided that for the month of April I will not drink ANY alcohol. None whatsoever. It may be hard, but I need to challenge myself and I need to see what kind of difference it will make.

So far for March I have worked out on all my days off, EXCEPT Sunday. I was just way too hungover. But, I won't lie... I really needed a break. I was still sore from my personal training session with Ryan and my group workout with Lt. Bussing. Both were extremely tough! I was just overly lazy on Sunday and I ate terrible. With the leftover cheese, crackers, spanakopita, and cupcakes... it's hard to resist!

For my birthday, Caitlin got me Jillian Michael's new DVD "Hard Body" I just did it tonight and it's pretty good! Lots of variety and a ton of new moves. It was nice to not do the same things that she always does in her other videos. In one 45 minute video, I burned 599 calories. Not bad at all! After finishing the video it made me realize that I definitely need heavier weights. I only have 5lb dumb bells and they are not enough now!

So after that weekend of being fat and drunk, it's time to start over. I really hate this feeling. It's hard for me not to get super depressed when I'm feeling fat. It's like a downward spiral. I feel and look fat and it just makes me want to gorge on a ton of food and lay in bed and be sad. But, I try my best to stay positive and realize that it's not the end of the world. I just SO need to get out of this slump. It's like getting so close to the prize that you can ALMOST taste it, then snatched away! Over and over and over again. I just need to get over this bump and feel like I'm finally making some progress. We shall see!

I go back to work tomorrow after a nice 7 days off. I guess it's not so bad. Just wish I was going back to my engine day instead of the ambo! Oh well... Hopefully it's a good day!

I'll keep you all updated on how my Alcohol Free April starts! Thanks for checking in:-)

Anna