Set Your Course

Weight Watchers is changing things up again and I am so excited to be apart of it! I don't thing anything within the program that we all know and love is going to change but things are changing slightly.  For example, we have new trackers that are called My Success Story. It is focusing on the positive (success) instead of just the numbers. They are still weighing you (obviously!) and putting your weight in your book, the guts of the book look a little different.

First the book has us write out why we are here. It is in a place that we can view often if we carry our trackers with us all the time. next it asks for our ultimate goal weight. Don't worry if you are afraid to focus on that end number right now, there is a box to check if you choose that option. Below that is a place to write things that you like to do for some "me time" when your schedule is completely free.

The booklet still has 16 weeks in it but the focus is on 4 weeks at a time. We can write in a monthly goal, so that we are keeping our goals small, specific and sustainable. We also check off the emoji of how our week went before we jump on the scale. It is nice to see that we might have had a really bad week but the scale actually goes down or vice versa. There is also room to write down what activity you want to focus on for your "me time".

The back of the book holds some pretty neat parts to creating your success story. There is a paragraph written out with some words missing. It is laid out like a mad lib, where you fill in the blanks. I can't until the 16 weeks and I can fill that in. It will be interesting to see how those words change every 16 weeks or so. There is also a place for your 5 lb. stickers and some notes on looking back on your journey. The next two pages are a wall of bravo stickers because damn those things are amazing. there are lines to describe why you got the bravo sticker. Our leader gives them to us for habit changes and I am raking up those stickers! The next thing is measurements so that you can track your progress in other ways, not just the scale!

This new book is helping us set our own course in our journey to our success in weight loss. The definition of the word success is the favorable or prosperous termination of attempts or endeavors; the accomplishment of one's goals. That is one definition but everyone defines it differently based on your goals. I have incredible trouble keeping track of my food intake so when I do track all day (and correctly) I am pretty proud of myself for that success. On the other hand, tracking might come easy to my neighbor at the meeting but getting a walk in is hard. When they do get up and go they have achieved their own success. That is the great thing about individuality. No two are alike. It is pretty awesome.

August Wrap-Up

August was a really sad month for me in reading because I only read 2 books. I feel like a very pitiful reader because of that but honestly I am getting over that. I read 2 books, that is more than a lot of people in my life.

The first book I read was Howl's Moving Castle. It was something I have wanted to read ever since I saw a video on Youtube. Luckily my younger cousin had a copy and let me borrow it. I really enjoyed the novel. I read it with the knowledge that I would immediately watch the film, which I did.

The other book I read this month was The Martian which I absolutely loved. I couldn't put this book down and I was enthralled the entire time I was reading it. I plan to write a review but I am still trying to wrap my head around my thoughts for it. It is coming though so don't worry.

I think September will be a pretty solid month for reading (I already know it is).

[REVIEW] To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han

Book Title: To All the Boys I've Loved Before

Author: Jenny Han
Series: To All the Boys I've Loved Before
Genre: Young Adult, contemporary, romance, chick lit

Lara Jean keeps her love letters in a hatbox her mother gave her. One for every boy she's ever loved. When she writes, she can pour out her heart and soul and say all the things she would never say in real life, because her letters are for her eyes only. Until the day her secret letters are mailed, and suddenly Lara Jean's love life goes from imaginary to out of control...

What's Your Pleasure?

Something at our Weight Watchers meetings we will cover a nonfood related topic because there are other ways to make us healthy other than food. July 6th's meeting was all about finding our pleasure in nonfood ways. We are working to start taking care of ourselves to make us happy. We knot that happy people make healthier decisions. This week was a take to find something to ourselves. Sometimes we forget that we need to take five minutes. A lot of the time responsibilities will get in the way or cause us to forget about ourselves. What would you do if you had five or ten minutes of free time? I read my books at any free moment that I can grab. I'm currently in the process of fixing up a house for us to move into. Right now a lot of my time that I would spend reading is either spent at the house fixing something or at home making a list of things that need to be done at the new house. It is not as pleasurable as I thought it would be. Once the house is finished and we move it the pleasure of my hard work will begin. We were asked to make room in our days for those little moments. I was able to identify my pleasures and I was even able to do some of them. My favorite thing to do right now is make stickers for my planner. I am one of those weird people that has a paper planner and I fill it with stickers and sorts. I like to use it as a scrapbook later for how the year went for us. I am going to continue to find these little moments are really make the most of them. I know that I need to take better care of myself so that I can truly provide for my family.

Overcoming Time Bandits

Last week at Weight Watchers we discussed ways of how to outsmart our time bandits. Time bandits are something that typically happen daily and if we are just take a few extra minutes in the day to be mindful of where out time is going we are beat the time bandits. I know during the summer I struggle the most with managing my time because i have a four year old who doesn't really understand that mommy needs five or ten minutes to just close her eyes and think. The first thing we focused on was identifying our own time bandits. The challenge for the week was the identify and change our time bandits. Many common culprits are channel surfing, the internet in general, checking email, Facebook, or other social medias, playing video games, and checking the news. My main culprit is the internet. I can get lost on Facebook, Youtube, and Reddit. The next thing to do is eliminate the time bandit. For me that would be setting a timer for me to be online and say, "When I finish this, I get so much time online before I should start this." It just takes a little more time for you to be aware that you should be doing something else. Once you start to recognize those time bandits and you are able to change them, it will slowly become a habit. A habit that will turn into something so easy you will never understand why you didn't do it all along.

Dear Allie | vol. 18

You are amazing. You just spent four days at the beach with your mother-in-law. You enjoyed the time at the beach, building sandcastles with your son, and even swimming in the ocean. Now that you have signed up for the Tallahassee Half Marathon you are going to have to be very diligent with your training runs and sacrifice a few things. I know that you are worried about the route for the race but you are capable of finishing it. You ran the same race in 2013 and finished in 3 hours and 45 minutes or so. Yes, the route for the race is going to be very hilly but you have 28 weeks to train for this race. You have a 20 week training program that you are beginning this week so you will be prepared for the race. It will also be nice because you will have at least 2 friends running the race with you. Cheer up about this. You will start to love running and then you will eventually want to run the race every year, maybe one day you will decide to train and run the full marathon. Who knows, the possibilities are endless for you.

Friday Reads | 13

This Friday I am reading Howl's Moving Castle. I was told I had to read this book by my 16 year old cousin. She is pushy when it comes to books I need to read. I am excited to try and finish it this weekend. If I do finish that book I plan to start either Postal Service by Terry Pratchett or Outlander. I honestly haven't decided yet!

[REVIEW] The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Book Title: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

Author: Mark Haddeon
Series: N/A
Genre: Young Adult, Fiction, Mystery, Psychological

Christopher John Francis Boone knows all the countries of the world and their capitals and every prime number up to 7,057. He relates well to animals but has no understanding of human emotions. He cannot stand to be touched. And he detests the color yellow.
Although gifted with a superbly logical brain, for fifteen-year-old Christopher everyday interactions and admonishments have little meaning. He lives on patterns, rules, and a diagram kept in his pocket. Then one day, a neighbor's dog, Wellington, is killed and his carefully constructive universe is threatened. Christopher sets out to solve the murder in the style of his favourite (logical) detective, Sherlock Holmes. What follows makes for a novel that is funny, poignant and fascinating in its portrayal of a person whose curse and blessing are a mind that perceives the world entirely literally. 

[REVIEW] Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald

Book Title: Under the Egg
Author: Laura Marx Fitzgerald
Series: N/A
Genre: Children's/ middle school/ mystery

When Theodora Tenpenny spills a bottle of rubbing alcohol on her late grandfather’s painting, she discovers what seems to be an old Renaissance masterpiece underneath. That’s great news for Theo, who’s struggling to hang onto her family’s two-hundred-year-old townhouse and support her unstable mother on her grandfather’s legacy of $463. There’s just one problem: Theo’s grandfather was a security guard at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and she worries the painting may be stolen.
With the help of some unusual new friends, Theo's search for answers takes her all around Manhattan, and introduces her to a side of the city—and her grandfather—that she never knew. To solve the mystery, she'll have to abandon her hard-won self-reliance and build a community, one serendipitous friendship at a time.

Friday Reads | week 12

This Friday I am still reading To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han. I hope to finish this before the weekend is up. I will either pick up Deathworld 1 by Harry Harrison or A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin. I haven't really decided between the two though. I also have to read Howl's Moving Castle per request of my 16 year old cousin.

[Review] Sold by Patricia McCormick

Book Title: Sold
Author: Patricia McCormick
Series: N/A
Genre: Fiction, culture, young adult, abuse

Lakshmi is a thirteen-year-old girl who lives with her family in a small hut on a mountain in Nepal. Though she is desperately poor, her life is full of simple pleasures, like playing hopscotch with her best friend from school, and having her mother brush her hair by the light of an oil lamp. But when the harsh Himalayan monsoons wash away all that remains of the family’s crops, Lakshmi’s stepfather says she must leave home and take a job to support her family.He introduces her to a glamorous stranger who tells her she will find her a job as a maid in the city. Glad to be able to help, Lakshmi journeys to India and arrives at “Happiness House” full of hope. But she soon learns the unthinkable truth: she has been sold into prostitution.
An old woman named Mumtaz rules the brothel with cruelty and cunning. She tells Lakshmi that she is trapped there until she can pay off her family’s debt—then cheats Lakshmi of her meager earnings so that she can never leave.
Lakshmi’s life becomes a nightmare from which she cannot escape. Still, she lives by her mother’s words— Simply to endure is to triumph—and gradually, she forms friendships with the other girls that enable her to survive in this terrifying new world. Then the day comes when she must make a decision—will she risk everything for a chance to reclaim her life?
Written in spare and evocative vignettes, this powerful novel renders a world that is as unimaginable as it is real, and a girl who not only survives but triumphs.

Dear Allie | vol. 17

You are doing great. You tracked all your food last week. That is amazing considering that tracking is one of the toughest things for you to do, or struggle with the most. You are going to continue to track your food because you know it helps. You need to get some good groceries in the house so you have some low point items to snack on.

The Summer Eating Guide

A couple of weeks ago the theme for my Weight Watchers meeting was making our summer eating guide. It was a great discussion on how we are going to stay on plan with all the summer parties going on. Our leader gave us scenarios and we were asked to talk through way for us to stay on track. Some member were really great at coming up with ways to stay on track.

Friday Reads | week 11

The past couple of weeks have been really busy at work. I still try to squeeze in a little reading here and there. This week I am reading Pretty Girl Thirteen by Liz Coley. I am only about 100 pages into it and I am really enjoying the story. I actually hate to put the book down sometimes. I am hoping to finish this book this weekend and pick up either a couple of graphic novels or get back into Harry Potter with the second book.

[REVIEW] Cinder

Book Title: Cinder
Author: Marissa Meyer
Series: The Lunar Chronicles
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless lunar people watch, waiting to make their move. No one knows that Earth’s fate hinges on one girl. 
Cinder, a gifted mechanic, is a cyborg. She’s a second-class citizen with a mysterious past, reviled by her stepmother and blamed for her stepsister’s illness. But when her life becomes intertwined with the handsome Prince Kai’s, she suddenly finds herself at the center of an intergalactic struggle, and a forbidden attraction. Caught between duty and freedom, loyalty and betrayal, she must uncover secrets about her past in order to protect her world’s future.

Dear Allie | vol.16

You gained weight this week at your meeting. Luckily you know exactly why you gained weight. You bought Easter candy because it was on sale and you actually ate most of it last week. Go You! Now you have to work on a plan to get the numbers going back in the right direction. I know that you are struggling mentally to lose the weight. It is hard when it seems like it is just you working. You feel so alone doing this. You can't lean on your husband for support because it seems like all he does is sabotage you. Your mom tries to give you advice but she just ends up making you feel like shit about yourself, causing you to eat more and more unhealthy stuff. You need to find a person to lean on and be completely honest about all of these things. You are already doing that with your meeting leader but you should find someone else too. It would help to compliment her in your struggle to change your terrible habits. This is going to be an uphill battle with huge boulders coming towards you. I want you to over come those challenges and reach the top of that mountain. You can do it.

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[REVIEW] A Clockwork Orange

Book Title: A Clockwork Orange
Author: Anthony Burgess
Series: None
Genres: Dystopian

A vicious fifteen-year-old "droog" is the central character of this 1963 classic, whose stark terror was captured in Stanley Kubrick's magnificent film of the same title.
In Anthony Burgess's nightmare vision of the future, where criminals take over after dark, the story is told by the central character, Alex, who talks in a brutal invented slang that brilliantly renders his and his friends' social pathology. A Clockwork Orange is a frightening fable about good and evil, and the meaning of human freedom. When the state undertakes to reform Alex—to "redeem" him—the novel asks, "At what cost?"
This edition includes the controversial last chapter not published in the first edition and Burgess's introduction "A Clockwork Orange Resucked".

Friday Reads | Week 10

This weekend starts the high school's spring break in the county that I work in. That means that I also get a spring break. My Friday reads are going to be amazing this week (I hope) because I am hoping to make it through an entire series, hopefully. I started and finished reading the first book if the Lunar Chronicles this week. Today I started the second novel, Scarlet and I am so excited to hopefully cross off an entire series from my TBR list this week. Although the final book doesn't come out until this winter, I will be completely caught up with the series.

Project 1/3 | Eating Food...Or Your Feelings?

This week we were asked to write down a time we ate something but we weren't really hungry. I wrote down a time that happened just the day before. I am actually pretty ashamed of what I did but I should shared it with my meeting because my leader wanted to work through the exercises with actual events that have happened to us.

Guest Blogger | Please go check me out

I found an application to be a guest blogger on a website justmoogley.com and I filled it out thinking I would never get picked for this. I don't post on a great schedule (even though I try my hardest), I don't have very many readers at all but I don't have a few social media followers. To my shock I was chosen as the organization/planner blogger for the site. I am so excited to be apart of this team right now. I have a little introduction post over on the site that should be published on Friday sometime. You can find a link to the site in the blog list on the side of my blog. I would love it if you could take a moment to check it out and see what I will be doing.

Again, thank you Megan for picking me to write about planners and organization. I can't wait to get started on this adventure. It is going to be a great ride and I am so glad to be riding in the passenger seat with you.

Outfits of the Week | vol. 1

A post with pictures of all the cute outfits I wore this week. 

Project 1/3 | Who's Got Your Back?

This week's Weight Watchers meeting really hit home for me. It is a big area that I struggle with in my journey. We discussed who are the people we can turn to when we truly need help or encouragement. Unfortunately it usually means we want an nonjudgmental person we can turn to but many time we find that that person is judging us constantly. 

I think I am lucky that I have a friend that is doing Weight Watchers with me. She and I are able to share with each other the struggles we are having and we are honestly not judging each other because we know what each of us is going through.  I love that I am able to turn to her constantly. Unfortunately she doesn't go to the same meeting with me because our schedules are very different (i.e, she isn't a morning person at all). Love you Katie!

I am very family oriented so you would think that I could just turn to my family for support. There is no way I can truly turn to my family because it would be like the boy who cried wolf to them. My husband thinks he is helpful and supportive but many times it is not the right kind of support. I struggle with how I can tell him exactly the kind of support that I do need, but I know I need to just tell him. I would love to lean on my mother but like I said before, it is like the boy who cried wolf for her.She has seen me say one thing and do another that she can't be sure if I am going to stick with it this time or not. Usually it is the later, so she is right in her judgments. 

My action plan is to be honest with my husband and tell him exactly how he can help me. I also want to tell him what he does that hinders my journey either because of what he says or how he judges me. I think this will even bring us closer as a husband and wife because we will have that much more of a bond together. 

Friday Reads | week 9

This Friday I am still reading Ursula Le Guin's novel "The Word for World is Forest." I am enjoying the novel but I've slowed my reading down a bit due to working on my blog content. 

After I finish that book I plan to jump straight into Cinder by Marisa Meyer because I've heard so many great things about that series. It also helps that I already have all those books too. 

Looking at my shelf I know I won't be able to get my TBR shelf to #0by16 but I am going to try very hard. I can possibly get it #0by17 but we will see. No big deal. I am starting to be very selective on what books I want to purchase for my library. It is nice to feel that way about it. 

Happy reading this weekend. 

Project 1/3 | Danger Zones

This week at my weight watchers meeting I walked in expecting to have a major gain due to the stress and poor eating choices. Turns out I lost 1 pound! I was so happy for the loss.

At my meeting we discussed the danger zones and how to take control of our challenging spaces. The most common danger zones are the supermarket, the workplace, on the road, and at home.  These four are the biggest danger zones for me. Personally, the workplace and my house are the most dangerous for me. I have trouble at my work place because I help the students in the culinary program who make our soups and lunch on Fridays for a decent price. They make it really easy for me to not need to pack my lunch EVER. This is bad because most of the soups made are full of cream. Don't even get me started on what the Friday lunches are because they are the almost always too many points.

For me to take control over my workplace danger zone I need to plan out my lunches and bring something that is appropriate for my daily points of 29. I knows that doesn't seem like a lot but it is get 49 weekly points I can eat 7 extra points a day if I use them all throughout the week. I also get to eat my activity points that I earn daily. So i can have between 29 and 40 points a day theoretically.

My other danger zone is my own house. It is a danger zone because I am a snacker and a secret eater. I will eat my own sons snacks. I know I am terrible. I guess you could say my danger zone is really the grocery store but mostly it is my house. I can go into the grocery store and buy all the right, low points, foods that I need to eat for my snacks but most of the time I won't eat them. I know some people are cringing because they think I am very wasteful. #NOREGRETS

I am really great at making plans but I am terrible at keeping them. For example, I have an organizational plan for my pantry and I was always get it organized but I can never continue to use it for some reason. That is something that I should really work on because it will be a great habit to have and it will challenge me.

Dear Allie | vol. 15

You have survived a very exciting weekend and a completely stressful week to go along with it. You are golden right now. You have to start working to get back towards losing weight. You wanted to get prepared for this week with meal planning and prepping but I think you should save that for next weekend. This week you should focus on cleaning your house and getting rid of items you don't use or no longer want.

You have plans to start a couch to the 5k program but I don't think you should be starting that right now. You have been busy with your son's birthday party and your best friend's bridal shower, this week is the week to get relaxed and get your mind back on track. I wish you could take a day to catch up on some sleep, but that is not going to happen.

Do you this week and don't feel back for it either.

<3

Dear Allie | vol. 14

You are moving slowly through your weight loss journey but don't let that discourage you. You know you can do this because you have done it before. You have to be more aware of the food choices you are making. Instead of swinging into McDonalds for a quick breakfast whip up an omelet at home instead.

Your FitBit has been a huge encouragement for you. Although you have been having trouble reaching you step goal since you were sick last weekend you are going to begin to push yourself to get those 10,000 steps a day. I know you are. 

You can do this. 2015 is your year to be selfish and get your health under control. You want it so bad you just need to put a little more work into it and you will begin to see results. Once those results are being seen you will be unstoppable. 

[REVIEW] The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Synopsis:

In this ingenious and captivating re imagining of Rudyard Kipling's classic adventure The Jungle Book, Neil Gaiman tells the unforgettable story of Nobody Owens, a living, breathing boy whose home is a graveyard, raised by a guardian who belongs neither to the mortal world nor the realm of the dead. Among the mausoleums and headstones of his home, Bod experiences things most mortals can barely imagine. But real, flesh-and-blood danger waits just outside the cemetery walls: the man who murdered the infant Bod's family will not rest until he finds Nobody Owens and finishes the job he began many years ago.

A #1 New York Times bestseller and winner of many international awards, including the Hugo Award for best novel and the Locus Award, The Graveyard Book is a glorious meditation on love, loss, survival, and sacrifice . . . and what it means to truly be alive.