FMM - I'm Quirky (And I Know It)

It's time to try one of these bad boys again! Kenlie over at alltheweigh.com puts together a survey on Mondays so that we can get to know each other better and make a few new bloggy friends. Try it out if you haven't!





Personal Quirks and Habits

1. Share one unique character trait that sets you apart from your friends.

I have the tendency to be a little TOO open about my personal life. I might even be a little overdramatic ;)

2. List at least two pet peeves that always aggravate you.

The BIGGEST one is people who talk on their cell phones while dealing with customer service. How difficult is it to say to the other person "Hey, let me call you back in a few, I'm about to check out" or something of the nature. When I'm behind someone in line and they're doing it, I loudly comment on it to my sister or boyfriend or whoever else I'm with. 

Also, duck face pics. Duh.

3. Is there a word or phrase that you say so regularly that people expect to hear it from you?

I feel like I start most phrases with "Okay" or "Well" and so people probably expect that from me.

4. Are you a risk taker, or do you typically play it safe?

I generally play it safe. I'm not one to risk emberassment.

5. Describe your life as it was in high school. Are you the same person? Have you changed?

I loved high school. I felt like it was the time of my life. I danced, taught dance, worked at the local movie theater, and had lots of friends. Now, not so much. I've become more introverted, gained weight, and let that weight gain change the person that I was.

6. What is the craziest thing you’ve ever done that you’re glad you did?

Told my boyfriend that I had a crush on him. ;) He's awesome and still gives me butterflies after 4 1/2 years so I'm glad I went out on a limb and pursued him.

7. Do you ever talk to yourself? If so, share an example.

I do. And sometimes I try to picture myself through other people's eyes. Maybe I'm just crazy.

8. Share something you did that unexpectedly helped shape your life.

Getting a job a Starbucks turned my world around. I was in a funk for a solid two years. I hated almost everything about my life, hated my job, hated school, just overall a blah kind of feeling. My job at Starbucks is so fun and I've met so many great people there. I can honestly say that it has helped pull me out of my depression. Who knew?

9. Do you follow a strict routine, or are you a free spirit? Are you somewhere in between?

I'm somewhere in between. I'm definitely not a free spirit. I need some structure in my life. But I'm still able to go with the flow.

10. Share something about yourself that you hope will inspire others.

I've given up and started over SO many times. Just keep going. One day it will click and it doesn't have to be all or nothing. Small changes add up!

And now, I'll leave you with a selfie. It's amazing how much more effort I put into my looks when I'm losing weight. I have done my hair and makeup more in the past two months than the past two years combined.

Check In

I'm still doing it! I haven't given up! Not that anyone reads this blog on the regular, but I know what my line of thinking is when weight loss bloggers disappear for a few weeks...falling off the wagon. But, I haven't! This is definitely the longest that I've stuck to WW and weight loss in general and I couldn't be more proud of myself. January went a bit slower than I would have liked weight loss wise but I'm totally okay with that. I had one gain week and I'm okay with that too. I'm changing my life and I can't expect to do a 180 degree turn into total healthy eating.

I feel so much better about myself this semester than I did at this same time last semester. I actually try and put effort into my looks and take pride in my work. I'm trying to keep up with my New Years resolutions, although I haven't done a 100% job. I've cooked new recipes, although probably not exactly one a week. I'm washing my face and doing my mask more and my skin isn't blemish free but it's definitely better.

Weight loss? When I last left, I was at around 20 lbs down. Since then, I hit my 10% goal (22 lbs) and got my first 25 lb keychain charm! My total weight loss is about 25 lbs right now, although I'm headed to weigh in in about two hours.

People are beginning to notice and it feels nice. Most people in my direct life know that I'm trying to eat healthier and lose weight and they notice but I've actually had customers at Starbucks tell me. That's nice because they don't owe me anything, they must legitimately see a difference. I'm starting to see it too.
Here is my in September at my highest weight (225ish) I was in a friends wedding and felt miserable. Her pictures are beautiful but I can't stand to look at them because of how I see myself.


Here I am just the other day, waiting for the bus. I can see a difference in my face A LOT. The jeans are new and they are size 14 that zip up easily. I had been a solid 16 for about a year although some of my 14s fit (hard to get on though)

New Years Resolutions

Believe it or not, I have never ever made a New Year's resolution. I am not exactly sure why, but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that I've been on a diet on and off since I was in the 8th grade. New Years resolutions would just add salt to the wounds and set myself up for a failure.

HOWEVER, 2012 was a pretty great year. It had its ups and downs but overall it was amazing. I went finished my junior year of college, I survived an awful student teaching experience while staying on Dean's list, I took a sweet vacation to Hilton Head with my awesome boyfriend, and the list goes on and on. I started my job at Starbucks which I absolutely love. I am a blessed woman.

During the trip to Hilton Head, Adriaan and I decided that it was time to change our lives. We used the trip as a jump start to a healthier way of living. We didn't eat salads for every meal in the trip or anything to that extreme. We ate cupcakes twice and consumed way more alcohol then we should have. But one thing that we did was try to make the trip about more than food. We rented bikes and rode all throughout the island. We took a hike in search of alligators (and found two!). We took walks together, browsed the little island shops, and talked and talked over cups of coffee. We swam in the ocean and just enjoyed the perfect weather. (Seriously, October is the PERFECT time to go to the beach. Less crowds, milder weather, still warm enough to enjoy the water) It was the best vacation of my life with the love of my life.

After that, I made a commitment to go to weight watchers and lose the weight that has been creeping up for so long. So far, I've stuck to it. Thanksgiving was a breeze but Christmas proved a little more difficult. The entire month of December has kind of been more maintenance that losing but I'm okay with that! I really am! I'm very excited to weigh in on Friday and find out how I actually did over the holidays.

Wow, I realize I'm very long-winded. The purpose of this post was to say that this year I'm actually going to make some resolutions. 2012 was an awesome year and I think 2013 has the potential to be even better. Here are some things that I want to try and do during this next year.

1. Continue to lose weight. I've lost about 20 pounds since October and want to continue this trend. I'd like to lose about 55 more. I'm not sure how many I can lose in one year, but I want to give counting points my all each week and see how my weight loss goals progress.

2. Take better care of my skin. My skin has gotten progressively worse these past few years. I have an insane amount of acne. I'm going to start washing my skin more and use a mask every week.

3. Try one new recipe a week. I love to cook and I love to lighten up dishes. Week 1's dish is already done - I made a stir fry with rice noodles. It was my first time cooking with rice noodles and I really enjoyed them! Pinterest is full of recipe ideas. Next week I'm going to try curried lentils.

4. Be more organized. Write due dates and deadlines in my planner and remember them! I got myself in a bit of trouble this semester when failing to remember due dates. Never again!

One Day of Christmas Blog Challenge :)

Jenny over at peanutbutterjenny.com created a 25 days of blogging challenge. Since I'm not particularly good at keeping up with these challenges, I figured I'd just pick a few that I wanted to answer!

1. ELF! Is there any other movie with watching every year? Well, Charlie Brown. And I've never actually seen A Christmas Story so I guess maybe that too.

5. Christmas of 2012 my boyfriend gave me a Tiffany & Co necklace. I seriously never take it off unless I have to. It's actually starting to look a little dingy but it's held up tremendously. 

11. My family has this tradition of making gifts "from" famous people. An example would be a nice cooking pot might be from Paula Dean or a trendy shirt would be from Kim Kardashian. I think it's really fun and I plan on continuing it once I have a family old enough to understand.

22. Oh man do I love eggnog. I look forward to it every year. This year has been difficult because eggnog is SO caloric that I haven't really indulged. That's made a little harder by the fact that I work at Starbucks and have unlimited free eggnog. Wahhh.

So that's all for that :) Now a Kristen update. I had a huuuuge loss two weeks ago after being sick and not having an appetite. The week after, my eating was more normal (well, WW normal) and I went up three pounds. I realize that that was just my body readjusting after being sick but it was still sad to break the "haven't gained" streak. This week I hope to lose those three pounds but we will see! Slow and steady wins the race.

Shrinking Kristen Is Actually Shrinking?

I know people have said it time and time again, but there is no secret to weight loss. For the most part, it really is a simple concept - eat less and move more. Burn more calories than you consume. For such a simple concept MY GOSH is it hard! I believe for me it's mainly psychological. There are really very few foods that taste "worth it" for big time splurges. Yet, it has taken me this long to get the drive to lose weight. For the past few years, I have HATED the way that I look in clothes. And people treat you differently when you are overweight. That's just the way it is, I think.

I started college around 155 lbs (and thought I was chubby then) and had a thriving social life. Through a series of events, I transferred schools, went through some personal issues, and began gaining the weight. There was about a solid year of me being somewhat of a recluse. I wanted SO BADLY to have friends and live the normal college student life but I just couldn't do it. There were numerous diet attempts. I think another one of my problems is/was an "all or nothing" mindset. I was either 100% healthy eating and working out or I was binge eating fast food. There was no happy medium. Just failed attempt after failed and attempt and depression.

Again, I'm hesitant to say that this time is IT. I've been in this place before. But the thing it, it's working. I've been faithfully tracking and counting points. I've been eating healthy foods probably 80% of the time and 20% of foods that fill the need of keeping me satisfied and binge free.

I stopped a binge the other night.I was working on a huge assignment and was feeling rather snacky. I decided to order a pizza. I got the 10 dollar deal from Pizza Hut because it really is a great deal - a medium pizza, 5 breadsticks, and 5 cinnastix for 10 dollars. As soon as I ordered it, I regretted it. I didn't need it! So I calculated out the points for two pieces of pizza and three breadsticks. After I ate that, I destroyed the rest of the box with mustard. I felt awful wasting food, but I felt that is was the best way to keep me accountable. It worked though!

Here is my sad pizza :(

When I weighed in on Friday, I was SHOCKED at the results. Down 5.8 more pounds. This brings me to a total of 21.2. I'm just .8 away from my 10% which was a goal that I thought MIGHT be possible by New Years. My sister bought me the Activelink as an early Christmas present and it's done wonders with helping me move more. My sister and I have been trying new recipes like crazy and I have not gone to bed one night feeling hungry or unfulfilled.

Shrinking Kristen is actually shrinking. I see it the most in my ribcage area and my face. My work pants are also fitting looser. I'm not down any sizes just yet but I know to just be patient. I'm hereby declaring it - this is it. This is the time where it will work. It already is!

Awkward mirror pic. I've never been great at taking pictures of myself!

Survival of the (not quite) fittest

I survived Thanksgiving! The morning of Thanksgiving I sat down with my sister to figure up PP of everything we thought would be at dinner and giving ourselves a rough estimate of what we would have. I ended up going over just a bit but still stayed in my weekly points so altogether wasn't that bad. Still, I felt bloated and kind of swollen and was worried about my weigh in. I went this morning to weigh in. Now, Saturdays are NOT my typical weigh in day. I normally go to the Friday noon meeting. I try to eat/drink as little as I can and I always wear a dress/leggings because I feel like I'm lightest that way. I don't know, it works somehow haha. Because of Black Friday, I couldn't go to my meeting yesterday and needed to go during drop in hours today. I was in my work clothes and had just drank a big mug of coffee cause I was dragging this morning. Still, I was down 0.2 lbs. Not bad for Thanksgiving week!

This week I'm determined to track everything that goes in my mouth! Often times at work, I'll have the remnants of the blender/pitcher or tiny cups of milk or a dollop of whipped cream and I rarely count it but I know they'll start to add up. Instead of eliminating them, I'm going to try and just cut back on them and track them to the best of my abilities. I figure most of the little servings I have are about a point each. I'm usually pretty good about tracking my regular Sbux beverages though. I've got a few "go to's" that I know are safe so I usually stick to those.

Also, it's my last week of blocking!!! I couldn't be more thrilled. It's been a rough semester but I know that  in the end it'll ultimately be worth it :)

Thanksgiving Survey - Friend Makin' Monday

I've decided that I need some blog friends to help keep my motivated to I decided to do All The Weigh's Friend Makin' Monday survey. This week's survey is about - what else? - Thanksgiving!

1. Do you have any Thanksgiving traditions? My family always eats together at my Grandma Ada's house. It's a pretty mellow with lots of food, football, and fun (most of the time). 

2. List at least three dishes that are on your family’s table every year. Turkey (duh), deviled eggs, homemade gravy

3. Do you prefer pumpkin pie or pecan pie?  Pecan for sure! I can totally pass on the pumpkin.

4. Will you watch football on Thanksgiving Day? Mehhh. I'll probably watch it with my family but I'm not that big of a football junkie.

5. Do you plan to exercise Thursday?  Hopefully we will try out the new Zumba DVD set my sister just got for her birthday!

6. Do you prefer ham or turkey?  Ham! But we never have ham on Thanksgiving, just on Christmas and Easter.

7. Will you shop on Black Friday?  I have a little bet with myself this year - if (and only if) I stay in my PP on Thanksgiving, I'm gonna let myself go to Ulta on Black Friday to reward myself with some makeup. Otherwise no because I have to be at work at Starbucks at 7 AM :)

8. Do you take a nap on Thanksgiving? I might this year! My goal though is to not be in a food coma.

9. Share one dish that probably won’t be on anyone else’s table. My family makes this wilted salad every year...although I'm not a big fan!

10. What are you thankful for today?  I’m thankful for my family - they are always there for me. I'm thankful for my boyfriend. We've been through so much and I'm pretty convinced that he's as close to the perfect guy as you can find. I'm also thankful that I have the day off of everything! No student teaching, school, or work! RARE!