Cupcakes and Fitness

Hey Ya'll. Just doing a quick little check in since we are barreling towards Sunday which mean...back to school or the ever popular #BTS2015. I am actually looking forward to going back to work and seeing all the ladies that I work with. I also have some great ideas that I hope to introduce to the school this year and of course, I am completely looking forward to catching up with everyone. That is always my favorite part of pre-planning is the chit chat of summers, traveling, big news, and all that fun stuff. I am excited to hear about everyones traveling. You can bet that I will be taking my travel planning notebook with me to write down some great ideas for future travel.

Not much is new on the home front other than these mongrels I have living with me again. Just kidding! I love these sweet fur babies but they are obviously traumatized since they follow me everywhere. It used to just to be the bathroom (weirdos) but now it is up the stairs, to the kitchen from the couch, and they have to constantly be near me. It does get a bit old but I completely understand. One day mommy was there and then boom 9 months later they make the trip of a lifetime; I am cutting them a bit of slack with the obsessive neediness. And I might like listening to them snore 24/7.

My hubby and I want to start something like the 21-day fix plan to kick start our fitness routine here in the next week. However, I suggested that we finished out the groceries that we already have and really plan ahead for it so we are totally prepared and we have everything we need. So we should  be ready to go by Sunday which is fine by me because school definitely helps me establish a routine. I am refusing to buy the color-coded containers so I am finding containers that are the appropriate sizes and labeling them. I have also dug through Pinterest to find how to determine your calories needs so we will know what to eat. I tell you Pinterest is the goldmine of the internet right now. There are so many freebies on there to print out to help with not only the 21 day fix but any thing else you need. I remember back when Pinterest was the new kid on the block and you had to have an invite to join and it took like three days to be 'approved'. Ahhh, the good old days.  The reunion with the KitchenAid stand mixer may or may not be partially to blame for the delay in the heath wagon coming around again. Not my best work but I will figure it out with the difference in ingredients. They are quite tasty though! Minions Muffins (Banana) on the left and my quite popular Oreo cupcakes on the right.

And what is a little random post without a picture of the amazing sunset here in Abu Dhabi with cranes galore! Lots of building going on all over the place. I can't wait to see some of the new things that are planned.

Makeover time

So a confession.... I've kind of let myself go.

I know, it happens to everyone from time to time but this extended period of ridiculousness is just that: ridiculous. I think back to a little over a year ago and I was hitting the gym hard. Twice daily to be exact - 5am and then boxing at night. I was really motivated and I was feeling great. I have never been comfortable in my own skin and I was so pumped to finally be doing something about it. I had an amazing boxing trainer and I think that I owe much of my motivation to him. I didn't want to let him down by not showing up, I pushed myself hard because I wanted to show I was strong and I could work hard. But I guess I lost track that I really needed to be showing myself the strength and I need to be my own motivation. I ended up hurting my Achilles tendon and that shot in my tendon is something I NEVER want to experience again. It really scared me because I went back to the gym after but I was always so cautious. I didn't want to get hurt again, I didn't push as hard and I stopped seeing a lot of the results. End of story: I got discouraged and I quit on myself. I slipped back into old habits, packed all the weight back on and then I got really mad at myself because I had worked so incredibly hard to lose it. So here I am. Irritated with myself, uncomfortable, and starting over...again. For the last.damn.time.

So we have a gym here in my new digs in Abu Dhabi and I plan to start visiting it this week. I finally found some shoes since I left all my tennis shoes back home on accident. No really - it was an accident. I tried to start wearing my Jawbone to find that it no longer holds a charge (annoying) so my husband and I both bought FitBit HR bands which I am really liking so far. I like seeing an in your face accountability for moving, calories, and steps. I also have started logging food in MyFitnessPal again. Coincidentally, one of my friends invited me to a "Spring Fitness" group on Facebook so I gladly signed up and I am hoping to use that as a motivation and accountability as well. Plus, I will blog my journey and use this as accountability as well.


 So here are my goals:

96 oz of water to start per day (I found a 24 oz. bottle so that is my reasoning - 4 bottles a day)
Trying to phase out sugar but I've gotta figure out a happy medium
Gotta stop soda. Like yesterday. No more soda.
8,000 steps a day
at least 4 workouts per week





Keep in mind these are my goals for this week. I think I am also going to do daily fitness goals and post on Instagram daily. That is always a good daily accountability & it reminds me each day to accomplish something. A big driving force is when I go home for the first time in December. I want to look and be a completely different, better, and healthier me.

Feel free to cheer me on, follow me on Instagram for my daily goals, and hold me accountable. Any challenges out there that I can join - comment below!