Hi everyone! Just wanted to touch base and let you know how things are going for me. I've been reading the Bible everyday, which I'm really happy about. I read it on James' Kindle. I don't understand it all, but hey. At least I'm reading it. I'm pretty disappointed in myself physically, though. It appeared that I had lost two pounds [down to 146 from 148], but I gained it all back Monday and Tuesday. Monday was Memorial Day, and I went to two cookouts where I ate absolutely terrible. I'm glad I don't know how many calories I consumed, because I would probably be sick thinking of it. I did exercise, though! Tuesday I ate terribly, drank beer, and didn't exercise, which was totally unnecessary...just a poor choice on my part. And today [Wednesday] hasn't gotten off to a good start. I made fried chicken and biscuits Tuesday night, and I ate some of the leftovers this morning.
BUT I am going to turn it around, starting now. I'm going to exercise today, and eat much better for the remainder of the day. I'm going to continue it for the rest of the week. And next week, I'll do it again. I'm not going to beat myself up over the poor choices I made over the past couple of days...I'm just going to learn from it and move forward. That's all you can do.
Here's hoping next week's blog post will be much more positive!
-Jamie
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Day one
Today is the first day of my tranformation. I can't say that I've accomplished more than the physical stuff today, but that's okay. You can't get it done all in one day. I kept right on track with my exercising and diet today. I walked [briskly, I might add] 1.5 miles up and down the road my boss lives on, and I also ate around 1,200 calories today [1,212 calories or less is my goal]. I'm really happy with how everything turned out! I also plan on doing some ab exercises tonight, another thing I've been wanting to incorporate into my daily exercise routine. I recently bought an app for my iPhone that's full of a bunch of different 5 minute ab workouts, so I'm excited to use it.
Speaking of the iPhone, it has been the BIGGEST tool in helping me work towards my goals in diet and exercise. As I mentioned in my last blog post, I started working out and eating better about a month ago, but I haven't been as consistent as I would like to be. From having the iPod feature on me at all times to have some music to workout to [Lady GaGa's new album is really fantastic for that, I found out today...FYI], to amazing apps that tell me how many calories are in different foods, to apps that record my exercise and eating habits...it's been so helpful to have. In case any of you are wondering, here is a couple of my favorite health apps that I have on my phone:
1) iMapMyRUN: This is an awesome app for tracking your workouts. You tap "Record a Workout" on the home screen, and via the GPS on your phone it will track your location and how far and fast you exercise. You can also save your workouts to their website and see more details, like how many calories you burned [on average].
2) Livestrong: This one is really the only app you need when it comes to diet and exercise. On the homepage, it will show you your daily calorie goal on the very top of the screen, how many calories you have remaining for the day, and then a little bar below that that shows the percentage of calories you've consumed. It also breaks that down for you in numbers below that. Then, you start plugging into the app what you've eaten and exercised for the day [it has a huge database of different exercises and foods so you don't have to do all that work yourself], and there you go! It just does all the work for you. I love it. It's my favorite app on my phone, hands down.
Anyway, I guess that's it for today. If you have any apps you absolutely love on your phones for diet and exercise, please send them my way! I'm definitely up for trying some new ones. I hope all of you are having a fantastic week!
Talk to you soon,
Jamie
Speaking of the iPhone, it has been the BIGGEST tool in helping me work towards my goals in diet and exercise. As I mentioned in my last blog post, I started working out and eating better about a month ago, but I haven't been as consistent as I would like to be. From having the iPod feature on me at all times to have some music to workout to [Lady GaGa's new album is really fantastic for that, I found out today...FYI], to amazing apps that tell me how many calories are in different foods, to apps that record my exercise and eating habits...it's been so helpful to have. In case any of you are wondering, here is a couple of my favorite health apps that I have on my phone:
1) iMapMyRUN: This is an awesome app for tracking your workouts. You tap "Record a Workout" on the home screen, and via the GPS on your phone it will track your location and how far and fast you exercise. You can also save your workouts to their website and see more details, like how many calories you burned [on average].
2) Livestrong: This one is really the only app you need when it comes to diet and exercise. On the homepage, it will show you your daily calorie goal on the very top of the screen, how many calories you have remaining for the day, and then a little bar below that that shows the percentage of calories you've consumed. It also breaks that down for you in numbers below that. Then, you start plugging into the app what you've eaten and exercised for the day [it has a huge database of different exercises and foods so you don't have to do all that work yourself], and there you go! It just does all the work for you. I love it. It's my favorite app on my phone, hands down.
Anyway, I guess that's it for today. If you have any apps you absolutely love on your phones for diet and exercise, please send them my way! I'm definitely up for trying some new ones. I hope all of you are having a fantastic week!
Talk to you soon,
Jamie
Monday, May 23, 2011
Welcome
Hi everyone! This blog is something I wanted to do to track, as the title of my blog says, my life transformation. I'm 25 years old and just not at the place in my life I would like to be in, in almost every aspect.
When it comes to my relationships, that's the only one of two parts of my life that I am truly content with. I have a wonderful family that is extremely supportive of whatever I have wanted to do with my life. I have a boyfriend, James, that I have been dating for over 2 and a half years, and he's the best thing that's ever happened to me. My friends are amazing. I'm really grateful for all of them.
The other part of my life that I feel good about is my relationship with God. I have become so much closer to Him in recent months. I have always been a believer, but I've really struggled with trusting that He will take care of me. I've always tried to take care of things myself. I'm not doing that anymore. I've done a much better job [although not a perfect one, I doubt that could ever really happen] of not being so fear based and just placing my life into God's hands. I also talk to Him more...another thing I've never been great at.
I guess a lot of the reason for this change is because as a Christian, I believe that we are in the end of days. I do believe in the Apocalypse [although no man can predict this...in reference to recent events], and if I want to be with God when this all happens [could be days, weeks, months, or even years], I need to get myself right with Him. I believe I've done a good job of that.
Now, on to the things about my life I would like to change [there's a laundry list of them]. The first [and most important] thing I would like to change about my life is my current employment. I currently work as a Home Child Care Provider for Iowa DHS [AKA a live-in nanny], and have been for almost two years. I watch two special needs children during the week because their father is a truck driver. The job was great at first [I get tons of paid vacation and long weekends], but having to pay in a large sum of money in taxes [and falling massively behind this year], the demands of watching two special needs children with little to no assistance, and the lifestyle I am forced to live due to this job [having to live in someone else's home for days on end], has just taken too much of a toll on me to do this much longer. I graduated with an Associate's Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies [General Education] from Kaplan University, and I have every intention of using it. I would like to do some sort of medical office work, whether it be Medical Records, Administrative Assistant, or Receptionist. These types of jobs are rather scarce in my area, but there's a few there...and I'm going to really get my butt moving to try and snag one of them. I've applied for a few jobs here and there, but I'm going to try employment agencies next. I'm hoping to start that next week.
The next part of my life that I would like to improve is my living situation. I currently live with my aunt and my cousin. Since I'm never at the house [almost all of my free time is spent at James' apartment], I only pay $150.00 per month, which includes all utilities, cable and internet. It's a fantastic deal, and I'm so happy and grateful to have such an inexpensive living situation, but I really want James and I to get our own place. Like I mentioned before, I spend almost all of my free time at his apartment, but it never feels like my home. Honestly, I don't feel like I have a legitimate home. I'm just constantly moving from place to place to place. It's getting very old. Once I get a new job [hopefully soon] and make some more money, I would really love for James and I to get our own place. I feel like this is one of the last accomplishments I will be able to achieve, as there's a lot of other things I need to get done first before it happens. Nevertheless, it's definitely something I want and need to improve on.
Next, I would like to get a nicer vehicle. I almost typed new, but with my financial situation, that won't be happening for quite some time. I currently drive a 1999 Pontiac Bonneville. It has a ton of body damage on it, and it's got a lot of mechanical problems, one of which we can't figure out how to fix because we can't identify the problem. It drives at the moment, which I'm grateful for, but I need something I can drive that's more reliable. I plan on driving it until the loan from my father is paid off [another year or so], and then hopefully other things in my life will be in place and I will be able to get something better. I'm thinking a Toyota Camry. Again, something that's a little ways off, but still something I can't wait to improve on.
I would also like to get my debt under control. I have some debt that can't be helped [AKA student loans], but I also have some debt that I CAN do something about: medical and credit card debt. I won't disclose how much I owe for the sake of my privacy, but it's definitely something I can take care of if I become more responsible about it. I fully plan on doing so. Sometime in the next couple of weeks I am going to go to Consumer Credit Counseling and get the ball rolling on freeing myself of all of my debt that isn't student loans. I'm so excited to get rid of debt that has been on my back for years...and it will free up some of my credit and money as well! On a related note, I also really need to get a different job so I can get my tax debt under control. That means no refund for me, but that's fine.
Lastly, I want to improve my habits, both physically and mentally. And by mentally, I mean my spending habits. I no longer use credit cards [I've definitely learned my lesson with those], but I spend almost every extra penny I have on stuff I don't need. Makeup, clothing, and eating out, primarily. I should be saving my money, not spending it. I'm not talking about totally depriving myself here, but I need to cool it in a major way.
Speaking of eating out, that brings me to improving my physical habits. I really need to get myself in gear and do a much better job with eating well and exercising. I've started doing this about a month ago, but I want to be much stricter on it. The way it's been generally going is that I do really well with my eating [and exercising on a somewhat lesser extent], but when the weekend comes, I do absolutely no exercising and I eat nothing but terrible foods. Now, I'm okay with eating one bad meal on the weekends and treating myself to some beers, but I'm completely undoing all of my work from the week. Ideally, I would like to lose anywhere from 15-20 pounds, and doing it this way is just not going to work. And exercising every day is a must. I walk, and I was doing really well with it, and then last week I didn't exercise at all. That's unacceptable.
So, that is the list of things I would like to improve in my life. I know I can do it, if I stick to the plan and hold myself accountable. This blog is part of holding myself accountable. And if you've made it all the way here, thanks so much for reading! I really appreciate it.
See you again next time,
Jamie
When it comes to my relationships, that's the only one of two parts of my life that I am truly content with. I have a wonderful family that is extremely supportive of whatever I have wanted to do with my life. I have a boyfriend, James, that I have been dating for over 2 and a half years, and he's the best thing that's ever happened to me. My friends are amazing. I'm really grateful for all of them.
The other part of my life that I feel good about is my relationship with God. I have become so much closer to Him in recent months. I have always been a believer, but I've really struggled with trusting that He will take care of me. I've always tried to take care of things myself. I'm not doing that anymore. I've done a much better job [although not a perfect one, I doubt that could ever really happen] of not being so fear based and just placing my life into God's hands. I also talk to Him more...another thing I've never been great at.
I guess a lot of the reason for this change is because as a Christian, I believe that we are in the end of days. I do believe in the Apocalypse [although no man can predict this...in reference to recent events], and if I want to be with God when this all happens [could be days, weeks, months, or even years], I need to get myself right with Him. I believe I've done a good job of that.
Now, on to the things about my life I would like to change [there's a laundry list of them]. The first [and most important] thing I would like to change about my life is my current employment. I currently work as a Home Child Care Provider for Iowa DHS [AKA a live-in nanny], and have been for almost two years. I watch two special needs children during the week because their father is a truck driver. The job was great at first [I get tons of paid vacation and long weekends], but having to pay in a large sum of money in taxes [and falling massively behind this year], the demands of watching two special needs children with little to no assistance, and the lifestyle I am forced to live due to this job [having to live in someone else's home for days on end], has just taken too much of a toll on me to do this much longer. I graduated with an Associate's Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies [General Education] from Kaplan University, and I have every intention of using it. I would like to do some sort of medical office work, whether it be Medical Records, Administrative Assistant, or Receptionist. These types of jobs are rather scarce in my area, but there's a few there...and I'm going to really get my butt moving to try and snag one of them. I've applied for a few jobs here and there, but I'm going to try employment agencies next. I'm hoping to start that next week.
The next part of my life that I would like to improve is my living situation. I currently live with my aunt and my cousin. Since I'm never at the house [almost all of my free time is spent at James' apartment], I only pay $150.00 per month, which includes all utilities, cable and internet. It's a fantastic deal, and I'm so happy and grateful to have such an inexpensive living situation, but I really want James and I to get our own place. Like I mentioned before, I spend almost all of my free time at his apartment, but it never feels like my home. Honestly, I don't feel like I have a legitimate home. I'm just constantly moving from place to place to place. It's getting very old. Once I get a new job [hopefully soon] and make some more money, I would really love for James and I to get our own place. I feel like this is one of the last accomplishments I will be able to achieve, as there's a lot of other things I need to get done first before it happens. Nevertheless, it's definitely something I want and need to improve on.
Next, I would like to get a nicer vehicle. I almost typed new, but with my financial situation, that won't be happening for quite some time. I currently drive a 1999 Pontiac Bonneville. It has a ton of body damage on it, and it's got a lot of mechanical problems, one of which we can't figure out how to fix because we can't identify the problem. It drives at the moment, which I'm grateful for, but I need something I can drive that's more reliable. I plan on driving it until the loan from my father is paid off [another year or so], and then hopefully other things in my life will be in place and I will be able to get something better. I'm thinking a Toyota Camry. Again, something that's a little ways off, but still something I can't wait to improve on.
I would also like to get my debt under control. I have some debt that can't be helped [AKA student loans], but I also have some debt that I CAN do something about: medical and credit card debt. I won't disclose how much I owe for the sake of my privacy, but it's definitely something I can take care of if I become more responsible about it. I fully plan on doing so. Sometime in the next couple of weeks I am going to go to Consumer Credit Counseling and get the ball rolling on freeing myself of all of my debt that isn't student loans. I'm so excited to get rid of debt that has been on my back for years...and it will free up some of my credit and money as well! On a related note, I also really need to get a different job so I can get my tax debt under control. That means no refund for me, but that's fine.
Lastly, I want to improve my habits, both physically and mentally. And by mentally, I mean my spending habits. I no longer use credit cards [I've definitely learned my lesson with those], but I spend almost every extra penny I have on stuff I don't need. Makeup, clothing, and eating out, primarily. I should be saving my money, not spending it. I'm not talking about totally depriving myself here, but I need to cool it in a major way.
Speaking of eating out, that brings me to improving my physical habits. I really need to get myself in gear and do a much better job with eating well and exercising. I've started doing this about a month ago, but I want to be much stricter on it. The way it's been generally going is that I do really well with my eating [and exercising on a somewhat lesser extent], but when the weekend comes, I do absolutely no exercising and I eat nothing but terrible foods. Now, I'm okay with eating one bad meal on the weekends and treating myself to some beers, but I'm completely undoing all of my work from the week. Ideally, I would like to lose anywhere from 15-20 pounds, and doing it this way is just not going to work. And exercising every day is a must. I walk, and I was doing really well with it, and then last week I didn't exercise at all. That's unacceptable.
So, that is the list of things I would like to improve in my life. I know I can do it, if I stick to the plan and hold myself accountable. This blog is part of holding myself accountable. And if you've made it all the way here, thanks so much for reading! I really appreciate it.
See you again next time,
Jamie
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