Day 2...

... was a medium success. Medium.

Before I start I just want to say that I don't plan on updating every day on what I am doing, but I figure since the beginning is the hardest part (to me anyway) of losing weight, that in the beginning I will post my trial and errors so everyone doesn't have to make the same mistakes as me :) just think of me as your own personal guinea pig :)

So last night I couldn't sleep for anything. I tried to go to bed at midnight and I tossed and turned until 1:30am when I finally got out of bed and watched youtube videos until 2:30am when I finally was falling asleep. I was finally able to fall asleep then but when I have to wake up at 7am I was exhausted. I felt sick to my stomach and had to sit on the edge of my bed for awhile trying not to vomit. I decided that there was no way I could go to my classes that early and so I drove my boyfriend to work and came home and slept a few hrs. I feel like I caught up on my sleep but when I headed out to class later in the day I felt drained and tired. I'm not sure if it's because of last night or maybe I slept a bit too much? For breakfast I ate a hardboiled egg with mustard and a cup of skim milk. I planned on eating some toast with peanut butter like I mentioned before but this was super early in the morning and I just went back to bed. When I woke and got ready for school I had a lunch of a small salad with kidney beans, garbonzo beans, 2 slices of thin turkey breast lunch meat that I tore and put into the salad, and a bit of salad dressing. Now let me tell you, it was a hard thing to not eat the entire bottle of dressing. I made a mistake of buying a delicious salad dressing (Kraft Tangy Tomato and Bacon) but I really tried not to use much of it. As Americans we consume a TON of calories in condiments that we don't even think about. A little ketchup here and there, some mayo. Mustard has 0 calories, which is why I chose to spruce my egg up a bit with it. And I'm talking normal plain ol' yellow mustard, not dijon, not spicy brown, because all of those have other things, like sugar, added to them. What I noticed I have been doing well is not drinking pop or juice. Yesterday I had a diet Snapple that I got while on my candy binge, and I did notice after that it was flavored with aspartame. isn't there anything left out there that is flavored with real sugar? And today I had the skim milk and then water. I will be posting about my brita filter next. I didn't work out today, I have the same excuse as yesterday, that it was dark when I got home. I have been racking my brains trying to figure out what to do about it since I have an obvious dilemma so I decided that on Monday/Wednesday/Friday I will work out in the morning before school, that way it wont be dark, and Tuesday and Thursday might just have to be the days that I take a break from exercise. I planned on only working out 5 days a week anyway. This weekend I also plan on taking my measurements so I can see if I am actually losing some weight. I just ordered 2 pairs of jeans in a size 16 so left pray that they fit :) I remember when I was a 9... before this PCOS thing started. Makes me sick just thinking about it. But then I think back a year to when I didn't own a single pair of jeans that fit and I wore the same pair of sweat pants every single day because I refused to get a side 20 pair of jeans. Now I'm back in a size 18 and the jeans I have are lose, so lets hope the 16s will give me a nice boost of confidence :)

Hope everyone is keeping well!
Stay tuned!

Sale!

Trade Secret (a store that is in most malls that sells hair, skin and nail products and also have a salon) is having a sale on MATTE O.P.I nail polish: Buy one get one FREE. This is a VERY good deal considering one O.P.I nail polish is $8.50. I was going to take advantage of this sale but the 2 Trade Secrets that I went to both were sold out of almost every color but white. Any other time I would NOT suggest buying the O.P.I matte colors, even though it is a huge trend right now, because ESSIE is a brand that actually makes a matte top coat. It turns any nail polish into matte.

Don't know what matte is? Take a look:
See how the color has no shine to it, it is just dull, or matte? Awesome, huh?

Day 1...

... was a total flop. I set my alarm for 10:30am since I went to bed at around 2:30am (a friend came over and then after they left I had to read for class). But, of course, I couldn't get myself out of bed. When I'm half asleep I make terrible decisions. I turn my alarm off, I oversleep, I decide to stay home from class when had I been awake I would have realized that that is a horrible idea. Anyway, couldn't wake up and decided I'd sleep just until 11, until a telemarketer called me at 12:30pm and woke me up! AH! so much for the getting up early thing... And now it is 8:30pm and I'm already sleepy. I had class today and then ran errands with my boyfriend and by the time I pulled up to my apt it was already dark :( I don't know what to do about exercising since it gets dark so early and I usually don't have time to exercise until the evening. I guess I will figure it out. But to make matters worse, I have been fighting a lot lately with my boyfriend and I have been very stressed. Stress is badddd for weight loss and so is buying $5 worth of candy that the stress makes you crave! I did have a salad today, though, with kidney and garbonzo beans an I went light on the dressing, so I guess that's a plus. And I made some hard boiled eggs to have with breakfast from now on. I am going to have whole grain toast with a bit of peanut butter and a hard boiled egg for breakfast until I figure out a better GI alternative.... So hopefully tomorrow is a better day, complete with the Biggest Loser for a bit of inspiration.

XOXO Stay Tuned

Tomorrow is the day!

Hi everyone! I just had to stop in and say that tomorrow is the day that I start changing everything around :) My mom generously bought me a new pair of trainers because I had bought a cheap pair from Walmart and  after just a few uses, they were already hurting my feet. So of course I retired them to the closet and couldn't afford a new pair. Owning a good pair of shoes is so obvious now that I look back on it. Comfortable shoes will make you want to use them, plain and simple. If your workout shoes are more comfortable than the shoes you wear every day to class, work, etc. then working out should actually be a vacation for your feet :) I couldn't find a great pic online, but the shoes that I got are the "womens nike zoom nucleus MC+". I went with my mom to Playmakers, an athletic store in my area, and they actually make you take off your shoes and they watch how you walk back and forth, to see if your feet roll or have any arch to them. Apparently I needed a pretty supportive shoe because my feet roll in when I walk. Who knew? And this whole time I have been torturing myself with shoes made for just normal feet. I did not have time to exercise today, especially because here in Michigan it gets dark at about 6pm. Tomorrow on the other hand, is a new day. Tomorrow I have vowed to get outside with my new shoes, and just go for a walk. How hard can that be?

I'm thinking about making an 80's playlist on my iPod to really give me something to be excited about. I love 80's music. Any suggestions?

Also, I am heading to the grocery store in about an hour to get groceries for the week. Since I live with my bf, I can't (for now) eat 100% healthy, since he is a skinny-mini and he hates having to eat healthy ALL the time. I have cookbooks for GI diets, which I will be doing a blog on shortly, that I like to take inspiration from, and typically it is VERY tasty. The problem is, the recipes require a lot of ingredients which means more money for me to spend. So I'm taking it one day at a time, I will most likely be doing my recipe of the week for a GI recipe, so you PCOSers out there have something yummy to cook for yourself :)

Wish me luck! I will blog regularly to let you know my progress :)

Stay tuned!

Movie Review

Hey everyone! Sorry I have been a bit MIA lately, I have been trying to take care of some lose ends and get homework done, clean, etc. But I did get a chance to watch a movie last night! I watched Julie and Julia, the movie about the girl (Julie) who goes through Julia Childs cookbook and re-creates her recipes. It tells some of the life of Julia Child as well and how she came to write her famous cookbook. I have been meaning to pick up a copy of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, which is her cookbook published in 1961. It was the first French cookbook for American women to read and use. Anyway, I thought the movie was great! It was heart warming and really made you want to set a goal for yourself as well. I encourage anyone who loves food, loves cooking, or loves Amy Adams and Meryl Streep (I know I do) to check out this movie :) tell your boyfriend/husband that there is food in the movie and I'm sure they will watch it with you, unlike my bf haha.

If everyone would like me to do more movie reviews, please let me know. I love movies and I consider myself a mild movie-buff. And please leave me some suggestions for movies that you would like me to see!

Stay tuned!
XOXO

Great Book

Hey everyone, I just wanted to share a book that I have been reading and enjoy it immensely. It's called "Master Your Metabolism" by Jillian Michaels. It is a great, informative book about hormones, metabolism, metabolic disease,  things that are in our food, etc. I learned something new on every single page. There is also information concerning PCOS  as well. I definitely recommend it. I hope everyone checks it out and please let me know what you think when you finally crack it open.

Stay tuned!  XOXO

Recipe of the Week #2!

Hey again everyone! It is time again for another Recipe of the Week! This recipe is one of my absolute favorites. I have made this several times and also passed the recipe on to my mother who also enjoys it a lot and makes it regularly. Once again I will post the recipe as it came and then I will post any changes I made to the recipe.

The original recipe comes with a fruit salsa, I've never made that part of it, but feel free to give it a go!

I hope you enjoy, please leave comments for any types of food you would like to see next time!

Ingredients

• 1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered
• 1 medium mango, peeled and chopped
• 2 medium kiwifruit, peeled and chopped
• 3 green onions, thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• BURRITOS:
• 1 pound lean ground turkey
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon Crisco® Pure Olive Oil
• 1/2 cup burgundy wine or reduced-sodium beef broth
• 1 jar (16 ounces) salsa
• 2 cups frozen corn, thawed
• 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 10 whole wheat tortilla (8 inches), warmed
• 1 cup (4 ounces) shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese

Directions

• For salsa, combine the first seven ingredients. Chill until serving.
• In a large nonstick skillet, cook the turkey, garlic, turmeric and cumin in oil over medium heat until turkey is no longer pink; drain. Stir in wine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 3-5 minutes or until thickened.
• Stir in the jarred salsa, corn and black beans. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat. Spoon about 1/2 cup turkey mixture off center on each tortilla. Sprinkle with cheese. Fold sides and ends over filling and roll up. Serve with salsa. Yield: 10 servings.

Nutrition Facts: 1 burrito with 1/3 cup salsa equals371 calories , 11 g fat (3g saturated fat), 44 mg cholesterol, 553 mg sodium, 47 g carbohydrates, 6 g fiber, 18 g protein 

The only difference that I made in this recipe is I didn't use the fruit salsa. I just use more regular salsa for a sauce. So yummy!