Moving Forward

Hi, all!

How are you all doing on this beautiful Tuesday afternoon? I'm doing wonderful today, a little bored, but wonderful nevertheless. Yesterday afternoon I turned in my final paper and presentation, which means that I'm officially done! Now I just need to wait for my grades and I will officially have my Bachelor's degree! :) It feels really strange to be done with my degree, especially since I went from being extremely busy to not having to do anything. So today has been filled with a few new things, which are time-consuming.

I began applying for jobs today, mostly on this freelance data entry and virtual assistant website. However, I also applied for a few online tutor positions as well. I'm hoping that I will get a few of these positions and I can begin saving up money and paying off some bills. Plus, I'm hoping that I'll be able to continue doing these things once I move because they'll offer a more flexible schedule. When I start grad school in September, I'll need a more flexible schedule because of when I have classes.

Also, I wrote out some monthly goals for May and weekly goals. It's been a few months since I wrote down any goals, but I always seem to do better when I'm working toward something. While I was thinking about what I hope to accomplish, I decided to view my yearly goals that I wrote back in December. God, I am not doing so hot thus far, however, I should graduate having a 3.9 GPA for my Bachelor's degree. So that's one goal that will be completed, plus, I will be starting graduate school in September. I have been reading at least 30 minutes/day as well. The rest of my goals haven't been going so well. There is no way that I will get down to 240 lbs because I'd have to lose 73.4 lbs over the next 7 months. It would be amazing to be able to do that, but it would be incredibly unhealthy. My current goal is to get down anywhere between 280 and 260, which would be 1 or 1.5 pounds each week.

My dad closed tonight at work, so I was unable to exercise right away in the morning, and I almost pushed it back until this evening. However, around when I was going to be making lunch, I decided to bite the bullet and get my workout in right then. I still am not able to do a ton, but I did some more walking today and I loved it! While my lunch was in the oven, I walked and it ended up being 53 minutes. Right now, I'm trying to not focus on the calorie burn but the fitness minutes because I'm trying to get back into the routine of exercising again. My hip is definitely feeling it after walking so long, but I'm icing it down and enjoying the burn.

Yesterday, I have a really good day. I got in a 30-minute walk and I was under my calorie goal. Today, I had a great workout and I'm on track to be under my calorie goal again. Last night I did have a snack, some delicious homemade applesauce that my grandmother made. So, what I chose was lower calorie at least. I know that at times my food addiction will be more difficult, but if I want to overcome this, I need to put in the work now.

Well, I'm off, hopefully, tomorrow I'll have more positive news to report. I hope that you all have a wonderful evening. Until next time!

~Sara~

Stress Relief

Hi all!

Happy Thursday! How are you all on this lovely day? I wish our weather here felt a bit more fall like, but I can't really complain. It's sunny and 73 degrees, so it could be a lot worse. In fact, it will be worse, over the weekend, it'll be around 80. I hate weather that warm, I wish it could be in the 50's and 60's all year round.

I just finished and turned in my final paper and presentation before starting on this post, so I am feeling a lot less stressed. This was something that I was way too stressed out about this week, mostly because I had a lot of other school work to complete as well. I am happy to write that I only have two things left this week and they are the easiest of the assignments. Now I officially only have nine classes to complete to graduate... So that means graduating by summer!! :) Less than a year until graduation, it's a scary but exciting thought. Then off to grad school (hopefully), if everything goes according to plan, I should be able to start my career in 5 years or less!

Last night I screwed up nutritionally, I'm ashamed to admit. But it happens and it was probably a binge of 500-700 calories. Today's a new day and I'm looking ahead. Tomorrow I weigh-in for a challenge I'm a part of and I'm looking forward to sharing my results for the past 2 weeks with all of my teammates. I believe that I will have reached my goal, especially after my 4 lb loss last week, but only time will tell.

I'm relaxing for a little while this afternoon, I think I deserve it after finishing my final. But this evening or tomorrow morning I'll get back to it and complete the rest of my assignments for this week. So I'm thinking that I'll get one more walk in today because I haven't quite hit my 300 calories burned mark today and then I'll do some reading until dinner time. Well, I'm off to do just that. I hope you all have a wonderful afternoon and evening. Until next time!

~Sara~

Fitness and busyness

Hi all!

How are you all today? It is an absolutely beautiful day here in southeastern Wisconsin, too bad I am stuck inside working on schoolwork. Maybe a little later I'll bring my laptop outside with me and get some work done, while enjoying the beautiful weather.

I have been working out daily for 13 days now and my legs are starting to feel a little fatigued. It's no wonder why, I've had 859 fitness minutes, not including the 60+ from today. 442 of them happening this week alone, so I'm pretty exhausted. Today I've already walked 60+ minutes and burned 300+ calories, so I'm thinking about not walking while dinner cooks.

This morning while I was in the bathroom, I was curious to see what my weight was, so I stepped on the scale (my weigh-in isn't for another 2 days). I'm happy to say that my fitness and nutrition is definitely paying off because I saw about a pound loss so far, I'm not logging it and will weigh-in officially on Sunday.

Things are still incredibly busy in my world, my outline is still in process, but hopefully I'll get it done today. Then it's time to start my final and everything else that I need to get done. Time to get back to work. Wish me luck. Have a wonderful day! Until next time!

~Sara~

Quick Update and Confession (Day 666)

Hi all!

Happy Friday! How are you all today? This is going to be a really short post but I just wanted to check in and see how you all are doing. I've had an extremely busy day... worked out this morning, Skyped with Abid for a little bit, finished 1 of my finals, had to go to the library to print something out, had an interview, and a little more homework once I got home and 2 long conversations, one with my best friend and one with my mother. Even though I should have been working on my homework, it was nice to talk with them.

Today was a bad eating day for me though... I went way over my calories (700 calories over) because of stupid Panera Bread (where my interview was held) and I made a bad choice when I wanted something sweet. It is what it is. And I calculated it all out and as long as I stick to my goal tomorrow, I will still be 2000 calories under maintenance level. So that is encouraging and I'm going to do a kickboxing workout which will burn major calories and no eating back my exercise calories tomorrow. It'll all work out and I won't let one night of bad eating ruin the entire week.

Anyways... I have a lot of reading to do for my final, hopefully I'll finish the first one tonight before I head to bed. Tomorrow's goal, finish all of my reading for the final and write most if not all of the final. It'll be a challenge, but it needs to be done by Sunday. Time to get back to homework before I head to bed. I hope you all had a wonderful day and are having a great evening. So until next time!

~Sara~

Update and Fitness (Day 665)

Hi all!

Happy Thursday! How are you all today? I hate that I am so consumed with finals this week because I don't have enough time for you lovely bloggers. :( But that is my life, I'll be taking 2 classes each session until I graduate, so the end of every session will be this busy. Thankfully I'm about halfway done with one of my finals and a quarter of a way through the other.

On a happier note, I've worked out 3 days this week already and planning on work outs at least 1 more day this week. And I've killed my workouts (today I did 2 workouts because I needed a break from my finals). I have a goal of at least 80 fitness minutes each week and I'm already at 101. I'm so glad to be back in a fitness routine, I feel so much better, finally. And even though I have been eating within my calorie goal, the actual macros have been lacking. I desperately want to get back to carb cycling but with my budget it is quite difficult. Next time I go shopping I'm going to invest in a variety of lower carb options.

Coach HASfit killed me during my 2 workouts today!

\

Okay, sorry to cut this short (again). My finals are calling my name... only 3 days until they are both done. Eh!! Have a wonderful evening everyone! So until next time!

~Sara~

Update (Day 664)

Hi all!

Happy Wednesday! How are you all doing today? It's a gorgeous day here in Colorado, a high of 81 and the sun is shining. So I don't really have much to say today but I just wanted to check in and see how all of you are doing. I've been staying super busy with my school work and thankfully I only have my 2 finals left. Oh and I had a phone interview today and I think it went really well! I was told that I should hear back tomorrow since the hiring team is meeting up tonight. So I'm looking forward to hearing back from them.

But anyways... I have to make this post extremely short because as I said, I have 2 finals to write and they're due by Sunday. Let's hope I can get everything done in time! Have a wonderful day! So until next time!

~Sara~

Busy, Busy, Busy and Anniversary Present (Day 624)

Hi all!

Happy Friday! How are you all doing today? I am so tired of writing my final, it's ridiculous. But once this it is done, I'll finally be back to my normal homework schedule. The past few days I haven't even been able to work out because I've been SO busy with my final and other homework. It's pretty much driving me crazy that my schedule is all out of whack because of this final. I'll get through it but I like to know what my schedule looks like.

Today I sent in an application for an apartment out in Colorado... so please be thinking and praying for me. I pray that I will be able to get into this place, the price is right, it's in a good location (close to both school and work), everything just seems perfect with it. Not to mention that one of the ladies I've been in contact with is absolutely amazing, she has been great with everything. So hopefully I will have an apartment within a few days.

I want to share this picture with you all, yesterday I received this beautiful ring in the mail from Abid. He is such a sweetheart. It is my official engagement ring and it arrived here a few days before our 1 year anniversary. :) I do not think I could love that man anymore if I tried.

Oh and I'm happy to say that this ring is 1 size smaller than my other ring. These 45 pounds have made my fingers shrink... which I am 100% okay with. Did you notice my newest manicure? Burgundy tips... I'm completely in love with them. :)

I am so incredibly excited for tomorrow... coffee with my best friend in the morning (last time I get to see her before I move) and then I'm driving to Chicago to see DARREN CRISS at the House of Blues. :) So do not expect a blog until Sunday or Monday. And believe me, you all will hear about my Darren Criss show. I cannot believe it's almost here... only 1 more day. :)

Okay, so I've had enough of a break from my papers. Time to get back to them and bust through. I hope that you all have an amazing day! So until next time!

~Sara~