Testing

Making a blog post from my smartphone.

Getting Back My Personal Standards

"Oh God, no..."

Sometimes you don't see how bad a problem is until it's put right  up in your face. This is  what happened as I was looking over my videos from the last three Vlog Every Day in April (VEDA) videos. I'll tell you after I post the videos here, but maybe you can guess just by watching them.

So, if you haven't guessed it yet, let me go ahead and put it this way. I don't have four sets of blue t-shirts and gym shorts. I haven't shaved or showered for the better part of a week! I'm tempted to blame this on my clinical depression, but honestly, it just really underlines what I talk about briefly in my latest video. I have abandoned any personal standards for myself. Making these videos has really underlined that for me since I have had to embrace the one standard of posting and editing a video everyday to my new vlog (SUBSCRIBE!).

So, last night, I set three standards for myself which I sort of picked on the fly while making that video blog. It's always good to write down your goals, so I'll go ahead and do that here.

1. Go to the gym at least 6 times a week. I'm not going to say how long I'll be exercising, but the actual ACT of getting my butt inside the building is what I'm going for right now.

2.  Keep my food log. You can follow my food log at MyFitnessPal. Please help me keep this current and encourage good eating habits. I tend to forget about it after breakfast.

3. Start saying "No" to food that is not good for me. This really is more of a social issue I have to deal with. You see, I live in a household with seven people, and it gets very hectic. A lot of times for dinner, we end up taking the easy route and making processed food and fast food our dinner. I also tend not to turn people down when food is offered to me even when I've already eaten because I don't want to make the person who has offered that food to me feel bad by rejecting them. This needs to change immediately. I need to stand up for myself and start saying no.

And finally, I need to take a shower before I put myself on camera. It's as simple as that.

It's Okay To Suck! (VEDA Day 2)

Yesterday, when I filmed my latest vlog, I thought that I'd have it in by the end of the night, but unfortunately life got in the way and I wasn't able to publish yesterday's video until this afternoon. Maybe today's video will be about overcoming obstacles or something encouraging like that. In this one, I mostly talk about how we just really aren't that great when we're starting something new. But you have to keep going if you want to be good at something. Even with the effort of filming this latest video in HD, I made the discovery that it just isn't enough. I have to find more light, stop saying, "Y'know" so much and for Pete's sake, learn how to edit my video's properly! To be honest, I haven't really even gotten back on the wagon with my weight loss yet, but I need to start. I think even starting again there's the knowledge that I'll probably suck when I get back on the wagon and start exercising and eating right. But this video is about doing it anyway. It's okay to suck when you start out at something or restart something to get to a goal you really want to accomplish.

Welcome to my New Blog/Vlog (VEDA 2013)

Hello everyone! Welcome to the new home of Become Boundless! I'll be blogging from here from now on. The name change is a small thing, but I like to think of it as important nonetheless. I just wanted to make sure that all of my social media stuff had a sense of unity about it, so my blogger address is the same as my twitter account and soon, I'll be making a new Facebook page and a new Google+ account to go along with this change as well. I hope it will also be a refreshing of the spirit of this blog and it starts to motivate me to get back on the bandwagon of weight loss and exercise. In order to really help me along, I'm also going to be participating on something over at Youtube called 'VEDA' which means Vlog Everyday In April! Here's my first vlog! It's nothing special, but I just wanted to get something out there for April 1st. Vlogging everyday for a month will really help me see if this is something that's for me! Please subscribe to my youtube channel and like and comment on my video! That would be very encouraging!

I’m Back

Yes, I know it’s been over a year since I posted. I apologize severely. I’ve had a wedding to celebrate, I became a year older, and I didn’t get any thinner in the process. I’d much rather we focus on the present and the future than dwell on the past. I’ll have to trust that you’ll start reading me again from here on out.

I kept pondering what the hell I would put for a new post after such a long hiatus. How I would describe all the things that would happen. But, all of that was just an excuse to be lazy and not inform you on whether or not I’m keeping on my weight loss journey. I got severely depressed. I lost my gym membership. I haven’t been exercising. I can’t weigh myself. That’s all bad. I’ve kept a food diary for almost two months straight and I’ve kept under my calorie goal since I started. That’s good! We’re going to focus on the good. I’m going to make more good happen.

Moving forward.

Losing Weight Requires Honesty

I haven't been posting because honestly, I have nothing to report. Everything has been at a dead stop for weeks now. No weight loss, some weight gain, and it's just been frustrating. I hate posting things that are negative, so I haven't been posting at all. It's time I just sit down and examine how things have gone wrong.

First, I haven't been doing my cardio like I should. I always do weight lifting, and almost always skip the cardio, which is absolutely vital to losing weight. Cardio sucks. I hate it so much. The days I do actually get it done, I stare at the track for half an hour trying to get myself to stand up and walk because I hate it. Girls probably think I'm staring at them walking on the treadmill being creepy. Nope. Just thinking about how much I'll totally hate the next 30-45 minutes.

Second, is the diet. Which I have been seriously slacking on. I was snacking at night, staying up late and eating delicious salty carbs before I went to bed. Altogether, an easy formula to keep a plateau going.

To remedy the diet part, I've been tweeting my food log. You can follow it at #bbfoodlog. Please do not USE the hashtag. I need it to sort out my calories at the end of the day.

For the cardio, I guess I'm just going to have to suck it up and get it done. I'll need to figure out how to train a new mindset so that I can at least try and enjoy it as much as I enjoy weight lifting, and I need to commit to it every day.

Speaking of commitments, I'm also going to start writing here at least two times a week. I know all of you who read this blog want to know what's going on, and it's been unfair that I haven't been keeping you in the loop. I promise to change that. As a negative reinforcement, If I don't make at least two posts per week, I will film myself singing karaoke and then post that. If I forget this promise, please remind me.

The big thing I'm learning about this journey is that it is mostly an internal battle more than an external one. You constantly have to examine yourself, be honest and then fix whatever might be wrong. That is hard for anybody to do. It's no wonder that so many people, including myself, struggle with losing weight.

Carrot-Pineapple Smoothie

 Writing a pretty self-reflective post. I'll put that up soon. I've been doing well on my diet this week. I'm pretty proud of myself. Lately, the idea of getting vegetables into breakfast has been bothering me. I decided to try this carrot and pineapple smoothie based off this recipe from RealSimple.com.

I skipped the ice, added some yogurt and a bit more orange juice. I'll figure out the nutrition info later.

The fun-straw is a lie. You can't drink this smoothie with that thing.

 

 Carrot-Pineapple Smoothie
1 banana
3/4 cup frozen pineapple
2/3 cup orange juice
1/2 cup plain, organic, non-fat greek yogurt
2 oz chopped carrot

Add all ingredients into blender. Blend until mixed. Pour into a tall glass. Enjoy.