Hello lovelies!

I hope 2012 is treating you well so far. It certainly has been good for me. I have been enjoying my break from school and I'm so upset I have to go back tomorrow! I want at least another week of relaxation. On the weight loss/healthiness part of things, I'm doing a lot better! I'm trying to get rid of the slight holiday weight I gained and make eating vegetables a solid part of my diet. For some reason, vegetables are the worst thing for me to get used to. I'm a picky 5 year old at heart, what can I say? I'll get there though. And good news- Josh has decided to join me in planning to lose 30 pounds by May! I'm so proud of him, and plus I get a new workout buddy. :)

I think that's it for now, but I must include a new trance track! I found a duo on YouTube one day who call themselves Eminence, and let me just say- they make the best trance mixes ever (as well as house and dubstep songs)! So. good. Check them out for yourself! Until then,

Later lovelies! <3

Aloha, lovelies!

Can I just say that my favorite month is finally here?! Excited doesn't even begin to cover it! My birthday is also only THREE days away! I'm not all that happy about turning 24 (it sounds so old!), and even though this sounds a bit selfish, I can't wait for presents/money, haha. But really, I'm ready to just hang out with my family too because we haven't done that in a while. Last year I made my own birthday cake and I'm most likely going to do the same this year. As for birthday plans, as of right now, I have none. I was thinking of getting a few friends and Josh together and go out to dinner or something like that. I'll have to think on it more though.

In other news, school is nearly halfway done! It's actually going by really fast week by week; at least it has been for me. And I've been doing so well in my classes! I haven't gotten anything below a B. I usually have at least one C in there somewhere. But I'm not gonna jinx myself. :) I still need to make my FINAL schedule for next year, but these two classes are trying to give me problems. It'll work out though.

So, regarding weight loss and healthiness, I'll admit that I fell off pretty hard these past two weeks. Halloween candy is beyond tempting! Plus I haven't had too much motivation to work out or anything. But I discovered something that has really boosted my inspiration for healthiness X 10. That something is tumblr! It's a bit like Twitter, but it doesn't have a type limit and is very image-based in design. There are tons of healthy food and exercise blogs on there that just really boost my confidence and get me going! I still have a goal to have all my weight loss be done by this time next year, but because of tumblr, I've started to realize that it doesn't matter when you get to your goal weight as long as you start on the path.

Since I follow so many positive blogs, they're always in my dashboard (a newsfeed, basically) and are there to motivate me when I just don't feel like doing anything, or that I can do this at all. It's really exciting! Here are a couple of images that I saw today on my dashboard:

(For when I really want something awful for me!)

(Always a good thing to remember :])












I was going to end with some music, but I figured this is pretty long enough already, so I'll make a part two in just a second. Later, lovelies! <3

Jessica

Happy Hump Day!

It's time for today's weight loss tip, and it's one I participate in regularly! What about you? Have you been drinking enough water?

If you haven't, start increasing the amount you drink every day. Something as simple as drinking two glasses (16 oz) before every meal could really benefit you. How? It's described as "preloading".  You're filling your stomach before you even start to eat, which makes you fuller faster and will help you not to overeat. Still not convinced? A 3 month study backs this claim up- After three months, the participants who drank water had lost an average of about 15.5 pounds, compared with just 11 pounds in the control group (link).


Another factor to consider- when you do drink water, make sure it's icy cold! When you drink ice water, your body uses energy (calories) to raise the liquid’s temperature to body temperature. Granted, it's only about 8 calories a glass, but it's better than nothing! While I reach for juice sometimes, most of the time I'm craving water. It's a super easy way to burn calories and lose weight. Try it out soon!

I've decided that I'm gonna blog every M-Th (and maybe Fridays if the mood strikes me) and have theme posts for every day. I think it'll help me post more regularly and have fun while doing it. :) So yesterday was Trance Track Tuesday, and today is Weight Loss Tip Wednesday. Every Wednesday I'll post a weight loss tip to help myself and others out there. My topic for today is one that I just cannot seem to get right: getting more sleep at night!

Right after I graduated high school, I got a summer job at my dad's tire plant. It was really hard work and I had lots of weird hours. I mostly worked from 11p-7a though. It messed up my schedule pretty bad, and I don't think I ever recovered! Since then, I always stay up until at least 1 or 2 am, even when I have to get up at 7:45 or 8, like I do for school now. I'm either on Facebook, ONTD, watching TV, etc. It's almost like I'm putting off going to bed every night. I have this weird feeling that I'm going to miss something important by going to bed early.  To be honest, it's making my mornings miserable! It's a struggle to get up in the mornings and more often than not, I start off my day in a bad mood because of it.


It just so happened that I recently saw an article about how not getting enough sleep at night can actually make you gain weight! [link] It works like this:  Cortisol, a stress hormone, increases because of lack of sleep. The increased level makes us feel like we're hungry when we're not, making us eat more. Growth hormones can also decrease, making it harder to lose fat.  Most importantly, it's hard to have energy to do anything at all when you're tired 24/7! To be honest, I'm fighting the urge to take a nap right now! I think my "school year resolution" will be to go to bed by 11:30 every night. Wish me luck! Those of you out there who have trouble making yourself go to bed, just try it for a day or two! It's not worth be grumpy every morning and having low energy. A bit of a side note, but I'm also starting aerobics classes at the community center near me next week. I'm excited to be up and moving! I want to lose at least 50-60 pounds by my next birthday. It seems intimidating, but I'm optimistic. :)


Finally, I thought I'd end on a good note- my mom is coming HOME tomorrow! I am so, so happy! I was glad that she was getting better in rehab, but I missed having her home with us. Everyone's thoughts and prayers really got my dad and I through this whole thing. I'm so mad my dad won't let me miss classes tomorrow to see her get in and everything, but my last class is over at 12:15, which isn't too bad. I hope they go by fast!

Later, lovelies.

Jessica