Will power

I am in need of some serious will power. Halloween is in 3 days! I repeat 3 days!  That means there will be more than enough chocolate laying around the house to taunt me. Carrie is one of those rare kids who doesn't really eat candy or chocolate. Candy is not a problem for me to avoid, but chocolate will be my demise. So, if Carrie isn't eating the chocolate, what am I to do with all the unopened reese cups and snack size snickers that will be calling my name?

As I've talked about before, I follow IIFYM in terms of dieting. While I do not believe in complete restriction, I also know how important it is to meet certain macros in order to achieve the goals I have. Chocolate isn't really something that will help me achieve those goals.

In the past month or so, I have been trying to cut a little body fat. That part isn't so difficult because it comes down to calories in versus calories out. The difficulty comes in because I want to lose some body fat but I also want to keep getting stronger. I have big goals that I have worked so hard at and I would hate to see my hard work be diminished because I focused too much on losing. In order to achieve these goals, my diet has to be very specific. I need to make sure I keep protein numbers high while keeping calories a little lower, and carbs and fats a little lower than I had been in the past. Before I cut my calories back a little, a reese cup is something that was easily fit into my macros because I had a little extra wiggle room. Now, my diet is a little more strict. So, I have come up with a plan, which gave me an excuse to make a list (who doesn't love a good list?), that I will stick to during this difficult time in my life to resist the chocolate that will be ten inches away from me at any given time.

1. TRACK EVERYTHING- I know that tracking calories and logging foods isn't for everyone. However, for me, it works. And it works wonderfully. By tracking, I am much more conscious of what foods I am eating and where I am lacking for the day. Tracking in My Fitness Pal allows me to see if I am able to fit a kit kat in my day, or I could actually plan to have it in my day. I can put my macros in for the entire day, with the kit kat and know that I hit my macros the way I want to.

2. Make sure I am using the extra sugar to fuel my workouts- This is not the time to slack off and have low energy workouts. I enjoy fast paced workouts that keep my heart rate elevated during the workout anyway, so the extra sugar may be a nice boost in that aspect.

3. Don't skip out on cardio- Chris and I have been regularly doing cardio again. And I LOVE it. Running will always have my heart and the extra Halloween candy may be the extra motivation I need to keep it up!

4. Drink water- I aim for a gallon a day but if I'm being honest with myself, I don't get my full gallon everyday. Now is a perfect time to make it even more of a priority. Even though it always should be.

I am not saying that in order to indulge on some Halloween candy I have to take drastic measures. Because that is not what I will do. I follow IIFYM because if I want to have something like a butterfingers bar then I will simply fit it into my macros and still hit all of my macro numbers to ensure that I am still striving for my goals. This post is to remind myself that I can enjoy the chocolate that I love, without binging or feeling guilty.

With love of Chocolate,
Breana

Friday Favorites

I have seen Friday Favorites on almost every blog that I love and it's something I've been meaning to do.. but lets not talk about the list of things I've been meaning to do. That could take a while. 

Instead, I want to share some of my favorite things! Since this is my first time doing a post like this, this will be a general post of some of my favorite things. Eventually, I'd love to do this weekly and have a list of weekly favorite things!

1. Ocean City Trips! It was so nice to finally get a chance to spend a little more time away than just one day. It was a little chilly but we had fun. 

2. My nieces! And soon I will have a nephew to brag about :) 

3. When I am able to get Chris to smile in a picture! It doesn't happen often but when it does I feel accomplished! 

4. Netflix! I don't know how I ever lived my life without it. I was seriously missing out. I don't even know what I used to use to procrastinate with before Netflix, but I never want to go back. 

5. Fall weather! And of course, coffee! Coffee will always have my heart. 

Change isn't always so bad

I'm feeling inspired tonight. Actually, lately I've been feeling inspired. Life is not perfect, by any means, but I am very happy. A few years ago, this was not the case. I was stuck in a rut and I didn't know how to get out of it. I knew something wasn't right. I always had this sinking feeling that I just couldn't pinpoint. I was very lost.

I have changed a lot in the past two years. I eat beef, tuna fish, I can swallow a multi vitamin (although I do miss the delicious fruity chewable), and I am living the life I've always wanted, and being the person I've always wanted to be. Yet, at the same time, I am not much different at all. I still twirl my hair just as much, if not more, I still wear vanilla scented perfume, pink is still my favorite color, I am overly organized, and I still love with my whole heart.

I have made mistakes and I have hurt people who I cared about. I have been hurt, too, by those people. And one day, after a long time of denying those feelings, I finally said enough is enough. I needed to change the course of my life. I knew that the future I was allowing others to make for me, was not the future I wanted. I was terrified of the change that I knew I needed. Every day I would wake up feeling anxious because I knew it was time. Growth and change are an inevitable part of life.  It happens to everyone as they grow up. I figured out who I was and what I wanted out of life. I realized that the people I have surrounded myself with didn't see things the way I did anymore. Or maybe I didn't see things the way they did they anymore. So, after a long time coming, I said goodbye to things that weren't moving me forward. I moved on.

Moving on from everything I ever knew was one of the most difficult things I've ever done, but I knew I made the right decisions. I felt more at peace than I ever had, and I had wonderful things to look forward to. I am living my life with best friend and a beautiful little girl who makes me laugh everyday. I have my found my place in this world and it is a truly wonderful feeling.