Ac-centuate the Positive

I've been feeling kind of overwhelmed with just life stuff lately and it's trying to get me down. But I hate being a negative nellie, so I've decided to write out a list of all of the positive things going on, the things I'm proud of or excited about.

* I totally nailed my nutrition and workouts last week and lost 7 pounds on the scale from last Sunday to Monday morning. I know a good bit of that was water weight but it still feels great to be back on track! And getting rid of that much water weight I can see and tell a difference in how my clothes are fitting again!

* Because I've gotten rid of the bloat I'm seeing some of the definition in my muscle that I've been working so hard to get the last couple of months.

* I knew meal planning totally worked for me, but I am amazed at how much better it goes when I have it typed out in a spreadsheet, printed, and hung on my refrigerator, as opposed to just saved on the computer. Turns out I NEED it in front of my face every morning when I'm packing my lunch and snack for the day. And for some reason doing it with cute fonts and colors seems to help too. I'm easily amused.

* Our BBQ party is this Saturday and I'm so excited! I have some fun recipes I'm looking forward to making for that and it will be so good to hang out with friends.

* I have the day off this Friday so I get a three day weekend, WOOP! Plus that will give me extra time to get the house ready for the party.

* I don't have it hung on the wall yet, but my gallery wall is all in frames and ready to go and I LOVE it! It's taken me some time to get together because I was trying to use as much "found" stuff as I could to avoid spending too much, but it's really come together nicely.

* I've been getting more responsibility at the job lately, and I'm receiving some great positive feedback on my work!

* I made a new 21 DF friendly recipe for Chicken Enchilada Soup over the weekend and it was delicious! It's perfect for dinner and as leftovers for lunch the next day.

* Since I made that and I actually really enjoyed cooking it, it's inspired me to take on more new recipes to put some variety in the dinner rotation.

* Adam and I spent half the day Sunday just relaxing and sleeping and eating pancakes for brunch, and it's the best day I've had in a while.

See? I feel better already! What are some good things going on in your life?

Friday Faves

We have made it to Friday once again! And I can't get enough of these dancing gifs, so here you go:

Let's get right to the favs of the week, shall we? 

Favorite Song: 

Maroon 5- Sugar

I've been groovin' to a lot of Maroon 5 lately and loving this one this week! 

Favorite Workout: 

21 Day Fix Extreme Yoga

I really enjoyed the Yoga DVD this week, it's a little more advanced than what I've done before and it's fun to challenge myself! Although I literally LOL'd when we were doing the "Crow" position and the optional advanced version was to do a full handstand. Yeah, ok, I'll get right on that. 

Favorite Purchase(s):

All from Target (duh)- 

Placemats! I decided on two of the same and two other different, but coordinating ones. The blue ones were on clearance and I got them for 29 cents and 88 cents! 

LOVE this gold luminary I found in the Dollar Section! Total impulse buy but it was $3! So you know, it pretty much threw itself at me and I had no choice. 

Favorite Mail(s):

(Yes, I know mails is not a word. But it should be)

This was like, an epic mail week. First I got this free sample from BzzAgent: 

More about these later, but for now suffice it to say OM NOM NOM. It has taken all the will powers I have to not eat this whole package this week. 

Then I got this gorgeous necklace from Grayling Designs that I won in a giveaway from the lovely Jillian of Cornflake Dreams: 

Isn't it SO purty? I love how simple and classic it is! 

and THEN I got this box of goodies from Heather of My Little HEA: 

She sent them to all of her co-hosts for her birthday giveaway, isn't that the sweetest? It had so much fun stuff, including Oreos and Cake Batter Chapstick! I mean what's not to love? 

Favorite Funnies: 

You don't need that kind of negativity in your life. 

 Don't you just love when you can really be yourself?

Couch doesn't ask questions. Couch understands. 

Yeah, we gave up on this a long time ago: 

Don't forget to enter the giveaway for $175 Paypal Cash! And have a terrific weekend, lovelies! 

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My Fitness Favorites

*This is not a sponsored post, I just love these products! I do receive a credit if you sign up under Fabletics with my link* 

I don't know about you, but getting in shape and staying in shape is HARD work for me! It certainly doesn't come naturally. I need all the help I can get to keep me motivated and determined! These are a few of my favorite fitness tools:

Nutrition Trackers

+  21 Day Fix containers and nutrition plan

These babies are GOLD I tell you. GOLD. Especially if you are struggling with knowing what kinds of foods to eat and the right portions. With the help of these and the workouts I lost 20 pounds last year, and not only that but they totally revolutionized the way I eat. Not that I don't still indulge in junk food (If you've read this blog for any amount of time you know I do!) but I know how to get back on track right away and it's helped me SO much with my view of food. After eating this way for a few weeks I had a much better grasp on portions and I realized how little protein, fruits, and veggies I was eating before. Game changer.

If you want to know more about this program, feel free to ask!

+ My Fitness Pal App

Pretty much a "duh" at this point, I know. Most people already know about this one. Even though I use the containers I do like to sometimes log my food choices in My Fitness Pal, just to make sure I am staying in the right calorie range. It makes it so easy to log calories!

+ Water Your Body App

I'm sure this isn't the only app like this, but this is the one I've been using and it had made a huge difference in the amount of water I'm drinking! I've always been horrible about drinking enough water, mainly because I just forget to drink it! And I prefer sweet tea and coffee. Oops. But this little guy will remind you throughout the day with a notification on your phone, and then you log how much water you drink throughout the day until you reach your goal.

Workout Gear

+ Fabletics

Another one most people know about I think, but in case you haven't heard, Fabletics is the active wear company owned by the lovely Kate Hudson, and they have really nice quality workout gear for really affordable prices! You sign up to be a VIP member and they charge your card $49.95 each month, which you can then spend on anything you want. Or you can skip the month and not be charged, as long as you do so by the 5th of the month. I definitely don't buy something every month, but whenever I need a new workout top or pants, they are a great resource! They have really cute, fun, brightly colored gear. And doesn't a cute outfit just make working out a little more fun??


+ Nike sports bras

So for those of us who are bigger up top, working out with a not so supportive sports bra can be both annoying and painful! I've tried different brands and so far my absolute favorite are the Nike Pro Victory Compression Bras. They're really affordable, come in great colors, and have great support. Plus they hold up really well! I've had two of them for about a year now and washed them who knows how many times, and they still look brand new! I do hang them to dry, which I think helps them keep their shape and elasticity better than tumble drying.

+ High Density Foam Roller

This thing is awesome! I was having some serious low back pain due to tightness in my muscles, and my chiropractor told me to get a high density foam roller to work on loosening the muscles in my lower back and hips. It's been a life saver. It's also great for working the arches of your feet if your doing a lot of jumping or running. It definitely doesn't feel great at first because it's really firm on your tight muscles, but once it starts to loosen them up you feel SO much better! 

There are a lot of little things that help me along the way, but these are among the most effective fitness and nutrition tools for me! What helps you stay on track? 

Let's Confess

Have I mentioned yet how excited I am to have a confessions link-up again? Because I'm excited. Thank you to Melissa for hosting, whom I found through Nadine! Also linking up with Bella! Thanks ladies!

- I've already had to use white-out in my 2015 planner. ::sad face:: I really need to remember to buy some mini post-its next time I'm at the store.

- I totally cheated on my eating plan with Chili's on Monday night because Hello, College Football National Championship. Must watch, and we don't have cable, so Chili's it is. Yes, I am aware I could have ordered a lean protein and veggie and had water instead of Dr. Pepper and Quesadillas. Shut up.

(Why do spell check and auto-correct keep trying to tell me that Quesadillas is not a word?? I mean I get that it's technically another language, but come on, if we can add "selfie" to our dictionary, we can add Quesadillas.)

- I may have just taken our Christmas tree and other decorations down this past weekend. But I can neither confirm nor deny this.

- I also may not have even noticed until he told me on Saturday that Adam had taken the lights down off the house the week before. I'm real observant like that.

- Other than checking in with my 21 Day Fix group I haven't been on Facebook in a week now and I really don't miss it. I'm just kind of over it. I found myself getting easily annoyed with pretty much everything people were posting, so I decided I needed a little break. I'm trying to decide how to proceed because it is a good way to keep up with people, but should I try to keep up with people more by, I don't know, talking to them instead?? (And no, I did not announce that I was leaving Facebook and make a big deal out of it)

- Is it bad that it's only two weeks into the new year and I already want to take a day off of work?

- I'm starting to get the itch for cake decorating again. It started with Christmas and realizing I was actually enjoying the baking I did for the neighbors. Now I'm starting to look at pictures of pretty cakes again and my brain automatically starts dissecting the design and figuring out how they did it. From here it's probably only a short step to volunteering to making a cake for someone just so I can practice some new decorating technique I saw on Pinterest.

Confessions in memes:

Goals, I got 'em

So I'm a little late to the game but I thought I would join the fun in setting goals for September! This month's theme is fitness- oh my, so needed for me, as I have been majorly lacking in motivation!

1. Get back to exercising regularly, for me 5 times a week.

2. Work on my water drinking! I would like to be drinking at least 4 cups of water every day by the end of the month (I know this doesn't sound like a lot, but I'm really bad at drinking water and drinking 4 cups consistently would be a major accomplishment for me).

3. Eat clean Sunday through Thursday, allowing myself a cheat meal or two on Fridays and Saturdays.

4. Get the scale to move already! I have been stuck for a while and it's TIME!

Thanks to all of these ladies for hosting the link up!