Up to date Sunday #4

My new Subaru! I couldn't get a good picture of the car because of the time of day. :( It is a 2010 Subaru Legacy~

current song: Marina & the Diamonds - Primadonna

current thoughts: One of the things I've written down this week was about how if I wanted to become the best version of myself possible, it would take a ton of effort. No one gets anywhere without putting in effort- and I can't laze around looking for better things without working towards them. I make my own environment, and I'm the only person who can give myself the results I want. When I lost weight, it took a lot of effort, months of planning out every meal and counting every calorie. Last year, starting in June I think the only unplanned meals I ate were Thanksgiving and Christmas. It was effort and I got results I am proud of.

One of the things I've talked about on here before is how I get lethargic without a routine, and how I want to be more productive and I have been! But I think to be who I want to be in terms of personal happiness, social contentment, etc, I need to do more. Be proactive. Involve myself in projects that support me, and who I feel I am and involve myself with people who make my life better.

In my upcoming job, I hope to carry this with me. I remember at my last job, the best days were when I threw myself into my work completely, and was able to help others. This will always be true for me, and I just needed a bit of a reminder.

current plan: Go get my nails done, clean the apartment- with me starting work on Wednesday I will have less time at home to pick up everything! Better to get it in order now. I'm going to be doing some yoga at home later with the app I talked about last week. I did do a session of Jillian Michael's yoga meltdown which I really enjoyed a few days ago as well, but I don't think I've been able to focus on my own body as well. Plus, the svasana doesn't exist in yoga meltdown and it is my favorite part!

current quote:

Destiny is not a matter of chance, it is a matter of choice, It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.

- William Jennings Bryan 

this weeks favorite things, 11/11 - 11/17/12

Played Battle of the Sexes with some friends last weekend, it was fun!

But not one of my favorite things this week! Those are linked below. :)

recipe x mashed sweet potatoes with sauted apples from Eat Yourself Skinny! I'm in love with this recipe! I love apples, and I love me some sweet potato. Perfect combination!

recipe x whoever thought of putting fruit in scrambled eggs? Skinny Confidential did, and I want some! Hopefully this will help to get me eating eggs more.

soul x this post about crappy thoughts on My Shine Project. It's wonderful to empathize on feelings and have the comforting feeling of if someone knows what I am feeling, and has gotten out of it, so can I.

recipe x what is up with food and me this week? anyways, this recipe for a high-protein pumpkin bread from The Iron You looks fantastic and I want to try it soon! Baking with protein powder seems like an adventure.

diy x a DIY project for cats? Cocorrina posted this earlier in the week. I am constantly looking to give my cat amusement after amusement, so I will be making one of these soon to try and entice him.

diy x love this eye mask tutorial from The Wonder Forest. Super chic and the examples she posted use my current favorite (adorable flowers). I can't wait to have a sewing machine again!

fitness x love workouts geared towards small spaces!

links x this link post on The Wonder Forest is also filled with a bunch of awesome things. I love Dana's finds! I will be making the felt trees this weekend hopefully.

yoga x Last night I tried out a yoga app for the first time, Pocket Yoga! I did the Desert practice, on beginner for 30 minutes and I really enjoyed it. It was easy enough that I could do all the poses, but I did have to push myself through the vinyasas. I love the set up as well; there are 3 different practices, and 2 Sun Salutations. Both have beginning, intermediate and advanced levels, and the practices have 30, 45 and 60 minute sections. The sun salutations go up to 30 repetitions. Even using my iPhone it was easy to follow and glance at if I needed to see exactly what was going on. I think I'll try it on my iPad next, the bigger pictures may help. Glad to know I'll be able to use this when I travel.

I hope everyone had a great week and is starting off their weekend on the right foot. :)

Finding my space at home

Photo from SheKnows.Com

One of the challenges I've had moving into a small apartment is the lack of space for fitness. Well, this really isn't super accurate as my room back home was super tiny. One of my big, slow-going, personal projects has been making myself a peaceful space where I can focus on my favorite at home workout, yoga.

I use the living room as my practice space- we have a TV where I can watch youtube videos, or download programs to our media center. I am also able to play pandora through the TV, so I can throw on their Yoga station to help me get in the mood. I also have different surfaces around me- I don't have blocks, so it's nice to have a low table right next to me if I need to steady myself.

This room has probably been my biggest project. Keeping it clean and free of distractions is a constant effort. Before I practice I always go through with a plastic bag and pick up anything I can, and use the 30-second rule: If I can do something in less than 30 seconds, I need to get it done! I'll also break out the dust buster in areas around where I put my yoga mat. I light a few lightly-scented candles as well, to calm my thoughts. (I think it works? I really like smelling like a softer version of the Yankee Candle store at least.) I just need to push the coffee table against the couch in order to have enough space to practice.

Currently I use the YogaAccessories Super Thick Yoga Mat which may have been a bit overzealous of me in thickness, because I have carpet. I imagine I'll be loving it when I eventually take the mat with me to a class at the gym. I love how long it is- because we do have carpet and I practice in a high traffic area I don't want to be touching the carpet with my hands, or have my hair flop around. Because the mat is 74" long I am super comfortable stretching out wall-to-wall on it. A problem I've had with previous mats was also solved here - no slippage! A bit TMI, but I get really sweaty hands and feet while I do yoga. With my last GAIAM mat I couldn't even stay in down dog comfortably, but with this mat I feel a lot more comfortable with myself. I also purchased the Aurorae Yoga Slip Free Rosin Bag, but I'm not sure if this has actually helped or just made me a little messy.

My Checklist for creating my ideal yoga space:

1. Pick up all trash, dishes, clean up any dust in the area.
2. Put on music, like the pandora yoga station.
3. Push that coffee table over
4. Light some candles!
5. Dodge the cat
6. Get flexible and focused!
7. After my practice, I will wipe down my yoga mat. I really need to look into a more serious cleaning solution though. I've seen wipes, and make-at-home-sprays, which I think I will go in the direction of. 

Does anyone have tips for yoga in a small space? I love finding new ways to change things up and improve!

this week's favorite things

The backyard at my old house/parents house. It is gorgeous.

As the holidays get closer I'm starting to miss home more and more. How did this reach a head point yesterday? Laundry machines. The laundry machines in our building are terrible! And expensive. :( Either way, I'm trying to figure out how to healthily deal with my home sickness. Yesterday, I was extremely productive, but possibly a bit too neat-freaky. (I washed coins because they'd been sitting out for ~4 years! Ew!) I hope to have more small projects for myself in the future, which I'm able to show off a bit more!

Here are some of my favorite things I have found this week:

clothes x the gingerbread scarf from this ootd pair

food x these autumn salads. I really need to get back into the habit of making salads!

hair x this french braid into a ponytail do. just need to get capable of french braiding!

yoga x these pigeon pose tips. A lot of my night practices focus on pigeon pose, I'm trying to open my hips up a lot. I want to be able to do the splits by my birthday next year!

yoga x these poses for a better nights rest. i've been having some issues sleeping soundly, so i am happy to try out these easy poses at night.

decor x this lovely, feminine desk snapshot. i am constantly redoing my set up and trying to find new decorations and this photo is the dream. 

DIY x this studding tutorial is great, and not intimidating at all! might try this on a pair of flats.

food x this recipe for low calorie sausage, sage, and apple stuffing. NEED I SAY MORE?

feature x this interview with hair guru Chris Dylan. I've been needing some tips, and I think I've found a lot of goo info here.

food x this recipe for the Texas Roadhouse free bread. Which is the best bread I've ever tasted.

I am looking forward to going out for some drinks with friends tonight! I hope everyone is having a great Saturday so far!


❤stephanie
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BackOnPointe November Workout Calendar!

About a year ago I grew unhappy with my body, and self-medicated with ice cream. It took me a few weeks to stop that behavior and realize that I couldn't lose weight just by deciding to- I had to put a lot more effort in. Over the course of about... a year, I lost around 30 pounds total (from my high weight to my low weight), and about 6 months ago I joined a gym. The gym is my faaaaavorite.

 I was always the kid in PE who was miserable, walked every mile, hated sports, disliked sweating so it was a real shocker for me that I love the gym so much. I had to leave my gym and all my favorite instructors and gym buddies (love you mom!) when I moved, and it took me a few weeks to join up again. I am able to afford a gym pass due to savings and deciding that it was an investment that I would need to make for my own happiness, because group excercise classes are probably the #1 thing in my fitness regimine. So, I was going to the gym, doing my bodypump, and body combat- then Hurricane Sandy came!

While I never lost power, the roads are blocked every which way and I had to miss a few classes because I didn't want to drive 30 miles and get lost to get to my gym which is 5 miles away.

I was looking at the fitness section on Pinterest (follow me here!) when I kept seeing a bunch of workout routines from the tumblr BackOnPointe! I'm glad I found this at the end of the month when her workout calendar was right at the top of her page, because this has reenergized me!

This is the calendar that I will be using- there are also calendar's for students, beginners, and standard.

On the BoP: November post, she also links to the workouts that she's created which you can select from. For Saturday, I'll probably be doing Dancer's Legs Workout and One Room HIIT. Hopefully today and Friday I'll be able to make it to BodyCombat and BodyPump. I will also be doing some yoga everyday- last night I did the poses in this Yoga For the Splits post on FitnessLoveAffair Tumblr, which I'll probably be sticking to for a while.

I plan on using this calendar as a supplement to my gym going- I have gained weight, and let my diet go a bit out of control so I hope by giving myself a better schedule things will get easier.

How do you stay on track every week? What keeps you motivated?