The motivation train just keeps on rolling....

What a day. Today was my last day of “bumming” around before stepping back into reality tomorrow, bright and early! That’s right, as of tomorrow morning at 8 AM I will once again be a member of the working class! I’m excited and nervous all at the same time. As I mentioned previously, this is a temporary position meaning at the end of my 4 months there is no guarantee that I will be offered a permanent position. We have our fingers crossed, but no guarantees. So, like with this journey to a healthier me, I’m going to take it one day and one step at a time. I’m looking at this opportunity as a great “foot in the door” and an inside look at the world of Marketing to determine if this is really what I want to do the rest of my life or if at the end of my time I return to school to pursue my graduate degree. Only time-and the good Lord-can tell! I’m just going to work as hard as I can work and see where that leaves me!

So how did I spend my last day of “freedom”? Well to start, I didn’t sleep in. I decided that since I have to actually begin waking up at a decent hour, like a large portion of the population, I should start today. That’s right I was awake at 7 AM! Now, I didn’t do much. In fact, I laid in bed for another 2 hours watching Netflix, but the point is-I was up. I eventually made my way out of bed to walk the dog, make breakfast, and get dressed. I even got dressed up because I went to have lunch with the hubby (we went to Pho Bac because last night’s homemade attempt just didn’t cut it) and it was so nice to be able to see him in the middle of the day! After lunch I decided (once again on that motivation train) to journey over to Whole Foods and check out their offerings from that list mentioned in yesterday’s post along with a few other items from a second article I read (don’t worry, I’m going to post on that SOON). I picked up some quinoa (my first time purchasing it EVER-check tomorrow’s post to see how it turns out because we are having it for dinner), some all natural organic almond butter, and some steel cut oats (another first). From there I decided to continue my motivational shopping and ventured over to Publix where I filled my cart with fruits and veggies galore! (definitely keep checking the food breakdowns because Michael and I are going to be trying lots of new dishes) It was by far the “healthiest” cart of groceries I’ve ever rolled out!

As if that wasn’t enough of an adventure for one day, I headed home and cleaned out the fridge and rearranged the pantry-I’m telling you, these last few days have just been awesome. I have had this urge to rid our home of most of the foods it once held and replace them with yummy, delicious, good for you ones instead. When Michael made it home we went for our daily run; today’s mile was the toughest yet, but I am determined to kick its butt and move to mile two! I then cooked dinner, cleaned the kitchen, got tomorrow’s dinner started, tomorrow’s breakfast started, and did a sculpt workout. Oh yea, and picked out clothes for work! Again I repeat: WHAT A DAY! What kind of things motivate you to have days like that?

But, reverting back to my earlier statement of nerves and getting back on track, another reason for my nerves going into tomorrow is a change in routine. While my days haven’t exactly been “routine” in the last month (reference the above novel), in a sense they have been. They’ve been a non-routine routine for me. I know this doesn’t make sense, but just go with me! Generally a break in my “norm” throws me for a loop. Knowing that was what gave me that extra boost to do the grocery shopping I did today-a chance to set myself up for success! What ways do you set yourself up for success when you know you are going to have an obstacle (holidays, birthdays, change in routine, etc…)?

I’m excited to see what comes of the new motivation (and the new job)! Stay tuned for new recipes, break downs, and results! Until tomorrow: good eats!

Wednesday Food Break Down:

Breakfast was a bit of a change-up from the last few days. I had a big bowl of blackberries, blueberries and bananas with 1 T walnuts and 1/8 cup of Greek yogurt for 2 points.

Lunch was delicious Pho with my wonderful hubby at our favorite little Vietnamese soup kitchen off Buford Highway! It had chicken, broth, rice noodles, onions, bean sprouts and hoison sauce and was 9 points. I paired that with my FAVORITE drink ever-milk black bubble tea for 8 points.

Dinner was an old favorite (and quite the money saver)! Michael and I love Hibachi grills but we HATE paying for it. You can’t come out of those places for cheaper than 50 bucks and that’s on a cheap night! Luckily, the other day while I was at our local Publix I found gourmet Japanese White Sauce (our favorite part of the entire dish) and decided to bring it home. So, for dinner tonight we took some rice we had left over, added 2 eggs (scrambled) and “fried” it with a little EVOO and some teriyaki. I paired it with a mix of squash, zucchini, mushrooms, onions and broccoli and ribeye cut into pieces. I had a cup of rice for 5 points, veggies, and steak for 4 points. I had 4 T of White Sauce for 4 points for a total of 13 points. That put me over my total by 3 but with my run and my sculpt it balances out.