Unconditional love

This post has absolutely nothing to do with running, or nutrition, but just the fact that I am completely blessed.

I don't know if I have mentioned it in any of my newer posts but I serve an awesome God. I am reminded every day just how much he loves me and wants more for me than I do. Today I was thinking back to a moment that God took my heart and shook me up and reminded me of all the vast love he has for me.

A couple weeks back I went to Nashville to meet up with my close friends from college. On a Saturday we met up with a few other friends at a coffee shop in town. There was a young guy in there who looked to be about our age. I noticed that he had been reading his bible in there, but that was really all I noticed. Some time passed as we chatted with one another and caught up when I noticed a tap on my shoulder. I turned to look and it was that guy. He got down to my level and looked me right in the eyes and he said with all the sincerity in his eyes and voice "God laid it on my heart to tell you that he wants you to know that you are fearfully and wonderfully made and you are perfect in every way. He never wants you to forget that." As I blankly stared at him my eyes filled with tears. All I could muster at that time was a thank you. As quickly as the man was there, he was gone. And I was left to contemplate what he had said. God knew at that time what I was going through. There was a burden on my heart. I had been hurt. He knew what I needed to hear, and he loves me enough to figure out a way for me to hear it. He is awesome. God of power. Lord of Glory. And yet he goes out of his way for ME.

I'm lovin it....

Not lovin' the day no, but my diet coke, indeed. I started my day by waking up with a fever and my throat feeling like someone had just been taking a chainsaw too it. That's possible, right? So OBVIOUSLY, since I am dying I probably shouldn't go to work. Therefore, I spent my day laying on the couch watching America's Next Top Model. It was an all day marathon of the season with JADE. Anyone remember her? The one who makes you cringe with disbelief at the mention of her name. You can't forget her. It might have just got over an hour ago. And I might have been watching it since 9 this morning. Let's remember now.....I am sick.

My mom called from work around noon today as I'm lounging on the couch to tell me that a lady is coming to look at our home that we are selling. Not the day, mom, not the day. The house was in order for the most part, except for the mound of clean laundry all over my floor in my bedroom. It's my mom's belief that if someone is coming to look at your home in hopes to buy it that it must look perfect....God forbid some laundry not be put away. So hence....since I am sick....I did not want to use my energy on putting the clean laundry away, so I just shoved it all in the dryer. Out of sight, out of mind. Lazy, yes, but let's remember now.....I am sick.

I have a new toy to share with you. Lately I have been obsessed with water bottles, and this one just topped them all.

I found this little jewel at Dicks. You see that little lever? Just press it and it sends a light mist all over your hot sweaty face. An employee walked up to my friend Ryan and I while we were there asking if we were finding everything alright. I told him I was so excited to use it soon, and he responds with " I bought my daughter one of those, and my wife said it wasn't good to use because you are misting your back wash all over your face." Good salesmanship, kind sir. I will gladly mist myself with back wash....let me bask in the glory of this.

I haven't done any type of working out since last week. Unless you include....umm....I can't even think of anything you could include. I think I could feel an illness coming on and my body just knew it needed to rest. So hopefully after today I will be feeling better and can get back to working out. Of course my mom folded up the treadmill to make every room look bigger, so tomorrow morning I will have to figure out how to undo it because I MUST run.

I just finished watching 19 kids and counting, and now I'm on to The Biggest Loser, which I'm still not feeling any connection with. Just finished my Southwest Salad from McDonalds with a diet coke to go along with it. Should have got the grilled chicken....forgot...oops....lets remember...I'm sick :)


Now I should move on to folding those blasted loads of laundry.....ugh...should I use the excuse that I'm sick? Just get it done Lauren.

Have y'all every had the Southwest Salad from McDonald's? Do you just love it?

Success

Yes, this is exactly how I started my morning at work. I was sitting at my desk....craving for Cheez-its...and as we all know I give in to all my cravings. So I make the trek down to the vending machine. What do you know.....the blasted animal crackers were blocking the Cheez-its. Well that's just not going to work for me. Of course nothing can keep me away from what I want....so what do I do? I buy both. That's right. I spent $1.80 on animal crackers and Cheez-its.

Folks, I do believe an intervention is in the future.

I have also been pondering the idea of joining a gym. USA Fitness is right down the street from me and it's ten bucks a month. TEN. I find that pretty amazing. AND...they have a pool. So it's almost worth it just for the pool. The only reason I am not sure about joining is because I'm trying to figure out when I will go. Tuesdays and Thursdays I will be doing Kickboxing, Wednesday I have bible study, Friday I have Praise Band practice. I could possibly go in the mornings. It just seems more logical for me to work out at home, because I can do it late at night. I have a treadmill...and good ole 30 day shred with butch jillian. So I don't know what to do. What do y'all think?

And in other news.....Abercrombie and Fitch has decided to make padded bikini tops for 7 year olds. Yes...you heard correctly...breaking news....padded bikini tops for 7 year olds. Kinda makes you want to break someones knees for even thinking this up in there mind. As if children do not already deal with body dysmorphia....lets just start them off at a younger age. It just makes me so sad.

Nom Nom Nom

I keep facing the same predicament over and over. It seems I have an obvious addiction to food. I have never wanted to admit this....but when you can't pass the doubt fudge brownies without sneaking a bite, and when you fantasize at work about cheeseburgers.....that's when you have to face the reality that you have a problem.

Being healthy is a goal that I really want to achieve. And it's something that I know I CAN achieve. But the only issue standing in my way is FOOD. And not just any food....but bad, salty, sweet, greasy...food. Here are a few examples of my daydreamings.....
Does this look appetizing? No! Of course it doesn't. But it tastes amazing.

I have nothing to say for this except YUM.

So, these are my struggles. My thoughts with food. The exercising is easy for me. I really don't mind working out...I enjoy it. Yesterday I did 30 day shred with Jillian........who I might have cursed at while doing it with my mom. Totally caught her off guard....but it's a tough work out. And then I ran afterwards. Today I ran after work. So getting my butt moving is not the issue here....it's the food.

Today I packed myself a healthy lunch......a salad...apple...almonds. I had one stressful client and I went chasing down some cheez its. Really, Lauren?!? REALLY????

So I'm begging you all. I need some advice. How do I kick this bad food kick? How do I make healthy eating more a part of my life and something I enjoy doing?

I CAN do it!

This morning I ran my first mile in a long time. Normally I run/walk, but this morning I knew I had it in me to just run a whole mile. Y'all don't know me, but if you did, you would know how big of an accomplishment this was for me. I haven't ran a full mile in so long. It might have taken me fifteen minutes, but really, I don't care. It feels good to know that I am capable of doing what I want to do. My breathing was great, but my legs and my ankle were getting sore. But there ya have it! Hopefully it just keeps getting better everyday!

It's only Tuesday??

What a week it has been.....already. I have barely had time to sit and think, but I still worked in workouts. Go me!

Friday was my date....if y'all didn't know already. It went stupendously. His name is Ryan. Super gentlemanly. It's a word. Because I say it is. We decided that we would meet in downtown Detroit and eat at a fantastic pizza place called Pizza Papalis.

(Thank you google) This is basically an exact replica of the pizza
that we had. So delish.

Yes, I had a Pepsi that night. I know I know....forgive me for I have sinned. The place was packed. There was a Red Wings game that night, so everyone had to get their share of Pizza Papalis before the game. After we each had two pieces and felt like we needed to be rolled out of the place we left and were on our way to the movies. OH....so we were walking down the street and this homeless man was out in a wheelchair. He asked if we had a couple bucks to spare, which obviously I didn't, but Ryan gave him a couple bucks. He then proceeds to acknowledge the fact that this pizza smells amazing and probably would taste amazing too, so Ryan gave him the rest of our boxed up pizza. Totally acceptable. Totally still eatable. Totally germless (not that he would care). And totally warmed my heart. Just the type of thing that I would do!

We finally make it to Ryan's car, and we are on our way to the movies. We went to see Battlefield L.A, which surprisingly I liked and could follow the entire time. That's not likely to happen for me when it comes to action movies, so I was really impressed with myself. Halfway through the movie Ryan leans over and whispers "This isn't a very romantic movie for a first date!" I couldn't help but hackle for a good minute. Then I realized he said FIRST....which of course in the brain of Lauren leads to thinking that he probably wants to go on a second, or third, or fourth. Score!

Besides getting all mushy on you, that was the extent of our date! It was great! It was enjoyable! And I am definitely looking forward to more!

Basically I can't wait until.............................umm........im trying to think of a day where I have nothing going on after work. BAH. With work, and clients, and YWCA training, and church, and trying to get my workouts in, well, IM EXHAUSTED! I know I shouldn't complain....I am blessed to even be able to have so many things in my life to keep me busy. So that's the end of my complaining.

Ok, off to finish Biggest Loser.....which by the way, has really let me down this season. Here I go complaining again. But I just don't like how they added new trainers....it through off the whole feel of the show.
Do y'all watch The Biggest Loser? How do you feel about the new changes?

Oh Charlie.....

Woke up this morning with the intentions to work out, but as I got out of bed and went to walk my left calf (calve? anyone know) anyways, it was very sore. I had a flashback to the awful charlie horse I got in the middle of the night. I had just thought it was a nightmare I had, but judging from the pain I had this morning, it definitely was reality. So I passed on the workout this morning.

Since I skipped on the workout, I decided to make a lovely "Green Monster". My friend Steph showed me how to make one last weekend when I went to visit her in Nashville. I gathered all my ingredients, put them in the blender, turned the blender on, and then the smell of burnt plastic filled my nostrils. OBVIOUSLY the blender had malfunctioned! I wanted to throw the piece of crap across the room, but instead I just poured my smoothie into a cup, cleaned out the blender, and put it into the cupboard like it had never happened. Out of sight out of mind.....riiight? So I take my smoothie to the couch to enjoy it. What do ya know. Little pieces of plastic all in my smoothie. ugh.

WHAT A MORNING!

Oh, so I went to look at a car today. Good thing I took my dad with me, since I know zilch about buying a car, because this dealer totally wanted to screw me over. He had been calling me all week to set up an appointment with him. Calling me hun, and sweetie, and telling me I better wear my smile in there. WHAT A PLAYA!

Pretty accurate to the car he wanted to finance me for 400
bucks a month for 2 YEARS! No thanks pal, I'll keep my
92 taurus. You heard me, 92...taurus. Eff my life.

My dad quickly put him in his place, and we were off. Since I was depressed about not finding a car today I decided to get some Big Johns. That's right, I feed my depression with food baahaha.

Forgive me for I have sinned. I had every intention
of giving up pop for lent. I ordered pop. Came home. Put the
straw in. Drank it. Halfway through, I remembered I wanted to
give pop up for lent. Obviously my addiction is worse than I thought
if I can't even make it a couple days without ordering a pop and forgetting
about every intention of giving it up for lent. Of course I finished it though :)

After the morning and afternoon I had, I just needed to take some time to read my bible.
That used car salesman/playa playa definitely gave me non christian thoughts. And I
totally sinned after not staying on my lent decision. Lord help me. I just have so
many cravings :) I don't like to say no to myself :)

The day can only get better though.....I have a date tonight!

Birthday Shananigans

Just a quick "fitness" update: I accomplished doing Jillian this morning. I felt really good after and knew it was going to be a good day. I am having a hard time deciding whether or not to eat anything before working out in the morning. I know that if I don't I am able to burn more of this fat on my body, but sometimes if I don't I end up feeling nausea's. Do you eat before working out in the morning?


Today was my Dad's fiftieth birthday. As a tribute I sent him the snl skit with Molly Shannon.


To celebrate his fifty years of life....of which he responds he doesn't feel a day older than 25 and had to remind us all that his girlfriend is 12 years younger them him. Go dad? Anyways, in order to celebrate his birth we went to Redwood Lodge. Yummy food. But you leave with guilt. It was too expensive for this wallet. The tab came to be around 235 for 6 people. How did we let this happen? Here are a few lovelies from the night:

My side salad with yummy walnuts and dried cranberries. And my last diet coke until lent is over. I'm hoping it will give me the kick in the butt that I need to quit the habit altogether. Also, these picture are crap because my dad made it known to me that it is rude to take pictures with your flash while others are trying to enjoy their meal. Noted, dad, noted.

There are so many meals to choose from at this restaurant, which is never good for an indecisive person like myself. But I narrowed it down to one finally......shrimp and scallop scampi with a lemon dressing over linguini. It was delish.


Here are a couple pictures of my lovely family and I:

My brother and his gorgeous girlfriend.
She's the kinda gorgeous you want to hate
her for, but she's just too nice to hate.

My Dad and I. Not the best picture, but the only
one I have of the both of us.

My Aunt and Uncle

In short, I was blessed to be able to celebrate my dad's birthday with him. This is the first year in long time that I have been home to celebrate with him since I had been away at college. I am blessed to call him my dad, and for all he has done for me. I can honestly say for a fact that I really do not know where I would be without him. Because he listens to me I know that I have something to say. Because he believes in me, I believe in myself. He's one in a million.

I have more to write, but I have come down with a case of the hiccups, and I must put a stop to them.

Don't forget to click on my cupcake marathon link. It's a fun way to get in your miles and possible when fun prizes!

I've caught the bug

It's fair to say that I have definitely caught the fitness blog. My friend Steph has fueled my addiction to blogs that I never knew I had. Side note: Steph's blog is thealmostrunner. OBVIOUSLY I'm knew to blogging, because everyone and their mother, besides a rookie blogger like myself, would know how to tag a blog.

Anywho......due to reading every blog under the sun in the past couple of weeks, I have caught the fitness bug. I figured that since I have the desire to start working out, I needed some new workout clothes. It's much easier to get up in the morning to workout when you are feeling cute in your new gear. Well, maybe not easier, but doable.

My lovelies that I picked up while visiting
Steph in Nashville

That's right. See that orange sticker. Orange stickers at Old Navy means CLEARANCE! I'm a sucker for a sale, and it always makes for a good buy when it was something that you needed.

Another lovely

On my way to meet up with Steph and our other girl friends Nina and Kelly in Nashville, I needed some brain food for the plane ride. What better than some fitness magazines. Of course one would never be enough. I opted for five.

So much information, so little time. I left my Shape
magazine with Steph. Hope she is getting some good
knowledge from it.

Tonight I had a date with the butch Jillian Michaels. You heard me. Butch. I know.....disgusted by me, aren't you? My friend told me she thought Jillian Michaels looked butch, and that she didn't want to do her workouts for fear of looking like her. My response was I'd rather look butch and buff then a fatty mcfatterson. 30 day shred....I definitely feel shredded....like some pulled pork. Actually, that doesn't sound so bad right now....with some sweet bbq sauce. BAH. FOOD.

We have a love/hate relationship. I feel like I'm in a bad relationship.
She will only love me when I shed the pounds.

Well, here's to my weight loss journey, and hoping to keep the bug around long enough to shed the pounds.