Wow. Only on Day 2 of the Road Trip of Epic Epicness aka “Before I Turn 30” road trip and I can’t remember the last time I felt this happy. I’ve traveled quite a bit and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything quite as majestic or magnificent as the Pacific Northwest. The land is so green, the air is so clean. I think I’m in love!

Day 1 consisted of flying out of 104 degree Kansas City weather to a beautiful and sunny Seattle. My cousin Matthew met us at the airport and we took the monorail to our rental car in downtown Seattle. You never know what you’ll get when you book a rental car, we received a little white Chevy Sonic. I’ve never heard of a Sonic but she’s tiny and fuel efficient and makes parallel parking a breeze. We stayed at The Moore Hotel which was in walking distance of Pikes Place. The hotel was more than affordable and in a very desirable location of the city. Once we got settled in, Matt took us to Alki. I didn’t know such a beautiful place existed in Seattle. I was told over and over again that we were seeing Seattle at its best: sunny and 70+ weather. We sat beach side at a little joint called El Chupacabra. The staff was incredibly nice and the food/drinks were reasonable too. My friend and fellow co-worker from the west, Dawn, met up with is and we decided to dip our feet in the cold body of water. I didn’t roll my jeans up so the rest of the night I smelled like a combination of deadwood and wet dog. (Oh well)

I don’t actually know what week I am on.  I started watching my calories 20 days ago and I re-joined the gym sometime that first week too.  This is only the 2nd week I am measuring myself, but let’s call it week 3 of a healthier me.  One of the things that made me want to get healthy was not that it was a new year, and not just the I’m staring down the barrel of 30 either.  The last couple of weeks of December 2012, my body was pissed.  I was involuntarily shaking while awake and waking up at night because my body was shaking so hard while I slept.  This scared me!  I went to the doctor early last week and got checked out.  She checked my thyroid levels, insulin levels, etc., everything came back completely normal.  Both my friend and my doctor suggested eating closer to bed time and smaller meals throughout the day to see if this did anything.  Ding. Ding. Ding!  I haven’t had the shakes since.  I am really watching my calorie intake.  With my height and weight I am not supposed to exceed 2030 calories a day.  I’ve been really good about not going over and making sure I eat on a regular basis.  Drinking water has never been a problem for me, so the recommended amount of water is done and done.  I’m trying to go to the gym any day that I am not working a screening.  So far this has been 3-4 days a week of working out.  I do 30 minutes on the elliptical each time I go.  In the next coming week I plan on adding weight training to this regimen.  I have for the most part cut out coffee from my diet.  The one day I did have it last week (a caffeine headache that wouldn’t go away), I opted for half caff and 2% milk.  It’s nice not needing the coffee to function, before, I didn’t think I’d get through the day without it.  And last but not least, Greg and I bought a new blender/juicer yesterday.  I’m hoping this helps motivate me to make smoothies and other concoctions on a regular basis that are both healthy and delicious!

THE UGLY TRUTH

Weight: 278
Right arm: 15.25 inches
Left Arm: 15 inches
Chest:  47 inches
Waist:  38 inches
Hips:  53.5 inches
Right thigh:  33.75 inches
Left thigh:  33 inches

I don’t know how accurate the measuring is, Greg is doing it for me every Friday but it’s hard to make sure we’re getting the same spot every time!

Week 1 is done.  The book I’ve been using as my guide simply had me writing down all of the food I was eating.  What a wake up call.  I’ve never been a healthy eater, but no wonder I’ve been rapidly gaining weight.  My daily ritual of iced coffee I found out was 400 – 500 calories.  That’s 1/4 the amount of calories I should be getting for an entire day!  This week was the easiest, while I didn’t like to see the amount of calories I was eating, it was definitely necessary.  Next week I have to try to eat 500 calories less than I did the week before.  That shouldn’t be hard being that last Monday was our office potluck.  I didn’t have to start getting active until week 3 but I my body couldn’t wait any longer so I re-joined the gym this week too.  Why did I think it was okay to stop working out for over a year?  Every part of me was jiggling and I could barely get through 30 minutes on the elliptical, but I did it.  My wonderful boyfriend Greg made me a playlist which may be the sole reason I did make it.

THE UGLY TRUTH

Weight: 280
Right arm: 15.25 inches
Left Arm: 15 inches
Chest:  47.5 inches
Waist:  38 inches
Hips:  53.5 inches
Right thigh:  34.25 inches
Left thigh:  33.50 inches

It’s a new year and I’m ready to get healthy.  I’m turning 30 in 46 days and my body has been telling me in a not so subtle way that I can’t continue to eat the way that I do.  I’m using this book to help be get started.  My Aunt & Uncle used it, and they have maintained a healthy weight/lifestyle for the last 4 years.  This, plus all the millions of healthy recipes at the tip of my fingers through sites like Pinterest should help me achieve my goals.

The first week seems easy enough.  You just have to start a journal and keep track of everything that you eat.  You also have to track how much water you’re drinking each day.