What a nice weekend I had at home with the family. It was so nice to be able to see them and spend time with the folks. I got there on Friday and my mom had made my favorite dish! It’s somewhat of a Pakistani pizza with spicy beef tucked into a naan and rolled out flat. It’s delicious and it takes my mom a long time to make so I know she really wanted to make it a special night. Saturday I slept in and then went out with my mom and sister for a fun day of shopping. We ended up going to the Mall of America and though I didn’t find anything for myself I bought some nice things for my mom and little broth

Sitting down to a delicious meal

er Robby. We had another delicious dinner on Saturday night and then I started to feel sad because I knew I had to leave the next morning.  Sunday I woke up bright and early and headed back to the Cedar Valley. I like to come home early on Sunday’s so I get some time to relax before the long week starts again. My mom of course sent me back with a ton of delicious Pakistani food but I can’t eat any because my healthy eating initiative started today so into the freezer it went!

For my first day of healthy eating I must say I am quite proud of myself. I had 10 almonds today and a delicious cup of fat free yogurt to start my day. I also replaced three cups of my usual coffee with water and I plan to make that a habit that I can stick with.  I also made a delicious low fat vegetable soup with lima beans, carrots, peas and green beans that I had for lunch. I am so committed to this plan! The only damper in it was that I forgot my tennis shoes at work and couldn’t go running today. That’s okay because Eileen and I climbed the steps in the back of the KWWL building for some exercise today and thought it wasn’t as much as I would have liked, it was a good start for Day one!

Posted under February 2012

Well I did it! I went to the Cedar Falls rec center and got the grand tour today. I saw the machines, saw the activity rooms, saw the track and shivered with delight!  The kind lady showing me around told me that the time I will be going to the gym is the BEST time to go. Not a lot of people and pretty quiet around the place. The machines are all very new and each treadmill has it’s own personal television attached! How exciting! I need to make sure I channel this excitement the right way and don’t go at it too hard as to burn myself out before I even really start.

As soon as I got home I called up my good friend and former co-anchor Seth Wayne who just lost 35 pounds working out in the last few months! He had some great tips and was excited for me to start. He gave me some good easy recipes including hard boiled eggs for breakfast with turkey bacon and protein shakes. The key he said is not to starve myself. I am really so proud of him. He just got to a point where he didn’t want to feel awful about himself anymore and decided to make the change. Are you ready to make the change? Even if you don’t have any weight to lose we can all get healthier. Let’s do this together and track our progress!

Posted under February 2012

The time has come to really whip this body in shape and this time I’m not taking no for an answer. Those excuses that I constantly make every time I get on a diet plan are out the door. I am all set to join the Cedar Falls rec center and start going DAILY! I need you guys to keep me on track and make sure I don’t get lazy. I think it will not only help my goal of weight loss but also help with the stress that I deal with in my job. Let’s face it–working 10 hours days and the crazy schedule that I do something has to give and I think this will help all around. For those of you on pinterest you know how much fun it can be to pin your favorite outfits, cakes, etc. I have started a pinboard for all my workout motivation quotes to make sure I really don’t slack. Does anyone want to jump on the bandwagon with me? If we all keep each other on track can we really fail? I’m looking forward to the new me and I still have enough time before summer to really make it happen. I’m putting away the nachos and picking up the weights. The time is now.

I will be honest with you and say that I have a very hard time sticking to a healthy weight loss program. The only time I ever lost weight before was starving myself which left me nothing but irritable and angry. It was unhealthy and awful but it worked…for a short time and of course the weight just came back.

This time I am determined to lose weight in a safe and healthy manner. I owe it to myself. Love that body of yours!

Motivation!

Posted under February 2012

What a wonderful lazy weekend it’s been! Friday was a great time with good friends and last night I had a fun, cozy get together with work friends. Today is all about being lazy and having a relaxing Sunday. I had an epiphany last night when I was laughing and joking with people. I think after nearly four months of being here I finally feel like everything in starting to make sense.

I finally feel like I have good friendships and am really starting to fit in here. I have met amazing people in just a short amount of time and I meet more of them constantly. I read a quote the other day that was something along the lines of “Friends are family you get to choose” which I thought was so very true. I love being around people and laughing and joking and I have met some of the BEST down to earth friends here. I think back on how lonely I was my first month here and now things have completely changed. Life is so crazy. It can change before your very eyes and many times it’s a beautiful change if you can trust in the process.

Posted under February 2012

First off I have to thank you all so very much for constantly reassuring me about my party! All of your kind words were so helpful in my moments of sheer stress and panic! Of course you were right and the party was wonderful! Everyone seemed to have fun and people stayed late to eat, drink and even learn how to do some traditional dances! My sister was so helpful and made sure all the food was heated and served on time while also putting gorgeous gems (bindis) on the guests who wanted to get all dolled up!

Here are a few pictures from that wonderful and memorable night!

My sister and I on Sari Saturday!We all had a blast!

Posted under February 2012