Today I'm playing catch-up! Enjoy the double post :)

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Sorry for missing a day yesterday, folks! It kind of went by in a blur. I woke up and the first thing I did was check the scale. As you'll notice by my ticker on the right sidebar, I'm now down 4 pounds! Yay!!! 1 more until my first benchmark and my shopping spree :) 

After that, I was very motivated to work out. So I did my last day of Level 1 of Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. Then I hung out at Josh's, and watched yet another Star Wars movie (The Empire Strikes Back, if anyone's interested. I liked it better than the first one.) I also had a nice yummy dinner with my family. My mom makes an excellent shrimp stir fry! Finally, we watched the Tony Awards and I went to bed early in anticipation for the first day of CAMP! Once again, I failed at spending the day outside. Whoops.

 

Today was....the first day of CAMP! It went so well! No rainstorms, boo-boos, or tantrums. It was fun to see some of the returners as well as meet the new kiddos! I had a really great day and I'm excited for the rest of the summer. 

Mindful Monday: I am feeling great about where I am with my fitness! Sooo close to the 5 pound mark. I can do it!

Workouts and Health Updates: After camp, I knew my energy levels were winding down, so I needed to work out ASAP so I wouldn't put it off and then never do it. So I immediately went downstairs and started Level 2 of the JM DVD. Ho, ly, cow. I know I've said other workouts are tough, and I've made comments like "I've never worked out that hard!" but this took the cake. (Ah, geez now I want cake) 

ANYWAY - It was hard. I did almost all of the moves full out and my heart rate was through the roof. After I finished, red and panting, I knew that I would have to immediately run upstairs and shower or I would lay on the basement floor until I fell asleep or possibly died. So I sprinted up the two flights of stairs, showered, and now I'm relaxing with my cat in bed. Aaaaaaaah. 

Can't wait to get up tomorrow and do it all again! :)

-Ellen

P.S. I changed my activity level on the MFP app to "active" because at camp I run around like a chicken with my head cut off for most of the day. This means I get to eat an extra 100 calories a day. Chyess. Excuse me while I eat this Skinny Cow ice cream sandwich...

Happy Monday! I'm about to fall asleep because I'm exhausssssted. Didn't get any sleep, plus did two workouts today.

 

My eyes look 10x smaller than usual today...?

I did the Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred video for the first time today and really liked it! I just did the Level 1 part (and then used my BL cardio DVD for the other workout). It surprised me because it wasn't as hard as I was expecting. Maybe it isn't that bad or maybe I'm just getting fitter? Even so, I was very wiped after all that exercise.

I made a delish caprese omelet for lunch, and thought I'd share the recipe! Here ya go:

• 1 egg
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/4 cup chopped tomato
• 2 TB fresh chopped basil

Scramble the egg + egg whites and pour into greased pan. Add other ingredients when omelet looks almost fully cooked. Flip/fold as you please :)

Time to zzzZzzzZzzz...

-Ellen ♥ 

Mindful Monday: It's Great to be Pale.

First of all, Happy Memorial Day! Sending love and prayers to the families of those who've served our country.

Now I'm going to talk about being pale.

Brace yourselves, because you're going to hear a statement that you haven't heard many times, if ever: I LOVE being pale.

Shock and awe? Disbelief? Now, ask yourself why. Why is this simple statement so surprising to hear? Would you equate it to someone saying "I love being flawed" or even "I love having an undesirable skin color"? A lot of people would. But.....why?

If you've ever had a conversation with me about the pale taboo as I call it, I've probably cited the fact that porcelain white skin used to be the ideal, until Coco Chanel's accidental sunburn turned to tan in the 1920s and everyone thought it looked tres chic. Then, women began worrying about their skin tone. Soon to follow came the need to worry about every speck of visible hair on the body, then the height of their hairdos, and today, the gap between their thighs. (Seriously, have you heard about this stupid trend?!)

It seriously makes me cringe every time I hear someone say "Ugh, I am sooo pale." Not because I'm personally offended that they think pale skin is ugly, but because society has made that person feel like their complexion is unacceptable. Why do you need to be more tan than you naturally are? Why is that attractive? (I'm honestly curious. Why does tan skin make someone more attractive? Does it make them seem beachy and exotic? Really, somebody clue me in.)

I know this is the ultimate cliche, but I just think it needs to be said: There is not one image of beauty. And even though the media likes to tell us that unless you're thin, tan, and busty, you're ugly as sin, that clearly isn't the case. A ton of people look amazing tan, and they are totally beautiful the way they are! Others look great at a medium-bronze level. Others look great ghostly white.

I will rock my freckles. I will rock my lightest-shade-of-makeup-available. Because I can't change how pale I am, but I can be confident and show the world that pale ≠ undesirable/bad/ugly/lame :)

 

That's me, bein' pale.

To end, here are five reasons why I love my paleness:

1. My pale, reddish, freckly skin shows my Irish heritage
2. I constantly have to wear sunscreen, so I'll probably never get skin cancer
3. I don't look painted orange
4. Earth tones look great on pale people
5. I don't have to worry about "maintaining" my pale 

Have a great Memorial Day and think about something you LOVE about yourself!
-Ellen ♥ 

Mindful Monday: Frustrating Fluctuations

(Say that three times fast.)

Lately I've been puzzled by my fluctuations on the scale, and it's been getting me down! After making the mistake of weighing myself at different points during the day, I realized that my numbers weren't accurate, and something wasn't adding up. I read this health article today which answers the question: What are we really weighing when we step onto the scale? Here are some things that could be skewing your numbers:

 

Yep. Who would've guessed that all of these factors play a role in those crazy fluctuating numbers that cause us (or atleast me) so much grief?! One day last week, my weight fluctuated over 2 pounds throughout the course of a few hours. So which number is accurate? This other article outlines the correct way to weigh yourself so you don't end up puzzled during your daily weighing. Even with the correct procedure, it just shows you that household scales can be extremely deceptive/messed up! (Interesting read, I promise!)

For me, I'm sure a lot of these factors are screwing up my morning weigh-ins. I am guilty of late night snacking (well--healthy, low calorie late night snacking which I have factored into my calorie intake). ;) And when I snack at night, I typically eat something salty. Mixed nuts, pretzel chips, maybe some Laughing Cow cheese. Apparently this salt sucks up all the water in your body and bloats you, so you weigh more on the scale the next morning. CRAZY RIGHT?! 

Also, I've been having this huge issue where about 50% of the food I eat is CARBS. I wish I knew how to eat enough protein to make that number go down, but so far, it just hasn't happened. I'm not a big meat person and I eat a ton of fruit and sugary stuff, even though I've cut back on the bread. Hence, I'm carbolicious. Anyway, recently I've learned that when you eat carbohydrates, it sends signals to your body to store fat. Because apparently our bodies still think we're cavemen and they haven't yet evolved to give us the decency of eating a giant bowl of pasta in PEACE. BOO. 

Hopefully after these first 5-10 pounds are lost (easier said than done, my friends) I will be able to focus a little less on the number on the scale and a little more on the way my clothes are fitting and the way I feel about myself. Till then, I would really appreciate some satisfying results number-wise! So Imma try to lay off the carbs, stuff myself with protein, and drink tons of water to flush out my salty snacks. 

Hope this post helped you guys out a little bit! Learning all of this stuff has made me feel a little better about my weigh-ins.

Til Tasty Tuesday :)

-Ellen

Mindful Monday: Love.

Spoiler alert: This post includes a high level of sappiness and nothing about fitness.

Today my boyfriend and I are celebrating 5 years of being together!

 

So, for Mindful Monday, I just wanted to reflect on the positive impact this guy's had on my life.

Before we met, I was an extremely shy, sad girl who didn't really fit in, who had no reason to think she was anything special. Over the last five amazing years of my life, Josh has shown me the importance of believing in yourself and having the courage to say "I am something special." Through his never-faltering support and kindness, I have learned what it's like to be truly loved. And once I learned to accept that kind of love, I learned that I deserve to love myself, too.

Both of our lives have changed so much since we were 15. Schools, hobbies, friend groups, TV shows, and even some of our values and beliefs have shifted and evolved. But even through all of the most amazing ups and the most devastating downs, Jellen hasn't changed a bit, really. Our relationship gets stronger and stronger every day. And on this, our five year anniversary, I am so happy and proud to celebrate the best years of my life (so far) with the best person I've ever met.

Advice: Be with someone who makes you so happy. Because:

Have a great day :)
-Ellen