Budgeting and Plans

I have had this thought for about a year now and I think it's time I actually follow through with it!  

I want to actually feel some freedom from bills because it stresses me out to no end when I don't have any money left over from paychecks because they ALL go to bills, I had this genius idea that we need to get rid of our cable...

first... it's 130 a month.. YIKES

 second... we don't really watch it that much.....okay that can could be arranged

third... it's likely we will be outside most of the summer

fourth... who needs to watch Teen Mom anyway... kind of a waste of my brain cells

but I get so into those stupid shows because we can...

fifth... I'm going to be at the gym or outside working out every second I can...

who has time to watch tv anyway!

Those are my rants about why we should get rid of TV... the few reasons

I think we should keep it would include:

When it's crappy outside the BF and I don't have to stare at each other with nothing to do but bring awkwardness....

Our internet is attached to the cable so I kinda need that to get my school stuff done... 

Sometimes I like giving up brain cells to watch stupid shows... 

I think these are reasons for concern and serious thoughts to contemplate!

What to do...? I guess I will let it go!!

Also, next week marks the last week of school until the Fall for me!( I could NOT be more Excited about this!!)  I'm so struggling getting through these last

few weeks.. the weather is kind of on my side though cause I don't want to be out there

when it is FREEZING because Spring has failed to get here, yet!( I still have hope)

I'm ready to be stress free for a few months and to really focus all my attention on my health and fitness!

I've been watching Season 10 of Biggest Loser and it is getting me all pumped

and motivated to start my journey and really give it my all! It seems that the last few episodes

of this show really motivate me because you see how far they have come and you

can taste it for yourself...(even though I haven't been working NEAR as

hard as they have!)

Never Giving Up {will die trying}

Remember how I told you all about how I almost died just over a week ago while doing the Fight for Air climb.... well I still to this day have a really bad cough from it... :/ on an  up note I still have not had a cigarette since that day! It's been 8 days! I'm calling that a victory in my book!

Well the real reason I wanted to blog today is because I'm struggling but I'm at peace with it.  Since I quit smoking and had an IUD put in I thought I would be on my way to successful weight lose and feeling great about myself... well I feel pretty good but I have actually gained 5lbs in 8 days.... yikes.... the scale was never supposed to reach that highest number that I said I would never go back to... This I truly believe is out of my control, I have been using myfitnesspal (kdlarson22) to keep track of all the things I eat throughout the day and while I have been staying within my allowed calories for the day and making healthier choices it seems that maybe my stress level and the fact I quit smoking have hindered me in actually being successful...  I'm almost done with school for the semester and I haven't been very good at keeping my grades up so I have been skipping the gym at night to study... as soon as the semester is over I will be able to completely focus my summer on getting healthy! 

I love to ride my bike in the summer! :)

Well folks... I'm not giving up on myself! This is my chance to step up and just keep learning healthy habits and fight through this, I don't want to relive that day at the Stair Climb! 

I am keeping my head up... somedays it's much harder then others but in the end

my goal is to be healthier so I can live a long healthy life and be able to do all the things I dream

about doing but can' t because my weight is a problem!

I truly believe that noone can motivate you except you and noone can force you

to get to a breaking point... you are the only one that can save you and if you want it bad enough

that will be your motivation... The Stair Climb for me was motivation

that things HAVE to change, no exceptions!

I hope everyone will find the motivation they need to live the life they want to live

and even if you are healthy we all still need motivation to accomplish our goals!

Weekend Extravaganza

I had a great weekend with my man, Friday night we had a date night, we went to Mi Casitas for some Mexican and then we rented movies... This is 40 and Straight A's.. they were both pretty good movies!

We relaxed and just enjoyed each other, and we felt amazing 

waking up Saturday morning with NO hangover! :)

Saturday morning we decided to go down to Des Moines to the Whole Foods store(love that place) and

afterwards we stopped at a few bike shops to see what they had, which of coarse 

made us want to RIDE!

We rushed home to get the bikes out! 

We had to show off our new biking accessories! the hat and glasses.

We made a stop at Oddfellows.

and of coarse a trip to Whiskey River also!

Later that night we celebrated Beth's birthday with Apple Pie shots!

We rode 14 miles Saturday... not a lot but enough since we haven't gotten much riding in

since last summer! I was definitely a little sore Sunday.

Sunday  morning was nice, we slept in (remembered what being hungover was like) and then we just

relaxed most of the day, cleaned (much needed, our house was a pit!) and watched

a few movies and shows, relaxing!

I would say we had a pretty successful weekend! :)

Scared for My LIFE

I'm not sure that I have ever been scared about my life much... Obviously I have been trying to get healthy and make myself a better life so I can do all the things I want to without feeling depressed and too overweight.  Well, my eyes were peeled wide open to the fact that I need to seriously focus on losing weight because if I don't I probably will die young.  That to me is VERY scary! 

You all know that I did the Climb for Air yesterday.... well to the best of my ability.  As we were walking through the skywalk to get to the start area we seen a few paramedics and firefighters pass by us with stretchers and I kind of jokingly said oh that will be me.... I wasn't feeling to excited at this point to go through with the climb... I was very nervous cause I didn't practice much and I'm also a smoker which this Climb for Air is for the Lung Association so I should have been well aware that this would work my lungs... in prep I decided to quiet for the week before the climb in order to feel a little stronger while doing it... I did  have a few but I tried to limit myself, in hopes it would help me do better.... 

 Unfortunately it did not help at all really.... I started climbing the first building and felt good till about floor 7 and then I started to get tired and my lungs were burning SO bad I could hardly

breath at all... at that point I started to get scared...

I wanted to finish and not fail myself or the people that supported me for this climb..

my body just had other plans and totally shut down... I did make it to the top of 16 floors and I 

wasn't sure how I felt or anything... Everything was blurry and I tasted blood and I could not for the life of me catch my breath back... I decided to sit out for the rest of the buildings cause I just couldn't catch

my breath and I was scared... I didn't want to start the next building and fail it cause I already

felt I had failed because I only accomplished one building and that to me was a Struggle!

I'm really happy that I signed up for the climb... I may have only accomplished one building

but I think I have seen my life flash before my eyes and it's time to change... I don't want to be the girl that fails herself and her family and friends because she couldn't give up eating the 

wrong foods or to quit smoking... I want to be the girl that people are proud of and want to look

up to as an example that you can do anything you put your mind too! 

I still have a bad cough today after the climb but it reminds me that I don't need to smoke for

any reason cause not only will it hurt my throat at this point but there are way 

healthier ways to relieve stress then to light up something that could eventually be the

cause of my death or contribute to my death.

I'm not perfect and I will fail sometimes but I have to change and I don't want to let myself

or my family down because of my bad habits.  This will take a lot of support from

others and disipline for myself... also dedication

to put in the work it takes to get my life back and to keep it!

Think about your life and what's important to you! That is your motivation!

Air Climb

I have not been training very much for this but my parents, boyfriend, and I are doing the Climb for Air in Des Moines on Sunday morning... I'm getting a little nervous cause I have a hard time going up 10 flights of stairs and we are doing 68.... yikes! Wish us luck... they all have been practicing so I'm sure they will leave me in the dust! We are doing this all for my grandma who died of lung cancer 4 years ago tomorrow! 

We love you grandma and miss you SO much!RIP.

Root for us to finish! It is for a good cause! :)

This is from last year, Mom and Scott! 2012