My Week Off

Hello Readers,

I took a last minute week off from blogging because my partner took a vacation for work and I wanted to spend some time with her. I also had to spend the week prepping for my next surgery, which was a lot harder than I expected it to be. I had to go to the bank and make sure I could deposit checks, I won't be able to sign them but I got that sorted out. I had to finish up the process for dropping out of college, I wasn't exactly happy about that, but I am out of medical leave so it was either that or end up failing out which wasn't an option for me. After that I had to get all my mileage information for my LNI claim so that I can get paid back, I can't believe I have traveled 4033.2 miles since this all started.

The week wasn't all bad news though, as a matter of fact I finally got my partner to understand why I went organic, and now she is trying to go organic too! I was so proud of her when I saw her come home with a bunch of organic foods, where she used to come home with nothing but junk. It will be nice to not have the temptation anymore.

This week has also been one where I didn't follow my diet so well, I still ate healthy but I ate more than I should have because my partner was on vacation. Today is a new day, I am going to get back on my program and try and actually watch my calories intake.

Let's see what else did I do this week.

Oh! I went and saw two movies that I have been dying to see, and I have to say they were worth the money for sure. I went and saw Fast and Furious 6 and Star Trek: Into The Darkness I highly recommend both of them. Next week I am supposed to go see Now You See Me. I won't talk about the movies cause I don't want to spoil the endings but they were great!

I also came up with a list of blogs entries that I would like to write about, here is a list of the few that I know I will be writing about in the future:

1) Protein Powders
2) Zumba
3) People Who Inspire Me
4) A Letter To Myself
5) A Letter To My Loved Ones
6) Anti-Bullying
7) Homemade Shakes Without A Blender
8) Video Games
9) RPGing
10) Struggles Of Writing My Book
11) Surgery Update
12) Weekly Music Playlists
13) Shopping On A Budget
14) Movie Of The Week
15) Bucket List
16) Recipes
17) Psychology

I am sure I will think of more in the future but these are what are on my mind right now. I am also going to try and participate in other bloggers weekly topics. Naturally from July 11th till probably August 1st I may not be able to update my blog, so I may write a few entries in advance and schedule them to post while I am down.

Also.... am I the only one who cries every time Betty gets the letter from the war department. I can't stop watching this movie and I always cry when it gets to that part. I've even tried muting it and skipping over it, but nope I still cry.

Anyways, I hope you all have a good weekend and Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there :)

Sincerely,
Gypsy

Things I Don't Love (Hosted by: Lulu & Sweet Pea)

This blog is in response to Lulu & Sweet Pea: Click the images above to head to her blog and look around.

Recently I decided that I wanted to get into shape, because I wanted to feel better about myself. It was a choice that I made after seeing Jillian Michaels. I was also told by my doctor that working out and eating right would help my PTSD, so it was sort of perfect time. What I am not loving about the experience is the responses that I get. 

Now when I started this journey I weight 170 lbs and just overall didn't like how I looked or how I felt, so I decided to change that. Every time I tell people about it, they make comments like 'you're not overweight' or 'so now you become one of those picky eaters?'. 

First thing's first, I changed from eating processed to organic and all natural foods. It was my choice because a lot of the processed foods have pesticides in them and I am allergic to pesticides. It was a choice I made to get healthy, and so that I stopped feeling so sick all the time. Honestly, cutting out the foods not  only makes me feel better but without even utilizing exercise I have managed to lose 15 pounds. That was huge for me and I was proud of my achievement. I told people and at first they were like that is great, but then came the conversations of 'at least I still get to eat my favorite foods.' 

Here is the thing people, I am not missing out on anything at all. For every crap processed food that is out there, there is a healthier option. So with that being said, people can keep their high calorie, processed GMO, hormone, pesticide filled foods and I will continue to eat in a manner that makes me feel better. 

What I really want to say to all those people who instantly judge someone because they want to get healthy, don't get that twisted with going on a diet. I am not on a diet, I changed to a healthier way of eating and I have no intentions on going back. I count my calories every day, I pay attention to what I am taking in and what I need to make my body function at it's fullest. 

With that being said, I am not saying that I don't occasionally slip and fall back into old habits, but guess what, I am not on a diet! I am following the golden rule of Eat Less, Move More. I am currently tracking my calorie intake and burn through Jillian Michaels 360 program. It costs me 4 dollars a week but it is completely worth it. So to all of you who accuse someone of being on a diet, or being a picky eater, simply because they say they want to get healthy, stop! 

Here is why I say to stop, because a diet is something that someone does to lose weight on a temporary basis. I say temporary because people go on diets, lose the desired amount of weight and then they stop dieting. Know what happens next? 9/10 times the person gains all that way back, and why you ask? They have stopped dieting. Programs like Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Atkins, and Nutrisystem are great diets to help get you down to your goal weight, but once you start these programs, you have to stay on them forever. 

It is so much easier to count your calories intake for a month, and after that you are pretty much capable of knowing how many calories you eat a day. We are creatures of habit, we tend to eat the same 4-6 meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. So after 30 days (which is what it takes to form a new habit) you have trained yourself portion control so you won't always have to count calories. So! If you want to get healthy or lose weight there are a number of apps out there that can help you. Here are some that can help you if you are looking to get healthy and lose weight, and you aren't looking for a diet that once you quit you could gain the weight back. 

Jillian Michaels this is a free app when it comes to keeping track of your calorie intake. For $4 a week you can get a custom meal plan and workouts designed for your body type and learn your metabolic type. You also have the support of a great community of people. If you want to go all out and know exactly what you are burning in calories every day, then you can add a BodyMedia to your plan for free. I personally have the bluetooth band so I have the BodyMedia Fit App so that I can track my daily activity. 

                                        BodyMedia Fit App                     Jillian Michaels App

My Fitness Pal which is a free app that you can use to help you track your calories and fitness for no charge. 

My Plate which is also free and hosted by Livestrong.

So there are a lot of apps out there if you are looking to start counting calories. If you want to lose weight, then all you have to do is calculate how many calories a day your body naturally burns, and subtract 500-1000 calories from your daily intact and you will lose 1-2lbs a week without exercise, which means when you work out you are adding to that calorie deficit so you will lose even more weight. 

NutritionData BMI & Calorie Calculator is a website you can use to take your natural calorie burn. Never eat under 1200 calories a day! and if you want to lose more weight in a week simply work out more, but don't over do it. Also an important side note when you want to get healthy, take your current weight and divide it by 2 and that is how many oz of water you need to take in a day. For every 30 mins of intense exercise you do, meaning you are sweating, add 8oz of water to your daily intake. 

So, there you have it, there is a difference between wanting to get healthy and going on a diet. So please, the next time someone you know says they want to get healthy, don't look down on them, don't tell them they don't need to, or that they are missing out. Support their decision to want to eat better and feel better about themselves. 

Sincerely, 

Gypsy

Possibility of setting myself back 3 years

So I went to physical therapy yesterday and my therapist said that my hand is at a place where I can start doing the circuits that JM has set for me on the app. To be honest I'm terrified of putting any weight down on my hand.

Three years ago I pulled the tendons for my pinky and right finger off the knuckle. It took them a long time to figure out what I did and over time I slowly lost the ability to use those fingers. During the time I also lost muscle in the palm of my hand and the doctor said it wasn't supposed to be that way, basically he could feel the mechanics of my hand and you are not supposed to be able to do that. Then we discovered I was born without a certain tendon in my pinky which was weird but kind of cool at the same time.

I don't want my hand to go back to the way it was three years ago or even 6 months ago. I go to do one of her circuits and get major anxiety thinking I can pull them off again. I've been told by the dr and my pt that this would be impossible because of the scar tissue that formed.

I want to get over this fear so that I can start actually like I'm getting what I paid for. I don't have much encouragement at home and I'm constantly reminded of the things I can't do.... Like make a fist or hold my steering wheel properly. I just don't know how to break the barrier, so to speak.

I listen to Jillian's podcasts, I have been listening to her books, unlimited and slim for life, I got the bodymedia to track my activity. I even got Zumba and have been having fun with that when I can. To add to my hand injury I also suffer from Vestibular migraines which can be brought on by working out, take on my PTSD and there are days where I lay on the couch and eat an entire small pizza from papa johns by myself. I also can't seem to get passed eating more then 900 calories a day unless I make some sort of crap processed food that I enjoy but shouldn't eat.

Needless to say I'm about ready to give up but everytime I eat crap I feel like crap and then I remind myself what happened at Jillian's show. She knew who I was from twitter and it made me feel great, and I decided if she could take the time to care about me and remember me from the 100s if not 1000s of tweets she gets a day I can do the same for myself.

I've never been very good at reaching out for help I've always been the one who finds the solution to the problem because I had no choice. So, I'm reaching out now hoping that somehow I can break this endless cycle of me giving up on myself. I figure if I put this out there that maybe it will help take some of the pressure off that I have out on myself because of losing my job and getting irritated that my dominant had doesn't work like it used to. All in all I just need to know and feel that I have someone on my side because while I logically get everything that is being said to me I am way better at helping others get healthy and fail at getting healthy myself.