Yes, today is my 24th Birthday. As a special gift to myself, I gave myself enough time this morning to come on to Tumblr and update my blog. Okay, so where have I been since November 21st??? I’VE BEEN HEALTHY, HAPPY, AND LOSING WEIGHT!!!! I know I know, I should have been accurately updating, but this last month or so of school is killing me and is getting more and more stressful with my final exams popping up as early as next week.

Anyways, where am I at??

182!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know! Holy crap! Right??? I’m ALMOST out of the 180’s and I cannot even believe it! It seems like its been so damn long since I saw the scale say 170-something. I think I may have been 19 when that happened last. So I’m very happy with my health and fitness at the moment and weightloss is just this fun thing that makes it all worth while.

So what am I doing for this last month of the year? I have entered myself into a couple of challenges within the YouTube Weight Loss community. I’m trying to run at least 100 miles in this month. I think I can do it too! Also I’m trying to lose 10 pounds by CHRISTMAS!!! I started the challenge at 185, so that means by Christmas day I need to be at 175. Thats what I’m shooting for ! I think I can do it if I keep this momentum up!

Well, sadly thats about all I have for today. I may come back at ya in a couple of days with more introspective blog posts. And I will try and be much more regular with them now that school is ending for christmas break. I hope all of you out there in the cosmic void are healthy, happy and doing wonderfully!

I realized that a while back I claimed that this blog would be ‘Daily’.  But I’m amending that statement by saying that it is ‘Semi-Daily’ because invariably I ALWAYS end up missing at least one or two days out of the week.  I’m sorry for this, but then again….it feels like no one even reads this anyways….so, who cares.  I’m feeling like this particular blog is more or less for myself that it is for you guys. So thats fine.

Now lets get down to business.  I am SUPER SUPER stressed out over this project for my class thats due on Wednesday.  I feel a very late night researching session coming on. Why? Because this project is RIDONCULOUS!!! lol hahaha (I love that word).  So I have been trying to get this thing done, and I’m still going to the gym and I’m getting ready to cook all day Wednesday for thanksgiving, and I’m making DAILY VLOGS for my youtube channel….and…..its all just building up.  I always do this. I put way too much on my plate and I feel overwhelmed….but, I really do perform better under pressure.

This 7-Day Perfect Challenge on Youtube has taught me a lot.  I’m not going to say just yet, because I don’t wanna spoil it. After all, its only Day#4.  But on Day#7(the last day) I plan on sitting down and telling everyone (on Youtube AND here on Tumblr) about what it is I have learned while doing this challenge. <Spoiler Alert: Its very deep and thought provoking>

So the plan for today? I have a Skype date with my friend in Germany this morning…although she is running a bit late it seems.  And I’m about to skype with my Dad because its his birthday. And later today I have to skype with my best friend.  And then on top of that I have thegym and this HUGE research project I’m working on. Thats one busy busy BUSY day.

Happy Sunday there Tumblr!!!

Okay Tumblr peoples. This post is just slightly late (only by like 6 hours) hahaha And its gonna have to be pretty short. I am one busy busy bee this evening. I have this HUGE and HORRIFIC project for my Legal Research&Writing class thats due NEXT WEDNESDAY. And in keeping with the theme of being a NON-procrastinator I have decided to GET IT DONE TONIGHT! I’m off to the school library in a few and I’m NOT LEAVING until it is FINISHED!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA <ooooh, scaring myself there>.

Anyways, I’m doing this thing called the 7-Day Perfect Challenge with a couple of my fellow Youtube Weight Loss Community peoples. Yesterday was Day#1. It went okay. Aside from the fact that I decided to take yesterday off from the gym which made it my rest day….which ultimately means that this weekend I have to go to the gym BOTH on Saturday and Sunday. But I’m hoping that this will help in a way, because normally I would take Sundays off. And because it was literally, the weekend I would not work out and I would eat CRAP all day on Sunday. And we all know that just ONE day of bingeing and do LOADS of bad to your work from the week. SO, I’m thinking that if I make Thursdays my day off then on both Saturday and Sunday I will be FORCED to have to workout and eat right. Thus solving the issue….right…???? Am I making sense of all this? Sorry, I’m kind of in a rush.

So, that makes today Day#2 of this challenge and so far? GOING GREAT! I did a great workout this morning at the gym and my eating for the day (so far) has been SPOT ON! YAY!!!! I’mreally liking the challenge of trying to do several things perfectly everyday for SEVEN DAYS!

You should try it if you want. Its more difficult than it seems.  Well, I’m off to go to the land of research. Happy Friday Tumblrs! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! See you tomorrow in the AM!

Waking up this morning….I realized……HOLY SHIT!…..Today is Weigh In Day!

Results? Not too good, but also not too bad. Today I weighed in at

186…………………….(last week I was at 185)

So…..WTF?!?!?!?!?!?!! My eating has been pretty damn perfect. I have been working out like a mo fo. Where did this come from???

Well, lets sit back and be TOTALLY honest.  Last Thursday (which is technically when my ‘new’ week starts) I didn’t workout and I didn’t exactly eat the best.  Friday was pretty good, then Saturday came.  I worked out Saturday morning, but the rest of the day I kind of fell off the wagon a bit.  I ate my healthy foods….but I didn’t control my portion sizes too well. As we all know…that is no bueno for weight loss.  THEN came SUNDAY!!!! Oh jeeze, here’s a whopper of a friggin day. I DID NOT WORK OUT AT ALL.  I did some physical activity at home though by cleaning the carpets and re-arranging all the furniture…HOWEVER, lets be honest….thats really not MUCH of a workout. And then….guess what I ate? I had chips and salsa and queso for lunch<what the hell is that?> then for dinner? SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN< yeah thats definitely chinese take out…again, what the hell is that?> So, in all honesty my eating wasn’t as good as I thought it was. And I’m friggin’ LUCKY that I only gained about a pound.

So this leads into  my next topic:

7-DAY PERFECT CHALLENGE

So, there are a few of us in the Youtube Weight Loss Community who are doing a 7-Day Perfect Challenge.  The idea is that for 7 days, you do things perfectly. Well, thats my plan for this week. I will be doing things perfectly! For reals yo! After class this morning I will be putting up a video on my Youtube Channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/missjuliejanee) and it will be about my plan for this next week.  Then I will be putting up daily videos for the next 7 days that show I’m doing my “perfect things’.  Get it? K….good.

So, here I go again. All I can say is….186…prepare to GET LOST BITCH!!! lol

My scale is such a silly little liar.

I’m starting a new daily ritual. After getting up and going through my daily Youtube Weight Loss videos and comment, video responsing, and so on….I turn on my Pandora Radio, grab my mug of coffee and begin to enjoy the tunes.  There’s really no better way to start the day off on a good note.  I realized that I hate mornings filled with silence.  I also realized that I have not experienced ONE day (in my entire life) where music wasn’t involved.  Isn’t that crazy, when you think about it? Think about how big of a role music plays in our day to day lives.  You constantly hear music pouring out of your TV, your radio in your car, advertisements online while using your computer, store radios while you’re shopping, ITS EVERYWHERE!!!

Why does this thought comfort me?

I’m a musical fanatic.  I play two instruments, and I have had a relationship with music since I was a little kid.  I think it all started when my Dad would BLAST The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, KISS, Creedance Clearwater, and so on.  We used to take these long family road trips from where we lived in Michigan (or Ohio) all the way down to Florida, for vacation. Dad drove the ENTIRE way, and to keep himself awake and alert while driving (and I’m assuming entertained as well) he would blast this music.  I remember him turning on some Bob Dylan for the millionth time (don’t get me wrong, I LOVE me some Bob Dylan) and I said, “Dad, can you PLEASE play something else? We listen to this A LOT!” And he said something like, “Oh yeah? Well if I play it so much, can you sing me one of his songs?” And I proceeded to sing the entire first verse and chorus to Bob Dylans, “Subterranian Homesick Blues”.  This is an old story that my family always remembers fondly and laughs about.  But for me, it was the beginning of a life long lesson in Musical Appreciation.

So, what does this all have to do with weight loss? Well, it coorilates in one, very simple, way.

Whenever I’m feeling depressed about my weight loss, I turn to some music to lift me back up.  Whenever I’m feeling a lack of motivation, I turn to some music to get my pumped up and ready to go to the gym.  Music is the most amazing remedy to almost any situation.  So, if you’re feeling depressed, defeated, un-motivated, and lazy……TURN ON SOME TUNES!!!! Get lost in the beat, the lyrics and the sounds in general and before you know it….you’ll be back to your right (and healthy) state of mind.

Oh boy, I missed my Monday update. Did I miss Sunday too? I man, I’m slackin’  I’m just a regular Slacker McSlackerson over here. But thats okay, I have been fairly busy over the weekend and yesterday was another whopper of a day. I was up until about 1am finishing an assignment thats due in this morning’s class. I know,I know. I should have gotten it done on Friday or Saturday, but I was too busy being lazy and enjoying everything the weekend had to offer.

Sunday was a very busy day.  We decided torent a professional, heavy duty, carpet cleaner machine from our local Home Depot and finally hit all the yucky stains that have been accumulating on our carpet for the past year and a half.  On top of cleaning ALL the carpets, we decided it would be a good idea to rearrange all the furniture too (in order to maximize our space in this tiny apartment of ours).  Well, I was officially POOPED by the end of the day on Sunday. I slept like a baby that night, then woke up Monday at 7am exact.  My son has decided that he likes to be up now and ready to go for the day by 7am.  This is cutting into my morning routine. I used to get up around 7:30am, log onto Youtube and do some video watching/commenting and just get the day going in my own way.  Well now I’m forced to start that same morning routine with my son giggling and playing and watching his morning cartoons. Oh well, its not too bad…just another adjustment. (Have any of you that have kids realized that your life is just one adjustment after another when it comes to having kids??? lol)

So, my homework is done. I’m up and dressed (makeup and everything!) and its not even 9am yet! This is already shaping up to be one hell of a productive day!

Yesterday was a pretty wonderful day for my weight loss. Over the past weekend my husband and I discovered a wonderful produce and deli outlet that has GREAT deals on large amounts of produce. So yesterday was a wonderful day for my eating habits.  I had green pepper slices, sweet red pepper slices, a big beautiful green salad and my favorite thing, I got to have tomato slices with salt and pepper! Mmmmmmmmmm! LOVES IT!!! I also did one heck of an intense workout yesterday night.  I did my usual cardio except that this time I tried to jog at an incline instead of just walking. And I upped my ab routine to more reps, boy am I feeling that this morning.

Well, thats about it for today so far. Not much else is really going on. I’m just sticking to my positivity and my healthy eating/exercising routine.  All it takes is effort, determination, and dedication.  140lbs? I’ll get there, all in due time.

Today is a pretty good day. Although, I’m having some rather unusual stomach issues.

I ended up having to leave the gym earlier than I normally would (30-40 mins earlier, in fact) because it hurt so bad and I have a mental block about using public restrooms.  So I came home. But at least I still got a 45minute workout in, which included cardio AND Ab work. I feel pretty good. Besides, its the weekend and I usually try to take it a little easier on the weekends if I can.  I may go back later tonight (much much MUCH later) just to get a few more workouts in. But, given the fact that we are steam cleaning ALL THE CARPETS in our home….yeah, that may not happen.

On an amazingly uplifting and positive note, the Youtube Weight Loss Community is just booming with new people, or people who have been gone for a while, and the support and encouragement is just out of this world AMAZING!!! I have never felt so much compassion from perfect strangers in my life. Seriously, if you’re out there reading this and you’re struggling with losing weight, I would DEFINITELY recommend checking out the YTWLC (Youtube Weight Loss Community).  If you’re not comfortable then you don’t have to make your own videos. You can simply create an account with Youtube and then proceed to watching others’ videos on a regular basis.  It sounds weird, but to tell you the truth, watching a perfect stranger have wonderful success with weight loss gives you the idea that you can TOTALLY do it too! That’s how it was (and still is) for me, anyway.  My goal is to help, motivate, support, encourage and just be there for as many people as I can along their weight loss journey.  I’m not finished losing all the weight yet, but its been over a year now, and boy have I had some major ups and downs. I feel like I could really help others who are in a low period and need that extra PUSH to get up, get out there, and get healthy!

Anyway, sorry about that ranting up there. I’m just so passionate of this wonderful community that I am PRIVILEGED to be apart of. I want EVERYONE to experience how wonderful perfect strangers can be to one another. Thats what I’m all about these days.

Don’t feed the Hate Monster. Spread love. Spread Encouragement. Spread Positivity.