On the right track

The truth is I have been a very busy bee lately. With January 2nd starting our (my husband and I's) getting lean program (who starts anything on January 1st, in my world that is a day for gluttony) my brain has been filled with clean eating, and training, then of course thinking about eating, and food, and more food, then let’s not forget about my job and house…

The holidays were not terrible in terms of weight gain; I only suffered a 4lb increase in weight. I went from 169 to 173. I have been eating clean for 17 days or so and I have since lost the 4lbs. Katie and I have switched our gym routine to include more calisthenics and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and I am looking forward to seeing the changes in my body.

The plan I have been trying to follow is written below:

Breakfast (by 6:45am)- Whole wheat English Muffin, Natural Peanut butter

Snack 9am- Strawberries or almonds

Lunch 12:30ish- Chicken & veggies or Tuna & Veggies

Pre-workout snack- Banana & Protein Bar

Post-workout Recovery- Visalus Shake with strawberries & bananas

Dinner- Chicken and Veggies, complex carb (Brown Rice, Quinoa, etc.)

So far, it hasn’t been too hard to follow, but I intend on modifying my breakfast. I plan on swapping the whole wheat English muffin for Ezekiel Bread and adding eggs & egg whites. Eating this clean is a new venture for me, I have done weight watchers in the past and had much success with it. I decided to stop because I was working out so hard and often I could virtually eat whatever I wanted.

My goal for 2013- lose my gut, and get down to 25% or less body fat. Jamie and I are entering a competition for body building.com. Hey, you never know winning some cash to obtain my goals might offer even more incentive than a 6 pack!!

Guess who's back... Back again!

Jessica’s back. Tell a friend!!

Jamie and I before a hot night out in MIA!!!

In all honesty it feels good to be productive again. All summer I felt almost a bit depressed. I thought not working would make my life great, when in reality, I did nothing. I spent an ungodly amount of time shopping. My wallet and husband were not impressed. My schedule revolved around my direct need to get to the gym, which in fact is the ONLY thing I did consistently all summer.

I would get up, eh, around 8 or 9. Make a balanced breakfast and watch throwback MTV. (On a side note: When did I get so old that Laguna Beach would qualify as “retro” MTV!!) I would mosey to the gym around noon, go shopping, come home, eat again, watch a little more MTV or Food Network (I have a new obsession with Bobby Flay!!!) wait patiently for Jame to get home, cook dinner, hang out for a bit. Then hit the repeat button. BORING!!!!

The boys at SPACE!!!

Thankfully, I got my job back (YAY STEM!!). Things have been a little less lackadaisical since. We went to South Beach, FL for a long weekend with friends, which was a great time!!! (See pic’s below) And suddenly it’s October!! Wait, what?!

Where did all the time go?

No. Seriously.

Bestie and I at the roof top pool party :)

The girls on our way to SPACE night club!

Summer struggles

I realize I haven't posted in a while and truth be told I have not been doing anything overly time consuming. As a matter of fact I have been procrastinating... With just about everything...
I had high hopes of being able to lose more weight this summer but with excuse after excuse to eat a variety of processed meats and dips with bread I haven't been able to do that.
Fortunately I can't be too mad at myself. I have been maintaining my 169 mark. I have managed to make it to the gym regularly which shouldn't be hard but when you don't have anything to do it's easy to put things off.
We have been busy with parties and camping and through it all I've been doing a little reflecting...

1. I can't believe my diet changes... This time last year I would have been sitting out with a bag of non-pairels ( those deliciously dark chocolates you buy in the bulk section from wegmans that look like large snow caps) and drinking my face of. I really have no desire to do either. Instead I regularly choose turkey burgers over ground beef and try to stay away from anything too processed.

2. I'm happy. With myself and where I am in my life. Are things perfect... No but, I feel genuinely happy with my life.

A year ago I couldn't have said either of those things but can now and that means more to me than all the weight loss in the world.

On that Brooke Burke junk...

So the time has come where both the students and teachers have packed away their pencils, books, and school materials and promptly ran from the front doors of the school where they were teaching or learning. I am no exception. As a teacher you breathe a sigh of relief knowing you've done your best and hope that your students retain the hours of lessons you've taught them.

As my school year came to a close my impending stress level also grew... I became increasingly stressed out between end of the year procedures and testing I found myself distracted and irritable. I only now feel human and feel like I can return to my fitness goals.

Pretty sure no one would ever turn down a body like that!! Get it girl!

Hence the title "on that Brooke Burke junk". I have no job this summer, so I am going to spend my time training this summer like a star!! Double sessions and cooking like a celebrity chef. Why!? You ask! Because I will be handsomely rewarded this September with a trip to South Beach Miami. A reward for all the hard work I've put in the last year and a half.

Wish me luck!! I will be posting my measurements and before pictures soon.

Fun Fridays

The studs!!!

This Friday was supposed to consist of homemade mac and cheese, buffalo bits and hot tubs with Katie, Jason and Jamie’s best friend Tommy. Bump that, we wound up going out and having a couple of much needed drinky poo’s…

We went to Flaherty’s in Webster for dinner, where I promptly ordered a Cajun grilled chicken sandwich on a whole wheat roll, and steamed broccoli. It came out of my mouth before I even thought about it. It was just like “blah, blah, blah, and broccoli”. That right there is proof alone that people can change. I didn’t even get their French Onion soup, which I LOVE, let alone the usual, chicken French over linguine. I ate my chicken sandwich and enjoyed it greatly and felt completely satisfied.

Me and my girl Katie!!!

We had a few drinks at Flags and then headed to my personal favorite watering hole, the Winfield. I love it there. The atmosphere is always great, and I always have a blast, usually a little too much fun… which results in a not-so-fun Saturday. Not this time!

Last night however, I did not get to the state of complete inebriation, I was able to have a few drinks catch a little buzz and have an all in all great night. All of that, and I was in bed by midnight! I woke up this morning feeling refreshed and ready.

I hit the gym, went to Marshalls with Katie and Logan, and bought a pool. Yes, we bought a pool. Let the pool parties begin!!! Well, we have to wait a few weeks but then for sure they will be starting…



Having Fun



The Final Countdown!!!

The last two days of classes are this Monday and Tuesday. I can’t wait. I am tired and overwhelmed by the loss of my job and frankly I am ready for some sort of vacation.

I won’t be working my traditional Extended School Year Summer School program this year which is disappointing but it brings me a much needed break for the summer months.

This past week has been hellish in the stress department; I have been working hard to help my co-teacher get my students lab qualified. So much so that it affected my dreams! I will try to illustrate it for you…

I am running around a science lab trying to help my students become lab qualified, they need 1200 lab minutes in order to take their living environment regents and NYS has put a deadline on when the lab minutes needed to be completed (this is not actually true…yet). The deadline passes and I am running around sneaking my students into my office to try and get them lab qualified. Only to be dodging anyone in authority. I am franticly rushing them, only to have one of them squirt me in the face with a hose…It was nice of them to say thanks for the help in that manner...

That snapped me out of dead sleep. I actually sat up and looked around my bedroom, and then immediately checked to make sure I wasn’t soaking wet.

So stress has been affecting my sleep, but thankfully not my determination to eat healthy.

I have been doing much better with regards to snacking, and eating fairly clean has been giving me decent results. I have noticed little changes; a muscle that shows now that didn’t show before, a little more energy… After having a lengthy discussion with Jamie I decided weight watchers wasn’t the answer for me. It helped a lot in the beginning but I realized I was just scared to take the step into an actual, excuse free healthy lifestyle.

Goldfish however, still remain one of my weakness. Damn that crunchy, salty, cheesy little cracker.

Boys Are Back in Townnnn!!!

Well the boy’s aren’t exactly back in town but my BESTIE Katie and her husband sure are! It was a long week filled with lonely workouts and couch potato-ing. But I still managed to make it to the gym 5 times, despite being laid off in the process!

Yes, I said laid off. I know. It sucks. I am really upset by the whole thing, and the hardest part about it is that I was completely blind-sided. I was under the impression that there would be no teachers being laid off this year. But much to my surprise there were, and of the 25 or so special ed. teachers that were laid off, my number was pulled (for the fourth straight year in a row).  Now I get to spend the summer collecting unemployment hoping I can return to my current high school.

In addition to getting the pink slip, which was by the way a nice crisp white paper with Q&A’s all over it. Please, don’t they know I’ve been through this already! This weekend was littered with non-clean, non-diet friendly food, and T’s tator tots… TWICE. But it was all worth it. Friday night I got to go out on a date with Jamie, we saw Snow White and the Huntsman which was ok... I thought Kristen Stewart could have been less mopey and more heroic, but I was entertained none the less. I got to see my sisters, mom and beautiful nieces Saturday for breakfast, and Sunday I was reunited with my Fluve Love Club members Katie and Jason.

My goals remain the same for now, and may actually be super obtainable considering I will be spending my summer going to the gym, gardening, tanning and swimming… Sounds tough right?! Well, I would actually trade it all for job security, but in the meantime, this is my path!

I got myself started on a healthy foot this morning. I had Natural Peanut Butter and Whole Wheat English Muffin for breakfast, fruit and proteins for lunch, and a healthy bean filled casserole for dinner. I can’t wait.

As a sweet treat… I am shameless pedaling the most delicious non-hydrogenated peanut butter I have ever had. It is made by peanut principle, I believe it is local; you can get it from the public market or the web. But when I say delicious, I mean mouthwatering combinations of peanut butter and cookie dough, and its lower in fat and calories than traditional peanut butter. I am drooling just thinking about it!