21 day fix. day 16. the 90's weren't so bad.

day 16 into these new habits, and i can't help but think back to the 90's and how amazing they were. that's right, you heard me - the 90's were amazing. in 1990 i was 12 years old and just as my so called life was ramping up on tv, so was my love affair with manic panic hair dye and wearing argyle and mini skirts. i survived puberty, fell in love and had my heart broken more times than i care to share by too many italian boys. i sang super sad love songs alone in my room to no one but a cat and a hairbrush. i had braces for 4 years, left home for college and survived life in the mighty midwest. included in that first year of college was the dreaded "freshman fifteen", only for me it was the freshman twenty. yup. i put on twenty pounds in-between being dropped off by my weepy parents at getsch hall and leaving that freshman dorm in may of 1997. i'm not even quite sure how i did that. i should be pretty proud of myself.

when i returned to campus in late august '97, i had lost those 20 pounds and a few more. the first few weeks of sophomore year were a blur of activity and excitement as i reconnected with dorm-mates from getsch hall who were now going to be my housemates on campus. and in the first month, i can't even remember how many people told me i looked amazing and asked what i did. and i kind of shrugged like, "oh, i don't know. i just lost some weight!". as i'm settling into these lifestyle changes now, i'm remembering how many of these habits were automatic for me as i lost those 25 pounds and kept them off for the remainder of the 90's (until my first marriage and a desk job and a crippling depression took hold of me and i wound up weighing more than 200 pounds by the time i was 25. but that's a story for another day...)

some of these habits i'm re-adopting that are so familiar to what i did in that summer of '97 - 

• moving every day. even if it's 20 minutes, it's something other than sitting on the couch.
• drinking water all day long like it's my job. i have a nalgene bottle of water with me everywhere i go now. come on. don't play like you don't love those original nalgene bottles. they're awesome. f*ck kleen kanteens. i'll stick with plastic.
• allowing myself treats, but only a little bit of them, and not every day. i remember this from those days in college - i often had a stash of what i now consider pretty gross snacks: individually wrapped twizzlers, bags of pretzels, snackwell's cakes, bagels, tortilla chips. but what i did back then was have a small amount in a little dish, close the bag or box and put it away. i had forgotten about this little habit i used to have up until doing the fix these past 16 days.

i'm not saying that i'll ever get back to that 155-pound version of myself. that was 17 years ago now, and i'm afraid that at this stage in the game, gravity and motherhood have other plans for my body. but i changed my habits back then, all on my own. so i know i have the will power to change and stick to it again.

on to today!

7:00. hot toddler breath in the face. the badger took the kids downstairs so i could get a bit more sleep. i didn't have to rush off to work today since i had dentist appointment #4 in as many weeks at 10am this morning, so i planned to work from home before and after.

8:00. up and at 'em. cold sweats from dental fear have a way of keeping you from sleeping in. on to breakfast!

greek yogurt. seven sundays muesli. berries.

i ate about half of it. couldn't finish. i know. right? me. i couldn't finish food that was put in front of me. i don't know if it was dental anxiety or that my stomach may be shrinking from eating less, but i just wasn't hungry. so i didn't force it. i wrapped what was left in the fridge for later.

10:00. dentist appointment. but not without this guy...

kind of wish this would've been a cocktail.
going to the dentist half in the bag would be way easier.

i was prepared for an extraction of this tooth that even after a two-appointment root canal refuses to just die already. i love my dentist. yes, i'm terrified of him, but i also love him. it's weird. i've gone all stockholm syndrome about it. he is my captor who inflicts unbelievable pain, but i also believe that he wants to set me pain-free. so i love him. our current course of action is another round of antibiotics to see if it's just some kind of infection or flare up, and proceed from there depending on how things go in the next few weeks.

11:30. home. workout!

yup. it was leg day. i got good and sweaty and was able to do more than last time.

12:30. let's eat lunch!

hey you! away from my OMG-SHAKEOLOGY-OMG!

3:45. still not too hungry, but figured i should have a snack before attempting to face the wolves of dinner prep time. i attempted the remnants of the greek yogurt-muesli from breakfast, but it now tasted pretty gross. so i had organic blue tortilla chips instead. but only a small amount and then i put the bag away. just like it was the 90's.

this picture does not do my self-restraint justice.

6:30. dinner! this was amazing. chicken marinated in a mixture of olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, garlic cloves, oregano and pepper. the badger grilled them up while i assembled the rest of a greek salad - romaine, cucumbers, green peppers, red onion, sliced olives and a homemade greek vinaigrette (nope. still can't spell vinaigrette without being spell-checked...)

you're welcome for the really bad filter.

i also roasted some whole sweet potatoes, as you can see in the background of the picture. i had half of one with a dollop of greek yogurt.

8:15. 10 minute ab workout because i paid for the DVDs.

tomorrow is an upper body workout and i'm going to run as well. two-a-days like an athlete.

until next time,
ashley "show me the money!" rebekah