Small Victories

Where on earth does the time go? I swear I blog more often than I have been. Obviously it has all been in my head.

Life has been crazy amazing lately. Work is keeping me busy in a very good way. I generally keep work talk off of my little blog here, but I have to say that I am incredibly happy at work right now. I was frustrated for a while because I accepted a new role back in March, then my cohort went out on maternity leave and it was really difficult and I am finally (nearly a year later) feeling as though I have my bearings on everything; for the most part.

That aside, I feel like I need to show off some muscle that I’ve been working on. About a week ago, one of my co-workers said, “Your arms are looking really tiny!” And I was pleased, naturally. I’ve been working on these babies since the summer. Not hard, but working either way.

I tried to take a photo of my back/arm because that is looking pretty sweet, too. But I am not that gifted, apparently.

I think it’s really important to have small victories when trying to lose weight/be healthy/get in shape. So that is one little victory for me. I used to not want to wear short sleeves or tank tops because I was embarrassed by my arms, but now, sometimes I like to show them off a little.

I know I shared on twitter earlier this weekend that I am “hovering” over my twelve lost pounds. So I guess I should be celebrating that here, too.

And on that note:

Happy Monday!

Life As We Know It

Life is difficult. There’s really no way around it; from the relationships we make and maintain, to deciding what we want to do for the rest of our lives or in my case, the food I will or will not put in my mouth.

well, let me tell you a little story about a silly girl who went to Caribou with a craving and did not look up caloric information prior to doing so.

So, one might be thinking, how horrible can white hot chocolate really be? Well, let me tell you, friends, I nearly had a heart attack at work yesterday when I looked it up after enjoying the delicious white chocolate-y goodness.

I had decided the following:

• This would be my breakfast, so I would order a medium.
• I would get skim milk, as always.
• NO WHIP.

So I order my hot chocolate and wait, chat with my girlfriend. The barista loaded on the whip and I sighed to myself. I wasn’t going to make a big deal about it.

So are you ready for the nutritional information? I hope to whatever it is you believe in that you are sitting down.

Calories: 580

Fat: 32

Carbs: 58

Sugar: 57

So, you can imagine to my dismay how much I started to freak out. I started thinking about how I had already spent 14 points in the day. I only get 24 and I hadn’t even eaten anything. I was trying to figure out how I’d survive the rest of the day with 10 points as it was only 10am.

I really had to rationalize with myself and take deep breaths and say, “This was one time, your world won’t end.” And it didn’t. When I got home from work, I strapped on my heart rate monitor and did not leave the gym until I had burned at least 580 calories.

My lesson?

Caribou Coffee is evil.

on accomplishments:

On February 27, 2010, I wrote a letter to myself. Last week, I received the letter in the mail thanks to Jen:

Dear Cindy,

I hope that when you open this letter today you feel good about yourself & proud of the things you have already accomplished in your life. You have what it takes to be healthy & happy. I hope you have taken the time you need to change your lifestyle in order to achieve your goals and be on your road to being healthy.

Sincerely,

Cindy

What can I say other than “holy crap”? I read this over a few times. Put it away. Sat on it. Shoved it in my purse and read it while out and about. Sometimes I read it with a smile on my face and sometimes I cried. “& proud of the things you have already accomplished in your life.” I have been muddling over this one. I want to outline my accomplishments in the last 4 years – as dorky as they may be:

1. Graduated from college – this never seemed like a big deal for me. It seemed natural, graduate high school and go to college. I continue to run into folks who haven’t and so now, this is on my “things I am proud of” list.
2. I work for a pretty great company and have a challenging job to boot.; even if I do complain about being a human punching bag.
3. I’ve run two 5Ks. Certainly a feat for someone who hates to run.
4. I fell in love, twice, really. Pre-blogging I loved a boy & it didn’t work out. And then I loved again. And crap, you guys, as much as the second one hurt and sometimes still does – that break up changed my world.
5. I learned the meaning of “giving back” and have passion that surrounds it. I always joke that I am broke because I am always giving money to charity. But I’m okay with that.
6. I’ve learned what being a friend means.
7. I have grown leaps and bounds. I know this shouldn’t feel like an accomplishment, but it is. For someone who used to be painstakingly shy – it is huge for me when I step up and step out of myself. I’m a very quiet person in general, but growing into myself is considered an accomplishment to me.
8. I have a savings account! Anyone who knew me in college might be laughing. I never had money. Seriously. And now that I am in a place where I am actually SAVING? Amazing.

So those are my things to be proud of that I’ve accomplished. I have a good friend who constantly sings my praises and says, “I am so proud of you.” In early October, I called her to thank her for what started off as a business relationship and helping me find my strengths and into a beautiful friendship. I’d still feel small were it not for her. I still feel awkward when people come up to me and say, “I am so proud of you!” This happens a lot, actually. Last week, I was giving a presentation on creating a 360-degree vision in business and my Jr. High English teacher and I actually work for the same company now and she was at this presentation. She came up to me afterward to give me a big hug and tell me she is proud of me.

This blog post is getting increasingly long so I am going to say this:

Wherever you are in life – whether it is personal, business or otherwise, I hope you are out there praising your accomplishments and that you have a cheerleader. While it is important for us to realize our own accomplishments and be proud of ourselves, it sure is nice to have someone else rooting for you, too.