Hammer TIme

Ok. So I have written here before.  I have talked about life and brownies.  And I think its time to change that.  I am starting on a diet plan.

I want to drop my body weight to 148lbs.  That will the lightest I have been since I started regularly weighing myself the previous summer (2012).  Right now I am 160lbs even.  With a pair of sweats on.  I only kept the sweats on because Im scared to know my real weight.  DOnt tell me, I know its close. Too close for comfort.  I am uncomfortable at the weight I am now.  I do not like my body, the way it functions, or the way I eat. 

According to WebMD, http://www.webmd.com/diet/food-fitness-planner/create-your-personal-plan I need to be eating about 2000 calories a day WITH excessive exercise.  The exercise is what I am good at, I love every part of sweating and the muscle burn and such.  Its the eating that I have a problem with. 

The calorie intake is important.  I need to be drinking 64oz of water.  That seems like a lot of water but it is important that I LFUSH out all the crap that I have let get into my body.  Its like a cleanse where I get to eat.  Those calories though, need to be good calories.  I am going very strictly gluten free and essentially carbohydrate free.  That means no processed grains whatsoever. Except quinoa.  I think that it is important to have a little bit of filler food so that I am not broke.  I will live off of meat, vegetables, fruit, eggs and milk.  I will allow myself legumes like lentils and beans.  Unsalted almonds and almond meal are also acceptable.

The liquids I take in are important, as stated before, for the cleansing of the toxins in my body.  I also find high stock value in green tea and nonfat milk.  The green tea has a small amount of caffiene that properly gets my body ready for the day.  Nonfat milk has valuable protiens and sugars that I feel work well in my body. 

The hardest part is going to be sticking to this diet plan on a daily basis.  So I will allow myself a cheat day.  Not the entire day of cheat meals just one or two snack that I would not be normally allowed.  I would prefer not to be sugar heavy carbohydrates, but more like a lsice of extremely grainy wheat toast or brown rice.

Well without further ado, let me shove this last bite of brownie into my face and start drinking water. The time is upon us that I must stop being FAT.

Brownie in a mug!

SO I should be doing my homework for Research Methods class. or at least finishing up my mom's present for her birthday tomorrow. But no. I got a call from a Div1 college coach and was able to discuss soccer, coaching and life with her for the good part of an hour! So while we chatted I wrote some notes and browsed the web.  After she hung up, I found myself on a cooking site. I was pretty into our conversation so I have no idea how I got there or why but I was on the page of the most mind melting and easy idea. A chocolate cake in mug. I dont even like chocolate cake that much.  But this looked genius.  Unlike the woman who wrote about the experience she had, I didnt actually make it, I just drooled over it.  And figured I would share it with you for my own selfish purposes.  Selfish purposes? Oh yeah this is the best place for me to put a note to remind myself to bake these lil suckas up :)


microwave!

• coffee mug
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
• 2 tablespoons whisked egg - 1 egg is too much, 1 egg white is too eggy, 1 yolk is too dense, but 2 tblsp is just right!
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3 tablespoons oil
• 3 tablespoons chocolate chips
• splash vanilla or other flavoring - try peppermint or cinnamon

For a fudgier version, omit egg! Also there are reports of successful cakes that are made using chocolate pudding instead of cocoa powder so that will be the direction I most likely take due to the price of pudding vs. cocoa powder! Let me know if you like em!!

Success Map

Tonight I was feeling more of a question to no body in particular.  I dont have the answers to these questions and I dont pretend to be even close to finding out.
What is success? I was wondering that today while I was chasing papers in the wind, trying to register high school soccer players for the irvine ID camp. What is my definition of success? Ive defined it in terms of a soccer season: a championship. Ive defined it in terms of a class in  school: an A. I have even determined what success is in terms of an ideal day.  But what is the real definition? What is life success?
In Psychology we learned that the definition of success was self-actualization. Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper A Theory of Human Motivation. At the bottom of the pyramid is physiological needs.  A person must first meet their basic needs for food, water, oxygen, etc before they can move on to the second level which is his or her safety needs.  Safety goes beyond that of the body and includes monetary well being and family security.  Level three delves a little deeper into the needs of a human being and lists friendship, family and sexual intimacy as neccessary to life success.  At the level that is second from the top in this pyramid, Maslow lists esteem. Self-esteem, confidence, and respect bring a person right up to the brink of success.  But the final triangle at the top of the pyramid is the most esoteric. Self-actualization is considered complete success.  Spontaneity, creativity, morality, problem solving and lack of prejudice are just some of the qualities that  Maslow lists for a self-actualized person.  A successful person. 
Now that I have learned all that psychology and listed it all for your understanding, I will admit that in no way helps me to understand what success really consists of.  How do I know if I will be successful in my life?
I am on the path to my success.  Each turn we take defines the success we have.  I just wish there was MapQuest or a GPS or something, I guess.

Use the Feet You Were Given

Just last week I was freaking out to my dad on the phone because it felt like I had walked myself down a cul-de-sac of decisions in reference to grad school.  Usually considered a dead end, the cul-de-sac in the round part of a street where a car is forced to about face and travel back to where it came from.  This was a great analogy for the excitement that had lead me to the current choices I was making.  I panicked because I realized I had hit a dead end.  I didnt like some of the decisions that I had made and realized that I wanted to back up.  But, I asked myself if going back where I just was created any solutions.  Sometimes the end of something important, like a career, a relationship, or a road is actually the beginning.

When one reaches the cul-de-sac it is time to park the car, get out and travel on foot. Where the car can no longer navigate, the feet can still make steps.  The obvious solution to the end of the line is not the only solution available. Instead of going backwards I need to continue moving forward. I will no longer have the sheild of the car to protect me from the elements but that does not slow my travels. With pockets full of knowledge and maybe a new pair of Nikes, the trek begins.

"You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose"

Memory of a Goldfish

Today was the day I would start a blog.  I was inspired by two blogs recently. I had one friend who was researching domain names for herself.  And the second came from my obsession with wikipedia searching random things. Today it led me to a great blog titled Bacon and Skinny Jeans. [check it out] Nonetheles, I decided that I, too, needed to Blog about my infatuation with food, workout obsession, and the daily grind.  I went to Blogspot, which I was familiar with because of a class project freshman year.  I typed in my email. then I got stuck on "domain name".  What will define ME? How do I express what I want you to get from me? I thought for a long time [planned a run with a classmate while I thought] and just kept gettting stuck on "SD from the SD".  The name took root sophmore year of college when a teammate thought she was being clever and shouted it out to me as I ran down the field.  As dumb as it may be, that was the moment I was really a part of the team! I had  a nickname! I entered that into the empty space next to the prompt and was told that that was already taken.  Confused, I typed in the name on the URL and found a Blogspot titled, SD from the SD.  Someone had taken it from me.  It gets even more strange, the name to the right of the screen was "sarahdevine".  There is another Sarah Devine? Who lives in San Diego?  I glanced at the top of the screen and saw that my choices included "Sign Out".  Apparently I was logged on to the Blogspot of Sarah Devine from San Diego.  The blog had been created in June of 2009.  About the time of my final project freshman year that required that I use a Blogspot.  I just shook my head, smiled and wrote this entry.