Ughhhh

I have been feeling awful this last week :( most of my time has been spent sleeping or at work. Or sleeping at work ;) just kidding. Allergy shots yesterday knocked me out...I slept through to this morning after them. Food and exercise has gone out the window for the most part. Still just eating turkey and cheese for lunch but haven't worked out since last week. I'm going to do my best to go tomorrow, I just think I need sleep more than anything right now. I'll just go to bed at 8 tonight :)

Hopefully the sun will discourage people calling with stupid questions about their gas bill. Although it is the last day of the month so most calls today will be starting and stopping service I think.

Apparently I have nothing else to say today...just hope the weekend comes fast.

No Voice

Should be an interesting day as I have no voice this morning. After playing soccer last night since I needed to get some exercise, I have nooooo voice left. Seeing as my primary job function is talking...we will see how the day goes. If I can't talk, I can't do my job and have to go home since there is literally nothing else I can do. First call went ok, I joked and said my voice took a vacation without me and she laughed and said I should tell that to all my customers.

Went to the gym this morning but only worked out for about 12 minutes, burned 100 calories. I weighed myself last night and have lost some weight. Waiting to check for sure tonight before I tell you all the number I'm at :)

Shout out today to Darrien!! Happy birthday love :) we've been through a lot and even though we don't hang out very much, when we get together it's like just yesterday we were signing across the band room :) love you and hope you have a great day!!

That's all for today. Gonna stick some tissues up my nose and hope people are nice to me because I sound like and 80yr old smoker ;)

<3 Rachel

Sickie :(

I'm sick. Came into work halfway though the day. Slept from 5pm to 6am this morning with an hour in between and still was exhausted and my head was killing me...took meds and slept for another few hours then came in to work. I need the hours :/ but I'm sitting here sweating and apparently it's not even hot. Lovely. My parents have no food in their house I could eat except turkey which I ate a ton of yesterday so I broke down. But didn't eat much anyways since I don't feel good. Going back to no carbs and sugar again starting now. 

Gonna see how I feel tonight since I have a soccer game at 9:10...I didn't work out this morning and I'm trying to decide it forcing myself to workout will help or hurt me...

Not much to say today...just wish I was at home snuggling with my dogs. And maybe James :)

Planning on doing that right after work!!

Rachel

Halfway Done

Been slacking on blogging...mostly because my ipad was not in my possession the last few mornings!

I'm pretty sure that the lady who sits next to me at work got me sick. The girl on the other side of me has the exact same symptoms. My throat is killing me and my head feels like a giant cotton ball. Lovely. Let's just hope I have a voice by the end of the day...kind of a necessary part of my job.

Worked out this morning anyways. Starting over on the 30 day challenge since I didn't keep it up after day 7. Gonna finish it this time. My thighs hurt from squats this morning. Did 200 calories on the treadmill. Taking a break from counting calories and instead cutting 99% of all carbs and sugars (aside from natural sugar from fruit). Yesterday consisted of an apple and coffee with half and half for breakfast, Oscar Meyer protein pack for snack, cheddar cheese wrapped in turkey for lunch, pulled chicken for dinner and a few pieces of turkey later at night...gave most of it to the dogs :)

Today has been grapes for breakfast with my normal coffee, protein pack again (turkey, cheese, roasted peanuts) since my stomach was growling by the time I got to work. Same for lunch and maybe some salad for dinner. 

I'm really not going to be excited if today is as busy at work as yesterday. I am definitely not up to it today. I already had to ask my first customer to be put on hold so I could clear my throat so I could talk. Yay. 

That's all for today folks. 

Rachel

Those are my real (and badly painted) nails!!

Stupid people driving and calling...must be Friday.

I don't know what it is about Fridays....is there a rule that driving laws don't apply on Fridays?

If driving to work was bad...I don't even want to think about driving home. 

Went to the gym this morning. Worked out and burned about 165 calories. Had to leave early to go home and shower because I forgot the stuff I usually bring to shower at the gym. Played soccer last night. Did waaaaay better than last week. Except Morgan kept yelling at me when I had the ball to screw me up :P I didn't score and goals and it's all your fault Morgan!! 

First call this morning I was shaking by the end of it. Didn't cry this time...I was just mad. When people use their kids as an excuse...I get so upset. You should have used your kid as an excuse to PAY YOUR BILL! This lady told me she "f****** hates me". Oh I'm so hurt. Ma'am no! I need your love and acceptance. Ugh. The little faith I had in the human race before I started this job is slowly draining away. James and I are gonna be one of those old couples who yell at people (not kids) to stay off our property. I'm sure James will have his shotgun out for emphasis :)

Going to play bunco tonight with Alyssa for her husbands brother's senior fundraiser! Gonna win big ;)

This weekend will be busy. Anyone who doesn't have an Easter program to go to should come to Laurelwood Baptist Church on Sunday at 10:15 :) I'm in the program!

It's going to be a busy weekend. Tomorrow morning we have Easter practice from 12-3 then my mom's birthday party (her birthday is tomorrow by the way) from 6 to whenever, then have to be at church at 7:30 then Easter lunch after at my grandmas :)

Nothing more to report today. Hopefully it won't be too bad of a day...

Rachel

Almost Forgot to Blog!

Almost forgot to blog this morning!!

Nothing much to report, it's been busy so far at work. It's Alyssa's birthday today so I can't wait to get off work and go celebrate with her :))

Today has gone very slowly.

I'm eating a cheese and turkey burrito for lunch....this is all for today :)

Will write more tomorrow.

Is it 3:30 yet?

Todays blog will be short. I'm exhausted. Woke up with a headache...went to the gym anyways but did some light cardio...walking on an incline and by the end just walking. I figure it's burning more calories than just lying in bed :)

Soccer last night was about as bad as I expected. I was terrible! I had gotten pretty decent towards the end of the last session I played. Out the window I guess. And the running definitely almost killed me :) I don't want to know how it would have been if I wasn't going to the gym daily.

I'm impatient on most Fridays but for some reason today I am especially. Just thinking I'm going to have to talk to stupid people all day is very daunting. 

Gonna go to the bookstore today I'm thinking. Have some trade ins :) and I'm down to one book to read! It's terrible!

Same thing for food today, just grapes in my fruit cup and the wrap for lunch. Didn't have time for coffee :( might be why I'm so tired.

I have nothing else to say for now...too....tired..

But here's my morning selfie :)

I really don't want to be here...

Rachel

The Day After Yesterday

Work is sooooo much better this morning. The automated system is actually working so I've only had one call so far. Yessssss.

I did not go work out this morning, Alyssa was up super late at a Blazers game and I have soccer tonight which will be 44 minutes of cardio so I'm pretty happy with that :) and after I can do my day 8 challenge!

I went shopping last night for breakfast and lunch food. I got fruit and made myself a fruit cup (pictured below). I am a genius because instead of using Tupperware or something to hold the fruit, I can just use a disposable coffee cup. I add blackberries, raspberries, cut up strawberries and grapes. To avoid making them soggy, I don't wash them before I put them in the cup. But then when I get to work right before I'm going to eat them, I fill the cup up the rest of the way with water, shake it, then open the top flap (used for drinking the coffee usually ;P) and poor the water out! Voila! Clean and yummy fruit! It totals about 2 cups of fruit and is about 110 calories since I don't add any sweetener or anything!

Feel free to steal my idea...it is a great one :)

Looking forward to this weekend! Going gambling with my aunts for my 21st birthday (yes it was June 2013 :P) then babysitting my favorite nephew (in-law by dating James) Solomon :)

And James has the weekend off!! I always like to have something to look forward to, it makes working seem worth it. And SEEM worth it is the correct term. I found out today that our work no longer supplies sticky notes and instead cuts up scrap paper and hands a pile of that to us. Wonderful right?

Looking forward to soccer tonight...hopefully my knee won't hurt :/ I feel like I'm at least in moderate shape and I'm assuming I won't die from all the running :) never really know...it's been about 8 months since I played last! James is coming to watch...I told him if I was too bad he can watch the other game :)

I'll let you know how the game went tomorrow :)

Lots of Love,

Rachie

Wondering What Wednesday Will Bring (couldn't think of another W word)

Wednesdays are usually my favorite day of the week besides Friday because call volume is usually pretty slow and I know I'm halfway through the week and made it through the two hardest days!

Gym this morning consisted of 10 minutes on the treadmill and 14 minutes on the elliptical for a total of 220 calories burned. Then we did day 7 again because I didn't do squats yesterday. My legs are finally starting to not hurt every time I move but only managed 25 this morning so 30 more tonight...

I know it's going well when I'm soooooore.

This morning, I did a double take in the mirror when I was just wearing my under tank top which molds to my body...my waist exists!! Before it was there but resembled more of a flat line than a curve. And this morning, I saw an hourglass shape! Yay!! We are going to measure ourselves tomorrow so we can start tracking that way too.

Oatmeal for breakfast with my normal coffee, totaled 195 calories. I lowered my calorie allocation for each day to see if it makes me lose more weight faster. Don't worry, I won't starve myself :) I 

like food too much!

Work started out interesting this morning. Our automated system was down so customers couldn't make payments or get balances or anything. So the first little bit was a little crazy but helped it go faster :)

I'm going to make today a good day. I have a Starbucks protein box for lunch and I'll be meeting James and Tania at stanfords after work. Thinking I'll get salmon and veggies. I know I've been drinking enough water since I've gone to the bathroom 3 times since I woke up at 5 this morning...TMI I know :)

Nothing else to report today :)

<3 Rachel

Tuesday...Pig n a Poke

For those of you who haven't seen Supernatural you will not understand my blog title for the day :)

Exciting news! I weighed in last night at 204 :) that's 8 down from 212!!!

This morning I did 20 minutes of cardio on the elliptical and burned 210 calories then did day 7 of the 30 day challenges. Could not do the 55 squats this morning...did 50 with James last night and he made me do real ones and I thought I had broken both my legs :) will be doing the squats tonight. 

Seeing the scale dropping is very encouraging :) every time I lose some weight, I do better the next couple days because I'm motivated!

Interesting thing...our gym provides bagels the first Tuesday of every month :) which cracks me up...temptation for the weary? I grabbed one, was only 330 calories with the cream cheese. That way I didn't have to spend money at Starbucks for breakfast :)

Going to be turning in my resume for a new job...wish me luck! I need to get out of this place ASAP. This morning hasn't been terrible. Yet. Hopefully if the weather is nice enough people will forget their gas got shut off :)

I just wanted to say how blessed I am...I have a boyfriend who loves me, a family who is always there for me, and a best friend who I would hang out with all day every day if I could :)

Anyways, here's to hoping for a good day :)

Love, Rachel

Wake Me Up When Friday Ends...

Well today went downhill real fast.

Started out with a great workout with Alyssa. Did treadmill intervals for 22 minutes, burned 200 calories then did our challenges

4 push-ups

5 sits ups

20 crunches

35 squats (my legs are killing me!)

Then I got to work. My first call of the day made me cry. I could not stop crying for 20 minutes....I was in the breathing issue mode...I was pretty near hyperventilating and could not calm down and it was making me more upset that I couldn't calm down! My supervisor took me to her desk and showed me some cute clothes she bought for her great grandma and my favorite person on support desk (our go to when we need help with an account) answered which is good because I thought I was done crying but I wasn't so she talked me though it and was very sweet. She called him back for me.

Calls have been ok since. It was just a terrible way to start off the day. And it wasn't a quiet cry. All of my friends were coming over to make sure I was ok. I probably sounded like I was dying!

So today can only get better right?

I hope so.

Lost my appetite for breakfast...soup for lunch. Yesterday I went a little over on calories I think, I had one drink that I had no idea how to figure out the calories in it so I didn't track it. Had a chicken burrito and only ate half. I did have a few chips and some rice though. I could have done better but yesterday was a bad day too. It's going to cost me $100 that I barely have to put a whole new tire on my car and hope this doesn't happen again soon so I can save up money for better tires. Apparently tires are the only thing not covered by my car warranty. I even had Tania call and they didn't budge. Going to try the manufacturer today but I doubt they will do anything since it may have been a result of getting run off the road back in the snow. Ugh. 

I need a relaxing weekend.

Rachel

Thursday!!!

Today is a mix of good and bad. 

Good: I was at the gym by 5:10 and did 30 min of cardio and 8 min strength (30 day challenges)

Bad: I got about 5 hrs of sleep

Good: Coffee and oatmeal for breakfast, quick line at Starbucks :)

Bad: My car tire has a bubble in it and I'm scared to drive on it, may have to have roadside assistance (free) come put on my spare tire so it doesn't blow out on me

Good: I'm feeling great this morning after burning 240 calories with my workout :)

Bad: My first call of the day was my least favorite and most time consuming type of call I can get at this job...can't tell if that's just getting over with the bad early or a premonition of what is to come ;)

So with all of those I'm pretty much at even :)

I'm going to try really hard not to weigh myself every day because it fluctuates so much...I need to pick a day of the week and only weigh myself that day.

Yesterday was quite successful. I only ate 4 calories over my limit and went to my favorite place for dinner and had an enchilada and didn't eat too much of it :)

I was really hungry when I got home...but I was going to bed anyways so I didn't eat like I normally would have. I'm seeing improvements in my behaviors and attitude towards health and eating and I'm super excited about it because it takes a habit to lose the amount of weight I am wanting to. I think I'm definitely headed in the right direction :)

In total right now, last I checked I'm 5lbs down from what I was a few weeks ago so I'm at 207...7lbs more until my first goal will be reached!! I'm 8% towards where I want to be.

I've been drinking ALOT of water so that's really good too. And I do burn a good amount of calories walking to the bathroom and a squatting leg exercise when...well...you can figure it out :) the toilets here are gross that's all I'll say on that matter ;)

On that note...hope you all have a good day!

Rachel

(Grandma...I love YOU more.)

Cell Block A...Middle of the Week Calm Before the Storm

Wednesdays I usually don't mind. They tend to be slower in call volume but sometimes that makes the day go slower too. I'm driving moms car today since yesterday someone pointed out an air bubble on my front tire which is unsafe to drive on. Sounds like I'm going to need a new tire. Yay money...James is going to help me figure out if the tire is still under warranty. The people at the dealership were just talking me around in circles about whether they would help me or not. Hopefully by tomorrow I will be driving my car again :)

Workout was good this morning, I was late again (apparently I need more than 3 alarms?) and only did 18 minutes but I burned 172 calories because I am starting sprints to prepare for starting soccer back up next Thursday :) I cannot wait! I have missed it so much!

Yesterday was a rough day work and car-wise but was quite healthy. I ended up eating about 173 calories over what I have allotted for the day so I pulled out the old DDRmax dance pads and set a calorie limit and danced until it was reached :) burned 189 calories that way. I had a Taco Bell chicken quesadilla for lunch but the calorie count isn't terrible and I made up for it. I had IHOP for dinner and only ate 2/3 of my pancakes and half of my hash browns because I wasn't hungry anymore. Which I usually have a hard time doing. If it's not something I can take home, like pancakes soaked in syrup, I tend to eat it all to not "waste" food. But "wasting food" is better than gaining fat!

I was really encouraged because last night talking to James on the phone, he mentioned he noticed a difference in my looks on Monday :) since he sees me everyday, it is rare for him to notice a difference.

After Hawaii I slacked for a while and ate bad and was back up to my highest weight. Yuck...I'm determined now. I'm only going to be weighing myself on one scale (so it doesn't vary and depress me) and I'm going to try to limit myself to once a week on the scale so I'll see the results the best. My first goal is to get under 200.

Oatmeal for breakfast this morning :) yet again...didn't pack a lunch cuz SOMEONE (mom...) threw away my soup ;) love you mom! Definitely subway today.

Since I typed that first part of this blog, it's been 30 minutes with only one call. It could potentially be a long day :) I have a good book and my ipad so I'm not too concerned :) hope you all have a good day!!

Love, Rachie 

Morning selfie! (Grandma, I stole that cardigan you gave Jenny as you can see :P)

Life in Cell Block A

The people in my row at work say we are in cell block A. I am in A214. :)

Today hasn't been bad. Had some really pleasant customers so far which is surprising. Maybe it won't be too bad for the first day of the month. Wistful thinking probably ;) although it is april so hoping less people will call about their bills since it didn't BlLIZZARD in March :)

This morning was quite successful besides waking up late which isn't new for me. 

I wish I had done more cardio...I did 10 min on the bike, about 55 calories burned, then 7 minutes on the treadmill (with an incline but I was dying!) which burned around 70 then we did the first day of three different 30 day challenges. We are doings the plank challenge, abs and squats, and push-ups. 

Our push ups were PATHETIC! It was almost sad!! Okay...it was sad...but it will get better! I have 5 lb weights at work with me so I'm gonna start doing that in my downtime. This was my breakfast today 

It tracks my food, water, and exercises. So I can keep track of myself. And Alyssa :)

Thinking subway again for lunch. Keep for getting to pack myself lunch and I don't want to resort to Taco Bell so subway it is :)

That's all for today folks!

Rachel