The 'Beginning' (but not really)

As I sit here chipping away and eating my frozen Tillamook Marionberry Lowfat Yogurt, (I cannot eat yogurt at it's normal consistancy - it makes me gag - so I freeze it.  Tillamook doesn't have the underlying yogurt taste in their berry flavors - so it's great for me!) I decided to tell you all about what I have done today to begin my journey - which begins tomorrow.  For one - today was the day that I decided to start my journey, but I made a few other goals/restrictions/guidelines today.

Goals/Restrictions/Guidelines:
Eat Breakfast containing protein!

• On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday when I have later classes - some sort of cooked eggs w/ ham or something
  
• On Tuesday and Thursday, the dreaded 8 AM class days, pre-prep Hard Boiled Eggs or a Smoothie

Cook at Home!

• With less night classes - I have the opportunity to cook at home
• It's cheaper - healthier - and just better!

Pack My Lunches!

• Being a college student, I am surrounded by fast food joints and peers endulging in their fatty goodness, which is temptation galore, but it's so bad for me!
• I feel that I don't have much time for lunch - but I have more than I think and eating a packed lunch takes no longer than eating a fast food one

Practice Earlier!

• If I practice during my afternoon timeslot, I can go home and change and exercise after classes are over.  
• I can still practice later that night, but I will feel less guilt for exercising (or cleaning my apt.) when I could be practicing

OK - Goals/Restrictions/Guidelines in place!  However - I need a few things before I can start exercising these.  So what did I do?  After putting my Christmas Cash in the bank, I went shopping. No - I didn't go buy pants 2 sizes too small in hopes that I would use them.  I went to Barnes and Noble (www.bn.com) in search for a much needed cookbook.  After all - you can't cook your own meals without knowing what to put in them!  I had very few recipes at home that I stole from my mother and a cookbook put together by the ladies at my church - which consisted mostly of casseroles.   My cookbook of choice:  How to Cook Everything: 2,000 Simple Recipes for Great Food by Mark Bitterman.  Note key words: EVERYTHING, SIMPLE, and GREAT!  Everything: I need lots of options - I can be persnickety depending on the day.  Simple:  I'll admit it, I'm a cooking idiot, and this cookbook goes specific on the instructions.  Great: If I'm going to eat at home, the foods gotta freaking rock!  A few recipes I'm excited for:  Lobster Bisque ("No Soup For You"), Homemade Pizza, the many ways to Cook Veggies, Crepes, Cinnamon Rolls, and so, very much more!  While at the mall (where our B&N is located), my mom wanted to get her 50% off Sudoku Calendar, and while at the Calendar store, I found the Joy of Cooking Daily Calendar!  It has various recipes and tips - I couldn't be more excited!

After that I went online to LaptopLunches.Com to purchase my very own Bento Box.  This will help me take my own lunches to school with me and exercise a sort of portion control.  Any lunch ideas are TRULY welcome because I cannot stand home-made lunches.  I want to find a good Vinaigrette so I can eat some salads for lunch or something - but I want to keep protein in it too!  Indeed!

Tomorrow - though I'll be trying to 'start', I'll need to do some Grocery Shopping and such to get going ya know!  Thanks for your support everyone!  Comments and ideas are always welcome!
Live, Love, and Play,
Luna

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog and thank you SO much for your support! In this first post I will be explaining my reason for starting this blog as a sort of weight loss blog. Really - it's a Bettering Myself Blog.

For one - let me introduce myself. I go by Luna, at least online on some site and on this blog. No, it is not my real name. I don't have any problem disclosing my real name, but I am using an alias for a reason that many would not understand, I don't want my family reading this blog or knowing about it. I know, usually people do blogs for their friends and families, but I feel if they read my blog they would constantly be looking at my waist line or what I was shoveling into my mouth. I like the anonymity that I can have with an alias. Sure - maybe it's a little too Julie and Julia for some people, but I thought it would be fun. I doubt anyone will read it, but I can pretend I have some people rooting for me (and if you do read - I would LOVE comments of any sort).

Anyway, I am a 20 year old music major in the glorious state of Idaho. I am a performance major - which means I have to practice multiple times a day. Add on hours of music classes, I don't have much time for exercise or cooking. I do not in any way consider myself 'fat'. I would definitely call myself 'less than perfect/ideal', but I really do not have a problem with the way I look. I feel I am proportionate to my big boned structure (thanks genes), though I do have a slight tummy and thighs that are just too chubby for my liking. I am doing this not for a better body image (though I wouldn't complain if I gained one) - but rather for a better well-being and way of life.

The inspiration for this blog - and this journey- comes from my addiction to Self Magazine (self.com). They had this awesome article on reaching New Years Resolutions. Though I'm not making this my resolution (I really don't do resolutions, I feel less likely to quit if I make it feel long-term), I was inspired by that article to go gung-ho. I won't be following their 'guidelines' directly, and I probably won't eat healthy or exercise EVERY day. This is just an attempt to improve myself.

Just for the record: I will not being using a scale to weigh myself every day for my poundage. There are a few reasons for this. One - I do not own a scale... and I don't want to own one. They are intimidating and just make me feel crappy about myself. Two - Weight is a persnickety thing. Muscle weighs twice as much as fat - or so I've been told - and I don't want to get upset if I go up rather than down in weigh because of this. Three- I don't want to set 'goals', especially with life being so unpredictable. It's about how I feel about myself. I know how I want to look - not how much I will weigh when I look that way. I'd love to go down a few dress sizes (I currently falter between a 16/18 - leaning towards the 18 size) or finally be able to shop at a not plus-sized store with ease, but that may never be possible with my big-boned state

Reasons this is easier for me than it ever has been before: I was depressed a lot in high school. I hated everyone in my school and couldn't stand the immaturity of my peers. Besides - I had to take math and English and stuff, I couldn't focus on my true love - music. College gave me a chance to change that - and myself. I have never been happier than I am now - living alone in a single bedroom apartment (I don't mind if I get married - but I simply cannot live with messy and inconsiderate roommates). I am actually kinda sorta dating a guy (OK we haven't held hands yet, but we've been dating for over a month - which is HUGE for a Virgin Lip Club member like myself). I am improving every other aspect of my life - it's time to start this too!