November 3 and 4

On November 3rd, I worked out in the morning for around 15 minutes, mainly doing strength exercises and I at an apple in the morning. Then for lunch I had pumpkin ravioli and crackers with Laughing Cow cheese. Later, I went to my school's senior banquet and ate food that was offered at the buffet (which was not the healthiest food but I tried to select carefully). I grabbed some salad, tilapia, and a little bit of pasta. Then I danced on the dance floor, which I count as cardio exercise. I got back to the school really late and slept pretty late, but luckily there was no school the next day so I was able to still get eight hours of sleep. I had about 5 cups of water that day, which I know is not a lot and I definitely felt that. All in all it was a pretty healthy day and I consider it a success.

On November 4th, I worked out in the morning again and I had a grapefruit for breakfast (I just realized I like to eat a lot of fruit in the morning). Then for lunch I had pumpkin ravioli again and I am most likely going to have it for the rest of the week so heads up for that. Later in the afternoon I twisted my ankle so I was very limited on my movements so I was not able to get in any cardio workouts, which is unfortunate and I have no idea how soon I will be able to do the normal exercises that I like to do. My ankle does not hurt that bad so hopefully I will be able to be back to normal pretty soon but I probably will not know until tomorrow. For dinner I had some chili that my dad made with some rice. My water intake was pretty good today; I had eight cups of water and I feel very hydrated, which I have noticed really affects my mood. I find that I am lot more energized and happy when I am well-hydrated. Aside from my hurt ankle, it was a pretty good day. I am just worried as to how active I can be in the next few days. Maybe I will feel better once I sleep.

Let me know how you are doing!

xoxo Liz

A New Beginning

For a while I have wanted to get in shape and tone my body; however, my mind has been plagued with excuses that have restricted me from working out. So now, I have decided to really commit and start a much healthier lifestyle. I am making it official on my blog because I feel that if I share about my change in lifestyle, then I am more obligated to actually change and stick to being more fit and healthy. To motivate me even further, I have created a fitness journal and everyday I will document what I ate, my workout, what time a went to sleep and woke up, and my water intake. 

My first page consists of the changes that I am going to make (they are more like rules that I am going to follow but rules sounds really strict and scary so I am just calling them "changes").

I am very excited to start this new healthier and happier journey and I will try and blog everyday (cannot fully promise it, though) about how I am doing for about 12 weeks. Hopefully you can also start with me and if you already started, then let me know how you are doing and we can motivate each other and be on this journey together!

Tomorrow, November 3, 2014 will be my first journal log! This is exciting!!

xoxo Liz

Adventures in Virginia

We first stayed in Williamsburg, Virginia and had breakfast in Aromas Cafe.

It consisted of a cafe and a shop in the corner.

Throughout the cafe were humorous signs adding a very relaxed feel to the restaurant. 

I ordered a brie-stuffed french toast and a spiced chai latte and it was AMAZING!

Then we stopped by the Peanut Shop...

...which, naturally, sold peanuts...and A LOT of peanuts.

Where we were was so beautiful and I highly recommend everyone to go there.

For dinner I went to a french bistro and had a delicious rack of lamb with snap peas, asparagus, and the best mashed potatoes I have ever eaten.

For my dessert, I had a burnt sugar ice cream which was very unique and it was not very sweet and a little on the bitter side which is exactly what I like because I find ice cream (and desserts in general) a little too sweet for me. 

The next day we went to Charlottesville and went to a very long pedestrian-only strip mall which had very nice unique boutiques and restaurants. 

For lunch I stopped by one of the restaurants in the area and I sat outside because it was too good of a day to spend any second indoors. It's kind of weird but I had to take a picture of my water glass because it was blue and it contrasted beautifully with the white table.

I had pasta with meatballs, scallops, spinach, scallions, tomatoes, cheese and a bunch of other stuff, and, as predicted, it was fantastic. 

Afterwards we stopped by Monticello, which was the house of Thomas Jefferson and it is so beautiful  that I could not resist but take a bunch of pictures. What I am posting is only an extremely small fraction of what I actually took of the house because this blog would just be very overwhelming. 

Before the tour of the home, we went on a self-guided tour of his garden and vegetable garden which is beautiful. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take pictures of the inside of his house but I still highly recommend visiting because it is beautiful, fascinating, historic, and breath-taking.

Virginia is an amazing state full of history and culture and I highly recommend visiting!