I joined a…..

Happenings of this week – bullet point style.

• Job wise I finally have turned to the next chapter. I no longer feel like I am in a transition phase, from graduate school SLP intern to the SLP. Walking down the nursing home halls just felt a little better this week. It helps when your co-workers randomly compliment you on a regular basis about how efficient you are and how great of a job you do as a speech pathologist. Lemme tell you, compliments are the quickest way to get over self doubt.
• Co-Ed Volleyball Our team played the best set of games yet this Wednesday. It felt so good to play a team that was comparable to ourselves. Best part = We won!!
• BIG NEWS: I joined a gym on a monthly basis. I don’t have commitment issues when it comes to males, but I def. do when it comes to gyms. By being on a monthly basis I will not waste money when I go on long LONG breaks (like last time I went to a gym 2 years ago…whooops).
• IT FEELS wonderful to get elliptical sessions in again. I am an elliptical whore, I can admit it.  I my daily dates with Mr. Elliptical started on Tuesday and we have been going steady for 4 days straight now. Look at us
• CAR My radiator thought it would be cute and crack. Not only does that mean a $500 some dollar payment that thankfully my dad is picking up, but also working on Saturday instead of today.
• See point one- Thankfully my job is very flexible. Patients must be seen 5 of 7 days in a week period Sunday-Saturday. So this girl will be working Saturday!
• This also means a nice 4.2-.5 miles of walking home from the car shop. Built in exercise.

Foodie Pic:

Chicken Sausage (TJ’s), goat cheese, bell peppers, pepperoncini's, guacamole, & onions over shredded lettuce.

Music:

I like this version! I just like her raspy voice.

MMM Saturday night dinner after a wonderful trip to Trader Joes. A TJ’s opened in KC last weekend (finally)!! So exciting. I got so many goodies for $30.00; I was impressed with my shopping basket.  It included a bottle of Merlot, petite tomatoes, green beans, cilantro jalapeno hummus, sundried tomato sausages, goat cheese, carrots, nectarines, granny apples, peanut butter, and Greek yogurt. What a steal!

Dinner: 0

Chx ssg, goat cheese stuffed grilled jalapeno, green beans, lettuce with olive oil, pepper and goat cheese, pepperoncinis, and some hummus for dipping. I like it hot.

Challenge

After much convincing, I joined a team of 4 others in a city wide weight loss challenge. It is 10 weeks long and encourages adapting a healthy lifestyle. No crash diets here. There is a weigh in at the beginning (today) and at the ending (in 10 weeks – October). Perfect timing because earlier this week I noted that my clothes just are not fitting like they use to and after weighing in today it is apparent as to why they are not! So my goal is just to get back down to where I was before I had this steady weight gain. Turns out that is 8% of my weight. So here goes nothing!

Here is to healthy eating and limiting my obsession with horrible QT muffins the size of my head and late night 2nd dinners. Here’s to making an effort to treat my body how it should be treated with health foods and the occasional/1 daily treat.

 

This is a great idea to jump start my effort to transform myself from the current back to the usual:

Current:  

10 pounds lighter:  

 

Such a difference and yes same outfit… how perfect to compare with, no?! Don’t get me wrong I am happy at my weight right now but desire to get back into a healthy routine and back to my ideal weight!

GUESS WHERE I WENT over last weekend?! I will give you a visual clue:

Can you name that city?  I had the pleasure of traveling to Chicago for the second summer in a row to attend the Pitchfork Music Festival. It was fabulous! A little out of control (OC) at times but def. worth every penny and effort- physical, mental, and emotional- that went into it. 

My boyfriend (Sam), great friend (Natalie), and Sam’s roommate were in attendance. After jetting to Chicago on Thursday night and arranging last minute accommodations for the night, we got a wee bit saucy at the hotel bar then set off to a bar district. Honestly Nat and I were all in but the boys needed much encouragement and well in the end Sam lost his wallet – eeek. [good thing he had a suga mama with him]

The rest of the weekend was spent at Pitchfork:

We also explored a tiny bit of Chicago. The Art Institute and the Navy Pier were visited. Tourist attractions def. took to the back burner on this trip. It was fun though!

  

 

 

( I am so slow at putting up blog posts)

a cut above the rest

So I have this guy I like and he really is a cut above the rest.  Sometimes he even wants to play foodie and suggests snapping a photo of our dinner creations.  Guess which was his: number 1 or number 2.

1. 2.

Sam and I decided to grill up some KC strips and asparagus with sides of scalloped potatoes and French bread after exploring the local Nelson Atkins Art Museum.  It was a fun date day! Oh, by the way, his photograph of his plate is #2 and mine was #1.

Other than that he is just a hot dog! (and a grill master for sure)

 

Now go fire up your grills and start cooking on this steaming summer day!

flexible

flexibility to me:

    ditching plans of attending 5:30 hot yoga to go to happy hour

    & trading in the yoga for a 1 mile run and 3 mile walk in 80+ degrees

Sounds Good, Right?!

Is that not the largest shot of Jameson ever? The bartender def hooked us up on that shot and or was trying to get us sauced. Totally not complaining! It went down nice and smooth. It also jump started a series of shots and ignited my dancing/raging feet!

Being flexible is an amazing trait to possess. Another habit that I am trying to pick up is smiling while working out… def did yesterday during my ralk (run/walk) and it felt awesome and I loved seeing people drive by smile back. Smiling is contagious after all and really does do the soul good.

curvy vogue models…

 

While on Facebook, I stumbled upon this Vogue cover posted:

… this is amazing. These models look healthy, have curves, and look like real women. Now most people who say “so they aren’t starving themselves” or “that shouldn’t be on a cover.” As a society we are so quick to judge. These girls should def. be on a cover, for they are strutting real proportions. Who knows, they may indeed diet and participate in unhealthy risks to look as good as they do…we never know! Thanks Vogue!

Do you get offended by ads that do not portray the standard frail (could blow away if the wind was too strong) female figure?

Check out an article on this issue of Vogue here

confident? confident-less.

Dear Confidence,

Where the heck are you? I know that I am smart enough, I excelled in my Speech Pathology classes, I passed my board exam, and have landed a job after completing 4 internships where all my supervisor stating I was ready to be a SLP…

Where is all this self doubt and lack of self confidence coming from? Where are all these “failing” feelings coming from?

I think it is merely the transition from being a SLP intern under a supervisor to now being the only SLP in the building… maybe?

Well please come back soon, because I am sick of feeling the blues. It isn’t good for my self esteem, my interactions (friends/family), my mental health, and my waistline.

                    Love, Molly

 

Thanks to Google [I love Google]: I saw someone post this in reply to a SLP who was in their first year and felt similar to me:

Jul 3 2007, 10:08 PM

What you describe is so normal - please hang in there!!! The fact that you care that you are being effective shows that you are a good SLP!!! It is always good to question whether you are doing your best and keep alert for anything you could do to improve. This does not mean that you are not doing a good job already though. Experience will build confidence!!!

My supervisor also stated that: “I know that confidence is the hard part just remember no one knows more about speech therapy than you!”

 

Some good tips on building self confidence that I found:

1. Take action. Get it done.
2. Face your fears.
3. Understand in what order things happen
4. Prepare
5. Realize that failure or being wrong will not kill you
6. Get to know you and what you want in life

Yeah, yeah easier said than done. Right now I am going to stop loathing in my feelings of being a failure.  I am going to life my head up high, walk like I mean business, smile often, and be the “expert” that I am in the field of speech therapy. Didn’t someone wise once say Fake it till  you make it. I am going to apply that sang to my confidence level right now…and maybe if I keep pretending and with more experience it will come naturally.

--------------------------

Q: How was your job transition? Have you ever felt a lack of confidence in yourself?

 

Mind & Body

 

That is what I have been getting my bad self into lately.  The combined stresses of being a Speech Pathologist and realizing I am no longer free as a bird, paired with the thoughts that I really should be doing something good for my body and mind lead me back to Bikram Yoga.

I wish I could push myself to do a 30 day Bikram challenge;  however, with my work schedule, Wednesday night co-ed volleyball games, and desire to go out at least one weekend night, I will be lucky to get in 4-5 days a week. I am perfectly okay with that.

I love that during the 90 minutes of yoga I feel absolutely exhausted from pushing myself and focusing solely on myself and my poses, but after class I feel completely energized. It is awesome. My mind and body are thanking me already. I know it. I can’t wait to see if my body will show any physical changes at the end of these 30 days… I guess I will have to wait until July 26th!

Benefits of Bikram:

• Increased muscle tone and stamina
• Increased metabolism and fat burning
• Improved lung capacity and circulation for better cardiovascular health
• Better posture
• Increased flexibility and lubrication of the joints, ligaments and tendons
• Better balance (which along with flexibility can help prevent injury)
• Better sleeping patterns
• Decreased muscle tension
• Increased focus and concentration
• Increased sense of vitality
• Decreased anxiety and depression

And according to this website, if I complete the 90 minutes of Bikram according to my body statistics I burn around 900 calories. That is outstanding and really after class I am famished so I believe it.

Alright better get going & get my stretching, balancing, and mediating in & hopefully it decides to clear up outside because I really could go for a nice afternoon at the lake.

Namaste. (I just had to say it)