I don’t have to cook much so I can’t take credit for these amazing dishes. Follow my instagram @Dawn_Melissa for more healthy dishes.
Eating healthy doesn’t have to be boring. I recently had a delicious homemade brunch of toast, beans, avocado, scrambled egg whites and – get this- meatfree sausage. I didn’t get to take any pics but trust me it was delicious. So yum. Sooooo yum!!!
I think I’m starting to love food again.
I anticipated taking on a lot of new things when I moved to London. 
Paying almost double for a grande Americano at Starbucks was one I was prepared for. Cleaning Day was not. But when you live in a shared space compromise plays an important part of establishing a healthy, happy living environment. So it looks like my cleaning day falls on Saturdays.
Still doing the healthy eating thing. It actually hasn’t been as challenging as I thought it would be. The past week I’ve eaten the most delicious healthy homemade meals all for about £4 each. I had to get creative because London is expensive and I have to pinch pennies (pences?) if I’m going to survive. So far I think I’m doing OK. The biggest challenge is finding healthy snacks to eat and resisting the cookies and cakes that I’m always craving. But at least as far as the meals are concerned, I don’t have to worry too much about doing the actual cooking. Yay! I will do a post about a week of fabulous healthy dinners soon.
I had my first official week of classes and I think I’m really going to enjoy this first semester. I’m still job and internship hunting. My social life seems to be picking up as well. Bowling was a lot of fun. Also went to the cinema for the first time. Did you know they don’t serve butter for your popcorn in movie theaters?? I was appalled. But at least I know for next time that I have my choice between sweet or salty popcorn.
Because of workload and job/internship hunt I may have to scale back to weekly blogs for now because things are getting busy.
But I think it’s a good problem to have.
Outfit of the Day (#OOTD)
Shirt – Forever 21
Faux Leather Skirt – Forever 21
Tights – Primark
Blazer – Primark
Sunglasses – Michael Kors
I’m slowly getting back into working out regularly and eating right. My ongoing weight-loss journey continues…
I know I’m always starting my weight-loss blog entries with “I’m getting back into this.” It’s a bummer that I keep letting myself down when I fall off the wagon but at least I do get back on that horse and I try again, right? (I know I’m combining different analogies here but you get what I’m saying)
I did four Cassey Ho Blogilates videos in lieu of running at the gym. I worked on my abs, legs, arms & back and butt (tee hee) and it hurt the entire time.
A funny thing happens when you’re pushing yourself through a tough workout. Your thoughts start to wander, you sweat profusely and, if you’re a sensitive little thing like me, you may start to cry.
To be clear, when I say “cry” I don’t mean break down into hysterical tears in the middle of my workout like a crazy person. I mean, cry like in that way you do when you’re pushing through something and no matter what you’re going to get through it. Like childbirth. Or a hotdog eating contest. Or life, in general. I wasn’t in tremendous pain – I could definitely feel the burn but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle physically. I just needed to cry my way through it a little bit. And you know what? I got through the damn workout.
Oh it’s such a simple metaphor for life. I may have some tough, tear-filled nights that I’ll have to continue to sweat through but come hell or high water I will get through them. (Yay! Breakthrough!)
(In my defense, I really must say that Cassey Ho’s workouts are ridiculously hard so I’m sure a lot of people have cried through them. Confess your tears in the comments below!)
Cheers,
Last night I ran 5 miles at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena.
I was only going to run 4 miles but then something happened at around mile 2 – I hit my stride.
And I just kept running.
It was a nice feeling. Running in between pockets of light and shadow. Kanye West’s “Power” blasting in my ears. The cool night air on my face.
I think I’m starting to prefer outdoor night runs to running on the treadmills first thing in the morning. Maybe I’m just feeling good about myself because I got through those five miles. Maybe I’m just in the mood to change things up a bit while I continue on this fitness journey. Whose to say.
Anyway, it’s a little less than a month before my birthday. I’m trying to reach a specific goal and come May 14th I will let you know if I reached it. Right now I’m excited because I’m starting a 10 Day Gluten Free Challenge. Today is officially Day 1. If all goes well I may extend it to 30 Days. Which means no beer for 30 Days…Eep!
But I’m excited. I had fun today shopping for gluten free food products. I tried Gluten Free pasta tonight for the first time and I really liked it. So..yeah…let’s see how this goes.
Fingers Crossed.
Keep it real – keep it Rockstar.
Repent. Release. Repeat.
“Head down…as I watch my feet take turns hitting the ground…”
Beyonce’s “Smash Into You” is playing on my Ipod and I’m 1 mile into the three I plan to run on the treadmill. Earlier this week I’d run the three miles in 34 minutes – 6 minutes faster than last week and I wanted to beat that time on this night. Incline at 2.0 – I’m panting and sweating and my sides are burning and I’m thinking somewhere in another dimension there is a version of me who could do 3 miles in 30 minutes in her sleep.
This other version of me has been healthy all her life. No freshman 15 (or 20) to slow her down. Her 20s were not a clusterf*ck of scrambling to write screenplay after screenplay — jumping from random job to random horrible job just to pay the bills (and barely doing that). She was not disorganized or lazy and she didn’t suddenly decide to go to musical theater school and waste 2 years only to find that musical theater was not her passion.
This other version of me feels so far away. So far ahead of where I am in life. She’s probably engaged or married and ready to start a family. She’s probably a homeowner and spends her weekends gardening. This other version of me has probably been to London dozens of times. She already has her Master’s Degree. She doesn’t waste her time writing a bucket list or overthinking important life decisions so much she doesn’t get anything done.
I run faster and pant harder and sweat even more as I think about this other version of me. If I could just push myself a little more….almost at the 2 mile mark….maybe I could reach her.
Maybe I could catch up to her.
Because two weeks ago it took me 45 minutes to run 3 miles. And last Thursday I ran it in 40 minutes. And earlier this week I ran it in 34 minutes. I could run three miles in 30 minutes on this night. Maybe I couldn’t do it in my sleep or without breaking a sweat but I could do it. And if I could do that…I could catch up to this other version of Dawn Melissa…maybe even surpass her.
I didn’t do everything right – even though I imagined I would. I made mistakes, got lost, took the wrong jobs and passed on the right ones. I made the wrong friends and let the right ones go. I didn’t become a famous writer…but it doesn’t mean I’m not the Dawn Melissa I was meant to be. And this other version out there somewhere….she’s just fine. I could be that girl.
But I’m OK with being me.
2 weeks into my training…I’ve lost 3.5 pounds and my best time running 3 miles….is 30 minutes.
And yay…today is my rest day. I get to rest.
Technically I’ve completed 1 1/2 weeks of training for this upcoming 10K. I started last Wednesday instead of Monday and decided to repeat the first week’s training schedule instead of moving on to week 2.
Now I’m on track – going to the gym everyday except today, which is again, REST DAY. Oh I am loving rest day. First of all, it’s an earned day of rest. I worked my butt off this week. Running 2-3 miles at the gym or around the reservoir and doing strength training. Don’t even get me started on the ab workouts and no sweets or alcohol….oh I am a champion right now.
I’ve even lost 2 lbs. My goal is to lose 20lbs by the time the 10K comes around so I guess 18 more lbs to go. Even though it would be amazing to lose those 20lbs I’m really more focused on toning up and training so that I can complete the 10K.
Last night it took every bit of energy to run 3 miles within 40 minutes. So for now that’s the time to beat. And next week (week 2) I guess I’ll have to start running 3.5-4 miles according to the training schedule.
So things are about to get a little tougher.
But I can handle it.
Is everyone calling these lists the bucket list? I feel like there might be another name for it.
Anyway, I was reticent to post my bucket list because I was afraid that if I put it out there and I never accomplished some of these things that I would look like a jackass.
But I’ve decided that’s silly.
So here’s my Bucket List (or whatever you want to call it). A (growing) list of things I’ve always wanted to do and things that I have a new found interest in doing.
1. Go to London
– March 2013, done! I went for a month and even got a BONUS trip to Paris out of it. Best trip of my life. I cannot wait to go back! Hopefully for a much longer stay.
2. Get a Tattoo
– April 2013, done! I posted a picture of it- check out the post: “Tatted…Finally!”
3. Get down to 140lbs (Bonus if I get down to 130 lbs)
4. Shoot another short film (and get it into a bunch of film festivals!)
5. Get (at least) 100,000 youtube subscribers (Hey…you never know!)
6. Backpack through Europe (or some variation of that. I don’t necessarily have to backpack)
7. Drive across the U.S. (or let someone else drive or take turns driving)
8. Learn to cook (like for real, not just a couple of recipes for learn to cool for real)
9. Learn Italian (or Spanish…or both)
10. Master RP (I will have an authentic sounding English accent!)
11. Win a (major) writing competition! (i.e. Nicholls Fellowship or Fox etc)
12. Land My Dream Job (whatever that may be, a job that makes me happy and I can look forward to go to everyday)
13. Try Bikram Yoga and/or run a marathon
14. Finish My Book (Check out my blog – Cabernet in the Dark, (Mostly) True Tales of a Side Kick Girl)
15. Make a new friend (I know, right? Cue the violins)
16. Make a great first impression (People don’t usually warm up to me until about the 3rd or 4th meeting)
17. Make an impression on someone else (Inspire, enlighten, encourage, uplift! How can I make you smile today?)
18. Get My Master’s Degree
19. Develop a new skill (Would you believe I’m not really that great with using Excel or Photoshop? Shhhhh, don’t tell anybody.)
20. Find a new hobby or craft (other than cooking).
I may add more to the list but for now this what I’m looking forward to doing. My vlog (youtube.com/DawnMelissaVlogs) is mostly about doing everything on this list so check back in with me every once in awhile!
Accompanying video coming soon!
Nothing like a yummy homemade smoothie after a long workout.
I use frozen strawberries instead of ice and I don’t use milk or yogurt but it still comes out tasty!
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How do you push past your own self-imposed limitations? What’s your pep talk consist of?
