Excuses

Today I'm going to tell you a few dirty little secrets that you probably don't know about me:

1.  I drink tap water and don't even think twice about it (except if there is some weird warning on the news saying not to drink it)

2.  I can't stand anti-bacterial gel hand sanitizer.  I have it in my head (or I might have read it somewhere) that some bacterias may be good for you and anti-bac kills everything, good and bad, thus making everyone in the world sick.  So, if I don't use it, I will stay healthy.  Keep that shit away from me....unless you have really sweaty hands and want to shake.

3.  I rarely use my microwave oven.  I think that it adds some weird sort of radiation to food and will eventually start making people glow in the dark. (Scary shit, I know) Plus I am convinced that food heated in the oven or on the stove tastes better. I just don't understand how it is possible to naturally heat food up that quickly. It doesn't seem right.

3a.  #3 goes away if I'm drunk and really want nachos.  Throw some cheese on some chips and let 'er melt un-naturally for about 35-40 seconds.

4.  My radio dial is always tuned to country music (preferably the old stuff) please don't change the dial, I might lose my cool on you.

5. I know every single word to the movie Top Gun, Bridget Jones Diary, and the Sir  Mixalot song, Buttermilk Biscuits.  That knowledge never comes in handy.

6.  I could go on an on but some of my confessions already make me sound like a weirdo and we all know I'm cool as shit.

Finally #7.....what this little blog post today is all about: ....I can't stand it when people make excuses, it drives me crazy......BUT......I do it ALL THE TIME. When it comes to being healthy and exercising, I am an excuse making machine.

I am all about routine.  If I'm in a routine, I can stick to just about anything I put my mind to.  If I say I'm going to workout 4 nights a week and cook healthy meals, I do it without a problem.  If I say I am going to stick to a cleanse program, no prob....Until....I have to break from my routine, all hell breaks loose and I lose my friggin' mind.  

This is where the excuses come into play....

Most of my breaks in routine come from traveling for my job.  I have to travel often, and have been doing so for years, so you'd think it would be my 'routine' now, right?  Uh....no, I like to make up excuses about it.

Excuse #1 (all excuses are to be read in a whiny voice to get the full effect)

"I'm so tired, I'm just going to watch cable TV and lay in bed"

#2 "Hotel gyms suck.  I bottom out the treadmill."

#3 "when I'm in new places it's far too dangerous to run outside. I don't know the area, I don't want to risk it.  I think I'll go to the hotel bar and talk to strangers instead."

#4. "It's impossible to eat healthy on the road.  Please pass the chicken fried steak and gravy because there isn't anything else on the menu that I could possibly eat"

#5 "packing my gym shoes takes up so much space in my bag"

I could go on and on and on.  

In the past 2 weeks I have been or will be in Omaha, Montana, Dallas, back to Omaha, then to Houston, then Chicago then back to Montana then Houston and back to Omaha then back to Houston.  

Well hell.  

That's a lot. 

Because of my traveling excuses,  I haven't been for a run or popped a bead of sweat in about 10 days.  I'm worn out, sluggish and my pants are tight.

Until today. 

I went to dinner with coworkers, came back to my room, (didn't turn on my TV) dusted off my workout clothes and headed to the gym.

To my surprise the hotel gym looked like this:

Well I'll be....Holy shit it was nice!!!!

Nicer than the gym that I go to in Omaha.  I was pleasantly surprised and ran my sweet ass off for 45 minutes and sweated like crazy.  

It felt good.

I feel fantastic now and know that I am going to sleep like a baby tonight!  Isn't it funny how you always regret NOT working out, but you never regret actually working out (or doing something good for yourself)??

What do you guys do to keep yourself healthy on the road?

I'm going to make a zero excuses effort in the future and keep it up!  Please feel free to call me out if you don't hear me talking about all of my awesome hotel workouts.

Cheers to making the most of hotel-living, pleasant surprises and no more excuses!  

Keep on the Sunnyside

I try to read a lot about foods and learn more and more about what's really good for you and what's not so good for that hot bod of yours.

Although I do have a bad habit of accepting every article on the www as the honest truth...I found a blurb that I thought was especially fascinating.

It was all about bacon and if not over-consumed, it is actually good for you.  Did you know that Bacon can actually HELP reduce blood pressure because of its mono-saturated fat content?  It also helps balance triglycerides and stabilize blood sugar.  AND can help control those bastard carb cravings.

Enough of all the science...it's also really really really good.

Follow the page 'Just Eat Real Food' on Facebook, they posted about bacon today and are absolute geniuses.  ;). They seem to site credible sources and I have learned a lot just from reading their posts.  

To quote a piece of their awesome post "promoting bacon as a red hot ticket to weight loss might seem over the top, but eggs and bacon do as up to a high-fat, high-protein, low carb breakfast. They not only help people start their day feel in happy, but can reduce hunger pangs and rev the metabolism"

So....having said all that, I was inspired and made some bacon and eggs for breakfast.

Yum.

I've been trying to master cooking a Sunnyside up egg for quite a while now.  I always get nervous and end up flipping it over thinking it's not done.  Today I tried it again.  I didn't get nervous and flip it at least....They are just not as pretty as the ones in the pictures at IHOP or Denny's.

Here's a post from the Pioneer Woman (that I found after I cooked today).  I'm going to give it a try next time.  http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2012/03/perfect-sunny-side-up-eggs/

She makes it seem so easy!

Cheers to making bacon part of your weekend routines and making the perfect sunny side up egg!

All that bacon makes me want to go for a jog!

Monday Hustle

I don't know about you, but I can't stand the word 'hustle'.  If anyone yells that word at me, I instantly slow down and am pissed.  Like flip you off and spit pissed.

Yeah, that's a cute little quote and all -but - screw you, hustle.

I think it stems from years and years of small town junior high and high school (ah, those were the days) basketball with inexperienced coaches who only knew one motivational word - 'Hustle'

Again, screw you hustle.

Ok enough of that, here is my weekend New Years resolution recap:

I am on day 6 of my Isagenix cleanse and feeling fantastic!  I made it through Thursday and Friday having liquids only.  It was hard, but not as hard as you would think.  I went to bed early Friday night to ward off and trips to the wine bar and was awoken at 3 am to my drunken upstairs neighbor yelling awful things to his girlfriend.  I am presuming he was leaving voicemails because I couldn't hear anyone yelling back.

I think he used every single cuss word in the book....because everyone knows that's how you work things out...anyway, I hope she dumped him.  He sounds like an ass, I hear him booty calling chicks at least once a week....but...no one ever comes over at 3 am.  Weird.

On Saturday and Sunday it was finally really nice outside.  I ventured out for a couple of jogs and found some makeshift 'stair masters' around town.

This is my kind of gym!  I rather run up and down these bad boys any day than going nowhere on the stair climber an treadmill.

I was glad to get outside and enjoy some fresh Nebraska air!  (And working hard-not hustling). My heart rate monitor battery went dead during my run, but I'm sure I burnt 1,000's of calories or my heart rate was so high, it couldn't handle it and crapped out.

Cheers to making the most of your surroundings and screw you, hustle!

Have a great week!

2013 Recap & Christmas Letter (sort of)

Every year I think about writing a Christmas letter.
But...

every year, I don't.

So this year, I am giving you a recap in true Krystal fashion - totally late.  (I am not sure why I can't do things on time like a normal person)  I tried to post this on New Years Day - but my www connection was so slow...then ife happened and am just now getting around to finalizing it.

Here goes... 

I love to go home to the ranch and read all of the Christmas cards that my Grandparents have gotten throughout the past years and I enjoy each and every one of them.  (even if I don't know who they are)  I always admire people who write Christmas letters!

One of my favorite Christmas letters to read is my Great Uncle Marley and Aunt Button's.  Uncle Marley writes the letter each year and he does it by months of the year and tells what he and his family did throughout the year.  Well Uncle Marley - if you are reading this, I am stealing your idea.

In this world of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, SnapChat, email, my blog etc.  Most of you probably know what I've been up to throughout 2013.  But don't worry - I am going to re-cap it anyway.  ;)

I am sticking with a traditional 'Christmas Letter', but modernizing it by posting it on my little bloggity blog. (Also - in keeping up with how I usually do things, I'm late with getting it done)

Let's start with JANUARY
First, Happy New Year!  Let the adventure begin!

Goodbye Texas, I miss you and all y'all.

I put my cute little house in Justin, TX on the market in October of 2012 and by the end of January 2013, I was moved out.  That yard was all weeds when I moved in back in '07.  I really worked hard on that lawn! (Actually I paid a guy named Jose Corona to do my yard work, but I did plant flowers and a garden. Jose was awesome and showed up every other Saturday like clock-work)

Time to get 'on the road again'....I was transferred to a construction project in Ghent, Kentucky in July of 2012 and it became too much for me to own and maintain a house in Texas, work in Kentucky and have a relationship and family in Montana. 

Something had to go. 

So in January my boyfriend and I packed everything up and moved it to storage.  I didn't realize how much crap stuff I had accumulated while living there for the past 6 years.  I gave a bunch of stuff to Goodwill - but they wouldn't take one of my prized possessions:

I bought this chair in Vernon, TX at a 2nd hand store back in 2001 for about $30 bucks and have been hauling it around ever since.  I called it my 'high dollar' chair.  (in a very Southern accent - long story) Although I did love the high dollar, it didn't make the storage cut - and for some reason Goodwill wouldn't even take it!  What the???  We left it sitting alongside the road.  I drove by a couple of months ago and it wasn't sitting there any longer.  I am hoping it is making a stray cat somewhere happy.  One thing to note is that this is probably the first time I have littered anything...besides a few beer cans in high school, ever.in.my.life. 

With all of the moving, we managed to have a little fun.  We toured the Jim Beam Bourbon Distillery!  It was really neat and a HUGE operation.  Although I still don't enjoy bourbon quite as much as the local Kentuckians do - I sure don't mind tasting! 

If you are drinking a bottle of Knob Creek any time soon - who knows, we may have bottled it!

FEBRUARY went by with a blur.  I don't even have any pictures in my camera to jog my memory!

MARCH - APRIL

In March & April I got to enjoy springtime in Kentucky!  Everything was in full bloom and was so beautiful, it helped tackle my wintertime blues and made jogging so much more pleasureable!

MAY

Nothing says Kentucky tradition more than Mint Juleps and the Kentucky Derby.  This year we got to experience it first-hand!  The first weekend in May was cold and rainy, but we managed to spend the day in our dresses and fancy hats! My boyfriend’s Mom, sister in law and nephew came all the way from Montana to spend a weekend with me in Kentucky.  We had a great time and I am so happy that I got to experience this with them!  Something to note:  a small bottle of Champagne at the Derby costs 30 bucks!  AND if you get General Admission Tickets, you will never see the track.

Then - the last weekend in May, I met some good friends in Corpus Christi, TX for the Beach to Bay Marathon Relay.  It was so much fun.  There were 6 of us and we each had to run 4-5 miles and meet for a party at the finish line!  We had a few minor traffic problems and got a little bit of a late start – but managed to finish overall with a really good pace.  It is so nice to have such good friends who are willing to travel to South Texas to run in the heat!  We had a great time and this picture only took like 50 tries to get and my feet didn’t leave the ground in hardly any of them.  It was weird, I felt like I was jumping so high too.  (if you are wondering – our shirts say “I don’t sweat, I SPARKLE”)...I actually sweat, a lot!

JUNE

One major thing in June that happened - the Kentucky humidity started and I stopped fixing my hair.  bleh 

I did manage a trip or two to Montana to see my Hunney and family and made another trip back to Texas (I couldn’t get enough beach time!) to South Padre Island, TX for some very good friend’s, Travis and Vilma's, wedding.  It was really nice to get to be there for their special day.  They are such a fun and funny couple and I am pretty lucky to have them in my life.

JULY

July was my vacation month!  Yay for vacation!  I went to Montana for 10 days and spent time in Lewistown with my sweetie and Grass Range with my Grandpa, Uncles, Aunts and little cousins.  I love my time on the ranch with my family!

I also made a trip over to Arlee, MT and spent a couple of days with my Aunt Valerie and Uncle Dib.  They have such a nice place up in the mountains.  It is so peaceful up there.  We had a great visit and it was really nice to spend time with them.

Towards the end of July, I spent a long weekend in NYC with my good friend Angela.  If felt like we toured every inch of the city and took in a couple of Yankees games.  Something to note:  a Miller Lite at a Yankees game costs about 10 bucks!  Geesh again!  We had a great time!  It was so nice to experience NYC with a good friend.  (don't worry, I blogged all about it, give it a read) 

AUGUST-SEPTEMBER

August and September flew by quickly!  My 25^th birthday (again) was in September and my co-workers filled my office full of balloons (probably at least 500)!  I think I was popping balloons until November!

Since I have lived and worked ‘on the road’ for so long, my co-workers mean so much to me.  It is so nice to have a work ‘family’ so close to me every.single.day.  It makes my life and journeys so much more memorable.

In September I made another trip to Montana and spent a day with my Dad,  my Uncle, my wonderful Grandpa Lynn and my sweet Grandma Betty.  I got to spend Gramma’s birthday with her! I am blessed every single day to have such amazing Grandparents in my life on both my Mom and Dad's sides!  Love them so much!  We made a carrot cake for Gramma and even made her blow out the candles!  It was SO GOOD!  Side note:  This recipe called for almost 6 cups of sugar!  No wonder it tasted so good!

OCTOBER

October is tobacco harvest time in Kentucky.  It was really interesting to get to watch it all from start to finish.  It's cut and harvested a all by hand and then hung it to dry in big barns that are scattered throughout the countryside.

Later in October, my Aunt Val, Uncle Dib and cousin Johnna came to visit me in the Tucky.  We spent a long weekend touring the Kentucky Countryside.  It was such a fun time!  We saw so many sites, toured the Kentucky Horse Museum, Churchill Downs, Woodford Reserve Distillery, and a riverboat tour!

Also in Mid-October I got transferred to our corporate office in Omaha, NE for a few months.  It has been a great place to live!  I live right in Omaha's Old Market area and have been really enjoying urban living!  My sister, Melody, lives there, so we have gotten to spend a bunch of time together, which has been really nice.  I didn’t realize how good it feels to have family living in the same town as me until I moved to Omaha.  ;)  My very good friend Alicia lives there too!  I am so spoiled right now to have my besties in the same place as me!

It's so nice to get to see my princess of a sister almost every day.  ;)  Love you!

NOVEMBER

In November I went to San Antonio and met up with one of my oldest friends, Tami, to run the San Antonio Rock n’ Roll half Marathon!  We had a blast and finished without injury or heat exhaustion.  (although it was about 90 degrees and 1,000%  humidity!)  I finished about 10 minutes slower than I planned, but overall was happy to finish.  (I blogged about about it back in November - you should give it a read for more details about lines to the porta jons and sweating profusely)

DECEMBER

December came and went really fast!  I took another vacation and spent 2 weeks in Montana.  ;) (wow, it seems like I vacation a lot!)  We had a fantastic Christmas with my family and my sweetie's family.  I loved every single minute of my time off with my favorite people. 

Last week I made a trip up to my old stomping grounds in Havre, MT and met up with some of my closest friends from college.  We spent the night reminiscing and catching up!  It was so good to see everyone.

We all met in the best year ever (1994) in Havre, Montana while living in the dorms at MSU-N and experienced college together and have remained friends ever since.  Fortunately or Unfortunately, we have all matured (ugh) and grown-up (wtf?)  we didn't dance on any tables or run from cops or throw-up at the end of the night - but it was so fun to catch up with our grown up versions and pick up right where we left off.  I sure miss you ladies!  It was so nice to see you and we need to get together again soon!  Please start working construction and move around with me.  It would be so fun!  ;)

Cheers and best wishes to making the most of 2014!  I hope it brings you happiness and good cheer and everything that you wish for!! 

If you’re on the road near Nebraska – look me up!  I would love to see and hear from you!  (I think I’ll be there for another month or so – then we’ll see where my work/life takes me!)  If not – I spend a lot of my weekends in Big Sky Country, I hope to see you around! 

Merry Late Christmas and HAPPY LATE NEW YEAR!

Cleansing for 9 days

If you need me during the next 9 days, you'll find me starving and huddled in a corner dreaming of losing 10 lbs.

Just kidding!

I hope 2014 is treating y'all well so far!  So far so good over here!!  

I'm sticking to my resolutions (so for) and starting the new year off with the Isagenix 9 day (which is actually an 11 day) cleanse.  I've done it a couple of times before an have even done the 30 day challenge a few times.  You basically just replace 2 meals a day with shakes and eat 1 'fork and knife' meal each day, with the exception of 4 days during the cleanse. In those days I will be deep cleansing and having liquids only. (which isn't at all as bad as it sounds, just make sure you are super busy on the liquid days and don't have time to obsess over food)

The shakes are really good and it's a fantastic way to kick start weight loss!!

Since I move so much, I have no idea where my measuring tape is right now....and my scale battery is dead, so I will be logging my stats tomorrow.  I will let you know at the end how it goes.

If you're interested in Isagenix, let me know.  They have a ton of products (not just cleansing stuff). I'd be happy to tell you more about it!  

I hope you had a great weekend!  Tomorrow I'm headed back to work after being off for over 2 weeks.  I think I want to be on vacation for a living.  Do you know where I can find a job like that?

Cheers to making the most if it and keeping up with resolutions!  Have a great week!!

2014 New Years Resolutions

Happy New Year everyone!! 

I have seriously been trying to post my 2013 recap all day from my computer but my connection is SLOW, so it's going to have to wait until I get back to #omahasomewhereinmiddleamerica. 

Cheers to making fresh tracks in 2014!

A friend of mine posted on Facebook the other day, something to the effect of:  'be excited, can you believe that some of the best parts of your life haven't happened yet!??'

What a positive outlook and so true!  Having said that, I'm excited for 2014 and looking forward to another fantastic year!

So, I'm trying something new this year and actually writing my resolutions down, they say that when you put something on paper, you hold yourself a little more accountable.

My resolutions this year:

 

Put these babies to work!!  I resolve to run 3 half marathons this year and run at least one of them in under 10 minute miles!  This means I am going to have to take my training runs a little more seriously this year. Crap.  No skipping for wine. 

I also will lift more weights this year and try a few new things in the gym or try one of my 1,000 workout DVD's that I haven't opened yet.

In 2014, I am going to EAT CLEAN even when I am traveling!  Get those cakes, candies and carbs out of my reach!!! No more excuses! I still haven't reached my goal weight and need to get my head on straight!  

I am going to take an online photography course.  I have an awesome Nikon Camera and I really need to learn how to use it a little better.

Self-Improvement wise, I really have nothing to work on.

Hah!

I need to continue to work on being more assertive and speaking up rather than holding back!  Be ready for Big K to be a Big Bitch in 2014.

Just kidding - I do need to work on being assertive and speaking my mind a little more often in certain settings (mostly at work...I have no problem being a loud mouth around my family and socially)

I have so many more resolutions in my head but don't want to set myself up for failure, so that's it for now.

Happy New Year to you and yours!  

Cheers to making the absolute most of your life!  The best is yet to come!