“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” Dale Carnegie

Hello There!

I’ve been meaning to write for some time, but never got to it.

Today, my husband is on a three-day business trip, and I am sitting here at home, on the first evening that he is out, thinking about my goals.

There are many. I have them all documented in some fashion or another. I have lists with daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals, yearly goals… life goals. I have wrapped them in my life’s statement of purpose, you name it!

But today I want to talk about one. Reach my Happy Weight. It has been so difficult! Juggling my life to fit consuming 1300 calories a day is not easy! Spring and summer have come, and I have indulged in dinners and drinks out. The hot weather hasn’t helped me in making my mind to attending a Hot Yoga class. Generally – you feel it is time to indulge and not think about the scale!

Well, that has made me not lose any weight. I didn’t gain major weight either, but I thought by the end of Summer I would be in the 150’s… I am not.!

This morning, I put this outfit together, and I have taken a picture of it, but I don’t have any intention to wear it, and then take a pic! I don’t think that pic would look any better than the one I am posting! I think the Kate Spade purse goes very well with the otherwise white and black ensemble, but you need a skinny (I mean average weight, not overweight) girl to rock it!

All I have to do is to keep at it. Like I mentioned on my second posting on Jun 07, you just have to keep at it, and pretty soon you’ll get it.

I have been trying any possible ways to be able to achieve this lifelong goal, and the other day, a new way of motivating myself, just showed up!

During an inconsequential chit-chat with my husband, we decided we will visit New York City; however, that will happen only when I reach 135lbs! We’ll just take the train from Pittsburgh or fly, and we’ll visit art galleries and museums and enjoy the awesome food NY City has to offer.

That sounds like an awesome reward! All I have to do is to lose 3-4 pounds a week, and pretty soon I’ll get there!

I have started using http://supertracker.usda.gov/ again, and being more mindful of my exercise routine and eating habits. It is a tough balance to achieve, and I have a long way to go, but I have hopes one day I will be able to achieve that balance!

Until then, I’ll keep trying to achieve this goal, as I do for any of the other many other goals I have, and eventually they’ll become reality!

Keep at it!

Tita

“The main thing is to be moved, to love, to hope, to tremble, to live.” Auguste Rodin

Yesterday was special. My husband and I got this amazing painting that is now the main image and anchor in our home.
 

It inspires us both, for different reasons.

I see this beautiful young lady as a woman who exudes power and confidence. It is Opulent. That was the first word that came to my mind when I first looked at her. Opulence. And it still is.

My husband sees this young girl as someone who is beautiful and has beautiful dreams. Looking at this painting  makes him wonder who this girl is -  perhaps the daughter of the artist, or a young girl whose parents could have commissioned the work.

This painting now looks at us majestically as we enter the living room, and we‘ve stopped many times looking back at it and letting our imaginations run freely.

I suppose this post is about following your dreams.
Those dreams then become goals and you work on them until you achieve them.

I always loved art; I was certainly very curious about art since high school and college, when I wondered about the state of mind of someone like Salvador Dali and his crazy, crazy paintings. I then loved hanging out at the art museum during its discounted price evenings. Later, when I got married, my husband and I became members of the local museums and  we check out their exhibitions regularly.

Since yesterday, I get to actually own one piece of art that inspires me so much.

Whatever your passion is, follow it. You can have it all! Work at it, because the journey until you get there is half the fun.

“What you wear is how you present yourself to the world, especially today, when human contacts are so quick. Fashion is instant language.” —Miuccia Prada

Hello again!

Another quick message to tell you about my dressing room!
Not too long ago, I posted about my old back room, now dressing room, and how happy I was with all my dresses fitting in one rack I got at IKEA.
Well, since then, the issue became about “where do I store all my shoes?” They were scattered all around the closets in the home, and it was hard to really realize what shoes I actually own.
So yesterday I decided to take a trip to Target and buy a 50-pair shoe rack! It was the best thing ever did! I carefully assembled it, and started loading up all the shoes on sight! Take a look!

This morning, dressing up was much more pleasurable, and I couldn’t stop but looking at my rearranged dressing room!
As the quote I picked says, a whole deal of personal image conceptions and theories goes on daily in our lives; be it at work, or on a social occasion. So don’t neglect your personal image - that is the first impression someone is going to make of you when you meet them for the first time!

Until then, stay cool in this blazing hot July day!

“Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” -Hippocrates

Happy Monday!

Hope everyone had a nice weekend and is enjoying the summer!

I have been very busy and extremely interested in this online class I am taking from UC - San Francisco on Nutrition through coursera.org. It focuses primarily on the relationship between food and disease and its prevention. From heart disease, to cancer to diabetes, and the list goes on. That is why I thought today’s quote was appropriate - food is the ultimate medicine for most maladies, and humanity has been saying that for a long, long time.

From all the great learning in this class, I am most impressed with the introduction to a great government web site: https://www.supertracker.usda.gov/.
This is a tracker that counts calories like many others out there, but aside from tracking your daily calories, it gives you great reports that educate you on the food choices you make every day.
If you track, you see in real time if you are meeting your nutrient needs. Not only your  caloric needs, but most importantly, it tells you how you stand in terms of your intake on fat, fiber, vitamins, calcium, potassium and all the other important nutrients you need to have in your system for a healthy diet and a healthy life.
I found this tracker extremely educational, and my husband and I already made some changes to our menu plans based on the fact that we realized we were not getting enough carbs and fiber. We are now working on  taking in more vitamin A, calcium, potassium, and iron! Bring on the leafy greens!
Another perk of using this site  is that every day you get an email with motivational comments on how you are tracking on your goals, and tips to overcome any obstacles you might be facing.

Aside from having been working on better nutrition for my family, I have also been trying to run more. I am at an 8 miles per week point, and I am planning to increase that mileage a little more. The nice warm weather really helps me want to get out there and enjoy!

Until next time!

"It is necessary to try to surpass oneself always; this occupation ought to last as long as life." – Queen Christina

Hello there!

Long time that I haven’t visited with you, but a stream of different happenings in my life kept me very busy. From starting a new job to starting a new class to everything in between!

Under the topic of trying something new, I want to tell you about this great new form of learning - it is called massive open online course (or MOOC).

These are college level online courses taught by the best in class universities around the world, and they are free! There are classes in every topic you can think of, from art and history, to advanced calculus, to all sorts of exact sciences you may be interested in.
You get top notch education just by attending a 1-3 month class, where you have the chance to interact with instructors and fellow students from different parts of the world!
And if you wish and successfully complete the program, you get a certificate - although these cannot count (yet!) as regular credit courses you might take in the regular university setting.

I am taking a nutrition course from coursera.org (there are other sites offering MOOC’s) and I am loving it! I will tell you more about this course this week!

Until then, happy learning!

Happy June!

Hello there!

"Believe that you can do it, under any circumstances. Because if you believe you can, then you really will. That belief just keeps you searching for the answers, then pretty soon you get it."
– Wally "Famous" Amos

This quote rings very true for me. This blog is one proof of that. I have been thinking of writing a blog for over a year now. Throughout that time, I wrote several entries, but never had the courage to publish. I believed in it, worked at it, and almost a year later here I am, ready for this new adventure!

Summer is almost here and I have been indulging in nice long walks around my neighborhood and parks. Today I visited a beautiful rose garden. It’s funny that in the 90’s, when I was a teenager, I totally despised my mom’s rose garden. I thought it was too cliché and too cute for someone like me to enjoy. I wanted “bad ass” plants in my garden when I grew up, and those should not have flowers at all! Funny how things change, and now I am looking forward to having my own rose garden, just like my mom had.

I want to tell you about my big accomplishment this month! I rearranged  my back room, which is now officially my dressing room! I bought a iron rack at IKEA and filled it with all my dresses. I made sure all my hangars were the same, varying only in color. Half are black, half are red, and all of them are covered with velvet. Below the rack I saved space for some of my shoes. The flip-flops are stored in a beautiful dark brown woven basket I found at Target,  right beside all the other shoes. I then changed a few items around the room, and the result is amazing! Take a pic!

My weight loss journey has been a constant for the better part of my adult life.  Although I was able to lose around ten pounds in the first three months of 2013, I haven’t lost any weight since then, and I haven’t gained any either. I actually think it is good to have a break, so that my lifestyle adjusts. I have been trying to make permanent changes. For example, the portion sizes I serve for myself every day at dinner should be significantly smaller than my husband’s, due to our differences in body mass. I have been focusing on making sure my portions are always smaller than his. I also have been doing yoga regularly. And I love it! I feel lucky for being able to experience this wonderful practice without any major injuries. I hope I can continue practicing vinyasa yoga for a long, long time!

As a challenge for next month, I suggest you take a look at all your garments. Are they organized neatly and in a way that makes you want to get dressed creatively every morning? If not, spend some time imagining how you’d like your dressing area to look. Draw inspiration from Pinterest or from the internet in general and then get to work! If you feel totally overwhelmed by the idea, consider hiring a personal organizer or if that is not an option, find a good book on the subject - you would be surprised at the resources available about organizing your closet space. It is amazing, but the way we dress often says a lot about us. And is part of that first impression you create when meeting someone. That has been the case over the centuries. People in bygone eras were identified by the clothes they wore. You could tell which town or area of the globe they came from, based solely on their garments.

Stay well and happy June!

Tita

The Big Rollout!

Hello Friends -

Like many bloggers out there, I feel the need to express my journey through life, and hopefully inspire some of you to do more, do better, be more, be better, or just appreciate how good you have it.

I am almost 40 years old and recently got married for the first time. I am an adopted child of the USA, and lived in Portugal, Southern Europe until I was 24. I then moved to the USA to pursue a career, and here I am, 15 years later, with a wonderful husband and many friends to fulfill my life.

 

I am not sure how this blog is going to evolve, but a few things I want to share include -

- Motivational quotes to guide you through life
- My experience with my goals that I set up regularly and how you can learn from that experience
- Some inspiration on fashion and perhaps sometimes an idea for an outfit you can wear that week
- My journey through weight loss and tips to keep at it
- Something new! An idea, a thought, an observation… wherever my mind takes me that day
- A challenge for the upcoming weeks

I hope to post regularly - I am thinking every week - and cover the above topics and hear from you!

Tita