Weight Loss Plan

Hello guys!
As you all know I have started early on my goals/resolutions. Why not now? One of my major goals of 2015 will be to loose weight. I have seriously let myself go as in I have gained about 15 pounds in the last three months. I think the weight gain had to do with a combination of a lot of things but mostly due to depression. I was clinically diagnosed with depression summer of 2011 and I have been learning to combat it it in many different ways. I am not completely in control of it and before now it was getting better. However lately it has been pretty bad. Depression gets worse when you go through trials in your life and this one On Trying to Start a Family  is the biggest thing causing me to be gloomy these days. The winter months don't help much either but I am trying to get out of the house more to help me in this area. Anyway, I didn't realize how bad it had gotten until I fixed our scale and weighed myself. As soon as I saw the number I wanted to cry, I haven't been this big in my life. EVER. It was scary looking at that number and really made me realize the bad habits I was getting myself into.
I now have a weight loss plan, starting Friday, day after Thanksgiving! I'm starting early and I'm excited to see where it takes me next month. I am excited to continue it as one of my new resolutions for 2015 and to really change my habits for a healthier lifestyle.  I am about to get super real with you guys. I don't feel quite comfortable revealing how much I weigh currently. All I can say is that I need to loose about 50 lbs. These are my before pictures:

As you can see my upper body is the area I want to work on the most. I will be doing arm exercises as well as back, abs, and chest exercises to help with my weight loss. I am finally confident enough to post these and say that YES I am starting on this journey and you can do it too! I know that a healthy lifestyle will be key for me so I wrote down some of my goals for fitness in my planner. 

This is my current planner cover and its the best cover ever! I love the Christmas tree, so cute and adorable. I also found a use for the chocolate colored band and I think it fits perfectly and ties in with all the neutral colors on the cover. 

In the back of the Erin Condren planners there is a section filled with lined and blank paper that you can use for notes. I have almost used up all my lined pages for things like blog ideas, makeup wishlists, books to read list (which I do plan on sharing), meal planning staples (our favorite meals so I can reference it when meal planning), a Christmas gift list idea etc. Basically a lot of lists. I decided for some inspiration to use my planner to help with weight loss so I created this weight loss plan.

If you can't read my writing the daily goals are:
Eat only 1707 calories per day: I calculated this using a weight loss calculator for my height and weight, you can find a bunch all over the www.
45-60 minutes of Cardio per day
20 minutes of strength training every other day
No Sugar: extra sugar such as candies, sweets, treats, brownies, etc. I understand that sugar is in a lot of things so I am just cutting out the sweets and extra stuff.
No eating out except date night if we are going out: I have a bad habit of doing this on work days, especially because I don't pack lunch the night before so if I wake up late then I forget to pack lunch while I am running around and am forced to eat out. It's bad news. No more I tell you!
Eat Breakfast everyday: This will force me to wake up earlier, which means I should have more time to pack a lunch helping with the previous goal.

I also put some motivational quotes on the page to help inspire me to not give up:

"get up every morning and tell yourself I CAN DO THIS!" I loved that one.

"The only way you will see results is if you stay consistent." Very true so I am hoping I stay consistent and I am motivated to do so.

"Stop Wishing, Start Doing."

I am sharing these photos and my plan with you to make me accountable. I want to report back on my plan in a month and let you know how its going. I hope to see results and I will share meal plans, recipes and other tips as I go along. For now I am just working on these goals because establishing a healthy habit is the hardest step for me.

What are your weight loss tips? Any yummy recipes I should try?
XO
Caitlin
PS if you would like to get an Erin Condren Life Planner you can sign up HERE and receive $10.00 off your first order. You can also check out my other posts on my planner: HERE, HERE, and HERE

To Quit my Job or Not? That is the question

Right now I am hating my job. It was good, then my old company got bought out and we transferred to a new floor in draper. Since that time my life has been miserable. Going to work everyday has been awful. I have to drag myself there and then when I am there, I am engulfed in an environment that I don't like. I get belittled at work, texting me things that I am doing wrong and it just isn't working out. I have been debating for a few days now if I should quit my job. I finally decided that yes I am going to.
In the end, no matter how many of my coworkers and friends I have there for me to be miserable all day isn't worth it. Work just has made me so angry lately. Then I come home and I am angry at Zack, which he doesn't deserve. I have been treated horrible lately, when I am the one who stays until 11:00 pm when I don't even have to. For my best interest, it will be better off to quit.
Now I have a few things in the works. I am starting up music lessons again, so if anybody is interested and lives in Utah County, let me know. I have plans for a full time job to start in three weeks and will teach lessons after work. Things are looking up and its going to be great. I love playing the flute and piano and look forward to continue playing and teaching others.

XO

Caitlin