Home alone for the night. Just ordered Indian but Netflix ain’t buffering and I’m too braindead to get any work done.

I think this means I’m going to bed at 8:30pm so I can beat the Sunday morning gym crowd tomorrow.

How #fitspo is that??

Before and After

8am 5k along the Connecticut coast. Nothin’ but beach, boardwalk, and Nikes.

(For the record, this was my second formal 5k! At Color Me Rad last years my time was about 35min. Today was 33:32!!!)

CLEARLY TIME TO DRIVE AN HOUR TO THE BEACH TO RUN A 5K.

• Obsessed with green omelets for breakfast. Scallions, broccoli, and a TON of spinach! 1 egg 3 egg whites—plus lemon water! <3
• Started home brewing kombucha today! @delacroix suggested it to keep the raw-food stomach aches away and help with digestion, and it’s a charm! So now I’m brewing my only. Holy inspiration, Batman!
• Getting an iPhone next weekend because my Droid is a piece of shit. I’m going to miss the OS, but the manufacturers all blow for real.
• Researching some possibilities to get my own studio. Gonna be like $500 for lighting and a plain white backdrop, plus god knows how much every month for rent. Pretty sure it’s worth it, even if my tattoo fund is miserable as hell looking.
• Have two model lined up for the next two days. Sunday is more body graffiti  and Monday some MINDBLOWING fandom makeup. I can’t wait to post photos!
• RIght now: meal planning while baking gluten-free almond coffee blondies. OM NOM NOM. Leaving to work in 20!

Life is amazing right now. I just had to change my perspective and work a bit harder, but the opportunities are everywhere! Fitspo and body painting super hero.

• Finally back into the (inspired) fitspo routine. Had my first really good workout today post-workcation! Mile run warmup, hour of Zumba, then legs. Oh yes!
• Added garlic and probiotics to my daily supplements (which besides these includes a women’s daily, omega 3, glucosamine, L-glutamine, calcium, and B12.)
• Ordered kombucha SCOBI. My house is about to become a fermented tea micro brewery.

Not making enough progress on the career-side of my life the past week, but I blame the fact that I’ve been dealing with taxes. Next week’s goals will be to solidify some times to meet with the artists I want to work with and get a few more stable gigs. Onward!

I need to jump start my productivity. Every day I will:

• Eat exactly 1900 clean calories (my weight loss level)
• Go to the gym (including active rest days! No excuses!)
• Do one career related thing

Seems easy, but my work schedule gets nuts so it honestly looks kind of exhausting. Today I will have to find time to go to the gym, contact more artists to collaborate with,  and get my website live again.

Tomorrow it’s gym, cooking, reading, solidifying dates to meet with the artists I wanna work with, and generating a list of potential new clients.

Fucking game face time.

More of my face spam. Me, artist Angela Roberts, and our lovely model. This photo is motivating beyond words.

BODY: back to clean eating after a weeklong alcohol-and-junk binge. No weight gained, but progress was seriously slowed. My muscles feel like shit, but I’m so motivated to lose the last 20!

CAREER: more gigs, more workshops, more studio time, more networking, more more more!

LIFE: less Tumblr, less Netflix, more of what will get me to where I want to be!

February 2011 - February 2013

Dallas NABPC - New Orleans Mardi Gras

70lb difference

I love my job, but it’s painful to realize that losing weight has, by itself, been even more helpful in my success than improving my skills as a body painter. How screwed up is that? Two years ago not a damn soul noticed me. Last week it was compliment after compliment after free drink. It’s hard not to feel weird about it, honestly, even if I’ve enjoyed the change.

I don’t really think I was prepared for the emotional weirdness of weight loss, but here it is. The photoset that sums up the past two years of my life more than anyone else.

Raw Motherfuckin’ Carrot Cake

It’s vegan, it’s gluten free, there’s no refined sugar, and it tastes good as all fuck

I hope that title got your attention because I am that passionate about this recipe. I finally broke down and got a food processor just to make this, and I was not disappointed.

Be warned: loooots of nuts mean it’s a bit pricey and high in calories. I spent probably $35 on enough ingredients to make two batches, and each serving (about 1/10 of a cake) is 400 calories of awesome nutrients.

You can make one 4” cake with three layers as pictured above, or about 10 cupcakes which was what I wanted since I wanted to bring them while traveling this weekend. Choice is yours!

Cake:

• 1 1/4 cups pecans
• 1 3/4 cups dried shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 1/2  inch chunk fresh ginger 
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 Tbsp raw coconut nectar or honey
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated organic carrots
• 1/3 cup golden raisins

Frosting:

• 1 1/2 cups raw cashew pieces (preferably soaked overnight)
• 1/2 cup coconut water
• 1/3 cup agave nectar or honey
• 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract and seeds of a vanilla bean 
• 1/3 cup coconut oil (warmed to liquid)

For the cake, process the peacans until they’re crumbled, then throw in everything else except the raisins until it’s a paste. Mix those in after.

For the frosting, soak the peacans over night, then process those first. Once they’re pastey, add everything else and blend until frosting consistency. You might want to experiment with the coconut water to get a consistency that you like.

HOW FREAKIN EASY IS THAT?

[Here were my 2013 goals.] How am I doing after month number one?

• Weight: on track! down 4lbs since New Year’s and 72lbs since my heighest! 178lbs and 27% body fat even! Current long-term goal is around 165lbs or 15% body fat, which should be attainable some point between June and December.
• Running: better than thought! My goal was to get my mile time to around 10:15 consistantly, but I ran a 9:21 mile a few weeks ago and 3 miles in 31:05 today. So I’m going to up the ante: new goals are to get my 5k (3.1 miles) under 31:00 by June and around 30:00 by December. Holy cow!
• Lifting: on track, I think. I won’t bore you with the numbers, but my goal was to about double what I was lifting and I’ve started to already see improvement. I’m not sure if this was a realistic goal to start, but I’m definitely improving which makes me feel great!
• Sleeping and food: amazing! nutrition is great. Homemade everything, sticking to an almost entirely plant-based diet. Mostly veggies, a few eggs, and some random stuff like tofu and homemade gluten free waffles. No complaints! Plus 7-9hrs of sleep a night HOLLA

I am the fucking happiest person every right now, okay?

Not even roller derby or anything cool. Just a friend of mine who really wants to go.

I clearly need to figure out what I want to wear haha

This is down from 183 around the holidays and 250 two years ago

:)

Going to take measurements again tomorrow to get a better idea of my progress, and have a nice big post tomorrow about month one of my 2013 goals!

Celebrating with homemade Indian food for dinner (vegan Palak Paneer and Bindi Masala) and hanging out with my besties aka boyfriend, roommate, and dogs.

Heading off to a few days in DC for work this weekend and eating will be sporadic at best, but I’m not sure what sort of foods to bring, the best ways to keep them from spoiling, and how else I can stick to my plan.

All I have planned so far is fruit/nuts for snacks. Dinner I’ll probably eat out.

But any clues for breakfast and lunch?

[You can hit my ask too!]

I’m like on the verge of having panic attacks because I haven’t weighed myself in going on three weeks.

I don’t think about my weight at all when I weight myself every day. I feel in control. Granted, if there’s been no shift by the end of the week it’s a bit discouraging (I’m going to measure body fat twice a month to see where that’s at) but I don’t think about it often.

I take averages for the week. I have all the data to process in my brain. I know my morning weight and my afternoon weight. I know if my diet is working or what makes me bloat.

And then I don’t worry about it. I just analyze it.

But I seriously have been thinking about my weight every few hours for more than 15 days because I could be anywhere within a 10lb area.

I feel like crap. Once I’m off my period I’m going to get back to measuring everyday, but maybe that’s unhealthy and why I’m feeling shitty?

Hit my ask if you have thoughts or answer below.

I have no idea why I’m suddenly so hysterical about something that doesn’t bug me very much.

• January: Roller Derby Polar Dash
• February:
• March: local 5k on a Connecticut beach!
• April: Color Me Rad 5k
• May: Long Island Mudder 5k? Dirty Girl 5k?**
• June: Foam Fest 5k*
• July: Run For Your Lives! 5k
• August: Spartan Race*
• September: Warrior Dash?**
• October: Tough Mudder?**
• November: Manchester Road Race!* Local tradition :)
• December:

*still need to buy … **need to solidify the plans!

Basically my plans for February’s Cupid Undie Run got called off because I forgot I was going to a face/body painting convention for work that weekend (the one fucking weekend I do anything all year), so no official race next month? Hopefully I can find something last minute, but it’s not looking good. And by the time December rolls around hopefully I can find something too? Gah!!!!