But She Had Wings.

Here you go, blogosphere. Here is today's contribution. 

I love this so much I just had to share.

Thanks to my papa for posting this on my FB wall. You totally rock!

Image from the Word Porn Facebook page 

Hope you are having an amazing Wednesday!

Love and hugs (and wings to fly)

Dacia 

FMM: Randomly Getting to Know You

If you’ve taken part in Friend Makin’ Monday (FMM) then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s questions on your own blog then add your link in the comments section over at: http://losingweightandhavingfun.com/ this way everyone over at Losing Weight and Having Fun can check out your responses. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to create your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts, too. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Randomly Getting to Know You


1) Introduce yourself in under 10 words.

Beer drinking, tree hugging, slow running, cupcake loving, vegan :)

2) How did you find Friend Makin' Mondays?

When I first started blogging three years ago I was looking for support. I scoured the interwebs for other bloggers writing about weight loss and Kenlie's blog was one of, if not the, first one I found. I have been reading ever since. I don't always participate in FMM but I certainly enjoy reading the questions and responses every week!

3) Have you ever met any of your blog readers?

 

Yes! First of all my parents, bf, and close friends all read it so obviously I have met them. But in addition to them, I have met a bunch of fellow bloggers in my travels and at Fitbloggin'. It's pretty awesome!

 

4) How many states have you visited?

 

This is a tough one. Let's see; Maine, NH, VT, Mass, Conn, RI, NY, NJ, PA, DE, WV, VA, MD, NC, SC, GA, FL, AL, MS (that's Mississippi, right?), LA, TX, AZ, CA, OR, WA, MN, IL, OH, TN, AR (Arkansas?), NV, CO, and KY. So, 33 states. Sorry middle U.S., I am more of a coastal girl ;)

 

5) What did you have for lunch yesterday?

 

E and I went out to lunch yesterday with his sister and 3 year old niece. We went to Ruby Tuesday. I had salad from the salad bar alongside my trio of side dishes; green beans, zucchini and a plain baked potato. It was pretty good. I ate it all :)

 

6) How many different places have you lived in?

 

I have lived in 9 states- PA, NJ, DE, MD, OH, FL, TX, WA, and CA- and in those 9 states I have lived in a bunch of different places/cities. I'll spare you the details. I have moved around quite a bit.

7) What's your favorite color?

I am not sure I have one true favorite. I really like red, blue and green. And yellow ;)

8) Do you have any pets?

 

I used to have two of the most amazing doggies; Ruby and Maggie. I was truly lucky to have had them for as long as I did. They were the best and I miss them every day :(

 

 

 

9) What would your ideal job be?

 

If I could swing it I would love to run an animal sanctuary for both pets and farm animals. Or possibly just become an organic farmer that also raises farm animals. Or I would want to own a bar in Philly. Any of those would work ;)

 

 

10) Do you have any tattoos?

 

 

Yes, I do. Nine of them, actually. This one is my favorite. It's not a great picture because you can't see the whole thing. The tattoo is a tree and it appears at a distance that the leaves are being blown off the branches but really they are birds, not leaves, flying away. The birds go all the way back towards my spine. I love it. It's very symbolic. 

 

 

Trying my best to look tough...LOL!      

 

 

Love and hugs,

 

Dacia

 

P.S. I have no idea what is up with the formatting of this post. I tried to fix it to no avail. Hopefully it is not too hard to read. Sorry.

Five Things Friday

1)      I am so fortunate and grateful for all of the opportunities I have gotten to travel this year. E and I have already made two trips over to NOLA and a trip to Nashville. We even had a little stay-cation last weekend when we headed over to Pensacola Beach (I live downtown, two bridges/ 8 miles away from the beach) for our Valentine’s Day getaway. We couldn’t have asked for better weather or more beautiful accommodations. It was pretty awesome.

 

I also have a whole lotta trips coming up on the horizon and I couldn’t be more excited! I am off to Houston next week for a girl’s weekend with one of my dearest friends, Monica. The following weekend E and I are heading south for Phillies spring training. We will be hitting Sarasota, Clearwater and Tampa all in just three days- that will be a bit crazy and a whole bunch of fun. Early April I head to Anaheim for EIGHT DAYS for a work conference. Super excited to see all of my west coast peeps and hopefully set up a meet up or two. Then in early May E and I head to Atlanta for the weekend to see Arcade Fire and hopefully hang with some friends there too. Then the big one, the trip I have been anxiously waiting for- I’m going home to Philly….and taking E with me. He has never been so of course we will be doing a lot of sightseeing, hit some breweries and, of course, catch a Phillies game at CBP! That is May 21-26^th- I cannot wait to see my family and my bestest friend Jaime. It’s been too long!

Ahhhh-  and I cannot forget Fitbloggin’ 14 in Savannah the last weekend of June.

Also in discussion- a trip to south Florida and possibly (hopefully) a second trip to Atlanta but this time with Jaime!

2)      HOCKEY, HOCKEY, HOCKEY!!!!    I love hockey, it’s definitely my favorite sport to watch. I hope one day I can learn how to skate and get out on the ice too! But in the meanwhile I am perfectly content with going to hockey games (and of course watching the US in the Olympics) and watching them on TV. E and I went to a whole bunch of Pensacola Ice Flyers games this year as well as a real NHL game- Avalanche v Predators when we were in Nashville. He is a super huge hockey fan and has been to 9 different NHL arenas (me, only two) and goes to almost all of the local games. When I found out I was definitely going to Anaheim the first thing I did was check the Ducks and the Kings schedules. No home games for the Kings while I am in Cali but two home games for the Ducks. So….I got tickets for both and invited two of my friends, Kiki and Annabel,  to join me. I am super pumped!

On my bucket list is to one day go to the Winter Classic. This year, January 1, 2015, the game is scheduled to be Flyers v Caps in DC. I am a Flyers fan, E is a Caps fan. My fingers are crossed that we can make it out there for this game. I know it is still pretty far out but a girl can dream, right?

3)      Yesterday I had my second personal training session. It was awesome. I still can’t do crunches but I was able to do three exercises again which I did last week, plank, boat pose, and Russian twists, with a little bit of improvement in the boat pose and Russian twists. The plank still sucked. But, to be fair, I was never very good at plank. Lol!

The workout was primarily weights (both machines and free weights) with a bit of cardio thrown in there just to get the heart rate up. It was good. This session as well as last week’s session was kind of setting the benchmark to see where my ability level is and determine what I can and cannot do. Going forward our sessions will be a mix of weights and cardio with the main focus on building muscle to help get my fat burn rate up. Sounds good to me. Happy to finally be getting my confidence back as things get easier and there is less pain after. Progress!

Oh and I am still doing the Couch to 5K program, just at my own rate. I think this was my third week and I just finished W2/D2 on Wednesday. Eh, I am not too concerned about the timing. I am not in a rush to finish the program. I am just using it to get used to running again.

4)      I just had my one year anniversary at the university and therefore needed to complete my one year performance evaluation with my boss. It went really, really well! Not only did my boss write some really amazing things about me in there but he also included feedback from other people I work with. It was nice to read that my peers think so highly of me. I mean, I think I am pretty awesome but it’s nice to know others do, too ;)

 

5)      You know, yesterday was a pretty big day for me. As you probably saw, it was my three year blogiversary. Three years ago I not only started a blog (thanks mostly to my BFF Jaime) but I also committed to change my life. I had hit my breaking point just a few days prior and I was finally able to recognize what had become of my life. It was bad, even though I still managed to keep a smile on my face, the reality of what my life had become had finally started to sink in. I was miserable. I was sick, tired all the time, everything hurt. It was just not at all the life I wanted. And I was FINALLY ready to step up to the plate and take responsibility for the actions that led me there and FINALLY ready to take the actions needed to change. And I needed to hold myself accountable for making those changes. Blogging helped. Twitter helped. Facebook helped. I shared everything; the good, the bad, and the ugly, along the way and somehow managed to end up here. Sadly, I don’t think I stressed this point enough yesterday- I would not have ended up here if it wasn’t for the amazing my support group which has somehow grown exponentially over the last three years. I am lucky. I know this and am thankful for it every day. I couldn’t have done this on my own. You have given me hope, inspiration, guidance, camaraderie, pride, happiness, love, a sense of worth, and motivation for days. You are my rock through all this. A big, huge, ginormous thank you to you!

 

Happy Friday my loves!

xoxoxox-

Dacia

My Three Year Blogiversary!

It’s been three years (THREE YEARS!!!) since I started blogging, since I committed to change my life, to lose weight, to get healthy, to become less couch-potato-y. THREE YEARS!

WOW!

Like super wow!

I cannot believe how much has changed in three years!

Obviously the big ones; moving to Florida, the end of my marriage, and of course losing an entire person’s worth of weight.

Of course those are just the really crazy big life altering ones. There was a ton of smaller, but yet also meaningful and important, changes as well.

I became a vegan (10/08/11) and haven’t looked back since

I ran.

For the first time in a really long time, I ran.

I ran a mile. Then a 5K. Then a couple more 5Ks. Then I worked my way up from there to a half marathon. 

I ran three of those.

I tried every group fitness class I could find; boxing, kickboxing, boot camp, Bikram yoga, hot yoga, gentle yoga, yin yoga, kundalini yoga, yoga for athletes, aerial yoga (you get the point, right- lots of yoga), pilates, nia, journey dance, tai chi, qigong, Zumba, spin, barre, and even more boot camp.

I bought a bike…and then another…and then another. And then I started to commute to work by bike. (wish I could do this now)

I went to concerts, plays, and musicals.

I kayaked and paddle boarded

I learned how to swim properly….and then completed my first triathlon

I ate a whole lotta new to me foods. Most of which I loved. (Eat more kale, people!)

I went to Fitbloggin’ and spent an amazing weekend with my soul mates

I went to New Orleans for the first time ever and have since gone back four times!

I went to Nashville and Portland and Daytona/St. Augustine and home to Philly.

I was by my mom’s side through her double mastectomy

I lost friends and family, all too soon

I lost my doggies, too, also too soon

I started grad school….again

I started two new jobs and was lucky to make the most amazing friends and fabulous coworkers at both!

I have drank countless beers and totally became a beer snob, which I am completely ok with

I have laughed until I cried

I felt defeated but most times I felt victorious

I went on adventures

I stopped being so damn scared of life, stopped passively sitting on the sidelines watching life pass me by and made something of it. I made this life the one I always wanted.

I made the most amazing group of friends through blogging and social media and thankfully I have had the honor to meet so many of them in real life. (and I can’t wait to meet the rest of you- I owe you lots of hugs)

But most importantly of all of the changes that have taken place over the last three years…

I feel in love…

With me.

I am absolutely, positively certain that without that acceptance and self-love I never would have gotten to this point in my life where I am healthy and happy. I found that acceptance early on in my journey (thanks mostly to a group of amazing women I met in SA) and it made all the difference. I had big dreams but for the first time in my life I was able to take the actions necessary to make them materialize. I put my needs, my health, my goals first because I knew/know that I AM WORTH IT! I am worthy of love and happiness and a healthy and active life.

And so are you.

We all are worthy of our dreams and the life we wish for.

I hope you know that.

Because you are awesome!

As is!

So, what’s in store for me now? Who knows for sure?

What I hope for though is a year filled with joy and adventure, time with friends and loved ones. A year being active and social and truly embracing everything this crazy life has to offer. Who knows exactly where I will be a year from now. But as long as I continue to love myself, accept myself, and put myself first I know this next year will be incredible!

Thank you all for being a part of my journey!

Love and big giant bear hugs,

Dacia

xoxoxo

Changing It Up....Again

The key to my happiness and joy in life is balance.

This is something I continually work at.

Balancing work and school and relationships. Balancing exercise and socializing, relaxing and housework, home cooked meals and dinners out, spending and saving.

It’s all one big balancing act.

And I love it.

When my life is (somewhat) balanced I feel like I really can and do have it all. And that is a really amazing feeling.

However, keeping or even finding balance isn’t always easy. Especially when life and expectations change weekly, even daily.

I have learned I need to be adaptable while at the same time being rigid….it’s a balance. I plan out my week but I know that most weeks  things won’t go as planned. I just try to do the best I can and be happy with it. Some weeks (some days, some hours) are better than others. That is just life.

Yes, I truly believe that this is all just a part of life and I really shouldn’t be too hard on myself or beat myself up over’where I went wrong’ or ‘not doing enough’ or ‘not being good enough’ because I am me. And if I give each day my best (regardless of what my best looks like that day) then that is always going to be good enough. Period. End of sentence.

That being said, it is still smart (and necessary) for me to look for ways to set myself up for success. Meaning, I don’t just go blindly through life hoping for things. I know that if I want to stay healthy and be active and at the same time do well in school, at my job, and in my relationships then I have to work towards that. And I am always looking for ways that help me make the most out of my limited time.

Like going to the gym with E. We get to spend time together AND I get some activity in as well. Win-win.

Or prepping my meals in advance. I spend one day cooking/prepping and then have meals for at least a week in the fridge/freezer. Not only does this save me time during the week but it allows me to easily make good food choices.

But some weeks I just don’t have the time for all that cooking. I don’t want to give up a whole weekend day to spend it shopping and chopping and cooking and cleaning. Nowadays, mainly because I am in a relationship and love spending weekends out and about with E, there are other things I would much rather be doing.

So, this week I made a really quick, late night stop at the grocery store and grabbed a bunch of prepared foods (like salad kits and frozen items and soups) and my normal mix of fresh fruits and veggies I like to snack on and called it a day. I like how easy everything is and that I am still able to make all of my own meals however, I feel like I am bordering on the edge of too much processed foods and that doesn’t make me happy.

Then I remembered that Brendan Brazier (former professional IronMan and super vegan) started a food delivery service, Thrive Foods Direct, that seemed to me to be pretty reasonable costs for fresh foods loaded with real ingredients made specifically for vegans who lead an active lifestyle. I was looking over some sample menus and thought why not give it a try? One week won’t kill me. If anything, it will take pressure off of me (the pressure I put on myself, of course) to focus on my food intake and allow me more free time on the weekends and during the week. I think this will also makes me feel better knowing I am not eating a bunch of processed crap. Sounds pretty good to me.

My first delivery is this Friday and I will be sure to let you know how it goes. Right now I am signed up for the 5 day, 3 meals a day plan but they have a bunch of other options and you can change (or cancel) whenever you want.

This is a sample menu taken from the Thrive Foods Direct FB page, sounds yummy doesn't it?

So here it goes, time to try something new…again.

Because that is what life is, right? Changing and adapting and learning and growing and just trying to be the best version of yourself you can.

Oh, and also to not being afraid to try new things and taking help when you can get it ;)

Also, on a completely unrelated note: I will be in Anaheim 4/3 through 4/10 for a work conference. I would love to schedule a meet up or two (preferably 4/3 and 4/9- my non-conference days) to hang out with my west coast peeps. Let me know if you are interested and I will be sure to post details on the FB page.

Love and hugs,

Dacia

Messages and Mantras

The little tags on my tea bags this morning had the following messages…

Live in your strength

Let your heart guide you

Hmmmm…is the universe speaking to me through tea bag messages? I think so!

These are great mantras to focus on as I transition into another week of activity (my first real personal training session EEK!), healthy eating, and happy living.

 It’s also Valentine’s Day week which makes the second message even more special. I would tell you all about the amazing plans I have for next Saturday but I don’t want to ruin the surprise for E, in case he is reading. I am doubly excited for our big V day plans Friday even though I don’t know much about them since E has kept his plans under wraps as well. No matter what we end up doing I know it will be another amazing weekend!

That’s about all I have for today but before I go I wanted to share this picture from our night out at Hot Glass Cold Brew at the FirstCity Art Center last Friday. At the studio they had a ‘Before I Die’ wall- giant chalkboards filled with ‘before I die’ with a blank space after for people to write in their message. We got there a little late so the board was already filled. E wrote one anyway. This was his post.

 "Before I die I want to lasso the moon for you!"

Yeah, that may have been the sweetest thing to ever happen in my life. I was crying when I saw what he wrote. In case you don’t know the reference, it is from “It’s a Wonderful Life” which is one of my favorite movies. Back in December E and I actually went and saw the play together and then proceeded to watch the movie. His message totally melted my heart. I’m one lucky girl!

Happy, happy Monday!

Love and hugs,

Dacia  

P.S. In case you were wondering, the tea was Vanilla Spice Perfect Energy from Yogi Tea ;)

Five Things Friday

Hooray! It’s Friday! And I don’t know about you but I am certainly looking forward to the weekend.  So much so, I will make it the first thing I talk about in this week’s edition of Five Things Friday.

#1- I live in Pensacola which, for those of you who don’t know, is on the gulf coast of Florida (in the central time zone) about ten miles from the Alabama border. It’s a pretty tiny city but a city nonetheless. I am always impressed with all the fun events going on around town. Tonight is a recurring event that I have yet to attend called hot glass cold brew at the First City Art Center. It is a fundraising event for the center and its programs and includes a hand-blown glass or hand-thrown pottery cup, pizza, beer, live music, live art demos and workshops. I am pretty excited for this event- I have been waiting since November (when I first learned about it) to attend one.  The rest of my weekend will probably a bit more low-key. Tomorrow I have a long list of errands and homework to do and I am also having some furniture delivered so most of my day will be spent on those things. Saturday night will more than likely be spent downtown at one of the bars we like to frequent and then Sunday we are heading out of town to visit E’s family. They live about an hour away and it’s a nice, easy drive. E has a three year old niece who is just the cutest little thing and thankfully she likes me too so I plan on spending a lot of time hanging out with her, playing Angry Birds.  All in all, it should be a really great weekend.

#2 This week was pretty good. Definitely the best one I have had activity wise since the surgery. Tuesday I had my fitness assessment and on Wednesday & Thursday I did the first two runs of the couch to 5K program. Wednesday’s run went really well but Thursday’s did not.  I think a lot of that had to do with the treadmill I was using, the one on Thursday was old and stuck on an incline and I think that was just too much for me. I scaled back as much as I could but afterwards I had some pain in my abdomen which was no bueno. I will try again next week, on the good treadmill, and see how I feel. I may need to opt for more cycling and limit my running if there is still pain. This whole surgery recovery/getting back into the swing of things is all new to me. I don’t know what is a healthy amount of pain/discomfort versus too much pain/discomfort. I know that it is possible for me to have lingering issues years after this surgery so right now I am just trying to figure things out.

#3 I need to get back into my greater than 50% raw diet. This way of eating is ideal for me. I feel really great when I eat pretty much all raw before dinner. I have tons of energy and I really enjoy the foods I eat which make it easy to do. However, it isn’t as easy to do when I am away from home which I was for pretty much every day for the past two weeks. Don’t get me wrong, I still managed to pack my lunches and snacks daily and still ate a decent amount of raw foods just not as much as I would like. So this week, since I plan at being at home most nights, I will try to get back into the swing of it again. Right now I think that is the most realistic plan for me to have- stick to raw before dinner on days/weeks I am home and the rest of the time just do the best I can. I mean ultimately, I can’t beat myself up if I eat oatmeal instead of having a green smoothie…both are really good and healthy options.

#4 On a more personal note…I need dating advice. After being married for so long, I am not really sure how to be a girlfriend. I fear most days I may be too smothering or too overbearing (my words, not his) but I think it is because I am so accustomed to being with the same person day in and day out. I am not really sure if I am doing the whole dating thing right. Also, is dating in your mid-thirties different? I would think it would be. I mean I have way different expectations from a relationship now than I had in my twenties. I would hope that most people my age who are out in the dating world feel the same. Kind of like the whole ‘I don’t have time for BS or head games or drama’ type mindset. I’m too old for that crap. But I do often worry that being totally open about my wants and needs can be a bit overwhelming. But that’s just the way that I am and I doubt I will change it. I guess I really am just looking for some affirmation that being this way is ok because I doubt it is possible for me to be ‘less Dacia’. LOL!

#5 Ok, so in this segment I will actually ask for your advice/input. How do you handle toxic people, especially those ones you cannot (due to circumstances) cut out of your life? Do you have a mantra or meditative phrase or some way to help get you through those frustrating moments? Although I am sure it would feel good to just scream STFU at someone I doubt that is the right way to handle this situation. So, any ideas how to work through a difficult situation with a difficult person?

Well, that’s about all I’ve got for today. I hope you all have an amazing weekend!

Love and hugs,

Dacia

From our last trip to the Abita Brewery...finally got it on there!