Hey you guys!

I can't believe I actually forgot about this blog. And here I am, going to pitifully start it back up again because recent life changes. It's a brand new year right?

I'm single again, which means that I have the time to take care of myself! Yay! I have a few goals I want to get written down here, some of them I will need to take one day at a time, and some will be coming up here fast!

1.) Be a healthier person, via the foods you consume and when you consume them! I have this problem where I eat a fourth meal every day. And it's usually soup or mac 'n' cheese. The catch? I eat at 11pm at night after work! I need to not do this! I mean, I have a good snack at work between 6:30pm and 9pm, but it still doesn't quite fill me up. Usually it involves a Luna Bar with an apple, or mini Bel Cheese.

So, I'm tackling this goal by: taking it one day at a time and only eating when I'm hungry, not bored. If I'm going to stay up late I'll have a bowl of sliced up fruit and yogurt, or a bowl of steamed veggies. I'm going to eat less carbs (love carbs like crazy, but I understand I'm consuming too much), and eat more veggies, fruit, and protein. Work not eating past 11pm, or munch on veggies and fruit.

2.) I'm trying to learn how to really take care of myself. Not just the foods I eat, but also the outside of it also. Pinterest is so great with that, because I found a pin on whipping coconut oil, I use it for everything! I use it in my hair, on my skin, and on my face before bed. It's wonderful. I also use a lot of Burt's Bees facial lotions and face cleansers. They work wonderfully, but eventually I want to transition away from that and try something I can make. Especially with things like shampoo and toothpaste.

So, this goal means I'm going to take care of myself, from the inside out. Work on using less products, and trying new organic things, and make my own shampoo!

Why does it feel like a mac truck hit my face?

Yaaaaay for fucking colds.

I'm suffering through some sinus pressure and congestion. And my throat hurts. I'm just hoping it's not mono or something dumb like that. I'm still eating better, though I still need to write down/take pictures of everything. My moods are wonderful, and I think I'm getting over this cold faster than usual. Weeeee.

Anyway, I'm holding off on pictures for a little bit longer until I get my schedule all nice and cleared up. Including my sinuses. <3

The Prelude

This last week I've been doing some research on recipes and 'diets' and ways to be healthy. I've been busy working this whole last week, so I haven't had much time to put too much thought into my food, though I've been experimenting with healthy smoothies, whole grain cereal, proportions, and my moods in relation to this. It isn't helping that my period is about to start unfortunately.

I'm going to start with my food intake, this week I worked on eating less garbage like hamburger helper and frozen pizzas, and instead concentrated on making healthy smoothies and eating lots of cereal. I've made a different smoothie each time, but so far my ingredient list is a long the lines of this:

- Bananas
- Frozen Berry Mix
- Frozen Raspberries
- 1 Single Greek Yogurt in Vanilla
- Fistful of Spinach
- Splash of Pomegranate Juice
- Splash of Skim Milk
- Oatmeal

What I may try once I get groceries:
- Peanut Butter (Banana+Yogurt+PB+Oatmeal? Yes please!)
- Honey
- Protein powder
- Kale
- Apples

The smoothies made me feel extremely full, and I loved using them for breakfast when I had more time to throw stuff in a blender and go. The spinach is great since I can't taste it. I'm thinking about switching to plain greek yogurt to eliminate extra sugar, I love carbs, but I'm mostly focusing on extra sugars in my diet. I realize that they occur naturally in fruits, and I'm okay with that. But I'm trying the best I can to eat raw foods right now. I also read somewhere, something on Pinterest with eating spinach in smoothies, not to buy frozen fruit and use it. They said frozen fruit isn't healthy for you. The fuck? You have nothing backing your claim, and it's no sugar added. No big deal.

Besides smoothies, I've been eating a lot of cereal because its quick, easy, and low in pretty much everything. I've tried a few brands like Kashi, and I like the berry cereal. There's another one, I don't recall the brand, but had a hint of chocolate with whole grain. I enjoyed the fact that one bowl and I full. I didn't get as hungry as work during my first part of my shift, and I also felt good because it wasn't a huge meal to weigh me down the entire day. Regular Special K though is my favorite though, I can eat that stuff like no tomorrow. I need to remind myself that I need to cook up those steel cut oats, and that cereal doesn't have to be my only carb intake.

Alright, I have a few things I've been working on:
1.) Workout plan: researching, trying to figure out what's best. Budgeting money to afford membership.
2.) Healthy grocery list: researching, budgeting, planning meals and recipes
3.) Guidelines: Not eating past 10pm, junk food intake, etc.

Once my life gets back on a consistent schedule, I'll be able to do more with exercising and budgeting. Right I'm quite enjoying this researching phase. I'm learning a lot, and I just keep reminding myself that I'm not trying to lost weight, I'm trying to feel healthier. And so far, with these changes already in place for this week, I'm feeling so much better.

The Beginning

Hello there darlings. I'm Brooke, I'm 20 years old, and I'm a junior in the graphic design program at SDSU in South Dakota. I'm a full time student taking 15 credit hours, and I'm also working about 28 hours every week. I feel crazy, and dammit I know I am, which is why I use it to my full advantage.


I'm new to blogging, but not new to having a journal. Same thing though, right? I can only hope.
Anyway, I'm starting this food blog, or personal food journal for a number reasons. Reason number eins:
1.) I'm overweight. I'm 5'3 and I weight 180lbs. I'm considered obese on the BMI scale. But, I don't look it. I have curves and I know I'm a bit heavy, but I hold myself well, and I also have pretty decent muscle mass from the hips down. (No, it's not all in my vagina.) My calves are huge because the muscle is so big, I can't where boots over my calves because of it. But my thighs have that sexy cottage cheese texture that I'm really starting to dislike, same goes for my hips and ass. Gross.
2.) I'm comfortable with my weight in a sense that I don't try to impress people with being super skinny for them, it keeps me warm in these super frigid winters in South Dakota. But, I'm unhappy. I wish I had more muscle mass in my body, I want to be stronger.
3.) I'm disgusted that I'm willing to throw garbage down my throat and call it a meal. I want to be proud of, and take better care of my body. I want to be comfortable in clothing. I'm going to eat better food so that I feel better, inside and out.
4.) I'm sure as hell not going to lose weight to impress men, or women for that matter. This is all about me. I don't want to look like what the media tells me to look like. I'm going to look healthy by my standards. Which is lean and glowing. I'll stop when it stops appealing to me. But I want to develop new eating habits for life, since I may have a chance of developing diabetes, or other disorders.
5.) I've tried keeping food journals in the past, and I can't. I stop writing shit down, and I don't always accurately write shit down anyway. So I'm going to take pictures of the foods that I eat and post them here so I have an actual visual of what I'm eating instead of forgetting or not caring to write down what I eat. I'm also hoping that taking pictures will help me hone my retarded skills for photography. I suck at it, and need to practice, especially if I'm going to become a graphic designer. Fucking christ dude.

I'm going to eat healthier, I'm going to eat better. More raw foods, more plants like fruits and vegetables. Less garabage like McDonald's. I'll treat myself every once and a while, but that's it. I swear by it.