Hard work and dedication does pay off!

So sorry for the delay in posting it's been a crazy whirlwind couple of days; both good and bad! I'll work on catching you up with all of my trivial happenings here in the Hoosier state. To start with.....I am now an OFFICIAL Hoosier! Let's all show some excitement I really don't care if you show it or not because let's be honest, I'm not all that thrilled either, YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After spending 2.5 hours at the BMV (yes it's called the BMV in Indiana) and having to run to my office to print out my paystub's I was finally able to sit and take my test. A test??? UGH!!!! Thankfully, unlike the boy sitting next to me I passed my test! Yes, that means the poor boy next to me failed, I won't lie that scared me a little bit and made me 2nd guess the rest of my questions.

John and I had a free weekend for only the second time since we have been living here so we decided to take a road trip on Saturday. We headed to the casino in New Buffalo, MI and went to lose a bunch of hard earned money win big, which sadly did not happen. After an extended time (45 mins) at the casino and enough money later we ended decided it was not our day to break the casino's out of all their money so we left.

I had vacationed in New Buffalo a few years ago with my extended family and had ate at a fun burger joint called "Redamaks". John wasn't there with us at the time so he wanted to try it out for himself so we ventured over there to have some lunch. I knew there wasn't going to be too many healthy options so I decided to just give in to the temptation and enjoy a cheese burger. For as bad as I know it was for me it was sooooooooooooooooooo yummy and delicious!

As some of you frequent readers may remember me mentioning 3 of my fellow co-workers all decided to up and quite within 24 hours of each other (made for a not-so-fun week at work) but it lead to a group bar night on Friday after work. It was ok I headed out and enjoyed a few drinks and decided it was time to call it an early night and meet up with John for dinner. We decided upon Chili's (not going to go there again anytime soon) and we regretted it the second we started looking at the menu. Now this being the first real time I had been out to a chain restaurant since I have been 100% on my journey and it was interesting. Instead of going for the usual fried food with loaded mashed potatoes or something similar I looked for the healthy options which they had. I settled upon a southwest chicken wrap that was actually really tasty and not that bad for me!

While we are on the topic of foods here are some of the pictures of things from the last few days which I've been consuming:

Sunday Dinner - whole wheat 3 cheese something with spinach salad

Grocery trip on Thursday, healthiest I have ever had!

My new favorite snack, edamame

John made a mean steak for us on Saturday night! We split this 16oz steak, it was perfect for both of us!

These along with my dedication the past week has lead to a.......wait for it.............me loosing...............FIVE POUNDS!!!!!! For not having gone to the gym or done any significant exercise since I started my journey I'm very happy with 5lbs. My plan is to weigh myself every Sunday morning or every other Sunday morning.....any thoughts out there which may be a better idea? I would for sure love the input!

After seeing results after only one week motivates me even more for my journey and I am so looking forward to the next year! I know that this is only the beginning and the purchase of my gym membership along with a personal trainer (hopefully, still debating about that) will lead me to an overall healthier me! Can't wait to share the journey with all who are following!!!