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A little recap on my week: I worked a ton and didn't get around to grocery shopping, but still found some healthier options around town and tried some better options for morning coffee at work! I also finally got to try the newest Starbucks refresher (Mango Dragonfruit!!!) and am going to a review!

When I work, I usually eat the sous vide egg bites (all three flavors are delicious). They are gluten-free, almost zero-carb, and super high in protein!! I pair the  bacon and new chicken chorizo ones with the avocado spread, and the roasted red pepper egg white with some sriracha. 10/10 Recommend 

I ate the grilled chicken nuggets at Chic-Fil-A one day, and while they are nowhere near as good and the classic chif-fil-a nugget or a sandwich, they were still really good. Self control.

Tuesday I had sushi, which I do not regret at all. I did have a seaweed salad and edamame and just one small roll instead of getting two rolls and no appetizers, as I sometime do. 

I actually ate breakfast on Wednesday, I had one of the new Jimmy Dean simple scrambles, it comes with a beaten egg and everything in a cup and you just follow the directions on the cup and microwave it! The one I tried was just bacon, egg, and cheese, but it was sooo good!

Some other healthy fast food options that I am considering having tonight because I still want to procrastinate grocery shopping and I’m getting very hungry: veggie burger from Freddy’s in a lettuce wrap instead of a bun, a sandwich from Jimmy Johns, also in a lettuce wrap, or a salad from either Zaxby’s or Arby’s. 

For coffee, I almost always drink cold drinks. When the weather gets cold, I’ll share some hot drink options! Today I had just an iced coffee with two sweet & low instead of classic syrup and with heavy cream. Heavy cream is high in fat but the lowest in sugar and carbs, which is why of you’re doing the Atkin’s diet, keto diet, or just trying to cut down on carbs or sugar, it’s the best option. Personally, i think that any entire drink made with heavy cream is too much because it’s thicker. That is why I always recommend an iced coffee or iced americano with a splash of heavy cream. On Saturday, I had an iced blonde americano with three stevia, heavy cream, and added some cinnamon powder. These are also cheaper beverages compared to something like an iced white mocha or a frappuccino. 

Finally, the beautiful drink pictured above: the mango dragonfruit refresher with coconut milk instead of water. This new refresher is so good any way you make it: the original recipe, with lemonade, with green tea, or with coconut milk. The refreshers are caffeinated and super refreshing, but are pre-sweetened, so I still consider them a treat, but they are still pretty low-cal. With green tea it gives it a little extra caffeine, and is the lowest calorie content, with a grande only being 80 calories. (The cool lime refresher is only 45, berry hibiscus at 60)

I have been tracking my weight, body fat percentage, metabolic age, water percentage with my new bluetooth scale and have seen a pretty steady but slight decrease in my weight and body fat. I do really believe that the green tea is helping with my metabolism and body water. The only physical activity I have been doing is walking my dog and using the stairs when I take her out (I live on the fourth floor) and just being on my feet at work all the time. 

So this week, I will be continuing making healthier choices, but my main focus is money. I am not a good role model when it comes to budgeting, but it is getting down to crunch time because July is going to be really hard on my bank account. My pay day is this Friday and I will be acquiring tips from bartending several nights this week, so I will be creating a super strict budget when I see how much I get, and I will share anything that helps me create that July budget!

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tomorrow I am going to really start focusing on my diet! I have a lot of low-carb recipes, and alternatives, including for your morning coffee. For those of you who do not know, I am a shift manager at Starbucks, and I just celebrated six years with the company. I work almost everyday, so I often eat the food there and I am a coffee ADDICT. The pastries and sugary drinks are so yummy and tempting but I promise there are healthier options! This is one of the many things I want to post about on my blog. I love food and I hate restraining myself, but rather, I have learned that it is not hard to replace certain foods with low-carb alternatives! Today I grabbed this salad from a local deli called Redrock. It was beautiful, refreshing, and delicious. :) I also have my giant water bottle full of green iced tea from Starbucks, no sweetener, not cut with water. I have been consistently drinking green tea like this for a few weeks now, and I have already seen a difference in my complexion and my metabolism, but I know that drinking green tea has many other benefits such as reducing stress, rehydrating, protecting the lungs and the liver, reducing high blood pressure, and preventing tooth decay and bad breath! Anyway, it is my day off from Starbucks, but I bartend tonight, so I am enjoying the day, and hope to get some cleaning done, get an oil change, read, and do some yoga. Thanks for reading!

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This is Piper, my puppy! I am a fairly new dog mom to this chihuahua/terrier mix (we think); I plan to order a DNA test soon just out of curiosity.

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I recently signed up for a monthly subscription with Succulent Studios, and I am in love with these succulent babies! 

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With all the alone time I've had lately, I've been reflecting upon myself, naturally. With a random inspiration to start a blog, I pulled out the laptop and read on some old journal entries, realizing how much life changes in a year.

One of those entries was about organizing my day, something I did really well during school. Looking back since I graduated in December, I did not realize how much I had lost track of time. It's been six months of just working. Two jobs with kind of crazy schedules and environments.

I can say that I am happy, just kind of exhausted, bored with my everyday life, lonely, and not taking care of myself as much as I deserve.

So before I go on, I'll do a little update on my life/plans, goals, etc.  I have decided to go to grad school, despite my plans less than a year ago. I will be returning to OSU to pursue a PhD in School Psychology. The things that really changed my mind were the people I worked with in Family Graduate Student Housing. The people I worked under as well as the residents made me believe that I could be a "doctor" in just four more years of coursework.  I never even gave it the thought, to be honest. But as the last semester of undergrad went on, and I heard of some of the job positions available to me after graduation, I was not particularly finding anything appealing. I realized that I do really love the world of academia, and definitely had the potential for grad school. I thank FGSH and all of my advisors and professors, friends and family that showed me that I could do it, and do it for close to free.

I can not wait to expand my knowledge, and get closer to my goal of working as a school psychologist with upper elementary kiddos that need help! I have seen the need, and I am passionate about the field of mental health because of it.  And what better age group than the one in which I needed help the most? It's a time when you can really make a difference in someone's life, and guide them in the right direction.

So, back to what I was saying before, when I'm taking classes, I am so much better at planning and organizing, and I just want to try to share my journey and tips and tricks for other boss girls, while also collaborating on how to tackle road blocks in daily life.

Other passions that I would like to include in my blog (wow I already feel so cool): music, fashion, cooking, traveling, reading, yoga, probably lots more.

I can't wait to get started!