Hello loves!

This will be a semi-short post [EDIT: was not a short post, I like to talk to much I guess haha] since it's past my bedtime and I have an 8:30 AM Spanish class tomorrow morning (new semester, oh joy! *pukes* at least it's my last one FINALLY). Just letting you know what's up with my status on this site since many people have been asking. I am planning on shooting a set soon, as soon as possible really. It's dependent on one very important thing though... I gained a considerable amount of weight when I quit smoking for my New Years Resolution last year (first one to actually stick, pretty proud). When I went to Honduras, I expected to lose a lot of that weight because I expected to be a lot more active. This didn't end up being the case, and with the added stress of a very difficult semester, my weight fluctuated as I floated in and out of maintaining a regular diet and exercise routine. However, I've committed with a good friend of mine to this fitness competition in June called Tough Mudder, so I pretty much have no choice but to get into shape, and that's something I'm pleased to be forced to do, even though I know it's gonna be a bitch. I know some of you are gonna be like "but you looked too skinny in your other sets blah blaaah" and that may be true but that's how my body naturally maintained itself while I was smoking, I wasn't starving myself or anything like that, in fact I ate quite a lot and a lot of it was quite shit fatty foods actually. I ate more of the same when my apetite increased after quitting, and that fucked me over royally. So the biggest change I've made is I'm learning to cook for myself so I can make healthy dishes that are not only low calorie but packed with nutrients and protein. Protein is a big one, because one of the biggest impedances to my success on this site was looking too skinny, so I'm working hard to improve my image by not only losing excess...

Hello loves!

This will be a semi-short post [EDIT: was not a short post, I like to talk to much I guess haha] since it's past my bedtime and I have an 8:30 AM Spanish class tomorrow morning (new semester, oh joy! *pukes* at least it's my last one FINALLY). Just letting you know what's up with my status on this site since many people have been asking. I am planning on shooting a set soon, as soon as possible really. It's dependent on one very important thing though... I gained a considerable amount of weight when I quit smoking for my New Years Resolution last year (first one to actually stick, pretty proud). When I went to Honduras, I expected to lose a lot of that weight because I expected to be a lot more active. This didn't end up being the case, and with the added stress of a very difficult semester, my weight fluctuated as I floated in and out of maintaining a regular diet and exercise routine. However, I've committed with a good friend of mine to this fitness competition in June called Tough Mudder, so I pretty much have no choice but to get into shape, and that's something I'm pleased to be forced to do, even though I know it's gonna be a bitch. I know some of you are gonna be like "but you looked too skinny in your other sets blah blaaah" and that may be true but that's how my body naturally maintained itself while I was smoking, I wasn't starving myself or anything like that, in fact I ate quite a lot and a lot of it was quite shit fatty foods actually. I ate more of the same when my apetite increased after quitting, and that fucked me over royally. So the biggest change I've made is I'm learning to cook for myself so I can make healthy dishes that are not only low calorie but packed with nutrients and protein. Protein is a big one, because one of the biggest impedances to my success on this site was looking too skinny, so I'm working hard to improve my image by not only losing excess fat I put on but packing on more muscle so I look fit rather than thin.

Here's a couple of the dishes I've been making. Keep in mind the most complicated thing I could cook before this endeavor was boxed mac & cheese:



Vietnamese stew. With egg, snow peas, shiitake mushrooms, red peppers, rice noodles, and AMAZING seasoned beef (plus other sauces and cooked in garlic and ginger). It was so good it was stupid. First leftovers ever that I did not mind at all eating three meals in a row of.



Homemade pizza. Made the dough myself and everything. The toppings honestly were subpar, but the crust was out of this world.

So yeah, that's why you guys haven't been seeing new sets from me. I also haven't been particularly active because it's my last year at undergrad and for any major that's a time consuming year, but the Biochemistry program at my school is particularly rigorous and I have been so, so busy with it. Will probably continue into this semester, particularly since I just got a lab research job (I'm going to be working with a professor on mapping the crystal structures of membrane proteins whose structures are unknown, pretty cool if I do say so myself XD) but in May I will be FREE AT LAST! So expect some new content from me around then.

I miss this site and all you lovely people and your sweet messages! I apologize if I can't respond to all of them, again, the busy-ness is my excuse. I sowwyyyyy I'll be responsive soon! I still appreciate the nice things you say, especially when I'm all stressed out, so I might not respond, but I do read them and love them! Thank you!!

xoxo