things that made me happy in 2015

Posted on by Kelly Daily

  

  • Dan, my amazing husband
  • Madison, Frieda, and Harriet, our wonderful pets
  • My fantastic family, my parents, siblings, in-laws, and extended relatives – they’re all extraordinary
  • My excellent friends
  • A challenging and rewarding job
  • Buying our incredible house!! : )
  • Getting to travel for through my job – to places I’ve never been, like San Francisco, and to places I’ve been to but got to discover new parts of, like Washington, D.C., and New York City
  • Podcasts
  • Books  (I met my reading challenge of reading 30 books this year! I’m setting the same goal for next year)
  • Lots of coffee
  • Rehabbing my knee
  • Trips to Columbus, Madison, OH, and Bowling Green
  • Hosting family and friends on trips to Cleveland
  • Indians, Cavs, and Columbus Crew games

  

  • Being diagnosed with celiac disease and starting to feel better
  • Fun nights playing Mario 3D World and Mario Kart
  • Meeting Matthew Dellavedova
  • Easter dinner at my grandma’s house
  • Many walks in the park
  • Trips to the movies with Dan and my dad
  • Getting new glasses and a new haircut
  • Attending showers for friends’ babies and weddings, and celebrating those terrific life changes with them
  • Learning to like running
  • Sitting on our deck
  • Visiting the Cleveland Zoo
  • Board game parties at my sister-in-law Cate’s apartment
  • Suppers at my parents’ house
  • Biking all over
  • Finally getting to visit the National Air Force Museum in Dayton, OH, with Dan
  • Cooking in our new kitchen
  • Watching football games and English soccer games
  • Decorating our house for the holidays
  • Back to the Future themed Halloween costumes with Back to the Future movie marathon leading up to it
  • Hosting Thanksgiving dinner for our families in our new home
  • A wonderful Christmas weekend with our families and time together approaching the new year : )

  

And of course, hundreds of little moments that bring a smile to your face every day – blaring Adele in the car and singing at the top of my lungs, naps under the electric blanket with my cat laying on my side, laughing with my husband over something silly, brunch after church, playing with my dog. My main focus in 2016 is to flourish – to focus on becoming healthier, growing in my faith, spending time with my family, and just plain enjoying and celebrating life.

What were your favorite moments of 2015? Any goals or hopes for 2016?

currently

Posted on by Kelly Daily

  

  

  • Feeling: very pensive and introspective. optimistic. determined.
  • Eating:  guac + gluten free pretzels. LUNA bars. edamame salad + rice + quinoa.
  • Drinking: Perfect Fit tea – Unwind at night, Awaken for a pick-me-up. Dunkin’ Donuts Caramel Coffee Cake – black, as always. Water.
  • Reading: Still plugging away through Lawerence of Arabia. The Opposite of Loneliness.  The Apple News app.
  • Watching: The last few seasons of Bones. Star Wars 4-6.  Christmas movies. Parks and Recreation, season two.
  • Listening to: Playlists I made in college. Happier podcast. Christmas music. Nothing – just silence.
  • Trying:  To go to bed at 10 at the latest and wake up at 5AM every day. To be better. To not think as much.
  • Wondering: Next steps to take (while not overthinking!). What are the best gifts to get loved ones. When it will finally snow.
  • Hoping: To be present and happy during December. To make 2016 the best year yet. To meet my Goodreads Challenge of reading 30 books this year.
  • Enjoying: Our Christmas decorations, up for the first time in our new home. Walks outside in this crazy-warm Cleveland weather. Turning off the TV and reading. Time with family. BGSU football winning the MAC Championship.

Reasons I Love Thanksgiving

Posted on by Kelly Daily

  

  • Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade
  • The National Dog Show
  • Relaxing with coffee & family watching those two things
  • Comfy sweaters
  • The food: turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, cheesy potatoes, sweet potatoes (clearly – potatoes), veggies, those jellied cranberry slices, strawberry pretzel jello. 
  • Finding seasonal bandanas for the family pups and special turkey meals of wet cat and dog to give them. 
  • Wine. 
  • Everyone working together to clean up after dinner.
  • Everyone sleepy and relaxing after dinner with football or Christmas movies on TV.
  • A day that is centered completely on family, good food, & hanging out at home. 

weekly gems

Posted on by Kelly Daily

   A walk with Madison in the park.

harry potter forever

Posted on by Kelly Daily

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Like most children of the 90s, or really, any human being with an imagination and a heart, I will never NOT love the Harry Potter books and anything related to them.

It’s almost time for my yearly re-reading of the books. I can feel myself getting itchy. I keep thinking about how all the Harry Potter movies on Blu-Ray and the new illustrated edition of the first book are at the top of my Christmas wish list.

The need for a  Harry Potter fix is only being increased by the knowledge that people I know with have gone on the Harry Potter Studio Tour or will be visiting The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Either experience would have me over the moon with joy!

Since I won’t be having an authentic butterbeer or pumpkin juice anytime soon, I’m going to have to curl up with some tea, pull out my plain old original copies of the series, and read away.

Maybe I’ll even imagine I’m in the Gryffindor common room while I’m at it!

weekly gems

Posted on by Kelly Daily

Frieda & our newest furry addition, Harriet!  

weekly gems (a bit late)

Posted on by Kelly Daily

 (I’ve been trying to convince Dan of the above.)

fit by 27: week eight

Posted on by Kelly Daily

The week of 8/3-8/9 was week eight of Fit By 27.  My  progress is going well with #Workitout100 and with running.

WORKOUTS THIS WEEK:

  • Monday, 8/3: Couch to 5K (working on number 8 on my fitness bucket list).
  • Tuesday, 8/4: Tone It Up Bikini Arms 2014 and Pink Flamingo workouts.
  • Wednesday, 8/5: Walked over 12,000 steps (according to my Fitbit). Active rest day!
  • Thursday, 8/6:  Very busy day at school, plus a session of Couch to 5K that evening, meant my total step count for the day was 20,000!!!
  • Friday, 8/7: Walked over 10,000 steps again today, so that paired with so much walking and a run the night before, and I decided to rest with an active rest day. My feet – and knees! – needed a break, even though I was planning on adding in another workout that day.
  • Saturday, 8/8: Set up my bike on the trainer and biked for 20 minutes, plus did 25 squats and 10 push ups.
  • Sunday, 8/9: Couch to 5K

NUTRITION THIS WEEK:
My mission is to eat for health!

I think I did pretty well with my food choices this week! I did have some treats, but they were balanced decently with healthier food choices and workouts.

 

WEIGHT AND MEASUREMENTS THIS WEEK:

I am down about 3.5 more pounds for a total of 8 pounds down.
If you’d like to follow my Fit By 27 journey more closely, follow me on Instagram under the username @kcd_fit and MyFitnessPal  under the username KellyMT.

 

*First image created with the Rhonna Designs app.

fit by 27: week seven

Posted on by Kelly Daily



The week of 7/26-8/1 was week seven  of Fit By 27. I restarted #Workitout100 again.  This is probably the fifth or sixth time I’ve begun this challenge since learning about it. I will keep restarting it until I finally complete it. I am determined to finish it eventually…and even more so that this will be the round it does!

 

 


WORKOUTS THIS WEEK:

  • Sunday, 7/26:  Couch to 5K (working on number 8 on my fitness bucket list).
  • Monday, 7/27: 30 one legged squats on my “bad” knee for therapy, 10 lunges on each leg, 40 sit ups, 20 plie squat with side leg lifts, and a 2 minute plank.
  • Tuesday, 7/28: Couch to 5K
  • Wednesday, 7/29: Day 2 of the Blogilates for Beginners calendar
  • Thursday, 7/30: Couch to 5K
  • Friday, 7/31: Walked over 10,000 steps this day, plus the previous few days (according to my Fitbit). Decided since I at least made it over 10,000 steps I could count this day as an “active rest day” and still part of Workitout100, as long as I got back to a dedicated workout the next day.
  • Saturday, 8/1: Set up my bike on the trainer and biked for 30 minutes, plus did 50 squats.
  • Sunday, 8/2: Walk with Dan.

 


NUTRITION THIS WEEK:
My mission is to eat for health!

Last Sunday, I sat down and looked over both the 21 Day Fix nutrition plan, which I love for its color-coded containers that make portion control simple, and the Tone It Up nutrition plan, which outlines which food groups to eat for at each meal throughout the day to optimize your energy and health. I figured out the best way for me (with my work schedule and dietary needs) to fit my 21 Day Fix container allotments into the TIU meal structures. Once I did that, planning my meals out for the week suddenly and finally became much less overwhelming to me. And, I stuck to my meal planning pretty well! Totally stuck to it through Wednesday, and then switched a couple meals out on Thursday and Friday. Saturday was a much more relaxed day with a treat or two, but I was back to following my Fix + TIU plan on Sunday.

 



WEIGHT AND MEASUREMENTS THIS WEEK:

I am down about 2, 2.5 pounds.



If you’d like to follow my Fit By 27 journey more closely, follow me on Instagram under the username @kcd_fit.


*First image created with the Rhonna Designs app.

fit by 27: weeks five and six

Posted on by Kelly Daily

 

The week of 7/12-7/18 was week four and 7/19-25 was week five of Fit By 27.


 


WORKOUTS THIS WEEK:

  • Sunday, 7/12:  Tone It Up Bikini Arms 2014
  • Monday, 7/13: session of Couch to 5K (working on number 8 on my fitness bucket list).
  • Tuesday, 7/14: Went to a Pilates class at my gym! Working on number 1 on my fitness bucket list of attending all the group fitness classes at my gym.
  • Wednesday, 7/15: session of Couch to 5K
  • Thursday, 7/16: Walk with the dog.
  • Friday, 7/17: 13. 4 mile bike ride with Dan in the metroparks near our house, bringing my total miles to  miles so far for my goal of biking 100 miles outside by the end of my fall break (number 9 on my fitness bucket list).
  • Saturday, 7/18 and Sunday, 7/19: No workout
  • Monday, 7/20: Walk with the dog.
  • Tuesday, 7/21: I hit balls at the driving range!
  • Wednesday, 7/22: No workout
  • Thursday, 7/23 and Friday, 7/24: Was putting my classroom together, and walked over 10,000 steps (according to my Fitbit)
  • Saturday, 7/25: No workout
  • Sunday, 7/26: session of Couch to 5K

 

 

NUTRITION THIS WEEK:
My mission is to eat for health!

I was really struggling with food the last week. I indulged in oversized portions of “treat” foods and then felt terribly guilty about it. It sent me in a spiral of crying on my floor and trying to figure out how to move forward. In high school, after I had my 1st knee surgery and was restricted from sports, I became borderline anorexic. I felt overwhelmed with everything and just didn’t eat. I got to my lowest weight ever then. I probably would have kept going except I started swimming again and my perfectionist desire to be the best swimmer ever took precedent and went back to eating “normal” (well, normal for a swimmer).

In college I would get stressed out and eat junk foods even though I knew they would make me sick (what I thought was IBS, but turns out was celiac) b/c the whole binge eating and sick process made me feel better emotionally. Then I tried Weight Watchers and while it worked for losing the freshmen 15 I became OCD and super hard on myself about meeting points exactly. I remembered what happened in high school and I panicked and didn’t want to try to lose weight anymore out of fear I would develop an eating disorder, despite the fact my eating was already pretty disordered. I put the weight I lost back on, plus more.

I continuously struggle between wanting to hold myself accountable and wanting to be kind to myself. I know I can easily go down an unhealthy perfectionist path of OCD, guilt, and restriction, but instead I’m stuck on the unhealthy path of eating whatever I want because it’s easier to not try to be balanced and healthy than to try and fail. Of course this is all complicated by what I now know is celiac disease and the effects it has had on my body. I don’t know the answer. I know I deserve to lose weight, so I can be at a healthy BMI and not risk diabetes. I know my body deserves love while it heals from celiac damage and knee surgery, and it also deserves to be challenged and grow strong. I know my mental health deserves to be a priority and protected. I know I will keep doing my best to give myself those things. I decided to give myself a mantra: “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”

 

 

WEIGHT AND MEASUREMENTS THIS WEEK:
No progress.

 

If you’d like to follow my Fit By 27 journey more closely, follow me on Instagram under the username @kcd_fit.

 

*First image created with the Rhonna Designs app.