The Rosa Chronicles: The Ups, the Downs, and the Wardrobe Changes

On Monday I came back from a wonderful vacation in my beautiful island of Puerto Rico. There, my husband and I spent ten days enjoying the beach, the weather, and the company of family and friends that were with us at one point or another. We spent some time with our friend Elba Vázquez at Brisas de Cidra Guest House. We went to Naguabo, a beautiful town that we had never been to, saw some of the most amazing sunsets, and had fresh and delicious seafood accompanied by mojitos. We spent some time in San Juan, visiting places we had been with the girls when we went last summer. And then we went to my hometown, Arecibo, where I visited family and friends, and spent some amazing time as well.   Throughout our stay there, we tried to incorporate exercising as much as we could. We did not obsess about it; after all, we were on vacation, and the point was to relax. But we walked quite a bit, used our bands for strength training, and even used the fitness room at one of the hotels. It

And Day 30 got here! It was actually yesterday, and to be totally honest, I do have to make up for some missed days due to life in general and also for being on vacation. But all in all, I was pretty disciplined throughout my 30 for 30 challenge. Once I make up for the lost days, I will be working on a schedule to continue working out consistently at least 4 days a week. Ideally, I would like to continue with the minimum 30 minutes per day, but being realistic, I know that this may not be possible. Whenever I can, I will try to fit it in because, from my point of view, there is something wrong with not being able to dedicate at least 30 minutes per day to myself. But things happen and sometimes it is just impossible, and instead of getting frustrated when I am not able to do so, I would rather work on getting as much time in as possible. I am sure that the discipline I have acquired during the past 30 days will keep me focused. What I have learned One of the most important things

Today is day 23 of my 30 for 30 challenge. At times it seems unbelievable that I have gotten this far, and yet, I always knew that I could do it. Sure, it has been difficult to adjust to this new thing of making sure that I make time for myself, but it has been worth it. And I am very happy to say that of the 23 days, I have only missed working out 4 days. There are times that doing it is just not possible. And yesterday was one of those days. It was a hard day at work. Knowing I only had 2 working days this week before I leave on vacation elevated my stress to new levels. I had tons of things to do, and that was not counting the ones I had to do at home. Doing my taxes, for example. Yes, I always promise myself that I will do them as soon as I get my W-2 forms, but it never happens, and this year was no exception. The difference is that I need money for my vacation and I had been planning to use my tax return for this purpose. Well, guess what? I waited until the last minute and it

Today marks the 15th day since I started the 30 for 30 challenge. I can't believe I am half way there! It has not been an easy journey, but definitively one I'm glad I took it, and also look forward to continue. I am already seeing some results from my efforts and can only imagine what is to come as I keep on going. Yesterday, for example, I was getting ready to go to my daughter Ileana's performance, and when I put on the skirt I was planning to wear, it fit me too big! I was so happy about that, and it got better this morning when I was getting ready for work and I put on my gray skirt (which I actually like a lot) and it fit me big as well. I am putting both of them aside to give them away. I am committed to never go back to that size again. And in order to do that, I need to continue to be disciplined, not only about my workouts, but in my nutrition as well. As I mentioned last week, I know that not preparing my lunch was a sure shortfall for me. Not having lunch an