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February 7, 2017 | Posted in: College, Food

No Meal Plan? No Problem

Hey guys! I’m really excited about today’s post because I am proud to announce that I’m finally off the college meal plan and I’ve yet to die! Isn’t that exciting? I’ve somehow managed to budget and have three meals a day for the past four weeks. In those four weeks, I’ve really seen a change in my body in regards to my skin, my moods, and my fitness goals. If you read my latest gym post, you’ll know that one of my goals is to have abs at some point. And, I’m proud to say I saw a glimpse of them the other day which makes me very very excited.

*this post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure.

Even though it’s only been four weeks since my no meal plan adventure, I’ve learned so much about eating healthy and budgeting for food. So how much am I saving anyways? Well with the lowest college meal plan being $900 or so, that works out to be $225 a month. However, at $7 a meal, that’s only good for one meal a day. So, I’d have to be supplementing breakfast and dinner with my own income. Anyways, I’m not getting into how it all breaks down, but right now I’m only spending $200 a month on groceries, and that’s for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks.

February 4, 2017 | Posted in: Uncategorized

Life Lately: February 2017

Well hello, it’s been a while. You probably thought I was going to go all Adele on you there and be like “hello, it’s me.” It’s been a while for a lot of things – a blog post, my lack of inspiration, a life update post. If you’ve been a follower of Living the Gray Life for the past year, which thank you so much and I love you, you know that I periodically do these kinds of posts. I feel that it’s important for this blog to be a place for me to spill me emotions as well as helpful college, life, and fitness stuff.

I usually write one of these whenever I’m straight out of ideas or I feel like the direction of my life is changing, and that is why I’m here today. Well, to be honest, both of those reasons are why I’m writing this post. As I’m writing this, it’s February 2nd, I’m sitting in my operating systems classroom after a great shoulder session at the gym, and honestly I don’t know how I feel. I’m just a whole mixture of sad, happy, confused, hopeful, and excited. We’re already a month into 2017 and so much has already changed. Donald Trump is president (just gonna leave that there with no further detail), my friend group has had to make a huge adjustment, and school is way harder than I thought it would be.

January 24, 2017 | Posted in: College, Fitness, Food

Budget-Friendly Healthy Grocery List

Okay I’m not going to lie, but I was totally out of ideas for today’s post. I almost didn’t want to post anything because I didn’t have anything super inspirational to write about, but that’s when it hit me. On Friday I have a super awesome post coming your way about surviving off the meal plan in college! Super thrilling, I know. Anyways, I wanted to include my typical grocery list in that post, but honestly it would’ve made it way too long. So what did I do?

I decided to turn that predicament into a whole new post! Today I’m sharing with you my staple grocery store buys that I typically get on the weekly. My rough grocery budget is no more than $200 a month, which makes it around $50 a week. I’m able to stick to my healthy ways even at such a low price point. Also keep in mind that I’m making breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks because this girl has no meal plan.

January 20, 2017 | Posted in: College, Fitness

Here’s How to Actually Get to the Gym This Semester

Hey y’all! It’s mid-January and it’s around the time when people start falling off track for their New Year’s resolutions (or goals as I like to call them), or people just haven’t even started working on them yet. If one of your goals is to get fit this year and you fit either situation above, I’ve got you covered! Finding a fitness routine is a struggle for most people because they feel like the “don’t have the time,” and getting to the gym is a hassle. Let me tell you right here and now.

You DO have the time. It’s just a matter of you pulling through with your goals.

If this is your first time really wanting to hit the gym, it can be so intimidating! You’re surrounded by all these tough-looking guys who walk around like they own the place, and there’s hardly a girl to be found in the weight section. So, to fit in, you just head to the cardio section and start running on the treadmill or walk/run/float on the elliptical. What do you even call that? Because technically you’re not walking or running, you’re just kind of suspended there moving your legs.

January 17, 2017 | Posted in: Blogging

WordPress Theme Development

Over the past few weeks, I’ve received several emails regarding WordPress theme development, how on earth I developed my own theme, and any tips and tricks I have to make theme development a bit easier for the novice web developer. By no means am I a professional web developer, but I do have a background in web design and HTML/CSS, so I thought I’d share with you my step-by-step process for developing my own WordPress theme!

When I first became self-hosted back in June, I was thrilled at the opportunity to have complete creative freedom in regards to how my site looked. Custom colors, custom layouts, custom everything! But, when I started browsing sites to purchase themes, those $50+ price tags scared me off and there was no way that I was going to drop that amount of money on a theme that I probably could build myself.

January 13, 2017 | Posted in: College, Workouts

Creating the Perfect Gym Bag

Happy New Year! I can’t believe winter break is over and done with, and classes have started back up. This semester I’m taking it a little easier, and making my health a main priority. With only two computing in my course load this semester, I have a lot more time to fit in going to the gym. With it being the start of the new year, I’m sure a lot of you are working on making your health a priority.

*this post contains affiliate links. See my disclosure.

Developing and constantly striving to live a healthy lifestyle has completely changed my life. I’ve talked a lot about my fitness and health journeys here on the blog, and I’m excited for you to start your very own! Today I’m partnering with Amazon Prime Student to show you how you can create the perfect gym back full of gym essentials! These are products I incorporate into my everyday fitness routine, and I can’t wait to share them with you.