What's Working For Me

I lost got rid of 4 pounds last week.  I haven't lost gotten rid of that much in a week since I did the detox.  I'm feeling great about it.

Source: eat-clean-train-mean.tumblr.com via Heather on Pinterest

I wanted to share a couple of things that I've been doing that I really feel like have helped me to shed the pounds.

1.  I'm working out like a mad woman.  I'm doing an hour of cardio, plus strength training 5 times a week.  I've also thrown in several 90 minute Bikram Yoga classes on top of that.  Hello Calorie Burn!

2.  I'm being extremely mindful of every single thing I put in my mouth.  I'm trying to eat 100% clean foods (nothing processed).  The key word here is trying.  I've eaten 1/2 a whole wheat bagel thing several mornings and I ate several foods at our Super Bowl Party that weren't clean.  Overall though, it's been mostly clean.  For breakfast I usually eat 1/2 a whole wheat bagel thin topped with a couple of egg whites or steel cut oats with blueberries.  I also have some coffee with unsweetened vanilla almond milk.  For lunch I'll either have a Green Monster Smoothie or a big spinach salad.  For dinner I'll have some grilled chicken breast or salmon with brown rice and veggies.  If I get hungry during the day between meals I'll have a metabolic reset shake or an apple with some peanut butter.  It's all pretty boring food, but it's working for me right now.  I'm sure I'll get sick of it soon and have to jazz it up a little.
I'm also drinking a ton of water.  This hasn't really been an issue since I started doing Bikram.  It makes me so thirsty that I can't get enough water.

3.  I had a big talk with my hubs.  You know the one..."I'm fat.  I hate being fat.  I hate that you have a fat wife.  You deserve better.  So on and so forth."  He was so sweet and said I was beautiful and that he loved me, but he also said he doesn't want me to be unhappy and he wants me to be healthy.  So I asked him to keep me accountable for what I eat and how much I'm exercising.  He hasn't really had to say anything to me.  Just knowing he's watching has helped keep me in track.  He's awesome.

4.  I'm consistently taking a couple of supplements.  CLA, Fish Oil and Biotin.  I don't really know if these have helped me git rid of the weight, but I'm sure they're not hurting.  My body definitely needs the Omega 3 from the fish oil and the CLA is supposed to have good weight loss benefits.  Since I've been taking the Biotin my hair and nails have been growing like crazy!  My hair seems so much thicker and I know a lot less of it is falling out (it seemed like it never stopped falling out after I had my last baby).  Like I said, I don't know for a fact that these are helping, but I feel good about them.

That's about it.  There's no miracle pill or exercise, I'm just working hard to achieve the results that I want.  There you have it.

Oh Bikram, How I Love Thee

I did my third Bikram yoga class this weekend and I'm hooked.  I love it.  It is so hot and so intense and so hard, but it is so good and I'm in love.

Seriously, I'm not sure I've ever sweated this much in my whole life.  It's 105 degrees in that room!  I look like I took a shower with my clothes on.
Here I am 15 minutes after I finish all sweaty and red faced.  Don't let the smile fool you.  I thought I might die.

If you know me you know I'm not a morning person, but I got up at 5:15 (yes in the AM!) and went to a 6 am class because that was the only time I could go.  That's how much I love this class.
Besides the fact that I nearly sweat to death and bend my body into positions that I didn't think were humanly possible another great thing about Bikram is that it makes it so easy for me to drink my 100 ounces of water.  I drink at least 32 ounces during the class and another 32 pretty soon after.  I have to or I feel like I might die.  I've been freezing my water before I go so that it starts to melt during the class and it stays nice and cold throughout the 90 minutes.
If you haven't tried a Bikram class yet you really should.  I was afraid I would be the biggest person in the class and the least flexible, but that wasn't the case at all.  I felt totally comfortable and I'm so glad that I am going.

New Things

I met one of my goals this weekend and tried Bikram Yoga for the first time!  It was so hard, but so good.  There was only one pose that I 100% could not do.  The rest of them I was at least able to attempt.  If you're in the Austin area and looking for a place to do Bikram Yoga I highly recommend Pure Bikram.  I had a great first experience.  The staff was super friendly and it was a great class.  I'm going back tonight!

Another new thing....I reached a new low weight on this journey!  181!  I was beginning to feel like I'd never see the scale move down, but it is and I couldn't be happier.  I'm exercising a ton and being extremely mindful of everything I eat.  No processed foods, mainly raw and organic, almost totally vegetarian.100% Clean Eating.  I've also been consistently taking CLA and Omega-3 Supplements.

And finally, this little man turned 5 on Monday!  How in the world did that happen?  He asked to play glow in the dark mini golf with friends and then have a small family party, so that's what we did.  It was perfect.  I love him to pieces.

I'm Still Around

I'm so sorry I haven't been posting.  Thank you to everyone that's been reading my blog.  Life got super super busy over the last several days and I just haven't had time to sit down at the computer and write up a blog post.  I haven't been slacking on my big goals though!
I've been reading my Bible daily (can't wait to share some of things I've been learning).
I've been spending lots of great time with my hubster and my kiddos.  We even went to the zoo!  So much fun to be had with those little guys.
I'm counting calories and seeing some changes and I'm getting in all my water.
Oh, I'm also working on the Couch to 5K.  I did week two again today, but I think I'll be ready to move on to week three by the end of this week.  Woohoo!  I'd really like to read some running books (you know, how to start running and avoid injuries, how to increase your speed/distance, etc).  So if any of you runners out there have any recommendations I would love them.  I've got an amazon gift card that I can't wait to use!
Again, sorry for not posting, but life is great.  I'll try to get back to regular posting asap.

Working On My Goals

Last week I started working on the goals that I set up for 2012.  Overall I think I did fairly well.  

Here's a quick run down on some of the things I worked on. 

Personal Goals 

Love Jesus More--It's really neat to see how God really knows our heart and wants to give us what we ask for.  I know Jesus wants me to love Him more, and He knows I want that too.  I lead a mom's group through my church and this morning we had a leadership meeting.  We're getting ready to start a new book and they told us that the main goal of this time we're going to spend together is that we will love Jesus more.  I love it!  

Read the Bible Daily--I've done better on this one than I ever have in the past.  Usually I make it two or three days and then start skipping, but I've read my Bible every single day this week.  I can honestly say that it's made a huge difference in my attitude and affected working on my other goals.

Read the Bible to My Boys Daily--We've only missed one night of reading the Bible to the boys and that was because we were out really late and they were exhausted and ready for bed.  They're loving the time we're taking to read to them and they're asking lots of questions about the stories were reading.  I love seeing their enthusiasm for God.

Read 12 Books--I'm currently reading Missional Moms, so that will be the first book I complete this year.  I'm going to review it when I'm done (I've got three chapters left).

Plan 12 Dates with My Hubs--I've started brainstorming different ideas for fun dates (not just dinner and a movie) and I think I've got some good ones.  I've already got January's date all planned out and I'm working on February.  I can't wait to post about them!

Plan 12 Family Days/Nights--We spent Saturday hiking around Lake Georgetown as a family.  It was so fun.  The weather was perfect (mid-70s) and we had a blast spending time together.  

Say Yes to My Kids More--The boys are always asking to go to the bike park.  It's a huge pain.  It used to be better because I had borrowed a friends bike carriage and could load up the little two and we'd all ride to the park together, but I had to give that back because they needed it and so now I don't have one.  So, I have to load the bikes in the back of my car (they barely fit) and haul it all to the park.  However, I decided to stick to my goal and say yes.  I picked the boys up at school on Friday and surprised them with already having the bikes in the car and taking them to park.  We spent a great afternoon racing up and down the dirt tracks and hills.  I'm so glad I said yes!

Keep the House Cleaner--Um, this is a work in progress, but I am working on it.  

Encourage My Hubs on a More Consistent Basis--I haven't been great about this one.  My goal for this week is to do at least one unexpected thing that encourages him.

Encourage My Boys on a More Consistent Basis--I actually read an article last week that talked about how to encourage your kids and it had some really great information.  One of the things it said was that as the kids get older you have to get more specific in your encouragement.  For instance, when my oldest held the baby's hand in the parking lot instead of saying, "thanks for helping" I said, "thank you for holding his hand.  It made it a lot easier for me to get everyone in the car and I really appreciated that you took care of him without me having to ask you to do it."  He's taken his little brother's hand every single time we've been in the parking lot since then.  That one statement made a huge impact to him.  I've also been doing similar things with the other two and I'm seeing great results.

Manage Our Money (Stay on Top of the Budget)--Again, working on this one, but the book I'm reading has some good ideas and I'm looking forward to sharing how I put them to practice when I review the book.

Find a Way to Get Involved in the Fight Against Human Trafficking--I'm doing lots of research and I've done a blog post about this.  I'm also praying that God will provide opportunities for me to get involved.

Health/Fitness Goals

5+Fruits/Veggies a Day--I haven't done well in this one yet, but that's because of my wisdom teeth surgery.  I saw my oral surgeon on Friday though and he gave me the go ahead to eat normal food, so this should be better this week.

100 ounces of Water a Day--I haven't reached this yet, but I'm definitely seeing improvement.  I think it will happen this week.

Exercise 5 Times a Week--DONE!  Woohoo!  I hit the gym four times and I'm counting our hike as exercise because it was almost two miles.

Run a 5K--I am doing the Couch to 5k program and it's going great.  I think I'll be moving to week two this week.

Run a 10K--Still working on the 5k, but I know I'll get there.

Run a Half Marathon--See above.

Get Under 150 pounds--I lost 4 pounds this week, but I know it's because my food intake was pretty limited due to my wisdom teeth removal, so I'm expecting a little bit of it to come back on.  I know I'll do this!

Try Bikram Yoga--Not yet, I need to get a little more confidence.

Try a Body Pump Class--See above : )

Try an RPM Class--See above : )

 

Complete a 10 Day Detox--I'm trying to decide when a good time to do this will be, but I'm thinking sometime before Valentines.

Blog 5 Times a Week--Working on it : )

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Here are some pictures from our fun times this weekend.

At the bike park!

 Enjoying a family hike!

Off on the Right Foot

Well, today was the first day after I made all my Resolutions and I have to say that it went fairly well, considering. You know, considering I just got my wisdom teeth out, so I can't eat solid foods, and considering we had a mild crisis and ended up taking a kid to doctor. Yep, pretty well considering.

 I did get up early and read my Bible. That's one of the biggest things I want to accomplish this year. Consistently reading the Bible in the mornings so that it will set the tone for the rest of my day. I'm reading through John and I'm approaching it more like a book rather than just picking a couple of verses or a chapter to read. It's going much more smoothly and a lot of things make more sense to me when I read it like that, so it's good. I also signed up to do the Hello Mornings Challenge over at Inspired to Action and I'm super excited about it.  It's another way to keep me accountable to spending time in the Word and exercising.

After my time reading I got the boys up to get ready for school and made them breakfast.  They were supposed to be getting dressed, but when I checked on them my oldest was laying on the floor in just his jeans.  I asked what was going on he said his heart hurt.  Now, this is a kid who never complains about being sick, never wants to miss school, etc, so I knew to take him seriously.  Honestly, this has been happening more and more frequently (about once every 10-14 days he'll say his chest hurts and want to lay down, but then in a few minutes he's fine and ready to go...so I didn't worry about it too much), but it scared me today so I called the doctor.  Our pediatrician got us in and listened and looked at everything.  He's not sure what's going on so we're seeing a pediatric cardiologist tomorrow.  If you pray, I would appreciate your prayers.  I'm a scared mom.  It's his heart.  It's scary.

We ran a few errands and had lunch at Panera so that I could have some soup.  Broccoli Cheese soup counts as a serving of vegetables, right?  I am beyond ready for my mouth to heal and be able to eat real food.  Jello and soup is not where it's at.

This afternoon we went to the gym and I rocked it.  I repeated yesterday's run, since I didn't finish it well yesterday.  I did all the runs and intervals and never felt like I was going to die.  It was hard, but I wasn't about to hurl.  I did 1.9 miles in 30 minutes.  Not too bad.  I've definitely done worse during week one before.

After the run I was still feeling good and so I got on the bike and pounded out another 6 miles.  It felt great to get in more exercise.  I've been missing it.  Oh, don't let the time elapsed  number on the picture fool you. It reset after 28 minutes because of the program I was doing.  I went for 31 minutes and 25 seconds.

So, I didn't meet some of my goals, but I did meet several of them and that's great with me.  2012 is off to a good start.

Twelve in 2012!!

First off, I made it to the gym today!  It's been forever (at least it feels that way) and it was so good to get back.  I'm determined to do the Couch to 5K program, so I started it over (again).  Unfortunately, I didn't finish what I had planned.  I wanted to do all of Week 1, Day 1 today, but 20 minutes into it I thought I might throw up so I stopped running and just walked the last 10 minutes.  I have to say I'm actually proud of myself for not stopping all together.  I think the problem was with what I had eaten today.  I'm still to scared to try solid food, since I'm not totally healed from having my wisdom teeth out.  So, all I had eaten was two scrambled eggs and some chocolate pudding.  Yep, not great things to be sitting on your stomach while you attempt to run for the first time in ages.  Oh and have I mentioned that the anti-biotics pain meds may be doing a number on my stomach too?  Good times here people, good times.

Anyway, I went back.  It felt good.  I'm going back tomorrow.

I'm not usually one to do big New Year's Resolutions, but I decided this year needed to be different, so I came up with a 12 in 2012 list.  It's actually, 24 (12 personal goals and 12 health/fitness goals), but for the sake of sounding better it's 12 in 2012.  Just go with it.

Drumroll please...(in no particular order...except the first)

12 in 2012

Personal Goals 

Love Jesus More

Read the Bible Daily

Read the Bible to My Boys Daily

Read 12 Books

Plan 12 Dates with My Hubs

Plan 12 Family Days/Nights

Say Yes to My Kids More

Keep the House Cleaner

Encourage My Hubs on a More Consistent Basis

Encourage My Boys on a More Consistent Basis

Manage Our Money (Stay on Top of the Budget)

Find a Way to Get Involved in the Fight Against Human Trafficking

Health/Fitness Goals

5+Fruits/Veggies a Day

100 ounces of Water a Day

Exercise 5 Times a Week

Run a 5K

Run a 10K

Run a Half Marathon

Get Under 150 pounds

Try Bikram Yoga

Try a Body Pump Class

Try an RPM Class

Complete a 10 Day Detox

Blog 5 Times a Week

These are all things I desperately want to do this year.  I'll probably explain some of them in future blogs, but some are pretty self explanatory.  I am excited about 2012 and have full confidence that it's going to be a great year!

Getting Back To It

I'm forever climbing uphill. I know it will always be that way. The struggle to lose weight and then maintain your goal weight is not an easy one, but it's worth it.

I've spent the last month (or more) feeling sorry for myself.  Having a hernia meant no working out, so I felt defeated which led to binge eating, which of course led to more feelings of defeat. 

I had my hernia surgery a couple of weeks ago and the recovery was harder than I expected.  My surgeon told me I'd start feeling better in 3-4 days, two weeks later and I'm still really sore.  I had my follow up with him two days ago and he said my hernia was bigger than they had suspected so that is why it's taking longer for me to get better (my ob/gyn was in the surgery room at same time as my hernia surgery and he had told my husband the same thing).  Anyway, my surgeon said it will probably be 8 weeks before I'm 100% again.  However, he did give me permission to get back on the treadmill, just nothing else for a couple of more weeks.  Yesterday I hit the treadmill for 30 minutes.  It was nothing to write home about, but it felt great.  I'm getting ready to head out and do it again.

So, I'm using that permission as the motivation I need to get back on track and get back in the habit of doing what's right for my body and health.

Source: fromfatty2fit.tumblr.com via Heather on Pinterest

We've been having some amazing friends bring us meals while I recovered.  It's been great food, but it's mostly been comfort food (not really healthy).  Last night I cooked for the first time in weeks.  It felt good to get back in the kitchen and make something healthy for me and my family.  We had teriyaki salmon, brown rice, steamed broccoli, my own version of these twice baked butternut squash.  I only used one squash (instead of six) and it was plenty for our family.  I also only used 1 tablespoon of fat free sour cream.  It was really good and my almost 2 year old loved it!

Source: marthastewart.com via Heather on Pinterest

I'm Still Working On It

Oh my goodness.  How has it been so long since I've posted?  It's just been crazy around here! 
Let's see....my two big kids started school and the schedule is about to kill all of us.  Seriously.  I have to get myself and the big boys up by 6:30 to get them to school by 7:20.  I'm not kidding when I tell you that every single morning when I wake my 6 year old up he rolls over and looks at me and says "Are you kidding me?!"  We're miserable.  We're not morning people.  Not.At.All.  The good thing about school is that I'm getting to spend some precious time with my two littler ones.  Time that often was interrupted when the big boys were at home.  I may have been designated as the coolest mom ever when I brought the boys sushi to school for lunch recently.  I'm just sayin'.

See Wyatt's little friend in the background eating his white bread sandwich while Wyatt chows on Sushi?  It was pretty funny.

Oh and let's not forget that after one week of school and the new awful schedule my sweet hubster had to go out of town for a week for work.  Umm...not just out of town, but to Washington D.C., my favorite place on earth.  And he didn't just go without me (thanks to the having two kids in school that can't go on vacation during school time), but he went on my birthday.  My 35th birthday.  Crap I tell you.  Crap.  Okay, so I was glad he got to go.  He was the keynote speaker to like 2000 people at a conference.  I just wish I could have been there with him instead of at home, getting kids up, putting them to bed, and cleaning up guinea pig poop.

I've been exercising like mad though.  I think I've hit the gym 5 days a week for the past three weeks.  That's been sweet.  I'm even doing weight training along with my cardio.  I've been having some heel trouble, so I haven't been running my Couch to 5K program, but I've been hitting the elliptical and bike pretty hard.

There are days that I'm still struggling with my food intake, but I'm really trying.  I'm hoping to see some payoffs of all my hard work in the near future.

Oh, I have a new recipe that's incredibly simple to share with you.  I'll do that Monday.  I promise I'll be back on Monday.

Still Struggling

I'm still struggling.  I feel like the exercise is coming along.  I worked out 5/7 days last week.  This week I've worked out Monday and Tuesday and plan to work out the rest of the week as well.  This is on top of the fact that I'm having my period (tmi I know, sorry), and we've got a lot going on around here (more about that in another post). 
I just can't seem to get a grip on the food.  I completely binged tonight after my kids went to bed.  I'd love to blame it all on the little miss sunshine that showed up  two days ago, but I can't.  I was eating this way last week before I got my period too.  I'm wondering about meeting with a nutritionist.  I don't know.  I definitely need some help.  It really sucks right now. 
I do all this work at the gym and then blow it when I get home.  Anyone able to offer advice?

Exercise Success, but Food Inconsistancies

I can't believe it's already Friday!  This week has been completely crazy (hence my lack of posts).  With my big boys starting school we're having to get up about 1.5 hours before we normally do and it's killing all of us.  We're doing earlier bedtimes (for everyone including me), but it doesn't seem to be helping all that much.  We're just beat.
We seem to be getting into a new routine thought and that's a good thing.  Our new schedule includes hitting the gym every morning after we drop the hubster off at work.  I have to keep the car everyday now to pick up the boys from school, so I'm able to get to the gym on a regular basis.  It's been really great.  I've done my Couch to 5k program this week (finishing Week 2 today), and on my off days I've hit the elliptical machine with a vengeance.
I'm really struggling with my food though.  It seems like I'll do really well for two meals in the day (usually breakfast and dinner), but I fall apart at my other meal.  Eating way too much at the meal or binging 30 minutes after I'm done.  I'm not sure what's going on, but it sucks!  Now that at seems like I've got the exercise part down, I'm really going to focus on my food.

I've been looking at this a lot this week.

Source: thefitway.tumblr.com via Heather on Pinterest

I think it's awesome.

We took our three biggest boys to their first high school football game last night.  It was awesome!  If you don't live in Texas you might not understand the power of high school football.  It's a BIG deal here.  This game was televised.  It's huge. 

When I told them where we were going my oldest said, "You mean a real game.  Not on tv, but a real game."  They were so excited.  One of our friends is the defensive coordinator for the team, so they were super excited to sit on the 50 yard line and cheer on Coach Carey's team.  My oldest played flag football and he kept saying, "Oh I know this play.  I know exactly what they're going to do."  He was so cute. 

I cherish moments like last night.  I want to enjoy my family and doing things with them for as long as I can.  I'm not going to be able to do that if I'm not healthy.  That's what I'm aiming for.  I'm not aiming to be model skinny (is anyone really?  aren't they all airbrushed anyway?).  I just want to be healthy.  I want to be fit.  I want to walk to the football stadium and not get out of breath.  When the boys are practicing their football plays in the backyard I want to be out there with them enjoying every minute.  Isn't that what life's about?  Being the best you can be with what God's given you? 

Goodbye Weekend : (

This weekend was so fun and I'm incredibly sad to see it go.  Friday night I went out with my best girls and we saw The Help.  Oh my goodness, so good.  I laughed so hard at one point I almost fell of my chair and at another point I cried and ruined my mascara.  I had such a good time with my girls.  Then on Saturday night we had a dinner at another set of friend's house, and Sunday we had lunch with more friends, and dinner with my parents.  We are so blessed (and so busy!). 
Folks I'm going to tell you the truth on here.  My eating the past few days has be lousy at it's best.  Way to much processed, fat, grossness.  I felt it big time today when I did my Week 2, Couch to 5k program.  I did 1.93 miles in 30 minutes.  Down .04 miles from the last time I did it.  Bugger.  I wasn't able to go as fast on the running sections and it sucked.

After I did my run I got on the bike and did 3 miles in just under 17 minutes.

Today was the start of the school year for my boys!  I can't believe I have two in school.  Last year we homeschooled, but this year they're both in a public school.  My house is so quiet.  It's just so weird.

To celebrate their first day of school I made cinnamon rolls and scrambled eggs (you know trying to balance the carbs and protein!).  Yep, I had some.  Big mistake.  Sugar gives me headaches and I got a doozy.  Sometimes I just make the dumbest mistakes.  For lunch I had some Work With What You've Got Hummus, Sweet Chili Rice Chips, and Carrots.  I had way to much hummus and chips.  

I finally got a hold of myself at dinner time and decided I needed to change my eating pattern for the day.  I made Creamy Dreamy Roasted Chickpeas which have been a big hit in my family in the past, but this time I roasted some asparagus while the chickpeas were cooking and chopped it up and added it to the mix.  I really liked it (and my kids devoured it, always a plus).

Look at all that beautiful asparagus (thank you Sprouts for having it on sale!).

I served it with brown rice and it was delish!

*I'm thinking about doing the detox again.  I feel like I need to refocus on my eating and the detox really seemed to help with that last time.  Anyway, just thinking about it, but I might do it.

Back to the Gym! Finally! And a New Recipe!

Ahhhh...I finally made it back to the gym after almost a week of suffering from one of the worsts sunburns I've ever had. But I'll get to more about that in a minute.

Today started off pretty well. I had my steel cut oats with Raw Fiber, Ground Flaxseed, Non Fat Vanilla Yogurt, Unsweetened Vanilla Organic Almond Milk, and a big bunch of blueberries.  I am out of fresh blueberries, so I just tossed in some frozen ones.  Fantastic!

After breakfast I headed out with the kids to run errands.  We went to Sprouts and Costco.  About half way through Costco I started getting really really sleepy (not like me for it just to hit me in the middle of the store), my head started hurting really badly, and I started feeling like I'd be sick if I didn't get something to eat.  I've had migraine issues for a long time, but they've never come on like this so I don't know what it was.  We finished our shopping and headed to an all natural organic local burger place next to Costco.  I got a burger (seriously one the best burgers in town in my opinion), some sweet potato fries, and a large unsweetened green tea.  I ate about half the fries and the rest were eaten by one of my kids.  It wasn't the most healthy lunch, but it was the healthiest of what was around.
I got home still feeling the terrible headache and took some meds.  About 30 minutes later I was feeling much better so we headed to the gym.  I was soooooo glad to be back at the gym.  First I got on the treadmill to work on my Couch to 5k program.  I did the week 2 program again since I didn't really get to much of it last week.

I went a little faster this time and I went a little further (not a lot further .02 miles to be exact), but it's still further than I've ever gone before.  I'm almost at the 2 mile point!  I can't wait to hit that.  Hopefully next time.  There were two times when I had to walk an extra 30 seconds and at one point I kind of felt like I might puke, but it was worth it.  I am so glad I did it.
After the run I wasn't ready to go so I hopped on the bike.  I did a little over 4 miles in a little over 22 minutes.  By the end I was really feeling it in my legs (thanks to my run), so I went ahead and stopped instead of going the full 30 minutes.

After my workout I was really hungry so I grabbed a Lemon Zest Luna Bar.  Yummy and just what I needed.

We ran a few more errands (getting the boys ready to go back to school) and then came home and made dinner.  At Sprouts today they had Eggplants on sale for 99 cents a piece!  I was so sad that I was buying eggplant instead of pulling it out of my garden (my garden is in state of disaster thanks to the horrible drought we're having...I'm going to try again in the Fall), but at 99 cents I couldn't resist.  I decided to make Grilled Eggplant Parmesan.  Now, I've never actually had this dish, so I just kind of made up the recipe and what I thought should be in it.  It was a success!  Everyone loved it.  It was so easy and I can see this being made a lot in our home.  Here's my super easy recipe.  Enjoy!

Get your self an eggplant!

Slice it up, brush it with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Throw it on the grill and wait 5 minutes.

Turn it over and wait 5 more minutes

Take it off the grill and put it on a baking sheet and top with some awesome tomato sauce

Top it with cheese and put it under a broiler to it's all melty and good.  Take it out and enjoy!

I had mine with a side salad topped with Calamata Feta Sass salad dressing.  It was sooooo yummy.  I love when I'm able to pick something up randomly at the store and come home and make something really good from it.  It does a lot for my wife/mommy ego : )

Grilled Eggplant Parmesan
1 Eggplant (there are two in the picture, but I only ended up using one)
Tomato Sauce (I used Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Tomato Sauce....my favorite)
Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Shredded Low Fat Mozzarella Cheese
Olive Oil (enough to brush the eggplant slices)
Salt and Pepper to taste

First get an Eggplant.  Slice it into discs about 1/2 an inch thick.  Brush each piece with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Turn your grill onto medium (my thermometer on the grill read 300 degrees).  Grill each side of the eggplant for about 5 minutes per side.  Remove from grill and set on a baking sheet.  Top with about a tablespoon of Tomato Sauce.  Sprinkle with Parmesan and Mozzarella Cheese.  Place in the oven under the broiler until cheese is melted (it took about 4 minutes).  Remove from oven and enjoy!

On a side note, tomorrow is weigh in day and I'm dreading it.  After the past week of no exercise and awful eating I know it's going to be bad.  The only good part is that it's been a great learning experience for me.  I'll post more about that tomorrow.

Rough Few Days

I am a stress eater. Like, uncontrollable eater during stressful times. I can't seem to get a handle on it. It sucks.
The past few days have been super stressful. So, I've been super eating. Add to that not being able to go to the gym thanks to my mega sunburn (I can't wear a sports bra thank you very much). Exercise is a stress reliever for me so I don't have that reliever. Then I'm eating too much and realize that I need to be exercising more and I can't so that makes more stress. It's just a vicious cycle.

Source: frenchbydesign.blogspot.com via snygg on Pinterest

I need a new plan. I think I should be able to get back to the gym on Wednesday, so that will help. Tonight I need to sit down and make out a meal plan. Having a plan always helps with my eating.
Of course a day spent at the spa would be a nice stress reliever too. Yeah, that's not gonna happen anytime soon, but I can dream right.
What about you? How do you handle stress? Any secret tips you want to share?

I'm an Idiot....and weigh in day...

Sorry I didn't blog yesterday. I will get to all that in a minute, but first let' start with my weigh in. Drum roll please....182.6 pounds. That's down 1.4 pounds from last week (if you're keeping track...I know I am : ) I'm a happy woman.

Okay, so yesterday was not good.  I was so sore from my lifting workout on Tuesday that I couldn't even walk up the stairs.  It's Thursday and I'm still sore.  The New Rules of Lifting is a hard core workout people.  I didn't do any exercise yesterday because I could barely move.

For breakfast I had steel cut oats, a scoop of Raw Fiber, Ground flax seed, nonfat vanilla oatmeal, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and blueberries.  A big bunch of blueberries.  Yum.

For lunch yesterday I had my beloved salad with over easy egg, spinach, arugula, goat cheese, and sunflower kernels tossed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Another yum.

After lunch I went about my day and then started making dinner. That's when things started to go wrong.  I started feeling awful.  My stomach hurt, my head hurt, I was dizzy.  It was just bad.  So, I went to bed.  At 7:30.  I never go to bed before 11.  It was bad.  Bad I tell you.

I woke up this morning feeling a little better, but my stomach still hurt.  So, I skipped breakfast.  I took the boys to the pool with some friends and this is where I become the idiot of the day.
We got to the pool and I got everyone all ready.  Smeared sunscreen all over the boys, put floaties on the little ones and was ready to go.  Then I don't know what I was thinking, but I completely ignored putting sunscreen on myself.  After 3 hours at the pool with no sunscreen on I am cooked.  Seriously, I'm in pain.  I'm red, I'm hot and I'm just a mess.  I can't even take my hair out of my ponytail because it hurts my back.  Here I am in all my red glory.  Tonight is going to be miserable trying to sleep.

After the pool I came home and had tortilla crusted tilapia on quinoa with black bean salsa, extra cilantro, and goat cheese.  It was super yummy.

Late this afternoon the effects of the sunburn really started to set in and I am not feeling well at all.  I couldn't eat dinner.  So, all I've had today is lunch.  Not a great day as far as my eating goes.  And I didn't get in a workout because I'm still so sore and I couldn't wear a sports bra right now even if I wanted to.  My shoulders hurt so bad.  I'm fairly certain I won't be able to exercise tomorrow either.  I'm hoping by Saturday my shoulders will be able to handle some clothing and I can make it back to the gym.

I did it!....An early work out

I can't believe I did it. I actually tried to talk myself out of it.  When my alarm went off this morning I thought, "no way!  I'm not getting up this early to go do a weight lifting program at the gym!", but after I laid there a minute I realized that I was going to be mad at myself the rest of the day if I didn't get outta that bed.  So I got up and was at the gym by 6:30.  Let me tell you, I was nervous!!  I really didn't know if I could do the first set of exercises in the New Rules of Lifting for Women, but I set my mind to it and decided that no matter what I was at least going to give it a shot.  And you know what?  I did every single one of the exercises!  I honestly was a little shocked at myself.  There were a few guys in the weight section of the gym, but it was no where near as intimidating as the crowd yesterday.  I'm really pleased with myself.  My legs are so sore, but it feels so good!  I warmed up for 5 minutes on the elliptical, did the weight workout, and then did 15 more minutes on the elliptical.  I wanted to do 30, but my legs gave out and I just couldn't do anymore.

Before the workout I drank a bunch of water (I drank a lot during too).  Then I came home and dove into this yummy bowl of steel cut oats with a scoop of Raw Fiber, ground flax seed, nonfat vanilla yogurt, unsweetened vanilla almond milk, and blueberries. 

For lunch three egg cups (eggs, cottage cheese, green peppers) and some grapes.  Not super exciting, but still good.

I played my calories pretty low and healthy for the first half of the day because I knew that tonight would be hard with food.  Our regular group of friends that we "do life" with came over and it was bring your favorite appetizer night.  We had bbq bacon jalapeno poppers, sandwich wraps, taquitos, garlic bread, and mini-quiches.  Yeah, not super nutritious.  I had two jalapeno poppers, two sandwich wraps (spinach tortillas stuffed with bbq sauce, deli meat, cheese and fresh spinach), a taquito, a slice of garlic bread, and a mini-quiche.  Honestly I don't feel like over did it, but it was definitely lacking in nutritional substance.  I see a lot of fruits and veggies in my future tomorrow : )

I surprised myself exercising today.  What about you?  Did you have any surprises today?

Making Up for a Bad Morning

Man, mornings are just crazy around here. Somehow we always oversleep and end up running late. This morning was no different. The hubster woke up and said, "I've got a meeting at work in 23 minutes." Great, how were we going to get six people ready and in the car and get him to work on time? Add to that the hubs was starving and didn't feel like he had time to eat anything at home and you've got a problem on your hands. He headed straight to McDonalds. I should have let him order, watched him eat it, and then come home and eaten a healthy breakfast, but I didn't. I told him I'd take a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit. And throw in a Dr. Pepper while you're at it. Yeah, not a good start to my day.

However, I realized that I made a mistake and moved on, spending the rest of the making good decisions. After the crappy start I was really feeling the need for some fruits/veggies at lunch. So, I made a juice with a green apple, red apple, spinach, blueberries, and a carrot. I also added Raw Green Super Food Powder and Tri-Cleanse Powder.

I felt much better after I drank this.  Oh, do you like my new nail polish?  I'm digging it, but my husband says it makes my nails look like M&Ms.  Hmmm....not sure what I think about that.

I'm supposed to start the New Rules of Lifting Group over at Prior Fat Girl.  I read the book and I have to say I really like it.  The guy who wrote it doesn't try to sugar coat anything.  He tells the truth and has a good sense of humor.  There are a couple of things in it that are a little difficult to follow (like way he explains the schedule is a little difficult to understand, but I think I've got it).  Overall it's a good book. 

Today I went to the gym with every intention of starting the program.  When I got there and saw the massive crowd of guys in the weight section I chickened out.  We went to the gym a little later than normal and it really busy.  I just wasn't up for attempting a new workout that I'm nervous about trying in front of a bunch of guys.  I was especially nervous about this move:

Yikes!!  I actually came home and practiced on my ball and I think I've got it.  So I should be ready.

Instead of doing the lifting program I did my Couch to 5K program.  I'm on Day 1 of Week 2.  It was tough!  There were two walking segments that I had to extend 30 seconds because I just couldn't start running again.  However, I did it and at the end I did my best distance yet!  A week ago I did 1.76 miles and today I did 1.95.  That's a great improvement.  I can't wait to see where I go from here. 

Because I didn't get the lifting workout in today I am going to go back early tomorrow morning and do it (hopefully it won't be crazy busy...if it is I'm just going to have to do it anyway).

I was still trying to get over the junk I ate for breakfast this morning when we had dinner.  I made a great salad and everyone loved it.  We had a mixture of baby spinach and baby arugula topped with carrots, goat cheese, avocado, sauteed yellow and red peppers and red onion, cooked chicken (I just cooked in a pan on the stove) and drizzled in olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  It was fantastic.

So, despite the awful morning I feel really good about today.  The majority of my food choices were really good and I got in a good run.  Here's to hoping I don't completely chicken out at the gym doing some new moves in the morning.

I'm Alive!....

I didn't fall over and hit my head yesterday when I weighed in!  Instead I got the following text yesterday afternoon from my hubs, "Want to do dinner/date night tonight?  Put the kids to bed, then eat?  Maybe watch a movie and never crack open a computer? : )"  Who am I to say no to that?!  So, we let the kids eat, then we ate, and watched The Fighter.  Oh my word I loved this movie.  One of my favorite parts may have been during the credits though.  Have you seen it?  What did you think?  Don't worry that I skipped posting yesterday.  I'm still going to fill you in on all the details!

So, I did my weekly weigh in.  I've actually tried to be really good and only weigh once a week so that I don't obsess about the number.  I wasn't expecting great things (in fact I was expecting bad things) because of having my period and the crap I had eaten.  I was pleasantly surprised when I weighed in at 184 (even).  Just in case you're counting that's a .2 lb loss.  Yep, not much at all, but considering everything it's pretty cool.  Especially if I look at the fact that I haven't gained back an ounce of detox weight.  That's pretty freakin' amazing.

I started my morning yesterday with steel cut oatmeal topped with ground flax seed, nonfat vanilla yogurt, slivered almonds, and blueberries.

 

Ummm....I'm having a mild obsession with this breakfast.  Someone may need to stage an intervention.  I may be buying stock in McCann's Irish Oatmeal.  I'm just sayin'.  Lord, help me.   I love it, here's my empty mug just crying out for more.

For lunch I took the left over quinoa from the night before and added canned albacore tuna, arugula, chopped red onion, chopped cilantro, crumbled nonfat feta (I'm out of my beloved goat cheese) and squeezed fresh lime juice all over it.  It was fantastic.  So easy and so good.

I'll confess that I did no exercise yesterday.  I was tired and grumpy (thank you pms), so instead I did this...

Made a big super fun tent in our living room and let the boys watch a double feature (Night at Museum and Night at the Museum:  Battle at the Smithsonian).  They loved it and I got some peace an quiet to read.

For dinner last night we had lemon orzo salad.  It was decent, but not a lot of flavors.  Probably won't be making it again (although one of my kids loved it and had seconds).

On to today!!!!!!!!!

This morning we were in such a rush!  All of us over slept and were rushing around like crazy to get the hubs to work.  So I grabbed a Nature Valley Granola Bar and my bottle of water to eat for breakfast on the way to drop him off.  Ugh.....I was really missing my steel cut oats.

After dropping him off we went to the gym and I hit the treadmill.  It was the hardest of the three runs I've done this week.  I think it was a combination of my period (are you ready for me to stop talking about that yet?), not eating a great breakfast, and not being well hydrated.  I drank a lot of water while I ran, but not a lot before.  Here's how it ended up....

 I'm still on week one of Couch to 5k.  However, even though it was a really hard run, if you look back you'll see that I actually improved.  My first run this week I did 1.76 miles in 30 minutes, the second run I did 1.82 miles in 30 minutes, and this time I did 1.86 miles in 30 minutes.  So, each time it's an improvement.  I'm super happy about that.  I'm hoping that I have time to go in the morning and do another day of week one and then move to week two on Monday.  At the end of my run today I wasn't quite ready to quit so I hopped on one of the bikes for 20 minutes.  I don't remember how far it said I went, but I did the interval program and the hills with resistance were challenging.  I was definitely continuing to sweat.

After my workout I had some Advocare Spark (Pink Lemonade).  I have never had this drink before, but a friend of mine sells it and I have a lot of other friends that use it and love it.  I get so sleepy in the afternoons and since I've given up coffee I decided to try this.  Okay, I know it has caffeine, just like coffee, but I'm not adding milk and sugar and a bunch of other stuff (high fructose corn syrup) to it.  So, I feel better about it.  It's sugar free, you put it in water, it's 45 calories and it taste great.  I have to say that this afternoon I didn't have any problems feeling sleepy.  I also didn't get jittery or have any other problems.  I really liked it.  ***Just fyi, I'm not trying to promote my friend's business.  The link I posted takes you to the official Advocare website and isn't for my friend.  I paid for the product because I wanted to try it.  I was not given anything to write about this.***

During lunch we were out running errands (after being in the house for two days with out a car I needed to get out and get some things done!).  So, I had to make a choice between some fast food places to eat.  We ended up stopping by Chick-fil-a.  I was a little worried that my hunger, pmsbun with no condiments.  Instead of fries I had a fruit bowl and instead of my usual sweet tea I got an unsweet tea.  Progress at the drive-thru!!!

Dinner was part healthy and part not so healthy.  I made egg muffins following  this recipe that I found via pinterest.  I followed the majority of the recipe, adding 4 pieces of turkey bacon (chopped up), low fat shredded cheddar cheese, and chopped red bell pepper.  I didn't use paper cupcake liners like she said to do, but I really sprayed my pan and once they were done I used a sharp knife to loosen the edges and didn't have a problem with them sticking.  Also, I had way more than I could use in 12 muffin cups.  I ended up making 18.  Everyone really seemed to like them.  Even the baby ate two of them.   My hubs also made some pancakes and I had two small ones with sugar free syrup.

I am so ready for this weekend!  We're working on changing up our bedroom and the boys' bedroom.  The two older boys will be sharing a room and the two younger boys will be in a room together.  They're all super excited, but the hubs is dreading moving the bunk bead. 

I hope everyone has a great weekend.  What does everyone have planned?