Quick Yummy Lunch

We've been busy round these parts. We're in full remodel mode right now trying to get our house ready to put on the market. Did I mention that we found the perfect house for our family in the perfect location for the perfect price? So, now we've got to get our little home ready to sell and get a movin'!!
That means I've been painting like a mad women, cleaning out our rooms/closets and donating all the junk we've accumulated over 9  years of living here, and trying to make some this house look like someone else's dream home.

In the busyness of it all it would be super easy to just grab lunch out while I'm making multiple runs to Home Depot or Lowe's.  I'm trying to avoid that though.  I've found a great lunch I can have here at home that's not only super quick, but also healthy.  I got some frozen salmon patties at Costco and I can cook those up in about 10 minutes.  They're great on a whole grain sandwich thin loaded with fresh spinach and smeared with some Laughing Cow Light cheese.  A side of apples is the perfect addition.  

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.

Best Friends, Best Super Bowl Party

I seriously believe that I have the best friends in the whole world. They are amazing. We love each other like family and I can't imagine my life without them.

This weekend they threw the best Super Bowl Party ever. They've got an enormous front yard and set up a screen to watch the game outside and brought out a couch, chairs, and fire pit. There was also TONS of yummy food. I contributed chips and salsa and Pioneer Woman BBQ Jalapeno Poppers.

Here's Jerad and Eli in front of the fire pit ready to watch the game!

The boys got to make some s'mores, which they thought was awesome.

It was kinda cold so we enjoyed the game snuggled under a blanket on the couch. My oldest may have been a little worried about the game.

Here's me with three of my little rascals and Lindsay with her one little football player. I love her boy and you can see how much Seth loves her!

One of the great things about my friends is that when they get an idea in their head they go all out.  They decided they wanted to use the Super Bowl as a way to meet more people in their neighborhood.  They put fliers on the doors of houses all around the neighborhood and invited everyone to the party.  Lots of people they'd never met before stopped by and hung out.  It was incredible.  I see lots of movie nights in their yard coming up in the future and they are going to make a huge impact on their community (did I mention that Lindsay and her husband both teach at the same high school?  She works with the "at risk" kids and he's the Athletic Director and Head Football Coach.).   

I am so thankful for the people God chose to put in my life.  They make life fun and are there when life isn't fun and help make it better.

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.

Perfect Night

A late night around our fire pit after the babies were tucked in bed was just what this girl needed.

Time with just the hubs to talk about the future.
Our house plans.
Growing our family.
Moving.

Oh and several s'mores.  S'mores consumed with my man around an open flame.  Perfection. 

Green Monster Smoothie

I've been seeing Green Monster Smoothies all over Pinterest recently and finally decided to give it a try.  I found this recipe on Iowa Girl Eats used it because I had almost everything it called for already in the house.

Here's my Green Monster

I made this with a couple of variations to the original recipe.  She used frozen bananas, but I didn't have any, so I just used a fresh one.  Also, she used greek vanilla yogurt and I used fat free regular vanilla yogurt.  Other than that everything was the same.
Truthfully I was a little leery.  I mean I combine spinach with apples and carrots all the time and juice it, but I've never just put in a blender with something else.  I really thought it wouldn't taste good, would be gritty, just yucky.  Guess what?  It wasn't.  Actually, it was really good.  Very peanut buttery, which is a plus in my book because I'm not a huge banana fan. 
I'm having a really hard time getting all my fruits and veggies in everyday, so this is a great way to sneak some into my diet.  I'm not sure it will be an everyday thing (it's about 350 calories), but definitely a couple of times a week.
So, if you haven't tried a Green Monster Smoothie, go ahead and try it.  You won't be disappointed.

Encouraging My Husband and Counting Calories

So, one of my new years resolutions was to encourage my husband more.  I am so thankful for all he does for our family, but I know I don't let him know how much I appreciate him nearly enough.  I decided that this year I would be consistent in showing him my gratitude and appreciation.  I've been sending him texts throughout the day just to let him know I'm thinking about him, love him, miss him, etc.  I've also been making sure to have his favorite drink ready with dinner (since I usually only drink water sometimes it's easy to forget to make his stuff), making sure he's got clean clothes, you know just stuff that makes him feel good.  Well, he doesn't read my blog, which is totally fine with me.  So, he had no idea that this is one of my resolutions, but I can tell that he's noticing.  His moods when he gets home have been a lot better (usually he's just really tired and wants to go unwind in a room alone, but now he's coming home and hanging out with us).  He's been super affectionate towards me and the other day he stopped on his way home and picked up a little something for me.

The Adele 21 album!!!!  I was so excited.  I've been wanting this cd for a while, but we're trying to be wise with our money and so I haven't bought it.  It meant so much to me that he got this for me.  It was encouraging to me because it meant that he was thinking of me during the day while he was away.  I didn't resolve to encourage him more so that he would do things for me, but this sure was nice : )

In health/fitness related news, I've decided to start counting calories again.  I haven't done this in a while, but I realized that I really have no idea how many calories I'm actually eating each day.  When I lost the 75 pounds 4 years ago I counted everything.  So, I know that, for me, in order to see the numbers on the scale getting smaller I need to do it again.  It's a pain to figure everything out, but in the long run it's totally worth it.  Counting calories also really helps me be conscience of what I'm eating and not just randomly eat through out the day.  I think it's gonna be a good thing.

Speaking of calories (and because I just want to share the pictures), we consumed some extra calories last night in honor of the littlest man's birthday.

Isn't he just the cutest thing ever!

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.

A Year In Pictures

What a year 2011 has been... 

We spent lots of time with silly hair on the trampoline

Enjoying birthdays

First snows

Lots and Lots of bike rides

Going Roar like a Lion

Flying Kites

Growing our First Garden

Afternoons at the Bike Park

Silly Faces

More bike races

More Birthdays

Roses on in our Flower Bed

Trips to the Zoo

Lots and Lots of Climbing Obstacles

First Tomatoes in Our Garden

Family Camping Trips

Big Boy Camping Trips

Such Cuteness

Scarey Times when the baby's face swells and the doctor can't tell you what's wrong

Learning to Flip on the Trampoline

First day of school

Learning to go up and down the slide on your own

Celebrating everytime it rained during the worst drought

Afternoons at the Park

Playing Catch in the Backyard

Meeting Favorite Celebrities

Goofy Grins

Visiting Great-Grandparents that ALWAYS give you soda

Teaching Little Brothers to drive the "Monster Truck"

Decorating and devouring Christmas Cookies

Celebrating the Reason for Christmas

Enjoying Time Together