Wow...I'm thinking like a real grown up

t feels as though it has been forever since I posted.  I am not sure where the time goes sometimes.  I have the best of intentions and have so much to share with you,  but then life gets in the way.   Isn't that always how it seems to go?!?!  Well my friends not today.   Today I am making YOU a priority.  Doesn't that sound sweet, I wont lie though…this is only partially for you.  By taking this time, these few moments to update you…I am making time for ME!  Where to begin.

Over the weekend I saw something that scared me, shamed me and disgusted me.  It was the number on the scale  in my bathroom.  Now this post is not going to be a shamefest.  I was  actually more disgusted on the whys of  this number than the number itself.  I know that I don’t always make the best  food choices,  but I am human hear  my stomach roar!   I  also know that I am   not eating every meal from a box or wrapper though.  I don’t always get in the workouts I should, but I have upped my step goal by 2000 steps  a day in the past few months.  I am walking 3-3.5 miles everyday at lunch during the workweek, I am hitting my step goal earlier in the days on the weekends.  I  was coaching soccer and running around with my kiddos 2 days a week…how did this happen?!?!

Before you jump on  the “muscle weighs more than fat” band wagon,  let  me assure you that I am aware of  that and that in this circumstance, it’s not the issue either.  I can see the loss  of tone my laziness has brought on.  But  it has given me reason to  pause.

I am just as bad  as everyone else out there.  I know we all  want to be the person that “doesn't care about what  then pics in the magazines look like” or  the person that can say,  “as long as  I’m healthy I  don’t care  what the number on the scale says.”  I agree.  I am that person to a point.  Where  does that point end…at the number I saw this weekend.  If I was more  secure,  I would share  it  with you…but I know that YOU know that its different for all of us.  We all have a number  that scares us.  One that defines us.  I hit  mine.  i knew what  it was before, so  this was no shock…I just didn't  plan on seeing it again for a long time.

Now, I  have read that after 30 people tend to put on 10 pounds a year after 30.  WHAT!  That wont be me.  I  will defy all odds…well l guess what, I have less than 3  years  to now prove that wrong.  This weekend, I  saw THAT number.   This weekend my eyes opened wide, as wide  as my butt felt. ;)

Is this irreversible?  No of course not.  But I am realizing (slowly and in my own denial riddled way)  that I have to make changes if I want to see changes.  Not  the kind of changes that are  obvious,  eat better/exercise more, but the kind of choices like really monitoring what I put into my body and how it reacts.  I can feel sometimes how foods I have always loved make me feel differently now.   They don’t all agree  with me the  way they used  to…examples you ask?  Gluten and nuts stand out the most.  I’m not  trying to be hip with the gluten,   I can actually see  and feel a difference  in my body when I cut the gluten out though.  I drop a few pounds in just a few days from water.  I can see my belly flatten  out,  it’s just so darn hard to cut gluten all together and without having a legit medical reason too…I get lazy.

I know that I am not alone in this  fight, this journey.  How do you  cope with this?

Order up with a side of FMM

     Well...it has happened.  I have become a domestic goddess!  HA  Well, at least maybe one in training!  Thanks to those of you who sent me to some great recipes stops.  I have been pretty successful thus far.  My grocery shop was a little pricier than I had hoped for, but I reminded myself that you pay for quality...and that is what I got, some good, quality food.
     The way the schedule was playing out, I knew that after shopping it was going to be rough to get in the kids activities and prepare something fabulous so I did cheat a bit on the first day in the kitchen...however, I only partially cheated and made sure it was in a healthy way.

pre-made Rotisserie chicken with chicken and herb couscous and fresh green beans

     So I bought a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken and had that as the staple.  The picture above shows it as first plated, I actually take the skin off of my chicken (and share with my pup) but I leave it on in case the hubs decides he wants it.  I am proud of the side dish choices I made.  Couscous...I love couscous, and it's a much better choice than (some) rice or noodle type dishes.  The green beans too.  Our neighbors have quite the garden and they brought us over fresh green beans, which I have never cooked.  Is it sad that all of my green bean experiences before now started with a can opener?  So, I give this start to my healthy cooking decent marks.
     I am VERY proud of my next dish (you can find the recipe in the Daring to Dream tab)...it's one I found online and made my own revisions to "healthy it up."  My dear hubby is a fan of hamburger helper, but we NEVER buy it based on how bad it is for you.  So when I found a recipe for a cheesy beef noodle bake, my first thought was Helper...make a great meal!

my original ingredients stash

    
     Above is the original gathering of ingredients.  I did decide to use tomato sauce instead of the diced tomatoes though once I started mixing, but other than that...pretty good choices right?  I substituted ground turkey for ground beef, used whole grain pasta, and veggied it up with two of my favorite flavorings....onions and peppers.  Okay, I admit I used a little bit of cheese, but honestly it was a little bit.  The recipe I found called for not only cheese on top, but a cheese sauce to be mixed into the actual dish.

final product

     It didn't "stick" together as well as I had hoped (maybe that's why the recipe called for the cheese sauce) but flavorwise...this was FAB!  If anything, I think I would add a few more veggies to my saute...maybe some zucchini next time too!  I served this with a nice salad (more veggies) and it was a hit.  Even the two year old liked it!  PLEASE keep the recipes coming in!  I'm starting to look forward to them..and ask your friends to share too.  A girl can NEVER have too many healthy recipes!

Now....on to a little Friend Making Monday!

If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Tech Questions

1.  PC or Mac?  I am a PC person when it comes to my computing needs.  Do I appreciate and like Apple?  Yes of course…I have an iPhone, an iPod and an iPad…but when it comes to user friendliness for a computer, I still feel better with a PC.

2. When did you get your first computer?  I feel like I have had a computer in my life forever.  I remember having games as a kid that I needed to DOS prompt to play.  Barbie, Olympics, cards…oh how I miss you “*”.exe RUN hahahhah NEVER!!!!

3. Do you use cable, DSL or something else?  I have a cable connection.  We had fiber optic for a while with AT&T but their customer service left something to be desired and we switched back to cable.

4. When choosing a laptop, do you think it's more important to choose the fastest one, or the lightest one?  Speed for sure.  My job has me at a computer all day and I would freak out if I had to wait for things.  Think of the extra poundage as a workout!

5. What kind of cell phone do you own?  Do you like it? I have an iPhone and LOVE it.  My hubby has a Droid though and I can see that being nice too.  What I like best about my iPhone is the streaming capability between devices.  I just have to make sure I check my 11 year old iPod from time to time.  Just downloaded Fifty Shades (audio book) to my phone and had to make sure it was NOT on her iPod or the iPad. J

6. How do you carry your laptop when you travel?  I don’t travel much.  If I need to take my laptop somewhere it is generally in my briefcase in the car next to me.

7. How many e-mails do you send on an average day? I don’t think I want to know the answer to this.  A good chunk of the programs I do at work rely on my emailing presenters, students, faculty…it is a never ending process it seems.

8. Do you ever blog using your iPad or similar tablet? Haven’t tried.
9. What do you use more often - a desktop or a laptop?  Desktop.  That is our primary home machine and my primary work machine.

10.  As a blogger, are there other gadgets that you need to get the job done?  If so, what are they?  I rely on my iPhone and its camera very much.  As I am still new to blogging, I haven’t found other devices that are “must use” yet.

Now it's your turn to answer this week's questions on your blog!  Don't forget to come back and link up in the comments! Happy Monday, friends!

It's Getting Hot in Here

     I have said it a million times in my blog, my hubby does the cooking in our house.  He always has.  He is an excellent cook, and I am VERY lucky that he has always enjoyed cooking...until recently.  Our schedules have been so crazy lately and the kids have been so finicky about what they want to eat that he has not enjoyed cooking.  We have ordered a lot of meals recently as well as done "boxed" meals as he refers to them.  Looking forward to the fall semester and what it brings for his schedule and it looks as though one of the goals that I set for myself SO many months ago with the start of the new year will get forced into fruition.  I had hoped to try and cook 1 meal a week.  Some weeks I do more than that, but more often than not I don't really do any at all.  This is my time to step up to the plate.  To give him a much deserved and much needed break from the kitchen and try my and at this whole "family chef" idea.  I am excited, but also nervous.  My husband is SO good in the kitchen, I don't want to disappoint, but I think he will be happy if I embrace this new challenge.  All I can hope is to make it past the appetizer round, right?

So, if you have some great low cal recipes that do not require formal culinary training :) please forward them on.  My eRecipe collection needs filled.  Thanks!

And now...a little Friend Making Monday!  If you’ve taken part in FMM then you know the rules. If you’re new, please take a moment to answer this week’s question on your own blog then add your link in the comments section here at: www.alltheweigh.com so we can all see your FMM questions and answers. Please invite your blog readers to add their links here too so everyone has to opportunity to be seen. The idea is to connect with other awesome bloggers so take a moment to post your own FMM post and comment on a couple of other posts. Now it’s time for this week’s topic!

Inappropriate Questions

 1. Will you vote in the upcoming presidential election?  YES!!  It is our civic duty as well as a privilege to have our voices heard!

2. Do you say curse words? Does a bear sh*t in the woods?!?!  HA

3. Have you ever kissed a stranger? Nope.

4. If you could choose to meet only one fellow blogger in person right now who would you choose? I’m still so new to the blogging world that I’m not sure.  I love having people stop by my blog and enjoy doing the same…right now Kenlie, you are a MUST read every day!

5. What is the most inappropriate pick-up line that anyone has ever used on you?  Honestly, I can’t think of any.  I wasn’t the type of girl that got a lot of the lines…my friends seemed to, but not me so much.

6. Do you sing in the shower?  Sometimes.  If it’s in the AM when getting ready for work no, just because I don’t’ want to wake the whole house. J

7. How often do you get drunk?  Maybe once or twice a year.

8. Have you ever been fired from a job?  I was a contracted worker once and didn’t get the contract renewed…does that count?  It was after 3 years though and was the impetus I needed to expand my horizons.

9. Were you popular in high school?  There were only 500 kids in my high school…so everyone was popular. Hee hee

10. Who is your current celebrity crush? Don’t really have one…how sad is that?!?

Reunited and it feels so good

Dear readers,

     I must apologize for my crazy absence since my surgery.  I had pledged to update....fail, I had pledged to modify my workouts...fail.  I admit that I was knocked down a bit more than I thought I would be at the beginning.  I am not the type of person that likes to feel helpless, and that is EXACTLY how I felt the first few days.  I had it in my head that I would not need pain meds, I mean, I didn't take ANY after having a c-section, so why would I now?  Well, my wonderful hubby reminded me of the overwhelming maternal instinct that wanted to protect baby from meds in my milk and that that probably masked a lot of my pain; he also reminded me that I had a piece of bone cut and removed from my foot and a screw put in and that my body was not going to be happy about it.  In my medicated state I agreed (honestly, I agreed even more so after I quit talking the pain meds...I feel impressively by day 3).  The doc is very happy with how everything went though, and now I am fully on the road to recovery!
     I do have to admit, my exercise guilt is not quite as bad as I had worried.  With using my crutches I can see a distinct difference in my arms.  My triceps and biceps have NEVER been so tight and defined (a plus), and with hobbling around with the majority of my weight on my "good leg" that leg is looking alright, and then carrying the weight of the cast on the other seems to have done some work as well.  Don't get me wrong, I would have MUCH rather been running on the treadmill, or hitting the elliptical...but I did do some ab work, and worked up a sweat on a daily basis just moving around the house so I am okay with that.  My weight didn't change at all, and while I have my moments of "oh geez I feel flabby from not working out" on the whole I'm okay with things.  I do wish my recovery was faster, but it hasn't even been 3 weeks yet.  I need to pace myself.
     All of that being said, can I just say how torn I am to be back at work today.  I love my job, have an AMAZING boss, and missed my friends here, but being home all day every day with my kiddos (well the oldest was in school but you know what I mean)...what an unbelievable blessing.  My little one woke up sobbing this morning, "Please dont' go to work Mommy."  Broke my heart, but I know she will have a great day with Daddy and her big sis (newly graduated from 5th grade).  My little one was so great while I was home.  She is such a helper, and she got out her doctors kit everyday and checked my progress.

by far the BEST medical care I have ever received

     So now I work.  Slowly and surely I will get back to where I was, and then I will progress even further.  I am proud of how in shape I had gotten, and how close I was to my 5K...I will get back there again.  I have ti remember to pace myself and work hard, but I know I can do it!