Friday!! Yeahhhhh Buddy =)

First things first - ITS FRIDAY!! =) Fridays make me happy ... ha!

I am so gettin' on the Clean Eating Train - I have been stalking Tiffany over at the The Gracious Pantry. She has a lot of good info about getting started and a ton of yummy looking recipes. I have been reading and printing like crazy. She says to make the transition slowly and I think that is the best advice! I will start replacing my ingredients with "clean" ingredients as I run out of them and start cutting things out along the way.  I love fruits and vegetables so this should be a some what easy transition for me. I think the hardest part will just be giving up all processed foods because they are just so easy to grab and are very convenient.

The husband and I went to a wedding last Saturday and they had one of those Photobooth Photographers. It was so much fun, totally wish we would have done one at ours. We didn't do many because it was a co-worker of my husbands so we didn't want to get too crazy, ha ha. If it would have been a family member it would have gotten a lot more crazy!

Here we are:

The Goofball Guys (these are all co-workers of my husband)



The Wives =)



We had so much fun!!

Tomorrow is my first Volunteering Venture. I will be helping out with a March of Dimes walk. Supposed to be a rainy crappy day but oh well, better than sweating to death I guess =) ... Then it's a weekend filled with birthday parties!

I hope you all have a GREAT weekend and if you haven't seen enough pics of me on this post, here is another of me being happy it's Friday!!!

Funk In My Trunk!!

Sorry I've been MIA - I have been in the WORST funk ever!! Not sure why, may have had something to do with good ole Aunt Flo but all I know is I was not pleasant to be around the past few days =( .... I am starting to feel more myself and ready to get back to "normal" (whatever that is, ha!).

So anyways, first to follow up on my last post regarding skin cancer check - I have my appointment set for May 9th. I am nervous but ready to go and hopefully put my mind at ease.

Last week we received some AWESOME news that will hopefully keep my mind off of the doctor's appointment, until it actually gets here. In just a few short weeks my family will be here:

Disney Freakin' World!!! ahhhhh!

My husband's aunt has decided to take our whole family to Disney World. We are in shock - she is going all out. We are staying at a resort and she is flying all of us so we don't have to take that loooooong drive. She is so awesome, always giving when she can. So it will be our family of four and 2 of my husband's aunts. We aren't telling the kids until it gets closer because my oldest will be asking every 5 minutes if it's time to go yet, ha ha... I would be lying if I said I wasn't crazy excited. My parents could never afford to do this for us when we were little, so I feel like a little kid the night before Christmas or something. I know it's cheesy but I can't wait to see it and I can't wait to see my boy's faces when they see it. We hope we can repay her someday for this!!! 

So we've been busy the last few days planning that and getting our days set to be off of work and honestly it's all I've been thinking about. 

Hopefully I will be back to posting as much as I can now that the Funk has left the building =) ... 

Do you remember those cute little flower pots I got the kids for Easter - Ya know the ones my husband said there was no way anything would ever grow in??? ... Check them out!

In your face Husband!!

Ha ha - those things are going crazy!! While there aren't actually any flowers yet, they will be coming soon. It is so fun to see my son's face everyday when he looks at these and says - LOOK Mom! They are getting bigger!!! 

So along with my funk came eating a bunch of junk! And I realize the affect the crappy food has on my body. I felt like complete crap - when I eat right and take care of myself I truly feel a difference. (I know, you're saying ... DUH!!). But I guess I am finally just realizing that food can affect everything - the way you feel, the mood your in, your finances (way to much going out to eat going on in the last week!!) ... So I have been looking into Clean Eating. I really want to try this ... I've found a few websites and I am trying to get as educated as possible. Also still reading Jillian Michaels' Master Your Metabolism - she is pretty much a clean eater as well. It just makes sense. You only have one body so you better take care of it. Only put food into your body that is going to improve your health, not harm it.

I will probably be posting more about the Clean Eating and my transition to doing so.  Hope you are all doing well!

Friday Five

It's Friday!! Yeaaaaah buddy =) ... First off, just wanted to share that I set an appointment for May 9th to have a full body mole scan to check for skin cancer. So I will update after the appointment. Have you set your appointment yet? If not, DO IT!! =)

MmmmK - now on to some Friday Randomness with 5 random questions.

1. If you were given one million dollars, on the condition that you had to give half of it away, how would you go about giving away half a million dollars?  It depends, can I give it to family? If so, I would definitely do that. I would also find a local charity or two and donate what was left to them. If I were ever to win the lottery I would quit my job and travel the world volunteering and helping where I could - this is a dream of mine!
2. Do you write letters or send cards to anyone via the postal system regularly, only for special occasions such as birthdays, or not at all? Not at all! Everything is electronic for us. I pay all my bills online so I honestly couldn't tell you the last time I mailed something in the actual mail. Email is so much faster and just easier.  My parents are old school and still mail EVERYTHING they won't even set up online bill paying because they are afraid someone will hack their stuff. It could happen but I'm willing to take the chance =)
3. What is the most treasured memento you have kept? Unfortunately I don't have any really cool mementos, I think I would just have to say pictures. I have TONS of pictures and I am always taking them. I love to look back at old pictures.
4. If one of your friends phones you at 4am because they are depressed and upset, but you have an important job interview in the morning. What do you do? I would talk to my friend until it was time to get ready for the interview, then load up on caffeine on the way there, when I was done I would call to check on my friend and then catch up on my sleep.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   So there you have it - a little more than you ever wanted to know about me =)  I hope you all have a great weekend. We have a wedding tomorrow and nothing on Sunday - I can't wait to relax!
   
   
   Have a good one!
5. What is the phrase or quote that sums up who you are as a person?

Have You Been Checked?

I am taking a step away from weight loss today to share something else with you guys.

I saw this post yesterday over at Six Sisters Stuff and I really wanted to share it with you all. Mama Laughlin has mentioned getting checked for skin cancer recently and had me thinking about it but still I was hesitant to go get checked. I have a very suspicious mole on my left hip that I have had for probably about 2 years. I think about it from time to time and think - I should really get this checked - but then life gets in the way and I forget about it. Also I am so afraid to hear those words - You have skin cancer.

I was a super tanning bed queen during my teen years. Also laying out in the real sun whenever I had the chance and never using sun screen, because of course it would ruin my awesome tan (so dumb!!).  I still to this day never put on sunscreen. I put it on my children but not myself. So now I am terrified that my choices in the past are going to lead to something terrible. After watching this video it has scared me enough that I am going to call a Dermotoligist today and set up an appointment. I pray that they can remove the mole and it will be nothing, but if it something I just pray to God that I got it taken care of soon enough.

I will NEVER go tanning again and I will ALWAYS have sunscreen on when I am out in the sun. Please watch this video and share it with anyone you think would benefit from it. Life is too precious and too short to take chances. I have 2 little boys that need their momma to be here to lead them and guide them and to help them make better decisions than she did.

Here is the video, please watch, it is very informative and eye opening.

Come Back Weekend!!

Man do the weekends fly by or what??? I hate that! I really think we should have a little more time off than just 2 days - I know there are a lot of people out there who don't even get that so I should count my blessings but still why do the weekends go so darn fast! Oh well, nothing I can do to change it, just make the most of it! =)

So I tried a few new "recipes" this weekend - not much to them but they turned out good. First was this amazing Spinach & Feta Omlet. I found the recipe over at Finding Joy in the Journey (love her!!).

My ingredients =)

The finished product - minus the ketchup I added to the top  =)

This was VERY good!! It was also very filling, I had it with a glass of skim milk and I seriously felt stuffed after I ate it. I didn't need to eat again until lunch time. Try it, you won't be disappointed. Very good, low calorie, filling meal! Thanks Paige!

The other recipe I tried was Dark Chocolate and Oat Clusters. I wasn't sure about these but they turned out really good. My 2 year old devoured them! He kept going into the fridge and bringing me the container they were in and saying more! more! ... My 5 year old wouldn't touch them, he said they looked disgusting. I believe if he would have at least tried them he would of liked them but they aren't a very pretty cookie =)

My ingredients - minus the skim milk.



Everything in the pot.



Sorry this is a blurry phone pic, but this is what they looked like before I put them in the fridge to "set"



Like I said, they are not pretty but they sure do taste good and only 160 calories for 2... yum!!

So needless to say, this batch is gone - I think my 2 year old ate about 5 of them!!! Hope all those oats don't mess with his belly! So I will probably be making another batch tonight.

We also went back to the Hibatchi place this weekend - I am telling you this place is good!! I got more sushi and it was just as good as the first time!


I actually had 2 plates just like this, but we ate at around 3:00 so this was lunch & dinner =)



The boys "trying" to use chopsticks ... ha ha



He was so happy when he "got it"  =)



So we had a GREAT weekend and it's so hard coming back to work on Monday after such a good time. Especially because my husband is off on Mondays so I know they are all home having fun without me! ..boo!!

Emotional Eating

Ya know I never thought of myself as an emotinal eater too much. Yes I do eat out of boredom a lot but other than that I never saw myself as "eating my feelings"... until yesterday.

I stayed home from work because I just needed a day - I truly believe there are just times when we need to take a day. I still kept the boys home and I actually did some much needed housework but I got to sleep a little longer and it felt good to stay in my pajamas all day.

Anyways, back to the emotional part. The husband is mad at me and not speaking to me, this will be day 3 of the silent treatment (I know real mature right? This is what I have to deal with).  The problem is I am not even really sure what I did. He came home Wednesday night in a pissy mood (this happens A LOT) and I guess I got pissy back to him because I am just tired of dealing with the MISERABLE man I live with! He is very unhappy with his life right now but he is unwilling to do anything to change it. I am not going to go into details because it's his life and I don't want to expose all of that on a public blog. But his misery is leaking into our lives and even if he wants it to or not it affects the whole family.

So yesterday I was at home and just upset about the whole thing and just looking around at all that needs to be done around the house and thinking about finances and yada yada - the list goes on, and all I wanted to do was eat. I even thought to myself you need to find something else to do to stay out of the kitchen. So I did, but still I just kept thinking about what I could eat and what sounded good. It got to the point where I got dinner made, the boys and I ate and then I cleaned up the mess, got everything put away and turned out the lights in the kitchen and told myself to NOT go back in there.

I know food is a comfort tool for me. I know certain things remind me of my childhood and flat out - food makes me feel good! Not when I am done and feel like I can't walk but I look forward to good food. Seriously something as stupid as knowing I have something good to eat for lunch will change my mood for the day - BOGUS!! ... So pretty much I need to find a way to deal with my emotions, whatever they may be; happy, sad, bored, pissed, lonely ... instead of EATING.

How do I stop using food as an emotional crutch, when that is all I know? How do I change the way I deal with things? ... Do I acknowledge it when it is happening and try to refocus on something else - like exercise possibly? I could probably run pretty fast when I'm pissed off! Doing some Zumba when I am bored instead of snacking on junk food. Actually talking to my husband even when he is being a stubborn b-hole and not speaking to me, telling him how ridiculous I think it is that after 10 years we can't just talk things out. 

I need to find another outlet. Have any of you found another solution to emotional eating???

I Want To Shoot The Scale!

Yep - this pretty much sums it up! Last Wednesday, the first day of my challenge, I weighed in at 191.4 - today I weighed in at 189.4 - 2 lbs - I would be happy if it weren't 2 lbs that I have already lost over and over and over again. I am really not understanding the scale. It is not going down but my clothes are feeling loose. Especially my jeans, the husband even made a comment this weekend that we needed to buy me some new jeans because mine are starting to look too baggy. So I dunno what to think - I can't not weigh myself, I have to know what is going on with that - maybe I should do every two weeks or something, I don't know... something has to give! Anyways, I have decided to try a new challenge - Weekend Watch! I do great during the week and then the weekend comes and everything goes to crap ... I've heard several other bloggers say the same. So instead of boring you with pics of my daily food I will bore you on the weekends with my food and whatever else I happen to do =) ... I HAVE to get my weekends in check or this is never going to get better.

I may be strugglin but I will NOT give up! Found this today and really liked it - spoke to me today that's for sure!

Got me a Light Carmel Frapp this morning to make me feel better, lol, really just needed to wake my ass up! This is a little bit of heaven for me and at only 167 calories I am happy to indulge =)

I was a roasting fool last night! I stocked up on veggie's when we went to the Farmer's Market this weekend and I roasted a bunch of stuff in the oven last night and then I portioned them out for my lunches for the rest of the week. I tossed them in a small amount of light butter and put some of my brother's (he is a chef) secret spice mix on them. 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

This is what I roasted, there was one more carrot but I had already cut it before taking the pic.

This is what they looked like before they went in the oven.

And this is the finished product - SOOOOO good!

 The "Easter Bunny" brought the boys some cute little flowers to plant and watch grow. Honestly I got them out of the dollar bin at Target. The husband says there is no way a flower will grow and if I get something to grow out of them I will be amazing ... ha ha. So I will be taking extra special care of these and reminding the boys to water them everyday - then I can take my crown and the Amazeballs Queen and everything will be right with the world! =)

This is what was wrapped around the little pots.

And here are the little pots - aren't they so stinkin' cute?? 

So hopefully in a few weeks I will have pictures of real flowers sprouting up outta there =) Stay tuned!!

Salsa!!

Well tomorrow is my weigh in for my one week challenge - once again I did great during the week but the weekend, not so much. I did really well over the weekend with food choices  - I didn't over eat or anything like that, I just didn't track so I am unsure of my calorie intake. I had a lot of sushi on Sunday - they weren't huge pieces but that was all I had for dinner and didn't eat after 5:30.  Sometimes I don't just worry about overeating but undereating as well. Both Saturday and Sunday I didn't have 3 solids meals, I had maybe 2 solid meals with a little nibbling in between, but thos nibbles can add up if you're not careful! 

So I dunno how I did really. I only got one run in over the weekend. I did run last night as well. All I know is I checked my weight today and it wasn't great so I am hoping some magic happens over night tonight. I will be running for sure and I have counted everything I have eaten today. So we will see.

Anyways, some of you were asking for my salsa recipe. I just did a search for Chevy's salsa because my husband and I love that stuff!! And it brought me to this recipe. It was very easy to make!! We went to the Farmer's Market on Saturday so I got 8 tomatoes for $2 and a basket of 8 jalapenos for $1, garlice for 40 cents, cilantro for $1 and I had the rest of the ingredients at home. The final result was a salsa that tasted  A LOT like Chevy's. I have already made my 2nd batch. We also got some restaurant style tortilla chips which makes a big difference as well. Try it.. You will love it, I promise =) ... I'm not sure on calories, I looked up Chevy's salso on caloriecount.com and it said 40 calories for 5 oz.

So tomorrow I will be back with weigh in - good or bad ... One thing is for sure, no matter what it is I will not be giving up. I will not give up until I get this figured out and finally get the weight off. May take 100 tries but eventually I will get it =)

Wonderful Easter Weekend!!

Our Easter Weekend was awesome - the weather couldn't have been any better. We spent the majority of the weekend outside, which I love!! Friday night we started off with yard work and lots of it. I mowed the lawn which is a killer workout - we have a huge backyard that is partly uphill, great for the legs! Also did some tree trimming/sawing - so my arms were nice and sore the next day.

Saturday we took the boys to a place called Eckert's - they have a country store and they also have a pumpkin patch, strawberries, peaches, apples - they have something going on each season. For Easter they have the Easter Bunny there and egg hunts and lots of fun things for the kids to do. We didn't see the Easter Bunny but the kids got to ride on some fun rides and pet some animals - it was gorgeous outside and we enjoyed every minute of it.

I started my day with this - very good and very filling



My Oldest, Layton, holding a chick, he thought this was so neat!



My youngest, Evan, not so sure about these things, the claws were freaking him out =)

They got to ride a mini-ferris wheel. They both loved it.

Of course we had to do the pony rides!  First time my youngest went by himself, went around about 3 times and then was saying... DOWN! DOWN! ... lol.

Don't think they'll be gettin' too far on that one! =)

My boys! =) Love them all sooo much!

After we "played" we decided to go to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch. I love their Asian Zing sauce so when I saw they had a grilled chicken saled with that sauce I was all over it. The whole thing was 410 calories so not bad considering we didn't eat until around 3:30 so it was basically an early dinner.



Layton LOVES chicken wings so he was in heaven!



After lunch we went by the grocery store and got our weekly shopping done. Then we came home and played out int he the yard a bit while grilling some tomatoes and jalapenos on the grill for homemade salsa. It was the first time I made it and it is sooooooo good - I will probably never buy bottled salsa again! I forgot to take a pic but here is some that I brought for lunch today.

It tastes just like Chevy's salsa if you have ever had that. I can't get enough of it!

After that I got a good HIIT workout done on the treadmill and then we put the kiddos to bed and the husband and I sat at the table talking and eating this:

That is Bri wedges, organic strawberry spread, prosciutto and grapes. And yes we finished that bottle of wine! It was much needed and so nice to just sit and talk and enjoy some quiet time.

Sunday we woke up and found that the Easter Bunny had hid the boys baskets in our closet! Ha ha! What was he thinking??

The boys were more than happy and the Easter Bunny was very nice with his "gifts" this year. =) 

We went to a Hibatchi Grill for dinner with my husbands family and they ended up having a sushi bar that was SO good!! We couldn't get over how it was pretty much all you could eat sushi for $8.99/person. And the sushi was fresh, they were making it right there in front of you and it was nice and cold. We will definitely be going back!

So I had an awesome weekend! Didn't get in quite as much exercise as I would have liked but we were out of the house all weekend and I did great on my food - I actually think I might not have been eating enough. But either way it was a great weekend!

I hope your Easter weekend was good as well!

Day 2 .. 1 Week Challenge

Another good day food wise. Got a lot closer to my 1350 mark but still stayed under =) And even had my favorite Easter treat as a snack!

First I want to talk about this HIIT training on the treadmill. I was talking to my husband's uncle this weekend, he is in the AirForce and is constantly keeping his weight in check and says he thinks he has finally figured out the fastest way to lose weight. He eats very healthy and is typically very health conscious but he also has an addiction to chocolate that he admits isn't good. So always trying to find new ways to cut weight and stay in shape. So basically he told me that it is better to do intervals when running than it is to run at a steady pace for long distances. He said he gets on the treadmill and gets to a slow jog and then every minute he increases his speed until he gets to a speed that he can barely handle - holds it for a minute and then starts over at his easy jog. He told me this along with lifting weights will melt the fat off faster than anything else. So I looked up some HIIT workouts on the treadmill and came up with one I thought I could handle until I build up some stamina.

So what I did last night was:

Walked at a 3.5 for 5 minutes.  Then
5.0 for 60 seconds / 4.0 for 60 seconds
5.5 for 60 seconds / 4.0 for 60 seconds
6.0 for 60 seconds / 4.0 for 60 seconds
6.5 for 60 seconds / 4.0 for 60 seconds
7.0 for 60 seconds / 4. 0 for 60 seconds
7.5 for 60 seconds / 4.0 for 60 seconds.

I did this all the way through and then reversed and did it backwards - I made it through all but the last cycle, I just didn't have it in me. I was dripping sweat and cryin' for my momma - for real! This is a no joke workout but the awesome thing was, it went so fast! When you are changing your speed every minute it goes by so fast! So I plan on doing this for a few days and seeing how the weight loss goes. In a perfect world I would love to do this along with the 30 day shred workout at least 4 days a week, more when possible. Right now though I just want to work on getting my calories in check and doing some kind of physical activity each day.

So if your looking for something different to switch it up or are tired of doing long runs on the treadmill, try this out - it will definitely get you sweating and your heart pumping!!

Ok today's eats:

Breakfast: Deviled Eggs, Strawberries & Pineapple

Lunch: Steamed Broccoli, Everoast Chicken Breast Lunchmeat and a Yogurt

Favorite Easter Candy and afternoon snack =)

Burgers before I put them in the oven. 

Burger after. 

This was dinner made from this recipe .. I love Dashing Dish and all her recipes but this particular one we did not care for and probably won't make again, but try it, you may like it. Low in calories and easy to make - I wish we would have liked it more.  Anyways, I had this with some carrot chips and fiesta ranch dip. 

Dessert was the same as last night, angel food cake with strawberries and light whip cream. 

If you're lucky enough to have Good Friday off, enjoy your day. I however, will be sitting at work counting the minutes until the weekend begins!! 

Day 1 of my One Week Challenge =)

I think this first day went well. I stayed within my calorie range with some to spare and I was not hungry at all. I tried to eat mostly clean and limit my carbs.

Here are the eats:
Breakfast was Pineapple, Strawberries and a Hard Boiled Egg (which I forgot to picture) for 190 calories... a little low on the calorie side but it really did fill me up.

I did have a mid-morning snack of Light Butter Popcorn - I had about 1/2 of a regular sized popped bag

I only got 2 of these guys in today, I like to shoot for 3 if possible.

Lunch was Everoast Chicken Lunchmeat, Buffalo Wing Wheat Thins and a Dannon Light N Fit Yogurt for 310 calories

Dinner was a chicken breast and broccoli - which I forgot to picture, so all you get is what I had left when I remembered, lol ... not too appetizing... for 222 calories

And finally for dessert I had angle food cake, strawberries and light cool whip for 196 calories

Yes that is a Spiderman plate!! Wouldn't have it any other way =)

I'm not sure what to think about the chicken - it is Tyson and on the bag it says a 4 oz breast is 150 calories, but if you enter in a regular chicken breast into caloriecount.com it says a 4.9 oz breast is 230 calories. Since I am still way under my calorie range I am just going to let it go this time... What do you think? Should I trust Tyson or go with caloriecount? 

Now I am getting ready to go do a HIIT workout on the treadmill - more on that tomorrow!