Monday, January 30, 2012

Hot for Hunky Husbands Challenge-Weigh In #3

I completely forgot to do this Sat!!!
I mean, I weighed myself and all.....just forgot to write about it.

It's OK. I was too busy napping. And doing my business taxes. I hate tax season.

Anywho.

The new weight is.........

148.5

I'm excited about it! That's a loss of 1.3 lbs. So my total is now: 3.7lbs lost/2.43% of weight lost.

Woop woop!!

Jordan you better be kickin' ass too!!!

Friday, January 27, 2012

A little cramp in my style.

This is all I've eaten today:
Technically, this is all I've eaten since a steak salad on Wed. night. (Tried to eat dirty pizza last night, but horked that right back up.)

In my defense, it's organic.
And low fat.
And yogurt and not really ice cream.
And that's all my stomach is really able to handle right now.
I tried to eat some pita bread.......badbadbadbad idea. Uh huh, tummy said, "No likey likey."

BTW, I do not have the flu. **Boys...look away** I am currently surfing the crimson tide. Riding the cotton pony. Having a visit from Aunt Flo. About ready to ripe my uterus from my body and burn it like a bag of poo on a porch.

Yesterday I spent the entire day in a Hyrocodone induced fog. In bed. Despite what you're thinking: "Yippee drug induced haze!!! Happy Joy Joy!!" (Which I was really hoping it would be like.) No, no, it was not.

It was safer in bed. When I would peel my pooper from my lovely mattress to walk around, I would weave from side to side and eventually ram my shoulder/elbow/forehead into a very sturdy barrier also known as a 'wall'.

At this point, I either want to get pregnant or go back on birth control. Because I'm pretty damn sure I can't take this crap for another month. Stupid woman issues.

Being a girl sucks.

One teeny bonus about all this......I've lost another pound. I guess that happens when all you're able to stomach is air. And mint chocolate chip frozen yogurt.

Shoot me now.


**This is not a pity post. No pity for me please. Just bitching. 'Cause I'm so good at that.**

Monday, January 23, 2012

Thoughts on the 10 Day Real Food Challenge.

Well, my 10 days of Real Food Challenge is over. And I thought I’d do a little flashback and tell you why I started this journey, and what led me to the decision to eat Real Food for 10 days. Put your PJs on, it’s a long one!

I began the long, long, longlonglonglong journey to get healthier about 5 years ago. I wasn't extremely overweight or obese (about 35lbs overweight), I was just on the borderline of overweight, according to a BMI chart. And for about 4 years I went back and forth from pills, low- and non-fat frozen meals, shakes, voodoo witches....just kidding…maybe. Pretty much tried everything. Then about a year ago, I was so sick and tired of yo-yoing on diets and weight loss that I made a pledge to myself.....and the entire interwebs (that would be you all lovelies!).....that I was going to change. I was going to work hard. I was going to be heathier! So, I started a blog. Writing about every up, down, happy, sad, funny thing that is my life, on the health track. And about beer. And little Wyatt-pants.

Here are some pics at my heaviest. Not the greatest pics, but you get the idea.
Those would be my brothers, my sister, and my neice. So happy!

Good ol' lake time. About 175 here.
Here's some good ones of when I weighed about 120. Too skinny, but you can see a huge difference in my face. This was my first year in college.
And when I had blondish hair. Wow.

See, I didn't want to be skinny. I wanted to be HEATLHY. I wanted to wake up with energy. I wanted to run around with my puppy and not get tired. I wanted to lose the dreaded 'bat wings' that plaque my arms like a disease. Because even 35lbs overweight made me feel sluggish, tired, sweaty….Lordy I would pit through a shirt in 2.5 minutes on a cold winter day, while at the same time my nipples could cut glass, it was awesome. Not really.  I was also pre-diabetic, depressed, moody, and had acne worse than a 13 year old boy.

I was UNHEALTHY. And I hated it. Hated every minute of it.

But despite all that, I was not an ‘exerciser’. I hate all things that you do in a g-y-m. I hate gyms. Period. And I wasn’t the most determined ‘healthy eater’ either. I loved me some Sour Patch Kids. And cheeseburgers and cheese fries. And Hostess anything. I had to force myself to change my habits. It was so hard. And I would constantly struggle with wanting to shove copious amounts of grease in my face. Every.Single.Day.

But I started out slow.  I started running, and eating more fruits, veggies, and yogurt. And started cutting out fast food, donuts, and candy. But I was still up and down and couldn't 'stick' to the health thing for very long. I'd get cravings so bad for greasy pizza that I was afraid I'd shank a bitch to get a slice of pepperoni.

Sometime last summer I started doing some research for eating clean and the great effect it had on your health.  I tried it out for awhile, but like everything, I fell off the wagon. It felt like another diet. A ‘quick fix’. Or at least the plan I was on/reading about was. And it was freaking horribly hard.  Then just recently, I came upon the Real Food website and read it page by page for hours. I saw a quote about how heart disease, strokes, cancer and diabetes can be related to the industrialization of our food. That hit home. Majorly. My husband, who is only 30, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes a little over a year ago. He’s perfectly healthy, always been an athlete, there is no family history, and point blank the doctors do not know why he ‘just got it’. I asked myself, could it be that all the chemicals and crap that are shoved into food now-a-days had an effect on him??? Scary thought.

So I immediately took the 10 days of real food challenge, which began last Thursday the 12th.  I didn’t wait till the weekend, or after the weekend, I just did it. I even gave up my precious beer for 10 days. Just to see what the effects could be.

I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel…..good. I feel normal. My body is now operating at a normal level.  Yippeeeee! I committed 100% to eating only real and organic foods and in turn I feel alive. My stomach pains are gone. My energy level has increased. And I lost about 2.5 lbs. Not that I was actually trying to lose, but if it happened, eh, dolphin claps for me!  It’s been completely amazing and I can’t wait to continue on with this wonderful ‘challenge’!

When I first started the 10 days challenge, I thought by biggest obstacle was going to be cravings. Cravings for sweets, beer, Mexican food, beer, pizza, beer, pretty much any and all ‘bad’, processed foods that I’ve eaten in the 30 years I’ve walked this green earth…and beer. But it wasn’t that way at all. For a week solid I had no interest in anything other than my chicken, veggies, rice, salad, fruit, and yogurt. About day 8 I started having a little smidge of a craving for chocolate. So I got on the web and searched clean eating/organic desserts and found loads of recipes for chocolate bars, puddings, cookies, etc. I made those peanut butter protein bars covered in dark chocolate and that was that. No more cravings. And they are sooo good.

Other than that, it wasn’t that hard at all. I hate to say that, but it’s true! I didn’t deprive myself of anything…other than beer….so maybe that helped. If I wanted Mexican, I went out and bought whole wheat tortillas, organic shredded cheese (still low-fat), and cooked up some chicken and peppers. WaaLaa!

Now, as far as allowing some ‘beverages’ back in my diet……it went pretty good. Sat. night was the first night I could have a cold one and I waited till about 7 or 8. PM that is. The first one was heaven, not going to lie. But I only ended up having 4. FOUR! Who is this person?! Yup, 4 and I was done. I really didn’t even want the fourth, but decided what the hell. Then on Sunday I had one more. Just one. I think I’m finally over the mindset that I have to have a 12 pack to relax or to unwind. (Sometimes I pretend like I’m 22 and stuck in my college days. No judging.)

I realized right away, this is not a ‘diet’. This is not a ‘fad’. This is not something that I’m only going to do for the 10 days. I’m going to incorporate this in as my healthy lifestyle for the rest of my life. And I’m going to get my husband involved also!

I’m shopping at organic stores. Checking the labels on EVERYTHING, not only for calories and fat, but what the ingredients are. I’m buying more veggies and fruit than I ever have before. And I want to expand my little veggie garden this summer to grow more of my own! I freaking can’t wait for the farmers market to open in the spring!

Real food IS going to be my life from now on. Maybe not 100% all the time (I still like my beers too much), but I'd say 99% of the time! And it's going to be part of my husband's life, and when we have kids, a part of their lives. I've even got my Mom thinking about it more. It's amazing how a simple little change to eat better foods can really affect everyone in your lives. Makes me oh so happy.
And here are updated pics that I just took.
Still got the bat wings. Shitballs.

Anyways. I hope this helped you to see what Real Foods have done for me. Maybe you got something out of it. Maybe not. But I’m glad you stuck through to the end!!!! I bow down to you! 

Tootles Love Muffins!

Friday, January 20, 2012

BYOC - Bring Your Own Crazy!

BYOC - Bring Your Own Crazy!  Brought to us by the wonderful Draz! 5 little questions we answer to give our blogging brains a break and to get to know each other better.  Copy and paste to your own blog and enjoy!

1.  If money and time wasn't a problem - name a place you'd go on vacation and for how long?
Beach, where it's warm, all the time. For the rest of my life. Is that still a vacation???
 
2.  This week I had a discussion with some friends about names our children or other people we know call the "nether regions".  Don't hate - it's funny.  So let's share them for a laugh.  Any creative words for hoohaa and tallywhacker you think we haven't heard yet?
I call it a hoohaa. I used to call it a wee-wee, and a pee-pee.
 
3.  Take a picture of your nails right now!  Bossy, aren't I?  I just had my nails done - I can't help it.  I neeeed to show someone!

Mine are nekkie. Pretty much like that 99.87% of the time.
And yes, my fingers are really that crooked. It's weird.
 
4.  Tell me about the weather right now where you are!
30 degrees. Sunny. But frigid. Can't complain, we haven't had but one snow this year. And no ice. It's a weather miracle.

5.  Repeat question.  Summarize your week in real life and blog land.
Real life: Rockin' my challenges!

Blog life: Hate it that blogger is sucky. Trying to comment on as many blogs as possible! Promise!   

Hot for Hunky Husbands Challenge-Weigh In #2

Howdy y'all.

I know Jordan and I are supposed to weigh in on Saturdays, but I will not have access to a computer tomorrow, so I thought I'd do a weigh in today instead.

Remember????

We're doing the Look Hot for Our Hunky Husband's Challenge!!!
Look out now!

My first weigh in, last week, to kick off this little shin dig was: 152.2

My current weight is: 149.8

Total loss for the week is: 2.4 lbs

BOOM!!!!!

I want to thank clean/real eating, no booze, and getting my soon to be shrinking pooper outside and to the gym, to run/walk for this lovely accomplishment. I owe it all to you! *Bow*

I plan on doing a buttload of hiking and walking this weekend and am even going to hit up the gym again on Sun. So the numbers should keep going down, down, downtown!


On another note, I had a major melt down yesterday where I just felt like smooshed dog poo and was craving chocolate like a strung out hooker craves the crack pipe. It was not pretty.
BUT.
I did not buy the Milky Way Of Death, or trudge down the V-Day candy aisle, or hang upside down with my mouth agape under the chocolate ice cream machine.


I took some amazing advice from my sista from anotha motha Angie and went to the nut aisle. You know I love me some nuts. That come off the tree, you dirty birds, not the other kind.


Anyway, I bought these per her suggestion:


And yes, I am making out with them because I now love them more than all the sprinkle covered cake donuts in the world. Don't hate.


Angie: There are no words to express my gratitude to you for enlightening me to this little gem packed away in the pretty green container. I will forever be in your dept.


Here's the nutrition, in case you were wanting it:
OK, not the best picture. Just google it.

Kinda high in cals and fat, but their nuts people. NUTS. Not M&Ms or Reece's Pieces. They are good for you.


Next on my list is to find these:
MINT DARK CHOCOLATE ALMONDS!!!!!!!

I think I just had a foodgasm.

OK, gotta go.

Peace out my homies!!

**UPDATE** Just found a recipe to make my own cocoa roasted almonds HERE. Looks easy and I am totally trying this on Sun. (Because y'all know that little container that I bought will NOT last the weekend.)

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Ten Tricks Thursday

No, I’m not going to talk about the tricks of prostitutes. Get your dirty little minds outta the gutter!
Shame, shame!

I thought I’d grace your intelligence with some of the little ‘tricks’ I’ve found out about real food and eating clean.

1. With the exception of whole, raw foods like fruits, veggies, meats, eggs, etc., I typically use the ‘5 Ingredient’ rule of thumb when picking out the best packaged food choices at the store. For instance, I’ve been craving something crunchy for a few days, so when I was at the store I meandered over to the Natural Food section and looked at the types of crackers and chips they had. I found some that were organic and only had a few ingredients in them. Most important, they are made with whole grains and not enriched wheat flour….which is basically white flour by the way.
Yummmers.


See, now that has more than 5 ingredients, but they are all natural things that I can actually pronounce. That's pretty safe, so I purchased them.

2. I steer as clear as possible away from the ‘inner rows’ of the grocery store. This is mainly where all that packaged stuff is anyway. If I do need something from those devil aisles, I usually look at the very top or bottom shelves for the healthiest options. Did you know that grocery stores place all the tempting, sugar loaded cereals in the middle shelves strictly to entice your kids??? I don’t have kids but ohhhhhh do I remember going to the store with my mom and every other box I was like, “I need this one mom!” “And this one!” And she’d be all poopypants Polly and say crap like, “No.” Then I’d throw a full-on meltdown right there on the floor. Very lady like. Ever happen to you mommy’s out there??? Thought so. If my children even have a spec of ‘me’ in them, they are going to be straight up Satan children. Lord help me. Moving on.

3. To help keep within my budget I bought a Gift Card (Visa) of $100, to last me every two weeks. Only using the GC for food when I go to the store, and tucking my debit card in a secret hiding place in my suitcase, I mean purse, where I’ll probably forget about it, then freak out in 2 months that someone stole it. But, meh, if it works, right? If you live in an area where there are Dillons grocery stores (or another store that you get points for fuel discounts from buying GCs), you can buy the GC there and get double fuel points. BONUS! Then turn right around and spend it on their groceries!! I am totally outsmarting the industry!!!! Bah ha ha ha (evil laugh)!!!!

4. Cravings. They suck green gator balls, don’t they? I haven’t had any bad ones since starting this real food thing, but I have a slow, creepy feeling of the need for chocolate starting to rise. Like I have my own personal stalker inside my mental capacities and he is just a Peeping Tom now, disturbing but harmless. But soon he will be throwing bricks through my window and texting me every 2.7 minutes. Is it weird I just compared cravings to a stalker? Never mind, don’t answer that.
Anywho.

Basically I know I’m going to get to the point where the need for chocolate is going to completely override all my senses and I’ll cave. BUT! First, my plan is to have on hand ‘healthy’ alternatives. I once read that if you’re craving chocolate that you might need more magnesium, so you should eat nuts, seeds, and fruits. So step one is to incorporate some nuts into my diet pronto.

Second is to channel my energy into something else when the craving goes all psychosauce. Like if I’m sitting at home, watching TV and The Cocoa Force comes calling, I might go to the gym or get on the computer. Nothing like a little Pinterest to distract you from…….well………..everything.

Third, and this is a last resort if I can’t fight off the craving, is to make my own chocolate desert, therefore I know it is all good and healthypants and I know exactly what I’m shoving into my mouth. I’ve found some good recipes for granola bars with chocolate, or I also thought about making a smoothie and adding straight cocoa powder to it. The bars would still have processed chocolate in them, but if it’s mainly oats with a few chips, that’s better than Hostess Cupcakes, right?! Right.
Yes, please.

5. Going out to dinner has also been kind of a hassle. Ryan and I went out last Sat. night and my usual ‘Cousin’s Night Out’ was last night. Staring at a menu with eye popping pictures of loaded nachos and cheese fries is pretty much a sure fire way to derail any diet. One thing I’ve just started to do is look at the restaurants website and pick out what I’m going to eat ahead of time.  Sometimes they have nutritional info, and sometimes not. Like last night, they place didn’t provide it, but looking at the menu ahead of time I found a southwest chicken salad. Even though it’s not organic, it’s better than the deep dish meat whore pizza that my cousin ordered and then temped me with for 1.5 hours.
Jerk.
6.  A new app that was mentioned on another blog is making it sooooo much easier for me to determine what is ‘good’ food vs. ‘bad’ food. It’s called Fooducated. AND IT’S FREE!!! Basically you scan the barcode of the food you’re about to buy/eat (for droids or iphones, but they do have a website where you can type in the UPC) and it will come up with a grade for it, calories per serving, different ‘interest’ points about the product (ie whether it’s highly processed, has BPA packaging, etc.), and other alternatives that might be better than this. Cool beans!!! (As my mom would say. So 1996 Mother. But because of you I’m bringing it back. You're welcome.) Trust me, download that and you will be scanning everything in sight!

7. I never let myself get really hungry. Like stomach-making-sounds-that-equal-a-war zone hungry. If I’m that hungry I tend to overeat and to binge on the wrong kinds of foods.  I stick to eating smaller sized meals about every couple hours. Around 7am, 9:30, Noon, 2:30, and 5:30. Now, there are pros and cons to this, and people have done countless studies (booorrrring) about whether this is really good for your metabolism or not. Basically eating every few hours could keep your blood sugar levels raised…..that would be bad.  But on the other hand, if you are giving your body a steady flow of nutrition, you metabolism has to work extra hard all the time to keep up.  Since I don’t have major issues with my blood sugar, I’m not worried about it ‘possibly' being raised a lot, however someone with diabetes should probably consult their doc before doing this type of eating.  On a more common sense note, I’m hungry about every two hours. So I eat. Easy Peezy.

8.  I'm also not going to deprive myself of ANYTHING. I mean, the minute you say, "I will never drink another beer!" all you will be thinking about every nanosecond of the day is a nice big frosty one. True story here folks. But I know on Saturday, when my ten days are up, I'll have a beer. Or 6. It's fine. But I'm not going back to my 'old' ways of having a few cold ones 6 out of the 7 nights a week. Maybe drink some only one night a week. Or limit myself to 2 nights, but only have 2 beers each night. See how this works?

9. And to go along with that: Everything in Moderation! Quoting Miss Paula Dean, who....shockingly....was just diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. Bet y'all fell out of your chairs when you saw that, huh?

I know there will be a time coming when this calls my name:
But sooo pretty.
And the only thing that is going to stop me from mowing down this deliciousness is someone straight jacketing me, tying me upside down on a flag pole, pantless. I'm just going to want one. Point blank. But that doesn't mean I have to eat a whole box of them. No. One, every other day month will do the trick.

10. All in all, the main thing I do is keep one big thing in mind: I WANT TO BE HEALTHY! And to do that I have to completely morph my bad habits into good ones. I have to remember why I'm doing this - not be a tub of blubber - and remember what's really important in life - being around to see my 'hopefully' great grandchildren grow.  To sound oh so cliche, "This is not a diet! This is a lifestyle change!"

Now go forth and carpe the F-bomb out of the diem to your new healthy lives!

Brought to you by a beer/dog/food/Mary Poppin's loving crazy blue eyed bandit.

The end.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

1 Year Blogiversary

It has been one whole year that I have been posting reedonkulousness on this here blog.

Wow.

And people actually read it.

Double wow.

Can you believe that?! A full YEAR?!

I sure as shit can't.

I went back, just now, and looked at my very first post. That was fun. Don't know what the crap I was thinking, going to lose 20 pounds in 90 days, psshhhhtttttt. But it was interesting to read what was going on in my noggin back then and realizing how I've changed since then.

Ohhhh, how I've grown.

But not around the middle!!!
I was all sad sack over the Xmas holidays because I knew my one year blogiversary was coming up and I was only going to show a 2 lb loss.
But I'm proud to say that as of this morning I am at 150, about 9 lbs from when I started this one long year ago.  And its the same weight that I weighed when we went on our honeymoon, two years ago, which I thought and felt I looked all fab-tastic back then.

So I'm calling the 9 lbs in a year a win.

I'm also calling the better eating habits, the fact that I actually run now *gasp*(ran my first 5K last Oct! woop woop), and Sweet Baby Jesus's I feel soooo much better, all big ol' WINS in my book.

This blog started off as a place I could catalog my new health efforts. To keep myself accountable. To actually 'see' what I was doing to change. Somewhere along the way it turned into my mind wondering into type, to writing about emotions, family, funnies, trips (lord knows we traveled last year), and problems. It became a release. And it became a place to make some wonderful friends! I've always loved to write. And have always done so much better in my life when I could write something down.

I love doing this. I love blogging. I love reading blogs and finding inspiration. And providing inspiration, if I do ;-). I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Anyways.

Thanks y'all for reading and sticking with me, and thanks to all the newbies too! You guys rock my world!

And I hope you'll keep on a-readin' as the next year unfolds (and the next year, and the next)!! I'm sure there will be some laughs, cries, insanity moments, etc that you won't want to miss!!!
Thank you Ryan. Thank you very much. Means the world to me. You're hot.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Interesting Article

Y'all know I'm trying to eat clean/real foods, as close to what mother nature intended as possible, right now. Mostly fruits, veggies, meats, etc. And all organic. No processed/packaged foods! Bad, bad, bad.

Well, my friend and co-worker has been on this transition to eat raw/clean/real foods for awhile now. She found this article and I thought it was crazy interesting about how you can think somethings 'good' for you, when really it's not. Made me think twice about how foods can still be processed even though it might be 'natural' or 'organic'. 'Raw' apparently is the word of the day.

Check it:
http://nourishedkitchen.com/when-natural-foods-arent-natural-agave-nectar/

And if you search on that sight it provides some other interesting articles about traditional food.

Another kinda shocking thing......there are many people out there that are starting to realize that the low fat/non-fat approach to eating is also hurting us in the long run. Anything low fat has been processed beyond belief! When in fact eating whole raw foods like whole raw milk, butter, cheese, etc is better for you than all that processed junk you're putting in your mouth now, just to lose weight. Inuit Indians in Alaska mainly survived on an almost solid diet of fish/animal fat. Yes, I said FAT! And they survived w/o heart disease, diabetes, being obese, etc. I don't know where I heard that or read that, but I know I did. I tried to search more info, but couldn't find it. You'll just have to take my word for it.

Anywoozle, I know I'm never going to be the perfect clean eater, or completely give up processed foods.....Helllllooooo, I love BEERS......but I know that some changes just might help me later in life, or possibly help my kids, when we start having them. Who knows. I think my quest for being super duper stick skinny (exaggeration btw) isn't as appealing now that if I find out in 50 years my eating a lot of processed foods has caused my, or God forbid, my children's health to be hurt (i.e. cancer, diabetes (again, my husband has for 'no' reason), infertility, heart disease, mental illness, etc.).

Just something to think about.

That is all.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Challenges Galore


This is Day 5 of the 10 days of Real Food Challenge and Day 2 of the Looking Hot for our Hunky Husbands Challenge with Jordan.

So far so good ladies and gents!

I can’t believe it’s been 5 days already.

Not that I really can’t believe that. It’s just that I can’t believe I’ve gone 5 solid days with no beer. Wow, that sounds little AA-ish, huh?
Moving on.

The food part has been soooo easy. Oatmeal or eggs for breakfast, salads for lunch, sautéed veggies and rice for dinner, with a little yogurt and fruit mixed in there…..nothing to it. But then again, I can eat the same shit day in and day out for weeks. 'Cause I’m cool like that.

This last weekend proved to be a little more of a challenge. First of all, my hubby was home, so I had to prepare meals that wouldn’t cause him to run screaming from the house.  Second, I had a baby shower and we went out to eat.

Dun, Dun, Dunnnnnnn

Oh, and said husband was popping the tops on beers all weekend! OK, well, not all weekend, but he had his usual few a night and Ohhhhhhh Mr. Foamy Temptation………did those frosty beverages look scrumdiddlyumptious!

But I persevered! Because I am a champion. In the making. Don't hate.

Friday night was tacos with ground beef; I made a taco salad with veggies and topped it with salsa. I also bought some organic whole wheat tortillas and had a little burrito too. Yummers. Leftovers are for tonight!!! Can. Not. Wait.

At the baby shower on Sat., the hosts, thank the good Lord, provided fruit, yogurt and granola, so that’s what I loaded up on. I don’t know if any of it was low fat or organic or whatevs, but I figured that was better than the chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting, cheese and crackers, and sugar loaded punch that occupied the rest of the table. Damn my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Saturday night we went to see The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. GO SEE THAT MOVIE!!! Now. Seriously, go. Soooo good. Even Ryan liked it having never read the books. I, however, have read almost all of them (I have a smidge left of the third) and loved it too. The books can start out very slow but if you stick with them you will not regret it!

We also went out to eat. I chose Chili’s vs. a Mexican food restaurant, figuring that I could get a better selection of sandwiches or salads. We typically get the bottomless chips and salsa, but since I love them and will mow them down instantly if I see them didn’t want to sabotage my diet, we opted not to partake. All my good nutrition choices are starting to rub off on the little hubby too. He has decided that he does want to participate in my clean eating…..provided he can keep his beloved potato chips…..which is fine by me! He went with ribs and corn on the cob, I went with the Southwest Chicken Wrap, with a side salad, no cheese, and low fat ranch and salsa for the dressing. Well, I just looked at the nutrition and it normally is 1350 calories. Christ!!! But I got the ‘healthy’ way, which the menu stated was under 750 cals, so I’m going with that number. Not the best choice, but I didn’t load up on French fries and a juicy burger, so I determine that as a WIN!

Sunday was the best day by far. I decided to make chicken lettuce wraps, sorta like PF Changs. So easy, just marinated chicken in Teriyaki (low sodium) Marinade, then sautéed the chicken with water chestnuts, carrots, and green onions and eat it with lettuce leaves, kinda like a taco. And for desert (because I forgot to make it as an appetizer, it’s the loss of beer in my system that I’m forgetting simple shit, I swear), I made some Edamame tossed with chili powder and salt. Not the healthiest sodium levels, but man was it good AND not high in cals, fat, carbs, or sugar, but protein spiked to the hilt!

All in all, this Real Food thang is going good. I’m already down almost 2 pounds. Bonus! I ‘feel’ better. I don’t know if it’s the good food or the lack of alcohol…..I’m going with the good food, because no way would beer betray my ‘feelings’. Bonus #2. And I just plain like the food I’m eating. I don’t feel bloated, or have stomach pain, headaches, or have the need to unbutton my pants at the dinner table after eating. Super Bonus #3 (for everyone)!

And for once, I’m not even thinking about the ‘end’ of this ‘diet’. I’m just convinced this is the way to eat and will probably continue after the 10 days. It’s not supposed to be a diet, it’s a lifestyle change after all!

Next up is exercise. I’ve been slacking waaayyyyy too much these last few weeks. I need to get back in the gym. I need to get running. Especially if I’m going to woop Jordan’s ass in our challenge. So that’s my goal this week is to get to the gym at least 3 times.

Tune in next time for some more scintillating news about me and my crazy challenges!!


Saturday, January 14, 2012

Let the games begin.....

OK, I would have posted this earlier, but I used my free time to nap instead. I know, I know, shoot me. Well a quick little nappers turned into a 2 hour slumber! Yikes.

Because of my lack of defense against free napping time, I now have to rush this because the hubby and I are going out with my family for the evening to watch basketball.

There will be beer.
EEEEEEEKKKK!!!

There will probably be some sort of bad food choices.
EEEEEEKKKK!!!!

But I will prevail!!!!!
YEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

Anways, the real reason for this blog is this is the first day of my friend Jordan and I's "Look Hot for Our Hunky Husband's"!!!

I posted about all the particulars on Thursday blog, but a quick recap is that we will start today and finish on Valentine's day. The winner will be determined by highest amount of percentage of weight lost in that time frame. And then they get a prize! $25 to Vicky's Secret! (Where I plan to restock my granny panties.)

Jordan has already posted her weight on her blog, so go check out that. (And don't worry Jordan, you get used to putting all sorts of embarrassing information about yourself out on the interwebs!)

So, in true form, here is my starting weight:


Drum roll please.............


Louder!!!!...........


152.2

Woop woop! I already lost 1.5 lbs from starting my 10 Days of Real Food Challenge on Thursday! Yippee skippee.

I'm also going to keep track of my body fat %, just for the shits of it, but don't have time to measure myself right now, so I'll do that tomorrow morning.

Jordan's a little competitive. (OK, maybe A LOT!)

And I'm a little competitive. (OK, really A LOT!)

So this should be interesting!!!

Let the games begin!!!

Friday, January 13, 2012

Real Food/No Booze Shenanigans

Day 1 = Dominated.

Yup, I'm a bad ass. Y'all already knew that though, huh. I have completed one whole day.
Dolphin Claps please.
Because this shit's amazeballs.

I did not cheat once! ONCE! I made it the whole day on water, salad, chicken, veggies and rice. And it was awesome.

Wanna know what I learned through this new fandangled real food thang????

I learned that balsamic vinegar is DEEEEEE-Lish on salads!
See----------------->
Ok, not the best pic, but you get the idea.

I just threw together some roasted seasoned chicken, with cherry tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, and a little reduced fat feta cheese on top of some leaf lettuce, sprinkled a little balsam on it and..........Oh My Lord Almighty!!!! Good stuffs peeps, good stuffs indeed.

Then last night I had sauteed veggies with chicken and brown rice. I added a little low sodium soy sauce for some extra flavor too. Also, amazingly delicious.

And no beerzies.

I had a talk with our beer fridge last night and I expressed my wishes that there will be no more flashing me by opening the door and displaying all the yummy boozeliciousness that he contains. For 10 days. I also said that I know it's a sad time. But we will be strong and persevere.

So far today's right on track also.
Eggies for breakfast, yogurt, left over chicken/veggie stir-fry for lunch, and taco salads tonight with organic lean ground beef for dinner.

And waterwaterwaterwaterwater.
Yesterday I drank over 100 ounces of water. ONE FREAKING HUNDRED.
That just equaled lots of potty time. I might as well move my desk into the bathroom already. I'd probably get more work done.
Oh well, it's good for me! (not the endless peeing part, but the water drinking part, just in case you were cornfused)

And tomorrow is Jordan and I's first weigh in for “Looking Hot for our Hunky Husbands Challenge”!!!!!

Get EXCITED!!! 
I know I am!

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Ten Things Thursday

So this 10 Thingy's is going to be a little different. Because mainly I'm going to talk about my new challenges, not only to myself, but with a little buddy friend of mine.

1.  I have decided to take the 10 Days of Real Food Challenge. Yup. Starting tomorrow, I'm gonna eat food for 10 days. Haha, just kidding. Gosh I'm so darn funny. Really, it's 10 days of eating clean. No processed crap, no fast food (goodbye Chipotle), no refined grains (goodbye donuts), no deep-fried goodyness (goodbye my lovely chicken strips), no NUSSING. No chemical packed, pesticide filled shit. It's eating WHOLE foods. NATURAL foods. Good for you all around foods. I'm kinda excited about it, I'm not gonna lie. It's not a 'diet'. It's just eating better. I'm going to try and watch my calories/fat/sodium but, really it's going to be more of a focus on not eating junk. I'm not doing it to lose weight. But I'm secretly hoping I will lose some because I'm doing this other challenge...but more on that later.
And I'm hoping at the end, I want to continue on my eating better mojo!
I'm doing it to be healthier.

2. Here's the rules (taken off the above Real Food website):
What you CAN eat:
  1. Whole foods that are more a product of nature than a product of industry
  2. Lots of fruits and vegetables (we recommend that you shop for these at your local farmers’ market)
  3. Dairy products like milk, unsweetened yogurt, eggs, and cheese
  4. 100% whole-wheat and whole-grains (find a local bakery for approved sandwich bread and check the Understanding Grains post for more info)
  5. Seafood (wild caught is the optimal choice over farm-raised)
  6. Only locally raised meats such as pork, beef, and chicken (preferably in moderation)
  7. Beverages limited to water, milk, all natural juices, naturally sweetened coffee & tea, and, to help the adults keep their sanity, wine and beer!
  8. Snacks like dried fruit, seeds, nuts and popcorn
  9. All natural sweeteners including honey, 100% maple syrup, and fruit juice concentrates are acceptable in moderation
  10. Also check out the Recipes & Resources page for a more detailed list of meal options including links to recipes

What you CANNOT eat:

  1. No refined grains such as white flour or white rice (items containing wheat must say WHOLE wheat…not just “wheat”)
  2. No refined sweeteners such as sugar, any form of corn syrup, cane juice, or the artificial stuff like Splenda
  3. Nothing out of a box, can, bag, bottle or package that has more than 5 ingredients listed on the label
  4. No deep fried foods
  5. No “fast foods”

3. Now, the little lady Lisa, on the website, also emphasizes eating organic. Mmmmkay, I can handle that. Especially since she quoted this dude saying this: "Coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer – four of the top ten chronic diseases that kill most of us – “can be traced directly to the industrialization of our food” according to Michael Pollan."  Ummmm, who's hubby got diagnosed with diabetes a year ago....not having a family history of it.....nobody knowing why he got it because otherwise he was totally healthy......this hot, smart, and funny chica.  It just really hit home that maybe it's the way we eat, ya know? I mean, we are putting tons of chemical bullshit in our bodies every day! It's gotta effect us somehow, right? Right. (BTW, Honey, I'm going to try and force you beyond belief suggest that you try this with me. It'll be fun. I swear.)

4. I went to the store yesterday to stock up on all the organic essentials. BUT, I already had a lot fruit, chicken, lettuce, eggs, and others that aren't organic. No wasting in this little hacienda, so I just figured it'll be a slow transition into the organic lifestyle. Once I run out of my already overstocked pantry and fridge, I'll go back and restock with the good ol' organic way. It was actually surprisingly easy to buy organic everything, and really, it didn't cost all that much more in the long run.

One of the comments on Lisa's page was that even though this family buys organic, they actually equal out on what their non-organic grocery bill was because they used to throw a lot of the food out, now with buying organic, they don't. I hear dat! I'm constantly throwing money down the garbage disposal! And it just sickens me. But maybe with spending the extra money, and saving money on the fast food shenanigans, it'll all even out.

I'm also going to start a budget and really try to stick to it. 50 bones a week. That's it. That's all I get. If I go over, I have to subtract from next week. But if I go under, I can spend it on something fun! Like gas. Or vitamins. But that 50 is strictly for nutrition, it doesn't count TP and light bulbs and cleaning shit.
You don't count, you eat the same thing every day.
Sorry this isn't as scintillating as usual. Keep trudging through, you'll make it to the bottom....eventually.

5. I'm also going to give up beer. WHAT?!?! Apparently the food chemicals are already eroding my brain. No really, I just need a break. 10 days isn't so bad. Right??? RIGHT??????? I'll survive. RIGHT???? Ohmyprettybudlights I'm going to need y'alls help with this. Majorly. And if I became an insanely crabby freak, you can not judge. Mmmmkay????
I will miss you purple Jug N Plug coozie and my little Mr. Bud Light can. Don't worry, you're really not dead to me. It's only a little, teeny, weeny break from each other. We will be together soon! I promise.

6. On to the next challenge. Because why not complicate my life with more shit. It's fine. I will be competing with this here little buddy friend of mine, Jordan:

We will be doing the “Looking Hot for our Hunky Husbands Challenge”. For Valentine's Day. Ahhhh, aren't we sweet? No, not really. We just selfishly want our bodies to look better. That's all.

I'm so excited to have someone close to me to do a challenge with! Like, we will see each other....hopefully....and push each other and kick our asses and all that good stuff!!!

We will start our challenge this Sat. the 14th and end on Feb. 11th. It is weight based, so who ever loses the most weight, or percentage of weight, is the winner winner chicken dinner. We will weigh in every Sat. morning-ish and I'm also going to keep track of my body fat percentage too. Just for shits and giggles. And we'll let all you readers know our amazing progress on each of our blogs. Hers is HERE.

As a prize, the weeener (haha, I said wiener) will get a $25 gift certificate to Miss Victoria's Secret. Ya know, pretty things to wear for our hubbies and all. Not really, I just need new funderpants like it's going out of style. The 1998 granny panties have holes. Lots of holes. Be jealous.

Game ON!!!

7. Because I just have to throw random shit in here somewhere, the last thangs are going to be just that. Randomness.

Wanna know what my momma got me for Christmas? Well, I don't care if you don't care. You're going to find out anyway.

She made me a book!!! Not just any book, a book of all my blog posts from last year!!! How freaking badass is that?! She went through every single post and copied and pasted into a Word document, complete with pictures and everything!!! It's not printed yet, but I'm getting ready to start looking at doing that. She was going to print it, but you will never guess how many pages it ended up being......600!!!! Yes Six Freaking Hundred!!! Who knew I wrote a book last year. Hell, two books. Pretty much the best Mom ever. EVER!
Love you Jules!!!
Love this pic of her 'trying' to look mean! You're not doin' it right Jules.

8.  Winter has finally arrived in this here flat lands. Only took it until almost the middle of January the big lazy ass. Not that I'm complaining. I love warmth. Sun. 108 degrees sweating my tatas off. Love it. But last night at the grocery store, I went in......with only hurricane force winds and 30 degree temps. Came out.......blizzard. Stupid Kansas.

Pretty much thought it was going to be 24 inch snow drifts and downed power lines. Until I got home 30 minutes later, looked outside and noticed the snow stopped. And left me with this:
Just a dusting.
Way to go Winter, you failed again.
Spank you very much.

9. I have come to be obsessed with like a new TV show, that wouldn't be the typical 'lady' show. (Because we all know I'm full lady.) I completely blame this on Ryan, BTW. It's: Ax Men. Yes, you read that right. Ax Men. A show about dudes cutting down timber. It's official, I've lost it.

And my favorite character.............Shelby Stanga (yes, that is his real name):
And yes, those are cut off Daisy Dukes he's wearing.
Nothin' quite like a psycho Cajun dude that says shit like, "Com' on Paw Paw!!" Have no idea what that means, but I find it endlessly entertaining.

I know, I'm weird. You still love me.

10. Last weekend I went up to Kansas City to have a Sheik Family Christmas/Grandma Margie's 90th B-day Party! Ohhh Emmm Geeeee! So much fun! It's my Mom's side of the family and everyone but two cousin's were there. All the aunts and uncle, all the cousin's spouses, almost everyone! I took oodles of pics and can't wait to tell you all about it in a post this weekend! Suspense.....don't you love it?!

Until next time little snugglemuffins!!!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

First torture of the year. Mastered.

So, I took the little four legged freak out for a walk tonight. It was nice. About 55 degrees, but with a little breeze.

I decided to pick up the pace after walking for about 15 minutes. I mean, why not? My legs haven't done much of anything except hold up my ever-growing mid section for 2 months, so lets force them to vigorously pump the pavement like a dude on $1 night at a whore house. It's fine.
Things were going good, my legs were loose, my lungs were doing.....well, ok, and I felt really great and then we rounded a corner and came across this fun little event:
Not the best pic, but it's a guy running with a hang-glide. In a field. With barely there wind.

Random.

We turned around. Leary of what crazy hang-glide dude would do to us and continued on our brisk run.

The pup has this thing about pulling my arm out of the socket on every walk. I swear my right shoulder is mammoth sized compared to my left from trying to reign him in. Maybe I should switch arms.....hummmmm. Or train him better.

I think I made it about 15 more steps before my lungs failed.

My head is red because either my blood has decided to defy gravity and is traveling at full force in the opposite direction of my legs because of the torture I'm inflicting upon them with the looooonnnnnggggg overdue run. OR because my skin barely sees temps below 72 and is crying out for me to smother myself with a warm blanket or to prop myself 2 inches in front of a space heater for 4 hours.

Either way.....not.looking.pretty.
The expression on my face isn't the best either. Note to self: don't look like this for the camera. Ever again.

But the first exercise experience for the year went pretty good, all things considered. And I did fairly well today on the whole not shoving 22 donuts, 4 bags of popcorn, and 7 slices of pizza in my face thing too. Had some sushi, salad, yogurt, apple, and chicken.

I think I'm going to start a new challenge soon. An eating better challenge.

But more on that tomorrow. Because Wyatt needs let in, and then back out and then back in, and maybe back out again, about 15 more times than he already has been tonight.
Ugh, that dog, how I love him!