Hello! It's been so long! The last month has been INSANE! I kid you not! We moved at the end of September. The first week of October, Jairus got sick and I was about three days behind him. Then Juriah ended up with croup and spent two nights in the hospital and a week later, Jessenya was hospitalized for one night for croup. This last week we have been recuperating.
Okay, so that aside, I have joined a gym! Yay! It's right across the street and so far I've been able to go after the kids go to sleep. It's AWESOME! The first day I did some cardio and focused on my legs and today I did more cardio and focused on upper body. I'm having a lot of fun and really enjoying the time to myself.
As far as diet goes, I haven't been doing so well--when everyone's sick, you eat what is easy to get to. There's been a lot of fast-food chicken, pizza, and junk food in general. But I'm super excited because I made a fantastic vegan meal for Halloween! Butternut Squash & Pear soup, Cumin & Cayenne Mashed Potatoes, Citrus Collard Greens, and Chocolate-Pecan Pudding Pie. Sooooooooooooooooooooooo good! The left over pie makes it easier to pass up my brother-in-law's cheese cake! I have decided to go back to focusing on eating healthy first and vegetarian/vegan second. Thing are just now settling down so focusing on getting back to eating real food is more important right now.
I've been incredibly inspired by the show The Biggest Loser! I know I'm right on the edge of being obese (The last Dr appointment I had I weighed in around 195!) and watching people who have decided to change their lives made me realize that if they could do it, so could I! I'm super excited because I finally have the motivation to take care of myself and get healthy! Well, at least to the point that I'm doing something about it! I'm only going to be able to afford 2 months at the gym at $30 a month--our income is going to be going bye-bye soon--so I have to make them count. It's going to be fantastic though! And who knows, maybe I'll find a way to make some more money!
I really do have to thank my friend, Becca Sue! She's been working so hard to get healthy and has done such an amazing job! Knowing someone who has changed their own life so much has made it easier to believe that I can do the same for myself!
Oh! Also, I can now share who's getting married!!! My bestest friend in the whole world, Jillian Kellett, is getting married to her boyfriend, Jason Ackley, in August (the date changed when they made the engagement official). Woot!
Well, that's it for me today! Here's to tomorrow!
Yikes! It's been awhile! Sure I've been busy, but really, I think I'm avoiding you all. See, I haven't been doing so great--emotionally speaking--these last couple of weeks and I've let things slip. Not as horribly as I could have, but they have slipped and I fell ashamed to admit it. But I know that if I don't, it will only get harder to regain my footing. So, here I am, confessing that I went 6 days without my green lemonade. I don't remember the last time I had my vitamins one day after the next. I am cheating horribly on my "no sugar" rule. I have slipped up by eating chicken at least twice and desperately wanted bacon the other night--so much so that I actually used the excuse that it would be in memory of my late father. *Sigh* There. It's out, and I'm ashamed but I'm moving on. Jairus and I have decided that we're going to try juicing only on days that he has off. (Getting up at 4:30a is really tough on a couple of night owls like us.) I'm going to change my goal concerning sugar from "I will not have sugar" to "I will refrain from sugar." (Not sure why but that helped in the past.) As for vitamins, I don't have a plan for that yet. And my plan for refraining from chicken: I must met some chickens. I'm finding that it is easier to not eat something if I can imagine it dead because the thought makes me sad. Please note, my original intention behind this diet switch was not because of the animals per say! It just kinda happened that I started having sympathy for them. I was giving my dog a bone that we got him as a special treat and as I handed it to him, all I could think about was this poor cow's leg sticking straight up from her mangled body and the flesh -- I'll stop there. It was gross. So, I figure, if I meet some chickens and maybe find out their names or give them names, I'll start feeling more sympathy for the species in general.
Well, I think that's all for tonight.
Here's to tomorrow!
Being a mom of two young kids is crazy busy! Also, I've been traveling so things are extra hectic! I continued juicing while I was away--thanks Grandma for letting me borrow your juicer! This morning, however, was the second time I haven't juiced! I was so tired this morning I opted to not worry about it. As far as my vegetarian diet went this weekend: I did so well, until we stopped at the dreaded Micky D's to let the kids run out their wiggles. Without a second thought, I ordered chicken. *Sigh* But that's it! Well, okay, I did allow for one day for sweets because there was an fabulous ladies party! I'm quite proud of myself! Well, I'll get back on the horse and let you know how it goes!
Here's to tomorrow!
Stats:
Eh, yea, I'll let you know later!
I love the Farmer's Market. We watched Curt (curtshow.com) juggle--absolutely hilarious! We walked around and enjoyed the atmosphere. We bought two flowering maple trees and a little wheel of sheep cheese. A couple people are starting to recognize us--of course, today was the third week of us buying 12-14 heads of romaine and 5-6 bunches of kale. It's pretty hard to miss a young couple pushing a double stroller walking a rare breed of dog (Shiba Inu) and hauling 5 or 6 bags of greens! We didn't think through how much to buy--we're going out of town and we weren't going to take our juicer. But now it looks like I'll be packing up the juicer and produce!
As for the vegetarian transition, it's really easy to not eat chicken! Of course, that comes in part because I have done the vegetarian diet before. Because of this, I have decided that I'm going to cut out chicken and turkey! I'll reserve fish for twice a month (sushi is awesome!) I got the sheep cheese today because I think I'm going to start gearing up for the transition to veganism! My logic in that is this: I LOVE cheese! even though I don't eat it much right now, if it's available, I'm all over it! If I switch to goat and sheep cheese, it will be easier on my body and, hopefully I won't miss giving it up so much. Of course this may back fire on me. I'm head-over-heels for the sheep cheese I picked up today! *Deep sigh* If nothing else, at least I'm trying!
Here's to tomorrow!
Stats:
Weight - 183, bummer for the extra 2 pounds!
Green Lemonades - 13
Chicken, oh, chicken, I'm through with you. Well, except for special occasions--holidays and the like. I gave it a lot of thought last night and I realized that going cold turkey on all forms of meat is going to drive me crazy. Therefore, because I have already stopped eating beef and pork all together, I'm going to start by refraining from chicken. Holidays and special events will only be an exception because I firmly believe that my choice of eating habits should not come between myself and the relationships of those I spend time with. Chicken is one of the easiest meats for me to digest and one of the more common foods that people prepare, so I figure allowing for chicken on rare occasions will be the most... diplomatic?
Aside from that, tonight is the last time I will get to have sugar. *Sigh* But the results are going to be awesome! I'm going to have to remember how to replace sugar with natural sweeteners. I'm really excited to share the results!
Speaking of results, I've been feeling lighter and noticing that my skin is looking firmer! The Green Lemonade seems to be giving me an awesome kick start to getting healthy! Woo hoo! Unfortunately, we didn't have all the necessary ingredients so I didn't get my Green Lemonade in today. It was very sad. Also, I didn't properly combine my meals. Jairus and I decided that Sunday's are "Family Breakfast" days--you know, pancakes and the like! So after that, it's easy to let the rest of the day get away. But tomorrow is a new day! Here it comes!
Stats:
Weight - Yea, I forgot to weigh myself....
Green Lemonades - 6
Properly Combined Meals - 9
Well, I'm one day away from reaching my goal of having Green Lemonade every morning for a week! Woot! This morning, though, Jairus had to pull me out of bed so we could juice! I got a nasty bug bite that became swollen and my entire foot ached so last night I had to take a Benadryl. Oh Benadryl, my arch nemesis! I fought it's hypnotic pull to keep me in bed and had my Green Lemonade, swept the floor and tidied the kitchen a bit. But the Benadryl still won out and I went and took a fantastic nap. Except for the dream that I had... a strange mix of Harry Potter and the summer Bible camp I went to as a kid.
Aside from that, the day went well! I stuck to the all fruit breakfast and had a fantastic, well combined meal for lunch; SW Black Bean Gardenburgers, 1 1/2 avocados (I'm really craving avocados!), and sliced tomatoes--oh! and I finished off my son's lunch of fake "chicken nuggets" that are made with corn instead of soy or gluten protein! So yummy! All in all, I did AWESOME! Although I did have sushi for dinner... dang it! I forgot about the fish! I'm so used to allowing that one! Fish is easier to digest so I haven't given it much thought. Bummer. I didn't realize that I was going to have to make that choice about fish. Chicken was obvious for me to realize that I need to stop eating. Pork and beef actually make me sick now when I eat it so that's not hard to stay away from. Turkey is going to be another hard one for me to give up!
I've got some thinking to do.
Stats:
Weight - I'll check on that tomorrow and get back to ya.
Green Lemonades - 6
Properly Combined Meals - 9
