Funk

I’m sitting here not sure where to begin or what to write.  I’m in a MAJOR funk and I don’t seem to know how to get myself out of it.  I’m upset with myself for letting life get in the way of my new healthy lifestyle I was developing in the spring..    I’ve pretty much maintained my weight-loss BUT have gained inches.. my clothes are snug and feel uncomfortable again and I feel sluggish..  It’s tough, I know what I need to do.. I know I need to get up and move and make better food choices BUT it’s a lot easier said than done.  Every day I wake up thinking it’s a new day.. I can do this and every day I do nothing to achieve it..

You would think after my unexpected visit to the doctor (stomach flu) and the health scare I received that it would be the kick in the rump I needed BUT it was not..  I think it’s time to take a long hard look at my life and make some decisions.  

I’m frustrated b/c I want to be healthy, I want to be active, I want to be a fit bride and look fantastic in my wedding dress.. I know I’ll get there but I just want it all now..  baby steps right?!

QUESTION OF THE DAY:  For those of you who have fallen off the wagon, what has helped you get back up?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

It’s raining here.. the good news though it’s supposed to clear up and be 80 later today..

I’m exhausted right now…  We went out to sushi with my brother and his wife and I have to say the sushi was horrible….  We went to a place right down the road from my house that had rave reviews but both JB and I hated it..  WAY to expensive for what they give you and the rolls had no flavor..  We will stick to Tasu..

Today we are hitting up a local german restaurant with my family..  it’s sort of a thank you to my mom for everything she does for all of us..  Can’t wait to go..  I LOVE me some german food..  especially mom’s homemade german food..

I have a NEW camera and she is pretty!  she is charging so hopefully she’ll be ready to go soon!

Anyway, off to take care of the brows and relax before JB gets up..  Hope y’all have a SPOOKTACULAR Halloween and please stay safe!

Staples

All I’m gonna say is THANK GOD today is Friday!  It has been a very LONG week..  The good news is, I think I’m fully recovered from the stomach flu!  Unfortunately though it made me miss almost three full days of work this week so yesterday and today I’ve been at work at 7 trying to make up some of my hours missed.. probably not the best choice in getting myself back to 100% BUT $$$$ is needed when you have a mortgage to pay and a wedding to save for.. bah!

So today is going to be a good day..  Not only is it Friday BUT I’m going out for sushi with JB, my brother and his wife.. AND the NEW Trader Joe’s in Raleigh opens up!  No more driving to Cary (Containment Area for Relocated Yankees  – Being a New Englander I find this comical b/c if you know Cary you know it’s ALL Northerners!) for all that Trader Joe’s goodness..  

Ohhhh, the other exciting news.. JB bought me a new digital point and click camera which should be arriving today!  I’ve been cameraless since the beginning of June when my camera took in a little to much salt water on a girls weekend get-a-way to Wrightsville Beach, NC.  I’ve dropped enough hints lately and JB wants me to join him on some photography meetups so he bought me one as an early Christmas gift.  YEAH – a blog full of pictures coming soon!  WOOHOOO

Am I the only one who is shocked that tomorrow is Halloween?!?!  It’s seems like yesterday was Christmas and here we are less than two months away from it ” and exactly two months away from my birthday!  (eeks!)  Time sure does fly by as you get older.. 

I’d like to report on my eats and excercise today BUT to be completely honest there is nothing to report.. Yesterday was the first day this week I ate solid food and could keep it down and I haven’t had the strength to get out.. plus doctors orders “stay in bed and get rest..” who am I to argue with that?!   

I am hoping to get out and enjoy the weather tomorrow.. rumor has it that it will be 81* degrees here in Raleigh tomorrow and then 59* on Sunday! (brrr)..  JB and I were originally planning on going out to Ashville for a day trip to do a little hiking with the pups and take the opportunity to photograph the fall colors in the mountains but that doesn’t appear to be on the agenda anymore this weekend..  We may hit up Umstead Park or Falls Lake here in Raleigh.. I need to do something though, going stir crazy that’s for sure!

I’m sitting here putting together a “to do” list for the weekend and doing a rough draft of our grocery list.  Speaking of which this leads me to the..   QUESTION OF THE DAY:  What are your staple/must have items every week when you grocery shop? 

I found out  yesterday that my best friends older bother died early yesterday morning.  Remember to hug those you are close to and tell them you love them, you never know if you’ll see them again. 

Have a great Friday everyone!

Is That A Feather?

Another quick post.. I mustered up some energy this morning and went to work only to be throwing up and having an extreme ear ache..  I called my doctor’s office as soon as they opened and managed to get a 10 am appointment.  After talking to the doctor briefly and having her do her job it was confirmed that I have the stomach flu.. bah!  The comical part of my day came when I was complaining of ear pain and how it felt like I had water in it.  The doctor all calm after looking in my ear said “what kind of pets do you have?” I respond “two dogs”, she responds “no, birds?”  Baffled as to why she was asking me I responded “no!”.. Bless her heart for keeping a straight face when she said “You have a feather in your ear!” – I in a bit of shock started laughing out loud which let her laugh also.. After I was done and waiting to have some other test done the other dr.’s came in to see the feather.. everyone was shocked that I had a one inch long feather in my ear.. let me just say how much better my ear feels now! lol

Food front:  Haven’t really eaten anything since Sunday.. crackers and ginger ale have been my diet.. the dr. recommend a BRAT (Banana, rice, apple sauce and toast) diet if I start feeling hungry..

I’m more determined then ever to get out and moving after getting some test results today..

I’m hoping to be back to normal by the weekend..  At least I hope so though.. JB wants to take a trip to Asheville to take some pictures before all the leaves fall..

Hope all is well with everyone.. off to lurk and hit the covers again.. almost 80* out and I’m FREEZING!

I have the bug…

Forgive me for not posting much the last week..  the stomach bug has finally hit me and I’ve been home in bed since yesterday morning.. blah!  Don’t have a lot of energy to even be on the computer but will be lurking a bit.. I’ll be back hopefully tomorrow..

Excuse the mess and…….

…the constant change in format with my blog..  I’ve been trying to find a theme I like and I’m not liking the ones offered.  I’ve tried cropping pictures to the pixels required and that won’t work.. I’ll figure it out eventually..  I’m also hoping to FINALLY get my about me section filled out in the next week or so and will upload pictures once I send them to work..

What motivates you?

Sorry for being MIA for almost a week now..  Work got wicked busy and really only allowed time for me lurk..  And any spare time I had outside of work was put towards sleeping.  THANKFULLY I haven’t gotten the cold that everyone else around me has but I’ve definitely been a little under the weather and couldn’t get enough sleep to save my life this week..  I had a few nights of a Nyquil induced coma which helped with the cough and allowed for several hours of sleep..  I’m just now starting to feel a bit better. 

My eats this week have been pretty uneventful, pretty much the same thing..  blah!  I made a home made roasted chicken on Saturday evening which was fantastic.. (first one ever!) and slow cooked a chili all weekend.  I have had chili every day this week except for yesterday and it’s on the menu for lunch today.. Boooo!!!  I’m definitely over chili BUT I kept forgetting to freeze it so rather than letting it go to waste I figured I’d have it again today.. so looking forward to variety again next week. 

Speaking of next week, I’m hoping to get motivated to go to the gym at 5 AM.  I used to go every day before work when I lived up in MA (saved me time on my commute!) but have slacked big time since moving to NC.  I was doing good for a while with walking every day but I’ve gotten lazy the last few months with JB in my life.  I know I said the other day no excuses (sick) BUT I made excuses and didn’t get up and out..

I’m hoping this weekend I can put an excercise schedule together.. when it’s documented and on my calendar I’m more prone to stick with it..  I can do this.. I know I can…  

QUESTION OF THE DAY:  What gets you motivated to get off the couch and moving? 

Off to lurk, do some research and maybe do some work..  Have a fabulous day!

Oats

This morning I decided I needed a little more substance with my breakfast as my smoothies in the morning although yummy and loaded with fruits wasn’t cutting it.  I went with oats since it’s cold and rainy here.  I will be honest and say I hate oats.. I like the oatmeal packets that come loaded with sugar but I know they are not good for you so I’ve stopped buying them.  Instead months ago I bought a container of quick oats and have been forcing them down ever since.  This morning I tried to docker it up a little more and WOW, WOW, WOW the outcome was amazing..

• 1/2 c. skim milk
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/2 c. quick oats
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/8 tsp brown sugar
• 10 almonds – crushed
• banana
• scoop of almond butter

Holy lord this was phenomenal and will be on the menu again soon (possibly tomorrow since it’s not supposed to get out of the 40’s!).  The best thing, I’m still full!!  Definitely a filling breakfast!

Moving on.. I didn’t get a walk in last night but that is b/c it was pouring here and JB needed to get out of the house so we went to dinner.   I let him choose and we ended up at Chili’s.. not my favorite place but it worked.  I went with the chipotle honey chicken strip meal.. I only ate my chicken as the fries weren’t good and the corn was covered in butter (forgot to tell my water to hold the fries and butter on the corn.. doh!)

I don’t have much on the agenda today.. trying to get through this work day and home to JB and the pups..  it’s gonna be a nasty, rainy cold night and I think I’m going to try and convince JB that he wasn’t sushi tonight and then curl up and watch a Netflix movie.. speaking of which, we watched the Kite Runner last night.. such a good movie, if you haven’t seen it yet I definitely recommend.

Question of the day:  I was going to make an eggplant lasagna but JB isn’t a fan of ricotta cheese.. any suggestions on different cheese to use?

Off to look busy..  have a great day!

Pumpkin

Well, this morning my taste buds definitely got a workout!  I had a large open container of pumpkin that I’ve been feeding the dogs and decided to use some to make a pumpkin smoothie..  I used pumpkin, milk, organic fat free plain yogurt, ice, pumpkin spice mix, banana and a little honey.. in theory it sounded good but holy lord was it disgusting!!!  blech..  not even close to tasting like a pumpkin pie like other’s stated it would.. Any suggestions on making the perfect pumpkin smoothie?! I ended up making a fruit smoothie with banana, strawberry yogurt, frozen raspberries and blueberries and 1 tsp of honey.. SO MUCH BETTER on the taste buds!

Yesterday proved to be much harder than I thought..  After a horrible work day and feeling like crap (been fighting a cold for the last week) I went home and essentially crashed on the couch with JB.  I quickly found that I wasn’t in the mood to slave over the stove to cook dinner that was originally planned.  I suggested sushi but JB didn’t want to leave the house and the only quick thing we had was wraps and cheese so I made quesadillas.  They were YUMMY but I felt guilty for eating it afterwards..  Especially considering I was so good all day..  oh well, just got to make today better right?!

I’m hoping to get a small walk in later today, it’s supposed to be in the 70’s today.. (YEAH!) but then the rest of the week we will be in the 50’s and low 60’s with lots of rain..  Gotta say I’m not liking that one bit!!  Yesterday was chilly and JB and I froze our tails off.  We are both from New England and now currently live in NC and refuse to put the heat on this early in the year..   I see lots of layers in my future this week..

With the sudden cooler temps upon us I’m thinking of meals I can make which are healthy but yet comforting.   I’m thinking a nice roasted chicken and maybe a turkey chili will make the menu this week.  Do any of you have any recommendations on a healthy comfort food?

I’m off to do some work, search for healthy recipes,  do some research on our wedding and try to kick myself out of a funk I’ve been in for a few weeks. 

Hope y’all have a fantastic day!

Time to get moving….

Ok, Ok… I know I’ve been mia and the next several months will prove to be difficult as well as work will be picking up BUT I need this blog, I need that few minutes a day to sit back and put some thoughts down and kinda hold myself accountable. 

The last few months have been a whirlwind.. In July I started dating a wonderful guy that I’ve known through e-mail at work for over two years.   We have been inseparable since our first date.  Over Labor Day weekend I became engaged (fast I know, but I knew the night of our first date that he was the guy I was going to marry!) and have been on countless vacations, outings and weddings in between.  Life is FINALLY starting to settle down.

Once my guy (We’ll call him JB) came into the picture I did several things that I shouldn’t have done.. I stopped blogging, I stopped writing down my food intake and I stopped exercising on a daily basis.  I wanted to spend time with JB and figured I’d do it tomorrow, then the next day, then the next day when eventually I wasn’t even thinking about it anymore.. THANKFULLY I’ve managed to maintain my weight for the most part BUT I’ve gained inches, I can feel it in my clothes again and can see it in my face..  blah!

I’m frustrated with myself..  I went from eating healthy with a few indulgences to fast food, pizza, wings, take out and LOTS and LOTS of beer.. very minimal fruits and veggies and planting my behind on the couch every night..  I also went from feeling great every day to feeling crappy and like a bump on the log. 

I vowed this weekend when I was on the verge of getting sick after I ate a boat load of pizza and JB’s crust from MellowMushroom and stuffed myself to the gills with these cookies that JB’s mom brought us that I would turn over a new leaf on Monday. 

Yesterday after JB’s parents left and we brought the pups to the dog park we went grocery shopping and stocked the refrigerator with fruits, veggies and humus.. I’m bound and determined to get myself back on track.. 

Last night I made my lunches for the week.. 5 salads, packed and ready to go..  A mixture of lettuce, red onion, mushrooms, yellow pepper, cucumber, black beans and humus..  and tomato if I remember to add it in the morning.  I also got JB to peel 10 carrots for me so I have two cut carrots per day.   I also boiled a boat load of eggs so that I could have some egg whites this week for either a snack or breakfast..

So far so good.. this morning I had four egg whites when I got up.. while getting ready for work I made a fruit smoothie which consisted of..  Ice, frozen strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, strawberry yogurt, a dash of orange juice and 3/4 c. milk.  It tasted good (still sipping on it) but is missing something.. Any suggestions?!  lunch I have a salad and carrots and then for snacks I have 20 almonds, banana and a honeycrisp apple that we brought back from Massachusetts when we were up there recently for a wedding.   On the menu tonight is salmon, asparagus and either brown rice or sweet potatoes. 

My main obstacle will be excercise.. I know I need it not only for health reasons but also to eleaveate some stress that I’m dealing with.  JB had major surgery recently so not only am I working a fulltime job but I come home and need to take care of him.  Right now I feel guilty leaving for an hour each night b/c he’s been home all day with no one to entertain him.. I also just want to spend time with him so it’s easy to plant my behind on the couch and sit there until we go to bed.  My new motto now..

NO MORE EXCUSES!!!

Tonight, although I may not want to I’m taking the pups for a walk.  It may not be a long walk but it’s a start right?!

Anyway, I guess that’s it for now..  I just found a small notebook so I’m off to journal my food for the day..

Hope all is well with everyone..  although I may not be commenting on your blogs I am reading them!

Have a FABULOUS day!