Starting Over

Well I was using this blog originally to help motivate myself to be healthier...well that got old really quick and I'm sure it was just as boring to read as it was to write it. So I'm just gonna start over. Make it about the life of me...which I figure blogs are supposed to be about anyway. So I'll just do a quick update of what's been going on lately.

As some of you may know, my work was hit my one of the tornadoes on April 27th. It blew the windows out, took the roof off and soaked the building head to toe. Luckily the main computers were ok (only boss man and manager man's laptops got tossed) so we were able to stay operational. The flower shop next door was nice enough to let us borrow their space until our shop gets fixed. As of right now the shop is probably about 75% done. They got the A/C running yesterday. The walls are up! Just need paint (primer is on), flooring, trim work, ceiling tiles, brick work on the front, furniture, seal the roof on the front and we will be done! :) So excited. The flower shop is a blessing to have so we can all keep our jobs, but it's VERY tiny and slowly closing in on me and my co-worker, Abby. We have nearly pulled all of our hair out. I'm very behind and that drives me bananas.

My work (Dale's Heating and Air) before the April 27th storms



My work after the April 27th Tornado


Home wise, Nate and I are just trying to get life figured out. It's coming close to that 3 year point and we are trying to figure out where we want to go and what we need to do to get there. As always, there is the question of what are we going to do career wise for the rest of our lives...what kind of financial stability do we need to some day have a house of our own and kids. What kind of things needs to be put in place for our more far away future (retirement, tragic events, etc). It's all very complicated as we were both very lucky growing up...everything was pretty much handed to us so we are a bit sheltered. Lets face it, we are still sheltered. But we are very lucky to have such help and support in our lives when we need it. So blessed to have our families.

Well I think that will be all for today. Nate played in a softball tourny today and he is on his way home. Russ (Nate's cousin) and I are going to start preparing for the July 4th festivities....gonna grill so "Skrumps". Yummy :) Have a great and safe Forth of July everyone!!!

Tired Thursday

Well I missed yesterday. And I can't remember exactly everything that I ate. Oops. Didn't do too bad though. Did have some tacos from taco bell, but my tech brought them to work for free. They gave him extra by mistake, and I wasn't going to let free food go to waste. I did check online and (combined) the two tacos were only 400 calories and that filled me up till dinner so I didn't have to eat anything else. Breakfast consisted of a low fat string cheese stick (didn't have time to grab anything else) so not too bad there. And for dinner I made a peppercorn garlic pork sirloin (which i only ate a small "deck of cards" size piece)....au gratin potatoes...and green beans slow cooked with a 1/2 slice of bacon (of course i discarded the bacon when it was done cooking). I did cave and have a few pieces of chocolate Nate's aunt got us. But over all, I don't think I did too bad. I've done WAY worse haha.

Today wasn't too bad either I guess.....

Breakfast- Low fat string cheese stick and an small apple
Lunch- Leftover pork sirloin, au gratin potatoes and green beans (in smaller portions than i had for dinner last night)...and then i caved and got some skittles from the 25cent machine.
Snack- about 2 handfuls of baby carrots. YUM!...and then a little later I ate a few small pieces of candy i had in my purse (oops)
Dinner- Wasn't really hungry tonight and I had dishes going in the washer...so it was a peanut butter sandwich kind of night...Nate is bowling tonight so he didn't need dinner cooked for him
Drinks- nothing but water :)

May have some veggies here in a bit if I get hungry...we will see

I did notice today that I'm unusually tired. I've been getting 7-8 hours of sleep at night, and I've pretty much stopped drinking alcohol all together. Had a couple drinks last night but nothing major. And other than that it's been almost 2 weeks since I really drank anything. So I feel better in terms of that. I think maybe my "diet" is not getting me enough nutrients which is not good. Tomorrow I'm going to shop for some things with more vitamins and iron. Gonna try to be good about taking my vitamins as well. What's the point of dieting anyway if I'm just going to feel bad. Being thin isn't gonna do any good if I feel like crap all the time. So yeah...definitely gonna work on remembering my vitamins. Wish they made Flintstones for adults :) Those were the best as a kid. I can still taste them I think haha. Anywho....tomorrow is Friday which means the weekend is almost here. I plan on getting some cleaning done along with some other chores. It's supposed to be warmer and sunny so I think a trip to the dog park with Annie will be needed. That will give her AND me some exercise :) Well have a great night everyone! See you on the flip side!

Monday Blues, Tuesday Madness

Well the last two days have not been great ones so far. Yesterday the food category did not go very well. I took the day off b/c it was the one year anniversary of the day my cousin, Kyle, passed away. He was 20 months younger than me, and he (along with his two siblings Jake and Lara) were the closest thing I had to siblings growing up....and they might as well have been in my eyes. We spend birthdays, holidays, vacations, and random weekends together growing up. They are the only cousins I great up with. So when Kyle got sick and was called home to Heaven by God....it was rough. It's been a rough year for me...escpecially since a month later we lost our Papaw too. I completed two sessions of Griefshare which was a HUGE help. It's still hard though. So yesterday I felt it was best to stay home, grieve a little, remember and honor his memory. I did get some fundraising done for the program that sent Kyle on a wonderful trip. See the link below for more information. Pass it a long if you wish to others. Even if you don't wish to donate, prayers are welcome and passing the word along helps too.

https://teamfd.simplyraise.com/2011/fd/funkegonuts/

Anyway...so since yesterday was such a sollom day....fooding didn't go very well. Didn't really eat much, and what I did eat wasn't very good.

Monday:

Breakfast- Don't really think I ate anything, wasn't hungry...not good I know :(
Lunch- Peanut butter sandwich on a hamburger bun...couldnt find the bread (oops)
Snack- Some chicken nuggets from the freezer :-\ bad again
Dinner- Small piece of pizza and 1 breadstick (left overs)...I wasn't really hungry but Nate wouldn't let me watch my show until I ate something
Dessert- Few pieces of chocolate from christmas
Drinks- water, milk, 1 odouls (to satisfy the beer flavor craving without alcohol)

Yeah...BIG fail on the day


Today was better but probably haven't had what I need calorie wise. Work was just a big heap of poo today b/c I was by myself, customers were just giving me some problems and had some paperwork disasters...so I was completely behind on my work and just ate to have something to eat.

Tuesday (today):

Breakfast: Low fat string cheese stick
Lunch- 1/2 a small bag of baby carrots and a 100 cal pack of shortbread cookies
Snack- Low fat string cheese stick
Dinner- Big salad with Italian greens, 1/2 of a chopped green pepper, craisins, few croutons, and a little lite Marie's creamy ranch dressing...which is quite good.

Thinking I may eat something else before bed b/c my tummy hurts a little...or may have somemore of that chocolate haha. But I don't think it would hurt me since I've probably had all of 500 callories or less today. Maybe I'll make some chicken nuggets to get some protein.

Well...my back is killing me today so I think I will stop for today. Have a good night everyone!

Starting A New Week

Well the 1st weekend of my diet is over...I must say I did better than I thought I would. I did slip up a bit, but I was visiting my parents and it's hard to deny Mommy's home cooking. Yum Yum Yum. I even learned how to cook a few of my favorites which actually aren't to bad for me. Well this will be another short update. Just got back from a 6 1/2 hour drive back to the Nooga so I'm a little exhausted and ready to go to bed. Lets start with....

Saturday's Eats:

Breakfast- Banana and a small bowl of "healthy-ish" (some kind of Harris Teeter brand flake cereal with almonds and clusters of something) cereal with skim milk

Snacks- Banana...and a little later about 4/3 cup of blueberries (to kick the sweet tooth i got)...and then a few slices of raw squash while my mom was cutting them up for dinner hehe :)

Lunch/Dinner (it was around 3:30pm or something like that, so it was a weird time): Swiss Steak (cubed steaks cooked with tomatoes and tomato sauce)...squash/tomato/onion saute....and white rice (very little)

Dessert: 2 little Kebbler cookies that are like the girl scout cookies- samoas

Evening snack (around 7:30 i think): Reheated Swiss steak (no rice) and some more of the squash mix

Drinks: Water, Skim Milk, Small glass of white wine with dinner, and a cup of decaf hot tea (orange...yum)

Ok....I think that was it for Saturday...I've slept since then, so I may have missed a snack or something, but I'm pretty sure that's it. Not for....


Sunday's Eats:
(I was a little bad today)

Breakfast- 2 scrabbled eggs and 2 pancakes with just a little butter and syrup. (my dad made the pancakes pretty big but I still didn't eat them all...got a little too full, but hey...how often do I get homemade pancakes?)..and of course some skim milk

Lunch- More re-heated Swiss Steak, rice (didn't eat it all), and more squash mix (did finish either)...this was too soon after breakfast so I got uncomfy full...but again...it's not often I get Mommy's home cookin! And yes I ate a lot of the Swiss steak and squash mix, but it's been over a years since I've had the squash and probably 3 years since I've has Swiss steak.....and it gets better when it's left over :) ...oh...and skim milk to drink

Snack: Momma's homemade chocolate chip walnut cookies....3 of them...but they are pretty small. With a little more skim milk :-\ eh..what can i say...i love milk

On the drive back: 1 zero calorie, zero sugar energy drink (it was a 1 serving size can)....a little bag of these veggie straw things** (see below).....some water and 1 air head (really didn't want this but I was very tired and needed something to wake me up...had already had the energy drink, didn't need another). And a swig of apple juice when i got home


So yeah not the best day...but I've had way worse. But I MUST give props to the Georgia Welcome Center on I-85 south. They actually had a whole vending machine of healthier choices!!! Like bakes chips, Special K bars, no sugar fruit snacks, low calorie and low fat snacks, nuts, and some other things. I was very impressed. This made my stop MUCH easier since they had two huge vending machines with all the junky stuff. BUT...the way they have the machines positioned, you see the healthier vending machine first and the other bad machines are on the opposite wall facing away from the entrance way. Very nice....BIG APPLAUSE! Well...the snack I got was only 85cents. And it was a bag of the veggie straws. Basically potato straws...but some of them are infused with spinach and tomato. And they are cooked in sunflower oil...not hydro oils either. All simple ingredients. I got the lightly salted ones but they also had rosemary olive oil and they has a chip version with sea salt! They were very yummy...pretty much tasted like potato chips but they were shaped like hollow french fries. I think the whole bag was around 160 calories, no saturated fat or cholesterol and only a little over 200mg of sodium. I honestly can't remember the brand name now but has the name of Perfect Portions on there of something like that but their was a lot of it for the portion. It filled me up. I have the bag in my car...I will have to tell you tomorrow. If I can find them in a store somewhere I am TOTALLY stocking up. They are awesome!!! :)

Well bed time...hopeful tomorrow I can control myself. It will not be a not so good day and I hope I don't eat my feelings away. But for now...Good night blogging world

Blogging Tonight After All

Hello World. It's late....very late...at least for me :)

Made it to my parents....in good time I must say for having to drive through Atlanta. I must say....if Nate or I get offered a job in Atlanta, I refuse to take it unless we hire a driver. That was the dumbest drive I've ever had to do. Left 2 lanes were going like 100mph in a 55mph zone, will the right 2 lanes were going 40....wth? And the random slamming on breaks for no reason what so ever was enough to drive a crazy person nuts.

Anywho....

So I did get taco bell FINALLY....after like my 4th hours of driving. Apparently when you want a fast food place on a long drive you can never find it. But oh man was it good. I had 2 (yes two :( but i was starving) fresco soft tacos and an order of cinnamon twists. Good thing is, the fresco menu isn't as greasy and awful since they don't put cheese and sour cream on them. Just meat, lettuce, tomato and onion. So yeah...still doing pretty well. Only drank about 3/4 of the sugar free low cal energy drink i bought also...and really only drank it b/c i was thirsty and forgot to bring water with me. Oops!

Well....that's my quick update. It's good to be home. I miss NC and my parents so much. Some times I wish I could have one more summer break here...oh well. It was great while it lasted. Off to bed...in my old room. Not quite the same anymore with all the furniture gone....but it's still nice. Night Night everyone!

Fridays Are Tempting

Well, today has been a challenge so far. Everyone at work always seems to splurge on Fridays. I've been pretty good though. Figured I would blog on my lunch since I will be driving a long 7 hours tonight to go see my parents. Not sure I'm going to feel like blogging at 1am when my normal bed time is 10pm. So far for today.....

Breakfast: Low fat sting cheese stick and a small apple

Snack: Banana....and later that 2nd Reese egg (come on...couldn't let it sit there all weekend and get stale in my drawer!)

Lunch: Abby (my awesome co-worker) brought some left over Kampi (Japanese)...I was good though. Ate the steak on it and just a little of the rice. Didn't need so many carbs. Also I ate an apple so I wouldn't eat so much of the bad fried rice

Dinner: Well, it's not dinner time yet. I will have to pick something up on the road to my parents house. I've been thinking a fresco style ("healthier" version on Taco Bells stuff) soft taco and some cinnamon twists. Collectively a little over 300 cal. Not too bad. Hopefully I can keep myself from taking down a crunch wrap supreme or a big 5 layer burrito or a gordita with extra sour cream...my fav. yumm. NO...I WILL be good!!!

Well...back to work I guess. Catch ya'll later!

PS. I CAN DO THIS! I CAN DROP THE POUNDS! I CAN I CAN I CAN!!!...yeah that's me trying to motivate myself

Introducing...the new blogger

Thank you...Thank you very much...no pictures please.

So this is the blogging world eh? Haven't really done this since high school...and then it was just everyone complaining about their friends/boyfriends/girlfriends....not very productive. After I made dinner tonight and was so satisfied with it...I made a decision. BLOG. Got the idea from a few people who posted their new years resolutions on facebook to help motivate them to do it. I figured I could use that same idea here.

I'm really trying to focus on loosing some weight. I used to always be a thin girl (of course I always thought I was fat...but hey...I'm a chick), but since I got married a little over 2 years ago, I've been gaining...love weight?...as I've heard many people call it. They say you just don't care anymore b/c you've got someone and they love you anyway?  I don't know about all that. I think it's a SMALL mix of that...and the fact I'm not walking around a college campus everyday where I had decently healthy cafeteria food to eat (which I had to walk to), having a 40hr/wk sit down job, limited time to fix healthy meals and snack, laziness to cook healthy food after a long work day, drinking, and sitting in front of the TV. I wouldn't say I'm fat...but I'm definitely not a size 4 anymore....and I weigh the most I ever have. eeeeek

So today as I've completed 3 days of eating relatively well...I decided I would need some motivation to keep me on track. Then I thought to myself...HEY! If I post what I eat daily...it may help me keep motivated. I don't want my list to say "sausage biscuit for breakfast, burger for lunch, snicker bar for snack, and pizza for dinner"....that's a little embarrassing when I'm trying to loose weight. I know I will stray a little...but if I don't I will FAIL at my goal. A little indulgence (in moderation) is a good thing.

No...my blog will not all be food. I will also update on life in general as well....figure it would be a good way to keep family and friends updated since it's hard to keep in touch with everyone all the time. So yeah...that's the idea. What do you think? Guess I should start on my 1st meal blog...Today's Eats are....

Breakfast: Low fat string cheese stick and medium sized banana

Lunch: Small apple, tangerine, low fat string cheese stick and 100 cal pack of shortbread cookies (sooo good)....yes not alot, but I wasn't terribly hungry and wasn't wanting the soup i took to work

Snack: 1 Reese Egg...fail i know..but my tech got one for me since he was mean to me today :) and i only ate one of the two! GO ME!

Snack#2: Small handful of potato chips when I got home from work to kick the salty craving...small fail, but it really wasn't that many

Dinner: Flounder fillet sauteed in a little EVOO (Exta virgin olive oil) lightly seasoned with salt, lemon pepper, and onion powder...some baby carrot sticks...and a nice side salad made with Italian greens, a few croutons for texture, pomegranate craisins for sweetness and color, and a small dollop of honey mustard

Dessert: None! Figured the Reese Egg and chips were enough for today

Drinks for the day: Lots of water and 1 small glass of apple juice

Not to bad I would say! :) Hopefully this will prove to keep me motivated to eat well....not just for my confidence...but for my health. Getting to that age where metabolism won't get me far...and my parents both have high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Gonna try to nip that in the butt! Well...this is the longest 1st blog ever I'm sure. QUICK LIFE UPDATE: Hubby Nate is doing well, Annie (my pup) is well also...that's all folks!