Four Down–Only 86 More to Go!!

I mentioned in my last post that I was going to give P90X a try starting on Monday. Just in case you’re wondering WHY I’m doing this–it is NOT to lose weight! I want to be STRONG, NOT skinny fat! Anyway, I was so excited about it, that I started on Sat.(the 7th). Today was Day 4 (86 more) and I am LOVING it!! One thing I love about it is that I don’t have to try to decide what to do on my own. I just get up, push play and GO! I think this is great for people like me that have NO idea what they are doing when it comes to strength training etc. I also really appreciate how Tony Horton makes you feel okay if you can’t do it all. I have been careful not to push so hard that I can’t move the next day. I have been sore, but not to the extreme that I can’t sit on the toilet–lol 🙂 Today was yoga and it was tough but felt wonderful! 

As for the food plan for P90X, well I didn’t even try to stick to Phase 1 which is pretty low carb. One thing I have learned over the last couple of years is, if I restrict any food group too much–I AM GOING TO BINGE eventually!! I am trying to stick to the Phase 2 plan as much as I can though. It is a 40-40-20 ratio (carbs, prot. and fat). 

Here are my eats from yesterday: 

best bowl of oats I ever did eat!!

You may have noticed they are a little on the green side–but it is NOT from my long lost friend spinach! I used this new protein powder that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!! 

YUMMY stuff!

I had been using pure Spirulina in my smoothies and was pleased to find a protein powder that included it. There are LOTS of other goodies in this powder, but I won’t bore you with the details. I also got the Acai protein powder, but haven’t tried it yet. 

OMG! I almost forgot my yummy topping on my oats: 

put 1/2 Tbs. of this and 1/2 banana on my oats

For lunch, I packed this to take to the pool with me:) 

salad w/ venison roast, beans and lots of other yummies--dressing on the side

About three hours later, I had a peanut butter Think Thin bar–not pictured. 

When I got home, I was hungry again but not quiet ready for dinner so I had some plain unsweetened soy yogurt with 1/2 scoop of this protein powder–also not pictured. 

For dinner, I had a gluten free burrito with some chicken on the side topped with soy cheese–hit the spot! 

gluten/dairy free burrito w/ side of chicken and soycheese:)

 That picture doesn’t do this meal justice. Too bad I’m out of burritos. Oh well, I guess a trip to the health food store is in order 😉 

So there ya have it– a day in the life of a P90X convert. 

Better run now. I’m trying to be productive at home today. Cleaning other people’s houses for a living REALLY puts a damper on motivation to clean my own, but the dust bunnies are calling! Hope you are having a great week so far! 

Anything exciting in your neck of the woods this week?  

We are having my son’s (belated) 18th birthday party this coming weekend!!  Should be loads of fun! 8)

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A Day in the Life…

I was so temtped to call this post ‘O Happy Crappy Day’! My day started bright and early at 4:30am when I woke up and could not go back to sleep. By 7:30 I already felt like I had put in a full day’s work! I chose to skip my morning walk because I had two houses to clean today and my poor little Samson  has been under the weather yesterday and today. I think he is on the mend, but if he isn’t better by tomorrow, we shall take a trip to the vet.

Thankfully, my day got better as it went and I actually took pictures of all of my food today–well almost. At 6:30am I was STARVING but I didn’t want to eat my real breakfast then. So, I had my last piece of ‘More Than A Meal Bar’. I am going to figure out a way to make those suckers–they are $7.50 a piece and I ate mine way too fast–4 days 🙂

For my real breakfast I ate:

1 egg + 2 whites, almond flour zucchini muffin

I got the muffin recipe from the book ‘Dr. Mercola’s Total Health Program’. I really like that book and I LOVE the muffins.

After cleaning a house for an 86 yr. old client whom I have become pretty fond of, I came home for lunch and had this:

salad with canned salmon

I found a new dressing the other day that I used for the first time today.

I am NOT motivated to make my own dressing and was really pleased with this gluten free roasted garlic dressing!

Oops–almost forgot my dessert!

coconut macaroon and square of dairy free dark chocolate

I don’t think a day EVER goes by without me having something sweet! I think every tooth in my mouth is a sweet tooth!

After lunch, I went to clean my brother’s house–which is brand new and makes me want to live there 🙂

For snack, I had a little problem with my yogurt.

I was going to eat the WholeSoy yogurt and when I tasted it, it was awful!! I think it was spoiled even though the date was still good. I hate it when stuff like that happens. So, in the trash it went and I ate the rest of my Wildwood yogurt. I like the Wildwood and it is what I normally eat, but I found the other on sale–now I know why! I have gone back and forth about the whole soy debate, but having to be dairy free, I have decided that a little soy is not going to kill me.  

soy yogurt w/ 1/2 scoop protein powder, blueberries and almonds

I used Healthy ‘N Fit egg white protein powder in strawberry passion flavor. I REALLY like that brand of protein powder! It is ONLY sweetened with stevia which is a huge plus in my book! I had vanilla ice cream flavor before and just recently ordered the strawberry.

By dinner time, my early morning was really getting to me! I almost fell asleep driving home. I was too lazy to fix anything difficult–so this is what I had (while trying to watch a netflix movie that refused to load):

all natural turkey burger w/ zucchini and squash

I really wanted something else a little while after dinner, but I have gotten in a bad habit of eating too late in the evening. It is usually NOT because I’m hungry but just because I want to munch. I am trying really hard to stop eating by 7pm. Of course, if I’m really hungry I will eat something else, but I think my belly feels better when it isn’t full at bedtime.

 That is a pretty typical day for me–most of the time. Sometimes, I eat some grains, but I don’t really do well with them. My ND suggested that I have 1 serving of grains every three days. Yeah right! If I have grains, I only want more grains. Then I feel icky, bloated and depressed!

I have dishes calling my name, but honestly, I think I am ready to crash! Hope you all had a wonderful day 8)

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matt. 11:28

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What’s New?

Hi everyone! I can’t believe it has been at least a week and a half since I last posted!! Man, time flies when your having fun busy. This post may be a little random because I have several things to share that are not related to each other at all 🙂

The first bit of interesting news is that I got my ears pierced stapled! No, I am not some kind of hippy or anything. These staples are a form of acupuncture that you leave in. You can read about it here.

If you read about ear stapling, you would see that a lot of people do it to try to lose weight. That is NOT why I had it done. It is not just for weight loss. My ND recommended it to help balance my hormones and energy and to help with sugar cravings. She obviously thought it would be very beneficial to me because she did it for FREE! I probably wouldn’t have had it done if I had to pay for it, but I figure if it’s free it’s not going to hurt to try. At least I know she wasn’t just trying to sell me something 🙂 Speaking of hurting, you may be wondering if it hurt. Umm, yeah! Not extrememly bad pain, but enough. It hurt worse after it was over and they (I have one in each ear) were very tender for several days. The worst part was when I would forget they were there and go to scratch my ear! NOT good! I also had some trouble sleeping with them in the first couple of nights.

So, today is day seven since having this done and what have I noticed? The first thing I noticed was a decrease in depression! That alone is fabulous! Then I started to notice an increase in energy–woohoo! I kept wondering when the sugar cravings would improve. The first few days I could still be very tempted by sugar.  On about day 4, I noticed a dramatic improvement in my cravings! THAT IS A MIRACLE!!  You guys probably have NO idea the struggles I have had with sugar cravings. That’s not something I really talk about on my blog. All in all, I think the staples are helping me and it was worth the momentary pain 🙂

Okay, enough about my ears! I have been following a low-carb diet due to candida and I was SO excited to find this new protein powder yesterday!

This is Healthy N’ Fit protein powder and it is 100% egg white protein. What made me so excited about this powder is the fact that it only has stevia in it for a sweetener. So many other protein powders still have fructose etc. in them! It is also loaded with amino acids. How does it taste? YUMMY!! I had my first smoothie with it this afternoon.

This is a spinach smoothie with almond milk, a few frozen cranberries and 1/2 cup plain unsweetened yogurt added in. Perfect! Now, I know there are a lot of Jay Robb fans (Hi Heather🙂 out there, but this stuff is cheaper! At my Kroger, Jay Robb is $22.00 for 10 servings. The Healthy N’ Fit was $35.00 for 34 servings!! I have to go with the cheaper! I have never tasted Jay Robb due to the cost, but I really felt like this was worth it.

I have been feeling great on a low-carb diet (and the staples:)! I am doing yoga some and some other workouts–like the FIRM. I really want to feel stronger! I think I am what a lot of people would call ‘skinny fat’. I’m at a low weight, but don’t have a lot of muscle. Hopefully, my diet and exercising will help me gain some of the muscle I lost when I was struggling with an eating disorder. I have been thinking about doing the P90X workouts. I’m not trying to get ‘ripped’ or anything, just stronger with less fat and more muscle. Anybody ever done those? What were your thoughts? I really don’t want to kill myself! I am also wondering if I do harder workouts, will it make my weight go up due to gaining muscle. If it does, that’s okay, as long as I know it’s from muscle and not overeating or gaining fat! Would appreciate your input 😉

This post is getting pretty long, but Clare gave me a sweet blog award about two weeks ago and I am just now getting to it!! Terrible, I know! I am supposed to tell 7 random things about myself so here goes.

1-I am pretty OCD about some things but not others. For ex. I HATE crooked pics, open cabinet doors and I CAN NOT buy something that is dented!! But, as for keeping my house spotless–I gave up on that years ago!!

2-I have homeschooled my (3) children most of their lives. MANY ups and downs on that one–mostly ups though 😉

3- I LOVE animals!! We have three dogs, two cats and two turtles (those are my daughter’s) I think she loves animals even more than me!

4-I am a book addict!! Mostly cookbooks, as you know if you have been reading my blog long.

5-I LOVE fried okra, but sadly can’t eat it anymore! Hey, maybe I can make it and coat it in almond flour!

6- I HATE beets and kombucha!

7-I was born three days before my brother’s first birthday. I bet he thought that was the WORST present EVER!

Thanks Clare for thinking of me. I give this award to anyone who has never received it before 😉 

Sorry this post was SO long! I’ll try to post more often so this doesn’t happen again. I really like to keep it short and simple 🙂 

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Who Could Resist…

This Face!

Meet Samson

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that my sweet Eli passed away back in October. I have missed him terribly!! I have been going to the pound over these last several weeks just waiting to see if the right dog would come along for me to rescue. I went last Saturday and they had gotten in SEVEN Cocker Spaniels! They think it was some back yard breeder who decided they didn’t want to fool with the dogs anymore. It is really sad! Anyway, I don’t even want to get into how cruel and pitiful it is to take dogs to the pound! As you can see, one captured my heart:)

Samson is around two years old and scared to death. The poor thing evidentally has not been given much attention. He needs LOTS of love and a feeling of security. Hopefully, I can give him that:) I just got him yesterday and he is already beginning to realize that he is not going to be hurt.

I encourage anyone looking for a new dog to check out their local shelter. Lots of lives could be saved and lots of love can be given to these dogs that are just left for dead!

Now, for some food drink! As I’ve been typing this, I’ve been enjoying a HEAB’S inspired pumpkin smoothie. It is so NOT raw, but oh so good!

My smoothie contained:

1 cup light soy milk

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup pumpkin

packet of stevia

1 scoop PlantFusion

cinnamon

nutmeg

This whole raw thing is hard! I do really well for about 3-4 days and then I just want to eat whatever and not worry about whether it’s raw or not. I guess that’s okay though. As long as I’m still getting a lot of raw, I think having a day every now and then that I have less raw should still give me the benefits of raw that my body needs. Okay, that was a confusing sentence! Anyway, trying not to stress on the days I want less raw:)

Hope you all have a fabulous Saturday! I have lots of house work/laundry to do and lots of loving on my new baby to do:) Any big plans for your Saturday?

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Jackpot!!

Check out this load of stuff my hubby won at the health food store!! I don’t think I have EVER won anything in my life, so I don’t even bother to sign up. He signed up and told me he would win–guess he was right! This nice backpack was loaded with all kinds of goodies! I think pretty much all of it is gluten free, but not corn, rice etc. free:) So, my hubby will be doing most of the munching on this bunch of goodies. I bet there are almost a dozen snack bars! There was a bottle of body wash, coconut water (which I will gladly drink), hemp protein, acai fruitein, gluten free ‘granola’, single servings of peanut butter and almond butter and more!! There were also some herbal remedies, but no thanks! I am on enough of those already:)

Speaking of remedies, I think I am finally getting closer to what really works for me–I think:) I went to the ND last Friday and was complaining to her about my terrible cravings for things that I am NOT supposed to have. I thought it was because I was eating a high raw diet and not feeling satisfied. Well, come to find out, it was my hormones!! You can read about my journey into Peri-menopause here. She told me to increase my natural progesterone cream and I am feeling WAY more balanced (I have opted to NOT use any prescription hormones for my symptoms.)  Man, hormones can do scary things to our bodies. She is also ordering yet another herbal remedy to help balance my wacky body. I am already feeling a HUGE difference though. I have not touched anything ‘illegal’ since my visit on Friday!! Whew!

So, now that I am not wanting to eat everything in my town, here is what I am doing. I have been fixing this raw cereal every night before bed to have the next morning and it is really satisfying me.

I know, it’s not very pretty, but it works for me:) Before bed, I put the following in a bowl: 1/2 cup quinoa flakes, 2 tbs. sunflower seeds, 2 Tbs. pumpkin seeds, 1 Tbs. hemp seeds, and 1-2 Tbs. raisins. Then I add 1/2 cup coconut milk and 4 Tbs. coconut water (which sweetens it all). I put this in the fridge until morning. Then I add 1 Tbs. hemp protein powder and some cinnamon. Mix and dig in:) Soaking things is key for me to have a happy belly! Last night, I actually soaked the seeds and raisins seperate in some water left out on the counter. I think they ‘soak’ better that way. That keeps me happy for a good while.

Then about mid-morning, I make some green juice. Today, I tried cabbage in my juice after seeing that on Maggie’s blog. It was yummy. No picture though, because it went down the hatch:) Thanks for the idea Maggie!

I have been able to wait longer to eat drink lunch since doing the raw cereal and juice. I have really just been wanting smoothies for lunch.

I’ll usually have a snack involving a little fruit in the afternoon. Yesterday, I was inspired by Averie to pull out my ice cream maker. I made a sorbet with frozen cherries, strawberries and half banana. Oh, I also added 2 Tbs. raw cocoa nibs. Blended it up and threw it in the ice cream maker:

If anyone makes this, you may want to add some agave or something. It wasn’t quiet sweet enough, but it worked for me.

For dinner, I have been having a BIG salad! No pictures–oops!

I also recently came up with a bread recipe that I can finally feel good about eating. I will post more about it another day, but I made my own flour with sprouted and dehydrated buckwheat, quinoa, sunflower and pumpkin seeds. The only other flour in it is a little coconut flour. I have always hated the fact that gluten free breads are loaded with all kinds of starches–that I can’t digest–and they are usually pretty refined and high carb. My homemade bread doesn’t have any of the typical starches in it, is pretty good in protein and not refined and high carb. I took a piece to my ND to let her try it and she loved it! So, now I have a  sprouted bread that is technically grain free and very healthy:) YUM!

Gotta run now, today is our first day of another year of homeschooling:)

God Bless!!

Added note: I think I have had too much of a good thing with the seeds in my raw cereal! I tend to quickly forget that I can’t do so many seeds three days in a row! My belly is NOT happy at the moment. So, I am trying a new raw breakfast in the morning. Stay tuned:)

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Don’t cry over spilled…

COCONUT!!

I don’t know what is up with me and coconut mishaps lately, but boy am I getting annoyed! Okay, let me back up. In my last post I was sharing how my blender was messed up and caused all sorts of problems in my attempt to make coconut milk. Well, a couple of days ago, I was making raw coconut milk–in my NEW blender–and I was planning on using the pulp from the coconut milk for something else.

After making this milk, I had the towel that I squeezed the milk through laying on the dehydrater. I was planning on drying the pulp to use it in some raw coconut treats that the ND said I could try. Well, about two minutes before I was ready to put the pulp in the dehydrater, my son walked in. He proceeded to pick up a towel to dry his hands and guess which one he picked?! Yep, the one that had coconut pulp in it! My beloved coconut went ALL over the floor! It was a total accident, but I cried none-the-less. No pictures of the mishap because who wants to take pictures when they are crying! Well, I got over it and my hubby went and bought me more coconuts the next day:) I just have to start over now for the raw dry coconut treats.  I have heard the saying all my life–“Don’t cry over spilled milk” but in my case it was coconut!

Here is another new coconut experiment that I made lately.

Wine cooler anyone? This isn’t really a wine cooler, but I bet if I drank enough of it, I could get pretty toasted! This is coconut water kefir diluted with plain coconut water and cherries. This kefir is POTENT!! You can read here how to make it and the benefits of it. It does have sort of a wine cooler taste which I am not a big fan of. It’s not bad diluted though because the plain coconut water sweetens it some. There is NO way I could drink this kefir straight! Anyway, just some food drink for thought.

Another experiment:

raw sweet tator chips

These were pretty tasty, but a little hard on my sensitive gut. If I make them again, I would also try to slice them a little thinner. I put them in a gallon size bag with coconut oil, cinnamon and a little salt and shook to coat. Then dehydrated until crispy.

Lunch yesterday:

raw spinach and sunflower seed 'burger'

This is something else the ND told me about (only she used carrots). I blended up spinach, soaked sunflower seeds, green onions, cumin and I don’t remember what else. Made into patties and dehydrated.  I made these pretty thin, so I actually had two patties in this ‘burger’.

raw 'burgers' with raw cheese

Last, but not least, is my breakfast from this morning:

100% raw breakfast cookie

This is NOT the typical cookie with oats. I have found that I do better when I don’t eat oats–even gluten free ones. This cookie is made with Quinoa Flakes. I know some people (Heather:) are not a fan of these flakes, but when it’s the ONLY ‘grain’ you can digest, you learn to make the best of it:) Quinoa is not even technically a grain. Anyway, I put quinoa flakes, 1 Tbs. hemp protein powder, 1 Tbs. raw sunbutter, raw coconut milk, organic raisins(new food for me–keep your fingers crossed), raw agave,  and cinnamon. I try not to use agave much at all, but felt like this would need it since quinoa does have a distinct flavor. I am allergic to stevia so that is not an option for me. I let the cookie sit in the fridge over night and gobbled it up after yoga this morning! I WILL be making this on a regular basis! You can find the original recipe here.

So, these are just a few of my yummy eats lately! Have you tried anything new lately? I would love to hear about it:)

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So, THIS is what ‘normal’ feels like!

I had a REALLY good day today! Last week, I was beginning to wonder if I was going to make it. I ate TERRIBLE and couldn’t figure out what was going on. No matter what I ate, I could NOT get satisfied! It felt like my body was completely flipping out on me and it was scary. By Friday, I realized that maybe my body was screaming for more protein–DUH! The diet that the ND put me on is so limited that it made it very difficult to get enough. I had been using Hemp protein powder and decided I was going to have to make a change–or else I was going to eat everything in town!! The Hemp powder only has 8 grams per 4Tbs. So, I went back to the trusty old PlantFusion protein powder. It has 22 grams per scoop! Today is the third day of upping my protein and I am beginning to feel somewhat ‘normal’–wow, is this even possible?! Okay, let me back up to the start of my day.

I tried a new breakfast this morning instead of juicing or having a smoothie. Can I just tell you–I have been REALLY hungry!!

This isn’t a very good picture, but oh well. Last night, I soaked 1/3 cup raw buckwheat in 1 cup SoDelicious Coconut Milk. This morning, I added a scoop of PlantFusion protein powder and a little water and cooked the buckwheat on low. I then added some organic mini blueberries–and 1 tsp. honey–which I’m not supposed to have. Buckwheat just has such a distinct flavor that I HAD to put a little honey. It turned out pretty good and kept my belly happy until lunch–NO tummy pain, bloating etc. WooHoo:)

For lunch I had this salad:

The salad had:

spinach

homemade veggie kraut

cooked summer squash & onions

raw soaked/sprouted seeds

Around 3pm I had a protein smoothie.

My smoothie had 1 cup coconut milk, scoop of PlantFusion, BIG handful of spinach, 1Tbs. unsweetened Sunbutter. That held me about 5 hours!

I had HOT Yoga at 5:30pm. Is it possible to be addicted to yoga–most definitely! Is it possible to get too much Yoga–NEVER:) I am SO happy because the studio is doing another 6 week round of Hot Yoga. Count me in!

I drank coconut water with lime on the way home from yoga. Then I had this: Again–not a good picture!

Is that OATGURT? Oh Yeah!!!! After putting my thinking cap on, I realized that I may have been reacting badly to the oatgurt because I wasn’t using gluten free oats!! DUH! Where is my brain when I need it. I wanted to try regular oat grouts because they are way cheaper than gluten free oats. Oats themselves do not contain gluten, but they can be cross contaminated with wheat. That makes them a no-no for most Celiacs. Well, I learned my lesson. I am doing gluten free oatgurt again with NO PROBLEMO! Doing the happy dance now:) I put some chocolate hemp protein powder, a little coconut milk, and 1 tbs. unsweetened Sunbutter in my oatgurt and gobbled it up!

Not only is my appetite getting back to normal, I also had more energy today. I was able to get things done around the house that I haven’t been feeling like doing. I did still have to have my afternoon nap (or rest I should say–I didn’t go to sleep) but overall, I got a lot more done today. This in itself helps me feel better. I can’t stand it when my house is messy and I can’t muster up the energy to clean it.

I had a minor melt down at church yesterday which I think also helped me feel better today along with feeling better physically. I don’t feel quiet as overwhelmed as I did:) My brother, who is the Associate Pastor at our church, stopped me as I was getting ready to leave and talked to me for a long time. It was SO helpful just to be able to be real with someone and have his support and prayers. I am SO blessed to be a part of the church I go to! By the time I left church, I felt like a weight had been lifted off of me and it felt really good! I felt my faith increase and the strength to keep working toward health. It IS taking a LOT of work–but I have to have faith that God is with me every step of the way.

Anyway, I say all of that to say that I am doing better this week and God IS giving me strength. I look forward to getting stronger and seeing how God is going to work in my life through my ‘illness’. I realize that I will most likely still have bad days (maybe even tomorrow), but I can rejoice in the good days:)

Oh, one more thing–Hubby is back on day shift!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gotta run now. I’m tired and about ready to collapse, but it’s a good kind of tired. I had a productive day and am ready to chill out:)

Have a great week and count your blessings!!

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