Category Archives: Exercise

Moving at the Speed of Light!

Good evening, my lovely chickadees! 🙂

Life seems to be moving at the speed of light!! SERIOUSLY!!!

This year has been a year of doing numerous self experiments! How can I make a better life for my husband and myself? How can I live a more authentic life? How can I move into he life that we are constantly dreaming about? How can I be as fit, healthy, and happy as much as possible?

Some of the experiments that have resulted in some micro changes in my life have been:

Morning Pages: Waking early every morning to write morning pages a la Julie Cameron, The Artist Way author’s recommended practice (one of them)! – this has been helping me deal with some out of control anxiety and feelings of overwhelm that I have been struggling with. This practice basically dumps all of my ever-running thoughts out of my brain every morning, essentially giving me a reboot every morning!
Meditation: 15 minutes meditation most mornings of the week. I have been doing this after my morning pages, and because my brain is wiped clean after my morning pages, meditation gives me the conscious opportunity to fill my brain with the thoughts that I want to carry around, I mean on purpose! I focus on thoughts of thankfulness to my creator for all of the blessings that have come my way, and the ones that are on their way to me!
Personal Altar: For my meditation time, I have created a small altar in my home. More specifically there is a small, comfortable cushion on the floor of my walk-in closet, and a small white shelf that I have cleared off (it is one of my shoe shelves), that I have placed various items that have special meaning for me. These are all things that I want to remind myself to think about while meditating. Some of the things are a glass heart to remind me that I am loved, a bracelet to remind me that I can be brave and do brave things, a candle to call my truth teller to my meditation space, and a small yellow toy farm truck to remind me of my future dream life! I have a bunch of other things too, something to remind me of my sisters, something to remind me to have fun, something to remind me of my amazing marriage, etc. etc. etc. This has become a sacred place in my life.
Exercise: My sweetie and I have signed up for a fun 5k that happens October 1st of this year, so we have started a Couch to 5k training program! It has been hard work not only the exercise itself, but also not giving up!! Right now, we only walk/jog about 3 days a week, but starting this week, I want us to go for a least a strong walk every morning, so that the non walk/jog mornings, we are getting out and spending quality time getting fit together!
Uncluttering: There has been a major uncluttering project that is currently happening in my house! Things are leaving though the front door at a whirlwind pace!! I realized that if I wanted the life that I have envisioned in my head to come true, then I would have to make room for it – both literally and figuratively! God bless my husband, he has been the epitome of patience, and support!
Gathering a Team: I have learned, this year, that you don’t have to do everything on my own. So I am actively seeking a team of awesome people, who know more than I do, to help me in various areas of my life. Mental health, physical health, general life goals, etc. I have found a life coach, and have also been seeking out quality time with friends and family, and going out of my way to nurture those relationships. I can achieve every single thing that my heart desires, but if I do not have friends and family to share that with, then I think my joy will be lessened, and that is not ok with me. Joy that is shared is always multiplied for both the share-er and the share-ee. How is that for good grammar??? 🙂

Now with all of this said, and all of this done, and still going on, I am by no means perfect at these things. I still have to say “oops, my bad” and try it again tomorrow, but I feel like my life is heading in the right direction, or at least the humungous ship, that is my life, is starting to pivot in the right direction!! and that is such a very exciting prospect that it makes me think that my future is so bright that I have to wear shades!! I can’t wait to see what comes next, but baby, I think I will be ready!!

Here is to living a BEAUTIFUL CREATIVE life! 🙂

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If you want to have a different life you have to live differently!!

1-Year Post Bariatric Surgery Update!

This is me as a happy girl today!! 😉

Good evening!

Yep! That’s right! As of today, it has been exactly one year since I had my gastric bypass surgery, and I thought it might be the perfect time to give you my weight loss update!

As of today, I have officially lost 99 point something pounds since April 2012, and 59 of those pounds have been since my gastric bypass surgery on September 4th, 2012. I say 99 point something, because I actually can’t remember the exact number that my surgeon said! All I remember hearing was 99 pounds. YEAH! ME!!! 😉

I have been reminded by my nutritionist that I am still eating waaaaay to many carbs, and I am almost 40 grams of protein short every day. OUCH!!

I also know that getting in 64 ounces of liquid a day has been the bane of my existence, and I am not sure I have EVER been able to get that much water in since my surgery. When your stomach is the size of 2 or 3 ounces, and you can’t drink within 30 minutes of eating, it really limits how effectively you can get your fluids in!

I also really need to step up my exercise routine!! I just need to push myself harder, and spend less time sitting on my keister!! 😉

SOOOOOO…

long story short, I have got A LOT of room for improvement!!

They also showed me a chart that proves that I am losing on the slooooooow track. and for some reason my physician thinks I am having a love affair with pizza – I really am not, but the last two times I had seen her, I had just happened to have pizza the previous evenings!! Which just also happens to be the only two times I have had pizza in the past three months! Sheesh!!

To say I left my appointment today feeling a bit defeated is an understatement, but I was reminded by my girl friends, and my sweetie that I have still come a LOOOOOONG way baby!! and I know it is true, but to put it out to the universe in writing, I decided to share a list that I had created months before surgery.

This is a list of all of the physical goals I had written to myself in May of 2012. Basically, this is the if-I-could-do-anything-after-weight-loss-surgery-this-would-be-my-dream-list:

Jog a mile non-stop – DONE!
Cross my legs – DONE!
Touch my toes with knees unbent – DONE!
Ride my bike for a half an hour straight
Run up two flights of stairs without getting winded – DONE!
Wear high heels without pain – DONE!
Run a 5k – DONE!
Fit into a bathtub – DONE!
Sit Indian-style in a movie theatre seat – DONE!
Be able to sit with my knees up against my chest – DONE!
Be able to use the chair-tables in the auditorium – DONE!
Be able to fit into a restaurant booth – DONE!
Hike the longest trail at Silver Creek Falls – DONE!
Weigh less than when I first met Jason, when I was 18 – DONE!
Slip into a size-14 again – DONE!
Not be the first one tired on an all-day shopping excursion – DONE!
Get rid of the dreaded C-pap machine – DONE!
Be able to ride cowgirl-style in my favorite evening activity! 😉 – DONE!

I actually hadn’t remember that I had written that list, but I have to tell you once I found it and realized that I have done EVERY SINGLE thing on this list except one (only because I haven’t tried it yet), and that was #4 Ride my bike for a half an hour straight, and I am sure at this point, I could TOTALLY do it!! 🙂

So, I am going to consider this a success thus far!!

Starting tomorrow, I am back on the straight and narrow, and my goal is to lose 30 more pounds within the next 6 months! WOULDN’T THAT BE AWESOME???? But the reality is, that if I never lost another single ounce from today, my life and my future is ALREADY better than it would have been 100 pounds ago!!! 😉 I have to keep in mind how good life is right this minute!! 😉

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! 😉

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

Our First Official 5K!

Good evening!

I would normally wait until tomorrow to post this since it is already so late this evening, but I am just too excited to wait to share our fun news!

Tonight my sweetie and I ran the Willamette Valley Road Runners Salem Summer Solstice 5K at Minto Brown Park here in Salem! 🙂

Instead of sharing all of the juicy details in just words, I thought I would share the pics that my sweetie and I accumulated this evening! 🙂

This is my sweetie, who was soooooo excited to get to complete his first official 5K that it was hard to get him to not speed the whole way to the park!! I was impressed that I got him to hold still for this picture – he was practically jumping out of his skin with excitement!! 🙂

I would like to tell you that I was as excited as Jason, but in all honesty, I was here under protest! I was tired, I had already done almost three miles this morning, and it was less than an hour a way from my normal bedtime – not to mention, I was worried that I would either not be able to completed the course, or I would fall and make a complete fool of myself!! But, not to be left in Jason’s dust, I was determined to run the 5K too! 🙂

THIS is what he came for!! He wanted a NUMBER SOOOOOO BADLY!!! Can you see on his face how happy he is??? It is good to see him this happy!! 😉

Yep! I got one too!! 😉

I was more excited about the electronic tracking devices that they gave us to wear on our shoes! They measure your times as you cross the start and finishing lines! They were pretty nifty!! 😉

There were sooooo many people! That fact just jazzed Jason more, and made me more terrified, but I was excited to see if I could spot some new peeps in this crowd!! 🙂

They had all of the participants broken out into two crowds. The first was the 10K runners (next year, love, we will definitely be in that group!!), and here you can see those guys just taking off!!! Us 5K-ers took off about 5 minutes later!! 🙂

Jason caught me coming across the finishing line!! I was so tired. There were times that I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to push through, but there were little kids passing me up, and I knew I just had to keep going!!! I was excited, however, because I had ran my fasted mile this evening, and that was a 10 minute mile – I couldn’t even do that when I was in high school, and my fastest in the last couple of months was a 13 minute mile!! I am calling that PROGRESS BABY!!! 😉

I practically collapsed into Jason’s sweaty arms as soon as I spotted him!! I have never been so happy to see him again!! 😉

Jason is such a stud!!! He beat my time by about 10 minute – HE RAN THE WHOLE THING!!! I am just sooooo proud of him!! He TRULY is my HERO!!! 😉

After the run, the organizer had a ice cream sundae bar for all of the participants, and although I couldn’t eat very much, Jason was very VERY happy to enjoy almost his whole sundae!!! He knew he had earned EVERY SINGLE SPRINKLE!!! 😉

Tonight was such an AMAZING night!! One that I am sure neither one of us are sure to forget!! I really am proud of us!! I can’t wait to see what hurdle we tackle next!! 😉

Here is to a VERY FABULOUS EVENING!! 😉

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

A Weight Loss Progress Update!

Good evening!

I thought I would just stop rather quickly this evening and give you all an update on how my weight loss progress has been going!! Since April of 2012, I have lost a total of 105 pounds. For the past couple of months I have been fluctuating between a loss of 102 pounds and 106 pounds lost in total!! So….with that in mind, I take body measurements every week. I measure my neck, underbust, waist, hips, right thigh, right calf, right bicep, and right forearm, and so far I have lost 50 inches in total! To me, that is more astounding that the 105 pound loss, in all honesty!! 🙂

My actual pounds lost is still going really slowly, but, and this a BIG BUT, my sweetie and I have started running most every morning!! We run a couple of loops in our neighborhood, one is very hilly and extremely difficult, and the other is hilly but a little more rolling hill in nature, AKA easier!! This has been really exciting to me, because what started out taking me 40 minutes to complete, now takes me about 32 minutes to complete. I can feel myself getting stronger and my recovery time is much faster than it has ever been. I am starting to get a taste of what being fit actually feels like – and let me tell you…all of the hard work is sooooo worth it!! 😉

Not only have we been running, but this past weekend my sweetie, and one of our nieces and nephews went on a 10 mile hike out at Silver Creek Falls, and let me tell you, that was NO SMALL FEAT!!! In all honesty, I was so surprised that I was able to do it that I almost cried when we got back to the car!! Who knew how much life I was actually missing being 330 pounds??? All I can keep saying is that life is so good. LIFE IS SOOOOO VERY VERY GOOD!!! 😉

My sweetie was so inspired by our hike that even thought we were dog tired by the time we got home, my sweetie started looking for a 5k to get us signed up for, that very evening!! So, without my knowledge or consent, he has us signed up for a 5K run tomorrow evening!! LOL!! I say that jokingly because on one hand I was like, “hey, you wanna make sure I’m game before you go throwing my name in the ring???” but then again, I am pretty excited about running a 5K with him. I have run an unofficial 5K already, but I am going to do it again, because my sweetie doesn’t feel like he can cross this off of his life list until he has an official number from his run (you know the kind of number that you wear when in a race??) Well, that is what he wants, and so here we are!!

Life is good!! I know we are both feeling better than we have at any time in either our twenties or thirties (up to now), and I just couldn’t imagine ever going back to where we started from!!!

By the way, these pictures that I have posted this evening are just two of a plethora of pics I took while out on our hike! I will have a BUNCH more pictures from our hike posted hopefully in the next day or so! So stay tuned!! 🙂

With that, here’s to a VERY FABULOUS evening!! 😉

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

Doing New Things!

Good evening!

I am having such a freaking good day, that I could not help but get excited and tell you all about it!!! 🙂

First of all, after over a year on hiatus, I have started writing my morning pages again! For those of you that may not know, morning pages are a tool that Julia Cameron developed, who by the way is the author of The Artist’s Way, a fabulous book that I highly recommend for anyone wanting to tap into their authentic inner self!! Anyway, back to morning pages, it is basically writing, free-hand your randomly flowing thoughts for 3 pages first thing every morning. It is a great way to tap into your inner self, and to really listen to what God is trying to tell you and what your soul is longing for or feeling. When I first started doing morning pages, it was about the beginning of 2011, and at the time, I swore I would never stop doing them because they just have therapeutic way of helping you clear your head and see the world from a clear vantage point! Well, long story short, life happens and I stopped doing writing in my mornings, among other things.

You may have also noticed that I have not been blogging very much lately. Well, I have a confession. Not only have I not been connecting with myself by writing my morning pages, I stopped doing my artist dates, my belly dancing class, all forms of exercising, and blogging! Blogging, and all of these other things are so intimate and personal, and I really was sick of spending time with myself. I have realized that I have really been suffering from not wanting to spend any quality time with myself, so I have been doing everything and anything to keep the external chatter so loud that I have not been able to hear myself think. Literally. and I have to tell you, when I realized that this is what I had been doing, I was not only surprised, but realized I needed to turn off all of the external stimuli and get in touch with me again!!! My inner child was definitely starting to throw a hissy fit wanting to just have some pj time at home, with no obligations or commitments. So…. after a weekend of sitting around in my pajamas all weekend, doing almost nothing except reading, spending quality time with my sweetie, watching movies, and crocheting like a fiend, I decided it was time to make time for me, and put my internal dialogue back into the forefront of my life again.

I am recommitting to my morning pages!

I am recommitting to blogging!

I am recommitting to taking long walks to absolutely nowhere!

I am recommitting to dancing like a crazy person for no other reason that it is just absolutely fun!!

I am recommitting to singing at the top of my lungs! My neighbors deserve to have a good laugh every once in a while too!!!

and I am recommitting to listen to myself. To my inner Chrissie, and whatever it is that she needs to have heard.

I am here.

I can be quiet.

I am listening.

I know my inner me has something that she is just struggling to get out into the universe, and I have decided it is time to start making the actions that will help her, instead of hold her back!! So, this morning, I woke up extra early! Walked my half-asleep self into my freezing cold art studio, and wrote, wrote, wrote!!! When I was done, I hadn’t felt so free in a really, REALLY long time!! Like I had lifted the weight of the world off of my shoulders.

This simple act of spending time with myself writing emboldened me to do more with my day, so I decided that as soon as I got off from work this afternoon, that I would head over to the local high school track and I would walk, walk, walk, but first I would jog a quarter of a mile. Ok, I realize that may not sound like a lot to some of you, but I am a 37 year old, former 330 pound woman, who hasn’t had serious exercise in about 6 months, this was a pretty good freaking start!!! One of my goals this year is to run a mile, and then a 5k, and eventually a 10k, but let’s not get ahead of myself!!! 😉

Finally, when we did get home, I have a mountain of about 500 books that I am working on selling online, but in all honesty I had COMPLETELY overwhelmed myself with the daunting thought of

“WHERE IN THE HECK DO I EVEN BEGIN TO TACKLE THIS ONE???”

Well, I realized that if I can jog a quarter of a mile, on a whim, I certainly could post a few books online to sell, just to get the ball rolling. Well, I committed to posting 5 books, and ended up posting 12 – that really does take a lot more time than one might think that would take!!

Happy, Happy Girl!!! 😉

Anyway, I feel so at ease, like there is hope for tonight, hope for tomorrow. I really can do what I put my mind to if I am willing to step up to the mirror and just face it.

No more hiding.

No more wishing someone else would make it all happen for me.

Today is the day.

Now is the time.

and that realization is energizing!!!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening, not being afraid to get quiet and listen!! 😉

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!!

Hiking Silver Creek Falls!

Good evening!

I have some very exciting news that I am sooooo excited to share with you. Ok, so in all honesty, it is really exciting to my sweetie and I, and maybe not so much for you, but all the same, I am still going to share it with you!! LOL! 🙂

Wait for it…

My sweetie and I walked the 2 and a half mile hike at Silver Creek Falls yesterday morning!

WHOO! HOO!!! 😉

Ok, so 2 1/2 miles may not sound very impressive, but it is quite literally a hike that takes you steeply down into a giant bowl, and then you have to hike what feels like a constant straight up to get back to the top again!

Let me just give you a little back story! The last time a tried any hike at Silver Creek Falls, it was one of the smaller hikes, and let’s just say there was a point, on the way back up, I had the realization that I had let myself get extremely out of shape, and I had a bit of a breakdown, balling my eyes out, crying to Jason. “I am going to die here! *SOB!* I will never make it back to the top, let alone the car! *WHINE!* “Save yourself, and leave me! *DRAMA QUEEN! DRAMA QUEEN!*“

Ok, so admittedly not one of my finest moments!! 😉

So now maybe you understand why hiking the two and half mile hike at Silver Creek Falls is such exciting news??? There was no crying. No whining. No pleading with Jason to save himself.

IT WAS AWESOME!!!

There were some pauses. Some quiet time where I just had to concentrate – especially during the last stretch. There was even some praying for help, and prayers of gratitude when I realized that we were so close to the top! It really was an AMAZING experience!!! I even had the ability to take a TON of pictures, so I apologize for the possible overload of pictures that are to follow, but I want to remember this day for a long, long, LOOOOONG time!!! 😉 The day I realized that all of the healthy eating, and exercise is really paying off!! 😉

This is the South Falls.

Isn’t Jason looking great?? He has lost almost 50 pounds!! Way to go, Baby!! 😉

I am not doing too bad either! Even though I have such a long way yet to go, I have lost about 25 pounds! 😉

This is a water tube that Jason was fascinated with. I fear that he would have tried to climb in and of course get himself stuck if I weren’t there! So to his-would-have-been-rescue-team trying to get his booty unstuck from this water tube – YOU ARE WELCOME!!! 😉

Yes, this is what happy looks like!

Thanks to the very kind stranger who offered to take a picture of us together in front of these falls!! 😉

I think you would agree that just those views along were worth it!!! What an amazing day!!! Let’s just say, we will be doing that again soon!! 😉

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

Some Time On My Own!

Good evening!

Here I am! I have been MIA for a while, I realize, but in all honesty I have been really been busy, and have been taking a break from personal computer time/social media. Tonight my sweetie is at Burning Man, or at least the Oregon version, which is called “Soak”. I am always a little blue when he goes out of town, but this is something that he has really been wanting to do. This is one of those things that is on his life list, and you have to know I will ALWAYS be soooo supportive of him, and his list, so I am ready to have some me time for the next few days!! 😉

For my me time, I don’t have any huge plans while he is gone, but I do have some little plans! Tomorrow night is our bariatric support group. This is the first time I have ever gone by myself, so that will be a change! 🙂

Then on Friday, my niece, Megan is coming over for an auntie night/sleepover! YEAH!! That is always fun!!! I am going to take her to dinner, then to go see the new movie, “Brave”, or maybe bowling, or miniature golf. I am sure we will also squeeze in a manicure!!

GO GIRL TIME!!

Then on Saturday my sis, Nette, and my nephew, Morgan will come over on Saturday so we can go swimming!! Whew!! After they all head home, I have a feeling I am going to have to squeeze in a nap!! 😉

Jason will be home sometime on Sunday, I am thinking probably in the late afternoon, and I already miss him!! We have had a few crazy weeks recently, and haven’t really had a lot of alone time, so I am really looking forward to some quality time when he gets back into town.

Ok, so backing up just a bit. On Friday afternoon, I am picking up a C-Pap machine. I am not looking forward to it, but interested to see if it will help me sleep more soundly during the night.

Oh, you may not know this, since it has been such a while since I posted but we have been really busy on the bariatric surgery prep process. I did have a sleep study, and man that was probably the worst night of sleep/no sleep I think I have EVER had!! I have met with a psychiatrist, physical therapist, and I have met my goal weight of losing 16 pounds! Matter-of-fact I have lost 24 pounds so far. Clothes are much looser, I am getting ready to float down to the next size down! It is quite the dilemma!! 😉 I have almost 80 days until my surgery date.

Jason has finished all of his pre-op stuff, he is down almost 40 pounds, and his pre-op class next week, which means that in two weeks he will be starting his two week liquid diet, and his surgery is about 1 month away!!

Another thing that we have gotten into the habit of is doing nightly walks together, and long walks on Saturday and Sundays! This last Saturday, with my youngest Trina in tow, we walked 6.4 miles!! EEK!!! It took us 2 1/2 hours, and I had two super blisters on my feet when we finished! Not fun!! However, we would have gotten back faster, but yours truly ended up taking a really bad spill after twisting her ankle!! Yep, that is me, and that is why my middle name is “Grace”! 😉 Unfortunately, I twisted my ankle at about the 3.2 mile mark, so I still had 3.2 miles to go to get home!! Needless to say, I spent the rest of the weekend with my feet up!! 😉

Anyway, I realize it is getting late, and I still have to take my evening walk, so I am going to have to cut this short!!

Here is to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

I can’t believe that it has been a week since I last posted! I have been happily busy with a new online class that I have been taking for the past couple of weeks, but more on that with a different post. Tonight it is time for Chunky Dunker’s again! WHOO! HOO!!! ;-)

Chunky Dunkers is a group of friends who get together every week to cheer each other on as we all work towards our own personal health and fitness goals. Some of us want to lose weight, some want to become more flexible, some of us would love to be able to run a mile, and some of us would just be happy if we could just reach our long-lost toes!! ;-)

The name Chunky Dunker’s came from my sweetie and my two youngest sisters joking that we don’t skinny dip, we chunky dunk, and after all of the laughter finally died down, we realized that that would be the perfect name for our newly created support group!! We have been going for about 8 months now (if not longer), and it is still a group that I get excited about meeting with every week.

I try to post the Chunky Dunker’s post every Wednesday evening between 7 and 7:30, Pacific Coast time, and after I post, we “meet” in the comments section of this post where we can all share hints, tips, ideas, recipes, and encourage each other to keep on keepin’ on!

If you would like to join us, please feel free to do so by speaking up in the comments section, or feel free to be an anonymous reader – that is alright with us too!!

So, without further ado…

Tonight’s topic: Consistency!

I am always talking about taking baby steps to get from where we are to where we want to be, and baby steps is something that is very easy to do, however baby steps is not always enough! Consistency is something that, when paired with baby steps, can really move mountains! or so I am told! 😉

Baby steps are easy, but doing them with any kind of consistency is something that I really struggle with. I have a whole list of things I know I should be doing, all sorts of baby steps, but I have every kind of excuse under the sun to get myself out of doing most of them.

Is that just me? What are some healthy things that you know you should be doing, but you can talk yourself out of doing? Here are a few of mine:

Eating healthy
Exercising
Meditating
Taking stress breaks while working
Taking multivitamins
Flossing
Stretching
Getting to my doctor when I need to
Avoiding the candy bowl at work
Taking vacation days – ok, so that one I am pretty good at being consistent with!! 😉

Hmmmm…I wonder what would happen if I were to be more consistent with some of these? What would happen if i were more consistent with all of these?

Here’s to a week of baby steps AND consistency!! 😉

Have a FABULOUS evening! 😉

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

It is that time of week again, Chunky Dunkers!! WHOO! HOO!!! ;-)

If you would like to join us, please feel free to do so by speaking up in the comments section, or feel free to be an anonymous reader – that is alright with us too!!

So, without further ado…

Tonight’s topic: You Don’t Have to Like It, You Just Have to Eat It!

This is an ongoing theme in my house, “You don’t have to like it, you just have to eat it.” Sometimes eating healthy can be rough, bland, boring, expensive, inconvenient, time consuming, and just plain not fun. So when I am eating something healthy and I would really rather be having, say… I don’t know, fried chicken? pizza? a massive steak? My sweetie will remind me that, I don’t have to like it, I just have to eat it. What he means is that the nutrients, and good for me vitamins outweigh my grouching and complaining about something that I may not be in the mood for. Kind of like choosing to take that 1/2 hour walk you have been dreading, instead of spending another half hour wasted watching yet another television show! The benefits of the walk far outweighs the temporary discomfort of actually taking the action!

Now, if I can only remember that on a daily basis, I would be doing a lot more of the things I know I should be doing in my life!! So, how about you?? What is something that you should be doing, but really don’t want to?? Could this statement be applied to your situation?

“You don’t have to like it, you just have to eat it!”

I look forward to seeing you all in the comments section!!

Here’s to a FABULOUS evening!! ;-)

“If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!”

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Good evening!

It is that time of week again, Chunky Dunkers!! WHOO! HOO!!! ;-)

If you would like to join us, please feel free to do so by speaking up in the comments section, or feel free to be an anonymous reader – that is alright with us too!!

So, without further ado…

Tonight’s topic: Shaking Things Up in the Kitchen

I have been spending some time this evening on Pinterest, and looking at all of the different food recipes that people have posted. I am very inspired to get into my kitchen and start shaking up the ho-hum, and turn it into OH-YUM!!

(Do you see what I did just there??? LOL!) 😉

There are so many different kinds of meals out there that for some reason seemed to not be on my radar, until now that is!! I am going to take a few of these recipe ideas, and give them a shot. Even if they are a complete and utter failure, I will have flexed my bravery muscles, which will make it easier to keep my kitchen repertoire a little looser, funner, and a lot more varied!

When was the last time that you tried something new in the kitchen?? Tried a new recipe, bought a new and different fruit, vegetable, or other food item, or put things together in a way that you hadn’t before? Shaking things up this way in your food habits could get you out of cooking slump, and turn your everyday mundane cooking chore into a gift of untapped creativity.

My challenge to all of us this week is to do a little pre-planning and get into your kitchen and shake things up a bit!! Come back and tell me what you were able to come up with!! I LOVE hearing your stories!!!

I can’t wait to hear how all o f you have been doing! I will “see” you in the comments section!! GO CHUNKY DUNKERS!!!

Here’s to a FABULOUS evening!!! ;-)

“If you want to have a different life, you have to live differently!”

Beautiful Creatives

Empowering your juicy life!

Category Archives: Exercise

Moving at the Speed of Light!

1-Year Post Bariatric Surgery Update!

Our First Official 5K!

A Weight Loss Progress Update!

Doing New Things!

Hiking Silver Creek Falls!

Some Time On My Own!

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Chunky Dunker’s Night!

Chunky Dunker’s Night!