Category Archives: Nutrition

The Chunky Dunkers Club!!

Good evening!

I wonder where that phrase comes from “Hump Day”???

Anyway, I momentarily got sidetracked!! Today is the day that I get back on track with making healthy life choices!! I know, what a novel concept, but for some reason I have become the QUEEN of excuses!

  • I don’t have time
  • I am too stressed out
  • I deserve this cookie
  • I have had a bad day
  • It’s rainy
  • It’s too cold
  • I don’t wanna
  • I will start over tomorrow
  • I just conditioned my hair – really, I use this one to get out of swimming!!!

All of this procrastination will leave a girl worse off than when she initially started in the first place!!! Which is EXACTLY where I am at!!!

“If your mind believes “I can’t,” you will sabotage your own efforts. You won’t do what is required to realize your goal. But when you believe “I can,” you follow paths of behavior and thought that help ensure that the dream will be fulfilled. The psychology of dream fulfillment includes the mindsets of hope, motivation, commitment, confidence, courage, concentration, excitement and observation.”

~Jerry Lynch and Chungliang Al Huang, Thinking Body, Dancing Mind

SO…

Today officially starts the first day of the

Chunky Dunker’s Club

This is the name that my husband and two youngest sisters came up with for our new get healthy support group!!! Chunky dunkers is what we call plus-sized women who skinny dip – get it??? Well, when they suggested this name I just couldn’t stop laughing, when I realized that this is the PERFECT name for us!!! A group of people who want to have fun getting healthy, and remembering to laugh is where our success is going to lie!!! 🙂

I will post a new Chunky Dunker’s article ever Wednesday evening, and you can have the opportunity to comment, and cheer each other as you each go through your journey to get fit and healthy!!! The articles will have hints, tips, and ideas on losing weight, staying motivated, and achieving your fitness goals, whether that is to lose 5 pounds, to do 10 sit-ups, or just incorporate some healthy habits into your daily life!! This meeting every Wednesday will be win-win for me and for you, so let’s get started!!!

So, I call to order the first weekly meeting of the Chunky Dunker’s Club!!

Are we all present and accounted for??? I am sure we are!

Tonight, I thought I would share my health coach’s 10 Tips for Speeding Up Your Metabolism with you this evening! I found that there are a lot of things that we know, but may not be doing, and a couple of things that might be new that might be fun for you to incorporate into your day!!

10 Tips For Speeding Up Your Metabolism

Weight management is a balancing act between taking in calories and burning them up. New research suggests that the way your body burns energy may be at least as important as how much you eat. Try these tips for keeping your body’s idle speed high.

1. QUIT STARVING YOURSELF

When you deprive yourself of food, your body reacts protectively against an ancient threat: famine. Your resting metabolic rate — the calories you burn just to keep your body going — drops to a lower level to conserve energy. Your body works harder to preserve the food it gets by storing it as fat. That’s why people who regularly diet have higher percentages of body fat than non-dieters. Instead of counting calories, focus on cutting back on the fat and sugar in your diet.

2. GET EXERCISE

Exercise helps you lose weight in several ways. It raises your resting metabolic rate, thus offsetting the lowering effects of dieting and helping you burn more calories even when at rest. Strength training is especially important here, because it increases the amount of muscle you have. And muscle cells burn more calories than fat cells.

3. EXERCISE LONGER

After 30 minutes of low-intensity exercise — walking, bowling, gardening — your body begins to burn stored fat for energy.

4. EXERCISE LARGE MUSCLE GROUPS

Choose high-energy exercise — such as walking, bicycling, cross country skiing, swimming, step aerobics — that gives your arms and legs a good workout.

5. VARY YOUR WORKOUT

Your body gets efficient at doing the same exercise day after day and you burn fewer calories. Try alternating gym workouts with outside activities. Or change your routine every six weeks. You’ll burn more calories — and you won’t get as bored.

6. EAT A GOOD BREAKFAST

People who skip breakfast burn 5 percent fewer calories than those who eat a healthy morning meal.

7. AVOID ALCOHOL AND SMOKING

Both may inhibit the loss of abdominal fat. That’s why drinkers and smokers tend to be bigger around the waist than abstainers.

8. RESIST PMS CRAVINGS

The evidence is that women’s bodies burn more calories between ovulation and menstruation. That’s why sugary snacks look so good then. Don’t starve yourself, but if you can resist the cravings for high-energy foods, your body will burn fat stores for energy.

9. EAT LESS FAT

Your body is very efficient at turning the fat you eat into body fat. It takes a lot more energy to turn carbohydrates into fat. That’s why cutting back to less than 30 percent of your calories from fat can help you reduce your body fat more than just cutting total calories.

10. EAT THREE MEALS

Studies show that eating only one or two large meals tends to lower your resting metabolic rate. Make sure you eat three small meals and a healthy snack or two.

Come on ladies and gentleman, we can do this!!! Try implementing just one or two of these things this week, and add additional items only after you are comfortable with the changes you have made thus far. In the comments, let me know which changes you are going to implement, and I will do the same thing!!!

We will meet again next Wednesday evening!! and if you watch my blog daily, I will make sure to post some words of encouragement under my signature line just to keep us going, and to remind you that I am in this with you!! YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!!

Until next week GO CHUNKY DUNKERS!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!

Note to Chunky Dunkers:
If you find that your path to healthy living hits a speed bump, reach out to someone who you trust for support and ask for some encouraging words – you don’t have to go it alone!!! 😉

You Have Your Vision Board, Now What?

Thank God it is Friday evening!! My stress level is so high, that my eye has started to twitch – NEVER A GOOD SIGN!! LOL! My go-live week, at work,  is technically over, BUT we have sooooo much work to do!!! I am going to have to work a little bit this weekend, but if it gets me even a little bit more caught up – it will be worth it!! I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel – WHOO! HOO!!

On a completely different note a WAAAAY more UPLIFTING NOTE: I have been getting a lot of questions that go something like this, “Ok, I have created my vision board, now what???”

So I thought that I would take a some time to answer this question! Take your vision board, a pad of paper (or journal), a pen (or a bunch of different colored pens), and go find a comfortable place to sit and write. This part may take you a little while, but in my opinion it is one of the most important parts of making your images on your vision board come to fruition. Deciding what DIRECTION you want your life to go!!

“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where–” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
“–so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you only walk long enough.”
~Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

I know I have posted this before, but just for a refresher, here is my vision board:

Ok, so make sure you have your vision board out where you will be able to see it! Grab your blank piece of paper and write your name write in the smack dab middle of it!! Don’t write it too small – this is a mental representation of your presence in your own life – so make sure are visible!! 😉

Next, while looking at your vision board, decide what are the top 5 or 6 things that will get you to the life that your vision board is describing??? Write those things in small descriptive sentences around your name.

Now is the fun part! On the back of this sheet of paper, you need to figure out what steps you would have to do to get each one of these goals. This may seem kind of tricky, but this is how I make this work for me:

Choose your first goal that you have written: I want to be fit, healthy, & vivacious!
Re-write it like this:  How can I be fit, health, & vivacious?

Then spend the next 10 minutes, 30 minutes, hour, day, week, or however long you want to give yourself just writing down ANYTHING & EVERYTHING that will make this goal a REALITY in your life!

Some of my list items could be:

  1. Exercise every day
  2. Eat more fruits and veggies
  3. See a nutritionist
  4. Get liposuction
  5. Have gastric-bypass
  6. Follow a specific diet plan
  7. Pray for a miracle
  8. Make exercise fun
  9. Take up an outdoor hobby like hiking
  10. Join walking club
  11. Get a physical trainer
  12. etc.
  13. etc.
  14. etc.

You get the idea – write IT ALL DOWN!! Not everything has to be realistic/feasible, but that crazy, zany idea might open your mind up to that ONE IDEA that clinches your mode to success!!!

Do this same thing for EACH of the goals that you have chosen!!! This may take you a while, matter-of-fact, I am sure that it will, but you are laying the FOUNDATION FOR YOUR FUTURE!!! So DON’T skimp on this step!!

WITH EVERYTHING IN ME – I KNOW YOU CAN MAKE THIS LIFE HAPPEN FOR YOU!!!

Let me know, in the comment section how this goes for you!! Even from afar, I am cheering you on!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!

Happy Quick Monday Morning!!

Good morning!

I have an early AM meeting this morning, and I am running a little behind, so I am going to make this post quick!! 😉

I had the opportunity to make my FAVORITE go-to, healthy soup yesterday, and I thought I would share my recipe with you, in a step-by-step pictorial:

Start by sauteeing 1/2 a large sweet onion, diced, over medium heat.

Add two large bell peppers, diced. Any color bell pepper would work, but I found some green ones at a great price.

Add one can of black beans, drained and rinsed.

Next add one can of any type of spaghetti sauce. I personally like Hunt’s Traditional. You could also use regular tomato sauce and tomato paste here, but the spaghetti sauce already has seasonings – so it saves time! 🙂

For more flavor, I next add about a cup of chunky salsa, whatever is your favorite will work. Also add 1 package of taco seasoning (chili or fajita seasoning can also work here, depending on what you have on hand).

Turn burner down to low, and cover pot with a lid.

Set your timer for 30 minutes, and let soup just simmer away!

After the timer has gone off, remove lid, and then I stir in about 2 cups of leftover steamed rice. You can also use dried pasta, this works well too!

Yep, you guessed it, let simmer for 30 more minutes.

and VIOLA! There you have it!! EASY-PEASY, and SUPER-DELICIOUS!!! 😉

To serve, just dish out a bowl, top with cheese, place under the broiler, if so desired, add a dollop of sour cream and you are good to go!! You can also add diced up tortilla, eat with tortilla chips, or serve over a bed of crisp lettuce – HMMMM – ALWAYS GOOD!!!

I hope you enjoyed this little recipe. If you do, please let me know in the comments up above, and I will see if I can cook up (HAHAHA – pun intended) to share with you next week!!

Have a FABULOUS day!! 😉

Carpe Diem!!

Good morning!!

The first thing I heard on the radio this morning was “Carpe Diem!” What a FABULOUS sentiment!! Seize the day!!!! It got me to thinking, what can I do today to seize the day???

I have a long day at work ahead of me, so at work I can seize the day by deciding to have a good day, or deciding to look for the fun in my job, or maybe I can hum a happy tune all day, just so I feel happy, in the moment!!

CARPE DIEM!!!! SEIZE THE DAY!!!

In my physical life, I can remember how fresh, and delicious dinner was last night, and look to eat like that all day. I can make my physical self more of a priority, and get those things done that I have been procrastinating on, such as exercising – swimming could be a lot of fun!?!?! Or maybe a nice walk through our neighborhood! or even just getting out of the house – what a novel concept!!!

CARPE DIEM!!!! SEIZE THE DAY!!!

I am going to seize the day for sure, by making sure that my finances get paid, including money going directly to my savings account!!! It is going to take me a little while to get out of debt, but I have done it once before and it is GOING TO FEEL GREAT when I have done it again!!!

CARPE DIEM!!!! SEIZE THE DAY!!!

I also am going to try and make a point to reach out to my friends and family today to make sure they know that I love them, and how much they mean to me. I don’t think I express that often enough, especially since I don’t live close to most any of my family.

CARPE DIEM!!!! SEIZE THE DAY!!!

But, I think MOST OF ALL, I am going to live my day in grattitude! Be thankful for all that the good Lord has provided for me and my loved ones. Thankful for all of the blessings, and the lessons and opportunities in the struggles!

YES! TODAY IS GOING TO BE A GREAT DAY!!!

Oh, and maybe my camera will get her today! 😉 Once it does I am going to flood this place with pics!! OH, I CAN NOT WAIT!!! ;- )

I would love to hear some of your ideas how you can go about seizing your day today!! Please let me know in the comments above!

CARPE DIEM!!!! SEIZE THE DAY!!!

Have a FABULOUS day!!! 😉

Day 19 of 60 Day Life Makeover!

Good morning!!

I hope what they say is true, that ‘slow and steady win the race’. Today is day 19 of my 60 Day Life Makeover – I bet you thought I forgot about that! 😉 Today is day 19 of my Life Makeover plan, with means the first third of that time has passed!! It has been a while since I posted anything on my progress for this, so I thought today would be a good day to do that!!!

Just a reminder, here are my 60 Day Life Makeover goals:

  1. Lose 20 pounds
  2. Sock away an extra $1000 into savings
  3. Find a church home
  4. Clean, organize, and purge our entire home of unloved and/or unused belongings from top to bottom
  5. Purchase and refinish one piece of furniture to sell to get the ball rolling on getting paid to do what I love

Progress Update:

  1. Lose 20 pounds. Well, so far I have lost 2.2 pounds. The problem in this area is that I have let myself have too many, ‘Oh, who cares?’ moments. So I have to keep picking myself up off of the floor and jump back on to my own bandwagon, so to speak!! I JUST CAN’T GIVE UP ON MYSELF!!! With Jason doing all of the food prep in the house, that is working out really well for me, as long as I am the one continuing to decide what is on the menu! 😉 Now I have just got to get myself re-committed to my swimming – being as heavy as I am, and with all of the over abundance of walking I did last year to train for the 60 -Mile Walk, my knees, ankles, and feet hurt almost constantly – so swimming it has to be for the time being, which is kind of nice because I like swimming!!!
  2. Sock away an extra $1000 into savings. The idea behind this goal was to find a way to make money, outside of my job, to create this extra money. So far, I have been able to create $166.73, so far, mainly by selling my belongings through eBay. Although I am not LOVING doing this – it is actually costing me A LOT of money, and time to manage this – I have to find another way. So, I am back to researching at this point.
  3. Find a church home. Having grown up in the church, it is important for me to feel like I belong to a church family. Church hopping has been not too productive yet, but we have been out there again, which feels pretty good!! I just have to stop letting being in a bad/sad/grumpy mood (or the mood du jour) keep me from getting my butt out there, and GET GOING!!!
  4. Clean, organize, and purge our entire home of unloved and/or unused belongings from top to bottom. Believe it or not, I am still working on my FIRST ROOM!!! Now, that may not be too surprising to those of you who have seen my craft room/office – it is a HEAP-A-MESS!!! AND I DID start with my ABSOLUTE SCARIEST ROOM, but I think for the most part, I have gotten all of the piles under control. Right now, I am just getting these piles either donated, recycled, trashed, or put away! I think the biggest success I can say about this room is that it is FINALLY being USED!!! It is no longer the MYSTERIOUS CLOSED DOOR!!! I have a long way to go, but I am optimistic that it will be a clean, organized, clutter free space – I just have to be diligent!!!
  5. and FINALLY, Purchase and refinish one piece of furniture to sell to get the ball rolling on getting paid to do what I love. This goal will not only make me happy, but it will REALLY help with goal #2. I haven’t done ANYTHING on this goal yet, but I was watching the Nate Berkus show last evening, and he had a guest that he called the Dumpster Diva, and I GOT TOTALLY INSPIRED!!! She basically goes out once a week, in a van, and picks up all sorts of free furniture and stuff that people have tossed, and she completely refinishes it, WHICH IS SOOOOO WHAT I WANT TO DO!!! Her home was BEAUTIFUL, and apparently she has a whole group of girlfriends who she does this with. She calls this junk night, they meet for dinner someplace and then they head out TREASURE HUNTING!!! Now, I don’t have any girlfriends that I can think of that will do this with me, at least not yet, but the idea of recycling other peoples’ trash into treasures, sounds DIVINE!!! After the show, all I could think was “I CAN DO THAT!!!!” I can, and I will!!!

So there you go!! I have a LOOOONG WAY TO GO, but I am proud of myself that I haven’t quit!!! With that, I am going to go finish getting ready for work, and I will post more later!

Have a FABULOUS day!!! 😉

60 Day Life Makeover, Day 8!

Good morning!

Today is day 8 of my 60 Day Life Makeover, and I thought I would give you an update of how it is going! Before I tell you that, however, let me remind you (and myself) what my goals are!

My top 5 60-day goals are:

  1. Lose 20 pounds. This body will only carry me for so long, and being at the weight I am is truly starting to become a hindrance, and an anchor to where and what I want to be doing.
  2. Find a church home. I NEED a church home.
  3. Clean, organize, purge my house from top to bottom, so everything in it has a home.
  4. Purchase, refinish, and sell one piece of furniture to slowly but surely get my business off the ground.
  5. Put $1000 extra away to help build my wealth.

Ok, so now for the updates!!!

  1. Lose 20 pounds. As of this morning, I have lost a TOTAL of 1 POUND (they do say that ‘slow and steady wins the race’ – I REALLY HOPE THEY ARE RIGHT!)!!!
  2. Find a church home. We did go to church this last Sunday. Church was fine, but it wasn’t our “home”, it was just too large – we kinda felt like cattle!!! Anyway, we are going to go to a different church tomorrow morning. Our fingers are crossed!
  3. Clean, organize, purge my house from top to bottom, so everything in it has a home. It quickly became evident that this task may take a lot longer than 60 days. Right now I am focusing on our office/craft room. I am going through each item deciding what needs my attention, what needs to go into the e-bay pile, and what just needs to be gone!! Not easy, but I am already reaping the rewards of the hard work I have been doing. Yesterday I got to spend a good portion of the day creating! That was SOOOOO WORTH all of the time I have spent filing, and clearing out the clutter!!
  4. Purchase, refinish, and sell one piece of furniture to slowly but surely get my business off the ground. I haven’t started actively looking for this yet, this will happen as soon as I get my craft room done!
  5. Put $1000 extra away to help build my wealth. I have created quite a stack of belongings that are going to go up on e-bay tomorrow, so I am hoping that will start my efforts to create this $1,000.

So onward, and upward!!!

For today:

  • Blog
  • 60 minutes Fitness plan
  • Track food
  • Confirm church times for tomorrow
  • Drink 2 liters of water
  • Read for at least 1/2 an hour
  • Change bedding
  • Put laundry away
  • Vacuum/Sweep/Mop
  • Spend at least  1 hour filing creative paperwork
  • Go through current bills
  • Update electronic bill tracker
  • Go through at least 10 magazines (I have at least a hundred of these all over the house)
  • Bathe Faye
  • Make time for playing!

Wow! I had better get busy!!

Have a FABULOUS day!! 😉

A New Wineskin!

Ok, so as all of you may have caught on by now is that my work life is SUPER stressful at the moment! I have taken on a bunch of new job duties that are soooo far out of my comfort zone that it is really kinda freakin’ me out!!! Anyway, I get a little devotional e-mailed to me every day, and this morning the message was Heaven sent!! The message this morning was about wine skins.

“And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined” (Luke 5:37, NIV).

A summation of the devtional:

Are you ready for a new chapter in your life? In order to move forward into the blessing God has for you, you have to be willing to let go of the old. The things that are behind you are not nearly as important as what is out in front of you. It’s time to get ready for the “new”!

This message just seemed to be tailor-made just for me! It helped me keep this in mind today; that I have to be challenged so that I can be stretched (figuratively), and expand for what God has in store for the next chapter of my life. Man, I CAN NOT wait to see what He has in store for me next!!!

OK, so onto matters of the home!!! As promised I told you I would post some pics of my walk-in closet! This is literally my FAVORITE place in my home!!! My nieces call it the “Fancy Room”, and let me tell you we have THE BEST time getting all DOLLED UP in HERE!!! 😉

This little Happy sign just sums it all up!!! 😉

This is part of my costume jewelry collection, and bag collection!

More costume jewelry, my new Cherry print purse, and a few of my babies – my shoes!!! 😉

Scarves, pants, skirts, more shoes, some jammies (yes, I hang those up – I LOVE seeing my clothes!!!)

shirts, folded sweaters, more bags!

Blazers, shirts, more blazers!

My ever growing dress collection!

My FAVORITE Ikea boxes/storage!

Some pics of some of my favorite people, large collection of journals, books (of course), and my mom’s chiming clock!

More pics of special people in my life, my favorite hat, perfumes, lotions, costume jewelry, hair accessories, and at the top – Audrey! Ok, so Audrey Hepburn is the theme of my entire bedroom/walk-in closet. Such grace, such elegance, such poise, and OH SO FASHIONABLE!!!

Oh, and if you move my hanging pants – you will find the secret romance novel bookshelf that my sweetie built just for me!!!

Have I told you that I just LOVE this closet???? Ok, I will behave and get on with it!!!

As for my Visual Nutrition Plan:

Today is day 14 of my 30-Day-Self-Created-Visual-Nutrition-Plan!! I can eat whatever I want, but I have to take a picture of ANYTHING and EVERYTHING I eat and post it on this blog – and have to be willing to take any criticism I might incur!!! The knowledge that I have to take pics and post everything that I have eaten has really curbed a couple of poor choices!! Although, an occasional treat can sometimes be DIVINE!!!

So here are today’s eats:

Breakfast: Bagel, light cream cheese and sugar-free, fat-free iced mocha

Lunch: Nachos – I was having a bad moment of weakness, and was needing something homey!! Trust me, I was paying for that on the porcelain throne ALL afternoon!! UGH!! I will have to remember that the next time I need something “Homey”!

Dinner: A great big side salad, with more salad, grilled teriyaki chicken, and one beef rib

Snack: Some dark chocolate strawberries that my hubby and I made together!

Ok, so this was the LONGEST blog posting ever!!! So, I will let you go!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!!

My One Scary Thing!

What a big order to live up to. I picked up this little sign at the gift shop at work today; I had seen it before, but today it really made me think!! I realized that I really don’t do ANYTHING scary most days, and for some reason that REALLY bothered me!

So tonight when I got home I decided to do the scariest thing that I could think of – CLEAN MY ROOM!!! DUH-DUH-DUH!!! I ate a quick dinner, ran upstairs, turned on some music, and just got busy!!! Here are some before and after pictures of different areas of my room. Please note: these pics are kinda blurry – I had a feature on my camera I had forgotten to turn off – OOPS!! 😉

Bed: It really looks so nice when it is made, I don’t know why I don’t seem to remember that!! 😉

Dresser: This is the first piece of furniture that I walk past when I come into my room, so it kinda becomes a catch-all for the clutter!

Writing Desk: I just ADORE this little desk. This was an $18 find at a mansion’s garage sale!!! I function so much better here when it is nice and tidy!!!

WHEW!! I am glad that is done!! Tomorrow night, I will post pics of the walk-in closet, that I also cleaned up this evening!!

As for my Visual Nutrition Plan:

Today is day 13 of my 30-Day-Self-Created-Visual-Nutrition-Plan!! I can eat whatever I want, but I have to take a picture of ANYTHING and EVERYTHING I eat and post it on this blog – and have to be willing to take any criticism I might incur!!! The knowledge that I have to take pics and post everything that I have eaten has really curbed a couple of poor choices!! Although, an occasional treat can sometimes be DIVINE!!!

I think I did pretty well; I passed up the office brownies, and then later cookies, and then later the chocolate candy dish – and today was

S-T-R-E-S-S-F-U-L!!

So, to be able to pass up those goodies, I think was pretty

FREAKIN’ AWESOME!!!

With that said, I did splurge on dessert tonight – I had a 1/2 a piece of cake, and 1/2 cup of no sugar added ice cream – the only catch was that I told myself that I couldn’t eat it until I got my chores done!!!

Chores done? Check!

Dessert? Check! Check!

So, here are today’s eats:

Breakfast: Berry bagel with light cream cheese, and sugar-free, fat-free iced mocha

Lunch: Homemade veggie soup with added baked chicken!! (Veggie soup contains: onion, leeks, tomatoes, and potatoes.)

Snack: A cup of grapes, and a plum (my last one)

Dinner: A fried chicken breast from my neighborhood deli, and a huge serving of steamed asparagus – I figured that the asparagus must’ve counter balanced the badness of the fried chicken, at least a little!! *WINK!*

Dessert: 1/2 a piece of chocolate cake with frosting, topped with a maraschino cherries, and 1/2 a scoop of no sugar added chocolate ice cream

Even though work was REALLY, REALLY BAD today, I think overall, I had a REALLY GOOD day!!! It really is the little things in life that really make you happy!!! My bedroom, and walk-in closet are clean, my chores are done, Nette came over for a short visit, which was fun, it looks like I am going to be able to get to bed on time tonight, and I sent someone special her birthday card with a little gift tucked inside!!! It’s all GREAT!!!

In the comments tonight, I would LOVE to hear what scary thing you think you should be doing, and what you are going to do to start taking action to get it done!! I can’t wait to hear your ideas!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening!!

Keeping It Quick and Simple!

Tonight, I vow to go to take care of myself by…

  • turning the tele off by 9 PM
  • spending time giving myself a facial while all the candles are lit in the bathroom, and soft music is playing from the bedroom
  • putting on my favorite pair of sexy, yet comfortable pajamas
  • making my bed before I get climb into it
  • being in bed by 9:30 PM with a good book

Oh, that sounds divine, which is why I am keeping this post short and sweet tonight!

As for my visual nutrition plan:

Today is day 7 of my 30-Day-Self-Created-Visual-Nutrition-Plan!! I can eat whatever I want, but I have to take a picture of ANYTHING and EVERYTHING I eat and post it on this blog – and have to be willing to take any criticism I might incur!!! The knowledge that I have to take pics and post everything that I have eaten has really curbed a couple of poor choices!! Although, an occasional treat can sometimes be DIVINE!!!

I didn’t do so great today – I let me crazy busy work schedule mess with my eating plan for today. I had sooo many meetings that I literally didn’t get an actual mealtime, which meant I didn’t eat NEARLY enough today (that would explain the killer headache that I am now rockin’!)!! So, I just snuck what I could as quickly as I could!! WHEW!!!

Out of sheer curiosity, I did weigh again this morning and found that I had lost a total of 2.8 pounds since I started my visual nutrition plan almost a week ago!! That just blows my mind, and it also gives me hope that I really am not “destined” to be at this size!!! YEAH!!! I LOVE the idea that my weight is not pre-ordained, or something!!

With that said, here is the pic of all I ate today:

Breakfast: Chocolate soy milk with added fiber, and a banana

Breakfast 2: Yogurt with granola (quick, easy, and oh so delicious)

Lunch: I ate a whole sandwich, but had forgotten to take a pic until I had eaten the first half – oops!! The sandwich was made with whole wheat bread, honey ham, roasted bell pepper slices, and fresh spinach! It was really yummy, but I am going to have to remember to pack the bell pepper slices sperately, since it made a soggy mess out of my bread – EW!!! My husband always says, “Sometimes, if it is good for you, you just need to eat it, not like it!” – too funny!

Snack: Sliced apple with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter

Dinner: my headache had started by then, so I had a pretty big dinner; 1/2 a bell pepper and 1/4 of a large onion both sliced and sauteed, 3 eggs scrambled into the veggies, with a side of whole wheat english muffin with whipped butter, and a glass of skim milk. I heard that whipped butter has a lot of air in it so you actually get less fat in a tablespoon than if you had a tablespoon of regular butter – I really hope that is true, because I don’t know if I could get over butter! DELICIOSO!!!

Have a FABULOUS evening! I am off to go to take care of myself!!! 😉