June - April 2010

My Fitness and Weight Loss Journal
my rants and ramblings...  

View NEWER Postings - Click here

Wednesday, 6/30/2010:  3pm... My bad! I had posted under Today's Cooler (for yesterday) that I would explain about the not-worth-it-treats. I had packed my cooler with a clean dinner (wrap) and a snack (1/2 cup lowfat cottage cheese & a cracker/flatbread), and had planned to enjoy some movie-popcorn and peanut m&m's as a treat (those just say "movie time" to me). Well, when you eat clean for any length of time, your body can no longer tolerate things that were once wonderful. The popcorn I could only manage a few bites before I gave it away. The peanut m&m's I was a bit more tenacious with, finishing my little bag, despite the nearly instant headache and uneasy stomach. Why did I insist on eating them? Because I'm a nincumpoop! It was my treat and I wanted what I wanted... and oh how I regretted it! Neither treat is truly a treat for me anymore. I would have enjoyed it so much more if I had simply packed some of my coconut oil fudge in my cooler (which I definitely will do in the future).

Other things I can't eat anymore? Ice Cream is at the top of the list. Pastries/Cake/Cupcakes/Pie... I just don't stomach them well... maybe it's the refined sugar, or something else but I get instant headaches and stomach distress. I don't even bother with them.

Other things I enjoy now so much more? Banana "Ice Cream", coconut oil fudge, clean cookies... I'd like to put chocolate gelato on this list, but it's been a seriously long time since I've had any, and I don't know if I can handle it anymore. (see recipes page for the goodies!)

Do I regret not being able to eat those other "treats"? Nope! Not even a little. I like my stuff better. :-)  I do still enjoy my weekly date night meal out... though I do suffer a wee bit of distress from that, too. I'm sure those food choices will continue to evolve, just as have my others. I'm ok with that.

On another note, I'm in heels today!!!! Wooohooo!!! After weeks in nothing but flats (because of my back), I took a chance and wore some super cute sandals to work and so far, NO PAIN! Yay! By the way, those are my shoes to the right...

Well, my plan is to go to the gym, but I'm running on empty. Not sure if I'll make it. What I need is a good solid night sleep then I can hit the ground running again tomorrow.

11:30am... Ha, so I take a quick break to get my head out of the graphic design mode, and hit up one of my fav blogs... now I must explain this one. As I was growing up, my mother became a genealogist (damn good one, too!) and we spent more weekends than I can recall exploring cemeteries throughout California. The offshoot of that is I am very comfortable in such environments (to the dismay of my hubby), and have a somewhat dark sense of humor. Ergo, my love of this particular blog... (Bill is creeped out by it, but Mom totally gets it!).  www.TombWrecks.blogspot.com  Anywho... so I'm perusing older posts I might not have seen in a while when I come across one for which the caption reads:

I'm hoping someone out there can explain this one to me.
Is this some sort of obscure Battlestargate Treklactica* reference?

Ha! Battlestargate Treklactica! Funny! I'm laughing it up, then the next line catches my eye:

*If you understand this, you're a nerd. Just saying.

Hey! I am not a nerd! I am a geek! Ok, maybe a nerdy geek, but still! <sigh> Ok, I'm a nerd. Ah, Frell! (and if you know that one, you're a nerd too, so there!).

9:30am. Oy! What a night! Thankfully, the theatre was well prepared and we spent no time at all outside in line! Woohooo! Downside, was the frigid chill factor inside, lol. The girls kept busy and had fun during the wait. I played Phase (like guitar hero for the iPod) until my battery died, then I read The Most Decadent Diet Ever by Devin Alexander. I didn't even bother to read much of the "diet" part, just skipped to the recipes. I think they'd be easy to clean up and plan to try several soon. There's already a few that we've enjoyed. The movie was fun, the evening exhausting. They were almost 1/2 hour late starting our show, and we didn't get home until 3am, then I was up at 5:30 begging for coffee via IV. My beloved and wonderful husband had prepped the coffee maker the night before so all I had to do was push a button and blink blurrily until I had my first cup. Ok, I blinked blurrily until I finished my third cup, but I'm awake now! :-)

My new bottle of Emu Oil arrived and I am so impressed! Truly odorless! Amazing! Same consistency, better color than the one I usually buy. Yay! Speaking of Emu oil, I'm finding that the combination of Emu & Coconut is absolutely doing wonders for my skin!

Here's a few pics from last night, including my trusty cooler and late night snack.

Tuesday, 6/29/2010:  2:30pm. My Williams-Sonoma gift card arrived! I had done several product and recipe reviews, and this was their "Thank You"... Cool! So of course, I dashed right out to Fashion Square (nearest store)... "Star Wars Cookie Cutters, YOU ARE MINE!!"  Um. No. Out of stock. Apparently I am not the only Very Cool Person in the area, and they ran out last week. Sigh. But Wait! I jump online and YES! In Stock! Ha! MINE! My order is placed, my gift card depleted, and I am anxiously clicking the tracking link (surely they've shipped by now! It's been 5 minutes! What's taking so long??). 

9am. I woke up famished, so I grabbed 1/2 a grilled chicken breast while I packed my cooler. Once I get home from work, I'll have to repack as tonight is Eclipse! No gym, since I won't have time. We'll have to scramble as it is to get a good spot in line. The show starts at 12:01am, but we'll be in line by 6pm. Oy! The things we do for our children! LOL! The girls are all very excited, we're a whole family of Twilight fans. I'll be throwing together a few wraps and some snacky veggies/fruit, etc for the loooooong wait. Thankfully, there's a huge Whole Foods just across the street from the theatre and there's a big Borders Books and a Sports Authority in the same center, so if I get bored, I can always browse while the girls hold our places in line. (Maybe I'll look for some non-slide and anti-bacterial yoga mats! LOL!). I'm a little concerned, as previously these premiers were in November (chilly weather) but with temps holding steady at 112 at 8pm, this is going to be wicked hot. Much water will be consumed!

Monday, 6/28/2010:  11am. Breakfast and snack 1 complete. Though I made quite the woops when I poured cinnamon into my little baggie... have you ever had oatmeal with too much cinnamon? It's quite the experience. Note to self... use a measuring spoon.

Great weekend! Hope yours was too! My back felt great throughout the weekend, and I was able to do Yoga on Sunday! I'll share more about that shortly. Bill and I decided we had Mexico on the brain, so we indulged in a game of pretend, lol. We spent the weekend pretending we were on vacation and simply hung out around the pool. It was wonderful! So relaxing! I ended up with some great color (coconut oil = no burn still working!), though now that we're back in the real world, I do have to say that the poolside bar service sucked! Never did get my order of tacos! LOL! :-)

I did get my Sunday Food Prep done... I've been eating Quinoa for quite some time now, and thought I'd try the boxed Kashi 7-grain Pilaf mix (clean). The bite I sampled was pretty tasty so we'll see how it goes through the week. I do have some quinoa to finish up, and then I'll be eating the Kashi. My proteins prepped for the week are grilled Mahi Mahi, grilled chicken breast, grilled London Broil, plus 2 lbs of ground beef (lean) prepped for spaghetti, tacos or whatnot, and a crockpot of chili. Veggies are steamer bag giant portabellos (with feta, spinach and salsa), asparagus, broccoli, and zucchini with yellow squash, plus all my salad fixin's (spinach, kale, shredded cabbage, romaine, etc.). Fruit is strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, apples, kiwi, and bananas. I even whipped up a batch of Tab's protein bars, much to the delight of Bethany and Bill. Can I just insert here that they taste much better than they look? :-)

On to yoga. Disclaimer... some aspects of this recountment may be slightly exaggerated (very slightly), others are not (not even a little).

Tab (aka The World's Greatest Trainer, my best friend, and sometimes workout buddy, also the Lucy to my Ethel) and I wanted to try out the Sunday morning Yoga class at our local gym. By 7:45 am, we've staked out our spots at the back of the classroom (the better to not cause profound bodily harm to innocent people). Tab, who has taken yoga before, is prepared and has her block by her side, while I am still fighting to get my shoes off (barefoot? really?). Once my shoes are safely stored behind me, we begin to stretch while watching folks enter and take their places. By the time class starts, it is clear we are the only newbies in the room. We choose to not be disconcerted by this.

The lovely instructor takes her place to begin class, and suddenly the lights dim. Ah, I think. Yoga in the dark! This isn't at all a recipe for Chelle-disaster! Then the heater kicks in. Wait, the schedule didn't say "Bikram Yoga", just yoga! As the room heats up, and we contort our bodies into truly unnatural positions, the sweat begins to roll... from my scalp all the way down to my bare feet. Relax, I tell myself, you can do this! I breath deeply and exhale away my fear and discomfort, seeking a new zen. Gracefully I stretch my arms as directed, smile gently as I realize I can indeed do this, then bobble dangerously (to the poor innocent folks on either side of me) as The Black Eyed Peas suddenly boom into the room. From this, the music melds into David Bowie's cover of Queen's "Under Pressure". Where is my bubbling brook? My rushing waterfall? My gentle ocean waves? "I gotta feeling" that this is not going to end well!

Reaching deep for my calm, and inner balance (still looking!), I continue to mimic the moves of those around me (except for the beyotch at the front who is doing the Feathered Peacock pose - this is yoga 101, lady, keep it to yourself!). I discover that some moves come more easily than others, and still others yet, do not come at all (No, I simply cannot grasp my right ankle by reaching my hand over my head and twisting left. Not gonna happen.).

Friday, 6/25/2010:  8:30pm. I had a great upper body workout, plus my 30 min of stairmaster, and.... I did abs!!! No back pain!!! Wooohooo!!! I tried super hard to not over-do it, but I guess I'll know tomorrow, lol.  I was so excited to do some abs! My upper body workout was:

Round 1 - No Rest between exercises. 15 reps each, 3 times.
Chest Press on bench with 20# dumbbells.
Flyes on bench with 15# dumbbells
Reclining Overhead Tricep Extensions with 30# dumbbells

Round 2 - No Rest between exercises. 2 times.
Assisted wide grip pull up - 10
Low Row, stationary (no leaning forward into the row, straight back - because of my injury)-15
Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns - 15
Narrow Reverse Grip Lat Pulldowns - 15
Wall crunches with twists, using 8# medicine ball - 10 crunches, 20 twists

Tonight, Bill and I went out to dinner. Blue Adobe... I had the very yummy (and not saucy) seafood enchiladas (shrimp, halibut, salmon all mixed). It was a terrific treat meal, though after my plate arrived I realized I have eaten a lot of fish in the last two days. Woops!

7am... Can you believe I've already finished all 5 magazines? There's a couple good looking recipes I'll be trying next week :-)  And I found a great shoulder workout in Muscle & Fitness Hers that I can't wait to try, but have to wait until I can bear weight over my head (darned back!). I love to read about the supplement reviews and news, and this time bee pollen came up.... Now, I used bee pollen faithfully for about 3 years, then decided it was too pricey to keep up and I didn't think there were any benefits... I went off it, and sure enough, no difference. Well, a new study has shown that the nutritional value is nil! And that it has ZERO impact on seasonal allergies! Ha! I'm better off with my local honey! Another study showed that there is significant value in adding coconut oil to the diet (color me surprised! LOL!). I love my coconut oil and all it's varied uses.

I skipped the gym last night. My back was giving me fits as I drove home, so better safe than sorry. It feels good today, so I'll be heading to the gym soon. I was planning to try a new recipe last night for dinner, but didn't feel like driving across town to pick up the quinoa pasta (stupid back), so the family enjoyed a frozen pasta dinner (there are some battles I will not win, yet) while I baked up some tilapia filets.

It was a whopping 115° yesterday! And so very dry! Just sucks the moisture right out of  you! This morning it's a very breezy and balmy 90°. Smelled like rain when Bill and I stepped out on the patio this morning at 6am, but it's looking like it'll clear up and be another scorcher! Supposed to be a high of 107. We'll see! This is about the time of year, us Arizonans start wondering what the heck we're doing her! Lol! I gotta say, I'm dreaming of Mexico! We've simply got to get our passports. It used to be so easy, didn't need a passport to cross the border, but with the new laws... It wouldn't be a big deal, but it's not 2 passports we have to pay for, it's 6. And there's always something else that needs financial attention. We've agreed, though, that we need to make it a priority. Puerto Penasco is so close (only 2.5 hours) and it's an inexpensive getaway for the whole family. It's been a long time since we've had any kind of vacation, and we're all missing the beach. It seems crazy to me that we can vacation for several days in Mexico significantly cheaper than if we were to drive to San Diego for the same time period.  So into my wish box goes a set of 6 passports and a trip to Rocky Point. :-)  Yes, this is the same wish box that houses my desire for a tummy tuck and boobs, lol!

My daughter, Shiloh, sent me a million photos yesterday from the Flagstaff trip (her boyfriend is working up there this summer, so she, her best bud Olivia, and Bethany - my youngest, drove up for the day). While there are a lot of great ones, here's my favorite.... aren't they adorable? :-)

Thursday, 6/24/2010:  2:30pm... Hello, my name is Chelle and I'm a bookaholic. LOL! :-) Ran to Barnes & Noble during lunch... I have to say, were I to be stranded on a desert island, with only one store... my choice would be B&N. No hesitation.  Books. Ah. I Love Books.  :-) Besides, I wouldn't have to give up coffee because Starbucks is right inside! LOL!

I picked up a book for the hubby... he's been asking about the nutritional data for common restaurants, so I grabbed the Eat This Not That Restaurant Survival Guide for him to carry around in the truck.  The kids'll get a kick out of that one, too. Turning in the aisle, my eyes landed on Awesome Recipes & Kitchen Shortcuts by one of my favorites, Sam Zien (Sam the Cooking Guy). Looked pretty good. Next I saw a cute title, which I could have ignored had the author's name not been Devin Alexander! LOL! I Can't Believe It's Not Fattening! is now in my book bag, too :-)  Then, of course, I had to do my magazine rack rounds... grabbed the latest Fitness RX for Women, Fitness Magazine, Shape, and Muscle & Fitness Hers (which is usually my favorite). The latest Women's Health should be in my mailbox, too!  Between those fun reads, and a book loaned to me by Tab (Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster) I have a lot of reading for the weekend! Whoopeee! :-)

If you're wondering why I didn't mention Oxygen and Eating Clean Magazine it's because I've already read them. 

10:30am... Workout last night was great! I love that I can still do legs without making my back worse! Now if I can just figure out how to do abs...   Today will be upper body, along with more stairmaster. I really miss the treadmill. Maybe I'll toss in some elliptical, too, just to switch it up a bit.

Today I poured the last tablespoon of my beloved Pomegranate Balsamic Vinegar in my coconut oil for lunch... it's a brand Bill and I found at our local farmer's market, but since the market won't reopen until fall and the local stores don't carry it, I had to order it online. I gotta say, it kinda irritated me to pay $9 for s&h. Seemed a bit over the top. Especially since it's a pricey product to begin with. It's just so darned good!

My next online purchase was to a new provider of pure Emu oil. I've been using Emu for about 8 years and cannot recommend it enough! It's an incredible product! There is amazing research on its healing properties and I absolutely swear by it. Recently I've been mixing it with coconut oil for my skin scrub (face & body) and everyone in the house is loving it. Anyway, so I have enough oil left for just one more batch of scrub and maybe a first-aid use or two, and realized I needed to buy a new container. I normally buy the 32 oz jug, which lasts us 9mos to a year. Additionally, throughout the year, I'll occasionally buy a mini-container or some other product from my usual supplier. I've been increasingly unhappy with the scent of the unscented oil... just smells... off.  I spent some time looking at different suppliers, narrowing down my choices, until I found this new company. I called up and very graciously the kind woman answered all my questions thoroughly. Satisfied, I placed an order. It's already shipped! I'm anxious to compare their product to the one I normally purchase.

Wednesday, 6/23/2010:  1pm... Where is the day going? Yikes! Rush, rush, rush! Food is on track today, I'll be hitting the gym this evening, and I'm rollin' right along. How about you? Are ya'll watching the new Jillian Michaels show? What are your thoughts?

Update on the water intake project... I am consistently getting all my water in, Yay! I've been slicing up lemons and taking them in a baggie, then adding to the water as I go. Every time I fill up the bottle, I add a couple more slices. I'm right at about a lemon a day, lol. Hey, my liver gets a free boost while I'm getting my water :-)

OMG! Ok, folks.... I think there needs to be a blanket rule that if window washers are doing the office windows on a specific day, someone should let everyone else know. Holy Cow! I'm all alone in the building, it's quiet, I'm typing away.... and just got the bejeebers scared out of me! Excuse me while I scrape myself off the ceiling. Lol!

Tuesday, 6/22/2010:  9am... Three cheers for tasty oatmeal! Three cheers for vanilla protein powder! LOL! Seriously, breakfast is soooo much better using the vanilla powder instead of the chocolate!

Yesterday's food was great until the evening. <sigh>.  No bueno ending to the day. Oh well, that's what new days are for.

So.... remember my whole Coconut Oil experiment? Well, it's over, and I now use it regularly, daily on my skin. I burn in the sun super easy. My kids say I'm part albino, lol. No matter what sunscreen I use, I always burn. However! Since I've been using the coconut oil on my skin, I have yet to burn this summer! I've spent the day on a boat, a few days laying around in the backyard, and daily on my back patio with my coffee. I'm getting a nice golden sheen, but NO BURN! Coincidence, I don't think so. I should mention, that other than the sunscreen in my makeup, I'm not using any. Interesting, to be sure. I will definitely keep using it on my skin.

Monday, 6/21/2010:  4pm... I almost forgot!! Have you heard about Whole Foods pulling all Kombucha  off the shelves??  I was in the store yesterday, and was stunned to see that kombucha (all brands) were just gone! No sign, no "out of stock"... just gone! I asked an employee and she explained that because of the "unclear" alcohol content, they'd been pulled. My daughter will tell you that I was livid! That darned Lindsay Lohan! Dumb Dumb Dumb. Though, my hubby says her "excuses" are brilliant, as now there's reasonable doubt and look, Whole Foods makes such a drastic response! I'm mad! Bring back my Kombucha, Whole Foods! Lindsay, Shut up and get clean!

http://perezhilton.com/2010-06-21-more-excuses-from-lindsanity-did-her-favorite-tea-set-off-her-scram

http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/whole-foods-pulls-kombucha-teas-citing-alcohol-content/19522361/

12:30pm... Wooohoo!! The protein powder fairy arrived!! I'm so excited! No more chocolate oatmeal! LOL!!! :-) And yes, for those of you who know about my protein powder dilemma, I did finally choose to go back to the Beverly Brand. I know it, it tastes great, it mixes well, it bakes well, and it's met my protein needs for more than 3 years. I know there are some "un-clean" ingredients, but I live in the real world, and sometimes compromises make for practical living. :-) This is not to knock anyone who uses a "clean" powder, it just doesn't work for me.

9:00am - Sorry for no weekend post! How was Father's Day? Ours was very nice. Joey came by and we just relaxed. Later, Bill's dad & his wife and Bill's grandma came by for bbq. I still got all my Sunday Food Prep done (and my laundry!), and I'm good to go for the week!  My back is steadily improving, though "rest" and I do not play well together. I feel "good" today, so of course what I WANT to do is get on the treadmill. However, I will not do that. I will stick to what the WGT (World's Greatest Trainer, aka Tabitha Citro) has taught me and trust in her infinite wisdom. :-) I will do my modified leg-day (which was awesome) and my stairmaster and be happy. I will. I will. I will.  :-)

Thursday, 6/17/2010:  9:00am - The workout Tab created for me was great! No additional pain! Wooohoo! I got home from the gym, grabbed a 4 oz piece of grilled chicken breast then cleaned up and headed to the bowling alley, intending to eat more of a meal later, but just as the game was ending, Shiloh called to say that Nakki had been stung by a scorpion - in the house! So we rushed home, got Nakki in the car and ended up at an all-night animal hospital. Horrible experience, felt like we wasted 2 hours and $200! They required that Nakki be muzzled and it's a toss up as to who was more traumatized by it - her or us! She's fine now. A little lethargic, but I think that's the Benadryl.  I've got calls in to several local pest control companies. I might live in the desert but I do NOT have to live WITH scorpions! Ugly little buggers!

So, back to the workout Tab gave me. The trick was to take my lower back out of the equation - difficult to do when you consider that you use your core for everything! Of course I know that she is the World's Greatest Trainer (WGT for short, lol), but I just have to say it again! :-) Here's the workout:

Warm-up - 10 min.  I use my walk to the gym for this, stretching and flexing as I go.

Quads:  3x
     Leg Extensions with toes pointed up (12 reps)
     Leg Extensions with heels together and toes pointed out (12 reps).
60 second rest.

Outer Thigh / Glutes:  3x
     Step ups onto platform with kickback and squeeze for a 3 count (15 each leg)
     Resistance Tube Side Walk (stand on tube, feet shoulder width apart, hold handles at hips and side step 12 steps, then return 12 steps)
60 second rest.

Calves: 5x
     Standing calf raises (no weight) - 15 reps with a 3 second squeeze and hold at the top.

Cardio: 25 minutes of intervals on Stairmaster (side steps and skipping steps and skip step with kickback and squeeze).

Stretching.

It took me 1 hr, 15 minutes (including the walk to and from the gym) and I burned 538 calories. I had a 4 oz piece of grilled chicken breast post-workout, but didn't have more than a piece of string cheese later, due to the scorpion drama.

Wednesday, 6/16/2010:  9:00am - Ugh. No gym last night. By the time I got home I was in too much pain to even consider working out. I must have aggravated my back during the previous day's workout, then because I'm a slave to vanity, I wore heels to work yesterday... NO BUENO! Today I am wearing flip flops, lol. Tab put together a workout for me (leg) that I'll be trying tonight. It's a struggle for me to find balance. There's still a part of me that is afraid that if I skip this workout today, tomorrow I'll be back where I started.

On another note, I am once again fighting with iTunes. Grr. It "lost" my library, so I'm having to individually "locate" the songs. It totally wiped my iPods (mega GRRRRR). Isn't technology supposed to make our lives easier? Hmmm.

Tuesday, 6/15/2010:  9:00 am:  Hit the gym yesterday. Did 20 minutes intervals on the treadmill, then a 5 minute cool-down. Then upper body. Had to make some adjustments to avoid straining my back, but altogether, got a good workout. Burned 638 calories in an hour & 15 minutes (includes the walk to and from the gym).  I did have to use my inhaler on the treadmill, but I also pushed myself pretty hard. I followed up my workout with a Dr. Kracker flatbread & 1/4 cup of lowfat cottage cheese, then awhile later had dinner. The kids wanted pasta, so I made a box of Quinoa pasta I'd picked up and thought we'd see how it tasted. The kids don't like whole wheat pasta, but the Quinoa (which is actually  made from corn & quinoa flours) tasted just like regular pasta. I only sampled one noodle, since I'm not doing grain-carbs at night right now, but Bill and the kids really liked it. My only complaint was that the whole box only made enough for Bill, Shiloh & Bethany. Good thing Ariel was at work, and I wasn't eating pasta! LOL! The pasta sauce I made was just browned lean ground beef, seasoned with Mrs Dash Tomato & Basil, then a 28 oz can of Muir Glen Fire Roasted crushed tomatoes and a 15 oz can of Muir Glen no salt added tomato sauce, plus some fresh garlic & shallot, 8 oz of brown mushrooms sliced, and more Mrs Dash.  Really tasty. I poured my serving (1 cup) over my salad and it was very good :-)

I'm already sore today (woohoo)! Food today is good, water is on track. I plan to do cardio & legs tonight... not quite sure how that's going to work, lol. I'll figure it out. I've enlisted the help of The World's Greatest Trainer, so I'm anxious to hear her recommendations to keep training my lower body without further inflaming my back. The cardio doesn't bother it, actually feels like it loosens it up, but there are certain moves or positions that just zing! It is getting better, I can touch my toes again when I stretch, but I have to move carefully. Where do you draw the line between pushing forward and pulling back? There's definitely an injury, and I don't want to make it worse, but strong muscle tone can only benefit both me and the healing process, so I'm trying to not push as hard as I want to (or as hard as my mind is screaming at me to push, lol) but still get in the training I need. I realized I was starting to blur that line, and so sent a frantic email to Tab last night :-) and I'm waiting to hear back.

3:30pm... got a joke for you :-0  I receive Scottsdale Health Magazine, and they do a joke page each month. This one had Bill and I both cracking up...

Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson went on a camping trip. After a good meal and a bottle of wine, they were exhausted and went to sleep.

Some hours later, Holmes awoke and nudged his faithful friend.

"Watson, look up at the sky and tell me what you see."

Watson replied, "I see millions and millions of stars."

"What does that tell you?" Holmes asked.

Watson pondered for a minute.

"Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets. Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo. Timewise, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three.  Theologically, I can see that the Lord is all powerful and that we are small and insignificant. Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow. What does it tell you?"

Holmes was silent for a minute, then spoke.  "Watson, you idiot, some *&$% has stolen our tent!"

Monday, 6/14/2010:  Sunday food prep was completed. I'm set for the week. Yesterday was a bit light on water, but I'm back on track today.  I posted the Kiwi Mojito recipe, as promised. It's soooo nice to have my girls home! :-)

Today I'll be hitting the gym for cardio and I will attempt to lift. My back is still tender, but I'm hoping it's rehab'd enough for weights. Please, please, please!

NEW BOOK REVIEW and NEW TOPIC coming later today... gotta go pick up and deliver a print job, then I'll be back blogging while I chomp on my lunch :-)

2:30pm update... I'm back :-)

Book Review... Jackie Warner, This is Why You're Fat, and How to Get Thin Forever.

I picked this up and read it over the weekend. Jackie is a person in the fitness/nutrition industry whom I respect. Her book is very straight-forward, practical and easy to follow. The plan makes sense, and the workout plan she offers (three "circuit" workouts) can be done as easily at home, as in a gym! All you need is an exercise mat and 2 sets of dumbbells.

Her style is very "real-world", and while she pushes organic foods, she does point out that if you're removing junk foods from your grocery list, adding organic foods won't break the bank. A reasonable assumption. (But still, an assumption).

Jackie does make one very important point about the mind-body connection that I absolutely loved. She talks about the whole "think-it, be-it" philosophy, and says that your thoughts/attitude/beliefs can control the world around you. This is true. When you're upbeat, aren't the people around you influenced by that? Here's the quote...

"... I understood at a very basic level that my thoughts -- and the energy that emanated from those thoughts -- could move mountains or start fires. I simply had to chose which to do."  (pg. 196, paragraph 3)

That really spoke to me. I'm a firm believer that as we think, so we are.  The "move mountains or start fires" part has been going through my head all day... am I going to move mountains or start fires? I've been around that type of thinking (positive thinking, belief speaking, etc) most of my life, so the concept wasn't new, but for some reason today it just seemed to take root.

Anyway, the book... I highly recommend it. If you're just starting your fitness/weight loss journey, this is an excellent place to begin. Her 2 week jump start is both logical and practical and appears to be fail-proof. There is one point upon which I disagree... she is of the camp who believe that tropical oils are bad. There is enough research available to be able to dispel that falsehood. Coconut Oil in particular is an excellent addition to any healthy diet.  Other than that, Jackie's got my vote! :-)

Dealing with Rejection   Do you have those people in your life? The ones who would love to see you fail? Are they members of your inner circle of family and/or friends? Do their snarky comments and dirty looks hurt you? I've been there. If you've read my journal here for any length of time, you know that one of my issues during my journey was the fear of rejection. I was afraid that if I succeeded, certain people in my life would reject me. Sure enough! Not only was I rejected, but I became a favored target. It began building at the beginning of my journey, and for over a year and a half (since I've hit goal and now maintain) I have felt a bit like the poor piñata at a 6-year old's birthday party. The digs have hurt, the barbs have scraped. And recently, one person in particular has decided to declare war against me. If it wasn't so painful, it would have been humorous, the crazy things this person is saying and doing. The sad part is that after 3+ years of this insane behavior, my hope for the relationship is gone. I've done everything I know to do to reach out to this person. I've tried to re-forge that connection that brought us together in the beginning. My efforts have failed.

Through my years in the ministry (former pastor's wife for 10+yrs), I saw quite a bit of the dark side of humanity. I witnessed the very best of people, though unfortunately, more often, I witnessed the very worst. Some people are just mean and unhappy, and they want to stay that way. They want to hurt others. After spending much time and money on therapy, lol, I developed some survival skills. I learned how to take away the power of others to hurt me. I learned that I am in complete control of who can hurt me and who cannot. As long as I hold out a hope for a relationship, I am allowing that person to injure me. If the relationship can be salvaged, the risk of hurt is worth it. But... once that hope is gone, so is that person's power. The tie is simply cut. There's no bitterness, there's no malice. Though I will grieve the loss, I will no longer be subject to the person's whims of temper or mood.

Once the "hope" is gone... for me, that person is relegated to the status of one of my plants. Does that sound odd? Here's the deal. I do not have a green thumb. We have a running bet in our house on any plant I bring home... how long will it last? In the first few years I was desperately trying to grow my container gardens and houseplants, I was crushed every time a plant died. Now.... I'm thrilled when it grows and blooms! If it becomes ill, I will fight to save it... but if it dies.... I detach.   I know that I've done everything I can to save it and keep it healthy, but once it's a goner, I shrug my shoulders and say "Oh well. I guess I'll hit WalMart and buy another".   Not that I'm saying my relationships are as transient as my plants, LOL! But, the point is to do what I can do, be responsible for ME, and if a relationship fails, accept it and move on... without bitterness or malice.

I'm interested in hearing how you guys handle such people in your lives. Email me at  inkgoddess @ gmail.com

Saturday, 6/12/2010:  Back from California. Left this morning at 9am to drive to Coachella to pick up the girls, then turn around and drive home. It's great to have them back :-)  I'm glad to say I'm hitting my water goal, still feel a bit sloshy though, lol! I scared the bejeebers out of Bill on our drive back home today when I finished my third 23.7 oz water bottle and threw my arms up in the air and yelled, "YES!"   LOL! Tomorrow morning I'm cleaning out the fridges and heading to the grocery store. I'm looking forward to my Sunday Food Prep :-)

Tonight I'm enjoying my new favorite (clean) summer drink... my Kiwi Mojito. I'll post the recipe soon. Very light and refreshing, and totally clean. :-)  We've had several 100+ degree days lately, but looks like we're heading into monsoon season! We hit rain on our way out of Phoenix and back in today, and tonight the sky is cloudy and there's a glorious breeze/wind blowing. I love monsoon season!  :-)

Thursday, 6/10/2010:  9:00am... Feeling much better today, lol. I am faithfully drinking my water :-)  Yesterday's food was super light... hit the bottom of my calorie range (I'm trying to get 1400-1600/day). Today I'm back on track.

4pm update: Plenty of water so far... I'm sloshing, lol!

Wednesday, 6/9/2010:  9:00 am - Today I managed to pack my cooler, but boy is it light! My lack of preparedness this week is entirely my own fault, which of course irritates me. Thankfully I still have some staples in the house... including an Amy's bowl, which is clean, but low on protein. I've got to get my act together this week! Tonight I'll be cooking a pork tenderloin so I'll definitely have protein for the rest of the week. I'm good on veggies & fruit, so that's not a problem, and I need to make a batch of quinoa. I know this to be true, yet it still surprises me how far a little prep can go. I'm spending so much more time in the kitchen trying to get my meals together than I am used to and it's frustrating. I much prefer my Sunday Food Prep! I'd like to say, "Well, this will teach me! Won't let this happen again!" but in actuality, this is life. It will happen again. The key, for me, is to roll with it. Make the very best choices I can, and keep moving forward.

8pm update... I must confess to a grievous error in judgment. You see, I have an issue, but I know what the solution is...I must drink sufficient water. Yet I ignore that and turned to a little magic pill to solve my issue. I have trouble drinking enough water. This has been a constant battle for me. It is compounded by my high-fiber diet. A high-fiber diet is a good thing, even a wonderful thing, but no amount of fiber (including ground flax) will do me any good unless I accompany that fiber with plenty of water. Yet I don't. So, last night before bed, in a moment of weakness and the use of a single brain cell,  I turned to two  itty bitty pills to solve my problem for me.... and egads, I am paying for it! Starting at 1am, I was up every half hour... my gut is so gurgly and twisted, and I am bloated - painfully so, and I have lost 5 lbs in water weight today... not good when I'm already under-hydrated! Blast that magic-pill-complex!  I managed to do my cardio, a bit of abs and stretching but there was no way I could lift weights! Oy! I had a Siggi's Skyr (Icelandic yogurt) after the gym, hoping the good bacteria cultures would ease some of my discomfort... not so much. I am physically miserable... and I did it to myself! I could have just drunk the darned water like I knew I was supposed to! I have already doubled my normal water intake today, but I think it's going to take more than that to ease this.  What I needed was a smack in the head, instead I gave myself a punch in the gut. I tell myself that I do indeed have more than one brain cell... utilizing them is a good thing. Live, learn. Do stupid things and suffer stupid consequences. Yeesh.  "Gentle, overnight relief"... HA! Yeah Right!!

Anyway, I have a tenderloin in the oven, so my protein needs will be better met for the rest of the week. <sigh> Tomorrow is a new day. I am eager for it.

Tuesday, 6/8/2010:  Today is a no cooler day :-(  Ran out the door this morning to have breakfast with the girls before they flew back home, and I completely spaced packing up my cooler. Thankfully I have a bag of natural almonds and a few packets of tuna in my desk, so that'll get me through until I can dash out to the store. I am fully intending to have gym-time today. I'm a better person when I get my gym-time. :-) Wait, let me rephrase... I'm a nicer person when I get my gym-time. LOL! 

Things went ok at the dealership. They're demanding I jump through hoops, but it is what it is. Then they asked for a copy of my social security card and I thought, Ah ha! I have that right here.... uh, where's my... oh crud! So much for an easy hoop. I lost my card a few years ago and never got around to going to the SSA office to get it replaced. That was a mistake. So now I have to run over there, and wait in line and wait and wait. Hopefully it won't take all day (because it can). Oy. Procrastination... it is not my friend.

Monday, 6/7/2010:  Had a GREAT weekend with the nieces :-) Can't believe how tall they've gotten! :-) Really terrific ladies, those two! (Well-Done, Sandi!)  I need some Star Trek transporter tech to get my other nieces and nephews out here! :-) I saw pics of them today and am amazed at how quickly they're growing up!

My camera battery died, so no pic this morning of my cooler :-(  But contents are clean. I listed them on the cooler page. No gym tonight, as we've got to head back over to the auto dealer and hassle with the bank (yeesh, someday this will be painless, right?), and that could take hours. Oy.

Thursday, 6/3/2010:  9:00 am:  Two of our nieces arrive today from Sacramento. Woohoo! We only get them Saturday & Sunday, because the rest of their visit they're staying with Bill's Dad (Grandpa), but we're really excited! :-) They're great kids and it's amazing how much they've grown and the people they're becoming. I'll tell ya, I really miss having family "in town". I'm missing watching all the nieces and nephews grow up :-(  Ok, homesick moment.

Moving on. After work yesterday, I ran by Barnes and Noble and picked up Jackie Warner's book. She's a gal who's fascinated me for a few years and her fitness, health, lifestyle philosophies have been evolving... I'm interested in seeing where she's at now. The book is called "This is Why You're Fat, and how to stay thin forever". I haven't cracked the cover yet, but I'm looking forward to it. 

After my book splurge, I hit the gym. 30 minutes back & biceps, then 20 minutes intervals on the treadmill. My back is still a major issue - it's the part in the hip cradle, below the small of the back, but above the tailbone. Heaven forbid I actually make progress and NOT be slowed down by an injury. Yeesh!

The guys loved the cupcakes... though one in particular feels it's his job to harass me about my fitness & diet lifestyle, joking with me, of course.  He said, "tastes pretty good considering."  I asked considering what? He says, "Considering there's no sugar." I said, "How do you know there's no sugar?" "Well YOU baked them! You don't use sugar."  

So.... while you can't actually taste a difference... you can't tell that there's no sugar, but you're assuming there's no sugar, therefore, they're pretty good considering? What you're really saying is you're wigged by the fact that it's possible to have a tasty cupcake (or brownie or whatever) without white refined sugar in it.  And since you can't actually taste a difference, you're going to assume there's something wrong with it simply because of the (again) assumed lack of sugar. But, you're also going to have another one because, "considering", they are quite yummy. Do I have that straight?  

I should add, that this is the same friend who was happily gobbling up a big brownie at Easter when someone told him they were made without sugar and were a healthy/acceptable treat. He immediately put down his fork, pushed his plate away and said "they were all right". Really, 'cuz that was your THIRD, and they were better than all right until you knew they weren't full of nasty fats & refined sugars & flours. Really???

Now, my father-in-law, the diabetic, says this recipe is his favorite of all, so far. The Cranberry cupcakes have officially dethroned the Coconut cupcakes with key-lime icing. :-)

Wednesday, 6/2/2010:  9:00 am:  The cupcakes turned out great... I prefer them without the frosting, but Bill loved it. I've posted the recipe & data to the cupcake page. I've also updated the nutrition data for the Quinoa Salad. This last time I made it, I mixed 1/4 cup black quinoa, 1/4 cup red quinoa and 1/2 cup regular white quinoa to make the 1 cup the recipe called for. It created a very colorful dish :-) While my photo isn't the greatest, here's the 2 recipes side by side (you can see the more colorful one better in yesterday's post below):

Today will be Back & Biceps, plus cardio (probably the treadmill). Then I'll get cleaned up and go visit the boys at bowling. I'll take the cupcakes with me as they're a bit high-cal for a cheat while I'm on Operation Marshmallow Fluff. They put my food ratios & calories right over the edge yesterday (see yesterday's cooler & fitday numbers), and I only had one! Yikes!

Breakfast today was oatmeal with protein powder and all the add-ins (cinnamon, flax, blackberries). I'm out of vanilla protein pwdr, so I used chocolate. No bueno. Left a weird taste in my mouth. I've gotta suck it up and just order a new vanilla.

Tuesday, 6/1/2010:  9:00 am: Yesterday was wonderfully relaxing. Enjoyed a workout with Tab, came home and did my food prep & laundry, floated in the pool, and we bbq'd for dinner :-) Shrimp in a garlic/rosemary marinade , Quinoa salad, and corn on the cob, plus fresh strawberries & blackberries after. Normally I wouldn't do corn with quinoa (double starch), but hey - it's summer! :-)

 

Today has seen some major changes... Bill resigned his position as Arizona Sales Manager for Tot Turf and will now be pursuing his goals full time. I'll share more info soon, but suffice it to say it's an exciting & scary time around our house! :-)

9pm update: 20 minutes of grueling intervals on the stair-monster are complete. Grueling. Leave me panting, drenched and wobbly kind of grueling. My butt cheeks are throbbing, lol. No lifting today. I'm trying to baby my back (messed it up early last week) so leg day was out, but the stairs don't hurt my back... kinda felt it was an ok trade. Yesterday was chest and triceps. Tomorrow will be back & biceps. I'd love to do abs, but I've gotta wait and see how my back is. The hubby had to go to Tucson today and is just now traveling back home (long day for him!). I know he's already eaten (though probably not something Chelle-approved), but I decided to bake up a new recipe. www.ElanasPantry.com has one for Blueberries & Cream cupcakes... I didn't have any frozen blueberries, but I did have cranberries, so I tried that. Haven't tasted them yet. Waiting on the man. :-)  If they're any good, I'll post the recipe and the nutritional data.

Dinner was super simple, since it was just me... grilled lean pork loin and 1/2 cup of quinoa salad.  I'm working on getting the nutritional info for that up, too. 

Monday, 5/31/2010:  I wanted to clarify the size 0 issue a bit. I really don't want to sound like I'm tooting that horn, because I'm not, and it's not the point. It's back to the 80/10/10 principle. This philosophy has been around as long as bodybuilding has (and fyi, the Eat Clean Diet is based on this principle, though it didn't create it). 80% of how you look is defined by what you put in your mouth (your diet/food-lifestyle). 10% is genetics. 10% is exercise. Yes, you can lose weight with diet alone. No, you cannot look like Jamie Eason without exercise.

Ten years ago, I wore a size 1. I weighed 100 lbs. I was too skinny, and I was skinny-fat, to boot! I looked horrible! Now, my overweight years didn't make me look any better, but my point is this... 1 lb of muscle weighs exactly the same as 1 lb of fat, however, muscle takes up less space. A 130 lb body with low muscle mass will look completely different from a 130 lb body with a high muscle mass. Hence operation marshmallow fluff! I didn't gain weight. I lost muscle mass... and suddenly my clothes didn't fit right (or at all). Same weight, different size.

That 10% of exercise is what shapes our bodies. It's physique. This is why I work out. I could still wear a size 0 and not exercise, but I'd have to weight about 95 lbs to accomplish that... THAT isn't healthy. It's not about the size. It's about the individual body and what's best for it. It's about being healthy, even optimally healthy.  It's certainly not about what society tells us we should look like, or what size and proportions the perfect woman or man is.

Ok, soapbox sermon over. :-)

Sunday, 5/30/2010:  Quiet day today... Miss my girls. Got my grocery shopping done, then Joey and his roommate came by for dinner. We grilled Bison/Beef burgers (1 lb lean beef, 1 lb bison, mixed with some chili powder, Mrs Dash Garlic & Herb, and 2 tsp low sodium worcestershire sauce), then topped with pepper-jack cheese and mango salsa on a clean wheat bun, along with sweet potato fries. Tasty! :-)  Tomorrow I have a bit of work to do in the office, then I'm off for a workout with Tab (yay!!!!) and cardio, then home for laundry and food prep (I'm doing it tomorrow instead of today).  On another note...

IS RIHANNA RIGHT?  I recently saw a quote from celebrity music artist, Rihanna where she talked about body image. Maybe you've seen it. Here's what she said:  "You have to remember that it's not practical or possible for an everyday woman to look like that. Being size zero is a career in itself so we shouldn't try and be like them. It's not realistic and it's not healthy." 

Now, I'M a size zero! That made me MAD! I got up on my soapbox and poor Bill listened to me rant for several minutes before I suddenly shut up a moment then said, "Damn, she's right! Sort of." Here's why I was mad... I'm an everyday woman. I have a 9-5 job, I have a family, a life... and I wear a zero (most of the time, lol). So it angered me that she said it isn't practical or possible for an everyday woman... then I thought about what she said next... "Being a size zero is a career in itself..." Well, it's certainly no accident! I didn't roll out of bed one day and say, "Gosh, look at me! I'm a zero!"  I've busted my arse for several years to get and then maintain that size. I workout, a lot and very hard. I eat clean, every day. I guess you could say it's a second career for me. I know several women who are size zero's, even double zero's, and not one of them got that way without hard work and diligence (I'm not counting teeny tiny teenagers, lol).  But, I still take umbrage at the "not realistic and it's not healthy". That might be her opinion, which she is certainly entitled to, but it is realistic and it is healthy... for some women. This is the healthiest I've ever been - which has more to do with my food & fitness lifestyle than my dress size, but the dress size is a result of that lifestyle.

I am certainly not saying that every woman should aspire to the size zero. Each of us has an ideal body weight/size... it is to that which we should all strive. I've seen some very enviable bodies that couldn't possibly squeeze into a zero, and why should they? They're perfect at their current size. I've also seen some zero's that need to be a 6 (painfully thin!). It's important to note that your weight doesn't always dictate your size! I weigh more than most zeros! Significantly more! Let's talk frankly here... I'm short. I'm 5'2". I currently weigh in at 130, with 89 pounds of lean muscle mass (according to the dreaded Tanita) and I have a too-high-for-me body fat percentage. Yes, I wear a zero, sometimes a 2.  Does that mean my body is perfect? No way! The thought makes me laugh! If it was, I wouldn't be saving my pennies for a tummy tuck and boobs, lol! There are women who look amazing in a size 12, I think they look better than I do in my zero! It's all perspective, isn't it?

So I guess what my soapbox rambling is getting at is that no matter what your ideal weight/size... achieving it will require focus, dedication... action. It won't happen by accident. Is a size zero the end all, be all? Absolutely not. Should we allow the fashion industry, or society in general, to dictate what our bodies (or our daughter's bodies!) should look like? Abosfreakinlutely not! I'm pleased that beautiful women like Rihanna are speaking out regarding body image, but as with all things, I believe that balance is the key. Beauty is not a size. But... let's not toss out the size zero's with the bathwater, please :-)

Saturday, 5/29/2010:  9:00am:  I'm about to hit the road, gotta stop at the dealership and drop off some paperwork (still waiting for the bank to say yes, but they wouldn't have let me drive away in the new car if they weren't pretty  darn sure they'd get me approved, right?).

Anyway, I'm hoping ya'll can offer me some feedback. I've been tossing around some ideas and before I commit to them I need to know if it's got a shot at meeting your needs. This is two-fold...
A) Years ago, I ran a business (cottage industry, actually) selling skin care products I created. Over the last few years, I've honed those recipes and I'm thrilled with the results. I have body creams, face  creams, body scrubs (including face)... that kind of thing... all natural and very effective. Is this something anyone is interested in? Would you consider buying a skin-care product from me? Again, these are products  make, for me and my family (male & female), not products I endorse from some company.
B)  I've got a ton of info on my site, things I've learned and such through the last few years about clean eating, exercise, cooking/baking... You can find all this info on my site, but it might take a while, lol. If I were to put together a downloadable "manual"... Clean Eating made Easy, or something like that... would you want it? Would you consider buying it?

If you guys could email me and let me know what you think of these ideas, I'd really appreciate it. You can use the contact form to the right, or email me directly. inkgoddes@gmail.com  Any feedback would be great! :-)  Thank you!!!!

7:30pm update... Back home. Long drive, great car! :-)   New favorite cocktail recipes...

Cucumber Mint Mojito:  1/4 english cucumber sliced, 4 mint leaves, 1 tbsp agave, white rum, club soda (low sodium). Muddle the mint, add the cucumber and mush that, too. stir in the agave, then add ice to the glass and add equal parts rum & club soda. Stir and enjoy! Very light and refreshing!

Kiwi-Mint Mojito: 1 whole kiwi, peeled & sliced, 4 mint leaves, 1-2 tbsp agave, white rum, club soda (low sodium). Muddle mint, then add kiwi and mush that just a bit. Add agave, stir well. Add ice (fill glass 3/4 full), then equal parts rum & club soda. Stir, and enjoy. The longer the kiwi mixes with the rum, the more fragrant & flavorful the drink becomes.

Friday, 5/28/2010:  It's been a loooooong day, but a good one! I was able to trade in my car (2008 Hyundai Santa Fe) for a 2010 version... and it has a direct iPod plug! Yeah, I know, it's silly, but when we take these long drives to CA and back (for the kids' visits to their dad) it drives me nuts to hit the radio dead zones, and then the iTrip adapters are so squirrely that they get fuzzy and it's so very frustrating! I need my tunes! :-)  Plus I got XM radio free for a year! Yay! I'm super-excited! The kids are laughing at me but I just keep saying "it's so shiny!"  Lol! 

No gym today, as I spent the whole day at the dealership, and probably no gym tomorrow due to being on the road from 9:30am till about 7pm. Hopefully there will be no "issues" with the exchange of the girls tomorrow.

Food throughout the day was sketchy... but dinner was fabulous! Bethany was having a serious pizza craving, but Bill and I wanted mexican, so I put together a clean pizza for Bethy, and taco salad for Bill and I. YUM! I wish I had remembered to take pics, because mine was so pretty, lol!

Now I'm chilling out and catching up with Chuck :-) One of these days I'll pick up that t-shirt Sarah wore for the geek episode that says "Frack Off"... LOL! SciFi Geeks Unite! :-)

Thursday, 5/27/2010:  What a crazy week! And it's not nearly over! I'm really looking forward to my gym-time tonight. I need it, need the outlet.   I still feel like I have a million things to do, and not enough time, but... such is life :-)

A wise friend (you know who you are) recently reminded me of the importance of pursuing dreams... but not just pursuing them... knowing them. She's been encouraging me to consider some bold moves, and while the shy girl in me is terrified to consider bold moves (I duct taped and stuffed her in a closet when I did my burlesque thing), the adventurer in me is getting louder. I've been focused the last several years on goals, challenges... milestones. In the last 10 years, I've moved from just surviving life to thoroughly thriving in it (which I much prefer).  I've grown, I've conquered... I've hurt and been broken. These are all parts of living... but I've allowed my grasp on dreaming to become lax and it's time to change that. I'm not sure where my dreams will take me... what roads I'll travel, sights I'll see... but I will dream. I've a lot to think about. Thank you, Friend, for reminding me.

Wednesday, 5/26/2010:  Ahhh, junior high is no more! I now have two seniors and a freshman at home :-)  Bethy looked beautiful, and even received an award for perfect attendance. She was sad to say goodbye to so many friends, but is looking forward to summer and high school. Shiloh & Ariel are just glad to be seniors, lol. "Upper Classmen Rock!"  LOL! 

The bbq went well... cupcakes a'la ElanasPantry.com, of course, plus cucumber dip & potato salad, then we bbq'd hot dogs and sausages... Applegate Farms The Great Organic Hot Dog... Can I just say YUM!? Paired with a whole wheat bun and a bunch of onions and mustard... yeah, it was pretty darn tasty :-) I highly recommend! And the boys, who of course are too manly for hot dogs enjoyed the Aidelle's Sweet Basil and Roasted Garlic Organic Sausages... another great (clean) choice.

When you eat clean, you, or at least I, tend to think that the old standby's are no longer welcome in this new lifestyle... summer things like hot dogs and burgers, or even just buns, are off limits... it's so nice to know that they're not. There are clean options. I have to pay more for them (though if it's not reasonable, I simply won't put my money down), but there are options. Even chips... my family loves the new PopChips brand barbecue flavored... they're incredible! And as I mentioned previously, Tostitos and Ruffles both make a "natural" chip now that can be part of the clean eating lifestyle. I wouldn't eat these things every day, not like I would quinoa or vegetables or lean protein or whatnot, but for a treat, like a family bbq... I can enjoy the foods I grew up with, without undoing all my hard work. I'm a simple gal when it comes to my day to day foods... I eat the same things day after day... eggs, chicken breast, quinoa, steamed veggies, olive & coconut oils, seasonal fruit... but when it comes to entertaining, I've often felt like it's a real challenge to feed my guests something that I "can" eat, too. I've spent so many years with "my" food and "their" food... it's nice to be able to really see a blending now. A lot of that is trial and error, some is simply the availability of clean choices that actually taste good to people who are used to eating fully processed/preserved foods (or non-foods). If you've been at it awhile, you're aware of that challenge. So when I find a product I can recommend, I do so :-)

Now the girls are all off to various "last day" activities, Bill is at bowling, and Nakki and I are sitting here enjoying the quiet. I'm about to turn on my iPod boombox and sit out on the patio, enjoy the breeze and just chill.

Happy Wednesday!

Tuesday, 5/25/2010:  9am: Gym time last night included 40 minutes of lifting & 25 minutes of cardio. Dinner was more leftover kabob & a yummy vanilla cupcake (see recipe). I had actually underestimated my exercise burn for last week. My polar tells me I burned 2631 calories! Woohoo!

Today, I won't be able to do my workout... we have a business event tonight and I only have enough time to dash home, change, and dash back out the door. Then tomorrow is 8th grade grad. and the teen-party right afterwards. I'm so glad I baked the cupcakes already! All I have to do is pull them out of the freezer and frost!

Monday, 5/24/2010:  10am: Ok, the potato salad & cucumber dip recipes are up, and I've included the nutritional information (as close as I can calculate it). Food today is wonky... I normally eat breakfast at my desk, but we had clients in the office and I didn't want to microwave my eggs & broccoli while they were here, lol, so I switched up a few things. Had snack 1 for breakfast, snack 2 for snack 1, and I'll eat lunch in a couple hours. I'm fully in sodium bloat from my treats yesterday, lol! Sucking down water like crazy!

This week is shaping up nutso, we've got so much going! Along with various other activities/events, we've got a business deal on Tuesday evening, Wednesday afternoon is Bethy's graduation then party, then Wed night Bill has bowling (and I have party clean up), Thurs & Fri are all post-school year stuff, then Saturday we're driving the girls to Coachella to meet up with their dad for summer visitation. Through it all, my boss is in and out of Canada presenting seminars, so my brain is overflowing with hotel reservations, venue details, printers, etc. Crazy! I am going to absolutely need my gym-time this week, just to stay almost-sane.

Sunday, 5/23/2010:  9:00 am:  The weekend party went well. Lots of clean choices, I'll share more about those tomorrow, and add some recipes. A terrific benefit to all the food prep for yesterday is that most of my work for the week is done already. I need to make my grains and a few other things but it won't take long. The goal for this morning is to find Bethany a new dress for her 8th grade graduation, so I'm off to the mall. Once we find what she's looking for (and what Mom approves, lol) I'll hit the grocery store for some odds and ends, then finish up my sunday food prep. I also have one last cardio and abs session slated for today, and then I'll have met my fitness goals for the week. I did my weigh-in (Operation Marshmallow Fluff) and in the last few weeks I'm down a total of 2 pounds, up 4.5 pounds in lean muscle mass (can you say bulking, lol) and.... wait for it.... DOWN 2% BODY FAT!!!  Yeah Baby! :-)

Ok, I'm off to the mall(s)... I'll update ya'll later! Happy Sunday!

8pm Update. Bethany's graduation dress found, shoes, jewelry... check. so pretty! :-) And, I discovered that shopping with a 14 year old girl burns 125 calories per hour, lol! I'm thoroughly exhausted... I've spent days on my feet, and yesterday in one of my more graceful moments, while removing the leaves from the dining room table I broke my toe. Grace. Bill asked if I wanted to get it set, and I just laughed. If this toe heals straight, it would be my only digit that isn't crooked! Over the years I've broken every finger, every toe in various sports and grace-idents. But walking for hours today was no-bueno on the toe. I'm hurting now, so skipped cardio. :-(  However, even without it I was over 2200 calories burned through exercise this week, so I think I'm good.

I actually cheated/treated tonight. I got my salty, got my sweet, and (shhhh don't tell anyone) got my Pepsi One. Can't even think of the last time I had a soda. Tastes kinda funny, lol. And as soon as I poured it over ice I realized what I really wanted was hot tea. Ha! Silly. Two of my all-time favorite family recipes are a potato salad and cucumber dip. These are mainstays of my childhood, and every family gathering. Each time I prepare these dishes I feel connected with my family, regardless of how far away they are. I've never really tried to "clean" them up as they're... well... traditions. But, this time I made an attempt. With the exception of one ingredient, they're now "clean". And they taste just as wonderful as they always have. I have ideas to replace the last un-clean ingredient, but it's not a priority as I only make these dishes a few times a year. I'll post them tomorrow. Anyway, what I was getting to was my cheat/treat. I've been pushing hard, eating super-clean for several weeks without cheats so I felt comfortable enjoying a little yesterday, and a little more today. Yesterday I had a 1/2 cup serving of my potato salad, and probably about the same of my dip. Traditionally the cucumber dip is served with Ruffles potato chips (yeah, I know). But while shopping for party supplies I found that Ruffles now comes "Natural" (remember the tortilla chips I mentioned a few days ago?)... ingredients are potatoes, sunflower oil and sea-salt. So for the party (and a treat today) I enjoyed a serving of wonderful salty potato chips with my cucumber dip!  And yes, my fingers are swollen, lol! But it was my treat and I enjoyed every bit of it. Any dip I have during this week I'll enjoy with my more-usual raw cauliflower and sliced turnip, but it was sure nice to enjoy those chips. Aaaahhh. Then after dinner tonight (leftover kabobs) I had one of the ElanasPantry.com cupcakes (I didn't have one yesterday)... and I have to agree with Bethany, the Vanilla cupcakes are the BOMB! :-)   Plus I've now packed away two huge ziploc bags of banana pieces in the freezer so anytime we want banana "ice cream" it's ready to go :-)

So, treat done. Food prep done. Grad shopping done. Birthday party done. Resting and icing the broken toe, and washing the laundry so I have clean gym clothes for tomorrow. Sipping on my hell-must-have-frozen-over-soda, which I'll  probably dump out shortly and trade for a glass of red wine, and I'm ready for a new week. Lol!

Friday, 5/21/2010:  9:00 am:  Bethany graduates 8th grade next week, and we'll be having a little get-together at the house... planning is sort of piggy-backing on the birthday party planning. Bethany got her taste of the cupcakes last night and promptly declared her favorite... The Vanilla cupcakes that Ariel nixed! Lol! I guess I'm making FOUR different cupcake recipes today! I'll freeze a variety for Bethany's party next week, and get the others ready for tomorrow's party.  Here's the nutritional info for the vanilla cupcakes (without frosting, see the frosting nutrition info below).

On the subject of nutritional information... I want to point out that number in the image above... the Glycemic Load. Recently, someone came over one evening to visit. This person LOVES the coconut cookies I make (see nutrition data below), so I made a batch, knowing that this person was coming by. Once  said person arrived, they would not eat even one of the cookies I had made specifically for them, because they're diabetic. I explained again, that these cookies are a good choice for a diabetic treat and the reasons why. Then the truth came out. You see, this person, just before coming over to my house, ate a store bought donut.  Therefore, my coconut cookie would just send this person into a diabetic coma (really??). Now, I did a little research because A) it really miffed me in general, and B) I get really angry when people blame my food for their poor diet choices. So below you can see the nutritional data for a standard store bought donut. Looks like an excellent choice for a diabetic, yes? (you're correct, that's sarcasm you're reading here).

Now here's the data for my coconut cookie: (yes, it's high in sat fat, but if you've done any research on coconut oil, you understand that it's a VERY GOOD FOR YOU sat fat, because it takes nutrients and "saturates" your body's cells)

Oh, and did you notice the Inflammation factor? 115 for the donut, NA for my cookie???

Now, if you read yesterday's post, you have an idea of what I'd like to say to people who eat donuts while telling me that my lifestyle & food choices are too extreme and therefore unhealthy. Here's what frustrates/hurts me... I work hard to find tasty treats that are acceptable choices for the people in my life who either have a condition that would limit their treats, or just need to eat healthy... I love cooking/baking for people... I've always had the home that no one ever leaves hungry. I feed people. It's a need. When I do the research and the testing, when I provide a healthy wonderful treat for someone who couldn't (or shouldn't) otherwise enjoy a brownie or cookie or cupcake, it frustrates the hell out of me to have someone tell me that "I/he/she can't have that, it's too sweet... diabetes... blah blah blah." It pisses me off when I feel like I know more about the glycemic loads of foods than the persons who SHOULD, and yet I get argued with or sniped at or whatever. Don't effing sniff your nose at my food while effing stuffing your face with burger king and donuts.  And don't effing tell me that you can't have one of my treats because you just ate an effing donut and there's too much SUGAR in mine!

I know it sounds like I'm pissed over the donut. I don't care about the donut. It's the attitude, the deliberate poor choices, and then the snobbery against my food, and frankly, against me. <sigh> I guess I just needed to vent. 

Thursday, 5/20/2010:  9:00 am: Yesterday was a great day, but I ended up way too low on calories :-(   After work, I went to Whole Foods for supplies, dropped them off at home, changed and hit the gym... GREAT workout... Back & Biceps, with some abs, then 20 min treadmill lower intensity intervals. Burned 546 calories. Got home and grabbed a baggie of grilled chicken and munched while I began the cupcake baking marathon. We tested 4 cupcake recipes with 2 frosting recipes (all from www.ElanasPantry.com - see below for more info) to find Ariel's fav for the party saturday. Wouldn't you know she picked the frosting that was uber-messy! Lol! I was covered in it! Crazy! But it was really, really good :-) During all this, I boiled a pot of whole grain pasta and added the ground turkey & mushroom/tomato sauce I made on Sunday for the family. I took a couple bites, but was so busy making cupcakes & frosting that I spaced actually sitting down and eating. Then, when Ariel got home from her dinner date, I had her taste-test the cupcakes... narrowed it down from 4 recipes to 3. Lol. Guess I'm baking 3 different cupcakes for Saturday. I had mini-uber-mini bites... just enough literally to get a taste. So even with that, my calories were too low. Today however is a whole new story and I'm on track so far. :-)

Yesterday's workout was:

Round 1 -
Assisted pullups - wide grip
Lat Pulldowns - wide grip
Lat Pulldowns - narrow, reverse grip
Low Rows
Medicine Ball floor crunch
Repeat 3x

Round 2 -
Assisted pullups - narrow grip
W-lifts with 12# dumbbells
Medicine Ball floor pulse-crunches
Repeat 3x

Round 3 -
21's with 12# dumbbells
Hammer curls w/12# dumbbells
Medicine ball floor crunches with twists

Now, I'm not saying coconut oil is the greatest thing since sliced bread, but... I am seeing some pretty neat developments. Coincidence? Maybe. But I'm going to keep up with the oil and see what happens.

9:00am: New Music Tuesday! :-) And YES! Hair bands are back! Ratt's new album hits, and indeed, I am downloading as I type, LOL. Can't take the 80's out of this girl!

Yesterday I hit the gym (yayyyyy!) and did 30 minutes of cardio... 5min warmup, then 15 running, then 10 speed walking at an incline. I very much enjoyed my stretching afterwards, lol. Today will be upper body along with a match with the stairmonster... I intend to win.

Last night's dinner was a new recipe from an old Clean Eating Magazine Newsletter... it was scallops with noodles in an orange/soy sauce. Made several changes along the way, including substituting egg noodles with Udon (love 'em!), and adding snow peas to the snap peas, swapping safflower oil for coconut, and adding shrimp to the scallops. Got a thumbs-up from Bill and Bethany, and a BIG thumbs-down from Shiloh. Lol.

Today's cooler is quite similar to yesterday's. I think we'll go the taco route for dinner. I've got the veggies & chicken breast prepped already, and I defrosted a package of Ezekiel Sprouted Corn Tortillas... should be quick to the table. :-)

Monday, 4/19/2010:   This week is off to a great start! Had a fabulous weekend, got my food prep done, and plan to be back in the gym today! YES! Woohoo! :-)  Thought I'd switch up my breakfasts, so this week I baked up a batch of egg muffins. Tab taught me how to do these way back when I first began eating healthy. Super simple and easy to vary. My current favorite variation includes ground seasoned turkey breast & chopped veggies, but you can put most anything in there! Bill and the kids love them too, so when I make them I always make a big batch of them.  I also did grilled chicken breasts, crock pot chicken breasts, beets, my rice concoction, usual veggies, and a batch of my coconut dark chocolate :-)

Off to work, more later! Happy Monday!

Saturday, 4/17/2010:   Ok, I have a new addiction... Rock Climbing! Wow! It was so fun!! I was so scared going into it... we watched the intro video and I almost cried, I was so nervous! I hate being a wussy! But I pushed through, and I'm so glad! It was awesome!  Unfortunately, Bill's shoulder didn't allow him to climb, so he belay'd (sp?) for me the whole time. I felt really bad he couldn't enjoy it too. It was really, really fun! I didn't fall once! Woohoo! I seriously cannot wait to do it again! We've got 5 more gift certificates plus another day pass, so we're taking the kids, too, and I'll get lots of pics from that. I love that it's so close by, and there's staff everywhere... what a great experience! Yay!

Friday, 4/16/2010:   Ah friday! Today was lots of mall fun :-) Tab and I hit up Fashion Square. Tab had a list of items we were searching for, and we managed to find all but one, and still get to Godiva (though mine melted in the car on the way home). Later we found the last item at Kohls. Love shopping success! Tonight, Bill and I enjoyed a quiet dinner out, and visited a local toffee store (we brought 4 kinds home with us!).  Bill has a real love of toffee, but I gotta say, I'm craving more coconut oil fudge! Think I might whip up a batch tomorrow after rock climbing.  :-) 

I'm still on gym hiatus :-(    Feeling more and more like that marshmallow fluff girl. Bleck! I plan on spending some serious time this weekend reformatting my food plan and formulating a plan B for exercise. 

Thursday, 4/15/2010:   9:00am... Dinner last night was scarce. A couple hard boiled eggs and a couple peanut-butter protein balls. Hmmm. Not so good. Today is better. A bit low on protein so far, but I can make that up throughout the day. Bethany's second track meet is at 4pm, so I'll be leaving work early for that. Ariel is steadily learning the ropes at her job down the street. Shiloh had opening night last night for Into The Woods at Desert Mountain High School. The techies call this Hell Week, for good reason. She's been scarcely seen at home, working on the play until 10 or 10:30 at night.  A fun thing in the near future... Bill and I are going indoor rock climbing this weekend. :-) Can't wait!  We've got a gift certificate for AZ on the Rocks and are really looking forward to trying it out. I've never done anything like that before. :-)

Wednesday, 4/14/2010:   1:30pm... Lunchtime... moderately better than snack! Lol. Shrimp, steamed zucchini & yellow squash all mixed with my rice concoction and drizzled with 1 Tbsp coconut oil. I'm thinking that shrimp was in my freezer longer than I thought it was! Good thing I get the whole "food is fuel" perspective, because this lunch was just not tasty. It was just fuel. And I was grateful for the smaller portion, lol.  Definitely time to revisit the food plan.

11:00am - Snacktime! and a BIG ROFL!!!! Ok, so when I planned my food for today I didn't quite think this one through... I've got my Siggi's skyr (icelandic yogurt) and I've got my coconut oil. Stir them together, right? WRONG! Coconut oil is solid at room temp... what does it do when you put it in something cold? Oh yeah, it hardens! I've got frozen little pellets of coconut oil throughout my yogurt! The taste is fine, but I gotta say, the texture is messing with my head. My yogurt shouldn't be crunchy, and the fact that I know it's the oil that's crunchy.... Ewwww! Lol! As Shiloh would say, "Epic Fail!" 

9:00am... Knock on wood, I think I'm back in control of my allergies/asthma. I haven't had to use my inhaler yet today.  Still no gym as of yet. Food is all clean, though my scale is starting to irritate me. I need to do some portion adjustments to account for my lower activity level. I guess I needed the obnoxious digital reminder that even if my food is all clean, if my caloric intake exceeds my caloric output my weight will increase. I may go back to my super-simple 1200 calorie/day food plan for a few weeks, or until I can get my activity back up. This enforced hiatus on exercise is not making me happy. I'm itching to work out! I'm so ready to try my new cardio playlist! Waaaah. Yep, I'm whining. Hate that, gonna stop now. 

Tuesday, 4/13/2010:   9:00am... still sucking down Kombucha in a desperate attempt to ward off a sinus infection. The effervescence helps too, along with the healthful tea. And I'm very thankful I went ahead and bought the "big" inhaler this time... I'm using it a lot! Allergies & Asthma... not a fun combination. Blah.

New Christina Aguilera song out! Not Myself Tonight is newly added to my cardio playlist! Awesome tune! :-)  Food is good today, and once again, I'm hoping to hit the gym. Looking good so far! If all stays on track I'm going to do cardio only, I'd love to lift, but I think I'd better ease back in and see how well I do just with the cardio (asthma) and go from there. I gotta say, it's frustrating. I'm seriously annoyed by what I perceive as weakness in me. Silly isn't it? Even sillier is that I tend to punish myself for it... I'll push farther than I should instead of easing back and I end up having a major asthma attack. Why I do this over and over is a mystery to me. It's ridiculous, I know this, and yet...  

Monday, 4/12/2010:   4:00pm... sucking down Kombucha in a desperate attempt to ward off a sinus infection. They were out of my Cosmic Cranberry, so I'm drinking Trilogy - very gingery. And lots of nasty looking mushroom strands. Whatever works. I very much wanted to hit the gym today, but it's looking like I might not make it. Big sigh. It's only Monday, why do I feel like I'm 3 days behind? Sheesh. Drinking more Kombucha...

9:00am:  You can actually see the pollen flying around out there. Oy! Nasty stuff! Blek! Sniffles & Sneezles, and darnit, I refuse to get sick! I'm heading out shortly to stock up on Kombucha (and hope it's still on sale!). Ugh.

Friday, 4/9/2010:   9:00am:  Thank you! I've heard from some of you regarding my "tough kids" post and I appreciate the validation. We aren't mean, we're realistic! :-)  In reading some of your responses (and again, seriously thanks!!) I remembered my old "blood points" system... when the kids were little and would get scrapes and bruises to help ward off the tears, I came up with blood points... no blood, no points. Lol! The kids got competitive about it! Even all these years later, they're still racking up blood points! When my son was hit on his motorcycle last year (I still go cold thinking about it), even as upset and hurt as he was, he informed me at the scene that he had earned 10 blood points and was now ahead of Shiloh. LOL! Now THERE'S a legacy, ha! But, to be serious, scrapes and bruises (real or metaphoric) are a part of life. It's my belief that kids must be taught how to deal with them in order to grow into whole adults. It is a part of life to be hurt, and while I will shield my children from many things, I can't and won't shield them from life.

Anyway.... lots of errands today, including the dreaded tax-man <shiver>. Bethany flies to CA tonight for her visit with her dad, Shiloh has her play, Ariel is working... see where this is going? Oh yeah, a quiet night for the parents! Wooohoo!  :-) 

Ariel got a job at a little bistro just down the street (it's across from the gym), she's doing food prep and such. It was funny, yesterday was her first day and she came home all excited and glowing from the experience (remember when jobs were fun? lol! Actually, that's not fair, I love my job.) and was telling us about the owner who is also the chef, and how he only serves organic food. He was explaining to her about how fruits and veggies are treated with chemicals to ripen them (ie tomatoes) and she's like "yeah, I already know all this, you'd get along great with my step-mom."  LOL!

Well, I'm off to run those errands... happy friday!

Thursday, 4/8/2010:   2:00pm Update: My package of POM Wonderful has arrived! I can't wait to try it! :-)   Oh... and I forgot to mention, we had Javelina's last night! Seriously! The little buggers were eating my hyacinths! I didn't believe it when Bethany told me, but the whole family were chompin on my pretty flowers! Not cool! I knew we had rabbits and chipmunks, but thought we were too "city" for Javelinas. Grrr!

9:00 am:  Today's cooler is up, and I'm pleased to say my protein levels are back on track :-)  Yesterday was Bethany's (my youngest - 14, 8th grade) first track meet. It was great! She placed very well and had a great time. However, once again, I've discovered that I don't seem to fit in well with the other North Scottsdale parents, lol. This time, though, I managed to make it until nearly the end before I offended anyone. Woopsie! Actually, I wasn't meaning to be offensive... the boys were practicing with the baton for their relay and the coaches and another parent were talking about it, I mentioned that when I was in track we had particular motivation to learn proper hand off because if we missed (either the one handing it off or the one making the reception) during a race, then afterwards, the person you missed it to could slap your palm as hard as they could with the baton. We didn't miss more than one or two handoffs, LOL! Well, you'd think I was proposing we beat the children, coat them with honey and sit them on a fire ant hill. My laughing reminisces were met with stark horror and then a hurried explanation that "we do this for fun, we want the children to have fun and learn and..." blah blah blah. Yikes people! I wasn't suggesting they implement it as a training protocol! Though it might help! <sigh> I think the folks in North Scottsdale believe that children melt like sugar in the rain. I'm sorry, but I was raised tough and I'm raising my kids tough (not that I slap them with metal batons, lol). But really, folks.... Grow a pair. And maybe work on a sense of humor too!

Anyway, that was my excitement. The video is up here if you're interested.

I am still stymied by swelling. I'm on a fast track of healing though (thank you, coconut oil!) and hope to be back in the gym within a day or two. I am chomping at the bit!

On another note, anyone familiar with barefoot running? It's been a topic on one of the forums I belong to. Of particular interest to me is that my own natural stride, which I have had pounded into me since I was young was incorrect, might actually have been right to begin with! I've always run landing on my forefoot, or the ball of my foot. Part of that was that I was a sprinter, but for regular jogging and whatnot, I ran the same way and was always corrected... heel, toe I was told. Well, now there are studies suggesting that heel, toe may be incorrect and place too much strain on the body, too much impact, and that landing on your forefoot actually disperses more shock and is healthier on the knees, hips, back, etc. And I gotta say, the funny shoes are really cool! Look! I so very much want a pair! LOL!

Here's one of the articles I was reading: http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/news/20100127/barefoot-running-laced-with-health-benefits

Wednesday, 4/7/2010:   9:00 am:  Today's cooler is up, though I'm low on protein again. Blah. I experimented last night with a fake-alfredo sauce... tasted ok, but was "eh". It was just fine until I added heat, then it separated out. Weird. Shiloh's fav meal is Chicken & Broccoli fettuccini alfredo... and I'm trying to find a "clean" recipe. This one used cottage cheese. If you've got a good one, shoot it my way!

Today is Bethany's first track meet. She'll be running the 100, 200 and throwing the shotput. Pretty cool! I'll be skipping bowling to go attend the meet.

Coconut oil experiment is bumping along. If anyone else is using it, I'd love to hear what you think. I'm averaging between 3 and 4 Tablespoons per day... about 1 Tbsp rubbed into my skin, the rest ingested... I cook with it and drizzle it into my food.

Tuesday, 4/6/2010:   9:00 am:  Food is all good, though I'm low on protein today. No gym yesterday, I was unexpectedly sidelined by swelling :-(  Once that goes down, I'm back in the gym! Can't wait!

The Easter leftovers are moving along pretty quickly... lol. Especially the brownies and carrot cake cupcakes! The kids are taking them to school and feeding their friends, waiting until they say how good they are, then bragging that there's no sugar. LOL!

Btw, the recipes from Easter are all up on the recipes page now.

Monday, 4/5/2010:   9:00 am:  Yesterday went very well. The party started at 2pm, and by 1pm I was wandering around with nothing left to do :-) The food all turned out fantastic, though I had a major hiccup with my lemon-rosemary muffins, lol... you see, when you quadruple a recipe, you must quadruple ALL the ingredients. Oops! I did catch my error (forgot several eggs) and was able to add them in at the end, and they turned out just fine. The carrot cake mini-cupcakes were fantastic, too. The brownies were a big hit :-)  My roasts were great, a tad overdone (we like them rare/med-rare but super juicy and flavorful. We ended up with 25 folks, and the weather was perfect so many of us spent quite a bit of time outside. It just all worked out terrific! Another score for my organization-freak-book-system! :-) Lol! 

Today's food is a mishmash of my weekly prep and leftovers from yesterday. I enjoyed a couple mini carrot cakes with my coffee this morning, then my breakfast was scrambled egg whites, my rice concoction (both with coconut oil), and a small grapefruit with my Kombucha.

Gym-time today.... not quite sure what I'm going to do, whether it'll just be cardio or if I'm going to be doing weights. I'll see as the day progresses what I'm in the mood for :-)

Saturday, 4/3/2010:   9:00 pm:  Update... We're all ready for tomorrow. The brownies are baked, the candies are done, everything is set up, the crockpot beans are cooked and ready to be reheated tomorrow, the meat is marinating, and we're chilling out watching Star Trek (the new movie).  I'm enjoying a half a glass of red wine (my Frey no detectable sulfites, Simple Table Red), and I've checked and rechecked my book for tomorrow. Yes, I have a book. My family laugh at me, but I'm anal that way. I create notebooks for every "big" event... from weddings, to vacations, to holidays... the book keeps me organized and sane :-)

It starts with the guest list, then menu (color coded for items I'm preparing and items guests are bringing), then shopping lists, to-do lists for the three days prior to event, then sections for appetizers, sides, main dishes, desserts, etc. All the recipes I'm using will be in their proper section, with photos when available. ;-)  The recipes have all be tested at least one week prior to the event.  Yep, that's right, I'm the  poster child for anal retentive event planning. And yes, my iPod playlist is complete, has had a trial run, and is approved for tomorrow. :-) 

The Book...
    

9:00am:  No gym yesterday, was running around getting final stuff for easter, then Bill's surprise birthday dinner. He had a great time :-)  A few of us provided entertainment as we sampled various yoga poses (reminding me of a cocktail napkin I recently saw... "Never schedule your yoga session AFTER Happy Hour... Trust me on this one!"  LOL!

Today I doubt I'll make it into the gym, as we're "spring cleaning" and general food prep to get ready for tomorrow's party. We're really excited to throw open the doors to the new place and welcome our first party guests :-) The thing, I just realized, that will suffer through all this is my Sunday Food Prep. I'm not sure how much clean food we'll have leftover, and I'm pretty well scraping the back walls of the pantry.  I don't get paid (if all is on track) until Tuesday, so that's two days I've got to get through without any of my usual preparedness. I have to put some thought into this so that I don't get off track come monday. I may do double duty today, I'll check the freezer.

Happy Holidays! I'm off to make clean fudge... and brownies... and white fudge... and carrot cake... :-)

Thursday, 4/1//2010:   9:00 am:  Happy April Fools Day! Tomorrow is hubby Bill's and my sister Sylvia's birthdays. Bill is turning 40. How the heck did we get this old? :-)

Well, I've been promising some folks that I'd post this awesome workout based on 21's (amazing bicep curl torture!). It's from Muscle & Fitness Hers, Sept/Oct 2009 issue. It's now up on the exercise page (which will soon be receiving a total makeover, yay!). Here's the direct link to the PDF of the article.

The recipe page has also received a bit of a makeover, simple reorganization, but I have more plans for that page, too. :-)