Happy New *ME*!!!!

Rang in 2014 the right way, sleeping! I am getting to the age where I am in bed by 8:30pm and up at 4:00am. This whole working out nonsense is making me change some of my old habits. I remember saying to my boot camp friends, "Y'all are NUTS for getting up that early, I would NEVER do that" and now I am eating my words. Its a change in the right direction, but it makes me reconsider staying up past 9pm.

New Year Eve we stayed in and ended the year with one of my favorite meals, spaghetti. I made the family the "normal" kind and I bake a spaghetti squash for my "noodles". Its so good and it makes me feel like I am not depriving myself of anything. Since it was a special night, I even made meatballs to go in it. O sure did enjoy eating those and so did I.

I had already told myself that I WAS going to get outside and walk/run since it was going to be in the mid 50's. Getting dressed is always the hardest part and I seem to try to talk myself out of it, but I was determined to start the year off right and I did. I laced up the shoes and hit the trails. I wasn't prepared for what I was in store for, but I did it and it was a struggle. It was not my normal route, but it was a nice change of scenery.

For the past few weeks it seems all I want for breakfast is eggs. I had some extra spinach and I thought I would add it to them and it was delicious. I hardly eat these when I am working because I don't have enough time to cook them, but I do make them on the weekends. Being home for these past two weeks has been amazing. I sure wish I didn't have to work, but that is not the reality.

Since it was the New Year, I decided to make another one of our favorite meals, grilled hamburgers. The weather was amazing and it was a perfect night to fire up the grill. I cooked me a baked sweet potato and some black-eyed peas in the crock pot. It was all a perfect way to start 2014. I slept in, did C25k, took down all the Christmas decorations, and made a yummy dinner.

The other day I was craving something sweet and I found this recipe on Pinterest. It has unsweetened shredded coconut, coconut oil, cacao powder, maple syrup and I added a little peanut butter. They don't look all that hot, but let me tell you, they are AMAZING!!!!!

Oh Flow, I am not happy to see you!

According to my WomanLog app, I wasn't scheduled to start my period till Thursday, but I guess she was so happy to come see me, she arrived EARLY! Boo to her! I can always tell when I am about to start my period because I want to eat everything in sight. So, now that I have started, I can start my focus on this week and my food. This week I am going to completely eliminate ALL processed foods and start working my way back to real foods. I haven't ventured too far from real, but I have had several "cheat" days with the holidays and other events. Balls to the wall.

I spent the day at my parents house. It was such a beautiful day outside, but my mother's food has "southern" all over it. She cooked spaghetti because that's my son's favorite food, but she also made a caramel pie. Really? Who does that? My Mom, that's who. Like always, I ate way too much and felt like crap. As I was sitting on their porch, I cleared out my head and started to think about what I wanted and how I was going to get to the point where I need to be.

This was the perfect location to think about what I plan on achieving in 2014. So many goal, only 365 days to make it all happen. I feel fairly certain I will reach ALL of my goals next year.

End In Sight...

As 2013 comes to a close, I have so many things to be thankful for, but so many things I need to work on in 2014. I have made so many positive changes and I have come a long way, but many miles left to go. I was trying to think about want I want to work on in 2014 and I wanted to keep my goals realistic and something I can easily obtain. With that being said, here is what I plan to work on in the new year.

1. Lose more than 50lbs. (I wanted to put 100lbs., but that might be a stretch).
2. Complete a 5k
3. Walk/Run 50 miles a month
4. Complete C25k (I am currently on week 5)
5. Start a savings account. 

I think these things are a great start to getting myself exactly to where I want to be. I have been very fortunate to not be ill, but I want to fully take control of my health. I remembered earlier that today was a milestone for me, I haven't had a coke/diet coke in 5 month. Yippee!!!!!!! I made a commitment back in July that I was going to say goodbye once and for all to those drinks in the can and I HAVE!!!! Feels awesome to know that I have traded something so bad for something so awesome like yerba matte. 

Since I pooped out on boot camp and C25k this morning, I am heading out this afternoon. Until next time...

 

It's ALL coming together

For the past few weeks, I have been really focusing on working out and getting moving. I started the Couch 2 5k program two weeks ago and it has been a struggle. I completed the program several years ago, and I thought I would give it another shot. Over the past 8 months, I have attended a local boot camp, but I have realized that I needed to do a little more to get the ball rolling. I have such an AMAZING group of ladies at boot camp and many of them meet up at 4:30am at a local park to run. So, I now join them. Its crazy, I know, but it must happen.

I have been using my Garmin watch and I LOVE it! It shows me everything I need to know to see my progression and how many calories I burn each time. I am becoming a little obsessed with it, that's a good thing. Here is my run from today.

I am running more than the recommended days, only because I am not that in shape. The main thing is, I am making a POSITIVE change and moving in the right direction. Every time I want to stop, I tell myself KEEP MOVING!!!!!!!!

Picking up the pieces........

It seems just like yesterday that I was going to start this weight-loss journey and yet here I sit still on it. I can say one thing, I am the healthiest I've been in a couple of years. I have to thank my dear friend, Sarah Moore, who is my guide. It was over the summer that she told me about a book called Woman Code and highly recommended it. I purchased the book and was instantly hooked. It made sense for once in my life and it was like a light bulb went off in my head.

Just like every major event, I took a picture to put on Instagram and little did I know a friend would blow up my picture and by the book for her Kindle. We both were getting our Flo on and she convinced me to cleanse according the book. We named our cleanse group the FloGirls and planned to start our clean on the FIRST day back from summer break. I needed a cleanse like nobody's business. I had spent the majority of the summer eating shit foods, drinking cokes/diet cokes/sweet tea and eating bowls of froyo. Eek. July 29, 2013, I started eating REAL foods and eliminating all the crap out of my diet.

Those 4 days were pure HELL, but I managed to make it through without killing anyone. Praise God!!! I think what helped this time around was I had the support of three other teacher friends that were cleansing with me. We made a pact that we were going to cleanse the last week of every month and we've stuck to it. Getting in the right path has lead me to my next goal, being a Mom again.

If you know me, you know I've always wanted another child. Its something I struggle with on a daily basis, but I know He has a plan for me and if it was going to happen, He would make it happen. Well, I discovered in mid August I was pregnant, 8 weeks pregnant to be exact. What? No Way!!!! Yep, I discovered on a Thursday night I was pregnant and then three days later I had a miscarriage. I was completely devastated, but I also know that everything happens for a reason. What reason? I have no idea, but I can only think that possibly my body needs a little more work. Once all of this happened, it made me really focus on what I want and what I want is to be HEALTHY!!!

So, here I sit, going on my 3rd month of eating pretty damn healthy and making the right decisions. Go Me! I have a LONG road ahead of me, but it's a road that I am willing to be on. I am bound and damn determined to reach my healthiest ME possible. I've really started to get into the Paleo lifestyle. I have completely given up ALL dairy and have eliminated gluten from my diet. Its been so darn hard, but I take it one step at a time. One cookbook I've discovered is Against All Grains and I promise I make 4-5 recipes a week from there. My current FAVORITE breakfast are these YUMMY muffins. They are so easy and delicious! I do add raisins to them and they make them taste even better.

Spiced Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients

* 2 cups blanched almond flour
* 3 tablespoons coconut flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 2 teaspoons cinnamon
* 3/4 teaspoon nutmeg
* 1/4 ground ginger
* 1/4 teaspoon cardomom
* 1/4 teaspoon cloves
* 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
* 3/4 cup pumpkin puree, fresh or canned
* 1/3 cup pure maple syrup or honey
* 2 large eggs at room temperature
* 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
* 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
* optional add-ins: 1/4 cup dairy-free chocolate chips or 2 tablespoons chopped pepitas (I added raisins)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350*.
2. Line a muffin tin with baking cups.
3. Place the almond four, coconut flour, baking soda, spices, and salt in a small bowl and mix to combine.
4. Place the remaining wet ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on high until combined, or use a hand mixer.
5. Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet, mixing until smooth. 
6. Gently mix in the chocolate chips, pepitas or raisins, if desired. 
7. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin, filling each cup 2/3 of the way full. 
8. Bake for 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. 

From the outside looking in..........

It seems for most of my adult life, my eating has been on a roller coaster ride. I have struggled with my weight my whole life and I have tried just about every diet/fad there was with no success. It wasn't until last year that I discovered I am an emotional eater. For many reasons, I cover the problem up with food. Has it worked for me? Absolutely NOT!!!! I am just as fat today as I was last year, two years ago, three years ago..............

What has been positive, I have worked with a therapist to help take control over my eating and become more aware of what I am putting in my mouth. Is that working? Not exactly. I have allowed my home situation to control my eating and I have realized how out of control I am. I literally want to lock myself in the closet and eat till I puke. Not the healthiest or smartest way to deal with my problem. So, now I have hit rock bottom so to speak. I have realized things are unraveling around me and I am doing nothing to fix it. Time to make a change.

With all the wonderful resources I have, I still don't understand just exactly why cant I make it click in my thick head. Am I afraid of failure? Possibly. I have been successful at everything I have done and wanted in life EXCEPT for being THIN. I have made a promise to myself and my son, I will no longer let food control my life. I AM OUT OF CONTROL.

Whats it going to take? Me putting on some God awful spandex biking shorts and a sports bra, taking a picture and posting it on here? That just might do the trick, but I am afraid that one of my smelly 7th graders might stumble across it and harass me in class. I plan on waking up in the morning and weighing myself, taking measurements, pictures, creating a food menu, going to the store and getting my life back on track.

I am also going to do something for myself DAILY. I am too focused on my family and don't spend enough time focusing on myself. All of thats about to change.

Its going to be an uphill climb, but I am willing to take it.

SWL

Goodbye TN, Hello Mountains

I packed up all my bags on Thursday and headed for beautiful Spruce Pine, NC to see the bestie. You would have thought I was going to get snowed in for the winter with all the crap I brought. I even brought ALL of my OPI nail polish. If you don't know me, you wouldn't know that I am completely obsessed with OPI nail polish. So, I loaded up the Civic, grabbed my ipod, and headed up 40 for my 5 hour journey.

The drive wasn't as bad as I had expected. I have never driven anywhere more than 45 miles by myself and I knew this was going to be a challenge! However, I had my ipod loaded with all my favorite songs and it would get me through the rough patches in my drive. Once I passed through Knoxville, the drive got a little scary. It was mainly once I crossed over into NC that I started to white knuckle it. There were several points that I was afraid I going to run off a mountain or hit another car because the roads were so narrow. Once I got off the interstate and headed to ML's house, that's when the cell phone service started cutting out. Luckily, my GPS on my phone guided me right to my bestie that was waiting outside on the driveway.

Once I arrived, I had a brief moment to relax and then it was off to see Peyton at the Parkway Playhouse where he is a monkey in Seussical. It was my first time seeing it and I was blown away. It was absolutely AMAZING and Peyton has been blessed with a wonderful talent...acting, dancing and singing! I am a jealous girl because I don't have any of those talents!!!



I knew while I was here I was going to need to paint my nails and toes. Me being the most indecisive person I know, I knew I wasn't going to be able to pick my color out. Once I got here, I picked out You're a Pisa Work. It is a summer color and I managed to add white polka dots on my toes. They are really cute, really girlie and really ME!



Today we didnt do a whole lot, but did get out and see the town and visit where ML works. As we were passing through, she abruptly stops and says "get out, you have to have your picture made"! I didn't know what to expect, but I wasn't expecting much since we were in the mountains. It wasn't until I saw the wall that had a painted mural of the Wizard of Oz!!!!! I was in heaven for about 5 minutes and the picture was just amazing!!! I am glad she thought enough of me to take me there and take my picture.





It has been a relaxing two days and I still have three more to go!!! I do miss my little Monkey, but was able to see him tonight via Skype. There wasn't a whole lot of talking going on...more of him pointing a gun at the camera and doing "magic tricks". I thank GOD everyday for giving me the best gift I have every received!!!!

Off to catch up on some much needed sleep....