football and tofu?

Day 3 was tough... I am not going to lie. I almost quit like 7 times :) But i didn't.... but that doesn't mean that I am not going to quit tomorrow! It's hard. Not only because I am eating a strict diet, but it makes me think about food all the time... which makes me think I am hungry all the time. Which I am not.

Day 3 happen to fall on a Saturday, which is football day at our house. We always watch the Nebraska game and usually eat something not very healthy and drink! But today, I watched football and ate tofu... it didn't feel American.

I did however try a new recipe for apple chips... and Dave loved it! I never really know what he thinks of my cooking/baking because he always compares me to his mom... but this time he told me he liked what I made. The sucky part, is that I didn't like them :( oh poo.

Menu:
Breakfast - apple with peanut butter
Snack - spicy pumpkin soup
Lunch - tofu, acorn squash and a tomato with balsamic vinegar
Snack - mixed nuts
Dinner - "taco" salad with mushroom & black beans, lettuce and salsa
Snack - a few grapes, applesauce and a cup of tea

The good thing about this is that today I had at least 5 servings of veggies and 2 of grapes... pretty impressive. The hard part is that I miss crunchy, fake crunchy not veggie crunchy. I want goldfish & cheerios! :)

Tomorrow my family is coming to town... I am so excited to see them, but I think the "cleanse" will be difficult. I am going to try my damnedest, but I just might not make it.

Protein - Day 2

Day 2 was pretty o.k. I once again sat on my butt all day at a training. I realized just how hard it is for me to sit all day... not fun. And my gym was closed for Veteran's Day (which is cool - all service members deserve a day off) but it kind of stunk for me! The good thing about it was that I decided to take the time that I usually spend at the gym browsing Barnes and Nobel. I seriously could spend DAY'S there walking around, looking, drinking Starbucks (though I didn't have any this time). I also realized that I LOVE self help and health books :) loser... I know! I decided to buy "The 5 Love Languages." Someone in the training that I was at mentioned the book and how it changed all of her relationships... I'm excited to start reading.

Menu:
Breakfast: 2 slices Whole Wheat toast with Peanut Butter
Snack: apple and mixed nuts
Lunch: Broccoli, acorn squash & tofu
Snack: grapes and Multi Grain Cheerios
Dinner: Flax seed tortilla chips and slasa, Spicy Pumpkin Soup (pumpkin, corn, spices) - DELICIOUS

Not having a glass of wine on day 2 was a lot easier than not having a glass of wine on day 1. It is mostly just habit, and a little relaxing :) Tamra came over to watch Forks Over Knives.... finally I got to see it. It was really interesting... not as life changing as I thought it would be, but it really got me thinking. I feel really good about my decision to become a Pescitarian, however this documentary focused on a "whole food, plant based diet."

The studies done on the DAMAGE that animal protein does to our body, including diary, was CRAZY! Not only that it is not beneficial, but that it actually does damage. I am going to watch it again, and look more into a plant-based diet. I know this is not an over-night change that I can make, so I am going to do lots of research and make small changes. I will continue to avoid dairy, but I am not going to be too strict about it yet.

I do think that everyone should watch it though.... there is a lot of good information!

Can you drink wine while doing a cleanse?

Day 1 was pretty successful. The goal for today was: whole grains, fruit, veggies, legumes, and nuts & seeds. I was actually pretty impressed with myself, I was however a little lenient with what I considered a whole grain.... oops!

The only other downfall of today was that I sat on my ass literally the ENTIRE day. I LOVE learning & going to trainings... but I HATE sitting all day long. I thought all day about the articles that I have read about the damage sitting does to your body. One more day & I will be back to my standing ways :)

Today's menu:
Breakfast - oatmeal with raisins and cinnamon (did no have my usual honey)
Snack - banana and mixed nuts (almonds, cashews, and some nut I don't know the name of)
Lunch - La Mie (amazing place) veggie sandwich on whole wheat (red pepper, sweet potato, sprouts, mushrooms, hummus and pesto)
Snack - pumpkin seeds
Dinner - "tacos" (lettuce for a shell and our "taco meat" is sauteed mushrooms & black beans... yummy) with salsa and a few flax seed tortilla chips
Snack - Multi-grain Cheerios

Workout:
warm up
9 minutes running at 6mph (oddly hard)
21 minutes on elliptical (too easy)
15 minutes running at 5.5mph
cool down

My one question... and the one thing that I really missed today (don't judge) was my glass of wine! Can I have a glass of wine while doing a "cleanse"?

Getting ready for Day 1

Today I went grocery shopping. I decided to use my day off at the gym to go shopping with out my "little helper"... it makes it a lot more relaxing. I really do enjoy grocery shopping, but this was a little different, as I was preparing for my cleanse. I usually  buy a lot of fruits & veggies, but today I got a TON.

Here's what I got (I'm sure I won't remember everything, but I'll try)...

apples, bananas, grapes, tomatoes, acorn squash, mushrooms, peppers, sweet potatoes, avacado, broccoli slaw, lettuce, carrots, hummus, black beans and a few packs of frozen stirfry veggie mixes.

Tomorrow is day 1... I am so ready for it! Here we go!  

Count Down to MEXICO

As of today we have 25 days until Mexico. I have decided that my blog will now include my "getting healthy journey!" As many of you know I always try to find ways to be a healthier person, and as most women, I like to see a certian number on the scale. Lately, I have noticed that the number I am seeing on the scale, coupled with how I am feeling is NOT how I want to be feeling.

I have decided I need a little more accountability, and what better form of accountability than posting your efforts on a blog?!?!? So each day I will post how my day went, what new things I tried and my lovely menu for the day :)

Tomorrow I am starting a "mini cleanse" that will last 8 days...

Day 1 & 2: whole wheat, frutis, veggies, legumes, nuts & seeds

Day 3 & 4: fruits, veggies, legumes, nuts & seeds

Day 5 & 6: fruits, veggies, nuts & seeds

Day 7: fruits & veggies

Day 8 - veggies

Wish me luck... 

Celebrating 1 Year!

Today, September, 18, 2011... was Dave and my 1st wedding anniversary! Throughout the day today, I thought a lot about how much my life has changed in the last 3 years... it's almost unimaginable.

2008 - I graduated college, got my first real job at the AIDS Project of Central Iowa, met Dave AND found out I was pregnant

2009 - I moved in with Dave, became a home owner, got engaged, had Charlie AND got promoted from Case Manager at the Project to Care Services Supervisor

2010 - I got married.... which kind of sounds like a boring year, but it wasn't, believe me! Lots of planning :)

And now 2011... I got promoted, yet again to Wellness Services Manger at the Project & we are still just chugging along!

It's amazing how much life can change and how AMAZING life is! I feel so lucky to have Dave in my life... and even MORE lucky that I get to spend the rest of my life with him!

Tonight, to celebrate (we only 1/2 celebrated because Dave had drill.... he and I are going out next weekend just the two of us) I made fish tacos and we sat down to a family dinner. Charlie helped to set the table too! 



The fish taco's were amazing... when Dave got home he asked, "are you working from a recipe?" My response was "No" because I was kind of winging it and he said, "Oh, this should be interesting." But it was AMAZING! Below is a picture of the condiments  for our tacos... the two on the right are made by yours truly... the salsa is out of a jar (sorry not that ambitous)! 

The middle compartment is a spicy chipotle slaw... I made it with cole slaw mix, adobo sauce, cilantro and a little bit of lime juice... SPICY but delicious! Then on on the far right is a "fiesta salad" it is black beans, shoe peg corn, tomatoes, avacado, cilantro and a little lime juice to prevent browning! I then blackened the fish and used corn tortillas..... DELICIOUS! We will for sure be eating fish taco's more often.

We ended our anniversary with a trip to Dairy Queen... Charlie and Mommy love ice cream! All and all it was a nice day... laid back and a wonderful way to celebrate one year of marriage!

Elmo party

Elmo was the first character that Charlie loved. So we decided to have an Elmo party for his second birthday. It was perfect! We had it on Camp Dodge, at a great pavilion in the park. The security guard at the front gate passed out a map with Elmo leading guests to the park. Also, signs helped guests make it to the park. We grilled, sang, played games and visited with family and friends. It was great! And Charlie got so many great toys... he is one lucky boy!

One of the projects I decided to do was Elmo Cozies for guests to use, then take home as a party favor, seeing as  most of Charlie's guests were adults. Two days before the party I decided to do these... so I spent the day calling EVERY store in Des Moines that I thought may have them. I found 20... I needed 32. Hope picked up the last 12 in Iowa city on her way to visit. Below is a picture of them drying...

Thanks to Cece and Dave, they weren't too bad to put together... the cozies are foam & so are all of the other parts, so I bought foam glue, which worked out pretty well. We only had a couple of eyes fall off at the party. We just cut out eyeballs, pupils and noses :) The sticker on the back read:

I'm tickled you could

spend my 2nd birthday

with me!

Love, Charlie

How CUTE! Below is the basket they were held in... great idea from Cece! The sign read... "Elmo loves to keep your drink cold!"

They were a hit and I will defiantly do something fun like this again for Charlie's birthdays!

Charlie's Hair

I have gone back and forth about Charlie's hair, and I continue to debate what we should do with it. I love his blond locks and I love the idea of long baby hippie hair :) Every once in a while I find a cute hair do and decide it is time to cut it.... then thankfully Kaitlyn makes me think twice before making any rash decisions, and I always change my mind. By the way, Kaitlyn has stopped me from making A LOT of bad hair decisions! Below is a picture of Bruce and Charlie... with his growing hair :)

The problem we have had for months now, is that Charlie's hair is ALWAYS in his eyes. He is always tipping his head backwards so that he can see under his bangs. Below is a picture of Ryder, Kate Hudson's son. I would LOVE it if Charlie's hair could some day look like that!

I have been working on ways to keep his hair out of his eyes until it is long enough to tuck behind his ears. I have tried gel, which works (not all day) but for most of the day. However, at night, combing through it is NOT fun for me or Charlie. So this week I decided to go for it and put a clip in his hair. I went to Walgreens and bought black clips, so it is not like he is wearing pink sparkelie ones! But some of the looks/comment's I have gotten you would have thought I put the kid in a pink tutoo! Our pediatrition even said something! My thinking is, why do YOU care what MY kid's hair looks like? He isn't even 2, so its not like kids are making fun of him at school, they don't even know the difference between boys and girls! Plus, Charlie say's that he likes his hair. The minute he says he doesn't, we will cut it. Until then, I am going to enjoy my gorgeous little boy and his gorgeous hair! 

12 Month Healthy Habit Program

At the beginning of July, I decided to begin a 12 month Healthy Habit Program. Each month, I will focus on 1 healthy activity. The plan is that focusing on 1 activity per month will allow enough time to make it a habit. Then, the next month, I will add a new healthy goal to focus on. HOPEFULLY the previous goal will now be a habit, so I won't NEED to focus on it. Some of the goals that I want to focus on are:

1.       Increase fruit intake

2.       Increase veggie intake

3.       Cardio  

4.       Strength training

5.       Improve sleep

6.       Reduce stress

7.       Floss

8.       Increase healthy recipes

9.       Decrease sweets/make them more healthy

10.   Decrease T.V. time

11.   Decrease the amount of alcohol I drink

12.   Monthly breast exams

13.   Increase “lifestyle” activity level

14.   Decrease sodium intake

For July, I chose cardio. My goal is to do cardio 3 times a week for at least 30 minutes per time. And the odd part is, my July goal started while we are on vacation... and I still did well! And since then it has been going well too!

Another positive thing that came out of vacation is... Bruce & Kristi decided to start making healthy lifestyle changes! It makes me so happy that we as a family are talking about healthy eating and exercising! We will be happy & healthy together! 

Waterbabies!

Dave, Charlie and I signed up for a Waterbabies class at Fitness World West in West Des Moines. The first class Charlie and I decided to try it out on our own.... after 15 minutes of Charlie screaming his little head off we got out of the water & left class early. I then decided it might be better for Charlie if Dave  came with us.

 Something you probably didn't know about Dave... he does not like public pools :) it kind of cracks me up a little. He is this manly man and at the same time public pools gross him out - haha! But Dave being the good daddy that he is came with! Class was AMAZING, Charlie had such a good time! Great for me and Charlie, bad for Dave... that meant he had to come to EVERY class!

Each class we learned a new skill. By the third class we were going under water... Charlie (ear plugs in) LOVED to go under water, he was laughing like no other! However, that night Charlie was in pain :( poor baby. The only way he would sleep was sitting up in a chair rocking, so he and I sat in a chair all night and I rocked him. Needless to say, we did NOT go under water after that night!

All in all, it was a great experience, by far Charlie's favorite thing to do was to jump in and we are all very excited to make a lot of trips to the pool this summer!

Running

Each Sunday I set my goals for the week. I carry my little purple notebook with me everywhere... tracking my progress and to journal in. A few weeks ago I traded Barb (Dave's mom) my elliptical for her treadmill. I began to set goals around running, first it started with running 1 miles 3-4 times a week, then it went up to 1.25, and now 3 weeks into my running I am at 1.5 miles 3-4 times a week! I am never too sure how fast to increase my distance, but so far I feel like I'm doing OK.

So 3-4 times a week I get my butt out of bed at 5:15, make my way down to the basement to hop on the treadmill. I pop in my Ipod and jam out! Some days I get done and it seems like that was the easiest thing that I have ever done, some days 1/2 way through I want to die, and some days my legs feel like they weigh 100 pounds EACH! Whatever kind of day it is, I push through until I reach my goal (and sometimes even exceed it) and I feel like A MILLION BUCKS! It puts me in a great mood for the day, gets me energized (no need for coffee anymore) and I don't have to worry about working out the entire day!

If you haven't tried working out in the morning I highly recommend it... try it out and you will be hooked! Just like I am!!

Cougars, wolves and hedgehogs..... Oh MY!

One night last week Charlie, Dave and I decided to do something a little out of the norm. We went to go visit wildlife at the mall... I know it sounds absolutly crazy and white-trashy, which it kind of was, but it was so cool! Charlie got to pet the little baby cougar....

we also got to see 3 wolves and pet a hedgehog. The cougar was so cute, I could have brought him home! Charlie was WAY more interested in the dead animals (skins) than the live ones.... kind of weird. But we all had a great time. Channel 13 was there doing a story and I was interviewed... so cool! If you would like to see the video go to Channel 13's website and you can find it there! What a fun experience, and it was Charlie's T.V. debut. He is probably going to be a movie star some day, so we will have to remember this, his first minutes of fame!

Tubes

July of 2010 Charlie had tubes put in his ears. After about a million ear infections and going through every possible antibiotic multiple times, we made the decision to have tubes. Not going to lie, it was NOT a fun experience. We were at the hospital at 7 am and waited about an hour and a half before Charlie got called back. Mind you... he could not eat or drink. An 11 month old baby who is hungry,thirsty and bored is NOT a fun baby to be around. Below is a picture of Charlie and I right before he went in to surgery.





Charlie was a little trooper, he was his happy self after surgery... and some food! The tubes seemed to help a little... we only had 4 ear infections in the following 5 months. The only difference between ear infections before the tubes and ear infections after was the amount of NASTY discharge! EWWWW!

Last week I got a call from daycare (as you mom's know... when daycare's number pops up on your caller ID your heart stops beating for a minute) saying... Charlie's left ear tube fell out. They saved it in a little baggie and we brought it home that night. And yes, I will be the crazy mother who keeps it :)

Today we visited our ENT and it has been decided that Charlie will have surgery again in the next few weeks to replace his left ear tube. As much as I am NOT looking forward to surgery, and as much as it scares the crap out of me for him to go under, I know the tubes help him!

I blame all of Charlie's ear problems on his father. Dave had 4 or 5 sets of tubes when he was little. And I, have NEVER had tubes in my life. I feel confident in saying it is "all Dave's fault!" :)

Family Traditions...

I am ALL about new family traditions.. I love everything about them! I love having something that the entire family can be a part of & look forward to! Our newest family tradition is "Friday Night Breakfast and a Movie". Each Friday we rent a movie and have breakfast for dinner!



This week we had french toast and watched Easy A. My plan is to keep this tradition going for many years, when Charlie is 16 he will still be spending Friday nights home with his parents watching a movie and eating breakfast! :) I know that is totally a mothers dream... not too many 16 year old boys spend Friday nights home with their parents!

2011 Has Begun!

Happy New Year! 2010 was an amazing year and Dave, Charlie and I have so much to be thankful for! The start to 2011 has sparked a lot of discssion in our house about goals! As I'm sure it has in many households... but this year will be different (as I'm sure many people are saying).

 This blog is one of my goals. I want to keep in touch with people, keep people updated on what is going on in our lives, which is kind of hard to to with a 16 month old. Hopefully this blog will make it a little easier for me! The other goals I have set for 2011 (excluding a couple that I don't feel are necessary to share) are:

1. Do more "little things" for others

2. Make exercising a priority

3. Run a 5K

4. Run a 10K

5. Make eating healthy a priority

6. Make a new healthy recipe once a month 

7. Eat less meat

8. Don't talk on the phone while driving

9. Meet more moms

10. Start a blog (look at me, I'm already working on this one!)

11. Go on 1 relaxing vacation

12. Go to 1 concert

13. Watch less T.V. 

I know myself, and I know I will need support to reach these goals. Dave has promised to support me in my efforts and me in his, however I will need MORE support, and that is why I am sharing my goals! For you, my friends and family to hold me accountable. So if you see me gnawing on a pork chop, stop me! :)

As you can tell by the title of the blog: camo pants, high heels and binkies, this blog is not only about me, but my family too! I'm very excited about 2011!