Mmmm... Meals, Mommyhood, Makeup & More

Snow!!

2010-01-30T16:49:00.012-06:00

Brrrrrrr!!! It is freezing here in Nashville! We were down to about 10 degrees last night... Sigh... how much longer until spring arrives?!

Yesterday, we woke up to this:

Nashville got 4-5 inches of snow! We hardly ever get this much snow. Usually, if there is even a threat of flurries, everyone is running to the grocery store and buying every single loaf of bread, gallon of milk and cartons of eggs they can fit into their basket in case we're "snowed in". But wow... this was a shock to see!

I am not much of a snow girl! I don't mind looking at it... as long as I don't have to go out in it! It's fun to watch Maddie play in it, though. She loves it! I don't know, for me, maybe it was growing up in Florida that makes me not like the cold so much?

Anyway... some pics of Miss Maddie and the dogs playing in the snow....

The fort above was built solely out of sheets of ICE that was layered on top of the snow! Crazy!

And one last picture... this seemed to be what Maddie did more than anything else... EAT the snow! LOL Don't worry, she's been warned to stay far from anything close to yellow snow ;)

The roads are now completely frozen here from the cold last night and they're not expecting it to start melting until tomorrow afternoon. We had a snow day from work on Friday - I'm not sure they'll do that again tomorrow. I'm TERRIFIED of driving on the snow. We'll see!

I did get a great quick work out in yesterday! I was pleasantly surprised, too! Thanks to my awesome Mother-in-Law I was spoiled with a ton of new work out videos for Christmas. Since I have been in my "funk" and haven't been working out, I thought it was time to first of all, start working out again and to try my new stuff out!

I put in this Michelle Dozois DVD. It's called "The Ultimate Workout". It can be broken down to 30 minute cardio or 30 minute sculpting. I decided to go for the cardio yesterday...and WOW... it killed me! It was a great sweat! There are options to up the intensity... which considering how out of shape I am at the moment, I chose not to! But even without, my heart rate was up there!
Definitely check this one out! I followed it up with the 15 minute bonus stretch/yoga that was great. You can see a preview of it here: Michelle Dozois: The Ultimate Workout.

That's it for me today! I will be back soon to share some new recipes I have tried out and loved... being snowed in puts me in the mood to bake! :)

Hope you are all having a great weekend!

2010-01-29T17:30:00.007-06:00

Hello out there! If there's still anyone there, actually!

It's been awhile!

Where have I been, you ask?

Right here... haven't gone anywhere! It's been pretty busy for us the past few months I've been "away". Long story as short as possible... I was pretty ashamed of where I was heading food/weight/work out wise. I have let some things take over me and control me... since I can't seem to control them. That has caused some pretty out of character eating patterns for me and leading just plain not caring whether I work out or not. Absolutely NOT like me at all. I won't get into all the details... I may touch on a few things later if I keep blogging.

Needless to say, I have gained quite a bit of weight. I went from being 129 pounds a year ago to 153 pounds as of yesterday. Not that 153 pounds is horrible - it's how I'm treating my body that's sad. I'm definitely paying for it! I haven't been this out of shape in years! And I'm pumping my body full of sugar and unhealthy carbs. It's almost putting me in a bad depression... I don't want to see anyone. I don't want them to see me! Here I was, the "weight loss girl"... and was proud of my body! I worked hard for it! And just like that, I let it go.

I'd like to say that this post is all about a "change". Really, I think it's more about getting all of this off of my chest.

And my time off from blogging hasn't all been horrible... I have had some great times with friends and family! And of course, Maddie always keeps me smiling! She just turned 4 on January 17th... I can't believe my little baby is growing up! We had a big My Little Pony party :) It's like living my childhood all over again! I was obsessed with My Little Ponies when I was 3 & 4! Crazy how that all comes back around. Some recent pics of the kiddo....

I hate that I did not keep up with blogging. I really do enjoy it! I am going to try to pick it back up again...I do have some limitations with some food right now (that would be a whole other way too TMI post!) but we'll see what the future brings!

We are COVERED in snow and ice today here in Nashville... how's it looking where you are?

Already a snafu....

2009-09-15T17:36:00.003-05:00

I am not feeling so hot today! I was sent home from work with a fever! :( I am so disappointed... I was looking forward to going to Zumba with Amanda! I know it's not my fault that I'm sick but hate that I had to cancel. :(

Thank you for all of your welcome back's :) It's good to know I was missed!

Going to go hang out on the couch some more...I guess the only good thing is I will be home for the Biggest Loser tonight! I am kind of obsessed with it! My only wish is that the weigh ins wouldn't take an hour! Whew...

Anyone else watch Biggest Loser? I'm also excited that Grey's Anatomy is starting NEXT
week!!!!

By the way, check out the giveaway on Megan's Munchie's blog for some sweet potato scones!!! Perfect for the upcoming fall weather!

Night all!

Are you there, Blog? It's me, Mandy

2009-09-02T19:33:00.027-05:00

Remember me?? JR is SO going to kill me for posting this picture... haha!!! Paybacks, honey.. paybacks!! More on that later ;)

Okay to redeem myself and not get into TOO much trouble... we have much cuter pictures...
I'm done, I swear :)

I can NOT believe it has been almost two weeks since I have blogged! I definitely did not intend for it to be that long. It's been busy (but at the same time, pretty uneventful!

I have also been trying to keep up with everyone's blogs... I'm so behind!

Since I haven't been so great with taking pictures of all of my meals (sorry about that!), I thought I would share with you some food, quotes, pictures or whatever else I've loved the past couple of weeks :)

On the food front...I have tried a couple of new products! Now, when I say "new"... I mean, these are new to me but I'm pretty sure have been around for awhile... and as always, I'm behind in the times :)

I have always loved my Kashi waffles (always will!)... but this week, I thought I'd try out something different. I have seen Van's waffles everywhere... and thought I'd give them a go! I'm really glad I did!

These babies kept me SO full! I have been eating them as a PB&B sandwich... and I LOVE them. But SOMEONE (and by SOMEONE I mean the waffle stealing man who I call my husband) ate my LAST two waffles without asking... so now I have to wait until next week to have them again...sniff, sniff...

And having such a taco craving lately, I picked up these shells from Garden of Eatin'... and paired them with this great recipe from Eating Well's website. I used the recipe to season our ground turkey... we both LOVED the recipe!

That's it for food today! :) More discoveries later this week!

Other things I have loved during my break...

Maddie dressing up in Mommy & Daddy's clothes..

Speaking of Maddie, thank you all so much for your advice on her eating habits! I am mostly trying to stay patient with her as of now. I hope things change soon! I am trying to cut back on how much milk & juice she drinks during the day to see if that's a start! We'll go from there!

On the music front... I have been completely OBSESSED with Colbie Caillat's new album. If you liked her first one... Definitely go check this one out!

What else... hmmm... OH yes! Last week, I found myself with a (rare) hour of free time... and knew that local blogger Amanda worked pretty close to where I was at. We sent a few text messages - and met up at a fav coffee shop... Fido! We got to chat for about an hour... and I had a blast. She's such a sweet girl and so much fun to talk to! We are going to take a Zumba class together tomorrow night (her first class ever!) and do dinner Thursday night, too! How awesome is it that as bloggers we have the opportunity to make new friends we may have somehow never met otherwise?

I love, love, LOVE the Zumba class we are going to. The class is a bit of a drive for me... but SO worth it! The teacher is amazing and so motivating! Her website is here.... you can check out some pictures and videos to see what her class is like :) If you are in town and want to meet up for a class...let me know!

I am going to end this monster of a post here.... but leave you with a cool quote from Chalene Johnson... creator of Turbo Jam videos and Chalene Extreme..."Your weight does not define you. Your character defines you. Good health is essential, not a number on a scale".

Something I have been trying to remind myself of every.single.day!

By the way - is this font color better? Erica, thanks for the suggestion! I actually agreed with you and needed to work on it! Let me know if this is better for everyone :)

Wednesday Woes....and a contest for you AND for me! :)

2009-09-01T21:18:00.020-05:00

Ever have one of those days where ALL you want to do is complain?? From the second I woke up, that's me today! I am going to do my best to not be whining this whole post :) We'll see what happens, though... haha

First of all, How did the first day of September treat ya? I swear I feel like it was just last week that I was saying I couldn't believe it was August already... heck, it seems like just yesterday, it was April... I was in VEGAS with JR having an awesome time on my birthday... and now, here we are in September already! But with that comes cooler temperatures...I hope the weather has been as gorgeous for you all as it has been here in Nashville this week!

You guys absolutely made my day yesterday with all of your awesome comments! Thank you so much! It felt good to brag on myself a little bit since I never seem to give myself that kind of credit! :)

And I'm so glad you are all enjoying Lisa's recaps... I am SO, SO proud of her. I thought what better way to start of September than with some motivation from my girl here on the blog!!! Thank you all for your continued support on her journey :)

Okay here we go! "Woe-is-me" numbero uno: I am S-O-R-E from my workouts this week! I mean to sit down, is painful! Although, this I should not be complaining about! I should be thankful I'm working out again!

Workouts this week:

Monday, JR and I did The Firm's Ultimate Fat Burning work out. I consider it more of a cardio work out... but it does have some 4-limb sections... we used 5 lbs weights for these.

Tuesday, we did The Firm's Supercharged Sculpting... which is an all weight lifting video. Man, I forgot how tough those darn dips and tall box climbs can be! We both used a big range of weights depending on the exercise... I used anywhere from 5-12 lbs... below what my old weights used to be but I am determined to get back there!!

Today is a rest day :)

Eating has been much better so far this week (knock on wood!!!) My meals haven't been anything special... but here are a few goodies...

As for the review of the recipe I talked about on Sunday... I made this recipe from Cooking Light. Normally, I love all of my Cooking Light recipes. Unfortunately, this one was not one of their best. Basically, you cook the peppers in a "sauce" that turned out to be VERY bland. I ended up draining the peppers out of the sauce... cooking up some pasta, placing the meatballs and drained peppers over it with some marinara sauce. That turned out great! I LOVED the meatballs, though! I added some parmesan cheese and some dried basil to the mixture and they were awesome! We made some "garlic toast" out of Ezekiel bread, some smart balance and garlic powder.
Now for "woe-is-me" numero dos... My daughter's eating habits! I'm really torn on this right now. Maddie used to eat anything and everything you put in front of her. She loved it all... fruits, veggies, whole grain pasta, meat, etc...I was so excited that I had a little one who had no objections when it came to food!

When she got to about 2 1/2 years old, all of a sudden - tomato sauce was not a good thing! She didn't want pizza (which is a total crime in our household!) because it had sauce on it... she didn't want spaghetti because it has sauce on it. She didn't like chicken - unless it was chicken nuggets, fruit was seldom... unless it was the apples from McDonald's or Subway... turkey burgers, etc, etc, etc...

Now, her typical diet is... begging her to eat some kind of cereal in the morning, PB&J for lunch (i at least make sure it's on whole wheat and some kind of reduced sugar jelly since she refueses to eat preserves at this point), maybe some carrots and strawberries if we're lucky! Usually with some Annie's organic bunny crackers... and her dinner is normally some cheese sticks, kashi tlc crackers, sliced ham, maybe an organic yogurt... or some of Annie's organic mac n cheese. Never what JR and I are having... which is aggravating.

That's a typical day for her at home on the weekends with JR and I.... she has dinner with us every night, though. What she eats at her grandparents house for breakfast and lunch during the week varies a lot.

Everything I have read says not to push kids to eat what's on their plate. I've been doing that for almost a year now... but Maddie seems to be eating less and less of things! But as of last week, we have tried establishing a rule of - try one bite of everything on your plate before you can get up from the table. I am hoping this will make her try some foods she hasn't in a long time or hasn't before and see if she will realize that she does like more than chicken nuggets!

Anyone have any kind of experience with this? Is there any advice you can offer? I would so appreciate it!

I do my best when it comes to the limited options she will eat! But I'm over fixing two or three different meals!

Okay... now for a contest - for you AND for me!

Holey Donuts has a great contest for us all! But I need your help for us both to possibly win!!

This is the email I got from Holey Donuts....

Enter September 1st -30th 2009 to Win 3 boxes of Holey Donuts! Low Fat Gourmet Donuts! and maybe it will be you that finds the $1,000.00 inside this time!

5 Lucky winners will be selected to win 3 boxes each of Holey Donuts! Ultra Low Fat Gourmet Donuts! But wait! One winner will be the luckiest when they open their winning box of donuts with an ENVELOPE inside the box containing $1,000.00 Cash!

Great tasting, Low Fat Gourmet Donuts and a chance to win $1,000.00 Cash! It doesn'tcan't get much better than that!

How Can I Enter? - Just visit www.holeydonuts.net then send Holey Donuts! an email to info@holeydonuts.net with the name of my blog - Mmmm...Meals, Mommyhood, Makeup & More in the subject line and your name and that's it you're entered!

Winners will be randomly chosen by Holey Donuts! and will be announced the week after September 30, 2009.

*The $1,000.00 will be in the form of a corporate check made out to the winner. All 5 lucky winners will be notified via email but no-one will be told which lucky winner is getting the $1,000.00 until their shipment arrives and they see the SPECIAL ENVELOPE with a $1,000.00 check inside their shipment!! How exciting is that??

Winners will be announced September 30, 2009!

Lets make this even better and give you a coupon code!

Your special offer will be buy 2 and get the 3rd box of 6 for $1.99! It will be added to their cart at full price but when they enter this code in the coupon code box ,then hit recalculate it will only charge them $1.99 . The code is SKINNY1 Making a purchase will automatically enter them into for Septembers $1,000 giveaway as well!

Sorry for the LONG post everyone! Have a great night!

Transformation Tuesday!

2009-08-31T22:20:00.015-05:00

You all are too sweet!! Thank you for your comments on our dress up pics with Ms. Maddie ;) She's the best :)

And thank you all for your support with my recent eating habits and stress... I'm definitely taking it one day at a time! I think that's the best thing for me to do right now!

Did everyone survive their Monday? Mine actually went very well... not the norm... I'll take it! I am getting ready to start my work out here (if the hubby will ever get up and get down stairs!)... I slept HORRIBLY last night, so we'll see how this goes!

Now on to Transformation Tuesday!

Lisa's back! She's kickin' some tail and takin' names people!! Showing Jillian what she's made of :)

If you are new to the blog...One of my very best friends, Lisa, started a challenge to take on Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred! She has been keeping us updated on her progress with each level. I can't even tell you all how amazing the change in her has been... emotionally and physically so far! Actually, I won't even try... I'll let her tell you :) Check out her Level 1 recap if you missed it! Hi y'all! First, let me thank everyone for all the encouraging feedback on my Level 1 experience. If you've battled your weight as much as I have (or at all), you know that encouragement and support is key...so I thank you from the bottom of my heart!

Level 2 proved to be a killer for me and you'll find I'm not as wordy this time around. I, honestly, felt as if it were a reminder that, while I finished Level 1 strong, I'm not the bad ass I'd started to think I was, hahaha! (I heard you loud and clear Jillian!)

Lisa vs Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred: Level 2

I didn't journal my thoughts on each day like I did with Level 1 so I guess this will be more of a summary than a day by day; I hope that's cool. Truthfully, I feel like I struggled so much through this level that a day by day would prove to be really repetitive. Hopefully, for y'all, it means this one will be shorter than my last novel...er, I mean, guest blog.

I was so excited to start Level 2. I woke up eager to prove to this level that I was strong and I could do it. Yeah, about 2 minutes in, it laughed in my face. Loud. I was cussing Jillian again, hating her with a passion, swearing that if she told me one more time "not to phone this in," I'd rip her face off. I'm embarrassed to say, I meant every word. :) I am stronger, more capable than I've been my entire life...but Day 1, Level 2 made me feel like I was back at the very begining...or worse. I was elated when I completed it. I don't know if that was from being proud or just the fact that I was still breathing. It was insanely hard. Day 2, holy hell! I hurt in places I didn't know existed. My shoulders stung, even when they weren't moving, my abs were screaming and my legs felt like noodles. There are these V - Squat things...I think the devil gave her the idea. Nothing has ever hurt so bad. Ever. I struggled all the way though. I tried to cuss less and pray more over days 3, 4, 5 and 6...lucky for me, God is good. I can't say that it really ever felt like it became easier...but He always gave me the strength to endure. I cried a lot through this level, where -in level 1- the crying was minimal, and on several occasions, I seriously wanted to quit. I'm telling you, there were more days than not, on this level, that I had to ask "who are you kidding?" I kept waiting for that breakthrough I had on level 1 but I can still say that it never really came.

Day 7 set me off. It was my weigh in day for Weight Watchers and was also the second week, in a row, where I didn't lose a single pound. In spite of promising myself, and several very informed people, that I'd focus on the changes in my body and the way my clothes fit, rather than the scale (as muscle weighs more than fat)...it was heartbreaking and I found myself very bitter and angry. I felt like I'd been killing myself for 3 weeks...all for nothing. Logically, I knew there were changes taking place but it hurt so much to get on that scale and not see it go down. Especially when I have so far to go to achieve my goal. Everyone says "once you start working out and gaining muscle, the weight seems like it's melting off so, three weeks in, I'm screaming inside...okay, and out...wondering when the "melting" begins. I didn't think it would be a massive amount of weight...but I expected SOMETHING. This day was bad...BAD...BAD! I was ticked all day long, negative all day long, and thought I'd throw in the towel all. day. long. I thought stupidly "seriously? I lost more weight when I wasn't killing myself every day! What the hell is the point of this?" Somehow, I was able to stay on track with my food...which is quite the big deal when you're the emotional eater I can be. And the next morning, I got up...and I did it all again. I was cussing again, not praying, but I was doing it. I cried the entire way through, for my heartbreak of no loss, for my muscles that were screaming...either way it was because I was in pain. But I did it...and then day 9 was better. Hard as hell, still. But better. Then day 10...I thought I deserved a party! I didn't let my emotions get the best of me and I didn't give up. A year ago...I honestly think I would have.

So this was me vs Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred: Level 2. Lisa: 2 - Jillian: 0. Hell to the yeah! I'm winning...and I'm never, ever, going back.

Mandy here again...I thought we'd keep going with the Transformation Tuesday and brag a little on myself... which honestly, I never do! That's quite a hard thing for me to do at times! I never give myself enough credit... so while I am feeling like I should, I'm gonna go with it!

If you have ever checked out the links I give you for the workout videos I do, I almost always link to my favorite workout dvd website, CollageVideo.com. Their website is always up to date with the latest new workout dvd's... and even better, you can always find a clip with a preview of any dvd - so helpful!

I sent in my "story" to Collage's website... and got a request from them to send more pictures to use in the monthly catalog that they send out every month! I was so excited! It came in the mail today... they put me on two different pages!! Okay, same picture on each page... but I'm okay with that! Here are the pictures :)
I'm so excited! This is the first time I have had anything printed in a magazine :) I am in an informercial for the Firm... JR (my husband) and I were their first "couple" ever to be featured in their infomercials! My co-worker still to this day won't leave my husband alone with what they quoted him saying... "I literally watched her butt lift"...LOL! Oh the joys of editing! If you are interested in seeing this, we are all throughout the infomercial... gotta watch for us! :)

Firm Wave Infomercial Part One

Firm Wave Infomercial Part Two

Firm Wave Infomercial Part Three

Whew... that's enough for one day, I think :)

See you soon!

Such a great weekend....

2009-08-30T15:49:00.017-05:00

The things we as parents do for our kiddos....Maddie decided to play "dress up" with mommy and daddy... I thankfully got the cute pink bunny ears ;)And then Maddie pulled out her head bands... and thought mommy needed two... or three in her hair...How was your weekend? Friday night, Lisa came over! If you did not catch her guest post a few weeks ago, check out it here!! I had not seen her in a couple of weeks... and let me tell you, the girl is shrinking right before my eyes. She looks incredible! :) I was so glad to see her... I missed my Lisa time! Lisa will be back on Tuesday with another guest blog to recap her experience with Level 2 of Jillian's 30 Day Shred! Be sure to check back for that and cheer her on!

Saturday, we spent the day lounging around doing a little bit of laundry and dishes. JR and I watched Spider Man 2 while Maddie napped... it's so nice to sit and relax with my hubby! We don't seem to have that opportunity often anymore so I really took advantage of some cuddle time with him!

As for today, I got to sleep in thanks to my amazing hubby... did a TON of coupon clipping (anyone else a coupon clipper?!), a quick run to Publix for a yummy turkey and swiss sub... and now I'm sitting here watching "The Notebook"... can I just say, I LOVE this movie?! I kind of have a girl crush on Rachel McAdams... and a TOTAL crush on Ryan Gosling AND James Marsden... Ca-Ching!!!

James Marsden's wife has family not too far from where we live... a friend of ours would see him at Panera almost every day... and JR and I saw him and his son at Kroger some time earlier this year, too!

Anyways! Food has not been great this week at all. Since returning home from Florida, there has been nothing but drama that my family has been dealing with. I don't usually get caught up in it all... I learned the hard way that they have to take care of themselves. But this time, it was almost hard not to be a part of it. How did I deal with it? Instead of some great work outs, yoga or long baths... I binged. Worse than I have in years. I won't fully go into details obviously... but it's been pretty scary. I have tried not to beat myself up over any of it... which gets hard at times.

Normally, my work outs help keep me sane...in Florida, it was impossible to get a work out in... and since coming home, I was so exhausted from our trip, I said I would give myself a few days to sleep and de-stress before getting back into it. I kept delaying it, though! I kept saying... tomorrow I'll work out... tomorrow I'll eat better... and thanks to my good Firm infomercial buddies, Lindsey and Tammy P...they inspired me to get off my tail and do SOMETHING. So I did I did a yoga video from Crunch... with Sara Ivanhoe. I really like her videos... her voice is very soothing and she's easy to follow! Great instructions on this DVD if you are a beginner, too. This video is two videos in one... one is called the "Joy of Yoga" and the other is "Fat Burning Yoga". I did "Joy of Yoga"... nice and relaxing. I felt 200% better after only 35 minutes!

I have my work out routine now mapped out for the week! Lisa is finishing up her last week of Level 3 with Jillian... and then we are going to start a new Firm rotation together! I'm so excited to start another challenge with her!

So what did everyone do this weekend? I need to catch up on blogs to see how everyone is doing and check out all of your yummy eats! Anyone have a favorite meal of the week? I did... mine was my "oats in a jar"... allll filled with some yummy dark chocolate PB!!! Chocolately-goodness in EVERY bite!!!!
I am heading off to get Maddie up from her nap and get dinner going. I am making this recipe from Cooking Light that sounds yummy... it's Meatballs and Peppers. I hope it's good! I'll report in tomorrow with the review!

Home sweet home!

2009-08-26T20:15:00.015-05:00

We are finally home! I had a great time in Florida... but happy to be back in Tennessee!! It was SO hot in Florida! August in Florida is always the worst month weather-wise! It was TOUGH getting back into work, though! I had pretty much NO motivation! I wanted to be hanging with my little girl all day long. I got used to being with her all day long this past week :( You can bet I was bolting out the door to go pick her up when work was over!

It was definitely a week of mixed emotions... Happy for my brother who is now a married man - still can't believe it! Sad for JR's family with Granny's passing and trying to adjust to a "new life".

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers for JR's family!

We drove last Wednesday down to Florida and made it in great time, thankfully! Maddie survived the car trip up and down. I was really afraid that she would go nuts in the car for 11 hours straight... but thankfully we kept Taylor Swift playing on the IPod and plenty of books and My Little Ponies to keep her happy :)

I had almost a full afternoon with one of my closest friends... we have been friends since middle school! Her daughter is only a DAY younger than Maddie. Crazy, huh? She is one of those friends that no matter how long it's been since we've talked or seen each other, we pick right up where we left off... she's amazing! Our girls had lots of time to play this trip!

My eating was not great, though. I normally can balance vacation eating pretty well... but not this time around. Along with my "monthly friend" showing up TWO weeks EARLY (what the heck is up with that mother nature?!?) and a little bit of family stress over the trip... my eating was pretty off for me. TONS of sugar - I mean tons, tons, tons! I normally splurge on a trip... this was kind of beyond. And since we were on the go from the moment we got up until we went to sleep each night (we drive an hour each way between visiting our families... sometimes two or three times a day!), I had no time to fit in a work out! I thought I would jump right back into healthy eating today... but I think my body got so used to gorging on sugar, that it was craving it BIG time! I'm thinking I may need to go cold turkey or close to it to ween myself off of it!

But enough of that... Here are a few pictures of my brother, Justin's wedding...

Justin and our Dad....

Maddie was the flower girl :)
Justin and I

First kiss as a married couple!
My baby sister Ashley and her boyfriend George (I have the most gorgeous sisters!)

JR & I
All four of us kiddos....I swear I'm the oldest! They all outgrew me =P

And this was TOO cute...Justin and his wives daughter, Katelyn... who is now 7 months old... was so worn out from the wedding, she crashed and they put her out on these pillows... adorable!

As for food today - it was not the best! I have a pretty empty fridge due to being gone for a week! Dinner tonight was pull out whatever is in the freezer! I had some frozen leftover grilled chicken breast, some Arnold's Thins in the freezer... pulled those out... then grilled up slices of pineapple, swiss cheese, Annie's smokey maple bbq sauce... loved it :) Crispy fries on the side...
totally veggie-less :( Oh well... I'll do better tomorrow on that one. We got our CSA delivery tonight!

We got 1 yellow squash, some grape tomatoes, a patty pan squash, 2 corn on the cobs.1 green bell pepper and a cantaloupe (all for JR... not a big cantaloupe fan here!)...

Any ideas on what to do with our produce?

Heading to Florida!

2009-08-19T06:43:00.000-05:00

Thank you so much for all of your thoughts and prayers! JR, his family and I appreciate every one of you!

We are heading to Florida this morning for Granny's funeral service and my brother's wedding this weekend. I don't know that I will have the chance to blog while there... but I may sneak a picture or two in just to say hello :)

Hope you all have a wonderful week!!

Sad Evening....

2009-08-17T19:57:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone...

Sorry for the lax in posting. It's been quite a whirlwind weekend!

I thought I would let you all know that JR's grandmother passed away this evening. It's a bit of a relief for the family. She has been in a lot of pain the past few days that has seemed unbearable. We now know she's no longer hurting...

Please say a prayer for JR's dad and the rest of his family. Although this is over, it's never easy!

Hope everyone had a great Monday

Go, go, go Saturday!!

2009-08-15T15:55:00.016-05:00

Hey everyone! How's your weekend shaping up so far?

Heading back to last night - we had some home made pizza. We used a whole wheat premade dough from Whole Foods... my side was grilled chicken, green peppers, red onion and tomatoes with part skim mozz cheese. JR's was the same with some added some pepperoni. I had a yummy glass of Shiraz on the side!
Today has been busy from the start! I got up at about 6:30 to be sure and squeeze in my work out before Maddie woke up and before my crazy cleaning adventure today. I have been itching to do my Firm work outs... so I did one of my all time favs! Total Muscle Shaping!This one is about 45 minutes long, which can be very convenient on days that I do not have a lto of time work out! It also has lots of combined movements, keeping the hearat rate up. You have bicep curls while doing leg presses on a 14 inch step, lunges with an overhead press, dips and hammer curls, etc. Today for most of these, I used 10-12 lbs weights, depending on the exercise. You also do some step aerobics using 6 inch step or using the step on an incline.

After, I was crraavvviiingg some yoga! I popped in The Biggest Loser's Weight Loss Yoga DVD. Now I LOVE this DVD for many, many reasons - one because I adore Bob (and LOVE having ANY excuse to post pictures of him doing different yoga poses... haha)...Two because I love the fact that this work out is broken up into three different time segments! You have the 5 minute warm up - then you can choose between doing a 20 minute yoga routine, 15 minute routine or 10 minute routine. Today, I did the warm up and the 10 minute routine. Just what I needed! I burned 444 calories today.

After that, it was seriously breakfast time! I don't know why... but I was desperately craving my oatmeal pancakes!

Today's combo:
1/4 cup oat bran
1/4 cup oatmeal
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tbsp protein powder
1 tbsp cottage cheese
1/2 smooshed naner
a couple of cut up frozen cherries
1/2 cup egg whites

Allllll of those ingredients to give us this (and I took like six shots of this and NEVER got a clear picture! I'm so sorry!)I topped one pancake with 1/2 tbsp PB Loco's Jungle Banana PB and the top pancake with 1/2 tbsp PB&Co's Dark Chocolate Dreams. I also sliced the rest of the banana up and sandwiched it between then. Perfecto!

The cleaning started after... I had to get my clothes situated in our room. Shamefully I have to say, our room was a mess. And it's about 85% my fault! I still think I'm a kid sometimes and um... my clothes kind of end up on the floor. So then it gets so bad that we can't walk in the room... and yes, I'm saying this in public! Embarrassing but true! Maybe it will help me change things! Probably not, unfortunately! My hubby is shaking his head while he's reading this, I know it! :)

Anyway while going through and hanging up clothes and putting them away in drawers, I also went through my closet to try to reorganize things a bit. I haven't wanted to face the closet for awhile now. Knowing that most of my clothes don't fit me at all because of my weight gain has made it hard to stomach looking at some of my fav shirts or jeans that I can't get into! I divided things into two sections... what I can wear now and what I can't. At least that way, I know exactly where to go to in the closet to get stuff out for the day and won't depress myself by going through all the others! Here's to hoping!

I got rid of some things I don't wear anymore. I've had things in the closet for a few years now saying I'm going to have them altered that haven't been touched. Out they went!

Did anyone tune into the live streaming of the Healthy Living Summit at all today? I thought it was awesome they made that available to us! I had problems with the sound throughout some of it but thought it was pretty fun to listen to and be able to get to know the personalities a bit more of the ladies there. I thought Zesty's part was great info! He mentioned getting your own domain if you plan to blog for awhile... I'm not sure if I'm ready for that - nor can I afford it right now. I do hate that I feel so limited in what I can do with my page right now, though. I want to add extra pages with before and after shots (which by the way, if you are interested you can check some out here), an info page, etc.

They also talked on the importance of photographs, which I agree with. As y'all have seen, I am definitely NOT the best food photographer at all. I am still working on that! The worst part is that as many windows and lights as we have in our house, there is NO light. I fight with that daily! So... need to figure out that angle. Thanks guys for hanging in there with me on the photos!

Finally had lunch around 1:00... I knew I needed to use up the rest of the turkey I had and a pear sitting in the fridge. So I "peared" (haha... okay maybe not as cute as I think it is) on a sandwich!

I mixed some light mayo and dijon mustard... put that on the bread with some thin pear slices. Added the turkey, swiss cheese and pressed it in a pan for a few minutes. Presto lunch! I served it with the rest of the pear, some strawberries and a few blue corn chips.
I also had a square of Ghiradelli intense dark chocolate that I found wayyyy at the bottom of one of my (many) purses while cleaning it out. So yummy!

Okay, I am off to get ready for some more errands! Gotta head out to Target and Walgreens...dinner will most likely be pizza (and wine) leftovers.

Thanks everyone for the comments on the dress! I have to say I loved the dress on in person... but when i saw the pictures, I almost cried. I haven't seen pictures of myself since gaining weight. My face is so much fuller and I'm just not as toned as I once was. But I made myself post them anyway... I need to be proud of where I am regardless! It's been a struggle today... putting on a dress tonight and knowing how it used to fit... I am trying to stay positive!

Just curious again on taking photos of food.... anyone have some great advice to pass along to make it more appealing to the eye?

Dress Success!

2009-08-13T20:30:00.008-05:00

Sorry I haven't been around this week!!! Between working late and trying to find a dress... it's been quite busy!

I haven't had a ton of "blog-worthy" food to share. Which really, I hate saying! My meals are pretty simple and I think there's nothing wrong with that. I'm not one who can bust out the most creative meal in five minutes at lunch. I'm happy with simple stuff... so why change that because of a blog? I sometimes let myself feel like my food is not worth sharing because of this... but it's MY food and MY blog and if I'm making it my "own", why wouldn't I? I think I put too much pressure on myself to live up to a lot of other blogs out there... I don't need to do that!

I hope that makes sense!

So first of all, thank you ALL for you awesome comments on Lisa! Isn't she incredible? I am so, SO proud of her - obviously! I told her that the most rewarding part of this whole process is for her to see what I knew she had in her all along. It's exciting! She's kicking some booty big time on Level 2 already... she'll be checking in again with us after her next 10 days are up!

As for JR and I - we started Level 3 yesterday... HOLY freaking cow! I can start out doing some of the advanced moves but after a few reps, end up in the beginner moves. Level 2 was hard as heck... but I could at least do the advanced moves! This one is definitely different!

I have to say, after almost a month of doing Jillian - I LOVE the challenge it has been on me. Some of the cardio moves are KILLER and different than I've done before. I think that I will keep the shred and Jillian's new work out dvd's in my weekly rotation somehow - but I REALLY miss my Firm videos. I miss my "heavier" weight lifting! I think after we get back from Florida next weekend, I will be starting a Firm roation for the month... then we'll see where things lead me from there!

Back to the dress... last night, I braved the dressing rooms again! It took all night... and it definitely wasn't easy... but I finally found a dress! What do you think?? Be honest!!!
Five minutes after taking the pics... JR and I changed into work out clothes to take on Jillian for Day 2 of Level 3! Maddie decided she wanted to join us...

Here we are getting ready to work it (and um... please excuse my white legs!)!
By the way, thanks for all the thoughts and prayers for JR's family. Granny is still hanging in there but we're not sure what's coming over the next couple of days.

That's all I've got, folks! Hope you all are having a great week!!!

PS - did you all know it's national apple week?? Must be why apples have been my top snack choice every day so far :)

What is your favorite way to eat apples? I think mine is tied with in oatmeal or with some dark chocolate peanut butter!!!

Have a great night!

Transformation Tuesday! A Guest Blog :)

2009-08-10T22:01:00.013-05:00

Before I get to today's post, I thought I would update you all on JR's grandmother's condition. Unfortunately, they have said she probably will not make it past the next couple of days. Her body seems to be shutting down at this point. It's been so rough on JR's parents! Please keep his family in your prayers!!

I had to share this picture, too... it's too sweet. This is "Nurse Maddie" checking on Granny with Grandpa...Grandma & Grandpa bought Maddie a little nurse's outfit and some doctor "tools" to help them keep an eye on Granny. She's been a great little helper!

Sorry for not posting yesterday! I picked Maddie up from JR's parents after work (they watch her for us while we are working), then we headed straight to Kohl's to look for a dress for my brother's wedding. We came home at 7:00... finally ate dinner at 7:30... and I had to do some work for the rest of the evening! My meals weren't exactly blog-worthy yesterday anyway - except for the amazing omelette JR made me for dinner!! I just couldn't get a good shot of it with the camera :( It had a whole egg, two whites with chopped ham, tomatoes and onion.... I then put it in a TJ's spinach wrap with some fresh spinach inside... had it with some hummus. GOOD stuff :)

My friends... I am SO excited about today's post! Back when I mentioned we had started Jillian's 30 Day Shred, I mentioned that our best friend Lisa was taking the challenge right along with us!

This is Lisa and I on July 4th...she's on the left :)
Taking on this challenge is a HUGE step for her - and I jumped on her saying yes before she could change her mind! :) Folks, she has done the most incredible job. The transformation I have seen in her emotionally and physically in just these first 10 days is beyond words! She is practically beaming with excitement over her new found confidence in herself... exactly what I was hoping she would find! I knew she had it in her!! She deserved to know, too! I'm like a proud mama ;)

I thought it would be awesome if she kept track of her progress and did a little guest blogging for us after she completed 10 days of each level!

I am going to stop blabbing here and let Lisa talk.... Here we go! Please make her feel welcome :) I know you guys will enjoy this!

Hey Y'all!

First let me introduce myself...I'm Lisa, the girl fortunate enough to be called the best friend of Mandy and JR Arostegui. I'm originally from Texas and have been in Nashville, TN for 9 years now. I'm 35 and feel like the last year of my life has been a rebirth of sorts. July 28th was my year anniversary in the Weight Watcher's program and I've lost 52 pounds so far. I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish I'd lost more in a year but, at the same time, I really want this to be a realistic life change for me...not a quick fix. Lord knows I've tried every one of those offered! The ups and downs on the scale have been a nerve wracking and, sometimes, heartbreaking learning process but, I think, what's important is that I haven't given up.

In order to keep this as short winded as I am capable of being, I will just say that this battle with my weight has been a life long thing. Like most everyone with a weight problem I grew up with all the usual heartbreaks. Falling for the jocks that wanted the hot, tiny, cheerleaders, the moo's as I was walking down the hall, and sitting in all those fitting rooms, in tears, because I couldn't fit into anything that was considered cool. I was 29 before I woke up and realized that beautiful comes in every shape and size...and that I was enough, period. They should make this a required course in school, starting as early as possible...self worth, and self love, are the most important tools we can have. They change every aspect of your life. Every single one.

Stepping off my soapbox...I'm not sure what finally clicked into place for me last year? I just woke up one day and decided my big, bold, incredibly happy, spirit had lived in this heavy shell of a body for far too long. For the first time in my life I wasn't doing it to catch a boys eye or to meet societies standards of beauty. Maybe it was because I'd been denied insurance because of my height/weight ratio and I found it completely embarrassing and horrifyingly awakening all at once. I thought "I want to be around...and if I continue down this road, I won't EVER meet Mr. Right and be the Mom I've always dreamt of being...cause I'll be dead." Suddenly it all became clear and my head just zoned in on what was important.

Thankfully I have Mandy! She is my champion. My constant source of inspiration and encouragement. It's a real blessing to have this living, breathing, proof that your goal can be reached. I think I was a little bit bigger, at the beginning of my journey, than she was...but it's so close that I really can look at her and see where I can end up if I'm dedicated and love myself enough to stick with it. She's been my confidant, my cheerleader, and my personal nutritionist. She's also pushed, and challenged me, physically. First it was Zumba and now, it's Jillian's 30 Day Shred, which is the real reason I am here...

This is my personal take on Jillian's Shred...as a person who's primary workout routine would be an occasional Walk Away the Pounds video - 1 mile and no weights. This recap of my last 10 days, Level 1 of the Shred, is as honest as I can be and I hope you find it as humorous as I did at the end of each day...as well as inspiring.

Day 1- Rough. Seriously rough. I told Jillian I hated her, for the first time, just 15 seconds into my second set of jumping jacks...and I meant it. How did she expect a person my size to continually heft myself into the air for 30 seconds. I laughed at the idea of push ups, I grunted, groaned, and had cussed up a blue streak by the time I finished...but I finished. Me. I've never been more proud in my life...except maybe when I got up and did it again the next day.

Day 2- Ouch. What muscle is this and how have I not noticed it before? Yes, I was sore in places I didn't know existed...yet, I somehow felt stronger and was feeling pretty confident as I completed more push ups than I had the day before. I couldn't believe all I was able to acheive through the pain I'd already inflicted on my body!

Day 3- Near defeat. I hadn't slept well the night before and woke up with a pretty bad head ache but, in spite of almost talking myself out of it, started my work out anyway. Mid way through, I was crying like a baby, begging God for it to end. I felt like I weighed a ton and negative 'who are you kidding, fat girl, you can't do this' thoughts were SCREAMING through my head. My push ups were embarrassing and every jump into the air caused my head to feel like it would explode...and, when I thought I couldn't go a second more, I pushed on. Needless to say, I survived. I may not have been in best form but I gave 100% of what I had. I laid in my floor for 10 minutes crying, and recovering, when it was done. Funny enough, the rest of my body hurt so bad that the headache was gone. Go figure. :)

Day 4- Breakthrough. I had everyone I know praying for me on the evening of Day 3 because I was so scared I wouldn't be able to make it through Day 4. God showed up because I was stronger and my endurance was shocking. I felt amazing. Now, this does not mean I didn't cuss or proclaim my intense dislike for Jillian for an entire 20 minutes...but I felt in control and could literally feel my muscles working through the soreness. I KNEW I could do it!

Day 5- Halfway Point. Really? Me? I'd made it five days and hadn't had a heart attack? Impossible. Day 5 was much like day 4 in the sense that I just felt really strong and confident in my ability to make it through. I was nervous for the weekend though. The plan was to take Saturday and Sunday off and then start back up on Monday. Being a person who had never worked out, I was unsure of what to expect with two days without the workout. Would I be setting myself back? Would I have to kill myself all over again? I was really nervous about this.

I woke up Saturday morning and found myself actually missing the workout. This is a complete change in my way of thinking! When I say complete, I mean COMPLETE. That being said, I did a Walk Away the Pounds DVD...one mile with weights. I then went to the mall with JR, Mandy and Maddie. Mandy made me promise I would let my body rest the next day and, for the first time in my life, I really had promise I wouldn't. I WANTED to exercise. I feel like this program is not only changing my body...I feel as if I've had a full blown lobotomy--and I like it!

Day 6- I was nervous to see how I'd feel after the 2 day break but was happy to see the strength I'd gained the previous week hadn't run off and left me. It was a little more difficult than day 5 but I still felt strong and able to succeed.

Day 7- Is it still working? So, it's still hard. It's still Hell...while I'm working. After that, I can feel the change in my muscles and there is a little ache but nothing like in the begining and I can't help but ask Mandy, "am I doing this right? What's up with this?" She assures me it's still working and REassures me that there are days it will still kill me and days when it will feel like I'm a pro. I'm finding great peace in that knowledge. Even people who've been doing this for years feel like it's hell sometimes. I'm feeling like maybe I can do this...for a lifetime.

Day 8- Dejavu. It was Day 3 all over again, minus the crying. I didn't rest well and just felt all around achy and draggy as soon as I crawled out of the bed...late. Now, the old Lisa took every possible opportunity to cancel some exercise. "Oh, I overslept, I'll do it tonight..." and then figure out a reason why I couldn't do it once I got home. This new "who the heck are you?" Lisa said "you can squeeze 20 minutes in here and still make it to work barely late...DO IT!" Huh? I couldn't help but keep asking myself that as I laced up my shox. You know what, though, I'm loving this new me. That same morning, as I was hopping down and back up the steps at my apartment (the same ones that used to leave me breathless, with aching knees) to get to my car, I thought to myself "my body is amazing. You are doing amazing things for yourself" and at that very moment I realized that for the first time in 35 years I loved myself. I loved my body and the things it allowed me to do even after so many years of abuse, neglect, and self loathing. I love and respect my body. Even this very moment, as I say that aloud, it brings tears to my eyes. I truly never thought I'd say those words.

Day 9- Are you kidding me? Tomorrow is Day 10! Day 9 felt much like Day 4...I was elated to feel rejuvinated and strong after such a hard day just 24 hours before. The soreness wasn't as intense and my stamina was shocking. I'm down to a very minimal number of "i hate you Jillian's" at this point. :)

Day 10- Elation, Shock, Pride and Fear. I made it. I'll say it again, I MADE IT! This, never worked out before, scared I'd literally die if I pushed myself this hard, girl made it! I've never been so proud of myself. I am shocked. This is me...and Jillian Michaels...and she didn't break me. It was another rough night in the rest department and I woke up late, again...but there was no way I was putting off day 10. This particular 20 minutes was a hard one for me. I had to struggle to maintain my balance and the push ups were extremely hard for me this day...as was the cardio. Another day of feeling like a weighed a ton...but I pushed through and it feels better than anything else I've ever experienced. I never thought I'd be able to do this and I am so proud of who I am becoming!! And I'm scared. Level 2 starts Monday and I know this means a whole new set of things I've never asked my body to do. Will it work with me? Will I be strong enough? Those questions are constantly running through my head right now. The old me might bail...but this is the new me and I will not quit. Somehow, someway, I'm gonna make it through level 2, just like I made it through level 1...twenty minutes at a time.

Good gracious this is longer than I hoped it would be. Level 2's blog will not be so long, hopefully, because there will be no need for the introduction, etc.

I want to say one more thing before I go. I didn't take measurements before I started the Shred but I wish I had. My clothes are obvious signs that it's working and I just had to share that, this weekend, I had to get some new jeans. I started at a 26 and am now, ecstatic to share, that I'm wearing an 18. I had a pair of jeans prior to this workout that were fitting better and better each week but there was still just a little too much flab here and there to feel really comfortable in them. Last week, after just 5 days of the Shred, I put those jeans on and wore them confidently for the first time. 5 days and I already had a drastic change. My heart is soaring. I'm including a before and after pic here. This is the first time I'd looked at a before and after side by side and I'm blown away. I cannot believe how much I've changed in 52 lbs. I can't wait to see what I look like after another 50.
Thanks to Mandy, again, for all your never ending support, encouragement, knowledge, and unconditional love...and for asking me to share. Thanks, again, to y'all for sticking with my wordy self and caring enough to hear my story! For those of you who are just starting this journey, I know it's scary. It's the most frightening thing you'll ever do to take that first step and try...but you CAN do it. Trust your body and push...it will carry you through. And in that moment where it feels like you have nothing left...look to Heaven, He will show up and you will go further than you ever imagined you could! I'm proof...and I believe in you!

Off to bed for an early start to Level 2...pray for me! :)

Hey y'all! Mandy again! Isn't she amazing? Thanks for reading!

Thanks Lisa!!!

Have a great Tuesday!

Great Weekend!!

2009-08-09T22:17:00.014-05:00

You guys are so awesome! Thanks so much for all of your sweet words! I think the frustration part of it all is really coming from the fact that I feel like I'm working hard (minus my treats this weekend)... and seeing no results. I guess I need to sit back and REALLY look at my food... because I feel like my workouts aren't where I'm hurting with this. I go home next week for my brother's wedding and last time I was there, I was at my happy weight... so it's kind of embarassing to go back to see everyone. I feel frustrated and also like a failure! And honestly, I don't know how but I feel like I'm getting BIGGER. I put on three pairs of my bermuda shorts today and they were too small... I could wear them just fine a month ago!!!!??? I don't get it.

Anyway, my rant is over... I'm REALLY trying not to let it get to me. It's kind of come in waves this weekend! But thank you all for your support!

I have had such a great weekend! i hate that it's over! I got to spend lots of time with the hubby and the kiddo. Funny how doin' a bunch of nothin' can be the best time spent together.

JR and I have actually had a lot of fun lately working on puzzles together. I know we sound like some major party animals, don't we? Woohoo! No really, it's actually some good quality time that we can spend together... and it's almost meditative at times! While we were doing that, I had some dessert...Have you guys seen these new little individual servings of ice cream from Edy's??
Totally LOVE it... I'm one who normally can't have gallons or even pints of ice cream in the house because I WILL eat it... and not portion it out... haha... but this is PERFECT!!! I added a few of these bunny grahams and also 3 of these small marshmallows to make almost a smores type dessert...twas very yummy!
This morning, I got up and worked out... I did of course, Level 2 of the 30 Day Shred... and then since it's Sunday, I did some yoga, too! I don't know why.. but i LOVE doing yoga on Sundays. I guess it goes with Sunday's being a day to relax :)

I did this yoga video by Crunch... I REALLY like it... it focuses more on the lower body and you REALLY feel it when it's over!! I burned 386 calories with both work outs today.

I had a couple of work out buddies today while doing yoga... haha
While I worked out... JR and Maddie ran out and did some errands... and JR brought back some Starbucks! I got my usual skinny cinnamon dolce latte... and had it with breakfast. I decided to try something I have seen the lovely April do on her blog... add some pumpkin in my yogurt (I can hear JR gagging now... lol). It was REALLY good! I added some cinnamon and nutmeg... along with some agave and sliced banana. I had one of our new favorite blueberry muffins I made yesterday... the recipe that Jenna posted about a month ago. They're awesome... and so full of blueberries!!! I of course, slathered the muffin with a tablespoon of almond butter after this picture :)After breakfast, I got ready and headed to the grocery store for a few things for dinner tonight. Our grocery budget is done with for the week, so I'll have to make whatever we have around the house work! I have some fresh spinach and salad mix... a few apples, bananas and peaches... everything else produce wise is frozen. I'm sure we can make it work!

We planned to take dinner to my in laws house tonight so that they didn't have to worry about making anything for themselves and had a "night off" from cooking. They have been taking care of JR's grandmother... who is very sick (you can read more about it here). We're trying to make sure they're not stressing over little things and hoped this might help some! I came home from the store and while making lunch, made them a batch of the blueberry muffins for quick breakfast choices and also got things ready to make the mashed sweet potatoes.

While working in the kitchen, I made a quick lunch. A spinach wrap with turkey, hummus, turkey bacon, lite havarti cheese and spinach... there's a peach in the picture... but I got busy in the kitchen and forgot about it! By the time I saw it again, I didn't want it any longer.
When I finally got hungry again, I wanted my new chocolate smoothie... which I have no picture for...oops :(

We got to JR's parents house and JR grilled up the meats while I got salads ready... here's my salad and food once we got everything done: grilled pork loin chop with annie's bbq sauce, mashed sweet potatoes, some steamed veggies and a salad with mixed greens, blueberries, onion, gorgonzola cheese and sliced almonds...
We hung around and talked with JR's mom for awhile... and got to look at a lot of his grandmother's old photographs and letters... it was pretty neat!

We were going to head home but knew his mom needed a break... so we took her out for some ice cream :) We went to marble slab.... I got some of their fro-yo with chocolate chips... sorry for the blurry pic... I'm still not the best photographer!
Okay, I totally need to get to bed now... it's 11:30!!! I won't be getting up to work out... so I'll have to do it when we get home... which may mean it won't get done! :( I'm going to see how the day goes. I may make it my rest day, we'll see!

How was your weekend? Any fun plans this week?

the pictureless blog....

2009-08-08T17:09:00.013-05:00

Okay, maybe that's kind of a lie... there's at least two pictures at the end :)

How's your weekend going so far?

Yeah, so I didn't take a picture of one single thing I had to eat yesterday or today so far! BAD blogger, Mandy! Breakfast & lunch were repeats of Pumpk in Pancake s and Mellow Mushroom pizza leftovers... and dinner was out at Panera with JR & Maddie, where I had the incredibly yummy Chicken Strawberry Poppyseed salad and a multi grain baguette.I think it said on their menu that this salad is only out for another three weeks... so I am sure I'll be back to have it once more before then! The only other thing I had to eat was a larabar for a snack!

JR took Maddie home to get her to bed... and I stayed out and went to TJ Maxx and New York & Company to look for a dress to wear to my brother's wedding in a couple of weeks. Being honest - this was not a great experience :( I've discussed my weight gain recently on the blog... and have really tried not to let it get to me. I have felt like I've been trying hard with my food and with my work outs - not to try to lose all the weight I've gained... but enough to feel comfortable with myself again. I was staying away from the scale...but finally gave in and weighed last week. It had been almost two weeks... surely I had to lose SOMETHING, right??

Wrong.

Not only did I not lose anything - I went up two pounds.

Again, I've tried not letting it get to me... but last night, it all hit hard. I had a mini breakdown in the dressing room. I couldn't believe how many sizes I had to go up.. and how things that would normally look good on me, I couldn't even begin to wear in public.

I feel pretty defeated... I left the stores empty handed and broken-hearted.

I headed home and tried to unwind and relax a bit. I had two big glasses of wine... which hey, after a night like that, I deserved it! It definitely did the trick... I hung out with my honey and had a great rest of the night.

I do have to go find a dress still... I may wait until next weekend. I'm hoping to have a better experience!

As for today, I've been quite spoiled. I got to sleep in till 10 am!!!!! Whew! I haven't done that in a LONG time! It was great... woke up and didn't have much of an appetite. I had one small square of the coffee cake around 11 and about 30 minutes later - I had a turkey club sandwich (Trader Joe's turkey bacon, TJ's sliced turkey, 1 slice low fat swiss, Sabra's hummus, spinach, tomato on Publix Multi grain bread)....

JR and Maddie laid down for a nap, and I had to talk myself into working out. I did of course, Level 2 of the 30 Day Shred. I REALLY struggled through it today. I had no energy in the first circuit at ALL. I almost stopped it there and called it day... but made a deal with myself that if I kept going, I would just do what I could... even if that meant all the beginner options or just walking in place. I got a bit of a second wind in the 3rd circuit... and even wanted to do some extra cardio after I was finished. I put on a Firm dvd - Cardio Sc ulpt Blaster... some step and floor aerobics with light hand weights... I used some portions with a 6 inch step and some with an 8 inch step. I felt much better after I finished... and burned 505 calories.

RIGHT after, I made a smoothie...same as earlier this week... 1 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk, 1 tbsp cocoa powder, protein powder, 1/2 tbsp almond butter, 1 frozen banana... good stuff :)

Dinner was easy.... the hubby grilled some steak, I fixed up some salads and some leftover steamed veggies with sweet potatoes.

I'm sure there will be dessert.... JR is trying to talk me into Dairy Queen - SHAME! I'm hoping I don't give in!!! :)

We are just hanging around this weekend... being lazy!! What do you guys have going on?

2009-08-06T17:02:00.012-05:00

Hello!

Where to start?? Ah yes... finishing up Wednesday!

I didn't need an afternoon snack... and Maddie was ready for dinner pretty quickly after she woke up around 5... so I thought we'd have an early dinner and some kind of dessert later. I decided to make a bbq chicken salad. I basically threw together some leftover chicken with my new Annie's smokey maple bbq sauce (LOVE it!), kidney & pinto beans, corn, tomato, red onion, carrots, spinach and some mixed greens, topped it all off with some cheddar cheese... had some blue corn chips and hummus on the side!

And then I got busy in the kitchen... I pre-made our favorite lasagna for JR's parents so that all they had to do was pop it in the oven for an hour. This is a seriously good lasagna, folks! It's quite a bit of work... but SO worth it in the end!! Then I the chocolate coffee cake (which oddly enough has no coffee in it whatsoever) but that wasn't ready in time to head to their place. I have to say I'm happy it stayed here... haha kind of ;) As busy as I was, I never got hungry again... so no dessert or any other snacks last night!

I got to bed around midnight... and woke up again around 3 am... never got back to sleep again until 4:30.. I HATE that! I woke up at 8 to start the day. I stayed home one last day with Maddie so JR's parents could get things situated with hospice for his grandmother.

I was craving the pumpkin pancakes I had yesterday... sorry for the repeat! I didn't take a new picture... since I had on yesterdays post!

Snack was part of the coffee cake I mentioned earlier... guys, I'm not kidding.. this is SO good!!!!!!! Maddie loves it so much she has had 3 pieces today! This child is picky... so you know it's good when she is STILL asking for more! Knowing the awesome ingredients in this recipe, I was happy she was asking for more :)

I actually cut it into 20 little pieces... in an 8X8 pan! I had this small square and half of another after lunch that I shared with Maddie. Sorry it's SO blurry... I took about six different shots and it would NOT focus!

For lunch, I toasted up a flat out wrap filled with ground turkey w/ mexican seasoning, green peppers, tomato, cheddar cheese, hummus and onions... a side of pinto beans and corn and my last nectarine. Good stuff :)

Maddie and I then popped in the video of JR and I getting married! She had not seen this yet and it was fun talking to her about everyone in the video. We had a blast when it got to the reception part of the video... we did the (dreaded) chicken dance and the hokey pokey... haha...

Maddie then wanted to serenade the puppies... she got out her drum and made up a song for each of the dogs :)
After that, it was nap time for maddie and shredding time for mommy! Day 4, Level 2 of the 30 Day Shred. I was really craving some extra upper body work after... so I pulled out The Firm's Jiggle Free Arms and did some heavy lifting along with some step aerobics. I burned 488 calories between the two vidoes.

After I finished, I made a very chocolately protein shake for my post workout snackage! This had 1 cup unsweetned chocolate almond milk, 1 tbsp dark chocolate cocoa powder, 1 frozen banana, 1/2 tbsp almond butter, protein powder and some ice... again, sorry for the blurry picture!
We met some friends out for dinner tonight and Maddie requested Mellow Mushroom... we don't usually go there so close together as we did the past week... but I'll never argue if someone suggests it! I don't have any pictures... but tonight, JR and I got our own small 10 inch pizzas...Mine had grilled chicken, spinach, fresh basil and roma tomatoes. I had maybe 1 1/2 slices (there are 4)... but before that, I had some appetizers... one bruchetta and two small pieces of whole wheat garlic bread... plus about 3/4 of the salad that came with Maddie's pizza that she didn't eat. So yeah, I had plenty before the pizza even arrived! I was proud I didn't make myself stuff down the other 1/2 of that slice! I feel satisfied... not stuffed! NEVER happens with mellow mushroom!

I came home and soaked my muscles in a warm bath... My upper body is already seriously sore from my work out today! Although I have liked doing the Shred... I miss my heavier lifting! Things I would normally use 15 lbs for, I couldn't use more than 10-12 lbs today. So I am going to try working this in more for the next two weeks along with shredding!

I honestly could work my upper body every day of the week if it was safe :) I LOVE upper body work! Especially working my biceps :) I think hammer curls are my favorite bicep exercise!

What about you?? What is your favorite exercise for the upper body? Or do you have a favorite upper body routine or video?

Night all!

Day of rest....

2009-08-05T15:56:00.017-05:00

Today is my day "rest day" from working out... and rest is exactly what I did! I don't know that I have really moved much other than playing some with Maddie... doing a bit of her what she calls her "exercise movie" with her... and going to the grocery store! I have been so lazy!

Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers for JR's grandmother. They tried to stop the bleeding... but were not able to. They also found out that her liver has completely stopped working. So now it's just a matter of keeping her comfortable... she will be home under hospice care tonight. JR's Uncle's flew in this morning and his Aunt lives here... so please say a prayer for his dad and family!

I went to the grocery store to get stuff to make a couple of meals for JR's parents. Hopefully this will give them one or two meals they don't have to worry about! For some grab 'n go breakfast options, I am making some blueberry muffins and maybe a coffee ca ke. Then for dinner, I am making them our favorite lasagna. My in-laws are always there for us... so I hope this will take a little bit of pressure off of them!

Rewinding back to dessert last night... No picture... but I made some chocolate banana soft serve!! YUM!! Just took my frozen bananas and added 1 tbsp dark cocoa powder and 1/2 tsp cinnamon... good stuff!!!

So I have to share how proud I am of my hubby... he has actually done the 30 Day Shred on his OWN... without me nudging or anything the past two days! Wha??? Who is this man??? Maddie decided to join him last night... and I had to share with you what she used as her "weights"...

Yes, that would be a pair of SOCKS... haha!

Another workout shot of Maddie doin' the shred...
Gotta love it :) Jillian would be proud!

After dinner, Maddie and JR had a jam session in the living room.... Maddie was sure to grab her barbie guitar!
Video to come later! :)

As for today, I stayed home again with Maddie... it's been pretty low key here!!

Breakfast was pumpkin pancakes... Just took my usual oat bran recipe... this time, I had 1/4 cup oatmeal and 1/4 cup oat bran... and added in 1/3 cup pumpkin and some pumpkin pie spice... kept everything else the same :) Topped them with some Mighty Maple and some TJ's almond butter!

I had a small amount of my new Trader Joe's trail mix mid-morning to snack on... and then this yummy sandwich and a nectarine for lunch...
Not really sure of a snack just yet... or dinner at this point!

Before I go... I have to share with you the other "kiddos" in the house. I feel like such a bad mama! I haven't even mentioned them yet!!

Meet Lady and Scooter...

Scooter is part Jack Russell Terrier and Italian Greyhound... he's everyone's best friend :)

And there's Lady... she is all diva ;) She's part long haired chiuiua and miniature pincher

Do you have any pets? I can't imagine my life without ours!

Time to finally get moving! have a good night everyone!

Two days, One heck of a long post!

2009-08-03T22:21:00.021-05:00

So did everyone make it through Monday?? It was kind of a tough one for me... thankfully it's over and we're one day closer to the weekend :)

I absolutely did NOT want to get up to work out yesterday! I did anyway - after the hubby actually nudging me a few times... which is usually the other way around! We did Level 2 of the 30 day shred... I used 3, 5 & 8 lb weights throughout the video... I burned 200 calories Let me tell you - my.ass.hurts!!!! Holy cow!! I am sore!! I think the yoga on Sunday very much contributed to that, too. Bob's Yoga is not for wimps!

Yowza ;)

A quick food recap for Monday...

Breakfast -I tried to make an almond butter french toast type sandwich... with Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin bread... it was a great idea - but the bread seemed to break easily! I want to try this again with a sturdier bread - which you would think the Ezekiel bread would be... but not so much!

My mid-morning snack was a homemade trail mix... some Kashi Honey Sunshine and Kashi Heart to Heart cereal with almonds, cashews, dark chocolate chips and golden raisins... I had already had about half this bag when I remembered to snap a pic!

Lunch is somehow without a picture... I swear I took one! Just a simple turkey burger in a wrap with mozzarella cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion... with leftover veggies from dinner last night.

No pic of my next snack either.... Maddie and I ran over to Target and she wanted a juice from starbucks... it was SO hot out and I couldn't resist getting a tall light frappuccino!!

By the time we finished up at Target and the grocery store... it was 7:30!! I came home and threw this together for dinner... and downed it two times faster than it took to make!!
Tuna mixed with smart balance mayo, mixed greens, onion, tomato and arnolds thins with some sabra's hummus!

That's about the most excitement that went on for me on Monday!

As for today, it has been a little crazy! I woke up to my alarm but my body would NOT give in today! So I decided to let myself sleep in... I was supposed to go to a Zumba class with our best friend Lisa... but unfortunately that didn't happen :( Anyway - I got up, got ready for work... made some seriously quick eats on my way out of an Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin english muffin with 1 tbsp of PB on each side, a banana... and I stopped at Starbucks... Yes - AGAIN. Seriously - I did not realize that was 3 days in a row! I'm cut off for the rest of the week!!! Yeesh! Anyway, I got a non fat cinnamon dolce latte...

In my morning madness, I walked out without a thing for lunch... and was hoping to find a good wrap at Trader Joe's... which I did not find what I was looking for! :( Didn't matter - I got a phone call from Jr's dad asking me to come get Maddie (my in-laws are awesome - they watch Maddie for us while we work!) ... JR's grandmother has been in a nursing home for recovery from surgeries earlier this month... and they discovered today that she has some internal bleeding going on! :( Very scary stuff! So, I went over and got Maddie...

I was SO hungry on my way to get Maddie, I grabbed a couple of handfuls of this new mix I picked up at Trader Joe's today...

We headed home and at this point, it was 1:30 and I was beyond starving! I scarfed down lunch before even realizing I needed a picture! A La Tortilla wrap with probably about 2 tbsp hummus, grilled chicken, lettuce, tomato, onion and a slice of swiss... with just a couple of blue corn chips on the side for some crunch...

I put Maddie down for her nap (oh how I love nap time!) and got my work out on big time! I did Level 2 of 30 Day Shred (of course) and then did a F irm video... quite an older one - we're talkin' leotards and tights era ;) It's called Super Cardio Mix... lots of step work, 4-limb work, and plyometrics... and then I ended with lots of yoga type stretching. I got 626 calories burned today! Which made up for Zumba not being able to happen... this is about what I burn in a Zumba class!

I went right off to make a smoothie for a snack that I took about five sips of and threw out... not a good combo! I was going to have something else but realized it was too close to dinner and that could leave me some room to have some dessert tonight instead!

So dinner... made some meatloaf muffins with my new bbq sauce as the topping (and some with ketchup for JR, of course!)... leftover mashed sweet potatoes, corn that I shared with Maddie, squash and zucchini and a couple of carrots...

Not sure what we'll end up doing for dessert... but will be back to post that tomorrow :)

Please say a prayer for JR's grandmother! Last I had heard a few hours back, she was still being worked on in the ER...

Off to finish dinner and catch up on blogs... night!

Guys - editing this to add - please keep Jen in your prayers... I know we had a lot of doggie losses this weekend... Jen also lost her mom unexpectedly...you can read about it here....

Dessert Guilt? And Make Up Monday!

2009-08-02T21:32:00.034-05:00

Here we go... Monday again! :)

To finish up Sunday... I DID thankfully talk myself into working out after my last post. That's the MAIN reason I hate not working out first thing in the morning. It can be hard to get that motivation in later in the day! On the weekends, though... I really try to give myself one day to sleep in - if getting up at 7:30 or 8:00 am is really sleeping in! haha!

I did Day 1, Level 2 of the 30 Day Shred...oh.my.gosh!!!!! I was drenched in sweat! I used 3, 5 & 8 lbs throughout the work out... and was seriously still catching my breath after the cool down! I was determined to get some yoga in, too. I haven't done any type of yoga since my last workshop class in the middle of July! I have been craving it! So I stuck with the Biggest Loser theme and popped in Bob's Weight Loss Yoga DVD. I had to wait about ten minutes to get the feeling back in my body after Jillian's work out... yowza! I burned 350 calories between the two workouts...

I was beyond starving after yoga... but could not figure out what I wanted! I started with a couple of tablespoons of this trail mix from Trader Joe's....Then realized I was really wanting an apple... so I got this baby out and sprinkled some cinnamon all over it... okay yeah, weird... but oh so good!!! I am obsessed with Braeburn apples!!Love 'em!

For dinner we used our new Annie's bbq sauce that I won from Danica and grilled it up on some chicken... I sauteed some squash, asparagus, green beans and carrots in a little olive oil and sprinkled with some shredded asiago cheese... also had some mashed sweet potatoes on the side - the sweet potatoes rocked, if I do say so myself! :) And got rave reviews from the husband... which is a big deal ;)

I tried to cut myself off after that... but was REALLY wanting dessert!!! I finally settled on a vitamuffin with some PB&Co's Mighty Maple and PB&Co's Dark Chocolate Dreams...
Do you guys ever feel guilty about having dessert? I really tried not to because I wanted it... but it still bothers me that I "gave in"... I know I should not worry about this in the long run... but I let stuff like this get to me too easily!

Now onto a quick Make Up Monday!

How many times have you had this happen to you? You put your eye make up on before going to work or going out with friends, family, etc.... and by lunch time or a few hours into your event it has either creased, faded or completely come off? That would REALLY upset me! I started searching around and found these great primers to put on before applying your eye shadow!

Since using the primers, I hardly EVER have to retouch my eye shadow! No creasing, fading, etc!

I wanted to take some pictures showing you the difference primers make but I haven't had the chance as of yet... will definitely need to do it with lots of natural light... I will do it as soon as I can this week!

Here are a few of the primers I have heard of... I put the description the company has for them and any additional notes I have after :)

MAC Paint Pots - Description: A highly pigmented eye colour that goes on creamy but dries to an intense, vibrant finish. Long-wearing, colourfast. Creates seamless coverage without weight or caking. Blends smoothly over the lids. Cream-based, can be mixed with M·A·C shadows and liners.

Mandy's take: Paint Pots are GREAT! They have a ton of different colored paint pots that can be used to help your eye shadows "pop". I use the black paint pot to use underneath teals or purples... and it REALLY intensifies the colors!! They're amazing! You can find them on MAC's website or any MAC store close to you!

Urban Decay Primer Potion - Description: The genie in this bottle fulfills three wishes: eyeshadow that lasts, more vibrant and lasting color, and absolutely NO creasing. Apply Primer Potion to lids before shadow application. It dries down almost instantly (and invisibly), creating smooth lids that are super powered eyeshadow magnets.
Mandy's take: I LOVE this primer! It completely brings out the true pigmented color of the shadow you're using and last all day long! My #1 recommendation! You can find this at Sephora or on Urban Decay's website. I believe it's around $16!

MAC Creme Color Base - Description: Versatile and multi-purpose, Cream Colour Base can be applied directly to bare skin, or layered over foundation, moisturizer, or powder. Apply with a brush, sponge, or fingers. Colour effects range from a light veil to highly dramatic, depending on method of application

Mandy's Take: I do love the creme color base! But I actually like it more as a highlighter on my cheeks rather than for an eye primer. I use them for primers when I am using a pigment shadow or a loose shadow. These types of shadow need something that's a bit more sticky to really grab on to... and the creme color bases are perfect for that! Also, if you do use them... use a more matte primer underneath, like the Urban Decay primer. The creme base does tend to crease or get oily... using another primer underneath will keep this from happening!

Too Faced Shadow Insurance - Description: This is your full-coverage insurance policy against all fading, creasing, melting, blurring, oil slicked, and hard-to-blend eyeshadow accidents. Our silicone based eyeshadow primer transforms any eyeshadow into a perfectly blendable, color-drenched, intensified version of itself, then locks it down perfectly until you take it off. This soothing formula evens out the skintone on your lids and smoothes lines while securing a barrier between the oils of your skin and your makeup, so no shadow catastrophes will ever happen again.

Mandy's Take: This is probably my 3rd favorite primer. I can say that it is a little easier to blend the shadows with this one... but still doesn't seem to make the colors show as much as the Urban Decay primer does - for me! But definitely a good one to get!

That's all that I have tried... there are SO many out there! If you have tried any other primers, any of the ones I have mentioned, or use another technique - I'd LOVE to hear!! :)

Have a great night!

Weekend Wrap up! :)

2009-08-02T13:08:00.022-05:00

How was everyone's weekend? Before I recap our Sunday... I'll finish up our Saturday :)

I did my last day of Level 1 of Jillian's 30 Day shred yesterday. I had planned on doing some heavy upper body work after... but as I was getting my stuff out, I saw this kit that The Firm put out last year that I got for Christmas. I haven't used it yet and thought while I had some extra time, I should give it a try. It only uses a resistance band and a weighted jump rope. The jump rope has 2 lbs weights on the handles. You can either use the DVD as a whole or they break it up into 4 segments that are 10 minutes each.
I'm not sure that I loved this work out. The "equipment" seemed a little cheap. I will say that the cardio portion is TOUGH. It's mainly jump rope... you do two minutes of jump roping - basic jumping, then adding in things like high knees, jumping on one foot, etc.. then you take a break and do plyometric moves... which is HARD after doing two minutes of straight weighted jump roping! Then I did the lower body portion, which uses the resistance band... I'm actually really feeling that today!!! The upper body and abs portion are just okay. I'd pull this out for a very quick cardio boost and lower body add on... but not sure I'd use the upper body/ab parts! All in all, I burned 450 calories...

Yesterday after my post, our best friend Lisa joined us and we headed off to the mall. We grabbed a quick Subway sandwich and baked chips for lunch. Miss Maddie begged to ride the carousel...haha... this is the best shot!!
I did have 1 1/2 pretzel cinnamon stix from Auntie Anne's... yum :) Then went off to the Nike Outlet and picked up my new shoes that I am SO, SO excited about! Of course, had to have some pink on them :) How cute are they?!?!?!
Maddie decided she wanted to try them out, too... haha... I could have told her she had them on the wrong feet... but it was too funny!

I snacked on an apple and some trail mix last night before we had our leftover pizza from date night for dinner! Seriously too good :)

As for today, We had a leisurely day... Okay, I had a lazy day... JR did yard work, vacuumed out our cars... and then Maddie and I helped him wash our cars...
I kind of sat around, caught up on some blogs and did a bunch of nothing! I did plan out some meals for the week... I don't have "set" plans but at least have some options, which is a huge leap for me!

We got up and headed straight out to grab the Sunday paper and some Starbucks... I came home and really wasn't very hungry... I didn't have any cravings, so pulled this out for breakfast...
I ended up not wanting the banana... so just had a small amount of PB on the half blueberry bagel and my latte!

I went through our freezer to see what we have for upcoming meals this week... and realized we had quite a few different loaves of bread taking up all of our space! I thought I should have a sandwich for lunch to start using some of it up... I pulled out a couple of slices of this (sorry it's a bit blurry)...I had this with some turkey, Sabra's classic hummus (OBESSED with Sabra's hummus!), lettuce, tomato, Whole Foods honey mustard, Havarti Cheese... a few Sun Chips and some fruit on the side... Good lunch!

I am now 0ff to do Day 1 of Level 2 on the 30 day shred... lord help me get through it! I'm exhausted and wanting to take a nap more than anything else!

Anyone have anything exciting going on this week?

Have a great rest of the weekend!

It's the weekend... and some new loot!

2009-07-30T22:04:00.031-05:00

Sorry I haven't been around... I've had way more important things to do than blogging... like showing off my mad coloring skills...

No need to be jealous :)

It's the weekend!!!!!!!!!!!! I was so ready for this weekend to come!

Backing up to yesterday's food...

I made JR and I smoothies for breakfast... my favorite combo of 1 banana, 1/2 cup frozen cherries, 1 cup chocolate unsweetened almond milk, protein powder and some almond butter... good stuff :) (I had this today, too... I'll spare ya a repeat of that!) For lunch, I ended up at a place called Roly Poly sandwiches...it's funny they call it sandwiches because really, they make wraps... hmm...
I got their Cider House Melt... which is...a Whole Wheat Tortilla, Smoked Turkey Breast, Baked Ham, Reduced Fat Swiss Cheese, Spinach, Mushrooms, Onion, Grilled Golden Brown w/Side of Fat Free Apple Ranch Dressing

I had it with about half a bag of harvest cheddar sun chips and a bowl of cherries, strawberries and blueberries....

It was really yummy!!! I always forget about this place!!

My 3 year old, Maddie, called JR and I in the middle of the afternoon yesterday asking if she could stay the night with grandma and grandpa... so JR and I ended up having an unplanned date night!!!

We headed off to see a movie... which we haven't done in um... months... and finally went to see "The Hangover"! Told ya we are behind with our movies!!! It was pretty darn funny!!!

Then we headed off to our favorite pizza place, Mellow Mushroom for dinner!!! Yummy! We started off with the bruchetta (and a big glass of red wine!!)... I had two of these...
and then we each had two slices of pizza... my side had spinach, chicken, mushrooms, onions and green peppers :) Yum... check out that CRUST... droooolll...

I have got to get going and jump in the shower... so I will be back later to report the rest of date night food but before that... I haven't had the chance to share this with you all as of yet! I received my Annie's prize pack from Danica on Monday! We got LOTS of great stuff!
Maddie RIGHT away claimed what she wanted!! She loves her "bunny fruit"!
I am planning on using the bbq sauce this weekend for a couple of meals! Same with the new Mac 'n Cheese :) Annie's brand of macaroni is the only brand I buy for Maddie to eat... Awesome ingredients!! Thanks Danica!

Okay! I'm off to shower and then we're heading to the mall so I can get some new work out shoes... I'm thinking of getting some Nike Shox... Lisa and I have been doing Zumba classes (my new LOVE!) and I've heard they're awesome for that and all around workouts... so we're heading to the Nike Outlet in hopes of a good deal!

How is your weekend going so far? Any plans?

Thank you!!! Long post... please hang in there with me!

2009-07-29T19:39:00.024-05:00

Hello!

Thank you all for your awesome responses on my last post. I was a little ashamed to say anything and almost decided not to... but I absolutely want this blog to show the true struggles of weight loss/maintenance and thought not only could it be helpful for me... but maybe it will help someone else who's struggling, too!

It's weird to say... but growing up overweight, I some how knew that I would lose the weight, exercise... and be the healthy person that was waiting inside! I hoped to be a great example for my family and that they would be proud of me for doing this for myself.

But as a teenager, my main goal was to be "skinny"!! High school wasn't so great for me - I was teased constantly! All I wanted to do was to be pretty and "skinny" so they'd leave me alone! and that would be "it", ya know? All of my problems would be solved and life would be peachy-keen!

WRONG!

There are so many aspects to weight loss and then weight maintenance! I had no idea of the emotional impact that would come along with it. There was transitioning from the big girl to the skinny girl, the loose skin that came with major weight loss that will never firm up and be there unless I have surgery, thinking if I had a cookie or something I was really craving I was being "bad" and therefore, ended up eating everything in sight after, etc, etc... I'm not gonna lie, it was/is a tough road! I have learned A LOT over the past ten years of my journey and in a way, I'm thankful for every step I had to take. It's an every day commitment...

Here's a couple of pics of me... close to my heaviest point...right after high school
All of that to say, I know there are set backs and this probably won't be the last! I'm not perfect - I never will be and life shouldn't have to be that way!

I got an email from one of my favorite bloggers that was awesome and totally made my morning! In it she said this, "Hating yourself is not productive; doing something about it is"... That was the main thing I learned from my "journey". The harder I am on myself - the worse shape I'm in... it's emotionally and physically draining! I struggle with this the most... and sometimes feel SO lost on how to change it. What do you do to turn the negative tapes off? I try to... and then they creep RIGHT back in!

So, as for this "plan" I referred to...there really isn't one! I don't think that being completely restrictive on myself is going to help things along. That usually ends up backfiring and making it worse. I'm trying to be really simple with my food...not worrying about making elaborate meals, just stuff that's easy to put together... whatever sounds good at the time! I am trying to cut back on sugar, though. When my eating was out of control... I was having two desserts a day... cookies in the afternoon, big bowls of ice cream at night. Not small, portioned desserts... and all I was craving was sugar and starches... so for me, if I really want something, I'll have it... but other than that, trying to stay away from it is the best choice for me right now! I usually have desserts on the weekend... so i have that to look forward to :)

On the work out front, I have decided to finally use Jillian's 30 Day Shred as it is intended. I have used it here and there and threw in whatever level sounded good... and when I took my 2 week work out hiatus, I thought a good challenge would get me started again. My husband has not had a great work out schedule since March... AND I knew this would be a great opportunity for our best friend, Lisa - who has lost 50 pounds and is doing AMAZING... to start a new challenge of her own! In fact, she will be doing some guest blogging on her Shred experience! :)

Here's gorgeous Lisa...
Here is Lisa, our friend Liz and me (Mandy)

Along with Shredding, I will be adding in some extra strength training - I love lifting heavier weight way too much to stop for 30 days... and also some extra cardio!

Today was a rest day... will be up tomorrow for Day 5 of Level 1 and some Upper Body work!

Sorry for this monster post! I hope it made SOME sense!

Last thing... Megan is having a great Chobani yogurt giveaway! I'd love to win this myself... so don't go check it out... haha :)

Just for laughs... I will leave you with a picture of our "first born child"... Pepe Le Pew... he has this thing with laying in my flip flops... I finally caught a couple of pictures of it :)

Okay... I'm out of here for the night! Thank you to anyone who could stick through all of that :)

Things are a-changin'!

2009-07-28T23:03:00.005-05:00

Hey everyone!

First of all, thank you all SO much for your support on my last post! I really appreciate it :)

I have to make this VERY quick because I can't keep my eye lids open anymore... but wanted to make sure I let you know that if you came here lookin' for a "Peanut Butter Lovin' Mama"... you came to the right place! :) My husband, JR is INCREDIBLE and made this new banner for me and also helped me come up with the new title :) Peanut Butter Lovin' Mama was just kind of a filler till I found what I was really looking for!! I'm so excited!

I will be making more updates this weekend probably... Finally some About Me Info, Before & After pictures (which you can see a couple of pictures here).. maybe some meal ideas? I'm not sure!

What would you guys like to see? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

What do you think of the header? I love the new page color... I'm such a girly girl... it fits me completely!

Off to bed! Night!

Make Up Monday... and a confession....

2009-07-27T15:37:00.017-05:00

Happy Monday everyone :) I hope it was a good start to the week for ya!

Make Up Monday will be short and sweet :)

First... here are a few fun pics that my sister, Brittney sent me! She's great with playing with bright colors!! I so wish I could do that!

Thanks Britt! :)

I thought instead of posting my mug all over the page , I thought I would share with you one of my can't-live-without products!

My favorite mascara - L'Oreal Voluminous!

I have tried many expensive and inexpensive mascaras and ALWAYS go back to this! In my opinion, mascara is one of those things you can save your money on when buying make up. I think there are some that really stand up and even pass the quality of the high end make up lines!

Why this mascara ROCKS:

It's cheap! It's around $7... I can usually find coupons for any L'Oreal eye products, too... and if you watch Walgreens or CVS, they have lots of buy one, get one free sales. When I find this, I buy one, get one for free and use my coupon... and usually end up only paying $3 for two tubes! Bonus!
The volume and thickening is amazing! I only need a couple coats... makes my lashes feel so luscious!
I put it on in the morning and no need to worry about touching it up throughout the day! It has great staying power!

I absolutely recommend this mascara!!

One great tip that every lady should follow before you put on your mascara is to curl your lashes! It will make your eyes look ten times bigger!

What about you? What is your favorite mascara? Please share! :)

Confession time....

I have mentioned before in the past few posts that my eating hasn't been so great as of lately. I don't know what has kicked me off my normal healthy routine! I am not going to go into how badly my eating has been... but will say that it's consisted mainly of sweets (big cookies, ice cream) at least twice a day, and not a ton of veggies or fruits at all... lots of junk food that I don't normally eat or want! And lots of it!

That being said... I was already up about 7 pounds from my "happy weight" that I had been at for over a year... and now just from the past two weeks, I'm up 13 pounds.

I even had to go out and buy new jeans and a couple of new shirts! I don't have the money to be doing that right now!

Ugh...

I wasn't having an issue with my workouts... until Brittney came.. .then our schedule was CRAZY! We were out of town and I was up much later every night than I normally am and it threw me way out of whack. I didn't work out for about two weeks! I finally started up again on Saturday... thank goodness!

It's been a constant hate battle with my self confidence. I have been avoiding mirrors and tight clothes at all cost because I'm so mad at myself! I've kept off over 100 pounds for almost 10 years now... and at my "happy weight" for quite some time after having Maddie (and in better shape than I was BEFORE having Maddie) and that weight seemed to come naturally and I had no issues feeling satisfied with food! But now that I've gained so much weight and so quickly... I am ashamed to let family, friends, co-workers see me! Most people who know me as "the weight loss girl"... the girl they come to for some advice when trying to lose weight... I feel like such a failure right now!

I'm trying to take a step back... and look at things in the long run - I haven't gained back all of my weight - just 13 pounds. Yes, it's a good amount... but not 100 pounds!

I need to stop yelling at myself! The guilt does NOT help!

I can either choose to continue to eat this way and make things worse... or I can keep my eats simple for now to help me "detox" a bit and get back on track...

This is all about my health... not JUST losing weight!

Now, I don't have a HUGE plan to change things...but wanted to be open and talk about all of this here... since I wanted to be honest and share what's REALLY going on with me!

I will talk more tomorrow about my small "plan"... it's nothing outrageous or a crazy, intelligent plan... but what I think will work for me!

I'm sorry for all of that... but thank you to whoever listened!!

The batteries in our camera are dead.... and we are out of batteries! I keep forgetting to snap pics of my food today because I'm not used to using my cell phone for it!!

So for breakfast, just imagine a whole wheat bagel, with cheese, eggs and a slice of turkey bacon...

For a snack, a banana/pb sandwich... half with PB&Co's Might Maple PB and the other with PB&Co's Bee's Knee's PB :)

Lunch was leftovers of my pizza from Saturday night... and a big side salad with four small strawberries, onion, tomato, carrots, and a sprinkle of feta cheese... I got some pics with my cell phone of this...

Afternoon snack was a big ol juicy braeburn apple... YUMMM... and a small serving of Trader Joe's Trail Mix... good stuff!

For dinner, I just threw together a bunch of things that needed to be used up.... I sauteed some onions, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes and asparagus.... threw them in with some quinoa and some leftover chicken sprinkled with some parmesan cheese... simple but yummy!This morning, JR and I got up and did our Day 3 of Level 1 of Jillian's 30 Day Shred... then we added on 20 extra minutes of cardio... I burned a total of 446 calories!

Now I am off to do some more work... and then going to bed. I have a horrible headache!!

How did your Monday shape up? I hope it went by quickly!

On the go, go, go...

2009-07-26T16:15:00.026-05:00

Hey everyone!

Why is it that every weekend seems to fly by faster than the last? I can't believe July is almost over! It's going to be Christmas before ya know it! Maybe that's why Maddie has been asking about Santa almost every day this week?!?

To finish off our Saturday night, JR and I played a game of Rumy. It's one of our favorites to play together... although, I have to say, I hate losing to him! haha! I had to give in and go to bed around 12:30...I'm such an old lady! But no fear... one more round and I'm sure I'll kick his tail end! We were both feeling snacky when we started our game...so we had this while watching our season 10 DVD of Friends (who else misses new Friends episodes?!?!?!) and playing cards...
That's mine with the added M&M's and almonds! So good!

Maddie woke me up bright and early at 7:00 this morning (while daddy got to sleep till 10am!!)... did a few things around the house, caught up on some blogs...when I finally felt hungry ...I wanted... chocolate :) Chocolate for breakfast? Hey, I'm PMS-ing - it's allowed!! Okay, so really... it looks like mud... but I promise it was yummy!I first microwaved 1/2 cup oat bran, unsweetened Almond milk, water, 2 tbsp liquid egg whites - for some added protein, 1/2 tsp vanilla and agave nectar... then stirred in some dark chocolate cocoa powder... added some chopped cherries, banana and dark chocolate chips! With some almond butter on the side...

Once JR decided to get out of bed we headed to get the Sunday paper and make a Starbucks stop... I grabbed a grande skinny cinnamon dolce latte...

While I was upstairs doing some cleaning, JR and Maddie did some cleaning of their own... going through ALL of her stuffed animals trying to figure out what she still plays with and what we can put up till the next little one comes along! Where's Maddie? HaHa...

Between oatmeal and the latte, I did not want any food until almost 1:30... I was craving a grilled sandwich! I used some Trader Joe's turkey, havarti cheese, lettuce, tomato, smart balance mayo with 1 tsp smart balance light butter to grill it... individual bag of sun chips on the side! YUM! This is really the first time I've had the havarti cheese... I really like it!
Also got some baking action going on today!...I made these Berry Rich Muffins... I needed to use up our buttermilk and also had way more blackberries and blueberries than I think we could have eaten before they went bad... so this was perfect. Excuse JR's fingers in the picture... he's trying to grab one before they've even cooled! ;)

Once we got Maddie down for her nap, we got our work out on! JR worked out with me today! We did Level 1 of Jillian's 3o Day Shred... I used mainly 5 & 8 lbs throughout the work out... and then did some extra lower body work after we finished. I burned 361 calories....after that, I had 1/4 of one of the muffins and probably about a tablespoon of my new Trader Joe's trail mix for a snack... then got dinner ready!

Dinner was easy tonight... I just marinated some lean pork in a teriyaki marinade, some roasted rosemary red potatoes and steamed up an asian veggie medley...
I have been a busy bee all day! I got meals planned out for the week, which was a chore! I felt so disorganized! I haven't planned meals in quite some time and did not know where to start! How do you make out your meal plans???

I then clipped all the coupons I wanted from the newspaper... I was using them faithfully for awhile... and noticed a big difference when I stopped! Do any of you use coupons?

Now I'm heading off to bed... getting up early for some more Level 1 Jillian and some cardio action! Night all! :)

Clean kitchen, happy mama... and workin' out with the kiddo!

2009-07-26T09:10:00.011-05:00

Hey everyone!

How's your weekend going so far?

Yesterday was pretty good for us... it was nice to finally be home for more than to just sleep, get up and go all over again!

I woke up pretty early on my own yesterday... I knew I'd toss and turn if I tried to go back to sleep, so I just got up to start the day. I thought I'd make us all a yummy breakfast since I had so much time on my hands! I remembered I had some buttermilk that HAS to be used up, so I found a yummy waffle recipe to start our day with! Definitely worth making! I only made half of the recipe and got a few more than it said because my waffle maker is on the smaller side... but I think I may make more today and freeze them to toast up for easy on the go breakfast during the week! The recipe is here! I had one with some chobani vanilla yogurt, blackberries and banana. And of course, I had some PB&Co Bee's Knee's on it after I snapped the pic :)
After breakfast, Maddie and I got ready and headed out to get her hair cut! She said she was going to see her favorite "hair cutter lady, Ms. Glory". She did great with staying still and moving where Glory needed her to! I was a little afraid she'd be antsy and all over the place! Glory had some extra time after cutting her hair... so she played around and gave her a pretty princess hair do :) I only had my cell phone with me and only got one pic... but here's what the back looked like! She loved it! :)

Since Maddie was such so good for her hair cut, she got to pick where we had lunch! She said she wanted "turkey and cheese", which is her way of saying she wanted Subway! No pic... I'm sure y'all know what Subway food looks like! ;)

We ran to Trader Joe's... then came home and both took a nap! I slept for maybe an hour and got up and forced myself to get a work out in! I can not even remember the last time I worked out. Oh wait, it was right before we went to Alabama! Wow! Yeah, eating has been horrible since then, too. That's a whole other post that I plan to get to, though!

So I put in Jillians' 30 Day Shred and got going with Level 1. I used 5 & 8 lbs weights, depending on the exercise. It felt good to sweat! Sometimes it's SO hard to get going.. but once you're in it and finished, it feels amazing!!

After that, I had to conquer our kitchen. I almost took a picture of it to show you how bad it was... but that was wayyyy to shameful! I honestly could not see our kitchen counters! And who knew what was in the fridge at this point! I swear, from the day Brittney got here till yesterday, we haven't been home at ALL. It took me probably two hours between washing dishes, loading and unloading the dishwasher, going through papers on the counter, putting things away, and cleaning out the fridge! Now that it's done, I feel like a hundred pounds have been lifted off my shoulders...

Now our bedroom... that's a whole other story... sigh...

Maddie woke up from her nap as I was in my last circuit of Jillian's work out... She decided she wanted to join mommy and get her exercise in! I love that... always makes me feel so good about her seeing me and JR exercise. After we finished, she asked to do HER exercise dvd... I found this awesome kids work out dvd about a year ago. They do lots of stretching at the beginning and then in the middle, running, walking, marching, hopping, leaping, etc.... then they do a "freeze dance"... where they freestyle dance... she has a blast! I snapped a couple of pics of her stretching at the beginning...
She then found my hair band that I use to keep my hair back when I work out... put it on and just HAD to do her "exercise movie" (as she calls it) again because it made it SO much easier for her... haha

As I've mentioned before... Saturday night is pizza night in our house! We tried out Publix's premade dough this time around. It's pretty good... although I missed my Whole Food's dough! Some day we'll be brave enough to try to make our own.... when? I don't know! I am pretty intimidated by it... not sure why!

This week... my side had some Trader Joe's sundried tomato and basil chicken sausage, peppers, onion, mushrooms... that I cooked in some water, dried basil and oregano before baking on the pizza. I had maybe half of this beer with it...

I am going to end this monster post here... but will be back with other things to round out the weekend!

Do you have any "weekend traditions"? Saturday night has been our pizza night here... and we've been making our own now for the past year... and I would now much rather have our pizza than going out for pizza!

**Tomorrow is Make Up Monday! I'd LOVE to have someone send in a review of a new product they have tried, or something they love... or even one of your favorite "looks". If you have something you want to share, let me know!**

Do you guys have a favorite recipe that uses buttermilk that's pretty healthy? I need to use up the rest... I don't have too much left but have to use it today! I'm thinking of making some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins... but would love to hear any other suggestions!

Best.Grilled.Cheese.Ever.

2009-07-24T20:59:00.012-05:00

Okay... maybe not EVER... but for me - it rocked!!!!

I found this recipe on the Oprah website... her side-kick Gayle had traveled around trying different sandwiches... and this sandwich always stuck out in my mind because it used an ingredient I had never heard of before in a grilled cheese.... honey! I was curious... and a little scared! But also knew it used fresh basil and tomato... and we had some basil and tomatoes from our CSA delivery that needed to be used asap... and I had just bought new honey last night... so why not give it a try?? :)

So glad we did!!!I had a big spinach salad with red onion and strawberries and then some mango, blackberries and cherries on the side... So yummy!

Here is the recipe! Let me know if you try it :)

We did not use all the cheese it asked for... I didn't buy any fontina... and we did not use as much butter but either way - it was GREAT!

After dinner, I did some work (yep... on a Friday night.. and all this weekend!) and JR and Maddie played Candy Land... do you guys remember playing Candy Land when you were kids??? Oh the good ol times :) Maddie beat Daddy's behind all three games, btw! ha ha! Go Maddie! That's my girl! Just kidding honey... Love ya ;)

We have a pretty laid back weekend planned... tomorrow I am taking Maddie to get her hair cut, then coming home and cleaning like a mad woman and doing some more work!

What are your plans this weekend? Doing anything fun? I'm thankful to be able to sit around and veg this time around! I feel like we've been going non-stop for a month now!

Night all :)

Sunshine on a rainy day....

2009-07-22T19:52:00.011-05:00

Thank you all for your sweet comments on Maddie's video! I don't know if you could tell from the video... but she was copying everything she saw Taylor doing in the video!! Too funny!

Did anyone take advantage of Starbucks free pastry day yesterday? I most certainly did! I got a skinny latte and their three berry coffee cake, which I have to say - was VERY yummy! Britt got the lemon pound cake. She loved it!

I ended up in bed MUCH later than I had planned last night! I have been trying to "recover" from our trip last weekend and from Brittney being here... I missed out on a lot of shut eye! I thought I was going to get to bed early last night... and that just did not happen! So I let myself sleep in this morning... and woke up to nasty, nasty weather! Wet and cool... not a way to start a day! Especially after your baby sister leaves! :(

But the day did get better!!!

I started my day trying out two new peanut butters!! I'm sure they are not new to the blog world...but definitely new to me :) New nut butters ALWAYS makes a bad day better :)
I had two Kashi waffles and smeared Peanut Butter & Co's Mighty Maple on one and Bee's Knees on the other....stinking incredible!! Also pictured are more new fun foods for me....Kashi Honey Sunshine cereal and for Maddie a MUCH healthier version of cinnamon toast crunch! They taste exactly the same :)

Then I found out I won my first blog contest!!! Danica at Danica's Daily graciously gave away three Annie's prize packs... with two packages of Mac 'n Cheese (the ONLY mac 'n cheese I buy for Maddie!), Annie's bbq sauce (the only kind I buy for JR and I!) and Annie's coupons to buy even more great stuff!! Thank you again, Danica!! I can't wait to get my stuff :)

Speaking of Danica - she is in the running for the best dessert in the Who Makes The Best Summer Dessert? contest for Myrecipes.com. Her entry is for the Nectarine Raspberry Sorbet over Fresh Fruit

Doesn't that look AMAZING?? Danica needs a bit of help with the voting to win... please head here to vote for her dessert and push her all the way to the top!! Hurry! Voting ends Thursday!!!

After work, I got my hair cut! Nothing major.. just a good trim, layers, etc... and my stylist (who I adore) went on and on about how great my hair color is now and how healthy my hair felt! This was awesome for me - I used a drugstore hair dye this time around AND have really only been using "cheaper" products in my hair to wash and condition with! Proving you don't have to spend a ton of money on hair products! Surely made my night!

I also had a wonderful glass of red wine while getting my hair cut... just what I needed today!

And to end my night... I had an (unpictured) vitabrownie with some peanut butter and whipped cream... ahhh yeah :)

I am going to catch up on a few blogs... and then head to bed to get up to work out. I um... haven't worked out in a WEEK people! What is with me? Speaking of that... I will be back tomorrow to talk a little bit about my food/drinking habits this week. I am needing a bit of inspiration and support!

Night all!!

A star in the making...and adventures with Brittney!

2009-07-21T19:45:00.028-05:00

So my daughter... who is only 3... is already obsessed with Taylor Swift and has recently found Hannah Montana, too. How is this happening already?? I swear I was like 10 before I was obsessed with the New Kids On The Block (oy... is that aging myself or what???!!!)!

The two songs she always requests are Taylor's "Love Story" and also her newest single, "You Belong With Me". Taylor's new video was on TV tonight and we happened to pass by it... Maddie got her microphone and started singing away... and I thought I'd share :) Something to smile about today since my sister flew back home this evening (MISS YOU BRITTNEY!).

What do you think?? Is she ready for American Idol?

So as I said, Brittney went home today... I have had such a blast with her this past week! Maddie was so sad to see Aunt Brittney go! Thankfully, we don't have long until we see her again. We will be heading down a month from tomorrow for my brother's wedding (which I can't believe my "little" brother is getting married! Now I'm REALLY aging myself!).

Brittney told me she has never had a pedicure before... WHAT? We HAD to change that right away! Sunday, we headed out to do what we do best together - make up shopping! We hit up Sephora and MAC! It just so happened that the place I love to go for pedicures is right across the street from the mall... so I did what any big sister would do and treated her to her very first pedicure! She loved it! I think she's hooked :) We already have plans to go together when I visit Florida next month before the wedding!

Our all done up toes...mine are the french tips... she went with this awesome OPI color that I need to find out the name of! It was a deep purple color but when in the sun, had awesome blue undertones to it!We cleaned up to get ready to head out to dinner... but first posed for a quick picture...
Britt always requests Mellow Mushroom as one of her "must do list" when she visits us. No complaints from her big sister on that one! It was AMAZING as always! I am very much a big, doughy type girl... I just am not a full fan of thin crust. It will do in a pinch but I am very picky about my pizza crust! :) JR lets me pick my pieces first so he doesn't have to hear me complain later :) This pizza had chicken, roma tomatoes and fresh basil on it.

I ate the crust (of course), most of my toppings... but left the bottom part of both pieces to save room for this....

That is a yummy cup of TCBY chocolate/vanilla swirl with Reese's pieces (another thing I LOVE... ANYTHING Reese's!)

Maddie got her usual Rainbow Swirl... which is actually vanilla ice cream in a butt load of food coloring (nice and healthy, huh?)...

I think she liked it. :)

And this concludes our monster post of the day! :) I hope you enjoyed hanging out with my family! I'll be posting random trip recaps this week when I can!

Last... I leave you with my favorite picture of this week with Britt...

Make Up Monday!

2009-07-20T21:07:00.015-05:00

Hello lovelies!

This week for Make Up Monday, I thought it would be fun to include Brittney again... since she's here with me!

Any time Britt comes to visit, we ALWAYS have to make a trip to Sephora and the MAC store :) This time, Britt picked up this gorgeous palette:This palette is part of the Kat Von D line at Sephora. Does everyone know who Kat Von D is?

She was on the reality show LA Ink... where I first saw her. I thought her make up and hair always looked amazing! Not to mention, she's just gorgeous!

I was so excited when they announced she was teaming up with Sephora to start her own make up line! I have only tried two products so far and would absolutely recommend them!

Britt and I decided to take the palette she purchased and wanted to do our own different looks with it....

So today's Make Up Monday is: One palette - Two different looks!

We'll start with Britt....
She went with the blue/silver side... and looks gorgeous, as always!

As for me, I went with the purples/browns...

All together now :)

Thanks for hanging in there with us! :) It was dark by the time we did the pictures and had to try to take pics in the bathroom... haha!

Disclaimer: We are not professionals by any means... just two girls who love to play with make up!

I hope you enjoyed this!

Have any of you used Kat Von D's new products? What do you think of them?

We're back!

2009-07-20T20:44:00.016-05:00

Hello everyone!

It's been a busy but fun weekend for us! I'll recap our trip to Alabama and also some of this weekend at home in later posts... but wanted to catch up today's food and also do Make Up Monday!

This is just a quick recap of today's food!

This morning I had to bolt out the door... but made some of my Oat Bran pancakes to take with me... the normal mix...
1/2 cup oat bran
1 tbsp Jay Robb Protein Powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp maple syrup
1/2 smooshed banana
1/2 cup liquid egg whites
Served with 1 1/2 tbsp almond butter and other half banana

For lunch... I had two slices of Pepperidge Farm's Dark Wheat Bread (SO yummy!) with some boar's head turkey, trader joe's hummus and some swiss cheese. I also had some of my favorite soup - Pacific Food's Butternut Squash soup and also some cherries I picked up at Whole Foods on sale yesterday! I was so full after the sandwich and soup... I had the cherries a couple of hours later.
On the way home, my tummy was telling me it was time for another snack... I grabbed this outta my purse...

Brittney and I headed to the mall for a bit to find Brittney a new purse... I love shopping with my baby sister :) We always have so much fun!

Then we headed home... where JR had dinner ready to go... 96% lean burger on Whole Foods wheat bun, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, half a slice of bacon... some corn and a few fries (mix of sweet potato fries and whole foods brand crinkle fries)... and a Sam Adams on the side...
I had a VERY indulgent weekend food/drink wise... I've had two desserts every single day... along with drinks :( So it seems like my body caught on quickly!! I had a VitaBrownie with almond butter and some Reddi Whip... topped with a cherry :) SO YUM!

Again, sorry this is so short... but I have to hurry off to do the Make Up Monday post... then off to play some card games with my sister and JR. This is my sisters last night here :( She goes home tomorrow! So sad :(

How was your Monday?

Off to Alabama!

2009-07-16T17:53:00.002-05:00

Hello!

I have absolutely no time to blog! But wanted to say I am off to Alabama this weekend to visit family and head to the Birmingham Zoo!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

If you visit, please take time out to share your stor y! I'd love to hear them! :)

See you Sunday!

Ole!

2009-07-15T20:51:00.010-05:00

My baby sister is here!!!! I'm so glad to have her here for almost a week :) It's been a blast catching up with her today :)

As soon as she got here, we headed right out to our fav sandwich shop Bread & Company. I got my favorite sandwich... pulled turkey, swiss cheese, honey mustard, lettuce and tomato on their wheat farm bread... their sandwiches are HUGE (haha... insert your own dirty joke here)... thankfully, I only ate half of it! I ate all the fruit but the cantaloupe (ew)... and half of an unpictured chocolate chip cookie that I shared with Britt.

This filled me up all afternoon... I wasn't hungry until we met up with our best friend, Lisa (who has lost 50 pounds!!!), for dinner at La Hacienda.

Love this picture! :)I ate quite a bit of an indulgent evening... tons of unpictured tortilla chips, some queso dip... and shared beef & chicken fajitas with corn tortillas with the hubby... I ate two of the tortillas... a small serving of sour cream and beans...tons of the lettuce and pico...

Anyway, that's my really uninteresting day!

We are taking a "mini" vacation while Brittney is here and heading off to Alabama tomorrow night! Food will be a bit more indulgent than normal... I FULLY intend on getting back on track 100% when Britt leaves next week. I have let all the vacations, birthdays, holidays go a little too far... I'm now TEN pounds up. I'm a little ashamed! So food might be VERY simple to get me back on track... but I gotta do it!

As for weight loss... I know I don't have a lot of visitors right now... but I would love to hear some of your stories!! Check out my post from this morning, if you can!

Night all!

Crazy day!

2009-07-15T11:41:00.003-05:00

Morning all!

It's been a crazy, busy day for me already! How is your hump day shaping up so far?

I started the day off with a good, sweaty work out! I did The Firm's Ultimate Calorie Blaster... this one is a good mix of step aerobics - switching between using a 6 inch, 8 inch and 14 inch step, lots of plyometrics and some 4-Limb work with 5 lb weights. Good, good work out! I burned 400 cals with this one....

And I had a work out buddy today.... my hubby! It's always nice (and definitely helps with motivation) when he is there with me.

But I somehow ended up SO incredibly late to work, I had no time to snap a pic of breakfast! I made a yummy smoothie - my fav combo of 1 frozen banana, 1/2 cup of frozen cherries, 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, protein powder and some almond butter... yummmmm... nice and frosty!

I had one of my YUMMY zucchini muffins with some more almond butter with it. These things are G-O-O-D! Make them!!!!!!

Well, we're coming upon the 1 year "anniversary" of the taping of the Firm Infomercial that my hubby and I were in last year. I can't believe it's been almost a year!! Everyone in the group has become great friends and I feel so blessed that they have come into my life! Emails are being sent around talking about our experiences... and we received this email from the person who interviewed us all for the infomercial and is part of the production company that produced it. I thought it was awesome and wanted to share it with you!

"Remember, each of you were picked out of hundreds of submissions because of the hard work and dedication you put into the program. There was a turning point in your life that gave you the drive to get up and do something about your health. We CONGRATULATE and THANK you for making that decision. As you are aware it's your stories that give other women and men the courage to make the change in their life as well. Be proud of your accomplishments. Each of you are the TRUE HERO"S. Keep it up and you'll live a long and healthy life".

His email led me to thinking about the little things that finally added up to me taking a stand for myself and my health! I knew I had to do this for me... Here I am today 102 pounds lighter and haven't looked back since!
I will reflect a bit more on my experience later... but wanted to hear from you!! What was the turning point for you? I'd LOVE to hear your stories!!!!

Now I am anxiously awaiting my sister's arrival! She should be here ANY minute and then we're off to grab a YUMMY lunch from our fav local sandwich shop... Bread & Company. Always one of her requests when she comes to visit!

Just call me Betty...

2009-07-14T21:26:00.012-05:00

Okay, not really! :)

I didn't take pictures of my food today... since I wasn't feeling great - everything was pretty bland! Nothing even halfway blog worthy!

But I did start feeling better after lunch, thankfully! And was in the mood to bake! I am not a natural when it comes to cooking. I am one of those that absolutely needs a recipe in front of me to tell me what to use and how much of it to put in! All that aside, I really enjoy it... it seems to calm me down... unless I'm baking with Maddie... that's a whole other story! ha :)

Since we had some zucchini leftover from our last CSA delivery that needed to be used asap... I decided to make zucchini bread! I found this recipe on www.myrecipes.com and got goin'! I did change a couple of things... I used half whole wheat pastry flour and half white wheat flour instead of all purpose flour... and also used real eggs instead of egg subsitute. It makes two loaves of bread but I made one loaf of bread and made muffins from the rest of the batter instead.

Here they are after baking and cooling...

I had another recipe I had been wanting to try for quite some time and decided to keep going with my baking streak and make them :) My sweet friend, Heather has this recipe for almond butter banana nut muffins... and I couldn't wait to make them! I actually used peanut butter rather than almond butter and didn't use any extra nuts... not sure if Maddie would like them or not!

And after baking....

The hard part of baking fun stuff is not eating it all in the same day! :) I had 1/4 of each type of muffins and wrapped up the rest :)

Now, the hard part is deciding which one to have with my smoothie in the morning!

Heading to bed... getting up early for a work out... and then gearing up for my sister to arrive! I can't wait!!!

Feeling Icky....

2009-07-14T06:48:00.011-05:00

Hey everyone!

Hope you all had a great start to the week!

Thank you for your awesome comments on yesterday's Make Up Monday post! I am definitely going to keep this going... and would love for anyone to send me their favorite looks or product reviews to feature!! :)

I'm at home today... I'm not feeling very well! So I am here just updating my food for Monday... then heading off to rest!

I started out with a different breakfast... for me anyway! I saw it in a Fitness magazine and it used waffles... and since I am trying to work through my Kashi waffles, I thought I'd give it a shot!

This had 1 whole egg and 1 egg white, 2 tbsp natural shredded cheese, 1 slice ham sandwiched in between two Kashi waffles. A banana on the side (which I did add 1 tsp almond butter to before leaving... what's breakfast without some AB or PB?!?)

Check out my fancy plate ;) I have to eat on my way to work... that's about as stylish as it gets in the mornings for me!

I had a whole different lunch planned for work yesterday... but had to nix it pretty quickly! The air conditioning wasn't workout at our office... the thermostat was reading over 90! We had to pull out lamps to put on our desks and turn off the overhead lights, close blinds and blast fans to keep cool. I had brought soup for lunch - obviously not going to happen! The only thing I wanted was a salad... so I ran off to Panera to grab their Strawberry Poppyseed salad with Chicken... Yum!

Work was insanely busy, as usual.... I didn't get to snack until I was on my way to get Maddie... I ripped out my apple and went to town...couldn't wait to snap a pic first!

Knowing I had to work out when I get home and it would be really late when we would eat dinner, I had a small second snack. Maddie and I split this bar on the way home....

My work out was a new Firm video... Get Chisl'd. I really like this one... it's mainly a strength training video... but also adds in some power moves in between. Things like squat thrusts, cross country skis, lunge jumps... really gets the heart rate up and going! My only complaint is that the reps are short... I feel like there should be another set of each move... but for the time frame, it was good... I burnt 330 calories...

I didn't get started on dinner until almost 7:30... we had a huge avocado that HAD to be used or thrown out... so i attempted making guacamole. It was okay but I think I added a little too much lime juice! I grilled some tilapia and peppers.... added some lettuce and sour cream... and some more blue corn chips...
Now, I'm going to go lay down again... Hoping to feel better before Brittney arrives tomorrow!

Make Up Monday!! Guest look :)

2009-07-12T22:06:00.018-05:00

Monday, Monday!!!

I am going to try to keep up with doing "Make Up Monday"! It's a fun way to start the week off!

Going a bit off topic here for a second - I don't think I have mentioned as of yet that I am the oldest of four kiddos....

We have me (29 years old), my brother Justin (25 years old), my sister Brittney (21 years old) and the baby - Ashley (19 years old)...

We can be quite the goof-balls :)

Unfortunately, we don't get to see each other as often as we'd like. They live in Florida while I'm here in Tennessee. It's SO hard sometimes! I miss them like crazy! But... good news is that you'll be seeing LOTS of this kiddo on my blog this week!

Meet Brittney...

Adorable, isn't she?!?

She is flying in on WEDNESDAY to stay with us for 6 days!!!!!! I can't wait! I haven't seen her since March :(

Britt is one of the sweetest, most down to earth people you will ever meet! She can sing her butt off... and she and I share a huge love.... make up!

We seem to like the same products and both have so much fun playing with make up... whether it's for ourselves... or doing someone else's make up!

The one difference is... Brittney is a heck of a lot more brave than I am when it comes to eyeshadow colors! This girl can rock out the bright colors... and make them look HOT! Me... not so much! I tend to stick more with the smokey eyes... I use some color... but have no idea how to do it where it looks like I don't have pink eye!

So I thought it would be fun to have her create a look for us today :) Check it out!

And now for the classic Brittney pose... haha :) Love ya kiddo!
Thank you Britt! I love you! You make your big sister proud :)

Would anyone else be interested in sending me your favorite look for Make Up Monday? I'd love to feature some guest looks!

I will be back later with today's food!

How is the weekend over already???

2009-07-12T20:41:00.015-05:00

I can't believe our weekend is over! This was one of longest weeks ever for me... and the weekend FLEW by! Go figure, right? Thankfully, it's been a great one!

I woke up completely DRAINED - I'm sure thanks to spending 7 hours in a car yesterday! All I wanted to do was crawl back in bed and call it a day... but when you have a 3 year old bouncing around at 7 am... no can do!

So I tried to make my morning better by having a yummy breakfast... and this one, I have been looking forward to all week!!!!!!!!!!

I have seen this all over the blog-world... and could not wait to try it out myself!

Started with this....

And ended with this!!!
I don't think I ever want to eat my oat bran ANY OTHER WAY :) The way this melted the AB alllll through the oat bran was incredible!

Today's mix:
1/2 cup oat bran
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp vanilla
tons of cinnamon
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 big ol banana

All made one big bowl of oat bran goodness! :) I have a jar of PB Loco's Jungle Banana PB that's almost gone... I think this will be my next "bowl" of oat bran!

I pretty much laid around until I had to go get ready for yoga class. Before heading to class, I had a Luna bar to hold me over....

I was SO ready for our class today! It was all "restorative yoga"....

From the yoga studio's website:

Restorative classes focus less on stretching and toning but concentrate on relieving stress and releasing physical and mental tension. These gentle poses with static holds allow the body to renew by calming the nervous system, lowering the heart rate and blood pressure while boosting the immune system. This class will focus solely on the relaxation of the body through restful poses and minimal movement.

It.was.awesome.

I went in totally physically and mentally drained... and came out feeling refreshed!!!

I was STARVING, too! I met JR and Maddie and we headed down the street to a local coffee shop, Bongo Java... I grabbed a turkey sandwich and a small nonfat latte for lunch! Didn't take a picture (still too chicken in public!)... Maddie enjoyed a tootsie pop while I had lunch... Can you tell which flavor she had? Ha!

I headed out to the grocery store after to pick up a few things... and then fixed dinner....

Maddie started on her pizza...

JR got started on our pizza after... we used premade whole wheat dough from Whole Foods... JR's side had turkey pepperoni... my side had grilled zucchini and squash, mushrooms, grilled chicken and red onion... YUM :) You will see a repeat of this for lunch this week!

I have lunches packed for tomorrow... and now we're sitting on the couch watching Roseanne repeats :)

My night may have ended with a little... or A LOT of this!

I'm curious... do any of you pre-plan your meals for the week? If so, how do you do it? What's your strategy? I haven't made a weekly meal plan in YEARS. I think it would really help me out because most nights I come home without a clue on what we're eating and no time to make anything... How do you do it?

Awesome Saturday!

2009-07-12T09:16:00.028-05:00

How is everyone's weekend so far?

My Saturday started off with a 5:30 am wake up call! We had to be out of the house early to get to my Aunt's house in Georgia...I had to get up to fit a short work out in!

I decided to do "The Shredder"...Level 2 of Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. I added in a few more of my own upper body exercises after it was over....I burned 253 calories in about a half hour. Not bad!

The main reason we headed to GA was to see not just both of my Aunt's that live there... but my dad, too. My dad lives in Florida (where I grew up)... but was heading up to visit his sisters. I took advantage of him only being an short drive away (instead of a 12 to 13 drive) and took off to see him!

After that, showered and ate breakfast as we headed off to Georgia! I have had a whole box of Kashi Go Lean waffles in the freezer FOREVER... and they expire next month, so I figured I better start using them! I toasted them up and slathered one side with PB and one side with AB and cherry preserves... with a naner.

About an hour into the trip, I was so excited to see a sign for Starbucks and pulled in to indulge in a bit of latte action

So even though I packed a big ol cooler full of food for lunch, I had a feeling my hubby would end up with something else... haha... and I was right! I should have snapped a pic but I didn't :) He and the kiddo ended up with Mickey D's... I'm not a huge fan of the Golden Arches so I opted to stick with my packed lunch not knowing what we would be eating for dinner at my Aunt's house... I packed a quick turkey and swiss on Ezekiel bread... I had some mixed blueberries, strawberries and pineapple to go with it - but they didn't look or taste right, so I grabbed the bag of baked lays I had packed for JR.

After a few more stops (never know what traveling with a Toddler is going to bring)... we were almost there...as you can see, after four hours, Maddie was more than ready to get out of the car! I don't know what I'm going to do with her when we have to drive to Florida next month for my brother's wedding!

We finally made it to my Aunt's... got out and visited for a bit... and then took Maddie out to meet the animals! This is their donkey, Peetie
My Aun't horse, Harley
All three of their horses... Blackie, Grey and Harley... aren't they gorgeous?
We had dinner... sorry, no pics of dinner! I'm still in that "awkward stage" where I feel odd taking pictures of my food when I'm around family or small groups... haha. Plus, I'm not sure I want everyone to know just yet about the blog... so I didn't want to have to explain! My Aunt had fixed chicken and shrimp to have with alfredo sauce... eek!!! But she knew was awesome and fixed my Uncle and I some plain grilled chicken to have instead of the chicken alfredo! I had half of the piece of grilled chicken, two small pieces of boiled shrimp, some plain noodes, corn and green beans. And some of the awesome salad she put together! My other Aunt made a GORGEOUS trifle... pudding mixed with cake, whip cream and strawberries, blueberries and banana... it was heavenly!!!!

After dinner, my Aunt headed out to get her horse, Harley warmed up so we could all take turns riding him! Maddie was so excited... here's a few shots of her watching with anticipation :)
Having a blast! :)
JR took a turn, too :)
We snapped a few shots with family before heading back to Tennessee.... Maddie with my dad and his fiance, Carol.
A shot that I thought looked cool of us all hanging out on my Aunt's porch...
I tried to grab this shot on our way home of the sun... I got the camera out too late... We had full view of it... but I took too long! I thought I'd share this anyway... It was so awesome!

This has been one heck of a post! Sorry for that! I'll check in later today.... I'm now off to shower and get ready to head to the last class of my yoga workshop with an awesome blogger friend :)

It's the weekend!!

2009-07-11T05:54:00.007-05:00

The weekend is finally here! :)

A quick recap of Friday's food...

Breakfast was a cinnamon raisin Ezekiel cinnamon raisin muffin... 1 side with my fav whole foods PB and the other with AB and cherry preserves... sprinkled with cinnamon on top. Had a banana, too

It was one of my co-workers last day yesterday, so we had a big luncheon for her to say goodbye! I'm ALWAYS nervous when it comes to our luncheons...it's usually full of unhealthy choices! I brought a big salad and some berries and a loaf of whole grain pecan raisin bread... I have to say I was VERY impressed this time! A lot of the ladies at work have completely changed how they have been eating and the choices were MUCH better! I couldn't get great pics with my phone but here's the spread...

I did very well... I stuck with my salad, some roasted chicken that I brought from home, 1 small meatball, and a ton of this amazing salad someone put together - it was fresh mozzarella, tomato, avocado, spinach and basil pesto... SO good!

For dessert, I had a half serving of a better than sex cake and a pina colada cake... and ate not even half of each of what I had on my plate... so it was all good :)

My tummy was rumbling a few hours later... I had this handful of trail mix X2

Dinner was completely unplanned... JR and I were supposed to have a date night, which didn't work out in the end due to his grandmother's surgery... so I had nothing out for dinner! I ended up just sauteing a bunch of veggies and using up some leftovers... nothing exciting!
Last of the turkey burgers topped with some shredded cheddar, sauteed zucchini, squash, peppers, corn and onion topped with black beans, blue corn chips and some guac and hummus!

I stuck with the dance theme from our dance party the night before and did a "dance" Firm work out yesterday...Cardio Dance Express. It's pretty fun! Not cheesy like most dance work out videos... I normally stay away from stuff like that... but I like this one! I burned 400 calories...
'
Speaking of work outs, I have got to get mine going here this morning! I blogged instead of working out!

Sorry for the uneventful post... had to make it quick today! We are driving to the Atlanta, GA area to visit my family today... so gotta get on the road soon!

Anyone doing anything fun this weekend?

I'm a Fashionista!!!

2009-07-10T18:56:00.004-05:00

Hello everyone!

Hope you had a fabulous Friday!

I have had a busy day - and forgot my camera's memory card, so I don't have a lot of pictures to share. I took some with my camera on my cell phone... I'll be back to post them tomorrow morning!

I have been a big fan of Shannon's blog for quite some time now! I look forward to Fridays so I can check out her "Fashion Friday" page and see what everyone is wearing! I finally had an outfit that was close to "Fashion Friday" worthy... so I sent it to Shannon! I was so excited to log on and see my picture on the page this morning!! Woohoo!!! Check it out! And leave some love for Shannon while you're there :)

Fashion Friday

Night All!

So close to the weekend!!!

2009-07-09T19:43:00.026-05:00

TGIAF!!!!

Have you ever had one of those weeks that just D..R..A..G..S.. on and on? This is definitely one of them! It's been so busy... at home and at work... you would think that would make it FLY by... nope - no such luck!

The alarm went off at 5:20 this morning... and I hit the snooze button... twice!

I finally crawled out of bed and headed down stairs to face...(cue doom music)...

The Shredder!!!!

Seriously - is that not motivation allll wrapped up in a pic???
I need to tape that to my forehead as a constant reminder!!!

I got goin' on Level 1 and Level 2 of her 30 Day Shred dvd... now, I can get through Level 1 using 8 lbs just fine... but I'm crying in Level 2 with 5 lb weights! I almost went down to 3 lbs in a couple of the moves but kept going in the end. I burned 370 calories....

Jillian's video is very different for me... I'm used to my Firm videos, which use heavier weights... I use up to 15 to 20 lbs in some videos. I'm really curious to see the difference in my body using the lighter weights and doing some circuit training!

After shredding and getting ready for work... I was MORE than needing some fuel! I was craving a smoothie today! I mixed up 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1 medium frozen banana, the rest of my frozen cherries, 2 tbsp jay robb protein powder and some almond butter... with one of the oh-so-yummy-in-my-tummy blueberry muffins. MAKE these today!
Work was busy, busy, busy... I needed to get out of the office to breath, so I used my lunch break to head to Trader Joe's to pick up a few things that I needed. We finally got a Trader Joe's last year and I am ADDICTED to it! I have loved every single thing I've tried! Anyone else a Trader Joe's fan?? What's your favorite thing there? I would love some more suggestions!

When I got back, I fixed up lunch... turkey sandwich w/ swiss on ezekiel sesame bread, dijon mustard, big spoonful of hummus, tomato and a bowl of Pacific International's buttnernut squash soup. I'm sure you're thinking... "Soup??? It's summertime!"... Yes, it's 90 degrees outside... but it's 50 degrees in our office! I freeze my tail end off there! It's never too warm for soup when I'm working :) Oh yeah, there's a peach in the picture... but it was too ripe to eat and I threw it out after two bites... :(

This is one of my new finds today at Trader Joe's... it's a Cherry Granola Cookie... and OH MY it's GOOD! I somehow stopped at one small cookie! I shared with the ladies in the office... and everyone came back for seconds :)
I had a larabar for my snack... but was craving an apple badly and had that instead! I had my fav... a braeburn apple... they're amazing!
Dinner was easy peasy (or pizza?!)... Publix had all Kashi products for 50% off... and since I had been wanting to try this, I scooped it up!

While dinner was cooking, Maddie threw a "puppy party"! She had quite the crowd! Everyone had a special collar or crown :)
The pizza was REALLY good! I was honestly surprised... as you will find if you read this blog regularly - JR and I are pizza FREAKS! I don't usually like thin crust pizza... I am a big, doughy, chewy pizza crust kinda girl... but this was definitely something I will pick up again!
I don't normally drink alcohol unless we're out somewhere or at a special occasion... but it's been different this summer! It felt "right" with the pizza. We each had a beer... I don't know a lot about beers... I normally drink wine! JR didn't like this... but I did! I drank about 3/4 of it!
After dinner, I did some more work (ick... never ends) and then we had an improptu family dance party! We jammed to some Michael Jackson! It was a blast :)

Maddie gettin' down!

Daddy trying to get her to booty dance... which came out more like the chicken dance...

Maddie showing off her mad photography skills (she gets it from her mama... )
Whew! That was fun!

Random Maddie quote of the day....

"Mommy, I wish when we burped we didn't have to say 'scuse me'...I wish we could say 'elephant'".

Night all! :)

Happy Hump Day!

2009-07-08T20:01:00.013-05:00

The weekend is almost here!

How was everyone's Wednesday? Mine was actually very S-L-O-W! The clock was NOT moving fast enough today!

I slept horribly last night... so getting up to work out this morning was rough. I stalled as much as possible when I got downstairs knowing cardio was in the plan today! I almost talked myself into coming back upstairs and getting back into bed! Thankfully, I got out a video and got moving... Today was the Firm's Calorie Killer. This isn't a video I go to often... I seem to forget how challenging it can be! It's only about 35 minutes, so I write it off as an "easier" work out. Not so! It has a ton of plyo's, weighted step ups on a 14 inch step, some football drills and step aerobics on an 8 inch step. I burned 356 calories in that short amount of time! I normally only burn about 250 for most of my straight 30-35 minute cardio videos.

Breakfast was in a hurry on my way out the door... as usual! A good ole standby!

A cinnamon raisin Ezekiel muffin... one side topped with almond butter and cherry preserves, the other with natural PB... both sides sprinkled with cinnamon. I LOVE sprinkling cinnamon on top... it gets all melted into the PB/AB and is so, so yummy :) I also had a very ripe banana with this...

I was still exhausted on my way to work... so I grabbed my ever growing change bag praying I had enough for a skinny vanilla latte...
Thankfully, I did!!!!
I always feel ghetto giving all change to pay for something!! Desperate times call for desperate measures!

Work was insane... since I was out yesterday, I had quite a few piles to tend to!

For my lunch break, I walked down music row with the hubby and his co-worker to check out some new apartments that were being sold. We really only went cause we heard they were serving free food from one of our fav local restaurants :) AND because they were doing a name drawing... which the prize was $50. Let's see... who won.... OH that would be ME!!!! :) Woohoo!!!

I passed on the lunch items they were offering... and walked back to my office to heat up my food...

Dining a la deskside since I used my lunch time to win $50 :) Leftover turkey burger, provolone cheese, dijon mustard... with some food taste good multi grain chips... and I made a "relish" of sorts for the chips... I took some corn, black beans and salsa.. mixed it together and topped it with some red & green onion and some cilantro. Also had some more guac... and two dark chocolate kisses!

A few hours later, I was starving... and scarfed this yummy treat down....

Headed to pick up the kiddo after work... had to stop at the grocery store and by the time we got home and I got her dinner ready... it was 7 pm already. I threw together this salad.... This is a mix of romaine & spinach... topped with chopped apple, blueberries, strawberries, toasted almonds, feta cheese and roasted chicken. And some poppyseed dressing... SO GOOD! It was perfect for a summer night! I also had another blueberry muffin on the side with probably a tsp of smart balance...

Now I'm heading off to sleep.. hopefully better than last night! Up early for some shredding with Jillian Michaels... night!

Bed-Bloggin'....

2009-07-07T22:09:00.014-05:00

Good evening!

I am about to hit the hay... I have to get up early to work out... so this will be quick :)

I ended up staying home from work with the kiddo today... JR's grandmother is still in the hospital having numerous tests done. Looks as though there will still be a few things they have to do tomorrow, too... but Maddie is going to go back to his parents house for the day. They're ready for a break from the hospital! They will take turns going to stay with his grandmother for tests, etc... so back to work tomorrow (boo!)!

I slept in this morning (till 7 am! haha)... finally had breakfast around 8:30... I was craving my Oat Bran pancakes again!

Maddie and I just hung around the house playing with barbie and princess dolls... oh so much fun! :) She unfortunately found the stash of the dolls shoes that we had hidden.... oy...who's bright idea was it to make them shoes anyway? They don't stay on and the minute she takes them off or they fall off... they're lost!

We then headed out to Target to do some returns... and we were both complaining of how hungry we were by the time we made it back home!

I threw together a turkey burger and blue corn chips pretty quickly! I topped my burger with some tomato, spinach leaves, provolone cheese and dijon mustard and put it on an Arnold's multi grain thin. And of course, had some more guac on the side for the corn chips! Gotta get rid of it before it goes bad! :) I finished the meal off with half of a trader joe's 100 cal dark chocolate bar and almond butter... yummm

Finally got Maddie down for her nap after lunch... and got my work out in! Today I did a Firm favorite... Complete Aerobics & Weight Training. After finishing the video, I did some extra upper body work of my own, some jumping jacks, step ups and jump rope before calling it quits. 437 calories gone!

I refueled with a seriously good smoothie! I used 1 cup unsweetned vanilla almond milk, half frozen banana, some frozen cherries, some Jay Robb protein powder and some TJ's crunchy almond butter... so good! And yes... i so topped it off with some Reddi Whip...

When Maddie woke up, she asked to make some blueberry muffins... so we did! We used Jenna's recipe... I thought they were great! FULL to the rim with blueberries and whole grains! :)

JR came home and we got dinner going....although, I couldn't find any inspiration tonight. I cooked up some ground beef that was in the fridge that had to be used... and threw it in some veggie soup. I normally try not to eat red meat more than once per week... but this was my only option this evening! I added a big side salad with some feta cheese and my fav new dressing... and one of the muffins we baked smeared with some Smart Balance...

And now I'm off to dreamland...

Make Up Monday....

2009-07-06T23:11:00.013-05:00

I know I still need to recap yesterday's happenings... that may not happen until tomorrow at this point :)

One thing about me is - I LOVE playing with make up! I have always had an interest in it... but growing up... I never knew how to use it properly. I thankfully had great skin throughout my teenage years (which completely changed after having Maddie!)... so there was no need for a ton of foundation, etc... I wore some powder and maybe some (really bad) lipstick and that was about it.

Throughout the past ten years, I have found myself playing around with make up more and more. I am by NO means an expert at it and definitely would never claim to be! But the more I try, the more I learn!

I thought it would be fun to share some looks here with you!

Today, I chose to do a "smokey bronze" look...I put a bronze color on the first 2/3 of the lid... then put a black on the last 1/3. Over the black, I added a darker bronze color and blended them out. Added a lighter brown color to the crease and a neutral highlight color under the brow bone. I then put contoured with some bronzer and my favorite blush and topped it all off with nude lips! Here are some pictures....

hang in there with me... still trying to figure out camera angles and how to really show off what I'm taking a picture of! And we must have had a finger print or something smeared on the lens...

I'd love any constructive criticism, thoughts... whatever!

Do you like wearing make up? What is your daily make up routine? I have to say, my favorite part is playing with eye shadow colors! So many options!

Playing catch-up already!

2009-07-06T22:52:00.021-05:00

How was everyone's Monday??

Mine was pretty rough... especially coming back from a holiday weekend! We were slammed at work!

I am going to recap a little bit of my fav meals from Sunday and Monday!

Sunday's breakfast....It's basically Kath's Oatmeal Pancake recipe... but using oat bran and some different measurements.

1/2 cup oat bran
1 tbsp Jay Robb Protein Powder
1/2 tsp of baking powder and vanilla extract
1/2 tsp agave
1/2 mashed banana
1/2 cup liquid egg whites
tons and tons of cinnamon :)

I also added in a ton of blueberries, too! I sliced up the rest of my banana and of course, smeared it with a TON of TJ's crunchy almond butter!!! Heaven!!!

I somehow lost track of time and ended up extremely late... I had to bolt out the door to yoga class! It was a REALLY challenging class for me... I have been taking a Back to Basics workshop through one of our yoga studios. I have done quite a few yoga videos at home and through www.yogadownload.com. I was sure that there were things I was doing incorrectly and when I heard about this workshop, I knew it was just what I needed! It turns out that Heather was interested in joining the class, too! It's been awesome having a friend for support!

Sunday night was pretty uneventful.... we rented a movie (gotta love Mickey D's $1 Redbox!!) and watched Beverly Hills Chiuiua with the kiddo. It was actually a cute a movie! And of course, we had to have dessert....

Yesterday was insanely busy at work... and thankfully, FLEW by! JR stayed home with Maddie... his grandmother isn't doing very well and his parents needed to stay with her. So he and Maddie joined me for lunch at work... which was a very welcomed break!

I came home and was going to work out... but honestly, my body was drained. I didn't have it in me... so I wasn't going to push myself. Some days, you really have to listen to what your body is telling you!

So instead, we finished taking the pictures for the success stories I have to send in.... I'll share a few here... please excuse my white ghostly legs... I wasn't prepared to take pictures in shorts (and don't usually wear shorts!)... but Collage asked for them... so here ya go!

What do you think?? I hope they like them!

We finally got to making dinner... I was craving some mexican food big time... but was also wanting a big ol salad, too! So I combined the two :)
This baby was a mix of romaine and spinach, about 3 oz of round steak, bell peppers, red onion, tomato, green onions and some mexican blend cheese sprinkled on top. Then I added some hummus and guac on the side with some yummy blue corn chips! It was awesome :) I was very happy with it!

Okay, this has been one monster of a post!

Before I go, for anyone who may be reading... I am trying to think of a better title for the blog. Peanut Butter Lovin' Mama was kind of a temporary thing... I'm not sure where I want to go with it for sure as of yet! I want something that can show that I will include some make up here and there... being a full time mom/working full time/trying to keep a healthy lifestyle... if anyone has any thoughts, I'd love to hear them!

2009-07-05T09:07:00.009-05:00

Hello!

Catching up on last night's July 4th happenings...

We headed to my in-laws house to arrive to really icky weather! It had been beautiful and sunny all day long... until we headed out.

There was a huge snack spread as always waiting for us when we arrived... we headed over a little later trying to make sure Maddie got her nap in (which lasted all of 45 minutes... eek!) so thankfully, there wasn't a whole lot of people tempting me to dive in! I brought over some Kashi TLC crackers and some hummus, so I snacked on that and also some of my fav TJ's trail mix that I had stashed in my purse.

Dinner was great - we had turkey, mashed potatoes, some tomato and cucumber salad and some fruit salad. I didn't take any pictures of my food... I'm not really telling everyone about the blog as of yet... I was afraid it might make some people uncomfortable!

For dessert, I went a little overboard with my cookies! I had one chocolate chip, one chocolate cookie and half of a peanut butter cookie... I DID get a picture of them :) The chocolate chip cookie and the chocolate cookie recipes are from Dreena Burton... they're vegan recipes but are SO incredible! Here is the link to her blog... it has both recipes on there! I highly recommend them!

I also had two BIG glasses of the sangria my hubby made...it was seriously good!

Maddie ran around all night and played with her "boyfriend" Lucas (her words, by the way, not mine! It's starting already!)... They had a great time and definitely kept each other busy all night!

Our fireworks were rained out :( This was the first year we kept Maddie up late to see them... and they didn't happen! Oh well... next year!

Anyway, here are some pictures we did take last night!

On the agenda today for me:

Taking pictures - I am being considered for success stories for Fitness Magazine and for CollageVideo.com's montly catalog that they mail out every month! I'm really excited to even be considered!
Going to a yoga class
Lunch after with some friends
Grocery Shopping
Blogging
Crash on the couch for the rest of the evening!

Have a great Sunday!!!

Starting the blog out with some red, white and blue....

2009-07-04T12:48:00.010-05:00

Hello!!

Ever since I did a guest post for the lovely Justine, I have been back and forth on starting my own blog. I finally decided this morning that I am going to just jump right in... no plan, no idea of what I'm doing... and see what comes of it!

Please hang in there with me... I'm definitely not the amazing food photographer that all of you are! And I swear that no matter how many lights we have on in our house - curtains open, etc... it's still too dark to take great pictures! I'll have to experiment with it!

I may not be able to blog every meal... and may not due to the fact that my meals are usually pretty simple... nothing unique about them... but again, we'll see where this may lead me!

First of all, Happy July 4th to everyone! I hope you all are having a great day with family and friends.

I definitely started my day off with a "bang"... I got up early to try to get my work out finished before Maddie (who is my adorable 3 year old) woke up... I got up at 6:30.... started about 6:45... and of course, she woke up at 7! Grrrr... this child used to sleep until 9 am on the weekends up until about a month ago. What happened? LOL That was quite a luxury! Anyway, I still got through my work out... today, I did Level 1 and Level 2 of Jillian Michael's 30 day shred. I did Level 1 and thought, "I handled that pretty well... I'm sure I can get through Level 2 just as easily!"

Um.... no!

I was dying!!! I'm not gonna lie - I was doing the beginner moves for a few things just to make it through! That's what I get for thinkin'! I'm scared to even think of what's on Level 3! But I do think I am going to pair up the levels like this again... until I can "handle" level 2, also :)

Then I rounded up my work out with a little more cardio - not as intense as Jillian by doing S tephanie Huckabee's Power Fit video.

After all of that and burning 577 calories, I was so ready for breakfast!

I tried to incorporate a little bit of July 4th spirit....

This yummy bowl had oat bran, almond milk, a drizzle of agave, and of course, some strawberries, blueberries and some oikos yogurt for the red, white and blue effect :) I also have some sliced banana hidden underneath... and after the picture, smothered it all with some TJ's crunchy almond butter!!!

After some laundry and baking some cookies for tonight's cookout at the in-laws (more on those later), I showered and straightened my hair (mine is naturally curly... need a break once in awhile!) and then decided to have some lunch... nothing special, but here ya go

Ham and swiss sandwich on a whole foods wheat bun (these things are so freaking good!) and some chips... and for dessert, half of a TJ's 100 cal dark chocolate bar with a scoop of TJ's almond butter...

Then I gave a kiss to this little thankfully clean kiddo as daddy put her down for her nap....

and now I'm off to get ready myself for tonight! Will be back later with some updates and also LOTS of sangria :)

Introducing myself....

2009-06-07T09:03:00.023-05:00

Hello blog world!

A few facts about me:

I am 29 years old and live in Nashville, TN

10 years ago, I looked like this

I was overweight my whole life until I was 19 years old. I was tired of being the "fat friend" and even though my friends and family always made me feel loved... I felt like the outsider. After many failed attempts on different diets throughout the years, yo-yo dieting and a binge eating disorder - I finally learned the secret to healthy weight loss - there is no secret!! It's all about eating well and working out!

I have been married for 7 1/2 years to this stud

3 1/2 years ago, we were blessed with this little angel

Still nine months after having Maddie I looked like this
(I gained 60 pounds during my pregnancy! Eek!)

Balancing a newborn, working full time and being a wife was much harder than I expected! It was far too easy to give in to the convenience of fast food and working out was the last thing on our minds...especially when we were running on two hours of sleep every night!

We did eventually get back on track...We work out at home in the mornings using The Firm's workout videos. I have used them for over five years and though have tried a couple of other programs, I always go back to my Firm videos! My husband, JR and I were actually in their latest infomercial for losing "baby weight" with their videos. We are featured in various parts throughout the infomercial. Here are the links if you'd like to check it out!

Firm Wave Part 1 Firm Wave Part 2 Firm Wave Part 3

And now I look like this
(Give or take about seven pounds more than I normally have! Too many vacations lately ;) )

I have lost somewhere over 1oo lbs over the past ten years. This has definitely been a long learning process of how to treat my body physically and emotionally. I've learned that denying myself of my favorite foods only leads to feeling deprived and binging. I've learned that carbs are NOT the devil and definitely have a place in my daily life! Balance is still something I am working on...I have SUCH a sweet tooth - but when I want a cookie, I have it! Life's too short to not indulge every now and then! At the same time though, we have learned that we can make healthier versions of our favorite foods and still enjoy them just as much and sometimes more!

My absolute favorite food is pizza. We used to order Papa Johns every weekend...but knowing we could do this ourselves, we started making Saturday night in the Arostegui household homemade pizza night! Okay, so we cheat a little...We are not patient enough to make our own dough, so we buy pre-made whole wheat dough from Whole Foods :) We do actually make the sauce... we found a great quick and easy recipe from Cooking Light's website... to try it click here

This has been MUCH cheaper than $80-$90 a month on pizza... and better on the waistline!

This weeks creation included: grilled chicken, roma tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach and part-skim mozzarella cheese

Before going in the oven:

and after:

Oh yeah!!! That's the good stuff right there :)'

Thanks again Justine for giving me the chance to get my story out there! I'd love to hear from any of you... feel free to email me at mandyarostegui@yahoo.com.

That's it! For smiles, I leave you with some pictures of the little one showing off her "muscles"...