Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Abigail...11 months and Fall!


9/27/11

Fall is here! This means, fall decor is out.

Exciting. I think fall is my favorite season. I look forward to Christmas and the snow until the new year. But I like fall. Jackets, jeans, sweatshirts, and cute clothes layering is fun. Plus warm cider, hay, pumpkins, leaves, color, and cool weather brings so many warm memories. Here's some of my decorating.


Love my scarecrows. I got them the first year we were married, on clearance :)

Cute basket with flowers I put together the other year too. Cost me about $2.
Different look this year. I have pumpkin salt and pepper shakers on the leaf plate.

This is a new project my hubby started. I like it. 2 huge boulders in our front yard at the corner. He always has great ideas. Soon there will be grasses and plants around this. I really like it cause most of his projects outside don't cost us money...just like this one :)

....................

Now to my girl. I haven't had time to post her 11 month update. So here it is, a little late. She has changed and grown even more this month. She is now walking and the last couple days she's been walking as much as possible at home. Crazy! She's also responding even more to things I say. She said "g-ma" yesterday! She also said "night night" when she went to bed tonight. I love this girl. We have so much fun together.

Here she was playing with a bowl. She kept knocking and pushing it everywhere and chasing it.

What a cutie. I love how playful she is. Lots of days I find her in her room playing by herself and "reading" her books. She still loves books. I like to go and secretly watch her and giggle to myself. The warm moments of mommy hood :)

The other day she had a huge curl in her hair. I love her curls after baths. So I tried to get a good picture of it. She's so beautiful.

This is Abby exploring the outdoors with lots of trees. We waited to pick up Kyle from work a week and a half ago and his boss's house has lots of acorns. Well, here she is trying to shove one in her mouth, while practicing walking, and trying to get away from me. Ha. She is really warming up to playing outside. She used to not like grass and didn't explore. That's changed!

Abby will be a year old in half a month. My goodness! I can't wait to post about her birthday party and one year update.....well, I can wait :) I want to cherish all these moments of her first year. I can't believe it's already almost over 'tear'.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

Where is God?

9/25/11

Goals can be made, articles read, and a step by step program laid out for you on losing weight or being healthy. You can commit to exercising 3 times a week and have a buddy call you to keep you accountable. Within 3 weeks your motivation is gone and you just want to eat those cookies and order a pizza. Exercise is a joke on a Saturday....annnd suddenly it's an impossible task during the week. You "don't" have time, your back hurts, etc.

What happened to the excitement? The suspense of fitting into your pre-pregnancy jeans again? Where did it go? I propose that the focus is wrong. I propose that we try to do it on our own strength.

This week's challenge, I would like to push you to seek God about how to be healthy. Now, I'm not talking about just doing whatever you want and saying, "Well if God wants me to eat healthy then He better put the fruit and veggies on my doorstep." I'm talking about REALLY, truly seeking Him. How many of us (Christians) treat our bodies the way Christ wants us to? How many of us thinks He cares? How many of us have asked Him to help us? To show us where we need to change? To show us how to change?

Now, there are guidelines to this other than just saying, "Lord, help me be healthy." because that is very general. God gave us brains. With those brains, very committed and intelligent people have researched the best ways of being healthy. I think if we look at the things that are proven to be healthy and pray about how to implement those areas into our life, God will show us.

Maybe you can't see the areas you lack. God give us eyes to see.
Maybe you are very busy. God give us energy and planning to fit things in to reach a healthy life.
Maybe you are tight on money. God give us resources and careful planning to purchase food that honors You and fills our body the right way.
Maybe you don't have motivation. God give us a renewed energy and a passion to honor You with our health.

Here are guidelines that we know keep us healthy...
  • Eating whole foods (fruits, vegetables, not processed)
  • Eating lean protein
  • Exercising several days a week for at least 30 minutes
  • Eating little junk food
  • Eating smaller portions, 5-6 times a day
  • Drinking around 72 oz of water and not drinking sodas/diet sodas
Now that we see the guidelines, I challenge you to pray about them each day this week. Seek wisdom and direction from the Lord of how to incorporate these into your life at least once a day. I would love to hear stories about what God does in your life. If you ask, He will move. Give it to Him. So where is God? Hopefully He will be in all these things!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Sugar Update....Can I do this??

Here's what I ate yesterday...

BK- bacon, egg and cheese sandwich I made at home with leftover biscuit - 0 grams

L- leftover pot roast with veggie and chips with homemade salsa- o grams

Snack- Celery, peanut butter, banana- 2 grams

D- Breaded chicken strips (2), sweet potato fries, salad - 0 grams
(I made the chicken strips with coconut oil and panko bread crumbs baked in the oven)

Snack- Couple handfuls of popcorn - 0 grams

= Only 2 grams!

Today I had a similar day of eating but I made spaghetti for dessert. BUT...my mom is making a cake....a strawberry cake. Ugh. I forgot about a baby shower she's having on Sunday. SO TEMPTING! I did have a small piece...it had barely any frosting on it and was very small. I still was under 20 grams of sugar today with the piece. No biggie! I can do this!!

Hope you all are being more conscious of sugar intake and finding yummy food to eat. I absolutely love my fresh produce from B & B! Eating healthy makes you feel so good and it can be really fun! I encourage you all to keep up with it and don't give up! I love hearing reports of progress :)

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Amazing Food Find! My life is easier now...

9/21/11

Today's Food Find is monumental....really, I'm serious. I am so pumped it's ridiculous. It's more than just one food, it's a whole list. Can I tell you all the good parts??! Well, here they are...

1. It's all Organic

2. It takes the guess work out of what to find at the store

3. I just place a simple order online and go pick it up a few days later

4. I don't have to get out of the car to pick up the food..great with a child!

5. The quality is great

6. They offer specials and deals that get you free food

7. Recipes come with food you purchase to give you meal ideas

8. It's wholesale...meaning cheaper

9. Does this not sound amazing??


So what is it? It's called B & B Organic Express. You can place an order once a week (or whatever you prefer) and there's no membership!! It's all certified Organic fruits and vegetables from local farms. It's wonderful. They have different locations from South Bend, Mishawaka, Elkhart, and Goshen. So it's great. I drove about 6 minutes to get my first box today. The variety is awesome but the quality and price is the best. I got organic produce I don't normally buy because I either can't find it or it's outrageously expensive. For ordering at least $30 worth of food I got a free 5 lb. bag of potatoes. Wahoo!
Here's the box. I won't have to order next week.

Some food close up.

The box. Look them up....amazing. Here's the website BB Organics Let me know if you order. They have a referral program that gets you FREE food!


What exactly did I get??
bag of bananas
bag of apples
bag of grapes
bag of red potatoes
bag of peaches
bag of kiwi
1 large cucumber
box of spring greens
1 large garlic clove
big bunch of celery
2 avocados
FREE bag of Russet potatoes

=For $33.00

So what did I have for a snack after my Rev Abs workout today??? I decided to do something new and had celery (from my box of course) with flax seed peanut butter (earlier FF post) and cut banana on top. Yum! I am not a celery fan normally and I don't like raisins but the banana added a lot!
Delish! Also, so far today I have had about 2 grams of added sugar. Wahoo!

Sugar Update

9/21/11

All right, how have you been doing? It seems that most aren't having too many problems with it (people decided to participate that I know about). Yesterday was great for me. I really don't have any issues with eating too much sugar in my normal food intake, I just never tracked it before. My issue is when desserts come along.....yeah. Making chocolate chip cookies or my mom having left over cake (she makes cakes). But there is no temptation right now. wahoo!

Here's what I ate yesterday, Tuesday...

BK- banana (got up early to go to Daman)

Snack- Egg, egg white with onion (ate when I came home...I'm gone about an hour)
peanut butter- 1 gram
jelly- 3 grams
toast- 4 grams

Lunch- grilled chicken sandwich on wheat/whole grain bun- 7 grams

Snack- hummus with carrots and some tortilla chips- 0 grams

Dinner- Roast with potatoes, carrots, onions- 0 grams
green beans- 0 grams
homemade biscuits with coconut oil- 0 grams

I got to exercise in my new workout room/gym and then painted with my MIL!


Monday, September 19, 2011

Sugar Challenge

9/19/11

Ok folks, are in this challenge?? Here are the rules...No more than 30 grams of added sugar a day for a week. That's pretty much it. In reality, we are only supposed to have 26 grams of added sugar a day, according to the FDA. That number is for women, and men are supposed to have no more than 37 grams a day. But I thought I would kind of meet in the middle at 30 since it's not that much over 26 and I'm sure it'll be a challenge for most to stay within the guideline. There are so many things you hear about eating healthy and what to watch (carbs, fat, sugar, etc). The truth is, if you are watching something like sugar, most likely you're going to choosing foods that fall within the other categories of things you should do. So staying away from sugary cereals, empty carb drinks such as soda, desserts, white breads, etc.

So HOW will you keep it under 30 grams?? Well, whole foods are the best route. You won't have to worry about the sugar because it'll be naturally occurring (in most cases). If you are accustomed to buying boxed items then be careful because there are many sugar free items. It doesn't mean they are healthy for you though. We've got everything from jello, pudding, diet sodas, and "desserts" that come in the frozen food section. So just stick with the stuff that came from the ground or was killed.

What does this look like? I am sure many of you are reading my words but still don't know what to eat. So I plan to post each day what I'm eating. I have already had questions of what I've had for breakfast, so I will share here.

Monday
BK- egg, egg white with cooked onion.
potatoes cooked in a skillet (hash browns)
3/4 banana.
I drank water and took vitamins. I take Deeper Greens** (fruits and vegetables in a capsule), fish oil, vitamin D and I'm on an immune supplement for my cold.

Snack- 1 tbsp flaxseed peanut butter- 1 gram
1 tsp homemade strawberry jelly- 3 grams
toast- 4 grams
handful of raspberries from bush

Lunch- my hubby was home (never happens) and we went to Chick-fil-a (free sandwich)
chicken sandwich- 6 grams
side salad- 0
dressing- 1 gram

Snack- chips and homemade salsa- 0

Dinner- fajitas with onion, broccoli, lettuce, cheese and homemade salsa
tortilla- 1 gram each and had 2

Total grams of sugar for the day= 17 grams!!



**I take Deeper Greens because it is more than a food based supplement, which means I am going to absorb more than just batches of one vitamin put into a capsule. Our body naturally takes vitamins from food, that's what it was designed to do...so if I take a capsule of food then it'll take the right nutrients from it. I personally have noticed a difference from taking these as opposed to synthetic and even food based vitamins. (if you have questions about what the heck a food based and synthetic supplement is, ask and I will let you know!)


SO...how did you do? Please share even if you went over!

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Cool, Crisp Air


9/13/11

I have really grown to love this time of year. It's not too hot and not too cold most of the time and it just gives me warm and fuzzy feelings of excitement! I love to remember hay rides, pumpkins, hot cider, sweatshirts, fall decor, and this is the time when I met Kyle (we can leave that for another post). Here are some things I've been doing lately!
  • Keeping up with my girl...she has taken several steps by herself but is still trying to master it so it's not as much as I want (I think?)
  • Found out my sis-in-law, Jenner, is having a girl!! Natalie Ruth. I like it :)
  • I made salsa for the first time...it was fun and yummy!
  • Forgot about my raspberry bush but found it. lol. Here it is. Ate raspberries off it tonight. Yum!
Fresh raspberries. Best I've ever had!

This is part of our basket of supplies for salsa making...it's fun making homemade stuff from a garden!

Lovely pregnant lady cooking!

Some of our fresh cilantro.


Finished product!! The second batch turned out better than the first...we know what we're doing now! Delish!

Here's a lovely pic of my girl...had to throw this in!

Monday, September 5, 2011

The BIG Reveal!

It's here!!!! My cookbook. Can't believe I have a book. Wow. Exciting. Why should you buy it? Let me tell you...
  • It's recipes we all recognize
  • It's recipes that taste good
  • It's healthier than the average cookbook and gives tips about how to transform your house into an environment for a healthy lifestyle to succeed
  • It has over 31 recipes...you can do a new recipe each day of the month and not make the same one!
  • Optional calendar to plan your meals
  • It's foods I make all the time and everyone that eats them loves them :)
What kind of recipes are in it??
  • Burgers and fries
  • that lovely pita pocket recipe
  • tacos
  • fajitas
  • pizzas
  • flat bread sandwiches
  • meatballs
  • wings
  • spaghetti
  • chicken...all different kinds
  • and more!!!!
So take a chance and try something new....you won't regret it!

Order here.... COOKBOOK