It's Day 60!!

Day 60 has finally arrived!! I am 2/3 of the way through TapouT XT. I have also been doing MFP for about a week and a half, and I am down 3 lbs from that. Here come the progress pics:

Boom!!! Even though I have only lost 5 lbs in the last 60 days (and 3 of them were just this week), there has been a major shrinkage in my body. I am really amazed at the change that can be made in such a short period of time. It's so crazy to me. There are only 3 and 1/2 weeks left in the program (it's not really 90 days, it's 12 weeks).  

Another thing that I have noticed changing is my relationship with food.  I am able to eat smaller portion sizes and still feel satisfied.  I don't experience sugar cravings at all, and I have no problem resisting bad foods when I don't want to eat them.  The other night, we hung out with some friends, and rather than diving into the chips and salsa, I hit the veggie tray, and I didn't feel like I was missing out, even on the giant chocolate chip cookies they had that I didn't even taste. I did help myself to some beer, we played beer pong (so appropriate for someone over 40 lol), and we had a shot of tequila.

Sunday was full of drama, because my niece B went to the reptile store and bought herself a snake while her mom was out of town.  There was no way that my SIL was going to let the snake love at her house.  Long story short, H has been wanting a snake, so I had told her that if she kept her grades up all this school year, I would get her one.  Needless to say, now the deal is that H has to keep her grades up all year or I will sell the snake on Craigslist.  Here is a pic of Hanz, our new family member:

He is a ball python.  Welcome to the zoo, Hanz.

I know I haven't posted in a while, I am not going to give you the full rundown of my entire diet. Here are a few pics from MFP so you can see what I have been eating.

My workouts have been pretty steady. Thursday was rest day :) Friday was cardio XT, Saturday was strength and force upper, which is a ton of arm, shoulder, and chest work with resistance bands.  On Sunday, we did plyo.  I hate that one.  It is mostly squats, lunges, and speed skaters with jumping.  It is the one video that never gets easier!  

That was the weekend in a nutshell!! Have a fabulous Monday, everyone!!

Filing Cabinet Bites and other horrors

Today, I went back to school to see my classroom and begin setting it up for next year.  This is what I encountered when I walked in the door:

This does not look like an engaging learning environment.  I should mention that I am sharing a room with our site's preschool at his year, so it is not all my stuff.  I was the first to arrive in the room, however, so I started the work of putting it to order.

I worked for 6 hours today, stopping only for brief rests and to eat a peach and a handful of almonds.  I had planned to go out to grab lunch, but I just didn't want to take the time once I started working.  I had a little help moving the heavy stuff from my friend G and her mom. My upper arm got pinched in between two filing cabinets while we were moving them, giving me a filing cabinet bite.  It is a little bruised, not enough to show on a picture tonight, maybe if I sleep on it, it will get darker and really gross.  Here are the intermediate results of my hard work:

Not too bad for a day's work.  I still have a ton of boxes to unpack and I have to do all the decorating.  There is a lot of wall space!! Then there are lesson plans, name tags, etc.  I still have a ton to do! I will go back on Friday and continue working.

I took a nap after dinner. I was really tired.  My dinner was super yummy, though.  I put shredded beef in the crockpot before I left this morning, and when I got home, I turned it into these delicious tacos:

I ate them with nonfat refried beans and brown rice.  I didn't even feel guilty about eating a dinner that was over 700 calories because I didn't have a lunch.  And I still have enough calories in my bank to eat a substantial snack.

Since the school is closed tomorrow, I will relax before wading back into all the beginning of the year business.

Tuesday's Menu

Breakfast: bagel thin with peanut butter

Lunch: Tom Kha with brown rice (leftover)

Dinner: shrimp and grits and a pluot

Snacks: a banana with light string cheese, and a protein shake made with coconut almond milk and half a banana

Workout: Insanity plyo (shortened by only doing 1 round of the warmup and not stretching in the middle of the workout)

Wednesday's Menu:

Breakfast: 2 turkey sausage patties, 2 scrambled eggs with light cheddar cheese

Snack: peach and almonds; light popcorn

Dinner: 2 shredded beef tacos with brown rice and nonfat refried beans

Workout: the hubster came home late from work, and I had been doing physical labor moving furniture all day, so we skipped it. I did lift a Coors Light to my lips, though. 

Monday, are you back again already??

Happy Monday, everyone!!  Even though I am on summer break, which is kind of like one long weekend, I still hate to see Monday come around!! I am going back to work next week, so I know this one is going to fly right by!!

www.someecards.com

It was a great weekend, with plenty of relaxing around the house.  Also, we went to see Man of Steel (finally!!) and went to BJ's to sample some more of their Enlightened menu. ( I am telling you, get over there, it is delicious!)

Photo via www.wallpaperid.com

Let me tell you, if you have not seen Man Of Steel yet, you have to go. It has great special effects and a good story. Also, Henry Cavill, who is the new Superman, is ripped.  Staring at him is not a bad way to kill a few hours!!

I guess I should work on my shredding today.  I have about 4 boxes of old bills and junk mail that need to get in my shredder and there are only a few days left in my vacation.  Boo!!

Have a great Monday (if that is even possible!!)

Saturday's Menu

Breakfast/lunch: Thai food - basil beef, orange chicken, rice, noodles with shrimp

Snacks: 1 pluot, 1 banana

Dinner: leftover Thai noodles with shrimp

Workout: yoga - NOT!!! We took it as a rest day

Sunday's menu:

Breakfast: sammy made with 1 whole wheat bagel thin, 1 scrambled egg, 2 turkey sausage patties

Lunch: salad made with chicken breast, corn salad, lettuce, Bolthouse yogurt ranch.

Dinner: BJ'S mahi mahi from enlightened menu, pint of lightswitch lager

Photo via bjsrestaurants.com

Snacks: 1 peach, 1 pepper jack cheese stick, movie popcorn shared with the hubster

Workout: Sprawl and Brawl (TapouT XT)

My Fitness Pal

My Fitness Pal, for people not familiar, is a website/app that helps you track your calories and exercise. My Fitness Pal, if you enter your weight as 149, height as 5'4", and age as 40, will give you a daily calorie allowance of 1300.  I find this to be complete BS. The way I believe it to work, in my tiny mind (ha, so not true!!) is that it is a pure calories in, calories out formula. It also appears that they take your goal weight and multiply it by 10 to get the calories needed for a loss of 1 lb per week. I know this because I have a set of 2 cookbooks called Eat Yourself Thin (these are really great cookbooks by the way!) that propose this same formula.  Of course, if you exercise, you get to eat more calories.  I was not finding MFP to be my pal!!! I am a hungry girl!!

MFP!!

I consulted with my girls on the Mama

Laughlin Fit Camp page, and some suggested using my BMR (basic metabolic rate), which is the number of calories needed to maintain my current weight if I did absolutely nothing more than normal human activity.  Then, I used the Baldwin equation to find my caloric need based on my actual activity level.  I came up with around 2100 calories based on my TapouT XT program.  Then I subtracted 500 calories to get a 3500 calorie deficit per week.  Now I will be eating 1600 calories per day. (If I can manage to stick to the program. My brain is screaming "What about my cheat meals!!!!")

The reason I am trying out the MFP program is that I have stagnated on my weight loss. I know that part of this is due to me building muscle from the strength training portion of TapouT.  But I would still like to see the scale move a little faster, and I sometimes wonder if I am eating too much, even though most of what I eat is healthy.  (For example, I normally eat a whole banana and guesstimate a tablespoon of peanut butter for my snack, but today, I only ate half the banana, and measured the peanut butter, which is like half the calories of my average snack, since I was way off with the pb!!!)

At the very least, I will gain a better perspective on how many calories I am actually eating.  I can use this to take it up or down depending on my activity level.  I will also be able to see the effect that the calories I am eating have on my weight loss.

And now on to the important stuff...

Our houseguest, T, shall henceforth be known to this blog as Mr. Tumnus.  H gave him this name, because his real name reminded her of the character Mr. Tumnus in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.  We have all taken to calling him this in conversation.

I have discovered that Mr. Tumnus is a sweet potato fairy.  Twice now, I have come downstairs to find a cooked sweet potato sitting out, waiting for someone to eat it.  The first time, it was on the kitchen counter.  The second time, it was on the dining room table.  I know that he means to take them with him for lunch, then he puts it down and forgets it! I, myself, am a coffee in travel mug fairy.  But I don't even think anyone notices. :(

The hubster tried to flood the kitchen filling the Brita jug today. Fortunately, I heard the water and was able to avert disaster!

If you fill the Brita this way, you CANNOT go outside to water the yard at the same time!

And on a sad note, I only have one week of vacation left before I go back to the salt mines.  I am warning you in advance not to expect to hear too very much about my work, because I have heard about too many teachers who lost their jobs because of something they wrote on their blog about their students, school, or district. Sorry in advance!!

Thursday's menu:

Breakfast: Special K vanilla almond with almond coconut milk

Lunch: half a croissant roast beef sandwich and various side salads (I was at a memorial service) 1 pb cookie

Dinner: Sriracha Salmon, half a sweet potato, corn salad

Snacks: a peach, a pluot, some cherries

Workout: rest day!

Friday's menu:

Breakfast: whole wheat bagel thin, 1 scrambled egg, 2 turkey sausage patties

Snack: half a banana, 1 tbs peanut butter

Lunch: sriracha salmon and half a sweet potato

Snack: peach and pepper jack cheese stick

Dinner: fried Mac n cheese balls, fried pickles, garlic cheese dip with pita chips, half a cheeseburger, 3 giant bites of coconut caramel chocolate cookie with ice cream. Beers. (Hurray for cheat meals!! This week, we went to Slater's 50/50.  Their burgers are huge and you can build it however you want it. The hubster and I shared our burger and we split the appetizers with another couple.  We shared the dessert with everyone at the table.  One of the best cheat meals ever!!)

Workout: TapouT XT competition core. Planks, push-ups, squats with resistance bands, short cardio intervals with high knees and mountain climbers. 

Fair Warning!!!!

Raise your hand if you have been to your local county fair.  Raise your hand again if you spent $50 on 100 ride tickets for your (4, but they aren't all mine, I will explain later) kids to ride 2 rides each, and 1 extra ride for 2 of those kids.  Yep, that would be $50 for 10 rides, or......$5 a ride. WTF!!!!!

They were selling unlimited ride wristbands for $30 per person, but I had H, and her cousins B, N, and R. It would have cost me $120 for wristbands for the kids!!! (Knott's Berry Farm, a nearby theme park with actual rides is offering discounted tickets for $37.99 right now, so for $8 more per person, you could just go there!!!!) 

I neglected to mention that we had gotten into the fair free and received a free ride each because it was We Care Wednesday and we donated 5 cans of food each. The cost of the rides didn't include our free ones. H and B picked a ginormous sick ride that would have cost 20 tickets each. (If you do the math, at 50 cents per ticket, that one ride cost 10 dollars per person to ride. That's right, I said it, 10 dollars per person for one stinkin ride. Come on people!!!)

H and B on a ride that costs $10 per person to ride!

N and R on a ride that cost $7 per person to ride.

You might be wondering which fair I took my little group to. I really don't want to say, but it rhymes with Morange Mounty. Not clear enough?? Cough *Orange County* cough

We went to the animal fair!!

So after being charged an arm, leg, and first born child for the kids to ride a few rides, we took a tour through the animal barns.  We learned that: cows always look so calm, like they don't even know they are made of steak; pigs are superdeeduper stinky, even when their pens are fairly clean; and finally, turkeys are huge and don't say gobble, gobble.

Taking a minute to pet a giant ox.

Lunchtime arrived and we split up: B got a giant smoked sausage and hers was $9.75. N and R shared fried chicken and a buttload of fries for $9.50, the cousins all shared 1 souvenir cup that cost $5 and could be refilled for $2.75. For 3 people, their lunch cost around $25. H and I each got one bbq sandwich, they were $10.75 each, and we made one a combo with a souvenir cup and fries for $6.  For this add-on, we received the bonus of 8 measly waffle fries. The lady handed me the plate and said "Here's your fries."  I almost asked her if she had sampled them before she handed them to us, there were so few on the plate!!  The cost for H and I to eat lunch was nearly $28 for 2 people!!! Holy smokes, we could have gone to Chili's or Applebee's for that amount of money. Ridonkulous, people!!!! (N and R got full so H and I ate their leftover fries)

The deets on my eats for the last 2 days

Tuesday's Menu:

Breakfast: Special K vanilla almond with coconut almond milk

Lunch: Thai chicken salad at BJ's from their Enlightened menu. (I thought Applebee's had a great light menu, but BJ's blows them clean out of the water.  All the entrees are under 575 calories, and they even have a bison burger and glazed salmon!!!)

Snack: banana with peanut butter

Dinner: tri-tip steak with half a sweet potato and veggies

Snack: spaghetti squash with tomato sauce

Workout: TapouT XT legs and back. It's squats, lunges, push-ups, and back exercises done with resistance bands. I was drenched in sweat when I got done and I didn't do an entire 30 second exercise because I needed a rest.

Wednesday's Menu:

Breakfast: omelet (2 egg) with spaghetti squash, tomato sauce, and a little mozzarella 

Lunch: bbq turkey sandwich with fries. (I also ate some fried chicken skin {heaven!!}) with Sierra Mist and Diet Pepsi. Hayley and I were sharing a cup so we compromised on drinks.

Dinner: leftover steak, spaghetti squash, and veggies

Workout: it's supposed to be cardio XT, but I am beat from walking in the sun all day. (Not to mention the hour and a half drive home.) It's already 8:30 pm and I am really not feeling it.  If the hubster comes out and says hey we need to work out, I will do it. If he is good with no workout then so am I!! We did wind up doing the workout. I may have worked a little slower than usual, but I finished and wound up with a nice little sweaty glow for my efforts.

I'm a cooker, not a hooker!

Yesterday, I tried spaghetti squash instead of my trusty shaved zucchini as a pasta substitute. I am sold, that stuff is amazing!!! And it's pretty darn easy, too.

I made mine with my chunky tomato sauce and baked chicken parm. I always worry about cooking for new people, but even our houseguest T loved it. Maybe next time I will try it with shrimp and lightened Alfredo sauce!!

I tried to write this up like a real recipe. Truth is, I don't measure when I am making stuff without a recipe. I guesstimated what the measurements might be, so you may need to tweak the spices to make it work for you.

I wish I was better at taking pictures.  Most of the time (ok, all of the time) I use my iPhone, because it's so much easier to use the blogger app than to use my laptop and lift pictures from my memory card!!! 

In addition to making up recipes in my own little brain, I also love to try new stuff from Pinterest. You can follow me there @Lisapedia. I have a board for healthy foods, one for all recipes, and even a vegan board.(I also have a board for alcohol called Raise Your Glass).

Happy hooking, oops, I mean cooking!!

Baked Chicken Parmigiana with Chunky Tomato Sauce and Spaghetti Squash

For the chicken:

1.5 lbs thin sliced chicken breast

Whole wheat Panko breadcrumbs

Kraft Parmesan Cheese (the grated kind in the plastic jar)

2 eggs

Olive oil spray

Whip the eggs in a shallow, wide bowl with a fork

Combine the breadcrumbs and cheese in another wide, shallow bowl. I don't have a measurement for this, but start with a half cup of crumbs and a quarter cup of parmesan,  and make more if you need to.

Dip the chicken in the egg, coat in breadcrumb mixture and place on a baking sheet ( I use a Pampered Chef stoneware pan, it provides great browning).

Continue dipping and coating the chicken.

Spritz the chicken lightly with olive oil 

Bake chicken 25-30 minutes or until done at 400 

For the spaghetti squash: (I recommend doing this step first)

1 large spaghetti squash

Cut the squash lengthwise and remove the seeds.  Place the squash cut side down in a baking dish with a half inch of water in it. Bake the squash 30-45 minutes at 375.

When squash is done, scrape the pulp with a fork and place in a bowl.  It will look similar to pasta noodles. Keep warm until ready to serve.

For the chunky tomato sauce:

2 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes

I heaping tablespoon minced garlic

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (or to taste)

1 tsp Italian seasoning

2-3 tbs extra virgin olive oil

In a saucepan, place evoo, crushed red pepper, and garlic.  Cook and stir over medium heat until garlic is light brown.  Add tomatoes and Italian seasoning and stir.  Cook over low heat at least 15 minutes. Season with salt if desired. (I don't find it necessary) Keep warm until ready to serve.

To serve, place squash on a plate with chicken next to it, ladle sauce over squash (and chicken if desired).  I like to serve mine with a green salad.

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Monday's Menu

Breakfast:protein shake made with skim milk, chia, blueberries

Lunch: quinoa w/ veggies and mozzarella 

Snack: watermelon and pineapple with pepper jack cheese

Dinner: chicken parm with spaghetti squash and chunky tomato sauce

Snack: banana with peanut butter

No workout Monday, it was supposed to be yoga day and we all know how I feel about that :-p

The Houseguest

There is nothing like having a house guest to make you clean like a meth fiend!!! Today, we have a police trainee moving in with us while he goes to the academy.  I know, I know, I am the best for opening my home :) stop, I'm blushing, no, really, stop.

So, we had to clean up C's room after I dropped him off at the airport, and the bathroom what he shares with H.  Including cleaning out C's closet, so that our guest, T, will have a place for his crap. That was accomplished, including all linens washed, bathtub scrubbed, and medicine cabinet cleaned out so T has a place to put his crap. Whew!  I told the hubster that we need to have people move in more often, it is very motivating!

After that, T came over while the hubster and I did our workout.  And he needed to put 2 giant tubs of egg whites in our fridge. (He's an amateur bodybuilder and needs a lot of protein) And the fridge wasn't super clean, and there wasn't any room in there, so we cleaned it out and washed all the shelves.  And T used Clorox wipes to clean the rubber gaskets around the door and he told me about black mold. Talk about fun!! What a way to spend my Saturday.

Did I mention that Charlie and Bruce hate house guests?  They forget that we have one whenever he goes to the bathroom or up to his room, and when he comes back, they go into spasms and fits of barking like they think he is going to steal our tv.  And Bruce is a nipper, so he jumps up and tries to bite his hands. I bet I know what you are thinking! That this sounds like the most perfect paradise ever. I know, I can hardly believe it myself!!! They are resting now, since T has gone out for the evening.

Tomorrow we are supposed to go to a beach barbecue. I am hoping for some good fun, I kind of want to rock a bikini, but: a. My belly still folds over when I sit down and b. I am a very pale white girl and don't want to get a sunburn on my tummy, nor do I want to blind people with my startling whiteness when the sun hits me.  If only I could sparkle like the vampires in Twilight, that would make my paleness worth it.  I need a spraytan, stat!!

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We had a great time at the beach!!!! It is amazing how relaxing it is to go hang out there for the day. I felt like I had taken a whole vacation and we were only there 4 hours.

We took my daughter and my oldest niece, B with us.  The girls had a great time playing in the waves and digging for sand crabs.  H convinced B to bury her in the sand.  

I decided to wear the bikini after all, and I knew I had made the right choice when the hubster said wow. I still need to wear a higher rise bottom because I have a little pooch I am still working on, but I felt completely comfortable all day and not self conscious. Thank you, Mike Karpenko and TapouT XT!!!!  Neutrogena Wet Skin SPF 100 had my back in the sun, so no burning!

All in all, it was a productive and fun weekend!!

Saturday's Menu

Breakfast: 2 turkey sausage patties with 2 eggs topped with lowfat cheddar

Lunch: chicken fajita pita from Jack in the Box with a salad and Bolthouse yogurt ranch 

Dinner: salsa turkey with cottage cheese grits (see recipe below) I wish I had a picture, but we ate every last bite!!

Workout: ripped conditioning from TapouT XT. Lots of resistance band work to build your biceps, triceps, chest, shoulders, and back. I love this one, it leaves my arms feeling like limp noodles.

Sunday's Menu

Breakfast: banana and coffee

Lunch: quinoa w/ veggies and mozzarella 

Dinner: bbq beef, brown rice, tortilla chips and 6 layer dip, Persian kabobs w/ saffron rice, crab leg and lobster tail, half an ear of corn.  Dump cake for dessert. (I know it sounds like a lot, but it was like a tasting menu, a little of everything)

Snack: freeze dried pineapple and a few pretzel crisps

Workout: Muay Thai. I love this one, it is a lot of punching and kicking and it leaves me a sweaty tired mess.

Salsa Turkey

1 pkg ground turkey

1 16 oz jar of chunky salsa

Brown turkey in frying pan.  Add jar of 

salsa, stir and heat.  Serve over cottage cheese grits.

Cottage Cheese Grits

4 cups of water

1 cup of quick grits

1 cup of cottage cheese

1/2 cup lowfat shredded cheddar cheese (more or less to taste)

1. Bring water to a boil in sauce pan

2. Stir in grits, lower heat cover and cook        5 minutes or until thickened

3. Stir in cottage cheese and cheddar

This is my confession...(credit to Usher for the use of his lyrics)

I cannot break my addiction to Coke Zero.  I love Coke Zero like a fat kid loves cake.  It is the fruit of my loom.  It's not just a beverage, it's my best friend.  Do I need to continue???  Seriously, this is a problem. I know that it is as bad for my teeth as meth (which I am not addicted to, so don't judge me for loving a sugar free drink, it could be so much worse!!)

  I have managed to get it down to one a day (usually).  I drink water or iced tea, and always, always, always, I have a cup of coffee from my beloved Keurig with coffeemate each morning.  I also really like seltzer water and club soda (the low sodium kind).  Have you tried La Croix mineral water?  It is the shizzle fo sho!  No artificial anything, just bubbly water and natural flavors with no sugar.  The hubster thinks it tastes like ass. 
It doesn't, for the record.

Should I feel bad that I can't (won't, to be honest) stop drinking Coke Zero?  I do so many other good things.  I mean, I'm not drowning kittens or anything, just ingesting a potentially poisonous liquid combination of artificial ingredients and chemicals. I know I should stop.  I know it is bad for me.  I know that my kidneys would appreciate the break.  But it tastes so dang good.  Why, why, why does it have to taste so good????? 

And that is my confession!  My name is Lisapedia, and I am a Coke Zero addict.

Friday's Menu

Breakfast: 2 turkey sausage patties w/2 scrambled eggs, lowfat cheddar cheese
Lunch: quinoa with roasted veggies and fresh mozzarella 

Snack:  banana with peanut butter (would you expect anything less?)
Dinner: my MIL made Korean food tonight: bulgogi and kalbi with rice.  OMG, it was bomb!!!

Workout: we didn't (wah wah wah!)  it was supposed to be TapouT XT plyo, but it was C's last night at home, and we went to my MIL's house.  I don't feel bad about missing it.  This was the first day of week 7 and according to my calendar, I have missed 3 workouts.  (I have to confess at this time that we do not do the yoga video that is supposed to be on day 4 of each week. I freakin hate that video.  It is a workout for the arms that is being sold as yoga.  It is so not yoga. I have been to yoga.  You do not do a bajillion planks in a real yoga class.  WTF!?!?!? I wish the program had a stretch video like P90x.  I really liked that one. We loaned our set to a friend and it has disappeared. Poop!!! I HATED P90x yoga.  That was some complete BS. 45 minutes of vinyasas?? Really, Tony Horton?  The last half was actually pretty good, though.  Although I have to confess that my two favorite poses were happy baby and corpse.  I wonder why???? Lazy, party of 1!)

Enjoy the weekend!!!!

Return to the Land of Normal

Now that all of the Vegas fun is over, it is time to return to Normal.  Back on track with my eating and exercise, back on track with all of the boring chores that need to be done.

Last night, I made a yummy tray of roasted veggies. They are super delicious and I can't wait to mix them with my quinoa and some fresh mozzarella balls for lunch.  I write this as I am just finishing breakfast. Man, I love to eat!!! 

I roasted them in a 9x11 pan at 350 for an hour. I drizzle them with EVOO and sprinkle with garlic salt, but you can use whatever seasonings you like best.

C goes back to North Carolina on Saturday, so we have some visits to go make today to his grandfather and his great great aunt.  Then we are going to the Goodwill to drop off another few bags of clothes and some bikes that we aren't using anymore.  What a busy day we have ahead.

Today also marks the midpoint of our TapouT XT program. I will share my day 60 pics in a few weeks so you can see my progress so far.  If you are just starting to lose weight and workout, I highly suggest taking before and after pics from the front and the side so you can see your body changing.  When I feel like I am losing motivation, I go back to look at my pics and see how far I've come. The scale sometimes (most of the time) doesn't show your progress as well as pictures do!

The pic on the right is before I started working out and changing my diet.  I looked at that pic and I thought, wow, I look really big. And I decided that I needed to change.  The pic on the left was taken this weekend, I am in the white top. Sometimes I feel like I lost 10 lbs just from my face! 

Wednesday's menu

Breakfast: pancakes made with 1 mashed banana and 2 eggs mixed together, topped with sf syrup

Lunch: leftover spaghetti

Snack:  banana with peanut butter

Dinner: top sirloin steak with veggies and quinoa

My quinoa is mixed with fresh basil, and a vinaigrette of balsamic vinegar and EVOO

Snack: dried apples 

Workout: Sprawl and Brawl from TapouT XT. This workout is punching, elbowing, kneeing, mixed with lunges, planks, mountain climbers and sit-ups. 

Thursday's menu:

Breakfast: leftover steak with one scrambled egg

Lunch: 2 chicken soft tacos w/ a little beans and rice. Señor Baja I didn't get to eat my quinoa and veggies because we were out doing errands at lunchtime :(

Snack: banana with peanut butter

Dinner: Joe's Crab Shack: peel n eat shrimp appetizer, salad, 1/2 Samuel Adams steampot

Workout: it is rest day, whoopee!!

Viva Las Vegas (part 2)

Day 2 of our Vegas adventure began with a timeshare presentation. You know how they tell you it is 90 minutes??? Do not believe them, they lie like a scale on a bathroom floor!  We were there 4 hours. Four.Hours. And we had slept probably the same amount the night before.  Ohhhhhh jeez! We were delirious, we bought into the timeshare. I'm not upset about that. We already had one and we enjoy it a lot. I hope we like this one just as much.

After that, we were a. Starving and b. Ready to relax. 

 For lunch we hit a build your own burger restaurant on the property of our new timeshare (Owners, ya'll!). That place is amazeballs! I got the veggie pattie with chipotle ketchup, white vinaigrette, pepper jack, and olive salad on a whole wheat bun. We shared the sweet potato fries.  I only ate half, and it was super delish! Oh, and a Bud Light to go with. Mmmmm

After lunch, we packed up the cooler with beer and I dumped a Mike's hard cranberry lemonade into my plastic rubbermaid water bottle (just keepin it classy) and we headed to the pool. The pool and spa were indoors, but there was a nice sun deck outside, so after a quick dip, the adults headed out there for beverages and conversation. We relaxed and had a great time!!

After getting ready for another night out, we headed to Fremont Street for some Old Town Vegas action.  We started with a detour at the Peppermill, an old-school diner with a great bar. After some blue Hawaiians and fried appetizers, it was back in the cab for our downtown adventure.

We started at Binion's, where the hubster got us some footballs full of Chasing the Dragon (juice and rum and yumminess) and then it was time to hit the tables. Two casinos later we had won more money, not enough to retire on, but we paid for all our meals with cash this weekend, and still had the money we had brought with us, plus a little extra!!  Finally, back to the room for another nap before it was time to go home.

Mr. C sure was thirsty!!!

On our way out of town on Monday, we stopped at our favorite breakfast place, Hash House A Go-Go. Huge portions of delicious food at more than reasonable prices. Any place that offers a tallboy can of Budweiser and a strip of bacon as a breakfast is cool with me! But I had fried chicken Benedict.

Then we drove. And drove. And drove. Until we were home.

I love Vegas weekends. 

P.S. I wasn't only up in $$ when I got home, I was also up 7 lbs. Boo. Mostly water weight that is already coming off.

Viva Las Vegas! (Part 1)

We have returned from our birthday celebration trip to Vegas. (Happy Bday, C!) I spent this morning attempting to catch up on my sleep, because we slept a combined total of 8 hours this weekend. 

We arrived in Vegas on Saturday and the first thing the hubster and I did was our workout. We are freaking dedicated!!! After that, we all got dressed and headed out for the evening.

After a yummy dinner at the Pub at the Monte Carlo (appetizers, half a blue cheese burger, some fries, and a beer, noms) we saw Blue Man Group. The hubster and I had seen it before about 10 years ago, but we wanted to take the kids because we thought they would love it.  Of course, they did! 

We brought our friends, E & J to Vegas with us, too!! We had a blast at the show.

This is the fam and E at the Show.

After the show, we took H over to the New York New York to ride the roller coaster. It was a long walk in my high shoes and my dogs were barking for sure.  It cost me $14 per kid to ride the roller coaster (ouch!!!!) and we made C go with her because we didn't want to. Then we had to wait around in an arcade for them to get off. Being in an arcade is super fun, said no parent ever!! (Except Dave and Buster's, that's a bar with an arcade attached and is way more fun!!)

After the coaster, we had to take H back to the hotel so we could take C out gambling for the first time.  We hit the Tropicana craps table, and C let the dice fly and 30 minutes later, he was up over $100 and so was the hubster, yay!!! 

E had been saying that she wanted some hot wings, so we walked to Hooters for some wings (they have a 24 hour Hooters restaurant in the Hooters hotel).  First we played the giant dice digital craps game, which was lot of fun and again we were winners!!! Hells yeah!!!

Into the restaurant for wings, yummy!!! The hubster and I split the order of 10, and we ate a couple of C's fried pickles. And we headed back to our hotel at 4 am for a nap!!!

And that was Vegas, part 1

After Fourth

If anyone were to ask me if I would buy fireworks, I would tell them no.  I mean, would you take a hundred dollar bill and light it on fire? (I am not talking to you, Floyd Mayweather, I am talking to the average person!) Plus, why should I pay for fireworks when I can just go outside and scam on my neighbors' shows???

So, of course, yesterday, I saved a buttload of money by not buying fireworks.  The hubster says that if we could get the good stuff that shoots in the air, he might be willing to fork over the money, but he is under no circumstances paying upwards of $50 to shoot off some piccolo petes and groundflowers, and I completely agree.

I will say that we had a pretty awesome family bbq at our house for C's birthday, despite the fact that we don't own a working bbq.  My parents brought over a ton of ribs and chicken, my SIL made pasta salad, and my MIL made some spicy greens.  I made mac and cheese, corn salad (look for the recipe at the end of this blog), and I opened a can of baked beans. And we had a great bbq!!!!

Also, I tried Bud Light Strawberrita for the first time and all I can say is wow!! That is an amazing flavored ale beverage.  They really hit on the margarita flavors and how smart is it to try to sell a product to women who don't drink beer! (I am not among those women, but I know there are some out there).

We head to Vegas tomorrow, for C's first adult adventure as a fully legal adult with all rights and privileges thereby conferred!  Looking forward to some good times this weekend, and also to four years from now, when H turns 21. 

Menu

Breakfast: Special K cereal with skim milk

Lunch: I honestly don't remember what I had, but it was small and healthy :)

Snack: banana with peanut butter

Dinner: bbq ribs, Mac n cheese, pasta salad, corn salad, baked beans, greens, small piece of birthday cake, 2 strawberritas

Workout: rest day!!!!

Corn Salad

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup olive oil (I use evoo)

Tajin seasoning

Microwaveable steam bag corn

3 baby cucumbers (or one large)

3 small/medium tomatoes

For dressing: whisk together olive oil and lemon juice, set aside

For salad:

Microwave corn according to package directions.  Dice tomatoes and cucumbers. 

 Combine veggies in a large bowl, pour dressing over.  Sprinkle with Tajin to taste.  Refrigerate until ready to serve. You can add avocado to this salad as well, fold it In gently if desired.

My Boy C

Tomorrow is going to be a great day!  Not only does my country celebrate its birthday, so does my son.  It is hard to believe that he is going to be 21.

That little guy liked my uterus so much, he was two weeks late! In fact, we had to evict him by inducing labor. My doctor didn't have anything going on, so he said "Let's do it tomorrow." And it just so happened that it was the Fourth of July!

After he was born, there was a moderate earthquake. There is nothing like lying in a hospital bed, after just having given birth the day before, and feeling the earth moving. Super scary and not cool!!!

This is my little guy when he played Little League baseball:

And this is him, all grown up:

 It's still kind of hard to believe that I made a human being in my uterus and expelled him through my vajayjay. But I did!!!

Anyways, Happy Birthday, C! We are so proud of you!!!

Menu

Breakfast: Greek yogurt with strawberries, a drizzle of honey and a sprinkle of granola

Lunch: 3 chicken tacos al carbon and a couple of tortilla chips (El Pollo Loco)

Dinner: Italian turkey sausage and polenta with chunky tomato sauce

 

Workout: we are supposed to do Cardio XT today, but the hubster and C are cleaning the gameroom carpet.  I don't know if it will get done, at least by him. I guess I will be solo....sigh!

Go-tos

Everyone has their go-tos, be they people, places, foods, or exercise that you know you can always turn to.  I thought that today I would share a few of mine.

1. Shaved Zucchini  I love shaved zucchini as a pasta substitute. You can eat a giant plate of this and not feel guilty. Here's how to do it: take a zucchini (bigger is better, ladies!) and a wide vegetable peeler like this one:

Then just take the zucchini and shave down the side with your peeler. Keep shaving it till you hit the seeds, then turn and do the next side.  It takes about 4 large zucchini to get enough "pasta" for 3 people. You can steam it or cook it in your sauce.I like to serve mine with baked chicken Parmesan and homemade chunky tomato sauce. Yum!!!

2. Oil sprayer Do you know why Pam has no calories??? Because it's made with silicone. Yeah, you know that stuff fake boobies are made of? Would you spray fake boobie in your pan and then cook food in it? I didn't think so!!! Get yourself an oil sprayer like this:

Mine is from the Pampered Chef, but you can get them at Target, Walmart, and Williams Sonoma. Fill it with olive oil, people. Stay away from vegetable and canola oil. That stuff is bad for you. I only use olive oil for cooking. Coconut is good too, but you can't put it in a sprayer!

3. Bananas if you have ever read this blog, you can tell how much I love bananas. I eat at least one every day. Usually with peanut butter. Those two things together make a perfect fat/carb/protein combo that is a filling snack or mini meal.

4. My Keurig I must, must, must have my coffee in the morning! I only drink one cup, so making a whole pot is wasteful. I love my Keurig. It makes great tasting coffee quickly. When I'm working, I brew it into my travel mug and off I go. On my breaks, I use a regular cup haha. I have the most basic one, and I don't see a need for anything fancier!

So those are some of my go-tos. If you have any tips or tricks or products that work for you, share them in the comments section!!!

Menu

Breakfast: 2 egg omelet with lowfat cheddar cheese, avocado, and salsa.

Lunch: leftover Thai coconut broth from shabu shabu with brown rice

Dinner: salmon, one fourth of a sweet potato, corn

Snack: banana and peanut butter

Workout Legs and Back from TapouT XT 

The prodigal son returns!

The hubster had range supervision out in the foothills today. Because the range is so far from restaurants, I got the job of bringing him and his partner lunch. (I'm so lucky!!!)

Bringing lunch to the range is pretty daunting.  They requested El Pollo Loco, so I headed over to pick up the food. Easy-peasy! Then, I drove up to the range.

 The range is located behind a ranger station in the national forest near our city.  It's not really a forest where the range is, it's mostly scrub brush with a few trees.  Just the type of place where rattlesnakes love to hang out!  I've never seen one, but I have heard stories. (I'm getting mother effin tired of these mother effin snakes on this mother effin range!!)

To get up to the range, you have to drive up a single-lane, unpaved road.  It's not smooth, there are plenty of bumps and rocks.  You can only go about 7 miles an hour or you will mess up your car. I hate driving this way, so I was white knuckling it the whole way! By the time I got there, I had an awful headache.  

We all ate lunch sitting in the shade of an easy up.  This was great, because it was about 10 degrees cooler at the range than it was downhill, and there was a really nice breeze blowing, too. I wasn't in any hurry to drive back, so I hung out and chatted for a while. My headache finally subsided, and I got back in the car to go home.

More white knuckling, another headache ensued.  By the time I got home I was feeling nauseous.  I sat down to rest, which was made nearly impossible by H and her friend, J, who kept talking loudly and making unnecessary noises. Darn teens!!! 

I loaded up on Motrin and mixed up a Starbucks refresher packet (well worth the 100 calories today!!). Then, I put up my feet for a few minutes of rest. By this time, I had already been on the go since about 7 am, awake since 5 am, and ready for my nap!! (No nap occurred, however)

That afternoon, my son C came home on leave for the Army!!!  I went over to the airport to pick him up. Yay, I love my boy.

Our families came over to see C, and my MIL made some fried fish and shrimp. I had a few of the shrimp and they were yummy, but I didn't want to go overboard, so I ate a bowl of cereal.

After everyone went home, the hubster and I were able to get our workout in, and now I am lounging, writing, and thinking about going to bed.

Menu

Breakfast: multigrain hot cereal packet and a nectarine

Lunch: 3 chicken tacos al carbon (El Pollo Loco)

Dinner: a few fried shrimp, Special K vanilla almond cereal with skim milk

Snack: banana with peanut butter

Workout: Muay Thai (TapouT XT)