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)