Twerkin' out

Quick recap to hold myself accountable.

I ran this morning with my mom and dogs, I had blanched b.sprouts for lunch,

ran some errands and had a salad for 2nd lunch with olive oil, lemon and sumac for the dressing.

Went for a power walk with my girl,

 then another one 2 hours later with my family. And then I ate a jumbo marshmallow and a handful of pita chips, no pain no gain. My sister-in-law and I are now training to run a half marathon together in September, it's so nice having someone having the same fitness goals as you, everything's easier with support. 

Oh! And we got some fresh caught salmon from our brother-from-another-mother  to make for dinner tomorrow, it's going down. 

Cultivating habits

Today was one of those days where I was just so grateful for my life. 

I woke up and laid in bed and just laughed and joked with a man who can only be described as everything I never thought existed. He's smart, romantic, funny and so unbelievably in touch with my needs. He anticipates my needs and reactions before they happen and he's right there with the perfect thing to say or my favorite snack. I'm getting caught up now, ain't love grand.

After that I went for a run with my mom which just made me feel so good because I have been fighting this woman to exercise with me for years and she's finally on board and losing weight. We talked and while nothing of great importance came up it just made me feel so good to have her by my side, she supports me through everything, it's nice to be able to be there for her. 

I got to spend some quality time with my other love who is absolutely without a doubt the most saintly soul this world has ever seen. 

I ended the night with my in-laws laughing, going for a walk and playing games and just today being an ordinary Tuesday I was able to interact with 10 different people in my life who would without a doubt take a bullet for me. The love I receive on a daily basis is completely overwhelming.

I realized tonight I've never been happier than I am at this very moment. Every day is better than the last.  I pray several times a day for everyone in my life to be safe, happy and healthy. I truly believe when you surround yourself with positive energy and keep God in the center, there's no room for unhappiness.

Eat with your eyes

My mom was never one to tell me not to play with my food and she'll be the first to tell you that she wishes she had.  For as long as I can remember I have always played with my food BUT only once I was done eating (I love food too much to play games before I eat).  I'd take the leftovers and arrange them into faces or make scenes or little characters and get so much enjoyment out of knowing that I made something fun out of something I wasn't supposed to. @idafrosk is a photographer who does such amazing things with food and all of her work makes my heart so happy to see.  For a little more HERE is  an article on her, enjoy!

Keep on keeping on

When Im trying to get back in shape I always tell myself that what I eat is going to have the biggest impact so that I don't feel bad about not exercising but the truth is if I don't exercise I don't eat right.  Knowing I forced myself to sweat makes me really think about what I'm eating.  A recap of today and yesterdays choices:

New running shoes Nike Free 7.0 v2, so comfy.  Did alot of sprinting drills today and went for a little run on the backroads with the dog while Dan rode the mini bike along side us.

Water and seaweed for snacks.  I love seaweed more than I can ever put into words.

Persian/Russian salad called Salad Olivieh, it's like if egg salad and chicken salad had a baby with potato salad but much less mayo.  Usually eaten with bread but in college in order to cut calories i started replacing bread and rice with romaine leaves and cucumber.  One of my all time favorite meals is spicy salsa tune on cucumber slices.

 Dan's getting in shape too so I'm responsible for his nutrition.  We had 1 think slice of tri-tip left over from dinner so I cut it up and cooked it with some kale and fried eggs and tossed them in taco shells with avocado for a protein filled breakfast.

A gift from the lord, pre-made iced coffee WITH ALMOND MILK!!!

Had this baby out front with us while I did sprints and Dan played basketball, hydrated all dayyyy

Snack 1 of strawberries and kiwi, Snack 2 which is not pictured was celery sticks with guac on them.

For Dan's lunch I sauteed onions and peppers with a smoked chicken sausage over a bed of spinach and kale

We went out for dessert and as tempting as the monster ice cream sundae was, I only had a few bites.

In addition to eating better and working out I'm back on my vitamins and supplements so hopefully by next week everything will be back in full effect

Sotd: La vie est ailleurs

Whenever I need a little mood boost this is one of my go-to songs, she soothes my soul,

The comeback kid

Alot has gone on in the last month, big changes that are leading to even bigger one's, everything is in the "nervous excitement" phase and I'm just trying to get a little bit rooted in it all.  Anyyyywaayyy. Moving along.
"Project 26" fell by the wayside (do you remember those books "sideways stories from wayside school?" I have to order them for my little ones, back to the blog...) with all the parties and packing and  chaos of the last month I haven't really held myself up to the highest of standards so I gave myself the week to act a fool, I ate all the meat and pasta I wanted while laying across the couch and marked Saturday as the new Day 1.

It kicked off with my trusty lemon water.  I drink it warm so that my body doesn't have to work too hard to change the temperature of it once it's in my body. Growing up with a monster lemon tree in my yard made it easy to start this routine in high school.  In my house, lemons were the go to cure.  You feel nauseous? Go get a lemon.  Bloated? Lemon. Indigestion? Lemon. Acne? Lemon.  It's a miracle fruit.  And juicing one into a cup of water every morning helps aid in digestion and gets everything jump started in the morning. Highly recommend.

We went to the library for a bit to work on my website (I'm reviving the baking business) and afterwards I was starving.  Rookie mistake number 1.  I usually carry snacks with me because I know the damage that can be done when I'm hungry in public, especially within walking distance of my favorite Mexican restaurant.... which we went to and all I wanted was a carne asada chimichanga mojado with all the chips they had in the place.  I stared at the menu for 10  minutes even though I already had the damn the thing memorized and I finally settled on 2 fish tacos, please keep in mind these are street tacos so they are terribly tiny.  I ate those and filled up on radishes and water and to my surprise I was very satisfied.

From there we went home to get into running clothes.  I haven't ran a legitimate mile on the streets in a while, I became spoiled by the air conditioned room full of treadmills.  We saddled up our pony and headed out.

Dan's got this thing where any structure he passes instantly becomes a workout tool so the park was a welcomed stop

We put in about 3 miles and my body reminded me how out of shape I was huffing and puffing along the way but the first 2 weeks of getting back on track are the hardest, gotta stick it out.  We now have a scale and although I don't gauge progress or success on the number I do like keeping record of pounds vs. inches lost so here's where we are, 2 1/2 pounds up from when I was on my fitness hype last and as I'm getting older I can see it finding new places on my body to sit.

I've realized what I'm capable of when I'm willing to put the work in, I also am aware that I love food more than almost anything so hopefully I can find a balance to keep all of me happy.

"To keep the body in good health is a duty... otherwise we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear."

-Buddha

Holdin' down the rhythm section

I was watching an old episode of SNL and Phoenix was the musical guest and I have always found there music to be "meh" at best, but the drummer, Thomas Hedlund... This man very clearly had a passion for his art and it was infectious watching him.  I found myself nodding and headbanging along with him.  As far as legitimate musical talent and proper instrument playing techniques go I am no expert.  But I know passion and charisma when I see it and this guy has it.