Weekend Warrior # 17

Weekend Warrior # 17

by | Jun 17, 2017 | Weekend Warrior

Egads! I am up REALLY early on a Saturday morning.  There must be a reason.  Oh yes, there is.  A friend wanted to go Yard Sale Shopping today.  It is a bit rainy, so we may not do a lot of that, but we have errands, and he doesn’t have a car.  I am trying to make more time for my friends, as they are important in my life.

As soon as we are done, Operation Spring Cleaning is going to be completed.  I am expecting guests this month, starting tomorrow!  I will still have some to do, but today will be the day for the final push.  I need to be ready.  My parents are coming, and I have not seen them in two years.  I am over the moon excited to see them.

I have a plan.  I thought it up when I was supposed to be sleeping last night.  I will start in the guest room, then the bathrooms.  After that, the floors will need cleaning.  All of that will take time, and I hope I have more time when I finish all of the chores I have for today.

My Makeup Blog story is in the draft phase.  In the next 2 weeks, I plan to publish it.  I know it has been taking a really long time for this, but I am writing it without pictures.  When I have everything organized after cleaning the Master bedroom,  I will then have a place for all of my new makeup, and then I can try it out.  See, I DO have a plan, and I have been buying bits and pieces of organization supplies along the way.  Maybe today I will find something to help with that.

I wanted to write this early this weekend so I can focus on what I need to do.  I am taking on this weekend with a full, running start, and fueling myself with coffee.  Lots of coffee.

I hope you are all having a productive, fun-filled, happy weekend!  I am going to give it my all, and then some.  What are you doing this weekend?  What do you do to prepare for guests that visit?  Let me know!  Maybe I can learn something new!

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 17

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 17

by | Jun 15, 2017 | Trust Your Gut

 

Trust Your Gut is a series of stories about real people with weight issues, and complications arising from those issues.  It will explain what the person is facing, what their options are, what they have decided to do to take action, and why they chose the path they are on.  Each person’s story will be based on truth, so it won’t all be happy, but it will be real.  The goal of this series is to get people talking about options that are available for people who have weight issues, on either end of the scale.  If you would like to contribute to this series, there is a contact form linked on my Home page for this blog.  I know there are people out there that want to help people like them; as I do.

 

The names here may or may not reflect the person’s real name.  If someone wants to remain unknown, we will choose a different name for that person’s story.  The goal is to help people, and anonymity is a valid personal choice for contributors.  I will use a person’s name only if they give permission to do so.

This week I am pleased to share another of my own stories.

Here is  Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 17

You know when you want to eat something, and you know what you should eat and you know what you want to eat and you get the easier thing because it is easier and you already are so hungry that you don’t want to spend the extra ten minutes making the better thing to eat because you are hungry right now?  I feel like that a lot.  This has been another week of grab the easy thing because I don’t have enough food prep cooked, even though I cooked a chicken in my slow cooker the night before last.

Tonight I will make something.  I am thinking about making THM Wicked White Chili.  I have made this once before, with a few small adjustments, and it was really great!  So if I can get it in a pot before I go to bed, and get it in some mason jars in the fridge so it is ready to grab in the morning for my lunch, I will be on my way to being back on track, with minimal effort.  That is something I can totally get up and do.

After supper.  I have an errand to run, and that means I leave the house.  One of the best tips I have for living on a budget is to not leave the house.  The second I do, I know I am going to spend money.  I have done a lot of that over the last 20 years.  It is finally starting to pay off and add up.  Yes, I still have a budget, and yes, I am still working on it, but we have a little more breathing room at the moment.  So I don’t have to stay at home ALL OF THE TIME anymore.

If I don’t manage to make the chili tonight, I will prep some of the chicken for sandwiches tomorrow.  Or to go with my spinach in a salad.  I have some blue cheese dressing that is great with spinach.  Cucumber and tomatoes, green onion, and there is my salad.  I think that is what I will end up doing.  I have been known to eat the mini cucumber “straight up” like I picked it fresh from the garden.  I also have taken a knife to work to prep my salad during my lunch break, right before eating it.  I always have people looking at my lunches, especially my homemade leftover lunches.  I am not a PB & J kind of a lunch packer.  I like having food prepped to eat and ready to grab on my way out the door in the mornings.  It can be something I made for the whole week as I don’t always share my lunch with my husband.

The whole point of getting the chicken and popping it in the crock pot was to have the meat ready to go.  And it is in the fridge, still in the crock pot.  That is as far as I got.  I have been making excuses lately for not prep cooking, and I am going to have to stop doing that.  Yes,  it is easier to go get fast food.  But I have to keep reminding myself that I really enjoyed that chili the last time I made it, and I know it will be really good.  I made the chicken, so now I have to eat it. If my husband wasn’t a fan of this recipe, I would use up the spinach in the chili.  He liked it, so I am going to have to use it another way, maybe with scrambled eggs.

THM Wicked White Chili Recipe

I made it in a pot on the stove.  I used white kidney beans as I could not find the beans the recipe calls for.  I halved the measurements on the cumin and the chili powder.  I did not add any Greek yogurt.  I do not know where to get the chilies and tomatoes mixed, so I add mild chilies and extra stewed tomatoes.  I followed the rest of the recipe and it was delightful.

I go through phases.  Sometimes I try really hard to stay on plan, and other times I just make the wrong choice.  It is really all up to me, and if you read my story a few weeks ago, the monster has been louder again this week.  It wants fast food and junk food and all of the things that got me to the weight I am at today.  Sometimes I choose the wrong thing to eat because I am self-sabotaging my goals of a healthier lifestyle.  I have to keep fighting with myself, for myself.  I am the only one that can make those choices, and I really need to get serious about it.  Again.  It feels like a roller coaster at times, I am sometimes on track and doing well, and then the bottom falls out from under me and I stray from where I need to be going.

Right now, I can only imagine what it would be like to have lost the weight I need to lose.  I need to do it, for me, and for my health.  I need to keep reminding myself that I am worth the better choices and that I am worth the extra time and planning that prep cooking takes.  Otherwise, I will have to live with the consequences, and that is not how I want to be living my life.

Since I had the sinus infection, I have been needing to use my puffer a little more frequently.  I do find that it is hard to take a deep breath sometimes.  It has helped, and I am not using it on a daily, or even on a weekly basis, but sometimes I find my chest feeling tight, and I need to use it.  I guess that means I need to plan a real appointment with a doctor at the clinic.  I do not yet have a new family doctor.  I know it is important to get the appointment scheduled and go get it over with.  The anxiety is still making me hesitate, but I know, deep down, that I need to make the effort to take care of myself.  So the appointment needs to be scheduled, and then I need to go.  I think it is time for that lovely once a year check up, and that is not something anyone should skip.  If I let it go much longer I will need to get my prescriptions refilled, anyway.  So there is a reason to go soon, even if it is just for that.

I didn’t know how much negativity was creeping into my life.  I mean, I was so used to listening to the monster inside that I didn’t even realize that negative self-talk was happening.  I am trying to listen for the inner beauty talk.  It is very, very quiet.  I need to listen harder.  I know it is in there.  And it is crying to be let out of the cage the monster locked it in.  Writing that just broke my heart, a little.  Maybe the crack will be enough to let the inner beauty escape the cage, and find her voice.

#TrustYourGut

Weekend Warrior # 17

Weekend Warrior # 16

by | Jun 11, 2017 | Weekend Warrior

Here I am in the middle of another busy weekend!  I have been pushing hard at the Spring Cleaning project, as the deadline looms in the ever shrinking distance.  I am getting help around here this weekend, and it had been thoroughly appreciated.  Currently, it is too hot to do much puttering, so I am taking a few minutes to stop and write before I go back to work.

I have also been eating ribs all weekend long.  It is the annual Ribfest here this weekend, so I have sampled and eaten rib meals all weekend long.  I am ready for my last rib supper of the event tonight.  I have enjoyed the dinners, but it will be good to get back on plan tomorrow and start working on my healthy eating again.

I am planning to do some more work in the Master bedroom after I write this.  If I can cool down.  We are saving towards getting a heat pump installed here, and that will provide a more economical source for heating and air conditioning our home.  I look forward to that very much, especially on days like today.

I slowed down a little this past week, but this weekend has been the start of the crunch to get the Spring Cleaning done before crossing the finish line.  I am going to start in the bedroom while the sun is out.  It will be hard to not just flop on the bed and nap until it cools down.  I have a deadline, and I intend to keep it.

This means I will be working at this place constantly until I have finished.  I am going to have to putter all week long.  There is no Zumba for a few weeks, so my plan is to house clean instead, with music.  This will keep me moving, and get my project worked on at the same time.  It might not be the same intensity level, but moving any way at all has been my motto since I started Zumba.  I will continue.

It is a lot to accomplish in the time I have left, but if I keep at it, it will get better and over time become a list of completed tasks rather than an overwhelming list of things to do.

I am going to end here for this week.  It is so windy outside that I have experienced a couple of power brownouts while writing.  I hope the power stays on so I can continue bouncing the house.  It is much harder to stay motivated without music.

As the Spring Cleaning comes to an end, I am going to be changing the focus of these stories in July.  I will still be writing about my weekend activities, and maintenance cleaning routines as I develop them.  I am also going to start writing about the second half of this year’s project, writing my book.  The gears are going to shift here soon, and there will be lots to write about as I start a new adventure!

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 17

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 16

by | Jun 8, 2017 | Trust Your Gut

 

Trust Your Gut is a series of stories about real people with weight issues, and complications arising from those issues.  It will explain what the person is facing, what their options are, what they have decided to do to take action, and why they chose the path they are on.  Each person’s story will be based on truth, so it won’t all be happy, but it will be real.  The goal of this series is to get people talking about options that are available for people who have weight issues, on either end of the scale.  If you would like to contribute to this series, there is a contact form linked on my Home page for this blog.  I know there are people out there that want to help people like them; as I do.

 

The names here may or may not reflect the person’s real name.  If someone wants to remain unknown, we will choose a different name for that person’s story.  The goal is to help people, and anonymity is a valid personal choice for contributors.  I will use a person’s name only if they give permission to do so.

This week I am pleased to share another of my own stories.

Here is  Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 16

My hormones have gone CRAZY! When I was sick my body got a little confused, and now that it is getting on track, I WANT CHOCOLATE!  Not the square or two of the 85% cocoa that is on plan, but regular, easy to find, totally bad for me chocolate.  I am fighting with myself a lot right now.  I know what I should do, and then there is what I want to do.  Sometimes, the want is more than average, and my brain makes it a need.  So this week I gave in a little.

I also made the lasagna last Sunday, and I have been eating a piece a day for lunch this week.  I needed suppers, and I have planned an adventure in my kitchen that happened yesterday…

I love making Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole.  I don’t have any chicken breasts ready in the freezer to make it with.  So I poached some salmon pieces and made Salmon Bacon Ranch.  It turned out really good.  I swapped the chicken for salmon (poached in water with onion powder, dill and garlic) and made the recipe.  I doubled the dill, added spinach, and extra Miracle Whip and Plain Greek 0% fat yogurt.  I used extra old cheddar, and bacon bits.  I kept the parsley, cream cheese, garlic and pepper as per the recipe.

I was surprised at how good this turned out.  It is rich and heavy, but carb free.  I checked my sugars right after supper, and they were at 10.2.  For after eating, this is really close to normal range.  Considering that it was a Zumba night, and I had a juice box, a G2 and a snickers bar before supper, (I was hangry and dropping)  this is what I needed to see.  It means that I was correct about being low, and I didn’t do too much to overcompensate. YAY!

So what I am getting at this week is that sometimes, chocolate is a necessary evil.  More importantly, it is good to experiment in the kitchen with healthy recipes.  You might surprise yourself.

I am not going to have Zumba classes for a few weeks.  I am in charge of keeping the Zumba Crew motivated until class starts up again.  I have a few ideas, but I need to get the gumption up for me to work on it as I need to be active too, especially when classes are cancelled.  Dance off, anyone?

#TrustYourGut

Weekend Warrior # 17

Weekend Warrior # 15

by | Jun 5, 2017 | Weekend Warrior

Here we are at the end of another weekend.  I have been non-stop busy since the last edition, and am hoping things slow down (just a little) for the next few days.  I write this because I am feeling a little drained of energy.

Friday night was so long ago, I honestly don’t even remember what I did.  That is how busy the week was.  Saturday I slept in a little and got up to volunteer for the Boston Terrier Rescue Canada group. BTRC is run completely by volunteers, and they do whatever they can to raise funds.  I was working in a canteen at a local cat show.  The SPCA was hosting it and asked us if we would like to help out to split the profits between the two organizations.  The message went out late in the week, and I picked my time slot, and off I went.

Let me say, first of all, that I am really proud of myself for looking at all of that food, and ONLY buying an apple.  I paid for it and enjoyed it.  I ended up with pizza to take home, and it was supper.  It has been a while since I had to stand on my feet for a few hours.  Although I was glad to have a chair for a couple of necessary but short breaks, I managed OK.  I do have nerve pain in one leg and I have finally figured out that my hip flexors are the root cause.  If it comes down to it, I tough it out, but I can be in a lot of pain while I am doing so.

 

What does a person do when they go inside the Cat Show after the volunteering is done?  Well, if you are me, you look at EVERY cat you can see, and you buy new cute little socks with cats all over them.  I wanted the cute change purse too, but I am on a budget and that means I can’t always get everything I want.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

My new kitty cat socks!

I bought something practical.  I can always use more cute socks.

Today is Sunday.  I slept in later today, I needed it.  We had been invited to a friend’s house to play board games.  It was set as a potluck.  I decided to make His & Hers Lasagna.  His lasagna is traditional.  Mine is THM Lazy Lasagna.  No noodles and yes it has spinach.

 

He helped me with the prep and assembly.  I made some guacamole dip and we brought Nacho Scoops for that.  It was good.  The best part is that there are leftovers of the lasagnas and the guacamole.  So I have lunches prepped for the week right now!

We played Cards Against Humanity first.  After supper, we played Ticket To Ride, Europe.  It was a lot of fun, once we all knew what we were doing.  The board game looked like this when it was all over.

Ticket To Ride Europe Game

Ticket To Ride Europe Game

It was a busy weekend.  I didn’t get a lot of cleaning done, but we got the prep cooking started for the week.  That’s a wrap for this weekend!  What did you do?