Weekend Warrior #27

Weekend Warrior #27

by | Aug 27, 2017 | Weekend Warrior

Happy Weekend to you!  I am here on Sunday morning, using my AGENDA to figure out this busy day.  Friday I started a new challenge.  It is another five-day,  free,  online challenge, and since I had such a successful run at the last one I did, I signed up for the next one.  The first one taught me about how to Brand myself, as an Artist and an Author. The current Challenge is about Tribe Building, and that is a logical thing for me to learn tips and tricks for, also.  Both of these subjects need to be worked on, constantly, because the audience of today may be a different audience a month from now, six months from now, and onward.  Not that the core audience should be changing itself, but the needs of the audience will change and refocus over time, and I need to stay relevant if I am going to level up as an artist and author.

The homework for today, Day 3 is making me hesitant to answer. It looks easy, because of launching the contest, I think I am already figuring out the next step for me.  I am actually going to delay answering today until after the video for the challenge is posted.  I want to be sure that my answers are well thought out because I am Always Thinking…and I need to get the most out of this challenge that I can, which means sometimes I have to think about the answer, not just slam it out onto the keyboard.

I am really inspired from taking these challenges.  I ran a contest for people to check out different online projects I have on the go, and I picked a winner.  Today I need to create the prize, after having a consultation with the winner, yesterday.  I will be delivering the prize tomorrow, as she is someone that I work with.

Yesterday should have been an easy win for the cleaning and prep cooking.  It wasn’t.  I actually spent the whole day writing on the blog and working on my social media presence, as well as completing day 2 of the GYT Challenge.  I made the video, and I wrote two stories for the blog, one has been published, and the other one has been written in draft format.  It is waiting for approval on some links before I publish, as I want to be sure that I have gotten permission from the sources before sharing the links.  (I did get permission already for the one shared here.)

You may think that it is not hard to spend the day in front of the computer.  In one sense, you would be correct with that assumption.  On the other hand, I am working on many things at the same time, most of the time with writing as the main event, either here, on the blog, or writing my book, elsewhere.  I enjoy the social networking, and I have friends that I interact with online.  I also try to share only the best, most clever tweets.  I have not branched out far in the Twitterverse, but I do check in daily.  It is something I am getting the hang of how to use.

If I am writing, and that is working, then yes, there is a fun factor there for me too.  I really enjoy writing, and I do want to work hard at launching my trilogy to be a success.  I am trying to learn as I go, and do as much of this as I can by myself.  I know my limits, though, and will be in need of an editor when I have the manuscript and my initial editing completed.  I will need help in different areas, but I just took a Facebook quiz, and it said that I will be a millionaire in 2019.  If that is correct, I am going to be a successful published author by then.  I don’t really believe that it will happen because Facebook said so, but it is something that could happen if I work hard to make it so.

Today I went to a movie with my husband.  We went to see The Nut Job 2, and it was cute and funny.  Full of puns!  Not a lot, alright, but there were a few.  Then I rushed home to put a roast in the oven for supper.  Then I ran out again to help a friend buy what she needed for her store to create a new display.  We were both a little off, maybe tired from being busy, so we decided to go get some iced coffee.  We both had the sugar free vanilla.  I really enjoyed it, and it was just what I needed to pick me up.  We also sat down for a bit to have a chat.  Sometimes it is good to make time to just catch up.  The down side of this is that I had to turn down a visit with another friend today because I had already committed to the first friend yesterday.  The timing just wasn’t working out to do everything, and I still have homework and earrings to make.

When I publish this I am going to finish making supper, watch the video for my challenge, do the homework, make the earrings, and empty the dishwasher so I can fill it up again.  If I get REAL ambitious I’ll throw a chicken in the crockpot for tomorrow’s prep cooking adventures.  I LOVE Roast beef sandwiches, so lunch tomorrow will be a treat!  Tuesday I will need something prepared, and I am going to make Chicken Bacon Ranch Casserole.  Hence the need to cook the chicken, tonight or tomorrow.  It is a simple recipe so it can be done in the morning.  Then all I will need to do is steam the broccoli, grate some cheese, and mix the recipe together and pop it into the oven.  If I get that far.  Right now, I could seriously go for a nap.  What does that mean?  I win this weekend! I even conquered a hard avocado last night when I was making nachos for supper. It never stood a chance. What did you do this weekend?

 

 

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 21

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 21

by | Jul 13, 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 Homepage 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 21

Here I am, in the middle of the week, at 8:30 pm, wondering what to make for supper. Again.  I have mentioned before that planning is the key to me staying on plan.  Last week I was on vacation and enjoying myself.  Yesterday I went back to work, and I have not planned any meals this week.  I need to thaw out the chicken that is in the freezer so I can cook it.  I also want to do some more barbequing but the meat is frozen, so that is out.  Garbage day has come and gone, and I still have food from before vacation in the fridge, that should have gone out with the garbage.  When I open the fridge, it is hard for me to figure out what is good and what is not.  So the fridge needs to be cleaned out.  It may not happen before the weekend.  I have only so much energy during the week, and extra energy is being focused on cleaning my kitchen in the war I am having against the ant invasion.  Cleaning, cleaning, and cleaning.  I do not like the thought of making food in the kitchen at the moment, because of this.

I have done fairly well with staying on plan with my lunches.  Did you ever have a breadless ham and cheese sandwich?  You use the cheese to hold the ham.  No need for condiments, just the ham and cheese.  It would work with any type of meat and cheese.  I had mini cucumbers and grape tomatoes with it.  I rather like it for a change.  It is a good summer picnic style lunch.  If you can keep your lunches tasty and healthy, that is half the battle.  I usually have light laughing cow cheese with unsweetened applesauce as my mid-morning snack.  I then wait until I get home and don’t usually eat in the afternoon at work.  On Zumba days, I have a Quest Bar before class.  Protein bars are made for that.  The ones on the plan are sweetened with Stevia and Erythritol.  My husband has picked up the wrong ones in the past, so I came up with a tip to help him remember what ones to get.  The ones with, “Steve and E”  He actually remembered it, and it worked the last time.  He brought the right ones home.

I am going to be walking more in the next few weeks.  Not far, but a little here and there. To get the mail, to my neighbour’s house because I am cat sitting, just enough to start building up my activity level.  I want to be more active, and even doing a small amount of extra walking is a good way to start.  I have gone back to Zumba both days this week.  I felt stronger tonight, and a little more like I was able to participate more in the class.  I was not in my head as much tonight, and that means that I enjoyed the class more.  I also plan to get in a few more beach days and to do some swimming.  I used to teach swimming lessons in high school.  I love swimming, so I am working on planning some time well spent at the lake.  It’s not the same as the ocean, but it is close to my home, and I have friends that I can make plans to meet there to have some summertime fun.

I did look for the ginger juice on Monday.  I found a local store that carries other products made by the same company, and I will be going back soon to see if they brought some into their store for me.  While I was talking to the lady at the store about it, another customer also expressed interest in it.  I never left my name, I will just wander back in one day soon.  I may contact them about it first, as I want to be able to get it very soon.  I also need to get some more apple cider vinegar.  It seems I have almost used the whole bottle.  When I am certain the ants are finally gone, I will resume making more recipes that are on plan.  For now, I have decided on a simple supper.  Grilled cheese sandwiches on bread I bought while on vacation.  It has to be eaten up before it goes bad, so it might as well be enjoyed while it is reasonably fresh.  Treats are OK.  I did exercise today.  I ate reasonably well.   I am also going to get the chicken out of the freezer and put it into the fridge with some greek dressing.  That way I can start cooking it tomorrow when I get home from work.  It’s all up to the planning.  Time to take control again.

#TrustYourGut

 

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 21

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 18

by | Jun 22, 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 18

Tomorrow.  Monday. The first day of the month.  We have all been there, and we have all promised ourselves that we will do better, but not now.  It is hard when you are addicted to food and addicted to sugar.  It is impossibly hard when you are too lazy to find the way to a healthier lifestyle.  I have written it before, and I will likely write these words again, it is easy to be lazy.

I am told quite frequently that I am too hard on myself.  I have come to accept that quality as something I am.  The truth is, I don’t know how to be any other way.  In my dabblings along the curvy path I am walking beside, around and sometimes hanging upside down from a tree on,  sometimes I cut myself way too much slack.  There is no middle ground when it comes to me and some things.  Some things being food.

I am finding it really hard to stick to staying on plan.  I know, it works.  I know I feel better when I do follow the plan.  I know it is the best thing for me to do.  Yet here I am again, thinking that tomorrow is a new day, for a fresh start.

What is a person supposed to do when this happens?  It is like I am on the side of a mountain in the middle of a mudslide, and in MY world, it is hailing Swedish berries, and all the mud is chocolate mixed with hot fudge, of course.  It is a struggle for most people to eat healthy most of the time.  I find if I give myself a little slack, I tend to give a little more, and a little more, until there is no more slack left, and I am way off track and possibly lost.

I am watching my body change, sometimes for the better, and sometimes for the worst.  I keep a close eye on my gut, and it does fluctuate, frequently.  I have also noticed that when I do put in the effort to work on me, I am starting to see the shape of the oblique muscles cause dents in my stomach.  I see them, so they are in there, somewhere.  Underneath the curves and fluff.

My chin causes me great concern.  I know what makes it look like that, and I know what fixes it.  You might think that is a little weird or eccentric, but it is true.  If I make GGMS, it gets smaller.  If I hit up chocolate a lot, it collects in my chin.  I kid you not.  I am wearing the chocolates I bought last Christmas in there right now.  I am positive that is what did it.

I did some sweeping and mopping this past week. We were expecting company.  I had a tight, sore back for two days after that.  I didn’t like it, but I didn’t pull anything, and I was able to do most things without any change.  Bending over was horrendous.  The good news is that I feel better now.  The bad news is that I am not convinced that cleaning my floors is good for my health.  They don’t clean themselves, though.

I need to work more at being on plan.  I know this.  It is hard to convince the monster that it doesn’t belong here anymore.  It wants me to dive into the mudslide of chocolate and never come up for air.  Or find a really big straw.

I just spent 2 hours taking the meat from the chicken I cooked.  It was a really big chicken.  I will be making that chicken chili tomorrow.  Or tonight, if I find a second wind.  Either way, the prep work is done, now I just assemble in the pot, and cook it.  That is the thing, though.  It is easy to say I am going to do something, but the prep time is never less than 10 minutes for me.  So that is why I go the easy way sometimes.  Because I take the time to do everything right, and sometimes it takes too long in real life to do what I want to do.  This is another trap down a slippery slope of marshmallow strawberries.  Can you tell I am having a hard time with sugar cravings this week?  I have my favourites, and sometimes I have to give in a little before it becomes a big mistake.

Goals for the upcoming week?  Find out if Ginger Juice by The Ginger People is available locally, or if I have to order it online.  I am using frozen ginger cubes in my GGMS now, but I would like to add the juice if I can find it.  I am wondering if I will like it better than the frozen cubes.  I found the powder too gritty, and want to make the GGMS the best I can.  I already know I LOVE it with Black Cherry Berry Tea by Celestial Seasonings.  So good!  I make the basic recipe and add the tea bags to steep, and drink over ice.  Not early in the day, I would run all day long.  I also need to make the Shrinker.  Another tea drink, made with oolong tea.  The recipes can be found here and I have tried most of the recipes on this page.  Good Girl Moonshine and The Shrinker are the two I am referring to in this story.

Tomorrow is a new day, and I am going to make healthy food to eat.  One day at a time.  Listen to the voice of your inner beauty, and let it help you shine!

#TrustYourGut

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 21

Trust Your Gut: Tish’s Story; Part 15

by | Jun 1, 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 15

Up to now, I have been sharing my story and the stories of others with their issues regarding weight.  That means if you are reading this week’s story, and have been since I started writing, you know that I am struggling.  Sometimes week to week other times day to day, but it could literally be bite to bite.  I wake up thinking about food.  I go to bed thinking about how tired I am or am not, and this is usually related to what I ate that day.  When I dream about food, it wakes me up to go test my blood sugar.  If it is OK, then it was just a dream.  Sometimes it is my body telling me that I need to get a glass of juice.

Today was no different than any other Wednesday.  I got up, went to work, went to Zumba, and then I came home.  Where I knew I had meat in the fridge, both cooked and ready to be cooked, but I could not bring myself to start making a healthy meal.  I wanted the easy way out.  I sent an SOS to my husband for fast food.  I was tired when I got home today.  Bone tired.  I decided that I would nap until he arrived home.

Sometimes it is the only way to accomplish everything that you need to do, taking the easy way.  But taking the easy way is not the healthy way to live.  I am living proof of that.  The easy way is not the path less travelled.  The easy way is the way to childhood obesity and the epidemic that I happen to be a statistic of, the Type 2 Diabetes crisis that is blowing up all over the world right now.  If you continually choose the easy meal, the easy snacks, the sugar, the preservatives, the chemicals and the toxins you will not live a healthy life.  It isn’t possible.  It’s called junk food for a reason.

What is the alternative? Hard work.  If you put in the time and effort into yourself, it will pay off.  It doesn’t matter if you stray from the path when life happens.  What matters is that you value yourself enough to go back to the path you have chosen to follow because you strive towards living a healthier lifestyle.  There are always going to be days when you are too tired to cook.  I have had days where I am so tired and hungry that I can’t even decide which restaurant I want to go to.  The main thing is that I don’t give up forever.  I keep trying.  I keep pushing myself to do better.  And I keep celebrating every little success along the way.

I cannot stress the importance of planning ahead and prep cooking enough.  If I had made that casserole last night, I would have had supper planned, and this helps me to make healthy choices.  Sometimes I am too busy.  I planned my lunch today but found I was very cold at work, so I bought soup and BBQ chips to give my circulation a little kick in the pants with some mild spices.  Would I do that again tomorrow?  Not unless I felt the exact same way I did today.  I am usually bundled up in layers at work, but there are limits to what I am able to wear and what they will allow me to wear to stay warm at my desk.  Today I was maxed out on layers, and still cold.  I did what I needed to do to adapt to the day.  It worked.  Tomorrow may be a different story, yesterday I found it a little cold, but tolerable.  Today I could not get warmed up.  This is a side effect of having thyroid disease, sometimes I am cold when I should be warm.

When I am out of ideas for lunch, I plan scrambled eggs and cheese.  I can cook it in the microwave, and I can eat vegetables with it.  I almost made that for lunch today, but I changed my mind and made good old PB&J on sprouted bread.  I am not the biggest fan of this sandwich, so I am using regular peanut butter.  I bought the kind that has no sugar,  which must be stored in the fridge.  It was left too long and dried out.  So for the few times that I make it, I am using regular peanut butter.  When I decide to make something that has a need for peanut butter that is on the plan, I will buy more that is made with just peanuts and salt.  I use sugar-free jam.  The sprouted bread is on the plan.  2 out of 3 ain’t bad, to quote a song by Meatloaf.  I ate my sandwich after Zumba class, to hold me over until the fast food was here to eat.

If you are struggling like me, then neither of us is alone.  It can be a solitary journey if you are hiding behind closed doors or sneaking around to feed the monster inside.  I am calling it what it is.  A monster that is obsessed with food, and thrives off of sugar.  It does not mean that I am a monster.  It does mean that I have to fight it. The harder I fight, the smaller it will be.  It will reflect on the outside what is happening on the inside.  And that is where the beauty hides.  The beauty that is inside all of us needs to be nurtured and loved.  It will flourish and bloom if we give it the attention that it deserves.  When this happens, you start to glow from the inside out, and the monster shrinks inside.  Just as the monster scares your inner beauty, the glow from that inner beauty outshines the monster if we let it.  As someone who loves to sparkle and shine, I am going to focus on that for the next week, and see where it takes me.

Trust Your Gut is the weekly series that I have decided to publish on Thursdays.  I think it is time to  give it a hashtag of its own.  Help me to get the word out to other people that may need to read these stories and know that they are not alone.  Help me to reach out to other people that want to help by sharing their own stories.  All it takes is an idea to create something big that matters and can help people.  I am starting that now.
Together we can help people, just like you and me.

#TrustYourGutThursday and #TYGT

Weekend Warrior #27

Weekend Warrior #13

by | May 21, 2017 | Weekend Warrior

Here we go again!  It is the middle of a sunny, not too hot but a little too breezy weekend.  I say that because it is BEAUTIFUL out, but not quite warm enough for wearing shorts. Perfect weather to cook and clean in.  Too bad yesterday was an errands day, so not a lot got done around the house.  We did take some time to enjoy the sunshine, though.

We went out to a fundraiser for Great Danes yesterday.  Roy bought a t-shirt to support the cause.  I am holding off because I would rather buy one from the Boston Terrier Rescue Canada group, BTRC as I volunteer with them.  We had lunch and hit up some stores.

There was a bead sale, so I went there first.  I then went to Bed Bath and Beyond.  I would spend more money in there if I had it to spend, well who am I kidding, I love shopping, and money flows faster than mercury through my hands.  Blink twice, and it’s gone, kind of like my awesome time management skills, I have the same ability in both of those areas.  Amazing talents to have…not! My husband went to the pet store.  He is working really hard on his 75-gallon fish tank set up.  I cannot wait to finally post some pics when it is all done!  I will share the finished setup photos when he is happy with it and ready to show it off.

At the second store I found some coffee on sale, not as good of a sale as the last time I was there, but still, a sale is better than full price.  The reason I went was to get an organizational drawer for my fridge.  There is a drawer on a slider in the middle of my fridge, but the space underneath that drawer is a nightmare to keep organized.  My husband does not want to open the fridge and see multiple organization containers inside.  I see the value of the system, but don’t want to buy more bins for the fridge until he changes his mind.  This is the beginning of that transition.  It may never proceed past the initial phase, but at least I get to tackle one huge problem area in our fridge.

I started my Sunday off in Church.  I do like going and was a little late, but better late than never, I thought.  So I went.  Then I went to a coffee shop to wait for my ride home.  It was a good start to the week, and to my Sunday.

I am headed back into the kitchen today.  I NEED to run the dishwasher and get the dishes back under control.  I think I am starting to feel better, hurrah for antibiotics and trying a different kind!  I am wanting to do things again.  Still not feeling completely healthy, but feeling like I want to get some things done around here again is a big plus.

I didn’t get things done last weekend.  I was really feeling awful, and sometimes what you need to do has to be prioritized.  I needed to rest so that I would get better, and be able to get some spring cleaning done this weekend.

I am not going to focus only on the kitchen today.  I have an issue in the Master Bedroom that needs attention.  I am notoriously famous for piling things up everywhere I go.  My desk, my craft supplies, clothes or anything and everything.  I do not like putting things away.  So today, I am going to take the time to change the sheets and put my clothes away.  Then I can rearrange the dresser and assemble the 6 cube shelving unit I bought a while back.  If I really get on a roll, there may be pics here next weekend! I am still not feeling the motivation to finish the kitchen, so I am going to change the plans for today after I get those dishes done.  I have some prep cooking to do also.  I want the kitchen clean before I start cooking. I have 3 lbs of ground beef and a whole chicken to work with today when prep cooking.  The beef will make 2 different meals, and the chicken is going into my crock pot. I really love making this recipe with whole chickens, ever since I found it online a while ago.

So, I intend to fully bounce the house today.  That is a Tish-ism.  You can read about it here: Bouncing the House.  The tunes will be cranked, and I will be doing a little singing and dancing while I work.  After all, if it isn’t a little bit fun, I will never get it done!