Sunday, December 5, 2010

The Plan: My Goals 20101205

 

Ok, let’s get this party started!!!

My goals for this week, as always, are to keep my calories at 2000 per day.  This is very doable, I just have to start writing things down and make sure I get my veggies in.

On the exercise front my goals are to run today (I’m planning on doing an interval session) and do two of the insane workouts on Tuesday and Thursday.  MWF I’d like to start pumping some iron, with my measly 8 lb dumbbells; it’ll be a weight-training/yoga or pilates mash up.  I have a bunch of yoga and pilates shows that I’ve DVRd from FitTV so I have to get on that bandwagon and start doing them.

I’ve had my breakfast & coffee (white-chocolate creamer is THE BEST!) so now I’m off to get my running gear on before I start thinking up excuses of why I should stay in my jammies all day.  The sad thing is, I know I could SO talk myself into it :)

Many Blessings,

Cynthia

Saturday, December 4, 2010

I’m baaack!

 

Or atleast, I’m going to try to be back.  Life over at our casa has been k-crazy.

This morning I just felt like a complete failure on the nutrition and exercise front.  Richard’s been out of town for a week and my awesome Mom has been staying with us. I used that as an excuse to avoid working out for the entire week.  I’m that good at coming up with excuses not to workout.

I kept telling myself, well, I’ll just have to workout on the weekend when Richard gets back.  Fast forward to Saturday at 9 AM and I send Richard off to get some breakfast while I sip my coffee and decide to not go running and instead work out starting Monday next week.  Aren’t I good?

After my Jack in the Box croissantwhich and my biscotti, I went to change and just felt terrible about myself.  Terrible!  I haven’t been eating the best, sure I get my veggies in, but I also get that “tiny” cup of eggnog and that extra “little” pancake.  The office has this tradition of the “12 Fattenning Days Before Christmas” and I am following that plan to the T.

So, I have to stop.  I got into my running gear, took the dogs on a walk, got back and fed Brielle before lacing up my sneakers and heading out the door.  I ran 3.3 miles in 33 minutes and it felt GREAT!  My body was really craving that and I need to remember that every time I think of a reason not to work out!

Taking a cue from Julie at PBFingers.com, I’m going to try to look at every meal as a blank slate – a way to nutritiously feed my body.  I erased the Jack in the Box debacle (a 400+ tiny little sandwich) and I made myself a spinach salad with an awesome cilantro dressing (I’ll post the recipe later).  I topped it with some peppers and white beans for protein.  It was mucho yummy and made me feel like I was more in control of it all.

Being more in control makes me feel so much better, and blogging about it keeps me on track so I will have to continue doing it.  For the next month or so, my goal is to post at least once a day.  I’ll try mainly to focus on the workouts but will include recipes if I find them shareable.

I will also set up a weekly workout goal and then review it every weekend to see how I can improve upon it.

I also have to remember to be kind to myself when Brielle has a rough night.  If I can’t workout cause she was up all night, to try to do some stretching, yoga or pilates in the evening.  Plus, make sure to eat extra healthy that day.

Just take the workouts one day at a time, and the meals one meal at a time :)

Many Blessings,

Cynthia

p.s. I’m looking forward to posting my first workout challenge for the following week.  Can’t wait :)

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Book 201010: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne

 

So I have to say I’m loving my Nook right now. You get a bunch of classic novels for free and this was one of them.

It was a fun and easy read and I have to say I’m much more of Team Captain Nemo than a Team Captain Ahab fan. Not so much because I like Captain Nemo, but I just loved the story so much and Moby Dick was just one of those books that I had to force myself to finish.

On the other hand, this one had me hooked from page 1! You can read a full review here. As a young mother, I would love to have my own personal manservant. How I wish Conseil would come work for me.

My favorite character was definitely Ned Land, though. In a movie, I’d probably cast him as Harrison Ford. He seems like that type of guy to me, an adventurer who’s not afraid of getting his hands dirty!

Plus, Ned’s the one that drove their quest for freedom. Without him, the other two might still be trapped in the Nautilus stranded under the sea.

I also liked how Verne doesn’t reveal why Captain Nemo is so haunted. In my opinion, it makes the story seem more real. I guess because in life no one really knows what causes people to do the things they do. You can try to guess why, but you never really know.

In the end, I would definitely recommend this book to any of my friends. I know it’s a random review, but I wasn’t an English major and it’s about all that I can do right now. Plus, I figure there are tons of more philosophical reviews out there and mine is just short and sweet :)

A run, run, run I went!

 

Yay, I got to run today :) Grant it, it was later than I normally like to run, but the weather was great and I’m not one to complain.

We rented RobinHood last night and I have to say that I really liked it. My best friend was obsessed with Russell Crow in college and I can see why. There’s just something about him that brings the story to life.

We should have started it earlier, though. We kept our little one 45 minutes past her bedtime and she got really fussy at the end. Plus, I didn’t get her to sleep until midnight :(

Why is it that she can sleep through barking doggies and a direct tv installation, but try putting her down on her crib at nighttime and you’ll get an earful.

Oh well, can’t complain. I got to run my 3 miles in 30 minutes, plus our regular walk with the doggies so I’m a happy camper.

Off to play with my little munchkincita!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Fashionista in Training

Week10 010

Here’s my little munchkin’.  One of my friends made that adorable little hat for her and I find out she actually sells them.  I told her to sell her things on etsy, I bet she’d get lots of orders.

I keep telling my Mom the same thing, too. After seeing the little hat, she was able to pick up the pattern and knit a flower of her own. I wish I could say that craftiness runs in the family, but it doesn’t. She’s tried teaching me before, but I just have myself a little chuckle each time.

I’m so not crafty!

As far as fitness & nutrition go, I think they’ve taken a back seat to SLEEP!

She’s still really unpredictable at night, sometimes 2, sometimes 3-hr blocks. Very random.  Too random for me to think of having a workout plan :(

Hopefully I get my run on tomorrow. Fingers crossed!

Today we took the doggies for a walk and don’t have much planned. Just hang around and enjoy this great weather.

Looks like she’s a wakin’ up, so gotta go :)

Monday, October 18, 2010

Can I press the restart button for this Monday?

 

I swear, I would so press that button right now! If only that option was available.

I would go back and get in a workout at the 6 am mark. I had the chance, but decided to sleep in instead. Bad choice because I am so much better when I get a good workout in. I missed that energy rush and the chance to get ready and have breakfast before Brielle gets up.

By the time she woke up it was 9 and my whole day was thrown out of whack!!!

After we had our playtime, I put her down for her nap and did manage to have some breakfast.  She was having trouble going to sleep so I tried EVERYTHING in my arsenal, but came up empty. She was not going to sleep.

I try to stick to the Baby Whisperer’s EASY method. A loose routine that goes through Eat, Activity, Sleep in a 3hr set. Since she didn’t sleep, she went into another set and finally took a 2 hr nap.  I thought she’d be ready to play after she woke up, but she really didn’t wake up. She ate and wanted to go back right to sleep. Then she woke up but just kind of sat there, she wasn’t the active self she usually was. She did manage to talk to me for a bit and now she is taking her nap.

I have no idea what routine she is on today, none whatsoever.

I guess we’ll have our good days and try to manage the not so good ones. Let’s hope it doesn’t spill over to her nighttime schedule.

In terms of fitness, I think I’ve learned I can’t set a workout schedule right now. Sleep is too important and I really don’t have any control over how much I get of it each night. I just have to learn to make the right choices when I’m rested and have a chance to work out. I have to seize those opportunities!

Since I can’t control that, I’m just going to focus on the nutrition portion of it. I haven’t been the best, but I sure am going to try :)

Here’s to hopin’ tomorrow is another day :)

BTW, anyone know of any tips to get a baby to sleep?

Monday, October 4, 2010

Pure Cardio

 

I know, I think the insanity has infected me, but I am LOVIN’ the Insanity workout dvds!!!

I started last week, but because it was during the middle of the week I decided to restart back to week 1 today. Pure Cardio was probably not the easiest way to start, but man was it fun. You know you’re in trouble when even ShawnT, the instructor, admits to being nervous about what’s to come.

Oh no!!!

It was tough, but I somehow got through it. Grant it, I had to take some breaks (ok, many breaks). It also helped that the people on the video we’re also struggling to get through the workout. Plus, I loved how all the guys kept taking their shirts off as time went by. Too funny!

After a week, I honestly can’t believe how sore I am. I haven’t lifted any weights, but I am definitely feeling the burn. I’m also surprised because my abs are definitely feeling it, but I’ve done no sit-ups or abs work. All those moves definitely do target your core! They don’t lie.

After reading Kimberly’s blog post, it inspired me to post some of my goals this October.  By the way, let me just tell  you that Kimberly’s weight-loss journey is really inspiring. She recently met her goal of running a half-marathon in under 2 hours. Go Kimberly!!!

So, here are my fitness & weight-loss goals for October:

  • Follow the Insanity workout plan. It’s a little intimidating, but I’m going to attempt the 6 times a week workout plan. I just hope Baby Brielle will help out with the sleep portion during the night so that I can wake up and get the sweat out of the way!
  • Eat healthy, post my meals and try to stay at under 2000 calories a day. TRY is the key word here!
  • Limit my Chai tea consumption. It’s so hard, specially when I have a big canister of the best Chai tea mix sitting in the pantry.  Sure, it’s only 140 calories per Chai tea goodness, but if I have one every day (as I have been) in October, it would total up to 4200 additional calories. That’s more than a whole pound, people!!! So my goal is to only have one Chai tea on Saturdays IF I got in my six workouts during the week!
  • Try to stay patient during this weight-loss journey.  Sure, I’m only four pounds off my pre-baby weight but to be honest, I was a little heavier than I wanted to be when I got pregnant. I’m a little hesitant to set an actual pounds lost goal, but if I did, I’d say I’d like to loose another 12-15 pounds. My real goal, though, is to fit into my favorite pair of jeans by Thanksgiving. They’re just sitting in my closet, all lonely because I can’t wear them. I’ve done it in the past, I just have to remember that my body likes to hold on to fat for as long as possible and so, I have to be patient.

I have to take it one day at a time and try to make the best healthy decisions that I can. Oh yea, another goal:

  • Slow down as I eat my meals. I don’t know if it’s Baby Brielle or what, but I’ve noticed I’ve been inhaling my food recently. Maybe it’s because I want to finish before she gets up, I don’t know, but I really have to take the time to eat slowly!

In a nutshell, these are my goals this month. Let’s see if I can keep it up :)

Friday, October 1, 2010

So, so sleepy!

 

My little baby girl woke up A LOT last night. It seemed like she was up every 1 or 2 hours. I woke up at 1,3,4 and 6. Oh well, I guess that’s how it goes with a baby. The almost 5 hours from the previous night was too nice and made this night even worse :(

I still managed to get up and get going with the INSANITY!!!

Day 2 of the Insanity videos also kicked my booty into high-gear. The workouts remind me so much of my high school basktetball practices, oh how I miss those days!

I did get some energy, but I’ve been draggin’ the rest of the day. I tried to take a nap, but naps aren’t the same anymore. The cute little baby noises keep waking me up, so I have to settle for some time with my eyes shut!

I still can’t believe how sore I am, though. I hope that gets better as I keep doing them.

I’m off, it’s snack time!!!

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Insanity: Form over SPEED!

Man oh Man! Today’s workout was INSANITY!!!

The first day of the workout plan called for a fitness test and I think I pretty much failed :(

The test required I time myself doing each of the below moves for a minute and I was huffin’ and puffin’ half-way through. Here are my results:

Count Exercise
32 Switch Kicks
29 Power Jacks
29 Power Knees
38 Power Jumps
28 Globe Jumps
14 Suicide Jumps
17 Pushup Jacks
21 Low Plank Oblique

It was definitely tough! The suicide jumps really got me and I must admit that the pushup jacks didn’t really look too much like pushups. I really need to work on my upper body strength!

This fitness test is scheduled on it’s own day, but since I started the program mid-week, I decided to couple it with the workout scheduled for the second day: Plyo-Cardio Circuit. Doesn’t it sound scary???

Scary it was, my friends!

I didn’t think I would sweat as much as I did. It was a 40 minute video that was broken up into the following segments:

  • 10 min warmup
  • 7 min stretching/pilates moves
  • 20 min plyometric sets
  • 3 min cooldown

I know this sounds INSANE, but I loved it.

I loved that I wasn’t bored and the stretching/pilates part of it, I was definitely feelin’ the burn :)

I didn’t love how I couldn’t keep up with the sets :(

Midway through I was already trailing everyone else on the video, but I was glad the instructor kept emphasizing that we should follow “form over speed”.

I really tried to keep up, just like some of the other girls in the video, which I also loved! It felt like I was working out with a group and it helped knowing that some of them were struggling as much as I was! I hate those videos where there are only one or two people and they always seem to maintain perfect form.

I look forward to seeing what this program has to offer, but I also realize that I will have to work on my pushups on my own. It seems I have no upper-body strength :(

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

A Creature of Habit

 

With our little addition, who is about to be 7 weeks old, life truly is no longer what it used to be! Everything’s turned inside out and I’m lovin’ every minute of it!

How could you not, with this little one in your life!

Brielle 047

She is truly a blessing!

So where does this blog go with a little one in the house?

Well, I decided I still wanted to make it a healthy fitness blog. I may not be able to write all the time, but I will definitely try to as much as possible.

I still want to continue the Calorie Tracker segments because it helps me gage where I am nutritionally. It also motivates me to eat healthier!

In terms of daily pictures of what I eat, those are probably going to go way down. See, I’m a creature of habit. As such, I tend to eat the same things over and over until I get tired, or most likely, until I run out of them.

For example, I’m currently having an egg & cheese sandwichthin for breakfast. It fills me up and I find it quite yummy :)

For my snacks, I’ve settled into having a yogurt+fruit smoothie for a pre-workout snack and an edamame+fruit+chai tea for my afternoon one.

I know, it’s boring, but that’s who I am. Plus, mixing it up with the fruit helps fight that boredom!

Also, for my late dinner/snack I’m having a yummy bowl of oats with fruit and milk. Oatmeal is apparently good for breastfeeding so I have to have it. Besides, I love it! I may venture into steel-cut oats or barley, but I find that having this at night really powers me through the late-night feedings with my baby and gives me extra energy in the mornings.

Thus, in terms of the blog, I’m not going to post pictures of these foods. They are too repetitive and I wouldn’t want to bore anyone :)

As far as fitness goes, I do plan to keep my workout log.

I was so happy to get up and run this morning that I definitely have to keep that up. It makes me feel so good knowing that I’ve already had my workout and the bonus, some ME time while the baby slept :)

Woo-hoo! Who knew ME time was going to be in such a demand?

I got to get ready, make myself breakfast, have my morning coffee while surfing the internet with the comfort of knowing that my baby was sound asleep. I even got to mark a couple of tasks off my to-do list!

I will definitely have to fight to make this a habit from now on. I also ordered some anti-pull leashes for my doggies so I can take them for walks in the morning with Brielle.

Baby + stroller + Labrador + cocker spaniel = ???

We’ll find out when the leashes arrive!

I will also be doing a review of the Beach Insanity workouts. My husband got them for me for my birthday and I will officially start the program tomorrow. I’ll be doing this, some yoga, walks with the doggies and I’m going to try and take my Labrador, Abacus, for some running on the days when Richard is home. I must take advantage of that to get my run on!

So do wish me luck as I try to get back in shape. Ima scarred, but so looking forward to it!!!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The dingo did it…

 

“The dingo ate the baby” said Elaine, I keep hearing that in my mind right now. Except sleepiness is the dingo and the blog is the baby.

Brielle 100 

It’s all worth it when you get to see this little one smile back at ya!

I have to be honest, I haven’t been working out. I decided to let my body have time to heal and establish my milk supply. At this point, any sleep is way more important than getting a work out in.

I have my 6 week check-up next week, and will hopefully get the green light to really start exercising!

On a healthy note, I think I’ve been doing a good job of getting my veggies, protein, dairy and whole grains in :)

I probably have been letting too much sugar in :( On “The Doctors” today, they mentioned the recommended sugar intake was 32 grams of added sugar. 32! I looked at the nutritional info of the AWESOME chai tea mix I scored yesterday, and was so sad to say that one serving had 22 grams.

Crazy!

I’m going to have to see if using half a serving will be ok, or maybe just have the tea as a special treat.

It is so good, though. It tastes just like the kind I get at my favorite coffee place. Oh sugar, why must you torment me!!!

Again, I’m in survival mode right now and any blogging is a welcome treat.

For all the mommy’s out there, got any advice for a first-time mom?

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Are you ready for some football???

Dinner

Everyone at our casa sure was!!!

Yay, NFL season is officially here. Oh the joy and the agony of each game. It's so exciting!!!

To celebrate, we ordered a pizza from Papa John's and paired it with some steamed asparagus. I actually had two slices. Yummy!

I also had half of my yogurt bowl, and will save the rest for tomorrow morning.

The baby is four weeks now, and I'm having trouble distinguishing if the baby is hungry or tired. Specially after having fed her an hour earlier. I know they go through growth spurts where they're nursing every hour, but I just don't know if this is one of them. Or, it could mean that she just wants to nurse herself to sleep.

It's so tough to try to figure out what she really needs!

Off to sleepy land :)

Day #? of Leftovers!

I got a lot of sleep tonight, yay! I still woke several times throughout the night, but we managed to sleep in until 8:30. I can't remember the last time that happened! Grant it, I missed my yoga session but I will try to squeeze it in sometime today!

Breakfast


Breakfast was an egg and cheese sandwich on a wheat thin. Simple but good!

I was able to cross one item from my to-do list before lunch, organizing my bathroom cabinets. It's so nice to have the time to these little things!

Lunch


It looks like I'll finally be able to finish off the leftover whole-wheat pasta and the can of sardines from last week. This time, I added fresh spinach and some of the leftover calabacitas from last night. What resulted was two servings worth, so I may have the second serving as a snack later on. It all depends on whether or not Richard wants to order wings for our NFL Football kickoff later tonight.

Woo-hoo!

Go Cowboys!!!

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Baby Talk at Luby's

I once again got up later than I wanted to, 7AM but I did manage to get my run! It was a whoppin 1.25 mile! I walked for the rest of the 30 minutes and then caught up on some tasks until lunch time.

Since we're limited to 3-hr excursions out with the baby, we opted for lunch at Luby's with some of my friends at work. It was nice to hear how everyone is doing, plus some of them got to meet Brielle.

Dinner

I made some tasty green chile chicken enchiladas for dinner. My parents used to fry these when I was growing up, but it's so much easier and healthier to bake 'em.

Since I got my Gmail calendar and task applications going, I'm all set for tomorrow's tasks! We'll see how many I can actually cross off!

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Easy Peasy Din Din

After doing my grocery shopping I came home and did some house work. I feel like such the housewife right now. It's a little surreal.

I would actually love to be a stay-at-home mom, but it's not a possibility for now so I will just have to enjoy each and every second of my time off now :)

Snack

I had a healthy snack of cottage cheese, a nectarine and some grapes for my snack. I also had some Cantaloupe water from Mando's Meat & Produce Market, it's a new market I decided to try and they do have a good selection of veggies. I was quite pleased with that, but not so much with the Cantaloupe water that had tons of sugar. I had to add the same amount of water to cut the sweetness.

Dinner


Tonight's dinner was so easy to put together. I got a rotisserie chicken and paired that with leftover potato salad from the BBQ on Sunday. I love it when no food is wasted. I also steamed some broccoli and had a piece of toast.

I also had my usual oatmeal, blueberry & yogurt bowl for dessert. Brielle did not want to go sleepies right now, it took over an hour and a half for her to finally fall asleep. I think we're skipping her bath and putting her straight to bed!

Goodnight all!

Yoga for Running?

I woke up a little later than I wanted, 7AM (instead of 5AM) because sleeping was going so well. Brielle was so much better last night! I am definitely watching my sugar & caffeine intake from now on!

I did manage to get in a 25-minute yoga workout in. More specifically, I TRIED to follow the Total Body & Lower Body yoga flows from fitsugar.com. Tried is the key word because my poses do not look like the ones on those flows!

Believe it or not, I'm already sore and it's only been a couple of hours! Easing back into exercising might be a little tough!

Also, I really need to work on my posture. I noticed I've been slouching a lot more recently and according to this article, it's good for your running and yoga can help.

Bring on the yoga, I say!

I got ready and had a repeat chile relleno for breakfast. Can't let those babies go to waste, I tell ya!

Lunch


I still had some leftover whole-wheat pasta and so I microwaved it with some frozen veggies and added sardines in tomato sauce for some protein. It is such a quick and healthy lunch option!

Now we're off to by some groceries and stock up on healthy foods!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Elevation

I've got no self control
Been living like a mole now
Going down, excavation
I lie in the sky
You make me feel like I can fly
So high
El-Elevation


I got to run today, woo-hoo!
Yayy!!!!!!!!
Yippee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was only a mile, but it was a great mile at that :) I ran on my treadmill and finished in 11 minutes. Not too bad, I guess, since I haven't run in about 6 months. Plus, "Elevation" came on while I was running so it was an extra special session :) The funny thing is, I've never really paid attention to all the lyrics so I have no clue what living like a mole means, exactly.

I probably could have run more, I just really want to ease back into running to make sure all is okay! I'm probably going to try to build up a mile a week up to 5 miles and then start trying to work on my mile times! We'll see how that goes!

Lunch


A plateful of goodness! We drove to Las Cruces and went to Ruby Tuesday since there is none in El Paso and enjoyed their salad bar.


I also ordered 2 of their Mini burgers but would not have done so if I had read their nutritional content. Wow, 900 calories. I didn't have one of the buns, but man 900 calories!

Oh well! Goes to show you should really scope out the nutritional information of restaurants before you order. It pays to do your homework!

We headed to the bookstore after dinner and then headed home and made strawberry milkshakes with that sugar-free stuff Richard got.

We've been watching tennis/napping ever since and I so wish I was coordinated enough to play! It's fun trying, still, but probably funnier for anyone that gets to see me out on that court. I'm a riot!

Hope your Labor day was as fun as mine :)

Down With the Sugar!

That is the mantra for the day. After a long night with Baby Brielle, I came to realize, "what if all that sugar and caffeine is affecting my baby?"

I usually only have one cup of coffee a day, but I had two small ones at the bakery last morning. Then I had that small frap in the evening. That might have led to all those noises she made during the night!

For that reason, I am definitely going to try to consume less sugar and caffeine today. What more motivation do I need?

Breakfast


My lovely Mom made us some scrumptious Chile Rellenos yesterday, so we had that for breakfast. Grant it, they're slightly fried and they're probably not the breakfast of champions, but at least I got my dairy in! Besides, it'd be a crime to let these babies go to waste!

On the agenda for Labor Day, probably a nap followed by a trip to a favorite Las Cruces book store and dinner. Nothing big, which is just what the doctor ordered.

Have a great Labor Day!

Sunday, September 5, 2010

No Pictures Proves It Never Happened!

That's right my friends, there is no photo proof that this Sugar-Packed Sunday ever occurred! No proof whatsoever!

That delicious coffee cake from the International Bakery in the morning, it's still sitting in that bakery.

That piece of chocolate cake with caramel cheesecake ice cream, it was just a figment of the imagination.

With my love affair with coconut, who can forget that tall mocha coconut frap from Starbucks? Everyone can, because it never happened!

Oh how I wish that no pictures proved these deeds never took place.

Instead, I sit here wondering how sugar does it? How it starts in one meal and then invites itself along throughout the day, almost like the domino effect!

This is a direct quote from someone who knows someone that

"talked to a guy who works for nabisco....there are 21 chemical compounds in an oreo that makes us eat more than one....go figure"

Maybe the odds are stacked against us!

Other than my loosing battle with sugar, this day was wonderful!

My parents came by in the morning to visit with Baby Brielle, as well as with us, of course ;) Then we went to a friend's bbq so that his parents could also meet the little munchkin! His parents are awesome and cooked such good food!

Afterward, we went to my good friend's house so that she could meet Brielle and so that I could visit with her little 6 month old munchkincita!!! Too adorable for words. She's so attentive and even held Brielle's little hands.

Such a good day!

Minus, the scuffle with sugar of course. I will, however, continue my battle with it tomorrow! I just have to take things one meal at a time, and see if I can hold back if I've already had sugar earlier.

Down with sugar, will be my motto!!!

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Hodgepodge Blog Post

I've taken pictures on my phone and my camera and they're in a random order which I'm probably not going to organize, so I'm writing this post as a hodgepodge of things that I've done since my last post.

I think the below picture is last Thursday's dinner.

Dinner


I made a healthy Beef Stroganoff with whole-wheat pasta, mushrooms, onions and the secret ingreadiet: a can of Campbell's mushroom soup. Seeing as how I didn't have any sour cream and I needed to use this can before it expired in 5 days!

It was a good dinner!

I had my standard steel-cut oats for desert and then went off to sleep. Brielle slept good again, yay. Who knew I'd be happy with getting three hours of uninterrupted sleep!

I was planning on walking again after her 5AM feeding, but I was still to tired. Sleep is good!!!

I woke up, had some cereal and my coffee and got to read some. I'm reading "Lord Jim" now, apparently there's an old movie based on this book. It's an okay book, but definitely not a page-turner. If anyone has a page-turner they'd like to recommend, by all means, please do!

The rest of the day really was just lounging at home. I got to organize my kitchen cabinets and that was so much fun. It does make me feel happy knowing my Tupperware items are all where they're supposed to be!

Lunch was leftover whole-wheat pasta with frozen veggies and edamame topped with some of my homemade sesame dressing. Yummy!

My snack was cottage cheese with some sweet cantaloupe.

Dinner was a D'giorno cheese pizza topped with my own blend of bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, olives and the leftover bratwurst from a couple of nights before. It was good, except for the fact that I used the Conventional Bake setting on my oven and the pizza was a nice color brown because it stayed in there 5 minutes too long. Whoops!

I also made an eggplant casserole made with a can of spaghetti sauce and topped with some cheese! I love eggplant!

I gave in to an ice cream craving and asked Richard to pick some up while he was at the store. He ended up getting a Fat-free, sugar-free brand that was 70 calories a serving, but did not feel indulgent enough. Oh well!

I also had my steel-cut oats, but felt bad about wasted calories on that wanna be ice cream! I ain't having anymore of that stuff!

I'm still playing around with how I want this blog to roll. For now, I'll write when I can, but I think it's going to take me a while to see how I want to structure it. Let's see how it goes, shall we?

Have a great Labor Day Weekend!

Thursday, September 2, 2010

What a difference a night makes!

Breakfast


I made myself an egg, ham & cheese on a whole-wheat sandwich thin. Oh so good!

It's even better when you actually get a decent amount of sleep :)

Brielle slept close to a whoppin' 4 hours and that means I slept more than 3 hours straight. Yay!!!

It took me a while to wind down, but I did finally go to sleep.

After her 5AM feeding, I decided to walk for 30 min on the treadmill and then get ready. I know it's kind of early, but I think eventually I'm going to have to get used to this schedule if I want to get a workout in! Plus, I have the peace of mind of knowing Richard is here in case Baby Brielle starts crying.

I have some errands to run, like pick up diapers, and then I'm heading to a La Leche League meeting. Now that I'm breastfeeding, I have lots of questions! Such as: are pacifiers that bad?

We'll see how much I pick up!

Have a good one all!

So Lonely!

Yes, look at these faces! My doggies look oh so lonely!





We're really trying to make sure they're getting as much attention as we can give 'em. They look so sad, though! I'll just have to think of something to cheer 'em up :) Maybe their own special playtime!

Dinner

For dinner I tried to make a creamy leek tilapia recipe, but I'm going to have to play with it a bit because the leeks came out too mushy! I'll let you know how the next batch turns out.

I also made my first orzo batch. I used my mother-in-law's recipe, but it didn't come out quite as I thought. It may have needed more tomatoes. I'll post a recipe for that as soon as I get it just right. We also had some steamed asparagus.

For a late dessert, I made myself a bowl of steel-cut oats, strawberries, Hershey's unsweetened chocolate and 2 tsp of agave nectar. I really like this combo :)

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

A Crazy Night

I am so thankful that I have the ability to stay at home during these first 12 weeks of Brielle's life! I can tell it's going to be quite the ride!

For the most part, we'd been doing a good job of sticking to a 3hr, 2hr, 2hr nighttime feeding schedule. Getting those 3 hours really fueled me and I usually woke up refreshed. Last night, I had no such luck.

I don't know if it was the disruption of the schedule, which was very minor. We usually bathe, feed and put her to sleep. This time, we bathed and fed her, but then I handed her of to Dad and got things together to sleep in my room.

Big mistake! It was too hot in there (we need to update our temp schedule settings) and we ended up moving back to the nursery. I tried to get her to sleep, but she ended up feeding again so we completely went off our routine :(

She kept getting up, but the difficult part was getting her back to sleep. Any ideas on soothing her back to sleep would be greatly appreciated!

She also normally sleeps in the morning, and I was planning on catching up on my sleep then. Cut to noon, when she finally took a nap. Trying to figure out her needs is tough! Luckily, she's taken 3 good naps since then :)

I'm definitely going to stick to our routine tonight! Hopefully that will help :)

Breakfast

Because my schedule was completely thrown off, I took some comfort in a big bowl of Honey Nut Chex. Oh the power of comfort food!

Lunch


I was able to sneak in two hours of sleep (woo-hoo!) and I got up around 2. It was great to have a prepared salad ready to go so I can get those veggies in. I topped the salad with some rotisserie chicken and had the leftover mac n cheese. I had some grapes and my iced coffee, too.

I'm off to enjoy some quiet time now :)

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Can You Make a Bratwurst Healthy?

Dinner

No! Alright, I tried my hardest to make these bratws healthy, I probably failed though :(

My husband loves bratwurst, so I picked him up some and I paired it with whole-wheat buns which were really soft and yummy! I ended up cutting the bratwurst in half so I'll have some for tomorrow. I topped it with onions and had a small side of mac n' cheese and some salad with the homemade dressing as my sides.

I really tried to make this healthy.

For dessert I'm probably going to make myself a bowl of steel-cut oats with yogurt and some fruit. I'm going to make myself that bowl now :)

Sunflower Type of Day

Breakfast

I had a nice slow start to the day and got to sleep until 7 AM. I actually got a decent amount of sleep and I generally feel okay when Brielle gives me just one 3-hour block of sleep. Woo-hoo! She then usually goes on two hour blocks, which is not that bad.

I made the same breakfast as yesterday, eggs, ham and cheese with a tortilla and some iced coffee. I also finished the remaining half of the pineapple empanada. Yum yum!

Brielle and I went on an errand run. We had to go to post office, and that was an adventure in itself. I had to carry her stroller along with a big box, I was quite the funny site. Luckily, another mom saw me in the parking lot and helped me right along. Thanks random mom!

We then headed to Walmart to return some items and re-stock that pantry with some of the items I had to throw out yesterday. I made sure to buy the smaller containers or tried to buy only quantities I knew I was going to use.

Brielle actually woke up hungry during the Walmart outing, but luckily enough the lady at the dressing rooms let me slip in to one of the rooms and feed her. Phew!

Lunch


After another stop at Hobby Lobby, we finally made it home and I got a chance to make myself a yummy salad. Inspired by a Julie from PBFinger's recommendation, I actually thought about buying that salad dressing while at Walmart.  However, after looking at the ingredient list I decided to try to make my own version of it and it actually turned out pretty good. Here are my ingredients:

  • 50 ml seasoned rice vinegar
  • 100 ml canola oil
  • 1/2 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 T sesame seeds
  • 1 T agave nectar (optional, to taste)
Oh so good :)


I also had a cup of grapes & strawberries in my favorite sunflower cup. Who knew I loved sunflowers?



I think the little one is calling again!

A Day Late

I was planning on writing last night, but I was just so tired. I had a very long day, so this post is a day late.

Breakfast

My parents came over and we made eggs & ham for breakfast then headed off to our pediatrician for Brielle's two-week checkup. My little baby is doing great and gaining weight like a little baby should! So blessed!

My parents are just too cute with Brielle!


After the doctor's visit, we went grocery shopping and shared a refreshing blueberry soft-serve treat for a snack. We had a fun time!

Lunch


I got yummy strawberries at the store and enjoyed some with a big cup of cereal for lunch. I think I may be addicted to Honey Nut Chex, I can't get enough of this stuff!

Snack


I got a little hungry and decided to make myself a plate full of veggies & edamame to hold me over until dinner. I just topped it with some seasoned rice vinegar and it was great :)

I also decided to clean out and organize my pantry so that took up most of the afternoon. I had to throw out so many things because of the expiration dates, I hate throwing out food! I have to do a better job of only getting items that I plan on using because throwing them out truly is a shame. It was so bad I had some things that expired in 2006! It was a lesson learned!

Dinner


I picked up a rotisserie chicken at the store and paired with corn and mashed potatoes. I do love me some potatoes so I have to be careful not to overdo it when I decide to make them.

Dessert

I had half of a pineapple empanada with milk, and a little bowl of oatmeal, yogurt and mango. I was so tired by this point that I had to close my eyes for a little bit before we started back up with Brielle's nighttime routine.

Did I read?

No, reading is really tough right now. If I'm not too tired, I'm trying to do stuff around the house. Plus, I try to spend as much time as I can with Brielle when she's not sleeping! Not to mention how much fun it is to just look at her while she is sleeping.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Another Lazy Sunday

The entire family enjoyed a wholesome, lazy Sunday today. It was great!

We had a very busy Saturday, so planning on doing nothing just seemed like the thing to do. Call me crazy!

We did go on our morning walk and I am so very glad we invested in the Bob Sport Utility Stroller. We love going on walks with the doggies, so it's nice knowing that we can keep it up and bring our little one along with us for the ride! She seems to like it, too - or so I hope!

We came home and made egg, bacon & cheese breakfast sandwiches on whole-wheat toast for breakfast. We also enjoyed some nice iced coffee and a slice of banana bread as well.

After some web surfing and a little nap I had a big bowl of Honey Nut Chex cereal for lunch. Yum yum! I love Honey Nut Chex cereal!

I also had a very yummy peach.

I made this shrimp, broccoli & cheese stir-fry over whole-wheat spaghetti for dinner. I didn't plan very well and forgot to thaw the chicken, so I had to scrounge something up at the last minute. It actually turned out pretty tasty, if I do say so myself :)

I sauteed an onion, and garlic and added about 1/2 cup of smart balance spread. I added salt & pepper, broccoli, about 2 cups shredded white cheese, some shrimp and the noodles and just mixed it all together. Oh so good :)

To prep for the night ahead, I'm having a nice bowl of oatmeal topped with 1/2 cup yogurt and fresh mango. You have no clue how many times you're going to be up when you're nursing a new born, so you really need to make sure you get your calories & nutrition in during the day. Plus, oatmeal is supposed to be good to get your breast milk supply going, so I'm very lucky that I love me some oatmeal!

I'll try to start posting more pics tomorrow! Let's see how it goes, shall we?

Back to the Blog

I've been trying to eat healthy for the past two weeks. Lots of oatmeal, fruits & veggies on my plate for the breastfeeding duties that I've taken on. There is quite some motivation to eat healthy, knowing that my little one is depending on me to get her nutrition!

I've been very lucky when it comes to the baby weight gain because in two weeks, I'm down to only being 8 lbs from my starting weight before the pregnancy. I have to say the breastfeeding has helped tremendously as well as all the exercise that I put in while I was pregnant.

I really do think that exercising helped in so many ways, I would definitely recommend it to all pregnant ladies out there! Just make sure your doctor is ok with it!

For the next few weeks, I hope writing in the blog will help me keep up with the healthy eating. I'm still not planning on dieting because I want to continue to breastfeed and you need to keep up your calories. I'm secretly hoping the breastfeeding and healthy eating will take me down to my starting weight. If that's not the case then "oh well", I'm not about to start dieting right now!

As far as exercising goes, I'm waiting until the six-week checkup to start any exercise routine. Richard got me the Insanity videos for my birthday, so I'm counting down until then. I also can't wait until I can lace up the sneakers and take myself for a run. I can't wait I tell ya!

In the meantime, I feel good enough to go on walks so I'll be doing some of that. I may also feel up to doing some light yoga, pilates and some weights so I'll be mixing it up. Nothing rigorous, though, I really have to learn to listen to my body right now and give it time to get back to normal.

I can't wait to start exercising, though!! Four weeks to go for the check-up, only four weeks to go :)

Blessings Galore!

It's been over two weeks since I've written, and it's been cause of this little blessing:


Isn't she ADORABLE? I know, I know, that's her Mommy talkin'. I really can't help it, so I'm not even going to try! She's my little baby munchkin.

She was born 2 weeks ago, and already she's growing too fast. She's already gained a pound. Doesn't she know that she's supposed to stay this little FOREVER? All babies should know that!

I won't go into all the glamorous details of the birth, but I feel very blessed that it all went well! Truly blessed and grateful, I can't say that enough :)

After 2 weeks of recovering at home, I figure it's time to try blogging again! I may not be able to write everyday, or post all the food pictures I would like too, but I'm going to try as much as I can. I won't lie though, if it comes to writing or sleeping - I'm probably going to go for option #2.

Here's another cute picture of her, she has the cutest little personality and LOVES to make this adorable little face!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Mini Blizzard Heaven

I ended up finishing the last of the pad thai for my snack along with a yummy peach.

I have to admit, I was also scoping out sources of sugar and a co-worker came to the rescue with a Snickers bar. I only had 1/3 of it, ok, probably closer to 1/2 and a tiny little cookie.

Sugar, sugar, sugar!!!

Dinner


I made some simple pork-cops with a mushroom gravy sauce. For my sides I made yummy mashed potatoes and caramelized brussel sprouts. Can you believe this is only the second time I make these tasty veggies? I love the way they taste with the caramelized onions.

It was a quick and hearty meal.
http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=3088451741795785905&postID=7297863053412278297
After our nightly walk, we needed to drop something of at the UPS location which happens to be conveniently close to the Dairy Queen. The stars aligned and we got the doggies in the truck and headed on over there. We had a mission, to try the new mini blizzards.

Richard got the Oreo Brownie Earthquake and I got the Mint Oreo mini blizzards. They were the perfect size and we saved like 200 calories :)

Tonight was a win win!

It's a Hot One!

We're going through a heat wave in EP, right around the time I'm due to have my baby! We'll get through this, that's what I keep telling myself. That's what I have to keep telling myself.

Lunch


Lunch was the leftover pad-thai from last night. The portion I served myself was too big, so I ended up leaving about 1/3 of it. I also had a nectarine but I'm seriously craving some additional sugar. I'm going to try to get past it, but I may go searching for some sugar later today.

Must keep myself busy!!!

BTW, look at these adorable pink Croc shoesies. Arent't they the cutest??? My friend at work is my baby's shoe supplier. She loves her shoes and is making sure my baby will too. I can't stop staring at them, they are too cute and it just makes me want to meet my baby even more!!!

The DMV

Breakfast


I got up and had my yogurt + blueberry smoothie then went on a 35 minute walk. I am so missing the pool right now :(

I had to go get my driver's license replaced and I got there pretty early. I was 6th in line, but there was only one person working and she was averaging 10 minutes per person. Argghh!!

She was nice, though, so I can't complain too much.

At work, I had some steel cut oats with raisins, craisins and walnuts. Oh so good! I didn't even need to add any type of sugar, which was great.

Plus, I didn't burn the pan!!! I cooked the oats for the 30 minutes, then covered them and left them overnight. I love the consistency you get when you leave them overnight! Oats were my friend this week :)

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Look at that face, doesn't he look depressed? My poor baby, don't let him fool you, though. He's probably plotting his next move!


I had my last edamame pack for a snack today along with a peach. It was a repeat of yesterday, so I skipped the picture. Now I'll have to think of a new snack for tomorrow. Oh no!

Dinner


I made Pad Thai today for dinner, it was really good. My hubby also got me a honeydew tapioca drink from our favorite Chinese place. I came home and found it in the fridge, I love those surprises!

For dessert, I had some watermelon and a little "tiny" slice of that chocolate marble bread.

Yummy yummy!

Magic!

I know I'm not a magician, but click here to find out my new trick!

We had a small training session at work today and verified it actually works!

Lunch


I had some of the leftover pearl couscous surprise, but paired it with a small can of sardines in water. I know it doesn't sound (or look) too appetizing, but it packs a lot of protein and it's actually pretty good.

I had half a cup of grapes and couldn't resist knowing there were Cherry Twizzlers in the office. I had to scope one out :)

The Oats Are Back in Town!

Breakfast


I had my yogurt + cantaloupe smoothie before heading out for a 35 minute walk. I felt so much better afterward, but I am so missing my gym!

After I came home and got ready for work, I made my yummy oatmeal with some dried apricots, raisins and some walnuts.

I also had my iced coffee with the freshly roasted coffee beans from last night. The flavor is INCREDIBLE!

Off to work!

Monday, August 9, 2010

Broiled Basil Tilapia - Yummy Goodness!

Snack


I'm down to one edamame snack left, oh no!!! What's a girl to do??? I guess enjoy each and every bite :)

Which is what I did this afternoon, along with the yummy peach.

Dinner


Dinner

Dinner came together really well today, it was so simple and tasty that I think it made the cute into my regular rotation of meals! Here is the pesto sauce and the pearl couscous that I use for these recipes. I love the pre-made pesto because I can add it to any dish and completely transform the flavor! It's great knowing that it's in the fridge ready to add some flava!

Broiled Basil Tilapia
  • Tilapia Filets
  • Pre-made pesto sauce

This was as simple as turning the broiler on, placing the filets on a baking pan lined with foil and adding the salt & pepper. I broiled the tilapia for 2-3 minutes on each side. After both sides were cooked, I added a spoonful of the pre-made basil and popped it back in for another 2-3 minutes and it was done!

During that time, I was trying to multi-task and the pre-cut veggies certainly did help with the following dish!

Zucchini Pearl Couscous Surprise
  • 1 cup pearl couscous
  • 1 1/2 cup water
  • 1 onion diced
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 2 yellow zucchinis (any kind will do) diced
  • 2 tomatoes diced
  • fresh parsley
  • salt & pepper to taste

For this dish, I cooked the couscous in the boiling water and while that was cooking I stir-fried the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes. I added the zucchini and tomatoes and stir-fried for another 5 minutes. Once the zucchini was tender I added the couscous, parsley, salt & pepper and my side dish was ready!


Dessert


For dessert, I just had a cup full of some sweet and refreshing watermelon.

All in all, and despite the Twizzler attack, today was a much healthier day :)

Did I read?

I have an hour to do some reading, and I'm going to take full advantage.

Goodnight all :)

Twizzlers Sugar Rush!!!

Lunch


I made eggs with cheese and had 2 corn tortillas, it's one of my favorite lunches for some reason. My doggies helped me finish off the carrots, and I also had a cup of grapes.

I'm trying to get my sugar consumption down today, but I've been derailed by a Cherry Twizzler at work today. Oh those twizzlers, they sure do have my number!

The mini-sugar rush was great, but now I can feel it going away and I need to get through this afternoon!!!

Let's see how it goes :)

My Timesaver's Experiment #1 & 2- 20100725

There was a change of plans in what we were going to have for dinner today. As I was chopping away, I thought, "You know, I could probably get the chopping out of the way for tomorrow's meal." Chop, chop, chop... Then I asked myself, "How much time would I save if I chopped up a week's worth of veggies?" This is my little experiment this week, to see if the veggies hold up and whether or not the hour of prep time on Sunday is worth it. Here's what I chopped for this week:

My Timesaver's Experiment #2 - 20100725

If you're read through any of my breakfast logs, I love having yogurt+fruit as a pre-workout snack. Preparing my yogurt takes time out of my morning routine, so I decided to make a week's worth of smoothie's with the following ingredients:

* 1 Tub Dannon All-Natural Unsweetened Nonfat Yogurt
* 2 cups blueberries
* 2 cups cantaloupe
* 2 T almond extract
* 2 T coconut
* 2 T ground flax-seed


Blend all together, and voila!

Let us see how they hold up after a week, shall we?

I'll report back on my findings next week and will start my two lists.

UPDATE: Both experiments turned out really well and I will definitely try to keep pre-cutting my veggies and making my smoothies for the entire week. However, I'm going to try to make two types of smoothies to avoid any feelings of boredom!

Waking up is hard to do!

Needless to say, these last weeks of pregnancy are the toughest.

I think I'm the most emotional I've ever been, in my entire life that is. That's a lot to say, too, because I'm generally an emotional person to begin with.

It might also be the lack of sleep, I woke up 4 times last night :( The last one was 5 minutes before my alarm rang, boooooo!

I ended up making the coffee and smoothies and going back to bed for about an hour. I had planned on going walking this morning, but I was just so tired. However, I don't think I actually slept so tomorrow I'm going to force myself to go on that walk!

Breakfast


I made a yogurt + blueberries + cantaloupe smoothie for me & my hubby this morning. I paired that with a PB & Jelly sandwich on a whole-wheat thin.

I also had my regular iced coffee. I didn't roast coffee beans last night, so I had to resort to the leftover decaff we had in the pantry :(

Sunday, August 8, 2010

The Boys Are Back In Town!

Breakfast

We went on our regular Sunday walk with the doggies this morning, and I had a yogurt pop before we headed out.

After we came back and got ready, we headed out to the International Bakery here in town. We'd never been there before and I'm so glad we tried it! They had a great selection of pastries from all over the world.


For breakfast, I went with the pineapple coffee cake with a cup of joe. Richard had a bagel and a baklava. It was a great choice. I was actually surprised I wasn't hungry an hour later because it by far was not the healthiest of breakfast choices.

Lunch

After we ran some errands, we came back home and did some Sunday Funday Choppin!

My parents came over to look at the nursery and they loved it :)


I had a slice of the leftover pizza & the eggplant instead of the Olive Garden leftovers. I guess I didn't like it that much cause I gave it away freely.

Snack

We ended up going to watch Inception and I had some popcorn sans the sugar. Yummy :)

It was a good movie. I was never a big DiCaprio fan, but I've got to say that he's turned into a great actor.

After the movie, I went to the ladies room and there was a long line. The lady in front of me actually asked if I was ok and whether I needed to go first. That was so nice of her, I had to mention it here :)

Dinner

We came back home and decided to have a football style dinner in honor of the Hall of Fame game.

Go Cowboys!!!


I made a grilled cheese, but only had half of it. I couldn't say no to the chips, though, these are my favorite kind. A good trick is, to buy a single serving size and you're done. I won't be snacking on them during the week, and that's a great feeling!


I also had a fruit bowl :)

Dessert


Vanilla & Chocolate Marble Cake, could I ask for anything more? Some milk maybe?

Yep, it was good.

However, I feel like I haven't been eating my best since Thursday! Today was certainly not the best.

I'm just going to have to start over tomorrow :)

Did I read?

No :(

And yes, I tried to read the manual to the baby car seat. "Tried" is the key word here :)

I'm going to try some more :)

Saturday, August 7, 2010

A Lazy Saturday: yay :)

Breakfast


We woke up and went on our Saturday morning walk with the doggies. Abacus got a special treat and got to swim in the river, but I was bummed because I didn't get to take pictures of him.

We don't trust him, so it's hilarious to watch him swim on a leash. Specially when he swims upstream. I have to get video of that one day!

We usually go out for breakfast, but Richard was pruning our trees so I made some bacon, egg & cheese breakfast sandwiches instead. Yummy!

I had my standard iced coffee as well :)

Only thinking about one thing: BACON!

Lunch

After some cleaning up around the house, we took a nap with the doggies! It was a lazy Saturday and I love spending those with my babies :)

Napping with his binky!
Richard has to study for a certification that he's taking, so we decided to go for a late lunch/early dinner. We chose to go to Italian Garden and I had their fresh salad, a breadstick and the lunch portion of the Grilled Shrimp Caprese.



Can you believe this is the lunch portion? I only ate about a third of it and packed up the rest. That is just too much food!

Our next stop was Barnes & Noble where I had a Coconut Italian Cream soda with half the syrup and we split one of their tiramisu bowls. It was really good :)


Dinner

I'll probably end up having some cereal for dinner tonight. Apple Jacks sounds good :)

Did I read?

Yes, I'm almost done with the Unfortunate Traveller. Yay!!! I want to finish that soon so I can get to some fun reading.

Any recommendations???