Monday Rainbows not "Blues"

After a glorious weekend like we had this weekend not even “back to work blues” can keep me down! Our weekend was jammed pack with dates, friends, and the great outdoors.

We kicked it off by going to Gwinnett Arena (just 6 miles from our house) to see “The Greatest Show on Earth” aka Ringling Bros Circus. Prior to Friday I hadn’t been to the circus in YEARS (at least 20). I was such a kid. Giddy, excited, and just happy to be there. The atmosphere was fun and high energy. It was quite a show. At one point they had 7 people on motor bikes inside a steel circle cage-SCARY! We saw elephants, tigers, clowns, trapeze artists, midgets, a ring master, contortionists, and so much more! I even got to enjoy some cotton candy (although I only had a few bites).

Saturday we took advantage of the weekend and slept in. When we finally made it out of bed (no later than 10) we decided to venture over to the Gwinnett International Farmers Market (also just another mere 6 miles from our house-in a different direction). We found amazing deals on fruits and veggies and even meats. We love good bargains! We stocked up on oranges, cucumbers, blueberries, blackberries, even got a few pomegranates too, as well as fresh green beans, okra, and cauliflower! I’m really looking forward to meals this week! Saturday afternoon we took it easy (I took a nap) before we loaded up the car and headed to Marietta for Movie Night with the Woods (and other frisbee friends)! We LOVE movie night and seeing our friends (especially since we moved away from Marietta and don’t get to see them as much as we use to). The featured film as Aliens (my first viewing). Such a fun night! We made it home around 2 and then were off to bed to get up early the next morning for ANOTHER jam packed day!

Yesterday we made our way to GCC (our new church that we are loving more and more) for a great service! We made it home and enjoyed some leftover chili (our contribution to the movie night potluck) and beer bread (thanks again for that recipe, Sarah) and Glee! After our food settled we made our way out to Stone Mountain (just 12 miles from the house-don’t we live by such great places) for our first bike ride of the year. It was a great ride, definitely challenging, and super hilly. We ended up walking around a bit after our bike ride and just enjoying each other and the BEAUTIFUL weather! We then made our way home and showered in preparation for our AMAZING date night thanks to GCC Young Couples Fellowship. We were given an envelope with a date in it (thanks to The Great Date Experience) and we had a blast. I won’t ruin it in case any of you want to try it out but just suffice to say we had a BLAST! I will say it ended with dancing in our living room…..so sweet! I am married to one very amazing man!

What’d you do with your weekend? Did you get out and enjoy the weather? Did you share it with someone you love? Did you just enjoy life and rejoice in the fact that God gave us another day on this earth? I definitely did! As you can see this weekend was about enjoying my hubby (we haven’t exactly had loads of time together lately) and the weather and just life in general and not my obsession with food and points. As such, there is no food break down for the weekend (I stayed within points but I wasn’t obsessed with them, I simply enjoyed my weekend). I will be breaking down today’s eating in tomorrow’s post so stay tuned for that.

I will also be putting away the scale for a few weeks. I think it has become quite an obsession as of late and I don’t think a healthy one. I’m going to be tracking 100% and Michael and I are starting our workout routine back up tonight so I’m going to be measuring non-scale victories for the next month instead of reading a scale. I just want to change things up a bit. I’ll definitely be keeping you posted about how it’s going! Until tomorrow: good eats!

Dinner parties. And what's that? The motivation train pulling back through?

Mid-week dinner parties are the best! As most of you know part of my heart is being able to open up my home to our friends and play hostess and last night’s dinner date with the Shuover’s did my heart so much good! The boys occupied their time with video games while the ladies made dinner (and what a delicious dinner it was, thanks for the idea Becca, it was YUMMY). After dinner we made our way downstairs and spent the next hour laughing, dancing, and just having a good time. I’m telling you, if you haven’t tried it out “Just Dance 2” is the way to go. Especially if you have friends/family/guests over-super fun!

Not only did the dinner party make my Thursday awesome but it jump started my weekend beautifully-and we have one CRAZY weekend planned. Tonight we are going to Ringling Bros Circus. That’s right I said CIRCUS. I am giddy like a school girl. I was talking to my mom yesterday and we decided that it has been at least 20 years since I’ve made a trip to the circus. Granted, the circus I went to as a child was more just animals, but tonight’s show is supposed to be a spectacular display of animals, tricks, high-flying acrobatics, clowns, a ring master, and so much more-I CAN’T WAIT! (I am shamefully hoping the hubby let’s us have some cotton candy-I mean what trip to the circus wouldn’t be complete without it?) Tomorrow we are jamming our day full with a trip to the farmers market we just discovered, a ride on our bikes down the Silver Comet Trail, and movie night with our friends (I love seeing old friends)! Sunday we are busy with church and then a young couples date night sponsored by our church that evening. Needless to say, we shouldn’t lack for things to do this weekend! What are your weekend plans? Are you going to be active at all?

Speaking of active, I’m happy to report that in the last two days I have begun to get more active. Each day I’ve taken the dog for a 30 minute walk and played Just Dance 2 for about an hour. I can feel my energy level picking back up as I’m getting back on track with better eating choices and more activity also. It never ceases to amaze me how our body responds to the way we fuel it. Speaking of fueling our body, I had the chance to have an in depth conversation about a new “eating” plan last night and you may possibly be seeing the likes of that in the weeks to come. Stay tuned. Until next time (it’ll probably be a few days because I’m going to ENJOY my weekend and you should too): good eats!

Thursday Food Break Down:

Breakfast was another PB Banana Bagel Thin for 6 points.

Snacks during the work day included carrots with dip (2), string cheese (1), and blackberries.

Lunch included a turkey (meat from the deli not prepackaged) bagel thin.

Dinner was a concoction of stuff bell peppers (sort of). I cooked the chicken and then shredded it. We cut the peppers in half and baked them on 300 for 10 minutes. We cut up avocado, onion, tomato, and lettuce and then placed everything on the table so we could create our own pepper. Mine consisted of chicken (6 points), avocados (5 points), onions, pico, and jalapenos. It was SUPER delicious and super filling. I had 2 halves of a pepper but only finished one and made it a 1/3 of the way through the other one before having to dump out the toppings and just eat them with a fork because I was getting full. DELICIOUS!

Cha-cha-cha-changes!

Tuesday night I had the opportunity to head back to Cobb County (and our old apartment complex) to meet up with a friend for dinner. Isn’t seeing old friends nice? Something about good friends, good conversation, and good food just makes my heart satisfied. Interestingly, having dinner with that friend reminded me how much life has changed in the last 3 months. For as long as I can remember I was a student. I was working towards achieving something. Well, all that changed in December-I FINALLY graduated and for now (hopefully they’ll keep me but currently it’s temporary in status) I have a real job where I work M-F from 8-4 and have weekends free. Granted, during my long college adventure I had a real 40 hour a week job (working in a Pre-K classroom) so I saw what “working for the weekend” meant but not anywhere near as much as I understand and see it now. While working in Pre-K is challenging it is also fun and rewarding in a totally different sense then my current job. Sure it was mentally challenging but so is this.

(Pulling it back around to the actual point) My point is this: life changes. What this also made me realize is that our bodies change too-if we put in the right amount of effort and stick to it. What I find interesting is that after one bad week on the scale (as much as I would like to believe it wasn’t related to) and an injured hubby who can’t workout I am struggling to stay motivated-to workout, to eat as healthy as I was. Don’t get me wrong-I’m not going crazy with food or anything, but my food journal hasn’t been as well rounded as it was 2 weeks ago. Part of that is owed to the fact that I work 8 hours a day, I’m in the car 2 additional hours, and by the time I get home I’m zapped. I’ve been trying to be active but I haven’t been as successful as I’d have liked. So what do you do when you’ve lost your motivation? No, seriously, what do you do?

What I’ve come up with is this: I’m reevaluating my reasons for doing this: (1) being a healthier, happier human being, (2) creating an environment that is the healthiest possible for when we try to start having babies, (3) to live a longer, better life! I think I lose track of those reasons often because they are all LONG term and none are really for the RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW part of my life. As such, I’ve decided to adapt the plan a bit and add in some short term goals that will help me reach those long term ones that are the most important. I haven’t exactly given thought to what those are going to be yet (I’m open to some suggestions for reasonable short term goals) so look for that post in the next day or so.

On a separate, yet still related, note I have decided to (for the time being) give up running. Why? (1) I HATE it-I have never been a runner and find no joy in it at all. (2) I struggle to get motivated to do something every day when I HATE it. (3) I get easily frustrated with myself when I’m not improving each day. (4) It hurts. My hips are sore, my knee is dying, and did I mention already-I HATE it. 1-4 tells me it’s time to get a new activity. So, I’m reverting back to my old tried and true method of long, intense walks. I LOVE going for walks/hikes. It calms me and lifts my spirits while also doing something for my health. Now I don’t mean a casual stroll down the street, I mean pace up, really moving, walk. I came to this (I HATE running) conclusion last night as I set out for my evening run. I made it 1/10 of a mile and turned around, headed back home, got the dog and went for a 30 minute walk instead. My walk led me to shooting some hoops in the driveway (Michael still wasn’t home from work yet), which led to a game of H-O-R-S-E once Michael made it home (I won, as always), which led to a game of Just Dance 2 while dinner was cooking. Talk about a workout, if you ever want to “workout” without actually “working out” just get some friends together and play JD2-crazy fun but man it gets you moving.

I’m trying my hardest to get back in my groove. I find eating healthy in the morning and while at work is super easy but my hard time of the day when I struggle the most is between getting home from work and when Michael gets home from work. Knowing that I know that as soon as I get home and get settled in I have to put on the tennis shoes and hit the street (to walk). Again, I’m open to any and ALL suggestions for getting re-motivated and getting back on track. Until next time: good eats!

Tuesday Food Break Down:

Breakfast was 1 c Shredded Wheat cereal (not frosted) with a banana and milk. 7 points.

Lunch was leftover chicken in cream sauce for 7 points (a recipe I found at www.eatingwell.com) with 1 c of rice (5 points).

Snacks during the day included steamed sugar snap peas (I don’t know if that’s what they are called but they are the green pea pod things you get in Chinese dishes), blackberries, and a light string cheese (1 point).

Dinner was sushi (I had dinner with my friend at a place on the Marietta Sq that I’ve been craving since we moved away from Marietta) for 20 points (I don’t believe it was this many but I would rather over estimate than under. We then went to pinkberry and I had a small chocolate froyo with raspberries and yogurt chips. (7 points)

Monday Food Break Down:

Breakfast was a PB Banana Bagel Thin for 6 points.

Snacks included carrots with veggie dip (I mix lite sour cream with a package of hidden valley dips mix you can find in the salad dressing aisle of any grocery store) for 2 points, blackberries, a banana, and a light string cheese (1 point).

Lunch included a salad filled with veggies and blueberries w 1 T of walnuts and a Balsamic vinaigrette dressing for 6 points.

My after work before Michael gets home indulgencewere Doritos. 6 points

Dinner was Hamburger Tater Tot Casserole (a WW friendly recipe passed to me by my old meeting leader) for 8 points (I had just a slight bit more than 1 serving). It’s super easy to make: Brown your hamburger meat (we use 93% lean) and sauté an onion. Mix those with ½ can of cheddar cheese soup and ½ can of cream of mushroom soup. Place mixture in a glass baking dish and top with tater tots (or French fries if you prefer) and let it bake for about 30 minutes on 350.