In need of smoothie recipes!

24 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in health

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Andy and I have dreamed of owning a Vita-Mix for a long time. Andy probably wanted it a little more than me actually. We shopped around for a while but could not find anything under $300. Which seems excessive for a blender.

Last night, we were at Bed, Bath, & Beyond looking to use up some gift cards (from our wedding almost 3 years ago…) and a 20% off coupon. They had Vita-Mixs for $380ish but wouldn’t accept the coupon.

So we did some researching and felt like the Blend Tec would work perfectly and fit better in our kitchen. It’s a bit shorter than the Vita.

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We saved $80 by using the 20% off coupon. This was under $300. (And we had stock piled gift cards)

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It came with a recipe book and I am excited to start making juices and smoothies. Please send me your recipe ideas! I’m hoping to have a smoothie/juice a day for some extra nutrition as I try to lose these 25 extra lbs. (hey, it WAS 35…slowly moving down.)

I still feel a bit of sticker shock over the price of these blenders and hope it’s worth it. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Typical Daily Food Log: Dinner

22 Tuesday May 2012

Posted by in health

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I meant to finish this meal series but completely forgot. I’m participating in Jenna’s Weight Loss Challenge via Facebook and have been mostly connecting there about my weight loss. It’s been really nice as I can check-in from my phone. Still, I miss blogging and want to get back into it.

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Our fridge is pretty sad. Mostly stocked with Andy’s beer collection. I’m on the hunt for an inexpensive fridge that he can dedicate to beer only. Until then, the cellar is taking over.

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Some are mine. I’m slowly taking a break from my beloved ciders as they are loaded with sugar. I like the sweetness but it does not like me.

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Tonight’s dinner was fabulous. Roasted pork tenderloin, sauteed broccolini (and still had a bite to it, not soggy at all) and roasted baby potatoes.

I roast the potatoes with a squirt of spray olive oil, garlic & herb Mrs. Dash, and a pinch of seasoned salt.

The broccolini is sauteed with a splash of chicken broth, a spray of olive oil, and more garlic & herb Mrs. Dash.

The pork is pre-marinated from Trader Joes.

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The pork serving is the size of my palm, maybe a little over.

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The potatoes are about the size of my fist. (Or whatever carb/starch I’m eating.)

I don’t measure the green veggies, but I make sure it’s about half the plate. Sometimes it’s a big salad and other days it’s broccolini or spinach.

I’m struggling this week with a lot of emotions. So it’s good for me to blog about meals that have satisfied me. I tend to emotionally eat when things get rough. It’s mostly stress about the end of the school year. I’m also itching to start writing a story, I recently stumbled upon a pile of unfinished novels and short stories while unpacking. It made me feel sad. I miss writing and am not sure why I’ve been ignoring that part of me. It will not be ignored any longer. Even if the writing is crap.

I weigh in next week. Hopefully I can ignore the siren call of ice cream.

Breakfast

Morning Snack

Lunch

Weigh-in Wednesday—busy edition

17 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in weight loss

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I had my appointment with the nutritionist yesterday. We’re seeing each other once every two weeks. My 30 minute appointment feels more like a therapy session than anything else. I guess I have a lot of weight loss related baggage. It feels good to talk to someone who “gets” it.

Mostly, I am afraid of failure. When I’m not hungry, I worry that I’m gaining weight. I snack on lean protein and fiber like I’m told and it honestly helps check me on track. I drink enough water to fill a bathtub. I try not to mindlessly eat peanut butter with a spoon while looking for something to make for dinner.

And it’s working. I’m down another 4 lbs. I opted not to weigh in last time as I was afraid the move would make me gain. I’m glad that I was able to push through and not give up. I am down about 10 lbs since I started seeing her in April. I’ve lost about 1.5 lbs a week. I would love to lose more but I’m trying to focus on keeping the weight off for good. If I lose too quickly, I might gain it back just as quickly.

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We still have no couches, no table, and no where to sit inside so we’re enjoying the nice weather and eating dinner on the patio. Green beans, sweet potato, and a turkey burger on a multi-grain gluten-free bun. Delicious.

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A caprese-like salad with lite mozzarella

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And Andy. I made him pose for me. This is his “I’m not pleased” face.

I lost my camera charger in the move. Yikes. Hopefully, I’ll find it soon.

Anyway, I wanted to check in about my weight loss. I’m seeing her again in two weeks and our plan is to have me down at least 2 lbs by then. I’m fighting the urge to snack on dark chocolate and potato chips. The end of the school year is tough. Especially on a sub who wants a full-time teaching position. Think good thoughts for me as the school year ends and the summer approaches.

House preview

09 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by in houses

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I love our new house more everyday. During the first week, it felt like I was a stranger to it. It was as if we were sleeping over at someone else’s house. Now it’s starting to feel like home.

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We bought some inexpensive patio furniture at Target so now we finally have somewhere to sit! (I’m holding off on the dining room table until I can decide what works.) The table was on sale for $99 and the chairs were $25. Not bad for a table that seats 6.

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I went a little nuts with the coral and turquoise theme.

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I found these owl plant stakes for $1 at Target and had to have them.

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The previous owners left this cute wishing well planter.

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I spotted this adorable loveseat on sale at Cost Plus and snagged the floor model for a little under $400. The buttons are multi-colored. I am way into pintucks. We borrowed my mom’s minivan to transport it and it is now sitting in my entryway.

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This is the unfinished entryway/sitting room. I want to buy a new coffee table (that one is from Ikea and is scratched to hell.) I’d also like a colorful rug and we have grand plans to rip out the carpet and put in wood flooring.

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The slipper chair is from West Elm. The blue rosette print was 50% off so we went with it. I think it works.

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We bought these gray couches for our family room but they are on backorder so we won’t have them for another week. I am way too excited about them. Sitting on the floor to watch TV makes me feel like my back is broken.

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I put my owls in the kitchen to make it feel more like home.

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I still feel like we have a long way to go. Buying furniture is so expensive! The 2 bedrooms upstairs are going to be empty for a long, long time. I originally had grand plans to make one into a guest room but a project like that seems way too stressful and $$$ at the moment.

I can’t wait until more of it is presentable enough to show you!

Real food please!

03 Thursday May 2012

Posted by in health

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We’ve finally moved into our new home. It’s such a awesome feeling and we are thrilled to be here. It still doesn’t feel real. I can’t wait to show you pictures. Right now it’s a bit of a mess. Unpacking sucks.

We went without a fridge for almost a week. I was really worried about how this would effect my weight loss. I saw my nutritionist last night and sheepishly admitted to her how things were. She was very understanding and reminded me that this doesn’t happen everyday. I knew my weigh-in wouldn’t be what I wanted it to be. So I just didn’t look at the scale.

I see her again in two weeks and I’ll see my progress then. It’s not worth getting upset over. This is huge for me.

My plan of attack for the next two weeks is to cut out processed foods as much as I can. Protein bars, meal replacement smoothies, chips…all of the convenient “quick” foods that helped get me through life without a fridge.

We stocked up our new fridge with lean protein, Greek yogurt, veggies, fruits, gluten-free bread (still processed but hard for me to go without), and dark chocolate for desserts. (Instead of shoveling ice cream into my mouth.) I want to get back to my meal planning series and blogging soon too. It helps keep me in check.

Until then, I’ll be micro-blogging on instagram. (follow me! I’m tableforglasses)

See you soon!

How about some anxiety?

25 Wednesday Apr 2012

Posted by in new home, random, stress

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I love being married to Andy. Last night, we got into an argument over when to move the TV and set up the cable. Andy said he could do it early in the day while I’m at work. For whatever reason, I was totally against this idea. My indignation caused a moment of silence before I stormed off to the bathroom and slammed the door behind me. I took a minute to calm myself down and then went back to tell Andy why I was so upset.

Instead, I proceeded to be indignant and annoyed my sweet husband by whining about the movers and et cetera. I said angrily, “What if you try to move the TV and you put it down to open the garage door and someone swipes it?” Andy looked at me and we both started cracking up laughing immediately. How could anyone be that quick to swipe our TV? It’s not even a fancy TV! I was being ridiculous and projecting my stress as usual. I can’t even begin to explain how grateful I am for that laughter. Being married to someone who is patient is so important.

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(Photo taken in Barcelona, Spain last summer. Pigtails, Amanda? Really?!)

Moving is still stressful. We move first thing Saturday morning and I am so excited/nervous. The anxiety I’m feeling is not unlike the anxiety I felt before our wedding, before we moved into our first apartment, before I introduced my parents to his parents for the first time. This is scary stuff. Of course, it’s happy. I feel stupid for being stressed about a good thing.

I just worry. I worry that I won’t find a teaching job near our house, I worry that I’ll stop getting consistent sub jobs, I worry that I’ll never lose weight, I worry that Andy will resent me for not getting a teaching job, I worry that I’ll never go to grad school because I’ll never be able to afford it, I worry that my 12 year old car will give out the day we pay our first mortgage payment, I worry that the neighbors won’t like us, I worry about what other people think. I worry that we’ll ruin the front yard.

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It’s silly, of course things aren’t going to be perfect. We’ll stumble, brush ourselves off, and get right back up.

The SoCal Color Run

23 Monday Apr 2012

Posted by in running, workout, fitness

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On Sunday, a big group of family and friends decided to run the The Color Run. It was in Irvine, which is about an hour away from home. We figured we’d stay the night and make a weekend of it.

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Packet pick up was relatively quick and efficient since we went the day before the race.

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We prepped by getting dressed in ridiculous outfits. Here I am in my one dollar shades. We figured they’d be a good defense against the dyed cornstarch. Goggles would have been ideal.

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My sister Sarah made tutus. Here’s a picture of my sister Emily in hers pre-color. With her lovely boyfriend Adam.

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Andy and I wore our crummy running shoes. I bought a cheap white t-shirt, wore some black wunder unders (the best leggings ever from Lululemon), some running shorts, and a pair of cheap socks.

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Waiting to start.

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With my sisters Emily and Sarah.

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To be honest, I didn’t feel like running this at all. The race wasn’t timed and was clearly for fun. I don’t find running to be fun anymore due to my jerk of a knee. So Andy, Emily, Adam, and I decided to walk most of it and run through the color stations.

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Here’s the first color station. They said they’d have one every kilometer but there were 4 total.

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Running through that yellow cloud was an experience. You get cornstarch everywhere. In your ears, your mouth, your eyes…it’s a little disgusting. It feels like baby powder all over.

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They had a dude with a leaf blower blowing the cornstarch color off people at the end which was nice. A lot of the color came out immediately. It stuck on places that were wet or had a lot of friction. After a shower, it was completely off.

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We had fun. It sucks because my knee really bothered me when I ran through the color stations. I’ve had a few good runs on the treadmill and thought I’d be okay. Apparently not. I don’t see a need to push myself with running for awhile. I’d rather not be in pain.

There may or may not still be color in my hair.TBD.

Is there a Color Run in your area? We have another SoCal version in San Diego November 3rd. Debating it!

On being less perfect

19 Thursday Apr 2012

Posted by in random

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I am really, really hard on myself. I struggle with forgiving myself. I have a hard time seeing things for what they really are. I tend to treat myself like crap while trying my hardest to please everyone else.

To be fair, I kind of like that about myself. I’m a people-pleaser and I put others first. I care deeply about the feelings of my friends and loved ones. I agonize over social situations because I want them to go perfectly. I think it makes me a better person, I just need to learn how to funnel all of this love and caring towards myself too.

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I’ve always been this way. With my family, I’m comfortable and okay with being myself. Yet, I still find myself trying to arrange family dinners, vacations, birthday parties, and other events. I get stressed out over the littlest things. If things don’t go perfectly, I beat myself up.

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Andy knows this about me and is always reminding me that people love me and want me to be happy too. He’s taught me a lot about putting my own needs first and worrying about others second.

But, I’m not perfect. I still struggle. Especially when it comes to weight loss. Yesterday, I sat down with my nutritionist and we talked about the week. She stopped me after 10 minutes of berating myself.

“Amanda, you have to learn to forgive yourself and move on.” She explained how one “bad” meal or indulgence isn’t going to screw up my weight loss. We talked about my relationship with food. It’s just food. It’s nourishment and that is all. It really helped me to look at it that way. Why am I giving so much power to food?

We talked about how I’m going to stop tracking calories. I have a good idea how many I’m eating a day already, I have a food log but I don’t need to obsessively track measurements. She’s afraid that tracking like this will lead me to give up completely. (Which is accurate as that’s what happened every single time I did weight watchers. Eventually it’s too much pressure and I have to stop.)

We weighed in and I am down 2 lbs. 4 lbs since I started seeing her. (Which is incredible considering how long I had been stuck in a plateau.) I think one of the reasons why this is working for me is because I’m eating for fuel, to speed my metabolism, to heal my body from years of EVIL gluten, and to eventually have a small human to lug around. I’m no longer doing this just to please others.

But, first I have to forgive myself. So what if I ate one too many cheese sticks or an extra sweet potato? It’s time to move on. I’ll still lose the weight because I’ll get back on track immediately after.

I can’t explain this feeling but I finally free ready to let go of the weight.

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And the nutritionist suggested having some wine/cider to treat myself on the weekends. Don’t mind if I do.

Typical Daily Food Log: Lunch

17 Tuesday Apr 2012

Posted by in meal-plan

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Hi guys! Today I’m going to add on to my daily eats series.

Breakfast log

Morning Snack

Lunch has always been a struggle for me. I’m a substitute teacher which means I usually pack a lunch and I don’t have always have access to a fridge. For a long time, I would just pack a protein bar and a piece of fruit. The problem with this was that I was STARVING by the time I got home and ate a huge snack. (Many, many Chipotle burrito bowls were consumed. Full bowls. 900-1100 calories worth.)

The nutritionist told me to try to aim for 400-500 calories at lunch. My lunch break is usually 30 minutes or less so I have to pack something quick and easy.

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I start with a lunch box. Insulated works best. This was $2 on clearance at Target.

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I put in some ice cooler things in ziploc bags.

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And make a sandwich. I’ve been using Udi’s Gluten-Free Bread since I went gluten-free. Udi’s bread is my favorite. This new Omega Flax & Fiber is my new favorite flavor. It’s delicious and has fantastic stats.

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Fiber and protein in gluten-free bread? Is this real life? I was over the moon when I saw this.

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I use lite cheese (this muenster from Trader Joe’s is a favorite)

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A low-sodium lean meat. 2-3 oz worth.

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And a cup of spinach. I’ll also throw on 1/4 of an avocado if we have it. Avocado is much better than a sandwich spread like mayo.

After I make the sandwich, I throw in a piece of fruit and lunch is done. It’s satisfying and fills me up. If I have more time for lunch, I might add in some raw veggies but most of the time, I’m eating in a hurry.

I’ll eat another 2 hours later (seriously this meal plan has me eating so often) so I’ll be back soon to share.

We move to our house in 11 days! Can’t wait.

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