Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Total Health Tuesday.... Relocated, Re-inspired, and Ready



We are finally here, moved and mostly settled.
It was stressful, funny, ridiculous, and glorious.
Most things I thought could go wrong didn't, yet there were other *fun* hiccups to take their place.
In the middle of it all I have ate and succumbed to the stress and gave myself permission not to work out.
The results?
Too scared to step on the scale.
I'm sure its gone up.
But its done.
Over with.
In the past.
Last Tuesday was the season finale of The Biggest Loser. I have never watched a finale til this one.
Why?
Olivia.
Throughout the entire season she has really been the one to stand out to me, even over the other women whom I shared similar characteristics with.
I admired her grace, her honesty with her struggles, and her love for her sister. I also thought she was just like any "other" overweight person who just needed to flip the switch and get their act together.
Until they recapped the intro to the show ( which I had missed).
Here I saw a woman pleading for her life to figure things out so that she could succeed not only in her professional life, but in her personal life as well.
See Olivia has PCOS.
She was 261 lbs.
She had lost weight before.
Just to add it back on and more.
But she wanted more.
She wanted a part she had not been able to play.
A song she had not yet sung.
And to be a mother to a child where the opportunity had escaped her because of the weight.



Olivia lost over 49% of her body weight.
129lbs to be exact.
She WON.

It can be done.
And she showed the world how to do it with grace and poise.
I have done well.
I'm ready to be better.

Go here to see her beauty and inspiration.

Monday, May 30, 2011

Being a Coastie Wife.... You Chuckle Head!!



That's what my loving husband called me on Thursday when I finally tracked him down.
I had to repeat the story at least twice before he really got it.

"Honey I fell. I've hurt my arm, it's swollen and it hurts pretty bad. The clinic suggests I go to the ER to get it checked out. Would it be terribly bad if you had to come home or are you guys swamped?"

"How did you fall?"
pause

"Weeeelllll. We were playing outside and Jakob and I were trying to ride his Ripstik."

"WHAT?!?! Why were you doing that? Why would you EVER do that?"

"Umm it was fun? I was bored?"
(I can just feel his eyes rolling)

"You Chucklehead!"

Yep that's right. This week I had as my brother calls it a "death" in the family in the form of my common sense.
I, the only adult at home decided to explore the inner kid in me and jump on my son's TWO WHEELED skate board.
As per Amazon's description: "Best described as a cross between a skateboard and a snowboard, the Ripstik caster board is the perfect ride for kids looking for the next big thrill. The board is distinguished by its pivoting deck and 360-degree inclined caster trucks, which offer a snowboard-like carving ability. A simple weight transfer lets you turn or accelerate without pushing, just like when you're carving down the slopes."

So instead of "carving the slopes" Jakob and I were carving the driveway.
Apparently not successfully.
I
didn't jump off in time and fell and severely jammed my elbow. Thankfully nothing is broken, but if there is anything that will teach a lesson its humility.
Because having to tell that story to 3 different medical personnel face to face left me as red as an apple.
Needless to say I have been the source of much laughter this week.
Sometimes being a Coastie Wife means your a "Chuckle Head".
Its a tough job. ;)

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Total Health Tuesday- Give me a BREAK!

Painting, packing, and planning.
That is my life fore the next few days.
For the past two days I have gotten up to run and tormented myself with the urge/need to go back to bed.
Moving disrupts the rhythm, and I have been fighting hard to keep it.
As I rolled out of bed I noticed how sore my legs and arms were. Like I had worked them out really hard.
Thats when I realized, "You know getting up and down off of a recycling bin used as a step ladder to paint trim IS a workout!"
And I have the aches to prove it. Plus comming off a WONDERFUL weekend retreat with our church where most everything was on one hill or another, AND the new fun activity I discovered in canoeing I think I have been doing my fair share of working my body.
I have not run a single mile this week. But you know what thats ok.
I'm moving. Up and down steps, lifting boxes, and navigating a laundry list of "to-dos".
I think I can give myself a break this week and know that although my treadmill miles may not see the proof of my efforts, my body is still telling me "Good Job!".

Have you found other ways of fitness not connected to workout equipment? Did you have a hard time acknolwedging this as work as well? Feel free to share.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Being a Coastie Wife..... Callin in the Calvary!!

One of my very first "jobs" when we get to a new location is to immediately establish a support group.
Some places have been easier than others. And its mostly a cultural thing. Making friends that you can trust truly only depends on how ready everyone else is to allow you into "the fold".
In the military we can't wait that long.
I once had a friend tell me, "I don't have time to play around here, I need a best friend to get me through this or to find someone else."
She was recounting a conversation to another person, but I remember just being in awe of how strong she was and how I could never see myself as so bold (although at times I wish I could be).
But support through other wives, civilian friends, church groups, etc. its all very important and vital to ones sanity.
"It takes a village to raise a child."
It also takes one to keep a Momma sane.
Problem comes when we move so often and at the same time as others living this crazy life that we find ourselves in an area where we need people but haven't been there long enough to really establish a support group.
Where do we get help, when the only people we "know" are the people your husband works with and they are all in the same boat?
No body wants to just hand their kid over to a stranger, nobody wants to unpack the house alone, and nobody wants a bunch of random people coming in and helping you unpack your "unmentionables".
It can be stressful, but we always manage to find a way, find some friends, or maybe one friend who each of us knows with just a look that we are in this boat together and there is this unspoken bond of "This country is what ties us together, and and we care for it and each other like we do our children so you can depend on me."

And then?

There are times when you just have to call in the Calvary.
Also Known As
Momma.
For you it may be a sibling, your Dad, or a best friend from High School.
For me it's my Mom.
And when we sat down and looked at the timetable we had in front of us and the craziness of Mike's schedule I knew what I had to do.
I called Momma.
I knew that I needed some kind of reprieve, help, something that either I couldn't get here because I didn't know if I had the stamina to endure the uncertainty of moving without my husband.
She'll be here in a few hours.
:)
Though the trip is not quite the time I had originally expected, it is perfect. She will be coming to give us the needed relief, breather if you will to withstand the next few weeks.
Of course I'm going to put her to work too!
Hey I can't paint AND cook at the same time can I?
So here's to the Calvary, the ones that are local and the ones you fly in to save your sanity.
The village no longer has walls.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Yarn Along


On the needles this week:
Finishing up the Baby Legs ( I just have to bind off and sew in extras now)
I'm searching for my next project but in the meantime I will just go back to the socks I keep ignoring. Anyone know a non scary sock tutorial? My Hubby will thank you, he REALLY wants some socks. :)
Reading this week:
The Tao of Parenting. It's really a nice simple read with little insights that help me throughout the day. I should be further along but the moving, birthdays, and yardsales have consumed most of my time. I have a few other Parenting books I have happened upon and will hopefully finish them up next week. Or they will go back to the Library. I'm just about DONE with this "input" reading phase of mine and want to just read a simple story. Little Women, Whuthering Heights, or the Secret Garden sound nice don't they? Or maybe I can actually tackle READING Gone With the Wind.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Total Health Tuesday- The Woman in the Picture

I'm not a big fan of her lately.
She looks a bit frumpy. A little older, a LOT tired.
I mean Geeze! Can she not do something with her hair?
I have noticed that often times I let my appearance take the back burner, especially when I'm spread a little too thin.
Metaphorically of course.
I usually justify not taking a moment with excuses like, "Its just me and the kids, I'm gona get dirty anyways, or My hair's growing out so ponytail it is!"
In the day to day I don't worry about it.
But then I catch myself in a picture.
Be it an older one or a recent one. And Neither one of those people are who I see in the mirror.
The older pictures have me smiling, confident, hair combed, and most often a touch of makeup. These newer pictures, I look frumpy, slouched, EXTREMELY pale, and in general just awkward.
Which is really frustrating when I am working so hard to better so many aspects of my life that it just knocks the breath out of me.
So what to do?
Be aware.
Smile
Stand up straight.
A little Powder helps
And the miracle that comes with actually blow drying your hair is amazing.
I am also making it a point at the end of the day to pinpoint the thing I have done for me that day and be thankful for it.
It may be just a few rows of knitting, the few extra minutes I took to actually shave, or the moments in bed I take to breathe and stretch and compliment myself on something.
It's no Nip/Tuck fix but I think I like who I see a little better now.
I hope she shows herself in a picture once in a while.

How are you managing your Total Health Today? Feel free to share any successes or advice in the comments

Monday, May 9, 2011

Menu Monday

Wow the week flew by. I can't believe that it has been almost a week since I have been to this space.
Tow more week and we are DONE with this house and on to included utilities. YAY!!
Here's what's left from last week that w e will be having this week.

Breakfast:
Quiche
Breakfast Risotto
Slow cooker Breakfast Casserole
Yogurt and Fruit
Sorghum muffin Recipe
Eggs
Pumpkin Scones

Lunch:
Leftovers, Salad, Tuna

Dinner:
Bean and Kale Scramble
Crock Pot White Chili
Pesto Spaghetti Squash Lasagna
Sweet Potato Chili
Moroccan Lentil Soup
Honey Lentils
Split Pea Soup

What's on your menu this week?

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Total Health Tuesday-I don't exercise to burn Calories

My mom sent me this video of this medical lecture. The Title I got was "Is Sugar Toxic?"
Although some of the technical stuff went WAY over my head, I was grateful of the few moments in Biology and Chemistry where I paid attention (or stayed awake) so I could mainly follow along.
Throughout the whole talk the MD is discussing high fructose corn syrup and its detriments.
I "knew" it wasn't the best stuff in the world but I had no idea our body cannot process it at all and it just stays in our liver forever.
Gross.
He also debunked the "calories in/calories out" claim, stating that no two calories are equal there are good and bad (more than the empty and full).
And that's when he got to exercise.
He said you don't exercise to burn calories.
You would never survive.
Exercise is for the stress reduction, the centering if you will of your hormones and such so that your body can in turn do what its suppose to do after its burned off some of this fog that we have created by the things you eat.
Whether this is wholly true or not I'm not sure, but its a notion I can cling to right now as stress levels are through the roof and the scale isn't budging despite eating well.
I can hold on to the willpower to get up and workout each morning if I know it has something more to do than make the calories go down.
I really encourage you to take the time to listen/watch this. It has some good stuff in it. He also breaks it down about the similarities between sugar and the effects of alcohol.
Food for thought and read your labels! ALL of them! My "sugar free" coffee creamer had high fructose corn syrup as the first ingredient! Crazy!

Monday, May 2, 2011

Menu Monday


Ok so we are in serious countdown til the move. Less than 3 weeks and soo much still to finalize and pack. I have come to the realization that you cannot in fact pack a three level home, keep it in "show condition", and avoid moving boxes constantly. All while the garage is off limits because it holds all the goodies for the yard sale. Yeah not possible.

Anyways I have been thinking about my off hand comment about laying out a month of meals and how ridiculous that would be for me to follow.
I figured though that I could make a 2 week menu based on the food prices I happen upon on paydays. This may help me to reduce my trips to the store to twice a month if I can plan it right. So here's the list...

Breakfast:
Buckwheat Pancakes
Blueberry Muffins (trying a gluten free mix cross you fingers)
Breakfast Rissoto (breakfast in the crock pot? Why yes I think I will!)
Slow Cooker Breakfast Casserole
Yogurt and Fruit
Sorghum Muffin Recipe
Oatmeal
Eggs
Pumpkin Scones
Granola and Almond Milk (our compromise on cereal)

Lunch:
Leftovers, Salad

Dinner:
Split Pea Soup
Ham and Veggies
Bean and Kale Scramble
Eggs in a Nest
Crock Pot White Chili
Pesto Spaghetti Squash Lasagna
Sweet Potato Chili
Moroccan Lentil Soup
Honey Lentils
Broccoli Casserole
Chickpea Balls and Marinara over rice (or quinoa)
Asparagus Quiche

As you can see I fully intend to give my crock pot a workout over the next few weeks. I really see this as my only method of survival. I haven't been able to make up extra meals like I would have liked to due to budget constraints and time constraints. Fortunately I have a FAB church family and one lady there has offered to cook us a meal for our move in night so that's one less thing on my list of "to plan for's".
And although I was really scared and overwhelmed at first I *think* I may have planned the next 2 weeks gluten free! I sure hope I feel some differences. Don't forget to head on over to Org Junkie to see what's cooking elsewhere!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!

Here we have the winners from the Curriculum Giveaway.... Thanks to a Little Help from Random.org

For the Table top Play and Learn Preschool Book...
Megan from Megan O Photography!

For the First Grade Curriculum.....
Mama Hen!

Ladies I am sending you an email right now and you have 24 hours to send me your snail mail before I choose another winner. Errand day is Wednesday so I have to send it out then.

Thanks for everyone who entered. This was my first giveaway and it was so much fun. I have some more stuff in the works so stay tuned and feel free to mosey around for a while on Confessions of a Coastie Wife.
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