21 Day Fix Extreme Day 1

Well the scale says that I haven't gained any weight but the inches measurement says that I may have indulged a little too much over the holiday weekend.

Woke up to light snow that ended in a LOT of snow. 

Thankfully I had some warm meals prepped for my first day of 21 Day Fix Extreme.

Toast with a teaspoon of peanut butter and 2 hard boiled eggs- I would have made myself some eggs since I was working from home today but sadly I had already hard boiled them all for easy to go snacks. 

Mid- morning snack of two clementines.

Ride, broccoli and a turkey burger for lunch. Yum yum! 

Because I was working from home, I was able to get my work out in during the day.  

I grabbed a little pre-run snack.

I am doing a hybrid of running and 21 day fix extreme to maintain my running stamina so I hit the treadmill for 30 minutes.

Post run shake- chocolate with an added persimmon.  I got them in my Bountiful Basket and while they aren't my favorite thing, I don't want to be wasteful so will use them up in my shakes.

I picked Lucas up and we played hard until supper time.

Leftover turkey with green beans and celery and another teaspoon of peanut butter.

Lucas and I continued to play while Mike cleared one layer of snow. Bedtime came at its normal time for little man. I picked up the house for the cleaning lady and now am typing this post while watching an episode of Scandal.... 

All in all a good snow day!

Stay balanced friends and stay safe if you have to travel! 

Shaken

Today's sermon at church was about being shaken- good or bad, God shakes up our life every now and again and we need to roll with it. I did NOT shake up my child even when he tossed his book over the pew and hit the church's Christmas tree.... For some reason he needed to get out some energy for the first 45 minutes of church... Last 15 he sat in my lap like an angel. Boys!

I am shaking up my life starting tomorrow for 21 days. I have let me eating slide for a solid 5 days now, workouts included. I am joining some lovely ladies for a 21 day fix challenge. I will be partaking in the Extreme version, with a little mixup of the order to squeeze in two days of running.

Our food budget was slim by the end of the month (and I shot our home budget to gel this weekend), so I am using up a lot of miscellaneous leftovers from the fridge but here is a general idea:

I have a couple pounds to lose (thank you Thanksgiving and sweets) so I am starting in the lowest Fix bracket. If I'm feeling especially hangry, I will bump up a bracket again.

Happy Sunday everyone! My idea was to run tonight but depending on when Lucas wakes up from his nap, we might hit the pool and I will do some swimming instead. We shall see where the wind takes me.

Stay balanced! 

Saturday

Let's just summarize this day in a word shall we: Amber.

The name of our amazing daycare provider. And apparently, my name. Now Lucas knows how to say Mommy, Mom, Mama. And he used to call me mom and Amber "Ber". Cute right? Until he learned how to say AMber. And he started calling me Mer. Which bordered on cute. Until he started calling me Amber. And today I am not even exaggerating when I bet he said it 1,000 times. My husband could have left the country today and Lucas wouldn't have noticed. But I leave for a minute to use the bathroom and you would think I killed his dog.... Which I might have near the end of the day because I was over every male in my house. So when I put that sweet little boy to bed (Night Night Lucas.... bye Amber.... Sigh), I did not run like I was supposed to. I didn't drink a bottle of wine like I wanted to. I just shook my head and hoped tomorrow would be a better day.

This is how I feel when I think about giving up bread....

Ok not a funny haha but definitely one that I needed to see today.... Even when he is calling me Amber, I listen.

I got an email from my boss requesting some information and I seriously spent 3 days worrying about worst case scenarios before emailing her to ask why she needed it.... And it was nothing! They had just lost the form I submitted the year before... Seriously Kayla!

My night tonight- I indulged in an episode of Blindspot.

Lucas gets up between 5:30-5:45. 

If you hold him, he will usually go back to sleep for an hour. I will not and there is no getting him back in the crib (even above picture delicacy doesn't work). 

For real.... I did all my Black Friday and Christmas shopping online this year and I ordered Lucas' birthday presents for myself and my parents early so we could get better deals.... My husband is going to flip beep when those packages start arriving.... 

It IS all about the balance. We have good  days and bad days and everything in between.

Good night friends! 

Friday Favorites

Hey all- I feel like I should offer an explanation for being MIA for a week. Mike worked last weekend so it was just me and Lucas which leaves me little time.... Although I did find time to eat a ton of junk food. 

I could have bought them all but I made myself pick one.

If you like Milano cookies, I strongly recommend you try these.

My husband and I also indulged in these:

So decadent.... And 90 calories per truffle.... Indulge with awareness haha!

So I got back on track Monday... Thank you Hammer and Chisel for disabling my legs again...  And then the headaches started. Electronics made them a million times worse, including my work computer. Tuesday and Wednesday were loooonnnnggggg days. And I had church group Tuesday- great for faith (they know SO much) but angel food cake with lemon filling is not good for fitness. I did go swimming with Lucas at local hotel on Wednesday because my mom and aunt came early because...

I hosted my first Thanksgiving!

Mike worked so I offered to have it at my house. My brothers went to my grandmas because she lives closer to them but I had my parents and my aunt. Mike's parents did not come because of the show we got.

It went well... Although let's be honest, my mom did all the work. And my dad really ended up doing the turkey.

Lots of good food was had by all...

And Lucas and I got to take post- turkey naps which was needed. As I predicted to everyone on Wednesday, I have a cold. I could feel it coming all week and of course it hits when I have days off! 

I am trying to be conscious of the leftovers and get back on track with healthy eating until my favorite holiday arrives... Christmas!

My helper and I got one tree up this morning... One more to go :) 

I did all my shopping online this year.... Let the boxes roll in! 

Hope everyone had a blessed holiday! We all have so much to be thankful for! 

Short but you may enjoy

In case I ever give you the idea I have it al together.... I am currently eating Kemps Peppermint Greek Yogurt.... While watching Jane the Virgin...

Yup. Balance. 

Plan for treats

So here is my tip of the day: plan a treat in your life! Mine was supposed to be tomorrow for the firemans dance with my husband but then the great snow hit and our babysitter won't be able to make it so I let myself have my treat today. Donuts from my favorite bakery- yum yum!

I also had a little unplanned treat...

They were SO good I ate two. No regrets ;)

Doctor cleared me for lifting today but said he wanted me to give it another month before I do any type of push-ups or exercise that puts force on my wrist.... Sigh. I eased back into using my arm to do 21 Day Fix Extreme Pilates.

Lucas helped.

Anyone else doing Thanksgiving at their house? Mike works this year so I am hosting our parents. I feel strongly about the following:

And this one is starting to become true too...

Lately Lucas has been climbing our bar stools and two bonks haven't slowed him down so I have resorted to a forceful no which results in tears and laying on floor (I am going to videotape his slow descend to the floor someday... Drama queen). 

Well time to put Lucas to bed and put myself in the tub.

Stay balanced ;) 

Need to mix it up

I've felt pretty BLEH about life this week. I think part of it is definitely the change in the weather and being stuck in the house.... Predicting 2-4 inches of snow this weekend.

How is that possible when last week we were outside chasing leaves?

I think another problem is that I have fallen in a rut with what I've been eating. I literally ate the same thing for lunch and supper for 3 days this week to use up what started as a delicious meal but if I never eat it again, it would be too soon.... Dear husband, 4 chicken breasts does not equate to 2 pounds of chicken. 

Here is one of the recipes we made that I got from my challenge group- easy and delicious.

Slow Cooker Black Beans and Chicken

4 chicken breaths

15 ounce can of black beans

2 cups salsa

4-6 hours on low in slow cooker. Shred meat. Top as you want.  You can wrap it in a tortilla or I put mine over a baked potato.

So yay, our suppers are getting mixed up again and I am excited about that but my breakfasts/ lunches have been the same for 2 weeks because of poor planning and overbuying on my part. It's healthy food but it's getting boring.... Definitely took some time today to plan that one better.  Plus we have Thanksgiving next week to look forward to ;) 

I did try a new breakfast idea this weekend and am in love:

Feels like a treat, super easy to make and has a ton of protein in it. Probably fits as a yellow in 21 Day but I counted it as a red ;) oops! 

So here is my plan for next week in case your are struggling:

Breakfast: Overnight oats (oatmeal, yogurt, fruit

Mid morning: eggs

Lunch: sweet potato, turkey burger, vegetable (see what's on sale), teaspoon and orange container of seeds

Snack: Vegetable, blue container of almonds and teaspoon

Supper:

Tilapia

Slow cooker pork

Chili

Skillet chicken 

Sliders

Plus a vegetable and fruit. I am a little nervous about not having a carb built in for myself at supper so may have to add an extra yellow next week. I've been feeling hungry this week so thinking about bumping up to next level of containers.... I'm right on border so it could go either way... We will see. Thanksgiving is going to be a wrench in my plans no matter what I do ;)

As always, it's about staying balanced! 

Sunday Funday

http://www.scarymommy.com/why-being-the-parent-of-a-1-year-old-is-beyond-exhausting/?utm_source=email

This is exactly how I feel my Saturday and Sunday have been with Mike working. We are trying really hard to keep Lucas on same schedule as daycare which means no morning trips because he always falls asleep in the car... Which means long mornings of trying to keep him entertained by myself. 

Edit: so I am posting this on Wednesday... Started to write it and got interrupted by my little man... Which just summarizes my post haha 

Zero Waste Home

This was the last book I had to read on my new year's list and I actually had to check it out TWICE from the library to finish it. I think what this woman is doing for her family and the environment is great but there is no freaking way I am doing it. 

She literally has a quart size garbage can. Because she makes her own freaking makeup.... And pads.... And everything else. And she composts. Two actually because you apparently you can't compost dog poop and the rest of your garbage in the same compost. 

Honestly I just really felt bad about myself while reading this book. Which I don't think is her intention. Because she does talk about awareness of our actions is first important step (AWARE!) and how we should start to make small changes like buying bulk foods (not Costco.... As in no packaging) because her lifestyle isn't an easy overnight thing.... But man oh man. It would be tough for me! My husband would love it because he is all about having no extras but I would not fair so well.... 

So I did have a few take aways such as some web sites to recycle various 

things and how to remove the junk mail from coming to my mailbox....

But we won't have a zero waste lifestyle any time soon.... Sorry earth. 

Family Friday

So with the cold days ahead of us, I've been trying to find some indoor activities to keep Lucas' attention and I thought I would share ideas for other moms out there. Almost all of this stuff was bought at the dollar store so it's cheap!

I organized them in plastic bins to preserve my sanity and I hide them away so he has to go request them ... Will hopefully keep them fresh and fun! 

Pom poms.... Scoop them, throw them, drop them down a toilet paper roll. 

Climb in the container? 

We are loving them! 

Play doh has also been a hit around our house.... But do not leave child unattended! Lucas sat like this for 20 minutes and as soon as I walked away.... In his mouth. Little beep :)

Found this fun stuffing and foam puzzle at dollar store. I have Lucas find them and then I name them for him and help him push it into puzzle. 

Or I help him pick it up off the carpet.... Also a good fine motor/drive Mommy crazy game... 

Colored pasta is fun to look at, scoop, drive cars through...

Dump on floor and put back in the bin... Do you see a pattern?

What are you doing with your kids to keep them (and yourself) sane this winter? Please share!

Until next time... Stay balanced! 

Thursday Truths

So at the end of October I made some goals.  And then I forgot about them until I was going through pictures. So time to do this again. 

I like the recommendation that you should make a goal for each area of your life: 

Physical

Spiritual

Intellectual

Family

Career 

Social

Financial

I had no problems coming up wit physical goals but I haven't 100% followed all of them.  I've joined some groups that will hopefully hold me more accountable. 

Spiritual was the same way- easy to come up with, but I suck at following through. I am so blessed and I know I have multiple things to thank God for every day but it's a lot easier to remember him in times of need than abundance.... I need to find either a time of day to do this or set a reminder on my phone! 

Career.... I'm just going to set a calendar reminder on my work computer for this one. 

Social... Sadly I probably need to set a reminder to do this too. I love my friends but I just am terrible at reaching out. Thank God for Facebook! 

Intellectual... This is one I am excited about... I wanted to say one a month but I had to be realistic. 

Family.... I am excellent at talking to my mom on a regular basis but no one else in my family. 

Check my marriage daily just means checking in with my husband about how our days have gone but also just to check in on any frustrations we have towards one another so we don't carry them over into the next day. 

Financial.... I'm more of an every two week balancer since we don't use it much because we pay cash for everything but I need to do better about checking envelopes weekly too and seeing where we are at because we always run out about a week early... My fault. 

So I am hoping to post once a week how I am doing on these for some accountability... And maybe a little inspiration for you.

Until then, stay balanced. 

Wacky Wednesday

Random Wednesday didn't sound so cool.... So wacky it is. Or call it a photo dump of things I felt like sharing. 

I experimented with kale chips the other day.... A little Lawrys on top for added deliciousness. They were good right away but I learned a hard lesson.... Kale chips should be eaten right away. 

Fekkai Blowout Spray.... If you use dry shampoo buy this! It clears up the grease and adds volume. 

I asked my husband to bring me some water.... He brought me this.... That's about half an inch of water in a bottle. 

He also managed to fall asleep while I literally run 3 feet from his head.... 

I bought some Sugar Cookie Poptarts.... Limited edition. Run out and buy them. Not only are they delicious but they have hilarious pictures on them. The best part is, Lucas eats the crust and then hands me the good part. Love that kid! 

With the fast approach of 30, I bought some night cream. I don't think I will be able to clear up the wrinkles I have, but hopefully won't get any new ones. Plus this smells good and makes my skin feel good! 

Don't buy makeup remover wipes on clearance at Target.... Dry! 

Not that I would EVER use these because I don't need to, but I wouldn't recommend buying these at a dollar store either. Geez Louise. 

20 minutes on the treadmill tonight and 10 minute abs from 21 Day Fix Extreme. One of my amazing friends made brownies so I indulged... So good!

Off to bed :) stay balanced friends!