I often meal prep just for our lunches. I make our breakfasts and Dinners a la minute. This is a fancy schmancy way of saying, prepared to order, or not made in advance. (Gotta use my fancy degree for something. =) ) I just meal prep our lunches. Lunches are the hardest meals to get in, and I will often just not eat if I am to busy. So here is a lunch I prepped for this week, for me and my husband.
This weeks lunch is gluten free, nut free, but has animal protein and dairy.
If you have never had spaghetti squash before you are in for a treat. The flesh is mild in flavor, but pulls apart in strings, much like spaghetti. I am guessing that is where the name comes from. (said tongue in cheek =) )
Everything in this recipe is roasted. Also people season your food! I get a lot of my friends saying oh I don’t like X, or I don’t like Y. Then I get a hold of them, cook for them, and their tune changes. Why you might ask?… 99% of the time people don’t know how to season their food, and don’t know how to prepare their food. Eat well, eat healthy, and make your pallet happy as well as your body.
Enough talking/writing on to the recipe.
Spaghetti Squash and Chicken Not Pasta (yeild – 6 portions, or 3 meals for two adults)
Ingredients:
10 lbs or two good sized Spaghetti Squash
3 large chicken breasts, cut in half width wise
1 jar of pasta sauce you like, or a can of tomato sauce works as well ( I used pre canned sauce to make my prep a little easier)
Parmesan shredded
3 large sweet potatoes pealed and cut in to coins for roasting
Olive oil for roasting
Salt and Pepper to taste
Seasoning you like for your chicken ( I used the Mrs. Dash original, salt free seasoning we have here in the states. I like salt free cause I can control the salt in my food better that way.)
Directions:
Pre heat oven to 425 degrees F, or 218.33 degrees C
Cut the squash in half, scoop out seeds, drizzle cut side with olive oil, sprinkle salt and pepper, and place them cut side down on a pan prepared with parchment paper. Be sure to oil the skin of the squash so it does not burn in the oven. No need to salt the skin of the squash.
Cut each breast in half, drizzle oil on breasts, add salt and pepper, sprinkle with other seasonings, and place in a oven proof pan.
Peel and cut sweet potatoes into coins, drizzle with oil, salt and pepper, and sprinkle with cinnamon.
Place each of these in the oven, and cook for 45 minutes to an hour.
For the chicken I cut one open to see if it is cooked. For the squash I poke it with a fork and see if it is soft and done cooking. For the sweet potatoes I poke with a fork and see if they are soft to the touch.
Portion out and save for the week days and enjoy.
Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great weekend. Let me know if you tried this and how you liked it.
Ever have one of those days were dinner time just sneaks up on you? Yeah, me too. Today was one of those days. I have had a great day so far, and bam woah its almost dinner time. So I decided to make a chicken salad. But I made it easy on myself.
I bought a rotisserie chicken. I bought pre-washed salad greens mix, and I chopped up some veggies. I made home made croutons, and the salad dressing. But other than that, I just assembled the salad and served. I am lucky… no I trained my kids to eat well early on… lucky is not the right word. From an early age, I asked my kids to try everything, and was ok if they did not like something the first time. I told them that its okay to not like it, but keep trying it, you may find you like it later. My kids will gladly eat a salad for dinner with no complaints what so ever. I find that kids are more willing to eat things that they see you eating. They are naturally curious about things and so will try things as well. This makes making dinner easier on me.
The croutons are easy to make. Just cut up some bread from a bakery that you like. This is a rosemary olive oil bread. I cut into cubes. I then placed on a baking tray drizzled with olive oil sprinkled salt and a little paprika. Then I placed them under the broiler and let them toast, turning them once.
The croutons are optional obviously. However, I thought it would give the salad a good crunch, and give us some carbs we would need.
Recipe: Easy Chicken Salad With a Balsamic Honey dressing
Ingredients:
Mixed greens
Rotisserie chicken
Cherry Tomatoes
Green onions
Cucumbers
Baby Portabella Mushrooms
Bread cut into cubes
Salt
pepper
paprika
2 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tbs honey
1 tbs olive oil
Directions:
Cut veggies as you would like to have them in your salad. (e.g. slice the cucumbers, quarter the tomatoes, slice onions, slice mushrooms) place a bed of lettuce on the plate, add the veggies, and then portion out the chicken.
Croutons: cube bread, turn oven on to broil, drizzle bread with olive oil, season with a pinch of salt, and some paprika. Toast on one side a few minutes, then flip bread cubes and toast on the other side.
Dressing: Mix together in a measuring jug, 1 tbs olive oil, 2 tbs of basalmic vinegar, 1 tbs of honey, pinch of salt and cracked pepper to taste. Mix together all ingredients, and drizzle about 1 tbs over salad. 1 tbs of dressing is about 42 oz. = 48 calories, and 3.5 g Fat
Calroies/Stats for this is for one serving of salad:
73 g spring mix greens
42 g sliced cucumbers
32 g cherry tomato
42 g mushrooms
130 g rotisserie chicken
42 oz or 1 tbs of dressing
33 g croutons
Calories 441, Fat 12.9 g, Fiber 1.7 g, Carbs 35.2 g, Sodium 998 mg, Protein 37.2 g
Eating well can be easy. I find that people think that to eat well you have to make it complicated. That is just not the case. Sometimes a simple salad is the way to go. If you are a busy mom, and dinner time sneaks up on you. Try making this.
2.5 hours of Bo Staff Training and Muay Thai. I had a late night at work last night, so lets see if I can remember everything we did today. I made a diagram today! I write my blogs up after my training, sometimes right away and some times hours after. The time I write it up depends on what my schedule looks like. So inevitably I forget parts of training, but here is what I remember. The highlights if you will.
Bo Staff Class – Swing from the hip
(note:The numbering system for these strikes sometimes differ depending on your Goru. Each gym may follow a different Goru, but the targets are the same regardless of the numbers. )
For this class we worked on 17 count again. With staves we have to slide our hands along the staff when we change which side we are holding from. But we do not have to change all the time. Just when we are swinging from the hip. When we are striking with a 1 or 2 blow, we just keep our hands where we had them. When we work on 3 or 4 strike you have to slide your hand down the staff and use your hip and foot work to push through your opponent. So I have a lot to work on. I made a diagram of the 17 count strikes, because its helpful to me, and easier to explain with a picture I think.
We worked on controlling the center line with staves. Where we meet the force of a #6 thrusting strike, and move it off center line. Then follow the staff up with ours to complete thrusting strike ourselves, either to abdomen or face. Our instructor wanted us to work on controlling the center line because a person may swing wildly but if you can get in close and control the center line. It is hard to deflect. So learning how to deflect thrusting blows, and also how to give them is a huge tool in our tool box.
Muay Thai striking class – Speed vs Power
So lately I have been working on power in my kicks and knees. But there are different reasons to work on speed. We are told often that when we relax and let the kick happen instead of forcing it. We will kick far harder.
It is hard and counter intuitive to think this way. If you are asked to hit harder, or kick harder, you instinctively try to muscle your way through it. However, in Muay Thai that is just what you have to do. Kicking is not about muscling your way through its about doing the form as perfectly as you can, using physics and momentum with the torque of your full body to lay the kick in.
Today we worked on same side teeps, kicks, punch/elbows, to knees. If you have read some of my other blog posts. I mention the 4 counts. Where you go left to right. Left kick, cross, hook, right kick is just one example. Today we were teeping with right leg, to right kick, to right punch or elbow, to clenching up, then getting the knees in.
We also worked on knees to push the opponent away, to kicks, to punches.
Our object is to get speed and timing in. Less worry about the power, but get the feel and timing in.
It is my understanding and hope, that sometime in the future the speed and power will meet and I will have both. But for now I have to just work on both and hope to keep improving.
Food -choices/lifestyle
We went to late lunch, early dinner after, and I wanted to share something with you that I do often. I know a lot of my friends and family say they cannot eat out, or eat anything fun while dieting. I say dieting is not the way to go. Changing your lifestyle is the way to go. You can eat out if you choose healthy options. Making small good for your health decisions is easier than, saying, I can’t go out and enjoy food and company of friends and family. Soon you will resent your “diet” and may even fall off the wagon.
This picture is the food I ordered at The Cheesecake Factory. This is the dish I got.
CHICKEN LETTUCE WRAP TACOS
Butter Lettuce Leaves Filled with Grilled Chicken and your Choice of:
ASIAN Carrots, Bean Sprouts, Cucumber, Cilantro and Rice Noodles with Spicy Cashew Sauce
450 calories, 140 fat cals, 15 g total fat, 4 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 80 mg cholesterol, 1040 mg sodium, 49 g fiber, 3 g total carbs, 32 g sugar, 29 g proteins
This was from the appetizer part of their Skinnylicous menu. This is huge for an appetizer, and perfect for a meal. Most of their regular menu items are 1500 to 2000 calories, and loads of fat and cholesterol. If you are in the U.S.A. just keep an eye out for healthy options, and you will be successful with your goals.
Well that is all, this blog post is long enough. Thank you for reading. Have a great rest of your day.
Looking for a healthy snack or dessert, or if you are me you will eat it for lunch, instead of lunch, cause it is easy and you can just grab it and go. Looking for that chocolate fix. That time when you just want something a little chocolaty, but full of vitamins, fiber and protein. Try this out. Also this is vegetarian, gluten free, and can be vegan if you leave the honey out and replace it with another sweetener.
Chia seeds are amazing…
If you have never had chia seeds before they are an ancient seed, used by the Aztecs and the Mayans. They a jam packed with nutrients, and are simply amazing despite their diminutive size.
“A one-ounce (28 grams) serving of chia seeds contains :
Fiber: 11 grams.
Protein: 4 grams.
Fat: 9 grams (5 of which are omega-3s).
Calcium: 18% of the RDI.
Manganese: 30% of the RDI.
Magnesium: 30% of the RDI.
Phosphorus: 27% of the RDI.
They also contain a decent amount of zinc, vitamin B3 (niacin), potassium, vitamin B1 (thiamine) and vitamin B2.”
If you want to read up more about them see the link above. There is a lot to love about these tiny power packed seeds. They are high in fiber, contain omega 3 fatty acids (so if you don’t or won’t eat fish, they are a great alternative source), and plant based protein. I will leave you to read about them if you want. On to the recipe.
Chocolate Chia Pudding yield: two servings
Ingredients:
1 and 1/2 cup or 6 oz of Almond milk (you can use, soy, coconut, or even dairy if you want)
2 tbs or 1.4 oz of Honey (or to taste, also if vegan, you can use stevia to taste)
2 tsp or 2 cap full of vanilla ( you can use any extract you like, I often change it up, sometimes adding Kirsh just for a cherry flavor, or Calvados)
4 tbs or 2 oz of chia seeds
2 tbs or 0.66 oz of unsweetened dark chocolate cocoa powder (note: I use a heaping tbs, cause I like chocolate)
Pinch of salt to taste
Fruit that you like. (e.g. Berries, apples, oranges, etc.)
Mini dark chocolate chips for garnish
Recipe:
Mix all the wet ingredients first
Add the dry and stir till all of cocoa powder is incorporated.
Let set for 15 minutes, then stir again.
Cover with lid and let refrigerate for at least 4 hours. This is great to do overnight.
After set, serve with garnish and fruit.
Calories/Stats
Calories 274, Fat 13.1 g, Fiber 14.5 g, Carbs 40.3 g, Sodium 141.9 mg, Protein 6.8 g
I also make a version that is a Chai Chia pudding. Try saying that five times.
You have to add the Chai spices to the mix.
1/2 tsp of cinnamon 1/2 tsp of ground ginger 1/4 tsp of ground cardamom 1/8 tsp of ground cloves
Let me know if you are interested in any of my other versions. Thanks for reading.
This my take on a fast Caprese salad. I used tomatoes, cucumbers, dried basil because I forgot to get fresh basil at the store, and mozzarella pearls. For the dressing I used balsamic vinegar and a garlic olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper to taste.
This is quick, easy, healthy, and most importantly delicious.
Recipe:
Tomatoes diced
cucumber diced
pearl mozzarella
balsamic
garlic infused olive oil you can sub regular olive oil
basil fresh preferably or dried
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Chop veggies to bite size
Toss veggies and mozzarella
in a separate bowl lightly mix oil, salt, pepper, and basil. Drizzle with dressing and enjoy
Stats:
Calories 253, Fat 17.7 g, Fiber 3.7 g, Carbs 11.6 g, Sodium 146 mg, Protein 17.1 g
Thanks for reading this far. Let me know what you think if you get to try this.
Today for lunch, I wanted something light. I had a big breakfast and was not super hungry. So I made Garlic Lemon and Cayenne Blanched Asparagus, with two fried eggs. Spring cannot come soon enough. Asparagus is going to start popping up in the stores. So try this light, vibrant dish out.
This was so satisfying and delicious. It was light, but had enough fat and protein to be fulfilling. If you like the idea of Hollandaise sauce this will be right up your alley. This is a less caloric, and has less fat than Hollandaise sauce. The main reason is that lack of butter. This is so very satisfying in the same way. Taking out the Hollandaise sauce you remove for about 4 ounces or 1/2 cup you take out 140 calories, and 14 grams of fat. The sauce is made by adding pats of butter to wisking/cooking egg yolk and lemon juice. Those majority of those calories and fat come from the butter and the extra yolks for the sauce.
My digression and some background:
I also added finishing salt to the meal with Maldon salt.
” The brand was Maldon—Maldon Sea Salt Flakes. It came from a 135-year-old family-owned salt works on the southeast coast of England. My wife had been buying it for years. “
Maldon salt is a flaky sea salt that is used for finishing your food. When I feel like being super special I will pull out the Maldon. Let me put this into perspective. For the boiling water to blanch the asparagus, I just used regular granulated salt. It will be dissolving in water and does not need to be super special. This salt you put on your food cause you want to taste it. You want to taste the different minerals in it. The minerals in the “fancy” salts are what gives it different flavors.
” Once upon a time, salt was just salt. It was the stuff in shakers and canisters, the gustatory equivalent of the treble dial. You used more, or you used less. Whether it was a little girl with an umbrella, a toss over the left shoulder to ward off bad luck, or a nontaster’s affront to the chef, it was all just salt. “
Make your food interesting and fun, and delicious and it will be such a satisfying part of your life. I digress though back to the recipe.
Recipe: Garlic Lemon and Cayenne Blanched Asparagus (yields 2servings)
Ingredients:
2 bunches of asparagus
1 lemon zested
1/2 lemon juiced
2 cloves of garlic sliced
1 tsp of olive oil
1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper plus a little more for sprinkling on top of eggs
Maldon salt for finishing
Pepper to taste
Granulated salt for blanching water
Directions:
Take a spear of asparagus and holding both ends bend till it breaks. Where it breaks cut the rest around that area. Because that is where the woody part of it basically ends. Blanch the asparagus in salinated/salted boiling water, for about 2 minutes or till just tender but still has a crunch. Remove from water and dunk in ice bath or bowl with cold water to stop the cooking.
In a pan add oil, cayenne, and garlic, heat till garlic starts to brown around edge. Drain and add asparagus to the pan, toss the asparagus in the oil in pan just to coat. Portion out Asparagus onto two plates. Squeeze a little bit of lemon on them. Add lemon zest to asaparagus.
Fry 4 eggs, in the same pan. Take plats and add egg to the asparagus. Garnish with pepper, Maldon salt, lemon zest, and sprinkle of cayenne.
Serve and enjoy immediately
Calories/stats for 1 serving
Calories 350, Fat 29.2 g, Fiber 4.6 g, Carbs 10.5 g, Sodium 802 mg, Protein 18.5 g
This was kid and husband approved. Thanks for reading this far. Have a fantastic week.
I tend to eat more on the vegetarian side of things then the omnivore side. So my go to food will be a plate full of veggies. This could easily be vegan if you take the mozzarella out. This is gluten free if that is something you are trying to keep an eye on.
Today I wanted zucchini and yellow squash noodles, with portabella veggie “meat” balls, some basil and mozzarella balls. So that is what I made. This was so delicious and satisfying. NOM NOM NOM
I do not try to eat gluten free, but I notice my body tends to react better when I don’t eat to much gluten.
Recipe: Veggie Noodles with Portabella Meat Balls
Ingredients:
3 portabella veggie balls
250 g or 1 zucchini, and 1 yellow squash spiral cut
4 oz or 1/2 cup tomato sauce
5 mozzarella balls
1/2 cup or 8 sliced tomatoes
1/4 cup Sliced onions
2 tsp garlic olive oil
Directions:
Spiral cut the zucchini, and yellow squash. Cut the onions and saute them in the pan with 2 tsp of garlic olive oil. Add spiral squash noodles. Cook them just till they start to wilt. Remove the veggie noodles to plate. Add veggie balls to the pan and add sauce. Cook till cooked through. Add tomatoes to the sauce and balls. Place them on the noodles. Add the mozzarella balls, and fresh basil.
I did not add any extra salt cause there is plenty in the sauce and in the mozzarella balls.
You can make these at home, and I did. I made these for my family for dinner. My kids love these and they are super healthy. I made a ginger peanut sauce to go with it.
It may look daunting and the most difficult part is the wrapping of the rolls.
This meal is a bit time consuming but if you have about 45 minutes you can have these ready and tuck in.
This is a recipe that is easily translated to vegan, or vegetarian. This is gluten free, and really very healthy. One roll without the sauce is only 117 calories, and almost no fat.
Ginger Peanut Sauce – (yield:about 16 tbsp)
Tip:You can change this to vegan or vegetarian by using Bragg’s Aminos instead of soy sauce. This gives a similar taste but does not have any animal products.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup or 4 oz of Soy Sauce
1 tbsp or 0.5 oz of sriracha sauce
1 whole lime juiced
2 tbsp or 1.0 oz of crunchy peanut butter
1 tbsp or 0.5 oz of freshly grated ginger
1.5 tbsp 0.75 oz of honey
Directions:
In a bowl stir together soy sauce, sriracha sauce, lime juice, peanut butter, grated ginger, and honey. You can make this ahead of time and use it when you need it.
Calories for 1 tablespoon: Calories 23.75, Fat 1 g, Fiber 0, Carbs 2.9g, Sodium 431 mg, Protein 1.25 g
Calories for total amount of sauce made: Calories 380, Fat 15.8 g, Fiber 3.3 g, Carbs 47.8 g, Sodium 6908.5 mg, Protein 20.1 g
Shrimp Spring Rolls (Yield: about 15 rolls)
Tip:you can change this to vegetarian or vegan by omitting shrimp, and you can change the veggies used in this wrap to those you like. For instance a thinly sliced bell pepper would be delicious.
Ingredients:
2 lbs or 32 oz of shrimp
I package rice noodles
1 package rice paper wrappers
3 grated carrots
1/2 of cucumber grated
lettuce of your choosing, I used a mixed greens
1 Jalapenos sliced thin (if you don’t remove the seeds they will be hotter.)
Directions:
Follow the directions on the package of how to cook he noodles. In my case bring water to boil and then add noodles cook for 3 minutes. I rinsed with cold water to stop the cooking, grate the veggies, cook the shrimp. I just boiled them in water. Soften the rice paper wrappers as the package directs.
Assembly:
Soak the rice paper just till it starts to get soft. It will be slightly firm still.
Layer veggies, shrimp, noodles and lettuce.
Fold up the bottom end of the wrap over the filling
Wrap the right side over then while tucking the ingredients, roll over the roll and continue wrapping.
Fold down the top of the wrapper and it is complete.
This is the calories measurements for 1 wrap: Calories 117, Fat 1.2 g, Fiber 1.3 g, Carbs 21.3 g, Sodium 292.2 mg, Protein 4.9 g
Enjoy! I hope you like these as much as my family and I love them. Let me know what you think if you get a chance to try this.
Alright the beginning… that seems a good place to start… Wait… Let me just preface this with. Each persons fitness journey is going to be different. We all are going through ups and downs, and have to start and stop. It took me a while to understand this. But this is normal and it is a part of life. It is what a journey is. Not just a month here and there. But the entirety of your change for the better, and your learning what your body can do for the rest of your life.
Alright the beginning… that seems a good place to start. I was always an athletic person. I used to be a competitive swimmer. My strokes were 200 m Butterfly and 500 m Freestyle. What that meant was I was placed on a Medley Team and I was asked to do IM’s. (Individual Medly – Butterfly, Back, Breast Free) I cannot tell you how much I hated breast stroke. I felt so slow. I digress… being that I was a Butterflyer. I ended up with massive shoulders for a girl. Or so I thought/sometimes think.
Here is a picture of a person doing butterfly.
this is not me but totally what I did
That is what my back muscles looked like. Sigh… I may never get back there again. However… fast forward a few years in college. Life happens. I have problems with family, and end up leaving to be on my own. I jump into the work world and the daily trying to keep up with bills. I was doing well, for a 21 year old with a QA job. Life happens again, and I have to take care of myself. I made some bad relationship decisions and I had to iron those wrinkles out. I end up on my own and going back to school for Culinary Arts.
I meet my now husband, and fall in love. He is loving, kind, understanding, responsible, a sweet heart, soft spoken and a generally great person. All the things my ex was not. I am happy we are buzzing along and we end up having two kiddos. I was not expecting to be able to cause of female problems from the age of 12. I did not workout with the babies because I was scared of losing them. I was told I would never have babies when I was 12. I was scared, thrilled and excited to be pregnant. My baby boy came to us, perfect and healthy. He was 9 months when we found I was pregnant again. Bonus! We wanted a second, and we got one. My beautiful healthy baby girl.
Fast forward 2 years, and I have not been working out at all since college for about 8 years. I finished second college in 2007, and got my degree. Yay! I let myself go since then. I had life, and hazards, and love, and so many other things that people fall into the trap of, and put aside my health and working out.
Baby Gates Be Damned
I have two little ones one 4 and one 5 years old. They are under foot and around foot, and on foot, and on hip, and just need me for everything. I did not have the energy before this to do anything but make sure everyone’s diapers (or nappies for some of you) were changed, and all parties were fed and not trying to kill themselves by going down the two flights of stairs in our home. We lived and still live in a town home that is three levels, and kids whew…they wanted to go up and down stairs, baby gates be damned. I still held my jobs at night and took care of everything else for them during the day.
It was at this point when I finally had a chance to breath and got my head above keeping babies alive to keeping toddlers alive. I noticed in my pictures just how fat I had gotten. I hated taking pictures of myself so I was always behind the camera instead of in front of it. I had let myself go, ho boy had I let myself go.
That is enough of those pictures… you get the picture. Hahah… see what I did there. Eh eh eh…
Health Issues? No, Healthy as a Horse, Just Fat!
I decided I needed to do something. Anything… cause doing nothing was probably going to kill me and I was pretty miserable at this weight. Yeah I could eat what ever I wanted when I wanted, but really I did not like the way I looked the way I moved, none of it. I have been asked if I started my journey because of health issues. The answer is no. I was healthy as a horse as they say. Just fat! I had some criteria that had to be met for me to be successful. I believe in setting yourself up for success. To do so know your needs, and see to them.
Needs:
I had to be able to do it at home. I had kids and no extra time.
I had to be able to do it without a lot of extra equipment at first.
I had to be able to do it when I had little ones under foot.
I had to be able to do it period. I had to get this big body moving. This body that was not used to working out any more moving, and not hurt myself. I could not be down for the count with little ones.
I had to do it on a budget. I don’t know if you all know, but children are expensive. =) I love them dearly but they will cost you an arm and a leg and your sanity.
I found a system that met those criteria. It was from BeachBody.com and it was the Turbofire series. It allowed me to do it from home, with little to no extra equipment, it allowed me to do it with kids under foot, I just had to make sure they were occupied with snack time. I was able to make 30 minutes a day time to get my workout in. Either during the kids snack time, or during nap time. I wedged that workout in where I could. It was important to me so I made sure I put it in. I am not here to sell the workout, just to tell you what I did. It gave me a structured workout, with a calendar of what to do each day. I needed this. I am a type A personality and I need the check marks and lists. It gave me a structure to work from. One that I could do and keep doing. Here is a picture of me on a day after one of the workouts.
I started in June of 2014, and I finished a whole 90 days, or one whole rotation of the system. I even got the tank top to prove it. I changed my food consumption and I incorporated healthy good for me foods. I felt good and I decided I needed to change it up and this is where I added yoga and kettle bell to go with my HIIT workouts.
Kidney Stone
Wanting to get myself to the next level I restricted my food intake more because “that is what you do” and only allowed myself “good for me” foods. I ate spinach morning noon and night. I ate nuts, and veggies, and cut out most meat. I craved and loved things like beets. I would make a whole pan of roasted beets and eat it all for the next couple of days. I was losing weight and feeling great. I had lost about 40 lbs. One day I had this excruciating pain, in my abdomen. I was on the couch and could not move. I called my husband at work and it passed till it felt like it moved again. As the pain passed again, I thought it was just something that may have been temporary. I tried to ignore it, but that level of pain got me scared. That night and the next day I was passing what I found out to be blood in my urine. I was rushed to the hospital the next day and found out I had a kidney stone. It was 5 mm or 1/5 of an inch. So they had to schedule a surgery to get it out. Doctors were surprised I did not go to the E.R., but I have a high pain tolerance. I had to wait 2 days for the surgery and they said it may pass between then but most likely it would not. The surgery went off without a problem. They tested the stone after the surgery and found it was calcium oxalate stone. I had not been drinking enough water, and I was eating all the foods with calcium oxalate. I love them to much it seems. Here are some of the foods with them:
Spinach
Bran flakes
Rhubarb
Beets
Potato chips
French fries
Nuts and nut butters
These are all foods I love. Especially beets, nuts, and spinach. I was shocked because these are “healthy foods”, and supposed to be good for you. But I learned this the hard way. Everything in moderation, and drink your water. Drink lots of water. I drink about 3 liters a day.
I healed up nicely and got back to workout as soon as I was given ok from doctors. I was antsy and raring to go. I was worried I would lose progress. It was about a week till I could do something light. Then the week after that I was able to go back to my regular routine.
By September 2015 I had lost 60 lbs. I was over the moon. I hit a plateau and was upset I was not losing more weight. I kept up with the workouts and eating healthy. I decided to start eating whole foods. Cutting out all processed foods
Hysterectomy
We are at September 29, 2015, and I am scared. I had been having symptoms of cancer for the past 6 months. My OBGYN was concerned it was a tumor that they could not see, and I put my head down and tried to ignore it. Do you see a recurring theme here? I try to ignore my pains and keep going. It is in my nature, and I figure I can just walk it off. I could not walk this off. I was bleeding so much I was in risk of becoming anemic, and I was getting more tired and weak as I went along. I know my husband was worried, and I was sad cause I was thinking of having a third baby. It was a huge decision and I did not want to make it. I ended up deciding to go ahead with my doctors suggestion and had a full hysterectomy. She removed my uterus and my cervix. I did end up having a tumor, and adenomyosis. (“ Adenomyosis is a condition in which the inner lining of the uterus (the endometrium) breaks through the muscle wall of the uterus (the myometrium). “ ) My tumor it turns out was benign but it was one of these. “Endometrial hyperplasia: A condition in which there is an increased number of cells and glandular structures in the uterine lining. Endometrial hyperplasia can have either normal or atypical cells and simple or complex glandular structures. The risk for developing cancer in the lining of the uterus is higher when endometrial hyperplasia has atypical cells and complex glands. “ Find out more information at cancer.net. Mine had atypical cells and could have turned/developed into cancer. So in the end it was the right call to remove my uterus. Cancer is scary and serious don’t be me and stupid and wait. Just go get it checked out.
Here is a post I made on the day of the surgery.
Anesthesia is not a good look on me.
“I am awake and alert. I am doing ok. I am keeping up on the pain meds. I had a slight complication during surgery. They accidentally cut my bladder. Now I have to live with a catheter and bag for two weeks. Wee!
Thanks for all the love and well wishes everyone. =) My H is taking great care of me, and the kiddos are doing awesome.”
Two weeks of bed rest due to complications and cut bladder. I wanted to get up and do all the things but the pain and the discomfort made me listen to my body.
Come Hell or Hysterectomy
Turkey Trot Race I walked in 2 months after hysterectomy.
I had made plans and bought my ticket run a 5 kilometer. It was a goal I had set at the beginning of 2015. It was in November and was a turkey trot. I was not cleared to run but I told my doctor I was determined to get out there and at least do some of it. I was given the go ahead to walk the race, and my family came with me. My two children and husband came out and walked the race with me. I was in pain but I was determined to sort of complete this goal this year, come hell, or hysterectomy.
Three months of only walking and no lifting more than 10 lbs had me biting my nails to get back to my workout routine.
By December 2015 I was gingerly making my way back to my workout routine. I wanted to keep it up and not lose my momentum. I lost some muscle and gained a few pounds but was able to get back to it slowly.
Fast forward to November 2016. Here is the workout I did for that day. =) I still have it, cause I put it up for my friends to see.
Here are the workout details if you want them:
100 squats, no rest 100 lunges, no rest 3 x 1 minute wall sits with 30 second rest in between 100 pike sit ups, 30 second rest at 45, and 65 mark 50 leg lifts, rest at 25 for 30 seconds 50 leg extensions 95 lb dead lifts with olympic barbell, rep set: 10, 9, 10
This is what I looked like then:
If you made it this far, I am amazed. This is already a long winded blog post and I am only up to 2016. But thank you for reading. Keep up the good work, and keep on going. Don’t let little things get stop you and only let the big things stop you till your doc says its ok to get back to it.
As I have said before eat the rainbow. It is a great way to get your vitamins and nutrients in.
I thought about whether to show this, as it is not exactly “instagram pretty”. Its a cross between a hummus and a guacamole. You can add any spices you want to it to season to taste. Some of the things I have done with this is, lemon juice, onions, cayenne, garlic, and jalapenos.
Today what I made was canned garbanzo beans, avocado, tomato, pickle juice in absence of lemon, and chopped dill pickles. I stuffed that into a pita and added fresh veggies, and it was oh so good.
Tastey Guammus Recipe
Ingredients:
1 whole pita
1/2 avocado smashed
1/2 or euro 4 oz cup of garbanzo beans canned smashed
6 cherry tomatoes sliced
1 1/2 tbs or euro 30 mls of pickle juice or more to taste
8 slices of dill pickles chopped up or sweet and spicy pickles would be good too
Veggies of your choice sliced up to stuff in pita ( I did cucumber, and bell pepper, cause that is what I had)
seasoning to taste
Directions:
cut the pita in half
prepare the guammus, in a bowl smash the garbanzo beans and avocado together. I did not have lemon juice so I substituted pickle juice for the acid component.
Chop up the pickles, and tomatoes adding them to the guammus mixture.
stuff guammus into the pita, and add veggies
sit in a sunny area and enjoy your tasty guammus sandwich.
Calories 417, Fat 15.9 g, Fiber 17.9 g, Carbs 60.1 g, Sodium 742 mg, Protein 14.3 g
Just think the colors in your veggies are the sun trapped and transformed to make a nutrient dense lunch for you. =)
Thank you for reading again. I hope you try this recipe and enjoy it. Let me know what you think.
Thinks with Spinks 