Weekly Meal Plan - Week of April 27, 2014

Hi Everyone! Here's our meal plan for the week:

Our Sunday Dinner was Beautiful and Outside. Perfect. 

Sunday: Dinner out. Was busy editing photographs from a wedding.

Monday: Parmesan-Dijon Turkey Breasts. Looking forward to trying this one! We'll pair it with some brussels sprouts and green beans.

Tuesday: We are going to the Taste of Burke. You should all join us! 6pm at the Morganton Community House. I'm excited!

Wednesday: Pee Wee Pizzas. I had this one planned last week, but we had to ditch it because something came up. We all make our own individual pizzas. I make mine and Mark's on Whole Wheat Pita Bread. Very tasty.

Thursday: Hamburger Steaks. Just cause I've got some grass-fed beef and I have been craving a burger.

Friday: Art of Chocolate. Need I say more? The most fabulous foodie event of the year! Options will love you if you join us! Friday night. The Armory. Morganton. Be there.

Saturday: Salads. Atonement for Friday night. ;-)

a moment to refocusonlife ~ evolution

Every day I learn things. Heck, I might even say I learn something every single minute of life. But to learn, we have to be open and receptive to what we see, hear, smell, taste, and touch around us.

Selfie Saturday

One thing I've continually tried to improve over the course of my lifestyle change is receptiveness. Receptiveness helps bring about clarity. With this past weekend's clarity, I have become quite sad because I realized that I truly have no self-control. 

I've mentioned my lack of ability to control myself around a buffet, but I'm beginning to learn that my diesease, overeating, will truly be my lifelong struggle. 

As I wrote this, I was going to bed sad. Satruday I had no self control. I ate too much. I ate too much of the wrong things. I feel incredibly guilty, but as I process this guilt, I'm trying to keep it in perspective. That perspective is that it was one day. Tomorrow is a new day.  

But, there are bizarre circumstances several days this week. A couple of events. Food events. One on Tuesday. One on Thursday. Another on Friday. Another on Saturday. Oh my wow. 

I give up. No, actually I do not give up, but I'm going to have to avoid the scale this week. I hope it isn't too severe.

Happy week my friends! 

Meal Plan - Week of 4/20/2014

Happy Easter Everyone!

Here's our plan for the week:

Sunday: Breakfast: Pancetta & Asparagus Crustless Quiche, Homemade French Toast, Country Ham, and Fruit.
Lunch: Quick Salads w/ Homemade Red Wine Vinaigrette Dressing.
Dinner: Coq Au Riesling (Chicken in a wine/mushroom sauce)/Brussels Sprouts/Sweet Potatoes

Monday: Turkey Kielbasa/Whole Wheat Mac & Cheese/Steamed Broccoli

Tuesday: Ribs/Asparagus/Salads

Wednesday: Parmesan-Dijon Turkey Breast Cutlets

Thursday: Pee Wee Pizzas. We'll use leftover items from the week for toppings.

Friday: I'm taking the day off...so, we'll have a normal breakfast, salads for lunch, and then we will eat dinner out as a family.

Saturday: We have a yard sale in the morning (come buy our junks y'all) and an AWESOME wedding in the afternoon. Guess we'll eat wedding food and whatever we can find!

I hope that each of you have a wonderful week! Don't forget, take a moment to refocusonlife.

a moment to refocusonlife ~ take notice

I'm struggling. I'm struggling with ideas. I'm struggling with motivation. I'm struggling with bad food. I'm struggling with the dreary weather outside. I'm just struggling.

Yesterday, Lauren, Jakob, and I went to see Rio 2 at the theater (it's so gosh darn cute). I had things planned all day and hadn't had time to have lunch. By the time we arrived at the 3:30pm movie, I was ravished. I have to admit, I was excited about the movie because I wanted popcorn and I had given myself permission to have popcorn.

My Rio 2 movie gang 04/18/2014

Turns out, I still have a control problem because not only did I order a huge popcorn, I also had nachos. Can you blame me? I hadn't had lunch.

Fast forward a couple hours. Movie is over. We had dinner plans with Mark at Friday Friends. I had a caesar salad and a scoop of chicken salad. Then, to top it off, we stopped at Silver Creek for a little dessert. I had a double scoop of no-sugar added chocolate caramel pecan ice cream. Ok...it's official...I ate too much. After the ice cream (which is WAY different than sugar free), I actually felt my blood sugar rise. I felt bad immediately. I knew I had overdone it. But, it was too late, so I decided not to punish myself. Let's just keep moving forward.

But, in that forward movement, I want to make sure that I learn from my mistakes. It is abundantly clear to me that my body cannot handle simple carbs. I've proven this to myself over and over. What is it going to take? Why can I just not avoid these friggin' delicious foods? It's a rhetorical question. I know the answer.

So, yesterday, Mark posted the following, "It is easy to sit up and take notice. What is difficult is getting up and taking action." (Al Batt, American writer)

Today...I have taken notice. Now, I have to take action.

Have an amazing holiday weekend! See y'all on the other side!

Meal Plan - Week of 4/13/2014

Hey everyone! This is a late posting for sure! We had a BUSY weekend, but all in all a good one.

Here's the plan for the week:

Lauren and Christian are gone to Charleston Monday thru Wednesday this week. I hope they have a great time...but if I were in Charleston, I can tell you I would not be eating dinner on the USS Yorktown every single day! Good luck my sweet young ones! Miss you already!

Sunday: We ate a very fast meal at Mom's. Thank you, Mom, for the food from the grill.

Monday: Low Carb Beefed-up Meatloaf/Brussels Sprouts/Broccoli. It was a delicious meal. I always eat too much though. Tonight, I had a portion and a half of meatloaf. That's a LOT of meat. But, alas, it is one of my favorite meals.

Tuesday: Beef Ribs. I had some amazing beef ribs in Charlotte over a week ago. They were tender and delicious. I'm going to try to repeat that. We'll top it off with some mashed sweet potatoes and asparagus.

Wednesday: Apricot/Cranberry Stuff Pork Loin and salads with Red Wine Vinaigrette dressing.

Thursday: Caprese Stuffed Chicken. This is a new recipe. I cannot wait to give it a try. Whatever veggies we have left on Thursday is what I'll add as a side.

Friday: We are all off from work and school on Friday. I'll put at least 2 squares on the table. Breakfast is easy. Lunch--probably some salads. Then on Friday evening, we'll take Christian to his Mom's and the girl, Mark and I will grab some dinner somewhere. I think Lauren would love Carrabba's. We'll see. It's her choice.

Saturday: We have no plans. It's the opening day of the Morganton Farmer's Market. I'm going to go see what I can round up for the day at the market!

Have a good week everyone!

a moment to refocusonlife ~ allergies

Well, it's that time of the year. Spring has a way of waking up our senses like no other season! Everything has been dead for the winter and now everything is in full bloom. And, with those beautiful blooms come pollen! With pollen comes SNEEZING and allergies!

I have always had severe allergies especially in the Spring and Fall. I'm happy to say, though, that I would rather suffer allergies and have warmth than be stuck in dreary winter all the time. Before my lifestyle change, was my body allergic to the food that I was taking in? Is my body still allergic to certain foods?

Allergic to life. June 2011. #NeverGoingBack

I've put a lot of thought into this...and I do not even know if it's possible or not, but I can tell you that the reactions I had to my "old" eating style certainly do look similar to allergic reactions. On a funny note, I compare my pre-weightloss body to that of Will Smith from Hitch. I had an allergy so severe that I actually swelled me up like a bloated pig. Once I cut out those horrible foods, like refined sugar, white pasta, potatoes, my body was able to heal itself and kick "allergies" in the rear.

Is this the case? Probably not. But, I can tell you that I continue to draw that conclusion in my mind. And, well whatever works tends to work. If I tell myself I am allergic to certain "high carb" foods, then it keeps me from slipping back down that slippery slope.

My endocrinologist and I had a very similar discussion at one of my recent appointments. While the word "allergy" was never used, he did tell me that some people just could not handle the processed, refined sugars and simples carbs. I'm one of the lucky ones. My body simply cannot deal. I've learned that about myself.

And, at the end of the day, aren't we all just here to learn something new each and every day?

What are you going to learn today? Will you take a minute to refocusonlife? You should. If you quiet your mind, you might just learn something new.

Meal Plan - Week of 4/6/2014

Happy Sunday Everyone!
Here's our plan for the week:

Sunday: Earlier today, we went to the Art of Chocolate Artist's Drop Off Reception. I ate a bunch of finger foods, so tonight we had salads. I have taken to making my own dressings in single serving sizes. Tonight, I made a bangin' one that included red wine vinegar, olive oil, and spicy brown mustard. YUM!

Monday: Lasagna. I will split the lasagna again like I did last time. My portion will be strictly vegetarian and sans pasta. I'll use eggplant instead of pasta. I'm using breakfast sausage for the rest of the family's side of the lasagna. We will have side salads as well.

Tuesday: Taco Tuesday! We'll use our homemade taco seasoning. I'm going to a seminar entitled "How and What to Eat, How to Move, and How to be YOUR Best." I hope to come out with some new knowledge and dinner on the table when I get home. Yep, that means you're cooking Mark Patrick! Mine will be made into a salad.

Wednesday: Steaks/Asparagus/Sweet Potato. A good old fashioned American meal. I am noticing a trend this week: too much RED meat! I wish my family would eat fish.

Thursday: Chicken in a peach, blueberry sauce. This is a new recipe. I'm looking forward to trying this one out!

Friday: I'm hoping to take the Boo's and the poor kid that broke his arm at our house to the movies. I plan to eat POPCORN for dinner! I know...not healthy, but...fun times.

Saturday: HIKE FOR HOPE Day. Have you donated or registered yet? http://bit.ly/1eroJAD Please consider helping. I'll be winging it all day for food. We'll see how that goes! When I do not have a plan, I tend to eat too much.

Have a  great week everyone!