Activity

This one is going to be a quick tip. Overall activity in your day is better for your heart health overall. Take the stairs. Walk to that person's desk instead of sending an email. Walk during your lunch break. When you get home, walk your dog, ride bikes with your kiddos, or vacuum your house. A one hour treadmill session that you walk at 2 mph is not going to help you if you are sedentary at work and then a couch potato at night ***** special note... sometimes, you need a lazy, restful night ... but that should not consist of cheetoes, beer, and a remote control until midnight!

I like to sit on a stability ball at work. I have fewer back problems than I did sitting in a chair; I make my core activate. This may not work for you, but try to find some way to increase your overall, daily movement. It is the little things that lead to big changes. Happy Friday!!

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fRiDaYYYYYY

Last night was "golf night." I have mentioned before that I am trying to take up golf because it gives me something to do with Clay. Maybe he will start running with me??? Highly doubtful, but I am really enjoying this experience. I was VERY nervous last night because our partners that we usually play with did not come so we got paired with strangers.... My goal was to speed to the hole and tee off before they got there. I WAS SO NERVOUS. I had not swung my clubs in three weeks and that could be like starting over for me! Thankfully, I think the break was GOOD for me. I played well I kept up with the guys and had a great time. The great part... If I completely botch the hole, I can just pick up my ball and drop where Clay is... No one cares and it is very low pressure. Most of the pressure that I feel is placed on myself BY MYSELF. Isn't that how life is? We always worry about something and really, we never need to. Worrying does not add anything to our life, experiences, or situation. If something is intimidating, that is usually a good sign that we will GROW from accomplishing that task. Not to say that I am growing into a better person because of golf, but in general, this YEAR has been full of circumstances that I have had to "man up" and face a situation with courage, so this topic is fresh on my mind. 

Yesterday at work I felt awful before golf. I NEED CARBS and if I do not eat enough carbs, I feel terrible. After a bowl of oatmeal and this guy:

... I felt like a new woman. I grabbed it at the Starbucks by my office....IMPRESSIVE. I had never had one before, but I loved it. Because of the nuts in it, I actually felt satisfied after a bar... Trust me, my man hunger makes sure this never happens. Speaking of bars, these are an inexpensive alternative too:

When looking for a snack bar, READ THE LABEL. I am sorry, but sometimes we just shoot ourselves in the foot when we think a 90 calorie bar is going to satisfy our hunger AND there is nothing "real" in the ingredients. LOVE NATURE VALLEY though. CONGRATS on making it to FRIDAY my friends. What are your plans? Are you running at all? I have family dinner tonight, and my mother in law is a fabulous cook. I will post pics later, but it will be late because I am soaking in my Friday night. Off to work for me !!!!!

Temptation

I worked late tonight and walked in the door around 7:30pm. I was extremely motivated to get started with some biostatistics, but this was on the table:

Talk about NOT being motivating to hit the books. BUT, I am still super motivated to get work finished this week so that I can ENJOY my weekend. Happy HUMP Day everyone! We are almost to the weekend!

Pleasure Reading:

Healthy Recipe Index at WebMD

At Home Workout Challenge from BodyRockTV

Are you WHAT YOU EAT?

 Psycho Woman EMZ can run 41 miles on a treadmill... I call that torture.

Healthy on a Budget

I hit the treadmill this morning at 5:00am again (to burn off Neiman Marcus Cookies) and did 4 miles. I made myself stop and stretch before I went home... Sitting at a desk all day will TEAR ME UP if I do not take time to stretch. Plus, tonight I work late, AND I have homework to do when I get home, so I had to take advantage of what I had.

No post last night because I got distracted with this dude:

And this dude:

Future Blogger my friends

I had a great time with Ruthy and Liam last night. Best friend ever....and an amazing mommy. I have an amazing CHICKEN recipe from last night. It was amazing. There was a port wine, mushroom sauce on it that I SWEAR I COULD HAVE LICKED OUT OF THE BOWL. I will get it for you. It came from a Weight Watchers cookbook.

SOAP BOX:

For the last few weeks, I have not been able to stop thinking about our government and society and the direction that it is going...or seems to be going. I do not know a lot about politics, and I certainly do not know everything about industry/business, but people at work keep talking about "issues" so I keep brainstorming about how I would run our country/state if I were in leadership (God, help us all). One of the biggest issues I daydream about is WHY A FAMILY OF 5 CAN EAT A BURGER KING CHEAPER THAN BUYING FRESH PRODUCE AND HEALTHY MEAT FROM THE SUPERMARKET.This truly is heartbreaking and I am determined to educate my patients and fellow employees regarding this topic. 

Here are a few tips:

• First and foremost, it may look like a "cheaper" option now, but, like I have said before, your blood pressure medications that you will end up on will be much more expensive than that $.99 burger... Choose health!
• Eat less meat: A bag of brown rice + bag/can of beans = super cheap AND together, they create a complete protein. You can season them however you want AND add peppers/onions. They can be placed in a crock pot with chicken broth and cook while you are gone for the day.... EASY! Purchasing a better cut of meat, and just eating less of it, will serve you better in the long run.
• Buy LOCAL: produce gets tricky. We are not accustomed to having to buy only what is in season because we can buy whatever our heart desires at the grocery store. I promise you, if you go to a farmer's market, or even your own grocer, and buy what is in season, it will be cheaper.
• FROZEN = AWESOME: Berries are usually pretty expensive, but you can buy them FROZEN and usually you can buy them in BULK. This is great for smoothies, oatmeal, toppings, and munching. 
• PERIMETER shopping: If you stick to the perimeter of the grocery store, you will hit the produce, seafood, deli, meat, bakery (yes, bakery.... fresh bread/treats are better for you than the stuff sitting on a shelf more months).... and avoid the processed poison crap options in the middle. 
• PASTA: Usually, whatever I make for myself, I try to pair it with spinach or some other green. As long as I make a side of pasta for the hubby, he is satisfied. Unfortunately, pasta got a bad reputation back when Mr. Atkins was in the spotlight. But the truth is, the GLYCEMIC INDEX of pasta is lower than bread! Meaning, your blood sugar does not spike as much with pasta as it does bread. Why? LESS PROCESSING. Obviously, if you have diabetes, you have other things to consider, but this is just a general overview.
• Shop the sales: Sometimes, if you focus too much on coupons, you end up buying poor options just because they are cheap. Do not give in! Shop the sales of the store. Take advantage of the healthy BOGO deals. For example, these canned tomatoes were bogo last week. I bought the one without added salt, and they were amazing in my shrimp dish the other night. I was going to buy tomatoes anyways, so I did not spend extra money.
• Bag the bags: You spend more money for the foods that are bagged/chopped for you. Opt for the whole cauliflower or broccoli stalk. Cut it yourself. I promise, you will do great. We are so codependent on pre-packaging... but you pay for that! Make your own "100 Calorie Packs" by bagging your own almonds, dried fruit, crackers, or snack. 

I hope this helps a little. I just cannot stand when people say that eating healthy is "expensive" but stop at fast food places, get Starbucks multiple times a week, and purchase CRAP like potato chips, oreos, and juicy juice....and think that is a better choice. Those things ONCE IN A WHILE are fine, but do not tell me you cannot afford a salad every once in a while... YOU are CHOOSING to not eat salad. I am not saying shop all organic and go to those super pricey HEALTHY STORES.... just make smart choices with the money that you have.... Trust me.... You can eat healthy on a budget. 

Thoughts, opinions? PLEASE SHARE!!!

Back to Work

Today is day one... back to work for me. I hit the gym at 5:00 this morning and did 5 miles on the treadmill with my friend Wendy. She is moving soon, so I really enjoyed our time together this morning. We had a pretty good conversation that got my mind thinking about a new blog topic... healthy on a budget... any thoughts or suggestions? I will research some things and post tonight after work. I finished my workout with a chocolate mint protein shake with spinach. Delish! I will post details tonight. I am about to hop on the shuttle bus at work.

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"Wifey" Day

Today was one of those days that I was actually motivated to do things around the house....Sad, that it took 5 days off for me to feel like that. I struggle with keeping up with household chores AND a full time job AND grad school. I know you may be thinking, "we all do," but I am pretty hard on myself about it. Maybe I will adjust and get used to it, or get better at it, but I have a really hard time relaxing when things are not picked up... mix that with not being very good at picking up, and you have a slightly stressed out chick on your hands. Regardless, this is something that I am working on and praying about constantly. I think if I stress too much about it, I am obviously missing out on helping someone or loving someone, so it is not worth it.

Clay left the house around 12:30 and I got to work. I hit up Publix, bought groceries and some Febreeze plug-ins....Ernest is starting to make the house smell like dog =( I am giving him a bath tonight...then grad school homework.

Here is the Big Easy Shrimp recipe from the South Beach Diet Cookbook.... This was great. I added more red pepper to spice it up, but you do not have to.

2 strips of turkey bacon or Canadian bacon
1 onion, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 rib celery (this is apparently 1/2 cup...I looked it up)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 can of chopped tomatoes (I used no salt added diced tomatoes)
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hot-pepper sauce (I used Texas Pete)
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (I paid extra to get the frozen bag at Publix that was deveined, peeled and tail off)

I need to learn how to chop veggies better....

Added some greens underneath....eat your greens!!!!

I settled down to watch a chick flick while I ate dinner and folded more laundry. After dinner digested a bit, I did an upper body weight circuit while watching my movie =) I am hitting the treadmill tomorrow morning for a hard core run with Wendy, so I needed to get some strength training in. This vacation was great for my running schedule... not so great for core/weight training. BOTH are extremely important... especially for women. Weights can help you decrease your chance for osteoporosis, decrease your risk for diabetes, AND increase your metabolism... HELLO.... PUMP SOME IRON LADIES.

I am actually looking forward to diving into work tomorrow. This break was exactly what I needed. I feel very refreshed and I am so thankful for the family God has given me. Shout out to my parents who are driving/traveling this week!!! Love you guys. Have a great evening everyone.

Catch Up

There is lots of catching up to do in this household today. Clay and I got into town last night around 9:45. I have to say, my hubby can DRIVE!!! We made great time and was so glad to be back at home in my own bed. Yesterday while we were driving, we tried to watch the Masters on the computer.... epic fail.

The computer battery is not very strong AND we were trying to stream the internet from my phone....going 80 MPH.... again, fail.

Thankfully, we did not have to stop for food very much. We were given a FABULOUS goody basket since we traveled from out of town. We had home made chocolate chip cookies, that Clay's Aunt Libby calls "Neiman Marcus" cookies.

Amazing PB Pretzels from a shop in Knoxville

Coffee from a little shop in Knoxville

Chocolate bar... personalized from Leah and Austin

Libby's Neiman Marcus Cookies

 I will work on getting the cookie recipe. They were the PERFECT chocolate chip cookie. Now, I am cleansing myself of all the sugar and butter I ate this weekend and enjoying TONS OF VEGGIES. I hit the grocery store with a detailed list and I actually planned meals for the week. The semester is coming to a close and I have a ton of work to do, so if I fail to plan, I plan to fail.

Hellloooooo Produce

Claybo's little stash

I have been pretty impressed with some of the dinner recipes from the South Beach Diet Cookbook, so I picked a few favorites to depend on this week. Tonight's meal will be a shrimp recipe with a kick! I love garlic and spices, so this one is a keeper. I will post the recipe later tonight. Now, I must attack some laundry piles and spend some quality time with Ernest....I tackled him for this picture.

"nooooo mom, get off!!!"

Also on today's afternoon agenda: homework, workout, unpack!!!