Valentines Day Deployment Style

Why is it that the closer we get to the end of this deployment the harder it seems?   There are days when I am so exhausted, so tired of doing things alone, so in need of 10 minutes away from my kids, so in need of a shower and so beyond ready to have my husband safely home with me that I just can’t stand it.  I have found myself so easily frustrated and crying more often than I had expected being this close to the end of deployment.  Someone I know had their love get back this week and while I was soooo excited for her and filled with joy knowing she would get to put her arms around him and hold him tight and just the relief she must be feeling knowing he is safely on US soil once again.  On the other hand I was totally jealous and a little frustrated.  It seems that everyone knows exactly when their spouses will be home from deployment except me.  Of course with OPSEC I couldn’t and wouldn’t share even if I knew.  But there is just something in knowing and being able to count down even privately that gives me security and peace of mind.  

I know that the end is coming and I know when orders technically end but I also know they aren’t going to send everyone home at the exact same time either.  So my patience is strained as I wait day to day, praying for safety to continue, dreaming of being reunited etc. 

Yesterday was Valentines day and it sucked miserably  in many more ways than just being thousands of miles away from my valentine. 

First I sent my hubs his valentines box weeks ago with ‘do not open till valentines day’ written all over it… he sent me beautiful tulips but they were several days early because of the craziness of valentine ordering I guess…  He decided that since I got mine early he would open his box early so when valentines day came, him being half a day ahead of me he didn’t even remember what day it was.  He called in the morning but it was just to find out about our stupid truck and their phone lines were jacked up so our call was cut short...

I had to take the truck in, yet again! This time.. Transmission is out and a vacuum leak.. $3650! UGH  

I got a call from my MIL at 7am saying that my hubs cousin was in a car wreck and was in critical condition.. 

Then I got a happy valentine’s day present from my Dr. He decided to schedule a colonoscopy and endoscopy UGH

As if that weren’t enough the kids were beyond a handful and peanut had 2 huge blowouts!  He loves the JumpARoo but if he poops while in it, it goes straight up the back!  He gives you NO clue he has pooped!  Even if I hear a big toot and immediately get him out, its too late!

It was just one thing after another after another not to mention i didnt feel good at all.. plus still on steroids plus wretched devilish cramps made for a bad bad day! 

I try to remind myself that nonmilitary wives can’t possibly understand what I (or any military wife) go through on a daily basis.  I had 3 different friends try to cheer me   I know more than anything that they meant well and they were really trying to help and be encouraging and the day after I can smile and think I how I should have responded in each of those situations, knowing they cant possibly understand. But when you are in the middle of everything going wrong on top of the fact that your husband has been in a war zone risking his life daily for the last year the last thing you want to hear is someone who luckily gets to see their husbands every day and have breaks from their kids from time to time say things like not much longer or just choose to be happy or he’ll be home soon.. etc…

I know he will be home soon, I know not much longer and really everyone has bad days and there actually are some days that I cant just choose to get happy and snap my fingers and everything be hunkey dorey…   I probably shouldn’t broadcast my frustrations via my facebook status but I do have a slight FB addiction! Its my only outlet to civilization most days.

Single mothers can relate a little.  At least with the doing everything alone part but doing everything alone is even harder when your husband is in a freaking war…. 

So if you are one of those friends who I went off on yesterday, I know there were at least 3 of you… Im sorry I know from the bottom of my heart that you all mean well and that you really and truly care and were trying to be encouraging and nice and I shouldn’t have let my emotions and frustrations cause me to be witchy.  J  I love you all! You know who you are!

Really that can go to everyone I’ve said unreasonable things to over the past year…

Ive Gone Paleo!

Lets get primal?  This past week I decided to go Paleo!  What is Paleo you ask? 

Paleo food pyramid, as imagined by the lovely Gillian Fritzsche of Club Fritch via http://heymaker.tumblr.com/post/7472180567/toughloved-paleo-food-pyramid-as-imagined-by

There is also a great summary of the plan found here

 http://www.primal-palate.com/p/about-paleo-diet.html

Also love this info on Paleo 101 from paleodietlifestyle.com

 http://paleodietlifestyle.com/paleo-101/

This is also very helpful and all in one easy print page..

http://fastpaleo.com/free-paleo-cheatsheet/

Let me start by saying when reading about Paleo there are lots of references to Cavemen, Evolution the earth being 2.5 million years old etc.. I DO NOT believe in evolution in any way shape or form!  I do not believe the earth is millions of years old.  I BELIEVE STRICTLY IN CREATION and the WORD OF GOD.  

With that being said, while some of theologies of Paleo are based on us eating primal like the ‘cavemen’ did millions of years before when man was healthiest , while I don’t agree with the 2.5 million year old cavemen aspect I agree with going back to a way of eating that is more natural and eliminating processed foods etc. 

As I said before, this way of life (not calling it a diet because that confuses people into thinking it’s a fad diet – it’s a way of life just as being a vegetarian or vegan are) eliminates all the things that I already need to eliminate to manage Cronhs and achieve optimal health for my body.  Paleo is basically Dairy Free, Gluten Free & Sugar Free.  No processed foods, Meat, Eggs, Veggies, Fruit and Nuts only.  Is it for everyone? No.  But it is for me!  I have found tons of great websites with lots of great info and recipes through Pinterest!

http://pinterest.com/bensgirl322/paleo/

Here are some great resources for anyone that is interested in finding out more  (in no particular order)

http://www.primal-palate.com/

http://balancedbites.com/

http://fastpaleo.com/   This is a great website for Recipe Sharing

http://everydaypaleo.com/

http://paleodietlifestyle.com/

http://nomnompaleo.com/

http://paleodish.com/

This is just the beginning! I will be sharing much more info along my journey! Looking forward to new discoveries and better health!

Announcement.... Im going.....

I have been doing lots of research on different health related things for the past few months.  Life for me is all about trial and error.  Sometimes I may try and fail but getting back up and trying again is the key to success!  Since my hospital stay a few weeks ago I have known the way I need to eat and have done ok but there have been days that I have just fallen off the wagon.  For me its easier to have a specified plan.  Three and a half years ago when I was diagnosed with Cronhs I found that the best way to manage all that comes along is to strictly say no dairy, no sugar, no grains etc.. I ate only meat fruits and veggies and I did great with it.  I had determination bc I knew if I didn’t follow it exactly I would have severe pain and I didn’t want that.  This time with my mini flair I had lots of symptoms but I did not have the pain.  All the other symptoms are easier to treat and to deal with then the pain so I found it easier to cheat.

While browsing Pinterest I kept seeing things about Paleo and I started my hard core press to find out everything I could about the Paleo Lifestyle.  Its not a diet.. It’s a way of life.  Of course there is a crazy diet version of it but if you do your research you will find there are lots of people successfully living Paleo.  Much like being Vegan or Vegetarian are ways of life not just diet fads the same goes for Paleo.

The thing that stuck out to me was no dairy, no sugar, no starches, grains or beans!  All the things that are in this diet are the exact things I need to be doing.  I guess it’s all psychological for me.  My mind has to have a laid out plan to be able to stick to.  When I try to just do it and figure it out on my own it just doesn’t work. 

I am very excited to say that I have officially gone Paleo! I talked to the hubs and he is totally game.  I am not ready to take my kids there yet and may not be till they are older I don’t know that yet.  But I do know that in my quest for Health and Weight loss this looks to be the way to go for me!

I will post more information later about specifics later but yesterday I said I would make an announcement today and I have had lots of people asking so I wanted to get it out there.  Today has been crazy so what I wanted to be a long detailed post will have to wait until tomorrow!

Very excited to see where this journey takes me.  I already know how great I will feel because I have basically been paleo before without knowing it and I felt like a totally different and very healthy person! Hoping to see some more amazing results!  So far I am at 31.8 lbs and I hope to see the rest continue to melt away as I keep trucking on this journey to health!

Meal Planning and some Fun Low Cal Recipies!

I have tried several times to meal plan and have failed miserably! I saw an idea on pinterest that gave me a lil inspiration. Instead of writing out what I will have each day (which I never stick to) I am writing each of the meals I shopped for on an index card along with calories and placing in a box and at the beginning of each day knowing how many calories I need I plan out one day at a time.  This way I can be flexible and choose which meal I want at that time and plan the rest of my meals and snacks around that to stay within my calorie budget for that day!

I have been asked by several people to post meals, recipes etc so here are some of the meals I am making over the next week!

Mojito Lime Chicken Lettuce Wraps aprox 269 Calories per serving (2 servings)

1 chicken breast marinated in McCormick Mojito Lime Marinade (I prefer to let it marinate overnight)

1 can of Rotel (drained)

½ can of Black Beans (drained)

1/2 cup of Cilantro (stems removed)

Romaine Lettuce

I like to cook the chicken in a skillet in the marinade.  After chicken is done shred or dice then put back in skillet and add can of rotel and black beans and simmer for a few minutes and drain excess marinade.  Then wrap in lettuce and enjoy!

For a few more calories add cheese or serve in tortillas or taco shells

Tomato, Garlic & Basil Chicken and Veggies aprox 225 Calories

2 Chicken Breast marinated in McCormick Tomato, Garlic and Basil Marinade

1 Zucchini diced

1 Squash diced

2 Cups of Mushrooms diced

For extra awesome flavor I cook the veggies in a packet of the marinade made as suggested on back with vinegar and olive oil and then grill the chicken on the George forman grill. Once chicken is done I dice and add it to the veggies and let simmer until veggies are soft then drain.

For more calories I have not drained the veggies and poured all over whole grain noodles and was super yummy!

This recipe I also do with the Hawaiian Luau Marinade Super Yummy!!!

 Taco Wraps aprox 243 cals

½ lb of 93/7 ground beef

½ pkg of Taco Bell Taco Seasioning

1 can of Rotel

½ onion diced

Romaine Lettuce

Brown Taco Meat, add onion and taco seasoning and ½ cup of water and simmer till water is gone add rotel and serve in lettuce wraps or on lettuce as a salad.  For more calories serve with Guacamole or cheese or in actual taco shells instead of lettuce wraps

Zucchini Chicken with Ragu Aprox 200 cals (4 servings)

2 zucchini grated with a cheese grater

1 large can of chicken breast

½ jar of Spaghetti Sauce (I like Ragu Sundried Tomato and Sweet Basil) I prefer to make my own but this is one of those in a hurry easy meals!

Drain Chicken and put into pot to warm, add grated zucchini and sauce and simmer for 10 minutes.  For more calories serve over pasta!  My kids love this too! This would also be good to mix with pasta and mozzarella and or parmesan and bake for 10 minutes!

Mongolian Chicken Aprox 250 Cals (serves 4) 

I used this recipe I found on Pinterest except used chicken instead of Beef.  Great with beef too!

http://www.pinkbites.com/2009/01/mongolian-beef.html

Wrap less Eggrolls  150 Calories (serves 2)  

1 Small package of shredded cabbage (cole slaw mix)

4 tbs of soy sauce more might be needed can be drained at the end

2 cups of bean sprouts

½ lb of 93/7 Ground Beef browned

Cook Cabbage and Bean sprouts in skillet with soy sauce till soft , drain excess liquid and mix with meat.  For more calories serve inside eggroll wraps and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.  Make sure to brush wraps with olive oil and turn half way through.

I am also going to be experimenting with Spegatti Squash! I will let you know how that goes after!

And as always some of the other things that are on my menu are Turkey Burger Patties with Wholly Guacamole which is 300 Calories.  Inside Out Turkey BLT which is just turkey bacon and tomato slices wrapped in lettuce with a lil bit of light mayo.

Yummo lets get to cooking!

Weightloss Wednesday Update and New Hair!

It’s Wednesday! I’ve been so busy I almost forgot to do my Weight Loss Wednesday update!

Since that horrid little day in December when I was stuffing Christmas cards fighting the tears looking at how extremely fat I had gotten, I have lost… 30.2 lbs., 14 inches and 2 pant sizes! Yay! My total goal is to lose 100 lbs. and 7 pant sizes! 

14.8 more lbs. to my pre 1^st pregnancy weight which is still 34.8 lbs. to where I was when the hubs and I started dating.  I thought I looked pretty good then but ultimately that’s still 30 more lbs. heavier than I want to be overall.

Lately I have found myself being groused out by nasty food! Yay!  I ordered out with my MIL the other day and where normally I would have polished off a whole bag of chips and salsa and a large side of ranch all on my own, now I can’t even imagine eating half that!  Out of habit I ordered the ranch and I took a few bites and then remembered! Crap! I can’t have dairy and this is a billion calories too so I dumped it down the drain! While looking at the nutritional menu I was SHOCKED by how many calories what I would normally eat from there would have been!

The chips and salsa alone is 1020 calories! I’m sure there are many of times I ate a whole basket myself! How NASTY! The ranch is 180 calories for a little container, the big container is at least 4x that! For the days when I ate chicken crispers that’s 1350 calories! But I had switched to the quesadillas thinking they’d be a little better for you.. 1480 calories! HOLY SHIZNET! So that’s like almost 4000 calories I would have eaten at Chilis in my fat days! That’s not even counting the Dr Pepper and all the refills!  No freaking wonder Im fat!

There is definitely a huge paradigm shift that happens when you decide to change your life.  What I used to not even think twice about now I think how the heck did I ever eat that crap!

This is how I gained a billion pounds during my first pregnancy! Every day I ate out for lunch, sometimes KFC, sometimes McDonalds, sometimes Long John Silvers…  Day after day after day of stuffing my faces with thousands of unneeded calories!

When you decide to start getting serious about calorie counting you will be amazed at how much even the ‘healthier’ options have.  I laughed when my MIL ordered a salad bc shes on a diet and it had 1300 calories which is more than I eat in a day! I ordered the Chicken Fajitas with no tortillas.  Just he Chicken and the Onions and the Guac and that was almost 400 cals.  

Let me say before someone decides to chime in about me eating less than 1300 calories a day.. I’m doing 1200 per day and that is a number that my doctor approved of and I am seeing my him every 2 weeks at this point for Cronhs related stuff so it is completely healthy and not in any way overboard. : )

So that’s this weeks update! I cant wait till next week to see how much more I can lose! I actually am excited to get up every morning and weigh myself! Excited to see another fraction of a pound that I will NEVER in my life ever see again!

Oh and I got new hair! Yay!!!  

Heres to health! I really can do this! Yea!