Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Tiny pit bull puppy can't wait to exercise with the big dogs - cute video of the day

Tiny pit bull puppy can't wait to exercise with the big dogs

While my hernia is wreaking absolute havoc on me...I can't eat.  Any time I eat, I get super nauseous.  I am subsisting on green tea with a smidge of honey.

I find funny videos.

That's all I have today.  Hopefully good news after doctor tomorrow.

Monday, January 21, 2013

Triad Muse - Performance Nutrition Review

So, I've been bad at blogging....

Bad at sticking to working out......

Bad at just about everything....

But one thing I am good at, is eating.

This week, a friend of mine talked me into trying some meals from Muse Catering.  They have a section called Muse Performance Nutrition. 

Triad Muse is the website.

The Menu is AMAZING.  This week, I tried the Asian Beef.  Nutritional breakdown is as follows:

Calories 532
Protein 64g
Carbs 28g
Fat 13g
Fiber 2g
Sodium 34%

This was the "light" version.  It filled me up.  I will definitely make it to dinner on this!  You can buy the meals in pack of 5 or 10.  You don't have to get 5 or 10 of the same thing, but you can mix and match.  These are great for me to have here at work because I forget or don't have time to make my meals a lot and this will be a MUCH healthier alternative to say....McDonalds.

The menu this week looks like this:

Here is this Week's Menu:

Classic Beef Ropa Vieja with Orange Zest, Cuban Rice
and Collard Greens
Calories 418   LITE 367
REGULAR
Protein 48g Carbohydrate 17g Fat 8g Fiber 4g Sodium 21%
LITE
Protein 39g Carbohydrate 18g Fat 6g Fiber 3g Sodium 15%
Five-Meal Package: $11.50
Ten-Meal Package: $10.75

Rigatoni Bolognese with Tomato-Meat Sauce
and Parmesan Cheese
Calories 630   LITE 512
REGULAR
Protein 30g Carbohydrate 33g Fat 40g Fiber 7g Sodium 31%
LITE
Protein 24g Carbohydrate 25g Fat 30g Fiber 3g Sodium 22%
Five-MealPackage: $11.50
Ten-MealPackage: $10.75

Risotto of Beef and Exotic Mushrooms with Spinach
and Reggiano Parmesan
Calories 486   LITE 424
REGULAR
Protein 51g Carbohydrate 44g Fat 14g Fiber 4g Sodium 34%
LITE
Protein 44g Carbohydrate 32g Fat 10g Fiber 3g Sodium 27%
Five-Package:$13.50
Ten-Meal Package:$12.75

Oven-Roasted Pork Loin with Sweet Potatoes, Baked Apples, Collard Greens and Sage Gastrique 
Calories 555  LITE 423
REGULAR
Protein 49g Carbohydrate 22g Fat 29g Fiber 3g Sodium 17%
LITE
Protein 34g Carbohydrate 18g Fat 18g Fiber 2g Sodium 14%
Five-Meal Package: $11.50
Ten-Meal Package: $10.75

Scottish Salmon with Couscous, Fresh Basil, Goat Cheese,
 Cherry Tomatoes and Spinach
Calories 495 LITE 431
REGULAR
Protein 3g Carbohydrate 40g Fat 21g Fiber 7g Sodium 24%
LITE
Protein 27g Carbohydrate 31g Fat 17g Fiber 5g Sodium 18%
Five-Meal Package: $14.50
Ten-Meal Package: $13.75

Wine-Braised Hungarian Chicken with Tomatoes, Spices,
Baked Pasta and Baby Green Beans
Calories 423 LITE 398
REGULAR
Protein 50g Carbohydrate 17g Fat 8g Fiber 4g Sodium 28%
LITE
Protein 37g Carbohydrate 12g Fat 6g Fiber 2g Sodium 18%
Five-Meal Package: $9.50
Ten-Meal Package: $8.75
 


Healthy Eating Never Tasted So Good
Eating right doesn't need to be boring.  We use the best of our local ingredients and prepare them with lean, vibrant flavors from herbs, spices and reduced broths to bring their inherent, natural flavor to life. We use olive oil, safflower oil, and even butter in our dishes, serving you real food in thoughtful portion sizes that leave you feeling sated and energized, not sluggish and weighed down. Remember to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day and enjoy Performance Nutrition, the best part of your healthy lifestyle!

They bring the meals to you in a sealed package - vacuum sealed.  And they are delivered every Friday.  A friend of mine who joined the weightloss site Healthy Wage.com is doing this to help her lose weight for the competition.  She is also doing it because her husband is going through intense cancer treatment for the next year as part of a research study group.  This way, she knows they are getting healthy meals without a lot of prep time.  She has more time to spend with him and their daughter.

She also had gastric bypass surgery several (over 8) years ago (and gained all her weight back, plus some) and has to watch her nutrition numbers. 

Tonight, I am not going to the gym - we are workong on cleaning the house.  I mean REALLY cleaning - spring cleaning, if you will.  We scrubbed both bathrooms yesterday from top to bottom, including the ceiling.  My room of choice for tonight is the kitchen.  Megan is cooking dinner - Korean chicken wings.  So, while she is cooking (and hopefully cleaning up!!) I will be working on re-organizing my shelf over the washer and dryer, which is where I store most of my small appliances because I have an incredibly small amount of cabinet space. 

This weekend is the huge task - the dining room - which looks like, well I don't know, but NOT anything like a dining room.  Going to go to Hobby Lobby to get a new cabinet for my dvd's and get rid of 2 computer desks and 2 bookshelves.  So Excited!!



Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Allergies and Weird Weather

I had another allergy attack this weekend.  I had to go get a shot on Monday.  I thought  I was getting the flu that is flying around here like mad, but luckily I dodged that bulled.

The weather has been CRAZY!!

Sunday it was 74.

Today it's 39 with a chance of snow/ice overnight. 

We need a good, hard freeze to kill off all the germs and fleas and bugs that have been going nuts for the past 2 years.

Global warming?

Heck if I know.  Weather has always been pretty mild in my part of the country, so it's hard to figure out.

Megan and I discovered a really cool Asian market last Thursday here in Greensboro.  HUGE place.  Have tried lots of new things.

My new best friend - Green Tea Pumpkin Seeds.

Going to the gym tonight.  Haven't been since last Thursday.  Need to stay on track this time because I want to be back in the 100's by May.  Pretty attainable if you ask me.

Friday, January 11, 2013

Teacher bravely disarms shooter - great story, but

Hero teacher bravely confronts, disarms California school shooter

Awesome, awesome story!!

But, my son will graduate in May with a degree in education.

I seriously fear for his life.  Every day.

But then, anything can happen at any given time.

When I was in school back in the stone ages **cough** (I graduated in 1989), there was nothing like this.  no school shooting.

Were there shootings?

Yes.

Just not at school.

My junior year of high school, there was this party.  Half the school, at least, was invited.  I've tried doing a google search for it and I can't find anything.  Trying to remember back to then is hard.  All I can remember is that the boy that was killed's name was Brian and the boy that shot him was Jason.

Jason killed Brian over a fudgescicle.

Dumb, right?

Brian was 20, and at the time, that was legal, if I remember right, to buy alcohol, or he got someone else to get it.  There was beer involved.  Jason was 15.

15.

I think that was the first time ever I heard of a teenager shooting and killing someone.  At least where I lived at the time.

Why did Jason shoot Brian over a fudgescicle?

Because Jason's step father was abusive and they told him there had better not be any food missing from the house when they got back from a week-long trip they were on.  Meaning, no missing fudgescicles and he was supposed to eat elsewhere while they were gone.

Being as there was alcohol involved, Jason was not thinking.  He went to his step father's room, got the gun, told Brian to put the fudgescicle back, and when Brian didn't comply, he shot him.

In front of about 30 people.

I can remember in the week that followed the shooting, there was a line all the way around the round (our high school was round....litterally....it looks like a prison) waiting to talk to the guidance counselors.  Kids were terrified.  Scared it was going to happen to them.  Scared for Jason, who at 15, was tried as an adult and sentanced to 30 years in prison for manslaughter.  Sad for Brian's family.

Crazy, right?

And now, things like this are common place.  We hear about them on just about a daily basis.

And it makes me sad...and scared.

But, I support my son's choice 100%.  And I'll be there for him if he ever has to go through anything like this, and I pray that he does not. 

Just as I pray that nothing like the shootings that have happened all over the world will not happen again.

*sigh*

Melancholy day, I guess.

But a good story!!

Gym tonight! 

Oh, and an update on Georgianna - she is a perfectly healthy 13yo boxer, just needs to lose some weight - just like me, lol.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Thinking good thoughts for one of our dogs :( ..and a plug for a few rescues

We have boxers.

We LOVE boxers.

We have had chows, standard poodles and German shepards......Boxers top them all.

The only problem with boxers is that they are VERY prone to cancer.

We lost Dallas in 2003 to a brain tumor.

We lost Sampson in 2009 to lung cancer.

Georgianna, our 13-year-old that we got from a rescue in Alabama - we know that she has mamary tumors, but with her age, they said to leave them alone, that as long as they don't grow, they are fine.

A few days ago, she started vomiting and had diarreah.  Yay.  Awesome to go home after work and see your husband running out of the house with a trash can, trying not to yack everywhere because you walked in to dog poo in the house because the poor girl couldn't hold it.

Megan is taking her to the dr today, because even though the vomitting is gone, she has this hack.  I am thinking that she has the beginning of congestive heart failure.  If I'm right, it's totally treatable.  We just have to make sure to get her on the right meds.  I love our vet, too.  They are verry supportive and, unlike some vets out there, they try to make things very affordable, too.

The rescue we got George from is Rockin P Rescue.  Sam, we had him from a puppy.  Dallas was a rescue from the Carolina Boxer Rescue.  He was a dog that was rescued after Hurricane Floyed and no one claimed him.  He was the BEST dog that  I have ever owned, and definitely my boy.

The blurb on the Rockin P site after I adopted George, at a bout 5 months old:

And here she is 13 years later :)  This was on Christmas day.

Libby, we got her from a breeder that I have known for over 6 years.  She only breeds her females twice, then has them spayed.  They then go to adoptive homes where they can live out their lives :).  Libby is a European boxer.  She has a more laid back temperament and a shorter snout than an American bred boxer.

If you are interested in finding out more about where I got Libby, you can go here: Winn Creek Boxers.  I will say this - you are paying for QUALITY if you go to Kim or anyone that she recommends.  These are not puppy mill dogs, nor are these breeders doing this for money.  The good ones that do all required testing and everything actually LOSE money when they have litters.

I do HIGHLY recommend Kim, and I also HIGHLY recommend both the rescues mentioned above.  There is NOTHING WRONG with getting an older dog.  Dallas was at least 5 when we got him.  He fit right in.  You don't HAVE to get a puppy every single time you get a dog.

Anyhow, while I patiently wait for my daughter to call to tell me what the vet said, I had better do something productive here at work.

Later!

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Drinking diet soda linked to increased risk of depression (interesting blurb of the day)

Drinking diet soda linked to increased risk of depression

The top response to this article reads as follows:

"This study is stupid! The reason diet soda drinkers are depressed is because the fatties are the ones drinking it. Not mention the age of the people was 50 to 71, hell they are almost dead what do they have to look forward to?"

Really?

A lot of the diet pop drinkers I know are thin, fit, and very, very happy.

Do I drink diet pop?  No.  Not regularly, anyway.  I don't like it that much.  I prefer water.  Once in a while, I'll throw some crystal light or mio in for a little taste, but overall, I like water.

Now, I am trying to get my daughter off of regular pop, for health reasons.  She is overweight and is at high risk for developing a fatty liver.  Getting her off of high-calorie soda and foods is our first priority.  Baby steps, or she will become depressed or pissed off over me being a tyrant and overbearing.  She drinks diet mountain dew.  Is she depressed now?  No.  She's a college student going to school to be an Airplane Mechanic, lives at home, and pretty much has a very good life, including social.

The only reason that I can think of people being depressed from drinking either diet pop or fruit drinks would be the crash after the sugar/caffiene high is gone, lol.  That could be depressing if you were really enjoying that buzz.

But do I really think that drinking diet soda can lead to depression?  Nah.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

If caffeine is not a drug....

Then why do you feel so crappy when you quit partaking in it?

I decided to stop drinking caffeine yesterday.  I don't drink a whole lot of it, but I decided to stop drinking it again.  I usually have one cup of coffee in the morning.  Mostly just so I have somthing to drink when I get up.  I've gotten to where I just grab a bottle of water instead. 

I have a meeting tonight.  It's a dinner meeting that I have once a month that helps me earn education credits for one of my certifications so I don't have to re-test when my certification time is up. 

I'm leaving at 3:30 so that I can get to the gym before I have to be at the meeting at 5pm.  They feed us dinner at the meeting.  Most of the time it's really gross pizza (seriously) and salad.  Sometimes some kind of pasta.  If the meeting wasn't so long, I would just wait til I got home to eat.  My Greek yogurt is NOT going to last til we eat dinner at 6:15ish :p.  Maybe I will grab a chicken sandwich or something on the way there. 

This week at work has been very hectic so far.  I have an unannounced audit that will happen any day - at least we know approximatley when it will be.  The guy comes the same time every year.  Usually the day before or the day after my son's birthday.

Speaking of my son, he is student teaching this semester.  Hard to believe that he will be 22 on Thursday.  He graduates from NC State in May with a degree in Science Education with a concentration in Physics.

One of the dogs is sick.  If she's not doing any better by tomorrow, I am going to have Megan take her to the vet.  She is 13 (the dog, not Megan :p), so unless it's something easy to fix, there really isn't very much they can do.  We know she has several tumors - begnin for the most part.  But there is no telling what's going on inside.  Most of the tumors are mamary.  She's still eating and bouncing around...she just has a cough and is vomitting.  I have a feeling it may be her heart :(.

Anywho.  Until later....

Saturday, January 5, 2013

Weekend Warrior - and some more Florida pics :P

It's Saturday.

I'm at work.....

Surprise, surprise, surprise.......

I'm leaving around noon and I want to go home and re-arrange my kitchen and do some cleaning and get laundry out of the way because tomorrow I want to do NOTHING!

Except get my 5 mile walk in that I have been neglecting.

Last night, didn't get to the gym because of having to go to my mother in laws old house to go through her pantry and spices.  Got a bunch of great stuff, but man, she can't concentrate on ANYTHING!  Ugh.  Worked on it for 10 minutes "Ok, I'm ready to call it a night".  Now I see why she didn't get everything to Florida in one trip.  *sigh*

For some reason I can't pull up Blogger at home on any computer in the house.  It's weird.  I've tried different browsers, resetting my computers settings, and everything and can't get it to come up.

So I can only post from work O.o.

Anyhow.....

Making Tortellini soup tonight!  Tomorrow, we are celebrating my son's 22nd birthday at Arigato Japaneses Steakhouse.  Monday he starts student teaching and he graduates from NC State in May.  I'm getting old.....and my youngest goes back to GTCC on Monday, too.  She turns 20 next month.

Better get back to the grind...soooooo.....here is another batch of pictures from the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Refuge.



















Thursday, January 3, 2013

Hunger Pains .... and some Florida pictures.

Have you ever noticed that the better you eat and the more you do, the hungrier you are?   Like the less processed crap you eat, you are actually hungry more often?

I still have yet to figure out if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

My food for yesterday:

I don't know if I didn't eat enough yesterday or what.  My sodium intake was great - way below where the max is.  Everything else was good too. 

My stomach was eating itself by 8am, but I guess that's normal.  Now that I think about it, whenever I AM eating right, I'm hungrier more - my metabolism runs faster.  Which is a good thing.

I'm back to cutting out caffine and sugar.  I have found that works for me.  I just feel better when I do that. 

Today, I have in my lunch bag:

Ezekiel 4:9 Cinnamon Raisin Cereal

1c Almond milk

4 clementines

Chobani Blood Orange Greek Yogurt

Banana

Rachel Ray Strawberry Orange Banana oatmeal with 1tbsp Planters Nuttirition Banana Granola Peanut Butter, chia seeds, and a banana

Popcorn (which I just found out was really gross.....the butter flavor stuck to the roof of my mouth....blah!)

Dinner is going to be strip steaks, possibly a potato, salad and broccoli.  Not sure on the potato.

I am making my tortellini soup tomorrow.  I went through all my old blog posts yesterday and realized I have not made that in a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time.  Too long....and it's really tasty.

Well, to top off today's musings, here are some pictures from the Florida trip.  These are from the Homosassa Springs Wildlife Refuge
























Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Happy New Year!!!!

I am so excited for this year.

It's going to be a great year.

Period.

No if's, and's or but's.

Hubby and I decided that we were going to be no-drama, no crap, and take the time to enjoy life and being with each other as a family.  When your kids are 22 and 20, it's kind of hard ,but it can be done.

I am back to eating right.  Third day on track.  I FEEL so much better.  I can always tell when I cut out all the crap.  I don't feel "icky".....like heavy and crap.

Had a wonderful Christmas.  Got an awsome new camera, knitting needles, money, a pocket book, boots I had to take back (unfortunately, my calves are too big), and a couple other odds and ends. 

We moved my mother-in-law to Florida last week.  My next few blog posts will have pictures from that.

I'm going to the gym at 4 every day the rest of this week.  Period.

They have changed some of our classes at the gym....they got rid of belly dance :(.  And one of the Zumba classes.  I refuse to do the knock out class, because the chick that teaches it is a total bitch.  I can't stand for someone to get totally in my face over stuff.  I can take constructive criticism, but to get in my face and hold up the whole class because I can't do the move exactly the way YOU want me to - forget it.  Nellie and I will be going to one of the other gyms for some classes.  I have to find out how to get my membership changed to where I can go to all the gyms, instead of just the one I got my membership at.

I've restarted logging all my food over at myfitnesspal.com.  It works really well.  I used it before I switched to the program that the gym uses.  I'm going to see how to cancel that one and just go with MFP.  The trainer that I work with for my nutrition has an account at MFP too, so that works well.

I do have some finishes for knitting to post, too, that I did for Christmas presents.

Below are pictures I took at Cedar Rock Park on Christmas Eve morning.  Michael let me have my camera early because he wanted me to take some pictures of him and his brother.  His oldest brother passed away on December 3rd, and he and his middle brother wanted me to take pictures of them for their mom and have them framed for Christmas, but then Michael got the flu.  I think we are going to try to do that this weekend instead.