Reishi

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  The girls had so much fun playing with their cousins that they hardly ate! Which is how I knew it would go down ;-)  Isn't that how it always is with kids?  I did way better than in past Thanksgivings, and had one plateful of deliciousness, maybe I took an extra roll...or two :-)  And after an appropriate amount of time digesting, I indulged in 3 small slices of pie with whipped cream on the side.  Then I went early "Black Friday" shopping with these guys (my cute "little" siblings, who are all younger AND taller than me).

The next day Brandon went Black Friday shopping and brought home a beautiful Christmas tree for a steal, and we took great pleasure in decking the halls.  I think our tree needs a few more strings of lights, perhaps ;-)

So...today is Saturday.  You know what that means!  Fun facts about Shakeology :-)  Today's special ingredient is reishi.  Reishi is a reddish mushroom which acts as a balancing agent.  I did a small amount of research here and here, and the biggest benefit seems to be as an immune system booster and an agent that returns the body to normalcy, and who isn't interested in that during the season of sniffling noses and yucky coughs?  It's more preventative than a cure, if I'm understanding what I've read.  Other benefits include lowering high blood pressure and improving blood circulation.  Sounds good to me :-)  Bottoms up!

Happy Thanksgiving Week!

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all!  If you think about it, Thanksgiving is really the pinnacle of Fall. Everything else is just kinda downhill.  You know what I'm talking about, don't pretend you don't.  Yes, Christmas is very exciting, and the anticipation and build-up for that day is palpable and exciting, but Christmas has always been anti-climactic (?) for me, probably because there's a certain expectation of gifts.  Maybe I need to grow up and get over it :-)

So, back to Thanksgiving.  I've always had a sizable family representation here in Utah, but now the majority has shifted, or maybe evened out between my maternal family and paternal family.  This year we'll be gathering with my dad's side of the family, where there will also be lots of little kids present for my girlies to play with, just like on my mom's side.  But what's exciting about this is that they're "newer" friends.  Works for me, just as long as I get to enjoy PIE.  Speaking of which...

...this is what I did today.  I'm in charge of contributing rolls tomorrow.  Yeah, I needed to make sure they were "done."  That's why there's a roll by the pies with a bite taken out of it.... :-)  I also volunteered to bring some pie, because I like to bake.  Also, I can count on somebody else to bring the pumpkin, pecan, and some fruit kind of pie.  But nobody else makes buttermilk pie.  And this stuff is GOOD.  Pair it with a good vanilla ice cream, say...Blue Bell, and you're making magic.  *drool*

Moving on.  Remember how I've been complaining about having a nasty cough clenching its fist around my lungs and suffocating me?  Yeah, turns out that the girls had bronchitis and I had a sinus infection to boot.  Soooooo after three weeks of that we're finally medicated and on the mend.  But first we had to go down to St. George for the weekend to infect our favorite family/friends--who apparently already had it last week.  But we all had lots of fun nonetheless.  And now you get to look at our memories :-)

This was taken at The Fractured Prune.  Have you heard of it?  Their donuts are AMAZING.  Miss {C} ate more than her fair share, and she's not normally one for getting her hands all sticky.

Naturally we did some shopping, and I always feel like it's a win when I remember to buy things for Brandon too :-)

And this picture just made me laugh.  She sat there for at least 10 minutes. just cleaning her feet with a wipe while we were driving home.  Weirdo.

Well, now that I'm on a few decongestants, ibuprofen, and antibiotics, I decided to hit the workouts a little harder.  And by that I mean still taking it easy on the cardio, so my respiratory system doesn't fail, and adding more weight training, because I enjoy it.

Bad news:  Because we were taking a vacation, and my birthday was yesterday, and tomorrow is Thanksgiving, I've been letting my vigilant eating habits slide....I'm basically back to where I was before I did 21 Day Fix.  But it's not too bad.  I thought I still looked decent for my birthday dinner with Brandon and the girls.

Guess who's 27?  THIS girl!

And you know, it wouldn't be a REAL birthday if we didn't indulge in cake, right?  We hit Sweet Tooth Fairy and picked up an Oreo Cream cupcake, an Apple Pie, Sweet Potato Pie, and Pumpkin Pie cupcake as well.  You know, 'tis the season :-)  They were pretty good, but my favorite is still the Strawberry Shortcake.  MMMMMMM.

Resolution:  I will be enjoying tomorrow and the rest of the weekend guilt-free.  Monday I start my week-long clean eating group, and I am gonna get back in the saddle.  And I know all of you are gonna fill your plates to overflowing, because that's the way to show gratitude, right?  Waste not and such ;-)  So, if you're feeling yucky come Monday, hit me up on Facebook, and I'll plug you into my group.  There is also a prize...so...yeah :-)

Goji Berries

Welcome to Shakeology Superfood Saturday!  Today we will be learning about Goji berries :-)  But first, I have to tell you about my dinner date Thursday night, cuz it was AMAZING!

We went to the Cliff Lodge up at Snowbird, and had our dinner at The Aerie.  Definitely the fanciest restaurant I've eaten at.  SOOOOOO GOOD!  We started out with this spicy tuna roll that had asparagus inside (yum!)

I didn't take pictures of the rest of the food, because I just dug into it, but we each ordered something different and shared kinda family style.  We tried the baby kale salad with fried polenta sticks, scallops, salmon, trout, beef tenderloin, and I had the wild mushroom ravioli.  Then we HAD to try dessert, which was white chocolate croissant bread pudding with a salted caramel gelato.  The whole experience was fantastic, and the food was divine!  Loved it!  And this is where we sat:

And now for Shakeology learning.

I did some research on Goji berries, which happen to be rich in vitamins A and C, and they also have a lot of iron.  I'm mostly interested in the vitamin part of it though.  Vitamin A is a natural antioxidant, and is key in cell reproduction, protecting your body from free radicals which speed up aging :-/  Vitamin A is also good for your eyes. Maybe you noticed? I do wear glasses, so obviously, I could use a little more vitamin A in my life.

Goji berries are also a good source of iron, which is necessary to produce blood cells. Low blood production can lead to anemia and other sad conditions, so we like iron around here. The biggest benefit that I'm interested in, though, is the vitamin C. Most of you probably don't know that my mom had breast cancer about 5 years ago. Even though her oncologist said her specific type of cancer wasn't hereditary, based on the prevalence of cancer in general...I won't be surprised if I have a run in with it at some point down the road. Nonetheless, it doesn't hurt to consistently ingest some vitamin C, which is supposed to reduce the general risk of cancer. Score.

So, what have we learned, class? Goji berries=yay!

This is the back of my bag of Shakeology.  Look at the pretty pictures there are of some of the awesome ingredients! I am gonna be so smart ;-) And so will you! Till next time... bye!

Accountability

K friends.  I have deemed Thursdays my "report what you've been eating so you stay accountable" day.  Ideally I would also be sharing a kid-friendly healthy recipe that I had tried during the week and had success with....However, I am not that cool yet.  Working up to that.  Also, me and the hubs are going to dinner at the resort with my in-laws tonight while Brandon's sister watches the younguns.  A date!  I can't remember the last time we went on a date....But I'm pretty excited for whatever meal I'm gonna have :-)  So I've been very good with my food today in order to accommodate what I'll ingest later.  I took my thin mint Shakeology to work this morning for breakfast, where I also shared half a clementine with Miss {C}.  Lunch consisted of half a grapefruit, a bowl of spinach and tomato salad with Olive Garden Italian Dressing and whole wheat toast with half an avocado.  Very filling.

I may have also cleaned up the left over clementine slices off the girls' plates.  Maybe.

I have definitely gone to town on our Costco bag of these this week.  SOOOOO good!  Our bag last week...meh.  Not so much.  But this week's bag has been DELICIOUS.

I've done well with breakfast and lunch this week, as well as snacks; but dinners have accommodated the children mostly in not-so-healthy ways.  Last night we had grilled cheese and tuna sandwiches with apples and baby carrots.  Kinda healthy?  Then we had an outing and stopped by Sonic on the way home.  I tried one of Brandon's "peppers and cheddar" fried jalapeno poppers.  Those were REALLY good.  MMMMMM.  And I also finished off the girls' blue raspberry slushy.  Not my finest ending.  Today will probably not be much better.  Oh well.  I'm "maintaining" right now anyways ;-)

Finally, exciting-ish news:  I got my prize for hitting Success Club in September.  (Success Club is basically me helping a certain number of people each month).  This shirt fits better than the Insanity and 21 Day Fix shirt.  Funny.  But I like it!

I'm excited to try P90 next year, after Christmas spending is over and I've earned/saved some more monies.  P90 is supposed to be amazing!

That is it for this entry!  I'll see ya Saturday, if I'm a good girl.

PERSPIRATION!!!!

Did you ever watch Matilda?  I love that movie.  And I can just hear Ms. Trunchbull explaining to Miss Honey how physics applies to throwing the shot-put; naturally ending the lecture by screaming "PERSPIRATION!!!!!"

I didn't perspire much during my workout today.  But I took Friday-Monday off from working out, trying to get over this STUPID cough and cold.  And I got WORSE.  DUMB.  So, I figured I might as well do something so I don't lose all the muscle I've been working to build.  Solution:

I did Total Body Circuit today extra modified.  Like everything was slow-mo. I thought about taking a video of it to prove the point, but that would have been super boring to watch.  So...you're welcome.  And here are my numbers for the 25 minutes of working out, plus the 3 minutes of cool down, which actually made me cough the most.

Done.  (That's me doing the cool finger slapping thing that Brandon can do, but I can't, in my head)

Blogging, Round 2.

So, I'm a rookie.  I was so excited to start this blog, and I had a plan, at least for 3 weeks.  Then that project was over and I was all...*crickets*...what do I write now?  So, I've come up with a plan, and maybe I can be better with my time management so that I can stick to it.  :-D  hopefully.

I've been doing T25 for the last 3 weeks, and I like the workouts.  Since I've started, my right wrist still hasn't healed, I rolled or tweaked my ankle in soccer, and I've had a disgusting cough.  Soooooo...I've been doing the modifiers.  Still get a little sweaty and raise my heart rate without ending up like a smoker dying from emphysema.  Winning! Kind of.

Just to show that I do still workout, here's a video from Tuesday; Miss {C} was more than willing to do the exercises with me, or without.  Just as long as I didn't get in her way :-)

 

I haven't been eating as well as I was during 21 Day Fix, but I've managed to maintain my weight alright.  I've visited the gym a couple of times, mostly for the weight machines and so the girlies could play with the kids a little more, as if they don't do that enough :-)

But yeah, food.  Costco has had the bagged avocados and clementines in stock for awhile, but we started buying them last week when they FINALLY looked to be the right ripeness for Brandon and me.  Which means that I've been eating lots of avocados and clementines  :-) Yummy.

Avocado, eggs and toast

Avocado with mesquite chicken and pepperjack on a pita "panini"

Thursday, if I'm remembering right, was the beginning of much cooler weather for us here in Utah, which means SOUP.  So, I got out a bag of white beans to soak/cook for my roommate's famous white chicken chile.  Mmmmmm.  Too bad I burned the first batch because I decided to workout while that was going on.  Whoops.  So, here's bag #2

and the finished product :-) 'licious

For the full recipe, check it out here

I have also been drinking my DELICIOUS chocolate Shakeology.  I'm pretty sure chocolate is just the flavor for me, because I can run to it when the chocolate cravings hit.  My favorite "recipes" have been chocolate with Girl Scout Thin Mint coffee creamer and chocolate with PB2 and a banana.  Yummers!

Along the topic of Shakeology, I've decided to more fully investigate the ingredients, so I can be more aware of how I'm responding to them and know more fully what it is that I love so much ;-)  

First ingredient I investigated? Ashwagandha.  It's fun to say.  Say it out loud, like an French person whispering sweet nothings in your ear: AshwagAHHHHNdha.

Moving on.  This is one of those ingredients that ups the awesomeness of whatever you pair it with, you know, within a reasonable range of whatever...you know what I mean.  Don't pair it with something to kill yourself.  Just like with anything else.

Ahem.  So--ashwagandha is supposed to help reduce stress and anxiety, boost your immune system, help you focus and other good stuff like that.  

The other good things I'm copying from here:

• Improves learning, memory, and reaction time
• Helps reduce brain-cell degeneration
• Stabilizes blood sugar

and

• Helps lower cholesterol

Who isn't interested in those benefits?  And that's just ONE of over 70 superfood ingredients.  (P.S. this information was also corroborated with webmd.com and general information on Wikipedia).  I know that in the 3 months I've been drinking Shakeology, I have definitely been more focused.  I've been able to make a game plan for different projects and not completely overwhelm myself.  I'm taking baby steps to do awesome things, and I'm making progress.  Also, I'm a little excited for my next check-up.  The last time I went to the doctor, my cholesterol was high.  I'm interested to see how it looks now that I'm eating healthier....Pretty awesome, huh?  Stay tuned next week for information on the next mystery ingredient ;-)

And just for fun: a story.  With pictures.

Tuesday, is that right?  Tuesday the new Halo for Xbox One came out and it has all the Halo games, some big whoop that my cute husband and my brothers-in-law were excited for.  That means that I went through all of our still packed boxes from moving, everything thrown into our little storage closet, and random suitcases posing as storage containers that are buried in the girls' walk in closet, looking for all of Brandon's Xbox 360 paraphernalia to sell back to GameStop so that he could have the new Halo game.  That was a successful endeavor, but here's the real treasure:

 

3rd grade me

and (I think) 5th grade me.

Laugh it up folks.  You're welcome.