Sunshine Happiness

What a beautiful weekend! Today I sat outside in the warm sunshine, while staining wood. Which will be used to make hanging planters for my herbs. Hanging them on the cupboards, on each side of one kitchen window.
Cooking with FRESH herbs rocks! Need some basil? Pick a leaf or two! Yay!! I can not wait. 

Really thought about my lack of exercise today. I was so dedicated to my Xbox Zumba routine but then I quit. Now that the weather is nice, I think I need to take my routine outside.  What should I do?
Walk! Walk! Walk!
I need to make a set of timeline goals.
-Half a mile (one way) for a week.
-A full mile (one way)for a week.
- A full mile uphill (one way)for a week.

Etc....

I made a goal in my career and I just reached it in the time frame I gave myself. Why I can't I do that with my health?

I've been doing an amazing job at eating less processed food! Easy because the whole family is on board!
Today I had boxed mac n cheese w/ hotdogs. It was gross! My partner agreed! It is so amazing how our bodies DO prefer clean food!!

I had a strong desire to eat out last week. I had a blue cheese bacon burger & french fries. It satisfied my craving. I think it is very important to splurge, in moderation.

I've been doing ok with my water consumption. Now that the warm weather has hit, I am going to keep track of ounces, to make sure I don't allow myself to dehydrate.
I am putting a limit on coffee.
-Two cups a day
-Only after drinking 8ozs of water
-Never after 9AM

I may splurge once every two weeks or so...get an iced coffee at 2PM on a payday.

Remember moderation and giving ourselves what we want, but only after we get what we need.
Very important!

I am sad to not have much "progress" to report. I think this will change soon. Keep an eye open!
Thanks for reading!!

Dr knows best...

I don't really prescribe to those words of wisdom. Unfortunately, I do think my best course of action (for now) is to seek medical advice, regarding my diabetes. I am weighing the regual MD route; which will result in either metformin or insulin. Or...an acupuncturist. I don't know if acupuncture can help, I am interested in finding out.

That was a hard decision for me. Phone calls tomorrow.

Spring Cleanse

This weekend was full of plants, wine and sun! What more can you ask for?

I appreciate all the four seasons. I can admit I have a favorite; Spring!

We are very serious about the garden this year! We tried two years ago and our seed starts went swimming in the river during heavy winds and ...honestly it was just depressing! Last year we didn't even try.

This year we are back at it.
Friday we went to our local High School's plant sale. Tomato plants for $1!!! We loaded up on veggies and herbs. I also picked up some flowers because our yard is sad looking.
We are looking forward to a mass of tomatoes; we are going to learn how to can!
(Prepare for winter..and if enough maybe even prepared for the zombie apocalypse! Haha)

Our goal is to eat as natural as possible. The best way to know where your food comes from? Grow it yourself. We don't have enough land to feed our family 100%, but we can make a good contribution. It is amazing the amount of resources on how to grow a veg garden with limited space. City, apartment dwellers do it!  Google it!

Friday afternoon was WINE! We live in a small town with over 22 wineries. Yes, you could say I am spoiled. This weekend is a big event; Spring Barrel.
Picked up a few favorites. It was very relaxing, adult time. Like a "date night"! Which is very important!!!

Today-Saturday = more plants and more wine. Went to a lil "backyard nursery" sale ...more veggies and herbs and a lot more plants/flowers for the yard!
I found this sweet craft idea for indoor hanging herb pots. Excited. I can't wait to snip/pick fresh herbs to put in with my fresh garden picked veggies!
While wine tasting we had this amazing, simple, refreshing lunch at one of the wineries! Proving healthy is delicious! Fresh is delicious! My partner ate all his fruit before his sandwich. He was craving the fruit. We had been outside almost all day in 70-80 degree weather. The body knows what it needs, LISTEN! Also, the asparagus was lightly blanched then chilled. HEAVEN! Yum!

Now, tonight we went out for my son's birthday dinner and I splurged. Remember to treat yourself. Not deny yourself. I got the chicken fried steak and all you can eat salad bar. I used an oil/vinegar dressing and very little. I choose mixed greens instead of iceberg. I also devoured the FRIED meat smothered in gravy ...hahahaha

Balance does not mean 50/50. Balance can be 80/20:
80healthy 20indulgence

Tomorrow is family day! I think a good walk will happen and who knows else. ;)

No real "lesson" today, just an update on my life! More to come.

Mobile for the win!

I've just downloaded the Blogger app on my phone. This means you will be seeing frequent posts!

Whine wine wine

'Ello darlings... I find the best accompaniment to a pity party is a nice glass of wine or two or ...

Today's selection is a mild Malbec ...the bottle is almost gone. Join me?
Remember my into?  I talked about how this will be a dark journey, here is a sample of the darkness.

We can't have a positive, bright outlook on life 100% of the time. You think "Why can't I be like Susie down the street, she is positive ALL the time". Guess what?! I don't know Susie, neither do you. STOP comparing yourself with Susie ... or Sally or ... whoever. Maybe she is crying into a wine glass every night, maybe she is on medication to make her happy 100% of the time.. maybe she just EXCELS at coping with the dark moments. I don't know. You don't know. It doesn't matter.
Only concern yourself with creating a happy YOU, by your own standards.
Life is about ups and downs. The downs are valuable; healthy is learning and coping with our downs.
Not running away from them, not pretending they don't exist, not wallowing in them... you get the point, right?

As you weather through the storms and keep your focus on the sunshine, it will be easier to weather through future storms. The storms will never stop, realize this. Deal with it. Sure some times you will have a light drizzle and sometimes it will be hurricane, but remember the sun will soon shine and LEARN from the moment you are in. 

 Some days the trench is so deep ya feel like you will never make it up, two feet up and ya slip a foot down.
It is frustrating but every struggle does make you stronger! You've got to look DEEP inside yourself and find the strength. Have faith in yourself, you can make it to the top. While you are looking deep inside yourself, you need to figure out what you can learn from this moment.

I'm still struggling. Tonight I had ice cream and had two scoops and a bunch of toppings. After I ate my bowl full of salad and chicken, I kept munching on the chicken. I mean, come on, it's chicken breast...it isn't THAT unhealthy. NO NO NO! I know better. I know I need to stop rationalizing.
It happens. DO NOT GIVE UP! Taking a step back does not mean you have failed. It means you were not ready to take this step, you didn't learn what you needed to learn. You need to take that step again, with more bravado, more confidence, more spunk, more <you fill in words here>.

Sure, some days I just want to go back to the my old ways. My comfortable rut in the trench.
Eat three servings each meal, sit on my fat arse and do nothing. Just be content with the mediocre Jenious.
I have to talk myself out of these moments, talk myself out of the trench. Convince myself that content and mediocre are NOT words I want to describe my life. I, me, myself am NOT mediocre. I am glorious, strong women who can conquer the world! So yeah, I should have no trouble losing 90+lbs, planting a vegetable garden, getting a promotion at work, taking care of my skin on a daily basis, drinking more water than wine, etc.

I've lost weight. Isn't that motivation to keep going? To work harder? I guess not.
This is the time I usually give up. Stop trying.

I will quit I will continue! I will take the same step again, and look deep inside myself to see what it is that I need to learn this time. What did I miss? Practice makes perfect, yes!

On the positive note - I still have not chewed my nails! They are lookin' good, almost photo worthy.
Thumb nails are growing a little slow.

Honestly, other than the nails, I've been slippin' on all the other toxin removal. I am NOT giving up!
Stick with me!

- One more glass than I'm out for the night- Jenious

MIA

I had time set aside to blog, then skipped it cause I was feeling too negative and didn't want to spread the disease... that was about two weeks ago. I've learned Negative Nancy is an unwelcome guest that sometimes won't leave until you push her out the door.

Well dear, hope you don't hit the pavement too hard!

Fat, Naked and Dangerous....I'm Cupid!

Valentine's Day! Is this bigger than Christmas? Sometimes I wonder.
 Love isn't once a year. Love is daily.
Let's embrace daily SELF LOVE.

BLT ...who doesn't love bacon?

Hi folks,
I know it has been a while, I don't want to bore y'all with my day to day routine!

Here I am again ...with some insightful thoughts....

Winter.Brouhaha

I've been doing the snow dance for months! Asking "Where is the snow? How can this be winter without snow?"

Been talkin' smack to Mother Nature herself, and I should know better.

A n00bs 1st New Year's resolution

Howdy y'all. I'm new to the blogger world. Had thoughts about creating a blog for years, covering many topics; parenting, cooking, weight lost, etc

The time feels like the right time, topic feels like the right topic. So, here I am.

Cleansing my life of toxins, starting with this toxic waist. My journey.thru.the.waist