Fingernails Don't Belong Here

This whole eating better and getting off our butts thing has been working out pretty well...much better than I would have thought originally.  We are still trying to get used to some things.  For me that includes still having energy at the end of a more active day and eating things that I know are better, but that I'm not a huge fan of.

Yesterday and today have been filled with trying to fix the exterior of our new house.  We've finally have the front yard sprinklers working...only had to dig up half of them.  Luckily none of the pipes underground have broken.  But I've been pretty drained of energy by the end of it all.  I know that with time that will lessen, but it's a pretty big hurdle to overcome - because some days I'm still just looking for an excuse to stop.

Last night for dinner we had Roasted Tomato and Basil Casserole and I am anything but a tomato person...it's mostly a texture thing, but I also have a bit of an issue with the flavor.  I wanted to try it because I am extremely fascinated by the spaghetti squash, but I had to talk myself into it because of the tomatoes.  It was a bit of a struggle, but I figured the worst thing was that I didn't like it (Kurt, of course, will eat most things) and I just make something else.  It was a good thing though - I very much enjoyed it.  I still had a little difficulty getting past the skins and the sliminess but it's something that I would eat again.

With healthy eating comes new experiences.

If I had to complain about one thing though...it would be fingernails.  After 30 years on this planet and the conscious ones of biting my fingernails, I had finally given it it.  They were growing out and actually looking great.  Between mixing and kneading dough, continuous chopping of vegetables, grating garlic and cheese and working in the yard, I decided that fingernails don't belong here.  See...and you thought I was going to complain about all the food I'm "missing". :)

If you haven't seen it already, check out our breakfast this morning...Baked Banana Oatmeal.  It was super yummy!!

Excited for dinner tonight...making BBQ chicken pizza pockets with homemade barbecue sauce.  Will keep you updated!!

It's Not Easy Being Green (and Other Things That are Not Easy)

Good Morning Everyone!!  Today is going to be a good day!!  Just some quick thoughts before we head out today.

So, obviously, I'm trying to start every day on a positive step...which is a challenge for me, because I don't particularly enjoy waking up in the morning.  However, it's easy to be cheerful when you wake up, do your thing, get on the scale and see...SUCCESS...even if it's a minor change.  From when I got on the scale Monday (the day before we started in full gear) to when I got on it this morning - I've "lost" 7.8 lbs.  I put lost in quotation marks because I know that this is not really a loss in fat, but the flush of so much sodium, sugar and other processed junk from my system (to share, Kurt's loss has been +/-2 lb since he weighed himself a week ago Monday, but I bet that if he had weighed himself this last Monday, it would have been more).

So positive steps, every morning...which have become crazy and negative thoughts of giving up by bedtime.  I just want chocolate!!  Now, I made some brownies from the 100 Days of Real Food site - whole wheat flour, unsweetened cocoa powder, coconut oil and honey (about 1/2 cup) in an attempt to quell my want for sweets...but it really isn't a substitute for chocolate.  Neither is the apple or the slice of cheese that I tried last night in an attempt to stop begging Kurt for chocolate.Sugar withdrawal SUCKS!!  And now I can almost see why some say sugar should be regulated...almost.  It definitely was my drug.

And finally with the Green:

My new positive morning starter...the green smoothie.  So now for the part that makes me think that my brain is very weird and holds me back from doing some things.  I know its sweet - I've had the Odwalla Superfood, which is sweet regardless being green, and I've had this smoothie for two days now - and yet I still look at it and think "there is NO way I'm going to drink that".

So, I'm making an attempt to keep my brain out of the way when looking at recipes and am going to try hard to make/eat something and decide whether I like it instead of looking at its picture and saying...no - that looks awful.

I hope everyone enjoys their Friday and their weekend!!