The key to feeling in control and aware of your food intake is making your own food. I know that I shouldn’t deny myself the “treat” of eating lunch out or dinner out on occasion, but it actually stresses me out now. I mean, what is in this sandwich I’m paying $13.50 for?! Really? Or this basil chicken with brown rice?!
I guess the second key is portion control which I feel as though I have a much better understanding of with weight watchers. I actually know how much I should be eating, when, and how to prepare it which is a satisfying feeling.
I’ve been making my lunches pretty regularly for the past month. I’ve saved money and have lost weight! It does take a bit of extra energy to prepare my lunch the night before (like right now I should be making it, but I am blogging about it instead while watching the new show Parenthood (it’s good!). This week I am lowering my intake of food (weight watchers points) so I’m having to adapt for 0 point foods in to my diet during meals. I normally snack on those during the day.
Basic Day
Breakfast (5 am)
1 cup of raisin bran or special k or heart to heart
1 cup of fat free milk
tall coffee
Snack (930 am)
Red peppers or an apple or grapefruit or celery
Lunch (12 pm)
Greens with peppers/tomatoes/mushrooms
sugar free balsamic vinegarette
leftovers from dinner (usually not carb based)
Snack (430 pm)
Apple or 1/2 cup of Cottage Cheese
Dinner (630 pm)
WW recipe - my favorites are Cashew Chicken Stirfry, Turkey Chili, Turkey burgers, Talapia with veggies
Snack
Fudge Pop
It looks like I snack a lot because it is a slight habit. I don’t know if I am really HUNGRY when I get home from work but I want a snack. Celery and carrots really take care of the crunch that is so satisfying with snacking.
So far 11 lbs is gone!
Let’s see what I can do next!
Nathan and I are purchasing a calendar today so that we can write down some appointments! Yeah - for fun things! There is a lot we want to do this summer, and we have learned that if we don’t plan for these things they just won’t happen. Life always seems to get in the way.
A few things we want to do this summer:
Take a road trip
Camp (a lot - we already have our first trip planned for May 7th in WI)
Baseball game (cubs or sox either will work)
Architecture river boat cruise (i love these!!)
BBQ Saturdays
Canoe trip
and of course our “honeymoon”
Yesterday we went to the Shedd Aquarium but the line was so long we would have only had an hour to see everything! So we decided to walk around the lake and head on over to the Adler Planetarium. They have this really cool collection about space travel and astronauts (for free!). It was a nice day.
The Moon!
Spring has sprung! I love ducks.
Me and my Mister in front of beautiful Chicago
The line in to the Shedd
Janet told me to google marriage and money. Lo and behold I found a few articles…
This one isn’t very thorough but it is interesting.
What Marriage has taught me about money
I especially like the part about cooking together.
My inspiration for Outfit Challenge Day 3:
Again from the lovely The Sartorialist
And, my outfit…
I admit I need to get better at snapping these photos. I only had one chance before the camera died for this one. Oops. Maybe I will set up the self timer on the next one.
Dress from Target
Sweater caplet from Anthropologie
Necklace from Anthropologie
I wish people were more honest about things that weren’t always sun drenched and happy and fluffy in relationships…like money. Nobody ever blogs about money, and how to join finances or how to figure it all out so you can one day maybe buy a house or retire. No one mentions that it’s a difficult process; that it is trying and that you ultimately have to shed any selfish bone in your body just to sit down and talk about it.
I mean maybe they write about it in books, but no one writes about it in blogs. I’m just saying.
Maybe I could, but we haven’t come to our resolution yet.
ps. I’m crushing on ingrid michaelson right now. I remember hearing her a year or so ago but now I like her more. My favorite song at the moment - You and I.
Don’t you worry there my honey we might not have any money but we got our love to pay the bills
They are on their way! I have taken pictures but have been so busy and tired to upload. And, I have a million emails (well not really, like 3) to get to. And, I need to call my mom.
TGIF tomorrow…plus outfits.
A little late today, but I did pick out my second outfit for the Outfit Challenge. Albeit, wrinkled and rushed due to staying up wayyyyy too late watching Olympic’s Ice Dancing!
My inspiration came from a photo on The Sartorialist. I also recently purchased this book to use for work inspiration, and just love it!
Inspiration Photo
And my outfit
Mine definitely has a different feel to it - a little more polished maybe? But I couldn’t find the white shirt I wanted to wear!! I also have come to the conclusion that this skirt is highly uncomfortable unless it is worn in the spring or summer.
All items from Anthropologie.
I can’t promise tomorrow’s will be any better since I am mostly doing hard, manual labor tomorrow (ha ha - please cross your fingers I don’t hurt myself), but I will still post!
It’s that time again!
The wardrobe challenge time!
Last year I tried to reinvent my closet by pulling pieces together that I never had worn paired before. I want to be a little more creative this year so the concept is that I will pull an inspiration outfit (from a magazine, catalog or blog), and try to reinvent the outfit with pieces I already own in my closet!
I’m going to do this for 5 days (probably not consecutively).
Here goes my first attempt:
Inspriration image from Millie Holloman Photography based out of North Carolina
I just love the classic pairing of white, grey, and brown especially since I tend to wear a lot of color.
And, here is my interpretation from my own closet.
My outfit is a little more textured (what with the stripes and tweed), but I tried to stick with the same subtle tones as the inspiration image. Now I just need some red lipstick!
My outfit:
Skirt - vintage
belt - vintage Anthropologie (5+years)
top - curated tee (Anthropologie)
On Wednesday a giant, old cabinet fell over while I was standing in front of it. My instincts luckily kicked in, and I moved as fast I could while throwing my arms/hands over my head to protect my body. It could have been much worse than it was as a lot of glass broke (shards of window panes), and anyone could easily have been crushed under there. My injuries are a few bruises (a big purple one on my arm), a few scuff marks (mostly on my right shoulder), and a few cuts on my right arm. But somehow in all of this I hurt my back!
I always seem to hurt it during the winter months, and this year was no exception. I get excruciating pain in my lumbar 4 and 5 which basically makes it very difficult to walk normal! I’ve been using icy/hot and heat pad since Wednesday night, and miraculously it already feels a lot better.
The sad thing is that the Griffin household has basically aged 50 years this week. On top of my injuries Nathan has a hurt foot, knee, and a terrible pulled muscle in his neck/shoulder! I mean it is ridiculous how old we feel. He got the majority of his pain from work, and running (he’s lost 20 pounds!!).
This all being said I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend - go health! Maybe a movie, some stretching/yoga, and rest.
I just have to say how much I love the olympics.
Summer or winter…I get in to them. And, I’ve been watching for three nights straight! Yesterday was such a good day for the USA, and I was cheering along with everyone in Vancouver.
GO USA!
photo from latimes.com
