Both Ends of the Rainbow

Good morning everyone! Today is a special day...especially for me!

Today, I turn 23. It's the first of my "adult" birthdays. I know that people say that you're an "adult" when you turn 18, and then some people say you're an "adult" when you turn 21, but I don't believe any of that boondoggle. In my opinion, you're an "adult" when you go to work on your birthday.

Don't get me wrong, I could have asked off for today, but the truth is I kind of wanted to come to work. I have great friends at work and I love being around people on my birthday. It's also hard for me to take a lot of vacation days pre-wedding.

I even got some presents! Folger's Vanilla Biscotti, Summit gift card, cute earings, and a summer scarf!

I'm super blessed to have great friends at work.

I also realized this morning that this is the last  birthday that I'll ever have as Jessica Sansom. Next year, I'll be married woman and rockin' a new last name!

I'm super excited to celebrate with Jason and some more friends tonight! Stay tuned for that post tomorrow :)

Now it's time to backtrack to Saturday night-Sunday. I'm still trying to get my blogging schedule down pat, so you'll have to bear with me on the weekends for now.

Saturday night:

 I made some cookies to welcome Jason home and also to give to my sweet next door neighbor. Mr. Fritsch (my neighbor) is in his 80s and his wife just passed away a couple of months ago. I try to give him some sort of goodies and a note just to let him know that I'm thinking about him and praying for him whenever I can.

Cookies and Cream Cookies (recipe adapted from Lovin' from the Oven blog):

Yields 24 Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 stick softened margarine
• 6 Tablespoons Stevia in the Raw
• 6 Tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 ¼ cup flour
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt substitute
• 11 broken pieces Oreo Cookies
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cream butter, and sugars until well combined. Add egg and vanilla until mixed well.  
2. Place flour, baking soda and salt into a large bowl, stir to combine. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients then stir in the Oreos and chocolate chips until just combined. 
3. With a medium spoon, scoop onto baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until cooked, but still soft.
4. Let cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack. 

Each cookie came in at about 56 calories. Not too shabby for a yummy treat!

The outcome = delicious 

Sunday:

The day had finally arrived. Jason was coming home for good! I woke up thinking that I was going to be late picking him up, but in actuality, I woke up about three hours too early. Oh well. Better early than late, right?

I took it slow, ate some breakfast (boiled egg), drank my coffee (yum), and did the 30 Day Shred (ouch). Then I hopped in the shower and headed to Montgomery where I was supposed to be meeting the buses. 

I arrived about 30 minutes before they did, so I hit up Ross Dress for Less. I had a successful little shopping trip. I walked out of there with a new welcome mat and wreath for the front door, a can opener, new lunch box, and a dress for less than $60. 

Finally, I got the call. The bus had decided to stop at a different exit, so they dropped Jason off at a Raceway gas station. A few minutes later, he was in my car and we were headed off to lunch!

We decided to get back on the road, so we stopped for lunch in Prattville. I was being a very indecisive eater, but we (I) finally settled on McAllister's Deli. 

Jason went with the French Dip with macaroni and cheese while I rocked the Veggie Club with fruit. 

When we finally made it back to Birmingham, we just relaxed and hung out. I couldn't believe that he was home for good and we didn't have to squish a whole week's worth of time together into two or three days. It was seriously so nice just to chill. 

After a little relaxing, we got ready for church. While we were driving there, we came across the most amazing rainbow I've ever seen. 

It looked like we could see the beginning of it and we drove under its perfect arch. I was just reminded of God's promises, which I know might be a bit cliche, but who cares. We serve a Savior who is faithful to the promises in his Word. 

Birmingham rainbow - the beginning

I sent a picture to my sister Carlee, and she sent this back to me.

Destin rainbow - the ending

We were five hours away from each other, but connected by rainbows. God is truly amazing.

At church, I felt so blessed to be able to dive into God's word specifically referring to a place where I am in life. The sermon was on Matthew 19, which is primarily about divorce. But, being engaged, it was necessary to truly listen and get everything I could out of it because to be divorced, you have to first be married. The whole entire sermon I kept thinking to myself, "I must be a wife who depends on solely on the Lord. My marriage must reflect Christ."

 I've heard him say it multiple times, but when David Platt said, "Take heed lest you fall," it pierced my heart like never before.

After church we grabbed dinner with  some friends who we haven't spent a lot of time with lately. It was so wonderful to reconnect with them! 

When we got home, Jason came over for a little bit. We had so much fun just talking and laughing. Like I said, it's really nice to just be able to hang out and relax. I don't like feeling rushed. 

Welp, that's about it as far as my weekend goes.

I did find out this fun fact today: 

Yes, while this was happening, I was being born. What a wonderful day May 7, 1989 truly was :)

Instead of rambling on, I'll leave you with a gift...

For all of you fellow Nutella lovers, here you go.

T-shirts, Buses, and Autographs, Oh My!

Let me start out this post by saying THANK YOU! I have been overwhelmed by the encouragement of all of you who have expressed appreciation for my honesty on yesterday's post. I know this may sound silly, but I can honestly see that the Lord is working through what I'm writing each and every day. I started writing this blog on a pretty daily basis just because I missed writing and I wanted to do a cleanse. I had no idea that this would turn into a platform for me to share struggles and triumphs, encouragement, and prayer with people! I am certainly thankful for each one of you. Please, never hesitate to contact me via Facebook, Twitter, text, or email. I enjoy the encouragement, honesty, and prayers from others. I also love returning encouragement and offering up prayers!

I was so excited about posting again last night, but I was a little distracted. I went to see Switchfoot at Samford with a group of friends from church. The only thing that wasn't good about the night was the fact that Jason was in Tulsa, OK and Switchfoot is one of his favorite bands.

But wait...I'm getting ahead of myself.

Yesterday was a good day. I popped out of bed in time to do the 30 Day Shred before work. I'm a little sore today, but not as bad as usual. That's a good sign, right?

I was super hungry after that, so I ate some Great Value nonfat vanilla yogurt while I was getting ready for work. I also drank some water because the 30 Day Shred always makes me thirsty.

I was really excited about my lunch yesterday. It wasn't anything special, but it was healthy and it tasted good.

Only the front mug is full. The other two were just previous hot beverages.

Lunch:
2 oz. deli turkey
1 slice reduced fat provolone cheese
1.5 c. spinach leaves
1 tbsp. chia seeds
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
1 sugar free Jello cup
8 strawberries
1 green apple
1/2 cucumber sliced

I also realized after I finished eating that I was going to need some coffee.

As soon as I got home I saw another Arnold in the hallway! Wedding gift #2 had arrived!!! This time Jason wasn't here to open it with me, but that's okay. Technology is wonderful. I sent him pictures and we got to celebrate together via text message.

Yay for big boxes and bedding! We honestly need both.

Then I went to work making dinner. I get home around 5:20 or 5:30 each day. Yesterday, I had to make dinner and eat before 6:15 because that's what time we were leaving to get to Samford for Switchfoot. I decided to make a Taco Bake, which is really just a nice little name I created for combining all my favorite taco fixins.

Taco Bake:
Ingredients

• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 packet Old El Paso Original Taco Seasoning
• 2/3 c. water
• 1 can black beans, drained
• 1 can diced tomatoes, drained (no salt added)
• 1 small jar medium salsa
• 1/2 c. Kraft fat free cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions

1. Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
2. Brown the ground beef and drain out the oil.
3. Mix all of the first five ingredients in a large skillet.
4. Pour mixture into a square casserole dish. 
5. Spread salsa over the top.
6. Sprinkle cheese to cover the top in a light layer.
7. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

It was delish! One of my friends arrived as I was finishing up eating. I offered him some Taco Bake and he seemed to like it. I also had plenty left for leftovers!

Next, it was finally time for Switchfoot.

Here's the rundown of the night -

Get to Samford.

Feel awkward because we were about 5-7 years older than all the kids (literally kids) standing on the floor.

Finally the opening band comes out to play. I like The Rocket Summer but I don't know a lot of their stuff. They were good though.

Realize I left all of my money in the car.

Run to my car to get my credit card so I can buy Jason some merch.

Text Jason to see which Switchfoot shirt he wanted.

Stand there and wait for him to reply.

Decide not to wait any longer. A line was forming behind me, and having a fiance who sells band merch for a living, I didn't want to be that girl.

Buy Jason a black shirt. Buy myself a little something too.

Go back inside and find my group. Wait patiently for Switchfoot to take the stage.

Watch Switchfoot put on an awesome show.

Wait outside for Jon Foreman.

Walk around the backside of the Pete Hanna Center to find the buses.

Wait for Jon Foreman some more.

Meet Jon Foreman.

I got starstruck for sure...but not as much as the girl who had him sign her Samford ID.

Tell Jason. Jason got jealous.

Decide to possibly drive to Chattanooga next week to see Switchfoot again. This time with Jason (P.S. If anyone knows a place we could possibly stay, let me know, seriously!).

So that about sums up what turned out to be a really awesome day.

As usual, here is my calorie count for the day (much better than Wednesaday):

It's Friday, so enjoy the weekend and the goings on of finals, Springtime, or whatever it is you kids do these days :)

Enough rambling, I must go eat lunch!

Cleanse Overview and Beyond

Source

It is time for an overview of the cleanse. I have decided to keep blogging about my relationship with food, exercise, wedding prep, and whatever fun things I decide to write about. This means I'll be keeping you updated on my post cleanse lifestyle changes.

So here's a quick overview of the cleanse (feel free to post any questions you may have, or you can contact me directly):

• Total weight lost = 8 lb. 
• Total money spent = $97 
• Difference in money spent on cleanse and money spent weekly = around $15-$20 (but I had a lot of fruit left over)

I can't really think of any other statistic-type thing that gives a good overview. I do know that I feel great. This morning when I was getting ready for work, I noticed that my clothes are looser and my skin is clearer. 

If I do the cleanse again I think that I will buy less food right off the bat. I over-bought because I was afraid of being hungry. I also think I would buy some sort of salt substitute, because I did have to put salt on my veggies throughout the cleanse.

Another change I would make is day seven. I think that I would try to do one more fruit/veggie only day rather than the soup. It was kind of a hassle, but that was partly because I was trying to travel with it.

So here's the big question...

Where do I go from here?

I still have some more weight I'd like to lose. I also want to just become "firmer" if that  makes sense. Especially after buying my wedding dress, I want my arms to be more toned as well as my tummy and legs.

I've decided to be open minded. If someone gives me a suggestion, I'm going to try it.

I'm also going to combine all of the knowledge I have about dieting and nutrition and come up with my own lifestyle change plan. Here's what I'm thinking:

• Most of the food I eat will be fruits and veggies.*
• I will eat a small portion of whole grain every other day, or maybe just 3 times a week depending on how things are going (usually this will be before 3:00 p.m.).*
• I will eat lean meats such as turkey, chicken, and lean beef.
• I will allow myself one "treat" each weekend. This will give me something to work toward each week and hopefully prevent any binging. I don't want to deprive myself, but at the same time, to lose weight and become healthier I have to learn to say no sometimes.
• I will cut out salad dressing, pretty much altogether. Lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and a tiny bit of extra virgin olive oil is much healthier and much better for me.
• I will pick back up on on day three, level one of the 30 Day Shred.
• I will begin doing cardio and strength exercise in some way shape or form 4-5 days a week in addition to the 30 Day Shred (suggestions welcome).

I know a lot of people who are really big on healthy lifestyles say not to live by a set of "rules". But at the same time, in many ways I live my life by a set of rules. I have rules at work, rules that are biblical that I live by, rules that Jason and I have for ourselves and each other, rules when I drive, rules with how I spend my money, and probably many other aspects of life that I'm not thinking of right now.

Rules are not necessarily a bad thing. They help us live balanced and more peaceful lives.

Why shouldn't I have rules to what I put in my body and how I exercise?

If you have a good reason or reasons, please, by all means let me know. I truly am trying to be genuinely healthy.

Oh, and I am going to try to start posting recipes, so be looking for a recipe tab in the near future.

That's about it. That's where I've been over the last 10 days or so and where hoping to go over the next couple of months...and hopefully longer.

I believe I'm all caught up on my rambling...for now. Have a great Monday everyone!



*Since I am insulin resistant, my body does not process sugars (even natural sugars) in a "normal" way. I'm not trying to go "low carb" necessarily, but I honestly do not process sugars the right way, so I kind of have to do that. For the first two bullet points of "where I'm going", I'm not saying that fruits and whole wheat items have to be limited like that. But of course, if you'd like to do that, see how it works.

Day 6: Downhill Slope ... & Cake

Well, here we are with just one day left of the modified GM's cleanse. I feel like it's been an uphill climb for the last six days, and now I'm on the downhill slope.

This morning I got up and cut up the biggest cucumber I've ever seen. I packed a snack box full of cucumbers, celery, and veggie hummus. With snacks and herbal tea in hand, I headed off to work.

Although I'm not a musician and I only sing sort of well in the shower, music is a big part of my life. It can honestly completely change my mood. It wakes me up on the five hour drive to Destin that I've recently been making frequently. It gives me strength to push through a good workout. It allows me to pour out my heart to God with words that I am not clever enough to come up with, but that I truly desire to express. It taps into emotions that I'm feeling, whether I'm mad or sad or hurt or excited. And honestly, it sets the tone for my day.

I'm a big fan of shuffle. There are very rare occasions when I select a specific artist or album that I want to listen to, especially on my drive to work. It's kind of like a little surprise every three or four minutes, and it just makes life more interesting. Whenever I get a "good shuffle" in the morning, I know I'm going to have a good day. This morning was one of those times.

Can you guess what time I have to be at work?

I have time for about four songs on my way to work. And these four songs just made my day brighter. Jason has been gone for eight days, and I really miss him. I was overly excited that our song (Goodnight Moon by Go Radio) came on right as I was turning onto the exit for work. I try not to listen to that song a lot because I don't want it to get it old, but today was definitely a day I decided to sing along!

When I got to work I headed downstairs to fix my water and prepare my cucumber for breakfast.

Nothing exciting...just cucumbers.

It's strange how I've always boxed in certain foods as "breakfast foods" and I get so upset when I'm out of boiled eggs, oats, cottage cheese, or yogurt (my usual rotation of breakfast options). Usually when this happens, I just throw in the towel and head to McDonald's for an Egg McMuffin. Now, due to these veggie days, I know that I can eat healthy at breakfast even I only have lunch/dinner foods around. Now the Egg McMuffin can be something I choose to get on a day that I'm wanting to treat myself to something a little less healthy, rather than get it out of "necessity".

Over the last six days, I've had to withstand a lot of temptation. There's been an invite to Pinkberry, which is probably my favorite yogurt shop. I've had 64 K-Cups delivered to my apartment. My roomie and her fiancé made chocolate chip cookies one night. My roomie and her fiancé made curry one night. My roomie and her fiancé made Mexican food one night (okay, basically I live with someone not doing a cleanse, which is okay, but it's been hard). We went to Rojo yesterday for lunch. Each of those things have come and gone though. If I just got through that meal, it was over and I'd made it through. Then, we had a wedding shower at work. The leftover cake has been sitting in the kitchen and it's literally torture. Today this happened: 

The first thing that went through my mind was Matthew 6:23.
Maybe a little dramatic, but it was such a temptation...all..day...long.

I've always identified with this little guy, but thanks to self-control that can literally only be from God, I have not even tasted the cake!

Source

I just love that. That literally describes my relationship with "dieting" and food perfectly.

Today for lunch I met up with two friends from the Children's Homes. We decided to go to Moe's because they have Thank You Thursday. I'd never heard of such a thing, but I quickly learned that it means you can buy one meal and get the second for $2.99 and you get two large drinks. Awesome deal! I opted for the Alfredo Garcia Streaker, which means a chicken fajita with no tortillas. I went without cheese and only got veggies. 

Fajita chicken + grilled onioins + green peppers + cucumbers +
pico de gallo + shredded lettuce + corn pico = delicious!

Needless to say, real food tastes amazing. But it was also super high in calories. Probably not the smartest idea for a cleanse, but I'd only had 25 calories so far today. I'd say with the taste, price, and fellowship, it was totally worth it! It's also awesome that I was able to meet friends for lunch without going off the cleanse.


As soon as I got home from work I hit the ground running heating up leftover chicken and squash and making my soup. Let's just say I had to run the dishwasher and our entire dish drying rack is now full. 

Here's my dinner:

Dinner:
About 6 oz. leftover crockpot chicken
About 4 c. leftover zucchini and yellow squash
Salsa

I also got tired of the Hunger Games cup and I found this lovely cup in the back of my cabinet. Roll Tide.

So, here are a few shots of the process of making the soup:

Cabbage, chopped onions, Lipton Beefy Onion soup mix, celery, diced tomatoes

And here's the finished product:

Soup Recipe:
1 Head of cabbage
1 Onions chopped
Celery chopped (I used my leftovers from veggie days)
2 Cans plain diced tomatoes, no salt added
2 Packets Lipton Beefy Onion Soup mix
9 c. Water
Bring to a boil and stir frequently.

After dinner I headed to the Summit to meet a friend I was buying a Kindle from. I'm so excited to finally have some sort of digital reader.

Last, but certainly not least, it was time to pack! I'm leaving from work to go straight to Destin tomorrow. I had to store my soup and pack an ice chest to take fruit home.

Fruit on the left, soup on the right. What's up road trip?

I'm not used to packing food, so I hope this all goes well. It has to sit all day tomorrow at work and the 4.5 hour trip home.

As much as I'm ready for this cleanse to be over, I have to admit that I'm a little nervous about not having the strict food restrictions. I'm hoping and praying that I have an easy transition out of the cleanse and a seamless move into a healthier lifestyle.

Here is my calorie count for the day:

And now it's time to quit rambling and go pack my clothes...LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN!

Day 3: The Underlying Accomplishment

Before I get started, I just have to brag! I have the most amazing, beautiful, and kind-spirited sisters in the world. See how stunning they looked for their prom?!?  I'm pretty sure their prom experience was just about as good as it gets. They both had great dates and they were in a group together with some really awesome friends. They got to dance a ton and they stayed until it was over! I just can't believe how old they're getting. They look so grown up!

Carlee (left) and Julia (right). It must be awesome to go to prom with your sister! Wish I could have gone :)

Moving on before I cry...

For anyone who knows me, you know that I am a coffee...um...connoisseur? Well, more like addict. I have been drinking regular coffee since late middle school (I drank the fancy more of a milkshake stuff before that). There have been times in my life (mainly college) when I drink 3-5 cups of coffee a day. I've always been able to "cut back" on my coffee intake, and for a brief but memorable month or so I drank half-caf. Now, I drink about 1-2 cups a day, and I usually drink tea in the afternoons rather than coffee. But I love coffee nonetheless.

I have noticed lately that if I don't drink my morning coffee that by about lunchtime, I'll have a headache in the afternoon. I have pretty frequent headaches anyway, but these come consistently if I don't reach my quota of caffeine before noon arrives.

So, what does this mean? It means that for this week, April 21st-27th, I am giving up coffee. I, Jessica Sansom, will not drink coffee for seven days.

Although this cleanse allows me to have black coffee with no cream or sweetener, I've decided to forgo my coffee intake for this week in an effort to prove I am not coffee-dependent.

Now, once Saturday rolls around, you better bet I'm going to enjoy a lovely cup of Joe. I even bought new K-Cups for this occasion (I know that's probably a little excessive, but I truly was almost out).

For the first two days of the cleanse, I did experience the off and on headache that I associate with lack of coffee. The good news is, this morning I was okay.

Now onto this morning...

I woke up feeling great. I wasn't hungry, and my pants were fitting a little better. I weighed myself again, and I was just shy of another pound lighter. That puts me at a grand total of 2.6 pounds since Saturday morning. I've read that the bulk of the weight loss in this cleanse comes in days 4-6. We'll see...

If you remember from last night, I had to really prepare for work today. I spent some time chopping and sorting through Tupperware to bring all of my fruits and veggies to work with me. I WAY over packed! But I was just worried that my blood sugar would drop and there is a McDonald's right next door to my office. So I packed my bag and headed off to work.

1. Bag full of goodies 2. Huge Publix bag with my herbal tea ready to go 3. Melon medley before I ate 4. Melon Medley after I ate (not much different than the before picture)

Breakfast consisted of:
Cubed Honeydew Melons
Cubed Watermelon
Cubed Cantaloupe

As you can see, I didn't even make a dent in this huge helping-o-melon.

I discovered another blog that gives a more in-depth description of a very similar cleanse. I'm glad that I chose the one I'm doing for a couple of reasons, but mainly because I would rather eat chicken and turkey over beef any day. I'm not a big red meat eater. But this blog did answer a couple of the questions that I had. If you're considering doing this cleanse, check out this blog for more information about it: Nothing Is Impossible Blog

I cannot stress how important fluids are during this cleanse. I have been sticking to just water and herbal tea, but I've read that Crystal Light, black coffee, and club soda are allowed. This morning when I got to work, I headed downstairs to the kitchen to fix a tall glass of water (still not as big as my Hunger Games cup) and my second cup of herbal tea.

Water on the left and herbal tea in my pretty mug on the right.

I had to work at the front desk from noon until 1:00 today, so I grabbed my almost untouched breakfast and a handful of grapes to snack on until lunch.

After front desk duty, I went downstairs to the kitchen to eat lunch. I mixed a can of mixed veggies with a can of green beans and I cut up an orange for lunch. Simple...yes...but also very satisfying (at least for an hour or so).

I accidentally dropped an orange slice on the floor. I had to throw it out :(

Lunch:
14 oz. Canned Mixed Veggies
14 oz. Canned Green Beans
1 Sliced Orange

Around 3:00 I ate some strawberries and made more tea. And then around 4:30 I ate an apple. I was making sure that I was full before work ended because I was going on a walk with a girl I work with at 5:00.

Oh my fruit snacks.

Our walk was quite successful. We walked for a little over an hour and it was such a beautiful day I didn't even feel like I was exercising.

Don't judge my speed. I have short legs. 

When I got home, I made two delicious bowls of spinach goodness. Only one made the picture because I ate the second one too fast.

Spinach Bowl #1.

Dinner:
2 c. Spinach Leaves
1 Avocado
4 Cucumber Slices
1/2 Lemon Juice
1 package Frozen Chopped Spanach
4 tbsp. Mild Salsa

After dinner I decided to give Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred a try...again. I will stick with it this time...I will! I will! For more information on Jillian's 30 Day Shred, click here.

After dinner, my roommate and I were in for a little show, and we didn't even know it! We were just sitting in the living room, and all of a sudden she pointed out the people across the parking lot from us. They live on the second floor and I guess they're moving out. Instead of taking their furniture through the front door, like normal people, they were tossing it off the balcony. I wanted to go out on our porch and take a video of it, but she wouldn't let me. So I settled for taking a video through the blinds...and thus...here we are:

And to answer her question, yes, they did break the gate beneath them. 

A couple of hours later, I was ready for another snack. My photography skills are getting less creative as the day goes on, so here's my after dinner snack: cucumbers, veggie hummus, and a couple of grapes.

Hunger Games cup is back!

So that's all for today. I know this was a super long post, but it's been quite a day!

Here's my calorie count for the day, in case you're curious.

And here's Jason's dinner plate, post eating. I'm on a cleanse, and he is not :)

Jason demolished his dinner. Yummy in one way, gross in another way.

I would truly appreciate prayers. Tomorrow is banana and milk day. I'm not looking forward to it :(

Enough rambling for today...goodnight all!