Who's Ready for the Weekend?

First of all, before we get into my eats of the day and other random activities, I have a slight public service announcement.

As you all know, I'm very passionate about orphan care, adoption, and foster care. May is National Foster Care Month.

This Saturday, May 12th, there will be a 5K walk at Veteran's Park in Hoover. I'll be there taking pictures and just hanging out from 9:30 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. The walk is only $30. Come hang out for a good cause! If you'd like more information, go to the website. Here is some more information here as well:

Yesterday morning I wasn't super hungry. I just kept with the usual coffee until about 10:00. Then I decided I was getting a bit hungry. I've been waiting for the perfect morning to make "Oats in a Jar" (idea from Itty Bits...I'm telling you, she's my fav).

Oats in a Jar:
Ingredients

• 2 tbsp. (about) Smucker's Natural Peanut Butter (creamy)
• 1/2 c. Quaker multigrain hot cereal
• 1 c. water
• Sweetener to taste 

Directions

1. When your peanut butter jar is almost empty (about 2 tbsp. left), set it aside and wait until breakfast.
2. Pour oats (or hot cereal) in a regular bowl and add water. Heat for 2 minutes or according to the directions given. 
3. When oats are cooked, add in sweetener to taste. Stir well.
4. Pour oats directly into peanut butter jar and mix well. 
5. Let cool and thicken up...and then it's time to enjoy!

Yesterday was quite busy at work (which is why I didn't have time to post this yesterday). It was nice to be super busy though. The pace of the day also carried over into the night. 

When I got home, Jason made himself a little snack-a-roo and I made myself "brinner" (breakfast for dinner). I truly love breakfast foods.

I made eggs (using Egg Beaters egg whites), whole wheat cinnamon and Stevia toast, and a banana/blueberry smoothie.

Here is the smoothie recipe -

Banana/Blueberry Smoothie:
Ingredients

• 2 ripe bananas
• 1/2 c. fresh blueberries
• 1 c. Silk unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• Ice

Directions

1. Pour milk into the blender
2. Cut up banana and add to blender
3. Pour in blueberries to the blender
4. Add ice.
5. Blend well.

After dinner, Jason had to do a video shoot at Samford. I decided to tag along. I know I only graduated a year ago, but I just felt old sitting there surrounded by all of the college students. Oh well...

When we left Samford we headed to meet up with some of my friends from college (it was kind of ironic since we'd just been on campus). One of my friends was in town from Texas to visit her fiance. I was happy to see everyone. Unfortunate, Jason and I both had to be up early this morning, so we were the lame ones who left early. 

I think that about sums up yesterday. Today is Friday...which means splurge day!!!!  I believe my sweet man is taking me on a date tonight :)

Happy Friday everyone!

Let the weekend ramblings begin.

Busy Little Bee

Well, the last night and day have been super busy/productive for Jason and me.

As soon as I got home last night, I went to work making our Caribbean chicken. As promised, here's the recipe.

Caribbean Chicken:
Ingredients

• 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken fillets
• Caribbean Jerk marinade (I used the Great Value brand)
• Salt & Pepper
• 1/2 lime

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Pour half of the marinade into a bowl or container. Submerge raw chicken breasts in the marinade for 20 minutes.
3. Place chicken breasts in a oven safe pan and pour remaining marinade over the chicken breasts. Add salt and pepper as needed.
4. Bake chicken for 30 minutes.
5. Squeeze lime over chicken and serve. 

After dinner, Jason and I headed out to small group. It was so good to be back! 

When we got home, I was so excited to make my Avocado Vanilla Soft Serve. Unfortunately, mine tasted like baby food. I'm not sure what I did wrong. If you try the recipe from Itty Bitts of Balance and you figure out the secret, please let me know!

So what does one do when her desired tasty snack doesn't work out? She goes for Arctic Zero. 

150 calories per pint. 37 calories per serving.

Arctic Zero is a wonderful substitute for those of you with a constant hankering for ice cream. 

Today, I rolled with two boiled eggs for breakfast. 

For lunch I stuck with the usual salad, turkey, nonfat yogurt. 

I partook in the newly-added coffee hour that my friends and I are starting to get a little bit too accustomed to at work. 

When I got home for work, Jason and I took a nice walk along the Lakeshore trail. It was perfect weather and so convenient since it's about 1/2 a mile from our apartment. 

For dinner, I sautéed two tilapia fillets in teriyaki sauce. 

Tilapia with yellow squash and a sliced orange. 

After dinner, Jason and I borrowed a truck and headed down to Montevallo to look at a used washer and dryer. 

About an hour later...

...we had made a purchase! Thank you Craigslist!

Today's ramblings have been quick, but it's been a long 24 hours! 

Have you been productive this week?

Prayer focus for today: Pray for our country, and for the nations in general. As many of you know, our president made a bold statement today. Many people have strong opinions on his statement. May we seek the authority of our King and his Word, rather than depend solely on a fleeting presidency and this temporary life. 

Birthday Recap

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes yesterday! I was so overwhelmed by the Facebook comments, Twitter @mentions, text messages, emails, and in-person friends who wished me a happy birthday. It was indeed a happy day. I'm so blessed.

Jason surprised me at work yesterday and took me to lunch. He showed up carrying pink impatiens and a birthday balloon.

Then, he whisked me away to Urban Cookhouse for lunch. While we were there, I reminded him that we ate there last year on my birthday too! I think it must become a tradition.

While we were at lunch, he went ahead and gave me my birthday present. He bought me beautiful diamond earrings from the same store that he bought my engagement ring. I'm telling you, that man needs a frequent buyer card at Helzberg Diamonds.

Best. Fiancé. Ever.

After lunch, we walked down to Savage's Bakery and Jason bought me a red velvet cupcake. It was the perfect amount of cake for my birthday. And it was magically delicious.

I went back to work and counted down the hours until I got to go to dinner. At 5:00, I battled the rain and Hwy. 280 traffic to get to Chuy's. Jason was already there so that he could get a table and we wouldn't have to wait.

We took full advantage of Chuy's nacho bar. For those of you who don't know, Chuy's offers a free nacho bar from 4:00-6:30 (or 7:00) on the weekdays. I could have honestly made a meal off of that...but of course I didn't. I ordered the Monday special, which was enchiladas blancas. Yummy...but I didn't even make a dent in my meal after the nacho-fest.

Friends started showing up around 6:00. I was so excited to celebrate with my friends. It's always fun when different groups come together and you get to fellowship with everyone. We ended up staying at Chuy's until almost 8:00. It was so fun just to sit and talk and laugh.

I can always count on Rachel to remember to take pictures on special occasions!

Again, I'm so blessed.

After dinner, Jason and I went back to my apartment just to hang out. My roommate and her fiancé are in grad school and they were busy writing papers. Props to them for sure...but Jason and I decided we don't miss college (or at least that part of college) one bit. To all of you in grad school: you are a more determined person than me...and smarter too!

This morning I decided it was time to get back on track. Time to stick to my rules and my plan. No more splurging in the name of birthday!

Breakfast: sliced strawberries and blueberries

Jason and I have small group tonight, so we'll have to eat a quick dinner before we head out the door this evening. I'm planning on making Caribbean chicken, so I'll have the recipe for that up tomorrow.

I am also going to try a recipe I saw on my favorite blog yesterday. Vanilla Avocado Soft Serve sounds like it would be right up my ally. I even sliced up and avocado this morning and put it into the freezer so that I come make this treat after small group tonight.

Well, until tomorrow, I'll press pause on my rambling.

Prayer focus of the day: Today I am praying for my sweet neighbor, Mr. Fritsch, who lives next door. His wife passed away this year after battling Alzheimer's disease for over three years. Will you join me in praying for him today?

Eats and Little Treats

One of the biggest realizations that I've come to in the last week and a half is that to maintain a healthy lifestyle is that I must do my research and plan ahead!

Since I've been really bad about posting my meals over the last few days, I will go through from Sunday-Tuesday and explain what I mean by researching and planning ahead along the way.

Hopefully, at the end of this post you'll see that it's not hard to change your eating habits. I'm not eating "diet food" nor am I eating nasty cardboard stuff. I'm just following the rules and guidelines that I set up for myself and I'm not letting anyone or anything persuade me to get off that course of action. 

Sunday
Sunday I drove back to Birmingham from Destin. I know that I always get hungry on this drive, and my usual reaction is to stop about an hour and a half in and get something from McDonald's like an ice cream or a McFlurry. If I'm feeling healthier, maybe I'll just go for a smoothie. But Sunday I ate Great Value nonfat yogurt before I left Destin and packed an apple for when the hunger would strike.

By the time I got back to Birmingham, I was still not hungry, so I went on to the grocery store, and then finally made it home. I had about 20 minutes to kill before Jason got back in town, so I made myself a smoothie for lunch. It was around 1:30 or 2:00 when I did this, so the yogurt and apple really held me over.

I don't have a picture of my smoothie because I drank it too fast, but here's the recipe -

Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie:
4 oz. skim milk
2 very ripe bananas
2 tbsp. natural peanut butter (creamy)
6 ice cubes (this may vary depending on the size of your ice cubes)

I really meant to drink half of the smoothie then and half before church, but I was kind of really hungry by then so I drank the whole thing. Jason and I were going to the 6:00 service at church, which means no dinner until 8:15 or so. I decided on a super filling snack to hold me over.

Nutella Yummy Oats:
1/2 c. whole wheat oats
2 tsp. Nutella
1 c. water

This will be a breakfast meal in the near future.

Stir all of this together and then put in the microwave for about two minutes. I honestly couldn't even finish this snack because I was so full. I also wasn't hungry until about 8:45 that night.

After church, Jason wanted to pick up sushi and take it back to my apartment. I decided to just make a salad when I got home.


Dinner Salad Galore:
1-2 c. spinach leaves
1/2 avocado chopped
1/4 c. fat free shredded cheddar cheese
1 slice roast beef from the deli
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

Since Jason picked up food from Maki Fresh, I decided to pretend I did too and I used one of our many Maki cups for my water.

Here is my calorie count for the day:

I think the smoothie and oats snack made my calories a bit too high for the day.

Monday:
Monday was date night. Here's where the research comes in - Jason had mentioned going to Stix for dinner. I usually get the teriyaki chicken without rice and I substitute double veggies. So I looked up the nutrition facts on that meal and it was pretty decent, especially for dinner. Then, I thought about another restaurant that Jason and I like a lot that is a Mongolian grill type place. You pick your protein, veggies, seasonings, and sauce and then they cook it for you. I looked up their website to try to find the nutritional information, and guess what? They let you build your own meal online and they count the nutrition facts as you're building it.

I built my meal and recorded the nutritional information. After that, I called Jason and asked if he wanted to go there instead. He was all for it, thus I had a super healthy dinner, even though we were on a date!

No special recipes today, but here goes a "normal" day for me:


Breakfast:
1 c. skim milk
1/2 lb. watermelon
Coffee - Millstone Foglifter

Lunch:
2 oz. turkey from the deli
Great Value nonfat vanilla yogurt
1/2 c. cucumber slices
1 tsp. wasabi mustard (probably less)
25 pistachios (no salt added, also this was throughout the afternoon)

3:00 Snack:
Sliced orange

Dinner:
Genghis Grill bowl - Chicken, shrimp, yellow squash/zucchini, celery, spinach leaves, broccoli, green beans, red pepper flakes, salt, island teriyaki sauce.

This comes with a starch, but I ordered tortillas on the side and I didn't eat them.

Once we got home, I made a little snack because Jason popped some popcorn. I mixed up some fat free/sugar free chocolate pudding with skim milk. While that was gelling, I got out the Nutella (can you tell I'm a big fan?). I spooned some pudding into a bowl and put an even teaspoon of Nutella right in the middle. It was the perfect dessert for less than 200 calories.

Here's my calorie intake for Monday:

Tuesday:
Today was a little bit harder for me to research because Jason and I decided to meet for lunch about 20 minutes before we actually met. Luckily, I brought my lunch to work today, so if he picked some place that would be hard for me to eat at, I was just going to bring my lunch with me or eat after. Luckily, he chose a place where I can eat pretty decently and that has their nutritional facts online.

Breakfast:
1 c. skim milk
Oikos 0% Greek yogurt, vanilla
Coffee - Folger's Black Silk

Lunch:
Taziki's Chicken Feast with basmati rice (although I only ate about 2 bites of the rice) and a small Greek salad (but I didn't use the dressing).

Doesn't this look yummy? I even ate the tomatoes...but I still don't like them!

Dinner:
Things got tricky at dinner tonight. I've been so excited about making Mini-French Dip Sammies for Jason, but that's not something that I can eat. So before I left for work today, I pulled from my stock of frozen tilapia and left two filets out to thaw. I recently saw a recipe for "Fish Cakes" on a blog and I've been wanting to try it. Tonight seemed like as good a night as ever!

My dinner -

Fish Cake Spinach Salad (recipe adapted from the Fit Cook blog):
Ingredients

• 2 filets of white fish (tilapia)
• 1/4 cup red pepper, chopped
• 1 tbsp Greek yogurt
• 2 tsp mustard (yellow or Dijon)
• 1 egg white
• the juice of half a lemon
• Emeril's Fish Seasoning
• salt + pepper
• 2 c. spinach leaves
• 1/2 cucumber sliced
• 1/2 avocado sliced
• 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Directions

1. Heat 1/2 tbsp olive oil** in a large pan over medium high heat. Add the red pepper, and cook until soft and lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
2. Add another 1/2 tbsp olive oil to the pan. Season the fish with salt and pepper on both sides, and cook on each side for about 3 minutes, allowing the fish to brown (brown = more flavor). Use a spatula to break up the fish, then transfer it to the bowl with the onion and pepper.
3. Add the Greek yogurt, mustard, fish seasoning, egg white, and lemon juice to the bowl and stir with a spoon until well combined. Set bowl aside and let mixture cool.
4. Prepare spinach, cucumbers, and avocado on a large plate. 
5. Serve 1/4 to 1/2 (depending on how much you want) of the mixture on top of the salad.
6. Pour balsamic vinegar on top and it's ready to eat!

**I used nonstick cooking spray instead of EVOO.

Jason's Dinner -

Mini-French Dip Sammies (recipe from Plain Chicken blog):
Ingredients

• 1/2 pound deli roast beef, thinly sliced
• 4 slices provolone cheese
• Arby's sauce, horseradish sauce, or ranch dressing
• 1 can refrigerated crescent rolls
• 1 packet Au Jus Gravy mix

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Separate crescent rolls into 8 triangles.  Spread 1/2 teaspoon Arby's sauce or ranch dressing on each crescent.  Top each crescent with 1/2 slice provolone cheese and roast beef.  Roll up crescents and place on baking sheet.  Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown.
3. While crescents are baking, make Au Jus according to directions on packet. 

I also had the second half of my pudding/Nutella dessert tonight.

Here is my calorie count for today:

If I can live a healthier lifestyle, so can you.

Goodnight everyone!

...and until tomorrow, happy ramblings!

Cleanse Overview and Beyond

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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 7: The Last Hurdle

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I can totally relate with every emotion this little guy is experiencing. All day I've been carrying this track race analogy around in my mind.

For closer examination of this picture, I'm the little dude jumping. My face is saying, "The finish line is right there! It's so close. Just one more hurdle and I can do it!" The people behind him watching are all of you! I've had so much encouragement along the way and I'm so thankful for it! The people behind him standing up and looking are all of you who are saying, "Girl, you crazy!"

This morning I got up an hour before my alarm went off because I'm so excited to go home. I usually roll over and check all of my random emails that I get throughout the night and when I did that this morning, I came across this...

...thus the reason for my excitement.  David's Bridal, I am eager to see you as well!

Today, the cleanse is supposed to be all about the soup. I packed everything up in my handy-dandy Publix bag, packed my car with dress shopping supplies, clothes for the weekend, and my ice chest full of fruit and I was off to work. About 4 miles away from my apartment, I had to pull over and rearrange how the soup was situated because it was spilling.

I was planning on just eating some soup around 10:15 or 10:30. But by the time I got to work, I was really hungry. Since soup was about the last thing I wanted at 8:30 a.m. I decided to cheat just a weeeee bit and I grabbed a handful of grapes from the ice chest. I very highly doubt that eating six grapes first thing in the morning on day seven is going to ruin my cleanse (but if it does, I'll let you know).

Out of curiosity and excitement, I checked Jason and my wedding website to see how many days we have until we say, "I do."

I almost squealed at my desk. Less than 150 days!

On a side note, but still an important note, today is the one year anniversary of the tornadoes that affected so many lives in Alabama. I hope and pray that those who have lost loved ones as well as dear possessions will rely on the hope that we find in Christ alone.

Growing up on the coast of Florida, I feel like I know all too well the power that a storm can have on our lives. In my almost 23 years of life I believe that I've also experienced storms spiritually and emotionally that affect each one of us in different ways. Whenever I hear reports of storms on the news, or experience them first hand whether literally or figuratively, I am reminded of Job.

Job 1:20-22 says (after all of his possessions, wealth, AND children had been taken from him), "Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong."

A dear friend of mine, Mandi Mapes, wrote a song after the earthquake struck Haiti in January 2010. I believe that the lyrics of this song are true in our lives in any type of storm.

In Your Arms (by Mandi Mapes)

 To read the rest of the lyrics to this song, go to the Radical Experiment page. If you'd like to read the story behind these lyrics, visit Mandi's blog. If you'd like to buy this song, go to iTunes.


So onto soup...

Eat to the smile!

I ate my first soup around 10:50 a.m., my second bowl around 12:30 p.m., and my third bowl around 1:00 p.m.

I was able to leave work today around 3:15. It was so wonderful to get on the road a little bit early.

After four hours of driving, I entered Destin with this beautiful view.

I truly do love my hometown. I'm proud to have been born and raised in paradise.

When I walked in the door, I was greeted by my parents and my beautiful sister, Carlee. I was starving. I had only eaten about 150 calories today, and I was in need of something...but not soup.

I heated up my soup and took a bite. I almost gagged. I've heard that a lot of times when you change your diet drastically, your body will give you cravings when you're in need of a type of food (I don't think this is true with ice cream though, unfortunately). 


This is what I ended up eating for dinner:

PROTEIN!

Dinner:
Mom's leftover ground turkey
Corn
Black beans
Kidney beans
Watermelon

Although I "broke" the cleanse tonight, I feel good about my decision. You have to listen to your body. And I didn't break out a gallon of ice cream, I just reverted back to the previous day's eating plan (poultry and veggies).

Well, I'm going to call it a night and spend some quality time with my family. My mom just said, "I think I'm obsessed with wedding stuff right now." I think that's my queue!

Tomorrow = COFFEE!
Cleanse = COMPLETE!

P.S. My mom just said, "Ruching does amazing things for people." We're watching "Say Yes to the Dress" preparing for tomorrow! AAAHHH! I'm convinced my mother is a cartoon character.

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!

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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 4: This-Cleanse-is-Bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S

A little Gwen Stefani throwback for all you early 2000s middle/high schoolers out there. 

Happy Tuesday everyone! In an effort to not lose readers, I'm going to try to keep today's blog short and sweet. I had a lot to say yesterday, but today is just...well...bananas.

I also need to clarify that Jason's dinner picture that he demolished last night was a special and rare occasion. He tours with Casting Crowns as one of their merchandise guys and one night of each tour Mark Hall, the band's lead singer, takes all of the crew guys out for a manly man's dinner. That's why there was so much meat. He didn't send me a picture of his dessert, which is probably for the best :)

Okay, onto today.

Today is banana day. I get to eat up to eight bananas and I get to drink up to eight glasses of skim milk.

This morning, I made a huge mistake when I woke up. I was planning on completing day two of the 30 Day Shred, but I didn't weigh before I began the workout, therefore I didn't want to drink any water before the workout. Stupid me. Let's just say as soon as that 27 minutes ended, I ran and jumped on the scale, then ran to the kitchen for a Hunger Games glass of water.

After getting ready for work, I packed my food. Much easier today, but also quite a bit heavier.

7 bananas. 1 gallon of skim milk. 1 8 oz. glass.

I'm sure everyone who shares the fridge at work is hating me today. Usually I write my initials "JLS" on all of my food...but today I just put a big "J" so maybe people won't know it's mine.

I also put about a pound of raw chicken breast in the crockpot before I left for work. I am excited to eat meat again tomorrow. YAY for protein!

I ate my first banana and drank my first glass of milk before work. I tried to space everything out about two to two-and-a-half hours. Also, I drank a ton of water in between.

Side note: What's with the weather? It's almost May and it was so cold this morning! This Florida girl is ready for the summer to kick in (although I'm sure I'll be begging for fall by June).

Another side note: Do you ever have a song come on, especially in the morning, and you're just like, "Yes, this is perfect!"? Well, I did, and it made my drive to work quite delightful.

Funny story about this song. Jason and I have a friend (he was Jason's friend first, but I adopted him as my friend too) who plays drums. He loves this song because of the drum beat or melody or some musical term. But the first couple of lyrics to this song are, "I wish I were pretty". Every time this song comes on, I think about him looking into a mirror batting his eyes singing this to himself. I just can't help it. Maybe that's why I enjoyed it so much on my way to work.

Okay, back on track.

In an effort not to bore you with a bunch of pictures of bananas and milk, I'll post the times in which I ate the bananas and milk at the end of the post.

Jason has been trying to be a little more active in his spare time on the road. One of the opening artists on the tour with them sent me this picture of Jason playing Wiffle Ball.

Jason up to bat! Picture courtesy of Lindsay Mattingly

Unfortunately, his team didn't win, but he did slide into home base. GO JASON!

I've become accustomed to my 3:00 snack time. It gives me something to look forward to after lunch and makes the stretch to 5:00 not seem so long. I wasn't really ready for another banana since I ate lunch around 1:00, so I settled for a 3:00 tea time.

I could definitely be British. Delicious!

I got home from work tonight feeling quite weak. Not weak in the "I need to eat" way. I just have a lack of energy. This could be because of the food selection today. Or it could be because I have been using a lot of energy this week and not eating the foods to support that. More than likely, it's a combination of both.

I was planning on going for another nice walk after work today, but I decided to just go home and rest due to my lack of energy.

When I arrived home I found this little gem.

Special Delivery to me! Saturday morning is going to be great!

Talk about temptation. There are exactly 64 K-Cups full of coffee grounds in this box.

My eating times ended up being (all of these are a medium banana and 8 oz. of skim milk):
7:30 - Milk & Banana
8:00 - Herbal Tea
10:15 - Banana
11:30 - Milk
1:00 - Banana & Milk
3:15 - Herbal Tea
4:30 - Banana
6:00 - Milk
7:15 - Herbal Tea
8:00 - Milk & Banana (this is my plan at least it's only 7:15 now)

Day "boring" 4 = complete

On that note, I'm going to call it a night soon. I'm off to watch the New Girl and hit the hay early.

Tomorrow is chicken/turkey and tomato day. I'm very much looking forward to eating chicken, but very hesitant about the tomato part. I'm hoping that tomorrow is a turning point for me and my food habits. I would love to like tomatoes, or at least not hate them.

Enough rambling on my end for one day. How are you feeling today?

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!