D & E- Day 31

I always wonder why so many people have such a hard time with diet and exercise. It feels like everyone has a never ending struggle with food and weight. While I am no expert on the subject, I have invested many hours with a certificate in Women's Health and Fitness and also made sure all my electives in college had something to do with Women or Health. I thought I would offer up some advice to everyone based on what has worked for me. I know it has worked because I feel great physically and emotionally, and I never feel an ounce of guilt when I do eat something "bad". So here it goes, take it or leave it.

1) DO NOT DIET!!
Diets are temporary and leave you fatigued and grumpy. You are most likely not eating foods that will keep you strong and healthy. Diets are dangerous and you will not be taking the needed steps toward changing your food habits permanently.

Instead, change your food habits. Here are some ideas:
Breakfast:
Oatmeal or Cereal : get that fiber and folic acid so needed in a female diet! (I am not talking about Captain Crunch either) Kashi has some good cereal choices. Get calcium (also so needed) from low-faw milk.
Blueberries (or any other fruit you like): get those antioxidants that fight disease.
Wheat Toast: Carbs do not kill- they are needed for energy!
Yogurt: organic or low fat

Snacks: snacking is good! Keep your metabolism moving and remember to snack healthy
Almonds (just a handful): get that vitamin E for pretty skin and so much more

Lunch:
Soup: I do not know why (maybe just a childhood favorite) but I love soup for lunch. Pick something light with veggies and protein.
Salad: skip fatty dressings and go for some oil and vinegar. Try to get salad with some protein like eggs or chicken
Wheat Pasta with Olive Oil (add whatever else you like): pick whole wheat over white every time.

Snack again: pick something light and healthy (at your own discretion).

Dinner:
Turkey Burgers: yum! cook it in a pan with olive oil (cook everything in olive oil). Get rid of butter all together
Broccoli: the powers of broccoli... sooo many nutrients. Remember the greener or darker the fruit or vegetable the better. Steam your veggies too! Drizzle some lemon on it for flavor.
Rice: whole grain or brown

These are just ideas, but hopefully you get the point. What I try to envision with food is how it is supporting my longevity. Most of us want to live a long time! Food is a huge way to get there! I ask myself how this is killing disease and making me a happier person? I have also learned the more healthier I eat, the less I crave the bad things. Your body will be sustained if you are eating right! So when you are at a party and crave something yummy or someone has made a to die for dessert, you will not feel bad about indulging.

Now on to Exercise.
Tip: Do not go crazy on yourself. Make a goal of 30-90 minutes of exercise four to five times a week. Try the elliptical, buy some DVDs, or go hiking! My favorite is the Biggest Loser work outs or a 40 minute run.

I hope this helps someone. Our world is full of (sorry to be blunt) chubby, unhappy women. Let's empower ourselves and make good choices.

I have one more complaint. Pregnant Women are NOT Fat. If you are having or had a baby, be easier on yourself. Your body changed or is changing for a reason. Gaining weight is critical to the health of your baby. Remember to love the changes in your body because they happened or are happening to create life. Your focus should be health not six pack abs and a model figure!

Happy Wife,Happy Life- Day 30

I feel amazing today. I wish I could divulge into why, but that will come later! God has shown us his timing is real and miracles happen every day.
I also have to state how S E X Y it is when your man does your laundry and folds all your clothes as perfect as he can. Nothing makes me more happy than a domesticated man. I am grateful beyond belief and humbled every day for the qualities my husband has. He works at least 50-60 hours a week and his success is beyond well deserved. On top of a crazy work schedule for both of us, he is still attentive to my needs. And let us just say, I have a lot of them. No shame ladies...your man will treat you wherever you set the standard. I witness way too many woman being walked all over by their husbands and even worse, their children.
Women of the world, remember "Happy Wife, Happy Life". Let your husband pamper you more than once in a while.

Information Technology Sucks- Day 23

I am addicted to information. I want to know as much as I can about every subject. Google is my most trusted friend. I planned our entire wedding through google on an island we had never been to. I will not eat anything, stay anywhere, or plan anything without a thorough google search. Reviews are the only way to know the truth....or is it?
Lately I have been re-thinking my love for information. It is too easy to read a review on why a hotel sucks because they do not have in room coffee or why a person hated the waiter and gave a one star to an amazing restaurant. I seriously freak myself out with horrible online statistics of stories about death, airplane crashes, and the worst- case scenarios. I think my love for information has taken away a lot of spontaneity in my life.
I have learned very quick that the statistics are not always right and that ANYTHING can happen. I live so much of my life through other peoples experiences and advice. I am giving that up. Today I am creating my own experience!

The "We" Factor- Day 14

You all know what I am talking about. The "We" factor is the moment when everything turns from "I" to "We". "We hated that movie", "We love that restaurant", "We want to go there"...you get the point. This may be a phrase that the single world despises. Miranda on "Sex and the City" pointed out this "We" factor years ago and even she ended up married and happy despite her hate for the "We". I do not think people lose themselves in the"we",they are simply with people who are like them. Even better, a partner might get you to enjoy things you never thought you could or together you can dislike something and feel solice that someone else hates it as much as you. It is inevitable that people become a "We".

24 Hours in Vegas- Day 13

I am glad to be home sweet home after a quick weekend in Vegas! I left Saturday morning in a rainy storm that followed me. I was missing Bryan who had been out there all week for work. After a quick lunch at Tacos and Tequila, I was beyond excited that they could make my guacamole without onions. I mean seriously, is it a culinary necessity to put onions in everything? Next was time for my massage that my husband insisted that I go to. Am I the only person in the world who does not care for the spa? I have no idea if I am supposed to walk around naked or what. Half the spa is fifty somethings comfortably displaying their sagging bodies while the other half are twenty somethings not sure what to do. I am the twenty something that has no idea what to do. Do I get butt naked and go in the sauna? Do I talk during my massage or keep quiet? I am clueless to spa etiquette. I would rather do my own pedicure and throw a bottle of massage oil at Bryan. He knows where to take it from there...
Once my spa experience was finally over we headed to the Mandalay Bay Events Center for the UFC fight which led to "lets count the Tap Out Shirts Contest". Lets just say this was an overwhelming task because everyone had one! I do not and will not ever understand the love of Affliction, Tap Out, Ed Hardy, and tacky graphics on shirts. Can we please end this epidemic of bad taste? The fights were bloody, gruesome, and actually a little boring. I just do not get the need to beat the shit out of someone, and I really do not get the need to watch someone get the shit beat out of them. Then we were off to dinner and "The Club". Can we make a few adult rules together? Rule number one is phasing out Ed Hardy and Tap Out. Rule number two is if you are over thirty, you are not allowed in a club? By age thirty, you should have your local watering hole for happy hour and that should be the extent of your drinking and dancing life. The highlight of the trip was black jack at the Playboy club where I won quite a bit, and then won for the drunk girl we were with. I can not complain about being a winner. The best part of my weekend was some tea and the game at home on the couch with my doggies and husband.
Weekend Lesson:
Going out is lame and gambling is fun when you are winning

I qualify for what??!! - Day 9

My god! I am only twenty-five and I qualify for Social Security income! You have to be working for ten years for these benefits. I have been working over ten damn years! How depressing is that? There are people my age that have barely started their first job, and I am in my eleventh year of the work world or what others might call the "real world". I have not had a summer off since my freshman year of high school. How awfully depressing. I have not had a moment of unemployment, in fact, I have had times where I had two or three jobs at once. And for what? Let me take a moment to reflect here:
1) My first car
2) Undeniably cute clothes and shoes....yummy... my favorite thing to spend money on
3) Independence!!
4) My Education
5) My Rent...back to the independence thing
6) Endless nights at 21 drinking...this lasted only a short while....my liver thanks me now
7) Travels- Backpacking Europe, Hawaii, Cabo, Road Trips through California...
8) My second car
9) A solid resume
10) A Purpose beyond "I don't know what I want to do with myself"

Okay. I feel better now. You know I could have been less motivated, but I did not allow myself to have the chance. I guess this is why I am documenting this journey into motherhood. Will my children see me as the young, motivated and excited person I was? If you watched Modern Family last night you could see my point. Claire met up with her old co-worker. The co-worker was career driven, childless, husband less, and on the top. Claire felt that she was only viewed as a "stay at home mom". It was a complete analogy of how I feel now. Family is more important than career, but it does feel good to work.

I am a hippie at heart- Day 7

I am probably one of the biggest hippie at hearts that I know. I secretly want to save the world. I want to rescue all the needy animals, I recycle and cringe when I see others that do not, I try to eat organic and green, and I would consider myself a flexatarian (someone who eats meat rarely). Hmm...what else. I believe in gay marriage (you know less than fifty years ago black and whites could not legally marry? fought by the same group that is fighting against gay marriage), I voted for Obama, I am a Sociology major, and I work in Environmental Health and Safety. I think that spells out my hippie love. My husband, on the other hand, is fiscally conservative and socially liberal...thank goodness. I can handle arguments over taxes, but I could not handle arguments over civil rights. During the election, my McCain supporter and I are argued until we gave up on each other all together. We agreed to disagree on all subjects political. We will never see eye to eye on so many issues. I guess this keeps our conversations more interesting and lively. I am insanely passionate about the things I believe in and so is my husband.
My point is that we do disagree on a lot, but we do not disagree on family and values. We want a safe and happy home for each other and our children to be. (Disclaimer- I am not expecting yet!) We both come from dysfuntional families. He is the son of divorced parents and I am the daughter of an dying alchoholic. I think the thing that bonds us is that we want something different for ourselves and our children to be. We know our family will never suffer through divorce or addiction. Life is too short to live unhealthy! With insanely hard work ANYTHING can be accomplished. I am exactly where I always wanted to be. As a child I could only dream of this kind of normalcy. I almost have to laugh at how easy "normal" can be. The only piece of advice I would give to anybody is, "Do not be lazy". I hate the saying "good things happen to those who wait". That is just ridiculous! "Good things happen to those who get of their *ss and go for it"!