A shorty...

Not much to report today, except that I just wasted over three hours on a photobook that didn't save. It even dumped the pictures out of the storyline. I am fuming.

On the plus side, I think this gift I got from one of the kids at school is such a cute idea... It is even in a glass container! And is filled with white chocolate popcorn! It is so cute, it is ok that I can't eat it right now. Hands off hubs!

I should have thought of this ahead of time.

I found one thing harder than initially starting this cleanse and enduring the dry taste of the protein powder (until you get used to it... and then weirdly start to like it).

Being on the cleanse while weathering psycho carb craving roller-coasters because it is "that" time, and all I want is a loaf of bread.

Seriously, I feel like a crazy person.

And then, today was our program's Christmas celebration, and so there were cookies everywhere I turned. Ugh. I need someone to slap me back to reality. I'd ask my husband but he is vacuuming right now. Yes at 7:45 at night. And that is sort of refocusing where I want that slap to land (I am resisting making a winky face here).

Anyway, excuse my little rant... But I am not looking forward to my Sunday weigh in, because usually I gain a few during these days. Not the motivation I am needing! Especially with all of the Christmas parties and family get togethers next week.

And speaking of motivation... Writing about how I am feeling, and receiving the comments and words of encouragement has made all the difference. It is hard to go about this process when feeling like you are doing it all alone! So this is my thanks to those of you that have been encouraging me and trying to make things easier for me these past few weeks!

You Go Girl! Struggling Through Day 17

Yep.  You Go Girl!  This is what my Dad had my mom text me on my way to work out this evening.  It always strikes my funny bone when he takes on valley girl slang.  And after being around my sister and I for all these years, he has some pretty choice terms down for the times we need a little smile.

I think today, that is exactly what I needed.  A little pick me up to let me know that someone is in my corner.  Because despite all the success I have been having, today was a real struggle.  I am wondering if this is partly because I may have accidentally ate sugar?  I went out to that great little shop that I ate at this past Friday... in hopes for more Hearts of Palm Salad.  Unfortunately it was difficult to find something that was "legal" on my plan.  I settled on 3 items that did not appear to have dairy or breading in it, and had their Asian Coleslaw (minus the peanuts, it had no mayo or dairy), Caprese Salad (minus the mozzarella), and Lentils.  After eating part of the coleslaw, I realized the sweetness was more than just due to a special vinegar... and that I probably just ate sugar.  Drat.

Then I tried the lentils, and though I asked, they seemed a little creamy and salty... so then I wondered if I ate butter too... and then my old, "well I already messed up the day, so maybe I should just ____ (insert eat something deliciously naughty here) since I blew it" reared its ugly head, and I have been fighting the mental battle all day.

But I made it home, and made it through dinner.  And because I felt like I messed up, I also worked out for longer than I had planned.  And though today sort of stunk mentally... I am proud of myself for sticking to it in the face of a potential "mess up", and for overcoming those mental barriers that are always there ready to bring me down.

A Christmas tutu for my little girl.

I love all of the little tutus out there for little girls.  They are really adorable!  Just look at how darling Ava was in her 1 year photos:

Photo by Amy Tripple Photography

 On my quest to find an adorable fall tutu, I looked carefully at how they were made.  This particular one had a crocheted band to make it into more of a dress, but really it was just a bunch of tulle tied around a band.  And for that... I paid $50 dollars.  I know... remember though, I have a hard time finding deals.  Good thing I used it for her Halloween costume too!

I wanted another one in Christmas colors-- red and white-- sort of like a candy cane.  And so I thought to myself, I bet I could give it a go... here is what I came up with.

Materials:
2 rolls of tulle (red and white)- I bought the Wyla brand at Joann's in their wedding section. $2.24 each.
1 package of elastic- I bought the 3/4 inch, and it was about $2.50
1 spool of satin ribbon - about $2.00
needle
thread
** Did you catch that this was like $10 to make?  Less once I factor in I did not use up all of my supplies.

I found it easier to cut a bunch of the strips all at once.  Once I determined my length I just used that strip as a template.  Width-wise, I just cut the strips in half.  I would layer several in a row and then fold it over several times to make it easier to cut the width.  Cutting tulle is a little bit annoying sometimes- don't say I didn't warn you.

For size, all I did was measure the elastic around a pair of Ava's pants, and overlap about 1 inch (I wanted it to be tight enough to not fall off).  I then cut a length of tulle, and held it against her pants to try to gauge it at about knee length.  I figured as it got fuller, it might get a little shorter.  Remember that you are going to fold the tulle strip in half, so you want to double the length from the waist to the knee.  See below for my horrible hand-sewing job.  But it is sturdy so it will be fine.

It is difficult to tell, but I tied 2 strips of red to 1 strip of white... in order to knot around the elastic, all I did was fold the tulle in half, place the strip behind the elastic with the loop upside down, bring the tulle around the elastic and pull it through the loop.  You can sort of see all of the "knots" in a row where I pulled the tulle through.  Make sure all of your "knots" are all on the same side of the elastic.

 

Once I finished the hours of tying tulle (while watching movies at night), I turned the tutu inside out (so that all the little knots were on the inside) and tied a little bow on.

  

Very easy, even if it does take a bit of time!

Once I figure out how to get Ava to stand still, I will have to add a picture of her in her tutu... it looks adorable on her!

Now that I will take! Detox recap week 2.

Once again... drum roll please...  the final weigh in for week two of my purification diet shows another -7 pounds lost, for a grand total of -12 pounds in two weeks!  I couldn't be more thrilled!  AND I met my week 2 goal of working out 4 days this past week.

One worry I had was whether I am loosing so much weight so quickly because I am starving myself by eating just the fruit and veggies.  So I tracked my calorie intake for several days on a great (free) iPhone app called MyFitnessPal.  Overall, I am eating between 1200-1400 calories a day... so while I am eating low calorie, I am not eating too few calories to sustain myself.

This week, I need to think hard about how I am going to reintroduce foods once the purification is over.  I do want to try to reintroduce slowly so as to not just gain back all this hard work I have put in.  I also want to think about what my diet will look like overall.  Do I want to follow this purification diet for 80% of the time, and then 20% of the time allow myself to eat food not allowed?  Do I want to follow a "clean" diet most of the time, and then follow the purification diet for 1 week out of every month?  Do I pick one "bad" day a week that I allow myself to have things like pizza and pasta?

I will have to think about it.

I do know, that I have to be careful about falling into the "all or nothing" mentality that is so familiar to me.  The "Well, I already blew today so I might as well eat these cookies too".  I think it is important to remember that I am human, and at times I might be somewhere and make the decision to go "off-plan" and that is ok.  I just also have to remember that I do not always have to wait for tomorrow to get back on track.

I am excited to see where I will be at in another week.  I can already tell that my energy level has improved and I feel much better about myself in general.  The bad thing is that although this is great... I still have a lot of work, and a long way to go.  But for now I will focus on the small things, and little victories along the way.

Week 3 goal: Follow plan, and work out 5 days this week.  And remember... I got this!

The Twelve Days of Christmas- Treats for Mr. Claus

This year, I started a new tradition in our household.  I wanted to let my husband know how much I care about him, while combining a few of his favorite treats.

Fairy Tale Cookie from Movable Feast.

So... I am in the middle of giving him 12 days of little surprises for him to find.  I admit, I have no idea when the 12 days of Christmas really is.  Does it start December 1st?  December 13th and end on Christmas Eve?  December 14th and end Christmas Day?  Or is it the the time between Christmas and the Epiphany?  Anyway, I couldn't wait so I just started it.

So far, here is what I have come up with, again, based on treats I know he likes.  I leave him a little note that says "On the First Day of Christmas, my True Love gave to me, a little note to say..."

1- I'm nuts about you. (little canister of nuts)
2- I love you to pieces. (Reese's Pieces)
3- I wouldn't trade you in for anything. (100 Grand bar)
4- I would feel like a fish out of water without you. (Swedish fish)
5- Take a little break when work is leaving you stressed. (Take 5)
6- Thank you for being my fairy tale ending. (Fairy Tale Cookies)
7- I think you're a cutie!  Hubba Hubba! (Hot Tamales)

I have all of the rest planned out, but since I know he will snoop to find out what else he gets, I will have to update this post as I go along.

I am really loving this idea so far, and as Ava gets older, I will have to include her in the tradition.

p.s.  If you live in the area, you must try the Fairy Tale cookies... right now they have the original (slightly almond flavored), as well as Maple (they sometimes have Rose Water, Coconut, Cocoa, Citrus).  Some day I will figure out how to make this icing.  It literally melts in your mouth when you bite into it.  This is seriously the best frosted sugar cookie on the planet.  Yes.  The planet.

Sticking to it while eating out, another celebration.

One more thing I proved to myself while sticking to my detox.  I can follow the rules, and still go out to eat with my friends.  It just takes a little planning.  Suggesting ideas for places to eat is also helpful since then you know you can find healthy food.  Today, I went to Movable Feast for lunch.  They are so wonderful, and I really love their dishes.  Look at how beautiful my lunch was!

I sampled their Beet Salad, the Roasted Butternut Squash with Arugula and Hazelnuts, and the Hearts of Palm Salad.  It was a toss up between the Hearts of Palm salad and the Roasted Butternut Squash for my favorite.  I took close ups in order to remember the ingredients so that I could attempt to recreate some day soon.  The Beet Salad is in the top/rear of the photo... it was made of beets, jicama, orange slices, a green herb (can't remember if it was mint, or parsley, or basil), and cayenne pepper.  It had a bit of a kick!

 The Hearts of Palm salad appeared to have a little olive oil, salt/pepper, tomatoes (grape?),  red onion, avocados, hearts of palm, and cucumber.  Oh and perhaps basil.  I am not certain if there was a little vinegar or if it was just the hearts of palm.

The roasted squash was pretty self explanatory.  It was the roasted butternut squash, arugula, and toasted hazlenuts, a little salt/pepper, perhaps just a bit of olive oil.

I left the Movable Feast with a couple of good recipe ideas, and a happy belly.

Inspired by the roasted squash, I attempted a version of just squash for supper tonight.  I tossed some pre-cut butternut squash (mistake one- to be honest, it was on its way out... it was a little 'wet'- I should have roasted it a few days ago) with EVOO.  Salted it, and placed in the oven at 425 degrees. 

I then mixed Balsamic Vinegar and Honey together, and tossed to coat it (mistake 2- should have tossed it all together BEFORE roasting).  All in all, it looked nice, and the flavor was good... but it wasn't as crispy as I would have liked.

Thanks to those of you that have sent me comments these past few days!  You are keeping me inspired!