Salads, and a correction

I realized that when I was marking my calendar for the 17DD, I accidentally put 7 days for some of the cycles, instead of 10. I also decided to do the first cycle for 10 days, just like the rest of the cycles, instead of just 7 days (I know, I'm all over the place!). It just made sense to make it all 10. After making the corrections, I will be done with the 17DD March 25! That feels like it's just around the corner!

Monday's are going to be my weigh in days. So next Monday I will see where I'm at with the scale (I would have weighed in this morning, but I made the decision to do Monday weigh-ins this evening:)

***

I've still managed to eat out almost everyday, while being on the 17DD. I just always get a salad, and be sure to ask them to leave out foods that I'm not allowed. Here's some salads I've had over the past few days:

Greek salad from Jim-n-NicksChicken Cesar salad from Spicy PickleBuild your own salad from Qudoba. This one kinda looks gross, but I put lots of veggies in it, and it was delish!Chicken and fruit salad from chick-fil-a
Keep in mind that there are a lot of salads, that are high in fat and sugars. Most of the salads I see on menus don't go along with the 17 DD. I usually have to custom order mine. If you're doing the 17 DD,
follow these 3 steps when ordering a salad:
1. Choose a light dressing, and always ask for it on the side.
2. Make sure you only have ingredients in your salad that go along with the guidelines of whichever cycle you're on.
3. Even though it's a salad, and it's filled with healthy greens, stop eating when you're just about full, to avoid over stuffing yourself. Too much of a good thing, is a bad thing :)

I found this neat link on Pinterest that gives a big list of healthy salad dressings. I can't wait to try some of these on some of my salads! Here's the link!
PS. Do you ever want to give a gift to someone who's on a diet, and have no idea what to give? "Chocolates? NO." "Homemade cookies? NO." "Cupcakes? NO." "I give up!" A nice big jar of healthy homemade salad dressing is a great idea!!

Do you have a favorite restaurant salad?

Monday

For my special friend MCB:

I will visit soon!

Monday: Challenge Week 5

DO LIFE CHALLENGE

*Week Five*

January 28-February 4

MY new office!! (Notice all the work on my desk! Yikers!)

Week five of the Do Life Challenge is all about January reassessment and planning for February.

1. Assess goals.

(1) Exercise 4 to 5 times per week.
(2) Cook at least 3 healthful meals.
(3) Read at least one GRE/Grad school book.
(4) Juice 6 out of 7 days.
(5) Accomplish something on my to-do list.

Last week was a terrible week for this challenge.  I did not exercise ONCE nor did I juice regularly or read my books.  I cooked a few healthful meals and definitely accomplished some things on my to-do list.  If I want to kick ass this week, I am going to have to work hard.  With a new job and a difficult Violet-schedule, I do not know how successful I will be, honestly.  But I will try my darnedest.

2. Continue to work  on Jan's goals or create new goals for February.

3. Push-up count.

4. Do 160 minutes of exercise this week.

5. Ask a buddy to exchange workout plans with me... I give them a goal to achieve (take a 10 min walk each morning before work, for example) and they do the same for me.

Sunday

Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.  - Rumi

Print by Jennifer Judd-Mcgee, amazing New England artist.

Saturday

Violet made some new friends this week!

At Mommy's house she has two white hamsters named Whitey and Stripey.

And then, Grommit the guinea pig at Daddy's!

Saturday

Yes.

I apologize for the profanity but this is so true right now.  I am a bag of nerves and I am trying hard to chill out.

I finished my last day of work on Friday.  It was pretty crazy!  But I don't think it has really truly hit me, I don't feel any different yet.  I think it will when I leave Violet at the sitter on Monday morning and start the trek to my new job.

I've wanted to feel this huge sense of relief about my job change but I have only felt stress over Violet's child care situation.  It has been a HUGE problem and I cannot be peaceful until I find a facility that is acceptable to me.  I am working on this each day and I am making it my main priority until I feel good about it...

I am nervous about my new job! I haven't been doing the kind of mental or professional preparation beforehand because I am so caught up in everything else.  I think when I can get my Violet stuff pinned down, I can calm the eff down for real.

...............................................   ..........   .............  ............

I attended Violet's soccer class today.  At the suggestion of Violet and her Daddy, we sat in the hallway and let her "do her thing" without us watching.  She excelled!  She eagerly participated, received much praise from coach and other parents, and she totally exceeded my expectations.  I am very proud of her!!  I guess she just needed to be on her own, without Mommy and Daddy.

Thursday: Challenge Update

THE DO LIFE CHALLENGE

*An Update on Week Four*

January 22 - 28

So in the spirit of *Week Four Teamwork* I enlisted a friend to give me some of their personal January goals:

1. Drink more water.
2. Drink less soda.
3. Rely less on prepared food/cook more.
4. Read more.
5. Eat better.

My friend says that water consumption is up and soda consumption is down!  BUT all other goals have not been great.  I understand though, it is tough to do in one week's time.  I know from experience that setting goals like these is really awesome but follow through can be tricky.

And of course my goals:

1. Exercise 4 to 5 times per week.
2. Cook at least 3 healthful meals.
3. Read at least one GRE/Grad school book.
4. Juice 6 out of 7 days.
5. Choose something to accomplish on my official TO-DO list.

And push-up count this week.

The plain truth is, I have ignored my goals this week pretty much completely.  I did accomplish some good stuff on my to-do list by accident but beyond that I have been "existing" best as I can.

This has been my last week with Violet.  I start my new day job on Monday. 

I have been down, depressed and pretty out-there all week long.  I haven't taken my health seriously and I have had multiple emotional freak-outs.  I am nervous and worried about my little Violet and new job and I cannot sleep or eat well. 

I am essentially going to pay a homecare sitter to watch my child while I am at work.  Forget about enrolling her in a preschool or legitimate daycare facility, those are so beyond my means it is laughable.  A huge chunk of my pay (almost half) will go towards her care... which makes me wonder: why am I paying someone else to raise my child?

How do other women do this?  How can anyone leave their baby like that?  How do working mothers do this!?

What if she forgets about me or grows to love the sitter (and her house/children/routine) more than me?  Will I miss out on precious time I can never recover?  Am I choosing work over her?  Is it worth the commute and gas money and lower salary?

I separated from Violet's daddy some months ago, so right now we divide her time between us.  I have her during each weekday and he has her in the evenings and then, we split up the weekends.  That means when I start this new day job, we will both be seeing her WAY LESS.  It is making us both even more crazy than we were to begin with!

I don't know.  All of this terrifies the bejesus out of me.  Plus I am scared about being cool as a new employee.  I don't know how to behave in a professional environment anymore.  I don't know if I have nice enough clothes.  I don't know how to use the computer applications like I used to.  I feel like I am way the hell out of my league here.

I am pretty much losing my shit right now.  Yikes!!!  I need to chill out more than I have ever needed to before in my life.

Clear headed, and my plan

TOM is finally gone, and I've finally got my sanity back. I swear I'm not normally an emotional wreck when good old TOM rolls around (and for those of you who don't know, TOM is "that time of the month";), but for some reason this time was a whole different story.

I've had a good week on the 17DD, but not perfect. I've had a Hershey kiss, and a bite of ice cream, here and there. If there's one thing that I've learned from the 17DD, it's that if you want to have amazing results, you really need to follow it to the T. Otherwise, you'll probably lose just as much weight a week as you would any other diet; In that case, it makes sense to go ahead and do another diet :) I want to have 1 perfect week like I did the first time around. After that, I'll go onto cycle 2, but, it will be a little different...

I've formulated a plan of my own, that I feel really good about:

I'm discovering that I really miss my :Deliciously Healthy way of losing weight, and I miss blogging about it the way I used to. But I also really want to finish the 17DD. My solution to this, is to shorten the 17DD. Instead of having each cycle last 17 days, my plan is going to have each cycle last only 10 days. The 17 DD book says that you can go back and forth between the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd cycles, if you have more weight you want to lose then you would be able to achieve by only going once through.
This is how my 17DD will look:
Cycle 1, cycle 2, cycle 3. Cycle 1, cycle 2, cycle 3, cycle 4. DONE!
But, my cycles will only be 10 days, instead of 17. With the exception of the 1st, 1st cycle, which will only be one week, since I've already done the 1st cycle. You still with me? ;D

I've got it all mapped out on my fridge calendar!:
I don't know if you can see the colors, but the pink days represent the 1st cycle, blue is the 2nd cycle, and black is the 3rd. According to my calculations (I've always wanted to say that;), I will be done with the 17DD on March 14! That's only 50 days away :)

Monday: Challenge Week 4

DO LIFE CHALLENGE

*Week Four*

January 22 - 28

Violet and her b-bud K! Conquering the "scary" slide together.

The Do Life Challenge Week 4 is all about TEAMWORK!

Officially I am supposed to team up with someone on the Do Life forum but I don't think I will do that, considering I am not a paying participant.  But I plan to enroll a real-life friend to have my back on this challenge!

My buddy and I will share our goals, struggles and victories.

At the end of the week I will discuss our particular challenge details.

And I will also, test my push-up count again AND review my original January goals.

Sunday

We visited Baby A today!

After the much-needed Baby A time, all of us girls (Me and Violet and all four of her Aunties), went for pedicures!

I am definitely NOT a nail salon type of lady, so this was Violet's first experience at such a place.  She was really excited.  She said, "it tickles" and "I look beautiful".  And she especially enjoyed the foot massage part.

I loved the kid-sized chair.  She looked so cute.

All the Aunties in a row!

Her blue sparkled piggies!

Saturday

Violet at soccer:

Honestly, she is not a big fan of this class.  She is very shy and does not want to actively participate with the other children.  Her Daddy seems to think she would do better if he was not there to observe.  She whines and cries for him to help her... Maybe she is not quite ready for team-style sports.

I am thinking next time we purchase a class it will be something more dance related.  She has sparked an interest in tap dancing recently and I would LOVE for her to do something like that!  I did when I was her age.  And I would love just seeing her all cute in a pretty pink tutu.

We attended a local production of Annie on Wednesday evening.  Violet loved it!  I am so pleased she likes theater as much as I do.  During intermission, she tap-danced with her "fancy shoes" in the aisle while the folks around her watched and cheered.  I think she would enjoy formal dance instruction now that she is older and interested.


This week she helped me make a green juice and even tried it too:

A few days ago I was looking around Goodwill and found an awesome deal on a child size, wood art easel!  Violet loves making art and she went to work on it right away:

And last night Violet spent the evening at her Nana's house.  Nana's birdie Mowgli has grown to like Violet.  They are so cute:

So far, so good

Day two was a success!

I've been so emotional all day. I seriously broke down crying for no reason at all, at least twice today. Oh the joys of being a women. The good news is, I didn't have the urge to turn to food. I just kept telling myself, "Eating a hamburger is just going to create more problems, then it would solve." Now if only I could have been telling myself that for the last two weeks... but whatever :)

Lately I've been experimenting with spaghetti squash. I like it, but I can't seem to make it right... it keeps coming out slightly crunchy. Tonight I decided to experiment with it some more. I made chicken with marinara sauce, on top of spaghetti squash, and veggies.
It was quite yummy. and slightly crunchy :)

Onto tomorrow!

Have you ever made spaghetti squash?
Does yours come out crunchy?

Friday

So today marks my last week of work at my current job.

I can't believe it.

I am still in shock.

I have been in this deep rut, professionally and personally for so long now, I honestly did not see any end to it.  I don't know how to explain myself here, except that I felt stuck.  And it is such a depressing, stifling outlook to have about things that mean so much.  It can take over and worm it's way into part of every day living.

If nothing else, I know that life is too short and my time is too precious to waste anymore.  I want so much for me and my girl.  I am definitely, finally looking forward to this new life adventure!  I know that my job is just the beginning.

I had a work colleague lash out at me last week when I gave my notice, so I am nervous about this last week of work -- tensions are high and I am ready to leave.  I will try my best and do my thing with my head held high.  I worked hard to get where I am now and I am NOT looking back.

Thursday

THE DO LIFE CHALLENGE

*An Update on Week Three*

January 15 - 21

My photo challenges: (*warning* - some seriously goofy self portraits coming up)

1. Me holding my biggest excuse on a piece of paper while defeating the excuse.

Stress and Fatigue? I don't think so!

2. My super healthy grocery list.

Cashews, hummus, avocados, melon...

 3. Picture of me and a homemade smoothie.

Bunny Spice!

4. Picture of me in a plank or push up.  Outdoors.

Not technically outside but "outside" my apt.

 5. Screenshot of a walk/run this week.

Me and V spot walkin' in the cold!

And of course I continue with my January goals:

1. Exercise 4 to 5 times per week.

Yoga baby!  And well, that's it.  I wish I could do more exercise but I can't get it into my day or night.


2. Cook at least 3 healthful meals.

This week I made kale chips again!

First I mixed the cut-up kale in olive oil and salt.

Then I whipped up the sauce!

On the dehydrator they go.

One night this week I made a yummy meal out of warmed brussel sprouts, lentils and red pepper hummus:

Then last night I made another meal out of some cut veggies that were about to expire.  I cooked them in some olive oil and sea salt and then, put them over some lentils:

3. Read at least one GRE/Grad School book.

I am reading a couple of books right now, related to my graduate ambitions:

 And...

 And another for work purposes:

4. Juice 6 out of 7 days.

YES! Still doing the juice thing as much as possible.

5. Choose something to accomplish on my official TO-DO list.  Anything of my choice.

I am working SO hard to accomplish the items on my list and I think I am doing a decent job so far!