The Calm Before the Storm Called December

There are 2 days left in November, which means there are 2 days left of relaxing and being lazy; all hell is about to break loose when that calender flips to that next page. I just took a peak at what I have in store for just the first week of December... oh my goodness. Meetings and hair appointments- all the preparations for preparations. ACK!
   Most people have a bunch of birthdays in one month somewhere during the year. Well, ours happens to be December. Both my sons, my stepson, my sister in law, cousins, friends... yikes... then you have to add in our anniversary (yeah, who does something as silly as get married a week before Christmas? My husband and I, of course!) Throw that all together with Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Years, and you have yourself a month long party! It is a lot of fun, but expensive and a bit overwhelming... it takes the rest of the year to recover!
  I'm prepared this year. I have already finished my Christmas shopping, have all the presents wrapped and placed lovingly under the tree that is already decorated. All we have left to do is bake cookies, do birthday shopping, and travel across the country to get to Grandma's house. Over the river and through the woods would be a much quicker trip, but unfortunately Colorado is a lifetime away from home.

     Once we get to good ole Colorado the appointment book will fill up quickly. We have a couple weeks to cram a lifetime of people into. Dinner here, breakfast there, arcade time, and hockey games, Christmas light scavenger hunts, church, family, family, family.
  Oh the adventure! So much for shorts and flip-flops on Christmas... more like running shoes and parkas. Ready... set.... GO!

Eating Healthy on a Budget

I know it sounds insane, right!?! I have so many people telling me that it is near impossible to eat healthy on a shoestring budget. That's true, but it's hard to eat at all on a shoestring budget, so why not save yourself some medical costs and use that money wisely!?!  We've lived on a tight budget and have still eaten healthy. I am in no way a doctor, or a health adviser... this works for me and my family, and I hope that it will give you ideas on how to eat in a more healthful way and still stay within your budget.

FIRST OF ALL!! Make a weekly menu. I do this by looking over the internet, and yes, Pinterest. There are a lot of fabulous recipes, in fact my new favorite noodle/salad/veggie sauce is a Pinterest jackpot find. (I will be sure to add a link to the walnut-sage pesto at the bottom of the page) Now, back to what I was talking about... a menu. It is your most valuable tool in living on a budget. By using this, you set yourself up for success at the grocery store and at home! (then you aren't running around at 5:30 trying to figure out how to thaw chicken breast to make fajitas- only to remember that you forgot to pick up green peppers) You can be a kitchen superstar.

To make the menu I write out all the days of the week that I need to be shopping for- then I go to the cookbooks and the internet. I start filling in the dinners, and simultaneously write down the ingredients that I know I do not have on hand on a grocery list (then I don't forget anything). After I complete the dinner portion of the list, I add in other needs for breakfasts and lunch. Those are real easy around here; we mostly have oatmeal with fruit for breakfast, and leftovers or a salad for lunch.

The next step is going to the grocery store... this is the tricky part; you have to make sure to stay on task and not stray from your list. The grocery store is full of temptation  but you can do it! Stick to your list! My best piece of advice is, if you can cut costs by buying in raw form do it. (like beans- you can buy and entire bag of black beans for about 2.00, where you can get a can of black beans for 1.50, but it's only about 1/8 of what that bag is going to yield. (I cook an entire bag at a time and put it in the freezer to use as needed)

Here is a list of cost cutting foods:

Lentils- they cook up fast and can be used in all kinds of dishes. (our favorite is tacos)
Black beans- great in burritos, and salads
Brown rice- Bleh. Not a fan, but we don't use white rice so it's used in place of white rice.
Tofu- It's half the price of meat and can be just as fun. It's taken me sometime, but I am actually starting to like it.
Garbanzo beans- The main ingredient in hummus. Once you make your own hummus, you won't ever want to buy it.
Frozen fruits and veggies- Sometimes the best option. The products are flash frozen, so they retain more of the nutritional value than many fresh options.
Meat in bulk- Often there is a price break for buying the bigger packages. Sure, you have to break it down into smaller packaging, but it is definitely a money saver.
In-season produce- You will know which these are by the cost; the store usually has them on sale. I try to only buy "in season" fruits and veggies; they are usually more local than let's say a banana. (unless you live where there are banana trees).

One other bit of advice is to stay to the outside perimeter (and the bean isle) of the store to keep yourself away from temptation.

After your shopping adventure (that probably left you feeling confident and proud of yourself for not going crazy in the ice cream or cereal isle- those used to be my two main downfalls) it is time to prep this bounty of food. If you purchased meat in bulk, take care of that first. You can quick soak the beans at the same time. You can even go so far as to cut up all your veggies and fruits for quick access. Now at this stage you are well on your way to eating healthy on a budget!!

Sometimes you will falter, don't give up! It takes dedication and persistence (just like anything else that is worthwhile) in the end it will pay off... monetarily, physically and mentally! Enjoy!

(and as promised, here is the link to the recipe for the fabulous pesto)
http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipe/pasta/linguine-with-walnut-sage-pesto/

My Take on Diets and Excercise

I started weightlifting about 3.5 months ago now. Jamie Eason became my inspiration, and mentor (via her program on the bodybuilding.com site). I've been at the gym almost every morning trying to achieve the body, as Jamie puts it: "I have always dreamed of". I have made a lot of progress, but  I'm not where I want to be. Time is the ultimate answer, along with diet and exercise. 80% of a person's health regimen is dependent on their diet. That old saying: "You can't out train a bad diet" is always running through my head. The diet part is the hardest aspect for me.

I followed the eating plan that Jamie uses in her LiveFit program, but I couldn't see how approximately 200 grams of protein was going to benefit me. I did it for about 6 weeks, but according to my doctor, my  kidneys would be overworked, and my body more than likely end up flushing more than half of it anyway, so I stopped... not to mention it made me bloated and gave me the worst gas EVER! (yeah, I know I am a female, and shouldn't disclose this sort of info- pfft, someone needs to be honest). Also I must disclose that I have a serious distaste for meat and eggs to begin with (Every now and then I like a burger or a chicken breast, but only like once or twice a month), so you can only imagine how happy I was to ditch the massive amounts of flesh.

I have researched and read so many things about different eating plans (or diets, as it were). I can't believe how many are out there right now! Paleo, dairy free, gluten free, fruitarian, 80/10/10, clean eating, vegan, high fat raw vegan, lacto-ovo, and finally, there's the normal everyday American diet of over-processed  sugar laden, fast food.

I have a dear friend that is doing the 80/10/10 and she is thriving on it. She is so happy that she is the lightest she's been in 10 years and says she feels great. I have seriously thought about doing it, but from the scientific side of it, it's not going to be a good thing for me in the long run. Keeping sugar levels that high all the time while not having any real fats... sounds like a recipe for disaster. Talk about insulin resistance and premature aging  I'm almost 35, I need to be careful of what I'm doing to my "starting to get smile lines" skin.

 I went vegan for awhile, but felt tired and out of touch with myself. The longer I did it, the more I realized that the mentality of vegan is good for the most part, but it seems that it's almost a cult following. Like people are so longing to be a part of something that they let this "lifestyle" take over. They become obsessed with animal rights and "being vegan" heck, some of them even go so far as to get "vegan" tattooed on them. (In my eyes that's just a little strange). More power to them though, but it wasn't the answer for me.

Those other diets are all great, but I can't see myself sticking to anything. I just eat what I want, but in moderation. I want a burger? I eat a burger. A salad? I eat one of those! I don't think that a person should cut anything out of their life completely... it's all about learning self control. I don't drink soda, and I rarely eat candy, but I don't tell myself that I can't have it. It's just something I save for special occasions (or that time of the month- which usually is a "special" occasion). Sure, my goals may take a little longer to reach than if I were to follow "the perfect" bodybuilding diet, but I am happy excited to go to the gym everyday... and that's all that matters.