Fit Mommy Monday - The Nasty Fitness Journal.

I found something horrifying. It was downstairs on the bookshelf, just above all my cookbooks. It was a fitness journal I purchased a couple of years ago. My goal at that time was not to loose any weight, but to put on some muscle (and, hopefully, gain a little energy). I took the book down to look at it and much to my chagrin I noticed that I recorded all my measurements in it at the time. So, these are pre-baby measurements. I brought the book upstairs and found my measuring tape. Why did I do that? Ladies - it is not pretty. Not pretty at all. To put it in a nutshell I basically have an extra 5 to 6 inches on all my parts (waist, hips, and thighs). Yes, my chest is bigger, too (nursing) but who is gonna' complain about that, right? What I don't understand is how I could have gained as much girth on *one* thigh as I did on my whole waist! It's really, really, awful. I can even tell you that I almost fell into a pit of despair rather, shockingly, fast. I decided that I can never eat again, and I can never leave the house. I have no clothes that fit, except for my old scrubs, and I am not about to spend a small fortune on new clothes that - Gawd as my witness...will NOT fit me soon!!!!!

But, I'm going to try and not walk past any more full length mirrors for awhile and just keep focused. I've given up all pop (I was drinking 2 or 3 cans of the stuff a day) and I am no longer snacking at night (I was eating ice cream before bed every night...hey, the calcium is good for me...I told myself). I am drinking more water than ever (which isn't saying much...I had two bottles the other day and that was more than I had drank in about the last 2 weeks). Btw, I live on a well...so I kind of have to use bottled water. I do recycle all the bottles, though. There seems to be a big anti-bottled water movement going on right now but I'm not sure what else I can drink.

Also, remember I promised to walk three times last week? Well, I did. And they were pretty hard/fast walks, too. I bought myself a pretty new, pink, pedometer and measured my distance and steps. I did 2 km's each time - in about 2500 steps. My third walk was over very hilly terrain out by Dave's Mom's place and that one really got my heart going.

I have my "6 weeks post" check-up with the doctor this coming Wednesday (yes, it will actually be more like 9 weeks post...which is why I wasn't going to wait for her go-ahead to start moving) and, as much as I hate scales, I'm gonna' hop on there and see where I am at (i.e. torture myself some more).

9 months on, 9 months off? What crazy girl said that? Oh, ya, that was me. Before I tried on my old jeans.

I want my thighs back.

p.s. Goal for this week: three more work-outs - this time including some fitness dvd's. If you are working on some fitness goals of your own, please leave me a comment so I can go check out your blog and, maybe, we can commiserate together!

p.p.s. The above picture is actually me this time and I must tell you it does not do justice to the actual situation. I don't know why - maybe because the camera was kind of angled downward or something...but just appreciate the fact that my zipper comes no where close to doing up and that denim could not be pulled any tighter across my legs without actually exploding. sigh.

p.p.sp.s Please excuse the sloppppy writing. It's really hard to blog with a baby in your arms.

Tofu Tuesday - Veggie Sloppy Joe's

Talk about great timing. I just decided to start eating more vegetarian food again. As some of you already know (and are sick of hearing) I was a vegetarian for many years before I had my first daughter. While I was pregnant with her I started eating chicken again because I was a very unhealthy vegetarian, and I thought I really needed to eat something other than meat-free junk food. I've been eating chicken ever since (that's 6 years now), but I never did start eating cows or pigs again (I just can't eat them - they are too cute. Isn't that the worst reason ever?). So, I just started blogging about my "Meatless Meals" and I went hopping around the web looking for other veggie-friendly-idea-filled sites. That's when I found Kelli at Gohn Crazy and Kaci at Ellyphant, the hosts of Tofu Tuesday. Cool! Glad to meat ya' ladies. ha ha ha. (No, I haven't been into the green beer).

So, I'm happy to present to you my first dish for Tofu Tuesday - Veggie Sloppy Joe's.*

Shopping List:

1 tbsp canola oil

1 lrg. onion, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tbsp chili powder

2 8-oz. packages of Tempeh

1 28-oz. can diced tomatoes, with their juice

1/4 cup ketchup

1 tsp veggie Worcestershire sauce

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves and stems

Hot sauce to taste

salt and pepper

6 toasted bulky rolls

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, heat the canola oil over med. heat. Add the onion and saute, stirring occasionally, until soft, about 7 minutes. Add the bell peppers, garlic, and chili powder, and cook for 2 minutes more.


2. Crumble the tempeh into the pan (it will crumble more as it cooks, with the help of a wooden spoon). Add the tomatoes, ketchup, and Worcestershire sauce, and 1 cup water and mix well. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until heated through and the flavours are well blended, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat.


3. Stir in the cilantro and hot sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over toasted bulky rolls.

Note: The sloppy joe mixture can be made up to 3 days ahead and stored in an airtight container in the fridge. Re-heat in the microwave or on the stove.

Verdicts:

Dave and the girls really liked it. Jamie actually gobbled hers up. Dave kept saying "It's really good", but I wasn't sure if he was teasing (he is practically a carnivore), but he said, "No. Really. It's really good. I'd eat this again for sure".

Ironically, I wasn't as big a fan. I'm just not that fond of stuff in tomato sauce. I don't know why because I really like fresh tomatoes and I even like tomato soup - but I just don't love tomato sauce -- and this is very tomato sauc-y. That was my only problem with it, though, and I did still eat it all.

Other notes: it has been very hard to find Tempeh! I haven't been able to find it in any grocery store and I couldn't even get it at the Asian market. I got some, finally, at The Horn of Plenty but one of the two packages they sold me was expired. They also sold me an expired (by a YEAR) package of Seiten. Not to mention, I got a parking ticket for getting back to the truck literally 6 minutes late. I think the ticket guy must have just been standing there waiting for the time to run out.

But, anyway...!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone and

have a Terrific Tofu Tuesday!

*recipe from Didi Emmons book, "Entertaining for a Veggie Planet".

Brought to you by...
Kaci@Ellyphant & Kelli@Gohn Crazy

Fit Mommy Monday

It was a beautiful weekend around here. We can definitely feel Spring in the air. And, I'm happy to report that I took full advantage of it in order to further the whole "Whip Mommy Back into Shape" cause. Lily-Pie and I went out for a nice big walk on Saturday and an even bigger one on Sunday. I even hit the trail on Sunday where the recently melted snow made for some very mucky conditions and some quite difficult terrain for pushing a buggy. I kind of thought part-way through that it may have been a mistake going that way -- but I made it and I felt great again after. So, so far so good.

It looks like we will be enjoying the nice weather for awhile more so I'm hoping to get out there again maybe tomorrow. I even bought a new pedometer today which can track my steps and my distance (Jamie took my other one - I guess she has her own little fitness goals). My plan for this week is at least 3 workouts. I'll report back next Monday to see how I did. If you are becoming a Fit Mommy, too, please leave me a comment so I can go check out your Fit Mommy Journey. ;-)

I can't wait to fit into all my old pants again!!

p.s. I don't really run. That's just me being a goofball for the camera.

Bottom's Up.

I did a lot of reading about cloth diapers before Lily-Pie was born. I really like the idea of cloth for many reasons - I think that it has got to be better for her skin, I know it is better for the environment, and we are also down to a one garbage bag limit in our town now. I think we could almost fill up one bag per week with just disposable diapers! Not to mention, they are pretty darn cute. You can get them in so many adorable colors and patterns these days. But the choices are mind-boggling!! You've got the traditional cloth with covers (and then many sub-categories of the type of cloth diaper that goes under the covers), you've got pocket-diapers (a diaper with an opening inside that you stuff with an absorbent cloth panel), and you've got all-in-ones (diapers that are just like disposables, only you don't dispose of them - you wash them).

I had a lot of trouble figuring out what would be best for us, so I went to many web-sites and looked at several forums, and I spoke to girlfriends who had used them. It seems to be that the diaper/cover combo is the most leak-proof, but it would also be the most bulky. And, the all-in-ones would be the most convenient, but they would also be the hardest to wash/dry (since they are "all-in-one", they take much longer to dry for one thing). So, in the end, I decided to go with pockets. Even with that decision made, you aren't set yet because there are many different brands of pocket diapers. You can get Bum Genius, Happy Heiny's, Baby Kanga's, and Fuzzy Buns (amongst others, I'm sure). So, what's a mommy to do?

I decided to try each of them. I ordered a couple from an on-line source and I got the rest from a cool baby store (in which I could have easily spent a million dollars, I think). They are not cheap, I'll tell you - and the initial layout is a bit of a shocker, but if you compare it to what you would end up spending on disposables over the long haul - they do end up being a better bargain. Not to mention the good it does for the environment not to have all those disposables sitting in a landfill forever.

So, I'll let you know how it goes and which ones we decide are best for our particular kiddo. We just have 14 diapers for now, so we will definitely need to invest in a bunch more soon.

If you are a cloth-diapering kind of mommy, please let me know which you use/used and how you liked them.

Man's Best Friend.

Oh I wish I could figure out how to actually post this video. It is the most amazing thing I've ever seen in my life. My hubby is making fun of me because I am sitting here in tears watching it.

Dogs are just wonderful, wonderful, wonderful animals I tell you. This is just further proof of that.

Thankful Thursday - Spider Monkey

It's time for Thankful Thursday. I started to list what I was grateful for on Thursdays because of a little newsletter I received by e-mail one day that explained to me...

According to research in Thanks! How the New Science of Gratitude Can Make You Happier, regularly writing down what you're grateful for can increase your level of happiness by about 25 percent. (So can a chocolate martini, but we couldn't find that in the self-help aisle.)

So, if you'd like to get happier, too...please feel free to make a little list of your own and let me know about it by signing Mr. Linky below so I can go check it out! Here's mine:

1) Health: I am grateful that the horrible tummy virus (I believe it is norovirus) that is going around these here parts has passed me by (knock wood). My little Jamie James may have gotten it because she came into our bed one night a week or so ago and proceeded to vomit all over our duvet. It is so horrible to watch your kid get sick, isn't it? Such a feeling of helplessness coupled with panic and anticipation as you watch to see if this "thing" is going to get better or worse. Luckily, she quickly got better and when Dave got it next it was relatively mild. I know the Fairy Blogmother has been hit by it at her house and I hope they are all feeling back to normal soon.

2) My Baby Can Still Eat with a Cold: This has always been a big fear of mine - my baby getting a cold while she is nursing. I worry that when she is so stuffed up she won't be able to eat. I mean, how could she? But, luckily, despite the fact that she is all stuffed up it seems that, somehow, every time she goes to eat her sinus passages magically open up. She starts eating and within seconds the little wheezing, I'm trying to suck some air in, sound is gone and she is fine. I think this may be why she has gone back to eating every 2 hours (at the most) all day and all night (zzzzzz) - just so she can breathe and feel better/comforted. But, I won't complain (except to maybe mention that I am so tired) because I am just very grateful that she is still able to eat.

3) Rocky Road Ice Cream: Can you believe I've never tried this before in my life? Dave brought it home from the grocery store and it is so good. Little chunks of nuts and chocolate with chocolate and vanilla ice cream swirled together. It looks so pretty and tastes even better. Of course, I was trying to stop with the snacking on junk food every night before I go to bed thing (trying to be a Fit Mama here, Davey, remember?) but since that ice cream came along it's been tough. I may have just put another inch back on my waist. So, I'll have to tell him to stop buying it. But, it is good. And, I will just be grateful to have tried it. lol.

4) My Treadmill: speaking of the above...Yes, I went on that lovely walk last Friday and I felt fantastic for it. But, you know what, the weather turned bitterly cold and viciously windy ever since. I'm sorry, I can't do the cold. I just can't. So, I'm grateful that I do have a lovely treadmill sitting downstairs (covered in dust) that I can use to start getting back in shape. If only I could find the desire to go down and use it.

5) The Promise of Spring: That one nice day last week was really a thrill. How nice to be walking around outside and not freezing your butt off (although, that might be a quicker way to achieve my goal). And, right now, as I sit and gaze out my window, it is a lovely-looking sun-shiny day. Although, the temperature is only 2 degrees with a windchill of probably minus 20...the promise of nicer days is certainly there. You can just feel it. I am very eager for the warmer weather and I promise to get back out there as soon as it comes. In the meantime, I'll try to make the effort to go dust off my treadmill. No, really.




Bonus Thankful Thursday moment: I'm so grateful for these moments when little Lily-Pie does her best impression of a spider monkey on top of her daddy. This is her absolute favourite position to be in. She is so comfy-cozy like this and it is so adorable!

6 Degrees of Separation - Bloggy-Style.

Okay, this is so weird I just have to tell you about it quickly...

I was just surfing around the blog-o-sphere looking for some cool veggie-cooking type blogs. There's one I came across the other day called VeggieWife. I went there to see what was new and see if there were any other links I could jump off to. From there I went to Veggie Girl Vegan. When I was there I found a link to Dog Hill Kitchen that I checked out. When I was at Dog Hill I saw a link to Jen's site at A2EatWrite. I thought, HEY!, I know her...from my pal Shan's What's Cooking Wednesdays.

So, Shan baby, in 6 bloggy steps (if you start with my blog) I went around the world and I came right back to you!!

Is that weird, or what??