Welcome to day two  of 2019!

How did day one go for you?  I had to work at 6:30am, so I didn't stay up until midnight with my kids.  I was in bed by 10pm on Dec. 31!  I was not prepared to start my Whole 30 off 100% yesterday.  We left town on Dec. 30 for a funeral on the 31, so I didn't get to the grocery like I had planned on either day.  I did have eggs and some W30 approved snacks.  When I got to work, I was put on a different floor than I am usually on, and was running around like crazy to even have time to get bored or want to snack!  So, my day was a success over all.

I did have pork chops in the freezer, so I could try a new Instant Pot recipe from the Whole 30 Slow Cooker cookbook! YUM!!!!  Sorry, I didn't take any photos, but the family loved it!

I also planned ahead and packed a gym bag to stop at the club to use a treadmill!  I ran/walked 1.65 miles in 22 minutes.  Came home to do the "Celebration Circuit" and man do I feel it this morning.  This old body is out of shape!

My kids don't have school today.  I think I want to work on our 19 in 2019 lists, graduation party plans and see where we want to travel on our vacation this summer.  (Last summer, we went out to South Dakota.  Hubby wanted us to plan the trip together, one month before we were to leave, no plans had been made.  We didn't travel as far as we would have liked, stayed at a terrible campground on the fly, and decided we would do better next time.)  I want to see what AAA can do to help us this time around, too.

Wishing you well this new year,
AnnMarie

Ready for 2019?

Yes, I am going to do this again.  I started out well in January last year.  But somewhere along the way, I fell so far off the wagon that I cannot find it right now.  (Yikes!  All my new to me scrub pants are about to burst at the seams.  Not good or pretty!).  My goal in 2019 is to feel better about myself for me and my kids.  Enough already!!!!  I am tired of being tired.  I need to get back on the self care train and stick to it.

To help me out, I signed up for Another Mother Runner's MANY HAPPY MILES training program.  They start on January 1, too.  I got new running shoes last week, so here we go!  I really need to get out the door and away for my stress relieving runs again.  I want to run with my kids in fun runs again.  I hope to train for and run a half marathon with my oldest daughter this summer, before she heads off to college this fall.

I started listening to a few fun podcasts this past year.  One of them is HAPPIER by Gretchen Rubin. I love the fun tips they offer weekly to "make life a little easier and (hopefully) a little happier."  With the holidays, I am behind in my listening.  Last year, Gretchen and her sister, Elizabeth did a list of 18 items they wanted to do in 2018.  This year, they proposed 19 in 2019.  I need to finalize my list, but I will share it when I do.

What are you aiming for in 2019?

Off n Running,
AnnMarie

Sunday, again!

Happy fall Sunday blog readers,

Where has the month gone?  We are already over halfway done with our Whole 30.  WOW!  And I am happy to report that I have not knowingly cheated!  I say "knowingly" because in the beginning I was not as good about reading those pesky labels.  My DH is not being as strict as I am about this round.

As you know, I am a Girl Scout leader.  In the fall, in our Council, we sell nuts and candy.  (Cookies are in January!)  I ordered a couple of items from each of the girls to boost their sales and was so excited to get my cans of Whole Cashews.  Then I read the label: Cashews, Salt, Peanut Oil.  Wait, WHAT?!?!?  Why would you put peanut oil on cashews?  Yesterday, I was at Aldi, and DH likes the Lightly Salted Almonds.  I read that label and there is peanut oil on those roasted nuts too?!?!  Who knew?  Well, know I know and sadly the can of cashews will be wrapped up for the bus drivers Christmas gift.  So, I guess that is a small win, as I won't have to decide what to get her.  😉

So, I think I told you all that DH borrowed the Whole30 book from his bus buddy.  I found a book store in my area that is sadly going out of business.  I got the last copy of the book!  Woo Hoo for me!  We gave Bus Buddy the new copy, since we are wearing the copy they borrowed us out.  I am loving everything that I have tried, except the mayo recipe.  I cannot figure out how to get it to emulsify.  I am pretty sure I added the oil too fast and now I have a jar of separated mess in my fridge.  I am going to try again, as I really want to make Deviled eggs for one of my Thanksgiving treats.

Was texting with my sister-in-law last night.  We are spending a few nights with them for Thanksgiving.  She has a son in college, a son who is a Sophomore in High School and an eighth grade daughter.  My brother, owns a farm and these kids help out AND are active in athletics and other school activities.  Add my three and we need to cook up a few feasts a day to feed this crew.  So, we laid out a meal plan.  I did tell her that DH and I are doing the Whole 30, so we will be bringing some of our own ingredients.  She suggested tacos/nacho bar for one night.  I just found this great recipe I want to try for Sweet Potato chips as your nacho chips.  If this works, I will be snacking on chips and salsa again really soon!

I love Pinterest.  For Thanksgiving, we will be going out to a restaurant to celebrate my parents 50th wedding anniversary.  This will be our brunch/lunch time meal.  For dinner, we are all pitching in and bringing food to serve the masses.  I am going to try these stuffed mushrooms, I found them this morning on Pinterest.  I am also going to bring the Chicken Pot Pie soup I Pinned and my family LOVES!  And I will see if anyone is bringing a veggie tray.  I need to try the Ranch dressing from the Whole 30 book, so we can dip our veggies legally, if we want to.

Today is a Girl Scout meeting.  We are going to be finalizing the plans for the Winter Wonderland Brunch that is in less than 2 weeks.  Ack!  I have 8 registered girls, and I know that 2 of them are not going to be at the meeting.  We have a lot to do with so few girls in attendance.  Wish me luck.  And have a great week everyone.  Happy Thanksgiving, if I don't get time to blog again before then!  I have been thinking a lot about the new year coming and what that might look like for me and my family.  My son, needs to get a fire lit under him so he can rank up this spring before tennis and baseball season.  My oldest daughter needs to get started on her Gold Award project so that we can have it approved and work all next summer on it.  My youngest wants to earn her Bronze Award this summer before she bridges up to be a Cadet Scout.  Whew that makes me tired, but also makes me excited to see what the kids dreams are and where life will take them.  I will be having my meniscus repair surgery on December 21, 2017.  So, I hope to get on the road and actually run a bit in the new year.  We will see.

Off n Running,
AnnMarie

Day 7 - Morning

Good Morning,
What a week it has been at my house!  I am sorry I let you (my readers) down.  I really planned on sitting down at this computer every night to recap my Whole30 progress and here we are a week into it and I have blogged, what twice?!?!  SO SORRY.

My son, is a Freshman.  He was invited to earn an extra class credit this school year, by being in the Jazz Band.  The Jazz Band meets BEFORE school 3 days a week.  This cuts into my blogging time.  LOL!  My son is also a Boy Scout, and I mentioned he played for the school soccer team.  He intends to go out for the tennis and the baseball team this year, too.  Boy Scouts meet every Monday from 7-8:30.  He was lucky enough to go to the National Jamboree this past summer.  He met boys from all over our great nation.  He still Snapchats with some of these fine young men.  About a month ago, he was on a camping trip and got to see some of the Jambo boys again.  This is the price I pay to have well rounded kids!  LOL!

My oldest daughter, swam for the team at Sectionals on Saturday.  She got best times in both her individual events (200 Freestyle and 100 Backstroke).  She swam the last leg of the 4 X 100 Freestyle Relay, and swam a 0:59!  She is still in shock about that one.  She will be going to the State meet this weekend, as an Alternate for the Relay that qualified.  Then on Sunday, I am going to sit down with her and we are going to start working on her Girl Scout Gold Project!  I will try to blog about that another time.  If we are lucky we can get her schedule her presentation to the Girl Scout Council in December or January.  This will be her off season time, before she starts Track in the Spring!

And let's not leave out my baby girl.  She goes to a local gymnastics gym two times a week.  She LOVES gymnastics!  We were told that as an Xcel gymnast, there will be a National competition this year.  So, my PeeWee has set the bar high and is working hard to get there!  As a family we have never been to Tennessee!  Her Girl Scout troop is planning a Winter Wonderland Brunch.

I worked a bit extra last week on top of running these three superstars all over the place.  And I stuck to the Whole30 plan!  On Saturday, we were tempted to just go out for dinner after a long day at the pool.  I looked up a couple of restaurants on my smartphone and got to their menus.  We would be that annoying couple making so many substitutions, that we decided to just go home and make hamburgers.  I had those in the freezer!  I also had some potatoes, that I sliced up to make homemade fries.  I "whipped' up the "legal" ketchup recipe and we had a nice dinner.

Shoot - I have to go walk the dog, before getting my boy to Jazz band!  Check in with you all soon,

Off n Running,
AnnMarie

Whole 30 day one recap...

I made it through day one!  I had a massage client come in and hand me two Hershey Nuggets, "to recharge before your next massage".  How sweet, but I did not eat them!  Super proud of myself on that one!

I made the chili from the Whole 30 book for our supper one night this week.  I had a very long work day, so I did the crock pot version.  A few things I would do differently next time: 1) When I brown the meat, I will not crumble it so finely.  As leftovers, this is too fine!  2) If I am going to cook this all day in the crock pot, I might not brown the meat all the way, so that it can cook a bit more in the crock.  3) The recipe says to put the seasonings in the pan with the onions.  Again if crock potting this, I think I might just put the seasonings in the crock, because I can't taste any chili flavor!  The family has not really commented on this dish, so I am not sure what they thought of it.

For Day 1 Dinner, I made the Chicken Hash recipe.  This took WAY longer than 15 minutes prep!  I can see now that having a meal prep day is going to be key to stay on this program.  This dish was DELICIOUS!!!!  Everyone in the family loved it.

I had 3 eggs scrambled with some mushrooms and peppers.  For lunch, I had leftover chili.  I think I had more water to drink on Day 1 and that helped me feel fuller.

I will try to get photos and page numbers of the recipes for you next time!

Off n Running,
AnnMarie

Whole 30 here I come...

Don't you love it when things start to come together?  A few years back, I learned of this program called Whole 30.  I requested the books by Melissa and Dallas Hartwig SEVERAL times from the library.  I might have paged through them even, before they were due.  Way back in 2002, I was great about cleaning up my diet.  I lost 18 pounds just from cleaning up my diet!  Then baby number two came along and I gave into the cravings and here we are 15 years later, and pushing the scale to limits I am not yet ready to talk about.  😐

Sometime in maybe August, my Dear Husband came home and told me about his Bus Buddy being on this "new" program called Whole 30.  Bus Buddy's whole family is on this amazing program.  Bus buddy looks unrecognizable!  Thanks Bus Buddy, but really where were you in 2014, when I needed you?!?!  😉

Bus buddy did the Whole 30, looks amazing, or so I have been told, and now his family is eating mostly Paleo.  Because Bus Buddy looks amazing and told my DH how easy it was, once you got past the first week and detoxed out the bad stuff, DH has decided to go on the program.  Seriously, I have tried several programs to clean up my our diet, but DH wasn't having it.  I heard, "I need meat and potatoes and sugar!"  Well, DH started last Monday and seems to be doing ok.  I needed time to read IT STARTS WITH FOOD and look into menu planning for the family with these "new" recipes.  I told DH, I am going to start on November 1.

SO, here we are!  It is November 1, and I have been up since 5:30am.  I just finished my 3 eggs scrambled with mushrooms and sweet peppers.  I made up the classic chili recipe last night for dinner and have packed some leftovers for my lunch.  DH has picked out a recipe from the WHOLE 30 book for dinner tonight.

Here is what I need from this... to get sugar out of my system.  I am a junkie and crave the poison so badly!  I still think I have a candida overgrowth and cutting the sugar will help with that.  I am convinced that the sugar I eat has also attributed to the hip/knee problem that I have.  So I hope to use this blog as my sound board and get some help from others who have succeeded on the Whole 30.

So, I want to kick the sugar to the curb.  As a result, I hope to start the healing process on my leg issue, which will allow me to run again.  Running again will lead to weight loss.  These are all that I hope to get from this program.  I am bringing the family along, whether they know it or want to, for this journey.  I am praying that this will be a plan we stick to and keep the sugar out of the diet!

Wish us luck, hope to be Off n Running again SOON,

AnnMarie