You Know Me- I’m Always Planning
With another holiday weekend in front of me, I decided I needed to spend some time today and plan out the meals for the weekend. Last week, with my parents in town, we ate out almost every single day and Paul and I are kind of burnt out on restaurant food so planning to eat every meal at home was a must. We also wanted to plan super yummy vegan meals for when our friend KJ and her little daughter are over for New Year’s Eve, her husband will be working 😦 , and for our friends coming over for New Years day to watch the Cowboys vs. Giants game. We needed to make sure we planned out some awesome food so tha no one would complain about eating vegan 🙂
Oh and I should tell you now, because I don’t think I have mentioned it on here yet, that starting January 1 Paul is adopting a vegan diet as well. I did not ask him to or even try to persuade him towards going vegan- he came to that decision all on his own. I am pretty sure it was a combo of the science and research behind the film “Forks Over Knives” and the fact that Rip Esselstyn, who is the son of one of the main doctors in the film and appears in the movie, is a former pro triathlete, currently working as a fireman and eats a plant-based diet. I think seeing an athletic man speaking about the positive effects of adopting a plant-based diet without having to sacrifice health or fitness helped show him it’s more versatile than he thought.
Since Paul is going vegan I asked him if he wanted any special foods or meals before January 1, sort of like his last meal, and he said no. I think he is ready for the change, which is a good thing, and hopefully it is a smooth transition for him. I know for me life will be so much easier now that we can eat the same meals all the time. We usually eat the same things on the weekends but during the week it is each man for himself in our household. Now we can meal plan, shop, cook and eat together which is awesome. He even helped me pick out some recipes for the weekend. Believe it or not he took two vegan cookbooks with him to work today so he can start coming up with lunches and dinners he would like during the week- I was pretty shocked. Then he said to me that he wanted to make me miso soup and veggie lo mein (I love lo mein) this weekend so it is on the menu for Monday. It’s great he is so excited for this.
Meals for the New Year
Friday dinner: Veggie Burgers with Kale-Cabbage-Leek Grill Mix
Saturday lunch: Back on Track Wheat Berry and Bean Salad with side salad
Dinner: Vegan Enchiladas with Cilantro Avocado Cream Sauce, Spicy Rainbow Rice and Bean Salad, Pico de Gallo and Guacamole
Sunday breakfast: Vegan French Toast (Everyday Happy Herbivore)
Lunch/Dinner: Caribbean Peas & Rice
Party Foods: we’re going Greek-vegan; falafel, eggplant dip, tabouleh, hummus, grilled veggies, pita and a mix of fresh vegetables for dips
Desserts: Frosty No Bake Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies and Chocolate Peanut Butter Chews
Monday breakfast: Overnight Oats
Lunch: Miso Soup with Veggie Lo Mein
Dinner: Back on Track Wheat Berry Salad (I love leftovers! They make life so much easier)
*Recipes not linked are from our cookbooks at home
On top of eating some fantastic vegan food this weekend I also have some great activities planned to help me ring in the New Year. Friday night Paul and I are going to a San Antonio Rampage hockey game which is always fun. Saturday morning after my Weight Watchers meeting we are going to go hike the Enchanted Rock. Please check out the awesome video below about the Enchanted Rock Park, it’s pretty amazing. As I said earlier we will be having KJ and her daughter MJ over for dinner and hanging out with them until MJ’s bed time which will probably also be mine and Paul’s bed time since we need to get a nap in- we are doing a midnight 5K. Since both of us are normally in bed around 9p we thought napping would be our best strategy to make it to midnight and through the race. Sunday will be a very relaxing day as we celebrate with more friends. I am meeting MS for lunch and then we are going to Synergy for their annual New Year’s Day celebration – the Burning Bowl Ceremony with Jodi Roberts and Stephanie Phillips. Then afterwards I will be watching some football (hopefully seeing the Giants destroy the Cowboys) with friends. On Monday we invited our former dog walker over to come spend some time with us and the doggies since we haven’t seen her since we moved. It should be a lot of fun. Then I plan on ending the weekend with a couple of boxing classes at Club KO and hopefully Paul will be joining me for that, too.
What do you have going on this weekend? I would love to hear about your plans and how you will be ringing in the New Year so feel free to comment below 🙂
Thanks for reading!
Wordless Wednesday: Randomness
Here are some random photos. Enjoy!
We went to the shooting range so Paul could blow some shit up. Ok, not really- he was working on his marksmanship.
We bought a Halloween costume for the dogs; neither one liked it very much.
Went to a hockey game where I spent a bulk of the time staring at beers balanced on a ledge just waiting for them to fall. They didn’t.
Received the best Klout perk ever in the mail!!! Top Chef baby!
Wore some new clothes
And I saved some funny pictures posted on Facebook.
Thanks for reading!
Five Things Friday
Shrinkvivor
We did it! We successfully made it through week two’s Tribal Council for Shrinkvivor. Team Hodari Gray is still intact. How? We won immunity! Again! J It’s great having a team that works so hard every week ensuring that we are all safe for another week. I think they said at Tribal Council that we averaged 687 exercise minutes per person. That’s 4809 minutes, or 80 hours and 9 minutes, total for the tribe. Wow! I am so impressed with this tribe. I definitely lucked out. My minutes dropped by almost two hundred between week 1 and 2 and the tribe still upped our average by 100 minutes. These ladies are powerhouses!
This week our challenge is exercise minutes again and I mentioned on Wednesday’s post that my personal goal was to exceed 900 minutes this week. I didn’t lay out my workout plan but just figured I would add a couple activities to my normal routine and voila; 900 minutes. However, by not writing it out I failed to realize I would be adding in four additional activities this week and my minutes should more realistically be over 1,000. Yay! I am hoping we can keep pushing ourselves this week and get immunity for the third week in a row.
Fifty Pounds
Yesterday I was at the Synergy Studio, my home away from home, for Nia and Qigong. Thursday Nia is usually taught by Joanie but Adelle was there instead filling in for her. Adelle is not only a black belt trainer, she has been doing Nia for 13 years (I think), she is also the studio owner and one of the most amazing people I have ever met. I could, and probably should, write a whole post just about her but today I just want to tell you about a conversation we had. The Nia classes at Synergy are taught around a focus, set by and varying by the instructor, which usually changes weekly. If you happen to go to multiple classes within the same week taught by the same instructor you will probably end up dancing the same routine. This helps to develop a better understanding of the routine but also it helps you to remember if by chance you do the routine again months later. That is what happened yesterday. I realized early in the routine that I had danced it before and that it was early on in my Nia journey. It might have even been the third or fourth class I had ever been to it was that early on. Afterwards I went up to Adelle and told her that I remembered that routine and that I remembered it was one of the first ones I had done. She said it was her routine, meaning she chose the music and choreographed it, and that it was the one they filmed in the studio. I was in it. That was back in June and I am not sure if I ever mentioned it on the blog or not but for part of her black belt training she had to record a class participating in an original routine. She told me she was just watching the video the other day while preparing for this week’s classes and that she saw me in it and could not believe how much my body has changed in the past four months. I told her that when I started at Synergy I weighed 260 pounds and I now weigh 210. She said I need to watch the video because it is amazing how different I look and how quickly it has happened. She also asked me if at some point, now or later on in my WLJ, if I wouldn’t mind writing about my story. She thinks it is something Debbie Rosas (co-founder of Nia) would be interested in hearing. I think I am ready to write my Nia story stay tuned for that post.
Talking with Adelle yesterday I had so many thoughts running through my mind; how much Nia has changed my life, how important it is to do things you love, how appreciative I am to have supportive friends and peers cheering me on, but the one thing I could not get over was how proud I was of myself. Not because I lost fifty pounds since joining Synergy or how since that time I have committed myself to bettering my life. Nope, I was proud that Dacia fifty pounds ago didn’t let her weight stop her from being filmed for a Nia video. I know I probably had some apprehension about how I would look on camera but I think even early on I felt acceptance and love from Nia and that was enough to allow me to dance while being filmed and not care about how I looked. So please, if you can take anything from this post here is the one piece of advice I hope you take to heart: don’t wait until you are ‘skinny’ to try things. That was the hardest thing for me to do, to try new things, because I was afraid people would judge me or be disgusted by me because I was fat and that stopped me so many times. I always thought to myself ‘I’ll try that, once I am skinny’ or ‘I’m too fat to do that’. If you want to try yoga or swimming or joining a local walking group do it. Do it now! You are worth it and you have every right to do the things you want to do regardless of your size, shape, age. I’ll be right here, cheering you on, because I know you can do anything you set your mind to!
Nia beats Hockey
Tonight is the first Friday night hockey game of the season. Friday night hockey is Paul’s favorite because Friday nights are dollar beer night. The game starts at 7p and now that we live on post we are less than ten minutes from the stadium which is awesome. However, Friday evenings I usually go to Nia from 5:30p to 6:30p which will more than like cause us to be late to the game. The other day I posed this scenario to Paul and gave him three options to choose from:
A. I go to Nia and we get to the game late, hopefully sometime mid-first period.
B. I go to Nia and we drive separately to the game. He gets to see the whole game and I still get to go to class
C. I skip Nia and we go to the game on time, together
Do you know which one he chose? A. of course because he is awesome and knows how important my classes are to both my physical and emotional well being. Although people may think I am crazy but if I had to prioritize I would put Nia ahead of hockey every time. That’s just the person I am now. It’s weird. I still think that I get to have it all though. I mean I do get to go to the game and the Nia class. Win-win. Oh, and Paul still gets his $1 beer. Win-win-win.
100 Day Chip
On Wednesday I received my first 30 Day Chip. You should go check it out here if you haven’t already. Now I am on day 33 working towards that elusive 100 day chip. I think only one person has ever achieved it. I hope to make that list someday. Maybe in 67 days from now, maybe in 267 days from now; we shall see how long it takes. Regardless of whether or not I get that chip the best part of this process is every day I complete I am further engraining into my memory good habits I will always want to follow. I started out on the 7 Day Chip and the 30 Day Chip counting successful days by whether or not I tracked and portioned my food and drank at least my minimum daily recommended servings of water. Now as I move on towards that 100 Day Chip I am adding a daily goal of activity. My goal is to get my body moving every day for the next 67 days straight. It doesn’t have to be a class though it can be anything active; a walk in the park, a yoga DVD, really just anything to get me moving. Each day I do so I step further away from the sedentary lifestyle I was confined to for far too long. Each day I am active I get further from the path I was headed straight towards; diabetes, heart disease, and numerous other obesity related conditions. For me, this is the best goal I could ever set for myself. It’s the goal that’s helping me get my life back.
Photos
Since I didn’t have a blog post yesterday you all missed out on work outfit #4. Here it is. Now aside from one black and white cardigan you have seen all my non-casual Friday work clothes. Also, I need to mention that the shirt from yesterday is much nicer in person. The green color that looks like baby poo in the pics is really chartreuse.
Happy Friday! Thanks for reading!
{Semi} Wordless Wednesday Mash-Up
My dogs love chewing on sticks
My dogs also love to nap
Kombucha and yummy vegan chips. What a great snack!
I love seeing crazy search words that lead people to my blog like #5
Hockey is back!
All the shit I leave the house with on workdays; 5 bags and a sweater
Vegan Lasagna. Yum!
Outfit #3
Thanks for reading!
Five Things Friday
Shopping
Well I finally did it; I broke down and went bra shopping. I knew that it was in my best interest to have someone measure me so I wouldn’t end up spending hours trying on a plethora of sizes but that wasn’t the reason stopping me from going. It was sheer laziness coupled with financial reasons. I loathe bra shopping; I usually end up in the fitting room super sweaty and that makes it even harder to pull those bras on and off comfortably. Ugh! Not to mention bras are expensive and I just didn’t feel like spending the money on full price so I waited until there was a sale. I was lured into Avenue last Sunday by an email sent to me advertising $15 bras. Score! Off to Avenue I went. When I arrived I promptly went to an associate and asked her to measure me for my bra size and man was I surprised at the results. I had been wearing 44DD through 48DD (I had a stockpile of various sizes) and she measured me at a 40DD. I knew the numeric size would have gone down but was surprised the cup size hadn’t as well. For the first time in many, many years I found myself trying on bras with underwire. I think I gave up on underwire bras once I hit DD- too painful. However, now the underwire bras felt comfortable and I liked how I looked in them which was an added bonus. I bought two. I bought only two because the sale was really buy one at full price and get a second one for $15- damn fine print. So I took two and figured I would just keep my eyes peeled for future sales where I can go back and get more.
Sound Journey
After bra shopping I jetted over to the Synergy Studio for their monthly Sound Journey session. I had never attended this class before and with hockey season starting next week I thought it might be my last opportunity for awhile to go. Sound Journey is put on by Jodi Roberts and how it works is you lie on the floor, you are encouraged to bring mats, blankets, pillows, anything you would want to be comfortable, and relax while she plays Tibetan bowls and gongs. As per the usual, it is easier for me to copy the description from the Synergy website rather than try to explain it on my own:
“De-stress! Breathe! Relax!
Experience a sound journey: a guided journey using Chinese and Paiste gongs, and Tibetan bowls as the doorway into an experience of deep relaxation, de-stressing and healthy transformation. The music enables the brain to enter the theta state where all beliefs and patterns can be recognized and changed. Your body receives a sound massage for deep relaxation. Combined with your personal intentions the music and journey balance and enhance your body, mind and spirit.”
Deep relaxation is an understatement. I would say my experience was more like being in a coma. I have never been in such a deeply relaxed meditative state. It was amazing. Before Jodi started she told us we might be able to feel the effects of it for days and I certainly did. The next session at Synergy is on October 30th but she is also having a session on October 15th in the Cave Without a Name in Boerne, TX. I have heard amazing things about this cave and hope to check it out someday soon. If you want to learn more about Jodi Roberts, Tibetan bowls, or gongs check out her website: Sacred Inspiration She even has CDs for purchase on her site. It’s really some pretty cool stuff.
Smoothies
For the past week I have been drinking a smoothie for breakfast and it has been a great switch. A friend asked me to share the recipe so I thought I would include it in today’s post. @SensitivePantry posted this recipe on Twitter; I can’t take any credit for it. FYI- this recipe is both gluten free and vegan.
Chocolate Smoothie
1 cup coconut water
3 Tablespoons quinoa flakes
½ a banana
½ cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
1 scoop Amazing Grass chocolate green superfood
Small handful of ice
Blend ingredients until smooth. 1 serving.
Coconut water is a great hydrator; it has lots of natural electrolytes and is high in potassium. The chocolate flavored green superfood is filled with all sorts of goodies; wheat grass, alfalfa, spirulina, acai, carrots, beets, flax seed powder, probiotics, the list goes on and on. It really is a super food. This supplement is supposed to help detoxify and boost your immune system, increase energy and support healthy cholesterol levels. I can’t say whether or not it can do all it claims but I do know I feel fantastic after I drink it. Paul loves it too. This smoothie is super filling and energizing. We have even added a tablespoon of peanut butter for some additional protein and that tasted good too.
Let me say this, it is not a cheap smoothie. Yes, it is still cheaper than going to a smoothie place like Jamba Juice every day but it is probably more expensive that the normal smoothies made at home. However, it is a lot more nutritious than any other smoothie I have ever had. If this recipe interests you but you don’t want to spend so much money or don’t have/want to use all of those ingredients I would say keep the chocolate green superfood, add whatever fruit you like/have, use water instead of coconut water, omit the quinoa flakes or sub in some steel cut oats. You could even add in some yogurt. Note that the changes may make it not vegan or gluten free anymore though.
Sports
Rampage Pre-Season
Do you know what Saturday is? The first day of October- can you believe it? It’s also the first San Antonio Rampage home pre-season game. Next Saturday is the home opener for the regular season. Yes! Hockey is finally back! For those of you who don’t know; the San Antonio Rampage are an AHL team that are affiliated with an NHL team. It’s like the equivalent of a minor league baseball team in the way players move back and forth between the AHL and NHL. Last year the Rampage were the Phoenix Coyotes affiliate which means players would get called up to play for Phoenix or move from Phoenix down to San Antonio based on their performance. This year, however, the Rampage are now the Florida Panthers affiliate team. The contract between the Rampage and the Coyotes expired this past summer and for whatever reason the Coyotes did not choose to renew it. There were also other AHL/NHL affiliation contracts that expired as well so there were multiple teams up for grabs. This is a weird sports phenomenon I had no prior knowledge of existing. What does that mean for me as a fan? It means we have a completely new team. You see hockey players, just like baseball players, are drafted by the NHL team and that team evaluates the players and decide who to place in the AHL or NHL. This means when we lost our affiliation with the Coyotes we lost all of their AHL players as well. So, for this season we have an all new team with all new players. Well, actually two players off the Rampage roster from last season, Nolan Yonkman and Bracken Kearns, were free agents and were picked up by the Panthers so there will be two familiar faces to cheer for tomorrow. I will admit, I was very sad to learn that having a new affiliation meant we would have a whole new team. I had grown accustomed to the players we already had. I even met most of them at different season ticket holder events and they were all very nice. Even though it will be weird to see a whole new group of faces tomorrow it will be a fun season and I am ready to cheer them on. Go Rampage!
Phillies Post Season
Tomorrow is also game 1 of the NLDS which has my favorite team the Philadelphia Phillies facing off against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Phillies have had a great year, they set a franchise record with 102 wins and Charlie Manuel became the Phillies manager with the most wins under his belt with 646. Every media outlet I turn to is predicting the Phils to win the World Series (ha, ha MS- not your stinky Yankees) even in Vegas the odds are favoring the Phillies. That’s all fine and dandy except for one thing- the team everyone thinks will win seldom does. All this talk about another ring for the Phillies is doing nothing but making me nervous. Ugh! My concern right now is not the World Series, it is the NLDS. Hello Phillies fans- the Cards beat us six times this season and we only beat them three times. So for me I am just hoping to get out of the NLDS alive. This time of year is always crazy- the end of baseball, the beginning of hockey, college football on Saturday and NFL on Sunday- what’s a girl to do? Lol!
Are you a sports fan? Who are you cheering for? What games are you looking forward to this year?
Thanks for reading!
Wordless Wednesday- Part Two
Thank you, thank you, thank you to the San Antonio Rampage and Spurs Sports Entertainment staff for putting together this wonderful end of season event! I just had to post some pictures from tonight- I couldn’t wait a week! Thanks to Paul for taking all these pictures! What a great husband!
#33 Matt Climie and #49 David Brine
Matt Climie and Levi (sorry Susie, if I misspelled his name)
#9 Alex Picard
My birthday twin- #18 Ryan Weston
#21 Josh Lunden and #25 Ned Lukacevic
The world’s best announcer- J.C.
#7 Jeff May
My bowling buddies- #49 David Brine and #29 Joe Fallon
My other bowling buddie #33 Matt Climie
thirtyfourandfabulous 
