Stuff... ya know... stuff...

So I should probably update this blog since it’s been a while. I'm so sorry you guys.

Ken and I did compete, I won. Not by much and it wasn’t fair, because we kind of gave in. We didn’t dole out prizes or anything. We just went on with our lives. And played dominoes with my parents. :)

Things have been hectic around here. I gave up school last August because I couldn’t focus enough energy on my studies. (I promise to go back!) Then work became really busy. (I promise not to talk about work much, if at all. I might put you guys to sleep.) The commute, the amount of time I want to spend with my son, eating gluten-free. (and low-carb -which btw, could be a job all its own. I mean, have you seen the amount of dishes I make from one simple dish?! Sheesh.) Medical appointments, life appointments (bills, taxes, etc.)… Life became overwhelming. I took some amino acids (via the book The Mood Cure By Julia Ross) and for a while things got better. Then they got worse around the holidays when I had a hard time keeping up with my diet, we stopped eating at home as much… and started making big decisions on our relationship (more on that later). We’d taken the time to enjoy ourselves and we overindulged on foods no one could misconstrue as healthy. Meh. So apparently I’m an emotional eater when I get stressed… anyone shocked? I’m not.

It feels like some of the past months were a blur. Much like I feel like I’ve known Ken forever but not long enough. I mean both in a good way. Yes, I’ve been stressed. However, the time spent with my family and friends (which basically feels like extended family) has been the best and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. But all that time has meant that I’ve had to do a lot of the stuff I didn’t want to either, like dishes.

Then, after the holidays, we decided something had to give. We started by eating dinners at home more often. First meals on the weekends. That was the easiest because we were actually home during this time. Then dinners at night on the weekends. Then I would cook breakfasts and lunches. Sometimes people eat them, sometimes they forget I made them. Dinner is always at home now. It’s been 3 weeks. We’ve eaten almost exclusively at home for most of our meals. Yay us!

Then we started working on the quality of our meals. Everything is pretty fresh. Everything has pretty good quality for what you can buy at a regular grocery store. Eventually I’d like us to source meat from a farmer, but we’re not there yet. Baby steps, young padawan. Currently we eat low-carb, whole foods. I would call it a hybrid of low-carb and paleo. We don’t eat grains or beans, but we do eat occasional processed foods ("treats"), and dairy. The dairy isn’t in huge amounts. Mostly berries with whipped cream (YUM!). There has been a few nights where we do actually eat lacto-fermented foods - that I made! We are being gentle with ourselves. I’ve noticed there is a huge push back movement to be pure about paleo. I know  if we’re overly concerned with being “pure” we’ll never actually stick with it. We already know this is a plan for life; let’s not try to sabotage ourselves early. So far it appears we're losing 1 lb a day (both of us). That's a great pace. I'm comfortable with that.

We’ve also started exercising more. Since December I’ve been lifting weights the superslow method (or slow burn). I am really strong and I’m in a lot less pain. But I’m not great with any type of endurance. The plan is to run a Warrior Dash this fall. So, we have a lot of progress to make. I know that we’re going to do it. We have a whole team of people that are coming with us. I do have ideas on how to get in better shape myself this summer. It’s just going to be some work. I’m not looking forward to being in physical pain – i.e. sore – but that happens to everyone who was as out of shape as I have been. I'm trying to promise myself not to do that to myself again... but that seems like a lot of pressure. So, uh, yeah... workout for the week sounds great. :)

I will be the first to admit that my lack of weight loss up until now has also been due to sleep deprivation. I promise I’m working on that too. I do really well on the weekends. My multitasking skills have been put to good use lately during the week. I just need to learn when to give up and go to bed. I can't build an universe in a day; apparently I'm not God. (Don't tell Reece. Although, I think he already knows.)

I have been sending recipes to my mom that I try and fall in love with. I’ve been considering changing the look/feel of this blog in relation to that. Change will happen this year. I’m just not sure what direction I want to go in. Once I decide, you’ll start seeing some changes. Any input?

So for this week what’s going on?

This week I plan on making some ghee. I also want to make some bacon jam, crockpot caramelized onions, and this amazing sounding chicken chili I have in a recipe book. If any of it turns out decent, I'll post links and comments so you guys can try the stuff too.I mean, I don't want to pass along stuff unless it's quality.

I think that’s mostly it. I am going to try to work on this blogging thing a little more and get better at it. I do like it, apparently just as much as I like sleep - both which I devote little time to. (cue some failure music - wah wah wah...)

Oh yeah. And I cut all my hair off for the summer (or longer)… I am actually dating someone who likes short hair. WIN. I’ll post pictures on Facebook possibly on Wednesday after my bang trim, as long as everything goes ok. I swear I'm not always photogenic... which is why I'm not a supermodel for a living. (I only play one in my head.)