Food for the Soul

 

So I like to have some food for the soul and my southern husband loves it more.  So I made something for the soul and the heart!  This was a chicken Shepard's pie.  I am sad that I don't have the picture of it done.

To start I took anything I had in the fridge.  Onion, carrots, celery, garlic, and mushrooms.  I chopped just under a pound of chicken into very tiny pieces. 

Cooked the chicken with rosemary, olive oil, garlic and S&P.

Take the chicken out.  Now I cook the vegetables and add in some broth. One can of the Healthy Cream of Chicken soup.

Put this in a casserole dish and set the oven for 350.

Now in a pot I boil about 3 or 4 potatoes.  Make sure they are peeled because this will top the dish.  Once soft I mash them in a bowl with some S&P and garlic powder.  Added in some fresh herbs like parsley.  Then add 1/4 cup of reduced fat sour cream. 

I top the pan with the mash potatoes and dust with paprika.

BAKE THIS FOR 25 MIN AND LOVE IT!!!



It has been a spell....
So here is the update.
I had the baby...a little man! Known by his big sister as Blinkin- No not his name, but for the blog it will be!
He is so super sweet and *knock on wood* a basically good baby, even go as far to say really good.

The morning I went to the hospital to have him I got on the scale, the awful hospital scale, and it read 253.  Now my scale at home did not read that at all.  I figure that's totally fine and I can go with, just makes me feel like I am doing even better. 

I came home and am now almost 4 weeks post baby.  I had my weight in today and I was...drum roll...226.6. I think its great!

 Here is what I am doing:

I joined Weight Watchers online.  I have done it before and I know it works.  This way I am held accountable.

I use a Fitbit.  This way I can stay motivated to move a little more.  This is kinda big right now for me since I am home and need to get in as much moving as possible.  ( My husband has threatened to have a Housewives intervention...I just get so sucked in!!)

My husband is on the journey with me.  This is HUGE motivation.  So easy when you have a friend.  Also, so much easier when everyone in the house is all in.

Getting ready to have the man!

Yeah I know, he is cute!!!!!!!

Prego Picture

34 Weeks Prego with my little girl!

I wanted to post some prego pictures so I can see where I start!

One month to go....

It has been been a while....like I said I am more the busy these days.  I have been feeling rather great until the last three days.  Just that delightful pregnant discomfort that tends to happen in the last few weeks.
The good news in all this, my great feelings for the past two months has left me with no weight gain at all.  I have managed to go to the gym and eat very healthy.  ( ok so the eating hasn't been as good the closer we get to Christmas) 

All I think about is getting into shape and feeling healthy after this baby comes out.  As I watch my daughter who is almost 4 grow more and more everyday I want nothing more then for her to be healthy.  I want her to have a good body image of herself and health in general.  She is such a picky child and feeding her is beyond a chore.  She loves vegetables and fruit...and yes that's great.  I know so many people have issues with kids not wanting to eat the good stuff.  The problem with her is trying anything new and eating protein....if it isn't a chicken nugget or a fish stick...its war.  The other issue........the crap.  She loves crap.  Ohh you know CANDY and CHIPS and SPRITE!!!
So as the new year approaches and the new family member will make his debut I think this is the perfect time to make new resolutions.  Something for the family to strive for. 

For my daughter the changes now are easier then when shes an overweight teen trying to reverse the damage that I have already helped her do.  For Lincoln , well he doesn't have to do anything at all.  Instead the goal is that he grows up in an environment where healthy lifestyles are just the norm.  '
For my husband ....well that takes explaining.  He is currently out of work due to a back injury at work.  Its been two months and its stressful at times.  Mostly painful and annoying for him.  He has a lot of PT and is now trying to lose weight and strengthen his core. ( Dr.'s orders)  Although his weight is not the direct reason of the injury, he has very physical job, it doesn't help.  Having to drag around an extra 70 pounds doesn't make it feel any better.  '
So the goals are clear...we all get healthy.  AND I CAN'T WAIT!

The way that I miss a good workout...the kind where you sweat and go until you literal fall off the machine.  Ohh I miss it so much...its an addiction that I just can't break and honestly never want to.

The only thing left to figure out is what are my specific goals...What do I want to accomplish with my fitness??  5 5K's? Half Marathon?  Yoga? Crossfit?  ALL OF IT!!
I'm a " Goal Oriented, Chart using, Organized" kind of gal so I'm sure it will all be displayed colorfully on my wall to remind me everyday....maybe with some glitter. Everyone needs some glitter!

What's in a name?

So you see the name and now to know what's in the name...........
The Wait:  This stands for so many things.   The obvious is the wait for the baby.  It's 16 more weeks and I will wait.  Then there  is the wait that I have done my entier life to finally be in shape.  To have actual good health. 

Now....

The Weight:  This one seems obvious and truly for the most part it is.  I have been over weight my entire life.  Sure I have lost a lot of weight over the years....like 100's of pounds.  BUT in the end I I never keep it off.  The other weight is the one you cant see, the one that represents the enormous amount of life that I am currently trying to take on.

Here is a little back story on how I got to the place I am currently residing in.  ( that place would be called overwhelmed )  When I gave birth to my daughter a little over three years ago I was the happiest mother.  I was also extremely heavy.  I went into the hospital at a large and in charge size of 275 pounds.  Once my daughters first birthday had past I realized I was still huge.  One November night my husband looked at my knowing how miserable I was about my weight and said some magic words.  He said " What can I do to help you?"  It was apparently what I needed because I had managed my way down to 207 pounds by her second birthday  Then life did what it does best and got a little messy.  I'm not going to go into the details...I went into them enough in my actual life.  Its important to know that something BIG happened but you can really just make it whatever you want ( car accident, alien abduction, death...just think life changing event )   In the end it all worked out but it still left my life very altered.  It also made me drop another 15 or 17 pounds. ( I don't actually know all I know is that it wasn't in a healthy way). Staying with myself I gained and lost weight over the next few months, I ended up gaining weight.  However, I never stopped working out so that was good.  Then I decided that I wanted to have another baby. ( part of the crazy alter and transition that I was speaking of )  The thought though of gaining weight and struggling again ( pregnancy sucked for me )  was just a lot to take in.
SOOOO to make this already long story not as long....It happened.  And through a lot of things I'm out the other end at 16 weeks to go. 
Now my focus is on not waiting  ( that word again ) till this little boy is year old to get healthy.  I'm going to try my best to keep my weight in check these next weeks.  Keep my focus on getting in shape after this baby, so in turn really staying focused as I get into the "OMG I WANT TO EAT EVERY CANDY BAR IN THE STORE" phase of pregnancy.

So that's what is in a name...and that is the focus of this blog.  Its about life and gaining control.  Learning to wait and loosing weight.

A blog you say...

I once had a blog..but the blog is now gone and in blog heaven.  Some things happened and the blog no longer seemed like it was right for me.

So a little more then a year later....I have a new blog.  Yes, your looking at it now.

In the true fashion of my wonderful self, I decided to take up something new when I only had about 9 million things on my plate.  And whats funny about that....that's how I knew it was right.  That's how I knew the wait was over.  That's how I knew that my time of change and transition was over and I was now in the next phase of life.

Now this may sound a little strange when you look from the outside in.  From the outside...I'm 16 weeks away from having a baby.  I'm back in school after year long break and a change in my degree ( my work pays me to learn...so its more then worth it to change).  I'm about to start studying for an exam for work that is considered to be fairly hard. I'm currently in the process of remodeling my home ( that's a joint effort on the part of my husband as well)   I'm basically taking on anything that comes my way while growing a little human inside me.  A little boy.

Somehow I feel more at rest then I have in a long time.  Feeling like I can take on a thousand things because this is who I am.

*Picture of myself a year ago. Im a happy person even when my life is upside down*