Go Vegan Go!

In my plight to slim down and lose weight for my brother's wedding, I am not only trying to do yoga several times a week, but I'm also toying with the idea of completely changing my diet and going vegan. Now, my husband is a complete carnivore, the complete antithesis of a vegan and everything a vegan stands for. Can we say MEAT EATER?? He was Tyrannosaurus Rex in his past life, I swear! He's not aware of my new game plan yet and when he figures it out, I'm sure he'll be, to put it mildly, annoyed, but he'll get over it...after making fun of me for a few hours. So at the risk of sounding like an uber hippie, what's turned me onto vegan eating is the sheer practice of eating everything organically grown (which I already try to do anyway), stripped of chemicals, free of all dairy and all meat, and infused with super nutrients and natural detoxifiers and how good all of this is for your body. I'm sure that whole sentence just got an eye roll or several, but I don't care! I've recently discovered this restaurant and have fallen in love! I tried the rawsagna the other day and was so surprised at how good it actually tasted! I was expecting a bland blob of hippie food mixed with tofu, too much cumin and topped with something green and unidentifiable, but it actually tasted like lasagna and had similar textures and flavors. I was shocked! What shocked me even further was how GOOD I felt after eating it. It was like my body had a complete and total recharge. I had so much energy and felt like running a marathon! So why not try it out? I mean, if I like the food and it makes me feel so good, what's the harm in it? So, I'm going to try making a few recipes I found here and hope I don't overdose on tofu. Wish me luck!

Crazy Days are almost here...as if they weren't crazy enough already....

I must be insane....no certifiable.....for I have decided to take 6 hours of nutrition classes at TWU, starting August 31st. What am I thinking?? I'm struggling enough to work 40 hours a week, being a full-time mom, wife-extraordinaire, doer of all laundry, bill payer, budget planner, all while trying to maintain my girlish figure and squeeze in a few yoga workouts each week. So now I'm adding even more pressure on my life by taking a few classes?? In Denton??? Well, the way I see it, if I don't do this now, it's never going to get done and I know that I cannot, must not, will not continue down my current career path forever. I will literally shrivel up and die....someone will find me on the floor in a desicatted mass of what once resembled a human being. My job will suck the life out of me....so I have to do this! I have to go to school and I have to get on path to doing something I love, so I can quit doing credentialing for now and forever. So I've been running through in my head of how to maintain some type of schedule and salvaging what little sanity I have left. So far, the best thing I've come up will go something like this:

1. Wake up at 6:30 am - shower, dress, get kid dressed, feed kid breakfast, grab breakfast/lunch for the day, throw load of clothes in washer.
2. 7: 45 am- Drive to work - work. Eat/Study at lunch.
3. 5:30 pm - Come home - eat. feed kid, play with kid, bathe kid, get him down for bed (hopefully by 9:00 pm). Dry/Fold clothes. Study. Sleep.
4. If Tuesday or Thursday, yoga class at night will take place and daddy will feed/bathe kid those evenings. End day with studying and hopefully sleeping.
5. Weekends - Squeeze in a yoga class or 2, if possible in the early morning (8:15ish). Finish up whatever laundry is left. Play, feed, bathe kid. Study whenever available. Sleep.

Obviously, this schedule needs some tweaking, but I think if I can stick to this basic outline, I should be able to stay on top of things. Of course, in between all of that, I'm going to have to squeeze in my brother's wedding, moving into our new house and all of the holiday madness that will ensue. I really need to find a way to clone myself...seriously! But for now, I'll just settle for not going crazy....we'll see how that goes.

Mom, this is for you!

I love you Mom....and I totally understand now!

Pouty Face

If ever I thought my kid didn't resemble me in any way, shape, form or fashion, I was wrong. This is TOTALLY one of my faces! Even though he's pouting, this picture makes me happy! Enjoy...

Goodbye Spike

Yesterday was not a good day for us. Our baby Boston, Spike Jones, had to be put down. He was lethargic, had labored breathing and started peeing blood. Matt rushed him to the vet yesterday and they ran a bunch of tests on him and determined that his heart was enlarged and said he had congestive heart failure. They ran blood tests on him and sent him home last night, but his condition got so much worse in a span of hours. We rushed him back up to the ER vet and they said his lungs were filling up with fluid, his heart rate was highly elevated and he was having a difficult time breathing. He was in pain. They said they could do exploratory surgery, but couldn't guarantee that whatever they found could be treated. It was apparent that his health was rapidly deteriorating. We debated the situation for awhile and came to the conclusion he had to be put down. It was very peaceful when he went, but I am so heartbroken, because he was so young. He was only 4 years old. He was such a good dog...so sweet and loving and faithful. I'll miss him so much. We got a call this morning from the lab and they said he had cancer, so this was the right thing to do. He would not have had any quality of life if we opted to get treatment for him, if he was even treatable. Even though we both feel like we made the right decision, it just doesn't take the heartache away. I know our other 2 dogs suspect something is wrong, as they keep pacing around the house looking for him. Dilly immediately went into his kennel last night and slept there. She knows he's gone. My dear, sweet, lovable baby will be sorely missed, but I know he's in a better place and with no pain. I love you so much, my Baby Spike.

Yoga Nazi

So my brother is getting hitched in October and my goal is to try to be down at least 2 dress sizes by then. After having the kid, my body is stretched out in places that is not supposed to be stretched out! Weight wise, I actually weigh less than I did before I got pregnant. It's just that STUFF is dispersed a lot differently than before, and it's seriously annoying! I think I'd be happy if I lost about 15 pounds, which isn't a lot, but it's so hard when you are surrounded by constant temptation (my husband is King of Temptation....here honey, here's a bowl of ice cream....want a cookie with that??). So, I've started going back to yoga again. I do the power yoga, where the room is heated to a mere 98 degrees and the classes are instructed by tiny little yoga nazi instructors. Am I glutton for special self-torture? Probably. But it seems to be the only thing that helps me slim down and slim down fast. I love how I feel afterwards, even though during most of the classes, I feel like hurling. I really do feel healthy and strong. I just need to keep that mindset and stick with it. I have to force myself to find time to get to class. So the plan is to squeeze at least 3 workouts a week and cut back on sweets. I think if I can manage that, I can get down to my goal size by October. I've only got 2 1/2 more months, so I better get to it!

Food Glorious Food!

As my little monkey is growing and getting to be a big boy, I find myself exploring with new and interesting foods for him to try. In the last 2 weeks, we've gotten him off of formula and started introducing cow's milk gradually. Amongst the hundreds of articles and books I've read over childcare and child nutrition, most have said that his body has had enough time to fully develop his digestive system by 12 months, so he can process cow's milk easier than he would've a few months ago. He seems to like it so far, all though he's a little more gassy than usual (which he gets from his daddy's side of the family anyway). We've also started giving him new fruits such as mangoes, blueberries and strawberries, which he LOVES! He already chows down on bananas, peaches, cantaloupe, pineapple, honeydew melon and watermelon. I'm think I'm going to try to experiment with chick peas and make some chick pea burger patties for him this weekend. Chick peas are a great source of protein, without being terribly loaded with unhealthy fats. I found a good website for some different and yummy recipes, which is the source of my new found inspiration. I've got to find a creative way to get some green beans into his diet, because he's notorious for spitting them across the room with vicious fury! So maybe I can grind some up and throw them in the patties for some extra greenery....we'll see. I might even try introducing honey into his diet. Honey is loaded with antioxidants, but it's not a great idea to give to kids under 12 months, for they are at risk for botulism, which is no bueno! So maybe I can come up with a homemade yogurt dish or something to add a touch of honey to, now that he's old enough. He's loving pasta now, so I'm trying to do different things with that and throwing in as many veggies with it as possible. He loves sweet potatoes, peas, carrots, corn, broccoli, zucchini, squash and avocado (all though, I think that's technically a fruit). I'm sure between Matt and I, we can come up with a yummy, healthy pasta sauce that he'll eat. I must admit that homemade food is SO MUCH cheaper and you get 20 times more than you ever would with the jarred stuff....besides you know exactly what goes into it and you can even get them to "help" you make it....we're still working on that last part....that's a work in progress at the moment! I've made some of his food before, but must admit that I relied on the organic jarred stuff a lot, from lack of time. So it's a goal of mine to make more of his food, now that he's old enough to eat almost anything. Again, this is all a work in progress, so we'll see how it goes.