A little of this, a little of that

We met the social worker doing our home study this week for the first time - yay! She was super nice and I have to say I'm feeling much better about the process. There is a lot of paperwork for sure, but we got our fingerprints done this morning and will have all the clearances mailed in within the next week, I think. Then we have to write our autobiography. For those of you who have done that - how long was yours? She mentioned some as short as 2 pages, others 4-5. When I read over the list of questions, I thought I'd be writing a thesis! Haha. She said we don't have to answer every question, but did point out that it's actually a nice thing to do - our adoptive child might like to read it one day. :)

Our next meeting is the last week of June. We have to schedule the Education course in July and one more meeting. I LOVE that they have a nice checklist of everything we need to do as far as paperwork. I work so much better if I have a nice, orderly checklist!

Next week we'll be traveling - DH is working out of the city his parents live in, and I'm going with him. I'm super excited. I have some things to work on - piano camp, and the autobiography, and a few leisure books! I haven't read a nice relaxing book in ages, although I like mysteries, which aren't always relaxing. :) Do any of you have a favorite mystery author who avoids bad language and immorality?

I am on a blueberry pancake kick. Seriously. I've been craving them since my surgery. We have them every week for brunch on Sunday! I think something's wrong with me. DH and I usually try to go to mass in the morning (early - 6:30!) and have breakfast together on First Fridays, but he was out of town last week. We scheduled it this morning instead and I had more blueberry pancakes. And then went to be fingerprinted! Ha! :)

Has anyone seen the new X-men movie? DH and I rented X3 a few weeks ago. We're going to see the new one tomorrow with my sister. She and I crammed all of them in this week and last while DH was away so she could catch up! It's been so nice having her stay with us!

Ooohhh.... one other thing - manicure and pedicure with the same sister tonight! I rarely splurge on those, but we usually get one for each other for our birthdays. Her birthday was in March so we're catching up, and mine is next month, and she'll have moved by then. So tonight, it is!

Which shade? :)

I better do some cleaning before then or I will wreck the manicure within a day!

Happy Friday, everyone!

The Zo.ne

First a disclaimer: I'm not a nutritionist; what follows is my opinion, and what works for me. I love food, eating healthy and reading about both! :)

DH and I have been following the Zo.ne diet for over a year. As I mentioned in my last post, I became familiar with it when I started following the Cross.Fit workouts and began reading their online journal articles. (The CF journal is terrific, by the way. Nutrition is addressed as well as fitness.) Prior to CF, DH and I, for the most part, followed a pretty good diet - I purchased a lot of fresh foods, we ate (still do) mostly at home (we splurge every 6 months or so for a dinner out and go to a really nice restaurant), and my husband packs his lunch. However, we did have lots of snacks lying around, and have been known to have large amounts of ice cream in the freezer. Somehow, it became my mission to put the Ed.y's children through college. What, you too?? :-D

Espresso chip... black raspberry (ooooh)... caramel praline crunch (ahhhh)...

Oh, pardon me. Where was I?

Ah, yes... the Zone. ;)

I think the first article I read was this one: Meal Plans. Pretty soon after, I borrowed En.ter the Zo.ne from the library by Dr. Sea.rs. CF often says their best CF athletes follow the Zo.ne. I'm not trying to be a superwoman (okay, I am. I could get a cool cape), but I am trying to be in shape and eat healthy. DH and I talked about what I was reading and decided to give it a shot. It did seem to make sense, although weighing and measuring food was time-consuming and a pain at first. And - I didn't have any idea of what to cook! After probably about 2 weeks or so of trying it, DH came across his very frustrated wife trying to plan menus and not having much success. He didn't want to see me stressed out about it or not wanting to cook (which I happen to love!) and suggested we bag the whole idea. I thought about it and decided that if we were going to do it - we had to do it "for real". We would weigh and measure everything. During those initial two weeks, I also hadn't been feeling like myself- kind of out of it, somewhat unfocused, and as though I had a headache just waiting to explode. The day after deciding to do it "for real" I looked up carbohydrate withdrawal and found out I wasn't alone! Apparently, it does happen and I knew I had definitely cut way, way back on carbs.

A few more weeks of sticking to it, and I started to feel much better. More focused and I had lots of energy. I wasn't trying to lose weight - but I did lose a few pounds and I liked the new more toned me - yes CF and those darned squats helped a lot, but I saw even more results by eating differently. 

So... how does it work? Every meal and every snack is in the following ratio:

40% carbs / 30 % protein / 30 % healthy fats.

Meals and snacks are broken into blocks: 9 grams is 1 block of carbs, 7 grams is 1 block of protein, and 1.5 grams is 1 block of fat (this assumes that 1.5 grams of fat come from your protein. If you eat a zero fat protein - like Greek yogurt, double your fat.)

In my normal day I eat between 10-12 blocks. I'm not too particular - some days, especially days I work out, I may eat an extra snack. My main meals are almost always 3 block meals. (Occasionally 4, if the meat/protein part is pre-weighed to be a 4-oz cut of something.) Snacks are usually 1 block, but occasionally 2. Its advised that you never go more than 4-6 hours between a meal or snack. (Well, except overnight.) Both DH and I start getting cranky if we go more than 4 hours - it's pretty funny!

It's gotten easier to cook - our meals are pretty simple - a meat and fruit and veggies, eggs and fruit (I like veggies in my eggs) for breakfast, or cottage cheese and fruit, or Greek yogurt (which is much more balanced in the ratio of carbs/protein than regular). Sometimes I have kefir shakes too. We've cut way back on bread products (which helped when I found out I need to be gluten-free), so most of our carbs come from fruits and veggies. Our fat sources are EVOO, butter, sunflower seeds, almonds (DH) and cashews (me).

One of my favorite videos on the CF website included a discussion of what food is. If you look at an apple - it's clearly an apple. If you have to read what is in the box, it's not food. Maybe it was at one time, but it isn't anymore. :) Food is meant to be perishable - not last for months. It just seemed to make sense. I like to know what I'm actually eating.

Now... do I cheat? Yes, definitely. Fridays are my favorite. I stick to the Zo.ne in the morning and at lunch, and at night, it's pizza, movies and snack night. Ice cream, if I like, often popcorn --as it's movie night too. I don't feel guilty at all about it either. The next morning I'm right back in the Zo.ne.

What I've learned... I look at food differently. It's delicious, and I love it, but it serves a purpose. It's fuel. It keeps my body working and I want it to work well! It's not a diet anymore, it's a lifestyle. I enjoy my food - fresh stuff is just so delicious anyway - and feel satisfied after each meal and snack.

Oh, and one other side benefit? I don't get migraines anymore. I started getting them with increasing frequency a few years back, and now, I don't get one unless I cheat too much and start eating too much sugar! My body really can't handle it anymore. I'd much rather be migraine-less so I'm sticking to this!

For further reading - check out the CF journal and look up Zo.ne. Some of the articles/videos are for subscribers only, but others are free. You can also check your local library for Ent.er the Zo.ne.

And if you have any questions, please let me know! I'm happy to talk about it because I really love what it's done for me! :)

Cross.Fit

Several wonderful bloggers have posted lately about nutrition, and they are all excellent. :) Hopefully later this week I'll get my thoughts organized to post some of my own thoughts, but in the meantime, I thought I'd start by writing about what really got me into viewing food in an entirely different manner.

Cross.Fit.

I LOVE it. :)

I've always been someone who likes working out. Not the sweating part of it, haha, but the feeling of accomplishment, the energy and the feeling that I've burned off those ice cream calories! :) I did some swimming during the summers in middle school, and then I ended up studying Tae K.won Do for many years. TKD was definitely my favorite - lots of variety and fun to boot. [In case you are wondering, I earned my second degree black belt. :)] I haven't been to a class since moving from my hometown, but if we ever move back to that area, I definitely want to pick it up again. I've also worked with personal trainers and belonged to a gym, like many others who are looking to get fit, or to stay in shape. Since getting married, though, I've been working out at home.

About a year and a half ago, DH came home from work talking about Cross.Fit, a core strength and conditioning program. One of his colleagues, it turned out, is a certified Cross.Fit trainer. DH began looking at the CF website and finally decided to try one of the daily workouts that are posted on the site. After just one, I could tell he was hooked. Already we had essentially turned our garage into the workout room (my dream of a car parked in there long gone), and we had some modest equipment: a stationary bike, an elliptical, some weights and benches. He would often go down to his man cave the garage after work to get in a nice workout, normally lasting about 45 minutes. His first CF workout lasted half as long... and I'd never seen him look so exhausted. This from a life-long soccer player and exercise and sports enthusiast. After a few weeks, I was intrigued too. He didn't spend as much time working out, but the quality of each workout was far superior to anything both of us had been doing. And so I began...

So why do I like it? First and probably foremost - I'm not bored. Day after day of the same workouts in the gym or running on a track and I'm literally ready to throw in the towel. I want variety! CF definitely has that. I've learned all about cleans, jerks, snatches and burpies. Some of the main highlights are Olympic weightlifting and gymnastics. For Christmas DH received a pair of olympic gymnastic rings, now hanging from our pull-up rack in the garage. I have a new appreciation for those olympic gymnasts!!Second - I want to be challenged and  see results. [I'm a classic "pear" and certainly parts of me have never been in better shape, haha. :)] I believe it's due to the compound and functional movements plus high intensity at the heart of CF. And I do a lot tons ridiculous amounts of squats. Read more about this here. I never saw results like this with isolation movements at the gym.

The workouts are sometimes insane, but fortunately can be scaled to my current level. Starting out, I use light weights until I can do the exercise well with proper form. I also like that some of the workouts are really short. For example "in 5 minutes, do as many rounds as you can of X, Y, and Z." Occasionally workouts are repeated and you can look to your previous time/weight to see growth.

If you're interested in reading more, I'd recommend the following articles:
Understanding Cross.Fit
What is Fitness?

If you get hooked like me, I'd love to hear about it! :)

ps: There is a website for expectant mothers - just goo.gle CF mom.

4 years married! :)

Yesterday DH and I celebrated our fourth anniversary - yay! Despite the pain of IF, they have been the best four years of my life. I am so blessed to be married to this wonderful man!!!

We're going out to dinner on Saturday to celebrate, but last night I made a delicious salmon dish that I mentioned in a previous post. It was a new recipe and can be found here. I made some alterations - I didn't have the agave nectar (and after some recent blog posts was hesitant to try this sugar "alternate" so I used pure maple syrup. Still a sugar... but... it was our anniversary. ;) I also did not use the capers. 1) I didn't have any on hand, haha. 2) I thought about adding green olives, but changed my mind while making it. It. was. fabulous. Definitely a nice presentation too - I used our china and served the salmon in soup bowls with the salsa on top. I'll have to keep it in mind when we have company. (Or when one of you want to come over for dinner!! :) ) For dessert.... seriously, the stuff is sinful... creme caramel. So delicious, and also so easy to make. I always have the ingredients on hand for that. It's from Coo.king Light but the recipe in my book is smaller than this one. If you want the one I used, let me know! I used 6 ramekins. And, I used extra strength vanilla from Pen.zey's rather than the vanilla bean.

I should have taken pictures... but everything was gobbled up quickly! :)

My parents are coming to visit for the weekend, and my sister is moving in with us for a month starting tonight. It will be a full - and fun - house this weekend. :)

Happy Memorial Day weekend, everyone!

Adrenal Fatigue

Is it the missing link? :)


I just received an email from Dr. S - 3 of my 4 levels were below normal and the 4th was at the low end of normal.  He recommended the following: Cortef 5 mg, 1 tablet in AM, 1 just before lunch, and one near bedtime. He also recommended 2 books (what would I do without Ama.zon?!) Adre.nal Fatigue: the 21st century stress syndrome and The Cor.tisol Connection: why stre.ss makes you fat and rui.ns your health. I have to admit, I just started laughing when I read the subtitle of the second book. (Don't hate me please) but I've always been little -at times scrawny- except when I had all that water weight after my last surgery. Uhhhh.... Dr. S... I still haven't gained back what I lost after the surgeries! Honestly though, what is there about IF that isn't stressful? Could it be the TTC for almost 4 years? (I know many of you have been waiting much longer.) The monthly blood work? Making sure I identify my peak day so I can take drugs accordingly and get lab work drawn? Doctor's appointments every 3-4 months? Multiple surgeries? Sarcasm and humor intended there. :)


Part of me shudders at the irony of it all - I had my colon removed because I was tired of being sick, going to doctors and taking heaps of meds. The adhesions caused by that surgery led me to all this and taking more heaps of meds. I could drop all of it, I know... but I guess I'm not ready to give up yet. Apparently there are more options of things to try.


Hugs and praying for you all...

7 Quick Takes

1) I have no idea where this month is going. :) So, so, so busy with recitals, competitions, preparations for recitals and competitions, a group class, playing for masses at church. Whew. June 7th is the day all of "that" will end. We're traveling to visit family after that for a week - Hubby is working out of town in the town where his parents & brother live. Yay! Looking forward to that!!!

2) Just made some blueberry scones using my GF flour... they're still kind of warm, and not quite as "crunchy" as I would like... so I might be out looking for another recipe. Mmmmm... scones and tea. :)

3) Speaking of recipes, I need some new ones. With so many fresh fruits and veggies available, I get itching to try new combinations. :) I spent some time this morning looking up clips from Gi.ada at Ho.me... I love her recipes!! I found some great ones for salmon, and some yummy breakfast treats. Can't wait to try them!

4) I need to finish cleaning my house. (And here I am blogging!)

5) Got some fabric to make some new pillows for our sofa in the living room. If I have time next week, I may try to get those done. I don't have a pattern for one of them, but I have an idea in my head... we'll see how it turns out! Jo.Ann's was having a good sale on home decorator fabric.

6) I have been obsessed with decorating blogs as of late. :-D I saw some really cute homemade cards on one site and ended up with several trips to Mi.chael's in the past 2 weeks to get supplies. (Of course, with coupons and sales.) I've been bad about mailing friends/family birthday cards lately... maybe this will jump-start things again. I love stationary, stickers, pretty paper, and I found this really great stuff called Japan.ese wash.i tape online. How cool is masking tape with beautiful patterns? (There are several ladies who sell it on Etsy - just do a search). :)

7) Friiiiiiiiiiiiiiday!!!! How I love Fridays!! I remembered (finally!) to defrost the homemade pizza dough for pizza tonight. I've been making it with basil, and 4 kinds of cheese - provolone, fresh mozzarella, fresh grated parmesan and a pre-shredded pizza blend. I bake the crust beforehand so it doesn't stay gooey (GF pizza doughs seem to do this more), and before I bake that I throw on some olive oil and onion & garlic powder. It is soooo yummy. It's better than the gluten pizza I used to make! Also, I don't have lessons on Fridays and it's a great way to get the house in shape for the weekend. (See #4). Despite by best efforts with the 40 bags, I find I still have clutter in the house and it is so much easier to enjoy the weekend with Hubby if I'm not staring at stuff that needs to be put away or organized. So... I better get crackin!

Happy weekend, everyone!! :)

It seemed like a good day...

to go for a walk....

Isn't it beautiful outside? Maybe I'll get some color. I'm whiter than white on rice. :)

 I could go here:

But maybe I'll go here....

to mail THIS!!!!!!! :) :) :)

Home Study... here we come!!!