Still Working Hard

I know lately I have been focused on my journey to lose weight, but I feel like I owe myself something this time around. my focus is definitely different. It's hard staying on plan and staying motivated, but I am definitely focused. I have not weighed my self yet, but I have a doctor's appointment in the morning and they usually weigh so I will be able to have an idea of how I am doing.

Well along with losing some pounds I told you I was going to be organizing my life. I am still working on #2 from my post "Changing My Life so I can Finally be in Control of My Will". It stated:

2. Make a plan to clean house...check Living room done,but it took 3 days. I even made a work-space)
    a. 2 hours of cleaning per day until each room has been done.
    b. MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE MY HUSBAND IN THIS PART next is reorganizing the kitchen.

Well let's see how I have been doing...

1. Living room...check
2. Work Space...check
3. Filing...check
4. Kitchen reorganized...check

BEFORE AND AFTERS

Pantry

Spice cabinet

I bought this at the Vintage Fair in Lakeland, Fl and now I am putting it to good use.

My lazy Susan cabinet

AND OTHER THINGS I ORGANIZED

This cabinet stays full of clutter, but now its CLEEAANNN!

I have more drawers, but you get the picture.

So it took me about 4 hours to clean the kitchen. I was so inspired that my husband and I made a wonderful dinner to top it off with

BEEF KABOBS with CURRY KIDNEY BEANS...YUMMY!

Next, I will be tackling my bathroom sink and hallway closet. I will have to get a few things before then, but I am still hard at work.

Days seem longer on a diet!

So yesterday seemed like a very long day. It started off great.

We ate breakfast...our usual. 

We took our vitamins

We did our morning work out and I even made my Motivation board and Workout Schedule.

After our workout that's when things got tough. We were definitely tired!

This time it was about 3 pm and we were riding by our neighborhood chicken establishment (literally about 4 blocks from where we live). We caught a whiff of that chicken and we went to CRAVING. 

We tried to forget about it, but I got to be honest it was on my mind all day long and even today. You can read more about here http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal.asp?id=LCLAY0.

Well we had to go and pick up our copy of Insanity from my husbands friend at about 5:00 pm. So I rushed to prepare some things and try to waist time. Here is what I made in 90 minutes. 

Homemade Raspberry Vinaigrette. I found the recipe from online at Allrecipes. Only thing was I used raspberries I already had frozen and white wine vinegar boiled and then reduced and added the other ingredients except for the salt and sugar. It taste's okay, but I know it have been the bomb if I cold add just a hint of salt and the sugar to balance the acidity.

Here we have homemade peanut butter. I bought Fishers peanuts for two bucks. I roasted them in the oven and added Flax-seed oil in the food processor till I got the consistency of peanut butter. It was very bitter so I added some Stevia for sweetener. I like it, but the Stevia leaves an awful after taste in your mouth that makes you miss plain sugar really bad. Next time I will use honey.

I found a recipe for Creamy Avacodo Pasta Sauce on Pinterest. It was really easy. I used it with my dinner last night because we don't eat any pasta at all. It taste's great because it has basil and lemon that took my seared chicken to another level. 

I made a Strawberry Salad with slivered almonds and green leaf salad. You can see my raspberry sauce on top. That was lunch that we ate very late.

At this point I was ready to start on re-organizing my kitchen, but it was time to get the video. I love my husbands friend, but one thing we already know is that when we visit him it may not take a minute or two, but instead and hour or two. We stayed almost four hours and it threw us off our time schedule. I was still thinking about that CHICKEN. It was even a topic of conversation at the friend's house. What made it bad was the friend wanted us to to stay and have dinner...Damn...Damn...Damn! They were having Bourbon Chicken and Orange chicken from the Chinese restaurant in the mall. He was also going to get some Blue Moon (Don't know what it is...look it up). WHY LORD WHY. In all we denied the offer and came home. by this time I am super hungry because dinner in out house is at 6 pm. We were 3 hours off and CRAVING. By this time the day had been TOO LONG. 

I was able to cook dinner in about less than 20 minutes. 

See my avocado sauce? I ate that chicken like it was the last piece on Earth. We enjoyed and went settled down for bed catching up on TV shows. 

I could not go to sleep....know why?

BECAUSE MY MIND WAS ON FRIED CHICKEN UUUUGGGGHHH!

About 11:30 pm my husband turned off the TV and wanted me to read with him. The last thing I felt like doing was reading so I turned my ass over and read me to sleep.

New Eating Habits

Boy....it is hard changing the way you eat. I have to try new recipes.  I am usually craving fried chicken by now, but no no no got to do right this time. So how do I make it work?

No salt
No sugar
No starchy foods
No soda

In the morning I eat one cup of oatmeal with 1/2 cup berries and a whey protein shake with no soy or high fructose corn syrup. I ALSO TAKE VITAMINS AND ALOT OF THEM.

A snack mid-morning like a piece of fruit.

Lunch is a lean meat about 4oz and a cup of salad.

I made four lettuce wraps with one chicken breast. My husband and I  both had two.

I have another snack about 3pm

Dinner is usually fun because I try to experiment. 

Yesterday I made turkey meatballs seasoned with thyme, sage, black pepper and red pepper. I also made a lima bean mash with caramelized onions for texture. It was so good!

I am going to try something new again today. I have gotten use to no salt, but its hard seeing all the food commercials and not thinking about tasting it.

I suffered from a headache for the first few days now I am fine.

I end the day with another shake before bed. 

I have been noticing that after I eat I start getting heated and sometimes I sweat. I had to research it and found out that it is my METABOLISM....YAY!

I plan on improving even the more because hey nobody's perfect. 

QUOTE OF THE DAY!

"Sometimes we must get hurt in order to grow. We must fail in order to know. Sometimes our vision is clear only after our eyes washed away with tears." (UNKNOWN)

I loved this. I found it on a blog from Sparkpeople and I had to re-post it. Simply put what it mean to me "That's what life is and if you are not growing from what you learn you might as well be dead." Harsh, but truth in my eyes.

Changing my life so I can finally be in control of my own will!

So you know I am on a new regime. My goal is to lose 202 pounds by 2015. Sounds like quite a bit, but do you know how big I am...I am too young to be this big.

HELLO!

So here is my plan.

I have decided to work from the inside out. I need to change my whole existence right now at the age of 33. I am am getting older and more mature. By the time I am 35...I want to be a whole new person. I have always tried diet fads here and there, but honey until you change your mindset nothing will happen. I have always heard the cliche "what your house looks like on the outside is what you are feeling like on the inside". I can honestly say it's true. I have always been a "ALL AT ONE TIME" mindset girl. If I wanted clothes I had to have a whole new wardrobe. If I wanted a car I had to have all the money at one to get it. If I wanted to change my eating habits I had to clear out all the cabinets and buy all new grocery. You kind of get the idea by now. I have learned that I have to take things one step and one day at a time. You can't have it all once, but you can have it all if you believe that GREATNESS IS ACHIEVED THROUGH SMALL SUCCESSES.

So I am doing me y'all for the next two months I am detoxing MIND, BODY, AND SOUL.
1. Ship the kids off for the summer...check (I love you TN)

Far left is Angel 11, fourth child is Ashani 14, and fifth is Mia 16. We met their aunt in ATL and they left for TN about a week ago. The other kids are their cousins.

2. Make a plan to clean house...check Living room done,but it took 3 days. I even made a work-space)
    a. 2 hours of cleaning per day until each room has been done.
    b. MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE MY HUSBAND IN THIS PART next is reorganizing the kitchen.

My Workspace

Coupons filed by date. Oh I can't tell you where I had these. I should have done a before.

Filing space for Banking, Legal, Bills, Insurance, etc. in order and dated.

These were all over the place, work, bedrooms, living room now they have a home.

Some my personal books in my office space

3. Make a schedule to follow each day (I AM SO BAD AT PLANNING AND EXECUTING)...check

I am a business teacher that teaches time management and organizational management (HELL THAT       WAS MY DEGREE. I have to practice what I preach. I can plan all day, but executing can be a bit of a task. Don't get me wrong I can execute, but I do not follow the plan i made so its gets chaotic.

This is on my refrigerator! 

4. Eat right and workout...check

My lunch today. I was half done before I took the pic. 

5. I am working on a few other things that will help my life become so much easier.                                               a. CREDIT - my husband and I are working to get out credit score up. We need a bigger house. A 4    bedroom, 3 bath, with 2 living rooms, formal dining area, office and STORAGE MAMMY! We have one in mind already that is right around the block from where we live. 

b. BUSINESS- We have had a tax business at home for a few years, but we need more clients. I plan on starting my own wit my sissy http://thesistersophisticate.blogspot.com/. We are into Vintage and Redesign.

c. LESSON PLANS AND FBLA - My first year as a teacher just rounded up the beginning of this month. I cold not stay on top of everything this year so it was stressful. I plan on making a schedule with lesson plans for everyday this year along with FBLA and using some common core along with it since we will be going that way by 2014.

6. My house is still a work in progress, but my kitchen is done here are some pics. next is bathrooms and floors. You may have noticed from my previous blogs I was working on it.. 

Still have some work to do like back-splash behind the stove and above the microwave and picking curtains out for the window. We have recess lights in the ceiling, but my husband is working on them. That's him on the right. BETTER PICS WHEN COMPLETELY DONE.

DID YOU NOTICE ANYTHING MAJOR?

I am going natural. I cut all my hair off last week. It's so easy to manage and my hair is good so when I wet it curls up. I look how my kids say FYE!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

Happy Father's Day to my loving and supportive husband!  This man is the father I wish I had in my life. 

He has a wonderful relationship with his girls...even though he wishes for a boy. We both know that it's too late for that, but all in all I know his daughter's come first in everything he does. I wish him the best. Love you!

WHAT MAKES DADS

God took the strength of a mountain, 

The majesty of a tree, 

The warmth of a summer sun, 

The calm of a quiet sea, 

The generous soul of nature, 

The comforting arm of night, 

The wisdom of the ages, 

The power of the eagle's flight, 

The joy of a morning in spring, 

The faith of a mustard seed, 

The patience of eternity, 

The depth of a family need, 

Then God combined these qualities, 

When there was nothing more to add, 

He knew His masterpiece was complete, 

And so, He called it ... Dad

Author Unknown

This is my dad. I found him in 2008 and we have yet had a chance to meet in person. We talk on the phone to each other and we have a wonderful relationship. I love you and I hope you have a Happy Father's Day as well. 

A Little Girl Needs Daddy 

A little girl needs Daddy

For many, many things: 

Like holding her high off the ground

Where the sunlight sings! 

Like being the deep music

That tells her all is right

When she awakens frantic with

The terrors of the night. 

Like being the great mountain

That rises in her heart

And shows her how she might get home

When all else falls apart. 

Like giving her the love

That is her sea and air, 

So diving deep or soaring high

She'll always find him there. 

Author Unknown

SparkPeople

This is a new site that I have come across in my new weight loss journey. It has everything. You will feel supported and motivated with this site. I would suggest it for anyone trying to lose weight. All the resources are there and you can tweak it to your own liking.

I started yesterday to be exact and I love it. I have played and explored it for hours. I have chatted with numerous people and started a new blog on there site. Their community support teams are great and they email you right away when you join. They even have a Pinterest account. CHECK IT OUT!

www.SparkPeople.com

I'M BACK!

I had to go away for a while. In that time I have become a teacher and boy was I busy. I want to start blogging again and now that I have time and plenty ideas I am really wanting to finish what I started. I have also upgraded my phone so this can really be interesting. STAY ON THE LOOK OUT IN THE NEAR FUTURE.