Life Decisions Scare Me

Well as some of you know I've been exploring a career in Nutrition. I have reached out to a few ladies that are from this area and actually got to go to coffee with a Registered Dietitian on Monday. It was really cool to be able to talk to her. I also had one person contact me through my formspring box that is an RD offering for me to talk to her. I haven't gotten a hold of her yet, but if you are reading this, just know I will be contacting soon!

On Tuesday I randomly started up a conversation with a lady I had heard through a friend was a certified nutritionist. You know that weird feeling when you introduce yourself to someone that doesn't know who you are but you know all about them? This was that. LOL! But that's ok, because our conversation turned out AMAZING.

Not only did we have a good 45 minute discussion on a nutrition career....we then continued our discussion through e-mails the next day.

I can't tell you guys how JUBILANT I am that I've met her! She is so passionate about her career and is so willing to help me with my professional decisions. It's honestly a big relief that I've finally talked to someone that really wants to invest back in me. Already she has thrown some huge decisions my way and given me some amazing options. For instance....ummm...the fact that there is University close to me that is Nationally renowned for the degree I want to get! YEAH! How did I miss that one?! Not quite sure!

I prayed a couple weeks ago that if this is what God would have me do, that He will help things fall into place. It's funny how I can pray that prayer wholeheartedly and still not believe that He will work things out. Doubt is a killer, huh?

If in fact I do decide to go to this University, it WILL be a sacrifice. First of all, it is a mighty commute. We are talking a 45 minute ferry and 20 minute drive. I'm hoping I would only have to go two or three days a week.

It will also cost money. The commute $ itself is going to be killer. Not to mention the univeristy itself. You don't really call yourself nationally renowned and not charge an arm and a leg.

Thirdly, time. And that is probably the hardest thing. What will I do for work? Will I have to get a different job to fit around my school schedule? Will Kellen feel neglected? Will my husky pup show her anger of less excercise through even MORE rebellion?! How long will this take? I want to have kids someday!!!
...all of this scares me to death.

But the biggest question is: is it worth it?

Is it worth it to be doing something I really love to do?
Is it worth it to finally feel like I've put my gifts to good use?
Is it worth it to feel like I am really doing something with my life, really impacting people and making a difference?

I've already asked my #1 (God) and #2 (hubby) to help me with this decision. So far all systems go....

But I'm still scared.

The Boy :0)

Oh my love- the hubby. I could probably write an entire book on the aspects of our relationship, our story, and every other little detail. But alas, I do have a life.

It seems that many of you are little relationship prodders...haha! Totally kidding-- that is what my little formspring box is there for, so ask away! (I may regret that challenge...)

"Do you and your husband eat the same things for meals?"

As I am writing this post, my love is consuming a bowl of cheerios as a post dinner snack. So there ya have it.

Yes, we really do. There are not TOO many things I have ventured into eating that he is opposed to. However, he does eat about 3X the amount I do. (no exaggeration)

The only thing he is really not to into is my "lower cal replacement" items- things like egg whites, turkey bacon, etc. So for those kinds of things I usually have the regular items on hand for him. I have heard minimal complaining about switching to ground turkey, but he HAS brought up that he thinks ground beef has more flavor, and prefers it.

The funny thing is, he eats a LOT of food- but he's not unhealthy. He is in construction and God really only knows how many calories that man burns a day (it's got to be A LOT). So he eats a lot to make up for that. I don't buy junk food, so he doesn't eat it!

And actually...he's losing weight. If you followed me last month you would know that he has lost about 15 pounds since I started my healthy journey. I was excited that I finally passed him and weighed in less than him in February....the scary thing is...he's starting to catch up to me again! AH!

"do you feel sexier now that you weigh less"

Not really. I know it's strange to say, but I never let being overweight affect the way I felt in that "arena" of my life. And the hubby definitely helps. Let's just say....he likes me a lot....at any weight!

I haven't gotten to the point where I really, truly FEEL much skinnier. I know that I look different, but I still feel very similar to what I weighed at the beginning. This is just me, and what 27.5lbs lost feels on MY body- on someone else it might be extremely different.

"how does your boy toy feel about this weight loss journey of yours"

In order to answer this question you must first understand my husband's personality. And sadly, I really don't think I can do a very good job of communicating that with you all (minus my two readers that actually know him!).

Kellen is a goofy guy. He just doesn't take a whole lot seriously. He's definitely the typical jock, "class clown" of every group, football-loving, beer drinking, manly man.

That being said, he is supportive...in his own way. At first I am pretty sure he didn't really know what to think. I have attempted to "lose weight" several times while we've been together, and failed...a lot. So I think in a way he's almost been "scared" to say anything on the subject...possibly because I've bitten his head off in the past for voicing his opinion on it (whoops!).

That being said, he stayed fairly quiet, for a long time. In the past two months he's talked about it a lot more. He's expressed how proud he is of me several times and tells me that I look great. But I still think he sometimes feels he's walking that "thin line" and therefore avoids the subject altogether for the most part!

Hope that answers those questions for the most part. I love him so very much and thank you all for providing the opportunity for me to blab about my favorite person :)

Trick Your Man Tuesday's: Second Edition

Welcome to my new weekly installment of "Trick Your Man Tuesday's" If you missed last week's episode, you can click HERE to check it out.

Trick Your Man Tuesday's was invented in order to try to get my husband eating healthier food choices without his knowledge. Is it only me or do we all get a little sense of satisfaction when the people around us have no idea that what they are eating is just a little bit better for them, and we don't have to hear their hesitations?

This week on the menu was spaghetti and ceaser salad. The healthy switches? Ground turkey for regular ground beef and low fat ceaser in place of regular.

This was a very daring event as my cooking this week had to be done quickly without the notice of the subject, who was playing video games on the couch! (Notice said subject in background, please forgive me for the crappy photo as I was trying not to draw attention to the frying pan)And here is my frying pan creation: Ground turkey with spaghetti sauce. I was a little worried about the color of the meat as this might be a big indicator....we will see....

While the pasta was a' cookin, I threw together some lettuce and low fat ceaser dressing. Did I mention the low fat part??! SHHHHHHHHH mum's the word!And here is the final spaghetti product. My portion/his portion. Man that man can eat!
THE VERDICT:

It went a little something like this:

Meal was inhaled (on both parts, i was hungry!)

End of meal...

Him: Um...is this like chicken or something?
Me: OH....uhhh...yeah...uh....ground turkey...*slight smile* But it was good wasn't it?!?
Him: Yeah....*smiling* But why ya gotta cheat me like that??!

(no comment on the ceaser)

We both laughed. It was a good moment. And I think he may just be open to the ground turkey a little more....

MISSION SUCCESSFUL!!


After dinner the leftover cookies were consumed by the subject. Yay for no more temptation for me!

PT: We're all here because we're not all there.

Yesterday was really fun. It started out with a super yummy breakfast that Kellen and I like to make once in a while:This dish consisted of red potatoes, eggs, onions, and bacon. Calories? A lot. But don't worry people! I lightened my version up--egg whites and turkey sausage in stead of regular eggs and bacon. Here's a pic of my plate:Yum!

After Breakfast we headed to Port Townsend. It's a town on the Puget Sound. Our first stop there was Fort Warden state park. This park used to be a military base and has a ton of cool old military bunkers to explore. It also has some hiking trails up to higher bunkers and such. It was SO fun!Here we are exploring the bunkers:All in all it was great exercise!
We sat down on a seat we found at the park and ate our lunch:

Tuna fish sandwich on 45 calorie bread. A perfect packed lunch. I tried feeding Chloe some carrots but she wouldn't go for it!After lunch we went into town. Downtown Port Townsend is a super cute strip of shops and cafe's. If you'd like to see some more pictures I took around the town there, you can click here to be linked to my photography blog. To wrap up our day, we headed over the Courtyard Cafe. I ordered the "Way to Aunt Katie's Heart- Peanut Butter Pie"Don't worry guys! I didn't eat it all. It was pretty delicious, but I resisted!
This place even makes there own Marshmallows! I didn't try them, but Kellen and I definitely plan on it next trip we take!

Such a wonderful day!

Trick Your Man Tuesday's

In honor of all these catchy weekly post names, I am starting my own. It's called "Trick Your Man Tuesday's" This is one in which I decide to fool my husband into thinking he is NOT eating something healthy, but instead just another normal fatty food meal that he is used to.

Let me first start by explaining that my husband is a skinny mini-- and although I love the man to death, he has never had a concept of nutritious eating. His honest advice to me on how to lose weight was "just eat lettuce for every meal" WOW, hunny! You should write a book! Who woulda thought you would know the secret to weight loss?!?! (please forgive my sarcasm)

Now I also must inform you that I am not the only culprit in the house that is hiding eating habits from the other person! Have you ever seen the episode of King of Queens where Doug gets in trouble with Carrie because she discovers that he eats a "pre-dinner" cheeseburger every evening?!

Yeah. Well.

After my WONDERFUL post yesterday about my amazing tuna casserole that my husband helped himself to TWO servings of (I take that as a compliment of course!), he ran to our local store to pick up some batteries. As I am checking our bank account this morning, LOW AND BEHOLD there is a charge from our local pizza joint...for that day!

Don't worry people, I confronted. He confessed. It's all good. (We actually both had a good laugh)

So on to the "meat" of this post....

I decided to trick my hubby dear this evening with mashed potato-cauliflower creation.
SHHH! DON'T TELL HIM I'M USING CAULIFLOWER IN MASHED POTATOES!Basically I used three red potatoes and a whole head of cauliflower, mashed it, added some butter and milk and VOILA!
I also made a weight watchers side that had been sitting in the cupboard for a while. Hurry! Throw the weight watchers evidence away!Here's our final product:Mashed potatoes, noodles, and chicken.

The verdict:
He walked in when I was chopping the cauliflower. DARN IT! And he asked what the noodle stuff was....I can not lie....

He still liked it though :)

So there you go. I'll keep your secrets if you'll keep mine. As long as you don't tell him that last weeks taco soup was made with ground turkey!!

This may become a weekly tricky occurrence. May not. We will see!

My Weekend with the Hubs and the Cone Head

Well this weekend has been pretty fun! I've been starting out my mornings with a cup of coconut tea. Since I don't have an infuser, my lovely husband helped me invent something in it's place--its a coffee filter held in place by a refrigerator clip! Genius! This was made using my adorable tea kettle from Target that I received from my wedding. Between hot coco and tea, it gets a lot of use around here:

As for my exciting Friday night, it started off with a pampered chef party at my friend Hollie's house. I asked Kellen to take a picture of me before I left, and apparently the cone head (aka Chloe) wanted in on it as well!I decided to make the best of it...for her sake!
I had to jet right when I got home so kellen had to make dinner for himself...*dun dun dun* (que horror music now!)
Here is a pic of his spicy pork and rice creation:
And the verdict is.....
Sexy and delicious, apparently! Haha

It was mine and kellen's "dating anniversary" on friday. Who says you have to only celebrate wedding anniversaries when you get married? We've been together for 5 years!!
This is us four years ago. I love him!!

In health news...I am excited for my weigh in tomorrow. I went running on Saturday and set a new running record: 28 minutes straight. I'll be updating later this week on my running. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Getting tired of hearing....

My husband asked if he's lost weight!! Yes, that's right, two months and 14 pounds into my journey has anyone asked me if I've lost weight?? NO! Have they asked my stick skinny, 6foot 3inch tall husband?? Multiple times!! He's actually getting worried from all the comments. He keeps saying " I am not TRYING to lose weight, I don't get it!!"

The man eats like ab elephant...no joke. Last Friday he ate a small bag of chips, an entire order of chicken teriyaki, and then another bag of chips when we got home for dinner. Not to mention I bought him a costco sized box of movie theater butter popcorn that he demolished in less than a month!!

All I can think of is that although he has not reduced his portion sizes, he is eating healthier meals because of my cooking choices.

All I can say is (excuse my french but...) DAMN HIM!!...love ya hunny! :
;)