Walking on Solid Ground

Guess what I did yesterday guys?

Walked 11 miles.

Not only that...but I walked 11 miles on the beach. Have any of you ever realized that walking on the beach works MUCH different muscles than walking on pavement or dirt?

Well...it does. And I can attest to that. I am SO sore today!

We walked on what is called a "spit"-dungeness spit to be exact! Out at the end of the spit there is a lighthouse and we took a tour. From the parking lot to the end is 5.5 miles. It felt like we were walking FOREVER! I think in total (with a tour of the lighthouse) the whole trip took close to 4.5 hours. WOW. That is a lot of walking. And a lot of unstable walking, using muscles that I normally never use! Let me tell you, it felt amazing when we reached the end and finally got to walk on solid ground!

Pictures to come once I get my new computer!

So Darn Hungry

The last three days have honestly been like a tornado of food for me. I am SO frustrated right now with the way I've been eating. I don't know why, but I've just been soooo hungry! I will finish a meal and then I just can't stop thinking about eating again.

The most frustrating part is that it is not even like I have "splurged" that much. It's just that I have been eating WAY to much of everything I'm having. I'm not feeling satisfied with my normal portions. Although I load up on protein, I am still feeling hungry just an hour to two hours later.

I know that I have gained because I weigh myself every day. I just hope that by Monday I can get back on track and figure out why I'm feeling like this.

I should all mention that, no, I am NOT pregnant, and yes, it IS that time of the month. So yes, I know that has a lot to do with it. But it's still been strange because I feel like I just can't stay full no matter what I do!

I would love to have some happy news for you all soon. I feel like my blog has been a place to vent my frustrations for the last two weeks. Thanks for listening!

Updated: How I'm Changing

Following my post earlier I started thinking about how maybe my definition of "processed foods" is different than others. I did some research and found that that are really actually a lot of things "processed" that i still would eat! However, I did find a pretty good list to some up the kinds of foods I am avoiding:

Processed foods that may not be as healthy as fresh foods include:

• canned foods with lots of sodium
• white breads and pastas made with refined white flour, which are not as healthy as those made with whole grains
• packaged high-calorie snack foods, like chips and cheese snacks
• high-fat convenience foods, like cans of ravioli
• frozen fish sticks and frozen dinners
• packaged cakes and cookies
• boxed meal mixes
• sugary breakfast cereals
• processed meats

How I'm Changing

Good things are happening. I'm happy to say that I have ordered a new computer and it should be here in about a week! Then I will be able to share with you all my lovely photos I've been snapping.

Yesterday was such a great post. What I mean to say by that is I was really excited about all your comments and opinions on going veggie. I really appreciate ALL your feedback! A lot of you mentioned that you choose not to go full veggie because you feared you would make up for the lack of meat with other unhealthy options. This exactly sums up how I feel I think and what has held me back from going full vegetarian. I also think that it would be REALLY hard to adjust to this as my husband and family are just plain out meat eaters!

All that to say, I think for now I have decided to not go full veggie quite yet. It was actually quite strange and coincidental that I saw two other bloggers blog on the vegetarian subject yesterday too, without knowing that I had asked this question. One of them, the Fit RedHead, mentioned a new book by Hungry Girl called "The Flexatarian Diet." This books sounds like it is right down my alley- focusing on eating less meat but not eliminating it altogether. I'm going to check it out as soon as I get the chance!

There are definitely some other areas of my eating that I've also been focusing on changing. I mentioned in my post a couple of days ago that I am no longer buying products with aspartame in them. I've done some research and read some blogs which focus on "whole foods" eating, and that is what I'm starting to focus on. Let me tell you...this is a HUGE struggle for me. It's not easy to give up that little "sugar free treat" that has 60 calories and change to something that might very well have 200. But in the long wrong, my ultimate goal is to stop calorie counting altogether and only eat real, non processed foods as much as possible. That is what I see as "whole" foods eating.

My focus on eating is to eventually eat like this:

-eat a serving of fruit/vegetables at every meal and two snacks a day
-only whole grain carbs
-focus on foods that give me the most "bang for their buck" -or in better terms- protein packed
-drink LOTS of water (tea is ok too!)
-no processed foods
-limit sugar
-meat at only one meal a day (or none!)
-Superfoods. Load up!

and of course...portions portions portions!

That's what I'm focusing on for now. But I'm sure this list is forever changing as I learn more and more about healthy living.

Accidental Vegetarian

First of all, thank you all for your comments yesterday. You all sure do like talking about your poo. (sickos!) hehe, jk :)

So yesterday I made myself a taco. First I heated up the ground turkey and beans, then I spread some FF sour cream on my tortilla, put the beans on, veggies, and cheese. I sat down to enjoy my lunch. I was about 3/4 of the way through when I realized I had forgot the ground turkey altogether. And honestly, the taste difference was minimal.

This is not the first time that I've gone accidental vegetarian on my meal. A couple of weeks ago I literally ate half my turkey sandwich before I realized there was no turkey on it.

How can a person do this you say? Well maybe it's because I'm not "savoring" my food like I should be. But I think not. Trust me, I enjoy food WAY too much to think that I'm not savoring it. My conclusion therefore is that maybe someone/something is trying to telling me to go vegetarian.

I've been thinking about this for a while. You could spout off tons of facts about animals having souls and such and it wouldn't affect me to much....I grew up hunting. (although I respect those opinions, I just don't share them) So why would I make this leap you ask? Well, that's what I'm asking you!

Obviously there are many health reasons for going veggie. I was actually astonished when I heard that cholesterol comes ONLY from animal products (this seems to be a given, but for some reason I didn't realize this). So going veggie=no cholesterol problems. Well since that is not quite something I'm struggling with at this stage in life, it doesn't affect me TOO much, but I'm keeping it on the radar.

I guess my point in this post is to ask you:

Are you veggie? Why? If not, have you ever considered it??

#2 and Stray Dogs

Today I have a very strange and kind of disgusting question to ask. But I've been wondering it for a while....

Before your weigh in, do you go #2? No seriously, I'm wondering. I'm not going to go into why I'm wondering this, but I really am curious! Any brave people out there want to answer this question??

Last night I tried to go on a run in my neighborhood again. FAIL. Last night was the LAST STRAW, I came home angry and furious and wanting to purchase a bb gun. Why you may ask? Stray dogs. Two of them just on a ten minute run last night. Honestly, i can't go running in my neighborhood without some stupid dog running up to Chloe (my pup) and I'm getting sick of it. People obviously do not know how to contain their dogs in this neighborhood. So I give up I guess. No more just put on my shoes and run out the door for me. Now Chloe and I have to hop in my car and go on a 15 minute ride just to go running. Pretty pathetic if you ask me.

Can you tell I'm a little peeved??!

PS- about the bb gun comment- I am a total animal lover so please don't take this seriously, I would only use it in dangerous circumstances.... :)

Weigh in Week 21: When Life Throws you Lemons

Today my FB status sums up what I am feeling:

How come when life throws you lemons, it's always a whole tree full? I guess you can't make lemonade from just one. That's my theory at least.

Better said, I'm frustrated. Our computer broke down on Thursday night. This was our second computer in 6 months to go on the fritz. And then I had someone in my family "offer" to help with a computer to let us have so Kellen can finish out the quarter. When we got the said computer, I was then asked for us to compensate them! GRR. I mean if you say you want to help us out, at least be up front about the fact that you are wanting money for your help! And the frustrating thing is, we are already saving to buy a new computer anyway. Honestly, I am SO done with computer problems. I kind of want to go all "office space" on any computer I see right now and beat them with a baseball bat.

All this to say...unfortunately, my blogging will be lacking for the next couple of weeks. Expect pretty few pictures and posts will be somewhat sparse. I hate this so much because honestly, blogging is one of my favorite things to do- not to mention the accountability it provides.

So where is my lemonade in all this mess?

I lost .5lbs this week.
I'd love to tell you that I am so very proud of myself, but I have to be honest- I didn't deserve this. I really pigged out this weekend. We went down to visit and stay with my family this weekend, and that entailed a steak dinner or Friday, Red Robin on Saturday, and a Easter buffet on Sunday morning. Yes, you heard me right...that wretched word: buffet. (que horror music now).

The one thing I can say is that I did make a couple of good, solid, forward moving choices. I went hiking on Thursday....2 miles and 2,000 miles in elevation=one SORE booty. On Saturday I ordered a side salad at RR instead of fries. On Sunday I ran with my cousin across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

I guess a lot of bad choices and a few good ones equals .5 of a pound for me. Who knows!

Wishing you all a great week. Know I am reading your blogs, even if my comments are few and far between!