Day Four- ....I got nothin' streaks over

I might need to change this week to hail to the hummus week- who knew? Same breakfast today as the first three days...boring I know!







Was super backed up at work today since I had yesterday off and of course that's when bottom drops out and everyone is in a panic...added some mixed nuts to my pickled nuts for a bit of flare.






Got a brilliant idea at lunch to make "egg salad" with egg whites and hummus- TA-DA- AMAZING!







I steamed up some brussel sprouts to make sure the house was EXTRA stinky.....













Parky decided to try out the Rock Diet....probably not so great for your teeth...







I blew it on dinner and exercise today- Paul is on vacation and we don't have the NFL network so we HAD to go see the game at the local bar...I had hummus and whole wheat pita for dinner...and a couple beers....and some garlic fries.... :/   I'm blaming the garlic fries on the punk sitting next to us cause if I didn't have to smell them for 30 minutes I would have been in the clear!

What's your fast food cat nip? Definitely fries for me!



Day Three, Dr Appointments-Yipee!

Getting lame already, I know...

Super crazy day today starting with Gyno apts first thing for me and Alyssa....YAY :/ So Breakfast Bar in the car for meal one.




Since we both had apts it took forever and we both were starving so hit our favorite breakfast spot- The Good Egg, and this was soooo good!
Egg whites, spinach, onions, and chopped tomato with a side of fresh fruit!









 We had about an hour to kill and then had to head for another set of apts with the dentist, luckily I always carry a Snack Bar in my purse so I ate it on the hour drive to the dentist.





After spending two hours at the dentist getting a temp crown put in I was starving so we walked to QT to buy our winning power ball tickets and get a snack. Since half my mouth was numb I had few choices and opted for the small mocha frappachino- no where near close to the best choice but I was light headed from the Novocain and needed something to get me home.

As soon as I got home there was still no chewing...made a banana berry Meal Replacement Shake and started dinner.


Determined to use the remaining turkey I didn't freeze, I concocted turkey noodle soup; 1 box and 1 can of chicken broth, add 2 C water, 1 whole tomato, 1 med onion quartered, 2 celery stalks halved, half a bag of mini carrots, 2 garlic cloves smashed, and 2 tsp of 21 Seasoning Salute from Trader Joes- bring to a boil and simmer for an hour.

Chop your bird while that simmers...




After the hour you remove all the vegi's/garlic and toss everything but the carrots- I chopped them up smaller and threw back in. Added my chopped bird, a bag of frozen mixed vegi's and about a cup of spiral noodles - preferably whole wheat (you can omit if you are burn day). Bring back to a boil and cook until noodles are cooked through.

I wasn't hungry yet from the MRS I had while cooking so I actually did my Zumba for the day while everyone ate- appetizing for them I am sure! Today's DVD was the Ripped one and they ain't joking...who knew you could get such a great workout with a chair!



I still couldn't chew well (hence the noodles) as the chicken was hard enough for me to break down, but Caden had 4 bowls of this and I do have to say it's the best broth I've ever made. You will notice my lunch packet to the right since I didn't really have lunch I just added them at dinner:)

With nothing personal to either, Dentist or Gyno appointment...which is more dreaded?

Day Two- Through!

Not sure how long I can keep the rhyming up, but I don't shy from a challenge! =)

Day two and life already kicked in...still on DayQuil so breakfast was the same as yesterday and my snacks were as well (pickle nuts anyone?). I pretty much stick to a schedule when I'm working from home because it's easy and it works- why mess with it?






Lunch was not so planned an ended up being on the fly....so we stopped by Quizno's and I was famished (meaning I waited too long to eat) so I knew a salad wasn't going to cut it so I got a small turkey sandwich with every vegi they had on it :)









I remembered to take my before lunch supplements but got so excited to eat I forgot to take my with lunch ones so I took them with dinner...which is why I was starving again by dinner time so I had a hard boiled egg while I cooked dinner- baked salmon and carrots.



Obviously I almost forgot to take a picture again before I scarfed it all down...grrr!








Exercise was Zumba Fitness again, Exhilarate DVD- which basically means you better know what you're doing or be missing a vertebra or something cause that chick on there is ridiculous- the opposite ridiculous of what I looked like trying to copy her....another half serving of protein after my workout and that's it for day 2:)

Zumba advise anyone? I could use it!



Day 1- Done!

Day 1 of my fight against fat Santa's and go figure I'm coming down with a cold :/ Same thing happened to me when I very first started The 24 Day Challenge and I powered through then so here we go...

Felt I needed more in my substance in my breakfast today since I had to add Dayquil to my mix MNS Max C, so had a Breakfast Bar instead of the usual shake.

Lunch was leftover sliced turkey breast with some bagged vegi's I snagged at Fry's last night for $.50- booyah!

Both snacks today were regular cashews mixed w/pickled cashews about half/half...as the day went on I started to forget to take pictures until I was actually halfway or more through eating...so no this is not a portion size- it started out as 1/2 a cup

I snacked on green and black olives while making dinner cause I was starving....hence I almost forgot to take a pic of dinner. I used ground turkey and added 1 egg white, spices, and a couple dashes of Worcester sauce to make portioned patties, steamed up some Brussel sprouts and yum-yum!

Did 45 minutes of Zumba with Lyss and Parky to round out the day- my goal for the first 10 days is to follow the clean eating and supplements of the Lean and Burn phases of The 24 Day Challenge and then add in the suggested workouts for the Zumba 10 Day jump start- YAY ME!

Gettin serious this round- I want awesome comparison pics!





****When you are adding workouts to the challenge, don't forget your Catalyst and Spark prior, and then a half portion of protein after to ensure you are protecting and then feeding the muscles you are working- maximum effectiveness <3 it!

Where do you fit in your exercise? I can't do mornings, so nights are for me!

Don't forget to breathe

So just a quick post today cause it is actually Day 1 of my next round and I want to blog as a recap of the day before so today's events are what I am blogging about tomorrow....so I'm leaving you with a few words on relate-ability from Natalie...

                                                                                      ....we have SO much in common!

How often do you have to tell yourself "JUST BREATHE!" - me, daily....

Hair on Saturday, gone today

Today was a big day for Parky....first hair cut! Who knew something so simple could make a Mom a bit emotional? My baby's growing up too fast already!


Here's the before and after- don't be fooled though, the in between were pretty nar-nar!











Reeling in my food choices in prep for another 24 Day Group Challenge starting tomorrow- bye-bye stuffing and fluff, hello skinny jeans and boots! It's always more encouraging to have a buddy or a group to start with cause it helps with the accountability piece- I'm all about the power in numbers!
Putting left over vegi's from Thanksgiving to good use in my snack today!






Well tomorrow I am back at it full force in my fight against being a Fat Santa this year....ready to kick it up with the exercise and really get some great results at the end of 24 days....thinking it's time for some updated pics at that point! Booyah!

Are you and inside or outside exerciser? I think I'm half&half...or indecisive- I'll let you decide...



Fight Chubuary- Act Now!

I am thinking I need to order this calendar to keep me motivated through the remaining 40 some odd days of 2012.....

Then again if I put together all the pics of me from last year I could probably make my own....BLAHAHAHAHAHA! :/

Christmas Day 2011

No Fat Santa's! A group of us are actually doing a 24 Day Challenge Round starting Monday 11/26 to Slim Down for Season so if you are looking to shed some of that extra stuffing or even break through a plateau this system is perfect! You can email me for details and contact info at sparkedmom@gmail.com and I can help get you started- the average Challenger loses 8-10lbs and I lost 5 in the first 10 days!

 

What goals are you setting from now until the end of the year?

Food Coma Friday

Since I knew this extended weekend was going to be a food fest, I have let myself indulge, but come Monday I am starting another lean in 15 cycle- fight those pounds folks, don't give up! It's much easier to pick yourself up after a weekend or even a week of slips, just don't let it a week turn into a month- it happens before you know it!



 I outsmarted my Deviled Egg tradition, lunch today- egg salad! 1 hard boiled chopped with the yolk and 3 more with just the egg white part chopped; small squirt of mayo, as much mustard as you like to taste, dab of horse radish, salt and pepper.














 I paired the salad mix with 1/2 piece of Naan bread- which isn't the best-est choice, but it does have higher protein (4g) and fiber(3g) than the other options I had on hand which reminds me I need to order some  Carb Ease Plus for situations like this :/



Avoiding the crowds of shoppers so far today, but I did find one awesome deal online, and I have to venture out eventually because tomorrow is Paul's Birthday and I haven't even shopped for him yet...bad fiance'!


Parker and I have the same feeling about heading out later today...

Any crazy black Friday stories to share? One year when I worked in retail and had to open the doors with security and I saw a child's arm get stuck in the door and her Mom just left her behind!! Finally another lady shielded the poor girl from the moving mob and got her free- I made sure THAT lady got TWO free Rudolf Tree Ornaments...

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Not gonna lie...I love me some Stove Top- double YAY on that find!

 

I swear Thanksgiving is the longest day of the year...I don't care what the Mayans say....they didn't spend the 3rd Thursday of November cooking a ridiculous amount of food and then make the wise decision to forgo sleep in preparation for the barbaric shopping experience known simply as "Black Friday".





While I was slaving away on a 21 lb turkey, Parky was improvising with turtle soup...I think he was trying to show me up in the appetizer department...

...note to self- more cartoons, less food network :D









Too bad turkey's weren't more like spiders cause two legs are not enough...we practically have to hold a lottery here to keep the peace!








Me and this bird literally spent more time together than most first dates...but at the end of the day I decided it wasn't going to work out and we both needed to move on.


Okay, so maybe this wasn't the most mature of partings but I'm blaming it on the triptophan...really...I ate a TON of turkey...swear!











Our guests weren't huge on taking left overs so that left us with A LOT of turkey, I always put on bag in the fridge for the next few days; sandwiches, fridge raids, times I'm not really hungry but I stuff more in my mouth anyway...at least it's a healthy protein- there are FAR worse choices my friends- like the peanut butter pie that whispers to me from the freezer...I CAN'T HEAR YOU!...


I digress...the other half I put in the freezer for....


....can you guess????

SOUP<3!

 

 

 

What's your favorite excess turkey recipe, or are you stockpiling it for the end of the world??

 



Turkeys in the bin may appear SMALLER than actual size

#1 problem with cooking thanksgiving at your own house- yes, that's pretty much my WHOLE fridge! Good news is it fit in the fridge (I swear they look much smaller when they are all chillin in that huge bin at the store). Now fingers crossed it will fit in the pan- I always save that test for the actual day of...I like to spread my stress out over the whole week. :D













Headed out to Costco this afternoon for a few remaining things we still needed, and about 10 we didn't but bought anyway- like these delicious snack-a-roos!

The hummus choices were not the greatest today- it was pine nut or cilantro/jalapeno, which sounded delish but was worried it would be spicy and Parky loves hummus but not so much hot and it's a pretty big tub to take that much of a gamble- the Pine Nut one is a winner though- obviously you can see we dug into as soon as we got home.



Somehow these made it into my cart as well....either my sub-conscious or my alter ego is taking over, I am still fighting my devil egg "tradition" but really we do eat these a lot- toss the yolk and you have a great lean protein that is ready-to-eat, see logic!

 

Do you have a "traditional" food at Holiday's that you are the only one that eats it but you make it every year anyway....or is it just me?

Eggs and Thankin'

The sand keeps slipping through the hour glass on the countdown until Thanksgiving. I do the whole meal here for everyone so basically I stress myself out before/during/and even after as much as possible...keeps me busy! Having a hard time getting in the "spirit" of the season this year and I really wanted to scale back what I felt was necessary in the actual meal. I always try to do to much and then I eat WAY too much caused I slaved over it and dang it- it's NOT going to waste!

I've been debating since yesterday about whether to do deviled eggs or not cause the only reason I would be doing them is because some obsessive part of my brain says it's "tradition"- which in reality means it's a tradition for me to make them, be the ONLY person who eats them, and then eat as many as I can myself the day of, the day after, AND the day after, that to the point where I'm really not sure if they are still good and then finally toss their slimy carcasses in the garbage...

Maybe I need to take more time and focus on what I really should be- I can take a lesson from Parker on this one- as obviously he is thankful for french fries or maybe they are Cheetos's- it's a toss up...

So here goes...I am thankful for Top 5 and because my perfectly flawed thinking cannot make a list without goals attached so I have added them as well:

 

My Family- I need to focus more on showing them they are my #1

My Health- I take it for granted and I shouldn't, I need to be more active so that I don't lose it

My Friends- I need to become a better listener, reacher-outer, and includer

The Means to Give- no matter how hard my situation is, others have it far worse, I need to look harder to find those whom I can help

My Hearing- I can't imaging life with out music and laughter- both of which one can never have to much of

 

What are you thankful for?

 

Get your mitts off my nuts!

There seems to be more errands to run on the weekend than there is hours to get things done lately...it must be a good thing cause it gets me out of the house and being social- I definitely need more of that!


Hit Target today for my favorite nuts!!!

Oh yeah- bought two cause I had a coupon!!

I <3 you Dill Pickle Cashews!!

I'm mostly lucky when it comes to my nuts because let's face it- you either like "Pickled Flavored" stuff or you don't- but my middle Son- Caden does, so sometimes things get nasty....

Spent the afternoon at a birthday party in the afternoon and YES I had cake, because it was PINK, and moist, and DELICIOUS, but only about half of it so that was good- had a AdvoAM bar on the way there to help keep things under control-  I try to keep extra Snack or Meal Replacement Bars in my purse cause it's when you are hungry with bad options that you make bad choices- so the key is to set yourself up for success by being prepared! It doesn't always work, but hey the odds are better if you are at least prepared- right?

 

 

Is there a flavor of cake that makes you say MEH? I would have to say cherry chip- the kind that has nut pieces in it....I prefer my baked goods nut free!

Not So Hamburger Helper

 


Parker decided that 6am was a great time to wake up this morning- we are more like 8am people so this was a huge bummer for me- so NOT a morning person, never have been...ask my parents! Poor Parky is a combination of Paul and I, wakes up early, but isn't happy about it...



















Luckily he is easily persuaded...or bipolar- only time will tell











Not doing the best at planning out dinner, so this was a last minute creativity burst- I have a bunch of hamburger/tuna helper boxes from my couponing over the year and as of late I have been using them for their spice packets. It really never dawned on me that I could NOT follow the directions on the box...see how I'm wired? So with this one I browned the ground turkey, steamed some broccoli (as this was the broccoli tuna one) and mixed them together.







Then I took mixed about 3/4 C water and 3/4 C skim milk with the sauce packet and added it to the pan, simmered for about 15 minutes to let the seasonings out and sauce thicken a bit. I ate it as is but for the Kids and Paul I put the mixture over a small baked potato- there wasn't any left and it was super filling!






I just toss the noodle packet into the cupboard for use later...great portion for a soup maybe at some point...or that token pasta salad for the next get-together.

Midweek Meltdowns and Other Adventures

If you think for one second Pug's don't have dreams too you would be wrong...

Maybe it's his midlife crisis? I almost had one trying to pull my dog out of this guy's corvette- don't mind my dog shedding in your babe magnet...this week just gets better!

 

 

I apologize in advance for being all over the place this week..and last...pretty much the whole last 20 days have been rough- the approaching holiday's already have me frazzled and I keep telling myself to get it together but I guess I'm really not listening...Maybe my exhausted brain is taking turns resting so only half is working at a time..

 

For those concerned I did manage a shower yesterday...today I am thinking a nap will be taking priority..

 

If you had one hour of uninterrupted time just to yourself TODAY, what would you do?

 

 



Happy Hump'n Hummus Day!!

Hopefully this means I'm on the downhill side of a poopy week! Not only has it been super packed with my Mom here (and now gone), Parky sick, Paul sick, me feeling like I'm coming down with something but refusing to get sick...oh yeah, and I still have a full time job, two other kids, 3 pugs, and a BLAH-G 

You know it's been a bad week when your 12 year old asks you when the last time you showered was...it's worse when you can't remember either...

If I don't have time to shower, I DEFINITELY don't have time to be sick...just sayin! Good thing I'm not working out all the time yet...that could get really bad, really quick. Note to self...more showers- make it work! Plus I notice the dirtier my hair is the shiner my grays are...double yucky!

Made stuffed peppers and chili soup when Mom was down, but forgot to take pics- need to refocus so I keep the ideas flowing for meals and snacks! It's been all about the hummus this week- I totally forgot hummus was a YES food! How did that happen?? I tried to make hummus once and it was super gross- I stick to Sabre and Athenos...Garlic, Red Pepper, and Greek style are my favs!

 

How do you Hummus? Store bought or homemade?

Sleepless in Gilbert

 


My mom has been here all weekend so I have had really been slacking at getting my posts in everyday- hopefully everyone was out enjoying fun stuff and never noticed! I've had my hands full here for sure! Parky has been cutting molars since Thursday and we couldn't get the fever to break so finally had to take him in on Friday night to the after hours clinic. Found out the poor little guy had an ear infection too! The molars finally broke through yesterday and today is the first time he's been his regular handful and not the ouchy, cranky, handful. Just got these in my last shipment and I think tonight's the night to see if they work cause I really need a good night's rest at this point!







Learned a lot of great info last weekend in CA at my Ladies event so was super excited to get my Mom on some product to help with Menopause symptoms- will keep you posted on how they work for her, but today was day 4 and she says she only had one hot flash today and that isn't normal so good news so far! YAY!







Have to brag on my daughter Alyssa's art for a second cause her talent is really ridiculous- she brought home her Art Club project- chalk drawing on regular black construction paper- WOW!

 

Any good suggestions for teething babies? Cause the best one I've heard involves Tequila...not sure if that was for the gums, me or both...gonna go with both:)

Foot Fetish Thursday

This week seems to feel like the week that never ends....ground hog day anyone? Maybe it has to do with the fact it gets dark at like 4pm...which makes me feel like I'm working way late, when really it's still early...grrr!

I'm all messed up right now....gotta get it together Melanie! Time for a little pick me up from the feet up:)


I <3 feet!

Yep, pedi's make everything better! I keep trying to drag Paul in there with me cause he needs one WAY more than me but it's a no-go with him "too girly"....he doesn't know what he's missing but I'm not giving up- he'll probably be hooked once I get him in there so it may be a blessing in disguise right now!

Does your man pedi?