Today was such a nice day off. Eric and I started it off with a walk at South Chagrin Reservation but only made it about 1.5 miles before we just got too. hot. We headed back home to shower and make a leftover lunch and then decided to go visit my parents in Mansfield for the afternoon.
We rocked out a bit in the car and decided that hip dancing in the car (shaking your hips while sitting in the car seat) is way more fun than the shoulder/neck/arm moves I usually pull out in the car. I'm always looking for ways to improve my car dancing skills!
When we arrived in Mansfield, we chatted with my mom and dad for a bit over pretzels and hummus (an appetizer which has become a staple on our family days) and then headed off to Ashland, a town about 20 minutes away, for a fish fry hosted by my mom's coworker. The fish fry was at a really neat log cabin out in the country, and as soon as we were out of the car, we hit up the buffet line. The food was mostly standard cookout fare but the fish was really amazing - caught in Lake Erie and fried up on the spot. Of course, the marshmallow, pretzel and peanut butter brownies that my mom brought kind of stole the show for me. So good! Unfortunately it was quite a scorcher today in Ohio so we fried a bit ourselves, but overall it was a great time!
Before parting ways, we all stopped at Dairy Queen to cool off. I went with an old standby of a small twist with peanut butter cups on top and Eric got a candy-box blizzard (? I think that's what it was called..it is the Blizzard of the Month). My parents both went with fruit smoothies. After taste testing every one else's dish, I can honestly say we all made great choices! Eric and I just finished up the drive home and are now relaxing for the rest of the night. Maybe I will get a little more read in "The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest"...according to my kindle app I am only 9% through. I've gotta get on it!
Have a great night!
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue
Just checking in quickly! Hooray for days off; I'm thankful for a day of freedom! Today is started off right so far with a breakfast of champions - eggs! And whole wheat toast..delicious. Not quite sure what we're in for today but we may head down to my parents' house. Today may also involve some heavy Craigslist surfing for a new dishwasher and/or a new pedestal sink for our bathroom/kitchen remodel in progress now. I'll keep you updated!
Enjoy your day with friends and family!
Enjoy your day with friends and family!
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Happy June 27!
Today is so important for many reasons! It is a double family holiday!
1. Today is my parents' 31st wedding anniversary! Happy anniversary you two love birds! Thanks for setting such a great example for your daughters and their husbands. We're lucky girls!
2. It is also my sister Erin's 28th birthday today! That's right..all on the same day. Happy birthday, Erin! Love you!
Growing up, I always looked forward to June 27 because it is a very big day in our family. It used to always have a big celebration and usually a really great family dinner. Unfortunately, my family isn't all together on June 27 too often anymore, but it still feels like a holiday to me! This year, today is even more eventful because we leave tomorrow evening for Dayton to close on our new (80 year old?) house Friday morning. That means that we are officially in crunch time until home ownership. We are so excited, but there is so much to do!
As you can probably imagine, life is a bit crazy lately but I hope to make a more regular appearance on the blog! I'll be back with little updates soon! Enjoy the beautiful day!
1. Today is my parents' 31st wedding anniversary! Happy anniversary you two love birds! Thanks for setting such a great example for your daughters and their husbands. We're lucky girls!
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| My cute parents at a basketball game earlier this year. |
2. It is also my sister Erin's 28th birthday today! That's right..all on the same day. Happy birthday, Erin! Love you!
 |
| Erin's the blonde in our family... and the genius. Ironic? |
Growing up, I always looked forward to June 27 because it is a very big day in our family. It used to always have a big celebration and usually a really great family dinner. Unfortunately, my family isn't all together on June 27 too often anymore, but it still feels like a holiday to me! This year, today is even more eventful because we leave tomorrow evening for Dayton to close on our new (80 year old?) house Friday morning. That means that we are officially in crunch time until home ownership. We are so excited, but there is so much to do!
As you can probably imagine, life is a bit crazy lately but I hope to make a more regular appearance on the blog! I'll be back with little updates soon! Enjoy the beautiful day!
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Intuitive Eating: Can It Really Be So Simple?
As you can probably tell from the title of this post, I've been giving a lot of thought to intuitive eating. The last month or so, I've stopped trying to control my macros (ensuring I get the right mix of fat, carbs and protein with every meal) and my food groups (3-5 servings of fruits and veggies, limited sugar, etc) and have instead only been trying to make clean choices and eat when I'm hungry, and to weigh myself less. About ten days ago, I stepped on the scale to see what the damage was, and I was shocked to see that I'm about 2 pounds down from my lowest weight since high school (I hit this point while on WW in January, and while DEFINITELY feeling like I was on a diet). So what has led me to this point?
I have struggled with my weight my whole life, but didn't do much about it until high school. While in high school, I became active in marching band (lots of practices = lots of calories burned and less mindless snacking), discovered yoga (the first exercise I had ever enjoyed enough to do consistently) and took on a part-time job (which also cut down on the mindless snacking). As a result of these three lifestyle changes, I ended up dropping a lot of my baby weight and hitting a low, but healthy feel-great weight.
In college, my love of yoga temporarily took a back burner, and my love of hanging out with friends, campus dining, and, yes, alcohol took its place. As a result, I gained about 20 lbs over the course of 4 years. It was a slow and steady gain and a direct result of too large of portions, too many empty calories, and too little exercise. I never beat myself up too much about the high calorie intake because I figured the ~2 miles I walked everyday on campus made up for any extra indulgences.
After I graduated college last August, I realized how much control I now have over my schedule and my eating habits and decided to make a conscious effort to drop some weight. To do this, I turned to Weight Watchers. I found it easy to keep track of my eats and not too restrictive if the points were spread out evenly over a week. However, I also found myself eating as little as possible during the week so that I could save my points for the weekends and enjoy indulgent environments with friends and family.
After about 3 months and about 8 pounds lost, I got a little sick of WW back in January and felt like it wasn't a sustainable lifestyle for me. Although I was seeing consistent losses from week to week, going hog-wild on Friday and Saturday nights left me feeling awful every Sunday night. Around this same time, I read the book "Master Your Metabolism" by Jillian Michaels and began to incorporate the concepts of "clean" eating (limiting processed foods, high amounts of sugar, and chemicals) into my diet. As recommended in the book, I tried hard to get in all of the recommended food groups, but still had a tough time giving up sweets and treats entirely. I tried to follow the adage to have "breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper", but would usually end up throwing in "dessert like a rock star" somewhere after 8pm each night. During this time, I created a calorie surplus of (mostly) clean, healthy options, and about half of the 8 pounds I had lost on WW came back over the course of two months.
About a month ago, I took a serious look at my food intake and realized that I was trying so hard to follow the rules that I forgot to listen to my body. For me personally, I don't tend to get hungry for a big breakfast and would rather drink a bottle of water and eat a piece of fruit than eat a 300 calorie meal when I first wake up. However, after I get home from work, I am usually famished and easily eat half of my daily calorie intake after 5pm. While this might not be ideal according to "the rules", it is what works for me. In terms of exercise, I would rather take a 60 minute walk around the neighborhood or do a long, slow yoga practice after work than do 20 minutes of a high intensity workout...and sometimes I would rather get 8 hours of sleep or a little R&R after work than work out at all! Since I've started to really listen to my body and make changes accordingly in my daily life, my body is choosing to drift back to its happy place, and I'm embracing it! I just can't believe it really is that simple!
Questions:
Do you track your calorie intake daily or follow more of an intuitive eating approach? Which do you prefer?
I have struggled with my weight my whole life, but didn't do much about it until high school. While in high school, I became active in marching band (lots of practices = lots of calories burned and less mindless snacking), discovered yoga (the first exercise I had ever enjoyed enough to do consistently) and took on a part-time job (which also cut down on the mindless snacking). As a result of these three lifestyle changes, I ended up dropping a lot of my baby weight and hitting a low, but healthy feel-great weight.
In college, my love of yoga temporarily took a back burner, and my love of hanging out with friends, campus dining, and, yes, alcohol took its place. As a result, I gained about 20 lbs over the course of 4 years. It was a slow and steady gain and a direct result of too large of portions, too many empty calories, and too little exercise. I never beat myself up too much about the high calorie intake because I figured the ~2 miles I walked everyday on campus made up for any extra indulgences.
After I graduated college last August, I realized how much control I now have over my schedule and my eating habits and decided to make a conscious effort to drop some weight. To do this, I turned to Weight Watchers. I found it easy to keep track of my eats and not too restrictive if the points were spread out evenly over a week. However, I also found myself eating as little as possible during the week so that I could save my points for the weekends and enjoy indulgent environments with friends and family.
After about 3 months and about 8 pounds lost, I got a little sick of WW back in January and felt like it wasn't a sustainable lifestyle for me. Although I was seeing consistent losses from week to week, going hog-wild on Friday and Saturday nights left me feeling awful every Sunday night. Around this same time, I read the book "Master Your Metabolism" by Jillian Michaels and began to incorporate the concepts of "clean" eating (limiting processed foods, high amounts of sugar, and chemicals) into my diet. As recommended in the book, I tried hard to get in all of the recommended food groups, but still had a tough time giving up sweets and treats entirely. I tried to follow the adage to have "breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper", but would usually end up throwing in "dessert like a rock star" somewhere after 8pm each night. During this time, I created a calorie surplus of (mostly) clean, healthy options, and about half of the 8 pounds I had lost on WW came back over the course of two months.
About a month ago, I took a serious look at my food intake and realized that I was trying so hard to follow the rules that I forgot to listen to my body. For me personally, I don't tend to get hungry for a big breakfast and would rather drink a bottle of water and eat a piece of fruit than eat a 300 calorie meal when I first wake up. However, after I get home from work, I am usually famished and easily eat half of my daily calorie intake after 5pm. While this might not be ideal according to "the rules", it is what works for me. In terms of exercise, I would rather take a 60 minute walk around the neighborhood or do a long, slow yoga practice after work than do 20 minutes of a high intensity workout...and sometimes I would rather get 8 hours of sleep or a little R&R after work than work out at all! Since I've started to really listen to my body and make changes accordingly in my daily life, my body is choosing to drift back to its happy place, and I'm embracing it! I just can't believe it really is that simple!
Questions:
Do you track your calorie intake daily or follow more of an intuitive eating approach? Which do you prefer?
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Memorial Day Weekend Wrap-Up
Sorry for the silence the last few days... I haven't intentionally left the blog unattended but between the three day holiday weekend and trying to prepare to leave town again this weekend, I've been pretty busy this week and can't believe it's already Thursday! And almost June! Welcome Summer!
This weekend was a great one and was filled with lots of fun and lots of family time. I didn't snap any pictures (forgot my camera at home!) but I'll give you a quick run down. Eric and I were originally planning to travel only to my parents' house in Mansfield Sunday-Monday, but on Friday morning we decided to make it a full weekend and visit Eric's family in Dayton. I'm so glad we did! What could have been a semi-boring weekend was instead a great time with beautiful, HOT weather and lots of QT with both of our families. We left Cleveland for Dayton on Friday evening and arrived late Friday night with just enough time to greet my in-laws before heading to bed. I was exhausted after a full day of work and then a four hour drive, so it was time for some rest.
Saturday morning, I woke up and went on a walk around my in-laws neighborhood and then washed the car with Eric and relaxed. After lunch, we headed over to Eric's grandparents' house and swam in their pool for a bit while catching up. Then we came back to Eric's parents' house, ate dinner and then went out to Elsa's (a local restaurant) for a few beers with Eric's family. I have not really been getting too excited about alcohol in the last few weeks so I just had one bottle of Bud Light (plus a lime...counts as vitamin C, right?) and then switched to water.
On Sunday, we woke up early and took another walk around the neighborhood. We then had a great breakfast and went to mass with Eric's family. I had a hard time focusing and kept staring at all of the cute kids in the church...they definitely kept me entertained but spiritually left a lot to be desired! After mass, we left almost right away to make the two and a half hour drive to my parents' house in Mansfield. We stopped in Columbus at DiBella's for lunch...yum! They are some of the best subs I've ever had and I love this place! We only go every once in a blue moon...but boy are they good! When we arrived in Mansfield, we relaxed in the heat with my parents and played a couple of games of Euchre on their deck. Eric and I ended up winning both games, which I think was a shot to my parents' ego as they are regulars in the neighborhood Euchre club, and Eric and I are very casual players...we can't be competitive even if we try. My sister, Kirstin, and her husband, Chad, arrived in time for dinner and we had burgers and hot dogs on the grill. We ended the night with leftover wedding cake that Kirstin brought from the wedding and we watched the first half of "Bag of Bones" - a Stephen King made-for-TV movie that my parents rented for the weekend. By the way..what a scary movie! I normally don't like horror films and I wasn't crazy about watching this one, but my mom is a big Stephen King fan and I think everyone else enjoyed it (mostly). Some parts were just way too graphic, but the plot was pretty interesting.
Monday, I woke up bright and early before anyone else at my parents' house and took one of my parents' three dogs, Brutus (a yellow lab) for a walk around the neighborhood. He is by far the highest energy dog of the three and I thought it would be nice to exercise him a little bit while everyone else was able to rest (he tends to wake my dad up first thing in the morning because he wants to be fed). I think the walk took his mind off of breakfast and he was a happy pup. I can't wait to get a dog...it is on the top of the list for things to do after moving into the new house. Their energy is just so contagious! After Brutus and I returned from our walk, I had breakfast with my family and then decided to go shopping with my mom and sister. We hit up a few discount stores for good deals and I ended up getting a really cute red beachy dress with long sleeves for only twelve bucks! What a deal! I also got a NY&Co belt for 1.99 and a new pair of sunglasses for a few bucks, too. I am a total sucker for warehouse shopping...it feels so not-glamorous while you're doing it, but bargains are the way to my heart and this trip did not disappoint! After getting our shop on, the girls met up with the guys for lunch at Subway and then we headed back to my parents' house. We finished the second part of "Bag of Bones" and just relaxed until dinner. My mom made an awesome smoked brisket and a whole lot of other delicious things for dinner and then we ate key lime pie for dessert. After dessert, it was time to head back home to tend to the kitties and face reality. Luckily traffic was minimal on the way back to Cleveland and the rest of the evening was pretty low key. Although I didn't feel like I indulged too much this weekend, it is nice to get back to an environment with fewer temptations and more healthy choices. I love traveling, but sometimes it's so hard to keep moderation at the forefront when you're surrounded by great food and feeling the vacation mindset.
Anyways, this is getting to be a long one so I'm off for now! It was a great weekend, and there's another one right around the corner!
Q&A:
How was your Memorial Day Weekend? Did you go all out to ring in Summer or did you keep it low key?
This weekend was a great one and was filled with lots of fun and lots of family time. I didn't snap any pictures (forgot my camera at home!) but I'll give you a quick run down. Eric and I were originally planning to travel only to my parents' house in Mansfield Sunday-Monday, but on Friday morning we decided to make it a full weekend and visit Eric's family in Dayton. I'm so glad we did! What could have been a semi-boring weekend was instead a great time with beautiful, HOT weather and lots of QT with both of our families. We left Cleveland for Dayton on Friday evening and arrived late Friday night with just enough time to greet my in-laws before heading to bed. I was exhausted after a full day of work and then a four hour drive, so it was time for some rest.
Saturday morning, I woke up and went on a walk around my in-laws neighborhood and then washed the car with Eric and relaxed. After lunch, we headed over to Eric's grandparents' house and swam in their pool for a bit while catching up. Then we came back to Eric's parents' house, ate dinner and then went out to Elsa's (a local restaurant) for a few beers with Eric's family. I have not really been getting too excited about alcohol in the last few weeks so I just had one bottle of Bud Light (plus a lime...counts as vitamin C, right?) and then switched to water.
On Sunday, we woke up early and took another walk around the neighborhood. We then had a great breakfast and went to mass with Eric's family. I had a hard time focusing and kept staring at all of the cute kids in the church...they definitely kept me entertained but spiritually left a lot to be desired! After mass, we left almost right away to make the two and a half hour drive to my parents' house in Mansfield. We stopped in Columbus at DiBella's for lunch...yum! They are some of the best subs I've ever had and I love this place! We only go every once in a blue moon...but boy are they good! When we arrived in Mansfield, we relaxed in the heat with my parents and played a couple of games of Euchre on their deck. Eric and I ended up winning both games, which I think was a shot to my parents' ego as they are regulars in the neighborhood Euchre club, and Eric and I are very casual players...we can't be competitive even if we try. My sister, Kirstin, and her husband, Chad, arrived in time for dinner and we had burgers and hot dogs on the grill. We ended the night with leftover wedding cake that Kirstin brought from the wedding and we watched the first half of "Bag of Bones" - a Stephen King made-for-TV movie that my parents rented for the weekend. By the way..what a scary movie! I normally don't like horror films and I wasn't crazy about watching this one, but my mom is a big Stephen King fan and I think everyone else enjoyed it (mostly). Some parts were just way too graphic, but the plot was pretty interesting.
Monday, I woke up bright and early before anyone else at my parents' house and took one of my parents' three dogs, Brutus (a yellow lab) for a walk around the neighborhood. He is by far the highest energy dog of the three and I thought it would be nice to exercise him a little bit while everyone else was able to rest (he tends to wake my dad up first thing in the morning because he wants to be fed). I think the walk took his mind off of breakfast and he was a happy pup. I can't wait to get a dog...it is on the top of the list for things to do after moving into the new house. Their energy is just so contagious! After Brutus and I returned from our walk, I had breakfast with my family and then decided to go shopping with my mom and sister. We hit up a few discount stores for good deals and I ended up getting a really cute red beachy dress with long sleeves for only twelve bucks! What a deal! I also got a NY&Co belt for 1.99 and a new pair of sunglasses for a few bucks, too. I am a total sucker for warehouse shopping...it feels so not-glamorous while you're doing it, but bargains are the way to my heart and this trip did not disappoint! After getting our shop on, the girls met up with the guys for lunch at Subway and then we headed back to my parents' house. We finished the second part of "Bag of Bones" and just relaxed until dinner. My mom made an awesome smoked brisket and a whole lot of other delicious things for dinner and then we ate key lime pie for dessert. After dessert, it was time to head back home to tend to the kitties and face reality. Luckily traffic was minimal on the way back to Cleveland and the rest of the evening was pretty low key. Although I didn't feel like I indulged too much this weekend, it is nice to get back to an environment with fewer temptations and more healthy choices. I love traveling, but sometimes it's so hard to keep moderation at the forefront when you're surrounded by great food and feeling the vacation mindset.
Anyways, this is getting to be a long one so I'm off for now! It was a great weekend, and there's another one right around the corner!
Q&A:
How was your Memorial Day Weekend? Did you go all out to ring in Summer or did you keep it low key?
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Big Changes
Hello! Happy Thursday! We've almost reached the weekend and I am definitely looking forward to three days away from the office! I have a big announcement to make today, so here goes nothing:
Drum roll, please?
This week I received and accepted an offer for an assistantship to Wright State University in the Master's of Public Administration Program. That's right! I am going back to school! This is also the same university where Eric will be starting medical school, so we will be moving to Dayton, Ohio at the end of July to be college co-eds once more. I am hopeful that in taking this step, I will be able to apply the problem solving tools I learned in my engineering studies and career to non-profit organizations and people in need. I think there is a lot of room for technical minds in the humanities, and I am so excited to join the ranks! I am also very excited by the idea of incorporating volunteer work and interaction with those less-fortunate on a daily basis, and to have a career that fulfills and challenges me both mentally and emotionally.
I've spent a long time thinking about and planning this next step in my journey and I have to say that I experience excitement, nervousness, anxiety, hope, and so many more emotions every time I think about my new career. Above all of these emotions, I am most grateful for the opportunity to make this next step and for the support and love that my family and friends have shown me during the last few months. I have a lot more to say about this topic, and I have barely started the transition, so I am hoping to break this journey into little pieces and document it in a blog series. Stay tuned for more, and please let me know if there's anything you'd like to know more about!
Q&A:
Have you ever considered a career change? Did you go through with it?
Drum roll, please?
 |
| (source) |
I've spent a long time thinking about and planning this next step in my journey and I have to say that I experience excitement, nervousness, anxiety, hope, and so many more emotions every time I think about my new career. Above all of these emotions, I am most grateful for the opportunity to make this next step and for the support and love that my family and friends have shown me during the last few months. I have a lot more to say about this topic, and I have barely started the transition, so I am hoping to break this journey into little pieces and document it in a blog series. Stay tuned for more, and please let me know if there's anything you'd like to know more about!
Q&A:
Have you ever considered a career change? Did you go through with it?
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
So. Many. Beans!
I have had a big bag of dried red kidney beans from the grocery store bulk bins sitting in my cupboard for at least three months and have been SO intimidated by the thought of preparing them. I'm not sure why, but I just haven't wanted to make the commitment of soaking them overnight and then still feeling motivated enough to actually cook them the next day. Last night, in my quest to clean out the cupboard, I decided to get serious: it was time to conquer the kidneys...and to do it with as little effort as possible (per usual)!
Enter our friend, the slow cooker...
After a quick rinse in a colander, I threw the dried beans (~ 1 lb) into the slow cooker and put on a large pot of water to boil. After the water had come to a boil, I filled the slow cooker (mine is a large 4 qt model) and put in about 1/4 cup of garlic and onion powders. I would have loved to use fresh garlic and onion, but we were out of both, so powdered won this round! After I stirred up the ingredients, I turned the slow cooker to high (after reading here that cooking on low may make the beans waterlogged) and left it be! I put the mix on at about 9:00pm and turned it off at 5:00am when I woke up this morning. It worked out perfectly and they were well cooked without being mushy! One thing that totally surprised me is just how much water the kidneys took in. I woke up this morning to a slow cooker almost filled to the brim with beans and with hardly any water in sight!
And as for how I plan on eating a full pound of kidney beans? Excellent question, and I plan on getting creative! I took a scoopful for lunch today and mixed it with roasted sweet potatoes and a spoonful of hummus. Interesting combination but it tasted great! For dinner tonight, I threw together this quick recipe:
Red Beans and Rice (generously serves 4)
4 c cooked kidney beans
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp cajun seasoning
8 oz smoked sausage of choice
Pretty simple here...throw all of the ingredients except the sausage into a large pot and heat at medium-low heat for about 10 minutes (or until uniformly warm). While ingredients are warming, slice the sausage into bite-sized pieces and throw into pot. Tastes great served over brown rice!
This is getting to be pretty long so I think I will call it a night...plus I still have to perfect my recipe for kidney bean ice cream before it gets too late (kidding!!). Have a great night!
Enter our friend, the slow cooker...
 |
| (source) |
And as for how I plan on eating a full pound of kidney beans? Excellent question, and I plan on getting creative! I took a scoopful for lunch today and mixed it with roasted sweet potatoes and a spoonful of hummus. Interesting combination but it tasted great! For dinner tonight, I threw together this quick recipe:
Red Beans and Rice (generously serves 4)
4 c cooked kidney beans
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tbsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp cajun seasoning
8 oz smoked sausage of choice
Pretty simple here...throw all of the ingredients except the sausage into a large pot and heat at medium-low heat for about 10 minutes (or until uniformly warm). While ingredients are warming, slice the sausage into bite-sized pieces and throw into pot. Tastes great served over brown rice!
This is getting to be pretty long so I think I will call it a night...plus I still have to perfect my recipe for kidney bean ice cream before it gets too late (kidding!!). Have a great night!
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