Celebrate Your True Beauty ~ Link Up

 

Linking up with some ladies today

 because its easier than writing a post I've had in my head for days but am too lazy to finish 

I'm seriously horrible at this blogging business.

Three things about myself I think are beautiful or awesome 



1. My hair ~ WHEN I actually blow dry it and curl the ends. It really is beautiful. Long, thick, shiny, healthy hair. That's probably the thing I get complimented on the most.
2. I'm a pretty damned good wife ~ If I was a man, I'd wife me :)
3. If I had to be completely honest ~ I think I am beautiful. I am not saying I have a great body. But when I put on make-up and do my hair, and look in the mirror. I pretty fucking please with what I see.

That being said. I am not photogenic... like at all. EVER. I don't do selfies (except for transformation purposes) and since I am the photo taker in my family there are not that many photos of me. Though lately, as my kids are growing, I have been taking more selfies of me with one or both of my kids. I want to be able to look back and have pictures of us together. 

 

 

Aledo Ride for Heroes

 

 

 

This is what I am doing tomorrow.

 

My dad started riding bikes about a year ago to lose weight. Once he was down to a normal size, he started to enjoy bike riding, and really getting into the sport of it. Last summer, I rode with him some. I really enjoy riding bikes outside when it is beautiful. In January when I set out to lose weight, I decided to start riding with Dad again, once a week on Saturdays.

 

Dad eventually graduated from a hybrid road/mountain bike to a really nice (Moots) road bike. Once he had a taste of the road bike, he decided I needed one too, so he bought me a road bike. Once we both had road bikes, he decided we were ready to start training for some long distance bike rides.

 

He had bigger plans than I did. Ultimately he wanted to ride the last leg a the PBP 900 bike ride in France, in 2015. He also wanted to ride the RAGBRAI, a six day ride across the state of Iowa. We literally were talking about doing this the day before he died. We had decided we'd wait until next year so we could build up to riding 50-80 miles a day. Thanks for fucking that up pops ;)

 

There were four smaller long distance bike rides we were talking about doing this summer together.

• Aledo Ride for Heroes .
• Burleson Honey Tour
• Possum Pedal
• Hotter N Hell Hundred

We only registered for the Aledo Ride for Heroes before he died... less than one month before the ride. So naturally I still felt like I had to do the ride. Luckily my brother Jared can ride with me. We are doing the 64 mile ride and praying for beautiful weather, no wind, and a nice tan :) This broke girl can't afford the tanning bed and I don't want to be pasty white in 55 days when I go to Destin, thankyouverymuch!

Dad, Mom & Jared

 

I went ahead and signed up for the Possum Pedal. My family loves going out to Possum Kingdom lake and I figured we could go camp out, I could do the ride, then we could rent a boat and have some fun on the lake.

 

I'm still up in the air about whether to sign up for the last two rides. Jared doesn't mind riding, but I know he's hella busy and it doesn't really fit in his schedule. And as much as I enjoy riding, its not the same without my dad there. In fact it's really fucking boring by myself.

 

Anybody in the DFW area wanna come ride some rides with me??? Its really cheap! 

Finish the Sentence

 

1. I laughed so hard I cried when... I cry anytime I laugh just a little hard, so there are really too many times to count, or remember for that matter.
2. My high school... was there, but I wasn't. I went for probably a total of 1/2 a year. Otherwise I was at juvenile alternative education camp where we literally ran miles, did push ups, wore gray t-shirts and sweats and ate bologna sandwiches daily. We did get to go home every day though so that was a plus. I skipped most of my sophomore year and then my mom just withdrew me all together. I ended up getting a GED :)
3. It really pisses me off... when I get charged a $35 over the limit fee on my checking account.
4. In ten years... I'll be 37, live in a nicer house, have less debt and more money.
5. If I could erase one thing... I would bring my dad back :)
6. In 1999...  Who remembers that long ago? Maybe the year I got my first cell phone.
7. Honestly... I don't remember that long ago!
8. To me, Sushi... is the bomb.com! I love it! But damn it doesn't fit my broke girl budget.
9. Someone really needs to invent... nothing comes to mind :(

10. The first time I drank alcohol... I was a teenager, and it was off wine coolers and I had a massive headache the next morning while my brothers and I were helping my mom's boss move... so I slept on the couch in the moving van most of the time.
11. The one question I would ask God is... Why? that would be my question.
12. Lindsay Lohan... probably still has more money than I do. Damn

Welcome Back

I set out on January 1st to lose 43lbs before my family vacation to a Florida beach in June. I was 16lbs down and doing great! I felt good, had a ton of energy, was eating perfect and training for four long distance bike rides during the summer. When I look back now, I'd say my life was pretty perfect.



My dad and I

Then on sunday, March 24th, I got the call that I never really thought would ever come. My brother called me and told me my dad died in his sleep... At 58. "What? You're kidding right? Are you laughing? It really sounds like you're laughing" (mental note: hysterical crying can be mistaken for hysterical laughing)

My dad, who I just saw yesterday. Who I went on a bike ride with yesterday. Who I talked to yesterday, hugged and kissed and just fucking saw yesterday, is dead.

This is the last photo taken of dad, about 10 hours before he died. On our last bike ride together.

Let me just say, this is the first person I've ever lost and it fucking sucks. More than anything else in the world. You will be two people in your lifetime. The person you are before you lose someone, and the person you become after you've lost one of the closest people in your life. At least that's how I see it right now. Dear God, this fucking sucks. Part of me wants to die too.

I was planning on writing a post about my dad's incredible (Read:190lbs lost in 10 months) weight loss, and the old man went and fucking died on me before I could. We had so many plans together and he's fucking dead. It is very surreal to me still. It's been almost a month, and I still don't feel like doing anything, living, being a mom, anything.

 Sadly, it helps a lot not to think about him. When I do think of him, I either want to cry or just end up crying anyways. But thinking of him is all I have left, so I find myself really trying to think of him. Trying to remember situations we were in together and trying to remember exactly what we were saying. Trying to burn those memories into my brain so I can have more of him.

I feel like he's just gone on a business trip or something. I feel like he's going to be coming back soon. Even though I saw him in the casket. Even though I went to the funeral home to braid his hair one last time and I saw him laying there on the cold, metal table. I don't feel like he's really gone.

I saw my dad probably 5-6 times a week. I rode bikes with my dad 3-4 times a week. I went shopping with my dad, the whole family would often go to dinner together. He came to my son's baseball practice and games. He watched Austin anytime he was home sick, or didn't have school. It's not like I lost an old, ill, parent who lived in another state. I lost my daddy. Who was losing weight so he could be here for us longer. My kids lost their papa. I just don't get it. There is a huge piece of me gone, and my life will never be the same.

Cleanse -> Challenge Update

This started as a 10 day cleanse and it's turned into the 24 day challenge.

Today is day 2 or 12 depending on how you look at it. The first 10 days were the "cleanse" portion and the last two days have been the "max phase", which is plagued with sucking down copious amounts of horse pills.

 

I HATE taking big pills. When I take vitamins, I get the gummy kind. Cause, Hello! It's like I'm eating candy :) So this part of the challenge is unwelcome.

 

 Each day I take one strip of pills. There are four packets. One for 30 minutes before breakfast, one for 30 minutes before lunch, and two to consume with either lunch or breakfast.

I keep the packet for 30 minutes before breakfast on my nightstand with a bottle of water. Literally my alarm goes off and the first thing I do is take the am pills.

 

As for the packets you're supposed to take with breakfast or lunch, I take them both at lunch. I want to get that shit out of the way. So far, it hasn't been a problem, no upset stomach or crazy high feelings. Then I take the last packet 30 minutes before lunch, like you're supposed to.

 

The part I like about this phase is having everything over with by lunch time. I don't have to remember to take pills before bed like during the cleanse.

 

I ordered a canister of the AdvoCare Spark in mango strawberry, because dammit the last two days I've had an afternoon Spark drink, and I've had the energy to clean my house when I normally would have headed for bed. And when I do go to bed, I feel like I could be doing more.

 

I also ordered the meal replacement shakes and plan to have those for breakfast in the am. It takes the guess work out of planning me a breakfast meal when I'm trying to get little humans ready for their day.

My AdvoCare distributor said during this phase "the weight melts off". I'm totally looking forward to this! I know it's probably not going to happen by some miracle though which is why I'm taking my ass to the gym, daily. I have a 30 mile bike ride planned for Saturday am and a yoga class on Sunday... I'm keeping it going through the weekend and hopefully the scale will show it on Monday morning since this is what I've seen the last few days...

 

 

Hope y'all have a great weekend! I'm headed to the Ft. Worth Stockyards with my fam and some friends !

Peace, Love & Horse Pills

 

Don't Forget To Eat Your Brussels Sprouts

And also don't forget that Brussels is ALWAYS capitalized. And it also always has an s on the end and I learned that from spell check thankyouverymuch. Apparently aside from being a veggie, its also a city in Belgium. Fun fact for your day there.

 

On to the point of the post... Who here likes Brussels sprouts? I had never even had them till earlier this year, I started eating healthy and thought I'd give them a try. I like to roast a lot of my veggies (sweet potatoes, green beans, asparagus, etc.) so when I picked these up I figured I'd roast them.

 

I Googled a recipe on how long to roast them and how to prep them.

I've always heard that Brussels sprouts are ewww so I went ahead and made up my own recipe and just followed the prepping/cooking directions.

 

 

 

 

1. Get yourself some good old, strait off the pigs ass, BACON!!! Because dammit kids, bacon makes everything good. Can I get an amen? I use two strips, and cut the strips into pieces. Then fry that shit, but don't burn it, it's still gotta cook in the oven. You can remove the bacon from the pan but DO NOT discard the grease... you're gonna need it to rub all over your sprouts.

 

2. I don't even wash these puppies. Start by cutting the stem stub off. Layers of leaves may fall off, this is okay. Discard the top layer that falls off and keep the rest.

 

3. Depending on the size of the sprout, I halve (small ones) or quarter (large ones) them.

 

4. Spread the sprouts on a pan lined with foil or just sprayed with Pam, your choice. I use peppered bacon, but if I happened to use plain bacon then this is where I'd pepper the shit outta the sprouts. Stir in the bacon, and then add bacon grease. I start with 1 T and mix it all together until sprouts are lightly coated. You are using bacon grease in place of the olive oil you would usually use when roasting veggies.

 

5. Pop em in the oven at 450 for 20 minutes and stir them half way through. Wa Lah... enjoy. And now try to refrain from making them every night :)

 

 

 

Some of you health nuts might be screaming right now about the bacon, and the bacon fat. The way I see it, this is not the worst thing I can shovel into my pie hole. The saturated fat content of what you will eat is not going to kill you. I eat healthy most of the time, so I'm not trippin over the little bit of bacon here. Like I said I use two slices, and the amount I make feeds four people. That's like half a slice of bacon per person for all the non-mathematicians out there.

 

If you try this recipe, come back and tell me what you thought. And how did you change it?

Until then,

Peace, Love, & Brussels sprouts!

 

AdvoCare 10 Day Cleanse recap

Well, the 10 day cleanse comes to an end today. Let me just say... I heard a lot of crap about this cleanse before hand. "It's so hard", "You're going to feel crappy and be pissed off" etc, etc. I don't know what these people did differently than me, but this cleanse was easy for me. Like recockulously easy. Because so, I've decided to stay on the train and go right along with MamaL & Skinny Meg (and all the others) and continue on to the 24 day challenge.

 

All you need is the MNS Max 3, which is a whole bunch more supplements and meal replacement shakes. Check out Skinny Meg's blog to get info on how to order or go HERE. This is the sweet lady I get my goods from. I ordered the Max and a canister of mango strawberry Spark.

 

 

The Spark is supposed to be a coffee/soda/caffeine replacement. It's an energy drink that promises to sharpen mental focus and produce long-lasting energy with no "high" and no "crash". I haven't really noticed an increase in energy after I drink this, not to say there hasn't been one.  I don't drink coffee, and lately I've rarely been drinking soda. I suppose the only reason I'm sticking with the spark is to put some flavor in my water filled drinking days.

 

As far as how I feel on day 10 of the cleanse? I feel awesome! I definitely notice I have more energy overall. I've been waking up 15 minutes earlier than usual, and some days I even wake up and clean!!!!! Something I've never done before, since I have two other humans, plus pets, plus me to take care of in the am. I have been biking or hitting up the gym everyday. I even did yoga on my off day on Sunday. This past weekend, I cleaned my house. It needed it bad, but I was actually looking forward to it. LOL Who looks forward to cleaning their house??

 

I started the cleanse weighing 170.6... I've never been a daily weigher, but I figured since I was doing a cleanse I would weigh myself everyday. A) just to get an idea of what a lying whore the scale is how my weight fluctuates daily anyhow and B) to see how much I would lose in the end. My weight went down, then up, then down then back up... it was really pissing me off and making me look forward to going back to once a week weighing. Ultimately this is what the scale said on Day 10:

AND......... I should have taken a better photo...but you get the gist, right?

 

It looks like I lost 5lbs even : ) I'll take it! I already eat clean/healthy 95% of the time. So I was doing this cleanse to rid my body of all the junk food/cigarettes/alcohol I used to have and to lose weight. Period. I'll take a five pound weightloss in ten days any week. Watch my fat ass get on the scale tomorrow and it says 167! lol , I wouldn't be surprised.

 

Starting weight on 1/1/13 181.0 lbs

Weight on 3/13/13 165.6

Weight lost 16 lbs

Goal weight 138 lbs

Lbs to lose till goal 27

Days until my Destin, FL vacay where my ass will be in a bikini come hell or high water 91

 

I will have updates on how the 24 day challenge goes for me.

Until then happy hump day homies!