Week two of training. Last weekend, I didn't do so awesome. I skipped two of four days at the gym, but A.J. did all four. This weekend, we got a new bed and mattress on Saturday (!) so we spent pretty much the whole day doing that and pretty much no time at the gym. But Sunday, yesterday (double gym trips for me) and today were/will be pretty intense workouts for both of us. We're both feeling great!!
A.J.'s snoring has decreased SIGNIFICANTLY since we started training. We're eating better, we're more active, and we're only drinking alcohol on the weekends. According to the Mayo Clinic, those are a few of the risk factors for snoring. That, and our glorious new mattress will hopefully set me up for sleep success in the very near future.
I am so excited that my new schedule will permit me to be home by 3 on Mondays! Last night I got to cook dinner, and we got to actually sit at our dining room table and eat it! This has been a rarity in our home for the past year or so. I wanted to kick off our Monday nights at home by trying a new to me recipe that falls in line with our better eating.
I went to Mariano's to get the items I needed for dinner, because Mariano's. I wanted to base my recipe loosely on this one for lettuce wraps. When I got to the produce section, I picked up a small bunch of this lettuce:
I continued throughout the store and gathered the rest of my ingredients. By the time got up to the checkout, I had enough groceries to feed an ogre for a week-ish. It was one of those times when you definitely didn't want to be the person behind me. But since EVERYONE does their grocery shopping mid-day on Mondays (I never knew), someone took their place behind me almost immediately. The cashier started ringing up my treasures and when she picked up my lettuce, she looked at it like it was a little shrunken head. "What is this?" I told her it was butter lettuce. She flipped through her picture book at all the produce, their names, their codes... no butter lettuce. I said, "I'm pretty sure it's called butter lettuce." She continued to look through all of her many cashier spellbooks and encyclopedias but could find no butter lettuce.
Finally, after a good three or four minutes of me awkwardly smiling at the, now two, people behind me, I asked her if I could just go to the produce section to double check the name. No need. The man two people behind me shouted up, "It's BOSTON lettuce!" Indeed it was. And thank you, sir, for waiting patiently for just the right time to grace us all with your produce knowledge. Heaven forbid it had been three minutes sooner.
BUT. Look at butter lettuce:
They're freakin identical!! I know I didn't just make that up. I had to have seen the name somewhere. Maybe it was just on Chopped. But I swear, I've seen butter lettuce at Mariano's before. Can anyone confirm??
Anywhose. Here is the recipe I made and how our lettuce wraps turned out.
SPOILER: they were divine.
Thai-Style Lettuce Wraps
wraps:
1 shrunken head butter/Boston lettuce
1 bag shredded broccoli slaw w/ carrots and cabbage
1 can water chestnuts
1 can bamboo shoots
1 handful cashews, chopped
1 large chicken breast, shredded (this recipe for shredded chicken will make you drool)
sauce:
1 bottle sweet chili sauce
1-2 tbsp peanut butter
a couple tsp of soy sauce (don't go crazy, huh?)
lots of finely minced garlic
1/4 diced jalapeno
1/4 cup diced cilantro
red pepper flakes to taste
Stuff your little lettuce wrap until it's about to burst, pour sauce on top, roll it up and pop it in your mouth.
These things were awesome. Very easy for feeding a lot of people, because I shredded the whole pack of chicken breasts and we have tons of sauce, slaw, cashews, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts leftover. You would probably just need to buy two or three shrunken heads instead of one.
Guess what I'm having for lunch today...
I never thought I would have a blog.
I enjoy reading people's blogs and their thoughts on life from time to time, but I certainly wouldn't consider myself part of the "blogging community." And yet, here I am writing a blog. Am I automatically in the club? I fully support frilly toothpicks.
The main reason I wanted to start this blog was to have a sense of accountability. I wanted to document my progress as I train for TOUGH MUDDER PART DEUX. But the more that I think about it, I am kind of excited to share my thoughts on the rest of my whirlwind of a life. I am a follower of Christ, a pastor/English teacher/aspiring stylist/soon-to-be substitute teacher, I love to make just about anything, and A.J. and I are entering into a very new season of life. I gots lots of thoughts. The accountability is for more than just weight loss or fitness. It's to simply hold me to who I was made to be.
Will you take on that challenge with me? Be who you were made to be, embrace that person from every direction, and put your doubts about your true self to rest.
ALRIGHT. Here's the most juicy of all first blog posts.
I am a lot rounder and heavier than I was the last time I did this stupid race. I love it, but it's stupid. It's insanely painful and sucks the life out of you but fills you with crazy adrenaline and makes you think you're this powerhouse of a person that can conquer electricity and next, the world. It really is terrible and incredible at the same time.
But between the last race and now, I've been pretty lax with my health. I haven't had any fitness goals and I didn't prioritize smart eating habits. So here's where I'm at now:
arms: 14 in (I'm not sure if I measured this one right. haha)
chest: 36 1/2 in
waist: 30 in
hips: 39 in
thighs: 25 in
weight: 151 lbs
 |
| sad face no muscle |
 |
| armpit pudge |
THERE SHE BE.
The formatting of this thing is not YET my forte, but I really don't appreciate anything with poor formatting, so I'll get the hang of that.
I don't know what my specific fitness goals are, but I do know how I need to feel to do the race well. I didn't want to set a pound goal because I do want to pack on some muscle, and I honestly don't care what the actual number is as long as I am healthy and feel stellar. I am not following a super strict, regimented diet, because that has never worked for me, nor is it really sustainable for our lifestyle. I just want to eat more of what's better for me and less of what's not. Hoping to share some of those recipes with you along the way. We're also committed to going to the gym Saturday-Tuesday.
I guess this has been long enough for now. I'm excited to update you on my progress, even if it sucks, and share my thoughts, even if they're wrong :)
