For the Kid in You

That post title just felt right, because the older I get — the more I realize the importance of having FUN and embracing every day! I had a week of great childhood memories … I continue to go through all of the pictures my mom sent me for Christmas, and thinking back to how lucky I was to not only have the parents I do, but to have been exposed to so many amazing opportunities.

I also went back to the Jim Henson exhibit at the Orange County History Center to shoot an episode of The Growing Bolder TV Show — take a look at who we ran into!

Kermit D. Frog! The exhibit really is beautiful, with walls full of sketches, art and more by Jim Henson. It’s so fun to walk through and learn all about the man and the characters that had such an impact on my life.

And I forgot that Henson was also behind The Fraggles, another childhood favorite.

The post title ALSO made sense because today is my dear husband’s 29th birthday! I told him it’s the last year we get to really think of ourselves as young and hip, so we need to go out and enjoy every day. He’s about a month older than me, and don’t for a second think that I let him forget it!

I’ve known for a few months what I wanted to get him for his birthday, so I was pretty excited for the big reveal. I actually couldn’t wait until today, so I kicked off the celebration last night, with the presentation of the birthday “cake”:

Aren’t they beautiful? The picture (obvy) does them no justice. They are cheesecake cupcakes — cherry, blueberry, raspberry sherbet, key lime, banana split and rocky road. I thought they would last him a couple of days, but look what happened in about a half hour:

No more! His birthday cake was gone before his birthday even arrived! I had to laugh … we eat SO healthfully (is that a word?) that this must have seemed like a real indulgence. Today, he opened his other present — a home-brewing kit to finally make his own beer! He’s been researching and wanting it for a long time, and I decided it was about time he got to indulge his passion.

Lucas also got to pick the meals for Sunday, and after a quick trip to the gym, I made him his requested breakfast — “special” oats. (I know, I was surprised, too! He could have had waffles … eggs benedict … heck, he could have had pizza!)

It’s just stovetop steel cut oats, but because they are so much more dense and chewy and delicious than instant and old-fashioned oats, and they take so much longer to cook, it feels like a big deal to eat them. I usually only make them on weekends, because the process takes about an hour.

They’re special, also, because we always do a buffet-style mix-in station … Lucas went pretty simple this morning — brown sugar and golden raisins — but mine (pictured above) was a fabulous mess of blueberries, pumpkin, splenda, cinnamon, vanilla and just a splash of almond milk. Ahhh, heaven! (Yes, that is a baby spoon in the bowl … I eat with baby silverware and/or chopsticks whenever possible, because it helps me to eat more slowly and figure out when I’m full!)

And that heaven held me over for hours and hours, so I kept lunch pretty simple today. But delicious: roasted butternut squash fries and roasted frozen veggies.

I may have inadvertently found a new favorite food — roasted water chestnuts. They were in the mix with broccoli and carrots, and I thought, why not? They were amazing … they got really crispy, and with the kosher salt and ketchup I put on, they tasted like potatoes! Delish!

After lunch, we watched Syracuse lose to Villanova (whywhywhywhywhy??) and we split up to do some of our traditional Sunday activities. For Lucas, that meant reviewing beer:

(He didn’t drink all 8 today, those are just the ones I bought for his birthday celebration)

And for me, that meant food prep for the week. Here’s a look at the food love:

I’ve said it before … food prep is the only way I keep my sanity during the week. I take an hour to clean, chop, portion-out and store the fruits and veggies that I will need for lunches and dinners. I also thaw out the meat or fish I will need for the first few nights of the week. Actually, I also measure out my breakfast cereal — that’s Kashi GoLean in the bags!

Not only does it save me HOURS of work through the week, it also helps me stay on top of portion sizes. Take a look at ONE serving of nuts — 140 calories:

Before I started portioning them out, I would eat these by the handful. They’re full of healthy fats (well, not the peanuts so much, but this mixed-variety type was on sale) so I try and eat a serving every other day or so, but I keep them in these little bags so I don’t eat 800 calories in one sitting.

While we’re on the subject — I also have other tricks to help stay on track. The most important for me? I always have cut-up veggi
es, sugar-free applesauce, pickles and sugar-free jello waiting in the fridge for snack attacks. It helps my sweet tooth and fills me up.

That seems like a great transition to reveal my “before” picture — I have wanted to do it for a while, but have balked a few times. But the whole point of keeping this blog is to remind myself that I CAN be healthy and happy, and to keep track of how far I have come.

So, here is the picture that changed my life:

It was taken in the fall of 2006, just a few months after I got married … I was not this big on my wedding day, but I was not at my ideal weight, either. 2 weeks of honeymooning in Europe packed on the pounds, and when I returned to my overnight-shift job and NO motivation to work out, my weight kept going up. In the end, it was either move to plus-size clothes or commit to a change. I won’t bore you with the whole long story right now, but after a year and a half of healthy eating and losing weight, I now have another picture that makes me much more proud:

40 pounds lighter, MUCH happier, and most importantly — healthy. I wear a size 4, I can run 10 miles at a time, I am accountable for what goes in my body, and I discovered a passion for eating well and exercising. Yes, I still have days (weeks!) when I go off-track and beat myself up. But these two pictures always bring me back to where I need to be.

Okay, I’ll wrap it up with some random:

And some reveal — another before (sorry for the weird look on my face) and after.

That’s right — I chopped my hair! I think I look shockingly like my mom with the shorter do. I love love love the ease of short hair … I am still working on love love loving the way it looks.

Have fun watching the Oscars tonight!

Tagged as: Healthy Living, Silly Tater Tot, Silly Tater Tot