I'm being such a bad blogger latley.  I just haven't been feeling it. I just haven't been in the mood to blog. PLUS I still can't find my camera with all of my PFM, Christmas, New Years and everything else on it. I'm pretty upset. Not so much about the camera, but the pictures. It has to be at my parents…but where at is the question!

I had the day off on Friday and was able to go to the gym in the morning. It was great. I wish I could go to the gym at 9am every morning.  It is much more fun than 5am or 4pm…its perfect timing.  I cleaned the house when I got back and did a little relaxing.

I've decided that I'm interested in loosing a few lbs and am currently working slowly to make it happen.  I don't want to revert back to my "OLD" habits or over doing my exercise or restricting my food intake, instead i'm shooting for moderation and consistency.  For the past six or seven months I have not focused much on weight loss. My main focus has been figuring myself out. Learning how to eat when I'm hungry and work on becoming stronger physically through exercise.  All I have ever done for what seems like my entire life is "try and loose weight" so when I started making healthy changes, I decided I'd put the goal of "losing weight" on hold until I learned more about my body, understood how it worked and was confident in my choices.  I feel I have reached that spot. I am in a really good place, and am ready towork towards loosing a few lbs.  I'm not in a hurry, I have no time constraint or ridiculous goals…Loosing a few lbs is just something I'd like to achieve and have set out to do. 

OK back to our weekend….

Dave and I went to eat at our favorite restaurant "Tonys". It was AMAZING…no..it was better than amazing. After we ate, we ran some errands and went shopping and then headed home to watch a movie and snuggle on the couch.

Saturday morning we headed to the gym again and got in a great workout.  Did I tell you we joined a new gym. I think I did. Although I don't LOVE the gym…I do love this new elliptical machine. I'm not sure what it's called but its great. I get a great workout and am able to really work my legs and arms at the same time…I really like it.

We went shopping the rest of the day and I got to exchange some of the scents of the lotions I got for Christmas. I now have enough lotion to last me a few years. I got a ton of different scents and am having SO MUCH FUN smelling really good everyday. Later that night we walked across the street (literally) and hung out with our new neighbors. I love them. They are so much fun!  We get along so great, it feels like we've been friends forever.  On Sunday we were asked to speak in Church, it was good to get that out of the way.  I introduced us since we are new and told a little about the two of us and how we met la dee da… Dave talked about his conversion story to the LDS church. I'll have to post it on here one time. Its such a powerful story and he always does such an amazing job sharing it.  I've heard it a million times but never get sick of it. He is so awesome…..i'm feel so lucky to have him. I'm having another one of those times….where I am really really in love with my husband… like a lot. Do you ever have those times? Not like you don't always love them…but sometimes its just different.

This week is looking pretty gloomy.  Dave's grandpa is in the hospital and his mom told us she doesn't know if he will make it through the week. He is 84 years old (although he seems so so young, mentally he is 100% WITH it which makes this so much harder) he has been fighting colon cancer for quite some time now and is not doing well. These types of things are so hard. Dave is heart broken which in turn breaks my heart.  Please keep Dave and his family in your prayers.

I don't have much to blog about…which is why i've been so horrible about posting.  Don't hate. I guess i'm a little burnt out.  But I still love you.

QA: Do you ever get burnt out on blogging?

I must have confused you yesterday with my big long bucket list. That was NOT my list of goals for 2010, it was just a fun little thing I found on my personal blog from a few years ago. I'm not crazy enough to set that many outrageous goals in one year, that's more like a life time of random goals in one list.  Just wanted to clear that up! 

GOOD NEWS
I just found out I don't have to work on Friday. YAY!!!!

BAD NEWS
Dave and I had family home evening last night, but we did not end up writing out our goals. I don't know how I forgot but I guess Dave doesn't like to set goals. At least not on paper.  After we got to talking last night, he reminded me that last year I "forced" him to write out goals with me, and this year he didn't really want to. He told me he'd be happy to hear about my goals and help me set them, but he doesn't like to put goals in writing. He just doesn't like it.  To each their own I guess. If he was not clearly able to achieve any goals, I might be a little bugged or concerned, but he always achieves the things he sets out for, whether they are in writing or not, so I didn't do any forcing this year.

GOOD NEWS
We didn't set any goals together last night…at least not on paper but we did verbally talk about some goals together, which really was better than nothing.

GOOD NEWS
We joined a new gym yesterday. I'm not in love with it, but it will due.  It is really close, only 4 minutes away, the price is good $20 a month and it has a basketball area that Dave is thrilled about.  I think it is going to end up working out pretty nice for both of us and here's why: Dave usually only likes to work out for 30 minutes or so and most days I want to go longer.  Yesterday we stayed at the gym for about 50 minutes.  He did 30 minutes of weights and then played basketball for the next 20 minutes while I finished up what I was doing.  It was perfect! This way I don't feel rushed and he doesn't get bored waiting around.  It's a perfect solution for both of us.

BAD NEWS
 On a not so happy note…ERRRRRRRRRRRRR. That is me being upset.   The workout as a whole was great. It was my back…that was not great.  It started bothering me a few hours after we got home from the gym. I don't get it.  Is it me? Is it the treadmill?  The past month I have ran quite a few times outside and have been just fine, no back pain at all.  Although my back pain today and last night is not super bad, the fact that it's there really bugs me.  I'm not sure if my form lags when I'm on a treadmill as apposed to outside or what the heck the problem is…all I know is I'm frustrated.  I don't even dare to run for the rest of the week because once it starts hurting it takes a while for it to go away and I don't want to make it worse than it already is.  I'm not really sure what I am going to do or how to figure it out.  Any ideas?

GOOD NEWS
 Last night we ate at our very own dinner table for the first time in our entire 2 1/2 year marriage! No joke! We have never owned a dinner table before and did not get chairs until just recently, so last night we ate together at the dinner table for the first time! It was really fun.  Check it out…

The table with the chairs

BAD NEWS
My mom called and told me my camera is not at their house. What!? Where is it then? I'm in trouble.

GOOD NEWS
I made a new dish which was awesome. We had almond chicken (SO GOOD), brown lemon rice and green beans.  MMMM MMMM GOOD. I'm such a nerd but I'm get so proud of myself when I cook something really yummy. I guess its because not everything I cook is really yummy.  I'm working on it though!! (Yes we both had a soda with our meal.  Dave was in charge of getting us drinks, and that is what he picked)
I ended up drinking water and saving my soda for afterwards.

 BAD NEWS
Although I love repeat LOVE watching the Bachelor….this season is the most awkward season I've ever seen so far.  The girls, Jake, everything about it makes me squirm in my seat.  And what's up with the freaky weird dramatic cry baby girl? Do you think she is crazy???? I do. I'm still super excited to keep watching though.

GOOD NEWS
Did you see Love On A Conveyor Belt last night.  Dave and I laughed our bums off!  Too Funny! I will be watching it again next week. Also, we are super excited for all our favorite TV shows to come back on.  We really truly heart our TV shows.

DOUBLE GOOD NEWS
Although we didn't put it in writing, we made a goal to eat at the dinner table every night and I love the idea!

QA:  Do you eat at the dinner table every night?
Do you physically write down your goals?

I heard this song on the Radio this morning and it made me smile. Do you LOVE this cartoon? I love love love it!

I ran outside yesterday and loved it. It was pretty cold, but I was dressed warm and felt great. My ears got a bit cold, but other than that it was awesome. I'm starting to figure out that switching up my exercise every so often excites me and really motivates me. I haven't run for quite a while. I had to stop when I hurt my foot and I've only done it a few times since then. I am really loving it…and GUESS WHAT?!! My back doesn't hurt after wards! That's right. I've now run three times in the last week and have had zero back pain. This is exciting news for me! It means that maybe I can run pain free! I don't want to wear myself out, so I'm going to take it easy, but I'm excited to keep at it. Yesterday as I ran I felt so strong! It's like I could have gone forever. I love the cold crisp air and the quietness of the snow…its so peaceful! I pulled out my ipod for half of the run (I haven't used that thing in 7 or 8 months!). It was fun to run to the music, I'm pretty sure it made me pick up my speed quite a bit.

I used to hate running. Mostly because I couldn't do it and I thought it was boring. It's not an easy thing to get used to doing . I still suck at it, but I do love doing it. I'm not "a runner" nor do I plan on becoming one, I just like it when i'm in the mood to run and feel good doing it! We've been having so many parties and luncheons lately that it's been hard to not eat a lot of unnecessary things. I felt really great after yesterdays run, it gave me lots of motivation to continue tokeep active, especially durning the holidays when goodies and laziness are around every corner!! It's so easy to tell yourself "it's the holidays" or..I'll start exercising when January comes around.  Its so crazy to think about past Christmas's or holidays….it used to be a free for all. I'd eat crap all day long and never exercise.  I always ended up feeling guilty and plotting out my next "diet".  I"m so glad I don't burden myself with that kind of behavior anymore! I love feeling good, eating healthy and staying active, I love even more that I want to do these things because of how they make me feel today and everyday and not because of how I want to look or feel in the future.  It makes the holidays that much more enjoyable!

Today is my last day of work, until the 4th of January!! I hope the day goes by fast!! Dave's sicko and I'm crossing my fingers that he doesn't pass it off to me. I've been saving up my vacation time to take all of this time off during Christmas break. If I'm sick, I will not be too happy.

Ok, so ya know how I said yesterday we would be closing on our house? I lied. Not on purpose though. Today is the big day. Today at 3:30pm. Finally the wait will be over!

My nose is starting to act funny and runny. EEEERRRRRRR. Say a prayer for me.

QA:  What do you want for Christmas?  I want a heart rate monitor/milage counter/calorie counter/zone monitor

Yesterday (Tuesday) when I got home early from work I changed into my workout clothes and cuddled up on the couch while I waited for my workout buddy to get home.  After I gave Dave a hug he immediately said…"I don't feel like working out today"… my response…"me too!"  Problem is we didn't work out Monday either.  We tossed the idea around of not working out again around and decided that it would not be the end of the world if we skipped yet another day.  Dave had four wheeler plow on his mind and I wanted to relax and cook a good dinner.  So we both went our way doing our things.  I decided to make Tofu for the first time. I was pretty excited. I used Caitlin's recipe and was excited to see the outcome.  I cooked some brown rice and an artichoke to go with it. 

5 minutes into the cooking of the Tofu, Dave came in and told me he didn't have the tools necessary to put the plow together.  He really wanted to get the tool right then so, out of the oven came the tofu. I wrapped it in foil and put it in the fridge. I'd finish cooking when we got back home.  3 stores and 2 hours later we were back at home with a bag of take out Taco Bell and a tool for the snow plow. Our appetite got the best of us and we caved. I got a grilled chicken gordita and Dave got some crunch soft taco thing.  We ate and then snuggled up on the couch to watch a movie.
 I might have accidentally mixed up a batch of these in between cuddling and the movie. 

Is it just me or do you eat more brownie/cookie, mix/dough than the actual brownie or cookie? By the time i've baked the stuff I can barley eat one piece. I love the batter!!

I haven't worked out for two days, I ate taco bell for dinner and then topped it off with brownies…when I got home from work, I had good intentions of working out and cooking us a healthy dinner, but then life happend. I guess sometimes good intentions will have to do!

I wrote this post yesterday but didn't get a chance to post it.  Yesterday afternoon Dave and I went for a run. We suited up and ran around the neighborhood for 45 minutes. It felt AMAZING. Not sure if it was the crisp air, or the fact that I haven't run in a while, or that it had been three days since I last worked out…but I was LOVING IT! When we got back home I went out for another 15 minutes because it felt so great!  Sometimes I feel so random with my workouts. I want to be disciplined and stick to something for a certain amount of time, but I guess I get sick of doing the same thing and I crave variety.  I'm beginning to realize that I need variety to stay motivated and excited about exercise.  Doing the same thing all the time is not my recipe for success.

How about you??

ps…the tofu was a BUST! I hated it. I tried to like it and eat it but each bite made me shiver. I even tried to cook it in a different spice, but guys…I just couldn't handle it. I threw it all out.  I don't think tofu is for me unless it looks like a noodle and is found in my Chinese hot and sour soup. Darn…I really wanted to like it.

Funny story, I brought some egg whites with me today to warm up in the microwave for part of my breakfast. I had them in a small tupperware container that I planned on popping in the microwave for a few minutes.  Like I mentioned, I moved to a new building at work and am surrounded by all new people. I asked a lady if I could use her microwave since the community one is not up and running yet.  Before I could put the whites in the microwave she and another woman stopped me and were in awe of what I was doing with my egg whites.  They had never seen microwaved eggs/egg whites.  WHAT? I can't be the only one who does this right?? They proceeded to ask me how it worked and what they would be/look/taste/feel like when I took them out.

After answering their questions with a mini MICROWAVE EGG 101 course,we sat and talked about nutrition and dieting in gernarl.  One of the Lady's told me about a diet her hair dresser was doing where she only ate 500 calories a day for three months along with a daily shot…EEK!!.  The other lady joined in and talked about how someone here at work tried it and lost a ton of weight. I immediatelysaid..of course she did…500 calories a day, anyone could lose weight if they STARVE THEMSELFS! They tried to help me see why it was a healthy diet and how it worked….I would not have it.

I talked to them about my past struggles with diet, exercise and limiting my food. They became very interested. They proceeded to ask me a million questions about diet, exercise, eating healthy, what I did then and what I do now. I told them about my past and how unhealthy I was and talked with them about what how my entire life has changed because of it.  They proceeded to asked questions about splenda, soda, lifting weights, cardio, calories, on and on.  It was crazy to hear all of their thoughts on nutrition and health and what they thought was healthy. I can't tell you how off base they were with some of their thinking and ideas. I honestly don't think they knew any better, it was crazy! I felt like Wikipedia because I shared so much info that they had never heard of before. After the conversation as I walked back to my desk I heard one of them say to the other, I'm going to go buy some egg whites and try them out…the other said, ya me too! I walked away from that conversation feel grateful forhow far I've come and where I'm at today. I felt thankful for the things I know and the way I live my life. I immediately came back to my desk and started writing this post.

The other day I found an old journal. It was a food-calorie/feeling  journal. I sat down and read a few pages and my right away my eyes welled up with tears. I felt so sad for my old self and my thought processes. I just didn't get it. I was so off base from where I needed to be, yet so wrapped up in what I thought was ok. How could I ever have thought that way? My words portrayed someone that felt trapped and hopeless. It was obvious I believed I would never be able to over come "the battle".

While I was driving to work today, I was thinking about blogging and my blog topics and posts when I first started this blog 4 months ago. Most of them talked about struggles, feelings, and my quest for a healthy life. I began to think about my past and the problems I used to run into on a daily basis. As I thought about it, I realized that those problems and"demons" are gone.  They no longer exist. I tried to think about any negative behavior in regards to food or exercise or negative self image and guys I just don't have them any more.  I no longer count calories, I not longer stress about food, I no longer exercise to burn calories and punish myself for eating bad, I no longer put myself down.  Please believe that I am not saying this to honk my horn…I'm saying it in hopes that others may know it is possible. I never believed I could change. I never thought I would over come YO YO dieting. I never thought I'd have a healthy normal relationship with food. Never say never.

I watched the Biggest Loser last night and listened to the contestants from 11 weeks ago give their future healthy self advice.I got chills when I heard their plea with their future self.  They wanted more than anything to change, to be healthy and overcome their struggles. They reminded themselves of how trapped they felt and how important it was to overcome their battle. You could tell they had the strength within themselves, but just didn't know how to find it. Watching them cross the finish line after running a marathon was unbelievable. Although I have never been overweight or battled with their same issues. I've had my own, and watching them cross that finish line summed up my feelings perfectly.

I know it is possible to overcome our battles. No matter what are battles are, ED, weight, finances, religion, family, anything. If we are positive and fight the fight pushing forward with faith, we will overcome our battles and we will eventually cross the finish line. Don't give up, and don't you dare back down. 
 
Press on with happiness in your heart, positivity in your mind, and a belief that you can achieve WHATEVER you put you mind to. The solution to your problem lies in you!

CRAP…my egg whites are cold!

It's fun being a house wife when you have your own house.  I don't so much mind cooking and cleaning.  I'm sure the cleaning will get old and I'll start to mind doing it, but for now I'm enjoying enjoying it. ha!  Yesterday Dave and I headed to the gym to sweat it out. And that we did. I was sweating like crazy and loved it! I did 30 minutes on the stair master (that baby is freaking hard) and then 10 minutes of abs.  Here I am doing my

Whittle

My

Middle

My arms get so tired and fatiuged by the end of this routine. I really have to focus on my abs so my arms don't do all the work!  hey…check out my sweat pits! YES! I just noticed them…those are SEXY!!

I had a dinner creation in mind, nothing special, but none the less I was excited about it. I got to work as soon as we got home.  Dave started working on the guest bedroom while I created a masterpiece very simple meal in the kitchen.  What was on the menu?

Cilantro Turkey burgers with hummus, sprouts, tomatos and lettuce with a side of sweet potato fries (MY FAV)

Not too shabby a picture considering I used the IPHONE.

I wish I had a really good picture, because they looked really pretty. I was proud of myself for cooking dinner and making it look pretty at the same time. I'm notorious for burning/ruining meals, so this was a success. I'm more proud of Dave though because guess what? I didn't modify his sandwich one bit!  He ate the hummus, tomato, sprouts, lettuce, sweet potato fries…all of it!  It was not his favorite, but he ate it anyhow. If you understood how HUGE this is you'd be jumping up and down with joy.  Dave HATES all veggies, every single one. He hates all beans, every single kind, along with quite a few other foods.  He flat out HATES them, as in they make him gag and feel sick.  The past month, he has been very open to try new things and make himself eat the foods he does not like. He is trying to get himself used to their tastes in hope that one day they won't bother him.  He is super interested in eating healthy and fueling his body properly, and realizes that he has not been fueling with the foods he needs.  I'm so happy he is SO willing to make changes and try to improve his diet.  Even Monday when he ordered rumbi he didn't ask them to hold the veggies. NEVER HAPPENDED BEFORE!  There was a point where he had to spit out a few bites into the napkin because "it tasted DISGUSTING" but for the most park, he choked the veggies down! WAY TO GO HONEY! 

Isn't it interesting/exciting how our food choices and knowledge of nutrition can help improve those around us? I never thought I'd see the day where Dave told me to make his dinner the EXACT same way as mine. ( I always make two seperate meals, or make his completely different than mine). I never thought I'd see him order a meal from a restaurant without asking them to hold the veggies. He has always tried to eat healthy and moderate the things that he knows are not good from him, but his problem is that he dose not get enough of the foods that are so incredibly important.  I am so thankful that through my journey to a healthy lifestyle, he has also been making healthy changes.  His willingness to make these changes makes me a happy, happy wife! Another thing that makes me super happy was talking to my sissy yesterday. First of all, she is pregnant..yay! And she is having cravings and all sorts of other stuff happen that is cracking me up. Anyhow, she told me that her and her husband tried Cous Cous the other night and loved it. She also proceeded to tell me about some other healthy food choices she has been making and the different types of foods she has tried in the past month! Way to go Jac! You rock sister! It is so exciting to see/hear about people making positive changes or improvements!!

Guess what?? I am only working for a few more hours today! YIPPEE!! I plan on going to they gym, working on the house, and possibly putting up our Christmas tree!  My parents bought us the most beautiful pre-decorated tree last year for Christmas, but since we didn't have a home last year, we haven't been able to use it yet. I can't wait to put it up!!

We still don't have internet (what is wrong with us) because we can't decide which provider to use, so I don't know that I'll get to blogging this weekend GASP! Hope you all have a wonderful safe holiday!  Eat lots of good food, play lots of fun games, watch lots of good movies and take lots of good pictures!!  xoxo
Love, Happy Housewife-

 QA:
Have your healthy choices produced positive outcome on those around you??

FYI: I added a Whittle My Middle (WMM) page to the top of the blog. Logging my WMM and fitness on the same page was getting messy looking, so I separated them. I know you could care less are dying to check it out, so here ya go: Whittle My Middle

I have some good new and bad news. Good news first! I made my very first granola bars yesterday! They were very very good! I was SUPER surprised how good they turned out.  Bad news… my camera batter died, and I don't know where the charger is….so, NO PICTURES. boo hoo! The entire time I was making the bars I thought about how great of a story I could tell with some pictures, but there was no camera available.  Here is a picture I took this morning with my crapy cell phone camera…this is the bar I am going to eat in just a minute!

I had such a blast making them…(yes I just said the word blast in the same sentance as cooking/baking). Cindy my go to gal, gave me some great tips and I put them to use. I changed the recipe up a bit (something I would usually be too AFRAID to do) I added raisins, chia seeds, more coconut, dark chocolate chips, whole almonds, a little agave, and some a hand full of other dried fruit I had on hand. If your interested in the recipe, you can check it out here.

Dave and I sampled the mixture before putting it in the oven and we LOVED it. I couldn't wait for it to come out. I kept checking on them every few minutes and finally when they looked golden brown I pulled them out.  You should have smelled our house….it smell AMAZING!  Dave immediately came in the kitchen and started to pick at it…I slapped is handasked him politely to wait until they cooled.  With anticipation we waited for them to cool and once they were ready, I cut them into 8 bars (I halved the recipe) and then wrapped them in saran wrap, minus the two bars Dave and I ate on the SPOT! THEY WERE SO GOOD! Seriously, I couldn't believe it. We both scarfed them down and loved every bite! I can't believe that I have been missing out on SO MANY amazing foods! Geeze. While eating a  million ideas of what I could do with this stuff ran through my head. SO exciting!!  Here is a pic of the bar all wrapped up and ready to go, doesn't it look cute? Or am I just proud of myself? lol

Yesterday we picked up some Nutri Grain bars for Dave (he usually has one for breakfast) and they were almost $4 a box. I couldn't believe they were so expensive. I believe they come with 8 bars, SO today, Dave and I are going to add up all the ingredients it takes to make the bars I made last night, and do a price comparison against the Nutri Grain Bars. Dave is a math wiz and can do all the measurements and conversions in a jiffy, so I'm going to send him the info he'll need and then presto, he'll send back the numbers and I can then do a price analysis.  Fun right?

I know there are THOUSANDS of recipes out there, which is exciting because I can just keep trying new ones!  I picked this recipe because I had all the ingredients, and it sounded super easy (which it was).  The only complaint I have is that they don't stick together as well as I'd like. Maybe I needed to add more honey or more of something? I don't really know, I'll have to mess with it. If you have any suggestions let me know.

Oh, I am SO happy its Friday! We have TONS to do this weekend, but when you don't have to add work into the mix of things, it's always better! Our goal it to get a couch for the bonus room, find some decorations to fill a bunch of the dead space, finish the laundry room, hang up the pictures/clocks…etc, oh and much much more! (Any design/decoration ideas for the side walls where our tv hangs? The sides are so bare. I have a giant picture I might hang to the left of the tv…take a look at the space  and if you have any ideas…please share!)

Exercise Note: We went to the gym again yesterday. It was wonderful. You can check out what I did here. I would have liked to stay at the gym longer, but Dave never wants to be there for longer than 30 minutes, so 45 was pushing it.  I got to thinking yesterday and now that the gym is 10-15 minutes from our house, I think I'd rather workout at home. Since I am no longer working out in the mornings, It kinda sucks to get home from work, change, go to the gym, and then have it be dark and late by the time we get home. I don't like that. If we worked out at home, we would save ourselves at least 30 minutes. I talked to Dave last night about starting/buying PX90 (I want him to do it with me), he said he'd think about it. He doesn't know ANYTHING about it and is worried that it might be more of a girl thing "like the shred" (his words, not mine) not that the shred isn't hard he said…but he wants something that will build muscle, not just tone. He is already toned, he wants to get bigger and stronger.  I JUST KNOW that PX90 would be enough, I just have to convince him of it. I plan on sending him a few testimonial/videos today. I think they will do the trick…..the first time I saw the infomercial I was a believer!! I think he'll come around.

Fridays are SLOW around here so I'm going to get to reading this baby!
(I talked to the nutrionist yestserday, and she recommended I read this book, what do you know!!)

Have a wonderful weekend!! 

PS..it's not too late to get people involved in PFM.  Have you asked anyone at work to get involved? If not…why not? Go over there right now and tell them all about it, ok? Ok, great…good job!
-loves to all-

QA:
Are you a Twilight fan?
Do you plan on seeing the movie this weekend?
Did you squirm/get butterflies/feel like an idiot teen girl on the first movie right before they kissed…or was that just me?

I went shopping yesterday and about 1/2 or more of the food I bought I have never bought or tried before in my life! It was exciting. I was a bit overwhelmed at the grocery store trying to find the right things and not pick the wrong things. I took deep breaths and realized I didn't have to get it perfect and that any changes I make are in the right direction. I was also really worried I was going to spend WAY too much money, I had a number in my head that I thought it would add up to and as I kept throwing things in the cart I began to get worried. When I finished checking out I was INCREDIBLY surprised to find that it was 1/2 as much as I thought it would be! I was thrilled!!
Here are some of the new foods I picked up!

Here is a list of all the foods I've never tried or purchased before:
Sprouted Bread
Cous Cous
White Beans
Black Eyed Peas
Long Grin Brown Rice
Basmati Rice
Coconut
Barley
Avocado
Almond Milk
Raw Almonds
Whole Wheat Pitas
Red Pears
Rolled Oats
Whole Wheat Pasta
Greek Yogurt ( holy crap this stuff is AMAZING)

There may be much more, but that is all I can think of right now. I wasn't able to find ALOT of the things I was looking for at the local grocery store. I was a little bummed because I didn't want to make a special trip down town (30 min away). 

After shopping Dave and I both went to the gym and got in a sweaty workout. I can't tell you HOW GOOD I FELT. SO SO GOOD!  I took my Little Booky with me and read as I chugged away on the elliptical. I was pushing so hard and it felt SO great!  Here are my stats:

Elliptical: 35 Minutes (Dave didn't want to stay an an entire hour)
Abs (Whiddle Middle) :10 minutes
Arms: 2 sets of 12 triceps dips

My arms were burning by the end! The ab workout totally works your arms too, which is great…I love two in ones!!

After the gym we walked to the grocery store that is connected to the gym and we passed by a store that intrigued me. On the way out of the grocery store we decided to stop in the store.  It was a health store, with ALL THE FOODS I EVER NEEDED IN IT! It had every single thing on my list! I was SO SO SO HAPPY! I went to town. We spent a lot of money, but i got a lot of things that will last me a very long time.  I have never tried all most all of these things.
Take a look…

I asked so many questions while I was at the health food store. The lady really helped me a lot. Before I left I asked her if they ever do any informational classes. She told me the did not do any classes, but the owner of the store does free nutritional counseling! WHAT!! FREE? Yes that is right. I gave the lady my name and number and with in 30 minutes of leaving the sore, she called! I wasn't able to pick up the phone..(cus It was lost at the time), but I am going to give her a call this morning! HOW EXCITING!!

As soon as I got home, I opened all of my new products and gave each one a taste. I have been reading for months about all of these products, so you can imagine my excitement to try them!

Want a review? You're getting one!

Agave: This is so yummy. I love this stuff. I can't believe I never knew it existed! It is so much better than honey or any other sweetener for that matter!!

Brown Rice Syrup: This had an odd taste by itself. It was sweet but kinda weird. I can see this tasting really good when cooking or mixing it with something else.

Flax Seed: I had to get quite a few in my mouth to really taste them. Have you ever picked a piece of grass and bitten on the white at the bottom? That is what flax seeds taste like to me…I Like them!

Chia Seed: I don't think these really have a taste (which is great because you can add them to anything!)

Chunky Almond Butter: I never liked chunky peanut butter, but this rocks! I had a slice of bread with a bit of almond butter and a drizzle of agave…oh my it was so good!

Coconut Oil: I think this might be my favorite. It smells and even tastes so good! I rubbed in on my arms and dave rubbed it on his elbows (He has irritation on his elbows) we want to see if it helps! I can't wait to use this stuff!

Sunflower Seeds: I have had these before, and I love them. I am going to use them in my granola bars and many other things!

Rice Chips: Long ago when Dave and I first started dating he used to eat these. I remember how much I LOVED them, but have not had them since then. We tore these open as soon as we got home. Yum these are goooouuud!

Almond Milk: I didn't get to use the almond milk yet, but I'll let ya know what I think

Peppermint Oil: Dave picked up some peppermint oil. Someone at his works rubs a bit of this on their fan and it fills the room with peppermint smells.  He went to town on my car air vents and different places throughout the house. I LOVE the smell of peppermint…(but I do not like the taste!)

I was seriously so happy and excited last night. I LOVED all of my new purchases and I can't wait to use them all! I felt so great about what I had found and the HUGE change I had made to our grocery items!  I was also so excited because last night I made my first Cous Cous! It was tasty tasty! I even took a picture of it cus I was so proud of myself (not that its hard at all) but I was just super excited!!

Since I had never made it before I didn't really know what it would taste like or what to do with it. I grilled up some mushrooms and red peppers and then stuffed the pitas with the veggies, cous cous and then topped it off with some sauce.  It was great! I was seriously glowing because I was so proud of myself, just all together for trying. ha! Dave was laughing at me because I was basically skipping around the house because I was so excited!

Ok so now its time that I call on you for help.  I need YOUR recipes. You kinda have an idea of what I have on hand (I have a bunch of other stuff I didn't take pictures of too, so don't worry) I'll also be getting more this weekend. So from the bottom of my heart, I'm asking you to leave me a comment with your favorite (Easy…i'm just a beginner) recipe? I'd love to get your best of best recipe/s and give them a whirl! I am trying to get Dave on board with everything and he is being SO WONDERFUL, but I know if I keep giving him yummy food, he will start to enjoy foods that are better for him and as we change certain things, it will be easier for him. I need your help! I am going to look around today and try and find some recipes, but I think the best ones will come from you!  So, think about your favorite recipe, then leave me a comment with it! Thank you thank you! I can't wait to get them!!

Look what I got in the mail yesterday!  Prescription for Dietary Wellness. Yippe! This was my first piece of mail at our new house…only fitting that it was a book I am super excited to read.  Cindy told me I HAD to get this book, so like a good little girl, I obeyed and ordered it right away!  I can't wait to get started. When I finish this post its scriptures and then dietary wellness time! I'm sure this book with be referenced in many posts to come!!

I STILL have not gone shopping, but am planning a run to the store this afternoon! I also have a few other thing up my sleeve for later today. Last night I declared to Dave that I WAS SICK OF NOT WORKING OUT…and I needed to get exercise, busy or not!  My plan is to head to the gym after work each day.  Since my foot is still bothering me I will do the ellipticalor the bike and then add on 15-20 minutes of strength.  I'm feeling super out of shape. I'm even noticing a difference in the way I look….boo hoo! I must admit my exercise has been MIA since my foot and getting ready to move. That combined with eating out WAY TOO MUCH is making me feel blah!!.  I may just be feeling this way because I've been less active (exercise wise), but whatever it is, I don't like the way I feel…so I'm going to change it. Simple as that.

When I used to feel like this in the past, I would make myself feel even worse by dwelling on the negative and all of my mistakes. I would end up eatting worse and avoid exercise all together. Makes no sense right? I know..but its just how I did it.

I CAN NOT TELL YOU how thankful I am that that has changed. Yesterday when I had a moment to breath and stop and think about how I have been feeling the past few days, it made me motivated to make myself feel better and get back on track. I want to feel stronger, healthier and in better shape, which also motivates me to eat better (no more fast food) and MAKE TIME for exercise. Now that we are moved in the BIG STRESS is behind us, so making time to exercise seems a lot more feasible and desirable!

So, today I brought my gym clothes with me and plan on hitting up the gym before I head home. 

Here is my plan:
45 min Elliptical
15 min upper body
6-10 min Widdle my middle

Yay!  I can't wait to sweat it out! I have totally missed sweating.  Of course moving was a lot of work and caused me to have sweat pits (ha), but that is not the kind of sweating I'm talking about. I'm talking about full on sweat dripping all over, wipe it off your face with your arm kind of sweat. The gross kind! I'm craving it big time! At 9:00pm last night I almost popped in a workout DVD because I was wanting to do something so bad. I realized that it was not the best time since we were getting ready for bed. I practiced "MODERATION" by realizing that it would be ok if I waited until tomorrow. FLASHBACK: (I remember times where I layed in my bed anticipating the next days workout and feeling guilty about something I did or didn't do that day. I would actually get out of bed and go down stairs and workout…at crazy hours)….I look back on that and think…oh you poor little thing. I also think… YOU WERE CRAZY! lol. But really MODERATION is important. I had already done my Whiddle My Middle exercises and since it was time for bed I declined my urge to workout at such a late hour!
(9pm…yes that is late for us who get up in the 4am hour)

Speaking of Moderation…dave said something to me a while back when we were doing Crossfit that I have to keep reminding myself of.  We had decided to take a day off and I was stressed about it because I had committed to 30 days and was planning on blogging about it that day and was also planning on the exercise.  He looked and me and said Nat, this is our life, this is not a fitness competition, nor your blog, it is ok if we take a day off.  Geeze Louise, I thought to myself!! He was so right. How silly it was that I was worried about taking the day off! It is not a competition, no one is judging, no one actually really cares what I do or don't do! I was so glad he reminded me that this is my life and living it in moderation is KEY to my happiness! I refer back to that statement often!

This post is pretty random. I'm just letting out some thoughts. Thanks for listening! Here is to moderation and a really sweaty workout!!

(Check out my fitness page…I am going to TRY and log my daily fitness!!)

Widdle My Middle Workout
Nov 17
Plank: 1:30
Side Plank: 1 min each side
Ball Roll Out: 20 Reps
Jack Knife Roll Out: 20 Reps
Side to Side Plank: 1:30
Total Min: 6 Min 30 Sec

Thanks for all your suggestions for modified workouts! I was able to get a great work out in yesterday! I had a lot of  fun doing it too! I was able to get the things done I needed to and also get in a good workout! I actually sore today from it! OH YA!

 Ya know what I wrote yesterday about Dave? Well, I wanted to do something special for him but had no time , so before I left work, I wrote a really short poem and then stopped by the gas station and bought him a Coke Cherry Zero and his favorite treat. It made me happy to be able to do something/anything a little special for him, even if the poem was REALLY CHEEZY!

ON THE MOVE WORKOUT

-Walking Lunges
(anytime I want to get from one side of the house to the other, I did lunges to get there) I had to modify the lunge when my hurt foot was in the back, so each lunge was done a lot slower than usual, I think this added extra burn!

-One legged Push Ups
(I dropped and did 20 1 legged push ups 3x..1 legged because of my foot)

-Shoulder Raises
(I had to lift a few boxes and in the process I did 3 sets of 15 shoulder raises (box down and box up)

-Abs
(I did 3 sets of 45 sit ups) Dave was done taking pictures of me by this point, so I don't have any of me doing abs..but I'm sure you can imagine!

What a great/fun way to get in a workout. I felt so great afterwards. I was glad I did something active, my mind needed it! I got my heart rate up quite a bit when doing the lunges and push ups. The exercises I chose did not hurt my foot and were fun to do! Since we have so many things going on this week, workouts like this that I can incorporate into the projects we need to get done are PERFECT!! 

I did most of my workout while dave was putting together this baby:

Before

During

After

I'm such a nerd and TOTALLY forgot to take an after picture. Dangit! I'll take one another day!! Oops!!

After my workout I went through the house and prepped it for movers! Since we just got the carpets cleaned we wanted to try and keep them that way (clean)!

After we finished at the house, we went home, ate dinner, got in our jammies, cuddled and watched TV. I waited all day just for that!  Today we have more work to do. We have to clean out our storage shed! BLAH!  But I'm gonna put on my happy face and chug through…there is an end in mind!!  We might find out today if we are moving this weekend or not!  MY FINGERS ARE STILL CROSSED FROM LAST WEEK!!

QA:
Do you like to decorate?  If so…will you come to my house and help me dec0rate?
What is your favorite thing (decoration wise) in your home?  Please share (and send pictures or examples)