Meal Plan Monday

I had my meals all completely planned, but after discussing them with Ashley, I'm making some minor tweaks. I have some very lofty fitness goals (ones that I'm not quite ready to go public with), which are going to require very strict, clean eating for the next several months. I'm SO on board and ready to get the show on the road :) So here's what I'm eating this week!

Meal 1 (pre-workout): 2 eggs + 2 egg whites, 1/2 c. oatmeal (steel cut), banana
Meal 2 (post-workout): Pumpkin Protein Pancakes (these are insanely delicious!)
Meal 3: 6 oz. chicken, small sweet potato, broccoli
Meal 4: 6 oz. ground turkey, 1/4 c. brown rice, bell pepper/onions, 1 c. strawberries
Meal 5: 6 oz. chicken, 1/4 c. brown rice, steamed green beans
Meal 6: 6 oz. salmon, LOTS of baby spinach, 1 T. balsamic vinaigrette, apple

Not much variety, but thankfully I don't require too much. This also isn't a huge change from what I'm already eating - more calories, more protein, and bigger portions of veggies...but more or less the same. Workouts are getting more intense (which I LOVE) and I can almost do a chin up without having to jump to start it! Exciting stuff, people! :)

Funny

I laughed so hard I started crying...boy does that kid make me smile!!

Will (sitting in the high chair eating a Frosty): Oh, look! Das a squirrel outside!
Me: Yes, that's right!
Will: Oh, no Mommy! Das a bug right dere!
Me: No, sweetie, there's no bug.
Will: Yes! Das bug right there mommy!
Me (looking closer at the window, I see a huge horse-fly): Look at that! You're right! There is a bug!
Will: You can smack dat bug.
Me (laughing): Okay, baby. (I grab a fly swatter and finally hit the fly on my umpteenth attempt)
Will: I see dat yucky bug?
Me: Sure. (I scoop it up on the end of the fly swatter and take it over to his highchair. He leans forward to inspect it more closely, and I, being the nice, loving mother that I am jerk the fly swatter toward his face and say, "Rawr!")
Will: (Jerks his face away) No, Mommy! Das disgusting!

I just about died laughing...since when does my two-year-old know how to use "disgusting" correctly in a sentence?!

Dear Will,

I had such a fun day with you today and I'm really, really lucky to be your Mommy. I can't believe you're nearly two and a half, yet at the same time I can't remember what life was like before you came into this world. I wanted to take a minute to write down some things that you're doing right now so I can remember these moments forever. Because you're feeling very big and time feels like it's going by very fast and I'm realizing that I'm not going to get to keep you little like this for long.

- You "roar" at everyone. It's the way you greet people and though it may be a tiny bit embarrassing at times, I'm totally and completely in love with it. You tuck your chin down to your chest and you roar as you bring your head up in a swooping motion. I need to get it on video!

- You can count to 15 (!!! where did you learn that?!) and you know how to spell your name. Instead of saying "seven" with an "s" at the beginning, you say, "evan." You're learning your ABCs and love to sing the song, even if you don't know all the words.

- You come into my office every night to give me a hug and a kiss before you get your paci. It's one of my favorite parts of the day. You're sweet smelling from your bath and your hair is so soft and I love the way you straddle my lap and snuggle your head down into my chest. I love it even more when you say, "Mommy, I wuv you sooooo much," completely unprompted.

-You're a cautious child. You think before you do anything and it always takes you a little bit to warm up to situations where there's lots of kids around or it's very noisy. Today at Safari Champ, you got halfway up the big-kid playscape and started crying. Once I came up there to play with you, you were perfectly fine...and by the end of our playtime there, you were going up and down and running and jumping all by yourself. I was so proud of you!

- I absolutely adore the way you say, "Oh-tay" in response to questions. It's so cute!

- When you don't want to do something, you say, "Hmm, maybe not." 

- You are stubborn as anything. Not really sure where you got that from.... ;) You point your little finger and say, "Das not oh-tay!" It's insanely frustrating and incredible hilarious and I find myself fighting back laughter while trying to discipline you at the same time.

- You get on the scale in our bathroom every day and proudly declare, "Forty-nine pounds!"

- You say, "Yeah, I know," all.the.time.

- You are such a little backseat driver. You tell me when the light is red or green ("GO mommy! Das green light!"), you tell me to "race 'em!" and to go faster and faster. You love pointing out tractors, trucks and trailers, mail trucks, and school buses as we drive.

- When you say something, Daddy or I have to repeat it back to you. Example...in the car on the way to Gram and Papa's house, we always pass over the bridge with the train parked underneath. You say, "Look! Das choo choo train tracks!" and if Daddy or I doesn't immediately say, "that's right! A choo choo train on the tracks!" you'll keep repeating it louder and louder until we do ;)

- One thing people always remark on is how sweet you are. Your Sunday School teachers always tell me this and it makes me smile inside.

I know you're going to grow up and get big and I'm going to love each and every stage you're at, but this one is by far my favorite. We are so lucky to have you in our lives, sweet boy!

Sick

Will is still not feeling 100%. Not even close to 100%, actually. His fever is still hanging around 105° when he's not medicated and 103° when he is...poor guy! I think he must have inherited my tendency to have sky high fevers when he's sick - I know how miserable I am and hate that he's going through that too :(

The stacks of movies that have been playing constantly since Saturday. How to Train Your Dragon seems to be the favorite today.

He hasn't moved off the couch since Sunday afternoon and we've watched our allotment of movies for the entire month...(or probably year!) His cough sounds awful and makes me cringe when I hear it. I hate my baby being sick!! We have a million and one errands to run and things to take care of, but it's all going to have to wait until he's feeling better. I've had extra time to straighten up the house and do laundry...but everytime I go in the office to try to get some work done, I hear his little voice cry, "Mama, cover you up?" which means that he kicked off his blankie and needs me to come cover him back up...so work will have to wait until Daddy gets home to take over. That's okay, I don't mind one bit :)

Last night I had a meeting for the new job I'm starting on Thursday (part time, work from home) and it went well. I'm nervous about my schedule along with my photography, though...This fall is crazy busy for me already - not sure why I thought it was a good idea to add 28 hours of work per week on top of that. Oh yeah, because we need the money ;) Hopefully it isn't as difficult to juggle being a mom, a wife, a friend, a gym rat, a business owner, and now a Bazaarvoice employee as I'm imagining it will be, because we could certainly use the extra cash.


(I apologize for all the iPhone photos lately...my camera has been hiding in my bag and I have no intentions of making it come out ;) )

Meal Plan Monday

My boy is sick, y'all. Really sick. We had to go in for chest x-rays this morning and I had to help hold my baby down. And it was every bit as awful as it sounds. But the good news is he doesn't have pneumonia...yay! He does have a nasty virus that's causing inflammation in his lungs and we're under strict orders to keep him drugged up and resting for the next 3-5 days as he gets feeling better. That was easy today...but I foresee telling a 2 year old to stay on the couch for 5 days being a fairly difficult task!! Here he is in his hospital gown getting ready to go in for the chest x-ray. Isn't he pathetically adorable??

I was able to take advantage of his bedrest and get my meals for the week prepped. I was so glad I sucked it up and went to the grocery store yesterday - there's no way I'd have made it today. Here's what I'm eating this week...

Meal One: 1/4 c. oatmeal w/ 1 T. ground flax seed & 1 c. sliced strawberries; 3 egg whites & 1 egg
Meal Two: 4 oz. grilled chicken, 1 small sweet potato
Meal Three: Turkey & Black Bean Chili, 2 c. steamed broccoli
Meal Four: Apple & 2 T. almond butter
Meal Five: 4 oz. fish or 4 egg whites, big spinach salad with lots of veggies & 1 T. Seeds of Change balsamic vinaigrette; 1 c. watermelon
Meal Six (post-workout...whenever that is!): Protein Shake, banana

I've got a training for the new part time job I'm starting tonight from 6-8 and then I'm heading to bed early. I've gotta get up early for a workout with Ashley and I absolutely can.not.get.sick. Snuggling with the little guy off an on all day makes me a little nervous that I'll catch his gunk - and I (literally) can't afford to get sick right now! Happy Monday!

Inner Struggle

This morning, I had a battle with my mind. It's been a crazy week - evenings haven't been normal because we're looking to buy a second car (yay!) and either just Greg or all three of us have been out car shopping every night. My diet hasn't been as clean as I'd like it to be and my head is just all over the place right now. I feel a little out of control and I really don't like it...I like to be in control of everything, but especially my mind and body. Yeah, I'm a little type-A! I was crazy sore after my workout Monday, skipped my workout yesterday because I was still so sore and just wanted to do nothing but sleep this morning.

The alarm went off at 4:15am and I'm pretty sure I actually groaned. That's so not me. I *love* my daily workouts. I love getting my workout completed before most people are even out of bed for the day...it's just the way I roll! But this morning it took every ounce of inner strength to swing my feet over the edge of the bed, brush my teeth, drag a brush through my hair, and jump in the car to get to the gym. I hated it for the first 10 minutes of intervals on the treadmill, did some ab-work, chatted with Ashley for a bit while on the stair master, hated it for the next 10 minutes while doing intervals on the spin bike, did some ab-work and left. It just wasn't my day apparently! But no matter what, I'm glad I got out of bed and went. Because there was a day in the not so distant past where I would have let my mood dictate what I did that day in regards to workouts and eating. I'm not that person anymore. I refuse to ever be that person again. No matter how out of control my world feels, eating clean and working out hard will always be a constant in my life.

"There is no finish line. It's a continuous journey and I'm always looking to push my limits."

Author unknown

This is me now. This is who I am and I won't change. I may have a bad day. A bad week. A bad month. But it's part of the journey. This is why I love eating clean - it's not a diet for me. And if I fall off the wagon, I can hop back on with no guilt. I love working out so hard that sweat burns my eyes. I get so many people who ask me what I'm training for...nothing! I'm training for me. I'm training to so I can do 6 pull-ups in a row for me. I'm training so I can do things that scare me. Even if I struggle with getting out of bed in the morning or hit the snooze button on my alarm three times in a row, I won't give up and I won't quit. Because this is my life; my journey. And I am going to be the fittest person I can be.

Meal Plan Monday...on Tuesday

This weekend was crazy and hectic and fun and filled with love...and in the midst of all that, I had no time to meal plan or grocery shop, so all that was done yesterday morning while Will and I were eating breakfast. I hit the gym at 11 for a workout that I laughed at...and then ate my words when it was over! Man, I'm feeling it today!! After the gym, we went to the grocery store and quickly did our grocery shopping - I was sweaty and probably a little stinky...but who cares, right? ;)

Here's my meal plans for the week. I'm trying something a little different and have moved my nightly fish or egg whites and salad to lunchtime so I can eat dinner with Will and Greg. We'll see how that goes for the rest of the week!

Meal One - 1 slice Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Bread, 3 egg whites + 1 egg, 1 c. strawberries
Meal Two - Apple, 2 T. almond butter
Meal Three - 4 oz. fish (I'm doing sockeye salmon, tilapia, and tuna), 2+ c. baby spinach (+ any other salad veggies I want), 2 T. Seeds of Change Balsamic Vinaigrette
Meal Four - 4 oz. diced chicken breast, 1/2 c. black beans (slightly smashed), 1 chopped bell pepper (sauteed in a bit of olive oil, if you wish), 1/4 c. pico de gallo
Meal Five - Dinner with Greg & Will (plan below) + 1 c. watermelon for dessert
Meal Six (post-workout) - Protein Shake (Syntha-6 Chocolate) and a banana

Dinner Plans
Mon/Tues: Chicken stir fry with broccoli, red bell peppers, onions, carrots, cauliflower, and mushrooms; brown rice
Wed/Thurs: Turkey meatloaf w/ spinach salad and balsamic vinaigrette
Friday: Chicken Salad (use chicken broth and mayo to moisten the chicken - use the mayonnaise as sparingly as possible. I'll be adding sliced grapes, slivered almonds, apple chunks soaked in lemon juice, celery to the mixture) served on veggies for me and bread/crackers for the boys
 

Mine.

We had an amazing weekend. And as soon as I can get the pictures edited and my thoughts together, I'll post about it. But for now, I just have to post this one of my little guy...who isn't all that little anymore. His eyes have started to change from blue to green (we think - they may end up hazel in the end) and I just love the way they look! He has such an amazingly sweet heart and I love him to pieces.