My Good Eats

This is what I've been working on lately. I have been trying to really cut my eating in half and cut down on all the junk that I know is NOT good for me. I have made the effort of packing my lunches everyday. Most of my lunch consists of a sandwich with some type of side to it. I had also checked out the nutritional contents of everything that I was eating or what I made. Most of these are all under 300-400 calories. My favorite has got to be my breakfast tostada! It's only 280 calories, egg whites, black beans, veggies and baked tortilla to make it crispy.

I also was able to  snag that tomato straight from my garden. I am so happy that even if it's Fall I'm still able to grow some stuff. Though, this isn't the best of conditions to plant something I am still trying my best.

I am trying to eat a lot healthier and it's not that easy. I mean I love food, who doesn't?! Though, finding good food that is also healthy for you is something that takes more effort than just the drive-thru.I think that I have been doing much better, but I won't lie I have hit a few downfalls. I'm still pushing myself to eat a lot healthier. I'm planning to start sharing some recipes again, but in the mean time here are some delicious pictures of my GOOD EATS!

Coffee Mondays/Being Back

 

©2013 Pinterest

 

It has been a while since I've blogged on here. I have been paying my monthly bill for this space and it's not even being used properly. I do miss blogging, but for some reason life just starts to kick in and I tend to disappear.

1. I've been MIA, but I really am in the mood to start blogging again. I have a bunch of pictures that I have taken in the past month that I would love to share. I also have done a lot since then and I also wanted to take the opportunity to talk about it.


2. I'm a year older! I celebrated my birthday on the 15th of October and it was the greatest week ever. I felt so loved and it was seriously so much fun. Thank you to everyone who made my birthday completely worth it!


3. Work can get so frustrating especially when you're super busy. I mean I know work for anyone can get frustrating, but what annoys me the most is when people are just so clueless of what they are doing but they tend to pretend to know what they are talking about. At the end of everything it just sounds like a bunch of jibberish and you had just wasted a goo 10 minutes of my time trying to understand what you were talking about to begin with.

Coffee Mondays

 

©2013 Pinterest

I've been gone again and that's fine. We all tend to get busy here and there. I have always put my blogging and writing first over other things. However, taking time away felt good. I was able to focus a little more on myself and my family and figure out what I really wanted to accomplish with this blog.

• I still have not passed my test. I mean I have only taken it once, but I am planning to retake it in November. I am going to buckle down and study the next several weeks. I really want to pass it, but I feel like my studying keeps getting distracted.


• I am finally getting a little more use out of my camera again. I mean I have not been extremely involved with taking pictures, but when I remember that I do have my camera I'll snap a few shots. I went to the pumpkin patch with Ryu, Erika, and her daughter. We were only there for a good ten minutes. We were expecting for it to be much cooler out, but it was scorching hot and we were bundled up. We decided to take our pictures and bounce out of there

• My birthday just passed two weeks ago. I had a really good birthday! I came in to work and on my desk waiting for me were balloons and flowers. Thanks to Erika for getting them for me. I also got two different types of cakes from my mom and co-workers. I then went out to dinner and thanks to Sean for spending time with me! He took me out to a delicious pizza dinner for my birthday. I told him that I wanted to keep it a low key evening and just have some pizza. I was not even in the mood for alcohol or anything. Instead we went to this pretty good pizza place that served vegan dishes. After that we went to World Market. I had a great time just looking around and he even bought me two small cast iron pots that look like cauldrons, lol. I have been wanting it for my curry stew. He also got me a back scratcher which comes in handy if you're like me and you have hives everywhere. The following day I came home to more goodies! I came home to more balloons and a bouquet of flowers from Sean and Ryu. Then we went to watch Dustbowl Revival that evening and they were great! I got to spend time with the people I care about the most on my birthday and it was a real great week for me. I got treated to lunch for the whole week! Seriously it was just the best ever.



• The week after was Erika's birthday and of course the celebration I had needed to be just as good for her! I went and stopped by the store and grabbed a card, flowers, and balloons for her. I also made her breakfast that morning. It's been a while since I've had a friend I could trust and just have a really good time with. We have a lot in common and even though we are really different we definitely can understand each other and we also are very supportive and understanding of each other. We're not scared to be honest with each other and tell the other person when we're being stupid. I'm glad to have her around and I'm also glad she had a great birthday! The fun part is her birthday is a week after mine!

©

• I am going to start blogging again and just really getting into it. I don't want to promise anything, but I think I am just ready to just chill for a little bit and start writing again. I've been missing it and this is the perfect weather to sit down at your local Starbucks and write away.

Coffee Mondays

• My weekend was all over the place there were some good times and then some bad times. I don't really want to reflect on what happened this weekend just because it was not the best weekend. I also was not in my best behavior. Let's just say all weekend I was a total bizznatch.


• I am eating wheat toast and homemade almond butter this morning. I am actually digging the flavor. I didn't think that I would enjoy it. However, I have to be careful with how much I eat because I can already feel my lips tingling. I hate having to be allergic to a lot of stuff.


• I am barely starting my Monday morning and I already want it to be the weekend. I am planning to spend my Saturday studying for my license and possibly cleaning. I believe Sunday I will be starting my Christmas shopping. I know a lot of you are thinking, WHAT? It's so early, it's only September. I know, but really if I don't start now I will do everything last minute and everyone will get crappy Christmas gifts since I would have to really budget.


• I am seriously not really in the mood to blog lately. I am not sure if it is because I am still going through my transition with my diet. I guess that leads me to not having pretty meals or not being able to cook something delicious and fun. Since my diet I have been lazy and I have been eating baked chicken or wheat toast with peanut butter. My diet consists of tons of water. I need to buy myself a grill so I can grill some delicious veggies and make a sandwich out of it! Ugh, torture.. I am torturing myself.


• This whole morning I have already taken 2 advils and it's barely 11. I am tired and my head is pounding. I am just spending my time listening to acoustic covers on YouTube. It helps me get through the day. I just want the day to be over already, lol. I think I really have the case of the Mondays!


• Last, but not least my garden is coming along up until yesterday I knocked a planter over and all my pretty and precious dill and rosemary that was growing got messed up. I think they are still fine, but now the are not in a row and I have no idea which is what.


• I'm telling you I had such a messed up weekend. I felt like everything bad just continuously kept happening.

Coffee Mondays - Labor Day!

It's time for another round of Coffee Monday. Not sure how many of you get a long weekend, but I'm one of those people that gets to enjoy this Monday off.

• First off I am glad we get a 3 day weekend. Although, I am not looking forward to how busy it is going to be on Tuesday. I am sure that we will be extremely busy with tons of mail, paperwork, and files to process.


• I spent most of my weekend with my friend Erika. It has been a fun two days with her. On Saturday we had lunch and we went to Lowes and got me some gardening products. We also had a nice lunch at Los Toros. Spent time talking about work, family, friends, and life. It's nice to be able to have another friend in my life that I can trust and be 100% comfortable with. It has been a while since I had spent time with someone doing something we enjoyed and being able to have fun without alcohol being involved, ha.


• My garden has grown incredibly over the weekend. I am currently obsessed with gardening and have spent tons of money getting my mini garden together. I ordered more seeds, bought more potting items, and have enjoyed every minute I got to spend in my little area outside. I only say this because I was willing to be out in the sun and get down and dirty just for these babies. I think that the love and care shows each day as these little buds start to blossom.


• Erika and I tackled our first DIY together. It's nothing fancy, but I am going to post more about it sometime this week. I am excited to tackle on more projects with her and Sean. Now that I am slowly budgeting my paycheck I can invest in something that benefits my family, our home, and most importantly it makes me happy. With so many bills I have always been stretching my budget to get by, but it is nice that I am able to take a little part of what I have left over and do something I enjoy.

• The picture above is of Erika. This is a little sneak peak of what we made. I am going to open a new category of my blog dedicated to the DIY projects that I tackle.


• My plants are doing wonderfully and I am excited to also open a section of my blog dedicated to gardening in a small area. I want to be able to write about how it is possible to grow organic produce in a small area of your home. Whether it is a balcony, a patio, or even indoors it is possible to do it!

Don't forget to link up and join me on Coffee Mondays!

Facebook Controversy

People are so fat, it's disgusting. Yes I said it, I'm angry!! #youcanthandlethetruth - Facebook Post by Unknown

This is what headlined on my Facebook feed this morning. I read the back and forth responses of the person that wrote this and the people that didn't seem quite happy with the comment. To be honest I sat at my desk reading the different responses are and as it seemed to have gotten heated I almost wanted to comment, but did not. I am friends with this person that wrote this and do I think that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, well yes. However, I don't think that I would be so bold to have posted that. I won't post the details of the responses received on Facebook, but I was wondering what your opinion was if this is something you saw first thing in the morning.

The person that wrote this is a writer. In fact the point that was coming across after they explained seemed legit. However, the wording seemed wrong. I agree that this is in fact a super bold statement. I would never say this out loud in public or post it anywhere if I was not open to criticism or people putting in their two cents. Let's just say that the conversation got heated and someone was called ignorant for even posting words of that opinion for people to say something about. Then the topic of being bulimic and anorexic came up which frankly to be honest had nothing to do with the actual words written.

In a sense truth is I slightly felt offended by this comment. Though the back story to why this opinion was, made sense; the actual wording did not. Some people would disagree and say it is the meaning behind it that matters the most. Sure, that matters but really with a comment like that it does not look like the meaning behind it would still be a good excuse to say it. I am mildly offended because I have never been skinny, fit, fat (in a sense of being obese), or disgusting. I am in the middle. I have hit a point where I lost so much weight that I in fact became unhealthy. I pushed myself to continuously do the wrong thing just to fit into the "picture perfect" body type that I thought people would like me to be. I was not the happiest nor was I the healthiest. Yes, I am overweight now and above the range of my BMI, but I would not say that I am just plain fat or disgusting.

I commend people that do work out and put lots of time, patience, and motivation to get where they are at. I too want to be one of those people one day. I agree that complaining about it will not do anything. However, there are also people out there who are overweight for different reasons. Whatever their reason may be that is a decision that they are willing to be. Skinny is not perfect, fat is not perfect, and even I believe that fit is not perfect. Perfect is the body type you are the happiest in. It is what you are comfortable with and what makes you; well you. I am far from being perfect, in fact I have tons of body image issues due to the fact that I am always hearing or reading that being skinny is sexy, or you have to look this way for people to like you which is major crap. Being too skinny (unhealthy) and overweight (unhealthy) can both cause severe medical issues. You can die being too skinny (hence being anorexic or bulimic) or die being fat (hence heart attacks, strokes, etc..).

As mentioned it IS a very bold statement and I am not sure that people realize that what they say can really hurt someone or hit home. This is the type of comment or reason that we see that can drain someone. This type of comment does not make us look any better. In fact, as mentioned by someone it just made that person look ignorant.

What do you think or how would you react if you saw this somewhere? Better question would be is how would you react if your children wrote this or if they read this? How does this affect our youth today?

Inspirational Tuesdays

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="500"] ©2013EtiquetteForALady on Tumblr[/caption]

I sat here for a good hour thinking about what I should write about today. I have a bunch of recipes compiled that I wanted to share, but I wanted to write about something more; something with substance.

Over the last five years if not longer, friends that have come and gone, continuously made mistakes, though I have also learned from them. I always knew from the beginning that my life was not so perfect. I always felt my life was so broken and I kept trying to fix relationships that were hopeless. I continuously kept sinking my own boat. I placed myself in situations that I could not get out of. At the end of the day there was no one else to blame but myself.

It was not until a few years ago when I finally woke up from the unhappiness that I have been living in to change.

I am doing the best I can each day to start all over with my family. I made the decision to let go of friends like cold turkey because I just didn't feel like it would be beneficial for me to be around during my healing process. In my case so many parts of my life were broken and I had tried to fix it multiple times and after so many times I gave up. In my opinion it's like being able to choose your battles. I was tired of being unhappy.

The moment that I dropped everything that I did not feel was beneficial for me I suddenly saw a change. Sure, I still have a long way to go as far as my outlook on life. However, I know that I have started something new and wonderful. When I started to focus more on myself and my family I soon realized that a lot of the issues that I was stressing about before seemed so miniscule. My relationship with my family, my boyfriend and most importantly with my son got better. Starting over seemed scary and I didn't find a reason to at first. It was not until I realized that I could lose everything in a blink of an eye if I didn't let go of whatever may be broken.

It took some time, but I feel like I have improved greatly within myself. I am in a much better position than I was 3-4 years ago. I have let go of people that I didn't feel deserve me or my family in my life. I have created a much better outlook on life for myself. I now have goals of where I want myself and dreams of where I see my family to be at in the future.

Where Have I Been?

I've been MIA for a good bit, but I have been so busy. I am trying to get things back on track, and once I do I will slowly start to keep track of my blog.

Sorry for not writing, but I promise that I will soon.

Fitspirational Tuesday

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="550"] Image Credit to Pinterest. http://pinterest.com/pin/122652789824327860/[/caption]

Instead of me writing about Inspirational Tuesdays life how I normally would on my previous blog I figure why not write about something I am completely struggling with as an inspiration to myself.

I would have to say that I've always struggled with weight my whole life except I never really cared about is as much until after I had Ryu. I love Ryu, but let's face it not every woman will be lucky enough to go back to the size that they used to be. I feel like every day becomes so much harder for me. Though I don't look fat I do look extremely thick and I just can't stand my clothes not fitting anymore. I can sit here continuously complaining about how much I dislike my body, but that won't do any good.

Instead I want to write about my journey into getting back on track with my healthy self. I keep telling myself that I'm going to start tomorrow and seriously that is the worst attitude to have. If you are serious about something you have to start that moment, that same day. Don't tell yourself tomorrow, tell yourself to start now!! I think my biggest problem is I absolutely love food to the point that I use it as my comfort blanket for everything.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="250"] Image Credit to Pinterest[/caption]

I mean who doesn't love food? Regardless whether it's something healthy or unhealthy we need it to survive and we love it. I am starting my diet, my routine, my journey today. I am going to hold my head up high and tell myself that I can do this. I know that I am going to hate myself for the next two weeks trying to eat healthier, but it will be all well worth it in the end. Once I can incorporate this to my lifestyle I can become a much more happier and healthier me.

What is my game plan? I want to start off by cutting off sugar and carbs out of my diet. This is going to be difficult, but I need to get a bit extreme if I want to train myself. This means no more soda for me. I stopped with the candy a few weeks ago and have not been craving it at all so that's a good thing.

I am going to start with my meal preps again because to be honest that really helped with making sure I don't overeat or go out to buy junk. I started eating like crap again after I quit my job. I felt depressed and lost and just wanted to sulk in the crappiest food. Now that I'm slowly regaining my confidence in my new position, my family, and home I want to just start all over. It's definitely never too late!

[caption id="" align="left" width="284"] Copyright ©2013ItsAbbyTime[/caption] [caption id="" align="left" width="284"] Copyright ©2013ItsAbbyTime[/caption]

These pictures were taken several weeks ago. Since then I've gained so much weight and I've never been skinny. However, it's nice to know and feel that you can fit into your clothes. It's the feeling of just knowing you look good and feeling good in general. I don't have any recent pictures, but that's because I'm so self conscious of how I look. However, since I'm starting my journey I am going to keep a tracker and update myself weekly on here.