Life This Month (...with a twist)

Some pretty big things have happened this month leaving me a little bit absent over here. These photos are of some of my favorite things and what I've been up to (the end will update you on some wonderful news).

My fun-colored sunflowers finally bloomed! How gorgeous!!!

My favorite smoothie has been a must-have (especially when we get the fresh peaches & strawberries from the farmer's market Saturday morning!) 

Recipe for Peachy Days Smoothie

When you catch two of your dogs snuggling the crap out of each other. <3

My very dear friends made a super long drive down from Massachusetts to southern VA to spend the weekend with us.  Andy & Steph, thank you for the much needed friend time.  I truly hope is sooner, rather than later, until we see you again.

One word: Sriracha. I put it on EV.E.RY.THING.

My mom sent me a much needed new bamboo rolling mat. I've already made sushi twice with it. THANK MOMMA!

 My favorite breakfast lately: Gala apple slices with peanut butter, 1/2 of a fresh banana, and a small handful of almonds.

 My dear husband built new shelves for our garage. We've lived in our home almost a year now and the garage is still nowhere near where it needs to be. This helped tremendously. So much stuff is now off the floor and store on these shelves!

The Cream Of Broccoli soup I discovered over at Lydia's blog. Umm, I'm obsessed. I'll be making it again this week, except it'll be a triple batch so I can freeze serving sizes of it for future use!

 My new nifty salad storage system for packing my lunch has been a life saver. If you can find these at your grocery store, I definitely advise picking one up.

And here's the big news...

I'M NOT PREGNANT. See, those books there would lead you to think so. But I promise, I'm not. 

When I turned 25 in June, I hit a quarter life crisis (I kid you not). My anxiety levels kicked up about 10 notches and I was really freaking out about where I wanted my career to head. When we moved to Virginia I was stuck in limbo.  I had a job I wasn't satisfied with, and I wasn't 100% sure I wanted to go back to teaching.  See, I'm not Virginia state certified so I would have needed to go back to school for a year or more, and financially, that wasn't possible. Plus, while I thoroughly loved teaching in Philly, I had the worst depression and anxiety while I was there that thinking of teaching has my mind immediately associate that with my weight gain and depression. I also lacked the ability to separate my personal life with my teaching life. I went to school at 6am, worked until 6pm, went home, barely ate, and then continued lesson planning, IEP's, grading, and the like, until 2 or 3 am. Now that I'm married, I just don't know if I want to re-live that kind of schedule again. I have a mini-family to worry about.  Not to mention, I'm not exactly pleased with the state of the public school system and how trapped I felt as an educator.

So, I looked at other career options. I have an English degree which sort of lets me do whatever I want.  My worries about not directly working in my field (as an editor, educator, or journalist) were subdued when I realized that most post-college degree holders aren't working directly in their field.

Then, one day, after some time spent online, I came across the career of a doula. More and more of my time was spent researching this field of work and the incredible birth stories that came with it.  Eight months later, and I finally mustered up the ability to tell my husband that I was considering switching my career altogether. After listening to me carefully explain why I felt lead to this and how much I truly felt this was 'it' for me, he responded in the most supportive way any wife would want to hear her husband respond. He told me he was happy that I finally found something that would make me happy. And so, I continued on with more research, contacted local doulas to have some of my questions answered, looked into the DONA program and called them with questions I had about getting my certification. After all was said and done, months of research and questions, I decided that yes, this was the field I wanted to enter, and that I would also love to use this career as a way to also write some pretty incredible birth stories and turn it into a book in the future.  So much of being a doula is helping the mother and partner simply remember their story and possibly write it for them.  Along with being a doula, I'll also be able to teach birth classes to women who may not be able to afford a doula but want to learn proper pain management techniques for a natural birth.

In the mean-time, I applied for and was offered a new job closer to my house more directly related to the special education work I was doing in Philly.  I now work as PCA for a family who has an 8 year old, non-verbal son with autism. It is wonderful work to be doing while I work the next year on my Birth Doula certification.

So, with that all said, here's to new opportunities, hard work & dedication, and living a happy, fulfilled life with the man of my dreams.

-Lacey

My "I Could Never Do That!" Story

Emily Boller originally posted her story on Disease Proof as a reaction to her peers' constant criticism of the "extreme" way of eating.  After seeing that she had lost 40 pounds in 3 months, most conversations would go like this:

'How did you lose weight?'

Of which my reply would always be 'By following Dr. Joel Fuhrman's book, Eat to Live;...basically eating lots of high nutrient, plant-based foods.' 

'You mean no meat? No cheese? No pizza? No McDonalds?...Oh, I could never do that!' 

In her response to that constantly repeated statement of "I could never do that", she says some of these things:
"1. I could never blow the family budget on unnecessary test strips, insulin, medications, doctor and hospital bills, or bypass surgery.
2. I could never carry around expensive medical supplies and meds while traveling.
3. I could never ask a loved one to mow the lawn for me due to fatigue and ill health.
4. I could never ask someone to drive me to kidney dialysis three times a week"
(Read more at the original article)

What she says rings absolutely true with my own story of years of ill health.  As many of you know, I suffered from chronic migraines for over 13 years, dealing with, on average, three or more a week.  I had seen dozens of doctors and specialists, had MRI's, took a plethora of medications and suffered from days in bed, lights out, and constant tears.  To add up the number of hours wasted in dealing with my migraines would only make me saddened to know how much of my life was wasted on something simply because of my crappy American diet.

Here is my own version of Boller's response, as I have had many people say the same thing to me.  So, you could never give up your Big Mac and chips?  Well...

1. I could never again take above the recommended dosage of Excedrin, knowing that I could be destroying my kidneys (which I did constantly, and I feel guilty as hell for doing it, but it was my only chance of relief at the time).
2. I could never again take Excedrin like a daily vitamin, in hopes that it would prevent what I knew was inevitable.
3. I could never pray day in and day out weeks before my wedding, not that I wouldn't fall down the aisle, or that Mike might change his mind about marrying me, or that the caterer wouldn't show, but rather, that I wouldn't wake up with a migraine.  That was my deepest fear. (I literally took 3 Excedrin the night before and the morning of my wedding as preparation for the Big Day.)
4. I could never again miss one of my good friend's baby showers because I was vomiting and crying from a migraine for hours.
5.  I could never walk out of my classroom (with my students still in it) to literally fall to the floor in tears due to a sudden migraine attack & extreme pain, only to have my 10th graders run to the principals office because they thought I needed an ambulance. (I then had to be driven home by said principal because my vision was blurred, a common side effect of my migraines).
6. I could never again spend $500+ a month for pills, creams, drops, doctor's visits, etc.
7. I could never sit in doctor's office after doctor's office only to have them all say "You just need Imitrex and Topamax" after I've already told them that I've had it prescribed to me and both make me vomit all day and made my muscles so weak that I couldn't get out of bed.  None really seemed to care enough to try an alternate route. Pills, pills, pills & $$$$ was their focus.
8. I could never deal with the fear that I may have a brain tumor. (Which I was terribly afraid of, hence the MRI).
9. I could never miss out on so many incredible memories with friends & family, which happened so many times throughout the years.
10.  Lastly, I could never, ever, EVER again deal with the depression I had for months from not knowing what was wrong with me.

My health, happiness, and ability to lead a normal life is important to me, NOT seeking pleasure through tasty, unhealthy food.  Some of you may not be dealing with an immediate health problem at this moment, but think about all of the preventable diseases/illnesses that can easily be avoided by choosing a salad over a Big Mac, or oatmeal over Fruity Pebbles (cancer, heart attack, diabetes, stroke, etc).  What is truly important to you?  It's about choosing to make better decisions, knowing it could make or break your body.  Your body is only as good at the fuel you put in it.

For those that tend to be critical-  try not to be so judgmental of those "crazies" that choose to eat salad or something healthy at lunch.  (I can't tell you how many times I got the "You're eating a salad and carrots for lunch? That's it? That's so weird...").  I never quite understood why people were so quick & passionate to defend such a processed foods diet.  I even think they would agree that certain foods are bad, but when the moment comes where someone is in front of them eating well, they immediately laugh and say "You want a piece of this candy bar? Oh, that's right, you're on a DIET. Hahaha".  What does taunting accomplish? That salad is going to keep me feeling great the rest of the day, while the frozen mac & cheese in a box you (the taunter) picked up at the gas station is probably going to give you the 4:00 pm crash, bloating, and eventually hurt your body.  If you have nothing nice to say about my salad, please don't say it at all.  Now, obviously I used to eat terribly most of my life, so I'm not putting myself on a pedestal.  I'm not trying say that I am better than people who don't eat well.  I was uneducated most of my life! I made stupid decisions about healthy eating and living all. the. time.  But one thing is true: I never judged those those that strove to eat better & I sure as heck didn't try to defend my awful eating habits.  That would have just be lying to myself.  I simply chose to not do better....until now.

Emily recently followed up with "I Could Never Do That part II".  Please check it out!

Here's to a migraine-free rest of my life and a proud veggie eater.

-Lacey

Smoothies!!!

Smoothies are so simple. Grab the fruit you like, a handful of ice, and blend.  Here's my favorite:

- 7 strawberries
- 1 banana
- handful of bluberries
- 1/2 cup PURE 100% orange juice
- handful of ice
BLEND!

The end.
Seriously, I told you it was simple.

Use other fruits (kiwi) and juices (pomegranate) to change flavors.
Here's to yummy desserts.
-Lacey

How To Eat Well...for a hurricane.

How to purchase healthy food in preparation for power outages, flooding, and no refrigeration:

YOU DON'T.

Canned stuff sucks. It's gross. But my fresh veggies will go bad. So we bought canned fruit, beans, vegan soups, wheat thins, and other snick snacks I wouldn't normally eat.  Seriously....IT SUCKS.  Most of it is processed.  I was so looking forward to getting back into a routine.

Our town had a mandatory evacuation tonight. So, at 9:45pm we left Virginia & drove 5 hours to Mike's parents' house in MD. With two dogs. And two cats. And a grouchy husband. In a 2 door 2001 Honda Civic.  Also, cats don't know how to pee outside. So, out of desperation (and complete confusion as to what a hell a car is) they used the blanket that was in the back seat . Oh, and Mike's shorts. Yes, the ones that were on his body.  Seriously, Scully sat on him, got all snuggly, and then he felt that warm stream of golden glory. Poor man. Let's just say we're happy to be out of the car.  I mean, for all the chaos in the car and last minute packing, and all I get are two pee spots on two very washable items....I'll take it.

Please do us a favor & pray, think good thoughts, or shout to the weather gods above that our house isn't completely destroyed. We're almost certain it's going to flood and get damaged pretty badly from the Category 3 hurricane that will directly hit our town. Yes, directly. Like, head on, in it's path, raging, powerful, hurricane, and not to mention the countless of other areas that will be damaged (Outer Banks & other parts of NC, Virginia Beach, & some other parts of the northeastern coast).

See Virginia Beach?  See that line going across it? That's the path of Irene.  That's also my home.

Rainbows, unicorns, snuggles, vanilla candles, and tea. (Those are my happy thoughts.)
And yes, I may be overreacting, but this is my first hurricane... ever. Let me have my moment to freak out a little bit.

See you in our canoe on Monday floating down the make-shift river? I hope not.

-Lacey

Edits & Honeymoon

Mike & I are finally taking our honeymoon.  With my family.  And we love it.
We left Saturday, we'll be back Saturday.

I'm trying to fix the photo issues we're having on some of our posts. For now, a lot of the photos will just be deleted because the original file is missing.  So, if some posts are lacking pretty pictures, please be patient.  This will be resolved when I get back from the Outer Banks.

I want to know what recipes you've been using.  Fill us all in! Share the wealth!!

Regular posting will resume when I get back.  Things have been hectic between house hunting, Spoke Folk, and honeymooning/family vacationing that I know we've lacked a regular schedule. Please forgive.  When I'm back, some sense of normalcy will return.  Hey, I said some.


-Lacey

Fail & Tour

I've failed miserably at posting the last week. My mom & uncle came to visit which made it pretty much impossible to post.  When I wasn't working we were doing fun things. I apologize a ton.

But here's the real bad news:
I'm leaving for 2 weeks for my Spoke Folk bike tour in Illinois. And since I was super busy this week, I didn't exactly pre-write posts to have automatically posted while I'm away. I know, I know. I suck. Please forgive me.

After the massive rainstorm in Gettysburg

Speaking of the bike tour...I'm only half way to my goal (of $800) and I leave for my trip tomorrow. I would thoroughly appreciate any amount you could give towards our Illinois tour.

CLICK HERE to donate. I'm hoping that by the time I get back from my trip I've had so many of you help out that the goal has been reached! That would be super-duper awesome.

I'll talk to you in 2 weeks & will bring lots of great stories and hopefully some awesome posts.

-Lacey

I Cheated and I Liked It

I love to cheat. I plan out the moment and I savor it. I take my time and very small bites. It's pretty creepy when I cheat - so if you ever see me in a corner with a tiny piece of cake - let me have my 5 minutes alone with gluten before we break up again.


We all have food cravings. I have become so much more aware of my food cravings for pizza and ice cream now that I can't easily indulge in them whenever I want to. I'm all about healthy eating - but I'm not gonna lie - most days I would kill for a New York bagel or a slice of pizza. I'm often surprised by how bad I WANT these foods. 

I Cheated and I Liked It

Lacey's Daily Eating Habits

With the wealth of information being thrown at you about what is healthy and not healthy to eat, it is quite difficult to put it all into practice.  The moment I tell someone that I mostly eat fruits, vegetables, nuts/seeds, beans & the occasional grain I get a look of confusion with the normal response..."So, what exactly do you eat then?".  Then, with a smile on my face, I respond with the same things, "I eat fruits, veggies, nuts/seeds, some grains, and beans." And they still manage to respond, yet again, with a "Yeah, but what do you eat?" as if these categories of food aren't actually food at all.

So, here's what most days look like for me.  I'll give you a few example meals under each category.  Obviously, it can always vary.  We're finding new recipes & trying new meals out constantly.

Breakfast: Between 6 & 7 am
1. 1/2 cup plain oatmeal with some type of fruit jam (mixed in for flavor) & tea. This is what I have most days.
2. Fruit salad & 1 piece of whole wheat toast with natural peanut butter
3. Salad. Yes, you read that right.  If I'm going on a big morning run I need something that is going to be light in my stomach, but that will also help me get the energy I need.  I'll usually top this salad with some protein, like quinoa or nuts.  Oatmeal is way too heavy for me before a run.

Before & Somewhat After

I've received a lot of requests to do a before photo of Mike & I and one of us now, after we've lost some of the weight.  Keep in mind, I'm still going to lose another 20 pounds and Mike another 15.  I just know there's a lot of you readers who don't know what we looked like before we started this journey.

This photo of us is at my Dad's wedding on January 1, 2011.  This was exactly one month before we started the challenge and when we were both at our peak weights...EVER.  It actually makes me quite depressed to see this; to know that I, a person who used to be pretty fit allowed the stress of teaching and school to affect me so negatively that I allowed myself to become this unhealthy.  I am excited, though, to see the progress we've made.  So many of you have been supportive of our healthy eating, and for some of you, have been inspired.  Thank you for that love & support and keep being inspired!  You'll love yourself for the healthy changes you make.

Before, January 2011:

Grooooossss

Now, taken June 18.  27 (Lacey) & 38 (Mike) pounds lighter:

Sun-kissed from spending the day at the beach! 

Like I said, we're not done yet, but I think the difference in these photos is something to be celebrated!

Here's to not only feeling healthier, our number one priority, but to the awesome side-effect of looking a little hotter each day. *wink*  teehee.

-Lacey

Raaaaarrrrrrr!

I'm feeling extra feisty today. Now that my motorcycle finally has license plates, the title transfered, registration, and the state inspection done, I took it out for a drive and boy-oh-booooooy!  Reminds me of why I loved riding with my dad so much when I was younger.  Take that feeling and multiply is by 3429023 when you're driving yourself.  YIKES! Good news is, I'm super cautious, as my father always taught me, and always do about 5 under the speed limit right now to give me extra breaking time while I'm getting comfortable.  So when you see those motorcyclists going a little slower than you, don't get upset, just know that we have to be about a thousand times more cautious than you and giving us that extra breaking time for the butthead that cuts in front of us is for our safety, not because we're trying to be intentionally annoying.  I promise.

Breakfast included an orange, a few strawberries, and some yogurt.  Lunch consisted of...uumm..nothing? Sorry, I really was just so busy that I forgot.  It was not intentional.  And for dinner, I had a salad and a baked potato.  My workout consisted of a morning walk and riding Sweet Dee (the motorcycle).

If you've never ridden one, just know that about 5 hours after riding you feel a tightness in your arms and legs.  It's not as bad as a workout, but it takes a lot of muscle movement to stay balanced while pulling in the clutch with one hand, shifting with a foot, breaking with a right hand and then breaking with your right foot, sometimes doing all 4 things at once while trying to stay balanced when coming to a stop.  It really takes a level of coordination that requires practice (hence why I took the  MSF Safety Course).  Much more difficult than driving my standard trans Honda Civic.  At least that thing has 4 wheels.

Mike worked until 9:30pm tonight (from 6 am) so we didn't get to go grocery shopping today, but hopefully he'll be home at a semi-decent time tomorrow so we can get our shopping on.  I'll be posting about that process & what we get tomorrow.

Here's to snuggling with my dogs, because I love them so much.