4 Year Anniversary Weekend

Hard to believe this was 4 years ago! 

          This weekend we took off for Rehoboth Beach, DE and stayed at Brandon's grandmothers place. We did a lot of laying around on the beach, walking around the shops and boardwalk, paddleboarding and eating! It was a great way to have some alone time away from our busy lives to reflect on the past 4 amazing years. 

We have been through a lot (mostly good) and we are looking forward to many more wonderful years together. 

           One of the changes has obviously been our diet and our healthier lifestyle changes. While we were sitting and chatting over a basket of nachos at Arenas, I told him that it was crazy that this is our "cheat" food. This led to a long conversation about what we would have eaten compared to what we eat now. Here is our list:

Pre Primal                         Primal

Day 1-                                                             Day 1- 

App:                                                  Meal:Nachos and water                       

Beer, Nacho's                                       (cheat)

Meal:

Turkey Club w/ more chips

Fish Taco's w/ more chips

Dessert:

Brownie fudge sundae 

Day 2- 

Breakfast:                                        Breakfast: Apple and 

Fractured Prune Donuts( 4)         banana, a litte trailmix

Lunch:                                              Lunch:

Grotto Pizza and Sodas                 Italian sub Salad and water

Dinner:                                            Dinner:

Shrimp and Beer                            Shrimp and unsweet. tea

Nachos                                              Crab cake on cobb salad

Fried seafood                                   Fish tacos (cheat)

Dessert:                                             Dessert: Coffee

Candy Kitchen

Gummy worms

Licorice

Chocolate covered oreos             

Day 3-

Breakfast:                                        Breakfast: 

Wawa Breakfast sandwich            Western Omelet with 

Starbucks frappe                             ham, peppers, onion and 

                                                           homefries (cheat)

                                                           Bacon and cheese omelet

                                                           with cantaloupe

                                                           Water and Coffee

Lunch:                                              Lunch:

Hardees burgers and fries            apples and tralmix

Dinner:                                             Dinner:

Take out when we got home.        Chicken and Green beans

                                                           Dessert:

                                                           Dark Chocolate bar!

         What a difference in our eating habits. I can't even imagine being able to eat all that food that we use to eat. Just after this weekend I feel a little icky and I am going on a 21 day sugar detox (just back to basic paleo) No dairy or chocolate or honey for me. I am hoping to get myself into gear in time for OBX vacation in a few weeks. 

          This was a fun game to play! Look at your daily foods, weekend eating and especially your vacation meals. Try to play this with your family and congratulate yourself on your improvements. 

     June 2, 2008

                                                                    

June 2, 2012

                                                                                                                      

Some Rehoboth Beach photos!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brussel Sprouts are not Gross!

My dear friend Kendayl just bought a house and is currently fixing it up. She just re-did her kitchen and tonight I went over and she cooked me dinner! I was a little nervous (not because of her cooking, she is a great cook). I was nervous because she told me she was making me eat brussel sprouts. I was so scared to eat them but I figure, I make Brandon try new foods so I should too. Kendayl placed them on a cookie sheet with some olive oil, rosemary, onion salt and garlic. Then she placed them in the oven until they were a little crispy. When she pulled them out I had instant flash backs of my parents making me try them when I was little and crying and probably spitting some into a napkin hahaha. She served them with delicious herb encrusted chicken and a Spinach salad with yellow onion, tomato and a homemade balsamic dressing. 


Finally the time arrived, she made me eat one. I loved them and got seconds. I really liked them and I even plan on buying some and making them for me. (I promised Brandon I wouldn't make him try them a long time ago... so I have to keep my promise but I am betting if they are on my plate, he will try one)
They were good because some were soft but there were also these crispy pieces that were amazing. I am going to try them on the grill and try to give them a nice smokey flavor.


After dinner we had some great chats and laughter. Much needed time together. Then it was my turn, I taught her how to make some of my candies and we did some experimenting by adding some coconut and raisins to the cashew nut butter candies (good call Kendayl)! 


It was so much fun cooking, baking and sharing this time together. I love my friends and I love sharing meals with people. Looking forward to more nights like this. 

Spring Break day 3

This morning I woke up with so much energy. I think there is something to this getting lots of sleep thing! I have been sleeping a full 7 to 8 hours and working on getting normal meals in and I am feeling great. Lots of sunshine and playing outside is helpful too. Being inside an old school all day (possible mold issues from a previous flood) cannot be that great for me and I have really noticed a difference. I got up and made breakfast and coffee for Brandon and I before he left for work at 8.

Split sausage, pancake, egg and coffee! mmm

  I did some laundry and  headed to the dermatologist. I had a full body examination and she said I looked great. She asked if I was a college student (oooo yay!) then she told me for 26 (almost 27) I had fabulous skin and hardly any wrinkles. She told me it was well hydrated and that I was not a "moley" person so I shouldn't worry too much about skin cancers but to do routine checks on myself and visit once a year. I never knew the dermatologist was a yearly visit! I have never been before. So I asked her a lot of questions:


1.) Do I have cancerous moles. She gave me the pamphlet below  and told me that everything looks normal. We talked about one on my chin that has been bothering my, irritated, changed colors etc. and I am having it removed over the summer and they are sending it to get a biopsy (but she isn't too concerned).

ABCDE's of Melanoma

2.) I have little red bumps on my arms....and my butt ;) What are they and how do I get rid of them. She said a common mistake we make is to use hydrating lotions but not an exfoliating lotion so we get dead skin cells commonly on our arms and butt areas. It is called Keratosis Pilaris and it is worse in the winter. She said that an exfoliating lotion with alpha hydroxy, urea or lactic acid would be the best. However, it won't remove redness but it will smooth the skin and help with any irritation it causes (mines not irritated it just looks ugly!) To remove redness that would require a chemical peel and that does not sound fun to me. Carry on tiny bumps!

Reading material and my new exfoliating lotion.

3.) When I am over heated or nervous or worked up in general, my skin get red and blotchy. What is that? Why does it do that? Please make it stop!
~I told her it is most common when  I am nervous, being put on the spot, being the center of attention, in stressful situations or if I am sitting in one spot for too long.
~She said it is very common and it is an adrenaline rush. She told me that it isn't as bad because I am not fair skinned and the more tan I get the less it will be noticed. She recommended  .25mg of Atenolol (beta blocker), 3g of Lysine and Arginine, or to try some calming methods (yoga, breathing) before I am in these situations. 


                                                


I am not a fan of medications but I would love for this to go away because it is really embarrassing. People always feel the need to point it out too- just ignore it and it goes away in 2 minutes. I am not sick, I am not gonna throw up, I am not over heated, I am just blotchy... IT HAPPENS. 
So I am going to try the over the counter Lysine and Arinine first to see if that works. I never noticed Xanax working or not working- might have to keep that around when I speak in public or know I am going to be center of attention. I would prefer not to take the beta blocker because I hear it can mess with blood pressure. 
Anyone else suffer from this? What do you do? 


Other than my doctors visit, Sali had a vet visit and needs leg surgery and a tooth removed. She is not happy about it and neither is our wallet but she is Mans best friend and we love her. She has been such a blessing to our family and she is getting her surgeries ASAP.

Always a brighter tomorrow

Finally I made it home and got to garden, clean up my yard and relax on the couch for a little bit while Brandon was in class. Can't wait for a doctor free tomorrow. I need a break from Spring Break!

mmmm can't wait to use this garden.