Fly By!

Hi there! Just wanted to post that I lost 1.2lbs this week! Yay! My camping choices weren't as good as I planned but I did get right back on track after we got back! I'm definitely motivated now! I am also in the dreaded 2WW but I'm so busy with work right now I think it will go fast! This could have helped with the weight loss as I swore off alcohol since ovulation and also have totally cut the caffeine addiction! I promise to post those running pics soon...just so busy and the free time I do have in the evening I want to spend with the hubby!

One Last Fling!

I took some great photos this morning while I was out for a run but I just don't have time to post them. The hubby and I are headed to Door County to camp for one last weekend fling before my job gets crazy on the weekends and he get obsessed with hunting. We've had a great summer and I actually felt like I (we) accomplished a lot and did a lot of the things we wanted to do. We traveled and saw people we love to spend time with. Couldn't have done that with an infant in tow! I'm actually NOT dreading the start of school, I'm prepared mentally and physically.
In TTC news got a positive OPK yesterday and the day before. Having fertile CM since Sunday (not today yet) but no temp rise! Everyone makes charting sound so easy but my signs just don't line up! We BDed last night and Tuesday, and hopefully it will rain and we'll be "trapped" in our tent this weekend ;). If we don't get pregnant this cycle it will be nice to take a break from charting.
I'm working on getting healthier. I have an eating plan for this weekend. Even though we won't have the healthiest options camping when we go out to eat I'm determined to make smart choices and not over stuff myself. I'm almost completely off my coffee addiction in the morning and will continue to keep up my exercise.
I'll make sure to do the running post soon! Have a great weekend!

The good news and the bad news

Well, the good news is last week when I weighed in at Weight Watchers I WASN'T 173.8 I was 173. The bad news (I guess it's really not that bad) I only lost 0.6lbs this week. But I'll take it for now! I feel focused and ready to make healthy choices, even while camping this weekend. I just know that I feel better when I eat better!

Yummy, healthy, dinner!

I meant to post this last night but it was late, my computer froze up and so I decided to go to bed. I ended up tossing and turning until almost 1am! How annoying! Here is a great recipe I found in Real Simple this month.

Quinoa with mushroom, kale, and sweet potatoes

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 C Water (I used chicken broth)
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in 3/4 inch pieces (not sure why mine are yellow and not orange)
• 10oz button mushrooms quartered
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 bunch of kale, stems discarded and leaves town into 2 inch pieces
• 3/4 cup dry white wine (I used Marsala because it's what we had)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 C grated Parmesan (optional)

1. Place quinoa in 2 cups of water in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until all the water is absorbed, 12 to 15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add sweet potatoes and mushrooms and cook tossing occasionally, until golden and beginning to soften, 5 to 6 minutes.

3. Stir in garlic and cook for 1 minutes. Add the kale, wine, salt and pepper. Cook tossing often, until the vegetables are tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Serve over quinoa and sprinkle with the Parmesan.

The result:YUMMY! I never thought to cook sweet potatoes this way and the combination with the mushrooms was excellent! The kale had kind of a chewy texture when cooked but otherwise tasted good. The Marsala wine really complemented the other flavors.

In TTC news I've been seeing a lot of fertile CM but still no positive on the OPK. Yesterday I saw a faint line which I assumed would turn into a dark line today but nope! Very odd and a little early for me to O. DH wasn't up to BD last night so hopefully we can start the marathon tonight.

Check out Heather's Give Away over at Heather Bakes!

Catcha later!

Breakfast of Champions....

or a gal trying to lose weight, go natural, and get pregnant!

This is what I ate this morning. A green smoothie: plain yogurt, skim milk, romaine lettuce, lemon juice, olive oil, frozen banana, blueberries (it looks brown because of the blueberries!). A piece of whole wheat toast with a smidge of almond butter and raw honey. A half and half mix of coffee and teeccino. If you haven't tried teeccino I highly recommend it. It's a natural herbal alternative to coffee. I'm trying to get myself off coffee! Stay tuned! I hope to post late about the recipe I made last night it was so good!

Disgusted with myself!

Okay, so I've pretty much struggled with my weight since I was 8 years old. I am super active. I did a triathlon earlier this summer, I teach fitness classes, I think nothing of going to a Zumba dance party for 2 hours and then running 5 miles the next day. Yet.. I've gained 10lbs over the summer. WTF!!! I just saw some pics taken of me at my first Packer game ever. I had bought a t-shirt in a large didn't try it on until we were about to leave for the game. Before we left I thought I looked pretty good. I was wearing jeans I bought this spring and the shirt. I'll admit I did think the jeans felt a little tight as did the shirt but I thought I looked good. Then I saw some pics and I was like...yikes! You can see my fat rolls! How did I get like this? Seriously I do exercise but LOVE to eat!! I make good choices most of the time but then on the weekends I binge a little. I also do the whole....well I know for sure I'm not pregnant for these two weeks so I'll drink wine every night and beer every weekend (and I like me some REAL beer, not light!). Then for the other two weeks of the month I think...Oh I'm so hungry I must be pregnant I can eat a little more of this or that. Seriously! How messed up is this! I have been going to Weight Watchers for ever and still go and pay even though I don't lose. I was at (or below) my goal for about a year which is about 25lbs less then I am now...wow 25 that sounds like a lot when I think about it. I don't know if I'd like to get that low again I just need to get with this...and start making healthy choices. I've been looking into "raw" eating and vegan eating. I would never go that way but I'm thinking about swearing off meat unless I know it was killed by my husband...and maybe chicken too. That being said I'm just going to look at this in 5lb increments. Last Wednesday at Weight Watchers I weighed in at:

173.8 lbs so my first goal will be 168.8...that doesn't seem so bad. My ultimate goal would be 155lbs...18.8lbs to that one...I think I'll stick with the 5lb increments!

I will report back on Wed. I'm now going to make myself some Kale, quinoa, sweet potato dinner!

Notice the two beers..nice! What was I thinking?!

This is me in 2004 maybe not at my lowest but definitely at a healthy weight I'm guessing 150-155lbs

So many blogs..so little time

So, I've been getting a little blog obsessed these days. I started this blog over a year a go to write about my challenges working in ministry. At that time we were just starting to try and conceive our first child. Little did I know that over a year later we would still be trying! Some how during that time I stumbled across a few IF blogs. I think I just searched IF blogs one day and WHAM! I hit a ton of them! I don't even have half of the ones I read on my blog roll! These blogs give me comfort and even though many of them have turned into pregnancy blogs or even new baby blogs I still enjoy reading them. A few weeks ago I did a google search for "raw granola bars" I have no idea why I chose "raw" I don't eat "raw" I don't think I ever will but for some reason that's what I searched. The first hit I got was Angela's blog Oh She Glows. Let's just say I LOVE this blog and have become a little obsessed! She writes three times a day and is a really good writer. There's no way I could become vegan like her but a lot of her recipes are awesome and easy. She's also into green smoothies, which she calls "Green Monsters" which I started drinking even before I found her blog. She always has great pictures and other great tips. She also is on Twitter. Now, I haven't gotten into twitter much but the priest I work for says he is going to start Tweeting in order to reach more of our college students. This is amazing to me since the man doesn't even own a cell phone and just got voicemail at the office last spring! So I decided to start tweeting and even though no one is following me I started following a lot of people..like Angela. She tweets a lot and because of that I've discovered other healthy eating blogs like Jenna a Eat Live Run It just keeps going an going! Not to mention I'm already hooked on Facebook but mainly to keep up with my RL friends and relatives who live far a way. It is very distracting at work too! These two blogs (as well as others) have inspired me to to do more with this blog. I believe these women make money with their blogs because they are read by so many people and they are good. I really think I could do this too! I have always loved writing and even took a few writing classes. Unfortunately I do not have good grammar and make frequent spelling errors even with spell check. I also don't have a lot of time. I just looked at my work schedule for next month and it looks like for the first two weeks in September I'll be putting in 45-48hours a week, that includes the weekends, and lots of nights! I don't feel right updating all the time from work (even though I do) and can't see how I could upload more photos and spend more time on the blog without my coworker noticing. Just some ideas I've been musing with. Who would have thought that blogs would take on such a huge roll in our society. Many of the conversations I have with my husband start with, "Today I read on this blog..." He doesn't get it! He's not a computer guy! Stay tuned we'll see what I decide!