Power Brekky!

This morning's breakfast:
Sandwich Skinny bun
2 eggs
Greek yogurt
Garlic powder
Yellow peppers

Delicious and energizing!

Julie, Julia and Carlene

There are some movies I just should not be allowed to watch, especially alone, with no one available to pull me back down from the clouds.  Included in the very long list of such films is Julie & Julia.  If you haven't seen it, it's a wonderful flick, full of humor, passion and lessons on when to give it your all and when to let go.

http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/julieandjulia/

The first time I watched this movie, I was still fat and had no fear of trying to cook the rich, heavy foods with all their sauces and reductions.  I learned that I love to be in the kitchen, it's a creative outlet for me.  

I identify with so many of the quirks that each of the main characters contributes to the plot.  Particularly, Julie Powell, the younger gal in the movie that finally "finishes something" for the first time in her life.

As I sat tonight, enjoying Julie & Julia tonight (for probably at least the 10th time) I realized that right now, I'm working toward something similar to Julie committing to tackle all the recipes in Julia's cookbook.  This something, is my figure competition.  And while the date may have been moved, I'm still going to "complete my project", one day at a time.

I got 5.34 miles in this morning, with Lily in the jogging stroller.  It felt great!  I walked at a brisk pace, no running yet, but I did have to push her thru some pretty crazy "terrain", the sidewalks here are CRAP!  Kept my heart rate between 65% and 70% to make sure I didn't burn any precious muscle.

I ate my normal stuff throughout the day but Julie & Julia motivated me to do something a little special for dinner.  I threw a little Safflower oil in a pan and tossed in some onions, grape tomatoes, diced avocado and Garlic and Herb Mrs. Dash.  I sauteed all that together and then topped it with lemon juice and a dollop of greek yogurt .  I toasted one of my multi-grain "Sandwich Skinnys" buns and sprayed it with Earth Balance cooking spray and sprinkled it with garlic powder.  My protein was a few ounces of seitan.  It was delicious and energizing, below is a pic of the finished product.

Bon appe'tit!

Just Sayin'

;)

Where Do I Start???

Hmmm... it's been a while.  Hi there!  In one of the last blogs I wrote, I told you that I had changes happening so fast I could hardly see straight.  Well, things have slowed down a bit and the fog is beginning to lift.  Of course, summer vaca has started for the kids so there is less chaos in that arena.  We received wonderful news that my son's turn has finally come up on the waiting list of the school we've been dying to have him attend, finally!  We've been waiting three years for him to get his shot at attending one of the top ten schools in the state.  In the fall, all three kiddos will be at the same school and we couldn't be happier about this.


So, "that's all happy stuff and should make you feel more organized and on top of the world so where the hell have you been?", you're probably asking yourself.  In a nutshell, my hubby got a new job that took him out of the country for no less than one year.  We will be able to see each other twice during this year, for a few days each time, and that's it.  We thought very hard and long about this and decided that, in the end, it is the best decision for our family.  While I can't discuss where he is or what he's doing, the new job did include a promotion which will help us to be a little more financially stable.  


However, it also leaves me to raise three kids on my own for the next year.  Thank God, we have great neighbors who watch out for us and have offered to help out however they can.  One of the neighbors even told me one evening after I'd been gone a few hours that someone had parked in my driveway and "knocked on my door".  Tee hee!  Good thing I'm not up to any "funny business", she'd for sure know it if I was!  LOL!


Anyway, I've been pretty darned depressed over the last 3 months or so and pretty much gave up on everything I'd been working so hard for fitness wise.  I ate a bunch of crap, stopped working out (pretty much right after my last post) and wallowed in self pity for a while.  I love my hubby, he's my bestest friend in the whole wide world and I miss him terribly. 

BUT I HAVE TO PERSEVERE!

So I am now going to look at my situation as an opportunity.  I have time to work on building the physique I know I can have.  When we agreed that he'd take this new position, I knew it meant canceling my competition I was going to do in July.  It's always been a dream of mine to compete and to do it without him would absolutely ruin it for me.  Besides that, I've never gone thru contest prep before and I'm not sure I can do it on my own with three kids!  LOL!   So, for the next year, I'll be in a "building phase".  I have one year to GROW.  Then at the end of that year, I will begin contest prep and hopefully compete in October 2013.

Here's to opportunities, new beginnings and all that life has to offer!