The Contract

The contract has been drawn up! 

 Carl and I are fully committed to change every aspect of our lives during the 40 days of Lent!  

Will we stop after the 40 days and go back to the same ol' same ol'?

I sure hope not!  We are praying for God to transform us during these 40 days.  Is there any better way to honor Christ with what he did for us than pledging to live our lives trying to be more like Him?  Last time I checked , that's all He wants from us!

In case you aren't on the same page, let me break it down.  

Jesus, the Son of God, wants us, God's children, to love unconditionally, just like He loved us so much that He died on the cross for our iniquities. 

You may be wondering why diet and exercise is our main focus if we are ultimately trying to be more like Christ.

It's simple.  

In order to do your best you must be your best self.  God made us in His image and when we overeat and under-exercise we aren't honoring God in His image.  That being said, I will never be a size 2.  This isn't about being a cookie cutter size.  It's simply means that when I eat better, I feel better, I do better and then I can love better.  

Here is our plan.  Again, I encourage you to follow along with your partner if you feel moved.  You can change it to fit your family situation.  In the week following I will be posting the first week of menus and devotionals so that if you are like me you can plan your meals ahead of time.  Again, feel free to use as much or as little as you like. I hope you are as motivated as I am and I pray the motivation doesn't leave before we even get started! 

Kalena

CHALLENGE!

I walked for 30 minutes around our neighborhood today!

It was the first time I pulled out the jogging stroller this year.  At least it's still January!    

While I was walking my head was whirling with a gem of an idea.  It would only work if my husband also agreed to it.  The best way to get my husbands attention?  

Offer a bet.  A bet with money.

It worked.  CHALLENGE!  

That's what I think of when anyone says "Challenge!".  Do you ever hear lyrics or TV and movie quotes in your head while people are talking?   No?  

O.K.

Moving on!

So the challenge is to become healthier in 40 days!  That's right during the Lent season Carl and I will be hopefully igniting a healthier lifestyle by adding exercise  healthy eating habits and even working on the well being of our relationships.   It always helps to make sure God comes along for the ride so I will be writing a daily devotional for each of us to do during our lunch time and then talking about it at dinner time.  Lent is the perfect time to do this!  I feel like it's a part of my life I've never really let God in and I am guessing that's why I haven't been so successful!  

This is not to be taken lightly!  I've come up with an intense plan.  Once I finalize the terms of the contract (I am serious!) I will post it here.  For now, the basic plan is that we will weigh in on the evening of Fat Tuesday and the person who has lost the most weight when we weigh in on Easter Sunday wins $80.  We will both be putting in $1.00 everyday.  That's a lot of money for our little one income family!  (I want a massage!)

I will be posting all of the details long before we start on February 13th so if you and your partner would like to do the same thing it will all be here!  I will be publishing PDF pages for you to print off to follow along, even the daily devotionals!  So I guess what I am saying is...

CHALLENGE!

A Goal Reached.

Remember this?


I was too fat to get pregnant.  My awesome lady Dr. told me all I would have to lose is 20 lbs. to kick start the baby maker. 


Well.  


He was RIGHT!  I am 4 months pregnant!


  I "officially" quit Weight Watchers in October for the time being but I still follow a ton of what I was taught.  I am willing to bet that is why I haven't gained a pound so far.  It's the healthy eating and regular vomiting.  When you struggle with weight like I have it's safe to say that becoming bulimic crosses your mind.  Now that I have experienced 3 months of puking I think it's safe to say that thought has died.  For now my focus is on all things baby.  If you would like to follow me and my plus sized pregnancy journey just click here.  It is safe to say that I will be just a revealing in my pregnancy journey as I have been with my weight loss!  

Shrimp and Squash Vindaloo and Quinoa

Hello mid summer and your sweltering heat!  I bet some of you thought I jumped off the weight loss bandwagon.  I bet some of you thought I had gained all I had lost and was too embarrassed to show my little face around these parts.  Well,  Since I last blogged I FINALLY made it to my first major goal.  I lost 10% of my starting weight!  


Now I am stuck.  Been stuck for a while.  I thought I was so good at this WW thing that I could just count points in my head.  HAH!  While I haven't packed on the pounds,  (Save gaining 2lbs which I choose to blame on my July birthday and also a mission trip in which we had a Professional Personal Chef making things like "Bread Pudding French Toast".  Just being honest!  I ate 2 GIANT slices.  FEW, glad to get that off my chest!  AND I LOVED EVERY BITE!  I digress.)  I haven't lost anything!  It's very frustrating considering how busy I have been.  I will be sharing what I have been up to in a future post so check by often!


In an effort to get back on the WW bandwagon and to continue succeeding in my ultimate goal I am making a new WW recipe for dinner.  In 5 days I have had 5 friends tell me they are expecting in the spring.  If that's not motivation I don't know what is! (Girls, save your hand me downs because hopefully I am not far behind!) Now, on to the recipe and the review!

Shrimp and Squash Vindaloo


2TBS White Wine Vinegar
2TBS Curry Powder
1/2 TSP  EACH Cinnamon, ginger, cumin
1/4 TSP EACH salt, cayenne (I used a little less because my hubby isn't so much into spicy)
1 Med. Acorn Squash
3 Med shallots
2 cloves of garlic
2CUP vegetable broth
1 LB Shrimp


In a small bowl mix spices and vinegar to form a paste and set aside


Cut squash in half along the equator.  Peel and seed.  Cut into cubes


In sauce pan spray a little cooking spray and add onions and garlic minced.  Once they are translucent add paste and mix for about 20 sec.  


Add squash and mix for 20 more seconds


Add broth and bring to simmer.  Cover and let it simmer for about 40 min or until squash is tender.


Add shrimp and cook until pink.  About 3 minutes.  ALL DONE!  11/4 cup per serving and only 5 pts!  


I made a side of Quinoa (KEEN WA)  to set it on.  1 cup of cooked Quinoa is 5 pts.  1/2 c is 3 pts.




Now for the REVIEW:


WW rates this as a recipe that is medium difficulty.  I don't agree.  I think it's pretty easy.  It's just not going to be done in under 30 minutes.  Right off the bat the old olfactory senses are telling me this is a fall recipe.  Between the acorn squash (which I got in my Appleby Community Farm share) and the cinnamon it gives a wonderfully fall aroma.  Now for the taste.  It's pretty good!  It is very fall.  I am going to tuck this recipe away when the weather cools.  If you are serving your whole family I would suggest to cut the cayenne completely.  The curry is enough spice.  I think the squash could have cooked a little less possibly making this a 30 min recipe! It needs something...OHH...I added craisins!  Now it's TOTALLY thanksgivingy.  Not a word but is now!   I bet some shreds of unsweetened coconut shavings will do the trick too.  The quinoa makes it more like an etouffe than a gumbo.   I think I will be replacing my rice for quinoa!  It's very high in protein!  It is very good but it didn't pass the husband test!  Too weird for him!  DARN! 


That means more for me!  

20 Ways I Can Tell I've Lost 20lbs.

1.  I have a lap.


2.  My towel wraps around me.
           
3.  I can bend over to tie my shoes without sounding like a pig.


4.  Fatigue is no longer a problem.


5.  I can feel my collar bones.


6.  I can feel my hip bones.


7.  I can feel my butt bones.


8.  In short, I have bones I didn't know I had.


9.  I can run.


10.  I can play Ultimate Frisbee with my Youth.  They actually pass me the Frisbee too!


11.  I don't need to shop in the Plus Size area anymore!


12.  I can slide into a booth with ease and the table doesn't cut off my air supply!


13.  I can clasp my hands behind my back.


14.  I bought a swimsuit last year and it's too big!


15.  My back doesn't hurt.  much.  (ehem...I still haven't lost much in the chest area....)


16.  My underwear falls off and my bra actually fits correctly!  


17.  My Netflix have been seriously neglected.


18.  I am excited that my husband is buying me running shoes for our anniversary.


19.  I have lost 35 inches from all over my body.


20.  The scale says so!  (From 244 to 223.2)

Over Half Way There!

Tonight I just finished Week 5 of Couch to 5K (C25K)!  I feel great!  I never thought I would claim to be a runner but I am really enjoying it.  This was the first time we ran 20 minutes straight.  I am still in shock that I was able to do it!  I more than did it!  I CONQUERED IT!  Now, now, don't get me wrong I wanted to stop.  My body was telling me that this is hard but it also celebrated when I finished!  I like that feeling, could it be a runner's high?  I feel like making it to 35 is nothing now.  (We will see if I am still saying that by Week 9)  Training for the 5K does cause me to wonder, why in the heck did we not run this way in school?  What I remember of running in middle school was that you had to run a mile.  There was no real warm up or training for that kind of thing.  I think if there had been I would have been more successful in gym class. 

On a weight loss note,  I am struggling to officially get to my first 20lb loss.  I have been hovering right under it for a couple of weeks now.  I think I am at 19.6!  I haven't tracked my food as well as I should and boy that makes all the difference in the world!  My goal is to track my food every day this week and see what a difference that makes on the scale on Thursday!  (I know the answer already!  It will.)  Do you remember this picture?

Here I am with my husband in the same dress.  I know it's not the best picture of me in the dress but let me tell you I could zip it up without the help of SPANX!  Do you see the best part?  It's right there above the dress.  The average eye wouldn't even notice it.  It's a neck!  I have a neck, people!  Go ahead.  Scroll back up and look at the first picture (it is beyond me why the dad gum thing isn't centered) you know you want to.  That's right.  No neck.  Neck.  No neck.  Neck.  It's a beautiful thing!

Stay tuned for my first Top 20 List!  Hopefully this week will be my week! 

Happy Eating!

C25K

No, It's not a new, hip boy band.  Are boy bands still around?

It's the Couch to 5K. 

The C25K is a pretty straight forward plan to get the average couch potato in enough shape to run a 5K in 9 weeks.  I started it last week with my friend Britney and coincidentally with my neighbor/parent of one of my preschool kiddos.  (I really love when you find out things on Facebook that you otherwise wouldn't know about people and then FB helps keep you accountable, and by love I mean I also sometimes hate the extra accountability!  But that's only on days I don't want to do whatever I am being held accountable for) 

There are several ways to follow the C25K plan.  You can buy it on your computer or, if you are hip like me, HA, you can buy the App on your smart phone for $2.99.  Next to the Apps I bought for my friend's toddler to play on while we are at dinner this is by far the best way I have spent my money.  It is super user friendly.  I just pick which days workout to do and my hottie of a trainer (that's how I picture it in my head) tells me when to run and walk.  Don't worry guys you can change it to a lady trainer's voice, but don't tell my husband!

Britney and I started on a Monday last week and I wanted to die a little.  Not only that but I sputtered and coughed for the rest of the night.  The very next day we went for day 2 and I saw an immediate difference.  My stamina and breathing were already better!  Britney and I finished our week on top, there are only 3 workouts a week, but I felt like I should workout an extra day before the step up on week 2.  I never did the extra workout and I gotta tell you that I did fine on the first day of week 2!

The best part so far is that Carl started running with me this week!  I am so excited to see where this is going!  I hope we start running together!  I totally recommend trying out this App.  If you think you should talk to your doctor before starting a new workout, then please do!  I am going to tell you that if I can do it almost anyone can! 

Happy Running!  Look for us at a 5K near you!  7 weeks to go!