Thursday, February 28, 2013

Monthly Weight Loss and Pictures

Hey, everyone.
 
Well, there will be no pictures this month.
 
Why? you ask.
 
Well, because not only did I not lose anything but I gained 3.2 lbs. I weighed-in this morning at 166.2.
 
My weight has been going crazy all month. I could have starved myself the past week to make weigh-in but I refuse to do that. I was really upset when I had made it three weeks through the month and had not only not lost anything but gained.
 
I talked with a few friends and family and they said, and I have to agree, that I've hit a plateau. That mixed with the fact that I've been lifting weights has to be what it is.
 
I haven't changed my eating habits, except that I eat breakfast everyday now (and it's always healthy). I haven't been slacking on my exercise at all either. In fact, I think I've stepped it up.
 
This is the first month that I've gained. I was really embarrassed to have to tell everyone but then I got over it. I've worked so hard and come so far, I have nothing to be embarrassed about. Hitting a plateau had to happen sometime, I guess. I just don't want you guys to think I'm slacking because I'm telling you, that is NOT that case.
 
I'm not sure what to do, except keep on keeping on and not get discouraged. If any of you have any tips or anything to help me get over this plateau, I'd love to hear them. A friend told me I need to start confusing my muscles because my body has gotten used to all of the cardio and weights that I always do. I'm not sure what to do because I do such a wide variety of cardio and weight stuff already. We'll see.
 
Please keep me in prayer this coming month for wisdom, guidance and patience to get over this plateau.
 
Thank you! :)

Love,

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Happy 7th Birthday, Oopsie!

Happy 7th Birthday to my sweet little Poopie Bear, Oopsie! Where did the time go? It seems like yesterday that I could hold him in the palm of my hand. I'm so thankful that God saw fit to make me his mom. Thank you, Lord! ♥
 
 

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Healthy Recipes

Hi again!
 
Here are the recipes that I tried out this month and liked enough to post for you all. If you didn't see my Healthy Recipes blog from last month, click here.
 
Avocado Chicken Salad - I didn't use any mayo. I like it on these.
Quinoa with Black Beans, Tomatoes, Corn and Feta - To make it even healthier, I made it with reduced-fat feta.
Parmesan Crusted Chicken - I swapped the mayo out for fat-free plain Greek yogurt and added a little garlic pepper, salt and lemon juice.
 
Now for a simple and healthy Amy recipe:
 
Chickenless Original Chick-fil-A-Style Sandwich
 
One or two patties of Morningstar Farms Chik Patties Original, cooked -- preferably in an oven or toaster oven.
Dill pickle slices
1 pack Chick-fil-A Polynesian sauce (if you don't like the Polynesian sauce, you can use the Chick-fil-A sauce) - I always ask for a ton of extra sauces whenever I go eat there, so I'm always stocked at home.
Healthy bun of choice - I like these because they are soft.
 
Slap it all together and you have a yummy chickenless chicken sandwich that tastes very similar to Chick-fil-A. :)
 
Enjoy!

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Toronto Trip & Turbulence

Hey, everyone!
 
I thought I mentioned about going to Toronto to visit my best friends, Stephanie and Emily, in my previous blog but I didn't. Well, I'm back now. I was there the 7th-12th.
 
I had a great time like I always do when I'm with them. :) I've only ever gotten to be with both of them at the same time for Stephanie's wedding in October of 2011 because Emily lives in Florida. I was so happy that she flew to Toronto so we could all spend time together again.
 
I got to meet Stephanie and her husband Peter's new baby, Anthony Lucas. He is PRECIOUS -- all smiles and giggles. His Auntie Amy misses him so much already!
 
Toronto got hit with winter storm Nemo the day after I got there which brought 2.5 feet of snow. I LOVED it! I was out playing in it like a little kid.
 
Below are a couple of my favorite pictures from the trip. You can see some more of the pictures from my trip here.



Now, onto the turbulence.
 
I thought I had gotten over my fear of flying for the most part until the first flight on the way home. I'll get into that in a minute.
 
I want to tell you about my first flight on the way there. The woman sitting right next to me vomited all over the place about 15 minutes before I landed in NYC to connect with my flight to Buffalo.
 
It was VILE! I almost lost it. Thankfully, I had some really yummy vanilla lotion that I had just rubbed all over my hands and I cupped my hands over my mouth and breathed it in. Right before she projectile-vomited all over the isle, she was trying to hold it down and coughed, swallowed or something of the sort and because of that, it spewed out into little dust-like particles that went all over the place. It was GROSSSSSS! I just couldn't not share that with you all. :)
 
Now, moving onto the turbulence. My first flight on the way home, Emily was with me until we got to NYC and had to switch planes. I think we were about 20-25 minutes from landing and all of a sudden the plane started going up and down and side to side (not softly either). It all happened within a frame of about five minutes but it was the most terrifying moment of my life. I was sure that we were going to crash and the look in the flight attentants' faces pretty much justifed my fear.
 
Emily, who is a super-strong woman and never really shows outward fear, was pretty much white and very wide-eyed. I knew she was just as terrifed as I was and she flies all the time. Needless to say, because I thought we were going to die ... we started holding hands, praying and crying out to God. It was like something you'd see in a movie. I mean, the plane literally felt like it was about to go down.
 
After the ordeal was over, I asked a flight attendent if he had ever experencied turbulence like that and he said never. While it was happening, I literally in my head saw our plane on the news and reporters telling people that it crashed and so on and so forth; it was awful. Emily and I were both super shaken-up and I was terrified getting onto my next plane, especially without Emily.
 
My whole second flight was turbulent (not NEARLY as bad but still enough to make me uneasy, especially just going through what I did) and my stomach was in knots, my hands were sweating and I was praying pretty much the whole way home. I can't even begin to tell you how happy I was when we landed. I never want to fly again and I now have a huge fear of flying. However, I also know that because I love my friends so much that I will have to face my fears again to see them. It doesn't mean that I'm looking forward to it though!
 
I'm SO thankful to God for keeping us safe and seeing us through all of that. He's so good! :-D

I hope you all have a blessed week!

Your land-lovin' friend,