Grapes and Boobs.

Hey all!

I thought I'd share some photos to let y'all know what I've been up to in Grand Junction! I'm visiting my awesome Aunt and Uncle, and my Cousin and his wife! :)~

The whole crew:


Me, my Aunt and Kiesha:


Me with my Aunt and Uncle:


Sugar free popsicles are my favorite!


But they do funny things to my BRAIN!.....


Auntie, Me, Travis and Rach:


We're a couple-a goofballs:




I'm a wild and crazy gal...




So yeah, I don't have anything really important to say but share some photos with y'all.

I'll be back to check in soon! :)~

My Brother Rocks The Socks.

He graduated from Dental Hygiene school, which is mind blowingly difficult. WAY to go, dude!

Check out my blog entry with a bunch of my favorite photos from the party. :)

<3 Jenn

My Niece is Friggin Adorable.

Well, my almost-niece.

Meet Adeline.



Click here for more pickiedoodads.

~J

Stuffy Stuff.

So, a few things that aren't related to each other and are all in all kind of random.

Dan in the footy pajamas my Mom got him:


The cookies I made with my Mom (We're awesome...)


The signed, framed photo of John Mayer Jesse got me:


And the awesome cookbook Jesse got me:



It has dinner menus and shopping lists for 20 weeks. How awesome is that??? I'm going to be blogging the meals I make from the menu and sharing the recipes here starting next Sunday. :)

Love,
Jenn

Airplane Woes

So... once again I'm hanging out at the aiport, on my laptop, like a really cool blogger type person.

My flight back to Milwaukee was supposed to leave at 6pm, and now has been delayed to 7pm. Additionally, I'm still on Buddy-Pass-Stand-By. There are only 2 open seats on this flight (as of my check-in) - and things aren't looking too pretty. I really wish that the airport had a smoking lounge in each terminal. It'd help people stay calmer and would give me somewhere to hang out while I'm waiting for my flight.

**EDIT** -- So I'd heard a rumor that the smoking lounges were going to no longer be smoking lounges. I don't know where or when I heard that, so that was just my assumption. I went online to the DIA website after posting this blog, and found that my favorite restaurant/smoking lounge in the airport (Concourse A: Mesa Verde) was still open, and still a smoking lounge. JOY! So, now I'm here, waiting, enjoying a delicious bloody mary and a cigarette before going back to gate A46 to find out if I make it onto the plane or not. Here's hoping! :)

The lady at the ticket check in counter said that my priority code was 89, which is apparently really high. I would assume that has to do with the year the "Buddy-Pass-Giver" started working for the airline. I know there is at LEAST one other standby person and hers was 2006. So, hopefully I beat her out. I think I saw a few other people hand tickets to the guy behind the counter... I just really hope I get on the plane.

Granted, I have ultimate flexibility and can stay anywhere as long as I need to, and it would be cool to spend New Years with my friends, but I really miss Dan and definitely want to see him. So, we'll see what happens. It's 5:45, so there should be about 45 minutes more before they start boarding the plane. Ugh!

I will be really pissed if I have to leave, find my bags, go back to my parents, and then do all this crap again tomorrow.

~J

What a Trip!

The past few weeks I've been in Denver with my friends and family, and I just have to say it's been awesome. I did really well the first week with eating right, working out, etc... then the holidays hit and I just tried to maintain by using portion control (ie: more salad, less potatoes, cutting meals in half, etc) -- I might have gained a pound or two but I'm not going to weigh myself until I get home. I ate some fruit for breakfast today and am definitely getting back to healthier eating now. We went to Jon's after an Irish Pub last night and had some yummy whole wheat Tostito chips with a great organic fire roasted tomato salsa. Yeah, we also had regular chips with bean dip and some pringles, and a bag of cheddar ruffles... but I'm making small steps back to normal.

It's been the greatest time and I can't remember the last time I did so much socializing, going out, and yes, drinking. I drank way too much light beer, and the empty calories are most likely going to take an easy toll on my waist line. I need to figure out the lowest calorie alcoholic drink that doesn't taste gross. :)

So, I just want to thank my friends and family for being so awesome and letting me have such a great time. I won't forget this trip! And hopefully I can come back again soon. I'd love to come back in April... or something. Wedding season really kicks off in May, and that will make it very difficult to come back before my birthday in August unless I do it a bit early. It looks like I'll have to really dig into my schedule and just buy a ticket before things get booked over my potential free time.

Muah!
~J

A Few Changes.

I love the movie "The Mirror Has Two Faces." I don't know if any of you like Barbra Streisand movies, or if you've ever seen this one, but I find it to be particularly inspiring when it comes to working out, eating better and changing your body. There's a part when her husband (who married her because she was unattractive, because he didn't want sex to be a distraction or a factor in his relationships) comes home from a long business trip and she's lost a ton of weight, looks beautiful, got her hair done, is wearing makeup and a sexy dress. He is outraged and says "what did you do to yourself?!!!?" She says, "Do to myself? It's not like I had surgery. I just made a few changes."

That is really what it's all about. Making a few changes in the way you live your life. My Mom and I were talking about this over coffee today. It's the way I feel. Making a few changes: Eating more natural foods. Being more active.

I haven't worked out at the gym for three days. It's harder when I don't have a gym membership out here and my parents went to the gym early in the morning all three days. I'm a work out around 4-7pm type of person. But I've been walking a lot, and stretching a lot. I'm going to try to do some work on my Mom's Bosu Ball today. The good news is that I've been eating well and eating just at or under my recommended caloric intake for each day. Except yesterday I was about 100 calories over. No biggie.

I haven't weighed myself in two days... it's probably healthier to do that. I have an obsession with the scale and I could weigh myself several times a day if I let myself. I hope to get to the point that I weigh myself weekly instead of daily.

I went shopping with my Mom for our Christmas foods today, and we made a few small changes. Where we might previously have bought a bag of white flour rolls, we got these instead:



Where she usually buys a salad mix of iceberg lettuce (zero nutritional value), we bought this instead:



Those two things alone will provide us with healthier choices for our holiday meal.



I also wanted to share some of what I eat on a regular basis. I found a beautiful fruit salad with mango and kiwi... YUM! This is my after lunch snack:



I had Pho for lunch (Vietnamese beef noodle bowl) but I didn't get a photo of it... this is what pho looks like (image found at eatvancouver.net):




I love soy milk and all natural juice drinks and shakes:


Organic Yogurt:


Sprouted Grain Breads:


Kashi TLC crackers:


And affordable sushi from Costco... this was only 5 bucks!:


I love sushi. And, okay, I know that California rolls are NOT real sushi because it's imitation crab... and this contains white sushi rice. BUT... sushi is still a nice, light, healthy option and I feel great after I eat it. :)

Tonight I'm off to watch my friend and his band play a show, and then going out with some friends after that. Hurray for free time! :)~

~J

I love Sweet Tomatoes.

And I'm not talking about the food. I'm talking about the restaurant.

This place has a salad bar the length (practically) of the restaurant. The setup is perfect for portion control, which aside from the fact that this restaurant is environmentally friendly, using recycled paper products and such, makes them awesome. The bread/pasta/etc plates are tiny (think a teacup plate) and the plates for the salad are normal sized plates. You not convinced yet? Check out the size of their ice cream cones:




I love it. Additionally, if you're trying to record your caloric (or other) intake... the website has all the nutritional info for their foods. :)


So, went to the gym again today. 25 minutes on the elliptical trainer (Trying to do interval training now) -- it goes a lot faster in your brain because it's broken up into so many parts. My brother came with us and it was so fun to work out with him. We pushed each other, did plyometrics, work with the bosu, medicine balls and a few other tough moves he showed me (mountain climber with weights... ouch!)

Overall a great day.

I'm so sad that there aren't any Sweet Tomatoes restaurants by my house!

~J

A few things.

Today I worked out with my Dad again, did 21 minutes on the elliptical and some weight training... did the Bosu kicks again (12) and some lunges (got through 6 this time)... and did something to my left quad. It hurts. :(

And now those few things I was going to mention:

First, take a lookie at my delicious afternoon snack.

Organic vanilla yogurt with some sliced strawberries and cranberry granola



Second, take a lookie at my hot mom. This is why I'm so mad I didn't inherit her skinniness. You should see her legs.



Third, I have issues. I have serious food issues. I am very used to diet + no exercise, and doing this working out plus "eating healthy" thing is a huge challenge for me. I am used to a very specific, structured, rules oriented eating plan. Atkins was easy because it's simple: low carb. This "eating in moderation" and "eat healthy" thing is killing me. It's like... okay, so I just keep under a certain calorie count per day while trying to drink a lot of water and eat foods that are "better" for me in terms of high protein, whole grains, more natural, less processed. Okay. So... that's just really, really open ended for me.

We went to Woody's for dinner tonight and I did a huge salad and a cup of the beer cheese soup. I feel completely guilty for eating that freaking soup. Though I'm probably under my calories for the day (I haven't calculated yet) - if I'm on a diet and eating healthy, that shouldn't have gone in my mouth.

So what is acceptable for "cheating" as people call it? I don't even feel there SHOULD be cheating. I feel as though every bad thing I eat is a huge deterrent from my goal. That's why when I did Atkins, there was NO tasting of sugar, fruit, frosting, potatoes, fries, bread, nothing. The "one" taste will make me want the bad stuff more, and then it's over.

I have to look at everything and say "Will this help me achieve my goal?" No. The beer cheese soup will NOT help me achieve my goal.

I just don't get the flexibility thing.

So what eating style works best? Or, what works best for you?

Those with no food issues need not respond, thanks.

Hunky Dory

I love hunky, chunky, dense, fibrous, natural breads. I got this bread (similar to Ezekiel bread) that is preservative free, so you keep it in the fridge. I was ravenous this afternoon after shopping with my mom and had this for lunch:



Turkey, tomato, lettuce, light mayo, mustard on this bread, a handful of grapes and three strawberries. I was so full afterward. This bread is awesome. It's healthy, (only 80 calories per slice) and fills you up!

I showed my mom some of the ab exercises my trainer gave me and some lower back strengthening moves. She could barely do 5 of each one. That makes me feel a little better. ;) Considering how much she exercises and she's a size 6... she hasn't built up much ab or back strength. Even though I'm chubby she still asks me for advice on things like that, and it makes me feel good.

Tonight I'm off to the bars with Jesse and Wes to have a fun time. I'll be spending the night at Jesse's house and then we're all off to see "Milk" tomorrow... I can't wait!

Fleece and chicken grease,
~Jenn

First day in Denver!

Well lovelies... I'm home! It's really nice.

My parents picked me up and we went out for breakfast to Le Peep. They didn't exactly have a "healthy" section on the menu. I went with turkey/spinach/pepper crepes and substituted the potatoes for some fresh fruit. I also got a side salad to start and a small glass of orange juice.

My Mom and I did a bit of shopping and I introduced her to Whole Foods. That place has some serious sampling going on. Seriously. I am in Denver for 2 weeks, so I stocked up on some good food (fruit, sushi, avocado, yogurt, etc) for my stay here. I figure every other time I'll be eating out and I should be able to make healthy choices each time.

My Dad and I went to the gym. He works out at Bally's, which I hate, but it's better than running around the block in the cold. They don't have personal televisions on each cardio machine, which I find to be supremely helpful when I need to do cardio. Don't think I'm a snob... it's just because I have a much easier time doing 30 minutes of cardio when there's a show on, or a movie or something. It takes my mind off of the mundane-ness of the elliptical.

After my cardio I did 12 bosu ball kicks on each side and then was only able to do 5 lunges on each side. My legs are so weak! I did the bosu bicycle crunches (10 each side, ouchie!) and then did some weight training.

Let me tell you that my Dad is a MANIAC. He was busting out some crazy moves on the elliptical and was really good, he was on level 17 and doing 17+ for his strides. He then did walking lunges around the entire track.

So... reasons I don't like Bally's (aside from their terrible track record with customers and billing):

1. They don't provide towels
2. No screens on the cardio equipment
3. Poor housekeeping (the locker room stunk, and my parents say they laid off their cleaners)
4. Less miscellaneous tools (such as balls, bands, boards, mats, etc)

Maybe I'm spoiled at my current gym... but I know what I need to motivate me to go every day during the week... so it looks like I made a good choice. I just need to figure out how I'm going to keep it up for the rest of my vacation.

Oh, and a side note! The pants that were so tight were 14's. I found out that the pants I was wearing at work were 16's. I feel a lot better about that.

And here's a photo of the delicious salad I had for lunch. I'm telling you... Whole Foods salad bar = YUM!

Zumba Craze!

So, my gym offers this class called "ZUMBA" which apparently is this crazy fitness craze sweeping the nation, and apparently the world. I did a quick search and came across several YouTube videos with Zumba classes and shows.

From what I've seen, it looks really fun and I might want to give it a try soon!

I found one very interesting one about a little girl who was very overweight. Her parents bought her a kids Zumba video and she got hooked, and lost 20 lbs in 6 months.



So... my question is now for all the whacked out parents who are giving their kids pills, putting them on super strict diets, and offering them liposuction and other surgeries. Why don't you encourage your kids to be healthy by being active?

I have heard a lot of stories about parents giving their kids all kinds of procedures to enhance their looks, everything from gastric bypass to breast enlargements. WHY???

I remember being young, feeling picked on and wanting to be pretty and thin, but in this society where so many young girls are falling victim to eating disorders and teenagers are resorting to quick fixes with diet pills and procedures... why are we not all encouraging our children to be active and healthy with their diets? If you do it as a family, it will become second nature. Plus, it'll be a bonding experience! The more time you spend with your family, the better.

~J