Less than a week until the big man comes but.....Who Cares!?! Tonight....the Tooth Fairy is coming!!!!


Okay, so that was actually last night but it was just so adorable! She was sooo excited! lol

I've had an up and down kinda week. I got as high as +5.4 LDW with stress eating. It can be really frustrating in and of itself! I'll be doing great all day and just after supper it hits me. I didn't get this stuff done or that thing is coming up. I don't think I consciously know what all the stressors are (I call it life!) but I know they are there when I gravitate towards the pantry. What ticks me off is, it isn't like I'm at a social function with tempting foods around me. Quite the contrary! I just did my baking yesterday! I'm actually searching for something and usually end up eating way too many mixed nuts and cheese. Chocolate is in there too but usually in the form of a protein bar, lol.
Thank goodness I'm able to channel some of it through my activities. Yesterday, I set myself to task! I did a top down cleaning of my house including load after load of laundry. I also shovelled our driveway (cough parking lot cough cough).
I picked up the kids after school and we started baking (insert snacks and supper with this) right up until bedtime routine. It was Thursday so hubby was out at game night with the guys for his 'day off'. Tubby and story time was all mine. Just before tubby I let the kids sample some of our sugar cookies. Well, I swear! They were not hard but there's Kaylee...tooth on her shirt! Lol Once she came to terms with what had happened she was all good. Not to mention excited!! The tooth fairy pays $5 a tooth these days...yah know.
I finished up the baking and laundry after the kids were in bed. I stuck to M1W1 foods for the most part. Yes I had a few cookies but my calorie burn for the day was huge and I knew it. This morning I was down 3lbs! Woohoo!!!
What a relief! Christmas time is the hardest time of year for me. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself!
Cheers
CAT

Well I had a run in with some bronchitis but I got some meds and I'm on the mend! Today I'm +1.8 LDW which is about where I've been sitting for a couple weeks now. Feeling stable :) Couple more days and I should be good as new!
The count down to Christmas is on! I'm about half way through shopping. We're trying to keep it low key. With me no longer working the budget is a bit tighter than what we're used to! It's all about family time anyway!!! We finally got our tree up and decorated the house. I love the warm feeling it brings!

Cheers
CAT

Day 2 of being sick :( The whole family has it so not much sleep happening for anyone. I've increased vitamin C for us all and hoping this doesn't last too long. I was short on calories yesterday. Really short.
I tried to just tough it out and decided to hit the pool for a couple hours. Felt good to get an hour of laps in but then I had a bunch of running around to do. Then I lost my wallet! Good grief. After spending even more time retracing my steps I came home exhausted. At least I found my wallet (nothing missing, yay).
This morning I was up 0.2. Not bad debating all I went through! Sitting right on 144.
Today was even worse for calories. I made a big omelet for breakfast but barely got it down. Lunch was a protein bar and I've since had a mandarin orange. That's it! I'm soo nauseated that I don't see anything short of tea and water to finish the day.
Someone send me the flu fairy to take this away!!!
CAT

I just spent the whole morning writing! It felt great!!! It started out as a post for here but before I knew it I had completed my opening chapter for my book. It was just too long and too juicy to post as an everyday blog entry. I don't do anything in 'proper' order. Most of my essays were written body first with the conclusion and introduction done last. Really, most of the time I have no clear idea what I'm writing about until I've written a bunch of 'stuff'! Based on what I've just said...this means I'm getting close to finishing! Woohoo!

So, sorry I don't have an enlightening blog post for you today....how about a soup recipe? Will that make you happy?

Chicken Tomato Soup

1 Tbsp evoo
1 chicken breast (mine was about 250g)
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup EarthPure tomato sauce
1 cup riced cauliflower
Marinara spice (epicure makes a yummy one)
1 Tbsp cream

Heat oil on medium and brown chicken on all sides. Add just enough water to have about 1 inch on the bottom of pan. Cover and lower heat to simmer. Simmer 20 minutes flipping chicken half way through time.
Remove chicken and dice. Add remaining water, tomato sauce, finely diced (or riced) cauliflower, and spice to taste. Bring to boil and then lower to simmer again. Once cauliflower is just tender you can toss the chicken back in along with the cream. Stir and heat a couple minutes longer and done!
I'll come back and edit this post to include nutrient values! I killed my battery with all that typing this morning, lol.

Cheers
CAT

I was reading labels (a common pastime at this point) and wondered why potassium and sodium had earned special ranks up at the top of our labels. Why weren't they down with the rest of the vitamins and minerals?? I had to investigate!
It turns out there is a pretty special relationship between sodium and potassium. I am not one who hides the salt shaker. As a child my mother would complain that it looked as though it snowed on my steak. I also have never had any problem with my blood pressure. So I assumed that sodium just wasn't an issue for me. I have however had dry skin, acne problems, chills, depression, muscular fatigue, and a few more symptoms associated with low potassium (though recent tests showed all my levels except vitamin D to be excellent, yay). These past experiences have me thinking though!
Sure I can handle the salt just fine but unless I keep my potassium up to the same degree I will lose cellular balance. I've got a pretty good ear for listening to my body now so I think it is no coincidence that I have 'happened' upon this information today. For the last week I've literally had banana cravings (which I totally complied with one a day). I hear yah body!!! I'm all over this!
I need to watch more closely what combinations I'm doing (along with my vitamin d supplements) to ensure that I'm getting about the same amount of sodium to potassium each day. While it no longer snows on my steaks and frozen banana yogurt is always on the menu, I will still be keeping an eye out for ques to keep me on track.
A little aside: when a box says "source of 7 essential nutrients" do you know what they mean? They are referring to the fat, sodium, potassium, carbs, fibre, sugar, and proteins. I'll leave that statement as is for you to decide how you feel.
I'll also leave you with a link to a great description on what I've touched on today:
http://www.naturalnews.com/024539_potassium_sodium_diet.html

Cheers
CAT