Reunited and It Feels So Good

You know you love that Peaches and Herb reference...

With sore butts and severe jet-lag, Mama and Mons are here, finally. I’m so happy they arrived safely and without major incident.

Family #2 and I went to pick them up from the airport yesterday afternoon. The flight was delayed, so we had time for…COFFEE! Photos were taken with my cell phone, which is currently in my fiancé’s possession (because he is in the process of getting a new one), who is currently out of town on an impromptu business trip. Translation: You won’t be seeing any pictures of the delightful event. Apologies. 

We got the coffee from a place called Wimpy. Yes, Wimpy. Since I like my coffee to have a bit of a punch, asking someone if they want “Wimpy coffee” always makes me giggle. I ordered a Mega Coffee, AKA a coffee in a cup the size of my head. Within about 3 minutes flat, I had slurped the whole thing down.

When Mama and Mons walked through the arrival gate and warm hugs and kisses were exchanged. Boy, did I miss them. We returned home and simple, yet delectable Portuguese fare of chicken and rice packed with vegetables was on the menu.

This morning, I woke up bright and early. Within two minutes of opening my eyes, my mom’s head pokes in the doorway and says, “Are you up yet?” Yes mom. I’m up. I think she has psychic powers. Ahh, back to old times. And by “old,” I mean two weeks ago…

Apparently, the jet lag had her up at the butt crack of dawn, meaning her veins were already coursing with copious amounts of caffeine. I played catch-up by quickly draining 2 cups of piping hot Italian coffee, and we bundled up to go for an early-morning walk. It was lovely. There’s nothing like starting your day off with a brisk walk in the crisp winter air.

All day today (save for some housekeeping duties involving my husband-to-be and the priest who’ll be marrying us), I’ve been glued to mi madre. We are back to our old routine of shopping, cooking, and eating, and I’m loving it.

Diner tonight:salad, sauteed chicken breast, Brussels sprouts, and avocado. Easy, but oh, so UH-MAY-ZING.

I’m thrilled to have two of my best friends back with me again. 

Blood Buddies

 I can hardly wait for the rest of the clan to arrive on the 9^th of June! I don’t know if you’ll be able to handle it. It’s going to be marvelous/epic/FLIPPING awesome.

Exercising My Freedom to Exercise

This morning, I woke up feeling ___________ (<--insert synonym for overly excited here). Why? Because today broke the ban from working out! Mind you, for the next few weeks before the Big Day, I’ve decided not to push it, in fear of being partially crippled for my wedding and honeymoon. However, I am allowing myself the pleasure of walking and doing a little body resistance work.

But first, I had to fuel myself for the day. I chose a simple breakfast of homemade gluten-free bread with peanut butter, a banana, and coffee. Half-way through the hearty slice of toast, I realized that I would not need that banana.

Surprisingly filling fare.

This morning, my lovey and I headed to the sports club down the road and walked for an hour in the lovely morning sun. I still can’t get over how beautiful everything is here.

Following our walk, I took my sweet time in getting ready for my day. Before Miguel left for work, I made him and me two very different lunches.

Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches with Nik Naks for him. Veggie, fruit, hummus, cheese, and chicken slice platter for me.

He was a happy boy. This is definitely the cutest face I've ever seen.

Later, I accompanied my mother-in-law to be on our daily errands of food shopping and picking up my sister-in-law to be from school. By the time we got home, it was already late afternoon. I have no idea how the time manages to pass at lightning speed here. It’s fantastic. I was hungry by this time, and had a fresh and fruity little snack.

Yogurt with papaya and a sprinkle of oats.

Then SAM (South African mom, as I call her) and I went for an afternoon walk. Two walks in one day made me more than happy.

In a continuation of my new, incredibly taxing and stressful life (I joke), I did some leisurely reading.

Before I knew it, it was time for dinner, which I was super excited to make. Throughout the cooking process, I always make sure to taste and retaste the food, just to make sure it’s “acceptable” and not poisonous or anything… The problem is, by the time I get to the actual meal, I’ve already eaten half a meal. The up side: I have lunch already made for the next day.

Stuff pepper goodness

Pepper, Brussels sprouts, and corn on the cob.

I, along with everyone else, was very pleased with the food that my sous chef (SAM) and I created. With my happy belly and my tired, endorphin-filled body, I have no doubt that I will sleep well tonight. And tomorrow, I will be exercising my freedom to exercise again!

Master Mind

My fellow Americans… and everyone else who reads this blog… hehe. I’m feeling better, can you tell? I went to the back cracker today and he told me that I am doing well and don’t need to come back. Fantastic! My back has gone from painful to uncomfortable in a matter of days, thanks to my resting. Starting my workouts again next week looks promising.

For those of you who read this blog fairly consistently, you know that I often times am at war within my own mind over health and fitness. I go through spurts of avidly counting calories, to the point where it becomes obsession. Other times, I say to myself, You know what? I’m just going to let it go, be healthy, and enjoy life. But alas, I always find myself falling back into the food guilt trap.

With the wedding coming up, I’ve been especially obsessive, spastic, and emotional over my food intake. I understand this is not beneficial behavior, but still have a hard time removing myself from it. Then I get here to SA, where good food is everywhere and nutrition facts are listed in kilojoules, making it nearly impossible to count calories. The fare is succulent, it’s beautiful, it’s savory, it’s sweet—everything a food lover could dream of. But it’s also very hard to resist.

A combination of knowing that I am losing a week’s worth of working out coupled with being around some of the most amazing food I’ve ever tasted, I immediately started to worry about fitting into my dress and started planning twice-a-day boot camp routines for myself once I got better.

Then today, as I mulled over my future calorie-burning workouts, I thought, I’m doing all of this for what? I’m going to fit into my dress, bottom line. I’m not going to gain 10 lbs. in 4 weeks, or even 5 for that matter. And why should I be harder on myself and make myself miserable (and everyone around me) just a few weeks before what’s supposed to be one of the most wonderful days of my life. This process is about being happy and in love and celebration. Not deprivation, punishment, and irritability.

So I’m going to just keep doing what I’ve been doing: making sure I get exercise in 5 or 6 days a week and eating well.

Here are today’s attempts successes at doing so:

Grapefruit and cottage cheese with dried raisins, apples, and cherries.

Most gorgeous, blood-red grapefruit I've ever seen. Most juicy, sweet grapefruit I've ever eaten.

Smooth cottage cheese will forever be a substitute for cream cheese. New obsession.

This is so delish. And has 5 g of fiber, 5 g of protein. Yes please.

Rice cake with hummus and cukes, rice cake with cottage cheese and sliced tomatoes, celery with peanut butter, chopped carrot, and yumalicious figs.

Curried ground beef with brown rice and salad with avocado OTS.

My wedding day should be about joy and the pleasures of life, and I don’t want to be dreading the preparation. My worst fear is to spend all this time fretting over stupid stuff and not enjoy the actual day itself. I only get one shot at this.  I always say I want to enjoy life, live in the moment, and not sweat the small stuff. One can say they want to do those things all they want, but never actually do them. It’s all about training your thinking, which is something I need (and desperately want) to learn to do. But it’s a process, just like everything in this life. It has to become a habit, one that I am going to implement.

Something to think about:

“…You need to learn how to select your thoughts just the same way you select what clothes you’re gonna to wear that day. This is a power you can cultivate. If you want to control things in your life so bad, work on your mind.” –Eat, Pray, Love

Life is a Highway

During this blogging adventure that I have been on for the past 7 months (I can’t believe it’s been that long), I have realized a lot of things about myself. Having your life documented every day has definitely given me a new perspective on things.

One thing that has really stood out to me is the fact that my life is a constant ebb and flow. I don’t want to say up and down, because that implies happiness and sadness, which is not always the case. It’s just a waxing and waning of, well, life.

Let’s take food, for example. I felt like my food choices the past week had been mediocre, and that I was sometimes eating just to eat instead of eating to enjoy (an act I’m not very fond of). But on Sunday and Monday, I got back on track with my deliciously nutritious meals. Who says health has to be boring? Quite the contrary!!

Sunday eats:

Oatmeal with cooked apples and a spoonful of peanut butta on top.

Turkey pickle sammich with left-over roasted veggies. The sandwich= bomb diggity.

Chocolate peanut butter shake with greens.

 My first thought was, This is interesting... Second thoughts? None. I got over it.

Banana bread "cake."

 I used Better Batter's Yellow Cake mix to make this cake. It was so easy because I didn't have to worry about adding sugar or anything to the mixture. It was so light and fluffy, and oh-so-decadent. Here's what I did:

 Banana Bread "Cake"

• 4 bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/3 cup water
• 3 eggs

Pre-heat oven to 350. Mix up all the ingredients and pour into a 11x9 grease baking dish. cook for 15 minutes. Cover with aluminum foil, turn the heat down to 325 and cook for another 50 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Voila! Enjoy!

Holy amazing. There is less than half the cake left. Special thanks to Better Batter for sending me their awesome GF mixes! I can't wait to try them all out!

French toast with strawbeezies OTS.

 It was clear that my eye was bigger than my stomach and I couldn't eat the last piece of toast. Luckily, Gigantor packed it away for me.

New favorite tea.

 Everyone who has tried  this tea agrees that it's basically liquid Red Hots. It's pretty much the most unbelievable thing ever.

Monday munchies:

Mexican Quinoa Egg Bake with a pear OTS.

Mexican Quinoa Egg Bake

Seriously, this one's so easy. Almost too easy for how delicious it is.

• 1/2 cup cooked quinoa
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbsp salsa (plus more for the topping)
• olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Mix quinoa, eggs, and tbsp of salsa and put the mixture into a greased (w/ olive oil) microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on high for 5-6 minutes, or until there is no more liquid on the surface. For those of you who are microwave-aphobics (like my mother), bake this at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes. Top with your favorite salsa and/or sour cream. Enjoy!

Tuna salad, GF crackers, sweet peppers, and a pickle.

Banana bread "cake." Yum-O!

Chicken salad beast: spinach, lettuce, cucumber, tomato, radish, red pepper, garbanzo beans, and a whole chicken breast topped with raspberry walnut vinaigrette. Exquisite.

Let’s discuss the home life. On both days, I’ve taken my nap outside in my bathing suit instead of inside under the covers. This Florida weather has been rocking my world as of late.

Lovin' the neck strain.

I'll never get over the gorgeous view.

Looking over my history in the blog world, another trait of mine that has come to my attention is how quickly I become unhappy when things aren’t on the up and up. I think the most important thing for me is to recognize the really great moments, but also acknowledge the “ho-hum” ones. Life can’t be perfect and wonderful all the time and you have to just be able to recognize, live in, and appreciate those awesome, warm, happy, joy-filled times when they come. (Here's the cheese and the cliché . Are you ready for it?) Instead of thinking about life as a roller coaster with ups and downs, I want to think of it as a winding road, if you will, with twists and turns (it makes me feel better). If life is a highway, I wanna ride it all night long...