Nightmare Before Christmas

I love decorating our tree each year. Our running theme has been The Nightmare Before Christmas. Every year Im on the hunt for more NBC ornaments. We have others in there as well, each year I get a Mickey and Minnie Ornament and we have some Corpse Bride in there too. :) Our tree this year is tiny. I'm just about 5'1 and the tree is shorter than me. Its too cute! I was pretty bummed to find out our black ornaments (those cheap ball style ones) had a big box placed on top of them which caused them to break. :( I had to make those myself with spray paint. So we had to make do with some red ones. Better luck next year I suppose. Either way tonight was fun spending time with the hubby. :)

I didnt exercise today. Last night while doing P90X- Chest and Back I went down to my knees during the diamond push ups and felt my knee go out of place....during ab ripper x's move - crunchy frog I heard (and felt) and loud pop. I'm guessing that was it going back into place. It feels better than it did before. Perhaps thats what I needed. :)

As for my diet it went like this:

Breakfast: Oh's Cereal
Lunch: California Roll
Dinner: Left over Portugese Bean Soup
Snack: None

My husband was originally in his pajamas, I was able to talk him out of his PJ pants, but he was just too lazy to change his shirt. :)

I <3 Jack Skellington

My little lazy dogs (Sushi and Pixie) acting like limp noodles.

Portugese Bean Soup

I have had a great few days off from work and am dreading the fact that tomorrow is Monday.  Last night I told myself that I was going to get down to business today regarding by fitness plan and thats just what I did. My food journal went like this:

Breakfast: Banana

Mid-Morning Snack: Nuts

Lunch: A mix of soy beans, peas, corn and pinto beans... (seasoned with a little onion powder and pepper) 

Mid-Afternoon Snack: Granola

Dinner: (havent eaten yet) Portugese Bean Soup

It has been a cold, blustery day and soup just sounded delicious. It takes about 3 hours to make this soup but its just oh-so good! I got the recipe from 'Jean Hee's Best of the Best Hawai'i Recipes.' It makes 2 tons so I like to freeze the left overs and save for the next soup worthy day. :) Here's the recipe:

1 to 2 pounds ham shank (or ham hock) 

3 cans chicken broth (14.5 oz. each)

2 cans kidney beans (15 oz each)

2 cans tomato sauce (8 oz each)

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tsp pepper

1 medium onion, chopped

4 potatoes, cubed into 1-1/2 inch pieces

4 carrots, cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces

1 Portugese sausage (10 oz), cut into 1/2 inch slices

1 bay leaf

1 small head cabbage

In very large pot, cover ham shank with chicken broth. Add enough water to cover and boil until tender (about 2 hours) Skim fat off while cooking. Add rest of ingredients and cook until tender. Continue to skim fat off.

I personally like to fry up the sausage on the side to get them crispy before I put them in the soup and I cut everything smaller than what she says to. I like bite size pieces and plus it cuts down on cook time. Also before adding all the other ingredients I like to take the ham out, shred it and them place it back in the pot.  Plus we either eat it with rice or I will put some elbow mac in there. 

As for my workout I attempted to jog through my orchard today but I got rained out. Perhaps it was divine intervention trying to tell me not to go running to spare my knee. So right after I am done with this post I am going to do P90X chest and back. 

Motivation

Why do I need to do squats again?......Oh right. :)

When a girl walks in with an itty bitty waist and a round thing in your face you get sprung! hahaha

I have those shorts....they dont look like that on me. lol

My girl crush, Adriana Lima :) She just oozes sex appeal.

every. single. day.

Believe

I have really fallen off the wagon. Everyday I tell myself, "today". Then when today comes I look back and think I told myself today, yesterday. Then today passes and tomorrow I find myself at the same turning point although I keep making a wrong turn. Why do I keep doing that to myself? I know what I want, I want it badly yet I still make the wrong choices. The easy choices. But they are the choices that wont get me to where I want to be. Im not gaining any weight, but Im not losing any. I need to set some serious goals and just stick to them. There needs to be some type of check and balance system I can devise that will keep me on track. I need to start journaling or something. Really keep an accurate account of whats going on in my life when I make these decisions and then change it.  Im really quite destructive. Every time I see myself making progress I slack off. Wouldnt it be the other way around? I see the benefits of my actions and therefore I would want to do it more? Nope. I see the benefits and then I go yay, lets take a break. :) lol Seriously I believe in myself and I know I have the willpower and dedication to see this through. 

Today I was supposed to have my hair colored but some lines were crossed and it didnt happen. I had to reschedule for next week which resulted in me having to reschedule the photo shoot for next week as well. Its ok though, it will give me some more time to figure everything out for that day. So tomorrow instead of getting my picture taken I will be taking pictures for my sister and her family for her Christmas card. I cant believe shes waited this long. Usually shes on it. The pressure will be on to get that perfect picture. :)

My sister emailed me some pictures from Halloween. The only picture I posted from that night I looked kind of evil so Im posting this one to show I wasnt that dark of a Red Riding Hood. My niece was originally going to be a character from Harry Potter but when I walked in the door to pick her up she said she wanted to be a Sugar Skull, so 10 minutes later I had her makeup done and we were good to go. We had to make do with what her mom had but I think we did pretty good. The only thing is that she wouldnt let me line her lower lash line and 2. we didnt have white face paint..... which is kind of a key ingredient.... so I had to use her moms face powder. :)

              

Thanksgiving Feast

Yep. Im guilty, I had one... a Thanksgiving feast that is. It was so yummy, we had all the usual items you would find on a Thanksgiving table.  I didnt have to cook anything. I tell ya, one bad dessert and then Im stuck on roll duty. But hey, Im not complaining, all I have to do is buy a bag of Hawaiian Sweet Bread and boom, Im done. :)

My sister tried to take pics last night, she managed to get pics of me and the food. Hahaha everyone was seeming to steer clear of the lens. Oh well. :) My mom being the silly lady that she is saw me last night and said "ohhhh, its my little Lady Godiva"..... um yeah mom, its Gaga, and just because my hair is blonde doesnt mean I look like her. :P

After dinner my husband, sister and I went to Target for the midnight sale. We are not cut out for that. We got there at 9:00pm, of course there was already a line and instead of getting into that line we decided to sleep in the car. Hahaha it totally defeated the purpose of getting there early. We woke up just a smidge before 12:00 and by this time the line was ridiculous to get in plus it was raining so we ended up waiting another 30 minutes past 12:00 to get out of the car and go inside. :) The workers there had everything organized so wonderfully. There was no confusion on where to go or where to be, the checkout lines were being controlled almost like a line at Disneyland. We got what we went in for, which was an X-Box for my husbands nephew. I picked up a few scarfs and Blu-rays as well so we were happy.

My exercise has been on the back burner as I am still trying to get my knee back to normal. I tried to work around it but I only made it worse. We will see how this week goes. :)

More white hair perfection. :)

Today was a great day. Period. :)

I tried to workout this evening when I got home. My knee was ok. I could feel it and not in a good way. I strapped it and pushed through. Now Im icing it. I feel like such a blot clot when I don't work out. Tomorrow is my appointment to follow up, I am crossing my fingers for good news....but I dont know if Im gonna get it. I shouldnt be feeling the things Im feeling in my knee. Womp Womp.

As for my food journal it went like this:

Breakfast: Oatmeal

Lunch: Tofurkey, fruit stuffing and green beans from where else?? Island Naturals!

Snack: Banana

Dinner: Ice cream cone

I did awesome until dinner....if you even wanna call an ice cream cone dinner.



Im really excited for the rest of my week. Thursday is Thanksgiving....which I was planning on making a Tofurkey but they're sold out!!!! Then at midnight its crazy shopping with my sister, Saturday is my hair appointment, which is always fun. Then Sunday my husband and I are doing a photo shoot together and I was told that its going to be old fashion...she wants my hubby in like a caddy hat...suspenders...bow tie kind of deal and who knows whats going on for me. I hope it comes out as good as Im envisioning it to. I will surely post pictures once they're ready.

Family Fun

Yesterday we went up to my dad's house to celebrate his birthday and also wish him farewell, they are going on a long trip and wont be back until after Christmas. I really enjoy hanging out with the fam-bam....we played video games, tried to talk to each other like Yoda and ate good food.  We had spring rolls, hibachi chicken, salad, papaya, hot dog, jasmine rice, and pumpkin cake. I know that sounds like a weird mix but it was good. Here we eat hot dog with rice more than we eat it in a bun. I love going up to his house because its so cold. I always bundle up and still freeze. :)

It took a few tries to get this picture since we couldn't contain ourselves.... we cant help but mess with each other right before the camera snaps. Hence the bunny ears over my younger sisters head.  My sister was getting a complex because I wanted to tippy toe so I would be taller than her...but every time I did so her husband would step on my foot. :)

My husband, me, my sister, her husband and daughter, my older brother,
my younger sister, my dads wife and my dad. :)

That is the look of pain on my face right after my foot was stomped on. No one knew what happened except my brother-in-law since he's the one who did it...everyone else thought I yelped for no reason. :)  I love that my niece is not phased and picture perfect.

My brother and I

On a different note, I think Im going to start my food journal again today. Anywhos its off to work I go. :)

Even Yummier

I cooked dinner for the first time in weeks tonight. It wasnt a healthy dinner by any stretch of the word but it sure was yummy. Boneless fried chicken breasts with baby red mashed potatoes, brown gravy and corn on the cob.

My chiropractor said to take the week off so Im actually being good and following his orders. He said if I pop my tibia one more time I have to get it x-rayed and think about other treatment plan options, last resort, surgery. That struck a nerve and had me get serious about it.  I went on Monday to have it adjusted. On Wednesday I was home alone and taking a shower, my dog started barking which got me thinking...did I lock my front door? So like a nimrod, soaking wet, conditioner in my hair, I decide to hop out mid-shower and just go double check. Next thing I know my ass was on the ground and my tibia was popped out of place again. Ugh. The chiropractor set it back and also adjusted my back and neck since I tweaked it during my plunge to the ground. I get a follow up at the beginning of the week and hope that I get the green light for exercise.

Anyways, I bought a Kindle Fire today and its dying for me to play with it. :)

Yum

Lets Do This

Tomorrow I get to go and get my knee examined and hopefully fixed. Im hoping they can align my lower back as well, when I fall asleep on my back I wake up in so much discomfort, thats not normal! I havent taken off my KT Tape yet and I dont plan to, it makes me feel so much better!

I sat down tonight and re-did my workout schedule. Its about time I get back on track. Lets cross our fingers and hope the doc doesnt say to sit it out for awhile. I made the basic outline of my schedule and plan on doing each workout in the morning, that way when I get home, if I am able to, I will do a second workout, cardio based for sure.  I took this pic with my iphone, so the quality....not so good. 

As for my diet, Im just not going to eat out anymore. Back to my veggie based diet. Like I mentioned yesterday or maybe it was the day before, I went grocery shopping and was able to pick up a bunch of veggies to hopefully last me until wednesday. :) 

Anywhos I need to try and pry myself away from Dexter and hit the sack, Im pooped. 

KT Tape Voo-Doo

After my shower last night I applied the KT Tape to my knee.  I didnt follow the instructions about swapping the area with alcohol, which I should have because it was starting to peel when I woke up.  In any case I woke up and my knee has no pain. I do not want to take this stuff off, its like witchcraft or something. :) This morning I pulled the tape off, wiped my knee down with alcohol and reapplied two new pieces. This is the first day all week that I have felt good enough to workout. I know I should take it easy, but I cant. I really, really, really want to work out.  A lot of stuff has been going on in my life that has been really hard to deal with, not being able to workout my frustrations has made it even harder. Its amazing how one minute you can be in a wonderland and then before you know it, your wonderland has been bombed. Lets not turn this into a pity party, so back to the tape. According to the package you can use it for a variety of things:

SI Joint Pain

Runner's Knee

Shin Splints

Ankle Sprain

Achilles Tendon Pain

Tennis Elbow

Planter Fasciitis

Lower Back Pain

Middle Neck Pain

Neck & Shoulder Pain

The package came with a pictorial guide on how to properly place the strips, I would say its safe to assume that if you don't properly attach them then of course they may not give you the results you want and it may not work for everyone. I know I have only been wearing it for 12 hours or so but I can say as of right now, pain is gone. It might not stay gone, it might be all in my head but whatever it is, I like it. 

KT Tape and Booty shorts!

I'm on my way home from Kona. (my husband is driving, its about a 2 hour drive) It was a productive trip. I found the shorts I wanted to get as well as this KT Tape. I have never tried it before but I searched reviews and it looks like it got some pretty good ones. The full name is kinesiology therapeutic tape. It claims to reduce muscle pain from inflammation and strains. It's supposed to give immediate relief for fast recovery. I was researching the symptoms I'm having with my knee and have diagnosed myself with runners knee. :) haha i love diagnosing myself. We will see what the doctor says on Monday.

Decide

Ah yes. That is a familiar feeling for sure. I have missed way too many workouts this week. Between work, my personal life and my knee I just haven't had time or the motivation to do it. My husband is coming home in T minus 1 hour and I am beyond excited. He has been away for three days and we have never gone this long apart. It was nice to have some time to myself but Im ready for it to be over. Him being away has definitely made me face my fear of the dark. Laugh all you want, Im not afraid to admit it, Im afraid of the dark. He has spoiled me so much with checking the doors, turning off/on the lights and making me feel comfortable if I hear something bump in the night. It's kind of an embarrassing story but yesterday morning I left the house before the sun came up and when I went outside to get in the car all I could think about was that someone or something was in my backseat and that as I was driving I would look in my rear view mirror and see them behind me. Ahhh! I knew I was going to feel this way the night before, I dont know why I just didnt lock my car that way I would be 100% sure. Dont get me wrong, I live in an incredibly safe neighborhood but I always let my imagination get the best of me. I had to drive with my backseat light on until my nerves calmed down. haha, pathetic, I know.

I have ate out for breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday since my husband has been away. Tonight on my way home I stopped at the grocery store and picked up some fruits and veggies to get me back on track. I am so ready to detox from all this crap I have been putting in me.

I bought this super cute sports bra today, its a v-neck and just makes everything look....nice. :) I kind of got carried away while I was at target and bought a bunch of girly stuff. This is why I shouldnt use a hand basket, because then I can hold all this stuff. I got:

1. Essie Nail Lacquer: Lady Like
2. Revlon Color Burst Lipstick: Soft Nude
3. Revlon Super Lustrous: Pink Whisper
4. Revlon Super Lustrous: Peach Petal
5. Sinful Colors Gloss: Sultry Flame
6. NYX: White Eye Pencil
7. Loreal Ever Sleek: Deep Conditioner
8. Cosmo Magazine :) I love reading trashy magazines!

If you are looking for a beautiful nude lip you need to try the Soft Nude lipstick layered with the Peach Petal gloss. Its perfect....and cheap!....(well cheaper than a department store brand)

Tomorrow I think my husband and I are going to Kona which is about a 2 hour drive from us. He needs clay plates and shells and I want to look at sports authority for some shorts. I know this sounds bad but I want shorts so short they look like undies. It's not like Im going to go jogging outside in them or anything but when Im at home working out I like to wear that kind of stuff.

Positive Thoughts

So it was brought to my attention today that I like to pick out the negative in things. I honestly dont see what the big deal is, I dont think Im that bad but just to humor them this post will be completely, 100%, abso-toot-ly positive! This is going to be great! Yay! :P

My diet was awesome today. I ate nothing but junk food and enjoyed every minute of it. My husband is off island for the next few days which means Im flying solo when it comes to meals. I get to make all the decisions and only think about myself for a little while. Its so selfish and I love it. For breakfast I had Oh's cereal which is this yummy, sweet, calorie ridden cereal. Mmm! For lunch I had Korean food, my car is going to stink (in a good way) for days since I was a hermit (I love being a hermit) and ate lunch in there, good thing I like the smell of pickled veggies! (How am I doing so far? Is it sickeningly positive?) Dinner: I had a typical local style plate which consists rice, mac salad and meat....my meat of choice was Meat Jun. Meat Jun is so yummy. Its this really thin meat that they cook in egg. So its like egg covered meat that you dip in a vinegar sauce. Mmmmmm I love it!  Its nice to take a break from being so strict with what I eat, especially after a night like last night...you think I lack positivity you should have seen me then. It was a horrible night, I binged today and feel better. :)  It will be back to the grind tomorrow.

Exercise didnt make it to my to-do list today. I chose to ice my knee instead. I like to ice it until its so cold I cant feel a thing. Its a really weird feeling, like my knee is dead. :)

So there you have it, my supercalifragalisticexpialadocious of a day in a nut shell. Wwweeee! :)

Kauai

You have no idea how much I want to visit Kauai. Right now would be a perfect time since my knee is being a total b*tch.  I made an appointment for Monday morning to have them pop it back into place. I made the fatal mistake of wearing heels today. I just had to. I was wearing this cute little dress and it would have made no sense to wear ugly shoes, it would have ruined the whole thing. :) Now Im paying the consequences.

You may be thinking what the hell does Kauai have to do with this, that was really left field. But its really not. My friend lives in Kauai and sent me these beautiful photos.  They made me totally jealous and want to hop on a plane like 5 minutes ago to go and see it for myself. I would have a personal tour guide to show me all kinds of things, it would be perfect! ;) He let me edit them however I wanted which I really appreciated. Like I said they were already beautiful to begin with, I just added a little oomph to the color. You can check out more of the photos at my other blog, Feeding My Addictions.


Diet was so so.

Breakfast: A few bites of nasty oatmeal from Startbucks....dont get it, its gummy.

Lunch: Italian Turkey Sandwich from Safeway

Dinner: Tofu and Veggies from Island Naturals

Sheese I ate out for all three meals today....and I ate meat! ;)

Rosie the Riveter

Today was my day off from working out...but so was yesterday and Im thinking the day before... Im not sure. I dont even remember, these past few days have been a blur. I know I did some kind of workout this past week, I just cant remember what or when. In any case, I chose to do Turbofire - Fire 45. Its crazy how I can just blast through the workouts now, no problem, I can do all the fire drills, everything. Sure I get winded but I just keep going. ;)

I was channeling Rosie the Riveter/ some kind of rockabilly look today while getting ready and instead my friend said I looked like Tupac. Mind you this person doesn't know who Rosie the Riveter is, so I will let them slide just this once. ;) Rosie is a little too masculine for my taste but I think the bandana is cute. Heres Rosie and my version:

Moving on to my food journal, its shameful but I will post it..... Can I put a disclaimer first? I didnt have an appetite, so like I always say, why eat if your not hungry? Hmmmmm?

Breakfast: A big bowl of air. Yum! :)

Lunch: Vegan Fried Rice and Black Bean Tofu. Can you guess where I got it from? Yep, Island Naturals!

Dinner: Um yeah, can I have a second helping of what I had for breakfast? ;)

Snack: An ice cream cone from McD's. Word to the wise: Dont lick your ice cream cone at a red light. People like to stare.....then it gets uncomfortable.

White Hair. Perfection.