https://allveggedout.com

Update stuff… I’m working on some domain mapping which should do all the work for you, but until them head on over

I’m an overachiever.  I want to be able to do everything and be the best.  The thought of coming in second or not putting a real effort into something makes my stomach hurt.

It makes me a good employee and a good student but when it comes to taking care of ME it is one of my most detrimental traits.

I make huge lists, or calendars or schedules.  I plan to turn my life around with home-cooked healthy meals within a certain calorie range that hit the food pyramid just right and that will equal 100% of my Daily Value of everything.  I will do two hour long workouts a day.

Never mind the fact that I work a full time and part time job.
Never mind the fact that I am finishing my degree with a major and two minors.
Never mind the fact that no one can be perfect, every second of every day.
Never mind the fact that you can’t eat 1200 calories, on the dot, and actually have 100% daily value of every nutrient imaginable before taking a multivitamin.

As soon as one of the many rules is broken, they no longer seem valid and I fall apart.

“It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward.” -Chinese proverb

The lovely lady over at My Three Month Challenge has been a huge inspiration to me.  She makes three month commitments to herself to make a change in her health using different methods.  What is truly amazing is how the changes, that started off as a three month goal become a real part of her lifestyle- This lady kicks butt in the gym!

A few weeks ago I told her that I’d love to join her on a challenge and she created the 1-Goal-A-Day Challenge.

Everyday, we’ll be making a goal for the day.  We’ll be posting it on our blogs and/or twitter accounts (@allveggedout and @m3mc).

It’s just one little thing: Pack a lunch, Eat breakfast, Get 10,000 steps, etc.

When we continuously make these small choices, we’ll be making changes for the better and begin to incorporate them into our daily lives.  By the end of the challenge, we hope that these little changes will become part of your daily routine and we’ll all be healthier and happier as a result.

The best part is that the goals are your own.  My struggles are different from Ms. M3MCs and our struggles may be different from yours.

Please join us in this 1 Goal-A-Day Challenge…

It’s simple

Between 10/5/2009 and 10/18/2009

*Sign up here or at M3Mc’s (just leave a comment)
*Post/tweet a small, realistic goal for yourself every morning
*Focus on accomplishing the goal throughout the day
*Report back at the end of the day
*Put up a participants’ list in your sidebar
*Add the logo to your side bar
*Support your fellow challengers– leave them encouraging comments or tweets and just be part of the support system that will help us all succeed

We hope that this will spark great changes in your lives as we know it will in our own.

A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.
Lao-tzu, Chinese philiospher

It’s my senior year. I’m swamped with school work… My classes are intense and challenging- I threw in an extra minor last semester so this semester is heavily focused on Management Information Systems which isn’t something I’m passionate about but I do think Computer Forensics is interesting, and I know living in DC it’s a great “fall back”…

Which could prove necessary…

Because my school district is doing major cutbacks.  It’s so scary.  Basically all our jobs are at risk.  Seniority, education, position, work ethic don’t really matter.  The specifics on how they chose have not been revealed, but I’ve been worried about this for awhile but didn’t know if I should share.  I guess since our Chancellor is all over the news defending this decision it’s okay.

I keep saying “I’m not worried about it. It’s no big deal. It’d be great to get a severance package and hang out at home for a bit.”

That’s not entirely true though.  Even though I’m super busy I don’t want to look for another job, leave my students, start over, lose my direction… Plus, since I’d want to be re-hired in a new position next year I couldn’t take out my aggression, I’d just have to be mature and shake hands which would take out the only possible joy in the situation!

This intensity has led to some really bad choices.  I can’t tell you the last time I exercised (other than the walks and swims with my afterschool crew)…

I didn’t take pictures but I need to be accountable-

Breakfast: rice milk, plain yogurt, protein powder, PB2  and a banana (=smoothie)
Snack: Vanilla Frapp
Lunch: 2 slice of pizza, diet coke and 2 cookies
Snack: Large brownie
Dinner: Chicken sandwich, fries, diet coke, cookie and a cupcake

Truth? I wasn’t hungry after lunch. In the end, the list isn’t very long but the choices were horrendous (except breakfast) and I could have made much better choices.

Honestly, I don’t know what to do. I start my days with the best intentions which is why my breakfast choices have been pretty good lately and I can even make it through lunch (if I pack it) but then I’m exhausted after my 8-3:30 school day, followed by 3:30-5 afterschool group (parks, pool, walking, high energy) plus the stress of getting my school work done is overbearing.

I’ll keep fighting the *good fight* though. My health is worth it. I’ll figure this out someday.

In the meantime, I’ll keep that smile on my face and make the kids laugh… Apparently Ms. Rebeca is soooooo funny

Any tips?

I don’t have a ton of time since I have a paper due today and a long list of tasks and would like to get to bed at a decent hour since I’m babysitting tomorrow night and need to rest up for our cowboys party… my boots are ready to go!

I did go to the grocery store after work and took a little dip into my grocery fund for my challenge.

Some lovely squash.  I don’t plan to eat this all this week but it was on sale and I didn’t want to pass it up… I never learn do I

Then some greenery- Granny Smith (my fave), a cucumber and a green pepper.  I hate those bags don’t you?

Also, the essential- bananas! The top set isn’t very ripe while the bottom two are which should work out just fine for the week.  Whenever I have leftovers (which is rare) I just peel and chop then throw it into a waiting ziplock in the freezer for smoothies.

Total Spent: $15.14
Total Left: $84.86

Okay, off to write about the domestic situation in Manchester England in 1830 and study encryption… I really should decide what it is I’m going to do with these varying majors/minors shouldn’t I?

I’m a bargain shopper.

Oh yes, friends I clip coupons, watch sales and never pay full price (unless we’re talking bananas, they never go on sale :().

It can be a great thing to be frugal, and to get great deals.  At a certain point, it is too much.

When you no longer have room in your freezer for an ice tray.

When you can’t even fit anything else into your cabinets.

Then you need to take a break from bargain shopping and start using up some of the food you have.

You see, I don’t need anything else and I could be happily, and healthily fed for the next few months with my bounty. I also realize that just because something is a steal doesn’t mean I should spend money on it.  Spending money on things you don’t need, no matter how cheap, is still a waste of money.

My plan for the rest of 2009 is to eat out my pantry.  I still *need* fresh fruits and vegetables so I’ll still be stocking up on that.  I even have a plan there though, I’m going to limit my food budget to $100.00 a month.  Cooking for one should make this easy especially since I spend about that much anyway.  What’s leftover at the end of each month will go into my graduation trip fund.

One caveat to that will be that if something is free after sales/coupons then I’ll still get it because I really don’t think I’m strong enough to walk away

Anyone else have a well-stocked pantry they need to “eat down”? If not, want tips on how to get one on the cheap?

Today, I found myself frustrated and saddened by things that occur all to often in our nation’s schools.  I stood in the cafeteria helping five classes through lunch with the help of only one other adult.  It was madness and then when we tried to take them out to recess it was a mob scene.  I was ready to scream but since I don’t yell at kids, I just tried to control the situation as best I could.  In the end, the principal worked it out and they calmed down enough to get to go outside… it was rough going though.

In those moments, I was renouncing our school and the system for making the whole situation so difficult but every time I did I remembered the first thought I had this morning when thinking of something to write about today-

You see, the other day, I shared my career doubts with a colleague and said how nice it would be to sit in an office, alone, in front of a computer screen all day.  He reminded me that it might get boring.  Then he said something that really made me so comfortable and sure in my chosen path.  He basically told me that I should never doubt my decision to be a teacher because to do something else would be a waste of my passion, drive and innate ability to do so.  Coming from someone who I respect so much as both a person, and an educator, it meant a lot.

I know that there are still days when you want to strangle the people you work with- everyone has those moments… but there is always something to be thankful for.  Even in the worst situations you can always learn something from your colleagues.

You can take their skills and their drive and use that as motivation to be better and achieve more.

You can take their negligence, their cattiness and their downright stupidity (come on, every workplace has at least one and if you can’t think of one, maybe it’s you ;)) and use that as motivation to be better and achieve more.

There once was a psychologist who interviewed to identical twins whose mother was an alcoholic.  He asked the first- “Why are you an alcoholic?” She said, “Because my mother was.” He, later, asked the second “Why aren’t you an alcoholic?” She said, “Because my mother was.” The first used her mother’s disease as the reasoning behind her own, the second used the same upbringing and DNA to choose to never have a drink.

It’s so easy to be thankful for what is good and easy and fun, but the bad, the challenging and unpleasant can often teach us even greater lessons.

I think the one in the blue had just smacked the one in the yellow.  Still, they moved on and were the best of friends again.

Go give someone a hug today.  Maybe someone you haven’t had the best relationship with lately.  Just do it… I did and I haven’t been this much at peace in ages!

Today has been a bit hectic.  Wait! No! That’s normal over here.

Business as usual, I guess.

This morning, I decided to listen to my body and slept in a few extra minutes (or a half hour but whose counting).  That meant that I had to adjust a bit but sometimes it’s worth it.  I don’t know why sleeping away the time where I usually do yoga/meditate always makes my morning more rushed.  It’s weird.

I packed a breakfast that I ate between buses.

Banana and a Pure bar.  This apple cinnamon flavor was definitely tasty but really sweet.  My jaw hurt halfway through it which was strange because it usually takes a third large brownie to do that to me.  I was hungry though so I finished it, but next time I’ll have half for a lunch dessert and be a very happy camper

Underneath my breakfast items is my to do list for the day. It goes to the other side of the page! Yowza! Thankfully, I’m checking my way through it, although I wish I could have someone else check off some of the items for me.  Anyone interested in some Computer Forensics labs? No? Oh well, I actually like it so we can still be friends

Lunch really isn’t worth mentioning but I had a small pita stuffed with plain ole tuna, a blueberry yogurt and baby carrots.  Healthy? Yessir. Satisfying? Suprisingly enough, yes!

Dinner is fabulous. Mini frittatas and roasted potatoes! Mmmmm

This is beyond simple.

Mini Frittatas
serves 1
1/4 cup grated cheddar
2 eggs
hot sauce, to taste
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease three muffin tins (I used whipped butter tonight but use what works for you).  Divide cheddar equally among the prepared tins.  Beat egg, add S+P and divide equally between the tins.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.

The more fun version uses sauteed mushrooms and peppers and all that deliciousness.  This is a basic recipe so play with it! The best part is that you just dump the add-ins into the tins and top with the beaten egg. Easy! (Note: If you do this you might want to fill up four tins since the bulk from the veggies will equal more little minis).

The more frugal version use whole eggs and grate your own cheese, and chop your own veggies. Use what’s on sale that week!

The faster version use eggs from a carton, pre-grated cheese and pre-chopped veggies.  Although, the hands-on time commitment is so minimal I wouldn’t choose this option.

For the roasted red potatoes.  I just quickly rinsed and chopped them, sprayed them with EVOO, sprinkled with S+P and put into three of the empty muffin tins. Remember, the smaller the chop the quicker they’ll roast and they won’t be in there long so keep that in mind!

Dinner in 20 minutes, including prep time? Dinner that only uses four dishes to prepare (muffin tin, bowl for eggs, fork/whisk, and a knife)? Dinner that I could easily make for two without any extra effort? Works for me!  Now, I just regret not making more.  I imagine that the frittatas would heat up nicely in the microwave the next day (I’d wrap it in a paper towel) so next time I’ll be doing that!

Okay, I picked posting over homework tonight- in the order of events, I’m not going to skip an assignment, of course! So… I must go off to schoolwork land. Later loves.

Wait, I forgot- I have dessert planned…

RF Cinnamon Coffee Cake from Starbucks… there may be some coffee consumed as well!  I may or may not have had a Skinny Pumpkin Spice Latte (aka Fall Crack) while there as well!

I have these fab plans with a fellow blogger though that I can’t wait to share with you!

Meanwhile, I’m jumping on a couple of bandwagons.

First, I’m making study/index cards for my classes.  Say what? I haven’t done that since way back in my AP/IB days.  No wonder I had that killer GPA   In all seriousness though, I know that it helps but usually I’m hesitant to “waste” paper and it takes quite a bit of time… but my computer class tests are HARD and I think these will help with the ton of memorization (my upper level Child Development/Education classes are so different!).  Note: I’m the “ill” studier I just changed my style to fit my schedule and I think I need to change my schedule to fit my style!

Second, I finally tried Honey Sunshine.

Kashi sent out free samples for signing up for something (I don’t remember what :oops:).  It was okay.  I think I was expecting something different.  It’d certainly be a fun “base” cereal since it’s low calorie but sweeter than most of my “bases.”

Third, I made a meal plan for the week.  I checked out sales, my cookbooks and thought up some yummy meals for the week that will make it easier (I hope to make healthy choices- a big struggle lately).

Breakfasts

• Blueberry Smoothie
• Banana “Split”
• Egg Sandwich on English Muffin
• Apple Pie Oatmeal

Dinners

• Falafels
• Rice and Beans
• Grilled Cheese + Tomato Soup
• Slow Cooker Chili
• Spinach+ Feta Brown Rice Bowl w/ Tempeh
• Mini Frittatas

Lunches

• PB+J spirals
• Tuna+Veggie Melt
• Leftovers

I have tried and failed many times to meal plan and where I fail is restricting the days and “overplanning” (the story of my life).  This week I just picked the right number of meals for each “category” and then left things open.  I have yogurts, veggies and fruit to go along with the meals so I can go based on my mood but still have guidelines to help.  I’m pretty excited about all the items on my list actually and it’s exciting to see what I’ll actually pick (at least for me it is :)).

Fourth, notice a breakfast missing?

(looks kind of gross but trust it’s fabulous)

Oh… there it is. My goodness, this started my day on a positive note.  I don’t know who started it but try it.  It made the loss of my jar of Dark Chocolate Dreams much more bearable.  In fact, I only cried for 10 minutes

I can’t wait to share my fun eats with you this week.  Hope you all had a great start to the week as well!