Vegetarian

Recently, I decided I needed to take a different approach to my diet. I need to start really watching WHAT I’m putting into my body. Counting calories has been great, and I’ve lost 10 lbs with doing just this and working out. Unfortunately with life being a bit more hectic than usual, eating on the go, and not having a lot of time to keep a consistent work out going, I’ve realized that just counting calories isn’t going to cut it. At least not if I want to keep loosing.

So, recently I’ve looked into vegetarianism. Now, before I go any farther let me just say I love meat. I am from Texas after all. I love a nice medium rare, 12 oz. steak (great, now I’m hungry) just as much as the next Texan girl. But, eating this all of the time is no bueno. Not that I eat a steak every night for dinner. But I do catch myself eating friend chicken, chicken, or beef in/with a lot of my meals. I really feel like this needs to stop. I think I need to be focusing more on whole foods. Lots of veggies, fruits, and a lot more water. A lot like clean eating.

I don’t plan on being completely vegetarian exactly. Like I said, I love meat. But, I think that I need to cut as much of it out as possible. My plan is to really limit beef, and just stick to chicken (not fried chicken). Slowly wean myself off of them both to where they’re pretty much nonexistent. Maybe only include them in two meals a week? I don’t know how well this will work, or if I’ll even be able to stick with it. Especially in a family that loves meat, and will not alter their diet just because I’m altering mine. LOL! But, my main goal is to have more veggies and fruits than I do meats.

This week I ate meats. I had some hot pockets that needed to be finished up, and I’m the only one that eats them. Excuse? Maybe. Tomorrow I’ll be doing our weekly grocery shopping, so I’ll be going through a whole foods and vegetarian cookbook to get some ideas on recipes and ingredients. If I fail miserably, well at least I tried, and learned a few recipes! 

Trick or Treat? Yea...about that...

As everyone in the world knows, Monday was HALLOWEEN!! I personally used to love this holiday. Mainly because I got to dress us, and get drunk. Lots of laughs, and a lot of parties. Ha! But, once you have a kid, even if you still get to attend those parties the day of Halloween is all about the kids! You dress up with your child, and you go trick or treating. Right?

Well, last year for Halloween we did nothing. Emery was still pretty much crawling around. My husband had just gotten back from working in Oklahoma, and we weren’t in that great of a place. This year, even though Emery is fully capable of walking around and carrying a bucket for candy, we I opted out of Halloween. My husband said he wanted to take her, but when I had said that I didn’t think I was going to he decided to leave it at that. Lay on the guilt trip why don’t ya?? And then when people would ask, and I’d tell them we weren’t going, they looked at me as if I had “criminal” stamped on my forehead.

“Why not? How can you not take your daughter trick or treating?”

Easy! She’s 20 months! Not even two years old yet. She can’t even say “Trick or Treat” herself! Seriously. And we all know who would have ended up eating the candy *points at herself* because Emery is not allowed to have any. So, I firmly believe she’s too young still. Next year, it might be a different story. But see, I want her to be just as excited about Halloween as my husband and I are. I want her to be able to dress up and somewhat get the concept of how the whole thing works. This year, she couldn’t care less. I cooked dinner, and we watched Casper. Then when her dad got home, they stayed up playing and watching Sprout while eating ice cream in their PJ’s. We allowed the ice cream because it was Halloween. She was happier than a clam!

Now, I’m not saying it’s wrong to take your kids, that are pretty young, out trick or treating. I think it’s really cool that parents do that. I just didn’t think it was right for us. And despite the weird looks, and some “two cents” opinions that I received on the matter, I completely stand by my decision. Now let's just hope this isn't one of those things that my daughter tries to hold over my head later on, lol! 

p.s. Surprisingly, my mother was completely

with me on this. LOL! 

Reading

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I’m a bit of a book worm. When I was younger, on our bus rides to and from school I would turn on my CD player (yea, it’s been awhile) and read a book. Sometimes I would skip out on lunch, or study hall and I’d ask to go to the library. It was always so quite, and peaceful. It smelled like books. Pages. Have you ever bought a new book, opened it up, and smelt it? I know it sounds weird, but to me they smell amazing. Any way, I was always reading. I LOVE reading good books.

Currently I have two dilemma’s getting in the way of this love of mine. One being time and the other is trying to find books for my age. I’m 24 years old and I can’t help but still look in the “Young Adult” section. I do consider myself a young adult, but the books in this section have always seemed to target more of the teenage category. Which makes me wonder what the heck is actually in the “Teen” section then? It seems as if I’m finding it harder and harder to find good books too. They’re all about the same thing! Thank you, Twilight. As much as I love vampires, witches, and werewolves sometimes I’d like a little variety. Because of this I’ve tried to stray from my typical options every once in awhile, only to come running back to my normal selection.

Finding time to read has also been a big problem. I have a total of four books that still haven’t been touched, just sitting there...waiting for me. It’s a bit annoying knowing that I could be reading a good book instead of doing whatever it is I’m doing at the time (chores, homework, laundry, etc. ). So, recently I decided that I should pick this habit of mine back up. Maybe not like before where I would spend HOURS reading, but I think an hour or two of reading and no TV would do some good. Not only that but I really want Emery to have a love for books like I did do. A lot of things I’ve read about turning your kid on to reading is to lead by example. If you want your kid to like a certain type of music, listen to it. Dance, show them that you like it too. If you want your kid to draw, do it. Sit down and draw with them. If you want your kids to enjoy reading, read yourself and/or read out loud.

So now, I’m making it a point to read a book (maybe two) every month. Reading was something I really loved, so I need to find make time to get back into it.