Weightloss Wednesdays: Veggie Burger & Workout Review

So yeah.... I skipped last week....I have lost an unimpressive total of 2 pounds in the last two weeks. Mostly because not only am I lazy and very not good at keeping a routine and having self control, but I'm even worse at all those things when I have other stuff going on. We had company and the many adventures that company brings: prep, welcoming, entertaining, eating out at lord knows where on the road, etc.
However I did manage to join a gym, but only went once between company and my husband being sick.

But anyway, enough of my whining, lets get to some good stuff...

In the way of food I have been maybe 50% of the time trying to step up my health game. This means trying to cook at home more often, packing snacks for when I think I'm going to be out long enough to get hungry and want drive-thrus, and make what I cook contain more good stuff and less bad. One thing I have discovered is a new to me brand of veggie burgers that has blown my mind(and even made my super carnivorous husband happy too).

Now let me say I am not a vegetarian, however I am not new to veggie burgers. I love to explore the meat alternative realms often. Up until this latest discovery Dr Praeger's California Veggie Burgers was the ruler of my veggie burger world, and I still love them with their light tasting veggieriffic goodness. But my husband being the meat loving man that he is just wouldn't dig that as much as something that actually tried to taste like meat, that being the case I went on a search to find something that would strike him as good.

Behold! Sweet Earth brand veggie burgers:

 

I picked up both the Santa Fe & Teriyaki varieties to try and oh sweet baby Jesus were they good. I prepared them on the George Foreman grill and dressed them up like any other burger with their themes(ex: salsa & chipotle mayo for Santa Fe and Mayo Sauce and Siracha for Teriyaki). Yes, as with any veggie burger you could tell the difference between it and the real thing, but the least I have ever come across, and the differences came off as novel and appealing rather than a lame letdown. We both like the slight crunch that the millet and seeds added to them. Also can I just mention that they are LOADED with protein and fiber two things which are not only great for you, but keep you full for a very long time.

So yeah, Sweet Earth veggie burgers, if you haven't done it yet, you should get on that! Also I hear they make burritos and other food which I am very excited to try.

Next on the discovery and review train is an exercise program I tried. Yes, I only got around to it twice but each time I finished I felt like that baddest bitch there was, and my body felt it the next day too.

I present to you: 

 

Many moons ago I had read the book Skinny Bitch, and while it did contain a good deal of motivation and some helpful tips I found it to mostly be meat shaming vegan propaganda. Now I have nothing against veganism, as a matter of fact I did consider changing to that lifestyle for a time and though that fell through I still dabble from time to time, however I do have a problem with someone shaming people for not living that lifestyle, which is what I found that majority of the Skinny Bitch book to be doing. 

When I found the workout DVD's in my local library I was intrigued. A workout DVD would bring the things I liked about the book, good advice and motivation, without really being able to bring the things I didn't. Why not give it a try? And am I glad I did! It is actually a 3 disk series, but I have only gotten to the first because I loved it so much I did it again. I am not a it person, so t others this may seem like nothing to do,  but to me it was a challenge. I was a huffing puffing, sweaty mess searching for any source of water I could get my hands on fast enough. But by the end I felt like a gosh darn champion! I really liked that they had the two instructors doing the different levels at the same time as an example for all people trying it. While one lady went to the max jumping all around like no tomorrow, the other was on the other side showing you how to do it if you're on the lower end of the fitness spectrum(*raises hand*) just doing your best but still getting all you can from it. 

 I highly recommend it. I will most likely end up buying it so that I have it to do again and again. If you want to try it out before you buy it and your library does not carry it I did find the full version on trusty 'ol Youtube at: https://youtu.be/uaoQey55mqs 

So there we go, a little progress( or non progress) update and a couple reviews of things I have found along the way. 

Wight Loss Wednesday: Startup & Light Frappuccino Recipe

Let me start out by saying I'm very much a be your own woman, don't let anyone tell you how to look, all sizes are beautiful type of gal so this is in no way a "fat shaming" thing.

My husband any I have been noticing lately that we are getting a lil rounder than we had been(I'm sure it has nothing to do with my covering everything with bacon and cheese). His pants are getting harder to button, and some of my clothes are in "don't bend over" mode, but I've been letting it slide. Then the other day I go to put on my favorite red panties with the bow on the butt and they don't even make it past mid-thigh....That's where I draw my line!

I've decided its time for our household to get a little healthier, stop drinking so many sodas, start eating a little smarter, and getting more active.

So as a way to keep myself motivated every Wednesday I will post something here regarding my progress and what I've been doing to help.

Let me just tell you I love me some Starbucks. However I know it is bad for both my wallet and my body. After I started going to Starbucks regularly for a year I went from having low Cholesterol and Triglycerides to through the roof, now I'm not saying its the sole cause but definitely a contributing factor. So I have found a way to make mock Frappuccino's at home, and bonus they are less calories and bad stuff, and if I add protein powder to them they have the added benefit of filling me up for a while too.

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons instant coffee(add more or less depending how strong you like it)
• 2 tablespoons fat-free powdered creamer(flavored however you like)
• 1/2 cup fat free milk
• Flavor syrup(optional)
• 1 to 2 scoops of protein powder(I like vanilla,  but if you want a more mocha flavor use chocolate)
• 10-15 ice cubes

You take all that and pop it in a blender till its a consistency you like and Voila, fancy Frappuccino without having to spend extra cash, or extra calories, or put on pants. Alternatively you can use instant Latte or Cappuccino powder in place of the coffee and creamer, that works very well aswell.

Putting On The Dog...

First up, fun fact time....in case you dont know to "put on the dog" is an idiom meaning to get extra fancy, for a special event. Often times unheard of uless you live in the deep south, or you have watched Sweet Home Alabama a million and a half times(said in the scene where MIL comes to visit) and had to look it up.

We have family coming for the weekend in two weeks, so naturally we are beginning to prepare the house now....here's my problem with that why is it that we as a society have such an issue with people seeing how we really live? I remember when I was younger and my mother would go absolutely crazy before we had guests, cleaning every centemeter of the house, getting in tizzies where she throws all manner of important stuff out because it just happened to be on the counter(where under any other normal circumstance it would be kept) so therefore it is clutter and has to go. I remember telling her "Calm down, it doesn't have to be perfect, why are you trying to make it look different? This is where we live, and if they have a problem with that they can go elsewhere" And I would vow to myself to never be the same way when I had my own house and family.....

....Fastforward to today, I too am doing the same thing as my mother always did. I am washing baseboards, shoving things in places I will never remember just to get them "uncluttered", rearranging furniture, making it look like a gosh darn Better Homes & Gardens issue up in this bitch just so my company can have it looking like no normal house ever would and get the impression that we are perfect people.
I mean sure when you, walk into someones house and its perfectly organized and clean you're first thought is "wow , this is really nice". BUT your immediate second thought is most likely the same as mine, "wait, are they like psycho's or something am I about to get murdered? Or are they just really good at the emergency cleaning scurry and instead if I open that closet there is the real content of thier house going to explode out?" Heck, I bet even Martha Stewart's house looks normal and lived in when its not full of cameras. It's not messy its lived in, its your home, your sanctuary, you shouldn't have to change it to please people just passing through.

However, as sad as it is to say, that's the norm, you clean everything perfectly before company or you get labels, labels like slob, or dirty, or trashy. So that's just the way it has to be. Even if said company has known you and your tendencies your entire life and used to be there with you trying to talk reason into your panicking mother. Yes, this is my home, my sanctuary, my space in the world...but for a weekend, its going to be a freakin minimansion the likes of which would make Pinterest jealous.....

*steps off soapbox, picks it up and saunters into the sunset to go put it away and finish mopping*

Sometimes....

Sometimes you just have to take a moment in the afternoon to sit back have a vodka and soda and think "oh my God, I just spent how much at Sams Club?!" Sure you've got a years supply of toilet paper, paper towels, trash bags, and many other things, but when your leaving and can still see the floor through the cart bottom you wouldn't think it would be quite that much. When the lady who checks receipts looks at your cart and receipt and shakes her head clicking her teeth and goes, "its crazy, everything goes way up but the paychecks" you know there might just be something wrong.

Sometimes you have to make that same mixed drink so you can psych yourself out to go to the gym...do you want to work out tonight? Not really. Do you ever want to work out when your not drunk? Not really(hence the many times you've jacked your ankle up from drunk Ti-Bo, but that's another story). But do you love your husband, who loves to work out, and wants it to be "a family activity"? You sure do....darn it... So sometimes you have to refill your cup(make that a double please), send your boobs to the horrible torturous boob jail they call sports bras, and act like you are ready for this shit, even though you're not.

Sometimes you have to sit back and say screw it to the cat wailing to go outside, the exhaust fan clanking against the house,. and the washer that sounds like its going to flood right through the wall(thank you lack of insulation) and take yourself away to another world courtesy of Smirnoff, Hypnotic, and soda.... and some blairing music to drown it all out....

....Sometimes.....

Fake It Till You Make It

"I'm going to be a stay at home wife and get soooo much done"....that's what you tell yourself, then you realize you have been surfing the Internet all day listening to Amy Poehler audiobooks and eating endless boxes of Mac & Cheese.

Here are a lazy housewife's tips on how to pretend you get shit done instead of marathonning Netflix and Pinterest all day:
1. Make a cleaning schedule, not all things in one day, but rather one small thing a day to make you feel like a champion. Mine is as follows:
       Monday- Strip the sheets, tidy bedroom and master bath
       Tuesday- Other Bathrooms
       Wednesday- Kitchen
       Thursday- Vacuum/mop, laundry
       Friday- tidy living room
2. Become the master of making meals with lots of wow and little prep. Things that can be thrown together in 10 to 20 minutes but make you jealous of your own skills. Crockpots and the high setting on the stove are my best friends.
3. Learn the art of piling. You can have a a lot of crap, but it you stack it all nice like, it doesn't look like it.
4. Always be doing dishes as your housmates come home, it makes it look like "wow, its been such a busy day, I am just finishing my chores"
5. Candles, candles, candles! or roomspray... If a place smells nice it automatically seems nicer.
6. Last but not least, my mothers advice, no matter how dirty the house if you make a bed and drag a vacuum over the carpet(even if its not running, just the lines cause an effect) it automatically seems cleaner.

So there you go...how to be lazy and still seem busy. I try not to do this too often, but lets face it, shit happens and sometimes you need a quick save.

Its Has To Start Somewhere, Its Has To Start Sometime, What Better Place Than Here, What Better Time Than Now?

Susie Homemaker.....the perfect woman....always well kept, great at cleaning and cooking, the idealistic American housewife...so we've been taught....

I'm here to say its a sham! Any woman can be "perfect" you just have to find your own way to be that way. There is more than one solution to every problem. Welcome to the 21st century where a woman can be whomever she pleases!

This is my journey to my own version of that "perfection". A modern Susie Homemaker if you will. Wifing it up hardcore in the big bad modern world. Trying my best to hold it together and give it all I got.
Along the way I'll share experiences and tips to help others on their journey to their own version of perfection...or just make people shake their heads...who can ever tell haha

And here we gooooo........

PS: Yes that's a Rage against The Machine reference in the title