Tuesday, March 2, 2010

89 days!!

in 89 days i will marry jeff. wow. in 91 days i will fly away to spend 8 days in paradise with the man of my dreams. wow. i still can't believe it. it is all very surreal. i am so happy. i am so thankful.

we went on a retreat with Christian faculty from the naval academy over the week end. such a blessing to spend time with those folks. i am so encouraged to just know that they are there... where i will be living soon! we also picked out our wedding bands. beautiful!! i can't wait to put it on!

sooo... foood....

week ends are hard, especially because with traveling so much jeff and i do a lot of "vacation eating"!!

but, the week is better. last night i made de.lic.ious coconut encrusted chicken and shrimp from mark (i just made the shrimp the same way as the chicken). i ate the chicken on a salad for lunch and it was so.good!! and, i snacked on the shrimp throughout the day. such a wonderful alternative to fried breaded coconut shrimp!!

kristen and lindsey came over for dinner and i made this yummy shrimp and broccoli with onions. but, i just used olive oil, fresh garlic, lemon pepper and a bit of sea salt instead of the suggested spices. it was great!! for "dessert" i made these super easy microwave baked apples with blueberries. they were very good! but... i mean... who wouldn't rather have something full of butter or covered in chocolate?! i hope that someday i will choose baked apples over brownies because it's just what i want and not what i know i should do....

exercise!

kristen and i got our booties to the gym this morning and after a torturous ab workout we did sprints on the bike. 2 minutes warm.up then 10 sets of 30 seconds sprint and 1:00 easier (but not easy!). i did a pretty tough resistance and i was wiped afterwards!!

thanks for reading :)

xoxo

Thursday, February 25, 2010

emily's mini-book on everything you need to know about nutrition

i feel so lossstttt sometimesssss.....

concerning the afore-mentioned obsession with food & exercise blogs, magazines, etc.- i wish people would just make up their freakin' minds!! i feel like i have read so much conflicting health info over the years that my head could explode!!

even if i take out the extreme out-liers.... the crazy cabbage soup diets or quick weight loss pills... the reasonable-lifestyle looking stuff still bewilders me in it's inconsistency.

i.e.: should i eat 1. low-fat dairy 2. full-fat dairy 3. either of the previous in regular, organic, or just all-natural 4. stay away from dairy altogether

or.... should i lift: 1.very heavy weights few times 2. very light weight many times 3. medium weight some medium number of times 4. use my body weight

do you see what i mean?! (that is just a very small smattering of the confusing contradictions)

so... based on my extensive research, i have decided on the following, and i will call them
"emily's rules for being healthy and happy and hopefully looking hot in a bikini"

1. eat (mostly lower-fat) meat and veggies. i think this should form the base of your diet along with some eggs and good-for-you nuts.

2. fruit is delicious and nutritious. eat it. but, don't go overboard cause that yumminess packs calories along with the vitamins. when you eat it, it's probably best to stay away from melons and tropical fruit... that stuff will go straight to your (i want this to be flat and toned in that bikini) mid-section (some would say hips but, let's be honest... nothin' has ever gone to these hips... all my indiscretions sit right there in that lower belllyyy.... mmm....hot!)

3. don't eat processed junk. even if it says "healthy choice" there is always a better option.... let's preserve our bodies through our healthy decisions, not by pumping them with chemicals. eat fresh as much as possible.

4. cook. i know that this may seem burdensome at times but, its soooo worth it! i try to cook one or two big things on the week end to last for the week. make enough to freeze the leftovers then as you use your leftovers, you can add variety to your two-meal weeks.

5. experiment with spices. salt is not healthy. figure out ways to make things taste yummy with less of it. that being said, use sea-salt when using salt because it takes less to add the delish!

6. get moving!! move as much as possible. go to the gym 'cause all those other bikini-ready or not-so-bikini ready bodies will give you real motivation! the more i read, the more i think that lonnnnggg bouts of cardio are just not necessary. i like to combine moderate to quick-paced cardio with all out sprints. sprints will wear you out so fast!! also, don't be afraid to mix it up with a class. and, get outside whenever possible cause it's sooo much better!

7. lift heavy things (i took that from mark) again, i mix it up here. i appreciate the current cross-fit craze (and i think it will last because it seems to work). i think stuff that uses multiple muscle groups simultaneously just makes sense. it's a great way to get out of there quick And rev up the old metabolism. the goal is hot & toned all over, not, in my opinion, ridiculously huge biceps and chicken legs. i hate chicken legs. but, i digress.

8. when you treat yourself, make it good. mcdonalds is not worth it. a perfectly cooked filet mignon and a couple of bites of garlic mashed potatoes are.so.worth.it.

9. (i hate and do not abide by this rule but am going to say it cause i know it's right) don't.drink.soda. there i said it. but, i don't have to do it if i don't wanna. nanny nanny boo boo. also, caffeine in general should be used only in moderation.

10. don't be too hard on yourself. if you... for instance.... eat 500 calories of dark chocolate pretzel bark... you have not ruined your life. you will still fit into all of your clothes. your sig. other will still think you're hot. however, if you let that one slip in judgment allow you to make 10 more ("i've already blown it... might as well sit my fat ass down and watch tv and eat twinkies for.ever because i am always going to be fat") your sig. other may still think you're hot but your doctor will be angry and you will probably have to spend a lot more during the course of your life on prescription drugs, ever-larger clothes, etc. (also... you won't look good in a swimsuit, probably).

11. eat chocolate. it will make you happy. and, a healthy lifestyle is, in the end, about happiness for many, many years to come. (obviously when you are eating chocolate choose wisely and do so in moderation)

so, there you have it - the 11 things that i think are absolutes (or close to it) for a healthy life. and, while i haven't reached that "i feel so fit i am going to go running in just my bikini and tennis shoes today" place... i think some day i just might. (but, i promise... even if i feel good enough to do that, i won't actually do it cause... come on... that's just wrong)


Tuesday, February 23, 2010

sufficiency of grace

God's will will not put us in a place where God's grace is insufficient.

i just finished the most ri.dic.u.lous book on tape! i mean silly, silly, silly! but, in spite of that, i kept listening as the author was interviewed at the end and for my efforts i was rewarded with that little spiritual gem. the scary truth about life is that we don't know God's will for it. the completely awesome thing is that wherever His will leads us... He will be there. His grace is sufficient.

Monday, February 22, 2010

whole wheat milk?!

i am borderline obsessed with fitness and nutrition web.sites and blogs. i also love all things recipes. i have recently restarted my attempts at the paleo lifestyle (diet). cause, hey... i'm about to spend a week in paradise with the hottest guy i know. so, in case someone reads this some day i thought it might be helpful if i condensed some things i have learned into this one little space.

food i ate today:
scrambled eggs with roasted red & orange peppers, onions, & garlic
a banana

pesto chicken and vegetables... (thanks, tart reform)
w/ awesome homemade spaghetti sauce from mark's daily apple

lots of nuts and a bit of dried fruit

spaghetti squash (cut in half, microwave covered in a bit of water cut side down for 7 minutes each half; use a fork to pull out the strands & VOILA: squashy spaghetti yumminess! - i suggest doing whatever you can to get the moisture out of the "spaghetti")
w/ homemade sauce mentioned above
& roasted broccoli (oven - 450, mix broccoli pieces with a bit of olive oil & your favorite spices, cook for 20 minutes or so for yummy slightly crispy broccoli, nice with a splash of lemon juice at the end)

more water than I can count & 5 (yea....) diet cokes!!

workout (w/ Kristen, thank goodness!):

2 rounds:
400 meter run
15 lunges each leg
10 kettlebell swings
10 sumo squats with a kettlebell row
5 upside down pull-ups on the squat rack

and, then... the ab workout that my sweet fiance gave me:

40 sit.ups
40 crunches
40 side crunches each side
40 reverse crunches
40 leg lifts
50 flutter kicks
40 sit.ups

God love him

done&done


and, y not?

surely in everyone's life there is something worth blogging about.... right?

i'm not exactly sure the journey on which this blog will take me (and hopefully a few friends...) but, i do believe that it's worth a try. i'm at this time in my life where so many things are happening at once and it is wonderful and it is scary and it's flying by and it's never.ending and i don't want to take for granted a second or forget one blessing that i see during it all.

so... a little about me. for the next 96 days i will be emily grace fancypants (some names may have been changed to protect the innocent). after that... well, the first part will be the same... but, the ending will change forever. i will be married to my favorite person in the world! and, i couldn't be happier... and, a little part of me is a bit broken.hearted... because i love it here... the beach is my home and i will miss it so much... but, i wouldn't do a thing differently because i am so.in.love. and, therein lives the first great contradiction, of which there are many that make it hard to say how i am doing today...