let it out.

So much has been going on around here. I've been working on tweaking our budget (really we never had one), I've got a list of projects to do over the next 9 months, cleaning house, seeing friends, getting ready for a vacation we can't afford (can we EVER afford it?), what else... goodness there is a plethora of things on my mind these days. This is just SOME of it. :) LOL

I NEED to start strength training again. I was suppose to start it this last week... and that just didn't happen. So last night after getting all my chores done, my walk completed and the kiddo to bed, I knocked out 10 minutes of it. I only did 1 rep of each exercise, but I'll tell you what... i was feeling it GOOD. The exercises I'm doing I printed from a list of exercises from Babyfit.com that are safe for pregnancy. I didn't think there would be so many... and core ones too. I'm excited, just need to get THAT motivation. Isn't that always the key? Anyhow, I'm hoping to do strength training 3-4 days a week. I'm not going to push it. So I'll work up to 2 sets of reps. Nice and slow is key. I think the ankle weights during my walks... really are helping because I can't tell you how many days my legs HURT. :) LOL

Last week I finished 1 project from my list and I'm excited to start using it this week. Back in 2003-2005 I was using Ediets.com for my menus. If only I had exercised at the time... I probably would have lost much more weight than i did. I couldn't even tell you how much i did lose. It was that insignificant. But i also didn't weight over 160 either. I was still using it by the time my daughter was conceived I was pretty much eating vegetarian. I didn't miss meat, and when i did... I ate it. No biggie. And then while i was pregnant. MY GOODNESS!! I craved it and ate it... a lot. Amazingly, I didn't have the same issues I used to with it (too long a story to explain)... and still they have not come back. So i still eat it.
Anyhow, the point is... all the recipes and menu's I printed back then are vegetarian. They've been sitting in a binder needing to be combed thru. A lot of the recipes I didn't like... and I had more than 3/4 of it being doubles. So... this last week or so I spent my time cutting all the menu's apart and organizing them in the binder so that i only had 1 copy of each item. This week i can finally use it the way i always wanted. For menu planning. It's kinda a pain in some ways, only because the recipes are for 1. Which is good if it's something Hubby won't eat, bad if I want to make it for leftovers for us for another day. Just a lot of work really. BUT since it's all vegetarian all i have to do is substitute with chicken or turkey when Tofu and such is called for. I'd eat vegetarian again... but lets face it. I do love chicken and I'm really loving ground turkey. The recipes are even easier than others that i have because it's all stuff i already buy. VEGETABLES, FRUIT, etc... When i went shopping yesterday, i didn't have to buy anything abnormal. I LOVE it. IT does mean cooking more for lunch. But I can cook the night before and lunch will just be a re-heat. Lunch yesterday was soft taco's. HHHHMMMMM.... I ate lunch so late that by the time it was time for dinner... i wasn't hungry. So i just had a bowl of cereal after my walk... and then some cottage cheese and cantaloupe after my strength training routine, because this girl has got to make sure kiddo is getting nutrition. :)

I'm hoping this will help rein in my eating too AND get me relying less on comfort foods. My normal menu was just getting TOO boring, no ideas in this brain. Anyhow... before this kiddo is born I'll be going through all of my recipes that are sitting in a box. But I'm not tackling that anytime soon.

Our budget has changed DRASTICALLY. I have got to get us spending LESS money on things so that i can show hubby we don't NEED his 2nd job (although I'm afraid we do). He's really getting burnt out and stressed out about things and for him... this freaks me out. I'm afraid it'll make him want to use again. And with the second baby on the way, he's SUPER stressed. Plus, I didn't sign up for being a SAHM and him working 2 jobs. I'd rather have the 2nd job become something for "fun" money only and savings. Really, he works for a company who has already claimed bankruptcy and he's lucky if he gets 30 hours a week 1/2 the time, the other 1/2 he gets close to 40. So the 2nd job also supplements what's missing from the hours he no longer gets. But still. that would take 1 or 2 days a week... not the 3 or 4 he has been doing. I'm not used to shopping in a budget. I usually just use whatever is leftover after bills are paid for the week... but really, that's how a few bills always get paid late. So... I've got a few weeks lefts of this month for my learning curve and we go live next month. Thank goodness our vacation won't really come into play since it'll be this month we're trying to come up with all the money for it. I should say, HE is trying to come up with the money for it.

Trying to get my life organized and all my ducks in a row before this kiddo is born is my #1 priority... but it's still below staying healthy. When i wake up feeling bloated, I get afraid. But seeing the scale doing a down ward slide makes me feel better and makes me think... maybe I'm not so bloated as I feel... maybe it's just that hormone that makes you more flexible when you're preggers that is making me feel so achy in the mornings.

I feel like i eat all the time... and other times I feel like I don't eat enough. i do have to stay on keeping track... or I'm OVER board. :)

Here's to a great week.

Always,
Jules