Can I be Fat AND Healthy?

The other day I saw a post on Facebook from a friend telling a cute story about her young daughter using the word "fat". My friend let her daughter know that the word "fat" isn't very nice and she should use the term "unhealthy". There was more to the story, and it was actually very cute, but the more I got to thinking about it, it actually started to bother me. I'm fat. Maybe that's not the PC term, and I'm sure I'm damaging some young girls' self esteem by making that remark, but let's be real here. I have excess amounts of fat cells around my entire body. I am fat. I'm also happy, creative, smart, witty, loved, and more importantly....healthy. I'm glad there are parents out there letting their children know that some comments are not appropriate, but to tell a child that fat = unhealthy drives me insane! Regardless of what society tells us, fat does not equal unhealthy, just as skinny does not equal healthy. Your blood pressure does not care what size your jeans are.

I am not saying we should be promoting obesity, or celebrating it. And all 222 lbs of me knows that I need to weigh less in order to maintain my long term health and my current weight is not ideal. But this fat girl has excellent blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol. My oxygen efficiency is in the mid-athletic range. I run. I do strength training. I do cardio.

A good day at the gym looks like this for me:

And even the average day at the gym looks like this: 

And even a bad day at the gym looks like this: 

And every morning before 7 am, I get in at least 30 minutes of cardio. 

And my diet is amazing. I probably eat more vegetables in one day than most people do in a week. And I probably eat less refined grains in a week than most people do in a day. Processed foods are nearly absent from my diet. Instead, we eat whole foods, rich in vitamins and nutrients, focusing on seasonal and locally produced items, many of which come from our backyard.

My lunch from one day last week. Leftovers from the night before-Pork chop, asparagus and brussel sprouts. 

Part of my dinner from the other night...veggie kabobs on the grill

And I still get in my desserts because I love chocolate.

Chocolate, peanut butter "Ice cream" made from frozen bananas, peanut butter and cocoa. 

And I do all of it looking like this.

And to give some perspective, here's me 12 lbs heavier. Photos on the left are the "before". Photos on the right are 4 months later. I'm less fat now that I was before, but still healthy in both pictures.

Family Fun Night at Victory Field

Earlier this week, Indiana's Family of Farmers gave several Indy area bloggers the opportunity to attend an Indy Indians game.

 I originally got the tickets to take the kids, but in true teen/tween fashion, they all managed to come up with things they would rather do than spend the evening with us boring parents. No worries on our part....we decided to call up my dad, step mom, "sister" and her boyfriend. 

IFOF covered our food and drinks at the Coors Light pavilion. I have to say, I think we had more fun having an adult family night than we would have had with the kids! It was a great way to spend an evening together without anyone buried in their phone (with the exception of our picture taking, of course! )

What to do while you wait

Yesterday and today, I've spent a lot of time waiting in a hospital. And let me tell you, waiting sucks. But when you have lots of time on your hands, a computer, and internet, you can get caught up on things that have fallen through the cracks-like blogging.
So what's been going on lately? I had a bit of a surprise last week. I made cupcakes for someone to take in to their office for Halloween. What they didn't tell me, was that the "Halloween Pitch In" was actually a baking contest. I won. Crazy, right? I made chocolate maple cupcakes with chocolate maple frosting. For the decorations, I used candy melts and a piping bag to write "Boo" and make spiders. I also pulled out some skull molds and made candy skulls. Here were some of my early attempts:

I finally came up with these:

I guess they were a big hit! And here's the kicker-I can't stand maple. And I mean maple anything-syrup, candy, flavoring, etc. Making those cupcakes about made me gag, so I obviously didn't taste them. Come to think of it, that would actually be a good diet plan. Maybe I should only make sweets I don't like! I'm sure there will be more to come later as the waiting continues!

Even during the heat wave and drought...

We have managed to keep the garden green and growing! Today, we picked tomatoes, potatoes, purple beans, cucumbers and a random pumpkin!

Easter 2012

We tried something new this year. We used KoolAde to dye our eggs. I wasn't sure how it would turn out, but they were actually really bright!

The girls had a blast finding eggs!

And I made there baskets by gluing together boxes of candy. I filled their "baskets" with hair ties, candy, make up, and "carrots" of goldfish crackers stuffed in a piping bag.

Make sure to visit the fantastic blog parties on my sidebar, and of course, link up all your made from scratch recipes on my Tuesday linky-Made From Scratch Tuesday!

ScratchTruck and GroovyGuysFries: Indy Food Truck Experiences

Yay for Indiana weather! Actually, I'm serious this time. We're in the middle of an Indian Summer of sorts. That basically means we've had a frost, but temps are back up in the 70's and even approaching 80's. That will be great this weekend we go to Anderson's Orchards and pick out our pumpkins and do a little apple picking.

But the part that's been the best this week has been the food trucks! Since the weather has been cooperating, I'm loving the walks outside to get to these guys! I try not to eat out for lunch very often, and usually do pretty good about bringing my lunch. But this week, I've been a slacker. I've eaten out twice this week. But in my defense, I bought my food from food trucks. So that means I'm supporting local business and it's good for the economy, right? Well, that's my rationale and I'm sticking to it.   :)

Anyway, the first of the week brought Groovy Guys Fries.

I really wish I had a pic of the Steak n Cheese fries, but I was hungry! Picture a mound of fresh fries topped with thin sliced steak and melted cheese! Like a deconstructed philly cheese steak. Their menu also includes sweet potato fries!!! You definitely need to check them out and try some of the fantastic fries!

Next stop this week was Scratch Truck

Scratch is comfort food with a trendy twist. Let me tell you about the grilled cheese...

This is nothing like that wonder bread/cheese food product stuff you at with your tomato soup as a kid. This is munster and colby jack cheese (not cheese food product), red wine braised short ribs, caramelized onions and arugula, all toasted up into a gooey, melty, savory piece of heaven....with fries.

These folks are living my dream, whipping up classics with a gourmet twist on the go. Maybe one of these days I'll have my own truck, selling an eclectic variety from pumpkin flavored marshmallows to duck stuffed mushrooms. But for now, I'm glad Indy has a great variety for me to choose from!


 Make sure to visit the fantastic blog parties on my sidebar, and of course, link up all your made from scratch recipes on my Tuesday linky-Made From Scratch Tuesday!

State Fair 2011

Thanks to the great folks at Indiana Soybean Alliance, the husband and I spent some time at the Indiana State Fair this week. We started the day off with breakfast thanks to IN Dairy. Then we spent some time checking out everything in the Our Land Pavilion. For those who are outside of Indiana, it's basically a central gathering of Indiana commodities and resources. Have gardening questions? The Purdue Master Gardeners are on hand to help you out. Interested in some Indiana duck, diary, or wine? Yep, they're all there too. Maybe you want to know about Indiana environmental management or conservation. They're on hand to tell you all you want to know.

In the Pavilion, we got to try out some foods fried in Plenish. What's Plenish?

"...a Pioneer® brand soybean with a healthier oil profile and increased oil stability. Plenish™ high oleic soybean oil has 0g trans fat, less saturated fat and the highest amount of heart-healthy monounsaturated fat available in soy. "

Speaking of soy...it's the Year of the Soybean at the Indiana State Fair! No trip to the fair would be complete without a Bennie the Bean spotting!

While making our way through the fair, I saw the most amazing sign....Fried Cookie Dough. Isn't that the best part of fairs? Random foods, deep fried into ooey, gooey goodness?

Next came lunch, thanks to Indiana Pork, Dairy, and Beef. To finish off the afternoon, some of the great ladies over at Real Farmwives of America gave some great tours of the livestock barns. We had a great day hanging out with some fellow Indiana bloggers and exploring the Indiana State Fair!

Make sure to visit the fantastic blog parties on my sidebar, and of course, link up all your made from scratch recipes on my Tuesday linky-Made From Scratch Tuesday!

Crazy Dog Update

I introduced you to my crazy dog a few weeks ago. I received several emails asking for updates on the situation, so here goes!

We had a dog trainer come out. Not much help. She did recommend we take her to obedience classes to get her more socialized and understand there's more to the world than me. Classes started July 5.

We had a canine behavioral therapist come out. I know what you're thinking....it's no wonder the dog is nuts, look at the owners! I know. I was a little leery at first too. But I have to say, she did great. Here's some of the things we're working on:

1. Crate time when we're home. Basically, she's in her crate for varying amounts of time, while we're home. We started out in seconds, now we're up to 30 minutes. If she's quiet at the end of the set time, she gets a treat (cut up hot dog) and we let her out.

2. Training and interaction with the husband while I'm home and leaving. He works with her on new tricks, keeping her focused on him while I'm in the kitchen, cleaning, and walking out the door. The goal is to keep her focused on him and learning, and ignore me walking out the door. We're not to the point where I can walk out the door without her running to me, but we're making progress.And she's learning new tricks, like dancing (she's almost 6 feet tall when standing on her back legs, so that's fun to watch!) and retrieving specific items.

3. Thundershirt. What's a thundershirt? It's basically a hug without the body. It wraps around the abdomen and velcros together, providing light pressure around the body. I have to say, I didn't think this would really work. So I put it to the test on July 2. There was a fireworks show right down the street from us. In years past, we've had to sedate her when there was a fireworks show nearby. But with the medication she's on, that was not an option this year. We put the shirt on her before the fireworks started.

During the fireworks, she actually laid on the couch, completely uninterested in all the loud noises. But then I started to wonder if it was the drugs or the shirt. So we took the shirt off. She immediately started pacing. Put the shirt back on, and she laid down.

While she's not exactly "cured" (and we know we'll deal with this all of her life), we've not had any more blanket fatalities or injuries. Thanks to everyone for all your comments/suggestions!



Make sure to visit the fantastic blog parties on my sidebar, and of course, link up all your made from scratch recipes on my Tuesday linky-Made From Scratch Tuesday!

Confessions of a Closet Couponer

 Everyone's heard about the TLC show "Extreme Couponing", and while I'm no where near that stage, I think I may have a problem.

I had to add storage to my kitchen today. Everything you see on that shelf was tucked in every nook and cranny I could find in the kitchen. And sadly, that's just the pasta and cereal. And I still have pasta and cereal in the cabinets. That may look like enough cereal to last a couple of years, but with 6 of us eating cereal almost daily, it's really only a couple of months worth.

 Am I crazy? OCD? Maybe. But I prefer to call it "Smart Couponing". Check out my receipt from today:

 I spent $44.51. Between store sales and coupons, I saved $38.89. That's nearly 47%. Unlike the people on Extreme Couponing, we didn't get 846 bottles of ketchup and 490 boxes of laxatives. We bought chicken, beef, pork, coffeemate, juice, fresh fruit, and cereal and pasta. These are all items we'll need for the upcoming week or two. Well, except maybe the cereal and pasta, but they were good deals! And I didn't use more than 2 of the same coupons.

Is there anything wrong with creating stockpiles of thousands of items? To each his own. Just remember to leave some on the shelves for the rest of us! 

Make sure to visit the fantastic blog parties on my sidebar, and of course, link up all your made from scratch recipes on my Tuesday linky-Made From Scratch Tuesday!

Help! Please!

 I have a great dog. Her name is Gypsy and she's a black lab. She's my baby and knows it. The problem is, she has a little bit of separation anxiety.

She managed to do that from her cage....across the room. Yes, she moved her cage across the room, brought the blanket into her cage and destroyed it. That's the second blanket this week. We've yet to find a cage that can hold her.

Oh, it gets better....she's medicated too. Yes, this is ON medication. Without medication, we end up in surgery because she does things like rip the pad off her paw. After bringing in a behavioral therapist, we decided to try some new activities with her, hoping she'll realize there's more to the world than me. We have a pool out back which she plays in daily, but we decided to try out some different water. We took her to a local park and down to the creek. She had a blast, once she finally got in the water! Thankfully, there were a lot of kids down there for her to play with, and of course her favorite playmate...daddy!

 Since the dog got to play outside, it only seemed fair to let the kitty go for a walk as well!

We've tried all the usual things to kick the anxiety, but if anyone knows any secrets, please let me know!!!!!




Make sure to visit the fantastic blog parties on my sidebar, and of course, link up all your made from scratch recipes on my Tuesday linky-Made From Scratch Tuesday!

Will Blog for Buttah

Dear Blog,

I apologize for neglecting you. If it weren't for bloggerdroid, I'd probably never get half my posts up. But Bloggerdroid isn't perfect; sometimes you end up with a gravity-defying glass of wine. Sometimes only the real blogger will do. 

Most of my online time has been spent couponing and preparing for shipping trips. Now, I'm not going to be an "Extreme Couponer", but I did score some free pasta at Kroger last week! I'm sure you're all well aware of my upcoming trip to Savannah. What you may not know is the less than shoestring budget I have. The original purpose of this last minute trip was to relax on the beach. And when we planned this (last Wednesday), we were planning on going in late June. But, it wasn't meant to be that way and now we're forced to go in less than 2 weeks! Keeping all that in mind, can you really go to Savannah without eating at The Lady and Sons? Ummm NO! Hence, my three hour coupon session to afford said meal and lack of time to blog.

That got me thinking...what else can we do to experience more of Savannah? I'm not sure how your mind works, but in our minds, if you going to the beach, that means seafood! Now we have to add Uncle Bubba's to the list.

Ok, now we have our restaurant selection going. next up...drinks! Savannah is said to be one of the most haunted cities in America so it seems appropriate to have a haunted brewery. Ok, haunted brewery tour-add that to the agenda! Ooooh! And the Distinctly Disturbing Tours!

In the land of plunder and paradise, of course we have to add The Pirate's House to the list! Here's some info I found on them "Since 1753, The Pirate's House has been welcoming visitors to Savannah...The Pirate's House first opened as an inn for seafarers, and fast became a rendezvous for blood-thirsty pirates and sailors from the Seven Seas. Here seamen drank their grog and discoursed, sailor fashion, on their exotic high seas adventures from Singapore to Bombay and from London to Port Said."

Beyond the food and drink, there are so many historical things we want to see and do. This girls getaway is getting expensive! We haven't even made it to the beach yet!

Yeah…we’re going to do all the touristy things—just with some creative financing beforehand!

Make sure to visit the fantastic blog parties on my sidebar, and of course, link up all your made from scratch recipes on my Tuesday linky-Made From Scratch Tuesday!