Here She Comes...

My Mother -remember her, the third member of the conspiracy? - is coming to stay with us for a week. I'm bringing her home with me after kids group tonight. After weeks of constant complaints about us not spending enough time with her, she agreed to come here to visit. Now I know this won't stop her complaints because she has this need for us to visit her at her house... but its the best I can do right now.

These visits cause me a huge heap of STRESS! She expects to be catered to when she is here & will go hungry for hours rather than pour herself a bowl of cereal. And if I'm puttering around the house doing housework or whatever she gets upset because she can't "visit" with me. Can you imagine how she's going to react when I disappear for three (or more ) hours to hit the gym?
Those things are annoying, but the biggest stress comes from getting a true picture of her poor health. When she is at our house she does one of two things - sits in a chair trying to look at magazines (which she can barely do with her low vision) or sleeps. She has sleep apnea and is supposed to sleep with one of those breathing machines - she refuses to use it. Its obvious when you spend any real time with her that she has NO energy and is so physically weak that even walking a block is too much for her. Its sad and frustrating for me because I know she could be doing things to take better care of herself but - as I've talked about before - she doesn't think she's worth the effort.... which is where another chunk of the stress heap comes in...

Its like a healthy lifestyle pushes all of her buttons & she has a temper tantrum (for lack of a better term) - sometimes mini & sometimes full blown. I've taken her to the store & literally had her in tears for suggesting that chicken breasts might be a better option than ground beef. It used to be that I would do an "extra good job" of setting an example when she was here... which just lead to meltdown after meltdown. So lately I've been pretty laid back with my routine when she has stayed with us... BUT I CANNOT DO THAT THIS TIME... not for a whole week & not in the middle of this gym challenge. I just can't. So I can imagine the meltdowns are coming... and I don't feel like I can deal with that right now either... better to deal with that than another gain on the scale though.

The Husband and I were actually discussing this for quite awhile this morning and - hold the applause here lol - we agreed that the house will be business as usual for the duration of her visit. He of course was full things he'll say to her if she starts butting in - I so wonder what would happen if he ever actually said any of the things he comes up with. Anyway, that means my typical gym routine (on overdrive for the challenge), the healthiest meals possible (except for Saturday night dinner might be a splurge) and no unnecessary trips to stores. This is just the way it has to be... I cannot get derailed... especially after last week.

Is it bad that The Husband and I are taking bets on how long it will take her to come up with a reason to need to go to a store? Plus, we're taking bets on what she'll actually buy at the store if she gets in the door of one. I say Nacho Cheese Doritos. He says frozen pizza. I would agree on the pizza, but I'm betting she'll be suggesting we order it from somewhere before the week is over.

That's what happening here... what's going on in your world this week?

Safeway Loves Me, The Conspiracy & Convenience Food

They really do! Look at that beautiful grocery ad for the week! Chicken breasts are on sale & we are literally down to our last three pieces of chicken in the freezer... so its perfect timing. Honestly chicken is almost always on sale at one store another so that's not such a BIG deal. But, look right next to the chicken & see BLUEBERRIES. They are buy one get one free!!!!!! I am soooooo happy about this. Blueberries are my absolute favorite fruit, but they are just too expensive for me to buy fresh during the winter unless they are on sale. Needless to say, I haven't had any in a LONG time. Frozen ones just don't do it for me... so I wait patiently for the fresh and now it appears my wait is over! Yay!



This is what I took along to kids group for my dinner last night...





And, its what I was thinking of as my Mom was munching away on her Doritos. I packed it in one of those Fit & Fresh bowls I picked up at Ross a couple weeks ago. It worked out perfectly, other than the included spoon that kept wanting to fold, lol. Breakfast for Dinner... but until I get to the grocery store again its all about getting creative in this house.

Update on the alliance/conspiracy: To be crystal clear, I have NO (well almost no) interest in what my Mom and The Husband choose to eat as long as they don't push it on me. If they want to gorge themselves on cheeseburgers & pizza more power to em. Selfish perhaps, but my main concern is making sure I'm putting mostly healthy things in my body... cuz lets be real here, I still LOVE all of those indulgent foods... but I CHOOSE to limit them. And, naturally I want to help my son learn to eat a healthy diet... I'm pretty lucky there, as he is usually happier with an apple than candy.

The best way to manage the conspiracy: To go back to the basics of what I did to lose the first 45 pounds. Novel idea right? Do what was working and put it on repeat! That means healthy foods only in the house, unless I plan for an indulgence. Restaurants limited to 1-2 times a week. Being firm about my gym time & dietary needs. And perhaps most importantly, saying a big fat NOOOOOOOO!!!!! when the time calls for it.


I took the day off from the gym... and did this with the time...






I prepared some "convenience" food... which was desperately needed. Lettuce & celery chopped... waiting eagerly to be mixed with other ingredients for tasty salads. Measured Bare Naked Fit granola, almonds and chicken & beef jerky (high in sodium... but its a weakness that I allow for once in awhile). All of the bags are labeled with the amount, calorie & fat content...so I'm reminded of EXACTLY what I'm putting in my body when I reach for a bag. Taking the couple extra minutes to do that helps immensely as I go through the week. Often, I will mix and match with the bags to get the calories I'm allotting myself for a snack; so it makes it really easy to adapt to whatever I'm craving at any given time.

Random question: What kitchen appliance do you find the most helpful in your healthy lifestyle?

Forget the Alliance, Its a Conspiracy!

Let me just preface this by saying, I honestly do love my mom and The Husband (but geeeeezzzz)....

A conspiracy that many other husbands are apparently secret members of... and my Mother, of all people, seems to have joined up with them & The Scale! How could I say such a thing about my dear, sweet Mother??? This is how...

I pick her up on the way to kids group tonight. She needs to get her medicine at the pharmacy, but hasn't had dinner yet. She needs something to eat. So... drum roll please... she exits the pharmacy with a bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos! Sitting next to me in the car, she pops the bag open & I can immediately smell the chips. All the way across town, I hear "crunch, crunch, crunch" and "oooooo these are so good." But NSV for me, I resisted... wasn't even particularly tempted. Not sure if it was because I really had no interest or because I was so disgusted by the idea of calling that dinner. Either way, I'm so glad I didn't have any of them.

Keep in mind, this is far from the only incident such as this. It seems like every time I go there, she wants to get McDonalds or Burger King... and then gets offended when I refuse to go. Once in a while, I will plan my meals so we can do it... but she would have us doing it every week if she had her way. She's also the one that has to buy chips, crackers & cheese spreads nearly every time I take her grocery shopping... then complains she doesn't have enough money to buy chicken breasts or other lean proteins. Sometimes I think the stress she adds to my life is enough to qualify her as part of the conspiracy, lol.

For those of you that so sweetly suggested I talk to The Husband about his role in the alliance (now known as the conspiracy)... I attempted it this morning... and the basic response I got was "you know I eat really healthy now." OMG! Is he serious????

Another tidbit of "proof" of his membership in the conspiracy: he has started making comments about me not needing to lose very much more weight & how he doesn't like women who are too skinny... so verbal manipulation... and once again IS HE SERIOUS??? I still have a good amount of weight to lose, which I think is pretty obvious. Its gonna be a LONG time before I'm in danger of being TOO skinny. Really, I think its making him feel insecure or something?!?

Oh and let's not forget that he is the one that was eating my "convenience" food, leaving me in a lurch... though the basket has helped squash that part of his agenda.

I have some ideas for how I'm going to continue squashing his participation in the conspiracy... I'll share those tomorrow. In the meantime, I think this conspiracy needs a name. Any ideas?