Wednesday Waste

Before we get into Wednesday Waste, first I would like to talk about yesterday’s post.

I know there are a lot of Women and Men out there that struggle with body image, including myself. I’m not going to lie and act like that picture didn’t make me very anxious. Actually, I tossed and turned all night in my sleep wondering if I should include it in my post.

This is how Psychology Today defines body image…

Body image is the mental representation we create of what we think we look like; it may or may not bear a close relation to how others actually see us. That is, it is subject to all kinds of distortion from internal elements like our emotions, moods, early experiences, attitudes of our parents, and much more. Nevertheless, it strongly influences behavior. Preoccupation with and distortions of body image are widespread among American women (and, to a lesser extent, among males), but they are driving forces in eating disorders, feeding severe anxiety that can be assuaged only by dieting.

I ultimately left the picture in. As much as I didn’t want to because of my own fears, it just felt like the right thing to do. The extra 15 – 20 lbs I’m carrying right now does not define who I am.

Maybe someone out there needed to see and hear that too.

I’ll tell you that when the Zman saw the picture, he said “that doesn’t even look like you” (I do love that Man). There is your proof. He sees me for me. He doesn’t see the extra weight, he sees me. I am the luckiest woman in the world!

Body image… well lets all just try to let it go. We can strive for healthy and happy. Eat good food, do some fun exercise and forget about the number on the scale or the size of our clothes.

Let’s make that our goal. Cool?

OK, now on to Wednesday Waste….

I read that the average household waste comes to about $1,500.00 every year. Can you imagine it??? $1,500.00 That’s a chunk of change! I despise waste. There is no worse expense than buying something and then throwing it in the trash. But, sometimes it does happen. So, I’m going to put myself out on a limb (just for you) and share with you what I have wasted, what I’m throwing away. Hopefully it will be little if nothing at all. HOPEFULLY!

Take a look in the back of your fridge, and in the veggie drawer. What do you have in there that needs to be used before it goes bad. Do you have veggies that look like they need viagra? Turn them into soup. Do you have a loaf of bread that’s on the edge? Cut it into cubes, sprinkle with olive oil and any seasoning you like and toast them in a low temp oven until they are crisp. There you go… you just made croutons. Croutons that are better than any store brand, and you didn’t waste food.

This is what I had to toss this week

I had to toss out about a cup of yogurt because the expiration date slipped by me. I also tossed about 2 cups of chicken chili that got pushed to the back of the fridge and forgotten about.

I would love to know how you did this week too?

Y’all take care!

Lori

Monday Money

Every Monday I’d like to take a minute and think about Money. What I mean by that is, I would like us to take a minute and think about how we can save a bit of money this week. That’s my goal “TO SAVE A BIT OF MONEY”

Perhaps it will be that you are taking your lunch to work today. Or if you’ve already had lunch, then maybe you will plan to take your lunch to work with you later in the week. Maybe you had a big weekend and spent a little too much money, and now it’s time to hunker down and cook dinners at home all week. Maybe things are very tight and you’re wondering how you’re going to make it to the next payday.

I want you to know that I UNDERSTAND HOW YOU’RE FEELING! I have been there, and if I’m going to be honest, sometimes I’m still there.

No, I am not a financial advisor, I do not have ANY diplomas that give me any great knowledge into finances. I am simply someone who has been in all of those tight spots that I mentioned and would like to share with you what I’ve learned along the way. I am not a millionaire and I don’t have any books published about money. I am NOT an expert. I’m someone who has read those books. I am someone who went from worse than being broke to doing ok. And, if what I went through and learned from can help anyone else, then I’m cool with that.

We’ll take this subject and break it down into steps. We’ll take one step every Monday. Cool?

The first step on the first Money Monday is “Take a minute and think about Money today” I truly believe that this is the first step in changing things. Or, maybe things are GREAT right now, and you don’t have to worry about money. AWESOME! But, give it some thought. How much money do you have in your checking account right now. Have you added up all the check card swipes from the weekend? Have you balanced your checkbook today, this weekend, this week, this month??? Let’s start there. Take a minute today and show yourself just how much money you have right now.

That’s it, that’s the only step we are going to take today. But don’t just say… hhhmmm, oh I have about $$$ right now. I want you to actually run the numbers and get it to the penny of how much you have. That’s the entire point. To know exactly. You need to know exactly.

I know, Mondays are hard enough, right? But, we got to start somewhere.

Oh, one other thing OK? Now make a list of the things you’re going to cook for dinner this week and lunches your going to pack, and skip the grocery store and the take out, because I’ll bet you already have stuff at home. Give it some real thought…. Sure, it might not be typical dinners and lunches, but it’s food. Food that will save you money, and that always taste good.

The pic at the top of the page is my binder of recipes. If I make or find a recipe I like, I print it, put it into a sheet protector (important for me as I tend to make a mess) and into the binder it goes. The two pics just above are of my meal planner binder. I keep them in a binder so I can refer to it when I’m stuck for ideas on what to cook. These two things make my life much easier when it comes to dinner time. The weekly meal planner is just a simple form I found on-line.

If you need some ideas or want to share what crazy meals you came up with and liked or didn’t like, we would love to hear about it.

Y’all take care.

Lori

It’s A Process…

It’s Friday, It’s Friday!!! Yea Yea, Yea Yea!! Yes, I am actually sitting here typing into words exactly the song that is coming out of my mouth. OK, so it’s a song only in my head, but still, it’s fun. I know you know it’s Friday, but go ahead and sing it with me. It’s Friday, It’s Friday!! Yea Yea, Yea Yea!! OK, I’ll stop.

I was thinking this morning about the process of quitting something, something like cigarettes, or cola, or biting your nails. (Notice I didn’t mention wine. Ha, Never!) The process of quitting isn’t actually ever really quitting. What we do is stop for today and hope that we are able to continue that into tomorrow, and the next day, and the next… We never really quit, because it’s a constant choice of what we choose to do. So, while I joke about Zman and me stopping smoking, believe me I know it is a big deal. It isn’t easy by any means. Cigarettes have been our friends for many years. They were always there for us, during the fun times, during the hard times, when ever we needed them they were right there just waiting for us. Always there, always loyal. It is very much like losing a friend, and it’s hard. Actually It sucks! (pardon the pun)

Zman has stopped cold turkey, and I have used the Nicoderm patch. We have growled at each other, dodged the threat of croutons being thrown at each other, and for about 2 weeks almost every meal I cooked ended up in the garbage and we ate sandwiches, salads and cereal. While I didn’t smoke in the house, I timed my cooking by my smoking. Pop something in the oven, go outside and have a smoke. So, yes it’s been hard and we are still keenly aware that we are in the early stages of stopping. But, that’s my point… we have stopped today, and pray to continue that tomorrow.

I am not a Doctor and I don’t play one on tv, but If you have any questions about stopping smoking, leave a comment and I’ll share my experiences with you. And, if you want to stop too, I’ll cheer you on and support you all the way, just like many of my dear friends have done for me.

I hope you have a Fun Friday and a lovely weekend!

P.S. Tonight is homemade pizza and beer night for me and Zman! 🙂

Y’all take care!

Lori

Easing Into It…

I told you yesterday that Zman and I were going to begin our in home workout program. Now, I can’t yet share with you the name of the program, but I will tell you that it is an intense 25 minute workout. The great news is that Zman and I made it through the entire 25 minutes…. watching it while we had dinner! However, I also need to share with you that even Zman said he felt a little tight afterwards and probably should have stretched a bit before watching the full 25 minute video. We all know you have to be careful starting any work out program. E-A-S-E into it… Sretch, breathe, chew, sip of wine, and e-a-s-e into it. We’ll see how tomorrow’s work out goes.

On another note, we got some pretty nice responses from our first blog post, and I can’t tell you how precious that is for us. Thank you for your support and kindness. You are loved!

And, this just in… the laptop that I planned to do my post on is a P.O.S. So it will be going to the Dr. tomorrow in hopes it can pull through, if not we may be shopping soon. (Keep it between me and you, Zman doesn’t know that yet…. ) Should the P.O.S. not make it, I would be interested in your thoughts of new laptops or tablets. What do you use and love?

Oh, and yes Zman and I made it through another day of being smoke free without bodily harm. We are doing good. No it is not without the occasional surge of emotional outburst of four letter words, but we have learned to laugh at each other over it. Realizing that it is some kind of out of body experience that you have little control over, as his head spins around and you’re fully expecting the Man you love to spew pea soup all over you! Just sayin. And then we laugh… Easing into day 30 today!

Y’all take care!

Lori