First Friday

— 1 —

So its back to blogging after quite some time. I'm glad to be back to documenting my course to a healthier me and the faith journey along the way. And yes, it is quite a challenging faith journey with lots of ups and downs...more to come on this in the coming weeks. 

— 2 —

I'm going to an Epiphany party tonight for work and I'm definitely nervous that I'm going to eat everything in site. I have been trying to eat healthy with the new year (I know that sounds cliche, but I'm doing it "for real" this time). One of the things I'm trying to do is not eat a ton of carbs at night. I have healthy portions of good carbs (oats, brown rice, or sweet potatoes) during the day and try, yes TRY to curb my carbs at night. However, I am also very weak when it comes to tasty party finger foods. I could seriously eat the entire tray of most party foods. So...say a prayer for me...I will let you know how it goes. 

— 3 —

My inspiration for this weekend...

"Complete abstinence is better than perfect moderation." ~St. Augustine

St. Augustine, please pray for me tonight & this weekend! Help me to eat healthy and stay the course!

— 4 —

Weekends...

Speaking of weekends, they are my new nemesis. The last two weeks of weekdays have gone pretty well for the most part. The workouts have been difficult courtesy of Billy Moritz, but are going well. However, the weekends are when I think calories don't exist. Weekends, I tend to relax and try to get away from the stresses of everyday life, however, relaxing for me usually involves carb-rich, flavorful meals and good wine...both things I am trying to skip these days. I have moved a cardio day to Saturdays which helps keep me focused and gives me a break during the week, so that has helped with Saturday. Sundays are still tricky. I usually spend most of my Sundays at work running around all day and eating junk  food with the teens....Oh Lord, help me to stay focused on you this weekend. 

— 5 —

At the gym

A very cute and darling older gentleman was wearing the small shoes as me at the gym this morning. No, he was not wearing women's shoes. In fact, I was wearing men's shoes. I have large wide feet for a girl and yes it was a comical and funny moment. It definitely lighten the intensity of my many rounds of reps this morning. 

— 6 —

New recipe this week....I'm excited

Chilled Vegetable Salad (courtesy of Myrecipes.com) 

• 1 cup sugar (will probably substitute succanut or splenda)
• 3/4 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil $
• 1 medium-size green bell pepper, chopped $
• 1 medium onion, chopped $
• 3 celery ribs, sliced $
• 1 (7-ounce) jar diced pimiento, undrained
• 1 (15 1/4-ounce) can small sweet green peas, drained$
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can French-cut green beans, drained$
• 1 (11-ounce) can white shoepeg corn, drained $
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Preparation

1. Bring first 3 ingredients to a boil in small saucepan over medium heat; cook, stirring often, 5 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Remove dressing from heat, and cool 30 minutes.
2. Stir together chopped bell pepper and next 8 ingredients in a large bowl; gently stir in dressing. Cover and chill salad for 8 hours. Serve with a slotted spoon.
3. NOTE: Salad may be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for several days.

— 7 —

Something yummy to warm up my afternoon @ Dilworth Coffee Shop in Matthews, NC

Enjoying a skinny Toffee-Nut Latte. I sure did need it on this cold & gloomy day in Charlotte.