Ashely’s 23rd Psalm

I am doing T.W. Hunt’s Disciple’s Prayer Life study. Today’s exercise was to think about the way you relate to God and write a personal 23rd Psalm, expressing your own individuality to God in prayer.

In 2006, I started competing in long distance running and have completed one marathon and a few half marathons. Most long distance races have pacesetters who run with balloons or flags to identify the pace they are keeping. Their job is to help a runner stay on pace so that they can meet a personal time goal.

I thought of my relationship with God being like a runner to a pacesetter. Here is Ashely’s 23rd Psalm:

The Lord is my Pacesetter;
I shall follow His lead.

He trains me in His ways;
He goes out in front of me.
He keeps my pace in His perfect timing;
He encourages me in the pursuit of holiness for the sake of His glory.

Yes, though I may grow tired and weary,
I will triumph over the enemy; for My Advocate is with me;
Your Spirit and Your Training Manual, they nourish me.

You prepare a route before me in the presence of my competitors;
You anoint my body with energy;
My endurance comes from You!

Surely strength and excellence will follow me all the miles of my life
And I shall finish the race and celebrate the victory with my Pacesetter forever!

A Mother's Love

Pen Reyn and Dawnie B ran down Pauly D and The Situation and held them hostage at the candy shop so that their daughters could get their photo with their favorite trash reality show stars.

Is it just me or are the boys wearing matching jeans? Like, I'm one to talk, huh Lori and Karen?

Cube Before & After

This is what I did today while waiting on my computer loaner.

Cube before (please note that this is not my actual cube because I forgot to take a picture, but it gives you a general idea):


Cube after (so pre-tay) (please note that this idea was not an original. Some other girls in my office had done this so I followed suit):

My loaner arrived and I'm working off webmail. Not fun.

Worker's Comp

I had an accident at work today.

New To Me Blog

While we wait on my computer to get back from the clinic, please enjoy this new to me blog!

Unprotected E-mail

My computer is sick. It has been having unprotected e-mail with my boss and now, we have the blue screen of death.

I'm having a hard time getting work done today between the blue screen of death followed by restart cycle that keeps happening every half hour. So, needless to say, getting my Savannah weekend blog up and running is going to be delayed.

Hopefully, my computer will be cured soon. Please stay tuned.

Slacker

I haven't taken any pictures thus far today because I haven't felt like it. AND, I've been a big ol' cheat who hasn't wanted to fess up.

Breakfast was Starbuck's with Jaime. I had a piece of lemon pound cake and a SF Vanilla Latte.

Lunch was Chili's. I had a triple play - chicken fingers and southwestern egg rolls. Saved the mini burger bites for tomorrow's lunch.

Going out to sushi for Mark Pace's birthday tonight.

Yea. It's been a cheat kinda day. Blame it on the rain.

The Food-oto Montage

Hey everybody!

Sorry for the lack of blogging, but yours truly has been a bit snotty lately. Instead of trying to recap the past five days for you in detail, I'm going to present what I've dubbed THE FOOD-OTO MONTAGE (ooooo....aaaahhhhhh).

Saturday 8 am: Group 4M run at Shelley Lake. Proof of my feelings afterward.


Saturday 9:30ish am: Don't know what it is, but after my Saturday am long runs, I crave eggs! That's all I want. So, I scrambled up some with a little salsa and cheese plus a side of fruit.

Saturday 1:00 pm: After scarfing down my eggs, I met up over at my friend Emily's to help her unpack after moving to her new diggs. Of course, she supplied sustance for those of us who helped. Hungry Howie's!

My plate. Their garlic bread and flavored crust is to die for! Not pictured: second slice of pizza.

Saturday 9:00 pm: After watching UNC suffer a heartbreaking loss to GT, I went in to work to take care of some personal projects that I had been putting off and also ran a few errands. Next thing I knew, it was going on 9:00 and he was calling my name. Such the Casanova that Mr. Bojangles.

Sunday 12:30 pm: What I've failed to mention is that thru the day Saturday, Mama started to feel a little rough. I woke up Sunday am with a cold that was hitting me hard. I played it easy at lunch with a bowl of soup (plus I knew I had plans for the night).

Sunday 5:00 pm: Plans of Mexican food! I LURVE MEXICAN FOOD! Yummy fajitas are pictured. I ate half and took the rest home.

Monday 12:00 pm: Cold was still threatening. Decided to take the day off from running and ate lunch at my DEP in the atrium. Chicken noodle soup with saltines and a side of fruit.

Monday pm and Tuesday am: Not pictured. I had leftover fajitas for dinner on Monday and I don't think I ate anything on Tuesday. I haven't had much of an appetite.

Tuesday 12:00 pm: Heather met me for a 3.5M run (which was actually 3.9M in 46 minutes). It was GEE-OR-GEE-OUS outside! However, I'm not sure I should have run with the cold thing going on. I've heard if you're sick from the shoulders up, you can workout. And, if you're sick from the shoulders down, you should rest. So, I ran, but I did get goosebumps and chills from my sweat and it was um, in the 60s outside. But, I'm glad Heather came because it felt good to get the run in and she pushed me to plow through the congestion!

Proof.

Tuesday 1:15 pm: DEP issue. So, I'm doing my runs during lunch because that's what works with my schedule. But, I can't do that and get back in time to eat lunch at my DEP without taking like a two hour lunch. I'm going to have to figure out what to do here. However, I've noticed I've been eating slower at my desk because I'm working whereas if I don't have a distraction, I scarf the food down. Maybe I'm messed up? Cuz I think the point of the DEP is because you mindlessly eat. IDK. Whatch ya'll think?

The cold usual.

Tuesday 3:30 pm: Need to get that Vitamin C to boost the immune system. Do note the big box of tissues. Yummy!

Vitamin C in edible form.

Tuesday 7:00 pm: About 6:30, the weirdest thing happened. I got a craving for an original chicken sandwich from Burger King. Yea. I think I eat these once a year.

Craving satisfied. Wasn't all that great.

Food-oto Montage - THE END!

*I didn't take any pictures on Wednesday. Sorry ya'll!

Bank Shot of the Week

My youngest sister Mary Caitlin was featured on WWAY Channel 3's Coaches Corner.

When you go to the link, it has several parts.
Go to Part 2.
MC's shot is at 4:30.

http://www.wwaytv3.com/vp/20364/coachs_corner_011710

This Week I'm Going To (week of January 18)

Last night, I spent about two hours or so reading The Biggest Loser Simple Swaps: 100 Easy Changes to Start Living a Healthier Lifestyle. There were some pretty simple tips in there of things you could do to start being healthier. In reality, trying to incorporate all of these simple tips at once will be rather overwhelming. So, I have decided to start compiling a list of healthy habits to incorporate into my life and each week, I’ll focus on one new habit. Gradually, all of these habits will build on each other and (fingers crossed!), I’ll be on my way to a healthier lifestyle.

This week’s habit change is coming from the Fit Bottomed Girls’ 12 Tips for Permanent & Healthy Weight-Loss. Tip #10 is:

…pick a “Designated Eating Place” (“DEP” for short) and restrict your eating to this location. If you trade carrots for cookies when you’re sitting on the couch watching TV, you haven’t changed your behavior, you’ve only changed what you eat while watching TV. Such mindless eating is more often a reaction to boredom than hunger. Enjoy the foods you love at your DEP. You’ll be surprised by how much unnecessary munching you will cut out.

At home, my DEP is the kitchen table. At work, my DEP is either a table on our bridge or a table downstairs in the atrium. We have an area called ‘town hall’ that has tables, but there are TVs there. I think I’m going to stick to non-TV areas.

I think the biggest challenge as far as a sticking to a DEP is concerned will be at work. I have a bad habit of doing other things during lunch (such as running) and then going back to my desk to eat and work at the same time. Also, I’ll mindlessly munch on candy and snacks throughout the day when I’m in boring meetings so I think making myself eat in only one location will help with that.

At home, I always eat at the table. I’m not big on sitting on the couch and watching TV while eating. I think it’s because I like for things to be orderly and clean and I don’t want a hot mess on my couch. But, I do like to snack out of the bag later at night so I think making myself sit down at the table to snack will help curb that as well.

Wish me luck!

Do you have a DEP?

FYI: I’m fighting a cold right now (hence why I was reading for two hours yesterday), so I’m delayed on posting my food diary entries from the weekend. It might not happen today. My boss has already asked me about going home. But, please do pray that this cold gets better! I’m going on a mission trip to Savannah this weekend and I want to be in top shape!

Chili Cook Off

Today’s thought process:

Work smells like chili (9:31 am)

That chili is making me hungry (10:55 am)

Really hungry (11:37 am)

Wait! Before we talk chili, let’s cover last night’s din din.

Lean Cuisine. I can NEVER eat them in the little black container. Just doesn’t seem real to me. I ALWAYS move the LC to a new bowl.

After dinner, I did my first day of my new bible study, Disciple's Prayer Life: Walking in Fellowship with God by TW Hunt. I feel like God’s getting ready to teach me and help me grow over the next 13 weeks and I can’t wait!

John and Karen came home and we watched two hours of The Jersey Shore or crack as I call it. John brought over some BoBo* Nutty Buddies and I had one. It was such a good treat!

So, this morning, I overslept a bit (are we seeing a pattern here?) and didn’t make anything for breakfast. I did do Day two of my bible study since I prefer to do it in the mornings. Once I got to work, I had a Fiber One bar.

At lunch time, I was hungry but wanted to save room for chili so I had a little bit of yesterday’s leftover pizza.

Confession: I did munch on some chocolate during the day.

Now, back to the chili.

Work has smelled good ALL day! Once a quarter, we have an all agency meeting where we are downloaded on what’s going on in the company, etc, and they always try to make it fun. In the past we’ve had an Oktoberfest theme and we went to Fearrington Village where we had an ‘Iron Chef’ experience.

Today’s theme was ‘Super Bowl’ complete with sports trivia, corn hole and a chili cook-off.

The slow cookers are lined up and ready for battle.

I guess this photo counts as my picture of what I ate because yes, I tried everyone! (and, I still thought mine was the best!)

Here she sits in all her glory. Cooker #3. Mother Vicki’s Famous Chili Recipe (aka the Poo-tetra Breeder).

Guess what!?! I actually won! I had joked all week about how I was going to annihilate all of the other chili’s, but I didn’t expect to actually win.

My winnings:

$75 in Teeter gift cards can go a loooonnnnggg way with this couponer!

Plans for the weekend:
-Go home and let six types of chili in my tummy have its way with me
-Menu planning (specifically focusing on breakfast everyday)
-Starting my inspiration book for decorating my new apartment (I’m moving in March!)
-Running 4M Saturday morning with MeMaw
-Helping Emily move
-Another restful Sunday consisting of church and Wii

Later My Taters!

*BoBo = generic brand

**It has been pointed out to me that I don’t put pictures of the ‘bad’ stuff on my blog. Yes, I’ve noticed as well. I need to be more accountable. I plan on you holding me to it!

No Picture For You

Of last night’s dinner that is. I went to church for the Wednesday Night Supper and totally forgot to take a picture of my meal! We had a family sit with us that we didn’t know so that might have been like “um, this girl is taking pictures of her food.”

Anywho, I had baked chicken with some kinda sauce on top that I scrapped off with a wild rice of sorts, side salad and a roll. There were some mixed veggies, but I’m not sure what they were cooked in and it wasn’t very good. Sometimes, it’s hit or miss at church. But! Pat on my back, I skipped dessert. First time I’ve done that at one of those suppers!

This morning was my Thursday morning coffee with Jaime. We get together every Thursday to catch up, have some Starbucks and pray for one another. We’ve been doing this for probably two years now and I really look forward to it each week. It’s always nice to know someone’s approaching the Throne of Grace on your behalf each week!

Jaime was running a little late this morning so I hit up Bruegger’s next door and started without her. Rude, I know. But, all this running has me STARVING ALL THE TIME!

Everything bagel with onion and chive – Jaime’s nutritionist told her this bagel alone was two meals in one. Yikes!

SF Vanilla Latte with 2% milk – I really do not like skim milk. I’ve tried.



Confession time: I had a tiny box of nerds in a meeting this morning. Not sure why. I think I was bored.

Some of us girls went to The Loop for lunch. We haven’t all been out to lunch in a while so it was nice to get out of the office with each other for a bit. They’ve changed their menu recently and I forget the name of the pizza I got, but it’s basically a grilled veggie pizza minus purple onions which give me massive heartburn. I ate half of it.

Kathleen’s ready to dig into her salad.

No run today. I’ve ran the past three days and my legs are sore and need a break! I think I’m going to hold off until Saturday’s long training run.

Time to go home, do the first day of my new bible study and prep for tomorrow’s chili cook-off at work!

That's What You Get For Staying Up Past Your Bedtime

In the last post, I talked about finishing Breaking Dawn. What I didn’t tell you is that I stayed up waaayyyy past my bedtime doing so. We’re talking past mid-night ya’ll. I don’t do that on the weekends.

And, I paid for it this morning. That’s what you get, as my mom would say.

I woke up late and woke up starving. I had to be in by 8:00 to finish an urgent project for a client and did what I knew I shouldn’t. But, I couldn’t resist him. Mr. Bojangles.

At lunch, I did a two mile run. My legs have been really sore lately and I was not pleased with my performance. However, I clocked the two miles in 24.26.49. That’s a little over 12 minutes per mile. Considering that was my old pace before surgery and my time has been improving over the past year and considering that I saw SchoolDude Dan on the greenway and paused to speak to him for a minute and considering my legs are sore, I’m not feeling too bad anymore. Kudos to me, friend.

Proof.


I hit up the Subway on the way back to the office. Sweet Onion Chicken Teriakyi with some delicious Sun Chips. Spicy Chipolte flavor which I hadn’t had before. YUMMY!

I found some fruit in the work kitchen again. I had a three hour call (notice the conference room table) that I ate lunch during and then grazed on the fruit until it was over.

Headed to church for dinner and some jabber jaw time with my mentoress Patti!

K, Bye!

AAANNNDDD, We're Done

Let me draw your attention to The Grits Guide To Life section in the right toolbar. See it down there? Yes. For the past ETERNITY, I’ve been reading the Twilight Series and as of last night, I finished the last book Breaking Dawn! Hip Hip Hooray!

I really liked the series, however I did feel the books went on and on for quite a while in the beginning and then BAM! All the good stuff happens in two chapters in the end.

If you’re interested in reading the books, read them I say. If you’re interested in seeing the movies, enjoy the eye candy I say. I switched to Team Jacob following New Moon. I hate Taylor and Taylor didn’t last. She’s so cute.

You might remember that one of my priority 2 goals for 2010 is to read 25 books. Well, seeing that Breaking Dawn was a gazillion pages long and took me into the 13th day of the New Year, it’s going on the list. 24 to go ya’ll!

And A Jay Z Song Was On

And a Jay Z song was on. And a Jay Z song was ooonnnnn…..

Maybe Miss Cyrus or the hissing geese put a little pep in my step, but something got me a little motivated during my lunch run today.

But, first things first.

Break-fuss.


Making breakfast a priority is something I’m trying to do. This morning I rolled out earlier than normal to get showered, fed and to do my Philippians bible study for this week.

I was going to have half a cinnamon bagel with yogurt, but something’s wrong with our toaster oven so I scratched that and opted for instant oatmeal and yogurt. I decided to light a pretty candle like Kath does.

Kath’s someone else I’ve discovered via blog land. She has a tribute to oatmeal on her blog which I love. I plan to take some time soon and steal all her variations on oatmeal for breakfast options. I love oatmeal - just not big on the instant kind (although, I bit the bullet this morning).

My bible study was pretty good. We’re going through Wiersbe’s Philippians study. This week was on Philippians 3:1-11. Paul is talking to the church at Philippi and reminding them that their works on Earth are counted loss in light of the work Christ did on the cross. It’s always a good reminder to stop and look at our actions and decisions and see if we are doing them in light of self or in light of the Cross.

Once I got to work, my stomach started GROWLING like a maniac. I devoured a 100 calorie bag of almonds and seemed to do okay.

The lunch time run happened again today. I’ve blocked my calendar during lunch for Tuesday-Thursday to ensure I get my runs in. I’ve realized that while running in the middle of the day might not be my preferred option, it’s what works with my schedule and it’s how life’s going to be until the sun comes up earlier or goes down later.

Here’s the proof.

My apologies go out to the man in the pea coat driving the Mercedes that was in my place of employment’s parking lot. I’m sorry that you had to witness me hacking a half dollar size loogie that was brought up from the bowels of my lungs and nasal passages. But, sir. It was impressive, no?

Not sure how far I went yet. Gotta mapmyrun.com it. But, I’m thinking it was around 3.5 and I did it in 40.30.07. Towards the end, I was starting to give out of gas and then, a Jay Z song was oooonnnn and I picked up. But, at the very, very end, I started having bad hunger pains. I need to figure out how to fuel my body correctly for mid-day runs. Any suggestions?

After my run, I was once again ill prepared for lunch and hit up the Chick-fil-a.

Chicken salad sandwich with some fruit I found in my work kitchen. When I was doing Weight Watchers, the chicken salad sandwich was only 6 points (I think) which isn’t too bad in points world.

These late lunches and all this running work up quite an appetite for me. After spending all afternoon in meetings, I snacked on some bell pepper and leftover hommous from Saturday.

All right, gotta put another day in the grind to bed, run a couple of errands and get over to church for bible study. Later My Taters!

Sushi With Shelly

Monday night was Sushi With Shelly night.

We hit up the ever yummy Sushi Blues.

Noodles.


Edamame.

My favorite thing about edamame and Shelly is that the first time she had it, I was with her. She said, “what is it?” I said, “soy beans.” She said, “so we could go in the field in front of your parents house and make edamame?” I said, “yup.”

Unfortunately, I was quite excited when my Clapton Roll came and I forgot to take a picture! I’ve got to get better about that. I also didn’t snap my orange that they give you at the end of your meal.

I know sushi can be either really good for you or really bad for you. I sorta teeter in the middle. The Clapton Roll is fresh tuna, cucumber, roe, spicy mayo, scallions mixed on top of the California Roll. MM MMM GOOD! It’s my all time favorite!

Shelly opted for the Blues Roll which is fish tempura, avocado, cucumber, roe, scallion, and spicy mayonnaise. I had never tried that one before and it was delish.

Sushi’s one of my all time favorite meals. Do let me know if you know of any great hideaways that I might not know about! Right now, Sushi Blues and Sono are my staple restaurants.

Runnin' on the Lunch Hour

Santa put these in my stocking. Yay!

I tested them out during lunch today. I've decided it's time to get serious - #2 on the Fit Bottomed Girls 12 Tips for Permanent & Healthy Weight-Loss - and get my runs in NO MATTER WHAT!

Since it stays butt dark until like 7:30 am and gets butt dark at like 5:00 pm, I thought I would take a long lunch break and work a little later so that I could run outside (I hate a treadmill). There's a greenway by my place of employment which makes for a lovely run.

Here's the proof. Do notice the flushed face. So pretty. And, I'm sure that new beanie's going leave a band of acne on my forehead. Band acne's so hot right now.

I also like my 'i'm in my work parking lot taking a picture of myself and look like an idiot' smirk.

Picked up Subway for lunch. The sub of the month is the Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki. Three bucks friends! It was the first time I had tried this sub and I liked it. I think I would have liked it better without with Sweet Onion Sauce actually. I think it was pretty good for me. I tried to keep it healthy and it was listed next to that Jared kid's face.

That's it for now! Getting ready to head out for Sushi with Shelly!

Eat Out Eat Smart

Or something like that.

I tried. Don’t know if it’s healthy or not, but it was yummy!

We hit up Greek Fiesta after seeing Leap Year on Saturday. Good movie, good food!

I had a side of hommous and pita with a grilled chicken kabob.

Kara was my companion.

She was not interested in participating in the blog.

Supposedly, I’m in trouble if this picture gets posted. I’ll let you know if I get in trouble.

Yogurt Side? Say What!?

Subway had made me happy! I rolled up into that piece on Thursday night and say what!?! I can get yogurt as a side. Sa-weet!

My First Beast

Wednesday night. I had my first beast.

Or at least, that’s what The Fitnessista has dubbed ginormous salads. I discovered The Fitnessista as I began searching blog world for healthy eating tips and advice. I am really enjoying her entertaining blog and I really want to try one of her RAD workouts. I haven’t read back far enough to know for 100% that a beast is a ginormous salad, but I think that’s the gist of it.

I had also had my first Super Doubles experience. And, I had a coupon for this stuff.

I had seen Purely Decadent raved about on some blogs I’ve been reading and wanted to try it so I said “super doubles, I’ve got a coupon, why, not!?” I do love ice cream so something on the better for you side of ice cream’s not a bad idea.

I scooped out two spoonfuls and gave it a whirl.

Verdict: Okay. It was a strong coconut taste sorta like a Pina Colada flavored ice cream. Which on the flipside, might not be too bad because I don’t think I can eat more than a scoop or two in one sitting.

Do you have any low cal ice cream substitute recommendations?

Mall Walker

I know, I know. I owe you guys two days worth of food diary posts. I was swamped at work today and had lunch and after work appointments so the blogging had to be delayed.

My after work appointment was my 60K service at Leith Honda. I'm going to plug Leith Honda here so just hold on a minute while I do so. (They haven't paid me to do so. I'm just a super happy customer!) My old service advisor left the company and their team didn't skip a beat with keeping this customer satisfied. I bought my car there in 2006 and have it serviced regularly. They are honest and just super nice people! I highly recommend them (and a Honda!)!

Okay, enough with the plug....the point is that my service was going to take three hours so they shuttled me to Triangle Town Center to kill some time. Since I missed the gym this morning, I decided to walk the mall. I didn't realize it was such a popular activity! There were probably at least 10 other people mall walkin' as well! I felt a little geriatric and weird with my backpack, but I'm glad I did it!

I walked pretty briskly for 35 minutes. Each end of the mall has an escalator so when I got to the end, I would go down and up the stairs quickly and then continue walking. All in all, I broke a sweat and felt pretty good about myself in the end! Cooldown was window shopping at Z Gallerie. :) I gotta make a note to tell Cheri about this mall walking stuff. I do believe she'll be a fan.

Oh, and Karen and I walked for 30ish minutes Wednesday night. It wasn't a rigorous workout, but at least it was something!

Day 2: Mr. Bojangles

Mr. Bojangle’s…..oh, I love thee. Let me count the ways.

Egg and Cheese Biscuit
Bo Rounds
Sweet Tea
Country Ham Biscuit
Seasoned Fries
Dirty Rice
Bo Berry Biscuit

I have a go-to drive thru in the am when I’m starving and know there’s NO WAY I will make it to lunch without eating. It’s on Western Blvd. In fact, I did $500 worth of damage to my car in that drive thru.

My stomach was growling. My head was aching. The sweet tea was a callin’.

While I’m not proud of my decision, it sure was good. Just gotta have more…

For lunch, I had leftover chili was a handful of Colby Jack shredded cheese mixed in and a handful of Fritos. I’ll spare you from a repeat picture.

There was lunch brought in for a meeting yesterday so I snagged a plate of leftovers since I have bible study on Tuesday nights and knew I was going to have to make a pit stop somewhere for something to eat.

Penne pasta with some veggies in there and dum, dum, dum…WHITE CREAM SAUCE. You know that’s sittin’ on my hips two-day. I also had a slice of bread and a lemon bar. Those lemon bars are soooo good!

I’ve really got to start educating myself on proper nutrition because I’m noticing some things like I’m not getting in enough healthy calories and by the end of the work day, I’m exhausted, fatigued and not satiated.

I’ve decided this weekend is going to be devoted to healthy grocery shopping and getting ed-u-ma-kay-ted. I’m also going to give my sister Lauren a call. She’s a nutritionist and I caught it for asking for recommendations for a dietitian/nutritionist. (Although, to my defense, she’s got a three year old and I didn’t know if she’d be up with dealing with me.)

WORKOUT: We’re 0 for two this week. Yikes!

Need Your Input

Hey guys!

I'm thinking about going to see a registered dietitian/nutritionist. Got any suggestions?

Super Doubles

Super Doubles started today at Harris Teeter. HT doubles coupons up to 99 cents every day. During Super Doubles, they double coupons up to $1.98 face value. It's the best time to use those high value coupons and for me, it's a chance to try new products.

{Do you like that I went to the grocer on the way to work and took a picture in my cube? :)}

Retail: $40.87

VIC Savings: $5.89

Coupon Savings: $19.27

Paid: $15.71

62% Savings

A few issues:

-I set my alarm to go at 6:00 this morning and of course, I overslept. My loss. I had two coupons for Wholly Guacamole that would have been FREE and they were all gone when I got to HT.

-The Heluva Good Dip coupon that I had was expired so I didn't realize any savings there. I didn't have her take it off. Maybe I should have.

-Two of my $1.00 value coupons only doubled at 64 cents. Not sure why, but Angela, my cashier hated me and the rest of the early morning couponers (man, there were a bunch!) so I decided 80 cents wasn't worth making her any more miserable.

I noticed as I was shopping that I started to grab convenience items because I had a coupon. But, I thought about my new 2010 goal and decided to pass on some things. I'm hoping that I can get myself in a regular shopping schedule this year.

I decided to try two new products since I had coupons. I've seen the Purely Decadent Coconut Milk ice cream on a few of the food blogs I've been reading. It's non-dairy and non-soy so I thought I'd give it a whirl since I could get it at a discount. Also, I decided to try the Nature Valley Nut Clusters. Not sure these will become a staple because they are mighty expensive for not much clustering.

And, before you say anything about the Nancy's Crabcakes and the dip, let me defend myself. Being involved in a class at church means that I constantly have events to go to where I have to bring a snack/appetizer/something. I decided to grab these two items since they were relatively cheap for when such events arise.

Okay - I need to do some work. Make sure to stop by the Teeter today!

The First Day

I took a picture of my muffin top to show you what we’re working with here and why the 2010 “Being A Healthy Eater” Goal is necessario. However, I did not feel that the entire all of cyber world needed to be seeing that mess. Maybe one day when I can post it up next to my rockin’ six pack, you’ll get to see it.

Kara’s called me out on my late post. I’m trying to figure out how this is going to work. I initially thought I would post a day late. For example, I’ll post Tuesday about what I ate on Monday. I planned on coming into work 15-20 minutes early to do my post, but this morning I slept until 8! Seriously, ya’ll. 8 o’clock. 10 hours of sleep friends. I think I was suffering from NYE jet lag. Since in to work early didn’t happen, I’m not sure the day late posting is going to work. As for now, we’re just going to get started and hopefully, some process will work itself out.

Now, for the moment everyone has been waiting for! My first day of posting pictures of what I eat! Here are the details for Monday.

I didn’t eat breakfast. This is something I need to work on. Breakfast is important. Breakfast keeps you going. It fills you up and sustains you to lunch so that you don’t go stuff your face full of Pollo Fundido at the El Dorado. And, I never eat it. One of my mini-healthy eating goals for January is to start eating the breakfast.

What did I have? A coke.

I’m addicted. Always wanting that sugary caffeine goodness. I also snuck one Valentine’s Day Hershey Kiss (not pictured) outta my boss’ office. My boss sits across from me and keeps a candy jar full of whatever seasonal Kiss is out at the time. Dangerous considering that I have to sit in a 30 minute meeting three times a week in front of said jar. I might have to ask her to get rid of it.

Next, came the test. I had a lunch meeting. Annnnnnnd….you don’t have a picture. I couldn’t get the guts up to say ‘um, I need to take a photo of my food.’ Maybe as word spreads on what I’m doing, I’ll get more comfortable with it, but just wasn’t ready to yet. So for lunch, I will just have to tell you about it. It was:

½ Quizno’s Turkey Sub on Wheat with Lettuce, Tomato and Mustard
1 bag of Lay’s Baked Potato Chips
Water
1 Reeses’ Peanut Butter Cup heart (again, the Boss! but I did skip the HUGE Quizno’s cookie so pat on my back)

Not only do I have to work on eating breakfast, but I need to be more prepared with a daily snack. Never fails, 3:00 hits and this sister is HONGRY.

Yay for the Oats and Apple Streusel Fiber One Bar that was in my desk drawer!

I got home from work around 6:30. Thanks to the holidays and just pure laziness, my pantry is emptied and I had no clue what I was going to eat for dinner. It was so tempting to roll into a drive thru somewhere, but I thought “I can’t be a fat kid on my first day!” So, I rolled to the Teeter instead and got the makings for some yummy chili. It was super yummy considering how cold it was outside!

That wraps up my first day of tracking what I’m eating. I did notice something. Did you?

Yup, you guessed it! How do I know if I’m being healthy or not? I need to educate myself on nutrition and come up with some sort of plan. I did Weight Watchers in the spring of 2009 and it was okay. There’s one qualm that I have with WW and it’s that you don’t really know if something is good or nutritious. Foods are assigned point values and you have a certain number of points that you are allowed to eat daily. But, you’re not really educated on whether those foods are healthy, nutritious and filling. I didn’t really feel like I learned much about food. I would eat a 10 point Pollo Fundido (half a day’s allowance) and starve for the rest of the day.

Does anyone have any other good ideas? I’m going to start researching calorie counting and also study some nutrition textbooks.

WORKOUT: Yea, I didn’t.

2010 Goals

I’ve been putting a lot of thought into what I want to achieve in 2010. I was listening to one of the talk radio shows last week on my way to work and they said the best way to achieve your goals was to only set one. Pick one habit that you want to change.

This thought overwhelmed me a bit. Just one thing? Seriously? I got to thinking about my friend Stephanie who decided to work on humility in 2009. Her entire year was focused on that one thing. I thought it was sort of neat. And, I’ve been a little disenchanted with the blog lately so maybe picking one thing and making it a project for the blog would be a good idea.

So, I started thinking that maybe I can focus on being more Christ-like. Yea. That’s a good one I thought. But, it’s a little too broad. Being Christ-like is my entire being. Everything about me needs to be Christ-like. It needs more focus. I need one thing that I can work on in order to glorify Him more.

I am going to make being healthier my goal for 2010. Specifically, eating better. I am #1 on eating out with friends, hitting a drive thru, Starbucks, processed foods and ice cream when I want it. That’s me. So, in 2010, I’m going to eat better.

How am I going to do that you ask? Well, you, dear reader, are going to hold me accountable. Starting on January 4, I’m going to take a photo of everything I eat and I am going to post it here on the Drawl. I think knowing that I have to post what goes into my mouth will make me think twice about that Pollo Fundido. I’m going to research and educate myself along the way (and of course, let you know what I find out).

It’s my prayer that by January 1, 2011:
-I cook more than I eat out each week
-I have lost 10 lbs
-Processed foods are kept at a minimum
-That I’m educated about nutrition and what I’m putting into my body
-I workout on a regular basis

You’re probably thinking "that’s nice Ashely, but what does eating have to do with being Christ-like." Well, I’ve thought about this and prayed about it. Luke tells us in chapter two that Jesus grew physically, mentally, socially and spiritually. I think it’s a good idea to set goals in these categories as long as they glorify Him.

Our bodies are a temple and we should treat them as such. One area that I struggle in with food is that I’m an emotional eater (i.e. bored=food in mouth) and at certain points I think I fall into gluttony and indulge too much. Notice that I call it a struggle, yet when you get down to it, eating too much is a sin. After eating too much, I wind up feeling sick, guilty and frustrated. After eating out too much, I wind up feeling guilty, upset and frustrated with my lack of good stewardship of my money.


And, while this is my #1A priority for 2010, I am still going to work on other areas:

better prayer life: Patti and I are going to do a study on prayer this spring semester and I am going to aim to have one day a week (separate from my quiet time) where I spend at least 30 minutes in prayer.
memorize scripture: My goal is one verse a month.
workout more: I think this will naturally happen if I’m eating better and striving to be healthy. My goal is to do some type of activity at least five days a week.
do better with my finances: I did pretty well in 2009 with getting on track so I’m just going to continue making progress.
serve more: I’m praying about where God wants me to serve and am going to start seeking out opportunities.
do my quiet time everyday: This was going good for a while and it has fallen off during the busy Christmas season. Go figure we’re celebrating His birth and I can’t find time to spend with Him. We’re going to get back on track this week.
read: My goal is to read 25 books this year.

What are your goals?

2009 Wasn't Too Shabby

Let’s preface by saying that this post was worked on for around an hour and completed until blogger decided to send it into the unknown. So, here’s the second go round.

I started off 2009 pretty lazy and failed to make a list of goals for the year. I set goals. I don’t resolve to do anything. My lack of goal setting should explain why I don’t resolve.

Never fear, my friend Faith had tagged me and requested that I make five predictions for 2009. Let’s see how I did.

1. I predict that the UNC Tar Heels men's basketball team will win the NCAA championship and NC State will not be invited to the NIT.

Check.

2. I predict that at least two more couples in CYC will get engaged.

Check. Congratulations Andrew and Keri and Dave and Anna! CYC had five marriages in 2009. Whew!

3. I predict that my physical appearance will be altered - whether the bee's knees or a big ol' hot mess - only time will tell.

Check. At the time, I was thinking I would try to loose that annoying 15 lbs (which didn’t happen). But, after sevenish years of pleading to insurance companies, doing physical therapy and praying, His timing was perfect. In February, I got my boobies chopped off (as I like to say). Not one iota of regret and it’s been the greatest thing ever. I feel great, my back doesn’t hurt, and my running pace has increased. Yay!

4. I predict that 80s glam rock hair will make a comeback and Tonya will lead the effort here in Raleigh.

Well, not so much. Tonya became a mommy in September and my new prediction is that around 2030, Finley and her friends will rock the tall bangs better than Tawny ever could. You know the trends always come back around.

5. I predict that I will know how to cook more than three meals by the end of the year.

Check. The three to start with were macaroni-and-cheese, hot dogs and spaghetti. Now, we’ve added Strawberry Goat Cheese Grilled Chicken Salad and Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa. I cooked a lot more in 2009 and am working on building a repertoire of 30ish recipes that I enjoy. I cooked some other things throughout the year, but they haven’t made the cut.

I thought I did pretty well with my predictions. And, even though I never made an official goal list for 2009, there were some things I accomplished that I’m rather excited about.

In 2009, I became satisfied in who I am in Christ. I have realized that I didn’t go on one date in 2009. In fact, I haven’t been on a date since March 2008. And, I’m okay with that. In no way, do I not long to have a boyfriend or be married. But in 2009, I think I really learned to become content in my relationship with Christ and to let him fulfill those longings. It’s something I have to ask Him to do everyday. I remind myself that if it will bring Him more glory for me to be married, then He will provide. Read more about it here.

In 2009, I finally got my Benjamin’s in order. Well, maybe not Benjamin’s. During the summer, I thought I would do a challenge where I would spend less money and save. People still ask me how it went. Yea. I didn’t do a good job of tracking. But, in October, I FINALLY sat my butt down for a few hours and made a budget.

I’ve read Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover and Baby Step #1 is to pay off all debt (credit cards, student loans, cars, houses). He also advocates using cash only and I decided to give it a whirl. My debit card is now the devil. I never realized how much I would spend when using my debit card. Now that I use cash, I evaluate every purchase I make and decide whether it’s only $5 and I need it are true justifications for the purchase. Shopping takes a little longer, but hey, I’m saving money. I also picked up a new couponing hobby which I hope to get better at over the next year.

Since October (three months ago when I FINALLY sat down!), I’ve put more than $630 towards paying down debt. This amount doesn’t include the regular monthly amount I have budgeted towards paying down debt. This money was what I call ‘left-over’s.’ It’s what was left at the end of the month because I’m spending less thanks to using cash and coupons. And, it’s like crack. I can’t wait to see what I accomplish in 2010!

There were other highlights to the year such as the Twilight addiction, going to Mexico for Lesh and Doug’s wedding and discovering Google Reader. But, the above two are the ones that I really feel like I focused on and accomplished with God’s help. All in all, 2009 wasn’t too shabby. Let’s get ready for 2010, shall we?