Workout Weeks 4-5

I can't believe I am this far behind in my workout update. Sorry to keep you wondering, if you even care. Week 4 went fairly well. I took the week to rest, if you want to call it that. I actually just rested from lifting weights and focused on yoga, cardio and core work. So, I ended up working out everyday. It was just as hard of a week. I sweat a lot and was still sore, but it was nice to leave the dumbbells in their place and only have to unroll my yoga mat. Working out on a daily basis has become a daily habit and I can't go to bed until it is done. I know the benefits and love the way I feel when I am finished. We ate a few things we had not had in a long time, like brussel sprouts and squash. I can't complain about the food side of it besides my cravings for ice cream, which I have had a couple times in the last two weeks. No worries because I weighed in this morning and I have lost about 5-6 pounds in the last 4.5 weeks. I hope the scale wasn't lying to me this morning but I was pumped to see a much lower number than I was expecting it to be.  Only 5-6 pounds from my goal and I have two months to do it!
Last weeks workouts hurt! I am on a slightly different routine. It is always good to mix it up every 3-4 weeks to create muscle confusion. The reason for this is to keep your body guessing so that it is forced to adapt to a new exercise, or routine to produce faster and better results. I can't do the same thing day in and day out so this kind of workout is great for me. Here is my workout schedule for the next three weeks:
Mondays - Chest, Shoulders and Triceps and then Abs
Tuesdays  - Plyometrics (high impact jump training)
Wednesdays - Back and Biceps and then Abs
Thursdays - Yoga (60-90 min)
Fridays - Legs and Back and then Abs
Saturdays - Kempo/Karate (basically a lot of punching and kicking)
I usually get a walk in everyday as well.
I am feeling really great. I am back into my pre-pregnancy jeans. They are slightly snug in the butt and hips but not so much that I can't wear them. Even though I am only 6 -8 pounds over what I used to be I feel perfectly beautiful and fit.

Okay now for my picture update. I took these at the beginning of last week. I will post my first picture and then my most recent picture so you can see the difference.

A very tasty Eggplant Recipe. (Even for those who are picky!)

Do you like Eggplant? Three weeks ago I would have said," not really", but today I have found a way to like it.
Eggplant Parmigiana
1 egg plant sliced in 1 inch pieces long ways. You can peeled it or leave the peel on. I left mine on.
1 egg beaten with a tsp of water
1/4 of flour
Dip each piece of eggplant in the egg and then the flour. Fry in a pan with oil until each side of golden brown.
Put the pieces in a baking dish and pour grated Parmesan cheese over the top. Then 1 cup of all natural spaghetti sauce on top of that and then 3/4 cups of mozzarella cheese. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees until warm. about 10-12 min.
This was sooooooo yummy! You can even add some ground meat to it if you so desire.  Try it! You will like it!

We had black beans and brown rice with this as our side! Loved it all!

Food!

Oh how I love food! I am so glad that I am not a picky eater because there are so many wonderful flavors out there I haven't even tried yet. I try just about anything except for fried bugs! I love ethnic foods too! Chinese, Italian, French, Indian, Thai, etc you name it and I just might like it. My taste buds always look forward to anything new and exotic.
Last week I decided I would start making my own food. Not just your original chicken casseroles and salads, but HEALTHY homemade bread, muffins, granola bars, WW pancakes, and several other recipes that have just good old wholesome ingredients. No sugar added! My goal for the next 6-8 weeks is to eat only foods that are unprocessed. I am no longer buying Quaker granola bars (even though I never bought those in the first place), or boxed cereal, pancake mix, store bought bread or box mix muffins. If I want to eat it I am going to make it from scratch. I am very excited about this challenge because not only will it force me to expand my recipe book, it will, I hope, help me feel better on the inside and look better on the outside.
I have already made a couple batches of WW bread and my Dried Cherry and Walnut Oatmeal Bars are now cooking in the oven and they smell so good!  Both batches of bread turned out so yummy. Way more tasty and wholesome than store bought bread. I tried two different recipes and love them both! I told Joe yesterday that we need to try and control our cravings for it because I didn't want to have to make bread every single week. If we could get by on a loaf of bread per week that would save me having to knead bread every week. That is hard work! I wish I had a Kitchen Aid Mixer! One of these days I will.  If anyone knows of someone that wants to get rid of theirs let me know.
I have been searching online for recipes to try. My favorite blogs to get recipes from is one by orangette and another by Simple Kneads.  These blogs have great recipe ideas! I am going to also make my own Chipati bread this week as well. It is an African non-yeast bread made with very simple ingredients. They end up looking like WW torillas. You can find that recipe on Simple Kneads as well as the WW bread. I also love the Food Network channel. I watch Giada and Home, Healthy Appetite with Ellie Kreiger, and for the unhealthy side of me I love Paula Dean. If I could meet one person and hang out with for a day it would be Paula Dean. I hope to one day go visit Savannah Georgia and eat at her restaurant. ( Just tried the bars I  made and they taste pretty good. I think I will add more applesauce next time for a little more moister).
Anyway! If anyone has any great healthy, non-processed recipes for any kind of meal pass them on to me! I am pumped about all the endless possibilities. My taste buds are already watering!

Etiquette Part 2

  It is my desire to poke a little fun at times because I know that some reading this may think I am bashing them and I am not. I should be bashing myself in some of these categories. My only goal is to write out my thoughts, not victimize people or make you feel bad for being at fault for some of these things. I have been at fault myself. We all make mistakes in the department of good manners. I know I lack in the "having more tact" department, of which I want to improve on, and have improved on, but need to improve more. I also need to work a little more on how I express myself by way of blogging, emails, facebook etc. since I know I can come off as abrasive and uptight. I am not an uptight person who picks at every little thing that people do wrong. My blog is not meant to point out things about people I don't like. It is just my poor style of writing that makes it sound like I am annoyed with people every time they do these things. I only bring up what I think we could all work on a little more. Some etiquette categories are higher up on my list of importance, and others are not that big a deal, but worth a mention so please take it with a grain of salt and have a little fun with it.
Alright, for part two I will be covering the following categories: CELL PHONE, TEXTING, DRIVING.
Cell Phone:
I absolutely love having a cell phone! I think they are one of the greatest inventions. The sense of security it gives me when I am taking a long distance trip by myself, or when I am at the grocery store and can't remember what Joe wanted me to buy him. I think most of us would be naked without it, however there are some ways in which having one on our person 24/7 can make life a little obnoxious at times. One of those times is when you get a call in the middle of a conversation with someone. Should you answer or should you ignore it? Depends. In most instances incoming calls can wait until the conversation is over, period. Think back to the days when cell phones didn't exist. I remember not wanting to own a cell phone because of how much I dislike phone conversations. Personally, I don't care for talking on the phone over talking in person, unless the person is too far away to get together.
Another time is when you are eating dinner, whether it be at home or out, or how about during church(doesn't happen that often), or the movies. It's not hard to turn phones on vibrate and step out of the room if you absolutely must answer. I don't care to hear the one sided conversation.  Another place I really don't care to pick up my phone is in the car, but only if I am with other people. There is something about tight spaces and listening to other people talk on their phone's I don't care for, but when it does happen it isn't the end of the world.
Then we have TEXTING! I think texting is another great invention. It allows you to contact someone without having to talk to them if you happen to be in the middle of something and can't call, or if you need to send a quick message out. It is a nice tool to have on your plan. I do not have unlimited texts. I do not have the need to text people all day long, but for those who prefer to text versus call me I have to have a plan so my phone bill doesn't sky rocket.
The times texting can become frustrating is when people get texts in the middle of a conversation and reply while continuing the conversation. I know I can't pay attention to the two at the same time so I don't know how anyone else can.
As a general rule I think putting away your phone during the times you are in the middle of a conversation would save you from offending anyone, or pardon yourself from the conversation and step away to write the reply or make the call.
DRIVING - The wonderful world of automobiles. Gotta love having a car right! I can't imagine having to go back to a horse and buggy. To think how much of the world we would not get to see and explore.  I am not too sure what driving etiquette looks like so I will just cover the things that I think bug people the most about other drivers
 One road rule would have to be using your turn signals at the proper time, which for some odd reason many people who live in bigger cities do not use. I have noticed this in Chicago especially. I don't know why it is so hard for people to move their little fingers over a few inches and put a little pressure on the signal knob to indicate to other drivers which way they intend to turn? Beats me!
Next we have those drivers that we all love! Left lane slow pokes! Oh how I wish I could tap the back of their bumpers when they pay no attention to the long line of cars that are following closely behind them. Even better is when they drive the same speed as the person in the right lane so that no one can pass on either side! 

My favorite Parenting book thus far

I have to share because I found a book that just so happens to be the best book on parenting I have read in a long time. In a previous post I wrote about how I am searching for answers on how God instructs us to parent and what I thought to be good parenting before I had kids is now different for me now that I have my own, not much, but I have a better understanding of child-rearing since having Jake. I have done a lot of online reading about discipline. I have read strangers blogs, gone to christian websites, secular websites, websites for mom's, etc. Joe told me I needed to stop reading so much on it because he didn't want me to be brainwashed by so many opinions. I agreed I should probably not be so obsessed over it, but I want to do the very best at being the parent God instructs me to be. Parenting thus far has been the most challenging part about being a parent. It's not the crying, the fussiness, the runny nose, getting up in the middle of the night, but it's the decision of how we are going to parent Jake.  The other part that goes along with that is the challenge you face when your parenting styles don't match with those you live life with. It's not that they have to match, but it becomes a challenge because if my way is different from other families way you don't want to step on their toes and/or offend others visa versa We are all going through the same thing and yet we still avoid this topic of "parenting." I personally would rather talk about it, even if we disagree, than too avoid it.
Of all the info on blogs, websites, and books I have read I found a book that I feel is one of the best books on Parenting. It is called "Parenting by the Book" by John Rosemond.  You can go to his website and read up on him and his material(www.rosemond.com). John practiced in Psychology and has written many other books on parenting.  If you have been questioning the meaning of the phrase "the rod" John explains it in this book in a way I have never heard before.  If you are interested in finding out more go to the link at the end of this blog and you can read the introduction, Chapter 1 and 5 of this book to see if it is something you might be more interested in reading for yourself.
I would consider myself a traditional parent. I haven't been comfortable with the new postmodern way of parenting, thus the reason I like this guy so much because he makes sense and believes that the way child- rearing was done before the 1960's was really the best way to do it. In other words our grandmothers knew what they were doing. He also does a great job of backing up his beliefs with verses from the Bible. Happy reading!
http://www.rosemond.com/PbTB-Download.html

Etiquette/Good Manners

Time changes, but having manners shouldn't. I researched the word "etiquette" this week and here is what I came up with. I found a website by a woman named Emily Post who has passed away recently. She was an expert in "etiquette" and I found her site to be quite helpful in this category, although there were a few categories I was unable to find any information on. I don't have my panties in a bunch or anything. I just thought it would be interesting to read up on it. I don't hold these things over people's heads. I am not that picky, except for maybe the "Time" category, but maybe I just need to work on my patience a little more too. ;)
Bathroom Etiquette - The Toilet Seat Rule.
Some men have a terrible habit of leaving it up after they relieve themselves. Luckily I have a husband that ALWAYS puts the seat down, thanks to his lovely mother for instilling that rule in him. I have, however had several guests, leave the seat up after they use the toilet. Boys,  it would be so considerate of you if you could try to remember to put the seat down when you are finished. I prefer to not have to touch the seat unless I am cleaning it once a week. Thanks!
RSVP Etiquette - RSVP is french for "repondez s'il vous plait" or "please reply" I have failed at giving a prompt reply to an invitation in the past and hate myself for it. Proper etiquette for an invitation is to reply to it within two days of receiving the invitation.  I've been in the position of the invitation sender and experience frustration from people not responding to the invite.
Time Etiquette - this one is my own rule. I couldn't find time etiquette on Emily's website but it should be there. I have always been a person of punctuality and appreciate it when people I make appointments with do the same. I understand that there are circumstance where a person has a good reason for being late to things, but there are also those people who are late to everything.  Working as a personal trainer for 4 years I experienced many a client that would consistently show up late for our workout appointments. One in particular met with me 2 times a week at 6:30AM and never showed up on time. In fact, she was always at least 20 min late. For those of you who hate getting up before 7am, like me, can relate to how annoying this is.  Luckily I don't perform like a doctors office and give them their full session when they were late. Every client had a 45 min time slot. Whether they chose to show up on time or not, was up to them.  Being late on occasion doesn't bother me. I am not that up-tight, but I do appreciate people who respect other people's time
Conversation Etiquette - I was going to title this one as "The Interrupting Child" but changed it because adults are at fault for interrupting conversations as well. Interrupting a conversation or someone that is talking to you is a BIG  'no' no' in my book. I have been interrupted one too many times by people I am talking too, whether in person or over the phone as well as interruption by someone not even involved in the circle of conversation who jumps in before the speaker is finished. I don't know why it is so hard but, before opening your mouth make sure the person that is speaking is done speaking. Not a hard rule to follow. Even more annoying then that is when a child interrupts. Not because they loudly proclaim they need someone's attention, but because in a lot of cases the adult they are trying to get the attention from give it to them, teaching them that it is okay to interrupt whenever they want something. Growing up my parents told us we were to never interrupt them when they were speaking with someone. If we needed something we were to give them a light squeeze on the arm so they knew we would like to ask them something when they were able to listen.  It worked like a charm!

I have more but might bring those up in another post. What are some etiquette categories that you were taught growing up that isn't quite the same today? The only reason I bring this up is because I feel like America is losing respect for one another. We think so much of ourselves and not more of others. I haven't had these things in particular happen to me in the past month, but they have happened enough that I thought they would be good categories to start with.