Ch-ch-changes

Things are changing around here and I’m so excited about it!

Things were pretty hush hush about my professional situation but now that it’s been announced I’m very excited to share that I’m opening a pet sitting & house sitting company with my long time friend, Allison (who used to blog…*sniff*)

Check it out here! Paws and More If you know of anyone in Central/South Austin or the Dripping Springs area (Texas) that needs a pet or a house sitter please let us know!

I’ve been working on a 30 day no-treats challenge that is going very well! Of course in my infinite wisdom I started the challenge last Thursday (4/19) – the day we did my nephews birthday celebration.  Complete with chocolate cake.

I'm a sucker for chocolate cake with chocolate icing. However, this time - "No cake for you!" It was painful.

I started calling this a “no-sugar” challenge but since I will not go a day without coffee (why would you?) and I cannot drink my coffee without sugar I knew that wasn’t going to happen.  Why would I set myself up to fail?  So I changed it to a no-treat challenge.
– No cake balls from Starbucks
– No desserts
– No ice cream
– blah blah blah

Focus on what you can have and leave the rest behind you.  I would like to keep this up for the duration of the weight loss but right now I’m focusing on 30 days.

Food lately has been good but not stellar.  I finished my goals from last week but didn’t get all of my goals in and didn’t track my food 100%.  Let’s review how I did:

My goals were:
1) Drink 64oz or more of water every day – Done! I got down the water and this wasn’t hard at all!
2) Log 100 of my food intake into SparkPeople – I logged 5 out of 7 days.  Argh. I know I need to log even when I’m not eating within calorie range but it’s hard. I know I need to overcome this.
3) Workout 4 days between Tuesday and Sunday – Done! I’m paying for it this week – keep reading.
4) Try one new recipe this week (I already have this black bean soup recipe in mind) – Done! That recipe is AWESOME!! I’ll be making it again before it gets too hot.
5) Get a scale and take new/updated measurements – Done! Painful, but done

So last week I walked on the treadmill here at my house and did a couple of videos that I have in my collection.  Then Monday morning I woke up with a huge knot on the instep of my left foot – right in the arch.  It’s hard and inflamed and extremely painful to walk on.

I have had plantar fasciitis for 2 years now and I have followed the instructions to a “t” to try to get it to heal – never walk without shoes, never wear flip flops, always wear your orthotics, stretch, ice, take pills blah blah blah.  It’s been bad for awhile but I thought it was getting better.  This is bad though. I’m taking Advil constantly and I’ve foam rolled my calves and used a frozen water bottle to help the swelling.

So this week I’m sidelined with the exercise where I have to stand.  I’m going to the gym tomorrow to use the exercise bike – I hope I can use that without hurting my feet.

Random snippets of food this week!

Salad with a new Annie's dressing that I've found - Green garlic!

It has a very celery taste to it but it's refreshing. Perfect for summer!

My Foodie Pen Pal sent me some homemade peanut butter/chocolatey granola bars. They are FANTASTIC!! I'll post the recipe when I do the package reveal.

Baked ziti leftover from a scrapbook "retreat" that I had at my house last weekend.

For the rest of the week I’m going to focus on getting my foot better and eating within calorie range for when I’m not working out. I need this foot to heal – PDQ!

A couple more pictures to share because who doesn’t want to see two of my favorite things in the world: coffee & dogs!

My coffee shipment came in! Lots of varieties! Yummm!

We are watching my In-laws dog while they are out of town this week. Isn't she cute?! Her name is Jessie Lou! Ranger loves her!

Help me get my mind off my foot pain – tell me a story, or a joke, or give me a prescription to make me feel better! 🙂 (Just kidding – don’t give me drugs. Unless they are extra and they are free.  And they work. No really, just kidding)