Life happens

Days Until the Wedding: 59...Exactly 2 MONTHS!
Pounds Lost: 13

Hey Friends! I know some of you have been telling me I've been neglecting this page....I apologize for "abandoning" you all the past few days.  Again, I told myself I wanted to get all this stuff done (including blogging) and then life happens and time gets away from you.  I can't believe we are exactly two months away from getting married! It's all coming up so fast... so it's time to really kick things into high gear.  Today, I'll catch you all up on what I've been up to!

---

First off, if you are friends with me on Facebook you may have seen this photo.  This stemmed (haha so punny) from something I had seen on Pinterest (surprise).  I'm sure many of you can relate to needing a bunch of green onions  and you'd hate to go all the way to the store just for one thing (However, if you go to Target just for green onions I guarantee you'll come out with at least 5 things you never knew you needed).  You can save your self the trip and the money by regrowing the tips of your green onions! There are actually a lot of things you can regrow from scraps.  Here is a great article that shows you how to grow a lot of foods from scraps.  As for green onions, all you really have to do cut your onions approximately 3-4 inches above the root end and stick them into a glass of water, place them in a spot with a lot of sunlight, and watch them grow! Also, make sure you change the water out every couple days to keep things fresh.

Look how rapidly these things grow! I put this together on Saturday 2/7/15

Here is a photo from 2/9/15.  

As you can see HUGE growth spurt.  Oh, and I am also trying out celery (small glass). 

This is from this morning (2/11/15)

Onions continue to grow, and celery is sprouting!

The nice thing about the onions is that you can use them intermittently so that you'll always have a supply on hand.  With the celery, I will have to keep you update!

---

On Saturday, I FINALLY picked up my wedding dress.  Prior to this, I was a little worried about my dress.  Because of our previous wedding plans, I originally had one week to find my dress so I felt a bit rushed and wasn't sure if I was satisfied with my selection.  This time, when I tried my dress on for the last time before taking it home, I was totally in love with it! Since I lost a little bit of weight, my dress fit even better.  I won't need any major alterations if I continue to lose weight because my back of my dress is able to adjust to my size.  I don't want to go into too much detail because Tony reads the blog, and all he knows is that it's white.  I now have the dress hanging in the guest room with the door closed, trusting him to not take a peek!

My cousin and I saw The Boy Next Door in the afternoon.  I'll admit, I saw it mostly because Ryan Guzman is pretty darn attractive...right?

---

Sunday, Tony and I went over to my Grandma/Aunt's house after church for a workout.  Or at least I did.  My Aunt and I did a 12 minute stretch from the Kenpo Karate video on P90X and then we did about an hour of Zumba.  The biggest surprise of all was that she got me my own Zumba set for my birthday! 

Even though the toning sticks are only 1 pound each they totally make a difference! The hour we were doing Zumba FLEW by.  I think that dancing and working out is my thing.  I enjoy it the most because it doesn't feel like working out to me.  Here is a link where you can get your own!

Monday night Tony and I went to the gym.  We go to the Planet Fitness in Bloomingdale... or well, he does.  This was my first visit there with him, but it seems like your typical gym.  We started with 15 min warming up on the treadmill.  I averaged about 3.5mph with a 2.0 incline.  We did some weight training focusing on arms and abs.  Then we did another 15 minutes of cardio before going home.  

Dinner was a Sweet and Savory Spinach Salad and a Cheesey Beef Frittata.  

Sweet and Savory Spinach Salad -203 calories per serving

1 1/2 cups of torn spinach leaves

1/3 cup pomegranate seeds

1 T chopped pecans

1 T crumbled feta cheese 

2 T light honey mustard dressing

Combine all ingredients and enjoy

Cheesey Beef Frittata - 287 calories per slice (8 Servings)

1 lb lean Ground Beef

5 eggs

5 egg whites

1/2 onion chopped

1/2 c mushrooms chopped

1 green pepper chopped 

10 grape tomatoes halved

1 cup low fat shredded cheddar cheese

salt & pepper

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
2. Brown your ground beef and season with salt and pepper in a oven safe pan, drain and set aside
3. n the same oven safe pan, saute the onions, mushrooms and green pepper until tender.  
4. Return beef to pan and combine well with the rest of the ingredients
5. Beat eggs and egg whites in a bowl, then pour over the ingredients in the pan.  Make sure that you spread the egg evenly around the pan.  
6. Place tomato halves on the surface of your frittata then sprinkle the cheddar cheese evenly over the top of the egg mixture.  
7. Place the whole pan in the oven for 20-30 min or until your fritata has set.  
8. Slice into 8 pieces and enjoy! 

---

Tuesday night, we had the same dinner as the previous night because we were in a hurry to get to boot camp.  That's right.  Boot camp.  In the past, this was Tony's go to workout routine.  So when they opened a location right down the street from our house he was eager to check it out.  It's called Heaven and Hell Bootcamp, and it definitely was a mixture of heaven and hell for me.  Our friend Caitlin attends sessions here occasionally so she put a word in for us with the instructor and we got to try a session for free.  It is basically a 45 minute HIIT workout.  Here is a little sample of what I went through.  

What I really liked about this was how the instructor told me not to kill myself on my first day.  He told me to go at my own pace, rest when I needed to, drink water, and modify.  Tony thinks I pushed myself a little harder than I should have.  I'm not going to lie, I am sore, but a good sore.  After finishing my first session, I wasn't sure if I loved it...I mean, I wasn't even sure if I could move.  The  more I think about it though,  I think I like it enough to go back.  I think that it will really help me lose inches and tone up.  AND the best part is that there is a Groupon for either One month of unlimited boot camp for $20 or Two months of unlimited boot camp for $35!  I am in no way affiliated or trying to plug them for personal gain.  I just think that it is a great alternative option for anyone that wants to try a new work out!  

---

 

I feel like last week I was in some sort of slump, and I have been kicked back into gear.  I feel motivated again and anxious to really make a greater effort in my physical activity.  Lets hope this feeling lasts for the next two months!!

Oh yeah and my birthday is tomorrow!... the big 29... yay?

Question of the day:  If you could meet anyone in history, dead or alive who would it be? Where would you go? What would you do?

This is such a tough one for me... I could easily say Joseph Gordon Leavitt....and we'd elope to someplace warm where he'd serenade me with his guitar and charm.

But since he's married now and I'm getting married in 2 months...I'd have to say...Maybe Coco Chanel? She's the name that stands out in my head.  She would take me around Paris and tell me where she got her inspirations from, maybe make me a signature suit, talk over chocolat chau and croissants....

See you soon, my friends!

xo Mandie

ohmandieblogs@gmail.com