I just want to tuck in my shirts.

Bahhhh-rrrrrrrrrrrring! Hello, this is Ally speaking to you from the underworld where people swim in cellulite from fried chicken eating marathons and double chins from lack of portion control.

As Megan loses weight, I gain weight. I won't even tell you how much but enough to make me think about what I've been eating the past month. And that would be pizza, grilled cheese, and lots and lots of local food aka fried, sugary, fatty goodness (badness).

I'm nowhere close to reaching my goal of losing at least 30lbs by my 27th birthday, which is in 11 days. So I'm going to push it until August 1st. By August 1st I had better have my jazz together and have lost a good amount of weight and have a healthy diet.

So this is the plan:

1. Eat smaller portions
   
2. Cut out fried chicken - my sweet love!
3. Step away from the laptop and either walk, run or bike for at least 30 mins
4. Go to my Tuesday & Thursday night soccer games as soon as the jazz with my car is fixed
5. Get outside with Aidan during the weekends, whether if it's going for a walk around the neighborhood, hiking (with a companion of course) or swimming around the beach
6. Along with getting 30 mins of some type of cardio each day I will do push ups, butt workouts and ab workouts - I now only wear dresses since I don't have to worry about pulling up pants that create muffin tops
7. No more chai lattes!!!
   
8. Cut out the dairy, I've been having a weird reaction each time I eat something with cheese, milk, butter; anything dairy - this happened a few years ago when I returned from Norway. My body didn't like dairy products.
   
9. Stick to the plan.
10. Stop worrying how I look to other people and make sure I'm doing this for my health

Those are a few things. I really wish I had someone present with me to keep me on track, even though I know it's my full responsibility to maintain my health but it's always more helpful to have someone by my side kicking my ass.

I may be buying my friend Amber's bike and a trailer so I can bike Aidan to daycare from now on since my brother will be driving to work with the car. Yeah, sharing is not fun but since I work from home I don't really have a need for a car anymore. Not even for groceries since we live a 5 min walk away from the grocery store.

Game face? ON! No more gaining, losing only.

Oh, a great workout/dance song is "Tight Rope" by Janelle Monae. Check her out. Her moves are sexy. She is sexy. You're welcome.

Take More Shots

While this is usually my go to bar motto, today I am not referring to my predilection for brightly colored, tasty alcoholic beverages that come in cute, midget sized glassware.

Instead, I am once again pulling a metaphor for my life from basketball. I often have revelations about myself after a game and even occasionally in the midst of game. The game itself is actually very serene - there is this natural ebb and flow of movement and energy out on the court, and it allows my mind to disengage from the outside world. While playing, I can't really think about much else. It's just basketball. Stutter step, breathe, pivot, fake, follow through, swoosh, exhale. Last nights game was no exception.

With only 5 players, we have no subs, so we are all running the whole game. My revelation was actually brought on by my teammate, Sarah. I liked Sarah the moment I met her. She has a wonderful energy, is always upbeat, and there is something about her that just reminds me of my best friend Alice, who passed away 6 years ago. She talks like Alice did, plays likes Alice did, its hard to pinpoint what exactly it is - she simply has a very Alice-ish quality about her. During the first half, I was playing well, but playing reserved - not calling for the ball and passing instead of shooting. Sarah was having a stellar game and everything she put up fell in, so it felt right to keep feeding her the ball. She was practically a sure thing. At the half, she came right up to me, and was like "Look, I really appreciate all the assists, but you need to take those shots. You are our best shooter, but you're not shooting -- we need those points from you." I thought about it a second, and realized, I had only taken 2 or 3 shots during the first half. Hmmm. The second half started and our point passed me the ball. Dribble. Shoot. Swish. It felt right. As we're running back on defense, Sarah said, "Nice! I get credit for that assist!" She was right - she completely gave me a verbal assist, AND boosted my confidence at the same time.

I find that I often feel this way in life, not just out on the court. I am all too often content to build up the people around me, and just keep the status quo in my own life, not pushing the envelope. While I enjoy supporting those people around, I realized I definitely need those verbal assists from people too. Actually, to be more honest with myself, I need to believe the verbal assists I already get. I know that I sell myself short, and when people compliment me, I tend to just brush it off, like "oh, they are just saying that to be nice." In discounting the compliment, I am just beating myself up from the inside out. Which is completely counterproductive to what I am trying to achieve. Just a few weeks ago, I was out with some friends, and one guy in particular kept commenting about how cute I was. It was just platonic flirting, and a nice compliment. Instead of saying thanks and accepting the nice words, I was determined to say they weren't true. Eventually he was like, "Just deal, its a fact." That ended my rebuttals. But, why was I so persistent in disagreeing with him? I am my own worst enemy at times.

I DO have things I am good at, I AM a successful person, I AM cute; I just need to keep taking shots, and know that I can make it. Believing that is perhaps my biggest, and most imposing, hurdle. You can't stop shooting just because you're afraid to miss, after all...

You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. Life is like a game of basketball, at the end of it, you hope you took every open shot you had, passed the ball of when you could, and left it all out there on the court.

What I'm currently working on...

My goal dress....a size 9.  I won't disclose what size I am at current moment:

More television placement for WaterWorks:
http://www.waterworkshealth.com

And some senior photos....

Plus more but that's just a preview of what's going on over here on the island.

Posted via email from restlessmama's posterous

To be (organic) or not be?

As I was standing in line at PCC the other day, patiently waiting buy my usual pint of salad, I took a moment to survey the crowd lining up in the bustling little deli. The variety of people intrigued and astounded me. Yes, there were the stereotypical 'granola-y' type crowd wearing hemp, Birkenstocks, and the requisite Bob Marley tee, but also businessmen in pinstriped suits, SAHM's with their kiddos, young women rocking their Seven jeans and stilettos as well as elderly couples doing their routine grocery shopping. Just across the street, a new (bigger) organic market is currently being constructed. Obviously, this organic, healthy eating is not just a trend for the vegans, vegetarians, and food conscious epicureans of the world.

I have mentioned the steep cost of buying organic in a previous post, but I often wonder how important it really is to buy organic. There are so many variations of "organic" on labels these days - USDA Organic, Certified Organic, Contains Organic Ingredients, Made with Organic Ingredients - how's a gal to know whats what?! You practically need to bring your decoder ring to the grocery store. Moreso, what IS the main difference in organic versus non organic, anyway? Amount of chemicals and pesticides? If so, are there things that don't normally get pesticides anyway? Its hard to know what things are crucial to buy organic and what's not.

I found this nifty little chart online that helped me sort it out... kind of. Dairy products are one thing that I will always buy organic, and not flinch at all at the price tag. Have you seen what that growth hormone does to those cows udders... yeesh. Only rbst-hormone free milk for me, thankyouverymuch.

When it comes to the fruits and veggies, though, when is it important to spend the extra cash and buy organic?

I had never heard of the dirty dozen until my mom printed me out a list. Apparently, you should ALWAYS go organic when purchasing the following fruits and veggies. They have the highest "pesticide load" of all other veggies, and are listed in order of most contaminated to least.

1. Peaches
2. Apples

3. Sweet Bell Peppers

4. Celery

5. Nectarines

6. Strawberries

7. Cherries

8. Lettuce (does this include kale, chard, and other leafy greens? Hmmm....)

9. Grapes

10. Pears

11. Spinach

12. Potatoes

So, now you know. Knowledge is power! The list also mentioned those fruits and veggies that are 'safe' to buy non-organic all the time. No use wasting money on organic if you don't need to right? Buy the following freely, and don't waste time getting organic: eggplant, broccoli, cabbage, bananas, asparagus, sweet peas, mangoes, sweet corn, pineapples, avocado and onion.

Happy Shopping! Or, in my case, Happy Organic Growing!

Embracing the farm gal within.

Weeding builds character. Or so my dad always reminded me.

As a child, I loathed spending precious play time in the garden. I hated the monotony of sitting still, pulling weeds, tending to spindly little plants. It didn't seem to matter how much or often I pulled weeds, there were always weeds the following day. It was a thankless, tiresome job, but someone had to do it. Plus, it built character. I am now lucky enough to be full of character, among other things...

Fast forward to today, and I get frustrated when I don't get time with my plants. Outdoor living space, room for pots, a garden, all of these things are major must haves for any home I live in. Time spent in the garden in crucial for my mind, body and soul. Who knew that the much hated, character building chore of my youth would morph into a lifelong passion and hobby?

I recently built a garden at the house. I use the term 'built' lightly, because this garden adventure was like a chemistry experiment. We had a recipe for creating an environment that happily grew 10+ foot tall tomato plants. Envisioning a garden brimming with rosy ripened tomatoes, I knew I had to give it a try. I am a huge advocate of growing your own vegetables, if you can. Yes, it's pricey to start, but there is a certain satisfaction I cannot quite name in plucking fresh basil from your own plant, and selecting only the most robust tomatoes for your salad. Mostly, its sweat equity, and you get out if it what you put in. the more time and care you take, the better all the veggies are going to turn out. Plus, its never been easier to be organic. Feed the plants good stuff and love them, and bam! you've practically got an local, organic produce market right outside your front door. I started most of my seeds inside about a month ago. As they got stronger, I'd transplant to larger containers to give them more room to grow. I bought some starts from a local nursery as well. Plus, it took two loads of topsoil and compost to build this baby. If I don't get pretty vegetables, I may cry.

The groundwork:

We chose an area of the yard between alder trees, backed by a rock wall as the perfect location for the garden. It was in the front yard, got full sun most of the day, and was protected by the aforementioned trees. After bordering the area with round poles, we began the construction. I wish I had taken pictures of this process, but I forgot. Step 1 - cover exposed ground with plastic. Step 2 - Layer newspaper 20 sheets thick over plastic. Sprinkle with bone meal and wet down. Step 3 - Layer 12" deep of alfalfa. Sprinkle with bone meal and wet down. Step 4 - Layer strae 8"-12" thick. Sprinkle with bone meal and wet down. Step 5 - Add topsoil or compost.

Voila! Done!

Supposedly, the alfalfa and straw create a matrix that is nutrient rich, and also holds a lot of water, so the plants are less likely to die of thirst. Well, that's REALLY unlikely here anyway. I think with all the rain lately, I'll never have to water that bed.

It looks as thought my labeling didn't come through that well, but in th garden, we planted cucumbers, red onions, cilantro, parsley, snap peas, peas, kale, collard greens, chard, sweet peppers, strawberries, and of course, tomatoes (heirloom, cherry, yellow).

We strung up fishing line between the two trees to give the peas something to climb up. The kale has been planted in stages, so we will always have something to pick. I am really excited to see how the collard greens and chard grow. I can't wait to post more garden photos this summer and keep you all up to date with the growth!

I'll leave you all with a picture from the pot on our deck - I love coming home to this bright vibrant flowers! If you have gardens, share your secrets! I'd love to know what everyone else out there is planting!