Hi there! It's been a busy summer. My husband finished rehabbing our house, we put in on the market, and it sold in ONE DAY at full price! Total insanity. We spent a few weeks scrambling to figure out where we were going to move, and found a two-story apartment with rooftop terrace that overlooks the city just blocks from where we currently live.
Well, when it comes to family planning, I thought for sure that we'd have a baby this year, but as is life, and we haven't even started trying yet! Appointment in early September for IUD removal, so we'll what happens there. I have a feeling that it'll take a while, and "advanced maternal age" is quickly approaching.
I have renewed my commitment to healthy eating. I was having so many "exceptions," which then turn into a cycle of cravings and other off plan eating, that I finally realized I just can't have refined sweetners AT ALL. Someone posted this article in the lounge and it really opened my eyes to why I was not achieving the goals I had hoped for:
http://www.raptitude.com/2017/07/wise-p ... hemselves/ . I need to have clear boundaries that keep me focused on my goals. For food, it is eating whole plant foods, and avoiding anything refined, be it oil, white flour or sugar.
Today is day 9 of total compliance. I do really well when I'm at home, it's having will power at work that can be a struggle for me, but by having a firm line on oil and refined sweetners I have the ability to avoid unhealthy foods. You know how it is, though, if you just have one little bitty cookie and next thing you know you're knee deep in bakery goods. Fortunately, Ezekiel bread and whole grain pasta aren't problems for me.
On another mom-related note, I'm right at my pre-pregnancy weight, but have been really dissatisfied with how I look in the mirror. You know, of course after having two children I shouldn't expect to look like a 21 year old, but I was frustrated with being so slim and still not fitting into my clothing. This article truly changed my life:
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shot ... utes-a-day .
In other news, the local WFPB group had a pitch-in early in the month that was awesome. My two favorite new recipes that people brought are Thug Kitchen Scalloped Potatoes and The Vegan 8 Mexican Casserole. I did some tweaking to the potatoe recipe, using a lbs of sautéed mushrooms instead of chard and omitting the soy sauce and oil. This weekend I'm going to give the Mexican casserole a try, using potato instead of nuts for the sauce so that it's not so rich - I'd rather top with avocado than have it be so intense. Fingers crossed it works!