Tips and Tricks to a Healthy Lifestyle

As many of you know me and Jess are always on the go! (That rhymes, haha!) Our travel schedules are pretty demanding so being able to maintain a "healthy" way of eating can sometimes be a bit of a challenge. Jess being an athlete makes this even more of an issue because what he puts in his body effects his speed, velocity and overall strength. I want to share with y'all today (if y'all even give a rats ass ;)) how we stay on track.

Like I shared before this past offseason instead of doing the plain clean eating Jess decided to adopt the Paleo Diet. In my opinion if you chose to adopt this same diet I recommend throwing everything you have in your pantry away. Paleo or "Cave Man" diets pretty much consist of meat, eggs, fish and nuts in a nutshell (haha, nuts in a nutshell. I'm on a roll today!) But really, those are the pillars of the diet. ZERO carbs. Like I have said before this girl will not forfeit carbs, I just can't do it. I literally plan on taking a baguette from Panera Bread and chicken strips from Chic-fil-a 6 feet under with me when it's time for me to chunk the ace deuce. So you can see that I am hopelessly devoted to all things carbohydrates.

Carrying on....

Since I had a no carb eater in the house I eliminated them so that he didn't feel deprived or tempted when he was hungry. I did a lot of research of snacks he could have so that if hunger struck he would be able to put something substantial in his body verses something that would just fill him for the moment. I also went to Barnes and Noble and sat there for a good hour and half researching Paleo Cookbooks. I have cooked many things out of the cookbook I found that day and some things have even became staples in our weekly menu. With about a month interruption due to going overseas to play ball and of course the Christmas Holiday eating Jess has stuck with the Paleo Diet. He will be the first one to tell you some days it is terrible but he has gotten so much stronger in his workouts and since taking care of his body is such an important part of his job it has been completely worth it.

Tips and Tricks

1. Plan out what you are going to eat for the week. Plan your breakfast, lunch and dinner and then make your grocery list. I find going to the grocery store on Sunday very beneficial because you are set for the week and don't have to think about going again and you are better off actually eating healthy if you already have all the ingredients in your pantry and refrigerator.

2. Drink plenty of water. We by nature need water! Not only does it help with digestion it makes your skin so much healthier and reduces flaky, dryness.

3. Have a cheat day! We LOVE our cheat day! Pick one day a week where you eat what you want. This reduces the feeling of being deprived and will help you stay on track.

4. Think realistically. Don't try and cut out everything in the beginning and burn yourself out. Take it slow.

5. Eat breakfast. I am not a breakfast eater, it throws my day off and I just can't do it. It is known though that eating breakfast helps with weight loss so get that metabolism jump started in the a.m.!

6. If you plan on eating out check out the menu online to the place you are going (if you know where you are going). This will help you make better choices once it comes time to order. Most restaurants offer a low cal or low carb menu now days.

7. Educate yourself. If you don't know the first step in trying to obtain a healthier lifestyle go to your nearest library, book store or even GOOGLE it. The possibilities are endless on google and you can find out pretty much anything you want through there.

*Disclaimer:
I am in NO way a dietitian, trainer, or even weight loss expert. These tips and tricks are just what I have learned from taking care of an athlete and trying to help him stay on track. I am his wife so whatever I can do to make his life a little easier I try and do it.

I hope you enjoyed today's post! Feel free to ask me any questions!

Love,
E

Easy Paleo Gumbo

After having a "cheat day" on Saturday I knew that Sunday I had to have something tasty on the menu to help bounce back from it. I stumbled upon this Paleo Jumbalaya Recipe while I was looking for a easy Paleo Pizza crust. I decided to give it a shot since there was really no other reason not to. Jess and I love cajun food so that was another reason I wanted to try it out.

You can find the recipe here. I altered it by using 4 cups of chicken broth and 1 cup chicken stock, only 3 green peppers and adding all the meat into it right off the bat. I cooked it on high for 4 1/2 hours in a crockpot. I also added the okra and made the spice as it says to make it instead of using Tony Chachere's. I also changed the name of it from Jumbalaya to Gumbo because they mean the same thing to me I just like the word Gumbo better.

The Gumbo was a winner in this house and everyone enjoyed it. This recipe will definitely be repeated some time in the near future!

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

"If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward."

-Martin Luther King Jr. 

Love,

E

Busy Bees

This week has felt like one of the longest, eventful weeks. Granted we have had a lot going on since Christmas ended almost a month ago! I mean really "time" can you just SLLLLLOOOOWWWW DDOOOOWWWWNNNN?!?! Yes, I am being contradictory by saying this week has been long but then I look at the calendar and today is the 18th day of January! Holy shit! How can that possibly be? This not only means that baseball is right around the corner but it also means I have limited time to spend with my family. Tu es no bueno....

On a lighter note we got some fabu news this week! Jess was invited to the Tigers mini camp so we will be reporting our booties to Florida on February 12th! The Tigers Spring Training is in a different area than where the Cardinals have their Spring Training so we will have a whole new place to explore! I already booked our hotel for the 7 weeks we will be there and I was relieved that there was still availability! Spring Training in Florida as it is in Arizona equals zero vacant rooms! Hopefully we aren't (in my mother's words) checking into Hotel Hell! I guess it wouldn't be that bad though, it would give me material to write about on the blog so it could be a lose/win situation ;)

School started for me this past Monday so I have been pretty occupied with that whole shenanigans. Like I have said before I am pretty OCD when it comes to school so I am constantly checking emails, discussion boards and my grades. Jess thinks I'm crazy for caring about my grades and I think he's crazy for thinking I shouldn't care. I may like to "just get by" in every other aspect of my life but when it comes to school I better be gettin' an A! If not ain't nobody got time for that! My point is to go big or go home! And just as I type this post I am shooting myself in the foot and writing my own destiny to receive barely passing grades this semester. Just straight up jinxing myself! Hopefully not because the last time I got a B I broke our Internet card in rage! Can't you tell how lovely I am when I don't get what I want? Jk, jk! Not really though.

I hope the week was an enjoyable one for you all! We saw Gangster Squad on Monday and I highly recommend going to see it if y'all have some time this weekend!

Happy Friday Y'all!

Love,
E

Packing, Packed, Moving....Moved!

After some answered prayers and a lot of hard work our house finally caught someone's eye. The process that takes place when you finally get a buyer then started once we got home from spending Christmas on the road.

So on New Year's Eve day we started sorting and packing. We were going to be moving into Jess' parents house so we had a lot of sorting we had to do. The packing process proceeded into the weekend and well into the following week. This past Thursday night Jess' parents drove in to help us pack up on Friday and then move.

I don't know if it's because we have been doing this for 12 days straight, the lack of sleep or just the stress of thinking about it all has taken it's toll on me but I AM EXHAUSTED. I never understood how some movie stars were "hospitalized due to exhaustion" but I do now. I didn't hardly move anything on Friday and Saturday that was that heavy. Thank God above that both of our parents came to help us get it all done or we would still be in Austin!

For now and until we have our house built all of our stuff will reside in storage. Obviously we have our clothes for the current season of winter with us at Jess' parents and will just go switch them out once we leave for baseball season and need other one's.

I intend on implementing a plan to get all my shoes out of the house in case of an emergency. I tried to educate Tom earlier on this plan but I think he think's I was joking....I wasn't ;) I will try again tomorrow.

Other than being East Texans again that's all I got for ya! I hope y'all had a great weekend and are enjoying gearing up for the week ahead!

P.s.
If our parents are reading this we can't thank y'all enough for all y'all do. We are spoiled to the bone and couldn't survive without y'all! Love y'all, mean it ;)

Love,
E

Dear...

It has been a bit since I have written any "letters" so today I will grace y'all with a few ;)

Dear Harper,
You are seriously HILARIOUS! I feel like I could be your mom. I know you already have one and she's pretty awesome, I just feel as though you have so many tendencies of mine that it's unreal. Don't waste your time calling anyone else to get you out of jail in the future. I promise to do so and it can be "our little secret". Continue to learn funny things from your brother and sister. They are teaching you well.

Dear Mom and Dad,
Thank y'all for helping us pack, paint, putty, move, sort, pack, clean, repeat....I don't know if we can ever repay y'all. I am so thankful that y'all were able to come down and help us do all of these things. We hope to never move again after the house is finished, but like I always tell Jess...."never say never"....JK JK!

Dear House,
FINISH PACKING YOURSELF! I'm done with you. Not really but if I could be I would. Shame on me for having so much stuff. (Not really, I just had to put that in to make Jess feel like I agree with him)

Dear Husband,
Thank you for being equally crazy as I am. It helps out in situations when I'm sweating my ass (sorry curse words are necessary in this "letter") off packing wondering why the hell we moved to begin with only to realize we didn't like where we were but liked it more than where we are at now. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. At least I have a partner and don't have to weather our parents, friends and family alone.

Dear Tom and Kim,
As if y'all too don't do enough for us I am going to go ahead and say THANK YOU now. Thursday will be here before we know it and we are so thankful for y'alls help in getting us moved. Very much appreciated!

Dear Sister,
Oh my goodness I love you. I'm praying for you.

Dear God,
Thank you for everything. And I mean EVERYTHING. I'm blessed beyond words and I know I am. Please continue to have your hand on and in my life, my husbands life and all of my family's life.

I'm sure you love reading my ramblings, but they are some serious thoughts I have in my head that I never get around to telling people. Now that you have read pretty much all the thoughts in my head I hope you enjoyed them. It is probably borderline schizophrenic but I am a thinker. Sorry I'm not sorry....lol.

I hope y'alls weekend was fabu (fa-boo).

Love,
E

What is a resolution?

Since New Year's Eve I have been thinking about the quote end quote New Year Resolution(s). While Jess and I were having our New Year's Eve dinner I asked him what his resolutions were. Of course he replied with "I don't have any" which didn't surprise me. My husband is a simple man and doesn't care too much about what "everyone else is doing". This topic did kick off a good dinner conversation because frankly neither one of us had set any resolutions for ourselves. A few minutes in while discussing how everyone's resolutions are to join a gym, lose weight and quit smoking, Jess looked at me and said "Well, I do have one. It's a small one...." of course I said "Well let me hear it." He said "I want to get closer with God". This hit me like a rock. I'm no Bible beater per se but I am more outwardly spiritual than my husband. Religion and being religious openly has always been a little hard for Jess. He attends Bible studies and we go to Church (when we can) but he has never really been in your face about it. Which is good because no one likes a liar ;)

I still don't really have a resolution that I have set because what really is a resolution if you can't keep it? I like using the word "goal". I think having goals are better than resolutions. I'm sure you are thinking ta-may-to, to-ma-to, goals, resolutions=same thing. Sorry people not to this girl.

2012 brought a lot of exciting things for me and Jess. We bought our first house and then decided to sell it....We are still learning the ins and outs of being adults ;) Thank God our parents didn't strangle us when we made the decision to sell because you do know what selling a house entails....PACKING and MOVING....AGAIN. Let's just say we are blessed down to every hair that is on each of our heads and our parents are willing to help us move, AGAIN. So to kick 2013 off we are moving. We started the packing process on New Year's Eve and it is still commencing as we speak.

Other than moving in the next week I can't wait to see how Jess' resolution goes this year. I think this resolution is such a positive way to better himself, our marriage and all relationships he has in his life.

What are y'all's resolutions? If you haven't made any it's not to late! It's only January 3rd! Get on it! ;)

Love,
E

Happy New Year!

As we say goodbye to 2012 and hello to 2013 I hope that the year has been extremely great for each one of you. I anticipate that 2013 will be just as adventurous, wild, crazy and fascinating as 2012 was and I hope to embrace this year even more than the years before.

Thank you all for reading my blog and hope to make this place more exciting and fun to read during 2013!

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Happy New Year!

Love,
E