Day to Myself II

Happy Monday! Today I was lucky enough to stay home so I could work on sanding and do my own thing. It was a very good day, but let me begin by taking you back to last night. I made another creation using egg roll wrappers and it was SO easy and tasty. And when the ingredients are this simple, flavor can punch you in the mouth in no time at all! All I did was thinly slice an apple and top it with cinnamon. Then I folded up the edges of the wrap and popped it in the oven for 10. I made my mom one as well that she ate for breakfast this morning.

My breakfast this morning was another “breakfast in a bowl” (or “loaded oatmeal”) that I enjoyed with peach tea and a chai latte. I relaxed as I ate it and then I got to work on cleaning up the kitchen.

Mid morning I decided to make an easy fix breakfast for the upcoming week. I had all the ingredients so I made a simple spinach quiche. 

• 7/8 cup egg whites
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• lots of spinach
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• frozen deep dish pie shell
• add onion and spinach to the pie shell, mix remaining ingredients and pour over veggies. Other veggies or cheese could easily be added. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Makes 6 servings

I enjoyed a slice for my morning snack and it was very delicious topped with pepper and a little hot sauce.

After my snack I went outside to work on our new table. There were a few small splits in the legs that I attempted to fill but I don’t think I was all that successful. I went on my 3 mile run around the neighborhood while I let the wood glue dry. I had my recovery chocolate milk and then got to work on sanding! I did the parts that I could reach. That table is way too heavy to move it by myself.

I came in and made my lunch. I cooked up chicken sausage with onions and tomatoes and added it to brown rice. I also had carrots, an apple and baked Ruffles. 

Then I went out to the barn! I took my time grooming Vinnie and then I took him up to the arena to long line. At first he was trying to follow the rail and therefore he was doing a wimpy jog instead of a trot with his head bent to the inside. Then he got it figured out and was able to work in the circle I was asking him to work on. Then I swapped directions and things went down hill very quickly. He could figure out how to canter and not follow the rail. That resulted in lots of bending, backing up, bucking, changing directions and so on. You name it, Vinnie did it. My forearms were burning from trying to get him to listen. When he finally did what I asked of him I rewarded him by calling it quits. It was a very long lesson though. He got lots of work in and he was foaming at the bit which meant he was really trying to work hard and listen. Even when he has a bad day of work, he is still the sweetest guy ever once the pressure is off. I was able to snap a quick action picture, mostly for my benefit so I could go back to look and see how he carries himself, but here it is! Not the best picture but it’s ok.

When I got home I did some more sanding before relaxing and fixing my snack

We had a late dinner tonight (like past 9:15) because my dad went to the gym late and we started making dinner late. We had pork tenderloin and sweet potatoes and broccoli. 

Apple Nachos or Hot Dog Pasta Anyone?

Hi guys! I hope everyone had a good day! I am just going to do a quick post tonight. I typed up a nice one and then it didn’t save, so I am just going to do a short summary of the highlights of my day! 

For breakfast I made apple nachos. Apple slices with vanilla almond butter and chopped walnuts. Definitely going to have that again. Later that morning I had a quick snack of oatmeal and then my dad and I were off to Lowe’s! We got some trimming for around the garage and then we splurged and got a new toy!

For Lunch I had a leftover turkey sandwich, leftover brussels, carrots, pomegranate arils, and pretzels. After I was done eating I headed out to the barn! It was a relaxing day: I played music on my iPhone and enjoyed spending time with Vinnie. He was a good boy today. I think he is finally understanding that it’s much easier if he just listens to me haha.

After the barn I made banana bread, following a recipe that I think my grandma, Baba, gave us a while ago. 

My second snack: caramel crisps, spiced pumpkin seeds and cottage cheese. Yum!

I spent the rest of the evening mostly relaxing and it felt great 🙂 Did anyone else catch the crazy ending to the Alabama/Auburn game?! For dinner we kind of just made our own meals. I whipped up a new creation. Pasta, green peppers, onion, spinach, shredded mozzarella, Laughing Cow white cheddar wedge, 2 lean hot dogs and a few seasonings. Surprisingly delightful and a very quick fix! 

We watched Red 2 since Notre Dame was losing… It was a very good movie and there were some funny parts! After the movie I had my snack which was pumpkin pie, banana slices and milk.

In other news, I have been keeping up with my social challenges! It feels great to push myself and put myself out there. Also, over the past three days I haven’t been eating completely based on my bubble meal plan. While I am proud of myself for handling the unplanned, it felt good to go back to my bubble plan today. I just like how the eating disorder thoughts are less noticeable whenever I have my meals and snacks planned. It just makes it so much easier. Although, I have gotten really good at ignoring those thoughts when they do occur. I feel like I am handling uncertainty with much more ease. Now I feel like I am at that point where I can no longer be classified as having an eating disorder. I have come so far since the beginning of this year and I feel like I am eating a large amount, and often. Key word being feel. Just because I feel recovered, it doesn’t mean I am recovered. All the more reason to keep on working hard! I also really want the green light from Dr. Chung on the 10th to start my training for the Krispy Kreme Challenge! Still a huge motivator for me, along with my horse 🙂

I hope you all had a wonderful Saturday!

P.S. A big birthday shout out to my Uncle Bill! Thank you so much for all of your support throughout my recovery! Hope you had a great day!

Is Planning and Organizing Ever a Bad Thing?

I find that everything goes a little smoother whenever I have a game plan. Anyone else with me on that one? I mean, I don’t have to have every single second planned, but just a generalized plan. I like knowing what I have going on during the day just so I can feel prepared. The feeling of being unprepared just stresses me out. Maybe that is why I always had so much anxiety in the mornings before school (all the way back to middle school). My parents and I have also concluded that meals and snacks are easier for me when I have the majority of them planned. I do a better job of filling up my bubbles whenever I have time to prepare my meals and snacks with my meal plan out. You have probably heard me mention this before. I just thought I would reiterate it so that maybe I will be more motivated to fill up all my bubbles when I am prepping for the day! 🙂

This morning I woke up and fixed my breakfast and snack. I had another bagel with cream cheese, berries and milk. For snack I packed trail mix. 

At work I did more keying and reconciling along with a few other random tasks my sporadically assigned me. It felt good to get some things done at the office. We worked till a little past one and then we came home for lunch. So it was a little late for  my goal time for lunch, but I handled it well. I made a creation! I was inspired by the HUGE bag of New York Apple we have. I thought about what flavors work well together. I had the sweet apple chicken sausage in the fridge, so I sliced up a link to put inside a quesadilla with thinly sliced apple and white sharp cheddar. Holy Fall flavor to the max. Yum! No apple went to waste. I ate the rest as my side. 

Once I finished eating I went out to see Vinnie. The sun was finally out so I took advantage of it. It felt great outside and I played some music while I groomed. Perfectly relaxing 🙂 Vinnie’s mane is looking awful though… I don’t think there is anyway I can save it. Vinnie and G! Vinnie desperately wanted more treats after I put him back in his pasture.

After the barn I got cleaned up and ready to head into Durham for our appointment with Lori. I ate key lime Greek yogurt and pretzels on the way in. It was another great session! We shared how we thought the last week went and what we did differently to reach our goals. We also talked about the things that I did well and the things I still need to work on. We came up with some solutions to go along with that. My dad mentioned that it seems like my fear about ingredients in my food has decreased and I couldn’t agree more. While I still feel some anxiety at times, it definitely isn’t as bad as it used to be. So that was a positive! My parents also said that it my portions seem to have increased a little bit. My dad said that he can tell a difference with my eating during the week at work and the weekends. During the week, especially this past week, I have’t been planning for the days as well as I should have. I was rushing the past few mornings and didn’t have time to make sure I was packing enough things to fill up as many bubbles as possible. And I wasn’t feeling comfortable with going out and buying something to help fill up those bubbles. I admitted that and we discussed it a little. Some solutions we came up with were: keep a selection of food in the kitchen at the office, plan for my days either the night before or wake up earlier, DRINK MORE WATER, have larger portions, have my parents make suggestions, and things like that. We told Lori all about our Friday night adventures where we try a new place for dinner. She said how it was a great idea to have that as something to look forward to, not just because of the food, but because it is a good way to experience new things as a family, which is important to us all. So we got all of our thoughts/concerns out and we have our goals in place for the next week!

My parents stayed for the parent group and I headed home. It was a “free for all” dinner. I don’t know if that is the best way to describe it, but I liked the sound of it. Basically I was on my own for dinner and my parents went out after the session. So I came home and then watched the latest episode of Hart of Dixie on my laptop. I then stuck my chicken cordon bleu in the oven and then did the dishes and cleaned up a little. When my chicken was done I heated up some leftover pasta and a giant carrot that I chopped up in the microwave. Then I cut up my cordon bleu and mixed it all together. Simple and delicious! 

Now there are a few more things I want to get done before I have my snack and head off to dreamland! I hope everyone had a great day! Who’s ready for the mid-week mark?