Deliciousness + Healthfulness

I stumbled upon a new site with fitness/nutrition information: the Coach Calorie. I love coming across an older site like this, because it means I won't be waiting for new articles to read but can make my way through the archives. He seems to offer pretty sound information. Some of it I've heard before, some of it's new. What really caught my interest, though, were his thoughts about nutrition and controlling carbohydrates. Basically he advocates limiting carbs to the breakfast meal and post-workout, and really, you can do without carbs at breakfast. The aim of all this carb-controlling is, of course, to maximize your fitness efforts and to get "cut", if you will (*note that this is my interpretation of his information, not what he actually said*).

I'm not sure I'm ready to pursue the "cut" look. I've lost five pounds since January, mostly because I upped my protein intake, increased my strength training, and started logging more hours at the bookstore. I finally have my goal weight within sight and I'm beginning to think I can actually attain it (125, in case you're curious. I haven't been able to get below 130 in years, which is where I'm at now). I'll have to tweak my diet, though, and I'm thinking the carbohydrates are where I need to tweak it (/big sigh).

Here I run into a problem. My job is physically intense; when I'm not helping customers I'm hoisting 30-pound boxes or pushing/carrying around big stacks of books. I am rarely stationary, and all that concentrated activity has me worried that my performance would be compromised if I cut carbs too severely. So I've decided to track what I eat in a typical day and see if I can cut about 50 grams from that total. I seem to stay around 175-200 grams of carbs per day, in addition to 80 grams of fat and 130 grams of protein (the fat is all from healthful sources such as eggs, nuts, EVOO, and the like).

And so I'm concocting tasty yet low-carbohydrate meals with enough protein to actually satisfy me. Here's a protein shake combination that pretty much blew my taste buds away:

1 scoop of the pictured chocolate protein. It's my favorite so far, although I have no idea how it compares to other whey proteins. It's available at Walmart and within my budget.
1 C. ice
1 C. sliced strawberries
1 C. Almond milk
1 Tbs. flaxseed

Mix in a blender and voila! The strawberries combined with the chocolate protein is absolutely wonderful, in my opinion, and it's somewhat low in carbohydrates (306 calories, 29 carbs, 7 grams of fat, and 33 grams of protein).

If anyone has other tasty protein blends let me know. I dislike the taste of whey but cannot get to 130 grams of protein without it (that may sound high, but it's not for someone who's looking to build strength. They estimate 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight).

Have an awesome Memorial Day, and please do take a moment to remember those whom we are honoring with this day. They deserve it.

Christian + Mother + Full Time

So I've been reading a lot of blogs lately. One thing I've noticed is that most of the ones I gravitate towards are written by Christian stay-at-home mothers OR they're so self-motivated and project orientated that they might as well be. And I feel guilty, like I'm not doing enough or that I'm not enough. It's an irrational emotion; none of the bloggers mean to convey that sense of superiority but combined with my angst over working full-time again ... yeah, I feel like dirt. You should see what these mothers/bloggers do. They make their own beauty scrubs, they plan a whole week's menu out in advance (I frequently have no idea what's for dinner until it's actually dinnertime) and some of them manage to home school several kids at once while still looking (if one can judge by their photos) absolutely gorgeous.

So. You see my title? I've decided that the next time someone (like me) who does a search for bloggers who work full-time and are also mothers will have someone to find, so we won't feel pressured to feel guilty by the awesomeness that these momma-bloggers bring to the table (which is completely unintentional; I'm pretty sure I'd like all of the bloggers I've read so far were I to meet them in real life). I am a mother who adores her kids and wishes I could spend more time with them but I also love my job. I'm working so my husband can attain his engineering degree and no, I don't think the Bible condemns me/us for doing this (you should see the debate over that subject, whether or not Christian women should work outside of the home. I say who cares? As long as both parents are doing their utmost to do the best for their family:) and really, read Proverbs 31. That lady did not stay at home, although that was her primary concern. She had a thriving business of some sort and probably had a mess of servants at her beck and call. Brings to mind the image of a chatelaine.

Whew. I feel so much better, now that I've talked myself through that awful feeling of dirt-ness. And in case you're interested, here are the blogs I've been reading lately (and at some point I'll figure out how to change my blogroll thingy/whatever you call it):

http://themarathonmom.com/
http://sortacrunchy.typepad.com/
http://www.thehumbledhomemaker.com

Wow, it felt like I had been perusing more blogs than just three. Probably because I also look at fitness blogs/articles (Oxygen magazine is a really good resource). Quite a different world from the homeschooling/homemaker blogs. It's like pinafores next to pin-ups:)

The Blogosphere is BIG.

I followed a fair few blogs back in our WoW days, but recently my feed reader has two, maybe three blogs in it. I just don't have the time, what with with being a mom, student, worker bee and oh hey, who's that man over there? Oh, right, my husband:)

In the last few days, though, I've had time. I went through three years of archives on one of my favorite blogs-Megan@sortacrunchy. Through her blog I discovered several others, including Brandy@marathonmom. And guess what? There's a lot more to blogging then taking a few moments and writing your thoughts down. I knew that, but I didn't quite grasp just how much more. And I'm totally inspired. That will last-maybe-until summer ends. I like blogging, I do. I like having a place to express my thoughts. I'm not sure, though, that now is the right time to try and revamp how I do things. School craziness and all that.

But it's been fun thinking about how I could be a cool blogger mom too. And the other ideas and stories, from OCM (Oil Cleansing Method for those of who, like me, aren't crunchy) to reading about a mother's horrific health scare , have been enlightening.

Now, however, I'm going back to scouring archives.

It's still tough.

I've been a working mother for a while now. I worked one day a week while the Orclette was little. It allowed me to stay with her yet still interact with adults. When we moved here my job was the sole source of income so I bumped up the workload. That's also when Miniorc came on the horizon and gave me the worst nausea I've ever felt:) Fun times. Then I was the sole parent while Damm was away for training and didn't work. Then Damm came back and I worked one or two days per week. Then his financial aid ran out. Fortunately a position at work opened up so I was able to get more hours. I was also enrolled in two classes; I estimate my weekly workload (including the job and homework) at anywhere from 40-50 hours. Now I'm looking at a possible full-time position; if I did that my workload would be only 40 hours because I wouldn't be taking any classes. More time with the kids, right? Yay!

Except that when I contemplate the transition from part-time to full-time, even though my overall workload decreases (as well as our stress levels), my guilt increases. It shouldn't; one of the things I promised myself is that my kids would not be put into daycare and so far we've kept to that. Either Damm or one of the grandma's watches them when I'm not. I'm the primary financial provider right now, the one who's making sure Damm is able to finish school so I can "retire":) So why do I feel guilty? I'm wondering if it's not guilt, but simply that I miss them and am rather envious of those who get to spend time with them. On the other hand (this is a small sampling of the arguments that I have in my head) Damm might be deployed in the future and getting to spend time right now with his kids is pretty awesome. Same with the grandma's; who knows if we'll be able to live in the same area? How cool that they get to spend time with them. I have some pretty awesome memories of summers spent with my grandma, and I want them to have the same type of memories. I also really enjoy what I do at work. I excel at it, and that is an enjoyable feeling.

And yet the feeling is still there. It shouldn't be, and it really only hits me as they're falling asleep and I get to witness their cuteness without the excess energy.

Sigh. Three more semesters, some more training and then we're done and Damm can shower me with diamonds (figuratively) for all the hard work and sacrifice. And then I can spend time wishing that I still worked, just a little bit, just to get out of the house:)

Happy Belated Mother's Day

The one thing I wanted to do for Mother's Day? Sleep in. I put in the request early, reminded Damm and then stayed up late watching "The Vow". 9 a.m. the next morning my husband and kids bounced in with flowers, big smiles and loud cries of "Happy Mother's Day!"

I think we've forgotten what sleeping in means in this family.

After two cups of coffee and breakfast from Mcdonald's I felt like a person and rather enjoyed the rest of the day. I bought a 54-ounce bottle for my iced coffee (24-ounces just wasn't cutting it) and a new bottle for my protein shakes. Life is good. And here are my adorable kids:

I love this one. Looks like (to me, anyway) that I staged it. I did no such thing of course, it was pure accident.

The hat goes everywhere he goes.

Yes, Miniorc is picking his nose. Note the camo hat and cowboy boots.

He watered himself instead of the garden. She took his flowers and put one "in my ear".