dishwasher drama

So, one of the nicer things about moving home after graduating college is what i like to call home cookin’! My mom is a GREAT cook and she frequently whips up delicious homemade meals!! Some of my faves are her homemade spaghetti and meatballs and her beef vegetable stew…so, last night we resorted to an old Kennedy family favorite aka the bbq! Dad whipped up some chicken and steaks and we paired it with “baked” (aka microwaved to save time) potatoes, and a salad with tomatoes, carrots, mushrooms, peppers, sunflower seeds, and parmesan cheese…this meal was delish and a nice treat to come home to after a long day at work and a tiring workout at the gym!!

However, one thing that typically happens when my entire family (6 of us…mom/dad/me/2 sisters/ 1 brother) sits down to dinner is inevitably at some point an argument breaks out. It’s not like we aren’t a close family or one of us is really weird or even that the fights are huge big things, but someone always says or does something that annoys or upsets someone else and things usually end with my mom leaving the table in a storm and my dad shaking his head at us “kids” because we just had to push things to that level. Last night we argued over why the dishwasher was full and no one had run it? Why this turned into a fight I don’t know, but let’s just say all of our dinner dishes last night got hand washed by 4 unhappy little campers! One of our best arguments I can remember came this past October when I decided to declare randomly that I was going to give up looking at my little brother for Lent….why I decided to make this statement I have no idea, especially because Lent doesn’t typically begin until February/March and we were in no way discussing Lent or anything religious for that matter..but ya I went there and things ended the way they always do at family dinner night at the Kennedy house…someone in tears and mom totally peeved!! hmmm I am thinking maybe we should just try not talking next time we sit down at the table or maybe have like preapproved speaking topics?? haha Luckily no one in our family really holds on to things so our rebound rate is usually pretty fast!!

Ok, next thing on the agenda is breakfast this morning!!! I had a Thomas Whole Wheat English Muffin topped with a Morning Star Veggie Sausage Patty and paired with a Fage 2% Greek Yogurt. Just toast the muffin, microwave the sausage patty, and enjoy!

Oh, and I also got a small, nonfat latte on my way to work as well! I will be posting my workouts from yesterday and this morning later today, so enjoy your afternoon!!

Breakfast.Lunch.&springbootiebusterchallenge

Alrighty…lets get going with my breakfast….

My absolutely favorite and most filling breakfast to bring to work is overnight oats!! They are seriously so versatile and keep me full for a good 3+ hours! The texture can be kind of unique, so if you aren’t a yogurt/oatmeal fan then I probably wouldn’t try overnight oats since essentially it’s just a combo of both!! BUT if you are like me and love yogurt…then try this sucker and be prepared to fall in LOVE!!!

Ingredients:

1 c. rolled oats, 1 6 oz. container Brown Cow Vanilla Cream Top Yogurt, 1/4 c. Vanilla Soy Milk, 1 tbsp. chia seeds, 2 tbsp. peanut butter, 1 tbsp. strawberry jelly, 6 diced strawberries

Mix everything up, let sit overnight, then in the morning add a dash more milk and enjoy!!!

And now on to lunch today….

Lunch today was 1/2 a can of white albacore tuna (drained and mixed with miracle whip, relish, celery, and carrots) on an everything bagel thin and served along side a chicken caesar salad (not pictured since I inhaled it while browsing instagram while on my lunch break!).

It was super nice outside today so I enjoyed a little 30 Rock via the netflix app on my phone and soaked up some rays before heading in to finish up the final stretch at work!!! While planning my workout for this evening, I happened to stumble upon something called Spring Bootie Buster Challenge (SBBC)….essentially this program gives you workout and diet tips which allow you to get points for eating healthy and staying active! There are prizes you can win and group chats for support and it’s all for only 22 dollars. I have never done any plan or group like this, so I am excited to give it a try! I will keep all ya’ll posted once it gets started 😉

Enjoy your afternoons everyone and i will talk to you soon!!

A treadmill workout for those who don’t run!

So, let me start by saying that this workout is from last night at the gym, and it incorporates some jogging and intervals to create a workout ideal for those who are just starting to run or for someone wanting to push themselves hard, but not to their maximum energy expenditure.

I had been working on my running for about 5 months and was at about 5 and 1/2 miles in 55 minutes when I unfortunately hurt my leg and was basically doing elliptical workouts and strength training for about 2 months while I let my leg heal. I was initially kind of bummed out about this because I knew it meant my running endurance would suffer, but it was actually a great reminder to start switching up my workouts instead of focusing solely on just running! For me this was a huge wake-up call because I was so focused on running for as fast as I could and as long as I could, that I was actually overworking myself and going back to some of my disordered thinking (aka the need to burn calories and workout as often as possible instead of working out to feel good and gain strength/energy). I now have incorporated more time for strength training and other cardio machines so that my weekly workouts are challenging and fun and mix things up, AND I can also see my body changing in a more positive way where I now have more toned muscles! So, all in all my injury was a positive because it helped me to slow down and remember that disordered thinking can sneak back up on me if I’m not careful!

And, on that note I bring you my 48 minute (no, not 45 or 50) treadmill workout!!!

On top of this I also incorporated some EXTREME ABS!!! that my sister and I did together from a workout I got off of Pinterest….

Weirdly Addicting TV Shows

Alright, so let’s start with the television show my mom, 2 sisters, and I got sucked into watching last night…CELEBRITY WIFE SWAP! So, every Tuesday night my two younger sisters and I always watch Pretty Little Liars together. For those who don’t know, Pretty Little Liars (or PLL as we call it) is a teen drama show on ABC family and is filled with murder, mystery, romance, cute guys, funny dialogue, clearly I could go on and on because I love the show, but anyways it’s like our weekly routine to watch it together. Last night I was finishing up dinner and so my sister Victoria decided to put on Celebrity Wife Swap just for a few minutes before we started PLL, and well lets just say that soon my whole family was enthralled in this show! The celebrities who swapped lives were Kate Gosselin (Jon & Kate Plus 8) and Kendra Wilkinson (Bad Girls Club). My mom decided that she LOVED the way Kate parented aka chores, schedules, punishments (aka how she parents…jk love ya mom!!!)  but my sisters and I decided we loved Kendra and how she had this carefree spirit about her (carefree aka hires a nanny to watch her single child and gets to go out and I quote “party”). In the end, the show was super funny and interesting and put us all on a way later schedule than normal since our PLL viewing got delayed an hour!!

Dinner last night was a nice mix of brown rice, chicken sausage, bell peppers, and onions!

I boiled 1/4 cup whole grain brown rice (I usually buy it in bulk from a grocery store called Sprouts), then I sautéed 1 chicken and pepper sausage link, 2 bell peppers (a red one and a green one), and added some chives to the sauté pan.

I used about 1/2 a tablespoon of coconut oil to sauté everything, and then once the rise was done (about 15 minutes later) I put everything in a bowl and enjoyed with a large glass of water.

It was a great meal that left me just the right amount of full and then I cozied up with a cup of coffee and a blanket for family TV night!

Decision to start a blog….

Hello! I am 22 years old and just recently graduated from college! Seems crazy to think I am entering the next step in my life, but I am excited to take on my “grown-up” responsibilities and learn more about myself along the way. This blog comes out of a rather hard time in my life, because all throughout college I suffered from disordered eating. I found myself away from home for the first time, and struggling to find my way I turned to eating and exercise as a way to gain some sort of “control.” As my eating disorder ravaged my life, I never thought I would be free from negative thoughts and self-image. However, I finally was able to break free from my previous food obsession and found a way to live a healthy lifestyle. I am by no standards perfect, but I strive to eat a diet rich in healthy and sustaining foods and do a work out regimine that will help me to gain strength…not lose weight! I hope that for anyone out there who has or is struggling with any type of disordered eating I can be of help and show you how to live your life in a healthful and positive way!

I will try and share some tricks that helped me to stop the binge/restrict cycle of eating and if you have any questions about anything please feel free to ask. My hope is that this blog can become a safe haven for anyone out there struggling with food/weight/body image issues and that we can support each other, make each other laugh, and grow together along this crazy journey of life!!