I didn't do great this weekend, BUT I have noticed I reach for water more and junk food less. AWESOME!
On the menu tonight was Paella with "sausage", nori dusted oyster mushrooms and wine-braised artichoke hearts.
Dessert: Tapioca pudding.
It was NOT a quick meal. However I really enjoyed preparing it. I feel very satisfied and yet I am not heavy or lethargic. This is a beautiful thing.
I am growing wheatgrass. Super easy and fast. I will be juicing in 2 days. I should have started more. Maybe a tray every other day. For all those that have food storage. Wheat is a staple and you can put it to very good use this way!!!

K- I told you I am not very good at this blog thing. On Wednesday I went to the movies and drank a coke......I didn't sleep ALL night...no joke not one wink! That NeVer happens. It has only been a few days. Crazy! I have been doing mostly good. Some chicken and a sausage(I am paying for with a tummy ache now). A little butter here and there. It is crazy how much meat we really eat. Look at what you eat and tell me if there is a meal without dairy or meat. I guess I never really paid attention that closely. It is a struggle as every change is and I am not going to be perfect but I am becoming more aware of what I am putting in my body and if I have to have something bad then I do but I find it not to be very appealing when I eat it; and now I only want to have a tiny bit.

I made sugar-free, dairy free brownies and they were yummy fresh but a day old- not so good.

I could not fool my kids with tofu scramble. They wouldn't touch it. Except Sophey.....she LOVED it! Jeryn only liked mine which had tomatoes, mushrooms and onions. GO figure!

It's weird when you go without for even a couple of days, you feel the difference when you re-introduce them to your stomach. It does not make you happy! Hopefully I will learn from this. However, I am sure that I will share the same lesson re-learned over and over again.
Some people have to learn the hard way...Why is that?

day 1 done!

I just finished my "chicken picatta" that my 8-yr old son helped me to prepare. We also had a garden salad w/ home made vinaigrette and fresh from the oven home made focaccia bread. My kids ate ALL of it surprisingly. I loved the bread and salad, but having Seitan by itself may take some getting used to. Would be great on a sandwich though.
Lunch too, was a success. Quinoa sushi rolls and my kids thought the tofu was cream cheese and they added their own veggies. LOVED it! For me the portabello mushroom was amazing by itself. The roll was awesome.
We snacked on some fresh strawberries and they could use some sweetener so, I poured a little vanilla almond milk on them and they disappeared super fast!!
Breakfast was oatmeal, which all my kids like anyways, with vanilla almond milk and agave nectar.
K- today.....NO sugar, NO dairy, NO meat and NO soda! I am satisfied and full. However the caffeine headache just kicked in! yikes!
I will have to say though, I spent a lot more time in my kitchen and I need to do laundry!!! Change isn't easy! Hopefully I can stick with it.
I am still tired and sluggish. I am having a hard time sleeping. We shall see how I feel in a week or so..

A week has gone by and nothing...sorry!
Well, I have cleaned out most of my pantry and fridge and FINALLY went to the grocery store...whew!! FYI-when you make a big diet change, the initially grocery trip is EXPENSIVE and I only have 1/2 of what I need. The rest will have to wait and I will HAVE to get creative in my kitchen...tomorrow home made bread and Seitan to go with the meals.
DAY 1 of conscious living!! YAY!
breakfast-oatmeal (of course)
lunch-quinoa maki w/avocado and cajun portobello fillets
dinner-fresh baked herbed focaccia, chicken piccata and summer salad
mmmm.(cross-fingers)

got my cook book and I think there is only one recipe that did not appeal to me. This will be fun. I hope...

any guinea pigs out there want to try my new dinners?

food for thought....have any of you read...I mean actually read the word of wisdom. I found the verse following, eating meat sparingly, to be VERY interesting. Check it out.

Also, I am convinced that my new life of eating will change everything. I believe that my finances will benefit, my house will be cleaner and I will exercise! more! We shall see!!

Tomorrow I will hopefully buy the book, "The Conscious Cook" by Tal Ronnen. If I am to eat healthy it will be gourmet tasting. Also, why I named the blog. "Consciuosly naked"

The food will be naked....raw and healthy...yay! I will plan out my meals for the ENTIRE week and some of you may know that that can be difficult for me to follow an exact plan....eeek!

Until then.....

the beginning

OK....OK... I am not a blogger......yet. Maybe in this new journey I will find a new found love of the blogging world. I love looking at all of your creative and beautiful blogs, but never felt it to be in my comfort zone. I have decided it's time to change many things in my life so I will need all the support and accountability to answer to. I will promise to be utterly honest even if it hurts!! (me, cause I would die I hurt anyone else's feelings)

Well, here goes.

Many of you will wonder why my blog is titled "consciously naked" and it's not because I have found this new joy in nudity. Most of you that have seen me in the last few years are all secretly taking a sigh of relief...lol! I know because I am doing the same.

I have been sitting around in mommy depression land for the past few months, wondering why I feel like I am making nothing of my life. Don't get me wrong, I love my kids and love that I am privileged to be able to stay at home with them. But maybe some of you out there understand the "funk" that I sometimes find myself in when cleaning the SAME things everyday, and getting seemingly nothing accomplished when you are done. It just puts me in a Blah mood. I HATE that!! It then turns into trying to ignore most of it, followed by the frustration after a couple days when you have to conquer an even bigger mess. It drives me crazy to have it messy but the same to clean and see it get messy an hour later... and don't get me started on the never ending pile of laundry that never finds it's way into the baskets or the drawers! It is a never ending battle. The list however goes on. Aside from the cleaning, which gets done.....ugh,

I have my weight issue...ouch...that stings to say..

After playing years of competitive volleyball I would never thought that all this stinkin' baby weight would affect ME!!! I am sure I am not the only one, but come on!

I will never get used to it and that in itself may be the most depressing part!

I love the outdoors and being active. I literally CRAVE hard, blood-pumping, gasping-for-air, sweat-pouring exercise AND competition that I cannot seem to find satisfaction in, by going to the gym classes dancing goofily around to music. I find running in place or anywhere dreadfully boring...but secretly wished I loved it!

So, I find myself sitting on the couch with a million excuses to not get a ton done that day, and then it turns into the next day and then weeks.....

Now here I am hoping that if I have someone else to be accountable to, then I can make the changes I need to do what I want.

I am getting closer to the name part of this blog.....I promise!

Well, having very hot, skinny, beautiful sisters and a mom with a killer body in her...umm 40's...(sorry mom) I find it even harder to be happy with my health and body. I know exactly why I am fat. It isn't surprising. I don't exercise and I LOVE food!!! mmm! I love to cook it! I love to serve it and I love to eat it! I love making others happy through beautiful, delicious food. To me, it makes every occasion better, (or worse, depending on how good it is.)

Now after watching a few documentaries on food, I have come to a nasty realization that we are not really eating food...

It disturbed me enough to waltz down the health food section now and again, and read the labels on the food, but that only lasted a week or so and I was back to the norm of fast food and yummy tasting food. However, I was still haunted by the facts I have discovered and by the price I will have to pay financially for all this "health food."

I have prayed for motivation to do all that I need and be the best person I can and wasting my life away doing the bare minimum on my couch isn't enough for me. I would never do the minimum for someone else, so why treat myself that way!!

This isn't an easy task.

I am "consciously" taking on the task of ridding all the stress and crap out of my life.

By doing so I must become "naked" by stripping it all away and starting new. You will see more of this cute little pun as my days go on.

I know what I know and know that God has opened my mind after much prayer to ensure that I become the best me possible. So here I go....