KimPossible

Always in the freezer at my house: chicken breast, ground turkey, Italian sausage, bacon, and some sort of frozen veggie that can be heated up quickly. Always in the fridge: eggs, milk, carrots, celery, zucchini, cabbage, bell peppers, whatever fruit was cheapest, salad mix ( definitely go organic- some of that stuff that is washed and triple washed has been doused in chlorine then packaged), a cheese, a salad dressing. Always in the pantry: fresh garlic, onions, sweet potatoes, canned tomato products, black beans, olive oil, coconut oil, quinoa (microwave-able from Seeds of Change), nuts, dried fruit and chicken stock. Meals within minutes using above: Taco salad like Thereisonlyzuul said - sauté some onion, throw in some ground meats, add some bell peppers, open a can of black beans, rinse them and add to pan. Put it into a bowl on top of lettuce (we do on top of shredded cabbage), add some cheese on top. Little people love cheese. Omelette with whatever in your fridge needs to be used. Zucchini spaghetti- brown Italian sausage or ground meat of choice, put some sauce on top to let it warm ( I make my own, but how much simpler does it get than opening a jar of sauce?). Make "zoodles" out of zucchini with a zoodler or vegetti (Google it- quicker than boiling pasta). Chuck some of your meat sauce on top. Chicken soup - way easy, very forgiving on cooking time... Noodled or not. I also agree its a good idea to start small and work around what you guys like and don't. When you do find something you like, make a double batch and do left overs another night to make your life extra simple. Feel free to message me about other ideas... I'm one of those who plans out a menu for a whole month for the sake of saving money and overlapping left overs...

Because of my insurance, this midwife most likely will not be delivering baby girl. You get whoever is the ob/gyn or registered midwife on call for labor and delivery. And if you're still laboring when a new team comes on shift, you get passed to them. I admit it's all super weird, especially if you're like me and don't like a whole bunch of people looking at your hoo-ha. Next appt is actually with a different midwife because mine will be out of town. I think it will be a good litmus test.

Hey Aminarra! Fellow preggo rebel with my first also . And have a similar story also... Didn't mean to create a tiny human, but wasn't entirely opposed... until it happened (different story for a different day). But had been in a good place with clean eating and exercising (maintaining goal weight for like 2 years!) and finally feeling settled with life, and now this. I'm kind of having an opposite problem with weight though - the midwife wants me to pack on some pounds, and my body is just not going there. I'm trying, eating good stuff like every two hours and threw in a high quality protein shake made with whole milk just to gain some calories, reduced my body weight to just walking and doing some rather wimpy push ups - still, nada. Midwife is cranky. Whatever. I'm excited to follow your story a bit more. The whole process has been terrifying and fascinating for me, and its good to get another perspective from a lady with like-mindedness. You can do it!

Thank you! Also, I have been keeping a little notebook with questions for her, but when I go in and ask she's not helpful. I emailed her once to ask her something about my blood type (I'm rh-) and she referred me to the website... which I had already looked at, and mentioned in my email. It's really bizarre that women are going through this crazy thing and Drs. and Midwifes kind of brush it off. I might be unrealistic due to first time mom panic, but I do a lot of research and reading, and if I'm asking a question of a professional it's because I need it explained to me. No history of eating disorder. No medical issues of any kind for that matter (minus being rh- and probably allergic to my baby). I'm 5ft 5 in, so I wasn't underweight to begin with :/. Oh, and I am popping out this week big time - a couple days ago, my husband came home from work, looked at my belly and said, "Whoa, and you're pregnant." Like I wasn't before because nobody could see? Thanks for this, I think I mainly need to know that it's not "unnatural" in some way to be hovering where I am. All the info out there, makes me feel like I'm unnatural. And that's crappy. Thanks guys - you gave me a bit of gumption. I think maybe everyone has a "right way" of doing pregnancy and they want to foist it onto other people. And I think I'm worried about it because I hate getting things wrong, and I'm pretty nervous. Also, I might just need to go toe to toe with the midwife and see what the deal is. That might be rough. Send some good vibes my way.

Dear Awesome Moms of the Rebellion, I'm Kim - a mom in training (read: 19 weeks pregnant with my first kiddo). I eat clean, I used to do the body weight routines and walk or hike a couple times a week (since preggo, it's been a little more walking than anything else). Other than the sheer terrified panic I feel about being responsible for a tiny human, I feel pretty good. But I have a problem... I am not gaining weight. I started this thing at 136lbs +/- 1. As of this morning, I'm at 140.5lbs. My midwife wants me to be at least at 143lbs by now. Before my last check up, I totally weight doped by drinking 20oz of water before I had to weigh in so that my midwife wouldn't be cranky (it should also be mentioned that she works for a very large hospital system and doesn't subscribe to "paleo" or "clean" so it's kind of difficult to talk to her about foods... I asked if it would be ok to do a protein shake if I felt like I wasn't getting enough and she just looked at me like I was a psychopath. Alas, that's what my insurance is.). I've increased my caloric intake by about 400 cals (maintenance is about 1500 for me). All has to be eaten in small increments because I get full really fast, but I'm eating like 6-7 times a day. Usually, all good real food like wild planet tuna on spinach and kale salad or homemade sweet potato chips dipped in guacamole. But I've also tried ice cream, and whole boxes of mac and cheese made with heavy cream, and chihuahua sized burritos (sometimes all in the same day). All to no avail. Starting to worry about it because I don't want to sabotage a small person before they're out in the world, and all the information about weight gain is just that you should be within a range of gain while preggo. A lot of information is that you just shouldn't gain too much or that you shouldn't eat certain things. How did the rest of you do it? Any insights you have would be much appreciated!

Challenge 2, Week 3 Review There is only so much that I can do as a person. It is not up to me to fix all the people. I have to start practice what I'm preaching - At school, I always tell all the little kids who want to tattle on other kids and/or instigate stuff, "what's YOUR job? Is it your job to be their mom? Is it your job to be the teacher? No, its your job to be YOU. Take care of you, make good choices for yourself." I have to remember that out in the real world. I'm only responsible for the choices that I make on a daily basis. It is not up to me to fix my mom and dad. They are adults, they can work things out on their own. Goals: 2/3 Body Weight Routines done and logged 4/7 Logging foods (still eating really good, just have been too lazy to record it) 7/7 Daily Vitamin 1/1 Contacting the In-laws 1/1 Money set aside for meats and shopping for fresh veg. I'm fairly excited about daylight savings time going into this week. An extra hour of sunlight a day means that the Hubs and I can resume our after work walks a couple days a week. Small things to be grateful for.

Better late than never. Side: Bacon wrapped chipotle roasted sweet potatoes OR salad bar spread with lots of fixins.

I almost feel the need to down some slurm! Amen. Amen. "Bake it till it looks done," isn't exactly constructive if we happen to be keeping a list. :-/ Also, you're pretty fabulous. You're busy, and still rocking it. Dude. I need to build myself a bridge and get over my own lameness.

Challenge 2, Week 2 Review: Pretty much epic fail. The only thing I did right was my body weight routines. Everything else... I get a big fat zero on. Weird stuff all at once. Work has been stressing me out, last week I was teaching for a 4/5th GATE class long term and those kids wore me out. I had to take them on a field trip, I had to give a "life science" (sex ed) presentation, and I felt bad about not doing enough so I took home papers to grade over the weekend. Essays. TOOK FFOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRR (if you're thinking Sandlot, you'd be correct). Going into this week, I have been freaking tired. Challenge 2, Week 3, Day 3 Yesterday, found out that my parents are separated, again. Long story. But the results of which are that my dad will not cosign a house with us. So my parents separated... not cool. Not getting a house... not cool. Total depressing blow on two accounts. It's feeling back to square one for this whole process. Either I change jobs so that the bank counts my money towards a house, or we just save up a massive down payment over the next ten years. Cool...And my parents can't even be around each other without supervision I guess, so my parents have been going back and forth about flying my brother or I up to their houses so that my dad can get his stuff out of my mom's place. UGH. Everything just feels a little off. The only thing that has been good is that I'm doing my body weight routines come hell or high water. I still have time to mostly redeem myself this week, but feels like an uphill battle. So much easier to be lazy. Aka, goal fail tonight - didn't want to cook dinner, carne asada nachos were had. Mer.

Hahaha, this is amazing. Your goals look awesome Heather! I like that you have a goal to cool down properly, that is something that I never think about until I'm too sore to do something. And I like that you're putting in a little bit of cardio just because you're hiking the Inca trail with me sometime

Challenge 2, Week 2, Day 4 Dude. Theme of this challenge is when you join, you're in for life. I haven't been showing that I'm much of a lifer right now. Next goal: write more often? Quickly, as my recap for the last week. It did not end pretty. Went to my brother's house, ate horribly (sooo good), drank a bit (or a lot) and didn't go on the promised hike. Gotta move on. The problem is, since getting back home, I'm kind of fudging on my normal habits. I may or may not have eaten half a bag of cheetos yesterday. :/ And I have found out that when I'm eating crap, it triggers my migraines. Which makes me feel like crap and I don't want to work out. Vicious cycle: eat crap, feel like crap, don't work out, feel like crap... Time to regain my hutzpah. So far this week: 2/3 on body weight workouts 2/7 on logging foods 0/1 contacting in- laws Today was also meats buying day, which helps lift spirits and makes me feel like I'm getting back on track. That's good. Think Positively Exercise Daily Work Hard Stay Strong Worry Less Dance More Love Often Be Happy Go.

I might be totally ADD, but that completely helped. Its hard not to be happier when you have Louis Armstrong singing to you. And from "Whistle While You Work" it goes to "What a Wonderful World"... Challenge 2, Week 1, Day 5 I did get in my workout last night, and it was still really hard for some reason but I feel good about having done it. I also was able to talk to the Hubs last night about how to start conversations with his parents. He was really helpful, and I can say that as of.... just now... I texted my father in law. So, moving forward. Now, I have to figure out how to stay on track while going out of town this weekend. My brother and sister in law threw us a late invite to come to their house this weekend. They always spoil us pretty good, and I almost always fall off the eating clean wagon while I'm there. Its going to be a bit of a challenge maintaining healthy eating this weekend, and getting in a Friday night workout.

Bad news - cannot run recon this weekend. Husband and brother are running interference and I will be out of town hiking the pacific crest trail instead! They have lots of pretty pictures on their website though. I think grilling may be out of the option since also according to their website "all fires, smoking and fireworks are prohibited." So, magical forest animals it is! I'm planning on bringing something already cooked probably. What are everyone's food things so I know what to bring for sharing? Allergies? Aversions? Veggie?

Challenge 2, Week 1, Day 4 Debating whether or not to log my entries as like software updates. This would be 2.1.4. Too confusing? Maybe. This week feels like a crap shoot for no apparent reason. Work has royally sucked because people have started getting mean - pink slip day for California teachers is a couple weeks away, and all the staff have turned into harpies - and they are all talking smack about each other all day. I have only gotten in one work out in this challenge so far and it was really hard, I'm kind of ready to say... Well, its not polite... I'm just having a case of blah this week and I can't figure how to shake it. Blah and blarg and meh and UGH. Ready to move on. With. Every. Thing.

I'm up for the Elfin Forest reserve - if its like other hiking trails in the area, the 2.6 miles might be just the main part and there might be side trails too. In fact, I will run recon this weekend and report back to you guys with details.

Ok, so my first 6 weeks + 1 week of rest is over and done with (pretty much) and now it is time to declare my intentions for the second Rule of the Rebellion. Time to put my cape back on and get to work. Rule #2: When You Join, You're in For Life. Awesome. I can get behind that, because what's the point of fixing things and becoming more awesome if you're just going to end up flushing it down the drain again? Also, its about sustained change, a lifestyle change, and not a fad - so that changes can be well... for life. My husband and I started eating pretty clean last year, and staying active pretty regularly-- we've both maintained ourselves for about a year now, so I'm thinking that we have this down as a lifestyle. But Rule #2 causes me to look at and ponder some other things that I've consented to be a part of... for life. The big thing that comes to mind is my marriage and all the things that come with it. AKA my in-laws. Back story: My in-laws and I don't get along very well. My mother in law calls from time to time and asks my husband when he's moving home. My father in law likes to tell me that they always prayed for a good wife for their son, and they didn't get what they bargained for. Stuff like that. They are very different from my parents and I'm afraid that I'm not very graceful in my reactions to these situations. And then my husband has to listen to me complain for a while afterwards, which sucks. As a result, we don't see them, we don't talk to them, which makes them panic and act even more abrasive towards me. "The more you tighten your grip, Tuck, the more star systems will slip through your fingers." Bleh. Its a doom cycle. Since I joined this family for life, I feel like I need to do what I can to make the best of the situation, even if that doesn't solve the problem. With this in mind, onward to goals! You're in For Life - Goals For the Next Six Weeks (Feb. 17 - March 30) - Operation Nice - Make contact with either in-law at least once a week via text message, facebook, calling or seeing. - If I feel the need to say something unseemly, I will write it down in my journal and it shall not pass through my lips. - Get Out of Financial Stress - Pay for everything in cash. No cash, no buying. - Save $20 a week from tutoring money for meats. - Buy and store proteins once a month.* - Plan meals and buy veggies once per week for efficient spending.* *Moved from "Eat Right" category because it seemed to fit better here. - Eat Right - Take daily vitamin. - Log foods into myfitnesspal EVERY DAY. - No carne asada nachos for the next six weeks (this might be harder than talking to my in laws... just sayin) - Work Hard - Body weight circuit 3x per week M/W/F, 4 rounds of circuit per night, for time. - Extra activity once per week. - All activities logged into Endomondo. On top of these things, I still have my four life goals in the back of my mind that I'm working toward, as well as another project that I've started collecting underpants for. YAY! Rest week was nice, but now its time to get back to work! As a side note: Went to downtown disney today to spend some time with a dear friend. It was awesome! But now my stomach is paying the price of too much sugar... and happiness.

March 16th/17th. Agree with theanne on needing to be cost efficient (why did gas prices go back up?). I liked the bbq and outdoor games idea.

I like that, rest day of sorts. Cleaning up can be hard work, especially if it makes your lungs burn. And it's providing you with some functional strength building because you were probably using different movements and muscles than you would normally use in your normal workout. Around my house, that's a solid extra workout Also, good job with the 2lbs! Keep it going with the paleo and moving around and its sure to be a trend, not just a fluctuation.

Hey Andrea, just checking in with your battles Awesome job with jumping right in to chin ups and dips - hard stuff! Also makes me want to put my chin up bar back up even though its my rest week....hrrrm. If you're still looking to get your knowledge on, I have friends who also recommend the book New Rules of Weight Lifting for Women. And if you have access to netflix, there's a lot of great "foodie" documentaries about diet (take with a grain of salt - as all documentaries contain some bias) like, Food Inc., FoodMatters, FatHead, King Corn, etc. Maybe less for information and more for interest, but still enlightening!

Same. Depends on area and weekend. My world is headed into wedding season, for friends, starting in March.

Amen. Also, people get irritated with you when you start making a positive change in your life because they aren't in the right place to make their own change. Get rid of or just ignore the negative Nancys and just go kill it. The human body is pretty amazing in that when you bring off weight slowly and through working hard and eating right, your skin can and will adjust.

Vexate, Your thread is awesome. I am loving the lore and it makes me want to jump up and shout, "FOR ASGARD!" Keep going, because I'm bookmarking, and holding you to your 3 day posting word.

Can't believe you're going to be done with NR! You're going to have to start doing the crazy workouts where you make your own sandbags and heave them around just to give yourself a challenge. Also, with the cleans and snatches... Is there anyone on base who does them? Maybe they could should you/check form for you until you feel confident to do it on your own? I know your life is crazy with so much to do this week, but I'm really glad that you're coming out! It makes me want to sing cheesy songs about Cali! *we got more bounce in california than all ya'll combined...*

Where Are You Going? - A Review of Weeks 1-6 Goal 1: Get out of Financial Stress - 75%, C My plan fell apart on this one simply because my hubs and I didn't really talk about how the best way to go about this is. Which is horrifying in retrospect, because this was my biggest goal. None the less, saving $20 a week was the work of divine providence because I was able to use that money towards some other goals. Also, I won't be finding a cheaper place to live because hopefully it means we'll be putting an offer in on a house in about a month. Which is amazing. Even after all of that, going into our bigger goal of getting ourselves on a cash basis for all of our expenditures - and if we don't have cash for it, we aren't doing it- feels really good. The first couple of weeks, I carried around my debit card "just in case" I put too many things in my basket at the grocery store... What a crutch for bad stewardship of money. I can swallow my pride and put something back if I don't have the cash for it. Needless to say, we spend a lot less money when our money is tangible and we can see it swirling the drain. And I'm definitely more confident in our bank account. Goal 2: Eat Right - 85%, B There were times during this challenge that I did not drink all my waters and there were times that I did not plan out my veggies accordingly. There were also some give ins to Carne Asada Nachos from the local hole in the wall. Overall, it was a good jump back into a good solid path of eating and my goals did not necessitate a no on the delicious mound of sour cream and beef and chips... It just nags at my inner Jiminy Cricket a wee bit. Goal 3: Work Hard - 90%, A- I gave myself an 90% from straight up math. The goal was 3 BWs 3x/week plus an additional work out. That's 24 workouts, and I made 21 of them (87.5%), plus 5 additional workouts on weeks where I had already met my goals(.5% per additional workout). The percentage points are admittedly arbitrary since I assign the value, but it feels right for what I know I did in the last 6 weeks. Life Quests: Out of the 4 life quests I'm working on. 2 of them have been slightly on the back burner for this challenge, one has been totally prevalent, and one is irritating me. The one that is irritating me is the reading things. I swore to myself that I would not start a new book until I killed one that I had already started... Gosh dang you Edith Wharton and your House of Mirth. Its so frivolous and full of self absorption that I cringe when I read it. Have not been able to slay it and therefore have been greatly compromised on my goal. But I will slay the vapid beast! The prevalent one is the house thing. The two on the back burners are learning Italian and getting my face fixed. I've been checking in to see when the community college will put out their summer catalog and courses, but so far, nothing. As for getting the face fixed, its time to find a reputable adult orthodontist who would be willing to work with a surgeon. Onward!