Nail Clipping in the Workplace, brought to you by Worldly Wednesday

Seriously, when did this become an okay thing to do? Last week someone started clipping their nails at their desk right across from me. Thankfully, I couldn't see them, or else my opinion of them would be forever tainted. That is so disgusting.

Today's Lesson:

 Do not clip your nails at work. If you absolutely must, go to the bathroom like a normal human being and spare everyone else the horror of wondering, "Did a fingernail just land in my coffee?"



In other news, I apologize for not blogging over the weekend. Rick unplugged the computer to move it and he won't let me touch his electronics because I tend to destroy them, so I had to wait for him to put it back together.

Apathetic America

I woke up this morning and immediately had the debate on my mind. Unfortunately, I have yet to watch it because Rick was working and we are going to watch it together. Still, I woke up in that mindset.

I was thinking about how different out would be to live in a place like France, where the government actually listens to the people. I wonder if out is because of the French revolution. If I were in power I would be wary of causing a political uprising like that. I'm sure that isn't the only reason the government in France is more responsive, just one of many. The other big one is that as citizens, Americans tends to be lazy. We don't take to the streets very often. We sit behind our TVs and our computer screens and yell at inanimate objects instead of putting that energy to good use.

If we took our role as citizens more seriously, I am sure change would come. If we actually wrote letters, made calls, took to the streets, change would come. Until then, we are stuck with an apathetic nation that doesn't give a damn about anything but making money.

Menu Monday

Shopping list

I am focusing on soups this week in honor of fall and my new lunch crock!

My menu for the week:

These are all adapted from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook
Navy Bean Soup
Mulligatawny
Classic Beef and Barley Soup

So far I have only adapted the Beef and Barley Soup, so I will list that one.

1/2 a package of Seitan
1/2 cup hulled barley
5 cups water (next time I might use fresh vegetable juice instead of water)
2 carrots, chopped large
1/2 onion, chopped large
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 cup Mukimame beans
1 cup sliced mushrooms
A few pinches of:
Salt
Fennel Seeds
Pepper

I threw all of the above into a crock pot on high until the carrots were tender. The next day I heated it in my lunch crock. Unfortunately, I only now realized I forgot to add the barley, so that soup is back in the crock pot with barley in to soak up the extra water.

...I'm a new cook. Leave me alone.

Boundaries and G-BOMBS, It's a Titillating Tuesday

Happy Tuesday! 

Here are my interesting reads for the week:

Food Boundaries    

 The first is about creating boundaries for yourself so you don't use food in a dangerous way, such as a tool to combat depression or intense emotions. Reading this article made me think of Why French Women Don't Get Fat and Mireille Guiliano's trick of personal boundaries when it comes to losing weight. For example, I kept a food journal for a few weeks and identified an afternoon snack from the vending machine as one reason why I was having trouble sticking to healthy food choices. Instead of using optional language: "I can get food from the vending machine, but only if I really need it," I use definitive language to create a boundary for myself: "I don't eat from the vending machine."

     I find that I am still tailoring my boundaries. I am trying to whittle my diet down to mostly vegetables for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which makes me uncomfortable when I am out with friends because I felt like they were judging me. It turns out that the reason they were being judgement was that I had made a big declaration that I was turning vegan and night after night more meat kept appearing on my plate. Whoops.
 
 The lesson there is:

1. I shouldn't make big announcements about a personal matter, because it is no one's business and I will just feel bad if I slip up; and 
2. instead of allowing myself to be persuaded by the peer pressure of everyone else's taste buds, I need to employ my definitive language trick again: "I do not follow the trend of the table."

Another boundary I have for myself is that I eat as nutritionally as possible when I am by myself because it helps me to focus on at least two meals a day being very nutritionally dense.

G-BOMBS

Well, isn't that an easy thing to remember. According to Dr. Joel Fuhrman, it stands for:

Greens
Beans
Onions
Mushrooms
Berries
Seeds

In order to get the most nutrition out of your diet, you should be eating these things every day. I tend to spread mine out by meal. I eat berries in the morning with greens or oatmeal for breakfast, greens with seeds, mushrooms and beans for lunch and beans, onions and other steamed veggies for dinner. Of course I normally have more than that, but it is nice to have basics to fall back on. I found this article that talks about eating for health.

What's up my sleeve

Happy Sunday!

So I am going to be blogging more consistently. I am hoping it will help me to stay more organized and not be as lazy when I get home from work. 

Here is my plan, with each day focusing on something a little different.

• Systematic Sunday 
• I will talk about what I am doing to prepare for the week ahead of me. Organization starts with making a plan!
• Menu Monday
• My week in food pictures, and what is on the plate for this week.
• Titillating Tuesday
• Awesome things I saw/found this week
•  Worldly Wednesday
• Tips, lessons and mess-ups from a young professional
• Travel and Future Thursday
• Places I want to go or things to build, have, do in my future
• Fitspo Friday
• Fitness inspirations, ideas, or images that kept me going toward my goals this week
• Spasmodic Saturday
• Things I thought about this week, did, random updates.

Unfortunately for today, my System Sunday is at a halt because Margie is at the beach. That means I have to put off my grocery shopping for another day. I will update when I have one put together!

https://www.evernote.com/shard/s105//sh/e8782a80-7a30-4fe6-b3db-90c4caf110db/a88bcfae5bbab1a8ea12de67174facb8

Sunday Ritual

Oh how time flies! I swear I just posted a few days ago.

I spent this weekend with my mom and baby brother at the coast! That was a lot of fun. Maybe next time we can do boogie boarding. :)

I have recently started doing something I used to do in college. The Sunday Ritual.

My work week Sunday ritual is a bit different from my college one.

-I do both my laundry and Rick's.
-Rick's mom and I grocery shop for the week.
-I make breakfast smoothies for the week.
-Today I did a goodwill run. My closet has slowly been filling with crap I don't need.
-Today I made my lunch for tomorrow, set out my breakfast, my work clothes, my jogging clothes and mp3 player.

I am all set for this week!

I have a few surprises up my sleeve! More to come.

Back from Vacation!

Wow, it has been a while since I have been on here. I just get so distracted, you know?

I am slipping again. Big surprise. My dream lifestyle is still a work in progress.

Here are some things I have gotten better at:
-Eating veggies for breakfast. On Monday I had spinach salad and one cup of a berry, orange, chocolate and flaxseed smoothie I prepmade and froze on Sunday.
-I premade enough smoothies for breakfast for 7 days!
-I haven't had meat since Saturday. I am trying to only eat meat if I really feel like it when I am out with either Rick or friends.
-I am trying to refrain from snacking, especially while at work. I think it has been about 2 or 3 weeks since I have purchased anything from the vending machine! Woot! I try to limit my eating to between 6am and 7am, 11am and noon and 6pm to 7pm. Dr. Fuhrman from Eat for Health suggests only eating 3 times a day so that you give your body time to digest the food and then reduce your fat cells for extra fuel it needs.

Here are some things I need to work on:
-Working out consistently. I was ready to hit the gym on Monday and then gave myself heat sickness by walking for 1/2 hour from work to the store with only a cup of water. I slept from 4:30pm til 6am the next morning. To make matters worse, Rick came home sick around 6 that same night. We were both a pretty sorry sight to see. I tried to go workout on Tuesday, but Rick said I should hold off since I got so sick on Monday.
-Money! I only paid $750 to my student loans last month. That's almost $1000 less than I wanted to pay.

What am I going to do about it? Here's the plan:
-Switch to cash instead of using my debit card. Keep track of receipts. I found a handy new app called Receipts by proximiant. I think I can upload rewards cards onto there too.
-I am going to cancel my gym membership. I haven't gone in about a month. I find it hard to get there by myself, since I don't have a car, and my gym partner has been too busy to go with me for a while. Rick and I are going to convert the storage shed in the driveway into a little workout area. All my gym stuff is out there already, so why not. That will save about $65/month between the two of us. If I really get the hankering for another gym thing, there is a gym down the road, much closer to my house for about $10/month instead of $30/mth.
-Oh, the storage gym thing. I'm going to use bodyrock and zuzkalight exercises plus jumprope and running.
-Margie, Rick's mom, and I are trying to cut down on our food costs. For some reason we end up throwing about a quarter of the food away because we just don't eat everything we buy.

A vacation update:
Our friends Josh and K just got married on the 4th! Rick was the officiant and I was a bridesmaid. We took vacation from the 6th-10th to go camping with them as part of their honeymoon. We found this great little spot off a highway that was very secluded and right next to a little river. We had a blast exploring the very cold river and building campfires. It turns out that I am actually really good at cooking over a campfire. We only stayed one night, but for dinner the boys had Fred Meyer deli steaks that were pre-seasoned, plus some hot dogs. I got an A for that. My smore's were a hit. HINT: the trick is to melt the chocolate while toasting the marshmallow. ;) The next morning we made scrambled egg, bacon and cheese bagel sandwiches.

Unfortunately, I'm not very good at the actual camping thing. I accidentally brought a junior sized tent instead of an adult tent. I am on my tablet right now, but I will try and link the picture later. It was pretty funny. Our air mattress (Rick's, more than mine. I think camping means sleeping on the ground, thanks) didn't quite fit inside the bitty tent.

We did a lot of going out for dinner and seeing movies. Rick and I saw the Campaign with another friend on Friday. FUNNY! I want to see it again.

We went surfing on Saturday. Well, I went surfing with K and a new friend, P. K didn't care too much for it after about an hour, but P and I were out there for 3-4 hours. I got up on my knees and once even managed to get to my feet for about a second before bailing off the side. We all got sunburned very badly. I'm surprised by how sunny it actually managed to get that day! Surfing was so much fun I can't wait to go again!

A work update:
I was approached today about become a team lead for the claims department. We have a shortage of people to answer questions when the supervisors are in meetings or busy doing work of their own. I think I will be answering questions or handling special projects that the supervisors don't have time for. Training starts on friday! I'm excited!

Follow me on instagram @ginyaiba! I'll post pics of my meals and other fun stuff there!