New beginnings

I don't recommend moving, starting to homeschool an 11 year old girl and buying a 90 year old house all at the same time.  Why?  Because it's my life right now and it is crazy pants.

In the Spring of 2016, we starting hearing about a specific job in a small town that would be perfect for us.  A town that we have always wanted to live in.  To get away from the big city would be a dream so we were pretty excited.
Around that time, my daughter started struggling in school again.  I could write another whole post on that but I'm trying to stay focused here.  Long story short, she did well in a private school with two teachers and a smaller class but the next year at that same school was a totally different experience. So we were back to hours of crying and correcting every day after school.  Anyway, I just couldn't take it anymore so we brought her home with us for me to homeschool just before the end of the year. It was the best decision some days......other days, not so much.  

We got word soon after that decision that the job was his and we started getting the house ready to put on the market.  My girl learned all about selling a house along with school.  Oh why didn't we fix all of those things in the house sooner so we could enjoy them?!  But it paid off because the house sold in 2 days!

We had a month or so before we could physically move out of the house so we kind of enjoyed it. The kids went to camp, we found our old/new house, and we decided to go ahead and go on our big family vacation.  The movers packed up our stuff and we left the next day for the beautiful Smoky Mountains.  But we were stress balls!  We had a beautiful cabin WAY up on the side of a mountain but nobody slept well. We all tried our best to love being there, and we did most days, but the move was looming over our heads the whole time. We knew when we got back it would be a whirlwind because of the closing and having to really saying good bye to everyone. Intense emotions all around for sure.  We're a military family that's used to moving but we were in that house and neighborhood for 8 years.  Our kids grew up SOOOO much in that house and it was awful saying goodbye even if we were moving to our dream town near the river.

And our new/old house?  The 90 year old one?  She's a beauty and the previous owners kept a lot of the original charm but some days that charm just equals OLD. And we aren't used to it.  We had dreams of painting her up and loving downsizing but it's just so different here.  I'll write more about this later but for now I just wanted to get where we are right now, up on this blog.

I've missed this blog so much and have strayed away from so many things that I love. I've let my thyroid illness steal away so much joy and have let comparison creep in.  I've made some tough decisions and some dumb decisions the past few years and I've had to let some things go..... BUT I'm still living! And I realized that what I have loved the most in the past is to write and share here on this blog.  So I'm putting my focus back to this blog in hopes that I can create a spark of happiness back in my life.

I had a good friend give me the advice about this blog years ago.  I felt like the name Fit2feelbetter put me in a fitness box and that I couldn't ever branch out from it but she gently reminded me that we could all strive to be "fitter" in so many other areas of life.   Not only physically fit, but emotionally, spritually, relationally, and financially fit. And she is so right.  I'm excited to get back to my "roots".        

Easy Pork Parmigiana

I made this last night for the family and my 12 yr. old son ate a WHOLE pork chop!  Needless to say, I'll be making it again!  For a lighter version use olive oil and go easy on the cheese.  I served this with a side salad and fresh pasta (found in the refrigerated aisles of the grocery store).

Ingredients:
1 egg
2 T powdered Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
1 to 2 T of olive oil
4 3/4 inch thick pork tenderloins or boneless pork chops
1 24 oz jar of spaghetti sauce
shredded mozzarella cheese


Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix 1 egg with 1T of water in shallow bowl and set aside.

Combine Parmesan cheese with bread crumbs in another bowl.

Start heating up olive oil in a large frying pan.

Dip meat in egg mixture; then dredge in crumbs.  Brown breaded pork in the olive oil.
Place in a greased casserole dish.  Top with spaghetti sauce.

Bake about 30 minutes.  Top with grated mozzarella cheese and return to the oven for 5 minutes.


Enjoy!

Christmas thoughts

I’ve thought about abandoning this blog.  I’ve been gone too long.  Who cares and who reads anyway?  But the thought of one person reading and taking away something keeps me going.  Just one person.  This will get personal and maybe even uncomfortable.  But I know without a doubt that I’m not the only one going through hard times.  And some may even say that my hard times aren’t even really hard.  But they’re mine and I’m owning them. 

Christmas time was so fun and full of life when I was young.  So many presents and meals and good times.  Until a few days before Christmas when I was 16 and my Grandaddy passed away unexpectedly.  I will never get over burying him the day after Christmas.  He was a rock in our family.  It took a long time to get over it.  And now that I have my own kids, I work SO, so hard to keep Christmas happy and to keep them from being disappointed.  But this year, Christmas is different again.  I wish I could explain more but it’s not my story to tell.  My own little family is fine but we are feeling the weight of loss and heartbreak right now.  And while we are hurting, I’m learning the lesson again of the danger of making Christmas so perfect and unattainable that nothing should break it.   But the fact of the matter is, I do try but it breaks. 

So what do I do with this?  I keep thinking of Jesus being born in the manger.  Surely Mary thought differently of where the King should be born.  I can only imagine how she probably tried to make everything perfect for him.  But she couldn’t. And neither can I.  All I can do is ask him into my broken manger.  Into my broken heart.  This big city is still not what we hoped and expected. But I ask him in anyway.  My body is broken with a thyroid disease that was painful and scary and still I have to ask him in to help me carry on when I’m so so tired and weak.  My kids make decisions that I wouldn’t and I ask him in.  Our broken mangers. 

Will you invite him in with me?  Our pastor uses the following words when asking for the Lord to come into your life (for the first time or just again): 

Sorry

Thank You

Please

Sorry for going my own way

Thank you for dying on the cross for me

Please come into my life. 

That’s all we have to do. 

He’s not unattainable and he’s not waiting for perfection. 

White Chicken Chili

A new recipe!   Just for you.

White Chicken Chili

1 ½ cups dried navy beans

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic

olive oil

6 cups chicken broth (from boiling the whole chicken)

1 whole chicken

1 4oz can chopped green chilies

1 tsp salt

1 ¼ ground cumin

¾ tsp dried oregano leaves

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1/8  tsp ground cloves

Monterrey Jack cheese

For beans:

Cover dried navy beans with about 3 inches of water, bring to a boil, remove from heat and let stand 1 hour.  OR soak them overnight.  Drain off water

For chicken:

Bring 4-6 quarts of water to a boil.  Add whole chicken with some salt. 

(You can also add 1 or two carrots and stalks of celery for some extra flavor.  The water should just about cover the chicken so remove some it there is too much after adding the chicken). 

Cook at a low boil for an about an hour or when the meat is separating a bit from the bones.  Remove chicken and let cool.  Take all of the meat off of the chicken and set aside.   SAVE the broth for the recipe!

Saute onion and garlic in the olive oil.  Add the chicken broth and soaked beans.  Cook about 2 hours-till beans are tender.  Then add the chicken, green chilies, salt and spices. 

Cook about 20-30 minutes.  Top with cheese! 

October Specials are ending soon!

October specials are ending soon!  I just wanted to give a breakdown of what each of the challenge packs include.  I'm such a visual person so I'm trying to add lots of pictures! :)

First up P90:

THE Tony Horton calls it the "on switch" to fitness.  If you are needing a jump start to your fitness journey or want to start but don't know where to begin I totally recommend this program.  My husband and I have done all of the P90X workouts and have not been disappointed.  I personally haven't done it because it is still so new but I've been hearing great things from the test groups.

Also, for each one purchased, Beachbody is donating $5 to the Wounded Warrior project in honor of Tony's Dad who recently passed away.  

click here to learn more:  

(Sorry these pictures are so LONG but I really wanted you to see what all is included and these were the best ones that I could find that showcased everything.)  

Next up:  COMBAT!  

Seriously one of my favorite workouts of all time.  I can't even explain the power I feel as I punch and kick my way through it.  And you get the gloves free too!  Bonus because if you ask me the gloves are like magic and make you feel like a fighter.  They instantly put me in the mood.

click here to learn more

And last but not least, Les Mills Pump. 

 I'm sure you've heard of this workout at your local gym or YMCA.  I choose to workout at home to save me time and workout whenever it fits into my schedule so getting to have this program available to me at home is the best!  Seriously, the weights alone at a sports store would cost an arm and a leg so to get them and the personalized workouts in one is perfect for me. 

click here to learn more

Click below to see a 15 second video of me doing Pump!

Did you see the weights included?  Just wanted to make sure :)

So there you have it.  Remember, the special pricing goes away at the end of the month.  Please don't hesitate to email me with any questions about the programs.  It's what I love to do!

All the best,

Kristen.  

I finished the 3 Day Refresh!

Today is the day after my 3 Day Refresh!  It's a new program that I picked up because for the last month or so I haven't felt myself and was sick and tired.  Turns out (long story short), I was having thyroid issues.  I'm feeling MUCH better now but after eating whatever I could because it hurt to swallow and a lot of medicine and antibiotics, I wanted to cleanse my system out.  And just to let you know, I've worked hard the past few years to get to my ideal weight so I wasn't trying to lose weight.  I wanted to feel better and give my nutrition the kick start that it needed.  So the 3 Day Refresh was perfect for me because it was only 3 days.  :)

Here is what I did!

For 3 days I had a superfood-packed Shakeology shake for breakfast along with a fruit option. I chose to not give up my coffee totally but I did drink it black.   Of course I didn't drink as much because lets face it, black coffee is no fun.  Then, later on in the morning, a Fiber Sweep digestive health drink.  It was sweet and went down just fine.  Just make sure you drink it up fast!  

For lunch, I had a high-protein Vanilla Fresh shake along with fresh fruit, vegetables, and healthy fat options. For this, I just whipped up a simple salad of cucumber, cherry tomatoes, a little purple onion and a little avocado dressed with balsamic vinegar.  (I thought this was fine but later found out it had sugar in in so next time I might just use red wine vinegar.)  

For my snack I ate two stalks of celery and 2 TB of hummus which I found to be plenty.  My advise is to chew your food SLOWLY and really enjoy it.  I think it makes it last longer and helps with digestion.  

For dinner, I had another Vanilla Fresh shake along with the choice from a list of delicious, easy-to prepare dinner recipes. You can also have tea twice a day.   

Now lets talk about WATER!  It is super important to drink TONS more water.  The shakes can't do their thing without it.  Drink at least half of your body weight in ounces and you'll be fine.  Yes, I was peeing ALL of the time but I wanted to clean out, right?  So for three days I could handle it.  I even went shopping with hubby on day 3 and used the bathroom in REI 3 times.  But who cares?  I guarantee you that no one else did!  

So what did I learn from this and what were my results?!

1.  This program so doable!  My first day was the hardest and I know it was all mental.  I went through all the emotions and excuses to quit!  I don't really need this, no one will know if I finish, It's too difficult (which is wasn't!), etc.  But I stuck with it because I announced to the world and to my healthy lifestyle FB page that I was doing this.  I wasn't going to let anyone see me fail!  I wanted to do this for me and for you to show that you can do it too!

2.  I was only tired on the first day.  And I was never light headed or anything.  Yes, there were times that I got hungry and it wasn't time to eat yet.  BUT, it forced me to slow down and evaluate if I really was hungry.  Sometimes I was just thirsty and sometimes it was stress.  I had nieces coming for the weekend and a boy that broke his hand on the last day!  I could have quit but I kept going because honestly, what would have beer or a piece of my daughter's cake going to do for me?  

3.  On this day after, my energy is through the roof.  Can't put a price on that!  

4.    I lost about 2 1/2 pounds and I don't know how many inches because I didn't measure.  Like I said before, I wasn't trying to lose weight.  I really wanted to concentrate on the experience and how I FELT and not the numbers this time.  I was doing this with a friend at the same time and she said she could fit into her super skinny jeans for a girls weekend and was very happy about that. Yay for non scale victories!

So will I do this again?  

You bet.

My question to you:  

Would you do this type of cleanse?  Tell me in the comments below why you would consider it.  Can't wait to hear from you. 

Kristen

A casserole replacement

This a repost that I wanted to share again:  
When our family started eating healthier, most of my casseroles were cut from the menu.  But every once in a while you just need something creamy right?  I made this recipe last night to satisfy that craving. No cream of mushroom soup or loads of sour cream.  This recipe only uses half a block of cream cheese and it makes a BIG pot.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!  Just say NO to casseroles.  

~Mexican Crockpot Creamy Chicken~

Ingredients: 

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 small onion, diced
1/2 cup salsa
1 bag frozen corn (I used half the bag)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Rotel tomatoes and chilies
Chili powder, salt and pepper to taste
1/2 block light cream cheese

Put chicken in crock pot, cover with all ingredients except cream cheese. Cook 3-4 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low. Shred chicken and mix back in with light cream cheese until melted. Cook 15-20 minutes longer until heated. 
Serve as soft tacos with lettuce tomatoes, cilantro, avocado, etc.