Yeah, I’m a little behind on the months in review…but here they are! I’m equally aghast every month when I realize it’s time to make another one…time is flying!
Here’s January and February in case you missed those. Happy Wednesday!
~Cait
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Category Archives: Cooking
May 1, 2013
Here’s a list of things I’ve learned in my journey to being healthy. And by healthy, I mean “eating veggies and working out in between pancakes and cookie cake.”
1. You can easily become obsessed.
You get in a habit of weighing yourself every day to track your progress, and if you’re not careful, you become obsessed with it. I’ll admit it. I’ve weighed myself three or four times a day, trying to figure out how I could lose this pound or if I could afford to eat this Hershey’s. Lol. It sounds funny, but it can become a serious issue if you let it. Don’t let it. Focus on being healthy and adjusting yourself over time. Make sure you’re doing this for the right reasons – because your body is a temple of the Lord and because being healthy has abundantly more physical, emotional, and mental benefits that being unhealthy. And sure, fitting in your jeans is fun too.
2. You can still eat yummy things.
Don’t worry. If anyone understands the love of food, I DO. You can have your cookie cake and eat it too. Now…the quickest way I ever lost weight was eating low-carb with lots of vegetables and NO sweets. I had chicken and cauliflower like they were about to go extinct, and I threw away every tempting bite of chocolate deliciousness in my house. I lost 10 pounds that way last year in a little less than a month. This year, however, I lost around 8 more pounds over two months and kept off the weight by sticking with my chicken and veggies, but also throwing in an occasional treat and a bunch of exercise. I adore pizza. I would eat it every day if I could. I try to have it once a week or less, but when I do have it, you better believe I’m running at the gym to burn it off. I have a chocolate chip pancake every morning. (The frozen kind…I’m not patient enough to whip up a homemade batch every day.) I get my little pancake and my cup of milk after I have a good workout at the gym. (And a shower, naturally.)
3. Balance is everything.
If I eat poorly for one day, I will camp back in veggie land for two days. You have to balance your food and exercise so it doesn’t get out of control. I’m prone to gluttony on vacations and birthdays, but I’ve discovered the best things to do are 1) eat really well before a vacation/holiday and 2) balance your meals while you’re splurging. Have a salad before you down that alfredo pizza. Say yes to the bread, but no to the dessert. It will make it a lot easier to get back on track if you haven’t eaten yourself sick. And if you’ve been consistently eating healthy and working out, you will feel sick when you overdo it. Trust me.
4. Rewards work for some people.
I am a big believer in list-making and writing out goals. I haven’t done this in a while because I’ve gotten down to my goal weight now (WOOP!) but when I was trying to lose a bunch, I would set a goal and a reward to work toward. After 5 pounds – a Reese’s, after 8 – pizza, and so on. It helped me be a little more excited and definitely more motivated to eat healthy because I knew on the other side of 5 pounds was a chocolate and peanut butter slice of Heaven. ;)
5. It gets easier.
If you had asked me to run 3 miles two years ago, I would’ve fallen to the floor laughing and given you a big, fat “not a chance,” and then promptly gone on a search for ice cream. I didn’t enjoy running, I didn’t care to enjoy running, and at every opportunity, I chuckled at the poor teenagers in orange jerseys running after school and thanked God I wasn’t one of them. I know. Horrible. And now? I LOVE RUNNING. It is such a stress reliever and makes me feel so boss when I’m done. ;) I never would have guessed I could run a mile, no less 3 miles. But I can. And it’s fun! Who knew? It gets easier. The more you work, the more rewards you reap. I can’t believe how easy it feels for me to run a mile now. If only you guys could get a glimpse of high school Caitlin, running and then vomiting during that one ridiculous semester I decided playing soccer would be fun.
Aaaaand all this talk has made me hungry. ;) Happy Wednesday loves!
~Cait
April 22, 2013
There are two things I love more than most other things…my husband and pancakes.
I invited our immediate families over for some celebratory birthday brunch on Saturday. I even made cute invitations. ;)
I did all the decorating and flower arranging myself…I was so thrilled with how everything came out! :) We {obviously} went with a nautical theme. ;)
Props to Homeland for having awesome flowers. I made all of the floral arrangements in the whole house for $30 altogether!
I’m SO sad that I didn’t get any pictures with all the food set out perfectly before we ate, but making breakfast food for 10 people and getting all of it ready at the same time is harder than I thought. ;) Just imagine there are chocolate chip pancakes on those super cute plates my sweet sister-in-law bought me. ;)
This is an iPhone shot after most of the pancakes were gone. Lol.
The turquoise silverware is from Target a couple years back, and I’m pretty sure I got the napkins from IKEA.
When I finally sat down, the chocolate pancakes took all my worries away. ;)
Sorry this picture is half-eaten food. Haha. But this is kinda what the island looked like before…there was another plate of chocolate chip pancakes as well, but I’m sure I devoured it.
Dad and Brad look like they’re discussing something very important. ;)
And I’m really sad I didn’t take a picture of our cute drink station either, but we had super cute straws… even if no one except Alyssa and I used them. ;)
After the feast and after Andrew opened some fabulous presents, we played with Jackers. :)
Cutie pie loves sticks.
Love my handsome birthday boy!
Haha, Jackers loves Grandpa. :)
You guys are cute. Give me a nephew. ;) :)
Jack did so good with everybody. He still gets so excited and hyper with other people, but he’s much more agreeable outside where he has lots of sticks to chase. ;) He was pretty tuckered out!
And yesterday, on Andrew’s actually birthday, his day started with breakfast in bed.
We went to church and Buffalo Wild Wings afterward with our families. Then Andrew took a super long and much-deserved nap. :) I gave him an Old School Bagel Cafe gift card and a new shirt, and Friday I’m taking him to Six Flags. :)
And to end a lovely birthday weekend, we snuggled this pooch. :)
Happy Monday!
~Cait
April 11, 2013
You know that feeling you get when you go through your old Facebook photos? You cringe, sigh, and delete like a madwoman? Yeah. I feel your pain. Except I have a feeling my awkward phase was twice as long as yours and twice as embarrassing. ;-P
Today, I am celebrating change. I’ve been working hard, and it’s paid off. I’ve been cranking up the veggie consumption, working out consistently, and making eating healthy a lifestyle, not just an occasional hobby. I still have my yummy foods in moderation (you’ve seen them in my food-obsessed posts), and I do splurge on vacations or holidays, but things are much more balanced. And I’m thrilled to say that I weigh less now than I did when I was 13, even less than I did on my wedding day, and I think that entitles me to a slice of celebratory cookie cake, right!? ;)
I’ll admit it…I love before and after photos. And I have some fairly humorous before and afters to share with you today. ;) Please promise you’ll still be my friends after you see what I used to look like…Obviously there’s a big span between my before and after, but hey. Change is change. (Disclaimer: I have every person’s permission to post these. Lol.)
FOR THE LOVE OF CHUBBY KIDS IN OVERALLS. It hurts to even put that picture up, but I had to after we found it and realized we’d be able to do a remake while we were in Garden of the Gods. OH the humanity. (Side note…sorry my shirt is flipped up funny in the remake…it was much harder to get on that ledge than it looks.)
And…my darling husband.
Cutie. He barely looks awkward. But I guess it helps the dramatic effect if you get a cute German shepherd puppy in your after photo. ;)
HAHA this is my studly Daddy, who I take after in so many ways, including the fact that we were both total dweebs before we got work out crazy.
And perhaps my favorite before pictures of all time…say hello to baby sister, the light of my life. Haha.
What a gem. :) I relish in her awkward phase with mine, because our older brother has never had one. Or if he did, it lasted a week and we have no photographic evidence of it.
Did you have an awkward phase? Email me a good before & after if you’re feeling brave and wish to provide me with humor. ;)
Happy Throwback Thursday. ;)
~Cait
April 2, 2013
Today is rather dreary. Let’s talk about things that make me happy. :)
A good slice of cookie cake, naturally.
Morning snuggles with Jackers.
A pretty sunset in the middle of sprinkling rain.
Going out to eat with this dude.
The way Jack sleeps like a human and moves around 12 times before settling.
Good humor.
An Uncle Mitch cookie.
Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi.
Cornbread chicken. And a nautical plate. :)
The fact that I’ll be ON MY WAY HERE TOMORROW. :D I may have failed to mention that on the blog, but Mom, Dad, and Alyssa are heading to Colorado Springs for a mini trip to finalize some things before Dad’s conference there this summer, and I’m tagging along because I’m self-employed and can do that. ;)
Happy Tuesday darlings. :)
~Cait
March 28, 2013
The week after Spring Break can be difficult (even for those of us sad big kids with jobs who don’t have a real Spring Break…). Here are some things to make you feel better and de-stress. ;)
1. Fresh flowers.
Go to Homeland. Grab three of their 3 for $12 bunches of flowers. Make some arrangements. It instantly makes you feel happy. :)
And it makes your house smell nice and look fresh. ;)
2. Hit the road.
I know…not feasible for everyone, but if you didn’t have a Spring Break, take advantage the way Kristi and I did…take off work for a day and take a road trip with your best friend. (More pics to come tomorrow!)
3. Cook a delightful meal and savor it.
This is my beloved cornbread chicken casserole…AKA my favorite chicken everrrrr. Cook your favorite meal, sit at the table (like they did in the olden days ;) haha) and enjoy your masterpiece. Bonus points if you eat at the table with your husband/family and talk about your days. ;)
4. Watch the sunset.
If you don’t live in Oklahoma, I’m sorry. But surely you can still enjoy the sunset. :)
5. Snuggle.
Dogs…people…stuffed animals…all things snuggly are good.
6. If all else fails…eat some cookie cake.
But seriously.
Happy Thursday!
~Cait
March 22, 2013
I’ve been an avid Pinterest fan ever since the craze began. Until recently though, I’d never really tried any of the gazillion recipes. I’d pin them and pretend I was trying them, of course, but I never actually got around to it. In the past few weeks, I’ve been on a psycho cooking phase…and I finally have tried some Pinterest goodness! Here are a few of my favorites! Go forth and feast, my friends. ;)
Cheesy Garlic Pull-Apart Bread
I think Alyssa and I could have finished this garlic goodness all on our own. SO YUM.
We ate it before I thought to take a picture, so here is the Pinterest picture…it was pretty darn yummy.
I made half of these breadsticks and half knots, and I had already eaten two of the knots when I took this picture…they were THAT good. ;) (If you haven’t noticed yet, I really like garlic.)
Andrew has dubbed this his new favorite meal. This is a picture without the sauce because only Andrew likes it (I’m not a huge fan) but we downed these puppies in two minutes. We are total pigs.
Do you have any recent favorite recipes from Pinterest? SHARE them with me. :)
~Cait
March 13, 2013
Guys. I am in such a food-obsessed mood these past couple weeks. I originally thought it was because I wasn’t hungry when I got sick and missed all of my yummy foods, but now it’s getting ridiculous. I did get back down to wedding weight (HOORAY!), and now I’m pretty close to it since we’ve been working out every day, but I’m teetering back and forth because of all the deliciousness going around! ;)
Mom, Alyssa, Andrew, and I went to Zio’s Sunday after church…LOOK at this cheesy alfredo goodness. It was worth every carb.
Meet my cute friends from work, Jennifer and Micah. Yesterday, we had Pancake Tuesday at work…because Jen and Micah and Mom understand that pancakes make life better. ;)
Seriously, it was the best work day ever.
Mmhmm. :)
And last night after my shoot (WHICH was awesome and I’ll share pics soon), I came home and felt the need to make crispy cheddar chicken (pinned here).
Hubs said it was a winner winner chicken dinner. (I just chuckled out loud at my own joke.)
What have you been cooking lately? Someone please stand up and admit you’re as food-obsessed as I am. ;)
~Cait
March 12, 2013
I know. I’m shamelessly behind on blogging. I blame March and all the glorious things that are keeping me away from my computer. ;) I’m just going to catch you up in pictures, mmk? Mmk.
We went to our friends’ wedding reception this weekend, and Jack helped me get ready. ;)
And pouted when I had to leave.
Hubs looked dashing in his groomsman suit!
Cutie brothers. :)
Love me some Gabby!
And my cutie in-laws. :)
I’ve still been in a baking mood. This cheesy garlic pull-apart bread is my favorite. (Pinned here.)
We tried out a dinner from What’s Cooking OKC, and I made some bread sticks and garlic knots to go with it. (I think I’m really missing my New Jersey roots and all the garlic-y goodness…I would kill for some New York pizza right now!)
And even though I’ve been trying to be good before my birthday this weekend (which will essentially be a celebration of food), I made Hubs some brownies. ;)
I also discovered these beauties growing in our backyard this weekend! I’m in love.
And Jackers is still a cuddler. ;)
I promise more exciting updates soon. My birthday is in THREE DAYS FOLKS. I’m gonna party all day. And by party, I mean eat. ;D
Happy Tuesday!
~Cait
March 7, 2013
The elliptical. I really like it. It’s my favorite thing at the gym now. I realize how ridiculous I look while on it, but it’s fun. :)
Netflix. This is really Andrew’s obsession, not mine. With the recent gift of Apple TV and Netflix from my parents for Christmas, Andrew and I have to fight for productivity. Every Frasier episode available with no commercials? Documentaries galore and Man vs. Wild? How can we say no?
Puppy snuggles. I adore that little ball of fluff. We nap often, and he’s a total rockstar now. I can’t believe the puppy who once was unable to sit still unless he was sleeping is now voluntarily snuggling. God is good. :)
Cooking. I’m not sure where my sudden Betty Crocker phase came from, but I like it! I’ve been Pinterest-ing and cooking up a storm. I really wish I wasn’t so picky, but I’m branching out ever so slightly. ;)
Pinterest. I doubt I’ll ever lose my love for Pinterest. What a splendid idea. Hats off, whoever invented it.
Health & Fitness. I am so excited to be well again this week and able to work out in the mornings! I’m immensely proud of Andrew going with me every day, and we are gonna be total babes come summertime. ;)
What are your recent obsessions?
Happy Thursday, folks. ;)
~Cait
