21 years ago today, I had my baby shower for my daughter Hannah.  New readers can read how Hannah came into the world here.  New readers?  Um, I didn’t even tell my parents until six weeks before Hannah was born that I was even having a baby!  Yikes!

But you know what?  What seemed like a hard decision back then seems like nothing today.  Keeping Hannah was the best thing that ever happened to me, and I am so happy that of all the grandchildren, she got to know and remember my Dad the best. 

So you can imagine it must have been hard for my parents to wrap their brain around not only have their first grandchild, but six week later actually holder her in their arms?  But they rocked.  My Dad thought Hannah was the smartest, brightest child in the whole world.  This picture was taken at Virginia Beach – her first vacation at five months old. Open-mouthed smile

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My sister and I have best friends that are twins (Hi D&D!).  They decorated our apartment – it was 70 degrees and we had all the windows and doors open.  Hannah was born a week later on March 7.  I had a c-section so we came home on March 11, with three inches of snow on the ground.

And around here today?  It looks like this on March 1.

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Yesterday’s breakfast was another McMuff – 1 egg, 1/2 ounce of cheese, 1/2 an ounce of ham, on a high fiber (8 grams!) english muffin with strawberries and blackberries on the side.

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I started my workout with another 90 workout:

  • 90 jumping jacks
  • 80 squats
  • 70 bird dogs
  • 60 standing calf raises with 10 pound weights
  • 50 crunches
  • 40 tricep dips
  • 30 second plank (hard! – need to work on those!)
  • 20 lunges
  • 10 push ups

My plan was to run a 5k after that, but at 1.96 miles in, my blood sugar started taking a nose dive.  So since I didn’t want to die, I ended it at 2 miles – at a 12 minute mile pace – nice!

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Can you tell I was a bit sweaty?  And Jenn, next time you take a picture of yourself after your workout – be as sweaty as me!

                         run    jenn

For lunch I had the infamous lasagna soup, made with the leftovers of my alfredo the night before.   Pure comfort in a bowl.

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But later in the afternoon I realized I needed the Italian sausage to make a dish for dinner last night (cheezy combo) so I looked at the sale paper for the store I usually hit on the way home and saw they had chicken thighs for .99 cents a pound.

I never used to like the dark meat.  At all.  But I love the flavor of chicken thighs.  I found this recipe that sounded interesting.  I didn’t make the ragu that went with it, but I used the cooking method – basically season the chicken really well with salt and pepper.  Put it in a cold cast iron skillet, and turn the burner on medium-high.  After about 5 minutes, you want to make sure the chicken isn’t sticking, but reduce the heat to medium and cook until they reach an internal temp of 165, which took me about 20-25 minutes. 

I did end up flipping the chicken for the last 10 minutes to get the bottom side caramelized too.

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I tossed my chicken in buffalo sauce – I know, shocker!  I made a quick pan sauce with the drippings, but my mashed potatoes tasted like ass – in the back was some delicious cole slaw though. Open-mouthed smile

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So this month we turn 45 years old.  How the hell did that happen?  So one of my goals for the month of March is to move for 45 miles at a minimum.  Who’s with me?  (Louise, I am looking at you!) Open-mouthed smile

March 1 WI:

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I am exactly 170, and have lost 2.8 pounds in the last 17 days.  My goal is to be 165 by April 1.

I have to give a shout out to my friend Brooke.  She and her friend Emily have decided to go meat free for March, but at Brooke’s last WI at weight watchers?  She’s lost 169.2 – she’s lost more than she weighs now!  Below is her before and after of doing TurboFire for 30 days straight. 

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Brooke, you continue to inspire me and I hope I have half of your determination this month!  Keep up the great work – she’s only ten pounds to goal!  Just shows, that if you put your mind to something, ride the proverbial waves, you can achieve your goals.  Her transformation is four years in the making – so don’t ever give up!

March Goals

  • walk/run/move 45 miles
  • get to the gym 2 times a week before work for a 4 mile walk
  • more veggies and fruits (I may do a smoothie a day!)

What are your goals for March? 

I ended up making a vegetarian taco soup for Souper Friday at my office.  I ended up thickening the soup with six flour tortillas.  Once I get to work I’ll add the base of the soup to the crock pot and add all the beans and hominy.  I love hominy in taco soup!  Come back tomorrow for the recipe.

Make it a great day!