Uh Oh, Spaghettios

I lived with my sister, Jamie, and her husband when I was 15. It's a long story, but really what you need to know is that my sister kept my life together when our parents divorced. She taught me just about everything I needed to know about taking care of myself. But I digress...

The food choices when living with my sister were like carb heaven. There was a generous helping of bread with most meals. Lots of pasta, lots of sweet tea... All the good stuff. My personal favorite at the time was Spaghettios with close to a half block of cheddar cheese. This was usually lunch. Oh, and chips. Oh, and we're talking about the family sized cans of Spaghettios. I remember the look on my sisters face when she learned that I could put away a family can of Spaghettios. She said something like, "you ate the WHOLE CAN? And what happened to all the cheese?!" She didn't let me go hungry, that's for sure! It was a memorable time for other reasons, too. At the time, my nephew was just a precious little baby. I learned so much during that season of life.

I gained 30 pounds that summer. When it was time to go back to school, my pants that I hadn't worn all summer didn't fit.  This was my first time putting on weight. It wasn't really until a year later that I realized what I had done to myself. Honestly, the worst part was discovering stretch marks. Since then, I've lost weight and gained it all back twice. Fit to fat, to fit to fat...it's not a healthy pattern.

At this point, I've decided that I really like eating home food. I have saved so much money by not eating out. I feel a lot healthier. 

Tonight for dinner I had baked tilapia, corn, and a lovely salad. My friend Erin came by to visit and it was good to see her. I plan to have a smoothie in a few minutes. I bought a juicer/smoothie maker and it has been worth the $40 I spent on it. I'm thinking strawberries, blueberries, a kiwi, and a just a very small splash of peach schnapps. 

Happy Anniversary

I would normally hardly call one month without eating restaurant food a reason to celebrate, but I definitely feel like I've hit a milestone worthy of my own celebration. As of Saturday this past weekend, I haven't had a meal in a restaurant for a month. 

I have enjoyed lots of fresh vegetables, fresh fruit, lean proteins, and a large daily intake of water. 

Over this past weekend, I was in Georgia at my dad and his lovely wife's house. They have a garden in their back yard and it is impressive. I've included a few pictures for your enjoyment. 

They have apples, peaches, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, fresh herbs... And so on! It was a great visit. 

I travel nearly every day for work and often venture outside of the Knoxville area. This is one of the reasons (excuses, really) iwhy I was spending so much money on meals because I was too lazy to put home made meals together. Last week during my daily travels I found myself passing by every great restaurant on Earth. It was hard to resist, but I managed. Tomorrow night, I am having a delicious pot roast at home with my good friend Robbin. I cut all the vegetables for it tonight and can't wait to enjoy spending time with another friend at my table.