Making Mistakes and Being Okay with It

Posted on December 23, 2013 by mrsparhizkar — Leave a comment

I would like to start by making a couple of confessions:

I am a perfectionist and really beat myself up when I make a mistake.
I suffer from a rare disease called Stykuhpmyass Syndrome.

Still searching for treatment options…..

These are 2 things I’ve had to try my hardest to get over since trying to get healthy. (And not push my friends away because they were late for something…..it’s a problem)

Let’s take this weekend for example. I had great plans to meal prep and make my house immaculate. I did none of these things because I felt a little under the weather. And you know what? That’s okay. I don’t have to have my delicious Jamie Eason Protein Bars for snacks when I can quickly whip up some Protein Fluff in the morning.

I also skipped my workout this morning. My first thought on rolling out of bed was too profane to include on my own blog. But then I realized that there are still a lot of hours left in the day, and I just happen to be free after work. Going in the afternoon isn’t going to make me lose any progress.

It is times like these when I have to remember that being healthy isn’t about perfection, it is about persistence. I also have to look back on where I started and remember how far I’ve come.

So tonight, I will kill it at the gym, then try to show up my husbands spectacular lettuce wraps with some Greek meatballs and tahdig. Wish me luck! (I’ll need it)

PattyCakes: I’ll just throw these weird ingredients together. What did I make? Only the most delicious lettuce wraps ever.

Until next time,

Mrs. P

Tagged with: asian food, competition, dinner, greek food, gym, Health, motivation, protein snacks, Recreation, working out
Posted in Dinner, motivation

Christmas Time!

Posted on December 20, 2013 by mrsparhizkar — Leave a comment

Holy guacamole, Christmas is next week. This year seemed to go by super duper fast (says everyone every year). So much has been accomplished this year, and it kind of blows my mind.

Shortly after I married my bestest friend in May, I started taking classes to prepare for nursing school while working and taking care of my family. That was hard work, but I’m pleased to say that I maintained a 4.0, kept my job, and didn’t kill any of the boys in my house due to lack of nutrition or cleanliness. Whew! I now have a month off (whatamIgonnado?!?!), so I suppose I can actually fold the laundry now. Hooray. Or something.

When PattyCakes asked me to marry him, I knew I wanted to lose weight to look great in my dress, and I was successful, as I’ve posted before. But since then, the journey has become so much more. I’m no longer “dieting,” but have changed my view of food. I eat what I want in moderation, and actually crave healthy things after I “cheat.” I don’t view working out as a chore, but something I absolutely love doing. I lift at 5 AM 4-5 times a week, I don’t weigh myself as obsessively as I used to, but I do know that I’ve lost 3 inches from my waist, 3 inches from my chest (I CAN BUY BRAS FROM TARGET! WOOT!), and 4.5 inches from my hips.

I went from a size 13 to a size 6! (Which is smaller than I was in high school)

(Don’t mind the bathroom, I’m traveling and messy)

All-in-all, this year has been more than kind to me, and now I have time to write about it. All of this extra time means more recipes and meal prepping, more workouts and logs, and waaayyyy more pictures of my little bug. Speaking of, here’s one of us and my “baby” brother…who just got accepted into grad school and isn’t really a baby anymore.

Later, blog readers, I shall return with more of these good reads!

Until next time,

Mrs. P

Tagged with: I'm back again, Updates, weightloss
Posted in Uncategorized

Study Break!

Posted on July 12, 2013 by mrsparhizkar — Leave a comment

Alright guys. It has happened. I fell off the blog writing wagon. I’m so ashamed.

That adorable puppy should make up for everything! Right? Right.

So…Moving on!

I am still working out my guns and other body parts four to five times per week. And I feel awesome! I actually tricked one of my friends into working out with me at 5 AM, and today marked the end of four weeks in a row. Hooray! I am so proud of that girl!

I’ve started on the Food Prep Train, and I also LOVE that!

But my weeks have been so consumed lately! I started school last month with A&P I and Lifespan development. A&P was a condensed class, so I just finished it on Wednesday. What grade did I get, you ask? Why I achieved “A” status! Woot! All my hard work is paying off! So on top of 4 hours in class, and 3 hours studying, I also have a real people job, cook real people dinners, raise an amazing son, cultivate an amazing marriage, and find time to spend at least an hour at the gym. Exhausted!

Le Condescending Wonka - No time to go to the gym? Tell me again how you watch 3 hours of TV every night

In short, that’s why I haven’t blogged. I hope you find it in your heart to forgive me!

Anyway, I’m going to leave you folks with that, and this weekend I’ll post my progress pictures from my workouts.

Until next time,

Mrs. P

Tagged with: adorable puppy, Health, healthy-living, lifespan development, mental-health
Posted in Uncategorized

Balancing Things is Hard!

Posted on May 30, 2013 by mrsparhizkar — Leave a comment

Alright, alright, alright. It has been a week since my last post. I know I said I would update more often since I had an online class and would need the interruption every once in a while. Well (excuse time!), my class is a composition class, and I’ve been staying up late doing nothing but researching and writing papers. Yesterday, for instance, was a seven hour study day. Seven. Hours. Holy guacamole!

The good news: I finished a paper that I will actually stand behind. It is an original take on the story, and I have many sources to back up my ideas. Winning!

The bad news: ….I’ve been slacking. I haven’t worked out since last Friday. I stuck to my diet….until a couple days ago. I just wanted to eat everything! So I had Chinese food. Smart move, slick!

And a SMALL seasoned curlies. SMALL! I’m tryin’ to lose the weight.

Luckily, I’m still down in poundage from last week, and my pants are still loose.

Speaking of loose pants…guess who fits into her skinny jeans! If you guessed me….well you’re just awesomely correct. Woot!

On a final note, I just want to thank my husband for being there for me. He cooked me dinner, cleaned the house, walked the dogs, took care of The Bug…..got papers from my printer that is literally two feet away from me when I was too buried in my homework to move. I don’t know how I would be able to balance being a mom, going to school, working, and being a wife without his help….even if he is distracting with his rock hard abs and beautiful traps.

Now that this paper is mostly done (one more draft!), and I have the week off from classes next week, I will start lifting again tonight (because, contrary to the common misconception, workouts and diets DON’T have to start on Monday’s), I will continue my healthy eating (because one or two days of cheating doesn’t mean you can’t still win), and I will update when I can.

Until next time,

Mrs. P

Tagged with: balancing being a mom and going to school, Chinese cuisine, Education, Family, Friday, husband, Mother, Nutrition, parenting, school, studying, wife, Woot
Posted in school

Progress Report!

Posted on May 23, 2013 by mrsparhizkar — 1 Comment

Short post today! I’m beat from studying and writing and writing and studying and run-on sentences and workouts and…things….

My amazing husband has been such a huge help to me this week while I’ve been working my butt off to complete assignments early and get an outline started for a research paper. He’s cooked, he’s cleaned, he’s…taught me how to fish?

PattyCakes knows I need to take my mind off of things sometimes, and what better way than to learn how to bass fish?

Caught him all by myself!

I caught this little guy with artificial bait on a Texas rig…not that I know what that is yet!

Needless to say, I love it, and it has kept me sane this week.

The effect on my grades? Amazing! The results for the first few assignments were posted today, and I have 100%! Woot! And an email from the teacher about how awesome my first paper was. I’ll take it!

I’m still eating clean, working out, and staying on top of the health game. I don’t know if you heard, but I did over a thousand…something…

Until next time, fellow bloggers…

Mrs. P

Tagged with: Arts, Bass, Bass fishing, clean eating, english, Fish, river monster, school, Woot, writing papers
Posted in school

Back to School!

Posted on May 21, 2013 by mrsparhizkar — 2 Comments

Well, I officially (re)started my higher learning process yesterday, and it seems like I’m going to be okay. I’m in an extremely accelerated class (one semester condensed into 2 weeks), but the work seems like it will be easy as long as I stay on top of things.

My challenge: Get an A. I know I can do it. It isn’t an “if,” it’s a “when” I get an A, and when that happens, I’ll treat myself to…new clothes? a car? drinks with friends? I don’t know, but I’m treating myself to something!

One does not simply breeze through a class....

One does not simply breeze through a 2 week class….

I’m still going strong on my HASfit program. Week 2 Day 1 was challenging, and I loved it!

I’m doing well on my eating awesome foods and drinking my weight in water, but one of my Facebook friends started a clean eating challenge that I am more than happy to be a part of. I’m still working on my bread-making ability. I made a new one last night that seems to be moist, but I will let you know the actual verdict when I have it for breakfast tomorrow.

My diet right now, by the way, consists of 5 small meals a day. Why? Because I love to eat and I love to plan. So if I plan to eat several times a day, I’m a happy camper. What’s on the docket for lunch? My ~~world famous~~ pretty tasty Tortzagna! Basically it’s lasagna with whole wheat tortillas instead of noodles. It doesn’t sit as heavy, and I think it’s delectable (PattyCakes says he loves it, but I think that’s because he doesn’t want to hurt my feelings). I make my sauce my own and use skim mozzarella and fat free ricotta or cottage cheese depending on how I feel. It always tastes better the next day because the seasonings have had time to do their thing. Yum! Come on 1300!

Buuuut I’d better get back to work; there are people out there who need me!

Until next time,

Mrs. P

Tagged with: Cheese, Cook, Cottage cheese, Facebook, homework, Lasagna, Mozzarella, Noodle, Pasta, school
Posted in Dinner, motivation, Progress

From Fat to Not-So-Fat

Posted on May 17, 2013 by mrsparhizkar — 8 Comments

Instead of getting depressed looking at old fat pictures of myself, I’m getting happy. I really like looking at how far I’ve come! And I can’t be angry at people for not telling me how big I was; I owned mirrors! I was also good at not weighing myself, making faces in the mirror that made my jaw line pretend to exist, and sucking in like a Dyson anytime I thought I might see my reflection. Apparently I forgot to suck in when my dad took pictures which is what we see here.

The first one is about a year before I had The Bug. The second, I’m not stretching my face to create a jawline…it is just there! Woot! Ready for more??

Sucking in and trying to move my arms to make my boob fat less obvious…to no avail.

Tried the dress on without a bra to make my boob fat less obvious. It worked….sort of…

This is the same dress taken in 2 sizes, no bra on the day of the wedding.

What a difference a little weight lifting does! And now for a couple of my favorites taken by one of my besties:

Pure concentration. The dress now looks pretty flattering!

Never in my life have I allowed a picture to be kept of me at this angle. I’ve always had a gut or a double chin or something else nasty. But this one is awesome. This picture marks the first full body picture of myself that doesn’t make me want to vomit.

Every bit of this journey was achieved by eating clean and exercising. I never took pills (except for vitamins), I tried fad diets for about 2 days at a time a couple times, but every big amount of progress I had was when I approached my goal from the slow-and-steady angle.

I have some awesome food pictures from last night to post, but for now, I must work out my guns.

Later taters,

Mrs. P

Tagged with: Body weight, diet, double chin, faces in the mirror, fad diets, Food, Food faddism, Health, healthy-living, Mirror, progress, Shopping, weight loss
Posted in Progress

Preview!

Posted on May 17, 2013 by mrsparhizkar — Leave a comment

My dad sent me some pictures today from when I weighed 200 pounds. Tomorrow morning, I’ll post them alongside some more recent pictures. I haven’t seen them side-by-side, but I’m pumped to see the difference!

As for tonight, some quality time with the most amazing husband in the world is in order.

Until tomorrow, folks!

Mrs. P

Posted in Uncategorized

My Husband: The Chef

Posted on May 16, 2013 by mrsparhizkar — 2 Comments

Mr. PattyCakes likes to cook. Unlike me, he is able to look in the fridge and randomly put shit together and come up with amazing restaurant-quality dishes. Every time. I am one lucky wife.

Let’s take tonight, for instance. We wanted chicken (slash, I had one thawed, and we needed to use it), and Patty wanted to work on his sauce-making skills. So I was instructed to get the heck out of the kitchen while he worked his magic. The outcome: a deliciously creamy sauce that went perfectly over lemon pepper chicken and deliciously fluffy couscous. Unfortunately, there are no pictures of this beautiful dish because we devoured it, but believe me: it was fantastic.

This has made the lightbulb go off in our heads. Why don’t we do a chopped challenge: I choose the random ingredients, and Patty cooks a delicious meal.

Feel free to help out with any suggestions. This is going to be fun!

In other news, today was day 2 of the Warrior 90 Day Challenge. So far, it is pretty easy, but I can feel it, and it gets my ass in motion….so that’s good!

I’m also in the need of a completely new wardrobe. I have no idea where to begin. But this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I look like I’ve stepped out of the beginning of an episode of What Not to Wear every day, but I’ve made so much progress on my weight loss journey. I’ll take it!

Until next time, folks!

Mrs. P

Tagged with: chicken, chopped, clothes, Cook, home, meat, Olive oil, Poultry, Sauces Dips Gravies and Toppings, Shopping, Soups and Stews, what not to wear, working out
Posted in Dinner

I’m baaaaack!

Posted on May 14, 2013 by mrsparhizkar — Leave a comment

Well, I have officially been MIA for over three weeks now. I am so sorry from the depths of my heart. In order to make it up to you, let me share what’s been going on:

1. I took a road trip to Port Aransas with PattyCakes and The Bug.

2. I finally had a bachelorette party! My besties and family came down from Nebraska and took me to the one place the knew I wanted to go: A karaoke bar! It was a blast!

3. I traded in my old last name for a new last name! That’s right, folks! Ms. V is now officially Mrs. P! The wedding was small, and it was a blast! We couldn’t have asked for a better crowd, ceremony, reception, and party. I’m telling you, if you want to have a perfect beach wedding with a tiny budget or a huge budget, visit portaweddings.com and talk to Joanne. She made my day perfect and I literally had no stress on my wedding day thanks to her!

Mr. and Mrs.

Bonfire kisses

So what am I up to now? Well, friends, I’m starting school in less than a week to get my nursing degree. I am uber excited for this one. I have at least one online class every semester, so I will have plenty of opportunity to blog during the course of my education, don’t fret.

As far as health goes, I gained 5 pounds during my wedding weekend. But I ate like a fat girl at a buffet and drank like an alcoholic at an open bar (I had to keep it classy!), so it was expected. I got right back on track with eating healthy (no exercise, but I forgot to come up with an excuse for that one), and am down 4 pounds. Woot!

As far as the exercise thing goes, I’m starting the HASfit 90 Day Warrior today. I was going to start yesterday as it was Monday, and all exercise programs have to start on Mondays. If you hold a bowl under your computer screen, I believe you can collect the sarcasm as it drips from that last line. I forgot to come up with an excuse for that one (my excuse bank is really running low; I need to stock that shit up!), but I do know that I decided that eating a couple slices of real turkey dipped in mustard, a 100 calorie bag of popcorn, and a Tabasco Slim Jim were more important than working out for the allotted 15 minute first day workout. Hey! At least I was healthy for the most part! I also made a kickass turkey and quinoa meatloaf last night that rocked my husbands socks off. Now I’m just trying to compensate for my lazy self. Enough. Workout today after work. Period. Maybe do two days in one. Yeah.

I did take before pictures this time. I want to stick with this program for the full 90 days, and will update you on my thoughts once a week. Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll have thoughts about other things throughout the week too, so I will post more often than just once. But you must keep me accountable!

Until next time, folks!

The Official Mrs. P