Finally Getting Fit

Mr. JM and I went shopping the other day because I wanted an electric blanket (does anyone else find it near to impossible to generate enough body heat to warm a bed at night?). I also had a special item to look for: my first weight loss reward.

When it comes to rewards, I’m pretty easy to please. I pick special things to me, but they usually aren’t particularly motivating to other people. Even so, that doesn’t really matter so long as I’m happy.

Having lost 5% of my body weight, I got to pick out a new pair of slippers. My old slippers were falling apart and I’d had them since before I moved here, so I was due for a new pair. Plus, I reckon there isn’t much better in terms of foot comfort than a nice pair of cushy slippers.

In the end, I went for a pair of dark blue slippers that are super-soft on the inside. They also are slightly shoe-like, so they’ll hold up if I need to duck outside quickly.

My next reward doesn’t come for another fifteen pounds, but it will be worth the work and the wait. I get to buy myself a new pajama set. Mmm. I know that might not be the ideal reward for anyone else, but I do love me a set of quality pajamas. Especially given that I work in my pajamas 50% of the time anyway. (Probably one of the top three perks of working from home.)

Even though I’m still emotionally fragile with everything going on, I’m still at a more peaceful part of my mind. I know that this is going to take a while, but I’m in no particular hurry. I just want to be healthy for the first time in my life.

And rock out in my new pajamas. Haha.

I’m answering this one a tad bit later than anticipated… Things have been a bit crazy around the JM household lately getting prepared for a trip first to Canberra (Australia’s capitol) for a writer’s conference and then to the coast to visit some New South Wales friends.

I love being a freelance writer, but taking a vacation is hard work! (Hehe.)

For this week’s Monday Mailbag, we didn’t have a question. Instead…

So, instead of answering a question this week, share some of your favourite healthy recipes with your readers!

Fun! I love recipes. Here are a couple of my favourites:

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

(To be honest, I’m not sure of the measurements. I usually just toss things in…)

Yoplait vanilla yogurt (Regular or lite, your choice)
Milk (Skim or full cream – your choice)
Strawberries (I usually put in about six)
½ - 1 banana (depending on how much smoothie you want and how much banana taste you like)
Cinnamon (make sure you use regular cinnamon and not cinnamon with sugar added)
Ice cubes (if it’s a hot day and you want your smoothie colder than usual)

Put it all in a blender and there you go. Yum yums. And cinnamon is great for helping to balance your blood sugar, so don’t be afraid to be liberal with it – just so long as it’s not the sugar included kind!

Quick and Easy Salmon Wraps

(Again on the measurements…)

1 wrap (I usually get the super-thin, long, square ones. You can get gluten-free, wheat-free, whatever free depending on your diet)
Tomato sauce (not ketchup! Think pasta sauce)
Feta cheese (the real stuff made from sheep or goat)
Thin slices of smoked salmon

Put some tomato sauce on your wrap, leaving a third of it clear so you don’t have sauce squishing all over the place when you wrap it up. Crumb up some feta and put it on the sauce. I prefer to put the feta on first because the sauce holds it in there better. Put one or a couple (depending on the size) slices of salmon on it and wrap it up!

Then put it on the grill, the sandwich grill, or whatever else. You can, of course, mix and match ingredients to your heart’s content.

As you know, I’m now on a naturopath-directed restricted diet for the next six weeks (until September 12th). I’ve decided that, to help me be as ‘clean’ as possible (she said I could have a chocolate if I absolutely needed to, but I want to avoid even that) I would like to have a reward waiting for me at the end of the tunnel.

Here is my list of ideas, ranging from big to small. If you have any other ideas for what I could do for rewards, let me know! I need all the help I can get.

1. My third tattoo. I’m not quite set on what I want, but if I know I’m getting it in September, that’ll be more motivation to decide. (I’ll post pictures!)
2. Get my nose pierced. I’ve wanted to for a long time but I could never find a good excuse to do so. (I’ll post pics of this one too.)
3. Go to see a movie. This one kind of depends on what’s playing. Hubby and I have prepaid tickets, so it wouldn’t be my first choice of a reward, but it’s a possibility.
4. A manicure. Could be nice…
5. A new haircut. I’m actually thinking about doing this one anyway, but it could depend on how much weight I lose. I might be convinced to post pics…
6. A new computer game. I heart computer games like Sim City, etc, so this would be a nice reward.
7. A new pen or a few new pens. (I’m addicted to office supplies.)
8. Some other new office-related something or other.
9. ….
10……
11. See? I need some help. I can’t think of any more rewards…
12….

Check out my other Thursday Thirteens at Fiction Scribe, Write Anyway, and The Book Stacks