Loverly Me :-)

Unpopular Opinions . . .

April 1, 2017

Unpopular Opinion: I think that regardless of what is said, it’s never constructive to condescendingly disagree with anyone! Especially if you’d like to express a difference of opinion and get your views across. . .

I created this blog to write about funny, positive moments in my life and lessons learned along the way. Never did I want it to be a “woe is me” page. Not because there’s anything wrong with that, but because I personally don’t like being that way. BUT I’m annoyed. . .

I don’t like people. And it’s in a strange way. I love loving on people; I like being kind and respectful; I love helping people; and I enjoy good conversation (as long as it’s one-on-one, MAYBE a small group of 3 . . . maybe). However, I really can’t stand people. They really suck! Sometimes I have to think that maybe it’s me.

My whole life, I’ve never seemed to fit perfectly anywhere. Growing up, I was always a bit more advanced and mature. I was also chubby and a bit dorky so naturally I was picked on. However, most people at least have that one friend that they could hang out with or rely on, even when they didn’t fit in with the majority. I didn’t feel like I really had that. I’ve always felt like I was a better friend and the love wasn’t reciprocated. I’m fortunate because I do have a solid, strong, close immediate family and my husband and brother are my best friends. My family love and support me unconditionally and could never be replaced. Even when they don’t agree with me, I always feel accepted by my family, and not by force, but by choice. We genuinely like each other. But back to people . . .

. . . So, since I could remember, I’ve always thought differently than most and my opinions are rarely appreciated. I often feel attacked when I express myself even when I feel like what I’m saying is either factual, common sense, or just another way of thinking. The thing is, I don’t necessarily feel like I’m wrong for the way that I think, but I still feel bad about myself. I almost feel sorry for myself that I’m so alone. When I speak up about a certain topic, and I’m attacked, I genuinely listen to what they’re saying to try to get an understanding and often times when I analyse their views, their reactions seem to be emotional and less rational. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it doesn’t mean that I’m wrong either. It makes me think, though: What is wrong with me? Why doesn’t anyone understand me? Is it my delivery? Why do I care so much?!?!?!?!!!!!!!

Anyway, non-scale victory: This morning I held a plank for NINETY SECONDS!!!! That’s the longest plank that I’ve ever held since I could remember!!!! I felt so happy and accomplished. I def earned a pat on the back 🙂

. . . People Suck!

Sewing Fun

February 20, 2017

So I have this event coming up this weekend that I had signed up for at the last minute. At this event, I am required to wear red. I couldn’t find anything online that I really loved nor could I find anything in the stores. I thought that this would be a great chance to sew myself a jumpsuit :-). I’ve never sewn a day in my life, but I like to live dangerously. So I go on YouTube to watch some tutorials and it seemed easy enough and I was feeling really confident.

Next, I go online and look for some inspiration and I fall in love and I’m inspired by a few ideas . . .

I start sewing and I’m feeling good because the top is starting to look great. I have to put in a few darts to make it more fitted, but I was feeling good and confident. Sorry for the pic quality. I’m the worst pic taker. I suck.

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So I move on to the pants and I’m super excited. I used the template as directed and gave myself some “extra room” for the hem and seam just as instructed. I think that I had given myself a bit too much “extra” . . . This is how the pants turned out . . .

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. . . gotta bring the pants in a bit. . .

I’m having a ton of fun learning along the way. I can’t wait to see what the final product will be. Stay tuned. . .

Halfway Through February and I’m Still Fat!!! What Gives?!

February 16, 2017

So this month, I’ve started eating better and working out daily; about at least 4 days/week. Guess what. I’ve actually GAINED 6 lbs as of Monday. The moment that I saw that number, I was ready to give up. Clearly, I’m meant to be fat, right? Like Adele said about Beyonce at the Grammys, “WHAT THE FUCK [DO I] HAVE TO DO TO [LOSE SOME DAMN WEIGHT]?!” Seriously! You ever start to think crazy thoughts like, “Hmm . . . maybe I can be the first to start smoking crack but stop as soon as I’m skinny and not be addicted” or “Why can’t I just get really really sick!?” or maybe even “Just wire my jaws SHUT!!!!”? I was angry, frustrated, discouraged, hungry, and I felt so defeated. This week I had fallen off. I was angry and I was eating all kinds of crap. My first 2 weeks felt like Kevin’s chili incident:

I know, Kevin. Life’s hard and it’s not always fair. However, I reminded myself about how much I hate looking into the mirror. I remind myself of how fast time flies by and if I just do right consistently, the fat loss can happen for me. I reminded myself to reflect on what may have gone wrong. So today, I decided to get over myself and get back on track. Luckily, I have been jotting down everything that I eat. Even my cheat snacks (I would lie in the past . . . stupid). I realized that even though my diet was relatively clean, there were some bad sugars creeping into my diet. With having PCOS, which causes insulin resistance, I’m very sensitive to certain foods and it will get my hormones going CRAZY and cause me to gain weight. Even though I had SWORN that I was doing the right thing I looked at my carbs, and most of them were sugar and very few of them were fiber sources. One of these days when I’m not lazy, I’ll break that down.

I remember what my friend told me, “The key/recipe to fat loss is simple. It’s the journey that can be a struggle” We have to remember that we must do what others won’t in order to get what others don’t. Champions aren’t champions by luck. They practice, they train, they work hard for their victory. Sometimes they make it look easy. Almost anything successful is derived from hard work. If any of you out there are going through what I’m going through, know that I know your pain, but I will not give up and I implore you to have the same attitude. Find more inspiration, motivation. Continue to remind yourself of WHY you decided to take control. We got this . . .

Love

~ Adriane XO

New Year Starts Now. The First Month Was a Test Run . . .

February 3, 2017

So I finally went to the gym this morning after a 1-month hiatus due to being either sick or lazy. It felt good to get out there and exercise. It was a great start to my day actually. I have ONE HUNDRED POUNDS to lose!!!!! I have no time to play around with this. I wrote about confidence and vibes and I’m putting the confidence out there that I *WILL* be fit this year, and I *WILL* remain consistent. Now that I’ve put it into the universe it’s time to make it happen 🙂

My first day back (I went last month, but only like, 4 times, so I’m not counting that) was great as stated before. However, perhaps I don’t know the gym etiquette because this particular incident happens far too often to myself and my husband. . .

So after my workout, I grab my things, still jammin’ to my BOMB workout mix, and head to the shower. I place them into the partition across from the shower and grab my towel. I turn around and someone is in MY shower! It happened so fast. Like, what in ALL of the hell?! I had just turned around for a second! I was a bit annoyed with myself because I was jammin’ so hard that I didn’t hear her turn the shower on, but of course, I wanted to take that anger out on her. I wanted to give her the “Sparta Kick”!

“B****, that’s my shower” . . . is what I wanted to say, but I decided to keep it classy. Plus, I do recognize that sometimes my anger is a bit irrational. Anyway, so naturally, I go to Facebook to complain about this chick who took my shower, then another shower opens up 🙂 So now I’m happy again.

So I place my things AGAIN into the partition across from the shower, this time fully attentive to my surroundings and another woman tries to take my shower!!!! Heeeeelllll no! So I had politely told her that I was about to use it. She says “OK” in this . . . somewhat condescending, disappointed tone as if I could care less then walks away. At that moment, I felt empowered. I felt like I had stood up for myself and had redeemed myself for not paying attention in the first place. I think that that may have been a gift from the fitness Gods for my initiative to finally get myself in shape. Yay me!

Folks, I have 100 lbs to lose. Wish me luck and keep me inspired.

With love

Adriane 🙂

Diet Mussels?! What?

January 22, 2017

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Garlic and herbs provide the most tantalizing aroma throughout the house. Poor hubby. He’ll be missing out as he can’t enjoy seafood . . .

(The “diet” part was a joke. Mussels are diet by default because they’re not a naughty food)

So, I’m not going to lie to you. I’ve been slacking in the “exercise” department. With poor timing, then getting sick, I feel like I just can’t win and it gets stressful. However, I’ve been maintaining my healthy eating lifestyle. I’ve still managed to come down a few lbs because abs are made in the kitchen, right? Forgive me in advanced for my photo quality . . . my cam kinda sucks lol. SO, anyway, for lunch I decided to make and share another excellent recipe: MUSSELS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (The sharing part was decided at the last second. So no photo instructions but at least I remembered the finished product, right?)

For calorie counters, this recipe is only about ~180 calories for 4oz of mussels!!!!!! For macro followers, this recipe has about 10g of carbs, 6g of fat, and a WHOPPING 27g of protein!!!!!!!!!! Who knew?! I surely didn’t until reading the nutrition facts!!! Don’t believe me?! Just look for yourself . . .

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See?! Dieting can be so awesome! So anyway. Here’s the recipe

Ingredients:

16 oz mussels

1 cup of water from boiled mussels

1 8oz can of diced tomatoes

1/2 stick of butter

1 head of garlic (you know I love my garlic)- chopped

1 small onion-chopped

3 tbsp parsley

3 tbsp basil

Directions: (prepare mussels properly before boiling. Remove beard, wash, etc)

Boil the mussels for 3-5 minutes until mussels open. Retain 8oz of water. In a large pan or dutch oven, add all ingredients until warm. Pour into your fav dish and enjoy!!!

A piece of baguette or perhaps pasta (squid ink would be my choice) would go GREAT with this dish. However . . . the way carbs and my hormones are set up . . .

So if you all try this recipe, please let me know what you think. I look forward to your responses.

Love,

Adriane XO

Diet Foodie . . .

January 22, 2017

Some say that dieting is hard because it’s hard to find good food. Diet food is so boring, bland, etc. Being a person who loves food, I take joy in finding new recipes that help me change my lifestyle and broaden my culinary skills :-). One of the biggest steps to lifestyle changing is staying away from processed food and replacing it with fresh, home made food. I’d like to share one of my favorite recipes: Oxtail Stew!!!! Now forgive me in advance, I missed some photos in my directions and I had even forgotten to add a photo of my finished product, so I had to steal some finished photos off of the web. Thanks to my unknown contributors. I’ll do better next time, I promise.

Have you ever had ox tails? They’re absolutely divine in my opinion. They’re a great source of Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12 and Calcium. The fat and bone provide amazing flavor to the meat. They do have a particularly unique texture and the meat is a bit of a task to obtain around the bone. However, the reward is worth it. This is my first try at making a recipe instruction, so forgive me in advance for how amateur it will be

So . . .

For starters, I’ve taken about 3.5 lbs of ox tail meat. When selecting meat, any meat, we want to be sure that the fat is white. This helps determine how fresh the meat is.

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This meat is to be boiled for about 20-30 minutes. When you see foam on top of the water, this is the impurities that need to be removed. (From what I read) Once that’s done, remove the ox tails and we can start on our dish.

First, in a dutch oven, brown a head of garlic (yup, a whole head) in olive oil and a few pinches of salt. I like mine only lightly browned for this particular recipe. I brown it only until it becomes fragrant

Once I’ve browned my garlic, I add my chicken broth and water, herbs, and ox tails . . .

Once that comes to a boil, let it simmer for 5-6 hours. If you’re feeling naughty within the last hour of cooking, add in potatoes and carrots. I opted to not use potatoes and carrots to avoid the extra carbs (booo). I served my ox tails with sauteed french-style string beans and salad.

Ingredients:

3.5 lbs Ox Tails

4 cups Chicken Broth

4 cups Water

1 head garlic

2 Bay Leaves

1 sprig Fresh Rosemary (or 3 tbsp dry)

Salt (I can’t recall the amount. I’m sorry. Maybe about 5 or 6 tbsp)

3 tbsp Thyme

2 tbsp Red Pepper Flakes

I hope you enjoy this recipe. How do you like to prepare your ox tails?

~ Adriane

Positive Vibrations Only, Please . . .

January 22, 2017

CLICHE!!!! Right? I know that I’m not saying anything that hasn’t been said before already. Vibes and energy is all the . . . renewed rave, isn’t it? (renewed, right? Was it not inspired by hippies? I don’t know, I’m not much of a cultural history expert . . . anyway. . .) We always talk about positive vibes only; feeling positive energy. As corny and fake as it may sound, it’s real!! The problem is, we limit its power. Curious to know why this was on my mind? One of my BFFs, Candi! She and I were talking about the woes of weight loss, nutrition, blah blah blaaaaaah and then she reminded me: vibes and energy!!

For example, you know how there are certain positive things that happen routinely and you’re confident about it? Like, knowing where to park at the mall because you’re bound to get that good space, or knowing the flow of traffic on the freeway and confidently avoiding spending more time on your commute than necessary? We put those confident, positive vibes into the atmosphere and they rarely let us down. Often times, we don’t even realize that we’re doing it. We need to learn to train ourselves to apply this to everything in life. Including weight loss!!!

Today I ate clean and had a positive, productive day, although I’m sick. Bummer, right?! I honestly believe that my vibes kept me honest and clean. I told myself that I wasn’t going to put up with another day of set back and I meant it and it was a rewarding feeling. Now, the challenge is consistency and CONVINCING yourself this this is valid and that it works!! I’m considering doing a weekly “vibe” update. I want to challenge myself to “Vibe it out” for a month. Feel free to do the same. We should exchange results weekly. Go in with positive energy and confidence for success and make a habit of this. . . then look at your success rate

Vibin’ with love,

Adriane.

. . . Positive Vibes Only . . .