Just a Dash

Eating Right

January 13, 2013by SymoneFLeave a Comment

For the new year, I’m trying to use more fresh seasonings in my cooking. I mentioned before that I cook Sunday – Thursday, so in an effort to be healthier and fitter this year I am changing what I cook and how I cook it. Less sodium wherever possible and less flavoring from jars – I bought a little device that crushes garlic cloves by rolling it along a hard surface. Last week, I crushed fresh garlic, chopped chives and a red and green sweet pepper. I also bought thyme, basil, marjoram and rosemary. I’ve been using these as the base for omelettes for breakfast and cooking my meat, of which was a lot of chicken and some fish. This has led to some very colorful and fresh tasty dishes. I used to buy my garlic pre-minced but I’m throwing out that jar and only using fresh garlic from now on. It’s amazing how much sodium is products like soy sauce and hoisin sauce – two of my favorites for stir-fry and chow mein. I intend to keep using them but I won’t be doing those dishes as often.

At my heaviest last year I was around 125/126lbs (I have no problem exposing my weight) and I’m now 118/119lbs. I was very proud of myself for not being a pig and getting out of hand with my eating when I went home as I didn’t gain any extra weight there. I bought a Nutribullet when I came back to do smoothies with as an option for breakfast and another way of getting my daily veg/fruit servings. I’ve used it once but I also have been eating hardboiled eggs and egg white omelettes for breakfast. I don’t intend to get above 120lbs any time soon. I know where I’m comfortable and I want to stay there. I worked out once while I was home and I haven’t since I returned but I once I start I intend to keep going. I’m happy that even though I haven’t been going, I haven’t been eating terribly either.

Kale, cucumber, ginger, spinach, apple and flax seed smoothie

I don’t subscribe to “new year new you” I believe “new year better you” should be your goal. Let’s face it, there won’t be a new you, people prefer to see that you’ve become a better person than totally changed and have them wondering who you are. Work on the small things and work your way up. Hope I’ve provided you with a little inspiration for getting on with your resolutions/goals for the year.

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Christmas Vacay

January 7, 2013by SymoneF2 Comments

Happy New Year!

I don’t even know why I put vacay in the title. I went on a trip that left me feeling like I need a vacation. This won’t be a long post. I have too much going on mentally to give a detailed account on my experiences but I just want to share the gist of it.

I was “home for the holidays” and the trip started off with us missing our final flight to Barbados via Miami because our Dallas flight was delayed. As we got off the jet bridge we heard our names being called and started to sprint. Unbeknownst to us, sprinting or taking the Skytrain from gate D19 to D48 wouldn’t have made a difference. We learned that if you aren’t in your seat 15mins before the plane is set to take off they can legally give up your seat. Technically, if they don’t think you can make it in time from your connection, they would rebook you but with all of the oversold flights for Christmas, this was not an option. And standby is a bitch – watching a three planes take off and knowing you should be on one of them can do some shit to you especially when you have to wait up to 15mins before it takes off to know whether or not you’ll get on it. We left Dec 23rd and arrived after 2pm on Christmas day. To say I cried would be an understatement. I balled. The agents at the gate all had awful attitudes and just made a shitty situation worse. But it was those whom we encountered at the Rebooking Center and at the Admirals Club at D30 (special thanks to Tacia) that gave us hope in American Airlines and in humanity. Due to this experience, to say I’ve become more paranoid about flying won’t even begin to cover it and we have made some rules with regards to travelling home for Christmas.

Because of the day and a half set back to an already short trip, the trip felt rushed. There were some lovely moments, as is expected when visiting family and friends but it felt like there was toooo much to do in such a short space of time. We left on the 4th for Orlando for a wedding that my husband was the best man in. That part of the trip went smoothly. We had one delay returning to Seattle (in Dallas again) but at least it was our last flight and we were home.

You can check out my Instagram page for a few photos but I didn’t take a single photo with my camera. I forgot I had it sometimes and it seems I didn’t pack the charger either. Womp.

We have two more weddings to attend this year out of the country and my in-laws are planning to visit as well. Hubs and I still need a vacay just for us as we haven’t had one (where we didn’t know anyone where we went) since our honeymoon in 2010! Hopefully that will happen this year as well. I’ve posted on my other blog what I hope to achieve this year and there are other personal goals I’m keeping to myself because I don’t want to look back at them if they aren’t achieved.

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and are ready to kick 2013’s ass and know that things can only get better :).

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December 13, 2012by SymoneFLeave a Comment

Eric Hyde's Blog

“I’m spiritual, not religious”

I wish I had a back massage for every time I’ve heard this line. What gets me most is the presupposition it stems from, that “spiritual” is the assumed equivalent of “good” and “religious” is the assumed equivalent of “evil.” Who made up this language game?

Honestly, who decided that “spiritual” was a term that would be used to contradict religion and as evidence of personal enlightenment without further ado? And does anyone using the phrase ever stop to think what they actually mean by it? I think what is usually meant is that religion is man-made tradition, whereas spiritual is a phenomenon that happens on a personal level, free from all “man-madeness” and tradition, and thus… true?

My experience has been exactly the opposite. I spent the first 20 years of my journey in Christianity believing that I was spiritual and not religious, and I…

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