Jessica Warren

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January 13, 2019January 13, 2019

Lazy Keto For The Win

Photo by Public Domain Pictures on Pexels.com

Like everyone else in the world on January 1st, I decided (yet again…for the 107th time) that I need to really, truly, for real this time, get as healthy as I can be.

I scoured the internet for days and days for diets that I could start that would be more of a lifestyle change versus just a way to lose weight. My problem is that I love sweets and I love to eat. I am not a protein shake twice a day gal. I am more of a pizza and beer gal with a side of nachos and fudge.

What you may or may not know is that I have Reactive Hypoglycemia. It isn’t true hypoglycemia and it isn’t true diabetes. However, if I eat too much sugar or carbs, then I feel horrible. My blood sugar goes crazy, I get moody, shaky, hot, hangry, etc. It can ruin the entire day because my body is just exhausted from not feeling well.

I have tried the South Beach Diet, which I really like, but it always felt too restrictive. I once tried the Whole 30, but it also felt too restrictive. Then I found Keto. I know what you are thinking…it is very restrictive as well. You are right. It is. Then it dawned on me. About time, since my middle name is Dawn.

I have been an idiot. I just need to form my own way of eating and just stick to it. I like how Keto focuses on low carbs but trying to get my carbs to 20 or less for an entire day is too restrictive for me right now if I want this to be a lifestyle change that I truly like.

So I decided to do a lazy Keto diet my style. Basically, I try to eat keto the best I can. But I stay 50 or less carbs a day and if I need to indulge some then I indulge, because life is short and eating a cheat meal or two during the weekend won’t be the end of the world. As I get better at eating healthy for my body, then the carb number will go down. It has usually been about 30 carbs a day. I have been feeling great, no hangry feelings, and I am enjoying finding new recipes to make.

My family had taco night just a few days ago. They had regular taco shells or soft burritos. I made my own shells using cheese. Pinterest is my best friend. I didn’t need to put extra cheese on my taco since my shell was my cheese. A little salsa, spinach, and avocado with my meat AND it was sooo delicious! Even more than regular!

I did AMAZING all week with my carb totals, calories, and exercise. Then the weekend came. I did great Friday and had “room” for a glass of wine. Saturday was a different story. I did great, but then we went out to eat for my husband’s birthday. My plan to not eat the sticky rice at the Thai restaurant quickly left my thoughts because the food was just that good.

Curry, coconut milk, chicken and bamboo shoots. Do I need to say more? At first, I felt bad that I cheated. Then, the next morning, I cheated again with sausage biscuits. Ugh, the guilt of being a cheat. I feel so dirty and ashamed. Then I remembered that this is my healthy lifestyle not a stupid diet that I hate. I make the rules and I can decide that a little cheating can actually be a good thing. Life is too short to feel bad about eating a yummy meal or two.

So the moral of this story is to do what feels good for you. I am LOVING how great I felt this week with my Lazy Keto food. For example, a coworker is also on a diet. One day for lunch last week, I had those leftover tacos I had just talked about. She only had string cheese and yogurt. I felt bad that my meal was so much more yummier than hers, but I think her main goal is to lose weight. Mine is to yes lose weight, but also to stop being hangry and get my reactive hypoglycemia under control. My goal is also to eat as much yummy food as I can! haha!

I am going to keep up with my lazy keto way of eating and my exercising. Oh! I haven’t told you what I do for exercise! I need to! (Hint…an upcoming blog post!)

Keep Smiling! ❤ Jessica

December 29, 2018December 29, 2018

Confessions

It is now December 29th and no I didn’t finish NaNoWriMo. I also didn’t write a novel. I also totally failed on my exercise schedule. Work meetings and holiday activities got in the way. Excuses I know.

The good news is that I did come up with a new children’s book and have started writing it. I did fail on my exercise schedule, but I have also decided that I cannot just do exercise without the healthy eating plan. So my fail has turned into an understanding that I need to take all around better care of myself.

So 2019, I will finish my children’s book and start being a better, healthier me. (And for those of you that want to argue with me about starting in 2019, I am trying to be as healthy as I can be right now; however, I am going to hold myself more accountable in 2019.)

A few of my friends do the Beach Body workouts. I am not doing that; however, I am doing the Body Boss workouts. I have done the pretraining and am starting the true program in January. Wish me luck!!! The pretraining was hard as hell and made me feel like I am sooo out of shape! However, the more I did it, the stronger I felt.

I am also going to attempt the KETO diet so if any of you have advice, I am all ears! With all the cookie, pie, candy, and chip eating during the holidays, I desperately need to get my blood sugar back on track. Thus the KETO diet sounds like it might help. Although, I do have Reactive Hypoglycemia so it might not work. I will have to see what helps me not have any blood sugar issues because when I get hangry..it is more than just me being angry and hungry. It becomes an all over feeling of not being able to focus, feeling weak, headache, nauseous, hot, angry, etc. Once it happens, my whole day is shot. It is hard to get back to feeling normal. I will keep you updated on how KETO is doing. If any of you have Reactive Hypoglycemic and have found a better way of eating healthy where I can also lose weight, please let me know!

I wish all of you a wonderful New Years Eve and a fulfilling 2019. Let’s start the new year off right! I am going to find a First Day Hike, how about you??

http://www.dcr.virginia.gov/state-parks/blog/virginia-state-parks-first-day-hikes-2019

October 28, 2018October 28, 2018

Time to Write a Novel??

woman writing on a notebook beside teacup and tablet computer — Photo by Tirachard Kumtanom on Pexels.com

In just a few days, November will be here. To be that means NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)!! It is the one month of the year where I, and many many others, try to write 50,000 words in just one month. Some of us are successful; some of us are not and that is ok. This is my sixth year doing NaNoWriMo. I am not going to stress out if I don’t make the word count, because my goal is just to regain my creative juices and write on a schedule.

: Photo by rawpixel.com on Pexels.com

Planning is usually my downfall. I want to be a planner so I try and try each year to write what I had planned for NaNoWriMo, but it just doesn’t work out. My characters do as they damn please. So this year, I am not going to plan. I am going to write and let the characters run with it. We will see. I am hopeful and excited to see what comes of it.

It has been hard to stay on a writing schedule lately. I have been letting my personal life interfere. Dealing with my mother’s Alzheimer’s has seemed to take over my thoughts and feelings. Perhaps writing can be a form of therapy for me instead of something I put off because I am just not in the mood to write? Maybe NaNoWriMo can help me get out of this funk?

I am looking forward to having a goal to work towards, talking with fellow writers about their imagination, and making time for myself to just write.

Good luck to everyone!!

at the end of a day — Photo by Monique Laats on Pexels.com

October 11, 2018October 11, 2018

Liar, Liar, Pants on Fire

In a previous post, I mentioned how I was going to start posting more and writing more and blah blah blah. Well, that was MONTHS ago.

dark fire time paper — Photo by Eugene Shelestov on Pexels.com

Apparently, life got in the way yet AGAIN! School started up and my schedule is insane. My son has been sick more than usual for the first two months of school. My mother, who is in the last stages of Alzheimer’s, has deteriorated so much lately….it is just heartbreaking. I just got caught up in the lows of life.

My recent visit with my mother was the worst ever. There never seemed to be a moment where she recognized me as her daughter. At one point, she asked me “Who is your mom?” It was so hard to say the next two words: “you are.”

It broke me.

After that visit, I became determined.

Determined to make myself write again. Determined to exercise and take care of myself more. Determined to be a good example for my son. Determined to truly live life to the fullest because life really is crazy short.

So here’s to livin’ life to the fullest. ❤

August 5, 2018August 5, 2018

Ant-Man and the Wasp Movie Review

Last night was DATE NIGHT!! We had an amazing dinner of Thai food, with a mai tai of course. After a delicious plate of Pad Thai, we headed to the movies. We had the choice between Ant-Man and Mission Impossible. Ant-Man it was. What did I think?

Well, the problem is that I saw the first Ant-Man, but I didn’t see Captain America: Civil War. This Ant-Man and the Wasp movie began with Ant-Man not talking to or around the main characters from the first Ant-Man. Needless to say, I was confused. I had to whisper to my husband that I didn’t know what was going on. You could almost hear his SIGH that he had to talk during the movie. haha! He quickly mentioned how Ant-Man had gone off to fight with Avengers in a different movie.

With that being said, it was a cute and humorous movie. I feel like if they had just taken out a little bit of language, this movie could have been PG thus allowing more children to attend. I realize it was date night, but my son would have LOVED this movie. However, I do not cuss around him nor do I want him to go to movies and learn cuss words, so unfortunately he will not be seeing it anytime soon. 😦

Also, we stayed around for a scene after the credits which was a little bit of a bummer. We then left the theater wondering why we were the only ones leaving. Yep. There was another scene that we totally missed. I googled it and it seems that we didn’t miss much. If you saw it, let me know what you think.

❤

shallow focus photography of couple ants holding book figurine — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

July 26, 2018July 26, 2018

Finding Agents and Making Spaghetti Squash Pizza Casserole

The time has come. I have finished my second children’s book and I am ready to find an Agent to help me get it traditionally published!!

But wait…aren’t you an Indie Author? Yes, I know, I know. I am and I should just do it myself, but this book is different. It needs artistic skills that might take me years to develop. So I have decided that this one needs to go out into the world in a different way. We will see where the world takes it. {Fingers crossed!}

In the meantime, I am making new dishes and seeing how honest my husband is about our dinners. haha! If he likes a meal, he will get seconds and sometimes thirds. I have found out that if he REALLY doesn’t like it, then his response to the meal will be: “Well, it isn’t horrible.” Yep. That is what he said when I made Spaghetti Squash Pizza Casserole for the first time.

Don’t get me wrong….it was f@cking delicious! However, it seems that anytime I make something healthy, he just doesn’t like it. Did he like the cauliflower rice? No. Shrimp scampi with spaghetti squash as the noodles? No. But if I were to make fried chicken, fried okra, fried green tomatoes then he is all in. Get the point? hahah!

Anyways, I loved the dish and it was so incredibly easy that I needed to share it with you. You will love it too! I hope.

INGREDIENTS:

1 or 2 small spaghetti squash
marinara sauce
shredded mozzarella cheese
pepperonis

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven 400 degrees. Cut spaghetti squash in half then place open face down on a greased baking sheet. Bake approximately 35 minutes. Let cool then scrape the inside out with a fork into a strainer. Then lightly take some paper towels and push some of the extra water out.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl add the cooked spaghetti squash noodles and marinara sauce. Mix well.
Pour into a large baking dish. Sprinkle the cheese on top. I like a lot but my husband hates cheese so add how much you like. Then add pepperoni.
Bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until heated through.
Remove from oven and let cool.
Sprinkle with fresh parsley and basil if you have it.
Enjoy!

July 16, 2018July 16, 2018

Finding My Way Back

Everyone struggles in life. Sometimes it takes us down a dark path, but we must always keep trudging along to find the way out.

Lately, I have been feeling down. I lie. It has actually been over a year now. I have kept my distance from friends, my house is becoming a disaster, and I have to remind myself daily how great I have it even though life isn’t what I dreamed it would be.

I usually keep my true self away from my blog posts, but not anymore. For the past year, I haven’t blogged much nor have I written as much as I would like. This past weekend I decided that enough is enough. I have been walking in mud for months trying to find my way out to happiness, but it is time to find that vine and pull, yank, swing myself immediately to the right path.

Book rejections, my mother’s Alzheimer’s, and my struggle with fertility have been like these tremendous weights on my shoulders all consuming my thoughts. At some point, we have to just break free and take charge. So this is me taking charge.

I am revamping my blog. My next Children’s book has been written; I just need to edit, edit, rewrite, and edit again. The three books I have written and published are all FREE for the next couple days! Summer is great for reading! Just click on FREE!

As for my mother’s Alzheimer’s and my infertility? I just need to admit to myself that it is what it is. I have guilt that I cannot provide my son siblings and I have guilt that I cannot help my mother in all the ways she needs due to time and financial reasons. I also have embarrassment about the infertility and have not spoken much about it. I am done not speaking. It is time to yell about something that people should feel like they can share. The time is now. I just need to do the best I can, appreciate all that I do have, visit my mom as much as I can, and just live.

If you are going through struggles as well, please remember you are not alone. There is a light at the end of that long dark road. I promise. You just need to keep walking or running. But don’t just sit in that darkness and hope you will find the way out. You must make yourself get up and get out. If you don’t have the energy, please tell someone. Tell a friend. Tell a family member. Call a counselor. You are not alone and we can all get through this. ❤️