The time has come...

Hi guys, I'm posting tonight about something I've been contemplating the last couple months. For the time being I've decided to not blog anymore. The time has come for me to say goodbye. I've been doing it off and on for so long and I even just had my blog makeover completed, but somewhere between the time of booking my makeover spot and months waiting for it, I just lost the love of doing it.

I think I just have so much on my plate. I'm working, still doing a little chow, my own animals food, and dealing with Lilly's aliments, home life with family friends (which I hardly see as it is), I volunteer to help with the blog for an animal rescue I work with, etc etc.

I still love cooking but have really been focusing on trying new recipes from my many cookbooks rather than my own recipes and I feel a lot that I don't have anything really exciting to share. I live a pretty low key simple life. I like it that way, so I'm not complaining, but it can leave topics to blog about pretty sparse ;)  Who knows, maybe one day I will have a new passion for it and come back!

For those who have stuck by and been checking in I thank you for caring and for all the nice comments! I still adore Instagram and post pic's of meals, food finds, my adorable zoo, and other random life moments daily so feel free to check in there! My user name is dailydoseofhealthy or Natasha H.

I didn't want to just not show up here again and leave anyone who has been reading wondering what is going on so here is a little life update :)

I'm still plugging away at WW. I'm still having trouble with my right leg. I think I may have a collapsed arch. I have an appointment with a chiropractor tomorrow and I'm going to my first ever acupuncture appointment Saturday. My in laws have been seeing him, and have rave reviews. He is Korean, practising traditional Chinese acupuncture/medicine. I'm nervous but excited to see if he can help with some stuff I've been dealing with, including possibly my varicose vein in the one leg.  

Lilly is doing well. She is just finishing up antibiotics for a UTI, but last bloodwork showed great Potassium levels and electrolytes were normal. She gets retested for everything one more time May 2nd. Finger's crossed she passes with flying colors. She is happy to be back on her old food and we are working on excercise to get a couple pounds off her again from the kidney diet.

I think that is all the news on my end! Thanks again for checking in, and following along in my adventures!!

Love to you all <3

Mid week check in!

Happy Hump day! This week is just flying by. After work we had to go into the City to pick up meds for Lilly from the specialist. The good news is her electrolytes and potassium were at a good level, but she did have a UTI. Right now she's on antibiotics for that as well as some liver support.  We take her back next Tues. and I'm very hopefully that everything will come back clean and normal!

While in Calgary we stopped by Community Natural Foods for a few things. I love that store. It's a good thing it's so far from us. It's kinda like Whole paycheck Foods in the U.S. Great food, selections, natural, organic but expensive.

Here was tonight's loot;

• Zen Budda vegan butter spread
• Amazing Grass
• Baba ganoush dip
• Kale pesto
• Annie's bunny graham crackers
• Sunflower milk
• Corn chowder
• Corn flour
• Vegan Parmesan cheeses
• Organic potatoes
• Sprouted grain bread

 

• Natural Fruit toppings 
• (Amazing Grass/Annie's in both pics-Oops!)
• Earth Balance vegan butter
• Sprouted grain bagels
• Pea Shoots/Broccoli sprouts
• Grape tomatoes
• Mini peppers
• Tofutti sour cream

This past week had been full of lots of good meals, with just a few indulgences...

New favorite finds;

These pickled beans are awesome! I'm yet to try the other products but will let you know my thoughts once I do. I'm excited to try the Amazing Grass greens bars. I love Amazing Grass superfood! I've done my own sprouting many times but these are new seeds. I got onion, kale and Ancient Eastern blend :)

I'm off tomorrow and I have so much to do. Lilly is getting groomed her doggy spa day in the afternoon even though her hair growth appears to be stunted. I'm not sure if it's from all the recent meds or not, the vet didn't know either, but she's still getting a nice bath, nails and a touch up. Besides my groomer is amazing and wants to get in a snuggle with Ms Lilly ;)

Hope your week is going well <3

Well that was a long break!

Hey guys! While I had no intentions of stopping blogging for that long of a period of time, it was much needed.

I was going through a big career transition, and my lab Lilly's been going through some medical issues and I just wasn't in the frame of mind to come here and be the positive person I normally am. It's been 2 months, which is just mind blowing being that it feels more like a few weeks, but I feel ready to get back to focusing on some blogging accountability and some serious effort to get on the healthy living track again.

I have not lost one single pound. Okay that's not true. This past year or more I have lost and gained the same five pounds more than I can count. I have not though gained anymore of the initial 20 I lost 2 years ago. I account that to the fact that I'm still eating a heck of  a lot more healthy than I used to. I eat a lot of veggies and fruit and a lot of wholefoods.

I am back to tracking with Weight watchers, and I'm trying to get back in the habit of consistently getting adequate water and vitamins.

A quick rundown of the past couple months;

• We decided to remove the ugly out dated fluorescent lighting from our kitchen. There was this huge wooden box frame the lights were in. It left an ugly yellow ring on the ceiling

so we bought ceiling paint to touch it up. It made our ceiling peel off! Yes, I mean off-off. So hubby and his dad scraped it all off, sanded, primed and painted and then repainted with stipple. Well that didn't take so well either and partly peeled. We had to do a lot of patch work. Now our ceiling looks off and different than the rest of our house. Boo! Even though it's messed up I still think it looks better with the light box gone!!

• As you know, I had a really bad case of bronchitis which lingered for 30 days :-/ I was well for 2 weeks then I came down with a horrible stomach flu and was in bed for 3 days, thus missing more work...then I was well for another 2 weeks, and now I am just on the back end of another cold. I'm told this is normal when you are new to working with kids. My Dr. ordered blood work just in case to make sure. I am going in 2 wks. (My next available morning off to fast.)

• Lilly was diagnosed with kidney disease. She had dental surgery and had 10 teeth removed.

It was brutal. I missed a week of work to be home with her and recovery was hard on her.

• I spent almost all day at 2 vets yesterday trying to figure out why she is not wanting to eat much. It was determined that she actually probably does not have kidney disease after all (thank god!) and now we are just waiting on tests to see if there is a UTI...again.

• My washing machine and dishwasher both kicked the bucket the SAME day.

After a delivery mix up, I finally have my new sets, and I'm in love with them!

• I cashed in points we have earned on our credit card

and picked up gift cards for a new bread maker

Hubby making his first loaf of bread!

and the one thing I have wanted forever...a Kitchen Aid mixer!!
 

Woo-hoo!!

• Hubby sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers on International Woman's day. They were gorgeous <3

 

 

I'm sure I'm forgetting a few things, but that is all I can remember right now, lol!

 

Here are some of my new recent food finds;

 





 

And a few "things" I'm lovin'!

 

1-My new divided containers for work from easy lunchboxes.

2-My Planetbox! My mom actually got this for me just after I had ordered the other ones. I love them both though!

3-I just picked up Mama Pea's new book and can't wait to cook from it!!

4-These adorable mini bamboo ice cream cups and spoons are perfect snack size and environmentally friendly :)

 

So have I lost you yet?! Haha! That's what's new and exciting in my foodie/culinary world. Have you found or picked up anything new and exciting lately?

 

Well thanks for checking in and I will now see you a few times a week! Hope you're all doing wonderful! <3

 

The week of big decisions...

Good evening guys. Hope your weekend is off to a good start. It's a long weekend here in Alberta (Family Day) so I'm off from the Rec center until Tuesday. I will be spending the long weekend working on finishing my dog food orders.

This past week has been a heavy one for me. I ended up being offered a lot more hours at the Rec. center and had to make a decision if I wanted to take on more hours or continue as I was. The issues that we were having have been resolved and I've been really enjoying my job.

The thing is, I've been thinking about a change from my home business for over a year now. There are so many pro's and con's but when I made out a list of the biggest ones, there were 3 major con's that I just could not ignore.

I have been doing my business for just under 7 years. I love helping others with their pets and believe in the food wholeheartedly but it's very taxing on me physically. I have pulled my back out badly several times and am having problems with repetitive injury in my arms from the heavy lifting, mixing and packaging of hundreds of dinners, and thousands of containers.

It's also just a lot of work/stress. Because I work from home I never get away from it either which is stressful in itself. Between picking up supplies, prepping the meat, making the dinners, cleaning up the kitchen, packaging, delivering, emailing, and bookkeeping it's just A LOT of work. The other issue is the cost of making the food. The price of our supplies and running costs have increased so much over the years, that it's ridiculous! We just struggle to keep up.

On Wednesday I made the hardest decision of my career. I notified my work that I was going to accept the new position, and started notifying my customers that we were shutting down the dog food. It's a love/hate thing. I'm ready to move past the work, but love my customers and their dog families. We have become friends with so many and I felt like I was divorcing them. Many tears were shed. I feel excited and scared for the next new chapter in my life. 

I'm looking forward to having normal hours, and that when I'm done work, I'm done. I do not need to bring work home with me.

I will be less stressed, and have more time for myself, my own dogs, and with my hubby, family, and friends. My house can become my home again. My place of peace and serenity. This house has never truly felt that way for me. I will still be cooking for my own girls of course, and I can only hope that my customers will take my advice and cook for theirs too. I know it's the right decision for me and my husband but it's hard non the less.

So this week I've been super occupied and consumed with this, working both jobs until the end of the month, and trying to keep it together in the meantime. My eating has been crap. I have good breakfasts and some lunches, then we have been eating out, or eating processed easy meals. I've had no time for proper planning or prepping and I've been stress eating/snacking. Must stop. I feel out of control. I know better times are ahead.

I have a crazy two weeks to get through, and then I'm on a new, calmer path. Bare with me, I will be back to regular posts, workouts and clean eating once again. Thanks for sticking around <3