With back to school comes back to dance and back to our routine. Part of that routine for the past 3 years has been cleaning the dance studio. It works out well because my kids love the dance studio and the money we make there, pays for their dance classes! It’s a thing in our family 😆. When I was a kid my parents cleaned the helicopter hangar on the base Sunday afternoons and Wednesday nights. They used that money for our extracurricular activities… like I said it’s a thing! This past week we started our twice a week cleanings again. Lately HBear has been helping out so she can earn some extra money. When they got home I asked, “how is it being back?“ And Ninja said, “God I feel so bad for all those young ladies having to look at themselves in those full length mirrors, I looked at myself and realized that I’ve gained a few pounds!“ I told him in no certain terms to go Eff himself.
Not one of my finest moments.
Here’s the thing, Ninja has put on a few pounds, not that it matters he’s still hot AF 😍! I too have put on a “few” pounds. Like 15! To be honest, like 17. In 8 months. The difference is Ninja can lose it. I can’t. Or at least not in the way I am used to. PreMS I did an average of 20 000 steps a day. I was always moving. At night I did yoga to stretch out the muscles that I had worked all day. Having a busy cleaning company and two active kids has always kept me on my toes! We also loved hiking as a family and staying active on the weekends!
Now, I do 10,000 steps in a day and I am dead. I literally responded to a text, “you’re talking to Kristin’s corpse right now.” 🤪
I try to do my exercise challenge every single night. On the nights when my body is screaming at me and all I feel is white noise all over my skin and I’m so exhausted that I can’t stand, I make sure I catch up the next day. I can’t do a Beachbody program though! I can’t even do a jumping jack! Everything now is low impact. Not exactly a good way to keep weight off.
It’s a real confidence killer. Not to mention my thinning hair that I had to chop because the texture of my hair on my hands was so overstimulating it felt like my hands were on fire with white noise. Which has made my grey stand out even more and when I mean stand out I literally mean stand out! Wiry grey hair is the worst! Have I mentioned that my skin has aged 15 years in the past 8 months? My hands are like crêpe paper!
Needless to say I haven’t been feeling very good about myself when I look in the mirror. Or when I try to put on pants 😂.
I get a lot of companies DMing me on Instagram. Normally, I delete them but I recently joined a like train with other bloggers! We all started following each other and there’s a lot of really inspiring women out there! One of them DMed me and asked me if I wanted to enter a contest called Fab Over 40… I thought it would be a fun way to embrace how I look/feel right now. I don’t expect to win hahahaha by any means! However, putting myself out there is the best way to accept myself. My new self.
People can vote for me HERE starting on my Mom’s birthday, Monday September 26! Feel free to share the link if you want! Thanks 💛
Check out How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode #294: Damon 1 – Tay Tay 0 HERE! This week er get together after Chris & Rowyn return from a concert in Vancouver. Topics: hidden accidents, misspeak, Hope fire, shopping on Robson, Frankie’s, Syd’s day, the concert, SOW, & Fall playlists.
Beef and Broccoli Recipe
Adapted from Carlsbad Cravings
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1/4 teaspoon Asian chili sauce
4 teaspoons cornstarch, divided
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
1 tablespoon Japanese rice wine or dry sherry or marsala wine
2 tablespoons chicken broth
5 tablespoons oyster sauce
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
peanut oil or vegetable oil
3 1/2 – 4 cups broccoli florets cut into bit size pieces
1/4 cup water
3 green onions, sliced
Add soy sauce, hoisin sauce, chili sauce, garlic powder, ginger powder and 2 teaspoons cornstarch directly into freezer bag and mix well. Add beef and massage in marinade. Marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes or refrigerate for 2-8 hours.
In another small bowl, combine garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes and 1 teaspoon peanut oil. Set aside.
Heat 1 1/2 teaspoons peanut oil in a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add beef to the skillet and break up any clumps; cook without stirring for 1 minute, then stir and cook until beef is browned and almost cooked through, about 1-2 minutes. Transfer beef to a large plate.
Add 1 tablespoon peanut oil/vegetable oil to the now-empty skillet; heat until very hot and sizzling. Add the broccoli and saute for 30 seconds.
Push the broccoli to the sides of the skillet and add the garlic/ginger/red pepper/oil to the center of the pan, mashing the mixture with a spoon, until fragrant, about 15 to 20 seconds, then stir the mixture into the broccoli.
Return the beef to the skillet and toss to combine. Whisk the sauce to recombine then add to the skillet. Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce is thickened and beef is cooked through, about 1-2 minutes.
