This has been an incredible month! I can say I haven't had a panic attack since I moved and completely wrapped things up with my old condo. I am still waiting to do the house post, I figured the best time would probably be in August after I have been living here for a few months. I have just been busy making home feel like home and buying plants to brighten everything.
 This plant is called an Air plant. It has no roots and it draws all of its nutrients from the air. They are pretty cool, inexpensive, and they can get pretty big. I am big on up cycling so I got a bunch of my shells from my travels as well as one of my husbands old cigar boxes he was going to throw out and made a centerpiece and new home for my two new plants.   
So, this month I have surpassed my 90th day in quarantine. I remember in early January reading about Covid 19 I knew China was forcing people into quarantine and I thought by March, "That couldn't be me". I was sure that would not even get here to the US in a monumental way to be honest, and I, like many, was way wrong.
This is probably something you guys did not know, I was working on my masters in Epidemiology in Public health before I got sick with Celiacs Disease. I was told it was a sure way to get into the CIA or Homeland Security by advisers. I did not make it past 1st semester because I got so sick and I still owe the tuition that my alma matter sold off to a debt collector after 3 months and it accrued tons of interest.
BUT, the interest in the subject is still there, I never cared about Public Health and to be honest, I was making A's in all my classes and one of my teachers begged me not to drop the semester. I say this only to mean like I really care about what is going on, maybe on a different level because there aren't any politics in this I just want people to stop dying. I actually loved what I was doing even if I felt like I was doing what I was told would get me a job, and it did not work out because I guess I was sold a dream of go to college and you will get a job right out and it just didn't happen.
This whole thing with the masks is so mind boggling to me. My husband always tells me not to try to twist my mind in a way to try to understand why people do what they do. Its funny, because my actual B.S. was in Criminology and that is exactly that I was taught to do.
I need you guys to wear a mask.
Right now, everything sucks and we all are stressed, but I am watching this death toll run up and up and this is not life. I wear a mask whether I can breath with Asthma or not that well at all. My husband wears a mask so he doesn't come home and infect me when he buys our groceries. I moved and none of my family members have ever seen or been to my new home and my birthday trip was cancelled. YOU CAN NOT REPLACE A LIFE.
If you guys want 2020 to be any kind of year, I need y'all to wear masks.
Do it for your family
DO IT FOR YOURSELF.
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| C/O AVON |
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| C/O ETTIKA |
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| C/O ETTIKA |
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| My June Rocksbox |
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| Face care items C/O Mixeasy |
I will be doing a YouTube video on these products in July. This month I am testing them out and using them so I can give an honest review.
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| Vegan and gluten-free tuna C/O Fresh Catch |
FITNESS: I will be back to write this section, the words just are not here yet, but I want to talk to you guys about how I am coping with being in quarantine.
I know y'all are gonna act shocked when I say that I need to loose 20 pounds! But right now, I have more muscle than fat which is a great thing and no, I don't need to loose 20 pounds, just maybe 10 (belly fat and back fat). I got a little quarantine 15 going on. I try to work out as much as I can, but I am not very motivated given the current situation. I more or less am less motivated to take workout photos because it takes more time and it can be aggravating.
So, as far as weight loss and fitness goes, my calories are on a maintain. For any of you rolling your eyes at calorie counting- it is beneficial especially to portion control. I lost 72 pounds and my husband lost 76 pounds through calorie counting and just regular calestentics 8 years ago. So, I did that for a while and I don't really need to count calories to know how much a serving is and how much calories is in it. Most times, a portion is a lot smaller than people thing especially when it comes to rice and pasta. I eat very little rice, pasta, bread, cookies, or snacks. Being a Celiac I had no choice, but to give them up years ago and brands will make "gluten free" options, but often they are loaded with sugar and other things that make the product much worse than the original non gluten free option.
Anyhow, so I said I gained some quarantine weight. I spoke on this already, when we moved I had an extreme autoimmune reaction triggered by stress and the physical labor of moving. My body was more swollen than it ever was and it was painful. On top of that I had to sleep on the floor for a little over a week until our mattress arrived which made it worse. I am as I have always said I was a Flexitarian. I eat very little meat to almost none a lot of days, but my weight shot up to 146 pounds and I am normally 127 to 125 (good day). Well, not much has changed and I don't know everything about women's bodies and why they do the things that they do, but what I know is that I did not consume enough calories during our move to have gained that much weight. I also know I have a bunch of underlying medical issues that cause weight gain and bloating.
So, my goal isn't to loose weight, because I have been here before and it can take one ounce of gluten accidentally ingested to bring me right back down to 120 pounds, so the goal is to loose 1 inch off my waistline so my pants fit more comfortably. I never rely on scales as a woman with a hormone imbalance. I have told a few friends before I have literally awakened with a larger whole cup size over night and they are like "sounds like a great problem". No ma'am. Because now my clothes don't fit right and I am struggling with wardrobe malfunctions. So anyway, I have done the same work out routine for over five years which barely includes cardio which is why I have to work harder to not get belly fat. What I am doing here is my "Belly Blast" routine, but my husband helped me realize I can lift this 35 pound kettle bell and probably more- I was just scared to.
Although, right now I have no motivation to work out, these photos do motivate me because I know I can do it, and I spend too much on clothes to let my body just go because I am quarantining. Home fitness is the easiest if you have the space and thats how I gained the belly fat. At my condo we had 0 space because we had grown out of it and we were packing and moving and boxes were everywhere. So, the entire month of April I was packing and dealing with arthritis and stress. I am not surprised this happened, but very surprised at the weight number I guess given that I was 127 before. I am actually looking forward to using the 35 pound kettle bell more and working on my splits for yoga this Summer at home!! We can work together if you want to share I will be on Instagram so leave me a comment!
GREAT AMERICAN TAKEOUT:
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| Extreme take out from Ocean Prime |
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| Yah Mon craving central take out |
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| Armanis |
GLUTEN FREE MEALS COOKED BY MYSELF- RECIPES AVAILABLE BY REQUEST IF NOT POSTED.
Another comfort food favorite that I haven't made in a while is homemade mashed potatoes, corn, roast chicken and gravy. All made from scratch. I always throw some cheese on top of hubby's and all is good. Wayyyy back in the day KFC had something like this they served with fried chicken and a biscuit on top. This is my gluten free version.
Boil the potatoes
Set oven to 390 to roast chicken thighs for 40 minutes and season with salt, pepper, veggie seasoning (I got this from Fresh Market and I have never seen it anywhere else).
I save the pan drippings from the roasted chicken and make a gluten free gravy with cornstarch and a little water.
Mash the potatoes: I sometimes do dairy free and sometimes I use butter and a little milk. I honestly like the dairy free better with a little fresh garlic chives and black pepper.
My first time making Jambalaya Recipe here. I did not care for this recipe, but it turned out like the photos. I would personally just mix the rice and the sauce at the end so the rice doesn't get mushy.
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| Stuffed Peppers Meat is seasoned "Cuban Style" |
This is basically my meat over rice recipe, but the seasonings are what is different. A Cuban version of meat over rice uses Cumin and beef stock and that is the only difference from mine.
Once the peppers are stuffed you can add the cheese and cook on 350 for 30 minutes. I personally didn't want cheese so the ones without cheese were mine.
Moo Goo Gai Pan: Recipe here
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