This week has been such a long, busy, challenging, interesting week for me. I’ve told you guys before that my darling dad has Alzheimer’s, right? Well on Monday we moved him into a rest home.
I can’t tell you guys how many different emotions and feelings I’ve felt this week.
I’ve definitely felt relief for my saintlike mother. She has taken such good care of my dad for years. In fact, I’ve actually been encouraging my mother to put my dad in a rest home for about a year now because I’ve been so concerned for her health and well-being. Soooo, I’ve definitely been grateful that her insurmountable burden has been lightened.
However, I wasn’t prepared for how heart-wrenching it would be to see my sweet dad in a home. Man.
It’s been tough. So tough.
It’s just been a harsh reality. Thankfully, he’s transitioned very well. He’s in a great place and they take very good care of him. It’s seriously like a preschool for elderly people. They sing songs and do crafts, puzzles and cute activities with them. He hasn’t questioned where he is, he hasn’t asked to go home and he doesn’t wonder where my mom is when she’s not there. That’s actually been a huge blessing and miracle.
It just breaks my heart in two to see my amazing dad who has always been so smart (he’s seriously the smartest guy I know!), hard working, capable, warm, kind, gentle, compassionate, supportive and wise become so helpless, fragile and confused. It is so hard.
In fact, my sisters and I went to visit him a few nights ago and for the first time ever, I don’t think he realized who we were. That was rough. Man.
I love my daddy.
Last Sunday (the day before we moved my dad), our family got together at my parent’s house. Everyone brought dessert!
Our family definitely knows how to do dessert and I’m happy to say that I didn’t have any of it! FYI, I brought the chocolate chip cookies on the end.
I knew there was going to be a lot of treats up there, so before we left I made me some of my protein pudding (plain Greek yogurt, cocoa powder, stevia, chia seeds, peanut butter and whipped topping.)
I also decided to top mine with some chocolate chips and unsweetened toasted coconut. It was soooo good and it helped me to resist all the sugah at my parent’s house.
I enjoyed spending time with my family, especially my sweet dad. We took a picture with some of us who were up there (one of my brothers and his family had already left and some of the kids were still playing downstairs and didn’t make the picture!)
I love my family.
*******************
I gotta tell ya, I’m still loving the healthy little program I’m doing right now. I probably shouldn’t call it Chris and Heidi Powell’s Extreme Transformation anymore though because I’ve definitely changed it up and made it my own. BUT, I’m so grateful for their book and program and all the good ideas it’s given me.
My favorite thing is the two low carb days every week. It’s not easy and I totally miss all the carbs, but it always gets me back to feeling committed and in control again. It’s very good for me.
I’ve just been trying to eat a healthy, sensible diet most days and low carb on Wednesday and Thursday. I’ve been enjoying a cheat meal on the weekend and I snack a little more on the weekends too. It’s perfect.
I actually went out to lunch with my mom, my aunt and my two sisters this week.
By the way, I feel the need to mention that I am sitting in the “fat seat” in that picture. Have you ever noticed that whoever is sitting on the end of a table or closest to the camera looks about twice as big and wide as everyone else? Yes, it is scary. I have some hilarious “fat seat pictures” in my arsenal.
The pic above isn’t too bad, but I decided to crop just a bit of my “wide-ness” out. Ha ha.
We went to California Pizza Kitchen, but it was on my low carb day. Boo. Soooo, I ordered myself a half Cobb Salad and it was just perfect.
One of the things I love about Cobb salads is that they don’t need very much dressing. There is so much flavor in there, so I usually only need a drizzle of dressing.
We went shopping at the mall for a little bit afterward and it was so fun. It was so nice to spend time with my mom without her having to worry about my dad. I also bought me a few nice things at Lululemon.
I hardly ever buy anything from Lulu because quite frankly, I’m cheap. BUT, they DO have so many cute, high quality things, so occasionally I’ll splurge. They were actually having a sale too, which was amazing because it seems like Lululemon never goes on sale.
It was National Womens Day, so everything was 21% off because on average women make 21% less then men. Score.
I’ll take some pics in a few days of me wearing my new things, but for now, I’ll just share the pics from Lulu’s website…
I was in need of basic black leggings, so I got two different pairs. I got me the Gear Up crops and Sole Training crops. I love them both soooo much! I also got the Hot Like Agni singlet and a Swiftly Tech tank. Love them.
***************
Well, in my last post I told you guys about the Healthier Muddy Buddy recipe I’d been messing around with. There’s an awesome Muddy Buddy recipe in the Extreme Transformation book that I loved, but it tasted a little too peanut buttery to me and I thought the honey was a little overpowering. It was still way yummy, but I decided I wanted to mess with it a bit to add more chocolate flavor in, tone down the honey and lower the overall calories!
I’m happy to say that I love how it turned out. I actually like it a lot better than the original recipe. I calculated the original recipe to be 533 calories, 15F/91C/21P per serving. The version I created is 298 calories, 9F/51C/8P per serving. Awesome!
The funny thing is that I originally added 2 Tablespoons of protein powder to my recipe. It tasted fine, but when I made it the other day I accidentally left out the protein powder and it tasted even better…..a lot better! It tasted just like a rich, indulgent treat.
The protein powder only added 2 more grams of protein per serving, so I decided to leave it out.
Anyway, I found the original recipe on Heidi Powell’s blog. Here’s a link if you’re interested. It’s great, but here’s how I made mine…
Ingredients:
- 2 Tablespoons chocolate chips (28 g)
- 2 Tablespoons natural peanut butter (33 g)
- 3 Tablespoons honey (63 g)
- splash of vanilla extract
- 3 cups Rice Chex cereal (81 g)
- 3 Tablespoons powdered peanut butter (Like PB2) (18 g)
Directions:
- In medium glass bowl, melt chocolate chips, peanut butter and honey together in microwave for 30 seconds. Stir until well combined.
- Add vanilla and mix together.
- Add cereal and mix until coated well.
- Transfer mixture into large Ziploc bag. Add powdered peanut butter to bag. Seal bag and shake and mix together until well combined.
- Enjoy!
- Serves: 3 servings
- Serving size: ⅓ recipe
- Calories: 298
- Fat: 9
- Carbohydrates: 51
- Sugar: 26
- Sodium: 296
- Fiber: 3
- Protein: 8
- Cholesterol: 0
- 2 Tablespoons Chocolate Chips
- 2 Tablespoons natural Peanut Butter
- 3 Tablespoons honey
- splash of vanilla extract
- 3 cups Rice Chex cereal
- 3 Tablespoons powdered Peanut Butter (PB2)
- In medium glass bowl, melt chocolate chips, peanut butter and honey together in microwave for 30 seconds. Stir until well coated.
- Add vanilla and mix together.
- Add cereal and mix until coated well.
- Transfer mixture into large Ziploc bag. Add powdered peanut butter to bag. Seal bag and shake and mix together until well combined.
- Enjoy!
I hope you all enjoy this recipe! It’s the perfect thing for a “clean cheat.” It feels indulgent, but it’s made from better ingredients. Yum!!
Oh I’m so sorry about your dad. That’s rough. I’m glad your mom agreed to a nursing home, though. It can be tough on the rest of you if you have one parent insisting on keeping the other one home, but you know it’s a struggle for them. I know those facilities have special activities for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s, and can keep them healthy and comfortable. My prayers are with your family and your mom.
Thank you so much Beth. It’s been so hard, but so good that he’s in a home now. It’s a sad, sad reality, but it’s definitely helped my mom. My mom was so worried he’d feel abandoned or betrayed, but thankfully he doesn’t seem to feel that way at all. I’m so so grateful!
You are superwoman. I don’t know how you can handle everything with such poise and grace and class. My heart breaks for your about your father. Alzheimer’s terrifies me. Thankfully it doesn’t run in my genetics, but of course, we don’t really know what causes it. I am virtually hugging you right now.
Thank you so much sweet GiGi. It’s really been so hard. I’ve learned that you never know what life is going to throw at you, right? We just keep trudging along and muddle through it somehow. Alzheimer’s scares me so much. My grandma (dad’s mother) and great grandma (dad’s father’s mother) had it as well. I’ve been reading a lot about how diet and exercise help to prevent Alzheimer’s……here’s to hopin’!
Melanie, sorry about your dad. I understand what you are going through as my dad had accelerated dementia. Coconut oil is good against Alzheimer’s, and also a ketogenic diet slows the disease down.
Oh, I’m so sorry to hear about your dad as well Leo. 🙁 Alzheimer’s and dementia are terrible diseases. It’s been so so hard to watch my dad go through it. Sadly, he’s never eaten a healthy diet, which I’m sure hasn’t help his cause. That’s interesting to hear about coconut oil and the ketogenic diet helping. I’m a firm believer that diet and nutrition have humongous effects on our bodies and overall health!