God Made Dirt so Dirt Can't Hurt

Today has been such an awesome day. I got to start the morning off at my local MOPS group. I absolutely love the ladies at my table. They are so encouraging and uplifting. It is amazing what a few minutes with them can do to lighten my mood.

Sadly I had to leave the MOPS meeting early because I didn't want to miss Abby's preschool's Mother's Day program Muffins With Mom. We had a ton of fun. I only ate half a muffin as it doesn't really fit into my current clean eating plan. It felt like lead in my stomach. I couldn't even finish my half. It also made me extremely thirsty. I couldn't get enough eater the rest of the day.

I had fun making a door hanger with Abby that says "Shh...Mom is sleeping". Haha! As if I'll ever get to use that.

Then we got to go get some photos taken. Once I get the I'll upload it right here. We got to wear aprons and pretend we were baking. It was so cute. The teachers did awesome with this event.

Since it was really nice outside we had a picnic lunch and played with sidewalk chalk.

This evening while trying to make dinner all of a sudden it was really quiet. I asked Brian if he knew where the girls were. We knew they were out back but couldn't see or hear them all of a sudden. I walk outside and this is what I find:

They were living it up in a mud puddle behind our house. My motto is "God Made Dirt so Dirt Can't Hurt". They had so much fun playing in the mud with diggers and shovels. They also transported some to the mud pie maker:

C said she was baking a cake. Since they were all muddy we ate dinner on blankets outside.

It was a great end to a great day with my three little girls.  I am so blessed to get to spend everyday at home with them. God is so good!

What's For Dinner -- Grilled Chicken, with Roasted Cauliflower and Lima Beans

So I decided to grill out tonight since it was so warm here and who knows how long it will last. I decided to try to make a Barbeque like spice for the chicken. I wanted it to fit within the 21 day fix eating plan so I made Roasted Cauliflower for my green and using my teaspoon. For my yellow to round out my meal I made lima beans. Here was the finished product. (NOTE: If one the 21 Day Fix eating plan shown here is 1 red of chicken, 1 green of cauliflower and 1 yellow of lima beans)

Barbequed Grilled Chicken:
Ingredients:
McCormick Backyard Brick oven seasoning (It only has 70 mg of salt per servings, 0 carbohydrates, and 0 calories)
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts

Directions:
1.Heat grill to medium-high heat
2. Sprinkle seasoning on one side of chicken
3. Place chicken seasoning side down on hot grill
4. Sprinkle seasoning on other side
5. Cook five minutes per side or until done.

Roasted Cauliflower:
Ingredients:
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Paprika
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
6 cups cauliflower

Directions:
1. Preheat over to 400F
2. Cut cauliflower into similar sized pieces.
3. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet
4. Add 6 tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil
5. Mix until Cauliflower is thoroughly covered
6. Mix 2 tsp. Garlic Powder, 2 tsp. Onion powder, and 2 tsp. Paprika in a small bowl.
7. Power over Cauliflower mixture
8. Mix to cover cauliflower.
9. Place in oven for 30-40 minutes
10. Flip the cauliflower half way through to ensure even cooking

Lima Beans:
Ingredients:
Package of frozen lima beans
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Paprika
Red Wine Vinegar

Directions:
1. Cook lima beans according to the package
2. Drain all excess water
3. Add 2 tbsp. Red Wine Vinegar.
4. Mix one tsp. Garlic Powder, one tsp. Onion Powder, and one tsp. Paprika in a small bowl.
5. Pour over lima beans
6. Mix and serve

I hope you enjoy these simple recipes as much as my family did. We didn't have any chicken or cauliflower left. and there was only a small amount of lima beans left.

How to Take Measurements

I also get  a lot of questions on How to measure. First let's talk about the why.

Why go you measure?
Sometimes as we work out we gain muscle. Some people have said that muscle weighs more than fat. Unfortunately a pound of muscle is equal to a pound of fat. Where the do differ is in their density. Density is mass per unit volume. This means that fat takes up more space than muscle does.

(http://www.buzzhunt.co.uk/wp-content/2011/12/muscle-v-fat.jpg)

As you can see from the picture one pound of muscle takes up a lot less space than a pound of fat.

Given this disparity in volume one may see that they lose inches but not necessarily pounds when they work out. If you have a lot of excess body fat you will probably loses inches quicker than you will lose pounds. So we measure because while the scale may not see a change in numbers your number of inches should see a change.

What do we measure?
The most common things to measure are our chest, biceps of both arms, waist, hips, and thighs of both legs. You add these up for a total number of inches.

When do we measure?
The best time to measure is when the muscle is "cold". This means that you should od it before you workout or stretch. The "warm" muscle after a workout has more blood flow. This may inflate your results making it seem like you didn't lose as many inches as you should have. It is always better to have someone help us with this as you don't want to pull the measuring tape taught.

How do we measure?
I cannot explain it better than team Beachbody does so here is their video on how to take measurements:

(https://youtube.googleapis.com/v/w3CMj3T5PBo&source=uds)

I hope this answers your many questions about measurements. Please let me know if you'd like to see something else here or if you have any other questions in the comments section.