Month: September 2017

Fitness, For Katie the Warrior

September Wrap Up!

ashleylfrancis

It has been ca-razy around here! Dan and I have started private school tours and they’re taking up so much mental space and physical time. Why an insane discernment process!

On top of that we are settling into the school year. My job as chauffeur is in FULL swing. Insane but fun! I don’t even want to look at our gas budget.

Next up in unimportant news, I have discovered zoodles. Apparently I am late to the game but as pasta is still giving me a belly ache post weight loss challenge, it’s been a welcome vehicle for marinara and pesto. I’m a bit crunched for time so I purchase the zoodles ready-made at Trader Joe’s. Speaking of the six week challenge I’m now five weeks post challenge. I measured my arm, chest, tummy, and hips and I’m down 10 inches total! That’s an extra three since the challenge ended. Woohoo!!

Next week I’m going to do a more detailed post on my sister but for now, a mini snap shot. We’re in a very slow and somewhat steady portion of Katie’s recovery. I’ve been setting up prayer times with kate with people from our church. The first time we had six people. The second time we had ten-with only one repeat! It’s so super humbling! We found ourselves praying a lot for Katie’s vocal chords/speech/words/mouth muscles. At one point a friend prayed specifically that kate would speak a sentence that week. She did! My mom was asking her to hold her head up and she said “I can’t”! Hallelujah! Thanks for continuing to pray! If you feel lead to donate toward a new wheelchair that’s specialized for kate, feel free to send money via PayPal to forkatiethewarrior@gmail.com

Thanks!

Fitness

Week Nine! Recipes included

ashleylfrancis

Quick update! I’m three weeks out of the competition! I’m still feeling awesome.

Total weight loss-18.2lbs

Body fat- 4.5% down!

I hate burpees and bearcrawls. I just hate them!

I have a gym t-shirt. It must be real!

Okay now for the fun part. People have been asking me what I’ve been eating. So I thought I’d share a few favorites.

  • Broccoli and cauliflower rice. I get a bag of each frozen at Trader Joe’s. I cook them both separately on the stove, dice up the broccoli, combine, then add salt, garlic powder, and onion powder. Super easy to portion out for the week and it’s yummy.
  • A friend of mine gave me this tuna fish recipe and it’s awesome. One can of tuna, DRAINED, with mustard and either relish or chopped pickles. It doesn’t taste like you think it would. I smear some avocado on Ezekiel toast and make a yummy tuna sandwich.
  • For breakfast I usually eat two eggs over medium on top of a piece of Ezekiel toast. With some sautéed bell peppers on the side.
  • I love burgers! I’ll make a burger from super lean ground beef and dip it in mustard. On the side I’ll have a veggie and a plain sweet potato from the microwave.
  • For a quick snack I like a chocolate protein shake made with unsweetened almond milk and strawberries mixed in if I didn’t have a fruit with lunch.
  • I brew decaf iced tea and have stevia on hand. I have an easier time drinking tea than water. So I know I’m staying hydrated.

I hope this helps!

For Katie the Warrior

Oh, The Things We Should Know

ashleylfrancis

Over the past 14 months I’ve had tons of people come up and ask me how to be prepared for a trauma. They haven’t used these words but it’s usually a mom who has wide eyes and says something like “is everything going okay?” Or “How do you know what to do?”. I’m reading a book called GOLIATH MUST FALL and as I’ve soaked in chapters on anger and anxiety I felt like it was time for a post on being prepared for something unexpected. A complete oxymoron, I know.

  1. Have a complete will/living will. I yelled at my sister about this all the time, we even had a conversation about it the week of her brain injury and she didn’t listen. This made everything harder the first few months! I can’t express this enough, call a lawyer and leave a message TODAY. Ive got a great one if you are in Towson. This has nothing to do with who gets your pearl earrings and everything to do with who gets your kids, what to do if something terrible happens to you, whose in charge of medical decisions, etc.
  2. Get life insurance. Again, I have a few awesome contacts if you need them in Baltimore. We obviously haven’t needed life insurance but we all will at one point or another.
  3. Have the terrible conversations. My sister was super clear with who was supposed to care for her kids in the event of an emergency. Everyone knew what to do. We went out and bought a van and that was that. She believes deeply in Gods sovereignty and didn’t want to be attached to a ventilator for life. Luckily we never had to make that decision but I was prepared.
  4. Listen. This seems silly but it’s true. Katie and I talked daily. I knew it all. I knew how she felt about spanking, school choices, clothing brands, her favorite soaps, etc. I have the privilege of reminding her babies of their mom. I can go on and on about her and answer all the questions they could have. I hold the memories they try to keep. It’s hard to admit but Vera probably doesn’t remember her mom pre-brain injury. She was only one! What she needs from me is to be the storyteller and for me to do “it” (whatever that may be) like Kate would’ve. There’s nothing that brings a smile to those sweet faces like telling a story about the day they were born or how pleased Kate was when they learned to walk or talk or giggle. So listen!
  5. Repair broken relationships. There are a lot of hands in the pot. There are relationships I have that I wish were really healthy before all of this happened because now there is not much time and energy left to try to fix them. Katie needs a well oiled machine in the people that love her most and that’s not always possible if we have our own junk in the way. So repair relationships! Not just in case crappy stuff happens but because you’ll never regret it! It’s time well spent.

Sorry to be a downer. I hope this helps you in some way to be prepared for life!

Fitness

One Week Post Challenge

ashleylfrancis

So first of all it seems insane to post about this when there is real stuff going on in Texas. When my sister suffered a brain injury last year and all. of. the. hell. started I was constantly annoyed that people kept living their lives. How dare people care about lip balm when my sister was in a coma and pronounced essentially brain dead.

I’m feeling the same way now. People are hurting and my weight loss is meaningless. The crazy thing is, had I been working out back then I bet I would have survived the last 14 months with a bit more sanity.

So to keep it short and sweet. I added back egg yolks and cream for coffee. I’ve tried to pretty much keep everything else the same. I gained a pound back! I’m sure it will be a few weeks of influx until I’m losing again. To keep me motivated I joined an online, thirty day, 4% weight loss diet bet. I’ve got four pounds to go!