Time for a Change

I know I haven't posted for a while so here is what changed since then:

The deck we were building for my mom is finished! So glad to say that it passed inspection and is no longer our responsibility!

Tim and I adopted a dog (Ralphie). He is now 6 months old and losing his puppy hair! A happy addition to our family.

We had a successful Halloween Party as always. We dressed up as the Pink Nightmare and the Leg Lamp from "A Christmas Story".

I officially changed my diet. I have started the Whole30 program.

I have not had the courage or energy to begin such a journey until now. I realize that I need to change my habits in order to change my outcome. I have had some questions as to why I am doing this and its hard to explain in a few short sentences but I will give it a shot.

The majority of this post and following posts will be discussing my progress on the Whole30 program. As you may recall from previous posts I have PCOS which can increase the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and a host of many other diseases. PCOS symptoms can be eased or even eliminated by a change in diet. Basically I am doing this for better health and a better chance at getting pregnant. I am trying to change the things that I have control over: my diet, stress, sleep, exercise, even my attitude. All of these together can help me be the best possible version of myself.

In the month of November I am challenging myself to a complete 30 days of no alcohol, no sugar, no grains, no legumes, no processed foods, no dairy and no white potatoes. It will be difficult because I have cravings for many of the items that I have removed from my diet. I am hoping that the cravings will ease the farther I get into the program.

I started on November 1st so I am only 5 days into the program. I can't say I feel any different yet after all my body has many years of bad eating habits to break and lots of repairing to do. I try to keep my meals simple. A good portion of meat, lots of veggies, some good fat and the occasional piece of fruit. It hasn't been hard as much as a hassle especially with regards to eating out. We have to have much more fresh food in the house as well as a variety of meats so I don't get bored with the same meals.

In addition to the Whole30 program I am going to continue my exercise routine. I purchased Kettlebells for Busy Moms a few months ago and really enjoy the workouts. I know I am not a mom but Holly is a woman and she created these workouts for women! (The last time I checked I am a woman too. So these fit perfectly into my life.) I have been neglecting my workouts more and more so I am also going to set a goal for exercising 3 times per week in November using this kettlebell series as my base.

For now, I am excited to start this journey. I hope it takes me to my optimal health!

Deck Update

As you know I have been helping my brother build my mom a new deck. Well this weekend I sliced my thumb open which put me on the DL. I was still able to help some but not as much as I wanted.

Here are some pics of the work that has been done:

All of the posts and joists etc are done for both decks.

 

Next Sat we will add the posts for the handrails/railing and start laying the deck boards. I just hope my thumb is much better by then...

All Hands on Deck!

For Christmas my sister, brother and I decided to give my mom money, young good-looking labor (that's me), and plans to build a new deck.

 

We started digging the holes for the new footers two weeks ago. There are only two inspections that must be done. One is of the holes and the second is the final inspection of the finished deck. I have to say we dug 9 holes and those were some of the best looking holes I have ever dug. My hands however begged that they are never put through that again. Needless to say our holes passed inspection.
Now on to the next phase: pouring the footers.

Last Saturday we rented a portable cement mixer and bought 25 (that's twenty-five!) 80 pound bags of concrete. When you have to move them two or three times they start to feel heavier than 80 pounds. We got all of the footers poured and j bolts installed to support the new posts.
This brings us to phase 2: buying lumber!

Enter Sunday. My brother finished the shopping list and we head over to Menards to buy our materials only to find out we can only rent a standard pick-up truck. We have 16' joists to buy so there is no way the 8' bed on the truck will work. So we do the next logical thing, we call Home Depot to rent their truck. Turns out they will hold it for 30 mins and it has a 10'-12' bed so better but not ideal. Carey and I continue to pick up the mounting brackets etc while Hubby runs over to get the truck only to realize he doesn't have his insurance card on him. Luckily I carry mine in my purse so even though he had to make two trips its better than not having a truck. Just as he finishes the paperwork the same people he saw at Menards walked in to rent the truck!! That was too close for comfort. Once we paid for everything we could go around back to pick up the lumber. They have a huge barn and where we picked out everything we needed. Halfway through loading the truck an alarm goes off. Yes there is a weight limit on the truck! We continued to load while the alarm continues to sound. It wasn't the most annoying sound in the world but once we turned the truck on and put it into drive it went off! We made a total of two trips to get everything.
Which brings up phase 3: DEMO!!!

This is probably the best and most dangerous part. My brother and I start tearing off what's left of the railing. He moves on to the deck boards while I do the treads on the stairs. All of this is gone by the time Tim Tim returns from taking the truck back to Home Depot. (I am pretty sure he took the scenic route.) Once he gets back he is put to work removing the old joists while I take a breather. They finished that and I started removing the carriage bolts on the posts to remove the last bit of framing. We found out the joist hangers were rusted out, the only two posts supporting the deck were half rotten and the ledger board attached to the house was starting to rot. Its a miracle that this thing was standing for 29 years. I did not see us making it through demolition without getting a tetanus shot, surprisingly enough we did!
All preceding phases bring us to phase 4: Rebuilding the deck.

This Saturday and Sunday will consist of lots and lots of framing! Not only are we rebuilding the deck we torn down but we are building her a second lower deck. This will give her a multi-level deck with more space to lounge and relax. 

So far it has been really hard, intense work but the satisfaction of building the deck ourselves is worth it. Just knowing the deck is secure makes me reassured that someone won't fall through when they walk on it. By the time we are finished we will be able to host a large party on the deck and know its not going to budge!