I know that more than a few of you live in or around Las Vegas and I have mentioned several times that Snack Monkey is a professional carpet cleaner so I wanted to take a day to mention the company that he cleans for. Wall to Wall is their name and they've been serving the Las Vegas area for over 12 years. Prior to that they did work in California so they have over 20 years of experience and they can do anything! Carpet, upholstery, all forms of hard flooring, vehicle upholstery, rugs, repairs, stretching, flood damage, and even delicate fabrics like oriental rugs and such. They have great prices and they're honest so they'll tell it like it is straight up; if they look at your carpet and see a stain that might need extra care they'll let you know and discuss it with you instead of just cleaning over it and hoping it goes away like some cleaners do. They're clean-cut, trustworthy, respectable guys too so you can feel safe having them in your home.
They do free estimates and work 6 days a week too so you can get an appointment with them that will work for your schedule. You can call the office to make an appointment at 702-579-7799 or visit their website to get 15% off. Be sure to tell them that Snack Monkey sent you because I really think they'll get a kick out of that (they read my blog so they'll know who you're talking about). I have also had their logo and info at the bottom of my blog for about a month or two now, and there it will stay, so if you need their info you can always find it there at any time.
They do residential and commercial (and vacants too!) so if you're selling or moving be sure to give them a call. My sister had them do her old place before she moved out and she's absolutely certain that without them she wouldn't have gotten her deposit back. It's time for spring cleaning so don't forget the floors ... you never really know how dirty they are (especially living in the desert) until you've had them cleaned and can see the difference!
P.s. people ask me how I can eat less than/around 1,000 calories and not be hungry and I'll tell you, it's all about food choice! Snack Monkey wanted In n' Out sooo bad so I decided to give the protein style a try and I have to confess I wasn't impressed at all. It tasted ok but I was done with it before Snack Monkey had even put a dent in his fries and he hadn't touched his double double at all yet. Then I sat there wishing I had something else while my stomach continued to growl as if saying 'nice appetizer, what's for dinner?' It was only 330 calories but it was NOT at all filling! On the other hand last night's pork chop was only 318 calories and I felt completely satisfied and un-hungry after eating it. I use the term un-hungry because I wasn't full; I try not to eat until I'm full anymore because it's really not necessary. That's a big mental hurdle on the weight-loss obstacle course, we human beings don't have to eat until we're full. Really! I'm serious, we don't! We just need to eat until we're not hungry anymore.
Food:
8 glasses of water
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
1 Fiber One bar
1 Healthy Choice lunch
3 baby pickles / 1 tsp PB
1 cheese burger
>>protein style (no bun)
>>ketchup and mustard instead of special sauce
2 jalapeno poppers
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Daily Caloric Intake: 1,003
Activity:
Grocery shopping: carried the bag of cat litter up the stairs from the car and Snack Monkey asked "can you get that?" ... like I might not make it. I said "dude, I've lost more pounds than this thing weighs!" Oh yeah ... that felt really sweet!
Walking: 5 miles (10,000 steps)
My brother-in-law also cleans carpets!! We live in Indiana so there won't be much competition from us. My sister uses facebook to promote the business so you might look there as well. I am going low carb for my weight loss and agree with you completely that the protein helps prevent hunger from returning very soon. Protein is digested more slowly than carbs I haven't gone total low carb because I was tired when I did. Also the bad taste and bad breath from the ketosis were nasty but I have read that you get through that but I never did. Maybe I didn't give it long enough but I sure was awfully tired. You are wise to get the lean protein in; it sure helps me. There are good carbs and bad carbs but all of you probably already know this.
ReplyDeleteSorry you didn't like the protein-style; my guess is it's because you ate it so late in the game (of learning to eat healthy)... sort of like when someone used to love soda but then drink only water for a month or so and then try and have a soda again and are surprised at how much they don't like it. I liked the protein-style, but when I had it I was just starting to migrate to eating healthier so my tastes hadn't changed at all yet.
ReplyDeleteRegarding filling healthy-food, you're right; it always surprises me when I opt to eat at a healthier restaurant (but always more $$$ too) and get something like a steak and salad at not only how filling it is but at how "not fat" I feel afterwards.
My family is just now starting to experiment with eating more meats for dinner along with healthier sides like rice and veggies (for now, white rice which isn't great but is easier to cook; it's still way better than eating fast food).
Anyways, yeah.
:)
Downsizers: I have a Facebook page for Wall to Wall as well as an add I put on craigslist every two days. I don't think I could ever go carb free (I dunno I also thought I could never learn to cook so who really knows lol) but quality of the protein goes a long way too. It's odd how many people buy wholly into some food myths like "all carbs are bad" and "all fats are bad" and "sodium free is the way to be". I mean I know that some people have special diet needs and for them that might be true but just like good and bad carbs there are good and bad fats so people might look at peanut butter or an avocado and say "oh there's way too much fat there" but what they may not realize is that it's mostly (if not all) good fat! Mono and poly unsaturated fats are necessary for raising good cholesterol. Some people don't even realize that there is such a thing as good cholesterol. It seems like we all have to become dieticians to an extent if we want to eat what's best for us.
ReplyDeleteBrandon: You really should invest in one of those eat this not that or cook this not that books. I know my sister-in-law got the impression that it was all "health food" but it's really not. I mean Snack Monkey is the most picky person on the planet when it comes to healthy and there are a lot of meals in the book that he absolutely loves. It's learning how to make good food with whole ingredients, not necessarily "health food". It might just give you a few more ideas for some more protein options since you're working on those for suppers and it has some good side options in it too. I could email you a recipe so you guys could try it and see what you think if you want. Have you seen any that I've listed on the blog that have particularly interested you?
Part of my problem has always been that I don't like taking time to prepare food. We went shopping last night and bought a lot of whole foods we don't have to prepare much... chicken, steak, salad stuff, some pistachios; will cook with little-to-no-prep-work. I'm sure the food is delicious but anytime you start talking about using more than 1 or 2 spices, I know it's more than I'll be willing to do for more than one or two times.
ReplyDeleteThey all have sounded great; but even "simple" in your book is more than I care to do *on a regular basis*... maybe on the weekends, that's kewl, but during the week I'm just too busy.
:)
I hear yah there, I was exactly the same way. The most time consuming part of most of these meals is the dicing involved in the veggies but most of them that we've tried are 10-15 minutes of cook/prep time combined. Last night we had panini sandwiches. I put salami, ham, provalone, and onion between two slices of sourdough, tossed them on the foreman with some olive oil spray, added tomato and mustard after they were hot and toasty and that was that.
ReplyDeleteI'm learning some mad knife skills and Snack Monkey is actually thinking he might like to go to chef school and change professions when I get done with my schooling. No joke, he is very seriously considering it.
There are also some marinades so you just toss a few things in a ziplock with your meat and put it in the fridge over night, then cook the meat and you're done. Those are probably my favorites because they're fast, easy, and add flavor to something I would probably be cooking anyway.
Yeah so this got us thinking and we decided to go buy a cheap $20 crock-pot and just trying crocking every Sunday. We cooked a pork-roast yesterday with nothing except: the roast, a bunch of garlic-salt, chopped (but not diced) onions, some pre-sliced carrots from a bag, and 1 cup of broth. All the other stuff aside, it was pretty easy. I don't know if I'll do it every day but at least every Sunday seems doable and we'll get at least the Sunday meal and 1 other day out of it; if we'd gone with a larger crock, we could've cooked more at once -- but our counter-space is limited somewhat and we didn't want to spend more money on something we weren't sure we'd stick with. And it was easy enough that *maybe* we'll learn to cook another one midway through the week.
ReplyDeleteCombine that with premade salad we buy and some other easy veggies you just wash and eat (carrots, etc) and it's pretty easy and healthy. We also bought a few bags of pistachios to give me something healthier to snack on at nights than a bag of microwave popcorn.
So, soon, I might be getting that book afterall... hahaha... but not yet, trying to keep it super-simple and see where it goes.
BTW, our roast was *delicious*.
:)
I can see him as a chef.
ReplyDelete:)
Hey that is absolutely progress! I am seriously considering investing in a magic bullet or a food processor because if I could cut down veggie chopping time it seems like it will almost be easier to cook at home than it would be to get in the car and drive to McD's. So I love that you got pre-sliced carrots and FYI baby carrots can be tossed in a crock and you don't even have to cut them first. Onions and garlic are the two things I hate most so yeah ... a food processor tops my list right now. I hear you on the counter-space conundrum though. We have a crock under the sink, a foreman under the stove, a toaster oven on top of the cupboards, a blender on a top shelf with the glass cookware, and an electric can opener under the counter (which makes no sense because we never even use it because it's more work to pull it out and plug it in than it is to just use a hand can opener). Plus I want a food processor and Snackers wants a normal toaster. Someone should invent the "do-it-all". An 18-in-one space-saving kitchen appliance that does it all.
ReplyDeleteRe: Chef: I really want to get him one of those black chef jackets and a paper chef hat from the Top Chef online store but they want waaaaay too much $$ for them. He would have one major hurdle to overcome though ... he REFUSES TO CHOP OR SLICE ANYTHING! Every time he cooks he ropes me into cutting up all the necessary veggies for him and that just wouldn't fly at Le Cordon Bleu! lol
And the first person who makes a smart comment about me being his sous chef is going to get bopped! lol
ReplyDelete