More to Love...

BS Alarm

2009-07-23T15:18:00.001-06:00

I always read before bed. Last night I went to open a library book, and discovered the first 25 pages of the paperback missing! I was discourage and went to bed with no reading. A fate worse than going to bed with no dinner.

I normally read during my lunch break as well. With out reading fodder today, I ate my lunch and then headed to the bookstore down the road for some “browsing.” I was hoping to find “Slow, Fat, Triathlete” but had no luck. I had about 10 minutes to kill, so I perused the magazine section. I picked up the newest SELF, mainly for the fact that Zoey Deschanel was on the cover. How gorgeous is she?
Anyhow, as I was skimming, I came upon a quiz. I stopped doing and being entertained by magazine quizzes in middle school, but the title caught my eye “How to tell if you are fat, or will be fat” or something like that. Hah. I thought, I am going to do this, because clearly the mirror doesn’t tell me if I am fat already or not (realize I am coming at this from a societally fat perspective).
The first question, 1) What is your BMI? You select the range your BMI is in, and receive the points associated with that. Well..I don’t know my BMI, wait let me Google it real quick. 38. Yep, obese. Good. So, for people with a BMI of 30 or over you start with 64 points. 64! Hot damn.
Ok, so I keep 64 in my mind, and continue with the quiz.
Some questions:
2) how often do you eat breakfast
3) how often do you exercise at least 30 minutes a day
4) how many hours of TV do you watch per week
5) how stressed are you

Etc etc.
So I start with a BMI that classifies me as obese. But, I live a healthy lifestyle, so I only have to add 1 or 2 points and sometimes I get to subtract some.
The Verdict?

I might end up overweight. Or maybe it said I already am over weight. I don’t remember how many categories there were, at least three. Normal, Overweight and Obese.
So, my lifestyle points are low enough to negate my obesity on the BMI scale? Or….are the makers of the quiz assuming that with a BMI of 38, I probably have a totally un-healthy lifestyle?

Or am I reading too much into this and really this is the editors of SELF realizing that while I might be obese I might also have a healthy lifestyle?

I hate the BMI, it’s such bullshit.

It's Time....

2009-07-22T10:53:00.000-06:00

Something’s been bothering me lately.
Well….it’s something that someone said. Someone being my mother. I love my mother, I do. I think she is an incredibly strong and organized woman. I would like to be like her.
But, not in one aspect. Body Image.
My mom, and subsequently I, come from a family of stocky, barrel chested German Native Americans. Seriously, no one in my Mom’s family is taller than 5’7” (her four brothers included) and they hall have some serious mass.
So, needless to say, my mom has always been bigger than what society deems ideal. As a runner in her early 30’s she wore a size 14/16. And she was super healthy and fit.
After she had kids, she gained weight and was overweight and fat all through my childhood. (I’ve written this all before by the way, just can’t get rid of those Mommy issues).
Anyway, I’ll cut to the point, after being on various diets throughout my childhood, after my brother and I left home she joined a gym, and after a year of working out, hired a personal trainer. I’m not sure what her diet plan was, although she has a definte tendency to try whatever someone tells her is the next great thing, lately it’s raw food and food combining.
Anyway, I am also built like my mom’s family, only with my Dad’s families height and legs. At 5’7” I tower over my Aunts and am on eye level with my mom’s brothers. On the other side of the family, my Aunt has an inch on me, and my uncles vary from 6-12 inches taller. I am thankful everyday that I don’t have the bandy chicken legs of my mom’s family. Instead I have, what I call Tree Trunks. My legs are serious from the thighs down. I like them, they are muscular and shapely.

Ok, back to the point. The thing that is bothering me.
My parents are coming to visit us this weekend. My dad had passed through our area a few weeks ago, and after he returned home, my mom emailed me. She said that my Dad told her that I looked really good and he thought I had lost weight. She signed off her email with “looking forward to seeing less of you.”
Oomph. Ugh.

I know that my mom is happy to see me no matter what, and that she loves me no matter what, but I hate that. It doesn’t stop me from thinking “what if I had gained 60 pounds? Would you be looking forward to seeing more of me?” Don’t you want to see the most of me that you can? I realize that it’s an expression and that she doesn’t mean she wants to see me less. Is this something that people say to each other in weight watchers? Where does she even come up with this stuff? This is actually the second time that she’s signed an email like that (in fairness, after I had emailed her about stepping up my work outs). But it bothered me then, and it bothers me now. I’ve come a long way from where I once was with being able to stick up to people and tout my HAES values, but something about me regresses when my mother is in the picture. I need to be an adult and tell her. Time to grow up.

Absent but Busy!

2009-07-15T09:24:00.002-06:00

Sorry I’ve been MIA for a little while! Summer is super busy at work, and my home life has been kinda busy too! But that is ok, Busy is good.

July (so far) has held two main things for me:

I joined Angela’s Summer Glow Boot Camp. I watched when she had her first boot camp, and decided that when she rolled out this new boot camp that I was going to participate. I took my measurements, printed off the monthly calendar and saved a copy of the exercises on my desktop, so I can always have them handy.

I’ve REALLY enjoyed this! Angela posts such thoughtful topics, and her guest posters have been awesome. One of the topics that Angela wrote about for the SGBC was setting Goals. I’ve been over how I’m not much of a goal setter, because I’m not a goal achiever (that is a whole other post really). But I decided to set some small goals for the month of July.

My Goals:
1) Lose one inch off my waist -ideally I’d like to lose more, but for this month, the 1 inch is my goal-small measureable goals people!
2) Eat dessert only 3 or 4 nights a week-this is a tough one for me. Sugar is my weakness and the sole source of my mindless eating. It’s what I go for when I am stressed and bored. I also have to be careful of this, as restricting sets of my tendency to binge. It’s more of a goal to be mindful about what I put in my mouth and not to eat dessert just because I am low on calories for the day.
3) Complete all of the SGBC strength exercises- I chose this because I want to be accountable and actually do this. Also, this ties into goal 1 and lost of the exercises focus on core strength.

So, yeah. I like it and check out Angela’s blog, it’s awesome.

The other thing that has been big for me is I’ve been reading this book

Umm...this book is amazing. I wanted to read her first book “Slow, Fat Triathlete”
But the library system in my valley only has this one and it’s is phenomenal. It’s the Health At Every Size book that I’ve been looking for. The author is funny and witty and so right on about being an “imperfect athlete.” Each chapter is short and makes a point, and many of them have “exercises” at the end, mental exercises, things to get you in the right frame of mind for exercising. Seriously, it is so so so so so so so so good. I think I’m going to buy myself a copy (and I NEVER buy books). I love books so much. If I bought every book I wanted I would be broke.

Here is an excellent quote from the book:
“When you tap into your own unstoppable commitment to do everything within your power to follow your dreams, that makes you a superhero too.”

Seriously, check out the book.

quoted!

2009-06-24T14:33:00.002-06:00

The fabulous Kelly, of Every Gym's Nightmare quoted me in an article she wrote for Twirlit.com.

Does this make me almost famous?

It's funny, because I had written and re-written that a comment on her personal blog several times before I decided on what to say.

I have mixed feelings about Celebrities and their public "weight battles." But I do believe what wrote, I dig the fact that even though Oprah has yo-yo'ed her career has only sky rocketed.

speed racer.....

2009-06-24T09:54:00.001-06:00

So, as I stated in my last post, I am going to sign up for my next 5k. Because the race is so big to have a timed run, you are supposed to be able to run the 5k in 35 minutes. I’ve looked over previous year’s results and this hasn’t always been the case, but I’d like to make a concerted effort to be as close as possible.

Why not just sign up for a non competitive run/walk wave and run it anyway you ask? Well, you can’t. The race is so big that you cannot find a rhythm in the main waves. My sister-in-law and I tried to run/walk it two years ago and gave up and just walked the whole way. And trust me, I need to take avoid any opportunity to give up.

So, I need to increase my mile time. I went for a run yesterday (I have been dying to be able to say that for years!!!!!!!!) and I wasn’t planning on a certain distance or a certain time, just going to a jog in the morning. I ended up running 1.77 miles in 24 minutes. So a 13.5 minute mile. This would put me at a 42 minute 5k. So I need to shave off 7 minutes of time.

I’ve done a bit of reading about this. I know that I shouldn’t increase my speed too much, or I’ll aggravate my shin splints, but I’ve been thinking about speed training. Running spring/jog intervals. Does anyone have experience with this? What works….what doesn’t.
Help!

race day

2009-06-21T17:41:00.002-06:00

So, on Saturday I had my 5k race.

I woke up at 5:30 and couldnt' get back to sleep (the alarm was set for 6:00am). I got up putzed around, and got dressed. My stomach was a ball of nerves. I had planned on eating a half of a peanut butter and jelly sammie when we got to the race site. I knew I would need to eat before then so I forced down half of a banana. Here is my...i'm eating and I'm nervous face....

We got to the park, and were extremely early. I picked up my race chip, and walked around, stretched and went to the bathroom like 10 times before the 5k started. Prior to the 5k starting, about 100 women took off on a Half Marathon! About 20 minutes after they left, the 5kers lined up. I got behind the 12+ minute mile sign. The gun went off and it took me about 45 minute to cross the start line....and I was off...

It was hard for me to get my pace at first. My pants were a little loose and they kept sliping off until I started sweating enough for them to stick to me. Gross right? Anyway....It was interesting for me to run a course I've never run. It was so much easier to no worry about how far I had gone, or how long we had been running when I didn't know distance. I also didn't wear my watch. I was feeling pretty good through mile one. The course didn't have mile markers, but I had studied the race map relgiously, so I had an idea of where the mile markers were. Right after mile one we headed up a small hill. Post hill there was a water station...I remembered from the race packet that the first water station was supposed to be at mile 2. I thought there was no way that I had run 2 miles already, and that i didn't think that mile 2 was until further down the course. I had a gulp of water and threw my cup on the ground feeling like a real runner. At this point I was feeling tired. There was a group of three women in front of me and two women behind me. Both grous were run/walking and we kept passing eachother.

I wasn't too familiar with the course, but since I could see several people infront of me, I wasn't too worried about going the right way.....before i knew it there was an arrow on the ground (i'd been following them all along) but this one had the word "finish by it" at the point we re-entered the park and i knew i only had about half a mile to go. I fought every urge not to walk.

But I didn't. And I ran across the finish line!

The clock had 1:00 hour on it. It didnt' take me an hour, the 1/2 marathon had started 30 minutes prior. I was doing the math and realized It had only taken me 30 minutes! I could hardly believe it......

A volunteer handed me a medal, and took off my race chip. I was still in disbelief about my time. I was truly expecting it to take me 40 minutes. But...I didn't think about it too long and i was so proud of my self for not walking at all...

After the run Scott and I had a picnic with his parents. A ham sandwich at 9:30am has never tasted so good....

So....later that day, I was anxious to see what my race results would be, and I knew that they would be online at spondoro.com.

My chip time was 27:56. Meaning 8:59 minute miles. I was in disbelief. I pulled up the PDF of the race map and realized that there was no way we had run the whole course.

I was still feeling good about my race, but had a nagging feeling about my time and the distance. last week my practice 5k took me 41 minutes. No one cuts that much time off, even if they do run the whole way. I told my husband and he reassured me that even the first finishers had come in super fast. I formulated the theory that the course had been mismarked.

Today, I started feeling a little down about the whole thing. It's just not possible to run sub 9 minute miles on Saturday, when you were running 13 minute miles on Tuesday. While I was in the shower, my husband called the store that sponsored the race. They confirmed that "the course had either been mismarked, or the participants took a wrong turn." Damn.

I feel so jipped! I was so nervous about this 5k and I truly feel let down. I am proud of myself for signing up for the race and going and being prepared to run the whole thing, and running the whole distance regardless of how far it was...but I wanted an authentic time and authentic race.

It's ok though, I'm going to sign up for another local race that is in September. It's also a 5k. It's a HUGE race, literally 10,000 people (women only again) in the race. to have a timed race, you are supposed to be able to run a 35 minute 5k. So....that is my new goal. Aim for a 35 minute 5k in my training, increase my speed and endurance...and try again.

Dork Alert

2009-06-19T14:44:00.001-06:00

So, I'm going to a conference in Salt Lake City in October.

I just realized that the conference site is ONE MILE from a WHOLE FOODS!

I'm super excited. Not because I think Whole Foods is the best, but because I've never been. I know it's super expensive etc, but i live in a town with out a Co-op, Trader Joes, etc. NOTHING! No Publix Fresh Market, no Earth Fare....i'm excited!

That same weekend i'm going to Reno for a Wedding...and there is a Trader Joes..i'm stoked for that as well.

And i'm a huge dork.

And getting super nervous for my race....TOMORROW!

Race coverage will begin tonight with packet pick up!

breathe in...breathe out....

2009-06-18T09:12:00.000-06:00

This is the race I am running on Saturday. EEEEEEEEEAKLJASLDJALSKJDAS>
I am getting pre-race nerves. Like seriously. Not so much about my ability to do the race, but about having on the right clothes, and not forgetting my sunscreen and what the route is going to look like, and if the XL race t-shirt will fit, and where we are going to park.
Like I said: aajweroiukjanvbopaiufboieng!

I’ve been reviewing my race packet and printing off parking maps and looking at the sponsors website and it’s just going to be so cool!

So for the running part. I can jog 30 minutes with out stopping. But during those 30 minutes my feet only carry me about 2.25 miles. Right, less than a 5k. I’m not sure yet how I am going to work out the amounts of running vs. walking. I really want to run the whole thing without taking a walk break, but I don’t want to push my shins and back. I think my tentative plan, if I need to walk is to run for 20 minutes, take a 5 minute walking break and then run through to the finish.

Or just plod along slow and steady.
This weekend I am running for Chocolate and Champagne…both of which will be at the finish line…what do you run for?

...and I ran

2009-06-16T11:53:00.002-06:00

Today I ran for 30 consecutive minutes. No walking, no stopping.
Just run for 30 minutes.
And I am so damn proud of myself.

oh man...

2009-06-12T11:35:00.000-06:00

It’s has been way tooo long. The last week of may and the first two weeks of June are always my most busy time of year, gearing up for all of our summer recreation programs.
So I’m going to do an update of sorts, in list form. I love list updates. Hooray.

1). 5k training. My 5K is next weekend!!!!! Eeeek! I’m so excited and nervous about it!. I’ve been following the Couch 2 5k training plan, and tomorrow will be my final run of week 8. It so happens that my last training workout co-incides with race day.
I injured my back two weeks into training, and it set me back a week. I was hoping to have an extra week before, but that is ok.

About a year ago I posted that one of my fitness goals was to run a mile…I can now proudly say that I can run 2 miles….Seriously, I don’t take the time to think about that often, and I often compare myself to marathoning bloggers, but…I should be proud of myself.

2). My husband and I joined a new gym last weekend. I joined Gold’s Gym almost two years ago when we first moved here, and am ready to let that membership go. We joined Anytime Fitness, a franchise near our house. It’s a small gym, but adequate enough, and it’s not super crowded and for the two of us we are only paying 20 bucks more per month then I paid for JUST ME at Gold’s.

Tied into number two, my husband and I have started working out together. He hasn’t been regularly exercising in along time….it’s so exciting to be getting healthier together. Our goal is to run a 5K together in the fall…I’m hoping that training with him for a 5K will make me a faster runner.

3)I’ve been working on cleaning up my eating. I just tried almond milk in my morning smoothie (green monster style) this morning. HOW COME NO ONE TOLD ME ALMOND MILK MAKES SMOOTHIES THE BEST THING EVER????

that time of year...

2009-05-22T09:59:00.002-06:00

I'm nostalgic today. The radio station I listen to at work is talking about graduation. They are also playing all those "graduation" type songs, focusing on those that were popular between 1999 and 2001. Odd..the years I was in highschool. I'm not going to wax poetic...but I am going to post the "Sunscreen" Graduation Speech. I remember being in highschool and really like this....I like it even more now.

"Wear sunscreen.If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth.
Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.

You are not as fat as you imagine.
Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum.
The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 p.m. on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy.

Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.
Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on.

Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise.
Politicians will philander.
You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.
Respect your elders.
Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen."

and the winner is...

2009-05-15T13:31:00.001-06:00

Well, the wellness competition we’ve been having at work is over. Sadly, I didn’t win any of the categories (most muscle gained, most fat lost, highest combined fat lost and muscle gained), but I still did pretty well for the effort I put in.

Here are my stats:
Pounds Lost: 6
Inches lost: 2.5 on chest
3.5 on waist
2.5 on hips.

% of body fat lost: 2%

That brings my body fat to…..
Hooray! I’m glad that I’ve been making progress on my fitness and health levels again. I set a goal with my husband to lose 24 pounds in 2009. I don’t know if I’ll reach that, but I know that the small changes I have been making…are adding up!
Have a great weekend everyone!

Reason # 13280394820934 your back is important

2009-05-14T16:08:00.000-06:00

So, I’ve been having some back pain this week. Grrr.
Sadly, I am not a stranger to back pain. 7 years ago (I can’t believe it’s been 7 years), I was hit by a drunk driver while I was driving home from a concert with some friends. I had pretty severe whiplash from this accident. My physical ability went from 100 to 10 in a matter of minutes. I couldn’t lift anything that weighed more than 3 pounds, I couldn’t run, and walking over uneven train was pretty much impossible.
Through Chiropractic care and Pilates, my back go back to as normal as it will ever be, about an 80. I still can’t lift super heavy things (it makes moving day terribly frustrating for me) and my back gets fatigued easier than it used to.

So…while I was under going this chiropractic care, it came to light that one of my legs is 12mm shorter than the other. This is an anatomical thing, and can’t be changed with any amount of therapy or surgery. Obviously, since I was born that way, or grew that way, my body has been used to having a shorter leg for years. After my accident the DC gave me a heel lift to wear in my shoe to help my spine be straight and to help with pressure on my low back.
Well….lets just say that at 19 I wasn’t exactly perfectly diligent about using my heel lift. I always used it when I exercised, but often times my thoughts were on the cuteness of my footwear, not their function or importance. I’ve recently been better about wearing my heel lift, but I’ve never been 100 percent consistent. Sunday morning was a day when I wore it to walk the dog, but then didn’t transfer it to my gardening shoes. So my spine went from being aligned to misaligned, and then I bent over to pick up a rock, and that was the end of that.

My pain has been getting better and I was able to go for my run this morning. I also had an appointment with the chiropractor, just in case. I almost didn’t go, because my back has been feeling so much better for the past 24 hours. Let me just say, I am so glad I went.

While the doctor was examining me, he started applying pressure to the area on either side of my spine. My upper back was fine, but when he got to my lower back it felt like he was stabbing me. Seriously. I cried.

Oops. Guess I should be a little better about my heel lift right? I hate feeling “less than” and like I am defective (I know, I’m not, it’s just in my head) so I kind of ignore the ramifications of not wearing my heel lift, and then I end up in the doctor’s office crying.

Moral of the story? Listen to your spine, have good posture and for petes sake…take care of your self! You only get one shot at a spine…..

an open letter to my body

2009-05-12T09:47:00.001-06:00

Dear Body,
You are really throwing a kink in my 5k training. First you had the r2d2 stomach ache and now you have lower back pain. I’m not sure what caused the lower back pain, and I promise I’ll take care of you by going to the chiropractor tomorrow if you are still hurting. I know we only get one shot at a spine, and it's important to take care of.

Also, why is it necessary to have period cramps and a twinge in my lower back? It sort makes sitting….really uncomfortable.

I love you body and I want you to be healthy…..but it would be really great if you could cooperate!
Love always,
Mind.

n1h1, r2d2?

2009-05-08T09:27:00.002-06:00

I'm bummed. I was all set yesterday to move forward with my training for my 5k. I got up at my normal time, went to the bathroom ,and realized I had some sort of stomach/digestive thing going on....and forced my self not to run.

That is right, I had to "force" my self. I have this problem, when I am excited about exercise and starting a new problem...I don't like to take a day off due to sickness. I'll take a day off if I don't feel like exercise, but if I feel like an outside force (illness) is forcing me to rest..I don't like it.

I stayed home from work, and told everyone I had swine flu, which of course i don't. I'm feeling better today, and debated doing my planned run from yesterday this morning, but I decided to wait it out one more day and do my scheduled run for Saturday.

Man....I was so stoked to use my new stopwatch to time myself too!

this and that...

2009-05-06T11:39:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I completed week 3 (my first week) of the Couch to 5k program, for the training I am doing for the 5k I signed up for on June 20th.
Here is a picture of me after my run on Saturday Morning. It was pouring rain and I was sweating…hot isn’t it…
Tomorrow I start week 4. I’m a little nervous about week 4. Not the amount of running, the lack of tracking ability of distance that I have.
When you start the C25k plan, it tells you that you can train by distance or by time. (IE run either 200 yards or 90 seconds). I’ve always used the time option, but I realize that the training plan assumes you run 10 minute miles. HAHAHAHAHAHA. I do not run a 10 minute mile. I actually don’t know how fast I run a mile. My pace for the run/walk intervals of week 3 was 14.5 minutes per mile yesterday ,which is not much faster than my walking pace. I run sllllllooooooowwww.
So, I realize, if I really want the endurance to run for a 5k, I have to use the distance factor. The loop around my subdivision is .6 of a mile…..almost a half mile, so I’m just going to wing the distances.
I still feel good about the 5k and I was really feeling motivated after the Biggest Loser last night. If Ron, can walk for 13 HOURS! I can run for 30 minutes…

I’m changing topics with no transition now…..breakfast.
A few weeks ago I posted about how I’d been having green spinach smoothies for breakfast. I continue to do that, but this week my husband did the shopping and got the small box of spinach, so I’m spacing my smoothie eating out.

I’m sick of oatmeal. I just have no desire for another bowl of banana oatmeal with toppings for a while. But…I like oats for their whole grain qualities and their health benefits, so today I decided to attempt the famous “breakfast cookie.”
I used Meghann’s most recent recipe, as a base for mine. Last summer when I didn’t want hot breakfast I tried a bowl of “cold oats” that everyone around the blog world seemed to be eating and it was disgusting to me…cold and gloppy…so I’ve been wary of the “breakfast cookie”

My recipe:
½ cup oats
2 spoonful’s applesauce
1 spoonful peanut butter
Some craisins-didn’t measure..maybe 2 tbsps?
Cinnamon.

I mixed it all together, spread it out on a salad plate and put it in the fridge.
This morning I topped it with 1 spoon full plan non fat yogurt, ½ a banana and some pecans.
I didn’t count the calories in this bad boy….but I’m guessing it was around 500-550?

This was much better than I expected. It wasn’t soggy like overnight oats are, but it wasn’t hard either. Like a thin flat soft cookie…eaten with a fork. I think I’ll be adding this in to my summer rotation of Kashi cereal and Green smoothies.

now i've done it....

2009-05-01T14:58:00.004-06:00

Well...I went and signed up for this race.

I first read about this 5k when I was in the See Jane Run store a few weeks ago buying my new walking/jogging shoes.

How cool is a race called "I run for champagne and chocolate."

I had kind of written it off, until this week. I recieved an email while I would out of town about the Wellness challenge that we've been having here at work. Our final "monthly challenge" is to put in as many miles (walking, running, biking, whatever) until May 15th. On May 18th we are going to have a 3.5k (random) "race" as a culmination to how of how fit we all are now. We'll after being in Georgia last week, and feeling motivated...I wanted to RUN that 3.5k.... Then I started thinking about running and that old bug to be a "runner" caught on again. So I looked up other races in the area...and found the See Jane Run 5k and remembered how cool I thought it was when I was in the store the other day.

So, I dusted off my old print out of the Couch to 5k training program...and on Tuesday I jumped in at week three. And it was great, and I felt great and I felt so motivated that today I signed up for the race. No backing out now!

So...now you know. I've signed up for my 3rd ever 5k.

Last time I did the couch to 5k program I was 20 pounds heavier and I crapped out on week four. I already know that I can do the distances of week four....but I'm still a little nervous!

I'll keep you all up dated on my training and how everything goes!

I love your eyes and your wild wild hair.

2009-04-30T11:06:00.001-06:00

Krissie posted on her blog about how it’s easy to get down on oneself. I’ve actually been thinking a lot about this for the past week. Last Wednesday I went to Georgia with my best friend to go visit our other best friend. Le’ts call them Best friend B, and Best friend G. :)

B. is naturally thin. She doesn’t have to work out and she is one of the blessed people who naturally eats intuitively. G. has lost…I don’t know how much weight in the past 8 years. I don’t know what she weighed before or what she weighs now, but let’s just say that she went from an 18/20 to a 10/12. Well..before we were a size 18/20 together. And then she got diagnosed with an underactive thyroid, started taking meds AND working out. Then she started eating better, and she looks phenomenal. This past week while we were visiting, I had a great time, but at the back of my mind I sort of felt like the last fat girl standing. I had similar feelings during this weeks episode of the Biggest Loser. Mixed feelings of feeling fat and “bad” and feeling motivated. I sort of had to put myself in check and remind myself of how far I have come, and how healthy I am. I have super low cholesterol, I’ve lowered my body fat by a significant amount, I am active, I eat vegetables. But…the nagging voice is my head is still there.

I was reading through Krissie’s post, and decided to take her up on her challenge….
Here we go!
THE ONLY RULE: No backhanded compliments. No “I like my eyes ’cause they distract from my incredibly large ass.” Only positives.
The “I LOVE ME” List
1. What do you absolutely love about your body?-I absolutely love my hair, I’m sorry. I really do, but I also love my shoulders and my calves and my breasts.
2. When did you surprise yourself with your physical strength?-Hmm..I’ve always felt physically strong, more recently I surprised my self with endurance—I ran further than I’ve run in a long time, with out stopping.
3. When were you braver than you ever thought you could be? Good Question! I would say when I moved half way across the country for my dream job, by myself.
4. When did your self-control blow you away? Ok, I don’t like this question, but only because I’m not into restriction due to my past eating disorder. I’m going to morph this question into a moment when I was blown away by how far I’ve come past my disorder. Last spring I had purchased some Kashi cookies to keep at my desk. In the middle of ED I would have eaten the box in a day. I had that box of cookies for two full weeks.
5. What is your proudest moment ever? The summer I moved for that job, and I did harder things professionally than I ever had. That summer is full of proud moments for me.
6. When was the last time you felt absolutely beautiful? Yesterday afternoon in bed with my husband. Sorry…you asked. J
7. Why do you deserve to meet your goals? Because I’m worth it! How biggest loser of me. J

Lean and Green

2009-04-21T08:52:00.004-06:00

We all have things we have tried because we read food/healthy living blogs right? How many of us ate oatmeal with such zeal before KERF came along? And I certainly didn't eat Fage, Larabars, flat out wraps, or goat cheese.

One thing i've seen around the blogosphere is the "green" smoothie for breakfast. There is only one thing that can make a smoothie that green.....VEGGIES! Well..I suppose green food coloring...

Anyway...I had decided I was not going to try this. A) it sounded disgusting and B) my blender sucks.

Well..I finally gave in yesterday. I realized that I had WAY too much spinach to eat before I go out of town tomorrow, and that left to his own devices..my husband won't eat the spinach. Spinach at all three meals!

My smoothie included:
1 cup milk
1/2 a banana
2 handfuls spinach
and aprox. 6 pieces of frozen fruit (a dole, frozen fruit medley) I think I had melon, pineapple, mango, strawberries.

The Verdict:AMAZING!
Super good, and such a freaking cool color! Plus, who doesn't love the benefits of spinach for breakfast?

I rounded out the meal with peanutbutter toast...cause I need more than 200 calories for breakfast.

like a record...

2009-04-17T09:34:00.001-06:00

I wrote this post on Tuesday, and finally have the time to post it!!!

Things are still crazy busy here on the western front, but I wanted to do a quick post…..

This past weekend was my birthday. My Husband and I went out to this great little locally owned fondue restaurant. I think fondue is officially my new favorite food. Hello….I get to eat carbs dipped in melted cheese? Heaven!

Unfortunately my husband came down with bronchitis earlier in the week, so he was a trooper through my birthday dinner, but the rest of the weekend he was curled up on the couch.

Last night I arrived home to find him making me dinner. He had a glass of red wine ready and told me to “take my wine, and go relax.” And he made a healthy dinner!
He made, Baked sweet potato fries (and bless his heart, he bought an actual sweet potato, instead of a yam….which we all call sweet potatoes!), fresh fruit salad (from the store with raspberries, kiwi, black berries, and blue berries. Delish), spinach salad, and lemon pepper chicken breasts.

I was seriously touched. The last time he called to tell me he wanted to make dinner I came home to bratwursts, Doritos and bloody Mary’s. Which is a deliciously sinful meal in it’s own right. I thought he was so sweet to a) make me dinner as a surprise and b) make a healthy dinner full of things I love.

We’ve been taking our dog to dog training, and the first two weeks of class you aren’t supposed to take your dog on a normal walk. Taking them on walks before they have been properly trained to heel and be obedient, un-does all of the work for dog training. This has been throwing off my morning routine, as I had gotten into a pretty solid routine of walking the dog and doing jogging intervals on MWF and then getting up earlier to walk the dog and shred or strength train on Tuesday and Thursdays.
Routine is key for me to continue to work out, the minute I get out of routine I have habit of careening of the healthy path into the great beyond.
I also start to feel it. I’ve still been going exercises with the dog, practicing the dog training is hard work! But I’ve let my strength training slip a little bit. I only did one day last week, and by yesterday I was just feeling a little soft(er) than usual.
This morning I decided I didn’t feel like jumping around in the shred, so after our dog training practice as a warm-up I did levels 2 and 3 of Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga
I had done level two before, but not level three.
Loved it! I loved that level three-used Yoga foundational poses and added weights.
Do you like the picture I drew? That is me in warrior two, doing bicep curls. There is my TV in the background. The stick figure with the bulging biceps is Alli Vincent. Holy crap I want my arms to look like that womans.
I can see how, if you did all three levels of this tape in one sitting you would be SORE! My shoulders are sore from just the second two levels. I’d like my Saturday mornings to include all three levels…..

Well…that’s all folks. See you next time I have a minute! Take care!

Spin me right round....

2009-04-02T08:26:00.002-06:00

Ok,
It's my crazy busy time at work, getting all of my programs in order for the summer. But I'm still alive and reading blogs!

In the News Lately:
1. I moved to the 2nd level of the Shred today! LOVE IT! I took it back down to my 3lb weights for day one, but I can tell that I am going to want my six pounders for some of the exercises. I really like this level, it's more interesting to me, although VERY TOUGH!

2. I am going to Savannah Georgia in 3 weeks!!!!! I am going to visit my best friend, with our other best friend!!! I've never been to the South and I am super excited.

3. I bought new running shoes last week, from THE BEST STORE EVER! Awesome awesome store. And after 500 miles, on my old running shoes, these new shoes feel AMAZING!

Insert foot in mouth

2009-03-17T15:44:00.003-06:00

So I didnt' take the Shred with me to my parents. I didn't do it yesterday morning either.

So, I was back at it for day 2 this morning after my 1.5 mile walk with the dog.

This morning? Umm..Jillian kicked my butt! I upped my weights to 6 pounds in each hand, which was perfect until the lateral raises with the side lunge at the end. Oh. dear. Lord.

I might use my 3 pounders for those tomorrow!

Also, after two years of short hair above my shoulders...I've decided to grow my hair out for locks of love. If it doesn't annoy the crap out of me first.

hopping on..

2009-03-12T15:43:00.003-06:00

I jumped on the bandwagon.....
I have heard about this DVD, and thought about ordering it, but after reading a few reviews and reading about Caitlin''s challenge..combined with having some "fun money" in savings...I purchased it from amazon.
It showed up in the mail last night, and I did the workout for the first time this morning.
the verdict? Not as hard as I expected. don't get me wrong...It was hard. i was sweating and grunting and cursing. But I never felt like I couldn't go on. I would have loved for it to be one or two circuits longer. Granted, this was just level one.
I am undecided on how I am going to approach this program. I'm actually flying to my parents house tomorrow, and debated taking it with me. Is it better to put a DVD in your checked bags or in your carry-on?

I think I might try level 1 for 7 days. Or maybe do the even 10:10:10 split.

the best part about this? my husband even did it with me! He got up, 1.5 hours before he had to...and did a workout video. It was awesome.

yumm

2009-03-11T15:45:00.002-06:00

When did Clif Bars start tasting good? Seriously. I picked some up at the store this week for afternoon snacks (I'm so sick of yogurt). In my memory these bars aren't too soft and tasted "blah."
Not anymore! I've had three flavors this week (carrot cake, chocolate chip ,and chocolate almond fudge?) and all were DELISH!

They've also been tiding my hunger over pretty well, even for being pretty calorically dense.

WOOHOOOO

2009-03-05T14:22:00.001-07:00

When I started going to Gold’s Gym in August of 2007, I got told that I got “one free fitness assessment” with a personal trainer. I wasn’t too interested in that, so I never scheduled my assessment. Well, about a month and half in my working out (and losing weight/ getting healthy ) life style change, I got cornered on morning on the stairs by a new trainer. She said Hi, and introduced herself and asked if I had had my free fitness assessment yet. Damn. Busted. I’m a terrible liar, and I don’t like being rude, so I told her no. Of course she persuaded me to schedule one with her. I did. And it wasn’t bad. She took my picture, and weighed me and did my body composition.
At that time, my body fat percentage was 41%. That was a harsh reality for me. I have always prided my self on being extremely muscular and strong. It was a wake up call, and the start of a 3 month process of me dodging that particular trainers sales pitch to “make an investment in my health.”

Eventually that trainer left Golds, but that is neither here nor there. The point is…..
I have a different body fat percentage now.

Wanna know what it is?
We had our body compositions done for our Wellness Challenge at work (since the Challenge is to lose body fat and gain lean muscle). When this number got delivered to my inbox yesterday, I didn’t believe. I sort of still don’t. I suppose I have lost 20-25 pound since I first started working out, and I know I’m pretty muscular, but I wasn’t honestly not prepared for the number to be that low. I was assuming and hoping that it would be lower than 41%, but I was totally shocked.
I even emailed the trainer and told her I was in shock and was she sure that was my number. Well..she hasn’t gotten back to me, so hopefully that really is my number and I don’t have to eat crow after blogging about this!

I am so proud of my self. Seriously.

Look before you leap

2009-03-04T14:09:00.001-07:00

Oh man.
Lent is not going well.
I cut out dessert, and now all I think about is dessert. Seriously.
In the past year and half, since getting on this path to health, I’ve never restricted my self. I still ate pizza and desserts and chips and everything, but I did it in moderation, and I never really felt deprived.

I am feeling deprived. Seriously deprived. It’s all mental. And this is such age old ‘why diets don’t work” kind of stuff. Once you tell yourself you can’t have something, it is all you want, and you think about it, and your mind tricks your body into thinking it needs whatever is being withheld more than anything, and then you cave. And when you cave, you cave good. I do anyway. For the past month, as I’ve tried to retrain my focus on healthy eating habits, I’ve been having dessert probably about 3 times a week. And on the nights that I didn’t have it, I didn’t think about it too much.
But now…it’s bad.

And I’m a little scared.

Many of you know that I used to be a binger. I didn’t purge, just ate. And ate sugar. And I hid it. I have a distinct memory of taking a box of girl scout cookies out of our families stash and hiding it under my bed, and eating it in secrecy in like two days. The fact that I can now have an open box of cookies in my pantry and eat them like a normal person is a big step for me.
But, with this Lent deal..I find myself thinking about how I can sneak the food.
Uh oh.
Each month we celebrate the birthdays in our office with a cake during our once a month all staff meeting. Well…like I’ve said previously, the spirit of competition is high around here for the wellness competition, and when I didn’t have a piece of cake, my male co-workers (who are all on a team together) were ribbing me and trying to get me to eat a piece of cake.
I didn’t eat the cake, and when I sat back down at my desk, I seriously planned on how I could have a piece of cake, I would just have to sneak it so that no one would notice.

This is not good.
I did some thinking this afternoon, and I think I have to give up, giving up dessert foods for Lent. It triggers my binge eating/sneaking food behaviors. The most important thing in my healthy journey is learning to have a healthy relationship with food, and I can’t compromise that.

In other news....

2009-03-03T10:51:00.003-07:00

So, a while ago I was asked to write an editorial article for a local website. It relates to what I do in my profession. I was honored, and then totally freaked out. Blogging is not quite the same as writing an article that reflects upon me as a professional.
How did I ever manage to write two or three essays a week in college?
Anyway, in case anyone is interested...here is the link.

I gave it up

2009-02-27T16:58:00.001-07:00

So, I am giving something up for Lent. I don’t normally give things up for Lent. Infact, the whole practice of Lent wasn’t really ever a huge deal in my house growing up (it wasn’t stressed in my church, like it is in Catholic Churches).But, mostly I don’t give things up for Lent, because I never follow through.

I think it’s a similar affliction that I have with New Years Resolutions. I start out strong, and either forget about my resolution, or I fall of the wagon, and don’t hop back on again.

So, I hadn’t given much thought to giving up something for Lent, until my Husband announced a few weeks ago, that he is giving up Beer for lent. I thought he was kidding at first. He wasn’t. Beer is his chocolate. The man could go the rest of his life with out ever eating a dessert again, and he wouldn’t notice. But Beer? This is truly a sacrifice for him. Now, I’m making him sound like he is an alcoholic, he isn’t. He just enjoys a few beers on Fridays, and Saturdays. And Maybe a Tuesday.

Anyway….so I decided that I wanted to give up something to. I’m such a follower! I’ve thought and thought about this…and I thought of all the things I could give up that I probably do too much, or consume too much of, I could give up Facebook, I could give up gum, or coffee, or splenda (woops already did that, I haven’t had Splenda in a week! I don’t miss it really.). But really, none of those things would be a true sacrifice for me. A true sacrifice would be giving up desserts. Candy, Cookies, Ice Cream, Brownies, Cake, Pies….you get the idea. I have never given up sweets for Lent before, because I didn’t think I could do it.

Well…I know I can do it. It’s going to be hard. I think I will still eat “dessert” in that I will allow my self to have a small “treat” after dinner. But it can’t be any of the following items: candy, cookies, ice cream, brownies, cake, chocolate chips, etc. It can be; fruit, granola and yogurt, uh…fruit. Fruit. Fruit.

I am interested to see where this goes. I’m curious if it will add to my weight loss, or how it will make me feel.

Oh yeah, I should add…one thing I always do during Lent (and I’m better about this than the sacrifice thing) is to add something to my life that helps others. Like holding open the door for whoever is coming through it next, every time I go through a door. Or praying for a particular person for those forty days…..

Happy Friday Everyone!

Sweat Break

2009-02-24T10:27:00.002-07:00

So I am sitting here, 30 minutes before I head to the employee workout room, wondering what circuit training I am going to do today.....

I would really love to win Kelly's giveaway this week! It would be perfect for my workout situation!

Fitting it in

2009-02-20T16:41:00.001-07:00

Do you all like my illustration of the stairs at my office? It's a little bit m.c. Escher. :)

So, I posted about the Wellness Challenge/competition at my workplace last week. It is amazing how competition (and money) motivates people. Seriously. People are actually using the employee workout room now (when I first started I was the only one down there, now it’s so busy at noon, I’ve started taking my “sweat break” at 11. At that time it’s just me another woman and cute firefighter. Can’t beat that!).
People have also taken to “sabotaging” each other. The Fire Chief bought donuts for the planning and zoning department. The first poor soul who ate a donut took crap for the rest of the day. My staff member delivered me four sugar cookies decorated with a gluttonous amount of frosting, courtesy of the kids in our afterschool program.

Aside from the competition, people have also started supporting each other, and coming up with ways to fit in fitness, during work hours. Two weeks ago, two women from the finance department started walking the stairs every day at 2pm. They went up and down our two flights of stairs, five times. Soon people started joining them. My team and I joined them yesterday. It’s pretty comical to see 15 ladies tromping and even jogging up and down the stairs of city hall in a row. But it’s fun. Kind of feels like a sports team practice. Running stairs sucks, but it’s doable with your friends.

I think today I am going to do six times up and down…Maybe I’ll work up to 10. Although sitting at my desk super sweaty probably isn’t going to be fun for me, or the guy I share an office with!

2009-02-18T11:12:00.001-07:00

test test test

Good Bye Splenda...

2009-02-18T11:03:00.001-07:00

It’s been real…err…fake and full of chemicals. I just got finished reading “In Defense of Food…An Eater’s Manifesto.”
What a super good book. Some of the concepts in the book, weren’t new or earth shattering, but they are good reminders. Eat slowly, eat a meal, eat away from your desk or coffee table, eat with people, eat food with less than five ingredients.

What I did find fascinating was the statistics about the affects of the Western diet on cultures. And how much it costs to have Diabetes!

I’ve always had a love affair with fake sweeteners. My mom always had Sweet n’ Low in our pantry. I loved to use it on my cereal as a kid, even though my Dad never wanted me to eat it. I think the beauty (and disgustingness) of fake sweeteners is that they are so damn sweet. You can use a little , for no calories, and get as much sweetness as like 10 tablespoons of sugar. I like exaggeration today, ok I like exaggeration every day.
The point is, fake sugar has always been poison of choice. I’ve been thinking about cutting splenda out of my Diet for a while. Pretty much since I started reading healthy living blogs. Really though, what drove it home for me was In Defense of Food.
How can I claim that I want to be as healthy as possible, but dump white chemicals that are made to taste like sugar in my coffee and over my grapefruit?
So I am saying goodbye to all the pink, yellow and blue packets of sweetness.

I bought agave nectar this week at the grocery store, I’ve wanted to try it for a while, and we are finally out of honey. It coincided well with saying sayonara to splenda.

Amending the resolution

2009-02-13T09:03:00.001-07:00

So…remember when I talked about one of my resolutions for the new year was to read one non fiction book per month? And the book for January was “Eat Pray Love”? Well…..I’m only half way through Eat Pray Love.
I had a few books on reserve at the library and one of them came in right in the middle of January. So….my January book was actually….

“Plenty—Eating Locally on the 100 Mile Diet”

This book fit in with one of my other new year’s resolutions, to live and eat as locally as possible.
The book follows a couple who live in Vancouver BC through a year of eating locally. They did not consume anything that was grown, sown, raised or grazed (I LOVE rhyming) outside of a 100 mile radius of Vancouver. Intense.

It’s a pretty good book, and talks a lot about how far we have come from agrarian societies that had to sustain themselves, to today when the apple I ate for my snack an hour ago, travelled from Washington to my plate. I can’t remember the statistic that the book gives now, but I think our food travels an average of 2500 miles to reach us. Ugh.
The book also delves into how the stresses of trying to sustain your self on food from with 100 miles, strains your relationship.

Ok, so..try this. Go to google, or some other search engine, although why anyone would use anything other than Google is beyond me, and figure out what a 100 mile radius is around where you live. It is not a lot, and those of us who are land locked? Fish is out. Well..I could probably get trout and salmon. I don’t like fish anyway, other than shrimp (def. out, and canned tuna, also out). I live in a very agriculturally rice valley, but I bet most of the food produced here is shipped somewhere else. There is a sugar beet factory down the street from my house, but damned if I can figure out how to buy their sugar.
Did you know that fish can be fished out of the ocean, and then sent to china for cleaning, and then shipped back to the northwest, and be labeled as local?

It’s an eye opening book, entertaining and an easy read. I would def. recommend it.

Ahhh..Blogging.

2009-02-12T16:57:00.000-07:00

http://www.toothpastefordinner.com

So I took an unexpected hiatus from my blog for a while. It wasn’t planned, it just sort of happened. My husband’s company informed him that layoffs were on the horizon, so I got super paranoid that he was going to lose his job, and that I would need to support us and had a mini panic attack about it for about a week, while we “waited.” Honestly I probably would have blogged about it everyday, as it was on my mind.
Then, people got laid off, and it wasn’t my husband….but I had fallen out of the blog groove by then. Then….he was told about more layoffs on the horizon. Again with the panicking. I actually considered for a time starting a new blog called “living laid off.” That is the type of thing I was thinking about.
But…he hasn’t been laid off yet, so I’m just praying every day that he won’t be.

I also kind of needed some time to center my chi.
I’m centered now. I’m not stressed about possible lay offs, what ever will be will be right? Que Sera Sera… what are the words to that song anyway? Is there more than just the first stanza? Or maybe I only know the chorus.
But I digress..

How bout a little bit about health?
Well..I’ve joined a “Wellness Challenge” at my job. The Wellness committee decided that they wanted to do something, instead of just planning the lame-o wellness fair each year. So, we are having a competition/event that is based of off the Biggest Loser.
People who were interested in participating signed up and paid 10.00 (to create a pot of money that people can win). The Wellness Committee then contributed 10.00 per person as well. After signing up, all of the participants organized themselves into groups of 4.
We all also had our body fat and lean muscle mass percentages calculated, as well as our weight recorded. (This all happened last week, the official start date was Feb 2nd).
Sadly, the trainer who was taking our “specs” wasn’t doing the calculations right there (she was using calipers). I was bummed! I really wanted to know my starting body fat percentage! Anyway….so we are doing this for 15 weeks. Each month there will be a team challenge, and prizes awarded to the winning team. This month we are competing to see which team logs the most minutes worked out.

Over all the prize break down goes like this:
Person with most body fat % lost- 20% of the pot (specifically $260.00!!!!!)
Person with highest % of lean muscle mass gained (again….$260.00)
Team with the highest % of lean muscle mass gained + body fat lost (team splits $260.00)
Over All Wellness Champ- individual with highest % of body fat lost + highest % of lean muscle mass gained wins 40% of the pot or $520.00.

I was impressed with the turn out. I am on a team with three other women, all of whom are over 40. Our team name is “The Phat Ladies!” I’ve reclaimed the word Fat. I’m not afraid to say I’m fat. Anyway….so I’ll admit, I’ve been trying a little harder for this competition. While I would LOVE to win more than $500, really I just want to beat on my male co-workers, whom I happen to Supervise. In addition, it’s been a really great way to get to know more of my co-workers (I’ve got over 300) and the spirit of the competition has been fun. Although if my supervisee tells me one more time how many calories were in his lunch, I might scream.

Umm, now that I’ve opened the blogging flood gates I just want to keep writing and writing and writing. Better save some for tomorrow.

I’ve leave you with this…I’ve lost 3.4 pounds since January 1st. It reinforces for me that I had let my healthy habits slip. I’m still eating plenty, I’m just eating better, and working out on a regular basis again.

Must stop writing now…..

And I'm back in the game

2009-02-12T11:21:00.002-07:00

Hi Everyone!
I haven't died, I promise. Apparently I needed a break from blogging, as I've just been uninspired lately.
But I haven't fallen off the face of the planet, in fact I still read everyone's blogs everyday.

I'm trying to be a bit more careful about my internet usage at work...and I"ll be honest, I'm not prepared to look at my computer all day and then go home and blog, when I'd really rather be spending time with my husband.

I think I might start blogging once a day, right before I leave work.

Awesome...I feel charged to blog again!

I saw your picture today....

2009-01-13T16:25:00.003-07:00

You know how some people don’t like having their picture taken? I don’t mind it. I’ve always been “photogenic” and little bit of a poser. As in, one who likes to pose. Of course, in the past couple of years, as I’ve gained weight, I’ve learned how to pose myself so that the extra weight just isn’t visible. I’ve gotten better about it since my recent weight loss, and after fully accepting that this is who I am….But that doesn’t stop me from preferring to take pictures from the “myspace” angle…you know the one I am talking about….when the Camera is about a foot higher than your head, and you look great and never have double chin and where one doesn’t quite look like themselves.

So, When I went home for Christmas, my mom informed my family (including my husband) that we would be taking family portraits, at JC Penney’s. I wasn’t to worried. My mom has always had our forma pictures be from the Bust up. I wasn’t feeling self conscious, my family had been telling me how great I looked. I was pumped. Until I saw the proofs…..
I cried in Penney’s. Hi, I look 6 months pregnant in this picture. Now, I was not sucking my stomach in, so in reality maybe this is what I look like. It doesn’t help that my brother (who is a Sergeant in the Marine Corps) is incredibly ripped and fit. Bastard. I didn’t want anything to do with this picture, and my mom didn’t end up ordering it.

She ordered this one….

This is also a picture that I would normally not be fond of…but I like it. Because we look natural in it. We were actually laughing and trying really hard to smile normally for the camera, and it was fun. This picture makes me happy, thinking about the fun memory I made with my brother, whom I don’t get to see very often.

Looking at these pictures, is hard and freeing at the same time. It’s just a picture. My face actually looks great in it, my hair looks spectacular, those jeans make my butt look great. So what if I an arching my back and pushing my stomach out. It’s me. And I accept that, or at least I am learning too.

In the desert of dessert...

2009-01-08T09:59:00.004-07:00

I remember in elementary school when a teacher was telling us about the difference in the spelling of Desert and Dessert. She said dessert has the double s because, we always want double or more dessert.

Boy howdy ain’t that the truth, at least for me. I can be full and satisfied from a meal, but offer me something sweet and I’m not going to pass it up. I often feel the “need” to finish my meal with a little something sweet. Ha, who am I kidding, I would love to end my meal with A LOT of something sweet. And that my friends, is my problem.
I totally think that having “dessert” each night is a fine thing to do, Jenna and Tina offer fabulous examples of this. My issue is that sugar triggers my body to want more sugar, which isn’t uncommon for people. So one of my challenges to myself this year is to find “desserts” that satisfy that sweet tooth, and don’t leave me wanting more.

Last week I really wanted a sweet, warm, carby baked good. But…I didn’t want to make a whole batch of cookies, cause I’ll eat them all, and some of the dough. So instead I made myself a small “dessert oatmeal” it had ¼ cup oats, 1 tsp brown sugar, and ½ tsp of Dark Chocolate Peanut butter. A little caloric, but eating the hot dessert, with a spoon, satisfied my need.

Last night I took a fruitier route….Broiled Grapefruit! We happened to have a grapefruit on it’s last days of goodness.

I cut it in half...
Sprinkled it with 1/2 tsp sugar (total over both halves) and a little pinch of brown sugar.

Popped it in the oven, under the broiler for 5 minutes (as per the directions in my Joy of Cooking Cook Book.) And..Voila!

Here is a secret..I’m a little bit afraid to broil things…I’m always afraid I’ll forget about them, and char what I’m cooking or burn the house down.

So…I didn’t let it broil as long as I should have I don’t think. But…it was good! I ate each little piece with a spoon and then had some of the juice.

I think one of the keys to dessert satisfaction for my mind is eating something warm with a spoon.

Also, look at this picture of my ring. Have you ever seen something so tragic? Not the ring..the picture. I don't have a great camera..and I also don't think I know how to use all of the functions properly either! After seeing Kath’s beautiful pictures from her new camera..I want one too! Time to start saving.

poopy camera

2009-01-06T16:01:00.003-07:00

My camera is being a poop. I can't make my computer acknowledge it's existance. SO maybe my computer is being a poop? Anyway..I had a great post planned about dessert...I'll save it in hopes that I figure out my technical difficulties.

So, I've been going to the employee workout room on my "sweat break." Today's workout was particularly satisfying.

Cardio: 5 minutes on elliptical, level 6

Bicep Curls: 3 sets 15 with 10lb weights

Crunches on the stability ball: 3 sets 20

Cardio: 5 minutes on the treadmill. Today I did 1 minute speed walk, 3 minutes jog, 1 minute speed walk. I felt so great during the jog. I think the song on my ipod helped. How did I live with out my ipod? I don't know.

Walking lunges, 2x back and forth diagonally across the room with 10 lb weights in each hand.

Yoga Plank (all the way up on my hands, not on forearms) 3 sets 30 seconds each.

Side Bends: 2 sets 15 with 10lbs weight.

Then I stretched my quads, calves and shins.
Ended with Down Dog...which if I am looking at Jenna's post of yoga poses correctly, I then "flipped" into full wheel. Thank you 8 years of gymnastics as a kid. I think I can do that, as well as other harder yoga poses due to gym. I've decided it's like riding a bike, once you teach your body to do certain things, it doesn't forget. I don't think I could still do a back handspring though. Maybe I'd be surprised.

Oh! I am SUPER excited about the new season of Biggest Loser....and one of the Teams is from Where I live!!!!

12 books of 2009

2009-01-05T15:04:00.002-07:00

Nonfiction book numero uno:
I am super stoked that this is my nonfiction book for January 2009. As per my resolution to be an erudite (woah big word) I am reading three books each month this year, with one of them being non fiction. I realize that this is a memoir and reads a little bit more LIKE fiction...but it fits!

I've been looking forward to reading this book for months...the only issue is that there is a huge wait at the library (just like there is for In Defense of Food, I am number 26 on that waiting list!) but my mom happened to have just finished this book at Christmas and gave it to me to take home with me. Hooray!

Tomorrow Is Just Another Day....right?

2008-12-31T10:16:00.001-07:00

So, I’ve started my post on New Year’s resolutions at least 4 times. I know that I posted about it two weeks ago, and I said that I had 3 resolutions. 1. To be more of a “locavore.” 2. to read 3 books per month, 1 of them being non fiction. 3. To make mini resolutions each month, to attain small goals.

Well..this week I got to reading a few other blogs (like usual) and people were posting about their resolutions/goals. I wanted goals too! I started typing and ended up with a page of goals. Granted, it was that long because I created steps to obtain each goal as well. But, a whole page? Seriously. See, here is the thing...I’m not a goal setter. I’m not. I was never type A enough to write them down and think about how I would get there, and I was just to laid back to worry about things, when I was busy going with the flow of life.
But..I feel like things are starting to change a little bit. I’ve been doing strange things like…organizing my closet, by color and type of clothing! And creating separate drawers for my socks and underwear, instead of just throwing anything and everything in the two drawers I use for those things. I haven’t gone so far as to fold, roll or pair my socks and underwear though..that would just be too much. J
I want to be organized. I want to save money. I want to run a mile. I do! But, somehow I feel like if I put them in New Years resolutions, it negates their power some how.

Who knew I was so messed up in the head about New Years Resolutions?

So, I’m going to amend my original resolutions, and just add…a few.

4. Save 6% of my take home pay each month
Create a budget tracking system for my personal checking account.
Some other financial stuff that I am not going to post about. J
Lose weight.

Yes, I said lose weight. How typical does that make me?

I’m listing it as “lose weight” but what I really mean is, get back to where I was a year ago with healthy eating and exercise. When my weight loss stopped and I started maintaining, I let me healthy habits slide. An example, instead of having 2 pieces of pizza and a salad on pizza night, I was skipping the salad and having 4 pieces of pizza. I don’t intend on quitting pizza, or dessert or wine. But I need to get back to eating healthier.
This is really hard for me, as a Health At Every Size advocate and believer, to admit that I WANT to lose weight. It isn’t because I think I’m disgusting, or ugly, or anything negative. It’s because, I committed a year and half ago (not a new years resolution) to get healthy, and I’ve sort of fallen off the wagon. Some lasting and excellent changes have been made in my diet and exercise, but I’ve been blurring the edges too much.
I know my body, and I know that if I pursue the healthy habits that I want to, I’m going to lose some more weight. So...number 7 is Stay The Course, Get Healthy.

I hope that everyone has a happy and safe New Years Eve.
See you all next year! Oh man, I love being cheesy like that!

Makin dinner Easy Peasy

2008-12-30T10:24:00.002-07:00

I love making pasta with red sauce for dinner. I would call it Spaghetti, but...I don't always use spaghetti noodles. Infact, last night when I made it, I used half spaghettin and half fettucine noodles...in an effort to clean out the pantry!

So...Here is my recipe/method/thoughts on Easy Peasy Red Sauce.

When I was in college my roommate and I bought almost all premade, pre-packaged food. Seriously, it’s almost laughable to me now. Of course one of those things was jarred red spaghetti sauce. It’s so easy, and comes in different flavors, and well…you just can’t go wrong with it.
Red Sauce from a jar was one of those things that I bought because it was novelty to me. My mom ALWAYS made her own sauce, and just like with Mac n’ cheese (never had the boxed stuff) and green beans (we only had fresh or frozen) I never realized how good I had it. Mmm all that Salt and fake ingredients were yummy to my taste buds. Anyway….one day after Scott and I got married (this must have been really early in our marriage, cause I make red sauce at least 3x a month now) we were at the grocery store, and I reached for a jar of spaghetti sauce. Scott looked at me and said “you must be joking.” I thought HE was joking. Apparently not.
“Spaghetti sauce is really easy, I always make my own.” He said.
“Oh sure, I know how to make it too, it’s no big deal” I heard myself say.
But really I was unsure of how I was going to pull this off.
Little did I know...how seriously easy it is. Now, we don’t start with fresh tomatoes, so we are still cheating a little bit. But...this way is just as easy, and costs so much less. Plus its easier to control how much you make, and you don’t end up with half a jar of moldy sauce in your fridge.

Last night I started with some olive oil, minced garlic and 1/4 pound of ground beef in a sauce pan, yum!
Then I opened one small can of Tomato Paste, and One large can of Tomato Sauce. The small can cost 25 cents, and the large can cost 48 cents. Can't beat that now can you?

Then I added some spices from my trusty spice rack, along with a pinch of sugar. Hmm.. I see in this picture that some of my spices never get used and are actually dusty. Oops! and seriously who thought that was a good color for counter tops? Ugh.

I dumped everything right ontop of the browned beef and garlic, Here it is pre-stir.

Stir all together and keep warm until noodles are ready! A super cheap and easy meal. I sliced up a cucumber for extra veggies and dinner was ready in 15 minutes.

Easy Peasy Red Sauce

Ingredients
Tomato Sauce or puree. I usually use sauce in a can, which I realize has some additives. (dried onion flakes etc).
Tomato Paste
Seasonings
-sugar
-salt
-garlic powder
-thyme
-rosemary
-basil
-“Italian seasonings”
Really anything that strikes your fancy.

Open the Sauce, and dump into a medium sauce pan.
Open the paste and dump into a medium sauce pan.
Season with seasonings of your choice.

Put pan on stove over medium heat and start stirring to meld together paste, sauce, and seasonings.
Reduce heat to low and let warm through while waiting for pasta to cook.

Monday Musings

2008-12-29T09:36:00.002-07:00

Well Christmas is over…whew. I had a fantastic Christmas at my parents house in Reno. My brother was able to come home ( I haven’t seen him in 18 months) and it was a great time. Last year he was in Iraq. He is in the Marine Corps, he is currently in a program called MECEP (or some other crazy acronym that the armed forces use) I don’t know what it stands for, but basically he was enlisted for four years, he is still enlisted, but now his “Military Occupation Skill” is “student” and he is going to school at the University of South Carolina to finish his degree and then he will be commissioned as an officer. Right….the point of my post wasn’t my brother. Anyway…it was a great week…here are some highlights of Christmas Day..

I am crying in this picture. My parents printed and framed a copy of the blessing my dad used in his toast at our wedding, along with one of our wedding pictures..aww...
Here is my brother holding up the gift we got him, a solid steel name plate...

Our Christmas table...it was just the five of us this year...nice and quiet and sooo. much. food.

At each place setting we had this little "christmas crackers" they each had little toys and paper crowns in them. My dad wore his all through dinner and through the dish washing extravaganza afterwards....silly dad!

I could not get Scott to take a serious picture with me. He made us pose for this one.....

What a dork!

Anyway, it was a great relaxing trip. As for as being "healthy" I didn't get it ANY workouts (the snow sort of prevented the walks I was going to take, at least that is what I am going to tell myself) but I don't feel like I overindulged in food. Yes I was stuffed by the end of Christmas dinner, but thankfully, my parents don't keep alot of Christmas treats in the house and I didn't spend four days snacking on junk, as i would have in the past.

Today I am back to the grind at work (even though I get off early on Wednesday, we are closed on Thursday and am taking vacay again on Friday) so it's a mini grind? But..I'm comitted to getting down to the employee workout room for good sweatbreaks all three days! Got to start the new year off right!

2008-12-25T13:13:00.001-07:00

Merry Christmas!!!

I hope everyone enjoys their holidays. I'm enjoying a white Christmas at my parents! Regular blogging to resume soon.

holy buckets...

2008-12-19T13:48:00.002-07:00

I am more sore than I have ever been in my entire life.
Seriously.

This week we had two work parties, one today and one yesterday. Over our lunch hour. Normally I take my lunch hour for working out. I try to do 2 cardio workouts and 2 toning workouts each week.
Knowing that I couldn't get all four workouts in this week, I decided that I would do "circuits."' and try to get both cardio and toning in , in the same 25-30 minute work out.
This worked out well...until I did a move I read about in a magazine called...the haybaler...Let me illustrate it for you...

You start with..yourself..ready to work out. Doesn't the stick person version of me look excited for this new exercise? ha.

Then you pick out a dumbell. I chose 10 lbs. You only need one for this exercise.

Then, holding the weight in both hands, as is CLEARLY demonstrated by myself in this picture, you squat, holding the weight to one side. You don't actually point your toes out, you point the forwards, but I'm not that talented of an artist! Notice the look of trepidation on my face....

Then you stand up, and bring the weight up over your head, moving in a diagonal direction. IE, if the weight was on your left side while you were squatting, the weight is now above your head on your right...

Sort of like that.

I think this is what people like to call "an all over toner" Well..let me tell you, my chest, and triceps are seriously so sore. Sore to the touch even. I did 2 sets of 12 reps on each side. I think after doing a bench press machine the day before, my pectoral msucles officially hate me.

It's a good sore though..the kind where you know you worked really well.

Biggest Loser

2008-12-17T14:59:00.001-07:00

ok, first how hot are Bob and Jillian...seriously.

Did anyone else catch last night’s finale? I was so happy that Michelle won! She looked so gorgeous and fit. I love that she didn’t look scary skinny.
So, I have a love hate love affair with the Biggest Loser. And it is all about me and my perception of my own body and abilities and health.
My love-hate-love affair goes a little something like this with each season.
Beginning of the season. Love the show. Love seeing all the new contestants, and learning their stories, and thinking about how much better off I am then they are. Feel a little twinge of annoyance when most of the women weigh less than I do, and have unhealthier lifestyles (According to the editing), but mostly love. Oh, and think about how I would kick everyone’s ass at the first workout.
Middle of the season. Hate contestants that are exhibiting signs of “gameplay.” Get over it a little bit when I realize they are probably just hungry (just kidding, mostly). Hate the fact that now even the women who weighed more than I did at the start of the show now weigh less. Think about how I probably should be trying to lose weight.
End of the season: Love that there only a few people left and I can start rooting for a favorite. Love the makeover show. Love the finale and how great everyone looks, and LOVE IT WHEN A WOMAN WINS!

So…that is kind of how it goes. I recognize that the Biggest Loser is not real life, and that of course these people are successfully losing weight because all they do all day long is focus on that goal. They suspend their reality to lose what, I personally consider, an unhealthily large amount of weight in a short time. But I can’t help but think, what about me. What if I did that show…would I walk out in the finale looking amazing and wearing a dress that is smoking hot and 8 sizes smaller than I wore before? Last night my husband I watched the end of the finale together and we talked about some goals for getting healthy and yes, losing weight.

I kind of want to send in an audition tape.
I think it would go like this: Hi my name is Allison and I eat 5-7 servings of fruits and veggies a day. I don’t eat fast food or drink soda. I do eat dessert but in moderation. I know how many calories are in beer, donuts and pizza. I walk my dog 1.5 miles everyday and workout on my lunch break 3-4 times a week. I’ve conquered my food demons and personal demons that led to an eating disorder. I still weigh 240 pounds. I bet you I can’t weigh 150.

Do you think Jillian would take that bet? I feel like it might appeal to her competitive side.

I can picture it now….Cut to Biggest loser campus, first last chance work out—
Me: crying in pain
Jillian: you still want to make bets? Do you? Unless you quit right now, you will weigh 150. Do you want to be quit? Do you want to be a quitter. Only losers quit.

Ok…so maybe I won’t send in that tape.

Happy New Year!

2008-12-16T12:17:00.002-07:00

photo via:veer.com

Isnt' that a delightfully tacky new years crown?

I know it's a little early to talk about the New Year...but I've already been thinking about resolutions....

Is anyone good at keeping their New Year’s Resolutions? I’m not. In fact, I usually forget what they were by um…February. But, I always think about them…what would I like to do better, what would I like to accomplish, etc.

Well this year, I am giving myself 2 New Year’s resolutions.
1) Become as much of a locovore as possible. How do you even spell that word? Localvore? Locavore? Anyway. I would like to buy, eat, recreate, etc as locally as possible. Now, we all know the dilemma about fresh produce in the winter, and let’s face it, while I live in a hugely agricultural valley…we don’t really produce much in the winter. But California does….and hey, that is only two states over…so that is better than Mexico right? Anyway, this resolution also extends to patronizing small local businesses and restaurants, instead of chains. Now…this won’t always be possible, like when my Inlaws want to eat at Red Robin for my father-in-law’s bday. I’ve also been thinking about my gym membership, which has been sorely under utilized since I started doing morning walks with the dog, as well as using the employee workout room, but when my “contract” is up in July, not continuing and joining the small, locally owned gym that is 1 block from my subdivision. Then I could walk there! How much more local can you get? Plus….it’s 13 dollars a month cheaper!
2) The second is to read 3 books per month. This is actually quite easy for me. I am a voracious reader, but I let me self read fluff books. It’s not that I WANT to read text books or anything, but now that I’m out of school…I’ve decided that while I am going to read 3 books a month, 1 of them has to be non fiction.
3) Ok, I lied 3 resolutions. My third resolution is that I am going to make a mini set of resolutions each month. Little things that I want to accomplish or do. I got the idea from Kim over at www.elasticwaist.com and I actually started doing it in October.

I didn’t share about my mini resolutions, because…given my track record with resolutions, I didn’t want to fail miserably semi-publicly, on my blog. I would say that I’ve been about 60% successful with my monthly resolutions. I write them down on little index cards and keep them at my office.

Do you want to know what I’m working on this month? It was sort of a back to basics month for me.
1) read 2 non fiction books (Which is where I got the idea for my 2009 resolution)
2) Drink 2 nalgene bottles of water a day at work.( I was really good about this, but got in the bad habit of not drinking enough H20.)
3) Check blogs/internet at designated times throughout my work day. (for example 8am for 10 mins, 11 am for 10 mins, and 3pm for 10 mins. )
4) Do a lunchtime “sweat break” 4x a week. 2 cardio, 2 toning.

I’m doing really well on 1-3. As far as my “sweat break” I’ve done pretty well. Last week the weather was just too nice to not go outside on my lunch hour, so I took 30 minute walks that week…..

I’m going to wait to reveal my January resolutions till the new year….ooh the suspense...I can’t take it! J Stay warm.

the RUN around

2008-12-11T10:04:00.002-07:00

photo via: veer.com

I’ve talked several times on this blog about my relationship with running. I desperately want to be a “runner.” I think because my whole life I’ve associated “runners” with “thin people.” I also would just love to have the freedom of running as my cardio workout. You can do it anywhere….you don’t need the gym to run. You don’t need pavement to run. You just need you, and your gear.
When I first started losing weight, about a month in I decided I was going to “become a runner.” And then…the shin splints attacked. Also…running is hard when you weigh 255 pounds. So, since then I’ve solved the shin splint problem (at least the biomechanical part of it, my left leg is shorter than my right by 12mm, and I wasn’t using my heel lift. Smart, I know, talk about a messed up gait!), and I weigh about 15 pounds less, and I’m in better shape. I have an on again off again relationship with my running attempts. I take the dog for a walk every morning, currently we are doing a 1.5 mile loop. Now that it is dark out when I take him, I don’t leave my subdivision for safety reasons. I want my husband to be able to find me when my leg is broken! So, sometimes I run intervals, but not with any regularity or with any discipline (time, distance etc). I found the less rigid my running portion is, the better. I like to measure in mailboxes. Just run to one more mail box, that sort of thing.

I’ve also been running less in the mornings since I’ve been going to the employee workout room on my “sweat(lunch)break.” Well..the weather has been so nice this week (above 30 degrees and sunny) that I just can’t bring my self to spend my lunch break in the basement. It’s dark when I get to work at 8, it’s dark when I leave at 5…and I need some sun darn it! So, this week I am taking walks on my lunch break.
I was thinking about the lack of a higher level of cardio this morning on my walk. We walk 1 loop in the subdivision, then out and back on a cul-de-sac, and then around the loop again. I had just finished my 1st loop and the out and back, and was passing my house when I thought, “ I should run.”

So I ran. I ran the whole loop. I have never run the whole loop before. It is .66 of a mile. The farthest that I have run in one interval since I started this whole running thing. When I am serious about the interval thing, I usually total about 1 mile of running in .2 or .3 of a mile intervals. Because my mind tells me that I can’t go further. But I can! And I did!

Honestly, I thought about quitting a few times through the loop, about half way. But I thought about what Tina said, and what Margarita said. Tina mentioned that one of her tricks was that even when it was hard, just keep running. Even if you are shuffling along. I shuffled, in fact my normal pace is pretty slow, but I kept running. Margarita recently started running, and she shared one of her tips: she thinks about people (maybe her friend?) who can’t run. Who are in a wheel chair, or bed ridden, and how fortunate that she is that she can run ,and it always pushes her through one more lap.

I ran. And I did a happy dance while the dog looked at me like I was insane.

2008-12-10T16:39:00.003-07:00

I wasn’t going to post about the Oprah thing. But then Everyone did twice.

It’s funny, because I first read about this on Elasticwaist yesterday, and my knee jerk reaction was eye rolling…follow by an internal monologue of “puuhleeeze…200 pounds! If Oprah is a fat cow at 200 lbs, then I am a beached whale, blah blah blah blah blah, self righteousness blah blah blah, she has every tool in the world to be “thin”blah blah blah... she should be happy to be 200 lbs."

Then I started reading peoples comments on blog entries and I thought a little more about it.

Oprah is allowed to feel however she wants about her weight and her body, whether I think it is ridiculous or not. She is allowed to think she is a fat cow at 200 pounds, just like I am allowed to think that I am healthy and fit at 239. and people are allowed to disagree with us. It’s the beauty of free will. And..I disagree with Oprah by the way.

Now..do I think she should be “embarrassed” by gaining weight back? No.

Do I think it is extremely self deprecating and little ridiculous to create a tabloid like cover for your own magazine pointing out your failure? Yes. But clearly, the publicity worked, or the blogosphere wouldn’t be writing up a storm about it.

Alot of commenters have said they admire Oprah’s honesty. I don’t really feel one way or the other about her honesty. I also, for the record, have not read the full article, because her site is blocked at work.

When I read it, I’m really hoping it says something to the effect of , “ I am a successful, affluent, influential, self-made, powerful woman. And I realize that I don’t have to yo-yo Diet anymore. That being 200lbs doesn’t make me less of a person. I am going to strive to be the healthiest I can, at any size I can, because people look up to me and take what I say as gospel.” Only, you know…typed into a coherent, well written article.
But … maybe I am just chasing unicorns

Creature of Habit

2008-12-09T10:08:00.001-07:00

I have a morning routine. It isn’t quite timed down to the minute, but…it’s close.
My alarm goes off at 5:39 am. At this point I have two choices, a) get up, or b) snooze my alarm for 5 minutes. I usually just get up right away. I change my clothes, let the dog out of his crate, bundle up and try to be out the door for our walk no later than 5:50.
Our walks usually end between 6:18 and 6:20 am, depending on how late we get out the door. Between 6:20 and 6:30 I feed the dog, and turn on the TV to watch the news/weather report while I stretch. At 6:30am, I throw the dog in the back yard, and get in the shower. I am done with showering, lotioning, blow drying and putting on my makeup at 7:00am. I need to be eating my breakfast by 7:10. I eat and watch the Today show until 7:20. Then I brush my teeth, warm up the car, scrape the windows (if needed) kiss my husband goodbye, and back out of the drive way at 7:30am.

I am not this type A about anything else in my life. Ever. I don’t plan out my schedule to the minute too cook dinner, or make my lunch for the next day. But, I like to have a plan, a schedule for the morning.
And when it gets thrown off..I know it’s going to be one of those days.

Today, I woke up at 6:07am. My alarm was flashing, but not making any noise. I think it was probably set to “wake up to ipod” (it’s an ipod docking station alarm clock, Thanks Husband!), and my ipod wasn’t docked. So…..that is almost 30 minutes later than I normally wake up! Gah. It shortned my walk and made the whole shebang just feel off.

On our walk, which was exceptionally cold at 24 degrees!, I saw the most incredible shooting star! I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a shooting star “in town.” I’m pretty sure all of the shooting stars I’ve ever seen have been out in the woods, far far away from city lights. Anyway, I was still feeling frustrated about my alarm going off late, and seeing this star kind of put it in perspective for me. A little cheesy…I know.

Ok, on to something relevant…
I posted about the grocery challenge that I am doing this month, in my last post. This week I bought $55.00 worth of groceries. It was only 50, until my husband invited his parents over for dinner tonight, and I needed some supplemental food. Anyway, that brings me to a total of $91 dollars for the month, so far.

I normally buy a bunch of bananas to have for breakfast each week. This week at the grocery store, every single bunch of bananas was bright green. Ick, not oatmeal ready!
So, I found two of the yellowiest bananas, and bought a huge can of pumpkin to have in oats this week.

I’ve decided that I prefer to microwave my oats each morning (it fits better in the aforementioned routine), but if I am going to have pumpkin in my oats, I think I prefer stove top!

Here is today’s bowl of oats. I’m calling it pumpkin pie oatmeal with maple infused whipped cream, topped with nuts.

Here is what is in it
½ cup oats.
Dash of salt
Water, I don’t measure, I just put in enough ot cover the oats.
Microwaved for 1 minute.
Take out, and add in 3 big spoonfuls of pumpkin (see not type A about cooking!)
A few dashes of cinnamon and a splash of vanilla
Stir and microwave for another 1.5 minutes.

Top with plain non fat yogurt, mixed with maple syrup and topped with walnuts.

This was actually really good! The only thing I would have done differently would have been to mix the maple syrup and yogurt in a separate container, and then spread evenly on the oat meal. It really made the flavor combo.

I love vegetables that taste like dessert!

Just one of those things.....

2008-12-04T11:16:00.000-07:00

I am kind of having one of those weeks where I feel unhappy fat. Like, life would just be great if I could wear a size 16, or run 3 miles or whatever. I don’t think this all the time, but I go through my bouts.

In February I will have maintained my weight loss for a year. Give or take the normal 3-5 pound fluctuation throughout the month. I am proud of myself. That is a major accomplishment, and to be honest I’ve changed a lot of things about my life style, and I should be proud of them.
Eating a healthy breakfast everyday.-I make conscious choices about what I eat for breakfast, how much protein it has, and how many calories (As in enough). I also aim for a whole grain, healthy fat and protein…and always a fruit. Sometimes a veggie, but mostly a fruit.
Eating 5-7 servings of fruit and veggies a day. This is one of the biggest changes I have made and stuck with. I don’t always make it to 7, and some days I don’t make it to 5, but two years ago, there would be days, DAYS, that I would go without eating fresh produce. I can’t fathom that now.
Eating “real” food. I still enjoy the convenience of certain packaged foods. Some of them aren’t real, like bbq sauce for example,…but I’ve really changed in that aspect, I try to make things from scratch as often as possible.
Not eating at night. It was the months of December-May of 2007 that I really gained the weight I’ve lost. My husband and I had just gotten married, I was incredibly happy, and we lived next door to a convenience store. Scott worked nights, and would often stop by the 24 hour store to grab something for a 2am snack. He would come home and I would wake up and eat. I would also eat at 10pm, when I was bored and lonely with out him. Now I only eat at night if I am hungry, but I do usually allow my self one evening treat, a small dessert, a beer, or a glass of wine.
Being “food prepared.” I pack the food I am going to need and want to consume at work the night before. I always pack my lunch (sometimes my breakfast) and 2 snacks. Always..that way I don’t get 3pm blood sugar crash and have only the candy jar to keep me company. I also try to be food prepared for travel and unknown situations with fruit, string cheese and protein bars. I generally don’t like protein bars as meal replacements, but I’ve found that in airports, they are often the best choice. Protein bar…or personal pan pizza?
Exercise. I get some form of exercise every single day. Even if it is only a walk with the dog. I walk the dog every day. For at least a mile and half. Most days I do that, plus a 25 minute cardio or 25 minute toning workout in the employee workout room. Before that though, I went to the gym 5 days a week for a year. July to July. Before work…at 5:20am.

I didn’t post this to pat my self on the back, I posted it to make my self feel better. To bring to the forefront of my mind that I am a healthy, happy person, and that I have made huge and fantastic changes in my life that have truly benefitted me.
And all of those things are good, and it is ok, that even though I have lost 25 pounds I’ve only gone down 1 pants size. That I shouldn’t be jealous of the fact that a woman on the biggest loser weighs the same as me, and can wear a size 14. I posted it to remind myself that those numbers don’t matter. The only thing that matters is that I am the best I can be for me.

hello long forgotten love

2008-12-03T13:23:00.002-07:00

I am eating a larabar right now. Key Lime Pie Flavor.

I had forgotten how much I love these. How seriously amazing they are. I haven't had one in a few months...but man oh man...love love love. I used to blog about them alot, I even was named Fan of the Day once.

Now if I could just find the peanutbutter cookie flavor and the coconut pie flavor. :(

Heaven..I'm in Heaven....

2008-12-02T10:57:00.001-07:00

So my husband and I enjoyed a fabulous four day weekend, and the last thing we wanted to do was leave our warm house and go grocery shopping, but we did. We didn’t need that much stuff, actually we are doing something similar to Kath’s November Challenge, but I’ll go into that later.

So, we get to the store, and we don’t go to our normal (Read discount) store, because it is always insane busy unless you go before 10am, or at midnight (it is open 24 hours so that is a bonus). While Scott was perusing the wine section (he hates wine actually, but he made a bet with a coworker about a football game and lost) I went in search of peanutbutter….and THIS IS WHAT I FOUND!!!!!

(side note, yes my kitchen is red)
I seriously did a happy dance in the store. My little Idaho stores NEVER have the cool food that other bloggers post about! We don’t have a Whole Foods, or a Trader Joes. I always get super excited when I find things like Greek Yogurt or new flavors of Larabars. There are SO MANY MORE products I wish I could find, but alas…..this was a great find! I know Jenna had the same discovery in her small hometown just last week (or maybe it was the week before) anyway, I was so excited. And even though this tiny jar was almost $6.00…..I bought it. And it is so worth it. So far I’ve had it plain on a spoon, on a French toast with a cut up banana, and on whole wheat toast with banana for breakfast, just this morning. I can’t wait to try it mixed in with my oats!
I was a little skeptical about the health value, but for a minimal number of ingredients (I think it has five or six) and less calories and fat that my normal natural peanut butter, I was pleasantly surprised.
The thing I like most about it, is that it isn’t over poweringly sweet. It has hints of chocolate and doesn’t taste like plain peanutbutter, but it doesn’t taste like chocolate frosting either (which is what it looks like). And that is a good thing for me, I might eat it flat out with a spoon, half a jar at a time if it did taste like dessert!

Feels Like Home To Me...

2008-11-26T11:35:00.001-07:00

Does anyone else love that song? So…Thanksgiving is tomorrow. After many, many, many hours of debate and discussions and a few hurt feelings…we finally have thanksgiving plans. My Father In Law is going back to Ohio to see his family, My mother Inlaw, Me and my hub, his sister and her husband are all going over to my Husband’s Uncle’s house. Sounds like it should have been simple to say. “oh Uncle Dave you want to Host? What shall we bring?” But no..it wasn’t. I’ll spare you the sordid family drama details.
Kelly’s post yesterday got me to thinking about Thanksgiving. Well that along with the death of a family friend. I thought, how selfish are we (my in-law family, not the ubiquitous we ) to be spending days and time and tears arguing about where to have thanksgiving dinner, and who will bring what, and how some one felt like someone else was being selfish and bossy, and how someone else felt like someone was being a jerk. Wow. We could have had thanksgiving anywhere, and we are blessed enough that if we wanted to…we could have four turkeys and double or triple of every side dish…and we can’t for one minute get over ourselves enough to think about that? It’s sad really.

I think the same goes for healthy eating on T-Day. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am definitely an advocate for eating in moderation while eating to enjoy ones self. But think about all of the time we spend worrying about how much we are going to eat, because there is MORE than enough for everyone (and enough to have leftovers for days). There are people out there who are worrying about how they are going to eat at all…on any day. Or even people who wonder how they are going to afford a Turkey for their family.

Scott and I bought a turkey two weeks ago. We didn’t know our plans yet…so we bought a turkey. Not really for us, cause well..it was a 24 pound turkey (Scott can’t quite seem to grasp “small”) but to give away or take to my parents for Christmas or something. My co-worker confided in me that she and her husband are barely getting by right now, and that they still needed to buy their turkey. So I gave her ours, and honestly the joy that I felt when I gave her that turkey, was greater than any amount of pumpkin pie could ever give me. (which is clearly…a lot).

Anway, I didn’t intend for this post to get preachy, or Holier Than Thou Look At Me I Gave Away A Turkey….(which I hope it wasn’t)…I was going to write about how I am making pea salad to take to Scott’s Uncle’s House…does that make him my Uncle in Law? Anyway…pea salad..it’s amazing and I don’t feel like it is a holiday with out it. And I HATE peas..hate hate hate. I’m making it tomorrow morning….it’s delish.
I’ll post pictures along with the recipe tomorrow, but I thought I would post the recipe now, incase anyone was looking for that last minute side dish…

Mom’s Infamous Pea Salad
20 ounces frozen petite peas-thawed and uncooked
½ lb center cut bacon-cooked then crumbled or chopped.
2 green scallions
Dash of Lemon Juice
Dash of Season Salt
1 Tablesppon Light Mayo
½ cup fat free sour cream

Directions:
1. Mix mayo & sour cream, set aside.
2. Stir gently peas, bacon, scallions, lemon juice & seasoned
salt.
3. Add mayo/sour cream gently stirring all ingredients.
4. Serve well chilled. (This is the magic ingredient)

Ok, seriously it is so good. And the second magic ingredient is the bacon. One time we tried to be really healthy and use turkey bacon, and it did.not.cut.it.
This is so good that not only do I eat it with my pea hatred, but I also used to eat it when I was a vegetarian. Make it. Today…for tomorrow.

And I really will post pictures, maybe even PW style.

rain down on me....

2008-11-21T14:23:00.002-07:00

ok, so today, at this very moment my job is having the "grand opening" for our new building. There are cookies on the first floor....and a chocolate fountain on the third floor.
I skipped the cookies. But I did visit the chocolate fountain. I had half of pirouette cookie dipped in chocolate, and a, sit down for this, a toasted coconut marshmallow dipped in chocolate. I shouldn't say dipped, I stuck it under the chocolate waterfall and it was amazing.
oh man. I made, what I feel, were smart choices. Just two pieces, savored them and they were delicious.

Now....I want a cookie. I don't need a cookie. My body is physically responding to the sugar from the choc. fountain......but...i won't go. I'm popping gum, drinking water, and in 3o minutes I'm going to eat my snack; a cut up carrot, a cut up bell pepper and a string cheese. I know that having a cookie would not make me a bad person, but over coming bingeing, especially at dessert buffets is something that I am still learning and dealing with.

And writing this post? It helped.

Eat your HEART out!

2008-11-19T13:15:00.000-07:00

image via veer.com

So…..one of my main goals with living a healthy lifestyle is not to look good in a pair of jeans, or to be a head turner at my 10 year high school reunion…but to actually be physically healthy. (Don’t get me wrong, those first two would be nice) You know, to have good cholesterol levels, and be able to walk a mile, go up a flight of stairs, know what real nutrition is and how to cook for my self.

Well..I’ve made efforts toward those things, and obviously I know how I am doing physically by my body response (not huffing and puffing up the stairs) but I can’t do anything to check my cholesterol or general heart health. And to be honest, I’ve always been a little afraid. I am one of those people who becomes a hypochondriac when getting medical tests. I always convince myself that I am going to have 80 cavaties before I get my teeth cleaned, or that I am going to have an irregular pap. Every summer at camp when we had to have our hair checked for lice, I was CONVINCED I would have lice, even though I had made my mom check the night before. I am not a hypochrondriac in every day life. Just when it involves “testing.”

Today is our Employee Health and Wellness Fair, and some lab donated lipid panels (cholesterol, LDL, HDL, Triglycerides, Glucose) to all of the employees. I waivered back and forth…I’m gonna get it done, I’m not gonna get it done. Will, Wont. Will, Won’t. Will……Will. So yesterday I decided to bite the bullet and sign up for an 8am lipid panel. At least 8 hours of fasting was required, and I was NOT waiting for breakfast even longer than I had to! I like to eat.

So I showed up at work today, and they pricked my finger and my blood came out sooooo slowly. I joked with the tester and said my blood was still frozen from when I was out scraping the windows on my care. He finally got enough blood, and but my little vial in the tester. I stood back and waited for my results. The results were given to you right there, but not privately. I mean, you sat down and talked with someone, but there was no privacy at all. It wasn’t trying to eavesdrop on the people before me, but somehow still figured out the cop whose results came out before mine has been eating too many carbs (or didn’t fast long enough). I was scared….I didn’t want EVERYONE to know that I had high Cholesterol and clearly need to work out more and was sure the person was going to say “as an obese person you clearly need to work on a,b, and c) I told you I got a little maniacal.
So they called my name, and I sat down and the tester said “You have Great Results!! But you probably already knew that!” uh..no actually I didn’t. I’ve never had it tested before, and to be honest, all hyper hypo-ness aside, I wasn’t convinced that I wouldn’t be at least border line high. I do weigh 240 pounds. But..it wasn’t just on the verge of being high,…..it was low. Low enough to be considered great. In all of the categories.

Getting those results felt better than any amount of weight I’ve lost on the scale. Pounds can come and go, but you can still be internally unhealthy. For me, this was one of those things that made me feel like my concerted effort at being Healthy is worth it, for reasons so much larger than any pair of pants. Go ahead and tell me that my BMI is too high…because that is ok. It is possible to be Healthy At Every Size…more people just need to know it.

Ogre Yogurt

2008-11-18T09:38:00.002-07:00

I’m not sure why I chose that as my title….I was trying to find a play on words, it didn’t work out so well…

So, when I first started this blog, and started reading other healthy lifestyle blogs, it seemed like everyone was posting about greek yogurt. I searched high and low for greek yogurt and couldn’t find it in any of my local mainstream grocery stores. I finally found some at a Co-op, I think it was called “Greek God” I don’t know I posted about it, back in…February? Anyway, but still none to be found in places that I frequented normally. Such is the life when you don’t have a Whole Foods OR a Trader Joes around.
Finally this summer I found Fage. I did a happy dance in the dairy aisle, I could finally discover what everyone was raving about. And it was good..so smooth and creamy. But of course by this time, everyone else had moved on past Fageand were trying out Oikos and Chobani . Well….last week I finally happened upon Oikos! I decided upon the single serving vanilla and bought two.
The verdict? I was sorely disappointed. Maybe I had a bad batch, but the first one I tried had more of a ricotta cheese texture (I’m assuming that this was a result of being in and out of the fridge a few times before I actually ate it) and it also had a weird taste. The vanilla taste was subtle, which I like….but it has this weird fake after taste that I didn’t like. I tried it again yesterday, and while the texture was better….the taste still didn’t do it for me.
Bummer.

I would really love to try Chobani, but at the rate my state is going, it’s going to be another few months before anyone carries it.

To change the topic abruptly, I am heading down to the workout room again today. I know that if I can just stick to a whole week of this, then I will able to make it a habit. It is nice that it’s SO convenient. Now if I could just figure out a way to make my hair look good after a work out with out having to wash and blow dry again……

"...and i'm back in the game!"

2008-11-17T16:08:00.000-07:00

Today I did my first cardio workout in the employee workout room. Uh….I am out of shape. Seriously. Ok, I shouldn’t go that far. I am not totally out of shape, I can walk for two miles with out dying, and I can run and go up a flight of stairs with out being winded.
But..30 minutes of what I thought was going to be an easy, ease back into it elliptical workout? NOT EASY.

Granted, it was on a machine that I’ve never used before, and it always takes a little adjusting to what different “levels” feel like..but damn. Damn it is time to get back into the gym.

So, even though the first pre-set workout that I chose was too hard, I did end up doing 30 minutes of cardio and sweating and it was great.

I’ve missed it. Ok, not the burning out of shape feeling, but the rush of endorphins, the euphoria that I feel when I refuel my body after a good work out.
I took this picture a few weeks ago when I was making dinner (I keep meaning to post that recipe) and was surprised to see this when I took the lid of off the sour cream container.
How cute is that? And what a great reminder, to be happy and healthy. That we just get this one life, so we better make the best of it.

Sweat Break

2008-11-10T15:15:00.001-07:00

I started at my job about a year and half ago. At that time I got a gym membership, and started on this path to health. I went to the gym every weekday morning before work. I specifically joined the gym that had multiple locations on the metro area I live in (uh….it really is called that the Boise/Nampa Metropolitan area). I think people who live here would laugh at that…anyway. I work in one town and live in another. So I joined the gym that had locations in both towns so I could use the gym on holidays and weekends and such. Well…the location in the town I lived in closed. It was cool, I still went 3-5 mornings a week.
Then in July we got our dog, and I decided that if he was going to be crate trained, I would commit to walking him twice a day. And the gym fell by the wayside. I walk him before and after work.

I’m sill moving, I’m still getting about an hour of exercise seven days a week….but it isn’t the same as breaking a sweat. Getting a good cardio workout in that leaves you dripping, a good strength workout that leaves you shaking…..

But walking the dog is important. Important for his health and my sanity.

I didn’t feel like my fitness level was falling until about 2 weeks ago. Which, as fate would have it, is when my office moved into our new buildling.

Enter my new best friend…
A workout room! Accessible 24 hours a day!.

It has a “stretching/weights area”

Annnnd Cardio machines….

And
Nautilus type machines. Is that what they are even called? That is what I call them. Call them what they like.

I am stoked. Now that I have my own office in our new buildling (as opposed to a desk stuck in the corner of the front reception area) I feel better about eating my lunch at my desk, and instead of taking a lunch break, taking a sweat break…and sweating it out during my lunch hour.

Don’t worry…there are showers too!

This little guy could probabl use a shower!

Right, just for the record, I uploaded the pictures in backwards order. But, I can't figure out how to move them with out everything going all crazy....so the pics don't tell the story quite right!

work...what is that?

2008-11-10T08:54:00.000-07:00

So, I"m feeling all thrown off being back at work today. very strange.
This week my schedule is:
Monday: Work at my job
Tuesday: Federal Holiday (get it off from work and jury duty)
Wednesday: Jury duty
Thursday and Friday: Unknown.

I'm hoping that Wednesday is my last day of jury duty..I'm ready for my regular schedule!!

I'll be back to day with a "real" post!

ugh

2008-11-06T20:17:00.000-07:00

ok, so I was planning on being back to regular posting next week. BUT.....jury duty is extended. the case goes on. I don't have to be there monday, but then....the rest of the week until........?????

three words only

2008-11-04T07:53:00.001-07:00

Go Vote. Seriously.

Baking Blunders: Banana Disaster

2008-11-03T13:31:00.003-07:00

So, last week, or maybe it was the week before (im all thrown off with this jury duty thing), I found myself with a plethora of over ripe bananas! Since I had found my loaf pan since my I’d last baked banana bread, I figured I better give it a workout.

I set out to make banana bread….once again not double checking the recipe against the ACTUAL contents of my pantry, as opposed to the contents I ASSUMED I had!

This recipe called for three things I didn’t have: buttermilk, 2 cups of flour, and brown sugar.
Now you would think that I would have purchased some brown sugar after my last baking debacle, or I would have remembered that I was low on flour. Uh. Nope.

So, I wasn’t too worried about the buttermilk, I just mixed vinegar and normal milk together in the correct proportions. Don’t ask me what they are now.

Flour…well..I had already mixed the wet ingredients when I realized I didn’t have enough flour. So….I made oat flour. Or what I am calling oat flour, I dumped a cup of quick cooking oats in my food processor and went to town. It had the consistency of flour! That is good enough right?

Anyway, then sugar….I cut the sugar in half and just used white sugar.

So I mixed and everything was going swell, but I think I got a little excited about mixing and thought I was making cake, so the dough did not rise. At all. Overmixing curse.

Oh, I almost forgot another key fact. I had 1 extra over ripe banana, so I cut up some slices and placed them on top of the bread. I’ve seen this before, and it always looks beautiful and declicous. Those bananas? They sank.

And my bread stuck to the bottom of the loaf pan, even after extensive cooking spray.

And it looked like this.
Here is the bottom, scraped into a pasta dish.

Why did the banana chunks turn pink?

Seriously? Does anyone know? What chemical reaction happened here? Was it the vinegar?

I swear that I do actually know how to bake, and have sucessfully done it before, just uh, not recently

sugar-fied.

2008-10-30T19:13:00.004-06:00

I love my husband. seriously...isn't this a great pic?

jury duty is going ok. I can't talk about the case, so i'll give you a run down of what has greeted me EVERYMORNING in the jury room.

Day 1: Donuts

Day 2: Donuts and an apple pie

Day 3: A "butter pound coffee cake" a "chocolate mousee pie" and a pumpkin pie with real whip cream.

oh man. And tomorrow is halloween .which means...millions of minis!!!!!

I'm doing my best, and allowing my self one treat each day, and then no desert at night, well aside from a small glass of wine....jury duty takes it out of ya! You can't NOT pay attention!

jury jury jury

2008-10-28T20:00:00.000-06:00

ok, so I got selected to sit on the jury. Till next friday! I don't have to go next monday and tuesday, because of elections. So...posts are going to be more sporadic.

I'm working on not eating the donuts in the jury room everymorning for the next two weeks!

Civic Duty

2008-10-28T07:54:00.000-06:00

So this whole month I've been on "Jury Duty." Only I don't have to go until my number gets called in to report. Well..that is today!
I'm super excited about it, as the daughter of a former judge...I always wanted to be in the jury!!!

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

keep on moooovin....

2008-10-27T11:56:00.002-06:00

Today is the day we are moving into our new office in our new buildling.

Moving from office building to office building sucks as much as moving houses I've decided.

I'll do a real post tomorrow.
Have a great day everyone!

fake it till you make it

2008-10-24T14:28:00.000-06:00

So I was just having the most intense "need" to eat a donut (yes there ares still some left). I even walked back to the break room and stood next to them.

But I walked away, and it was tough. I made my self sit at my desk and eat carrot sticks till it passed. It's gone now.

But it was close....it's hard work this being healthy.

Craving: Satisfied

2008-10-24T09:05:00.004-06:00

So, I went back to the break room this morning to get my morning coffee and what do I see on the table? KRISPY KREME DONUTS! TWO dozen. TWO!

Ahhh....the test of healthy eating/ recovery from bingeing/sneaking. Do I have a donut? I'm not hungry (not that I would use a donut as a hunger satisfier), and I don't really need a donut. but I want one. I've wanted one all week. Why..i'm not sure. I know my body wasn't craving the NUTRIENTS in a donut. (ha ha ha)right.

I would have resisted until later, and made it part of my snack, but...they were warm. They had just been dropped off by a contractor.
So I had one. And it was amazing and melted in my mouth. I debated about taking a picture of it....but it was just too good to put down. So I went back and took a picture of the box. And you know what? I didn't take another donut, which I would have in the past. I'm not sitting here thinking about when and how I can sneak another one.

I will admit, that after I ate it, I did a quick calorie count. I don't normally count calories, but sometimes i like to know where I am at for the day. My breakfast was surprisingly calorie low, so even with the donut, I'm about where I normally am after a better breakfast.

So, my task/challenge whatever you want to call it, is to mindfully eat for the rest of the weekend. To not let this be the step up into the self launching catapult into bad eating.

I will eat rationally and out of choice. and I'll have a damn good time doing it!

Holy Macaroni!

2008-10-22T13:41:00.003-06:00

I love macaroni and cheese. I do. I love it. It has two of the worlds most amazing foodstuffs combined in one dish. Pasta and Cheese. Seriously everything is better with cheese.

My parents never fed us with stuff that “comes out of the box.” No Rice-a-Roni, Hamburger Helper, boxed cake mixes, not even Kraft Macaroni. Subsequently, I viewed all of these foods as a “Treat.” Ha ha…..the irony of that cracks me up now. Of course, my knowledge of “real food” verses “food products” makes my view on what constitutes a “Treat” a little bit different now! (Of course, some companies like Annies, have combined the best of both worlds.)
So, even though we didn’t have Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, in all of it’s processed glory…we still had Mac N’ Cheese, and it was my favorite dish growing up. I requested it for any special occasion in which I got to choose the dinner (so mostly my birthday).

My mom made me a cookbook when I got my first apartment, it has several of her favorite recipes, and I love that book. And of course, Mac N’ Cheese is in it.

I am going to call his Marmee’s Microwave Mac n’ Cheese. (Yes I call my Mom Marmee, ala Little Women).

Ingredients:
3 T. butter
½ Cup Milk
2 Cups Cheese
½ t. salt
½ t. dry mustard
4 drops hot sauce (I use Tapatio and I use WAYYY more than four drops.) Gives it a little kick!
2 T flour
Ground Pepper
7 oz macaroni shells.

Method:
Cook macaroni according to package direction
While noodles are cooking melt butter in a 2 quart casserole dish in the microwave.
After butter melts stir in flour, salt, mustard and hot sauce.
Stir in milk (concoction looks absolutely disgusting at this point…just roll with it.)
Microwave for 3 minutes, take out of micro and stir with a fork.
Microwave for another 3 minutes.
Add all cheese and stir. Microwave 30 seconds to ensure melty-ness.
Add drained pasta and stir, making sure all of the noodles are incorporated.

Microwave for another 5-7 minutes, or until heated through.
Serve with freshly ground pepper.

Seriously…..it’s the best and it’s so so so so easy. And it makes a lot, and is filling.

I served it with roasted green beans. (washed, trimmed, tossed with olive oil and salt for 15 mins at 450).

Doughnuts...Donuts...D'OH!

2008-10-22T09:14:00.003-06:00

oh man, yum.

Photo Via:Veer.com

Lately, I’ve been craving a donut. A good one. Donuts aren’t something that I eat on a regular basis, they are actually few and far between. For a few reasons:

1. If I eat a donut, my physical response to sugar triggers and I want to eat 10. And they just go down so easily!

2.If I eat a donut once, and it doesn’t catapult me off my “path-to-health” then I start to justify in my mind that it is ok to eat donuts more often. Which is really the same as me climbing into the catapult and yelling “let her rip….food binge here I come.”

3.They don’t have any, ANY, redeeming nutritional value. Obviously that is what makes them taste so.dang.good.

Photo Via: Veer.com

Yesterday (or maybe it was this weekend, but I just read it yesterday) Kath posted an excerpt from Fit From Within, By Victoria Moran. A book that I read a few months ago. I enjoyed the book, but it wasn’t life changing for me. But seeing this quote “Nothing that you eat rationally, and out of choice, will interfere with the fit from within process.” Really made me think about my food choices and HOW I eat.

I am still working on wrapping my mind around this concept. Everything that goes in my mouth should be eaten rationally and out of choice. It is so easy when my blood sugar is low to eat whatever my hand grabs first, so that I can function. That eating isn’t done rationally or out of choice. Eating a donut, and eating it quickly and then eating another one of out the dozen, is not eating rationally and out of choice. That is eating that is driven by something else. Let’s call it Food “ID” psych 101 anyone?

Anyway….so for me the next step is being able to eat a donut on a Saturday morning, rationally and out of choice.

Input PLEASE!

2008-10-21T14:24:00.002-06:00

I need recipes. Recipes that are for beef main entrees.
We (me and my husband) bought 1/2 of a cow and split it with my MIL, FIL, BrotherIL and SisterIL. THAT IS A LOT OF BEEF.
My husband loves beef, he would probably happily eat a hamburger and tater tots EVERY SINGLE NIGHT for dinner. I just can't do that.
So I'm looking for new, tasty, preferably pretty easy recipes to use up our beef. I think I'm going to add it is a weekly feature to the blog. "A year of Beef" or something. I've already started collecting recipes, but if anyone has something fantastic to share, that would be, well....Fantastic.

I'll make it, and credit it to you.
leave a comment or email it to me at akaptein@yahoo.com

Cold As Cereal?

2008-10-21T11:04:00.001-06:00

For about a year I ate oatmeal for breakfast. Everyday. Hot outside/ cold outside didn’t matter. I was mostly eating at work, as I was working out before work at the gym. Oatmeal is pretty much the easiest thing ever to make at work.
But….and don’t hate me. It gets old. Now, if you are at home and you have wonderful variety at your fingertips, oatmeal can be a truly beautiful thing. So, now that I am eating at home everyday, and I can eat oatmeal with lots of loveley add-ins….I don’t want to.

I know, I know. I probably have it once a week. Sometimes a big bowl of warm carby goodness is just too much for my stomach. So…I’ve been “trying” out other breakfasts. (they are mostly variations on what my oatmeal was anyway: carb, fruit and nuts or nut butter).Anyway, my absolute favorite breakfast this summer was Kashi Go Lean Crunch (Honey Almonds and Flax) with a sliced banana and 3 or 4 walnut halves on top. With milk
I had pretty much given up on cereal as a viable option when I started eating healthy and paying attention to my nutrition. I just didn’t think that I could find one with enough protein/fiber that would keep my full long enough. Wrong. This breakfast keeps me full as long as, if not longer sometimes than oatmeal. And it’s so good.

Do you like my bowl?

It is my favorite bowl to eat cereal or oatmeal out of. About a year and a half ago my husband and I had a date night at one of those ‘Paint your own Pottery” studios. We got to go in and pick out a piece for ourselves, and then the other person painted it. I chose this cereal bowl. Neither of us are artists, so these are really the type of bowls that you love for what they represent. You can see this side says I heart you, if you follow the bowl around it says “ you are my sunshine” using the same “ u” and a picture of the sun to represent sunshine. :)

8 days a week.....

2008-10-20T09:42:00.003-06:00

Here is me and my honey....

we are playing hooky (how do you spell that?) from work today to get stuff done around the house and to spend time together.

Also, by hooky I mean that we asked for the time off and are using up vacation days. Work Ethic!

I think I'm going to try a new recipe tonight, and if I was smart enough to bring my camera cord home, hopefully I'll have it up tonight!

Baking Blunders

2008-10-17T09:17:00.003-06:00

I love to bake. In college baking was really the first “type” of grown up cooking that I explored. Never anything fancy, but beyond making cake and cookies from a box mix. Not there is anything wrong with that, I love me some box mixes.
Anyway…the other night I realized that I had some chocolate caramel chips to use up. I wish I had taken a picture of them, they are little chips with chocolate and caramel (probably fake flavoring) mixed together and they are SUPER DECADENT. I’d used them for a quick baking project a few weeks ago and realized I should probably bake them up in something quick.

I wanted to make something a little different, so I though about adding them to oatmeal cookies (and taking out the standard raisin addition, I HATE raisins in cookies. Gross.) I found a recipe on http://www.recipes.com/ and away I went.

Well…lesson learned, never assume you have all the ingredients in your pantry.

The recipe is really quite simple, but I didn’t have brown sugar. AFTER starting the recipe, I realized that ours had hardened from lack of use, and I threw it out like two months ago. Doh! Oh and these are not healthy at all, in any way shape or form

Here is the recipe I used:
1 stick butter
Almost 1 cup of sugar
1 egg
1 cup flour
1 ½ cup oats
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
½ tsp cinnamon
Splash vanilla
½ cup chocolate caramel chips

Cream together wet ingredients.

Mix together dry ingredients, except for oats.

Mix wet and dry together, THEN mix in oats and chips.

Set it fridge until cold enough to hand with out getting sticky.

Roll into 1 ½ inch balls and place on baking sheet. Press down each cookie with fork to flatten.

Bake at 350 8-10 minutes.
These turned out pretty good. They are…interesting. They kind of taste like sugar cookies, oatmeal cookies and chocolate chip cookies all mixed in.
They are soft, but also have a delicate feel to them. Like they should be consumed with tea. I guess describing them as interesting would imply that they don’t taste good. They taste delicious.
also please excuse the hideou color of my kitchen counters. Our whole hous is umm...late 90's "chic." we're working on it. The trick to having baked goods in my house, and not over consuming them, is to tell my self that they are not off limits, but htem in a storage container in the pantry and be done with it. I also halved the original recipe. Less cookies to make…less cookies to consume.

My husband, bless his heart isn’t a big “Dessert Person,” which, in my opinion, kind of makes him a freak of nature. He also, doesn’t like it, when I do bake, if I “make it too healthy.” So..If I want help eating the treats, it’s got to be the real deal, and in a small quantity. Which, works for us. I would rather have a good decadent treat, in a small portion and feel satisfied. Also, if I can justify to myself that something is “healthy” I will eat 10 of them. Like I said….it’s a long road.

Snacky McSnackerson

2008-10-16T08:55:00.003-06:00

Everyday I bring two snacks with me to work. One for before lunch if I need it, and one for after lunch, when I always need it.

I’ve tried various bars, Larabar’s, Luna Bars, Clif Z Bars, Odwalla bars.
And to be honest, I’m a little barred out. (barred out? Is that even English?)

Each week I plan before I go grocery shopping, I plan out our dinner menu, what I am going to take for packed lunches, and what I am going to take for snacks. This week I decided to go a different route.
I bought a big container of lowfat plain yogurt:
This is the only brand my cheap grocery store sells. I could go to the more expensive stores, but seriously, we save so much on groceries this way. Plus, I like the yogurt. It’s no Fage, but it’s good. Speaking of greek yogurts, I noticed yesterday that one of our stores started stocking Oikos. I might have to try that. No sign of Chobani yet though.

I then went to the cereal aisle. This store sells Kashi products (well, cereals anyway) pretty consistently, but not much else. Then I happened upon this!

Yum….chocolate granola? Yes Please.

This is a divine combination, the granola is VERY crunchy and I don’t like eating it plain by the handful (unlike Honey Nut Cheerios).

I’m using about 1/3 a cup of the granola. A serving is labeled as ¾ of a cup and has 220 calories, so I’m estimating my 1/3 of a cup to have 74. I then use 100 calories-ish of yogurt. I don’t measure the yogurt. I just know the size of my container, and blob spoonfuls in until I think I have about a cup. So….for 174 calories I get a lot more volume and A LOT more protein than any of the bars that I’ve been eating. Most of the bars usually come in between 200 and 250 calories.

Also, eating this with a spoon forces me to snack slower, instead of mowing my way through a bar.

And as a follow up to yesterday, I am loving my body today. It’s kind of like Valentines Day. You shouldn’t tell people you love them just once a year, it should be everyday.

And I leave you with a picture of our pup. He is five months old now! awwww look at that face! He sits patiently by the counter each morning as I'm making my breakfast...just waiting for the day that I drop something on the floor!

Love Your Body NOW!

2008-10-15T08:33:00.003-06:00

Happy Love Your Body Day!!!
I first heard about Love Your Body Day when I was working at the Women's Center at the University of Idaho, as an AmeriCorps Member. We did some tabling and it was really a stretch for me, to be advocating body love, when I didn't always love mine. It really made me think about my body, how I felt about it, how I liked and disliked it and how often I disrespected it's awsomeness. It got me to thinking about how we have this body, this one body. WE can't change it, and the sooner we can love it, the better.

At our booth we asked people why they loved their body, and then asked if we could take their picture and put it on the "We LOVE Our Bodies" board. It was amazing to me, the number of poeple who flat out said to us, "I hate my body." Some people were very willing to explain why the loved their bodies and have their picture taken.
I eventually let the staff take my picture...it was a big step for me. I felt like, who would want to see the fat girl on the board proclaiming she loved her body. But....it was liberating, and made me proud, proud that I could get over myself...and proud of my body.

(this is my favorite Love Your Body day poster)--I actually made it into a magnet for my fridge.

Anyway, it floored me that poeple could actually proclaim hate for their body. Don't get me wrong, I don't love every aspect of my body everyday. Truth Time? I was just lamenting some stretch marks in the mirror this morning as I was standing in front of the mirror. But, stretch marks, big thighs, soft belly included, their are so many things, and so many reasons that I love my body.
I love my hair (hair counts right?) it's shiny and straight.
I love my smile
I love my breasts, they are big and full and make me feel womanly.
I love my shoulders and the way they are rounded with muscles.
I love my legs--they take me wherever I need to go, quickly or slowly...they always get me there.
I love my body for it's ability to exericse and function in ways that I can't fathom.

Self love isn't always easy, infact it's usually down right hard. but think about...just start small... what is one thing you love about your body?

Happy Belated Blog Birthday!

2008-10-09T11:36:00.004-06:00

I missed my own “Birthday”September 13th was my one year blog birthday! Oops! It’s ok, that is pretty much my MO. Unless someone in my life walks up to me and says “it’s my birthday.” You can pretty much guarantee that I’m going to be late on birthday wishes and a card. Apparently my blog is no exception.

So, in celebration, and as a result of a comment on my previous post, I thought I would tell my story. I’ve told snippets of it here and there, but not in a conclusive, organized (ha ha) manner.
So here goes.

Enter Allison age 8
Eight is the age that I first wrote in my journal that I needed to go on a diet. Isn’t that heartbreaking? I was bigger than the other little kids, and I knew, through society and my mother, that losing weight and being smaller is what would make me socially appropriate.

I didn’t diet. I don’t think I changed my eating habits at all. But I felt fat. Fat! At age 8! For the record I was an active little kid. I played Soccer from age 6-15 and I did gymnastics from 4-12.

At Nine, my parents separated. At nine I started sneaking food. That is what I called it. Not bingeing, sneaking. Sneaking food meant finding any dessert in the house and sneaking some. Cookies, candy, etc. I did not associate this behavior with my parents split…yet.

Ages 9-18. I continued to sneak food. Knowing what I know now about bingeing, my binges were different. I didn’t eat dinner and then eat two pieces of toast and a bowl of ice cream and 3 cheese sticks or anything like that.
My binges were specific and private. Example, I was a Girl Scout. Girl Scout cookie time, was terrible for me. One year my mom was the “cookie mom” meaning that all of the troops cookies were delivered to our garage and then doled out. Including the extras. I would take whole boxes of cookies and hide them under my bed, probably eating a whole box in day. I knew exactly how many cookies were in each different type of box. 16 cookies in a tagalong box, 21 in do-si-do’s….40 in Thinmints.
I should probably mention that My parents got back together when I was 10, and the bingeing, the sneaking, did not stop.
Eventually the power of sneaking, the need to sneak moved past just true dessert type food. Anything that could be construed as “sweet” I sneaked. Waxy covered protein diet bars, baking chocolate. Finding the bag of chocolate chips and melting it down and eating it with a spoon before soccer practice.

My parents tried to help me, they mentioned that maybe I should go live on my Uncles Farm for a summer, doing farm work. I can’t remember the wording they used, but the implication was that this structured environment would help me. I violenty refused that idea.
The thing is, the whole time this was happening; I didn’t feel consumed by it. I mean, I was. But it didn’t totally run my life. I had friends, and extracurricular activities, and stuff. It was just a part of my life. I didn’t recognize it as an eating disorder or even disordered eating.

Fast forward to college. Freshman Year: Sneaking food in a dorm, is a lot harder when you don’t have a stocked fridge and pantry to raid. But I still managed it, in different ways. My roomie and I had a mini fridge, in which we often had a tube of raw cookie dough. I never bought any. I realized that was ridiculous, but my roomie did. And when she was gone at class, or out somewhere, I would sometimes sneak spoonfuls of her cookie dough, quickly and with the fear of being caught.
But….by circumstance…the sneaking…lessened and got better.

Sophomore Year: There was this guy, I was wildly into him. He was also my best friend and a psychology major. I don’t remember how we got on the topic, but somehow we got to issues with parents, and I just sort of blurted out that I started sneaking food when my parents separated. He looked me straight in the face and said, “you have an eating disorder.” Now, I should also mention that I have a slight problem with authority. Generally whenever anyone tells me something about myself that I disagree with, I tend to get a little defensive. This was the firs time that I just..didnt’. I looked him back in the eye and said, “I guess you are right. I do.” And then, he made me an appointment at our student counseling center. I have an aversion to counseling….but that is another story for another time.

I went to the one appointment, talked with the student counselor. And I acknowledged my eating disorder. I talked with her for a bit, and to be honest, I don’t remember the appointment at all. I remember filling out the form, and putting my reason for beign there as “eating disorder” but I don’t remember anything else that was said in my appointment, other than our initial 3 minutes of pleasantries and why I was there.

I made a follow up appointment, and then “accidentally” on purpose slept through it the next week. I never went back. But that day changed me. Looking my problem in the face, acknowledging it’s presence made worlds of difference for me. That same year I wrote a paper for my personal and exploratory writing class about having an eating disorder, and used it as a tool for guiding myself through the “why” of it all. It did come down to my parents separation, and trying to fill the void that I felt, but it continued. It became a habit, it became my coping mechanism for stress.

In the following years I moved off campus into an apartment, and eventually graduated and got married and now I live with my husband. And I can honestly say, I’ve probably had only 3 or 4 issues with “sneaking” food since then. It’s been six years.

Losing weight has been a completely separate journey for me. I didn’t lose a ton of weight when I stopped sneaking food, in fact I was probably at my lowest weight since high school when I had that counseling appointment.

My breaking point for weight loss happened on my honeymoon. I was getting ready in the bathroom to go to a nice dinner with my husband, and I realized that I had stretch marks on my stomach. I’ve always had them on my thighs, and breasts, and on my love handles, but never on the front of my stomach. That was it for me. I started slowly and surely working on getting healthy. Going to the gym and eating properly. That was in February, I didn’t start losing weight until July. It took me a while to find my groove. It’s been a long road. There have been ups and downs, both literally and figuratively.

Not to get all Jillian Michaels on everyone, but I know that I wouldn’t have been able to succeed at having a healthy lifestyle if I hadn’t conquered my eating disorder. Even if I gained 40 pounds between overcoming it and choosing a physically healthy lifestyle. I wouldn’t have been able to do it with out knowing certain things about my self.
It’s sort of like love, you can’t truly love someone else until you love yourself. You can’t lose weight/get healthy/ pick your phrase, with out knowing why you put too much food in your mouth in the first place.

banana bread oatmeal.

2008-10-09T09:41:00.002-06:00

I seriously had the best bowl of oatmeal this morning.

I was simple.
Oats
banana
honey
peanutbutter
vanilla
cinnamon.

It was like banana bread.

I've been coooking bananas into my oatmeal since the first time I read Kath's blog. But, I've always put the ingredients in the bowl in this order: oats, water, bananas.

today I did: oats, banana and then water. And I finally got that gooey banana goodness mixed in.
It was aamzing. And I didn't take a picture. damn.

Now, I just need to get my hands on some Barney Butter!

RAD--

2008-10-03T11:35:00.004-06:00

This is totally unrelated to anything that I usually post about.....

Part of my job is to find instructors to teach various recreation classes for our department. You know, for classes like ballroom dance, mommy n' me and scrapbooking.

Lots of times people contact me...
Yesterday I got back from my lunch break and found a business card on my desk--
"Anthony Bulone--Master Sculptor."
Our admin. assistant told me that he was a nice older gentleman who had come in and was interested in teaching a sculpting/ mold making class for our department.

His business card had his website and on it I found that........

He is the sculptor of the very very very first Barbie! Isn't that insane!! Get this..Mattell commisioned him to make this doll, and paid him $800 for it, the mold, and all the rights.
Can you imagine, even begin to fathom what he could have now? Wow.

Also, how sweet is this...the doll has the features of his late wife. I guess he sculpted it while they were just engaged. He did make sure to mention that some parts of Barbie's Anatomy were not true to life, because he had to use his imagination, and certain things need to be bigger so "doll clothes fit better" aww cute.
He came back to my office today and I was chatting with him. He told me he never expected Barbie to be as big as it is today. An original doll...from his mold is worth more than he was paid for the entire job.

She almost looks like Betty Page!

The Long and Winding Road….

2008-10-02T12:00:00.002-06:00

I work for a municipal parks and recreation department. In the summer we have weekly outdoor movies in one of our parks. We also run a concession stand during those movies selling soda, popcorn, candy, water and ice cream.

Well..because we operate the concession stand ourselves, at the end of the season, any leftover food is ours to keep. We try to sell it at a discounted rate to other city employees. This mostly works.

Well…Our special events person cleaned out the concession stand the other weekend, and this is what I was greeted with on Monday Morning.
This is literally 5 feet from my desk. I can see it.

And this, those boxes are butted up to the front of my desk. I can’t see them. Although it doesn’t matter. I don’t crave chips or salty treats. GIVE ME THE CANDY.

When I was in the midst of my eating disorder, this would have been a very very very bad situation for me. I would have grabbed for a candybar, not only when other people weren't looking, but I would have sneaked them as well. Surreptitiously grabbing one while no one was looking, or first thing in the morning before everyone got there. I never wanted to be seen as the fat girl who ate junk food.

And I would have eaten those candy bars in my car on my lunch break, or on the way home. If I was desperate (for what I don’t know) I would have crammed it in my mouth in the bathroom. And I wouldn’t have tasted it a bit.

But I haven’t touched these. Ok, that is a lie. I took a bag of fritos one day when my blood sugar was majorly crashing, due to poor snack/meal planning on my part. Not ideal, but it made it so I could drive home with out running off the road.

Anyway, there was a point in my life, when I didn’t think my behavior was that bad, bad as in detrimental to my health. When I didn’t think about the underlying reasons for bingeing on sweets.. And then came the point when I didn’t know how to stop bingeing. And now…I don’t binge, and I can recognize my “triggers” for binges, and I don’t eat boxes of candy anymore. And it’s a beautiful thing.

Sticks and Stones.....

2008-09-26T14:52:00.002-06:00

Words hurt. Words hurt a lot, and they pain the leave doesn't go away like a bruise.

I think I may have posted about this before, maybe almost a year ago on "Love your Body Day" but it came up again.

My mom, is an incredible woman, she is strong, deteremined, organized, a fantastic cook and a great mother. She also spent all of my childhood overweight. When I graduated from Highschool, she got a gym membership and spent a year working out and saving up money to get a personal trainer. She's been working with her trainer for almost five years now. She has probably lost....oh I don't know...40 to 50 pounds (or something like that) in the past seven years. She looks great, and is in great shape. She ways less than I do, and probably always will. But she can't get over the fact that she hasn't lost "All of the weight." Now, I should say that when my family talks about being naturally big boned, and "dense" it's true. My mom was a "runner" (think Marathons and Half Marathons) when she was younger, and never weighed less than 165. So, that was forty years, and two kids ago. I think it's reasonable, to not weigh 165 again.

Anyway, this is all stemmed from an email I got from her today...she was telling me how she isn't feeling well and what she is doing this weekend. Her email ends with this..."Need to open one more file before I take my chubby body home."

The most painful thing my mother ever said to me? "Why don't you just walk your chubby little body over there and ask them." she was referring to something with the neighbors..I don't even remember. But I remember like it was yesterday what she said, where I was standing in the house and how it made me feel.

So....does my mom use that as a figure of speech? Like calling someone a big fat liar? I don't think so, I haven't ever heard her say it to my Dad (naturally skinny) or my brother (same). although..maybe she did say something along the lines like "Scrawny Little Body" or something to my brother, in which case....she would have been acknowledging the difference in our body types. I don't remember.
Anyway, if my mom were to say that to me now, I would probably say something, and tell her that it hurts my feelings, and makes me feel like she doesn't respect the fact that I am ok with my body, and that while I have my moments of self doubt, I've actively decided to love my body, and any size and weight, to practice Health at Every Size.

So the question is....Do I say something to her? Do I say that when she says that it makes me feel bad about my self, and tell her that I don't think self-depracting words are helpful for her? Or do I just let it go....cause she isn't receptive to these sorts of things.

Pill Poppin....

2008-09-25T11:31:00.001-06:00

I am a bad pill taker. I didn’t take regular medication as a kid. Not even a multi-vitamin. I was supposed to take my vitamin, but it was gross. My hippy health freak father made us take “all natural” chewable vitamins, which means they were devoid of sugar, and tasted like..well..what you expect raw vitamins to taste like. All I wanted as a kid was to take Flintstones, but there was NO WAY my dad was going to buy those. Usually my vitamin ended up in the toilet. What a waste of money and needed nutrients!

Anyway, I never got in the habit of taking a multi as an adult. Then I went on birth control. Oh man, the necessity of remembering my pill everyday increased by about a million. At first I had to set the alarm on my cell phone to remind me to take it. For about a year I got good at taking my multi with my pill, then the multi- taking tapered of when I ran out of my bottle of vitamins.

After two years on the pill, I switched to the Nuva-Ring…love it, love it, love it. I don’t have to remember my pill, and the hormones are constant, so I’m not crying or crazy all the time.

So when my gyno asked me if I took a multi-vitamin I said, “Not with Regularity.” Then she asked about my calcium intake. I told her my best guess, and she told me I wasn’t getting enough calcium. Although she only asked me about dairy….I’m sure I get calcium from leafy greens etc. So, she told me I needed to take a calcium supplement. Calcium Carbonate with vitamin D, or she mentioned Viactiv.

I headed out on my lunch break that day to Walgreen’s to check out my options. Uh…there are like a million types of calcium supplments, and Viactive comes in like 40 variations of chocolate and carmel. Who knew!
Then I saw them….

The Adora disks that Tina is always talking about.
I grabbed them, and checked the price. $7.00! Ouch, that was a lot for how few there were in a pack, if according to my doc, I need to take 500mg each day to supplement what I get from my diet. But it got me thinking, I’m bad at taking pills regularly, so even if I spend 15.00 on a bottle that will last me longer, I will probably forget to take them.
And Adora? They are chocolate, in fact they might even be more chocolate than Hershey’s .(Check out Tina’s blog for that too!)
And they have less ingredients than Viactiv...which of course has High Fructose Corn Syrup in it.
So I went with the Adora, with the plan to make it part of my daily routine, by adding it as “dessert” after lunch, every other work day. I’m keeping them in my desk. I figure that will make them last longer, and I’ll be getting extra calcium.

But….here is where I think this could backfire on me. They taste good…not as good as a delicious fresh baked chocolate chip cookie, but good enough to eat more than one.
This is a test of my binge eating recovery. Can I eat them, as I am supposed to, instead of like 4 or 5 at a time. (I realize that they aren’t candy by the way).

Back to reality

2008-09-25T09:32:00.000-06:00

Whew....What a whirlwind of a week! I've been out of town the past three days at the Idaho Recreation and Parks Association annual conference.

Today feels like a Monday! How beautiful that it is actually Thursday AND the start of Grey's Anatomy!!!!!

I'll be back for a real post later!

2008-09-18T16:35:00.001-06:00

I am sooooo snacky today.
wow

all pain...NO GAIN!

2008-09-16T08:53:00.002-06:00

So, I had my dreaded Doctor's appointment yesterday. It actually went really well.
The doctor did comment on my weight loss, in fact it was the first thing she mentioned. "You've lost weight since last year, I think that is great."
I wasn't offended, because...I have lost weight since last year, and it is pretty great that I've taken control of my health.

She also asked me if I was getting enough calcium in my diet, and after I told her more normal calcium intake, she informed me that I definetly was NOT getting enough to told me to start taking supplements. I'll post later on that.

I did though, have to get a tetanus shot. I don't mind shots, and I'm not afraid of needles at all, but DAMN is my arm sore today. I don't remember my last tetanus shot hurting like this! Although, it was 10 years ago.
My arm obviously still hurts today, it feels like when you get a really great arm workout, and you are sore. Only I didn't get a really great arm workout, I got a shot. boooo.

My Monthly Gift/friend./Aunt has arrived….

2008-09-05T16:47:00.002-06:00

What euphemism are Alabamans (Alabamanians?) going to use when they have to pay $25 dollars a month to their insurance companies for having a BMI over 35? I personally would call it “The bill that insults my person and my civil liberties.”

I read about this on MSN, again not a bastion of journalism,this mornign and now I can't find the link. The State of Alabama has decided that because obese people’s health care costs more than non obese people, Employees of the State will have to start paying a monthly fee of $25 until their BMI “shows improvement” or goes below 35.

Wow.
Wow
Wow.

Are there words for this? How is this different than charging someone $25 dollars a month for being gay? I chose gay as an example, because some people see being gay as a choice, just as some people see being fat as a choice. I am not gay, nor do I believe that people chose to be gay. For the record. Oh, Here is a better one…why don’t we charge people $25 dollars month during pregnancy? Cause lord knows that is expensive, and is a choice.

I am obese, according to the BMI chart. I’ve harangued on this enough.( see previous posts) I don’t need to expound again on my exercise habits and eating habits. So… in this Alabama deal, according to the article, a person who is 5’6” who weigh 220 pounds will have a BMI of 35. Damn! 220 is the weight I am when I am at my fittest!

According to this “study” which they conveniently don’t link to, Obese Americans spend, 1700 dollars more per year on health care. Or maybe that was the extra amount Insurance companies spend on obese people. I haven’t spent that much this year, or last year, or the year before. Or any year of my adult life. And all of those years I was obese.

This makes me so mad, that I can’t even write a coherent, thoughtful, witty post on it. Which was my intent. I guess one of the things that frustrates me the most, is that this is the State, not a private entity that can get away with this crap.

I suppose, I should say, in the states “defense” they do plan on giving regular, free, health care and wellness help to those individuals whose BMI’s are too high.

I guess I should mention that they also charge $25 dollars a month to smokers.

I’m pretty sure there is this document in the United States called oh I don’t know… THE CONSTITUTION, under which we have certain inalienable rights.
One of which is the pursuit of happiness. What if what makes me happy is smoking a cigarette and being fat.
Huh? What then.

delicious:Thai Basil Chicken

2008-09-05T16:09:00.003-06:00

I went to Arizona to visit my girlfriends last weekend, and one night we got to talking about how our eating and cooking habits have changed since college. The woman who was my college roomie is currently living at home, and is enjoying her mothers fabulous cooking. Lucky girl. The rest of us....fend for our selves, and when applicable our significant others.

In college we would have dinner together every monday night. We would trade of whose apartment it was at. Oh we were cute thinking we were "cooking." We usually George Foremaned (it's a verb ok) up some sort of meat. Opened a can of green beans, and usually popped open a cardboard tube of biscuits. Now, don't get me wrong, it was probably better than going to Taco Bell everynight.

I wish though, that I had been a better cook then. It's amazing what you don't know until you try things on your own...like how to plan meals for a week and grocery shop accordingly.

Anyway..I found this recipe in my trusty Betty Crocker cookbook last night:
Thai Basil Chicken.

There it is with white rice. I bought white rice and white flour tortillas for my husband this week. He said "can't why have white? Just once in a while? Wheat is so.....healthy!"

Anyway..Here is the list of ingredients:
Chicken Breasts
Jalapenos
Garlic
Fresh Basil
Fresh Mint
Sugar
Soy Sauce
Peanuts.
And olive oil for cooking chicken in.

I'm normally intimidated by fresh herbs, but I knew I could buy basil and we actually happen to have mint in our yard from the previous owner. My first use of fresh herbs from my own yard.

Anyway...you just slice the chicken up thin, and cook it with the seeded and diced jalapenos and galic. Betty thinks you should use fresh garlie..but i used the preminced stuff. Then after it's done, add the soy sauce (1 tablespoon) and the Sugar (1 teaspoon). Top with Basil, Mint and Peanuts. All chopped...and I decided...to taste..not to follow the recipe.

And it was delicious and flavorful. I guess that I know flavorful food can be easy, that chicken doesn't just have to be done on the foreman...but I can never quite translate that in recipes.

Anyway..this is now joining our "repetoire."

tic tock banana rock...

2008-09-04T13:56:00.002-06:00

Photo: veer.com

So, I don't understand my body. I try to listen to my body and only eat when I'm hungry. I try to eat before I get ravenous and go on a crazy eating rampage when I walk in the door from my commute home.

But I don't understand how my lunch, never holds me as long as my breakfast. Seriously....I figure it has to be in my mind like 80% of the time.
I try to make sure that I get enough protein, carbs and fat so that my body feels satisfied and full longer. But....Lunch just never sticks with my like breakfast.
Today for Breakfast I had this:
1 whole wheat bagel-
2 tbsp cashew butter
1 banana
80z 1% milk.

I ate that at 7:15am. I was hungry for a snack around 10:45. I ate a HUGE nectarine. I had also brought a string cheese with me, but opted against it as I was only hungry for it about 20 minute before my lunch.

For lunch I had this:
1 can Amy's lowfat black bean soup
1/2 a whole wheat bagel with string cheese melted on top (don't you love how cheese tastes more decadent and amazing when it's been melted!?!)
1 small red bell peper
1 medium carrot.
I ate that at 12:30
I started feeling hungry (And bloated at the same time. what?) at about 1:40pm.

I don't count calories, but neither of those meals are low cal. I haven't done any strenuous physical activity since my workout this morning.
But now I'm hungry.
I don't get it.

2008-09-03T16:36:00.001-06:00

Isn't coming back from vacation the worst? Ok, coming home to my husband was great, but coming back to work is blah!
I had a great time in AZ with my girlfriends...although I am so happy to be home and making meals again. I love eating out, but vacation can really weigh on you!

I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

oh yeah, and I made my doctors appointment. After putting it off for like a million years.

I love lists....

2008-08-27T16:53:00.002-06:00

Here are lists of things I need to get done ASAP (health related)
1. make my yearly appointment. (gah......)
2. get a heel lift for my short let, shin splints are rearing their ugly heads again!
3. get more sleep!!!!!

anyone have a trick for shin splints?

A new way of walkin..

2008-08-26T09:00:00.002-06:00

So... I'm on week seven of not going to the gym in the mornings, and walking the dog 2x a day. I'm maintaing my fitness...but lately I've been allowing myself to get lazy and skip my pre walk workout video. My allergies have really been acting up, and that extra 25 minutes of sleep feel necessary. So...I've been trying the whole run/walk thing five times a week (I've also started keeping track of my daily mileage, between both walks/jogs) and then doing strength training twice a week. Today I was planning on getting up a few minutes earlier to to my Carmen Electra vide0-dont' judge! anyway...I wanted that extra sleep...so I went on a "Toning Walk." With the dog in one hand, and my purple flashlight (it's pitch black at 5:40..gotta be safe, plus this guy is like a foot long and doubles as a nightstick)..I was off.

The flaslight is actually my husbands from college. I love to tease him about the purple color. but I digress. I started out with some fast walking, and then walked on my toes for 20 feet. I then went about 30 feet with one foot on the road, and the other on the curb, then I crossed the street to do the other leg, gotta keep it even! This was followed by (kept walking the whole time):
50 front arm raises on each arm with the flashlight as weight.
30 feet of high knees
90 bicep curls on each arm with the flashlight as weight,
and then speed walk home
I finished at home with a set of tricep dips on our picnic table bench.

It wasn't the same as doing a good heavy weights workout, but it def. added to my walk and got some toning in there. And my biceps are def. feeling it now!

fitting in your 5-7 a day

2008-08-22T11:46:00.002-06:00

I just thought I would share the creative ways I had some fruits and veggies (ha) in the last week. I also did actually eat fruits and veggies in healthy forms as well....

So, at my office we have a blackberry patch that grows along our fence line, way back in the corner. Yesterday the office assistant and I picked some....and this morning she brought in vanilla bean icecream. This my friends....is what I call a 10am snack!

seriously...yum.
I didn't get to serve myself though, which was my plan...and I ended up with probably the equivalent of 1.5 cups of icecream! I used to eat this amount All.The.Time. Now, I"m better about portion control...but this? This was worth it. So delicously cool, creamy and aaaahhh.I could go on.

Then last weekend, as we were cruising past the beer section, on our way to dairy in the grocery store this beer caught my eye...
Does pumpkin in your beer count as veggie? I wish it did. In college there was this great brewery that had pumpkin ale that was out of this world. They usually only make 3 or 4 kegs of it, and it's usually gone in like a week. I was hoping this would be half as good. And...it was good beer, but didn't have a pumpkin flavor at all.

2008-08-20T14:41:00.001-06:00

Isn't it interesting how carrots kind of grow like trees?

Doctor Doctor

2008-08-14T16:08:00.001-06:00

Oh my heck
I’m afraid to go to the doctor. Last year, in august, I had been working out for about 3 weeks when I went to the doctor. I had lost about 5-6 pounds. It was a new doctor, and she did my yearly exam. Everything was fine, until I had my clothes back on. I’ve never been nervous about going to the gyno. I would rather go to the gyno then the dentist. ANY DAY.
Anyway..I had my clothes back on, and….she said “We need to do something about your weight.” Or something to that effect. Insinuating that I was too heavy. Now…I will agree I was heavy for me at that time, I hadn’t been working out regularly and I was eating like crap. Note to anyone who loves junk food….never live next door to a convenience store. Just don’t do it.
Ok, anyway..I promptly said, I’m working on it..I’ve lost about 6 pounds so far. She asked if I wanted a prescription for anything to help with my weight loss. I told her no. I know that doctors do prescribe appetite suppressants, or diuretics…but I just don’t feel ok with that.
I’ve lost 20-25 pounds since then….and it’s time to make my yearly appointment again (running out of time actually) and I’m nervous to go back to the same woman. I’m afraid my weight loss/ healthy lifestyle change won’t be enough. And…because she did an anal exam last time….ok, thanks.Anyway…why am I letting a woman, whom I have met once, who doesn’t know me from Eve, affect me this way. I guess I shouldn’t say she is affecting me this why. She didn’t do anything other than what she believes her job is. Gah. I have to have my appointment….it’s important my health….and the status of my birth control

bbq remix

2008-08-07T16:15:00.003-06:00

So Last weekend we had our bbq. The menu was:
BBQ chicken drumsticks (so cheap!)
Grilled Veggies
Pasta Salad (brought by my sister-in-law)
Potato Chips (brought by my mother-in-law)
and....DESERT!

I didn't get pictures that day, I always forget as I'm rushing around being hostess....so I took pictures of my leftovers for work.
Here are the veggies with some cut up pieces of chicken.

yumm. We bought a grill basket for the veggies, and essentially stir fried them on the gril. The veggies( carrots, zuchini, bell pepper, mushrooms, onion and broccoli) were marinted in:
White Wine
Olive Oil
Garlic Chunks
Salt
Pepper
Red Pepper flakes.
Very good! Wooweee...
The chicken was done by my husband, he is the meat marinade king. I'm not quite sure what was in the marinade but I'm guessing it was:
Bbq sauce
worcestshire
soy sauce
and.....the Lord only knows what else.
I think he also basted the drumsticks during cooking with plain bbq sauce. The bad kind full of HFCS.

But now for the good Part. Dessert. Crispy Carmel Brownies to be exact!

Ok, please excuse the terrible picture. This was actually the best one...I was probably in a sugar coma from these when I took it.

Look at the her blog...she does the most creative stuf ever.

These had from bottom to top:

brownie mix

caramel syrup

rice crisies stuck together with marshmallows and butter (rice crispy treats!)

all drizzled with chocolate ganache.

swoon. see the ganache on top..I had a hard time making it drizzle...so it was more like delish chocolate chunks....see that goey caramel looking stuff on the bottom of the bowl? double swoon.

hot n' spicy!

2008-08-05T15:42:00.003-06:00

ok, I made a FANTASTIC recipe last night. I got it out of my Betty Crocker cook book. Congratulations Betty...you rocked.

I like to peruse my cookbooks, and food blogs before I go grocery shopping. I've also been trying to incorporate more meatless dinners into our rotation. It's gets to easy to fall back on chicken and ground beef!

So, I was looking through the vegetarian section, for recipes that my extremely carniverous husband would be willing to eat. And I found.....Southwestern Fettucine!

Seriously, really good.

Here is the recipe: adapted from Betty Crocker
12oz of fettucine
olive oil cooking spray
1 cup salsa
2 tablespoons hot sauce
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup frozen white corn
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 tsp cumin

I think that was all the ingredients.

Directions:

1.Cook fettucine according to packet. Drain, and set aside in a medium serving bowl

2. Spray fettucine 2 or 3 times with olive oil cooking spray, tossing between sprays.

In pot that fettucine was cooked in, mix remaining ingredients, until corn is tender.

Serve fettucine in bowls and top with sauce.

This was delicious. I think it's kicker is really the cumin. What i liked about it though, is that you can really create diversity with the sauce. Different Salsas (the one I used was SUPER hot, even though it was labeled as medium) Different Hot Sauces (I used Tapatio, my favorite!) Different beans even.

And healthy...and no meat!

donut or....

2008-08-04T10:50:00.004-06:00

So, this past week, as we were shopping I saw a box of Donut Peaches at my local Winco Foods. I'd read about these on other food blogs and decided to get one. I actually think I have a super mild fresh peach allergy, but how can you not try a piece of fruit named after one of the most delicious fried carbs in the world. Ok..not the point. The point is I got one.
I bit into it when we got home, and it was all gross and mealy. So bad that i spit out the first bite.
I told me husband and he looked me dead in the eye and said "what do you expect from a pice of fruit that looks like a butt-hole."

And now my friends...I don't think I can eat a donut peach ever again.

Pictures of BBQ to come later today or tomorrow.

long over due!

2008-08-01T14:11:00.002-06:00

Obviously this isn't everything i've eaten since my last food update...but here is a little bit of my summer fare....

FAGE!!!! I nearly jumped up and down in the store when I saw it. NO ONE, carried this in the area until recently. The Total 0% was only $1.19 per container, and the 2% was like 2.00? Strange. Anyway..I mixed it with berries and granola and it was deliciously smooth and creamy.
Cherries! These were at the local discount store (Winco, I know it's called "Cub" on the other side of the mississippi) for only 1.20 a pound, and they are locally grown. woot woot! They were so uber sweet and such a beautiful color Like the color of my kitchen!
Carrots and Spicy yogurt dip. I saw this tip on Tina's blog and figured it would be a good addition to veggies.
It's plain yogurt, honey, hot sauce, and chilli powder. I think the original recipe called for cumin, salt and pepper as well. DELISH! And healthy! and adds protein to those veggies.what's not to love?

awww. I heart oatmeal. I was brainstorming this morning for Kath's creative oatmeal competition....I haven't come up with the winning entry yet..but I will. Honey is pretty much my new favorite add in. This is 1/2 cup quick cooking oats, the last of my plain yogurt, and honey swirled around the yogurt, with some craisins for the heart. I like eating this mixed together, and the way it is....dragging my spoon through the layers. Yumm.
My husband ate the last of my nectarines, that I was saving for my snack for today...so I had to improvise. I deforsted some black berries, and mixed them in with plain yogurt. It was soooo tart! I mixed in 1/2 a packet of splenda.
Isn't summer fruit fantastic.

For our BBQ tomorrow, I am going to be making one of Picky Palate's creations. It's going to be DECADENT. Scott and I have decided we are going to buy one of those grilling grates for veggies. Yum, I'm looking forward to our bbq tomorrow!

huzzah!

2008-07-31T11:52:00.001-06:00

My husband just called to tell me we are hosting a bbq on saturday for his parents. Fantastic. All the excuse I need to try out some good recipes.

Now..I just need to think about what to have!

what happened in vegas....

2008-07-30T15:57:00.002-06:00

Didn't stay in Vegas.

Remember when I went to Vegas with my girlfriends and had a fabulous time? Well..in the fabulous time lots of fabulous food was consumed. I knew that when I went on vacation I didn't want to restrict my self (like order a salad in a wolfgang puck restaurant!) but I didn't want to totally disregard my new healthy eating patterns. So....I ate what I wanted, in mostly moderation, and ate plenty of good stuff too.

When I got back, I didn't "get back on track"I hate that phrase..what is the track? Why do I have to feel like I got of off it? That gives my eating habits moral value, which they shouldn't have. Ok anyway, let's say that I directed my track on a little (going on five month detour) through Not As Healthyville.

I'm ready to leave Not as Healthyville...I would like to get back to Slightly Healthierville. The place where I ate more veggies and less (less, not none) desserts. The place where i made sure my breakfast had fruits in corporated into it. The place where I was really on a crusade to cut out HFCS and refined flour.

I've been auditing my eating habits the past couple of days...I know where I need to make changes....now I just need to make them.