Accountable

This post is going to be short and sweet because it's crazy late and I'm just now crawling into bed, but I need to claim my slackerness in the diet and fitness department so I can get back on track. I've been slowly back sliding for the past month, nothing tragic, but not where I want to be. Tomorrow I have plans to walk with my friend Amber (accountability, good!) and I'm going to make sure my food choices are better. Mostly, I think my biggest struggle, which seems to always be the case, is failing to plan then I find myself in a bind with only crappy choices. I had a nice weekend routine going for a while there, then I got busy, then I got sick, (insert excuses). I don't want to beat myself up, it's not the end of the world, but I do want to re-focus. I feel like I've been chasing my tail for at least a month. My weight has been pretty stable, up and down about 2 pounds, but I want to bust through this plateau and that will only happen with increased discipline and regular exercise. That's not really a mystery. At least I have a solution! I've got plans next week to walk with another friend on Tuesday. Having conversation to look forward to takes the edge of off the exercising part and makes it seem a little less dreadful. :) Okay, enough yammering. Bed time for this chica. I hope all is swell wherever you are.

Woosh!

If time went any faster, it would be warp speed. My apologies for my absence over the last couple weeks. There have been many reasons, most importantly I had to get this little lady off to college.

She's now safely tucked into her dorm with enough clothing to outfit the entire hall. My little girl sure is growing up fast. Today she declared a double major in pre-law and English education. I know whatever she puts her mind to will be a success. Hugs and kisses to my baby girl. I'm going to miss her lots.

Also, confession time. I fell face first off the wagon for a bit there. Well, maybe that's a little dramatic, but portions and "cheats" were starting to creep in a little larger and more frequently for a while. I only gained a pound and a half, but it's time to put a stop to the madness and get back on track. All in all, I'm still down a little over 30 lbs. Today was the official start of a new dietbet, this time, I'm the leader. I think that's going to be an important source of accountability for me. I'm doing week one of South Beach again to jump start things and so far so good today. I had plain Greek yogurt for breakfast because it was the item closest to the front of the fridge as I rushed out the door; I don't recommend it. It was pretty tart and blah without fruit. For a snack I had a little low fat cheese, then lunch was cauliflower soup (delicious and creamy with scant diary, see recipe below, sort of cream of potato flavor) and a nice big salad. Oh and sugar-free lime Jell-o. I'm really excited that soup time has returned. It really helps keep me feeling satisfied, it's cheap, and yummy. I had an event at work until 6 with lots of tempting appetizers, but I walked away from them all. I definitely have much better control if I don't start at all. I had some more soup when I got home. I need to get so more veg in before the day is done, so I'll probably make another salad in a while. I'm not hungry at the moment.

"Cream" of Cauliflower Soup

(From the South Beach Supercharged book)

1 medium onion

1 tbsp olive oil

1 head of cauliflower

4 c of low-sodium chicken stock

1/4 c of light sour cream

salt & pepper to taste

 shredded parmesan and romano cheese for garnish  

Saute onion in olive oil for about 5 minutes until onion softens. Add chopped cauliflower, saute another 5 minutes. Add chicken stock and cover. Simmer until cauliflower is easily smooshed with a fork. Process in a food processor or blender, pulsing until the soup is creamy and combined. Add sour cream. Mix again. All done! Serve with shredded cheese as a garnish. I bet scallions would be a nice addition also. 

So damned good.

I don't know exactly what the calories are for this, but I'm guessing you get a good 4-6 servings depending on the size of the bowl. It's not going to break the calorie bank though. 

In other news, graduate school classes start up for me on Wednesday. I need to be extra careful in planning so I don't find myself snarfing something from the vending machine. I need to figure out something quick and tasty to eat after work, before class. Thankfully my job and my classes are at the same location so I'll be able to use most of the hour before class to enjoy a healthy dinner. 

What else? I think know my dog has fleas, so he needs a trip to the groomer which he hates; I can expect the cold shoulder from him for about a month after. I'm dejunking the entire house drawer by drawer, purging feels good. The Solar Overlord has finally had mercy on us, so we can enjoy the outdoors again (with liberal doses of Zyrtec, thankyouverymuch ragweed, you jerk). I started watching Forks Over Knives again today at lunch which really has me thinking about alternatives to meat that are plant-based. I'm not able to eat soy because I have a thyroid condition (soy can suppress thyroid function), so I'm trying to figure out what would be a good replacement. Beans maybe? I don't think I'll ever go totally vegetarian, but I do want to cut back on the animal products. Other than that, not much else is new. I'll be back soon, promise!

Crazy Days of Summer with Bonus Mini-Rant

Time is flying. I can't believe how fast the summer has gone. I can't believe it's been almost two weeks since my last post. There have been many teeny victories along the way. On the weight loss end of things, progress has been slow, steady, but very slow. I've decided to do week one of South Beach again to get a handle on my cravings and jump start things a bit. There is only about a week left in the diet bet and I want to win! As of now, I've lost about 2 pounds in the past two to three weeks. Not exactly earth shattering progress. Better than weight gain though. We'll chalk it up to a teeny victory! 

Exercise has been really pitiful. My excuse has been the heat. The real truth is probably closer to heat + lethargy. Tomorrow I'm walking with my friend Amber, who is a fellow "loser" and is great about keeping up with exercise. Having a commitment will keep me on track and get this train rolling again. I'm going to do some walking at lunch this week too provided it's not too terribly hot. Otherwise, I'll work out at the gym or walk the pooch at the park in the evening after dinner. One of my students who is a premed for podiatry met me this week and did an analysis of my athletic shoes (she's also a long-time employee of Fleet Feet) and helped me get things properly laced for my feet. The good news is that I don't have any glaring problems. The odd news is that my heel strike is to the inside which explains why my shoes are always worn on the inside portion of the heel first. She said that my stride is nice and even though, so it's no biggee except that I'll go through shoes faster. In a few weeks I'm going to go get some new kicks from the place she works. Apparently the (ugly) ones I have now are more of a "fashion" shoe than a real workout shoe and she says that if I get something with better cushion I'll have less joint pain in the long run. Well, okey-doke, I like that!

I got my panties in a bunch earlier this week. A woman I am acquainted with made a rude comment on Facebook in response to an article. The comment she left was, "she's probably fat and in tact". Well, that's nice, isn't it?This got me really thinking about how much I really don't like that in addition to the public gay-bashing that's been going around lately that it's still totally acceptable to bash someone for their appearance. I made a comment back to the girl that was sort of lighthearted, "Hey, don't hate on the fatties, I'm one and I'm adorable" hoping to call her attention to the jerkiness of it all but still keeping it somewhat friendly. Her reply was something like, "don't take it personally." Ugh. How can I not? You called someone fat as an insult, I'm overweight, and and implied that because of it she's so gross no one would have sex with her. While I think the author of the article was a jerk too, that kind of banter is pointless and unintelligent. First of all, you just never know why someone is the way they are and making cheap shots about their appearance is immature and ignorant. If she was a person of color or disabled would it be okay to criticize them for it? Of course not. Secondly, suppose said author is a virgin, that's none of anybody's business, and holy crap, who cares? It's not my vagina. Maybe she's picky and that's not a crime. When are women going to stop bashing other women for their appearance and their rumored sex lives or lack of it? Can't we do better than that? My goodness, how many women do we know who have suffered emotionally because they didn't live up to cultural ideals? Oh, I dunno, just about all of us? How many of these women were perfectly fine and beautiful exactly as they are? All of them. Every single last one of them. Can we please stop measuring the worth of a person based on their outside package? I would like to lose weight, yes, but it's to improve my health. Are there things I'd like to have look different than they do right this minute? Sure, but I'm not less of a person because I have some jiggle on my thighs or a wobbly belly. Can we please focus on health and character development? PLEASE! Bigotry is all its forms is just ugly. /rant

The remaining news will be via pictures. :)  

Our first crook neck squash! Kinda looks like a drumstick, but did not taste like chicken at all.

I've been prepping a week's worth of salad on Sundays which has been working out GREAT and is a big money saver. A salad on campus is about $6/day. If I make and take it's under $10 for the whole week. I use store-bought spinach as the base then start piling on the veggies. From our garden - peppers, radishes, pickled banana peppers, radishes, and yellow pear tomatoes. I also pile on some chopped grilled chicken that I cook on the George Foreman grill and top with Greek Seasoning. It's yummy and really satisfying for lunch! 

Mid-week haul from the garden. It's amazing how much a handful of plants can produce.

Coworker tomatoes! My buddy, Elisa, has been bringing in beautiful slicing tomatoes and they have been amazing and sincerely appreciated. From some silly reason we forgot to plant the big guys and just have teeny 'maters in the garden this year.

This map was from my camping trip planning. I'd show you pictures of our trip, but it was a flop and we got rained out and had to head back home before any fun was had. We arrived after dark, put up tents in the dark, then woke to thunder and lightening at 6:30 a.m. Because that wasn't enough fun, my car also decided to die exactly 2.1 miles from my house.  Sigh.

This pretty girl is still up for adoption. She's a big fan of The Bangles and wants to walk like an Egyptian.

This mock cable cowl has been on my needles for a year. I finally finished it!

This is my girl, Singer. She's been mostly collecting dust, but I finally gave her a nice cleaning and got some sewing done. I had a custom collar order that I finished and delivered and I have a custom bag order up next. 

This is me waiting for the bus. Which, for the record isn't so terrible really. It's nice to not have to think about driving sometimes and the people-watching is pretty good. I went almost a week without my beautiful, slightly dinged and dented, 1998 Honda Civic. She's back in action now after $500 worth of repairs. Ugh. 

In a fit of frustration I cut bangs this morning. I'm sick of trying  to pin them out of my face. Also, this is  picture of me and my girl cuddled up on the couch. She's going away to college in 12 days. sniff sniff. I've been making her cuddle as often as possible, which is next to never since she's always out with her friends. I'm really going to miss her. I really does seem not that long ago that she was getting ready for her first day of kindergarten. 

The next week and a half will be busy busy with preparations for Alli going to school and the usual responsibilities. I'm going to do my best to stay organized and on track so I have the energy to tackle it all. I hope all is well in your world and you're feeling fine and dandy!

Preparation is Most of My Battle

I did my Dietbet weigh in and lost about a pound and a half this past week. Anyway, I need to pick up the pace I'm on if I want my money back (It's only $15, but I'm thrifty). Not shabby, but not quite to goal either. There was also a cherry pie turnover thing in there somewhere that I'm fairly certain I did not need. So after some thought this past weekend I realized that if I'm going to stay on track and keep my food intake in check, I need to be much better prepared. I have an extensive reading list piling up, but one of the things that I got some ideas from was the latest issue of Clean Eating. Really nice magazine with lots of good tips and recipes. I need foodspiration regularly or I get bored and start grabbing whatever is handy instead of what's good for me. 

I won the gardening book at a garden swap this weekend. Yay!

I decided to make basil pesto since I've got tons in the garden and can toss it with chicken and a small dollop of mayo for a delish chicken salad. I used Mark Bittman's recipe from How to Cook Everything and it's fabulous. 

Basil waiting to be transformed!

The finished product - basil, olive oil, salt, parmesan cheese, and toasted pine nuts.

Next I started doing prep for lunches. After a quick trip to the store, I bagged up some delicious (albeit a little sour grapes) 

They make my face twist up funny, but they are way good.

Next I chopped and diced chicken I grilled on my handy-dandy George Foreman as well as a bunch of stuff from the garden -- yellow pear tomatoes, green and orange peppers, Swiss chard, and kale.

I seasoned the chicken with Chicago style seasoning and another with Greek seasoning. Yum!

When I was at  my community garden plot picking the Swiss chard and the kale a lady bug stopped in for a visit.

Oh hai lady bug! I bring the interior part of my salad spinner with me for harvesting. 

I packed up salad for the next day in a big ole mason jar. Everything stays nice and crisp and fresh in mason jars, plus they are more compact for fridge storage. 

I'm on a hot food kick. The yellow rings are banana peppers from the garden that
I pickled with vinegar, spices, and red pepper. Wahoo! 

For a nice protein snack I made ants on a log. Well, the logs anyway. Isn't peanut butter the best?

I also tried some fancy Pinterest tutorial hair. If my hair is dirty enough and there are enough bobby pins lying around, sticky hairspray, and a teasing comb, I can force my hair into submission. If it's clean it's too darned slippery and I have to put tons of crud in it to make anything stay and frankly, I'm hair lazy. I did learn a trick recently that helps give my hair some body for styling when it's clean. I spray and brush through dry shampoo (Suave brand rocks and it smells good. Most importantly, it's uber cheap). That seems to give my hair some stick without being all nasty from hairspray. Anyway, here's the result. I'm wearing basically the same thing today minus the braids. It only took a few minutes and I'm happy with the results. I've been in such a hair rut. It gets hot and I just want to get it off my damned neck and the default is a boring ponytail. I'm glad to have another option that looks a little more grown up.  

What's shakin' in your world?

Encouragement and Challenges

This kitten picture actually has nothing to do with encouragement or challenges, but it's my foster kitten Maggie Moo and sometimes I am just overwhelmed with her cuteness so I thought I'd share. :) She's also up for adoption through Tenth Life Cats if you're in the market for an adorable kitty cat!

My favorite weight loss/fitness blogger, Kim, from Living, Laughing, Losing is hosting a weight loss challenge on DietBet.com. For $15 I joined the challenge to lose 4% of my body weight in 4 weeks. Wish me luck! If I win, me and the other winners get to split the pot, which is now up to $600. I could use some cash. :)

I want to give a shout out to my friends old and new who read this blog. Every little bit of encouragement helps so much. Knowing that you all are reading this really means a lot and does wonders to help me stay on track! Also, I love that some of you comment in person and tell me what you would have written if you did comment on the blog. It's adorable and I love that you are lurking and sending me happy thoughts! A special thanks to my baby cousin who is also a blogger (and is now over 30, WTF) who read the whole thing start to finish in one sitting! Please don't stop being awesome, every damn one of you. ((((hugs))))

In preparation for the challenge this week, I did some cooking so lunch wouldn't be such a hassle and also so I could save a few bucks. The food on campus is quite good, but it's also pricey. This week's lunch menu is all about spinach and the adorable pear tomatoes from my garden. Also blue cheese. And olives. And all things sour and vinegary. I don't have a picture of it, but I made some pickled banana peppers (we grow them every year and finally I figured out what to do with them!) I'm waiting for them to finish marinating so I can add that to my salad, too. Bring the heat, baby!

I've been dreaming about peaches lately, so this past weekend I went to my favorite orchard about an hour from my house and got a gazillion pounds of them. A peck and a half to be exact. I've processed a peck and still have a half peck to deal with. I might dry them. I haven't decided. 

Every once in a while I can't get pictures to cooperate and land right side  up,
but I promise you these peaches are SO FREAKING GOOD, even sideways.

I have already eaten a jar of the canned peaches and I had to stop myself from downing the peachy infused syrup they are soaking in. This particular peach is called a yellow stone and I highly recommend it. Buy ALL THE PEACHES.

I've been feeling really drained by the heat and haven't had much mojo for exercising. It's been so dang hot even breathing seems taxing. Dear universe, please give us a break, 107 is too hot for even this heat-loving girl; we are not lizards. Tomorrow I'm making myself go to the air conditioned gym no matter what. In fact, I might move in if it's cooler than my house (my a/c unit is the little a/c that couldn't, it's barely holding its own). I'll just sleep a pile of yoga mats and sustain myself with protein smoothies until the heat breaks.

Alrighty kids, time for me and the fuzzy pooch to snuggle. 

Bananas, Baby!

There are few things I love more than frozen yogurt. This is a damn close second. "Ice cream" made from bananas? That's just crazy! Crazy good.

Slice bananas. Put bananas in a single layer on a baking sheet. Freeze 2 hours.

Put frozen bananas into the food processor and whirl until everything gets
nice and creamy looking. Now is your chance to add the extras.
I put in a tablespoon of cocoa. No extra sugar required.

The end result. SO FLIPPIN' GOOD.
If I were a patient woman, I would have put this back in the freezer for a bit.
Operative word, if.

Otherwise things are fine. Not great, but fine. I've been losing considerable sleep lately stewing in my own thoughts in the middle of the night. I think I've about worked out the kinks though. I'm the type of girl that literally cannot rest until I have something figured out. This issue falls into the emotional department which probably explains why all I've wanted to do for the last week is eat. In spite of the fact that I've been wanting to comfort myself with food, things have been okay overall food-wise. Not great, but okay. However, this evening was a bit of a bomb. I didn't eat a filling enough dinner and got hit hard with a chocolate craving after dinner. So my delicious and healthy meal  was topped off by the scarfing of two chocolate chip granola bars. Whoops. Compound the emotional stress with PMS and it starts getting ugly. I take the pill that keeps the-evil-one-who-shall-not-be-named at bay for 3 months at a time. I think the punishment for being free of the lady days is killer PMS when it does roll around. Ugh. I mean, if all I eat is chocolate and toffee for the next 2 weeks, that's okay, right? Not so much. Tomorrow I'm going to try harder to keep my shit together and on track. I'm not going to fall into the trap of having one bad meal and saying, "eff it". One bad post-dinner meltdown doesn't negate the work of several months. 

Anyhoo, it's time for me to hit the hay. More effort is being invested in thinking positively and it seems to be helping. *insert dancing Fraggles* 

Nite!

Crafts + Beach

Whoa. It's been a busy few days. Friday I worked my regular gig, then Friday night I was set up at a craft show until 11 o'clock and then had ANOTHER craft show that was an all day deal Saturday and Sunday. 

Crafty goodness

Fortunately, I realized that I would be completely wiped out and planned to take Monday off. It's a good thing, too because I was so exhausted, I slept until 1 o'clock. 3 days in a row of craft show in the extreme heat is exhausting. So what did I do? I went outside to play on the beach, which is also hot. Perhaps, I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed, but look at those skies! I took the kiddo and her bff to a lake about an hour away from our house. It's in a lovely small town that still has a town square and is rarely crowded.

I floated around in the water for a little bit, but I mostly laid around and read my book. It's a good no-brainer of a read, John Grisham's newest tale, The Litigator. Pretty good so far.

Soaking up the rays!

On the diet and exercise front, things have been a bit choppy between being sick and then working like a mad woman. I haven't gone completely insane, but there is definitely room for improvement. I tried very hard to stay on track today, but got briefly sidelined by a box of toffee in the office kitchen. I only had two pieces and the rest of the day every time I didn't grab another I cheered loudly inside my head, VICTORY! People, it's toffee, c'mon, toffee is GOOD. I've also realized that I need to get back on the cheerleading plan. I've been battling a lot of negative chatter over the past couple weeks, partly due to financial stress (is there ever enough money?), mourning my daughter getting ready to go away to college (sniff sniff), and some personal conflicts with a now former friend (boo), and  the new guy...lasted a whole three weeks and fell apart at the seams. I also gave my dog a bath today. He's not speaking to me either. So things have been...a little unruly. All things considered it's not been too terrible on the food and exercise considering, no weight gain, but I definitely want to be more diligent. More cheering loudly in my head. Perhaps I will imagine dancing, cheering Fraggles. Muppets make everything better.