Won't You Take Me To....

Funky TOOWWWWWN?

That song has been stuck in my head all week, so I decided to use it instead of just singing it badly and repetitively.

This town, Niles, is our own little funky town. Rob likes to call it "the town that time forgot", and it really is easy to feel like you're back in the 50's when you stroll or ride your bike around. Random and plentiful dogs (big 'uns!) barking in the distance, kids running around barefoot or riding bikes without helmets (gasp!), sticky with Popsicles they got from Mr. Mikey's Country Store, music drifting through the balmy air, either from the bandstand in the town plaza, or from some guy's car parked in the street getting detailed into summer sweetness. And trains; big and small, passenger and cargo, fast and slow, loud and stealthy...lots of trains. They call the area where we live "Niles Junction" for a reason. Good thing we like trains!

This year for our anniversary (one year...holla!), we decided to forgo the more extravagant plans we made, and try the local scene. We're still enamoured with our pool and hate the thought of leaving it on a nice weekend!

So here is our weekend in words and pictures.

Oh but first, a side note. I know what you might be thinking. "Why in the world would she think we want to see a bunch of lame pictures and hear about a weird town and what they did on their anniversary? It's not like a fabulous trip abroad with pictures of monuments or exotic beaches!". And I understand, I do. But I really like the idea of documenting even the smaller things. Let me rephrase that; "Especially the smaller things". Why? Because this is where our joy lies. And how lucky are we that we find such joy and adventure wherever we happen to be? Rob always says that life with me is an adventure. I used to think: "Well, yeah. Of course!" But then I started to really think about it. We go next to no where, and have close to nothing. We don't do a whole lot that I would think resembles anyone's definition of "adventure". Then I realized...adventure can be a state of mind. It can be how you see and experience even the most ordinary.

So with that, I invite you to share our most ordinary weekend! In words and pictures:

Friday night, we decided to go to Papillon for dinner (http://papillonrestaurant.com/index.html). Papillon is a French restaurant in Niles that has been around for 35 years. Back in the day, it was where my friends might go before prom, or for special anniversaries and other occasions. I was pleased that the decor was exactly the same as it was when I was in High School! I mean, exactly the same. The place is pricey. Some say too pricey for the outdated ambiance, but the food is delicious (and I really don't think it's that pricey at all when compared to some of the nicer Pleasanton restaurants we used to enjoy!).

The restaurant is (and has always been) owned by Tom Foreman, an interesting and friendly chap who punctuates the end of every sentence with a raise of his wine glass in a toast (sometimes he forgets that he isn't currently holding a wine glass, and then you just get an "air toast"). The place is definitely a family affair. His daughter in law is the head chef and at least one nephew and several other family members work there. We learned all of this and much, much more during his friendly (and numerous) vistits to our table. And for those of you who remember Papillon, yes, we got the booth with the velvet curtains. Score! We were invited back on Sunday for an art exhibit - Tom's brother Jerry and his twin sons are all very talented oil paint artists. Tom is a wood craftsman and makes beautiful pens out of rare woods.

Back to dinner. We ordered all of our dishes from the evening's special menu starting with tempura calamari in lobster bisque. For our main course, Rob had a three sausage combo: Venison with Cranberry, Duck with Fig, and Lamb and with something (we can't remember). I don't eat any of these three meats, but had to try one bite of each and let me tell you, it made me reconsider. I had the pork Rib Eye with a caramelized onion and berry reduction that was wonderful. We also got this complimentary desert!

SWEET!

Next we drove on over to the Mud Puddle for a private concert with Caroline Aiken. Take a listen! You can youtube some performances or check out her website: http://carolineaiken.com/home.html

Yes, I know the picture if sideways. I'm waiting for my I.T department to get back to me. Not.

The Mud Puddle is a little 50 square foot space on the main street in Niles operated by Michael McNevin. A good place to sit in and listen to some talented musicians doing what they do best. It's a "bring your own wine to share and hope you find a chair" kind of place that seats about 20, but the floor would be all right too.

Well, that was enough for the first night. Saturday I had to work for a few hours so we didn't do too much except make this fantastic dinner and lounge around at home!

Sunday was the piece de resistance! We started out with breakfast at Dino's (which prompted me to sing The Boys Are Back In Town for about the next 6 hours...'cause we were "hanging out at Dino's"), then the art exhibit, then home by Noon for Mimosas pool side! Here was my view for most of the afternoon:

After a time, we decided to fill up our water bottles with the remaining mimosas and ride into town to catch  the Summer's first "Music in the Plaza" concert. Now, you may think it's foolish to bike while drinking mimosas...we beg to differ, we found it fabulously refreshing! Here's our trail:

Here's me on the trail:

And here we are, SAFELY arrived at our destination....five minutes later.

The music was a little "blue grassy" for our taste, but the scenery was awesome. Here are a few shots of the town and the plaza. This first place, "Thyme For Tea" is an antique store in the front, a fudge shop in the middle, and a tea room in the back. It sure is different from how I remember it in the 80's and 90's! We would come here to listen to local bands. I remember it being kind of gritty, and always hot. Packed wall to wall with people wearing dangerously high heels to match their dangerously high hair. It was a scary place for a girl with nicknames like "Clean Eline", "Sister Potter" and "Miss Macy's". I so wanted to be a bad ass...but just....wasn't.

 There are a LOT of antique shops in this town. It used to be biker bar, antique shop, bar, liquor store, biker bar, antique shop, bar, biker bar. Now it's just a row of antique shops and one bar. Well, there's also El Recreo, but I tried it once back in the day and no one spoke English, not sure if it's the same today or not.

 There's the train museum in the Plaza.

 A sweet fountain.

 Old cars.

Pretty darn charming, right?

And we can't forget the trains!

Yep...this is our home town now. I think we'll stay for a spell....

(That says NILES on the hill, by the way. In case you aren't from around these parts.)

I Give Up

Or DO I?????

(This is a reference to my son, who likes to answer everything we say with: "Or do I", "Or do you?" "Or is it?".  Example: Me -"Jacob, it's time to go out back and pick up dog poo!" Jacob - "Or is it?" - said with one raised eyebrow)

My BMI is 23 (within the normal range), I enjoy "taking some exercise" daily, or almost daily. I also love preparing and eating whole foods, with lots of fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, some whole grains, nuts and seeds, etc. Basically - a "Mediterranean" influenced diet, including red wine....and cheese. I bet I'm pretty healthy.

Perhaps it's my age, my adoration of wine & chocolate, or my healthy appetite and complete fear and abhorrence of "hunger" (even doing the low-carb thing, 16 ounces of  lean Turkey Italian Sausage in one sitting is probably 13 ounces more than I need to eat), that all conspire to keep me pleasantly plump.

I should mention here that, as in all things, I'm a slacker dieter too. I have absolutely no desire (or ability in some cases...like the wine and chocolate thing) to change any one of the "shortcomings" listed above. Not a single one. I gave up smoking 5 years ago. And except for the occasional and epic fall from the proverbial wagon (a girl's gotta live, right?), I don't eat anything "white" - my carbs are limited to occasional and whole, I yoga, I hike, etc. etc.. Basically, I eat, drink, and do the things I love. So why can't I just love the body I'm already in and call it a day?

I'm at a cross roads (again). Do I just throw in the towel, "accept what I cannot change"? Or decide to put forth one last herculean effort to finally be rid of that "last 10 pounds" (more like 20, but whatever). I tell you this, I don't want to spend my entire life worrying about, or obsessing about things like weight and calories.

I have a pool and feel perfectly comfortable wearing a bikini in the privacy of my own back yard. Yes, I look very "European" in a bikini...so what? I'm of European descent, I can pull it off. In my backyard.

Self-deprecating jokes and comments aside, I honestly do think I look pretty darn good for 35 (or whatever). Most of the time. Maybe it's other people who "just aren't there yet" and can't see that, really, "European" is the new thin. And what am I doing measuring how I look against what I think other people think anyway? Or against the jeans and jawline of my yesteryears?

I'm thinking of giving up and just living fat and happy.

Or am I????

Day Three

Day three of  the "Back on Track - No BS - This Time For Real" phase.

I've deduced, after a successful couple of 17 day cycles (of the 17 Day Diet), and then completely falling off the wagon, that my "carb tolerance" level (the level at which I can eat some carbs but not turn into a ravenous, moody, tired and sloth-like shadow of my former self), allows for a No Carb/One Carb schedule. That is: No carbs one day, SOME carbs the next day at ONE meal, repeat. And by carbs, I mean the starchy stuff: rice, bread, pasta, potatoes, etc. I don't limit my fruits or vegetables. I do limit my starchy carbs to whole grains (with a few exceptions on occasion).

How I came to this conclusion is pretty simple. I did really well on the first two cycles of the 17 Day Diet. I dropped a few pounds, had energy to burn, and felt really great. So great, in fact, that I thought I could increase my starchy carbs to one meal per day (a serving...every day), vs. every other day as the 2nd cycle of 17 days recommends. WRONG. That was a slippery slope that I now know to avoid. One meal a day led to two, then it was ON. I couldn't stop eating to save my life. I went from "rarely hungry, oh look it's time for lunch" to "holy shit, how am I going to make it to lunch, wait I just ate lunch, when's dinner?"

oBsEsSeD!

Beginning Wednesday, I went back to the every other day thing. So far, so good. Feeling more and more like myself, and today....I am so not hungry. I think I'm back on track!

AHA! I knew it.........

Wracking my brain and the internet, trying to figure out WHY I feel so much better without excessive carbs, and yet can't seem to control my cravings, I came across this article. It almost made me cry. It's me. So what am I going to do about it?

I've noticed that when I eat low carb, I feel great, have tons of energy, and rarely think about food. When I eat starchy carbs, I feel tired, grouchy, bloated, and have a constant "gnawing" in my stomach that feels like hunger. You would think that being aware of it, I could stay off the stuff. I think this is what addiction must feel like. It's very frustrating to know what you need to do to feel healthy and vibrant, and just not be able to do it. To feel totally powerless and out of control.

I'm going to give it another go. God knows it took me a hundred tries to quit smoking. I can do THIS, right? At this point, it's less about losing weight and more about feeling healthy. Like I felt a few short weeks ago!

Article by Laura Dolson:

You’ve been following a low-carb diet for several weeks. Perhaps you’ve been "experimenting" (what some might call "cheating") by eating half a bagel or some ice cream. Maybe you’ve been eating a lot of foods with sugar alcohols and hoping that "Net Carbs" number on the wrapper can really be trusted. And suddenly, there you are, standing in front of the refrigerator for the fifth time that afternoon – not really hungry, but wanting to eat something. Carb cravings are most likely exerting their influence.



What are Carb Cravings?


To be clear, I’m not talking about cravings FOR carbs (these are most common in the first few days on a low carb diet) as cravings CAUSED BY too many carbs. This is an extremely common phenomenon among carb-sensitive people. If you’ve been on a low-carb diet for awhile you might be able to get away with a meal or two with more carbs, but if you continue, it will evenutally catch up with you.


Essentially, carb cravings are 1) a strong urge to eat which is not associated with what we ordinarily think of as "hunger", and 2) usually triggered by either an excess of carbohydrates or the wrong type of carbohydrates. The craving itself may or may not be for carb-rich foods, but it can easily lead to a cycle of carbohydrate eating that is difficult to break. When people talk about "sugar addiction" or "carbohydrate addiction" they are probably talking about the same or a similar phenomenon.


My Experience


Years ago, I read a book called Welcome Silence by Carol North. North had grown up hearing voices and other noises in her head. She tells how she tried to make sense of these voices, creating what we would call paranoid delusions about them - and indeed, she was diagnosed with schizophrenia. However, at some point in her adult life, she received an experimental treatment which totally removed the voices in her head (the probability is that toxins in her body were causing the symptoms, and a form of dialysis removed them). The title of the book refers to the morning when she woke up...to blessed silence in her head.


For me, getting rid of carb cravings was a little like this. For many years I had tried to figure out why I kept eating when I wasn’t really hungry. I sat in support groups pondering the emotional reasons I must have for keeping myself fat. I moved on to leading groups where we endlessly discussed our reasons for eating. Just like Carol North, I tried to come up with the reasons for those "voices" that didn’t seem to make sense.


Then I went on a version of the Zone Diet. And it was my own "Welcome Silence" experience. Suddenly, those urges were gone, and I suddenly had total control over my eating. I went about my day without thinking of food, until I was hungry, when I ate! Wow! Just like normal people! It was a revelatory experience.


Carb Tolerance Level


Unfortunately, I went off that diet, and regained weight. And although I tried from time to time to do it again, it never really worked for me. Now I realize that for whatever reason (I blame menopause), my body has become less tolerant of carbohydrate, and the amounts permitted on the Zone are just too high for me. Once I found my new carbohydrate tolerance level, I again experienced control over my eating, and the "Welcome Silence" experience.


Carb Cravings – Sending a Message


These days, my understanding of carb cravings has totally changed. Instead of cursing them, or giving in to them, I try to simply receive the message they are sending – that my carb level has edged up too high. It’s time to evaluate my eating patterns and readjust. Everyone missteps from time to time. Aren’t we lucky to have such a vivid communication system telling us we’re off track? It’s simply that we're standing in front of that vending machine, refrigerator, or snack food aisle when we “just need a pick-me-up”. Our bodies are calling to us in those moments - we just have to listen.

Night and Day

I'm back!

I didn't really go anywhere. Well, a quick camping trip maybe. It's been busy though - family visit, holiday weekend, camping trip, etc. - all conspiring to make me eat bread.

Seriosuly, I don't know what happend, but for the past week or two (I'm not sure exactly how long, I'm in a carb stupor), I've cut way back on the low-carb, healthy lifestyle thing. The difference in how I feel is like night and day. I feel sluggish, bloated, hungry (like, out of control hungry), and just generally bummed out.

The good news is that I'm back on track, starting today!

The problem with the starchy carbs (bread, pasta, crackers, chips, etc.), is that once I eat them, I just crave more of them. It's always been that way. And they make me feel crappy.

So forget it. Not for me!

I'm hiking this morning and blending up some protein smoothies. I'm ready to feel good again!