Ok, This Time For Real, I MEAN It, I Am Doing This!

(Nancy totally called my next blog post title!)

How to undo the devastating debauchery of a gluttonous Thanksgiving Week:

1) Eat lots (I mean LOTS) of pineapple - for breakfast, for lunch, for snacks (stealing a small and convenient part of my friend Peg's cleanse)
2) Eat plenty of high protein/high fiber dinners - like my friend Liz' Lentil Soup, (and maybe a salmon nicois salad once or twice for something light and "non-beany")
3) Drink wayyyyy less wine
4) Ride, ride, ride, muck, muck, muck, yoga, yoga, yoga

This will put me back on track for sure!

I mean it this time. 16 pounds in four months. I'm doing it! (I haven't actually weighed myself but I'm assuming I'm up a few and my goal is 148)

We had a great time visiting with family in Bend, Oregon. I packed light - yoga pants and one pair of jeans. By the end of the weekend I could barely zip up my jeans, but whatever (note to self - pack the "comfort" jeans next time, not the "skinny" jeans, duh!).

We went to one of my favorite stores in Bend - Cowgirl Cash - where I picked up a couple of sweet pairs of gently used boots - tax free! One for kickin' around in the barn, and the other for riding in (and kickin' around town). My intention was to buy one pair of boots, but I fell in love with the turquoise Tony Lama "Vaquero" boots and my wonderful husband offered to buy them for me as an early Christmas present! I also got a super cute Cowgirl Cash T-shirt (another early Christmas present) from my sister. I'm so spoiled!!

I ate stuff like this: (my sister in law Nancy made this evil dark chocolate pumpkin swirl cake)

And  it was probably the tastiest Thankgiving Dinner to date. I don't know what it was that made it so special. It was definitely a group effort. My husband and my brother were in charge of the turkey and used Chef Marc's High Heat method.  My nephew Ryan made awesome mashed potatoes with parmesan cheese and fresh rosemary. He used a little sour cream, half and half, and I don't know what else (and I don't want to know!).  My mom's gravy was wonderful, and my niece made sweet potato rolls (yum!). My sister and I tried to make ourselves scarce. Maybe that was it?

I will follow up at the end of the week to let you know how fabulously successful my plan, and new found motivation is working out! : )

But I can't start until Tuesday. Right now I'm eating Jalapeno Artichoke and Fiesta Chicken Crostinis (it's all we have in the freezer)....

Short and Sweet!

It's been over a WEEK since I blogged. But I have stayed on track and I lost a .5 pound, which is better than nothin'!

I'm so busy with the horse. I moved her to a ranch that I LOVE and have been going every day after work and weekends. The barn has lights! Rob is thrilled that he gets to do a lot of undisturbed painting, and I'm just thrilled period!

Here is Maddie in her new digs with a mouthful of food (not unlike her owner most times.....)

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

Farmer's Market Bento Box

I kind of get the Occupy Wall Street movement, but I have to admit that it's a bit overwhelming for me to grasp in it's entirety. I think I would need a double major in Economics and US History, plus I would need to read an unabridged copy of a thorough study of the financial crisis/meltdown (which sounds really depressing and boring) to make complete heads and/or tails of the what and why of everybody's ire. 

I do understand a part of what led to the financial crisis (although maybe "understand" is a stretch); mortgage loans, sold to investors in "tranches" with the AAA rated mortgage loans mixed in with the poorly rated, higher risk loans, converted to MBS (mortgage backed securities), and the debacle that followed when those loans defaulted, investors freaked out, etc). There are so many layers of fault, so many places where the system broke down - government policy, Wall Street, banking giants, etc. And I think that is part of what Occupy is about - starting a dialogue. Raising questions. Holding people accountable. Not just for how it started, but how it was handled after the fact.

Anyway, for the time being, I have to be content with occupying what I know how to occupy....the local Farmer's Market. I've always been an advocate of "local", taking at least my own (miniscule) spending power away from the big corporations and lobbyists, and supporting the local growers. So maybe I am part of the Occupy movement, in my own way. The giant food corporations (I'm assuming) are part of the 1%, right? I can't always do it, but I try to use my purchasing power "for the good", and make food decisions that are responsible as often as I can.

Speaking of food, Rob is not here for dinner. So this is my ideal "Farmer's Market Bento Box" meal! Maybe I should call it a Happy Meal/ It makes me happy to eat it, that's for sure. I wonder if this is why I was so much thinner before I met my husband?

Calamata Olives grown right here in Northern California, organic Brussel Sprouts from the Central Coast, and Smoked Gouda from Oakdale. Call me crazy, but this meal is pure indulgance! I'm sure it tastes better because it's local, but it feels better to.

So, what's my weight? Well, I didn't gain, so that's good! Especially after a week of out of town vistitors, week night parties, dinner out, etc. Could have been worse. Much worse!

Love it, Love it, Love it!

I've been doing a lot of repeats of my favorite "tried and true" recipes lately. I can't help it when I find things I just love! But sometimes you have to make room in your life for new love.

This week, I rediscovered the pure joy of peanut butter, honey and brown sugar on fluffy whole wheat bread. I'm on day two and I don't see an end in sight. I can't imagine becoming tired of these "diabetes squares" as Jacob calls them (oh yes, he's into them now too). Pair it with an apple, and I have a fairly decent, not too terribly unhealthy "desert/lunch".

I also made these:

(not my photo - borrowed from "Eat, Live, Run" blog)

This is a delicious spicy shrimp and goat cheese quesadilla. Super easy to make, and really yummy! Simply saute' some Trader Joe's Fire Roasted Bell Pepper/Onion mix (freezer section), remove from pan, crank up the heat and saute some raw shrimp for about 30 seconds, (while sprinkling with cayenne and chili powder), then layer a tortilla with shredded jack cheese, crumbled goat cheese, pepper mixture, shrimp, 'nother tortilla , and cook in a non-stick pan, flipping once, until done!

I also made this delicious Hearty Black Bean and Chorizo soup from Weight Watchers (I used Soy Chorizo)and served it with Asiago bread from the bakery, sliced and toasted in the oven with cheese.

(I'm sorry, the photo doesn't do it justice, and even if I knew what I was doing with my camera, it would sill look yucky brown and not too appetizing. But IT IS SO GOOD!!! Trust me!)

Fitclub is off to a slow start this week. Apparently the prerequisite of Standard Time was simply an excuse because as I awoke at 6:30 to sunny skies this morning, I pulled the comforter over my head and grumbled something about it being too light for such an ungodly hour. I think I just need a few days to adjust.....

Oh, in a totally unrelated note, did I TELL you that I TRIED ON a pair of OVERALLS finally? Oh Ha ha hahaha HA HA hahaha ha (sob sob). Yeah no.

Wow!!! or "UNCLE!"

Wow, because it's been a month since I decided to end the dieting madness and "just be", and "UNCLE" Because I give!

After the nice break, I realized that sure, I can maintain my weight (more or less) by eating the usual stuff (I'm still a fairly "clean eater"), but I decided that I want the scale to actually move more than I want to eat whatever and whenever I want.

My friend Kristin and I were talking about motivation on one of our hikes last week and how the "apathy vs. action" scale needs to tip sharply in one direction over another in order for us to have a strong enough desire or motivation to do something to change. If we are just sort of dissatisfied, that's not really enough to force us into any action. My scale tipped drastically last week (see last week's post) which created a definite "Call to Action!"

The break was nice, refreshing, just what I needed. But I'm ready to go to work again.

So first I started Fit Club, which is going well. I've walked a couple of times and I hiked once or twice too. But I realized that I need Standard Time so that it's not pitch black outside when I walk in the morning. Niles is nice, but it's no Pleasanton. There is no army of friendly city workers watering the plants that line Main Street in the wee hours. No nice shop owners putting out bowls of water for the dogs who will soon be making their early morning treks downtown. No. I need it to be light out.

Of course the walking is in addition to regular horse back riding and stall mucking which I think should also be considered "exercise". This is Maddie. She's officially mine now. She thinks I'm fabulous the way I am but wouldn't mind if I lost a few pounds either:

I still do yoga almost nightly, plus a weekly "girls night" yoga session that includes wine, stories, laughter and fun.

I went back on Weight Watchers this week and lost 3.5 pounds. Yippee!

17 to go!