Still here

Good morning.

Sorry for the disappearing act - it has been one crazy week.  Stress is through the roof, although it is good stuff.

Anyway, I plan to be back Monday with more details.

Take care of yourself!

Monday, already!

Good morning.

Yesterday I roasted a whole chicken to use in my lunch salads this week.  It came out good and it will be a nice change from my plain old baked boneless skinless thighs.

I didn't have any leftovers for breakfast (since last night was leftovers from saturday night).  I did have a sausage patty left from breakfast yesterday, and I had that with 2 boiled eggs for breakfast today.  Lunch is my salad and dinner is ???.  I didn't take anything out of the freezer - oops!

I got up and walked this morning (again).  It's getting muggy, which means my hair is getting frizzy.  But the walk was very good.  I spent the time thinking about things I've accomplished and achieved.  Lately I've been really hard on myself and honestly it's not fair.  I think that's made it difficult for me to feel like I'm worth my own effort, which is not true.

Have a good day!  You are worth your best effort - and so am I.

Sunday

Hello there.

Hope you are having a good weekend.  Mine is going pretty good.  Got up and took an extra long walk this morning, followed by a shower and a nice breakfast (sausage and eggs).  Did my food prep, cleaned the kitchen, and made a nice salad for lunch.  Tonight's dinner is leftovers from last night - steak and asparagus.

I've tried to spend some time today just being quiet and thinking.  It's harder than it sounds.  :-)  I haven't reached any profound conclusions, but I am feeling more positive.  I continue to focus on all the good things in my life and to try and appreciate them now.

Take care.

Time to get real

(Everything is better with a dog picture!)

Happy Friday!

I came to a realization last night - well, I've known it I just ignored it.  Slowly I've let a couple of poor food choices creep back in.  My mood has been pretty low this week, and a bad cycle was beginning.  Last night I realized I HAD to stop it.

Why do we do this to ourselves?

I am so fortunate to be blessed with good genes and good health, and I need to preserve that - not abuse it!  Sure, I was packing and eating healthy meals, but too many pistachios is a bad choice.  And beer?  Hello, I know better!

I have really been in a funk.  It's more than just missing my family (although I certainly do).  I know where I want to be with my life, but the path to achieving those goals is so uncertain.  In many ways I feel paralyzed by uncertainty - but no choice is a choice that leads down a path too.  I feel like I'm drifting.

Ugh.

I'm not trying to sounds vague, I just honestly don't know how to articulate my feelings and confusion.

I keep telling myself that time will provide clarity, but I feel like I'm not getting anywhere - that I'm just spinning my wheels.

HOWEVER.  All that may be, but I still have to take care of myself.  I have to care enough to do that.

Here is my plan for this week:

Walk daily.  Plan, prep, eat healthy meals.
Brush, floss, get plenty of sleep.
No beer.

Starting today.

Cruising Along

Again, not too much to say today, but I wanted to check in.

Had an omelet for breakfast, packed my salad for lunch, and tonight is salmon, sweet potato fries, and a tbd green veggie.

We are now in our 6th week of doing T25, which means we have moved up from the "alpha" workouts to the "beta."  I can't say they are harder per se, but they certainly move faster.  We're all just trying to hang in there & do the best we can. :-)  I will say I am really enjoying this program!

My husband offered to buy a web cam for his computer so I could Skype with Jordan. :-)

I hope you have a great day! 

I hate the phrase "hump day"

Happy Wednesday.

Feeling some anxiety, but its at a maneagable level.  No tears or panic attacks.  Thank you lord for modern medicines!  Right now the extra help is much appreciated.

I was thinking about dishes earlier.  I LOVE dishes.  Two things my house has too much of are books and dishes.  I love living in a clean, uncluttered home.  But as many times as I have pared down my books, I still own a lot.

And I've pared down my dishes too, but I still have a lot of those as well!  My everyday dishes belonged to my grandmother.  They aren't necessarily what I would pick if I were going to the store, but I love them.  Every time I eat off those dishes I am reminded of my grandparents and my family, and eating off them when I was a kid. 

There's another up side to using those dishes as well: Have you noticed the size of modern dishes?  Plates are giant platters and bowls hold a pound of pasta!  Modern dishes are significantly larger!  My grandmother's dishes have both dinner and luncheon plates.  The bowls are a reasonable size.  Using those dishes is a form of built in portion control because they hold the right amount of food! 

It sounds like a little thing, but its a nice visual reminder of how much food is "enough". 

I hope you have a good day!

Stormy Tuesday

I woke up this morning fully intending to take a walk, but I woke up to a stormy morning.  T25 will have to be my exercise for the day.  After saying I planned to switch my walks to the evening, I found that dark was preferable to muggy and hot, so mornings it has been.  Until today!

I don't really have a lot to say - feeling kinda blah.  But I am doing ok - made breakfast, packed lunch, have a good meal planned & prepped at home tonight: baked eggplant with a homemade meat sauce and roasted green veggie of some sort.

Just wanted to check in so I could be accountable and let you know I'm still here.

Have a good day!

Happy Monday

Hope you had a nice weekend - mine was pretty low key.  The usual chores plus I met a friend for breakfast yesterday, which was really nice.

I went for my annual physical and got a clean bill of health.  She suggested I lose a few pounds, and I agreed.  She suggested Weight Watchers, but I prefer to continue on the primal path.  I feel good, have good energy, sleep well, etc.

After doing the Whole 30 I think I will add back in enough greek yogurt to make my ranch dressing - that's a half cup per week.  Other than that, I will largely leave out dairy - I like my almond milk fine and cheese is just too much of a trigger food for me to have in the house.

I don't miss my stevia in my coffee, not do I miss soda.  They are gone, and that's fine with me.  I'd given up pasta and grains before doing the Whole 30, and I don't miss them much.  I do miss the occasional bread.

The big thing I realized is that beer has to be banished - not only is alcohol not helpful to weight loss, it makes me snacky, and that's bad.  So its gotta stay banished.

That's about it.  Take care.

A Friday post about sushi - and finding loved unexpectedly

Sushi

Sushi is defined as "a Japanese dish consisting of small balls or rolls of vinegar-flavored cold cooked rice served with a garnish of raw fish, vegetables, or egg."  I define it as "heaven on earth."  I love sushi, but .. rice....

I am bringing this up because recently our cafeteria at work began offering sushi freshly made, right after I started my Whole 30.  I could walk past all the cookies, cakes, and pastries in the world, but the sushi was tough.  One day I stopped to look and discovered that they actually had a roll that was vegetables in the center, surrounded by crab.  No rice!  Which I guess means it technically isn't sushi, but it's close enough for my taste buds!  I plan to try one today.

Love

Several years ago, my husband and I decided that we wanted to get a second little dog to be a playmate to Bess, our chihuahua mix.  The shelter where we lived didn't often have small dogs, but when my mom saw one as the "pet of the week" on the local tv show, she offered to meet me there over my lunch hour to see if we could find a good companion for Bess. 

We found an adorable yorkie mix called "Little Miss Sunshine", who seemed perfect.  I called my husband and we adopted her.  Since she hadn't been spayed, she couldn't come home with us right away.  Later that evening I got a call from the shelter, asking if we had taken the dog home.  I said no, that she had to be spayed.  Turns out she had been stolen from the shelter!

I was very upset.  They offered to let me come in and pick out another dog.  I explained that we were looking specifically for a companion dog for our chihuahua and that they didn't have any other dogs that fit our bill.  The lady said they had a couple of recent intakes that weren't yet out in the general population and that I could come in and get a first look.  Tearfully I agreed.

The next day I again met my mom at the shelter.  We sat in the waiting room and one of the ladies brought out a white jack russell chihuahua mix.  I was concerned she would be a little large to be a friend to Bess, but my mom disagreed.  We played with her for a bit and mom really liked her.  I referred to her as "consolation dog."  But I agreed that this could be the replacement dog.

Well, the rest is history.  Playmate to Bess?  Eh, sometimes.  For the first several months Bess just looked at her in disgust.  I think she's happier being the sole princess and center of the universe, although occasionally she shocks us all by pretending to be a dog and playing with Jordan.

Instead of becoming Bess' best friend, Jordan became mine.  She is the dog of my heart and I am her person.  She loves my husband, she loves my son, but she thinks I make the sun come up each day.  It may seem silly, but that little dog makes my world a better place.

On that note, have a wonderful weekend!

 

Mixed Bag

Yesterday was a mixed bag.  Workday was good - productive, busy.  Ate the packed food, did my T25 workout - all routine.  After work I picked up a couple of books at the library, then prepared a nice dinner (baked pork chops, green beans, and sweet potato fries).  I like chopping the potato into fries because they cook in the same time as everything else.

After dinner I was kinda in a funk.  And I was craving sweets!  That never happens - I'm not a sweets person really.  I can easily eat 1 cookie, or 1 small slice of pie (like at my son's birthday) and not touch it again.  That was weird.  And I didn't sleep well - the thermostat was up a degree higher than normal and I was hot.  I dunno.

I didn't manage to get out and go for a walk - which I should do in the evening since its so dark in the morning.  I will tonight.  There I said it - now I have to!

I am loving the tweak of eating my leftovers for breakfast and going back to my big salad at lunch.  For one it makes it easier to get in veggies in the morning (I had green beans and a pork chop this morning).  For two it means I'm getting a good 4-5 cups of raw veggies at lunch - I was missing my raw veggies!

I have a number of small tasks I really need to take care of today and tomorrow.  Sadly, my motivation came back for a day and is now playing "hide and go seek". 

Having said all that, I am feeling much better than I was this time last week!

Have a good day!

Thanks

First of all, thank you for the kind comments yesterday.  There are plenty of people with problems far more serious than my own.  It still gets me down, but I try to keep things in perspective.  And I know that sticking to my healthy eating and exercise habits will support my mental and emotional health as well as the physical.

Yesterday a friend called me in the middle of a panic attack. I was glad that I was able to help her settle herself using some of the breathing and relaxation techniques I have taught myself.

Not too much to report here. I may change my morning walk to the evenings - I don't like getting up and walking in the dark.  Enjoying having my lunch salad back in rotation.

I found a recipe for a salad dressing the other day which relied on chia seeds to thicken it.  I am wondering if you could use chia or ground flax combined with almond milk as a base for making a ranch style dressing?  I've been making my own ranch for years.  I used almond milk and greek yogurt, but with no dairy on the Whole 30 I am looking for an alternate thickener.  Hmmm, I may play with that this weekend.

Have a good day!

Struggling

Guys, I have been really struggling.  I'm not talking about food - I mean mentally, emotionally.

At first I just thought it was seeing my family, and being separated all over again, and getting out of my routine.  It took me a few days to realize there was more to it.  (Hey, I readily admit I'm not in tune with myself!). 

I have been working with a recruiter up in NC.  Before I left a job came up that seemed like a really terrific fit.  The hiring leader was interested in me and it seemed to be going well, but then they had to put their hiring on hold.  It could still pan out, but I realized that I was terribly disappointed.

Trying to find a job via internet is extremely frustrating - it feels like you drop resumes into a black hole.  So it was great when this job seemed to come my way and seemed like such a great fit. 

So I'm back here, without any concrete prospects.  Sigh.  It's hard being the sole/ primary bread winner. 

I'm not counting days in my Whole 30.  Right now I am focused on one day at a time, one hour if need be.  When washing your hair seems like a major chore, you don't focus on the "big picture". 

I've made a "to do" list, and I'm focused on crossing a couple things off it each day.  Times like these the fact that I plan and prep my food in advance is a godsend.  That keeps me eating the way I need to.  My veggies are bought and prepped for my lunch salad.  Homemade dressing is done.     

Anyway, admitting that I am having a tough time is a good step.

Good morning

For me, one of the things about being on a computer at work all day means that when I get home I don't want to be on the computer!

I generally log on enough to check personal email and spend a few minutes checking in with friends on facebook.  But this weekend I didn't log in at all.  I did my chores (shopping, food prep, cleaned the bathroom etc.) and other than that I read and watched movies.  Kinda boring, but I needed some down time after a rather whirlwind trip to NC.

Still doing Whole 30.  I have rearranged my meals slightly.  I missed my big lunch salad, so I decided to move my dinner leftovers to breakfast.  It's not like I was having traditional breakfast anyway.  And this way I get my salad back, which I missed.

Tonight is the last night of my sewing class.  I have learned a fair bit and I would definitely take another if the opportunity came up. 

Hope you have a good day!

I'm back, and I'll be back here

Good morning.

I didn't have a computer in NC, and didn't bother using anyone's.  It was a really nice visit, but it was hard to leave my family (again).  So I've been in a bit of a funk since my return.

Before leaving I planned, prepped, and froze some foods so I'd have them for the remainder of this week until I go shopping Saturday morning.  So that has made things easier.

I plan to be back to regular posting on Monday.

Have a good weekend!