February Wrap-Up

I have not been blogging consistently lately. Part of the reason is that I have been really busy. A consequence (and perhaps also a reason) has been that I have not been eating mindfully or well. I am glad it is the end of the month. I hope to make some changes next month.

RESOLUTION EVALUATION:

1. Eat Well: I started out doing well on this resolution. Along the way somewhere, I stopped doing it. I have not been eating horribly or anything, but for the last week and a half, I have not been eating very mindfully. Nor have I kept up with the resolution about eating a fruit or vegetable with every meal.

2. Exercise more: I did this. And I feel proud of myself. I did start up that bootcamp class I had signed up for. It has been an interesting experience - painful both physically and emotionally. I have a greater awareness of how out-of-shape I am, and have done some things in class that I did not know I could do. At the same time, I have been overwhelmed by the number of things I am doing and have taken a break from my folk-dance class for a month or so. I am not sure if I will renew my membership at the bootcamp, and once I decide that, I will decide what other exercise I want to do. I continue to do my contra-dancing and still love it.

3. Pamper myself more:
(a) Spending more time with friends - I threw myself into this one with a vengeance and about two and a half weeks in, got overwhelmed with everything I was doing and have cut back on socializing since then. I will resolve next month to go at this more slowly.
(b) Taking a mid-month vacation - Done! I went to Portland for the weekend.
(c) Buying myself a book - Done! I bought a collection of Wodehouse's stories.
(d) Give myself a pretty accessory - Did not do this. No idea why.

4. Read a Food/Exercise/Wellness Book: Done! I read The End of Overeating - a very interesting book about the American food industry and what drives us to overeat and what we can do to manage that. Very interesting!

Now the food:

Breakfast
Quinoa Porridge w. Milk, Almond Milk and Maple Syrup

Snack
What was advertised as a blood orange, but turned out to be
half-orange-half-blood orange.

LunchGreek Panini, Kettle Chips

Snack
I remembered to take the pic only after I had half of this -
Coffee w. Creamer, Two slices of Marzipan Cake

Dinner
I had a starch binge. I cooked white rice after a long time and made lemon-peanut rice. I then binged on it. White rice tastes delicious. Then I had two generous portions of SF Banana-Pear Cake w. Maple Syrup.
I conveniently "forgot" to photograph this.

Exercise
Horrible Monday morning Bootcamp. The guy calls it "Active Dynamics", but it leaves me feeling that I want to be inactive and un-dynamic. Bear crawls, jumping, push ups, squats and blood tears.

I also went to my evening Square Dance class. Dancing is so much more fun than pushups.

Out of Control

I talked in my last post about feeling in control and making decisions in the moment. Life suddenly got busier and for the last two days I have not been feeling in control at all. Especially in terms of food. When I get tense, I tend to overeat. And I did - for the last two days, I have been eating all sorts of stuff. Remember that resolution of mine about eating fruit or veg with each meal. That went completely down the drain over the last two days. I hope to get myself back on track this weekend.

2-24-11

Breakfast
Cranberry Raisin Granola, Milk; Banana-Pear Bread

Snack
Blueberries - I snacked on these all day.

Lunch
Quinoa w. Kimchi Soup
Jalapeno Cornbread, Banana-Pear Bread

Samoas

Tea
Tea, Rusk

Dinner
Jalapeno Cornbread, Guacamole
Unphotographed Blood Orange

Exercise
Bootcamp class. It was not as bad today as it was on Mon and Tue.


2-25-2011

Breakfast
Cranberry Raisin Granola, Milk

Snack
Apple

Lunch
Guacamole-Spinach Sandwich on Sprouted WG Bread
Spinach w. Bragg's

Snacks
Sugar Scone

Unphotographed Lentil Chips

Dinner
Piping Hot Lemon-Pepper Chickpeas

Unphotographed Banana-Pear Bread w. Maple Syrup

Feb 23rd

Nothing remarkable to post today. I skipped bootcamp, and my muscles seem to mostly have recovered. I have to brave the snow storm tomorrow to get to the bootcamp. The drill sergeant said that class would go regardless of inclement weather!

Breakfast
Banana-Walnut Cereal w. Milk

Lunch
Avocado-Tomato Sandwich

Tea
I made it home for tea (and rusk) for the first time in nearly two weeks. All of last week, I was seemed to have some social engagement or other. I made good my resolution to make time for myself this week. No engagements in the evenings for this week. Alone-time suits me.

Dinner
No pics. I ate a bunch of baked things - Jalapeno Cornbread, Banana Bread and SF Pastry sticks

I decided on two big trips today - one to Las Vegas and Salt Lake City. And one to Minneapolis and Iowa. I decided to celebrate by opening a bottle of Lambrusco - one of my favorite sparkling wines. I also used my new wine glasses for the first time!

The Moment of Control

One of the things that I took away with me from the book I "read" last weekend (The End of Overeating) is that no matter how out of control we feel when yielding to compulsive behaviors, there is always a moment where we have control and can choose to act in a way that we know is good for us. I have resolved to using this bit of wisdom to help me make better decisions.

Take this morning for instance. I had not intended to attend boot-camp today. But when my square dance class was cancelled, I seized the moment and set my alarm to ring at 4am. When the alarm rang, I woke up, was sore, and did not want to get dressed. I waited for "the moment" and got out of bed. Each decision - from brushing my teeth, to getting out of my apartment after I had dressed, to not immediately driving back home once I actually made it to the boot-camp class, was made in those discrete moments of clarity.

I tried using the moments of clarity to make good decisions about food. It did not work as well. I must try harder.

Breakfast
I need to go grocery shopping. Breakfast was a blend of odds and ends:
Pear; Cottage Cheese w. Honey on a Rice Cake; Sesame Ryvita w. Peas Curry
(I almost never eat curry for breakfast. But this was about all I had at home)

Snack
Jasmine Tea, Half a Scone

Lunch
Veggie/Rice Stew; the rest of the scone

Snack
Unphotographed Apple

Dinner
Kimchi Soup over Quinoa; Edamame
I also ate some Quinoa w. Maple Syrup for dessert

Satanic Exercises

When I went to boot-camp last week, it was still orientation time, and we learnt how to do a few basic stretches, did some push-ups, squats and some foam rolling. It was more than I was used to, but pretty manageable. Today was much different. We met outdoors today at 5am. It was freezing cold. We did something awful called "bear crawling". This exercise was probably invented by Satan. I was one of the last people in the line, and did not finish. I was pushing back the tears in my eyes - I felt so awfully out of shape and terrible. And when I finally stood up on my hind legs, I thought I was going to swoon. Then the nausea hit me and I was trying not to gag. Then we did push-ups. Then squats. I am very very sore today.

The only thing that makes it bearable is that my class is pretty supportive. A woman in class told me that I was a "rock-star" for trying. I feel nothing like a rock-star and have a very hard time believing that she meant it. But I know that she meant to be supportive, and I appreciate that. That is what will take me back tomorrow.

Breakfast
WW English Muffin, Cottage Cheese, Blood Orange

Snack
The Samoas finally arrived. I also got a box of Trefoils for the folks at the office. I ate a few of these and a few Thin Mints before realizing that it was starting to look like a binge. I decided to take the rest to the Square Dance class, but the community center was closed for President's Day, and the class was canceled. I've locked them in the boot of my car while I think of another way to get rid of them.

Lunch
Spinach/Acorn Squash/Chickpea/Rice Stew
I had some birthday cake, so did not eat the apple. I wish I'd done the opposite.

Co-worker's Birthday Cake

Dinner
Chappati, Peas Curry
Edamame, Blood Orange x2

Weekend Vacation

I followed through on more than one goal this weekend:
3(b). Take a mid-month vacation and travel to Portland for the weekend.
3(c). Purchase a book/DVD that I want to.
4. Read a Food/Exercise/Wellness Book.

FRIDAY 02-18-2011
I started on Friday morning packing a bag of snacks:

I wanted a bagel for breakfast, but the GPS took me to a place that was closed, so I settled for:
Cashew Cookie Larabar and Banana (pardon my dusty carseat)

Resolution#4 - I listened to The End of Overeating on CD while I drove. It is an excellent book, and I plan on making some new resolutions based on this book.

It was pouring rain when I got to Portland, so I went to IKEA and did some shopping that I needed to get done. Then I had a NF Frozen Yogurt there, followed by a Quiznos Torpedo before hauling my wet self to my hotel room. The rain did not ease off all evening, so I stayed in, watched videos, hung out by the hotel pool, and planned my Saturday.

In the evening, I ventured out and got Thai drunken noodles for dinner:
This was tasty, but must have contained a lot of fish sauce because right after eating, I threw up most of it. I hate the taste of fish, but even if the taste is masked by spices, my body rejects it.

I then soothed my nerves with coffee:


SATURDAY 02-19-2011
I went on a walking tour of Portland downtown.

Gerding Theater.

It was a gorgeous day, but the streets were pretty empty. Everyone must have headed to the coast. I drove back home along Hwy-101, and the coast was packed with people.

View from the Waterfront Park

Portland's China Town

Mary's Club - apparently Courtney Love used to be a stripper here

Some random place that looked photo-worthy

Powell's Bookstore - the largest independent bookstore in the world

Here, I followed up with Resolution #3(c). I purchased a used book of my favorite author.
It serves as entertainment, self-care reward, and a memento of my trip!

What I ate:
I started out with a banana and some assorted snacks from my snack-bag. Odd breakfast!


I was driving out of Portland and stopped at a restaurant that turned out to be marvelous!
Hot Sandwich w. Cheese, Peppers and Breaded Eggplant. This was half their serving. The other half was wrapped up in foil (in the background), and I ate that for dinner!

SUNDAY 02-20-2011

Breakfast
WW Toast w. Pepper/Artichoke Tapenade, Blood Orange, Cottage Cheese

Lunch
Spinach/Acorn Squash/Chickpea/Brown Rice Stew; Blood Orange

Tea
Hot Chocolate, Rusk x2

Dinner
Red Pepper-Artichoke Pasta, Edamame
I also ate some Gouda Cheese w. Lunch and Dinner

The last of that bottle of wine

Two Day Recap

This is going to be really quick post. I am very happy today. Firstly, my new office furniture has been delivered. It looks wonderful! Secondly, and more importantly, I am following up on a resolution I made at the beginning of the month - the one about taking a mid-month vacation. I took tomorrow off, and am going to Portland to spend the weekend. Other highlights of the week:

* I had a friend over for dinner and a movie. It was wonderfully relaxing
* I went to bootcamp 2x this week. I feel good. I'll up that next week.
* I weighed at WeightWatchers for the first time in 3 weeks. I lost 1 lb.
- this is particularly precious because I had not been eating mindfully

02-16-11

Breakfast
WW English Muffin w. SF Strawberry Preserves; Cottage Cheese

Lunch
Veggie Panini, Kettle Chips

Surprise
I came home to find this in the mail: Bragg's seasoning packets

Dinner
Kimchi Soup made by my dinner guest

Red Pepper Artichoke Pasta; Spinach/Pear/Pecan Salad
I forgot to take a pic yesterday. I had the same thing for dinner tonight

We watched an Iranian movie while drinking Sparkling Lemonade
And eating unphotographed ice-cream bars

02-17-11

Breakfast
Banana (pre-bootcamp)

Oatmeal w. Pear, Pecans, Maple Syrup

Lunch
Red Pepper Artichoke Pasta, Bosc Pear, SF Coconut Cookies
I had a few more cookies after this.

Snack
Ryvita, Habanero Cheddar x2
I also had a bit of Wensleydale

Dinner
Pasta, Spinach/Pear/Pecan Salad. Same as yesterday. Same pic too!
Unphotographed icecream bars (2)