Ave Avril

And Spring arose on the garden fair,
Like the Spirit of Love felt everywhere;
And each flower and herb on Earth's dark breast
Rose from the dreams of its wintry rest.
-------------------------------------------------------------Shelley



Last month, it was almost as though I took the month off from doing much that was worthwhile and disregarded the resolutions that I had made. I resolve to make this month better. In the last two days, I have already seen a return to old eating and exercise habits, and resolve to do them over.

1. Eat Healthily: I have come to the realization that for a very long time yet, I will have to make a concerted effort to eat the way I think I ought to. I will never be one who looks forward to eating small quantities of healthy things. But in order to lose weight, and keep diabetes and joint problems at bay, I need to. I will make an extra effort to eat well this month. I resolve to make at least one meal a day either a salad or a soup. I will also limit my snacking.

2. Exercise: What I said about needing effort to do what I think I ought to be doing is all the more true for exercise. I hate exercising, and every time I set out to do it, I have to battle the inner loafer in me. This is going to be a very busy month for me work-wise. I will start the folk dance class again, and will walk more. I will reserve more strenuous exercise for later.

3. Vocabulary: When I first came to the US, people remarked on the versatility of my vocabulary. Over the last decade, I have lost a great deal of the fluidity I used to possess when talking. I sound mundane and banal now. I hope this month to continue to put into use words I know that have gone into premature retirement.

4. Travel: I have larger trips scheduled in May and June. For this month, I restrict myself to: (a) A day-trip to Portland, and (b) A weekend trip to the Oregon Coast.

5. Busy-stuff: I have been postponing some tasks, and propose to do them this month for sure: (a) Help my sister with her business school applications, (b) Apply for licensure, (c) Finish what I need to do to apply for my belated graduation walk in May.

March Resolution Wrap-Up

This was a bad month for resolutions. I did not do almost half of what I resolved to do. And as a consequence, I did not blog as much. When there isn't enough to celebrate, I don't blog. Oh well... there had to be a bad month this year...

RESOLUTION EVALUATION

1. Eat Well: I did not do well on this goal at all. I had resolved to eat lots of Indian food, but only ate very little Indian food. And what I did eat was not all that great either.

2. Exercise: I decided to quit bootcamp after all. And I felt much better after I did. No more 4am waking up. And my knees are thanking me profoundly. I still do the push-ups in order to keep my arms strong, but other than that, I am taking a total hiatus from non-dance exercise for a while. In the meantime, I purchased a 1 mo membership at a gym that I will redeem sometime in the next couple of months. I also bought another bootcamp membership which I will redeem when the winter of this year rolls around. I am walking more. Exploring Eugene on foot is fun!

3. Detox: I decided not to do the raw-food cleanse, but picked a detox based on Fast Track Detox Diet. I started out strong eating liver and colon friendly foods, but halfway through, upon further research decided that the detox was more-or-less bogus. The recommended way of eating was good, but I doubt that I was ridding my body of any significant toxins. So, I ended up doing a half-measure detox. I will continue to eat lots of liver loving foods nonetheless.

4. Self-Care: I did not do any of what I resolved to do except socialize. I also purchased myself a 1-year membership to a fitness magazine.

5. Financial Goals: Check! I did my taxes! And I enrolled for retirement benefits.

March, I Welcome You!

Winds of March, we welcome you,
There is work for you to do.
Work and play and blow all day,
Blow the winter cold away.
-------------------------------------------------------------Unknown



Last month, I completed most resolutions that were fun to do. The ones that were harder, I started, but gave up on. This March, I have work to do. I want to make good February's failed resolutions, and also add to my list accomplishing a few new ones.

1. Eat Well: This is an ongoing goal for me. I am going to attempt something new this month. I am Indian, and the food that most satisfies me is Indian food. I resolve this month to cook and eat only Indian food at home. I'll make exceptions for when I am eating out. I hope this will help in two ways - Firstly, I will cook more healthy food since very few Indian food ingredients are processed to any significant extent. Secondly, since I am more quickly satisfied with Indian food, perhaps I won't eat as much.

2. Exercise: After bootcamp class yesterday, I nearly quit. This bootcamp thingy is really hard. It is good to have a team to encourage me to do things, but I feel pushed a bit too much, it is not fun, and I end up feeling like my bad knee is dislocated. I have not decided whether I will continue in this class or not. If I do, I plan on enrolling in a low-impact exercise class. We'll see. For now, the 3x/week resolution stays. If I drop the class, I'll up it to 4x/week to make up for the difference in intensity.

3. Detox: I have been thinking of embarking on a raw-food cleanse. My goal is to rid my body of excess toxins, and to regulate my eating to a more natural pattern. I have been reading horror stories of all sorts of cleanses, and hope that mine won't be too bad. I have set aside three days over Spring break where I can stay home and cope with any physical and emotional unpleasantness that comes with the cleanse.

4. Self-Care: Like last month, this is a multi-part goal. (a) Take a day-trip to the Pacific Coast, (b) Give myself the accessory that I did not get last month, (c) Read at least one book - I love reading. I read thirty one books last year. But all this added exercise this year has taken away from my reading time. I hope to start again, (d) Socialize with friends, but do so only about once a week so that I am not overwhelmed, (e) Read a food/wellness/nutrition book.

5. Financial Goals: (a) Enroll for retirement benefits with my workplace. I have been here almost six months, and this month will be able to start putting money away for my retirement. The idea of it makes me feel all grown-up. My employer pays my share and matches it. I plan on keeping it at that, and using my own money to pay off my debts. Once that is done, I will add to the retirement fund. (b) Get my taxes done.

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.

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

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)

No Time To Cook

If you look at my pictures from the last two weeks, you'll notice that I have not eaten much home cooked food. I am not a big salad eater - especially in the winter. So what I really need to do is just to cook some stuff. I have the needed ingredients for at least five meals at home - so not having groceries is not really an excuse for me. I just have been busy. Swamped, overwhelmed, washed away on a giant wave of things from my to-do list!

I had a late Valentine's dinner with a friend, and then went to a Greek night event at my folk-dance group. I am not a skilled folk dancer. So, although I can pass muster at my beginner's class, I can usually be found at the folk dance parties sitting on a chair wide-eyed and open-mouthed staring at the beautiful moves that the people who have been doing it for decades pull out of their dancing repertoire. Sigh!

Breakfast
I went to bed at midnight, woke up at 4am and decided that it was not worth going to bootcamp class. So I went back to bed for another three and a half hours and woke up realizing that I only had a half hour to get ready for work and drop off my car at the workshop for servicing. So, I ended up eating:
Half an apple

Snack
I ordered a box of Samoas. But the girl scout cookie order ended up being delayed. So, the girl scout I ordered the cookies from and her dad, baked me this Valentine cookie.

Lunch
I work at a stupid food-facility-free building. The rain was pelting down, and my plans of getting lunch at the cafe were foiled because there was no way I was going to get myself soaking wet. So, I ate:
An apple

Hot Chocolate and candy. I also ate four more bits of candy after this.

Belated Valentine's Dinner
Savory crepe w. spinach, mushroom, tomato, artichoke, pesto & cheese
Spinach, walnut and chevre salad w. Raspberry dressing.

I also ate a small plate of Greek desserts at the Greek night at the folk dance club.

February - Sweet and Small

Freezing
Cold winds,
Biting chills, and
White snow fluffed hills
Valentine’s day, oh how gay!
President’s day is coming our way.
February, sweet and small, greatest month of all.
-------------------------------------------------- Eric Lies, 28 word poem for February

I am not of the opinion that February is the greatest month of all. It's too cold and too short. But my sister's birthday is in February, and that is one of the happiest days for me. Valentine's day is exciting also. And I resolve to make this February more fun than the January just past. This is what I resolve to do:

1. Eat Well: In addition to eating mindfully and in moderation, which is a year-long goal for me, I hope this month to eat better. One very specific thing I plan on doing is to eat either a fruit or vegetable with every meal (excluding snacks). I am vegetarian, so this sounds easy. In reality however, it is all too easy to eat entire meals that are processed beyond recognition and not munch on a fruit/vegetable. I will purchase loads of fruit.

2. Exercise more: I will stick with the 3x/month goal. Last month, I was not able to do this each week. I will try harder this month. I had planned on starting the boot camp class next month, but I think I might sign up for it this month anyway. I have not decided yet. But in any case, I will add on a new exercise class/regimen.

3. Pamper myself more: In my January wrap-up I talked about how I recognized that I was not really sure what I was doing for self-care. I have decided to set specific goals: (a) Spend night/weekend time w. friends at least 3x this month (this is harder than it sounds because I am new here and don't really have many friends yet), (b) Take a mid-month vacation and travel to Portland for the weekend, (c) Purchase a book/DVD that I want to (I usually get books and DVDs from the library, but owning something I like has an entirely different feel to it), (d) Give myself a pretty accessory.

4. Read a Food/Exercise/Wellness Book: I love reading. While I rarely read non-fiction, I find that the genre of non-fiction that has to do with healthiness and the body is one that I enjoy reading. I will read one book from this genre this month.

January Wrap Up

About a year or so ago, when I lived in Minneapolis, I got a pilates DVD from the library. It was good - hard for me since I am overweight, and because I am not a physically flexible person. After trying the DVD out, I looked it up online. One of the Google results that popped up was on a website called The Kim Challenge. I read the review, and then browsed the blog, and was instantly hooked. Kim catalogues her daily food intake, and also shares other thoughts about herself, body image, exercise and food. Through Kim's website, I was introduced to a whole new world of food blogging. It has been over a year, and I still read Kim's blog every time she updates it. I also am a regular visitor to lots of other food blogs.

So, when I eventually decided to make a food blog for myself, I decided to base it on Kim's website. I have already shamelessly copied her style of posting her meals. Lacking her originality, and being extremely influenced by her style in general, I am now also going to copy Kim's style of rounding off each month with resolution evaluation and setting new monthly resolutions. Her resolutions have always motivated me to try harder to work on myself and my own self-care - especially related to food and my body. Kim, if you ever read this, you are my blogging hero! I adore you and your blog and your ideals!

RESOLUTION EVALUATION:

1. Eat mindfully and in moderation: I did this for the most part. I had more energy for this at the beginning of the month. Towards the last two weeks, I have not been doing this as consistently or well. This will continue to be a goal next month.

2. Exercise more: I have definitely been exercising more. I set a goal of 3x/week, which I have not always met. But I have been doing at least 2x/week. I also have been doing more things than just walk - I have joined a folk dance and a square dance class, and have been going to contradance nights. The folk and square dance classes are not really strenuous exercise, but they do involve moving and not sitting. And they are easy on my knees.

3. Blog: Most days this month, I have blogged. I sometimes forgot to take pictures, and sometimes have been too busy to post. But I did log almost everything I ate whether I had a pictures or not at least within two days. So I did more than moderately well on this goal.

4. Reduce my debt: This is not really a food/exercise goal. But it involves self-care. This month, I paid off the last of the money I owe friends. So from now on, I can chip away at the credit card debt - it will take me about a year to get rid of this, but I will do it eventually!

5. Pamper myself more: I have been doing this also. It is not always very clear what I am doing to pamper myself more. I think of the dancing as self-care. The hanging out with friends is self-care also. I also gave myself a pedicure and bought myself Belgian Truffles. Perhaps I ought to pay more attention to what I do to pamper myself. This will be a continuing goal for me.

Welcome 2011, Welcome AzaleaEats

It is the start of a new decade and the perfect time to make and keep resolutions. I have several. Many are food related, some are not. Here are my resolutions:

1. Eat mindfully and in moderation: I have always struggled with eating in moderation and will go on frequent binges. While I generally eat healthy food, I tend to go overboard in how much I eat. Consequently, the pounds piled on. This weights me down both physically and emotionally. I hope this year to make a start in the right direction and lose 10kgs (22 lbs).

2. Exercise more: To make this specific and realistic, I am going to say - exercise at least 3x/week for at least half an hour each time. I have a knee-injury and doing strenuous exercise that involves my legs just leaves me in excruciating pain.

3. Blog: Start and maintain this blog. I will chronicle what I eat and how much I exercise as a means of maintaining accountability.

4. Reduce my debt: When I moved to Oregon for my first job out of grad school, I borrowed some money from friends to cover my moving and starting expenses till the cash flow got started again. I have repaid a lot of this. I still owe one friend some money. I think I will pay that off first, and then tackle the credit card debt I have.

5. Pamper myself more: I don't intend to come across as a person who runs myself to the ground on a regular basis. I don't. I usually spend lots of time relaxing. But I find that most of my down time although relaxing, is not particularly rejuvenating. I plan on engaging in things that are fun to do as well as educational and mood- and motivation-enhancing.