Willow's Lifestyle

I chose my path

2012-02-02T23:03:00.000-08:00

I have always been the girl in the middle. I was doing fairly well in school without much effort, so I got along well with the nerd crowd, but I was also on several sports teams, so I was close to the "sporty crowd", add to that that I was always game for a party, there comes a third crowd. In my family I'm the only girl, and in the middle. I guess "middle" is my middle name... HA! This year I've sort of had a "middle phase" in my whole chosen lifestyle that culminated to a realization that I had actually made a choice, which I wasn't quite sure I had made. Weird huh? Let see if I can explain.

Never too sick to brag!

Last week I won a give away from a blog called the "Post Punk Kitchen", hosted by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (see disclaimer at the bottom of this post). I'm a huge fan of the PPK blog which focus on vegan cooking (and living). I don't eat a lot of red meat, and really, these days most of my meals are vegan. It's cheaper, healthier and faster because I don't have to remember to thaw out anything. However, I am not vegan. I do not pretend to be Vegan, and my interest in vegan cookbooks (I have a lot of them) and blogs are simply an add on to my omnivore diet. For that reason, when I won the give away, I felt very self conscious for a few days. I was sure somebody was going to chime in and say "I've read that chick's blogs, she is NOT vegan". That never happened (that I know of) and nowhere was it stated that you had to be vegan to participate in the giveaway. Yet... Why was I so self conscious?

I think that really, this is all coming from where I am now in my own chosen lifestyle. Since last summer I have played with the idea of becoming vegan, but something kept stopping me. I am getting more and more educated about food, how it's prepared, where it's coming from and its impact on people's health. The way livestock is handled on the mega farms is truly terrifying. In many cases sanitation is found only in the dictionary, hormones and antibiotics are common in the feed and water and really it is ridiculous to think that the many unsavory practices of animal production can have no impact on the health of those who consume the meat and other animal products. Trying to navigate the information, misinformation, propaganda and overt drama of the whole issue is extremely difficult for the common human being. I do not have a PhD in agriculture and though I believe myself to be intelligent, I often find myself more scared and confused than enlightened. What am I eating really?

Even if one manages to eat antibiotic and hormone free animal products which is being fed actual decent food, there is also the question of how the animals are treated. I do not humanize animals, but I believe that they should be treated in a humane manner. They are not humans, but they are not "things" either.

The red building is a neighbor's house. That's how small my father's "farm" is.

I grew up eating meat, chicken, eggs, drinking milk and even eating rabbit every now and then. You see my father, a retired French teacher, fancies himself a "gentleman farmer". Ever since he bought the house I grew up in, he maintained a little tiny farm. The meat, eggs, milk, chicken and even the occasional rabbit came from our own backyard. My father's farm was tiny: 2-3 cows, all of which had names and really were more "pets" than "livestock"; 5-6 chickens, usually a bunch of hens, and 1 rooster (I'll never forget that dumb rooster which would get all huffy and puffy at us, and then charge straight into a wall, dumbest thing I've ever saw!) which would run free all day and sleep inside at night; a few rabbits, we'd play with the babies; and a bunch of barn cats. My idea of a farm has always been very idyllic because that's what I grew up with. We treated the animals well, we were never permitted to do anything to hurt them or stress them too much, and when it was time to fill the freezer, my dad always made sure that the killing was done as humanely as possible. He never did it himself, he actually always made a point to leave so he didn't have to watch. I also remember that the first few meals after we had a bull or a cow put down were always subdued. I got from those lessons from my childhood a respect for the food I eat, for the animals and plants that gave their life so that I could be nourished, the same way an animal in the wild becomes food for another.

Now my problem is that my dad's farm is on a tiny island in East Canada and I'm in San Francisco California. Not only shipping would be a fortune, but there's customs in the way. Boy do I miss my college days. Somebody from my family would stop by Rimouski on their way to Montreal or Quebec and drop a box of meat prepared for me by my parents. A whole semester worth of "organic" totally pasture raised meat!" Really, that's all I knew. I couldn't afford to buy meat!

Unfortunately, that is not happening now. If I want animal products, I have to buy them.The question becomes: Do you ever really know what you are eating? Now, I'm going from what I know from my father's way of raising animals to watching things like Food inc. (and other such documentaries). After that try to understand how we can be called "murderers" (I come from a community of seal hunters) for eating seal meat from an animal that has spent it's entire life out on the ice in the wild, by an idiot who's downing hormones and antibiotic loaded burgers made from the leftovers of a cow that spent it's life in a crate standing in (and eating) feces. Really? How can one justify eating such meat? How can I?

That's where I was last summer, and that's when the option of becoming vegan started to look very inviting. I already had a great repertoire of vegan recipes and resources, but was I ready to take the plunge? At first I took the position that my husband would never go for it. "I" was ready to make the change, but he wasn't. I could not impose my choice on him. I realize now how much that was really a cop out. If I really wanted to be vegan, my husband would support and respect my choice I know it. The reality is that despite the fact that I truly enjoy and am satisfied by vegan meals, I am not willing to make such a commitment. To "me" it is imposing an unnecessary restriction on myself. I am the type of person for whom setting absolutes is just setting myself up for failure. Yes, I know that many people live as vegan and do not feel restricted. Good for them! I know that it wouldn't work for me.

I have learned a lot in the last few years and am certainly not in any way "looking down" at the vegan crowd. Their determination and the strength of their convictions have forced me, and many others, to take a second look at what I eat and where it comes from. I do not share all of their beliefs, neither are their choices necessarily my choices, but I understand now that I need to be careful in the choices that I make every day and how those choices have an impact on my health, on the planet, on how animals are treated. I feel like my eyes have been opened and that now I can look around, educate myself and make better choices every day. I am in the process of going from "organic" to pasture raised products as much as possible. I am certainly not perfect. Little by little I think I am making a little bit of a difference, it cost me a little more money-wise, it takes a little more research and traveling to get the products I choose to eat, but I think it is worth the effort.

I am not vegan because I don't feel like I have to be. I don't have a problem eating meat, I don't like the idea of killing, but I see it as a natural process of nature. Still I think animals deserve to be treated humanely and with respect. I really don't believe that one exclude the other, it's not all or nothing. I think we all in our own little way can make better choices, little changes that lead to a better world... one meal at a time.

Be good n stuff!

Disclaimer: I do not in any way want to imply that Isa Chandra Moskowitz agrees with me, share my view (she doesn't), or even care about what I think. I'm a fan of her work, and I think she's a great example of someone who put herself out there as an example without being "preachy" or condescending and because of that I have learned a lot from her.

All in a meeting

2012-01-07T15:53:00.000-08:00

A little while ago, I emailed a friend to ask her if she would mind me showing up as her member. You see, I am a Weight Watchers leader, and as everybody who works in the field at Weight Watchers, I'm also a member. I have always gone to meetings, until I became the assistant of the boss in my territory. Suddenly, I felt like everybody walked on eggshell around me. It's probably mostly in my head, but it's hard to feel at ease and welcome when you feel like people are wary of your being there. I do not hold that position anymore, so I thought it was time to get over it and get back in a meeting.

Fast forward to last week, I emailed my friend and she seemed to have no problem with it. There are those people with whom you instantly feel at ease and she is such a person. I knew that she would be able to tell me anything that needs to be said. So after sleeping in the first week, I finally showed up this week. I felt so welcome when I came in! I knew a lot of the members already and everybody welcomed me with open arms. It was like coming home.

I knew the topic of course, I presented it twice this week myself, but the discussion really helped me a lot. The funny thing is that it's not anything I hadn't heard before. Most, if not all, of what was discussed came up in my own meeting. This time instead of thinking "how can I use this to help the members", I was thinking "how does this relate to me? To what I am doing?". Two things really stuck with me:

1- A fellow member decided to try circus training! There's a school here in the city, and really, I am seriously thinking about it! I did some gymnastic in high school and really enjoyed it. I am less flexible now, obviously, but I am stronger than I was back then. Who knows? I'm seriously thinking about it!

2- Another member talked about how she looks back to her old tracker for inspiration. Now that at first brought a "Not working for me" in my mind.

You see, when I started this journey of building a better lifestyle for myself, I didn't know how to cook, I didn't know much about activity even if I had been very active. I had always relied on coaches, trainers, and friends to put together a routine. I knew nothing much of nutrition either (that's an understatement!). Now after years of reading and educating myself I know more than the average person about both food and activity. My choices are educated, my portions are righteous and my workouts are carefully crafted. There is no way what I did before would work better than what I'm doing now.

Well, the flaw here is that back then I was thinner than I am now. That sorts of throws a wrench in my whole line of thinking doesn't it? Not only that, but I had fun then! I felt strong, powerful, motivated! Now I feel stressed, pressured, every choice, every workout, every meal is a big deal.

It's sort of part two of my whole idea of focusing on the goals, not on the process I started in my first post of 2012: Here we are finally! The idea that maybe I shouldn't over think this. That I should keep things simple and set meaningful goals and take the steps needed to achieve them. No more, no less.

You don't need a PhD in electrical engineering to turn on a light switch... you don't need a baseball bat either.

Over thinking things leads to paralysis. you spend so much time thinking and studying that you forget to do what you need to do to make things work. In the same line of idea, being active doesn't mean Olympic level training.

What did I do in my early years as a member that I really truly enjoyed?

I made a lot of Shrimp and veggies lunches. I would grab shrimps at the store (or scallops) and veggies and sauteed the whole thing in a pan with whatever veggies I had around and whatever spices I could find. It was simple, quick and delicious! So when I left the meeting I stopped by whole foods, grabbed shrimps, 2 color of kale and garlic and brought that home and made a delicious, if simple, lunch for myself! It took minutes, literally, and I was completely satisfied. Who would have thought?

I did my 30 minutes of high intensity cardio on the elliptical 6 days/week every week. That was the base line of my activity, everything else was extra. On good weeks I'd add a few classes, weight training, walking a lot and on bad weeks I'd do 30 minutes 6 days/week. So Friday, I REALLY didn't feel like doing anything, still I went in and did my 30 minutes of cardio and that's all I really did. You know what? That's enough!

After my super lunch, and my late afternoon work out I felt motivated, righteous, I had done what I set out to do, and I didn't hurt myself or wear myself out in the process. All this because I had heard it at the meeting. It's not like I had never heard it before, it's because I thought about what I heard in terms of "this is for the members" forgetting that I am a member myself.

Mustering the courage to walk through those doors, and admit that you don't have all the answers, that you need help, that you need somebody to smile and say "Hey!! I'm so glad you came!" can seem daunting.

"I don't need a meeting, this is ridiculous, I don't need help, I can deal with this by myself".

I don't know, what's more ridiculous really? To show up for a meeting and get the help, the support, the motivation (and accountability! HA!) that you need? or to stand alone in pride, feeling the ground slipping from under you?

I made my choice, finally!

Be good n stuff!

Lame or victorious?

2012-01-04T11:40:00.000-08:00

January started GREAT! Sunday we did a long walk, I ate right, avoided temptation, a perfect first day! Monday I was up at 5:15, hit the gym, did Cardio like I had planned to, ate great! I'm on baby!

Then Tuesday I wake up at 5am and can't go back to sleep. Ok, when I up my activity routine, I have a hard time sleeping at first. That's me, I know it, no worries. We hit the laundromat and while the clothes are washing, we have breakfast at a nearby cafe. Only, I'm sleepy (and grumpy) and instead of my usual hard boiled egg with a banana, I have a hard boiled egg with a bagel. Oooffaah, 11 P+ instead of 2... That's ok, we go for a 30 minutes walk while the clothes are drying, I'll hit the gym later, handled. The rest of the day goes rather well, I have a light soup for lunch, and a killer work out that afternoon (really... YAY ME!).

Then I work an evening meeting. Because of the gym, I get there later, so I don't have time for dinner before the meeting. A latte will have to do. By the time the meeting is done, I'm starving, my brain is just not functionning anymore. My poor coworker had to stand around while I dug for my phone, which was in my pocket. That's the kind of mindset (or lack of) I was in when I stopped by Molly Stone to grab dinner. I bought a small-ish miche of sourdough bread to make a sandwich with the leftover chicken I knew was in the fridge, thinking I would use the leftovers bread for dinner Wednesday night as we're always coming in late and hungry. HA!

Well, I DID manage to give my husband 1 slice of the bread, a thin one, but still... I weighed the bread I used, and the chicken, but when I got to the living room to eat, I decided not to track it because I did not want to know how many P+ I was scarfing down. I was tired, disgusted with myself, and frankly I had a big attack of "I don't give a falala!". After that I ate an English muffin with Canadian bacon, and WW BBQ pop chips not tracking any of it. It was not a glorious night.

It's dirty cause it's being used, so there!

This morning I slept in until well past 6, got up, decided not to hit the gym early, but go to Stonestown later today (I will!) but as I sat down trying to think up breakfast, my first thought was "With everything I had last night, doesn't really matter what I do this morning". Wait wait wait! January 4th and already I'm ready to throw the towel?????????? OH HELL NO!

So I sat down and tracked everything I ate yesterday after lunch (when I had stopped tracking) and counted the P+ for all of it. My day ended up at minus 24 P+, I ate almost double my target of 26 P+. Panic moment ensued, but then a light bulb flashed in my head: "Wait! I worked out yesterday!" so I calculated that, and I earned a total of 9 AP+ so I was down to minus 15! "Ooooooooooooooooh! I have 16 unused AP+ from my activity on Sunday and Monday!" That huge cleaning spree was useful in more than one way! So actually, I even ended the day with 1 AP+ leftover AND all of my WP+A for the rest of the week!

Actually I found an extra 2AP+ I had forgotten so these numbers are off by 2!

So it all works? Or am I fooling myself? Am I really a lame failure for having a miche of bread? Really? Or am I victorious for overcoming this cruel mind game I seem to be really good at playing on myself? Two things: "You don't get activity Points (+) for beating yourself up", and "Food is not a moral Issue". The two are close, but not the same. Beating myself up accomplishes nothing positive. The harder I am on myself, the more obsessive I become, until I break and quit. It hurts much more than it helps. "Food is not a moral issue" ties to the fact that my value as a human being is not attached to what I eat. I'm not a "bad person" because I had a carb attack. It's not a reflection of my value but rather a lesson to be learned. If I start my day with a bagel, it will end with a miche. That's all there is to it.

Words to live by... not always easy!

Anti-climatic isn't it? It's sort of going from this big dramatic issue of "I had a good start and I screwed it up entirely, FML!" to "alright skippy, next time you have breakfast at Royal Ground, skip the bagel, it leads to trouble... oh and by the way, have a snack before an evening meeting cause you lose you control (thankfully not your memory) when you get too hungry". Now I feel like an idiot having made such a big deal of something so insignificant.

Or was it really? Weight management is, in a huge part, a mind game. The challenge isn't the food itself I have never in my life been mugged by a muffin, the challenge is understanding what gets us to over eat, what keeps us from achieving our goals, and finding strategies to beat those challenges. My Mom will laugh if she ever reads this (and understand it) but a big part of my challenge is that I am really a perfectionist. I never ever feel like what I'm doing is good enough. Any side step becomes this huge issue of "There you go, I screwed up again! I knew there was no point in trying so hard, because I always find a way to make things fall apart." I made goal in May 2003, almost 9 years ago. I've been at a healthy weight since May 2003, almost 9 years ago. You'd think I'd have the mind games figured out. Nope, I have good phases, actually I have more good phases than I have bad phases now, but I still have those bad habits, those "bad tapes" that play in my head and threaten to throw away my achievements.

I have a weapon now though. I have learned that tracking keeps those mind games in check. If I write what I'm doing, how I feel, my plans, my discoveries, then I have a record that can show me: Nope, you didn't really screw up. You might have side-stepped here and there, you might have accidentally eaten a whole miche of bread, but overall you are actually doing pretty darnedly good!

Tracking isn't only a good mind game buster. It's a good reality check, and a map to success. I have a record that can tell me: Woah! slow down there chick! Your jeans aren't gonna like you anymore if you keep on swallowing them brownies! I have a detailed record of what I did when I was really successful. Summer of 2004 we did a lot of BBQs, we had a lot of fun, and I lost weight... Let's see how I did that. I also have a record of Summer 2011 I went home and came back 8 lbs heavier. WTH happened? Oh, next time I go NO NUTELLA!

May 5th 2012 I will have been at goal for 9 years. for over 9 years now I've followed the Weight Watchers program in one form or another. I have not always tracked Points or PointsPlus values, but I have always tracked... because it works.

I will not have my goals put on the side by a miche of bread or a bagel. I'm armed* and successful!

Be good n stuff!

Legend:

WP+A: Weekly PointsPlus Allowance
AP+: Activity PointsPlus
P+: PointsPlus value (of a food)

*Armed with a tracker!! This girl doesn't believe in guns!

Here we are, finally!

2011-12-29T13:03:00.000-08:00

It is, it is 2012! Ok, close your eyes, take a deep breath, SEE? HERE WE ARE! 2012!

Now that I made it to another year, I want to continue on the trend I set for myself in 2011. No, not the whining and struggling part, the let's do something constructive to make things better part! Knowing that I'm an all or nothing kind of person, I have to be careful not to overload myself with impossible goals, and unmaintainable routines, because I want to reset my routine, not burn myself out in 2 weeks.

As I explained in my previous post, I've come to the realization that I have been putting too much emphasis in the process over the last year or two (or 3) and not enough on actual realistic, manageable goals. So, I set 2 main goals for the year 2012:

I want to lose 10 lbs, and then maintain the loss
I want to build up my cardio endurance

Neat! There! I've got goals! Now what? Hum, I lost 70 lbs in 2002-2003, losing 10 lbs should be a breeze right? Well, it's not that simple. When I lost 70 lbs, I went from eating 95% junk food, and a ton of it, to eating healthy foods, and paying attention to how much I was eating. In the process I discovered new foods, learned how to cook, and really went from college junk to California foodie. Tofu anyone?

Summer 2002 I got married, moved to the US and was ready for a new life.

Now it's another story. Barring a few exceptions, everything I eat is pretty much whole foods, I don't eat in excess really (if you put aside the occasional bread attack), and, though I still love to cook, it doesn't have this great discovery feel that it used to have. Honestly, I'm pretty much cooking the same easy things over and over again. In other words, I do not have a great revolution to do, at this point it's all about the tiny little adjustments here and there rather than "learning to eat" all over again. I find myself a little at a loss sometimes about where I should start.

Summer 2010, I was in shape, I was focused, I was busy!

Activity-wise it's pretty much the same thing. When I decided to get in shape in 2002, I was starting from nothing. I was taking the bus to go from the Ross on 17th (I think) and Geary to get home at the corner of 23rd and Geary. No jokes! I started with belly dancing and then I added pilates, yoga, then I rediscovered weights. Love!

After years of working out, and lifting weights I'm in shape. I've worked with a trainer for months (Laura at the Richmond YMCA, don't let her angelic face fool you, she can work the snot out of you, never losing her big engaging smile) and maintained a sort of routine since, but I'm just going through the motions. Even worse, I'm just doing the exercises I like to do. Which is to say that I'm doing the easy ones, which really are those I don't need all that much. The ones I really need, I do rarely and become really sore, so I don't do them again for a while. Brilliant!

Fall 2011, trying to hang on, but parties occurred...

I have the know-how, I know more about nutrition and physical activity than most people I know. Not only I've been on this journey or over 9 years, but I'm a nerd. I love to find, learn and discover new things. I certainly do not know everything there is to know about nutrition and activity, but I've reached a level of knowledge where to go further I feel I have to get very serious and scientific about it. It's not so much a hobby, it has become "work". I think that might be the root of my problem. This has all become too serious to me, too involved. I keep telling my members that it's important to make this fun, enjoyable, but to me planning dinner becomes a humongous chore of researching the perfect spice, the perfect amount of proteins, wait, isn't that too much carbs? If I'm planning a work out, I have to make sure to balance each group muscle, how many reps for maximal efficiency? Should I add a set? Or raise the weights?

Taking care of myself is a priority to me. I need to be in shape, I need to look good, I need to feel good. I do not want to be a burden for my husband in the not so distant future. I want to be able to hit the beach with my dog and be able to wear my swimsuit without second guessing myself, and take off the leash without thinking "If she runs, will I be able to keep up?". That's what I'm doing this for: for health, for vanity, for confidence. I'm not shooting to compete at any level. I'm not trying to be an anorexic looking model. I'm not even working for a number.

I want to be healthy, to look good and to have the stamina and energy to enjoy life to its fullest.

So there! Now with that in mind, I need to start somewhere. So how do I break this all down?

January Goal: I want to lose 3 lbs, and build my cardio to 30 minutes full speed (I know "full speed" sounds vague, but it's precise to me).

My "tracking week" starts on Sunday, so I'm starting right on the 1st!

Week 1 of January:

Food: I will track all week.
Activity: I will either get up early and work out, or I will take a lift with Dan (we have a deal) to the gym when he leaves for work.

Food: I've been tracking purty good actually, but that's always where I start. Tracking grounds me and shows me where the little "oopsies" are hiding. Then I can work them out or work them in, depending on what they are.

Activity: This is all about accountability! If I have a deal for Dan to give me a lift, I can't spend all morning saying "oh I'll go later. Ideally, I'll get up at 5:15-5:30 to hit the gym when it opens at 5:45. Realistically, I've been known to snooze for over an hour... So there, if I do I'll get a "You getting ready? I need to leave for work in 5 minutes". Pride, has gotten me in trouble often enough, might as well put it to good use right?

These goals are simple, and really not that difficult to achieve, and that's the point. Breaking big overwhelming goals into small simple and very attainable ones gets me going. Once I'm on a roll, I'm pretty unstoppable, but getting started really is a bitch. Is this the right way to go? I don't know. Ask me again in December 2012. It's my way though, it has worked in the past, we'll see if it works for me still.

I have long term, mid term and short term goals. I have the realization that I need to keep this simple and enjoyable, rather than serious, scientific and complicated. I have a wonderful husband, friends and family that makes this all worth it.

You know what else? I have the firm belief that I really absolutely can make this happen. I have the strength, I have the knowledge, I have the health and I have the support. C'mon really? Stop whining and get going!

Be good n stuff!

Not Resolutions GOALS

2011-12-26T15:37:00.000-08:00

Yup, that's my focus this year, setting goals and achieving them. "Duh!" You say? "How did you figure that out Sherlock?" You ask? Well, I know it's a bit from the Captain obvious book, but somehow I managed to forget about that goal thing while I was putting all my efforts on the process.

It's a weird thing to maintain a lifestyle for a long period of time. You have phases where you do very well, you have phases where you just don't have to think about it "This is how I live now" and there are phases where you just do it all wrong, and just can't seem to get it right. I feel like I've gone from one to another in rapid succession all through 2011. How tiring!

I know what I have to do: Plan ahead so that I can be prepared to cook my meals (instead of eating junk, or ordering out), work out regularly, keep track of what I'm doing, limit the treats... I know all about it, I know how to do it, I enjoy doing it even, so why is it so complicated? I know how, but do I know why anymore?

Losing weight for me was easy. Hate me if you will, I can live with that, but I'm an all or nothing kind of person, and on short term, I can deal with pretty much anything. I was very VERY strict about my eating while I was losing weight, I also was working out minimum 1 hour per day every day, including high intensity cardio for at lest 30 minutes each day. Of course I was also in my late 20s, which made it easier for my body to take the torture I was putting it through at the gym every day. Now I'm a little older, soon to be 38, and I find it difficult to hit the gym with that kind of an intensity.

This summer, I decided that my goal was to be able to do 1 pull up. At first I said by September 1st, then by December 31st, well it's the 26th, and it's not happening. I think the problem lies in the fact that I really don't care about a pull up anymore. I don't see that as being worth the effort. I like lifting weights, but more because of how it changes my body rather than because of the actual number of pounds I can lift. I guess to me that is never going to be impressive no matter what. So there, the numbers game isn't cutting it anymore, so what? What is it that would REALLY make it worth it to me to rebuild my dying routine? What could I work for, that would make it worth it to get up early in the morning to do cardio? What could make it worth getting back to the gym to lift weights? Carry the gear, wash all the work out clothes?

I need to lose 5 lbs, I want to lose 10. I need to build up my cardio in a big way (so lame). One day I would like to do that pull up, but I got to lose the weight first. I want my flat belly back!!

If I really focus on losing that 10 lbs, and building my cardio, the rest should fall into place right? Of course I can't stop lifting, I will lose what I worked so hard to build, but maybe it can be "part of my routine" as opposed to being the sole focus of my routine. At least for the first part of the year. The thing with cardio is that the more I do it, the easier and more enjoyable it becomes. Ideally I'd be doing cardio every day.

Maybe I can start with a more reasonable schedule and build from that? Tuesday morning is laundry morning. So no working out early there. Thursday is usually my sleep in day (until 7!) because I work Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. Hum... I could hit the gym early on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, which just so happen are my husband's work out morning too. I bet if I ask nicely, he'd be more than happy to drop me off at the gym, or even better, make coffee and breakfast while I work out? How motivating to know that if I'm out early enough, I'll have breakfast waiting for me when I come back?

Speaking of which, if I want to lose 10 lbs, I'll have to start planning ahead better. We're already well on our way there though. We've had long talks about starting to cook ahead like we used to do. Make dinner with tomorrow's lunch in mind. We've been pretty good with that as a general rule, but just got a little lazy this fall with all the celebrating going on. Grains and vegetables are back on the menu and that's a good thing because we both love them!

I'm putting all this down to realize, and demonstrate, that once you have something to work for, once you really figure out what it is that you want to achieve, putting together a plan is a lot easier. I don't really care about doing a pull up anymore, so really having that as a goal isn't helping me in any way. Knowing that I really want to lose 10 lbs though, and build my cardio permits me to put my focus in the right direction. If I care enough about the end result, I WILL find a way. The trick is to find the end result that is that meaningful to me, and acknowledging that it might change, and that my once all powerful goal really doesn't mean anything anymore. How weird...

In 2012, I will lose 10 lbs (and then maintain the loss) and I will build up my cardio to the point of being able to make my elliptical work out 60 minutes at my normal speed. What about you? What goal is worthy of your efforts in 2012?

Be good n stuff!

T-R-A TRA C-K-I-N-G CKING TRACKING

2011-10-18T14:12:00.000-07:00

Sooooooo... well... *look around guiltily*

Truth be told, Sunday's weigh in, which initiated my little burst of indignation, was following a friend's call for support in her own effort to get back "on track". Call which I gladly took, first and foremost because I really do care for her a lot and would do pretty much anything to help her out, but also because I had a feeling that my own lifestyle was slightly slipping. Not badly mind you, I'm too good for that, just thought that here and there, I was slowly adding a snack or two which wasn't the most effective way to stay on track.

With that in mind, I stepped on the scale expecting my weight to be on the high edge of my usual maintenance range, a sort of "get your ass back in the game" kind of weigh in. Surprise, surprise! I was past a number which I hadn't seen in months if not years. Nothing horrible, I have lost 70 lbs and am nowhere near getting even close of maybe gaining it back, but high enough to make me weigh in 4 times in a row. "That cannot be right..." It was!

So I got angry, I got depressed, and then I got myself a plan! I trotted out my tracker and got busy! Here's what my tracker looks like:

The black line in there is a desk calendar plastic

corner I use to hold my page.

It's a Moleskin which I paid entirely too much for, but it's perfect for what I want to do:

It opens on the short side, making it easier to open and to keep open.
Pages are big, so I can use the recto for tracking, and the verso of the previous day to make notes, write recipes, detail my work out, or make shopping lists.
It's hard cover, so writing on the go is easier both on the recto and the verso.
There's an elastic band that keeps it closed, and that I also use to keep my pen close by.
It's very thin, doesn't overtake my purse.
There's a little pocket in the back where I can keep my gym schedules.
It's very nice and sophisticated looking (or was when I got it, it's getting beaten up).

So there! It is big, it is expensive for a notebook, but it works for me!

Tracking is not only a way to "stay on track" for me, but it's a way to really slow me down and force me to think about what I am doing. Do I really need this? Am I eating it because I'm hungry? Or because I'm bored?

People who do not have compulsive tendencies will not understand how important monitoring your behaviors is, how actually relaxing and healing it feels to know what you are doing, and how it impacts you directly. It's not a headache for me to monitor myself, it's a freeing experience. I know what I'm doing, I know where I go wrong, and I can easily adjust if needed.

When I'm not tracking, I don't know. I feel like I'm doing everything right, and nothing is working. How frustrating is that? I'm working out like a fiend, but I'm not improving. Worst, I go directly from being overly strict to I don't give a falala, back to being super strict and it goes back and forth with food and activity until I end up hurting myself at the gym, or eating my way through an entire box of crackers. Not a good outcome.

There's a "reset moment" of when I sit down and prepare my tracker for the week. Because I use a notebook, I prepare each tracking page for the coming week on the weekend, so that I have it nice and ready. Having to put everything together could be an excuse to not track. Then all I have to do is fill the blanks. Easy easy!

Today I'm home, so I'm eating fewer (and bigger)

snacks and meals.

Having that extra page for notes, recipes, or whatever I want to write about is very helpful. Often I put together a recipe on the spur of the moment, and it turns out delicious, writing it down in my tracker permits me to count it accurately, but also to do it again, or to blog about it later without forgetting anything.

There's a work out plan and 2 recipes there. Both

delicious I must say!

Like anything else, it's not about perfection, it's about persistence. Some days I track every single bit as they happen, and detail every single morsel. Some days, not so much. I know that if I track what I eat and what I do, I am happier, more relax, more in control. I am successful and motivated. Sounds like a good reason to keep tracking doesn't it?

I lost 70 lbs, in less than 9 months by tracking every bit, every piece, every sip, every move. It works for me, that's all I need to know.

Be good n stuff!

Seriously?

2011-10-16T08:33:00.001-07:00

Ok, weighed myself this morning, and not at all happy with what I saw. Really? Really? I'm up again? I worked hard, I took gym classes, I cooked, I avoided many goodies, I snacked on fruits. WTF?!

Been there? Doesn't matter if its true, please tell me you have! You feel like you've done everything right, in rough waters, you have avoided the big reefs and stayed on course, and yet, the destination is nowhere in sight. How frustrating is that?

Thing is, I didn't track, so I can't show the proof of my righteousness. I can't whine about this, because I got no proof, so I'd be met (rightly) with "Yeah, riiiight, you did everything perfect, you probably forgot a few things along the way..." That answer, which I give freely, pisses me off. Who do you think I am? I'm no newbie at this, I've been doing this for 9 years! It's not like I don't know what I'm doing. The nerve!

I know I snacked a lot, I know this, but I snacked on fruits 90% of the time! I DID eat 3 full bags of green grapes in 3 days, along with a few banana and apples, but it's fruits, It doesn't count! The other times chips occurred, but that was only like 3 times... I don't think I ate that much, well there was that one bag that I pretty much ate by myself, but I didn't eat the WHOLE thing.

I also know we brought sandwiches stuff in once, and they didn't have our regular little rolls, so we had the Pugliese instead (you know the ones you have to bake a little? So delicious! I always eat a whole huge one, which is why we don't get them usually). We did eat out quite a bit this week but I was careful. Breakfast in Sausalito, I had an egg white omelet (with avocado, tomato and bacon, so good!), sushi, we cut down our usual sushi feast to one less roll (usually we pig out for sushi!) so we had a lot, but it could have been worst. Friday we had Indian and I ate only half of my Channa Masala! I didn't have cucumber salad though, so I had rice.

Yesterday was "system D" day which comes from Mom's house. "D" stands for "debrouille toi" which is figure yourself out. So System D means, everybody figure out something to eat for themselves. So lots of wraps, canned soup and leftovers all tinkered together.

So that's my week, add in a cookie or two that we shared at Cafes... oh and a few lattes (it was a rough week) and Friday I had quite a big lunch between meetings, and I also hit the WW snacks pretty good at work... Oh and I had that brownie Friday while waiting for Dan to pick me up, forgot about that. *sigh*

The worst part of all this is that had I tracked as I went along I would have realized that avoiding "worst fare" didn't make what I was actually eating healthy. It's like saying "Being punched in the face shouldn't hurt because you didn't get hit by a truck". The more I look back on my week, the more I realize that I'm lucky I'm not up more.

I was right, I am no newbie at this, newbies aren't generally confident enough to get cocky, and to assume that they are above having to follow the basic rules because they don't need them. I've been at this about 9 years, and I still have to do the work. How annoying!

Alright girl, swallow your pride, take that tracker out and get going. You know what to do, you know how to do it, but if you don't do follow the program, it will not work. Who's with me?

Be good n stuff!

Simple Basics

2011-10-06T13:41:00.001-07:00

So, I have more time on my hands right now, and at first that was freaking me out a little. What am I going to do? Well, I did start with a major clean up of my apartment, and that felt GREAT! now, I realize that I need to set myself straight also!

Funny thing is, my work out routine has been on the fritz for a while, and I was blaming the lack of time. Well, lately I've had plenty of time and still I couldn't find the time to get to the gym. Here's my problem, I have come to the point where going to the gym means researching and planning my work out, getting to the gym, finding the needed equipment, doing a full work out, putting everything away, shower, clothes make up... That's like 2+ hours. Even with a lot of free time, who wants to spend that much time on working out?

This week I had plans on doing a class every day, well that didn't happen either. The classes I do like were at inconvenient times and well... I started well, I did a fabulous Yoga class at the Richmond District Y Monday morning. I did push a little though, and Tuesday I was too sore to work out.

Wednesday I had a meeting at noon, and one at 5, so I decided to head to the Stonestown Y in between. Now, I was surprised by the level of testosterone I found in the weight room. Grunting loudly, dropping the weights loudly with every set, Dude, you're at the Y, deflate a little bit.

Finally, after 20 minutes of intense weight work, I couldn't take it anymore, and went upstairs thinking that my decent work out was blown. Not so! I decided to hit the elliptical for some cardio. I hadn't done that in ages, choosing to take my cardio outdoors, and wouldn't you know it, I had a blast! 30 minutes of pushing as much as I could. I got out of there all noodle-y and hyper. My poor members! Like I'm not hyper enough already!

This morning, somebody got up late and didn't have time to walk the dog. Mind you, it was raining. I admit I was the one who campaigned to get a dog, promising I would take care of it, but it was RAINING! So, I got dressed and walked the dog.

As we were walking, it stopped raining, and quite frankly, it was beautiful out there, so I extended the walk and went to the produce market a few blocks away. I didn't do anything major, but got a bunch of basics thinking I would make a vegetable soup in the crockpot to eat and freeze and you know... it's been a while, so I did!

It looks like it's only cabbage (Napa cabbage that is) but actually there is zucchini, yellow squash, onion, shallot, broccoli.. whatever I could find! :o)

So, i made my soup, and then I realized it was lunch time and I had nothing to grab. Ooops! So I took my cutting board back out, dug in the cabinet, and made a Lobster Desperation Soup!

It was tasty, satisfying, and very much "my" kind of food. My husband isn't really a seafood lover, he will eat fish, but shellfish is beyond this Missouri boy's comfort zone. Every time I make myself such food, I feel like it's very exclusively mine for some reason.

Ok, so I know you are thinking, there is nothing outstanding in all this. Why are you blogging about it? Because it's been quite a long time since I've felt so in control and effortlessly "on plan". I'm eating right, I'm moving, I am satisfied with my meals, and not in the least worried about my next weigh in. I can be "on plan" any time. I know how to do it, and I can always make it work somehow, but I was missing that feeling of "this is just what I do" as opposed to "I have to do this". Does that even make sense?

I think it's not so much about having time, but rather about keeping it simple and uncomplicated. You don't have to cook gourmet food to have lunch, you don't have to have a pro training to hit the gym. I tend to forget that sometimes.

Be good n stuff!

Leftovers Magic

2011-10-04T13:13:00.000-07:00

One thing I've gotten really good at lately is recycling food. I can do anything with pretty much any leftovers.

The last few days, I have been cleaning house; not just vacuuming, but rather going through papers, books, clothes (and next is the kitchen AH!), and I have been too busy to cook really. So last night we decided to order food, only I'm in a phase where I just don't want to eat junk. I had a huge junk food phase, but now I'm totally over it. I want to eat real food! So we ordered Indian food. We both love it, it's moderately healthy, 2 blocks away, and they deliver (oh shut up! It was raining!) we still do that (too) often, but now we've learned to order with leftovers in mind so we feel a little more righteous about it.

Last night I ordered tandoori chicken and a cachumber salad. Now at Great India, you can order a full tandoori chicken (mind you it's a rather anorexic one) for only a few more dollars than you pay for half, so I always do that with leftovers in mind. Tandoori comes with sliced onions and bell pepper which I rarely eat. Last night I decided to save those and pack them separately from the chicken in the fridge.

Today I'm home, so I trotted out the veggies, and sauteed them in a saucepan a little bit, added the little spicy hot condiments that they send along with the samosa (it's chile-onion chutney something), I added some frozen chopped bell pepper, and cooked that some more, about a minute, then added the chicken and 1 cup (or so) of chicken broth. I brought it all to a boil, and cooked for about 1 1/2 minute. Doesn't that look delicious?

The smooth taste of the Tandoori along with the freshness of the peppers and the spiciness of that little chile-onion condiment is a perfect blend. It was truly delicious, not to mention that it was about 5 minutes from start to finish. Cook thing is I still have another meal worth of Tandoori chicken in the fridge!

Added note: I made this post yesterday afternoon and last night I used the rest of the Chicken Tandoori by throwing it in the Butternut Squash and Chickpea Curry which I made for dinner. Proteins baby! Look it up on the Recipes Blog!

I also do a mean soup with leftover Chana Masala and vegetables, I'll have to share that in a future post.

I think my cleaning/organizing frenzy is helping me and not only by making my apartment nicer to live in. It's like hitting a reset button. Reclaiming my place, my time and my life. Out of the blue, I want to cook again, I want to be a mad scientist in my kitchen and mix things up and see what happens. This is a slow tame start, but it IS a start! Hang on, most to come in the next few weeks!!

Be good n stuff!

The Rebirth of the Lifestyle Blog

2011-10-04T11:08:00.001-07:00

Hi world, it's been a while right?

This blog has been dormant since 2009, and since then my bloggitivity has been focused on my Weekly Note, the blog I keep for my members at Weight Watchers. As I am taking a step back from Weight Watchers (not quitting! just slowing down a bit), I realize that I feel once again the need to connect to the world as an adventurer rather than as a Weight Watchers leader.

So, I'm hoping to start sharing my adventures and discoveries in the world of healthy living in San Francisco on this blog.

There are all sorts of sub-blog attached to this, and a few more attached to my Weekly Note blog. Hopefully I can keep them all straight, and I'll find time to keep them all going.

Ok, I'm a smidgen intimidated, but I'll make it work! So keep an eye out, I'm baaaack!

Be good n stuff!

Sometimes I feel like cooking, sometimes I don't!

2009-05-01T08:19:00.001-07:00

Last week sometimes, I felt like cooking, so I looked up recipes. I picked the Chicken Wrap with Mango, Basil, and Mint from www.marthastewart.com. It turned out very good and it was fun to put together.

Here's the recipe:

For the chicken:

Ingredients
1 garlic clove
1/2 shallot
1/4 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Freshly ground pepper
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 12 ounces total)

Make the chicken: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Finely chop garlic and shallot in a food processor. Add basil and oil, and process until mixture forms a coarse paste. Stir in salt and cinnamon, and season with pepper.

Make a few shallow 1/2-inch slits on both sides of chicken; rub all over with the basil mixture.

Place on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake chicken until cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool completely, then shred into small pieces; set aside.

For the Dressing:

Ingredients
1/2 shallot
1/2 mango, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
Pinch of cayenne pepper

Make the dressing: Finely chop shallot in the clean bowl of the food processor. Add mango, and process until smooth. Add the lime juice and cayenne, and process until combined.

For Assembling:

Ingredients
4 lavash breads (3 1/2 ounces each, I used tortillas)
1/2 mango, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick spears
8 fresh basil leaves
8 fresh mint leaves

Assemble wraps: Spread about 1/4 cup mango dressing in center of each lavash*. Top with chicken, mango, and herbs**. Roll up diagonally to form a cone.

* I like to make sure it's all over, not all in one spot.

** My pieces are a bit big for my tortilla, oh well... I like to put full leaves so you really taste the herbs.

Note: Wraps can be refrigerated, wrapped in parchment and plastic, up to 4 hours. It's 4 servings and there's only 2 of us, so that made for some great Bento fare the following day!

Last night I did NOT feel like cooking. I called my husband, offered for us to order out. We went at it back and forth, Indian food? Sushi? Thai? Do we take out, or do we eat out?

I don't feel like eating out. I've been moving furniture all day, I just don't. Then I got to think that if I'm not motivated enough to eat out, than I shouldn't eat restaurant food right?

Starting to feel a little guilty for being so lazy I went in the kitchen and looked for something quick and easy. I had leftover Bulgar, a couple of leeks, half a bunch of asparagus, zucchini, eggs, I had plenty of food in there!

Explanations won't be too precise as I made it up as I went. It turned out really good though!

Here's what I came up with:

Ok, the Bulgar bowl is ugly, sorry about that, but otherwise, for a quick easy meal, it's pretty neat right?

The soup is a Leek-Asparagus-Zucchini soup. I sauteed the leeks, then added asparagus (saving the heads) and then the zucchinis. Once it all started to brown, I added salt, pepper, garlic powder, a little cumin, and chopped fresh basil, chicken broth (just enough to barely cover), added a diced potato and simmered for about 15 minutes. I pureed the whole thing, added a few basil ribbons et voila.

For this frittata, I thinly sliced a shallot, sauteed that with the asparagus heads. I let the pan cool a little, while it did I mixed a whole egg, 4 egg whites, cumin and pepper to taste. I added that to the pan, added the cooked asparagus and shallot. I had leftover steamed zucchini slices already so I put them over the whole thing and decorated with basil ribbons.

I cooked the whole thing on the stove until almost set, then put in the over for about 7-8 minutes to finish setting.

The whole thing took about I don't know, 20 minutes? I shopped veggies and basil for the two dish together. It turned out really good, and satisfying.

So there, cooking doesn't have to be a big project, or even a big adventure, but it can be if you want it to be!

Be good n stuff!

Stir-frying and a neat breakfast!

2009-04-23T11:16:00.000-07:00

Last night I decided to try a stir-fry recipe that a friend pointed out to me. It turned out wonderfully and is something that will be done again in our place.

The recipe is to be found on Heidi Swanson's blog 101 Cookbooks, which is a favorite of mine. It's the Asparagus Stir-fry Recipe. If you have time, look through her recipes, they are great! Don't expect precise measurements, or directions, BUT it's an awesome place for original recipes.

So, it reminded me that I had not talked about stir-fry much. I rarely stir-fry with a recipe since to me, a stir-fry is a "take whatever you have a throw it together" kind of dish. Kind of like a soup. Still there are a few things that I've learned along the way (most of the time the hard way AH!).

First thing to remember is that a stir-fry is all about preparation. You need to make sure that your ingredients are dry, you want to stir-fry, not steam. You also want to make sure that the size your cut your ingredient into will insure an even cooking.

Here I am cutting Tofu:

Another thing about Tofu is that you want to drain it and press it well. Wet Tofu is mushy tofu, and there's nothing I hate more than mushy tofu in a stir-fry. Yuck!

Draining, well, you drain the water... DUH! Pressing takes a little time, but it's totally worth it.

1- I put my block of tofu on a few layers of paper towel, folded the paper towel over to cover the tofu, put a heavy book on top or a plate.

2- Turn after about 20 minutes, let sit another 20 minutes or so.

3- Remove from the paper towel and cut into shapes. It's also a good prep to marinate tofu to bake!

So after this hopefully helpful tofu lesson, lets get back to stir-frying:

Note that not only do I prepare everything in advance, but I have everything within reach. That's very important because once you start, everything happens really fast!

I use a non-stick wok because I want to use little oil (I do use some though!) and I hate cleaning. it's that simple. Purist will say that you need to use a "real wok", to them I say whenever you offer to come and clean for me, I will.

Cooking is where the magic happens, your wok has to be hot, and things need to keep moving.

You don't want to overcook the vegetables, they just have to be crisp tender which is why you usually cook the meat/tofu first, and then take them out, cook the veggies, and add the proteins back in at the last minute.

So there you have it stir-frying for the clueless (like me) who didn't know a thing about it. ;op

I cannot leave without bragging a little about this morning's breakfast. I've been in an oatmeal phase, but today I just didn't wanna. I looked in the fridge and found inspiration in there.

Here's my breakfast:

Looks neat doesn't it? It's nothing fancy, leftover couscous, chopped spinach, red bell pepper, and a lightly scrambled egg (which was supposed to be an over-easy egg, but shit happens He he he).

It was delicious, and I think pretty. I just had to brag a little!

Be good n stuff!

It's Wednesday!

2009-04-22T16:23:00.000-07:00

It's Wednesday and I got to go back to the Farmer's Market at the Civic Center. As much as I love the Embarcadero Farmer's Market (Tuesday and Saturday) at the Ferry Building, it's not a place that I can afford to shop at every week. After asking a few people, and looking it up on Yelp.com, I decided to give the "Loin Market" a try.

I got myself a new smaller basket (easier on the bus), added a Trader Joes Shopping bag (those are the BEST!) and off I went.

Now the Civic Center is pretty much in the Tenderloin. Today I walked from the Weight Watchers Center on 1st street to the Farmer's Market. I swear you walk on Market Street, and it's like 5th Street is a gateway to another world. A very sad messed up world. San Francisco has two speed, full tilt and not going anywhere. :o( I could go on, but that is not the subject at hand here...

Back to the market:

That's about the nicest spot in the entire thing. Yeah the place stinks a little, some dude is selling live chickens from the back of a truck, and the fragrance coming out of that truck gives a whole new vibe to the neighborhood.

The first two times I went (these pictures are from the first time I went actually) I went in the morning, every stand was full, the crowd was very nice and tame. Vendors were happy and willing to talk, explain, make some deals... If you can, go in the morning it's much much nicer.

Today I went in the afternoon, just before closing and found a very different market. There were a lot of homeless people begging and getting in troubles. There was also more people who were there just to hang out. Lets just say that the food wasn't the center of attention. There were also a LOT of pickpockets hard at work.

Doesn't sound too interesting does it? I love the place! Just need to go in the morning. The prices are a lot cheaper than the Embarcadero (or the Sonoma County Farmer's Market I must say) and you find a lot of produces that aren't that easy to find usually. Lemon grass in huge bunches, some sort of squash that I have no clue what they are.

I like this little herbs and vegetables plants vendor. So funny, if you're buying, you can't find him, if you aren't, he's all over the place!

My husband's ideal hangout! The Mushroom stand! They have everything and anything there. I haven't bought anything yet (cause my husband won't LOOK at mushroom, much less eat them), but I'm planning on experimenting a bit soon.

So the Market goes all the way to Market Street. The closer you get to Market, the higher the price. It's really funny, the oranges go from 65 cent/lb to $1.25/lb as you go.

The stand you see on the left here (above) is my main stop. Not sure his stuff is organic, but it's cheap, and tasty, and the guys working there are easy going (again, better in the morning!).

Here's what I bought on my first trip! All that for about $20 and I could have saved more, I didn't know the different stands.

So, this market is my weekly stop. Yes it's dirty, stinky, and the crowd there is... original, but the prices are unbeatable and if you go in the morning, the vendors are very helpful and "happy".

I also like that the vendors aren't pushy, and that the crowd isn't impatient. I like to pick my own veggies and take my time choosing, that's part of the fun of going to the Farmer's Market. At the Ferry Building, you get the memo pretty quick to either buy or get out of the way.

Warning: If you go to that Farmer's Market, check your belonging. Also, stay away from the fountain as it's a hangout spot for the "Loin crowd".

Be good n stuff!!!

So we moved...

2009-04-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

So we moved, and survived! I've been meaning to post about this for a month now, but I needed to take a breather from everything, work, blogging, thinking... Everything!

This week is back to reality week, so I thought I'd start with catching up on my blogging!

We moved from a 2 floor, 2 bedroom condo in Rohnert Park to a 1 bedroom flat in San Francisco. Sounds sad doesn't it? We LOVE IT. We're close to the beaches, in the neighborhood we both love (Richmond District rocks!) far away from the traffic, but within walking distance of everything. I think it's the best decision we've taken since we got married!

This being said, it doesn't mean it was an easy process. I'm still shocked at the amount of stuff you can accumulate in 5 years. It was ridiculous.

We had planned to move in June, but found an apartment in February (in by March 1st!) so we had to pack in a hurry. It was pretty traumatic, but we did it. I think the pets are still recovering. Here's Grace and Leo trying to comfort each others amid the madness:

We hired movers, Corrib (a bunch of Irish guys, with lovely accent), and the did a fantastic job of emptying the house, and bringing everything up to the 3rd floor apartment. The poor guys wouldn't believe the amount of books we had!

We were happy to "be moved" until we looked around our little apartment. Here's what it looked like after the movers left:

To say that we were intimidated by the pile of stuff is certainly an understatement. I had hoped to be all done the following night. Yeah right! We still have a few boxes left...

One thing we had decided on from the start was to get ourselves drawer dressers for our clothes. The one we had were Goodwill leftovers, and they were as much of a pain to work with as they were ugly. So we ordered from Sears. What we got was nice and fine, but the packaging was HORRIBLE. We're still finding those little freakin' Styrofoam balls everywhere. I'm sure Leo has been pooping them all month.

I'm sad to say that the company making those dressers is from Quebec. We usually have a little more pride in our work back home!

The pets have now adjusted to the new place. It's too small for Leo to burn his super-hyperactive self, but he's slowing down gradually. We do play with him a lot.

Grace is loving San Francisco. We go to the beach regularly, she walks more in a day here than she did in a week in Rohnert Park. I take her everywhere with me. She's now very used to waiting for me outside shops and markets. She sits quietly and don't even jump when bus go by.

During the move she did have a few nervous moments. She finally crashed when we found her beds and cleared a space for them. I think she slept like a whole hour straight!

Gaya has moved many times in her 11 years of life. When I lived in Rimouski (Quebec) we used to move twice a year almost every year!Then all the way to San Francisco (pretty much coast to coast), then Sonoma County and now back in the city. She didn't enjoy it, but she was up and about, exploring the new place in no time.

Leo is another story. My little hyperactive, fearless monster is the one who took the move the hardest. It didn't help that at first we were getting annoyed with his antics. After a few days I realized that the poor fuzzball was actually really stressing out.

From that point on, I made a special effort to give him a lot of play time and cuddle time. I think it really helped. He's now well adjusted and has made peace with the new place. He still runs like an idiot, but that's Leo being Leo, not a nervous reaction anymore. He's not even a year old yet, I'm not expecting him to slow down anytime soon.

He does stop every once in a while, and generally in the weirdest places. That's him hiding from the commotion when we were opening boxes and putting stuff away:

As for us we really are happy. I've been roaming the Farmers Markets, enjoying shopping at Chico (produce market) and the other little markets around. I've hit Kamei and Ichiban Kan more than I should have but I'm loving this.

I'm also walking a lot more and spending a lot of time outside. Strangely I didn't do that in Sonoma County. Here I can breathe!

My husband is happy as can be. I don't think he ever got used to Sonoma County, he hated it and has been dreaming of coming back from the time we settled in at the condo. He even had his breakfast at Joes the first week I went to work my Sunday am meeting!!!

We wake up to the sound of the fog horns, the smell of the sea breeze and the bangs and clangs of Leo slowly destroying everything we own. What else can we ask for? He he he

Be good n stuff!!

A picnic indoors!

2009-03-04T21:19:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned anywhere that I'm moving? This week is moving week, I'm spending the week loading my little car with whatever will fit, driving it all the way to San Francisco, and once there, taking it all upstairs.

After I'm done with that I clean another part of the apartment, and come home. Now it might not sound like it, but it's a LOT of work, and it's pretty depressing to do alone. After I complained enough, my husband took the opportunity of a car problem, to come along and help me out today. We did a lot of work, all that is left is washing the floor!

At dinner time we decided to order Indian food. The owner of Great India must have dollars sign in his eyes knowing that, not only we're back in the neighborhood, but we're a block closer than we used to be!

My husband went and got Indian food, came home and realized he had forgotten to get forks! Oh No! You can't eat curry without silverware now can you? So he had to head back out, walk down to Cala(don't know what it's called now, to me it's always been and always will be Cala Foods!) and buy us a box of plastic ware. Seen on the right of the following picture:

Nice set up huh? We eat in style even when we don't have furniture yet! Tablecloth and everything.

Well the story is, I felt so bad that he had to go back, and I knew he felt crummy for forgetting, so I decided to put things together so that we'd have an indoor picnic! We had the picnic basket with everything (except forks and spoons!) so I got creative.

Interesting legs on that table don't you think?

I did miscalculate a bit because I wanted it all ready when he came in so I made my "table" a little too high. It didn't bother him much of course, he's tall, but I had a hard time eating with such a high table.

Mmmmmmmmm Great India food.... It's not excatly eating "thin" but it's mostly healthy (except the ghee!) and it's soooo good...

Here's how I did it. It's an old truck I used to carry my sweaters! I put it on boxes, et voila! Instant picnic table!

Nothing is too good for the working class! We had fun, and I think he really appreciated it. ;o)

Be good n stuff!

Announcement - Announcement - Announcement

2009-02-12T19:49:00.000-08:00

Hi Everybody!

Between my laptop being down, the apartment hunt, and now packing, I have been unable to post on either blog.

I have made a few Bento Boxes (though not many) and have been up and about, but I will get back to my regular schedule hopefully soon.

At the worst, I should be done moving by the second week of Mars. I'm hoping to be able to get back to posting before that, but that hopefully.

Keep on keeping on!!! I will soon be sharing my San Francisco adventures!!!!

I am so excited! Be good n stuff

Will~

What would a member say?

2009-01-27T07:12:00.000-08:00

Like most people in the USA, we're feeling the bite of the housing melt down. I don't deal well with money. I don't know a thing about it, I don't like it, I'd be much happier if we could just exchange stuff like the cavemen... I know...

For the last few weeks I haven't been sleeping very well. I turn things in my mind all night and try to find solutions to problems I really don't understand. Last night I decided I would sleep in this morning to make up for the lost sleep.

I actually fell asleep pretty quickly, which is a miracle for me, and slept for a long time. Forget about sleeping in though. 4:30am, I'm wide awake staring at the ceiling. "What if we're making a mistake? What if we take the wrong path? What if we lose everything? What if I have to give up my dog?" I was working myself up to a panic so I decided to get up.

I know what I'll do, I'll cook us a big breakfast, that will make us feel better. I started down the stairs thinking eggs, cooked ham (we don't have bacon) toast, the whole thing.

I stopped in the middle of the stairs, what the hell was I thinking? What did we talk about last week at the meetings? How is food going to solve our financial problems? Make us any wiser? How will getting fat help me find a job?

I sat on the stairs, Leo the monster kitten got in my lap, and I started looking back at the last few weeks. I've been doing that a lot, the whole "this will make me feel better", or "I don't give a crap, I deserve it". Not enough to gain weight or anything, but it's a slipping slope, and I'm slipping fast. This is not working, what do I do?

"What would you tell a member?" I always ask myself in such situations. Honestly, I have no idea. I have a few platitude, automatic responses that apparently don't mean all that much cause they aren't helping me. I don't have all the solution, all the wise words. I just don't.

"What would a member say to another member?" Hum, now that's a different question. 4:45am, sitting in the stairs, on the edge of a binge, trying to figure this out, what would a member say to another member? "Get your ass to a gym, and work it out. Then you'll be able to think clearly."

You know, that's probably what my peeps on the message board would say too. I looked downstairs and my net bag with my board and pull buoy was hanging from the closet door. I'm going for a swim!

I swam hard for over 45 minutes. At some point all I could think about was "Pull, pull, pull" I knew I was pushing too hard, but it felt so good. I love swimming, it's like moving meditation. I was able to empty my mind, work out all the negative energy. My arms are hurting, my legs and hips are hurting, I'm worn out, but I feel calm, ready to face the world.

I can't control everything, I can only do my best, but I sure can take care of myself so that I'm ready to hit the ground running when things start moving.

The leader doesn't have all the solutions, but the members sure do!

A New Look!

2009-01-17T14:09:00.000-08:00

Well dear readers, here you have it! Willow's Home finally got it's very own look!

I have wanted to give Willow's Lifestyle and Willow's Bento Box a look that is my own ever since I started them, but I needed help.

It took some nagging, but Mister Willow (actually my husband Dan Ross) finally decided today that he would sit down and do it. The spice background and the spice lettering are made from a photo I took and that Dan transformed into lettering and background.

There will be other upgrades and creations as time goes by, but the basis of what I want my blogs to look like is there. Finally!

A great huge loving thank you to Dan for taking the time to do it (and putting up with me in the process ;op).

Let me know what you think in the comments!

Sushi Bowls, Oh my!

2009-01-16T21:07:00.000-08:00

Doing some reading, I found out that you can buy very decent precooked unagi frozen at Asian market. My husband and I both LOVE unagi, so I stopped by the little market in Petaluma called "New Asian Market" at the North end of McDowell (by the OSH hardware store).

I bought all sorts of stuff there, I always do, and came home to make sushi rolls.

I put the brown sushi rice (get that at Olivers! in Cotati) in the rice cooker, and started looking at what I had to work with. I had plenty of nori, vegetables and of course a big pack of unagi.

I had two problems though: 1- I was too tired to bother with rolls; 2- in rolls, it's hard to really taste the unagi enough to know if it's a keeper.

Instead I decided to make "sushi bowls". I've made sushi bowls before to treat myself for lunch, but my husband had never seen them so I thought I'd surprise him with it.

I seasoned the rice the same way you would for sushi, 1/3 cup of rice vinegar, 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tbsp miring and about 1-2 tsp salt for 3 cups of uncooked rice. I mixed the whole thing, and then was ready to start with my Sushi Bowls. Here's how I made them:

I measured 1 cup of rice in each bowl (using my measure-rite system from Weight Watchers, I'm such a nerd LOL).

I dumped the rice in there, but then I used my spatula to spread it gently in the bowl.

While the rice was cooking, I steamed thin carrot sticks and edamame (Trader Joes)I had leftover. I added a little mirin to the water to give the vegetable some taste. I added cucumber sticks after I was done steaming.

I spread the vegetable on the rice trying to spread the colors.

I added nori strips mainly for color, but also because I like the "fishy" taste of nori.

See? That in itself could be a very nice vegetarian Sushi Bowl wouldn't it?

But I had something else to add: Unagi! I bought it cooked but frozen, cut the pack in 2 and put one part back in the freezer for another time. I put this half in the oven for 15-20 minutes at 350 F to thaw it out.

I put it on the rack so that it wouldn't get "soggy" at the bottom. I HATE soggy fish, eeeewww.

I put the unagi on the cutting board and cut it in pieces.

I am very neurotic about both portions being the same. I grew up with 2 brothers and to this day I expect my husband to say "You got more than me!!!". He would never I'm sure, but...

So I cut it in half lengthwise, and then made the pieces the other way. That way each gets half.

I placed each piece in the bowls and tried to spread them in a pretty manner. I was getting hungry though, so it got less "fuffy" as I went.

Here's what it ended up looking like. Cute huh? It was just delicious! Honestly, it was also easy. I have a Zojirushi fuzzy logic rice cooker, so it's pretty much "put the rice the water and forget it". The unagi was precooked, and the rest is just cutting and steaming veggies!

If you clean your rice cooker right away, the rest is nothing really.

I had leftover rice, so I made onigiri that I broiled and frozen for bento use later on. Here they are:

So that's today's adventure, it was easy, it was interesting and it was just delicious! I love when it works!

Be good n stuff!

A good start to 2009

2009-01-11T17:55:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

If I have one "motto" for 2009, I think it will be "Keep it simple but effective". I'm tired of trying to do everything all at once and ending up doing nothing. Ever feel that way?

So, no big challenges, no grand plan to reinvent the wheel. We have a new plan at Weight Watchers and I'm approaching it as a new member. I'm reading the plan, following the plan as written without any attempt to "better the plan".

I've also started a major decluttering of the house. It's the second time we do it, and this time it's for real. We plan on moving this year, so I'm pairing down what I own to the minimum. It's so refreshing to let go of stuff and just go back to the essential! I love it!

I'm also simplified my cooking a lot. I got to the point where cooking meant 2-3 hours in the kitchen, to the point where I wasn't enjoying cooking anymore.

I've been trying now to cook once for at least 2 days of food. This started with a need to save money, and now honestly, it makes my life much easier.

Here's a few sample of my "cook now eat a few meals":

Barley Pilaf:

Thursday night we had a vegetarian attack. I made a Spicy Barley Pilaf that I served with roasted asparagus and zucchini slices.

The following day we ate the leftover barley with sandwiches.

I know, barley with bread, carbs galore, but see? that's what I mean by keeping it simple. I wanted bread and barley, I had bread and barley. Counted it, end of the story.

Last summer I would have felt the need to cook something complicated because you just can't have bread with barley. Guess what? I did, and I survived!

Caribbean Drumsticks and Vegetable Rice:

Saturday we had a lot to do so early in the morning I prepared everything to make Caribbean Drumsticks in the crock pot. I went to Costco and put the chicken to cook when I came back.

It cooked all day smelling just heavenly.

When we started getting hungry, I threw chopped onion, carrots, celery and red bell pepper in the chopper attachment of my immersion blender. Minced all that and sauteed it a few minutes in a pan.

In the meantime, I microwaved Trader Joes frozen brown rice. Once the vegetables were softened (2-3 minutes of cooking) I added the rice, a little bit of broth, salt and pepper.

Dinner! With about 10 minutes (or less) of preparation.

I had leftovers of both the chicken and the rice. I also saved the cooking juice from the chicken. With that and the jalapeno chicken sausages I bought today at Trader Joes I was planning on making a soup later this week, but my husband had a great idea:

I sauteed 2 sliced sausages in my pan, added the cooking juices from the chicken last night, the rest of the chicken and 1/3 cup of edamame. I cooked that covered for about 2 minutes, added the rice, mixing well, a little broth, covered again and cooked for another 2 minutes.

I served that with green salad and baby carrots:

The chicken and rice mixture was pretty spicy, so the simple cold vegetables were a good "neutral" to eat with it.

We still have half left for lunch tomorrow. So with 1 crock pot recipe, we have 3 meals!

So simple and uncomplicated is the rule, and so far we're enjoying it!!

Be good n stuff!

Motivation is weird

2008-12-09T08:25:00.000-08:00

This fall I found my "groove". I was swimming regularly and loving it, doing my thing... Then my brother stopped by, and everything got out of sync. I couldn't get started.

Of course I'm not blaming him, I'm just very much influenced by the inertia law, when I'm moving I keep moving. When I'm stopped... it'd take a tow truck to get me started.

Yesterday I was playing around on Facebook, and I came across somebody I know. He's not close enough to be called a "friend", he's more like "a friend of my ex". I like him though, and always wondered what happened to him. Is he still performing? Did his back ever heal...

The point is though, he's a athlete, an acrobat in fact. I was looking at picture and a lifetime of training as done wonders to him. His body is finely tuned, finely toned.

I will never have an acrobat's body, and it's not my goal, but all of a sudden, I feel the need to move, to get stronger, better. I'm tired of being just "OK". I want to go back to being tuned, toned, I want to be in perfect control of my body.

I won't join any circus, but I'll get myself MOVIN' Darn it!

Thanks Damien for the motivation! hehe

See him at work here: Duo Voltart

Be good n stuff!

OMG what a day!

2008-12-03T23:16:00.000-08:00

Do you ever have one of those days that start as a slow lazy day, with "I have plenty of time to do plenty of things". As the day goes on, things are sort of piling up, but that's OK cause I'll have tomorrow and Friday to get everything done.

Then the phone rings, we need you to work Thursday and Friday. No problem, I need to work, I need the money.

Then you think about it and realize that your mostly short to do list just got a few items added, and your time to do it went from 3 days to a few hours.

I had one of those day.

I spend a big part of the day playing around on Facebook (whoever got me on there should be punished! it's addictive!). Then i had an ingenious idea for a Christmas gift for a loved one, worked on that for a while. Then I got that phone call... By then it was too late to catch up.

I spent the evening working my meeting in Cotati and then stayed around to take out all the 2008 material, and put in, organize the material for 2009.

Food today was horrendous. I ate too many Weight Watchers snacks. I was at the traveler, that's all there was.

Finally my husband brought dinner for me and Cheri (thank god she was there to help me out!) and I had a sandwich, not haute cuisine, but better than a chocolate bar. I like the snacks but really...

I didn't work out, thought I did carry all the boxes by myself.

After everything was said and done, I was ready to go home and crash... I still had to stop by a friend's house in Sebastopol to bring back her keys I had used Monday.

You know when you're so tired that you know you need to go home and crash, but you simply can't move? We talked for a while, I played with the dog, ran around the kitchen island... finally at 10pm, I headed home. 10pm, I usually am ready for bed by 9:30pm, how did I end up on the road that late?

Then of course I think about Facebook and all the old friends I've found on there.

All those people who knew me in my other life. When 10 pm is when I left home to start finding people to go out with. When 5:30 am was the time I would go home, not get up to work out.

Am I who I am now because that's the "real me" that I was avoiding for whatever reason when I was younger? Or am I playing a role because I think that's how I should be?

Maybe as you get older you just change and that's just how it is.

I know people older than me who are still spending the nights out and walking home at 5:30 am slightly offbeat and knowing that they have to get up in 2 hours. Are they still having as much fun as I did at 20 years old? Or are they just caught in a loop?

I don't care really, honestly, I'd rather go to bed early, get up early and not have a hangover. Ah!

Food food food foooooooooooooood!

2008-12-01T14:07:00.000-08:00

Hi there!

I'm alive! So, it's blogging day, been almost 2 months. Busy months too! I've had ups and downs (literally) but now I'm on a good trend. I've been "testing" the new Weight Watchers program and am loving it!

I just stopped by to show off a few things that I've been up to. All of a sudden I miss cooking, so expect to see a lot more of it starting in January (after my vacation!).

For now I have a few things to show off:

I went to GNG and bought a pre-made Tandoori marinade. I wasn't too hopeful since I've had many disappointment with those, but that one was DELICIOUS!

I used my oven rack to cook it, so that the air could circulate all around the chicken pieces and the results were wonderful!

I served it with Garam Masala scented bulgur and sauteed red bell pepper and carrot sticks. Here's what my plate looked like:

Since I'm showing off anyway, here's my Thanksgiving table:

Would you believe that's all for just 2 people?

You can see the biscuits/rolls on the right. My husband made those and they were quite tasty. I had only 1 of them, maybe half another actually. hey, it's Thanksgiving!

The longish colorful platter is the roasted vegetables. Red onion, butternut squash, carrots cooked with thyme and rosemary sprigs, salt, pepper and garlic scented oil.

The white plate left of that is slice of turkey. We roasted a turkey breast, bone and all. Put it on a bed of onions, with thyme, rosemary, garlic oil, salt and pepper. Wrapped the whole thing in an aluminum foil. It turned out delicious. If you plan on eating the skin though, cook it unwrapped some, cause it wasn't "crispy".

Finally the glass bowl has mashed potatoes that my husband made with FF milk and a little butter. They were DELICIOUS.

We had plenty of leftovers, I made a soup the following day, and a curry with the rest of the turkey Saturday!

So that was Thanksgiving. I would have skipped the whole thing, but my dear American born husband looked so sad at the idea of just not having Thanksgiving that I couldn't do it.

Can't have Thanksgiving without dessert now can we?

This is the simplest thing!

Mix together 2 small pack of Jello sugar free vanilla pudding (1 big pack is only 1 1/2 small pack not 2!), 2 cups of Fat free milk, 1 cup of pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie spice mix (to taste, I put 1/2 tsp or so). Once that is well mixed, fold in 1 cup of Fat free Cool Whip.

Then, take a fuffy glass, and alternate a layer of Cool whip (not mixed with anything) and a layer of the pudding/pumpkin mix.

You could decorate with a cinnamon stick, a mint leaf... you know..

Delicious and good looking! AH!

After all that yummy food, and 2 weeks of eating out almost constantly while my brother visited, I was craving home cooked food. I was also sick of chicken!!!

Last night we had salmon thawed out, so I made our favorite salmon dish:

Basically, you season the salmon to taste (I use cumin, salt and pepper), heat up 1 tsp of oil in a heavy bottomed pan. Cook on medium high heat on one side 4 minutes (do not move it too much), then turn it and cook one minute, then lower the fire and cover, cook an additional 3 minutes or so (until done).

If you wait for your oil to heat up well, it makes a crispy layer on the salmon without overcooking the middle.

I roasted vegetables to go with it, and cooked some mushroom for myself (my husband won't touch those).

Last bragging subject for today (on here that is.. hehe) is this morning's breakfast:

I was hungry, but didn't want to use up my points, so I made myself one of my "Egg white pie":

Sauteed onions, bell pepper strips (had them frozen) and mushrooms. Added 3 egg whites, minced rosemary and thyme, salt pepper. Cooked in the non-stick pan until almost set. Put under the broiler to finish setting the top.

Et voila! Eating healthy delicious foods is so simple!

Find a restaurant that will serve those foods for cheap and have them taste half as good, AH! Good luck finding it!

Be good n stuff!

Overcoming an Emotional Binge

2008-10-02T07:24:00.001-07:00

I'm not only a leader at Weight Watchers, first and foremost I'm a member.

I have struggled with my weight for several years, and have found the tools and the inspiration I needed at Weight Watchers.

Since I'm well known in my area, I find it difficult to attend meetings without feeling like a "leader". People look up to me as someone who's got it all figured out. If only it was always true!

Weight Watchers.com has free message boards where the members can exchange tips and ideas and support each others. I have found there a place where I can be a member. The fact that I am a leader is known, but irrelevant. I'm a member like everybody else.

I've found many things on the boards and a lot of inspiration. I wanted to share with you something I've found a while ago, but was re-posted this morning. I don't know who originally wrote it, for that I apologize, if you know, please let me know so I can note it in here!!

3 Minutes to Fight Off an Emotional Eating Binge Right Before it Happens
(Posted by EditorCarol)

Minute 1: Stay Grounded

Emotional eating happens when you lose your connection to your
grounded self. Stress itself is not what makes you reach for something
to eat. In fact, stress is often a good thing and your grounded self
knows this! We need the physical stress of exercise to keep our bodies
in good shape just as we need the stress of intellectual and emotional
challenges to keep our minds healthy.

Nine times out of ten, what really leads to emotional eating is
getting caught in a "mind storm" of worst-case scenarios, projections,
misinterpretations, and all the emotional overreactions that come with
these thoughts. This "storm" turns a manageable challenge into
something that makes you feel helpless, overwhelmed, ashamed or
afraid—and sends you to the kitchen to find something to stuff those
extreme feelings. When you can stay grounded in the moment of stress,
you have many more options.

Here are some simple ideas to keep you grounded when something (or
someone) pushes your buttons and your feelings start to spiral out of
control:

1. Take a few deep breaths. (You can also count to 10, if that helps.)
If the stressful situation involves someone else, take a timeout and
agree to continue the discussion in a few minutes.

2. Remind yourself where you are. Take a look around, noticing and
naming the colors and shapes in the space around you.
Notice the physical sensations you are experiencing. Whether it's a
sinking feeling, turmoil in your stomach, tension in your hands or
jaw, restricted breathing, or heat on the back of your neck, try to
name the feelings that go with the sensation. Is that sinking feeling
fear, or dread? Is the heat a symptom of anger?
The idea here is to stay in your body and in the moment—with what's
real—instead of going inside your mind where all those unreal
scenarios are just waiting to get spun out-of-control.

Minute 2: Reality Check
Once you're calm enough to start thinking productively, put all those
thoughts that are clamoring for attention inside your head through a
quick reality check. Here are several very common thought patterns
that have no place in reality. Do any of these apply to you?
1. All or nothing thinking
Example: You go over your calorie limit or eat something on your
"forbidden" list, and then decide to keep eating because you've
already "blown it" for today. Reality: Weight loss is not a one-day
event. If you stop overeating now, you'll gain less and have less to
re-lose later. That's something to feel good about!

2. Reading your own thoughts into someone else's words
Example: Someone made a mildly critical or unsupportive remark to you,
and you feel completely devastated. Reality: The more bothered you are
by such remarks, the more likely it is that you are being overly
critical of yourself. When you treat yourself with respect, what
others say won't matter nearly so much.

3. Either-Or thinking
Example: You make a mistake or have a bad day and feel like a complete
and hopeless failure. Reality: No one does well all the time. Mistakes
are a necessary and valuable opportunity to learn—if you don't waste
them by getting down on yourself.

4. Taking care of other people's business
Example: Something is going badly for someone you care about, and you
feel responsible, or pressured to fix it. Reality: People need to
learn from their own problems. You aren't doing anyone a favor by
trying to fix things just to make yourself feel better.

Minute 3: Putting Things in Perspective
Most common problems that you face in everyday life are much easier to
handle when you keep them in perspective and avoid making mountains
out of molehills. Here are some questions you can ask yourself to make
sure you aren't in the mountain-making business:

1. How big a deal is this, anyway? If I knew I was going to die in a
week, would this be something I would want to spend this minute of my
remaining time on?
Will any bad things happen if I postpone thinking about this until I
have more time to figure things out?

2. Do I have all the information I need to decide how to respond to
this? Do I really know what's going on here, or am I making
assumptions? Am I worrying about things that might not even happen?
What do I need to check out before taking action?

3. Is there anything I can do right now that will change or help this
situation?
Am I trying to control something I can't, like what other people
think, say, or do?
Have I really thought through this problem, and broken it down into
manageable pieces I can handle one-at-a-time?

Use this approach whenever your thoughts or situations begin to feel
overwhelming, and you'll quickly find that the mountains that seem
impossible at first can quickly morph into what they really
are—manageable hills that you DO have the ability to climb. All it
takes is three little minutes of your time.

So there you have it, in 3 minutes you can turn around a situation and make it work for you. Only 3 minutes!

Be good n stuff!

I'm an Auntie!

2008-10-01T21:38:00.000-07:00

Would you look at this!!! Isn't it the cutest thing you've ever seen?

This little thing there is Baby H, the latest addition to the Clan. My little brother is a Daddy!

Look at him, Baby H also got something from his Auntie, he's working out already!

Here's another picture of him:

I'm in love!

Apparently so's the proud Daddy! Look at him!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaw I'm all melting all of a sudden. My little brother is all grown up!

Welcome to the world Baby H! You're one lucky little fellow. You're Mom and Dad are going to be such great parents.

One day, when you're a teenager, and get angry and frustrated, I'll be able to tell you about the joy and pride I heard in your Daddy's voice when he talked about you today.

Welcome to the world, welcome to our family. We love you to pieces already!

Auntie Will~

Finding our way

2008-09-23T08:15:00.000-07:00

Woaaah it’s been a while hasn’t it?

September has been a long, stressful month. I pretty much had to put everything aside to go in “survival mode”. I cleaned up my finances, figured out where I stand, made new goals for myself and now I’m ready to get going.

I’ve found that I really need those “wait a minute” moments where I can just step back and rethink where I’m going and how I’m going to get there.

Now that I’ve got my brain in gear, I’m back to the daily grind. You know what though? All of a sudden, we’re having fun again!

Sunday is the first day of my work week, so everything starts on Sunday! That night we had tilapia fish thawed out and I decided to make a stew out of it.I made it up on the spot and it was delicious!

Here’s what it looked like:

I looked around in my fridge to see what I had to work with. I had all sorts of leftover cut veggies so I used those.

I sautéed 1/2 cup chopped onion, for 2-3 minutes. Then I added 2 garlic cloves (minced) and one red hot pepper, seeded and minced, cooked for about 1 minute.

I then added about 1 cup diced zucchini, cooked 2 minutes, threw in 3/4 cup of small red bell pepper sticks cooked 2 more minutes.

When the veggies were tender crisp, I added salt, pepper and 8 oz of raw tilapia cut in chunks. I cooked that 2 minutes covered, then I turned the fish pieces, added 1 cup diced fresh tomatoes (I quartered small ones that were on the vine), 2 TBSP (more or less) fresh basil in strips and 1 tsp capers. I cooked that about 2-3 minutes, or until the fish was done.

Et voila, fish soup/stew. The fish was still slightly frozen when I started so be careful not to overcook!

Yesterday I made bentos in the morning and was planning on cooking chicken for dinner but a stomach ache kept me out of the kitchen so we had canned soup. I had the healthy Choice chicken and noodle soup.

It was okay… not very tasty at all though. If you like very tasty/spicy food you will need to doctor it up. Next time I will add spices to it.

It's a good base to start with though if you want quick and easy "save me from the drive through" solution and are out of frozen meals.

I'm also enjoying my trusty smoothie every morning. I ran out for a while, and really missed it.

This has been my coffee every morning, 1 packet of the Weight Watchers Creamy Chocolate Smoothie in 2 cups (more or less) of hot coffee. It starts my day the right way.

So we are still eating right, and enjoying it. I’m also working out regularly again which makes a world of difference!

I actually slept all the way through the night last night. Finally! Our kitten has been waking us up on regular basis.

We finally found him a name: Leopold, Leo for short. He is still climbing everywhere, but we’re getting used to him and fortunately he seems to have learned to get lost at night.

Look at him, so cute!

So that’s what’s going on with us. We’re moving ahead, slowly but surely. My husband was looking very good this morning for some reason, very slim. This girl ain’t complaining one bit! ;o)

Be good n stuff!

Tuesday's picnic

2008-09-05T20:04:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday we went for a day at the beach. We went to Doran Beach in Bodega Bay. It's a beautiful beach at which, for a few dollars, you can park, use the restroom, even take a shower if you need to.

We fell in love with the place, only problem being that I sunburned pretty badly. So we spent the rest of the week mostly indoors. Oh well.

For that day we had prepared a picnic: two deli meat sandwich on dutch crunch bread, and a tabbouleh. We also had yogurt, and bananas!

I had fun packing up the food, unfortunately the camera didn't cooperate that well. Here's what I salvaged:

Here's the two sandwich with the tabbouleh.

The Tabbouleh is the most simple I've ever made, and actually the most tasty!

I soaked Bulgar, then chopped a big bunch of parsley, chopped tomatoes, cucumber, put in chick peas, lemon juice salt and pepper.

That's it! It was delicious, and it was fresh. Yum! I put it in my glass Lock and lock. With lemon juice, I didn't want to use plastic.

I packed the sandwich in a layer of plastic wrap, but that was ugly, so I wrapped them in a bento cloth just to make them pretty!

So that was our picnic or what I could get out of the camera about it!

I packed the whole thing in my picnic basket, and off we went. We had a totally relaxing day. We brought the dog along, on leash, and though she wasn't used to being on leash at the beach, she did pretty darn good.

We're planning many Saturdays there I think. I'm also looking into a "season pass" for next summer!

Be good n stuff!

A newcomer in my house!

2008-09-04T20:27:00.000-07:00

So, I wanted to introduce a newcomer in my family: Monsieur Sans-Nom. Which is a temporary name until I come up with something.

Monsieur Sans-Nom is from the Sonoma County Shelter, and is around 3 months old (that we know of). He's a male short haired tabby kitty with a white belly and white "tips". He's adorable and LOADED with energy.

He's already won over my husband:

Grace, our dog:

And myself of course! I'm just in love with the little guy.

Gaya, our older female cat is less than impressed with him, but for a first meeting it didn't go too bad. He kinda goofed by running straight in her face... TWICE!

He has also explored the whole downstairs.

The Shoe rack:

Under the furniture:

In the trash can:

And of course, the curtains (which he has tried to climb a few times already):

So, Monsieur Sans-Nom has been here about 3 hours, if that, and has already completely overtaken the house. I'm in loooooooooooove isn't he the cutest?

Be good n stuff!

Tried something new!

2008-08-30T18:48:00.000-07:00

I got a new cookbook yesterday: World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey. It's a wonderful book that I surely use a lot.

As always when I get a cool book, I trot out all my other cool cookbook and start looking around in them. I have well over 170 cookbooks so...

Today I used The complete Middle East Cookbook. I've had it for a while, used it some, but hadn't looked at it for some time.

In there I cam across a recipe for Nivik which is chickpeas cooked with spinach. I had never tasted it and had no idea what to expect, but it DID look good!

I cut the recipe in half and used canned chickpeas instead of cooking dry ones, here's what it looked like:

I served it along with roasted chicken but honestly it would have been fine on it's own with a salad, or a naan. The chicken was really overkill.

It was simply delicious, I'm planning on doing it again, starting with dry chickpeas this time, and having it as my main dish. My husband really liked it also, so that's a step in the "putting it on the regular list" direction.

The more I explore vegetarian far, the less appealing meat is. I'll never be a real vegetarian, even less a vegan, but I do understand how it is possible to be completely satisfied living as a vegetarian. There's so much to explore!

We're still on vacation, walked non-stop the last two days in Berkley and San Francisco, tomorrow we're heading to the farmer's market in Sebastopol. Other than that, we're taking a vacation from planning! AH!

Be good n stuff!

On Vacation!

2008-08-25T21:44:00.000-07:00

We're on vacation (well, my husband is, I'm not quite on vacation at this point!) so there isn't much Internet time really.

I still had to stop and brag a little. We have a new cookbook out at Weight Watchers, and tonight my husband cooked dinner all out of Best Eats.

He made a Home-Style Meatloaf (p. 66) that he served with Tuscan Potato and Pepper Packets (p. 159). It was delicious!

It's very cool to see my husband have fun experimenting in the kitchen. Two mad scientist in the same kitchen. What's out!

Here's what dinner looked like:

The plate is HUGE, which makes the portions look tiny, but the portions were plenty since I had a substantial lunch. Both the meatloaf and the potatoes were tasty and very "comfort food" like.

Absolutely going to become regular fare in my kitchen, both recipes!

I'll be kind of busy for the next week or two due to vacation and an intense need to GET OUT!

So by the 8th of September my husband will be back to work, and I'll hook back up to my routine!

Be good n stuff!

Food is good!

2008-07-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, I still have to work on being active again, I do move a lot, but not as much as I'd like to.

We're eating good though!

Last night we were tired from our Embarcadero expedition, so we decided to keep it simple. My husband grilled chicken thighs and summer squash.

He's really doing a good job at the grill and it was simple but delicious. We ate that with leftover couscous, and a quick tomato salad that I made with our new fresh tomatoes, and some fresh lettuce I had left over from last weekend. Here's what it looked like:

Neat huh? Simple, no fuss, mismatched dishes, welcome to my world! AH! ;op

After such an eventful day yesterday, I was feeling a little let down and lonely this morning. I felt like I needed to treat myself, but I didn't want to eat stuff I shouldn't. What to do?

This:

Doesn't it look fuffy? I had more fun making it than I did eating it!

Left to right:

1- I have 1 hard boiled egg that I sliced with my super egg slicer (from Ichiban Kan). Between the egg slices I put a cucumber slice on which I have spread a LITTLE bit of homemade hummus.

2- I have leftover lettuce mixes with carrot sticks I made out of my yummy yellow carrots I got at the Embarcadero. On top of that, I put some fresh tomatoes on cutsy little skewer I have for my bento boxes.

3- I have a sliced plus, just one.

The whole thing was very filling, low calories, and fun to make!

I have a lot of time on my hands right now, and I find that to be very difficult. Rather than sitting around feeling depressed, I'm playing with food. And it's even healthy! How cool is that?

Things are changing for me and it's a good thing. I feel much more able to "deal with life" and face things than I did just a month ago and that brings me to share this:

This is an entire different topic, and I guess should be the topic of an entirely new post, but after being on Depo Provera for several years, I finally stopped using it and went for Mirena instead.

I'm not saying Mirena is for everybody, I'm saying if you're using Depo Provera and are finding yourself to be moody, anxious, depressed for no reason, look into a new birth control.

Since I was new to the country, I thought it was the "adaptation process" and that I was just going crazy as I got older.. wouldn't you know it? It was just my body not liking that stuff!!! I'm me again!

Just thought I would share, please don't let yourself down, react and "make things better" for yourself when needed!

Be good n stuff!

Our Embarcadero adventure today part 2

2008-07-29T16:46:00.000-07:00

This morning we took off to the Embarcadero Farmer's market. We drove to Larkspur and from there took the ferry across, just for the fun of it. We had a great time! You can read and look at the first part of our adventure in the Part 1 of this post by clicking here.

Here's the second part of our adventure in pictures:

So as I said in the first part of this story, I was very careful not to buy stuff that I didn't need or that I could get cheaper back in Sonoma County. Here's what I got (obviously I took those pictures after getting home):

Those tomatoes were beautiful AND tasty. Not only that but they are tiny which makes them perfect for my bento lunches.

These French green beans are very thin, and tasty. I'm planning on serving them as a side dish with a little bit of olive oil, garlic, lemon and whatever herbs will fit.

These are great! Being so small, they are perfect for roasting and you could smell them from almost across the market! I'm not sure my husband will like them since they are a bit strong, but I sure will!

This is what that salesman was having me taste as I mentioned in the first part of this story. Those fruits are different "members" of the same family, peaches, plums, pluots (apricot-plum hybrid) and such. They are tasty! I had one of each sliced for dessert (for both of us) after lunch. Oh my!

All good things must come to an end, and we finally took the ferry back to Larkspur.

The Embarcadero building (Ferry Building I should say, sorry!) looks imposing from the bay doesn't it? Even with the Financial District buildings all around it.

Would you look at that handsome man? He has always looked good to me, but he's looking really really hot there isn't he? He's mine girls! Back off!

It was windy out there! Woaahhh!

So we made it home, and it was just past lunchtime! It feels like we've been out all day, but actually it was just a few hours. We were hungry after all that so we made ourselves sandwiches. I had with that left over couscous and made a little tomato salad with my new tiny tomatoes, a little bit of garlic olive oil, salt and pepper. It was delicious!

Tonight we're BBQing, but I'm not sure how hungry we'll be. We had lunch around 2pm...

So that's our Embarcadero adventure, we sure had a lot of fun, met a lot of extremely friendly people and tasted many good (if sometimes strange) fruits.

Our next adventure will be the San Rafael market I think. Haven't been to that street party in a long long time!

Be good n stuff!

Our Embarcadero adventure today part 1

2008-07-29T16:04:00.000-07:00

This morning we took off to the Embarcadero Farmer's market. We drove to Larkspur and from there took the ferry across, just for the fun of it. We had a great time!

Here's our adventure in pictures:

First part is our Ferry trip from Larkspur to San Francisco. I grew up on boats and am much more at ease on the water than I am on land. I just love the feeling of the rocking ship, the smell of the sea, even the smell of the fuel burning brings me back to my childhood!

Larkspur's Ferry terminal! We're off!

"Huh Husband, is that Angel Island? Or Sausalito? Or what?"

You'll notice that there's nothing like sea wind to redo your hairdo!

"Ooooh would you look down there!"

After we got back on land, we stopped by Peet's for a coffee and a muffin before hitting the market.

Yes it's only coffee in there! I swear!

Finally, the market! It wasn't as big as the Saturday one, but it was also a lot less crowded. It was fun to talk to the vendors and taste so many fruits!

"Ooooh so many fruits!"

Would you look at my husband? You'd think he owns the place, too cute!

The hardest part is to decide what is worth buying, and what I can get cheaper (much cheaper) in Sonoma County. I was very careful because the prices are pretty high there. You do pay for quality, but still...

That guy could sell a fridge to Esquimos! He's super nice, had me tasting like 8 different fruits. I ended up buying some of each too! He even got my husband to taste stuff!

I was so focused on what to buy and not buy, and on having pictures for the blog, that when the guy working that booth offered to take our picture, my first answer was "No, I'm ok". My husband was like "Why?"

Cause I didn't think it through!! Sorry!!! We did get that picture, one of the very few we have!

Those are ALL peppers! Different shapes, different colors and it was huge!

In the Part two of "Our Embarcadero adventure today" There'll be pictures of our trip back and what I got! :o)
(To read the second part of this adventure click here)

Stay tuned!

Busy day, but successful

2008-07-26T19:51:00.000-07:00

Today was a busy day, but a really good one! You know, one of those days that you get a lot accomplished that will help you get a lot accomplished in the coming days?

We had planned our day last night to clean up the house, catch up with the paperwork, the clutter and just do all the things we always say "Aww, next week!"

So we had planned to clean and declutter in the morning, take a break and go have lunch at Aram's Cafe in Petaluma. It's a little Mediterranean-Middle Eastern place that has great food, friendly service, and is right across the street from Copperfield's Bookstore! What else can you ask for?

So we did just that. Once there though, we realized we weren't really that hungry. Instead of each ordering a plate, we shared. We ordered one sandwich, the Lule Kebab pita, which is a whole pita cut in 2 and filled with a Lule Kebab, Hummus and Tabbouleh (I think). We also ordered only one side, the Roasted Red Potato Salad, which is YUMMY! It was plenty of food for both of us, it was very tasty, and we got lunch for both of us for about $11!

After lunch we stopped by Copperfield's, of course, and I didn't even buy a cookbook. I am beyond proud of myself!

We came back home, finished the declutter mission and moved the furniture around. The house is so calm and relaxing now. I've added candles, organized my things, thrown away a lot of stuff I didn't need. Ah! I just love doing this, I can breathe!

For dinner, my husband and I had planned to do a recipe for BBQ chicken we had done before. It's in the Weight Watchers Short Cut cookbook. The recipe calls for precooked chicken strips that you buy in packets, but instead we just cooked chicken breasts and used that. It's cheaper, and much healthier I think, since it cuts down on the "unknown chemicals" put in prepackaged food. It also ended up tasting better, so it's a win on all sides!

The recipe calls for a bun since it's a BBQ chicken sandwich, and that's what my husband did. For myself I took my serving of chicken and spread it over a salad. Here's what it looked like:

It was delicious! Spicy, but tasty also!

This time we doubled the recipe and I used my vacuum sealer to package the leftovers for the freezer.

So that's our day. I really think that a decluttered house helps having a decluttered mind. When things are chaotic around you, you can't focus and everything becomes more complicated.

The other thing is that if you want to do something that will take a lot of time and effort, planning something fun right in the middle of it makes it much easier.

As always, a little planning goes a long way!

Be good n stuff!

Dog Therapy

2008-07-25T19:21:00.001-07:00

You know what is really a moodiness buster? Spending an hour or two with doggies!

Today we did just that! I was out on the road, running errands, looking for places to walk with my dog, Grace. We went to Sebastopol, but it was a lot hotter outside than I thought, so we cut our walk short.

I remembered that I was supposed to stop by my friend's house to pick up a few supplies for my meeting in Cotati. Once there, we saw to business and then my friend asked if I wanted to stick around to let our dogs play together. We had talked about it many times, but it just never happened before.

Grace is well socialized, she goes to doggie daycare and to the dog park regularly, she knows how to act with other dogs. I was working at the vet office when I got her and I knew I wanted to take her to work, so I made a lot of effort toward socializing her with humans AND dogs. I don't work there anymore, but my husband takes her regularly to work where she has to deal with people and dogs alike.

Bruno, my friend's dog, is totally well taken care of, but he's more of a "house dog". He's not so "well traveled". He is also much younger, 9 months old. Grace, at 4 years old, has lost the "puppiness" that makes them over react sometimes. I was keeping an eye on things for this reason.

He acted like a pro! Eager to play, but not at all obnoxious. They had fun together, and once Grace made it clear that she would not take shit from this pup, the two hit it off just fine!

Here's some pictures of the two out in my friend's backyard:

Grace is laying on my feet here, trying to look intimidating from a submissive position. Bruno is trying to look intimidating, but being very careful not to look at Grace in the eye.

Bruno says: "Please play with me!" And Grace is asking me "Am I supposed to play with him?"

And off they went, running around, peeing on each other's pee, and all around enjoying themselves!

After a little while of playing in the heat, Grace decided it was break time. She took ownership of a very comfy long chair (after I made sure it was ok with my friend, Grace is not permitted on furniture at home) leaving Bruno to beg for a spot.

Finally they made a compromise and that was that!

I think that Grace was tired when we came home. Doesn't she look tired?

While Grace was resting, Gaya got some attention. Yes, the picture is the right side up, the cat isn't though.

I think that playing with animals should be part of the Weight Watchers program, or any "healthy lifestyle" for that matter. It's relaxing, it's funny, and when you think you've seen it all, they find a new way to look goofy!

I was telling my friend, and this is true, that I had promised myself I would never get that close to a dog again.

Pets are pets, animals, they come into your life, and go, and that's just how it is. Their life is short, so getting attached to them is just asking for pain really.

Honestly though, I look at Grace, and at Gaya and I just can't help but melt a little inside. I love my furbabies, they are just the best there is! Yeah, they will go one day, until then, I'm gonna cuddle them until they turn blue!!

Be good n stuff!

Elegant Breakfast

2008-07-25T08:33:00.000-07:00

I was hungry this morning, but nothing seemed good. Do you have those morning? Feeling a little mopey, whiny. Definitively a good day to treat myself.

Soooo, I decided to think up breakfast a little more than usual. It turned out very simple, but so good!

Here's what I had:

I had a little left over couscous from making the bentos this morning. It's pretty bland (the pork dish it goes with is very tasty) so it needed some spunk!

I cooked 1/2 cup of Better n egg with a lot of spices, hot chili, cumin, salt pepper and a little garam masala. I mixed the scrambled egg with the couscous.

With that I cut a carrot in sticks, and put a dish of eggplant hummus (from Trader Joes).

So, that's my breakfast, nothing earthshaking, but very tasty. As you can see in the picture though, I didn't go only for taste, but also for look.

I put the egg-couscous mixture in a white bowl, the hummus in a white dish (that's my soy sauce dipping dish for sushi!) and put the whole thing on a dark plate. It makes a fairly simple breakfast look all the more elegant.

I felt like I was eating a "fuffy breakfast" at a Mediterranean resort or something! It all in how you look at it, sometimes a tiny extra effort makes a huge difference!

Be good n stuff!

Adjustment of Focus

2008-07-24T20:42:00.000-07:00

The Bento Blog took off and is going so strong that this one kind of fell on the wayside. I think it's mainly because I started this blog with a focus that didn't really work for me.

I started this as a "lifestyle blog", with the idea that I could help people change their life and find the right path toward healthy and well being. Not only it's pretentious of me, but my job is to "teach" people how to do this, I don't want to do that all over again in my spare time. Selfish, maybe, but also realistic.

I would rather just share my "adventures" with you my readers. Share with you the new foods I discover, my activity exploits, and the things I find that help me be a better happier me. From there, if you learn something then GREAT! I just don't want to be your "teacher", I'd rather be a friend who's sharing her discoveries and adventures.

Works?

My journey:

I needed to take myself in hand really, I was slipping and badly, so here's what I did:

I switched from the Core plan to the Flex plan.

I also emailed my boss at Weight Watchers and asked her if she would mind me "reporting" my weigh-in every week just to keep me accountable.

So now I'm all motivated! I'm moving, taking care of myself, really things are going well.

Discoveries & Adventures:

I'm also back in the groove of trying new things!

Today I went to Trader Joes and I came across a new fruit: Lychee

It's a Chinese fruit, here's what they look like (I peeled one of them to show the white flesh):

Here I have the peeled one in my hand to give you an idea of size:

The taste is very "fresh" and hard to describe. It's like a mix between honey dew melon, green grapes and oranges with a hint of strawberry. How's that for a description?

I think they are delicious, would go wonderfully in a fruit salad, or in a spinach salad.

I know you can find them canned, but they are generally in syrup, so get them fresh while you can! They also can be frozen whole with peel on. The skin will turn dark brown but the taste of the fruit will not be changed.

Shopping:

Last but not least, I went to the Cotati Farmer's Market today. I walked from home to there, about 45 minute to an hour to get there. I brought along my camera to share with you my readers, but I ended up taking no pictures.

I was there a whole 5 minutes, there were 3 or 4 veggies stands, a bunch of junk food, and honestly I was not impressed.

It should be noted that the County Fair started this week, so it might be a factor, but really I expected a little more "Farmer" than "Market".

The fish vendors are there though, that's something worth going for, but next time I'll drive. It's not worth walking so much for.

So that's today's adventures, I had a good day and enjoyed myself very much. Tomorrow will be pretty smooth, I have to stick around to wait for a package... fun!

My next major "adventure" should be this coming Tuesday, we're planning to visit the Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building in San Francisco (Embarcadero). I'm looking forward to discovering new things!

Be good n stuff!

My Challenge this week

2008-06-22T19:20:00.000-07:00

It's been a while hasn't it? I've been pretty busy lately, and didn't have much time to think about myself and what I'm doing. It shows too! So, I've decided to get myself going again. On of the things I've decided to do to get me going is to give myself a challenge. I'm very competitive, so usually it's a good booster for me!

This week my challenge is to use a different cookbook every day. My main meal, and if possible my side dishes are all coming from the same cookbook.

For my first day I decided to use Weight Watcher's New Complete Cookbook. I bought it at Costco actually and have been looking at it without ever using it so there!

Wisely or not, I decided to start by having a Mediterranean/Middle Eastern meal. Here's what it looked like:

The grain dish is a Tabbouleh. It was very tasty! The only think is that the recipe calls for it to sit and chill for 3 hours, but I didn't have time to do that. I'm sure that the texture would have been better if it had sat longer.

It's not an innovative Tabbouleh recipe by any stretch of the imagination, but something to do again!

With that I made Middle Eastern Beef Kebabs. Those turned out very good! I did forget the bay leaf (DUH!) but it still turned out very tasty and filling. The recipe makes 4 generous servings! I used my curly metal skewers, and switched the pepper for yellow squash, made it look pretty!

We cooked it on broil, but I think it'd be even better on the grill! One thing I'll do differently is to process the marinade more, it was a little too chunky.

Finally I made a Baba Ghanouj to eat with cucumbers while the meat cooked, and also we used it with the main meal to dip the meat and veggies into. It was good, a little too liquidy to my taste though. I would drain the eggplant well before I mash it to "dry it out" a little.

I have those little measuring spoon that are "a pinch" and "a dash" etc. I use the "a dash" one for the dash of cayenne called for in the recipe... Ooooofaaaahhhh! That's a big dash! Still good though, just surprising at first!

There you have it, the first day of my challenge! You can find the recipes by clicking on their title in the text above.

Activity-wise, well... see you at the gym in the morning!

Tomorrow it's the Shortcut Cookbook, another one form Weight Watchers!

Be good n stuff!

My Plan for the Week!

2008-06-01T10:18:00.000-07:00

Food Stuff:

I've got my week all planned out! Meal by meal! I'm getting bored with always eating the same stuff, so I decided to plan for variety. I've also made an effort to have a lot of vegetables in there. I've been pushing the grains, the legumes, and have been eating less and less veggies... I miss them!

Here's my week in food:

Sunday:

Breakfast: Fruits, Ezekiel cereals, milk
Lunch: Leek zucchini soup, roasted chicken salad
Dinner: leftover soup, Beef Stir Fry, couscous

Monday:

Breakfast: Oats, yogurt, fruits
Lunch: Couscous, lentil curry, ground turkey n veggies, steamed veggies
Dinner: Hawaiian chicken, Shredded green beans, roasted asparagus

Tuesday:

Breakfast:Fruits, Ezekiel cereal, milk
Lunch: Leftovers bento
Dinner: Sushi (take out)

Wednesday:

Breakfast: Eggs/Canadian bacon sandwich
Lunch: Vegetable curry, Onigiri, Steamed veggies, fruit pieces
Dinner:Wheat Berry salad, Grilled salmon, hummus/veggies

Thursday:

Breakfast: Oats, fruits, yogurt
Lunch: Wheat Berry salad, veggies/hummus, Canadian bacon rolls
Dinner: Fajita-style Skillet Pork, Bulgar

Friday:

Breakfast: Vegetables scramble
Lunch: Leftovers (whatever is still around)
Dinner: BBQ chicken, BBQ veggies, Bulgar

Saturday:

Breakfast: Aram's Cafe brunch
Lunch: Aram's Cafe brunch
Dinner: Steamed fish n vegetables, "Fried" Brown rice

Activity Stuff:

Activity might be tricky this week. For one thing, I finally caught the flu-cold-whatever that has been going around. If I move too fast, I get really dizzy.

Another challenge this week is that I'm having "Mirena" installed Tuesday. I have no clue how that will affect me, so I don't know how "up to it" I'll be when it comes to exercising.

So here's my plan for this week:

Sunday:

Yoga (45 min), Walk (45-60 min)

Monday:

Pilates (45 min), Swim or walk (45-60 min)

Tuesday:

Walk (60 min)

Wednesday:
(depend on how I feel after Tuesday)

Total body work out (20 min) Core Cardio work out (20 min) Walk (45-60 min)

Thursday:

Yoga (45 minutes) walk or swim (45-60min)

Friday:

Pilates (60 min) Walk or Swim (45-60 min)

Saturday:

Walk (90-120 min)

So there, my week is all planned out and ready to go! I've also put my pedometer back on! Hopefully I'll keep up the steps!

Be good n stuff!!!!

Writing a Journal

2008-05-30T09:56:00.000-07:00

When you leave your country to live elsewhere, it can be a difficult transition. When the language is also different, it adds to the "detachment" you have relating to your origins. Sometimes it's easy to feel like you just left yourself behind.

When I made the choice to move to the United States, I did so knowingly. I knew I would need time to learn English (and I'm still learning obviously). I knew that it might be a while before I can start teaching full time. I knew that the American mentality would take some getting used to. I came in with an open mind, and ready to learn and adapt.

In some ways, it was easier than I had anticipated. Americans are a lot easier to deal with than it is believed from the outside (don't get on me about this, I didn't make the world!). My adventure with Weight Watchers have given me a chance to get to know people, and to understand their lives more than I would have from our 1 bedroom apartment in the city!

I met, and still meet, wonderful people, who are caring and funny and just a joy to be around, both among the members and the staff.

My husband has also been a wonderful support in this. Always believing in me, always happy to help me out and support me when I need it. Always there when I feel down, and ready to celebrate my victories!

The part that I had not anticipated is the feeling that I'm just losing myself in this. I don't know really how to explain it, my goals, my ambitions, my abilities seem to vanish in the whirlwind of just trying to keep going in this "strange world". It's like I've lost sight of who I am.

I rarely talk to my friends anymore, and frankly, I don't know what to talk about with them. I live in a different country, doing different things, mostly things that they might not understand. My life is so different to what it was in Canada, that I just don't know how to relate to those who knew me then.

Here I have friends, but they've known me only for a few years. They can relate to what I'm doing now, but have no clue of what my life was before I moved out. It's so alien to them that they can't relate to it. Again, I don't know where to start, how to make the connection.

I'm in the process of trying to find a teaching position, and I'm not very successful at it so far. That with everything I've just talked about has been heavy on me lately. I'm not sure anymore of what I really want to do, where I want to go. Do I keep trying to get a teaching job? Do I go back to Weight Watchers full time? Do I drop everything and move back home? What do I want?

To help me figure it out, I've decided to start writing a journal. Funny thing is, my first hesitation was "Do I write it in French? or in English?". It pretty much sums up my problem right now doesn't it?

I decided to write in French for two reasons:

First, I'm trying to find myself. As much as I'm trying, awkwardly, to blend in American society, I'm not an American. I'm French Canadian and "Acadienne", my language of birth is French, and that is part of who I am. I think that if I want to figure this out, it's important to connect to that.

Second, I want to use this as a tool to figure myself out. That means admitting things that I haven't even admitted to myself, much less my husband and/or my friends. I have nothing to hide, but it feels safe to know that nobody around me can understand what I'm writing in there. I get to process the feelings, the thoughts before they get out there in the world.

I'm hoping that this will help me go further in my journey of life. I've made so many changes and have learned so much in the last 6 years or so. This is just a tool to go further and learn more.

Does the quest to know and understand oneself ever end?

Be good n stuff!

Things are Moving

2008-05-26T18:16:00.000-07:00

Food Stuff

Yeah, yeah I know, the last thing I need is a new cookbook! I say that every time... I couldn't resist this one though!

It's not a new cookbook, it was published in 1992. The authors Sheryl and Mel London put together a most useful cookbook. The title is: The Versatile Grain and the Elegant Bean, A celebration of the world's most healthful foods.

Basically, it's an encyclopedia for cooks! For each grain and each bean they talk about they give and historic; a definition; the different forms the grain or bean can be found in; a cooking chart; and finally healthy recipes.

This is all put together in an easy to read format, with simple but beautiful illustrations and no unnecessary complications. The recipes look very interesting. They don't all fit into my chosen food plan, but I think most of them would be easily modified.

I'm very happy with this book, I have several "grain" books, but this one is the closest to what I really wanted: A simple "how to" book about grains. The beans added in are a super bonus as they are most probably to be my next obsession!

I will stop buying cookbooks someday... I promise!

Activity Stuff

Finally I think I've got myself moving! After struggling for a long time, I just decided to take the "do what you can when you can" approach. I cannot run, my knees won't permit it. I can't lift weights anymore, my joints won't let me.

So...

Yesterday I went for a walk with my husband and my dog for 65 minutes. We walk fast, and non-stop, so I think I'm decently moving.

I also Did a 45 minutes Pilates workout (I have this package, I used the Intermediate Pilates Work out DVD). I followed the DVD work out, and then I added a few of my "own moves" to complete the work out.

Today I walked first thing in the morning. Me and the dog took off and walked/played non-stop for 40 minutes.

After that I did a Yoga work out (Yoga Shakti, by Shea Rea) for about 45 minutes.

I plan on walking again tonight. My goal is to take the dog for a walk at least 2 times/day. Not counting play time of course! AH!

Things are moving

I've been doing pretty good for the last two days. Not so much "eating perfectly" but rather gently following my plan.

Nowhere does it say in my material that I have to "eat clean" 100% of the time. Nowhere does it say that I have to work out 2 hours a day at high intensity.

I'm eating right, I'm moving, and I'm enjoying myself. What else could be better? It sure works for me!

Be good n stuff!

Food food food!

2008-05-18T19:58:00.001-07:00

I been cooking my behind off this weekend!

Here's Friday's fare:

Watermelon Salad, Grilled chicken and bulgur. Fairly simple, but delicious! Here's the details:

This is a recipe I found in the Weight Watchers Magazine a few years ago. The heat last week reminded me of it and I found it hidden in a folder on my laptop.

It's also extremely easy! 3 cup of little watermelon cubes, 2 Kirby cucumbers sliced thin, 1 jalapeno pepper minced, 2 TBSP red wine vinegar and salt! Mix together, let chill a little, there you are!

I prepare a chicken recipe from the new Sizzle It cookbook we have at Weight Watchers. It's called Moroccan-style chicken with olives. Yeah, I forgot the olives... oh well... It was delicious that night, and again the following day for lunch! I grilled the chicken on my George Foreman Grill, I bet it'd be better on charcoal!

The bulgur dish was very simple, soaked with broth, salt and pepper. That's it!

Saturday night I didn't feel like cooking, but I had a bunch of vegetables that needed to be used, so I made a vegetarian curry. I don't have pictures of it, but it was just a simple curry that I made up on the spot with sweet potato, zucchini, asparagus, diced tomatoes, onions... I forget what else. I made a lot of it, and it was SPICY, as in 15 minutes later I was still sweatin'... hmmmmm

Today I cooked again, and it was different, but very good!

Here's today's fare:

I did make it with the bentos in mind, a simple Tabbouleh with Turkish Meatballs, a recipe I found on the Weight Watchers Website a while ago. I love it!

Ok, I said a simple Tabbouleh, but honestly I'm very proud of the look and taste of it. I was careful to chop the parsley very small, and to chose vegetable that would look and taste good together. I ended up putting cucumber, red pepper, chickpeas, parsley and bulgur obviously.

The dressing was lemon juice, garlic, salt pepper and olive oil.

Last but not least, the Turkish Meatballs. They are made with lean ground beef, scallions, cilantro, garlic, spices and bulgur. They are fun to make, quick to bake, and taste just wonderful!

We had a lot of fun trying things. We went to the Farmer's Market again Saturday and enjoyed ourselves. Smelled the smells and tasted the tastes of fresh foods and enjoyed the friendliness and "community feel" of the market.

So, that's our weekend! In between our food adventures we cleaned up the front yard, played outside a little and relaxed a lot! We needed it!

Be good n stuff!

The Healthy Food exploration continues

2008-05-12T20:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday while we were BBQing dinner, I made a packet with beets and onions (with thyme) and threw it on the BBQ for 1 hour while we ate.

Then I followed another recipe from the Sizzle It Cookbook (nothing like a new cookbook to get me going!) called Chilled Beet Soup with Cucumber & Scallion (p. 38).

The recipe is interesting, it tasted good, but it could take some tweaking up. I'll experiment with different spices and see what would work... I'm thinking roasted mustard seeds... Also, next time, I will BBQ the beets and onions longer, 1h and 1/2. Or make the fire hotter.

My husband didn't care for it. That's really sad cause there's a lot of it, so I'll be eating a lot of soup in the next few days hehehe. I'll try freezing some and see if THAT works.

So that's my experiment of the day!

Be good n stuff!

Yummy Foods!

2008-05-11T18:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the Farmer Market in Santa Rosa. There were so many wonderful sights, and smells, and tastes. We promised ourselves to make it a weekly trip.

Among the goodies we got there, we stopped at a booth that was about Afghani foods. We tasted a few things, and decided to buy a Sweet Jalapeño chutney, and cilantro pesto. Both were just delicious.

When I got home, I took a basting brush and brushed the Jalapeño chutney on a pork roast I had planned for the night. I left it in the fridge to marinate all afternoon and then salted and peppered it, and threw it in the oven to cook. I cooked it about 45 minutes at 350 F and then took it out, put another layer of Jalapeño mixture and put it back in for about 15-20 minutes. It was just DELICIOUS. We had it with a vegetable stir fry.

Today for lunch, I took a tortilla, spread pesto over it, and then added a lettuce leaf, and thin slices of pork. That was lunch. Yummy!

Dinner tonight, We wanted to BBQ, so we tried a new recipe from the Cookbook "Sizzle IT" that just came out in the meeting rooms at Weight Watchers. The recipe is "Ginger Chicken Yakitori". If you have that book at home, try it! It's just wonderful! We had it with a Corn, Black Bean and Mango salsa that is from another WW cookbook "The Ultimate Flex and Core Cookbook" (p. 185). It was meant to be eaten with Tuna but who cares? It's good with anything! Finally we had BBQed asparagus and a strawberry, mango and banana smoothie for dessert.

Here's the plated dinner:

We have left over pork and chicken for tomorrow and Tuesday, as well as salsa (lots!). So we're starting the week with goodies "in the bank".

Why am I saying all that? To make a point. I hear so often that being "on plan" is such a pain, that it's too restrictive, that it's too much work. We ate healthy food, in decent portions and still we ate tasty foods and we had plenty.

All of it was fairly easy and quick to prepare, the clean up wasn't overwhelming and we don't feel in the least deprived... quite the contrary... YUM!

Why on earth would I prefer a greasy gummy fast food burger to these foods? I'll take my Corn, Black Bean and Mango salsa over a platter of fries any day of the week!

Be good n stuff!

Thinking deep thoughts... and a decision

2008-05-10T21:28:00.000-07:00

I walked to the gym tonight (about 45 minutes maybe... something like that) then did 20 minutes on the elliptical and finally swam for about 25 minutes. I did not overly push myself, though I worked non-stop at a good pace.

After all that, I called my husband to come and pick me up. My excuse is that it was dark... well... it was... not that I care... but it's a good excuse right? ;op

As I was waiting for my husband for show up (and trying unsuccessfully to make friend with the parking lot kitties) I realized 2 things: First, though I could feel that my muscles had worked, I was not hurting; second, I had fun the whole time, never felt pressured to "perform", didn't feel like a loser because I wasn't killing myself, I just had fun!

That brought me to another realization: I stopped competing when I was about 17-18 years old, but in my head, working out means competing. It means that if I don't push as hard as I can, I'm wasting my time. I won't be ready when needed. Ready for what? No clue, but I won't be ready because I didn't go home limping!

That competition mindset has been in my way for a long time. I get discouraged because I don't perform the way I want to, so I push more and hurt myself. Then it takes forever to start again, I'm far behind because I stopped for a while, so I get frustrated, push more, hurt myself again.

In the last year I hit a wall. With my joints hurting, and my improvement being in the negative, I've had the hardest time getting motivated. Why bother? I'm no good anyway.

It's insane, irrational, and I've had enough. So there, 16+ years later, I am now retiring from competition. I will not race ever again, I'll never be a fitness professional, I'll never swim at the Olympics, and I'm fine with that.

My fitness goals are much simpler than that: I want to keep my body flexible, strong enough and lean enough to feel good in my skin, I want enough endurance to be able to play without thinking "Can I do this?" That's all I want, and I can do it!

I know myself enough to know that I'll keep pushing. From now on though, I want to push for the fun of it, for the pleasure to feel my body work hard, not for some pride issue that keeps me from enjoying what I do every day.

Who's with me? Let's have fun with this!

Be good n stuff!

Where to start?

2008-05-09T08:57:00.000-07:00

Oh my, so much has happened, and I don't even know where to start.

Have you ever felt really tired and overwhelmed? You know when your are just doing your thing, and it's smooth sailing, and all of a sudden things start happening and next thing you know, nothing is where it's supposed to be anymore?

Then for a while you're just scrambling to keep up, no time to think. After a while everything calms down, and you're still overwhelmed. There's no reason to be anymore, but you just can't land. Like you're stuck in high speed mode.

I was like that this week, just couldn't relax, couldn't think straight, felt like I HAD TO DO SOMETHING, but there wasn't really anything that pressing to do. Finally last night, I decided that enough is enough. Time to get my shit together!

I planned the meals for next week, mostly out of my new cookbook (Sizzle It, from Weight Watchers... everything looks good in there!) and planned my work outs.

Food isn't an issue really, we ate out so many times last week, I'm just too happy to eat at home. Restaurant food isn't my thing anymore, bleh!

Activity is another issue. I've had joints pains for most of my life, but lately it has gotten worse pretty steadily. Finally I had to ask, and apparently, lifting heavy weights (well, heavy for me! Stop laughing!) is hard on your joints.

Everybody in my Dad's family has arthritis, to a greater or lesser degree. So, I'm the lucky one who got it early rather than late. I've known for a long time now that lifting was making it worse, but being who I am, I didn't want to give it up (I love to lift weights!). Oh well...

So, anyway, all this to say that last week, I sat down to put together a plan. I need to keep working my muscles, without putting a strain on my joints.

DUH! I used to swim everyday, I loved it, I was a lifeguard, I taught swimming. I'll go back to the pool!

So last night I decided that this morning I would go to the gym and swim. This morning I woke up at 5:30, and did 20 minutes moderate/high intensity on the elliptical, and then dove in the pool. I swam for about 25 minutes, alternating full style, legs only and arms only (with my feet crossed, you try it!). I pushed as much as I could the whole time I was in there.

Can I say that I love swimming? Why I keep thinking it's too much of a hassle is beyond me. There is nothing in this world that compares to just pushing your body as far as you can, without your knees and ankle hurting. You are limited by your own power, not by pain. Feeling the water slide by, the resistance of the water on your hands and lower arms. Just awesome!

I can stop thinking in the pool, there's no calorie meeter to look at, there's no "am I doing this right"? to worry about, there's no "am I looking ok"? to worry about. It's just you, the water, and the raw power of your muscles. I'm a good enough swimmer that I don't have to "think" about swimming, I just do it... and I love it!

See you in the pool guys!

Be good n stuff!

Feeling Positive

2008-04-21T11:05:00.000-07:00

I've been away from this blog for a while. With the renovating, the laptop getting a bath (not a good thing) and all that it seems like everything went out of sync.

The food part is back into shape. It didn't take long since I don't like to eat badly, I don't like how it tastes, how it feels, it's just not me anymore.

My main challenge is working out. I've lost my grove, and I'm not happy about it! I feel like I have to start from the beginning and it bugs me. I've been constantly moving with all the cleaning, moving stuff and everything, but it's not the same.

I don't know how to get my "gym grove" back. I have DVDs here, and I like doing them, but I feel like it's not enough. Also I've had strangers in my house almost everyday for over 3 weeks now. Not really my thing to do yoga in front of strangers.

Painting is almost done. I'm thinking that by noon time he'll leave for good and I can have my house back. I need a plan.

1- Cardio: I want to stop by the gym for 30 minutes Cardio 6 days/week. If that's all I do at the gym, it'll be ok. Also I want to walk 45 minutes every day.

2- Strength training: I want to do 20 minutes of resistance training 6 days/week. It can be weight lifting or a DVD at home, but 20 minutes minimum!

So there, I have a plan, and it starts TODAY!

I'll report on how I'm doing. I need to get moving, summer is almost here and I don't want to hide! Not part of my personality!

Be good n stuff!

Laptop Trauma

2008-04-17T13:06:00.001-07:00

Monday morning I overturned an entire glass of water with Weight Watchers Mix-in into my laptop computer.

Because of this I have been unable to post on my blogs, or send my group emails all week. I got my laptop back today and will resume my happy activities tomorrow.

I hope nobody got offended or confused by this. I promise to post as soon as I can tomorrow!

Be good n stuff!

Willow

Tried a new recipe!

2008-04-06T19:15:00.000-07:00

I was working this morning, and after a quick coffee, I ran home to finish up putting the bedroom and office together for painting tomorrow. After a few hours of it, I was really tired. You see, this morning, my alarm clock decided to adjust to spring time, and woke me up at 5 instead of 6. I spent all day trying to catch up.

Anyway, I was tired at the end of the day and not in a cooking mood. Yesterday I had bought the ingredients to try a new recipe out of one of my new cookbook "Veganomicon" and I ended up not trying it. Too much work! Tonight I didn't feel like doing it either, but I realized that I sure wouldn't have time to do it tomorrow.

So, I gathered every ounce of energy I had and tried the Spaghetti Squash Mexicana with Tropical Avocado Salsa Fresca. The recipe is a little labor intensive but it was so worth it! It's also not a difficult recipe, there's a bit of chopping to do, but it's an easy recipe to make!

It was spicy, but delicious spicy, not "hot and taste like nothing but fire" spicy. The sweetness of the mango balanced the spiciness of the hot sauce and chili. The coriander and cinnamon gave it a very rich taste. Really, it was a delicious meal. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, if it warms up well, it'll be a new winner in my house. We both loved it!

It's really pleasing to see vegan fare that is creative and tasty and healthy. Woah..

Those who don't like spicy food, hum.. you can cut down I guess, but know that "as is" it's a very spicy dish. It's so good though! Never be afraid of walking new paths, they will lead you to new wonders, discoveries and unforeseen pleasures!

Be good n stuff!!!

It's getting done!

2008-04-03T13:29:00.000-07:00

When we bought our house, things started happening, and we ended up never having time to make it "our" house. We didn't even paint, much less do anything else.

Yesterday, workers have been in adding a pull down stairs to reach the attic which we had never been in. Not only it's much bigger than we thought, but with easy access, it will replace the garage and/or locker that everybody but us seem to have to put stuff away.

Also they are putting in shelves in my office closet. Lots and lots of shelves to put all my stuff and my junk that is laying around the place. We have a huge number of standard-sized boxes that we bought at office depot. You know those boxes that have handles holes and a lid that you can remove completely? The contractor measured the boxes and made the shelves so that the boxes would fit perfectly in there. It's also plenty high for other stuff and there are shelves from the floor to the ceiling. Plenty of space.

In short, we're going to 3 small and 1 medium-large closet, without any shelves, to store everything we own, to a large attic space and an office closet with plenty of shelves. Storage storage storage, everywhere!

Those two guys are also doing minor repair to my ceiling and fixing my fan in my bathroom. The main thing though is storage, I will have storage space in my house... FINALLY.

Next week, it's the painter! He's coming in to remove the ugly beige and put colors all over my walls. After 3 years of living in here, it will finally be OUR HOUSE, with our colors. Whether they look good or not, it will be OUR choices.

I can't believe it, this little condo with ugly colors and no storage will "feel" mine with happy colors and ton of storage. I can't wait for it to be done, I'm sick of the noise and the dust, but it is so worth the effort! I'll be posting pictures when it's all done!

Be good n stuff!

Cookbooks!

2008-04-02T19:42:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, the last thing I need is more cookbooks. Well, I just bought 3, and I'm all happy and excited about them!!

Japanese Cooking:

Monday I was working in Sebastopol, and I had some time to kill, so I stopped by Copperfield. It a book store downtown (if there is such a thing as "downtown Sebastopol"). I was browsing and looking longingly at cookbooks, and trying very hard to be good, but then I saw it! Let's Cook Japanese Food! (by Amy Kaneko) on special, $9.99. Of course, now that I bought it, Amazon has it at $8.99, oh well...

I just got it this last monday, but already I did Yaki Onigiri (grilled Rice Balls) out of it. I broiled them, and they were fantastic! It's authentic looking Japanese foods, but mainly it's accessible Japanese food! Things that I can make myself, here at home, without owning an Asian food store!

The autor, Amy Kaneko, married into a Japanese family and learned to cook from her in-laws and her husband. It looks like a book that I will be using a lot more than my other Japanese cookbook. Finally, real food!

I'm very happy with this book, the more I look into it, the more I find new possibilities, recipes to try, recipes that will be easy to adapt to my own lifestyle. A good buy I think. :o)

Vegan Fare:

Let me say right out that I am not a vegan or vegetarian, or any of those. I love meat, and I have no intention to stop eating it. This being said, I'm always open to explore new horizons, and I've been nosing in vegetarian/vegan cooking lately with good results.

My first step into Vegan cooking came from fatfreevegan.com after a friend suggested it to me. I found all sorts of stuff in there! I also started buying the magazine Vegetarian Times, and really enjoys the stuff I find in there.

When it came to cookbooks though, all I really found was Indian food (great but I have PLENTY of that), and vegetarian versions of "meat meals". Since I eat meat when I want meat, that is not what I was looking for.

The same friend who suggested fatfreevegan.com (thanks Patty!), suggested that I look into Vegan with a Vengeance (by Isa Chandra Moskowitz). After nosing around and reading a lot of reviews, I finally broke down and ordered it from Amazon.com.

That book is exactly what I was looking for, real recipes for real foods made with real ingredients. It's accessible, not even overly pricey ingredients, and recipes that are super creative and delicious looking. I started putting sticky arrows on the pages of the recipes I want to try and had to stop because I ran out of arrows! Of course I got it yesterday, I didn't have time to try anything yet, but I think you're going to hear a lot about this book from me!

To add best to better, the commentary from the author (and her cat!) are witty, interesting and charming. I'm just in love with this book.

While researching this book, I came accross a lot of comments about another vegan cookbook called Veganomicon (by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero). Since the reviews were so good, I bought it as well. This book is as unpretentious as Vengan with a Vegeance, but is more of a "everybody cookbook" in the sense that it seems to go into more details, explanations, and a greater diversity of recipes.

Since I've been so absorbed into Vegan with a Vengeance, I haven't nosed too much in Veganomicon, but it looks like a great "everything Vegan" book to have. I'm looking forward to exploring this one as well. I shall report once I've started cooking!

So there you have it, add these 3 cookbook to my extensive Weight Watchers, Moosewood, Ethnic fare, and everything in between collection of cookbooks, and you have well over 150 books to play with! I'm enjoying myself and discover new foods almost everyday!

Be good n stuff!

Wilbert

2008-03-31T21:50:00.001-07:00

The other day I was sitting on the couch and something outside caught my eye. I took a picture of it through my living room window:

Can you see the eyes and the nose?

Let me introduce you to Wilbert the tree! He lives just outside my backyard. See how he's trying to sneak in? It was a cold morning, bet he wanted to come inside and warm himself up!

If he moves or does anything strange, I'll let you know.

Hehehe

Be good n stuff!

Things Always Turn Around

2008-03-28T10:44:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel like nothing is working? Like you're never good enough?

I'm searching and searching for a job, and I'm ALWAYS missing something. Not enough experience, I have the knowledge but not the papers, I don't speak Spanish, my written English isn't good enough.

What is wrong with me? Why am I unfit for everything?

I'm trying to lose weight, but there's always something in my way. If the food works, then I can't get the exercise straight, when I exercise right, I lose control of the food.

What is wrong with me? How come I can't just get this right?

I'm trying to be a good wife, but I talk too much, I'm too hyper, I can't pay my part of the bills cause I don't have a steady job. Over everything how dare I feel down in front of him?

What is wrong with me? Why can't I just be perfect?

Cause nobody is? How can I look at this, without ending up feeling like a piece of dirt?

The Job Thing

The job market is dried out, it's a recession, so it will take time. It has nothing to do with me.

I have never had a hard time finding a job. I'm reliable, I'm resourceful, I do have a big mouth, but I learned to slow down (a little hehe). I'm not finding a job because I'm a teacher and they are laying off thousands of teachers right now here in California.

It'll turn around, kids need to be taught. In a year or two (or three) they'll realize they are out of teachers, and things will move. Until then, I can earn my keep however I can, and keep up my spirits.

When the right job comes along, I have to be ready, solid, strong, so that I can get it. If I spend the time being depressed and being discouraged, it'll show, and they'll pass me up. Chin up, I'm good, I know it!

The Weight Loss Thing

If I want to lose weight, I need to stop trying to be perfect, and start being consistent.

I don't need to put ALL my energy on eating the right foods in the right amounts. I have to plan healthy meals, keep and eye on the snacks, and if the proteins are a little low one day, then I'll make it up later. If my bento is less cute one day, so be it. It'll be cuter later.

That way I have time and energy to workout. Which brings me to the same idea with working out. I don't need to work my behind off everyday to see results. I just need to work at it every day.

The Wife Thing

When we first started talking, when we first met, I was talking a lot, I was hyper, and he loved me that way, still does. We knew from the start that it would be hard for me to get my feet down, there was a language barrier, there was a lot of red tape to cut through, it's just how it was. We both knew that from the get go.

I have found other ways to do my part. I've made us more healthy, I've learned and then taught him a new lifestyle that works for both of us. I've taken up organizing, decorating the house, which he never bothered with, but which he now appreciate.

I have had my low moments where I leaned on him, and he has had his moments when he leaned on me. Isn't that what being married is all about? Why should I feel guilty for just being human?

Things Always Turn Around

I've had my share of hardships in my life, I met and overcame many challenges. A lot of the times though, I would think "This is it, there is no way I'm going to dig myself out of that one". Wouldn't you know it, every times something happened, someone would lend a hand, or I would just bull my way through until it worked.

Humans are incredibly resilient. We have strength that we don't even know we have. When everything goes dark, there will always be a light coming on, always. Sometimes it takes you a while to find it, but it's always there.

If you stop looking for it though, you might just miss it. It might be a small thing: An image that gives you an idea; somebody who can give you a little help; a book that might inspire you to "try differently"; a beautiful landscape that reminds you what is really important.

The only time you really fail is when you give up. As long as you keep trying, as long as you keep hoping, something will turn up. Something always do. To see it though, you need to believe in it, to believe in yourself, and to keep going.

You don't need to be perfect, you'll never be and trying is just going to bring you down. You need to keep trying, keep improving, see mistakes as learning opportunity, not failures.

If you do that simple thing you can achieve ANYTHING.

Be good n stuff!

Day 2 of my week

2008-03-25T13:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday turned out to be very different than I had planned.

I ended up working all day, so I had to scramble to make everything work. I was working from 9am to 2pm and then from 4pm to 6:30pm. My day was planned for an "at home" day since it's spring break around here. Oh well, money is money and my friend really needed it off so...

It was still a rather good day, I did NOT exercise per se because I just didn't have time. Between the two work times, I ran home to prepare the marinade and the salad for dinner, and then took off to work again, then came home and cooked the steak and after that I was just flat out of energy.

I walked only 4300 steps, but I think that my pedometer didn't like being attached to a sarong. I worked 3 meetings, and I never stop moving, there is no way I walked that little amount of steps yesterday.

Ok,
Food:

Breakfast:

Coffee WW smoothie
SCO with Apple sauce and 4 TBSP of raisins (I'm out of bananas!)

Lunch:

Rice balls (3 small), Steamed vegetables mixed with lentils, 1 hard boiled eggs
Orange

Snack:

WW Pretzel
Potato salad (just tasting... *blush*)

Dinner:

Marinated flank steak (from the My Turn Around Program Cookbook (WW), just wonderful!)
Jamaican style Potato Salad (from Savoring Summer booklet (WW) a favorite of mine)
Yogurt with raisins and honey

Snack:

1/2 sandwich
Orange

Activity:

Nothing "official" I did move a lot at work. Still I didn't do my 1hr that I wanted to do every day.

Considering how quickly I had to turn around, and the fact that I still stuck to my food plan, I'm mostly happy with yesterday. I did not work out, but that's fine, I will today.

Persistence not perfection. So there!

Be good n stuff!

P.S. I did go walk Sunday evening with my dog for over 30 minutes as fast as I could walk. :o)

Day 1 of my week

2008-03-23T17:58:00.000-07:00

I've already had to modify the plan!

It's no big thing, I just switched two days around, I made the Smothered chicken and Barley today, and will have the Flank Steak and Potato Salad tomorrow. We just got home too late to marinate the steak. Duh! I often modify my plans as the weeks happens since my schedule and my husband's change constantly. The main thing is to "modify" the plan, not to abandon it.

Today is a very good day. I stuck to my food plan and ate mindfully. The funny thing is that I really enjoyed everything I ate, I never felt hungry or deprived and I'm getting ready for a dinner that smells so good. Following my chosen plan is such a pain! AH!

Here's my food so far today:

Breakfast 1:
Weight Watchers chocolate smoothie made in 2 cups of Coffee.

Breakfast 2:
Steel Cut Oats with apple sauce, a banana, milk and a little caramel sugar free syrup.

Snack:
Orange

Lunch:
Salad: lettuce, steamed vegetables (broccoli, carrot, red bell pepper), Lentils (steamed from Trader Joes), and smoked salmon.
Mandarin oranges slices with FF plain yogurt

Snack:
Coffee with milk and sugar free syrup
Orange

Dinner 1:
Lentils with minced carrot and red bell pepper.

Dinner 2:
Smothered Chicken with Barley

Snack (planned):
94% FF microwaved popcorn

I also went to the dog park this afternoon, we walked around and played with the puppies for 20-30 minutes and then we went and walked around Shollenberger park.

Altogether is made over 1hr but I intend to go for a walk tonight to make sure I made it to 1hr. :o)

So that's my day, I take this as a very successful day. I had decided to make Sundays "all Core days" since I've found Sunday to be very challenging ever since I switched my "day 1" of the week to Sunday. So the idea is to start the week strong.

We'll see what happens!

Be good n stuff!

Might just work after all...

2008-03-22T17:00:00.000-07:00

It's Saturday! The last day of my week, and the day when I'm planning my coming week. I've brought out my Planner and Lifestyle Journal, and decided to use it exactly the way I meant for it to be used. To monitor my lifestyle as well as my crazy schedule!

So, this morning I sat down and put down my goals:

Professional:
- I want to review my resume,
- I want to make a list of the people who said they would write me reference letters so I can contact them after the spring break
- I want to take out my summer clothes to see what outfits would be appropriate for teaching and for Weigh Watchers.

Nutrition:
- Plan my meals for the week and follow the plan
- Snack on Core foods only (keep my WPAs for meals)
- Cook ahead when I have a minute (Veggie soup!)
- Eat only when hungry

Activity:
- Do 1 hour of "something" every day
- Resistance training at least 3 times in the week

Personal:
- Take time to do nothing
- Prepare the house for renovation
- Go outside and smell the fresh air.

So there, that's my general goal. In the next version of my planner, I want to add a "meal and workout weekly planner" part. I'm not exactly sure how it will turn out, but I'm working on it. For now I still type it up in MS Word.

Weekly Food Plan from 3-23 to 3-29

Sunday:
B: SCO (Steal Cut Oats), Fruits, Apple sauce, milk - Coffee Smoothie
L: System D (that means we each do whatever we want at the moment, no planned meal)
D: Marinated Flank Steak (WW, My Turn Around prog. Cookbook p. 159) - Jamaican-Style Potato Salad (WW, Savoring Summer p. 70)

Monday:
B: SCO, Fruits, Apple sauce, milk - Coffee Smoothie
L: Steamed veggies - Sliced steak - Potato salad
D: Smothered chicken and barley (Core board)

Tuesday:
B: Eggs over 1/2 sandwich - Coffee Smoothie
L: Curried Couscous - Sauteed veggies sticks - Spicy chicken strips
D: Leftovers Chicken and barley

Wednesday:
B: SCO, Fruits, Apple sauce, milk - Coffee Smoothie
L: Curried Couscous - Steamed veggies - Spicy chicken strips
D: Codfish Cazuela with Summer Squash (WW, Pantry to Plate p. 140)

Thursday:
B: Scramble in a toasted tortilla - Coffee Smoothie
L: Bulgur - Salad with minced veggies - Hardboiled eggs (shaped with my molds!)
D: Pork Chops in Tomato Sauce (WW, My Turn Around prog. Cookbook p. 175) - Bulgur

Friday:
B: SCO, Fruits, Apple sauce, milk - Coffee Smoothie
L: Bulgur - Vegetable sticks with hummus - Sauteed Tofu cubes
D: Hunter's Chicken with Roasted Vegetables (WW, Pantry to Plate p. 79)

Saturday:
B: Aram's Cafe Brunch
L: Aram's Cafe Brunch
D: Vegetable and Chickpea Stew with Couscous (WW, Pantry to Plate p. 117)

You'll notice that a lot of recipes come from 2 of Weight Watchers current cookbooks. My receptionist and I both felt like we needed inspiration, so we challenged each others to find 2 recipe in each books to try this week. I'm starting late, but I'm starting!

I haven't put together a definite work out plan since I'm going with the "an hour of something" every day. I do plan to track my foods and my activity in my Planner and Lifestyle Journal, so that I know what I'm doing and how I'm doing as I go. That's what I designed it for isn't it?

So there you go, it's my week. I intend to follow the plan and make it work all week. Stay tuned as I also intend to keep this place going, as with everything else, when it falls aside, everything follows.

Be good n stuff!

Picking ourselves up (part 2)

2008-03-21T08:57:00.000-07:00

If you want to read the first part of this, see my previous post: Picking ourselves up (part 1).

So, things got a little out of control, times have been stressful, and now I want to get my behind in gear, big time. Knowing myself and my "all or nothing" tendencies, I want to find a reasonable and maintainable plan that will let me not only GET on track, but also STAY on track. I'm breaking this down in 3 sections: Food n stuff, Activity n stuff, and Personal stuff.

Food n stuff:

I think that the start of all things when it comes to eating right is to plan. I need to make a plan that makes sense, that take my schedule into account. So the first thing will be to start planning my week ahead and stick to my plan.

The second thing that I need to do, is to shop smart. I do that automatically now, but there are some things that seem to sneak in my house that weren't part of our shopping habits a few months ago. Mainly I have to shop in season, because money is an issue these days, and to make sure that I always have safe snacks around.

I need to stop buying those snacks that I know will get me in troubles. Even if I feel strong and solid on shopping day, I have to remember that a few days down the line, I might not have the willpower to stop at one bite. Defensive shopping, that's what I call it!

As far as meal planning, I want to keep my focus on eating more vegetables. Grains and legumes are good, and I certainly plan on eating them regularly, but somehow my beloved vegetables have kind of slipped away. I need to give them first place again.

Finally, I have to take it one bite at a time. Ask myself the question: "Am I eating because I'm hungry? Or for X,Y,Z reason?" If I'm not hungry, then I get lost.

"If hunger isn't the problem, food isn't the solution."

Activity n stuff

Activity is my biggest challenge these days. It's funny in a way because it has always been my strength. I love to exercise, I just can't seem to find my "cruise speed". I have 2 speeds: Full blast, and nothing. I need to find a happy middle, something I can do and maintain without burning out, and without hurting myself.

I think I need to stop focusing on performance, and start focusing on consistency. I'll never compete in anything again. I'm not interested in doing so. I just want my body to be able to do what I tell it to do.

I think I'll go back to something I did a while ago that worked well before my OCD self decided to "step it up". I'll do 1 hour of "something" every day. It doesn't have to be high intensity, it can be either cardio or resistance training. As long as I'm moving for at least 60 minutes, it's good!

That way I can play this game with myself of "cheating". On the days that I really don't want to hit the gym, I go out of my way to find some way to move that isn't "exercise". Generally I end up moving much more than 1 hour. It's fun, it's motivating, and it's moving! Less pressure, more fun, how cool is that?

Personal stuff

I need to organize my time and put together a list of priorities. I've been sitting in stagnant water for too long. Ok, education isn't going well, what does it mean for me? Where am I going? What are my possibilities? Where do I want to go from here?

I need to figure those things out and then make a plan. Nobody is going to come and pick me out of my living room.

I also need to remind myself of the things I have accomplished so far, instead of the things I haven't done. I have come a long way and have beaten any odds that life has thrown at me so far. When needed I DID have the strength to push forward and that strength is still in me today. I can do whatever I set my heart on doing. I just have to keep at it!

Finally, I need to take "me time". I need to do what needs to be done, and then stop. I need time where I'm not figuring out anything. Where I'm not cleaning, writing, preparing meetings, planning food, cooking, making lunches... Nobody can be "on" 24 hrs/day. I need time to just chill out, play, go outsides, something.

Ok, so that's my plan. It's a big order, but in a way it's a simple one. Get back to basics, get back to what works, don't try to overdo things, over think things. Just think ahead a little, take it one step at a time, and pick yourself up real quick if something comes up.

I have been doing this for over 5 years now, I know how, I know I can do it. So... If you see somebody skipping along on the Expressway in Rohnert Park followed by a skinny crazy dog, I just probably didn't feel like hitting the gym that day! AH!

Be good n stuff!

Picking ourselves up (Part 1)

2008-03-21T08:18:00.000-07:00

I've been away from this blog for a while. I think I needed not to think for a little bit, you know, go on automatic pilot and just push through. It works for a while, but never for very long. Now that things are settling down, for now, it's time to look around, dust myself up, and get back on my way.

I've mentioned that a member of my family was sick in the previous post, well, it brought on a lot of worry. I'm far away from my family, and I find it very hard to sit on my own waiting for news. Makes you realize how important your support system is.

The same day my cousin had a major brain surgery, my husband had a panic moment at work. At this point, his salary is the only thing keeping us afloat. It was a horrible panic moment. Do we stay in California? Do we sell the place (in this market?) and run off to Canada? Do I drop everything and start all over... AGAIN??

I don't deal well with stress, even less when it's things I can't control. Last night was the first night I slept all through the night in almost 2 weeks.

In the mist of all that, my "lifestyle" took a hit. I mostly ate well, and I tried to stay active, but if I'm honest with myself, I've slacked big time. I've been going through the motion, not really monitoring anything, and hoping against hope that the scale wouldn't punish me for my misdeed (how's that for turning food into a moral issue, I should listen to myself when I lead meetings!).

This is not working for me. I hate to feel out of control, I hate to feel out of shape, and I hate to hate. I'm addicted to positive thinking, so there!

I need a plan... I've gone through my list of quick fixes that I've tried in the past, and tried to remember which one worked. Can't remember any of them working. Darn! Looks like I'm going to have to do this the old fashioned way: Eat right, exercise regularly.

We did make a few positive moves this week:

The first one was to make a conscious choice, my husband and I, to "think positive". We were dragging each others down, because when one was feeling good, the other was stressing out. Of course, thinking positive doesn't make problems disappear magically, but it does give us the strength to push forward and permit us to use our energy on finding solutions, rather than whining. It has made life much easier and a lot more enjoyable this week.

Another thing I have done is to stop being so sloppy. I took the time to dress myself nicely this week, and to put myself together, not only for work, but also for when I'm home. When you dress sloppy, you think sloppy.

This is not to say that I'm turning into a Fashionista or anything (he he he not really my thing) but rather that I want to feel and look like I have some pride in myself. To be motivated to take care of myself, I have to feel good about myself, right?

Tuesday night, a security officer at the Ross Plaza told me: "It's nice to see that some women still like to look beautiful". AH! Made my WEEK! Bet he wouldn't have said that if I had been wearing my old jeans and beaten up T-shirt!

So we are turning things around, putting the ship back on course, but there is still a lot of "manning the sails" to do. I need a plan to make sure that food, and exercise is what it needs to be. Honestly, my husband is doing better at that these days. He has a 9 to 5 type job, and a gym next door to his work. He also has less free time than I do, which is less time to get in troubles. ;op

Honestly though, he's just better focused than I am right now. Kinda makes my Ego itch really. I need to get back on track. For pride sakes if nothing else. I need a plan for myself, that will be my next post on here!

Be good n stuff!

Could I have learned? Really?

2008-03-07T07:44:00.000-08:00

Time of "crisis" where things really hurt me, and feeling out of control are the greatest challenge to me. I used to self medicate (lets not go there) and when I put my life in order, I turned to food. It's legal, its safe, it's even mostly socially accepted right?

When I realized a little more than 5 years ago that that wasn't working either, I was at a loss. Now what? Things were good then though, I was newly married with a wonderful man (who's still wonderful 5 years later *grin*) starting a new life, ready for everything. I joined Weight Watchers, learned to eat, to cook, to control portions. GREAT! I'm an extremist, when I start on something I'm all out on it.

5 years later I'm still looking for steady work in my field, the governor of California just announced that he's cutting millions (and more) in education (I'm a teacher). Yesterday I got a very bad news, a member of my family is very sick. Things are not good. Don't get me wrong, I know that everybody have bad news and hard times. I'm still happy with my life, but lets just say that things aren't bright and sunny right now.

After I got that news, I sat around in a daze for a while... then I thought "Cheetos, that would make me feel better!" I even got dressed, put on a hat (cause my hair was a mess, no time for a shower I need Cheetos!). I went outside and stopped just in front of the door.

"What the hell am I doing? Cheetos?"

I turned around went back inside, washed a bowl of grapes and sat back down at the computer. You know what I looked at? 2 things: Bento boxes, and fairies. Things that make me smile, things that can just give me a break from thinking too much.

Oh, and guess what? It's legal, it's safe, it's socially accepted AND it's healthy!

I got my comfort, my escape, and I didn't eat those freakin' Cheetos! I think I might just have learned something in the last 5 years.

Wouldn't you know it, I practiced Reframing without even thinking about it!

Be good n stuff!

Carpe Diem

2008-03-04T21:30:00.000-08:00

Today I started my spring cleaning!

I realized doing so, that it'll take a lot longer than I thought to do what I want to accomplish. I want to go through all of our stuff and get rid of the things we don't really need, and keep the essential. We live in a condo and we just don't have the space to keep stuff that don't have any use or meaning.

I started with my bedroom closet. The blankies and comforters were easy to get rid of, even the shoes and the purses. When it got to my clothes, that's a different story.

Would you believe that I had a bag of "too big clothes" and a bag of "too small clothes". I was keeping the first one "in case I gain weight" and the second one for "when I fit in them again". Brilliant!

I took all of it and bagged it for Goodwill. I will not keep "in case" clothes. The only clothes I kept are those I like to wear NOW. The stuff that make me feel good about myself, and that are comfortable. I don't have the space for one thing, and for another I will not keep clothes that have a negative connotation for me.

Too big clothes tell me that I don't trust myself to maintain the weight that I am at now. Too small clothes tell me that, though I'm at a healthy weight, I'm not where I feel I should be. Either way, there's a negative tape playing there, and I certainly don't want or need to listen to them anymore!

It's the same with books, with things, with all the stuff we accumulate and pile up because they are "memories" or for "later uses". It's ridiculous the stuff we actually keep!

Memories aren't in things, they are in my head. I don't need a physical reminder. I'm not talking about pictures, or love letters, I'm talking about a ticket for a show that I saw years ago. I remember seeing it, I don't need the ticket!

As for keeping things for later uses, I've learned over time that either you can't find them when you need them, or they are obsolete and you buy something else anyway.

No more of that! I will keep things that are essential and/or are useful now. Later is later, and I'll deal with it when it comes. My priority is to be comfortable, happy and focused in my life now, so that I can be the best I can be, without being dragged down my the overload of stuff.

Seize the day... Carpe Diem

Be good n stuff!

Make an effort... how?

2008-03-02T17:38:00.000-08:00

Learning and maintaining a healthy lifestyle takes efforts, there's no doubt about that. I've come to realize that you have to put in the time and effort continually because it's very easy to slip back to old habits.

After 5 years, I understand that the effort isn't so much with "sticking to it" as it is with "making it worth sticking to". No matter how hard you try, you will not make yourself stick to something for the long run if you can't make it enjoyable and interesting.

That doesn't mean that you can make it fun and exciting all the time. There are times when working out just plain sucks, you're tired, you're hurting and you just don't wanna. Also there are times when you want brownies, fries and a burger, no matter how colorful and pretty your salad is. At those time, yeah, the work is more "stick-to-it-iveness" than creativity. I like to think that as you go, those times are fewer and further apart. That's when the "fake it until you feel it" strength comes in.

For the other times, the idea is to make your chosen lifestyle attractive. It's not a chore that you have to do, it's a lifestyle that you have chosen. Make the most of it!

When it comes to Activity, the trick is always to find something you like to do. It doesn't have to be "formal exercise" as long as it keep you moving! Do some gardening, take your laundry upstairs one piece at a time instead of piling it up. Go walk with a good friend and catch up on the gossips of the week.

You're more into the formal exercise trend? Put the treadmill in front of a TV with a DVD player. What's a better time to catch up on the missed episodes? Going to the gym? Stop by the library and grab some audio books, as you work out, you can catch up on the adventures of your favorite heroes. Take a dance class, a animal step class, a yoga class with your dog! Anything, as long as it keep you moving!!

When it comes to the food, it's the same idea. You can eat lettuce and grilled chicken all the time but that gets extremely boring very fast. Not only you want to vary the foods you eat, but you want to make an effort to make it look good as well as taste good. Eating should be an experience for the 5 senses, not just a tasting experience.

Here's a few examples of what we regularly eat at home. It's nothing complicated or overly exotic, bit I always make an effort to make the food look attractive and interesting.

Shrimps with sauteed peppers and broccoli over lettuce. I made sure to use different colors of peppers and to put the shrimp in the place first and then put the pepper mix (which had cook with the shrimps) on top to make it look more colorful. I seasoned it well, and added some cumin at the end to make it smell good. The raw lettuce's texture contrasted well with the cooked peppers and broccoli.

This is store-bought brown rice sushi that came into one of those plastic boxes. I took it out of there, and served it with a bright green side and with couscous. I place those two side by side, then used my little soy sauce dish to make a 3rd "item" and added the sushi at the end. The visual was interesting (and the food YUM-MY).

This was a little less visually interesting, but the smells was incredible! The turkey meatballs were very fragrant and so was the hummus. I added a green salad for color and couscous for a "neutral taste".

This is just plain grilled salmon with roasted asparagus. Both were very well spiced and delicious. I also roasted Brussels sprouts and organized the plate in sections. It was interesting looking and very yummy!

These are all very simple plain foods, nothing over the top. The idea is to make a effort to make it look good, smell good, to mix the textures and the flavors so that all senses are put at work! What about hearing you say? Wait until your family comment on your culinary experiments!

Just make a little effort, it doesn't have to be every meal, it doesn't have to be every work out, just every once in a while, go the extra mile. You'll see it'll be worth it. Bet you'll want to do it again!

Be good n stuff!

Is it Saturday again already???

2008-03-01T08:50:00.000-08:00

Ooofffaaaahhh It's been a busy week!

It seems that everything conspired against me followed the plan I had made for the week. I worked 3 full days and 3 nights. In the middle of that we're getting ready to start some renovation in our house, so any free time is spent planning and organizing the next 2 months. No time to think!

So looking back, I've had an ok week. I brought lunch to work every day, and stuck to it. Yesterday they had cupcakes for a kid's birthday and I had 1/4 of a cupcake only. That was plenty, eeeww.

Dinners ended up being a lot of "system D" (in my house that means that we each eat whatever we can find), which isn't all that successful really. The choices are healthy, but it's easier to overeat when scavenging.

I was moderately active this week. I didn't end up following my plan because my schedule changed and I didn't adapt fast enough, but it was still an active week.

So, all in all, I'm happy with my week, it could have been better, but I did overcome some challenges and managed to move 1 hour each day.

Today I need to sit down and plan again. That's my plan for today!

Be good n stuff!

Working the plan

2008-02-26T21:28:00.000-08:00

I made a plan for this week. I had all my work outs planned out, and mapped out. The only problem is that my plan was a wee bit ambitious. So, I ended up not following the plan, shame on me right?

Well wait a minute, I didn't follow the plan, but here's what I did so far:

Sunday- Plan was to do 20 minutes Cardio, and to do a full body resistance training. I did just that!

Monday- Plan was 45 minutes Cardio, and then a yoga-pilates workout. I was awake at 4am, at the gym at 4:30 where I did 35 minutes moderate-high intensity Cardio. I was teaching until 2 and then working again at 4 at Weight Watchers. Between the two I walked at a fast pace for 1h. After that I worked a meeting and went home. I didn't do my yoga and/or pilates, too tired.

Today- Plan was to do 20 minutes Cardio and upper body workout. I was still sore from Sunday so I skipped that and went to a pilates class (1 hour).

So I didn't follow the plan, shame on me. I can feel defeated about that, or I can look at it differently.

I did do 1h of activity or more everyday so far. I did lift weights and do a hard core training class. I did do a short Cardio session Sunday and 2 Cardio work out Monday.

Did I mention that I ate well also? I didn't deprive myself. I felt like having a naan yesterday and I did. Still I stuck to my chosen food plan and even enjoyed it!

I didn't give up on my plan, I adapted it as the week progressed. I'm moving, I'm eating right, I'm feeling great and who knows, I might even end up not hurting myself!

Be good n stuff!

New week, new attitude!

2008-02-24T14:58:00.000-08:00

Sunday is the "beginning of my week". I start my food log and activity log on Sunday morning. That means that on Saturday I sit down and plan my week.

Until now we were only planning our meals for the week. That made "eating right" a lot easier for both of us because we knew what was coming and could take things out of the freezer the night before, stop by the store on the way home and other such things. It took away the "what's for dinner" at 5:30 pm when everything is frozen solid and half the ingredients are missing.

Last week we had 3 days off together and kind of forgot to plan our week. It showed. The whole week turned out to be a challenge because we had a lot more "system D" meals than usual. System D meals are when both of us make a meal of whatever we can find, usually sandwiches and such. This has not been a good "food week" (other than my home made brown rice sushi!!! I'm so proud!).

My other challenge this last week was activity. After hurting my back, I've had the hardest time getting back into my routine. I have an ever changing schedule and it makes it hard to really plan anything. The only way that has worked lately is to work out very early in the morning. I mean VERY early.

Yesterday I sat down and planned my meals and my work outs. My meals I planned as usual, breakfast, lunch, dinner with references to the recipes (book and page). For my work outs, I planned what I am going to do, and when, in details. That way I can't excuse my way out of it. It's written down in my planner and everything!

Today I got up too late to work out before work, so I went after I was done at the center. I almost talked myself out of it, but then I realized that I wrote it down, so if I'm not going to do it, I might as well give up now.

Also, I knew that my husband would ask when I came home. I couldn't bear to admit that I failed myself again. Accountability, isn't that funny how it never gets old? I know he would never judge me, but he'd be disappointed. I do still think that pride is my best ally, I'll go to any length to avoid scratching my ego. Whatever works right?

So, I went, did a full body work out (Upper and Lower body weights), preceded by a 10 minutes warm up on the elliptical and followed by a 20 minutes Cardio session also on the elliptical.

Tomorrow is Cardio day, so I'll be doing 45 minutes (min.) Cardio work out, with Yoga and Core training. I will do it because it's written down, and I'm reporting to my husband! I will not admit to having skipped it, and I will not lie to my husband... so... He he he

Be good n stuff!

My very own sushi!

2008-02-22T20:04:00.000-08:00

Today I made my very own sushi at home, all by myself! And it was GOOD!

Last weekend I bought myself a Zojirushi Rice cooker. Today I finally had the time to look it up and try it out. I bought some short grain brown rice (at Olivers Market for the "locals") and threw it in the cooker with the amount of water requested for brown rice. After that I put it some rice vinegar, sugar and salt and gently mixed it up.

I had bought a bamboo mat, bamboo paddle and nori at a local asian market previously and used that.

I put in some seedless cucumber, avocado and smoked salmon. I wanted to keep it simple for my first attempt at making sushi. Now that I know how easy it is, I'll be extrapolating on that believe me! I made 3 onigiri (rice balls) with the left over rice and froze them. We'll see how that works!

So there I got to make my own sushi and eat it too!

Oh, and next time... 2 rolls is plenty! We had a lot more than we needed! It was yummy though!

Be good n stuff!

Do you believe in magic?

2008-02-19T08:25:00.001-08:00

In fairies? Why not?

Of course if you ask me "Do you believe that those fairies REALLY exist, and that you'll catch one someday?" I'd say no. I don't.

I do believe there are things that we don't understand, and that we haven't explained yet, but the myths and legends that we humans have come up with through the centuries are often a little over the top.

So, what am I saying? Believe in them, but they aren't true? Yeah, kind of. Reality goes only so far, and if you don't dare dream, believe, use your imagination, life gets pretty stale doesn't it? We do need to keep in touch with reality if we want to function in this world, and that, for most of us, isn't a problem.

I think we also need to keep in touch with the "other world". The world of dreams, and wishes, and fairies and knights. Where you can be whatever you want to be, and do whatever you want to do.

If "reality" wasn't in the way, what would you be? What would you do?

When I work out, I see myself going to the olympics (long standing dream for me) and win! I barely make it, but I do!

I'm over 33 years old, not anywhere near "olympic shape", and I know it's a bit late... to say the least. When I work out though, in my mind, it's real!

When I cook, I'm a pro! I open my own restaurant, and make tons of money because people are all marveling over my meals.

I've been cooking for 5 years, and though I think I've made amazing progress in such a short ime, well... Food Network hasn't called yet.

Of course it's important to keep a healthy balance between dream and reality. I will not kill myself working out in the hope of making it to the olympics. I will not buy myself a crown, and declare myself queen of the fairy world (though that could be funny, really, a cheapos crown, show up at a WW meeting hehehe).

Can I open a restaurant? who knows? I keep THAT dream in reserve, ideas are forming, it might not happen, but it might actually come true, one day.

Dare to dream, dare to think the impossible, some of it might even become true, some might not. It doesn't really matter, what does is that we aren't meant to live like robots, we are meant to dream.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to put some pieces of fruits in the backyard. Somebody's got to feed them fairies!

Be good n stuff!

Setting limits and priorities

2008-02-16T22:18:00.000-08:00

There comes a time when you have to stop and look at what you are doing isn't there? To ask yourself: "Am I going where I want to go? or am I just going aimlessly?"

Sometimes you run and run, trying to figure out everything, get everything done, and you realized that though you're running all the time, you never seem to get where you're trying to go. Things don't get done, or get half done, and yet, you never have a second to yourself.

That's when you really need to stop and think: What am I trying to do really? What are my goals? What am I doing to reach those goals? What is standing in my way?

That's where you need to prioritize and set limits: What is important to me at this point in my life? What can I do about it? and what CAN'T I do about it?

The first thing has to be my family. My husband, my pets, I don't have kids, but I still need to invest time and energy in "home". For my sanity, for my marriage. I think that for a couple to be together and remain together, it takes more than love. It takes work, persistence. You have to be willing to put the time and effort into being together, working through challenges. It takes time, time to be together, to do things together, to do nothing together. It has to be a priority, it's so easy to let everything else get in the way and lose sight of each others.

I realize, after trying to quit for almost 3 years now, that Weight Watchers is very important to me. I've been working for the company as a leader for about 4 years now, and I truly enjoy the work, and feel like, in my little weirdo way, I'm accomplishing something. That it matters somehow that I'm there boosting the spirit of my members.

I don't think I want to "make a living" as a leader, but I want to stay connected to the company and the program. Honestly, it's the members that keep me in there. They are so awesome! But I disgress...

So Weight Watchers is important to me too, enough to put some extra time into preparing meetings, drumming up an email letter every week and do the little things that you have to do to be a leader.

What else? I want to teach. I'm a middleschool-highschool teacher. I want to teach history and social science, I want to help teenagers open their mind to the world and it's diversity.

When I was teaching, in Canada, a student came to me after a very (VERY) trying contract. It was june, my job was done, she was graduating... she walked up to me and said:

"You know, when you took over the groups, you told us that all you wanted, was for us to look at the world with an open mind. That we could say "School sucks" if we wanted to, as long as we could back up our statement with a solid argumentation."

Not knowing where this was going, I smiled and I said "yeah".

"Well it worked, she said, I understand what you meant, and now I think before I take position on things, I try to look at all side of an issue before I take a position. I think this will help me a lot through Cegep and University."

I'm translating from memory, but that's the gist of what she told me. From that day on, I was hooked to teaching. I want to take those kids whereever they are, and bring them forward. A little, a lot, it doesn't matter to me, as long as they DO move forward.

I'm still a sub teacher, and I have to work at becoming a teacher. So that's one "spot" where my time and energy has to be focused.

Finally I need to put some focus on myself. I want to take the time to take care of myself, body and mind. To get out of this work out rut that I've been stuck in for way too long. Also I want to put some time on my hobbies. I think that if you don't have something to "escape" the stress eats you up. That's what hobbies are for! My main one is cooking, I love to cook, to research recipes and find ways to put them together. It's my creative outlet, since I sure can't draw. ;op

So where does that leave me? I have those 3 different things that are very important to me. Everything else is excess right? Things that I put my energy into, without bringing anything positive back.

This week I realized that my 3rd job wasn't bringing me anything anymore, worse than that, it was becoming a burden. It just wasn't worth the effort anymore. I quit. I felt guilty at first, but I'm not responsible for the whole planet, and I don't think I should continue to leave my family aside for whole evenings, for a job that doesn't pay, and that I don't enjoy anymore. I finaly found the strength to say no, and to set my priorities straight! I feel like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders.

With that out of the way, I can sit down and re-organize my priorities. Where do I start? My husband and I are both making an effort to "be together" putting quality time over quantity of time. Slowly but surely, we are finding each others again. Weight Watchers pretty much takes care of itself. I've been doing it for a long time, and know what I'm doing.

Now to the teaching stuff, that's where I am at right now. I need to sit down and plan. Figure out what I need to do, to get this dream of mine on track. I have set my limits, I have reorganized my priorities, now I can move forward!

Have you looked at your life lately? How are you spending your time? How do you need to be spending your time? Where can you cut? Where do you need to put your focus? C'mon, you can do this, all you need is a little organisation!

Be good n stuff!

Victory!

2008-02-15T01:48:00.000-08:00

Since it's past midnight, I guess it's not Valentine's Day anymore, but still...

Today (or yesterday) turned out to be a successful day!

I was working tonight, so my husband and I decided to meet for lunch at a simple little cafe we like a lot. It's not fancy or anything, but the food is good, the staff is nice and we just feel at home there. It's called Aram's Cafe, on Kentucky st in Petaluma, for the locals.

It was very nice to sneak away from the day's craziness to be together. We ate mediteranean fare, the speciality of the place, which is fairly healthy, and we shared a side dish, so we didn't overeat. Our big splurge was an oatmeal cookie at the end of the meal.

Tonight I was working a cooking class, and I did awesome! I barely ate anything in fact! Pasta isn't my thing, and the amount of butter was scary!

I had a little bit of a hard night, and I came home to a bouquet of pink roses and a nice home made card from my husband.

Other than work tonight, it was a very good, love filled day, without overdoing it, without chocolate!

Happy Valentine's day!

Be good n stuff

Dog Therapy

2008-02-13T21:41:00.000-08:00

Stress is a major lifestyle buster. No matter how much we try to take care of ourselves, and leave our worries at the door when we come home, things sometimes gets ahead of us.

In my house we've found a fail proof way to bust out stress, we call it Dog Therapy.

Grace, our 3 year old puppy, is always ready for a cuddle. 5 minutes of playing and/or cuddling with her is guaranteed to relieve you of any stress.

Here's my husband practicing Dog Therapy.

Aren't they just too cute together?????

So there, when people ask me how I can deal with the dirty floors, cleaning the poop in the backyard, the walking, the feeding and everything of having pets... I have one answer: Dog Therapy!

Now for the cat it's another story. Grace boost our self esteem by making us believe that we're the center of the universe. Gaya (my 10 year old cat) put our ego back in its place by making it clear that we matter only at HER convenience.

There's something to learn from any situation right? ;op

Be good n stuff!!

The age thing and other convenient excuses

2008-02-11T20:24:00.000-08:00

Ok, I've had enough!

Being overweight or not, in shape or not, healthy or not, doesn't depend on your age, it depends on how well you take care of your body! Sure the body, like any machine, accumulate wear and tear along the years, and it's harder to muster the same energy at 60 years old, than you had at 20 years old. As you get older, keeping fit demands a little more effort. That doesn't mean you can't do it, just that you have to work a little more at it!

It seems like each age is "the worst age to get in shape":

In highschool it's hard because of school food, because of peer pressure, because they are too busy!

In college, well, they can't afford it! It's cheaper to grab a super-duper burger at $1 than to buy fruits and vegetables, not to mention that you have to cook those...

After college, they start having babies, and baby weight is the absolute hardest weight to lose. So is sympathy weight for that matter.

As the kids grows, well, there's just too much going on, no time to take care of oneself, one has barely time to take a shower and find clean underwear. Food has to be fast, easy cheap. Notice that healthy didn't make the list.

Then the kids leave, and it's menopause. Hormones take over, and there is no way one can fight back. There's even a male version (andropause I think) which doesn't have as strong an effect as menopause do on women, but still...

After that is all done well, one's too old right? Like somebody can get in shape in their late 50s early 60s and even after that. Ridiculous right?

This whole thing is becoming ridiculous. I'm not saying that any of those complains, and many others, are not true, I'm saying that any obstacle can be turned into an excuse to quit on yourselves. I'm saying that if you want to take care of yourself, get yourself in shape, healthy and fit, you CAN... No matter how young, or old, or busy, or bored you are, you can always make a change.

Take a good look at what you are telling yourself, and others. What is your excuse? Why aren't you working out? Eating right? Taking time to relax and recharge? Finding an escape from the daily stress?

What's your excuse and how can you turn it around? It's not about age, it's not about how busy you are, it's about how much you want it. It's about how important it is to you to be healthy mind and body, to be solid and whole, so that you can be strong when you need to be, so that you can be well balanced and happy the rest of the time.

Let go of those excuses, don't sell yourself short. You are worth the time, you are worth the effort, just list your priorities, and make sure you are high on the list. To fail to do so is selfish, what kind of future will your family have if they have to take care of you because you didn't take care of yourself?

You deserve better, your family and loved ones deserve better. Forget the excuses and start taking care of yourself. NOW!

Be good n stuff

Busy Day

2008-02-08T18:11:00.000-08:00

After Being "grounded" for a few days, I was teaching all day today. It was a good day at a fun school.

I brought in my bento lunch and made an effort to walk around in the classroom while the students were working. After I came home I had some leftovers and water.

I found that bringing not only lunch, but my snacks and water along for the day makes a big difference. I don't stop anywhere for snack and/or water, so I avoid temptation.

They had a birthday cake in the teacher room, but I didn't stick around to see if I was going to be offered any. For one thing, subs aren't very "included" at that school, and I didn't want any anyway.

So, I planned ahead, avoided temptation, walked as I could, and kept my head when I came home. This was a good day!

Tomorrow I'm off to San Francisco to go bento shopping. Hopefully we can find a lunch that isn't too calorie rich in Japantown!

Starting to feel better...

2008-02-07T19:26:00.000-08:00

My back is starting to feel a little better, not as much as I would like, but I can move around and do my thing. You don't appreciate "moving freely" until it's taken away from you!

Today I finished the laundry, did some thinkering in my paperwork and did some reading.

I've found a wonderful overview of what becoming vegetarian is all about. What to look at, what to look for, what to avoid. I'm not for or against being a vegetarian, but I think that done right, it can be as healthy as an omnivorous lifestyle. It's not my lifestyle, I'm more of a "part time vegetarian".

Anyway, all this to say that I found this "Vegetarian Starter Kit" on the Vegetarian Times website and thought it was intersting. You can find it here (It's a PDF document, 16 pages):

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/

You just click on the "Vegetarian Starter Kit" in the orange tool bar at the top of the page. I just thought I would share. Unfortunately I still see people decide to "go vegetarian" and eating carrots, lettuce and mushroom only there is more to being a Vegetarian than "just eating veggies". Be safe, and be wise!

Today I was feeling more optimistic and positive. I took a shower early and put on a clean pyjama! I wasn't working, so I decided to do a pyjama day in style! I did my hair, put on my face, everything! Then I plopped down on the couch! He he he

For lunch I just grabbed a frozen meal. I actually found the last chicken curry that was hidden behind other stuff. AH! I ate it over leftover bulgur, delicious.

This afternoon I went shopping, didn't buy much, but I walked for nearly 2 hours. It felt good to be outside (mostly) and to walk around.

On my way home I stopped by Olivers to buy green beans for a side dish I had planned, and discovered that they had yummy looking brown rice sushi. I bought 2 rolls for dinner.

So we had Shredded Green Beans, Citrus-Chives Whole Grain Couscous, and brown rice Sushi.

It was pretty and delicious! My husband liked it also, so I know I had a winner! :o)

It's a double victory because it's going to be part of my bento lunch tomorrow! The sushi is gone, but we have leftover chicken and mini-frittata to go with the two side dishes.

I'm feeling upbeat and ready. I'm waiting a few more days to hit the gym again, but I'm walking, and moving and doing things.

Mainly I'm me again!

Slow Day

2008-02-05T21:32:00.000-08:00

Today I didn't work until later and to be honest didn't do much. My back still hurts and I was feeling a tad sorry for myself.

It's ok though, I think sometimes everybody needs a slow day to recharge and refocus.

This is not to say that I did not follow my chosen lifestyle, but just that I took it easy.

I made myself a "chili" with half a red onion, left over black beans, lentils, frozen corn, frozen soybeans and left over turkey. I added chili powder and coriander.

It turned pretty good actually, we had the rest of it for dinner with lentil soup.

Other than that I didn't do much. Movement hurts so I went and worked this afternoon and that's about it.

I'm not very good at being patient. I sure hope this ol' back of mine gets back into it's own shape fast!

Until then, I'll be home trying to keep from going nuts.

This day is full of victories!

2008-02-04T19:17:00.000-08:00

This was a very full day, with quite a few challenges, but I think I worked my way through them very sucessfully. I started this blog to help people out, but it's already helping me a lot! It keeps me thinking.

First the less fun stuff:

My back is still hurting a lot, and since it hurts from my shoulder blades to my knees, I decided to forgo my work out again. Put this in the chapter of "things I've learned along the way" pushing myself through an injury leads to a worst injury which has me grounded and extremely unhappy.

Not to mention that I get bored easily, and I'm very hard to live with when I'm bored... so I'm also doing my husband a favor by being careful. ;op

Now to the good stuff:

I had a full day of teaching today, and it was in a rather difficult class. I brought my bento lunch (will post on my Bento blog about it in a little bit) and 2 mini bars as snacks. I was offered other things, but I declined and stuck to my plan.

After a day of teaching, I tend to have the munchies a lot. It's like the stress catches up with me at the end of the day. So today I didn't want to just go home and munch, I went back to the Asian Market and bought me a second box an dividers. The second box is for me so that my husband can use my other one. Then I stopped at Copperfields to look up books.

My trip to Copperfields had two goals: looking at books keeps me busy, and away from food; also the Copperfields in Santa Rosa has the coolest little Cafe, so I went in and had myself a cup of soup.

The thing is, I was off school at 2, and worked at Weight Watchers at 4. Too early for dinner, but too late for me to get through without being overly hungry. So a cup of soup was just what I needed to tie me over until after work!

I got to work early so I walked around in the trails behind the traveler, about 25-30 minutes. That's not much, but since I'm pretty much "grounded" it's something at least. So far today I've walked 7400 steps!

Came home to a delicious Chili my husband made out of the Shortcut Cookbook (Weight Watchers).

So I had a great day. I'm working very hard at being patient and good to myself until my back is better. I'm so not good at that. Oh well... guess I'm still learning, even after 5 years! :o)

Had a good day today!

2008-02-03T19:17:00.001-08:00

Yesterday I hurt my back carrying bags of pellet for our stove. So I didn't get to work out today, I wanted to give my back a rest. That in itself is a victory for me as I tend to work through injuries and make things worse *blush*

I was doing a WI today, so I brought breakfast in, and since I was going shopping after work, I also brough lunch (See my Bento Box Blog). Both breakfast and lunch turned out to be very satisfying, I didn't even finish my lunch!

I was shopping all afternoon, walked over 10 000 steps and came home to make my planned dinner a Curried Red Lentil Stew I found in a Weight Watchers cookbook.

We did indulge on an icecream treat, but after such a good day, it was all good!

This is the first day of my "week", so I'm happy to have started the week the right way. One day at a time!

My first Bento Box!!

2008-02-02T17:33:00.000-08:00

I went around and found myself a bento box!

It's bigger than I wanted, but I figured I could start with that, and use it for a "full day" thing and include my snacks in there as opposed to just a "lunch box".

It's going to be perfect for those days when I sub and then work at Weight Watchers on the evening.

I also got myself a "spork"! The concept of a spoon and a fork making a "spork" just cracks me up! But I thought that it'd be better for the environment to have one of those and clean it, than use those throw away ones.

I have a little sauce container and paper dividers. I can't wait to go to San Francisco to get little goodies, but this is a start!

My husband is tolerating my new obsession remarkably well. I wonder what's up with that!

So here we are, I'm ready to start playing around in the bento world. I don't plan on making traditional Japanese foods as they don't really fit in my food plan, but I'll be playing around with ideas. How about a Mediteranean bento? An Indian one?

I'm having so much fun planning this I can barely bear myself!

To know more about my adventures in the world of Bento lunch, look in here: Willow's Bento Box

Planning the week

2008-02-02T09:32:00.000-08:00

So it’s Saturday again! Time to sit down and plan my week. For some reason, it doesn’t work to do it any other way. Saturday is planning day! :o)

When I first started on my “healthy lifestyle”, I religiously planned every week in great details, and then I got a little cocky and stopped doing that. A few weeks ago I reviewed the results and decided it was time to start planning again!

Planning ahead just simplify my life by taking out the whole “what’s for dinner” dilemma every night. Also, since I have 3 jobs and a schedule that keeps moving around, it permits me to keep trying new things without having to spend a lot of time on it. If I know what’s coming, I can just take food out of the freezer the night before, stop by the store on my way home and be ready to cook as soon as enter the house. This sure beats coming home at 5:30pm with everything frozen and half of my ingredients missing.

The first part of planning my week is to take a good look at my planner. Once I have a good sense of what the week is going to be like, and how it might change around, I can decide which nights I have time to cook, which nights I need a quick fix, and which night my husband is going to have to cook.

Once I have reviewed my week, I can plan in the meals. Breakfast is generally steel cut oats with different toppings. Still I try to plan in 2 or 3 different breakfasts that will make it more interesting (see previous post!).

Lunch up to now was more often than not frozen fare. I like to cook soups, curries, stews in bit batches and freeze them in 1 portion containers. That way I can just grab a container and bring it to work. This has worked for both of us for the last 3 years.

My new lunch obsession is Bento boxes. I’m just starting to look into it, and will share my exploration of them in this blog. So keep an eye out for that! If you want to sneak a peak at what Bento boxes are, look this blog up http://lunchinabox.net/ There is a lot of good information, tips and ideas on how to put together a bento, gear you need, where to shop. Only down side is she make me regret leaving San Francisco!!

Dinner is my favorite meal to plan for. That’s the meal my husband and I sit down to eat together, and that when we have more time to experiment with different foods and recipes. We have favorites, of course, but we both enjoy trying new things and playing “mad scientist” in the kitchen.

We try very hard to plan in at least 3 new recipes every week. Sometime we try something new almost every night! We both like ethnic cuisine, I love Indian foods, and though my husband likes it too, he has a liking for Asian fare. Pitch in some good Mexican recipes and we’re happy campers! I’ve also been looking into vegetarian recipes lately, not to become vegetarians, but to add to the variety of what we eat.

Did I mention that I have more than 140 cookbooks now?

I also plan my activity. Again, it helps by taking the “what do I do?” out of it. I know what I’m doing, when I’m going to the gym, when I’m working out at home, and I can work the rest of my life around that.

I’m an early morning bug when it comes to going to the gym. I’m still getting back into my routine, but it’s much easier for me to get up early and hit the gym (before I wake up he he he) than to make a side trip after a long day.

My plan is to go to the gym 6 mornings a week, alternating cardio and weight lifting. When I know what I do when, I can prepare my gym bag the night before and not have to look for my socks or my gloves at 5:15am. That’s the back bone of my activity.

Because I’m a substitute teacher, I never know if I’m going to work or not on any given day. The rest of my work outs (a yoga and a pilates DVD) are on a “whenever I can” basis. I plan the day, but not the time that I’m going to do it.

I also have a general plan for non-sub days, which is to hit the road early in the morning and take the dog for a long walk (90 minutes minimum).

The idea here is not for you to follow my plan, but to understand that you have to take a good look at what your day to day life looks like, and see where you can fit those healthy behaviors. That way you can make your own plan, one that will fit your own life.

I hate the feeling of “what do I do now?” even more the question “Honey, what’s for dinner?” At the end of the day, when I’m tired, or at the beginning of the day, when I’m not yet awake, I don’t want to have to figure out what I’m supposed to do.

I’m often asked how I fit everything I do into my days and still go to bed at 10pm the latest. I plan ahead, that’s how. I know what’s coming, I can prepare for it, and I can organize myself so that I rarely end up standing in front of the freezer with 30 minutes to make dinner and everything frozen solid!

I can hear the “well it’s easy for you, you don’t have kids.” True… I don’t have kids; I have 3 jobs though, to each our own challenge.

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”

Healthy Breakfast

2008-01-30T15:01:00.000-08:00

One thing I’ve learned early on is that breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. The trick is to find what will work for you, and it’s different for everybody.

Here’s a few Breakfast ideas that I use regularly:

Steel Cut Oats

1 cup of uncooked steel cut oats
4 cups of water
Pinch of salt
1 cinnamon stick

1- Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan.
2- Add the oats, the salt and the cinnamon stick. Reduce the fire and simmer for a few minutes, until it starts to thicken.
3- Remove from the fire, cover and let sit overnight.
4- In the morning, take out what you need, and heat up with a little milk and whatever add-ons* you want in there.
5- Place the rest in a Tupperware and keep in the fridge for several days taking out what you need every morning.

Note: My favorite add-ons are sliced banana, raisins, sugar-free syrups (not too much!) or honey. I’ve also put a little pumpkin puree and pumpkin spices. You put whatever you want in there and let me know if you find something great!

Frittata (or Egg Pies as I call them)

1 whole egg
3 egg whites
Very thinly sliced onion or shallot
Shredded carrots
Minced garlic clove
½ tsp cumin,
¼ tsp chili powder,
¼ tsp turmeric
Salt and pepper to taste
Chopped cilantro for serving

1- Lightly beat the whole egg and the egg whites together, add the spices and combine well.
2- In a 8 inch nonstick pan, sautéed the onions and carrots for 2-3 minutes, add garlic, sautéed for an additional minute. (note 1)
3- Lower the fire and add the egg mixture. (Note 2) Cook until almost completely set. In the meantime, pre-heat the broiler.
4- When the frittata is almost set, cover the pan handle with foil (to protect from the heat) and put under the broiler until completely set.

Any mix of vegetable and spice would work. Cheese would certainly work also I’m sure. You can make this the night before and keep it in the fridge. Makes a good “take along” lunch also.

Note 1: I like to remove the veggies from the pan, put in the egg mixture, and then “sprinkle the veggies in so that it looks prettier.

Note 2: You could also cook the veggies, put the egg mixture in muffin cups, add the veggies and bake until almost set, then put under the broiler, to make mini-frittatas.

Open Egg Sandwiches

2 slices of light whole wheat bread
2 slices cheese (I don’t eat cheese, but bet it’d work)
2 slices Canadian bacon
2 eggs poached, or fried
Salsa

1- On a plate, put the two slice of bread, top with cheese, Canadian bacon, egg and then salsa.

Note: It’s messy, but it’s good, and really quick to put together.
A variation of that is to have hard boiled egg, and mash them in a bowl, and then spread them over the Canadian bacon before topping with salsa.

Those are my quick throw together breakfasts. I know there are tons of other great ideas out there. Leftovers also make a great breakfast in a pinch.

The only “rule” about breakfast is to have one. It starts your day right, boost up your metabolism, and make sure you aren’t ravenous by lunchtime!

Just Do It

2008-01-30T07:03:00.000-08:00

This is something I posted a while ago on the WW message Boards, it reflects my general philosophy very well, I though it would be a good way to start this up!

Just Do It

The questions or requests that I see very often and that really makes me wonder are “Motivate me” or “Inspire me” or “How do I get started”. It seems like we stand there, thinking: “I need to do that”, but we just stay there and wait for… something. What are we waiting for? Why is it so hard to get started?

My answer to that is always “Just do it”. Do something, take that first step and see where it’ll take you. It never seem to make sense to people. “Easy to say, but I can’t be active because I don’t have a gym membership, I don’t have work out clothes, I can’t afford the Bowflex and all its cousins. I don’t have the time, I don’t have the money, I don’t have the motivation. I don’t, I don’t, I don’t! STOP IT ALREADY!

Being active doesn’t mean becoming a fitness competitor. You don’t have to lift weights to be healthy, or to do those humongous cardio session. You have feet? Walk. Not much time? Get up in the morning and walk before work, take half your lunch break and walk, Before you get home after work, stop by a nice park and walk for a bit. Take the kids along and teach them early on that being active is fun. Go Dancing. It’ll do wonder to your stress level!

Now there’s the money issue, I sure understand that one. But you don’t have to have the Bowflex, I grew up watching my mom do curls with tomato cans! A comfortable pair of shoes, comfy shorts, a T-shirt, there you go! The media are full of the “performance shoes” and super duper work out clothes and stuff like that. Are you shooting for the Olympics? No? Then you don’t NEED the top of the line, if you can afford it, go for it, but you don’t need it. Start small, then if you find an activity that you really get into, you can “gear up” bit by bit.

My favorite is “I’m not motivated”. Motivation doesn’t come down from the sky with sparklies and a little music. It comes from within; it’s something that you work yourself into, not the reverse. You get started, and as you go, you realize the benefits of what you’re doing, and that turns into motivation. Yeah, sometimes it sags a little, don’t we know it, but then remind yourself why you’re doing this, how it feels when you eat right, how it feels when you’re moving, and JUST DO IT. Motivation will come back as the results of your hard work start to show.

Bottom line is, your body doesn’t care how busy you are, how much money you have, or how motivated, or unmotivated you are. Your body responds to what you do. So go ahead, JUST DO IT. No need to do it fancy, no need to do it pricy, JUST DO IT!

Starting from the beginning!

2008-01-29T12:51:00.000-08:00

Wow, my first blog post!

I'm not even sure why I'm starting this. I am not any more knowledgeable than anybody else. I've walked my path, and have learned a lot. Hopefully, I have a lot more to learn.

My idea here is to share what I've learned, and what I will learn. Maybe it'll help somebody on their own lifestyle journey. I'm hoping this will be more than another "weight loss log", but rather a place to share discoveries and ideas to make life in general a healthier, more enjoyable journey.

Hum, big contract right?

So give me a chance to learn how this thing works, and to put my ideas together, and I'll get started. I'm hoping to get ideas, suggestions, comments from whoever is reading.

Welcome to my little spot on the web!