It takes an elephant

I was going to do so much tonight...and now I'm running out of get-up-and-go. I was going to work on organizing this women's retreat coming up in October, I was going to write checks for the bills, I was going to work out, I was going to shop for food for my camping trip, I was going to read for school, I was going to write my bl...wait...I've done most of this already. No wonder I'm freakin' tired!

The only thing I haven't done is write the checks...the least physically taxing thing on the list. But here's the thing, I'm mentally exhausted. I've started my reading for school. I'm getting going early for one of my classes. The class doesn't start until early October, but the professor is TOUGH. Actually, she scares the shit out of me. Don't get me wrong, she's fair, her classes are interesting and she's very clear about what she expects. She just scares the crap out of me.

Anyhow, some of the reading I started talked about how we're not lazy, we're just tired. Of course, it was talking about making changes in our lives and workplaces. It was oddly appropriate. It talked about how people have 2 brains...the emotional one and the rational one. OK. There's the elephant, the emotional one, and the rider, the rational one. Get this, a little human rider only has so much strength to exert when forcing it's will on the elephant, and then our rational side becomes exhausted. This is when the emotional side can come in and take charge. Coup d'etat! In other words, will power will only get us so far when making changes in our lives. When we decide to make a change, we have to buy into it both rationally and emotionally!

It's the same with avoiding sugar. I can only force myself to avoid the temptation for just so long. Once I run out of sheer willpower, I need an emotional force to give me the strength that I need to not reach for that 'easy out'. I need the elephant. Without some emotional buy in, I'm going to give in and reach for a Snickers, or a brownie, or cake or ice cream or (insert your favorite sugary snack here). I need something...a desire to avoid an avoidable family medical history, an important friendship with some amount of a basis in healthy eating and physical activity, a sense of self that's invested in a healthy lifestyle, a deep-seated need to have the body one desires...anything, something. It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes an elephant to avoid sugar!

I forgot to photograph my dinner...I was so tired and soooo hungry. I actually ate my lunch salad for dinner. I put a small chicken breast on the salad today.


For lunch, I had daal makhani, chicken tikka masala and naan. I love Indian food!!!

Breakfast power sandwich, berries and a cappuccino. I love Panera!

I'm a real athlete

Well, my big idea to go to the gym this morning didn't pan out...I didn't have much confidence in it anyway. I did, however, make it to the gym tonight. I managed 30 minutes on the treadmill tonight. Boring and difficult, but not bad for a girl who didn't want to go at all. Maybe I'll shoot for that morning gym time tomorrow? We'll see how that goes. If I don't go in the morning, I'll make in the afternoon.

Coming home from the gym tonight was very interesting. For those of you who did not see it on Facebook, I lost my first toenail. I know this really has no place on a food blog, but it's part of exercising and that whole life balance thing. It's kinda cool really. I feel like a real athlete tonight, and that feels pretty good.

Today was a good eating day. The work day provides structure and structure makes it easy to make healthy eating decisions. I did have a little pizza related indiscretion though...

OK, a little left over scallops in cream sauce with pasta, steamed broccoli, mixed veggies and chicken

There's that pizza indiscretion...salad and watermelon

Shredded wheat, skim milk, eggs with hot sauce, a few potatoes with ketchup and fresh berries

Good news/Bad news

Well, the bad news is that I forgot to put my memory card in my camera today. The good news is that there was nothing new about my breakfast and lunch! Standard cereal, egg and fruit for breakfast and salad for lunch.

I'm going to go to bed early tonight...I'm gonna see if I can try something new. I'm gonna try to go to the gym in the morning for a half hour of cardio and THEN go to work. This means that I'll need to be up pretty early. This week will be a dry run to see if I can do this and then try to implement this sort of schedule during the semester. We'll see how it goes...

So, without further ado, this is my dinner!

Pasta with scallops, peas, and mushrooms in cream sauce with steamed broccoli

Great reminders

Last night, a wonderful thing occurred. I got live feedback from one of my readers. She told me how she has some of the same food struggles as me! She said that reading my blog inspires her! WOW!

See, I need to hear that. I need to know that I'm not alone in striving to eat healthy. That others experience the same kinds of difficulties that I do. Another friend told me recently that she didn't realize how much discipline I had with my daily eating until she saw what I ate on vacation. I need to hear that too! I write this blog to gain additional accountability with my eating. It's kinda like therapy for me...and what great reminders my friends give me!!

Sometimes it's hard to see our own patterns, sometimes it's easy. Sometimes it's easy to deny them, other times we write a blog and post pictures. I know that I struggle with sugar. I know that I love to eat fatty, carby, sweet sweet nothings that will pack pounds onto my thighs and ass and fat around my belly. I also know that this is not the sort of junk I want in my trunk, so to speak. I also know that I'm back from vacation and need to get serious about my eating again. It's soooo hard though!

I've had a small smattering of the sweet sweet stuff...OK, it was a large overdose, but still. It's hard to deprive my body of sugar once it's been introduced again. I know that whether I feel it or not, that sugar gives my body a little rush, a high. And then comes the crash. Again, I don't always feel it, but my body does. I know that my body loves the sugar, craves the sugar, worships at the altar of the sugar gods. I know that if I have just a little, that I'm going to want more and more and more.

For me, one is too much and a 100 are never enough. It's pretty much an all or nothing kind of deal on the processed sugar for me. I guess that suits me fine. I've been the kind of girl who goes to extremes in whatever I'm doing anyway. At least this one's good for me.

 8/26/11

Standard regular breakfast...except for the 1% milk...this was a choice. I have to admit, it tastes better. Back to skim next week!

Afternoon nectarine...I forgot to photograph my lunch...it was the standard regular salad, no surprises.

J took me out to Petit Robert tonight...we had these great tasting menu selections...I started with mussels.

And moved on to the veal cutlet...I said it before, I generally try not to bring politics into my eating. And I'll just let it be said, the less my calf was alive, the better and more tender. Anyhow, those are capers (which I normally do not like) and hard boiled egg on the veal with some potatoes, green beans and carrots.

Chocolate mousse for dessert!

8/27/11
Indian buffet at Tanjore in Harvard Square. My favorite Indian restaurant!!! Not pictured: the second plate and rice pudding with the doughy ball things in rose sugar syrup stuff that are to die for but I don't know the name of.

Dinner at American Craft....Spinach salad with onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, gorgonzola and candied pecans. I only used a little of the dressing. I also ate about 5 or 6 french fries dipped in this bleu cheese fondue thingy. I think I'm the only who liked the fondue thingy.

UFC fight night. This is where things started downhill with pizza, a cupcake and soda...

...cheese, crackers and olives.

8/28/11

Hurricane whole wheat pancakes! For the hurricane that never was. There's 2 there, I had 4 with lots of syrup. Anyhow, there's almonds and blueberries in the pancakes with fresh berries on the side.

Almond butter and strawberry jelly on whole grain. Amazingly, there is no added sugar in the jam...grape juice, strawberries, and pectin. It's Whole Foods 365 brand...and it's yummy!! The bread is their organic brand and the almond butter was crushed in store there too. You can see my hurricane jewelry making project in back...I was too busy to eat today.

I did make a giant bowl of popcorn tonight. But even this was different...I bought corn kernels and popped them myself in olive oil! No butter, just a little salt. Way better than microwave and so much simpler of an ingredient list!

Not lazy

I feel like I've been lazy tonight...but I really haven't. I ran 3.2 miles (I intended to run a 5K and somehow had it in my head that it was 3.2 rather than 3.1. Either way, I ran 3 miles.), I did a few ab exercises and I did some arm exercises. My body kinda hurts. Yesterday, I ran 6 miles on the elliptical...far easier than 3.2 on the treadmill! Yet, I was sore after 6 miles. My next 10K is in October, Columbus Day to be exact. I've got about 6 weeks to get up to 6 miles outside or on the treadmill. Not a problem, right?

Right. However, school is starting in a couple of weeks. I've got some pretty big classes on deck for the term. The term will challenge me. I know I can live up to it and survive it, but I don't know how I'm going to handle it...at least for now, I'm going to work out as much as possible. I've got to lose the vacation pounds. I'd like to tighten up my tummy and lose the belly fat. I didn't take a picture of it, but I had nachos tonight...this is good. It was the end of the tortilla chips and the end of the cheese. This is a good thing.

OK, so there's my shredded wheat. Did you know that this stuff is actually good!?

What I like: no sugar, no salt and gets mushy but not too mushy in milk

What I don't like: 1 serving = 1.25 cups and 200 calories, only 8 grams of fiber.

The calorie count is why I went for the hardboiled egg. There's no guess work in how much fat and calories were added in the cooking process.

Yeah, pizza. Hey, you try to respond to over 100 e-mails in one day and not stress-eat!

NOTE: this picture is a re-creation...this is neither the actual yogurt nor the actual nectarine that I consumed.

I planned on running 6 miles tonight...I knew I'd need a little snack to make sure I had enough fuel.

Big salad with flax and oatbran pita. I put some vinaigrette on this again today. The nachos came after.

Home from vacation

This is my first real post in quite some time...I don't have any nutritional advice to impart. No interesting facts to share...just a bit of a where-I'm-at report.

Well, I did not accomplish my eating or work-out goals in July/August...AND, as a result, I have gained 3 pounds. Actually, the three pounds is the result of eating a shit-ton of sugar on vacation. SO! This means that it's time to get back on track! Back to eating healthy and back to the gym! SO! Eliminate processed sugar and minimize carbs! Maximize veggies and control portion sizes!

As for exercise...Well, I ran for an hour tonight and did a few abs and some arm exercises. Kinda hurt. I've got plans for a run tomorrow and I'll go to the gym on Friday. As for the weekend, we'll see. I've got plans for both Saturday and Sunday that probably won't allow enough time to go to the gym. Next week, I hope to go to the gym as often as possible. I'll leave it at that for now because I'd like some social time too!

As my first act of recommitment, I went to the grocery store:

As you can see, I bought very healthy things...fruits, veggies, yogurt, and shredded wheat.

And now, for my food today....

Recognize the breakfast power sandwich from Panera?

Salad from Whole Foods with balsamic vinaigrette

Olive roll from Whole Foods

Yeah, I didn't say that I was perfect today.

Yummy fresh salad with 1/2 a chicken breast and and flax oat bran pita. There's some vinaigrette on the salad too.

Fly Time: Aug 23, 2011--AZ, NC, & MA

So, I’m home from vacation…and that means it’s time to get back to my normal daily life. And that means back to my blog. I’ve decided to make a bunch of small posts…it’s just easier to post multiple days’ pictures that way. I’ll title each post with the appropriate date and location.

Yup! I'm home!! I had a nectarine after this.

Airport sushi in Charlotte, NC...not bad! Salmon and avocado roll

On the plan...there was some turbulence so the photo is a little blurry.

Fruit and cheese platter on the plane. The airline didn't really account for the fact that we were crossing the international date line (aka traveling from mountain time to eastern time!) and only packed breakfast items.

breakfast in the airport..I brought the raspberries with me and also had a nectarine before this

Food and friends: Aug 22, 2011--Huachuca City & Tucson, AZ

So, I’m home from vacation…and that means it’s time to get back to my normal daily life. And that means back to my blog. I’ve decided to make a bunch of small posts…it’s just easier to post multiple days’ pictures that way. I’ll title each post with the appropriate date and location.

Finishing the night off with a slice of homemade red velvet cake and a scoop of vanilla ice cream

my plate...

homemade tomato sauce with fresh artichoke and olive ravioli

salad with my homemade mustard dressing

fresh veggies and cheese for appetizers

BLT on whole grain with mayo

corn syrup!

Uncle Sam with a peach

Driving back to AZ: Aug 21, 2011--on the road

So, I’m home from vacation…and that means it’s time to get back to my normal daily life. And that means back to my blog. I’ve decided to make a bunch of small posts…it’s just easier to post multiple days’ pictures that way. I’ll title each post with the appropriate date and location.

Dinner back at mom's--chicken from the grill and green beans

messiest bean burrito ever dumped in my lap. I licked the paper to make sure I got it all.

DQ in Wickenburg, AZ--to be fair, only the white one is mine: an oreo blizzard

We had breakfast at the all you can eat buffet in Paris...Le Village

This is plate #2

Plate #1

Fruit and cheese to make breakfast seem healthy

A DAM good day for eating: Aug 20, 2011--Hoover Dam & Las Vegas

So, I’m home from vacation…and that means it’s time to get back to my normal daily life. And that means back to my blog. I’ve decided to make a bunch of small posts…it’s just easier to post multiple days’ pictures that way. I’ll title each post with the appropriate date and location.

Delish salad at some Mexican place in The Forum Shops on the Vegas Strip

Carne asado nachos, shared with mom

Gi-normous ice cream shared with mom at the Hoover Dam---peach and strawberry

Chili and cheese omelette, potatoes, and homemade wheat toast with strawberry jam. I did not finish the eggs and barely touched the potatoes

Traversing Death Valley: Aug 19, 2011--driving to Vegas

So, I’m home from vacation…and that means it’s time to get back to my normal daily life. And that means back to my blog. I’ve decided to make a bunch of small posts…it’s just easier to post multiple days’ pictures that way. I’ll title each post with the appropriate date and location.

This was a driving day, so it's a safe bet that there were sugary snacks, soda and some sort of chips that did not get photographed...

Dinner in Vegas at Buca di Beppo...they serve family style. This is my plate of pasta.

General shot of the apps...I had one stuffed mushroom, salad and a bunch of calamari

cheesy garlic bread...I think I had 2 pieces

 In-N-Out Burgers in Hesperia, CA...they were good, but I'm not too certain what all the hype is about. I ate one burger and about 1/2 an order of fries.

Breakfast at Downtown Disney--La Brea Bakery

Sourdough pancakes with fruit, juice and fruit on the side