Busy, Busy, Busy!

Last week was vacation Bible school and I was crazy busy! I had decorating to do - and lots of volunteers who did most of the work!! Yay for volunteers!!!! - schedules to print, supplies to get... plus I worked my regular schedule doing everything else I always do. It was great fun, and totally worth all the long days and late hours. But... my eating habits suffered.

I spent the whole week grabbing this or that, running to the gas station for a slice of pizza, chugging a Coke or a sweet tea on the fly - ugh. The good news is that some of my frantic activity made up for the extra calories, because my weight hasn't suffered that much. The bad news is that now I've gotten in the habit of unhealthy foods and I'm trying to get back on track but my cupboard is bare. My son left for my parents' house this morning, VBS is over, my vacation is next week - things have slowed down enough for me to go shopping and stock up on my almonds and veggie patties. Time to get serious again about my health - I know I'm worth it, but sometimes life just makes me forget. Now I remember and I'm excited to get going once again!!

Not Losing Weight? Eat more!

The human body is a cleverly designed machine. Did you know that your body self-adjusts to the amount of calories eaten? Which means that a body that has grown (and grown, and grown!!) accustomed to 3000 calories per day, you can drop to 2000 calories and start losing weight. Another person used to 1800 calories per day could eat that same 2000 and start gaining. Of course, the body adjusts, and the 3000 calorie-eater who drops to 2000 may not continue her weight loss forever. What all this means is that the smart body can work negatively for some dieters. If you cut back to 1200 calories per day, for example, you may see some great weight loss for a few weeks! But... here's your adjustable body at work... your body will realize that it is being starved, and it will slow the metabolism down. Your weight loss will slow, and even stop. This process is what kept our ancestors alive - when food was scarce, the body was quite efficient in keeping it's owner from starving to death! But it's 2009 - if you are reading this blog, you are not likely to die of starvation. So, when you plateau, how do you kick it back into gear? Eat more!!

Now this is not license to run out to the nearest fast food joint and cram a couple of Number One's - large size, please - down your throat. Please - learn from my mistakes! What this means is that you can up your calories and do it wisely. Add an extra serving of fruit. And one more of fresh, local veggies. Or increase your protein by an ounce. Have a small scoop of that starchy side you've been avoiding. Slowly add calories until you see your weight start to drop again. As an aside, I should tell you that I don't count calories. To be honest, I just don't have the time. When I write about caloric intake, I know that my food does have calories, and I know the general amount that I am eating, but I base my food choices on the size of the portions and the quality of the food - is it lean, is it fatty? Is it healthy, is it sugary? So when I write about upping or lowering calories, I am speaking in general terms. If counting calories works for you - go for it!! Everyone is different - stick with what works for you. However you track your food, consider increasing or decreasing the amount as you track your weight loss - or lack thereof. Sometimes playing with the amount of food you eat can be the healthiest way to keep your body happy and working well. Of course, you should be consulting your physician before starting any weight loss or exercise program. Once you've consulted him/her, keep in touch! Call the office or come in for another office visit if you're wondering about your caloric intake. Have your weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar checked when your doctor suggests so that you both can monitor your success! After all, what's the point of losing 20 pounds if you're going to be too sick -or worse - to enjoy it???

Assuming you have your doctor's blessing, give it a whirl - find the caloric intake your body needs to feel good, run well, and keep you on the weight loss track. I've been wondering if I am eating enough, and I got my answer after getting on the scale this morning. Last weigh in I lost half a pound. I decided to increase my food, went totally insane for a day (see previous post) then settled back into some healthy, responsible eating. I increased my food intake slightly and in a matter of a few days dropped a full pound. Now that's what I call sweet success!

The Good, The Bad, and the Fatty

There have been many posts about my successes - and I'm proud of that! But... to be honest, I've had a little slip up. One day of bad, horrible, fatty, junky food. So, in an effort to be completely honest, I am confessing the bad along with proclaiming the good. It's only fair.

Yesterday was J-Day. Junk Day. I'm actually embarrassed to admit how much I ate. Here are my excuses:

• I'm very stressed out!!!
• I'm ovulating so my hormones have gone haywire.
• I've done so well, I deserve a break.
• I'm stressed!! Super stressed!!
• I have so much to do I forgot to pack my lunch.
• I just haven't had time to go to the store for my healthy foods.
• I'm totally stressed to the max!!

At this point, choose your own... Do any of them sound familiar? As you can tell, I am a big time stress eater. I've posted before that when I am stressed out I will choose to eat and eat until I feel calm again. I think there must be a biological reason for this - eating takes blood away for the brain and to the stomach for digestion - maybe that's why I feel calm. Maybe it's not so much calm as it is sleepy. But I'm getting off track here - yesterday was the worst eating day I've had in two months, and I'm feeling really guilty about it, so here comes the confession part. Here's the list of everything I ate yesterday:

• My usual small handful of almonds with black coffee (I was off to such a good start!)
• At 8:00 I ate a hamburger. Yes, that's right - a hamburger. With mustard and sauerkraut and some olive oil-based mayo. (not the best breakfast...)
• At 9:15 ES brought me - at my request - a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel from McDonald's (I inhaled it on the playground in the 85 degree weather).
• At 12:45 I had lunch - Wendy's chicken wings - two orders, one buffalo chicken, one Asian sesame - PLUS a loaded baked potato AND a sweet tea.
• At 4:00 I ate a bunch of Cheez-Its out of my child's lunch box.
• 6:30, on the way home from WalMart I washed down a Heath bar with a cherry 7-Up.
• 7:30 - dinner was two tacos, loaded with tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, cheese, meat, black olives and hot salsa. Served with a little scoop of refried beans. Drank two glasses of Country Time lemonade with dinner.
• 9:00 - drank a glass of milk to tame all the hot stuff I ate on my tacos.

So there it is, in black and white. Ugh. Makes me feel sick just looking at it. And fat. It makes me feel fat. But I have decided not to take one bad day out of 60 good ones and use that as the excuse to give up. I'm back on track today, and refuse to let yesterday beat me down. I am going to brush myself off - the crumbs, that is - and look forward, not back. And please pray for my resolve - pray that I will jump right back into the good, healthy eating and never have to hang my head and post my confession again. *Sigh*

Chicken and Veggies

Marinated veggies is my new passion. It all started with the veggie kabobs I made one afternoon for a family cook out. They were AWFUL! Very bland, a little burned ... ugh. Once I've failed at something, I usually try again. And again, and again, until I get it right. After a few attempts, I think I've finally gotten it right and I thought I'd share the recipe. The secret to these yummy vegetables is the marinating - get them marinating early in the morning and by afternoon you'll have some mighty fine eats. Okay, so here it is, in typical haphazard fashion:

Chop your favorite veggies into fairly large chunks. My favorites: whole mushrooms, yellow squash, onions, green peppers, and broccoli. I know, the broccoli is unusual for a kabob, but it's my favorite veggie so I include it in just about everything. I've tried tomatoes, which I really liked, but I don't include those anymore because it irritates me to hear the C-man whine about them. I've also tried carrots, but they were hard to skewer and didn't cook very well - too crunchy. I would like to try zucchini, but for now I'm sticking with stuff in our garden. The freshness of garden veggies really makes a difference! If you don't have a garden, try a local farmers' market - definitely worth the trip. Anyway, take all these chunked up veggies and put them in a large ZipLoc bag. If you have any meat you want to include, throw that in, too. Drizzle in a bit of olive oil - don't go crazy - and some of your favorite vinegar. I almost always use balsamic for this - the sweetness of the balsamic vinegar goes really well with the veggies. Then dump in whatever your favorite spices are - just watch the salt content if you're going for a healthy meal. I add fresh pressed garlic (if you don't have a garlic press, consider getting one - they're so convenient!), a bunch of pepper, a dash of Tony's, and usually a little bit of cumin. Seal the baggie, mix it all up really well, and leave in the fridge all day. Turn the baggie several times over the course of the day. When it comes to cooking, you can skewer them and cook them on the grill (soak wooden kabobs in water so they don't burn) or throw them in the oven and bake them at 350 until the meat is done. I dumped the whole bag into a Pyrex baking dish with some chicken and the whole mess cooked within the marinade for about an hour - talk about yummy and delicious! I made a huge batch and I'm still eating the leftovers!

If you make it, hope you enjoy it. If you don't want to make it, just wrangle an invitation to my house - you know I'll serve it!!

The Pants

Yesterday was a good day. Okay, so it was super busy and I had a thousand things to do and only accomplished about 25. But still - because of The Pants, it was a good day. What pants, you ask? And why the capital letters? The Pants are a wonderful pair of Liz Claiborne slacks. They are tan with a raised embroider-like texture and rosy pink pinstripes. They are feminine and beautiful and the best part: they were FREE!! My mom goes to a thrift store that has wonderful clothes at great prices, so any time I visit we always make a stop. A couple of years ago I found The Pants and they had split open a tiny bit in the fly. Because they were damaged, the owner said, "Just take them!" My mom helped me mend them right up, and they were good as new. For those of you who don't know, I react to a good deal like a junkie who has just been given a big bag of crack. I'm on a high for the rest of the day. And no deal is better than free!!! There was only one problem... after wearing them once or twice, I gained 5 or 6 pounds (okay, maybe 10...)and my wonderful pants looked like sausage casing. Then I gained another 5 and I couldn't button them. *Sigh* The Pants sat on my shelf for over a year, and every once in a while I would try them on. Why? I don't know. Maybe just to torture myself. But then I started losing some weight...

I've been trying on the pants every Tuesday for the past 5 or 6 weeks. Tuesday is one of my office days, so I can dress a little nicer, and I was dying to wear those pants. Slowly but surely I went from being able to button them - without breathing, of course - to being able to sit down AND breathe in them, to getting back to the sausage look. I kept thinking, 'Well, maybe next week. Just a couple more pounds...' Folks, yesterday was the day. I put them on, zipped them up, and found - they fit!!! AND I even had a tiny little bit of extra room in the belly!!! They were comfortable!! They looked good!! The Pants could finally be worn!!!!!!!

I wore them all day yesterday without splitting a seam or needing to unbutton. I was on cloud nine. Here is the tangible proof that I have lost weight and gotten smaller. Ah, the joy. You see, The Pants symbolize more than just one more item in my closet from which to choose. They are the physical result of all my hard work. They are the reward for all those tofu patties and skipped mac 'n cheese. And they are hope. Hope for continued weight loss, days of feeling good, nights where I have energy, and times of solitude where I allow myself to feel things I don't usually feel: happiness, pride, self esteem, worthiness. The Pants are good. The future is even better. Doing it all through Christ who strengthens me - the best of all.

The Blackberry Cobbler Adventure

Have you ever made blackberry cobbler? Me neither. But when the C-man told me that we have a ton of bushes in our back woods I thought, "Cool! I can make blackberry cobbler!" Right. Why do I think I can do these things?

I grew up in Maine, where blueberries are the berry to pick. They grow on cute little bushes and you can go along picking and eating blueberries just as easy as pie. Or cobbler. Ah, delightful! But blackberries, I found out ... not so easy.

My first foray into the woods I wore regular clothes, including flip flops. Yes, my Southern friends, I can hear you laughing. The first problem was the mud. My flip flops got sucked in twice, but that's okay - pluck them out and move on. The next issue were the branches of the blackberry bushes. Did you know they can move? Oh, yes, it's true! Like something out of The Wizard of Oz, these branches grabbed me and stuck to my skin! Ouch! As I was extracting myself I stepped into a huge pile of ants. Fire ants. The kind that wait to bite until there are a thousand of those little buggers all over you. So, I'm all caught up in thorns, getting bitten by a million ants - did I say a thousand? I'm sure it was a million. I shriek a few times, then go back into the mud, hoping the mud will kill those fu - - uh, those little creatures of God. Now my flip flops are stuck again. For those of you who don't know me, I hate to admit defeat. Tell me I can't do something and it's on like Donkey Kong. Back into the house I go...

I emerge wearing jeans tucked into socks with sneakers. Also a long sleeve shirt. And I am carrying a machete. Yes, we own a machete. Don't ask. I traipse out to the thicket - really more like a jungle - and start hacking away. Along my travels I spy a couple of spiders I can't identify and I hear the constant buzzing of some strange, flying bug. My mind wanders back to the Native Americans, and I think about how their lives were - walking through the woods, no jeans, no sneakers - no house with air conditioning, no blackberry cobbler in the frozen section at the local WalMart. Coming across a thicket of berries must have been wonderful - it meant food, liquid, refreshment ... maybe even life itself. This makes me even more determined. I keep chopping away at the underbrush until finally I get to the berries. I pick about two cups until I am driven away by the mosquitoes. At least, I think they were mosquitoes. They could have been a couple of errant Navy planes off track from Barrin Field. I think I saw one of them carrying off a small dog. But I only need two cups for my cobbler, so I head inside. My arms are covered in scratches, my feel are burning with ant bites, I am sweaty and disheveled. This had better be the best blackberry cobbler I have ever tasted. Sadly, because of the Pray 'N Weigh, I will only have the smallest of pieces. *Sigh* The things I do for my family...

Irony

I just spent 30 minutes composing a great post about how stressed out I've been this week, even uploading a great picture of Tammy Wynette (long story). I finished the post by talking about how I should not be stressed, everything will be okay, and so on. I clicked "POST" (or at least I thought I did), but apparently what I clicked was some button that says "Make post disappear never to be recovered no matter what you try."

This is not good for my rage. (can you guess the tv show???)

I'm going to post this - I hope - and go to bed before I rip somebody's head off. The C-man is the only one home who is awake, and I need his head attached to his body for while - we have closing ceremonies on Saturday and I wanted a family picture. He's currently watching Stargate at about 120 decibels. Maybe the picture would come out okay if after I rip off his head I shove a bouquet of flowers down his neck...

**Hysterical, maniacal laughter**

I'll post something a bit more sane and on track tomorrow. Time to go to bed and pretend this day never happened....