Pinch Me!

It's late in the day, but on this Memorial Day I want to express my thankfulness for all the men and women who have served to protect and defend our country. Included in this number is my father, pictured above receiving his West Point diploma in 1939 from President Franklin Roosevelt. His class had so many casualties, but never forgot their motto: Duty, Honor, Country. I'm proud of him and all his comrades then and now.

So many of you wrote that you knew this little part of the country we're visiting now. Thanks for your comments. It's fun to imagine you here, too. This is the first time I've ever been here and I'm loving it. To think I've lived this long and never knew what I was missing! What ELSE are you keeping secret from me?? LOL

This is one of hundreds of tiles that local citizens decorated to line the entrance to a walkway along the River Walk in Estes Park. After a little more than one day here, we can really understand how they feel.

As per our usual travel routine, we shopped last night so that we could enjoy a healthy breakfast in our room. DH lured me from the bed (at 7:15!) with a fragrant cafe latte. I'm not usually a coffee drinker, but I do have skim cafe latte's when we travel to get in a little more milk than just breakfast. I could (and usually do) eat shredded mini wheats at breakfast every day. I love fresh fruit to vary it up, though. The white on the strawberries is Splenda (a habit I'm going to try to break one of these days, but not yet!

Today is Monday and I usually run on Monday, but not today. Estes Park is at just over 8000 feet above sea level and both DH and I had noticed that we were just a tad short of breath and that we lack our usual level of energy. We're feeling the altitude a bit, so I did not run. I did drink lots of water (about 2 1/2 quarts) and we spent most of the day at the lower altitude attractions. Anyway, I traded my running shoes for these:

.

We went on three short and one longer hike for a total of about 7 miles. Our hikes were separated by short rests in our hotel, a swim in the (heated) pool, and a nap. DH carried a backpack and, along with our plan to stay on-track food wise, we packed a lunch (bought last night at Safeway) and ate it alongside Lilly Lake. I usually do a better job of finding a variety of colors in meals, but this is what we had and it was tasty. I ended up giving DH about half of my chicken breast. Also, I've never liked bananas, but as they are always recommended for runners, I occasionally will eat an inch or two of banana. Today, it was good. DH says my tastes are maturing (!)

I didn't take along the camera on our long (4 mile) hike. We went on the Estes Lake trail, around the lake. Okay, but pale in comparison to the other walks and hikes around here.

We did notice we started feeling more able to breathe normally as the day wore on. This is good! Our final hike, just before dinner, was to Lumpy Ridge, part of Rocky Mountain NP. It had a bit of elevation gain (which we had been avoiding in deference to the lack of energy) but it was okay. I took this picture of one of the beautiful wildflowers right along the trail. I believe it is a kind of bluebell, a mertensia cillatta. Such fragile beauty in a rough terrain.

On our first walk of the day, along the River Walk in Estes Park, we noticed an Italian Restaurant (Mama Rosa's) and decided we'd go there for dinner. I'd eaten well within my plan and was prepared to treat myself at dinner time. This is what I chose: A Caprese Salad--it was on the appetizer menu, but it was always a favorite when we lived in Italy and so I ordered it. Dessert in our room with our beloved Latte Bars!

Tomorrow we're hoping to be ready to take on the Bear Lake trail (still with many snowy patches). Maybe one more swim in the pool tonight and then early to bed (we're still basically on EST).

Recap of my Spring Focus Goals: I kept to my goal to drink 2 quarts of water daily except on the day we were traveling. I have not measured my portions on this trip, but I did keep a mindful eye on them and feel they are well in control. I had a good, no fantastic, 2.8 pound weight loss at my WI last Wednesday. I'm hoping to lose at least half a pound at my WI this week. Things are going well. Thank you all for your inspiration and encouragement!

Rocky Mountain High

This is one of the beautiful places in God's world. The air is so fresh (and cool) and the scenery is breathtaking--or maybe that's my sea-level lungs, trying to adjust to this 8000 ft elevation. Anyway, we're having a great time. Here are some highlights of our day.

This little fella (we're pretty sure it's an Elk) is typical of the ones you see grazing around here. There were several small groups grazing nonchalantly in the town (Estes Park), busily eating in people's yards and in the town landscaping! I'd guess we've seen over 100 of them since we arrived around 3 this afternoon!

We took a short hike around this lake (Sprague Lake, in Rocky Mountain National Park) and spotted this guy (this was definitely a Moose) standing knee deep in the water, getting his afternoon fix of water weeds. I took several pictures and DH (who never takes pix) offered to venture into the woods at the edge of the lake. This is his picture, it's better--but don't tell him, okay?.

We snapped a picture for a family and they reciprocated by taking our picture. Their daughter "Indie" wanted to take one, too and we said sure (doncha just love digital cameras!). This is her picture of DH and me.

We ate at a local mom & pop kind of place that also offered game (buffalo sirloin steak and elk cutlets were on the menu) and frog legs. We chose this--and enjoyed it quite a lot. It's Rocky Mountain Grilled Trout with Orzo Toscano (rice pasta with artichoke, tomatoes, capers . . .) and steamed asparagus. Yummy. We eschewed the 7 layer carrot cake they had temptingly pictured on each and every table and picked up some of our favorite Latte Bars at Safeway.

This is the view from the parking lot at Safeway.

Oh, our one packing mishap?? An essential. Irreplaceable. We forgot to pack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . our scale! :-( I plan to catch a WW meeting on Wednesday in Colorado Springs.

Going the Distance

This morning's run (C25K Week 8 Day 1) did not go as well as I had hoped it would. The plan called for the usual 5 minute walk warm-up and cool-down periods with a 28 minute run in between. I was pretty confident I could do this as I had some "extra" left after my last couple of 25 minute runs. But somehow, today was hard. The bruises from my bike accident earlier this week are beginning to go a lovely yellow-ish color, but the (muscle?) ache still bothers me when I move (e.g. swing my arms). This, combined with a high degree of mugginess, made me "wimp out" and walk several times during the 28 run part. I was jogging along, feeling disappointed in myself and discouraged, when I started noticing the lyrics to the song on my podcast.

I had downloaded a C25K podcast from itunes that has Christian music. Not things you've heard before, but songs by small, independent writer/composers. Anyway, this song was talking to me. The lyric I particularly noticed said something to the effect that "the race is not to the swift or the proud, but to those who make it to the end." [The song is Do Not be Weary, by Buried Talents Band] I was finishing my workout. I went the distance I was scheduled to go, I just didn't run the whole thing. Maybe it wasn't so bad. Yes, I walked some bits when I was supposed to run, but I DID go the distance. I also noticed from my records, that I have run farther this month (53+ miles) than I have in any other month during the past year.

I'm feeling much better about my run now. And my scale again this morning showed me my lowest weight since November (when my weight was on its way up). Dinner last night went well (we had a college age intern from my husband's office to dinner). I did buy some tortilla chips for the guys to munch on while I finished making dinner. I stayed far away from them and sent the remainder of the package home with our guest. I grilled steaks, but only did three as they were large. I shared one with our son. The baby red roasted potatoes (olive oil, rosemary, garlic powder, salt & pepper) were awesome as was the salad. I love red leaf curly lettuce. For dessert I had beautiful strawberries. I had bought a pint of vanilla ice cream which I stopped with berries for the boys, but DH and I just had a bigger dish of strawberries.

Today is Laundry Day. I think it must breed in that basket. It's a never ending chore. Am I the only one who throws white sox in one bag and black sox in the other to sort later? DH is well trained to go to the sox bag if there's not a pair in his drawer.

We're leaving tomorrow morning for 5 days in Colorado. DH has a conference at the end of the week and we're going to spend a few days exploring Rocky Mountain National

Park before it starts. I found a good deal on a beautiful hotel in Estes Park and I'm excited about the trip. It's so great that DH is a weight watcher, too. We've just finished sketching out a game plan for how we'll stay OP during our trip. Our hotel has a fully stocked kitchenette, so our meals out will be ones we choose, not food grabbed on the go. You'll laugh, but we take our scale with us when we travel. Seriously. Did I mention that the hotel also has a double jetted tub in each room?

Off to find my hiking shoes and bathing suit to put in the "to go" pile. Have a great holiday weekend! I'll check in here tomorrow night.

I'm now feeling much better about my run this morning. Thanks for listening!

[no that is not my weight on that scale, I wish . . . !]

Fly By

Friday's here and my day is full. I'm going to try to get in my C25K run this morning. I'm still sore and a bit achey from my bike fall on Wednesday, and I skipped my weight lifting last night, but I'm hoping this works. Also on tap for today is laundry, more laundry, getting my hair cut and colored, a visit to my dad, and getting the house spruced up. DH invited one of the college-age summer interns to dinner tonight. Steaks on the barbie, roasted baby potatoes, and a green salad are on the menu. Maybe strawberries (with ice cream for the guest) for dessert. My morning hop on the scale made me smile. I might even start posting my weight in a bit!

Be good today! I'll catch up with everybody after dinner.

3 Things Thursday

I thought that instead of trying to share my life story (as usual), I'd try to limit myself to just three things today.

1. Killing Time

I didn't intend to kill time when I went biking with DH last night. I meant to get some more exercise and spend a little quality time with my husband. In the end, though, I did kill time, or at least my watch. Here's what happened. We were at a 4-way stop in the neighborhood we ride through. I had entered the intersection with my left arm dutifully stretched out to signal my turn when I noticed a car with a pizza delivery sign on top fast approaching on the cross road. It didn't seem to be slowing for the stop sign at all. After an instantaneous calculation involving speed, relative bearing drift, and the known proclivities of pizza delivery guys to drive recklessly, I slammed on my brakes. A half a second later I was on the road, my bike having responded to my braking command so quickly, that I hadn't gone as much as a foot farther into the intersection. Long story short, the pizza car did stop (12 feet or so past the stop sign), DH came back and helped me (and my pride) up off the street, and we proceeded on our way. When we arrived home I took an inventory of my losses: 2 bruised and scuffed palms, 1 skinned knee, 1 skinned ankle, 1 skinned elbow, a nasty looking bruise in the 'under-the-bathing-suit area' at the top of my thigh, and an unblemished spot, inside, under my left breast that hurts a bit when I move/breathe/laugh. Oh, and yes, a cracked, scuffed crystal on my favorite red watch. My little granddaughter, E, thought I needed a band-aide and chose one of her Hello Kitty ones for me.

2. La Pasta Whole Wheat Roasted Vegetable Ravioli

We had this with dinner last night. I got it at Whole Foods because it was convenient, made with whole wheat pasta, and had just roasted veggies, no cheese. I didn't look up the nutritional information until this morning, but, having shared a package among the three of us, I was pleased with the results.

3. Portion Lesson

Baby J. is 10 months old and is just starting to eat "finger foods,"

beyond Cheerios. This morning I decided that for his fruit he could have some strawberries (his mom had suggested that he liked them). So I got out the box and choose a few to chop up. The first was a big one, but not humongous. I washed it, removed the top and started chopping it into cheerio-sized pieces. Incredibly, that one strawberry served up more than a quarter cup of pieces. I measured. One strawberry was plenty for him. Lesson learned: I need to clean the slate (in my head) and really look at my portions anew, forgetting old patterns of 'knowing' appropriate portions of things.

Wordless Wednesday, WI

WI today: - 11 Sticks o' Butter!

deliriously happy, deserving,

Too Much of a Good Thing?

Yesterday I was happily making a double batch of my Dilled Carrots when it occurred to me that I was intending to have a binge-fest on them later in the day. It's a WW recipe. It's carrots, for goodness sake and there's no sugar, just a pinch of salt, and none of the bread-type things that are such red-light foods for me. Is it okay to binge on good-for-you food? Is there such a thing as too much of a good thing?

Several days ago Diane at Fit to the Finish wrote a about portion control in this post. Her great post, including a list of 7 Tips to help regulate portion control, and the insightful comments to that post got me thinking. I decided to make portion control one of my Spring Focus short term goals. When I decided that, I was thinking about things like whole wheat pasta or chicken. I certainly wasn't thinking about the portion size of my veggies or fruits.

When I started this weight loss and life style journey I chose what Weight Watcher's then called the CORE plan. I like it because it didn't call for food tracking. You simply ate from the list of allowed foods until you were satisfied. The allowed foods include whole grain pasta, whole grains, popcorn, whole grain cereal, brown rice, lean meat chicken and fish, all veggies, fruits, fat free dairy milk and cheese, healthy oils (olive, canola), and eggs. No bread, chips, bakery goods, candy . . . . This was a diet that I could live with. DH joined me and we eat this way all the time now. Anything extra costs WW points and we get 35 of those each week. This works for us and is healthy and do-able.

At first we both lost weight well and DH even reached his WW goal (he lost 30 pounds and has stayed at that weight for over a year and a half). I lost 52 pounds and got to within 3 pounds of my goal. Right at that time, my father had a devastating stroke and I became responsible for finding the right care and a new living situation for him. I ate too many meals from hospital vending machines and just sort of lost my focus on WW. Yes, we still had CORE meals at home, but I fell into eating for emotional reasons and non-CORE foods started creeping into my day. Bread, brownies, chips, toast, butter, candy bars . . . . My exercise also suffered. I've done the C25K before and a year ago I ran a 10 mile race, but as I gained weight, and spent many hours a week visiting my father or taking him to appointments, I found it easy to slack off on exercising. I started walking a lot more than running on my "runs." I regained 39 of those hard-fought pounds over the last 18 months. Obviously, I'm back to my losing ways, but I've learned some things about portion control along the way.

I have to say that I never really thought about portion control when I was losing with CORE. I stuck pretty strictly to the good foods on the list and was good about limiting any non-CORE foods to my 35 point/week limit. I'm a slow loser, but I probably would have lost a little more quickly had I watched my portions. It was only about a year ago that it occurred to me that I didn't need to always serve myself two pieces of chicken when we had chicken for dinner. And my portion sizes didn't have to be the same size as my 6'2" DH's portion. And the popcorn. Let me just say that one or two of the large size bags of 94% ff microwave popcorn were a normal daily allotment. I did try to limit myself to one bag on the day before my WI because of the salt.

When I started my current push to finally finish losing this weight, I went back to the WW materials about the CORE plan and re-read what it actually said. I've incorporated a new aspect of the plan to what I do. Portions matter. From my morning cereal and fruit through to dinner, portions matter. I'm using measuring cups to dole out my cereal, pasta and rice these days. I serve myself one piece of chicken (and not the largest piece!) at dinner. I make sure my portions are smaller than DH's.

Back to those carrots. They are great. I did eat some. But I didn't

eat them all and I didn't binge on carrots. I am going to watch portions on some of the high calorie fruits & veggies (avocados are a particular culprit), and I'm not sure I'm ready to start measuring out my portions of relatively low calorie vegetables and fruits, but I'm not going to plan to binge on anything and I'm going to keep an eye on things.

What do you think? Can you eat too much of a good thing?

Here's the recipe for those carrots. They are served chilled and make a wonderful appetizer.

Marinated Dilled Carrots

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 cup water

1/2 teaspoon pickling spice, tied in cheesecloth

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 garlic clove

1 pound carrots, about 8 medium, pared and cut into 1/4-inch thick sticks

dash artificial sweetner

1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill

1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley

1/4 teaspoon pepper

In small saucepan combine vinegar, water, pickling spice, salt, and garlic; simmer 5 minutes. In another saucepan cook carrots in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and transfer to a shallow dish just large enough to hold carrots in one layer. (or to a gallon size ziplock bag) Remove and discard pickling spice and garlic clove from vinegar mixture. Add sweetner to brine and pour over hot carrots; toss. Sprinkle with dill, parsley, and pepper. Cover tightly and chill at least 3 hours, turning every 1/2 hour.

Spring Focus Update

The Spring Focus is going well. I'm in the groove, which is great news.

First of all, since May 4th, the official beginning of SF, I've lost 3.6 pounds as recorded at my Weight Watcher's weigh in. I'm a slow loser, so this is fabulous. My goal is to lose 12 pounds by July 4. This is kind of a random number, I'll be content to keep up with OP eating and exercise and to keep losing. It doesn't have to be 12 (but that would be nice!).

One of my short term goals is to really solidify the habit of drinking 8+ cups of water a day. Except for one intentional lapse (when we had pricey theatre tickets and I didn't want to have to get up and go) I've really done well with this. Having my own pitcher full of water staring me in the face if I go to 'check on' how things in the fridge are doing really helps. I even find myself getting thirsty if I go for an hour or so without drinking.

A new short term goal, that I'm just beginning is to really pay attention to portions. Today I discovered that I was mis-estimating my standby ff cottage cheese--I thought I was serving myself about 3/4 of a cup, but it was actually less than 1/2 cup! I used a measuring cup to serve myself whole wheat pasta for my spaghetti tonight.

My exercise is an ongoing focus for me. I've just finished week 6 of my C25K and am feeling great about it. DH and I go for a 13 mile bike ride about two times/week. We also go to the gym to lift weights, weight machines, twice a week. Throw in a little Wii tennis for fun and occasional 2 mile walks in the evening.

25 Minutes--News Flash

This morning I ran the C25K Week 6 Day 3 run and I did it ! I ran for 25 minutes without stopping. 25. minutes. without. stopping!!!! Week 7, starts on Wednesday and calls for a repeat of today's session all three days. And I can do this!

Weekend Wrap-up

This was a good week. I stayed on plan for the most part and any extras fell easily in my 35 weekly (extra) points. I kept to my goal of water drinking except for Friday when I cut it short because we went to a performance. My C25K is going well. I did the 20 minute run with no problem. Yesterday I walked a bit during a 10 minute stretch, but think that doing my run much earlier in the day (when it's cooler) will take care of that.

I am going to add a new goal this week. I want to work on my portions, especially those at dinner time. Late afternoon is my most vulnerable time when it comes to snacking, and if I manage to get through that unscathed, I'm really ready, hungry for dinner,

I plan great meals, but when I serve them, I'm always tempted to put just a little more XXXX (pasta, rice, chicken, you name it) on the plate. I want to get control of this. My plan is to plan a late afternoon snack--tomorrow it's a baby watermelon. I will also use a measuring cup to serve rice and pasta. I will use the WW visual guidelines to serve the veggies and meat (one serving = : a potato is the size of a computer mouse, meat is the size of a deck of cards, etc.) I'm motivated by my having lost well in the last few weeks. I CAN do this.

Do you have any tricks for reining in your portion size??

Please share!

So sorry

I'm sorry if it was your car's tires that found the chocolate I threw out of my window when I was driving yesterday. Here's what happened.

My day started well. I did my C25K, folded a couple loads of laundry, and visited my father at his nursing home. Then I turned my attention to my dinner preparations. I needed to make a special dinner, a picnic dinner, because we had tickets to The Mikado at Wolf Trap. I decided to go to Whole Foods, a splurge, price-wise, but worth it for the freshness of the vegetables and the variety of great, unprocessed foods. I had decided to make a wonderful green salad. I found everything on my list (spring greens, a perfectly ripe avocado, tomatoes, radishes, corn on the cob, a bit of flank steak, two summer fresh rolls, snow peas, and some dates) except they didn't have any pine nuts. I love toasted pine nuts. I went to another high end grocery store, just to find pine nuts. I picked up a beautiful potted lavender on my way in the store, but they too were out of pine nuts. I was feeling frustrated and gave in to check out aisle temptatio

n and bought a small bar of dark chocolate (good for you, right?). I headed for yet another grocery store (I really do like pine nuts) and reached into the bag with the chocolate bar. It was a beautiful little package. I opened it and saw it was divided

into five sections. I'll have just one section, I thought. Three sections later I came to my senses. STOP this . I didn't trust myself to just leave it alone on the seat. I couldn't throw it in the trash because I was driving. Instead, I opened my window and threw the last two sections out the window. It was a warmish-hot day, I wonder if there was a lovely little puddle of expensive dark chocolate on the street as the day wore on.

Anyway, the rest of the day went really well. I got the salad all prepped (everything chopped and ready in separate little baggies) I got the picnic packed (tablecloth, plates, forks, the food, a big bowl). We got to Wolf Trap (a National Park center for the Performing Arts just outside Washington DC), had our picnic, and enjoyed the show. The tickets were a Christmas present from our son and his wife. The seats were front and center in the orchestra. The night was perfect--the performance was in a large hall with the sides open to the air.

Today's run was not perfect. I ran just after noon and it had gotten hot and muggy. I knew right away I was going to have a hard time. I had to walk during one of the 10 minute running sections. I'm going to repeat this day on my next run. And I'm going to remember to get out there early to avoid the heat. I have upped my weekly runs from 3 to 4 during this C25K. I'm wondering if the added day is a good idea. I've read that older runners shouldn't run more than a few days a week. I mix up my exercise with biking, weights, a little Wii tennis, and the running. I'm going to try to listen to my body and see if I still feel good about 4 days.

On my short term goal of drinking 8 cups of water, I have to admit I haven't done perfectly this week end. Yesterday I intentionally stopped drinking so much so I wouldn't have to get up during the show. I only had 5 cups. Today, I came downstairs to discover that my son had preempted my (big) pitcher with orange juice, so I tried to just remember to go to the water in the door of the fridge. I'm a few cups short now, but I'm drinking and will get them all in before I sleep. I've laid down the law that the big pitcher is MINE.

The morning scale is telling me good things these days. I weigh myself every morning, first thing, and write down the weight in a journal. I like it because it shows me trends. I've run across weight loss blogs where the bloggers record their avg weight for the past seven days (or something like that). I confess that I've got a nerdy love of numbers and graphs.

End Notes

It's almost the end of my day and I just wanted to check in. I had the children today and we had fun, as always. E and I planted out a few flats of impatiens while J was napping. She was very intrigued by all the worms.

I made an old WW standby, Chicken Piccatta, for dinner. We had it with brown rice and spinach aglio e olio with a splash of lemon and toasted pine nuts. We went to the gym for an hour after dinner.

Tomorrow is C25K Week 6 Day 1. It looks doable and I'll get it done early, before a late morning dentist appointment. Our son and his wife gave us tickets to The Mikado for Christmas. It's tomorrow night at Wolf Trap. It should be fantastic. I'm going to put together a gourmet WW picnic to eat "on the lawn" before the performance.

I noticed something today. A good thing. My wedding and engagement rings are starting to spin on my finger. My fingers must be getting skinny! Yay fingers. Now for the rest of my body

Oh, and I forgot to post this yesterday. I lost .6 at my WI yesterday. Remember, I'm a slow loser, so this is good news. More than two sticks o' butter.

Wordless Wednesday Redux

Dinner Tonight. Yum!

Wordless Wednesday

Now I realize that this title usually means you'd see one or more clever pictures, but I don't have any great pix to share with you today. I used it because I like the alliteration and because it's almost like saying "Speechless Wednesday", but it sounds a whole lot better.

Why speechless? Because I am at a loss for words to express my elation about my run this morning. It was C25K, Week 5, Day 3 and I DID it! I ran 20 minutes without stopping. I had perfect conditions, low 50s, no wind or rain, and fairly early in the morning. TWENTY minutes. Without stopping. Did I mention that I'm 50-something? A late 50-something? Bring on Week 6!

I went to my WW meeting at noon. I go to a meeting 15 miles from my house because the leader at that meeting is super. I'm a connoisseur of WW leaders. Some of them make me want to run out and go to the nearest fast food place and eat all the wrong things. Barbara, though, is great. Another reason I go to that meeting is because my BFF attends the same meeting. (Hi Marilyn!). We always go out to lunch together afterwards, have a great, OP lunch, and talk about our goals for the week. Then we usually go shopping. I love Wednesdays.

DH just got home and we're going to go out for our bike ride before dinner.

Dinner tonight: Stir fry (with left over pork tenderloin, red peppers, shitaki mushrooms, onion, tiny French green beans, and eggplant), brown rice (it's cooking now. I love the smell of brown rice cooking), and a WW latte bar for dessert.

What have you accomplished that you weren't sure you could?

The Day Before Tomorrow

Tomorrow is a big day for me. First of all, I run my C25K Week 5 Day 3 run which entails 20 minutes of non-stop running. I'm trying to adopt the Little Engine that Could philosophy and think positively about this. I think I CAN do it. The weather is supposed to be perfect for running, cool and dry. I'm going to run early so I'll have everything laid out ready to get out the door after my cereal. At noon I have my WW meeting. I'm expecting good things.

I watched my grandbabies today. J is 10 months old and E is 2 1/2. E is starting intensive potty training (panties instead of a diaper, but not at all reliable at telling that she has to go!) and J seems just on the verge of starting to walk. You know they keep me busy. I love being with them. They both love being read to and they love "playing" the piano. We have two pianos in our living room (don't ask) and each wants to play his own! It was fairly chilly and rather rainy most of the day so we played indoors. I made them a "playhouse" by putting my largest tablecloth over our kitchen table. I anchored it down with lots of cookbooks because J kept tugging at the cloth. They loved it. The picture isn't great, because J kept going in and out under the cloth, but E had her little chair and some books and the toy baket in there. And yes, the electrical outlet has clear plastic plugs in place.

They arrive at 7:45 am and I give them breakfast and lunch as well as an afternoon snack. I've had a hard time staying away from their snacks. (E gets a few m&m's as a reward for performing on the potty so I have to keep some on hand). Jack is just starting finger foods and I have little packages of yogurt melts and pretzel rods and yum yums, and banana puffs. All new to me except the pretzels. The m&m's tempt me, but I asked her mom to bring a very small tupperware container of them (it holds maybe 1/2 cup) so there aren't enough for me to have any because I need to have them for E. I try to keep the other stuff out of sight and to keep myself feeling full with my ice water. I've been positively angelic this past week in regard to those temptations.

I'm still reading along in my book 100 Days of Weight Loss. One of the suggestions really struck a chord with me this week. It is the idea that I should eat dessert only when it's special. And no, not every dessert is special. My sister's pecan pie definitely ranks in that category, but I've fallen for countless lesser versions offered in countless restaurants. They never stack up to my sister's. I am beguiled by the desserts on the menu, but really, so often there is nothing there worth the calories. Other desserts that are "worthy" include my daughter's apple crisp. It used to be "my" apple crisp, but somehow hers is now the gold standard. And my own brownies. I have to stay far, far away from those brownies. Anyway, the author made me realize that I would be foolish to eat a dessert that isn't worthy. If I'm going to splurge, I may as well splurge on the best. So most restaurant desserts are out. And my sister and my daughter live hundreds of miles away.

Dinner tonight was baked tilapia with lemon, whole wheat couscous with a sprinkle of pine nuts, and fresh asparagus. Yum. I love those individually frozen fish servings. I get them at Costco and we're eating a lot more fish because it's so easy. I like the Alaskan salmon too, but it's a bit more pricy.

I did it!

Today's C25K run (week 5 day 2) called for a five minute warmup, an eight minute run, a five minute walk, another eight minute run, and then a cool down five minute walk. And I survived! I did the whole thing, plus added several extra minutes and did a five minute run at the end. Yay me. The next run (Wednesday) calls for a twenty minute run--without stopping! Yikes.

Weekend Wrap-up

I'm feeling good about the weekend. My meals were all OP and yummy, I exercised each day, and I even made serious inroads on the laundry.

DH and I went on a long bike ride this evening. When he bikes by himself he rides 40-60 miles. He's nice enough to slow down and accompany me on our hour-long rides. We have a great bike trail nearby, but usually prefer to bike on a route through some beautiful neighborhoods and a 150 acre National Park to avoid the crowds. We enjoy looking at the gardens, seeing the houses and there is very little traffic. Our usual route is just over 13 miles and takes us an hour or so. It has one big hill going out and another coming back. The hills aren't actually horrible, but I usually end up in the lowest gear spinning fast and hoping to make it to the top. I'm hoping to get fitter and breeze up that hill by the end of this summer. In nice weather (spring, summer & fall) we go out about three times a week.

My Couch to Five Kilometers C25K running program is going along well. I'm half way through week five (of the nine week program). It always seems like the next step will be harder (impossible), but I've managed so far and anticipate doing tomorrow's run as well. I downloaded a free podcast from itunes that has Christian music with the C25K directions. It's great not to have to consult my watch to time my runs and I love the music. The link, above, to C25K has a link to several podcasts with various languages and music. This is a picture of my running trail. It's in a National Park and absolutely gorgeous. Just five minutes from our house. I use the Nike+ with my Ipod and my little Nike+ Mini to the right of this post will always

tell you how I'm doing. I think, as I write this, that I've logged my 201st run and some 745 miles since I got the Nike+.

I did the C25k two years ago and was running well; I even ran a 10 miler a year ago April, but I slacked off and gained weight. I've never stopped "going running," but my running slowed and got interspersed with lots of walking over the past year. Now I'm getting back in the groove.

Tonight I made one of our go-to favorites, Marinated soy-lemon chicken. We had brown rice and a green salad with red leaf lettuce, avocado, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Last night it was grilled scallops (marinated in orange juice) and a salad (black beans, corn, chopped red pepper, cilantro, green onion, and avocado). Friday night we had a stir fry (sliced red peppers, green onions, shitake mushrooms, and flank steak) and whole wheat orzo mixed with tomatoes, fresh baby spinach, lemon juice, and toasted pinenuts. Lunches were all the same--fat free cottage cheese with fruit (sliced strawberries or canned mandarin oranges). This sounds boring, but I'm trying to stay far away from bread, pasta, or rice for lunch and this is what appeals to me now. And it's super easy. And, for now, it's working. Breakfasts all the same, too. Shredded (non-frosted) mini-wheats and sliced strawberries. Snacks: fruit (clementines, strawberries, natural applesauce), air-popped popcorn last night, meringues (100 calories worth each day), and my favorite, WW bars.

My Spring Focus challenge (see icon/link to the right) is to drink 8+ cups of water every day. So far, so good. It's definitely easier in the summer. Most days, I drink over 8 cups and I always have a glass of water by the bed. It's funny, but I'm even thirsty sometimes. I got a late start drinking my water today (I only had one cup before church and we weren't home until 1 pm) but I'm on my final glass now. I know that Weight Watcher's has changed to suggesting any liquid, but, for me water is better. I still drink fat free milk with dinner and have a very occasional cup of tea, but water is my go-to drink. I'm hoping my water chugging, my exercise, and my OP eating will bring good news at the scale this week.

Any suggestions for a quick non-bread, pasta, rice lunch?

of Pitfalls and the Popsicles

pitfall |ˈpitˌfôl|nouna hidden or unsuspected danger or difficulty.• a covered pit used as a trap. The four times in my adult life that I've managed to get almost to goal, I backslid. Not all at once, but bite by bite, until I gained all or most of the weight back. One of the major pitfalls I ran into is grocery shopping. In my family, that's my job. I want to do it, because I want to plan the meals and buy the things that I need. The problem is, though, that the several places I shop all have dangerous pitfalls. And when I've been at that happy place in my weight loss, where I can wear size 8 and where I feel fit and pretty, I am somehow more apt to fall victim to the siren call of the fresh baked sour dough bread, or the sample pushers at Costco, or the Snickers ice cream bars, or the Reeses at the checkout. I've tried all sorts of things. I seek out the no-candy lane. I try hard to shop the store margins. I try not to shop when I'm hungry. I chew sugar-free gum. Those tactics are good, but have not stopped the seeming inexorable creep of excess poundage.
The thing I've found that works best for me is to plan to buy myself a treat that I allow myself to eat as soon as I get in my car. My favorite treat is wonderful and well worth "denying" myself all those other temptations. I must admit that sometimes I eat two, and one time, three--all in the car. Maybe some day I'll have enough self-control to wait until I get home. What is my treat, you ask? Well,popsicles. Not just any popsicle, but the WW Giant Latte bars and, a new find, their Strawberry Smoothie bar.Each has 1 point per bar. The latte bar, which is a bigger than the strawberry bar, has 90 calories, 1 g of fat, 55 mg of sodium, and 4 g of fiber. The strawberry bar has only 70 calories, 1 g of fat, and less than 1 g of fiber. Yesterday my wonderful husband called in from the garage to ask why we had several opened boxes of WW bars in the freezer. . . .
I receive no compensation for promoting WW bars, nor was I asked to review them. I just love 'em!

I Won!!!!!

I just got back from a bicycle race and I won!


Here's what happened. I'm trying to nurse my Achilles tendon along, so decided it would be a cardio-at-the-gym day instead of a running or biking day. Went to the gym, but couldn't get settled into the eliptical. I abandoned it after about 5 minutes. Then I spied the rows of cycle machines. I chose one at the back and situated myself behind and to the right of a woman who looked pretty fit and waay younger than I am and who had started about 8 minutes before I did. I decided that we would race. I didn't tell her we were racing, of course! I just settled down and spun pretty hard with settings raised to eat the miles and calories and watched my numbers creep closer and closer to hers. I was afraid she might quit before I caught up, but at my 28 minutes, I overtook her and went on to sprint across the finish line (my 30 minutes)!!! Yay me!!!

Gotta get a life here, ya think??!!

(recycled post from my other blog)

Of Cabbages and Kings

With a nod to Lewis Carroll for my title, here are some bits and pieces of things that are happening in my life.

Today was my WW day and I'm happy to report a .4 pound loss. Add that to last week's 2.6 loss and I'm feeling downright sassy about my progress. I have never been a big loser. My numbers, even when I'm being downright angelic, are usually little numbers, partial pounds.  I've been transferring some of my older posts from another blog and came across this one.  It reminded me to think of this .4 loss not as less than half a pound, but, rather, as almost two whole sticks o' butter.  Thanks Paula Deen!

I was in the midst of my C25K last Saturday, feeling great about my running, enjoying the beautiful weather, loving the music I was listening to, planning what to fix for dinner when, KABOOM!  my knee was suddenly speeding toward the ground at a much faster pace than my normal.  I tripped on one of the boards on the boardwalk.  I skinned my elbow and have bruises and some aches on my knee and wrist.  Other than that, it's okay.  I picked myself up, decided I was okay and continued my run.  I'm using that for a metaphor of how I'm approaching my weight loss.  If I get tripped up, I'll pick myself up and keep on going.   I've run twice since Saturday and things seem fine.  I've decided to repeat one more day of Week 4, but by Saturday I'll be on Week 5!   I'm excited.  In my ideal world, I'd like to be running 4-5 miles three or four times a week.  

I finally did something I've wanted to do since I was in college. I signed up for BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) starting next September. I'd heard about BSF when I was in college and some friends took it. I've been in lots of Bible studies in the intervening years, but for one reason or another (moving 18 times in 20 years, working full time, living in Europe, babysitting my grandbabies three days a week . . .) it never happened. Well now it's going to and I'm excited. BSF is doing a new study on Isaiah and I'll go right before my Weight Watcher weigh in.

I have to confess that I caved in when an adorable little girl scout knocked on my door a couple of months ago.  Add to the cuteness factor the fact that her mother is a friend of mine.  And the fact that they didn't have the option to send the cookies to the troops or give them to a homeless shelter.  So, the mom was going to bring me the cookies when they came in.  I see her at church on Sundays.  She was away for a couple of weeks and then I was gone.  I'd kind of forgotten about them.  I got an email from her last week saying she'd bring them to church.  Did I mention that I ordered two boxes of my favorite Thin Mints?  [you know, 1 sleeve=1 serving] Anyway.  When Sunday came, she'd forgotten to bring them.  I took this as a sign.  I  gave her the money and told her to send the cookies in to her child's teacher (for snacks for the class).  Another confrontation with GS cookies avoided.  I'm safe until next year.