Wordless Wednesday, WI

Still working on the laundry . . .

WI Today:  ZERO Sticks o' Butter  -0

Maintenance Week

Watch out Next Week!

191.0

a word from our Embedded Reporter

Help, I'm stuck in the laundry room.  It's incredible how much laundry one man can generate (because DH outproduces the other two of us by about 3 loads to 1--really).  We're leaving for a 10 day trip to the west coast at the end of the week.  Between watching the little ones, cleaning & sorting clothes in my closet, getting ready for my sister's arrival tomorrow, and doing the day-to-day things, I'm in way over my head.

Mini Spring Focus Update:

Water--yes
Exercise--yes (3 weeks straight,  planned exercise every day)
Eating dinner slowly--yes.  It was a close call last night, but I dawdled like crazy and stretched it to 15 min.
Weight loss--yes  Lost an additional 1.2 at last weeks WI for a grand total of -17 since May 4th.

WI tomorrow--the last WI during the Spring Focus.  I've got my fingers crossed to dip down into the 180s . . . we'll see.

Just found out that our vacay house does have wifi!  Yay.  I thought I'd be totally out of touch.  We'll be in Canada on the west coast of Vancouver Island--just north of Pacific Rim NP.  Avg temps this week never break 60 degrees!  Packing jeans and jackets and warm things.  I'm going to take advantage of the weather and get in some nice long runs.  My daughter's family (the other 3 grandchildren) will be with us and all of DH's sibs, kids and grands plus my sister and FIL.

My bin of too small clothes has changed function this week. It's now a bin of too BIG clothes!  The ones that don't quite fit are on a shelf where they entice me to stay true to my plan.   I feel like I have a brand new wardrobe for my trip.  14s fit well and a couple of the 12s fit, as well.  And, if you're wondering, my bin of too big clothes will go to the thrift shop when it gets full.  I'm not leaving the door open for going back.

? Do you save your bigger clothes or give them away?

[Insert Snappy Title Here]

God's in His heaven and all's right with the world.

It's a hot, muggy Saturday, but I did get out and do a run this morning.  It was supposed to be a long run, but when I hit the trail, I knew I wouldn't last with these weather conditions, so I decided to set my Nike+ for 10k (long, for me) and gave myself permission to walk as much as I needed to.  I walked a lot, especially the sunny parts of the trail and the up hills, but I went 6.3 miles!   It feels good.  I use the Nike+ with my ipod and keep track of my runs that way.  Here's today's view of my recent runs.  You can see I'm starting to run a bit farther these days. I also have a group of friends from Blog To Lose (BTL, started by Roni) that join me in a Nike+ challenge every month.  I'm the oldest by a long shot, but am currently 3rd for total distance of the 13 participants running this month.  I don't have a race picked out, but I'd like to be able to easily run 4-5 miles, three or four times a week.

Mr. Munch has left the area (thank goodness) and I feel on an even keel with my eating program.  I ran yesterday morning and went for a 14 mile bike ride after dinner.  My weight dropped down to right where it should be this morning.  Tonight's menu includes chicken picatta,  brown rice, and some lovely small zucchini courgettes.  I think I'll grill the zucchini.

Happy news in the closet this morning.  I noticed the plastic bin in the corner of my closet.  I'd started putting too-small things in there when my clothes started not fitting last fall.  I  dragged it out and did a little "closet shopping."  Things are starting to fit me again.  I found two great pair of capris that fit me a lot better than the one's I've been wearing since it got hot.  I was able to resurrect a couple of my running shirts, too.  This is good as the plain T's I've been wearing don't help a lot with running in hot weather.  I take my body measurements every once in a while, and this prompted me to check them today.  Since May 1st, bust down 1, waist down 2, hips down 2, and (best of all) upper arm down 1!  DH says my face is thinner, too.

DH asked, bless his heart, if I was down to my recent historic low of Dec '08.   That's still 23 pounds away, but it's coming.  Is your weight a secret from your near and dear??  I've never openly told DH what I weigh.  I keep a daily journal where he could see it easily, but I don't think he looks at it.  He doesn't read this blog either, and I post it here.  My first goal ever, from my highest weight, was to weigh less than DH.  My second goal was to weigh the weight I put on my Driver's License.  I'm working on that one, now.

Happy Weekend!

Funk Recovery

Yesterday I had a funky day, diet wise.  It was Thursday, and one of the days I watch my grand babies.  It was also a record-breaking hot, muggy day.  The babies arrive early and are here for 10+ hours.  I love 'em to pieces and we have fun together, but, somehow, yesterday I was feeling frustrated.  J still takes short-ish morning and afternoon naps, E takes a long afternoon nap.  The awful weather outside, the fact that the double stroller ended up at their house this week,  and their scheduled naps and bottles, made me decide not to try any outings yesterday.  My scheduled exercise on Thursdays is a gym date with DH, after supper.  But I was feeling antsy and cooped up in the house.  I think the kids felt it too, because mild-tempered J used his brand new teeth to bite E's little leg when she wouldn't let him touch one of her toys.

The cooped up feeling led to my old enemy Mr. Munch making his presence known.  I ate my good breakfast and my good lunch, but was sorely tempted by the kids' pretzel sticks and E's peanut m&ms (a potty training reward).  Fortunately my pantry is swept pretty clean of some of the big players in the bad snack department, but I remembered that there is a stash of York peppermint patties (reader beware, don't fall for the Costco size box, like I did).  I started remembering how much I enjoy popcorn, too.   By the end of the afternoon, the score was Mr. Munch -1,  Me- 0.   DH got home, I fixed our nice OP dinner and we went to the gym.

I felt disheartened by my succumbing to emotional eating, but was able to climb back onto the high road and it's yesterday's news, not today's.   I totaled up the points of all my  munching and was somewhat consoled to find that I ate only about 7 points worth.  Not everything I ate was a bad food (popcorn's okay, and the piece of whole wheat toast  is okay, too), but I want to be more in control of what I'm eating.  I get to choose and plan, not Mr. Munch.   Do you hear me, MM??  Hit the road.

My weight this morning had a little blip up, but I'm sure it will go back down.   I did a 3 mile run first thing and DH and I plan a long bike ride after dinner tonight.  I drew strength from reading your blogs (thank you, thank you) and I did a little reading in Refuse to Regain while I was getting my hair colored.  I didn't enjoy the off-plan eating yesterday, but I am feeling good about turning from that behavior and reclaiming my life.  I'm off to visit my Dad in the nursing home.

What do you do to recover from off-plan eating?

I Don't Wanna, WI

(Diane, at Fit to the Finish, wrote a great post on motivation yesterday that got me to thinking about what I do when my motivation lags.)

I have a willful child living inside my head. You'd never know it unless you we're privy to my internal dialog. Yes, I talk to myself a lot. Usually it's a silent conversation, thank goodness. Like this morning. DH popped up to the alarm CD with his usually cheery morning routine. My own alarm was set for 30 minutes later. I mumbled my "goodbye, I love you, have a good day," and turned my pillow to the cool side and dove back under the covers.  When my alarm went off I was strongly tempted to push "pause."  I didn't, but only because I remembered how fast the temperature was supposed to get hot and awful this morning.  Wednesday morning is a running morning for me.  I have my WI at noon, and the Wednesday morning run has been my "last chance workout" for over a year and a half.  But I looked at the temperature outside and saw how hot it was already. "I don't wanna run when it's this hot," I whined to myself.  I weighed myself and saw that it was less than last week's weight.  Well and good.  Maybe I could get by and still lose this week without running.  I put on my running outfit, but only because I had laid out my clothes last night.  I had breakfast.  I stuck my nose out the back door and confirmed that it was hot and awful, as predicted.  Well, I was dressed, and it was still early, and, if I got out the door right then, I'd have time to watch some of the USA/Algeria game when I got back.  I had a good run, and ran an extra mile, just because.   Yes, it was hot, but I felt good and proud of myself.

Routine won again.  It's good to have established routines.   It worked with raising willful kids, too.

And my WI, today?   I lost 5 sticks o' butter (1.2 pounds).

What routines do you have that get you through the "I don't wannas" in your day?

[my normal signature is giving me fits, sometimes it's there and sometimes you get the blue box with the question mark.  If you can tell me why, you'll be my friend forever!]

191.0

Spring Focus Update

Sarah started this timely challenge at the beginning of May.  Her timing was perfect.  I challenged myself to lose 12 pounds in two months and have set myself several behavioral challenges as well.

Weight Challenge:  I have lost 15.8 pounds (at my Weight Watcher weigh-ins on Wednesdays) since May 4th.  This is an astonishing rate of weight loss for me.  I attribute it to, surprise, surprise, diet and exercise.  Things are looking good to lose a bit more before the end of the challenge.

Eating:  Believe me, I AM eating.  Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  I'm using the WW CORE (Simply Filling) plan which I understand is quite similar to the South Beach plan.  This is the way I plan to eat--forever.  It makes a lot of sense and DH likes it too.  We have eaten this way for two years.  It's very "doable." Each meal, for almost two months has been basically on plan.  I have vacationed away from home and celebrated family occasions and eaten out occasionally during that time.  It took planning, but I feel like I ate like I wanted to eat.  A very "clean" diet.  There have been a few 'off-plan' things during that time--like a shared dessert on our anniversary and a handful of almonds on a cross country plane ride, but by and large, I have stayed OP (on plan).   I have deliberately eaten more fish than I used to (cutting down to 1 or fewer red-meat meals/week).  I also stopped having dinner left-overs for lunch the next day.  Instead, I plan a lighter lunch, without a starchy food.   I normally eat 6-7 fruits & vegetables/day and I eat plenty of fiber (from the fruits & vegetables, whole grain cereal in the morning, and whole grain pasta or brown rice with dinner).

Portion Control:  I spent a couple weeks checking on my portions by weighing and measuring.  I found that I was (surprise, surprise) over-estimating.  I think this was a good exercise, but I'm back to estimating--I hope more realistically.   I'll repeat the portion checks occasionally in the future to keep myself on track.

Drinking Water:  I started this at the beginning of the challenge.  I regularly drink 8+ cups of water a day now and will continue this.   I benefit from feeling full.  I especially need this in the summer as I need to rehydrate after exercise.

Exercise:  For the past two weeks I've challenged myself to exercise every day.   DONE!  I run four or more miles 3-4 times a week (if it's very hot, like today, there are some walking  bits interspersed).  I bike 13+ miles two or three times a week.  If I've run very early (like today) I may bike after dinner.  I also lift weights (resistance) at my gym two or three times a week.  If I haven't done any of these things (it's happened once in the past two weeks), I will exercise with my Wii (tennis or yoga). 

     This Week:

     Mon--Run--4 mi

     Tues--Gym--20K lbs

     Wed--Run--4 mi

     Thu--Gym--21K lbs

     Fri--Run--6.2 mi

     Sat--Bike--14 mi

     Sun--Gym-22K lbs,  Walk--2 mi

     Mon--Run--5 mi

Eating Slowly: A little over a week ago, I decided to try to eat more slowly.  I'd heard the suggestion before and was quite aware that I was a speed-eater, but I'd never really tried.  I limited my challenge to eating dinner.   This has been a real eye-opener.  It was hard, at first, but I have been able to increase my average eating time (10 minutes is a generous guess of how long I took to eat dinner).  For more than a week, I've taken 15 or more minutes to eat dinner.  The benefits are 1) I feel more "normal" eating more slowly, 2) I enjoy the food more--savoring flavor, texture, mouth-feel, and taste,  and 3) I have more of a chance to hear my own signals that I am "full."

Last Place

We were having dinner tonight and I happened to glance over at my son and I noticed that he was finished with his dinner. DH was taking his last bite. I still had about 1/3 of my meal on my plate. YES! Score. I came in last in the race to eat slowly. And it really did take me by surprise. You might remember that I set a goal this week to slow down my eating at dinner. I've been doing that. At first I kept watching the clock and intentionally setting down my fork for long spells. The first day, I stretched things out for 15 minutes; then 17; tonight I took a pokey 20 minutes to eat my spaghetti and salad. Yay me! I don't claim to have conquered this bad habit of mine, but I now know that I can eat more slowly if I try.

The benefits of eating slowly are manifold. I have actually had a time or two when I didn't want to finish my dinner in the past few days--that's unheard of. Last night, when we ate out at a fancy restaurant, I was a bit alarmed when my order of grilled scallops came and I found there were only 4 scallops! [you know that feeling you get when the other person's order comes and his/her plate is overflowing and you get one of those tiny 'artistic' plates with a bit of food in the center and lots of colorful dribbles of sauce filling in all the white space on the plate?] First I was disappointed because there wasn't very much food and I was hungry. Then I worried about how in the world I would drag out eating 4 scallops, 3 red potatoes, and 4 leaves of spinach [yes, I counted] for 15 minutes. But you know what? The food was wonderful. I cut my scallop into several pieces and savored the flavors. It was perfectly cooked. I probably gave DH at least half a scallop to taste. I cut pieces of the spinach leaves and tasted the fresh bitter flavor. I noticed the herb (tarragon?) on the potatoes. DH and I had a good time remembering our first married dinner 37 years earlier. Before I knew it, the waitress was refilling my water glass for the 4th or 5th time and it was an hour later. I was perfectly satisfied with my meal and enjoyed every bite--slowly. I had a skim cappuccino and a few bites of DH's creme brule for dessert. I have a friend who is a proponent of the "slow food movement." I'm going to borrow a page from her book and declare myself a member of the "slow eater movement." Next, maybe, I'll tackle eating slowly at breakfast and lunch. Maybe.

The answer to the question in my last post. The photo was taken at The Cloisters, overlooking the Hudson River in NY. The pink buttons are from the Metropolitan Museum in NY to show that we had paid for our admission. If you've never been to the Cloisters, I highly recommend it. They built a medieval cloister/monastery in NY city from the remains of several French and Italian monasteries. It's incredible. They have authentic gardens in each of the five cloisters. Here are a couple more pix:

Anniversary Edition

Then

(awesome California strawberries)

(our first dance was a polka!)

and Now

Tomorrow is our 37th anniversary! We're both getting up early. John is taking the day off to watch some of the World Cup soccer. I'm going for a run after breakfast--a long run. I'm trying for 6 miles. It's supposed to be a beautiful, non-humid day. John's going to watch the first game at 7:30 and then we'll root for USA together, in the mid-morning game. I'll make a deluxe salad (greens, chopped mangos, toasted pine nuts, beets, roasted chicken, a sprinkle of craisins) and we may take a bike ride to the park (about 7 miles away) and eat al fresco. One more game (England) in mid afternoon and then, later, off to dinner and a movie. I plan a lovely bubble bath and maybe a nap while he's watching the afternoon game! I'm going for an OP day.

Can you name the location of the "now" picture? [Hint--notice the pink buttons we're both wearing]

Wednesday Round Up

I've got quite a few irons in the fire, goal-wise, on the diet and exercise front. I'd thought I'd bring you up to date on how things are going.

Exercise: Two weeks ago I set myself a goal to exercise seven day a week. I've been able to do this. Sometimes I had to work around the weather--can't bike in a thunderstorm, but I have some options and use them when I need to. Most of my exercise takes 45-60 minutes. Here's my exercise for this past week:

Wed--Ran 3.7 miles, C25K Week 8 Day 3

Thu--Gym, Lifted 18,000 lbs. 11 resistance machines, 2 sets of 15 reps.

Fri --Ran 4.1 miles, C25K Week 9 Day 1

Sat --Ran 2.6 miles, C25K Week 9 Day 2

Sun--Wii Tennis, Singles, Grand Slam, 90 minutes (rained out of bike ride)

Mon--Ran 4.2 miles, C25K Week 9 Day 3 -- Last Day!

Tues--Gym, Lifted 20,000 lbs. 11 resistance machines, 2 sets of 15 reps.

Wed--Ran 4.1 miles

Water: One of my first non-scale goals with the Spring Focus was to drink 8 or more cups of water each and every day. I have pretty much aced this one too, except for a few days when I was traveling, at a concert, or otherwise knew I would be unable to get to facilities. I love this one. I think it has helped tremendously. Not only to keep me well hydrated, but also to keep me feeling fairly full. I think many times I probably ate because I mistook a thirst signal for a hunger signal. This one is definitely a keeper.

Portions: Another recent goal was to really check out my portions. I did, by measuring and weighing, and found that I was overestimating serving portions. I cut down my portions, especially of whole grain carbs (ww pasta, brown rice, ww orzo, ww couscous, corn) and think I've reached a happy place in my portion size. I've stopped measuring and weighing, but think this is a good thing for me to check up on every once in a while.

Weight: I was hesitant to set a goal weight loss for the Spring Focus, but finally allowed as how I'd love to try to lose 12 pounds in the two month challenge time, between May 4th and July 4th. I'm pleased and amazed to report, that, as of my weigh in today, I've lost 15.8 pounds. If you haven't read Charlie's

(Back to the Fridge)

post about the Stupid Switch, go there as soon as you finish this post. I firmly believe he's right. My switch is definitely in the "on" position right now, and I'm going to tippy toe around so as not to accidentally toggle it to "off!." So today, I was down another 2.6 pounds. YIPEE!!!

Is your switch "on" or "off?"

192.2

With a Little Help from my Friends

(No, this is not another post about being a slow loser.)

The other day when had just started my run I saw one of these guys apparently just about to cross the paved running trail from the wooded side to the parking lot side. I've rescued turtles there before, but this one was big. Easily 15 inches from the nose to the tip of the tail. But I didn't want to see a parking lot tragedy, so I gingerly lifted it, holding the sides of the shell. The turtle used his legs to try to scratch me away and turned his head toward my fingers. Another runner stopped to help and had the good idea to lift the turtle by its tail. We repositioned it about 15 feet into the woods, pointing wood-ward. I looked up the turtle when I got home and realized that it was a snapping turtle. I'm sure glad it didn't reach my fingers!

I'm a pretty self sufficient person. My older brother often calls me 'Miss Capable." I like that adjective. I think it describes me. But not so much during this journey. I had not really realized how much I rely on help during this quest of mine. I'm a little like my snapping friend. I have definite ideas on what I want to do; sometimes my ideas aren't the best.

Take exercise, for instance. DH is an exercise fiend. He's lucky enough to have a job where he's able to work out at a great gym for an hour and a half every single day over the lunch hour. He still lifts weights at our local gym, bikes, and referees soccer a few times a week. The trouble is, except for soccer refereeing he always asks me to exercise with him. And often I don't wanna. I want to choose my own time. My own pace. Honestly though, left to my own devices, I procrastinate and half the time don't get around to going. I need his asking [nagging] to get me there. I've started to rely on it.

And food--you guys are my friend there. I learn things all the time from reading your posts and listening in as you think through strategies for reasonable, responsible eating strategies. I'm often inspired by recipes you mention and I shamelessly adopt your suggestions about things like portion control, and drinking water, and eating slowly.

My goal to eat slowly is going fine. I stretched it out for 15 (l-o-n-g) minutes last night and made it to 17 minutes tonight! I have to say that it's hard. I have to really think about not putting a new bite into my mouth on the heels of the previous bite. I've also noticed that I don't need as much food. I'm almost ready to stop eating before the food is gone. BTW, Jay noticed his picture on my last post and wanted to know what was up. I told him and now he's taken to checking on whether or not I'm eating slowly enough! Let's hope that doesn't last--I don't need two fellas nagging me. LOL

My WI is tomorrow. I doubt it will be another 3 pound loss, but I'm hopeful that I'll drop at least one. Stay tuned.

How about you? Do you look for help or do you tend to snap at help like my turtle friend?

AHA Moment

We were eating dinner tonight when I happened to notice my son, Jay. I was just about finished with my meal, DH was almost done, but Jay, as usual was still working on his dinner, only half done. Jay is a good eater, he always eats everything he is served and has very few dislikes (he doesn't love nuts, but will work around them). He's just slow. Not the slowest eater I've ever known, but definitely slower than I am. That was my AHA moment. Maybe I should try to slow down when I eat. I've done a lot of tweaking of different things in this life-quest of mine, but I've never even thought of trying to fix this obvious fault. I need to slow down.

Jay was a champion at the Special Olympics in this picture when he was 9.

He's still a champion slow eater!

So this week, that will be my Spring Focus goal. I want to work to slow down my eating. I'm embarrassed to admit, but I usually spend 40- 60 minutes cooking a great meal and only about 10 minutes eating it. My initial goal is modest. I want to spend at least 15 minutes eating my dinner. I'll put smaller amounts on my fork, put down the fork between bites, stop for drinks of water, talk a bit more with DH and Jay, and, if I have to, pace myself to Jay to slow down.

Jay's 14th birthday--he even eats birthday cake slowly!

Jay is our youngest. He is 28, works in a sheltered job in a retirement home restaurant, saves every penny he earns, has a terrific sense of humor, knows the prologue to Romeo & Juliette by heart, picks up litter when he takes his two, mile-long walks around our neighborhood, and loves to shuck corn. He has Down Syndrome. He reads at about a 5th grade level, loves to write in his black & white speckled composition books, and has the world's best collection of VHS & DVDs (all the great musicals, Fairy Tale Theater, every season of Monk, every season of Due South, 12 versions of Romeo & Juliette, the Disney classics, and many other great movies).

I'm doing great, so far, on my goal to exercise every day. I'm going to go work out with my Wii tonight and tomorrow morning is my last day with the C25K. YAY!

Jay shucking corn on the cob a few days ago. He's a handy guy to have around.

How about you? Do you need to take a lesson from Jay about eating more slowly?

Friday Surprise!

Happy Friday! I continued my new-found habit of getting up early to run and was rewarded with a great run in perfect weather. Today I started week 9 of the C25K and I'm feeling like a real runner again. That's a good feeling. I'll never be speedy, but I'm enjoying watching my average pace per run decline steadily. You can always check out my progress with my little Nike+ Mini just to the right of this post. If I don't run for several days in a row, she'll start dissin' me.

I was surprised and delighted this morning to see that Karen, at Waisting Time gave me a blog award! My first blog award ever. I was so excited that I ran up stairs to show my husband. Thank you Karen!

The award requires me to list seven things about myself that you probably don't know. I'm fairly new at blogging here, so my job is a little easier.

Here goes: Seven Things you Probably Don't Know about Me.

1. Although I don't think of myself as a picky eater, my daughter pointed out to me that I don't like any fruits starting with the letter B. That's right--bananas, blueberries, boysenberries, bilberries--not my cup of tea. The only other fruit that I don't care for starts with an R (raspberry).

2. I have a long middle toe on my left foot that, combined with my running, caused me to have a purple toenail most of the time. I did buy a size larger (and longer) running shoe on the advice of my running store friend, so the toenail now only turns purple when I run longish runs with hills. I usually paint my toenails in summer for this reason.

3. My mom was my #1 cheerleader. She died 17 years ago, but I always wear her ring (a West Point miniature that was her engagement ring) if I want to feel her there when I'm doing something important. Like my first day of teaching, or my 10 mile race last year, or when our children got married.

4. I'm a bit of a statistics nerd. When I saw the Site Meter gadget on blogs I read I signed right up. Of course I love comments (thank you, thank you), but I also love checking out who's checking my blog out. I set it so it didn't count my own visits to my site. When we were on our vacation, I got rather worried because I noticed one person kept checking out my blog all day long, with lots of page views and hour long visits. Was someone stalking my blog?? Only after I read the description carefully did I realize that it was me-- using the hotel's wifi IP address!

5. My third grade teacher, Miss Shelly, told my parents that I was "not college material." Fortunately, I was the fourth child and they didn't take her opinion as Gospel. I was a National Merit Scholar, did well at Stanford, was top of my class in Law School, and have two Master's degrees (Library Science and Education). I'd like to meet her some day.

6. When I get a greeting card, I tend to read it and take everything it says literally. You know, 'you are a beautiful, thoughtful, intelligent, fun . . . . person.' 'Yes,' I think,' they chose this card so carefully and it describes me perfectly.' This 'Beautiful Blogger' award had me looking in the mirror!

7. Probably one of the reasons that teacher said that to my parents is that I got D's in Penmanship and Reading until I reached 4th grade. Well, I still got pretty miserable grades in penmanship (love, love typing). I became a reader practically overnight when my 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Heckman, read to us for an hour every day. I discovered the public library and checked out the book (Misty of Chincoteague) so I could read ahead. And so began my lifelong love of reading. I read voraciously. I re-read favorites once a year. I love a well written book. And I love being a children's librarian and seeing children discover a love a books and reading. Thank you, Mrs. Heckman.

The second requirement of the award is to pass it along, and so I'd like to pass this along to a lovely list of Beautiful Bloggers. Please check out their blogs and enjoy!

1. kimert @ Just Another Mom on the Run

2. Mary @ A Simple Twist of Faith

3. Sarah @ Round

4. Barefoot Jax @ Fattie 2 Fittie

5. Diet Buddy Daily

6. Tonyne @ The Unlikely Success Story

7. Lori Lynn @ Sunflowers and Daisies

If I don't wrap this up soon my computer's gonna turn into a pumpkin and it'll be tomorrow. But I wanted to mention the wonderful Spinach Strawberry Salad I made to go with dinner tonight. I bought a Costco container of strawberries and wanted to made an start on using them while they were at their peak. I made over an old, non-WW friendly recipe to fit my plan and it was de-lish. The salad disappeared before I thought about taking a picture, but the recipe may get an encore appearance in the next couple of days.

Lots of thank you's in this post. I want to thank all of my readers for coming by. You have to know I still get excited when I get comments and even when I just see you've been browsing without commenting.

Slow Loser Status

I ran early this morning and am happy to report that I ran 30 minutes without stopping! C25K called for 28 minutes, but when I reached the 28 minute mark I felt good, so I ran on for a couple more minutes. I'm so lucky that my knees don't bother me at my age (knocking on wood!). All my bumps and bruises from my accident two weeks ago are mostly gone and the bruised rib feeling is much less bothersome now. I have to say that on my bike ride Monday night (the first since the accident) I was a little apprehensive about falling or another accident, but things went well.

Today is Wednesday and Wednesday is my WI day. I was feeling good about staying OP with eating and exercise and my morning visits to the scale indicated I might lose two pounds. I've told you before that I'm a slow loser. Always have been and I've got that hateful slow metabolism that comes with the fifth decade. When I stepped on the scale, I was amazed and delighted when the scale showed 3.2 pounds lost. 3.2 plus 3.6 from last week plus 2.8 from the week before =9.6 in the past three weeks. That doesn't sound slow at all. I'm definitely NOT complaining. I'll happily exchange my slow loser status for something more like DH's seeming ability to think about losing 5 pounds one day and achieving it the next.

It seems almost too obvious, but maybe my good losses have something to do with my newly revised exercise and eating habits. One major food change over the last several weeks is that I've really scaled back how much I eat at lunch time. I used to regularly have a leftover portion of my previous night's dinner. The dinners were pretty thoughtfully planned, but usually included some sort of whole grain pasta, brown rice or potato. When I re-read the CORE (WW) guidelines, they allowed you to eat all those things, but suggested you limit it to once per day. I did lose before while not limiting whole grains, but I lost more slowly. I've also tried to be more intentional about not "super-sizing" my portions, even of nutritious, low point foods.

Are you a slow loser?

194.8

So far, so good.

So far, so good on the exercise every day goal. Yesterday I ran 3.5 miles in the morning and then, last night after dinner I took advantage on the mild weather and late sunset and went for a 70 minute (14 mile) ride with DH. Today I watched E & J during the day, but am going to the gym to work out in about half an hour.

I tried a new recipe for Avocado, Mango, Tomato Salsa tonight and it's a keeper! I served it with baked Alaskan Cod, and we had corn on the cob and broccoli to round out the meal.

I'll post the recipe and a picture at the end of this post.

Tomorrow is my WI day and things are looking good to weigh in at least a couple "sticks o' butter" lighter. They are forecasting light rain for early morning, but I'll be out there for my regular "last chance" run before the weigh in.

I read something interesting last night in the book Eat, Drink, and be Healthy, by Walter Willett. He encourages people who are watching their weight to "spoil their dinner." Remember how your mom always warned you away from late afternoon snacks because you might "spoil your dinner?" Well, Dr. Willett, thinks that it's not such a bad idea to take the edge off your appetite before dinner. A healthy snack an hour or so before dinner might be a good strategy to moderate over-eating at dinner time.

How about you? Do you "spoil your dinner" with a healthy late afternoon snack?

Avocado, Mango, Tomato Salsa

Ingredients

• 1 mango - peeled, seeded and diced
• 1 avocado - peeled, pitted, and diced
• 4 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine the mango, avocado, tomatoes, jalapeno, cilantro, and garlic. Stir in the salt, lime juice, red onion, and olive oil. To blend the flavors, refrigerate for about 30 minutes before serving.

Off and Running

I love that first day of school, new notebook, brand-new-sharpened-pencils feel that comes with Monday morning. It's full of possibilities and so appealing to my optimistic soul. So this morning I got up before the alarm and had finished breakfast and was on the running trail before 7 o'clock. What a great way to start the day and the week.

When I got back, I took a quick tour of my garden babies. Here are a couple pix of some of the current

stars that I promised to show you.

That's a knockout rose, my day lily bed, and some hellebore (the green flowers) and a coral honeysuckle.

My Spring Focus goals are going along swimmingly. I wanted to lose 12 pounds between May 4th and July 4th and so far I've lost 9.8 pounds (as measured at my 'official' WW weigh ins). I set a goal to drink 8+ cups of water daily and, except for a couple of days where I knew I wouldn't be able to get to a "facility" easily, I have done this. I think this is a keeper. Having this habit keeps me feeling full. If I get the urge to munch before meals, I have another glass of water and lose the urge. It also does a great job of flushing extra sodium (like from our splurge dinner out at P. F. Changs!). I've also been keeping better track of my portions for a couple of weeks. This has gone okay, but I think the exercise has served its purpose (to make me more aware of the correct portions) and will go back to using my best judgment.

My new short-term goal will address exercise. I want to do some intentional exercise every

day; something over and above the normal exercise I get going about my everyday routine. I'll continue to do my running (week 8 of C25K) 3 or 4 days a week. I'll also bike 13-15 miles a couple of days a week, go to the gym to lift weights 2 or 3 times per week, and do exercise on my Wii Fit as a last resort if I have not managed any of the other three options in a day. I enjoy the Yoga and the Tennis (the Grand Slam Tennis is miles better than the Tennis that comes with the Wii console). I think I can manage every day. I have previously tried to exercise five times per week, but I want to ratchet things up a bit.

My darling grand babies are here (not the garden ones, the human ones). E, dressed in a sparkly, Disney Princess costume, is sitting on her little green potty and watching Sesame Street. J, is in his high chair attacking some chopped strawberries with gusto. I'm going to sign off and play now. Bye!

Home Again

We got back from our fabulous Colorado trip last night. There is nothing like sleeping in my own, comfortable bed. Oh, and my scale and I had a good reunion. It agreed with the WW scale at a Colorado meeting that I'd lost last week. Somehow, I started fearing that maybe it was the high altitude that made the scale number lower at my WI. LOL I set my alarm to get up early and run, but instead turned it off to sleep later. Finally, when I got out the door, it was 10 am and heading toward a very humid 80 degrees. I appreciate the extra oxygen available here, but the muggyness is awful. Note to self--next time, get up out of bed and run, early.

I decided to repeat C25K week 8 as I mostly hiked rather than ran last week. I had to walk for a couple minutes in the middle of the run section, but I'm happy with having gone out to do it. I'll just have to be smarter about getting out earlier.

I love my garden. I went outside, barefoot, in the dark last night to check on how my babies were doing. Fortunately we had rain while we were away and it all looked good. I'd planted a new garden bed just a couple days before we left and it's thriving. Mostly herbs and perennial flowers, but I did put in a couple tomato plants. The orange day lillies have started blooming and look great near the blue catmint and the purple phlox. I'll post pictures later.

The fridge is pretty bare. I need to get to the store to replenish my staples. I'm actually almost craving my go-to cottage cheese and fruit lunches after a week's hiatus.

I wasn't quite ready to do this yet, but I joined a body fat% challenge on Greta's blog that required me to post my current weight. As of my last WI, I'm officially in "onederland." My weight this morning was 196.4.

Temptation

I grew up knowing those familiar phrases from the Lord's Prayer: " . . .lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil . . . ." Those phrases really spoke to me today.

You may know that DH and I are wrapping up a trip to Colorado. He had a business conference Wed pm through Fri, but we came on Sunday and have been having a marvelous time exploring this beautiful state. You may also know, that DH (who is a WW lifetime member) and I planned pretty well so that we could stay on plan with diet and exercise during this trip. And, you may have read, in my last post, that I found a WW meeting and bagged a 3.6 pound loss yesterday.

All well and good. So today was the first full day DH was involved with his conference. I slept in and enjoyed my strawberries and cereal breakfast on the deck outside our room overlooking a lake and a mountain. (Cheyenne Mountain Resort gets 4 stars in my book!). Then I spent some time reading in the blogosphere. And then I got my wonderful day. I drove to a very nice mall I'd spotted and got a pedicure (my very first, but surely not my last!). By then it was near lunchtime and I went to a California Pizza Kitchen and (despite nagging temptations from the pizza pages of the menu) I managed to order a nice grilled chicken salad (the Moroccan) with roasted butternut squash, cubed beets, dates, and sliced almonds . . . dressing on the side. When the waitress asked if I wanted a half portion, my immediate thought was "NO!," but I asked how big it was and she said the half portion was plenty. And it was. Victory. I firmly closed the menu on the dessert section (this was lunch time, after all). Then I had another treat. I went to the movies. By myself. I saw a chick-flick (Letters to Julliette) that I'm sure DH would have politely watched, but not enjoyed. There were about 100 people in the theater, all women. And I walked right past the popcorn/candy counter that had the not-so-subliminal suggestion in screaming huge letters, "Buy some goodies! Eat while you watch the show!"

DH and I rendezvouzed at the hotel about 4:30. He wanted to go work out in the gym. I should have gone too, but I didn't wanna. I like my own gym, where I know the machines and the right settings. [Whine] So I stayed in the room while he went to work out. Bad decision. I was leafing through the info in the hotel notebook and noticed the gift shop. I also noticed that it stocked "goodies." What is it with 'goodies' today??? I lied to myself that I might buy something for the grandbabies and went to check out the gift shop [read 'goodies']. I could use a walk, right? I made a show of looking at the t-shirts in the small sizes, but I was really looking for the candy. There it was, they had Snickers, M&Ms, Reeses PNButter Cups, and bags of chips, my favorites. WHAT was I doing?? I threw myself out of the door and walked back to the room. Why is it that I was feeling on-top-of-the-world yesterday with my weight loss, my rediscovered self-control, and today I'm flirting with devil-candy??? And the day was not yet over.

At dinner, DH had an official dinner (to which I was not invited). I knew from the beginning that this was true and tried not to feel left out. I'd had a great pamper-myself day. I made plans of my own for dinner. I'd go to Macaroni Grill. I knew I could get an OP dinner there and there is one close to our hotel. I got there, got seated, and managed to stave off the (mouth watering) warm bread with olive oil. I nipped it in the bud when the waitress started to pour the olive oil into a dish on the table. "I won't be having any bread." Yay me. Bread is NOT my friend. I feasted on the menu discriptions and flirted with the idea of throwing my plan away, just for the night. They have pizza on their menu, too. I had asked for a make-your-own pasta form when the waitress brought the menu. That was my go-to, safe plan. I did it. I ordered a whole wheat pasta dish with veggies & chicken, and a green salad. Hold the croutons, hold the cheese, EVOO based dressing on the side. The waitress asked if I had allergies. "No, I'm a weight watcher," I answered. After that, there was no way I could give in to the desserts. I escaped! I think I've made it through the day. I'm home. DH is watching the end of a playoff game while I write this, then we're going to the heated pool (overlooking the mountain and the lake) and the pool-side hot tub before we sleep.

I hate temptations. I'm not good with temptations. I'm weak. Thank you Lord, for seeing me through today. Please, don't let me fall prey to temptations tomorrow. Or the next day.