To Market, To Market

but not to buy a fat pig! ;)

I went to the local farmers' market with the children bright and early this morning. Here's what we brought home: Peaches and Tomatoes. My favorites. The peaches are out of this world. They told me that they'll have them through into early November. Last week I bought 9 peaches and they only lasted until Thursday. Let's see how we do with a dozen this week. The basil is from my garden. I wanted to use some in tonight's dinner.  I pick it in the morning and stick it in a glass of water and my kitchen smells wonderful all day. The tall white flowers in the background, just behind the rosemary are chive blossoms.

At the market this morning E was lobbying for a cookie. I set a bad precedent by getting her cookies each of the past two times we went. I tried to talk her out of it by asking her what else she might like instead. Her answer? Mandarin orange sections!  Score! This little cutie is miles ahead of her grandmother in learning to make smart, healthy choices.

Here's the latest Hurricane Earl track. It's worse than yesterday's, having it closer to our destination on Friday. We'll see what happens. We lived in Rhode Island in 1991 when Hurricane Bob came.  It was 19 years ago today. The eye of the storm went right over our house. We were without power for 5 days. The public library where I worked, however was open every single day. Cold showers are not a way of life I would choose, but because we had several hours advance notice, there was no loss of life and it was heartening to see how the community came together. The most memorable sight was looking out our window and seeing a bright blue 8 foot children's plastic pool flying through the air, about 15 feet off the ground, looking for all the world like a well-tossed frisbee.

I wasn't sore at all today from last night's workout.  Yay!  Tonight we'll go to the gym to work out after dinner.  We always go Tuesday and Thursday nights and sometimes add a third strength training session on the weekend.

Today, just to check things out, I counted my calories (using fitday.com). They came to 1300 which is just about right for me.  I also counted my WW points, 24, also good--my allotted 21 plus a few of the 35 weekly extra points I'm supposed to have.  I don't usually count anything, but it's nice to know that my eating is on track. Oh and I bought a neat set of stainless steel measuring spoons at WW the other day.  They measure 1 cup, 1/2 cup, and 1/4 cups. They double as serving spoons and make portion control uber easy. WW sells them at all its locations (you don't have to be a member to buy).  I see that amazon also has them.

What do you do to check on your portion sizes?

There Were Bells in the Air . . .

Two points if you can name the movie  (or hum the tune).

I ran this morning, as planned.  It was hot, but not terribly humid.  A slow four miles.  I'm happy with four miles, though, my goal is to run 3-4 times per week running 4-5 miles each time.  I'm doing that and more these days.  I don't have a race in view and may not do one.  I've done a few in the past couple of years, but I really prefer running by myself and the pressure of not having to train for a particular day.  My little Nike+ gal  in the upper right sidebar of my blog is getting close to 1000 miles.  That's since Oct 2008.  I'll probably reach it by mid-September.

I was going to do kettle bells while the babies napped today, but young Master J decided that he didn't  wanna take no stinking nap and so, when I finally gave in and rescued him from his crib, we played and read instead.  It was fun.  And I'm not saying whether or not deferring the kettle bell session had anything to do with my caving to a 13 month old's wishes.

I finally got to it after dinner.  It was a little easier this time.  At least I got the moves down better.  BTW I wasn't sore at all today, so my muscles had time to recover from the last session.  The too-tricky Turkish Get Up (?) is still beyond my pay grade.  I just watched from my place on the floor while they did the impossible move from flat on the back to standing without benefit of hands or elbows.  They showed off and did the move several times in quick succession.  Maybe some day.

Bells in the air?  Oh, I missed one of the transfers and sent the five pound purple plastic coated bell flying across my sitting room.  Fortunately it found a soft landing on the sofa.  I'd hate to have taken out the TV screen.  Poor Kelsie would have thought I was unhappy with her harranguing  teaching.  Only eight more sessions until my guaranteed visible results!

Our weather has gotten a little hotter this week.  Not terrible humidity, but definitely hot.  It makes it easier to remember to drink all my water.  Speaking of weather.  We're keeping our fingers crossed that the hurricanes in the Atlantic don't hit the DelMarVa coast this weekend and rain out our bike excursion weekend.  Our reservations are non-refundable, so if we end up in the path of the hurricane, we may just go and enjoy the bad weather with books, umbrellas, and walks along the shore.  I'd rather ride though.  Our bikes are at the "bike spa" now getting all fancied up for their weekend.

There were bells in the air, but I never heard them ringing, no I never heard them at all, 'til there was you . . . .    from the Music Man.  This was one of the first "popular" songs I learned to play on the piano.

WI is day after tomorrow.  Why is it that I'm so much more tempted to snack on inappropriate things right before my WI?  I'm fighting it, though.  I want to knock off some serious sticks o' butter this week!

Weekend Wrap-up

It's hard to believe it's already Sunday night.  Tomorrow in our county the teachers go back to work.  When I was teaching I loved the beginning of school.  Putting new ideas to work.  Meeting the new students.  Introducing the kindergartners to the wonders of the library.  Now, though, that I've not taught for a couple of years, I really am happy not to have to go back tomorrow.  I really love getting to take care of the grand babies a few days a week and I love my free time.  A lot of my time and thought and energy are now devoted to getting myself in shape.  When I taught, I'd usually lose 10 or 15 pounds each summer and gain them back during the school year.  It was hard to find time for me.

I am so impressed with how well those of you who are working outside the home are able to do getting exercise, watching your diet, and coming here for mutual support in blog land.  Kudos.

I woke up sore and achey this morning.  :(  I felt about 100 years old going down the stairs.  It must have been the kettle bells. Things eased up a bit as my muscles warmed up, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to bike tonight.  I decided to give it a try and we had a fabulous ride.  We added about 20 minutes to our usual hour and I wasn't sore at all.  At the far end of our ride, we loop a couple of miles in a beautiful little park.  There was band concert and we could hear the band playing for most of the loop.  It was so nice that we added an extra lap. I'll tackle the kettle bells again tomorrow.  Maybe while the children are napping.

Tomorrow we're going to take our bikes into the "bike spa" to get them all tuned up for our weekend trip.  I'm getting excited about the trip and the bike ride(s) we're planning.  I've got to spend some time with the book Lori recommended to me,  A Woman's Guide to Cycling.  If I can overcome the falling, I think that biking is going to be a really good exercise for me.  I love having an alternative to running.  Basically I like choices.  It's all good.  Tennis, running, biking, hiking, strength training, kettle bells, my DVDs, and the Wii tennis and yoga.  Biking and hiking are activities I can do on fairly equal terms with DH, though and that's fun.

Today's picture: With my siblings a year ago.  We got together (from TX, GA, VA and Japan) to take our Dad up to his 70th reunion at West Point.  My sibs all got the skinny gene.  I was feeling fairly trim at just about my current weight.


My eating was right on target today.  Cereal with 1/2 a banana for breakfast.  Cottage cheese with mandarin oranges for lunch.  Snack of almonds and 1/2 oz of dark chocolate.  Grilled scallops, whole wheat orzo, lettuce, and mango avocado salsa for dinner with a WW  strawberry froyo bar for dessert.

Tomorrow I plan to run early and then do the kettle bell workout during nap time.  I'll stop by the store on the way home from my run and pick up some fresh veggies to have with salmon for dinner.

Do you have a plan to keep yourself on track?

My New Favorite Four Word Phrase

My new favorite four word phrase? = "Put down the kettle bell." Today I tried out my new kettle bell set. My daughter Laura decided to torture gift me with it as a belated birthday present. It came yesterday and I resolved to try it out today. It's The Firm 5-Pound Kettle Bell Kit with Transfirm Your Trouble Zones DVD.  I waited until after dinner and cleared a workout space in the privacy of our sitting room upstairs.  I dressed in workout clothes (so as not to feel outclassed by all the buff girls modeling the moves in the background) and popped in the DVD.  First I viewed the introductory Learn the Moves section. Then I decided to go for the whole enchilada and clicked on the Full 45 Minute Workout.  I could have chosen the 20 minute "Express" workout, but nooo, I go and choose the 45 minute workout. The instructor, Kelsie, is very clear and encouraging; she reminds me a bit of Leslie Sansone in the Walk Away the Pounds videos.

I'm definitely not a natural-born dancer, but the choreography isn't too hard and it was fairly easy to catch up if I missed a move.  Thankfully there is an option for beginners (that's ME, folks) to do abbreviated versions of some of the moves (yes, please).  They guarantee visible results after 10 workouts.  I decided to take and record my current measurements again, just to test this claim. We'll see. I was able to do the entire workout except for the floor exercise just before the cool down section. This involved a diabolical flat-on-your-back-to-standing move (without benefit of help from your elbows or arms) that was impossible a little too tricky for this grandmother of five. You know it's tricky if I fall back on hiding behind my grannyhood! It was a good workout. I'm hoping that maybe as the scrapes, bruises and aches from last night's bike fall fade and as I continue to practice with it, the moves will get easier. For now, though, I'm thinking the several sections that commenced with my new favorite four word phrase were the best part of the workout!  There may be more Ibuprofen in my future at bedtime tonight.

For your viewing pleasure:  A picture with my sister taken at my Dad's 93rd birthday dinner last month.  I have lost 8 more pounds since this picture was taken.

We're down to just the three of us again, as my brother & his friend left today.  Back to our normal routines. It's time for me to get back in my own routine to keep trimming away these pounds so I can get to my goal by Thanksgiving.  We'll have the whole family here (all the kids and grands!), lots of fun and lots of pix.  I think I can be at or very close to my WW goal (20 pounds lighter than last week's WI weight) by then.  That's three months--13 weeks.  I'm going to DO it.  Having a goal helps.  I haven't quite reached my goal of 12 pounds for the Summer Diet Buddies challenge, but it's still possible.  The challenge ends Sept 7th--that's 10 more days. I have 4 more pounds to lose to meet that goal.  My morning weight this week is looking good for melting away several sticks o' butter by my Wednesday WI.

I did a little closet shopping the other night and there's a very nice size 12 dress that bodes well to fit this fall.  I can zip it up all the way now, but maybe a few more pounds and a little more torture work with the kettle bell set will do the trick and smooth out the too-bumpy bits.

Are you setting short term goals to keep yourself going?

Fall (Updated)

I went for a run this morning and it was great!  First the weather--it has turned beautiful this week. Temps in the high 70s, sunny and no humidity. Who could ask for anything more?  I wanted to get my run in, but also spend time with my brother, who is leaving tomorrow, so I limited my run to 60 minutes. With the temperate weather I was able to run much more easily. I still had some walking parts, but a lot fewer. I've always heard that interval training is good for runners, maybe my run/walk pattern might serve as some kind of an interval and, in fact makes me run better . . . . (you know I'm an optimistic glass half full kind of person!)

As I was coming to the end of my run, I happened to look down and saw these on the path.  I stopped to scoop up these few and brought them back to show you proof that fall is actually coming.  I also saw about 3 fuzzy/wooly caterpillars today--doesn't that mean that winter is going to be cold? 

My eating was a bit unusual (for me) today but falls within my WW Core guidelines.  Breakfast was my usual unfrosted mini wheats and half a peach.  For lunch I went out with my brother and his friend.  I ordered a cheese steak sandwich. I cut my sandwich in half and gave each of the guys a quarter piece.  I thoroughly enjoyed my half a sandwich and refuse to feel guilty.  So there! For dinner, we were 10 (we 3, brother & friend and son John's family + his SIL).  I made grilled sirloin/veggie skewers, apricot almond couscous, and broccolini with smoked paprika almonds and garlic. We had coffee and WW strawberry frozen yogurt bars for dessert. It was yummy.

broccolini with smoked paprika, almonds, and garlic

After dinner we went for an impromptu bike ride in the neighborhood. "We" is my bother, his friend and me. It was getting dark, so we stayed close to home.  My brother's friend was riding DH's bike (his first time with shoes & "snazzy pedals").  He fell, twice.  I fell once. Very embarrassing. It was not so much a matter of forgetting to unclip as it was trying to make too tight a turn. In any case, I got a skinned up elbow; not pretty, but it doesn't hurt--too much.  UPDATE:  It got achey after an hour or so, so I had to take some pain reliever to get comfortable sleeping.  I also have a lovely long bluish purple bruise and related tenderness on the side of my hip. Thanks Karen for the tip:  Unclip the shoe on the on the side of the tight turn so I can balance.  Sure hope I get this all down soon.  I'm a little old to keep diving toward the pavement elbow first.

Laura sent me a belated birthday present that arrived today--A Kettle bell plus a DVD set she says is very good.  Now I get to be one of the "cool kids!"  Thank you, beautiful daughter!  Yes, Laura has become a reader. She's on the other coast and is going great guns exercising, eating well and losing weight.  

I like trying new things. Chayote Squash was new yesterday. Broccolini was new to me tonight--it was deelish. Kettlebells are new to me. I'll try them out tomorrow and let you know. Falling with my new bike gear? It was new, but now it's old hat. I don't need to fall any more!

How about you?  Have you tried anything new lately??

Is this Really Diet Food?

Those were my brother's exact words when we sat down to dinner yesterday. This is my other brother, not the one who was here two weeks ago. I hadn't seen him for several months. He was very complimentary about my weight loss and is aware that I'm working hard on losing weight, exercising and eating well. I guess he was expecting carrots and lettuce and clear broth for dinner!  Instead I served my go-to Beef Stir Fry.  Flank steak, red pepper, onions, baby corn, shitake mushrooms, snow peas, and almonds served over brown rice. It smelled, looked, and tasted delicious. I added one extra ingredient that I've never used before. Do you know what this is?

It's a chayote squash (in Louisiana, it's called a mirliton--Emerile uses it frequently in his cooking shows). I'd seen it and heard about it but had never tried it.  Yesterday was my first time.  Choose smaller fruits (~4 inches long) which are more tender. You can eat it either fresh or cooked. Fresh, it's supposed to taste like a cross between an apple and a cucumber.  Cooked it's more like a cross between squash and an apple.  If you cook it, use any method that you'd use for summer squash.  You can eat the peel as well as the flesh.  I cut one into 1/8 inch slices and added at the last minute for a crunch appeal in my stir fry. There is a pale round seed (similar to an avocado seed) in the fruit that, when boiled for 30+ minutes, is supposed to taste like artichoke heart. My assigned "sou-chef" who kindly chopped the chayote, inadvertently cut the seed in half, so I didn't try it boiled. There was plenty extra and the assembled hungry onlookers, nibbled on the raw pieces and pronounced it "interesting" and "good."  I might try it julienned in a slaw some time. Nice crunch and slightly sweet flavor.


After dinner we went out on a 10 mile bike ride.  Twice in a row where I didn't fall off my bike.  I'm going for a streak.  It was a two-a-day, because I got in a 4 mile  morning run while waiting for my car--I'd picked up a nail in my tire and was getting it fixed.  DH suggested I take it to the nearest gas station, but I chose one a tiny bit farther away, but closer to my running trail.  


Have you tried any new and interesting food lately?

ZZZZZZZZZ, WI

 Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z  
Do you get enough sleep?  I never did, until about two years ago.  Now I've learned that there's a direct correlation between the ability to lose weight and getting enough sleep.  "Enough" is loosely defined as 7-9 hours. I never got that much.  I thought I was happy with 5 hours. I was an avowed night owl.  Late to rise and late to bed.  When I finally, intentionally, started going to bed early (~11 pm) I found I was finally able to diet successfully.  Now I almost always get 7 1/2 or 8 hours.  It really works.  An added benefit is that I have a lot more energy during the day for all that exercise that also helps in the pursuit of weight loss and good health.  

Today's WI?  Down two pounds--8 sticks o' butter! 


Do you get enough sleep?

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