Twenty-Four Seven

Fall is in the air.  At least it felt that way this morning.  It was cool and breezy, which is fine by me.  I love fall and the cooler weather makes me want to get outside and run!  But, I’m not sure my hip will cooperate :( 

I felt in the mood for some Pilates this morning, so I popped in the cheapo DVD, I bought and did about 35 minutes of the video before starting on some breakfast.

I didn’t have much in stock since we just got back from the shore, but there were a few eggs left so I decided on an Antipasto Open Faced Omelette using 3 egg whites and the leftover antipasto topping from my Chicken Antipasto last week…

It was a very flavorful start!  And can’t forget the Teeccino…

Then, it was off to the produce store.  Look at this stash…

 

I got spring mix, brussel sprouts (don’t say eeww!), cauliflower, romaine hearts, sliced mushrooms, cucumber, baby spinach, zucchini, parsley, celery hearts, honeydew melon, strawberries, gala apples, fuji apples, nectarines, peaches, blueberries and a loaf of crusty Italian bread.  All that for $29!!!! 

I prepped the romaine lettuce right away to put together my lunch salad.  I made up a Southwest Chicken Salad using big handfuls of romaine, 1/4 c. black beans, 1/4 c. frozen corn (defrosted), cherry tomatoes, 1 oz. reduced fat cheddar cheese and chicken breast (about 2 oz.) chopped.  I topped it with Kraft Light Three Cheese Ranch dressing.  It was so tasty and filling…

Some avocado would have been great in there, too, but I forgot to buy some!  Next time :)

As filling as the salad was, it still left me wanting a  little something.  I thought about grabbing crackers or pretzels, but feared that would lead to lots of munching.  Then, I saw these guys and thought they would be the perfect something…

After lunch, more shopping…Walmart for a few dry goods and school supplies, then Trader Joe’s.  Food shopping is an all day affair!  I did make a pit stop in between to drop off some bags and have a snack…

I finally made it home just in time to start on dinner.  Pasta was on the menu, but of course, something a little different for me.  I picked up a new item at Trader Joe’s – Seafood Sausage – and I was dying to trying it out…

A real find at only 110 calories and 3.5 grams fat per sausage…

I decided to make Seafood Scampi for one because the husband and daughters would rather starve than to try it!  LOL!

I sliced the sausage and pan fried in  1 tbsp. evoo and 1 clove garlic until cooked through.  I added about 2-3 tbsp. white wine and simmered for a minute, then added some chopped parsley.  I served it over whole wheat spaghetti and topped with a little parmesan.  Delish…

So, you may be wondering why I titled this post 24-7.  Well, I realized today that I think about food 24-7.  Seriously.  All day long.  I probably dream about it, too.  I am always thinking about what I should and should not eat.  I think about whether or not eating something will help me lose weight or contribute to weight gain.  I bargain with myself.  I wheel and deal.  I try to push these thoughts out of my mind and then, think about how great it is that I am not thinking about food!  Ugh!  I really do feel compulsive when it comes to food.  I think about it always.  It rules my world.  I am most definitely a novice to the concept of intuitive eating.  I’m not even certain that someone like me can even wrap my brain around it or ascertain what it means to be able to eat according to my body’s needs.  Is this something I can truly learn?  Is this something that can eventually come naturally to me?  I guess I’m scared that it isn’t possible for me.  I may be too far gone;  too old to learn “new tricks”, too accustomed to living life on a diet that I am unable to see the other side.  That grass sure does look greener, though…

Have a great night, everyone =)

Just Beachy

Hey Everyone!  I’m posting early since we are leaving from the shore later tonight and will be getting home late…

Look what I saw this morning…

Now THAT’S what I’m talking about!

I wasted no time hopping on my bike and went for an awesome hour long ride with my Dad!  The weather was just perfect for riding :)

When I got back, I was huuungry.  I whipped up the same breakfast as yesterday:  bagel sammie with egg white and reduced fat cheese…

And Teeccino with a splash of soymilk…

Then, it was off to the beach…

We brought lunch to the beach and dug in not long after getting there.  Something about that sea air makes ya hungry!  I packed up a crabby salad for myself…

I could eat those giant crabcakes everyday!  I also munched on some of these Kettle Brand Baked Buffalo Bleu chips (spicy!)…

and a darling clementine…

I’m off to shower and pack.  See ya at home tomorrow !

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Let’s Try This Again

Pouring rain.  That was the sound of the morning.  It looked like the day was going to be a total washout:(  I wasn’t up for bike riding in a torrential downpour, so I decided to do a 10 minute Pilates workout that I found on Sparkpeople.  I definitely felt the burn;  I am really enjoying adding in this new form of exercise!

Breakfast started off with a nice cuppa Teeccino….

We bought limited groceries since we were here for just the weekend, so my choices were eggs and bagels.  I opted for both and made a bagel sammie using half a bagel, 1 egg white and reduced fat cheddar cheese…

Yum!  That held me over for most of the morning. 

Finally, the skies shifted and the rain dried up!  I took the opportunity to hop on my bike for a quick 20 minute ride before lunch.

We decided to try packing lunch and going to the pool again.  The husband and daughters rushed over to the pool and I made up the picnic lunch.  I had a lovely crabcake waiting for me in the fridge, so I decided to eat my fancy lunch before heading to the pool…

Look at how big this guy was…

and filled with all crab…

I ate it “lettuce wrap” style with some deliciously sweet homegrown tomatoes on the side.  Then finished with a nectarine topped with a ray of light…

Hooray for sun!!!!  We were so thankful for the sun to join us while we swam at the pool!

We were famished by dinner time and decided on Chinese takeout for an easy dinner.  This gets a little tough for me;  Chinese food doesn’t usually fill me for long and I try my best to stay away from all the fried dishes.  But, I was in the mood to try something that I don’t normally order , so I “branched out” and got the Shrimp Lo Mein…

It was so good!  I paired it with a non-Chinese dish – baby arugula, romaine and tomato salad.  Gotta get in the extra veggies!

I couldn’t help having another forkful or two of Lo Mein…

A while later,  chanting started… ice cream, ice cream, ice cream…

We stopped in a new ice cream place that serves gelato.  Oh no.  There is no way to resist the creamy goodness of gelato.  I made sure to choose the most “screaming with calories” flavor…Chocolate Raspberry Brownie….

To. Die. For.

Okay, I’ll be honest here, I am sucking horribly this week at intuitive eating and leaving the dieting mentality behind.  I have guilted the bejesus out of myself for the past week and am having a really hard time listening to my body’s satiety cues.  I realize that being in tune with yourself takes so much practice.  It is very hard to let myself go and trust myself.  I really need to be focused with this approach;  it is not something that comes natural to me.  At all.  I’m a little scared, too.  I’m scared of the scale and what it’s going to say when I get on it next.  I’m scared of food and what eating “the wrong things” or “more than I should” will do to my weight loss efforts.  I’m scared to dig deeper and figure out exactly why I eat the way I do and why I feel the need to comfort myself, in a variety of situations,  with food.  I feel like I’ve ventured into a sort of “food addiction” rehab.  I think it’s worth the work;  I’m just scared of what happens during the detox period…

Hope you all are having a glorious Saturday!

Question of the Day…  What is your favorite Chinese takeout dish?

The Last Hurrah

Happy Friday!  I am posting from the shore again;  the daughters insisted on coming one last time before school starts.  Unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating :( 

This morning we woke up to cloudy skies…

Then the rains came.  When it let up, I took the opportunity to go out for a bike ride…

On the way back, the rain started up again :(  I made it back, mildly soggy, and started on some breakfast:  1/2 bagel with whipped cream cheese and a nectarine…

And a cup of…………….

Don’t worry!  I didn’t cave in to the coffee, although I have reeeaaally wanted to!  After doing some research, I found an alternative.  It’s called Teeccino and it’s touted as an herbal coffee…

It’s actually not made from coffee beans at all.  It’s made from organic carob, organic barley, organic dates, organic chicory, almonds and organic figs.  Neat mix, right?  I actually found this at my local Giant supermarket in the natural foods section.  I was excited to try it;  so I brewed some up this morning.  It is brewed just like coffee which is also cool since it allows you to continue the “morning ritual”!  The verdict:  I really liked it!  It does resemble a mild roast coffee flavor.  I was only able to find the Hazelnut flavor in my market which was okay, but I think I’d really enjoy the Java flavor which may resemble coffee even more.  So far, I’m sold!

Breakfast didn’t hang around very long and I was feeling hungry by 11:00 am.  Too early for lunch, so I had a few almonds to tide me over…

The rains cleared out a bit, so we planned on having a beach picnic for lunch.  I started packing up sandwiches.  Mine was avocado, tomato, baby arugula on whole wheat pane bread…

As we were heading out the door, the skies turned gray again!  We decided against the beach and had our picnic by the pool instead.  I added some whole grain tortilla chips to my lunch, first a handful, then a few more…

Thunder rudely interrupted lunch, so we went back home.  I finished lunch with a juicy nectarine…

After playing some card games, we ventured out into the rain for an ice cream break.  I tried out No Sugar Added Moose Tracks…delish…

More rain, more games.  Then, it was time for dinner.  We had a pizza and sushi night!  Those things don’t necessarily go together, but it was good!  I went with a few pieces of sushi (with wasabi – yum!), a small piece of pizza and salad…

I tried another piece of sushi and noshed on more crust…

I finished off the night with a small slice of chocolate cake…

And 5 more games of Sequence of which I won NADA!

I definitely did a lot more eating than I really wanted to today.  I think being stuck in the house just left me like a bottomless pit!  I’m trying not to feel guilty and just move on.  It’s a hard habit to break…

I’m hoping for clear skies tomorrow and looking forward to a good long bike ride!!  I hope Mother Nature gets my memo :)

Have a great night, everyone!

Pilates, Parks + Patience

Thank you all for your condolences regarding my breakup :) It's still a little rough going, but physically, I felt better today! You all had some great ideas for some coffee alternatives, too; I will definitely be checking them out!

The hips were still sore today and moving into feeling stiff, too. I thought it best to not do any cardio again and now, don't you know , I am craving running??!! But, my hips will not be happy if I pursue that, so I decided to try something new - Pilates. I bought a cheap-o DVD at Five Below that is a one hour basic Pilates workout. I planned on doing the whole hour, but needed to get in some breakfast first. I went with a quick bowl of cereal. In the mix...

• 1/3 c. Special K Protein flakes
• 1/4 c. Post Trail Mix Crunch
• 2 big ole strawberries
• 1/3 c. unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze

I stared longingly at the coffee pot and out of habit almost started brewing! I guess I have to put it away...

Instead, I micro-brewed some tea. I went with a China Oolong this morning. It made me oo-long for some coffee...

The tea bag tag had positive sayings on it. Mine said this...

Yeah, I 'd like to reward myself with a cup of coffee! *sigh* But, I went on to reward myself with a Pilates session. I have to say, despite the annoying voice of the instructor and the waif-like "level 1" demonstrator in the background, I REALLY liked it! It is hard, but not so hard that you want to quit. My muscles were shaking, but heck, you get to lie down for most of it, so I'm game! I made it through 45 minutes before I had to stop and tend to the daughters. I was pretty wobbly in the legs, so it must have done something! I'll definitely try this again.

Lunchtime rolled around before I knew it. I was in the mood for my good old 'wrap and chip' combo. I made a Cali Veggie Wrap using a high fiber tortilla, Dr. Praeger's California Veggie Burger, Laughing Cow Light Cheese and lettuce. Trader Joe's Sour Cream and Onion Rice Chips and carrots were perfect sides...

After lunch, the daughters and I (and dog) went to the park for the afternoon. We did a little walking, playing and hanging on a blanket reading books. It was a great afternoon.

We got home just in time to get dinner started. As I was prepping some mozzarella cheese for the entree, I sliced and snacked...

I had to hurry up and put it away before I snacked away the whole block of cheese! How's that for being intuitive?! I intuitively knew I would eat the whole thing -lol!! Not funny, but I'm trying to make myself feel better ;P

Dinner was Grilled Chicken Antipasto along with salad and grilled bread...

I grilled thin-sliced chicken breasts then topped them with a mixture of tomatoes, diced mozzarella, a few Kalamata olives, 3 artichoke hearts (chopped), fresh basil, garlic and a tsp. evoo...

While cleaning the dishes, I fished for a dessert...

So, I'm feeling a little anxious about intuitive eating. I think I'm having a low point where I'm not sure if I'm doing the right thing. I was feeling really strong last week, but this week has been up and down so far. I'm finding that this takes lots of practice. Lots and lots. I know it's going to take a long time to undo the dieting damage. I think it's okay to take a while, but I also think I have to be okay with maybe not losing weight while this changeover is occurring. And I'm not sure if I'm okay with that...

Patience. It's not a virtue that comes easily for me. But, to feel like I've given this the "old college try", I'll hang in there a while longer and do a progress report mid-Sept. to see where I'm at.

Have a great night, everyone!

Before I go... a Question of the Day... Have you ever tried Pilates?

Breakups Are Hard

I feel like crap today. I'm going through a breakup and it's been rough. Me and coffee have had a love/hate relationship for a while now. It wasn't love at first sight although, it did give me jitters every time I got a little ;P But now, the love is gone. It's been doing me wrong, causing me major pain in the heart, throat and gut. Why, oh why does it have to be this way? I tried to get together with it's lesser version - Trader Joe's French Roast Low Acid. We liked each other at first, but it turned out to be just like all the others. So, I must breakup with coffee. It seems necessary. My body is achy and yearning for it, but I have to let it go. *sigh* Parting is such sweet sorrow...



This morning, I had...tea...





I added some milk, no sweetener. It was a milked-up mate...

It sucked.

I was really in the mood for eggs today. A real whole egg. Heck, I can't have coffee, so I might as well enjoy something! I served it over a piece of Trader Joe's Organic Spelt Bread (toasted)...

I still wanted something more. I was feeling hungry right off the bat today. I decided on a pack of Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds...

These are great and had just the right amount of crunch that I was looking for...

I putzed around all morning having my own" farewell to coffee "pity party. I finally decided to head to the basement for a workout. I didn't feel up to any running/elliptical since my hips are still sore. Getting old sucks burnt coffee grinds ;P Anyway, I decided to do weights and ab work. It was a nice, no hip-impact 30 minute workout.

When lunch time rolled around, I was ready for it! I really wanted pasta and heck, since I'm not having coffee, I might as well have something I really want! I made my own boxed-style mac and cheese using 2 oz. Ronzoni Smart Taste elbow macaroni, 2 tbsp. natural cheese powder (bought this in a bulk foods store) and a few tbsp. milk. I cooked up a batch of fresh mixed veggies to go with it...

cheesy...like me...

Unfortunately, today was not a day of listening to my body. My body wanted coffee, but instead it got lots of snacky snacks. I just wanted to feel full today. Satisfied didn't seem good enough. So, I munched on a pretzel...

Then more pretzels (x3!!!) coated in chocolate! Heck, if I can't have coffee...

I had to lie down after that. The daughters and I cuddled up and watched some bad TV (Wife Swap).

I had no big plans for dinner, so everyone agreed on breakfast for dinner. I made cheese omelettes with a side salad. Eggscellent...

I did get a small burst of energy for some house cleaning after dinner. That's a little better! Maybe this breakup won't be so bad after all =)

I leave you with a Question of the Day: What do you drink- coffee or tea?