5.30.2008

Friday

Discovery of the day: Yikes!

Got back from my trip Thursday to find out that we had lost our internet connection at work. Took another 24 hours for the issue to be resolved.

No internet at work -- just kill me!

Anyway, we've rejoined the real world and I should be able to resume our regularly-scheduled program already in progress on Monday.
 

5.23.2008

Friday

Discovery of the day: Off to the races

Just about 4 hours until I head off to the airport for our trip Back East. I'm not getting on the scale before I go and probably will give myself a few days' grace when I get back.

All I can do is all I can do, y'know?

Have a great holiday weekend!
 

5.22.2008

Thursday

Discovery of the day: Surviving the waiting room

I didn't plan very well for yesterday's stint at the hospital. The timeline didn't go quite as advertised and I found myself in the waiting room, uh, waiting and unable/unwilling to leave to get food.

I did manage to score a BAS at the cafeteria in the early afternoon just as my boyfriend headed into surgery, but for dinner I ended up resorting to a burger on the ferry home at 9 pm. It had a "5" written on the wrapper. I can only imagine that meant it was fresh at 5 pm. But with enough condiments it was downright tasty.

My only excuse is that we left the house at 6:30am and I wasn't conscious enough to grab some fruit Just In Case, as usual. Oh well.

I'm doing better today although there's 3 days worth of romaine in my fridge that hasn't been cleaned yet and I'm leaving town in less than 30 hours.

Will I get to it tonight? How much of it will I have to toss when I get back? Stay tuned....
 

5.20.2008

Tuesday

Discovery of the day: All I can do...

Yes, it's tough this week, as I predicted. But I've decided that I can't really worry about it. All I can do is all I can do.

I just have to try to do what makes sense at the time, pick my battles, and try not to give in too completely to my penchant for comfort-eating.

Tomorrow I'll be spending most of the day at the hospital so that'll really be 'catch as catch can.' I'll bring some fruit to get me started and just see how it goes.

Sigh... right now I have 2.75 hours left at work and I really want some coffee and dark chocolate devil grahams from Starbuck's. Do I stay or do I go?
 

5.19.2008

Monday

Discovery of the day: And the games begin....

This next two weeks are probably going to be the most challenging ones I've faced to date, food-wise. My boyfriend has his procedure on Wednesday then Friday we catch a red-eye flight Back East to attend my daughter's graduation and meet up with family and old friends.

So right there's your stress, disruption of routine (always a problem for me), travel (see disruption of routine again), and partying. I'll miss the next three running classes and there's no guarantee I'll do anything exercise-related on my own.

But I think I'm down a pound, bringing my total weight loss somewhere close to 12 lbs. All I want to do is maintain until I get my feet back on solid ground.

Wish me luck....
 

5.16.2008

Friday

Discovery of the day: The truth about edamame

I love edamame. I almost always have some on hand in the fridge and I try to bring some to work every day to cover my mid-afternoon munchies. I feel oh, so sophisticated, eating something so exotic and healthy instead of the dark chocolate grahams from Starbuck's. (OK, I still do that too, but not as often as I used to.)

But I recently realized the truth about edamame. Are you ready for this?
Edamame are soybeans!

Yeah, and soylent green is people. You knew that already. So what. But for those of us who grew up in the little post-WWII subdivisions that sprouted up smack-dab in the middle of pancake-flat, treeless corn and soybean fields in central Indiana, that's a big ole WTF?!?

Yes, edamame that I pay a couple of bucks a pound for in the frozen foods section are the same hairy, crunchy pods we used to scrounge from the fields and add to our mudpies.

Who'd'a thunk it?

Next thing you know, they're going to start selling field corn as Mayan maize or something. People already buy the field corn and stalks for decorations around Halloween. I wonder if they do that in central Indiana? That'd be almost as bad as someone from Connecticut buying rocks to decorate their yard.

Dag!
 

5.15.2008

Thursday

Discovery of the day: Birthday speed bump

I work for a pretty a small company. When there's a birthday, the seven of us gather at the table in the kitchen area around 2:30 pm for a 'surprise' cake-and-juice event.

Today was the birthday of the two owners of the company, a husband and wife team. And the treat of the day was donuts.

I knew I was screwed.

Donuts, particularly glazed cake donuts, are the devil. I can resist them just fine unless there's one within reach. Today there were two within reach.

Burp.

Oh well. I have to get a haircut after work and won't be home until after everyone else has eaten, so maybe I can get away with grabbing a handful of edamame and calling it good.
 

5.14.2008

Wednesday

Discovery of the day: Maintain....

Let's see. My son was sick over Mother's Day and home from school on Monday. Went to the surgical clinic with my boyfriend yesterday for multiple appointments, none of which occurred at the scheduled time. The rest of this week is shot with appointments and to-do lists, next week is my boyfriend's 'procedure' (read: cancer surgery), and then we fly cross-country for my daughter's graduation.

Can I be done now?

Needless to say my food record is not stellar this week and my will is flagging, as it tends to do when I get tired and overwhelmed.

Running class is tonight. Right now I can't imagine running, but I did run long enough before to know that anything is possible.

Maybe that'll perk me up.

Ugh.
 

5.09.2008

Friday

Discovery of the day: TVP Experiment #1

I got brave last night and tried subbing TVP for ground beef in one of my favorite recipes. The results? Well, I learned some very valuable lessons.

Firstly, using TVP for ground beef in a recipe that is primarily ground beef is Not A Good Idea.

Secondly, the info I pulled from a random result of a Google search stated that 1 cup of dry TVP was equivalent to 1 lb of ground beef. Uh, no, unless they meant to say one cup equals half a cup. I used a cup and it just kept expanding and expanding... it was scary. Pale and scary.

Thirdly, reconstituting plain TVP in beef broth does not ground beef make.

As you can guess, the whole mess ended up in the trash.

Lessons learned:
  1. If I really feel the need to up the protein content of a dish, a small amount of TVP in an otherwise heavily-seasoned recipe -- where it would not be seen, tasted, or sensed in any way -- could be useful.
  2. Use beans whenever possible.
  3. When in doubt, see #2.
I ended up mixing a small amount of the resulting... stuff in with some refried beans and it was edible, but certainly not worth the time and ingredients. It's not all the TVP's fault. I suppose using it in a ground beef recipe that I had made and loved many times before was probably not fair. And my bad for not learning a little more about it before leaping into it with both feet.

(Ugh. I think I just threw up a little visualizing that. Sorry.)

My boyfriend suggested I try some of the "meatless" meat substitute products, but I am just plain opposed to going there. To me, those meatless things are processed foods, like 'cheese food' and 'krab' and non-dairy creamer. I'm trying to use real food as much as I can. Other than my precious Splenda, of course.
:)
 

5.08.2008

Thursday

Discovery of the day: A breakthrough?

The scale showed a lb loss this morning. It's the first time I've seen that number in maybe a year. Is this an indication that I'm about to break through the plateau?

It's nice to see, but I half-expect some up and down as I (hopefully) gain muscle mass from the running class.

I want to be excited but I don't want to make too big a fuss and possibly scare the scale away from that new number!
 

5.07.2008

Wednesday

Discovery of the day: Quinoa Veggie Stew

The stew turned out nicely, but there are a few tweaks I'd make. There always are, aren't there? I'd add more seasonings and cook the veggies down much more before adding the quinoa. They were technically done but I felt like they should have had more time to meld, or 'marry', as the foodies say. But my goal is to get dinner on the table by 6:30 pm and I just ran out of time.

I heated up some whole wheat tortillas to go along with. We put butter on them and they were nice, but what I really craved was some naan. I'll have to look into how hard it is to make naan and whether whole wheat naan is an option. I used to bake a lot and whole-grain baking is an interesting challenge. Could be fun.

Today I'm meeting my ex for lunch at TDM then I have running class this eve so I'll have to grab something quick for dinner as I bounce off the house. I do have some of the stew left -- I could eat some of that. It's not easy to cram in a BAS on days like this.
 

5.06.2008

Tuesday

Discovery of the day: Exploring quinoa

Well, I must confess that a package of dark-chocolate covered grahams did fall into my pocket while getting my decaf at Starbuck's this afternoon. Then I accidentally left them in my car. It pissed me off, but it's probably for the best. I'm going to see if I can get through the next 2.5 hours without them. The drive home might be another matter, though.

Yesterday was pretty lame, food-wise. By the time I got home, went for a three mile walk, picked up my son, and got him started with his bedtime routine, it was almost 8 pm before I sat down with my BAS. One bright spot: I did learn that quinoa and canned white beans go really well together.

I had decided to cook up a cup of quinoa but then ran out of any sort of inspiration when it came time to top my BAS. So quinoa and white beans it was. And, although simple, it was good.

I have probably almost 2 cups left so tonight I'm trying a recipe for quinoa vegetable stew. I'll make a cheese quesadilla to go along side, in case the stew's not well received by my son.

I have high hopes for it, though. I love me some zucchini!
 

5.05.2008

Monday

Discovery of the day: Minding my own beeswax is hard

Started my running class on Saturday. They had us run a mile to gauge our fitness. I was very proud to make it all the way without stopping, only to find out later that they had miscalculated and it was maybe only 2/3 or a mile.

Oh well.

They also had us do push-ups. I managed to do 10, although not well. It's embarrassing how sore my upper body is today!

My boyfriend and I are finding it difficult to keep our minds on the pyramid since his recent not-great news. I managed to get out of Starbuck's today without a package of dark chocolate-covered grahams (I bought a couple last week) but only just barely. I'm doing a little better than he is, but that's only because it's not my diagnosis.

He's still processing (it's just been a week) and he's struggling. It's really hard to not want to treat him with comfort foods, dinners out, desserts, etc. when we're together. I'm trying not to inquire too much about (or pass judgment upon) what he eats when he's left to his own devices.

If I can maintain my current weight until we reach equilibrium, I'll be happy. All I can do for him is to provide "good" meals when we're together to balance out whatever he chooses to do on his own. And not lecture or be bossy.

Man, that's going to be hard....
 

5.02.2008

Friday

Discovery of the day: Life is not fair

This might be a surprise for some of you, but I figured you'd want to know. Case in point:
Today's lunch options @ the fancy-pants grocery store:
  • A slaw dog: $3.00
  • A slice of pizza and a soda: $2.00
  • A not-quite-BAS from the salad bar: $8.00

I know, I know. My colon will thank me later, but right now my wallet is pissed.
 

5.01.2008

Thursday

Discovery of the day: I smell a challenge

OK, it looks like the next couple of months are shaping up to be pretty challenging. My boyfriend just got a not-happy diagnosis from his dermatologist. Everything has changed, although nothing has really changed except for our concept of the future. Which isn't here yet. It's weird.

He's been out of town on a business trip pretty much since we got back from CR and confessed that he's been indulging in comfort eating on the road. Can't say I blame him. The trick is going to be finding a way for me to support him and manage my own stress without resorting to too much of the same.

I'm still going to start that running class. If I can get back on the road, I know it'll help me de-stress and keep some sort of routine if things get crazy.

My stomach hurts.