September 6: Oh Baby, It's Cold Outside!

I'm a sucker for kitchen gadgets.

We've had quite a change in temperature.  A few days ago it was in the upper 90s.  Today was cool enough for a sweater - and we had rain.  I'm not complaining.  I love cool weather, don't really mind the rain, and am looking forward to Fall.

Gary had a colonoscopy done this morning.  I had no clue how long it would take, so I wanted to have a more substantial breakfast; therefore, we drove through McDonald's on our way to the hospital.  I ate my Egg McMuffin in front of poor Gary.  Got a diet Coke, too.  Oh hell, I was helping fortify Gary for his procedure :)  Can't fault me for that.

BREAKFAST:

McDonald's Egg McMuffin.  I've read that it's one of the better options there.  I do like them.  I used to make them at home.  I made them one morning and dropped one.  Gary looked at me and said, "That's ok.  I really don't like them."  So, I haven't made them any more!  Buying them is easier - though I'm sure, not healthier.

LUNCH:

My Cane's meal.

Gary's Cane's meal

We didn't get to lunch until around 2.  I was starving.  Good thing I had that Egg McMuffin.  Gary's choice for lunch, since he'd had to do without food for a day and a half.  He chose Cane's.  The man loves chicken.  It's not my first choice of places to go.  Not as crazy about chicken fingers as Gary is, and the options for healthy eating are slim there.  I did have about ten of Gary's fries and one bite of his bread.  Love that bread.

DINNER:

Quick and easy and light, since we ate a late lunch.  Hamburger steaks and green/shelley beans.  Cooked those burgers in Ghee.

September 5: It's Not Polite to Eat in Front of Others

My mom always taught us that it isn't polite to eat in front of others - unless they are eating, too.  So with Gary on only jello and broth today in preparation for his colonoscopy, I didn't cook.  You know - whatever excuse you can use to get out of cooking is allowed!

No pictures today.  Food wasn't worth photographing!

BREAKFAST:
Instant oatmeal.  Don't resort to that too often, but we had some in the pantry.  It was quick and easy, and actually, this flavored oatmeal is pretty good.

LUNCH:
V8 broccoli soup.  Good, but it has sugar, etc. in it.  I don't get it often, but it is pretty good stuff.  Had some beef jerky with it.

DINNER:
I just rummaged around in the kitchen looking for something fast and easy.  Two chicken hot dogs and an Asian Pear Apple.  Wow, that's sad.

SNACKS:
Finished off the dark chocolate from yesterday.  Going to have a bite of cheese and some rice crackers later.

I slept so good last night.  I don't know if it was the melatonin or the lack of sleep, but I actually made it through the night without getting up.  I have been so sleepy today.  I hope it holds through the night again.  Probably going to try sleep without the melatonin and see what happens.

Rainy, cool, cloudy day.  The kind of days I like.  Makes me want to settle in, stay warm, and appreciate what I have.  (That sentence:  Rainy, cool, cloudy day.  Just seems like it should be rainy, cooly, cloudy day :)

Well, just one picture - of my cat, Phie.

September 4, 2011: Lip-Puckering Tart!

Long night last night.  I went to bed around 1.  Woke up at 2:30 hungry but was talking myself out of getting up for a snack.  Then I heard a squealing outside.  I knew it had to be Yet Man with a bunny.  I went downstairs, and sure enough, he had a little bunny at the back door.  I went out to rescue the bunny.  Yet Man dropped it, bunny took off, Yet Man went after it. 

There I am in my tank top and underwear on the deck trying to rescue a bunny.  Bunny took off; cat took off.  I hope the bunny got away.  Since I was up (and in the kitchen), I decided to go ahead and get a snack.  I got a piece of cold ham.  While I was eating it, I thought, what a strange paradox - I'm working to save the life of a bunny yet eating a pig! 

Meals were off schedule today, since I slept late (didn't get back to sleep until 6:30 a.m.). 

BREAKFAST:

A tofu smoothie in my new nifty and smaller food processor.  I had tried some strawberry "ice cream" last night (frozen berries and almond milk processed in the blender).  Strawberry just isn't as good as the banana.  I saved some of the "ice cream" and used that for the smoothie this morning.  Sure saved a little time.  I may have to pre-blend some fruit and freeze it for smoothies.  This morning I added some frozen tart cherries.  Yep...they sure were tart!  Good...but tart.

I had to work hard to keep from taking a nap.  My goal is to actually sleep through the night tonight.  I have no clue what's going on with my sleep.  The bewitching hour has become a frequent visitor.  I got some melatonin tonight.  I've never tried it, but I'm going to give it a go tonight.

LUNCH:

Pretty much what we had yesterday:  ham, five-bean salad, and some kiwi.  The kiwi was so pretty.  I sliced it, and it looked like hearts on the inside. 

Aren't phones amazing today?  I'm using my cell phone for these pictures.  I'm sure my good camera would do a better job, but the phone sure is easy.

DINNER:

We went to see The Help at The Kentucky this afternoon.  Good movie.  Decided to eat out before heading home.  We like Rafferty's salad, so that's where we went.  I got a salad with oil & vinegar and potato soup.  Good....and enough.

Went to Meijer's to pick up a few items before going to the movie.  We used one of my new totes - love it!  I got these from www.reuseit.com.  They have hooks that go over the sides of the grocery cart.  Fill them up, check out, and refill the tote.  I think this is going to be easier than multiple reuseable bags - if they hold enough without crushing everything.  Meijer's carts are too wide at the front of the cart for the tabs to fit.  Don't know how I'll manage two totes, unless I use of the smaller grocery carts they have.  

Check out, remove the basket from the cart, and it collapses into a tote.   Just one of my efforts to be "green."  Another is using bowl covers instead of foil or plastic wrap.  I've had these covers for years.  I'm sure they're made of some evil plastic.  They typically don't touch the food, so I'm continuing to use them.  I've looked up patterns/ideas for making my own, but it seems it's difficult to find water proof/resistent food-safe fabric.  If you can't find these, a plastic shower cap would also work.  I just wash them with my dishes after using.  

SNACK:

We took a hidden snack into the movie....sshhhh!!!!!!  Some dark chocolate.  Dark chocolate has never been one of my favorites.  I like milk chocolate.  Dark is supposed to be healthy.  The "darker," the better.  It sure isn't sweet, and I don't want to overeat dark chocolate like I would milk chocolate.  That's a good thing.

Do I need to say that I didn't exercise today?  Overly tired from lack of sleep.  Just didn't happen.

LOVE IT!

September 3: At It Again

Getting back on track.  This month's focus (now that I'm doing better re: food):  EXERCISE....but not today :)

I really don't seem to get so hungry any more.  That lets me know that often times I'm eating due to habit or cravings.  Today, though, after lunch (and it was a filling lunch), I had that empty feeling.  That makes me want to eat.  I didn't.  Well, except for a handful of cashews.  My grandmother always said that when you are feeling empty even after a big meal, you should eat some celery.  I've tried this in the past.  It does seem to work.  Since it's really not hunger that drives that search, the celery doesn't make you feel overly stuffed.  Maybe it's the satisfying crunch and chew of celery that works.  Who knows.  I should have thought of that today, but the cashews were handy and worked - and are healthy.

BREAKFAST:

Just a hard-boiled egg.  As I said, I wasn't feeling really hungry today.

LUNCH:

Phie checking out my lunch.

Quick lunch of a slice of ham, five-bean salad, and some tomatoes with olive oil and kosher salt.

DINNER:

We went to Captain D's (Gary's choice).  I did get fried country-style fish, but I only ate about 1/2 the breading.  Dipped the fish in some tartar sauce, but probably not more than 2 T worth.  Had green beans and corn on the cob to go with it.  I usually don't eat the hushpuppies - just not a lover of hushpuppies.  

SNACK:

An apple this morning, some sweet midget pickles and 3 brazil nuts this afternoon.  I think I'll make some strawberry "ice cream" before bed tonight. 

September 1: I DID IT!

Well, I gave up on the blog for a few days.  I figure no one is reading it.  I think I started feeling a little self-conscious about blogging.  I hear comments people make about those who blog...and those who read blogs.  Oh well.   They don't have to read mine nor do they have to blog!

What I found out is that I eat better when I blog about what I eat.  It's the accountability.  Crazy.  Accountable to - the internet? my "un"audience? the blog?  I guess it's just being accountable to me in a way that is possibly public.  I could easily lie about what I eat, but strangely enough, I don't!

Recap for the month:  I only had ONE COKE....and that was on day 29.  I think that is remarkable.  Day 29 was also when I went to Steak 'n Shake and had a patty melt and french fries.  Ooooh...bad.  Not really really bad - just not how I want to eat. 

The really bad thing is - tasting those carbs has just made me want more carbs.  I swear I am a carb addict.  Since that meal, I've had a small helping of potatoes, macaroni and cheese, some brownies, and a soft cinnamon-sugar pretzel.  Yikes!  WHAT IS IT ABOUT CARBS.  And by "carbs," I mean those processed, white-flour carbs.  Geez.

Well, tomorrow it's back to the regimen.  I'm proud of the month overall.  Had this been February, I would have been successful (February has 29 days!).   So, I'm counting this as a success.

Hayley read that a good way to eat healthy is to take pictures of what you eat and do a food diary.  I've done food diaries in the past.  That does help.  Taking the pictures helps a lot.  It helps tremendously to put it all out there on a blog.  Funny that it makes a difference.  I'll use whatever tool I can to stay on track.

Hopefully, the remainder of September will be full of healthy eating.

August 29

Went camping....and didn't blog for several days.  Figuring no one is reading this anyway....so....maybe....this is goodbye....maybe :)

August 23: Day 23 - Appeal

Doctor's appointment this morning.  Already had the blood work done, so I had scrambled eggs for breakfast!  Here is what I've figured out:  Serving food on a colorful plate makes the food so much more appealing.  Eating food is about more than just consuming the food.  We eat to be social, we taste, we smell, but we also want the food to look appetizing.  I've always said the best way to serve leftovers is on colorful plates with a fancy table setting!  I love the contrasting colors on a dark plate.

BREAKFAST:

Had those scrambled eggs along with some strawberries.  Ate my breakfast in bed.  Being served breakfast in bed would be the ultimate, but even making my own breakfast and crawling back into bed to eat it is sweet.  There's that appeal of being comfy cozy, relaxed, and not in a hurry that makes it nice.

LUNCH:

The eggs really held me.  I didn't eat lunch until 1:00 p.m.  I know this sounds awful, but I had salami for lunch.  Just ate the salami - no crackers.   Added some cherries (yep, bought more - organic on sale $3.99#). 

DINNER:

We went to Rafferty's for dinner.  We really like their salads.  I had a pork chop, salad, and fruit.  I was amazed at the amount of fruit I got.  Yumm. 

Already ate part of the fruit.

NOTES:

My blood work came back really good.  My doctor and I discussed the book I'm reading (Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes).  She thinks the information in it is valid.  It really (so far, I haven't finished reading it) advocates eating meat.  My "numbers" (cholesterol) have come down within a month of adding more meat to my diet and eliminating "whites" (bread, potatoes, rice, pasta).  The added benefit to this is that I feel full.  I'm not tempted to snack.  I'm not standing in front of the pantry or refrigerator looking for something to satisfy that empty feeling.  This book explains what happens to food once you've eaten it.  That knowledge helps me to choose more wisely.  It's a tome, for sure.  Six hundred forty pages!  I have it on my Kindle, so it doesn't seem so "weighty!"  Lots of information on research/studies over the years on diet and weight loss. 

Now, I may find out in three months that my blood work has gone crazy and my cholesterol is up.  My doctor doesn't think that will happen on this diet.  She says this diet should work, and I should lose weight - lose weight more slowly than other diets, but lose weight.  I'm hoping so. This goes against current thinking - high carb, low protein/fat.   This is so much easier to manage.  For one, I'm full and satisfied.  The other thing is that I don't have to figure out how many carbs I'm consuming.  I eat meat (no carbs) and vegetables and fruit (complex carbs).  As the book says (and other books have said), we typically don't over eat meat and vegetables - or even fruit.  It's the carbs we binge on - potato chips, cookies, candy, french fries, bread, etc.  Think about it - how many times have you pigged out on apples? 

My wanna-be vegetarian plan has just ridden out of town on the back of a bagel!...at least for now.  We'll see.

Kind of difficult to see, 

but she's drinking out of my glass.

Talking about appeal....my cat has two bowls of water in two different rooms of the house (upstairs and downstairs), but what appeals to her?  My glass of water.  This is one of the disadvantages of not drinking Cokes!