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! 

August 22: Day 22 - Fair Fair-Fare and Healthy After-Fair Fare

Gary and I got up this morning to go to The Kentucky State Fair.  Believe it or not, we've been planning this for the 20 years we've lived in Kentucky!  Every year we would say we were going, then we would decide it was too hot.  This year was in the mid-80s, thankfully.  But, since we're now older, everything we did was inside - exhibits!  We did venture out and walk to the horse barns.  

We were both remembering the fair when we were kids.  Riding the rides, staying all day, getting dusty/dirty feet, pigging out on fair food.  Well, the midway was little from what we could see.  We didn't even walk by the rides.  We remembered standing in line forever to get food.  Rarely any lines today - even for funnel cakes!  Our fairs (TN and FL) had lots of animals.  Apparently this fair only has horses, pigs, and goats to view.  I wanted to see all the different kinds of chickens and rabbits.  Also wanted to see draft horses.  Not there.  Maybe we're just too old for the fair :).

It was interesting to see all the different entries in all the categories from food to textiles to photography.  Loved the quilts.  

BREAKFAST:

We had leftover quinoa this morning.  

LUNCH:  

Never can decide mustard? or ketchup?, so I do both!

I can remember going to the Florida State Fair and having to get a Mac & Ivy's steak sandwich.  Yummm.  We really didn't see that much variety today.  Thought we would see all the funky fair foods - fried butter, for example.  A few things were there - like fried Kool-Aid, beef sundaes, maple/bacon sundae.  There may have been more of those kinds of foods on the midway.  Most of the cotton candy we saw was already bagged - no one spinning it while you waited. 

So, for lunch, I had a corn dog!  So blah, but I like them.

DINNER:

Got home, and neither one of us were hungry.  We just had raw veggies and dip....and some nuts.

SNACK:

I got hungry around 3 p.m.  I didn't want anything sweet, options were limited, so.....I had another corn dog!  We also bought some chocolate candy at a booth from South Bend, IN.  I got one piece of chocolate-covered toffee and one piece of chocolate-covered caramel.  Gary got some "turtles."  Well, let me tell you, they don't know how to make good chocolate candy in South Bend, IN!!!  This was the most bland chocolate, toffee, and caramel I've ever had.  There I blew my healthy eating ... and got lousy candy!

We picked up a bag of cotton candy to take to Eliza.  We all (Hayley, Paul, Gary, and I) thought it would be fun to see what she did with a cone of cotton candy.  Well, she didn't like it!  I don't think she liked the texture, but she also didn't like the taste.  Almost everything she picks up goes directly into her mouth.  Not today.  She had two hands-full of cotton candy, and only a couple times did she put it to her mouth!  Smart girl.

EXERCISE:

We were at the fair for 5 hours.  We only sat to eat and to briefly watch the mule/jack/jenney judging.  We figured we walked about 4 hours.  My dogs are whining right now.

NOTES:
I really thought I would want a funnel cake.  Fairs and festivals are the only time I even think about them, and I love them.  Today....really wasn't tempted.  I told Gary there must be something about waiting in line for 30 minutes to get one that makes them so good.  No lines today, so they just didn't seem as appealing!

We walked through the hall with all the vegetables that had been judged on display.  Now that is where I was tempted.  I so wanted one of those big, red, ripe tomatoes.  Gary offered to pocket one for me, but I thought it might not go so well!

Coke quilt.

D**n....it haunts me!

August 21: Day 21 - A Bit Conflicted

Cave Run Lake

Sleep, wonderful sleep, came last night; however, I was still tired today.  Don't know what that was about.  We had breakfast and watched the weather on the t.v.  Looked like the skies were going to be clear in the afternoon, so we headed to the lake at 2:00 p.m.  There was some discussion of a nap before, a nap instead, but we opted for the lake (Conflict #1 - lake won).  Glad we did.  It was a beautiful afternoon/evening.

BREAKFAST:

Daisy posted a quinoa pudding recipe she wants to try.  It sounded good; I had quinoa, so I tried it - sort of.  I had read the recipe a couple days ago and just went with what I remembered.  Didn't do the cinnamon or vanilla.  That would have been a good addition.  Still good, though.  We have leftovers for tomorrow morning.  I might add the vanilla and cinnamon when I warm it up.  (Quinoa, almond milk, strawberries, walnuts, a dash of sugar - all cooked together.  Not exactly the recipe, but kinda close.)

LUNCH:

Raw veggies before stir-frying.

I had thawed steaks yesterday and had them marinating.  Since I knew we'd have dinner on the boat, I grilled the steaks for lunch.  Stir-fry veggies in coconut oil (zucchini, mushrooms, onion, and tomato) was the side dish.  I haven't used coconut oil.  Good and bad reviews about the health benefits/effects.  I'm not a huge fan of coconut flavor.  I wasn't sure just how coconut-y the vegetables would be cooked in the oil.   A little too much of a coconut taste for me.  They were good, but I'd prefer them done in another oil. 

This plate doesn't look like that much food to eat.

The plate below, with the steak cut up, looks like so much more food!

DINNER:

We had our standby tuna and tomato for dinner on the boat.  It really was enough for dinner after eating steak for lunch.  We had olives to go with it.  I also had an apple.  Got the apple at Good Foods yesterday - Bourbon County (local) and organic.  Most tasteless apple I've ever had!  Lots of crunch but just no flavor.  Weird....and I have three more left to eat.

SNACK:

Well, Gary said since it was Sunday, we had to stop by McDonald's on our way home for a caramel sundae.  I couldn't say no to him :) (Conflict #2 - I lost).  Gary, though, gets a chocolate milkshake.  I don't think that will easily fit into a day of the week - Monday Milkshake, maybe?

I'm stuffed.  I don't think I'll have a bedtime snack.  In fact, I think I'm going to bed early.  Very relaxed after a swim in the lake and a nap on a rocking boat. 

Cut up raw veggies this morning to snack on this week.  The watermelon radishes (front) were strange.  Sort of bitter and spicey.  Don't think they'll be a favorite of mine, but I had to try them.

Our fruit bowl seems to be a bit conflicted (Conflict #3 - waiting on Gary to eat the chips and resolve the conflict!).