Decision

Well.  It seems I have a dilemma. I was all set to go to Wicked in December, but then found out that Sting will be in town November 6th.  I know I would enjoy either one. The tickets cost about the same amount (too expensive to do both, in other words). Jeff & I have seen Sting before, which doesn't make me want to see him again any less. Wicked has two songs that I already know I love, and the potential for more, plus a story.  Sting has a gazillion songs I already know I love.

I.
Don't.
Know.

Week 34

0.16% lost this week.  That's not a whole lot.  But it's lower than I was last week, and the lowest weight I've been in a long time. That brings my average over the past 4 weeks to 0.82%.

The past week had a lot going on.  We went to the Renaissance Festival on Friday (spinach pie and half an apple dumpling a la mode, but I dodged the Fish & Chips bullet, and declined the roasted almonds), which was a lot of fun.  The kids had never been, and really had a good time.

Saturday. we went up to my stepbrother & sister in law's annual potluck.  Ohhhh, deadly good stuff there.  The highlight for me is that he fries the best beer-battered fish & onion rings.

On Sunday, Jeff & I went out to breakfast. It wasn't as decadent as the previous week, but it was still a big breakfast (eggs, home fries, two sausage links, two strips of bacon, toast), and not the smartest choice after the previous two days.  If we go to the same diner again, I'll stick to oatmeal.

But the biggest factor wasn't any single event.  The battery on my food scale died over a week ago, and I just got a new one yesterday ($6 for one battery, ack).  I don't think I'm very good at guesstimating amounts yet, so having the scale back is helpful.

I'm not thrilled beyond words with my progress this week, but I am satisfied.  What if I don't hit that goal I set for myself?  Then I don't hit it, and keep going. The "keep going" part is more important to me than any one moment in time. 

Hair Results

It's pretty much just what I asked for, but also not quite what I expected. I'm used to it being shorter when I get it cut, but I do think this is a good length.  Also, I think my hair has gotten a little wavier over the past few years--the "poof" factor has increased.  We'll see what happens when I get the curling iron out and try big hair again!

In all I like it, but am still getting used to it.  I definitely think it's softer and less severe, which is a big improvement.

Tamale Pie

aka, Mexican Shepherd's Pie.

It didn't turn out quite the way I planned.  Yeah, like that's such an unusual occurrence in my life. I got home from my second visit to the mechanic of the day with barely an hour before I had to leave again for work. (I realized after I got home in the morning that none of the things the car had been in for were actually fixed.  When I called, he said, "But the headlights work!"  "The headlights always worked!!!" Yes, they took care of it.)

Jeff was lobbying for take out, but I wanted to get that ground beef cooked, and we've all been eating too much junk lately.  So I amended a few things for speed and ease.  I didn't put in any cheese.  I didn't shred any zucchini. I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned (yeah, ok, that didn't actually save time but it did use up some tomatoes that would have otherwise gone bad). I mashed up the beans so they wouldn't be as conspicuous and would help hold things together.  I used less sugar in the cornbread topping.

Here's the final result:

12 oz ground beef
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic,  minced
1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1 can black beans, drained, rinsed and mashed
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
ground cumin
1/2 cup beef broth
3 small roma tomatoes, chopped
1 cup of corn niblets
Your favorite cornbread recipe

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 
2. Brown the ground beef.  Drain off the fat.  Add the onions, garlic & peppers.  Cook until softened.  Add beans, chipotle pepper and cumin to taste (chili powder would have been good here, duh).  Add beef broth (or water or other broth).  Remove from heat and stir in tomatoes & corn. 
3. Pour into casserole dish.  Mine was an oval about a foot long.
4. Make cornbread topping.  Use cornbread mix, or the recipe from the back of the canister, or your favorite recipe. Pour topping over the meat mixture.
5. Bake for 30 - 40 minutes, until top is nicely browned.

6 servings. 430 calories, 54 carbs, 16 g fat, 22g protein, 6 g fiber,11 g sugar per serving.

When I got home from work, Lauren met me at the door, raving about how good dinner was.  No one else mentioned it, so I know it was not a runaway hit.  What can I say?  Casseroles are always a hard sell around here.  I really liked it, and will have no problem eating it for lunches. 

Sugar

When I got my brace last week, the therapist mentioned that there are things I can do to heal faster/better.  Caffeine, alcohol and sugar all contribute to slower healing.  "Sugar?"  "Well, yeah, for diabetics." I'm not diabetic, but both my parents are, and I've heard several people talk about watching their sugar intake.

Although I don't always eat with health in mind, I do know how to balance things like calories, fat, fiber, protein, carbs, etc.  I have a pretty good idea of what a "healthy" day looks like.  At least, I thought I did.  Throwing sugar into the mix is a real challenge for me.  Never mind my affinity for the occasional dark chocolate bar; "hidden" sugar is killing me!

MFP's daily sugar recommendation for me is 27 g.  This morning, I had Cheerios with 2% milk and strawberries.  That's 15 g of sugar right there, most of it from the milk! 

I'm playing around with a Tamale Pie idea for dinner that will come to about 500 calories, 55 carbs, 20 g of fat, 27 g of protein, 5 g of fiber, and 15 g of sugar.  Not the greatest numbers; I'm going to keep tinkering with it to see if I can improve the fat and calories before I go to work. The sugars--ok, a lot of it comes from the white sugar in the cornbread recipe.  I got that off the back of the container, and I'll cut it by at least half. But the rest comes from the milk and the tomatoes.  Those are harder to cut out from this type of recipe. We'll see what I end up with an how everyone likes it.  I'll definitely post the results tomorrow.

Worrisome

A friend of mine runs a local Angel Food Ministries through her church.  Angel Food isn't charity, but it it dang inexpensive food.  I've gotten it a couple times, but not recently.  Though the price is really good, some of the food is processed, and there's more chicken than we usually need. Also, I've gotten pretty good at keeping our food budget low for the most part.  Still, it was nice to know it was there as an option for any lean months we might have.

Except it isn't there anymore.  My friend told me yesterday that AFM is closing, citing lack of funds. Her  husband is a manager of a local Kroger, and she said that she hopes they step up with some kind of similar offer.  Kind of a "savvy shopper" list.  It would be really smart of them, even just getting more people in their stores.

I do worry about how tough times are getting for so many people, especially when safety nets like this are disappearing. 

On a similar note, Sarah is participating in the Rock-a-thon at church this Friday night.  They're collecting non-perishable goods to donate the the Salvation Army. Her personal goal is 75 cans.  I told her I'd give her $20 and let her shop at Aldi to see what she can get, but that she needs to start hitting up the neighbors, too!

Tomorrow

Starts a new week.  A new, fresh start!  Very big plans, very much looking forward to it.

Renaissance Festival

Heh.  Today's food choices can best be described as excessive.  Not insane, but somewhat out of bounds.  Spinach pie and half an apple dumpling a la mode at the Fest.  I'm happy I didn't see the Fish & Chips vendor or the "Queen's Nuts" until after we ate.  They were opposite each other, so I dubbed it the "Alley of Good Smells." 

Kids had a great time, and we only got rained on a little at the very end.

We got pizza for dinner.  Hand tossed sausage & pepperoni has a lot more calories than thin crust veggie pizza--go figure! 

Week 33

0.63% loss this week.  My floating average over the past four weeks is 1.39% (had a huge loss 9/1, after some post-surgery water gain on 8/25).

This weekend is going to have some challenges for me.  Tomorrow, all of us are meeting a bunch of friends at the Renaissance Festival.  Woo hoo!  Kids have never been, and I've only been once.  I don't even know if Jeff has ever been. I got us some food coupons, because although I'd like to bring some fruit for us, I know we'll want to eat other stuff as well.  I'm pretty sure that there aren't many low cal options there. . . maybe all the walking will balance it out?

On Saturday, we're going to my stepbrother's place for their gigantic annual get together.  It's another potluck, with food I love that I don't typically make.  Less opportunity for walking there.  My strategy is to get one plate of food, with small amounts of the things I love, then find someone to talk to that is away from the food.  Out of sight, out of mind. I hope.

Today's plan: get ahead of the game.  Eat well, drink plenty of water, get a short Free Run on the Wii this morning, and walk during my break tonight.

The Next Step (marginally gross picture alert)

Yesterday, I got my cast off and got a brace.  It isn't nearly as pretty or interesting (it looks like I have carpal tunnel), but I'm glad to have it.

The surgeon said I'm "ahead of the game" and he's hoping I won't need physical therapy.  Whether I will or not will depend on how I do over the next three weeks.  I need to keep doing the "palm up" practice, but I also need to start "knocking on the door."  In other words, flex my wrist back and forth.  So far this isn't difficult--it's impossible.  And it's frustrating when I think I'm bending my wrist, then look down to see that it's still essentially flat. At any rate, I need to have the brace off three times a day, for about 10 or 15 minutes and work on those exercises as much as I can.

The surgeon did tell me that I flat out will not be able to move my wrist front to back as much as before. This morning, I realized that I should have asked why that is. Is it a factor of the plate itself, or just that the muscles & tendons won't be able to get back to that original point?

Now that the cast is off, I have an idea of what my scar will look like.  Really, it's not much.  Yeah, it seriously grossed the kids out last night, but in six months, I doubt it will be noticeable at all.  There was a lot of dry flaky skin that I thought was much more disgusting than the incision itself, and it looked worse from the compression of the brace than anything else.

It has been a little more painful without the cast.  There were a couple times yesterday that my wrist under my thumb gave me a sharp unexpected pain, and it was a little achy at night, but not too bad.  I've been able to ponytail my hair, but not really well, and the hard twisting motion needed for a bun is totally out of the question.  Luckily, I had a friend put it up for me this afternoon.  Since it's getting cut next week (the hair, that is), it hopefully won't be an issue after that.

Old Worries

OK, here's the thing.  Yesterday I wrote about my new goal, new motivation, etc.  What I didn't mention is the old baggage that it all brings up as well.

Pretty soon I'll be back down to the weight I was at when I got married.  I define "pretty soon" as "within the next six months."  I might not be there by date night, or even New Year's Day.  That doesn't bother me.  I know that eventually, I'll get there.

How can I be so confident?  Well, I've done it before, after all. Twice, in fact. Once for the actual wedding and then again about seven years ago. Getting there isn't the problem.  Getting beyond that, or even staying there, has been something I haven't yet been able to do.

I remember last time; I was so happy to get back into my wedding dress.  My stepmom took me shopping and I got quite a few new clothes. I felt really good.  So what happened? I guess I got bored, complacent, whatever.  A big part of me really can't understand how I let my bad habits creep back into my life.

So now, thinking about "wedding weight" makes me think of a finish line.  I get there and woo hoo!  I'm done.  Except NO, I'm really not. There's still ten more pounds to go after that just to get back to "overweight" instead of "obese," and 25 pounds after THAT to get back to where I think I was when I came back from Switzerland.  That still has me solidly in the overweight category, but BMI won't matter much to me once I'm at that point.

The very concept of being done, of "arriving," is a dangerous one anyway.  I need to make this permanent.  So I'm trying to think beyond that magic number, to other types of goals as well.  I'm going to do the 10K CropWalk next May.  I'd like to go for a Warrior Dash next summer. And although I do plan on getting some new clothes this fall, I don't think I'm going to get too many.  I do still have a fair bit in my closet that are like new, and I'd like to keep rewarding myself as I continue.

Back in February, I told my doctor that losing the weight wouldn't really be an issue (I don't think she believed me).  But really, as long as I'm in the groove and have that goal in front of me, it's easy to stay motivated.  It's after I've eaten the carrot that I have problems.  I think I need to find multiple carrots to dangle in front of my nose for the rest of my life.

New Motivation

My birthday is in a few weeks, and yesterday at breakfast (omgyumyumyum), Jeff asked if I had anything in mind for what I'd like.  Yes, there are a few cookbooks I'd like, a yoga mat, clothes would be good, but what I really want is to go see Wicked when it comes here in December.  Tickets for that aren't cheap, so it'll be a Christmas present as well.

(insert Snoopy Happy Dance here)

Wheee, date night!  You know what that means . . . new clothes!  Seriously, I am in need of new clothes.  Although I'm starting to be able to fit back into old clothes from the depths of my closet, most of my stuff is getting way too big and baggy.

One of the features of MyFitnessPal is that after you complete a day's food & exercise diary, it give you a "if every day were like today" message and a weight that you could theoretically reach in five weeks.  I've set up something similar on my own, figuring where I could be based on losing 1% of my current body weight per week. As it turns out, I've been averaging that almost exactly. Not that I usually hit that on the nose, but my floating average is right there.

So where does that put my projected weight for my date night?  At about the same weight I was when I got married.  Not my final goal weight, but a pretty darn good place.  Consider me doubly motivated to get out there and walk For extra accountability, I'll post my percentage lost every Thursday between now and then. And I'll definitely post a picture of whatever I find to wear. :)

Teriyaki

My love for Aldi is well known.  There are somethings, though, that I can't or don't get there.  They don't have Greek yogurt or buttermilk, and the fresh meat case leaves a little to be desired.  So when I go to Meijer (like Saturday), I tend to stock up.  One of the things I got this week was country style bone in pork ribs.  Not the leanest of cuts, but cheap and flavorful.  A marinade amps up the flavor even more.  One of my favorite marinades is teriyaki, which is super easy to throw together and very flexible (yep, another one of those "some of this and that" recipes).

I started backwards by putting the ribs in the zip top bags first.  It's much easier to mix if all the marinade ingredients go in first. I used low sodium soy sauce, ketchup, honey, garlic, ginger, and lime juice.  Later, I realized a shot or two of sriracha hot sauce would have been great.  After mixing the marinade together, add the meat (also works great with chicken) and stash in the fridge for at least a few hours.  Either grill (the far preferred method) or broil until cooked through.  I think they took about 20 minutes on the grill last night, but we did them in two shifts. 

Check out the technique here of keeping the coals heaped to the the inside and the ribs around the outside edges. (Jeff, not me.) This was the "second shift," which is why there are only four ribs instead of five.

Obviously, there are a LOT of leftovers.  Some are in another zip bag in the freezer for a later day.  The rest are in the fridge, waiting for me to decide their fate.  Stir fry or fried rice is the obvious choice, and that might indeed be how they end up.  But when I mentioned "BBQ" as an option last night, everyone's face lit up.  So I'll probably throw together some kind of barbecue sauce and maybe some cornbread with a salad.  I know--teriyaki pork leftovers turned into BBQ pork?  The teriyaki flavor doesn't compete here, but really does bring a lot to the party.

Sniff.

Summer's over.  How can I tell?

1. Those cool, refreshing salads I loved for the past three months aren't appealing at all.  All I can think about are warm, hearty soups. Potato, butternut squash, tomato, chicken noodle, lentil, here I come.
2. I bought Greek yogurt yesterday, which was my favorite breakfast/snack for ages.  It's a good thing I didn't get the bigger container, because when I woke up this morning, all I could think was, "Where's the oatmeal?" I need raisins.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Last spring, I was talking with a friend about having sweet potatoes with dinner.  She eagerly asked how I made them.  "Uh, throw them into the oven until they're cooked.  Peel the skins off and eat 'em."  She seemed perplexed.  "No marshmallows?" At Thanksgiving, but otherwise no.  "Brown sugar?"  Sometimes, if I make a mash out of them, but not always. "Maple syrup."  I might give it a try sometime, but generally we just eat 'em naked.  Oh, the kids generally add butter, but they're pretty much flavorful enough for us already.

Since the weather's cooled down, I've been planning to make sweet potato fries, but haven't gotten to it. I read an idea online somewhere to try roasting them with Asian flavors.  So for lunch today, I peeled and cut up a sweet potato.  I mixed up a tablespoon of low sodium soy sauce, a teaspoon of brown sugar, a clove of garlic, and about a teaspoon of fresh grated ginger. In a pinch, I'm sure I could have used powdered garlic & ginger. I mixed it all together, spread the pieces of sweet potato on my Silpat, sprayed them with cooking spray, and put it all in a 350 degree oven.  After about 20 minutes I tossed them around a little.  Then I decided they weren't cooking fast enough and turned the heat up to 400 degree for another 15 minutes.

I couldn't weigh anything (scale needs a new battery), so the stats are approximate, but it's about 350 calories, 65 carbs, 4 g fat, 13 g protein, and 10 g fiber. 

It turned out pretty good, but there's room for improvement.  The ginger was a little strong, and I'd like to throw in some other flavors, like lime zest or Chinese five spice powder. Also, some additional oil wouldn't hurt, as they were a little dry.

Stay Home Soup

Today, I teach four classes at a homeschool co-op.  That's great, but I not only miss dinner at home, I leave way too early to eat here at home. It's not a solid four hour block, either.  Then take a 45 minute break in the middle for dinner, and there is an hour or two that I don't have class before my last one.

What do I do to kill that time?  I thought about going for a walk. The building is at a church out in the middle of farm country (a corn field is right next to the parking lot), so it's a dirt road. It's been raining lately, and if the road is muddy, it'll be slippery.  I'm a hazard to myself on regular pavement--any more negative conditions rule that option out. I could stay in and read a book. I don't know anyone there well enough to plan on being chatty, so bringing something is a good idea.

What about dinner? The temptation to head to McDonald's is very strong.  Say what you will about their food, but when the fries are fresh and hot, there's nothing better. So I need something tasty enough to counteract the pull of the fries. 

Soup to the rescue!  Yes, really.  Don't be hatin' on soup, y'all.  Warm, hearty and comforting is nothing to sneer at, especially when the weather takes a turn for the "how can it be so bleeping cold when it was 95 degrees a week and a half ago?" That it's quick and easy to make is just gravy, so to speak.

Normally, I would start with two slices of bacon, diced.  But the hassle of dealing with floppy raw meat while in a cast is more than you might think, and today, I can't be bothered. Put 1/4 cup diced onions, 1/4 chopped celery, 1/2 cup chopped carrots, 1 cup of diced potatoes, a clove of garlic, and 2 cups of chicken stock in a pot.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the potatoes are soft.  (At this point, I sometimes get fussy and fish out the carrots so they stay chunky, but that's not necessary at all.) Use an immersion blender to smooth things out to your desired consistency. I like it with a little texture, which is why I sometimes keep the carrots out until I'm done with the blender. Today, I was in a hurry, so my soup is rather orange from the carrots, which doesn't bother me. Sometimes I add some milk, but not always.  Check for taste.  Depending on your stock/broth, it might need salt. Black pepper is a must; sometimes hot sauce also makes an appearance.

Stats: 196 calories, 44 carbs, 2 g fat, 8 g protein, 7 g fiber. The protein is a little low, but I'm taking some almonds with me to help round things out. I think I'll throw an apple in, as well.  Works for me!

Misc

I put the leftover chicken stock in the freezer today, thinking we weren't eating it fast enough.  The high tomorrow might hit 61.  Guess what's for dinner?

I managed to put my hair in a pony tail on my own today--this is a bigger deal than it seems.

I need to find a copy of The Shining in German.  I have an ESL student who checked it out of the library and I need to be able to translate some stuff that is over my head.  The first line, for example . . . I hope she finishes it before our class time is up.  At this point, she's only a few pages in and thinks that going to the Overlook is going to be great for the Torrance family.  It was all I could do not to say, "Have you ever even heard of Stephen King?  His whole schtick is things NOT ending well!"  I wonder if reading it in German will make it less scary for me?

The girls started Book Club at the library last night.  The book they got to take home was a graphic novel of Coraline, and all they were talking about (with a friend who rode with us) was how scary it was and everyone they knew got nightmares from it.  I made a point last night of singing Lauren two songs before bed and giving her an extra long back rub, and she seemed to be ok. :)

Stylin'!

So I've got this fluorescent pink cast--pretty eye-catching, but still plain. Can't have that, can we? A friend of mine does fabulous henna tattoos, so yesterday we went over to her house (my girls love playing with her kids, so bonus there) and she took a brown Sharpie to it.  I love it! Boring, begone!

It looks like I don't have any fingers in the picture, but that's just the camera angle.  All is well!

Hair Help

Time for a haircut.  Actually, it's been time for a haircut for quite a while.  It's been at least two years since I got it cut, and it's gotten pretty long, well past my shoulders. It hasn't been this long since I got married, and even that was so I could wear it up/fancy.  Since then, I've had it either very short (when I was pregnant, I kept it super short so I wouldn't have to worry about it while throwing up), or bobbed to around my earlobes.  The bob looks nice (it really works with my hair type, which is very thick and pretty coarse), but I'm so bored with it I could scream.

I need something new, but I have no ideas what would look good but still be easy to deal with.  I am notoriously bad at fussing with my hair, except on the rare occasions that I go super curly.  That takes an hour and a half with a curling iron or hot rollers, so I don't do it very often, but it's Jeff's favorite, so I'd like to have that option at least.

Here's how it looks now: 

The side ponytail is not my first choice of style, but it has two things going for it:  it's off my neck, and I can do it myself. 

I'm guessing I'll need at least some layers, but not a lot.  And I can't stand that whole "pull the hair forward so it lays along the jaw" thing.  I need to be able to get my hair back, although I think I can deal with bangs.  Maybe side swept?

That's the problem--I have no real ideas beyond vague "I like this, I don't like that." I think it might help my stylist (whom I love) if I could come in with a specific idea of what to do.  Cutting my hair takes forever as it is; I don't need to add half an hour of dithering about what she should be doing to that.

So help!  I need suggestions, links, pictures, celebrity 'do examples, anything! I'm ready for "gorgeous" hair agsin instead of just "long" hair.

The Charge

Go forth into the world in peace. Be of good courage. Hold fast to that which is good. Render to no one evil for evil. Strengthen the fainthearted, support the weak, help the afflicted, honor all people, love and serve the Lord, rejoicing in the presence of His Holy Spirit.

This is my favorite part of our church service.  Not because it's the last part, but because to me, it really embodies what Christianity is all about. 

Today seems the right day to spread it around.