Food and Me

Hello!  Let's talk about food.

I love food.  It's a huge source of happiness and satisfaction for me, and it's how I like to spend time with people: cooking and eating.  It's also something I didn't know much about until after college.  I used to eat things solely because they were delicious.  Now I eat things that are good for me and delicious.

I've been fascinated recently about the origins of our food.  It started a couple years ago when I read a book called My Year of Meats.  It's technically fiction, but I am inclined to believe that the portion about cattle farming is pretty accurate to real life.  It really got me thinking about the quality of food I want to be putting in my body.  Well worth a read.

Then Andrew and I watched Food, Inc., a documentary as well as a book, on one of our stay-in date nights.  I still get chills about it and am extremely wary of ground meat and fast food joints.

Fast forward through more research and enlightenment, and I am more into being selective about the ingredients in my food than ever before, more into portion control and monitoring (hey - I know better than anyone it can get away from you!) and generally being more mindful.

It's a long time in coming, but better late than never!  Recently I lost about 18 pounds, and while most people who know me would say it's because I'm running so much -and yes, that's part of it- the real reason I was able to shed the weight was my new consciousness of food.  I don't diet - I'm not grudgingly eating salads every night or trying to get by on nothing but raw vegetables.  Instead, I'm just paying more attention, and it's paying off.  You bet your sweet ass I'm going to Brave Horse Tavern for a pretzel whenever I feel like it!  When I tell people this, they want to know what I eat on a regular basis.  So, I took a picture and now I'm going to tell you about it.

I love bread.  I'm not cutting it out.  I'm also not cutting out cheese.  In fact, I eat bread and cheese nearly every day.  Establishing a sustainable way of eating is more important than cutting out things just for the sake of losing weight.  If suddenly avoiding beer or cheese is the way you plan to lose ten pounds (and don't get me wrong - you will! easily, too!), well, get ready to gain it all back later when you're not feeling so gung-ho about the diet. Take it from a lady who knows.

A fantastic no-fuss dinner for me might be this:

• homemade whole wheat pita, which I throw on my George Forman to warm up
• an ounce of soft goat cheese
• five or so cherry tomatoes cut in half
• a zucchini sauteed in a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkled  with a little salt and pepper

It's filling, fresh, and delicious, but not heavy.  For you carnivores out there who might say you wouldn't feel like you're getting enough protein without meat , is twelve grams enough?  That's right. Might not seem like it, but meat isn't your only source of protein.  Meat is delicious, but it's not essential and I don't feel the need to make sure it makes its way into every meal.  I am not saying meat makes a person fat - I'm just saying that paying attention to the ingredients you choose opens up a lot more culinary possibilities in getting the nutrients you need rather than relying on meat as your protein crutch.  And no, you're not going to be hungry later in the evening after you eat this dinner because you just had 12 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber.  You're set.

Running 'Round the Lake and Other Adventures

I went for a run around Lake Union today and snapped this photo at my halfway point.  The sun on my face felt as amazing as this photo looks.  It's days like these that almost make me forget how much I hate the winters here.  Truth be told, though, I felt like hell the whole way around the lake, trying not to puke because I was running so hard.  Being nauseated while running is not awesome, but it was totally worth it.

When I got home I decided to take a go at crock pot marinara - cooking from scratch for the lazy girl.  My kinda cooking.  My aunt gave me a mini slow cooker recently and I'm making it my mission to use the heck out of it.  I've tackled cheese fondue, but something about marinara seems more practical for daily life.  So my plan for this marinara is to layer chopped raw ingredients into the crock pot and keep it on low all night.  Here's what's in it before I tweak it tomorrow morning:

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 chopped onion
5 cloves chopped garlic
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil leaves
2 Tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
1-1/2 tsp sea salt
8-10 chopped roma tomatoes
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp honey

I needed a little something to get me out of my slump, and refocusing on the two things that helped me drop 30 lbs in the first place, running and nutrition, seemed like a good bet.  I'll check back and let you know how it came out.

Update on May 18: I woke up in the morning to the extremely powerful smell of onions.  I mean whoa.  It looked good when I gave it a stir, and I decided to take the immersion blender to it for a few seconds to lightly puree the ingredients.  The taste was meh, so I added another tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and a quarter tsp of ground black pepper.  It's still bubbling in the crockpot today while I'm at work.  Hopefully when the liquid cooks down a bit it will have a nicer richer flavor.

The Bread Recipe

I made another loaf of bread last night so Andrew could have sandwiches for lunch and toast for breakfast.  I'm still tweaking the recipe, but this is the best one so far:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp sea salt
1 egg
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp honey
1-1/4 tsp yeast

I use a bread machine so I literally just pile all of the ingredients in the machine and press a button.  I don't know any special kneading techniques and can offer no advice, other than to get a bread machine.  It's a big piece of equipment, but might be worth the storage space if you think fresh baked bread is important in your life.

Even if you only like white bread, making your own is a trade up from buying sliced bread.  Yes, you're still using refined flour, but what you're avoiding is more important: additives and preservatives to prolong shelf life.  Ew.

Natural Sweet Alternatives

image via Seattle Weekly

Last week I wrote a post about the scary findings in my sugar research. My friend Mina pinged me to ask if there was a natural sweetener I could recommend when you just have to have something sweet.  The short answer is, in the quantities that the average American eats sweets, nothing is really that great, but after looking into it, I determined raw honey and 100% natural maple syrup are the best.

Here's my disclaimer: my research is limited to reading studies and reports done by other people, so unless I find a way to do my own molecular experiments on food, what I know is subject to what other people say.  It's topical.  I'm not a nutritionist and I don't have a doctorate in this stuff - just a passion to find out for myself what's what, and share my discoveries with you.

Well, folks, I have a good read for you:  Kristen of Food Renegade posted yesterday a rundown of natural sweeteners (and impostors).  I consider her an authority on the matter and I highly encourage you to pop over and take a look.  It's a pithy and informative guide.  Also worth reading are the comments below and Kristen's responses.

Sugar: Your Frienemy

image via CBS News

Sugar is like those mean girls in junior high and high school; they're sweet and seemingly harmless, then one day you learn how hurtful they can be.  You think sugar is your friend - she makes everything you eat sweeter and more fun.  Then you make the mistake of crossing her and suddenly she makes it her personal mission to destroy you.  There's that day when your eyes are opened and you suddenly realize sugar is not your friend.  My day came April 13, 2011.  That was the day I learned what a bitch sugar has been to me and to my fellow Americans.  And we let her.  For years.

Last Wednesday the New York Times published an article by Gary Taubes titled, Is Sugar Toxic?  I read and reread it.  I sent it to friends.  I talked about it to co-workers.  It's like a light bulb suddenly went off in my head.  All the pieces fit together, like that moment in Usual Suspects when Kujan discovers he'd had  Keyser Söze in front of him the entire time.

Then I watched the video lecture by Robert Lustig referenced in the Taubes article titled, Sugar: The Bitter Truth.  Sugar isn't just about empty calories leading to malnutrition and a calorie excess (though it's that too), it's about sugar actually actively poisoning your body.  Here's how Lustig and Taubes broke it down for me: sugar comes with an evil ring leader and a side-kick.  Fructose is your true adversary.  Glucose, the other component of sugar, is just along for the ride.  While glucose is metabolized by every cell in your body, fructose is sent straight to your liver (your poison processing center) where, if it's over-inundated, it basically goes into survival mode and the excess poison (fructose, this case) is turned into fat.  Visceral fat, actually - the stuff that clings around your organs and clogs your arteries.

100 years ago we didn't eat nearly the amount of sugar we do today, and it's no wonder our nation has seen a spike in heart disease, cancer, obesity, and diabetes.

image via Perfect Health Diet

Today we eat over 45 lbs of sugar a year.

image via NYT

This is in addition to four gallons of high-fructose corn syrup.

image via NYT

Want to know something else interesting?  The difference between the harmful effects of HFCS and regular table sugar is negligible.  It's true.  Sugar is 50% fructose, 50% glucose.  HFCS is 55% fructose, 45% glucose.  This does not mean that HFCS isn't as terrible for you as you thought.  This means that sugar is worse for you than you ever imagined.  Gives me chills.  How 'bout you?  I, for one, am feeling sick just thinking about how I've been unwittingly slowly killing myself for years.

Before having learned the breakdown of exactly how sugar destroys your system at a cellular level, I knew it wasn't great and was looking for ways to cut back, mostly for vanity reasons: I want to be thinner, I want to have nicer skin, blah blah blah.

A friend suggested agave nectar as an alternative to refined sugar, the philosophy being it comes from the agave plant and is a natural substitute.  So I bought some, and I loved it.  I was replacing any call for sugar with agave nectar.  I even went out and bought it in bulk.  I imagined the plant being tapped much the way we tap maple trees to get maple syrup.  I felt good about making the change to get away from sugar.

Then I got educated.  After reading up on sugar I thought, "hey, I wonder what the molecular makeup of agave nectar is."  So I did a little research.  There are no hard numbers, but I did come across a lot of product-sponsored websites praising the stuff, and several health-centered (non-commercially-motivated) websites debunking what the perceived health benefits are.  The most thorough article I found was written by Kristen of Food Renegade.  (Her blog is fantastic, btw.  So glad I stumbled upon it.)  What I discovered in this research is not only is agave nectar 70-90% fructose (depending on which product website is reporting), but it's also highly processed.  Basically it's what we thought HFCS was to sugar - it's much much worse.  Just great.  Now I have a giant jug of a veritable poison sitting at home.

So to conclude this rather depressing post on a lighter note, I'm going to take this new information and use it as a tool of empowerment to further research nutrition.  Being active is a huge part of staying healthy, but holding control of how we fuel ourselves is key as well.  I'm not saying I will never eat sugar again, but I will be making better-informed decisions about my food and be more aware of what's going into it than I ever have before.

Monday Night Dinner: Beef with Broccoli

This is coming to you a day late because of the President's Day holiday, and today is sort of feeling like a Monday.

I love broccoli.  LOVE.  If you're not a beef person, this also works with chicken or tofu.  The flavor comes from the marinade, which is not exactly vegetarian because of the fish sauce, but if you're the sort of veggie that allows yourself fish, but this marinade on your menu.

Ingredients

Asian Beef Marinade:

• 1/4 cup dark sweet soy sauce
• 1 tsp fish sauce
• 1 Tbsp ginger paste
• 1 tsp concentrated garlic paste (or two minced garlic cloves)
• 1 Tbsp sugar or agave nectar

Other Ingredients:

• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 cups broccoli, chopped
• 1 lb beef flank steak

Directions

Whisk all marinade ingredients together and set aside.
Cut beef into bite sized pieces, toss in marinade, and let sit while you attend to other things. Make sure the meat has been fully coated with marinade.

Heat half the oil in a wok or large saute pan while you chop broccoli to your preference. Add 2 cups broccoli to heated oil and cook for 2 min or until cooked but still firm. Set aside in serving platter and repeat with the second half of the oil and remaining 2 cups of broccoli.

After the broccoli has been set aside, add beef to the pan, using a slotted spoon. Cook until browned, but not tough. Maybe 3-5 min.



In a small soup pot bring marinade to a boil, turn off heat and set aside.

Pour beef and sauce over broccoli and serve.

Serves 4

Coffee Revamp

I finally figured out how to help myself out with my coffee situation.  For many years now I have been addicted to hazelnut flavored Coffee Mate.  It is just so delicious.  I know it's not good for me, especially in the quantities I have been enjoying it.  Well, I'm changing my ways.

Here's my new coffee off choice:

6 oz hazelnut flavored coffee made in my mini french press
1/4 cup 1% organic milk
1 tsp agave nectar

It's only 56 calories in an entire mug, as opposed to an 8-oz short lowfat latte with no syrup from Starbucks, which is 110 calories (still not bad) and there's nothing on the label you can't pronounce.  I really enjoyed it this morning and I think I'm on to something.

Confession: Chili and Other Setbacks

image source

I fell off the horse.  I've not been monitoring my calories, and waaaay over eating.  I know this, because I feel like crap right now.  My tummy is screaming at me.  Here are the things I let derail me:

1) Andrew's birthday was Feb 6 and we celebrated all week with multiple special birthday dinners with friends, family members, and the customary romantic dinner at a steakhouse on my dime.  I took this opportunity to treat the week as though it were my birthday.  Not good.

2) This past weekend Abby and I took our moms with us on a weekend away in the San Juan Islands where Abby made fresh-baked bread, her mom made scones topped with her own freezer jam, and my mom kept the wine flowing.  Despite the 13 miles I covered over the weekend, it was not enough to come out ahead calorie-wise.  Also not good.

3) Most recently, our office threw its second annual chili cook-off.  Eight competitors, including myself, entered their best recipes.  First prize is not much more than bragging rights, but we get a great turn-out because we have many accomplished home cooks who know their stuff and like to go toe to toe.  It's a peer-voted blind taste test, so each "judge" must taste all chili versions in order to really make a fair choice.  I am very thorough in my research prior to casting my vote.  Granted, I had maybe only 3 tablespoons of each kind, but it really adds up when you think of how rich a chili can be.  And one word: beans.  Needless to say I'm hurtin' right now.

So with all of those confessions out on the table, I'm kind of relieved that I won't be able to give you a stats update tomorrow.  Instead of weighing myself tomorrow morning, I'm getting up super early to run from my house into work.  It is a long story, but come March 1 I will no longer have my wonderful garage parking spot in my office building and so I'm testing out different commute options.  I do have a bike, and I know the bus route, but I think running the 3.9 miles from home to work is my top choice.  When all is said and done, it will be 7.8 miles total.   I know I can do this, because I did an 8-mile loop on Guemes Island on Sunday after taking a wrong turn on one of the island's four roads and ended up halfway up the length of the island instead of running along the south shore like I'd planned.

Wish me luck as I'm trudging up the east side of Capitol Hill tomorrow.

Monday Night Dinner: Cajun Beans and Rice with Chicken Andouille and Wilted Greens

Again, this is a quick and easy meal that uses pre-cooked brown rice.  I make rice on the weekends when I actually have the 45 minutes to wait while it cooks and then use it throughout the week.  Makes eating healthier a lot easier when you have it on hand.

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 package (4 links) andouille chicken sausage (or 1 sweet potato, peeled and sliced if you're going vegetarian)
• 1-1/2 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 tsp cajun seasoning
• 1-3/4 cups (1 can) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups Swiss Chard, chopped in 2-inch pieces
• 1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar

Directions

Slice sausage crosswise in 1/2-inch thick pieces.
Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a large pan and cook onion, garlic, and sausage until browned.
Add cooked brown rice, black beans, and cajun seasoning.  Reduce heat to med-low.  Stir occasionally to make sure it's not burning to the bottom of the pan
Rinse and chop chard and add, wet, to a separate pan, cooking on med. When slightly wilted, add 1 Tbsp cider vinegar and 1 Tbsp olive oil.  Cook until tender.
Serve together: rice mix will be quite salty and rich, needing the tannic greens to balance it out.

Serves 5.

My suggestion for making this vegetarian is subbing in sweet potatoes and a 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes for the sausage.  You'll get the sweet spicy elements that the sausage provides without the cholesterol.

Monday Night Dinner: Butternut Squash and Black Bean Tacos with Goat Cheese

image via

Tacos are a favorite meal at our house.  You don't have to do much to end up with a delicious taco.  Here's a tasty vegetarian option even my meat-lovin' man will eat without complaint.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups butternut squash
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 garlic clove
• 1/2 cup black beans
• 12 white corn tortillas
• 6 oz Soft Goat Cheese

Directions

Mince garlic, cut squash into 1/2-inch cubes, and toss together in oil and spices.
Preheat pan on med-high heat on your stove-top.
When your pan is hot, add squash to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally until slightly browned and pieces are cooked through.
Add the black beans to the pan and stir together until warm.

While the filling is cooking, warm your tortillas on a dry griddle on med-high heat so they are ready to go.  If you're too tired, just throw them on a plate and put them in the microwave for a minute or so.

Serves 4

Spoon about 1/4 cup taco filling into each of three tortillas and top with about a half ounce of goat cheese each.

Just look at all that fiber you're getting!  It really is a delicious meal that can be whipped up in a matter of minutes.

"You Decide."

Yesterday I got a card in the mail from my dad encouraging me to keep up the good work.  Tucked inside was the best refrigerator magnet of all time.  Does it get any better than Jesus shaming you into laying off the snacks?

I also got another five miles in yesterday at lunch.  Today is six, so wish me luck!

Update:  I was at my parents' for dinner the next day and my dad showed me the package this magnet came from.  It's one of four, and the package says on the front: "Dieting with Jesus - because that ass needs a miracle."  Beautiful.

Monday Night Dinner: Sweet Savory Pork Chops

image via

In my effort to be a more consistent blogger, I'm toying with the idea of having regular features.  Yesterday's peek into my ipod might be one, and a feature on what I cook to stay on top of my diet is another idea I have.  Eating healthily doesn't mean you have to cut out all flavor and it doesn't mean you have to cut out all fat.  It's really just about portion control.  Here's a meal you can make in a hurry on a Monday night, provided you've planned ahead a little.

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked brown rice
• 16 oz pork loin center cut chops thin
• 2 cups butternut squash
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 medium yellow onion
• 1 tsp bacon grease drippings (optional)
• 1/2 cup medium white wine
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp beef base (I use Better Than Bouillon)
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup apricot preserves
• 1/2 cup dried bing cherries
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions

This recipe works great with steaks, too.

Cook your brown rice ahead of time (you can do this the night before) and measure out 1/2 cup cooked rice per person. Reheat gently in the microwave or in a pot on the stove on low heat.

Heat 1 Tbsp butter in a med pan. I like to use my cast iron skillet. Try to stay away from teflon coated pans.
Thinly slice 1/2 yellow onion and add to pan; cook on med+ until slightly browned.
Remove onions from pan and set aside. At this point, if you'd like to add a little oil or bacon grease to the pan, go for it.  I like just a tsp of bacon grease, which is about 40 calories.  Cook your meat in the pan, 2-4 min each side. I like to rub the meat cuts with kosher salt on each side before cooking. While it's in the pan DON'T poke or move it at all. Once seared on both sides, remove meat to a plate and cover with foil. Pork doesn't take much to dry out, so you want to almost under-cook it and then let the endothermic heat of the meat continue to cook it through as it rests under foil. Steak is more forgiving, but I like my steaks rare, so I always under do it as well.

Add 1/2 cup white wine to pan to deglaze it and then whisk in 3 Tbsp tomato paste, 1 Tbsp beef base, 1/4 cup cider vinegar, and 1/2 cup water.
Add 1/2 cup dried cherries, 1/2 cup apricot preserves, 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon, and the onions you had previously cooked. If you like spicy, now would be the time to add red pepper flakes to your taste. Cook down for about 10-20 min.

Meanwhile, have your butternut squash in 3/4-inch chunks and saute them in your olive oil. Sometimes I like to add a little kosher salt and nutmeg, but it's up to you. Cook through, maybe 10 min.


Serves 4

Start with 1/2 cup rice on the plate, then add 1/2 cup of the cooked butternut squash right on top of that rice. Lean your meat up on your rice and put 1/4 of compote in the pan on the meat, and then garnish with a sprinkle of toasted almond slivers.

If you're looking at the fat content of this meal and freaking out, stop that right now.  It's only a third of your daily allowance, and if you've been eating sensibly all day, this is no big deal.  You can do this. 

The entire dinner (pork chop, squash, rice, compote, and nuts) is only about 650 calories, which is perfect for my goal.  I have been eating about 275 calories for breakfast, 140 calories for a morning snack, 500 or fewer calories at lunch, get in a 600 - 850 calorie burn at the gym, have an 80 calorie post-workout snack, and then a reasonable dinner, aiming for a net of 1100 daily calorie intake.  It's totally doable, but takes some planning.

Recipe: Thai Turkey Lettuce Wraps

I've got a recipe for you.  It's a good one.  I adapted it from the Everything Thai Cookbook, and took it from fried eggroll form to healthy lettuce wrap with just a few minor changes, so the integrity of the recipe and its deliciousness are intact.  For my vegetarian friends, I think it would be just as delicious if you subbed in barley or chopped tofu for the turkey.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced crosswise
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 large carrots, chopped
• 2 cups chopped celery
• 1/4 cup fish sauce
• 3 tbsp raw sugar (regular white granulated sugar is fine too)
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp green onions, sliced crosswise

Directions

Heat veg oil in pan on med heat.
Add sliced garlic and turkey meat and cook through.
Add carrots, celery, and green onions and turn heat to high.
Add remaining ingredients and cook for 5 min, stirring occasionally.
Drain out any remaining liquid and reserve in a bowl for dipping.

Serve with iceberg lettuce leaves to eat taco-style.
Feeds four.

And Now I'm Back.

Hello.  I'm still working out and watching what I eat, just nothing seemed update-worthy as of late.  Namely because I gained back about three pounds and now I'm in a holding pattern.  I think I need to get back to two moderate workouts a day and just force myself to get up early in the morning to make it happen.

I bought my wedding dress today.  It looks great, but I still want to kick that extra 10 lbs before I get fitted for alterations.  I guess that's just double motivation for be to do what I know I need to do.

Running seems to be my thing, so I'm going to go with that as my main exercise still.  I'm also going to start wrapping up half my sandwich (I'm a sucker for sandwiches, especially if they are grilled) and setting it aside for the next day.  I can get by on less, I just love to eat delicious food.  It's all a matter of retraining myself.

My challenge for the next month:  work out 6 days a week, and at least two of those days will be double work-out days.

Taco Night on the Dock

Ok so abstaining from alcohol hasn't really been happening, but I've been successful in cutting out Coffeemate entirely and cutting waaaaay back on my salt.  So far today I've had about half the recommended sodium intake and I've already eaten breakfast, morning snacks, and lunch.  Go me.

This photo is last night's dock picnic (we ended up not opening the Rainier (pronounced "rah-nyay," if you're fancy... or "Renoir" if you're Andrew and classin' up the beer even more) in favor of wine out of plastic cups).  It was a fantastic balmy evening on the dock - perfect for sitting out in our shorts and chowing on gourmet dogs.  We decided, shortly after this picture was taken, that the following evening (tonight) should be a dock potluck.  I am currently slow cooking some pork for tacos.  Our guests are all bringing a taco topping.  I love taco nights.  Taco taco taco.  Taco.

I'm a Salty Dog

I stepped on the scale this morning and I'm down another three and a half pounds from when I pouted about my weight, making it a total of 5.5 pounds that I've lost in just a couple days.  Looks like that excess salt came with a lot of excess water weight.

Yesterday was my first day of not additionally salting anything, and according to the Daily Plate, I was still over my recommended sodium intake by about 350mg.  This might sound like a fail to you, but when I looked back over my nutrition intake from the last couple weeks, I was averaging about 1000mg to 2000mg over my recommended dosage.  Some select days I was up to something like 4000mg of sodium in a day.  Yowza.

Today is day-three of no Coffeemate.  I had two cups of French press coffee, black, and not an ounce of me wanted to break down and buy creamer.  My two slices of peanut butter toast may have had something to do with that - the peanut butter was sweet and creamy enough that it almost felt like I needed the black coffee to cut the richness.

Tomorrow evening I leave for Sacramento for a friend's wedding.  Wish me luck in staying on track!

Coffeemate and a Check-In

This morning I woke up and I was a little sore, undoubtedly from yesterday's spill.  I don't feel like running today.  I'm not gonna.  I'm tired and my ribs/everything hurts.  I feel like it's hurting more as the day progresses.

Today is day-two without Coffeemate, and so far I'm not really missing it.  My co-worker Jeff calls it "white death."  I have to admit, that was part of my decision (maybe the nail in the coffin) to give it up.  I think I might be able to go cold turkey, but I'm not going to commit to that route just yet.  I think I need a full week of success before I call it out as a sustainable goal.

So I've been getting Jillian Michaels' e-newsletter, and one of her articles was How to Take Off Those Last 10 Pounds.  Her advice is simple, direct, and not at all what I want to do.  But I'm going to try... at least a little.  I drink plenty of water and I work out (but I guess I could more), and I try to stay away from processed foods, but the drinking and the salting are where I definitely over-indulge.  I am going to try really hard over the next several weeks to cut down on both A LOT and see how I feel.  I typically eat about twice the recommended sodium in a day, so this will be an interesting experiment.

Monday Update

I ate a lot and drank a lot this weekend.  I also played outside a lot.  I think it all evened out.  This morning I got up and ran 3.5 miles before work.  Tomorrow I'll be back at the gym for an early morning step 'n' sculpt class.  10-year reunion, here I come!

Balancing Indulgences

Sometimes it's ok to drink 4 glasses of wine in an evening.  Sometimes it's ok to have little extra snacks outside of meals.  Probably best not to do both in one evening.

Jump Start with a Detox

[source]

I decided to buy some supplements to help me get back into the groove.  I feel gross from everything I've put in my body over the last week, so I went online and bought Jillian's detox and cleanse system.  It's a no-fasting detox program, which I feel is more realistic than those programs that don't let you eat and then suggest a beverage of maple syrup, lemon water, and paprika.  I'm not quite sure if this is legit, but even if it is a placebo it'll help me get my own results, right?  It's set to arrive next week.  I'm excited and a little nervous.

Have any of you ever done a detox?  What about supplements?  This is totally new to me, so I'd love to hear your wisdom and/or opinions on such boosts.