Spicy Flavor in a Tube!

Monday, May 16, 2011

So these days I'm finding it's easier to maintain my daily calorie count by limiting starches.

It's been a long time coming (really just in the 4 months I've been tracking food on the tracker....and BTW, I'm really digging the changes these guys made to it!). I've always loved rices (brown rice in particular), pastas, pizzas, breads, you name it. One of my hobbies is to make bread...my boys and I used to start out on a Friday night, proofing the yeast, making a sponge with the flour, letting it rise slowly overnight, kneading it the next day, letting it rise a few times, then baking it in time for dinner Saturday night....some weekends bread is all we would have for dinner!

But the price in calories is so huge!

So what I've started doing is to really toss in the vegetables....which I also love. Leeks and cabbages, brussel sprouts, sauteed spinach, broccoli, or zucchinis...yum, yum, double + yum.

Tonight we had some leftover meat. I weighed out my 6 oz portion (350 calories) and looked around the kitchen. Some rice in the fridge, a baguettes on the counter...100s of calories just waiting to be eaten.

Or I could toss in tons of veggies into the mix....which is what I did. Endames, spinach, some napa cabbage, and a little bit of broccoli. One of our new favorite ingredients are these tubes of herbs and spices from an outfit called Gourmet Garden.
www.gourmetgarden.com/us/homes/

They're awesome! Fresh basil, ginger, cilantro, parsley you name it, all in a tube where you can squeeze out a little dab of pure flavor.

So instead of the starch, I filled up a bowl with mostly veggies and 6 oz of meat and enjoyed the hell out of it.

Now the challenge is to find a suitable substitute for sweets!

Good night Spark friends

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

SAFARIBABE 5/17/2011 10:08PM

A little sweets is not a bad thing! If it weren't for my 1 fun size peppermint patty each day, my firm would be much smaller by now! Report Inappropriate Comment

BOBF15 5/17/2011 4:35PM

I use stevia to sweeten my cold drinks, it is a natural sweetener from the stevia plant, it also lowers BP, win, win, don't know if it will help the sweet tooth. You can also use it in baking, but I think it works best in cold drinks. Check it out. Report Inappropriate Comment

HEALTHIERKEN 5/17/2011 11:08AM

I've often looked at those tubes of spices and wondered if they'd be a good substitute for the dried. We always keep a little jar of minced garlic and one of minced ginger in the fridge. The tubes look as if they're the same idea but maybe more conveniently dispensible. Thanks for the heads-up :) Report Inappropriate Comment

BRADOS 5/16/2011 10:21PM

your tube of spices sounds great - I'll look for that thanks and have a great week GETSTRONGRRR Report Inappropriate Comment

The Day I've Been Waiting For!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

Well today is the day I've been waiting for for 5 months!

I rode my bike. For an hour. It felt great!

I picked it up from its tune-up at the bike shop yesterday on my way home from work (of course I was subject to a late night rainstorm on the way back, drenching it's freshly oiled chain and soaking my new lizard-skin handle bar tape! (not real lizard-skin for any reptile sympathizers out there, btw))

For those of you who don't know my story....hmmm, how far back to go? I'll take it back 9 months, that'll still leave some mystery and excitement anticipating future blog posts about my past.

I started riding bikes in September '10 after my supposed running injuries were diagnosed as bone on bone contact between my left femur and hip joint. I loved running. I came to it late in life, but really got into it. Marathon running into it. But that left hip and femur kept telling me to stop already. So I bought a bike and changed tribes. (this biker tribe wears much stranger clothing than the runner tribe, btw)

And then I began to love biking. I felt like a kid relishing his freedom, zooming down hills at 30 MPH, whizzing around corners, leaning heavily to the side scraping my foot on the road for stability, and standing up on the pedals pumping for all I was worth going up hills and bridges.

Then I had the surgery.

You see I had to have the surgery. There was no other way. My femur and hip had to have a buffer, they just weren't going to get better on their own. So in December, just before Christmas (I actually spent Christmas in the hospital...Feliz Navidad!) I had a hip "resurfacing" done and it was a miracle. I woke up in post-op and for the first time in almost 2 years I was pain-free. Of course I was also on morphine, but even so, I knew the pain was gone.

That's also when I joined Spark people. Recovery was supposed to take about 4 months. Four months of no running, biking, or any other aerobic activity that I had become accustomed to, so I had to do something or I was going to pork up fast. And Sparkpeople has been great...I've dropped lbs and inches while feeling great and meeting friends like all of you.

And now I can ride again! And it feels great!

I made a point of making this a joy ride. No heart rate monitor, no GPS, no worries about cadence, speed or distance. I was out there to move and enjoy the day. And I did. For a whole glorious hour!

So today I feel totally back to normal. All these weeks of spinning on stationary cycles have been great. But today I felt free, the wind rushing past my ears, taking corners at high speed, and the knowing I had the ability to go anywhere I wanted based on nothing more than leg power. I let out lots of victory cries, scaring the neighborhood dogs, but I could tell what they really wanted was to run alongside me. Maybe next time muttley.

It was a welcome break from this morning's travails as we start sorting our stuff getting ready for the movers this Thursday. But there's nothing like a good workout to make life's challenges easier to bear.

Good night Spark friends!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

JUNEBUG1944 5/16/2011 8:29PM

That is wonderful! I'm glad you're back on the bike (that's how I felt when I went back to Zumba the first time after my knee replacement) It is such a glorious feeling to know that you can do it and with no pain! Way to go! Report Inappropriate Comment

HEALTHIERKEN 5/15/2011 10:12AM

So--even deadmen can fly!!!!! Great blog Report Inappropriate Comment

BOBF15 5/15/2011 10:06AM

Remember the Steppenwolf song I sent you... This chokes me up, I so know this freedom, and for now, this may be a bit down the road. John Masefield wrote "Sea Fever" and embodies this same spirit. You are free my friend. I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by, And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking, And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking. I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied; And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying, And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying. I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life, To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife; And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover, And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over. Report Inappropriate Comment

REBECCATKD 5/14/2011 9:31PM

Excellent news! Report Inappropriate Comment

FANGFACEKITTY 5/14/2011 9:18PM

Most excellent, it has got to be a great feeling. Ride like the wind! Report Inappropriate Comment

SAFARIBABE 5/14/2011 7:56PM

WOOHOO!!!!! Sounds like you had a great ride!! Can't believe the move is already here! Where does the time go?? Keep on riding!! Now that you're mobile again (2-wheeler mbile that is) you should join that challenge I mentioned to you ages ago. Report Inappropriate Comment

Waiting, waiting, waiting....

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Ahhh travel.....people coming, people going, people talking loud on cell phones as they plant there butts right next to you at the gate.

So starts my blog for tonight. It's a rarity for me to whip out the laptop at the airport, but hey I'm delayed once again....go figure. I think the pilot must have seen a storm cloud on the weather forecast and decided to delay takeoff....or maybe a maintainer left his wrench on the engine intake....or maybe the flight attendants were late to the gate.....or maybe I'm just becoming a smart-ass cynic, but I keep staring out the window and there's no plane at the gate where a plane should be, how can I not be cynical?

But I'm glad this trip is over....they got their money's worth out of me this time. Smartest thing I did was to get up early and workout in the morning, because no way in hell did I have time during the day or night. Food intake was deliciously low these past few days, making up for the life of plenty last week.

So I'm on a pseudo-redeye (I get in around 1:00 AM), hightail it home, creep into bed without waking up SWMBO (it never works), then a full day tomorrow....and a full weekend it turns out.

You see we're moving this month. For numerous reasons beyond my control, we had to move our move dates up by 10 days. So now we have to start packing up the house next Thursday....or rather SWMBO is going to have to take that one on, because I'm tapped out at work.

Needless to say, I'm a deadman

I got us some nice hotel rooms while the packers box everything up, but I'm still a deadman for skipping out on this and am looking for all sorts of ideas on how to make it up to her (my snide remark that "Hey all that furniture you bought is getting delivered next week too" did not go over well)

But it'll all work out in the end....we've survived many worse things and we have plenty more to do before next Thursday anyway.

Of course my closer immediate goal is to see an MD-80 pull up to gate B6 here in San Antonio. Maybe if I give up my choice seat here by the gate and get a cup of coffee, they'll surprise me and pull up with a plane.

Ta-ta for now Spark friends!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

SAFARIBABE 5/14/2011 9:00PM

ROFLMAO! Hmmm how to make it up to SWMBO....that's a tough one. I suppose your head on a plate is a little further than you're willing to go? Just a guess. Hmmmm.....Weekly flowers for a month or so. AH! I know....if she packs it all...YOU unpack it all. Then she can sit on the new couch directing you where to put things -- 2 or 300 times before she's finally satified with each items new place in life!! That last one will seriously get you out of the dog house for like....years! Report Inappropriate Comment

HEALTHIERKEN 5/14/2011 12:17PM

I always enjoy your blog, GETSTRONGRRR : ) Best wishes on surviving your deadman status! Report Inappropriate Comment

NEEBREW 5/12/2011 10:21PM

Yikes... your life makes me tired just reading about it! How much of your life do you spend sitting in an airport? I'm so inspired by your dedication to keep working out and eating well under the hardest of circumstances. Good luck on your move! Renee :) Report Inappropriate Comment

Work more....eat less!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Well I learned there's one sure fire way to eat less.....work your ass off for 15 hours straight!

So I was smart enough to get in an early AM workout (started back up with the 100 pushup/200 situp/200 squat program...an ideal travel workout), because any hopes I had for evening gym time were dashed this morning when we looked at our schedule. We went non-stop all day while these yahoos brought us food "so we could have a working lunch" Thanks....I suggested they wheel in some aerobic bikes so next time we could have a "working work-out."

But I was able to limit grazing to fruit most of the day, with just a handful of peanuts & almonds mid-afternoon. I grabbed a frozen Healthy Choice dinner on the way back to the room and scarfed up a 300 calorie dinner while I got caught up on e-mail from work back in Florida that had piled up in my Blackberry.

But just like yesterday, it feels good to eat just enough to not feel full....the memories of last week's feeding frenzies are fading to black, with just an occasional shudder as I think back on plates filled to overflowing.

Good night Spark friends

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

BRADOS 5/11/2011 11:49PM

I agree with you - there is NOTHING like a busy day to distract me from snacking - have a good day tomorrow. Report Inappropriate Comment

SAFARIBABE 5/11/2011 6:03AM

WooHoo!!! Going for the Tri-fecta of fitness again! AWESOME!! Hope today is less meeting filled. I love the idea of wheeling in stationary bikes to meetings. Perhaps people would actually get things accomplished and stop pfaffing around just so they could get off the thing! It's a thought!! Report Inappropriate Comment

JENNSWIMS 5/10/2011 11:02PM

On occasion I have to do 16 to 24 hour shifts, so I can totally empathize. Way to keep a positive attitude about work getting in the way of your exercise program! Report Inappropriate Comment

UMUCGRAD 5/10/2011 11:01PM

Yep, it's all about today. Yesterday can't be undone, but TODAY is a fresh start. Good for you. And I love the wall. Snow covered mountains are gorgeous in photos. Wouldn't want to be on one though. Report Inappropriate Comment

There are only 2 times you need to work out

Monday, May 09, 2011

"I never regret working out, but I almost always regret not working out"

Those aren't just words to me. They're a constant reminder to fight laziness & complacency.

Well today was an uneventful travel day, which was good, because I'm evented up to my eyeballs from all of last week's activities. Got into San Antonio around 5:00PM (95 degrees here people!), checked into my room, changed into my gym clothes, stopped by a grocery store to pick up some water and fruit....then the mental battle began.

There I was. Bananas, apples, and an Asian Pear in my cart, avoiding the bread aisle, poo-pooing myself as I instinctively reached for a can of cashews (good God, I can't fathom the calories I'd have packed on with those), and went over to the frozen veggies to grab some Brussel Sprouts & Lima Beans to nuke in the microwave (why do all these things have place names; Asian, Brussels, Lima? Do I really have to capitalize them?)

Somehow it was almost 7:15PM and I thought...."Hmmm, could it be too late to go to the gym? Should I just get up early and go in the morning?" Madness I tell you.

I remembered the 3.5 lb uptick on the scale from yesterday, the trauma of blogging the truth, the gut-wrenching night I would spend tossing and turning in a lonely hotel room, cursing myself for failed resolve....and I drove straight to the gym!

And once on the bike...Voila! I was right where I needed to be! The tunes were right, the exertion felt great, and I realized that I really had nothing better to do tonight than to work out. So I enjoyed the ride and, as if to make up for my earlier psychic trepidations, decided that hell 'ya, I'll still get up early and sneak in a workout before tomorrow's day of meetings (another one of those all day presentations deals with tons of grazing foods at every break).

I already feel better eating under my calorie range for the day. Detox from last week feels good. I had forgotten how uncomfortable it feels to always be full (note to self, still need to blog about hunger). I don't think we were meant to feast every day.

So keep fighting complacency right along with me Spark friends....there's only two times you need to work out; when you want to and when you don't want to!

Good night!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

REBECCATKD 5/10/2011 10:54PM

Love the blog! My best strategy when the lazy side of my conscience starts groaning is to simply get up, get dressed, and get moving. The lazy side is still complaining until about five minutes into the workout when it realizes that it's lost the battle. As for blogging about hunger, I am there right now! (Fasting for a blood draw.) Report Inappropriate Comment

SAFARIBABE 5/10/2011 10:15PM

Now where were you with these sage words last week?? If you don't want to eat cashews (one of my faves) you might try raw, unsalted almonds...healthy oils, tons of fiber...and tasty too! Give me an oz of that over bran ANY day! WTG on getting in the workout! How do you find these gyms on the road?? Report Inappropriate Comment

HEALTHIERKEN 5/10/2011 11:10AM

". . . two times to exercise, when you want to and when you don't want to!" Great comment, great credo. Should tattoo that on my forehead so I see it whenever I look narcisissitically in the mirror and paint it on my bedroom ceiling so I see it first thing every morning! Report Inappropriate Comment

JONESINATOR 5/10/2011 12:10AM

I was feeling totally deflated after having a bit too much Kashi cereal this morning while catching up on some shows I missed during finals and thought about skipping a workout and taking a pass day. Nope! 23 minute HIIT session on the rowing machine! Made me feel great and curbed my hunger I often get at night! Report Inappropriate Comment

MMRB7111 5/9/2011 10:17PM

You were not alone today. I also had to tell myself that yes I was going to workout. Report Inappropriate Comment