Your stomach shouldn’t be a waste basket

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Today, I learned that too much sugar definitely affects me ... but not the same way too much wheat does. I ended up in a serious chocolate situation while sorting out the 15 thousand pages and schedules involved in MA and IN state part-time resident tax forms (yes, I know, serious procrastination, it happens). Anyway, I got my typical sugar-high issues, dizzyness, light-headedness, etc., and my stomach was fine, no issues with digestion or even feeling sick. However, I wrecked my blood sugar stabilization for the day, and spent most of the evening with low sugar trying to get off of the sugar fixes. It really is like a drug in my system. I go through withdrawal and crave it, insanity. Fortunately, I seem to be back on track now with a nice low-carb dinner and some sugar-stabilizing snacks and exercise.

I made an interesting bread substitute tonight. Ground up cooked black beans and shredded cheddar, mixed it with egg, and poured that flat onto a pan and cooked up a nice crispy flatbread with it. Bill agreed it was good. I'll have to play with those more, make flat"bread" low-carb pizzas and tostadas.

Now, onto this week's menu plan. The workout plan is the same as last week, I like it. I'm also repeating week 4 of hundredpushups.com because I only did it twice last week (but my max was 20!), only using the second column this week. I also bought some new 15-20min cardio DVDs from Border's, 50% off all DVDs, so I got 5 workouts for $15. They are Denise Austin, who I have another DVD from and don't hate, so she will do just fine. Anyway, menu plan:

Monday: Ham, asparagus, and sundried tomatoes in bechamel sauce with a salad (low carb)
Tuesday: Bacon wrapped chicken stuffed with tomato, basil, and mozzarella, crispy potatoes, veggies (not sure what yet)
Wednesday: Black bean pizza on a polenta-crust and a salad
Thursday: Chinese General Chicken with collards and broccoli and asparagus
Friday: Asparagus and kale spaghetti chicken alfredo and salad
Saturday: BBQ pulled chicken (going to finally thaw and use one of my frozen chicken quarters), with buns, mashed potatoes, veggies
Sunday: Camper's stew, ground turkey and vegetables and rice

Next week I will be out of town so I also need to think of things to plan for Bill for then. If I crockpot-cook the chicken quarters, then I will have cooked chicken to leave him. I also have some frozen burritos, and I could make some extra Camper's stew and turn it into a Shepherd's Pie, that's 2-3 of 4 meals right there. Woohoo, meal plan done! I plan to eat the same things I have for lunches (hummus and veggies, yogurt and fruit, homemade bran/Fiber One bars, cheese pieces, nuts). Hopefully, my little off-plan bits this weekend weren't destructive to my weight, but I'll find that out tomorrow. See you then!

  

We should consider every day lost in which we have not danced at least once.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

I made hot cross buns for church tomorrow. Gluten-free, vegan, and other allergen-free hot cross buns. They look pretty good, I will have one tomorrow. My husband never heard of hot cross buns before I made them today. He never even heard the song, which I have known forever, but he had also never seen the buns anywhere. I had never eaten one before, but I've seen them in the supermarket. I'm not a big Easter person, but I like things that match up, and hot cross buns go with Easter! My crosses are yellow though, because the frosting was made with orange juice, and it was a dingy yellow so I brightened it with some food coloring. They look really good!

I ate mostly good today, except I had a whoopie pie from the local shop, homemade! I like a small cheat now and again, and a single whoopie pie is way better than the box of cookies last weekend (although $0.79 more expensive! See, cheaper to be fat!). I had to do my food shopping today because with Easter tomorrow the stores are either closed or open funny hours, and it wasn't worth figuring out. I found a great deal on Fiber One bars today, they were 4 boxes for $6, and I had two $1 off coupons and one $1.35 off coupon. Less than a dollar a box, which is less than a quarter a bar. Woohoo! I bought other stuff too, but nothing else I recall right now as important or exciting. More cheap strawberries and blackberries, and some basic stockpile items.

Today I also cleaned out the fridge and blanched (boiled briefly) and bagged and froze asparagus, broccoli, kale, and collard greens. My freezer is now stocked. At least I may not have to buy vegetables until the farmer's market reopens in May! I also aquired a loas of empty,cleam glass jars to put things in like yogurt, applesauce, canned tomatoes I haven't used, salsa, etc. They were from freecycle, sometimes I do really well with freecycle!

Tonight I made a yummy chicken based on a recipe I saw in a magazine. I had thinly sliced chicken brests, and made a mix of sauteed spinach, parmesan, and greek-style plain yogurt which I rolled into the chicken. I then baked the chicken rolls. Once they were done, I cut them into slices, laid the slices flat, and spooned crushed tomatoes on them and topped with mozzarella cheese and baked and melted the cheese. Bill said it was good, yay!

I should throw a fiber one bar in my purse for tomorrow after/during church just in case I need it, choir starts at 8:15 and the service isn't until 10!

I also continue to work out daily. Tonight I did 10 min of basic cardio, 10 min of continuous circuit of 20 of each: mountain climbers, crunches, dips, and squats, and then 10 min of tabatas using kickboxing moves, and 5 min of stretching. Whew!

  

Think highly of yourself because the world takes you at your own estimate

Friday, April 10, 2009

I read something yesterday that I really liked. It was about negative self-talk and weight and eating. Essentially, we tend to treat ourselves terribly, and in ways that we would never treat other people especially those we love. We should love ourselves, therefore telling ourselves how awful and ugly we are is just wrong. Also, telling ourselves we are bad for messing up, or how awful we are, or feeding ourselves huge things of ice cream and cake. Really? Would you tell your mom how awful she was for eating that extra piece of cake and then shove a thing of ice cream at her? No, of course not, I love my mother, and that would hurt her. So, why do I do it to myself?

Therefore, the new plan is to put positive self-talk into action. I am no longer trying to lose weight and I can no longer eat bad foods and I am never stupid or awful for screwing up. I am trying to get lean and toned. I am eating healthy and having a healthy relationship with food. I can have a plan, but always have the option to make a change later. I love myself, and therefore want to be the best person I can be, and everything I do is the best I can be.

I am also trying to more effectively use positive visualization. I want to feel like what a lean body and positive relationship with food feels like, because I know it is better than feeling like I need to scarf down every morsel of food I see like it is my last meal (which is how I currently tend to feel). Today, we are having a small pizza party at work. Last night, and this morning, I visualized looking at the pizza, grabbing one veggie-filled slice. Enjoying every bite slowly, and then feeling satisfied. I felt that feeling. I imagined the sensation of pizza, and then the sensation of looking at pizza on the table and feeling complete, and not like I need more pizza. I am about to test it out.

I can be positive! I can be lean! I can be healthy! I can enjoy my food without letting it control me!

  

The good ended happily and the bad unhappily. That is what fiction means

Wednesday, April 08, 2009

So, I've been a little behind in the blog. Sometimes, life happens. I'll back up a bit. First, my great-aunt died. Yes, I knew her and had met her on many occassions, and more importantly I knew a number of her children and grandchildren (my second cousins), but this wasn't an personally impacting death for me. However, since she died in Troy, NY, and I was 2 hours away in MA, it made sense for me to go to the funeral, especially since my parents couldn't (visiting the sister in CA). We drove out on Friday night after work, meaning not getting home between, and had no internet/computers until we got back on Sat afternoon. I also definitely ate way too much. I did okay Friday night, except that I bunch a bunch of candy and ate that, then ate way too much at the post-funeral lunch, then we got home and found the dishwasher had flooded the kitchen, joy! So we got Chinese for dinner, a lot of Chinese. Then on Sunday, I succumbed to a $1 pack of cookies (10 cookies) while shopping, so I ate those and the remaining Chinese. I pretty much ended up feeling awful both Sat and Sun nights. Yuck. I need to continue to remember that food makes me sick BEFORE I eat it.

Continuing on with my life, I got back on track with eating and such, but had a choir rehearsal on Tuesday that cut me close to dinner and forced me to make most of Tuesday's dinner on Monday, essentially destroying all my blogging time. Never fear, I've been eating well and exercising for three days very well, minus some extra chocolate. I'm still working on the perfect homemade chocolate bar, and getting closer to creating it! My last version was solid, but not high enough cocoa, so I melted it down and tried to add more, we'll see if it stays solid. This one had a mix of powdered and granulated sugar, and I allowed it to cool to mix the fat back before pouring.

In continuing food news, mixing chopped apples and celery with a bit of plain yogurt and cinnamon is delicious. I also found blackberries and strawberries on sale and have been eating many. I found kale and collard greens on sale, and they are harder to eat, but I'm throwing them in dishes anyway. Tonight, I sauteed them with diced tomatoes and a bit of balsamic vinegar and oregano. Good, but still a bit bitter for Bill. He preferred them with parmesan on top. Maybe next week I'll cream the collards like spinach. They both cook into most of my dishes with no problem.

Tonight is my pilates, yoga, stretch night. I should actually do something useful for that. Maybe a combo set of yoga with a pilates mat section in between. Off to do that now!

  

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

NANCY- 4/9/2009 8:07AM

I'm so glad you shared the food news about apples and celery with a bit of plain yogurt and cinnamon. I'm going to have to give that a try. My usual is strawberries and walnuts in plain yogurt. Thanks. Report Inappropriate Comment

I think the next best thing to solving a problem is finding some humor in it

Sunday, April 05, 2009

No long story right now. It was a bad weekend for diet and exercise. Very, very bad. And I went to a funeral in NY. I'm very tired. I'm posting my plan for next week, and I hope to get back on track starting tomorrow for a good two weeks! I'll be more chatty tomorrow.

Menu Plan Monday

Mon: Chicken, rice, and broccoli and salad

Tues: Pad Thai

Wed: Ham and cheesy potatoes and salad

Thurs: Mexican casserole

Fri: Tarragon Parmesan chicken with asparagus and other veggies in cheese sauce

Sat: Chicken over minestrone stew topped with mozzarella and Caesar salad

Sun: Beef stew

Thurs-Sun are low carb for Bill.


Exercise plan:

Mon - am: tabatas legs; pm: bodyweight circuits + HIIT

Tues - am: walking/jogging; pm: upper + moderate cardio

Wed - am: tabatas arms; pm: yoga/pilates/stretch

Thurs - am: walking/jogging; pm: lower + moderate cardio

Fri - am: tabatas abs; pm: upper + HIIT

Sat - am: walking/jogging; pm: bodyweight circuits

Sun - am: OFF; pm: lower + moderate cardio