My Beautiful Sandwich, with pictures

Sun, 12 May 2013 10:26:31 EST

So, after I complained about the food options here, some people suggested that I eat the local food rather than try to live on an American diet in West Africa. In theory that is a good idea. And I do eat some local foods--chicken is a staple, pineapples, bananas. But Ghanaians pretty much live on yams, mashed into fufu, fried, etc., and rice. Both of which are hugely starchy and leave me feeling like I need a nap. And the local delicacy?

The Continuing Saga of a Girl and Her Knee

Thu, 25 Apr 2013 16:28:19 EST

I had another chiropractor appointment yesterday. She said my ankle was improved and that my knee was still "hot" but seemed better. It hurt still. A. Lot. But it does seem like it is more stable; I don't feel like I have to grab the arm of the couch to stand up.

So she did a whole other series of tortures to my leg, including what felt like her attempting to move all of the fat out of my inner thigh by gripping my leg and pushing all of the meat/fat on it off of my leg. Oww...

Me and My Knee

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 06:13:32 EST

So evidently my knee pain, which started a month ago and has gotten progressively worse, is not actually knee pain; it's ankle pain, and back pain, masquerading as knee pain. Who knew? Apparently I did something not nice to my ankle, maybe in Zumba, although it is hard to tell in a country where many of the roads are dirt and filled with holes and the ones that are paved are also filled with holes--I spend a lot of time accidentally stepping in holes and almost falling over.

So ...

Marketing

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 07:51:33 EST

I bought bananas, pineapple, avocado, coriander (that's cilantro to you in the States), tomatoes, onions (two kinds), rocket (otherwise known as arugula), lemons, limes, hot peppers, a dozen eggs, a couple of papaya (I don't like it, but the taxi driver I use all the time does, so I bought him some as a gift).

About 20 dollars American for two HUGE bags.

I complain about a lot of things her...

Deceptively Not Healthy Apple Muffins

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 06:52:52 EST

I had a house guest this weekend. Our school was sponsoring an athletic tournament, and since the teams in our league are all in other countries, when we have a tournament, pretty much everyone in the school opens up their homes to host someone. I ended up hosting a coach, a guy, so I laid in some beer, and got some chips, as well as fruit and cheese and bread etc. He was really nice, and of course, because of the small-world nature of this business, knew a bunch of friends of mine from pr...

Well, March was Kind of a Bust.

Mon, 8 Apr 2013 04:54:13 EST

I didn't lose any weight in March. I didn't gain any either, so I suppose that's something, particularly considering that I went on vacation to London for a week and ate my way through the city. All of that walking paid off for sure. But not losing any weight this month really messes with my plan.

The goal is 8.4 pounds a month, which would be 100 in a year, and get me to the top of my goal range. However, I have not made that 8.4 any month yet. I did pretty well in January ...

Home From London

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 10:15:32 EST

OMG I ate a lot!

Fancy tea with pastries and little sandwiches with the crusts cut off and clotted cream. (Clotted cream is amazing btw, my advice is just to not even go there.)

The food halls at Harrods are amazing as well. I cannot even begin to describe the yummy things on sale. We mostly bought tea as gif...

Blargh!

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 10:46:03 EST

My mood has not improved since my last blog. My knee still hurts, not my bad knee, my good knee; so I am going to have to make a decision about Zumba. I've been icing the heck out of it, and it's not terrible, but it cannot be good for it to not let it fully heal. But I love Zumba. It makes me happy, keeps me from getting cranky, and generally makes Mondays and Fridays better than the rest of the week. If I have to give it up I will not get any exercise done at all.

I know thi...

Out of Sorts

Tue, 5 Mar 2013 04:56:52 EST

I'm cranky. I have a headache. I went to Zumba yesterday and it was miserable. How can it be so great on Friday and leave me energized and happy and then on Monday make me want to vomit? I came home last night, drank some water, took a shower and made dinner, then fell asleep on the couch, dinner half eaten, and only woke up when it started thundering at 1am.

And this morning I'm still tired, even though I had about 11 hours. My legs are sore. Not from Zumba; they were so...

Stop it!

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 16:56:21 EST

Can I Have a Do-Over on This Past Weekend?

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 07:37:40 EST

This weekend was pretty much an orgy of eating. On one hand, I made significantly better choices than I would have a year ago, but on the other hand, three desserts at lunch, three days in a row, is not exactly the sort of choice that gets a girl into clothes from J. Crew instead of clothes from Lane Bryant.

I was at a conference at a local hotel for work. Like pretty much every conference I've ever been to, the hosts seemed to feel that sitting on a chair for eight hours was suc...

Four Weeks Until LONDON!

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 11:53:15 EST

I'm meeting my mother in London for my Spring break. It's her 75th birthday gift from my father, brother and me, although her birthday was actually last Summer. I'm super excited, one, to see my mother since I haven't seen her since Christmas, and two, I've never been to London; the closest I have been is 12 hours in the British Airways business class lounge when I missed a connecting flight on a trip from Bangladesh to Chicago.

We've been planning for months. We have tickets ...

30 Days of Vegan--What Have I Learned?

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 15:58:19 EST

Today is the last day of my vegan experiment. The only thing I ate that was not free from animal products was my calcium pills, and if I lived somewhere where it was possible to buy vegan ones I would have done so. West Africa is not that place, and I made the decision that getting the calcium was more important than following the letter of the law in that one instance. Other than that though, I was flawless.

What now? I am not ready to be a vegan full time. Even if I lived so...

Vegan Chocolate Cake

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 05:28:21 EST

The first day of my vegan experiment my students made me a birthday cake that I could not eat. I promised them vegan birthday cake sometime this month as a substitute. Today is day 30, so we had the cake to celebrate. It was super yummy, but not at all lo-cal. Still, it is nice to know that if I ever have to make a vegan birthday cake, I can whip one out in half an hour. 44

Reset my target calories---uuhh ohhh!

Sun, 3 Feb 2013 06:27:57 EST

I lost more weight this week, YEA ME! Which is super inspiring and gratifying, because I feel like I have really been trying very hard to not only eat vegan, but to get all of my nutrients and to stay in my calorie range.

So, you know how on your calorie page it reminds you that you should reset your target calories every 10-15 pounds? well, I've never bothered to do that before, but I've lost 24 pounds now, so I thought it was time.

And now I get over 200 calories les...

Gnawing Hunger in My Belly!

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 06:11:19 EST

The canteen is grilling chicken outside of my classroom window. I am on day 17 of my 30-day vegan challenge, and until today I have not really had any cravings for non-vegan stuff, but that chicken smells SOOOOOOOOOOO good. It's Wednesday, which means that we have a different schedule at school, and my lunch period is about an hour later than usual. So I am sitting here smelling grilling meat and unable to eat my lunch for another 45 minutes.....grrrrrrrrr

Vegan Day 14

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 15:43:34 EST

So last week I lost 6 pounds and was pretty sure that it was water weight, but this week I lost another pound, so maybe it's permanent loss? That would be nice. I am almost back down to my pre-Christmas weight. That is, if you count the Christmas season as starting at Thanksgiving, because I went off the rails then and never really got back on them.

I actually had people over for dinner last night, including my department head, who grew up in the Midwest in the 1960s and think...

Day 11 of My Vegan Challenge

Thu, 24 Jan 2013 13:31:29 EST

I wonder if this gets easier. Maybe it's because of where I live, and the fact that there are so few options available to me here, but damn this is tedious. Because pretty much everything at work is off-limits, and I am at work for close to 12 hours a day, I seem to spend most of my time at home prepping food to take to work. Make a vat of brown rice; separate it into servings. Cut up veggies. Figure out how to combine veggies and rice in a way that is appealing. Add beans. Make oatmea...

STOP!.............................. It's HAMATAN!

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 03:32:29 EST

No No No Silly, Not that! This!

One of the cruddy things about living in West Africa is the Hamatan, or Harmattan as it is called in some places. Hamatan is weather, specifically a dry, dusty season that happens somewhere between November and March, depending on where in West Africa you live. The winds come off the Sahara,...

Vegan Challenge Week One--6 pounds down! Can You Say "Water Weight"?

Sat, 19 Jan 2013 08:50:20 EST

One week into the vegan experiment, and the scale was down 6 pounds! Actually, I have somehow made my scale speak in kilograms and I cannot figure out how to set it back to pounds, so it really said something else entirely and I had to use the converter to figure out how much I had actually lost. (which kind of takes the WOW factor out of standing on the scale. I knew I was down, but not by how much. Maybe I need to learn to speak metric)

So I'm down. Quite a bit down. I'm no...

Duncan Hines Cream Cheese Frosting is Neither Cream nor Cheese. Discuss.

Thu, 17 Jan 2013 05:46:50 EST

So I was cleaning out the fridge yesterday and I found a half empty can of the aforementioned frosting, languishing behind the bottle of salsa. I have never really liked canned frosting, but someone had brought this to frost cupcakes at a cook out a few months ago, and I will admit to the occasional finger-full in weak moments.

Since I am doing this vegan experiment, I couldn't possibly eat it, right? Right? Wrong. There is no dairy in Duncan Hines Cream Cheese Frosting.* Th...

Honesty is Not Always Fun.

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 03:39:17 EST

I gained some weight at Christmas. I didn't track very carefully, and although I attempted to be moderate, I still indulged in many of the holiday treats that came my way. There were a few big family meals, cookie baking with my mom, a New Year's Eve blow out, and on top of all of the holiday festivities, I had to deal with being home and seeing friends, which meant breakfast, lunch AND dinner out some days.

I did a lot of yoga while I was home, and I walked everywhere, so even...

Green Things

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 11:24:37 EST

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This morning two of my colleagues showed up in my classroom with gifts of food. Now, teachers are notorious for inflicting baked goods on each other. There is always a birthday cake in the staff lounge, or an invitation to a happy hour or TGIF. In this case though, my gifts were green! Our librarian stopped by w...

Oh Look, a Birthday Cake!

Mon, 14 Jan 2013 09:17:11 EST

So, I got up, went to work, had my coffee black, ate a Lara Bar and an apple for breakfast and started my day. I had a healthy vegan snack of a banana and some peanut butter, and a container of homemade hummus and carrot sticks for lunch. I was good to go on my vegan adventure.

And then my second block class came in. My favorite class, my seniors who will jump through the highest hoops for me, who teach me song lyrics and talk to me about books and college and life. And they m...

Prepping for My Vegan Month

Sat, 12 Jan 2013 09:07:07 EST

So starting Monday I am going to attempt a month of vegan eating. I want to do it to kind of kick-start my new year, and to make myself think about exactly what it is that I am putting in my body. Just the preparations have been eye-opening; I cannot imagine how difficult this is to commit to long-term.

So vegan means no animal products at all--no eggs, no dairy, no honey, no gelatin, no anything that ever had anything to do with an animal ever. You'd think this would be pretty ...

I'm Thinking About a Vegan Experiment

Wed, 9 Jan 2013 17:02:02 EST

So I'm thinking of maybe going vegan for a month. Not because I have any particular moral qualms about eating meat (where I live, the chickens are so free range they follow you down the street). And not because I don't think I can lose weight on a more traditional eating plan, but because I think that being a vegan for a month will make me have to be way more mindful about what I am putting into my mouth.

I think it would be a good exercise in mindfulness to have to actually think...

The Difference a Day (and about 160 oz of water) Makes.

Tue, 8 Jan 2013 09:52:39 EST

I've spent the past couple of days on airplanes or in airports. I've eaten hotel breakfast, airport snack, and the multiple meals they give you on international flights, just to keep you occupied. I got back home and felt so gross. My face looked bloated and fat, and the ring I wear every day felt like it was digging into my finger.

I realized that in addition to eating a pile of crap, I had had almost no water--preferring to drink wine on the plane (it's medicinal!) to encourag...

2013~~Some New Rules

Mon, 7 Jan 2013 18:02:20 EST

So I'm looking at the clothes hanging in my closet. The clothes that I bought at the end of the summer, because they were on sale and I live in sub-Saharan Africa, where it is always hot. The clothes that are two sizes too small. I thought I'd be wearing those clothes by now, but no, I'm not. Instead, I am wearing the same old, one-size-smaller clothes I bought last summer when I was actually being a productive and successful eater.

I have at least 30 pieces of clothing that...

The Perks of Having a BFF Who Owns a Yoga Studio.

Sat, 22 Dec 2012 18:44:04 EST

I've gone to yoga three times in the past four days. I am going again tomorrow. It's a little over a mile walk to the studio, and then I can walk back, or catch a ride, or take the bus. I feel great, bendy, relaxed...this is a much better plan than going to visit the friend who owns the bakery :-)

I Just Want to Maintain This Month

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 08:32:20 EST

I don't think that's an unreasonable goal, do you? I don't care if I lose weight; I just don't want to add any. For me, however, all of the traditional treats of the season are only the beginning. Since I live overseas, when I am home my friends and family all want me to indulge in my local favorites, and to be fair, I want to too. Living in West Africa is not the most exciting place from a culinary standpoint, and my beloved Chicago boasts some of the best restaurants in the country.

My big fat........ego.

Tue, 4 Dec 2012 03:47:21 EST

I'm a really good cook. To be more exact, I am a really good baker. You know what that means, don't you? It means that there is always at least three pounds of butter in my freezer, that I currently have four different kinds of sugar in my pantry (not to mention the two colors of corn syrup and the molasses), and that when someone mentions that they will be dropping by in an hour, I meet them at the door with a fresh pot of coffee and a plate of cookies or muffins. My favorite possession ...

Where does it go?

Fri, 30 Nov 2012 06:38:46 EST

I weighed myself last night right before I went to bed. I normally don't weigh during the week, and these past few weeks I have avoided the scale altogether because I have been traveling and stress-eating. So anyway, I weighed myself, saw that I was up about a pound from my last weigh-in and went to bed, pleased that I was not up more, because I really thought that I would be up 5-6 pounds.

This morning when I got out of bed, I decided to step on the scale again. I am down four ...

In the past seven days I have thrown up in one US consulate, and cried in another.

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 08:11:18 EST

*sigh*

This is shaping up to be a banner month. I lost my passport in the Netherlands last week on a school trip. I had to stay back when the rest of the group got on the plane, and then went to the American consulate in Amsterdam to get a new one. Did I mention that several of us came down with stomach flu on this trip? It is really not fun to be sick in a strange country, particularly when you are in charge of a bunch of high school students, several of whom are also sick. G...

Heat Rash, Zumba, and a Reminder

Fri, 9 Nov 2012 04:27:11 EST

I have some sort of heat rash. It's not prickly heat, because I don't have those little zit-like blisters, but I'm pretty sure it is heat-related nonetheless. It's pretty much all along my bra band, which makes wearing a bra really uncomfortable and itchy (but at 38G, not wearing a bra is not an option 40 ) Ugh. I hate being uncomfortable.

I think I got it by not coming home and showering after Zumba earlier this week. I was SO hot by the time I walked home--uphil...

Safari!

Sun, 28 Oct 2012 18:12:00 EST

I just got back from October break. A few days at a work conference, and then some time on safari with friends. The conference was great--had some really good professional development, and saw some old friends--made some new ones too. And South Africa is AMAZING! It's beautiful, and the food and wine are cheap and fabulous. Unfortunately, safari means a lot of sitting in a Range Rover and looking for cool animals, not running around, and added on to the fabulous food.....well, let's just...

A reminder of how far I've come(Photo Update)

Thu, 18 Oct 2012 12:11:36 EST

This is such a long, slow process that I forget sometimes that even though I am far from being at my goal weight, I have come a really long way. Luckily I have a camera on my computer at school, and I can document the changes that are occurring.

The top picture is from last January, a few months before I re-Sparked, and I am probably 35-40 pounds heavier than I am in the second picture, which I took this week. I am looking forward to the end of the journey and looking at all of t...

Don't Yuck My Yum

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 15:19:32 EST

The first time I heard this expression was on some reality show; I can't remember which one. The person who said it, and she said it repeatedly, pretty much only ate salad on which she sprinkle multiple packets of Equal. Like eight packets. 29 Every time she did this, someone would comment on how disgusting it was. And she would reply, "Don't yuck my yum."

I was reminded of this today while making my own weird salad concoction. I eat pretty healthy most of the tim...

Another Rant About Food

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 06:03:41 EST

I just read a blog that kind of annoyed me. While I agreed with many of the things its author said, one of the central idea was that it is so much more expensive to eat healthy food than bad-for-you. I've heard this before, and I just don't buy it. Yes, it is certainly possible to buy Hostess Fruit Pies for 50 cents a piece, but who in their right minds is going to argue that that even constitutes food? In terms of eating real food, healthy food can be just as inexpensive as unhealthy foo...

Aporkolypse Now!

Sat, 13 Oct 2012 04:37:33 EST

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One of the things you need to do when you live in the developing world is take advantage of opportunities when they occur. If you see Rice Krispies in the store and you like Rice Krispies, buy them, because chances are, they will not be seen again for a year. I'm really lucky, because I have access to the Americ...

Imagine How Good I Would be at This if I Tried.

Thu, 4 Oct 2012 11:29:58 EST

I found a dress in the back of my closet last night, one that I bought a year or so ago, even though it was a bit too tight, and made me looks a little like a black sausage with a zipper up the front. It was super cute, and Michael Kors, and on a big sale.

I wore the dress a couple times last year, when I was on a roll with really tracking my points and was making real progress towards my goal. Then, my cleaning lady put the dress in the drier, and it shrunk a little, not too m...

Slowly But Surely

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 13:46:45 EST

How Many Times Can You Recommit?

Tue, 11 Sep 2012 09:34:57 EST

I've been a bad Sparky, a bad group leader, a bad friend, and generally just not very motivated. I have not gained any weight, but really, it hasn't been for lack of trying--I have had so much beer in the past month that I might as well invest in the local brewery. Sigh. It is very hard to balance having a social life with losing weight.

I am going to South Africa in about a month, and will see friends who I saw in July. In July they were all excited by how much weight I had los...

I Did Not Die in the Jungle, But I Wanted to.

Mon, 3 Sep 2012 12:27:21 EST

I spent the weekend in the jungle. Seriously. The jungle isn't all lions and tigers and bears oh my, in parts of Africa it is really pretty much just woods, or forest, or whatever you call large groups of trees with tangled undergrowth and creepy-crawlies. But for this city girl, it was jungle enough. (Scorpions! Millipedes! Big Spiders!)

We went to a camping/resort type place. Students had the choice of tents or dorm room-type accommodations, while teachers had double rooms....

AWOL

Wed, 8 Aug 2012 14:48:52 EST

I've been AWOL, missed me? The last month of being home, trying to see friends, eating out, saying good-bye, etc., were all just too much for me to deal with, and I decided that while I was still going to pay attention to what I ate, I was not going to track or blog or make myself crazy about what I was eating. So I let it slide, not in an "I'm-on-a-rollercoaster-with-no-breaks" kinda way, but still sliding.

Luckily, most of the things that I really want when I am home in the ...

50 Things About Me

Tue, 17 Jul 2012 12:16:47 EST

SEXBOBOMB borrowed this little "getting to know you" quiz from LBFROMBUFAD and I am borrowing it from her. Because what could be more interesting than a blog all about me? I'll repeat their words here as well -- if you want to steal it from me, be my guest, I'd love to get to know you better!

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
People always think I was named after Lauren Bacall, but my mother denies it. My father wanted to name me Miriam Louise, so I guess I got lucky.
...

Thank God for Tevas, or How I Ate and Drank My Way through NYC and Didn't Gain Any Weight.

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 15:07:26 EST

So I went to NYC for a workshop this week. I am madly in love with New York. I'm from Chicago, which I firmly believe is the most beautiful city in the world, but there is something about the energy in New York which is not duplicated anywhere that I have been. I can spend hours roaming the streets, people watching, sucking in the culture and the sights.

And it's a good thing I like to walk in New York, because I also like to eat in New York. I like smoked fish, and black and w...

LULUBELLE65's SparkPeople Blog

Because I'm Worth It.