One Step Forward and Two Steps Back

I am so glad I decided to set December goals and not let it become a total free for all. For breakfast, I scrambled two eggs with a cup of frozen spinach and some turkey sausage. I was surprised how simple and delicious it turned out to be. That will definitely be happening again.

A couple of months ago my husband and I went to my college homecoming. We were given these coffee cups. My husband is not a hot beverage drinker at all. I occasionally will have tea or hot chocolate. So the cups have been sitting on the top shelf in the cupboard ever since. Yesterday, I had a sudden epiphany - I bet I could use the coffee cup for water in the car. Who knew coffee cups were so versatile?? So 12 oz. of water can easily go with me to work. I have about a 15-20 minute commute each way and I can easily add 24 oz. of water to my day.

Now it is time to play with the broth I made the other day from my rotisserie chicken leftovers.  For this soup I simply a bunch of sliced Brussels sprouts and carrots. I had a little left over dry pasta in the cabinet, so I decided to throw in too.

I made the soup in the morning before work. This is the beauty shot that I took right after I made it.

And this is how my "soup" looked by lunch time. The pasta had sucked up all the broth. It was still tasty but not soupy. Next time I would use less pasta and maybe cook it before putting it in the soup.

I saw a great tip recently for chicken soup. Chef Alex Guarnaschelli recommended adding the cooked chicken right before serving. I can't tell you the number of times I have added the chicken early and it became pretty flavorless with a unappealing texture. I used some of the rotisserie chicken I had removed from the bones before making the broth. Adding that chicken right at the end allowed it to retain its deliciousness and texture. A vast improvement!

I have about a quart and a half of broth left. I put one quart in the freezer. The partial quart will be the base for my next soup experiment.

After lunch I headed out for a walk. I almost didn't go because I forgot my Garmin watch. Seriously? I can't walk without it? I overcame that minor lapse and used my cell phone to check the time. I will never know how far I walked, but I am okay with that. I was just happy to be outside walking again after several gray days and marching in place at home.


It was trash day and I had to do some dodging of empty cans.

 I also indulged by love of fire hydrants. I love the subtle style variations and the weathered paint.

Apparently this is the season to trim trees (not only in a decorative way). I saw a couple different companies working in the neighborhood. I found this one's slogan amusing. "Our business is pretty shady."

 Attention purple lovers - how pretty are these little berries?

I wish this picture had turned out a little better, but you get the idea. This yard was filled with metal butterflies.

 I am a little worried about this retaining wall. I wonder how much longer it can last.

 I have always thought this is a funny shaped tree, but appreciate their decoration :)

 One of my favorite parts of a walk is when I finish. No, not for that reason. I like the way I feel - thinner, stronger, healthier.  Some days I wish the feeling would last longer. Yesterday it bottomed out when I was scrolling through the pictures I had taken for the blog. I was horrified at one picture I had taken. I am not really a fan of having my picture taken, but have been much better about it for the sake of a realistic blog portrayal of my life. I much prefer to be behind the camera.

In this picture, the camera had actually been taking my picture instead of what I had wanted (another hydrant I believe). It was the most unattractive picture of my squinting into the camera screen with about a million chins. When the sun is bright there is a glare on the phone screen and am never quite sure how the picture will turn out. I can't tell you how bad that stupid picture made me feel for the rest of the day. I could feel my fat everywhere. Although, I like to think I am open on this blog, I will not be sharing that picture. I deleted it immediately. Hopefully only the FBI could find it (if my phone were involved in some terrible crime) and even then, I hope they are distracted by all the ridiculous Google searches I have done.  Anyway, it is inexplicable to me that when I am looking out on the world through my eyes I feel like a normal sized person, who at times is even cute. But then a picture or noticing how much space my hiney takes up on the couch can instantly crush that more positive self view. It that really what I look like when I am not trying to strike a flattering pose for a picture??

Unfortunately, that feeling doesn't fuel my motivation very well. Last night it had quite the opposite effect. I made several poor choices, which only lead me to be sad and angry. I had had such a great day start to the day (see above food and walk.) I know I am not alone in these feelings. I would love to hear how some of you get yourself through some of these feelings without adding to the "problem."

Reading back, I hate to have even written the above paragraphs and considered deleting them. It embarrasses me. I am not looking for sympathy or people to reassure me that I am cute. I just want to be real about my struggles. And hopefully, when I come out on the other side my sharing will help the next one to overcome.

And today is a new day....I am already at 30 oz.of water,  I have had one fruit and one veggie with breakfast and I have my shoes for a lunch walk (oops I forgot my watch again, but now I have proof I can walk without it, so no excuses!) 

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DECEMBER GOAL ACCOUNTABILITY

 

December 3

5 Fruits/Veggies -  1 c spinach, orange, 1/2 cup Brussels sprouts, 1/4 c carrots. 1 c. Brussels sprouts/butternut, 1 1/2 c. broccoli/peppers/onions
100 oz. water - 100 oz. (on the nose)
Next best choice - I was pulling out of driveway and remembered I meant to take my walking shoes to work. There have been other days when I just said forget it. This time, not only did I go back in for the shoes, I didn't grab the cookie I wanted on my way back out.

November Turns to December

A final wrap up of our holiday weekend. I did my Black Friday shopping on Wednesday. I saw that flannel was 75% at Joann's. The sale ran from Tuesday through Saturday. My sister and I spent a couple of hours combing the racks. She makes cute flannel PJ pants for Christmas and I am always looking to increase my stash for baby blankets. At one point we had two cart loads of bolts. Thankfully, I was able to narrow mine down. I buy two fabrics for each blanket to make it reversible. I try to stick to the rule of not buying unless I find two I want to put together. I might have bought a couple this time that I didn't match because well, I just couldn't stop myself.

We ran into Sam's Club. I am looking for food storage containers to use to store a few things for my niece (and myself). I love the pint/quart containers our local Chinese restaurant uses for soup. I couldn't help but notice something odd on this sign. Check out the difference between the soda prices if you buy the pizza combo or if you buy the hotdog combo. Why?

I didn't join the early morning Black Friday shoppers. I did finally venture out around 6 p.m. on Friday. I didn't buy anything interesting. However, I did happen to be in Walmart when they marked down their chickens for the day. I ended up buying this cheap chicken. We had a nice chicken dinner.

The bones went into the stock pot this morning with carrots, onions and celery to make some delicious chicken broth for my soup adventures. I am thinking of the Brussels sprouts and how good they might be in a soup, maybe with some rice...

This was a first for me. I have never bought veggies you steam in the package. I love snap peas but my husband is not a fan so I took this package to work. They were delicious.

Saturday we had a grand adventure with my niece. We kinda failed in the aunt/uncle department for her birthday this year. We could never decide what to get her. Well, six months later we finally celebrated. She wanted a day with us just having an adventure...so sweet.

We decided to take a short road trip and just poke around the little towns we came across. Our final destination was my husband's hometown (until he was three). Our first stop was lunch at a little family owned restaurant. I brought this candle with us so we could celebrate and sing happy birthday to her any time we ate. Despite pictorial evidence to the contrary, my niece is not a sour cream freak. We actually ordered her sour cream on the side, but then they inadvertently put it on top as well as brought it on the side. They ended up making her a new batch without sour cream and my husband and I ate the sour cream batch. So much for a small lunch.

We weren't planning dessert at this place, but after the owner saw our little celebration (and the sour cream incident) he sent over this brownie sundae. It was so nice and made the day a little extra special.

We weren't planning dessert at the first stop because I had seen this soda fountain online that I wanted to try. I was so excited to be sitting at the counter watching the girl make the sodas. I was taking this picture when she says...ummm this one is just an ice water. Ooops!  That was a little embarrassing. 

I made sure she was actually making my husband's root beer float before I took the next picture!  I love how it worked out getting my husband and niece's reflections watching as she made the float.

And this is my float in the making....a Green River. It is a lime soda with vanilla ice cream. It was good, but we all agreed we should have all just shared one float.

They shop had tons of Coca-Cola memorabilia.  We found these signs in the restrooms. Apparently Coke relieves fatigue....

But our favorite was the "ideal brain tonic".  I am not even sure what that means!

One of our favorite road trip activities is the Photo Safari. I have a basic list and then try to tailor it for the area we are driving through. #49 a used candle...of course, I knew we would have one by the end of the trip :)

We walked around the town square of my husband's hometown. His parents both grew up and went to school together in this tiny town. They built their first house here then moved when my husband was three and his brother nine. It was my first time visiting the town.

When his maternal grandfather (the town blacksmith) passed away they planted this tree in the square as a memorial. It has had quite a growth spurt since 1981.

I had to check out this shop. It was perfect. We ended up chatting with the owner who had gone to school with my husband's parents.

I could have parked myself for hours looking through all the books.

I should have bought this one about the Stalker Skunk.

We also visited the cemetery where his paternal grandfather is buried. This is not his gravestone, but I was intrigued by all the details included - I see a tree stump and an anchor. Makes me curious. Unfortunately, it was cold and rainy, but if we go back again I want to examine it a little more closely.

I love when people make fun things out of scrap.

We walked around another town square on our way home. There is so much character in those old courthouses.

I think this train is going to run out of track soon :)

Love, love, love these paintings on some of the old buildings.

I was a little disappointed that most of the shops were already closed by 3 p.m. I thought for sure places would be open until 5 p.m. at least since it was Small Business Saturday. I was stunned by the hours at this shop!  As we walked up the the owner was locking up the shop :(

Okay, so that wraps up November and now it is time to move into December. I have been thinking about how to handle the holidays. I am not doing well by any stretch on my eating. I think I would be setting myself up for abject failure if I try to go hardcore during December. However, I seriously can NOT afford to gain any more than I have.  I have decided on three goals for this month. These are in addition to my ongoing Jedi exercise streak....15 days until The Force Awakens.

1) 100 ox. of water per day
2) 5 fruits/veggies per day
3) Make the next best choice

That's it nice and simple. I am going with an "adding" approach instead of a "subtracting" approach. I will let those goals help me define my food choices. Last summer when my ladies group had these goals it made a difference in my overall eating since I was filling up with good choices making less room for poor choices. The "next best choice" will keep my mindful that every choice is an opportunity to make a good one. I am getting a late start on this goal (December snuck up on me), but starting with December 3rd I will posting my results for each day.  For accountability, I will post how much water I drank, which fruits/veggies I ate and an example of my "next best choice" for that day.

What are you plans for health/fitness through the holidays?

Racing Through the Holiday

The holidays are quite a challenge for those who are trying to lose weight or get in shape. I would like to say I am doing better at both. However, I am proud to say that I did take advantage of two major opportunities this holiday weekend.

On Thanksgiving morning, Meg at Running Just As Fast She Can hosted the Screw the Turkey Trot I Hate Crowds Virtual Thanksgiving Day 5K/10K. In a virtual race, runners/walkers from all over do their race on their own and then report to the host. I invited friends and family to join me - I was proud of my three recruits :)

And off we walked. Turns out over the shoulder pictures are not my strong suit.

I caught this image of my husband and niece walking with Jabba the Hut. Actually, my sister and I got a little too close together.

See there really are four of us :)

I thought it was a little ironic that I was wearing a cross country t-shirt. The coach had given it to my husband on their trip to state a few weeks ago.

And what is a walk without a least one leaf picture. If you look closely you can see it is actually two leaves with their stems fused together.

I think my husband gets bonus points for toting the niece :)

After our walk it was time for some Thanksgiving dinner prep. First up Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Cinnamon Butternut Squash, Pecans and Cranberries. As you know I love butternut squash so this was a must try recipe for me.

The Brussels sprouts were tossed with olive oil and salt. The butternut was tossed with olive oil, maple syrup and cinnamon.

After the veggies are roasted they are tossed with pecan halves, dried cranberries and a touch more maple syrup. It was super colorful and tasty.

We always make my grandmother's homemade crescent rolls. I remember rolling them as a kid and now we are passing along the recipe to the next generation.

While rolls were baking, my niece and husband were setting up the Christmas trees. Which, of course, means there was goofing off.

Look how strong my husband is...umm.. I mean how light my niece is.  I don't know what I mean!!!  And yes, there is a video of her trying to get out of the tote, but I am not authorized to post it :)

Sunday morning was the next race of the weekend. Mary from Runs to Get Waisted, is part of my fabulous ladies group. She had been planning to run the Seattle marathon for months. Unfortunately, during her training her legs were extremely uncooperative and she ended up changing her plan to the half marathon. We all knew she was super disappointed so we concocted a plan to finish the marathon. On Sunday morning Mary and our ladies group completed the Carry Mary Marathon. Mary ran 13.1 miles in Seattle. The second 13.1 miles was run/walked by ladies in Louisiana, Nebraska, Michigan, Illinois, Ohio and Florida!  Mary finished in 3:04:32 and the rest of us finished our half in 3:27:43. What a great day, I am so proud to be part of such a wonderfully supportive group of ladies. Thank you Mary for the inspiration to get us out and moving. Congratulations on a great race and I can't wait to hear all the details! ‪

My leg of the race was two miles. I was determined to walk as fast as I could. Although I have done plenty of walking for my Jedi challenge the last couple months, I have not raced and therefore, not pushed myself as hard as I could. Previously my fasted mile of the Jedi challenge was about 16:30. I had hoped to get a sub 16 minute mile and I was happily surprised to beat my previous mile by a full minute.  

I was so focused on walking I only took two pictures over the two miles...and you know that is a record in itself :)  And as you can see I was walking so fast everything was a blur!!

Although I was thrilled with my time the first mile it was NOT easy. There was some serious heavy breathing and the cold air stung my lungs - in fact they hurt the rest of the day. The whole time I was walking like a mad woman I thought about Mary out in Seattle running 13.1 miles. Surely, I could push myself hard for two. I knew she was challenging herself and I wanted to feel that challenge too. 

The first mile took quite a bit out of me and my second mile was about a minute slower. I still averaged until 16 minute miles and I was quite pleased :)

Surprisingly, my feet/legs held up better and I didn't have much pain in them later in the day as I thought I might. That might have been helped by all the resting of them I did continuing the Lord of the Rings movies with my husband - extended editions.

I am looking for more opportunities to do some holiday racing...stay tuned!  Do you have upcoming race plans?