Just a little inspiration.

Okay.  Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving.  You know that’s no good.  Getting into the spirit of the holiday usually means getting ready to wear stretchy pants to take in as much food as you physically can.  I don’t know how the tradition moved from celebrating the harvest and being thankful for the bounty to eating as much food as your stomach can hold and then having a nap.  But I don’t like it.  I don’t like that it’s the fodder for legions of jokes and is an expectation of the season.  That everyone just nudges the person next to them with an air of “oh, well, eh?”  Not to go all soap box on you, but I think the general allowance/expectation of gluttony found during the holiday season is one of the country’s biggest issues.  (off soap box now!)

This year, I’d really like to do a better job of being mindful.  Not just mindful of how much food I’m eating, but mindful of…well, everything else.  I want to be more conscious of all the things I’m truly thankful for; things that I take for granted pretty often.  Having my (general) health.  Having a roof over my head and someone with whom to share it.  Being able to afford not only the pets themselves, but the food they eat and the other accoutrements that comes with pet ownership.  My parents.  My siblings.  My new niece.  My job.

One of those things I take for granted is obviously food.  And not just during Thanksgiving and Christmas – year-round.  There are plenty more people who don’t have what I have, and would undoubtedly be way more thankful than I am to have it.  In a kind of turning-over-a-new-leaf-and-harvest-time-is-a-good-time-to-do-it way, I’d like to be more conscientious about what I’m eating and how that food affects me.  That’s a whole lotta dashes.  J

So, for this Thanksgiving, I’m going to really think about all the things in my life I’m grateful for, starting with the dinner plate, and working my way out from there.  As part of that spirit of gratefulness, I’m going to think about how fortunate I am to have the choice to overeat or celebrate the spirit of the season.  And I’m going to do everything I can to make the right choice.  It’s not going to be easy with Auntie K’s garlic mashed potatoes, but dang it – I’m going to try.

Happy Thanksgiving, oh best beloveds!  Let me know – what are YOU thankful for this year?

County fairs are about more than tractor-pullin'!

First order of business:  this is my 90th post.  What??  I had no idea.  I guess I really DO talk a lot.  :)

Next up:  I'm back, baby!

I realized this weekend that eating right is something that I really like doing.  This weekend was the county fair at home.  I love fair time.  Nothing like fried bits and demo derbies to get you happy, right?  Well, minus the fried bits, I guess.  When I was a kid, nothing was more great than getting my gobble on with the fair food.  I mean, it came about once a year.  I was going to go ape-shite on the cheese curds and Mt. Dew out of the giant milk cartons (attendees of the BCF know exactly what those were...!).  Ape. S.  It's not as if we went out to find the greasiest foods available, but I'd be all kinds of lying if I said there was ever a salad (or vegetable outside of french fries and ketchup) eaten during those four days of glory.

But now, as an adult, all the mini donuts and corn dogs just couldn't do it for me.  The corn dog by itself would have been fine.  The cheese curds by themselves would have been okay.  But the dog and the curds and the cheese fries and the donuts...not awesome.  I feel like I should note that I did NOT eat all those things by myself.  I had plenty of help.  It's just that they were consumed all within probably an hour and a half.  NOT good.

Not only did my belly hurt, I just didn't feel good.  Groggy.  Generally unhappy.

Here's what I learned.  Next time I go to one of these things, I need to bring some fruit.  GRANTED, the Gburg fair isn't really a big enough deal that I couldn't have left the fairgrounds and wandered to the 'ol IGA and gotten some fruit (or just traipsed off to the BP down the road...) - unlike, say, the state fair.  But, I plan on making sure I have a game plan when I go to the other couple of fairs that I'm going to this summer.  #1 part of the plan = moderation station.  Perhaps, let's go ahead and have all that stuff - but do a bunch of walking and water-drinking in between.  And share with everyone I can find.

It's kind of nice to know that all the learning that I've put in has actually sunk in.  I had chicken, a wild rice mix, and corn on the cob for dinner.  And it was awesome.  Just what I wanted.  Guess I'm growing up a little bit in my food choices.  I'm willing to trade the mini donuts in for that.

Say whaaaaat???

It appears I got the concept wrong.

The container of raspberries ISN'T for use as a plate for the gooiest, most delicious brownie to ever come out of Davanni's?  Whoops.

PS - according to myfitnesspal.com, that brownie is under 200 calories.  WHAT????  Yum, that's what.  I feel perfectly happy having eaten one.  But slightly sad that I didn't go for two.  :)

Yikes.

Wow.
Okay, I know that I don't exactly have an amazing relationship with food.  That's a big part of why I'm a heavy lady.  I don't always make great choices when it comes to what I eat.  One of the things I'm trying to improve on, etc.

However, while I'm sitting here thinking about the fact that I had a couple slices of the 'ol Little Ceasars today, Mr. Peavs and I stumbled upon yet another insane TLC show.  This one is called "Freaky Eaters."

Sweet Jesus.

I got NOTHIN' on these people.  What we've watched today:  Meat addiction, tarter sauce addiction, and cheese potato addiction. (YES, I know that planting my ass in front of the TV for an hour and a half isn't awesome - but in my defense, I gardened, raked, vacuumed, and generally cleaned the house for about 4 hours today, so shut it.)  The tarter sauce lady put it on everything.  I'm not kidding when I say that either - from spaghetti to Jell-o to WAFFLES.  She ate FORTY gallons a year.  The meat dude ate 5 lbs of meat a day.  And nothing else.  As in - ONLY meat.  Dude would eat three T-bones a night for dinner.  He was 24 and was at a high risk for heart disease.  The cheese potatoes lady ate only cheese potatoes for meals.  NOTHING but cheese potatoes for food all day.  She ate 10lbs of potatoes a day.  And nothing else.  Not a single veggie.  No protein.  Nothing.

Even though I don't have any kind of a crazy addiction like this, it's still eye-opening for me.  It made me remember that the strides we've taken can be furthered even more.  We may not be taking down tarter sauce on everything, but we can definitely add in even more veggies than we already do.  We can make sure that we're eating more fish and poultry and less red meat.  We can avoid the hell out of cheese potatoes.  Yikes.

I kinda like shows like this that remind me that I'm not the only person who struggles with food stuff.  That I'm not the only person who needs to make changes with my diet.  70% of Americans are overweight, so I'm definitely not alone.

Has anyone else seen this show?  It's right up there with "My Strange Addiction."  If you want to be fascinated and horrified all at once I'd watch this show (either of them, I guess...).

Synopsis!

Or, maybe it should be Review!
I've made it through most of my fitness magazine, and promised that I would comment on how I like it back in this post.

I know it's a little early to commit to something, but I'm in serious like with this magazine.  One part of it that I really like is this section where they give you ways to shave calories off your meals.  A lot of them are kind of obvious, but I dig the obvious.  The obvious gives you easy-to-follow clues and helps make it a snap to be good and be conscious of your moves.  It helps you make sure that the food you're eating is going help, rather than hinder your bottom (line).

Here are a couple of little hints from the article.

• When ordering eggs, order them dry - it'll save you up to 250 calories.  The article says "Chefs often overpour the oil or butter."  That's ridiculous to me.  Lack of precision in restaurant-cooked meals can be crazy.  Meals that were already risky calorie-wise can be easily pushed into the "yikes" category.  Going dry whenever you can is always a good thing.
• Dipping veggies into your guac instead of chips will save you round abouts 220 calories.  And, YUM.  I love me some chips and guac as much as the next guy, but this is a great plan.  When I get the Unwich, I get the Beach Club with the guac.  Veggies with guac = delish.  I'm in.  ESPECIALLY if it saves me over 200 calories.  Holla!
• I'm quoting this one because it's just nuts.  "Order any of Taco Bell's Fresco tacos or burritos instead of a salad.  Save:  510 to 760 calories." Say whaaaaa?!  Okay, I know that they're talking about the mega-salads one can get somewhere like this place I used to work at that has a hot pepper in its slogan.  But still.  The idea that I can stuff my face with TB and it'll be fewer calories than a salad is nutty.  I like it.
• Here's one that I LOVE.  Having a BK cheeseburger instead of a BK veggie burger will save you 110 calories!!  Interesting that what is supposed to be a healthy choice ends up being more of a gut-buster.  I can't help but wonder why, though.  I wonder if it's because the veg is Whopper size and the cheeseburger is small?  Either way, I'm in.  I don't like most veggie burgers anyway, and definitely don't need something Whopper-sized.
• This one caught my eye just because it's interesting, and I'm willing to try it.  The article suggests boiling rice with a tea bag to add extra flavor to it, rather than putting in olive oil (wait - oil instead of butter??  WTF??  ha.).  It suggests jasmine and green tea.  I'm going to try it the next time I make me some rice!  Oh, it apparently saves at least 100 calories.
• One that I'm DEFINITELY going to try:  using a cup of pureed white beans to thicken a soup rather than cream.  It'll save you more than 500 calories a CUP.  I'm so there.  I dig this idea mostly because it means I can eat more soup, and I love that.  :)
• And finally, it suggests re-portioning your plate.  It says that just making sure that you're eating half a plate of veggies could save you 250 to 300 calories at the meal.  That's something that's just crazy easy to be conscious of!  And, something that I'm not really great at, so it's totally something to strive to achieve.

That ended up being a lot more than I was planning on writing about this one little section of the mag!  I guess it had at least a little impact on me, huh?

Some other articles I liked included one that laid out three different circuits to kick calories to the curb fast.  I wouldn't mind bringing that one to work next week when I meet up with the trainer we have and asking him to show me what "hard" and "moderate" etc *actually* mean.  I think it would be really helpful to show that I'm really doing the work correctly.  Again with the obvious.

There's also a pic of the hair that I'm DESPERATE for.  Beach waves, down to the middle of the back, streaky blonde.  LOVE.  Funny that I'm probably going to put that on the fridge instead of a pic of a hot body.  ha.

So, the conclusion is that I'm happy with the mag.  Really happy.  It's pretty great.  I'd recommend it.

Also, I'm attempting to write back to comments, but I'm having trouble - I don't know why blogger won't let me comment any way but as "anonymous."  So, I'm not ignoring y'all, I'm just not able to post.  I'm working on it though!

I love NPR. This post has practically nothing to do with this.

I was listening to it on my way from from another successful Clothes Mentor trip (brought home a black and white skirt and white sweater thingy.  Because I knew you were dying to know), and caught the tail end of a bit about how different countries set up their food pyramids.  Specifically, the part I heard was speaking to how the Swiss set up their pyramid.
Our pyramid has sweets and candy and whatnot at the top of the thing, with a label that says "eat sparingly."  What the guest speaker was saying is that it's interesting how the American pyramid tells us to refrain from eating foods, rather than to enjoy in moderation or something of the like.

According to the NPR show, in Switzerland, they have the delicious things like Toblerone at the top, in the "eat sparingly" spot.  But instead of telling you to keep your mitts off, they say "Consume carefully, but with great pleasure."

That is a great way of thinking, if you ask me.  Matter of fact, I think I might have to make it a little motto of mine.  I'm going to apply it to items like Doritos.  Beergaritas.  Reese's Peanut Butter eggs.  Emilio Estevez movies.
It just makes so much sense to me.  I think one of the biggest things that I've learned so far is that this whole weight-loss thing isn't about restricting - not calories, not ice cream.  It's about learning to live while being knowlegible.  Back in the day, I used to just pop things in my mouth without actually considering the impact of it.  It just never really clicked that the average American cheeseburger is twice the size it should be.  Add in the giant bun...and you just have a mess on your hands.  Of course, you have to think about the french fries too.  Yikes.

Now that I know or can somewhat figure out a rough guess of the gut rocking that many foods can cause, it makes it that much easier to try and pay attention to what I'm eating.

I think that's why I like that little phrase.  "Consume carefully, but with great pleasure."  I am now much more careful, and do try to take pleasure in the things that fit into that little tip of the triangle.

Now, on to "Young Guns."

Mixin' it up

I've discovered a new vice.

The Cooking Channel.  It's pretty much the Food Network (they're sister stations), but new and different shows and personalities.  Well, and Emeril.  Natch.

I totally dig it because it's reminding me that I LOOOOVE food.  :)

Things have gotten kind of boring in the food department 'round here.  We've been healthing (yes, I invented a word.  Revel in it) things up around here a lot lately, so "good" food has kinda been pushed aside.  That's not to say that one can't have good food that's also healthy - it's just more difficult.  We've definitely been taking the easy road and getting sort of lazy with making food.  Chicken and a salad?  Check.  Chicken and steamed veggies with couscous?  Check.  Chicken on the grill with zucchini, squash, and onion?  Check.

Yeah.  See?

Why not something awesome like the Coq au Vin from Eating Well?  Or the fish tacos from Eating Well?  What about the pork medallians with cranberry and fig chutney from BHG?

There are a ton of great recipes out there that are actually great for you.  The pork medallians are only 185 calories (for 3 oz)!!  That's pretty great.  I'm totally down with that.

So, my friends, I'm going to strive to have something interesting for dinner more often.  The roast is good, but using unusual ingredients might just kick it up to the proverbial next level, you know?  Stay tuned!  :)

PS - after I wrote this, my dear hubby finished making dinner - complete with pear and walnut salad.  SCORE!  It's working already!!