By the time we got back from Death Valley at the weekend, I had a stinky cold. I've now had it for a week and I Am Fed Up With It. The worst part is the cough, which is pretty bad during the day, but keeps me awake at night. Hubby says I was wheezing attractively in my sleep yesterday. Lovely. So I am tired, but trying to stay in good humor. Sickness is the reason I've not been posting.
Our house remodel has also reached some kind of tipping point. This week has been ghastly - activity in every room in the house - but we also got the kitchen back! Hurrah, no more obligatory restaurant food.
For the past two days I've been very abstemious with the eating. Cheerios for breakfast, caesar salad with a little chicken for lunch, a granola bar for snack, a nonfat latte for other snack, and a modest dinner. On Tuesday my modest dinner was a cheese sandwich. Yesterday it was pasta with salmon in cream (not so uncalorific, but not a very big portion). Today I whipped up pasta with egg and bacon (again not a big portion). I did also give in to the temptation of a chocolate croissant at Douce France, though....while I was watching Deep Thought do some of her homework. I couldn't bear the idea of going back to the worksite formerly known as our house, so we hung out for over an hour. You've got to buy something, n'est pas?
Also snacked on crisps this evening. Well, I'm sick!
No exercise this week. One, I'm sick (did I mention that?). Two, it's been raining. Three, I've been crazy busy with volunteering, food shopping, moving things around in the house, and so on. Like OEM, I have every intention of getting back to the exercise, but just for now I think I need to focus on shaking off this cold.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Scale Refusal
Like a horse refusing to enter the starting gates, I can't face the scales this week.
Cheese and chocolate have returned with a vengeance, along with pre-exam tension levels somewhere in the stratosphere.
But I promise myself (and Dr Mom) that, 4 March over (including the celebratory dinner promised by Beloved Spouse), I will not only return to the calorific straight and narrow but I will also reintroduce myself to the gym and/or swimming pool.
Promises, promises.
Cheese and chocolate have returned with a vengeance, along with pre-exam tension levels somewhere in the stratosphere.
But I promise myself (and Dr Mom) that, 4 March over (including the celebratory dinner promised by Beloved Spouse), I will not only return to the calorific straight and narrow but I will also reintroduce myself to the gym and/or swimming pool.
Promises, promises.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Wednesday Weigh In - Dr Mom
Today I was 154.4 lbs, which was a loss of 1.4 lbs since the last weigh in (two weeks ago). Not bad considering the amount of restaurant food that I've been eating, plus the amount of sitting about in an RV over the past week.
Monday, February 22, 2010
A New Healthy Initiative?
Inspired by the pink book, I'm going to try to eat more healthily. Two attempts today.
The first was during this morning's visit to Starbucks, which was brought on by needing to get out of the dust and chaos that is my home at the moment. I carefully ordered a nonfat, decaf latte (yes to calcium, no to fat) and accompanied it by an interestingly horrible granola bar which cost $3.95, claimed to be a "raw food" and was made mostly of millet. As I pointed out to my kids, this is what budgies eat, and they look pretty fit.
Second attempt at health was eating part of a vegan, wholewheat with sunflower seeds bread stick at lunch. Though that sounds like another bad idea, it is actually rather tasty. I like the brown breads which have nuts or seeds in them. I paired it with chicken liver pate, though, so that probably negated all the virtuousness of the experience.
It was a red letter day for another reason: We cooked dinner in our newly remodelled kitchen. It was, admittedly, only pasta with a jar of sauce and some sauteed chicken breast, but It Was Not Restaurant Food. The kitchen isn't 100% ready, but the appliances and main sink are operational, hence the cooking. I was also able to do the washing up in the sink and not the bathtub, which was like heaven.
Hope you're surviving the run up to your exams, OEM. Not sure I'm looking forward to this week's weigh-in.
The first was during this morning's visit to Starbucks, which was brought on by needing to get out of the dust and chaos that is my home at the moment. I carefully ordered a nonfat, decaf latte (yes to calcium, no to fat) and accompanied it by an interestingly horrible granola bar which cost $3.95, claimed to be a "raw food" and was made mostly of millet. As I pointed out to my kids, this is what budgies eat, and they look pretty fit.
Second attempt at health was eating part of a vegan, wholewheat with sunflower seeds bread stick at lunch. Though that sounds like another bad idea, it is actually rather tasty. I like the brown breads which have nuts or seeds in them. I paired it with chicken liver pate, though, so that probably negated all the virtuousness of the experience.
It was a red letter day for another reason: We cooked dinner in our newly remodelled kitchen. It was, admittedly, only pasta with a jar of sauce and some sauteed chicken breast, but It Was Not Restaurant Food. The kitchen isn't 100% ready, but the appliances and main sink are operational, hence the cooking. I was also able to do the washing up in the sink and not the bathtub, which was like heaven.
Hope you're surviving the run up to your exams, OEM. Not sure I'm looking forward to this week's weigh-in.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Back Home and Into the Calorific Stuff
Today we drove from Calico Ghost Town near Barstow on I-15 to the San Francisco Bay Area. The drive took about eight hours. We stopped at the China Town Buffet in Bakersfield for lunch, and at Starbucks in Merced for the 3:30pm stretch-the-legs stop. Far, far too much was eaten at the buffet. I only had one plate of food (whereas many people in the restaurant had four or five) but it was that calorific, cheap Chinese food that you just know is furring your arteries and killing your brain cells even as you chew it. Well, never mind, it tasted good!
By the time we got home it was 6:00pm. Our kitchen is still out of action - though close to completion - so we headed into town for a pizza at the California Pizza Kitchen. Yum. Yes, I know I should have had the salad but the pizza was calling.
No exercise of any kind today. Yesterday we spent a couple of hours ambling around the Calico Ghost Town, which doesn't count; and the day before we spent an hour and a half walking across the sand dunes at Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley, which does. I am determined to pick up the pace a bit with exercise now we are back.
I've finished reading the pink health book "Younger Next Year", or whatever it's called, and I'll review it soon.
By the time we got home it was 6:00pm. Our kitchen is still out of action - though close to completion - so we headed into town for a pizza at the California Pizza Kitchen. Yum. Yes, I know I should have had the salad but the pizza was calling.
No exercise of any kind today. Yesterday we spent a couple of hours ambling around the Calico Ghost Town, which doesn't count; and the day before we spent an hour and a half walking across the sand dunes at Stovepipe Wells in Death Valley, which does. I am determined to pick up the pace a bit with exercise now we are back.
I've finished reading the pink health book "Younger Next Year", or whatever it's called, and I'll review it soon.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Desert Walking
Yesterday I did a virtuous four mile walk with my family along a canyon and through the badlands along a dry gulch in Death Valley. We climbed around 500 feet and descended the same during the course of the walk which took around three hours. It was quite cool when we started out, but we were all very hot by the end. I particularly enjoyed – not – scrambling down a dry waterfall. Otherwise the walk was on rough ground: the crumbled mudstone that had fallen from the walls of the canyon and the pebbles that had been brought down the mountain by the gulch during the rainy season.
Later in the day we went for an hour’s walk across the sand dunes near Stovepipe Wells. This also had a fair bit of up and down and, while it wasn’t much of a distance – no more than a mile and a half – it was reasonably hard work walking along on soft sand.
This was the first significant exercise I’ve had since last Thursday.
This morning we spent a couple of hours walking three miles up and back down the Mosaic Canyon, which was loose gravel underfoot, plus some rock scrambling.
On the food front, the picture is mixed. Hubby is torturing me by bringing out crisps to eat by the fire every evening. I am, naturally, succumbing to them, matching him crisp for crisp. Meals have been fairly modest. The only restaurant meals we’ve eaten so far were the ones previously reported, in Gilroy and Bakersfield. I prepared a few meals before we left home, so yesterday was chili and rice, Tuesday was pasta Bolognese. Lunch is typically a sandwich (for speed), though yesterday we had a leisurely lunch involving sausages, bacon and fried egg. Not exactly a low calorie meal, but when you’re camping you have to eat what you’ve got. Notice I packed bacon and egg and not tofu and edamame beans.
Later in the day we went for an hour’s walk across the sand dunes near Stovepipe Wells. This also had a fair bit of up and down and, while it wasn’t much of a distance – no more than a mile and a half – it was reasonably hard work walking along on soft sand.
This was the first significant exercise I’ve had since last Thursday.
This morning we spent a couple of hours walking three miles up and back down the Mosaic Canyon, which was loose gravel underfoot, plus some rock scrambling.
On the food front, the picture is mixed. Hubby is torturing me by bringing out crisps to eat by the fire every evening. I am, naturally, succumbing to them, matching him crisp for crisp. Meals have been fairly modest. The only restaurant meals we’ve eaten so far were the ones previously reported, in Gilroy and Bakersfield. I prepared a few meals before we left home, so yesterday was chili and rice, Tuesday was pasta Bolognese. Lunch is typically a sandwich (for speed), though yesterday we had a leisurely lunch involving sausages, bacon and fried egg. Not exactly a low calorie meal, but when you’re camping you have to eat what you’ve got. Notice I packed bacon and egg and not tofu and edamame beans.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Total Crisis Mode
Less than 2 weeks to exams.
Quantity of information in head - very little.
Quantity to be inserted - vast.
Lousy cold - streaming nose, sneezing, red eyes, cough developing.
Oh, and it's half term so Nososmall is home, though David is also here on entertainment duty.
Only good thing, not very interested in food right now.
Might not be here much until 4 March, but I'll keep trying not to comfort eat...
Quantity of information in head - very little.
Quantity to be inserted - vast.
Lousy cold - streaming nose, sneezing, red eyes, cough developing.
Oh, and it's half term so Nososmall is home, though David is also here on entertainment duty.
Only good thing, not very interested in food right now.
Might not be here much until 4 March, but I'll keep trying not to comfort eat...
Monday, February 15, 2010
Road Trip Food
We stopped for lunch at Spencer's Diner in Bakersfield. The kids had fish and chips, while Hubby and I both opted for the chicken pot pie with mashed potato. It was far too salty and glutinous, and neither of us finished our meal.
We had pork chop, potatoes and carrots for dinner (with a lot of complaining from Deep Thought who objects strongly to "slabs of meat"). I expect a few salt and vinegar crisps might be eaten in about ten minutes but, other than that, it's been a pretty virtuous day.
Needless to say, another day driving across California has prevented any exercise being taken. We went for a half hour amble across the Mojave Desert after arriving at our RV campground this afternoon, but that hardly counts.
Tomorrow we have a five hour drive up to Death Valley.
OEM, where have you gone? Haven't seen a post since Wednesday....
We had pork chop, potatoes and carrots for dinner (with a lot of complaining from Deep Thought who objects strongly to "slabs of meat"). I expect a few salt and vinegar crisps might be eaten in about ten minutes but, other than that, it's been a pretty virtuous day.
Needless to say, another day driving across California has prevented any exercise being taken. We went for a half hour amble across the Mojave Desert after arriving at our RV campground this afternoon, but that hardly counts.
Tomorrow we have a five hour drive up to Death Valley.
OEM, where have you gone? Haven't seen a post since Wednesday....
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Crisp Heaven
I'm sitting here by a fire, eating Maui Onion crisps and drinking tea. We're on our RV trip, currently in Pismo Beach. Each day so far has been a fairly light eating day, but we're making up for it with the traditional snacking in the evening. I tried to stock up on healthy-ish things like sweet potato chips and dried carrot sticks, but Hubby is demanding the real high fat, high salt options.
Tomorrow we head into the Central Valley. This is also a low exercise holiday (at least so far). A potter to the headland at Montana de Oro hardly counted as a walk.
Tomorrow we head into the Central Valley. This is also a low exercise holiday (at least so far). A potter to the headland at Montana de Oro hardly counted as a walk.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Crazy for Fondue
I've had another ridiculously busy day, prepping for our RV trip and also the building work in our bedroom while we're away. After my Multi-grain Chex breakfast - which didn't happen till after the kids had gone out to school with Dad - I visited Safeway to buy 15 gallons of drinking water. Then I took popsicles to school for Little Starlet's birthday snack (she turns eight on Sunday), then it was back to the supermarket to do the shopping for our trip.
Hubby appeared back home with our rental RV at about 11:30am, after which I traipsed in and out of the house with armfuls of stuff: pans, bedding, towels, medicines, shampoo, etc etc. I employed several shopping bags, but it was still many trudging trips up and down the plywood path across our battlefield front yard. I truly think it counted as exercise.
The highlight of the day was Little Starlet's birthday dinner at La Fondue in Saratoga. OEM will remember it well, I know, as we went there during the Christmas holidays. We had the cheddar, bacon, buttermilk and beer cheese fondue first course; followed by the meaty grill second course (Little Starlet decided she liked buffalo, but did not care for wild boar or savage duck); and then the course we were all waiting for, the Decadent Chocolate fondue dessert. Yum. About a million calories, but well worth it. The children really enjoyed having a "fun food" experience in a fancy restaurant. We sang Little Starlet "happy birthday" and she seemed pleased by the whole experience.
Hubby appeared back home with our rental RV at about 11:30am, after which I traipsed in and out of the house with armfuls of stuff: pans, bedding, towels, medicines, shampoo, etc etc. I employed several shopping bags, but it was still many trudging trips up and down the plywood path across our battlefield front yard. I truly think it counted as exercise.
The highlight of the day was Little Starlet's birthday dinner at La Fondue in Saratoga. OEM will remember it well, I know, as we went there during the Christmas holidays. We had the cheddar, bacon, buttermilk and beer cheese fondue first course; followed by the meaty grill second course (Little Starlet decided she liked buffalo, but did not care for wild boar or savage duck); and then the course we were all waiting for, the Decadent Chocolate fondue dessert. Yum. About a million calories, but well worth it. The children really enjoyed having a "fun food" experience in a fancy restaurant. We sang Little Starlet "happy birthday" and she seemed pleased by the whole experience.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Frantic Day
I'm having a seriously frantic day. This morning I had the weekly site meeting for our remodel which took two hours. During the day I received multiple visits from the Site Supervisor with many questions. We also lost our water supply twice, because the landscape men dug through the water pipe, and the phone was out of order.
I began to work out what we will take in the RV, heaping pans, plates etc on the dining room table. I also sorted through our food box to see what we might like to take along, and to compile a shopping list for tomorrow morning.
At the same time as this, I was trying to sort through the closet in the master bedroom, as it will be demolished while we are away on our RV trip. I filled up a black garbage bag with ancient bras and unspeakable knickers, emptying two out of my four drawers in process. Lunch was a bowl of chicken tortilla soup and two Karvla crackers with a bit of cheddar.
At 2pm I had to head over to school to help with a Valentine's Day project. I obtained the materials for this from our family room by waiting for the builders to have their lunch break and then climbing through the construction work from the garden.
At one point I was so wound up by all the things I needed to do that my hands were shaking. The day ended well though: Little Starlet had her class play, in which she was the star, and she did a fabulous job, funny, loud, expressive, the lot. We went out for dinner afterwards to Mike's Cafe in midtown Palo Alto. I had lasagne, which was tasty.
No coffee shop stop today - no time.
I began to work out what we will take in the RV, heaping pans, plates etc on the dining room table. I also sorted through our food box to see what we might like to take along, and to compile a shopping list for tomorrow morning.
At the same time as this, I was trying to sort through the closet in the master bedroom, as it will be demolished while we are away on our RV trip. I filled up a black garbage bag with ancient bras and unspeakable knickers, emptying two out of my four drawers in process. Lunch was a bowl of chicken tortilla soup and two Karvla crackers with a bit of cheddar.
At 2pm I had to head over to school to help with a Valentine's Day project. I obtained the materials for this from our family room by waiting for the builders to have their lunch break and then climbing through the construction work from the garden.
At one point I was so wound up by all the things I needed to do that my hands were shaking. The day ended well though: Little Starlet had her class play, in which she was the star, and she did a fabulous job, funny, loud, expressive, the lot. We went out for dinner afterwards to Mike's Cafe in midtown Palo Alto. I had lasagne, which was tasty.
No coffee shop stop today - no time.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
A Positive Negative
...though a small one. 17.06 today. I seem to be managing a steady 1lb a week, which (although half the target) is both healthy and (apparently) achievable.
Let the good work continue!
Let the good work continue!
Wednesday Weigh In - Dr Mom
This morning I came in at 155.8 lbs, which is a loss of 2.4 lbs. The extra exercise may be helping, I guess.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Too many lentils
I had lunch at a friend's house today: lentil soup, wholewheat bread, and cheddar cheese. Tasty, but I've been suffering ever since. Have I mentioned that I have Crohn's Disease? Which means that too much fiber is A Bad Thing. We made up for that with a visit to Zao Noodles in downtown Palo Alto for dinner. I had bought bread and soup for dinner, but couldn't face Round Two of nutritious virtue. Maybe we can eat that tomorrow when I am scrambling between the end of Deep Thought's medical clinic appointment and the start of my dance class.
In the interests of mutual education, I have just started reading "Younger Next Year for Women: Live Strong, Fit and Sexy - Until You're 80 and Beyond" by Chris Crowley and Henry S Lodge. It's aimed at women in the late 40s who are menopausal - so not quite me just yet. So far the main ideas seem to be (1) give up eating fast food of any kind and (2) exercise six days per week. I'll report further when I've got past chapter two....
In the interests of mutual education, I have just started reading "Younger Next Year for Women: Live Strong, Fit and Sexy - Until You're 80 and Beyond" by Chris Crowley and Henry S Lodge. It's aimed at women in the late 40s who are menopausal - so not quite me just yet. So far the main ideas seem to be (1) give up eating fast food of any kind and (2) exercise six days per week. I'll report further when I've got past chapter two....
Blue Monday, Cheerfully-coloured Tuesday
Monday - complete failure of willpower. Didn't even try to keep track of what I ate, but it included cheese, goldfish, bread, crumpets, and roast beef and yorkshire pudding. (We've moved Sunday lunch to Monday dinner, because it's good to have something to look forward to at the beginning of the week!)
Tuesday - re-invigorated moral fibre. Cereal, soup and a small sandwich of cold roast beef. This leaves plenty of calories for the spag bol which will be dinner.
And I've done my last set of prep for Tax and am making good progress with How to Incorporate a Company and How to Avoid being sent to Prison for Illegally Offering Financial Services and Advice (as if!)...
Tuesday - re-invigorated moral fibre. Cereal, soup and a small sandwich of cold roast beef. This leaves plenty of calories for the spag bol which will be dinner.
And I've done my last set of prep for Tax and am making good progress with How to Incorporate a Company and How to Avoid being sent to Prison for Illegally Offering Financial Services and Advice (as if!)...
Monday, February 8, 2010
But where to eat lunch?
Among various chores this morning I found time to do my ultra-virtuous six mile walk, and beat the rain too.
Returned home to find the house full of tarry smoke. Bleugh. The family room is now off limits - the door has literally been sealed up. There is one man ripping the door frame off the dining room French windows, and another man in a digger outside the living room door. So I am an exile in the house, bowl of virtuous vegan pumpkin soup in one hand, small chicken sandwich made with one slice of double fibre brown bread in the other. Maybe Little Starlet's room would offer some respite?
Returned home to find the house full of tarry smoke. Bleugh. The family room is now off limits - the door has literally been sealed up. There is one man ripping the door frame off the dining room French windows, and another man in a digger outside the living room door. So I am an exile in the house, bowl of virtuous vegan pumpkin soup in one hand, small chicken sandwich made with one slice of double fibre brown bread in the other. Maybe Little Starlet's room would offer some respite?
Sunday, February 7, 2010
This eating out lark is bad news
The problem with having no kitchen is that you eat out all the time. The problem with eating out is that the portions are too big. Plus the food is generally pretty calorific. Plus there is too much temptation all round. I shall be astonished if I am not fatter at the end of our four weeks sans kitchen than I was at the start.
Saturday began with Weetabix. At lunch we ate at Fresh Choice in Mountain View. Fresh Choice is a great place to take kids as there is, as the name suggests, a lot of choice. You pay one price ($4.99 for the kids) and help yourself to the salad bar, the hot food, and the dessert. The hot food includes baked potatoes, pasta, pizza, soup and other random things as the restaurant deems fit. The challenge is not to eat too much. Finding things that are healthy choices is not difficult as the calorie details are given on each item, and things which are low salt, low fat, etc are pointed out with handy little signs. I had various salads, avoided the blue cheese dressing (which is frankly the only thing that makes salad tolerable), and had a bowl of carrot soup with a piece of bread. For dessert I selected a cube of sugar free Jello, a spoonful of chocolate pudding, and a spoonful of low fat "whip". I'd have rather had one of their "decadent brownies" but I was being good.
In the afternoon I succumbed to a coffee and biscuit.
Then later in the afternoon it was Little Starlet's birthday party at a local kids' cooking center. I'd rather do parties at home, but no kitchen makes that a tough prospect. Needless to say I had to eat a scone at the end of the party as my daughter had made them. Dinner was bread and more soup with some double creme soft cheese (not the light option, but very yummy). And then, oh woe is me, crisps in the evening.
Today we ate lunch at The Fish Market on the border of Palo Alto and Mountain View. The food wasn't bad, but the service was awful. I had cajun blackened catfish with potato au gratin (instead of fries, a toss up calorie-wise, I think) and coleslaw (that's grated cabbage in mayonnaise to you). This evening we had dinner at a friends' house: chicken and rice with salad and bread...and more scones made by their children. Maybe I'd better do another walk tomorrow.
Saturday began with Weetabix. At lunch we ate at Fresh Choice in Mountain View. Fresh Choice is a great place to take kids as there is, as the name suggests, a lot of choice. You pay one price ($4.99 for the kids) and help yourself to the salad bar, the hot food, and the dessert. The hot food includes baked potatoes, pasta, pizza, soup and other random things as the restaurant deems fit. The challenge is not to eat too much. Finding things that are healthy choices is not difficult as the calorie details are given on each item, and things which are low salt, low fat, etc are pointed out with handy little signs. I had various salads, avoided the blue cheese dressing (which is frankly the only thing that makes salad tolerable), and had a bowl of carrot soup with a piece of bread. For dessert I selected a cube of sugar free Jello, a spoonful of chocolate pudding, and a spoonful of low fat "whip". I'd have rather had one of their "decadent brownies" but I was being good.
In the afternoon I succumbed to a coffee and biscuit.
Then later in the afternoon it was Little Starlet's birthday party at a local kids' cooking center. I'd rather do parties at home, but no kitchen makes that a tough prospect. Needless to say I had to eat a scone at the end of the party as my daughter had made them. Dinner was bread and more soup with some double creme soft cheese (not the light option, but very yummy). And then, oh woe is me, crisps in the evening.
Today we ate lunch at The Fish Market on the border of Palo Alto and Mountain View. The food wasn't bad, but the service was awful. I had cajun blackened catfish with potato au gratin (instead of fries, a toss up calorie-wise, I think) and coleslaw (that's grated cabbage in mayonnaise to you). This evening we had dinner at a friends' house: chicken and rice with salad and bread...and more scones made by their children. Maybe I'd better do another walk tomorrow.
Up and Down
I was doing all right yesterday: usual breakfast, soup for lunch, bowl of capiletti (420 cals) (don't think that's how you spell them - fresh pasta stuffed with wild mushrooks) with 5g of butter and black pepper for supper. Well, it was ok if you discount the relatively large number of crisps I munched (though I did weigh them AND there are still some left in the bag tonight, which is a big improvement on the general state of affaits). And the chocolate cake that I was forced to eat when I went to collect Notsosmall from a birthday party.
But my virtue level feels pretty high compared to David who went on a corporate jolly to Twickenham to watch the England-Wales rugby match (yes, can you imagine!) and was wined and dined and generally schmoozed in a calorific way.
Today was possibly less good: I finished off the pasta at lunchtime with a small quantity of hot smoked salmon and a tablespoon of cream. I had a chelsea bun mid-afternoon (remember not to buy any more of those - made fatal error of shopping when hungry yesterday) and dinner was cheese pudding which is marvellous and entirely evil. Do you know this substance? It is for using up stale bread.
Cut up all stale bread in the house. Beat up three eggs and enough milk to cover the bread. Stir it up and leave it to soak overnight (adding more milk if it dries out without the bread going squishy). Grate in lots of cheese, season with salt and black pepper. Tip into a buttered dish and bake in oven about 40 mins. It puffs up like a souffle and is delicious with tomato ketchup! Number of calories? About ten million.
Penitential lettuce eating for me tomorrow...
But my virtue level feels pretty high compared to David who went on a corporate jolly to Twickenham to watch the England-Wales rugby match (yes, can you imagine!) and was wined and dined and generally schmoozed in a calorific way.
Today was possibly less good: I finished off the pasta at lunchtime with a small quantity of hot smoked salmon and a tablespoon of cream. I had a chelsea bun mid-afternoon (remember not to buy any more of those - made fatal error of shopping when hungry yesterday) and dinner was cheese pudding which is marvellous and entirely evil. Do you know this substance? It is for using up stale bread.
Cut up all stale bread in the house. Beat up three eggs and enough milk to cover the bread. Stir it up and leave it to soak overnight (adding more milk if it dries out without the bread going squishy). Grate in lots of cheese, season with salt and black pepper. Tip into a buttered dish and bake in oven about 40 mins. It puffs up like a souffle and is delicious with tomato ketchup! Number of calories? About ten million.
Penitential lettuce eating for me tomorrow...
Friday, February 5, 2010
Walking Back to Happiness
...woopah, oh yeah yeah. As apparently the lyrics of said song by Helen Shapiro go. So there.
Yesterday I spent in three long meetings. I don't even work, how do I get so busy? Anyway, I had toast for breakfast as we had run out of milk. Meeting one was a quick, refreshment-free trot through our remodel status with the builders and architect (for more on which see http://remodelbox.blogspot.co). Then I went up to San Francisco for a business meeting with a nonprofit I'm involved with. It was supposed to be a lunch meeting. In typical SF fashion, we went to a salad bar and chose expensive lettuce: A carb free lunch with a tiny piece of strip steak to decorate the top. Really, can someone tell me what the point is of lettuce?
I then drove from San Francisco to San Jose in the rain. It took two and a half hours. By the time I arrived, I had consumed the emergency plain chocolate from my glove compartment (which really belongs to Deep Thought because it has little sugar in it). In San Jose, I spent three hours sifting applications for an academic enrichment program that I also support. It was interesting, but also supported by the occasional chocolate, as spread on the table by the staff.
Got home just before 9pm, starving. Ate a cheese quesadilla, which is generally calorific, but we happen to have high fibre/low carb tortillas at the moment, so it wasn't so bad. Trouble is, a little quesadilla isn't very filling (though it has a nice comforting melted cheese taste/texture which feels just right on a rainy evening), so I ended up snacking on some (baked) potato chips.
So not the most virtuous of days.
In contrast, today I just got back from my six mile walk, having had only breakfast Weetabix; and I'm hoping to persuade Deep Thought to join me at a dance class this evening.
Yesterday I spent in three long meetings. I don't even work, how do I get so busy? Anyway, I had toast for breakfast as we had run out of milk. Meeting one was a quick, refreshment-free trot through our remodel status with the builders and architect (for more on which see http://remodelbox.blogspot.co). Then I went up to San Francisco for a business meeting with a nonprofit I'm involved with. It was supposed to be a lunch meeting. In typical SF fashion, we went to a salad bar and chose expensive lettuce: A carb free lunch with a tiny piece of strip steak to decorate the top. Really, can someone tell me what the point is of lettuce?
I then drove from San Francisco to San Jose in the rain. It took two and a half hours. By the time I arrived, I had consumed the emergency plain chocolate from my glove compartment (which really belongs to Deep Thought because it has little sugar in it). In San Jose, I spent three hours sifting applications for an academic enrichment program that I also support. It was interesting, but also supported by the occasional chocolate, as spread on the table by the staff.
Got home just before 9pm, starving. Ate a cheese quesadilla, which is generally calorific, but we happen to have high fibre/low carb tortillas at the moment, so it wasn't so bad. Trouble is, a little quesadilla isn't very filling (though it has a nice comforting melted cheese taste/texture which feels just right on a rainy evening), so I ended up snacking on some (baked) potato chips.
So not the most virtuous of days.
In contrast, today I just got back from my six mile walk, having had only breakfast Weetabix; and I'm hoping to persuade Deep Thought to join me at a dance class this evening.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Positive Vibes
I'm thinking positive. Today I pretty much achieved target of 2000 calories which is good, but I am more pleased by the fact that while eating dinner (which was left over roast chicken in a tarragon and cream sauce and was pretty good) I realised that I had eaten enough and stopped eating.
This is possibly a first in OEM's experience.
Also, I made chocolate cornflakes for Notsosmall to take to school tomorrow for the cake sale in aid of Haiti and I didn't eat them. David had one and I had a small corner of that, but the rest are untouched, even though there is a non-standard number of them that usually I would feel justified in 'rounding down'.
Don't give up on me Dr Mom; I need to know you are suffering too!
This is possibly a first in OEM's experience.
Also, I made chocolate cornflakes for Notsosmall to take to school tomorrow for the cake sale in aid of Haiti and I didn't eat them. David had one and I had a small corner of that, but the rest are untouched, even though there is a non-standard number of them that usually I would feel justified in 'rounding down'.
Don't give up on me Dr Mom; I need to know you are suffering too!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Wednesday Weigh-In - Dr Mom
Today I weighed in at 158.2, which is 1.4 lbs heavier than last week. I am now exactly the same weight I was on January 6, which is when we started this.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Numbers decreasing (slowly)
17 07. A whole pound. On other days this week when I've sneakily weighed, it has been 1706, but not today, oh no. So let's go with 1707.
Which was an important year, after all. The Scots lords signed over their independence to Us in exchange for a mess of porridge. Mmm, porridge, there's a thought.
Off to Guildford now.
Which was an important year, after all. The Scots lords signed over their independence to Us in exchange for a mess of porridge. Mmm, porridge, there's a thought.
Off to Guildford now.
I can't compete with Dr Mom in the healthy exercise stakes; I totter from computer screen to kettle and back again at the moment. Fresh air have I none. But frankly, until 4 March is out the way, not much is going to change on that front. As long as the trips to the kitchen are for cups of tea and not crisps, cheese and cake, I figure I'm doing ok, under the circumstances.
Not too bad today: toast and Bovril for breakfast (I'm out of bananas and I can't face the floor-scrapings (muesli) without something fresh fruit-like), lunch was pumpkin and chili soup (almost no calories at all) and 30g of cheddar cheese. Snacks of 50g crisps and one 30cal water biscuit. (I need to not have the crisps and have something slightly more substantial with lunch, it seems, in order to avoid the irresistible urge to have something when Notsosmall comes home.) Dinner was meatballs and spaghetti.
I notice from this blog that our meals are getting very monotonous! But again, until I've got this wretched Business Law exam out the way I can't give my mind to new recipes...
Not too bad today: toast and Bovril for breakfast (I'm out of bananas and I can't face the floor-scrapings (muesli) without something fresh fruit-like), lunch was pumpkin and chili soup (almost no calories at all) and 30g of cheddar cheese. Snacks of 50g crisps and one 30cal water biscuit. (I need to not have the crisps and have something slightly more substantial with lunch, it seems, in order to avoid the irresistible urge to have something when Notsosmall comes home.) Dinner was meatballs and spaghetti.
I notice from this blog that our meals are getting very monotonous! But again, until I've got this wretched Business Law exam out the way I can't give my mind to new recipes...
Exercise Overdose
Yesterday I did my usual six mile walk along the Baylands, stopping halfway at the Shoreline Cafe to drink a latte (the coffee shop visit of the day) and eat a banana. Yes, get that, not cake of any description, but a piece of fruit! Have you ever heard the like?
In the afternoon I participated in the children's dance class, so I effectively did two sessions of exercise in the same day. I have to admit that my legs were protesting quite a lot by the end of the evening, which I spent snuggled up on the sofa with a book.
Foodwise it was a pretty virtous day. Weetabix breakfast, morning coffee as already noted, chicken sandwich lunch, tuna melt dinner at the Country Gourmet, and a biscuit with my evening cup of tea. Today it's 1pm, and so far all I've had is the Weetabix and a coffee at a school meeting. I'm going to risk a bagel with a bit of cheese for lunch.
In the afternoon I participated in the children's dance class, so I effectively did two sessions of exercise in the same day. I have to admit that my legs were protesting quite a lot by the end of the evening, which I spent snuggled up on the sofa with a book.
Foodwise it was a pretty virtous day. Weetabix breakfast, morning coffee as already noted, chicken sandwich lunch, tuna melt dinner at the Country Gourmet, and a biscuit with my evening cup of tea. Today it's 1pm, and so far all I've had is the Weetabix and a coffee at a school meeting. I'm going to risk a bagel with a bit of cheese for lunch.
Equanimity Restored
No longer irrationally grumpy.
Food-wise the day went well until dinner, which was roast chicken with large quantity of Yorkshire pudding, modest quantity of mashed potato, and quite a lot of vegetables. It was scrummy, and I don't regret a single calorie of it.
I also succeeded in getting a job application in before the closing date, so that is positive too (though it turns out that the next stage is an online verbal reasoning test and I don't have a good track record with those - time to practice required).
Today I need to learn about insolvency-avoiding strategies and whether to choose a limited liability partnership, a partnership, a sole tradership or a limited company as a preferred business medium. Be still my beating heart.
Food-wise the day went well until dinner, which was roast chicken with large quantity of Yorkshire pudding, modest quantity of mashed potato, and quite a lot of vegetables. It was scrummy, and I don't regret a single calorie of it.
I also succeeded in getting a job application in before the closing date, so that is positive too (though it turns out that the next stage is an online verbal reasoning test and I don't have a good track record with those - time to practice required).
Today I need to learn about insolvency-avoiding strategies and whether to choose a limited liability partnership, a partnership, a sole tradership or a limited company as a preferred business medium. Be still my beating heart.
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