Stocking the Toolbox

The first thing you need to know is that the picture there is not my breakfast. It was supposed to be a picture of my breakfast but the picture of my breakfast up and disappeared. My breakfast was some pinto beans, spinach, egg whites, salsa, a cup of coffee, a large glass of ice water and 4 fork fulls of saurkraut. That's right boys and girls it's new eating plan time!!!

Today we’re starting the slow carb diet as suggested by THE 4-HOUR BODY by Timothy Ferriss. Before we start the eating plan, there are some tools suggested to failure-proof the plan. Here are the ones I am deploying:

Photo Tracking my Food: Tracking has been a good tool for me when I do it. One of the coolest suggestions I found in 4HB is to track by photo. The benefits are that it’s immediate, it’s honest and it’s simple. All I have to do take a picture of food before I eat it. I’m using the eatly app to do it. (Okay so that plan hasn't gone well so far, it's day one, meal one--I'll get better!)

The Fatty Photo: I know, that’s not the nicest way to put it, but it’s true and it’s time to face facts--every time I open the fridge. Having a before pic is supposed to be a “big” motivator. This is my overeating mugshot. I can’t wait to track my journey to freedom. This was painful. Big Daddy and I took these pictures after a bike ride. Hair was floppy, shirts were off (I had on a sports bra.) There was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. This picture bums me out, especially when I consider that I was 30 pounds heavier a year ago. I have a new respect for those folks on the Biggest Loser. Here's the crazy part, when I look at that picture I think, I don't want anyone to see that, but the truth is that I'm the only one who has been in the dark about how big I am.

Make it a Game: I’ve already told you about “don’t break the chain.” That’s one part of making it a game. The other part is that Big Daddy and I have to put up or pay up. If either of us cheats on a non-cheat day, we have to put $10 in the Vegas Fund Jar.

Inch by Inch: Unlike other plans where I relied on the scale to tell me how I am doing, I am also using a tape measure each week as another way to track my progress. 4HB is really big on measuring and tracking so I’ve made very simple worksheets to record my data.

As far as the Slow Carb Diet--I’ll be posting about that in the days to come. It’s a very different eating plan and it’s not designed for fun. It is supposed to be designed for quick and profound results and maybe just maybe if things go well, someday, I’ll share my “before” picture.

Don't Break the Chain

Yesterday, I mentioned "don't break the chain" and today I got to put my seventh sticker on my bike riding chain. I read about this motivational tool on lifehacker.com Apparently Jerry Seinfeld was giving advice to a new comic and he suggested that he track daily activity using a calendar. Each day that he accomplished his goal, he put a big red "x" on his calendar, creating a chain. The game is to see how long one can go without breaking the chain. It's simple, it's silly and guess what, it works! I am using a calendar I found online and right now I'm only using it for my bike riding, but I will be adding more chains in the near future. 

The reason I'm excited about hitting the seven day mark is that I've read that the tipping point for creating a habit can be as little as four or five days. I have passed that point and for the first time in my life I am rolling directly out of bed ready to move and I'm doing more than I committed to do. Both my distance and the frequency of my riding has increased in seven days. I will be the first to admit that this is not a strenuous work out, but I am getting my heart rate up and I'm working up a sweat and I'm doing more than I was while sitting on the couch. It is my hope that by the time we reach October, Big Daddy and I will be able to ride in the park. 

Today we took measurements and weighed and tomorrow we start on a new eating plan. I have a lot of feelings about that which is the whole ball of wax. Food and feelings are linked for me and when I surrender those indulgences (even short term) I am left with the feelings and that's a big part of why I've fired up the blog. I need to talk about it. I need to share. Wish me luck and remember, we've only got to do one day at a time. 

Another Beginning

I just saw that my last post was on Jan. 1, 2012. Nice. So it's been a couple of days, but I'm back, with a new resolve--I hope.

That's been the theme lately: I'm ready to change! (I hope.) Earlier this year, Big Daddy and I went on a diet plan, we did really well for about six weeks, we did okay for about a month, and then we piddled around with it for another month until we were back to Cheetos and Peanut M&Ms. We've been dancing around the fact that we have to start again, again for weeks now because it's a little hard to be optimistic at this point. Then I got a bike.

It was plain blue with no frills, no gears, foot breaks. She's a granny bike with a bell. I will not be taking on the Tour de France on this thing but I started to ride. Just a little. Just around the block. Then I decided she needed sprucing up, and a name. Then I the next morning I rode and I added an evening ride. Then I did it again. I started a "don't break the chain" and today I got to block out the sixth day. Big Daddy went on his maiden voyage this morning and he left me in the dust.

Tomorrow we start another experiment and I am committing to one week. I bought the food. We've cleaned out the junk food. I'll share the adventure with you probably to the point of overkill (but if you can't overdo it, why do it?) Stay tuned. 

Onward and Upward!

Well the holidays came and left and it feels like a truck ran through our living room. I don't know if it's the frenzy of trying to get everything done or having so many funtivities crammed into a couple of weeks but it's all very disorienting and then poof! Quiet. Suddenly I am still with myself and that seems strange. I put away most of the decorations yesterday--I say most because there's always some stray something I discover later and Big Daddy and I headed out to do New Years. We'd originally planned to go to a party but the prospect of mingling with a room full of complete strangers was a bit daunting. Then we were going to dinner and were going to stop by another party where we knew some folks but there was an hour wait at the restaurant and things started getting tense. We just couldn't figure out what to do with ourselves. I was already frustrated that my clothes don't fit and Big Daddy felt bad that the fun wasn't working out and we were on the fast train to Meltdown Town. And then inspiration hit: perhaps a little well worn routine would help. We went to the little sports bar where we play trivia and it was all but empty. We played a game, held hands, giggled a little and BOOM it was all just okay. We tried to go to the replacement party I couldn't get the directions to work on my iPhone. Sometimes you just have to roll with it.

I don't know what to make of 2011. I got a new group, I'm making new friends, and I discovered one of my nearest and dearest isn't right now. Big Daddy are walking through some challenges, and I'd love to see those resolved soon. All in all, it was a good year. All in all we are blessed. All in all, I can't complain--what I can do is use this first day as a beginning for better things, bigger dreams and a deeper relationship with God and his kids. I think I'll do that. I hope you'll join me! Love and blessings to all. Let's make 2012 the best year ever!

A Real Cu-Tea of a Gift!

I made this wreath in the wee hours of the morning and I think it's just adorable!

Supplies:

12" cardboard cake round (or a piece of cardboard that you cut into a circle)
Scrapbook paper
24 clothes pins
24 tea bags of assorted flavors (I bought a 4 box gift set from Sams Club and I have enough left to make at least one more wreath)
Ribbon
1 soda can tab
Scissors, white glue and a glue gun with glue sticks

INSTRUCTIONS:
The hardest part of this whole project is cutting the cardboard into the wreath shape. I'm guessing an exacto knife with a sharp blade would have made this a LOT easier but of course I only thought of that after the fact. Once you have a card board donut, then you're going to cover it in scrap book paper. Cut the circle to size and then with the center, cut a circle smaller than the hole in your wreath shape and cut a bunch of little tabs that you can fold over and glue to the back of your wreath shape. Now you're going to cut long thin strips from coordinating scrapbook paper to glue on to one side of the clothes pins. Use white glue to attach paper strips to clothes pins. Use the hot glue gun to stick the clothes pins to the wreath making sure that the "mouth" of the pin is pointing to the outside of the wreath. (Leave a gap in the pins for your bow.) Use hot glue to attach the can tab to the edge of your wreath. This will be the hanger so that your wreath can be hung on the kitchen wall. Use ribbon to tie a bow around your wreath. Put a tea bag in each clothes pin (there will be some over lapping, not to worry!) Voila!

Enough Already

This is a picture of our little Christmas tree. It's little and I've decorated and redecorated it multiple times. I seem like the kind of person who would love a giant tree that I decorate each year in some Liberace meets Lady Gaga style. I seem like that kind of person, but I'm not. I love my little tree and I love my little mantle and that's really all the decorating I do for Christmas. Something happened to me. Something very strange sank from my head into my heart and just like Cindy Lou Hoo, I believe that Christmas is in my heart and the rest of this stuff is just stuff. What the what?

That's right. I have bought a few presents and I've wrapped them. I'm waiting on a few more to come in the mail but I am really not worried about it. Big Daddy and I sat down and talked about what we're going to do for each other this year and it's completely reasonable and I'm completely okay with it. I am pretty excited about the idea I came up with for my nieces' gift and I hope they love it too, but I'm not going to cry if it's not a home run. You never know with kids and I'm okay with that.

Today I had the day to myself and I was thinking about my life and once again it hit me that I am married to the most wonderful guy I know and the fact that I found love when I did, in the way that I did and that it's all worked out the way that it has--well I don't want to toss around the word miracle willy-nilly but it kind of applies. I have friends who really really love me and I don't have any secrets with them and I absolutely adore them right back. I have a family that I can't talk about with out getting teary eyed because they are such generous and funny and sweet spirited people and I am bound to them all so profoundly. When I look at all of that with clear eyes it's hard to think of things that I want or need. Seriously. So I celebrate the birth of Christ and I celebrated the grace of God and I celebrate the transforming love that gives me the clarity to see the blessings in my life every day. Peace on earth & good will to all men!

In Praise of the Punt!

As some of you know, I went a little crock pot crazy last year. I got a crock pot cook book called Make it Fast Cook it Slow (and subsequently several other crock pot cookbooks) and I just went a little bananas using this amazing little contraption to make dinner out of bits and pieces. What crock pot cooking reminded me (because I have always considered a recipe a template rather than precise instructions) is the it's okay to punt. It's okay to use chocolate chips instead of raisins (they're both brown after all). It's okay to use mustard, soy sauce and any flavor of jelly to make a sauce for chicken or chops. It's okay to use rotini instead of linguini or rice instead of potatoes. It's okay to leave out stuff you don't like. And above all, it's okay if it doesn't turn out amazing. Sometimes it will.

Take my dinner tonight: I have four little pork chops that need to get cooked today. I have some salad dressing that we got for free at a food show and I have some fresh pears. I'm gonna cook those things together. If the flavor works once the meat is done then I'm good and if it doesn't I'll take the juice out and add some soy sauce or some mustard or some cinnamon to give it a little more umph! I'm not afraid because as far as I know this isn't anyone's last meal. It's just dinner and it might be really delicious dinner or it might be "let's not do that again"dinner and either way, it's going to be okay. So take a few chances. Get out your crock pot and start with some easy recipes (chicken, salsa, corn, black beans--cook, shred chicken with two forks and mix in cream cheese. Eat in tortillas. So. Flippin. Good.) and after you've tried a few of those, have an adventure! Go off the grid! Mix it up a little and feel free to punt! You've got my permission.

I'll be back with the results. Happy creative cooking!