Posts from — August 2009

Happy Friday!  I am posting from the shore again;  the daughters insisted on coming one last time before school starts.  Unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating  

This morning we woke up to cloudy skies…

Then the rains came.  When it let up, I took the opportunity to go out for a bike ride…

On the way back, the rain started up again   I made it back, mildly soggy, and started on some breakfast:  1/2 bagel with whipped cream cheese and a nectarine…

And a cup of…………….

Don’t worry!  I didn’t cave in to the coffee, although I have reeeaaally wanted to!  After doing some research, I found an alternative.  It’s called Teeccino and it’s touted as an herbal coffee…

It’s actually not made from coffee beans at all.  It’s made from organic carob, organic barley, organic dates, organic chicory, almonds and organic figs.  Neat mix, right?  I actually found this at my local Giant supermarket in the natural foods section.  I was excited to try it;  so I brewed some up this morning.  It is brewed just like coffee which is also cool since it allows you to continue the “morning ritual”!  The verdict:  I really liked it!  It does resemble a mild roast coffee flavor.  I was only able to find the Hazelnut flavor in my market which was okay, but I think I’d really enjoy the Java flavor which may resemble coffee even more.  So far, I’m sold!

Breakfast didn’t hang around very long and I was feeling hungry by 11:00 am.  Too early for lunch, so I had a few almonds to tide me over…

The rains cleared out a bit, so we planned on having a beach picnic for lunch.  I started packing up sandwiches.  Mine was avocado, tomato, baby arugula on whole wheat pane bread…

As we were heading out the door, the skies turned gray again!  We decided against the beach and had our picnic by the pool instead.  I added some whole grain tortilla chips to my lunch, first a handful, then a few more…

Thunder rudely interrupted lunch, so we went back home.  I finished lunch with a juicy nectarine…

After playing some card games, we ventured out into the rain for an ice cream break.  I tried out No Sugar Added Moose Tracks…delish…

More rain, more games.  Then, it was time for dinner.  We had a pizza and sushi night!  Those things don’t necessarily go together, but it was good!  I went with a few pieces of sushi (with wasabi – yum!), a small piece of pizza and salad…

I tried another piece of sushi and noshed on more crust…

I finished off the night with a small slice of chocolate cake…

And 5 more games of Sequence of which I won NADA!

I definitely did a lot more eating than I really wanted to today.  I think being stuck in the house just left me like a bottomless pit!  I’m trying not to feel guilty and just move on.  It’s a hard habit to break…

I’m hoping for clear skies tomorrow and looking forward to a good long bike ride!!  I hope Mother Nature gets my memo

Have a great night, everyone!

Thank you all for your condolences regarding my breakup It’s still a little rough going, but physically, I felt better today! You all had some great ideas for some coffee alternatives, too; I will definitely be checking them out!

The hips were still sore today and moving into feeling stiff, too. I thought it best to not do any cardio again and now, don’t you know , I am craving running??!! But, my hips will not be happy if I pursue that, so I decided to try something new – Pilates. I bought a cheap-o DVD at Five Below that is a one hour basic Pilates workout. I planned on doing the whole hour, but needed to get in some breakfast first. I went with a quick bowl of cereal. In the mix…

• 1/3 c. Special K Protein flakes
• 1/4 c. Post Trail Mix Crunch
• 2 big ole strawberries
• 1/3 c. unsweetened vanilla Almond Breeze

The tea bag tag had positive sayings on it. Mine said this…

Yeah, I ‘d like to reward myself with a cup of coffee! *sigh* But, I went on to reward myself with a Pilates session. I have to say, despite the annoying voice of the instructor and the waif-like “level 1″ demonstrator in the background, I REALLY liked it! It is hard, but not so hard that you want to quit. My muscles were shaking, but heck, you get to lie down for most of it, so I’m game! I made it through 45 minutes before I had to stop and tend to the daughters. I was pretty wobbly in the legs, so it must have done something! I’ll definitely try this again.

Lunchtime rolled around before I knew it. I was in the mood for my good old ‘wrap and chip’ combo. I made a Cali Veggie Wrap using a high fiber tortilla, Dr. Praeger’s California Veggie Burger, Laughing Cow Light Cheese and lettuce. Trader Joe’s Sour Cream and Onion Rice Chips and carrots were perfect sides…

After lunch, the daughters and I (and dog) went to the park for the afternoon. We did a little walking, playing and hanging on a blanket reading books. It was a great afternoon.

We got home just in time to get dinner started. As I was prepping some mozzarella cheese for the entree, I sliced and snacked…

I had to hurry up and put it away before I snacked away the whole block of cheese! How’s that for being intuitive?! I intuitively knew I would eat the whole thing -lol!! Not funny, but I’m trying to make myself feel better ;P

Dinner was Grilled Chicken Antipasto along with salad and grilled bread…

I grilled thin-sliced chicken breasts then topped them with a mixture of tomatoes, diced mozzarella, a few Kalamata olives, 3 artichoke hearts (chopped), fresh basil, garlic and a tsp. evoo…

While cleaning the dishes, I fished for a dessert…

So, I’m feeling a little anxious about intuitive eating. I think I’m having a low point where I’m not sure if I’m doing the right thing. I was feeling really strong last week, but this week has been up and down so far. I’m finding that this takes lots of practice. Lots and lots. I know it’s going to take a long time to undo the dieting damage. I think it’s okay to take a while, but I also think I have to be okay with maybe not losing weight while this changeover is occurring. And I’m not sure if I’m okay with that…

Patience. It’s not a virtue that comes easily for me. But, to feel like I’ve given this the “old college try”, I’ll hang in there a while longer and do a progress report mid-Sept. to see where I’m at.

Have a great night, everyone!

Before I go… a Question of the Day… Have you ever tried Pilates?

I feel like crap today. I’m going through a breakup and it’s been rough. Me and coffee have had a love/hate relationship for a while now. It wasn’t love at first sight although, it did give me jitters every time I got a little ;P But now, the love is gone. It’s been doing me wrong, causing me major pain in the heart, throat and gut. Why, oh why does it have to be this way? I tried to get together with it’s lesser version – Trader Joe’s French Roast Low Acid. We liked each other at first, but it turned out to be just like all the others. So, I must breakup with coffee. It seems necessary. My body is achy and yearning for it, but I have to let it go. *sigh* Parting is such sweet sorrow…

This morning, I had…tea…

I added some milk, no sweetener. It was a milked-up mate…

It sucked.

I still wanted something more. I was feeling hungry right off the bat today. I decided on a pack of Emerald Cocoa Roast Almonds…

These are great and had just the right amount of crunch that I was looking for…

I putzed around all morning having my own” farewell to coffee “pity party. I finally decided to head to the basement for a workout. I didn’t feel up to any running/elliptical since my hips are still sore. Getting old sucks burnt coffee grinds ;P Anyway, I decided to do weights and ab work. It was a nice, no hip-impact 30 minute workout.

When lunch time rolled around, I was ready for it! I really wanted pasta and heck, since I’m not having coffee, I might as well have something I really want! I made my own boxed-style mac and cheese using 2 oz. Ronzoni Smart Taste elbow macaroni, 2 tbsp. natural cheese powder (bought this in a bulk foods store) and a few tbsp. milk. I cooked up a batch of fresh mixed veggies to go with it…

cheesy…like me…

Unfortunately, today was not a day of listening to my body. My body wanted coffee, but instead it got lots of snacky snacks. I just wanted to feel full today. Satisfied didn’t seem good enough. So, I munched on a pretzel…

Then more pretzels (x3!!!) coated in chocolate! Heck, if I can’t have coffee…

I had to lie down after that. The daughters and I cuddled up and watched some bad TV (Wife Swap).

I had no big plans for dinner, so everyone agreed on breakfast for dinner. I made cheese omelettes with a side salad. Eggscellent…

I did get a small burst of energy for some house cleaning after dinner. That’s a little better! Maybe this breakup won’t be so bad after all =)

I leave you with a Question of the Day: What do you drink- coffee or tea?