Mustard: Ketchup's Evil Twin

For as long as I can remember, I have hated mustard.  I have believed it to be quite nasty.  Well, welcome back to "Try It, You'll Like It" Tuesdays!

I have been having a problem of not bringing enough food to work.  Yesterday, I got a massive headache and felt super nauseous in the evening.  Today, I knew I didn't have anything for breakfast and tried to get to Starbucks so I could get a protein plate.  However, I was running to late.  I grabbed a muffin at work and swore I was getting a protein plate at lunch.  I called the nearest Starbucks and they said they had one left.  I waited an hour and left, hoping the best, but alas there was no protein plate to be had.  Knowing that I could not get fast food and be happy about tracking those calories, I got a turkey and swiss sandwich from the Starbucks without the protein plate.  And it came with light mayo and mustard.  I'm a girl who loves her mayo, but doesn't generally like mustard.  But why not give it a shot.  Here's my first try:

Just enough to get a taste, but not be overwhelmed.

Verdict: I LIKED IT!!!

Yes, it made this plain, boring sandwich tasty!  I put even more on the second half of my sandwich.  I'm a fan of small amounts of mustard, apparently.  This makes me happy because I do generally like my food plain and boring, but I also like expanding my palate.  I feel victorious!

Other exciting news:  I JOINED THE YMCA!!!
The YMCA in my area had a week where they waived the fee to join the Y.  I knew they also had a sliding scale for monthly membership.  I ended up paying $27/month with no signing fee.  Yay!  I was ecstatic and driving home I was like "Oh, $#!& I just joined the Y, I really have to go now!".  Yeah, that moment when every fat kid realizes they have to put their booty where their money is.  In equally exciting news:  SwimSis and SwimTot joined too!  SwimTot goes to preschool there, will go to summer camp there, does dance class, is going to do soccer, and has swim lessons on thursdays after preschool.  Whew!  Tonight SwimSis and her husband, The Coach, went to a movie (21 Jump Street...they said it was funny).  I took SwimTot to the pool.  Not the lap swimming I had in mind, but two of my favorite things are hanging out with my niece and being in the water.  We were swimming for 45 minutes and I estimate that I was probably treading water for 30 minutes.  Not too bad!  SwimTot is adventurous and we hung out in the deep end where she would belly flop in and swim to me, and they back to the wall.  Here is a picture of us before we left:

Not the best pic of us, but you can't capture AWESOME!!!

Back to my last post, talking about St. Paddy's Day.  I totally bombed at making good choices.  I went out to eat/drink Thurs/Fri/Sat/ Sun!  Baaad on the wallet too!  For some reason only God knows (A very large margarita at dinner Friday night) I was up at 7:30am Saturday morning.  Everyone else was asleep, so I snuck out for a little walk.  A mile around my apartment complex took me 20 minutes last time.  My only goal was to beat that 20 minute mark.  I headed out going quickly through the streets of the complex, and once I got to the trail my knee was not happy.  Not injured or anything, just whining.  I made it through the pain and when I got home I saw: 19 minutes!  Could have been 19:00 or 19:59, but I did it!  I was so happy!  Here is a pic of me afterwards:

Yes, that is the shirt of a race I have never done...but I might!

 I have a good friend who is pretty healthy and eats a mostly Paleo diet.  She made dinner for a group of us on St. Paddy's Day.  It was a spinach salad (w/pear and avocado), green beans w/toasted almonds, and Shepard's Pie with a cauliflower/potatoe topping.  Delish!  Then I went out with her friends.  Which ended up being awkward for me.  I was definitely the only fat one there, not the only obese, or morbidly obese person, the ONLY one with a body mass index that is considered overweight.  Slightly depressing.  Alcohol helped.  At least I wasn't that girl laying in the bathroom stall with puke all over me, having to be dragged out by a couple of waitresses.

Ah well, more on that later.  For now, here is  a picture of a cactus type plant I got my old hometown city I visited last weekend.  I figured I was responsible enough for a plant (as compared to a pet or boyfriend).  I had it sitting in the window sill, then I closed the window.  And wouldn't you know it, I chopped off part of the leaves while closing the window.  Plant owner fail!!!

Before being chopped in the window.

"Try it, you'll like it" Thursday

Well, I haven't tried anything new...until today!  In my last Green Bean Delivery, I got some grapefruit.  Oh yes, not exotic in the least, but not anything I have had in 20 years either (I find my 7 year old palate was very reliable).

I cut the grapefruit before I left for work (if evidence is needed as to why I had to cut this before work, skip down to gigantic apple).  Obviously I have never cut a grapefruit before because I cut it the wrong way.  Like an orange I suppose.  I then made it into quarters and packed it away.  This was the sunrise I was greeted to at work:

 

Jolie, non?

And after a latte and my warm lemon water, I tried grapefruit, with some sugar.  First reaction?  Not as bad as I thought!  Second reaction

Torture!

Yes it was horrendous.  I made myself eat the 1/4 of the grapefruit.  Want to know how to drink more water?  Eat something you dislike then try to get the taste out of your mouth!!!  This is where I'm going to have to agree with my 7 year old self.

"Try it, I: DISLIKED IT.  Verdict is in.

In other news, I have been taking my refillable water cup to work.  However, the straw was so dainty that it easily broke, I was careless and stepped on the straw when it was on the ground.  Here's to me keeping it classy!

Thank you, Wendy's, for the replacement straw!

I also took a very large honeycrisp apple to work.  I would tear my mouth open trying to bite into it, so I decided to cut it. But first, here is the apple compared to some other things

Small Gala Apple vs Large Honeycrisp

Large Honeycrisp vs My (cracked) Blackberry

Large Honecrisp vs my hand (which is already large)

So I tried to cut it into quarters.  I got a plastic knife and started sawing away.  The core wouldn't cut!  More and more sawing over the trash can so it could catch the juices, the knife suddenly broke.  Left with the shank/handle of the plastic knife, I used that to wedge through the core of the apple.  Very labor intensive.  That is why I recommend you cut things at home!

Also, I am obsessed with Zucchini.  Like woah.  Tastes good w/everything!  I made mac and cheese and zucchini yesterday.  I swear there was crack in there.  Like the hands of an iron chef labored over its creation.  THAT. DAMN. GOOD.

Blessed by Emerill.

And then today I brought tuna helper (1am cooking anyone?), and of course loaded that up with zucchini!  I will have the same thing tomorrow too!  Sooo delicious! 

Blessed by lesser known TV chef.

Anyone want to join in the conversation?  What are you obsessed with?  Has it, too, been blessed by a TV chef?  I hope it's not Paula Deen :) I kid, I kid.

Anyone have some good tips for not overdoing it on St. Patrick's Day?

Why is "healthy" tracked by WEIGHT?

Short answer:  Because weight is something tangible that a hop onto a small platform can tell us almost instantaneously.

Moreover, I've really been thinking about my want, need, desire to get healthy.  Here are some things I have been thinking:

-I want to be HEALTHY, not skinny.  Skinny implies (to me) that you look a certain way, fit into a certain mold.  Even with this current, morbidly obese body, I can tell you that even if when I reach a "size", it won't look the way other people's do.  Seriously, top heavy & stomach heavy!

-I can't make large goals (like 'lose 100 lbs').  Sure, that may be something I want to do, but if I claim 100 as my goal, I will fail before I start because that task seems insurmountable.

-I want to fit into some pants and shirts that I have been holding onto (hello, orange shirt from college fitness center opening 5 years ago!)

-I'm glad I joined sparkpeople.com  I like tracking things.  (This said until the novelty wears off)


I've been reading a ton of weight loss blogs and running blogs lately and I'm totally inspired.  Real people, real struggles, real triumphs.  I'm not so keen on the running part (aka Faster in Water THAN ON LAND) but they inspire me just the same.

My weekend trip out of town was fabulous.  That city that I love so much welcomed me home with my first stop at the bar!  LOL  $2 drink specials, can't beat that!  I had 4.  Which included more pop than I've had in a while!

The next morning, I went to this amazing indoor, open, food market.  I got blueberries and apples, and some popcorn too (um, it's cheese popcorn and carmel corn mixed...favorite!).  Then on to the birthday party!  My old "NannyFam", as I call them, was doing it up big, Star Wars style!  Here's a backside pick of the cake:

Yep, R2D2.  There were more knobs on the front and a flashing light!  So impressive!  However, I did not eat any.  No, I was not a "dieting saint".  I just gave up chocolate for Lent and this was a chocolate cake.  I don't really like chocolate cake anyway!

After the party, I went out with some friends.  This place was fairly fancy schmancy for my taste and the service sucked.  I ordered a long island, and eventually a "French 75" which contained gin, champagne, pure care sugar.  Yeah it was terrible.  And $8 in a champagne flute.  RIP OFF!

I also had their "pomme frites", yeah I called them french fries when ordering because I can!  :)  My friends each got a pizza.  One was mushroom and leeks, the other was prosciutto and sunny side up eggs.  Delicious, but I was burping up eggs for 2 days!

The next day, I woke up with a hangover and cried at watched Extreme Home Makeover.  Then I went to see the nanny fam again.  The new baby (whom I never nannied for, but I was there when she found out she was pregnant!) cried whenever I looked at him.  Geesh!

During this time, I let a sandwich, fries, and some ranch sit out in my car, for like 4 hours.   Can we say mild case of food poisoning?  Yeah, I'm an idiot, and no, it's not the first time!  I then drove a couple of hours and met another friend in another city and we went out to eat.  I had some onion rings and pop (I was so sleepy and had another 3 hrs to drive home!).  But I packed my sandwich to go.   By this time, my stomach knew that something was peculiar.

On the way home, my stomach felt gross and for some reason, I kept burping.  I RARELY burp!  I just chalked it up to having pop.  I get home and go to sleep, and hour later wake up with gas...like HUGE BELCHES!  I would wake up every 15 mins and just let a belch rip!  SwimSis has the flu and went to the ER, I thought SwimTot was passed out, but very soon I heard "I throwed!" (aka she vomited).

Being temp of the year, I got up and went to work the next day because there were MANY contracts to be processed that were urgent.  My tummy issues weren't painful, but just consisted of burps and, uh liquid BMs.  (Sorry!)  I told myself I could leave when the contracts were done, but I ended up feeling better and the contracts didn't get finished until today.

Today was good at work, and I was able eat more! (Compared to the 5 crackers and a sandwich I had yesterday).  Daylight savings is awesome and I went on a walk after work!  1 mile around the neighborhood, 20 mins, so nice!  Here is a pic of me beforehand!

Ready to rock this walk!

 I had all of 650 calories before dinner (because of food poisoning yesterday).  I was starving!  I admit I need to work on portion control, but I schooled this dinner!  Here it is:

Mt. Food

That right there is romaine, carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, chicken from the grill!, cottage cheese and ranch.  With a side of macaroni.  I seriously smashed it.  I added a dessert to my food tracker (current weakness --> pretzels with icing.  blame: no chocolate for Lent), but I sat here long enough to feel super full and I'm good without it.

Movement for the day: 15 flights down
20 minute walk

Just another day in paradise...

And by paradise I mean sun shining so beautifully and a full moon to guide my way home...but not getting home till 10.  Ick!

However, I did get free dinner out of it!  I'm house sitting in a couple of weeks on the total opposite side of town (takes at least 45 mins to get from my house to there).  The person I'm house/dog sitting for took me out to dinner.  At a Mexican restaurant.  I HAD A MARGARITA.  Yes, I probably have not had alcohol since the night before Thanksgiving.  1 margarita.  ALMOST DRUNK.  Like tipsy, where there the lines of your vision get a bit foggy.  Luckily I had good conversation and a chicken burrito to keep me grounded. 

I had wanted to "binge", so to speak, since last week, but I could not find anything I wanted to binge on.  Yes, that is terrible and whatever, but that's the frame of mind I'm in now.  But a margarita and a meal did it for me.  I was soooo full.  And now I'm soooo thirsty.  Silly alcohol.

Something I'm coming to realize is that if I'm going to be healthy and lose weight, it has to be my own.  I've been reading A LOT of weight loss/running blogs lately (don't tell my boss!) and every person has their own method that works for them.  Some seek out the healthiest ingredients on the planet, others stick with local fare, but cut certain things out of their diet.  I can't tell you what is going to work for me, but here are a couple things I know:

-I'm doing this one day at a time
-Any way that I lose weight, whether it be any type/combination of diet and exercise IS NOT A CURE, it is a tool.
-I'm going to make mistakes and that is okay as long as I correct the pattern of behavior (see said "binge"above)
-I'm not going to see results immediately or lose an insane amount each week
-I can do this. 

One of the tools I have selected, as I have mentioned, is Green Bean Delivery to make sure I get my produce! 

Here is what I got today:
-1 lb of strawberries
-3 lemons
-2 grapefruit
-2 red onions
-1 lb green beans
-1 pound spring mix
-1 romaine heart lettuce
-1 pint sweet peppers
-1.5 lbs zucchini
-1 lb fingerling potatoes
-4 gala apples
-1 large bunch broccoli

It can be pricey, (this was $42), but it is a good tool for me.  And it gets delivered to my house.  All of this is local and/or organic.  Let me tell you, the strawberries look like they are just off the vine, can't wait!

For this Tuesday, I'm going to tell you about a vegetable I had for my newish "Try it, You'll like it" Tuesday: 

RAINBOW CHARD.

Yes, this was in a previous delivery from Green Bean.  At first I was like WTF do I do with rainbow chard.  After nixing make chips (ala kale chips) because I know I would burn them, I put them in an omelet.  IT WAS FANTASTIC.  Not all spinachy and wilty that makes me want to gag, but it soften enough to be so delicious with a hint of a bite still.  I used it to make breakfast sandwiches and the only downside is that it smells a little funky when you reheat it, but it's still delicious!

Up for next week's "Try it, You'll like it" Tuesday:  Grapefruit.  I wasn't a fan when I was a kid, but who knows...I might like it now!

And finally:  Movement for yesterday, 3/5:  20 flights down stairs, 2 flights up.
Today's movement: 18 flights downstairs, 15 min walk at lunch. 

That's no athlete, but it's a start...goodnight all!

Back at it!

The last time I swam that hard was probably in high school.  Okay, realistically it was college.  Anyway you slice it, it was at least 5 years ago. 

But it felt amazing.  Swimming has been a part of my life for so long.  Even when I went years without swimming, I would still have dreams about it at least once a month.  There is nothing else like the calm, noiselessness of swimming.  Just you, your thoughts, against the water, against yourself.  I missed it!

I believe swimming is the key to getting my life back to healthy and under control.  I have confidence in swimming, unlike any exercises on land.  As I did my workout yesterday, I felt so strong and powerful moving through the water.  I even got complimented by some dads that were in the lane next to me on my technique and flip turns!

I'm keeping a blog so I will have some accountability to keep up the steps toward health, that will, of course, include swimming!

Here are a few things that made my day:

 Amazingly delicious Croatian water.  I used to hate water, but now I can't get enough!  This particular water is in a glass bottle and has a pH of 7.4.  It makes me a water snob.  I never knew water could taste so "smooth"!

 Favorite shoes to wear to work!  Gold and sparkley!

I have the LEAST creative job on the planet.  I am a creative person.  This little bit of creativity made me long for a creative job!

I got a foam roller!!!!!  I kept seeing other people blog about them.  I found this one at WalMart for $14.97!  It hurt (the good kind!) and I didn't have my hair up so I rolled over my hair...mistake I won't be making next time! haha one of those situations I am glad no one else saw happen :)