Day 7

Thanksgiving week hasn't been kind to my waistline....well it's the pies I've been eating.  They are soo good!  I'll be off this kick really soon though.  Intuitive eating teaches us about the law of habituation.  This is where you eat something frequently and then it starts to become unappetizing.    I'm quickly getting there.   I have found since I began having no restrictions that when I introduce a food that I have not eaten for a while, I will eat quite a bit of it for the first few days and then the newness wears off and I am done.  I am starting to notice that the taste isn't as pleasurable---just not as enjoyable as it was at first.  In fact I think I am officially done right now.  :)  Its so not appetizing anymore.

Todays food line up
 Up at 7
8:00Two scrambled eggs, a slice of blueberry pie
 1:30 pie, turkey cranberry and stuffing on a roll, another slice of pie  :)
3:30  did I really just eat pie again?  Some Ningxia red too.
4:45 Chicken Pillows
Boy am I full now! 

Having trouble with my water intake.  I will work on that tomorrow.  I also realized that most of the time I don't get things done because I have not made a plan to do so.  Tomorrow I am going to start with a plan.  And work on addressing that plan and following through instead of meandering aimlessly through it.  I'll report back on that. 

Sundays I give myself freedom to do the basic routines...no laundry today.  :)  It is a day of rest.

Week review:

Weigh in today was up.  Not surprising considering the sugar and lack of water.  That can be improved on. 
Most meals did not include veggies.  I will investigate more ways of including veggies.  I think scheduling my days will help a lot in this.  Instead of sitting down not knowing what I am doing I will already have it in mind. 
Exercise was good.  I love being back in the weight lifting game.  My elbow started bugging me a bit again...I think I will continue squats and take it easy on arms until I can get that working better.
Treadmill is going well also...I feel like I should be making more headway on getting faster though.  Will pay attention to that as well this week.  I wanted to be at 4.6 mph by this week.  Not quite there yet.

What's good.  Tracking my food...I'm still going even though I have thought about just not bothering.  No one would know anyway...well I would!
I am making plans and seeing what works.  There is no failure only progress and learning.  I am getting strong!  Here's to another great week!

Day 6

Awake at 8

8:30 blueberry pie

9:30 blueberry pie.  It was oh so good I want more!!  

11:30 turkey cranberry and stuffing on a roll

12:45 rich chocolatey Ovaltine.

2:30 pumpkin curry and rice.  A piece of pep pizza

4:00. Coconut cream pie. A cookie

6:15. Coconut cream pie 

7:30 popcorn

I've been on a pie kick if you can't tell.  It is oh so good!!  

Tomorrow is my weigh in.  Not scared.  The number really doesn't matter in the big scheme of things.  I'm interested though.  My water intake has been spotty the last couple of days.  Veggie intake has been low. Sweets high.  We will see what happens.  

Routines will be complete when I get to bed tonight.  Water is 3/4 there.  We were at my sister in laws for most of the afternoon.  I'll blame my lack of water on not being home.  :)

Rode the bike for an hour this morning.  Didn't quite make it to the treadmill.  

Day 5

Awake at 7:30

9:15 pie

10:00 treadmill intervals. 

10:30 pie

12:30 turkey sandwich and carrots. 

3 pm ningxia

3:30 frosted animal cookies

4:30 roll

5:30 roll and bacon. 

6:30 roll turkey stuffing and cranberry

A quiet day with no real plan.  Thinking its time to pay attention to when I eat after I wake up.   Make it a priority to exercise and then get food within an hour instead of taking my time.  

My breakfast.  Yum!!

My exercise 

I was sorely tempted to break into this but resisted as I wasn't hungry.  It is my first attempt at blueberry pie in ever.  I even made the crust!!   It'll be breakfast tomorrow.  :)

Day 4

Thanksgiving day

10 am banana

10:30 scrambled eggs

12:00 chips and shrimp dip

1:30 turkey, stuffing, Rolls, cranberry, gravy.  There were no veggies. 

3:00 cookies

6pm salted Caramel pecan pie http://www.thespunkycoconut.com/2014/11/salted-caramel-pecan-pie-without-corn-syrup/ Was sooo much better than I expected. A ton better than the turtle pumpkin I also made.

8 turtle pumpkin.  I ate a piece and then some more.  It just wasn't good.   So much for experimenting.  Three out the rest after I dissected it a bit.  I don't know why I don't just stop eating something that doesn't taste good. I guess since I made it I felt I had to get my efforts worth of taste...just odd. 

Hope you had a marvelous thanksgiving! We had a great dinner with hubby's parents and oldest sisters family.  Lots of visiting and kids playing.  We then visited my parents for a bit.   We closed out the night watching the muppet Christmas carol. It's our family tradition to watch it every thanksgiving.  

I love the fact that I eat to my hunger so much more.  I was never over stuffed today.  I was quite full but not to the point where I felt like I can't move and my pants are too tight. I'm still working on recognizing my fullness but that is a definite process. 

Got in a strong lifts workout this morning.   Gave myself a pass on my regular routines.  The dishes can wait until tomorrow. 

Now it's time for bed.   Good night!

Poppyseed Ham and Cheese Sliders

Yummy!!   These sandwiches would go well with a soup or salad.  They are a great take on a ham and cheese!

1 lb deli ham. Thinly sliced

1/2 lb baby swiss

12 dinner rolls (You can use more if you desire)

1/2 c butter

2T prepared mustard

1T Worcestershire

1 T poppy seeds

1/3 c brown sugar

Make sandwiches with rolls ham and cheese.  Place in a 9x13 pan.  In a medium saucepan bring the rest of the ingredients to a soft boil.  Pour over the sandwiches.   Cover with foil and bake at 350 for 20 minutes.  

Day 3

Had an interesting dream last night.   My husband and I were in a small plane.  It was the two of us and the pilot up front.  The plane kept flying low and almost touching the freeway we were following. Hubby and I were discussing if we could fly the plane better.  According to dreammoods.com "To dream that you are flying signifies a sense of freedom where you had initially felt restricted and limited.  To be a pilot "indicates that you are in complete control of your destination in life.  You are confident and self-assured in your decisions and accomplishments.  To dream about a freeway indicates "that you are feeling liberated and free.  You are well on your way to achieving your goals."   To use this as an interpretation of my dream...I am taking charge of my life, I am feeling freedom, confident and self-assured in the choices I am making.  I still have not quite taken full hold of this ownership...I was not the pilot...yet.  But the course I am on is the right one and I am on my way.  Making a decision is liberating!  Deciding to decide is the hardest thing for me.  I have a white personality which makes me a peacemaker.  I would much rather let someone else decide for me than to rock the boat.  So to decide something is really a momentous occasion.  :)




Intake for today. 
8am banana
9:30  A couple bites of oatmeal.  This one had flax in it and I think it went rancid.  Did not taste good!
10:00 ice cream sandwich (If I try to explain why it feels like justification, lets just say I enjoyed it!)
11:30 leftover chinese, yum!  Cashew chicken and a little ham fried rice
1 pm ningxia red
2 pm tastes of the pecan pie I made...its crust is cashews and filling made with dates...hope its yummy, the snitches were.  :)
3 pm  pepper jack cheese and ritz crackers
6:30 poppy seed ham and cheese sliders,  a few veggies.  Unfortunately my veggie platter froze in the fridge so only a few carrots/broccoli were good.  :(  I was very sad!! 
7:00 cheese cake.  I ate more of this than I had planned.  I think it is my degree of tiredness catching up with me.  I keep staying up later than I plan and end up tired in the morning.  My next goal will be to head to bed when I plan on it. 

Exercise.  I completed a Jonathan workout from www.bootcamphub.com.  IT was great fun.  Supposed to be

strength but I modified it to only be cardio...I also put clothes away while doing it.  I was really procrastinating the workout today, didn't get to it until after 10.  I am feeling rather sore from yesterdays workout.  Plan on getting some vitamin c tonight to combat the cramps. 

Only 6000 steps today.  That will be my next goal after getting enough sleep.  I want the 10000

Gold star today.  Got my routines complete!

Day 2

Day 2 of anything seems to be hard for me.  Probably because I start out all ready to tackle and then my stamina wavers.  I am certainly tired today...was in bed ready to sleep at 10 but didn't get to sleep until about 11.  I've found I need 8 hours of sleep to really feel my best. Still got up and completed my power "time"  not quite an hour...it took me too long to get downstairs.  Morning routine complete even though in  a shorter time frame.


I got in my exercise. I became interested in heavy lifting about a year ago.  I talked my hubby into getting me the weights and gym stuff.  I have dabbled in it since then.  My goal though is to get to a 90lb squat, hopefully by the end of the year.  I think it is possible.  It was much easier than I had expected it to be today.  I took 6 months off from not being able to get to the equipment (we were finishing our basement)  Then when we got carpet I was recovering from my appendectomy.  Another month off.  

I use the strong lifts app on my phone.  Works great...easy and these heavy weight exercises work a lot of muscles at once so you get more bang for your buck.  :)
Yes women can lift heavy too...I am not out to get ripped.  I want to be strong and healthy!

Meals taken in today.
8 am  one banana and 4 pistachios
9:45  eggs and sweet potato hash  (I burnt my hash,  :( Don't walk away to help a 3 yr old get dressed while it is cooking!  I still ate it, well most of it though.)
11:30  1 glass of ovaltine, yum.
1:30  Whole Wheat spaghetti with Red sauce and hamburger  veggies while it was warming up.
3:40 Ningxia Red
7 pm Chinese,  cashew chicken and a few bites of lemon/orange/ ham fried rice.  So yummy.  We have not had it in ages!  My daughter had a group lesson from 5:30-6:30 tonight.  I had planned to do a crockpot meal but totally forgot to put it in this morning.   So we picked up the food on the way home.  I ate more than usual because I had gone so long without eating.  But I wasn't starving...just not wanting to eat anything that was an option before then. 
I also ate a cute little candy turkey a friend brought by for a Thanksgiving treat.   She is so thoughtful!  No Guilt here, I enjoyed the parts I liked and threw out the rest...  I am not going to deprive myself.  That is a whole other post in itself!

I was noticing today that the food I used to just graze on I was passing because I didn't want to report it.  What a difference writing something down will make!

The problem with the weights is that my steps are not so high today only 6358.  That's ok though.  I am already feeling the tightness of my muscles.  :) 

It's almost Thanksgiving!  I think I will make some pies tomorrow!  Off to plan my day so I don't forget to put food in or something again.
Oh and I get another gold star!  All my routines complete!

Day 1

I stayed up too late last night and so didn't jump out of bed like I had hoped.  I did most of my morning routine before taking the kids to school.   I've started doing my morning reading on the fit desk down in our exercise room. I love that it gives me a little extra movement in the day.

Just as a preface. I do not believe in counting calories. Intuitive eating goes by the premise that your body knows what it needs you just need to listen to what it is saying.   In an effort to listen better I am writing down what I eat and sharing it.   I find that I take a moment and listen better if I know I will be writing it down.  

Intake for today:

7:30 banana

9:30 two eggs and sweet potato hash

12:30 leftover tuna noodle casserole with tomatoes and veggies

1:30 hotdog (no bun)

2:00 Grapes
2:30 Ningxia Red

4:00 pepper jack cheese and ritz crackers

5:50 a quarter of an ice cream sandwich

6:00 pan fried cheeseburger.  Our propane went out and I had to improvise.  :)  Really not hungry now so skipped the veggies. 

64 oz of water total. 

It is a Gold star day!  completed both my morning and evening routines entirely.  Feeling great!

For exercise I ran a 2:1 interval on the treadmill. This was 2 minutes at 4 mph followed by 1 min recovery at 3 mph.  I wore my heart rate monitor and it seems that my lack of activity after my appendectomy 7 weeks ago caught up to me.  This is a pic of my treadmill.  Almost 30 min and 1.65 miles.  That will be improving shortly.  😄  I am almost to 8500 steps.  Goal is to get 10,000 tonight.  wish me luck!

Sweet potato hash

Quite possibly my most favorite breakfast.  Sweet potato hash and eggs go very nicely together.  They are very easy too!  I put a dab of vanilla honey butter on top for my seasoning. Mmm tasty!!

Ingredients:
1 sweet potato
1 T Coconut oil or butter
Cinnamon

Shred sweet potato (I do several at once in the food processor)
In a skillet heat the oil on medium heat until melted and shimmering.  Add the shredded sweet potato spreading evenly across the pan.  Wait a minute and stir spreading it out again. Repeat this step.  When the sweet potato appears to be softening put a lid on the pan and allow it to steam for 3 minutes.  Check.  The hash is done when soft and has the crispy bits on the bottom.  Yum!
If you want to add eggs, scoot all the hash to one half of the pan and put eggs in just before you cover it.  

Getting Angry Makes Me Motivated

Do you ever have those moments where you are just so frustrated you can't stand it anymore?  I am feeling that way tonight.  My kid's rooms are a mess.  They have had no TV for a week and still are not cleaning their rooms.  My room is a mess for that matter.  I have papers I keep hitting as I type.  It is driving me batty.  I feel very unorganized and irritated at the state of my house and being.  The state of my mind, body and house are not optimal at this moment.  I'd say my weight, but I am working really hard to avoid body shaming myself.  Getting angry over the scale really doesn't help me love myself, and my body doesn't metabolize fat better just because I am mad at it.  Gee, it sure would be nice if it were that easy! 

So here we go.  I am sitting here frustrated and realized that the best way to motivate myself is to set some goals (well I already had some) now to make them public and work on achieving them.
My current goals have been:  Complete my morning routine, complete my evening routine.  Plan menus, get 64 oz of water a day and get to the point where I can run a mile in 10 minutes.

My morning routine consists of:
Being Grateful
An Hour of Power (thank you Darren  Hardy!)  This includes reading positive content, meditation writing in my journal, time for reading scriptures and praying.
Make my bed
Bathroom blitz (wipe surfaces and swish the toilet)  Flylady calls this the swish and swipe
Start a load of laundry
Empty the dishwasher
Finish 32 oz water

My Evening routine consists of:
Wash all dishes and empty the sink
Start the dishwasher
Wipe down counters and table
Sweep the floor (Mostly the high traffic areas)
Empty the garbage
Finish 32 oz water
Set out water for the next day (2 mugs of 32 oz)
What am I eating tomorrow?
Set out exercise clothes
When's my bedtime?

I am working to have these completed daily for 60 days in a row.  So join me!  I will report and share how my journey goes.

The next step...Set a plan for menu planning, running, and approaching each meal intuitively.   We will talk about that in the next post.

So how about you?  Do you have a morning and evening routine?  Is it working for you?

Cottage cheesy macaroni

I don't remember where I found this recipe, but it was fun to make.  Tasty too! Great if you are craving mac and cheese but need a bit extra protein.  

16 oz cottage cheese
2 eggs
2 cloves garlic
4 tbsp fat free milk
1/2 cup cheddar cheese
7 cups macaroni, cooked

Makes 8 servings

Serving Size 157 g

Amount Per Serving

Calories 372

Total Fat 5.6g

Saturated Fat 2.7g

Trans Fat 0.0g

Cholesterol 59mg

Sodium 297mg

Total Carbohydrates 57.7g

Dietary Fiber 2.4g

Sugars 2.7g

Protein 20.8g

Vitamin A 4% • Vitamin C 0% Calcium 12% • Iron 15%