from lunch on

Quarter pounder, no bun, no sauce, no cheese. Just lots of pickles, mustard and sauerkraut.

And then the evening boredom set in with 4 bowls of veggie/chicken stew, 2 bowls of yogurt with raisins & almonds, several tbsp of peanut butter+raisins and an apple all while watching hours and hours of "Foyle's Wars" on Netflix.

The funny thing is when I finally went to bed I slept great. Must have been all those healthy fats.

Well one more day of not paying attention then the New Year starts up. So weigh in tomorrow.

car snack

Trail mix is my latest weakness (?) and it's probably time to start paying attention to the portion size, kcals, digestibility, protein, fat - I'll know next time i weigh in. Maintenance seems like a constant balancing act.

homemade yogurt

So I started making my own yogurt so that I can get yogurt without lactose I'm happy about this, however how to calculate the calories is currently a bit of an unknown.

Breakfast was about three quarters of a cup of yogurt, a banana and a teaspoon of honey. Calories unknown, stomach full.

Yummy Sunday Breakfast

Non-fat plain yogurt + a banana + 4 pitted cherries + chopped pecans.
DELICIOUS

What?!?

Well... At least I recorded it.
And good thing I went to the gym.

Eating out

Yes I eat out - a lot!! This has got to be the hardest part of living a healthy lifestyle - at least here in America where food is served in HUGE portions and made from heavily processed and fat-saturated ingredients. This week I picked up a grocery store lunch, had dinner at a Lebanese restaurant with a friend and then today: lunch out with another friend. And I'm proud to say, I did pretty good….

When I haven't any groceries at home to make a decent lunch I will stop and pick up a ready made salad. The dressing is usually the killer for me since my fav is a vegetarian Santa Fe salad from QFC - jicama, corn, black beans, lettuce, some cheese.   It ends up being a simple "fast food" lunch that I can eat at my desk.

Next was dinner at Riyadh's - a simple little Lebanese place on lower SE Hawthorne - where a friend and I are regulars. We usually split a plate of chicken kebab mezza (2 skewers of charbroiled chicken breast served with hummus, tabboui, 2 falafels, and tahini sauce). Their pita bread is to die for - luckily it's not ginormous & we each get only one pita. The atmosphere here is laid back and relaxed, perfect for a mid week dinner with a close friend!

Then today lunch at another of my favs - the Doug Fir Lounge with another of my favorite people and her brand new adorable baby girl who actually took two little cat naps while we ate our lunch. I've had breakfast here a couple of times - perfect egg white omelets - but this was my first Doug Fir lunch. So I went with the server's recommendation - the Chopper Salad, a mix of chopped romaine lettuce, chick peas, tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta, chopped mint, peppers, red onion, parsley tossed with a red wine vinaigrette. How perfect is this!!!!! We were never rushed (!) so we spent 2 1/2 hours catching up, holding baby, taking photos, and sipping Stumptown coffee. A delightfully relaxing afternoon.

Will my weigh in reflex these outings? I seriously doubt it! Will my heart reflex the joy shared with close friends?  Absolutely!!!

Hasta la Pasta

Deb

A pound is a pound is a pound

So I'm finishing up my first week as a gym member and since I'm a bit obsessed with the scale I've been wondering... is it true that muscle is heavier than fat? Well..no it's not.  But it is denser, which means that as I exercise I may see a bit of weight gain but more importantly my clothing ought to get loser, which is fine with me!

I know I have to be smart about big change but for now, I think I'm going to pass on the "personal trainer" gig. I want to get real comfy going to the gym and the people who go there and work there.  For example, today I noticed there are people of all ages there during rush hour...looked like some teens took one of the aerobics classes along with some post menopausal gals.  Actually at this club there is a wide age span of people who workout which I find very comforting.

And lastly - I made it to the gym 4 times this week!!!
Weigh in is on Monday or Tuesday...it ought to be interesting.
Hasta la Pasta
Deb

inspiring words about muscle vs fat:
http://www.fitsugar.com/You-Asked-Muscle-vs-Fat-2471712
http://www.everydayhealth.com/weight/busting-the-muscle-weighs-more-than-fat-myth.aspx

Gym Time

10 minutes on the treadmill
20 minutes on the stair-master
10 minutes on a machine I don't yet know the name of ( the rowing machine was busy)
My 7 knee exercises

Added flip flops to my gym bag

Rediscovering an Old Favorite

Soy Nuts -- yum yum.  I've read about some pretty amazing curative powers of soy...which I'd like to believe but according to the Mayo Clinic website: "more research is needed before a conclusion can be made."

That this doesn't matter to me 'cuz when I munch on these I just can't help but smile! They are soooo tasty!

Finally Joining

So I have a pretty long commute each day that takes me right along the Willamette River and up through downtown Portland.  And several years ago construction started on this Fitness Club.  It's really big and beautiful! One evening I veered from my commute, thinking I would check it out. But when I saw how full up the parking lot was, I drove right out and straight on home.

But now I'm in a new situation - I've been diagnosed with Osteoporosis so I HAVE to exercise!  It's really not a choice for me anymore. So this evening I stopped by the club again and joined - no contract, just month to month. I think this is going to be a good thing.


No matter who you are, no matter what you do, you absolutely, positively do have the power to change.” ~Bill Phillips

One way to diet

We all throw food away, right? You've been visiting and the hostess offers you some of the leftover pie, which you accept only to drop it in the trash as you walk in your house. Or what about the time you bought the package of whatever without reading the label only to find one serving is a million calories...trash can! But I have to say this is a new one for me:

Getting Better With Age

Wine, cheese, fruitcake, insurance rates and ME!!

a few good stretches

So my knee has been going out and so about a month ago I went to the Doc.   She referred me to a physical therapist after I had a couple of x-rays done that didn't show any bone damage (shewwww) and she suspected that I had torn my meniscus.  Just in time for the new year!

So now I'm doing a set of stretches- evidently there was simply a muscle imbalance (a nice way of saying that my sedentary life style had weaken all the muscles in my leg so that my knee was real susceptible to moving in ways it wasn't met to move).  The stretches are kind of like these - easy and relaxing so now I feel successful when I go to see the Doc since the knee is hardly going out at all anymore.

The thing is....these types of stretches will now be with me for the rest of my life!  Yep...a stronger body is what I'm aiming for, one that won't give out and get torn up.