I Lied

I lied. I am going to tell you what I ate today. Because when you are keeping track of your food you want company during such a boring chore.

Pre-ride breakfast: english muffin with almond butter.

Post ride: small bowl of grape nuts.

Snack: Chobani pineapple.

Lunch: cheese ravioli & pesto (from farmer's market) with asparagus and cauliflower.

Dinner: bread & cheese upon arrival home (famished) then kale, leek and mushroom frittata, Harpoon Summer Beer.

The key to today was being mindful. Paying attention (via tracking) to what I was eating, noticing what the computer thought I should eat v. what I knew I should eat due to the bike ride (a couple hundred extra cals), making sure I used veggies as the base of my meals and remembering that more protein at lunch makes me happier.

I boiled one of the two dozen eggs I picked up at the farm down the street. Those will be a good addition to my days.

I was awake at 4am this morning (birds, not insomnia) so I'm foreseeing an early bedtime, another early morning and a bike ride with my new sunglasses.

In Which I Discover That I Love Butternut Squash

I've had 2 small butternut squash sitting on my counter for about 3 months. I bought them at the organic farm near my house thinking "Ah, yes, squash. The perfect vegetable to get me through the winter." The hearty souls, they just sat there patiently waiting for me. Because really I was thinking "ew, gross. squash. mealy. stringy. gaggy."

Then I had some butternut squash someone else made. Small cubes. Roasted. Yum. So I cut up those little squash, dice-sized cubes, drizzled with a little olive oil and roasted on 450* until they were nice and caramelized.

I cannot believe I spent so many years not eating this! I mixed it this evening with my some collards & kale that I'd chopped and sauteed with red onion & jalapeno, and some red lentils with garam masala and ate it with some pita. So colorful and perfumey and delicious.

And I figured I'd try tracking in Sparkpeople again and it was so amazingly healthy.

Breakfast: english muffin with peanut butter and milk.

Lunch: Annies mac & cheese, kale, butternut squash.

Dinner: lentils, kale, squash, wine.

I will commit to at least 20 minutes of walking tonight. And I may have had dinner early enough to do some yoga later. And I will bring my ice skates to work tomorrow and go for a spin around the rink after work.

--

Edited to add: I walked for 40 minutes. A flashlight (which doubles as a hand weight) and a pod cast

make quick work of a walk.

Short Report

My alarm went off at 6, but I didn't get up until almost 7, which is later than I like when I'm fitting exercise into my morning. I can feel it in my arms and hamstrings that I did yoga yesterday. In my sleepy haze before coffee I put on my walking clothes and socks so I was ready to go outside after coffee. A nice 35 minute walk. I'm working on mapping out some walking routes near my house so I don't have to do the same thing every day, and can have a variety of lengths and routes to choose.

Late Lunch

Lunch was a odd meal today. I was rushing in the morning, and had eaten a lot of rice over the weekend so I wanted something else. I settled for a Trader Joe's chicken chili buger, and some blue and red potatoes that I had roasted over the weekend. The potatoes are from the organic farm nearby. I have been stocking up on them ($2.00 per pound) for the winter and have them hanging in bags in an unheated hallway so they will be happy for months to come.

A Skewer of Egrets

No, not what I ate for dinner last night. That is apparently one of the collective nouns used when referring to a group of egrets, and what I saw this morning at 5:45 a.m. They were flying, rather clumsily, from one side of the road to the other, since the marsh is cut in half by the road. There were 10 or so, all white and slim with their black legs. Quite a sight to behold.

Then when I was in the yard with the dog, I finally spotted the woodpecker that I've been hearing for the past few weeks.

What does this have to do with fitness and getting in shape? Well, I only saw these things because I was up so early and outside. And I wanted to be up that early and outside. Even when getting up early meant leaving this:

Well, the dog is easy to leave. He's a bit insane.

Breakfast soon - probably eggs with some veggies, then a walk. And maybe this 20 minute yoga video
View not cut-off version on the Yoga Journal Website. 

Fajita Night

Fajitas are one of my favorite things to eat. It is how I get in lots of veggies, and I love salsa and they are always filling. Tonight I used my small new cutting board, which helped control the amount I could chop (and therefore eat), I also set 2 tortillas out and made sure the food I was making would fit in only 2 tortillas, and I wouldn't be tempted to go back for more.

It was about 8 oz. of shrimp, 2 large mushrooms, half a zucchini, a small piece of onion and maybe a 1/2 cup frozen peppers. And roasted tomato and chipotle salsa.

After putting the foods into Sparkpeople, I found that I had room for sour cream, which added the perfect creaminess.





I've cleaned the kitchen, prepped the coffee, put the oat meal and flax seed in a bowl for the morning, packed my lunch and now I'm having tea. One more walk with the dog in a few minutes, then she'll be quarantined in the kitchen overnight and I will head upstairs for my 50 bicycle crunches before bed.

The day is ending much better than it began, and hopefully that will continue into tomorrow.

Unhurried, curried lunch

I had heartburn or something this morning.  My stomach felt all weird. I took some Tums and visualized a happy belly and it felt better in an hour or two. I was afraid that the spicy lunch I packed (arugula, brown rice, curry and spicy sausage) would not be welcomed at lunch, but it was. I love spicy food. In addition to the flavor, it makes me eat more slowly because there is more input in terms of sensation.  I read somewhere once that people who overeat are "low tasters" meaning they don't taste things as much as "high tasters" so they need to eat more for their brain to register that they are full.  That is why I often add hot sauce to my macaroni and cheese, I get full faster.  

I didn't measure the food in the bowl, but the bowl holds 3.2 cups and I'd say there was a good cup of space left at the top, and the bottom was filled with fluffy arugula until I microwaved it and it wilted.  This is the bowl I bring my lunch in every day. It is the perfect size, and keeps from from filling up a larger container with more food just to fill the container.


I have a little piece of the chocolate from yesterday for dessert.


Now I am just full enough.  

Fitting Your Routine Into Your Life, and Not The Other Way Around

A new routine is very easy to keep if you have no interuptions and unlimited time to make sure all the parts of the routine are completed.  For example, it was very easy for most of the week for me to keep my routine of going to bed at 8:30pm or so, getting up at 5:30 and keeping my workout schedule on track.  However, there is a certain young man whose company I like to keep, and keeping that company involves driving two towns over, which means my "schedule" gets adjusted.  

So I was not up at 5:30 this morning, I wasn't even home until 6:45. But this does not mean that I will cut out my workout for this morning, or that I stopped for donuts on the way home since I didn't have time to make breakfast. Nope, it just means things get shifted a little.  I'll check my work schedule and see if getting in a half hour later would cause problems (probably not) and then I just go about my morning routine.  

I am still not hungry for breakfast, it might have been the bread from last night that is keeping me full.  So I think I'll walk soon and then eat when I get home. I'm going out to lunch again today, not sure where.  

Good Moon Rising, Actually, Setting

I woke up around 5:30 a.m. I could see the moon out my window, still bright, even though it was light out. And the birds are getting louder in the mornings. How could I not get up then? I realized that I will never be sorry that I got up early. I will never regret that I took an extra walk or ate something healthy.

I need to plan new routines like going to the high school and running up and down the bleacher stairs (as long as there are not people there) or finding some place that has those fitness stops like a Menatomy Park in Arlington that has pull up bars and things every so often. I don't want to keep walking the same route over and over. I want to trick my muscles and confuse them so they get stronger and stronger.

I'm sleepy, and hungry but not quite ready to eat, and I think I might walk to the train station this morning, then take the little loop up the second road. That will have 2 small but long hills, and will be longer than my usual route.

I think that morning beach walks have to start soon. Because I will bike there, too.

Alright, breakfast was eggs in a tortilla and coffee. And I'm feeling more awake which is good because it is quarter to 7, and almost time to walk. Shoes are going on, computer is going off.

Food Picture

This was breakfast. The eggs in a whole wheat tortilla.  There is a tiny plate under them. 

This was the curry in the beginning. It simmered for a long time and reduced. Then I added the yogurt and it turned a pretty gold color.  It will be lunch tomorrow. 
These are from Trader Joe's, Chili Lime Chicken Burgers. Very yummy. 
The chicken burger in a tortilla with 2 roasted peppers on top. So so yummy.  Do you see that I like food that is wrapped in a tortilla? I really do.