Wednesday, August 18, 2010

A Missed Goal is Still Progress

~ Take care of your body with steadfast fidelity. The soul must see through these eyes alone, and if they are dim, the whole world is clouded. ~ Goethe


I started this journey in April -- officially and completely in June. That's 4 months altogether, and in that 4 months I have lost 30 lbs!!!!!!!!!!! I am so excited about that!!! I've dropped over 3 inches in my waist and over 5 inches in my hips!!! That is pretty significant. It is tremendous progress! And yet, I did NOT meet my goal. My goal was 200 lbs by Aug. 15, and I missed it by 6 lbs. I knew it was a lofty goal, but I wanted to aim high. The problem with aiming high is that you've got to be willing to accept if you miss it. And while I am slightly disappointed not to have met that goal, I have come so far! So I cannot begrudge myself the positivity that should come with this milestone. Neither can I get complacent, because there is so much left to do -- so far still to go. I am trying to decide about my next goal. My class reunion is coming the first weekend in October -- about 6 weeks from now, so that would make a great goal. I've been averaging just over 2 lbs a week since I started in earnest. That would be 194. I wonder if I could make it to 190. . . . It's a high (or rather a low :~) goal, but I think I'm going to try for it! 190 by class reunion . . .16 lbs to go!

Losing weight is awesome! But I need to remember that I'm doing this for lots of reasons -- #1 is simply to be a better me -- healthier, stronger, and, hopefully prettier, too. #2 is to balance my hormones to maximize whatever chance I might still have at this late date to conceive. #3 is to lose weight -- for a million different reasons (and I won't list all those :~) But there are some very good ones, including the new BMI restrictions for insurance.

I love Goethe's quote at the top of the page. . .this is the only body I'm going to have -- the only legs, the only ears, the only eyes. . . I need to take care of them so I can enjoy this journey in its fullness -- until the ride ends! Here's to 30 lbs closer to the final goal!

Today I'm going to share a recipe I made up on the spur of the moment last night. I had some ingredients I needed to use -- namely fresh spinach and cottage cheese. I thought about doing a lasagna, but I didn't have any lasagna noodles -- nor any mozzarella cheese. So I modified. Here is what I came up with. It was pretty good.

Green Cottage Pasta

1 lb. brown rice shell pasta
1 T olive oil
2-3 handfuls of fresh baby spinach, chopped
1 cup cottage cheese
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 onion, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions. In the meantime, heat oil in a skillet. Toss in chopped onion and garlic. Then add the baby spinach, sauteeing until wilted. Add in half the parmesan cheese. Add the cup of cottage cheese, salt and pepper. When the pasta is done, drain it well and add it to the spinach mixture. Add the rest of the parmesan cheese, stir well and serve. If you wish, garnish with a couple of fresh spinach leaves or a shaving of parmigiana reggiana. Serve alone or if you need a heartier meal, add a small green salad or steamed veggie and/or a piece of Ezekiel garlic toast.

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Further Than I've Been Before

Shane and I are in GA currently -- visiting his family. We've had a lovely visit and found ourselves without plans today, so we enjoyed a day to ourselves (after some intrusions by work and other responsibilities. . .). We began by heading up to Amicalola Falls State Park. It has always been one of our very favorite places to go. When we lived here, it provided a solace that nothing else could. We enjoyed picnicking, hiking, nature walks, and just hanging out there more times than I can count. Since my fitness level is not everything it could be (read here -- "understatement") hiking to the top has never been within my range. There is a trail (along with about 400 steps to the top, but I will save that for another day. Today, however, I walked up to the first level (where I often stop). It took me a couple of breaks as my body is not used to this mountain walking, and it was a pretty good incline. I went a little further, to the first observation deck, and took a long rest there. Shane encouraged me to go further, but I was intimidated by the sign that said, "Strenuous: 175 Steps". With Shane's encouragement to at least try to go further than ever before, I decided to try -- and made it up all 175 steps -- and back down all the way! This is further than I'd ever made it before, so I was very proud and happy. Then I came back to Shane's mom's and did my pool workout, too! Go me! By the way, I've currently lost a total of 29 lbs!

For today, I'm going to share our southwestern hash browns from this morning. It made enough for two.

Southwestern Hash Browns

2 potatoes
1/2 cayenne pepper (ribs and seeds removed)
1 jalapeno (or hot banana pepper)
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 T olive oil

Heat 1 T olive oil in pan. Add chopped garlic, diced onion and shredded potatoes. When potatoes are soft, add peppers, diced and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until edges are crispy or to desired doneness. Serve with scrambled eggs and 1 slice of Ezekiel toast with all-fruit spread. Hot and spicy and delicious! (If you don't like hot foods, leave off the cayenne and be sure to take seeds and ribs out of jalapeno.)

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Misery Shared Is Joy Doubled

You already know how I feel about exercise. (If you don't, see my earlier post :~) This week we are spending family time in GA with Shane's parents. I am very blessed to have a cool mother-in-law. Not that we haven't had our ups and downs -- we are both imperfect people and have made mistakes in the relationship, but we have worked through all that and our relationship is probably stronger now than it's ever been. Regardless of how she feels about you, she is one of the world's greatest encouragers. And she is a joiner -- totally fearless. I watch her jumping on the trampoline and swimming in the pool with her grandsons and I think back to my own grandmother, and I just have to laugh. The thought of MY grandmother on a trampoline or in a pool is just totally laughable. . . .At any rate, Sheryl has been so supportive of this effort that Shane and I are in the middle of. So while we've been here, we've been working out together -- mostly in the pool, but the other night we had missed our window and it was really too dark to get in the pool, so she suggested pilates (she has a DVD). Always feeling a little self-conscious, my first question was "How hard is it? Can I do it?" She said she thought so. So we grabbed some mats and began. OK -- it wasn't easy. And some of it I couldn't do. But some of it she couldn't do, either. Most of it we both could do. At one point Shane came through and said he thought we were getting more exercise from our laughing than from the pilates. :~) My abs begged to differ over the next two days! Still, it was good -- and much more fun together than it would have been separately! I guess there's nothing like bonding over workout videos. . . .When we got into the pool last night we both felt the after-effects of our earlier-in-the-week pilates session. But we pressed on, sharing exercises that we have been using in our own workouts, and doing line dances in the pool. Truly, misery shared is joy doubled!



Today, I'm sharing one of our favorite breakfast staples. Growing up, we always had "eggs and rice". Now that we've cut white rice out of our diet, we've had to make some slight changes, but it is still one of our favorites. You can jazz it up all kinds of ways. It is a marvelous way to use up a little extra brown rice if you made too much. (We often make a little extra so we can have this during the week.)

Eggs and Rice

Melt 1 T of butter in a saute pan. Crack enough eggs to match the amount of rice you have left over. Scramble eggs until almost done, then add the brown rice in to blend and heat through. If you want to make it beautiful, add some parsley or cilantro on top as you serve.

You can also jazz up the dish as you're cooking by adding whatever is in your eating plan. Stir in ham, sausage, bacon. . . peppers, onions, mushrooms. . . .chunky tomatoes. It's great for breakfast, but equally good for lunch or dinner. Add Chinese veggies and some ginger and garlic and you've got a fried rice! Quite versatile and quite delicious! Try it! You might like it!

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Stretching a Buck!

I am newly in love with polenta! I had never tried it until last week. . . It is the greatest way to use 1 cup of cornmeal that I can imagine. . .it is smooth and creamy and hearty -- a veritable blank canvas! There is so much you could do with it.AND, it is such a cool way to stretch a buck -- you can take 1 cup of cornmeal and water, and make 4 - 6 huge servings! If you're in a budget crisis, this is a great, inexpensive meal stretcher! I've tried one recipe already (It will be a post for another day :~), have another one to try as well, but I'm most excited about just experimenting with it! It could easily substitute for mashed potatoes in any meal. I can't wait to add a plethora of herbs to give it a wonderful fragrant flavor of its own. You should try it, too!

Here's how:

Creamy Polenta

1 cup cornmeal
1 cup water
a dash of salt
3 cups boiling water

Mix 1 cup of cornmeal and one cup of water to create a loose paste. Gently stir the paste mixture into the 3 cups of boiling water, along with a dash of salt. Bring it to a boil. Reduce heat, cover for 10 minutes or so and serve as desired.

Experiment and have fun -- it's the tastiest blank canvas you'll eat!