Rediscovering Food

Life's Achievements

Here's an interesting list I took from Former Fat Guy's blog. You can do this, too!

Copy and paste the list, link to the source who gave you the idea, and bold what you have done:

1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
2. Swam with wild dolphins - I've sailed a catamaran with wild dolphins
3. Climbed a mountain - Pine Mountain, climbed to Clingman's Dome in the Smokies... not Everest or anything like that.
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid
6. Held a tarantula
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
8. Said "I love you" and meant it
9. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game - Tampa Bay Buccaneers football game - club seats!
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby's diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was really drunk
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger's table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero - as a kid!
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an expert
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage - countless times for crowds of all sizes (less than 50 to 1000+ many times)
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Eaten fugu (pufferfish)
89. Had a one-night stand
90. Gone to Thailand
91. Bought a house
92. Been in a combat zone
93. Buried one/both of your parents
94. Been on a cruise ship
95. Spoken more than one language fluently
96. Performed in Rocky Horror Picture Show
97. Raised children - doing this now
98. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn't stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn't have survived
105. Written articles for a major publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds - I'm working hard on this one
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone's heart
111. Ridden a bike
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone - 4, each arm twice!
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery - 2 c-sections
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone's mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad and The Odyssey
135. Selected one important author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - fish and scallops
137. Skipped all your school reunions - went to 10th, skipped 20th
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care - didn't make the decisions myself
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair - does an Arts and Crafts fair count?
146. Dyed your hair - jet black more than a time or two
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone's life

Have fun with this and check off your own list!

Packing food for the day - Just do it!

Last week, I tried something new and that was packing our food for the day (lunch and snacks) in a cooler to take with us on our journey throughout the day.

• Day 1 - packed 6 turkey sandwiches, apples, pretzels, grapes, and grape tomatoes. Didn't eat all the sandwiches, but the kids were able to eat nutritious and safe food when they were hungry and in amounts they can manage. I was able to keep track of my exact food intake. We had plenty of snacks available, so I had happy campers all day, even with them hanging out a rehearsal I had. The best part of this, and confirmation that this was the right thing was when we went to the water park that afternoon with friends (who didn't pack snacks) and I happened to have a cooler of healthy snacks to share! I will remember to make only 1 sandwich per person (maybe 1 extra sandwich total), unless we have a really grueling day ahead of us.
• Day 2 - packed 3 turkey/ham sandwiches, apples, pretzels, and grape tomatoes. Was very happy about having our lunch with us as I ran errands. The kids ate healthy in the car as I drove around town and got things done. I'm not a big fan of eating in the car, but we didn't drive-thru, and they didn't make a mess. We went to the water park that afternoon before we had classes at the Y. We were able to have a healthy snack to sustain us throughout this hectic day! This was great since the kids get really hungry from swimming!
• Day 3 - packed 3 turkey sandwiches, bananas, pretzels, and tomatoes (William's favorite!) This was our ice skating day, that happens to be from 10:30am-1pm, right across lunch time. Packing food for this was brilliant because the kids could take a break from skating, eat when they liked and continue skating. They weren't complaining, asking to by junk from the snack machines, or ravenously hungry when we left. This made for a much happier experience for everyone.
• Day 4 - Youth Triathlon for Elizabeth - packing food was necessary for this day. It was just the two of us, so I packed 3 turkey sandwiches, 3 bananas, pretzels, graham crackers, a snack bag of mini-oreos, G2, and lots of water. This was perfect. Since the boys were on their own adventure that morning, I packed them a similar cooler with the addition of raisins and tomatoes for William. It turned out that the boys met up with us after the triathlon and we ate lunch together at the water park. I had plenty of snacks to last me and the kids for an extended afternoon at the water park for another 3 hours. This was really great. We didn't have to leave our fun to go get a $18 fast food lunch ( which I'm finding more distasteful with each passing day.)

With just four days of packing a family food cooler for the day under our belts, I'm convinced that this needs to be the norm, not the exception. This has so many benefits that it's undeniably worth the effort it takes to do it. Here are some of the obvious and not-so-obvious benefits:

• Maximizes time
  
  • no driving to restaurants
  • no waiting in lines
  • eat before you're too hungry to make smart decisions
  • doesn't take time away from fun activities
• Nutritional value and safety
  
  • know your food is absolutely safe to eat for kids/families with food allergies
  • portion control - amounts appropriate for kids, not sumo wrestlers
  • know your ingredients
  • eat exactly what you want
  • can follow a 5-small-meals-per-day plan much easier
• Saves money
  • even if you eat gourmet foods, this is a lot cheaper than impulse buying comparable foods at a restaurant
  • no snack machines, snack bars, fast food, restaurants, etc.

Yes, it takes time to do this in the morning or the night before. Something that will save time is to package what food you can for the week at one time. This is mostly for things like graham crackers, raisins, pretzels, grapes, grape tomatoes, etc. I've allocated one tote bag to carry things in it all the time like paper towels, emergency plastic eating utensils, wipes, plastic grocery bags for trash. Some of my secondary goals are:

• to use more recyclable/reuseable packaging
• plan more of a variety of foods
• use less plastic

I'm willing to work on these things, but not at the expense of getting food packed every day.

I imagine that you could adapt this to almost any situation except for jobs that require you to dine out. Stay tuned for more on that topic!

This week, try packing for your food (lunch and snacks) for the day and leave some feedback on your experience!

Food journal update

I've made it 8 days with my food journal. My goal this week is get more specific with noting the times I eat and how I'm feeling. In the past, I've always done better when keeping a food journal that without it, so I'm going to stick with this. There were several times this past week where it has kept me in check when making food choices. The first was at our weekly church fellowship dinner on Wednesday nights. The menu was pork roast, roast potatoes with cheese and bacon (and a lot of butter!), and asparagus in some sort of cream sauce (I heard it was ranch dressing!). There was also a garden salad with 2 dressing choices: raspberry vinaigrette and ranch.  I assessed the situation and here's what I ate: pork roast, no potatoes, 1/2 serving of asparagus (and scraped excess sauce off), 2 side salads with balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil (which I had to ask if there was any other dressing available, even oil and vinegar, and voila!)

What did I learn about the church dinner? I learned that I might be able to deal it better in the future if I brought dressing with me (I've heard the salad spritzers are easy to manage like that and super low-cal, though I am wondering about the nutritional value), and if I called ahead. They do have baked potatoes available, so I might be able to just plan ahead better so I don't run into the million-calorie side dish problem. Another option could be to pack my dinner that evening so I would know exactly what I was getting in the way of calories, fat grams, nutritional content. I will be prepared this week.

The other opportunity I had that was a challenge was after church Wednesday when my small group meets. We usually go to Perkins Restaurant & Bakery, which I think we just might keep doing, since we do like it there. I am always tempted by certain things on the menu: French toast, omelets, pancakes, etc. This time, I didn't order anything and drank water. As the evening wore on, though, I was tempted with some late night eating. I found out that they have sugar-free syrup (how good can that be for me, really?) and had almost convinced myself to order 3 slices of French toast, no butter, with the SF syrup. That's not too bad, right? Eggs, milk, bread, low-cal syrup... Luckily, just as I was about to find the waitress to order it, I saw her back as she left the restaurant for cigarette. This was an enforced waiting time now for 5 minutes, probably, and I'm thankful for it because I decided I would just skip it. That would've been a bad choice to eat anything, much less French toast, at 11pm. I felt so proud of myself that I stuck to the water, especially after the iffy dinner, and the 10 minutes I snatched on the elliptical machine at the Y right after church. It was worth it.

Sugar in salsa? Are you kidding me?

Last night, our family was at a friend's house for Game Night when it was time for a little snack. We had the opportunity to try 3 different salsas (I know this is super exciting, just stay with me). My store-bought favorites include Pace medium thick and chunky salsa, Pace cilantro salsa and Pace organic medium picante sauce. I occasionally buy Publix store brand salsa as it's tasty and the price is right. The first salsa tasted, which happens to be my friend's favorite, was Chi-Chi's, and I immediately was not excited about the taste. I took 2 more bites to try to pinpoint what I didn't like about it when I realized that it had sugar in it! Sugar! I looked at the ingredients and sure enough, there was sugar in it. In doing a little research for this post, I googled salsa ingredients and looked at over 30 different salsa recipes online, and only one had sugar it it - 1/8th of a teaspoon - and it was for a mild salsa verde (green salsa.) The other two salsas we tried were Pace mild salsa, and Tostito's mild salsa.  Though they weren't my favorites, both the Pace mild and Tostito's mild were okay.

I starting thinking about doing some taste tests with multiple brands of the same item, but I've reconsidered this as I would end up spending a lot of money on a lot of not-so-great food. What would I do with 10 open jars of salsa, especially when I probably wouldn't want to eat half of it.

I guess the point to this whole post is that I am sensitive enough to sugar that I could tell something was "off" with the first bite of a food. This shouldn't be so surprising since it was in salsa, of all things. I probably wouldn't have eaten much more if it pre-2008 anyway. I am getting better at individual flavor identification since I've been eating more consciously (yes, consciously), and am finding it a little easier to control myself in eating situations.

Happy Birthday to me! I'm 41!

Today, I turned 41. I really cannot believe that I'm over-40 now. I'm determined that the next 40 years are not all going to be fat years. I'm seriously over it. How did I do for my food journal for my birthday? Not so great, but not totally horrible, either.

Breakfast @ home: 2 servings of Flax Plus granola, 1 cup of skim milk, Diet Dr. Pepper
Lunch @ Chili's: chips 'n' salsa, 2 chicken tacos w/guacamole, grilled veggies, birthday sundae
Snack @ movie theatre: 1 medium popcorn with butter, water
Supper @ parents' house: grilled chicken, 2 ears of corn, steamed broccoli, birthday cake and ice cream

It wasn't a disaster, but the chips, sundae, popcorn, cake and ice cream were unnecessary in the quantity I ate them. In defense of myself, my actual meal choices were pretty good, but I splurged on all the "birthday" extras. I didn't make it to the gym, but did some light exercise in the pool that evening with the kids. It was a pretty good birthday. A friend treated me to lunch at Chili's and another went to see La Boheme with me in the HD Live from the Met series at the movie theater. I brought my daughter along with me for the day and we had a lovely time! After the opera, we picked up the boys (husband and son) and drove to my parents' house for a little celebrating with them and my sister and her kids. We had a great time just being together (and swimming and eating!)

I'm determined to keep a food journal this year. I've got a small Moleskine notebook that I'm using to work through Bob's questions in the book I discussed yesterday, keep my food journal, and record my exercise with it. I'm hoping I will be able to figure out what makes me tick in the diet and exercise departments and fix it. It is so frustrating to know what I'm supposed to do and to seemingly not be able to stick to it, or sabotage myself at every turn. I've been fat my entire life and am not sure what life will really be like on the flipside. I've managed to consistently work out at the YMCA for the last 2 months and am seeing major improvement in many areas, especially in my strength and cardio.

My one big fitness goal is to be able to run a 5K this year. I'm aiming for our YMCA's Pumpkin Run at Thanksgiving. I've got six months to get there. I know I can do it!

Next time you see me, ask me how my training is going! Better yet, make a 5k one of your goals for this year, too!

Bob Harper's new book - Are You Ready?

Tonight, I stopped by my local Barnes and Noble store to pickup Are You Ready? by Bob Harper. If you've watched The Biggest Loser television show, you will know who I'm talking about. I got a chance to meet him and have him sign my book, as well! He gave a small talk to the crowd as well as a little Q&A time. What a great guy! (Our picture is a little blurry because the clerk moved while shooting the photo.)

This book is really a great set of tools in getting a handle on your eating problem. The whole enchilada is his "Inner Compass" program which starts at the root of it all. Eating is not just about eating. He delves into why we eat the way we do, emotional eating, and more. He provides a simple eating plan as well as a wonderful visual dictionary of his exercise plan. This is it! I'm ready!

Pack Your Snacks

When you get ready for your week, pack some snacks for the ride. Some great options include Ziploc bags filled with:

• almonds
• raisins or dried apricots
• beef of turkey jerky
• baby carrots

Thanks to my cool mom friend Robin for being prepared with all of these things today as I was on the verge of making a bad food decision. Also, make sure you also have a refillable water bottle and a pack of sugarless gum and you're set to tackle any hunger challenge that comes your way. If you'll be running errands all day, take a few extra minutes and pack a small cooler with your lunch and some other snack options. You can get a little more interesting here with sandwiches, wraps, yogurt, fruits and other things that need to keep cool. The kids and you will have just the right thing to eat when it's time.

One more genius tip from a supercool mom (kudos to rockstar mom Jolene): A great snack for the preschool set (and moms, too!) is applesauce. I personally like Mott's Healthy Harvest line because it has no sugar added. The key to making this a truly kid-friendly and mom-friendly food is to eat it with a straw. That's right. Take a straw cut it in half and just poke it through the foil lid. Voila! Mess-free applesauce! This is one of the most fabulous mommy tips I've heard in a long time, and it makes a great snack super portable. Enjoy!

Girl Scout Cookie Time! Ack!

Friday night, we picked up our daughter's Girl Scout cookies to distribute. She sold a respectable 182 boxes! We opened one box of Thin Mints and I ate four cookies and was working on the fifth when I started reading the Nutrition Facts box. One serving of Thin Mints is four cookies that amount to 150 calories, and I had eaten that plus one without batting an eye. My goal is to just say no to more cookies and to sell the ones I had filled in for my own personal order. Yes, the kids can have some cookies, but they learned that one serving of Thin Mints is only four cookies and they are sticking to that. To me, this is nothing short of a miracle. We've had an open box of GS cookies for 2 days and there are still cookies in it! It's crazy!

I do realize that I just cannot eat these cookies. Last year, they were the reason for some serious stumbling in a diet that was off to a decent start. I failed due to an unhealthy dose of these suckers. I cannot do it again. So, today was another killer workout at the YMCA with morning water aerobics and weights, and some treadmill cardio with handweights this evening. It's easier to refuse the bad stuff when I'm putting in serious workout time. Why do all of that work for some cookies?

On another note, I'm going to try to put together my first podcast, so stay tuned for that this week!

Crazy Start to 2008

Happy New Year! Okay. I'm a little late. I was sick as a dog over Christmas and most of January. I think I had walking pneumonia. During that period, I could not get on board with my new eating plan and other resolutions. I spent time just trying to get better. Let's fast forward to the present.

I am currently finishing Week 3 of my new exercise and eating plan. My eating is definitely changing and I owe a lot of thanks to the show The Biggest Loser and to all of my whole foods friends. I'm simplifying my eating and trying not to fantasize about elaborate meals, delectably sinful desserts, and other tempting vortices of nutrition disaster.

I plan to start posting pictures periodically as I remember to take them. I did have some "before" pics taken on January 1st, so those are ready to go. They are just awful. I need to laminate one to my iPod so I can see it every time I go to the gym. As far as working out goes, I've taken some cues from TBL and am shooting for two daily workouts: a.m. and p.m. What I've noticed about working out, in general, is that just the effort spent on that helps me to make better food choices. I mean, if I'm going to work my ass off on the treadmill, weights, water aerobics, etc., it is going to be easier to say no to the junk food and yes to healthier options. I'm hopeful that 2 workouts a day will really crank up my metabolism.

Food ideas - Today, I starting making a batch of taco meat, which I turned into chili, which turned into chili mac for lunch. I decided that I just couldn't eat pasta/macaroni, and steamed some cauliflower in the microwave. I had about 2 cups of steamed cauliflower with a cup of chili on top of it with a sprinkle of shredded chipotle cheddar cheese and a healthy dose of Garlic Tabasco all over it. This was a tasty alternative to chili mac. This substitute is a keeper for me. The best news is that I didn't have a big post-lunch carb crash/coma/nap.

At only three weeks into my new life, I am feeling significantly better. Stay tuned for recipes, pictures, and more of my life with food.

Countdown to 2008

Tonight, I was thinking about how our life is going to change in January. We entertained friends this evening and our menu was not so healthy. We had Pizza Hut pizza, Smore's Brownies, and assorted soft drinks. What is Family Game Night going to look like next month? Are we going to be able to stick to our new eating plan?

I'd like to touch on a couple of other things related to the new year project. I will be posting a daily update here concerning our foodlog, exercise, pictures and more. Getting our family healthy is my new full time job. This is the year of wellness education and implementation! I will also hopefully manage to publish a weekly podcast. I really want to be able to see my health visibly improve, and I think the videos will be compelling! I am looking forward to showing off my success through Facebook, as well. If you don't have a Facebook account, yet, get one today and become a fan of Ann Adair! Cheer us on!

Buckle up, because this is going to be one wild ride!