I ate entirely too much food this past week, but I don’t feel bad about it at all. Honestly, I was thrilled to be surrounded by so much bounty. It was kind of stunning. We usually keep the fridge and pantry pretty bare at our house, so having so much to munch on was a novelty that I took advantage of whole-heartedly. It also seems that Thanksgiving is the perfect time to have your period. I was feeling so bloated and fat already that perhaps I didn’t eat as much as I thought. I came back, dropped the water weight, and I magically avoided gaining 5 pounds. Nature buffer!

Although I’m not down with the corn-fed cow raising, I have to say that Iowa knows how to grow tasty beef. We ate the most delicious steak I have ever tasted. The grocery store meat counter was obscenely long and stocked with the thickest cuts I have ever seen. They were bright red and really fresh. It almost makes me want to avoid beef entirely unless I can get it that fresh.

Back in New York, I have been feeling naturally less hungry the past few days. My body seems to know it doesn’t need as much fuel after the feast, and I’m fine with that. I purposely ignored my stomach’s “full” alarms last week, but this week I am keeping close watch on my body’s signals. But oh, the food was good.

I can’t do cold turkey. It’s not possible so it’s  a gradual cutting down I am going for. More realistic I think.

Today I went to work with the intention of having cereal for breakfast and lunch. Got to work and had no spoon! Dammit. So skipped breakfast and then moved on to lunch. Was freezing in work today so ended up getting pasta from the canteen. Could have done worse, the canteen serves pizza etc.

I came home and had grilled chicken, veggies and a jacket with a tiny bit of cheese. It was good stuff. Yum.

I have eaten some chocolates today. We have a box of quality street and I tucked in. I guess my compromise is that I will keep the day time good, no crap, no bad meals and the odd snack here and there will be ok. I can’t do cold turkey, I spent all day craving crap. It was worse than quitting smoking.

On to day 2….

Ok, I’m not to sure how this works, so bare with me. Today I want to write about body image. I haven’t been feeling well today, so Iv been on the computer for most of the day. I was Googling Twilight and other things related. Of course, I cant remember how I came across this (I never do). But basically I found an advertisement, for a plus size store, claiming that “real woman have curves”. In other words, the ad is claiming that a vagina, PMS cycle, pair of ovaries, and a uterus in no way prove that you are female. But curves on the other hand, say it all. At first this made me chuckle to myself and mutter “jealous”. But then I started to think about it. I remembered the phase I went through, ware I actually believed that garbage, and did my best to gain weight for fear of being deemed “unattractive”. You see, I naturally have a petite, slender build. It’s very hard for me to gain weight. However, I have the appetite of a 400 pound man. I thought about how funny it was that back in the day, skinny was a good thing, according to the media. Now the media claims that being larger is, in fact, better and more attractive then being slim. Some even claim that it is more healthy (i.e. saying that skinny people look malnourished)! I wonder why this is. In my opinion, and I share this opinion with many, I think that being able to fit into clothing, not jiggle when I walk, and not have to worry about breaking whatever I sit on, is much better and more attractive, let alone more healthy. And I have difficulty understanding why anyone would disagree. To be very honest, I don’t think any one dose disagree. In this day and age, obesity is very common. That is why the media has taken to claiming that “curves”, which come with obesity, are more attractive. It’s ment to make most feel better about there body’s. I have nothing against that. What I do have something against, is attacking people of other body types, insisting that we have an eating disorder. I cant say  that this angers me though. To me, it is like a poverty stricken family telling a rich family that they are less fortunate then them. No one makes fun of the poor family, but everyone knows the rich family is much better off. I’m sorry, its cruel, but it’s unfortunately the truth. That is all i have to say for now. Thanks, Tori and Tameaka, for making this blog for me.

i spent the holiday weekend at my parent’s house.  in addition to delicious food i also got to make some work.  on their lanai, after all this time, sits my first work bench.  way back when i was 18 and moved out for the first time my place had a nice screened in porch, perfect to do art on.  i mentioned needing a work bench and my roommate’s boyfriend (who was doing construction and had access to lots of scrap wood) built it right up.

I believe this will probably be the last of the series of sauce postings for the near future.  I have only 9 days left here in Italy, and I must use up the groceries I already have (which won’t make any interesting dishes I think), and I will also be in Genova for two days sans cooking.   Plus, I will be getting back on the healthy train in January, and will once again say a fond farewell  to pasta and bread.

That being said, this sauce is crazy yummy.  It sounded very rich and creamy, but turned out to be quite subtle instead.  Think the opposite of what Olive Garden’s alfredo sauce tastes like.  I (of course) added pancetta to mine, which added some salty meatyness to it.  I also deglazed (I know, right!) the pancetta pan with some white wine which added some acidity to the sauce as well.  All in all, quite delicious, especially after going out dancing the night before (Saturday) until 6 am, and then sleeping until 4 pm.    Speaking of going out:

This is the view from the dancefloor of the disco Fluido.  I wasn’t going to go, but I took pity on crazy roomie, because she was quickly turning into ’sad roomie’ due to apparently being stood up by the guy she was going to go with.  I didn’t feel like dealing with the crying the next day, so I told her I would go with her.  It was an ok club music-wise…I mean, all house music pretty much sounds the same to me, and I wasn’t really in the mood to dance.  However, the club is right on the banks of the River Po, as you can see, and also has a glass roof so you can see stars while dancing also, so it was quite an experience….  I maaaayyy have had a few too many long islands, because next thing I know I’ve walked home, gone to sleep, and woken up, oh so very hungry.

I spent the day practically in bed, watching way too much Gossip Girl (last night I dreamed I was friends with them and we all went to a party together in matching but very fashionable outfits), the L Word, V, and various other American trash TV.  This resulted in me completely blowing off Michele…but I’m spending all of next weekend with him, so I felt like having a me day.  But back to cheesy goodness:

_____

The recipe below is closest I think to what was in the jar, and comes from another new fave website: Eat Dangerously.

Quattro Formaggi Sauce

25 grams of Gorgonzola
50 grams of Parmesan
100 grams of Mascarpone (or cream cheese)
50 grams of Mozzarella
1/2 pint of light cream
1/2 Stick of Butter
enough ravioli or other pasta for two people
(or see black ravioli recipe above)

Shred all of the cheeses but the marscarpone and toss them together in a bowl. Set aside.

In a pan, melt about a 1/2 stick of butter and then pour in the light cream and bring to a boil. When the cream is beginning to boil, slowly mix in the marscarpone. After it has melted, slowly add the other cheeses giving them time to melt and blend into the cream. The sauce will be ready when all the cheese has been mixed in and it comes to a boil again. If the cheese precipitates out of solution, then cool and add extra mascarpone.

On the 17th of this month, I had been on the Weight Watchers program for one year. During that time, I lost 45 pounds. To some, that may seem like a small amount over the course of a year, but to me it was perfect. I often reflect on that Rolling Stones song that says, “You can’t always get what you want…you get what you need.” I think that during the last year, I got a lot of what I needed, despite the fact that I wasn’t ready for it.

I started the program thinking I needed to lose around 100 pounds, and I was aiming to do it in one year. What I found out was that I needed to do a lot more than lose 100 pounds. It wasn’t just the weight, it was the way I was living my life. I was at a crossroads and about to turn 25. I was in a terrible relationship, and I didn’t realize that it was sucking the life out of me. One year ago I was a depressed, sick person. I just plainly “wasn’t me.” I wasn’t realizing my potential, and I didn’t care about myself.

As the weight started to come off, I got scared. I was happy to see the scale changing, but I wasn’t on board with the emotional changes. I felt vulnerable, and I wasn’t quite ready to take the plunge into being a “normal person.” Around spring I was getting a little better, and I was leaving my house and visiting friends again. I felt like things were starting to change for the better, but I still had that last bridge to cross – my ex-boyfriend/kinda boyfriend/who knows what the hell he was to me. That was the hardest part. That day when he told me he didn’t want to talk to me anymore, after 8 years of us being inseparable, was the hardest day of my life to date. Oh who am I kidding, it was my hardest MONTH to date! But after that month of “I can’t leave the house. I don’t get dressed. I can’t eat.” I started to see things as they were, and I realized that this wasn’t the worst thing to ever happen – it was the BEST thing to ever happen. I got what I needed. I was FREE for the first time since I was 16. I realized a lot about myself over the summer, and those realizations re-started my slumped weight loss. I had gained back about 15-20 of those pounds prior to the breakup, and I was ready to lose them again.

After I was cut loose from that guy, his words kept swirling around in my head, “You aren’t a real runner. You can’t be a real runner. You just aren’t one, because I know people who are and you’re nothing like them.”

I had been wading around in the kiddie pool of running all summer long. I kept telling people, “What if I train to run a 5k?” They would laugh at me because “everyone knows fat people aren’t runners.” I realize now, something really, really interesting about all of that: I wanted someone to give me permission to be a runner. I didn’t just do this about running, I did it about everything. I tried to please everyone – to be anything and everything for everyone. I never once asked myself, “What on earth do I want to do?” I never let myself believe that I was capable of anything. I thought that was selfish.

Somehow, though I’m still fuzzy on how I ever managed to do it with that mindset, I completed the Couch to 5k plan. I went from not being able to run for one minute in August to being able to run for 35 with ease in November. Running for those months taught me a lot about myself. I am capable of anything. I can do just one more minute, just one more mile. I can and will keep running. I can and will finish a mini marathon. I can and will finish a marathon. I will be the best version of myself, because I am capable.

These days, I am nearing that number…the 200 pound mark. I haven’t legitimately been below 200 pounds since I was a freshman in college. In 9.2 pounds, I will weigh 199. Even saying it is weird. I am still struggling with that thought every day. I continue to marvel at how something SO AWESOME feels so scary. When I am honest with myself, I realize that a tiny little voice inside my doesn’t want me to get there. That part of me scares the hell out of me. Part of me still doesn’t believe that I can do it. I want to quiet that voice, and the best way I have found to do it is to run. Not running from something, but running to it, through it – pounding out those thoughts with each step.

I used to laugh at people who called their weight loss a “journey.” Over the last year, I have learned that “journey” is the only word that can describe this. Losing weight is so much bigger than losing pounds. For me, it’s changing myself inside and out. It’s the constant tug of war that my mind and body play. Lose 5 pounds, re-frame my self-image. Lose 10 pounds, start to deal with guys talking to me. Lose 30 pounds, start feeling like I’m really living. It’s scary, but it’s rewarding in a way that I never thought possible. This is the first time I’ve felt alive in years. Every day I feel like I’m waking up a little more.

On the 17th of November, I got a text from that guy asking me if I remembered sitting in my driveway of my mom’s house back in Indiana 9 years earlier on that same day. It was the day we started dating – our anniversary. I laughed for a minute to myself, because that date had already been replaced in my mind with a different anniversary, one that is all about me, only about me, and completely for me. November 17th isn’t about someone holding me down anymore. It’s not about a high school boyfriend who turned into a bad relationship and a wasted college experience. It’s about how I took my life back. That is the anniversary of my weight loss.

One year ago on the 17th, I sat down to write this: The Beginning If i had known then what I was in for, I never would have been able to do this. I have found that the most rewarding things in life are the ones you don’t know how the hell you got through. I am happier now than I have been since I was a kid, and I can’t wait to see what I do this year. What will I be doing on November 17th of next year? What will I look like? What will I be capable of then? I can’t wait to find out.

Florida has many fine restaurants that serve up some of the most delecious dishes in the world. in florida you can be certain there is a restaurant serving exactly what you are hungry for:

talula
Astoria Fine Russian & American Cuisine
Marie’s Italian Kitchen
esca restaurant and martini bar
divino restaurant
butterfly cafe
red fish grill
tony chans water club and bistro
alta mar
osteria del teatre

this list of restaurants include itilian, chinese, indian, mexican and the traditional american dishes. Florida is also known for decoration, most restaurants in florida not only serve delecious meals but also show off its beuatifull decoration of the restaurant. this makes a huge difference to customers who will enjoy sitting in a wonderful place while also eating
a wonderful meal. As florida is a very well visited place in america it is vital that there are lots of resaurants and bars for the visitors to go to of an evening where they can relax and have a good time.

talula: the restaurant opened in july 2003 so is a rather new building. The talula restaurant offers a wide range of dishes and wines such as muscles, meats, salads,and red and white wines. i really enjoyed eating at the talula restaurant because the service was quick and the food was great.

Astoria Fine Russian & American Cuisine:
This quiet restaurant comes to life with pleasant dining and conversation and background music during lunch and dinner. i loved eating in this restaurant it made a nice quiet change to the loudness of other restaurants in florida.

Marie’s Italian Kitchen: Marie’s Italian Kitchen opened in September 1997. Italian food is known everywhere around the world! maries italian kitchen was most probably the best italian i have ever ate, loved it.

esca restaurant and martini bar: Enjoy Italian French fusion in the downstairs dining room. With heated outdoor seating, a full bar and an urban European ambiance, Esca is sure to please the most discriminating diner. Our upstairs martini bar is the perfect place to enjoy live music and lovely views in an ambience like no other. Fantastic facilities i really enjoyed eating at this resaurant.

divino restaurant: Divino Restaurant is a charming and cozy fine Italian restaurant offering a range of delicious and innovative meals. yet again really pleased with the service and the food i couldnt fault it.

butterfly cafe: Set in private gardens and running waterways, this palm-shaded balcony was lovely place to relax and eat. had a really nice time.

red fish grill: Hidden away at the edge of the saltwater lagoon in lush and tropical Matheson Hammock Park, Red Fish Grill is a decent seafood restaurant. a wonderful place and a nice change in eating seafood.

tony chans water club and bistro: a lovely chinese restaurant. i really enjoyed eating in tony chan’s it was a very nice place and the food was brilliant.

alta mar: alta mar is located on miama beach florida. a sea front view ensures a lovely view whilst easting. i loved this restaurant had a fantastic time and the service was outstanding.

osteria del teatre: Located in an unassuming storefront beneath the ultrasceney crobar nightclub, it’s hard to believe that Osteria del Teatro is the best Italian bistro on the beach.i enjoyed the food and enjoyed the kindness of the waitors.

The first in a series of recipes from the recent Take 3 Chefs event held at The Victoria Hall, Settle.

Beef Fillet & Wild Mushroom Hotpot, Richard Wright, Craven Arms, Giggleswick

A great recipe from Richard Wright – Head Chef, The Craven Arms, Giggleswick (formerly The Old Station) which will be opening before Christmas!

Fillet of Beef and wild mushroom hotpot with buttered Savoy cabbage

Ingredients:-

• 700g Fillet steak
• 50g Shallots
• 200g Wild mushrooms
• 120g Yorkshire blue cheese
• 500ml Double cream
• 50ml Port
• 500g New potatoes (cooked and sliced)
• Salt and pepper
• 50g Melted butter
• 50g Butter
• 700g Savoy cabbage
• 1tsp Mustard seeds

Method

1. Slice the fillet steak into 12 even sized pieces.
2. Peel and slice the shallot, Wash and slice the wild mushrooms.
3. Shred the Savoy cabbage.
4. In a heavy based frying pan heat a little oil, season the steak and seal on both sides. About 1 minute on either side should be sufficient. Remove from the pan and rest on a plate.
5. In the same pan sweat the shallots until soft, add the wild mushrooms and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
6. Add the port and stir over a high heat until it has almost fully reduced.
7. Add the cream and simmer for 3-4 minutes. Season.
8. Place the steak into a shallow casserole pot. Pour over the sauce.
9. Lay the new potatoes out on top of the mixture, pour over the melted butter, season and place into a hot oven for 5-8 minute.
10. Meanwhile. Heat a separate pan with the butter.
11. Crush the mustard seeds just enough to start breaking them up but not into a powder. Add these to the butter and fry for 1 minute.
12. Add the shredded cabbage into the pan and stir well for a further 5 minutes until the cabbage is just cooked but with a little bite, season.
13. Remove the hotpot from the oven and serve with the buttered cabbage.

Buenos Dias, mundo! {Good Morning, world!}

What a great day yesterday! Let’s recap a beautiful run.

{Part One}
Time: 35:46
331 cals burned, 25% fat
Heart rate: Max: 190, Average: 167

This was the first part of the run to my yoga studio. I arrived 3 minutes late, the sign had already been turned on the door, “Class in session,” and since it was a resotrative Yin class, I felt really bad interrupting. So I just kept on running. :]

{Part Two}
Time: 24: 54
223 calories burned, 30% fat
Heart Rate: Max: 185, Average: 165

All in all, a cool day, but a great run!

Breakfast I ate prior to running. 1/3 c. muselix, 1 banana, cinnamon, ginger to spice. It felt a little heavy in my tummy running around, next time, I’ll make sure to eat less or give myself more time to digest.

I came home and felt like a cupcake. :]

Gobble, gobble, gobble.

I cleaned up, ran errands, grocery shopped, and came home to bake!

I baked in my Give & Gobble 10k race shirt, bad idea. I got pumpkin on it, darn! I am trying to keep my shirts in decent condition, as one day I want to make a quilt of all of them.

I present to you: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip bars. That I made in round pans because my 9×13 has disappeared.

I used half the amount of butter for applesauce and used egg whites only. They are so moist and delicious, I am taking them to work, I hope they are a success.

With the leftover pumpkin, I made some pumpkin cranberry oatmeal cookies. I only used 1/2 stick butter for applesauce and pumpkin, yet this time I notice the texture is off. :[ No bueno.

But there are always the pumpkin bars!

That wraps it up for my Holiday weekend! Off to the grind – and only two more weeks unti this term is over, can’t wait!

Yoga tonight!

xox, Courtney

]]> http://health.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/11/30/beat-holiday-weight-gain/ Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:02:42 +0000 Tanya Zuckerbrot, MS, RD http://health.blogs.foxnews.com/2009/11/30/beat-holiday-weight-gain/

Research shows the average adult weight gain through the holiday season is slight, but it sticks with you.  A pound or two annually can equal 25-30 over the course of adulthood.  Nowadays, the winter holidays tend to span a couple months rather than a few weeks so there is plenty of time to enjoy your favorites– in moderation.  Enjoy pumpkin pie a time or two around Thanksgiving, but then agree to pass.  Splurge on a peppermint mocha here and there when you’re out holiday shopping, but then swear them off until next season.

Here are a few other tips to beat winter weight gain:

Beware of beverages

Specialty coffees:

o    There is a reason holiday lattes and mochas taste so good!  Depending on size and extras (syrups, whipped cream, etc.) they can easily be in over 400 calories.
o    If you can’t resist, choose a smaller size, ask for less syrup than the recipe calls for, choose lowfat milk, and hold the whipped cream.

Eggnog:

o    Made with milk, cream, beaten eggs, and sugar, this holiday treat contains 340 calories per 8 ounces.  Often paired with alcohol, eggnog is one holiday treat that can blow your calorie budget.  As a general rule, beware of any beverage that feels more like a milkshake going down.

Alcohol:

o With more family and friends around, holiday parties to attend, and increased stress levels, many Americans tend to increase their alcohol intake around the holidays.  If you choose to include it, remember the rules of moderation.

o    Moderate alcohol intake is considered one drink per day for women or two per day for men.

One drink is equal to:

1.5 oz liquor
12 oz beer
5 oz wine

o    These contain anywhere from 75-150 calories alone, not including mixers or foods you may pair them with.

Start your exercise resolution early

o   Nothing will feel better than escaping the holidays without weight gain.  Set goals for number of days per week and total time spent exercising.  Most gyms have incentives on initiation rates and monthly fees.  It’s all about planning- try new classes and use the buddy system.  Think of it as a gift to yourself!
o  Be realistic- there will be days you can’t workout so don’t beat yourself up over it, just pick up where you left off as soon as you can.

Go to holiday parties with a plan

o  Eat normally throughout the day and avoid arriving extremely hungry.
o  Choose carefully between drinks, appetizers, second helpings, and desserts.  For example, choose between appetizers OR desserts, but not both.  Use the small plates to your advantage in helping control portion sizes.
o  Do all the talking.  You’ll have less time to eat.

Be careful while shopping

o  Go between meals, or pack snacks to avoid eating poorly on the run.

Give away your baked goods

o  Sure the holidays are a great time to bake, but give baked goods away and share any you receive.  To avoid excess “taste tests,” avoid baking when you’re hungry.

Monitor stress eating

o Keep cravings out of the house.
o Use a journal to help keep your stress level in check.

Give leftovers a short shelf life

o They’re great for a couple days, but we tend to overeat when they’re around.  Keep them around for a day or two and then be done.  If you think you’ll end up with too much, give some away to your guests.  Buy extra storage containers and zipper bags in advance to encourage you to share.

Traveling tips

o Remember previous posts regarding what to eat in an airport and what to eat on the road when you embark on holiday travels.  Whatever you do, leave the baked goods in the trunk.

Tanya Zuckerbrot, MS, RD is a nutritionist and founder of www.Skinnyandthecity.com.    She is also the creator of The F-Factor Diet™, an innovative nutritional program she has used for more than ten years to provide hundreds of her clients with all the tools they need to achieve easy weight loss and maintenance, improved health and well-being.  For more information log onto www.FFactorDiet.com.

Thanks to Kim I am back. I had been meaning to get back on here, but I kept putting it off. I probably would have continued to put it off too!

Anyway, I have been working the program and exercising like crazy and as of this morning’s weigh in I am resting at 208.2 pounds. That means I’ve lost about 7 pounds since I last blogged. I am happy with that, and I am excited because I went down another point on weight watchers to 27 points a day! I haven’t had 27 points on the program since I was about 20!

I am tentatively running in my first 5k on the 12th of december! I am excited about it, and I just need to make sure it fits into my schedule.

The semester is almost over and I am SO HAPPY about that. I have been ridiculously busy, and it’s really been stressing me out. I am looking forward to new years, and I am looking for a dress! I want to lose another 5 pounds before that night so I can look extra special! For the evening a few friends and I are going to be in Chicago at The Palmer and party-hopping all night. I’ve never done anything that special before, so it will be interesting to see how it goes!

That’s about it with me! I am making a commitment to be back and in blogging action from this point on, since I think reading blogs and writing them really helps keep my chin up!

Posted by Audiegrl

Another first from the Obama White House Kitchen…First Lady reveals “secret ingredient“

First Lady Michelle Obama, Flay, Comerford, Brown, Batali and Lagasse

Obama Foodorama—First Lady Michelle Obama will make a special appearance on the season premiere of the popular Food Network show Iron Chef America in January, in a savvy move to extend her healthy food messaging to a new audience. Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford will compete on the show in a special two hour “super chef battle.” Comerford’s teammate is grill master Bobby Flay, who guest-cheffed at the White House for the Father’s Day event in June, when he cooked up some lovely steaks with President Obama. Spoiler alert: Mrs. Obama will be revealing the “secret ingredient” that the chefs will use in their televised cook-off, which is a hallmark of the Iron Chef America series. The “secret ingredient” in this case is anything that grows in the White House Kitchen Garden, which leaves things wiiiide open, because the Kitchen Garden has produced a stunning variety of crops this year. Comerford and Flay are competing against the highly competitive team of celeb chefs Emeril Lagasse, who specializes in Southern/New Orleans cooking, and Mario Batali, an Italian cooking superstar.

Comerford in the Kitchen Garden during the Iron Chef America filming, harvesting with teammate Flay

Scenes for the show were already shot at the White House, with Comerford and the three other chefs harvesting crops from the Kitchen Garden, and Mrs. Obama having face-time with the guest chefs and discussing the importance of getting kids to eat their veggies. In her onscreen cameo, Mrs. Obama will discuss her campaign to reduce childhood obesity through better school lunches, community gardens, farmers’ markets and exercise, which is now known as the Healthy Kids Initiative around the White House. The show’s January air-date is timed perfectly to be right before Congress comes back into session, when legislators will ostensibly be addressing the re-authorization of the Child Nutrition Act, which provides federal funding for school feeding programs. Better school lunches are one of Mrs. Obama’s priorities, and President Obama’s too; Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack frequently notes in his public remarks that this was the very first subject President Obama discussed with him during their “job interview.”

More @ Obama Foodorama, where you can find White House Food Initiatives…And Other Bipartisan Bytes of Food Politics

This blog is for my thoughts.  I am not trying to tell you how to live your life.  Any changes to your eating routine, physical routine or medication should ALWAYS be discussed with your doctor.  Do not do what I do.  That is stupid.

It’s that time of year.  For me and for most people on the planet.  Lots of stuff comes up during the fall and winter.  There’s a lot of depression issues and lots of food issues and lots of family issues.  Blah blah blah, I’m American and I hate everything.

Well, I don’t really hate everything.  And life is pretty good.  I have choices I can make about my life and my health.  A lot of people don’t have that.  So, I want to make a choice that feels right.  And I did.  For the past few days I’ve been trying a vegetarian diet.

Well, sort of.  On Thanksgiving day I ate meat.  But for the days after that, I’ve been wading in the waters of the vegetarian lifestyle.  I’ve noticed some interesting things:

1. I am not so hungry all the time.  The real test for this will be this week and upcoming weekend.  We’ve been busy moving the house around and I’ve had a lot of schoolwork to do but overall, I haven’t gotten as much of that bored hungry I get during time off from work.

2. I don’t really crave a lot of meat.  From what I had heard and read, there’s a lot of fear around losing meat.  And I was concerned.  I thought I’d want nothing but meat and that I’d trip up and flee to the nearest fast food establishment and get a huge hulking meat monster.  I haven’t but that might come later.

3. When I am hungry, it’s a different hungry.  Before, I would get into the hypoglycemic downward spirals where suddenly, I’d be out and about and the dizziness would start and the foul mood and the nausea.  Before these fugues start, I would be craving food.  Anything.  Mainly, though, something junky.  Like chips and queso or something like that.  And I would run to the store and get chips, queso, a chocolate bar, some juice and then pick up something for dinner because I would need to eat real food at some point.  But now, that hunger isn’t all consuming.  Suddenly, I’m just hungry for something.  And I’ll go and eat some berries or have some peanut butter toast or some bites of a salad.  And then I’m done.

Now, I know that changing my lifestyle to a vegetarian lifestyle will not be an easy one.  My fiance eats meat.  Most people in my life eat meat.  And I have no issue with people eating meat.  This isn’t a political choice.  Well, it’s the politics of my body.

And there are a few stumbling blocks: being hypoglycemic, I still have to watch my carb intake.  Which is hard on a vegetarian diet.  Lots of protein comes from complex carbohydrates in this lifestyle.  I’ll need to develop a taste for them but I’ll need to monitor how much of them I eat.  Complex carbohydrates are better that regular carbs but I can’t have pasta for every meal.  Another one: I still don’t really have a taste for vegetables.  I didn’t grow up eating them.  So my palette isn’t accustomed to them.  So, instead of going into this like a person to the gallows, I think I’ll go into this like a love affair.  Trying, experimenting, excited and wide-eyed.

That’s a problem with a lot of “diets”.  I use diet for lack of a better term.  Lifestyle tends to have a heavier feeling to it.  But diet has a more temporary sensation.  And that’s the trap I have fallen into and the trap that I have seen other people fall into when dealing with losing weight.  First, it’s the idea that doing something like… Atkins(gross) or South Beach or whatever is a short term thing.  When they’re not supposed to be(though even in my most meat eating days, I would NEVER do Atkins).  Diets are marketed as a quick weight loss solution.  And people go, “Sweet!  I’ll lose that weight and then go back to the way I was before all that poundage!”  And then the weight get lost, life returns to the way it was before and then the weight comes back and people are left confused and sad.  It’s a cycle.

To lose weight, I think, requires changing the way I go about my life.  Whatever I’m doing isn’t working.  And it hasn’t worked for years.  And it’s got to be more than food.  It’s got to be physical activity and mental health and spiritual health.  I include spiritual health because I’m a spiritual person.  I’ve done the religious thing and it didn’t work.  I’ve done the no religion thing and that didn’t work.  All areas of my life need to be addressed for me get healthier.  And this doesn’t need to be Sisyphus’ burden.  It should be engaged with in an open and excited manner.

Easier said than done?  Maybe.  Not really.  It’ll only be easier said than done if I go into it think that.  It’s easy.  I’m helping my body and life and mind and heart.  If it’s the right choice, the obstacles will be more like challenges.  Not impossible.

• Woke up to a Wii Fit Plus!  I have been wanting one since my last birthday, but, unfortunately, I’m never able to get the things that are most coveted, given the timing of my birthday.  Everything is always sold out by now.  Fortunately for me, everyone got their Wii Fit last year.
• Happy Birthday to me – I got to clean up Avery’s snotty, bloody mouth after she smashed it into a plastic chair.
• My brother got me a “Happy 100th Birthday!” card.  I have no idea what the inside said, other than he signed it “George Burns” (my brother never signs his own name), because I was laughing too hard.  Laughing on the outside, crying on the inside.
• I thought I was safe at work because the one person who knows the day of my birthday is in Mexico.  Unfortunately, my boss had it written in her calendar.  Damn employment records.  I almost had her convinced it was my 23rd.  Not quite though.  Logic and gravity gave it away.
• I’m eating Reese’s Pieces for second breakfast.  Jealous?
• Speaking of eating, AH is taking me to Red Lobster for dinner.  AH hates seafood.  Well, doesn’t so much hate it as he refuses to eat anything born in water, other than fish.  And not fishy fish, only mild fish that doesn’t smell or taste like fish.  But it’s my birthday and I get to pick the place and I choose to eat Insects of the Sea, excessively battered, deep fried and covered in garlic at a discount price.  Red Lobster is the McDonald’s of seafood restaurants, afterall, but who cares, it’s delicious.  Oh, and the biscuits are good, too.
• Speaking of Insects of the Sea, have you seen these before*:

Or have you seen these?  WARNING TO MY SISTER: Don’t look.

And while we’re at it, this next guy is going to haunt my dreams for the rest of my life.  WARNING TO ANYONE WITH EYES WHO LIKE SLEEPING PEACEFULLY, NIGHT-TERROR-FREE: Don’t look.

***

* All images stolen borrowed from www.listverse.com 

Trattoria Baldovino, Florence, Tuscany

Yesterday we went on the train to Florence from Terontola di Cortona, a station close to where we live on the Tuscany Umbria border. Our intention was to visit a Christmas market in Piazza Santa Croce that the website had advertised as starting on the 29 November.

Santa Croce, Florence, Tuscany, Italy, Baldovino Is Just Down the Street To The Left.

We were a little disappointed to find that the market wasn’t on and instead the Florence marathon was finishing in the Piazza!

Finishing The Marathon, Piazza Santa Croce, Florence, Tuscany, Italy

Instead, we found Baldovino, a trattoria / enoteca just off the square to the left of the church’s facade and went in for some lunch.

Trattoria Baldovino, Santa Croce, Florence, Tuscany, Italy

The antipasti menu was slightly different to many trattorie, we chose flat bread with houmous, aubergine and salt cod dips and another of flat bread with burrata, a mozzarella like cheese and prosciutto crudo. All the dips were delicious and it was a welcome change to have something a little different from “cucina tipica”.

Dips With Flat Bread, Trattoria Baldovino, Florence, Tuscany, Italy

Burrata Cheese and Prosciutto; Baldovino, Florence, Tuscany, Italy

Next we had a selection of primi piatti, I chose pappardelle (extra wide tagliatelle) with wild boar sauce, it was tasty and had large chunks of meat that allowed you to appreciate the strong flavour.

Pappardelle With Wild Boar, Trattoria Baldovino Santa Croce, Florence, Tuscany, Italy

The other dishes were fresh pesto lasagna

Pesto Lasagna, Trattoria Baldovino, Florence, Tuscany

mushroom fettuccine

Mushroom Fettuccine, Trattoria Baldovino, Florence, Tuscany, Italy

and a pasta that looked like cannelloni baked with a cheese and mushroom sauce, they were all really good.

Crespelle With Cheese And Mushroom Sauce, Trattoria Baldovino, Florence, Tuscany, Italy

We washed the lot down with the house red, a delicious Carmignano (a local red made with Cabernet Sauvignon and Sangiovese grapes).

We were all stuffed by this point and luckily had avoided ordering dishes from the secondi menu. However, the table next to us were sharing a Florentine beefsteak, it looked delicious and would certainly be worth having if there are several people in your party who would like to try one.

The meal for four people, two antipasti, four primi, a litre of house red and water cost around €70.

Location of Trattoria Baldovino, Florence, Tuscany, Italy

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Telephone 055 241773 to reserve a table at Trattoria Baldovino.

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This my contribution to one of Miss Rosies recent entrys: The F-Word Part 1

I wasn’t shocked when Miss Rosie brought this topic up. After a lot of secrets posted on loli-secrets that were related to eating disorders and sick views about weight, it was high time somebody would raise a dissenting voice.

Apart from Rosie’s article I want to focus on health instead of illness or death.
So this is what I claim: “Health is beautyful!”
This is the real essence of beauty – being healthy inside and out!
What does it mean?
FIRST psychological illness vs. health

If you claim yourself disgusting your at least ill on the inside. This will shine through.
Be confident and postulate to yourself “I am beautyful” and you will be a shining beauty even in a bedsheet wrapped around you.
This maybe sounds ridiculous to you but I’m very serious about it.
Take out some foto albums or your picture folder on pc and look up all fotos of yours. Compare times you were confident and happy with sad or depressive times.
If I’m sad or negative about myself my cheeks dangle and my face looks like a bulldog. My eyes get sad and tiny. Even the color of my iris seems to get cloudy instead of bright blue. My hole posture is camberd, shoulders seem to touch my ears and even with my 1,8m height I look like Quasimodo.

Changing your attitude towards positive and confident brings fast but also and long lasting changes in your apperance. First a smiling mouth and smiling bright eyes look much more sympathetic. Then your posture opens what gives you an elegant touch. Increase of loving yourself resultates in caring more for yourself. I do a lot more beauty treatments and I’m more aware of what I wear (and seen from outside more lucky with my choice of clothing) when I’m happy about myself.

So this is a challenge for everyone! Every single day of your life!
If it’s impossible to get the “I’m fat/ugly/disgusting/dumb/…” thoughts out of your head. Go and get some help! Talk to friends or family about your struggle and I’m sure they’ll help you.You may be embarassed to tell your friends and family. But there is a lot of offerings where you can get psychological help – discreet and without annoying questions.

SECOND: physiological problems vs. healthy body
I don’t have much experience about eating disorders when it comes to those that make you slim as death. But I’m a big expert about eating too much or the wrong stuff.
Let’s be honest: Too much fat on your body is not pretty. Why? Because it’s not healthy either!!!
It’s the same with psychological illness: How do you want to spread beauty to the world (as many lolitas declare) if there is no vitamines, essential nutrition or water in your body? Or if your not even able to move like you wish to because your way to heavy. Neither tons of fastfood nor vomiting can make your skin look as good as a healthy nutrition on a daily basis.
And even a lot of stars do declare “drinking water” as their no 1 beauty treatment.
First of all to get back on the healthy (and this means beautyful) way of life you should regain a realistic view on weight and proportion of your body. Some practical tips:
- Forget about everything you saw on printed media. At least this video gives you a small idea about what has been done to make these people look like goddesses from outer space! You should get rid of comparing yourself to products of Photoshop and retouching specialist
- Get some tables of proper weight for your age, height and gender! WeightWatchers have one I now, that’s really about healthy weight
- Watch the girls around you. Maybe not the ones in the shopping mal that are mostly afraid of not fitting size zero anymore. Look at the girls in your classes, at work or in public. If you’re not living in Hollywood or some place like it you’ll probably see what’s normal.
- most important: start listening to your own body. Do I really need to eat a whole box of chocolates because my body needs these indegrents? Or is it a problem or a bad feeling I try to benumb by the sweet taste?

By now I will leave it at this point. Hopefully I made my message clear: Take care of yourself! Love yourself thus nobody has the power to make you feel bad about yourself.
Some positive articles about healthy food and how to love it will follow.

with kind regards,

PS:
Sites I recommend:
http://www.weightwatchers.com/
http://www.adiosbarbie.com/

table mannerz. i gotz dem.

Blog. Every. Day.

A brief explanation to anyone who followed this blog as “Countdown to 30,”  — I really loved doing it.  I loved blogging, and counting down to something tangible was a great gimmick, even greater because it was natural, built in. I miss it.

But now that I’m 30 (plus a couple or more months), it’s gotten hard to get back into blogging.  It’s hard without a goal in sight.  I tried something out on Blogger (http://serendipitousparadox.blogspot.com/), but it didn’t stick.  I did transfer the best posts from there over here today, so enjoy my sickening descriptions of the south of France, eating sheep unmentionables, making bizarre ice creams, etc.

So I’m back — with the same URL — this blog has remained somewhat popular on stats, so why not?  I love you WordPress!  There is no blog platform like you!  Even though it’s not legal to advertise, and I won’t even be able to attempt to make spare change for coffee!  It’s cool.  You rule, so what can I say?

Welcome back!  Enjoy some fantastic videos, why dontcha!

(Re-post from September 26)

Oh boy did I have an appetite for destruction last night. Tired off my ass, and I mean so tired that I almost didn’t leave my hotel room (then remembered that eating one small sandwich all day long and having walked 10k+ wasn’t healthy and consequently nearly fell asleep several times over dinner) — I ordered the only thing on the menu that would send every foreign tourist running for the hills — “Pieds et Paquets.”

Pieds et paquets translates as “feet and packages.” Yes. You heard that right. Even the “packages,” part. The dish consists of sheep tripe folded into elegant little objects much resembling large tortellini stuffed with herbed breading, as well as sheep feet (bent ankle bone and all the stuff further south), slow cooked in a very lovely savory sauce which I’m told is based on white wine.

I don’t know how I did it. I really don’t. That’s not to say it wasn’t delicious. It was. I eat strange things. All the time. I think it’s exciting and makes life more interesting to take risks like this. But when you think you’re coming down with a cold and feel weak and haven’t slept in two days and are not really convinced you’re hungry in the first place, this could have been a disastrous mistake.

Thankfully it wasn’t. I don’t know if any of you dear, dear phantoms of readers have ever experienced this before, but I’m going to try to describe the sensation of what I was going through. My brain and body were in a battle from the moment the covered silver platter was set down beside me, and a deep elegant ceramic bowl was placed in front of me. See, I really wasn’t sure what I was going to get. Didn’t know how it would look or smell or anything. I did have an inkling of what the texture would be like, having eaten tripe many times before. But not sheep. And not in this manner. And certainly not in my vulnerable physical condition. The word I would use for the entire experience would be “musky.” For some that’s great. For others it’s sickening. It was gamey and gooey and chewy. And the whole time I cut apart my first piece, the musky gamey smell wafting up into my nose, I was fighting nausea. Not a strong nausea. But a tiny persistent, “ah, you there, ya you…are you quite sure that’s such a good idea…” kinda nausea. Some people would have listened to that little voice. But not me. And in the end, as I didn’t get sick, slept very well through the night, and feel better than ever today, I’m very glad I didn’t.

Most of you will never want to eat tripe, especially not sheep tripe rolled into big meatball-sized bread-filled bundles and stewed with its relation, the foot (which by the way, is all fat and skin and cartilage with hardly a trace of muscle). Hopefully, though, I’ve now communicated that it cannot and will not kill you, and if you can get over the musky smell and uber-strange texture so common to offal, you may enjoy it, and it may in fact cure your weary body and send it on its healthy way.

Anyway, I just got to Avignon. Again exhausted, but not quite so much as in Marseille. And instead of a steep 2-story walk-up with super-heavy luggage, I had a 4-story walk-up with heavier luggage (thanks to a chance encounter with an H&M yesterday and an adventure in an immigrant-filled market this morning).

The town is gorgeous, and it’s so sunny, it really does look like an impressionist painting or a post card. I’ll have a gander as soon as I rest my weary head for a spot and consider showering off the accumulating sweat. Yes. I just said accumulating sweat.

Cheerio! Or rather, A bientot!

And if you ever want to try making your own paquets…

My mom and I went to get massages today at this horrible placed called “Asian Twins”. I knew from the name itself and the fact that it was $40 an hour that it was going to be sketchy, but I have been to places like that before and got the best massages of my life.

Well that was not the case today. The massages were mediocre, the place itself was freezing, and there was a parade of men going in and out which confirmed what is probably the true nature of the establishment.

After that we went to the mall and I bought a millionkajillion dollars of MAC makeup because I was feeling ugly. The girl did a pretty job on my face that I am sure I will never be able to replicate. I bought a sweater or two but since I gained this 20 lbs over the last few years I had shopping for clothes. I keep saying I am going to start on my diet for reals for reals, but often eating is the only pleasure I seem to have so it is hard. I think I am going to start up on the running again. It has been almost a month since the NYC marathon so I think my knee should be better. If it isnt, I am going to drag myself to physical therapy. Running is a friend and foe. I hate doing it but afterwards I feel so good about myself. That feeling translates into better eating. MAybe if I felt better about myself I could make other difficult choices in my life or make the ultimatums on how I think I should be treated.