Where in the Bleep Have You Been????

So, I kinda disappeared for a while there, huh?  I decided to get myself back on here and back on track.  And just love that my last post started with “I’m baaaaack!”.  I was at that time but apparently not again for the next 6 months!!!  Oops, sawry!

Back on Track

The wagon…fell off, banged my arse, got a concussion and then just lay there on the road allowing myself to be run over by several other wagons instead of picking myself up and getting on those!

No excuse, but an explanation:  I moved.  Far.  From Ontario to New Brunswick.  And it was expensive, tedious and not something we are going to repeat any time soon.  My husband cleverly chose this time for his 2 month visit with his family back in Japan.  Ok, ok, it was decided upon mutually because that timing made the most sense for both of us!  We packed our life up together, he left the country and I dealt with the movers and moving.  And believe it or not, I wanted it to work out that way for selfish reasons.  Really selfish.  I had in my head how things were supposed to go and I didn’t want to give up the way I saw it all in my head!  Ha ha ha!  Was I little OCD about it?  (Or CDO, as it should be!!!)  Only a little and if you were not in my head, it didn’t look like I had control over the situation at all…but there is always method in my madness, ladies and gents.  I was in complete control.  Just as I wanted to be.

No really! I KNOW what I am doing!

So I moved across a chunk of the country while my husband travelled to the other side of the planet.  And I stayed with amazing friends who gave me a roof for my head, a bed for my sleep, and a basement for my crap.  They had insisted so I could take my time looking for a place to live and job hunt.  I found the new home just before my husband came back and found a job shortly thereafter.  It was a ride and a half.

Sadly, neither a calorie burning nor a point counting ride.  Major oops.

But I am back.  I did slowly gain all the weight back, but no more than where I had started…actually I am thankful that I am at least 2 pounds under where I had been when I started this blog.  Just the same, not letting myself off that easily.  The old starting point no longer counts in my opinion; my current weight will be my official starting point for beginning again!

Once again…

The point counting starts again tomorrow.  And no giving up, no excuses.  The major upheaval in our lives has past, we are settled and routine has taken hold.  Time to get back to where I had been before and keep going!  While I would love to join WW to go to meetings, my current budget is looking at me saying, “Uh, I don’t THINK so!”, therefore I will push myself to get back on track online and keep at it.

I missed everyone!  Watch it…I am going to be stalking your blogs, looking for inspiration, motivation, conversation and mainly just to be back!!!

Here we gooooooo!!!

Bring it!

Visits, Colds, and Restaurant Eating

I’m baaaaAAAaaaack!

I have to apologize for being off the radar for so long.  I had a great visit from my brother who came to stay with us for a week.  Poor guy had the nastiest cold or flu or whatever it is that is going around that gives you a fever, constant coughing and a congested chest as well as a runny nose.  And then, being the ever generous guy that he is, he gave that to my husband and I.

For most of the week, I did well.  I developed a nasty headache at first, which passed after a good night’s sleep.  Then I was left feeling as though “something was coming on”.  I had a bit of a cough but nothing major, so still managed to have fun with my brother as he recovered.

How we all looked when we were sick…

My husband was a different story.  It came on faster with him.  And he was not the best patient.  He was convinced that I no longer cared about him or his well-being, growled at me for not rushing him to the hospital, was deaf to my explanations of how experienced I was with taking care of others when they are sick and that I had every confidence that what he was experiencing was perfectly normal, he was not in danger and it had to run its course; he constantly reminded me that I was not a doctor so clearly had no idea what I was doing and therefore probably was just letting him die slowly due to my inattention and incompetence.  I just clenched my jaw, smiled, shoved the nighttime cold/flu medicine down his throat (this achieved two results:  1. he started getting better because he was asleep and more importantly, 2. he stopped complaining…because he was asleep!), made him comfortable, patted him on the head and went out with my brother.

Pre-cold-medication misery.

Just before my brother was getting ready to leave and my husband was on the mend, it was my turn.  I thought I escaped it, but it was not to be.  So, although I really wanted to get on here and report how my week was going, I just. couldn’t. do. it.

Other than that, I had a great week with my brother but was not a very good girl when it came to keeping track of my WW points.  Eeep.

I started to feel anxiety because, going out and having fun also meant eating out.  A lot.  I did my best to be good when we did go out.  Almost every time we ate at a restaurant, I managed to stick to eating only half of what I ordered and taking the rest home.  And in nearly all cases, my husband gets to eat my take-home food, which is fine by me!  His metabolism is up for the challenge; mine, not so much.

And exercise?  pfffft.  I did get two good days’ worth in Toronto, just walking around early in the week, but the rest of the week?  Not much activity at all.

Oh man…eating out, no exercise…oooh booyyy….I can’t look!

Therefore, I was too scared to get on the scales and so missed last week’s weigh in…and by “missed”, I mean “skipped”.  On purpose.  Completely.  I just could not face the music.  This week however, I decided it was time to suck it up and see how much damage I did and how much I had to undo.  Apparently coughing and sneezing had burned up a heck of a lot of calories because despite the eating out, I finally hit the 10 pound mark!!!!  I weighed myself two days in a row just to be sure it was not a fluke.  Hurraaayyyyy!!!!  And now despite the fact I am still coughing my brains out, I am getting better and pretty sure my metabolism will probably slow back down (dammit!).  But there is no way I am going to revert…have to keep those scales moving!!

Wooohooo!!! I did it! I’m going to be ok!!!

Onward and updownward!!!

Now, off I go to get caught up on how the rest of you having been doing!  So glad to be back!

P.S.  Great comfort drink for your cold, flu, or whatever is making you cough, sneeze and feel miserable:  a hot cup of apple juice (the pressed stuff that looks like cider) with some fresh grated ginger and some cinnamon sprinkled on top.  Nothing made me happier than when my hubby showed up at my bedside with a cup of that!  He was an absolute angel once he recovered…just in time to take care of me!

This juice with…

…this, freshly grated. And cinnamon sprinkled in. Make it hot!

 

Making Good On My Word

What a difference a day makes!  I went out today to trudge through the snow and it was so beautiful and magical outside, I almost cried, guys!  In the morning sunlight, under a brilliant blue sky, the snow sparkled like snow fairies flitting about in the new untouched snow, the clean, crisp air made me feel reborn, smiling lovers walked by hand-in-hand, unicorns frolicked amongst the trees, rainbows appeared above the woodland squirrels, the little birds showered jewels and lace down on…what?  Too much?  I went a little too far there?  Uh…sorry.

 

So what I am getting at here is that I did what I said I would do.  And no one saw me do it either!!  I looked around, saw the coast was clear, then flopped back into the snow and made a snow angel!!!  With no horns appearing where my head was.  Impressive.  It was sheer joy!  I hadn’t done that in years and am so glad that I did!  (Note:  Do not make a snow angel when not wearing mittens, a hat, snow-pants or at least long-johns, or when en route to the library because whoever sits in the chair after you get out of it will not know you made a snow angel just before getting there and will thus throw a shocked look your way as you walk away…)

Taaadaaaa!!

 

Ok, she looks a little “off”.  I was alone.  No one to help pull me up and avoid totally messing it up when I try to stand, as illustrated by the footprints and lame attempt to smooth over the snow with my hand after standing.  Don’t judge me.

Stepping Out…Rinse, Repeat…

This has been a really good week so far!  I have been an extremely good girl this week.  Well, ok, one day I was so good, I was bad.  Thursday was just one of those days where you get so preoccupied with doing stuff, that you forget to eat.  And by you, I mean me.  You know, that special kind of stupid when you actually forget about food…for most of the day!  I was way under in my WW points and my calorie count.  Oops.  I tried to make it up at the end of the day but I just couldn’t bring myself to eat that much in one sitting.

As many people know, there are a couple of storm systems who are up to no good and have started making trouble in our neighbourhood…uh…what…where was I?  Right, digressing into song lyrics just after I was talking about…uh…umm…

Oh yeah!  Weather!  Snow storms are wreaking havoc on the east side of N.A.  Where I am living, we did ok.  We got dumped on with a LOT of snow, but not really storm-like conditions.  No real windy madness or precipitation stinging my face as it hits me.

Gotta love it! (Apparently don’t gotta use proper spelling or grammar…)

I actually went outside in it.  TWICE.  Yeah, I am all kinds of tough, yo!

I couldn’t stay in and not at least attempt to get to my 10,000 steps today!  I split my jaunt up into two sessions/sections/portions/outings/trips/parts (yeah, that’s right, I read thesauri from time to time.  And know not only know that thesauri is a word, but how to spell it too.  No applause, just throw money.  Thanks.).  Of course, it was actually, shall we say, unintentional.  The going out twice part, not the reading of thesauri part…just so we are clear.

I went walking in the park.  The snow was about upper-mid-shin.  It was great!  The park was peaceful and quiet with barely a whisper of a breeze (<–flowery literary tendency alert) and fresh snow everywhere.  It was great walking through it even if my jeans got soaked.  It was such a good workout to walk through that snow!  The resistance was great!  And I worked really hard to keep a brisk pace going; no easy feat when working against snow and slightly slippery footing!  I actually got my heart rate up quite a bit, very quickly.  What an amazing feeling!  I made it a little over 5,000 steps before deciding to pack it in and head home.  Besides, the muscles in my thighs and even hamstrings told me I could be darn sure that I burned just as many calories as if I had walked double that in non-winter conditions.

Before

I came home, was bored and unsatisfied with the number of steps on my pedometer.  I decided it was time to head back out and put some more steps on it!  Oh, and to mail the thing I was supposed to mail on my first walk in the morning but just carried it around with me on the walk and then carried it home.  Because I am the sharpest knife in the drawer…or not…

I recreated my route with the sole exception of actually running the errand I was supposed to do the first time.  I just enjoyed every second of being out there!  I avoided paths where people had worn the snow down a bit because I found that made for slightly more tricky footing than just plodding through untouched, and now knee-deep, snow.  Walking through the deeper snow was not only easier on my feet, it gave more resistance, making my muscles work even harder.  And it allowed me to appease my inner five year old self!  But I was so focused on getting a good workout, I totally forgot to make a snow angel!  I will have to get outside to do that tomorrow before too many people are in the park to see me make a complete fool of myself walking through the snow.

After!

While we got tons of snow, we really didn’t get a mad storm.  Just the same, I was prepared.  See?  I remembered something from Girl Guides!  (I know no one actually asked if I did, but thought I would throw it out there preemptively…)  I had a survival kit ready, you know, just in case.  I know storms only last for about a day and it wasn’t an apocalypse, but never hurts to have my two item survival kit on standby.  I used it today.

If anyone else is affected by the storm, I hope it does not hit too badly and that you have your own kit ready, like I did.

I swear by this survival kit! Be safe, people! Be prepared!

 

Oh yeah….I did manage to get my daily 10,000!  Yay me!!

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A very well-written article with some incredibly intelligent insight and thoughts! seesondraslim hits the nails on the head! We all need to take the time to stop and think about what makes us happy with ourselves. It is not all about size and shape…there is so much beauty in human beings of both sexes, all sizes and every background. Let’s celebrate ourselves!!

SeeSondraSlim.com

Ok.

I try to clarify as often as possible that my journey all along has been about being a better, HEALTHIER version of the person I have always considered myself to be.

I have come a long way, and although I’m still hovering just under 200 lbs, most would agree that I look like a completely different person…but I would like to think that they’ll tell you I’m basically the same Sondra. I still do, say, and wear what the heck I want!

It makes me really sad to think of the old me (the REALLY old me) back in middle school, who felt that her smile was her only redeeming quality.

I ALMOST GAVE UP ON MYSELF OVER THE YEARS.

But there is something to be said for people in the world. I was blessed with friends who claim they never really noticed the fact that I was big….they…

View original post 625 more words

Gaining, Mental Images and Walking. Yeah, A Lot of Walking!

Another week has come and gone and although this past week was something of a fail, it was not as epic a fail as I thought.

I stayed within my points and calorie counts on both WW and MyFitnessPal, yet at one point during the week when I gave in and decided to weigh myself, it appeared that I had put on 5 pounds!!!  I  almost fainted and got so angry at myself!  I sort of feel like I don’t know what I did wrong, but looking at some of my food choices, I think I gave in to things that I didn’t need to give in to as often as I did.  I didn’t run out to a fast food joint or anything like that, but even though I didn’t exceed the limits set for me, I went for fewer fruits and veggies than I have been.  That is ok, it was a slap in the face to myself (insert hilarious mental picture here) and having experienced one setback means that I don’t ever want to experience it again!

This will NOT be my face next week!

I worked hard to get back on track and ended up taking off 3 of those pounds before my weigh day.  So, I have to report that I had a net gain of 2 pounds (said with deep sigh and hanging of head in a resigned, sad kind of way).  Not as bad as 5 pounds, but not as good as a loss of 2 or more!  I am firmly back on the wagon this week, buckled in, holding on and don’t want to fall off again anytime soon!!  The things I am going to tweak are:  making sure that I consistently ensure I drink a full amount of water every day and gobbling up lots of plant life (if you suddenly got a mental image of a cartoon giant me wreaking havoc on a jungle that I am towering over, rest assured, you are not alone…I thought the exact same thing!) to ensure more efficient fuel burning.  Oh, and walking a lot more.  Like tons.

Speaking of walking, I think my recent (two days ago) trip to Toronto played a big role in helping to clear off some of that weight that caused such panic, fear and all around mental anguish (<–have we not seen this type of drama queen-like exaggeration somewhere before?).  My husband had to go up for the day for work, so I decided it was a good excuse to tag along and spend the day doing my own thing, just wandering around, exploring with no one else to bore with my aimless wanderings, no time constraints other than catching the train at the end of the day, finding a cafe to have tea in or a restaurant to stop at and nibble on some lunch.  I did both.  While not a cafe, I did head to a McDonald’s that I know has outlets for people to plug in things such as mobile phones one used too much on the train so are now really low on battery power before it was even noon.  Oh, and at that Rotten Ronnie’s, I managed to be there for zero WW points!  I ordered a tea and nothing more.  In the restaurant category, I found a little sushi restaurant to eat at as well and thoroughly enjoyed a really low cal lunch.

All in all, I sometimes tend to be a little daft like a dog who just doesn’t stop doing what it enjoys and so does it beyond the point of reason (Stupid dogs:  play, swimming, etc.  Stupid me:  walking on concrete for hours).  I walked all over downtown T-dot and well, behold the result of ignoring my angry feet when they pleaded with me to stop:

Yep, that is what happens when left to my own devices to explore and wander without a goal or a plan.  Although walking around on concrete that much is not the greatest feeling for the tootsies, I was so happy to see those numbers!

Oh, and the train to Toronto leaves really early in the mornings.  So early the sun doesn’t even think it is right to be up at that time!  I love it when the sun does start to come up though.  I am always trying to take pictures of the sunrise.  That particular morning it was amazing!  Before it appeared over the horizon, a beam of orange light was shining straight up, like a spotlight being shone into the sky at a movie premiere (or from a pachinko parlour).  When I snapped, the way the camera caught the light made it look very different in the picture.  But absolutely brilliant!

Well, off I go to get my solid night’s sleep!  Gotta get more pounds off again!

I will just leave you with this question:

We are supposed to drink 8 glasses of water each day.  Do other liquids count toward that?  Let me know what you know or think.

A Little Reminder

I was about to sit down and share the weekly panic I feel that I have not lost anything this week and my fear that by the time Tuesday rolls around, I might have gained a pound instead of losing or at least staying the same.  But first I was looking at Facebook.  My friend shared a blog that must be making its rounds on FB.  I decided instead of just sharing it as well on FB, to mention here for others to take a look at.  It made a very good point and I decided not to worry more than I should about my progress this week; I might lose more by Tuesday and I might not.  I just need to take it in stride, keep doing what I am doing and while that is happening, enjoy the now, because I have a great life and I love every second of it!!  (Even the boring, unemployed parts!!)

Have a read.  This gal said what we all need to keep in mind.

http://myfriendteresablog.com/so-youre-feeling-too-fat-to-be-photographed/

Have a great weekend, my friends!! 🙂

Life, Tacos and Weigh Day!

Today is a day of celebrating the little things in my life.

Celebration #1:  I am alive.  I don’t mean it in the same way that my incredibly healthy grandfather used to say, “Oh, I’m hanging in there.  But I might day any day now”, for about 20 years.  I mean I survived the elements outside.  It is nasty out there.  It is very mild out (+2C, to get up to +8C), which means, on this miserable grey day, it is raining, which is melting the snow and there are puddles everywhere.  In many spots, there is no avoiding the puddles, only seeking to cross them in the shallowest spot possible.  The treacherous part is the ice.  I went out thinking that the pavement and sidewalks looked wonderfully bare; free from ice and snow, just wet.  I quickly discovered that layer of water and those puddles were hiding a very thin, very dangerous layer of ice at the bottom.  You cannot see it at all and thus cannot tell which areas are slippery and which are not.  I went out to meet some other job seekers at a cafe today, which should have been a five minute walk from my apartment.  It took me a little over 15 minutes to get there and my feet were soaked through in that short distance.  (Note to self, discount store winter boots that look very stylish, usually are just that, stylish.  Not leak-proof.  Spend the money next time, cheapo!  Arg.)  But I made it there and back without falling and cracking my head open.  Yay me!

This would have been better. Slippery spots are easy to find!

Celebration #2:  My night out was cancelled.  Only an idiot would be happy about a girls’ night out being shot down at the last minute, right?  I was supposed to meet some friends at a pub near my apartment, for $2 taco night.  I was looking at that as a celebration because I have been doing so well and knew I would be able to exercise great control at eating a modest portion.  Eating what I want but not really sabotaging my efforts.  I was going to avoid alcohol…or at least limit myself to one drink only.  However, for stupid reasons (like people having to work late at their jobs, pfffft!), we are postponing until next week.  And it doesn’t bother me at all!  I am actually relieved because under it all, I wanted just one more week to make it to a milestone that would make me REALLY happy and want to reward myself.  Don’t get me wrong…I don’t feel like I am depriving myself at all.  I am actually enjoying what I am eating and feel great.  But it is that great feeling that is reward in itself and keeps me going and makes me actually want to not eat out!!!  (What???  Who said that???)  So since I cannot celebrate going out, I choose to celebrate staying in!

Yep, this is the spot. Actually very funky and retro inside. With awesome tacos.

Celebration #3:  It was my weigh-day!  What the…really?  That is worth celebrating???  Yes, I was happy about getting on the scales today.   No, I am not off my head.  In fact, I am beginning to look forward to it each week now!  It is like a little game to see just how I did this past week and a mini-rush of anticipation to see what the numbers hold for me when I look down.  I am pleased to report I lost another 1.5lbs this past week and that is a total loss of 8.5lbs.  Do I wish it was faster?  Yes.  But am I pleased to see a smaller number each time I step on the scales?  You bet your sweet a…uh…tooth, I am!!  And I keep reminding myself that if I had given up just because it is slow, I wouldn’t have seen those numbers change at all, or worse, I could have possibly seen them go up!  (shudder)  So, circling back to #2, I am glad that tonight ended up cancelled, because I would love to go out knowing I have passed the 10lbs mark.  And if I keep this up, I am sure I will be there next week!

Yep!

Only thing that I am sad about right now, is I doubt I will be working much on my quest for 10,000 steps today.  But I have been achieving that quite consistently, so one day off won’t kill me.  Besides, with that ice out there, going out and trying to do it, I might wind up with an injury which would mean many days of not getting out!

It’s Recipe Time, Guys!

Unbelievable!  I went out on my daily quest for 10,000 dollars steps and it was -8C!!  Practically a heatwave out there!  And sunny too!  What a perfect day for a walk, I tell ya!  It has been soooo many years since I was actually thought that -8C was “somewhat mild”!  I lived for so long in a land where 0C was practically armageddon.  It was an awesome feeling, breathing in cool, refreshing air and feeling the sun on my face…inspired me to walk even further than I had planned.

Waterfall in the park I walk through. The front is frozen and the water is falling behind the ice.  So pretty.

After exploring lots of paths, I made myself come back to reality, face responsibility and head to the supermarket.  Or the suupaa.  Or the grocery store.  Or the depanneur.  Whatever floats your boat. And I stocked up on lots of fresh goodness to make my food!  This is it!  Organization is kicking in somewhat!  Going to make meals for the week.

I came back home, ready and rarin’ to hit the floor, get my crunches, squats and pathetic push-ups out of the way.  Then I remembered I was going to use the slow cooker and had to get my butt in gear with cooking or I would be stuck eating my creation at 3am (<–perhaps a slight exaggeration)

Here is what I have achieved so far:

I have made a super-duper impressive version of something Mom used to make when we were kids (my brothers and I; not my mom and I…we weren’t actually kids together).  She used to bake chicken pieces in the oven after having marinated them in Catalina salad dressing and bbq sauce.  Yeah, you read that right.  And it was awesome!  I decided to get all adventurous and recreate it as a slow cooker dish (remember…multi-tasking, kids!  Slow cooker takes care of one thing while you do other stuff).  It is all very experimental at the moment and I really don’t have measurements to give you.  I just sort of throw in what I think will be enough.  If there is not enough of something, I add more of it.  If there is too much of something, I add more of something else to distract people from the first something.  Pure genius!

The ingredients are:

• Catalina dressing
• Bbq sauce (more Catalina than bbq.  Don’t ask me the ratio because I will just tell you that for this recipe, the ratio of Catalina to bbq is, “more”)
• 3 or so cloves of garlic, minced  (I am a garlic fiend.  I actually used 4 cloves…find your comfort level.  Mine, apparently is to be immune to vampires.)
• Grated ginger.  As much as you feel like putting in.
• Fresh cilantro, chopped.  Again, whatever you want.  I guesstimate I put in about 1/4 cup.
• Some onion.  How much?  I dunno.  I cut up some and you know…taadaa.
• Saute the onion and garlic with a bit of extra virgin olive oil in a pan first.  Just to soften them up and bring out the flavours.  Throw all that stuff in the slow cooker.  Then add the chicken and kind of cover it with the sauce so it gets fully marinated as it cooks.  Oh yeah!  Squeeze the juice from half a lime…or a whole one.  (Hell, three if you want…sky’s the limit!)  Add that to the sauce too.  You can do that before adding the chicken, so that you get everything mixed properly or you can do it like I did:  About an hour after into the cooking, think to yourself, “Hey!  I have limes in the fridge!  I bet some lime juice would be yummy in that…why didn’t I think of that at the beginning?”, then add it, awkwardly trying to stir it around the chicken breasts so the lime flavour is distributed evenly in the sauce.  Maybe.

Turboed up version of my mom’s old recipe.

I have no idea yet if this is going to taste any good or if I completely buggered things up.  I will let you know, if I survive it.  And if it does turn out to be good, I will make it again and actually measure stuff so I can call it a recipe.  I might even give it a name too…I can get fancy that way sometimes.

The other thing that I made so far was from an actual, real recipe.  Yeah, I have been known to do those.  Until I get used to them, then I don’t bother with all the pesky measuring nonsense anymore.  Measuring cups and spoons?  Pfft…those are for wimps.  (Ok, really, I don’t have a dishwasher and will cut corners where I can.)

My friend sent me the link to a blog that perhaps some on here might have heard of…I was probably the last on Earth to know about it:  Skinny Taste.  It is sooo well done!  It just might have more recipes than there are human beings on the planet.  Every recipe has the nutritional value breakdown, as well as the WW points from both the former system and the new one!  I love it.  It was an amazing find.  (Am I allowed to share my love of something that is not on WordPress??  I hope so, because I believe in sharing the love!)  What was really exciting was that the recipe called for mango and I had one.  That never happens, ever.  Those suckers are expensive but it just happened that last week, there was a sale on mango, so I actually had one just sitting around in my home!

I am so proud of making it, that I am posting my own pic of how it turned out.

Taadaaa!!

Well, I have more to make but now that I have gotten that far, it is time to tone my tush, flatten those abs (someday, someday!), and try to regain some semblance of strength in my arms (I miss teaching little kids, I had pretty good endurance and strength from running around chasing them and having to pick them up all the time, no gym required).  Working hard to hopefully see a couple of more pounds gone when I jump on the scales in a few days!

I would love to get fitted with new abs. Galvanized ones.

Happiness Is…Good Food and Progress!

Yesterday was a good food and nutrition day.  I had some really awesome food!  I made a delicious veggie, quinoa and egg scramble, inspired by another blogger, Mel, when she did a seven day cleanse.  She posted the food she ate that week and it all looked really yummy!  Thanks for the inspiration, Mel!!!  It was actually my first time ever, to eat quinoa.  I love and eat other healthy things, like couscous.  But quinoa…I have never eaten it.  It freaked me out.  I couldn’t look at it…it reminded me of, well, fish eggs.  And I don’t like fish eggs, hence my aversion to quinoa, even though I am fully aware that fish eggs, it is not.  (<–apparently Yoda is guest blogging today…)  But it was pretty good.  Obviously, I got over the appearance aversion.  Although I doubt I will ever eat it plain, on its own; I need to disguise it a little.  Don’t judge me, guys!

Quinoa.  Not fish eggs.  Really.

I have also jacked up my snack supply.  I stocked up on more fruit.  Grapes were on sale, so I jumped on that bandwagon and got me some!  Great to have sitting around to grab pop in when feeling peckish, or snackish, or something.  Bought bananas too.  Love those.  I keep buying lots in hopes that they will get to the point that I will be forced to make banana bread.  From a healthy recipe, of course!  But they don’t stick around here long enough.  Nom, nom, nom…

Having divulged a dirtly little secret earlier about my love of gorgonzola (oh gawwd, with wine….drrrooool), I will divulge yet another dirty little secret.  Incidentally, if a dirty little secret is divulged, does that make it a dirty little public knowledge?  Or a dirty little divulgence?  (Omg, spellcheck didn’t underline that!  “Divulgence” is a real word?  Who knew?)  Annyyyway, my other little secret is this:  I didn’t just buy grapes and bananas for snacks.  I also bought…prunes.  There, I said it.  I was even embarrassed to ask for them when I couldn’t find them…I said I was “sent to get” them, as though they weren’t really for me.  I didn’t want people to think I had any problems for which I needed them or that I was elderly.  (Because, apparently I think that mentioning prunes fast forwards my face several decades, until I stop mentioning them, returning my face to its rightful age…)  But the fact is, I like them.  I think they are yummy and they make me happy.  Not because they are the drug-free way to regularity, but because they are a comfort food from childhood.  My grandparents always had prunes in the house and would give them to my brothers and I as a treat when we were kids.  So I have loved eating them since I was a little girl.  And to this day, I feel good inside when I eat them (I mean psychologically and emotionally, guys!)  I guess if I am going to turn to comfort food, I could do worse than prunes!  Phew…there, did it.  I am out of the prune closet.  I feel so much better now.  Thanks for accepting me as I am.

Pre-prunes and prune-prunes.

And best of all, our Japanese food arrived!  Holy happy dance, guys!  Woohoo!!  So much goodness, so little space in the freezer and cupboard.  We have tofu, konnyaku (yeah, you gotta look that up!), mochi, rice, snacks, tea, curry…and on and on.  And of course, we ordered bentos for each of us…good, home-cooked bentos!  The delivery didn’t get here until suppertime, so perfect timing!

The bounty

The bento. It was sooo yummy! So much goodness and so little guilt! (Like, none!)

 

And that 10,000?  Nailed it!  And I got in a few sets of crunches, some push-ups, worked on toning legs and even did some planking…the exercise kind, not the internet kind.  That would just be weird.  🙂

Now to nail another 10,000 today as well!!  (Did I mention that it was -16 again yesterday?)  Gotta keep that momentum going!!!

It is going to happen!