The big new sensation in town. You grab a cup, fill it with as many of their dozen or so flavors as you want, then top it with candy and hot fudge, and pay by weight.
So not worth it in my opinion, which was probably affected by the long line on Saturday night. But the favors were indistinguishably soft squishy: cookies and cream, chocolate, and coconut all tasted pretty much the same. And I guess the no or low fat is supposed to be good for you, but not with candy and hot fudge on top.
I'll hold out for locals like Moorenko or Giffords, or even a good dark chocolate from Ben and Jerry's. I do love my ice cream, and the denser the better. I'm less concerned about fat content than most dieters, and will try to portion control into reasonable calorie counts.
Sherbert update
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Un-Fresh and Un-Local
I've hit a new low this week in family dinners. Pretty much everything I served was prepared and packaged food from the freezer. Let's see:
Monday: spaghetti. Sauce from a jar, enhanced with sautéed onions and basil from our front door pot. Fresh ground beef from Whole Foods. This is the highlight of the week.
Tuesday: pizza delivered
Wednesday: Tempura chicken from Trader Joes- basically chicken nuggets.
Thursday: Aidell's chicken apple sausages with pan fried frozen French fries.
Tonight-- nothing planned, company coming in from Africa and I don't need to handle it.
These menus would not be such a problem if I was able to add a credible veggie side dish or was sure everyone was eating fruit. But I'm not. The occasional meat and carb only meal is ok, but not a whole week's worth. Especially when my girl is flirting with being a vegetarian.
I'm getting my vegetables at lunch, but there is a real lack of fruit and veggies at home. I never went to the supermarket all week, and I haven't been to a farmers market in a couple of weeks. Many of the fruits and veggies from the week before have rotted unused. I'm trying to promote more healthy eating by my kids but I'm not giving them much to work with.
So what's the solution? There is no magic bullet on this stuff. Sadly, we all need to eat many times a day and dinner comes at least once a day. I've got to continue thinking about this every day, and planning out the week.
One of the things I've learned is, it is easier to plan one day at a time. My schedule doesn't permit stopping at the grocery every evening on my way home. I'm starting to cook at 7 pm as it is; I wouldn't want to push that later. One thing I've done sometimes is go to the grocery after dinner for the following day. That works sometimes. But buying a bunch of veggies on the weekend intending to cook them later that week leads to compost. I need specific plans for the veggies, and I have to actively market the fruits.
So today I walked down the block at lunch to where the US Dept of Agriculture sponsors a little farmers market next to their headquarters building. I got zucchini and grape tomatoes, for a sauté. I got cucumbers, for finger food dip. I got blueberries, and will get whipped cream for a treat.
It's a start. This has to be constant. I am so much better at the big grand gesture, the big push. Every day maintenance is so much harder. I would wish to just coast for a while, but that is what leads to menus like last week's.
Sherbert update
Monday: spaghetti. Sauce from a jar, enhanced with sautéed onions and basil from our front door pot. Fresh ground beef from Whole Foods. This is the highlight of the week.
Tuesday: pizza delivered
Wednesday: Tempura chicken from Trader Joes- basically chicken nuggets.
Thursday: Aidell's chicken apple sausages with pan fried frozen French fries.
Tonight-- nothing planned, company coming in from Africa and I don't need to handle it.
These menus would not be such a problem if I was able to add a credible veggie side dish or was sure everyone was eating fruit. But I'm not. The occasional meat and carb only meal is ok, but not a whole week's worth. Especially when my girl is flirting with being a vegetarian.
I'm getting my vegetables at lunch, but there is a real lack of fruit and veggies at home. I never went to the supermarket all week, and I haven't been to a farmers market in a couple of weeks. Many of the fruits and veggies from the week before have rotted unused. I'm trying to promote more healthy eating by my kids but I'm not giving them much to work with.
So what's the solution? There is no magic bullet on this stuff. Sadly, we all need to eat many times a day and dinner comes at least once a day. I've got to continue thinking about this every day, and planning out the week.
One of the things I've learned is, it is easier to plan one day at a time. My schedule doesn't permit stopping at the grocery every evening on my way home. I'm starting to cook at 7 pm as it is; I wouldn't want to push that later. One thing I've done sometimes is go to the grocery after dinner for the following day. That works sometimes. But buying a bunch of veggies on the weekend intending to cook them later that week leads to compost. I need specific plans for the veggies, and I have to actively market the fruits.
So today I walked down the block at lunch to where the US Dept of Agriculture sponsors a little farmers market next to their headquarters building. I got zucchini and grape tomatoes, for a sauté. I got cucumbers, for finger food dip. I got blueberries, and will get whipped cream for a treat.
It's a start. This has to be constant. I am so much better at the big grand gesture, the big push. Every day maintenance is so much harder. I would wish to just coast for a while, but that is what leads to menus like last week's.
Sherbert update
Monday, June 13, 2011
The Practice
I've been to several yoga classes now and I'm really liking it. Still not so much of an aerobic workout, though I get a good chance to use my strength as well as trying to improve balance and flexibility.
It feels so good! I am getting micro-corrections into my stance, and I'm trying to incorporate what I'm learning more into how I stand and sit all the time. I don't know if that is what others do, but I find myself standing still waiting for the elevator, and I plant my feet with the second toes pointed straight ahead, I dig the balls of my feet into the earth, I rotate my inner thighs back, I grow my tailbone straight down, scoop my pelvis, curve the mid part of my chest forward while pulling my shoulder blades back and together, suddenly I'm rooted to the center of the earth and feeling both powerful and thankful. I suspect the untrained eye detects absolutely no change in me at all, it feels so subtle and yet profound what I am doing.
I think this is really good for my back problems, the specific posture I'm practicing. It's taking pressure off the vertebrae that squeeze my sciatic nerve, and I feel better for it. I don't know if this is what I'm supposed to be doing - incorporating portions of the positions into my everyday movements - but I'm enjoying it. The teacher has not really talked about doing that, only about maybe practicing certain positions and transitions in a set-aside time and place. But this is what I'm doing with what I learned.
The other part of what we are doing involves positions requiring strength and balance. I'm also stretching a whole lot, trying to get my incredibly tight hamstrings so I can straighten my legs when bent in the middle. I love the way the stretches feel, especially afterwards.
I'm going to sign up for another set of sessions for after my vacation.
It feels so good! I am getting micro-corrections into my stance, and I'm trying to incorporate what I'm learning more into how I stand and sit all the time. I don't know if that is what others do, but I find myself standing still waiting for the elevator, and I plant my feet with the second toes pointed straight ahead, I dig the balls of my feet into the earth, I rotate my inner thighs back, I grow my tailbone straight down, scoop my pelvis, curve the mid part of my chest forward while pulling my shoulder blades back and together, suddenly I'm rooted to the center of the earth and feeling both powerful and thankful. I suspect the untrained eye detects absolutely no change in me at all, it feels so subtle and yet profound what I am doing.
I think this is really good for my back problems, the specific posture I'm practicing. It's taking pressure off the vertebrae that squeeze my sciatic nerve, and I feel better for it. I don't know if this is what I'm supposed to be doing - incorporating portions of the positions into my everyday movements - but I'm enjoying it. The teacher has not really talked about doing that, only about maybe practicing certain positions and transitions in a set-aside time and place. But this is what I'm doing with what I learned.
The other part of what we are doing involves positions requiring strength and balance. I'm also stretching a whole lot, trying to get my incredibly tight hamstrings so I can straighten my legs when bent in the middle. I love the way the stretches feel, especially afterwards.
I'm going to sign up for another set of sessions for after my vacation.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Danger Danger Danger
Major meltdown with my girl. Very worried and at same time furious. Did my best for now.
But I'm totally out of dogforod and off to the store. DANGER!!!
Of course I deserve a little ice cream after all this. And in what way will that make anything better? But it'll comfort me. And when the pants get too tight, that's comforting?
In and out with just the dogfood. That's my plan.
- iPhone uPdate
But I'm totally out of dogforod and off to the store. DANGER!!!
Of course I deserve a little ice cream after all this. And in what way will that make anything better? But it'll comfort me. And when the pants get too tight, that's comforting?
In and out with just the dogfood. That's my plan.
- iPhone uPdate
Friday, June 3, 2011
Setting Goals
I'm about a month away from my big vacation to the remote Arctic. I've often used vacations as a motivating device for me. The idea is I will simply have more fun if I'm in better shape for it. I even trained on the Nordic Trak for my first (and only, so far) visit to Disney World, after realizing how much walking could be involved.
Taking sage advice from my friends and commenters, I'm going to only focus on one aspect at a time. Too challenging right now to try to focus on planning all my food and eating, and also to fit more fitness activity in. So I'm focusing on the fitness until after the vacation.
Taking more advice, I'm not just thinking I should do more, but I actually wrote out a schedule of what I want to do on each day for the month of June. The geekiness in me motivated me to create a new google calendar, which displays in a different color on my family calendar I maintain, which has all the complicated comings and goings of the family as school gets out. I'm also describing it here, and will report back if I get to it.
I've got the gym three times a week, and yoga class. Neither of those is enough aerobic exercise though to get me to really "fit". I'm adding walk/jogs in the early morning on non-gym days - it is a mile and a quarter around my block and takes about twenty minutes, plus putting on shoes. I'm alternating walking and jogging, and aspire to jog the whole way. Right now, it is totally delightful, but more on that another time. I might work in a work gym visit in the morning, but I'm feeling the outdoor thing is so cool right now. I've tentatively scheduled a downtown bike ride for this evening - all depends on when I get out of work. Weekends are walks and/or kayaking. Sailing isn't vigorous enough to count, though I will be doing that too.
I want to hit my minimum calories and/or steps every single day during the month of June. So far, I've hit THREE. On gym / work days, I'll have to do either a lunch or evening walk to go over the top, because I am so very inactive during work times.
Off to work!
Taking sage advice from my friends and commenters, I'm going to only focus on one aspect at a time. Too challenging right now to try to focus on planning all my food and eating, and also to fit more fitness activity in. So I'm focusing on the fitness until after the vacation.
Taking more advice, I'm not just thinking I should do more, but I actually wrote out a schedule of what I want to do on each day for the month of June. The geekiness in me motivated me to create a new google calendar, which displays in a different color on my family calendar I maintain, which has all the complicated comings and goings of the family as school gets out. I'm also describing it here, and will report back if I get to it.
I've got the gym three times a week, and yoga class. Neither of those is enough aerobic exercise though to get me to really "fit". I'm adding walk/jogs in the early morning on non-gym days - it is a mile and a quarter around my block and takes about twenty minutes, plus putting on shoes. I'm alternating walking and jogging, and aspire to jog the whole way. Right now, it is totally delightful, but more on that another time. I might work in a work gym visit in the morning, but I'm feeling the outdoor thing is so cool right now. I've tentatively scheduled a downtown bike ride for this evening - all depends on when I get out of work. Weekends are walks and/or kayaking. Sailing isn't vigorous enough to count, though I will be doing that too.
I want to hit my minimum calories and/or steps every single day during the month of June. So far, I've hit THREE. On gym / work days, I'll have to do either a lunch or evening walk to go over the top, because I am so very inactive during work times.
Off to work!
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
The Plateau, Viewed From Afar
I'm stalled. I'm plateaued. I'm going nowhere. It's really really true. By almost any definition, my weight loss "journey" has been taking a break in rest area on the turnpike since February. Take a look at this:
I've been bouncing around these same few pounds since early February.
But perspective matters. Look at it in the context of the "journey", which started in January of 2010:
The eye really tries to keep the downward slope going through the last few months, doesn't it? It almost works as a downward trend, though as if it were approaching a limit. I could do math on this, to see if there is an actual trend here, but there are limits to how nerdy even I can get about this.
But here is the real revelation I just had. I've been recording my weight in one way or another since 1988 - at least that I can find written records for:
When you look at the time since February this year, it's just a blob. But look at where I've been in during all this time. Back in 1988, I weighed (at least for one recorded day) five pounds more than the point I'm currently stalled at. I was thirty-three years old then. For seventeen of the last twenty-three years, I weighed more than I weigh now. In 1992, I was thirty-seven years old, I had my dream job at United Airlines, my first nephew was born, I took up photography as a serious study and a part time business, and I got my pilot's license. I also fought my way down to this same weight I am today in order to have more fun on a major photography excursion to the North Slope of Alaska.
I know I'm stronger now than I was then. I like the shape my body is now, with some shoulders to balance my giant hips. I'm pretty sure pants fit me better now than they did at this weight in 1992. I can do those push-ups. I can celebrate what I have right now, without thinking about what life would be like if I achieved the weight I've had in my mind as my goal weight since my thirties.
Perspective is a wonderful thing. During most of the 1980s and 1990s, I did not keep a journal as I did when I was younger and as I picked up doing again this century. But I have some recorded history in these numbers which I like to arrange into pictures to tell a story about myself back then. I'm not satisfied with where I am or giving up going even lower, but I'm less frustrated about this plateau when I know there are heights behind me I don't need to scale again.
I've been bouncing around these same few pounds since early February.
But perspective matters. Look at it in the context of the "journey", which started in January of 2010:
The eye really tries to keep the downward slope going through the last few months, doesn't it? It almost works as a downward trend, though as if it were approaching a limit. I could do math on this, to see if there is an actual trend here, but there are limits to how nerdy even I can get about this.
But here is the real revelation I just had. I've been recording my weight in one way or another since 1988 - at least that I can find written records for:
When you look at the time since February this year, it's just a blob. But look at where I've been in during all this time. Back in 1988, I weighed (at least for one recorded day) five pounds more than the point I'm currently stalled at. I was thirty-three years old then. For seventeen of the last twenty-three years, I weighed more than I weigh now. In 1992, I was thirty-seven years old, I had my dream job at United Airlines, my first nephew was born, I took up photography as a serious study and a part time business, and I got my pilot's license. I also fought my way down to this same weight I am today in order to have more fun on a major photography excursion to the North Slope of Alaska.
I know I'm stronger now than I was then. I like the shape my body is now, with some shoulders to balance my giant hips. I'm pretty sure pants fit me better now than they did at this weight in 1992. I can do those push-ups. I can celebrate what I have right now, without thinking about what life would be like if I achieved the weight I've had in my mind as my goal weight since my thirties.
Perspective is a wonderful thing. During most of the 1980s and 1990s, I did not keep a journal as I did when I was younger and as I picked up doing again this century. But I have some recorded history in these numbers which I like to arrange into pictures to tell a story about myself back then. I'm not satisfied with where I am or giving up going even lower, but I'm less frustrated about this plateau when I know there are heights behind me I don't need to scale again.
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