I Believe in Dog: Exercise Edition

I acquired the Totes-McGoats of exercise equipment about a month ago. There is no doubt I'm walking much more often and regularly since Rocky moved in. It gets me outside and moving, even when I don't want to. And I always feel better.

Rocky, the Totes-McGoats of exercise equipment.

I've discovered these walks can also act as an appetite suppressant. Aside from the obvious cleaning up after his elimination, there is also the gross stuff he finds by the road and enthusiastically tries to swallow in one gulp. For a fuller account, you can check out the dog tumblr.

Walking is nearly a religion for me, and it is such a delight to have the dog to go with. I've just read that speed matters, and by any measure I just amble along. I do aspire to running again, however, starting in the new year. Sadly, Rocky has some medical issues that will take until at least mid-February to clear up. He will be confined to quarters for at least a month after undergoing some grueling heartworm treatment. I'll have to figure out how I can keep moving. At least it will be the dead of winter, and staying indoors isn't the worst possible thing in February.

Snow! Yet there we are, outside on a walk.

Feeding my habit

It appears I have a Brussels sprout habit. Two or three times a week I have to roast them in olive oil, dose them with coarse salt, and eat them like popcorn. I will find myself running out to the kitchen 2-3 time tonight for "just a few more". There may be a problem with this. But I haven't quite figured it out yet. Except I have to do it furtively, when I'm alone, because my girl refuses to co-habitate with the smell.



- iPhone uPdate

Thanksgiving Bounce

Yikes! I've bounced WAY up from just a few days of unmindful eating. Thanksgiving dinner was magnificent, with many vegetables enhancing the glorious main courses, enhanced by the amusing and loving company. But look at this:


So what caused this? I think I gave myself permission to eat any foods, even those I normally would pass up. All weekend. And I was eating them at any time of the day-normally all starches and sweets are confined to just the end of the day. It's so much easier to follow an absolute rule than to try to be moderately indulgent. And once those sugars get into my system, they want company. The blood sugar rages in my veins and won't let me rest.

So the only way to bounce back down is to strictly adhere to the food plan. I know I can do it, but will I?

I made a run to Trader Joes yesterday, and stocked up on the seasonal goodies, including eight boxes of the worlds best store bought cookie, chocolate covered peppermint joe-joes. (They are what Girl Scout Thin Mints want to be when they grow up.) Following the plan means not opening any of these packages until Christmas week. Do I really want to do that? And then give most of them away. I am ambivalent. And the only way to lose weight is to commit to it. Shall I?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

(From Trader Joes web site)
Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint Joe Joe's
When we first introduced Joe Joe's Sandwich Creme Cookies, cookie lovers quickly came to the same conclusion we'd reached on first tasting -- Joe Joe's were so much better than other, similar cookies, that there was very little basis for real comparison. And so when we've introduced "special" versions of our Joe Joe's (Halloween, Candy Cane), maintaining this standard of quality has always been our top priority. Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Peppermint Joe Joe's live up to this standard, and, if you're a fan of the chocolate-peppermint combo, will easily surpass your expectations.

The best way to describe these cookies is to deconstruct them. We start with a creamy, peppermint center, studded with candy cane pieces, sandwiched between two chocolate peppermint wafer cookies. The cookies are bathed in deep, rich dark chocolate. The icing on the cake, so to speak, is the generous sprinkling of even more candy cane pieces atop the dark chocolate. These Joe Joe's masterpieces are only available during the holiday season, bringing tidings of comfort and joy to peppermint and chocolate lovers across the land. But don't delay -- when we run out, it will be 2014 until they're once again available at your neighborhood Trader Joe's. Missing these would definitely add a bit of humbug to your holidays.