The Next Hundred Pounds

MMMM ... WOOD PULP!

My oldest nephew grew up on a typical American diet --- homecooked meals, but also a lot of processed foods, fast foods, and junk foods --- just like I did. (He and his siblings, however, have somehow avoided getting fat). But a couple of years ago, he spent a summer in Italy, and everything changed.

He came home for Christmas and said, "Aunt Cindy, will you teach me how to cook?"  Exposure to all those fresh, delicious foods in Italy had changed his perception of food forever. Oh, he still eats Hot Pockets, but he also cooks real food from scratch. (I stand corrected. My nephew informed me that he has not had a Hot Pocket in over a year. Then he quoted Michael Pollan at me. I'm so proud). One of our favorite activities at holidays is shopping together and cooking a big meal for the whole family.

Heh heh heh. One nephew down, five to go.

Trav is such a convert to healthy eating that he frequently posts recipes and links to food news on FaceBook, so I am indebted to him for this link. Now, the article is on a humor site, and it is wildly sensational, but the basic premises are true. I decided to look into the claims a little further, and was appalled to find out that some products I thought were "all natural" (there's a pesky marketing term that, it turns out, doesn't mean much) contain some real crap.

Let's start with cellulose. Cellulose is plant fiber --- meaning wood pulp and other plant bits --- that is processed to a fine powder and used as a filler and additive. Makers of what Michael Pollan likes to call "edible foodlike substances" use it as stablizers, thickeners, replacements for flour and oil,  and to add fiber. It's cheaper than the real stuff, surprise surprise. That lower-fat ice cream you love probably has it --- it makes lowfat products feel creamier. That shredded cheese you (and I!) buy has it --- it keeps the cheese from clumping. And it's in everything. Bread, salad dressing, jam, meats.The Street  published an article listing 15 companies that use cellulose in their products, including Pepsi (Aunt Jemima products), Kellogg (some Morningstar Farm, Eggo, and Cinnabon products), Weight Watchers (various ice cream products), General Mills (Fiber One, Duncan Hines, Pillsbury, Betty Crocker products), and many more.

Nutritionists say that, like sugar, cellulose is cellulose --- it's not only harmless, but it provides extra fiber. That, they say, can be a good thing for people who aren't getting enough from whole grains, fruits, and veggies.  And maybe it is ---  but I'd rather get my fiber from natural sources like apples and whole grains, rather than fillers made from wood pulp and marketed as health foods. I tell you one thing, I'm certainly going to be reading labels even more carefully from now on.

The Cracked.com article goes on to detail the horrors of "fresh" orange juice that has actually been stored in airtight containers for up to a year and then injected with a "flavor pack" of chemicals to make it taste good; fake blueberries in products like muffin mixes and cereals;and perhaps the nastiest of all, hamburger product made by a company called Beef Products, which basically grinds up all the fat and other parts you wouldn't ordinarily want to eat, gasses them with ammonia to  kill E.coli and other pathogens, mushes it all up into a substance the industry refers to as "pink slime", and markets it to places like McDonald's, Burger King, and school cafeterias. Surprise, surprise, it's a lot cheaper than the real thing.

None of this is breaking news, although it's the first time I've seen it. It just reinforces my desire to eat mostly food that has nothing added to it but other items that are recognizable as food. It also reinforces my desire to ignore marketing as much as possible. People who want to sell you this stuff may not want to hurt you, but they do NOT have your best interests at heart. Ever wondered why the Strawberry Growers of America (assuming there is such an organization) don't have big ads running during the Superbowl about the health benefits of yummy, yummy fresh strawberries? Because strawberries, compared to Strawberry Pop Tarts*, are not big business.

 Ingredients: ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), CORN SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, DEXTROSE, SOYBEAN AND PALM OIL (WITH TBHQ FOR FRESHNESS), SUGAR, CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF CRACKER MEAL, WHEAT STARCH, SALT, DRIED STRAWBERRIES, DRIED PEARS, DRIED APPLES, CORNSTARCH, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA, SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE), CITRIC ACID, CORN CEREAL, GELATIN, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL†, CARAMEL COLOR, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, SOY LECITHIN, XANTHAN GUM, MODIFIED WHEAT STARCH, TRICALCIUM PHOSPHATE, COLOR ADDED, TURMERIC COLOR, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, RED #40, NIACINAMIDE, REDUCED IRON, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), YELLOW #6, RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1), FOLIC ACID, BLUE #1.†LESS THAN 0.5g TRANS FAT PER SERVING.

Yum.

 

WILL WALK FOR FOOD

It's always surprising how reluctant people from spread-out cities and places that don't have convenient public transportation are to walk anywhere. Downtown San Antonio is a pretty walkable place, at least in the daytime, and parking is not only hard to find but requires the sale of an organ to be affordable.  But when I ask whether a location is walkable, the frequent reply is a horrified, "Oh, no! It's a good half mile away!"

Half a mile is nothing, people, not if you're in good health and you've got decent sidewalks. Plus, walking is the best way to see a city.

If we hadn't chosen to walk approximately a mile and a half to breakfast this morning, we would have missed the leisurely views of this beautiful old neighborhood (loved this house with four lazy kitties lounging on the porch. Having an old Victorian with a wraparound porch --- and enough money to keep it up properly --- is a dear fantasy of mine).

We would have whizzed by fun neighborhood kitsch like the above.

And we certainly would not have stopped to chat with the volunteers of the San Antonio Fire Museum Society who were working on these cool vintage fire trucks, and been invited in for a closer look.

Plus, there's something about walking about three miles round trip for your breakfast that makes you feel less guilty about eating so many carbs. Heck, if I walked three miles every time I ate a carb, maybe I wouldn't have to worry about them at all!

Now, our dinner reservation was five miles away, and I draw the line at five miles in high heels and a hundred degree weather, so to get ready for that I made sure to do my Kenpo workout in the afternoon. It's a fun workout. Usually, for the kicks and punches, I find myself targeting this poor little stuffed Dachshund that sits on top of the TV. I always feel remotely guilty. Nothing personal, it's just at the right height. Today, however, I kicked and punched an air conditioning unit on top of the River Center Mall and, as always, indulged in ridiculous fantasies about using these moves to defend myself in a street fight. Whatever it takes, right?

At the half-price bookstore the other day, I picked up a copy of Michael Pollan's Food Rules, which I've thumbed through before. I enjoy his writing and his way of looking at food. The book's introduction alone has some very useful words of wisdom. One that I really like and think has a broad application is Pollan's explanation that these aren't so much rules as personal policies. "Policies are useful tools," he writes. "Instead of prescribing highly specific behaviors, they supply us with broad guidelines that should make everyday decision making easier and swifter."

Personal policies are what we need when it comes to conquering our issues with food. Language matters. Ways of thinking about things matter. And the term "personal policy" implies ownership. It implies that YOU'RE the one making the rules, choosing the behaviors. For me, that makes all the difference in the world in helping me make GOOD decisions about my health. I truly think a big part of the problem with the whole diet industry, and the reason why dieting doesn't work, is because of all the shaming and the complicated plans and misinformation that's out there.

There's another particular nugget of wisdom in the intro to this book. "The more you process food, the more profitable it becomes." Processed food, fast food, food pumped full of artificial ingredients --- all of these are big business, and they are terrible for us and for the environment. And this is the gist of Pollan's philosophy (and, incidentally, mine): eat real food. Eat food that looks like its source. (I love Pollan's name for that crap that inhabits the inner aisles of the grocery stores: edible foodlike substances).

I ate plenty of real food today and so I'm particularly glad for the three mile walk and the Kenpo.

DAY BY DAY

Day by day by day ... yesterday was about exercising my resistance muscle. It's a little flabby, but thankfully not completely gone. Exercise was required one of the choristers brought a big batch of chocolate chip cookie brownies (you read that right, it's brownies with cookie dough dropped in) and cinnamon rolls to rehearsal, and plopped them down on the table right in front of me. Thank goodness I had a yummy, yummy treat in my bag ... the first Honeycrisp apple of the season! They were at the grocery store Sunday morning and I jumped up and down like a little girl. Love me some Honeycrisp. So I ate that instead, and got one of my colleagues to move the goodies to a different table.

The muscle got a little workout while grocery shopping, too ... I was so tempted to buy a cookie or pastry for later! But if you don't have it in the house, you can't eat it, right? And I'm on "spa retreat", keeping only healthy goodies in my hotel room. If I want a treat, I can have it, but I have to plan ahead.

The schedule being what it is, a couple of days there hasn't been time to eat lunch, and I've grabbed a Think Thin bar.  Also, someone recently sent me a couple of samples of Shakeology, which is the meal replacement shake made by BeachBody, the P90X people. More on that in a moment. I discovered that I kind of like it -- probably not for the long term, but for a couple of weeks, to help me get the weight loss going again. Yogurt or oatmeal for breakfast, a shake or protein bar for lunch, a late afternoon snack of a piece of fruit or a rice cake with peanut butter, and then a dinner with lots of veggies and lean protein --- it works out pretty well. I enjoy the feeling of lightness.

I'm a pretty big fan of P90X, but not as impressed with the hard sell of the BeachBody "extras" like their recovery drink, vitamins, and Shakeology, all of which are quite expensive and have to be ordered through one of their "coaches". All it takes to be a "coach" is to sign up, and you can then order your own products at a discount and sell them to other people. I dislike that they call these people coaches, because they have no special knowledge or necessarily even level of achievement, yet BeachBody promotes them as a benefit of their program. Anyway, one of these coaches was offering samples of Shakeology, and some friends have been using it and loving it, so I thought I'd give it a try.I think it's probably a good product --- nutritionally sound, low cal, and any time you restrict calories it's going to help you lose weight -- but the Greenberry flavor looks like a glass of oobleck and tastes unbelievably foul. I poured it out after one sip. As for the chocolate, it was better, but far too sweet for my tastes (and artificially sweet tasting, as well). I'll stick with my homemade whey protein and almond milk smoothies!

Today I did my yoga and then had to rush to get ready for rehearsal (but it was worth it; being all nice and bendy and relaxed afterwards); and on the way home, I took the long way along the Riverwalk and was rewarded with some peaceful extra exercise and a lovely view.

And there you have it. Day by day.

 

WHAT'S THE BEST DIET IN THE LONG RUN?

Yesterday I had some time between rehearsals, so I wandered over to Barnes & Nobles, picked up a bunch of likely-looking titles, and settled into a comfy armchair to browse (studiously avoiding the cafe and its beckoning fancy-schmancy coffees and pastries). One of the books is The Dukan Diet, the latest doctor-touted diet. It's been a big fad in France for some time, and is starting to gain popularity on this side of the pond. And let me just say, from the reading I did, my first impression is "batshit crazy". 

The diet consists of four phases. You eat nothing but lean protein for the first phase, which lasts 3-7 days (constipation, anyone?). For the second phase, you can add as much as you like from a list of non-starchy, low GI veggies such as . This lasts about 3 days for every pound you want to lose, so if you want to lose 50 pounds, you're going to be doing this for five months. Next, you get to add back in certain foods (such as starchy veggies and a little bit of bread) and have two off-plan meals a week, and finally, you're supposed to be all better and as long as you take the stairs, eat some oat bran every day, and have a nothing-but-protein day once a week, you'll stay thin. So, essentially, this is a recycled Atkins diet.

Multi-vitamins are recommended, and warnings that you may suffer from constipation, bad breath, fatigue, and dry mouth are issued. Sounds like a real party, right? But it's all worth it to get that weight off, right?

Here's the thing. I'm not saying it won't work --- it severely restricts calories, so of course it's going to work --- but any diet this restrictive is going to be next to impossible to maintain over any length of time. Also, it's so unbalanced that you don't have to be a doctor to see that this cannot possibly be good for you in the long run.

What IS good for you in the long run?

Well, according to Dr. David Katz, director of the Yale Prevention Research Center, there isn't One True Diet. There are lots of different ways of eating that work. He does suggest that the famed Mediterrenean Diet, which he points out is a class of diets rather than one specific diet per se, is one of the more successful diets. And it makes sense. Fresh foods in season, preferably locally produced, in lieu of processed foods; including all those things we keep hearing over and over are good for us: fresh fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts, beans, seafood, lean protein, yogurt, healthy fats like olive oil and avocado, and even a little bit of wine. Portion control, exercise, and more veggies on the plate than meat.

This is common sense, and it's sustainable. In the long run, the best diet is the healthiest one that you personally can sustain. Most Americans, raised on processed and fast foods and lots of sweets, are going to have a very hard time staying away from them 100%. I think it's better to allow yourself to have some of them, in very limited quantities, on a regular basis rather than try to restrict yourself entirely. Eating a very restrictive diet takes an obsessive sort of  concentration that most people cannot sustain forever (and you're in danger of a backlash). Heck, even a not-particularly-restrictive diet takes a great deal of concentration and motivation to sustain. I've said it here over and over again, it's a lifelong battle (or journey, depending on how you're feeling on any particular day).

I've been looking for a new diet to help me get  back on track, but every time I look into one, a feeling of dread comes over me. Some things never change. I just don't want to "diet". It's never worked except in the short term. I know what works for me, and that is to try to fill my plate with mostly veggies, use healthy fats in the smallest quantities I can get away with, and most of the time get my carbs from fruits and veggies instead of any refined source such as bread. If I do this --- really do it --- and keep working out daily, then I don't have to count calories or think a whole lot about portion control (well, except for staying away from seconds most of the time). I can have half-and-half in my coffee when I get it away from home. I can have a piece of high quality chocolate every day, and ice cream or frozen yogurt or a pastry a couple of times a week. That's my system, and it does work for me.

Of course, the hard thing is sticking with it over time. This is the constant struggle. Once I get out of the groove, it's very, very hard to get back in.  Curiously, once I'm solidly in, it feels so good that it becomes progressively easier to make the right choices.

For a while now I've felt like I've been climbing a glass mountain, clawing up a few feet and sliding back down. I'm not sure I'm making any progress, but I do think that just continuing to try to climb is a sort of triumph. Where is that next solid foothold that will boost me up? This is what I am looking for right now. I don't know where  or when I'll find it, and that in itself is tiring. But there is nothing to do but keep trying to scrabble up.

HEALTHY HOTEL LIVING

You gotta live where you live, people.

As I write, I am sitting at a table in my hotel room, barefoot, depressing the button on my tiny travel food processor with my big toe, so that I may make homemade coconut butter.

I know, I know. Pics or it didn't happen.

I have to do this (hold down the button with my big toe) because this is a crappy cheap little food processor that will not stay on otherwise. And it takes a while to make coconut butter in a crappy food processor. So why am I doing this in a hotel room? Why do I have to make coconut butter, hick-style, right now?

'Cause you gotta live where you live, and right now I am living in a luxury hotel in Tourist Central, where it costs you extra just to breathe, and this is no reason not to try making fresh homemade coconut butter for the first time. Besides, if all the neighbors think I'm weird, they'll leave me alone.

The daily price of parking at this hotel is roughly the equivalent of an organ transplant, so I am parking a half mile away in a cheaper lot and trying to look on the bright side: at least a mile of extra calorie-burning per day! I don't mind walking, but it does make me nervous in this downtown area alone at night. It's not always possible to have a colleague with me, since our schedules don't always match. Guess I'll make sure to wear my running shoes, just in case. There's a nice little gym and swimming pool here, and in addition to my P90X I'm going to try to hit the elliptical a few times a week.

 

Last week was not a good week, health-wise. I didn't feel well, and was tired and run-down all week. I did manage to get a little bit of exercise in, but overall it was just a bust. So here I am on the road for the next three weeks and it's time to hit it as hard as I can, again. Try to make some headway.

Because I was able to drive, I was able to bring lots of cooking stuff. Cooking in one's room is undoubtedly frowned on in this establishment, which is why I don't leave the electric skillet or hot plate out where they can be seen. I did bring a microwave, which is useful and nonthreatening, and got a minifridge from the hotel. Here's my improvised larder:

Classy, no? Ironing, in my opinion, is an exercise to be avoided at all costs, so I find the board makes a decent extra table. And here's the "kitchen":

Actually, the sink area of the bathroom also serves as kitchen, because it's easier for cleanup and I only use the electric stuff on hard surfaces.

You can do quite a bit of decent cooking in an improvised kitchen like this if you have a cooler of some sort. I have soup and salad, beans, fresh veggies for stirfry, oatmeal, and the wherewithal to make omelettes and smoothies. It will keep me from eating out too much!

I'm trying to regard this trip as a sort of spa retreat to help me finish the rocky process of getting back on track, especially as we enter the holiday season. I started off the day right with a session of Core Synergistics, and now it's time to make a healthy lunch of stir-fry veggies (onion, celery, carrots, mushrooms, zucchini) with some grocery store rotisserie chicken, and later on, maybe, a snack involving my hick-style coconut butter. Mmmm!

BURNED

This morning, after days of waiting and praying, we got word that my friends Lisa and Jamie's house burned to the ground in the Central Texas fires. They are among the "luckier " ones --- they had insurance, a friend got in past the barricades and rescued their pets and some valuables; they were traveling when it happened and already had some clothes and necessities packed. They have a place to stay and a lot of people who love them and will help take care of them.

It still sucks beyond any belief. I can sympathize but I cannot really fully grasp the horror. And there are so many, many others out there who have lost everything. This is a video showing the speed and voracity of these fires, especially in Monday's windy conditions. In fact, it shows the fire eating up Bastrop State Park (100 acres left out of 6000):

 

Some of my friends were fortunate; I've heard from at least two that their homes were spared. But over 1000 homes were taken in the Bastrop fires alone.

If you would like to help, here is a list of local places accepting donations of goods and money. Also, local musicians Will Taylor and Strings Attached are doing a benefit show this Saturday at the Nutty Brown Cafe. Here's information on that. Goods and cash donations are being accepted, and there will also be a silent auction. I've donated some private voice lessons and season tickets to Spotlight on Opera.

***

Over the last couple of days I got hit by some kind of bug that laid me low, pretty much sucking all my energy for anything other than basic household tasks. It meant skipping a couple of days of working out, but since this is a "rest" week for P90X, I don't feel too far behind.  On Monday I went to a beginning Ashtanga yoga class, and it was reasonably strenuous --- I certainly worked up a sweat and would not mind hitting this class regularly. I'm familiar with most of the asanas but you move through them much faster than I'm used to doing, and slightly differently. Ashtanga will certainly help you improve strength and flexibilty.

So Tuesday and Wednesday I was a big slug, but I'm doing better today, well enough to attend a pole dancing class with my sister-in-law at Inner Diva Studios. Now, I have a couple of girlfriends who do this fer realz, and they are in AMAZING shape. Real pole-dancing is extremely athletic and requires a great deal of upper body strength. And it's beautiful to watch. 

We certainly didn't do anything this advanced --- this was a beginning class --- but it was a lot of fun and I can see why it's so popular. First of all, the studio is ladies only. It's very cute and feminine, and sexy in a completely non-threatening way. No sleaze in sight. My only complaint, as a matter of fact, was the overuse of scented products (candles, potpourri, what have  you). They were trying to create a beautiful, feminine atmosphere but it was a little overpowering, and I'm particularly sensitive to odors.

Everyone was dressed in athletic gear, mostly yoga pants and t-shirts, and there were all body types. Our instructor was a cute, petite young lady named Brenna. This particular class was mostly comprised of dance moves (I would have liked a more comprehensive warm-up) and Brenna did a great job of breaking each one down. They ranged from easy to challenging, but nothing beginners, even the less coordinated among us, couldn't handle. We used our arms a lot and gave our calves a great workout, standing on our toes most of the time to simulate high heels. You also use a lot of core, pulling yourself up and around the pole and pushing up off the floor. I can see how, if you do this sort of thing regularly, it would be a great workout, although this particular class was not especially strenuous. However, it was fun, and something different, and I would be interested in trying it again, especially if there was one that was a little more geared towards working up a sweat.

My goal for the rest of the week is just to jump back in with the P90X. I need to be working a little harder, but this week it just hasn't been possible. Moving forward ... it will be.

PRAYERS FOR BASTROP

I was going to write and wish everyone a Happy Labor Day, but my heart is so heavy right now --- a great deal of Central Texas is going up in flames, thanks to the terrible drought conditions combined with gusty winds from Tropical Storm Lee. In Bastrop County, over half of the beautiful Bastrop State Park has burned; adjacent to it is the equally lovely Buscher State Park, and just a few miles away is one of our very favorite parks, McKinney Roughs. We've hiked all of these regularly and Bastrop is the site of my famous Death March. Worst of all, hundreds of homes have been lost. Two good friends have a home in one of the neighborhoods that has been evacuated; they just got home last night from an extended trip and were unable to return to their house. Thank goodness a friend got in and rescued their cats and some valuables. As of this writing, Lisa has reported that their house is still standing but the fire is half a mile away.  If you're the praying type, please pray for Lisa and Jamie, and all the families whose homes are destroyed or in danger. There are fires in several other Central Texas communities, including a neighborhood less than 15 miles away. The worst part is all this probably started because some idiot tossed a cigarette butt out the window.

Hiking at McKinney Roughs in Fall 2010

Hiking in Bastrop State Park, May 2010. Over half the park has now burned.

Buescher State Park, May 2010.

Ironically, it's beautiful weather today. For the first time in about two months the temperatures are NOT over 100; in fact it's 80 degrees with a nice breeze and beautiful sunshine --- typical Texas early fall weather. Labor Day is traditionally the Free Day of Yoga in  Austin, so my houseguest Nicholas and I took advantage of this with an Ashtanga class at the Yoga Room in Round Rock, not far from my house. Neither of us had ever done Ashtanga before, and it's challenging. I liked it but would want to take a beginner's workshop to get more familiar with the practice before I started a regular class. However, thanks to the P90X yoga I've been doing, I was able to keep up (they do vinyasas in Ashtanga, but they're a little different and move much faster), and left feeling very good. Anybody who thinks they can't get a workout doing yoga should try Ashtanga; but any form of yoga requires (and will help you build) core strength, strength of tendons, flexibility, breath control, and yes, muscle. It's a wonderful thing to do for your body and mind all on its own, and a great complement to any other physical activity you do.

I intended to write more today but it's hard to concentrate knowing friends' and neighbors' homes are in danger, and knowing of the terrible devastation to the wildlife and environment that is happening so close to home. Please keep Central Texas in your thoughts.

 

MAMMA GETS SLAPPED

In this part of the world, we have an expression about good food that goes something like this, "Oooo-weee! That'll make ya slap yer mamma!"

I'm into food that'll make ya slap yer mamma. Especially if it's healthy. As friends and colleagues head back to their teaching jobs or classes this fall, and for the first time in six years I do not, I am so grateful to have a little extra downtime before things get wild again in which to wallow about in my home, take care of my darling husband, and COOK LIKE A MADWOMAN.

It's very clear that this more-or-less unscheduled time is very important for rejuvenation on many, many levels. I've done a major decluttering of the house, I'm working hard on shoring up my health and fitness habits, I'm working on my musical projects (two brand new roles, one old one that requires freshening, an another audition season looming), and I'm doing a lot of cooking, mostly healthy. Cooking is a creative endeavor for me, which feeds both body and soul, and also is a special way of taking care of people I love.

So, I was excited to find, via Food Renegade, some fun blogs with lots of yummy recipes! Like Heather Eats Almond Butter, which among other things tells you how to make your own almond milk and coconut butter, which is TO. DIE.  Use it anyplace you'd use peanut butter.  Bonus: it's SO easy to make and so much cheaper than what you'd buy in the store. Can't wait to try these recipes.

It was a big cooking day. In the morning, I made Greek yogurt so thick it's really cheese. For lunch , I made a wonderful classic Southern dish ---- okra with onions, garlic, and tomato. Sautee some chopped onions and garlic until they're soft. Throw in some chopped okra and a couple of chopped tomatoes. Cover and let it simmer for about half an hour. That's good eatin', y'all.

For dinner, it was the Southwestern Sautee from the August issue of Eating Well Magazine. I made my own salsa to use in the cheese grits and added a lot of extra garlic, because, welll, garlic cheese grits are the yum. The salsa gives a nice extra punch. The recipe calls for frozen corn; we skipped that because we grilled chile lime corn along with some zucchini. This is an amazing, really quick and easy meal --- leave out the grilling and it will take you all of fifteen minutes to throw together --- and quite satisfying. And you can scramble some eggs and have the leftover cheese grits  --- if there are any --- for breakfast. Make little patties out of 'em and cook them like savory pancakes. For dessert we had homemade berry shortcake --- not terribly sweet, but delicious. I basically made sweet biscuits and topped them with mixed berries macerated in a little bit of sugar (if you want to get fancy, add some lemon zest) and whipped cream. There were no complaints at my table tonight.

I got my Yoga X in this afternoon --- so funny how the body's abilties change from day to day and session to session. My balance wasn't so great today and my hips were not in the mood to get open, even with all the stretching. But I did really well with the abs work. Monday is a free day of yoga in Austin, and I am looking forward to checking out a couple of classes. 

We're going to be eating leftovers for the next couple of days, but I have more slap-yer-mamma cooking up my sleeve. Just wait and see!

 

A BETTER DAY

Good day today! (Well, aside from my neighbor across the street backing into my car and totaling my bumper). It's amazing how the struggle can turn a corner, if you just keep plugging away hard enough. At least, that's how it feels today. Although circumstances prevented me from sticking exactly to my food plan, I made healthy and reasonable substitutes. I avoided the temptations of Amy's Ice Cream, gelato, AND frozen yogurt (on a stressful day with temps well over 100F. I got home much later than planned and I did my workout, complete with 15 Minutes of Hell Abs Ripper. I wrote my food plan for tomorrow.

Boot Camp officially ended yesterday. It was a success in that it helped me rev up to get back to doing what I need to be doing --- dedicating myself to daily workouts, planning my food, cutting out the extras, paying attention and staying mindful. For the next two weeks, that's all I'm going to try to do. Stick with P90X and pay attention to what I'm eating. Keep on my reminders. Essentially, keep working on getting myself in shape to get in shape.

It's always important to give yourself credit for the things you do right. Although I've gained some weight back, more than I'd like, I am still in much, much better shape than I was the last time I was at this weight. I am much more toned, stronger, with more endurance. That makes me happy, and it makes me want to keep working to be in the very best shape I can.

In about two weeks, I go on the road again. It's not very far from home --- just to San Antonio -- but it's far enough that I'll be staying in a hotel.  But I am determined to use that time for serious concentration. I'll be taking my travel kitchen so I can eat in most of the time, and my workout DVDs so I can keep up with the program. Also, there's a nice gym in the hotel and I hope to do some extra sessions on the elliptical, just for variety.

Always in the back of my mind is getting back to running. I did a little bit earlier in the summer and loved it; but since getting home I've been insanely busy, and it's filthy hot. It hasn't been possible to get up at the crack of dawn to run. But maybe I can find a good place in San Antonio. Maybe I'll go run on the RiverWalk. I wonder if people do that?

Another thing on my mind is doing some hiking again. We just haven't had time and frankly, the remote locations we like to go are chock full of snakes this time of year. I wouldn't risk it until later in the fall, when it will be cooler and we'll be less likely to come face to face with a rattler or coral snake when we're ten miles from civilization, on foot with no cell reception. I like a little adventure but that's too much even for me!

This time last year, I was also getting ready to go sing in San Antonio, and having problems working out because of my mysterious foot injury (turned out to be the seisamoid bones, which had somehow been wrenched out of place) and knee problems (caused by the foot injury). Those injuries turned into many months of problems and I still have issues with the foot, but nothing that prevents me from working out, thank goodness. I hope that in September 2012, I'll be able to post a pic that shows me in significantly better shape than this year (which is already better than last) --- and maybe even with some kind of medal for running a half marathon! That seems like  a worthy goal.