Honesty, HONESTLY!

Remember what I said? If you can't be honest with yourself then just don't bother, right?

I don't know why but I am just in a mood. It wasn't a bad day but, well, jeez I am just grouchy. The tequila just JUMPED into my hand! Uh huh...

Anyway. I am cooking dinner. Chili verde, some brown rice. Lots of good leftovers for lunches.

I also figured out my lovely breakfast sandwich has a lot more calories than I realized so I am going to modify. One egg and two egg whites scrambled. One slice of cheese instead of two (dayum, I do love cheese), spray oil instead of a teaspoon of olive oil in the pan to cook the eggs. Just don't over do it on the spray oil or you might as well not bother. Sticking with the whole wheat English muffin, toasted. I did get some Everything bagel thins today, they actually have fewer calories than the English muffins! And I got some whole wheat tortillas so I can switch it up and make a breakfast burrito instead of a sandwich.

Lunches are good for a few days. I lucked out and found some chopped Southwest salad on clearance, topped with the tuna/chick pea salad. Very decent on the calories so I am not feeling guilty about lunch at all.

I do, however, feel guilty about the tequila. But f*** just a damn Monday. Blah, blah and blah.

Be honest with me. Good day? Bad day? Diet or blow it? It happens, right? It happens! My downfall is the tequila today. The rest is good, so I am not going to call today a waste. And I still have push ups and burpees to get done. **ugh**

That's what makes life good, right? That it isn't ever easy! Love you guys :)

Detoxing?

So I don't have any idea why, but the Chinese buffet for lunch today just tore me up! Maybe my body is already detoxing and it rebelled over lunch today. My brother joined the DIET with me and he's been doing really well. He said last night he had a cheat night and ate and drank (rum) like he had been doing before and he was sick as all heck today. So I gotta wonder? I had tequila last night and maybe that contributed to today's upset tummy along with the rich food at lunch. I stuck with non-battered, non-fried meat (beef and chicken) and lots of veggies, and some won ton broth soup with steamed won tons. Ugh. I guess I am going to blame it on the tequila...

Dinner is much simpler tonight. Leftovers - chicken and rice with home made pico de gallo, a little cheese on top. Fresh cantaloup for dessert. I have noticed this week that I am feeling better since I have been eating better and cut out all the soda and most of the alcohol. OK then, so be it. If this is what I have to do then I guess it's what I have to do. But as I said, I am feeling better and very slowly seeing some results so that is encouraging!

I don't remember if I have already told you about Bountiful Baskets. If I have I am going to tell you again! It's a wonderful online co-op. Order Monday, pick up Saturday. Healthy and delicious!

Pico De Gallo

So, Pico de Gallo. "Beak of the Rooster" is the translation from Spanish. So called because the jalapeno adds a "bite" to the salsa.

This is a fresh salsa, meant to be eaten within a day or so. It is a GREAT way to use up garden tomatoes and chiles.

Measurements are approximate. Adjust to suit your personal taste.

4 ripe tomatoes.
1 medium to large jalapeno, minced. Take out the membranes and seeds for less heat.
1 small to medium onion, chopped.
1 large handful of cilantro, chopped.
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon or so of lime juice
*optional* minced garlic or garlic powder to taste.

That's it! Chop it all up, throw it in a bowl, stir it up and dig in! Make your own corn chips, WAY better than store bought.

Get some corn tortillas, slice into 6 triangle segments like a pie. Spread out on a baking sheet. Lightly spritz with olive oil spray. Bake 325 for about 10 minutes (watch so they don't burn, it may not take a full 10 minutes). Take out of the oven, sprinkle lightly with sea salt and let cool, Scoop up Pico de Gallo, enjoy, smile. :)

Resources

You all know I just love to cook. These are some of the “Healthy Cooking” webpages that I really like.

Cooking Light

Eating Well

All Recipes


This is one of my favorite deals here. Bountiful Baskets is an online cooperative. You order on Monday and pick up your basket on Saturday. It’s an amazingly good deal! Fresh, in season, usually better than what you can get from the markets around here and definitely cheaper! You have to be on the ball and order quick, baskets go FAST! Give it a try and let me know how you like it. There are also good recipe links on their web page to tell you how to use the odd things you just got in your basket.


Mayo Clinic is a great all-around resource for health questions.


We have some great places in Rapid City, too!

Staple and Spice Market (no web page)
Breadroot Natural Foods Co-op
Western Buffalo Company
Main Street Market (now on Omaha!)

We have TWO farmers markets!
Black Hills Farmer’s Market
The Market at Main Street Square (Saturday mornings)

Even the local grocery stores have much better organic foods selections
Family Thrift Center
Safeway

What's The Plan, Man?

Well, the plan is that I don't have much of a "Plan" but I will just let you all know what I am doing and you use what works for you, Obee Kaybee?

Last night was the third night in a row with no alcohol and about the sixth day with no soda. I miss my glass or three of wine! I miss my tequila! I miss my morning Dr. Pepper! It's a good thing that I actually like green tea, so I have been drinking some tea when I get to work for my little bit of caffeine fix. I was not ever a big caffeine junkie but dayum, I still need something to wake up. I totally understand that green tea just does NOT fill the void when you want a soda but perhaps some of that MIO stuff would work for you guys, or Crystal Light. I just can't eat/drink NutriSweet, makes me sick. Do what works for you with the goal of getting totally off the soda and drinking a lot more water. Besides, water is a lot better for your wallet, too!

As for the rest, I'm making it up every day as I go. I am more than sure that all of you are pretty smart cookies (because if you weren't, I doubt we would be friends...) We all KNOW how to eat well, we all KNOW what is healthy and what is not. Fruit = healthy, cake = not so much. I'm not going to lie to you (because, as I said, I know you are all smarter than that, you will call me on my BS right away!), I would love to eat pizza and spaghetti and cheesecake and big fat gooey cheesy burgers and whatever else is totally yummy. I want to eat that stuff all day every day! But I can't. :( Bummer.

So the plan is to change one or two things at a time, stick with it for a week or two, then move on to the next thing I want to change. Right now my challenge is no soda and alcohol. I'm working on eating better, too, but not as concerned about that at the moment. My focus is no soda, no alcohol. So if I have a piece or two of candy to kill the craving for the sweet soda, then I am just not going to feel guilty about that. But I will try to stay mindful of making sure it's only one or two pieces, not an entire bag of candy. Because I really would just be better off with the soda in that case, right?

Good Save

So it's not exactly diet food but I managed to resurrect last night's mediocre soup and turn it into something else. I made cheddar corn chowder which was not bad but really not great. So I ate it but.... Had lots of leftovers. Today I was thinking of what on earth I could do with it and came up with corn casserole. Found a recipe, salvaged the soup into something halfway decent! A few spoonfuls with a drizzle of honey would be a good dessert. As long as it's just two or three spoonfuls! Something sweet but just a small serving, I think it would be a nice little splurge. I'll let you know!

Chili

No soda. No tequila. No wine. Hmmm.... Anyway. Chili for dinner, I think it's alright calorie-wise. At least I hope so. Extra lean ground beef, black beans, hominy, Shelby's chili mix. Oh, and half a pint of home made pico de gallo and a little of the home made chicken broth in the fridge that needed to be used up. I plan to package it up in portion-controlled containers for the freezer. Then I can grab one out for a decent lunch at work.

Turned out pretty darn yummy! I measured out a half-cup serving and it was plenty. Big glass of water (sigh) to chase it down. If I was still hungry I would have added a small green salad. So there ya go.

Fast Food For Thought

Tonight I am watching this weight loss makeover show on ABC (don't remember what it is called). The trainer was floored by how this girl ate ALL THE TIME. Fast food, donuts, no "real" food AT ALL. And the poor girl was puking at every single workout. Her body was detoxing big time. So he made her a deal that he would eat everything she ate in a typical day (before she started the workout/diet makeover, of course). She started with two sausage Egg McMuffins and two hashbrowns and washed it down with a large soda. Then when she got to work she would have donuts, so he ate two donuts. The trainer ate all this garbage and was looking very green. Then for lunch she ordered a large fries, 20-piece chicken nuggets and a soda for him. He got to the fourth or fifth nugget and all that nastiness came roaring back up. He couldn't do it. Hell, I couldn't do it, either, I know that. But I know I do need to work at a better diet!

I thought the trainer's experiment was interesting and pertinent to our new adventure.

I will post recipes, pictures, whatever interesting things I find. You are all welcome to post anything you would like to share, too. I encourage that, I think the sharing part is really important. Share a good healthy meal you had, share your food diary, share good days and bad days, share the funny things your kids and cats did, whatever! 

Welcome!

Hi! I'm so glad you all decided to come and play with me! Because, let's face it, diets suck, especially when you do it alone. So let's make it fun!

There are no requirements. Come and go as you please, participate as much or as little as you see fit. The only thing I ask of all of you is that you are HONEST WITH YOURSELF! I think this is key. I would strongly recommend keeping a food diary, logging your meals and snacks on one of the many online services, tell us all here what you ate for the day (if you are comfortable with that). No one will judge you, we WILL encourage you when you have a not-so-great day and cheer you on when you are doing really well.

So that is the only thing I "require", the only "rule" to come and play. I think it's important to see what you are doing well, see where you can improve and if you like, ask your buddies here for input. If you aren't honest and don't write down that cookie or that soda or that glass of wine or that slice of pizza or that whatever... well, I can't make you do it but I think you are only cheating yourself.

So there, that's the one and only lecture you will get from me!

Let's get started!