Week 7: Wheat Free

While Husband is away, JavaChick will play in the kitchen!

Husband and I have similar tastes in a lot of ways - we are neither of us 'meat-and-potato' types; we tend to like a lot of ethnic foods, a lot of spices and herbs, a lot of flavor. Not so much the plain food. However, I tend to lean toward vegetarian, where Husband likes the meat to be front and center. So while I am very happy to have Husband in my life, it is fun to be able to do my own thing once in a while.

It was a busy week. There was a certain amount of work stress. But I had only myself to cook for, and I managed to stick to my goals of avoiding wheat and limiting dairy (I pretty much do this all the time anyway) and processed foods. I should clarify - when I say "processed" I am talking about snack foods and convenience foods that tend to be lacking in nutritional value; I realize that is not the strict definition, but that is my goal.

The first time I cut out wheat, I found it really hard. Partially because it was the first time and maybe also because I cut out all dairy at the same time - it was a lot to figure out. Even though I haven't been avoiding wheat for the last little while, I have been conscious of it, so that I think that made it easier this time. I already had some fall back options, so I had no problem coming up with meals. I've actually even managed to find a gluten free bread and gluten free pizza crust that weren't terrible - thought that would never happen.

I also managed to write down all my meals & snacks this week. This is something I have been trying to work on, but have not been able to do. I think I was having a hard time trying to figure out how to do it and what to write down exactly. It seems simple - just write down what you eat and how you are feeling - but years of calorie counting, and meal timing, and good food vs. bad food, etc, are hard to overcome. All I want is to keep a record and figure out what works for me; what am I eating when I'm feeling good? What's going on when I'm not feeling great? It's only been a week, so I'm not going to say I've got this licked, but I feel like I've made progress.

Once again, I have left this  until the last minute on Sunday night, so I'm going to leave it here. I was happy with what I was eating this week - I enjoyed my food, I felt good eating it, I had healthy stuff, I had some not so healthy stuff, but I'm okay with that.

What I have been eating:
~ Mole inspired vegetarian chili
~ Corn pasta with tomato & olive sauce
~ Stir fry tofu & vegetables
~ Fish Tacos (haddock, corn tortillas, guacamole, homemade salsa)
~ Salads, raw veggies
~ Pomegranates, clementines
~ Guacamole & Organic Tostitos.
~ Microwave Flax Muffin (breakfasts)
~ Bolthouse Chai Protein Drink
~ Almonds
~ Brown Rice Crackers & Hummus
~ Tuna on gluten free bread
~ Pizza on gluten free crust
~ Lindt Sea Salt chocolate

I hesitated over whether to post that list. I don't claim to eat perfectly. I'm not following any kind of diet. I am just trying to figure out how to feel my best. This week I felt pretty good. My tastebuds were happy. I didn't overeat. I didn't go hungry. This is me, logging my data.

 I don't have much in the way of photos this week, but I'll leave you with a couple more iPhone shots of my boys...

This is what I see when I get up in the morning.

Blurry, because Frank is in motion, trying to decide if he wants to jump in. Please note the height of this cat. My babies are giants.

Week 6: Good Week, Bad Week, Bad Week

After our restaurant tour last week, I was certain  that I was ready for a week of healthy stuff - good food, good workouts. The reality was one workout and eating that was not at all mindful. I'm not here to beat myself up about it, but to record the issues. I'm a computer programmer. I gather data, analyze, and look for patterns. I'm pretty good at it in my job. Let's put those skills to work!

That said, I've had a kind of busy weekend and I'm tired so I feel like it keeping it short.

• Bad night's sleep on Sunday night - still full from all that eating, had a hard time falling asleep, cat threw up on the bedroom floor in the middle of the night - so I started the week tired and I stayed tired all week
• We never did a real grocery shop for the week; anticipating the storm, I picked up a few things on Friday to get us through, then by Monday we knew Husband was likely heading back to Japan, so we were busy getting him ready to go
•  PMS never helps anything
• ...

And, I'm sure I had other thoughts rolling around in my head, but now I can't remember. That's why I shouldn't leave these things to the last minute.

Since Husband is away, this seems like a good time to detox myself and try to get back to the intuitive eating mind set. I did get out and buy groceries yesterday, so I am all set with lots of JavaChick friendly healthy food options - I miss Husband when he's gone, but there's no question that eating is easier when it's just me. Being honest, my tummy has not been all that happy lately, so I'm back on the  no wheat, limited dairy & processed food kick.

This morning I woke up to both felines keeping me company:

Not that this is unusual, but they spread out more when they only have to share with me.

There was a light blanket of snow down when I woke up this morning, then a few hours later it started snowing harder...and snowing....and it's still snowing.

It's supposed to keep up overnight, so I may very well be working from home tomorrow.

I actually was working in my comfy living room this morning, watching all  that snow come down. It's never fun to have to work on the weekend when you've already worked all week, but I'm glad I didn't have to go into the office.

There were periods of waiting around, so I was playing with my iPhone camera. I always forget that it actually does take some decent pictures.

Here is Frank in his spot on the back of my chair.

My view of the storm.

Zappa checking out the  new baskets I found at Winners yesterday.

And my entertainment for this stormy day, found at Costco yesterday.

I used to watch Dead Zone, but I was pretty sure there were at least some episodes I missed. The had all the seasons for $8.99 each, so I was happy to grab all of them. I've been working my way through season one and there have been at least two episodes so far that I had never seen. It's been long enough in any case that I'm fuzzy one even the ones that I remember. What can I say; I am a TV  junkie.

Just about time for me to call it a night. Hope you all have a fabulous week!

Week Five: My Week of Eating Everything

This was February Fork Off Week in Saint John. We started with lunch out on Wednesday and I feel like I've been stuffed to the gills since then. Don't get me wrong, we enjoyed ourselves, but I can't imagine ever being hungry again (I know that will change; I think I'm looking forward to it).

We actually had a blizzard this week. A Blizzard Warning was posted on the weather page on Friday. Not something we see often. It ended up not being all that bad where we are, fortunately, but a lot of places had heavy snow fall and/or lost power. We were lucky.

We do, unfortunately, have a Boil Water order at the moment, which is always inconvenient. Hopefully that will be over soon.

So it has certainly not been a typical week. Hopefully this coming week we will be back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Frank & Zappa making a determined effort to sleep through the cold, cold, weather we had last week.

Stormy weather during the day on Saturday...

Which did not keep us from our Italian By Night dinner reservation, and a four course meal. Yes, I brought home leftovers.

~ Hers ~

 ~ His ~

Scenes from our drive home. This first building is where I go to noon time yoga when I can. Taken through the window of a moving car on a snowy night - excuse the blur!

The aftermath - very little snow, but more damage to our cat fence. 

Week Four: Do Over

This week was good. I was sounding pretty negative when I posted last Sunday. I was tired after a busy weekend where I didn't manage to accomplish everything I wanted to do, and a week where I felt I had slacked off on my goals.

It took a week of feeling back to my normal self to realize that I had legitemately needed the rest. The importance of trusting my instincts seems to be a lesson that I need to learn over and over again.

I'm struggling to put this into words, but I also need to redefine my expecatation of consistency when it comes to healthy living. I tend to want to map that out as X number of workouts per week, how the meal plans will go, etc. But consistency is more of a long term thing. Too detailed of a plan/schedule tends to cause me stress; this is something I know. I also know that energy and motivation levels go up and down.

My exercise habit has been established for years now. Yes, I may fall into a general routine for a period of time, but one bad week does not spell disaster. And some weeks the routine may change. Again, this is something I know.

Healthy eating tends to be a constant work in progress. There are times when I do go miles off track, but I'm not there right now. I feel like I am getting close to where I want to be. I also recognize what some of the hurdles are. Sometimes it's discouraging. Sometimes I feel pretty good about things. Beating myself up over it doesn't help anything.

Consistency, for me right now, is doing my best in the moment. What that is today may look different next week. That's okay, I think, as long as I don't lose sight of the big picture.

I actually feel pretty good about this month over all:

• I like the weekly posting and goal setting. Sometimes I don't want to make the time to do it, but it does keep me focused and I think I need that right now.
• I feel like I have a pretty good balance going with workouts. I still have the voices in my head telling me all the things I should be doing, what I'm not doing enough of, but I'm doing what I can without making myself crazy. 
• Food-wise, I feel like I should be tracking, not to count calories, but for data gathering purposes. I know that last winter I was in a good place, then completely lost it this spring. I want to try and recognize what works for me so that I can get to that good place and stay there. 
• I have a little bit of work stress right now. Still struggling sometimes to keep up with everything else I want/need to do. Trying to find balance I guess.

January Workouts
07: 12PM Yoga + 6PM Zumba
09: 12PM Yoga
13: Jackie Warner 30 Day Fast Start UB
14: 12PM Yoga + 6PM Zumba
16: Jackie Warner 30 Day Fast Start LB&ABs + 6 Zumba songs
18: Zumba Fitness Party
19: Crunch Super Slim Down Pilates Yoga Blend
21: Kathy Smith Staying Strong UB & ABS + Treadmill walk
22: Kathy Smith Staying Strong Legs & Glutes + 5 Zumba Songs
28: Zumba
29: Jackie Warner Power Circuit Training UB + LB
30: Zumba

 

February Goals

I've been looking over some blog posts from last fall & winter, and the goals I posted for last February are pretty much perfect:

 

Eat to feel good.
Enjoy regular exercise.
Track without judgement.

That pretty much covers what I want to do. I kinda think that should be my healthy living mission statement.

It warmed up here for a few days this past week - it was 11 degrees Celcius on Thursday. We had rain and wind, but the air was warm. It felt like spring.

Of course, it's too early for spring, so it turned cold again on Friday and today we got snow. It's amazing how much the weather can change within a couple of days.

 

Thursday

Friday

Sunday