Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Holidays

I'm not even going to make excuses for why I haven't been posting.  Just not feeling it, I guess.  Partly because I haven't really been working out.  It's getting cold and the mornings are dark, and this is the hardest time of the year for me to pry myself out of bed and go to the gym.  I didn't even sign up for the current Masters swim session.

(Though I'm still on the coach's email list and now have a pile of new workouts in my inbox, so that's cool.)

After succumbing to the Thanksgiving bacchanalia, I pledged that starting yesterday morning I would eat better in the coming weeks.  I'm not saying I'm being perfect, but my goal is to eat healthy at work, make healthy dinners, and generally not eat 2-4 pieces of pie per day, which is kind of what was happening during and post-Thanksgiving.  Jason went to Trader Joe's last night (aka, land of amazing Christmas treats) and bought us a box of Pfeffernusse, which are so, so good.  I had one last night after dinner and that was just perfect.

(I kind of hoped he had gotten some Peppermint Joe Joe's too, but he said, "I didn't really think we needed those."  I guess we needed the Pfeffernusse, though...?)

I haven't been doing the gym thing, but I have been walking a lot lately.  I have a new walking buddy, and have discovered that dashing off 3-4 miles of walking is a piece of cake when you're gabbing the whole time.  This is the same person who was my swimming buddy, but we've both been pretty ambivalent about the idea of waking up in the cold and jumping into a pool at 6:30 in the morning.

The good news is, I know me, and I know that I'm pretty good with diving into New Years resolutions.  So while I work on my many projects at work, have extra choir practices and services for the holidays, bake and cook, and try madly to finish my holiday knitting, I know that waiting for me at the end of it all is a bright shiny New Year and resolutions to be made and conquered!

Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Boots

For years I have lusted after boots to wear in the winter.  Pants fit me weird (15 inch difference between my hips and my waist), so I wear skirts and dresses, even in the coldest days of winter. 

Well, when it's really cold, I wear sweatpants into work and then change.  But the point is, my legs are cold.

I was assured that Lane Bryant had boots that would fit the most substantial of calves.  I happily ordered 3 pairs (since I can just return them to the store) and tried them on this morning.

No good.  Not even the fat lady boots fit my giant calves.  Siiiiiigghhhhh.

Actually, I did get one pair zipped up, but it was a little squished and when I took a step the entire boot, and its synthetic material, made this awful squeaking sound.  The other 2 pairs weren't even close to zipping up. 

I was so excited to have boots this winter, and now I'm just sad that I'm so fat.  Bleh.

Thursday, November 01, 2012

Ireland, October 19-20, 2012

Click for the travelogue of our first day in Ireland.

Sugar Is Some Crazy Stuff

It's the morning after Halloween and I started my day feeling completely spaced out and with a stomach ache.  The culprit? Too much sampling from the treat bowl.  For the first year, we actually bought enough candy for the masses of trick or treaters that descend on our neighborhood.  Which meant I sat down to watch a scary movie* with Jason with a few mini Butterfingers to keep me company.  This is in addition to the few I had eaten while handing out candy.

Then I woke up feeling awful.  This is why I don't eat candy that often.

*Paranormal Activity 3.  Not as good as 1 or 2, in my opinion, but still plenty creepy.

Speaking of candy, I made an interesting observation while we were in Ireland last week.  (Yes, we went to Ireland!  It was fantastic and I'll be writing travelogues shortly.)  Every time we made a pit stop I would grab a new English candy bar for us to try.  Jason and I each had our favorites, but I observed that I was infinitely more satiated by the good quality chocolate.  Everyone talks about how dark chocolate is more satisfying generally, which I've found to be true, but even the milk chocolate was better.  I could eat half a candy bar and think, "That's plenty for now. I'll just put the rest away for later."  Right this moment I have half a Wispa Gold still sitting in my carry-on bag. 

It's not that it's not tasty, because it is, and downing all of that American chocolate last night just reminded me how much better the non-waxy English stuff tastes.  But just a few bites of some high quality chocolate, and I'm good for awhile.  It's similar to eating empty, processed foods and being hungry a half hour later, versus eating good whole foods and being satiated for a long time.

You know what else is satiating?  Irish breakfasts.  Bacon, sausage, eggs, mushrooms, beans, toast, fruit, puddings.  I didn't care for the beans (pinto beans in tomato-y sauce, meh) and would just have a little toast and fruit.  Usually my breakfasts consisted of bacon, mushrooms and a small slice of brown soda bread with butter.  All of that protein and fat kept me full all day long as we tramped around Ireland.  We would have breakfast at 7 or 8 AM, half a candy bar and a cookie around 1 or 2 PM, then eat a nice dinner around 7 or 8 PM.  In the meantime we hiked up hills and wandered around ruins and averaged about 20,000 steps per day.  And I was full all day long.  Fantastic!