When Your Clothes Don't Fit

Seriously.... I thought I was doing okay because I could still fit into my jeans but every time I would wash and dry them they would feel pretty snug when I put them back on. Then one pair stopped fitting.... then another. Now I am down to one pair that fits and everything else is feeling a bit snug too. I don't like this feeling, but at the same time it's not like you can just change all your habits and wake up tomorrow with everything fitting again. It takes time to put weight on and to take it off too.

In the mean time I have decided that I won't give into this size increase and buy lots of new clothes, but I will buy a few new things to get me through. Lately I have been so digging The North Face stuff and have decided that a few pieces for the summer will probably get me through. The utility capris are soooo cute even though I have never really been into capri pants. The shorts are also cute, but I haven't worn a pair of shorts in probably 13 years. Even when I was skinny like a stick I just didn't feel comfortable in shorts.

I always thought The North Face stuff seemed so Colorado too. Just very outdoorsy and comfy too. Perhaps I can gear up for our possible move! Of course, I have always been a big fan of Columbia stuff too which also has that same feel. There is something about those kind of clothes that makes me want to get out there and climb a mountain or something. The North Face people are very clever in giving the wearer of their clothes those kind of feelings of empowerment. Or maybe I am just nutty? =)

Losing Track of Time

I just realized it has been quite a while since I last posted here. There have been a couple reasons for lack of posts. H and I finished summer school, had a teeny break and have started again - this being our final year (yay!). I have continued to eat like a maniac and put on a few more pounds which irritates me. My clothes are getting to be a little snug. H and I have been scoping out the continued possibility of a move to CO. I also sort of got tired of posting here when I wasn't doing well, wasn't being CR'd and wasn't happy with what was going on. I should have called this blog Adventures in Life instead so that I didn't feel guilty every time I fell off the CR bandwagon.

I will attest that once you get into the groove of reducing your calories and focusing on very high nutritional intake that things are good. I felt good, looked super, slept well and wasn't all that hungry after a while. That was all good. The bad thing is that, for me at least, once I broke down and started eating more junk and started eating more in general, the hunger returned. I also lost almost all my motivation to exercise and working at home totally killed any incidental exercise from just being out and about thus making it all up to me to get moving above and beyond just milling around the house.

One good thing that has come about from our summer break was a chance to do a little exercising together. H and I have been notoriously incompatible in our eating and exercise habits. When I wasn't eating meat he was buying bacon and thick steaks. When I tried to get us out and exercising together (multiple times) he groaned and made excuses, then I ended up slacking and making excuses too. We just don't see eye to eye all the time and that really is okay because we are just different in those ways. Luckily, we found that we both have a lot of fun biking so we bought a couple cruiser-style bikes and have been hitting the trail at least one or two times a week. If you ever want to get your heart racing try riding a one speed cruiser bike!

Happy 3rd Anniversary!!

Yesterday marks 3 years since I started Quest for Life: Adventures in CR. It has been a long 3 years and many, many things have happened in my life. I got engaged, then married, started school and am now about to enter my final year. I lost weight, gained weight, exercised, binged and struggled. In the past 3 years I have gained some important knowledge which I will share with you now:

1) No matter how hard I try, something is always going to pop up and threaten to derail me. Think social gatherings, unsupportive spouses/family, etc. I have to be prepared.

2) Every day that I eat well, reduce calories or exercise is one day that I can mark in my win column. No matter what happens in the future nothing can take that win away from me and one win is better than none.

3) "Cheating" on my diet is fun (and delicious), but going overboard can throw me right back into a cycle of poor eating all the time. I have to be cautious not to let myself get too accustom to eating junk again.

4) Some people have more willpower than others and there is nothing wrong with that. Just because H can eat two spoonfuls of Ben and Jerry's and save the tub for later doesn't mean I can. Better to not tempt myself in the first place.

5) Restricting calories does not equal deprivation. Eating well and eating less can be amazingly delicious and very filling. Think huge salads, fruit, veggies soups, etc.

These are definitely not all the things I have learned, but I think these things range among some of the most important. Hopefully anyone out there following this blog has learned a few things too!

Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin

Why Exercise Won't Make You Thin from Time.com is one of those articles that really makes you think. I can think of times where I have been more hungry after working out. I can think of many times I have rewarded myself with food for working out. I can also think of times where this didn't happen though. Times when I passed on extra or treat-type foods because I didn't want to derail the hard work I had put in exercising. I can also attest that my most fit times were when I was working out regularly.

Do I want to work out? Not really. Do I think it helps? Certainly and if it doesn't I probably picked the absolute worst field of study to get a degree in.

While this article is definitely thought provoking it's just another piece in the pile of conflicting information that only serves to confuse people. I fear that snippets of this article will be used or even taken out of context by other articles or put the 9 o'clock news with a spin that exercise is no longer necessary because it just doesn't do anything will only exacerbate the problems we are facing today.

Polenta

When I am really paying attention to my calories and cutting back I always have ridiculous cravings. Like last night at 10 pm I was desperate for carbs.... bread, candy, whatever. I am sure H wanted to slap me silly. We didn't have one thing I could think of that would scratch my itch until I remembered the bag of masa in the cupboard. I had made tortillas a while back (which were awesome FYI!) and I was sure something could be made from this treasure. But what? No cookies, cakes or anything like that because I had no eggs or other ingredients. Then it hit me... Polenta! But can you make polenta from masa? I had no idea, but by the time I figured out what to make it was time for bed.

I woke up knowing I had to see if polenta could be made. I scoured the net for recipes and settled on a pretty basic recipe:

4 c water
1 c cornmeal
1 tsp salt

I changed this to:
4 c water
1 c masa
.5 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter

Instructions say bring water and salt to a boil and then slowly add in cornmeal while stirring to prevent lumps. I did this and it was lumpy anyway so I spent a lot of time beating out lumps. After all the masa was added I lowered the heat to low and spent the next 15 minutes stirring and stirring. Eventually the stuff thickened up and once the timer went off I beat the butter in.

The texture was really silky aside from some pretty small lumps. It reminded me of cream of wheat only with a corny taste - which was pretty darn good. I ate a tiny bowl of the creamy stuff with a light sprinkle of sugar and put the rest in a baking dish to cool and firm up. I will probably just slice this into squares for munching on later.

Take that carb craving!

Ginger Cucumber Salad

The latest issue of Vegetarian Times had this amazing sounding cucumber salad recipe in it and I just had to give it a try. Whole Foods had organic cucumbers on sale for $1 per pound which meant the stars were aligned and the salad had to be made.

I followed their recipe loosely and here is what I ended up with:





Ginger Cucumber Salad


3 large cucumbers, washed and sliced thin

For dressing mix together:
4 tbsp seasoned rice vinegar
1 tbsp light soy sauce
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
1 inch knob of ginger minced finely

Toss cucumbers with dressing and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Mmmmm... the ginger adds a nice kick and the cool crispness of the cucumbers is perfect for these hot summer days. Be careful, you might just eat the whole batch!

Etsy Unleashed

On a totally unrelated topic, I have been spending a lot of time working on getting my Etsy store up and running. If you have a chance stop by and take a peek: The Birth of Creation

I am featuring glass bulb/ornaments right now, but am hoping to get some jewelry and mobile/hanging type garden art on there in the very near future.

Good and Bad Days

I had an absolutely awesome day yesterday. H swore that he would start eating better with me (we'll see), but yesterday was day one and he was totally committed so at lunch he ran to the grocery and picked us up salads and some zucchini for dinner. Spinach, cherries and zucchini made up my primary calorie sources and despite eating pretty low calorie for the whole day - around 1000 - I am not overly hungry, tired or cranky today. Go fruits and veg!!

Other days have not been as good, but I am putting those days behind me. Unfortunately I can talk H into eating really bad when I am in a binge mood which doesn't really help either of us.

We are supposed to go walking after work today which should be nice. After 2 years of working at home I have realized it is both a blessing and a curse. If I don't make an effort to get up and move around I seriously might only walk a span of 100 feet less than 10 times a day. I know, it's terrible. When I worked in the office the parking garage was several blocks from work, plus I could walk the stairs and get my heart rate up. When you get wrapped up in work it is easy to forget about getting up and moving.

Summer Produce

I love the produce of summer. This past week I have gobbled up about 2 pounds each of cherries and blueberries and enjoyed nearly every bite. Summer feels like an easier time to eat better with a bigger variety of fresh, attractive produce ready to be swooped up and prepared with minimal effort. Last week I was addicted to bi-color sweet corn on the cob - shucked and boiled just a couple of minutes and eaten without any garnishment. Ahhhh..... it was lovely.

A Pitfall of Entertaning

We had a lovely Fourth with lots of good company, good food and fun. Now that I am trying to lose some of the extra weight I have been putting on I am seeing one big pitfall to entertaining at our house.... LEFTOVERS! In an effort to ensure well fed and happy guests I may have gone a little overboard and now our fridge is jammed with all sorts of food - both good and bad. There is corn on the cob, cucumber salad, German potato salad, pasta salad, brats and wieners, chips and dips, cupcakes, s'mores bars (yes, it's like a Rice Crispy treat only with Golden Grahams and chocolate!), cherries and more. Some of the items are generous donations left by guests, but most are my own doing.

One issue the I have always dealt with is not wasting food so I don't feel like I can throw this stuff out. It is such a waste of time, money and resources to throw food away so I really feel like this stuff should be eaten. Some of item, like the corn, cherries and cucumber salad are perfectly healthy items, but others, especially the potato salad, are another story. Like all good things though, moderation will likely be key and next time I will have to remember to make guests take things home with them!