It’s been 6 weeks, and I feel amazing. March 25, 2014

Well, it’s been 6 weeks since I changed my eating habits. Though I always ate a lot of veggies, my portions were way too big. I wasn’t eating enough protein, either. I’d often skip meals, which is the worst thing you can do. When I got weighed yesterday, I was down 18 pounds!

So, this morning as I was getting dressed to go see a client, I decided to see if a pair of pants fit that I hadn’t worn in 3 years. I could barely get them on around Xmas, and would have looked like a total asshole if I HAD worn them. They fit! They fit perfectly! I was pretty happy about it. Since I work from home, my wardrobe is basically yoga pants and a T shirt, so I don’t wear a lot of the clothes I have. I wanted to FEEL the results of my hard work. And I’ve worked REALLY hard.

I hike a LOT. I have an app to track my walks and hikes. I’m hiking at least ten miles a week right now. Last week, my best friend Deb and I did Tom’s Thumb, which was WAY up in North Scottsdale, almost to Carefree. The first two miles were tough, but we did it. It was up all the way, then down all the way back to our cars. Some people think going down is easier, but it’s a harder workout, because you really have to stabilize yourself and make sure you don’t slide. My legs get tired going up, but they get a workout going down. There was an older man (70s!) hiking up as we were going down, and he told us there were several rattlesnakes down the hill, so I kept watch.

I made an awesome snack last week. I always have a squash or two on-hand, because I just love it. This time, I had a butternut squash. I sliced it thinly (I could have saved time by doing it with my KitchenAid, I bet!), put the slices in a bowl with olive oil, salt, pepper, and a bit of cinnamon. I had the oven preheated to about 400. I spread the slices on cookie sheets, and turned them every 15 minutes. I think it took about an hour. I wanted them to get a little crispy. It was so good! Everything caramelized, too. My boyfriend saw them, took a bite, and thought it was a sweet potato. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard him say he doesn’t like squash. Hahaha! Psyche!

A couple other tips:

Always have hard-boiled eggs on-hand. No, they don’t make your cholesterol shoot up. That’s an 80s food myth.
A handful of pistachios goes a long way!
A serving of most fruits is about a cup. Yes, you have to measure it. No, the world won’t fall apart while you take 30 seconds to measure it.
Two servings a day of fruits. 4 or 5 a day for  veggies.
Parmesan cheese (FRESH. Don’t buy that Kraft shit. Seriously.) is your best friend! A serving is 6 tablespoons, which you can put on pretty much everything. But it fresh, and grate it fresh. The world won’t fall apart during the MINUTE you are grating it, I swear.

When you cheat, you get caught…by the measuring tape! March 5, 2014

I can’t lie and say I have stuck to my eating plan entirely. After this past appointment, though, I won’t be straying at all.

On Sunday, I wanted to show my boyfriend how to make the best grilled cheese sandwich. We got bread from Sprouts, and it didn’t have any HFCS (high fructose corn syrup) in it, so I didn’t feel as guilty as I could have. I like my grilled cheese sandwiches to have a couple different cheeses. I also love adding green onions and very, very thin slices of tomato.

I felt guilty eating half of my sandwich. Really, really guilty. I beat myself up when I don’t succeed at something. It’s not that I am an over-achiever, but I do want to follow through, complete, whatever you want to call it, projects I start. I’m looking at this as a project to keep me motivated. Hey, whatever works, right?

Well, that damn sandwich sabotaged my week. I had stomach cramps all night. I was lethargic the next morning. I was bloated. My chiropractor said it’s probably because I’m allergic to wheat. Great. Now I have to be one of those gluten free people. Thankfully, right now, that’s the furthest thing from my mind. I went a month without bread, so it won’t be hard to just stop eating it. I’ve never really been a bread person anyway. I never buy it. I’ll have it at a restaurant, but only because it’s there. I’d never order it.

That half of a sandwich caused my waistline to be at the same it was a week before, even though I know that I got smaller. My pants fit way better and one pair is actually a little loose. Anyway, I have been beating myself up over that damn sandwich and I don’t want to feel like this when I go back in 2 weeks. I want to feel like I accomplished another week of being healthy.

This week’s recipe isn’t mine, but I made it. It’s a hearty tomato stew that you cook your eggs in. It was really, really good! My substitution was 2 tbsp of mozzarella instead of the goat cheese. Here is the link: http://food52.com/recipes/26725-eggs-in-a-wintry-tomato-and-kale-sauce