Little by little

Little by little we continue our journey to be healthier holistically. We have both kept off roughly 35 pounds that we lost a little of 12 months ago. We will begin to post more regularly our trials and tribulations with becoming healthier, making better food choices, and understanding the food chain and the concept of consumer education as it affects our wallets, food choices, and waistlines.

Enjoy the remainder and 2012. Be safe, blessed, and thankful for what you have.

Thanksgiving 2012

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there! We have a lot to be thankful for this year including: each other, our family, and friends. Thanksgiving this year was fairly painless and actually enjoyable especially when compared to last year's. I will keep this post short. I made Thanksgiving dinner for ourselves and friends. I was able to keep things healthier by making almost every dish from scratch (with the exception of the cranberry orange relish, pumpkin butter, and stuffing). Enjoy pictures from our wonderful day as we wish you all a safe and happy holiday season!

Farmer's Market Run

I made my customary weekly trip to my local farmer's market today to pick up our local provision of produce. I believe that I may have almost enough produce to cover one of two of the Thanksgiving fixings I plan to prepare next week. We are trying to get back to being healthy cien por ciento or in English 100%. We realize as we make strides forward in our health and eating, we sometimes slowly stunt our own progress or simply just get off track. Luckily we have both maintained the weight loss for more than a year and hope to be able to soon add additional pounds to records for the amount of weight lost. So without delay, I am off to my kitchen to begin whipping up some wonderful and wholesome dishes!

Long Lasting Cold

Today is Tuesday, November 13th, 2012 and I am proud to say that the cold I have been under is finally letting up. I am also proud to say that it (the cold) is no longer running my life. I am functioning at about 85% capacity today which is better than how I was functioning, yesterday, the day before that, and so on... I can say that I have not figured out which approach is better for fighting a cold or helping it progress quicker and move on. Eating your way through a cold or starving yourself through a cold. Last Wednesday and Thursday during the pinnacle of my cold I was ravenous constantly. I ate, and ate, and ate, and rested, and slept, just to get up and eat more. A few days later, I got on the scale and I was shocked that I had actually lost 3 pounds. Could that be right or was the weight loss from all the mucus and runny crap coming out of my nose and mouth? 

I can honestly say that I have yet to figure out what works best but I did decide to limit my dairy intake until the cold completely passes me by. I have read that diary products in general create some level of mucus in the body in general. I would like to limit any dietary habits or behaviors that may allow this cold to prolong itself. 

The short-term plan is simple (for this week). Continue to drink plenty of fluids, get plenty of rest, eat balanced meals, and limit stress. I am pretty sure these efforts will help convince my cold to go find another home- far far away from me but we will see. Til then.

A New Post May Be Coming Soon...

Yes, today is Friday, September 28th. The month of September has flown by just like most of this year thus far. As the title states, I will be starting a new blog soon to go along with the other blogs I currently haphazardly manage. Why am I added another blog? Well I want to be able to focus on the wonderful joys of good food, good company, and good eats (both locally and possibly internationally). I want to be able to feature many of the wonderful outings we have with our friends, and together as a couple. I am also culinary trained and make weekly succulent gourmet dishes and would like to show case some of my skills. With that stated, the state of my union is doing well today. This has been the first week of my training schedule and I believe (or rather know) that next week will be an even more demanding training week. But it is now or never to launch another blog. When I have the details available, I will share them in a posting. In the meantime, have a wonderful weekend :-) 

September 11th

Today, Tuesday, September 11th is definitely a day to remember and honor those who lost their lives... I remember parts of that day clearly. It was also a Tuesday. That morning I was at work in a meeting with my supervisor as she talked about planning a conference in the Washington, DC metro area. As she talked she mentioned that maybe she should hold off her plans for a bit because of what had happened. She realized by my lack of reaction, that I did not know what was going on. She actually suggested I go to our big conference room and see for myself and I did. I was shocked. I was not sure if the world, our world was coming to an end (like America is under attack) or what. I watched for a few minutes, completely stunned. I to promptly called a few family members and friends to inform them (if they had not already heard) what was going on in New York. A few had not heard. That night I was teaching, the first night of a night session and my students alarmed me with their level of apathy (or maybe they were in shock). I actually informed them early on that I would be letting them out earlier in light of what had happened earlier that day and that I too (like many other Americans) wanted to rush home and hear the president's address to the nation.

Anyways that was a really surreal day, not to be repeated but definitely to be remembered.

Labor Day Weekend

I hope everyone is having a wonderful and safe Labor Day Weekend. It has been close to 3 weeks since my surgery. And I am almost ready to get back into shape. The last time I exercised was the day before surgery. Per doctor's orders I needed to recover before I could begin exercising again. Normally one to two weeks is sufficient for recovery but I stumped my own recovery a few times by over doing it some days which set me back a few days each time... I am now finally feeling better and have healed considerably and I am almost ready to begin exercising again. I plan to start slow (probably with the treadmill) and gradually increase the level of difficulty and the amount of exercise. I will write soon with more details when I have them. Take care and have a wonderful and safe holiday weekend.

When The Going Gets Tough

Than I guess the tough should get moving... And that is what we plan to do.

Update: It has been almost a week (6 days) since my surgery and so far so good. I am recovering and still in the time frame in which I must abstain from physical exercise, so no Zumba or Tae Bo for me for another week or two. I am beginning to heal nicely and have made a point to focus on recovery as opposed to rushing myself into doing fifty-odd things at one time.

Going forward: I will continue to focus on my healing  and remain calm, cool, and collected. I will post another update once their is something to report. My diet is good in the meantime. Lots of fruits and vegetables while limiting and at times avoiding all together excess sugar, starch, processed and fried foods.

Role Model

We are still moving in the right direction but just not at the fast as I had hoped for (like roaring full speed ahead type pace). I am pretty much holding at the same weight range (plus a  2 pound weight gain). I have had a lot on my mind lately, but I have no intentions of looking back or going back to old bad habits that allowed me to balloon up to 334! So going forward, I continue to exercise and make better food choices.

There is a quote I saw recently that best describes my plight and struggle to get into better shape and loose the weight holistically and once and for all. The quote is so perfect for my on-going and seemingly failing endeavor that I will end this blog post with it. It is so befitting and ironic all wrapped into one quote. Take care and I will keep you updated on what is coming next.


If you can't be a good example, then you'll have to be a horrible warning
by  Catherine Aird

We are always moving...

In the right direction I hope. I am still struggling but I feel that I am getting my head out of the fog... The slightly cooler weather has helped tremendously. I will keep on keeping on in the meantime. I know things will look up. They have to look up. I have a number of things in the works and hopefully we will know how they will pan out in the near future. Right now, I am looking forward to a wonderful week after having a pretty good weekend. It was relaxing (mentally and physically). Hopefully as this week shapes up I will have more goodness to share and to spread. I just want to end this posting on a positive note. Love is great and it does make the world go around or at least it can keep you warmer on a chilly day!

The Saga of Blue

If it was not already apparent from my last post, I am blue and have been this way for about a month now. I have vehemently tried to shake the blues but I just cannot seem to do so successfully. So my cure for the blues is not a cure for my waist line: which is to bake. Being a baker all sorts of recipes and ideas come to mind when I think of comfort foods, foods that I have been taught are cure-alls for the blues, especially winter-blues. The crook on the right-hand side of my neck is probably not helping my want-to-feel-good-cause either! I cannot seem to shake it either, it (the crook in my neck) has been with me all day :-(

I have not weighed-in as often over the last few weeks but I have held my ground at 40 pounds of weight lost. I need to figure out how to get my head back in the game. The sooner I can do that (get back into gear) to sooner more weight will begin to come off. I have also kept my exercise routine moving in the right direction with 5 to 6 workouts a week. Am I happy where I am (with my weight and short term and long term goals)? Absolutely not!! But I am trying to show gratitude and humbleness to keep me from slipping all the way down to the beginning (and gaining back 40 pounds).

Below are some of the recent pics of items I have created (to help overcome the blues or to feed it one in hopes it will become full and go away)!   Enjoy!

Spicy Chocolate Cupcakes with Coconut Shavings

Hasselback Potatoes

July is finally here

July is finally here and so is the heat. In my neck of the woods we had triple digit temperature over the weekend. I decided not to weigh in last Saturday (June 23rd) as I had been feeling a little blue. I did not want a bad reading to effect short term nor long term goals. Sometimes it is okay to take a day off from exercising (especially when my knees tell me too). I have sense had a chance to begin the regrouping process (just emotionally and mentally). The task at hand still seems daunting (to loose between 60 to 80 additional pounds) but I have also some success (I have lost exactly 40 pounds) under my belt that should comfort me in this great endeavor. 


Current weight: 294
Previous weight: 295


We will talk about short term goals and recipes later in the week. Til then, I hope you will stay cool and out of any extreme heat. 

Sunday, June 10th weigh-in

Here are my beginning stats as of my weigh-in (on Sunday, June 10th)



Current weight: 295
Previous weight: 296
My current short-term goal is to loose 7 pounds and get below 290 by the end of June which will give me two weeks to do so.




Update: I was out of town last weekend for my graduation!!! I did not weigh in last week because I did not have a scale available. I was actually able to do a pretty good job and stick to a fairly healthy diet. I did make a few exceptions but I was able to lay off the sweets (other than in small moderations). There were two problems I faced and plan to do a better job of the next time I have to go out of time for any length of time: 1)Thursday (travel day 1) I ate only fruit the entire day!!! Not a good thing for the body. Our flight did not leave until 5:35 p.m. and I should have made a bigger attempt to eat a real meal besides a huge fruit salad. Once we got into our destination around 1 a.m. (eastern time) I ate a few more pieces of fruit. The next day I did better. I was able to get in some fruit, protein, vegetables, and grains. 2) Saturday I started the day off with a hand full of nuts (cashews) before rushing off to the convention center for graduation. I wanted more to eat, but I had finished the fruit I carried with me the day before and we were pressed for time. I made sure I downed plenty of water each day as Arizona is an extremely hot state in June (it felt like we were in a giant oven all the time), which of course goes without saying... Refreshments were provided after the graduation ceremony and it included greasier than normal finger foods which I could have done without. I made a point to eat some because we had close to a two hour drive (back to Phoenix) and I wanted to get on the road. We also visited See's candy shop and I sampled a few treats but I displayed real restraint because the samples at the shop were the only sweets I ate until after I returned home (four months ago I would have devoured the sample there and would have then returned to the hotel room to begin devouring some of the treats. Hell I would have bought more candies solely for the purpose of eating them pre return flight home).


This week's Goals: Get back on track and try to loose at least two to three pounds this week. This past week (June 11 through 16) I felt sluggish a bit more than normal but I attribute it to jet lag, aging, and being overweight (which means it simply takes longer to recover).  Today is Saturday, June 16th and I am finally starting to feel better. 

June 2nd weigh-in

Here are my beginning stats as of my weigh-in (on Saturday, May 12th)



Current weight: 296
Previous weight: 295
My current short-term goal is to loose 15 to 20 pounds over the next month.


Reflection: Yes, I gained another pound. And yes, I can admit what I did right and wrong over this past week. Will I continue a slow and down hill spiral? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!!!! So below is a breakdown of what I did right and wrong over the week.


Right: Continued to eat lots of fruits and veggies. 


Wrong: My body appears to be okay with some animal by-products like milk, small trace amounts of butter, and a little half-and half for my coffee. What my body does not seem to like is when I added lean protein (skinless chicken, turkey, and fish) to the mix. We grilled out last weekend (for Memorial Day) and we had more meat throughout the week as a result. Most weeks, we may consume two to three meals a week with lean protein (not counting our two to three dine-out meals). 


*****To give you a better understanding of our meal system (or habits): We try to eat anywhere from 5 to 6 times a day. For us that normally consists of a fresh fruit salad for breakfast, a snack, a balanced lunch, a snack, dinner, and an evening snack. So out of six meals a day times seven days a week, we eat about 42 times. We keep fast food consumption to a percentage just like processed foods. We try and eat 70 to 80 percent of our diet from fruits and vegetables, legumes of course, and grains. We try and limit fast food meals to 10% of meals and processed food items to 15 to 20 percent. I will explain our system in greater detail soon enough. *******


I also only exercised 5 times over 7 days. I have had some knee issues (my left knee) and on both mornings (of the days I chose to opt-out of exercise for the day) I was awakened to throbbing knee pains. Could I have taken an Advil and toughed it out? Most likely. I figured my knee really needed the time to rest and felt like I was heeding my body's warning. 

Memorial Day Weekend Stats

Here are my beginning stats as of my weigh-in (on Saturday, May 25th)



Current weight: 295
Previous weight: 294.4
My current short-term goal is to loose 15 to 20 pounds over the next month.


Conclusion: This week was a good week. Even though I gained half a pound, I am still optimistic. We went out to eat a few times this weekend which is normal because we stay on our healthier eating habits throughout the week. However the restaurant selections where a bit hardier than our normal fair. What we did to try to and limit some of the damage is the following (we have pretty much made this part of our eating out routine): We eat half the meal in the restaurant (normally I draw a line and separate the plate visually before I begin to eat). If we are still hungry, then we eat the remainder when we arrive home. This allows for: A) Another small meal at a later time or B) Allows our body the chance to begin processing the first half of the meal before we eat the second half. 


I have noticed that for example when you down all 1,200 calories at one time, your body has a lot of work to do: just to try and digest the amount of food and calories. When we give our body a break (even if it is only an hour or so until we get home) we have a better chance of digesting the food and calories better. 


Can I do better: Yes
Will I do better: Yes

Stats based on May 19th

Here are my beginning stats as of my weigh-in (on Saturday, May 19th)



Current weight: 294.4
Previous weight: 300
My current short-term goal is to loose 15 to 20 pounds over the next month. I did loose roughly 5 and a half pounds. 


I plan to continue doing what I am doing which involves plenty of exercise. Right now I am still on my Zumba crave so I make a point to do at least one Zumba DVD workout daily or roughly six times a week. 

It's About That Time

Weekly or bi-weekly I will post my progress stats (which helps me as well with accountability). So let's start there:


So going forward here are my beginning stats as of my last weigh-in (this past Saturday, May 12th)
My current weight: 300
My weight a year ago this time: 334
My previous short-term goal was not met (which was to loose 15 to 20 pounds) but I did loose an additional 9 pounds and have kept it off.


Going forward I will discuss what works for us, what does not work for us, and the level(s) of difficulty regarding our new lifestyle changes, new eating habits, and new exercise regimes. 


I would also like to note that today is the first day since April 7th that I have had a cup of coffee. Well actually two days ago was my first sip of coffee (the sample serving cup at Trader Joe's). Which means I have actually gone almost 6 weeks or 39 days as of Wednesday without coffee.  It has been a nice and welcoming change for my body and mind. It is nice to know that  I could again go days, weeks, and possibly months without coffee (last Spring we did a cleanse in which I went over a month without coffee). Luckily I am not into adding sugar in my coffee, but I do need my half and half. I think I have stayed away so long because I did not crave it and I wanted to make sure when the time was right, I could re-introduce it to my system and limit the amount of added diary needed for me to consider my cup of coffee to be acceptable.


Just the other day I heard on the news and read an article or two claiming (yet again) the benefits of coffee drinking in regards to health. I can now fully appreciate the articles. While doing healthier eating, which we have made a permanent part of our lives going forward, I have noticed how peaceful my body has been. By peaceful I mean just how much calmer, even-tempered, easier going I have been and how much calmer my mind has been. The down side, which can also been considered a benefit is just how fast I produce zzzzs at night (fall asleep). The down side of this newly peaceful bodily resting rate means that I can pretty much take a nap at a moments notice, which could be a bad thing (under the wrong or dangerous circumstances like driving). 


I have noticed without coffee my body is more even-kill on emotions and energy, but with coffee I get those little extra burst of energy that keeps me going and less likely to fall asleep at a moments notice. With coffee my mind also races more which can be good for creativity and production but bad because I tend to loose a little bit of my focus.


Next time I will provide more details on our life-style changes and how we are fairing on a daily and weekly basis with our changes.

Valentine's Day (plus one day)

Valentine's Day is a wonderful day. At least the goal of the commercialized day is commercial and consumer driven (in response to being bombarded for weeks with constant advertisements). We  (my spouse and I) could have done better yesterday regarding our diet and exercise habits. But we also realized that we could have done much worse, as in years past.

So going forward here are my beginning stats
My current weight: 309
My weight a year ago this time: 334
My current small goal (short-term goal): To loose 15 to 20 pounds in 31 days (or by March 17th)
My ultimate goal range: To loose 90 to 120 pounds (I believe it is best for me to have a weight range versus just a number) therefore I looking to eventually reach the weight range of 244 to 214.
Ways I plan (or we) plan to accomplish said goals: 2 Zumba classes a week (I have noticed that I work harder in class than in the privacy of my own home with the curtains pulled tight). I plan to continue exercising out of class: with my Zumba dvds, treadmill walking, and just making a habit to move more.
I also plan to include food accountability to assist me in my goals
Timeline to complete the ultimate goal: 1 year and roughly 31 days (by March 17, 2013 which will be my 6th wedding anniversary).

I did it!! One of the hardest things I set out to do (the honesty factor and actually list out my real weight in real time). Adding my actual weight to this blog will hopefully bring positive, good vibes our way. Weight is a hard and tough issue to deal with in our society. Some (Americans) feel it is an individual choice to be overweight while others believe it may be a combination of things (advertising, accepted social culture like the drive thru, processed foods, etc.). I believe honest with myself and spouse will help me to reach my goals. I believe it is hard to reach goals when you cannot lay down the simple facts (like how much weight I need to lose versus my ideal weight versus any other fabrication of the truth).

More information will be coming your way sooner than later on the logistics! I must admit, I love, love logistics!!! I am a planner to the core, but let's see how well my attention to detail and timeline will pay off (rather reward us) for our estimated hard work and continued lifestyle changes.

I am ready.... Let's do this thing

Yes it is a new year, 2012. But more importantly, I am back, rested, focused, and prepared to keep this blog ticking.... I am ready to devote sufficient time to the up keep of this blog. Going forward I will post at least two posts a week with my updates, recipes, progress, setbacks, and my actual weight. Yes, I am going to go there and post my weight. I have nothing to hide and getting my weight out should be easier to do rather than keeping it a secret. I am on the right path (with my mindset, eating, and exercise goals) and putting the real numbers out there should only help me and hopefully help others by motivating them with my trails and errors and successes. This also meant to be informative, taking some of the guess work out of losing weight and getting in shape. So here goes to a new year, 2012. May be it as fabulous as you hoped for!!!

Running behind schedule

I know we are getting close to the 4th of July and everyone is busy. I have missed posting for the last several days and I have a slew of new posts ready for editing. I will get those posting online soon. I may go ahead and just post several in one day so look out. I hope you will enjoy and have a safe and healthy 4th of July!

Day 18, Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Breakfast: You guessed it, breakfast was another wonderful fruit salad.

Snack: My spouse had a banana and I had a plum

Lunch: My spouse had a black bean and cabbage salad with pickles. I had two ears of corn and the last of the teriyaki noodles.

Snack: We both had our organic cameo apples with natural peanut butter.

Dinner: Dinner was a nice change up as I made pearl barley to go under the bean dish (for taste, flavor, and contrast of mouth feel). We also had an ear of corn and stir fry vegetables. A little bit later we had a sweet potato with lemon as the second part of dinner.

Snack: We had the remainder of the fruit bake, a veggie juice (kale, spinach, cucumber, celery, lemon, and a cameo apple). I also had a cup of hot water with lemon and honey.

Overall: We had another wonderful day, in regards to food and our progress. Just wanted to mention that even though it seemed like we ate a lot of the whole wheat pasta (teriyaki noodle dish) over the last few days we really did not. With that said after reviewing the container it stated that it consists of seven servings total or one seventh of the container. I am happy to announce that we stretched it out to cover 10 servings!!! Before the last 18 days, we would have consumed that box of pasta in one to two meals and this time it went a lot further. Hooray for us, we continue our transition and transformation of the body, mind, and the soul. 

Day 17, Monday, June 27, 2011

Breakfast: We had a fruit salad with eclipse melons, blackberries, grapes, and strawberries.

Snack: I had the remainder of the gallo pinto (it was roughly a half a cup). My spouse had a banana.

Lunch: My spouse had a cabbage salad with tomato, pickles, and onions. He also had a side of black beans. I had an ear of corn (because I was out and about and had ill-prepared snacks for the first time in 16 days).

Snack: My spouse had a cameo apple with natural peanut butter. I had a small serving of teriyaki noodles with a few black and green olives.

Dinner: A side of teriyaki noodles, stir fry vegetable, cranberry bean dish, and sweet potato with lime.

Snack: My spouse had a cup of tea with cotton honey and I had a cup of hot water with lime and cotton honey. We also had some of the awesome and low-cal fruit bake that I made tonight. See the recipe and pic below

Overall: To start the week I made a few dishes that will stretch over a few days. I made a stir-fry vegetable dish (being careful not to overcook the vegetables), cranberry bean side dish, and fruit bake. As you get to know me, I like to make as many large batch side dishes possible that will stretch over a number of meals (up to a week). We had a good day even though it was a Monday. I was a little down today, for other reasons not related to food. We are looking forward to the wonderful changes as we continue to see them. And by wonderful changes I mean our continued health improvements, our skin, our even-kill personalities, and our continually shrinking waist lines.

Fruit Bake

2 apples (any type but cameos work best), sliced and last ¼ of apple is diced

1 pear, sliced

1 plum, sliced

1 peach, sliced

1.5 tablespoons of raisins

2 tablespoons of blackberries

2 tablespoons of honey

1 tablespoon of cinnamon

1 pinch of nutmeg

1 sheet of aluminum foil

1 9 inch round cake pan

Preheat oven to 380 degrees Fahrenheit

Place peach slices on the bottom of the pan in a circle. Next place one of the two apple’s slices on top followed by the plum slices and finally with the last apple. Place diced apple pieced in the middle of the pan (where there is empty space). Next place raisins, honey, cinnamon and nutmeg. Place blackberries on top and place aluminum foil on top and place into oven and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. 

Day 16, Sunday, June 26, 2011

Breakfast: We had a wonderful fruit salad saturated with of course what else fruit. Our fruit salad this morning consisted of blackberries, strawberries, anana melon, eclipse melon, plums, red grapes, and pear.

Lunch: We had the rice and bean dish (gallo pinto), an ear of corn, and a tomato salad.

Snack: We had grapes, a banana, and plums. Later after getting home we had an apple each with two tablespoons of crunchy natural peanut butter. Anytime we miss our morning snack we tend to get hungrier before dinner time.

Dinner: Teriyaki noodles, and ear of corn, and tomato salad.

Snack: a granny smith apple with natural peanut butter and my spouse had a cameo apple with natural peanut butter. My spouse had a cup of tea with cotton honey and I had a cup of hot water with lime and cotton honey. We both had a vegetable juice to end the night. The vegetable juice was an array of veggie goodness including: cucumber, kale, spinach, cameo apple, celery, and lime.

Overall: We finished our weekend on a good note. Again we have been very happy and even-kill in regards to our mood. This journey has been extremely eye opening to both of us in regards to what we use to eat and at times how much money we spent on food and were rarely ever content or full. We look forward to this coming week and the changes that will 

                                                      take place over the week and next weekend. 

Day 15, Saturday, June 25, 2011

Breakfast: We had several plums and a banana each. It was sufficient as we had a number of errands to run this morning.

Lunch: We had a bowl of around three ounces of the whole wheat pasta dish, I called it my teriyaki pasta chocked full of vegetables (onions, green pepper, violet pepper, tomatoes, mushrooms, and garlic).

Snack: I had a granny smith apple with crunchy natural peanut butter and my spouse had a fruit salad of anana melon, pear, black berries, strawberries, and kiwi.

Dinner: We had an ear of corn, small sweet potato with a slice of lime, and more teriyaki spaghetti from earlier.

Snack: We had a fruit juice of oranges, strawberries, and blackberries.

Overall: I wanted my first grain to be my rendition of a wonderful pasta dish I have had time and time again at one of our favorite restaurants. The restaurant makes wonderful teriyaki noodles with chicken, green peppers, and onions and I wanted to make my healthier lower calorie version of this. I had a great level of success and it made enough pasta for the entire week based on how the vegetables helped to stretch out the pasta. 

Day 14, Friday, June 24, 2011

Breakfast: We had a simple fruit salad of eclipse melon, pineapple, and red grapes.

Snack: My spouse had a banana and I had red grapes that were supposed to be part of my breakfast. I did not have time to finish breakfast so I packed up the grapes and brought them with me.

Lunch: I had an ear of corn and a plum. My spouse had my version of gallo pinto (black beans and long grain brown rice with peppers and garlic). My spouse began to implement grains today because there was an office eating event. To make sure we both stayed on track we both agreed that for him to implement grains one day earlier is better than him straying because there are no other food options available.

Snack: I had a banana and green apple with natural peanut butter. My spouse had a fruit salad.

2nd part of dinner

1st part of dinner

Dinner: Sweet potato with lime, an ear of corn, black beans, and a side salad of tomato, cilantro, pickles, olives, and onions. The sweet potato was awesome, sweet with all the wonderful caramelized goodness and the lime helped to pull out the wonderful flavors.

Snack: We had a handful of grapes. The sweet potato with lime with last night’s dinner was the perfect amount of food and a normal sized snack was not needed.

Overall: Another one bites the dust, oh I meant another week has come and gone with a great deal of success. We did well even though my spouse started to implement grains back into his diet a day earlier because of an office function. I made a rice and bean dish, my rendition of a Costa Rican dish (gallo pinto) that I sent with my spouse to work. I made the dish so at worst he would have this to eat if the other participants (from his office) brought things on our no-eat list.  

Day 13, Thursday

Day 13, June 23, 2011

Breakfast: Fruit salad consisting of eclipse melon, pineapple, watermelon (for me only), grapes, and mango.

Snack: I had a bowl of watermelon and my spouse had a banana with natural peanut butter.

Lunch: For lunch I had grapes and an ear of corn. For lunch my spouse had an ear of corn with a side salad of fruit, and a handful of carrots.

Snack:  I was finally able to have my granny smith apple halved with natural peanut butter (1.5 tablespoons total) to myself. When I am home and my apple is tempting up (I am a bit of a temperature snob in regards to food) my spouse will normally beg me to share my apple. My spouse often states that because it is mine, it makes it taste all the better. My spouse had a pear.

Dinner: Dinner was wonderful as usual. It is still hard to vision where we were just a few weeks ago: our meat portions out of whack, our going out to eat and over eating frenzies and the likes. So back to dinner, we had a half an ear of corn with a side of red kidney and black beans with garlic and a spinach salad with avocado, pickles, olives, tomatoes, onions, and a teaspoon of dried cranberries and golden raisins.

Snack: Like I mentioned, I tried tea with cotton honey but it did not work for me. I think I got down three sips before calling it quits. My spouse consumed both teas as a result. We also had a veggie drink of celery, cucumber, kale, lime, a green apple, and spinach.

Overall: I am starting to get a little antsy over the thought of incorporating something new (grains) in two days. I think I am always worried about how we will feel with the new implemented foods and how it will affect our holistic health, fitness, and weight loss goals. But overall today was another good day and I have not been able to complain to much other than the cotton honey. The cotton honey is by no means a sour wood honey. I loved sour wood honey and feel a little lost without it. I think I may try having hot water with lime and honey and see if I can slowly warm up to the cotton honey. But we will see. 

Day 12, Wednesday June 22, 2011

Let me just start by saying that I have not had one drop off coffee in 12 days!!!!!! Nada drop, zilch, nil, ningun, zero, zip, and cero!!!!!

How is that possible? Read today’s post and the previous posts for more information.

Breakfast: We had another wonderful fruit salad consisting of what else other than fruit. See the pic to determine the fruits incorporated in our morning fuel J

Snack: My spouse was sent with two bananas (they were beginning to spot badly) and a tablespoon of natural peanut butter. I had a banana and watermelon. My grandmother shared her watermelon that she purchased on our last farmer’s market excursion on Monday and it is truly sweet! We have pretty much made Mondays in the late spring and summer a family outing for farmer’s market (my grandmother, my aunt, and I).

Lunch:  My spouse had an ear of corn and an edamame salad with tomatoes, onions, carrots, and pickles (I thought it was a nice change-up from the traditional salad).  For some reason I ate like a king or queen rather. I finished up the oven roasted vegetables (with mushrooms, onions, peppers, garlic, and yellow squash) about a cup of it, an ear of corn on the cob, and a side of tomato salad consisting of tomatoes with Himalayan salt and pepper, green olives, and Vidalia onion.

Snack: My spouse had a handful of carrots and a cup of eclipse melon. I had more watermelon and it was still awesome!!!!!!!!!!

Dinner: Red Kidney beans with an ear of corn and a salad filled with avocado, romaine lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, and green olives. It was a quite yummy dinner. The avocado as usual added a layer of healthy goodness (texture and mouth feel) including healthy fat and fiber to our meal.

Snack: We shared my granny smith apple with a tablespoon of natural peanut butter on each side. We also had a cup of Oolong citrus organic tea with cotton honey. Unfortunately we ran out of both the white tea and our beloved sour wood honey. When I went to the store today that sold the sour wood honey (it was the best I ever had) that is also locally produced (as we are trying to purchase as much locally produced produce and products possibly while keeping our eye on our wallet).

Overall: We keep moving forward towards our goals and not looking back at the way we and things were. We realize and can admit that what we were doing previously was not working out well for us, so a more drastic approach was needed to kick-start us on the right path. You may have noticed or have tired of our overuse of the words sweet and tasty to describe a lot of the fruits we have purchased lately. The reason we use those terms a lot is that by eating much healthier we have allowed our taste buds to heal and repair and we are more in tune to the taste of the natural sugars in our fruits and vegetables that we would not have noticed before.  It has also been good for us all to get out, see, explore, and purchase an array of freshness. It has (our family outings to the farmer’s market) been good for family bonding and spending quality time. We can all (the family members that go with me from time to time) that what we can get locally at the market taste a lot better and is often cheaper. The good stuff that our bodies need to keep going the right way and to heal and repair itself. There is truly something to be said about the freshest forms of produce (if it does not come from your own garden) is that buying locally is a great benefit for everyone involved. When buying locally you  help support a local small business owner  who in turns helps to support your local economy in more ways than one (including  hiring staff, purchasing needed supplies and products for his or her harvest, etc.).

Day Eleven, Tuesday June 21, 2011

Breakfast: Fruit salad consisting of blueberries, grapes, and eclipse cantaloupe.

Snack: We both had bananas although my spouse had natural peanut butter in addition

Lunch: My spouse had a romaine salad with tomatoes, pickles, onions, and rice vinegar and he had a handful of carrots and grapes. I had ½ a tomato with Himalayan salt and pepper and an ear of corn.

Snack: I had a peach and a tablespoon of olives and my spouse had a pear.

Dinner: We had an ear of corn, side of red kidney beans, and oven roasted vegetables.

Snack: I had a granny smith apple with a tablespoon of natural peanut butter. My spouse had a cup of eclipse cantaloupe. We then finished the night off with fresh juiced orange juice!!!! It was a refreshing change-up and much appreciated change. The orange juice was so smooth that OJ from a store cannot come close. I am not sure if we will ever buy OJ from a store in the future or if I will just resort to making the tastier version courtesy of our handy-dandy juicer. 

Overall: It was another good day besides the smog in our area from several wildfires throughout our state. We could smell the smoke and the whole day was hazy and it was all in the air which made it harder to breathe and so we both stayed inside a little more than we normally would. We felt good and are at a point that we feel like our changes have become more of our routine than a hindrance. We are doing well and pushing forward. I did exercise three times last week to get started and by Sunday my reoccurring knee injury had flared. Therefore I took Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday off and iced my right knee a good bit. I plan to get back on the wagon tomorrow as my knee is starting to feel a little better.

Day 10, Monday June 20th, 2011

Day Ten

Breakfast: Fruit salad and fruit juice made from peaches and a wedge of pineapple

Snack: My spouse had a banana with natural peanut butter.  I partook in some wonderful blackberries my aunt purchased on our farmer’s market run today. They were T-A-S-T-Y and SWEET!!! So sweet I may pick up some on my next farmer's market run later this week.

Lunch: My spouse had a cabbage salad topped off with tomato, pickles, onions, and rice vinegar dressing.  I had one and a half ears of corn, roughly two tablespoons of black beans with ginger and garlic, and half a tomato seasoned just right (pepper and Himalayan pink salt).

Dinner: We had an ear of corn, edamame, and oven roasted vegetables consisting of mushrooms, onions, peppers, and a little rice vinegar and soy sauce (two tablespoons) and Himalayan salt and pepper

Snack: We shared a granny smith apple and each half had a tablespoon of natural peanut butter

Peach and pineapple juice

Overall: Not a bad day for either of us. It was another wonderful Monday and we survived. With our new eating habits and holistic approach Mondays have definitely become easier to deal with (and get through).  It was a rather emotional day for me (not sure why other than hormones). We began and ended our day on a good note. However I must make a serious and valiant attempt to be in bed before 11:15 p.m. or earlier!!! My health and possible success (holistically) depends on it! We also made another wonderful trip to the farmer's market for corn, eclipse melons, peppers, tomatoes, and more. See the wonderful spread of goodness in the pic below.

Day 9

Day Nine

 

Breakfast: Fruit salad including grapes, eclipse cantaloupe, and pineapple.

           
Lunch: Corn, black beans with garlic and ginger, and tomatoes       salad

Snack: We shared a pear (we were not as hungry at that point in the day because we ate our breakfast and lunch roughly 3 hours apart)

Dinner: More corn, chick pea salad, and oven roasted vegetable medley of mushrooms, onions, peppers (bell, yummy, and violet), and yellow squash) to increase our vegetable intake

Snack: We did forgo the juice tonight because we were actually pretty full but we still managed to partake in eating a banana with two teaspoons of natural peanut butter.

Overall: We have been feeling good. My spouse is still singing the praises of our transformation daily. I personally feel a bit more balanced since we added in the legumes. Before I felt really light and almost airy but now my body feels more balanced with the new additions.

Day 8

Day 8

            Breakfast: Fruit salad filled with blueberries, pineapple, and peaches

            ***We interrupt this broadcast to bring you the farmer’s market update for Saturday***

            We actually went today to the farmer’s market when it was crowded but we survived!! Okay once you get to know me you will realize that I do not do crowds well (I plan grocery, clothes shopping, and most public outings to avoid crowds). I will go on a tirade another day about my dislike of crowds in malls, grocery stores, and in most public settings. Okay so back on track here, we went in and got a number of wonderful        

Our finds

produce items to get us through the weekend and to start our week with. And I was happy to see that peppers, corn, plums, and a variety of other wonderful and tasty of all sorts are finally making their appearances for the season. We purchased white flesh corn, cucumbers, bell pepper , yummy peppers (it’s a really really light yellow bell pepper), lavender colored pepper, tomatoes, and some wonderful and interesting small melons (I will get the name of this type of melon next week and mention it)

Snack: Our introduction to legumes: Banana with natural peanut butter (two teaspoons to start). We wanted to start slow with the legumes. The container of peanut butter states two tablespoons constitutes a serving, but I wanted to wean us back up to the jolt of calories and the heaviness of the product. We also made a point to purchase natural peanut butter (store brand) that was less than two bucks and it consisted of two ingredients (the way it should be) roasted peanuts and salt. It was so hard to stir it up (with the oil settling on the top of the container) the peanut butter. I was really amazed, but I also know it is better for us (the lack of unnecessary ingredients added) and we both enjoyed the taste too so it was a bonus.

Lunch: We had some more legume action. We had black bean with ginger and garlic as a side, sliced tomatoes with Himalayan salt and pepper, and yes you guessed it; corn on the cob. It was an awesome, awesome meal let me tell you.

Snack: We had a handful of red grapes and shared a peach. That was plenty to tie us over until dinner time.

Dinner: Chickpea salad and corn on the cob. It was a wonderful and filling meal and yes I am aware that it was slightly imbalanced. Actually lunch and dinner were both imbalanced by the lack of vegetables. We also had a veggie juice a little later in the evening made from kale, celery, lime, cucumber, and cabbage. We hoped the juice would at least make up for some of the missed vegetables today. We will do better in days to come in regards to consuming what we consider to be a healthy daily amount of fresh produce.

Snack: There was a serving of the apple pear bake left and we each had a cup of white tea with sour wood honey. We are now OFFICIALLY out of white tea and honey. What will we do!!!! I will have to figure it out shortly and get on the ball.

Overall: It was another good day. My spouse simply cannot stop chatting to anyone who will listen how much better we both feel and the results we have experienced too in such a short time. My spouse should be nicknamed Chatty Cathy or Chatty Carl at this point. J  Everyone we know is aware of how much better we feel via the spouse. It is funny and at times boring to hear over and over again but it is also nice as it is a reminder of what we are doing. It also reminds me daily that this is the right decision for us at the right time in our lives. 

Day 7 and it's Friday!!!

Day 7 and it’s Friday!!!!

Breakfast: fruit salad containing blueberries, mango, and peaches.  

Snack: Fruit juice with peaches and pineapples 

Lunch: Corn on the cob for myself with carrots, grapes, and two strawberries. The spouse had another cabbage salad with pickles, tomatoes, and onions with rice vinegar dressing.

Dinner: We were on the go so I packed our dinner with a piece of fruit. We both had peaches for our fruit. We had oven baked vegetables with balsamic vinegar and an ear and a half of corn.

Overall: Today has been a better day. I am still trying to get over the trauma of the pear-pineapple-ginger juice from yesterday that turned my stomach for most of yesterday. We have amazed ourselves. We knew we would be out late and not have time for a juice once we returned home. There is no substituting not getting in those additional nutrients in liquid form and we knew we could not substitute it so we added an additional piece of fruit to our diet today.