What I've Learned from My Co-Blogger

Well, a lot of things, cuz he's pretty great. :-) But one of the biggest things T has said that has stuck with me is the idea that you need to set yourself up for success. If you have temptations in front of you, it's going to be hard to resist them. If you're only surrounded by bad things, you're going to eat bad things. But if you create an environment or a routine where you can easily make good choices, you will. That's a really important lesson.

Here's one way I'm learning to apply that lesson in real life.

I *hate* bringing my lunch to work. Even though every couple of weeks I go on a kick of thinking I'll do it and buying a bunch of entrees or soups or snack-packs to bring in, I really don't like doing it and almost never actually pack that lunch bag. The "lunch food" in my pantry often becomes a weekend lunch instead.

So -- I love to go out in the neighborhood for lunch, either to grab something quick to take back to my desk or to make it a social outing with coworkers. I work in a neighborhood with LOTS of options, from takeout delis to full-on white linen dining. When I'm *not* being particularly mindful about my eating, I have plenty of opportunities to get greasy sandwiches, chips, big burritos, burgers and fries and pizza, oh my!

BUT, there are also places with really healthy and interesting and tasty lunch options. And this week I've made it a point to go to one of those really great places -- Teaism -- and explore the variety of their menu. In 3 different visits, I had 3 totally different things and they were all delicious and fresh and - though they may not all be considered "light" - I know everything was pretty good for me nutritionally. Best of all, these meals were satisfying and because there's so much variety I didn't get bored. I had: grilled beef and veggie kebabs with brown rice with fresh mint and coriander; chicken udon soup; and Vietnamese shrimp spring rolls with miso soup.

Knowing that I have such a great restaurant with so much tasty variety nearby makes it very easy for me to make good choices at lunchtime, and to feel good about supporting a local business at the same time. Sounds like success to me!

Why Stef and I Are Awesome...

And Ruby is not. So after a nine-episode season of Ruby, I am completely transfixed by this trainwreck. And by trainwreck, I mean trainwreck of Trya Banks proportions. You have to view Ruby as a tv character than a real life person. The reason is because it's clear that Ruby has been coached and goaded into portraying a self-centered idiot. Before the show even started Ruby had gone down from 700 pounds to 477 pounds. Clearly she must have learned SOMETHING. I've seen 3-year-olds with more self awareness and intelligence than tv Ruby.

To make my co-blogger and every one of you readers feel better about yourself. Here's my list of why we rock harder than tv Ruby.

1. We can cook. This is where Ruby is totally preposterous. She doesn't cook to the point where she doesn't own a cutting board. She doesn't cook to the point where you can hide her scale in the oven and she could never find it. And that's the most important thing about living healthy. The ultimate way you live healthy is to have a complete say in what you put into your body. You can't do that without cooking.

2. We can nourish ourselves. Ruby is hungry. Hungry like all the freaking time. She constantly complains that her Hourglass meals suck. One thing that the Weight Watchers ads gets really right is to address the hunger monster. When I first changed my diet and I had moments of hunger, I seriously could not envision a life where I was hungry all the time. It was torture. You cannot sustain that. If Ruby is feeling this way through her weight loss process, she is destined for failure once the cameras turn off.

3. We don't expect the world and our friends to cater to us. OH. MY. GOD. Almost every freaking episode is a Last Temptation of Ruby situation where her friends go to a fast food joint and Ruby bemoans the fact she can't eat what they are eating. Sorry Ruby, but just because you're on a restricted diet doesn't mean your friends have to. I think all of us, Stef, me all of you can go to a restaurant with our friends without being a big ol' drama queen about it.

4. Our health care professionals do not suck. Oh that evil Dr. Bradley. He's constantly pushing for Ruby to stay on her Hourglass meal plans in direct opposition to her trainers and nutritionist. And guess who owns the Hourglass Meal company? Evil Dr. Bradley.

5. This healthy living stuff is not a punishment. Hey folks? What's the name of this blog? Yep. That's the key to why we do what we do. This is not penance for every fatty decision we've made and once we've served out time it's over. This is how we live. That' chili stef made the other day? Not a punishment in the least. That 5 mile race? Not a punishment. Especially that stretch where I was running to Justin Timberlake's Rock Your Body.

So feel good about yourselves because noone is forcing you to act like an idiot on tv.

In the Stars?

Hmmm.... here's my horoscope for today. Aquarius for January 9, 2009:

You might know exactly what is needed to improve your diet now, yet you don't tell anyone about your realization. Worse yet, you are tempted to do nothing, no matter how desperately the changes are needed. Fortunately, the nurturing Cancer Moon reminds you of the importance of taking care of yourself. Resist the waves of laziness and take the necessary action today to do what must be done.

Creamed Spinach

It’s winter and we need to focus on comfort food. Nothing is more comforting than something with the word creamed in it. But creamed doesn’t have to mean cream. Just reducing milk gives it a great silky consistency. So here’s a non-cream version of a steakhouse fav. This is a great filling for a nice egg white omelette. Add of turkey bacon and you have a party!

½ large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon olive oil
½ teaspoon of pepper
½ teaspoon of nutmeg
½ cup of white wine or chicken broth
½ cup of skim milk

2 tablespoons of parmesan-like cheese (parmigiano reggiano, pecorino, or grana padana)

2 tablespoons of a nice smoked cheese (cheddar or gouda are great)

1 bag of spinach (you’re cooking it so it doesn’t have to be baby spinach)

Saute under a low heat the garlic and onion for about 5 minutes until the onion is translucent. Add the pepper and nutmeg. Deglaze with the chicken broth/white wine. Add the milk and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the cheeses and simmer until it reduces to the point where it coats the back of a spoon. Add the spinach and stir until the spinach is wilted, about 5 minutes.

Getting Hooked

This is hard to admit and even harder to frame as a problem, but I've been losing weight. After four months of lifestyle changes I've lost about 22 pounds. The weight loss in and of itself isn't a problem. Right or wrong (and I have my doubts) my doctor father constantly reminds me that if I lost a total of 40 pounds I could go off my diabetes meds. It would be a sign that with proper eating and exercise, my body can regulate sugar on its own.

Here's where I become a big, fat (pun intended) hypocrite. I've let myself care about the weight loss. I've been weighing myself weekly and got hooked on seeing the number go down down down. The problem is, my body is adjusting to the changes. It's been two weeks and my weight has stayed constant. Sadly, this is a source of frustration for me and I've weighed myself daily to see if the scale will move.

I'm writing this as a reality check to back off from the investment in the scale. It's addicting, that number. It's sad that number is our society's primary shorthand for health. There are other measures where I continue to progress - how far and fast I can run, the fact my strength training gets easier, the fact my blood sugar stays in range (in fact I forgot to take my meds one day and when I checked by blood sugar it STILL was in range). And there's the whole host of process achievements that I've rocked on and are now second nature.

So here's another set of goals for 2009:

Process
1. Maintain the healthy habits
2. Get training on proper us of weights
3. Get over my fear of going to the net in tennis
4. Take a yoga class which focuses on lower back and hip flexibility
5. Stop looking at the scale. No seriously. STOP.

Outcome
1. Run Bay to Breakers with a 10 minute mile pace
2. Make it to the semi-finals of a tennis tournament
3. Keep my blood sugar within range for the year
4. Bring my cholesterol down to 150
5. Bring my A1C down to 4.5

Trying New Things

My cooking adventures continue... One of my commitments to myself (does that sound more lasting than a "resolution" ?) is to keep exploring new recipes to find things I like and keep teaching myself new things to do in the kitchen. For years, I've had a half-dozen cookbooks sitting on my shelf, and I have finally cracked them open to start trying the different recipes they have inside. Plus, I've been looking for new recipes online both from friends' blogs and from other diet/food sites. My criteria are really just that the dishes be healthy, low-sodium, and VERY easy to make. I'm talking Rachael Ray style or easier here...dare I say it, I'm still at the Sandra Lee level in the kitchen? :-)

In the last few weeks, I have tried 3 new recipes -- 2 of which are keepers. From the American Heart Association's Quick and Easy Cookbook, I made a mustard-coated chicken breast (not a keeper) and spicy salsa chicken wraps (a keeper once I figure out better serving/portion math cuz it's a recipe for like 8 and I'm 1). Last night, I took a recipe off the Safeway site and made a baked tilapia filet with fresh garlic, lemon juice, lite butter and parsley flakes. It was really tasty -- and I had 2 new experiences: using a garlic press, and seeing for myself that garlic does actually turn blue sometimes. Yowza!

Trying new recipes is fun, and it gets me into new aisles in the grocery store and using different tools or settings in the kitchen. I'm working myself up to taking that cooking class, hopefully at the end of February. Good times.

It's Chili Time!

One of my favorite things to do on a lazy winter day, like New Year's Day, is to make a big batch of crock pot chili. Is there anything better on a cold night that a steaming hot bowl of spicy chili goodness?

Everyone has their own variety of chili, and over the years mine has evolved to be both pretty easy and pretty healthy -- low in sodium and very high in fiber. It also used to be one of the cheapest meals I could make, especially cuz it lasts over several meals, but now that I tend to buy organic, low-fat, low-sodium, antibiotic-free stuff it's a little pricier. But worth it!

Here are my ingredients. (I ended up only using the one big can of diced tomatoes, though, cuz my crock pot is pretty small.) That's ground turkey in there, and I season it with black pepper and chili powder before browning it with chopped onions.


From the ingredients above, I used: both cans of beans, drained; the full big can of diced tomatoes with their juice; about 1/3 of the bag of corn; the whole pound of turkey drained of the fat. This batch featured two new changes -- I followed T's advice for upping the nutritional value by adding some carrots and I supplemented the packaged spice mix with some fresh cilantro. These both get the thumbs-up and will probably become a permanent part of my chili recipe.

Mmmm smells good. I cooked it for 3 hours on low, then turned it up to high about an hour before I knew I would be ready to eat.

Here's the first bowl, naked. This batch made 3 huge bowls total and I ate them over the course of 2 1/2 days. Remember, there's a LOT of fiber in any bean chili, so just -- ahem -- keep that in mind when you're planning out when you're going to eat it.

And here's the bowl, dressed. Reduced fat Mexican blend cheese, and a dallop of fat free sour cream to cool it off. Perfection!

Check out the bling yo!

 

Lookee here! This is the medal I got for finishing the New Year's Day race!

New Year's

After a New Year’s Eve that was all about eating, I spent New Year’s Day running a five mile race. Yes that's my ass poking out at you. New Year’s Eve turned out to be one of the best I’ve ever had. It came together at the last minute with both J and I coming back early this week and West Coast Rebecca coming back Monday. By Wednesday afternoon we finally made plans to go to Maverick for dinner, Marga Gomez for fun, and Bar Bambino, where WCR’s girlfriend is the wine manager. The great part about the evening was everything was within walking distance of each other.

First comes the eating. Maverick had an awesome menu that was totally friendly to the diabetics. The only change I had to ask for was to replace the flourless chocolate cake with a fruit and cheese plate. Even better was that WCR doesn’t eat meat (she eats fish) and they happily accommodated her as well. We started off with a glass of prosecco and an oyster with a potato-leek puree and caviar. I always say I’m not an oyster fan and I eat a great one and love it. I should just admit I like oysters. This was pure decadence and it went well with the prosecco. Our next course was the ubiquitous beet, goat cheese and walnut salad. But you know there’s a reason why this is sweeping the nation, it’s DAMN tasty. The sweetness of the beets marries well with the earthiness of the walnuts and the freshness of the salad. After the salad course came the fish course which was a perfectly cooked piece of Alaska cod and beet ravioli that were tender and delicate. In between the fish course and the meat course came a palate cleanser of citron granite in champagne. The meat course was a completely decadent beef brisket in a red wine reduction and roasted potatoes. The meal ended with a great Portuguese Madera wine and my fruit and cheese plate. The wonderful things about the meal was that it was really great in terms of the carb portions. Along with the wine that was part of the meal J, WCR, and I split a nice Italian white.

In between our dinner and second dinner, we saw Marga Gomez’ New Year’s Eve spectacular. She’s an awesome Cuban, lesbian comic and the highlight of her show was ripping apart Katy Perry’s I Kissed a Girl and saying that Jill Sobule’s version is the one and only. I totally heart Marga Gomez.

After the show, we went to Bar Bambino where we ordered the salumi and cheese platter, a LARGE one. We love Bar Bambino, even if we didn’t know the wine manager. I always forget their portions are spectacular (their crostini should be named GIANT crostini). We had five kinds of meats, three prosciutto and two salumis and five cheese with persimmons, and toasted hazelnuts. J and WCR had some Italian sparkling wine while I stuck to sparkling water (running the next day). For those of you coming to SF, PLEASE go to Bar Bambino. They cure their meats themselves and their cheese procurer gets cheese made from his family’s farm. We had a great time ringing in the New Year with the staff (and Jason, the chef is totally up your alley).

The next morning, I got up early to eat breakfast and prepare for the race. I tasked J with putting together a killer running mix for me as J is awesome at such things. It was a cold but sunny morning and the race was right on the Berkeley marina, which meant we were running right along the water with e view of Alcatraz, Sausilito, and the city. While I was running at a nine and a half minute mile pace on the treadmill, my goal was to run a ten minute mile pace since running outdoors involved hard asphalt, inclines and uneven ground. In the end, I ran 5 miles in 46 minutes and 24 seconds for a 9 minute 28 second pace! Woo hoo! The great thing was that I paced myself well. I gained speed as the race went on and ended up passing five people and not getting passed myself. It was a good gauge of how far I’ve come fitness-wise. Having a long run of 6.5 miles in training meant that I had a lot of energy and after the race felt like I could have run another few miles. This looks good for what I can do in May for the Bay to Breakers.

Here’s one thing I like about exercise – it’s a tangible outcome and process that is completely in your control. If you run regularly, you will run faster and farther. If you lift regularly, you can life more. If you practice a sport more, you will get better. In a world of chaos, this is a great source of control.

Here's to a New Year!

Again, the New York Times is providing some helpful insights on this pursuit of an improved lifestyle with its timely "New Year, New You? Nice Try." It's hard not to hang my head in reading its description of the multitudes of people who give up on their New Year's resolutions by February 14 -- my breaking point is always 2 days before, my birthday, when I allow myself to celebrate and then never really find my way back "on the wagon" afterwards.

But the article has some great advice, which reminds of the old saying that "the definition of crazy is repeating the same thing over and over again expecting a different result." What works if people want to make a change? Stop trying to do it the same old way, stop using the habits that didn't work for you before.

I like the sound of that, cuz that fits well with the philosophy we're trying to promote on this blog -- that it's not about short-term tricks but rather about making manageable but real changes in order to improve our health.

So, along those lines, I'm NOT going to do what I do every year at this time -- I'm NOT going to make any specific resolutions which will hang over my head. I'm NOT going to post any short-term goals that will just be too easy to cast aside. (Don't get me wrong, I've got them in my head of course, but I'm trying to break that annual cycle o' mine.) Instead, I'm turning the page in the calendar and rededicating myself to the cause of this here blog.

Happy New Year!

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One more for good measure: Here's another NYT article about how more people are cooking than dining out these days, as a response to the economy. Cooking class registrantions are on the rise nationwide -- soon a DC school will have one more registrant: Me!