Primal

Yep. This cavegirl is going primal. Well, there's really all sorts of names for this way of eating, but I like primal best. Basically, it's eating how our ancestors long ago did. This means low carb, yes, but I will be getting plenty of fruits and veggies, just no grains. I've been poring over so much information on this, and it seems to just feel right and it 'clicked' with my brain. I will be eating plenty of animal too. This may turn off some readers and I totally respect that. It is a huge turnaround from the direction I was headed. I'm looking in to buying all grass-fed pastured beef and fowl.

I have read the science. I can point to several blogs that get all sorts of scientifical about the topic. Mark Sisson has a great one that a lot of people read, Mark's Daily Apple. Anyone interested in checking it out should start there. I'm not going to debate on end with anyone or try to 'convert' people. I'm just honestly too lazy for that! But I will be moving this blog to a wordpress blog, and if you want to follow me there, I heartily welcome all of you to check out this crazy chica's adventures! Primal Dawn.

I know this is a big turn off for some, so that's why I decided to move the blog. I don't expect everyone to follow and this is a chance to start over, clean and fresh! My workouts have changed as well. Lots of bodyweight stuff, less cardio. And yes, I've lost some weight, but I know for a fact it's just water weight right now. But changes are happening and I'm loving it. I'm sleeping, for one. Another thing is I seem to have a ton more energy! I was cleaning the house a lot yesterday, and I didn't even pass out on the couch at 8 like I always do, then wake up two or three times during the night. I slept all through the night last night and didn't go to bed til 10:30. I don't need my morning coffee, either. Do I want it out of habit? Sure, and sometimes I'll have a cup (with stevia still, thanks Sie!).

So, that's the latest and the greatest for me. I will still be reading my CR blogs, and as a matter of fact, CR is actually possible with this plan as well. So I'll be focusing on eating right and still counting those calories. What amazes me is that I can eat in the morning and now I don't feel hungry or like I'm battling hunger all day. I just fuel up, then forget about it til the afternoon. I'm not snacking or constantly thinking about my next meal. I feel free from food obsessing. I was honestly eating 5 or 6 times a day with my quasi-veggie-raw approach, and still feeling hungry. Now, I just eat my breakfast and am satisfied for hours on end. Sweet freedom!

If you feel like checking out some of the primal sites, I will be linking to them over at Primal Dawn. I do think that my readers and I have developed a mutual respect, so I'd love to see what you think, even if you disagree! I am not much of a debater, I'll leave that to others, but I will still find your thoughts interesting and worthy, be they cheering me on or shaking head in shame:)

Signing off now....Dawn.

Big Time Changes

Big changes to be announced soon. Will probably lose some of my legions of followers, hehe. All eleven that read regularly:) That's about as much as I want to disclose right now. I'm only 4 days into it and I'm loving what I'm experiencing.

It's a complete 180 from where I was. Sorry to be such a tease....well, no I'm not, really:P

"Running, running, running....

as fast as we can, do you think we'll make it?"- No Doubt

I restarted C25K today, week 2. It was easy. Yep. I pretty much killed it. All 23 minutes of it, ha. I did realize, however, that I need some new running music. I'm getting very bored of my stuff. Any suggestions??? I'm all over the map with music. Metal, pop, dance, rap....it's all good.

We may have people over Saturday. It's not definite yet. A couple, M's bff for years and his wife, and their 3 teen boys. I'm gonna need a lot of food, needless to say. And those boys and dad are not small peeps either. I will be grilling the usual stuff, burgers and dogs or something, and making some sides that I will chow on, some salads and fruits and such.

M and I have a Scrabble tournament for the weekend. We play best 2 out of 3 over the course of the weekend. I beat him down last weekend. Seriously, I scored 127 on one word! He's out for revenge.....

Foodie Goodness for me:
-coffee
-4 spring rolls and mock peanut sauce
-cherry/blueberry smoothie
-1 c pineapple
-that salad from yesterday, it was delish.....apples and walnuts and such.
-Raw curry cantaloupe soup
-avocado and tomato sandwich
-3 light beers

Grand Total=1675

Mmmmm beer:)

That's The Wrong Spinach

That's what I said to M when he returned from the market w/ regular ole spinach. I specified baby spinach. He said that's all they had. Well, I know that's not all they had, but he tried, so we'll let him think that's all they had;) I need need need some green for me smoothies!!! Just a li'l handful to toss in for extra nutrition. So I'll use the tough 'old bird' spinach today, but I'm getting to the store today for some supplies and you bet baby spinach is on that list!

It is HOT here. Like, my thermostat is reading 97 degrees hot. We have AC in our little office room so that's where we've been spending a lot of time. I've barely been keeping up with the dishes. That's how hot it is. No laundry, no cleaning, no nothing. Just keeping cool. So, I've gotten nowhere in my C25K lately. As soon as this breaks, which is supposed to be Friday or Saturday, I'll get back to it. My boxing career is in limbo. I can only go Sat. and Sun., because my little one has to catch the bus and I don't have time to go to class and make it back in time to feed him 'lunch'. I say 'lunch' with quotes because he eats it at 10am. The bus comes shortly after, and they don't give them lunch. So we do a Lunch Part I (before school) and Part II (after school). So I need to either get my butt out of the house at night....seriously I'm laughing as I read that sentence....or resign myself to two days a week boxing. Lame. But, I am aware that if I really want this, I need to make it happen, even if that means getting out of the house to work out at 5 at night. *Sigh*...... Why can't things just be easy??? Oh, I guess then I wouldn't want them as much then, would I?

So, food o' the day is going to look a little something like:

-coffee
-4 raw spring rolls and mock peanut sauce
-smoothie #1: Cherry/blueberry/water
-Raw gazpacho
-1c pineapple
-Smoothie #2:Mango/peach/vanilla hemp/water
-Salad from a recipe book: It's got baby greens, apples, walnuts, and an orange poppy seed dressing....I'll keep ya posted on this one.

Total Tally-1599

We'll see if I can actually eat all of this. With the heat, though, my appetite is hit or miss. I'm thinking since most of the stuff is cold, I can do it.

So, that's it for this girl, how u be???

4th

My 4th was actually fun. We aren't big celebrators here. For one, I grew up with the fun of fireworks in the driveway at home. We bought a big family pack of fireworks and after dinner would go and light up the night. Good memories. Except for sparklers. I was terrified of them. However, here in NY, it's illegal, so my kids won't have that experience. And I hate the beach, which is where one spends the 4th out here in my area. You just do. Or, at least everyone else does. But we don't. Usually. I say usually because yesterday we actually hit the beach. We live about 2 and a half minutes from the beach and never go. A friend was going and invited us along. This friend is moving very soon to Texas and I's gonna miss her terribly. But it's good for her family. I didn't have my older boy, just the little man. It was his first time at the beach. He was having a great time til Daddy took him to the actual water. Then he freaked:) Oh well, I guess when you're only up to most adult's knees, the waves and sounds can be a little overwhelming. But he had a blast playing with his new sand toys and going on the little playground. And neither he nor I burned. We're both very fair, him especially, and we had an umbrella and lots of SPF 50:) So it was a success.

I didn't CR yesterday. I haven't even punched the numbers in the 'meter' yet. I'll try to, just so I have an attempt at accuracy. I can tell you I had plenty of red meat and alcohol. And honestly, the hot dog and burger I had weren't even that good. I could have lived without them. Well, what I should have done is made some spectacular dish to bring along. Wowed them with my healthy culinary skills. But after getting everyone ready and the car packed and shopping for an umbrella at 8 in the morning.....I was done. I was ordered...er, asked....to bring the fruit. So that was a plus. Fresh watermelon and pineapple. Then we left before it was even eaten! Ha. But I didn't touch the mayo-and-sugar-laden potato and macaroni salad. So, could it have been better? Sure. But it also could have been worse. I'll take it.

Today is back to the CR grind. We are in the midst of a heat wave here on the east coast. It was 97 yesterday and supposed to be hotter today. So lots of water and fresh cold fruits and veggies for us. Curious? Wanna know what I'll be consuming? Huh? Huh? I thought soo....

-Coffee (should have made iced)
-4 raw spring rolls with mock peanut sauce (loving these)
-1 c watermelon
-Smoothie: Frozen cherries, blueberries, water
-Jerusalem salad w/ lemon tahini dressing
-MF mushroom lover's veggie burger, whole grain bun, 'special sauce'
-Raw gazpacho
-Panzanella....this is a delish italian bread and tomato salad. It's got a vinaigrette, olives, and some parmesan cheese shavings....mmmm. Oh, and basil. Lots of basil.

Grand Total=1678

Aiming Low

Yesterday I wrote about "aiming low". Well I aimed low alright. Low on the nutritional spectrum! Seriously, it's like I wrote everything out, plugged it into the CRON-o-meter, then just forgot it all and pigged out! I won't rehash the gory details, do I really need to? Nah. Just know I came in WELL over my 1700 calorie target. And there were cookies involved. Need I say more?

But do you want to know what I did? I went back into the CRON-o-meter and plugged every last bite into the program. Yep. If I want to track my calories properly and look at the averages and such, I need to be 100% honest, right? Right.

So today is a new day and a chance to start over. I had my coffee and one smoothie already. A yummy concoction of frozen cherries and frozen blueberries w/ a little water. Mmmm. And I have all the rest of my nutritious food planned. I also have the will and drive to stick to it today!

I have 4 boys at the house today. My two and two friends of my son's. It's a little crazy, you could say. They are upstairs, downstairs, outside, screaming and yelling. I had a nice easy day planned but that went out the window, to say the least. Their mother was having some issues today and needed help desperately. So I told her no problem. Even though the last time her younger boy was here (he was tagging along with his big brother) he threw a rock at his brother's head:( I'm hoping we can avoid any tears or injuries today.

So, the nom nom nomminess for the day:)

-coffee
-2 c watermelon
-smoothie #1: cherry/blueberry/water
-smoothie #2: pineapple/banana/baby spinach/water
-4 raw spring rolls and mock peanut sauce
-baby spinach salad w/ tahini lemon dressiing
-veggie burger, whole grain bun, ketchup and mustard
-raw tabouli
-grilled zucchini and peppers
-3 brazil nuts

Ok, that is honestly a ton of food, right???
The total? 1592- Yep. I still have room, people!!!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Yesterday I ended up switching up the food, again. After my run to the grocery store, I was the proud owner of some highly processed veggie "buffalo wings". Mmmmm. I regret nothing. I did come in alright though, about 100 over at 1800, but still in good shape.

I'll be doing Day 3 of my C25K today. Yes! The whole first week is the same intervals. Then every week after that is a different workout each day. The program only has you running 3 days a week. Which is great, cuz that leaves plenty of time for.....boxing!! I'm happy to report, we are a go for Sat and Sun boxing. Yay.

I don't have much inspirational or clever things to say today, so I'll just get to the food:

-coffee
-3 raw spring roll and mock peanut sauce
-jerusalem salad w/ tahini lemon salad
-2 c watermelon
-bean and kale minestra w/ 2 slices sourdough
-Smoothie o' the day: Frozen cherries, blueberries, and water....

I found some yummy frozen cherries and mango chunks at the market. I was probably more excited than anyone should really be over fruit:)

Total= 1520

And again, I'm aiming low, but I'll probably add a brazil nut or two or something....stay tuned.

Reworked Food for June 30, 2010

Okay, after much poring over cookbooks and calculating and consulting the CRON-o-meter, I have a new and majorly delicious food o' the day!! Try not to be too jealous:P

-3 raw spring rolls w/ mock peanut sauce (Jennifer Cornbleet's book)
-Jerusalem salad (cucumber and tomato and onion) w/ tahini lemon dressing
-Cucumbers w/ mint (Cornbleet)
-Green smoothie (pineapple, banana, kale, lime juice)
-Bean and Kale Minestra from my old Moosewood book
-1 large slice sourdough (for soup)
-2 c watermelon
-coffee

Total= 1696

Yeah baby!!! Summer time and the eatin's easy.....

C25K Progresses

Week 1, Day 2 of the C25K looks exactly like day one. It's intervals: walking 90 seconds, running 60 seconds, repeat for 20 minutes. I have to say, yesterday was easy. But I want to start from the beginning and start easy so I don't burn out. I think when you're starting out it's better to stop on a high note, even feeling like, "Oh, I sooo could have gone another ten minutes." That way you feel like a success. Then once you get a little better and in shape, let it rip!

Yesterday I had some last minute substitutions. Instead of the hummus wrap I've been eating every single day now, I had some pasta salad I made. It didn't have much oil in it and it had lots of veggies. And I had some ice cream late last night:( My little one got up 4 times last night. I think he was having a nightmare. Well, whatever it was, it left me up and roaming the kitchen at 2am. But I did adjust the calories this morning, and I was over 200. Still under 2000, and I did work out yesterday, so I'll take it and move on.

I'm once again feeling bored with my food. I am going to write out my 'possible' food for the day. I have it all written out, but I'm thinking I may go back through my cookbooks and tweak it. I'm just seeing the same stuff over and over on repeat!

Intake:
-Coffee
-2 c watermelon
-Gazpacho
-Peach/Blueberry/Hemp/Almond Milk smoothie
-Hummus wrap w/ tomato
-Minted zucchini
-Romaine salad with cuke, peppers, reduced fat feta, and creamy cucumber dressing
-3 Brazil nuts

Total as is= 1602

C25K Baby!!!

I did it. I got off my heiney and started the C25K again. I'm on Week One, Day One and I felt sooo damn good. I was worried about my breathing a bit, but I was downstairs in the cooler air and had no problems. I think the sweat and activity may actually help me move the lung cheese out. I did skip boxing, b/c I thought it would be overdoing it.

But either way, I did it! Go me!

Sorry

Yes, I'm apologizing. I don't want this blog to turn in to a downer of an experience. It's ok to write about disappointments and feelings and such, I just feel like it's been on the depressing side lately. That said, I am aware and will try to lift it up a little. What can I say? That's been where my head's at recently. I want this blog to help others, and sharing my trials and tribulations can help, but I doubt how I've felt lately could help anyone....So, moving forward.

My lungs seem to feel slightly better this morning. I think. It's a little early, so I can't really tell yet.

I wanna go boxing so much, but I don't think it's smart for a few reasons, one being the lung gak, and two being this oppressive muggy heat. *Sigh*....it better be a go for Saturday, I'll say that much!! Grrrr.

Food. Hmmmm. Let's ponder the edibles. I can already hear my veggie and vegan friends' shocked outcries on this one, but I make no apologies: I picked up some bologna for the boys yesterday. They eat this crap probably twice a year. And make no mistake, I do think of it as crap, ha. But that being said, I bought it for the boys, and yet I had two slices on whole grain bread!!! Aaaaaah! I haven't had it in forever. The taste was 'meh'. I could have lived my life without it. BUT....those extra calories I had left yesterday disappeared as fast as you can say "Oscar Meyer". I can assure you the rest of my food yesterday was angelic, full of veggie and fruit goodness, and raw! So we'll call it a draw:) We all pigged out on ice cold watermelon after dinner last night. So darn good! There's just something about this muggy heat and chowing down on a watermelon:) It makes me smile.

The vanilla hemp protein powder is much better than the dark chocolate. There was a change of plans in yesterday's smoothie. The mango was not looking so good (poor thing), so I replaced it with frozen banana. I always take my overripe bananas and throw them in the freezer. Perfect for smoothies and they don't go to waste. However I discovered that using frozen peaches AND frozen bananas makes for a very very thick smoothie. Me no like. I like to have a slightly runny, straw-friendly smoothie. So in addition to the cup of almond milk, I had to throw in some water to get it all mixed up right. It was about three regular-sized glasses full! I was filled to the gills after that smoothie.

On to the raw carrot ginger soup. The original recipe calls for a 1/2 c of macadamia nuts. A problem on two levels: it also had avocado in it and I didn't care for the fat content, and I didn't have any macadamias. So I left them out and just used the avocado for body and creaminess. The recipe also calls for a large chunk of fresh ginger. I chopped it up and threw it in, but it just didn't blend in well, and when I was eating it I kept having to pick out chunks of ginger. The flavor of the chunks would overpower the whole soup. I think just for texture's sake, next time I'll use powdered ginger. Just my opinion.

The raw tabouli is a favorite, especially on summer days. It's got tons of lightness from all the parsley and mint, and the tomatoes are delish with the dressing of just a little olive oil and lemon juice. I had this after dinner as a snack while watching Lie To Me, and it had been chilling all day.

Oh, and I've rediscovered my inner gamer-chick! It was so hot yesterday that I ran for cover in the air-conditioned office with my boys in tow. Well, I have a game that M got me ages ago that I never played. So I popped that bad boy in and we were off for a good hour and a half. I'm into the fantasy type role-playing-games (RPGs) and this didn't disappoint. It's supposed to be in the 90s here again today. I plan on dodging the heat this way again:)

What I'll be digesting today:

-Coffee a la me
-2 c watermelon
-Minted zucchini (raw)
-Banana/peach/almond milk/vanilla hemp smoothie
-Hummus wrap with tomato and cucumber
-Carrot Ginger soup (raw)
-2 Brazil nuts

Total= 1591, a little short again, but don't worry about me, I'll find a way.....:)

Mostly Rawkin' Today:)

Yep. A lot of my food is raw today. It's really really hot and muggy here, and the thought of cooking is just gross.

I still have something funky in my lungs. I am ok for a large part of the day, but then there are random times where I feel like I've been holding my breath and am almost gasping for air. Not good. I told M that if it doesn't improve today, I'll visit my friend at the urgent care clinic. I probably need an inhaler or something. All of this is thwarting my efforts to exercise. I am feeling a little panicky already at the whole 'not being able to breath right' thing, and working out would just exacerbate that. So it's on the back burner for now. However, I do know for a fact that one can still lose weight with CR and no exercise. I'm keeping my eyes on the prize!

Ag's inspired me to think about running again. I used the Couch to 5K program with good results. I was never a runner. The only time you'd catch me running is if Godzilla were on the rampage or something. But this program eases you into it. I liked it. I like what she had to say about running clearing the head space. I need that. I've been such a bitch lately. I bet my meds are off. Yep, the crazy meds must not be working...yeah, that's it.

Yesterday was horrible for me mentally. I actually broke down and started crying over CR and exercise. I am just not seeing the results I want as quickly as I want, and I was just overwhelmed with writing everything and counting everything and just being overly consumed/obsessed with it. Like, I don't feel like I'll ever be able to just relax and enjoy food anymore. Food has become almost automatic, a necessary evil. I haven't even been enjoying eating lately. I just shovel it in while on the computer or something, in a fog. I count my calories, get my nutrition, and beyond that food gives nothing. I used to loooove eating. I'm feeling robbed. Poor M didn't know what to do or say, but he hugged me so that was good. We came to the conclusion that we are drinking too much and maybe only drinking every third weekend might help shed some pounds. SO...that's the next tactic. Something's gotta give, right?

So, in protest of unaware automatic eating, I'm actually making a few new recipes today. See if I can't wake up my taste buds a little:) They could sure use it.

Food....Meh.

-coffee a la the usual way
-peach/mango/hemp protein/almond milk smoothie
-2c watermelon
-hummus wrap with grilled zucchini
-Carrot Ginger Soup (from Idiot's Guide to Eating Raw)
-Raw Tabouli (Jennifer Cornbleet's Raw Food Made Easy)
-Minted Zucchini (from Kristen Suzanne's Easy Raw Vegan Sides and Snacks)

All this veggie goodness equals 1523 calories.

I went to one of the health food stores near us yesterday and picked up brazil nuts (holy expensive Batman!!!) and some hemp protein shake mix, vanilla flavor. I didn't care for the dark chocolate variety of this hemp protein, but maybe the vanilla will mix better with my fruit.

Again, the calories are a little low, but I honestly couldn't figure out what else to eat! I was wandering through the kitchen in a daze, looking for stuff....so maybe later the light will come on!

More Veggie Burgers

Seems like I'm eating a lot of these guys. These Morningstar Farms Grillers Prime. I usually have a different dinner from my family, and these burgers are just easy to throw on the grill next to the regular burgers, or nuke in the microwave when I've made something else for them. I like them a lot.

I got so irrationally pissed at M last night. First of all, let me say he is thin and healthy, no weight problem whatsoever. Well, he eats like a frickin' pig! Last night, I made salmon fillets with sauteed swiss chard with pine nuts and feta cheese on it. Both sauteed in olive oil. Well he ate two fillets and a nice portion of the chard. Then he had ice cream. Then he goes back and has the last fillet of salmon! And he's always finishing what's left on the boys' plates. Oh, and for breakfast yesterday? Two eggs scrambled with bacon and cheese on a flour tortilla! He works out 4 days a week compared to my 5 or 6. I was so annoyed and I told him. His answer? "Well, I guess I just have faster metabolism!" I was really peeved, let me tell you. I sit here and parcel every damn calorie that goes past these lips and lose 1 pound a week when I'm angelic with the diet, which to be honest, I go over around 100-200 calories a few times a week. But still, with CR, that wouldn't cause me to gain! It just makes me not lose. I was having a seriously "why me" moment last night. A pity party. Oh, and I just LOVE when he gives me advice on eating or exercising:) I'm like, "Please." So, that's my random vent for the day, moving on.....

Foodie Goodness:

-coffee (half and half and stevia)
-2 c cantaloupe (always by itself)
-hummus wrap
-peach/mango smoothie (no almond milk today, just water and ice)
-leaf lettuce/tomato/cuke/pepper salad with cucumber dill dressing and 1/4 c reduced fat feta
-1/2 large zucchini, grilled
-veg burger, whole grain bun, ketchup and mustard
-1 rum and coke zero

Total- 1734

I also realized I never told you guys that I do take a multivitamin for nutritional insurance. I can hit around 90-95 of my targets without it some days, but other days not so much. It is just a women's one from GNC. I also take a few other supplements, but I've been really slacking lately, so it hasn't counted. I'll do a post sometime on what I take. I became obsessed with Dr. Amen's Change Your Brain, Change Your Body program, so I went and started taking what he recommended. It's just a lot of pills and my stomach can't handle them unless I've eaten a decent meal. Of course, then you also need to remember to take them, ha.

Lame

I'm feeling something nasty brewing in my lungs. I have very thick hard-to-cough-up mucous and it's making my throat raw from constantly coughing and clearing my throat. I was wheezing last night and took one of my son's albuterol treatments, which helped some. Therefore, I can't box this morning. It would kick my booty. But I still want to try to get in some of the "Shred" today, I'll just take it a little easier. This sucks. It seems like every time I try to get serious and on track (again), something slows me up. I'm still struggling with the idea of actually going boxing, but I honestly think it would be a mistake. But I'm kinda dopey like that! Breathing is a good thing....

Yesterday we signed the boys up for the library reading club. It was crazy! I've never seen so many people in the library. It was a madhouse. They gave us a little packet with a beach ball, and Jackson also got to have ice cream and make a sand art necklace. Then when we got back home, I realized I forgot to sign myself up! Too funny. It's pretty common to forget about yourself when you're a mom, I suppose. Then Jackson proceeded to sit in the big comfy chair and read every single book we got, even the ones to read to Ivan. He's supposed to get a prize after every 50 pages, and read 200 pages to complete the program, and he's already at around 150. Silly boy.

No late night snacks for this girl last night! Woo hoo! I actually went about 150 over my calories yesterday, which is kinda stinky, but nothing compared to the damage I could normally do, so I'm moving on. My sleep is getting better in fits and starts, not steadily, so I think that's helping some with the eating. It's hard to be asleep and eat:) At least for me it is, I don't know about any of you....

The farm was awesome. In addition to our share, they were offering fresh eggs and local honey. We picked up some of the honey. They are actually looking for someone to work the beehives with them, and M did that a few times with his uncle back in the day. So he gave them his number and now he's all excited for doing the beehive thing. We got all sorts of stuff: lettuce, carrots, onions, parsley, zucchini, swiss chard, garlic scapes, and ummm.....I think that's it.

Food for today:

-coffee w/ half and half and stevia
-2 c cantaloupe
-lettuce, cuke, and pepper salad w/ cucumber dill dressing
-blueberry/mango/almond milk smoothie, with a few leaves of chard thrown in
-1 1/2 c grilled zucchini
-hummus wrap
-raw gazpacho
-2 rum and cokes

Total= 1536

It's on the low side, but I want that little extra wiggle room. I seem to overdo it every other day or so, and this is a new tactic. If I leave some room for those extra calories, maybe it will balance out. Give me some space for the spontaneous-ness of life:)

EDIT- Hey I just looked in my handy dandy spreadsheet o' progress, and even though it seems like I'm going up and down with weight, its showing a five pound loss for the last 4 weeks. So...it may be coming off really really really slooooowly, but it's coming off! Also, in randomness, yesterday was my 100th post! Yay!

Last Day of School

It's both the boys' last day of school. Summer break! Except for the fact that Ivan goes back for summer school on July 6. Poor kid. We don't have a lot planned other than the summer reading club. I hate the beach, so I usually don't take the kids. But M might, he likes it. And we'll probably do some stuff like the aquarium or maybe run in to the city for a museum or two.

Yesterday's food went well! I actually re-tweaked it to include my rum and cokes. Two of those bad boys. Yum. Used coke zero, so only had to include the calories in the rum. It was so hot, and I put loads of ice in them. I was still below my 1700 for the day. So that's a success in my book. I am trying to stay positive. Those damn pounds WILL come off! They are not welcome here:)

I was supposed to go boxing both Sat and Sun. However...Sunday is Jackson's last game and trophy day at soccer, so I want to be a good supportive mom and be there. So I'll just be going Saturday. Grrr. But I'll make sure I do some kind of exercise. Yesterday I tried to finish the JM30DS, but it was so hot (even downstairs) that I got halfway through and was soaked like I had worked out for an hour. Disgusting! But I did something, so I'm alright with that. Today I think I'll try it again. I know, I know, I'm a glutton for punishment, ha.

Foodie Goodness for today:

-coffee w/ half and half and stevia
-mango/peach/almond milk smoothie
-2 c raw gazpacho
-quesadilla w/ avocado (whole grain tortilla)
-veggie burger w/ whole grain bun and ketchup and mustard

Total- 1513

It's a little low, but I plan on doing some sort of grilled veggie or salad with dinner from our farm pick up today, and I don't know what we're getting yet, so it's TBD:)

Scorcher

It's supposed to get up to 93F here today. Yep. And as I said a few posts earlier, I just do not function well on any level in high temps like this. I am definitely hanging in the air conditioned office today. I have a computer, tv, and best of all, an XBox 360:) I used to be quite the gamer, but as of the last two years, with school and kids, I haven't played much. It's mostly M and the eldest boy who play. I'm thinking today when the kids are in school is my chance to rediscover this mind-numbing activity!

A friend posted a very angry post on facebook yesterday, but it was sort of ambiguous as to what the heck was going on in her life. I called her to check on her, but she couldn't talk right then. So we made plans to hook up today at her house and she'd explain what was up. The baby will be in school, but Jackson gets home early, so in that space while it's just him and I, we'll go visit. She's got a son who's a few years older than my boy, so they'll play and we'll catch up. But she's studying for a police exam (she's cop in NYC, but applying to move to another state), so I don't want to keep her long.

I am trying to get back on the consistent exercise wagon. I went boxing Tuesday but didn't do anything yesterday. So today I'm going go back to my good ole JM30DS. Level One.....again (or still?). Luckily, my workout room is downstairs so I'll get a little relief from the heat down there. The scale keeps dropping a few, then back up a few....it's getting really tedious, to say the least. But I know why, if I'm truly honest with myself. I do my CR faithfully for probably 4-5 days, then I slack a day or two. It's usually those days when I am in a funk. I had The Epiphany a while ago, and it's made things a little better, but I need to rock the hell out of this if I wanna get somewhere. I have other excuses of course: thyroid problem and meds for that, bipolar meds.....all of that helps me hold on to every little ounce. But I know that if I really get down and do this, it will work, even if it is more slowly than others. So here's to a new day and being as healthy as I can! I will be positive even if I don't feel like it. Fake it til you make it, right?

So, with the heat here today, I wanted to keep the food as light and cool as possible:
-coffee, the usual half and half and stevia
-2 c cantaloupe
-Mango/peach/almond milk smoothie
-2 c raw gazpacho
-pretzels with raw sun-dried tomato pesto from Kristen Suzanne's Raw Entrees cookbook
-Guacamole wrap

Total- 1603, with lots of good fats from the avocado and pesto.

Blah...

That's how I feel today. Not depressed or in a bad mood, just blah. I'm not gonna even post food today cuz I haven't planned it yet, and I'm feeling lazy. I'm getting to where I can kinda estimate how much I can have, because I eat a lot of the same foods in cycles. So with the current cycle, I kinda know where I'm at.

I boxed today for the first time since the whole hospital debacle. It was so damn hard. I seriously felt like puking a few times. I workout in the mornings, so I don't have breakfast before I work out. I've experimented working out with food versus without, and I feel and perform better without food. It's just me. At least if I did puke, it'd just be coffee:) I told the trainer the situation and that I needed to take it easy. He was very understanding, which, if you know anything about trainers, is unusual! It's about 85 degrees here today, and he had the gall to make us workout outside. I was seriously hating him right about that point. Then we got relief and got to go back inside with the air conditioning. I definitely noticed some weakness. Then he ended class with about 10-15 minutes of hardcore ab work. It sucked. And I'm a grunter and yeller. I'm vocal when something is hard. But, it's all good because I'm an apple and that's where I need the most work:) So I thanked him after class! I reminded myself that I pay for this, ha.

Well, I guess that's it for this post. As rambling as it was, it's what's up in my world:) (Could I possibly have used more smiley faces in this post????)

Hot

No, not me. The weather. It's muggy and sticky and disgusting. The kind of weather that causes me to not function properly. We don't 'believe' in AC (well, we believe that it exists, ha, we just don't want to use it a lot), so we only have one small unit for the office room. I haven't used it yet this year, I'm trying to hold out. However, I may cave today. Just a wee bit:)

It's the last week of school for the kids. Ivan starts summer school on July 6th or 9th or something. It will be kind of nice for the summer, having time alone with my older boy. He rarely gets time with me alone. Something for us to look forward to. We are both doing the summer reading club at the library this year. He's done it the past three years, and last year was my first time. It's cool and I can't wait til Ivan can do it. Of course, Jackson didn't wanna do it this year, he complained, so I bribed him with a toy at the end of the summer:) Hey, a mom's gotta do what a mom's gotta do. He's stuck between really taking off with the easier chapter books and still reading the early readers, and I kinda pushed him a little and overwhelmed him I think. So I've taken a step back and let him run the reading show. Even though I know he's capable of the harder books, I don't think he thinks he's ready himself. But he's *this* close!

I had horrible insomnia last night. Don't know why. Just randomness, I guess. However, I did get to see a movie I had never seen before but always wondered about: Rent. It was pretty good. I liked the songs and the story. It was kind of sad. But all "triumph of the spirit"-ey. Then I saw two episodes of Cops. That show is weird. I always feel like I'm eavesdropping on some poor unfortunate soul's worst day ever. I don't think I'd want someone filming my worst day ever.

I'm really itching to get back to boxing. I was supposed to officially start tomorrow, but I have my follow-up appointment with the doctor from the hospital. Sucks. I just wanna box! I feel like it's gonna be just like starting over. Which is really really really unfortunate for me. It's hard as hell. It's been two and a half weeks.

About foodie goodness. We grilled zucchini and peppers on skewers on the grill. I frickin' LOVE that flavor! A little bit of thai marinade on it and it's so damn good! Like, I forgot how yummy grilled zucchini is. I almost sliced it lengthwise, but then I remembered I always have a hard time with that on the grill. So chunky and skewered worked. And I tried a veggie burger I haven't tried before: Morningstar Farms Grillers Prime. I've had various incarnations of this brand, but never this particular one. Pretty tasty. I slapped some blue cheese on it and some ketchup and mustard. Mmmm. I'm also pretty in love with their tomato basil burger. I was, however reading somewhere in blogland about how they process the soy for these bigger brands (if it's not organic) and apparently it's pretty gross and chemical-laden. Maybe Sie will do some of her famous research....hehe. I'm too lazy.

Ok, here's what I'm nom nom nomming today:)

-the usual coffee
-banana/blueberry/almond milk smoothie
-2 c pineapple
-romaine and leftover grilled pepper salad with cucumber dill dressing (again...I know...I'm loving this dressing almost as much as I was loving the lemon tahini dressing...)
-plain yogurt/apple butter/flax seed 'snack'
-2 veggie burgers on whole grain buns with blue cheese and ketchup and mustard
-2 c leftover grilled zucchini:) Yay!

Total Tally=1595

I'm coming into a little extra money, and I just got in touch with my tattoo artist. I'm toying around with maybe....maybe....starting a half sleeve on my right arm! I don't know if I have enough to get it going though. I have lots of ideas: pin ups (I love Bettie Page and that whole retro vibe), something customized for me from Nightmare Before Christmas (I love all things Tim Burton).....decisions, decisions....
I should do a post of my tattoos. I don't know that it would interest anyone, but it would be informative for those wishing to get to know Dawn a little better;) I have 4. The most recent is a pretty big back piece of cascading stars down from the neck to lower mid-back. All in different colors and descending in size. And the most regretted: the stupid Japanese kanji that means 'harmony/peace' on my right bicep. Stupid idea, just got carried away with the trend and thought it was cool. Never do that! I plan on doing a cover over this for the sleeve.

Boy, I had a lot to say today! Have a CRONeriff-i-licious day, peeps!!!

Father's Day!

It's Father's Day and we are celebrating by grilling. I will call my dad (who lives on the west coast), and Mark will call his (who lives in FL). And Jackson will go to his dad's (we got him a shirt and Jack made him a card and picture). But first, the boys will give Mark his gift and card. We got him a practical gift this year. His old leather flipflops are falling apart, so we got him a new pair. Not exactly the most thrilling gift, but he'll like it. I'm going to buy some veggie burgers today, instead of eating regular beef ones. I ate red meat while in the hospital so it's too soon to loosen up. And I'm going to get whole grain buns. I'm going to do my bestest to make my dinner as healthy as possible!

My calories were a little lower for yesterday than planned. My blender was used for making a dressing, and it had oil in it. Well, I put it in the dishwasher (being too lazy to actually hand wash it), and when it came time for my smoothie, I couldn't use it. So I am estimating (I'll fix it in the program later) I'm down another 150 calories. That's fine with me, especially since I haven't been working out.

Today's plan looks something like this:
-coffee w/ half and half and stevia
-banana blueberry smoothie w/ almond milk
-lettuce and sweet pepper salad w/ cucumber dill dressing
-raw zucchini 'noodles' w/ raw marinara
-2 veggie burgers on 2 whole grain buns w/ ketchup and mustard
-BEER!

Total=1746

I'm a little short on potassium and phosphorus today. And I'm thinking of limiting the drinking of alcohol to 2 days a week. Mark has a 3 day weekend, and we can easily drink 3 or 4 nights a week. It's not that healthy, and it takes calories away from real nutritious food I could be having. Food with, say, potassium and phosphorus in it:) Now that I look at it, I think I'll skip the raw marinara and just grill my zucchini....hmmm. I may edit calorie totals later. Stay tuned!

I have trouble sleeping. I am a terrible insomniac. We've tried a lot of things short of sleeping pills, which I don't want to get into doing at all. I usually wake up twice a night and have a hard time going back to sleep. BUT...I slept great last night. I didn't wake up at all! And, call me crazy, but I think it may have something to do with my epiphany about my weight the other night. Like, it put me psychologically in a better place. I am so happy that my thinking process 'went there'...I have that clarity to guide me when I want to eat more than I should. It's comforting in a way. Like my secret weapon! To have something to actually pinpoint. Cool:)

EDIT- I nixed the beer and added two slices of cheese, and removed the marinara...now at 1623.

McVent

I gotta pop on here and say.....

Have you all seen that new McDonald's commercial? The one where the mom walks in the door and apologizes to the sitter for being late, then pulls out two Happy Meals from her purse and tells her kids all lovingly, "These are for you!" The kids go all bonkers, then she collapses in a soft comfy chair and the voice-over says something like, "When I've had one of those days, I make it a Happy Meal night." Wha??? Well, in 30 years you can make it a McTripleBypass night. Disgusting.

I remember the first time I gave Jackson McDonald's. I was all militant with how I fed him. I made all his baby food and prided myself on his big reportoire (sp?) of tastes. He'd eat most veggies no problem, and even dabbled in sushi (cooked) at a young age. Well, I'd just moved across the country after splitting w/ my babydaddy, and we were alone. My sister lived just across the street from my little two bedroom apartment. She came by and was going to McD's and wanted to know if I wanted to come. Well, I took Jackson for his first Happy Meal. He was 2 and a half. I remember being so nervous, but seriously, when I saw the look of joy on his face from those damn nuggets and little plastic toy, I was like, "Wow." I even said to my sister, "So this is why people do this???" But I knew it was only a sometime food. I am very strict with my diet, but I have to admit: my kids eat fast food probably 3 or 4 times a year. As a random treat. They love it, but they also know that it's not good for them and they can't eat too much. And I'm cool with that. I want them to always know moderation in all things. If they choose to become more strict with their diets later on, that's great. But I'm not going to push any extreme on them. They are kids and need to live in this society where birthday parties happen and the ice cream man comes around on hot sunny days:)