Day 1

Day 1 is always easiest... I feel like every Sunday is "Day 1" of eating healthy, but this time I'm writing it down.

No sugar today. In fact, I was so stuffed from the past 2 days of eating that I didn't need much of anything. I felt great up until dinner--well rested, I'd worked out for an hour, and hadn't eaten too much-- but then I went to dinner with my dad since we were supposed to have plans tonight. I tried to be healthy by getting chicken fajitas at Friday's, but I'm pretty sure they were fried and coated in oil. I've never ordered them before... Oh well. I tried.

My sugar cravings are bound to return tomorrow. They like to make appearances after hibernating for a whopping 24 hours.

So here it is.... I'm not eating sugar for one week. ONE WEEK.

....so now that it's out there, I have to stick to it with motivation from blogs like this:

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=2132908656488658042

The Little Arm That Lives in my Stomach...

Ok, so this has been the least consistent blog that I, or anyone, has ever written. I know that I need to write and I know I have a gazillion ideas that have to do with money, food, etc. that I want to share. For now though, I need to stop trying to narrow down the topic of it and just use it as MY blog. Not define it as a money-saving blog or a recipe blog, or a motivational blog to keep me running and working out. No. This will be whatever I want it to be that day... maybe I'll even just find a blog entry of someone else's one day and just post a link to say "hey, I enjoyed this, and this was my inspiration for the day!"

Today though, I've just gotta vent. I am so disgusted by my roller-coaster eating habits and wonder why I tell people I eat healthy. There is this little arm that lives inside of my stomach that just reaches out without notice and grabs whatever it wants to eat. It's not me or my brain; it is this invisible hand. I swear. Last night was my mom's 50th birthday celebration (if that's what you call the 2 of us eating cake and drinking wine....) After dinner, I was just stuffed but had to have the chocolate cake that I baked, of course. We had 1 piece and I could not stop thinking about this cake until I had another trans-fatty filled piece. I wasn't even hungry for it!

So this morning, I made the long drive to my friend's bridal shower while telling myself that I would not, could not, eat any cake or sweets of any kind. I would almost throw up I was still so full and bloated from the night before. On top of that, I didn't get to run this morning to at least make myself feel better about it.

So 2 hours later, I'm sitting there with a second plate of desserts at this shower because they were so fabulous. "Better-Than-Sex" cake?! YUM. But of course, here I sit at home, looking up vegetable recipes.

I hate vegetables.

HATE.

I bet anything tomorrow I will eat super-clean and then Monday will spiral downwards again.

Thank you sweet Jesus for a physical job and a high metabolism.

Redefining "The Monthly Goal"

I'm still trying to find the right subject for this blog. I have so many interests but need to find something that will keep the attention of both you and myself. I'm an extremely scatter-brained human being, (much like one of my favorite bloggers who writes the positively hysterical Hyperbole and a Half)

This past year, I have taken a ridiculous liking to food that far exceeds my past interest. Documentaries such as "Food, Inc." have changed the way I view meat, and an assortment of books have taught me the good, bad, and ugly of every other food that we cross paths with.

I do a great deal of Googling to discover all that I can about food. Forget reports about what causes cancer today and will cure it tomorrow; all of those studies simply make me roll my eyes. Sometimes I will explore the hype about High Fructose Corn Syrup or other corn products in our foods. Today I researched about the source of Chipotle's meat (good news: it's semi-humane!)

I'm also an avid coupon-clipper and money-saver. My job, if you have read several entries before, is a sales rep for a major food company. This means that I am in and out of grocery stores all day, 5 days a week. It's a fascinating and scarring place to be on the other side of the curtain.

(One thing I am afraid to research? My own company. They are simply too big to do all good things!)

So, to define this blog, I will narrow it down to these things:

1) Nutrition and need-to-know facts
2) Any recipes that I try or come up with that may produce pretty pictures! (This is rare.)
3) Money-saving tips and stories for the grocery store (or other useful money tips)
4) Occasionally fitness, because reading/writing about it motivates me to accomplish my goals!

It would make sense to change the name of the blog, but maybe I will still try to incorporate goals into this, such as introducing a new food into my diet or saving a certain amount on my grocery bill (like past goals... I'm still doing $100/month!)

So it's one of those where I wake up at 6 for no reason, and I'm already WIRED for my day! I have to stop at a Kroger in a little bit to make sure we have enough product for our $1.88 cracker sale... even though it's supposed to be a work-free Saturday. Grrrr... but gotta do what the rep needs me to do in his stores while he's on vacation.

So yesterday I became obsessed with smoothies. OBSESSED. I have been making them for awhile because my hot apartment gets me workin' up a craving for ice cream or something cold and cooling, but then my fridge broke. I was suddenly in withdrawal of anything cold. The new fridge came yesterday, all my produce was sorta wilted and weird, so it all went into the blender. It came out black. Oh, gross. So I threw in a packet of Carnation Instant Breakfast and it magically made everything taste like chocolate. Delicious!! I didn't even put milk or yogurt or any sort of base in it, yummy yummy yummy. Can't wait to get some more fruits and veggies today at the market to make some more.

Off to eat a good breakfast and head to Kroger. Cookout later... what should I bring?

Confessions of a Food Obsessor...

Basically, I'm the most and least motivated person in the entire world. I get extremely excited about having a new hobby and finally having something that I will keep up with, and then I lose all that motivation a week later. So I think I will have to broaden the topics of my blog. From now on, it won't be just about goals, but about anything else I want to write about. Mostly it will be about food, exercise, or work (and I work for Kraft, so lo and behold! It will likely relate to food.)

I obsess about food. OBSESS. I think about it all day, and plan my day around my food. If I feel hungry at work, I completely slack and cut corners just so I can go home faster or get to my lunch in my car and eat. I know all of the stores I work that have samples and what days are more likely to have them. Kroger in Troy, Ohio? Fabulous bites of angel food cake and Lofthouse cookies. Kroger in Kettering? Pitas, cheeses, mini-sandwiches. Jungle Jims? California rolls! I grab one on my way in, and one on my way out.

Which is why for awhile I decided not to post anything in here. If my blog related only to food, then that meant that the one hobby I took up would also be about food instead of keeping me sidetracked. Also, I felt that I would be healthy and more creative with my cooking if I was showing pictures to the world. I felt that if I ate badly, there would be people that knew. That's a disadvantage to living alone... you know that only your dog sees you indulge.

Don't get me wrong. I still eat healthier than probably 95% of America but I have rediscovered my sweet tooth after taking a Wilton cake decorating class, and also because my hands are all over Nabisco products all day. (As we speak, I'm staring at an entire case of Oreo Cakesters that came home with me. However, this is the type of thing that will get distributed to neighbors or family rather than me opening a single box!)

Oh, my. I forgot about you, Blog.

So I didn't really forget but rather haven't had the time to sit down and write... I have been taking pictures of yummy foods, but haven't sat down and put words to them!

First of all, let's check out my 3 goals of the month and how I'm doing.

1. Groceries: I have, so far, spent about $45, so I'm a little ahead... The good news is that non of my produce has gone bad for once!
2. Workouts: I succeeded in hitting 4 last week, and I'm already up to 2 this week. 2 more to go!
3. Recipes: I tried a random veggie fried rice "recipe" last night (once again, saw someone else's on another blog and tried my own), and tonight I'm making spinach enchiladas. Last week, I made 2 new recipes. Check!

Sounds like I am on track!

So I just got done with my second outdoor run of the year because it's simply beautiful outside. I did 3 miles yesterday and an impressive (for me anyways) 4.5 mile run to the nearest college campus and back today. I'm so excited that I ran over 4 miles when I haven't been working on endurance running at all this year yet, just intervals.

Let's check out some of the food I've made during the last several days (and we won't talk about how I went to my Mom's the other day, ate Steak and Shake, 6 sugar free fudge stripe cookies, 2 100 calorie packs...also cookies, and a Little Bucket Parfait from KFC. How does that happen!?)

After being inspired by all the crazy oatmeal recipes in all these blogs I read, I thought I'd try something that combined my favorites: Chocolate and peanut butter! In this delicious concoction is a tablespoon of natural peanut butter, a tablespoon of Smuckers Sugar Free chocolate syrup, and powdered sugar. Voila, I call it Reese Cup Oatmeal!



I added soy milk to this because I realized lately that I'm a little too tolerant of my lactose intolerance to be having so much dairy in my diet.... and for some reason, it doesn't seem to cook the oats the same way. They aren't done... or something. Anyone else experience this? For some reason, I like it better!

Another delicious and healthy recipe in my attempt to eat more vegetables (I hate vegetables!): a Spinach Omelet! Now this is how I can eat my greens and still think it tastes good...

In this, I used 3 egg whites and 2 yolks (sometimes I just do 1 yolk), a handful of fresh spinach leaves, and a mixture of feta and 2% Kraft shredded cheese (any kind... I think mine was the fiesta blend?). I dipped forkfuls of this in ketchup, because I have seen people do that... and it was actually good!

Now please tell me how all of you get those photogenic Homes -and-Gardens-looking pictures? My photos, even with my nice Canon, always end up looking like those faded pictures posted on the windows of cheap Chinese restaurants!

Let's see... my next creation was a veggie pizza. This was delicious!


This is recipe-worthy...

Portabella Red Pepper and Spinach Pizza

1 whole wheat tortilla
2 tablespoons pizza sauce (I used Kroger brand)
A handful of Kraft 2% Shredded Cheese (again, I used Fiesta Blend)
Sliced portabella mushrooms
Chopped red pepper
A handful of spinach

Cook at 350 for 10-15 minutes or when the tortilla looks crispy!

Another dinner I had this week: Parmesan-crusted Salmon with a spinach salad...



This is so simple. Dip a salmon fillet in milk, then dip the fillet in a mixture of bread crumbs and parmesan cheese (I just used Italian-style bread crumbs and Kraft parmesan from a can.) Cook at 350 for 12-15 minutes and you're good to go.

But this salad is so good. It's simply spinach leaves sprinkled with my new favorite trail mix (dried cranberries, golden raisins, pepitas, and almonds) and topped with a little bit of red wine vinaigrette. I despise salad but this one actually kills a craving for sweets. The only thing that might make it better is raspberry vinaigrette dressing, but I couldn't find it in my Kroger! At least not in the cheap section...

Finally, this was my dinner last night... it was not good, because I hate veggies. But I ate it. It's simply every veggie that was in my freezer plus the ones about to go bad, made into a fried brown rice dish. In it is peas, onions, carrots, red pepper, mushroom, green beans, broccoli, and a single egg. Some sesame oil, ginger, and soy sauce.... and topped with Frank's Red Hot sauce to make the veggies tolerable.



Reese lurking in the background... little does she know she's begging for vegetables.

And that's been my week so far! I'll be sure to take pictures about these veggie enchiladas... looking forward to them.

What has been your favorite recipe that you found in a blog?

Have you enjoyed the weather yet in your area?