Archive for the ‘Cooking’ Category

Everything old is new again.

Posted: September 6, 2012 in Comcast, Cooking, Customer service, Exercise, family, recipes, Supportive Partner Woman, Weight loss, Xfinity
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The Comcast saga continues.

After I actually got decent customer service, Teh Interwebz worked fine for a couple of days. Sunday through Tuesday. Wednesday morning, it was jacked up again. So I called them. When I finally got a live person, I explained the issue, stressing that they were out on Sunday and I still think the problem lies with the modem. As I was on the phone, the modem rebooted itself and things were working. I was told to call back if it happened again. It did. 10 minutes later. I called, spoke to someone different, who insisted on setting up a service appointment. For Friday. Two days with intermittent (at best) Internet service. I reluctantly agreed, still thinking it’s the modem. When I finally got off the phone, I unhooked the modem and reattached the old one. I tested the circuits and no anomalous voltage readings. I let it power up, the AirPort’s green light winked on and the Internet was back.

It’s still back on.

With my (supposedly) EOL Linksys modem from 2003 or 2004.

I have to wonder if Comcast gets a kickback from Motorola on these “recommended” modems. This thing is a piece of shit and I will be taking it back to Best Buy tomorrow. Lord help them if they give me crap about it being open… Admiral Furious might set sail. I might need bail money, so if you have a couple bucks to spare, I’d appreciate the help.

Chicken skewers… all kinds of yum.

Just kidding. I’m gradually getting back on the healthy eating train. Yesterday, I made some chicken skewers for lunch that turned out yummy. I’ll post my marinade recipe below. I usually alternate the meat with slices of green pepper, sweet onion and tomato. I will use mushrooms, too, if I have some in the fridge. I like to get the grill heated up, spray the grates with cooking spray, then back the beat off as soon as I put the skewers on. This allows the meat to get some grill marks and a bit of a sear without overcooking the meat.

I’m on the hook to work Saturday night. Hoping for an unexpected day off, as SPW’s cousin’s daughter (one of our pseudo nieces) is having a birthday. Gotta love that the child likes Legos.

Back to the regular workout schedule next week… I have sessions on Tuesday and Friday. I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve missed the usual setup, with two or three other people. It should help to shake me back out of the funk I’ve been in.

I’m going to wrap it up for tonight… Hope you have a great evening and a better day tomorrow. I leave you with my marinade recipe.

Garlic & Herb Chicken Marinade

  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/3 cup vinegar
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon dried Italian-style seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

In a medium bowl, combine the water, vinegar, oil, garlic, thyme, Italian-style seasoning, poultry seasoning, rosemary, salt and ground black pepper. Mix well and put in a heavy zipper bag along with your chicken breast pieces. Don’t let it go more than 5-6 hours for maximum flavor.

Song of the Day: The Secret of my Success – Night Ranger
Currently Reading: For Love of the Game – Michael Shaara

Quote of the Day:

Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon. Doug Larson

Less stress = good

Posted: September 4, 2012 in Cooking, Doctors and Dentists and Nurses... oh my!, Exercise, Physical activity, Stress, Supportive Partner Woman, Weight loss
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This would be about right…

So, I might have mentioned Supportive Partner Woman’s wonky back. She’s been dealing with it for five days now, and don’t let it be said that she doesn’t have salt… she went to work four out of those five days. The rest of the time, she was pretty much cuddled up in bed with her best friend, the heating pad. Seeing as it was a holiday weekend, she couldn’t get ahold of the doctor’s office to schedule an appointment. So, I woke her up and she called this morning. She scored a 10:20 appointment and managed to get poked and prodded and x-rayed and scheduled for physical therapy. She’s finally starting to move a little better, but I’m very relieved. I was stressing pretty hard because she was in so much pain. It was hard for me to watch. Let me just say that getting older isn’t much fun.

Otherwise, things are pretty good. Had a decent holiday weekend… didn’t do much, but did manage to chauffeur SPW to and from work. I felt a little better about that as she didn’t have to walk as far as she would’ve had she parked in the garage. I did mostly domestic stuff, laundry, rotated the mattress, all that stuff. I even whipped up a couple of dinners using Stuff From the Fridge. I’m always excited when I can do that… makes me feel like I’m doing something important. The one thing that fell by the wayside was my gym-going. I went over to the Rec on Thursday only to find the fitness center closed for annual cleaning. I was told I was welcome to use the tennis courts, but that wouldn’t do me much good, as I don’t play tennis. I was supposed to have a session with Ryan this morning, but I had to reschedule so I could take SPW to her appointment. I’ve got an appointment tomorrow morning at 8:00. Yes, it’ll be early, but I need to go. I have three weeks until we head off to Florida and I plan to get to the gym as much as possible. The good news is that Cory will be back next week, giving me my usual appointment times and class sizes. Ryan did a heckuva job running the show all by himself, but I’m sure he’s looking for a break.

The other thing that happened was that I wasn’t particularly mindful of what I was eating between meals. I know… NOT a good thing. I think it just made me feel better at dealing with my stress and I didn’t want to do anything else in case SPW needed me for something. My actual meals weren’t too bad… cereal or eggs in the morning, a sandwich for lunch, and a sensible dinner. It was the between meal visits to the fridge for cheese or ham or a tortilla that caused the problems. I need to refocus and remember how good it was feeling.

Well, that about sums it up. Not only is SPW on the way to recovery, Stubby is in pretty good shape. We will see how he does tomorrow.

Song of the Day: Bad – U2
Currently Reading: The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

Good thing Buzz Lightyear didn’t say “To xfinity… and beyond!”

Posted: August 29, 2012 in Comcast, Cooking, Customer service, Foot issues, Stubby the Wonder Toe, Xfinity
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I got to spend some time this morning on the horn with Comcast. For the most part, I don’t have a lot of complaints… at least not regarding the internet. The service is fast, affordable and generally reliable. It helps that we are located between the big scary Lancaster office, and the much smaller, quieter, and friendlier Elizabethtown office. We also have phone service with them and that, too, is generally reliable. Today? Not so much. I was trying to call our eye doctor to schedule our annual exams and *BANG*, no dial tone. I pull out my cell phone and call them, actually speak to a live person. He gets the phone all squared away, then I ask about the problems we’ve been having with the net… dropping out, slow, etc. He starts to say he can help, then AT&T drops the call. Grrrrr.

Near as I can tell, the issue is with the new cable modem. I’m thinking that even though it’s recommended by Comcast, it’s the culprit. Maybe it’s blind loyalty to the trusty old Linksys, but the SURFboard seems to like to pop on and off at random intervals. This does not make me happy… I have the AirPort app on my iPhone and iPad and I can usually see that it’s disconnected but when you need to power cycle it, well, that’s a pain in the butt. I’m going to try to call Comcast again tomorrow and see if there’s anything they can do for me.

Today was fruitful in the gym as well. I made it to Hempfield and hit the elliptical for a half hour and did some weight training. I did a whole body interval on the elliptical that involved going backwards. I didn’t go too fast, keeping it around 100 steps per minute, but I didn’t fall over. I’m taking that as a good sign. It just felt so right to be back there and sweating. I know I still have a long way to go until I’m fit, but I will get there. As I stressed before, my immediate goal is not to figuratively die at Disney next month.

Oh, and a yoga update. Supportive Partner Woman (possessor of better flexibility than I!) has been doing this BodyFlow stuff, which is combination pilates, tai chi and yoga. She was showing me some of the poses and I’m not sure I’ll have the balance to handle it, since Stubby has a negative effect on balance for me. Maybe I should just make sure I get started on mats so I don’t kill myself during the inevitable tumbles. Am I scared about it? No, not scared. Perhaps a little apprehensive.

So, folks… that’s the score. I’m doing some training the rest of the week at work, which is a good thing, and my trainee seems to really be liking the subject matter. I’ll take that as a victory.

Talk to you soon!

Song of the Day: Basket Case – Green Day
Currently Reading: 56 – Kostya Kennedy

Quote of the Day:

Your body is the baggage you must carry through life. The more excess the baggage, the shorter the trip. – Arnold H. Glasgow

Burning down the house

Posted: August 21, 2012 in Cooking, Exercise, Stubby the Wonder Toe, Weight loss
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You read that right. I seemingly tried to burn down the house today while making roasted cedar plank salmon. I usually rub the plank with olive oil so the fish doesn’t spot weld to the plank and it most it will smolder. This time when I put the plank under the broiler to get a crust on it, well, it was a rather impressive conflagration.

Seriously decent stuff.

I have good news to report, though… Stubby survived his gym session without any difficulties. I found some padded moleskin amongst the foot care supplies and put a piece of that over the bandage to relieve any pressure. I think I might add that to the pre gym workout even after Stubby is better.

I had contacted Ryan (exercise physiologist extraordinaire) with the tale of Stubby. He was in the loop and had come up with ways for me to get my work in without putting too much stress on Stubby. Of course, that just meant extra effort from the rest of me. I spent some time on a seated elliptical and a few go arounds on a rowing machine. Let me just say that I preferred the rowing machine because it didn’t involve basically kneeing myself in the gut on every stroke. I also got a better appreciation of what Olympic rowers do and, well, ouch.

This thing was interesting, but not necessarily fun

The seated elliptical gave a workout, and maybe I will get used to it, but I prefer the good old-fashioned elliptical. Of course, I hated the arc trainer and while I’m still not enamored of that beastie, I can respect the workout. Ryan also introduced me to the dip. In the dip, I have to sit on a bench, then lower my butt below the level of the bench, then l had to lever my bulk back up. If I didn’t know I was fat before, this clinched it. This is going to be the new squat, at least until something worse comes along.

Speaking of fitness, how about a hand for Supportive Partner Woman, who dragged her butt out of bed to be at a Bodyflow class at 8 AM. She claims it’s painful. Or at least her knees claim that, but I’m so proud of her for getting up and going. Read about it here.

At any rate, I need to get myself showered and ready for work. I don’t really want to put the Boot of Shame back on, but what can you do? It seems to be helping, so I can’t complain about that. It’s just uncomfortable to wear.

I leave you with this final thought. It really annoys me when people look at the boot, then look at me and say, “Did you do something to your foot?” I usually explain my blister history and that the boot helps it heal by keeping weight off the toes. Inside, I’m screaming, “No, I just LIKE to wear something this fugly and uncomfortable!” That’s another thing I need to work on… patience. I’ll get there, too.

Oh, and just for the record… a 500 degree broiler will ignite an olive oil coated cedar plank. Trust me… I’m experienced.

Once the beer has been consumed, the Rock Band starts…

Posted: August 19, 2012 in Cooking, friends, Wegman's
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Supportive  Partner Woman (crafter of fine mershed perderders!) and I had some company last night. It’s been awhile since we had the chance to entertain together, so it was a lot of fun. Prep work started Friday night. I whipped together a beef marinade, consisting of olive oil, lemon juice, soy sauce (reduced sodium), mustard and Worcestershire sauce. SPW and I found some lovely sirloin cubes at Wegman’s during our last visit, so I threw those in the bag with the marinade and let them soak. I like marinades… not always the healthiest thing to add to the diet, but it’s a way to add a LOT of flavor and still have that stuff cook away.

We paid a visit to the Corn Wagon, which, sadly, sold out. That happens if you don’t get there early enough. What else can you do? We also stopped for beer. See, SPW is a beer snob and this can be a long drawn-out process. We came back with a variety pack from Fort Collins Brewery. We tend to like the variety packs… adds a range of selections to your beer fridge and allows you to try a bunch of stuff without dropping $40 on a full case of something you hate. Plus, Pennsylvania makes it difficult to buy just a six-pack, unless you want to go to a place that’s licensed for six packs, then you pay through the nose.

Post beer distributor, it was off to the grocery store.  We had to pick up some produce and a few other sundry items. Then it was back home to cook. SPW has been living the Julia Child dream the past week or so, so she decided to use one of Julia’s recipes to create a beef brisket dish. It looked pretty, had wonderful texture, but I found the flavor to be a little muted. That was rectified, however, when you added some au jus to it. I grilled chicken and steak skewers that turned out tasting pretty darn good, if I do say so myself.

The skewers of yumminess!

Other than the aforementioned steak marinade, I made a chicken one with oil, vinegar, and a load of spices. Couldn’t find any “poultry seasoning” so I just threw a few extra pinches of this and that in the bowl. My secret ingredient was bacon salt. It gave the chicken the slightest hint of bacon-y goodness. Granted, it was easy to miss if you didn’t know it was there. Threw the skewers on the grill and let them broil away happily. Also to the skewers I added some green pepper, some Mayan sweet onion, mushrooms and finished them with grape tomato. Adding the tomato to the end of the skewer had a two-fold purpose. First of all, grilling them really makes the sweetness come out, and secondly, the tomato sticks nicely to the skewer, keeping everything where it needs to be.

Cooked them around 15 minutes. Started the temperatures pretty high to get a nice sear on the meat, then backed the heat off to finish. No complaints… and only two of them left. I did have a whoopsie, though… when putting the skewers on the serving dish, one of them went *plop* on the deck. Since my deck surface is not the cleanest place on the planet (read: pollen and whatever dust is drifting over from the new school construction site) I disregarded the five second rule and opted to pitch it.

Most of the bounty on the table… still waiting on the broccoli. Thanks, Jed, for the picture!

Dinner was a decent success. It’s always nice to cook for more than one or two, and we had enough food that no one went away hungry. It’s funny that both SPW and I like to cook, are good cooks, and don’t cook enough. This is why we’ve taken to a Sunday meal at home when she has to work and I have off (like today). Thinking I might make some of the marinated steak and pair it with a lovely piece of sockeye that we scored yesterday. Such beautiful color to that fish.

So, post dinner and business, we adjourned to the Nerd Lair. I call it the Man Cave when SPW (The Management!) isn’t around, but when it’s coed, it’s the Nerd Lair. This is where I set up our home theater, as well as our bar. It’s basically the refuge from the everyday world. We’ve put a comfy couch down there, a couple of other chairs… bar stools (there are some things that you can’t do without) and a selection of adult beverages. I can’t really drink anymore, but that doesn’t mean drinking does not occur in the Nerd Lair. I’ve created a few twists on old classic drinks… one of SPW’s favorites is what I call my left-handed Philips head screwdriver. Take your basic vodka/orange juice combo, add triple sec for even more citrus flavor and for color, add a splash of pomegranate grenadine. It helps to use a decent vodka, and the official vodka of the Nerd Lair bar is Tito’s. I know… it sounds funny, a vodka called Tito’s, but this is one of the best vodkas I ever tasted and it’s half the price of Gray Goose.

Main part of the bar

Straight on view of bar and back part.

The Nerd Lair bar is actually something of my creation. The main part started life as a cabinet I found at the Habitat for Humanity Re-Store. It was in some bad shape, but I stripped the old paint and refinished it. I also hand-built the tile tops for both pieces. That wasn’t fun… I’m not a great tiler, but I think they turned out looking pretty good. The back part was a custom build that I threw together last summer. We didn’t have enough space and I thought this would be a fun project. Wound up taking longer than I had hoped, but I was pretty pleased with the outcome.

The nerd Lair also has a theme… Penn State. I know it’s unfashionable to be pro-PSU in this day and age, but both SPW and I are proud alumni and regardless of the Sandusky scandal, we still got a good education and made life-long friends.

As we are wont to do with these particular friends, the Xbox got fired up, the controllers connected and we played some Lego Rock Band. It reminds me of karaoke in college. No one is a particularly good singer, but we have fun just the same. The highlight of Lego Rock Band is how it crafts some of the artists as Lego mini figures. To see a Lego Freddie Mercury is amazing, but when you add a Lego Brian May, well, that’s just awesome. There’s a Lego Bowie as well as a Lego Iggy Pop.To me, the Lego Iggy looks a lot like Gollum from Lord of the Rings, but what do I know? We switched to Beatles Rock Band before we adjorned for the evening (morning?)

I think that’s going to do it for today. Have a bunch of stuff to accomplish and limited time to do it. Today also would’ve been my dad’s 77th birthday. Not a day goes by I don’t miss him, but some days are harder than others.

Have a great day, everyone!

Time to refocus

Posted: August 17, 2012 in Cooking, recipes, Weight loss
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Been kind of cruising along here at MOASTBFFG and it almost seems like I’m going through the motions. I haven’t really been hitting what I need to hit and I’ve been doing you, the readers, a great disservice.

The big ass blister has given me a chance to sort of pause and take stock of where I am, physically, mentally and blogally? Didn’t think that was a word.

See!?!?!? Pigs CAN fly!

I think I need to set some goals and try to establish a time frame. Operating without a set time frame is nice, but it’s easy to just mosey along until it’s too late. It sort of reminds me of being in college and having a paper due at the end of the semester and writing it all the night before it was due, fueled by caffeine and desperation. You can do that with a paper… not so much with weight loss. If that was the case, I’d be snapping my fingers, shotgunning Mountain Dew and I’d weigh 180 in the morning. Aye… and if pigs could fly.

I haven’t talked about recipes in a while. It’s not that I haven’t cooked, just that what I’ve been making has been not a lot of prep work. I’ve been trying to go a simpler route… making tasty food that is simple and depending on the actual food to be the flavor star, rather than the prep. When I made the giant scallops last weekend, all I did was brush them with olive oil and a little salt and pepper before grilling. That’s easy to do this time of year in Cow Country. With the produce being so fresh and available, well, why cover up all that wonderful taste?

One thing I did make was a batch of my meatballs. See, I’m kind of elitist when it comes to meatballs. I simply won’t eat those frozen ones… too salty and the salty taste overwhelms any real flavor the meatballs might have. Not only that, you can be pretty sure that she’s NOT using the highest quality beef. I will usually see the bags of Mam Lucia at the grocery store and mutter, “Mama Lucia… that bitch…”

I think the real secret to meatballs is how long you keep them simmering in the sauce. Not only does that give the balls a chance to absorb the richness of the sauce, it also makes them tender. My recipe is one that I’ve been tweaking over the years, and I am willing to share it.

Here goes:

Brian’s Meatballs

2 lb. ground beef (I use 90%)
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. basil
1tsp. oregano
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 tsp. red pepper (optional)
1/4 clove garlic (at a minimum)
2 large eggs
2 cups seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup parmesan

Mix ingredients well. Seriously well. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, transfer immediately to sauce and simmer. Four hours, minimum.

For sauce, I usually make a combination of whatever jarred stuff I have in the inventory. I would prefer to make my own, but I don’t really have the time or the tomatoes. Maybe one of these days I’ll get ambitious. One other thing you can do is lightly cook some Italian sausage and put it in the sauce with the meatballs. Adds some extra flavor. My usual sauce ratio is one jar of DelGrosso three cheese and two jars of DelGrosso Tomato Basil.

As far as pasta goes, one of the nutrition people I spoke to had recommended Ronzoni’s Smart Taste pasta. It’s enriched with fiber and while it’s still pasta (40g of carbs) there’s 5g of fiber to help balance it out. While the whole grain pastas might have a smidge more fiber, this wins in taste, in my opinion.

At any rate, I’m going to try to refocus things here. I want to add a monthly measurements feature, more pictures of yummy noms, and just try to not be so scattered and completely stream of consciousness. I’ll still have those moments… this is my blog… but maybe not as many. Besides, the Olympic opening ceremonies won’t be coming around for a year and a half. Plus, they will be in Russia. Maybe President Putin will wrestle a bear or something.

Anyway, I wish you all a happy and healthy weekend!

Been a while

Posted: August 12, 2012 in Cooking, Supportive Partner Woman, Wegman's, Weight loss
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Greetings!

First of all, apologies for not posting anything these last couple of days. I wound up being busy trying to write a piece for another blog I write for and, well, time just got away.

Had a very nice weekend… I didn’t have to work, which is always a nice thing. I spent yesterday with Supportive Partner Woman. We did a Wegman’s run (surprise!) and went out for dinner (and lunch, sorry to say). I was really jonesing for a burger, so we grabbed lunch at Red Robin. I haven’t had fries in I have no idea how long, and they were VERY good. I ordered a bacon cheeseburger on ciabatta =bread, hold the mayo. Burger arrived and was done perfectly. I didn’t even feel too much guilt. It didn’t totally bork my sugars, either.

After that, we detoured through Best Buy, gaped at a lot of stuff we didn’t buy, and headed to Wegman’s (insert choir of angels!).

Got a cart full of groceries, found some lovely sirloin cubes for making kebabs next weekend, and took advantage of some coupons. For anyone who cares, the truffles were down to $499.00/lb. Must be a down market in fungus.

We headed home with a stop at our favorite local store, Stauffer’s of Kissel Hill. It’s a nice market, decent selection of produce and a bangin’ deli. It’s almost like a mini-Wegman’s, minus the choir of angels. The real secret to the deli, however, is the people. If you go, be sure and ask for Shirley. She’s spot on with her measurements, very friendly and always makes sure you get the best service.

Headed home, put the stuff away, and chilled out. I priced a new surround sound amp (didn’t buy) and we eventually decided to go grab some dinner. Keeping with both the red theme and the coupon theme, we went to Red Lobster. Now, the “Eat This, Not That” book series says this is one of the healthiest sit down chains in America, and I can believe it if you order right. SPW (eater of seafood!) ordered snow crab legs with a baked potato. I went with the wood-grilled scallops, shrimp and chicken with a side of broccoli. Nutrition-wise, not too bad. 590 calories, 14g fat, but the killer is the sodium… 3060 grams. Yikes! Now I’ll remember that and order the crab legs next time… half the salt and less than half the calories.

We added some new (to us) tech to the arsenal this week, too. Our friend Trevor purchased a new retina-display MacBook Pro and sold us his used one. This makes SPW (Apple fangirl!) very happy and, well, I’m always in favor of tech. Looking forward to seeing what it can do. So far, like it a lot. Going to have to provide bunches of home cooking to make sure our tech support is well-fed.

So, the moral is that it’s possible to have a burger and fries (at least until surgery) and not totally nuke the calorie limits. Now today’s dinner will be surf & turf… have some lovely steaks and some scallops that we scored at Wegman’s (on sale) that are big as SPW’s fist (or so it seems). Not quite sure what I’ll be making with them, but that’s OK. I figure I’ll grill the steak and maybe grill the scallops? I don’t know. I’ll think of something.

Hope it won’t be three days until the next post… but I hope you had a great weekend and I’ll see you real soon!

Butt kicking and more!

Posted: July 26, 2012 in Cooking, diabetes, Exercise, regrets, Wanda, Weight loss
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It was Thursday, that means another session at the gym with Ryan and Cory. However, Cory had to have knee surgery, so it’s just Ryan trying to wrangle everyone. This can be a little trying, I am sure, but he’s doing a fine job. This, however, necessitates a change in my routine. I’ll be going Tuesday and Friday of next week instead.

It should be interesting to see what effect that has on me. It’s always hard to change routine when it gets set. This is part of my problem. I get set in my ways and it’s hard to move on. It also seems like heavier a rut I get into, well, the harder it is to escape said rut. At least I’m recognizing the problem and am going to face it head on.

I also managed to prepare a nice lunch for Supportive Partner Woman (annoyed with New Balance!) and I. Originally I wanted to grill some salmon yesterday, but after getting a late start and having to visit Dr. Doogie, we just didn’t have time. So, I had a cedar plank soaking for around 26 hours that I threw on the grill and the salmon really picked up the cedar flavor. It turned out to be very smoky and a beautiful red color that no dyed farm-raised salmon can match.

So, SPW has actually noticed changes in me. Not only that I’m smaller, but better general muscle tone and better disposition. I’m not quite as cranky as I once was. These are my biggest motivations to keep with the program and deal with any changes. When Ryan asked me if I’d be willing to come in at 8:00 next Friday morning, I hesitated, thinking that I only get out of work at midnight, but as I then told him, “I need this more than sleep.” It’s true. Having these guys to help navigate me through the process of getting healthy and atoning for many many years of dietary sins has been invaluable.

So, being about halfway through the program, I can honestly say that the weak link for me has been the dietitians. I don’t feel that I’m getting that much from those sessions. They seem to think I should be eating more calories, and yet my regular provider recommended I keep my intake around 500 calories less than what the dietitian said. I realize the one specializes in diet, but the other deals with a lot more diabetes on a daily basis. Speaking with another patient this morning, we were in agreement on this. We;d love for someone to tell us what we should eat and what we should avoid. It’s all very confusing.

I can say this… I’m sticking with the exercise program, regardless of what my surgical future is. I feel better and healthier, my sugars are better and clothes fit better.

I will try to write more tomorrow… busy day for me, have to get a haircut in the morning and have some other things to take care of before work.

P.S. I mentioned that SPW is annoyed with New Balance. This is the second pair of 623 cross trainers that she’s bought and in both pairs, the insole has slipped back toward the heel, causing a gap between the insole and the base of the show. This causes SPW’s toes to rub, causing pain and blistering. I’ve not had that problem, and I’ve worn the 623. Granted, not as hard as she has because I had to switch to a motion control sole to keep the feet in better shape.

Eating better=better results

Posted: July 16, 2012 in Cooking, diabetes, Physical activity, The Beetus, Weight loss
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I’ve known for some time that you are what you eat. I always figured that was crap, since I never turned into a giant bag of snack food or a big loaf of bread.Fact is, there’s truth to it, something that I am seeing almost every day. Since I’ve started to really monitor what it is I’ve been eating, I notice that not only am I losing weight, I feel better. Better physically and far better about myself mentally.

It’s also enabled me to make some changes in my lifestyle that I probably couldn’t before. I’m now much more able to get up and go for a walk than I was just a few weeks ago. Even after totally getting arc trainer-ed to death today, I still went out for a walk. Was it an intense walk? No, but it was activity and I didn’t feel the need to sit around and eat. That’s a huge plus.

So, changing what we eat has been a huge part of the success I’ve had so far. Eating more protein and less carbs. Being mindful of the sugar content of what I do eat and its glycemic value. Being active and thinking of stuff to do to avoid raiding the fridge. Every one of these small changes is helping me toward a bigger one and a healthier lifestyle.

Fresh local corn, steamed broccoli, balsamic marinated asparagus and sautéed scallops with a side of tomato/mozzarella salad.

Now, Supportive Partner Woman (bestest wife in the whole wide world!) and I have started a bit of a Sunday tradition. She’s been working most Sundays while I’ve had off. So, I try to think of a nice, healthy dinner and prepare it so she can come home, eat something that’s not breaded, fried or otherwise prepared elsewhere, and we actually get to eat at our own table.

This past week, SPW (shopper of great skill!) came across scallop pieces at a good price. These were gorgeous, though… they might have been pieces, but they looked like real sea scallops. Since I needed to use them, I sautéed them in some olive oil, made some local sweet corn that we picked up at Root’s Market, added some steamed broccoli and as SPW is a far of asparagus, threw together a quick and dirty balsamic marinade, then sautéed the asparagus. Turned out rather tasty.

To make the marinade, I took 1/2 cup of olive oil, about 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar, added a touch of oregano, garlic powder and basil. Mixed them together and put the marinade in a Zip-loc bag with the asparagus spears. Put it in the fridge for about 15-20 minutes. Only change I will be making is to let it marinate longer… the flavor was good but not completely married.

The other item I threw together was a quick tomato and mozzarella salad. I seeded and diced some Roma tomatoes, then diced 8 oz. of mozzarella. Added some Italian salad dressing (I said it was quick) and finished it with some basil. After stirring it, I covered the bowl and put it back in the fridge. It makes a very easy, light and refreshing salad.

I did that whole meal in around 25-30 minutes. Can’t argue with it. It’s fun to create and to tweak recipes. The only thing I won’t change is my chocolate chip cookie recipe. I tweaked it a few years ago and hit a home run, so I do it the same, even using the same baking sheets. If anyone wants my recipe, feel free to ask.

Until next time…

We’re livin in gym time…

Posted: July 11, 2012 in Cooking, Exercise, Weight loss
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So, I dragged my tubby self out of bed this morning, and after vegging for a few hours, decided to hit the gym. Collected Supportive Partner Woman (sleeper of extraordinary soundness!) and headed off to Hempfield Rec. Decided to follow the cardio routine I’ve been following and started on the treadmill.

treadmill console

What an experience. See, during the two years I didn’t go to the gym, they upgraded the treadmills. Now they have an integrated 15″ display that can be hooked up AS A TV! Not only that, the background image will display the program you are using. If you’re just walking or running, it displays a visual of a stadium track. If you’re doing a different program, it might show your course as applied to a wooded hill and so forth. If you get bored, you can play solitaire on it. No kidding. There was a button marked Games, and since it was a button, I had to push it. Sure enough, there’s solitaire! The goodness doesn’t stop there, either. There’s USB and iPod connectivity, too!

So on the way out of the gym, we noticed they was a baked sale set up in the lobby. WTF? Here are a legion of people trying to get (or stay) in shape and you’re trying to get them to buy baked goods? The prevailing theory is that they are doing it to keep the membership numbers they already have. It was hard, but we escaped the temptation of the soft pretzels and cupcakes.

All in all, an interesting experience today. I managed to bookend the gym trip with two decent meals. For breakfast, I made a 2 egg omelet (one whole egg, one egg’s worth of All Whites) that I put in a wheat tortilla, and I also made some of the dreaded turkey bacon. My only tip for that is to make sure you don’t overcook it. It was better the second time around as I didn’t cook it as long.

After the gym, I fixed a turkey and cheese sandwich with a little Olivio. Instead of regular bread, I used a whole wheat sandwich thin and I added a couple of Mt. Olive no sugar added pickles, which I was surprised to find were a zero-calorie food. Who would’ve thought?

So, that’s the report from Cow Country today. The usually visit tomorrow morning with Cory and Ryan and a group session on Friday. There should be a weigh in at that point, so I hope to have good news to share.

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