Finally I graduated from college (after 11 years) and am now left to rummage through the swamp of endless job listing on endless job search engines. This is not exciting! The stress is surmounting as I watch my bank account slowly dwindle away with each expense paid and yet again another day without word from a prospective future employer....oh the stress!
This would be a great opportunity for me to gain, mmm say 45 pounds! That is why I am going to start my detox diet on Monday! What am I eating until then? I am slowly nibbling away the left overs in my fridge by reinventing them over and over until the last fork full has been eaten (we can't afford to be wasting food).
In order to save the pineapple, so long shoved in the corner of the bottom shelf, I am making dehydrated pineapple rings and fruit leather; and the oven roast from two weeks ago is tonights fajitas. Yes as a productively, all American, waster of food I am promoting that we eat those scraps by becoming inventive.
That is how I am going to kick off this month's experiment. How to eat from what we have and detox (rebooting) our bodies on a budget (as I am ...on a budget!!)
So tonight: Take inventory. I will meet you back here on Monday for day one of THE DETOX DIET
p.s Don't be afraid, leery, nervous, or suspicious (like my sister) this is going to be fun!
Friday, January 7, 2011
Monday, November 29, 2010
Out of office reply
I will be out of my office until January 2011. I apologize to those who may have been reading this blog. The Serving Size Experiment will pick up where it left off January 1. Please check back in after the new year.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Coming up for next month...
Just a little heads up for what is on the menu in the months to come...
December: Sweet Treats. In this month I am going to experiment with the idea of balance. The food that we serve as part of our holiday tradition involves lots of fattening, buttery dishes loaded with calories. Each of these things I look forward to eating all year long, every year, so I am going to direct the attention off of food all together and focus on the inward self in spirit of the food. Food is a way to bring nutrients to the body it is also a way to celebrate life and recall memories of past experiences. This chapter of the experiment will focus on the body and learning how to listen to what the body needs in conjunction with the mind.
January: Detox. I am a huge fan of the detox. I do them every year and figure that January is the perfect month to do them because we are entering fresh into another year of living with a healthy, balanced body and mind. This month I will prepare the body for the actual detox, which will last for seven days and then focus on rebooting the system post detox.
February: Naturally Sweet. I love my refined sugar! I am the first in line for an ice-cream cone, a Dairy Queen Blizzard, a chocolate chip cookie, or a tasty strawberry margarita. I will use this month to take a break from refined sugar and eat only sugar from natural foods such as oranges and apples. There is a lot of debate about the physical side effects that we experience from sugar with drawl. Is this a real thing? Is sugar addicting? Lets find out.
December: Sweet Treats. In this month I am going to experiment with the idea of balance. The food that we serve as part of our holiday tradition involves lots of fattening, buttery dishes loaded with calories. Each of these things I look forward to eating all year long, every year, so I am going to direct the attention off of food all together and focus on the inward self in spirit of the food. Food is a way to bring nutrients to the body it is also a way to celebrate life and recall memories of past experiences. This chapter of the experiment will focus on the body and learning how to listen to what the body needs in conjunction with the mind.
January: Detox. I am a huge fan of the detox. I do them every year and figure that January is the perfect month to do them because we are entering fresh into another year of living with a healthy, balanced body and mind. This month I will prepare the body for the actual detox, which will last for seven days and then focus on rebooting the system post detox.
February: Naturally Sweet. I love my refined sugar! I am the first in line for an ice-cream cone, a Dairy Queen Blizzard, a chocolate chip cookie, or a tasty strawberry margarita. I will use this month to take a break from refined sugar and eat only sugar from natural foods such as oranges and apples. There is a lot of debate about the physical side effects that we experience from sugar with drawl. Is this a real thing? Is sugar addicting? Lets find out.
Burning Calories in the Kitchen (and I don't mean sex)
I have been very busy these last two weeks cooking up a storm! My dad and I plucked three 5-gallon buckets of apples off of his tree, the top ones being the size of man fists. The first frost had already bit through, yet these apples seemed untainted, still dripping with dewy sweetness with each bite. I promised my dad that I would not let even a one go to waste. Well...I kept my promise. Lets just say I am not going to be opening a bakery any time soon...that is a lot of work!
This brings me to tonights point. We can burn calories even in the kitchen!
Just to give you an idea of what I am suggesting,
I found this chart from www.fitnessmagazine.com
Activity | Works | Burns | |
Mopping floors | Shoulders, biceps | 112 calories/ 30 minutes | |
Painting | Arms, core | 288 calories/ 60 minutes | . |
Gardening | Arms, back legs | 256 calories/ 60 minutes | |
Cleaning gutters | Shoulders, upper back, arms, legs | 320 calories/ 60 minutes |
(Source: www.fitnessmagazine.com) |
Other websites that I looked at claim that you can burn between 120-200 calories by washing dishes by hand, sweeping, vacuuming, reaching for items (calf raises) and folding laundry.
Some other ideas to increase the work out of your house hold chores are:
- wearing ankle weights while vacuuming
- folding laundry on a yoga ball
- dancing to music while washing dishes (inside/outside thigh)
- walking from room to room in high step (raising your knee in a marching motion up towards your chest)
- side stepping while carrying the laundry basket
These are just a few ideas, I am sure you can invent plenty more. I always wear headphones while I do my house work. If anyone were to look into my windows they would see me busting a move! Another fun idea is to make a play list just for house work. This makes the idea of doing the work more personalized and serves as a daily outlet to unwind rather than another daily chore....if you get where I am going with that idea.
I hope some of these ideas are useful for you. There is an endless resource of information that you can find about alternative ways to burn calories if you feel like your day has been used up. Try www.fitnessmagazine.com for some more fun ideas.
Have a good night.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
The test
Today I came across another test. Did I fail? That is something that could be debated. As a natural born Wisconsinite the love for cheese is something that is chemically strewn into my DNA chain. I was born this way. There is nothing I can do to stop the monster mouse that lives within me....especially when it comes to cheese tasting. Oh my lord do I love a good cheese tasting. Mmmm... merlot cheddar, brie with orange fig spread, and cranberry gouda. Luckily for me that the bite size pieces are so small that I can eat a few of them without going over the serving size of a piece of cheese.
However, if you don't pay attention this is a good place to just let yourself go and drift off into the over yonder pastures of taste bud bliss..so hold back. Maybe just try going for your top three choices.
This blog is not only a good place to write about how I eat, but to rediscover a place to learn how to eat. What I mean is that I actually ate more than three pieces....but now that I thought of this idea, next time I will execute it.
Hmmmmm.
Well food for thought or thoughts of food, watch out for those cheese sampling tables! Don't get me wrong. I AM NOT going to pass up on sampling the cheese that I can never afford to buy (did I splurge on that??) when I get the opportunity. We shouldn't have to feel bad about enjoying those things that we love. Unless you know the secret place that offers daily cheese samples or unlike me can afford cheese outside of the $2.15 mechanically processed cheese slices; I say go ahead and try them....DON'T feel bad.
It is okay to try something that you love, but use restriction. When you go to Sam's Club do you really consider a sample of bagel bite with the strawberry cream cheese a delicacy? Keep these moments for the special ones, you'll feel better about it later. All I can say is that I feel bad for those employees at the bank that have to deal with all of the bake salers every day.
Remember keep the samples special.
All the cheese love to you my friends. :)
However, if you don't pay attention this is a good place to just let yourself go and drift off into the over yonder pastures of taste bud bliss..so hold back. Maybe just try going for your top three choices.
This blog is not only a good place to write about how I eat, but to rediscover a place to learn how to eat. What I mean is that I actually ate more than three pieces....but now that I thought of this idea, next time I will execute it.
Hmmmmm.
Well food for thought or thoughts of food, watch out for those cheese sampling tables! Don't get me wrong. I AM NOT going to pass up on sampling the cheese that I can never afford to buy (did I splurge on that??) when I get the opportunity. We shouldn't have to feel bad about enjoying those things that we love. Unless you know the secret place that offers daily cheese samples or unlike me can afford cheese outside of the $2.15 mechanically processed cheese slices; I say go ahead and try them....DON'T feel bad.
It is okay to try something that you love, but use restriction. When you go to Sam's Club do you really consider a sample of bagel bite with the strawberry cream cheese a delicacy? Keep these moments for the special ones, you'll feel better about it later. All I can say is that I feel bad for those employees at the bank that have to deal with all of the bake salers every day.
Remember keep the samples special.
All the cheese love to you my friends. :)
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Daily C
How many of you take daily vitamins? My grandma walked into a drug store one day and informed an associate that she was interested in starting a daily calcium regime. The associate looked at my grandma and said "It's too late to start taking calcium."
I had to laugh, not because what the lady said was funny, but quite the opposite. I remember her mother, my great-grandmother, growing shorter and shorter as I grew taller and taller. I once looked up at her and thought it was strange as I began to see eye to eye with the woman. It wasn't that I was actually growing taller (which I was) she had osteoporosis. Who is to say that it is ever too late to vitaline our system, as a safety measure?
For years I spent hundreds of dollars on boxed kits of daily vitamin packs and fancy bottles that promised the fountain of youth in a mouthful of tablets...but why?
We do get the same vitamins and minerals in our food.
Of course the choice to take vitamins is strictly personal and the need is dependent on one's lifestyle. If you are the type that eats on the run, never eats breakfast, is a vegetarian, eats mostly meats, avoids fruits, veggies, and dairy, or eats each meal prepackaged from the freezer section than maybe a few extra vitamins are a good fit for you.
However, if you eat a balanced diet of whole wheat pasta and bread, plenty of fruits and veggies, lean meats and eggs, and low fat dairy than you would be fine just taking a daily vitamin. I like one a day for women and I buy one a day for men for my boyfriend. There are several brands that offer a daily all-in-one vitamin that are good. The great thing about vitamins is that you can always pick what you need based on how you eat and your own personal health concerns. For example I know that I don't eat a lot of dairy ( I usually recommend that women take a daily calcium pill every day), run a little low on iron, am always stressed (compromised immune system) have dry skin, have bad eye sight, and heart/circulation problems run in my family so every day I take 2 calcium pills, 2 fatty fish oils (omegas), a daily all-in-one vitamin, and five odorless garlic capsules, and iron once a week. If you have questions about different vitamins or are wondering which vitamins might be right for you there is plenty of resources available. Most health and drug stores have vitamins encyclopedias that recommend certain vitamins for specific health issues.
Trick
If you want to see if your vitamin can be broken down and utilized by your body put the vitamin in a glass of water. If the vitamin starts to fizz and break apart then your body can get the nutrients out of it. If the vitamin is still solid after ten minutes then there is a good chance that you will "pass" the vitamin without having received any of the nutrients.
I will also recommend a good acupuncturist who is also a licensed herbal pharmacist. Check out his website at: http://www.ac4wellness.com/
The key is to try to avoid medications if you can. We are only masking the real issue. Listen to your bodies.
Tonight: Stretch & breath deeply.
I had to laugh, not because what the lady said was funny, but quite the opposite. I remember her mother, my great-grandmother, growing shorter and shorter as I grew taller and taller. I once looked up at her and thought it was strange as I began to see eye to eye with the woman. It wasn't that I was actually growing taller (which I was) she had osteoporosis. Who is to say that it is ever too late to vitaline our system, as a safety measure?
For years I spent hundreds of dollars on boxed kits of daily vitamin packs and fancy bottles that promised the fountain of youth in a mouthful of tablets...but why?
We do get the same vitamins and minerals in our food.
Of course the choice to take vitamins is strictly personal and the need is dependent on one's lifestyle. If you are the type that eats on the run, never eats breakfast, is a vegetarian, eats mostly meats, avoids fruits, veggies, and dairy, or eats each meal prepackaged from the freezer section than maybe a few extra vitamins are a good fit for you.
However, if you eat a balanced diet of whole wheat pasta and bread, plenty of fruits and veggies, lean meats and eggs, and low fat dairy than you would be fine just taking a daily vitamin. I like one a day for women and I buy one a day for men for my boyfriend. There are several brands that offer a daily all-in-one vitamin that are good. The great thing about vitamins is that you can always pick what you need based on how you eat and your own personal health concerns. For example I know that I don't eat a lot of dairy ( I usually recommend that women take a daily calcium pill every day), run a little low on iron, am always stressed (compromised immune system) have dry skin, have bad eye sight, and heart/circulation problems run in my family so every day I take 2 calcium pills, 2 fatty fish oils (omegas), a daily all-in-one vitamin, and five odorless garlic capsules, and iron once a week. If you have questions about different vitamins or are wondering which vitamins might be right for you there is plenty of resources available. Most health and drug stores have vitamins encyclopedias that recommend certain vitamins for specific health issues.
Trick
If you want to see if your vitamin can be broken down and utilized by your body put the vitamin in a glass of water. If the vitamin starts to fizz and break apart then your body can get the nutrients out of it. If the vitamin is still solid after ten minutes then there is a good chance that you will "pass" the vitamin without having received any of the nutrients.
I will also recommend a good acupuncturist who is also a licensed herbal pharmacist. Check out his website at: http://www.ac4wellness.com/
- Remember try to eat a balanced diet. A balanced diet is the best way to provide your bodies with the necessary vitamins and minerals it needs to run efficiently, but if you are on the run find out which vitamins are most valuable to you.
- Consider taking a daily one-in-all vitamin.
- If you are female consider taking a daily fatty fish oil capsule and calcium tab
- Get plenty of exercise, and sleep. Drink lots of water. Meditate. Laugh.
The key is to try to avoid medications if you can. We are only masking the real issue. Listen to your bodies.
Tonight: Stretch & breath deeply.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Hello there..
I apologize for the absence. I hope everyone has been keeping up with their daily logs, remaining conscious of serving sizes, and doing the daily minimum of 30 minutes of exercise.
I have been facing several challenges that, I believe, are the precursor for what is to come later this month (Thanksgiving). My boyfriend's family has the kind of Thanksgiving that is only seen in magazines, and happy television shows. I am not kidding! Luckily for me most of the worry over temptation has been "licked in the bud" because I have been "volun-told" that I am working that day. That does not help everyone else that has the day off though. All I can say is that I have seen glimpses and I am sorry....BUT I KNOW YOU CAN REMAIN TRUE!!
This week I am coordinating a fund raiser, bake sale, for a cause that is important to me. My boyfriend actually inspired me to have this bake sale when he refused to donate $5 towards the financial donation I was prepared to mail off that day. He told me that he would not give me a cent, but he would "DO" something instead...a.k.a bake a box load of monster cookies.....okay so here is ..me..getting to the point...MONSTER COOKIE. Yes then behind the aroma of peanut buttery, chocolate goodness I baked off a tree's worth of apple pies. The words of my boss (head cook) "Quality Control" kept ringing through my head.
I did sample a small cookie (well small according to my usual standards) and included that as part of my lunch. I can't say I have been the best participant today, but I managed to logistically calculate all that I consumed.
This brings me to another vicious cycle. The "I will do better tomorrow" cycle. I went through this cycle the month before last. Everyday I would eat like I had been locked in a dungeon with only plain bread and water for three years. I would tell myself "I will start eating healthy tomorrow." After a little over a month of eating like this and feeling like hell I decided that I wanted to do this experiment. I just want to observe that eating consciously doesn't mean that we have to omit all of the things that we love, but rather allows us to eat them without feeling guilty. I am just going to say the golden word MODERATION.
An idea I would like to share is to look back at what you ate all week on Sunday. What do you notice?
Keep your beautiful head up. Eat in moderation, but love with all of your intensity. No matter what, just keep moving forward.
Have a wonderful evening!
Subject for tomorrow: vitamins.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)