Resolutions and the start of a booze free month...

 I have written resolutions pertaining to many aspects of my life.  A few that concern this blog are those in the realms of exercise and culinary.

Culinary

·         Learn to make Kombucha
·         Try 1 new healthy recipe a month – ½ from Furhman
·         Post at least 2x a month in Twisted Sister – especially June –Dec.
·         Try 1 new fruit/veggie every month

Exercise/Weight

·         Lose 12 pounds
·         Don’t gain it back again by Dec.
·         Hike more than 2 miles 3x a week – Set a trail/mountain goal every month to work toward
·         Keep an exercise calendar/log
·         Yoga and/or pilates 5x a week
·         Take yoga teacher training
·         Work out with weights 3x a week

These are ambitious goals and I have tried to include a few references to the bad holiday months when everything falls apart and becomes about discount Halloween candy and baked goods.

Today I started my diet on my quest to lose 12 pounds.  My current weight is 136 and I hope to get down to 124 - I can subtract small numbers anyway.  I have also started a booze free month beginning on Tuesday January 12th.  I will have no drinks until February 13th.  Then I will make his Lordship treat me to a Valentines dinner in celebration of my self control.  Wish me luck.

 

Sardines

I have tried sardines for years.  I could never really wrap my brain around liking the chalky, fishy, yucky taste.  That was until I met Wild Planet sardines.  These little suckers are just yummy.  Packed in olive oil,  they are really high quality sardines and the difference is noticeable.  Plus, look at the back of the box.  What a super food!  Packed with omega 3's and coq 10, they are doing my heart a world of good. They make a great snack or protein source if you are planning to go back on the zone diet like old fatty me!

Healthy alternative to soda

His Lordship loves soda but he knows it's bad for him.  A couple of years ago, he purchased a soda stream so that he could make his own.

 

 

 

But uggh - the ingredient profiles on those soda stream flavors are revolting. Here's the ingredients for the diet cranberry :
 Water, Citric Acid, Natural & Artificial Flavors, Sodium Citrate, Sweeteners (Acesulfame Potassium, Sucralose (SPLENDA® brand)), Sodium Benzoate, Caramel Coloring, Red No.40, Red No.3, Blue No.1).
I encouraged him throw them out but he kept 3.

However, he has not used them and has no way to make soda.
The solution is to concoct a homemade soda syrup.  Knowing how much he loves ginger, tonight I made a syrup from honey, ginger and an orange.

I peeled the ginger, cut it small, and cooked it down with 1/2 a bottle of honey, the juice and pulp of 1 large oranges and 4 cups of water.  Peeling ginger is easy - just use a spoon to scrape off the skin.

I cooked it till the water reduce by 1/2 and then blended the whole thing in the vitamix on high until liquified.

 I will store it in glass bottles in the fridge.  It is concentrated so his Lordship dilutes it to taste with carbonated water from his soda stream. 

 

The ingredient profile here is simple.  It may look like vomit but it tastes great.

Sorry to anyone who checked us out yesterday looking for incestuous S&M porn. I know it must have been a disappointment.

Evaluation of 2015 Goals

Another year is upon us.  A time to reflect upon ones life and goals.  I wrote some resolutions last year and now I will evaluate them.  First, I have to walk to the refrigerator to fetch them and perhaps grab a snack while I am there.

1) Start a healthy cooking blog
-leads to healthier eating
-weight loss
I did start this blog last year.  I call it Twisted Sister Cafe'.  I was relatively successful until I blew it off entirely around about Sept.  Through then, it did lead to healthier eating and weight loss.  I dropped about 14 pounds and looked pretty swell.  But all good things must come to an end and the holiday feeding frenzies of October, November and December packed it on again.  Guess I have to keep this on the list.  Grade?  I give myself a C+ for half the years efforts.

2) Get fit enough to climb part of the Barr Trail (to where it meets the incline) about 2,000 feet elevation gain.
-friends getting married May 5th at the top of Pike Peak
-Need to be able to climb part of the Barr Trail when they arrive
-Leads to weight loss and better health.
I did technically accomplished this goal in April.  On the downside, I lost my pedometer and some skank found it and kept it.  A couple of weeks later, when my friends arrived, I had strained some body part and was unable to walk much of anything.  I did lose weight and feel great, but alas, after 3 months of sitting on my ass doing other things, lets just say, well, all that was lost has been gained.  Grade? Another C+.

3) Learn to identify my gulls
 accomplished this last winter and really felt confident during gull seminar.  However, all that knowledge has drained from my brain and now I can't tell the difference between a yellow-footed and a yellow-legged.  Still, I did see some new species last year and was able to identify them.  Grade? Perhaps a B.

4) Learn my bird calls - bird by ear
Despite endless hours of bird calls playing in my car and home (can you say boring???),  I think I only can identify 40 species by sound -not so good and not much of an improvement over last year  - perhaps I learned 20.  Then in October, I ditched the bird calls, returned to alternative rock music and have not learned a single one since.  I guess this resolution has to stay on the list.  Grade? D.

5) Farts
This was a resolution added to my list 10 days ago by my 29 year old nephew.  I am not sure how to accomplish this - louder? smellier? more often? But I do have to say, in this arena of my life, I need to set no goals - I am a master already.  So for the "farts" resolution, I give myself an A+.  Glad I excelled at something in 2015.



I think the moral of this story is that I need to write resolutions that last 1/2 a year.  Then I would accomplish them all! And October, November and December must be declared resolution free months, unless of course, those resolutions pertain to eating more candy and holiday decorating. Hope you lads and lasses accomplished more in 2015 than I did.  Cheers and have a Happy New Year.

Where Have I Been?

Perhaps you don't care and I don't blame you.  I deserted my blogs, everyone else's blogs and blog friends this summer.  I went from virtual living to the real thing.  Summers are short here and I hate to waste a moment.  So what crazy capers have I been up to??

Camping
His Lordship and I have been camping all over Colorado this summer.  He fly fishes and I bird.  We even went camping with one of the twisted sisters and her significant other over the fourth of July.

Birding
I am one a mission to see 25 birds in each of Colorado's 64 counties.  So far I have knock out 26 of them. I am also birding once a week with a great group of witty folks whose company and knowledge are beyond compare. In addition, one of my New Years resolutions has been to learn to bird by ear so instead of alternative rock music, I listen to tweet, tweet on my computer. I've had some cool life birds this summer including:

Black Swift

 

ptarmigan

Hiking
We've taken some pretty great hikes this summer.  My favorite was this trail in Ourey called the upper cascade falls trail.  You can see from the picture below that it was appropriately named.  Also, climbed my first fourteener - Mt. Bierstadt.

Travelling
Have been to Minnesota and the United Kingdom for milestone events.  My daughter graduated from University back in May and my dear brother-in -law turned 60

Gardening
Always something to do out there including failing at pumpkin horticulture.

Riding
Casper the ghost paint needs lot of attention.

Gaining Weight
Lastly, this summer, I have been packing on some pounds.  Vacationing in the UK with custard slices, birding with homemade chocolate chip cookies, visiting craft breweries for pints of my favorite IPA, I have put 7 pounds back on and almost have undone all my hard work last March, April and May.  I think I feel a diet coming on and even a booze free month.  Perhaps November.  I am still having too much fun for now!

Hope you have had a fun summer too!

Woe is me...

Alas, after a week of blissful vacation in the United Kingdom,  I have returned home four pounds heavier than when I left.  Perhaps it was the custard slice and birthday cake from Williams the Baker.  Maybe the beer and proseco?  Or might Chris Edwards award winning fruitcake be to blame? Whatever delicious delicacy I stuffed in my face, the reality is that the post diet weight I managed to maintain May, June and July is no more.  The only solution is to go back to the diet grind.

 

Luckily, it is farmers market season  and wonderful fruits and veggies abound.  Today, His Lordship and I visited the Bristol Brewery Farm and Art Market and stocked up.  Tomatoes, peppers, corn, carrots, beans, potatoes, eggplant, cucumbers  and okra are all in season. Organic and non GMO, it will be a pleasure to eat these treats over the next week.  I hope you find a good farmers market in your area.  Ours even features locally brewed beer and locally baked bread - yum!  Those are two things I should definitely avoid on my diet.


Our haul
 

Bathing suits for busty old gals...

I have not worn a bathing suit in ages and for good reason.  My old suits just don't fit my body like they used too - not enough support, breast tissue poking out all over the place etc. They were designed for my 35 year old body.  Yesterday, however I went to Title 9.  I chose this store because they advertise suits with bras built in.  To my delight and surprise, they had a number of choices in my bra size which is not easy to find.  Also, the tops and bottoms were mix and match so I could get sizes and colors to fit my whole body.  They are pretty pricey but hopefully this is the last suit I will ever buy.  Plus, the bottoms are little shorts so no more waxing the pubic area just to get into a swimsuit.  A real win - win.

I got a dark top to minimize the boobs and a light bottom to maximize my ass.  I am pretty pleased with the results and am ready to hit the hot springs.

Finally lost 1 pound

So I have been on the diet over two months - the first 8 pounds came off fairly fast but thereafter, my body hit a plateau at 126 and refused to budge.  Granted, I did have some cheats in April mainly because I went on vacation twice but on the whole, stayed in the zone about 90% of the time.  However, for weeks it refused to drop even the tiniest bit of weight and I was getting kind of discouraged.  Sunday I almost gave up and had two beers just to show I was quitting.  But voila, on Monday I woke up and weighed 125lb.  Being so excited, I put on my new dress to go out to dinner last night.  It was not a perfect zone meal but came close partaking in grilled catfish, a small salad, grilled veggies, a glass of wine and (so unzone) 1/4 of a banana's foster.

So I am still at it here determined to get to 124 pounds.

A whole month without nada....

not one drop, tipple, pint, shot, shooter - nothing.  I have stayed booze less for the entire month of March.  I am sure my liver feels better.  I know my joints do.  His Lordship wanted to know if he should leave time in the schedule tomorrow so he can take me to a bar to get hammered!  But since I am still in the zone, I will have to pass on that.  A 4oz pour a red wine with 1 oz of cheese is all I am allowed unless I want to drink all my carbs - that does not sound to appealing to me!

Beets!

Recently I found myself in possession of a beautiful bunch of local Austin beets. I love that they were grown in a local garden with all the good local dirt.

Beets are a super detox food. It must be all that red "dye" they contain. But they also come in yellow varieties that aren't quite as heavy. And it's not just the bulb, but the leaves, too. In fact, native peoples started by eating the leaves not the bulbs. So you see the entire plant is just lovely. Dr. Mercola published a special post just on beets. Here's what he says:

1. Lower Your Blood Pressure

Drinking beet juice may help to lower blood pressure in a matter of hours. One study found that drinking one glass of beet juice lowered systolic blood pressure by an average of 4-5 points.3

The benefit likely comes from the naturally occurring nitrates in beets, which are converted into nitric oxide in your body. Nitric oxide, in turn, helps to relax and dilate your blood vessels, improving blood flow and lowering blood pressure.

2. Boost Your Stamina

If you need a boost to make it through your next workout, beet juice may again prove valuable. Those who drank beet juice prior to exercise were able to exercise for up to 16 percent longer.4 The benefit is thought to also be related to nitrates turning into nitric oxide, which may reduce the oxygen cost of low-intensity exercise as well as enhance tolerance to high-intensity exercise.

3. Fight Inflammation

Beets are a unique source of betaine, a nutrient that helps protects cells, proteins, and enzymes from environmental stress. It's also known to help fight inflammation, protect internal organs, improve vascular risk factors, enhance performance, and likely help prevent numerous chronic diseases.5 As reported by the World's Healthiest Foods:6

"[Betaine's]… presence in our diet has been associated with lower levels of several inflammatory markers, including C reactive protein, interleukin-6, and tumor necrosis factor alpha. As a group, the anti-inflammatory molecules found in beets may eventually be shown to provide cardiovascular benefits in large-scale human studies, as well as anti-inflammatory benefits for other body systems."

4. Anti-Cancer Properties

The powerful phytonutrients that give beets their deep crimson color may help to ward off cancer. Research has shown that beetroot extract reduced multi-organ tumor formations in various animal models when administered in drinking water, for instance, while beetroot extract is also being studied for use in treating human pancreatic, breast, and prostate cancers.7

5. Rich in Valuable Nutrients and Fiber

Beets are high in immune-boosting vitamin C, fiber, and essential minerals like potassium (essential for healthy nerve and muscle function) and manganese (which is good for your bones, liver, kidneys, and pancreas). Beets also contain the B vitamin folate, which helps reduce the risk of birth defects.

6. Detoxification Support

The betalin pigments in beets support your body's Phase 2 detoxification process, which is when broken down toxins are bound to other molecules so they can be excreted from your body. Traditionally, beets are valued for their support in detoxification and helping to purify your blood and your liver.

Read the entire article here: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/01/25/beets-health-benefits.aspx

And the result is an easy beet salad. They're especially good with some feta cheese and lemon juice. If using greens do grate some fresh beets on the salad too!

xoxo