Monday, March 28, 2011

Monday Funday!

While most average American worker bees have a distaste for Monday, Monday Funday is usually my day off and I like it!  It's a good day to catch up on banking, shopping and errands.  It's a good day to spend some time around the house.  There are 2 great classes at the gym that evening.  And nothing you eat contains any calories on Monday.  (well OK, that part is not true, but I digress) 
It has been a fun week and I have missed the boat on blogging about all of it!  On Wednesday I had my transition meeting at Dr Garcia's and found out that my new maintenance plan is going to be The Zone Diet.  Easy enough.  I just need to learn to find the time to eat more often than I normally do in order to stay in "the zone" which from what I understand means your glycemic index is at just the right level to naturally mimic the effects of aspirin.  So while I was reading the many handouts they so graciously handed me to help me figure out how to stay so gorgeous and slim, I had a plumber come by to give us a quote on our leaky water heater (we have an unintentional heated tile floor in the kitchen).  Come to find out we have galvanized plumbing that is 43 years old and we need to re pipe the entire house.  This quote was for 5,900, without permits.  Needless to say, after that I needed to see some good people and have a good time.  So I took a power nap, and that evening I had the extreme pleasure of attending the Lauryn Hill concert at The Ritz with my friends Lisa and Carolyn.  We all met up at The Bricks in Ybor and had delicious food and great conversation before the show.  We rocked out to the opening DJ playing hip hop hits from East Coast to West for about an hour and a half.  Then L-Boogie took the stage and it was a great vibe from the crowd.  She put on a good show, despite the sound problems and the big baggy clothes she seemed to be hiding under.  Lisa Carolyn and I cut it up and had a blast!  Maybe we had a little too much fun because I was regretting the extra glass (plastic cup) of wine the next morning, but it was worth it! 

Thursday and Friday were a mixture of work and relaxation/recuperation.  I also got to check out one of my nephew's baseball games.  He is the only freshman playing on the varsity team at Alonso HS.  I've been told he is only the 3rd freshman to play on varsity since the school was founded in 2001.  My nephew Wyatt Reid is Something Special  and has been my idol since he was born.  Watching him grow up and become such a respectful young man has been one of the happiest parts of my life.  (BTW, the game I got to see on Friday ended 11-2 good guys:) 

Saturday I used my Groupon to go to the beach and enjoy kayak + yoga = kayoga  with CarolynJena, and Jenny.   For lack of a cooler word here, it was awesome!!!  The paddle from Tierra Verde was the toughest paddle I remember doing, mainly because I could just not master the art of a strait line.  (I'll blaming it on the particular vessel and current, not the paddler, naturally, but if I'd paused from paddling for just a moment to adjust my sunglasses my boat would do a strange 180 degree rotation).  But I was there for a workout so I wasn't disappointed.  There were lots of fish and stingrays and birds and the weather was perfect for being on the water.  The destination was Shell Key.  I enjoyed a ferry trip there in 1994 when I traveled from the snowy north to the sunshiny south for spring break.  It was beautiful to see that little has changed in the 16 years it's been.  The island is only accessible by boat.  It boasts excellent overnight camping sites, and  an ideal place to day trip and collect large lovely shells.  It is a beautiful place to practice yoga, and while we were in warrior 1 position we even had a visit from a friendly manatee!  I loved the trip and I wish I could afford to go every single week of my life. 

Sunday was back to work and Monday is "prepare the house for the plumbers visit" day.  I have cleaned out under all the sinks and scrubbed the bathtubs and toilets so when they are busting up the walls they know what a wonderful housekeeper I am.  We will have 2 plumbers here, who I happen to have known through work for many years, over for 3-4 days to re pipe.  (and by the way, this much more awesome plumbing company will only be charging us 3,299 including permits and tax!!!)  So not the end of the world.  This venture is making us one step closer to really "making the house ours".  There will be 10 holes in the wall to patch afterwards so I will take advantage of this opportunity to replace the ugly towel hangers in the bathrooms.  I've been procrastinating that project and also painting the rooms since that will require filling in the holes first.  Now I will do it.   Bright sides.  Focus on the positives!  (sometimes it requires a little more effort than others). 

This week will be busy, as I have had to pick up a couple of extra shifts to help pay for this debacle.  So the blogging may slow down.  (Ha, I'm the slowest blogger ever already.)  So in the meantime I will leave you with some shots of some of my Zone Diet friendly snacks I've been having lately.  Wait for it....  OK!

Hummus, endive and Wasa cracker
Chickpea and cabbage salad with tuna and veggies

Nonfat vanilla Chobani Greek Yogurt with honey, blueberries and strawberries

Whew, that was enough to make me want to skip the gym and hit the kitchen to do some more healthy cooking, and since it is raining buckets right now, I think I might do that exactly!  I have some chipotle in adobo begging me to use it up!  Maybe I'll take a picture... :)  Thanks for reading and Have a great week!


Monday, March 21, 2011

St Patricks Day

Though I am a bartender by trade, I've been known to frequent both sides of the bar in my day - mostly in college - but being in the restaurant business it just sort of happens.  You've got to check out the competition and sample the goods so you know what's out there.  At least that's how I explained it away.  Wink:)  Now that I'm getting a tiny bit older it's just not as cool or fun as it used to be.  In fact, this past summer my Dr discovered that I have highly elevated liver enzymes and I am on watch for liver disease.  I had a CT Scan and MRI on the little organ and was cleared to wait 6 non drinking non Motrin taking months before the next bloodwork and MRI.  Since I still drank during that time I avoided the follow up in December.  It took a little longer than that to change the lifestyle, especially with the holidays - insert random longwinded excuse here.  About 10 months later I've finally kicked the habit.  Still one glass of red wine a day on some days (I don't want a heart attack, this is simply preventative...) but I'm off of abusing the sauce.  I've cut the dry martinis out of the diet plan, and the last time I got blood drawn at Garcia Weight Loss, my liver was A-Perfecto!  This is all a regression.  What I am here to talk about is that for St Pattys Day this year we skipped the crowded pubs and Irish whisky and opted for some good old fashioned play and exercise.  (I will add a quick note here that I am getting the next round of blood work done from my primary Doc next week so I will be updating afterwards on how the diet and weight loss has affected my liver and cholesterol and overall health). 
This year we went out on the trails!!  We decided to try a new trail and Croom sounded Irish enough for me!  So we set off after a good breakfast of omelettes with low fat jalepeno cheese and last nights chicken, paired with a delicious naval orange, and of course coffee and lots of water.
We filled up and checked the odometer.  Croom Trail was about a 50 mile drive from out house, and so very worth it.  It is a series of loops designated by different colors.  They are different lengths and they have shortcuts marked with green, and bailout points at certain mile markers.  We went to Parking Area #1 and planned to go to bailout point 12 miles on the blue trail.  I ended up being so tired from the climbs and the sand that I was ready to bail at 10 instead.  (the map says the bailouts are 8 and 12, but it has since changed to 10 and 12).  I'm used to doing a good 15 on the Wilderness Park Trail, but this 10 was 15x's more tiring.  Which equates to more awesome! 
                                 At the trail head there were facilities, flowers and fair warnings...


OK so I guess you can't really read the third pic.  It says "Attention you are entering a wildlife management area.  Hunting activity may be near the trail.  For your safety, we recommend trail users wear fluorescent orance.  Firearms and hunting are prohibited on trail".  Well ok then, duley noted.  I was already a little nervous because to get to the trail we took a dirt road that seemed to stretch for miles, which caused me to snap a pic and freak out that I couldn't upload it onto Facebook with the title "Deliverance" because I got no cell reception.  Which caused Brian to poke fun of me saying that I've lost the "country" part of me that I have from growing up in the Adirondack Park in New York.

The blue trail started off with a bang.  Brian fell off  his bike within 10 yards of starting!  (He'll kill me if he reads this, thankfully he'd rather burn his hand than read my blog ;) because he wasn't clipped in enough and didn't realize it starts off a little incline.  Toto, we are not in Tampa anymore.  There are like, actual hills here!  Here's a few shots I got from the trail.




Hmm.  These pics are taken from my phone, and they look great on my phone, but when I send them to email, save them to computer and upload onto Blogger they look like poo.  Any suggestions bloggers?  

We didn't run into many people on the trail (I think they were all at pubs like I would have been 15 years ago...who am I kidding, also 2 years ago...).  We did run into 3 really nice kids at mile 10 who invited us to ride with them to the next bailout, but I was D.U.N.   I had just taken a fall for no reason other than I was too exhausted to stay upright on the bike.  We read on the forums after that the trail is best after a hard rain.  Um, yes.  I can handle a little sand, in fact my quads welcome the workout sometimes, but this sand was like actual glue.  I had to walk through some of it.  Uphill.  In a blizzard.  With now shoes on.  OK, just kidding of course, but I swear I got to the point that if I saw another patch of sand I was going to actually kick and scream.  I want another go at those hills though, it was a wicked trail and I loved it.  The next time it rains and Brian and I are both not working, we are packing up the bikes and heading north yet again. 

Here's some after shots from the day.  If you look close you can see my awesome battle wound (i.e.dirt) on my chin, and here's Brian's much better looking knee.


On the drive home we stopped at another parking lot to the trail and went for a nice little nature walk.  I made Brian hold my hand and we found a cool tree to take my picture on, because, well, I'm a blogger now.  I need pictures :)

That will complete my recap for today. 
Let me go work on the glorious task of painting my floorboards in my house, and I will come back later with some food stuff.  In the meantime, I forgot to mention that Brian and I are now officially paid members of the Swamp Club and are super excited!  We are going to a workshop next week that teaches tips and tricks for MTB beginners.   We are definately more intermediate, but we do want to take the intermediate class and you should know all the beginner stuff already, so what can it hurt?  We are both off from work, it's free, and it will be a good chance to meet some club members.  Plus I'm hoping to score a sticker I can rock on my Corolla :)

Cheers! (holding up my cup of coffee, ggeez, it's only 9am people ;)


*Fun St Pattys Day/Bartender Fact.  Did you know that there are 2 ways to spell whiskey/whisky.  If the brown stuff is to be spelled whisky it was distilled in Scotland, Canada, Wales and Japan, and whiskey is distilled in Ireland and the US?

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Goal Weight hit this week!

It's been since last Saturday and now I have a full week to catch up on.  Since my last post was about how anxious I was about the brunch buffet I will start there.  It was deeeeelicious!  There were so many healthy choices there that I never felt tempted to really cheat or go off the diet at all.  Even when Brian and Paxton were saying how the waffles were the best they've ever had, I was just perfect with my jumbo shrimp cocktail, sea scallop ceviche, tuna tataki, and various salads and cheeses and nuts pairings.  I had 2 turns at the buffet but I didn't do any bread or anything too oily.  I even managed to have desert because they had these adorable teaspoon sized deserts to satisfy a sweet tooth without cheating too badly.   Our server was awesome!  If you go to brunch at Oystercatchers ask for Don, I know I will when I go back.  He even took our picture and emailed it to us.   We were hoping you'd be able to see the water and beautiful blue sky out the window, but it was too bright.  That's OK, at least we look good :)
 
That is Brian's best friend Paxton in the pic with us.  He is a dear friend to us both, and if there are any single ladies out there who would like to meet him and join us for the next affair, message me and I will play matchmaker (even though I swore to God on earth I would never do matchmaker crap ever again).  OK, anyway... We went home and napped off the champagne (also since we worked the night before we were only running on 4 hours of sleep).  Then we got up and showered and went to have Brian's birthday dinner at Capitol Grill.  Splurge day for us!  We each had a salad, and we shared a 10 ounce fillet.  It was like 7 ounces Brian, 3 ounces Sara.  It was perfect.  Then we went to the late movie and saw The Adjustment Bureau.  It was excellent. 

Wednesday was my check in day at Garcia Weight Loss.  Somehow this week, with all my not exercising as much as I planned, and all my restaurant splurging, I managed to lose 3 pounds to get to my goal weight, 125!!!  All I hoped for was to not gain, so needless to say I am overjoyed!  I've not talked much about the program here or how I lost my 17 pounds, because this is the new me and I'm focusing now on how to stay here, not how I got here, but if anyone has any questions at all I would be happy to answer.

Wed night I was back in the gym.  My friend Tanya was subbing the 5:30 class and I didn't know.  It was a nice surprise.  She has a great kickboxing class that I enjoy.  I used to love to do Tae Bo videos so this is like taking it old school.  No weights or resistance other than your own body.  As long as you've got good music you can still work hard and feel nice and sore the next day.  I was  hoping to get up and do her class today at 9:30am, and I did wake up at 9, but since I had gone to bed at 3:30 I was just a little too sore and too sleepy to make it.  Darn working late nights on the weekends.  I wish I didn't love the money so much.  There is just so much I want to buy, I need to work to earn it.  And this is pretty decent money.  I'm not looking forward to tonight at work at.all. because it's not my usual team who can "bang it out" while looking forward and not complaining.  But Sunday night it's back to Easy Street and then I'm off Monday!  I am going to go to my 5:30 class at the gym, but not before going to Goodwill to find some black pants for work that fit me!! 

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Laundry Day

This is going to be a very boring post.  I don't have any exciting news.  No pictures here.  (although, I have a very cute photo op next to me that includes Pekingese face)
This is me airing my in-my-head dirty laundry while I'm between loads of real life dirty clothes laundry on this beautiful sunny Saturday.  This post is just a journal entry in my food battle I suppose.  Because I'm feeling anxiety right now.  I'm just  beginning to enter the "maintenance" stage of life reguarding  my diet. I no longer need to lose weight on the scale to feel good, I have a 3 pound buffer.  I have a meeting with my new long term nutritionist on Wed the 23rd and until then I'm still following the protein and carb plan, not yet adding starches, nuts and what not (what nut?).  But now I'm "weening" back in by adding new veggies like black beans and tomatos, and for protein I am adding Greek yogurt (YUM) and soy burgers!! (which sounds exciting but I've yet to bother with them because my chicken , turkey and eggs have become so routine and I can forsee a regular burger without a bun, but a soy burger?  C'mon, this particular patty needs a vessle)
I've been doing diligint for 6 weeks now, and I feel SO.MUCH. better in every aspect of my life.  I have more energy.  My belly issues are a thing of the past.  I am stronger.  My CLOTHES fit better.  I am getting comments 10x's a day about how great I look.  I am getting things done that I have been procrastinating for years (floorboards are looking good!)  All of these things give me 2 results.  They actually do make me realize how "not great" I was looking / feeling prior to this change. And they all motivate me to stay this way.  But I have a few obstacles to get through before I'm certain I have this in me long term.  Tomorrow we are going to brunch.  At Oystercatchers.  All you can eat, all you can drink Mimosas, champagne and Bloody Marys.  I love me some Mimosas.  Seriously.  The old me could go tomorrow and drink 6 of them.  I'm not a huge splurge-for-breakfast person but come Sunday brunch I do love "the waffle".  Brunch buffet to me means 6 Mimosas, 2 enormous plates of peel and eat shrimp, and a gigantic waffle with strawberries and cream.  Tomorrow it means control.  I will leave out the orange juice and have just champagne.  2 glasses.  (Maybe 3...I do have to get my $46 worth after all, and we are celebrating the hubbys birthday so I see many toasts to him because I love the man and he deserves a few toasts; he works his ass off, and he has been so good and supportive of me.  Even when I was looking frumpy and feeling down he still loved me).  I will have an egg white veggie omelette, and 5 ounces of peel and eat shrimp.  I've been weighing my food for 6 weeks already so I've got a good concept now of what an ounce looks like to the hungry eye.  I will skip the waffle.  If this were next week I would fit in a waffle. But I'm not there yet and I'm going to do this right.  I cheated last week with the Wasa crackers (and lots and lots of extra protein and veggie servings) and last week I gained 4 ounces.  Not the end of the world, but a reminder.  Weight happens.  If I were to gain 4 ounces a week every week for a year, this time next year I am up 12 pounds.  My clothes don't fit again, and so on and so forth. 
That leads me to my next problemo.  I only gained 4 onces while cheating because I worked out intensely for 4 1/2 hours that week.  My body needed the extra protein to sustain my workouts.  Also, the gain was likely muscle, because while I gained the ounces, I still lost 1% body fat in the same week.  The extra protein I added was strategic.  It was pre and post workout, and I was attempting to turn it into muscle.  So even though the scale went up, I considered it a successful week.  (BTW, my weeks are Wed-Tues).  I reached my goal of maximum acceptable body fat...  25%!!!  But I reached this because I exercised my ass off (pun intended).
This week I am sticking to the diet, but I have worked out ZIP.  I skipped my 2 hours on Wed because the Oak pollen is killing me and I am borderline miserable with the allergies.  I don't want to cross that line and feel full blown sick.  Thurs, Fri and Saturday are work nights.  See the post below where I whine about my work routine.  Sunday when I usually go to the gym...  buffet day.  (insert dramatic music of your choice here).  Monday I will hopefully resume my healthy exercise habits, but it is Brian's birthday and it is his choice of what we do.  I'm betting he'll want to hop on the MTB trail at some point, but I wonder if he remembers what I told him last year about the  holiday his birthday shares a date with .   Hmm that could potentially involve muscle building.  But that's another blog entirely ;)
Wow, would you look at that time fly!  I have a load of whites to put in and darks to fold!  Happy Friday my 12 blog readers!  (It's Saturday for you normal folks, but for me with my funky service industry lifestyle, it is TGIF!!)  Yeay baby!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Pampered Pups!

This post is a few days over due and since I'm anxious to put it up I don't have the best pics, but I will update it later if I get some more good ones.  Right now the pups are just wayyy too excited to sit still for a photo session after their fancy spa day.  (I also wish I'd gotten a before pic, because this morning they were not pretty.  Matts in their fur, and pollen hanging off their tails).  So you've deduced that the pups got their furs cut today.  New girl at Petsmart did a great job (should have, it was 5 hours!!!)  Here they are on the drive home!   
Stifler...

and Dolce...

I am pretty sleepy because I got to bed very late and had to drop them off early, so I let Stifler drive for a bit...

(OK, really we were just at a very long stoplight)  I swear I don't drive with him on my lap 0:-)

Usually they get Milkbone biscuits for a treat, but on special occasions they get Bonita's homemade special treats which make them freak out!!!   These pics don't do them justice, so stay tuned and I will get more.


Bonita is a wicked awesome chick I work with who makes these natural healthy biscuits with love and if you want some she makes them for all seasons and sizes and allergy needs, etc. and I can hook you up with her  info. and I can also show you an awesome pic of her doing the thriller dance at my wedding .....  OMG BONITA IF YOU ARE READING I WANT TO SO BAD:)  She might be mad at me though and that would be a sad day.  (What if I made it really small?)  See she untagged herself from this pic on my Facebook because she is also a photographer and prefers to be on the other side of the lens, but this was such a good memory for me that I kinda love the pic.  It was just so fun to see her let loose, free from the confines of the Cheesecake whites :)
Bonita I love you and you are awesome and beautiful and an honest true soul.  I'll remove the dang picture if you want me too :)  But I won't like it! 
Thanks for feeding my pups, they are very happy today!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Molly Moo!

I'm practicing uploading video.  Probably not good quality, but I'm a beginner!This is my beautiful amazing neice Molly pitching yesterday!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Cozy up to the bar?

We got barstools!
Finally!
We went to the Macys Furniture Clearance store today and found these gems for $89 each!

My cabinets are the ugliest ever, so hopefully it won't be too long before this blog will document the installation of new cabinets!  And new floors in the living and dining rooms!  And a new roof!  And a mantle.  and windows.  and landscaping.  oh god I'm officially carried away.  Why did I want an older home again??

Friday, March 4, 2011

Mashed Cauliflower = Fail

Well my first attempt didn't turn out all that well.  I boiled a head of cauliflower florets in broth with a clove of garlic until tender.  Then I drained it and added salt and pepper, fresh minced garlic, about 1/4 c fat free plain Greek yogurt, Parmesan cheese, and chopped green onions, and mixed with a hand mixer.  I didn't like it at all.  Brian ate it all and his only complaint is "too much garlic" which was absolutely true.  I would have added as much garlic if not more if it were real potatoes, but the taste stands up strong to cauliflower.  I will leave it out completely next time.  The brussel sprouts were fantastic as usual.  The chicken on the grill, fantastic!  Good protein and carb combo for dinner tonight!  Good circuit training class at the gym tonight, and settling in to watch this weeks episode of V before bed.  Friday night off from work and relaxing at the house = Win.
2011-03-04 21.34.50.jpg

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Getting so close!!

I can't believe I weigh 14 lbs less than I did on January 1st!  I am so close to my "goal weight" that I can practically get away with saying I am already there!  I  had honestly given up all hope that I could ever be that weight again, and here I am, feeling better than ever!  OK, I'm good on exclamation points for at least a few sentences now...
Yesterday I did the same Wed gym routine that I did last week.  5:30 Just Pump and 6:30 Yoga/Pilates.  One move in Marcia's Just Pump class was super tough for me, but also made me ecstatic and motivated.  After we finished with a tough arm segment using 10 lb weights and a combo of squats and lunges, my arms were exhausted.  We cooled down our heart rates by going down to sit on our benches, feet up like we are in a kayak.  Then we took our 15 lb bars and "rowed".  It was pure hell for me, my arms could barely lift the weight.  This is when it hit me.  (Here come the exclamation points...) THAT BAR IS THE AMT OF WEIGHT I LOST!!  I lost 10% of my body weight! 15 pounds!  (minus 1)  That bar at that time in that class was the heaviest thing in the world, and that is the extra weight I was carrying around for the past 2 years.  No wonder I was slightly depressed and frustrated.  Marcia has been with me at the gym since the day I joined and she knows how frustrated I was getting and she's seen me working my ass off in her classes.  Yesterday we passed in the restroom after her class and she commented on how much I've trimmed down  She's said that before on days I've had a good workout and I would tell her "actually I'm up 2 pounds...hopefully it's muscle).  This day, though, I could honestly say "thank you!!  I FEEL great too!"
I came home and Brian was in the garage trying to figure out what is wrong with his mom's car.  It's an older Cadillac and he's pretty sure the radiator is going to need to be replaced, again.  I came in and after a snack of fat free cottage cheese to get my post workout protein, I made Brians favorite vegetable, roasted brussel sprouts with canola oil and kosher salt.  YUM!  he grilled up some lean pork chops and we each had a glass of Malbec with dinner while we watched American Idol. 
Tonight I work so I'm having lunch before I go in.  I got some Boars Head barbecue chicken breast from the deli, sliced thick.  I bought some fat free Dijon Vinaigrette dressing from Maple Grove Farms of Vermont Organics line.  Delish!  Also I'm slowly adding in other elements to my diet and while I'm not ready for bread yet, I bought these 100% multi grain crispbreads called Wasa.  I don't know how to link pics yet...boo, but here is a link to the website. http://www.wasa-usa.com/multi-grain-bread.aspx  They have Oprah's "bestlife aproved" stamp on them so I know they are good.  Sidenote...I'm embarrassed to admit this but it's true, if I see the "bestlife aproved" sticker I feel pretty good about the product. This adds a great crunch to a salad instead of the fattening croutons.  Here is my lunch.


2 cups of green leaf lettuce, one green onion sliced,  2 ounces chopped chicken breast, 1 ounce 1 1/2% mild jalapeno cheese, 1 tbsp fat free dressing, and then sprinkled with cayenne pepper for deliciousness.  Paired with 2 wasa servings (one slice each), and 32 ounces of water.  Desert will be a juicy peach (the plums will sit a few more days before I risk eating them again) with a protein powder in my water.
I will snack on a protein bar at work tonight, and when I get home from work around midnight, I will have a similar salad as I have now.  Unless I get a kids grilled chicken meal from work.  (3 ounces of grilled chicken breast and I will substitute the mashed potatoes and carrots for broccoli and spinach).  That is $6.  The salad is free, so we will play it by ear.  Probably the salad.  With another glass of Malbec (can't let the open bottle sit too long!)  Day off from work tomorrow with the husband.  He'll probably work on the car and I will likely repaint the office room.  Nothing like a fresh coat of paint.  Happy Thursday!