Still Counting

Well, one and a half months in and I'm still weighing and measuring. Go me!

Have I lost 25lbs? Gone down several dress sizes? Full of vim and vigor???

Sadly, the answer is no.

But wait! I have noticed changes in my behavior towards food, and that's what I want to tell you. It'll be good for me so that I don't focus on what isn't happening.

1. Tummy talk- This time around, I realized that I use to my mouth or eyes and not my stomach to determine whether or not I'm full or satisfied. My mouth tells me how tasty something is and how it's a shame to not finish it, because who knows when I'll have it again? Then, my eyes notice how there's not that much left on my plate, so go ahead...finish it. Now, I've decided to give my stomach a good listen and if it says it's full, then I stop. At first this was hard, because, hey, who doesn't like to eat tasty food? But it's gotten easier.

2. Make it a choice- Not only am I tuning in to my stomach, but I'm putting a positive spin on this Primal Diet. I tell myself that, really, I can eat ANYTHING I want (chocolate, pasta, beer...) but I CHOOSE not to. It's my decision. That has really made a difference. I'd rather eat something (or not eat it) because I want to, not because I feel like I have to.

3. It's smaller!- OK, I'm not talking about my pants-size. I'm talking about portion size. You know, I really don't need to eat big meals anymore. Even with WeightWatchers, I'd eat large portions. I could stretch a "point" like you wouldn't believe! But on PD it's not points but grams of carbs and proteins, and sadly, I can't fudge those. :( To my surprise, that's OK because I'm ....

4. Less hungry- My trainer asked me if I felt hungry during this past month, and that's when I realized I didn't. Three meals a day and one snack is all I need, amazingly enough. I used to need to eat more often, snacking in the mornings and evenings, grazing in the afternoons. For me, a snack is a cup of coffee with cream and 1 3/4 tsp sugar and a hardboiled egg. Or an ounce of almonds. Sometimes my mouth wants to chew on "something", even if I'm not hungry. I try to drink water at those times.

Alright, body! Seems my brain is adjusting to these diet changes. Now it's time for you to drop some lbs. Pretty please. :)

Weights and Measures

bleh. As a lot of you know, I've been trying to lose weight for ever. Seriously. For a while now I've been half-heartedly following several diet tenets. Of course, that approach doesn't work. At least, not for me.

So it's back to focusing on one diet- the Primal Diet. What I like about the PD is that it's about eating food that's real food, not processed and full of bad chemicals. It means only consuming a certain amount of carbohydrates and proteins. That, in turn, means breaking out my trusty collection of measuring spoons and measuring cups, my food scale, and the Internet.

Part of me balks at all this fuss. It takes the fun out of eating. I can no longer just grab some of this and a handful of that and put it in my mouth. :( I have to actually think about what I'm about to eat. :-o

But, another part of me is all for it. At least when I'm measuring out an ounce of nuts, researching how many carbs are in 3 grape tomatoes, and deciding how many ounces of steak will give me 23g of protein I feel like I'm doing something towards losing this weight. It forces me to take control of this part of my life. I know that someday (next week? tomorrow?) I'm going to curse at my measuring equipment but right now it feels pretty good. Besides, I've already 1.5 lbs since I started 2 days ago, and that's very encouraging!

Is It Just Me???

While wandering around the internet I found an ad for Bonobos which looks like a fancy-pants men's store. It's got pics of good-looking guys in khakis and polo shirts, posing in expensive flip-flops.

But when I think of bonobos, I think of chimps. Seriously, doesn't everyone think of monkeys when they hear that word? Why would you name your male shi-shi company after a bunch of chimpanzees? Maybe it's just me, but the word "bonobo" does not make me think of adventures with a man wearing madras shorts. It makes me think of the only non-human animal that has face-to-face sex.

hmmmm.....sex.... Maybe the company's PR people did know what they were doing.

New Beginnings

"It's hard to think about your life when one life is made up of so many lifetimes."

Or something like that. I remember a friend of mine said this once. It made a lot of sense when I was 25. I was on life #3 or 4 by then, and I thought that was a lot!

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you all that I have decided to change my life. I am leaving teaching (for now? for good?). I am a good teacher, but it has been very stressful. To be a good teacher you need to invest a lot of yourself, heart and soul, into your lessons, school, and students. After my year off and my year back in the classroom, I've discovered that I don't have much to give anymore. Even less to bring to my relationship with Froody. He's the main reason I've chosen to change careers. For 9.5 months I'm too tired to go camping, hiking, even out to dinner with family and friends. It would be so nice to be able to do all those things I like doing- alone and with Froody- for more than just 2.5 months out of the year.

Now is a good time to leave. Teachers seem to be coming under fire in this country. Even my current good and supportive district is planning on increasing class-size to 34 (hell, who wants to be locked in a room full of 13 year olds all day everyday for 9 months!?), not give us the next step in pay, and add more "furlough" days (no school = no work = no pay). Not only that, but did you hear about the school that fired all their teachers because the kids aren't scoring well?? True, I think teachers do need to be accountable, but so do the students, parents, and school district. How can the government expect me to teach these kids when they keep giving me less and less $$ and resources to do my job??? How can I teach these kids when their parents are unable or do not want to be positive contributors to their students' education?

bleh. I'd rather be an animal nurse.

End chapter 8. Start chapter 9.

Farewell, Tastebuds

As you know, all year I've been trying to follow a more healthy diet. With such a reduction in processed foods and grains, I thought I'd treat myself today with a diet coke and a bag of popcorn at the movies. (!) I also brought a small bag of nuts and my sister brought a bag of carrots. We had all the bases covered.

So, I buy a small bag of popcorn. With butter. Can you smell it? mmMMmm.... I'm so looking forward to this!!!...

Anyway, I sit down and have a kernal. then another. and another. Eventually, I put the bag down and reach for my sister's carrots and the bag of nuts. I was ssssooooo disappointed! I think after months of no grains my tastebuds have changed. The popcorn was OK, but I couldn't even finish it, not even with my sister's help. :(

*sigh* I used to derive so much pleasure from foods. They were my greatest comfort. Now it feels as if they are deserting me. Or, perhaps, I'm learning to live without them.

Rat Walk

My sweet girls! From left: Lysia, Lily, and Lottie (or, as my husband calls them: Black Rat, Little Rat, Fat Rat)

Rats, like people, have different gaits. Their style and speed depends on their moods and purpose, just like us. So far, I've identified 6 different gaits

*Waddle- This is a slow walk. More like a human saunter. If they wore pants, they'd have their hands in their pockets, whistling, not really paying attention to anything.

*Speed Walk- I saw this one tonight. It's a much faster walk. Legs and tails are held high off the ground and they spend a lot of time sniffing. I think at this pace they are making their mental map of the area.

*Skulk- This is when they are trying to be sneaky (more likely, trying not to get caught). They usually hug the sides of the walls and stay low to the ground.

*Prance- They are so cute when they prance! My rats do this when they've found something (nesting material, nut, seeds) and they want to take it somewhere else. Their heads are held high and they do little jumps, trying to keep their treasure from touching the ground.

*Scurry- I love the sound of teen-tiny feet scurrying across the floor. :) Obviously, this is done when they are in a hurry. It looks like a fast skulk in that the rats seem to stay close to the ground.

*RUN!- Now, normally I see them running when they are chasing each other or if they get scared. Or, when they hear the snack sound and they want to get their snack RIGHT NOW. :)

Whence from Art Thou, Chard?

Today, Froody and I returned from a long weekend of camping. It was great, and as soon as the pix are ready, I'll share them with you. The home larder was bare, so I went to buy fruit and veggies for the rest of the week.

Normally we do all our produce shopping at the local farmers market. But since we missed it, I had no choice but to go to a grocery store. I planned on making a recipe that called for capers, so I decided that the local Safeway was the best choice (more likely than Trader Joe's to have capers, and cheaper than Draeger's).

My hand stopped midway to the kale, immobilized by the thought, "I have no idea where this kale came from." I pulled my hand back and scanned the produce aisle. Much of the veggies had come from Mexico. I had to look at the bands holding the bunches of chard and dandelion greens together to see where they were from, but they only said they were from the USA.

Then, I realized that I've never thought about where my food comes from until this January.

Next, I thought it was strange thinking it was strange not to know where my food is from. Anyway, I bought about $100 in produce. I had to suck it up and buy some stuff from who-knows-where.

The checkout guy started in on me about how kids these days don't eat enough vegetables or fruit, yadda-yadda-yadda. Blame it on the parents, blah-blah-blah. It took me a while to realize he was impressed with the amount of vegetables my family obviously ate.