We decided to go to Hungry Mother in Cambridge…so delicious. Here’s a sampling of the food we got (and yes, I totally indulged in everything. Wine, apps, dinner, dessert, everything. I definitely ate way too much food but at the same time, I don’t feel all that guilty, plus, it’s Pete’s 30th birthday! >.>)
Pimento cheese with bread and celery…. halfway eaten.
Pete noming some chicken liver mousse on some crispy bread. Yeah. Chicken liver mousse. Yes, it was delicious.
The main course was the special – corned beef with creamed kale and fingerling potatoes. Holy crap, YUM.
And some really fantastic wine – Pete and I split a bottle.
We got a warm apple crisp with vanilla ice cream….
….and a free (!) slice of chocolate cake, because it was Pete’s birthday, and the people at Hungry Mother are totally awesome.
And some after dinner drinks (hopefully the espresso won’t keep me up tonight? Mixing it with alcohol totally negates those effects, right? >.>):
PS: After doing a lot of internal whining, I finally grew a pair and picked up the phone to call that clinic. It turns out they don’t have any once-a-week therapy sessions – they only do inpatient stays, or intensive outpatient therapy.
The intensive outpatient therapy is five days a week, Monday – Friday, from 5:30-8:30 pm. You have to attend a minimum of three sessions each week, for three hours each session. Typically patients stay in the program for 4-8 weeks (usually depending on how many sessions their insurance company will cover) It’s almost all group work, with sessions on stress management, nutritional counseling, how to understand emotional eating, yoga, etc. Each session starts with dinner. Everyone actually brings in their own dinner, which is kind of neat, and you’re sort of graded on the nutritional quality of the meal, I think. Something like that.
Three sessions each week is kind of…time consuming. If I had an easy job, didn’t run, was single, wasn’t going to start grad classes, wasn’t going to study for the GRE/MAT exams, AND had a housemaid and a free laundry service, well then, I would go five days a week. I can’t imagine getting home at 9 pm three days out of the week. When would I clean the apartment? When would I run? When would I have time for ME?
The thing is, I think that this could be really, really good for me. What if I go and find that it’s the best thing I ever did for myself?
Here are some tidbits of info the doctor told me:
1. I have to go at least three days each week.
2. I can go on any three days, and I can switch which days I go depending on the week, so the plan is pretty flexible.
3. My health insurance, as far as she knows, will cover it.
4. If I don’t like it, or it doesn’t work out, I can totally peace out whenever I want. It’s completely voluntary.
Let’s parse out some options:
1. I could just “go and see” and attend the program for a week or two, and then drop out, but if I’m going to do it, I’m actually going to DO it. I don’t want to half-ass it. I don’t want to get attached to a group and really start to dig into the nitty gritty stuff and then be like “oh, gotta go, bai.”
2. I could start the program now and put some other things on hold, i.e, I could focus less on running, or not study for the MAT exam just yet.
3. I could put off starting the program, and instead start it in the spring or the summer.
4. I could drop this particular clinic altogether and restart my search for a mental health provider all over again.
And let’s look at the pros and cons of the program again.
Pros:
1. It’s nearby.
2. It’s a really good program. It gets rave reviews and is nationally known.
3. My insurance covers it.
4. I can start whenever I want.
5. I can leave whenever I want.
6. It’s flexible in terms of what days I can go each week.
7. It’s specifically for binge-eaters.
Cons:
1. It’s a huge time commitment.
2. I’m scurred.
3. I would need to put other things on hold while I did this.
4. I totally applied for a job three years ago at this VERY SAME ED clinic, and GOT it, and declined because the salary was atrocious. I interviewed with the same woman who I’ll be in therapy with. Seriously awkward turtle.
I think I need to think on it.
PPS: My butt muscle is totally better! Wooohoo!
Oh, PPPS: Maria posted this cat video and it reminded me of this one….. enjoy! =P
Last night I was planning on writing this post and publishing it, and then I got home at 7:30pm, took a shower, crawled into bed, and fell asleep. And woke up this morning. OH MY GOD IT WAS SO AWESOME. So these December goals are coming to you all one day late, courtesy of my exhaustion. Enjoy!
1. Track my hunger levels. Total fail. I remembered to track about 3 times total, and then just subconsciously gave up on the whole thing.
2. More strength training. I did pretty good at this! I could have done better, BUT there were definitely times when I thought, weights? abs? Hell no. But then I did them anyway. A huge improvement over October.
3. Stick with WW. Ehhh. Fail. I still have issues to deal with. Eff you, binge monster! *runs away, cries*
So. What are my new Goals For December?
1. No bingeing. This is a scary goal, but go big or go home, right? I’m going to have a calendar, and every day that I don’t binge, I’m giving myself a gold star. Yup, that’s right, I’m gonna buy star stickers, and I’m gonna use them. GO GO THIRD GRADE. Additionally! When I have the urge to binge, but don’t (go me!), I’m going to give myself an extra special different-color star (ooooooooooh). See, when I don’t have the urge, it’s absurdly easy to eat on plan. Gold stars all around! But what really matters is when I get the urge, to not give into it. This way, I’ll feel extra special because I got, say, the GREEN star (ooooooooooh) instead of the regular GOLD one, plus, at the end of the month, I can visually see when these urges came around. Was it on certain days? Around when I get my period? Before I go home for the holidays? On the weekends? Hopefully this will help me.
Now, note that I don’t necessarily need to be perfectly on plan to constitute “not bingeing.” It’s more a matter of feeling like I have control over the situation.
2. Continue with my weights and abs. Boring, I know, but I need to include this on here, otherwise I’ll just stop doing them. Wait -holy shit, check this. On the same calendar that I have my gold stars, I could ALSO give myself an EVEN DIFFERENT COLORED gold star for when I do weights and abs!
=O
I AM A GENIUS
Also, whatever elementary school teacher came up with the star system, well, they rule.
3. Leave more blog comments. I’m really bad about this. I read so many blogs, every day, and I always have something to say, but instead of commenting, I just move along. Lame! Commenting takes 30 seconds and everyone knows that comments are like sex – even the bad ones are kind of good. So I’m going to make an effort to leave more comments on people’s blogs. =D
Other random things:
1. I weighed myself on December 1 like I said I would and I was 148.6. Thing is, I cheated and weighed myself a few times before that in late November (whoops), and I was anywhere from 144.5 to 152 (but I think the 152 was at night, with clothes on, after Thanksgiving dinner *snort*). I’m going to happily take the 148.6 and hope that by the time January 1 rolls around, I’m slightly closer to 140. Truth be told, though, I’m actually more concerned about not bingeing than losing weight at this point.
2. I got a voicemail from that eating disorder clinic and it was the head honcho telling me to call her back at her main extension. And now, suddenly, I can’t make the call. I’m scurred!! I SHOULD call her back, but, but, that means I actually have to face my problems, and figure things out, and make time for therapy each week, and I don’t know if I want to do it. Also, I feel 100% in control right now, so I’m like, eehhh I don’t need therapy! Whatever! But I know when the day comes that I get overwhelmed and binge, I’ll be like, in the fetal position in the corner, huddled over my cell phone, trying to find this lady’s phone number.
Maybe I’ll call her in a bit when I feel more ready.The offer (or whatever it is) will still stand in a week, I think.
3. I went for a run yesterday which was amazing. 5.1 miles in 45:15, which is an 8:52 pace. Sweet! Only problem is, I pulled some kind of muscle in my left buttcheek (sexy, huh). It felt completely fine when I was running, but as I was walking home, it really started to hurt. It felt ok when I was in motion and walking along, but if I stopped and then tried to start again, holy crap, OW. I’m taking today off from running anyway because I’m having dinner with my fam (my parents are in Boston), and I don’t have time to run after work.
It still hurt this morning when I woke up… =/ cross your fingers that it starts to feel better really soon!
I have NO pictures from Thanksgiving. D’oh! Apologies for the incoming wall of text sans photos.
Thanksgiving was actually totally awesome. It’s always very weird for me to go back to my home where I grew up, but I think I handled it well.
Thursday: We woke up at 6:45 or so to make it to our town’s annual Turkey Trot at 8 am. About a week ago, I decided that I wasn’t going to race it. I just didn’t feel 100% prepared (hell, I didn’t even feel 50% prepared), and plus, the course is SO hilly. And it’s a NET uphill. You finish higher up than you start. Buhhhh. What’s funny is that my father is the one who certified the course (measured it to guarantee that it’s exactly a 5k distance), so we kept busting on him about it. “Why couldn’t you have made the course ALL DOWNHILL, DAD?? GOSH” My poor father. He didn’t *design* the course, he just measured it, haha.
Anyway, my mom and I decided to just run it together, and if one of us decided that they wanted to push it, so be it. We ended up rocking some neg splits:
Mile 1: 8:39
Mile 2: 8:31
Mile 3.1: 8:35
Total time: 25:52
Not too bad!
Then, the thanksgiving meal. Sometimes I read all these bloggers who are foodies, or I have friends who are foodies, who talk about these amazing dishes they made, and I kind of scratch my head like, huh? I’m trying to get into it and read up about different dishes and spices and cooking techniques, and it’s a lot of fun. But my family is like, the anti-foodie. We grew up on Hamburger Helper and canned corn. So Thanksgiving is always pretty standard. We had a salad to start, then a huge ass turkey, regular stuffing, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce from a can, broccoli. And two glasses of white wine. Some wild and crazy things: We put onions and red peppers in the broccoli, and dried cranberries and apples in the sweet potatoes (OMG WHOAAAA). It sounds pretty boring, right? Nuh uh. I LOVE it. It’s 100% home to me. Cranberry sauce from a can served by my mom tastes better than any type of cool homemade cranberry thing someone else might put together. Dinner was fantastic. =) I ate until I was full, and then stopped eating. Then, had a slice of the store bought pumpkin pie my mom had gotten.
Overall, eating was not an issue. I indulged, but felt completely in control. Sweet!
It was so nice to be with my family. My family is really important to me, and they’ve loved me absolutely unconditionally through everything we’ve been through/everything I’ve put them through. I’m one of the luckiest people I know. *sniff* [end mush]
Friday: No black friday shopping for me. Can you believe that stores opened at 3 am? It kind of freaks me out a bit.
My mom and I went out on a 4 mile run in the State Park on the high school XC course along the trails. It was really nice to run with her. Afterwards, I went downtown to see my best friend Annie. We’ve been friends for…. uh… 13 years now? Wow. It was so great to see her.
Saturday: Another 4 mile run with my mom in the morning, and then I caught a ride back to Boston with my friend Ashley (we went to high school together, and she’s living in Boston now).
Sunday (today!): I did an 8.6 mile run this morning and IT WAS SO AWFUL. I ran a 10:22 pace. Buhhhhh. I stopped to walk multiple times (side note: the 10:22 pace doesn’t include this walking. I stopped my watch when I walked). I felt like I couldn’t breath. I was so, so glad when I was done. Am I glad I did it? Yes, but holy shit, would I have rather had it feel NOT HORRIBLE? Yes. Yes, I would have. Ugh.
About the ED clinic: They still haven’t gotten back to me (booo). I sent them an email inquiry almost a week ago. If they don’t get back to me on Monday, I’m just going to call them.
Saturday (more than a week ago): Pete and I went to go see a local Boston band at a club downtown. It was a lot of fun, but it triggered some bad eating/drinking habits. We decided at the last minute to go, I proceeded to drink too much wine (pre-gaming is so 2004. What was I thinking), and snack on food that I didn’t really need. Oh, and eat some of Pete’s chinese food that he ordered before we left. Mmmmm. Lo mein. >.< I had a couple beers at the bar too, and I even went and bummed a cigarette from someone outside. Reeeeal classy. Thankfully I was smart enough to stop drinking alcohol and start drinking water halfway through the night.
Sunday: Saturday night was fun, but for some reason, the next day I was utterly and completely depressed. It was awful. I had digressed back to those college days when I was practically a zombie due to depression (even though my doctor had, at the time, bumped my Zoloft dose up to the highest that she could in good conscience). I never, ever, ever want to go back to how I felt back then. Ever. And on Sunday, it’s how I felt.
I kind of panicked. I didn’t want to feel like this! Why do I feel like this?? Shit! I tried to calm down. Tomorrow will be better, I told myself. Just tough it out til tomorrow. Yeah, you feel like curling up in bed and sleeping forever, but tomorrow will be better, you just have to ride it out.
Monday: “Tomorrow” WASN’T better. I woke up on Monday morning with the intention of having a healthy breakfast, taking a shower, checking the weather, and instead, didn’t get out of bed for about forty minutes. Eventually I *did* get out of bed (hey, improvement! When I was depressed in college, I actually wouldn’t get out of bed. I’d have class, and I would just…. lay in bed. And skip class. Because I was too depressed to face the world. Yeah), and I certainly made it to work on time and all, but Monday was just fucking awful. I didn’t even stop for coffee in the morning because I didn’t want to interact with the barista. That’s pretty bad.
I told myself I should go out for a run after work. That I should eat healthy. “These things will help!” I told myself. But I couldn’t get out the door. I couldn’t motivate myself to eat right. I just felt like…. well, shit.
Tuesday: I felt better (THANK GOD). Still didn’t run, though. Boooo. Packed everything for Thanksgiving, because I was going home the next day.
Wednesday – Today: It’s late, so I’m going to recap the actual holiday tomorrow. But I had a really wonderful Thanksgiving with my family. I felt a MILLION times better than the past few days early in the week. And I ran with my mom all three days that I was home! It helped me get back into the running groove. And eating-wise, I did great. I didn’t count points, and I did indulge, but I didn’t overeat or feel out of control at all. More on this tomorrow. Also, more on the ED clinic tomorrow, too!
Hope you all had a safe, happy holiday. And thank you for the wonderful comments on my last post, and for letting me take a bit of a blogging break for the past week. =P
Hi, I’m still alive! I’ll be back after Thanksgiving! And after I find a therapist. I’ve thought a LOT about this the past few days. The last eight (nine?) years of my life have been spent dieting or binge eating. I’ve had a couple good years here and there, for sure, but for the most part, DAMN I have issues.
I’m looking into an eating disorders clinic near my apartment. I’ll keep you all updated. I actually feel very, very good about this decision. It’s a step in the right direction, I think. Wish me luck!
Last night, after I wrote that post, I didn’t eat anything else. I had tea, and then went to bed. So proud! That’s the first time in a LONG time that I’ve been able to stop a binge in its tracks.
I feel kind of weird today, though. Sort of empty. When I overeat, it releases all these soothing, numbing reactions inside my brain – and last night and today, I didn’t have that, because I didn’t binge. I just felt cranky and irritable and I wasn’t able to/didn’t fix it with food. So where does that leave me today? Well, I don’t know. I certainly feel much less guilty than I would have if I had given into the urge, although I DO still feel a little guilty. Case in point: after a night of overeating, I typically wake up the next morning with plans to get back on track, but instead, eat everything and anything before noon, and then continue in that fashion for the rest of the day/week. Today I woke up, and it was as though I went on auto pilot. I was thinking subconsciously, “well, I messed up yesterday [even though I didn't, actually], so I might as well keep on messing up.” I ate a pumpkin muffin (3 pts) and then made a huge bowl of pumpkin oats (1/2 c. oatmeal, 1/2 c. skim milk, 1/4c. pumpkin, TWO tablespoons of almond butter, and about 1/3 c. granola, and a bit of agave, all mixed together) which in total was 11 points. So I’ve had 14 points and that’s all before noon. Buhhhh.
I mean, here are the good things:
1. I recognize that I went on auto-pilot, and I’m not going to keep doing that today. I’ve got a cup of coffee and I’m out of the kitchen. Good.
2. My “auto-pilot omg eateateat” this morning was, um, a bowl of OATMEAL. Not pancakes dripping with butter and syrup, or an omelet with cheese and sausage and bacon, it was freaking oatmeal. With high fiber, low fat pumpkin, and SKIM milk. I gotta cut myself some slack.
3. The good thing about the oatmeal is that it will keep me full for a while, I hope. And I’ll have lots of low point veggies for dinner.
I’m trying really hard to give myself credit and pat myself on the back and all that, but it’s TOUGH. There’s this little voice in my head that keeps screaming “you screwed up! you screwed up! you didn’t stick to 21 points yesterday! you screwed up!” I will punt you, little voice, if you don’t shove it.
Another good/bad thing today: I’m not running because my hamstrings are SO sore. I don’t know if it was because of my fartlek run two days ago, or if it was because of the strength training I did (upper body and lower body, too – lunges and squats and such), but OW. They’re so tight and sore, and I’m hesitant to go out and run. I’m 90% certain I’m not going to run today, which is 1. good, because my body is telling me to take it easy, and 2. bad, because running always jump starts my motivation to eat well and be on track and all, I think a little shove in that direction wouldn’t be a bad idea at the moment. I might stretch a bit and see how I feel afterwards.
For now, I’m going to chill out and keep staying out of the kitchen.
Why am I so freaking CRANKY today?! Someone, kick me. Shake me. Help me. I feel like I’m about to snap in half, and I don’t know why.
I just snapped at Pete for no good reason (edit: I also just apologized). Then, he was like “Hey, Allison?” from across the room to ask me something completely innocent and I heaved this HUMONGOUS sigh and was like “WHAT.” (edit: I also apologized for that too). NOT COOL. The poor guy. Thankfully he’s a complete sweetheart about it.
Also, I feel like going into the kitchen, right now, and shoving anything and everything into my mouth. I already have, a bit, but I really need to stop before I take it any further. Hence, me writing this post. REMEMBER PRIORITIES!
What I have had so far today (just so I can have a tally of how much I’m in the hole):
Breakfast:
yogurt (2 pts)
nonfat cottage cheese (1 pt)
pomegranate (1 pt)
granola (2 pts)
Total: 6 pts
Lunch:
banana (1.5 pts)
Nutridel cookie (1 pt)
Odwalla bar (4 pts)
Total: 6.5
Not the most nutritionally sound lunch, but I grabbed it quick on my way out the door rather than preparing something more put together. I also ate my entire lunch before lunch time. This is not a good sign for me. Whenever I do this, I know I’m in a snacky/bingey mood. Not a good omen for things to come. But I was determined to stay on track, so I messaged Ashley on gmail chat and got a little pep talk about lunch. With some help from her, I decided to head over to CVS and bypass any kind of bad snack food/candy/junk that I saw, and get a 1 point snack (Campbells soup-to-go!), so that I would actually have something to eat during my 1-2pm lunch break. Walking into CVS while in a binge mood was like…. tempting cookie monster. With cookies. (IM SO POIGNANT.) But I went in and walked out with some soda water and 1 pt chicken noodle soup. Victory!
chicken soup (1 pt)
And then, when I got home (let’s see if I remember everything):
yogurt (2 pts)
granola (2 pts)
almond butter (2 pts)
deviled eggs (5 pts)
MORE yogurt (I know, ridiculous) (1 pt)
MORE pomegranate (I know.) (1 pt)
MORE granola (yeah.) (1 pt)
cottage cheese (1 pt)
MORE pomegranate (the last of it, I swear) (1 pt)
…..MORE granola (3 pts)
milk (1 pt)
almond butter (2 pts)
….and I think that’s it. I think. I’m also drinking a diet Dr. Pepper (ZERO POINTS YAY.)
Total for the day: 35.5 points. Which means I used 14.5 weeklies. Definitely fine (well, *logically* it’s fine, but in my head I’m like “YOU SCREWED UP, IDIOT” ugh – need to get rid of that negative mental talk. Side note: some people call themselves “fat” in their heads when they screw up, but I never do that. Instead, my mental self tells me I’m an idiot and a moron. I’ll always call myself stupid before I call myself fat. It’s interesting, and somewhat concerning, because I should have a lot more faith in my brain and intellect – anyway, I digress), but I’m fighting the urge to go grab more food as we speak. Oh, the things I could eat…. toasted arnold thins with peanut butter… applesauce and cranberries put in the blender to make cran-applesauce… another bowl of granola with milk…. multiple pumpkin muffins…with real butter!…. oatmeal with bananas and brown sugar…. I could even bake banana bread!…. or make some couscous with feta….ugh. Must. Stop.
*whimper*
Funny though, that I really only crave healthy foods. I’m not really necessarily jonesing for doritos, or McDonald’s, or Ben & Jerry’s. I mean, I’ll be honest, if I completely gave into this urge right now, and someone plopped down a pint of Phish Food in front of me, would I eat it? You’re goddamn right I would. But I’d also be content shoveling mass amounts of granola and cereal and bananas and oatmeal into my mouth. Huh. I guess that’s a good thing, right? Baby steps!
The real question is, WHY do I feel like this? Why now? Why today? Today is Friday – I’m supposed to be completely relaxed, and happy that I can relax for the next couple days. I’ve even gotten some stressful things out of the way this week – I finally figured out what I’m getting Pete for his birthday coming up (can’t tell you what, because he reads this, but rest assured it’s totally awesome), and I got a bit of Christmas shopping done for my family (ordered a few things online that happened to be on sale). I got paid today, so that’s a bit more money in my bank account. And I have nothing to do tonight. I purposely planned nothing, because I’m fairly exhausted and really just need some time to decompress after this week.
Ok, so let’s think. What COULD be the reason I feel like this? Well, I’m tired, that’s for sure. I’ve also got my period (TMI? We all get it once a month. Whatever), so that could be affecting me too. Although I’ve gotten binge urges when I don’t have my period, so I don’t think it’s solely related to that. The holidays are coming soon, and I always freak out in odd, subtle ways when I have to go home to the house I grew up in, so that might be it as well. I just hate going back to those high school days/memories/mentality. It’s weird. I don’t like it. Which is kind of sad, because coming home should feel GOOD. Meh. Plus, the food element of Thanksgiving is a stressor as well. My family is completely supportive of my healthy eating habits, and are all healthy themselves, so THEY won’t be too much of a problem – it’ll be ME that’s my own worst enemy. Lots of delicious food = a test of willpower, that’s for sure. I’ll come up with a game plan before Thanksgiving day to make sure I’m as mentally prepared as possible. Anyway, I know that’s stressing me out a bit, even though I haven’t consciously thought about it all that much, and in fact, on the surface, I’m actually truly looking forward to going home and seeing my family.
I love it when I get the urge to binge and then spend an hour writing a blog post about it, which keeps my hands quite busy on the keyboard. Excellent. I almost don’t want to post this yet, because that will mean I’m done typing it, and then I’ll be like ooooh what’s that shiny thing in the kitchen? OMG ITS SOMETHING CALLED FOOD NOM NOM NOM. The night isn’t over, and I don’t feel like I’m completely out of the water yet. But I feel better now than when I first started typing this, so that’s good. However, I still feel guilty for eating those extra points to begin with – even though I SHOULD feel effing AMAZING that I nipped this binge in the bud. That’s such a big deal for me! I should NOT feel guilty. Ugh, but I still do. Someone shake me. I’m being an idiot (BAH there I go again with the demeaning “stupid” talk). Tell me that I haven’t blown it, and that I should NOT eat more. I know I shouldn’t!
Time to make myself some tea.
Thanks for reading, guys.
EDIT: Tea and a good magazine, along with some world of warcraft (obviously, not all at once. =P). Just the ticket to relaxing on a Friday night.
Deviled eggs are one of those things that I rarely make, yet always love.
SO. GOOD.
Here’s how!
Things you’ll need:
any number of eggs (remember, you’ll end up with twice as many as you start with because they get cut in half)
nonfat plain greek yogurt
dijon mustard
a variety of spices: salt, pepper, paprika, cayenne, etc
1/4 of a medium onion
any other veggies you want to mix in there: spinach, mushrooms, peppers, whatever.
First, you want to hard boil the eggs. From what I’ve read, the best way to hard boil eggs is to put them in a pot with water covering them, and bring the water to a boil while the eggs are in there. Once you’ve got a steady rolling boil, turn down the heat to a medium boil and set your timer for 10 minutes. Once ten numbers are up, turn off the heat and drain the water, then put the eggs in cold water for a bit – 10 more minutes or so.
Then, peel the shell off the eggs.
Then, cut each egg in half. Squeeze the half of the egg a bit to get the yolk to pop out, and put the yolks in a bowl.
Mash up the yolks and add in your desired spices.
Then add in about 1/4 cup of greek yogurt (depends on how much yolk you’ve got) and 2+ tbsps of dijon. Mix.
Mince your veggies and throw them into the mix as well.
Then, once everything is mixed and has the consistency, put it all in a plastic bag and cut off the tip to pipe the mixture back into the egg whites. Or, if you’re fancy, you can use a pastry bag =)
Sprinkle with paprika, and voila!
Delicious! And pretty healthy too, considering it’s made with greek yogurt and dijon.
1. I went a few points over my daily allotment, but it didn’t turn into a full out binge at ALL. Not even close! I ate a total of 25.5 points. Counted all of them and stopped before anything got out of control. I’m very proud of myself.
2. I finished up laundry today (seems like a never ending stream of dirty clothes. How do people who have kids do it? Literally, some moms must do like, 18 loads of laundry PER DAY).
3. I did upper body weights and it kicked my ass. Excellent.
4. Tomorrow is FRIDAY!
5. I made super delicious sweet potato fries for dinner.
And also had a pumpkin muffin.
I’ve completely shied away from pumpkin this fall, probably because every other blogger and their mother/cousin/cat has been blogging about pumpkin this, pumpkin that. I’m sick of it. Screw pumpkin! I don’t even like pumpkin pie all that much, and I figure that if I don’t like something that’s heavily laced with sugar and fat, there’s no way I’m gonna like it plain.
But then I picked up a can of pumpkin at the grocery store (after furtively looking around to make sure no one was watching this moment of weakness), and saw, per serving: 40 cals, 0.5g fat, 4g fiber. Uh, maybe, maybe I judged you too soon, pumpkin. I apologize.
….so now I have 4 cans of pumpkin sitting in my cupboard.
I had some pumpkin in my oatmeal this morning, and frankly, it was fantastic. I also did NOT get hungry until 1pm when it was time for lunch. That’s 5.5 hours of not being hungry. Awesome. STICK TO MAH RIBS MOAR PLZ.
5. I had an amazing run today. 4.6 miles in 38:57, which is an 8:32 pace! I did a fartlek with 4 minutes regular pace, 1 minute fast, repeat. I felt good.
6. My abs are sore from yesterday’s ab work. Yay!
7. I’m going to bed early today….I reeeally need the sleep.
Things that are not so awesome:
1. I’m kind of broke, and it’s stressing me out. I’ll be able to make rent this month, but it’ll be extremely close. And with Christmas coming… well. Sigh. I want Christmas to be all like, Yay! Snow! lights! presents! happy! peace, joy, consumerism, baby jesus! But instead, all I’m thinking about is how I can finagle a couple presents here and there for my family at little to no expense. I thought I would be able to afford a new camera by December- I’ve been saving up little by little this past month – but it looks like it’s just not going to happen for a while. I’m so good at budgeting my money, too. I look for sales at grocery stores, I rarely buy any new clothes for myself, I put 20+ bucks from my paycheck into my savings each week, and I still always seem like I’m behind the eight ball. Yes, a lot of people have it worse than I do, and yes, I do have 20 bucks to spare here and there when it comes down to it, so I know I’m stressing out a wee bit too much. /end vent
I am not a good cook. Seriously. BUT, I'm hoping to get better! These recipes are basically my foray into cooking. Let's just say that if *I* can make them - so can you!
