Day 1 - that was hard

[threadwalker]

Oh chocolate, how I love thee...


Apparently I've developed some unhealthy habits w/o realizing it. I now realize have recently gotten into the habit of dipping into someone's chocolate bucket for Ghirardelli squares... the ones with the toasted nuts. mmmmm....at about 3pm.

Ugh. And the craving set in as soon as one of the engineers announced his own trip to the chocolate bucket. My internal voices wrangled with the strength of Titans; one motivated by the booty book and my recent commitment and the other with the strength that only comes from craving comfort foods. What tipped the scales was my disgust at myself - afterall, I "made a choice" and how sad it would be that I couldn't even get through the first day of "Eating Clean" without a piece of chocolate. I thought I had more will power than that. And I reminded myself I was going to reasses on October 20. The craving-fueled voice is biding it's time until 10/20.

So I resisted. My sweet tooth cravings haunted me all day, but I held them off with the goal to make it through Day 1 by staying on target. And I'm amazed I resisted. I have almost ALWAYS caved in the past when the cravings get that strong. Yay me!

In the meantime, I discovered some yummy food yesterday. The hubby thinks I'm wacked and freely commented on my insanity on the first 2 items below, but they are keepers as far as I'm concerned.

1. Cauliflower: I slightly over-steamed the cauliflower (not mushy, but not firm), mashed it and added salt and pepper. Wow! Who knew cauliflower could taste good without butter or cheese! I ate half the head and made myself put the rest away ...

2. Sweet potato: I have never met a sweet potato I liked and I have defaulted to "avoidance" for years. I wasn't even sure what they looked like a la natural (before people cook/alter them), so I had to read the signs in the grocery store. I baked mine per Tosca Reno, who then says to eat it plain. So I sized it up after I pulled it out of the oven and then gave it the same treatment the cauliflower got. Results: yum. Then I mashed cauliflower and sweet potato together (cf and sp), added salt and pepper, and purred in delight. wow!

Of course, I fully admit some of my pleasure comes from mashing. That's lots of fun. But I think they taste good, too.

3. Peach w/ dried cranberries and cinnamon: For late night snacking I'd been eating Oreo Crisps (WW = 2pt/bag). But these are officially on the No-no-List. I chopped up a peach, sprinkled cinnamon on it, added dried fruit and let it sit in the fridge for an hour. My taste buds exploded. That was awesome and WAAAAAAY better than oreo crisps. Goodby Crisps, Hello Peachy Goodness.

Bikini Boot Camp (book review - exercise portion)

The book is based on a spa called "Bikini Bootcamp" and the introduction describes how the founders/authors came into the spa-management business. It's funny and just goes to show you what you can do if you follow your dreams.

The exercise section was very well presented. This is a book that can definitely be used by fitness and exercise new-comers. They do recommend that if you've never done yoga before that you attend a class so that you don't accidentally hurt yourself. I would say that overall, it's easy to follow and acts as a sort of "back to the basics" in terms of exercise. I'm inspired and excited by this book.

There is a section on circuit training, core muscle training, yoga, and meditation. There is good background information on each sectoin and they are all designed to be done on a beach, so other than some free-weights, you are using your body weight. For the core and circuit training they present 3 different circuit programs for each and guidelines on how frequently to alter them as well as why you alter them. Regarding the circuit training, I like their approach that reps/sets are less important than form and control. They recommend maintaining the activity for a full minute instead of doing a set number of repetitions.

The yoga section is new ground for me because I haven't read a lot on yoga, but it looks very similar to what our dance teacher leads us through and what one of my DVDs has. It's one of the "flowing" styles and designed to be done in 15 minutes.

The book has little blurbs throughtout that have statistical info or inspirational quotes. I think this is nicely done.

I thought I was being silly when I got this book because it seems so gimmicky. At best I was hoping for a new abdominal routine, but I think that I just found the basis of my next 6-8 weeks of working out. I am going to try one of the circuit and core routines tonight at the gym as a test case.

I'm also going to try and get up 25 minutes earlier each morning to do the 10 minute meditation and the 15 minute "Sun Salutation" yoga that they layout. That looks like a great way to start the day and the blurbs about what morning yoga can do for your metabolism are very positive. So if that works out, then I've also found a life-changing element in this book, which is very exciting.

The book also has nutritional recipes and beauty recipes (skin care, hair care, etc). I just got to that section this morning and I'm eyeballing the recipe for dry scalp treatment. If I can find a kiwi at the store today, I think I'm going to test drive their recipe. Are they even in season? Do they have a season?

Comments

[dizzyblonde30.livejournal.com]

Now why would you put butter on cauliflower? *teasing smiles* Actually I've never been one to put butter on veggies except corn and potatoes and of course those are mostly starch, and why I love them LOL I rediscovered sweet potatoes too. As a kid I tried them when mom was going through one of her diet phases, and I hated it but now I think they are yummy :)

The peach and cranberry snack sounds yummy! We saw a blurb on good morning America today about healthy snacking and for the sweet tooth they recommended trying some canned peaches just warmed up a tad in the microwave, apparently it's supposed to taste like pie filling.

Of course now I want peaches, my pineapple will have to do as it's all I have today for fruit.

Kiwi's? We can get them year round here so I'd imagine you'd be able to find them. You'll hve to let me know how the recipe for dry scalp goes, I've been having troubles with that and havent' found anything that really does the trick!

Thanks for posting your menu plans, I've been taking notes :)

[catagon3.livejournal.com]

Most people I've run into that won't eat sweet potatoes encountered the candied with marshmallows version as kids. Well yeah, why would you want to eat that? You can also steam them or make oven fries. Butternut squash is kind of similar in flavor and texture to mashed sp.

[joycebre.livejournal.com]

mmmmmm, baked sweet potatoes with black pepper. They're also good if you grate them and green apples together and bake them.

[dizzyblonde30.livejournal.com]

i never had that sweet potato casserole or pie growing up, thank goodness , ick LOL I LOVE butternut squash, just got some at the farmer's market , yummy in my tummy LOL

[thread-walker.livejournal.com]

Interesting... so is it a 50/50 split?

So you grate them, uncooked. I assume you toss them together. Do you add anything?

[thread-walker.livejournal.com]

I like butternut squash, too. For some reason, hubby does not. He only likes summer squashes like long yellow crook neck or patty-pan (or whatever those flat ones are called).

I am making the kids try it. Mostly they hold their noses and make me spoon feed them. Tho the sweet potato wasn't done until after they were in bed last night... maybe they'd like that. hmm...

[dizzyblonde30.livejournal.com]

I haven't meet a squash I didn't like, yet lol I even discovered I enjoy spaghetti squash! I've never had the crook neck or patty pan squash yet but we love zuccini and yellow summer squash, well ok it's mostly me that loves them lol

[catagon3.livejournal.com]

Last year or the year before there was a little winter squash that I just loved. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of it! But the grocery store often has an assortment of winter squashes that are good to bake and scoop out. Crook neck and patty pan are similar to the yellow squash and a little milder than zucchini and can be cooked the same ways. I've grown patty pan the last two summers.

[dame-cordelia.livejournal.com]

I've never met a squash I didn't like. The yellow crook neck and zucchini are good raw in a green salad.

The winter squashes I cut in half and bake.

If you ever go to dinner at an Outback restaurant you can get a sweet potato (baked whole) as one of your side dishes.

thanks for the tip

[thread-walker.livejournal.com]

Oh - that's good to know!

I wonder what they would do if they served that to me and then saw me go through some sort of Mashing Frenzy. lol.

[joycebre.livejournal.com]

here is a close to a recipe as I can get :-)
use a 2:1 ratio of potato to apple. Grate while raw, then mix together, add salt & pepper.
optional step: put in zip lock with olive oil and toss until coated
prepare baking pan either by using nonstick spray if you oiled in ziploc, or oil, or butter (depending on your fat allotment for the day - some fat is good, because it carries the fat soluable vitamins)
pat the apple potato mix into the pan. Add either broth, apple juice or cider no more than 1/2 way up the pan - you don't need a lot, just enough to make it moist. A little lemon juice will keep the color bright.
cover and bake for 1/2 hr at 350, then remove cover and continue cooking for another 1/2 hr or until done. If you like, turn up the heat to brown the top a little at the end.

[joycebre.livejournal.com]

I couldn't eat zucchini until I was in college. The texture of the skin was unbearable when I was a kid. So when my son says he doesn't like something because of the texture, I leave him alone. :-)
I eat it all the time now, but when you're feeding them...

[thread-walker.livejournal.com]

My kids are a couple of actors. I can't tell how much "eww, it's squash!" is about the squash and how much of it is about being more dramatic than the other. They spend a lot of time eyeing each other and playing up to each other when it's time to eat. Evie now insists I "help" her and Nicholas just started that, too. They put on a really good show for one bite of Squash I help them with - and that's a bite based on their size, not mine.

I can't tell if it's a sincere aversion or not. But for one bite, they'll live.