Friday, April 29, 2011

Self Deprecation

See that there!


Do you see that roll of paper on my desk right now? That's a chocolate covered french crueller. Actually, its one of my favorite donuts (due to its half baked doughy center...yummmm). Anyways, I dub thee yonder post self deprecation due to the shame that has lead me to this wrapped confection on my desk. You see, today, my office had a box of donuts (12) for about 6 people. Most of which would never dare eat more than one. Can you see the conundrum. I floated into the office today on a cloud of sparkly fairytale dust after watching the royale wedding way too late for work. Greeted by the box of donuts and on a spectacular high I partook of two (neither of which were crullers, because there were none in there at the time, or so I thought) donuts. Come 3:30pm and there are still two donuts staring back at me in said box. Clearly, my favorite donut must have been hiding at the bottom of this deep box of awesomeness because now I see what was not visible before. I decided that in lieu of my donut heavy breakfast I should pack it for later. And here we find my shame laden donut for later.

But don't worry, I don't beat myself up AFTER eating awesomeness (that's just a cruel waste). I just do it up until the moment I get to experience the culinary awesomeness. Please don't be confused by my GBLA. It was the bread's fault not mine!

Sorry I cannot proofread or spell check this confession because it is time to close up shop.

Thank you for listening.

Thursday, April 28, 2011

GBLA - GOOD Bread Lovers Annonymous

Hi, my name is Minoo, and I'm addicted to good bread. Yes, I said GOOD bread. I can't buy any type of GOOD bread because it is guaranteed that I will eat it at an unnatural pace.

Let me demonstrate the power GOOD bread has over me.

This past Sunday I did my groceries with a standard list. (Milk, Eggs, Meat, Yogurt, Cheese, etc Bread) As I perused the bread aisle something possessed me to stand head-on with and stare at GOOD bread. In the past I have made a general practice of walking past GOOD bread straight to MEH bread. I usually buy MEH bread because its healthier and its mediocre flavor (and texture) limit its usage to sandwiches ONLY because that's the only way MEH bread can be deemed acceptable. Oh, and also, in this fashion MEH bread can last (as a meal option in my fridge) for up to 2 weeks. But Sunday, I had the misfortune of forgetting the "game plan" and gazed too long upon GOOD bread. I didn't stand a chance.

And neither did the GOOD bread in my fridge. It was gone in three days compared to the 14 days MEH bread lasts. Sorry love-handles, I have failed you with my poor decision making on that fateful Sunday.

Due to my addiction to GOOD bread I was forced to make a midweek grocery run for a new bag of bread, MEH bread of course. And now I am in a self imposed GBLA state until my next encounter with the enemy. But damn, why are things that are so good usually so bad for you?

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Whooped Behind

Yes, Bikram whooped my behind Monday night. It was very humbling given that I had missed a week of yoga and thought I would be greeted with a superman feeling (you know, having rested and all). It was so bad I talked myself off the ledge (that is a psychological ledge leading to just giving up and leaving the torture chamber early) SEVERAL times before it was over. Well, Bikram sure as hell told me! (*arm wave* mmmm hmmm)

I'll drag my behind back tomorrow, as the shame has almost subsided.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Cheese!

Okay, now I know I can't be the only one on the planet who abstained from cheesecake for my first two decades of life because cheese and cake sound weird and therefore together must taste weird. But I decided to give it a chance in my twenties because apparently not liking cheesecake is perceived as weird by the greater population. Whatever. So, I planned to give it a try one day, probably in the company of cheesecake loving coworkers, because it couldn't be that bad if so many people are crazy for it. And it wasn't, it was pretty damn delicious, so I scratched it off the list of foods that I mentally set myself up to dislike (sorry raw tomatoes and cantalope).

This week I encountered another fateful food item off of my subconciously banned food list. Cottage cheese. Now, there must be an even bigger population of folks that can agree that cottage cheese sounds weird and therefore is weird, right? Probably. So, when I found out that a relative was praising the stuff I was perplexed to say the least. I knew cottage cheese is somehow related to weightloss. My thought on that: I will never want to lose weight THAT BAD! So anyways, the power of a family testimonial overcame my aversion to foods that (in my mind) innapropriately incorporate "cheese". My (low) expectations were that it would be like lumpy yogurt. Long story short, its just a bland crumbled cheese (yes, the lumpiness is the consistency of actual cheese that actually requires chewing, unlike yogurt) similar to maybe soft mexican cheese (no not shredded cheddar blends used on tacos) blocks sold in packages of 3. But with even less flavor, not even a sour yogurty taste. So my findings are that cottage cheese is not repulsive nor is it delicious. It's just sort of a blank slate that requires modification to suit the tastes of the diner, muuuuuch like tofu (actually almost exactly like tofu, minus the veggies add dairy).

I bought a 4-pack of Breakstone's Lowfat with mango. They are some tiny containers (4 oz!) with a teensy bit of mango. I thought it would be like mango yogurt but it was more like mango cheese (yucky sounding I know). It wasn't too bad, but I think I will experiment with more salty combinations after I finish this 4-pack. Oh, and I know why it is recommended for weightloss. That itty bitty serving kept me full for nearly 3 hours yesterday afternoon. Which is a tremendous feat for the hours usually designated for snack-binges. For a perpetual snacker it was almost a miracle :)

**Update**

Breakstone's Cottage Doubles Apple Cinnamon is disgustingly good. That is all.

Spring Fever

I went through some major spring fever last week. I abandoned all normal routine, abstained from indoor activities (like yoga), and tried to enjoy the week with someone special. Now that my fever has subsided, back to normally scheduled programming. So tonight, yoga; a week too late to start the group challenges. But oh well, spring inspires me to not sweat ( haha bikram-pun intended) the lost time and go forth with my own personal challenge. I'm thinking 5 days a week as I still need some time to take advantage of this season.


Another photo demonstrating my obsessiveness with spring flowers. Also see this.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Spring is in the Air

Okay, so what if it has been "Spring" since Mar 20ish, I didn't start REALLY feeling it until April 8ish, and now I have completed the Spring Welcoming ritual that I clamour to do every year: enjoy some seasonal flower trees.

Yesterday, started like any other day, with work and dinner plans. I showed up to my dinner a full 30 minutes early and had the fortune of stumbling on the best Spring Welcoming setup imaginable. It was warm out (70s), sunny (but not stiflingly humid), and there was a breeze enhancing the setup. Yet my ritual wouldn't have been complete without sitting under one of these...






Which, I did while reading a book and simulteneously going camera-happy.















And later, after dinner....






Swoon :)

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Catchup on Goals

Last week went pretty well. Yoga'ed 3 times, ran 2 miles at the gym Sat. morning and spent some long overdue time with friends and family. And yes, Saturday night into Sunday morning consisted of a mess of comfort food (pizza, cupcakes, chocolate, cheese) at Gma's house. And I enjoyed it, no regrets. Back on track this week with eating well, purchasing less, and yoga. 30 and 60 day challenges starting Sunday at the yoga studio. I signed my name on the sticker chart, but I have no idea what I intend to accomplish with that. I'll decide next Monday.

On a completely unrelated note, thank you Spring for finally joining us this last week. All I need to make this transition complete is to visit GTCC and get the April special Thin Mint cupcake with one of my favorite people. :-)

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Resolutions Day 2: Success

I accomplished all my goals for one day Tuesday. I ate right, purchased no outside food, and went to yoga yesterday. It felt so good that I forgot why I avoided it for 2 weeks. I thought I would be disappointed by my lack of flexibility and strength, but impressively it was a lot like riding a bike. I almost picked up where I had left off, and now I'm motivated to return tonight. I have a feeling the rest of this week is going to coast easily and the real trial will be this weekend... Where there's family there's opportunities to eat recklessly. We all know how this works. I just have to figure out how to avoid the danger...hmmm

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Shaky Start

Not doing so well with my 2nd quarter resolutions. I kept intending to go to yoga, I really did, but my friend really wanted Chipotle and I haven't gone anywhere with her in over a month. So, Chipotle won this time. But not really because they only charged me for one of the two meals I intended on purchasing. I stood there signaling and waiting for her to ring up the other meal in my bag but the woman looked so preoccupied with other things and appeared to be intentionally avoiding eye contact with me, so I forwent paying for the second meal. So I kinda won, no? I would feel bad, but I cannot count the number of times they charged me for unordered extra meat or guac on a veggie bowl! So, the score is even.

Tonight, take two of trying to get to yoga.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Review of 2nd Quarter Resolutions (week one)

This weekend was to be my preparation weekend for the second quarter resolutions. It went decently in terms of food.

1. Attempt to purchase outside food once a week: Fail, I treated my family to Panera.

2. Limit lattes to weekends only. Ok, this weekend I had, one latte, one iced caramel machiatto, and one skim coffee frap. Meh. It was the weekend. And I'm happy to report that I have prepared my own coffee this morning, twice. I may have a problem...

3. Buy groceries each week with a plan for meal options. Well, technically I went to Target and bought instant oatmeal, 5 lean cuisines, and 5 packets of tuna.

4. Go home and cook said groceries into several meals. See 3.

5. Arrange said meals for convenient access throughout the week. See 3.

6. Eat aforementioned meals daily. Ok I will.

So not too shabby of a preparation weekend, aside from the familial splurge. As far as activity, I'll be at yoga tonight. And if the weather hold up I'll have some runs this weekend.

Friday, April 1, 2011

2nd Quarter Resolutions

In response to my recent cry for help (see Descension) I have decided that April 1st would make a fitting day to propose some 2nd quarter resolutions to myself. I really didn't have any concrete resolutions for the first quarter (Jan 1-Mar 31) of the year. Perhaps it was, to do my best. Which, I believe I generally accomplished minus roughly the past two weeks. Okay, so now its time to refocus on the things that make me feel like a well-functioning pseudo-adult.

Food
1. Attempt to purchase outside food once a week, unless someone else is paying :)
2. Limit lattes to weekends only. The workplace coffee shop is geared towards doctors and it ain't cheap.
3. Buy groceries each week with a plan for meal options.
4. Go home and cook said groceries into several meals.
5. Arrange said meals for convenient access throughout the week.
6. Eat aforementioned meals daily. You'd be surprised how hard this can be on some lazy slash overwhelming days.

Activity
1. Go to yoga every day. AKA...drink lots of water, eat healthy, maintain clean workout clothes, and drive to yoga studio everyday. It amazes me how when one of these fails this whole goal fails.
2. Dust off the running shoes with warmer weather.

Is that really all? It doesn't look so bad in one post. I will use this weekend to prepare/organize and strive for full participation by Monday (because Mondays are the best to start stuff).

Descension

It has been brought to my attention by a well-meaning observer that I have lost touch with much of my usual routine. Yes, I can admit that I haven't used my kitchen in over two weeks; nor have I performed a proper grocery store visit since St. Patty's Day. Ok, and so I haven't been to yoga since 3/21 and I've eaten frozen meals and outside food more than I can count. Hey, it happens. We all go through cycles in our seasons where we are on a roll with many good habits and then slowly they start to fall away until you realize that you've had CPK frozen pizzas on 3 occasions this week and have purchased nearly a latte a day for the past 7-14 days, right?. This decline in healthy habits happens so subtly that you barely notice any change at all. Today, however, the jig is up, because a third party observer has recognized my downward spiral,crap, and I guess I can appreciate the wake up call. It has been getting a little scary. I need a fresh post to remedy this situation, asap.