Kicking off the Holidays

Sunday is Empty Bowl Project day in Austin! It's always the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and I always think of it as the kickoff to the holiday season. Mom and I go together, and this will be our sixth or seventh year in a row to do so.

The Austin Empty Bowl Project is a fundraiser for the Capital Area Food Bank's Kids Cafe. Local potters create beautiful pieces of art in the form of bowls. You pick your bowl for a donation of $15, have it washed and filled with delicious soup made from a few dozen local restaurants, and then sit down to some live music to enjoy the eats. There is also a silent auction of "celebrity bowls" and commemorative t-shirts. All supporting those who are hungry right here in our community.

I'm sure the holidays are going to be tough this year since Daddy passed away just a few weeks ago, but if I can do things like this -- spend time with family and focus on giving and helping right here close to home -- I think I just might survive.

So, are you going?

Thanksgiving Menu

Well, I found out today that a total of nine people will be celebrating Thanksgiving at our house this year. We want things to be nice and easy and relaxing for everyone, so we're splitting up the menu and getting a pre-cooked cheater turkey.

Here's how the menu is looking:

pumpkin dip with graham crackers
turkey
bundt bread
stuffing
cranberry sauce
sweet potatoes
mac-n-cheese
fruit salad
green bean casserole
evil gooey cake
pumpkin pie
beer
tea

After we eat and the men chill out in front of the football game, I plan on getting all of the ladies visiting and feeling crafty while building some gingerbread houses. Here's to a nice and relaxed day...

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Cole and I don't go crazy on Feb. 14. No sappy store-bought cards. No red roses. No silk boxers that say "love machine" around the waistband.

Instead, I like to think we celebrate our love year-round. (No gagging.) Whether he's surprising me with a new pair of shoes that he designed for me, or it's me cooking a special dinner when he's had a long day, we celebrate in our own special little ways.

Plus, we're getting our hearts in shape. We're smack in the middle of week six of our Couch-to-5K program (nine weeks total). And isn't our health the best gift we can give each other??? (Again, no gagging.)

Breakfast: 1 cup Special K: 1 point
1/2 cup soymilk: 1 point
banana: 2 points

Lunch: chicken nuggets: 6 points
fruit cup: 1 point
evil chocolate-dipped cookie: 4 points

Dinner: chicken/parmesan sausage: 4 points
mac-n-cheese: 4 points

TOTAL: 23 points. I don't think I'm gonna have a loss this week, but we'll see come Saturday.

Merry Christmas!!!

If I can just get through the next three days, I can get back on track. When I've been watching what I eat lately, it's simply been me watching food go into my mouth. I want to change that after Wednesday (Christmas is about to be three days long for us). I want to get back on track. I want to have control. I want to count points like a pro.

But it certainly won't happen this week. And I'm going to have to be okay with that...

Nibbling My Way Through the Holidays

This time of year is so busy, which makes it so easy to just let go and forget the rules of healthy eating.

Lots of running around, so we're grabbing food on the go. It's cold out, so we grab sweet, fancy coffee for the ride. Other errands to run, so going to the grocery store gets put off and put off and put off. And since we're on the go, planning and preparing is a lost art.

But with one week to go until Christmas, I'm going to try to get a grip. I'd like to plan out the rest of the week and stick to that plan. I'd like to not lose any more control. I'd like to look in the mirror and be happy with what I see. I'm getting there...

Black Friday

It was an accident. I didn't mean to. It was not in my plans. But I went shopping this morning.

Just to Target. Oh, and Hobby Lobby. I needed detergent and coffee, and I thought shopping in the grocery half of our new Super Target would keep me away from the crowds and sales. I was wrong. I caved. I went over there. And I actually got a couple of good deals: fleece for my cousin's three kids, a coffee pot for Daddy and his wife (they recently moved after a house fire gutted the garage and kitchen of their old place) and some oh-so-cute wrapping paper. It wasn't planned, but it happened anyway...

Unrelated: Other than an extra piece of pie yesterday, I stuck to my plan. And even though I shouldn't have (man, I'm breaking all the rules today), I stepped on the scale, just to get a feel of how it went. Fine. I even had a little loss when compared to stepping up there a couple of days ago. I don't know if I will get to "officially" weigh in this weekend, but at least I'm not wrestling with any turkey-flavored guilt today. It was a nice Thanksgiving. My in-laws are always great hosts, and the Cowboys won.

Tuesday Before Turkey

I am not mentally prepared for a Thanksgiving meal. For some reason, I have this self-defeating "eat and have fun now, you can get in gear again after the New Year" thinking going on. So wrong. So negative. So damaging.

I'm trying to reverse that thinking and get into a healthier state of mind before we sit at that Thanksgiving table. And I'm already promising myself this: I will not fill my plate with beige food like stuffing, dressing and mashed potatoes. I will instead opt for colorful foods like fresh cranberries, green beans and sweet potatoes (scraping the marshmallows off the top), and I will not let my foods touch on my plate. It's all about portions and making the healthiest choices from what is laid out before us. I will drink plenty of water. I will take extra walks with the dogs. I will get my hair cut Saturday and know that I look and feel better than I have in ages. And all those things will give me the boost I need to get out of this frame of mind. It will. Really.

Breakfast: oatmeal: 3 points

Mid-morning snack: banana: 2 points
plain English muffin: 1 point
(one of those Thomas brand 100-calorie muffins)

Lunch: chicken and pasta: 7 points
5 saltines: 1 points

Afternoon snack: trifle: 5 points

Dinner: pork chops: 4 points
apple: 1 point
Parmesan slices: 1 point
snack cake: 1 point

TOTAL: 28 points. Not good, but I can't ignore the numbers.

Monday

Stepped on the scale Saturday morning to a two-pound gain. Two pounds. I don't think I've gained that much, so I'm going with the weight of the wrap sitting in my tummy from the night before and being a girl.

In our meeting Saturday, Pam talked about the three choices that we have for getting through the holidays: Maintaining the point where we are now and simply getting through the next six weeks, continuing to lose through the next six weeks, or forgetting how to count points and starting over with the new year. No thanks to that last option. I plan to continue to count points, but I know temptation will win at times. As it did the last two days... That damn Paula Deen.

I wish I could be a bigger person and put down the number of points I've eaten today, but I just can't face it. But, tomorrow is another day...

Halloween Treats

I could eat my weight in candy corn. Seriously. Real candy corn, not the chocolate or caramel or green apple kind. The old-fashioned, yummy stuffy that'll give you a stomachache when you eat too much...

So, what are you handing out to the ghosts and goblins and princesses that show up at your door this evening???

I wanted to buy some little toys like bottles of bubbles or something along those lines (last year we handed out play-doh and giant gummy spiders), but I just didn't get around to the toy shopping this year. So it's individual packages of Scooby-Doo cookies and Sponge Bob crackers, Twizlers, Reese's white chocolate peanut-butter cups and mini M&Ms. As of press time, I've had one little packet of the M&Ms and one peanut-butter cup. I think I've shown tremendous control!!! hehe

It's Cold

I love this time of year. The air is cool and crisp, but the sun shines through and feels so cozy and warm through the breeze. If there was a place where it was the beginning of fall year-round, I would live there.

And that makes me think about the holidays. And that makes me stress over what I'm going to eat at the nine family dinners that we'll be attending over the next couple of months. I need to start to narrow my dishes down, the dishes that I'll be contributing to these bountiful potluck meals. I want to take something healthy and beautiful.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how healthful our dinners are becoming, but they lack some sort of visual WOW factor. I need to learn to carve roses out of radishes or fashion swans out of white peaches. I just want to be visually pleased while eating healthy. For some reason my mind believes that if a dish looks good, it will be. I tend to go for the chocolate cake or brownie because it looks so good. If I can get our healthy plates to look good, I think it will make a big difference in not wanting to go "off program."

I wonder if I dare challenge myself to lose four pounds by Thanksgiving...

My day in points:

Breakfast: oatmeal: 3 points

Mid-morning snack: banana: 2 points

Lunch: chicken/cranberry salad: 6 points
100-calorie Three Musketeers: 2 points

Afternoon snack: mixed nuts: 3 points

Dinner (pictured above): grilled sausage: 4 points
fruit salad: 2 points
grilled tomatoes: 0 points

TOTAL: 22 points. It's nice to be back on track...