Adventure Wednesday at the Reservoir

How the weeks fly.  I'm already back with another Adventure Wednesday.

We've been trying to schedule my first hike for the last several Wednesdays, but we never seem to have time to fit it in.  So this morning, we woke up promptly with the plan to hike right away.  We fueled up, geared up, and headed for the Hollywood reservoir, which neither Tom nor I had ever visited before.  It's perfect as a beginning hike, because it's relatively level and paved.  (More of a walk than a hike, I suppose.)

The view from the trailhead at the Tahoe gate.  The reservoir is
fully fenced in, but we managed to take pictures around it.

I didn't even know that the reservoir, also known as "Lake Hollywood," even existed. It's tucked within the hills, and though it's right in our proverbial backyard, you can't see it easily from below.

It turns out that the reservoir features heavily in the excellent noir neo-classic, Chinatown.  (Fittingly so, because the whole film is about the sketchy origins of Los Angeles irrigation.)  You can see it in this clip here (though be warned, there's some non work/kid-safe violence.)




We were amused to see several drains that reminded us of the film.

Forget it, Jake.

We had an excellent - though smoggy - view of the Hollywood sign on the trail.

Lots of spring wildflowers are in bloom right now.

I thought these were striking. They reminded me of something, though I can't put my finger on it.

I loved these strange spiny flowers.  I'm glad I don't have pollen allergies, though.

Single daisy... or black-eyed susan?

The pattern on these thistle leaves fascinated us.
Would make for a great Halloween decoration!

I pronounced these "kissing thistles."  Then Tom pronounced them "kissthles."

Drowsy Tom presents a pine cone...

...right across the way from this pine-needle covered cactus. 
Ah, Los Angeles.  Ski or swim, pine needle or cactus needle.

Our first view of the reservoir.

I love Mid-Century Modern design, but not always the houses. 
This stylish panel-and-glass number falls in the "love" category.

We met some pals along our trek...

This little blue guy had no qualms about posing for the camera. Direct little fella!
I thought he was a jay, but his markings don't match. Anybody into Orinthology?

A fellow hiker spotted this turtle swimming in the lake!

Reservoir Dog.  Miss Purple?

Half-way through our trek, we finally made it to the Mulholland Dam.
Do you see those posts in between each arch?

If you look closely, you can see that they're bears!

A view from the dam.

Thanks, Mr. Mulholland! But no thanks for the very windy road that is named after you.
I always feel like I am going to crash when driving on it.

Tom spotted (and photographed) this strange little wood sprite-like thing.

All in all, a very cheery hike. Even the pipes were happy.

Here's our path, a loop I created on LiveStrong.
We walked from Tahoe to Woodlake and back.

And as promised, here's part 2 of my food log series this week:

Tuesday 4/19/11 - total 1415 calories
Breakfast: 1/2 cup fat free greek yogurt, 1/2 cup strawberries, 1/4 cup honey oat crunch
Lunch: 2 oz whole wheat spaghetti, 2 oz ground turkey meatballs, 1 cup asparagus, 1 roma tomato, 1 ounce goat cheese
Afternoon Snack: 1 light string cheese
Pre-Slimmons Smoothie: 1/2 cup fat free greek yogurt, 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 cup frozen raspberries
Dinner: 2 cups zucchini with mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes (sauteed with a spritz of Pam), 1 raw carrot, 1 tsp peanut butter, 6 oz fresh pineapple, 1 wrap sandwich (low-carb tortilla, 1 tsp veganaise, 2 cherry tomatoes, 2 oz grilled chicken, 1 oz brie)
Beverages: 64 oz water, 8 oz skim milk

What are you all eating these days?

Weigh-in Tuesday, little challenges, little successes

It is weigh-in Tuesday, following the first out-of-town trip I've taken since I started my weight loss journey in January.  I didn't expect much.  In fact, I expected a gain.

My family has been very supportive about this process, and just as much in person as they have long-distance.  My sister called before the trip to find out what she could do to help while I was staying at her home.  My father picked me up at the airport and took me straight to a Trader Joe's all the way across town (in the opposite direction of my sister's house) so that I could pick up a few staples that I always use.

It's a house with five kids between the ages of 9 and 18, so naturally, there were things around the house that I don't usually keep around - sausage, chips, sugared cereal, for instance.  But my sister's household is a very healthy one, so there was plenty of very nourishing food to choose from.

I had no problems on Friday, and I was fine on Saturday until the late-night hours.  The jet lag played wacky with my eating schedule, and by the time midnight hit and everyone had gone to bed, my stomach started to tell me that it was dinnertime.  Technically, it was.  We frequently eat at 9pm following a Slimmons class.  But I had eaten dinner already at 6pm (or 3pm for my stomach.)  I ended up eating an extra sandwich, upping my daily calories to 1800, which was 400 over my goal.

But then came Sunday.  I was feeling a little blue - a mix of genuinely being affected by an emotional show, plus nostalgia for my own high school theater days, and the realization that what was once my little nephew is now a fully-grown young man, about to head off on his own.  How quickly life passes.

At the airport, I didn't have a lot of time to hunt for healthy fare.  I chose a sit-down restaurant (usually choices are more plentiful there) and chose a grilled chicken sandwich with green beans.  It turned out to be an unhealthy club-style sandwich, which I was disappointed about. But I was running out of time, so I ate it.  And still hungry, I ate a scone, too.

By the time I got home, it was 9pm.  You guessed it, "dinnertime."  Again my stomach sent urgent growling messages to my brain, "this is when we eat."  I was at 50% of the HALT warning signs: pretty tired, and pretty hungry.  So I ate a protein wrap.  Bringing my daily calories to... I wince to say it... 2400.

For some people, 2400 isn't so bad.  For me... my metabolism just can't handle it.  So, as I said, I expected a gain this week.  But due to the on-target eating 5 of the 7 days, and exercise 7 of the 7 days, it turns out I've still lost 5 ounces.  Which, while not as much as I'm capable of, is still movement in the right direction.

I made some mistakes I could have nipped in the bud, and while I'm not dwelling heavily on them, I want to write them out here, and try to learn from them.

• Keep up whatever counting method you use.  I didn't, so I was eating blindly for four days.  I wasn't clear on just how off my Sunday totals were until I counted on Monday.
• Pack food for the airport (or any major time you'll be away from the kitchen without having selected something from the menu.)  It helps shield from temptation and the guessing game which is restaurant nutrition.  
• If you're about to eat when feeling emotional - even if you want to numb it up so you can walk through the airport without sniffling -  call your supporters.  They will listen to you talk until you realize that the real reason you want that scone is that you're feeling blue.

Today is a new day, and this week is a new week.  My commitment to this journey is only further cemented, knowing that even away from the comfort of my own kitchen and gym, I can and will keep going.

But because I drifted away from prompt food logging, I'm going to do something new for a week.  Each day while blogging, I will include the previous day's food log.  I'm accountable for myself, but doing this in front of all of you, I feel doubly accountable.  So here is the first in a series of seven:

Monday 4/18/11 - total 1405 calories
Breakfast: 1/2 cup fat free greek yogurt, 1/2 cup blueberries, 1/4 cup honey oat crunch
Lunch: 1.5 cups steamed broccoli with lemon juice, 1 samosa-stuffed baked potato, 2 tb fat free sour cream, 6 scallops, 1/2 banana
Afternoon snack: 3 small carrots, 1 tb honey mustard, 1 light string cheese
Dinner: 1.5 cups roasted beets & orange salad, 1 wrap sandwich (low-carb tortilla, 1 tsp veganaise, 2 cherry tomatoes, 2 oz grilled chicken, 1 oz brie)
Beverages: 42 oz water, 8 oz skim milk

Wishing you all a healthy and productive week!

Friend Makin' Monday, plus back from the land of family

Hello, everyone!  I've been slow on the blog uptake (both writing and reading) so I've spent part of this morning catching up.

I'm back from a lovely weekend in Indianapolis with my family.  I flew out to spend time with everyone and catch my nephews' play.  More on that in an upcoming entry.  For now, it's....

FMM: The Grocery Store

1. Do you make a list when you go grocery shopping? Do you stick to it?  Yes, and yes!  We have a food-planning and food-shopping schedule in place that really works for us.  On Saturday, we plan our full menu for the week, whether we will be eating at any restaurants or friends' homes.  Then we make a complete list of staples and items for any recipes we'll be tackling.  Then we shop on Sunday.  We almost never stray from our list, but we leave several things open (like, we need this many "random veg" servings to fulfill our daily total outside of recipes, and this many servings of whatever fruit looks fresh.)

2. Do you buy more groceries when you're hungry?   Yes.  And I'm much more likely to stray from the list to buy something I don't really want or need. So part of that schedule I mentioned above is that we always try to eat a full meal before shopping.

3. Coupons. Use 'em?  Thanks to the stores where we buy our food, we rarely need to.  But we do pay attention to the weekly mailings when it comes to meal planning, to see if any of the items that are on special can be highlighted in a recipe.

4. Have you ever complained to the manager of your grocery store?  No, but I do occasionally point out when a package of berries has gone fuzzy, etc.

5. Do you like to buy groceries at huge chain stores like Wal-Mart and Target? Or do you shop exclusively at food stores?  We rarely shop for food at chain stores.  (Actually, when our budget allows for it, we try not to shop at food stores, we prefer farmer's markets.)  There are no Wal-Marts in our city limits, and we're not really fond of Wal-Mart's corporate practices.  We shop at Target for home goods and clothes, but not food.  We typically shop at three food stores each week:

• We buy all of our produce at Super King  This international store has saved our budget over and over and over again.  They sell all of their produce on a loss-leader basis (meaning that it's deeply discounted in order to get bodies into the store. And boy do the bodies get into the store.)  We regularly buy a whole pineapple for $1.50, a head of cauliflower for $0.50, a bag of spinach the size of my torso for $2.50... I kid you not when I say that we aim to eat 49 servings of fruit and 77 servings of vegetables, and we can swing this for less than $40 thanks to Super King's prices.  We just have to get there at the crack of store-opening so that we don't have to wait a half-hour just to get into the parking lot.  It is BUSY.  A huge thanks to David, who introduced me to the store.
• Meat, dairy, and dry goods come from Trader Joe's. Excellent quality, unique selection and great prices.  (They even have a no-coupon and no-club policy; their prices are fair without faking anybody out.)  They frequently rotate products, which can be fun because there's interesting new things to try, but a bummer because sometimes the things you love most can go away with no warning.  Best illustrated by this song tribute to the store.
• We buy all leftovers (and any national brand stuff we need) at Ralph's.  If you are in the midwest, you call Ralph's "Kroger's."  You also call Best Mayo "Hellman's" and Dreyer's Ice Cream "Edy's."  These are the things that fascinate me.

6. How much time do you spend reading labels in the grocery store?  The majority of our diet is fruit & vegetable-based, but I absolutely scour nutrition facts for anything that comes with a label.  How else would I know what I'm putting into my body?

7. Do you push your own grocery cart to the car and return it? Who doesn't push their own grocery cart to the car?  I always try to return it, because I didn't do so as a young adult and I'm trying to make up for my karma.  Heh.

8. What is the one food item you always buy at the grocery store that you must have in the kitchen? Trader Joe's fat free vanilla greek yogurt.  But there's a lot of such items.

9. Do you enjoy grocery shopping? No, not always. If I'm feeling emotional it's harder to fight the urge to try something that looks good but may not be healthy.  And if it's super-crowded at Super King, it's uncomfortable (but the price is worth it.)  What I do enjoy is the menu planning.  It's so fun to put the week's food together with Tom, and it's very comforting not to have to worry about what to choose for lunch.  It's already chosen, and it's going to be yummy.

10. How often do you shop for groceries? Just once a week, barring anything we missed (or any canceled plans that would require us to plan an additional meal in.

Clean Cup! Clean Cup! Move Down! Move Down!

I'm a big tea fan.  I also like Disney.  For the past few months, I've been admiring there are two items that fit neatly in the Venn diagram overlap between the two - Alice In Wonderland teas, and a Mad Tea Party-themed teapcup.  And thanks to a birthday gift card from my friends Katie and Madz, I was finally able to pick them up for myself!

Here are the adorable Alice in Wonderland teas! I'm excited to try them out.

I figured I could kill two birds with one entry today.  I'll show you my new teacup as I demonstrate my favorite low-calorie tea drink.  It's inspired by a higher-calorie drink called "The Dharma Bhums," which I first tried at Espresso Royale in Ann Arbor when I was 16 years old, in town for the state theater championship.  It was my favorite hot drink on a freezing cold U of M winter afternoon.

(Side note: Holy cats, people, Espresso Royale is STILL THERE and they are STILL MAKING IT! Though apparently calling it "Almond Earl Grey" these days.  And, hey, Espresso Royale is now a chain and apparently has a store in Santa Barbara!)

OK.  Here is my low-cal easy-peasy Dharma Bums.

Step One: boil some water and grab a bag or ballfull of Earl Grey. Twinings is my favorite.

Step Two: steep, but don't oversteep - about 3 minutes will do ya. Isn't this teacup cute!?

Step three: add a teaspoon of Torani Sugar Free Almond Syrup.
I buy mine at Boba Tea Direct, where they have a ton of Splenda-based options.

Step four: pour in two ounces of almond milk, and stir.

Step five: Enjoy!

Espresso Royale Dharma Bums: 207 calories
Heidi's Dharma Bums: 15 calories

Adventure Wednesday, plus good news from my doc!

I had a doctor appointment yesterday morning, where we found out that my blood pressure is firmly in the "normal" range.  This is great, and it means I have a new non-scale victory on my weight loss journey...

Goodbye, little hypertension pill!

After my doc visit and my haircut, Tom and I headed down to Orange County, where we were picking up Tom's editing deck from our friend Erik.  While chatting with him briefly, he mentioned a restaurant he'd been to that he thought we might like.  I believe he said "you'll find it at The Camp with a bunch of other hippie stores."  This is amusing if you know Erik, as he is not a hippie in any sense of the word. But he does know that we are borderline-granola, so his recommendation was an excellent one!

We went into this situation blind - we had no idea what he meant by "The Camp."  So, hello, Adventure Wednesday!  We were on our way.

It turns out to be the country's first eco-friendly mall, featuring unique architecture, rooftop plants to reduce energy useage, and other nontraditional retail elements.  One rarely feels compelled to photograph a shopping center - even an open-air one - but I loved it, and was a total shutterbug.

The Camp has such a unique, rustic feel - you almost forget you're in a mall.

Thanks to my out-of-whack electrolytes (sorry, Nurse Sarah, I should have listened to you when you said "they're going to take a lot of blood, so you should drink some smartwater after") we headed straight for the restaurant Erik recommended.  Native Foods is a vegan cafe with a range of clean-food options.

I thought their beverage coolers looked refreshing!

So I had an iced tea while we waited for our dinner. It was described as hibiscus-berry, but it turned out to be
heavier on the berry than the hibiscus, alas. (I love me some hibiscus.) Still tasty, though.

Tom had the Ensalada Azteca, with avocado, cucumber, jicama, quinoa, lettuce, and mango-lime vinaigrette.

I had the Portobello "Sausage Burger," which is neither a sausage nor a burger. Discuss.
(It was actually seitan with mushrooms, caramelized onions, garlic, and pomodoro.)
Delicious... but more "clean/unprocessed" healthy than "portion size" healthy.

Neither of us had the cupcakes in the cooler, but they looked so well-frosted that I had to show you.

From there we headed out to explore the rest of The Camp. Check out that cool tree sculpture!

Even the trash was well-themed. Like a Disneyland trash can, but more succulent(s).

The stairs to a Bikram yoga center had a to-do list that sounded kind of peaceful.

The wine bar sported this excellent upcycled chandelier out front.

There was a fresh veggie garden among the stores.

Plus there were several places to relax, including a hammock, and this little sheltered nook.

View of the nook's roof, complete with natural soda bottle chandelier. (Mm, Boylan's.)

Loved these light fixtures outside of the Italian restaurant...

...and these bench seats, which may or may not be from tractors?

A store called Purre had beautiful displays! They were very kind about my photographing.

Another neat Purre display.

I loved the glass jug being used for a headband display!

Another awesome store, Seed People's Market, had this very cool vending machine with plantable seeds.

The sign on top of the vending machine made us laugh.

They have a strict no-photo policy for the original arts/crafts they sell, but I snagged a picture of their book display.

A succulent florist operates out of a retro trailer. I wanted to take everything home!

Especially this pot of tiny succulents.

I leave you with these sentiments - good advice courtesy of The Camp parking lot.

Weigh-in Tuesday: I could have.

There were a lot of things I could have done yesterday, after my feelings were hurt.

I could have gone to the refrigerator.  It would have been a challenge, but I could have cobbled together something crappy out of the healthy ingredients that we use in moderation.  I could at least have eaten the batch of frozen cake pops that I made specifically to help me practice moderation.

I could have ordered food delivery, as was my frequent custom when something stung and I didn't want to deal with it.  I could have eaten in one meal more than I ate for the four days.  Pretty easily. The calories stack up when oil and cheese are involved at the levels of pizza or artichoke dip.

I could have gone out for fast food, even though my taste for it is long gone, even though I wasn't really hungry for it or for anything else - just for the numbness that I used to feel after eating.  I could have gotten a side of mayonnaise for my fries. What? It's European.

I could have stuffed my feelings in so I didn't have to say that I was sad.  So that I didn't have to admit that I'm sensitive.  So that I didn't have to cry - and it's so damned easy for me to cry.  Or I could have lashed out, I could have returned the pain in full.

I could have thrown away three full months I've spent taking care of myself.  I could have gained back the weight I lost last week, and maybe even the week before.

But I didn't.

I weighed in this morning.  I lost four more pounds last week.

Three months.  41 pounds.

I am 41% of the way to my first goal.  And I haven't done this alone.  I'd like to thank Tom in particular, for being so kind and supportive.  I'd like to thank my friends and family, for listening and for not judging.  And I'd like to thank everyone who is reading.  Sharing my journey helps me stay on this journey, and I appreciate each of you for coming along with me.

Friend Makin' Monday, plus Richard Simmons dressed up as a pink poodle

So I have been waiting with bated garlic breath, for the Slimmons staff to post this video from class last Saturday.  It's excellent for a few reasons.  For one thing, Richard is dressed up as a french poodle.  And for another, two drop-ins for class came in full Let's Get Physical regalia, and the sight of them shakin' it with Richard was an absurdist's dream come true.

For another view of the day, if you check out the video below, you can see me, and also pretty much everyone I've gotten to know at Slimmons (Hi, Ro! David! Laura! Lindsay! Kyle! Tom!)



And now, for a little...

1) What is your favorite part of an average day?  Possibly right after I exercise, because I always feel good if a little sleepy, and the least stressed I feel all day.

2) Is there one food that you eat every single day?  My one staple is probably greek yogurt, which I eat for breakfast or in smoothies.  I also use it for a mayo replacement in any number of mayo-based salads (egg, tuna, shrimp, crab, seven layer.... just kidding, I don't eat seven layer salad anymore.)

3) Are you an early bird, or do you prefer to sleep in late?  I get more done when I get up early and go immediately to my schedule.  (If I get up late, or if I dawdle in the morning, it's hard for me to get back on track.)

4) Share one thing that you're looking forward to doing this week.  I'm looking forward to seeing my family in Indiana! I'm taking a redeye on Thursday to catch a performance of The Secret Garden, in which my eldest nephew is playing Archibald Craven, and for which my second-eldest nephew is the special effects technician.  It will also be excellent to see the whole gang including my dad - none of them have seen me since I started the plan in January.

5) What's for dinner this evening?  Our lunches are typically more dinner-like than our dinners (for calorie balance purposes.)  So I'll share both.  For lunch, I had a cup of ratatouille, four seared scallops, and 1/3 cup baked sweet potato wedges.  For dinner, I'll be having my usual chicken/red pepper/brie/spinach wrap, a cup of mashed turnips, and a small scoop of edamame salad.

How about you - what are your answers?