It's The Final Countdown!

So here we are, with a little less than 2 weeks to go in Nutrisystem-town! I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited that the end is in sight! While I may not have lost 30 pounds or anything, I think I’m accomplishing what I set out to do – which was to develop a well balanced diet, be less crazy, etc. On Saturday I enjoyed a fabulous brunch, a meat-tacular dinner at Redbones, and some of the best homemade chocolate cake I’ve ever had . . . and I didn’t feel guilty about it, and I didn’t gain 17 pounds, and the world continued to rotate on its axis. Miracles!

And speaking of miracles, I am currently reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver. It’s a non-fiction book about her family’s year-long experiment with eating locally, which meant growing / raising most of their own food or buying directly from local farmers, etc. While it helped that Kingsolver’s family lives on a farm in rural Virginia, the whole concept of being conscious of where your food actually comes from, who grew it, how far it travelled to get from the field to your plate . . . its an interesting one, especially for a city dweller like me. In urban areas, I think we’re apt to celebrate that fact that we can get pretty much anything we want, any time of the year. Recipe calls for three cups Himalayan mushrooms and some squid indigenous to the waters off the coast of Guam? To the Super 88 Market! Need starfruit in January? No problem! On the flipside, though . . . do we know what asparagus really tastes like when its fresh from the ground, and hasn't travelled 2,000 miles in the back of a truck to your local produce section? What exactly is the “season” for lettuce, anyway? It’s kind of scary just how removed a lot of us are from the actual life cycle of our food . . . which makes it easy to slam any old pre-packaged thing into our faces as we rush out the door. Not only am I looking forward to *not* consuming all of my meals from microwavable containers that contain added drugs – I’m excited about the opportunity to start experimenting in the kitchen, whipping up real recipes where I can control the ingredients and making up my own little signature dishes as I go along. Me of two months ago would have been daunted and stressed by this prospect – but I have been born-again as a fresh-foodie, and I am not ashamed!

In the meantime, though, the boxes in my kitchen still need emptying. This morning I’m having some Cluster Crunch Cereal (from a pouch) and for lunch there’s “fettucini alfredo” (from a ramen cup) . . . dinner will be microwaved goopy-sauce-meal, with some veggies from the Farmers Market thrown in. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

I want to ride my bicycle . . .

Happy Monday, everyone! Where did the weekend go?! It seems like it was just hours ago that I was taking my Friday evening jaunt to the Newbury Comics in Faneuil Hall (note: a terrible location for a Newbury Comics!) and now suddenly – I’m back at my desk. Please lord, let this week be a gentle one!

Food wise, the weekend was not very exciting. Saturday night we went out on the town, and I got a walnut and goat cheese salad at Tavern on the Square. This was followed by a rum and diet coke and a couple light beers at the Courtside . .. which was then followed by a drunken karaoke performance of No Doubt’s “I’m Just A Girl”. God, I love Saturday night!!

The biggest thrill of the weekend, however, was the new addition to Tea’s world – my new bike, Ernestine!




Yes, I named my bike. I figured she and I need to bond and thus lessen the risk of me riding into traffic and dying. I won’t lie – I’m a little nervous about city biking. Growing up, I was always that kid who rode her bike into a mailbox, or fell in the neighbor’s bushes trying to hop the curb, etc. etc. But many years have passed since the peak of my awkward childhood phase – so I’m hoping that, along with the ability to write a check and use the stove, has come the ability to ride a bike without killing myself. I still need to adjust the seat and the handlebars before I take her out on an official road test. This will hopefully happen in the next day or so . . . although I am still totally beat from last week’s stress and my fun-filled weekend, and I’m now trying to fight off the Fall Plague. Be gone, plague -- there's much to do!

Also – I feel really badly that I’ve missed yoga the last two Sundays! Sunday morning is kind of a bad time to do hardcore yoga, since Saturday night tends to be my party night. The studio has a beginner class on Wednesday evenings, so while I might not have the company of my partner-in-crime, Julie, it might be more doable schedule wise. Plus an evening class might work better since I was pretty tired after the last session—it’d be perfect to go home, take a shower and crawl into bed! We’ll see if I can get my ass over there this week. Time to follow through on all my various plans and schemes!

Worst. Blogger. EVER!

This might not be my dog, but his face seems to convey exactly what needs to be said about my blogging efforts of late. Pathetic.

I know, I know guys! My only excuse for my lack of posting is really . . . lack of posting material. I have found that making interesting / insightful commentary on eating freeze-dried space food every day is a lot more challenging than expected. I guess this sheds some light onto one of the many reasons why "dieting" is hard, and most "diets" fail -- dieting is boring. It gets boring, eating the same thing (or limited variety of things) every day. It gets boring having to puzzle over what to order when dining out with friends, or whether I should suck it up and skip the next round of drinks. One light beer is simply not potent enough for me to get up and do karaoke at my favorite local dive bar!

I think perhaps I have been too limited in what I imagined this blog to be about -- weird Nutrisystem food. Yeh, the food is kinda whack, and it was a total novelty to open up that big cardboard box for the first time and see my whole month's menu neatly packaged in color-coded containers. But honestly . . . there's a lot more to life than the 3 meals and 2 snacks I eat every day. I'm thinking the blog needs to become more about that -- with some fun meal-plan reports mixed in, of course!

That said -- I'm hanging in here with the Nutri-food! Aside from a few weekend social lapses . . . and an unfortunately hormonal evening where I binged on several chocolatey Nutrisystem desserts . . . I am pretty much sticking to it. Mama G has also been pretty darn good about following the plan, and is rapidly approaching a 20 lb loss!! Woohoo!! I have not been nearly so dramatic in my scale results, but I am not doing too badly. I wouldn't mind losing another couple of pounds this month before I say a fond farewell to Dining By Cardboard box and embark on the real adventure -- healthy cooking for one!

In the meantime, because I know you are starving for your daily dose of Nutri-goodness, here are a few new food items I've enjoyed from the latest shipment:

Lunch
Cheesy Homestyle Mashed-Potatoes

These potatoes, while tasting much like what you'd expect instant mashed potatoes to taste like, were still pretty yummy, and a welcome change from the usual "saucy, soupy" lunch entrees.

Dinner
Chicken with Almonds, Vegetables and Rice


Tonite's dinner in all its glory . . .

This meal, while very good, is a prime example of something I am eager to try cooking from scratch. Yes, the chicken was good, the brown rice and sliced almonds a perfect touch . . . but the sauce was still obviously a "frozen dinner entree" sauce, with a pathetic sprinkling of wilted red and green bits that I think were supposed to be peppers. The broccoli I added made all the difference -- but if I had made this from scratch, I could have played around with the flavors for the sauce and added waaaay more veggies. Just sayin'.

In other news . . . it's hard to believe we are halfway through September! I have always loved the fall. Something about this time of year always fills me with energy. I think my brain is still wired to think of this as "Back to School" time -- a clean slate, bursting with possibility and new adventures. This year, I think my Autumn Energy is being channeled into this whole, "making peace with body and mind" vibe -- discovering new ways to celebrate and exercise my body and my spirit. Its exciting -- and definitely helping to spark my creativity, too. So as I transition from "Nutrition in a Box" to "Nutrition for my Body", expect a lot more of my wacky hippie poetics on life and love and learning . . . trust me, as we get closer to October and my Inner Wiccan starts rearing her head, its gonna get wiiiiild up in here! :)

Talk to you soon -- I promise!

That's Hot

Yesterday morning, Julie and I finally made it over to the Baptiste Yoga Studio in Porter Sq to get down with our inner yogis!! This yoga practice involves lots of flow and balance (as most forms of yoga do . . . ?), in a room heated to 90 degrees. The heat was something new for me. Sure, I’ve done my Rock and Roll Yoga video in my apartment on a humid July afternoon in front of my ancient air conditioner . . . but this was kinda like doing yoga in the desert. Or in the mountainous hills of Southern India – which I guess is how yoga was meant to be done.

I’ll admit, I was slightly apprehensive about this class – a), because I am not very flexible and b) I don’t like sweating. We arrived slightly late for the class, which was pretty packed, but the super friendly class assistant lady made some room for us – and then we were off. Thankfully, my living room yoga sessions meant I was familiar with some of the basic poses like Upward Dog, Downward Dog, etc . . . otherwise I would have been completely lost. As it was, I did a lot of staring at my neighbors to figure out what I was supposed to be doing.

After the first 10 minutes, my self-consciousness started to fade a little bit, though. The whole vibe of the class is very personal and mellow. The teacher kept encouraging everyone to “make each pose their own . . . don’t worry about keeping up, enjoy the journey and the flow . . do what feels good for you and listen to your body . . .” And after a little while . . .I was able to start to do that. Suddenly I was aware of muscles I never realized I had. As the instructor gently realigned my hips or showed me how to place my feet . . . I found myself noticing things like – my hips and my feet. During one cycle of poses, on my back with my legs extended above me, I had a moment of, “Hi legs. Wow, you’ve actually got some muscle. Good thing, since I rely on you to get me everywhere!”

Ok, so at that point maybe I was a little delirious – 90 degrees is *hot* when you are in a constant and complicated state of movement. I have never, in my entire life, sweat as much as I did in that hour and 20 minutes. By the end of the class, my mat was slippery and I was a little grossed out at my own drippiness. But during the last five minutes of “cool down meditation” or whatever . . . I was able to assess how I was feeling . . . and surprisingly, I felt pretty good! My body felt tired, but alive . . .and relaxed. Sweating out all of my stress and the weird Nutri-preservatives and beers I had over the weekend was just what I needed to reinvigorate myself. I think this could be part of what I need right now – something physical and challenging that connects my body and my mind. Even though I am sore today, my body feels different somehow. More engaged. I’m already looking forward to next Sunday!

I’m also looking forward to my new Nutrisystem shipment, which should be arriving any day now! It’s getting’ down to slim pickings now! This is going to be my last month of Nutri-fun, I think. I’ve gained 2 lbs over the past 2 weeks, so my goal is to try to maybe lose another 3-4 lbs on the Nutrisystem food this month and then fly solo with a Nutri-Gourmet Takes Back the Kitchen movement at the beginning of October. In the meantime, I’m focusing more on things like how my body *feels* rather than what the scale is saying!

Promos and Apologies . . . Waxing Poetic on the Food Blog Life

Starting this blog has turned me on to the wonderful world of food blogging! I am apparently not the only one who has decided to document better living through photographing and publically posting their meals. Part of my daily routine has been to check the following blogs to see what these ladies have been munching for the day:

Kath Eats Real Food
http://www.katheats.com/
Kath is going to school to be a registered dietician, and lives the kind of healthy, productive, organized lifestyle that most of us can only dream of! I drool over her meals, and marvel at her ability to eat so well and stay so slim . . . I guess all the bike riding and trips to the gym probably help.

On A Lobster Placemat
http://onalobsterplacemat.blogspot.com/
My girl Rose here reminds me a lot of myself – maybe because she’s a writing student, or maybe because she owns a lobster placemat. Either way, she rocks! I am especially inspired by her amazing oatmeal recipes . . . this lady is an oatmeal artiste!

Eat Like Me
http://www.self.com/health/blogs/eatlikeme
Cristin’s blog is part of Self.com’s Healthy Eating website, which automatically makes me extremely jealous. She’s a local Boston girl who runs her own healthy meal planning business, and eats like a champ.


One of the things I find most inspiring about all three of these nutritionistas is the fact that they eat hearty, fresh meals. They are not afraid of carbs, or loading a bowl full of oats and cereal and nuts. They have made peace with peanut butter. They look at food as fuel for life, with each ingredient serving some sort of delicious, yet practical purpose.

That’s what I want. More than losing 5 invisible pounds that only I can see – I want to be able to appreciate food and eat to live – to treat myself by treating my body well. I went from eating nothing but crap all the time, to depriving myself of everything but lettuce and grilled chicken, to a roller coaster of starving all day and bingeing on “healthy” snacks all night. And my body is confused. This Nutrisystem plan, as whack as it might be, has given me the chance to slow down and listen to what my bod is trying to say. And it is shouting, “Wtf, man?! Why do you hate me?? What have I ever done to you??”

I’m sorry, body. Sorry that I stuffed you full of shit for the first 20 years of my life rather than deal with the things that were making me emotional, confused, and upset. Sorry that I declared war on you – blockading all carbohydrates and berating you for every stem of broccoli or wedge of non-fat cheese you ate to try to fill the void. I’m sorry I’ve been forcing you to workout with very little fuel in the tank – and then get pissed at you when you are tired and achy and don’t feel like doing the extra 20 minutes on the treadmill. I apologize for all those cute outfits I didn’t buy you, because I didn’t want to accept the size on the label. I regret the times that I turned down offers to go out for dinners and drinks with people because I didn’t want to have to face the menu – and the guilt that would come with “cheating”. In short – I have been a Mommie Dearest to you, poor body. I have lulled you into submission, only to beat you with a wire hanger for stupid, pointless things. And yeh – I know its effed up. And I don’t wanna live that way anymore.

So once my next box of Nutisystem food has come and gone, this blog is going to be more about eating to live – trying new recipes, striking a balance between making healthy choices and allowing myself not to dwell on the things I eat and decisions I make. Yeh – I might be kinda crazy. And yeh – maybe I need a little more help than I thought – lol! But reading about how others have worked to change their lifestyles has really inspired me to change my own . . . and if I’m successful, maybe I can help someone else to do the same.

Typical Tuesday

Hey-yo. Nothing at all exciting to report today, Nutri-wise or otherwise. Today's menu featured:

Breakfast
Nutriflakes Bran Cereal
Nonfat peach yogurt
Pear

Nothing says: "Today's gonna be the most exciting day of my life!!!!" like a big bowl of bran cereal. Mmm.

Lunch
Nutrisystem cheese tortellini
Salad w. 1/4 c tuna

I didn't bother taking photos of this culinary masterpiece, since I think I've already documented the tortellini once. And really, there's only so many gloppy pictures of stuff in saucse I'm sure you good people are willing to stare at.

Snack
Nonfat blueberry yogurt
1/2 c. blueberries

Dinner
Florentine Sauce with Chicken Fettucini
1 c. broccoli
salad




Gloppy sauce picture of the day.

So I know this probably isn't much to look at -- but this was surprisingly delicious!! I am always slightly dubious about these attempts at your "favorite home cooked meals" . . .but the "florentine" sauce with this bad-boy was a pretty decent and delightfully creamy / alfredo-ish. To the point where I began to think "This can't possibly be a diet food item." I added some broccoli to soak up the sauce, which made it extra colorful and delish.

Dessert
Nutrisystem oatmeal cookie

No complaints here! Kind of reminded me of the Kashi brand dark chocolate chip cookies I used to buy . . . minus the chocolate. And after this little treat, I mustered the energy to go to the gym, since I was damn lazy yesterday. It felt good to just go move for awhile. Tomorrow morning I'm gonna set the alarm a little bit earlier and see if I can do some of my yoga video before work . . . some stretching and toning would be nice. Plus, Julie and I have been talking about taking a Sunday morning yoga class, so priming my body for some enlightened bending and balancing is a good idea!

September is . . . Back to Blog Month!

Boo! Hey there, folks. 

I know, I know . . . I fell off the face of the food blog planet for a bit. Busy work week, a last hurrah holiday weekend. Excuses, excuses -- please to forgive moi! I confess, I did not exactly stick to the plan over Labor Day Weekend. There was drinking. There was drunken Dunkin Donuts bagel consumption. There were family dinners and italian restaurants and bread. There was a baby shower with amazingly yummy looking food that I fought hard to resist. And in the end, of course -- there was froyo. Oh, how I love my froyo! 

So the scales might be tipped a little not-so-favorably this week. But you know what? That's a-ok . .  . I'm back on track, ready to be a good little Nutri-gourmet for another month before graduating to the big wide world of Healthy, Food-Positive Living! And as a little sneak peek of the crunchy granola lifestyle I wish to embody, I decided to go commune with nature this weekend. Behold, photos from my hike at Walden Pond, which was followed by a stroll through the DeCordova Art Museum sculpture garden:

If I stick with the Nutrisystem, will I end up looking like this Tree Spirit . . .?? 

Getting out and hugging some trees was a good time, and definitely helped to recharge the ol' batteries. So today, I was back on form  . . . nursing a bit of a hangover, but I managed to stick to the Nutri-plan all day! This week coming up might be a little scary, since I'm rapidly running out of all the "yummy" looking meals . . . I'm finding myself left with a lot of the free "bonus" food, which is basically the shit that no one ever orders. Here's Monday's Menu:

Breakfast

Nutrisystem Chocolate Chip Scone

Nectarine

Nonfast raspberry yogurt

I popped the scone in the microwave for 10 seconds and it made all the difference! The chocolate chips got melty . . .  I could almost imagine this scone came from a real bakery. Or grocery store. 

Lunch

Nutrisystem Tomato and Corn Chowder

Salad w. 1/4 c. tuna

K, I'm not gonna lie . . . this "chowder" was pretty awful. It was like canned baked beans (which I hate) mixed with that crappy Beefaroni tomato sauce. I seriously considered dumping this entire bowl after just one bite . . . but because I was hungover and hungry, I managed to choke down most of it. I think there's another bowl of this lurking in the Lunch Box though. Shudder. 

Snack

Pear

1/4 c. cottage cheese 

Dinner

Nutrisystem Chicken and Pasta in Parmesean Sauce

Salad

peppers and mushrooms

Pear

After a super-lame lunch, I stuck with a dinner I knew I would enjoy. I added some mushrooms and peppers to the sauce, and treated myself to a salad AND a piece of fruit (technically it should have been one or the other) because I was feeling like I needed the boost before going out to hang in Davis Sq. for a little while. I also tried a new Dessert . . . 

Nutrisystem Caramel Popcorn!!

This is not something I would normally crave, but it seemed like it would satisfy the need for a sweet yet munchy snack . . . and it did! Just like Cracker Jack! I only wish there'd been a little bit more . . . ah well, it definitely kept me satisfied for the rest of the evening. 

So get ready kids . . . as the Meal Boxes grow ever more sparse, the next week should offer up some "exotic" food choices! Until then -- bon appetite! :)