Sounds from the comments on the most recent fitness post (a week ago... ugh.) that a few people (NBB, Corny) had good weekends for fitness. I decidedly did not.
I had been doing a pretty good job keeping my calories under 2000, ever since I set that goal a few weeks ago. This weekend, Philosofette and the kids were away, and... I don't do well by myself. Far too much eating. Some of it unhealthy, fatty stuff, some of it fairly healthy veggies and what not, but just generally eating too much. And the soda... 1 on Friday, 2 on Saturday, and 3 on Sunday. Not good. Anyway, I've blown that goal, as I've now got 4 days over 2000 calories. I had a fantastic weekend, enjoyed what I ate and all that... so I'm trying to look back on it as a "necessary" break, instead of as completely falling off the wagon. I was at least pretty aware while it was going on, and did limit myself a few times (1 soda on Friday and 2 on Saturday were actually feats of resistance). And I fully intend on jumping back on today and have planned out some fairly low-calorie meals and snacks. Here's to good weekends of giving in!
I also haven't been able to work out much lately. I bruised my foot something fierce last week, and running has been impossible since. Walking was even tough until about Saturday. I took the bike out once last week, but discovered that it's barely functional, and I might need to look into something new and/or serious repairs. I enjoyed the ride, but... just 2 semi-functional gears is not a workable approach on the hills of Mankato. Especially since I'd like to start biking to work.
It's probably worth noting that my weight has dropped fully back under 205, though this morning it was hovering a lot closer to 205 than it had been before the weekend. It's a lot to achieve, but I'm still hoping I can push 200 by July 3rd. It's an ambitious goal, I realize, but I think it's worth having.
How are the rest of you doing?
Other the race on Saturday, I spent most of the past week on a vacation - both from fitness and literally - eating junk, drinking beer, and hanging out. I haven't had access to a scale and haven't tracked calories, but it was both a grand reward for the training and a "necessary" break.
As you say Philo - back at it!
I convinced mrsS to make dinner last night after the Boy and I returned from MOS*. Big green salad with strawberries, bananas, red onion and a sweet-and-tart poppyseed dressing. Yumm. (I'll post the recipe for the dressing later; basically, it's cider vinegar, sugar, salt, poppyseeds and oil)
*(stuff blows up, so it was good; more humor than expected; Zod was great; evil chick was great; the CGI was meh in a lot of places; I liked the flashback structure to the storytelling; visually/stylistically it seemed to draw pretty heavily on Prometheus, LotR, District 9, and a couple of other places; but
Congrats to the big finishers over the weekend.
yet another assault on consumption of refined sugars and flour.
Any interest in Glen Perkins' 5K for CF? I've got two sibs with CF, and I like the Twins, so it seems like a good idea to me...
Dinner with friends last night. I made the appetizer: bruschetta with two toppers.
topper one:
1 can small white beans, (mostly drained, but not rinsed; I use low-sodium beans)
1-2 cloves garlic, smushed to a paste with some coarse salt
zest of one lemon, plus juice of half the lemon
4 tbsp good olive oil
1/2 tsp chopped, fresh rosemary
fresh cracked black pepper
combine all ingredients in a bowl and let macerate for at least half an hour, stirring occasionally. Add an extra pinch of salt if desired. Should be loose -- slightly saucy, but not swimming in sauce.
topper two:
4-6 roma tomatoes
2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
one medium onion, sliced thin (lengthwise -- i.e., pole-to-pole; gives better texture) and caramelized. Cook with a pinch of salt and a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Let cool.
2-3 tbsp good olive oil
coarse salt and fresh-ground black pepper to taste
1-2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
about 3 oz fresh mozzarella, cut/chopped into small dice
[edit: about 6-8 basil leaves, cut into chiffonade]
slice off the outer flesh of the tomatoes and dice fine. Carefully squeeze some of the juice from 2-3 of the cores into your prep bowl. Lots of flavor around the seeds, but you don't want too many seeds. While the onions are cooling, combine all ingredients except the cheese, onions and vinegar and let macerate in the fridge for 20-30 minutes. Stir in the cooled onions and the balsamic and let come to room temperature. Just before serving, stir in the cheese[ and basil,] and top with a few sprinkles of coarse sea salt. As with the beans, you want this to be loose but not swimming in sauce.
for the bruschetta, slice baguette or good sourdough into approx. 1-inch thick slices (cut large slices in half if desired) and grill or broil (dry). Don't forget to flip 'em over. Drizzle with a little bit of good olive oil [aficianados may rub each piece with a cut piece of raw garlic at this stage, but I thought that was too much work in this heat] and sprinkle with coarse sea salt and serve. Spoon topping onto toast, consume*.
*best served with a tall beer or a nice glass of wine, but good with whatever you are drinking!
That looks yum - I will make 2nite.
recipe adjustment alert: I had to edit the tomato recipe above. Forgot to mention the basil chiffonade.
Thumbs up from NBBW on the bruschetti cannelloni.
sweet!
It's the combo of the citrus, olive oil, garlic, on the white bean/sourdough - fantastic. NBBW sends her best to you!
I'm interested in your note about cutting the onion... is this a usual thing for you? When prepping onions I usually cut a "half", straight through, pole to pole (just short of the core, basically), then resting it on the flat side cut slices across,(and then chop finer as appropriate, per the meal), which ultimately means I'm cutting with the latitude, exactly what you're recommending against. I'll have to try it this other way the next time, I suppose, though I'm having trouble imagining much difference for an onion...
I think I got this advice from a Mario batali post. the claim is that "latitude" slices, when sauteed, can get gummy. not an issue for dice or chop, obviously.
speculation: the latitude slice cuts across cells. the longitude slices run with the grain. so, maybe there are some chemical differences between the two cuts when sauteeing. probably doesn't make a huge difference in most applications.
While I'm here, and talking about food... tis the season for leafy greens from our CSA, so I've been eating salad a lot. Good for me, but... often unsatisfying.
Tonight I grilled chicken with a jerk dry rub (store bought, nothing fancy) and served with a mango-chipotle dressing (again, store bought... Kraft even.), and it was fantastic and filling and in every way a great, healthy, summer meal. Sometimes salad feels far too unsubstantial, but adding the protein made it way better, and there was the added joy that comes with grilling. I know this is a pretty obvious point, to recommend adding the protein to the salad, but so is "eat less, exercise more," so I don't feel too bad sharing. Basically, it was a simple step that helped me eat well tonight.
Have started training for the Tiverton Century so need to start building up both total miles per week plus building up the long ride.
NBBW and I got out and got in a nice 31 mile ride this morning before the inevitable afternoon thunderstorms start in.
Am trying to be diligent about Body Gliding all the right places, applying plenty of sunscreen (Nancy, my massage therapist/healthnik has me using Solar Body Moisterizer, 30spf 100% vegan), and bringing along enough hydration.
Also we have started bringing along real food to eat on our rides (like dates, apple slices, almonds, leftover cornbread, etc.) instead of those crazy calorific Gu packs.