Underexposed

Okay y’all, here it is.  The first ever video blog on debbyweighsin.  And appropriately, the lighting is not very good in it.  I had fun doing it (obviously, I like talking to myself.)  Hope you enjoy.  I came up with the title ‘Underexposed’  before I did the video.  Just my firm response that I am not going to ‘bare all’ on my blog.  But of course, there are other ways you can bare yourself.  I do always try to be very honest and open, both in my ‘real’ life and my blog life.

Some notes on the video:

My dogs do not usually swarm me.  I think they were amused that I was talking out loud.  Or maybe its that thing where your kids start bugging you the minute you start talking on the phone.

My hands constantly ‘picking’ on Oliver.  I can’t even believe I do this, although my mom has pointed it out for over 40 years.  It is the dog groomer in me…

My teeth.  Really, I don’t have one giant tooth in front.  I don’t know why the video looks like that.

Today was one of those perfect days.  I had an appointment to meet with my pastor, mostly to discuss books, which is fun.  So I fueled up with a protein pancake (put some grilled pineapple on top) and got myself out the door early and hit the gym for a great workout.  After the meeting with my pastor, I picked up a coffee at Starbuck’s and met my friend for  a quick trip to Apple Hill.  She is a weight watcher too, so we took our lunch with us.  It was a beautiful, sunny fall day up there.  Fun!  I got a bunch of different kinds of apples and pears to try, and we found out that our most favorite apple pie place had not gone out of business as we had previously thought, and so I got a frozen pie to share with my family at Christmas.  We split an apple dumpling and called it a day–we both wanted to get home before it got dark.  I got home in time to grab Oliver and get in a good 30 minute run.  I am getting better at running up the hills.

Gonna end and try to get this posted.  Have a great weekend!

Holy Moly! Who Knew Pumpkin Seeds Could Be So Good!

Yikes.  I can’t keep these things around too much, that’s for sure.  This morning I baked another ’sugar pumpkin’ (gonna try to make pumpkin custard with it tomorrow.)  I started to throw the seeds out, and then thought, maybe I’ll try roasting them.  Somewhere or other I had seen a blogger write about making sweet and spicy pumpkin seeds.  First I googled ‘how to clean pumpkin seeds,’ and they suggested immersing them in a big bowl of water and rubbing them between your hands.  This actually worked pretty well, and it wasn’t that hard to get all of the stringy junk off.  (BTW, I bake the pumpkin by just cutting the stem off and putting the whole thing in the oven.  Seeds are easy to scrape off when it cools.)  I rinsed the seeds and left them to dry while I investigated various ’sweet and spicy pumpkin seed recipes.’  I finally went back to this blogger’s site to see if that is where I saw the original recipe.  I don’t think it is, but I liked hers the best–least amount of work, least amount of sugar, and no oil.  We have a winner.  Of course, I adjusted the recipe, mostly because I didn’t have all the ingredients, and only wanted to do pumpkin seeds.  I used some of the spices I had seen in some of the other recipes, and added one of my own.  I followed her prep and baking instructions.  These are the spices I added:  2 tsp sugar, 2 tsp splenda, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp allspice, 1/4 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp chili powder.

Okay.  I have never eaten pumpkin seeds before.  So those of you who are experts at eating pumpkin seeds can laugh at me one way or the other.  At first I was trying to eat them like sunflower seeds, which I have become quite proficient at.  But I ended up with a mealy mess in my mouth, and I was not sure I was spitting out the seed along with the shell.  I almost gave up, and then thought, well, just try eating the whole thing.  Bingo.  (But is this how other people eat them?)  Anyway, about 150 calories for 1 ounce, which would be okay, but since you eat the whole seed, they go down rather quickly…one ounce of sunflower seeds can last me an hour and a half!

I fixed a really great small salad for lunch.  I will do this one again.  I roasted one beet and let it cool.  Added baby lettuce greens to dressing in bowl and mixed.  Topped with the beet chopped up, one laughing cow wedge chopped up, and tossed in a few of the sweet and spicy pumpkin seeds.  Youza.  This is a winner.  Sorry I didn’t take a picture because it was kind of pretty.  And only 80-100 calories!  I can’t take complete credit for it because Vicky had this for sale and I had tried hers.  She used goat cheese and almonds, I think.  I actually liked mine better.  Laughing cow cheese wedges–people have been trying to get me to eat this stuff for 5 years.  I finally get it.  I think I’m in love, actually.

Well, its been another good food day.  I am enjoying having a good cup of coffee for my afternoon snack, and I can finally drink coffee without having to have ‘baked goods’ with it!  Dinner tonight is 2 chicken tenders, and am going to top them with sauteed mushrooms and onions, and a tiny bit of asiago cheese.  And a side of plain ol’ zucchini, one of my favorite veggies!

So far the only exercise was a pretty vigorous walk with the doggies.  Sophie has decided that she can run on the way home.  Because she thinks she will eat when she gets home.  Nevertheless, it challenges me to try running uphill.

Sophie cannot believe I am blogging while she waits for her dinner.

Full

This week on my ‘carb-cycling’ diet has been interesting.  Usually a ‘high-carb day’ is followed by two low-carb days.  But this week, because of where my work days fell, it got changed up a bit.  And that was partly because I was full.  And that is making me wonder about food choices and fueling my body.

Left to my ‘natural’ inclinations–my healthy-choice natural inclinations–my daily diet tends to be a little high on the grains and fruit, and a little low on the ‘good fats’ and protein.  And when I eat that way, I am not exactly hungry, but I am definitely looking forward to my next meal/snack.  But I noticed on my ‘low-carb’ days, especially at work, that I was not hungry for a longer period of time (4-5 hours) and I even skipped my afternoon snack in the afternoon because I felt full.  And that is on a total intake of 1200-1300 calories, as best I can count.

Now here’s how the days got mixed up.  Last Tuesday was my ‘high-carb day.’  I enjoyed it, and ate about 1775 calories.  Followed by two more days at home, where I ate ‘low-carb’ and about 1200 calories each day.  Then I went back to work for 2 days, and I had a ‘medium carb day, but was full so ended at 1370 calories.  I went to work the next day, Saturday, planning to have another low carb day (because I wanted to have my high carb day at home) but I did plan to switch it to a high carb day if I felt I needed it.  But again, that day, I was full in the afternoon and skipped my afternoon snack, so ended with only 1165 calories for the day.

So, yesterday, I finally planned my high carb day (Fun with Food day!)  I started the day at 6am with the protein pancakes, stuffed with greek yogurt and topped with cherries (350 calories total)-delicious, BTW.  Was not hungry til lunch.  At noon, I had a ‘bonza’ something Vicky concocted–homemade whole wheat dough shaped into a bun and stuffed with turkey/cabbage/onion/seasonings–delish, of course.  And an apple (400 calories total.)  Very full.  It was a nice fall day, so took a long walk with the doggies–was planning to run, but my knee was acting up, so decided against it.  At 4pm had a special planned snack of a ‘pumpkin latte’ that I made up myself, and 2 pumpkin chocolate chip bars (total snack calories 320.)  So of course I wasn’t hungry for the dinner I planned.  And if you are adding, I have only eaten 1070 calories out of the 1800 that are planned for the high carb day.  By 7pm I was starting to feel hungry.  So I fixed the ‘waffle sandwich’ that I had been waiting all week to try.  When am I going to learn?  I really don’t like sandwiches so much anymore… So I scraped the innards off the waffles, and was quite happy with what I had:  turkey, cranberry sauce, a little laughing cow cheese, and some baby lettuce.  I will be having this combo again!  Maybe I will try wrapping it in a lettuce leaf.  And I had a small serving of brussel sprouts with this.  So that was only 250 calories at most.  Again, VERY FULL.  And we are only up to 1340 calories…  I ended up having a ’snack’ at 10pm which was less than stellar (popcorn, SF tapioca and pineapple, and a little dark chocolate,) and that brought my calorie count for the day up to 1765.

But I am mostly left pondering the feeling of fullness that I have had most of the week.  Is it because of this way of eating?  Is it because eating that much fruit and whole grains is not as efficient a way to fuel my body?  Is it just a glitch in the system and next week I will be STARVING on this diet?  Or is it a better way to eat?  OF COURSE, I tried to find the information on the latest nutritional guidelines, and couldn’t find a good quick link, but I believe it is 4-5 whole grains and 9 fruits/veggies.  Where does this way of eating fit into those guidelines?

I am interested to see if I lose weight this week.  Its hard to believe you will lose weight when you feel full this often.  But as far as I can tell, I have been as accurate and honest with my calorie count as possible.  I will report back tomorrow with my weight gain/loss…

When I took my walk, I finally remembered to take my camera.  I wanted to capture ’signs of fall.’  And it was almost too late.  But I got a few nice pictures that I thought I’d share with you.

 

 

 

 

 

Lazygirl Soup

Tonight I wanted some soup.  Well, actually I wanted a nice steak, but when I went digging through the freezer for that filet I had saved for ‘just the right time,’ it was nowhere to be seen.  And then I remembered I had servied steak to my dad and my sister the last time they visited.  And that was the end of the steak.  So I started rummaging through the freezer–what kind of meat did I want?  The pre-cooked shrimp with the tails removed looked promising.  I counted out 12, 80 calories.  Then I noticed a bag of roasted corn from Trader Joe’s next to the shrimp in the Freezer–1/2 cup, only 80 calories.  I found a can of chopped tomatoes with roasted garlic in the cupboard, about 100 calories for the whole can.  Added a few chopped green onions (easier than a big onion,) spices to taste (1/2 tsp chili, 1/2 tsp cumin, pepper, salt,) warmed it all up, and topped with 1/4 avocado, 80 calories.  This made 2 big servings, and yes, I did scoop out the shrimp first and made sure there were 6 in each serving!  So, 210 calories for a big cup of ‘homemade soup,’ which included the avocado topping.  Yumm!  I love tomatoes, and grew up loving canned tomatoes, so I think they are an easy and good base for a lot of different soups.  You could get ‘no salt added’ if you are watching sodium intake, or you could start with fresh tomatoes, or make your own canned tomatoes.  But wait.  This was called Lazygirl Soup.  I’ll make Energetic Girl Soup another day.

A Little Pumpkin Talk

Today I have to write a blog entry just because I have some good pictures to share!

First off, the pumpkin talk.  I’m not sure if I like pumpkin as well as everyone else in blogland, but all the talk makes me think I like it!  So I have been baking my ’sugar pumpkins,’ and using them in different recipes.  Yesterday I made some ‘pumpkin oats’ a la Lori, and they were DELISH!  I used steel cut (my favorite) and added some flax meal.

Today I tried making pumpkin scones.  I have been thinking about this for a while, and so had a plan formulated in my mind.  These were tasty, but not ‘pumpkiny tasting’ enough.  When something doesn’t have enough pumpkin flavor, I always wonder if it is because there is not enough pumpkin or not enough pumpkin pie spice.  My friend pointed out that pumpkin in the can is more concentrated, and so you get more pumpkin flavor .  I think she is right.  I will probably try this recipe again with canned pumpkin (or I can let my homemade pumpkin drain for a while to ‘concentrate’ it.)  Anyway, will share the recipe here, and if it comes out more pumpkiny the next time, will add it to my side bar.

Pumpkin Pecan Scones

1 cup oatmeal, ground

1 cup spelt flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 cup pumpkin

3/4 cup goat milk yogurt

1 ounce pecans, chopped

2 Tbsp maple syrup

Go to my recipe for scones for mixing and baking directions, and ‘topping’ directions.  I added cinnamon to the raw sugar for the topping.  Since you don’t have to mix in the berries, go ahead and knead the dough twice.  Pat into a circle, and cut in 8 wedges.  180 calories each.

 

Yesterday was an excellent day.  Of course it was a good day.  It was a ‘high carb’ day, or as I like to call it, ‘Fun With Food’ day.  Vicky REALLY challenged me with my workout–tabata intervals ON THE WEIGHT MACHINES and PUSH-UPS!  We also tried a few new machines, one of which was a ‘hip abductor’ I think, and something boinked  in my hip-really hurt.  I was willing to continue on, but Vicky-the wise one- said, no, lets move on.  I decided to re-up my weekly appointments with her for 6 months.  I really look forward to these workouts and food talk.  My food choices have drastically changed for the better since I started working with Vicky, which is surprising to me, because I thought I was eating pretty darn healthy before.

I have been going to some dinner meetings for the last 3 weeks, and last night I had to ask my friend, Is it just me, or is the food they serve EXTRAORDINARILY high in fat.  I mean, one of the women is thin and works out a ton (has her own work out room) and the other one is a sometimes Weight Watcher.  But when I look at the food, it appears to be swimming in fat.  Don’t get me wrong.  It still tastes good.  But I was/am truly perplexed.  My friend just said I had been eating low fat for so long, it just seemed unusual to me.  After the first week, I was really bothered by what to do about it.  I finally decided to just account for the food, and I take really small portions of the main course, and big portion of salad (which still has WAY too much dressing) and have one small dessert.  I really like all these people, and eating with them is part of the enjoyment.  I could bring my own food, but I finally decided that I would be happier eating this way.  And for now, that is working out well.  Of course, I planned for this day of the week to be a ‘high carb’ day (1800 calories.)  BTW, I did lose 2 pounds in the last 8 days, so it is a worthy plan for now.  And I do like the challenge of eating different healthy foods–more green stuff and a little more meat.  Its all good.

I am really happy about my increased energy level–in that I actually WANT to get out there and exercise.  Especially the run/walking.  Yesterday afternoon, even though I was a little sore from the Vicky workout, I wanted to go for a walk, so took Sophie and Oliver out.  And even Sophie WANTED to run for a little while (on the way home–dinnertime!)  BTW, I had a real scare with her last week.  She hurt something, and I thought it was her back, just like Rindy.  I gave her one of Rindy’s leftover prednisone pills and left her in the crate for the entire day, and she was fine the next morning.  But it really scared me.  That probably accounts for the increased pictures on the blog…

Sophie sharing her ‘perch’ with her big brother Oliver, the practically perfect black standard poodle.

This morning I spotted this in the garden, and had to share it.  Here, in the mountains, the geraniums die with the first frost.  I just plant new ones each year.  They have become my favorite summer flower–so simple, but cheerful and predictable.  And the pansies I really planted about a month ago so they would be good for winter/early spring.

Summer’s end, the bright promise of winter.

God is good, isn’t He?

Good Morning. And A Finished Quilt.

First of all, I wanted to give a shout-out to a couple of bloggers.  First, Shelley, whose blog got a prominent mention in Woman’s Day magazine!  It is the Dec. 1 issue, and is supposed to be in stores by Nov. 23.  Next, Miz and Shauna are doing an AMAZING thing–a joint podcast ‘across the pond.’ I am SO enjoying these episodes.  Good for a morning or afternoon break, or while I am eating my lunch, or quilting…anytime, actually.  I really enjoyed their discussion of feeling down, personal motivation, etc.  When I have a down day (like this past Sunday,) I am lucky.  It is usually ONE DAY.  It makes me much more sensitive to people who suffer with long-term or chronic depression.  Nevertheless, the feelings I have are real.  And it was really helpful to me personally to hear them discussing this.  I also liked Miz’s reminder that we should not allow our actions to be motivated by ‘what other people think.’  This is something I am dealing with currently, and this was a VERY helpful reminder.  Thanks, girls!  Last, but not least, Lori had an absolutely excellent blog entry this morning about ‘plateaus,’ along with her personal story of a HUGE plateau, and how she got over it.

I was making my bed last night, and putting on my winter/Christmas quilt, and thought I would take a picture to show you that I DO indeed finish projects.  This quilt was so fun to make.  I collected ‘pine needle’ fabric of all different styles during a few shopping trips with my friend.  And I had 1/2 yard of each of the two bird fabrics, which had to be ‘fussy cut’–cut out to get the ‘pictures’ just the way you want them, which usually wastes a lot of fabric.  This was a pretty big quilt for me, and I hand-quilted the entire thing.  I always enjoy hand-quilting, but by the time you get to the end of a project, you are SICK of it.  When it is completely finished and bound, and you can throw it in the washer and dryer and have a brand-new bed covering, well, that is a great feeling.  And I enjoy it every time I use it.

The name of the quilt is ‘Yes, I Live in Pine Grove.’

Even the back is a beautiful pine needle fabric.

A New Recipe or Two

So I went to bed dreaming about a new way to make a breakfast burrito.  I really liked this combo.  About 310 calories for a hefty and kinda luxurious breakfast.  Make Lori’s protein pancake recipe, and make one big pancake.  Mix 1/3 cup of cottage cheese, 4-5 strawberries, and some splenda (or sweetener of choice) in blender.  Spread over the big pancake and roll up.  Top with additional strawberries.  Yumm!

Well, I can’t tell a lie.  This is how I actually ate it.

Its just a little Reddi-Whip.  Don’t tell Vicky. I got up really early, and ate this at 6am, and then after reading for a while, went for a 3-mile run/walk with Oliver at 9am. It always feels so good to get my exercise in in the morning.  And I really didn’t get hungry until 11am.  So even though the calories were hefty, it was definitely worthy.

Today, my friend and I had agreed to have a ’studio day.’  We haven’t done this for a while, and it is a really good way to get your creativity going.  Remember, she lives in Oregon.  So we both decide on a project to work on, and then we email pictures back and forth and talk on the phone a bajillion times getting each other’s opinion on what we are doing.  I started working on something really different for me.  An all-white quilt, where the stitching will be the main element.  A real challenge for me, because as you all know, I love color.  I know, you are all thinking, she always talks about projects she is doing, but she never shows us pictures.  Well….I do have a little problem finishing projects.  But I promise a few pictures in the next few weeks.

So today is a low-carb day.  And as you can see by my breakfast choice, I used up my one carb and my one fruit by 6am.  Dang.  I knew what I was doing, but it sucks only getting one fruit for the day.  Well, tomorrow will be a week of this, and I will be interested to see if I’ve lost any weight.  I have studiously avoided the scale this week, because the  high carb and low carb days can give you some weird readings on the scale, or so I read somewhere or other on the internet.

Keeping busy with our studio day kept my mind off of food, for the most part.  I had already decided to have some turkey breast (seriously good with that cranberry mustard) and some boiled zucchini for dinner, so I had enough calories for an afternoon snack that I have wanted to try for a while.  ’Pudding’ made with an avocado!  [Scroll to bottom of page for recipe.] It was really tasty.  I just used avocado, cocoa powder, splenda, and water.  Very satisfying, and it kept me full for quite a while. If you used the original recipe, it would be quite a few calories…

What can I say?  I don’t have any grandchildren….

Pyramids

Today I did some pyramids on the weight machines at the gym.  They are pretty fun, and very challenging to do.  I never tell you what weights or machines I am using because I usually can’t remember the names of the machines or the moves by the time I get home.  But today I remembered two of them on purpose, so I could share what I am doing.  One of my favorite machines is the Leg Press, probably because I am stronger in my legs than in my upper body.  So today I did a pyramid on the leg press like so:  Starting at 80 pounds and 20 reps, I increased by 20 pound increments and decreased by 3-5 reps all the way up to 180 pounds and 4 reps.  Then I went back down the other direction and ended with the 80 pounds, but challenged myself to do as many reps as I could at that end, which was 35, I think.  I did a variety of other machines and weights, and then I did a pyramid on the vertical press.  But this time I only went from 30 pounds and 20 reps, and increased by 10 pound increments and decreased by 5 reps to end at 60 pounds and 10 reps.  And then went back down the other direction.  I told you my upper body wasn’t as strong.  It was a good workout, but at the end I weenied out of taking a swim.  Mostly because this is a low-carb day, and I was REALLY hungry.  I go to the gym after church, and usually I have some kind of snack with me, but I couldn’t think of a low carb snack that was portable.  I’ll have to work on that…

Anyway, I came home and had one of those days where I just sat.  Well, sat and read blogs and commented.  But there was so much I could have done, both fun stuff and stuff that needs to be done.  It bothers me when I do that.  But obviously it doesn’t bother me enough to get up and do something.  I finally went outside and stacked some firewood, and then a neighbor drove by and I asked them if they had lost their keys, and they had, so I took the dogs for a short walk to pick the keys up where I had left them at the side of the road.  Don’t ask me why I left them there.  I guess I thought someone might come looking for them.  Anyway, it felt good to take a short walk, Sophie speed, and then I came back in and had a great cup of coffee.  Lori is like my food svengali, but in a good way!

Isn’t she a funny little girl?  Almost always perched there on the arm of the sofa, waiting impatiently for me to finish typing so she can get back in my lap.

Look What Happened While I was at Work!

While I was at work the past three days, God was busy working with his paintbrush.  I leave for work in the dark and come home after dark, so when I took Sophie outside first thing this morning I found a surprise in my yard–the Japanese maples have started turning colors.

 

I just love them, and after years of struggling to keep them alive during the heat of summer, it is so nice to see them doing so well.

I’m doing pretty well with the carb cycling thing.  The main thing is controlling my calories and doing without fruit (well, one piece) on the low days.  Today was a high day, and I would definitely say I had fun with food!  I ended with a new recipe I saw here.  Only I changed it up a little bit.  So mine is not as picturesque.

It looks kinda weird there on my chicken plate.  I will have to work a little harder on my food photography!  Anyways, it was a recipe for a ‘breakfast burrito’ with a pumpkin filling.  Basically, a giant pancake, and the filling was pumpkin and yogurt with some spices.  So I used Lori’s protein pancakes recipe, which I love, and which I knew would easily make one big pancake instead of 3 small ones.  And for the filling I used some fresh pumpkin that I had cooked earlier in the day, and my homemade yogurt.  Only thing is, fresh pumpkin and my homemade yogurt are BOTH waterier than canned pumpkin and greek yogurt..thus the look of runny egg yolks.  But it tasted good and I ate it anyway.  Don’t think its a repeater.  But thought I’d show you why sometimes its better to follow a recipe.

So today was one of those days where there was so much that I could have gotten done, but I just didn’t feel like it, and I gave in to that .  I talked on the phone, I read quite a bit, did a TINY bit of housework, and then I went out for a run/walk with Oliver.  I did the 5 mile walk to Indian Grinding Rocks State Park, which I haven’t done FOREVER.  It was great to know I could still do it, and in fact, I ran a lot more of the time than I have ever done before.  Here’s the weird motivation I have to walk to the park.  When I get to the end of my road (1 1/2 miles) I have to decide whether to turn around and go back home immediately, or go on all the way to the park. I can’t go partway to the park, because I have to PEE SO BAD!  How do people walk/run/hike for long distances????

Anyways, thats all the news that’s fit to print from this neck of the woods.  I’ve been enjoying watching some episodes of ‘This American Life.’  A blogger I like recommended it.

 

Stayin’ in the Game

That’s what Vicky said to me as we sat and discussed a new eating plan that she has been using.  We talked about keeping our food choices interesting, and learning from different ways of eating, not just eating for the singular goal of losing weight.  So guess what I’m going to try now?  Carb Cycling!  I’m pretty sure its a simplistic version of the Crack Diet.  It seems fairly simple to do (I mean I think I can stay on it,) but I am going to have to do some thinking and get a little creative with my food choices.  Its just that given no particular limits on types of  food, my natural bent is to eat pretty high carb–scones, oatmeal, fruit, lo-bars, oatmeal bars, fruit…you get the picture.  So I just have to think a little more to add in more veggies.  I think I might be adding in a little more meat on this plan, which is FINE by me.

Anyways, the simple plan for the week is 2 low-carb days (50 grams carbohydrate) one high carb day (200 grams) 2 more low-carb days, a high carb day, and a medium carb day (100 grams.)  Protein and fat stays constant each day:  80-100 grams protein and 35-45 grams fat.  I am anxious to try it.  I just have to get into the groove, and get out some different recipes.

Hah!  I was right, Vicky was planning to do a circuit for me, but when I told her about my hard workout, and which muscles were still sore, she decided to give me a break and ‘only’ had me work out on some weights.  What?  What part of ‘my muscles are sore’ did she not understand?  I’m just kidding around.  I really love working out with the weights.  And she showed me quite a few new exercises to try, most of which were VERY challenging.  I could go on, but I really MUST get to bed.  Back to work tomorrow.  Be good and have a nice rest of the week!