Coming Down With "Something"...

One by one, my family's been socked with "something"... I don't think it's the flu because there's no fever, just a yucky nose and throat thing. But it's bad. And it's coming for me. I can feel it in my throat now. (My Brit husband calls this "having a throat" as in "I've got a bit of a throat." Well, yeah.) We seem to have timed this well, though... he was suffering more on Monday and Tuesday, I'm just getting it now... so somehow the boys have been clothed and fed and brought to and fetched from school this week.

I've always wished that I were one of those people who lost their appetites when they got sick... I hate it when I can't taste what I'm eating, but I seem to be able to eat- nooooo problem! Feh.

My Dreams and Desires: Dull, Dull, Dull

This is how I answered last week's Challenge question about my wildest dreams, desires and passions:

I suppose my biggest dream now is to have my family dig ourselves out of the financial situation we're in. We're perpetually broke in an attempt to pay off our credit cards... but I know if we keep at it, some day we'll be debt and worry-free, at least financially speaking. I work part time, and I applied for but didn't get a full time job in my department this year. It would have been a god-send financially, but if I ask myself if I REALLY want to work 40+ hours a week, plus try my hardest to be an effective, loving mom and wife... the answer is emphatically "No!" I'm happy working part time, I'm not the most ambitious person when it comes to my career. Everything in my life (finally) is great, except for that one, huge stressor... after many tough years. I be slender and fit, wear fabulous clothes, learn to sew fabulous clothes, see the Giants win a world series and a couple hundred more shows of my favorite musician... in my wildest dreams, I'd like to completely rebuild and re-landscape our house and add an amazing swimming pool. I want to create a fabulous kitchen garden with a grove of fruit trees and learn how to do home canning.

That answer just emerged from my fingertips, so to speak... almost like automatic writing. After re-reading it, it occurred to me that my wildest dreams aren't really that wild at all! Quite domestic, actually! All pretty do-able, with the possible exception of the major rebuilding and re-landscaping. (For that, I'll have to rely on HGTV's Dream House sweepstakes, which I plan to win then use the proceeds to revamp my house, as I love where I live, but my house is pretty awful. I plan this every year, but every year they persist in letting someone else win. Irritating.) It was really liberating to see just how do-able my goals are... we can get a handle on our finances if we're persistent and disciplined... I can continue to work on mindful eating and exercising and have a slender, toned body... I will take a sewing class! None of the dreams I listed are unattainable, which feels pretty darn good. But also... I realize that they all take patience and time, which is- let's face it- boring. I fervently hope that I'll be able to soldier past the drudgery and achieve my boring dreams.

Hey, all the cool GAGgers are filching their questionnaire answers for a blog post! Let's have at it...

Do you feel your eating habits that ended you into this challenge are a direct result of habits formed during childhood? (Please explain)
Yes, definitely! I lived alone with a single mom, who was slender as a child and young woman... but by the time I came along, had learned to use food as a form of solace. Unfortunately, I learned the whole gamut of unhealthy food/diet behaviors at my mom's knee: excessive overeating, excessive dieting, food as emotional rescue, food as the focus of life. She wasn't a very active person, either, so the activity in my life consisted mostly of PE class (which I considered torture!).

Tell me about your living situation. Are you married? Kids? In College? What is your life like OUTSIDE of weightloss?

I've been married to a wonderful man for seven years, we have a five year old son. My husband is British, so we had the thrill of experiencing a trans-continental romance before we figured out the whole "fiancee visa" thing (not fun). I have a fifteen year old son from a previous marriage- I don't recommend spacing your children like that but life sometimes happens in mysterious ways. I work as a part-time college instructor and librarian. (And when times are tight... like now... eBay seller!)

If you were given a magic wand that you could use one time to do one thing, what would you use it for?

Selfish option: To never have to worry about money again.

Unselfish option: An end to violent ideological conflict.

What is your favorite thing about this time of year? Least favorite?

I love the golden autumnal light of Sonoma County, the warm days and foggy mornings, the anticipation of fun Fall and Winter holidays... I even love "back to school" even though nowadays it means a return to grading homework assignments. (And I love school supplies!) Least favorite: the shortened days, the feeling that another year is ending and the heating bills!

You have a day off, no responsibilities, so what will you do with it?

In fantasy-land: I'd spend the morning at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, eat a curry for lunch, walk over the Millennium Bridge and spend the afternoon at the Tate Modern.

In reality-land: I'd read through *all* the blogs I follow in Google Reader, take a nice long walk among the McMansions, putter around the garden, do some baking and some crafting, then watch Mary Tyler Moore Show episodes on DVD.

What is YOUR sin food?

Predictably, chocolate.

You're in a foul mood, what lifts you out of it?

Hanging around family members who are in a good mood, listening to some Antonio Carlos Jobim, a ride on an old-fashioned roller coaster (the Giant Dipper in Santa Cruz, CA would be an excellent choice!).

You're in a good mood, what keeps you there?

Hanging around family members who are also in a good mood, exercising and eating mindfully.

What is one of your biggest struggles right now?

Eating mindfully and keeping up with work e-mail (argh!).

Your motivation is running low, where do you find your refill?

Hmmm... seeing the scale numbers go DOWN- even if it's just a little bit- is a great motivator. Looking at the differences in pictures taken at my highest and lowest weight, and looking at my weight graph for some graphic proof is helpful, too. And every positive decision (for example, every time I feel like having a snack without being hungry, then decide not to) acts as further motivation.

Your in house support (meaning the people in your life that you see face to face) is beginning to dictate your weightloss journey by telling you you're too heavy, or you're getting too thin, but you're not where you want to be. What do you do? How do you handle it?

Everyone is very supportive- so sabotaging behavior here, thank goodness. But if they suddenly turned on me... I guess I'd listen to them, nod politely, then ignore it! I'm grateful that I have such a supportive crew.

List me your favorite:
color: Silver? Orange? Green? It's really hard to choose!
smell: I love spice smells: cinnamon, ginger, cardamon, lemongrass, cumin, etc. New-mown grass, woodsmoke, gardenias, balsam/cedar (Christmas trees)... I'm definitely a fan of scents!
activity with your child: Riding bikes and watching videos.
Activity with your girlfriends/ guy buddies: Walking and watching videos!
way to relax: Watching videos? Yes, watching videos, snuggled in front of a fire, listening to the rain on the roof... perfect.

Where do you honestly see yourself at the end of this challenge?

I see myself having survived the holidays WITH a weight loss. This is a big deal for me, as it was some big-time bingeing activity during the last holiday season that made me wake up, start exercising and eating mindfully in 2009.

What are your goals AFTER Gag?

Keep on keepin' on! I hope to be doing what I'm doing for the rest of my life.

How do you think GAG is going so far? What would you like to see done differently?

You're doing a great job- it must be an an awful lot of work!!

Tell me all about your "typical" autumn weekend? Special activities that arise as well?

Grading papers, I'm afraid! We always go to the Farmer's Market and their are lots of fun events here in the fall: the Sonoma County Harvest Fair, visits to the pumpkin patch, the Glendi Festival, which is an international food, music and dancing festival (a fundraiser for a local Greek Orthodox Church)... and we just got back from the second annual Handcar Regatta! http://handcar-regatta.com/

How did you find GAG, and what made you commit to join?
I think I read about it on your blog! It seemed like the perfect challenge to get me through the holidays... as I mentioned before, they just about did me in last year!

If you could nominate one BIGGEST INSPIRATION out of all your Team Gaggers, who would you nominate?

I can't pick just one person! It's been really great to discover so many new bloggers through this challenge.

Please, tell me about you. What are your dreams? What are your desires for your life? What sparks the passion inside of you about your life? What goals do you have that seem impossible?

Very tough questions! I suppose my biggest dream now is to have my family dig ourselves out of the financial situation we're in. We're perpetually broke in an attempt to pay off our credit cards... but I know if we keep at it, some day we'll be debt and worry-free, at least financially speaking. I work part time, and I applied for but didn't get a full time job in my department this year. It would have been a god-send financially, but if I ask myself if I REALLY want to work 40+ hours a week, plus try my hardest to be an effective, loving mom and wife... the answer is emphatically "No!" I'm happy working part time, I'm not the most ambitious person when it comes to my career. Everything in my life (finally) is great, except for that one, huge stressor... after many tough years. I be slender and fit, wear fabulous clothes, learn to sew fabulous clothes, see the Giants win a world series and a couple hundred more shows of my favorite musician... in my wildest dreams, I'd like to completely rebuild and re-landscape our house and add an amazing swimming pool. I want to create a fabulous kitchen garden with a grove of fruit trees and learn how to do home canning. I have a secret hankering to move to England when we retire, but I know I'd miss the California weather. All of this seems pretty impossible, but then again... kinda not impossible! (It's not as if my life goal is to *marry* my favorite musician!) It seems that my goals and passions are pretty domestic, actually... Now, aren't you sorry you asked?!

Week 2 GAG Points

Here's my Week 2 tally:

Water (it's pretty much all I drink!) (except for coffee and tea and the very occasional daiquiri): 620

Activity: 180

Tracking meals: 0 :-( (What can I say? I've got one child in kindergarten and one child in high school and it's still baseball season.)

Sleeping: 140

Total: 940

GAG Labor Day Challenge

The weekly challenge for the first week focuses on Labor Day parties, or any other outdoor holiday gathering that centers around food (don't they all?). We'll be staying home and watching baseball today, but if we were going somewhere...

Labor Day Game-plan

Part 1:

It's summer, you're probably barbecuing, it's all good! The nice thing about summer holidays is that you've got produce on your side... it's really easy to serve or offer to bring fresh and healthy side dishes. We go to our local farmer's market every week, and this week must have been the peak of the season or something-- everything was absolutely gorgeous. I'm not really a fan of raw tomatoes, but the heirloom varieties are so beautiful! I was knocked out by the beauty of vegetables which makes me feel like a bit of a geek. So, if I were hosting a get-together I would offer the classic barbecue main courses: burgers, hot dogs, perhaps tri-tip and garden burgers as a veggie option but I would make sure that I had plenty of healthy side dishes to make up the bulk of my plate: fruit salad, fresh salsa, roasted broccoli and tomatoes, etc. Roasted corn on the cob isn't the healthiest choice on the planet, but I have to have it! We eat it with the fake butter from Trader Joe's (Balade light butter), fresh lime juice and sea salt. It's about the best thing in the world.

As far as an eating plan goes, my modified Geneen Roth-ian plan basically means that I would choose only what I absolutely craved and eat until I was no longer hungry. In the olden days my mind-set would be something like "Bah! You have to eat everything, who knows when you'll be able to eat that stuff again?! It will be ages before another holiday 'free pass' comes along!" That mind-set, effectively gave me the mental permission to binge... now, as I'm typing and seeing the words typed on the screen it seems like a completely weird notion. I mean, what Authority was I begging this permission from? How and when were these elaborate rules of permission/denial (bingeing/dieting) constructed? Figuring this stuff out is something I feel like I need to do... and, possibly, the mental digging around this issue that's required to figure it out is why I've been avoiding writing the My History of Fat post for so long. At any rate, I'm sorry that I lived for so long with that mind-set, I'm relieved that I don't have that mind-set now and I hope I won't have it ever again. The last element of my game-plan is: don't skip the exercise today!

Part 2:

The recipes- I'm including two as a bonus! Both recipes can be doubled easily. The first is an Asian slaw that I love with burgers- it balances out the richness of a cheeseburger beautifully! (Would also be great with shredded pork, buffalo or a garden burger.) I'm not a huge fan of slaws in general, but this one is terrific. I adapted it from the wonderful, now defunct Savor Wine Country magazine.

Asian Slaw

Serves 6

1/3 c. Thai fish sauce

1/3 c. fresh lime juice (3-4 limes)

1/3 c. sugar

8 garlic cloves, minced

1 2-inch piece of ginger, grated

2 Serrano chiles, minced (don't include the seeds if you you're not a fan of heat)

1 small green cabbage, cored and and sliced very thinly

4 medium carrots, peeled and grated or sliced in thin ribbons

1 small red onion, sliced very thinly

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped.

1/4 to 1/2 cup roasted or raw peanuts, chopped for garnish.

Combine the fish sauce and lime juice in a small bowl, add the sugar and stir until it's dissolved, Add garlic, ginger and chilies. Cover and refrigerate. 30 minutes before serving, toss thoroughly to combine the veggies in a large bowl and add the dressing. Toss thoroughly again, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. When you're ready to serve the slaw, add half the cilantro, toss again and scatter the rest of the cilantro on top. Throw the peanuts on top, or serve separately so guests can add them to their own taste.

At the market this week, I saw a stall selling nothing but interesting varieties of potatoes: heirlooms, fingerlings, weird/cool colors- they all looked wonderful! It made me think of this great recipe for Greek lemon roasted potatoes I nabbed from Martha Stewart's site and de-fatted a bit:

Greek Lemon Roasted Potatoes

Martha requires 4 russet baking potatoes (8 medium). I translate this to about 2-3 pounds, and we've used this recipe with all kinds of potatoes- probably erring on the starchy side is a good idea. (Although we've made them with small red potatoes and have been perfectly happy with the result!) Martha says to peel and quarter them... we don't do that. First, because the peel is where most of the nutrients live; second, because we're sloppy cooks around here. (Or, as the wonderful Laurie Colwin put it, we practice "la cuisine de la 'slobbe' raffinee or 'the cooking of the refined slob.'") If you're using small potatoes you can leave them whole.

1/3 to 1/4 cup olive oil- depending on how afraid you are of olive oil- or how much you embrace it, Martha says to use 1/2 cup

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)

1 tablespoon dried oregano, preferably Greek, with extra for garnish

1 tablespoon salt

1/4-1/2 freshly ground pepper

1 cup of water

Heat oven to 500. Place potatoes in a metal roasting pan large enough so that all the potatoes can fit in a single layer. Add the water, olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, salt & pepper. Toss potatoes until well coated. Bake uncovered for 50 about minutes until the potatoes are fork-tender and brown at the edges. If you're using really small potatoes, watch them- they might not need as long. Turn the potatoes half-way through. If the liquid evaporates, add more water and a little more lemon juice before the potatoes fully brown. Garnish with oregano. Yum!

I really hope you'll try these dishes and let me know what you think! Go GAGgers!

GAG Challenge Kickoff!

I've joined the GAG Challenge- today's the first day!

As you can see, I use Wii Fit as a scale. My regular scale is pretty unreliable, but last time I checked it did not chirp "That's overweight!" at me when I stepped on it. Wii Fit does, then slaps that giant "Overweight" label on the right of the scale display for good measure. Thanks, Nintendo.

ToM started today- normally I wouldn't go near a scale, and what do you know... I'm up around .2 of a pound. But that's okay, it's only temporary! (I hope!)

This is a really lousy pic, I know-- I used a borrowed camera and couldn't figure out how to turn off the flash! I'll try again soon, and wear something so that you can actually see what I look like. Really excited about this challenge... I'm hoping it will help everyone sail through the next few (treacherous) months with style.