Eating right isn't enough for me...a note on exercise

I know my body responds well to exercise. When I am eating right and exercising i drop pounds. Not dramatically, but they come off. And with my focus on eating the right things lately I have noticed that my weight is pretty much staying the same. I know I haven't been exercising. I can delude myself and say, well walking up and down the stairs 20 times a day is exercise, and chasing my kids around is exercise. But really, I'm mostly sedentary these days and it isn't good.

For the past few months I have been going to the pool on Wednesday nights and swimming laps. But I know that isn't enough. I don't feel like I am getting any stronger with just going once a week. I can make all kinds of excuses (mostly centered around my kids and my love of taking naps) but you know, they are just excuses. Incorporating exercise takes a bit of a lifestyle change and I just haven't committed to that yet. I'll try harder. We are going to need to get a membership to our local Family Fitness Center because our son will start preschool there in the summer and having a membership drastically reduces the cost of the preschool. So I will have that resource again. Maybe me and my daughter can start taking walks there in the afternoons.

I'm actually thinking about getting a fit bit. I have friends who have them and they like them. It would actually help me realize just how sedentary I am and maybe motivate me to move more. We'll see.

Day 2, February 19, 2015
HB egg
2 piece turkey bacon
Cheese
DC coffee with half and half
2 cup weightless tea (I really don't think this stuff is helping)
1/4 of banana
Slice Swiss cheese
Egg cup with sausage and cheese
Nuts
Cream cheese berry compote mix
L/O red lentils with L/O lamb burger from last night and goat cheese
Cutie 
Mixed nuts from Kwik-E-Mart
Some sunflower seeds
Seltzer water
Chicken picata (with capers and lemon and butter)
Roasted califlower
3 shots whipped vodka

Off to Mexico we go...VACATION!

Well we are leaving on vacation to Mexico and I won't be posting for a week. I'll have to do a recap when I get back as well as another sugar detox. I'll probably need to do an alcohol detox as well. I think my goal for the vacation will be not to over eat. I can eat what I want but just not too much of it. That sounds reasonable right? I will also try not to over indulge on alcohol, no puking!

I didn't make it to day 10, I'll start over but then VACATION

My original 10 days of this sugar free challenge would have ended on February 18. But I had to start over yesterday and now there aren't enough days left before VACATION! I've also had some artificial sweetener in the hot cocoa mix I love. I just needed some comfort. The no sugar thing is ok, I can get through that. But sometimes I just need the sweetener and the artificial stuff gets me through.

On Saturday my husband and I leave for our vacation in Mexico!!!! I am so excited! We are taking a break from the kids (thanks Grandpa and Nana for watching them while we are gone), and going with two other couples who are good friends of ours. I can't wait! We went to a similar place several years ago for my husband's brother's wedding. We had a blast, but I was pregnant so there was no drinking for me at an all inclusive resort in Mexico! And I love tequila! It was tough.  I was also nauseous most of the time so I didn't really enjoy any of the food either. But I do remember thoroughly enjoying the orange juice, it was fresh squeezed and delicious!

This sugar free thing will go bust in Mexico. I'm not going to hold back and I am going to enjoy every bite down there. The all inclusive resort we are going to has wonderful sounding restaurants and I imagine the desserts will be sugarlicious!

I believe my whole impetus for starting this eating blog journey was my forward looking to this vacation. I have been wanting to get on better eating habits since I had my second kid and I was really off track. And I wanted to loose some weight. I feel like I have made some positive changes with my attempts to follow the South Beach Diet again and this sugar free challenge. But there are always hiccups that will throw me off and I guess I just have to realize that then get back on track the next day.

Day 2, February 18, 2015
HB egg
2 piece turkey bacon
4 piece Munster cheese
Smoothy - banana, apple, Greek yogurt, ground flax, cashew milk (unsweetened)
DC coffee, 2 cups
2 cups weightless tea
L/O lentles from last night
Slice Swiss cheese
5 saltine crackers with butter
Cutie

Slice Swiss cheese 

Few goldfish crackers 

Nut medley - almond, Brazil, pecan, walnut 

Lamb burger with goat cheese 

Green beans and mushrooms with olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper 

DC caribou coffee 

Mini cupcake peanut butter cup

What is with these headaches?

I have been getting frequent headaches for the past 6 months.I can't tell if it is my eyes causing it or sinus or just tension. Is it breaking my sugar addiction? Today I am having some severe TMJ problems and I put my contacts in because I can't stand any pressure on my face. The only problem with that is I can't read my computer very well with my contacts and I think that is making my headache even worse.

This TMJ stuff is no joke. I get these jolting stabs of pain that go from my ear to the top of my head. I take a naproxen for it, but it only helps a little. I still get the pain. I am just trying to focus on relaxing my jaw and not move it very much. 

Plus, I have derailed on my sugar detox. On day 6 we had dinner at a friends house and I had a piece of chocolate cake. The next day was fine, but yesterday I sneaked one of those sea salt chocolate caramels I have been raving about in past posts. So I feel like I need to just start over. So I will reset and go back to day 1 of the #FedUpChallenge. However, today is Tuesday and on Saturday we are leaving for a vacation to Mexico!!! I am super excited and all bets are off when we get there. I don't want to deprive myself of anything and I am going to indulge while we are there. So I'll just have to start over when I get back.

I probably won't be posting while I'm there either. Maybe a few photos, but unless I am sober enough to remember, I won't be posting my food list. I've also skipped a day. Things have been busy and I have had to pay attention to work.

Day 1 (again) February 17, 2014 
HB egg
2 turkey bacon
Cojita cheese
2 cup weightless tea
DC coffee
Slice Swiss cheese
Piece of chicken pesto (homemade) pizza
Bite of cream cheese and berry compote mix (this has a little added sugar in it)
Smoothie - banana, unsweetened almond/coconut milk, ground flax seed, natural peanut butter, Greek yogurt 

2 blue cheese stuffed olives

Cheese stick

Bite of L/O black beans and rice 

Soup with green beans, peas, and red beans 
4 saltine crackers 

Couple bites cream cheese berry compote 

Red lentils with onion, tomato, and cilantro 

Salmon 

4 shots cake vodka

2 glasses red wine 

Soda water 

I have a terrible headache associated with my TMJ. I hope I can sleep tonight 

Snacks are important, but how much is enough

I do like to snack. That is why I know I need to make healthy snacks convenient for me. Otherwise I end up scarfing down what ever is right at hand. I know not to keep certain triggers in the house. My over eating triggers. I also find myself picking at things while I am fixing snacks for the kids. I also pick and eat things while I am cooking dinner. This is a habit I have a hard time breaking. I'm hungry and I know dinner is coming soon, but I can't help sneaking bits of this and that while I'm working in the kitchen.

I am so concious these days about what I am eating. Part of having to do with this blog. The other part is this 10 Fed Up Challenge. I am actively avoiding sugar and intensely reading labels. Yesterday I grabbed these dried green beans that are surprisingly good. But the one ingredient (besides salt) is tapioca dextrin, AND THAT IS A SUGAR! So darn it!

So I have been having little slip ups like this that have been keeping me completely off sugar. I must say this is added sugar. I have been eating fruit. Bananas, apples, grapefruit. I also must confess to having cough drops. I didn't read the label but I know these have sugar in them. However I am giving myself an allowance for these because I have this horrible cough that has been plaguing me for the past week or so. I just want it to be over with.

Day 5, February 13, 2015
L/O egg bake with sausage, spinach, feta cheese
Diced tomatoes
DC coffee - 2 cups
2 cup weightless tea
Nuts - almonds, walnuts, pecans
5 Kalamata olives (I love olives!) 
2 piece sharp cheddar
L/O concoction: white bean augraten plus rotisserie chicken, and spinach (previously frozen)

I am really craving something sweet right now (12:30 after eating lunch). I need some help! Maybe a seltzer water will help? Is this stuff rated along the lines of soda? I doesn't have anything in it except carbonated water and "natural flavors", no added sugar. Is it bad because it is carbonated?
Soda water
Slice Swiss cheese
Handful goldfish crackers
Yogurt, peanut butter, 1/2 banana, cashew milk (unsweetened) smoothy 

L/O stir fry 

Some white rice

4 shots cake vodka

Black Russian 

Ricotta cheese 

I hate Valentine's day

I really do, I hate it. I cringe when I go into the store and see all the hearts and stuffed animals proclaiming some sort of forever love sentiment. I may be a bit of a cynic about love. Maybe cynic isn't the right word, but I don't think it should just be thrown around and given out to just anyone. Don't get me wrong, I love love. But Valentine's day and all the crap that comes with it just seems to demean  its importance. Plus it is another reason to hock candy and crap! (read sugar that I don't need to be tempted with right now)

There is one sentiment of love that I have always gotten on Valentine's day, my Dad always sends me flowers and I love that. He has been a constant positive male presence in my life and this declaration of his love has always given me comfort where ever I am.

Maybe some of my hatred for this day (I don't dare call it a "Holiday") is that I always had expectations of some crush or some person coming to me and professing a sentiment of love. This day for me represents a build up of never realized expectations. Expectations of someone else to come to me and say, hey you're cute, let's go on a date. And that is why I despise it. I never got mystery gifts from a secret admirer or ever had a special date.

There was one Valentine's day that I remember in college that was a good one. A good guy friend of mine (nothing romantic between us) came over unexpected and took me to a movie, The Wedding Singer with Adam Sandler. It was really nice of him and it made my day. Maybe he just knew I needed something like that. I don't know if he thought it meant that much, but it did.

So now I have to navigate around the Valentine candy and the aftermath when it all goes on sale.

Day 6, February 14, 2015

2 pieces turkey bacon

HB egg

Cheese 

DC coffee 

2 cup tea

Out to lunch with friends for Mexican so I'm not sure exactly if there was added sugar in my food but I did my best to avoid it.

Fajita, chicken (I only ate one tortilla), rice, refried beans, sour cream, guacamole, chips and salsa

I made a fruit salad because we are going to a friends house for dinner so I ate a bunch of fruit 

Grapefruit, strawberry, Apple 

Pork tenderloin in orange sauce

Potatoes 

Fennel 

2 pieces bread with butter 

Chocolate moose cake

Fruit salad with cream cheese compote 

Ok, I may have just failed my 10 day challenge. I had cake at our friend's house. Tomorrow is another day.

I am responsible for food

I realized something the other day when I was questioning my obsession with food. I think it stems from the fact that I am responsible for the food that is in our house and the food my family consumes. My husband does hunt and brings meat in that way (which I love). But as far as grocery shopping, food preparation and everyday eating, that is all on me. Not that I want to fall into that traditional wife roll in the household, but in all honesty I do hold a traditional wife/mother roll in our family, I do most of the cooking and cleaning. My husband takes care of the outside of the house, I manage the inside. It seems fair.

He has picked up some hobbies. He is baking bread and making pizzas. I got him a baking steel for Christmas and I love that he experiments with it. (If you like to make your own bread and pizzas this is a really great item to have) My husband does take on some adventures in the kitchen, he makes sausage out of the game he hunts (but it is usually up to me to incorporate it into our meals and cook it), and every once in a while he will cook some recipe that he finds intriguing. I leave him in charge of cooking the lamb we split with a friend. He is really good at cooking big hunks of meat and delicate things like lamb chops (like butter).

So day 4 of the Fed Up Challenge (10 days sugar free) and 200 pounds on the scale this morning. That is good. I guess it is getting easier, but not really. The gnawing in my stomach is still there and I am still craving sweets. It helps that there isn't anything in the house to tempt me. I can generally stay away from the cookies I buy for my husband's lunch, and the kids have a special stash that I don't look at. But those darn sea salt chocolate caramels! I love them, but they are so tempting.

Day 4, February 12, 2015
HB egg
2 piece turkey bacon
4 piece cheese (extra sharp cheddar)
1/2 grapefruit
DC coffee
2 cup weightless tea
L/O egg bake with sausage, spinach, feta cheese
Diced tomatoes
Dried green beans (WHY! these things are pretty good, they are surprisingly sweet. But I read the ingredients and Tapioca Dextrin is in them. Dextrin is on the "different names for sugar list" although it is Dextran (with an "a" not an "i") so I don't know if that makes a difference, it probably doesn't)
Slice Swiss cheese
Few bites of L/O beans from last night 
Handful of almonds and walnuts
L/O tofu taco with added pork roast and Greek yogurt 

Celery with hummus 

Celery with peanut butter 

L/O sausage and broccoli 

Little bit L/O stir fry 

2 glass red wine 

2.5 shots cake vodka 

Throat coat tea

36 grams vs. 56 grams

So from the Fed Up website the daily recommendation of sugar for women is 6 teaspoons (about 36 grams) and for men it is 9 teaspoons (about 56 grams). Arg! it is never fair is it ladies?

I am feeling really crappy today and it doesn't have much to do with my sugar detox. I have been fighting some sort of sickness for the past 2 weeks. The kids have it too. Phlegm, a persistent cough, headache. Last night I was up coughing all night so I am sleep deprived today and have a pounding headache. I took some naproxen this morning but is hasn't seemed to help.

So day 3 of the sugar detox and my state of being is a little muddled this morning because of my lack of sleep and this shitty cough. When will it go away?! In the morning after breakfast usually a sugar/carb craving pops up. Usually I can stave it off with some coffee. I have cut out sweetening my coffee, but I do add some half and half (sometimes I indulge and put a squirt of whip cream on it).

It is usually in the afternoons when I get snacky feeling is when my most vulnerable time is. The cheese is what I usually go for, but I fear I may be relying on it too much and it may be doing more harm than good. I had a thought to make a switch to yogurt. I have never really been a yogurt person, I've tried but there is just something about it that I can't get by. Greek yogurt I can work with a little more than regular yogurt. And, since I have cut out sugar AND artificial sweeteners I'm not sure I can make it palatable for me. I can try though. Katie Couric just told me about a smoothy recipe that I will have to try.

Day 3, February 11, 2015
1 piece turkey bacon
HB egg
4 piece cheese
Grapefruit
DC coffee with half and half
2 cup weightless tea
L/O egg bake
L/O chickpea patty
4 saltine crackers with butter
4 saltine crackers with hummus
Celery and hummus
Celery with natural peanut butter 

Goldfish crackers 

Cheese slice

L/O tofu taco stuffing 

Cottage cheese 

Sausage (home made turkey sausage that my husband made)

Canillini bean au gratin 

Throat coat tea

Honey camomile tea (I know this may have a little added honey to it, but I need it to help with this cough)

Man! I have had a lot of gas lately

Is it dairy? Is it gluten? I'm really not sure but for the past 4 days my guts have been bubbly and I've had stinky farts. "Smells like dirty diapers" my kid said! It is probably because I am eating so much cheese. I did have an egg bake dish last night too. And I do eat a lot of eggs. So maybe that has something to do with it.

I fear my snacking may be my downfall. I usually go for cheese because it is the easiest and quickest. I need to do some vegetable prep to make sure I have other choices. It isn't easy to choose broccoli or celery, but that is what needs to be done. My other go to is nuts, but these need to be limited too. The fat content in both of these foods is significant and I can't ignore that.  

Day 2 of the #fedupchallenge, I think I am doing well, although I did have a couple of bites of grits this morning with a drizzle of honey on it. I went grocery shopping last night which is a challenge because when I go and my stomach is gnawing at me for sugar I often cave and grab something off the shelf and eat it while I'm shopping. But I took a different strategy last night. I went to Hugo's and got a coffee, an Americano to be exact (they have a Caribou Coffee in the store now! whoot whoot!). The coffee (it was decaf and I only added a bit of cream, no sweetener) helped a lot.

Day 2, February 10, 2015
This is my typical breakfast:

HB egg (with salt), 2 piece turkey bacon, cheese (that is Cojita cheese)
DC coffee
2 cup Weightless tea
Slice of cheese
Celery and hummus
Baby carrots
Chick pea patty with yogurt cucumber sauce
Banana and natural peanut butter

4 saltines crackers 

Handful of nuts, almonds and walnuts

2 saltines 

4 baby carrots 

Couple of goldfish crackers 

Slice of cheese  

Black bean burger with provolone cheese 

Roasted broccoli with olive oil, salt and pepper 

3 shots cake vodka, 2 glass red wine 

Fed up...with sugar

Ok, so have you seen this documentary "Fed Up"?

"The government is subsidizing the obesity epidemic"
When I watch these things I get enraged and get determined to change things. That is good right? That is what these documentaries are meant to do. The same thing happened when I watched "Super Size Me". I quit eating fast food. Granted I go back every once in a while, but it is no where near the level I used to eat.

This documentary focuses on kids and the lunches they are served in school, high school and middle school. But I also got to thinking, what about college kids? When I went to UF there was a cafeteria that had fairly good food. But they also brought in fast food chains into the common area. Also, when I was getting my Master's at MSU, the student union was filled with McDonalds, Subway, Wendy's, Pizza Hut. What kind of message is that sending to those young people too. There was a cafeteria at MSU as well, but the hours were not as convenient as the Union food hours.

Anyway, I am committed now to getting the sugar out of our diets. The whole family! I had a talk with our day care provider and told her I want to limit the amount of sugar the kids get. She started pulling stuff out that had 23g and 14g of sugar in it. I told her not to feed them anything with more than 3 grams. I'd like it to be none, but she doesn't seem to have anything on the shelf that isn't sugar laden.

Anyway, this is my newest crusade. They said in this documentary that getting off sugar is like getting off drugs. There are withdraw symptoms and serious cravings. I get that! That is my life. I love sugar!

So here we go, I am going to do this Fed Up 10 day challenge. I am going to do my best to get my family on board, but I am going to start with myself. I am going to do my part to fight obesity. I am not too worried about my son, but my daughter I can see she already has a veracious sweet tooth. So I can see her potentially having problems in the future. 

Here we go #fedupchallenge Day 1

February 9, 2015
HB egg
1 piece turkey bacon
Cojita cheese
DC coffee
2 cup weightless tea
L/O chick pea burger with Greek yogurt cucumber sauce
Green bean, cucumber, bell pepper salad with olive oil, Greek yogurt, white balsamic vinegar sauce 
(I had a left over piece of salmon in the fridge that I tried to eat but just couldn't, I tried to mix it with olive oil, plain yogurt and vinegar but I couldn't get it to taste good, I would have used mayonnaise but I read the label and it has added sugar)
Spinach salad with chicken, egg, black olives, olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper
Celery and natural peanut butter

Several goldfish crackers

Handful assorted nuts

Piece of cheese 

Tea

Frittata with HM sausage, feta, Spinich 

Roasted potatoes 

It is grocery night! The challenge for me is to not pick up anything sweet while I'm shopping.

I have a headache and a gnawing feeling in my gut. Could this be sugar withdrawal?

DC Carabou coffee

3 spoonful ricotta cheese 

4 piece sharp cheddar cheese 

4 saltine crackers 

I feel good, but not so good

These cupcakes are still around I ate 2 already this morning. There are 2 left and I think I will just throw them away. I will thank myself later. I also need to cement in my memory that they aren't as good as they look. I was expecting more from the frosting, since that is what i fantasize the most about when I look at such confections. So, frosting, not as good as you would want it to be! Noted.

I did feel good when I woke up this morning about eating that is. I actually have some nasal drip going on and have a bit of a cough and sore throat. So despite the cupcakes I am going to try and make this a good day. I have a fun dinner planned with stuffed tomatoes, so that will be a healthy end to the day. Well...we were invited to a friends to drink wine tonight. So there is that. Wine isn't too bad though, right?

February 6, 2015
HB egg
3 piece cheese
1 piece turkey bacon
2 cupcakes
DC coffee
2 cup weightless tea
Slice Swiss cheese
Black beans and green beans with balsamic vinegar and cheddar cheese
Potato salad
Sea salt chocolate caramel
Left overs

Little Chrissy needs a Jolt!

Overindulgence, that is me. I seem to have a pig out mentality about certain things. Sometimes I just can't stop myself from eating something until it makes me sick or I feel overly full. I've often wondered if I have that disease where you never feel full and you constantly feel hungry and continue to eat. Gluttony!

There was one point in my life where I was buying these Hershey pot of gold cookies and cream candies. They were little blocks of white chocolate with bits of chocolate cookie mixed in. I would sit and eat entire 16 ounce bags of these. I don't know when it happened exactly but I made myself sick on them and for a long time I could hardly stand to look at that Hershey cookies and cream stuff. In the last few years they made Hershey drops that are cookies and cream flavored. I picked them up and love them. So I guess my time of this stuff making me sick is over. I must admit I have overindulged on these too.

The same thing happened to me with Tequila, but that is a story for another day about alcohol binging.

I call all this the "Little Chrissy" mentality. "Little Chrissy" is a character in a John Waters move "Pecker". Edward Furlong is the main character and he has a little sister, Chrissy. She is a sugar addict and is always chasing it, always craving it and always overindulging in it. There is one scene where she goes to her dad's store and says "Little Chrissy needs a Jolt!" (Jolt being that over caffeinated over sugared cola that didn't apologize for it's qualities as something bad for you, "All the sugar and twice the caffeine) It is pretty funny.
And then there is this scene:

In the end, Chrissy beats her sugar addiction and moves on to healthy stuff like vegetables. But she is still obsessed with them and eats them by the handful. At least it isn't sugar, right?

So that is how I feel at this point. I am trying to break this sugar addiction and moving on to other things, but I feel like overindulgence may still be my problem. And sugar has a tight hold on me. I have to start from square one every time I slip up. Can you eat too much broccoli? Can you eat too much cheese? (well yes you can and my gastrointestinal guts will tell you so) Can there be too much chicken with tomato, onion, peppers and mushrooms? Maybe I should start writing down the portion size. I stuffed myself with soup yesterday and my stomach felt overly full for hours.

February 5, 2015
HB egg
1 piece turkey bacon
4 piece cheese
1/2 banana
Bite of grits
SF hot chocolate
DC coffee with half and half
2 cup weightless tea
1 cup peppermint tea
Almonds and walnuts
Dried green beans
Oat bran sesame sticks
DC Carabou Americano
2 Hugos cupcakes (this is bad, I bought a 6 pack of these and now I have this package of cupcakes haunting me for the next few days)
Mini pepper
Out to dinner with a friend for Chinese food buffet - cream cheese wontons, wonton soup, beef with broccoli, orange chicken, egg roll, dumplings, rice noodles, low mein noodles
Black Russian at bar 

Who can blame me with all this good stuff in the house

So it is all almost gone, except those sea salt chocolate caramels that my friend gave me for my birthday. The chocolate cake, the cheese cake and the ice cream have been taunting me since the weekend and have definitely hooked me back on sugar. I have decided to just drink tea when I get a craving and hopefully it will help. I got this herbal "Weightless" tea that is supposed to help curb appetite.

My problem is I just don't know when to stop, then when I do realize it, I have over eaten and feel bloated. Sweets are my weakness and I always seem to make leniency for them. And where there is cake! Well that is dangerous! Because I would eat the whole thing at once if I let myself.

February 4, 2015
2 piece turkey bacon (I actually only had a few bites, the kids took the rest of it)
HB egg
Cheese
2 cup DC coffee
3 cup tea
Potato salad (a few bites)
Cottage cheese with salt and spice
Pea pods
2 piece bread with butter (I love butter)
Sea salt chocolate caramel
L/O chicken artichoke soup concoction
L/O blizzard (only a couple of spoon fulls left)
Some goldfish
Hand full of almonds
Potato salad 
Piece of cheese
Tofu tacos with avocado, black olives, sour cream, tomatoes
Bowl of vanilla ice cream with few chocolate chips, raspberry sauce (home made) and whip cream

Whow! What a sugar bomb yesterday!

What did I do yesterday? It was worse than the weekend. I ate A LOT of sugar yesterday. I had a bunch of cake and then the Blizzard that was sitting in the freezer left over from my birthday. I'll be safer once the cake is finished. I did have a piece this morning after breakfast while I drank my coffee at my desk. Don't judge.

So I am guessing I am going to have to break this sugar addiction again. I kind of blew it. I need to remember that vegetables are a better snack than those caramel chocolates and crackers.

February 3, 2015
2 piece turkey bacon
1/2 HB egg
4 piece cheese
2 cup weightless tea
DC coffee
Cake
Chicken drum stick and wing
1/4 pound hamburger with cheese (no bread)
L/O roasted cauliflower and bell pepper
Couple of almonds
2 chocolate sea salt caramels
L/O chick pea sloppy joe

3 piece Swiss cheese

Almonds and walnuts 

Something weird happened to me tonight . I feel like crap! It started with gas then progressed to a headache and nausea. I didn't eat dinner because I felt like I was going to barf. I would have eaten salmon with grapefruit relish and roasted broccoli and zucchini.

My weird concoctions

Leftovers...I hate to waste and throw away food, thus we tend to have a lot of leftovers in the fridge. Oddly enough my husband once made the comment directed to my kids "Your mother tends to make leftovers disappear." Like that is a bad thing! I work from home, so usually my lunch consists of things I can immediately pull out of the fridge and microwave because I have a short amount of time to eat between the time I stop work and go get the kids. 

Well, with my propensity to eat all things in the fridge, I tend to put things together in weird concoctions that may bemuse some. Last week I mixed re-fried black beans with leftover zucchini and some yogurt pesto veggie dip I made. It did taste a bit odd, but was actually not too bad. I like mixing beans and canned tomatoes, I'll put cheese on anything, and when I have it I'll throw a bit of tofu in for good measure. Lately it has been soup. You can throw anything in a pot with some chicken broth and call it soup. We had this chicken dish with artichokes and onions. I just cut up the chicken into small pieces and threw it all in a pot with some vegetable broth, added some tomatoes and Wallah! Chicken, onion, artichoke soup.

For some reason today I thought, wouldn't chocolate covered cheese be wonderful? I found this blog about a cocoa covered cheese and I  would love to try it (don't bother with the video review, those guys are douches).

Well the weekend was a bust as far as staying on course, I ate a bunch of cake, drank a lot on Saturday and pretty much ate recovery food on Sunday because I just needed to get my psyche back. I am going to have to finish up the cake (along with the other members of my family) so for the next couple of days I'm going to save my sugar intake for that.

February 2, 2015
HB egg
2 piece turkey bacon
Toast with butter and jelly
4 piece cheese
Cake
Chicken artichoke soup
Potato salad
Baby Bell cheese
2 chocolate caramels
3 mini peppers
Pork roast with green beans and balsamic vinegar and olive oil
2 chocolate caramels
Sesame sticks while grocery shopping
piece chocolate cake
L/O Blizzard