Sweat

I just got back from a spin class and I'm totally soaked. That is definitely a whole lot harder than my bouncing around on the elliptical trainer, although I still don't quite understand about the "weight loss" and "cardio" heart rate stuff. Seems like you'd lose more weight the more work you do, right? (C'mon, Dad, I know you want to jump in here to answer this one...) I figure my heart rate was probably going about 473 beats per minute in spin which is definitely in the cardio zone. And now I'm sweaty. Yep.

So, things here are moving along nicely. Getting our trip to LA planned, which should be a ton of fun. We did a huge shop at the Co-op this weekend, so I've actually been cooking and eating good food this week. I've decided to take a break from raw grains since my stomach seemed to keep getting puffier and puffier after I ate them -- and am sipping on a delicious strawberry-banana-yogurt-flax smoothie as we speak. Life is good in springtime New York.

Oh, and, by the way, we went to Rockefeller State Park last weekend and walked around this huge park that used to just be the sort of 831-acre backyard for the Rockefeller family. Super nice nad a reminder that there are even some not-too-bad places to get outside within easy reach by train. Must get out more!

The Mystery Continues...

So, as you have probably surmised from the comments, I'm taking a bit of a break from posting everything I eat here. I am still going to check it occasionally and, heck, may even go back to telling you all about my raw grain cereal breakfasts and big veggie salad lunches. I just want to test the waters for a while without the blogging.

It's absolutely gorgeous weather here this weekend and I'm supposed to be looking up day trips from NYC at the moment, so I should probably hit the road. Rob and I took a nice long walk in the park yesterday and I love being able to be outside again. I mean, this winter wasn't bad at all, but spring in New York is just so pretty.

In other news, for those of you who hadn't heard yet -- our vacation plans have leapfrogged from Honduras to Thailand to somewhere in the Caribbean to... Los Angeles. I'm going to book tickets today. We just can't resist, even though it's not a vacation where we'll be totally alone and it's not something overly exotic. It's just so darned fun out there with all our family and friends and, well, budgetary constraints required a bit of, well, constraining ourselves. If anyone wants to see super cool yoga trips, though, like the one we were hoping to do in Thailand, check this out: http://www.yogatraveller.com. The person I was emailing with, Michael, was super, super, super nice and professional and friendly and I'd definitely love to travel with he and his partner Michelle at some point.

And the really big news from the past few days is that Leah and Simon have officially gotten engaged! I'm so happy for them. And sooooo happy that they'll be living right around the corner from us (ok, maybe a 10-minute walk). We'll have to have potlucks. And cribbage nights. Whatever cribbage is. Sounds like something two married couples would play though, doesn't it?

And since I'm not just writing about food anymore, heck, I finally did my first Sudoku puzzle and I see why everyone's so obsessed. I HATE numbers and I saw 45 minutes on a plane slip away as if it were 10 seconds. Loved it. Mom gave us a book of those things and I need to find it...

Ok, off to find somewhere nice to walk out of the city....

Day 96: Eats and Exercise

I'm going to add an air of mystery to the blog by skipping two days this weekend. Let's just say it was a medley of raw grains, empanadas, bagels, and probably other types of straight carbs that I've forgotten to list!I had to help run an all-day "debriefing" on Saturday -- is "program evaluation" a better word? Probably. And then Sunday Rob and I slept in super late and then went to his office on Canal Street and then just walked around SoHo and then the river walk on the Hudson and then Battery Park. It was super nice, although the weekend felt so short cause of working!

It's funny that I used to work on weekends and do 10 hour days without thinking about it and now one Saturday where I have to work feels like a total violation of my work/life boundary. I know it's sort of trendy to say that the work/life balance thing is bs cause work is a part of your life blah blah blah. Still, I kind of dig the separation.

Exercise: just got back from yoga class -- sans Kripalu Warrior today who is off at work still

Breakfast: raw grain cereal (but I accidentally bought vanilla yogurt instead of plain and I have to admit that it tasted super good -- naughty!); 1 tablespoon cod liver oil

Snacks: 1 Minisandwich with peanut butter and strawberry jam; 1 cup Earl Gray tea with a little milk and sugar; 1 bottle water; a little bit of a coffee-flavored hard candy that someone brought back from Hawaii -- not so great, so I spit it out

Lunch: big veggie salad (and it was totally delicious today with lots of greens, red peppers, hearts of palm, carrots, celery, avocado, blue cheese, and a great balsamic vinaigrette); few bites of eggplant parmesan that a friend had brought from home; 1/4 of a bagel with salmon cream cheese

Snacks: few chocolate covered espresso beans someone had brought from Costa Rica (everyone is food obsessed); 1/2 of a chocolate covered macadamia nut from Hawaii (again, didn't love it and had to spit it out); 1/3 cup coffee with milk (but only cause the coffee at work is so nasty -- I kind of wanted more); 2 bottles water

Dinner: had a bowl of really stale Honey Nut Cheerios before going to yoga -- didn't get a chance to go shopping this weekend and I had slim pickings; am having a big glass of water with lemon now and will probably have a Total yogurt with cherry...still feeling peckish, but don't want to eat much after 10pm!

Day 93: Eats and Exercise

We have a bunch of people in for work at the moment and I have to go to the office all day on this rainy Saturday. Poor me, poor me! We took them out last night to dinner and drinks also and I am super tired.

I also read about a Swedish study saying that people who weigh themselves every day do better with keeping weight off and losing weight than people who do it once a week or not at all. I guess the theory is that even if it fluctuates every day a bit, you can see and stop upward trends quickly. In light of that, I decided to weigh myself for nearly the first time since I started blogging -- I've lost a grand total of one pound. Yep. I really wish I hadn't done that before having to work all day on a Saturday.

Exercise: did 40 minutes on the elliptical trainer

Breakfast: raw grains; 1 tablespoon cod liver oil; 1 lemon yerba mate tea

Snacks: 1 Minisandwich with a slice of organic American cheese; 1 bottle water; 1 roiboos (sp?) yerba mate tea

Lunch: big veggie salad with smoked salmon

Snacks: four of little the Lindt chocolate eggs (then gave away the rest); 2 bottles water; 1 iced latte; some raspberries

Dinner at Loreley: 1 1/2 pretzels with mustard (waiting for everyone to arrive, we ordered baskets -- they were warm!); few pieces of cheese (there was a cheese platter that I was picking at also) with about a half piece of bread; 2 beers; a whole bunch of water (I'm still so thirsty all the time!); a bit more than half of my order of goulash with spaetzle; 1 gin and tonic

Day 92: Eats and Exercise

I'm trying to get to bed earlier, so I may just start posting in the morning... let's just see how it all works. I am feeling better and think it may just be allergies that keep getting me down. Supposedly it's the worst year for allergies ever in New York cause of the mild winter. Go figure.

Exercise: was a beautiful day yesterday so Rob and I took a long walk in the park, stopped for dinner, and then walked back -- probably walked for around an hour and that kid goes at top speed even under normal conditions

Breakfast: banana-strawberry smoothie; 1 tablespoon cod liver oil

Snacks: 1/2 sesame bagel with butter (was hungry after my smoothie and left my healthy snacks at home!); 1 bottle water; my colleague from Bonn brought me these little Lindt chocolates that are super tasty -- I had about 5 (they're about the size of small almonds or big Milk Duds, take your pick)

Lunch: went to Blockhead's and was reminded of how darned tasty that place is for straightforward Mexican-ish food -- 1 "mini" (it wasn't really that mini, but it was certainly smaller than the normal one!) beef picadillo burrito with a little sour cream, brown rice, whole wheat tortilla; green salad; a few chips and salsa; ice tea (unsweetened)

Snacks: 1 tall iced latte; 1 bottle water

Dinner: went to Dizzy's (where I hadn't been in ages) and had a China Girl salad (shredded cabbage, grilled chicken, almond slices, mandarin oranges, etc.); few bites of Rob's meatloaf and roasted mashed potatoes; 1 sip of his Coke

Snacks: 1 small Tasti-di-Lite ice cream -- they're supposedly really low in calories but I don't know how that's possible...

Day 91: Eats and Exercise

Exercise: woke up tired and with a sore throat again, so didn't make it to the gym

Breakfast: raw grains; 1 tablespoon cod liver oil (I think I've been forgetting to add this to the blog, but I have had it almost every morning)

Snacks: 1/2 small latte; 1 bottle water

Lunch: big veggie salad with some baked tofu, avocado, and feta cheese; 1 passionfruit yogurt drink (from Ronnybrook Farms, so it seems like it would have less sugar than other places, but I couldn't tell -- it was delicious anyways!); some red grapes

Snacks: cookies n' cream Clif bar; 1 small margarita; some salsa and chips at Zarela (yummmmmm!)

Dinner: went to the busiest restaurant ever -- Pastis in the meatpacking district -- and got sat basically in the entrance, right in the middle of the bar. was not so pleasant. i did have nice piece of skate with brown butter and ordered a side of ratatouille, so that was good! drank lots of seltzer and then tap water.

Snacks: 1 Cosmo at bar afterwards; 2 big glasses of water

Day 90: Eats and Exercise

So, I'm on day 90. That's supposedly officially how long it takes to make habits stick, but I feel like I could use a bit longer! I also feel like I have another cold coming on and I'm wondering why I've been so much sicker during this whole healthy eating period than I ever remember having been. I usually escape with maybe one cold a year, but it seems like I've been tired and sniffly since January. I'm hoping it's some kind of detox or else I'm going back to the Dazs!

Exercise: I really, really tried to get up this morning but my foot hurt (just when I woke up -- it's actually been pretty good and it always hurts worse in the morning, so I probably could've done it) and I was crazy tired. I'm going to try to get 8 hours of sleep at least a couple nights a week.

Breakfast: raw grains; small glass of orange juice mixed with seltzer

Snacks: (left all my salad and snack food at home this morning accidentally, so I felt super light going to work!); bottle of water; cup of coffee with milk; 5 almonds

Lunch: 1/2 grilled chicken wrap; some fries; 1/2 Greek salad with balsamic vinaigrette on the side; 1 small OJ

Snacks: 2 bottles water; 1 apple

Dinner: few cashews before dinner; turkey meatballs and whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce -- from a new cookbook I got in Toronto (was super bland, so I had to add a bunch of stuff which does not bode well for the cookbook); glass of juice with seltzer