Adorable daughter quote

My sweet little one wanted to go to a "pizza place" on wednesday night. She had been at "pre-preschool for almost 9 hours (husband traveling for work so he couldn't pick her up at normal time and I teach late). Anyway mother guilt had set in hard so I took her to one of those buffet pizza places (introduced by her beloved grandmother who says yes to everything). When we got out of the car she said, "Mommy's not going to eat salad, mommy's going to eat pizza." My heart just melted. It has apparently sunk in that mommy is dieting and surviving on only salads. So I ate two pieces-trying to avoid the crust- and a huge salad. She ate mostly bread sticks (god I used to love those in highschool) and gooey cinnamon rolls. Besides being a sweet and attentive thing to say it did make me think about what kind of messages I am sending her. On the one hand you want your child to see you eat healthy food but not to such a point that you shun all other foods. Wouldn't that give her the idea that she needs to eat like that too. I do not want her in anyway to be obsessed with her weight. I'm sure we will continue to battle with all the unhealthy weight messages sent to girls in the U.S. Right now she's got these gorgeous chunky cheeks and the cutest little folds in her thighs.
lad

Master Cleanse Sucks

8 hours and about 4 of those lemonades later I was shaking and could think of nothing but food. So I ate a salad immediately.

Hear are my thoughts on the Cleanse:
1) The drink is actually pretty yummy. It's sweet, sour, and spicy at the same time. I do think it would clean you out quick and I'm sure I would feel healthy at the end of 10 days. But...
2) I was so distracted by thoughts of food that I could hardly function.
3) I was cranky and snapped at my daughter a couple of times-totally unacceptable to me! And
4) Is fasting really good for your colon? Aren't there studies that say your body does a fine job of cleansing itself without fasting? Finally
5) I did spend some time thinking about other ways to satisfy oneself-So I couldn't have a cup of coffee immediately upon waking but I could take a long hot shower. I definitely think many of us reward, and comfort ourselves with food. But there are other ways too. We just have to understand our relationship with food. Food should be about nutrients, pleasure, and company not a replacement for affection, hobbies, etc.

So I'm back to salads, grilled chicken, lots of veges, and more exercise. Seems to be working just fine. Succeeding for 8 hours on the Cleanse has given me the courage to attempt to the New York Diet-perhaps next week.
lad

Preparing for the MasterCleanse

I have serious doubts about my ability to do the Master Cleanse. I read the book yesterday while getting a pedicure (how Laguna Hills is that!). The author-Stanley Burroughs recommends a 10 day fast followed by 3 days of food reintroduction-2 days of orange juice and on the third day you can have vegetable broth and some raw vegetables. Yikes. During the cleanse you drink lemon juice mixed with maple syrup, cayenne pepper and hot water. Yummmmmm.......
He says that on day 3 your desire for food is gone. Oh boy. This also means no caffeine or alcohol. I might be able to stop eating but to stop drinking. Ugh.

I thought I might try the cleanse for 3 days and see how I feel at the end of the 3rd day. I just don't want to pass out while teaching. I have an incredible teaching load this semester-three courses-four classes-one of them I am on camera and the class is being projected to a satellite location where another 15 students sit. How embarrassing to pass out on camera! However the results of the cleanse will probably make me look better on camera. I looked so pale last week. I could see the gray hairs and the forehead wrinkles. Is it time for botox at 34? Yet my lovely sister called to tell me that I had a chile pepper next to my name on ratemyprofessor.com. How nice. Now I do have to wonder what girl put that up there. I teach in a school of social work so the only men in my classes are gay.

I'm down a total of 5 pounds in 2 weeks and that includes a trip to San Francisco, a wine class last week, and a beer tasting yesterday. All in moderation I guess.

I did start a Pilates class on Thursday mornings and a Body Conditioning class that combines fast yoga, pilates, and calisthenics on Saturday morning. I am totally sore today from that class. The classes are at this really great Pilates center in St. Louis right around the corner from my daughter's daycare. http://www.pilatescenterstl.com/

I even worked out on campus once this week. So I am glad I am fitting in a bit more exercise.

Ok-got to go to the grocery store-am I going to attempt this cleanse??
lad

Return from San Francisco

Well I did ok while on vacation. The trip out there was good. I had eggs at the airport at the Wolfgang Puck cafe. Then a low carb bar on the plane. Lunch was around 1 in SF-soup and salad. Thursday night we dined at Rubicon http://www.sfrubicon.com/. We took advantage of the Dine Around Town Fixed Price menu. I had pumpkin soup, sole, and tapioca pudding. It was divine. We shared a really great bottle of Marietta Old Vine Zinfandel-http://www.mariettacellars.com/welcome.html. It was a great meal but I didn't leave feeling like I had overindulged.

Friday was conference and interview hell. Breakfast consisted of fruit and half a breakfast burrito-not bad for conference food. I ate half a panini and salad for lunch. My presentation went well and so did the two interviews. I was exhausted though. I walked off my stress by heading from Chinatown to SFMOMA-http://www.sfmoma.org/. They had a beautiful exhibit of Alexander Girard fabrics that I just fell in love with. Dinner that night consisted of nervously grazed food from the Presidential reception including 3 tiny crabcakes, some cheese and crackers and a piece of thai pizza. I was trailing all the people I had interviewed with trying to connect with them in some personal way. God I hate hiring conferences. Everyone who is looking for a job is there and they are all tripping over themselves to make good impressions. It just made me want to drink! I then had cocktails out with friends-two (or three-I can't remember) vodkas and club soda which I have decided is a good low cal drink since there isn't a heavy caloric mixer in it.

Saturday was the low point of eating. We were hung over and headed to wine country. We stopped at McDonalds and I indulged. Then we drank wine all day and stopped for lunch a the cutest road side cafe called Taylor's Refresher-http://www.taylorsrefresher.com/information/contactinfo.htm. They have two cafes-one in the Ferry Building in SF and the other in St. Helena-the center of Napa County wine country. We ordered garlic fries (fries covered in chopped garlic, parsley, and butter-divine), one cheeseburger (the best we have ever eaten), and an iceberg wedge with lite ranch. I ate most of the salad and only a few bites of the burger. We shared the fries which we had one other time at a SF Giants baseball game.

The wineries we visited were: Frog's Leap, Sterling (the disney winery visit experience that includes an aerial tram ride), Grgich Hills (private wine tasting for $15 a person), and a half hour stop at Robert Mondavi. It was a great day-60 degrees, sunny and not too crowded. I would definitely recommend this to people as a day trip when they visit SF. We have always done Muir Woods and Point Reyes Seashore as our daytrips before. The drive to Napa is only about an hour from the Golden Gate Bridge. We took the Bay Bridge back which was a mistake and took us nearly 2 hours to get back to the hotel. We walked back from the car rental to the hotel so hopefully that burnt off some of those garlic fries.

Saturday night we ate Thai food with friends. I skipped the rice pretty much and we had no appetizers so essentially I ate stirfried seafood and veges dish.

So overall I mindfully indulged. Yesterday I returned to salads, and lean meat. I plan on eating this way all week. Then next week I am going to give the Master Cleanse a try for as long as I don't pass out. Rob is traveling so I will only have to cook for my daughter. This should make it a bit easier. Anyone want to join me in the cleanse??

lad

3 pounds down

I have 9 minutes to post so this is going to be short.

I'm down somewhere between 2-4 pounds which I am happy with. I'm bloated too due to Aunt Flo's visit (yes-people do still say this!). I have eaten really well this week. I am not disappointed with the loss. I'm leaving for a conf. in San Fran tomorrow thru Sunday. We have dinner reservations at great restaurants. We will be seeing friends and drinking I'm sure. I've packed low-carb bars for snacks when I need them or to substitute the inevitable conference breakfast of pastries and bagels. I also have my first academic conference presentation and two job interviews. Ugh.

lad

Day 7

So I've reached a week and am doing really well. I need to go upstairs and weigh but it's freezing in the house and I don't want to undress right now. I will weigh tonight and post my results so far. I alternate between feeling like I've lost a couple of pounds to feeling like a huge cow. Oh how lovely. Controlling the eating is actually easier than not have a beer, or a cocktail when I want it. I'm not trying to quit drinking but do imagine cutting back would help my cause. If nothing else has been accomplished this week it's been an incredible awareness of making better eating choices.

Still lots of egg whites for breakfast, salads to lunch (I made a cauliflower one I really like) and light fish, or soup for dinner. I'm still cutting back on the bread products. Sunday's trip to the grocery store included lots of low-carb products very reminiscent of the south beach days.

I didn't post yesterday because I was watching my 8 month old nephew. Taking care of 2 kids is much harder than I ever anticipated. I've watched him before but man the older he gets the more challenging it is. They don't nap at the same time which means there isn't a minute to yourself. Plus my daughter decided not to nap at all yesterday so I had her all day. UGH..... I did get a nice long walk in though and my 24 minutes in the morning routine too.

Salmon for dinner tonight. I haven't figured out how I'll cook it yet. I made broiled tomatoes and steamed broccoli last night to go with the same tilipia dish I made last week.

I'll post the numbers later tonight.
wish me luck.
lad

The weekend is going ok. Dinner last night (out at Mangia Italiano-http://www.dineatmangia.com/) was an exercise in self-control. I would normally eat one of the divine homemade pasta dishes faves are Spaghetti Mangia-which is spaghetti baked like lasagna with a mixture of white and red sauce and the Bolognese-very spicy) but instead I ordered a side Caesar salad and an appetizer of calamari. I ate no bread. In fact I sat in front of a dish of olive oil, herbs, and Parmesan and did not dunk! Yes the calamari was fried but the portion was about 1/3 of what you would get at other places. It's one of my favorites but my husband isn't crazy about it so I end up ordering whenever I am out by myself. In the end the dinner was wonderfully relaxing, no children to feed, and lots of intellectual discussion of books and PhD programs. I did have one cosmopolitan-which is how I celebrate Sat. night. Then I switched to wine.

However after another two drinks out with my husband-vodka and club soda I came home and ate my favorite "I'm not going to have a hangover sandwich." ham and cheese on toast. It was probably a 150 calorie snack at midnight! Oh well.

We walked across the Chain of Rocks bridge (http://www.confluencegreenway.org/locations/ocorb.php) this morning to look for eagles. It's a beautiful old bridge across the Mississippi River. It's a 2 mile walk with 4 low-grade hills. I alternately pushed the stroller and held my little one. For some reason she always wants me to push her not Rob. I feel so loved.

She learned the word exercise very early. I think from us and from Elmo. Sometimes when I am walking with her she'll turn around and say, "Mommy-run, rum mommy...." She's a regular drill Sergeant!

lad

Shrimp and Scallop Pasta

It was delicious. Here's the recipe.

Saute enough shrimp and scallops in a little olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Use as much seafood as you like. I made this for 2 people but it ended up being enough for 4. The shrimp only take maybe 3-4 minutes to pink up. Take them out immediately. The scallops will take maybe 2 minutes longer depending on how big they are. Remove all the seafood to a separate bowl.

Add another drizzle of olive oil, more garlic, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Add julienned zucchini, sliced mushrooms, and red onion. Saute until tender. Add cooked whole wheat pasta into the pan and 1 cup of chicken stock. Simmer. Add seafood back in and serve with a little parmesan on top.

Enjoy.
lad

So I've just walked for the last hour and 20 minutes in part because the little one fell asleep on me and the peace and quiet was just too nice to interrupt. It wasn't until some asshole in a loud car sped by that she woke up so we ended our walk. I am a city girl true and true but I hate loud cars, and loud barky dogs. SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's the peanut sauce recipe from the other night. In a food processor combine 3 TBS of peanut butter, 1/4 cup of water, minced garlic, thai garlic chile sauce to your heat preference, 2 TBS of rice wine vinegar, a drizzle of honey (to minimize calories), 1 TBS of soy sauce (which equates to roughly 2 take-out packages in case this is one of those annoying items you keep forgetting to replace, 1/4 cup of diced tomatoes, 2 teas of grated fresh ginger, parsley or cilantro (fresh or dried) and 2 Teas of fresh lemon juice.

Puree til smooth. Serve chilled. Makes about 1/2 cup which can be stored in the frig and used multiple times. I only use about an ounce at a time again to minimize calories. It's very tasty.

I am making a shrimp and scallop saute tonight. Not sure what the recipe will be but will post it later.

I was worried about lunch today. A friend and her kids came over for a playdate. I was in charge of our activity (decorating our christmas tree for the birds and squirrels) and she was bringing lunch. I didn't know how to not eat what she brought but luckily she brought a greek salad. She's dieting too. I think people are annoyed when you don't eat what they cook or bring to you.
I have an invitation to my favorite pasta place-Mangia Italiano-tomorrow night. Another girlfriend is in town. Again this would not be my choice for Sat. night but I need to go. I'd rather save all of Saturday's calories for drinks!


Oh I am also struggling with when to weigh. I'm thinking about waiting a week not a day before to maximize the loss. Morning, noon or night?
lad

Day 4

Well there were some highs and lows yesterday. First I still dealing a major sinus infection which made me feel like spending the day in bed. But since a 2 year old never lets you do that I pushed thru. It was rainy and nasty all day so I got no exercise except for the normal household activities which can be pretty taxing since we live in a 4 story house. Carrying a 22 pound kid up and down flights of stairs should count for something! I actually considered doing 20 minutes of consective stair climbing!

Then it was Chinese Thursday night. We went out and I was concerned but I did ok after all. I could eat my weight in egg rolls. But I only had a half. My husband ordered them. I didn't want them anywhere near me but there they sat on our table. I had Pho Ga for dinner which is a chicken and rice noodle soup. I thought the spiciness would help my congestion. I have no idea how many calories it has in it. I steered clear of most of the rice noodles. So it was broth, chicken, bean sprouts, and cilantro.

The rest of the day's eating was fine-eggs, salad. I remember now that I burn out on the eggs fast!

I ordered the Master Cleanse, The 14 Day Diet, and The New York Diet from Amazon yesterday. I bought them all used including the 14 day diet for .29 cents. I'm pretty skeptical of the New York Diet except that Heidi Klum used it to get ready for the Vic. Sec. runway show. But the diet bans all carbs including fruit which I think is ridiculous. The Master Cleanse sounds great. I would love to get rid of all the toxins in my body but drinking only a lemonade concoction for 5 days sounds horrible. My daughter and I have been sick off and on for months. Anything that might make me healthier while shedding some pounds (though I'm sure they won't stay off) would be great. I was already imagining my first meal after the fast. It would either include Krispy Kreme donuts or an Indian food buffet!

Later,
lad

Day 3

Last night's dinner went well. Baked Salmon in a soy sauce glaze with sauteed napa cabbage and leeks. I had never cooked leeks before. They were really good. I sauteed them with a little rice wine vinegar, and Thai chili garlic sauce. I drizzled it at the end with a homemade peanut sauce. The Salmon is covered with soy sauce, a teaspoon of honey, garlic, parsley, basil, and grated fresh ginger.

I ate popcorn before bed while watching Top Chef. I was so happy to see Michael win both challenges. I always love the under dog. The rest of them are a bit pretentious. He's seems like he's the only one who just loves to cook.

More later,
lad

Baked Tilipia

mix together a little olive oil (EVOO- ugh Rachel Ray has gotten into my head)
basil, minced garlic, garlic salt, lemon juice and parmesan. Enough to coat your fish. Cover with the mixture then pat a few bread crumbs on top. I toasted Healthy Life Low Carb bread (just 35 calories a slice and 5 net carbs) then grated it to make low carb low calorie bread crumbs. Bake in a 350 degree oven until fish flakes. Squeeze additional lemon on top.

Day Two

OK so it's going pretty well so far.
Here's what I've consumed.
eggs and salsa for breakfast
chef salad with fat free dressing for lunch
baked tilapia (recipe below), stir-fried veggies and brown rice for dinner
some cheese before bed. 1 beer, 2 glasses wine, one fight with husband over who should have custody of our child should we both perish on our way to San Fran next week.

Low points:
Being unable to refuse a taste test of seafood salad on a cracker at Sam's. I just hate those taste test people. It was awful and I immediately worried about food poisoning. Who eats seafood salad from a stranger???


Today's eating has been more difficult. My daughter wanted a bagel-chocolate chip with extra cream cheese- during our morning errands. She spent roughly an hour devouring it while feeding me bites. She is so darn cute and just too hard to say no to. We were literally "Lady and the Tramp" sharing the bagel this morning. I think I got out with only maybe 2 bites! Then while getting a diet coke before lunch she wanted french fries. I ate only 2. I am doing much better since before I most definitely would have finished the bagel and the remaining fries. My actual meals were the same as yesterday-eggs and salsa and a salad.

Exercise wise.. I walked in the botanical garden for about 45 minutes in the morning yesterday-however this is walking with a 2 year old who likes to stop a lot and look at everything. So after dinner I hopped out of the house for another 30 minute jaunt. It was dark and I'm not sure that walking in the most dangerous city in the country at roughly 7:30 pm is particularly healthy but I took my cell phone and pepper spray. It felt kind of exhilarating. I have been doing Jorge Cruise's 8 minutes in the morning for the last 5 months. I like it because you can do it at home with minimal equipment. I triple it now and do three sets of two exercises for a total of 24 minutes in the morning! So I did that this morning and I am planning on walking to the playground with my daughter after her nap since it's a balmy 50 degrees in the Lou today.

Even though I say that I'm not on the South Beach diet my menus thus far seem to scream South Beach. The first time I went on it two years ago I was a nursing mom of a 3 month old. I woke up on the morning of day two feeling light headed. I went straight to the kitchen and ate a vat of chocolate ricotta cheese.

Daughter is crying must go. Recipe later.
lad

Dieter's Memoir Day One

Hi. I am a 34 year old woman who needs to lose a little weight. I am the mother of a 2 year old and spend many of my days trailing behind her and eating behind her. The rest of her french fries, handfuls of goldfish, chicken nuggets, cookies, ugh.... So it's Jan. 2nd, the day millions of people resolve to start eating better. I thought blogging about my efforts might help keep me on the path. No one is going to want to read this and that is fine with me. But maybe someone else who needs to diet will find some motivation or at least will know they are not alone.

So here are my food issues besides eating with a 2 year old. I love to snack at night while watching tv or reading. I usually have a glass or two of wine at night and that seems to lower my resistance against snacking. The rest of the day I do ok. I also eat if I'm really upset say following a huge fight with the husband. There have been plenty of these in the last year thus the pounds have come on. Finally I love to cook and to watch cooking shows so that doesn't help. I am going to channel that interest in more healthy cooking. One last thing my daughter is little. If your a parent you'll understand the growth chart thing. She's a 5th percentile baby. She weighs just over 22 pounds which is really what a 1 year old weighs. Her pediatrician gave us this order, "calories in and I don't care what they are." So this hasn't helped in terms of the foods in the house or that I feed her.

Here's the plan I am going to try a variety of diets for short periods of time so that I don't burn out. I have been successful on the South Beach diet before but am so tired of it. So I am going to avoid that one. This week just to break myself in I am going to focus on eating fish and veggies, as many as I want. Then I may try The Master Cleanse and the 14 Day Diet.
So here are the numbers.I'm 5 feet 3 inches tall. I looked great when I weighed 15-20 pounds less but I haven't weighed that since before my daughter was born. I am also perfectly happy weighing just 10 pounds less. So that's my goal. I think that's very doable. Anything more will be gravy, errrr a bonus.

I am going to attempt 30 minutes of activity a day. If I get more great but 30 minutes is the bare minimum. This can be hard during the winter in St. Louis but I'll figure it out. I do not belong to a gym so I am limited by what I can do at home, outside, etc. I did get a 10 class pass to a Pilates center which I am excited about starting when the winter semester starts and my daughter goes back to daycare. I also want to take a Boot Camp class at the university. Ok.

That's my plan.
Time for eggs for breakfast.
lad