Looking back at the last post, I have incorporated a lot of the new rules. Breakfast is low cal – yogurt or oatmeal. I’ve really kicked the coffee habit, and do coffee more not than often. Green tea has largely taken its place. I don’t eat lunch out very often at all – helped quite a bit by the dearth of lunch options in the vicinity of my office. I’m back on the drinking more water train at work (2.5 Nalgenes at work today!) and the snacks are largely in line. The cardio was there in the summer/fall – walking 3+ miles a day helped me lose 20 lbs at one point – but has largely dropped off as the weather turned colder. I had been using a calorie tracker, and was seeing progress.

Some of it derailed during the holidays. Too much alcohol, fat and sugar by the end. But this year, I really felt it. I am either doing a better job at listening to my body or I’m getting old. Or both. While I have not yet looked at the scale to see the damage, I will, but only for benchmarking purposes. I had a heckuva year, and as the theme of 2013 was really looking for the value in all things, I decided beating myself up for the holidays was not worth it. The biggest difference from in years past, thought, is that I am at peace with it.

As is custom in early January, I wanted to write down my thoughts for the upcoming year. As I begin to tee up these habits, and am starting to kick the sugar cravings of the last month, I’ve written this list. I hope it’s a thoughtful act – I think it is, anyway – and all of it is pretty doable. Because that’s the first step to success – actually setting achievable goals.

Resolutions. Or Goals. Or Intentions. Or whatever.
1. Eat less meat. Aim for 2 meatless meals a day, more days than not. Also, don’t let other people knock you out of this routine. You know you feel better when you do.
2. When you do eat meat, eat more locally raised meat. Buy in bulk from local farms. This may require a larger chest freezer. Darn.
3. Move more. You like walking with the dog – find new places to do it more often. If you’re gonna sit on your ass after work and watch tv, you must do arms/abs/cardio in commercials. Remember, you proved to yourself that with small changes you CAN actually lose weight. Despite falling off the rails a bit, you started 2014 down a pants size – keep it up.
4. Financial health in addition to physical health. Pay off all credit cards – Happy Birthday, indeed. Stop spending for the sake of spending. Be smarter – save money. Eat out of your pantry – which should help you with #5 too.
5. Declutter. Downsizing from a house to an apartment helped with that, but you have more to do, particularly in the wardrobe area. Be smart, so when you move sometime in the next six months, you can move as little stuff as possible. Try to sell it and make some money.
6. Make preserving practical. Less empty jars, more preserves you actually eat, and more recipes on how to actually use them for the blog.
7. Continue trying new things. Don’t get into the same old rut – new restaurants, new trips away, make boredom and bad routines (er, “ruts”) the enemy. Get over your prejudices.
8. Electronic discipline – no more rat levers! Endeavor to put all electronics away at least an hour before bed and minimize multitasking (tv/laptop/phone ALLATTHESAMETIME together). Phone responsibility in car – no phone in hand walking while over asphalt and no looking at phone in car. Illegal and unnecessary. Relatedly,
9. Be present in your conversations with others. Really focus and cultivate memories. In that vein, enjoy every second of your last bit of time in West Hartford.
10. Be a responsible adult. Take care of yourself: moisturize, floss, don’t pick apart every flaw on your face. Make the doctor’s appointments you need to.

2014 is gonna be fucking great. Let’s go.

1. Cardio Workout: Half hour in the morning before work – 5 days a week. Walking/running, 30 Day Shred, kettlebell, yoga whatever. Every day of work. This means I’m up at 5:30 to be done & showered by 6:30 to be out of here by 7 to be at my desk at 8. Possible special dispensation for every other Friday off.

2. Breakfast: Consumed before work, or on the way to work. Smoothie, yogurt/granola, oatmeal.

3. Coffee: One travel mug/thermos, NOT Dunkin, either on the way to work or at work. I am really good at drinking too much coffee.

4. Lunch: eat out no more than once per week. Sandwich/leftovers, fruit/veg, yogurt. Lots of little bites with lots of textures, which have a lovely way of tricking my brain into a diverse and filling lunch.

5. Snacks at work: Yogurt, fruit, oatmeal, dark chocolate. Bring a mug for tea. Drink 3 Nalgenes worth at work.

6. Dinner: Eat before 8:00. Sensible substitutions with Jon’s meals – wheat pasta, throw vegetables into the pasta sauce, smaller amounts. No computer/phone after 9pm or after dinner, whichever comes later.

6. Dessert (if any): 100 calories or less, or a cup of tea with milk and sugar.

7. Grocery shopping: One shop per week, at least 5 meals purchased/planned. One night for takeout (friendly to wallet/waist), one flex night.

Once this gets comfortable, there will likely be tweaks:
-Vegetarian before dinner?
-Couch to 5K training once my fitness level is up
-Supplement with whey-free protein powder, fish oil, multivitamin? calcium? when the finances have recovered.

February 8:
Breakfast: Toasted English Muffin with Fried Egg. KateMcMuffin?
AM Snack: Pumpkin Seeds
Lunch: Soup Swap Pasta e Fagioli with some added Swiss Chard, one slice of F2H Wild Rice & Onion bread, homemade apple-pear sauce for dessert.
PM Snack: I was ravenous getting home. I made oatmeal with maple syrup, tayberry jam and a drizzle of heavy cream. Crazy delicious – but of course it was!
Dinner: A very random mix: small bites of ravioli, lentils & sausage, and two kiwis. I know. Dont know why but it happened.

February 9:
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Maple Syrup and Tayberry Jam at work. Tea with Milk and Sugar.
Lunch: Last of the Pasta e Fagioli Soup, F2H bread, Apple Pear Butter.
Dinner: Chicken & Swiss Chard braised in Wine and Tomatoes over Risotto

February 10:
Breakfast: Green Smoothie – kefir/banana/flax/spinach/swiss chard
AM Snack: Apricot & Almond KIND Bar while finishing my Coffee with Milk and Sugar. Shitty old coffee – promptly got some new stuff after work.
Lunch: Leftover Chinese – Chicken and Chinese Vegetables with Rice. Added some sesame oil and chili garlic paste – yum!
PM Snack: The last of the F2H bread, my bread & butter pickles, cheddar cheese, half a pint of Allagash Black.
Dinner: Wasn’t super hungry, then Jon brought home pizza. I might have had two slices.

February 11:
Late Breakfast @ 11:30: 3 scrambled eggs with hot sauce
PM Snack 1: Organic Pink Lady Apple & Iced Coffee with Milk and Splenda.
PM Snack 2: An organic Minneola orange while waiting for Jon to get home
Dinner: Chicken Sausage, Spinach, Broccoli & Pasta in parmesan chicken stock sauce.

February 12:
Late Breakfast @ 11:30: Two fried eggs on an english muffin with hot sauce and an organic Minneola orange. Also an iced coffee with milk and splenda and Disaronno. Yum.
Random PM Snack: A slice of pizza. Ick.
Dinner: Chinese Takeout – Steamed Dumplings with Steamed Chicken and Snow Peas. I made my own sauce of sesame oil, chile garlic paste and soy sauce. Finally I have found something HEALTHY at the local Chinese place that I LIKE!

February 13:
Post-Farmers Market: A half-cup of Fage 2% with Raspberry Curd
Lunch: Chicken and cheese sandwich with light mayo and mustard on F2H Roasted Garlic whole grain bread. Also a Cara Cara orange.
Dinner: Mini-meatloaves with a small serving of mashed potatoes and garlic chili swiss chard.
Dessert: Another Cara Cara orange. They’re crazy good.

Verdict:
More exercise needed. The end.

February 1:
AM Wakeup: Tea with Milk and Sugar
Late Breakfast: Chobani 0% Honey with Flax and a bit of Champagne Pomegranate Jelly alongside a F2H Butter Scone and another cup of tea.
Lunch: Spicy Pumpkin Soup with olive oil, salt, pepper and pepitas with one slice F2H bread (I was good this time!)
Exercise: Trying to get into a Yoga and Weights groove. Today was more figuring out what works. Thanks Youtube.
Dinner: Leftover Black Bean/Pork Burritos, Refritos and Swiss Chard.
After dinner: I went to have a spoonful of Nutella and a banana but had a cup of Lady Grey instead. Go willpower!

February 2:
Given the ice storm last night and the 20+” of snow outside, I think if Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow, there would have been riots.
Late Breakfast: One slice of F2H Sesame Toast, two scrambled eggs, tea, a kiwi and a banana.
PM Snack 1: Scone and tea
PM Snack 2: Cheddar cheese, tomato jam, Banana, Nutella and a handful of popcorn.
Dinner: Chinese Takeout – Chicken with Chinese Vegetables, Steamed Dumplings and a Spring Roll.

February 3:
Breakfast: Coffee, a green smoothie (banana/flax/spinach/kefir)
AM Snack: Kashi Blackberry Breakfast Bar
Lunch: Kale, Broccoli Raab and Chicken Sausage Soup with White Beans and one slice F2H bread
Dinner: Small mashed potato pizza and beer from Dimitris. Video game night.

February 4:
Breakfast: Toasted English Muffin with Cranberry Jam
Lunch: The rest of the Spicy Pumpkin soup with some bread and extra chicken for protein.
Dinner: Listos with cheese and tortillas.

February 5:
Breakfast: Listos, Kale & Cheese Omelet with English Muffin
Dinner: Pork in French Cream Braise, Mashed Potatoes.

February 6:
Breakfast: Two scrambled eggs and toast with Tayberry Jam
Superbowl Snacks: Mexican Layered Dip & chips, a pint of Allagash Black
Dinner: Homemade chili & homemade bread.

Verdict: Ok. Can do better. Getting into the swing of things – no excuses – but can step up the exercise and the vegetable quantity.

-Cardio 3x week. As the snow is already up to mid-thigh and more is in the forecast, this means 30 Day Shred.
-Yoga & weights 2x a week.
-Keep to those rules!
-Protein for breakfast every day. Bringing back the green smoothie!
-Continue the no eating after dinner policy. I stuck to this rule fairly well.
-I like the 2/3 Vegetarian thing, but I think its going to be fairly flexible. As long as two of the meals of the day are vegetarian, I think that’s doable.
-New Rule: Completely avoid processed foods. Though I do on a large scale, I can do better. No processed bread, margarine, fake sugar, “low fat” ice cream sandwiches or the like. Inspiration provided by http://20ate.org.
-Mantra: the only one holding you back is yourself.

Tuesday January 18:
Breakfast: A cookie and a cup of coffee. Awesome.
Mid-Afternoon Snack: Three small slices Anadama Bread with Cream Cheese.
Dinner: Homemade bread and homemade ravioli.

Wednesday January 19:
Late Breakfast: Oatmeal with Jam, tea.
PM Snack: A Kiwi, an Apple, a Chobani Peach Yogurt.
Dinner: A Burger and curly fries at Dimitri’s.

Thursday January 20:
I reversed my lunch and dinner.
Breakfast: Coffee
Lunch: Summer Hill Farms Chicken Pot Pie
Dinner: Stewed White Beans with Rosemary, 2 slices F2H Anadama Bread with Butter
PM Snack: Jello Pudding cup with Cool Whip. Moment of weakness.

Friday January 21:
Breakfast: Three scrambled eggs, two slices of F2H Anadama Bread with Butter. Coffee x2
Lunch: Leftover refritos, tortillas & cheese with some Rainbow Chard
Dinner:
Exercise: Shoveling!

Wednesday January 12:
Snow day! Jon was home too.
Late Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, Oatmeal with Raspberry & Apricot Amaretto Jam. Small glass of juice & tea with milk and sugar.
Post-Shoveling Snack: Chai Tea – 1% milk.
Dinner: Fried chicken and biscuits. Jon had a southern craving.

Exercise: Shoveling 16″+ of snow. Oh man. I hurt.

Thursday January 13:
Breakfast: On the way to the mountain, I grabbed Dunkin Donuts – a toasted Multigrain Bagel with cream cheese and a Large Hazelnut Coffee with skim milk and Splenda.
Lunch: I really needed some protein, and we hit a bar for lunch on the way back. So I made the executive decision to have my “meat” meal for lunch. Beef & Bean Chili with Garlic Bread and Sour Cream. Oh, and a Stella.
Dinner: Two small baked potatoes with listos (black beans), cheddar and hot sauce.

Exercise: Skiing

Friday January 14:
Stayed in bed and job searched/watched Hulu ALL DAY. I also regressed to a picky 5 year old for my food choices. I had a peanut butter and fluff sandwich on white bread, a glass of juice, and whole grain Goldfish. I know… I know. Then I had an ice cream sandwich. I know. To top it off, Jon had dinner with friends, and all I wanted was junk food. So I ate the last of our tortilla chips with the leftover listos and homemade queso (butter, flour, milk, cheddar, parmesan, green chiles – at least I know everything in it, right?) And then I ate the last Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwich.

Needless to say, after that I felt like crap. We wont be doing that anymore.

Exercise: Nope.

Saturday January 15:
Brunch: Spinach, Mushroom, Onion & Provelone Omelet, Home fries and Pumpernickel toast. Ate most of it.
Late Afternoon Pick Me Up: Dark and Stormy
Dinner: Spanish Braised Short Ribs with Vegetable Gravy and Mashed Potatoes.
PM Snack: Jon sat on the couch and ate Pringles. I made a cup of Earl Grey Tea.

Sunday January 16:
Breakfast: Chocolate Chip Pancakes, Apple Cider, Coffee
Late Afternoon Snack: Desperately needing protein, I whipped up some Chicken Salad and Crackers.
Dinner: A failed attempt at soup – I was still pretty full from the chicken salad and made a really horrendous bowl of whatever was around in my fridge soup. Didn’t eat most of it.

1. Vegetarian before 6. Er, before dinner – whenever that is.
This is sort of modeled after Mark Bittman’s “Vegan Before 6” eating plan. I can’t go vegan – I am a total sucker for eggs and in true food irony, cheese. The ironic part is that I am dairy sensitive. I thought I was lactose intolerant for a while, and what I could/could not eat was set for a few years, but I am no longer fully lactose intolerant. I think “dairy sensitive” describes it nicely.  Hooray cheese enchiladas at the local Mexican restaurant on Margarita Monday! Anyway, I think the idea of eating vegetarian 2/3 of the day is doable. For me this means essentially lacto-ovo – a.k.a. dairy and eggs are ok. I am also going to allow fish, for additional sources of protein. I may take that out later, we’ll see. I’ve had success with it the last couple of days.

2. Protein at every meal.
This is an easier one. In combination with Rule #1, breakfast most of the time means eggs, oats or yogurt. I might experiment with some oats with protein powder. Lunch will have beans, lentils, fish, eggs and/or dairy. Dinner is free game – I think this is fairly evident – and since I generally don’t eat processed food anyway, allows me lots of room for kitchen experimentation. I really want to try to eat more fish, lamb, etc. Things I dont normally eat (standard cuts of beef, chicken, pork chops.)

3. Don’t eat after dinner.
It got to the point that I had dessert after dinner almost every night. Alot – too much. Here and there, I am sure there will be exceptions. But its easier to work at not making it a habit. I’ve taken to having a cup of tea if I get a post-dinner craving or if the boyfriend has to have something extra.

4. Avoid drinking calories wherever possible. Oh, and drink lots of water.
Beverages limited to: water, tea and coffee. The occasional beer/cocktail/wine with friends but it doesn’t need to be a habit. Drink the rest of our juice, dont buy any more, then agua, agua, agua.

5. Sundays are off.
Sundays I go to the farmer’s market. I sometimes get a Farm to Hearth Pizza and/or cookies, and other goodies. So… I get a free day.

6. Exercise.
Its January, and cold and snowy. So my indoor/winter tentative plan is as follows:

→ Monday: 30 Day Shred & 1/2 hour elliptical cardio
→ Tuesday: Yoga & (Arm) Weights & Ab Work. (Looking for a yoga DVD, and hoping to do basic dumbbell/kettlebell stuff while watching TV. Also doing crunches, leg lifts, core training.)
→ Wednesday: 30 Day Shred & 1/2 hour elliptical cardio
→ Thursday: Yoga & Weights
→ Friday: 30 Day Shred & 1/2 hour elliptical cardio
→ Weekends: Off, or if I take an off day during the week, makeup days.
Come the spring, I will be doing Couch to 5K. I want to actually run the Hometown Thanksgiving 5K this year. And maybe a few other ones, we’ll see.

7. Try to journal your food so you are conscious of what you are eating.
I tried this before (see previous entries). While I dont think it works by itself, I think in combination with the above rules its extra support. With that…

Monday January 10:
Breakfast (Like 9am): Coffee with Milk and Splenda
Late Breakfast (Like 11:30am): Three scrambled eggs, Slice of Farm to Hearth Rustic Roasted Onion Bread with Butter.
Early Afternoon Snack: A kiwi, apple, and a banana. Stoplight fruit, if you will.
Late Afternoon Snack: Farm to Hearth Dark Chocolate Chip Cookie
Dinner: Leftover veg/lentil soup and the last of the Rustic Onion Bread with a (Tuna) Poke appetizer. Except I ate the poke last. I sort of forgot about it. Oops.

Tuesday January 11:
Breakfast: Tea with Milk and Splenda. Oatmeal made with water and topped with a banana, the last of the cherry jam, a drizzle of maple syrup and a splash of milk.
Lunch: @ a Diner – Spinach/Sauteed Onion/Roasted Pepper/Mushroom/Cheddar Omelet, a biscuit and some home fries.
Late Afternoon Snack: A ramekin 3/4 full of Whole Grain Goldfish and a small glass of Newman’s Own Lightly Sweet Lemonade (I am such a sucker for this stuff – trying to use it up!)
Dinner: Parts of Chicken and Meatball Parm grinders and beer. Night in with friends.

May 13:
Breakfast: Ham, Egg & Cheese on Wheat Bread, Coffee with Skim Milk and Splenda.
Lunch: Chicken Sandwich, Apple
PM Snack: Chobani Peach 0% Greek Yogurt, Tea with Sugar and Creamer
Dinner: Listos, cheddar cheese, 4 small tortillas
PM Snack: Calcium supplement x2, 1 fleur de sel caramel

May 14:
Breakfast: Flax seed oameal with soy milk, a little sugar, Turkish apricots
PM Snack: Cheese and crackers
Lunch: Onion Burger, Root beer, 1/2 small order of fries.
Dinner: Grilled WILD CAUGHT Salmon, Saffron Rice, Tomato/Mozz/Basil salad, Cucumbers. Huge debate with the rents over wild vs. “farm raised color added” salmon.

May 15:
Breakfast: 1/2 whole wheat bagel with light cream cheese, half cup of coffee
PM: Wedding! Lots of alcohol, snacks, salmon, chicken marsala, roasted potatoes, haricots verts.
Dinner?: Tortilla chips, two small slices of pizza, two beers.

May 16:
Breakfast: Whole wheat bagel, a pear, strawberries, coffee. Water, lots of water.
Lunch: Cold Cuts, Sugar Snap peas, a spoon of my homemade Alaskan Stout Mustard.
Dinner: Grilled italian sausage, peppers, onions, brown rice, soy sauce.
Dessert: A little coffee ice cream. Bad idea in general, worse idea on an iffy stomach.

May 10:
Breakfast: Multigrain bagel with cream cheese, Iced Dark Roast with skim milk and splenda.
Lunch: Taco Bar, Left Hand Milk Stout, Ipswich Blueberry Beer.
PM Snack: Sam Adams Brick Red, a few french fries at the bar.
Dinner: 6 oysters, a few oyster crackers, cornbread at the Union Street Oyster House.
PM Snack: Earl Grey Tea with Milk and Sugar.

May 11:
Breakfast: Yogurt Parfait with granola and fruit.
AM Snack: Apple
Lunch: Tuna Salad (Canola Mayo) on 7 Grain Bread with Peppers, Sprouts, Carrots. Liberte Coconut Yogurt, Bragg Apple Cider All Natural Drink.
PM Snack: Two charred tortillas with a little butter and salt.
Dinner: Made a baked potato with salsa and cheddar. Not filling whatsoever. Made boxed macaroni and cheese, much better.