Tag Archives: food

I guess it is 60% of the body…

21 Jun

Somehow, over the past month and a half, I have managed to drink at least 64 oz of water a day.

Some days, I even drink 96 oz. That is 3 Nalgenes of water.

For some, this might be normal. They’re probably not having to run to the bathroom every hour having to pee like a mad man. But for me, this is a feat.

Rewind back 18 months to my time at D2S: It’s 2 PM. I’m sitting at my desk, my empty coffee mug long since stowed away in my cubby, my completely full Nalgene still untouched. I happen to glance over and realize I haven’t drank anything since my coffee that AM. So I open my Nalgene, take a few pathetic sips from my straw (knowing that I spill water all over myself without one), but still go home at 5 pm, with an almost-completely full Nalgene. At dinner, I choke down a glass of water. During and after my workout, I stomach another 10 oz.

Total water intake: 20 oz.

So what has changed in the past month and a half?

……I’m thirsty?

Honestly, I don’t know why I enjoy drinking water now. I never really have before. In Minnesota, it wasn’t a huge deal that I didn’t drink a ton of water because it’s so humid. Ever since we moved out to extremely dry Colorado in 2007, I have regularly endured headaches from being dehydrated. But even those headaches were not enough incentive for me to start drinking more water. I just couldn’t do it.

Obviously, since I brought a Nalgene with me to work every day, I had the best of intentions. I wanted to drink water in theory. But to drink that water, I had to force myself to do it because I never felt thirsty. Never. Ok, maybe for the 30-60 minutes I worked out a day. But seriously, the minute I was done exercising, my thirst was gone. I could be out on a 5-mile run in 95 degree heat, having fantasies of an ice cold glass of water and hardly wait to get home. Once I finally have that clear glass of deliciousness in my hands, my mouth full of anticipation, I take a drink and… eh. Do I really have to drink this? I pour out my glass of water and drink a glass of milk instead.

While I can’t pinpoint it is all of a sudden enjoyable for me to drink an entire 32 oz before 10 AM, I can pinpoint a wonderful side effect of my new love affair: energy.

For many months, I had come to the conclusion that I just had less energy than most people. Travis would get up at 3 AM on a Saturday to go fishing or duck hunting, come back around noon, and instead of taking a nap like I expected him to, he’d mow the grass, change the oil on both cars, clean out the gutters, work on his assemble-yourself muzzleloader, and do whatever else he does out in the garage. I, on the other hand, would roll out of bed at 9 AM, have a cup of coffee and breakfast while reading the Bible and a book, then lay around all day watching TV, possibly prying myself up long enough to take the dogs on a walk. I thought about doing productive things, like printing those vacation pictures I’d been meaning to, or vacuuming up the massive clumps of dog hair in the kitchen and bathroom – but I just felt so tired.

I had heard that lethargy can be a result of dehydration. I am living, walking proof that that statement is true. I cannot believe the amount of energy I have now, compared to then. When we went camping over Memorial Day, I felt that familiar lethargic feeling when we got to our campsite and were setting up our tent. After a moment of self-pity (and a nap), I decided to drink some water. And it worked. That feeling went away and I felt great for the rest of the trip.

I’m convinced that this is why I, a person who does not like being busy, have been able to handle constant busyness over the past couple of months with minimal breakdowns. It is so much easier to handle being busy when you have energy! It’s AMAZING!!!! Just kidding. But seriously.

Another thing that helps me handle constant busyness is having a routine. That was one of the hardest things about my job last year when I was traveling and working from home – no two weeks were alike. Things were constantly changing so I could never get into a routine. I like routines because I love being organized and it helps me to ensure that everything that really needs to get done in a day gets done. If I have extra time, sahweet!

Now that I’m back in a regular 9-to-5, I am getting my routine down:

Daily Routine

5:00 am – Get up.

5:15 – Train.

6:30 – Shower, do makeup, get dressed.

7:15 – Make lunch for me, snack for Travis. Brew coffee.

7:40 – Eat breakfast while reading the Bible.

8:20 – Leave for work.

9:00 – Work (aka read blogs, surf the net, log workouts, etc).

5:00 pm – Leave work.

5:35 – Get home and make dinner. Eat dinner.

6:30 – Take dogs on a walk.

7:30 – Get workout clothes ready for next day.

7:45 – Watch TV with Travis or read a book.

9:00 – Lights out.

My weekly routine has become to go grocery shopping on Sunday and do laundry/clean the house on Monday (my rest day). It’s working so far.

Have you noticed your water intake affect your energy level? Do you like to have a daily/weekly routine or wing it?

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First tri of the season tomorrow!

3 Jun

 Tomorrow is my first triathlon of what promises to be a very exciting 2011 race season. And I am READY!

I have tapered this week with only 2 workouts – I swam 800 yards on Tuesday and ran 1.93 miles on Wednesday. I was going to go on a bike ride last night with Travis but I had a margarita with dinner instead (and I had been feeling a little tired so I figured, I’d rather rest than push myself to do another workout). The margarita was delicious and wonderful at the time but this morning, I woke up with a headache (like I knew I would). These days, whenever I drink alcohol, no matter how much or what type, I always get a headache. Boo!

I am also volunteering at packet pickup tonight (since the race is being put on by my employer last year and the race director is a friend of mine, they asked me for a last minute favor) so I wanted to practice my transitions and get all of my gear packed up last night (which I did – and holy crap, I forgot how hard it is to get a wetsuit on!). Tonight after packet pickup, I am going straight home to bed. I figure I can be in bed by 9:15 or 9:30.

Tomorrow, we are going to leave the house around 5:30 (5:45 if Travis is dragging his feet), which means I will get up around 5:00. The transition area opens at 6:00 but my wave doesn’t go until 7:15. While I want to get a good spot, I don’t know if I want it that bad. It’s a 45-minute drive so we’ll still get there by 6:15/6:30. I plan on getting body-marked at packet pickup so I should be able to just walk right in to the transition area.  Then it’s time to set up my stuff, check and recheck everything, and wait.

My fueling strategy is that I’ll eat a slice of whole wheat bread with peanut butter whenever I’m first hungry (usually right when I wake up) and drink some water. Around 6:00, I’ll eat a banana and drink some more water. Then unless I’m full, I’ll eat another slice of peanut butter bread around 7:00. Bananas and peanut butter toast are are my tried-and-true foods. I’ve tried dried fruit and yogurt  before races but never felt quite right. During the race, I will eat 3 Shotbloks during the easy stretch of the bike and try to drink some water then too. I’ll probably drink some water at the run aid stations (depending on how hot it is). I thought about wearing my Camelbak for the run but decided against having the additional thing to worry about in transition. Maybe for the Oly triathlon I’ll consider it more seriously.

I’ll post a race recap in the next couple of days. In the meantime, get out there and enjoy the sunshine!

Are you racing this weekend?

 

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Memorial Day Fun

3 Jun

On the hike up Cedar Mountain

This post is  happening a work week later than I had planned on but hey! that means I’ve actually had work to do at work this week… gasp! As my workload has dwindled today, here’s the recap finally.

Summer is officially here! (I don’t care what the calendar says.) Travis and I went camping Memorial Day weekend for the first time of the year. Our friend Randy’s family has some property down there so we got to stay there for free. Sahweet! Their land is rented from the Lutheran Valley Ranch so there were quite a few other people there besides us, but the land plots are so big (5-6 acres) that it’s definitely not a campground feel. BUT there is a Ranch House with running water and toilets (very much appreciated). I may advocate tents over campers for the feeling of camping, but I definitely do not advocate peeing outside over inside (at least for women).

After a couple of long, hectic weeks, Travis and I decided to leave for camping Saturday morning, which was definitely the right decision. We got a lot accomplished Friday night in preparation for leaving (loading the truck, grocery shopping, laundry, an episode of Bones) and still didn’t leave our house until 8:30 Saturday morning.

As we went through Colorado Springs, Travis asked to stop and take some pictures of a culvert. No, that’s not weird. It’s for his job. And he enjoys it. In return, I asked to stop and get a chicken biscuit from Chick-Fil-A. No, that’s not weird. I’m always thinking about food. Especially chicken biscuits from Chick-Fil-A.

Our cooking setup

Then we continued on up into the mountains, arriving at our campsite around 11:00. After setting up our tent, sleeping bags, and eating lunch, we took a short nap with the pooches in the tent and then went on a hike suggested by Randy up Cedar Mountain. There are no signs at the trailhead for the hikes in this area, so we had to drive into the Retreat Center and ask someone who worked there where the trail was. Their directions were just as nebulous but we did end up finding the trail.

The first 30 minutes were very easy. But once we got to where the switchbacks started, things only got harder. Randy had told us it was like rock climbing in some areas and during this part of the hike, I was sort of laughing at him because it wasn’t at all as steep as I had expected “rock climbing” to be. That’s because we hadn’t gotten to that part yet…

When we finally did, I was skeptical as to whether we could actually get the dogs up such slopes. We ended up having to have one of us go up partway while the other stood at the bottom. We’d call the dogs up the slope and as they got their running start but didn’t *quite* make it to the top, the person at the top would grab them and pull them the rest of the way. Then there was another part where Charlie was too scared and wanted to go back down but I just grabbed her and carried her for a little bit. She was a trooper, though, for this having been her first hike ever.

But then we found ourselves faced with a ladder and decided that it wasn’t worth trying to carry the pooches up and down that. So we turned around after Travis climbed to the top and took some pictures. He offered that I could climb up while he waited with the dogs but I started up the ladder and then decided I was ok. I’m not huge into steep, technical hiking. Plus, he said the views were pretty much the same at the top as where I was. Settled.

When we got back to our campsite, it was about 4:00 – too early for dinner. Travis cracked open a beer and I brewed some coffee. Both beverages were soon abandoned due to an emergency: Katy and Charlie got quilled by a porcupine.We had been letting them run around off their leashes and being dogs, they kept going far enough that we lost sight of them. After calling them back several times, we wondered, maybe it’s ok to just let them run? They wouldn’t go too far… which was true. That didn’t mean they wouldn’t get into trouble though.

But as I took my first sip of coffee, we heard barking. Crap, we thought, they’re barking at one of the neighbors and annoying the crap out of them. Lazily and mostly annoyed, we walked in the direction of the barking, calling for the pooches to come. They didn’t.

Until we heard them yelp and then emerge with snouts covered in what appeared to porcupine quills. Katy was making gasping and choking noises and Charlie seemed to mostly ok. We ran back to our campsite and got out the pathetic plastic tweezers from our first aid kit. They were completely useless. Luckily, Travis had some pliers so he got those out and while he sat on Katy and I helped hold her mouth open, we pulled those quills out. Poor Katy – she had probably a couple hundred quills in her lips, on the roof of her mouth, in her gums, on her tongue. Every quill pulled out brought blood and made her wiggle trying to break free from our grip. She did really well, though, considering the circumstances.

Charlie’s condition wasn’t nearly as bad. She had 25-30 quills, mostly in her gums and lips as well. But she did not like getting the quills ripped out one bit. She thrashed and whined and wriggled so much that Travis had to literally sit on her with all his weight.

After one more switch in instruments (forceps worked the best), we were finally done – both with pulling quills out and with letting the dogs run around off their leashes. We didn’t need to deal with that anymore.By that time, it was time for dinner so Travis started a fire and we put some brats, asparagus, and baked beans on the grate over the fire. (Note to self: Defer to Travis in all matters related to cooking on the fire or grill.) After a walk around the lake near the Ranch House and some wine/beer and s’mores, we retired to bed at the hour of 9 pm.The flapping tent

But it was next to impossible to sleep. When we first went to bed, it was dead silent except for these god-awfully loud crickets that seemed to be in my eardrums. I couldn’t stand it so I got out my iPod and put on some sleepy tunes. That helped and within 20 minutes or so, I was falling asleep.

Only to be awaken around 3 am by the howling wind and constantly flapping tent. After that, every time I was almost dropping off, the wind would pick up and send our tent flap a-flappin’ and wake me up.

Travis also had a hard time sleeping. At first, he couldn’t get to sleep because he was worried about bears. After he got up and hung our garbage bag in a tree a ways from our tent, he figured he’d be able to go to sleep. No such luck. Because that was when the wind picked up and then he laid awake worrying about a tree falling on our tent. Ay-ay-ay.

The next morning, the pooches woke up at 7 am. I took them on a nice little morning walk, drank some coffee, and spent time in the Word while Travis tried to sleep a bit longer. At 9 am, he finally got up and we made breakfast. After washing dishes and grooming, we headed out for the hike we were thinking about doing down a drainage that led to the South Platte River. But we were prevented by two words: ATV Mecca. There were so many ATV-ers out and about that we decided to not do the trail we had been thinking of (not with two pooches off leashes). So after an hour spent driving around on eroded, extremely bumpy dirt roads getting our brains scrambled, we retreated to another hike Randy had told us about.

Like the previous hike, there was no sign for the trail leading to the ‘Stone Cabin’ and the directions we had from Randy were pretty vague. We started out walking on what appeared to be a trail but quickly vanished into nothingness. There was a trail on the other side of the stream but we had seen ATVs on it as we started out and that was exactly what we were trying to avoid. So we kept walking. After about .75 mile of hiking through the woods seeing no sign of a Stone Cabin, we started getting pinched out of the drainage and decided to head up the slope and walk the ridge back.

As we were sitting on a downed tree trunk eating trail mix and PB&J sandwiches, we heard voices. Hmmm, we thought, the ATV trail must not be that far away. Come to realize, those voices were coming from above us – a group of 4-5 people were coming down from the peak about 200’ above us. We decided to ask the people if they knew where the Stone Cabin was. They did! After giving us some more vague directions (“Follow this trail and turn right”) and encouraging us to check out the view from up top, they left and we hiked up to the top

.As typical with any peak (and especially so that day since the wind from the previous night had not let up but continued to blow at gusts of 30-40 mph), it was incredibly windy at the top but it was gorgeous. A panoramic point if I ever saw one.

We continued on our journey to find the Stone Cabin, not really sure we knew where we were going. But then we reached a T in the trail and the directions those people had given us made sense. The detour to the Stone Cabin only took us about 35 minutes of hiking time and was definitely worth it – I love seeing old cabins like that tucked back in the middle of nowhere. To think that someone actually lived there!

Finally, we were headed back. When we got back to our campsite, we fed the pooches and then put them in their kennel because they were both exhausted. Every time we had stopped during our hike, they both found shady spots and lie down.

Travis and I were also tired so we went into our tent and read our books for a while. The wind was still ferocious (I swear, it had to have been 50 mph at times) and our tent was still flapping and we had had it up to here, so we decided to eat our dinner of white bean chili and beer bread sitting in the cab of our truck, just to escape the wind momentarily. That was when Randy showed up. He and Travis were going to go fishing on Monday while I went back to Denver with the pooches.

After helping Randy get settled, we sat around and talked in the wind and the dark (no campfire when it’s so windy), ate some uncooked s’mores, and went to bed around 9 pm again. Pooches slept in their kennel that night because the bottom zipper on our tent door broke and we didn’t want to have to deal with them trying to sneak out at night.Though it was still very windy that night, I slept a LOT better than the night before. Travis did too, once he got up to rig the tent flap to stop flapping. (So that’s why it was so quiet!) Morning came very early though, at 6:15 am.

After a breakfast of burritos and coffee (provided by Randy), we packed up camp and headed out. Travis and Randy went camping and I and the pooches went home. Traffic wasn’t bad at all and I got home by 11:00. I unloaded all the coolers, totes, pooches and bags; put everything away; cleaned out the coolers; watered the garden and landscaping; did the dishes; took a shower; and then read a bit until I fell asleep for a sweet hour-and-a-half nap.

I ended up going grocery shopping and doing laundry later that night but overall, it was a pretty chill evening. We got dinner from Sonic (chili cheese tots for me, popcorn chicken for Travis) and then rented Knight and Day from Redbox.

Then Monday, it was back to the work grind. (But I actually had work to do, so it wasn’t too bad!)

Note: WordPress won’t let me insert any more photos without dismantling my text so I will post more pictures in a separate post.

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Blowing the whistle on Satan

17 May

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Galatians 6:14).

I thought a lot yesterday about my triathlon woes and concluded at the end of the day that my problem was, once again, pride – pure and simple ego. After reading some race recaps by triathletes who are faster than I am but call themselves slow (If they’re slow, what am I?), I felt like a joke. Why am I doing triathlons when I’m absolutely no good at them?

Then I thought about all the other ways I am tempted to feel insufficient and not good enough: body / weight, career, fashion, friends, vacations — the list goes on and on. Satan is always tempting me to seek validation through external things — which also happen to be things I don’t have a ton of control over or things that won’t last. The only reaction to seeking validation from those things is discouragement and despair (and eating lots of ice cream).

Once again, this morning God called me back to the truth — because of Christ, I am good enough. I am exactly the way God created me. The only thing wrong with me is sin.

God made me slow. God made me curvy. God made me quiet and introverted. God gave me the desire to pursue a joy-filled life instead of a high-powered career. God has worked in my heart to create a desire for simplicity, which stands in stark opposite to accumulating material possessions. This is the reality of my life.

Satan takes all of these good things and distorts them. Instead of thanking God that He has given me a joy in exercise and eating right, Satan condemns me for running 3 miles in 34 miles and eating a piece of cake. Instead of being grateful for the clothes and job I do have, Satan conveniently shines a spotlight on women who are more successful and better dressed, quietly suggesting that they’re happier than I am.

Well, I’m blowing the whistle on Satan. Everything he says to me (and you!) is a lie. I find happiness in being God’s chosen one, in knowing that Jesus has gone to prepare a place in heaven for me — not for the lithe, trendy girl down the hall. Jesus is waiting for me. He wants a loving, intimate relationship with me. I am loved by the Most High.

With that knowledge and hope as my foundation, I have decided that I can embrace being velocity-challenged (I decided that is the PC term for slow). I can serve as a role model for all of those other athletes – runners, bikers, swimmers, etc. – who participate in sports not because they’re good at them, but because they enjoy them. I personally have been encouraged by others who don’t have it all together, aren’t living the picture perfect life, or flaunting a taut body with the latest fashions, yet completely embrace and accept who they are. They remind me that being who God created me to be is what glorifies Him. Trying to be someone else is not only an attempt to glorify myself, it’s an insult to God – I’m saying that He messed up; His creation is defective.

I think that this is one of the hardest challenges that humans face – the temptation to define ourselves by things other than Christ. The temptations come in different forms for different people but they’re all from the same source (Satan) and they all have the same solution (Christ). In Christ, we find a lasting, eternal identity: sons and daughters of the Most High God. Isn’t that better than being fast anyway?

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Food and work

3 May

On Sunday, I finally went grocery shopping. I am very happy to finally have good food again. I don’t think I will ever do that experiment again – especially with no fruit or vegetables. I just don’t think it’s worth it.

In other news, I had my first day at my new job yesterday. It went well. From what I can tell, I think it will be a good job but it’s always hard to know after just one day. I can say, though, that it’s really weird to see so many people working for the same company and not know each other. Even at my first job out of college when I worked for a corporation, our office was small enough that you pretty much knew who everyone was, even if you had never spoken to them. So a huge office (2,500 people) is weird for me.

A definite perk of working for such a big company, though, is that I get an officle – an office/cubicle. My officle has a sliding door and walls that go all the way up to the ceiling. There are windows at the top so light still gets in. I also have a flat-screen monitor and there is a cafeteria on campus. Pretty swank. The world of telecommunications is very confusing to me, though, so I have a lot to learn. But everyone I will be working with seems very nice and friendly and there are several other women my age so I’m excited to get to know them.

I do see already my tendency to want to be cool, fit in, and not known as a Jesus freak. I’m worried about the right balance between being social and being a good employee (since I’m a contractor and not a permanent employee, I think this is more pronounced.)  I don’t want to hide out in my officle but I also don’t want to be perceived as a slacker.

But honestly, right now I’m too tired, frustrated and overwhelmed to care much about that. My dog Charlie is driving me up the wall. Last night, she started whining and howling at 2:30, then 4:00, then again at 5:30. I seriously want to kick her in the head. I have had enough willpower to restrain myself this morning from doing that but I can’t be near her at all. I’m pretty sure the reason why she’s acting that way is because she hasn’t been able to go on walks, run around or play with Katy since getting spayed. She’s probably going slightly crazy. So hopefully it will get better after we get the All Clear next Wednesday from the vet. Otherwise, I will be the one going crazy!

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My last week of freedom.

26 Apr

For some reason, when I accepted my new job, I thought I had 2 1/2 weeks until I started. It was actually only 1 1/2. So this is my last week of freedom. I’m definitely excited to start my new job – but also a little nervous just because it will be a new experience and challenge. And I have to admit that I’m sad my days of freedom are coming to an end.

To make the most of my last week being unemployed, I am getting together with a friend every single day. Yesterday, I went hiking in Golden Gate Canyon State Park with my friend Lauren (the wife of one of Travis’ work friends). Today, I am having coffee and potentially going on a walk (if the weather holds up) with a new friend from church named Holly. Tomorrow, I am going on a bike ride with another friend from church named Steph. Thursday, I am having my last Thursday morning coffee with Cathy (it’s the end of an era – we’ve been having coffee weekly since December!) Friday, I am going hiking at Red Rocks State Park with another friend from church, Renia, and her son and friend. So it will be a busy but fun-packed week!

A little update on the food situation: I had to cheat and go buy a few ingredients to make a dish for Easter dinner. BUT I picked a recipe for a wild rice casserole that I had the majority of ingredients for so I only had to buy chicken broth ($.99) and apricots ($1.50). I also made stuffing (which had been in my cupboard since Thanksgiving 2008) and had to buy celery ($.25) and an onion ($.75). (And yes, it turned out to be delicious!) With the sugar I bought for Travis’ morning coffee and my toothpaste with a $1 off coupon, I only spent $8 at the grocery store. I felt pretty good about my thriftiness.

Tomorrow night is care group and we eat dinner together beforehand potluck-style so I will have to buy a few more things for that (cheese and black beans). But overall, I’m making it work with the food we have. We had chicken alfredo with mushrooms last night. Last week, I made crusted chicken with tomato dill couscous. I also made udon noodles with carrots, raisins, red pepper and a peanut  butter soy sauce (delicious!) – it’s a Betty Crocker recipe. So we haven’t been eating crap. But we also haven’t been eating as much fresh produce as we normally would (as in, we aren’t eating any right now). I have frozen vegetables left and even those, I am using sparingly so that we can at least eat some vegetables one meal a day for the rest of the week.

My only fear at this point is that when we do get more grocery money, we’re going to be so low on everything (including condiments, spices, and staples) that the grocery bill will be abnormally high and we’ll start this vicious cycle all over again. But since I will have a job then and have a steady income, I might try to convince Travis to let me have a little more grocery money. I think I could make it work if I didn’t need to have a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables all the time. But the truth is, I do. If I don’t get enough sleep and don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables, I get sick almost immediately. Case in point: I got sick on Easter. I don’t believe it was a coincidence.

But I am not deterred! I am determined to make this work, at least for the rest of this month. 😉 And I definitely have new-found respect for those people who have even less money than this for groceries. It’s harder than I thought to eat healthy on a budget.

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Simplifying.

22 Apr

I am on a simplifying kick right now. About a month ago, I took 4 or 5 boxes of clothes, home goods, and books to Arc Thrift Store. Then I went through all of my old magazines, recycled all the ones I’ve read (after ripping out articles I wanted to keep) and making a stack of ones I want to read, which I am slowly but surely making my way through. Once I done with a magazine, I either flag the recipes I want to try and add them to my kitchen stash or I throw it in the recycling bin. I have also started buying groceries for only one week at a time and choosing recipes that include ingredients I already have in my cupboard (some of which have been sitting in there for quite a while).

The way I used to operate was “Buy more.” If I wanted a certain kind of tea but didn’t have it, instead of drinking what I did have, I’d go out and buy more. If we ran out of bread but had buns left, instead of using the buns, I’d go buy more bread. If I saw a nail polish at the store I liked, instead of trying to think if I already had a similar color at home (which I most likely did), I’d just buy more. The result was food going bad, closets packed to the gills, and a bunch of stuff sitting unused. (And I am not a hoarder!)

But now, I am on a quest to eliminate all the excess by systematically using up everything I currently own before buying more (if I need to). I have already gotten rid of everything I didn’t need: mugs we never used, duplicates of kitchen gadgets, a plethora of water bottles, clothes that are just a bit too tight or short left from my pre-Christian days. Now I am getting rid of all the things that I will use, just not all at once. For example, tea bags. I really want to go buy a delicious flavor of Tazo tea but I’ve made a deal with myself that I have to drink up all the tea I currently have (because if I go buy more tea, I’ll never drink the stuff I have right now).

The point I want to get to is that I have nothing cluttering up my home that I don’t actually use on a daily, weekly, or at least monthly basis. If I haven’t used something in years, I have to either use it now or throw it out. It’s amazing how mentally freeing this concept is! Clutter in my house actually adds clutter to my mind. When I don’t have a ton of stuff to worry about, organize, or keep track of, I have time to focus on what really matters.

The other day, I was in Target and happened to spy a very cute purse. I was tempted to buy it because I did still have some Blow Money (cash I can spend on anything I want) left for the month. But I reminded myself, “Simplify,” so I walked away. And I didn’t feel deprived! I already own more purses than I want to but I can’t quite bring myself to get rid of them yet. The question in the back of my mind is always, “What if I regret getting rid of this?” (which isn’t completely crazy because it has happened in the past). So I’m taking things in stages. The first stage is to just not buy more.

My current experiment with this is groceries. Travis and I have decided on a monthly grocery budget of $300. That’s $75 a week. I can buy fruits and vegetables for a week, plan 2-3 good meals (banking on the leftovers for lunch), and still have money for snacks like crackers and cheese, yogurt, cereal, etc. But this month, we hosted a barbeque for friends, which totally threw all of our numbers off. The result has been that we ran out of grocery money on Wednesday, with 10 days to go in April. Whoops.

The old me would beg Travis for more grocery money. We can’t possibly subsist for the next week on what we have in our fridge and cupboards!, I would say. But the new me told Travis about our dilemma and said, “I want to do an experiment to see if we can really make this work. Do I have your permission to not buy any more groceries in April?” (Historically, when we have run low on food, Travis has whined, “We don’t have any food around here!” If he agreed to my experiment, no whining would be allowed.) “You’re asking to not spend any more money? Heck yeah, I agree!” Travis replied.

So the experiment is on. It shall be interesting. I’ll post again in a few days to let you know what we’re eating…or not eating. 😉

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Food is not a solution.

5 Mar

You would think that after a year of being at home everyday, I would have it figured out how to handle having the kitchen constantly ten steps away from me. Not so much.

Yesterday, Travis had to work and then he had a conference in downtown Denver. Since the company pays for the hotel rooms, he will just stay down there until the conference is over tonight. So after hanging out with a friend from church in the morning, it was just me and Katy for the rest of the day.

As I was watching TV, I found myself fantasizing about what I was going to eat for dinner. Should I go get curly fries from Arby’s? Maybe a blizzard from Dairy Queen? Or maybe I should make waffles and cover them in buttery, syrupy goodness… Whenever I am home alone for an entire day, these are the thoughts going through my head. Sad, isn’t it?

I took Katy on a walk and was pondering the state of my food-craving soul when I realized: the reason why I wanted fatty comfort food was because I was lonely and bored. That’s how it always is when I’m alone at night. I get lonely and bored. Besides showing me how much I love having my husband around, this also explains why there’s always a subtle feeling of disappointment left lurking underneath my full stomach. Food is not the solution. It’s not even a solution.

So what is the solution? Ultimately, it’s God. Only God can truly comfort my loneliness and entertain my boredom, because only He understands what I really, in my heart of hearts, want. (But He has also given me a wonderful husband and friends to help out as well.)

Nevertheless, a solution is nothing if not employed practically. So the way the solution of God works itself out with this struggle is through prayer, discernment, and flesh-control.

Flesh-control: The thing about using food as a solution is that it always make you feel worse afterward. Not only are you still left with your original feelings, you’re also stuffed and feel like a Goodyear blimp. My sinful nature cannot be bothered to reckon with these implications in the moment of a craving, however. That’s where the flesh-control comes in. Some people say self-control. But as I understand it, my true self desires God alone. My flesh desires food. So I have to control my flesh and let my self win. Flesh-control.

Discernment: My food battles are born out of legitimate, God-given desires. It’s not wrong to desire comfort and excitement – what’s wrong is turning to things other than God to fulfill those desires. I deceive myself by thinking that food is the solution, when it really isn’t (as we’ve already established). So discernment, enabled by the Spirit, is what helps me see the desire that I’m expected food to remedy. Last night, it was loneliness and boredom. Sometimes it’s a desire for comfort and warmth. Ultimately, it’s a desire for more of God.

Prayer: After I discern what my true desires are, I take them to God. Instead of denying those desires, I find the fulfillment of them in Him. I also go to the word and remind myself of God’s promises. Yesterday, I was reminded of what Jesus said in the desert when tempted by Satan to eat: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” This verse not only shows me that food is not ultimate (fear of God is), food is also not the only way to get nourishment. Physical nourishment is meant to come through food, but spiritual nourishment is through “every word that comes from the mouth of God” – the Bible. My spiritual desires can only be remedied with a spiritual solution. That is why God is the answer.

So what did I end up eating for dinner last night? A multi-grain tortilla with eggs, taco meat, salsa, cheese and spinach. Then for dessert, a banana dipped in chocolate. When I’m not grasping after food to fulfill spiritual urges, I actually do enjoy eating healthy food. Instead of feeling deprived, I feel good about myself. God truly knows what is best for us – if only we’ll believe Him.

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Being a Thoughtful Valentine

14 Feb

One of the things that I took away from the marriage conference Travis and I attended at our church back in January was that as a loving wife, I should desire to do more thoughtful things for my husband. So I’ve aimed to view this Valentine’s Day (and every other holiday, whether cheesy or not) through that lens.

One thing that has always hindered me from doing romantic, thoughtful things every year is the feeling that “Well, I can’t top that…so I might as well not try!” For example, last year on Valentine’s Day, I took Travis snowshoeing up in the mountains, then we went to a natural spa in Glenwood Springs, and then I made a delicious dinner at home (though the dinner ended up being the day after Valentine’s Day because we got home so late from the mountains). The raspberry-chocolate angel food cake I made for dessert last year was one of the best desserts I ever made. It was quite a bit of work, but oh so worth it. You can find it here. Needless to say, after a Valentine’s like that, I felt like I had my work cut out for me.

The same goes for Travis’ birthdays. Two years ago, I surprised Travis with Avs tickets (and they were playing the Wild!) and a birthday party with our friends downtown Denver. This past year, I was at a loss. What do I do now? I’m running out of good ideas! And frankly, I’m out of energy. I kept asking Travis what he wanted to do for his birthday but he doesn’t make a big deal out of them (the opposite of me!) so he just hemmed and hawed, “I don’t know…” We tried to go bowling but the lanes weren’t open for free bowling until 10:30 pm on a work night. So I made him an angel food cake and we went out to dinner but that was about it.

The marriage conference helped me realize that I don’t need to continue “topping” the past year’s holidays/birthdays. I would probably run out of ideas and I would definitely run out of money. Rather, what matters is being thoughtful and doing things (whether for them or with them) the other person would enjoy. So that’s why this Valentine’s Day I created a crossword puzzle (one of our favorite past times) using words and clues that relate to our relationship. I think Travis will enjoy it. I am also going to make a delicious dinner of butternut sage lasagna, steamed green beans, red potatoes with rosemary and thyme, crescent rolls, champagne, and chocolate cherry pie for dessert. Mmmm… I can’t wait!

Hope you have a very enjoyable Valentine’s Day as well!

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Life on the road

27 Jun

I just got back last night from yet another trip to SLC (what is that, 6 times in the past 2 months?) Megan (the intern traveling with me) and I have been lamenting the difficulty of eating healthy on the road. Not only do we have a packed car on each road trip (making the addition of a cooler with healthy snacks a total impossibility), you’re stuck with having to eat that food that first day because often, our hotel rooms don’t have refrigerators. At one of the early races, I tried to bring hummus with me – bad idea. Who knew hummus actually turns into liquid when it gets warm?

Lately, I’ve just been packing dried fruit (usually mango – my fave), 3-4 Luna bars, and some trail mix. On past trips, I have bought popcorn (a food that has low calories for the volume) but fruit is usually hard to find, unless you make a separate stop at a grocery store – which aren’t always available either, especially when you’re driving through the middle of Wyoming. And you can only eat snack foods for so many meals before you want a meal of something substantial.

It’s not being away from home that’s the problem. When we actually reach our destination, we usually go out for dinner at a sit-down restaurant. We have gone out for sushi more than once (one of my favorite things), which is fairly healthy but also fairly expensive. When we go to a different restaurant, I try to order something on the lighter side – like a salad with chicken or a personal pizza loaded with veggies.

After a race, we are ravenous and thirsty. It’s usually at least 12:00 noon and we have been up since 4 am. All we’ve had to eat and drink are usually a protein bar or 2 and a giant Red Bull. I would think about eating more at the races but honestly, sometimes we’re running around and so busy that it’s just not possible. So when we’re done packing up the car and are heading out of town for home, we stop at Arby’s, Chick-Fil-A, or Culver’s and get a burger and fries – for some reason, greasy food is SO appealing when we’re starving. Good for the tastebuds. Bad for the heart… and waistline (although I haven’t gained any weight yet, no doubt due to burning 2,500 calories per week through running and probably another 800 at each race).

Fast food isn’t a great way to start another long 7-13 hour drive home though, since greasy food is notorious for causing fatigue. But honestly, you can only eat at Subway so many times before the idea of another sub makes you want to gag.

So I’ve done a little research (and gathered some of my own ideas from personal experience). Here are some ways to eat healthy on the road:

1. Bring emergency snacks with you. Things like nuts, dried fruit, apples, oranges, and protein bars are easy to transport, don’t require refrigeration, and are healthy stand-ins when you’re hungry and can’t find anything better.

2. Drink plenty of water. Who cares if you have to stop every hour? If you’re traveling a lot, dehydrating yourself on a regular basis in the interest of saving time isn’t really helping you out at all. Try to avoid pop and flavored waters – caffeine is a diuretic and flavored waters can leave a film on your teeth that gets nasty after so many hours in the car.

3. If you must eat at a fast food restaurant, order off the kid’s or value menus. These sandwiches and sides are smaller than the regular versions, which means fewer calories.

4. Skip the french fries. These are fine as treats once in a while, but if you are frequenting fast food restaurants often, you might find yourself eating these “treats” too often. Marketing has so penetrated our minds that we think a burger must be accompanied by fries – or else the meal is not complete. (I find myself thinking this). Instead of ordering fries, get a side salad, baked potato (naked), or a bottle of milk.

5. A CNN article says that at convenience stores, food stamped with an expiration date (one that hasn’t passed!) is usually healthier than anything that can sit around for a decade or two, because shelf-stable foods are often loaded with preservatives and artery-clogging trans fats. Often, gas stations have string cheese, small bottles of milk, and sometimes even fruit.

Next Best: If the fridge section disappoints, head back to the shelves and grab some individual-size bags of snacks, but look for ones that your greatgrandmother would recognize as actual food, such as dried fruit, nuts, and whole-wheat crackers, advises Steven G. Aldana, Ph.D., author of “The Stop & Go Fast Food Nutrition Guide.”

If you’re craving pretzels, nuggets are better than skinny ones because they take longer to eat, says Bonci, who adds that animal crackers and Teddy Grahams are good bets to satisfy a sweet tooth since they’re lower in calories than other cookies.

And there you have it. Now only if I could find a way to keep my willpower in check…

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