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Documenting what OHC eats on a daily basis…

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January 5th, 2009

By Andrea | Monday, January 5th, 2009

Hi guys!  Wow but today got away from me and I don’t even really know what I was doing. :P

pepperminty

pepperminty

Last night we plopped down on the couch with a glass of white.  Some of the wine that I used in the seafood dish.  And let me say that, ew!  It was so nasty.  I dunno what happened!  It was fine in the dish but to drink straight up it was icky.  Yuck.  I actually felt a little ripped off that my holiday was getting cut short before I wanted it too!  We couldn’t open another bottle because I knew we wouldn’t finish it and I wasn’t going to let wine go to waste sitting in the fridge.  My last day of vacation and no wine, how depressing. :lol:

Anyway, we sat down and saw that Discovery was showing back to back episodes of Planet Earth and we totally got sucked in!  While watching I started getting major garlic burps from the seafood.  TMI?  You’ll live. ;)  So I had a piece of my peppermint bark to help clear the garlic and make my breath more vampire friendly.  It worked!  And then I stayed up too late watching Planet Earth, I hit the hay around 11:15 or so.

And then I slept too long!  I got up around 8am.  Today is my day off from morning exercise so I was taking my time in the kitchen.  I took care of Rocks and decided to get the first day back started off on the right foot.

mmmm

mmmm

Oats!  Standard oats:

And my mix-ins were cranberries, chocolate granola, and a spoonful of dark chocolate PB.

breakfast

breakfast

Had that along with coffee + creamer.  Just plain coffee, have to portion out the peppermint coffee now that it’s post holidays.  The peppermint creamer is already gone from the grocery store. :(  Boo.  I love that stuff!  Oats were awesome this morning and hit the spot.

I got Scott up at 9am because we are working on him going to bed earlier and getting up earlier.  He normally hits the hay between 2-3am. :O  I know!  Man that is way past my bedtime. :P  He wants to start getting up with me in the morning and I’m going to start getting up at 6am so we’ll see how this goes.

I did a little bit of work, made phonecalls, and mostly did laundry.  Then I took Rocky out for his walk.  I have to tell you, it seems so weird now not thinking in terms of miles and points! :lol:  I started and then remembered that I didn’t need to anymore.

I have been looking for races as well.  So far I can’t find anything till March and I would like to have already run a 5K by that point.  I’ll keep looking and if I can’t find anything I’ll do the March race.

After the walk I made us some lunch.

lunchie

lunchie

Lunch was a salad:

Dressed with a balsamic honey dressing.  Now normally I just eyeball everything but I did quick measurments today since you guys were asking about it:

Andrea’s Quickie Balsamic Honey Dressing

I mix the first three ingredients and get them blended, then I add the S&P and oil.  I do all this with a fork.  So easy and yummy!  We like ours tart but you can always add more honey and less vinegar if you like. :D  This was for two small salads.

In the middle is leftover seafood dinner and the rest of the green apple.  I ate all of my salad and 2 shrimps.  And all of the apple in the middle.  I also ate all of my bread with some sauce and tomatoes.  Then 1/2 a slice of Scott’s bread.  Totally crazy lunch!  I was full and satisfied.  Not stuffed, over full, or bloated so I feel good about it.

After lunch was more laundry and a bit of work.  And then getting a new recipe up which took me some time.  Eventually it was time for me to get started making dinner.  Tonight was stuffed peppers and I was pretty excited about it!

dinner

dinner

These are stuffed cubanelles.  Inside is:

All seasoned and then stuffed in the peppers and baked.  Topped with a bit of cheese.  I had two wee ones with some sour cream on top.  Just a dab and yes that is full fat sour cream. I don’t really do “light” or “reduced fat” stuff because there is usually more sugar or artificial sweetners added to make up for the loss of fat.  I would rather have full fat in a smaller amount than a big portion of “low fat” with added sweetners.

There is also the other 1/2 of my slice of beer bread from breakfast yesterday but I didn’t eat it.  The peppers were enough and so yummy.  Scott had 2 huge ones and went back for another. :P

Okay guys, it’s time for me to get ready for SF class.  Hopefully we won’t be out too late tonight.  See you guys tomorrow!

P.S. I totally set Superstars of Dance to tape tonight.  It’s on NBC and starts at 8pm.  I don’t normally do reality shows (ick) but I couldn’t pass this one up.  Anyone else watching?

Topics: Daily Eats | 1 Comment »

January 4th, 2009: Dinner

By Andrea | Sunday, January 4th, 2009

Hi guys!  I did a load of laundry and when that was done Scott and I headed out for a walk with Rocky.  It was misting raining outside but sort of pretty in a wet way. :P  We did two miles and I was happy again to just be outside and enjoying time with my boys. :D

When we got back and dried off, we sat down to play some Left 4 Dead.  Eventually it was time to make some dinner.  I have been seeing lots of seafood lately on your blogs and I could not hold out any longer.  Tonight was seafood!  And is sort of a last hurrah since vacation ends tomorrow and work begins again.

mmmmm

mmmmm

I had a small glass of red that was leftover from last night as I was making dinner.

dinner for two

dinner for two

Dinner was scallops and shrimp in a garlic wine sauce.  With crusty bread on the side for dipping.  So yummy!  I had 2.5 scallops and 4 shrimp.  Also 3 pieces of bread for dipping and eating up all the tomatoes and onions. :blush:

Dinner is all done and now I’m telling you about it. :P  I’m in the mood for an old movie but I don’t think anything is on.  Boo but I’ll double check.  I’m heading off to change into my jammies and hit the couch with a glass of white.  See you guys tomorrow!

Booty Buster Points:

3.5 mile run = 3.5 pts

2 mile walk = 2 pts

Total = 5.5 pts

Booty Buster Total = 113.5 pts :woohoo:

Topics: Daily Eats | 5 Comments »

January 4th, 2009: Morning

By Andrea | Sunday, January 4th, 2009

Hi guys!  Last night Scott and I enjoyed a 2nd glass of wine on the couch while watching Wall-E.  Oh what a sweet movie.  I’m not big on cartoon and animation movies but I loved this movie.  After it was over we watched some House Hunters.  We had a bit of white wine left in a bottle from NYE. :O  So we had a small glass of that and a late night snack.

pumpkin latte

pumpkin latte

Pumpkin latte ice cream.  So good and totally hit the spot.  At 11pm I headed up to bed and read for about half an hour before deciding it was lights out time.

I slept till 8am which wasn’t too bad!  It started raining last night which surprised us because there had been clear skies all day long.  It was wet when I got up this morning but not raining which was a good sign.  I got Rocky taken care of and settled in for some coffee and breakfast before my run.

breakfast

breakfast

Peppermint coffee which was perfectly made this morning!  And some 2% fage with the last bits of chocolate Bear Naked and 1 peppermint bark square.  It’s Sunday and the last day of vacation so I figured what the heck, go for it.  An awesome way to end breakfast. :D

I came this close –> <– to not running this morning.  I kept thinking how I did a bunch yesterday, it was rainy gloomy outside, and staying in jammies seemed the way to go.  I got myself out of that funk though by reminding myself that:

It was Sunday so for sure no construction guys.
Today is the last day of Booty Buster and I need points even though I have no hope of placing at all.
Tomorrow is my rest day, I can rest then.
Remembering how bloated I feel when I don’t work out.
2009 goal of always making time for exercise/run.
Telling myself that once I got out there if I wasn’t feeling it I could stop and go back home.

I was out the door!  It was warm today so I only needed one pair of pants and my hoodie.  It was so nice!  Beautifully cool but not bitter cold.  I had loads of energy and was busting out my run.  A couple times it started sprinkling and the cool drops felt so good on my face as I ran.

I did my normal 3.5 loop without worrying about stupid construction guys.  I did my run in 41 minutes and as I was walking up the driveway the sprinkling got a little heavier.  By the time I made it inside and into the kitchen for my CS it was raining.  Guess I would have to take Rocky later.

Small glass

Small glass

I drank my CS, changed out of my running clothes and plopped down on the couch with my laptop.  Scott got up and I chatted with him for a bit.  Then I headed upstairs for a shower.  After my shower I sorted laundry and brought a load downstairs.  Then I started on lunch.

Sunday Breakfast

Sunday Breakfast

Easy lunch or Sunday Breakfast today.  Toasted beer bread (of course!) this time with more cheddar on top.  Oh my!  Scrambled eggs (3 eggs + 2 egg whites) with chipped ham, mustard, and hot sauce.  In the middle are 4 clems and 2 oranges.  I ate all of my eggs and only 1/2 of my bread slice.  I had a good bit of clems and oranges though.

After that we cleaned up the kitchen and I started a load of laundry.  Now I don’t know what we’re going to do.  It’s the last day of vacation so we better do something fun.  Or fun for us I should say. :P

Topics: Daily Eats | 1 Comment »

January 3rd, 2009: Lunch and Dinner

By Andrea | Saturday, January 3rd, 2009

Hi guys!  What a great day we’ve had!  After posting my breakfast entry, I leashed up Rocks and we headed out for a 2.5 mile walk.  It was amazing outside.  The sky and temp were just perfect.  It was so warm that I was sweating in my jacket and sweat pants.  As we were walking I formulated a plan for the day. When we got back I told my plan to Scott.

“I’m going to shower, then make lunch, and then we are going to the park.”

“Um, okay.”

After my shower, which was just okay, I hooked us up with some mega salads.

quickie

quickie

But first I had a small handful of raisins.

toasty

toasty

You totally know I had a slice of beer bread with lunch.  I toasted it up with a 1/2 slice of pepper jack cheese.  I contemplated having a slice for breakfast this morning!  But decided against it. :P

salad

salad

And salad!

Topped with homemade balsamic honey mustard dressing.

all together

all together

After lunch and then cleanup it was out the door to the park!  There is a park just down the road from us that we have never been to in the 2.5 years we have lived in this house.  Shame on us!  So today since the weather was amazing I said we were going.  Plus I was secretly wanting Scott to get some extra exercise in.  He hasn’t exercised at all since we’ve been on holiday except for the few times he’s went out with Rocky and I.  I changed that today!  Slight mishap on the way out, I dropped my curling iron and stupidly tried to catch it.  Dumb.  I totally burnt my right ring finger.  Meh.

But moving along, our trip to the park!

park sign

park sign

picture perfect weather

picture perfect weather

RR Crossing

RR Crossing

The park intersects with a “Rails to Trails” trailway so a lot of the things around the park are railroad themed.

Me and Rocks at the junction

Me and Rocks at the junction

Small fact: The sweatshirt I’m wearing is my all time favorite!  It’s warm and fuzzy and an awesome green color.  It’s huge on me now but that doesn’t stop me from wearing it!

Us looking out over a covered bridge

Us looking out over a covered bridge

I have my hood up because it turned so cold and windy!  Ack!  Totally not prepared for the coldness.  Brrr!  But still a pretty day. :D

choo-choo

choo-choo

There’s a small train car in the middle of the park.

the end

the end

And then we came to the end and decided to head back home because we were so cold!  We walked a mile or more around the park.  When we got home, I changed and looked at the pictures.  Then I realized there was none of Scott and I because he was playing photographer the whole time!  I decided to remedy that.

*smooches*

*smooches*

Awww, my hunnies.  :D  After we played around doing that for a bit both of us were getting hungry.  I didn’t feel like cooking anything huge because my stupid finger hurt.

getting crispy

getting crispy

Instead I decided on quick and easy.

dinner time!

dinner time!

We had pita pizzas on WW pitas, topped with homemade pizza sauce, and cheese.  Mine was topped with a small amount of chipped ham.  And there is mozzarella sticks (Alexia brand, the only ones I’ll eat) and some Morningstar buffalo wings.  Oh how I love these things!  They are spicy and pure perfection.  There is leftover pizza sauce for the moz sticks and some ranch sour cream for the buffalo wings.  I had all of my pita, 1 moz stick, and all of my wings.  Plus a bit of red that Scott opened for dinner.  It was perfect and totally hit the spot.  We chilled watching Twilight Zone while eating.

Now we’re off to have more wine and watch something else.  See you guys tomorrow!

Booty Buster Total:

3.5 mile run = 3.5 pts

2.5 mile walk = 2.5 pts

1 mile walk = 1 pt

Total: 7 pts

P.S. How much of a dinkus am I?!  I just realized my last few posts have said 2008 instead of 2009! Good lord.  I’ll fix it!

Topics: Daily Eats | 6 Comments »

January 3rd, 2009: Morning

By Andrea | Saturday, January 3rd, 2009

Hi guys! Check it:

disappointing

disappointing

Last night Scott and I looked at some desks for the office and figured out exactly what kind we needed.  We didn’t buy anything but the big step of figuring out the space got accomplished so that’s something.  When we were done it was 9:30.  I didn’t feel like watching anything on TV so I headed up to bed to read.  But first I had some peppermint ice cream.  Right out of the tub like an animal.  I didn’t want a whole bowl just a taste because I bought this ages ago and hadn’t tried it yet.  I had about 4 bites and put it away.  I thought it was going to be better than it was.  I wasn’t impressed.  Maybe if I make a shake out of it, it would be better.

Speaking of shakes how much are you all making me want a Vita Mixer.  Holy cow guys everything you’re making looks amazing!  I have a regular blender but don’t use it that much because of cleaning it and because I hate using one blender for savory (dressings and such) and sweet (mixed drinks, smoothies).  I feel like the savory mixes leave a smell that gets into the sweet stuff.

Anyways, I read in bed till about 11 and then hit the sack.  Looking back, I must say I felt icky yesterday.  On days I don’t work out I feel very bloaty and yucky.  Weird?  I don’t know but that’s what happens.  I was getting down on myself for not running yesterday and not sticking to one of my 2009 goals which is always make time for a run (or I should adjust it and say exercise).  But then I got over myself because I realized stressing on the past does no good, right?  Tomorrow is a new day.

I got up at 7:30ish this morning and got Rocky taken care of.  It was perfectly chilly outside and lovely.  I ate half a blueberry Z bar and changed into my running clothes.

My schedule I adopted for winter is getting up early, eating breakfast first, letting it settle for a minute, and then running.  I did this because I didn’t want to run in the dark by myself.  Playing it safe.  And while I like this schedule, I really miss running first thing and getting it done so I have the rest of the day to do whatever.

Now that my routes and runs are getting longer, I realized that I need to eat something before I head out. Not like the old days where I could just go for a run without eating something first.  Today I tried the 1/2 Z bar method before my run.

Ugh my run was crap.  I wasn’t hungry but felt like I didn’t have the energy to run and pick up my pace.  My HR was in the low 160s and I felt like I was plodding along.  AND I started off the run all excited because it’s Saturday so I thought I could run my old 3.5 route because the construction guys wouldn’t be there on Saturday.

Wrong. They were totally there. :irked:  So I adjusted my route and still ran 3.5 miles.

CS

CS

I came home and drank my CS and debated on taking Rocky then or later.  He was sunbathing so I decided to take him later with Scott.  I changed and made myself some breakfast.

island breakfast

island breakfast

Since we were having coconut coffee again, I decided on some 2% fage with some banana nut bear naked and some tropical trail mix on top.  I love this stuff and haven’t had any in ages!  It has:

It made the yogurt so good!  After breakfast, I walked outside to feed my birdies and was totally regretting not taking Rocky sooner.  It is beautiful outside today.  Chilly but not freezing cold, sunny with clear blue skies.  Totally beautiful!

Scott is up and we are skipping MT today.  We didn’t think classes started again until Tuesday so we were planning on enjoying the last of our vacation.  Then we got an email reminding us classes started again today!  Doh!  But we both agreed we wanted to stay home and relax and do stuff around the house.

And naturally after I’ve been sitting here for a bit and had my official breakfast, I’m ready to get outside and run, run, run!  I guess my lesson here is that my body prefers to wake up a bit first before running.  I’ll have to keep that in mind once we hit spring/summer.

For now I’m going to head out and take Rocky for a walk because I’m really craving getting back outside again.

Before I go, a bit of news!  My friend Heather has started a blog and is keeping track of her time spent running!  She’s looking to get started running again and a blog is a good way to keep track and stay motivated!  Please stop over and say hi. :D

Topics: Daily Eats | 5 Comments »

January 2nd, 2009: Lunch and dinner

By Andrea | Friday, January 2nd, 2009

Hi guys!  I ended up being super slacker today in the exercise department, I didn’t do anything but walk Rocky and even that was short.  I was moving and shaking today though so it’s not like I was sitting on the backend. ;)

I cleaned the house and did a load of laundry before lunch.  Since I didn’t exercise today and I feel like we’ve been eating “heavy” lately, I wanted to keep today light.

lunchie

lunchie

For lunch I had a toasted WW pita with some PB and honey on top.  In the middle is 4 clems, carrot sticks, and a green apple sliced up.  I ate all of my pita and most of the apple with a few carrots and clem pieces.  After lunch was cleanup and I did a little cooking.  I set a pot of pinto beans to cook and also made some beer bread.  Oh it smelled so good as it was baking!

As that was baking I decided to have a wee snack.

Reading material

Reading material

2% fage with some blueberry bear naked along with the new magazine I got.  I skimmed through it as I was eating and it’s pretty interesting.  I like that there are no ads so there’s no worrying about biased opinions on topics or the need to use a certain ingredient only because they have an ad in the magazine.

Once the bread was done baking I leashed up Rocks and took him for a mile walk.  It was cold and windy!  Not something I was prepared for.  I was out earlier with Rocky for a short potty run and it was mild with no wind.  So only an hour later the temp dropped pretty drastically and the wind picked up.  That’s why it was only 1 mile instead of 2.

When we got back home I hit the shower and then put another load of laundry in.  Scott worked all day in the office putting up a new window treatment and getting his area cleared out.  As soon as he got everything situated, I made dinner.  Easy leftovers with some kielbasa tossed in as well.

Scott is trapped in my fork!

Scott is trapped in my fork!

I knew the leftover pork chop wasn’t going to be enough for Scott so I quick cooked some kielbasa on the side.  I cannot pass it up!  So I had a wee piece with my sauerkraut and a slice of beer bread.  I bumped up the sauerkraut with some pinto beans, chopped carrot, and chopped snow peas.  I cleaned my plate. :D  That bread was so good!  There will be a recipe on it soon for sure!

Now we’re off to sit on the couch and look at new desks for the office.  See you tomorrow!

Booty Buster Total:

1 mile walk = 1 pt

Total = 1 pt

Topics: Daily Eats | 2 Comments »

January 2nd, 2009: Breakfast

By Andrea | Friday, January 2nd, 2009

Morning guys!  We watched the Pens game from Tuesday and it was horrible.  We also taped a game last night but I’m almost afraid to watch it.  By 9pm I was very tired and by 10pm I decided to head up to bed.  I read for 1/2 hour and then I called it quits.  Wow but I was tired!

I got up this morning at 7:30. Rocky wasn’t bugging but I decided to get up and get moving.  I’m actually kind of bummed today because our vacation is winding down. :(

I was debating a run this morning and decided to make breakfast while I thought about it.  I made oats!

drunkard oats

drunkard oats

Kicked up oats. :D

Once it cooked I added a little spiced rum at the end.  Because I was adding eggnog as a mix-in this morning!  Which is drizzled around the top.  There’s also a little banana nut bear naked, cranberries, and coconut sprinkled on top.

Holidays on an island breakfast

Holidays on an island breakfast

The coconut was added because it was coconut cream coffee this morning.  Everything was very yummy but I ended up not eating that whole bowl as I got very full.

I just realized I was so wrapped up in cleaning and organizing yesterday I forgot to make bread for dinner!  Doh!  We are having leftovers tonight, so I’m going to try and make bread today.

Still flip-flopping about a run, wondering if I should give my legs a rest.  Maybe do some yoga?  Everyone seems to really like Yogadownload.com so maybe I will take a look at that site.

Also saw an intriguing commercial for the crunchless abs DVDs.  Anyone hear of them?  The moves look very dancey and ballet-ish which appeals to me.  Thought about giving them a closer look.

Oh and I also got a new cooking magazine in the mail.  I will have to take a look at it and let you know what I think. :D

Topics: Daily Eats | 2 Comments »

January 1st, 2009

By Andrea | Thursday, January 1st, 2009

Oh my goodness it’s 2009!  I hope you all had a great day yesterday! :D

I got up around 8ish and decided to just get up and get the day started.  I took Rocks out and it was brrrr chilly!  No snow though which is what the forecast has been saying.  Honestly though, I’m past the snow stage.  I like snow for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Those have past so no snow now is not as big of a deal.

I came back in and had some breakfast.  I was going back and forth about running first or eating.  And then I thought I might take the day off running entirely so breakfast first it was.

pepperminty

pepperminty

Scott told me last night he was making peppermint coffee for this morning.  I added a wee bit of peppermint extract to my creamer and also to some 2% Fage.  I topped the yogurt with some chocolate granola.  Everything was so good and perfectly pepperminty!

After I ate breakfast, I got moving in the kitchen.  I made the brine for the chops and got those situated in the fridge.  Then I made some muffins and pulled out some frozen fruit to thaw in a bowl.  I also pulled out some chicken breakfast sausage and had that heating up in the oven.  After all that was done I cleaned the kitchen up.

mmm

mmm

While the muffins were cooling, I decided to head out for my run.  My thoughts of taking the day off diminished.  I was still going to take it easy though and only do 2.5 miles.  I changed and turned the oven off since I was leaving the house and headed out for my first run of the year!

Good thing I was only going to do 2.5 miles because my left knee was a bit fatigued.  I’m not surprised, both Tuesday and Wednesday I ran longer distances for the first time which I’m sure affected my legs a bit.

By the time I got back home, Scott was up!  It was going on 11am, right before the Rose parade was to start.  I drank my CS and took Rocky out for a quick walk.  When I got back, I headed straight to the shower and Scott set the parade to tape.  After my shower we sat down to New Year’s brunch and the Rose Parade!

<3

<3

We had eggnog muffins, chicken breakfast sausage, and some fruit salad (pineapple, mango, peaches, and banana).  And mimosas because that’s how we roll on NY morning!  We had leftover champagne from last night and I wasn’t about to let it go to waste or throw it out.  Into some orange juice it went!  I ate everything on my plate.  One muffin had some butter and the other was plain.

The Rose Parade had some really amazing floats this year.  I love seeing what people have come up with for float ideas and what materials they used.  It totally blows my mind the colors and creativity of the floats.

After the parade (which was later for us since we taped it) we watched 2 new shows on HGTV.  And then decided to go upstairs and clean out the closets.  We did it not long ago but it needed done again.  We have so many things going into the give-away pile!  I love purging; it’s a nice feeling to clean things out and get the house more organized.

We still have more to do though but we started getting hungry.  While I was making dinner I munched on some raisins.

raisins

raisins

I was in the cranky hungry stage so I needed something to tide me over.  I had these and 1/2 a Brazil nut and 2 pistachios.  Then it was time to eat!

tradition

tradition

Where I come from it’s tradition to eat pork and sauerkraut on New Year’s Day so that’s what was on the menu!  I brined some nice thick cut butterflied chops.  I seared them up on both sides and then let them finish cooking in the oven.

The sauerkraut had onions, green peppers, and a bit of beer mixed in.

dinner

dinner

All together there was a side salad:

Dressed with some balsamic and oil.

Baked sweet potato with a bit of butter and cinnamon, and then 1/2 my chop with sauerkraut.  YUM!  So good!

Then we cleaned up the kitchen and now it’s time for me to get in my jammies.  See you tomorrow! :D

Topics: Daily Eats | 4 Comments »

December 31st, 2008: New Year’s Eve Dinner

By Andrea | Thursday, January 1st, 2009

Hi guys! Our NYE was great!  And like the past few years I have gone to bed before midnight. :lol:  I just cannot stay up that late anymore.

After feeding Rocky, we ate our “dinner” and opened a bottle of white.  We decided to save the champagne for sipping while sitting on the couch.  Here’s the spread:

NYE snackies

NYE snackies

On the cheese platter is:

Then we have a plate of veggies: carrots, broccoli, and cucumber.  Beside that is a bowl of chips, all of which are FoodShouldTasteGood chips.  Then there is some teriyaki sausage and jalapeno chicken sausage.  And also some ham + cream cheese tortilla wraps.  Finally some dilly dip for the veggies and chips.  The wine was a blend of a pinot and chardonnay.  It’s one of our faves and very yummy and crisp.

I’m pretty proud of this spread because it’s extremely healthy.  The dilly dip only had about 2 TBSP of sour cream in it, the rest was 0% Fage.  Okay the pork teriyaki sausage is sausage, but that came from WF so it’s a step above.  Cheese is good for you, I don’t care what people say. :P  I had some of everything except for the ham rollups; those were just for Scott.

We started the Twilight Zone marathon while eating. Our satellite DVR holds a ton of shows so we set all the episodes to tape so we can watch them at our leisure and also save our favorites.

bubbly

bubbly

We sipped on champagne while watching TV after we were done eating and cleaning up.  And by 11pm I was passing out and decided to head to bed.  I think Scott got a little cranky at me for not making it till midnight but I was wiped out. :P  I honestly don’t remember the last time I actually did stay up!

I hope you all had an amazing year and were able to spend NYE with those you care about! Welcome 2009!  :D

Booty Buster Points:

4 mile run = 4 pts

1 mile walk = 1 pt

Total = 5 pts

Topics: Daily Eats | 3 Comments »

Goals for 2009

By Andrea | Wednesday, December 31st, 2008

I’m pretty excited to be writing up a goals post.  This is actually a first for me.  To be honest I never did goals or resolutions before.  I thought about things that would be nice to do or accomplish in the coming year but never really gave it much thought or effort.

All of that has changed.  This past year has been huge for me both personally and physically.  I’ve changed and grown into a different person but I think that’s the case for us all.  We aren’t the same person we were last year or the year before.  Change is good.

This whole food blogging journey has been a good one for me.  I stumbled into this world when I first starting putting together OHC.  I thought there must be other recipe bloggers out there and during my search I found the food blogging world.  What an impact this has made on my life.  It was exactly what I needed and when I needed it.

I was not happy with my body and had been trying for a while to get it to be where I wanted it.  Looking back, I see how my attempts weren’t really attempts at all.  Deep down I knew that running was going to do it for me.  I had to run, I had no choice.  My weight wasn’t going to change unless I ran.  My conditioning and endurance wasn’t going to get any better for MT unless I ran.  What I lacked was the motivation.

Food blogging changed all that.  I saw people exercising, eating awesome foods, and still living a fulfilled lifestyle.  This is exactly what I was looking for.  A way to have everything yet not deprive myself of living.  Too many people, in my opinion, get caught up in diets and what I call, “elimination eating”.  How many times have you heard someone say, “I’m on a diet!  I’m never eating XYZ again!”  That’s elimination eating.  And I fully feel that is setting yourself up for failure.  When you say you can’t have something, you only want it more.  Not only that, we only have one life, we should live it and enjoy it.  But with moderation and balance.

It’s all about balance.  This was my biggest lesson this year.  How to balance healthy living with just living and being.

My journey started a few months before the blog.  In July I finally found my motivation and determination and started living the life I wanted to live.  I started running.  I changed our diet slightly to include more fruits and veggies at every meal (or I try to have them at every meal!).  I made snacks smarter and healthier.  Portions have been cut for myself, and we regularly have just “veggie” days.

September is when OHC launched and when I decided to not to only post recipes but to be a food blogger as well.  It helped me so much seeing what other people ate.  Maybe that sounds silly but I was introduced to a lot of things I wouldn’t have tried otherwise or even known about.  For example, Fage, which is now a staple in my diet is something I only learned about a little while ago.  I learned about different kinds of oats and mix-ins which honestly never occurred to me before.  I always liked oats but could only eat a little bit before it got gaggy.  With mix-ins and different flavors I don’t have that problem anymore.

As a result to all of this, I’m now a much healthier person and my knowledge is constantly increasing.

Just the other day I reached my longest running length of 4.5 miles.  This is a huge deal for me and something I never thought I would be able to do.  I’m not a fast runner and running was always a very hard and very challenging thing for me to do.  And it still was when I started in July but I pushed through it.  Everyone has to start somewhere, right?  And this was the start of my journey to becoming the person I wanted to become.

Now I call myself a runner.  Sure I might not be fast but I run almost everyday and I’ve got the gear and leg muscles to prove that I am in fact a runner.

My eating is awesome.  Yes, my wine consumption has gone up over the holidays but whatevs.  That’s part of the living and letting go aspect.  I eat a ton of fruits and veggies.  I still eat plenty of meat but portions have been cut down.  I’ve learned to stop eating when I’m not hungry anymore as opposed to stopping when I’m “full”.  I have also learned to slow down my eating and enjoy the moment.

As a result of this lifestyle change, I’ve lost 25lbs to date.  I only have 15lbs more to go before reaching my goal weight and I know that I can do that.  In the beginning it was hard.  Working my butt off and not seeing the scale move was highly frustrating and very stressful.  But then I lost weight.  And this process helped me learn more about my body.  I’m not someone who drops a pound or two per week.  I lose inches first and then the weight, poof, is gone.  And then I go back to inches and then more weight is gone.  I know this now and don’t get as frustrated when I’m not seeing the scale move.

Even Scott lost weight.  With no additional exercise, just martial arts, because of the diet change he’s also lost 20-some pounds.  Pretty amazing right?

I’m pretty proud of us going into 2009.

So my goals for 2009!

Fitness:

Health:

Personal:

Thank you guys so much for stopping in and taking the time to read my site.  It’s because of you I found the motivation to do this and to be who I really want to be.  Here’s to 2009 and making it count!  I wish you all the best and hope your 2009 is perfect! :D

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