The Enabler, a little 'Stronzo', and a Convert

My little 3 day (more like 3 1/2 day) wheat-free experiment was very successful!  I did have a headache the second day but I'm pretty sure it was due more to sleep deprivation than withdrawal symptoms.  Following a wheat-free diet was surprisingly easy!  It required more thorough planning to make sure foods didn't contain hidden wheat products lurking in disguise though!  I had to google the ingredients for Advil before trying to ease my headache.  Overall, I felt much better, and actually felt like my body was detoxing.  John came home from work last week with a delicious recipe for tilapia he cut out of a newspaper.  OMG!  It was delicious!  I made it in lieu of our habitual Wednesday night salmon.  This tilapia had a crushed cashew, Parmesan & dill topping - and paired with a salad of baby greens with my new favourite honey mustard dressing - mmmm...it's a party in your mouth!

I finished reading The Dash Diet for Weight Loss.  This book was very informative and has some great ideas, but I really don't think counting servings, measuring serving size and trying to tabulate total calories both consumed and disposed of each day is up my alley.  I think that would create anxiety for me, and I know from experience that if I create unsolicited anxiety it just sets things in a vicious cycle and I'd be more apt to fail when all is said and done.  That being said, suggestions about food tracking, keeping a log of what you are eating, when and why, I believe has a lot of merit.  I think I've got that one in the bag with this blog I've created.  People are reading this in North and South America, Europe, Russia and most recently even South Korea so I feel compelled to stick to my convictions and succeed, much like in Orwell's 1984, Big Brother was watching - you, the readers of this blog, are my 'Big Brother' watching over me, and let's face it, if I'm not living up to expectations - there's no point in you continuing to read these entries.  The news in this day and age is full of negativity and destruction - the Colin Firth Diet Club is a happy story, with a happy and albeit successful ending.  We are in the first chapters of the journey still, but keep tuned because a positive and happy ending is imminent!

Meal planning is another thing that I've already been doing that is mentioned in the book.  Every week I make sure I plan out our dinner meals and lunches for the kids.  This is a very useful tool!  Pick out a variety of meals you want to have during the week and adjust your grocery list accordingly.  Not only will you end up with more 'good' food items, but you will know how much of certain perishable items you need thereby not allowing for food waste.  I find I'm also getting better at planning meals around using some of the food I already have on hand and incorporating it into the week to lessen food waste.  Leftovers, are my new best friend - make extra at dinnertime so you can have the leftovers for lunch the next day!  These days I am spending most of my time at the grocery store in the produce section!  Remember when I started this incentive program and I spent a record 2 1/2 hours in the grocery store - most of it in the centre isles reading nutritional labels on everything!  You know what? - no nutrition labels on produce!!!  Easy peasy lemon squeasy!  Just think how much time is saved now if most of my time is spent in the produce section?  Grocery shopping is no longer the bane of my existence, but a true pleasure!

The Dash Diet also provides a chapter on staving off cravings.  One of the most powerful triggers for snacking/gorging on unhealthy food choices is television.  Not surprising when we are bombarded with commercials and advertisements for all the fast food restaurants and prepackaged items (those ones that come with nutrition labels!).  This was relevant to me, not so much in that I was duped by ads to order a greasy pizza or send John out to pick up a burger and fries from McDonald's - but I realized that I've developed a habit of snacking in front of the television in the evenings.  I've also found that I'm not particularly hungry at this time, I've just subconsciously over time fallen prey to a bad habit linking watching television to food in hand.  Well, if when doing your meal planning, you don't add the snack foods to your list, you will be less likely to purchase them.  If you don't have them on  hand when the 'craving' hits, you won't eat it!  Trust me it works!  And it doesn't hurt to have someone in your corner who won't act as your Enabler!  That is, when I'm desperate for a chocolate bar or bag of chips and ask John to go to the store for me - he says no to me, refusing to be my Enabler.  OK, sometimes, admittedly, this kind of pisses me off, but after I appease my blood sugars with a handful of blueberries or cashews, I'm quickly over it.  Something else mentioned in the book to stave off cravings is to keep your hands busy - I'm going to begin working on this one.  When watching TV, I'll maybe fold laundry, work on Christmas cards - perhaps take up knitting?  Or hey, I can do squats or sit-ups!

On Wednesday while at the grocery store I took my blood pressure again and the results were 140/90, 135/87, 131/84, 126/92 and 131/87.  So we've been a little up and down since last time but still on the right track downward.  I love the variety of foods available in the produce section at Fortino's!  Those small eggplants I bought the previous week were not there last week, but instead I discovered golden beets!  So I bought some regular (red) beets and a couple of the golden ones too!  Together, they brought back visions of the gorgeous sunsets in Costa Rica!

Thursday, I weighed in at Curves at a record 145.5 lbs!  Yeah for me!  We had our parent/teacher interviews at the school and I'm pleased to report that all 3 kids had stellar reviews!  I have to give a shout out to Jake's French teacher - she was doing a unit on robots and the kids were learning body parts and built their own robots using recyclable materials.  Jake and his friends came up with the idea to have a robot wedding and Mme. Palumbo ran with the idea and made a lesson out of it.  The kids were thrilled!  I witnessed the matrimonial ceremony this morning.  Congrats to Stan (Jake & Ellis's robot) and Ginger (Sam's robot).

Friday was a day off school for the kids and we had our first snowfall of the season - not enough to stick, but enough for the kids to get excited!  My friend Andrea alerted me to the fact that Colin Firth would be featured on an episode of Inside the Actor's Studio at 10 pm!  Luckily I checked my Facebook messages about 15 minutes beforehand and was able to view this wonderful spectacle!   This show was shot just hours after Colin received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!  One of my favourite Colin Firth moments is at the end of Bridget Jones' Diary when upon reading an excerpt from Bridget's diary, Mark (Colin) leaves her apartment and Bridget fears that he has read something unfavourable.  She then runs after him in her knickers and eventually finds him exiting a store where he has just purchased a new diary for her to commemorate their new beginning.  This is one of the most romantic movie scenes ever!  The way Colin's character envelopes her in his trench coat to keep her warm and loved, together with the gesture of the diary and the beautiful snow falling around them on a secluded English street....ahhh...is the stuff dreams are made of!  But this scene doesn't hold a candle to the look in Colin's eyes when he introduces his lovely and beautiful wife Livia in the audience during his interview with James Lipton.  Livia Firth is one luckily lady!  When Colin was asked what his favourite curse word was, he responded with the Italian word "stronzo" meaning 'floating piece of shit'.  Livia is Italian so Colin speaks both English and Italian.  He stated in the interview that his role of Jamie in Love Actually (my favourite movie!) had a resemblance to real life.  In the movie he learned Portuguese for love, and in real life he learned Italian, for his wife.

On Saturday I made porcupine meatballs for dinner with a low fat tomato soup and realized afterwards that this is yet another recipe that shouldn't be messed with.  I should have used the regular kind, although the taste wasn't really affected.  I served this with some mashed potatoes and steamed red & golden beets and the way the red beets bled through onto the golden beets truly did resemble the hues of a sunset!

After dinner I went off with a couple of my Irish friends to kick up my heels at a Ceili in Kitchener.  This was my first time, and I was shocked at how exhausted I was!  What a workout!  Surprisingly, I did know quite a few of the dances from my adult classes, and Maureen, the caller, was easy to learn the steps from.  I particularly enjoyed The Rakes of Mallow, but suffered a little vertigo after dancing Peeler and the Goat!  At first I was a little turned off from the acute body odour coming from men for the most part, but by the end of the night as we were dancing the Kerry Reel,  I hadn't a care in the world.  I also felt like I danced off a few pounds!

Yesterday we met some of my aunts and cousins and their kids in Toronto for an early Christmas brunch.  I tried to behave myself amidst the choices proffered from the buffet and allowed myself one small piece of French bread, salad, squash, rice and a thin slice of roast beef (no salt added!).  For dessert I opted for a couple slices of watermelon, one bite worth of cheesecake and a chocolate covered marshmallow and honeydew melon.  Then we drove home and I had to head off to soccer.  Two new teams were added so I was moved to one of the new ones and now I have a pink jersey!  I was hoping for pink, and even donned my pink sports bra in anticipation and lo and behold - we are pink!!

Today I worked in Kristen's class and then headed off to Curves.  After all the dancing I did on Saturday night and soccer yesterday I had high hopes of reaching my next goal of the Colin Firth Diet Club.  But, was disappointed as I had climbed back up to 145.75 lbs.  Could it be the wheat back in the diet, the Doritos I splurged on in a moment of weakness?  I think next week I'll try another 3 wheat-free days.  I have also bought skim milk in addition to the 1% milk to see if my family notices a difference and so far there have been no complaints.

After the kids got home from school we went to the grocery store.  I promised them all a treat if they were helpful and put the groceries away when we got home.  A trip to the grocery store with the kids has become somewhat of a game.  The kids are in competition with each other to find and retrieve items from my list before the others return with their items.  I was utterly stunned this afternoon, when after delegating the 2 red peppers and 2 yellow peppers to Kristen, she said she was going to get 3 red peppers and 2 yellow peppers!  She actually asked me to give her slices of red peppers for her school lunches!  Who was this child before me, and what did she do with my daughter???  I never thought I'd see the day one of my kids would convert and ask me to buy a vegetable for their lunches!  I even almost had Jacob picking out the brussel sprouts, but he didn't want to actually touch them with his bare hands so he tried to use the bag, as you would to pick up doggy doo-doo, (stronzo?), so I took over.  Then we wandered to the pharmaceutical area and I told the kids I was going to test my blood pressure.   They had never seen the machine before and were rather intrigued.  Of course they all wanted to have a go with it after me.  My numbers today were 150/78, 133/81, 131/84, 130/81, and 134/89.   Well that's improvement, right?  I mean, the diastolic is looking much better as 78 is the lowest score I've had yet - so thank goodness my efforts are coming through for me!  The systolic numbers may have been higher as I had my eyes closed and could hear Matthew saying "Mommy, Jacob just put a box of cookies and ice cream in the cart!" - that's enough to raise it these days!  By the way, all three kids had excellent blood pressure!  I'm glad they took an interest in it because it will show them how important it is to take care of your body.

And now , I must bid you all adieu and head off to bed dreaming of that first snowfall and Colin standing before me, with that look in his eye.....

The Incredible Shrinking.....me!

Where to begin today?  On Wednesday evening last week, John and I had a date night.  He received an email about coconut shrimp appetizers at Canyon Creek on special for $5, and as we both love coconut shrimp we made plans to go out for dinner.  Well, actually we were supposed to go the week before, but when he said he wanted to go get the appetizer I had assumed we were going to go AFTER dinner and have the shrimp and some wine and a lovely chat.  Silly me, he meant the whole shebang - apps, dinner, wine etc.  So as I had already made dinner that week we decided to postpone.   I made some of those yucky prepackaged, frozen chicken fingers for the kids (I don't think I'll ever eat them again myself!) and left my oldest, Matthew in charge!  We ordered the coconut shrimp, which apparently is only on special if you order it from the bar section, and I have to say that I was disappointed.  It looked awfully greasy and oily.  I had difficulty trying to order something for my main dish.  Salmon is usually my go to menu item for an entree but I have to be wary now of how much butter and salt it is cooked in.  John advised me to order a salad and maybe another order of the shrimp instead.  However, I found that after eating 3/5 of the shrimp from the appetizer plate, I didn't want or need the extra order with grease dripping from them so I cancelled the second order of shrimp and ordered just a salad.  That together with the bread the waiter brought, and my 3 coconut shrimp was plenty.------------------------big breath here....face scrunched up...........can't believe I'm going to admit this to you all--------------I'm just going to blurt it out ---I ACTUALLY ENJOYED WHAT I ATE WHEN WE WENT OUT FOR SUSHI BETTER ------phew!  I admitted to John that my steamed rice, salad, and mango ice cream at Sakai better than my meal at Canyon Creek.  The whole experience could have been much improved if I wasn't being pressured to eat things that I didn't want to - John!  Now that I've got that out in the open, cyber space, yes, I will willingly go back to Sakai, with friend or foe, for no-sushi.  Just let me order my 3 food items in peace and I'll try not to cringe as you ingest the slippery slug-like seafood.  I will even show my appreciation for the artistic prowess bestowed in the presentation of these dishes, be they green dragon, white dragon or purple fruit fly (?)

On Thursday I was planning to try my hand at making some French macarons.  The recipe called for sifted icing sugar and ground almonds.  My sifter (sieve) has served me well over the years but after straining pumpkin, squash and onions through it to make Cinderella soup it has now become an invalid.  I went out to Home Sense to purchase a new sifter and was struck by a craving for chocolate.  Heading over to Laura Secord, I thought I'd purchase a small chocolate bar but was flabbergasted after reading the nutritional label.   I couldn't believe how many fats were in them!  What a dilemma - I NEEDED chocolate!  I ended up making what I thought was a wise decision - I ordered just one piece of chocolate with an almond in it.  Crisis averted, chocolate in hand (well, mouth really!) I was a happy camper!  You see, you don't need to gorge on things, just scale down and you can enjoy the foods you love.   That one bite of chocolate was enough to satisfy me!  Now, I just hope I can use the same logic the next time that Lemon Haagen Dazs goes on sale!!  You know what I'm talking about!

Macarons smackarons - I think these are best left for those of true, authentic French lineage.   I had a recipe for raspberry macarons I've wanted to try since reading "The Color of Tea" by Hannah Tunnicliffe.  Walking through the old streets in Paris in the summer of 2011, I saw grand displays of beautifully coloured macarons in little patisseries and shop fronts but I never did try one.  After reading Tunnnicliffe's book and imagining all the flavours Grace makes for her new shop, I've wanted to try making some.  Well, my macaroon's ended up looking like crusty,  flesh coloured silicone breast implants - they even had nipples!  Most of them even seemed to droop and sag - they closely mimicked what you would imagine someone's implants doing if there was no tissue or anything to hold them in place.  Sorry for the visual - I need to get it out of my mind too!  Inevitably, I am going to stick with cakes!  As Gloria Steinem 'burned bras' for the feminist movement, I thus, threw out my crusty 'boobs' in an effort to instigate my personal anti-macaron movement and started on this week's cake order - The Walking Dead.

On Saturday I went to Curves after Jake's soccer game - and I was down to 147.5 lbs!!!  My mom came down to stay for the weekend.  She usually comes bearing a large brown box emblazoned with the Tim Horton's logo containing a dozen doughnuts of which my kids anxiously anticipate devouring. This time, I was secretly willing the absence of this box, and I was not disappointed.  Instead, she had brought some homemade chocolate chip cookies purchased at a bake sale.  This worked out much better for me as I was able to limit myself to one cookie which was a lot smaller than my usual 1-2 donuts!  For dinner that night I made my coconut chicken. 

Sunday morning I whipped up a batch of my fluffy pumpkin pancakes for breakfast!  Yummy!  We won our soccer game and then I came home to make homemade chicken parmesan burgers for dinner.

Yesterday was day 1 of  being Wheat-free for me - and obviously I lived to tell about it and here I am almost through day 2!  I'm feeling great!  It's not so hard, with proper planning it's quite simple.  I had Irish oatmeal (is there any other kind?) for breakfast with some cinnamon and dried cherries.  For lunch I ate a left over chicken burger from last night but without the bun, and added a salad.  In the afternoon, I finally got round to making that chocolate cake with chick peas instead of wheat.  Delicious!  Even the kids like it.

Dinner was a tuna casserole that I haven't made for years consisting of brown rice, peas, mushroom soup, tuna and topped with shredded cheddar cheese.  I decided to let the eggplant I bought earlier out of the bag (fridge) and investigate it.  I peeled it, and found that they aren't purple on the inside but whitish, and full of seeds.  I bought a microwave chip maker this week after overhearing someone talking about them at Curves, so I thought I'd test out the eggplant with that, and this was the result,

I can't say they tasted all that good, nor could I tell you they tasted bad - just different.  Next, I'll try Jackie's suggestion and roast them in the oven!

Let's talk some more about "Wheat Belly".    Did you know that in ancient times, diabetes was detected by tasting one's urine?  Yup, tried, tasted and true!  The medical term for diabetes is Diabetes Mellitus - 'mellitus' means 'tasting like honey'.  Just days ago, my son Jacob was asking me what kind of things I did when I worked at a medical clinic when he was younger.  I informed him that one of the things I did was to test patient's urine for things such as glucose, protein, blood, pregnancy and more.  He of course thought this was gross!  At least I didn't have to taste it!  What would he think if I offered him a peanut butter & urine sandwich for lunch!  Ok, again, I'm beginning to gross myself out.  This is one instance where I am grateful for the advances in technology!  Here's some other interesting facts I read this week, "The cost of Americans becoming obese dwarfs the sum spent on cancer.  More money will be spent on health consequences of obesity than education".  I think this is just plain sad!    We are all part of a vicious cycle and I think the knowledge provided in "Wheat Belly" provides an off-ramp, or exit if you will, to take a brighter path towards healthful living.  If you close your eyes, try to envision 'wheat' as demon-like, now imagine it as, say, a Dementor from Harry Potter - a black mass looming overhead.  This is how I feel when planning to be wheat-free.  It can creep up on you in the most unlikely of places - your medication as a filler, deli meats, and as I discovered today - a can of plain old Campbell's tomato soup!  I was going to make Porcupine Meatballs for dinner and thought I better just check the can to make sure, and sure enough wheat is an ingredient!  Therefore, we are having leftovers tonight!  I also had to google my vitamins and prescription medication to make sure there wasn't any wheat products contained.

"Wheat Belly" goes on to discuss your body's pH level.  In June of this year, my daughter ended up in the Intensive Care Unit at McMaster Children's Hospital with a diagnosis of metabolic acidosis - metabolic what?  I still have lots of questions about this, and it was pretty scary to watch my little girl suffer.  What started out looking like a case of a 24 hour flu quickly became much more serious as her blood became dangerously acidic.  Once her pH was stable we had another scare - her potassium levels were dangerously low so she was put on bi-carb IV. To see her now, you would never know how sick she was.  In fact the day after she was released from hospital I kept her home from school and she begged to go shoe shopping!  She was 6 years old at the time!  Doctor's told me that they have never seen a child get this sick this fast with the acidosis - our family Dr. has seen it in only one other case and that kid had an underlying issue of diabetes.  We may never know for sure why she came down with this, but I do think I understand the mechanics somewhat better from reading Chapter 8 - Dropping Acid:  Wheat as the Great pH Disrupter.  I think I'm going to try to send a message to Dr. Davis and ask him his opinion - should Kristen avoid eating wheat?  Apparently, as I've been told, she is unlikely to get this acidosis again - but how can 'they' know when 'they' can't tell me why this happened in the first place?

I've been doing well eliminating salt from my diet.  My friend Lisa, a dietitian had told me that when reading nutrition labels, a rule of thumb is to avoid foods where the numbers are more than 10% of your daily requirement.  The DASH diet recommends more like 5% where sodium is concerned.  The Dash Diet for Weight Loss"  also makes mention of the importance of self-tracking to reinforce your efforts.  Check!  This blog is my way of keeping track and making myself accountable for my own outcome.  Honesty is important too.    Remember last time I talked about 'mindful eating', in this book the same concept is covered as 'conscious eating'.  The premise being that if you take the time to savour and taste your food, as well as acknowledging when and why you eat certain foods, you can break the cycle of bad eating habits.  So, try it - next meal you eat, try eating more slowly.  I did it at lunch today and I actually felt fuller and more satisfied.  Or try those chopsticks!  If you are as inept as I am in using them, you'll probably get fed up trying to get the food to reach your mouth that you'll be heading off to bed before you've finished the meal!

I believe that many facets need to coexist to fully succeed in accomplishing a goal.  Not only am I focusing on making physical changes in my life, but also mental and spiritual.  We have missed the last two weeks of church due to a birthday party and this weekend we just needed to literally take heed of the Lord's intended day of rest, and rest.  Between swimming lessons, choir, piano lessons, more swimming lessons and soccer - Sunday is our most active day of the week!  We will also be missing this coming Sunday at church since we'll be getting together with family for an early Christmas celebration brunch.  That being said,  I have recently finished reading a book called "Dear Deb" by Margaret Terry which can be used as a devotional and I have grasped my spiritual connectedness the past couple of weeks from Margaret's words of wisdom in a series of letters she had written to a friend dying of cancer.  I urge you all to read this book, you may laugh and cry while reading some of her stories, but it's the kind of book where you can read a story here or there.  She includes a verse of scripture at the end of each letter that very aptly correlates to the story she's written.  I will write some more about this book in my next post so keep tuned!

This morning I started working on my Christmas Wish List to pass on to my in-laws who insist on shopping from lists every year.  I came up with things ranging from a felt Bono finger puppet to a life-sized cardboard cutout of Colin Firth!  Yes, they do exist - I looked it up!  I figure, if I manage to complete the whole Colin Firth Diet Club program, I ought to at least have a photo taken with the man himself right?  Even if it can only be a cardboard version (of course, I'd much prefer the real deal!!!).   I weighed myself when I got to Curves today and I'm down to 146 lbs!  I can't believe it!  My pants are getting looser - guess I'm in a daze and still believe somewhat that the pants themselves are getting larger, not that I am shrinking!  I have to praise both John and Colin Firth - without the two of you I couldn't have done this!  Colin, you are my muse, and John, I maintain my stance that your development of  the Colin Firth Diet Club incentive program is by far the sweetest and kindest thing you have ever, ever done for me!  It was genius of you to come up with the idea, and the fact that it actually does motivate me to succeed amazes me.  Sometimes I'm left wondering if even after all this time you really know me, and then you do this and I realize you know me better than I know myself!  There are of course some exceptions - like the fact that it took you 16 years of marriage to fully understand that I hate red roses, or most red flowers for that matter!  You see, I like things that are different.  Red roses for Valentine's Day are so cliche and everyone gets those.  But you are one great guy, and I'm lucky to have you leading my cheering squad - so kudos to you!  I love you - even if you won't wear one of those Colin Firth masks for me! LOL



Somewhere Over the Rainbow

On Saturday, I picked up the Dash Diet book to read some more and discovered that according to the BMI(body mass index) I fall into the Overweight category with a  BMI of approximately 27.  In order to redeem my shortcomings and enter back into normalcy I need to arrive at a BMI of about 24ish which due to my height (or lack thereof) of 61.5 " means a weight of about 130 lbs.  This coincides nicely with the Colin Firth Diet Club as that will be just past the goal of losing 20 lbs.

I also learned that I have what is called metabolic syndrome which isn't adding anything new diagnoses wise - it just covers it all (high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high cholesterol) ...and that's as far as I got that day.

Kristen left to have a sleepover birthday celebration with her cousin Evie and John took the boys out to see the new James Bond flick.  I was very encouraging of this because I had a flick of my own I relished viewing!  Ahhh, the quiet solace of having the house to myself!  But I wasn't alone - I had Colin!  Yes, there was still that other movie to watch that I had borrowed from the library, "A Summer in Genoa".  Colin and I spent a very enjoyable couple of hours cuddled up on the couch! LOL!  In this movie, Colin (Joe) has two daughters who were in a car crash with his wife who died as a result.  Joe decides to take a position teaching in Genoa, Italy and so begins their new adventure.  Did I mention I love all things Irish?  As they are landing in Genoa, I noticed they were flying on Ryan Air - an Irish airline!

We had plans to take Jen & Pete out for dinner later that night to thank them for babysitting Rocket for us while we were in Costa Rica and again when we took Matthew to New York City for his 13th birthday, but the plans fell through.  Carla dropped by and we decided that the 4 of us should go out for dinner instead.  I was looking forward to trying out an Italian restaurant but got overruled (much to my chagrin!!!!!) and had to suck it up and go with Japanese.  I dislike sushi very much!  I was dreading the outing all afternoon but was thankful for two things.  1) John brought me a Harvey's hamburger for lunch which was a nice treat (no French fries I might add!) and 2) I was able to lose myself with Colin in Genoa.  I will admit to acting like a spoiled and petulant child leading up to dinner - you see, I shouldn't be eating foods that are high in sodium and fat like the sauces and fried tempura dishes, and I felt my friends weren't very understanding and a reference to 'weekness' didn't help.  Anyways, they all enjoyed their green dragons, dumplings and raw fish.  Blech!  I am totally useless when it comes to using chopsticks but persevered thinking this is an ideal situation for 'mindful eating' as discussed in my previous blog entry.  By eating my bowl of plain steamed rice with chopsticks it took longer to grab the rice and try to get it into my mouth without dropping it, so I had plenty of time to think and savour what I was eating.  I ended up ordering a teriyaki salmon with the teriyaki on the side.  More often than not when ordering in a restaurant I will order salmon.  I love salmon - when it is fully cooked, which this was supposed to be, but was just a slightly less raw form of sushi.  I know Steve would say that if it was Irish sushi I would have no problem at all eating it, but I'd have to disagree.  I remember ordering salmon on my first visit to Ireland and it turned out to be smoked salmon, not cooked all the way through and I didn't like it - so there you go!  One thing that surprised me was that John ordered some kind of tuna sushi and commented on how tasty it was.  Yet, when I make something with tuna at home he won't go near it. - and if his initial declaration to me that there would be no way in hell that I could ever get him to eat a brussel sprout is anything to go by....tuna casserole will be served for dinner sometime soon!  He he he!!  I'll conclude this yucky banter by saying that I did enjoy my salad and bowl of steamed rice, and the mango ice cream was enough to make me slide my earlier woes to the backburner!  We went back to Carla & Steve's and ended up watching "Dumb and Dumber" with all the kids with a glass of red wine!  Ahhhh!

On Sunday, since Kristen was at Evie's, we didn't end up going to church, so I got to sleep in!  Oh, the luxury!!!  After breakfast we left to go to Julie & Jay's house to pick up Kristen and have lunch and watch the birthday girl open her presents.  I can't believe the little pickle is 4 years old now!  Love you Evie!!  When we got back home I went outside to do some yardwork and then went off to my soccer game.  We won 3-2!  Since John and the boys went to the movies, I decided to take my little girl to see "Pitch Perfect" after dinner.  John and I had already seen it at the theatre and it's a great movie with great music.  Kristen is my little performer and is always dancing, singing and writing her own songs at home, so I knew she would enjoy this movie!  I have the soundtrack and we listen to it all the time.  We ordered a medium popcorn to share without any added butter and a drink. 

Yesterday I helped out in Kristen's class in the morning and then came home to read.  I made some progress ploughing through the Dash Diet.  The section I was reading involved arithmetic to work out Basal calories (mine was 1297.5), Activity Adjusted Calories (mine was 1784 based on moderate activity), and my calorie goal for weight loss works out to be 1511 per day.  According to the Dash Diet, this means I should have 4 servings of veggies, 4 servings of fruit, 5 servings of grain, 2 servings of dairy, 1.5 servings of meats/alternatives, 1/4 serving of nuts/seeds/legumes, 1/2 serving of fats and 1/2 serving of sweets per day.  I'll be honest with you, I won't be calculating and itemizing my caloric intake -it's one of the things that has discouraged me from dieting in the past.  What I will take from this is the serving guidline for the particular food groups.

Now, let's move on to what I've found in "Wheat Belly".  Dr.  Davis cites studies correlating wheat exposure to effects on mind such as schizophrenia and possibly autism.  This is serious stuff!  I'm beginning to view wheat akin to rat poison!  Eeek!  And speaking of rats.."In lab animals, administration of naloxone blocks the binding of wheat exorphins to the morphine receptor of brain cells.  Yes, opiate-blocking naloxone prevents the binding of wheat-derived exorphins to the brain.  The very same drug that turns off the heroin in a drug-abusing addict also blocks the effects of wheat exorphins."  So, wheat is poison?  "...wheat is one of the few foods that can alter behaviour, induce pleasurable effects, and generate a withdrawal syndrome upon its removal".  Kind of sounds like it is a poison.  I certainly grasp the addictive qualities.  Instead of having 2 cookies, I might take 3 or 4 and then still feel the need for more, and before you know it, I've eaten a whole row from the box!  One cupcake, followed by another, and another...no wonder I'm sitting here writing a blog trying to sort myself out and reclaim my body!  Now that I see wheat as a stimulant I can be more vigilant about standing my ground!  But that's not all!  At the end of Chapter 5 I read, " Wheat products increase blood sugar and insulin more than most other foods.  But remember:  Foods made with cornstarch, rice starch, potato starch, and tapioca starch are among the few foods that increase blood sugar even more than wheat products".   So what does this say for those who have taken a ride on the 'gluten-free' wagon?  Sounds to me like they may have alleviated their intestinal symptoms by eliminating wheat from their diet - but they may develop diabetes instead.  I think I'm suffering from information overload right now.

It's no secret that I have two celebrity crushes, one as you know is Colin Firth, and the other is Bono.  Carla thinks that Bono is mad at me because I've been devoting all of my time lately on Colin, so I promised a plug for Bono in this post.  Last night I watched my first live webcast on my computer.  I was checking out Twitter and saw that Bono was going to be speaking at a Global Social Enterprise event at Georgetown University so I threatened the kids to be perfectly quiet while I became hypnotized by the great words of my favourite rock star!  He is a phenomenal speaker enveloping compassion, humour and conviction.  My favourite line was "We are going to win because the power in the people is so much stronger than the people in power!".  I believe that is the most poignant quote I've ever heard!

OK, now that I've got that out of the way, let me tell you about my day today!  I walked the kids to school and then came home to do plan out my meals for the week and whatnot.  I was going to do my own little 'wheat-free' experiment for a week from Thursday night (pizza night) through to the following Thursday (pizza night).  I figured the week between the 2 pizza nights would go over easier with my family, my pizzaholics!  Then I found out that my mom is coming to visit this weekend and I really want to make her that Coconut Chicken (the panko crumbs contain wheat) for dinner and I know she loves my pumpkin pancakes for breakfast.  So, I've decided to start smaller, and I will be following the 'wheat-free' regimen for 3 days beginning on Monday.    If all goes well, then I'll commit to going for a full week at a later date.  Grocery list in hand (and shocked to see a big gap where bakery items were to be listed!) I headed off to Curves before braving the supermarket.  I weighed myself as usual and I was down to an even 148 lbs!!!  I can't remember the last time I was here!!!  Yeah me!!!  Carol, the manager, commented that I looked like I've lost weight as I finished my circuit which gave me an added boost!  She said this plan my husband made for me must be doing the trick!  Yes, yes it is - thank you John and Colin!!

Then I was off to fill the grocery cart.  The first thing you see when you walk in to Fortino's is their newly renovated bakery area.  Normally I would be fooled by the alluring scent of freshly baked French bread and croissants, but I saw it for what it was and passed on by!  While I was roaming the produce aisles, I had an epiphany - I decided to buy a rainbow!  I was enthralled by all the different fruits and vegetables, some of which I had never heard of before and the myriad of colours - and thought, hey, I'm going to buy a rainbow today, and set off on my mission.  ROY-G-BIV (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo & violet).  It was fun!  I bought red raspberries and strawberries, orange cantaloupe, yellow bananas and lemons, green lettuce and baby greens, blue blueberries, and purple eggplant as it was hard to distinguish indigo/violet within produce.  I couldn't wait to get home and display my rainbow!

Can I just tell you that I have never in my life ever bought an eggplant!  I have never eaten one either.  Now I just have to figure out what to do with it!  Thank goodness for google! 

The pharmacy section has been newly renovated as well and I noticed they now had a blood pressure machine so I had to check it out - and I'm glad I did!  My blood pressure numbers were as follows :
142/83, 134/86, and the best yet was 127/84!!!  Finally, things are going in the right direction!!!  Being in the pharmaceutical area reminded me that I ran out of vitamins this morning.  I usually take Centrum Forte, but I noticed that there was a new version designed for cardiovascular health so I picked it up and tried to compare it to my usual.  What was I thinking?  I don't know what these ingredients do and what dosage is better or not.  So, I went to find the Pharmacist to ask her if there really was a difference or was I being duped by a marketing gimmick.  Her answer...most likely marketing gimmick, so I purchased the Centrum Forte.  There was my inner Yoda saying "Hmmm, fool me not!"

Good night Colin, I hope to find you at the end of my rainbow!

My 'Week'ness and Easy Virtue

You would have thought last Friday night, while I was burning the midnight oil working on cake orders and chose to snack on a mini Aero bar from the kids Halloween stash that tasted like a *@#$* mothball, that such karma would have taught me a lesson and prevented further trips to the said stash.  But no, it was not to be, and thus found myself knee deep in my week of weakness, in short - my 'week'ness!

So, we've been 'pigging' out on chocolate, chips and candy.  John put all the loot in one big box - it's disgusting seeing it all together like that - and knowing it won't last a week!  On Monday, after working in Kristen's classroom, I went to my in-laws to see baby Lucy who was visiting.  She's such a sweetheart and her smiles just melt your heart!  I felt so good after getting my baby fix that I decided to stop at the drugstore on my way home to check my blood pressure.  I took 3 tests and the results were as follows - 161/96, 145/88 and the best one I've had yet was 134/88!!

While I was at the grocery store late the next day I tested myself again.  I've come to close my eyes and think of my puppy or Lucy to reach a state of calm during these tests.  Unfortunately it didn't work as well this time.  My results were 157/97, 142/98 and 154/94.

And to make matters worse, I must confess that I hit rock bottom late Tuesday night.  Or, rather, the bottom of a 500mL carton of Haagen Dazs 1/2 the fat Lemon ice cream!  Yes, I probably deserve a good 'lickin' for this, but I devoured the tub in its entirety without remorse.  The good thing about hitting rock bottom is that there is no where to go but up!  Now, I could reason with you by saying that I only buy Haagen Dazs when it's on sale, and that I usually buy a tub of chocolate and a tub of lemon, and at the time of purchase while pondering the dilemma of buying one, none, or both I thought I was improving by opting to purchase one lone tub of ice cream.  And I truly did mean for it to last for at least two sittings!  Immediately following I did feel unsettled and thought I might be sick so I grabbed a bucket to put beside my bed - "Just Incases"!  Luckily I didn't have to use it, although if I had - it would have likely made my resolve much stronger the next time Haagen Dazs goes on sale!

The next day I went to workout at Curves and weighed in at about 149.5 lbs.  I was going to type "Damn Haagen Dazs"  but that wouldn't be fair - Haagen Dazs is not to blame for my mishap, so "Damn Me!"   This fight just got tougher and I've got to step up my game plan!!  Cut out the crap, go to bed earlier, drink more water and exercise more!! 

After my workout I decided to go next door to the library.  I lucked out!!  I found two Colin Firth movies that I hadn't seen before!!!  Easy Virtue and A Summer in Genoa.  I couldn't wait until the kids were in bed so I could snuggle on the couch with my dog Rocket and swoon over Colin in Easy Virtue!  If you haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend it!  Colin plays a relatively small role but I loved him!  Especially the ending - he was comical and impulsive!

Yesterday I was much better behaved.  I went to Curves and weighed in at 148.75 lbs!!!  Would you believe that karma came to bite me in the ass again - I thought I would have just one treat from the kids' stash and it turned out to be the 'other' treat from the neighbour's house!  I took a small box of Smarties, tried one...and blech!!!!  Moth balls again!!!  I'm telling ya - I forbid the kids to go to that house next Halloween!  Lesson learned!! 

I'm going to digress now and move onto another one of my addictions for which there is no cure - books!  As mentioned in a previous post, I recently purchased a copy of "Wheat Belly" by William Davis, MD.  The back jacket of the book claims that a wheat-free diet can result in weight loss of 20-50 lbs, alleviate metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes, recovery from ulcerative colitis and celiac disease, improve overall cholesterol counts, improve bone density and more.  Well, those claims alone are enough to grab my attention - diabetes, cholesterol and weight loss?  My personal dilemma.  I have read the first three chapters so far and everything I've read makes total sense.  The difference between this book and other 'diet' books is that he backs everything up with scientific studies and research and explains the evolution of 'wheat' and the consequences of that unnatural evolution.

One of the last paragraphs of the introduction reads:
"If you find yourself carrying around a protuberant, uncomfortable wheat belly; unsuccessfully trying to squeeze into last year's jeans; reassuring your doctor that, no, you haven't been eating badly, but you're still overweight and prediabetic with high blood pressure and cholesterol; or desperately trying to conceal a pair of humiliating man breasts, consider saying goodbye to wheat."

My mom has ulcerative colitis, an aunt has celiac disease and other relatives suffer from IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome).  There is diabetes and cancer in my family.  I am prediabetic with high cholesterol and high blood pressure.  My gene pool and DNA suggest disaster!  Can eliminating wheat from my diet change the odds?  Well, according to Davis, "Diabetes in many cases can be cured - not simply managed - by removal of carbohydrates, especially wheat, from the diet".

I was gobsmacked when I read that eating whole wheat bread is just as bad, or worse than drinking a can of soda or eating a candy bar!  I feel like the manufacturers of wheat products are pulling the wool over my eyes and playing dirty tricks on me!  You think you are being healthful and wise by opting for whole wheat choices instead of white bread - but it's just a rouse.  Just as with claiming foods as cholesterol-free!  Cholesterol is found in animal products, so when that bag of chips claims to be cholesterol-free, it never had any cholesterol to begin with.  The wiser choice would be to avoid it altogether!  (I know, I know - I'm the one who inhaled the whole tub of Haagen Dazs, so who am I to judge!)

Davis also writes, "The bigger your wheat belly, the more inflammatory responses that are triggered; heart disease and cancer."  I do a lot of research on cancer related issues and I facilitate a support group for Family & Friends of cancer patients once a month.  I know that estrogen is stored in fat, so the bigger your 'wheat belly', the more fat and estrogen.  Higher levels of estrogen can lead to breast cancer in both men and women. 

That's as far as I've got with that one so far, but I signed out a book at the library along with the Colin flicks called The Dash Diet for Weight Loss that I've been reading as well.  I'll let you know if I find any helpful tidbits there!

One more reference I'd like to bring to your attention is an article titled, "The Hunger Game"  by Josephine Matyas that appeared in this month's issue of Canadian Living.  It was about mindful eating - taking time to savour and appreciate each bite of food that you eat, knowing when you are full and being aware of your feelings while you are eating that food.  One thing I've become aware of during this journey of mine, is that I am becoming more mindful of what I am eating.  My refrigerator has never been so full before, nor so full of variety!  In fact, it is so full of good healthy food that yesterday when I opened the door, a container of blueberries spilled out all over the floor and I ended up playing a game of what resembled Hungry Hippo with Rocket, my dog - trying desperately to pick up all the stray berries before Rocket gobbled them up one by one!  It was pretty funny to watch!  The kids and I had a good laugh afterwards!!

As Colin says in French while looking at a painting with Jessica Biel's character in Easy Virtue, "God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh".  Never forget to laugh - it truly is the best medicine!  And Colin hopping in the passenger seat of my car wouldn't hurt either!!

"I know I might look like a rhinoceros, but I've got quite a thin skin, really"

As this is my first post of November, and many of you men out there are beginning to sprout some upper lip facial hair in support of "Movember" to raise money for prostate cancer, I felt it only fitting to choose "Circle of Friends" for tonight's viewing pleasure (of Colin!!).  Yes, in this film Colin, or Simon Westward if you will, sports a 'stache' making him appear sophisticated and debonair for his otherwise unlikeable character (still nice on the eyes, of course!)

This week was met with ups & downs, largely due in part to the evils (candy, chips, etc.) of Halloween lurking throughout the house!  On Monday for dinner, I made Kristen's favourite meal - Blarney Stone Cottage Pie (an Irish Shepherd's Pie).  The next day I went to Curves and for the first time since I signed up I actually had 12 visits this month!!  Tuesday night we had tacos for dinner and then John helped the kids carve out our Jack O'Lanterns to display on the porch for Halloween.  While they were carving and retrieving the slimy innards from the pumpkins, I was busily chopping up pumpkin, butternut squash, apples and onions in preparation for the Cinderella soup we would feast on the following evening.

On Wednesday, Halloween, my cleaning lady came to do her thing and in her wake she left 3 double sized Kit Kat's on the counter, one for each of my kids.  Later, my neighbour and friend Carla across the street called and I happened to look over and saw them on the counter.  I told her I was tempted to tear into one of them.  You know you've a true friend when they offer to come over and take them away out of the house for you to resist temptation when willpower isn't so willing after all!  The mere suggestion of an 'intervention' helped me remove the chocolate from my sight and hide them in the cupboards for when the kids came home from school.  I spent the afternoon making Cinderella soup.  Jackie's version was much better than mine - I really don't know what happened!  It still tasted good to me, but John and kids hated it!  I bribed the kids by telling them that only those who ate every last spoonful of soup would be allowed to enjoy trick-or-treating!  Things got rather comical after the kids had managed to finish their soup and turned the tables on their father urging "Just one more bite Daddy!  You can do it!!" he he he!  So, they downed the soup and earned their quest for candy overload!  Oh well, one dud amongst the successes ain't bad right?  My Scottish Bagpiper, Banana and Cowgirl!  Trick-or-Treat!!

Needless to say, I fell off the 'hay'wagon a little bit and gorged on some Halloween treats later on that evening.  Nadine, next door brought over some caramel apples which were divine!!!  I take pride in the fact that I didn't eat as much as I normally do though!!

On Thursday I went to Curves fully expecting the scales to tip the other way and surprised myself that my weight had gone down 1/4 of a lb to 148.75.  I guess that gave me some false hope, believing that I could eat more candy and not suffer - this came back to haunt me on Friday when I weighed myself again and was back up to 149 (....and a smidgen).  However, there is still good news to report.  I was due for my monthly measurements and since the last set, I have lost 3 lbs, 1 1/2 inches (3/4" off the hips, 1/2" off the waist and 1/4" off the bust - the back part I presume, what I call "bra fat"), and 1.8% body fat.  I was rewarded when Abba came on the system (remember it reminds me of Mama Mia - starring Colin of course) propelling my motivation skyward!  Admittedly needed, as Minnie Driver (Benny) in "Circle of Friends" says to Jack Foley, " I know I might look like a rhinoceros, but I've got quite a thin skin, really", my disappointment in my lack of willpower and subsequent weight gain was making me feel rather large and rhino-like.  But - better days lay ahead - I will do this, I will meet my next goal, my next Colin flick!!!!  The Importance of Being Ernest is up next and I am hoping to accomplish losing the next 5 lbs by the end of the month - so guys, while your mustache is reaching it's prime at the end of the month, my belly will be deflating by comparison!  There, now I've said it, typed it - so I have to make it happen!

Friday and Saturday I spent fulfilling cake orders - I had a 3-tier cake for a 1st birthday, a drum for an 8th birthday, pumpkin spice cupcakes for a baby shower and a surprise beer can cake for my friend Glen as a birthday surprise from me!  I was up until 4 am on Friday night working on them all.  Saturday morning my baby niece came to visit!!!!  She's so adorable!!! Then I went to Laurie's baby shower, dinner at the Quarrington's and back across the street to Carla & Steve's to surprise Glen with his edible Coors light and play some Five Crowns!

I was planning to forego church this morning since I was so tired from being up till the wee hours the previous night but Kristen got all upset that she was late for choir practice so I dragged myself down for a quick breakfast and took a coffee to go with me!  I'm glad that we did end up going after all.  Kristen sang beautifully in front of the congregation and for the first time I can remember, after hearing the reading from the Old Testament (book of Ruth) I found myself wanting to come home and read more to find out the rest of her story - weird eh?  Then just before I was ready to leave to come home, Pat came up to me while I was talking to Donna and gave me a hug, saying that she thought I looked tired and wanted to give me a hug.  This may sound crazy, but I seriously felt much better afterwards - and much more alert!!  I'll have to play this one forward for sure!  I am truly blessed to have such wonderful people surrounding me!



I was going to chat about my views on "Wheat Belly" thus far - but as it's getting late I'll leave that for next time.

Colin, I leave you tonight dreaming of Simon "riding his horse and looking grand as usual"!  Bon nuit!