Then She Found Me...

Turns out I have seen "Then She Found Me".  Chances are that I borrowed from the library last time too - how could I forget?  Colin plays his traditional good guy who gets the girl in the end!  When Helen Hunt tells Colin, "I don't want to say goodnight", I was reminded of my first date with John.  I was planning on heading to the mall on a Friday afternoon to shop for something to wear to the wine & cheese taking place at his Fraternity house the following weekend - and he asked if he could come with me.  What guy does that?  Most guys would avoid shopping at all costs - but not John!  Maybe that's why I've kept him around all these years!! LOL.  Anyways, after I bought an outfit he drove back to my apartment building, then said, "I don't want to take you home yet!" - so we went out for dinner and the rest is history!

On Thursday morning I went out for coffee with Amanda and Gordana.  We had a lovely time and I'm looking forward to more of these get togethers in future.  Afterwards I headed off to Curves.  I was anxious to check my weight progress after my latest 3 day wheat-free stint.  Yeah!!  I am down to 143 lbs!  Three more pounds to go and St. Trinian's is mine!!  I've had the sequel forever it seems and I've been holding off to watch the first.  Off to my second bout of Booty Barre later that night and awoke next morning to stiff shoulders and neck as a result of upper body conditioning - ouch!!.  That being said, I am really enjoying this class.  As I faced myself in the mirror in front of the barre, I noticed my results for the first time since I began the Colin Firth Diet Club!  Based on fact, I knew I had lost about 12 lbs, but aside from my pants beginning to sag off my waist a little bit, I never registered that my actual body shape had been transforming.  Granted, I've still a ways to go, but this did much for my self confidence - to recognize that I am liking the new me, and most especially, the shrinking belly!  It's one thing to acknowledge the numbers on the scale, and yet another to appreciate yourself both inside and out.  This in itself is progress for me.  I am guilty of catching glimpses of my profile in the reflections of glass as I walk by buildings or shops at the mall, more often than not, dismayed by what I see - feeling rather negative about myself, leading to delving my woes into a doughnut or some such sinful indulgence.  But facing that full length mirror at Booty Barre was an epiphany of sorts that evening.  I'm beginning to like me again!

One thing that has piqued my curiosity lately is that I discovered trans fats are in many dairy products - namely cheese, and, as I discovered on Friday - chocolate milk.   My daughter has gotten into a bad habit of not drinking her (chocolate) milk at school and we find it in the fridge after she returns home from school.  I don't chastise her much about this, because, hey, if she's not going to drink it - I will!  So upon making my grilled cheese sandwich for lunch, I grabbed the small carton hidden behind something in the fridge - and because it's become second nature to me, I read the label.  It contained .1g of trans fats.  So this prompted me to check the label on the 1% milk bag which had zero trans fats.  Why is there trans fats in chocolate milk but not regular?  One of the differences in ingredients was carageenan so I googled it -seems to be ok, it's extracted from red seaweed or "Irish moss" (all good things come from Ireland!  ...or Colin Firth!).  I then typed 'why are there trans fats in chocolate milk?' - the results were found on www.dairygoodness.ca .  Apparently there are two kinds of trans fats - the kind that are produced industrially (these are the ones we need to avoid, like margarine) and the naturally occurring kind.  The naturally occurring kind comes from animals such as cow, sheep and goat and are not associated with heart disease.  Research indicates that a common natural trans fat called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) may even offer protection against cancers, namely breast cancer.  I also read that our own bodies produce CLA from vaccenic acid - so I guess the answer to the question posed two entries ago about whether or not people have trans fats is "Oh yes, they fucking do!"  (Sorry for the language - can't resist an attempt to quote Colin in a flick, in this case Bridget Jones' Diary!!)  And best of all, I no longer need to feel guilty about eating cheese!  Thank heavens for small miracles!!

This afternoon I finished reading "The Cleaner Plate Club".  I became rather overwhelmed when reading the section on meats.  There was so much information and things to be wary of when purchasing meat that I felt the only way to be sure I was eating meat that was safe was to revert back to the 'hunter/gatherer' mentality and forage for myself - but then what would I do with the carcass if I hazarded the resolve to do such a thing in the first place?  Beats me, and I reckon we're all better off without me going that route.  Of course I could become a vegetarian, or more radically a vegan - but that's not the answer either.

What I can take from this is to ...continue to read labels, and make wiser choices.  Overall, the best beef, chicken and eggs you can purchase and later consume come from the animals that are "pastured".  This means animals that have had access to pasture allowing them a more diverse diet and more room to roam and be active.  Animals that are able to 'chew the cud' and dine on grasses growing in a pasture provide more nutritive benefits for us in the meat, milk, and eggs.  The diet of chickens are meant to include grasses and even bugs (which provide protein), so when we are led to believe that poultry that was 'grain-fed' is good for us, it's not necessarily so.  I don't know where I'll find these elusive "pastured" meats, but I will keep my eyes open for them!

The most disturbing thing I read regarding meats referred to the use of carbon monoxide in meats.  The food industry really angers me, especially when I'm made to feel a pawn in their game.  And anyways, who are 'they'?  Who is the person who allowed our diets to become what they are with additives and chemicals of which we don't even know what they are, what they do, and most cases can't even pronounce the names of?  Did you know that the lovely red meat we see at the supermarket is not likely as fresh as we are made to believe, but has been blasted with carbon monoxide to retain colour, suppress bad odors - essentially disguise meat that may in fact have spoiled.  Mad cow?  Hmmph!  And food manufacturers, in order to save a buck, continue to feed bovines corn only.  In school we are taught about the 4 main food groups and that we need to eat a variety of foods from each of these food groups for optimal health.   The cows are being cheated, and thereby so are we!  Last time I was in the grocery store, I read labels on dog food.  I was curious to see if there were trans fats in dog food.  Apparently the same laws that govern labels on food for us humans don't cover those of animals.  In fact there were even more ingredients listed that I didn't know of - mostly chemical based.

Being diagnosed as prediabetic, I was urged to use artificial sweetener (Splenda) in lieu of regular sugar.    Bader & Benjamin write, "Not only are most artificial sweeteners made from chemicals by people wearing safety goggles and long white lab coats, they also don't seem to offer any kind of long-term benefit."  Now, sometimes I do try to justify my decisions by reasoning that I am not full blown diabetic - just prediabetic, so I continue to bake with regular sugar.  However, for years now (since I was border-line gestational diabetic when pregnant with my third child), I do use Splenda in my morning coffee.  After reading what I just quoted from the book, I'll think twice as I open the little yellow sachet!  Once I've finished with what I have on hand, I think I'll try switching to other natural sweeteners like honey, agave nectar or stevia.

Tonight, after my soccer game I made fajitas for the first time!  Last week I made the Beef and Vegetable Stir Fry and the (very lovely lean, red & apparently carbon monoxide doused) piece of sirloin beef I bought was more than I needed.  So instead of just adding it all to the stir fry, I measured out the 1 lb I needed for the recipe and cut up the rest and put it in the freezer thinking I'd use it to make fajitas later.  I bought some whole wheat tortillas, a red pepper, a yellow pepper and got to work!  Everyone ate them and I even have enough left over to have one for lunch tomorrow!

First I cut up half of an onion and added it to the frying pan with about 1-2 tsp of canola oil.  One trick I picked up from www.pinterest.com was to cut up green onion and put the rest that you don't need in a container and freeze it.  This way, you don't waste innumerable amounts of green onion because of spoilage and you're sure to have it on hand when needed!  So I sprinkled some in with the white onion!

Next, I added the red and yellow peppers and a sprinkled a little cilantro in there as well.  Love the colours!  I let it cook for a minute or two and then transferred it all to a bowl.

Then I added another 1-2 tsp of oil and braised the beef.  I also added a couple splashes of Worcestershire sauce and a dash of garlic powder and cooked until they were no longer pink.

When finished, I re added the peppers and onions and cooked for another minute or so to blend the flavours together.  Then placed it on the tortilla shells, added a dollop of sour cream, wrapped it up and indulged in my own creation!  I can't believe I'm saying this, but I love to cook!!!

And now I bid you adieu, placing myself in Helen Hunt's shoes as she relays to Frank (Colin!!), "I can only tell you how I feel, and how I feel is that I want to be near you - all the time!".  And that goes for you as well John!! <3