It has come to my attention that I have not (recently or possibly ever) explained my current food goals. I know I have mentioned them in detail (see my last post about cookbooks) but I have not explained WHY these are my choices. This is that explanation.
To begin, this method of eating is described by a lot of fitness folks (at least Blogilates' Cassey Ho) as "eating clean." I'm not quite following all of the rules, but this is the basis. Eating clean involves eating whole grains, lean proteins, lots and lots of fruits and vegetables, low fat (if any) dairy and no chemicals from food processing if avoidable.The idea is to cut out all the gross stuff that gets put into processed food and eat as if you are fueling a high class engine. I use this as a basis for my food philosophy of the moment (it is ever changing) but there are details that I adjust/ have more to say about.
Let's go into whole grains a bit more, as for me this is a lynch-pin. Most people would say that if you are trying to lose weight, you should cut carbs. Get rid of them almost completely. Well, as people who have been following this blog from its inception know, I did that. It ended in disaster. Cutting one thing out of my diet (or anyone's diet for that matter) is extremely detrimental, if not physically, mentally. I like pasta, rice dishes and bread. Cutting them out made me crave them, and so I cheated and ate them, which slowed down my weight loss to the point of me giving up, loading them back on and gaining back everything I'd lost, plus half again. Now part of my problem may have been the degree to which I cut carbs, but it is safe to say I will never do that again. Instead, I have chosen to move my carbs to whole grains. How is this better? Whole grains are less straining on the body to process, they don't cause dramatic leaps in insulin levels like their refined siblings. Dramatic leaps in insulin lead to fat generation, as insulin is the molecule that helps mark excess glucose for storage. Whole grains, because of their fiber content, don't get marked this way and therefore don't get stored as fat as easily. It's exactly like eating a lean steak instead of a hamburger, only in grain form. It's just plain better for you.
Now, in my last post I made mention of a low-fat sort of goal. The reasoning for this choice is less than straightforward. I have not chosen low-fats because fat is bad. It's not! I know that fat is not more likely to become fat once it's inside me (in fact it is less so). I have chosen low fats because of calories. When it comes down to it, calories are the ONLY thing that matter in weight loss. It's all about what goes in and what goes out. Marathon runners can eat 6 hamburgers a day and not gain weight (though they will probably feel awful). I am not a marathon runner, and so I need to be more careful. By eating lower fat foods, I give myself a little extra room calorically. The higher my ratio of output to input, the better any given day is. Low fat dairy in particular is important for this, as well as the use of EVOO instead of butter when cooking.
Some of you may now say: calories? But Kiersten, you aren't even counting right now! And it's true, I'm not counting. But that doesn't mean they don't matter. Calories are the only thing that matters. I don't count anymore because it is a massive drain on my psyche. I have enough to feel guilty about without also needing that extra kick when I inevitably cross the max calorie line. I know what I should and should not be eating, and I know how many calories I'm burning (roughly) each day. I am no longer eating out everyday for lunch (heck, I rarely even have a meal I can call "lunch") and I don't usually eat much until most of my day is over and I know how many calories I have earned. It works because I never feel like I have a deficit of calories eaten compared to calories put out. As long as I have gotten off my butt and moved that day, I know that most of my hunger is justified.
The end goal of each day is more calories out than in and a balanced endocrine system without the highs and lows of refined carbs. These are the goals, following them is another post. Next week I'll fill you all in on my new exercise routine.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Thursday, April 18, 2013
Cookbook Adventures
I have recently started going to the library a lot. As a result, I have been picking up a lot of books. The majority of these books are from my goodreads list of books to read, but I have been making a point of each time I go to get a new slew of books, I also must get at least one cookbook.
Now, I have some pretty high standards for cookbooks. I have to, given my goal of healthy eating and all. Sometimes, these standards are difficult to meet. Here's what they are:
1) Book must declare itself to be healthy food, favoring vegetables, whole grains and low fats.
2) Book must include dishes made with red meat and or dairy.
On my first round, it took me 20 minutes to find a book that met both of these criteria. The vast majority of books that have number 1 do not have number 2 because they are vegan or vegetarian. Don't get me wrong, I like vegan and vegetarian food just fine. In fact, I end up eating vegetarian or mostly vegetarian most days. The boy, however, is not usually happy with strictly vegetarian meals. He needs his meat. And so, both criteria exist.
So, thus far I have picked up 4 cookbooks. Here's what I liked and didn't like about each.
EatingWell: Comfort Foods made Healthy by Jessie Price
This book worked really well for me. I actually made one of the recipes and have saved a bunch of the others to make later. I found that some of the better dishes are made vegetarian, but I just added or substituted chicken. My favorite was the Spicy Peanut Ginger Noodles, made with whole grain spaghetti and frozen vegetables. Plus, I learned how to make a spicy peanut sauce! Good, easy recipes that are fast and healthy!
The Everything Healthy College Cookbook by Nicole Cormier
I have yet to actually try anything out of this one, but I saved a bunch. There are a lot of good ideas in here for food on the go and very easy healthy dinners. One thing that is true is that it tends towards cooking for one (which makes sense but isn't super useful for me). Mostly, this was a good meal idea builder than anything else.
The New American Plate (American Institute for Cancer Research and University of California Press)
I have this book right now. I like its philosophy: Americans eat too much meat, but the solution isn't to get rid of it, it's just to make it take up less plate and fill the space with more vegetables and whole grains. There are lots of tasty looking recipes in here. The only issue I have is that they tend to be filled with Whole Foods Market kinds of ingredients, which will break the bank if I buy them all the time. I'm also not sure how adventurous the boy is willing to be. He has an assignment to take a look at it and get back to me. Lots of pretty pictures too!
400 Best Ever Recipes: Non-Fat/ Low-Fat by Anne Sheasby
This book is... interesting. It's big, filled with pictures, basic instructions and European names for things (sometimes I'm not sure what vegetable they're talking about). The food looks good and it is definitely low fat. I haven't gone through the whole thing yet so I'm not sure if I'm enthusiastic about anything, and there are a whole lot of very french techniques, which I can only barely imagine make the crossover from "BUTTER EVERYWHERE" to "itty bitty bit of safflower oil" very well. It will take some more investigation and possibly some balance finding, but I think this might work well for me, especially given my experimental nature in the kitchen.
What are your favorite healthy foods cookbooks? I know I'm going to grab whichever one of Alton Brown's cookbooks falls soonest into my field of vision (Alton Brown is the Good Eats guy), but what others do you like? Send them my way!
Now, I have some pretty high standards for cookbooks. I have to, given my goal of healthy eating and all. Sometimes, these standards are difficult to meet. Here's what they are:
1) Book must declare itself to be healthy food, favoring vegetables, whole grains and low fats.
2) Book must include dishes made with red meat and or dairy.
On my first round, it took me 20 minutes to find a book that met both of these criteria. The vast majority of books that have number 1 do not have number 2 because they are vegan or vegetarian. Don't get me wrong, I like vegan and vegetarian food just fine. In fact, I end up eating vegetarian or mostly vegetarian most days. The boy, however, is not usually happy with strictly vegetarian meals. He needs his meat. And so, both criteria exist.
So, thus far I have picked up 4 cookbooks. Here's what I liked and didn't like about each.
EatingWell: Comfort Foods made Healthy by Jessie Price
This book worked really well for me. I actually made one of the recipes and have saved a bunch of the others to make later. I found that some of the better dishes are made vegetarian, but I just added or substituted chicken. My favorite was the Spicy Peanut Ginger Noodles, made with whole grain spaghetti and frozen vegetables. Plus, I learned how to make a spicy peanut sauce! Good, easy recipes that are fast and healthy!
The Everything Healthy College Cookbook by Nicole Cormier
I have yet to actually try anything out of this one, but I saved a bunch. There are a lot of good ideas in here for food on the go and very easy healthy dinners. One thing that is true is that it tends towards cooking for one (which makes sense but isn't super useful for me). Mostly, this was a good meal idea builder than anything else.
The New American Plate (American Institute for Cancer Research and University of California Press)
I have this book right now. I like its philosophy: Americans eat too much meat, but the solution isn't to get rid of it, it's just to make it take up less plate and fill the space with more vegetables and whole grains. There are lots of tasty looking recipes in here. The only issue I have is that they tend to be filled with Whole Foods Market kinds of ingredients, which will break the bank if I buy them all the time. I'm also not sure how adventurous the boy is willing to be. He has an assignment to take a look at it and get back to me. Lots of pretty pictures too!
400 Best Ever Recipes: Non-Fat/ Low-Fat by Anne Sheasby
This book is... interesting. It's big, filled with pictures, basic instructions and European names for things (sometimes I'm not sure what vegetable they're talking about). The food looks good and it is definitely low fat. I haven't gone through the whole thing yet so I'm not sure if I'm enthusiastic about anything, and there are a whole lot of very french techniques, which I can only barely imagine make the crossover from "BUTTER EVERYWHERE" to "itty bitty bit of safflower oil" very well. It will take some more investigation and possibly some balance finding, but I think this might work well for me, especially given my experimental nature in the kitchen.
What are your favorite healthy foods cookbooks? I know I'm going to grab whichever one of Alton Brown's cookbooks falls soonest into my field of vision (Alton Brown is the Good Eats guy), but what others do you like? Send them my way!
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Let's get moving here
It was not my intention a month ago to fail completely to write here, but it seems that happened anyway! I apologize!
Regardless, after a full month of unemployment and infinite free time (plus the stress and self-guilting that goes on when you're busy trying to motivate yourself), there has been some progress.
Firstly, I have lost a little bit of weight. It comes and goes, but my average is a bit lower. Mostly, I have procrastinated horribly on getting myself moving. I tend to blame busy, but really I have no excuse at this point. I need to make a new, manageable goal for myself.
So, the idea is the following:
I am going to either go on a walk or go to yoga every day that I do not have a big event. I don't have events very often, so I won't often have an excuse. Today I do, I am going to the baseball game this evening (go A's!), but tomorrow I won't, and so I will either have to go on a hike, walk into town or go to a yoga class. I have been intending to go to yoga for something like 3 weeks now, so I should really really do that. In fact, I will declare it right now: I will go to yoga tomorrow. At 4:30.
Beyond my failure to move, I have actually been eating fairly well for the most part, and financially, all is well! I'm vaguely surprised by this, but also not surprised. Eating well means making your own food which means less eating out. But in the end, the actual difference for me has been that I am having only one big meal a day, just like I did in High School. I'm eating dinner, and occasionally an actual lunch, but mostly I am snacking for the rest of the day (mostly on healthy things, but sometimes not). My snacks are usually small and I'm certainly not eating all day long. I have a snack about 4 times during the day and then dinner in the late evening. It works out in terms of my fooding, and I can, for the most part, eat whatever I want.
Otherwise, I am still looking for work. Specifically I am looking for a job doing community/content management for a gaming company, a tech company or a nonprofit. I am looking anywhere in the Bay or in the Sacramento/ Davis area. A good job for me would be in an open, fun casual office environment. I imagine the search for this job is going to last a while, so I am also open to anyone who may have connections for part time, fun work. In the Davis area would be best, and with regular hiring. There is a possibility that boyfriend and I will be moving to Davis at some point in the next several months for him to go to school.
In the mean time, I am working on my skills with Coursera courses (which all of you people should check out, they're free! coursera.org ) and reading.
Regardless, after a full month of unemployment and infinite free time (plus the stress and self-guilting that goes on when you're busy trying to motivate yourself), there has been some progress.
Firstly, I have lost a little bit of weight. It comes and goes, but my average is a bit lower. Mostly, I have procrastinated horribly on getting myself moving. I tend to blame busy, but really I have no excuse at this point. I need to make a new, manageable goal for myself.
So, the idea is the following:
I am going to either go on a walk or go to yoga every day that I do not have a big event. I don't have events very often, so I won't often have an excuse. Today I do, I am going to the baseball game this evening (go A's!), but tomorrow I won't, and so I will either have to go on a hike, walk into town or go to a yoga class. I have been intending to go to yoga for something like 3 weeks now, so I should really really do that. In fact, I will declare it right now: I will go to yoga tomorrow. At 4:30.
Beyond my failure to move, I have actually been eating fairly well for the most part, and financially, all is well! I'm vaguely surprised by this, but also not surprised. Eating well means making your own food which means less eating out. But in the end, the actual difference for me has been that I am having only one big meal a day, just like I did in High School. I'm eating dinner, and occasionally an actual lunch, but mostly I am snacking for the rest of the day (mostly on healthy things, but sometimes not). My snacks are usually small and I'm certainly not eating all day long. I have a snack about 4 times during the day and then dinner in the late evening. It works out in terms of my fooding, and I can, for the most part, eat whatever I want.
Otherwise, I am still looking for work. Specifically I am looking for a job doing community/content management for a gaming company, a tech company or a nonprofit. I am looking anywhere in the Bay or in the Sacramento/ Davis area. A good job for me would be in an open, fun casual office environment. I imagine the search for this job is going to last a while, so I am also open to anyone who may have connections for part time, fun work. In the Davis area would be best, and with regular hiring. There is a possibility that boyfriend and I will be moving to Davis at some point in the next several months for him to go to school.
In the mean time, I am working on my skills with Coursera courses (which all of you people should check out, they're free! coursera.org ) and reading.
Friday, March 1, 2013
And I lied!
My last post was all about how normal things were going to continue and how I was going to figure out routines. I lied. Horribly. But not through any fault of my own.
A week ago yesterday I was laid off from my job. Yup. I'm unemployed! In some ways, this is a very very good thing. I am now free to spend all my time seeking the work I want to do and taking care of myself. I no longer have the tiredness/ constantly busy to contend with in terms of me eating right and exercising. Plus, I'm a lot happier, since I get to do the things I want to do all day. Yes, this includes job hunting.
Job hunting in this case doesn't suck because I actually very much know what I want and am quite qualified to do it at the entry level. I have also been given the opportunity through my mother and a few other random people to do some consulting work while I look for a job. So, while I may be unemployed and it's a little bit scary, I have a lot of opportunities ahead of me and i am not worried.
It helps that for the moment I am funded. I have severance pay through the end of March, and I have applied for unemployment (which will still be enough for rent and food).With that, I will remain afloat until at least June, by which point I should have found work.
Now, back to this whole Undoing College stuff that I now have time to address unabashedly.
My goals to start:
1) One exercise type activity a day, whether it's a little walking, some lifting, a yoga class or some blogilates, one thing a day. My activity today was a walk to downtown to get a new keyboard for my iPad (my laptop is currently on a healing trip to the Apple repair guys, and will hopefully return with a new logic board and no problems whatsoever).
2) Eat breakfast as soon as I can after getting up. It's just good practice because it gets my metabolism rolling, and when I'm trying to get my body to a better place, that's just a good idea.
3) Eat as clean as possible. I'm not very good at this because I love cheese, but I can make sure that 3/4 of the meals I make, whether they are for myself or for the whole household, are clean eating. Occasionally mac and cheese is just going to happen, but if I make an effort to plan the big meals as clean ones, all will be well in my eating world.
I am not going to get back into calorie counting just yet, as I said I was going to in my last post. When I am at home, I really don't eat very much. I have one big meal a day and the rest of the time is just little snacks. Unless I start having real trouble losing the weight, I am just going to eat as clean as possible and stop when I'm not hungry anymore. I think I should be alright.
Anyway, as of my last weigh-in I have already lost a little bit, so hopefully the progress will continue!
More as there is more! Planning on going to Yoga a bunch next week (I found a place that offers 30 days of unlimited for $30!).
A week ago yesterday I was laid off from my job. Yup. I'm unemployed! In some ways, this is a very very good thing. I am now free to spend all my time seeking the work I want to do and taking care of myself. I no longer have the tiredness/ constantly busy to contend with in terms of me eating right and exercising. Plus, I'm a lot happier, since I get to do the things I want to do all day. Yes, this includes job hunting.
Job hunting in this case doesn't suck because I actually very much know what I want and am quite qualified to do it at the entry level. I have also been given the opportunity through my mother and a few other random people to do some consulting work while I look for a job. So, while I may be unemployed and it's a little bit scary, I have a lot of opportunities ahead of me and i am not worried.
It helps that for the moment I am funded. I have severance pay through the end of March, and I have applied for unemployment (which will still be enough for rent and food).With that, I will remain afloat until at least June, by which point I should have found work.
Now, back to this whole Undoing College stuff that I now have time to address unabashedly.
My goals to start:
1) One exercise type activity a day, whether it's a little walking, some lifting, a yoga class or some blogilates, one thing a day. My activity today was a walk to downtown to get a new keyboard for my iPad (my laptop is currently on a healing trip to the Apple repair guys, and will hopefully return with a new logic board and no problems whatsoever).
2) Eat breakfast as soon as I can after getting up. It's just good practice because it gets my metabolism rolling, and when I'm trying to get my body to a better place, that's just a good idea.
3) Eat as clean as possible. I'm not very good at this because I love cheese, but I can make sure that 3/4 of the meals I make, whether they are for myself or for the whole household, are clean eating. Occasionally mac and cheese is just going to happen, but if I make an effort to plan the big meals as clean ones, all will be well in my eating world.
I am not going to get back into calorie counting just yet, as I said I was going to in my last post. When I am at home, I really don't eat very much. I have one big meal a day and the rest of the time is just little snacks. Unless I start having real trouble losing the weight, I am just going to eat as clean as possible and stop when I'm not hungry anymore. I think I should be alright.
Anyway, as of my last weigh-in I have already lost a little bit, so hopefully the progress will continue!
More as there is more! Planning on going to Yoga a bunch next week (I found a place that offers 30 days of unlimited for $30!).
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
And let the normalcy begin!
As of Monday, we are completely out of our old apartment, and completely moved in to the new apartment. There are still boxes and things pretty much everywhere, and definitely some sorting to do, but everything is inside the building. At the end of the month we should gain some extra space with one of our current roommates moving to his own place. It will be nice not to have boxes and chaos everywhere.
However, most of my work in terms of organizing our things and getting the place liveable is done. There are still I think 2 boxes that have things that will either need to be tossed or find homes, and there are a couple boxes of things that have no place (but that I want to keep) and of things to give away. If any one can think of an item of clothing that I have (or have had) that you wanted for whatever reason, I can almost guarantee it's in one of the donate piles. Let me know and I can send it to you.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Eating and exercise (you know, the whole "undoing college" business). Exercise I have been getting. Actually quite a lot of it, comparatively. I have been walking every day, including my days off. The grocery store is in walking distance, so I walk there (I may start biking instead, now that I have my bike from the old place), and I walk to and from the bus every work day. Otherwise with all the moving, I've certainly been getting my lifting in. I am sure eventually I will have to start doing more, but I am already noticing an improvement in my walking pace. I was concerned I was running late this morning, but when I checked the time about half way through my walk, I found that rather than running 5 or 6 minutes behind, it was only 3 minutes. Go me!
In terms of food, well I'm not really sure how it's been going. I'm going to say not really very well because honestly I haven't been trying very hard of late. At least not this week or last week at work, which is usually my grand downfall anyway. I'm going to try to improve. One thing that is nice is that I don't have to worry quite as much about how many calories I am theoretically eating because I do have a cushion now from the walking. I have never regularly eaten more than 1800 calories a day (except during the bulk of my weight gain... I blame free pizza) so my peak net is probably around 1700. If I switch out lunch for something lower on the caloric scale, it sinks even lower. With the walking it shouldn't be especially difficult for me to bring it down and keep it there. I will have to get back into logging (which I kind of hate, since it makes me hyper conscious of it and stresses me out a bit) at least for a little bit until I get into the groove of how much I can eat. But a week or 2 won't kill me. Go take a look at my myfitnesspal if my want progress like that.
I have not weighed myself in a very long time. Not since I was last at the gym. I'm kind of dreading it. So I will wait until I have been on the 1300 calories for at least a week straight (with a break day) and THEN I will weigh myself. I will report thereafter.
Well I had better get back to work! I shall think of some interesting thing to post that isn't just me rattling on soon!
However, most of my work in terms of organizing our things and getting the place liveable is done. There are still I think 2 boxes that have things that will either need to be tossed or find homes, and there are a couple boxes of things that have no place (but that I want to keep) and of things to give away. If any one can think of an item of clothing that I have (or have had) that you wanted for whatever reason, I can almost guarantee it's in one of the donate piles. Let me know and I can send it to you.
Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Eating and exercise (you know, the whole "undoing college" business). Exercise I have been getting. Actually quite a lot of it, comparatively. I have been walking every day, including my days off. The grocery store is in walking distance, so I walk there (I may start biking instead, now that I have my bike from the old place), and I walk to and from the bus every work day. Otherwise with all the moving, I've certainly been getting my lifting in. I am sure eventually I will have to start doing more, but I am already noticing an improvement in my walking pace. I was concerned I was running late this morning, but when I checked the time about half way through my walk, I found that rather than running 5 or 6 minutes behind, it was only 3 minutes. Go me!
In terms of food, well I'm not really sure how it's been going. I'm going to say not really very well because honestly I haven't been trying very hard of late. At least not this week or last week at work, which is usually my grand downfall anyway. I'm going to try to improve. One thing that is nice is that I don't have to worry quite as much about how many calories I am theoretically eating because I do have a cushion now from the walking. I have never regularly eaten more than 1800 calories a day (except during the bulk of my weight gain... I blame free pizza) so my peak net is probably around 1700. If I switch out lunch for something lower on the caloric scale, it sinks even lower. With the walking it shouldn't be especially difficult for me to bring it down and keep it there. I will have to get back into logging (which I kind of hate, since it makes me hyper conscious of it and stresses me out a bit) at least for a little bit until I get into the groove of how much I can eat. But a week or 2 won't kill me. Go take a look at my myfitnesspal if my want progress like that.
I have not weighed myself in a very long time. Not since I was last at the gym. I'm kind of dreading it. So I will wait until I have been on the 1300 calories for at least a week straight (with a break day) and THEN I will weigh myself. I will report thereafter.
Well I had better get back to work! I shall think of some interesting thing to post that isn't just me rattling on soon!
Friday, February 8, 2013
New Place
Hey guys!
I'm so sorry for my long absence. I have been outrageously busy. Like really.
Here's the rundown of the past month:
- I have been kicking butt at work (for both necessity and also my tasks are a thousand times more interesting).
- We moved! (this includes deciding to, searching for places, applying for a place, waiting for a response and actually moving most of our stuff).
- I have NOT been very good about exercise
- I have been staring a job search in the face and have been unable to move it with just staring.
- I have been wistfully reading all the +Blogilates emails I receive but have been unable to find the time to do more than wish I had the time.
- I have been trying to eat low calorie and clean (though probably mostly failing).
So I've been super busy! "Crazy" is probably a good descriptor.
Anyway, the new place is in Walnut Creek, super close to downtown. Only bummer is that I absolutely had to change my work schedule because the BART lot fills outrageously early and I have to take the Free Ride at 7:30 in the morning. On the bright side, it's about a 10-15 minute walk to where the bus picks up, so I get 30 mins of walking in everyday, just from being. Huge thumbs up for that. Now I don't have to worry too much about getting the other exercise in, though I still really want to do it. When everything gets moved in and my finances resettle after lease-breaking and moving chaos, I'm going to look into when and where I can do some fun exercise. I sense outdoor blogilates and yoga classes in my future.
In terms of food, Walnut Creek has both a Trader Joes and a Whole Foods. I imagine I won't be going to the Whole Foods (*cough* whole paycheck *cough*) too often, but it will be useful for little things that I can't get at Safeway. Trader Joe's will be a new resource for frozen food and produce. Also delicious cheese (which yes, I still refuse to give up). I'm really excited to plan some new meals and get rolling on this whole eating clean thing.
With my new work schedule, roommates (who can make dinner instead of me) and the nearness of everything, I'm going to have a little bit of extra time in the evenings, which i can use for exercise and other recreational things. I can't wait for it. Unfortunately pretty much all my time is hung up until I get paid next week, all of the boxes are taken care of and the old apartment is cleaned and handed over. So *sigh* the 20th at least.
I will get back to blogging here soon. I just wanted to give you all an update on where I am and what's going on. I will have updates in 2 weeks probably!
Until then, good luck!
I'm so sorry for my long absence. I have been outrageously busy. Like really.
Here's the rundown of the past month:
- I have been kicking butt at work (for both necessity and also my tasks are a thousand times more interesting).
- We moved! (this includes deciding to, searching for places, applying for a place, waiting for a response and actually moving most of our stuff).
- I have NOT been very good about exercise
- I have been staring a job search in the face and have been unable to move it with just staring.
- I have been wistfully reading all the +Blogilates emails I receive but have been unable to find the time to do more than wish I had the time.
- I have been trying to eat low calorie and clean (though probably mostly failing).
So I've been super busy! "Crazy" is probably a good descriptor.
Anyway, the new place is in Walnut Creek, super close to downtown. Only bummer is that I absolutely had to change my work schedule because the BART lot fills outrageously early and I have to take the Free Ride at 7:30 in the morning. On the bright side, it's about a 10-15 minute walk to where the bus picks up, so I get 30 mins of walking in everyday, just from being. Huge thumbs up for that. Now I don't have to worry too much about getting the other exercise in, though I still really want to do it. When everything gets moved in and my finances resettle after lease-breaking and moving chaos, I'm going to look into when and where I can do some fun exercise. I sense outdoor blogilates and yoga classes in my future.
In terms of food, Walnut Creek has both a Trader Joes and a Whole Foods. I imagine I won't be going to the Whole Foods (*cough* whole paycheck *cough*) too often, but it will be useful for little things that I can't get at Safeway. Trader Joe's will be a new resource for frozen food and produce. Also delicious cheese (which yes, I still refuse to give up). I'm really excited to plan some new meals and get rolling on this whole eating clean thing.
With my new work schedule, roommates (who can make dinner instead of me) and the nearness of everything, I'm going to have a little bit of extra time in the evenings, which i can use for exercise and other recreational things. I can't wait for it. Unfortunately pretty much all my time is hung up until I get paid next week, all of the boxes are taken care of and the old apartment is cleaned and handed over. So *sigh* the 20th at least.
I will get back to blogging here soon. I just wanted to give you all an update on where I am and what's going on. I will have updates in 2 weeks probably!
Until then, good luck!
Friday, January 11, 2013
Plans for 2013
Well, we are a week and a bit into the new year and I have started approximately zero of my fitness and health plans. I can make a bunch of excuses (and they are actually kind of good ones) but that would set a precident that I absolutely cannot stand for if I'm going to get anything done. And so, on that note, let the resolutions begin.
I will:
Eat at maximum ONE extra-large-not-on-any-diet-but-so-delicious meal a week. And no, if I miss one, it does NOT roll over.
Have one drinking night a month, with the exception of a single glass of (pref red) wine whenever I want. I can go out, for sure, but I can only drink ONE glass of wine (or caloric equivalent, which I'm pretty sure still rules out most other alcoholic beverages). On the excepted once a month, my usual limit is fine.
Make it a goal to prepare my lunches for the week on the weekend. Both to save money and to eat better.
Eat clean. This means limit the sugar, dairy fats (Good luck, me! Low fat cheese will be okay I promise.), and refined carbs (plus some fatty meats, but I don't eat those that often anyway). This doesn't mean red-line-NO, it means watch how much of them I eat, and sometimes the decision between eating that toast or eating some vegetables well... should be kind of obvious no?
Count calories until they don't need counting. I know it's hard and I hate it, but to learn it all it really needs to be done. I start tomorrow. I have reprieve on my Once-a-week/month days (because I know if I record it I'll just feel bad).
Exercise. No really. I'm not going to say exactly how because I know that will change with the seasons, my emotions and my general well-being. Those plans will be made on a weekly basis here.
And that is where I will start. In 6 months we will re-evaluate and see where I am.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, for the more immediate life things.
Hoo boy there's been someone shaking the bush around here. A couple important things will be changing in the next 1-3 months.
Firstly, Jon and I will be moving. The rent at our current place has proven to be too high for us to maintain. It was especially difficult through the holidays, when both Jon and I were working less. It's put us in a little bit of a tight spot that we can't keep up, and so we are working on moving. We will be moving in with a friend of ours to a 2 bedroom apartment yet to be located but probably in Walnut Creek (given that the apartments are simultaneously cheap and nice there). If anyone knows of a place in the northern east bay with 2 bedrooms under $1500, allows cats, is near a BART station and is NOT in a sketchy part of Oakland, let me know. We hope to have a place before the 1st of February, but definitely before the 15th, as we are planning on giving 30 days notice to our current manager ASAP so Feb rent is prorated. There are some cool places we have already found and we're hopeful about finding others as well.
Secondly, jobs jobs jobs. I'm looking for a new one. There's a lot of reasons, a bit more than I'd like to go into here. BUT I would like to go into the KIND of job I'm looking for. I'm looking for another marketing assitant type job (Marketing Associate is another possible job title I have seen), but the big difference between a new job and my current job is WHERE. I want a spot at a tech company or videogame developer. A reasonably sized place that mostly has their act together but is still fun. Think a Google type work environment. (Honestly, I would just say "Google please hire me!!" but I checked and they don't have any openings below manager in their marketing departments right now. I'll keep checking though.) It's best if I can stay in the Bay Area, unless whatever company will help with relocation (unlikely at entry level). One thing that's really important to me is at least somewhat flexible hours. 9-5 doesn't work for me. It breaks my life. 11-7 would be a million billion times better. I also definitely want out of business to business. I'm more interested working directly at consumers, rather than supporting a process that really isn't about what I do, but about what other people do. I'd rather be like, "play this awesome game!" than "use this awesome law firm!" Heck I'd even prefer "drink this awesome drink!" Anything but services.
Anyway, theres the changes. They are large, somewhat frightening and all.
ONWARDS. (normal weekly posts start tomorrow)
I will:
Eat at maximum ONE extra-large-not-on-any-diet-but-so-delicious meal a week. And no, if I miss one, it does NOT roll over.
Have one drinking night a month, with the exception of a single glass of (pref red) wine whenever I want. I can go out, for sure, but I can only drink ONE glass of wine (or caloric equivalent, which I'm pretty sure still rules out most other alcoholic beverages). On the excepted once a month, my usual limit is fine.
Make it a goal to prepare my lunches for the week on the weekend. Both to save money and to eat better.
Eat clean. This means limit the sugar, dairy fats (Good luck, me! Low fat cheese will be okay I promise.), and refined carbs (plus some fatty meats, but I don't eat those that often anyway). This doesn't mean red-line-NO, it means watch how much of them I eat, and sometimes the decision between eating that toast or eating some vegetables well... should be kind of obvious no?
Count calories until they don't need counting. I know it's hard and I hate it, but to learn it all it really needs to be done. I start tomorrow. I have reprieve on my Once-a-week/month days (because I know if I record it I'll just feel bad).
Exercise. No really. I'm not going to say exactly how because I know that will change with the seasons, my emotions and my general well-being. Those plans will be made on a weekly basis here.
And that is where I will start. In 6 months we will re-evaluate and see where I am.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, for the more immediate life things.
Hoo boy there's been someone shaking the bush around here. A couple important things will be changing in the next 1-3 months.
Firstly, Jon and I will be moving. The rent at our current place has proven to be too high for us to maintain. It was especially difficult through the holidays, when both Jon and I were working less. It's put us in a little bit of a tight spot that we can't keep up, and so we are working on moving. We will be moving in with a friend of ours to a 2 bedroom apartment yet to be located but probably in Walnut Creek (given that the apartments are simultaneously cheap and nice there). If anyone knows of a place in the northern east bay with 2 bedrooms under $1500, allows cats, is near a BART station and is NOT in a sketchy part of Oakland, let me know. We hope to have a place before the 1st of February, but definitely before the 15th, as we are planning on giving 30 days notice to our current manager ASAP so Feb rent is prorated. There are some cool places we have already found and we're hopeful about finding others as well.
Secondly, jobs jobs jobs. I'm looking for a new one. There's a lot of reasons, a bit more than I'd like to go into here. BUT I would like to go into the KIND of job I'm looking for. I'm looking for another marketing assitant type job (Marketing Associate is another possible job title I have seen), but the big difference between a new job and my current job is WHERE. I want a spot at a tech company or videogame developer. A reasonably sized place that mostly has their act together but is still fun. Think a Google type work environment. (Honestly, I would just say "Google please hire me!!" but I checked and they don't have any openings below manager in their marketing departments right now. I'll keep checking though.) It's best if I can stay in the Bay Area, unless whatever company will help with relocation (unlikely at entry level). One thing that's really important to me is at least somewhat flexible hours. 9-5 doesn't work for me. It breaks my life. 11-7 would be a million billion times better. I also definitely want out of business to business. I'm more interested working directly at consumers, rather than supporting a process that really isn't about what I do, but about what other people do. I'd rather be like, "play this awesome game!" than "use this awesome law firm!" Heck I'd even prefer "drink this awesome drink!" Anything but services.
Anyway, theres the changes. They are large, somewhat frightening and all.
ONWARDS. (normal weekly posts start tomorrow)
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