The good and the bad

Sugar is not always a good thing. Exercise is almost always a good thing. This week I'm counting on the good outweighing the not so good. We're out of lettuce, so today's lunch "salad" will be whatever veggies we have in the refrigerator chopped and tossed together, raw. I think it will work fine! And it might be time to try that peach yogurt -- or maybe I'll make it pomegranate. Planning delicious healthy summer meals is one way to help meet my goals.

Today's epiphany

I can make progress, albeit slowly, if my less-than-healthy foods are measured and planned instead of snacking. I'll try to hold that thought for the month of August, which is a prime family month for us, with all 3 of our children having birthdays and with a trip to visit extended family, along with at least one (birthday) family dinner and another small family gathering on the calendar already, and the month hasn't started yet. This probably will not be the month I'm very successful at a drastic sugar reduction. But if I can keep it planned and measured, I'll be in a better position to continue towards healthy goals in September. Exercise will go without saying. :-)

Slow steps to back on track

Not quite there yet.
The good news:
I've researched new salad ideas. As I try the ideas and incorporate them, I'll post any winners.
The bad news:
We enjoyed other foods the last couple of days that didn't much resemble salads. :-)
I did make a summer salad a few days ago, what I call "Slovak salad" because I first had this particular combination in Slovakia. I think I mentioned it when we went to farmer's market.
We did go on a hike - a walk in the woods around Lost Lake in the Mt. Hood area.
And we trekked all over downtown Seattle. On hubby's business trips to Seattle those hills are the only exercise we get in a long day of driving! So I'm glad for the hills -- but much better when beautiful weather (as we had) than when raining!
Today's steps to back on track:
I've already walked 2 miles and done 2 miles on the elliptical.
In an hour or so I'll pack a picnic dinner (chicken salad and fruit) to meet son and daughter-in-law at the park. We may walk while there - that has yet to be determined.

A new day

And it's a good thing. I don't know what happened yesterday, I thought I'd done really well with healthy eating and not snacking. Maybe it was the missed walk and not enough water and salt at dinner that set me back... I did make it to the elliptical and will again today, although it will be tricky to fit it all in. And I'll go for a walk later this morning, even if it is gray. Planning healthy meals as well. In fact, I made a list of dinners for the next week. :-) That will make shopping much easier this weekend! Always looking for new ideas, though. What are some of your favorite dinner ideas?

Two steps forward, one step back

Yesterday wasn't quite the stellar day I'd hoped for.  Three or four cookies and no elliptical.  Our evenings have been crazy. The elliptical is much higher on my list today! Zucchini with the pasta was great! So far, today not too bad. A big bowl of fruit when going out with friends instead of some other option. Fewer calories might have been a cup of hot tea (and that would have been good, as cold as it's been today), but my body feels a need to eat something with tea, thus negating the zero calories.

Christmas in July

That's what I heard yesterday when I met friends for an afternoon break. The coffee shop was celebrating with seasonal music and decorations. Right now out my front window it certainly *looks* like winter in July, with a bit of wind blowing tree branches and rain. Fortunately, it's not quite that cold. Healthy living isn't confined to one season. However, I'm not thinking I'm going out in that again today - already took a morning walk, did my exercises, paced while talking on the phone, and will hit the elliptical tonight after dinner. That should suffice for enough exercise for today - as long as I get up from the chair now and then (which the laundry tending will ensure). As to eating... well, we do keep eating no matter what the weather is doing. I've been using up bits and pieces of produce this week. That is resulting in: stir fry chicken and veggies one day for lunch, zucchini mixed with pasta tonight, berries on waffles, and other delicious combinations. Tomorrow I think I'll have to break down and make the next produce run. My challenge will be to find fresh fruit in season -- not too ripe, but just right!

Summer fun

I've spent the last week exercising instead of writing about it. :-) We went on a hiking vacation - destination: Mt. Rainier. The main attraction / activity is hiking. And more hiking. And taking pictures of beautiful scenery. In truth, we didn't do quite as much hiking as we had planned, only about 3 miles a day. We did go on 2 or more hikes per day, but they were short and easy. I think the only way to train for Rainier (elevation gain hikes at high altitude) is to hike the area. So perhaps a longer time? Or hiking in the gorge before going? Even so, we had a great time! Now, home and back to normal exercise routine, since the other thing we did on vacation was eat. I didn't count points, just ate healthy when possible and ate something when hungry (which seemed to be often). Through it all, I managed to maintain but will continue to work on my goals of eating healthy now that I'm back in normal routine. Perhaps some of my summer reading will be browsing for new healthy eating ideas... what are your new healthy eating ideas for summer and beyond?

Changing Focus

Time to think about exercise for a change, after so many posts about eating. :-) Let's face it, I spend more time eating than exercising. Wait, that's not really true. Between walking and elliptical, and the occasional light weight routine, I spend anywhere from an hour to two hours a day exercising. I certainly hope I don't spend that much time eating! That would be a lot of food... :-)  Maybe to say I spend more time *thinking* about eating than exercising is closer to the truth.

My original intent was to exercise in a variety of ways -- walking, elliptical, the light weights, a hike or two -- in preparation for a vacation that is planned to have hiking as a focus. Yikes. Am I in shape? Probably not. Will I still enjoy it? Yes. We'll take it a little slower, take a few more pictures, what's not to like about that? Hoping to enjoy good weather as well. As it is, I'm just trying to maintain whatever semblance of exercise routine I can. No excuses, except life. Once again, routines save the day.

One day

This menu is from awhile ago, but I post it here as a reminder for myself, a reference point the next time I'm trying to come up with healthy menus. And, I may have posted it earlier, in which case the re-post shows I lose my scraps of paper easily, both online and in person.
Breakfast:
"my" hot chocolate (1 cup 1% milk, 1 T. Ghiradelli powdered hot chocolate - you don't need as much of the good stuff!)
1 T. whipped cream (courtesy of Prince C.)
banana

Lunch:
tuna salad (this made 3-4 servings):
1 can tuna
2 tsp. mayo
celery
green pepper
cranberries

steamed broccoli
almond roll

snack: homemade granola bar

Dinner:
beef barley soup
apple slices

snack: Tablespoon of whipped cream with a few chocolate chips

More yummy summer food

I posted earlier about making an Italian salad. I had bits and pieces leftover from the pizza making last week so threw it all into a salad today for lunch. A slice of cheese and a peach made a perfect summer lunch. Tonight, we revisit the lemon shrimp, broccoli, and strawberry idea. I experimented with making a bit of chocolate sauce (the remains of a box of unsweetened chocolate, an adjusted frosting recipe, and granulated sugar - we're out of powdered) to have with a banana tonight.

My next thought might be to experiment with an Asian salad. Not sure such a concept is "authentic," but I've enjoyed it other places. If I make my own, I know exactly what goes in it, specifically the dressing. And, I can make a small amount. In Theory. I'm not sure about the cabbage - more to follow after a bit of research.

What's your next food experiment?

Good summer eating

That's what we've enjoyed over the holiday weekend: fresh cherries, strawberries, watermelon; my son brought fresh raspberries for our 4th of July dinner. Last week I was making veggie pizzas for lunch. After a few days of different routines (quick lunches on the go), today I'm back in the kitchen and can prowl around using leftovers. I think they're headed for a veggie scramble (dad's creation - scrambled eggs with bits of veggies) today. Lemon shrimp and broccoli tonight. Taco salad tomorrow. By tomorrow night I'll have to start over with new ingredients but I'm hoping by then to have new inspiration for the new week.
Hope you had a fun and healthy 4th!

Balance

Today I'm trying to fit it all in: exercise, work, play. In theory this means less time to eat, which may make it easier to focus on healthy eating? We'll see. :-) The veggie pizza yesterday was good - and only 4 or 5 weight watchers points (depends on how much cheese) so will do that again today. Hubby has requested waffles for dinner, so will have some of the vegetable tray before and fruit with the waffles. The challenge will be to eat healthy when we're on the road, but hubby suggested a picnic for our first day which sounds like a great way to keep it healthy and enjoy the summer weather, too! (that is, provided our travel day is one of the northwest's designated days of summer)

Busy days

*sigh* do not always equal healthy days. Today we have sun! That's good news for getting caught up on exercising. Also good news for getting back on track eating healthy. Lots of fruits and veggies left over from ACFW's writer's night out. I see salad and other delicious summer food in my future. The trick will be balancing the healthy food with the fun party food, going into a holiday weekend. How do you keep the 4th of July healthy?