One thing an online friend that's very lean NOW says is "the food will always be there" when asked if she doesn't feel deprived not eating the goodies that are around her constantly (she has 5 sons from age 7 to 23).
It's something I try to keep in my mind.. thing is:
- most convenience foods I truly like, comes in larger portions.. say I'd want to eat potato crisps .. the best tasting ones come in a large bag. The smaller 'kiddy' bags would be convenient but don't taste as well.. and somehow I can NOT make myself throw it away and often have a problem saving it a few days for the 'next' free meal that's just around the corner.
- most recipes are for a group of 4 persons.. in the more distant past I'd always copy that meal to a T, afraid I'd mess up things otherwise.. and then, of course eat that meal for 4 persons all by myself. My partner really doesn't like many of my food choices and because of allergies/intolerances I'm not able to enjoy meals he likes (gluten, legumes dairy are off limits mostly). Nuts/seeds & herbs shouldn't be too old either, so that puts another damper on preparing stuff from scratch with complicated & hard-to-get herbs/spices flavours.. it would be something you'd buy once and then throw out 3 months later as you'd never used it anymore.
Never mind fresh herbs you'd only buy for a single one-person meal (freezer is tiny, so no storage either). See the problem?
What's the way out here into 'food adventure land'?
espi I consider my big upright freezer to be as essential to my wellbeing as exercise. We live in 1400 sq ft, and the freezer is in our living room. I consider spices to be essential to my wellbeing, I purchase dried spices in small quantities.
The variety of foods that I eat keeps my palate interested. Creative cooking keeps my brain engaged, my freezer allows me to have individual portions of spa-inspired cuisine at all times. I make choices that continually move me forward. I choose to see barriers and challenges as opportunities for me to find creative solutions.
Mmmmm jane anything that you bake is totally worth the calories!
My (almost) FIL bought a new refrigerator and my partner claims there's now an extra freezer left.. I've been yearning after one for quite a long time now, but lacked the space. He suggested the living room
I have a pretty small apartment myself but I've been pondering the idea of using a freezer as counter space in the kitchen. I've yet to seriously investigate freezers in terms of space and cost but I've wondered if I'd save money in the long run since I buy stuff in such small portions now (and often have to give away or toss stuff). Of course the extra electricity would figure into that too, but it would be soooo nice to be able to buy some of the bigger stuff.
__________________
"Time and patience are the 2 elements that most people don't include in their plans."
-Alan Aragon
"The scale simply tells you how much the earth loves you on a particular day."
-Ogedei (Keith)
jennifer and espi, it has really helped me. but then, I need a ton of variety in my diet and not everyone needs that to be happy!!
speaking of happy, I got my gary fisher hybrid out and rode 8 miles then ran 3 miles in my vibrams. I had to try out my new skirtsports.com lime green tatoo print tri bathing suit with matching skirt! the skirt has snaps for your race number. it worked really well! hopefully the monsoon stops, the ocean calms down so we can actually have the triathlon on sunday. will post pics. my feet and calves are just the tiniest bit sore from the effort, this is the longest run in vibrams so far.
off to drive the monsoon, if my car starts. am taking a different route to franks, the beach way was so flooded, I felt like I was driving my element through the creek.
I have a pretty small apartment myself but I've been pondering the idea of using a freezer as counter space in the kitchen. I've yet to seriously investigate freezers in terms of space and cost but I've wondered if I'd save money in the long run since I buy stuff in such small portions now (and often have to give away or toss stuff). Of course the extra electricity would figure into that too, but it would be soooo nice to be able to buy some of the bigger stuff.
I just got my new freezer. It's in my garage and too big to fit on a counter (do they make freezers that small?). Anyway, when I got mine, there was a sticker on it saying that it would cost $48 a year to run it in electricity charges. It's been WELL worth the money for me! I can now stock up on all the sale meats, buy in bulk, cook in bulk and package up a bunch of meals. Oh, the possibilities! I love my freezer!
Jane, so glad the new freezer is working for you. I used to have the cube kind. I switched to the giant upright during my precision nutrition days- good thing I did, because Ed freezer cooks now too and we totally need the room. I swiped some buffalo tenderloin that he made and put it on a spinach salad the other night with Greek feta dressing.
Great workout with frank. Scale is down to 149. I like this trend a lot, and believe that it is related to intensity of exercise. Until I did that camp, I really haven't been pushing the intensity when running. On track and tempo days, I need to be way further into the pain cave. I learned at camp that I am capable of more than I have been doing.
Pushing intensity is something we girls aren't as good at as most men, unless there's really something extremely important at stake like saving a kid etc. and we possess superhuman powers.
Thanks again for your insights re the freezer & cooking, you made me realize why I still am stuck on processed food : easy , no preparation, low costs, all macros known but also.. no real loss to throw food away .. freezing delicious food totally changes the equation. Being paranoid about another infection (got a totally weird and rare back infection due to food poisoning) doesn't make me want to keep food in the refrigerator for too long.. so freezer it must be.
Just trying to figure out where it should be placed.. SO vetoed the freezer in the living room, too fugly for that.
I just got my new freezer. It's in my garage and too big to fit on a counter (do they make freezers that small?). Anyway, when I got mine, there was a sticker on it saying that it would cost $48 a year to run it in electricity charges. It's been WELL worth the money for me! I can now stock up on all the sale meats, buy in bulk, cook in bulk and package up a bunch of meals. Oh, the possibilities! I love my freezer!
LOL! No nothing that small! I'm talking about the freezer being a counter. (My apartment comes with an infinitesimal amount of counter space.)
48$ a year? That would be so worth it.
__________________
"Time and patience are the 2 elements that most people don't include in their plans."
-Alan Aragon
"The scale simply tells you how much the earth loves you on a particular day."
-Ogedei (Keith)
Jane you can always hijack, especially for freezer related issues!
Join the freezer babes jennifer you know ya wanna
Espi, I am okay with fugly in my living room. People who come to my house for the first time see it as part of who we are. It matches the kayak paddles that we store on the wall in our living room, boathouse style. And the spin bike.
rowed 5000 meters on the erg. Did 500 m easy alternating with 500 m tempo and finished with a 23:32 5k! I am really happy with this time, considering the moderate effort. I have really missed rowing and I am glad to be back in it as crosstraining. Wednesday will be rowing. I rowed today because the YMCA pool pump got flooded. The furman coaches like my combo of rowing and swimming as my crosstraining
Here's my schedulefoam roll/stretch daily)
Monday off- or easy walk in vibram
Tuesday am weights with frank
Tuesday pm track repeats
Wednesday row
Thursday am weights with frank
Thursday pm tempo run
Friday swim team
Saturday long run
Sunday marathon pace run
Nice balanced program. Am just thrilled with what I learned at camp. Very psyched about the upcoming marathon season.
Omg so my hubby and I switched elements because I drove mine thru flood waters and damaged an air pully. He is off work today and brought me a starbux to my job and switched cars back. I didn't have a patient so I told him about my erg time. Now that he is leaner, he is interested in rowing!!! I showed him the basic stroke using my wheeled chair as the slide and my bariatric chair as the foot bed. He went to the gym to the erg I rowed on and loves it!!! Now he wants one for the house and is thinking about doing sculling class next summer when he is off coumadin. we are both avid kayakers, but rowing is a total body intense workout! I think I've created a monster, and I couldn't be happier. Of course, the competitor in me gave him a target time for men who are ranked where I am ranked on the concept 2 site for the 5k. He did well, but had to stop at 3k. He absolutely is hooked and can't wait to get more fit. He is an amazing athlete and will improve dramatically
sippin espresso, getting ready to make my green drink, then off to run 6 miles with my group, followed by a bootcamp class with my running friends. then off to breakfast, shower, then camping out at starbux with the macbook to do my grades for the final psychiatry rotation for the class of 2009! then ed and I are going food shopping, then massage.
sometime today, I need to look at the ocean and decide if I am going to do the triathlon tomorrow. kristia has a job and can't do it, but I will do it anyway if the ocean is reasonable. last year it was 6-8 foot seas, and no fun, especially 1/4 mile like that! the bike and run were spectacular as always, though. I really want to do this race!! hoping for the best. finally, the monsoon is over, so maybe the seas will follow and be calm.
run went great! 6 miles with the fast group, no issues. really like my group. some of my favorite people run in the group behind me though, so I will miss running with them. my program director still doubts my ability to stay in this group, even though I know I can. if she ever boots me to the group behind me, I know I will still have a blast on my long runs!!
after the run, I had half an almond butter sandwich and an apple, and then did a 90 min bootcamp class. then off to panera, where I had turkey on 3 seed bread with avocado.
ed and I are chilling, then massage, then food shopping for the week.
so the coaches at furman really know their stuff. did a marathon pace run for 3 miles, did 4 min run 1 min walk which is my interval in the marathon itself. maintained 9:45 average pace including the walk breaks with very low heart rate in the florida heat and humidity. my fitness is good, and I think that their 4:14:30 marathon prediction is right on. now whether I can improve enough in 6 months to make that 4:00:59 remains to be seen, that is A LOT of improvement. possible though, so today I am celebrating possibilities!
thanks Tina! I am definitely going for it this season. I will try to continue the rockstar effort once the mileage cranks. Speaking of rockstar, Ed and I learned rock band yesterday. I was guitar and he was drums then we switched. So fun! Were at friends house for memorial day
foam roll/stretch daily)
Linear Mode
