House Rules & StairMaster Day Approaches

We've all heard that you should only eat in the kitchen or dining area. The primary reason I've heard over and over is that you're mindful of what you're eating if you aren't distracted by other things while you're eating. I have to admit I've always been one to "overlook" (okay ignore) this advice. I always figured since I pre-portion everything and don't eat directly from a container that I would be okay eating where ever it was convenient. For the most part I think that's been true enough, but...

When we moved into this house (2 1/2 years ago), we made the rule that there would be no food in the living room that could cause stains on the carpet. So beverages and pretty much anything but dry snacks were off limits to the living room. This totally changed my snacking habits, as far as what I was eating... almonds or other nuts became the snack standard.

Now that I've brought this new furniture into the house...

I've tightened the house rules for food even more. NO food or beverage in the living room at all. Call me OCD, but I don't even want to have to worry about crumbs or anything at all on the new furniture... so NO FOOD IN THE LIVING ROOM!

Its no secret, I spend the majority of my hours at home in the living room - aside from the kitchen, its where everything happens in our house. I have to admit that I'm surprised by the impact this new rule has had. Even though the number of calories I consume daily hasn't changed much at all, my basic eating patterns have changed quite a bit. I'm not eating as many snacks. There is more variety in my snacks - more fruits, yogurt, little salads - they are more balanced. Late night eating has almost completely stopped! This is huge because I'm a night owl & with our old furniture I was prone to breaking the rule and having a little ice cream or something when I got hungry late at night. Now, more often than not, I'm finding that even if I'm a little hungry feeling when I go to bed that's okay.

So, it seems, the house rule to protect the new furniture may also help shrink my tush... which brings me to my next topic...

Tomorrow is the first of my monthly "see how many floors I can do before I collapse" days on the StairMaster. Let me just tell you right now, I'm not expecting great results... the number of times I've been on the StairMaster to prepare for this event is dismal at best. I'm just gonna get on there and do my best - what else can I do at this point? To make it as successful as possible... my plan is to go to bed earlier than usual tonight, get up enough before The Boy One to get a refreshing shower and healthy breakfast before he gets up for school, and make sure I down a good chunk of water throughout the morning. I plan to arrive at the gym at 8:00-9:00am which should give me plenty of time to "collapse"before I have to be home to babysit.

I have other BIG news to share... but I'm saving it for another post because I'm mean like that, lol. Hope you're all having a great start to the week!

The Bon Jovi Weekend

This weekend will always be referred to as "The Bon Jovi Weekend."

My partner in crime for the weekend: none other than my best friend, Erika. We started the weekend at my favorite nail salon... my nails (fingers & toes) are now a beautiful shade of blue & adorned with flowers. Arriving in Seattle an hour before we could check into the hotel, we went straight to The Cheesecake Factory. My menu there... one strawberry margarita (I thought I was doing pretty good to limit myself to one lol), WAY too much bread, and the combination of Steak Diane & Herb Crusted Salmon with mashed potatoes. It was soooo yummy, I could have easily eaten every bite; but somehow I managed to leave half the mashed potatoes on the plate. I skipped ordering dessert & managed to have just a couple bites from my friends... such restraint I tell ya. :-)

Shopping wasn't supposed to happen til Saturday... but with a little extra time to spare we found ourselves in Old Navy. A year ago the only thing I could possibly buy at Old Navy was an occasional XXL tshirt (if it was generously cut). Friday, I was able to purchase a tank top & t-shirt, that fit comfortably, in a size Large!!!! Yay for the smaller size & double yay because they were both on sale.

After checking into the hotel, we walked to the concert. I think it was roughly about a half mile each way... so not the longest walk, but better than nothing. The concert was fantastic - lots of new & old music. The band was awesome, the lighting and video monitors were over the top. I would've gladly gone again last night... but geesh those ticket scalpers make a killing for big shows. When the concert was over, we considered going to a bar or something but ended up just going back to the hotel. We stopped off at a grocery store on the way for some food... I bypassed all of the temptations and got a cup of fresh cut fruit - strawberries, blueberries, pineapple & mango. Very yummy & totally satisfying.

We awoke to a gloriously sunny Saturday morning in Seattle... how rare is that for this time of year? No complaints though... lol. By the time we got ready & checked out of the hotel, it was pretty much lunch time... so off to find The Hard Rock Cafe we went. We found a parking lot near the Pike Place Market and figured we'd just walk from there. Not being totally certain where the restaurant was (its only been open since Feb. 10th), I plugged the address into the navigation on my phone... so of course it gave us driving directions... which actually turned out to be a good thing. Thanks to the driving directions, we got in a 1.25 mi walk to the restaurant, as opposed to the couple blocks it would have been if we'd known exactly where it was.

No more referring to myself as a "Hard Rock virgin." We found the restaurant, were seated immediately (no small feat there & within minutes after our arrival there was an hour wait), and I dove right in. Something called a Local Berry Margarita. Normally I prefer my margaritas blended, this one was on the rocks, but super yummy. My meal was an open-faced sirloin sandwich with mac & cheese. The sandwich was piled with sirloin, mushrooms, onions & Swiss cheese. I did pull off the cheese, left one piece of the steak & most of the bread behind... however I inhaled the mac & cheese. Seriously, the BEST mac & cheese I have ever tasted. It was an awesome experience... we even got a visit from the head chef.

After lunch, we walked around the market, which was nice, but really really crowded. I avoided all of the tasty treats they tempt you with there. I did find some tart, dried cherries that don't have sugar added... thinking they will be perfect for one of the trail mix type things I create for snacks. The walk from the market back to the car was probably a half mile or so.

On the way home, we stopped at the mall & I ventured into Lane Bryant. Odd how long it had been since my last visit (I used to give them weekly donations of my husband's paycheck lol). The objective of this little visit... BRAS. I have been in bra hell for months... trying to find ones that fit... and I think perhaps I finally have achieved success. Its amazing how a properly fitting bra can slim your midsection... who would've thought?!?

Last food confession of the weekend, we were sucked into Cold Stone Creamery on our way out of the mall. Love it size cake batter with chocolate chips, almonds & graham cracker crust in a waffle bowl. The almonds are healthy, right?

Self reflection of the weekend: We didn't walk nearly as much as I had hoped, but we did get in a few miles worth of walking all together & some of it included steep hills... so not a total loss. Food wise, I feel like I did fairly well in comparison to what I could have done & what I have done in the past. I left food uneaten at each meal, skipped ordering dessert, and limited myself to one drink at each meal. Also, because we were "on the go" so much, I didn't snack between meals. All in all, I think it was a step in the right direction. Other than the bread at The Cheesecake Factory, I was able to enjoy myself without going totally overboard.

Tomorrow I will have to tell you about "cereal pa" and figure out my plan for the week... for now, its been a LONG (but fantastic) weekend and I need SLEEP!

Super Bowl Snack Inspiration

Miracle of miracles, I made it through all of Super Bowl Sunday with only one indulgence (a brat with bun). My saving grace.... a tray full of veggies & fat free dip. While everyone else was eating chips & other goodies, I was pretty content with my veggies & dip... and since the dip was only 10 calories per tablespoon I was able to double-dip without regret. 60 calories in dip, plus the veggie calories, is a HUGE savings over what I would have eaten if I'd dug into the chips. Today I had some of the left over veggies & dip with my lunch. Anyway, this got me to thinking... why does a veggie tray only get fixed for special events??? So for this week, one of my goals is to have a veggie tray in the fridge at all times. Pretty sure veggies with a little dip trumps a bag of chips any day... lol.