Comments (20)

By kilax, March 27, 2009 8:10 am

Do you “brown-bag” your lunch or a lunch for your kids/family members? How often?

A little blurb in the April issue of Marie Claire made me think about this. They had a little chart that compared the cost of making a sandwich at home, to buying one at Subway. They concluded that the cost was so close ($5.01 vs. $5.59), it might not even be worth the effort to make the sandwich at home.

Hmm.

I bring my lunch to work every day of the week, unless I have a planned lunch date. I usually only have one lunch date a week (with my favorite lunch buddy, diane), but this week, I had THREE lunch dates – one every single day I was at work!

It’s expensive to eat out downtown every day. But some people do. I know people at my old office who did. And I am sure there are people at my new office who do as well. I’d rather have it be a treat, then do it every day. Three days in a row was too much this week.

Comments (24)

By kilax, March 25, 2009 5:24 am

For the first time in my life, I find myself without an appetite. Food seems to be of no interest to me. The only reason I am eating is to fuel my body.

Eating has been becoming more and more about “fueling my body” for some time now. But I was still looking forward to eating. Since Friday, coinciding with becoming sick, food seems to have become a big nuisance. A pain in the butt. A chore.

Yesterday, I took my entire regular food stash with me to work, plus some extra, hoping I would find my appetite. But all I ended up eating during the day, unwillingly, was instant oatmeal, two bites of a banana, soup and a roll, and a homemade granola bar.

Then I got home and ran 4 miles.

That felt wonderful.

NOT.

So. It’s time to force myself to eat. I know this may be a common phenomenon for people when they are sick, but it’s not for me. I love to eat. I always want to eat. I would get out of bed at 3:00 am if it was for a legitimate, scheduled meal.

I know my appetite will come back when I get better, but right now, I can’t taste anything. The thought of food makes me feel sick.

Blah blah blah. Wah wah wah. I’m sick. Boring post. Boo. Sorry. Something better tomorrow.

Off topic, but making me crazy: Has anyone else’s google reader been re-marking things “unread” after you’ve marked them “read”? Mine has been doing this for a few days and it’s making me crazy. Sometimes it sticks, and sometimes it flashes for awhile then goes away.

Comments (24)

By kilax, March 8, 2009 8:32 am

Since I’ve been dwelling so much on how much sugar is in all the granola and protein bars I eat, Steven and I decided to make some of our own.

The base has whole wheat flour, wheat germ, oatmeal, eggs, honey, apple butter and vanilla.  We split the base so I could add fruit to one half and Steven could add almonds and fruit to his. After you mix it all up, you put it into a pan and bake it in the oven.

I started by adding dried prunes and apricots to mine…

…then decided it need some red, so I threw in some cranberries.

Steven’s bars are the thick ones on the left, mine are on the right.

The “Fruity” bars have about 115 calories per bar.

The “Nutty” bars have about 180 calories** per bar.

The bars have a “healthy” taste to them. They are soft, but a bit chewy. I like that they aren’t very complicated, and were super easy to make. I think I am going to wrap them up in plastic wrap to eat throughout the week.

I keep feeling like I should apologize for dwelling so much on exercise, health, nutrition/food, and body image. But, writing about those things is kind of like therapy for me. It gets redundant, I know. Thanks for sticking around.

*I was going to call them “granola bars,” but they don’t actually have any granola in them. Oatmeal bar sounds like a dessert!

**These bars were higher in calories because we made them thicker and cut them larger.

Side Note: Did anyone else see Watchmen this weekend? Did anyone else wonder how, during the fight scene in the jail, Silk Spectre II could possibly keep her hair out of her face while fighting?

Comments (16)

By kilax, February 27, 2009 7:16 am

Has your favorite store ever stopped carrying one of your favorite items? What was the item? What did you do when they stopped carrying it?

I ask, because this seems to happen to us ALL THE TIME. We do the bulk of our grocery and non-grocery shopping at Target, and they seem to be a bit inconsistent with the items they stock. We’ll try something new, fall in love with it, buy it for 6 months or so… then it’s just gone one day.

They’ve gotten a little better, but I think what we have been dreading is true – they are no longer carrying the Nueva Cocina Mexican Rice Mix – something that has become a staple in our “Mexican” dinner nights.

At first, the shelf for the rice was empty, but the tag was still there. So we figured they just needed to stock it. But then, we kept checking for a month or two, and it was never stocked. Then last time, the tag was gone.

We’re pretty upset..

How silly, right? Why don’t we try something else, or even try to make it ourselves? I’m sure we will resort to that if we must. It’s just that when you buy a product, and you really start to love it, you hate to replace it.

For now, we’ll probably search a few other grocery stores, or maybe even buy it on amazon (which seems very, very strange to me).

Update: I just got back from shopping at Target, and guess what? They stopped carrying our favorite stick margarine, Imperial. I wonder what Steven will say about this… Oh, and P.S. I stopped at two other grocery stores and didn’t find our rice mix. Wah!

Comments (10)

By kilax, February 26, 2009 6:25 pm

I was at the office print center this morning, and they had a glass candy bowl filled with yummy treats.

I looked down at it, and my eyes fixated on the one piece of chocolate in it – a Milky Way Midnight Mini.

I picked it up and held it in my hand. I thought, “I will go put this in my desk drawer – then I can have it as a small treat this afternoon!”

Then I remembered. Was it not just yesterday that I said I would try to cut back on sugar?

Jeez. This may be harder than I thought.

Luckily, I remembered my new goal, and put it back in the bowl. Then I felt something strange – a sense of relief. Relief that I can now walk around the office and ignore ALL of the candy bowls, because I am going to try not to eat any sugary treats.

The relief feels pretty good.

Comments (13)

By kilax, February 9, 2009 12:44 pm

Somehow, I managed to forget that the appointment I made to get a new government ID this morning requires my photo being taken. If I would have remembered, I would have spent a little more time getting ready this morning.

What a great start to the week.

On the bright side though, I walked by a Crêpe restaurant on my way to get the new ID. Just knowing my office is that close to a Crêpe restaurant makes me happy. Strange – but I’ll take it.

Yum, crêpes. I think I’ve only ever had two – one in Paris, and one in Copenhagen. The one in Copenhagen was huge, filled with hot nutella oozing out of the edges, and folded into a big, chewy triangle. I’m going to spend the rest of the day fantasizing about that.

Update: I just found out I am getting introduced to 300+ people today at our “Town Hall Meeting.” Yay, the day just gets better!

Comments (13)

By kilax, February 2, 2009 5:57 pm

Awhile ago, Steven told me he felt like he needed to start eating more. The half marathon training was making him feel hungry all the time (plus he does weights and about 10 million crunches every night).

I was a bit behind Steven in the training, so I was kind of like, “Uh huh, use that as an excuse to eat more. Sure.” I mean, why would running more make you more hungry? That just doesn’t make any sense.

Uh… duh, Kim.

Now I am putting in around 16 miles a week (4 days of running) and a few miscellaneous hours here and there (walking, fencing, wii tennis [ha – can I include that?], etc.) and I am HUNGRY. HUNGRY HUNGRY HUNGRY.

I don’t know why, but I just wasn’t expecting this effect. I thought about how I would have to eat healthy, to fuel my body, but I didn’t think my body would respond by demanding more fuel. I guess it all makes sense though.

It feels really good to eat healthy food all day, then have a long run at night. When I am eating healthy, with fueling my body in mind, it doesn’t feel like work. It doesn’t feel like I am being forced to do it. It just feels good – it feels like the right thing to do. It’s the thing I WANT to do.

Will this half marathon training actually make me have a healthy relationship with food? Is that even possible?

I’ve just noticed that I seem to be less worried about how much I eat, since I am running so much, and actually feel hungry. I feel less guilty, having a treat on a rest day, because I know I will work it off. I feel like I deserve it!

Of course, I must admit that my competitive streak did kick in just a tiny bit on the work Biggest Loser Challenge. More about that tomorrow, but I do realize I need to be careful. I want to lose weight, but I don’t want to be so weak I can’t walk up a flight of stairs – I’ve exercised/eaten so little before that I’ve been in that situation, and it’s awful.

That’s not my intent. When I say I am hungry, it means I am eating more, and enjoying it!

So… we’ll see where all of this goes. I am only 6 weeks into my training. I have 10 weeks of training left – and I will be running quite a bit more during those last 6 or so weeks. Maybe the hunger will go away as my body gets used to running so much. Or maybe I will just have to keep eating more. There’s nothing wrong with that, as long as my body continues to adapt if I end up putting in less miles per week after the half marathon.

Comments (18)

By kilax, December 12, 2008 5:42 am

Do you save your favorite thing on your plate for last or eat it first? In essence, do you “save the best for last”?

I sure do. I eat my veggies first, then my boca burger. Even if it means it gets cold. I eat my fruit, then my pizza. Okay, I just eat my carbs last. Ha.

Brian Wansink, a food researcher of sorts, wrote about this in his book Mindless Eating. He did a study on who eats their favorite thing last, and who eats it first.

He concluded that people who ate their favorite dish first were more likely to be from large families or be the youngest child. People who ate the favorite dish last were likely the oldest or an only child.

His reasoning is that the oldest or only child had the luxury of saving their favorite dish for a reward, knowing it would still be there. The youngest, or person from a large family, ate it right away, because they were used to competition in the family growing up – they didn’t know how long it would last.

I have four siblings, and I am the second-oldest, and I still eat it last, so I guess your research isn’t correct for me buddy (although I DO understand the competition thing!). Is his research correct for you?

(In Wansink’s defense, he used this study as an example to illustrate that your childhood eating habits follow you into adulthood. I defintely agree with that!)

Comments (14)

By kilax, November 29, 2008 10:55 pm

It’s back.

That “I don’t care about me” feeling. That “I’m just going to eat whatever I want, who cares?” feeling.

I was afraid this would happen. I mentioned before that I had no idea what changed in me to make me WANT to be healthy. And not knowing what was allowing me to finally live a healthy life scared me that it wouldn’t last.

But I do know what is making me feel this way now. No, it is not Thanksgiving, or the stress of the holidays. It is guilt.

I feel guilty for making a few decisions* lately that benefit me and not others. I feel guilty for putting myself first.

Really.

I realized this the other day. I am punishing myself for feeling guilty. Punishing myself by EATING. How do you punish yourself with food? You eat and eat until you feel so stuffed that you are uncomfortable. A lot of you may have never done that, but I bet there are a few of you out there who know what I am talking about.

I’ve only had a few incidences when I’ve felt that super uncomfortable feeling, but it’s scary.

Guilt is not the only emotion that has driven me to overeat this past week. I’ve also been bored, frustrated and uncomfortable… and eating to cover those emotions. Guilt just happens to be the big one – the overriding emotion that is making me feel super stressed out. The feeling that is always in the back of my mind.

And yeah, yeah, yeah… I am happy to have “figured out” what is causing me to feel so out of control, but that is not stopping me from feeling out of control. Or stressed out. Or anxious, all the time.

I’m just worried. Worried about giving up. Worried that I am not meant to be healthy. Even writing that now, it isn’t logical, but that is how I feel. Like I don’t deserve to be healthy, and happy and guilt-free.

*I apologize for being so vague. I want to give more details, but not right now. I already feel uncomfortable enough, writing all this!

Comments (18)

By kilax, November 21, 2008 5:42 am

When you were in high school did you eat dinner with your family or on your own?

I was thinking about this the other day. About midway through my freshman year, around the time I started theater, I began eating dinner on my own or with friends. Then I started working at McDonald’s the following summer, and I think I ate dinner there EVERY night I worked. I became a manager after working for a year, and then I got FREE McDonald’s food every day I worked. Ha!

I remember I used to go to soccer practice or theater or WHATEVER after school and then go to work to do the closing shift. I would eat french fries, ice cream, tortillas with cheese, cookie dough, shakes… basically whatever I wanted, all night long. Wow. I can’t believe I didn’t turn into a blimp!

I don’t remember ever eating diner with my family on a school night during high school. But it was just because I was busy and doing my own thing. Is this typical?