I had such a fun-filled weekend. Friday night was game 7 of the World Series in Major League Baseball. St. Louis was on fire! I was sitting at home alone watching the game before called my Big Little Sister and suggested that we go somewhere and watch it together. We went downtown to the Casino and watched the game on the giant projector screen. It was so much fun! After the Cardinals won, there were tons of hugs and high fives from whatever stranger was closest to you. It was crazy wild energy. We waited around for about an hour, thinking that traffic had died down. We were wrong! Traffic was still bumper to bumper and Cards fans were everywhere. They were drinking, celebrating and dancing in the street. My sister is a bit more adventurous than me and she drove right towards the stadium into the madness. We held our arms out the windows into the cool October night air and slapped high-fives to everyone that walked through the traffic. We had a blast.
The next morning, my Mom and I went to the Farmers market. She got 8 crates of strawberries for $5. Sometimes you pay almost $4 just for one at the grocery store. I bought some new spices like Lime Chipotle and re-stocked my favorite one “Soulard Grill” which tastes good in everything. My Special Friend was “Busy” and didn’t want to “commit then cancel” hmmmm…So, that evening I went to the movies with two of my good friends from high school. We saw Paranormal Activity 3. I love scary movies, and it definitely had some cringe worthy parts. But it wasn’t as good as the 1st one. I came home and fell asleep watching “Bad Teacher” with Cameron Diaz. I’m such a movie fanatic. I thought about writing a blog for movie reviews, since I usually watch at least 5 movies each week, but when would I find time to do that?
Sunday, I finally made time for the gym. Barely. My little Sister and I chatted it up for a half an hour on the elliptical machine, before heading to Wal-Mart. Silly me I decided to wait until the day before Halloween to get a costume. There was nothing left at Wal-Mart, so we headed to Target. The only thing left was a horrible bloody arm and a Monopoly board game costume. Then I saw it! One glittery white glove, sent down from the costume gods. It wasn’t even in the original packaging. I took it to the register and gave the checkout boy a “don’t mess with me look” as I handed him a pack of lace costume gloves to scan in exchange for my unwrapped MJ glove. He obliged, even though my sister said I was holding up the line. I ransacked my closet at home and pulled off a pretty Smooth Criminal look if you ask me. My “Brother from another Mother” joined me at my friend’s Halloween party about 2 hours later. We had a good time. I could have eaten a little better, drank a little less and worked out a little more, but I still had quite a fun weekend.
New Research published in the online journal Obesity suggests that drinking green tea may help prevent weight gain. EGCG
is a compound found in most green teas. In the test participants (overweight mice), both groups were fed high fat diets, but only one group also ate EGCG. When the 2 groups were compared, the mice consuming the EGCG gained weight 45% (percent) more slowly, and absorbed less fat. This sounds almost too good to be true. 45 percent is pretty significant if you ask me. However, it should be noted that both groups still ate the same amount of high fat food, indicating that Green tea does not help suppress your appetite. But, here is the tricky part, a human would have to drink 10 cups of green tea a day to get the equivalent amount of EGCG that the study mice were consuming. Fortunately though, other studies have been conducted to indicate that two cups of green tea per day, may be enough to have a positive effect on weight management. I drink green tea occasionally, but I might just start adding it to my daily routine. Do you drink green tea to help with weight loss? Have you had positive results?
Yesterday, was a great day. My Special friend had the weekend off and spent the day with me. He went with me to a Breast Cancer awareness fashion show at my friend’s job, and then we had lunch at Blueberry Hill, a local eatery in the U-City Loop. After lunch, we went to my Grandfather’s 80th birthday party. Since we’ve only been dating for a month, it might seem a little soon to meet the family. But, if you know me, and how much time I spend with my family, you might as well meet them and see what we’re all about. To spend time with me, usually means spending time with my family. My Mama and my sisters thought he was really nice. My Dad said he needs to really talk to him to see if he “has any sense.” LOL! Anyway, everything went well, my Aunts, Uncles and all of us grandchildren were there. Good food, family and line dancing always makes for a fun time.
Last night after the dinner party, my friend from college was in town, and spent the night at my house. I cooked breakfast for us this morning before watching Joel Osteen and heading to the park. It was such a beautiful day. I can’t believe we’re getting weather like this in October. It was a sunny 72 degrees. I couldn’t paint a prettier day if I tried. I walked 2 miles with Nyah, and did a few jogging spurts to spice things up. I’m so out of shape, I really need to get back to a more consistent workout routine. I keep “forgetting” to sign up for boot camp class. Maybe I’ll do that this week.
Halloween here in the States is a fun spooky holiday surrounded by sweet treats. But, for those of us trying to lose or maintain our weight, it can be a very tricky day to handle. So, I did a little research and came up with 7 ways to tackle the candy obsession and stay on track… I even threw in a few kid-friend ideas.
1) Instead of candy, pack snack sized portions of animal crackers, 100 calorie packs, raisins, trail mix, sugar free hot cocoa or apple cider.
2) After carving the pumpkin, save the seeds and roast them in oven. Or as my super-efficient mother did when I was a child. Cook them on a plate in the microwave.
3) Make Orange or Black Jello. Decorate it with Plastic spiders or cut out spooky shapes.
4) Healthy Caramel Apples - Click the link for a recipe to Trim some of the calories
5) Banana Ghost Pops - Using Bananas, coconut and Orange Juice
6) Apple Bites - These are too cute! - Just quarter and core an apple, cut a wedge from the skin side of each quarter, then press slivered almonds in place for teeth. Tip: If you’re not going to serve them right away, baste the apples with orange juice to keep them from browning.
7) Easy Cheese Fingers – Ingredients – Mozzarella string cheese, Green bell pepper, Cream cheese
Instructions:
1) Wearing plastic gloves or sandwich bags over your hands to keep the cheese as smudge-free as possible, use a paring knife (parents only) to cut each string in half and then carve a shallow area for a fingernail just below the rounded end of each half.
2) Mark the joint right below the nail as well as the knuckle joint by carving out tiny horizontal wedges of cheese, as pictured.
3) For the fingernails, slice a green bell pepper into 3/8-inch-wide strips. Set the strips skin side down on your work surface and trim the pulp so that it’s about half as thick. Then cut the strips into ragged-topped nail shapes and stick them in place at the ends of the fingers with dabs of cream cheese.
“Operating out of fear means that you will always be scared and running for your life, instead of being in alignment with your life.” ~Oprah~
I mentioned in my last post that I have a new “special friend” a great guy that I’ve been dating for a couple weeks. So, today, he sent me a text saying “You mentioned several times that investing in something that you don’t know where it’s headed isn’t something that you want to do…so do you think we should pump the brakes and talk less?” I really had to think about it. This guy has taken me out a couple times, paid for everything, treated me with respect, catered to doing things I enjoy, invested a lot of time getting to know me, and has been incredibly honest. What the heck is wrong with me?! What more could I possibly want after 2 weeks? Why was I constantly telling him that I intentionally wasn’t willing to put my best foot forward, even though I knew that he was? And then I realized that I was operating solely out of fear, and comparing him to horrid experiences from the past. You never know where relationships or friendships will end up, but is that a reason to never get new friends or never allow yourself to genuinely care for someone? Of course not….I went to weigh in on my lunch break, I’ve lost 9 pounds total. YAY!…
On my drive back to work, I called and I explained to him that in my last really serious relationship, the guy was a liar, a thief and an alcoholic amongst other things. But, my sprecial friend had not given me any reason to believe that he was any of those things. He understood where a lot of my emotional brick walls came from, and I told him that I would allow myself to invest just as much as he had. So are we getting married and live happily ever after? Who knows? But, what I do know is that when I look back on it. I can say that I didn’t let fear run my life.
When I left work today, Cardinal Fever and an excited energy was in the air since we are in the playoffs. There were people everywhere dressed in red and the sun was shining on a freakishly warm October evening. I felt good that I had stopped allowing fear to drive my decisions and decided to enjoy the weather by walking in the park. It was beautiful outside, low 70’s. I climbed the giant hill for a boost to my walk circling the big water basin fountain. The sun was starting to set, but Nyah and I were able to walk about a mile and half before it got too dark. I must say, I had a great day.
