It's Monday, and I'm afraid. Well, afraid may be a bit strong, but this is a week full of meetings for me at work. Our entire sales force is in town. What does that mean? Well, ladies and gentlemen, that means catering. Lots and LOTS of catering. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, two snacks, and booze. This kind of event is always difficult for me, but this week especially I'm apprehensive because I'm tired, but also because I'm more committed to the schedule than usual, so food prep and bringing my own snacks will be tough. Wish me luck.

On another note, we had a great weekend. Got most of the yard cleaned up and winterized. Its chilly here, so felt inspired to make some comfort food in the form of beef carbonnade, courtesy of Elise at simplyrecipes.com. Delicious. Husband had a big serving over mashed potatoes. I had a smaller version over spaghetti squash.

Almost Friday

Pretty good day today, although I have the last of my garden produce sitting on the counter. The last few delicious tomatoes and a cucumber. It has been a big help this summer to have a bunch of fresh, organic veggies to eat. It makes it much easier to stay away from the carbs. Now as winter is coming, I'll be back to relying on frozen veggies, so I'll have to be a bit more creative.

Better Day

Today was a better day, work and food-wise. I was thinking it would be a day of hellish carb cravings, which is what usually happens to me after a binge, but not too bad. I had very sensible (and delish) steel cut oatmeal and some egg beaters for breakfast, a big salad with flax oil and lemon juice for lunch, with some cottage cheese. Dinner went a little sideways on me (damn these 12 hour days at work!), although not too badly, in the form of a fabulous Mikey's Gyros Gyro with Feta. Yumm...

What the Hell Happened Today?

What. The. Hell???

I did something today that I haven't done in I don't know how long. My day at work started with a lot of stress, and I reacted HORRIBLY. We had treats at work this morning, Starbucks Coffee and doughnuts. I had three extra cups of Starbucks-more-caffeine-than-you-can-fit-in-any-other-cup coffee. Not a great choice, but ok, just a bit jittery. Then through the course of the morning, I ate a bear claw, half of a blueberry muffin the size of my head and then half of a almond poppyseed muffin of roughly the same size. I got to lunchtime feeling a bit sick, way strung out on caffeine and trying to figure out how this had happened to me.

Reminds me that I can't take chances when things are crazy.... I have to have good food to substitute for bad food that comes my way. Lesson learned. Again. I think I'm going to take me and my sick stomach to bed.

Long Weekend

Enjoying a good extended weekend, have been busy with home projects that were sorely in need of finishing. Also finished most of my Christmas gift jams, added a couple of new ones this year that I am pretty happy with: ginger pear and blackberry plum. I have been not quite so successful on the food front. I'm more regimented at work; there is less temptation. However, my workouts are better with more free time.... I have been doing Debbie Sieber's Slim in 6 videos at home, and it has been a nice change from the gym.

I have been struggling lately with the fact that the really simple diet that works for me absolutely doesn't jive with my interest and desire to cook. I love to cook, love to try new recipes, bake goodies, create beautiful presentation. Given my YEARS of dieting, I have become pretty accomplished at modifying recipes to be more healthful, but it isn't enough. I hate to think that the answer is to basically give up this part of my life, but it may be. A loaf of huckleberry zucchini bread made with Aunt Kotty's recipe has been staring me in the face for most of the weekend, reminding me that if I make delicious treats, most of the time I can't stay away from them.....sad.

Slogging along...

Thursday night and happy to see Friday ahead. Its been a loonnggg week at work. Pretty good food week. I have settled into a diet that includes lots of veggies, fruits, some lean protein and a VERY small amount of whole grain carbs, about 1600 calories a day. I feel good, but it is slow going with the scale. I need to amp up my water intake and up my workouts as well, I guess. Its funny how much harder going the weight loss has been this time around.

Delights of Summer

This time of year I am perfectly happy to make a meal of half a spaghetti squash and a handful of cherry tomatoes. Got home from the gym, and went out in the backyard with hubby to harvest. Green beans, tomatoes, two cucumbers, a spaghetti squash and a couple of stray strawberries. Dinner!

I have found that I really do feel a lot better limiting carbs to just a bit of whole grains, so the fresh veggies really help keep me on track. Looking out into my backyard at my garden bounty makes me smile.