Step Out walk – it’s no Marine Corps Marathon

This weekend in DC was a big one for walking and running events. Saturday was the Step Out to Fight Diabetes walk, and Sunday we had the Marine Corps Marathon.

Saturday I attended the Step Out walk, in the rain no less. I took the metro to the Archives/Navy Memorial stop and walked a few blocks to 3rd and Pennsylvania. I exceeded my fundraising goal and rose over $650 to help this great cause.

There were two paths a 2 mile walk and a challenging 6 mile walk. I had every intention of walking the 6 mile walk (I had been practicing long walks for the past two weeks), but when I arrived at the set up on, I heard the news that the 6 mile walk had been cancelled due to the rain. I stood in the registration line and collected my long sleeve t-shirt, and missed getting a medal by a few hundred dollars. The medal winners had to raise at least $1,000.

I also grabbed a banana, an Odwalla chocolate chip peanut bar (5 WW points) and a bottle of water from the fuel tent. I wore my rain slicker which had huge pockets and stashed my t-shirt and water.

I hit the 2 mile trail and switched between wearing my hood and using my umbrella. It had been pouring rain around 9 when the walk started, but it started to wear off shortly after. By the time we were done, the rain had stopped completely. We did have to avoid major puddles on the roads and sidewalks, but I was a bit relieved not to have to walk 6 miles in the muck.

I figure I’ll make up the 4 mile difference at the gym this week.

Vegetarian for a day

I didn’t set out to be a vegetarian for a day, but that’s how my day turned out. Last night we grilled out Laura’s Lean burgers, and they were delicious, but I didn’t get all my servings of fruits and vegetables in for the day.

I love meat, especially Omaha Steaks, but only eat red meat two to three times a week. My main meat choice is chicken, followed by fish maybe once a week. I’ll also have the occasional turkey bacon, ground turkey in a dish or a turkey sub.

Today I started out with a breakfast of organic yogurt and a banana. Work was busy, so I didn’t get a snack. I choose a vegetarian lunch of Pad Pak at a Thai restaurant and a salad. My dinner consisted of a Robeks fruit smoothie, a chocolate Vita-muffin and a glass of milk. My evening snack during class was a cup of watermelon from Whole Foods.

I guess I got all my servings of fruits and veggies in for the day, plus my two milk servings. However, I probably did not get much protein. While at Robeks, I was struggling with my daughter and forgot to add my whey protein to my smoothie.

I’ll probably add meat back into my diet tomorrow. I’m going to bed hungry tonight.

Love Your Body Day

It’s not always easy to love our bodies. Especially if you are overweight and the world tells you that you should lose weight.

I do not love my body when it steps on the scale and even though I’ve been working out hard and eating right, the numbers fail to go down.

But today is Love Your Body Day, so I’m going to tell you what I love about my body.

I love my womb which made and carried my daughter for over 9 months, and my breasts which fed her nearly 9 months after she entered the world. I love my arms to hold her and my hips which still carry her occasionally.

I love my long legs and feet; they took me for an 11,000 step 2 hour walk this morning, two 3 mile walks, plus three workouts at the gym this past week.

Go take the I love My Body Pledge, it’s good stuff:

I, (Name), pledge to speak kindly about my body.

I promise not to talk about how fat my thighs or stomach or butt are, or
about how I really have to lose 5 or 15 or 50 pounds. I promise not to call
myself a fat pig, gross, or any other self-loathing, trash-talking phrase.

I vow to be kind to myself and my body. I will learn to be grateful for its
strength and attractiveness, and be compassionate toward its failings.

I will remind myself that bodies come in all shapes and sizes, and that no
matter what shape and size my body is, it’s worthy of kindness, compassion, and love.

What do you love about your body?

Pumpkin Pies

 

I love fall and especially baking. One of my favorite pies is pumpkin pie, and I just put two in the oven. Of course I have to lighten them up a bit and plan to only keep one for my family, and I’ll share the other one at work.

I used fat free evaporated milk, substituted egg beaters for the eggs and Splenda for the sugar. I also used pumpkin pie spice instead of the cinnamon, ginger and cloves. I had one graham cracker crust and made another crust from scratch. We’ll see when they are done which one tastes best.

I based it on Libby’s recipe for Famous Pumpkin Pie. I shook the evaporated milk good, but it still came out a little clumpy. Any idea why?

I didn’t count the points for this, but I know it’s better than regular pumpkin pie, and tastes just as good.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups Splenda	1 can (29 oz.) Libby’s 100% Pure Pumpkin
3 1/2 tsps pumpkin pie spice	2 cans fat-free evaporated milk
1 cup egg beaters	2 unbaked pie shells

Directions:

MIX sugar, pumpkin pie spice in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

POUR into pie shell.

BAKE in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving.

Honestly though, I hardly ever wait for 2 hours before I cut into it.

Candy and Halloween

Only 15 more days until Halloween, but between now and then I have at least three parties to attend, two of them with my daughter. If you know anything about me, candy is a weakness of mine. Especially at this time of year.

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I don’t know if that’s because of the candy or dressing up. Even before I had a kid, Halloween was my favorite. Mark down candy for me as a reason. We have a friend who is a dentist, and you can guess the holiday that she hates.

My daughter’s first Halloween she was only 6 months old, and I dressed her up as a lady bug and took her trick-or-treating. Granted only to the neighbors that knew us, but I still got candy and ate it all since she couldn’t eat it. The next year she was Minnie Mouse and I allowed her a few pieces of candy. Who ate the rest? Guess.

Last year she was a cowgirl, and the prettiest little cowgirl you ever saw. By this time she was a great walker, and we covered a good deal of our neighborhood taking in one pumpkin plus a bag full of candy. I helped hold her stash. That year I found out she was a chocolate freak like me.

This year, she’s 3 and a half. Since I’m trying to get serious about this weight loss thing, I have to change my strategy. I’ve decide I’m going to let her dress up and take her trick-or-treating, but only to a few neighbors houses to show off her outfit. Then we will return home to watch a movie! I guess I’m going to have to buy her a new movie to make it more appealing than trick-or-treating, but I’ll do whatever it takes to try and keep a ton of candy out of my house.

Now the other dilemma is that I have children coming to MY house to trick-or-treat.  I don’t want to be a super downer and hand out pretzels and raisins, but if I end up buying candy to give out, who ends up eating it? A strategy I deployed one year was only buying candy I didn’t like. That doesn’t leave much available, but I think I bought Almond Joys and Mounds, about the only chocolate that doesn’t really do it for me. Not chocolate related, I’m not a huge fan of Skittles, but I will eat them in small quantities.

I also don’t want to hand out those cheesy little cheap toys or non edible things. What would you recommend I dish out to all the little ghouls and goblins that come to visit?

Las Tapas for lunch

Went to lunch on Sunday afternoon with two girlfriends/past co-workers. It’s been a few months since I’ve seen them, and we decided to meet at Las Tapas on King Street in Alexandria. My friend A had been there before, but the rest of us had not.

I arrived a little early and snagged two tables outside. It was in the shade and a beautiful day.

I got an iced tea from the server and waited for the others to join me. I had already decided I wanted the calamari (fried and oh so healthy), but was trying to decide between the gambas (shrimp) or a quesadilla.

To sum it up, the food was excellent but the service stunk. We had between 2 to 3 gentlemen serving us but they would often disappear for long periods at a time.

The pub across the street was crowded and every so often we’d hear a loud roar of cheering coming from inside. I theorized that our waiters were watching the game.

Waiter didn’t get a drink for A, but did get one for J. L’s soda was flat, and she had trouble ordering a replacement due to a language barrier (a bottle of sparkling water). Our tapas and entrees came out scattered in about 3 runs, 15 minutes between the first delivery and the second. J’s salad came with no dressing. We also had trouble getting silverware.

After getting my calamari, I realized it had no sauce, and had to ask for sauce which by the time I got it, the squid was cold. It only took two hours for the whole lunch. We felt very European.

I had a nice visit with my friends, and we caught up with each other, so that was the highlight. I raved about the new show Pushing Daisies, and plan to watch the second episode tonight.

Of course, the food was really good, so maybe I’ll give them another try sometime with the husband and the kid. That will really put them to the test.

Buttermilk Biscuit memories

One of my favorite childhood memories is of Saturday morning and making buttermilk biscuits with my dad. He would make up a batch from scratch, and let us kids help roll out the dough and cut out circles. It was a ritual, and probably helped create my love of baking. I still adore hot out of the oven biscuits, drizzling honey on top of them, and eating while warm. They even taste good later in the day cold too.

I have the original recipe, which I think may be from Betty Crocker, but have lighted it up a bit and reduced the shortening and substituted some whole wheat flour for white. I learned some of the tips from the book Secrets of Fat-Free Baking, but you do really have to experiment to find the right combination of fat ingredients vs. no-to-low fat ingredients.

I use whole wheat pastry flour which results in better texture than regular whole wheat flour. I also use unbleached white flour. I stuck with the tablespoon of sugar instead of substituting Splenda, but I did reduce the shortening by half and substituted with unsweetened applesauce.

Low-Fat Buttermilk Biscuits Recipe

Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour (pastry flour)	1 cup all purpose flour (unbleached)
1 tbsp sugar	2 tsps baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda	1 tsp salt
1/4 cup shortening	1/8 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup fat free buttermilk

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in shortening. Stir in milk and applesauce. Place dough on floured surface. Knead lightly 10 times. Roll or pat to 1/2 inch thick. Cut with floured 2 to 2 1/2 inch round cookie cutter. Place on un greased cookie sheet one inch apart. Bake 10-12 minutes. Serve warm.

Each biscuit is approximately 2.5 points. Makes about 12-13 biscuits. Serve with honey, jam or other favorite topping, and let the kids help roll and cut the dough. Great memories making and baking biscuits with the family.

Fight Diabetes

My friend Bob says, “No one feels sorry for the big fat guy with diabetes.”

I have several family members with Type 2 diabetes, and two friends who have Type 1. Type 2 is linked with obesity in some cases, and although I don’t have diabetes and am not pre-diabetic, I know how hard it is to lose weight and exercise (which doctors strongly recommend for people with pre-diabetes as well as newly diagnosed Type 2 diabetes).

I hate asking for money, but I’m asking for money for a great cause. The last time I solicited friends and family I did a walk for the March of Dimes in spring 2006. I walked with my husband and daughter in a stroller, but this time I’m going solo and walking with Bob and my team. Daughter is too big for a stroller, and too impatient for a 6 mile walk.

I’m walking in DC on October 27th for Step Out to Fight Diabetes, and I need your money to help find a cure. I’d love to have you walk with me or help me walk 6 miles by making a donation. There are two walk paths, a 2 miles or 6 miles. If I exceed my goal, I’m going to do the whole 6 miles.

Donate now, or sign up to walk with me. You’ll get a free t-shirt if you walk, although the t-shirts you get for events like this are not all that comfortable, flattering or fashionable. The neck is always too tight, and they are made for a man’s body, not my curvy frame. It’s too tight over the chest and hips, and too big in the shoulders (see picture).

I’ll post an update and photos here after my walk. Here are a few quick diabetes facts:

• Over 21 million American’s have diabetes
• An additional 54 million have pre-diabetes
• Diabetes is the 5th leading cause of death by disease in the U.S.
• Complications of Diabetes includes, heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, blindness and kidney disease among others