Thanksgiving

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It has been a wonderful relaxing long weekend both of my kids came home and we enjoyed eating and doing a lot of nothing. I've kept up with all my eating and moving goals with one exception: when we went to a favorite restaurant on Friday night about 40 minutes away I decided ahead of time to have 3 of their delicious fried onion rings.Three is such a good number (one for greeting, one for good-bye, and one in-between). For the main meal on Thursday I skipped the rolls, dressing, and both types of potatoes but had plenty of turkey, green bean casserole (skipping most of the fried onions), and pie without crust. I made broccoli/cauliflower with cheese sauce baked with extra cheese on top a favorite of mine this year to supplement our usual more traditional sides. I have been eating pie for breakfast each morning along with turkey and gravy. getting extra sleep, and doing lots of Netflix-ing which has been a wonderful thing especially since these past few weeks have been extra busy.

Feelings:
At times I felt denied and a bit mournful not eating things I really enjoy. At other times it felt great to have a plan and to be satisfied with what I could have. Being mindful about getting out for a daily walk was a great addition to a mostly sedentary few days. I also find that since I don't eat these certain things I am less likely to eat (overeat) late into the night. Practicing eating a little of something indulgent such as the 3 fried onion rings gives me such pleasure, hope, and confidence in myself. I deeply value having my own philosophy regarding eating and moving.

A post

Attention:

• I am staying on my eating plan and other November goals
• This is Musical Theater production weekend
• That is all

"Feed Me!"

Today's post title is a common phrase from the evil and hilarious villain from Little Shop of Horrors our HS's soon-to-be performed musical. As we enter into our final week of rehearsals I am both exhausted and exhilarated with the first leading to the second which in turn cycles around again. I am sticking to my eating and walking plans and have found that these changes are feeling like a natural part of me. Since Halloween I have become the candy lady, I brought our leftover candy on November 1st and handed it out to my HS students who each took a piece with glee. My work partner and I have continued to keep the basket filled ever since helping to break up the fatigue of lengthy rehearsals. The students think we do this for them when in reality it's our way of justifying our own need for a bit of sugar. I have noticed that I am more able to take a little candy as oppose to my tendency to overindulge in things like chips or popcorn. I've been packing myself light suppers and often have soothing tea and a light snack of nuts or seeds that I consume around 10 when I get home just before my head hits the pillow.


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I had mentioned to my friend (work partner) Melody that I had been trying to walk 15 minutes. Meanwhile her youngest was given the goal of walking 18 miles in November. This has worked out well to have this common theme. Last Monday while our band students worked with a clinician we took a 20 minutes walk together around our local college campus, I initiated it and she quickly accepted my offer.


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This month I added 1 minute daily planks, I am still working myself up to doing this without any breaks. I often put my knees down for a brief moment or stick my middle up high to relieve the tension for a moment. I can feel my core during the day in ways I didn't before, for example I was holding a long tone on the trumpet recently when I noticed I could feel my muscles engaging nicely.

Pumpkin Bread

Yummy!
Recipe URL in "Sizes?" post
Spongy texture, not too sweet (in a good way)

I used regular table salt and canned pumpkin
It says mini loaf pan, I used a 8X4" pan, baking time was about 30 minutes

Sizes?

Not all women's sizes are the same and this can be very confusing: some pants are loose in the same size that others that are tight.

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My work buddy said, "I'm on to you, you're not eating carbs...you're shrinking."
I replied, "I'm being careful"

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Last night I was extremely tired and craving a carb overload, I had some Snapea Crips(see URL below), they have the texture of Cheetos. I ate the whole bag (3.5 servings --120 cal/serving). It really satisfied my snack craving.

https://jet.com/product/detail/ac78e601d6db4d58868aecd67d2cc9ab?jcmp=pla:ggl:a_jd_cons_gen_food_beverages_tobacco_a3_b1:food_items_snack_foods_chips_a3_other:na:PLA_648191734_39624881344_pla-212814675904:na:na:na:2&code=PLA15&gclid=CNmW0Za6kdACFQKWMgodfacPdA&gclsrc=ds


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This morning I am going to make Paleo Pumpkin Bread that uses Almond Flour. I'll report back on the results in a future post. The recipe can be found here:

https://elanaspantry.com/paleo-pumpkin-bread/