Signing off for now!

Hello everyone,
Things have gotten busy and this Blog is what is being cut out of my routine.
Thanks for reading and feel free to share with others &/or post a comment.
I continue to keep up with email and love to hear from anyone who is reading.
With much love,
Amy

September Intentions

I am feeling very similarly to how I felt in Spring/Early Summer 2016-- this is NOT good.
I have been eating pretty much whatever and I continue to walk 10,000 plus steps daily.
Not feeling my best is not enough of a motivator to do anything differently. I have bought vegetables for dinner each night this week and that is far as I've gotten with making a real change. I'm just not mentally in a space to make that commitment yet. Below is what I am ready to follow through with for now.

• Continue walking
• Continue with daily verse reading
• Read 3-4 Blog posts per week from last year's Viceless 365 Blog --so as to hopefully inspire myself

August Intentions

I am really struggling with what to intend this month as is evident in the fact that it's already the 13th. I decided I need to look inward and upward. A friend of mine that I know through grad school suggested (in July) a phone app called First 5 that has daily scripture readings and devotional thoughts. I had mentioned to her that I had been struggling spiritually since my Dad died (Sept 2013) I downloaded the app but hadn't been using it. Today my pastor preached on The Lord's Prayer "give us this day our daily bread". Later a dear friend from out of town talked to me on the phone and said she'd been thinking a lot about our need for God's Daily Bread. A sort of lightbulb went off when she said that, I connected my need spiritually with my physical struggle. I decided that my intention the rest of this month is to read a daily portion (a long neglected habit) of the Bible using the phone app and I added daily reminder notifications (free app btw).

For physical food my intention is to eat mindfully. To think and slow down. I have been gulping and grabbing a lot lately as if I "deserve it" whatever that means.

I intend to check in the first week of September to revisit August Intentions and add or revise them for September.

Also I plan to keep walking --10,000 steps or more a day.

August intentions...

In the works --more this weekend.
Some clothes tight,  yikes!

Reflections

Yesterday I ate french fries from a local place for lunch (with salad), Wendy's fries for a snack on a the road, and tots from Sonic (and a shake) for whatever meal that was I had at 7:30 when I got home. Still enjoying the anticipation of my steak fries, popcorn, and potato chips.

Take-A-Ways --

Over this year, as I have often pointed out, I have enjoyed not sharing with everyone what I was doing as far as eliminating certain foods. I have grown to appreciate having something I reflect on later and not share verbally in the moment. In relation to food this has helped me be in the moment more. Yesterday with two new friends I enjoyed my first fried potatoes in a year and they had no idea of the significance of what was going on (I mean it is just a fried potato get a life, right?!). This quiet appreciation of self (not sure what to call it) has helped me in other areas of my life. When others aren't "getting me" or I'm confused by someone's response or lack there of I remind myself that we all have stuff in our lives that no one (in the room) knows about. Sometimes we may not even have our own awareness.

For the next year I hope to continue to post intention(s) monthly as this has been very helpful as I set the mood for me and have been a very workable amount of time.

For the remainder of July I plan on enjoying foods as they are offered with no limitations on choices. I also plan to continue to walk a lot.

 Looking ahead to August I want to make a small change of some sort for the month. Haven't landed on exactly what yet. I keep going back to wheat as I do feel less energetic when I eat too much of it.

Last Words--
Thanks everyone especially my sisters and daughter who have commented along the way this past year. Verbal affirmations (and thoughtful honest gentle critiques) are something I highly value and all of you supply that often in my life. Much love to all 3 of you wonderful women!!

A year Is here!

Have a French fry place picked out for lunch, yum!

June is almost over...

...and I had planned to make 2 posts this month. One post this month will be the new plan.

I am feeling very well, energized, alert, and my appetite is not out of control. I have continued to stay away from corn chips, any kind of of fried potato, and popcorn. I am REALLY looking forward to having steak fries the most.

I am a heavier weight but I am continuing to focus on my energy/recovery and that is much better than a year ago. My goal for the remainder of this Blog (July 13, 2017) is to continue to skip those foods above, walk a lot, and smile at myself in the mirror everyday.

End of May...

I'm a snacking fool.
I started allowing anything wheat which led to allowing pretty much anything that wasn't fried potatoes or popcorn. At this point those are my only two hold outs. Has my experiment gone under? in many ways yes it has. However if you would have told me I could go a year without french fries, potato chips, and popcorn I would have been impressed so far I'm on track with those.

Still walking a lot, feeling great, and contemplating my next intentions.
Stay tuned.

Senior Trip '17

We're having a great time here in Branson, I'm glad I decided to relax my "don't eat" list. Allowing wheat is nice.
I've added a lot to my exceptions post from 12/31.
I'm feeling really good. Keeping up just fine. I've been craving lemonade, that's fun because places like this have that a lot.

Quarter Pounder

I haven't had a cheeseburger in months and I thoroughly enjoyed one on my ride home yesterday. I was so hungry and it was very delicious.

Time in Columbia, Missouri

I'm feeling really great at State Music and Grad school orientation.

Yesterday I wore my new black dress with good under garment and my new wedge low heels. We walked a lot in the rain and I felt like a million bucks. The combination of my husband's umbrella, my comfortable shoes, and my pride in my students gave me sunshine in my soul.

I've stayed with my plan of intentions and have been integrating wheat products and non-fried potatoes with very good feelings  resulting. As I look ahead I like knowing what is acceptable and what I'm gonna pass on ahead of time -- it works for me.

Let the celebrating continue...

Late April, May, and June Intentions -- Transitioning

Here are my Intentions for the remainder of April through June
1) stick with my eating plan
2) Blog at least twice each month
3) Start transitioning into after Viceless 365 in both my thinking and eating

Number 3 above is something I've been pondering often and settled on this morning. I'm concerned that on July 13, 2017 I will go nuts eating 7 bowls of meaty sauce covered spaghetti, 2 large orders of steak fries, and four bags of ruffled potato chips smothered in creamy dip. Lately I've made exceptions (listed in the ongoing Exceptions Post from December) when someone else was fixing/planning the meal &/or there were limited choices. I want to be true to a core value I have of participating as fully as possible in functions, especially commemorative ones. I will not be making exceptions for popcorn, corn or potato based snack foods (chips), any kind of fried potato, or rice/potatoes as a side dish. I will eat pancakes at my nephew's Graduate Graduation party, I will eat the Specialty Dessert at the Dixie Stampede (Branson senior trip), and possibly a piece of cake at one or more of the HS graduation parties I plan on attending. If there is a pastry offered at a meeting with a continental breakfast I will have one. I will eat whatever food is offered at functions such as the recent Graduate School final project night of Cohort 10 attended by some members of Cohort 11. I will continue to strive to be mindful of portions. I will pass on flour based desserts when the meal is especially high in simple carbohydrates. I will continue to list the exceptions I make in the December post mentioned above.

Yearwood's Broccoli Casserole and Pizza Buffet Conversation

I had a great time for Easter (wore the yellow dress with a scarf accessory, wise advice sisters),
spent time with my brother-in-law, sister, and mom who graciously loved on me and Gerald. Mom had recently hosted an event that had left her with a lot of leftover broccoli which was a wonderful coincidence in that I had planned to make the casserole to bring down. It was very good, here's a link:

http://www.hellmanns.com/recipes/detail/48569/1/trishas-chicken-broccoli-casserole

As I stated on a previous post, I subbed in plain yogurt for sour cream and used quinoa instead of rice. I also close to doubled the broccoli, using up what mom had. We all really loved this comfort food that is very easy to over eat on the second helping. If I made it again I think I would eliminate the rice/quinoa all together and use half the chicken. I really love the creamy sauce texture and don't really need the extra starch or protein (so much cheesy goodness). I would consider this a fun food that has some healthy aspects (broccoli).

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Yesterday I went to a pizza, pasta, salad, dessert etc. buffet at a local restaurant with 4 young women (1 senior/3 juniors) from my high school. We are finishing up a Dual Credit Music App class and had gotten permission to attend a University concert put on for local K-12 schools (a course requirement is to attend/watch four concerts and reflect on them in an essay). These girls are beautiful both inside and out, some of the most confident, highly successful women you'll ever meet. They each have diverse interests and are high achievers in science, math, sports, agriculture, music, theater, business, community service, religion...the list is endless. They are also extremely fun to be around, I have to remind myself constantly that I'm their teacher and I can't let them whisk me away into their engaging stories. Here's a common dialogue in our class:
Student: "oh that piece by Dvořák reminds me, can I tell a story about when my brother and I were alone in the house when we were little?"
Me: "yes as soon as we listen to this piece by Wagner."
With all this going for them the conversation at the restaurant before the concert turned dark as soon as the drinks were ordered, 2 ordered pop and 2 ordered water, prom is next week and there is major daily stress conveyed regarding fitting into their dresses. I stopped them in the mist of their "I hate myself right now" comments and said lightheartedly something along the lines of "no judging --guys don't do this, they just eat -- they don't think or say anything about it." We had a good laugh about this and they chimed in with examples of guys they knew and how much they could eat and other related stories. Later I went to the restroom and when I came back they had split the bill 4 ways, leaving me out. They said I had given them candy this semester so they "owed" me. Did I mention how much I love these girls?

New Concert Dress

Keep or Not?

Color? Size?
Pockets are nice

Prom up close

Prom

Graduation Fabric

Up close

Graduation Dress

Men in red robes women in white will photo well, right?

I'll get better shoes and undergarment

Pink Shirt

It fits again:

Dress Shopping and No Popcorn

I bought 4 Shift dresses* online this morning I wasn't sure what size so I bought 2 sizes. I tried on dresses the day I bought the skinny green jeans and I realized that I don't like how I look in dresses that gather or change pattern or color at the waist. I'll take some pictures with me in them for a later post once they arrive. As I posted earlier I have to have one for prom (I chose single color, one black and one yellow for this occasion) and one for graduation (I chose multi color dresses for this occasion). I realized this week that I don't have a free weekend to go to the store and try on dresses this month, here's to hoping the online purchases payoff.

*A shift dress is a short dress that lacks detailed shaping. (I learned this today.)

*****I have not eaten popcorn since before July 13, 2016. I have not cheated on that even once. (I have other things I have not cheated on such as corn chips, potato chips, and french fries.) For anyone who knows me this fact is quite amazing. I went to see Beauty and The Beast last weekend, we waited in line for tickets and the snack line was also long. I wasn't at all considering buying popcorn --I have bought candy at movies lately but I had some chocolate at home so I wasn't planing on that either. This turned out to be a good thing too because the theater was packed and the previews were just about over once I sat down. It occurred to me later how different my mindset is regarding theater popcorn eating. In the past I would have felt deprived for passing on movie and popcorn. Instead I just hardly gave it a thought. It's so amazing to me how important mindset is, I continue to need to dig deep to find the root of my cravings.

I'm Back --2 Weeks Off

Last weekend my sister visited from Nevada and we made some delicious Chicken Marsala to take to our other sister and mom in Kansas. She combined a couple of recipes and we served it with a Quinoa Marsala instead of rice.

This morning I saw Trisha Yearwood make a broccoli chicken casserole with the first layer being rice. The cream sauce was mayonnaise, sour cream, and cream of chicken soup from a can. I think I'll try that with quinoa, I will use plain yogurt instead of sour cream and no mayo.

I wore a pink fancy t-shirt that has some beading around the collar last week that I have not been able to wear for over a year. My black jeans are officially going into the dryer now and not being lined dry because if I line dry them they are way too loose to wear.

I bought some "skinny" stretch green jeans that I love to wear, they are surprisingly comfortable. I need to buy a spring dress for Prom and Graduation since I am senior sponsor and I hope to find something that I can wear to both.

Happy Spring Everyone

4 More Months, But Who's Counting?

Sometimes this whole thing seems so silly and why am I even doing it? I don't feel like I'm really eating healthy lately but at the same time I do feel good about my energy level and the shape of me. It has been very beneficial these past months to focus on different foods and different way of viewing myself.  For those reasons I plan to see it through. I have had a bit of wheat this year, a little rice, and some fried chicken. Amazingly I have had no chips, popcorn, or French fries a feat I am proud to claim.

March Intentions

Better late than never, right?

I'm struggling with creating intentions this month, it's Lent and my sister L shared the idea of being disciplined in the area of gratitude. My intention for the next month and a half is to daily share 3 gratitudes with my Facebook Gratitude Group.

Here is an inventory of my mind --

I should:
Intend to eat more vegetables but mentally I feel exhausted by what that entails. I should drink more water. I should plan out my meals for the week.

I am:
Doing better with lunch and when I work through my lunch my ride home snacks are great for getting me past the snacking urge when I get home. Taking frequent lengthy walks with my husband (and dog); a source of mental, emotional, and physical health. Walking right away when I get home and this also keeps me from stress snacking after work. Eating healthy breakfasts tbat give me a great start each day.

I regret:
Eating too much unhealthy protein like prepared chicken. Eating ice cream often. Regular chocolate intake.

I wonder:
Is this year of Vicelessness meaningful? How? How am I feeling? What am I learning?

I believe:
This year is valuable because my view of food has shifted. I am a work in progress that is progressing. I have learned that it is very easy to not eat certain foods and yet still not eat healthy. I make choices and I need to continue to challenge myself to balance eating healthy with a bit of eating for only "fun." I need to noticing when I've had enough and stop at that point.

Weekend Update

Ate too much chicken Friday
Packed my lunch Saturday for all day concession
Made good choice at Mexican restaurant Sunday, went on 2 hour walk, and made butterscotch pudding

"A sandwich, an apple, and a pack of NABs" -Hugh Nelson Billhimer

Today's title quote is the lunch my Dad packed (and frequently talked about) for years when I was a kid. We laughed about it as a family often and it still makes me smile now. Hard to explain how this somewhat simple lunch could be noteworthy. All I can say is that my Dad had a way of making ordinary things fun. In case you don't know NABs are sandwich crackers made up of peanut butter between 2 bright orange cheesey crackers wrapped up in a 4 or 6 pack. I believe the name is for a popular brand but any flavor or brand is still referred to as NABs. I bring this up because I was thinking about it on my way to work while I also pondered my own successful afternoon ride home snack on an apple, a hunk of cheese, and a few peanuts. This ride home snack has been followed lately by a nice long walk with my dog when I get home. The weather has been unseasonably warm joined with the longer days -- the joy of the anticipation of spring.

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I did have one slice of Supreme pizza last Monday (posted earlier about this) as I ate with co-workers. I savored every wonderful bite, I wanted more but was glad later I stopped at one.

Alone Time -- Possible Pizza

With my husband away my eating would normally be greasy, potatoes, chip ,popcorn driven. Instead I've been trying some new recipes that would probably not interest him.

• Flourless chickpea and peanut butter pancakes (a little beany after taste but did satisfy my craving and curiosity-- I actually had a dream about them before I made them)
• Cauliflower pizza dough as previously posted but subbing in frozen broccoli/cauliflower "rice" saving tons of time and messy cleanup (texture is a bit chunkier but set-up well)
• Salmon in homemade mushroom soup ( I'm my father's daughter, I love all things fish)

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I've also done plenty of snacking on kale chops and dried peas and beans (leftover from my Super Bowl "party") and ice cream with fudge sauce.

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I'm a bit unsure about Monday. Our school is hosting an all county schools' band day. I will be taking our guest conductor to Pizza Hut. I hope to order salad bar with the backup plan of one slice of pizza (if for some reason that's awkward etc).

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I lately feel really good about my size. I don't feel like I'm on a diet and yet I'm not gaining weight either. My energy and flexibility are very good. I'm not winded after directing the band or straining to clip my toe nails. I look forward to focusing more on amounts of food after this year is up. As I've mentioned, and it is very worth repeating, I'm so glad my dog gets me and my husband moving (and laughing).

No Sugar or Caffeine for 3 Days

I am on my 3rd day with no sugar or coffee (I usually put cream and sugar in my daily drink)

I have avoided all the obvious sugars both natural and artificial

I have avoided caffeine 

I have not had gum or fruit


******

I have felt fine, hungrier at lunch especially, but I think this has more to do with me having been sick recently.

I am very much looking forward to drinking coffee tomorrow morning with some of my pumpkin bread.

I am also looking forward to buying some fun veggy snacks today for the Super Bowl tomorrow night - I'll probably get some cheesy kale chips and other stuff like that I've posted about.

In conclusion I don't have a physical addiction to caffeine or sugar but I do use them to ease life's challenges and to soothe myself, something I want to pay attention to. I have been eating battered fried fish and chicken, not often but I'm not avoiding it either--they've lately been an ongoing "exception." My true goal is to be viceless, a goal that continues to challenge me as I realize more and more how the line between enjoying food and abusing it is often greyed in my mind and actions.

Rice and Noodles and February Goals

The past 4 days have not been the best. Saturday morning I started to feel queasy and the thought of food was not appetizing. I stuck with Sprite and eventually on Sunday moved to rice then  Ramen on Monday. Today I had a normal breakfast but my lunch of just shelled pumpkin seeds tasted good but I'm back to queasy again. It's very strange.

*****

My February goals are to get back on track with my eating plan, eat more veggies, and spend 3 days this month sugar free and Blog about it.

Chicken Fingers Have a Hold on Me!

Not sure why but I can't stop thinking about chicken especially dipping chicken fingers. I also want to slurp spaghetti and crunch into a potato chip. I have allowed only the chicken fingers because it's so random and so persistent.

Half Way!

As of January 13th I reached 6 months in and 6 months to go on my decision to avoid certain foods for a year, woot woot!

Drinking Water and Visiting People

The more water I drink the easier it is to drink. When I stop it's hard to "make" myself drink for some reason. 48 ounces a day this time of year is a good amount for me.

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When visiting offer to bring or prepare a meal. It's a great way to manage food decisions and your host will probably appreciate the gesture as well.

Sugar Addict?

I'm really wondering about my sugar intake. Am I addicted to sugar? I know I don't consume as much as some people  (I rarely to never drink any soda and desserts are a treat.) Still lately I notice I eat sweets more than I used to (ice cream often with fudge sauce, 1 teaspoon in morning coffee, chocolate whenever it's offered, lots of pie over the holidays). I don't think I have a deep problem but I don't want to develop one either. I'm thinking about taking the 3 day sugar cleanse shared here:

https://www.wellandgood.com/good-food/beginners-guide-to-cutting-out-sugar/?utm_source=eatclean&utm_medium=socialswap&utm_campaign=wgeatclean

It says less than 15 grams of sugar per serving is OK. I'm gonna start by reading some labels. I'm presuming it's ok to eat fruit, I love an apple in my lunch and berries on my oatmeal.