Hanging Gardens of My Kitchen

I've always wanted an window garden in my kitchen.  Grow a few herbs (this was before I realized I'm apparently incapable of growing herbs indoors) or maybe some tiny little succulents like aloe or hen and chicks.

THE PROBLEM:

I have one window with a good sill in my kitchen, and I have cats.  Who love the window sill.  Desperately.  And who are about as graceful as a dumptruck.

I figured my window garden was doomed.  Years ago, I had some plants on a little tray table in my apartment, and I was constantly picking the pots up from the floor.  I assumed this would be, if anything, even worse.

Then I saw a friend link to this list on Buzzfeed.com and the wheels starting turning.  It's all about small space and container gardens for not a lot of money.

THE SOLUTION:

Hanging window garden!

I don't have the plants yet, because apparently I'm crazy and you can't buy succulents at Lowe's in January, but otherwise I'm ready to go.

Total cost out of pocket = $16

• painted tin buckets - $4 at Target ($1 each)
• 7/8" dowel rod - $2.50 at Michaels
• curtain rod brackets - $6 at Bed Bath and Beyond (clearanced for $2.99 each)
• cactus soil - $3 at Lowe's (markdown for torn open bag)
• jute twine - was already laying around the house

Just need the valance/cafe curtains on the window and the plants for my buckets and I finally have my kitchen garden!

A few thoughts on Getting Healthy!

The Daily Challenge at MeYou Health is built around this idea. Health.com slideshows devoted to it. I was doing it by myself because the bigger goals seemed to intimidating. What am I talking about?

Small Actions. Baby Steps. Mini-goals.

Call them whatever you want, but time and time again, it's been found that this is the best way to make a big change in your life. With weight loss, they may not give you the most immediate results, but they're going to be the things that you stick with.

Swaps are the easiest baby step to take. Here are some that have worked really well for us.

• Iced Tea instead of Diet Coke (Carl)
• Whole Grain/Whole Wheat/High Protein Pasta instead of Semolina Pasta
• Pita Chips instead of Potato Chips (mine)
• Edy's Fruit Bars instead of Ice Cream
• Seltzer/Homemade Sodas instead of Mass Produced Soda
• Trail Mix instead of Junk Food
• Jayone Rice Rolls or Ryvita Fruit and Nut instead of Cookies
• Kashi Cereals instead of High Carb/Low Protein Options (mine)
• Almond Milk instead of Cow's Milk (mine)

Little stuff. When we crave crispy, we eat crispy. When we want pasta we eat pasta. If I want milk, I drink milk. We just make the smarter choice.

Carl is walking and doing more and more of the really nearby (within a few blocks) errands. I'm riding my bike to do the ones that are a little further (Up to 5 mile round trip). We drive if it's too far to walk/ride or if it involves hauling something home, like the case of seltzer I bought last night.

We've both opted to completely ignore the numbers. I look out of curiosity and because Lyam is diabetic and I like to have an idea of carb counts for him, and because I need to make sure I get enough protein at breakfast, but that's it. The only number we're concerning ourselves with is our respective pants sizes.

We don't count carbs. We don't count calories, points or fat. We don't weigh ourselves. We don't even own a scale. We promised not to drive if we don't need to. We promised that every time we light the grill, we're going to add a vegetable too. We promised to support each other and to help each other make smarter eating decisions. And he promised to let me buy new bras and underwear if I can get below 200 lbs.

I'm beginning to see that he's losing weight (in fact, he just told me he's wearing shorts he couldn't fit in 2 weeks ago!). When my Grandma wanted me to weigh myself the other day, I discovered that along with a pants size, I had dropped 16 lbs!

And the best part is, by making swaps instead of sacrifices, the only thing I miss is cheese, and since I've become quite lactose intolerant, there's not a lot I can do with that one, except have 1 or 2 slices of swiss on a sandwich when I can't take the craving anymore. If I have more dairy than that or anything and creamier, I get too sick and it's not worth it.

Screw the numbers. Start small. Eat Smart. Do more. Lose weight. Get happy.

Don't dwell on the numbers. If you do the right thing, the numbers will follow.

Make little changes. Don't say, I'm never going to have pasta again. Instead, say "I'll have pasta less often and when I do it will be whole grain (or veggie pasta, whatever works for you)"

Make smarter food choices. If you have a fast food craving, don't make yourself suffer, get the kids meal. 20 years ago, that was the value meal anyway at most places. Plus, you get free toy!

Get off your ass! Park a row further from the building at work. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk the long way around the building. All that little stuff adds up!

The inches/pounds/sizes will come off. Have faith in that. It may take a little longer before you see results, but you won't give up before you see them like you would on a crazy diet.

The happy happens all by itself. And it multiplies every time someone says you look thinner. Or that what you're doing must be so hard (and you know it isn't!)

One more time!

Screw the numbers. Start small. Eat Smart. Do more. Lose weight. Get happy.

Train, Train! Take me on out of this town.

Ok, it's really more like "Take me on out of this self-defeating, half-assed backwards mindset," but what can I say, I'm sort of a Blackfoot fan.

This past year sucked. Say it with me: "2010 sucked!" But, at the risk of turning into a walking cliche, there's been a silver lining in a lot of it.

Sure, my house almost burned down, but I didn't have to finish painting the 3rd floor and we got a kitchen/bathroom remodel.

Sure, I dislocated my knee and was out of work 3 weeks. but I got like a dozen afghans done for charity.

On the downside, is that all of the upheaval and, let's be honest, boredom, has lead to a lot of really, REALLY lousy eating habits.(And a serious Facebook addiction.) For so long, we were forced to eat based on convenience and now it's become our first instinct. We used to relish a chance to cook together, now we don't bother unless it's 3 days till the next check and there's $10 in the bank account.

I made fantastic Chipotle Corn Chowder for dinner the other night, but not because I had a brilliant recipe idea, it was because all I had left in the fridge was frozen corn, a stick of butter and a little milk.

At any rate, I ran into an old friend the other day, and she looked AWESOME! (Good for you, JuneBug!) Turns out, all she's doing different from my fat ass, is that she's actually doing all the things I keep meaning to do. Regular Yoga, eating the way she needs to, and so on. Basically, not being a useless lump after she punches out from work.

WAIT! That's all I need to do? Really? I swear on all that is holy and good, there really is something wrong with me. I can't even get my prescription filled on time. (Which I was gonna do tonight, I swear.)

And then I was sitting and thinking about it, I know I'm lactose intolerant, why do I continue to eat dairy? Why do I say, "well, I could have a little more milk before I have to worry about getting sick"? When I should be saying "I don't normally eat that, but for your birthday, I could have a smidge of Ice Cream."

I know that I can't eat onions. (Migraines) Yet over and over again, I find myself staring at Scallions or Chives saying "if I'm careful not to eat much of it, I'll be fine." When I should be saying "I should just skip this" or "I need to learn to cook this myself, you know, onion free, so I don't risk puking or missing work."

I genuinely love healthy goodies like dried fruit, nuts and seeds. So why don't I eat them?? I have a huge bag of almonds, could I tell you where it even is? Nevermind, when the last time I actually ate some of them.

I love Yoga. It centers me. It makes me feel awesome, spiritually and physically. If I did yoga yesterday, I can almost guarantee I'll do yoga today. Problem is, if life happens and I have to skip a day, it takes me like a week (or sometimes more) to get around to it again. Why??? What's wrong with me?

I could keep whining and say "I have OCD, I can't help it, I fixate on everything that sucks." Let's be honest, I'm on meds for that (which I still need to get refilled) and I know that I train myself to fixate on the good instead of the crap, I've done it in the past.

I'm not happy at work. Things are finally changing for the better, but it all feels like too little too late. So why don't I fixate on the things that do make me happy, you know, the not work stuff. How about yoga and almonds, cuddling with the cat or the fact that after almost 5 years, I'm still glad I married my husband. This isn't rocket science. It's easy stuff.

I need to just keep my eyes on the prize. No more onions, limit dairy to dry cheeses like parmesan and cheddar or things like sheep's milk feta which doesn't upset my stomach. Eat smaller, healthier snacks. Enjoy my food for the flavor, not the quantity. Pack a lunch, have breakfast at home.

Back to the basics! Need to get it right this time. Aside from the fact that I can't keep up with my favorite 4 yr old any more, I need to not look like a moose in the pictures at my sister's upcoming wedding.

Share with me! What have your "get healthy" victories been? Keep me motivated.

I'm not going to track my progress with weight loss. I'm going to track it in pants sizes. I'm also going to pay a visit to a giant staircase not far from our house (90 steps) and time myself climbing up and back down. Every week I'm going to go back and time myself again. I'm going to post the times here to keep myself honest.

Wish me luck.

This Hippy Has a Plan

So, things have got to change at this hippy's house. We're disorganized at best and it shows almost more than anywhere else in our eating habits. And we both ought to get it under control, because we need to get our weight maintained better for our health. I have arthritis in my spine and really bad knees and he has acid reflux and apnea. It's all aggravated by excess weight, which let me tell you, we have plenty of at this house.

So, we have a dear friend who also needs to make some major changes for health reasons, and she has a diabetic son. So, our family is going to support her family and vice versa. We have some similar hurdles, like a tendency to skip breakfast, and not eat as regularly as we should. We all need to get our portions under control, especially for snacks.

Our plan is not the same as hers, but they're similar enough that we can help each other a lot. As steps of the plan become habit, we're gonna add new things, until we're doing what we need to do.

So here's the plan:
No more high fructose corn syrup.

No "regular" pasta where it's avoidable. We're gonna use whole wheat and high protein whenever it's possible. (Try finding whole wheat Acini de Pepe in this area.)

Eat breakfast everyday.

Smaller snacks more often. (Not one huge snack late at night.)

Pack a lunch.

Plan out a whole week's meals at a time so we can shop more effectively.



Wish us luck.