Counting Calories Sucks

It does. No doubt about that. I’ve been using Lose It! to track my food and exercise to help me lose weight.

My Weighloss Dashboard

I usually eat the same things for breakfast and lunch. So when I get to work in the morning, I log all my breakfast, lunch, and proposed exercise into the site before I eat. It lets me know how many calories I have for the day based on a one pound a week weight loss.

I had a big dinner last night (don’t judge me) so I wasn’t really hungry earlier today. I’m not going to eat if I’m not hungry. So today I’ve had two cups of coffee and an apple and its 12:45pm (yes, I will have lunch I just need to wait for my worker to get back). If I don’t run today, I have about a thousand calories. Sounds like a lot huh? Once you figure in the extras like cheese or a snack, its not that much. (If I run today which I probably will, then I have 1500 calories to play with).

Counting calories starts to dominate your thoughts. Okay how many calories is this? How many do I have left? If I stop drinking coffee all together, can I have this? Then there’s alcohol and artificial sweeteners. Beer has lots of calories but liquor has less. I try to limit my intake of liquor. Aleta + liquor=bad decisions. I also try to limit my intake of artificial sweeteners too. But I have a sweet tooth for sugar. I don’t want to eliminate sugar from my diet. I just want to lose 20 pounds so I can be healthier and run faster…

Recipe Adventure

I had so much fun baking this weekend. I forgot how much I really enjoy trying a new recipe even if it doesn’t turn out the way I think it should. I’m going to pick two new recipes each week: one baking related and one dinner. I’ll make them, photograph the results and do a post on them. Of course I will provide my snappy/witty banter for all to read! I haven’t picked them out yet. Stay tuned!

Lemon Cake

For Andy’s birthday I wanted to bake a delicious layer cake. I thought it would be best to do a test cake first to see how the oven worked. I chose a lemon cake recipe because lemon cake is delicious and forgiving. I’ve never baked with buttermilk or marshmallow creme. But the photo on the recipe looked delicious and the recipe used real lemon juice. So despite a head cold, I baked away.

First off, marshmallow creme is a serious pain. It’s incredibly sticky and hard to get out of the jar and even harder to get off of the counter. It turns out I didn’t have the 16 ounces of marshmallow creme that I needed. I only had 7 ounces. So I attempted to half the icing recipe. This was a little disaster as the icing looked like it was curdling when I poured in the lemon juice.

But in the end Andy loved the cake and that’s all that matters.

Andy’s Birthday

After 2 years of Andy asking for a pressure cooker, I finally caved and bought him one for his birthday.

For dinner we went to Bella Union in Jacksonville and had oysters and beer. Honestly they were some of the best oysters we’ve ever had. Best thing is that every Thursday through April, they have oysters and beers on special.

Perspective

My friend was diagnosed with Stage 2 breast cancer recently. She had surgery and now they are evaluating her condition to see if she needs chemo or radiation.

I was in the women’s sauna at the YMCA feeling sorry for myself. All the ladies had great lean bodies. I do not. But I’m working on it. A lady came in and I thought ‘Finally someone that’s a bit plumper like me.’ Then I noticed she had one breast. She didn’t try to hide her scar with a towel and met my gaze with beautiful hazel eyes. I was glad I was in the sauna and no one could tell if it was tears or sweat rolling down my face.

I thought about another friend who is going through a tough time with a family member and another whose love life didn’t work out the way she thought it would. And I cried/sweated some more. I don’t know who I was crying for: the woman in the gym? She didn’t need my tears? My friend with breast cancer? Nah. She’ll kick cancer’s ass. My friend whose love life didn’t turn out the way she thought it would? I don’t thinks so. She’s wickedly tough. Or were the tears for my friend whose loved one is having a rough time? Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t know anymore.

Adventures in Klamath Falls, OR

Andy and I drove to Klamath Falls to visit Klamath Basin Brewing Company. We took a back road route to see more of what Southern Oregon has to offer. It was a windy road. There was some car sickness involved. but the scenery was gorgeous.

There were a lot of frozen bodies of water along the way:

Klamath Basin Brewing Company is a pretty cool place even if Andy and I did show up minutes before the big Ducks Rose Bowl Game.

Baked Brie Deliciousness

My mom bought us a new toaster/convection oven for Christmas. Our old one was on its decline. After ten years, the door no longer shut without the aid of a heavy bamboo cutting board and the plug was slowly being melted due to being squashed into tight kitchen spaces. We were eager to use our new one. Especially Andy.

OMG!

Touch the buttons

I saw this recipe for “Bite-sized Baked Brie” a few days ago and thought it looked like a winner. The recipe had a lot going on for it: simplicity and deliciousness. Two things I love. Earlier in the evening I showed Andy the recipe and he said “We have brie. And you have pie crusts.” Yes we did.

I knew the finished product would turn out exactly the same due to the puff pastry vs. pre-made pie crusts. But I had boysenberry jam on my side. On the first batch I spilled some (okay a lot) of the egg wash on top of the soon-to-be baked deliciousness. So I thought, “what if I dump all the egg wash in there?” I mean egg, cheese, jam, and crust all goes together pretty well.

Baked Deliciouness with Egg

Andy liked it. In fact you liked it so much, he burnt his mouth multiple times on the baked brie. Here he is lecturing the second batch after he picked up yet another baked brie and almost burned his mouth again.

You will not burn me again!

The second and third batch were also delicious. I experimented with topping the baked brie with a bit of sugar, adding more brie, and adding more jam. The baked brie deliciousness was good warm and good room temperature.

Baked Brie Deliciousness

Make this for your next dessert or bring to a party. I plan on trying this again but with puff pastry and a variety of jams.

Running In Ashland, OR

After walking/hiking up Park Street.

Park Street is so long and steep you actually cannot see the main road.

Park Street

Lithia Water

In downtown Ashland, there is a fountain that pumps in Lithia water. According to the metal sign next to the fountain, the town originally pumped in the spring water into the town in hopes of positioning Ashland as a center for health and wellness in the early 1900′s. However, the spring water contained so many minerals it quickly plugged up the pipes thwarting the plans. I think the plans were thwarted by the sheer smell of the water. It has a nasty rotten egg (sulfur)smell and a weird carbonization that makes me want to spit it out.

Many people, mainly tourists drink the water not knowing how bad it tastes. Andy and I dared each other when we first came upon the fountain. I was able to keep the water in my mouth longer. However, Andy keeps giving it a try each time we go by drinking a bit more each time.

Sizing up the challenge

Going in for the drink

The aftermath

Merry Christmas

Andy chilling

This makes all the moving worthwhile