Saturday, Watching the rain come down

By katiebird | Published: March 27, 2010

Just4Today, I’m not going to eat between meals and I’m not going to take seconds – I’ll walk at least 3 miles (at the ghost mall if the rain doesn’t let up) take my fiber supplement, drink 2 liters of water & eat less than 6 teaspoons (24 grams) of added sugar.

(still buzzing from the thrill of Trisha Ashley’s visit — she’s one of my favorite authors)

Well, I’m still working on Websites – Nancy Pickard’s (and she’s my official favorite author! – of course) as we get ready for the launch of her new book, The Scent of Rain and Lightning on May 4th. I’ve been working on a new section of pages that will excite long-time readers of Nancy’s old blog. So, keep your eyes out for that.

We’ve added a new section for those of you who’d like to learn a little about The Scent of Rain and Lightning while you wait to read it for yourself.

And we added a Guestbook and I know she’d love to hear from all of her friends.

May 4th will be here before you know it – if you’d like to order a signed copy of The Scent of Rain and Lightning, here’s the information.

We decided that we wouldn’t do a formal make-over with a grand opening.  So, new pages will be showing up regularly for at least the next 6 months.  And I suspect that they’ll be more after that — we can’t seem to stop the ideas. Stop by anytime to let Nancy know what you think of her books and the site.

(Whew) That’s what I’ve been doing when I’m not thinking about food & eating.

What’s been going on with you?

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Friday, Dangerous ideas

By katiebird | Published: March 26, 2010

Just4Today, I’m not going to eat between meals and I’m not going to take seconds. Also, I’ll walk at least 3 miles, drink 2 liters of water, take my fiber supplement AND not eat more than 24 grams (6 teaspoons) of added sugar.

So far so good. Now the dangerous idea (what do you think): I’m thinking about making my own chocolate Easter eggs.

I just finished reading Chocolate Wishes by Trisha Ashley and she makes it sound both easy and fun. (I’m thinking) They’d make good gifts.  And I might even end up with less chocolate in the house than I would from just going to the drug store to buy my Easter Treats.

Can I pull this off?

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Thursday, Don’t rain on my parade

By katiebird | Published: March 25, 2010

(JustToday) I’m not going to eat between meals and I’m not going to take seconds. And :: I’ll walk at least 3 miles, take my fiber supplement, drink 2 liters of water and limit added sugars to 24 grams (6 teaspoons.)

That list is getting a little long but, each of those things has become an important element of my daily routine.  So, that’s a good thing.

And there really isn’t a bad thing to match.  In fact creating (and sticking to) a routine has helped my general productivity.  I’m writing more – not just here but over at The Confluence too (Thursday is my day for the morning news post).

The REAL productivity impact has been on my web work though.  I don’t know if it’s the walking or the greater control over my eating habits (as Nancy said a couple of days ago: “Why don’t I remember how much better I feel when I don’t overeat?”) It’s not just ideas — I’m getting a TON of ideas — I’m also figuring out really terrific ways of implementing them.  And I LOVE that!

So that’s it.  As long as it doesn’t rain.

How is it going with you?

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Wednesday, for Nancy

By katiebird | Published: March 24, 2010

Just4Today, I’m not going to eat between meals and I’m not going to take seconds. AND I’ll take my fiber supplement, walk at least 3 miles, drink 2 liters of water (deep breath) and I’ll limit added sugars to 24 grams (6 teaspoons.)

This is the sort of day that I’d probably just write-off if I didn’t have an official partner, my friend Nancy. Mister and I took our regular walk yesterday and I don’t know what happened but, it totally knocked the salt out of me. I felt like I’d run the 2.5 miles instead of walking them at my usual (poky) pace.

Or maybe it’s not me.  Maybe it’s the fact that at 9 a.m. there is fog down to the ground and it looks more like evening than mid-morning outside.  Even Tommy-the-dog hasn’t woken up yet.

In any case, it’s past time for me to get up and get going :: and what are you going to do today?

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Tuesday, Don’t eat anything bigger than your head?

By katiebird | Published: March 23, 2010

Just4Today, I’m not going to eat between meals and I’m not going to take seconds. Also,  I’ll walk at least 3 miles, take my fiber supplement & eat less than 24 grams (6 teaspoons) of added sugars.

Whew. That’s starting to take a serious commitment just to type out the list!

My friend, Carolyn, at Many Years Young found an interesting article:

Growing by Biblical Portions: Last Supper Paintings Over Millennium Depict Growing Appetites

“We took the 52 most famous paintings of the Last Supper (from the book ‘Last Supper,’ 2000) and analyzed the size of the entrees, bread and plates, relative to the average size of the average head in the painting,” said Wansink.

The study found that the size of the entrées in paintings of the Last Supper, which according to the New Testament occurred during a Passover evening, has progressively grown 69 percent; plate size has increased 66 percent and bread size by about 23 percent, over the past 1,000 years.

Well, lifestyles have changed a lot over the last 1,000 years.  But, I doubt that our routines require us to eat 69% more food than our ancestors! Wow.

I don’t mention portion control in my daily list but, measuring portions is a regular habit. A few years ago Mister measured each type of our bowls (using a measuring cup to fill them with water)  Then he took a group photo of all & labeled the photo with the volume for each.

It’s been very helpful — now we can accurately match the bowl we use to the serving size we plan to eat. We have one set of bowls (gigantic bowls) that has only been used for soup ever since!

I could babble on about our plates and the serving-gourds we use that are actually measuring cups with big long handles but, I’d rather hear about you::

What are you going to do today?  And do you have any tricks for making portion control less painful?

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