March 20, 2012

What a piggy!

Not me--although I'm sure you were thinking it! ;)

Last night, Jerry, the boys, my mom, and I all went to a local dairy farm to get ice cream and see the animals. I didn't eat dinner, since I had La Pita for lunch just a few hours prior, so I just counted my ice cream as dinner. I couldn't decide between coconut ice cream or maple nut--so I had a half-scoop of each.

I actually really like the fact that this place is true to portions. They don't call it a scoop and then pile the ice cream a mile-high. One scoop is literally one scoop--a perfect serving size.

Anyway, we took our ice cream outside where we could smell see the animals while we ate. The geese are mean! They were hissing and being really pesty. We bought a bag of food to give them (which I'm pretty sure was just dog food in a paper bag), and the kids threw that around.

Jerry was terrified of getting eaten by a goose, so he used Eli as a shield. What a baby.
There were a couple of horses that came right over to us and were practically begging for us to pet them, but I was kind of terrified of them. I've never had a fear of horses before, but I discovered that I definitely do now. They're huge!

My favorite animals at the farm are the calves. They're tiny and adorable, and they always try to suck on my arm when I pet them. Jerry discovered what they do when you stand too close and don't pay attention:
(I showed Jerry that picture and all he said was, "Why do I look so ugly?!")

The pigs made me laugh so hard! There was one walking around (not confined at all) and I thought maybe he was blind or something. And maybe deaf, too. He walked right between where we were standing, without even a glance our way. And by walk, I mean strolled as slowly as possible. Then he parked his butt down right in front of one of the calves for a rest.
I thought he was super cute, because he was so chunky. But then I noticed another pig who took "chunky" to a whole new level!
This one didn't even blink (at least I don't think so--it's hard to tell because his eyes are so buried!) I wonder if he can even walk? I don't know, maybe it's normal for a pig to get that big.

There are a lot of animals that have something wrong with them--a cow with a bad foot, who they confined to a spot in the barn with a bunch of hay for soft footing until she heals; a cat who was missing one eye; the blind and deaf? pig; and probably some others. When we saw a bunch of cats roaming around, Jerry and I both said "Phoebe would LOVE it here!" She'd fit right in, too, because she only has half of a tail. Phoebe loves to be outside and would be in heaven on a farm.

We saw some pregnant cows who were laboring in a stall. One time when I was there, I saw a cow give birth. It was really cool to see! But my mom asked how close these cows were to giving birth, and the guy who worked there said it could be tonight or it could be another 3 days--hard to tell.

When we were getting ready to leave, we saw a goose walk by, and it looked like it was smoking a cigarette...
Isn't that funny? I tried to get closer to see what it was, but it kept running from me. It looked kind of like a clip of some sort hooked to it's beak.

The boys had a blast, and asked if we could go back tomorrow. I've taken them there plenty of times before, but they never liked it as much as they did last night. Maybe I can turn it into a Monday-evening thing while I do my long runs. Refueling with ice cream is the best!

Oh, and speaking of that... I think it's obvious that I have a sweet tooth. My cravings are awful sometimes most of the time! I've learned to live with it, and even to lose 125 pounds while indulging my cravings, but I really do think it would be best to cut back a little. When I saw a challenge on SparkPeople called "Tame Your Sweet Tooth" I decided that I should try it.

The first step is taking a quiz to see how your sweet tooth is... and my results?
My sugar cravings are "out of control". Shocking, right? I know, I couldn't believe it either.



A couple of people asked me about sodium and running, since I mentioned on my blog yesterday that I made sure to eat a high sodium snack the night before, and I added a pinch of salt to my water. Here is a page from a book called Runner's World Best: Competitive Running:
 That explains it better than I can. I never really gave much thought to it before, because I only did shorter distances, but now that I'm marathon training, I have to make sure to keep my electrolytes balanced. For once, I'm not getting all technical with the numbers--just trying to increase my sodium a little for the long runs.

15 comments:

  1. It's always a buzz to give your children a real treat like that. It just gets a bit expensive when you have 5! I like taking them to a place called Zoodoo which has resident farm animals but also has zebras, lions, tigers, etc... there isn't a special 'treat' area just a normal/expensive take away spot which has zero good food, not even sandwiches (but there is a DIY BBQ area).

    Sodium is possibly what's wrong with me - some of those symptoms I get after I do all the right things ie excercise and drink all my water (sometimes at once! I've learnt its worse when I do that!) I used to think it was pre diabetes low blood sugar levels and when I was less concerned I'd eat a bit of sugar, but now I don't eat hardly any sugar I still get it. Low sodium might be a good explanation. Thanks as usual, informative and personal all rolled into one which makes your blog so engaging!

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  2. Out of curiosity: why did you choose Spark People instead of something like My Fitness Pal? I am struggling with each app giving me different caloric needs!!! Sigh.
    BTW- I love all the animals. :)

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    1. I chose SparkPeople because I liked the way the nutrition log was set up--I could do all of my food measurements in grams, and on My Fitness Pal I couldn't do that. If I could do grams on MFP, I would probably be more likely to use it, because it's very simple and straight-forward. SparkPeople takes some time to get used to the website, because there is so MUCH.

      And yes, all the apps will give different caloric needs. I just used Spark as a baseline, and then I realized I needed more than they suggested. I changed my calorie range to what I wanted it to be.

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  3. What a cute top!!!

    That looks like Calder Dairy, I haven't been there in years! My favorite ice cream place EVER is Moomers, in Traverse City. There are days I have considered driving 4.5 hours in my car to have some!!

    Thanks for the heads up on the salt! I wouldn't have thought to do that. Today I popped some natural fruit strips during my run, it helped!

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  4. I am glad that you mentioned hyponatremia. Not long after I graduated from Basic Training, there was a death due to hyponatremia. A trainee was complaining that he didnt feel well and the instructors kept telling him to drink water. So he drank...It just wasnt well known then.

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  5. When we went to Wisconsin last summer, my in-laws took us to a local dairy farm and we saw a lot of similar things. No ice cream, though, sadly. I did get to feed the baby calves with a bottle though! And there was one calf that had just been born a few hours before we got there.

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  6. awww Jerry is not ugly!

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  7. LoveAnAnimalMarch 20, 2012

    Loved, loved, loved your farm pics and story!!! So funny!!! Mmmmm...I can only imagine how yummy the ice cream was.

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  8. I've been following your blog for about 2 months now and I love to see all your fun posts. It keeps me motivated to keep going. Keep up all your good work!

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  9. Hrmm that is very interesting about the salt! I love all the animals, especially the pigs! They are soooo cute!!!!

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  10. When I was really little I was chased by a goose. They are so mean sometimes, you wouldn't even imagine that they'd be so mean, but they are. I always remember that. Farm animals are so neat though. I hope your kids always remember that experience with all the animals!

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  11. I remember taking my kids to a place like that when they were little. They loved it! I'm a sucker for an animal with issues. I once almost adopted a basset hound who was old, shaky, almost blind, and who I was told "probably had a thyroid problem". While I went to ask my vet about the thyroid problem, the dog was adopted by someone else. Seems I'm not the only softie in our town. :)

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  12. I think they're pot-bellied pigs, and they get humongous! Pigs are only cute when they're piglets. After that they become immense and have big balls, just the boys I think ;)

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  13. Sounds like fun at the Zoo/Farm place. I work on the Ag. Campus of the University, and right downstairs is the dairy store, which is always voted BEST ice cream in town. Thank goodness, even though I too have a severe sweet tooth, ice cream is just 'okay' in my book. I can take it or leave it. Probably dates back to my dislike of milk. My mother told me I didn't even like my formula as a baby. I forced down my milk during school lunches until I got to junior high and they no longer made us and I think that was the last glass (carton) of milk I ever drank. I use a little on my cereal, just to wet it down, but never drink it out of the bowl when the cereal is gone. Now, don't get me wrong, I LIKE ice cream, but it leaves that milk taste in my mouth when I'm done, which I HATE. However, if you offer me a cookie, piece of cake or candy, I am all over it!!!

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  14. oh it is almost time for the geese to lay their eggs, you can see them starting to pair off. they get MEAN when they have potential babies around.
    does this farm just take in animals with problems?
    -lessoff

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