Peroneal tendinitis

Yesterday was the third day of rest (due to an issue with my foot), and my foot was feeling a lot better. I was tempted to go for a run in the afternoon, but decided against it--I figured it'd be better to give it one more day, just to be safe. Due to the type and location of the pain, I really think it was peroneal tendinitis caused from doing too much on Sunday.

I've had peroneal tendinitis a few times before (usually when my shoes need to be replaced), and the first sign of it is pain on the side of my foot. If it's bad, I'll feel the pain up into the lateral side of my leg, which is what happened this time. Usually a few days' rest will take care of it, and it seems to have helped a lot this time, too.

Jerry was off work yesterday, so we decided to give the kids one of their Christmas presents early--the board game Clue--so that we could play it last night. I hadn't played that game in ages! Did you know the revolver is now the pistol? And the billiard room is now called the game room. Anyway, we ordered pizza and played a couple of games of Clue after dinner.

Later, my older brother, Brian, came over for a little bit to visit. I told him that my flight to Portland in March has a layover in Minneapolis, which is where he is based. I told him to try and pick up that flight, so that he'd be the one to fly me to Portland. He's been flying commercially since 2007, and I've never been on one of his flights, so I think it'd be awesome if it could work out that way! I would at least be much less nervous about flying.

After Brian left, Jerry and I watched an episode of Breaking Bad before bed. My food log was pretty bad yesterday, but some days are just like that:

This morning, my foot was still feeling good--not 100% normal yet, but probably 90%--so I wanted to try a run. When I walked Noah to the bus stop, I lightly jogged home, to see how it felt. Then when I got home, I decided to try a three-miler on the treadmill before taking Eli to the bus stop.

I started out nice and easy at 6.0 mph, and my foot was feeling pretty good. For the second mile, I bumped it up to 7.0 mph, and didn't have any problems at all. For mile three, I went back to 6.0 until I got to 2.5 miles, when I noticed that Eli was going to miss the bus if I didn't hurry. I bumped the speed back up for the last half mile.

I'm really glad that my foot is so much better! I am going to plan on going to the Santa Hustle on Sunday, but I'm going to really listen to my body. I'll take it very easy (no time or pace goals) and if my foot starts hurting again, I won't be too proud to call it quits.

I got a new puzzle yesterday. Working on that last puzzle really helped to keep me from snacking at night. The new one looks fun (and probably a little easier than the last):

Noah liked helping me work on the last puzzle, and this morning, he asked me to get him a couple of 300-piece puzzles for Christmas so that he and Eli could work on them together. I'm so glad that he's interested in it! Usually, unless the game or puzzle is in video form, it's "lame" ;)

I just realized that tomorrow is 12/13/14... pretty neat!

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How to count Weight Watchers PointsPlus

Since I've been back to counting PointsPlus (PP), I've gotten several questions about the program--how and when to use activity PP or weekly PP, calculating PP for recipes, etc. I don't work for Weight Watchers, nor am I associated with them in any way, but I know the program like the back of my hand, so I thought I'd write a post explaining it the best I can.

I like to keep a handwritten food journal, but I also use etools (the online version of tracking). When you first join WW, you are assigned a particular number of PP to eat per day (your PP "target"); this number is based on your height, weight, sex, age, etc. The minimum PP target is 26, which is what mine is. The PP target is the minimum number of PP we should eat per day.

On top of the daily target, everyone is given a weekly PP allowance of 49--these 49 "extra" PP can be used any time during the week. My week starts on Wednesday, and ends on Tuesday; therefore, I get a new set of 49 weekly PP every Wednesday. If any are unused by Tuesday night, they are gone--they cannot be carried over to the next week. The weekly PP can be used all at once; spread throughout the week; or not at all. It's completely up to the us how and when to use them.

Finally, there are Activity PP. These are not "given" to us at the beginning of the week; rather, they are earned throughout the week by doing exercise. The amount of Activity PP earned depends on the person's sex, weight, duration of exercise, and intensity. For example, I might earn 4 PP for a 3-mile run. The Activity PP earned can be used for food, just like the weekly PP or daily target PP. They don't *have* to be used; it's up to us how and when to use them.

As part of the PointsPlus system, Weight Watchers has recommended "Good Health Guidelines", or "Healthy Checks" on the app:
Drink 6+ cups of water per day (some other liquids count)
Consume 2 dairy servings per day
Eat 5+ servings of fruits/vegetables per day
Take a daily multivitamin
Consume 2 tsp. of healthy oils per day
Get 30 minutes of physical activity per day.

I admit, I don't follow these; but I wanted to make sure to point them out.

Food is assigned a certain number of PointsPlus, based on the number of carbohydrates, fat, fiber, and protein that food contains. When you eat, you calculate the PP you consumed, and then subtract it from the number of PP you are "allowed" per day.

To calculate the PointsPlus in a food item, you can use the calculator on etools (or use this free one online). You can calculate the PP in a recipe by one of three ways: 1) Enter the ingredients into the etools Recipe Builder, if you have etools; 2) Add up the carbohydrates, fat, fiber, and protein in the entire recipe by looking up those nutrition facts (using labels or a food database), then dividing each by the number of servings. Use the nutrition info per serving to plug into the PP calculator (or the free one I linked above). 3) Use the PP calculator to calculate the PP in each ingredient in the recipe, then add up the PP in the entire recipe, and finally, divide that PP number by the number of servings.

There are a couple of exceptions to calculating the PP in food items: 1) Most fruits and vegetables are considered "free"--ZERO PointsPlus; 2) Alcohol. If you try to figure out alcohol by the nutrition fact label, it won't be accurate (it will probably tell you that it's 0 PP, and while I wish that was true, it's not!). These have to be looked up, but as a general rule of thumb: light beer (12 oz) is usually 3-4 PP; regular beer is usually 4-5 PP; wine is usually 1 PP per ounce (minus 1 PP total--so a 5 oz glass would contain 4 PP, an 8 oz glass would contain 7 PP, etc); liquor is usually 4 PP per 1.5 oz shot.

Food tracking is kind of like balancing a checkbook--you start with your target PP as the balance for the day, then "withdraw" from that target as you eat throughout the day. When your balance gets to 0, you can either stop eating for the day, or you can take a little from "savings" (your Weekly PP or Activity PP).

It is up to the individual whether we choose to dip into the Activity PP first or the Weekly PP first. Personally, I like to use the Weekly PP first, and then when I run out of those, I start dipping into my Activity PP. The Activity PP don't have to be used on the day they are earned; they can be used any time during that current week.

Here is a page from my food log where I only at the minimum 26 PP (this is rare that I only eat 26 PP--usually, I use some of my weekly or activity PP as well):

I list the foods eaten, and then in the first numbers column, I write how many PP that particular item "costs". Then I keep a running balance on the right. My total PP was 26 for that day. The numbers at the bottom show Activity PP earned that day (and then the balance for the week is in the right column); the Activity PP used that day (again, balance in the right column); and then Weekly PP used, and the weekly balance (in this case, it was still 49 PP, because I hadn't yet used any).

Here is yesterday's food log, where I used some weekly PP:

When the balance got down to 0, I took 7 PP from my weekly allowance, bringing that balance to 42.

There are a few Weight Watchers "rules" that I change to fit my needs (for example, I don't do the "healthy checks", even though I probably should; I find when I try to do that, I get overwhelmed and it makes me quit altogether). Also, when I use just a touch of something--say, a squirt of ketchup on my eggs, or a splash of cream in my tea, etc--I don't count it. Even when I was losing weight the first time around, I wasn't completely perfectionist about a few extra calories here or there, and it never hindered my weight loss. I think it's important to make the program work for ME, so that I stick with it.

I find counting PP easier than counting calories, because you don't have to be so precise with measurements, and the fruits and veggies don't have to be counted at all. It's also easy to keep a basic tally in my head how many PP I've consumed that day; when counting calories, it's hard to remember the bigger numbers. Anyway, I hope this post helps explain counting PointsPlus a little better :)

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Tough night

Last night was really, really hard for me to stay on track! The kids were at my parents' house, Jerry was at work, and I was bored. I'd finished my puzzle, I'm not reading a book right now, and there was nothing on TV. Even after I ate my snack (my usual Weight Watchers brownie and wine) I was really itching to eat.

I ended up eating two Dove Promises and having two more ounces of wine. That's actually really impressive to me, because I wanted to eat an entire box of cereal ;) The only thing that stopped me was knowing that I was going to be posting my food log here--I am just really determined not to binge, because I really don't want to have to post about it.

So, even though it wasn't a great day, it could have been MUCH worse. This is the first week I stayed out of the negative in a long time. From Wednesday to Tuesday, a full week, I used all of my weekly PointsPlus and all but ONE of my Activity PointsPlus. So I came out ahead, which is good. (A few people have asked me what all the numbers mean, so I think I'll write about that in a separate post to explain further.)

My weight was down three pounds for the week (yay!)--I guess that's what happens when I track EVERYTHING ;)  Unfortunately, my foot was still really hurting this morning, so I'm still trying to rest as much as possible. It felt a little better today, but definitely still painful. When I'm not moving much, though, I don't get any activity PointsPlus, so it's going to be hard to rein it in a little this week.

Jerry and I went to see a matinee showing of Mockingjay while the kids were at school. I didn't want to end up ordering popcorn at the show, or worse, a big old cookie from Mrs. Fields, so I made some popcorn at home, and then bagged it up to take with us.

We attempted to go see Mockingjay last weekend, but it was sold out of two showings! We're used to being two of about six people in the theater when we go. Today, we went to an 11:50 show, and we were the only ones in there until just before the show started, and then there were about six people total.

I love the seats at our theater. They were just installed about a year ago, and they're so comfy! They're La-Z-Boy style, so we could recline and put our feet up. Perfect to rest my foot! ;)

The movie was good. It didn't follow the book as closely as the first two movies did, but I liked it. I wish that the second part was out already--it's going to be hard to wait to see it!

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Spoiled kitties

I finished my puzzle last night! After I put the kids to bed, I was super determined to get it finished. I poured a glass of wine and got to work. One thousand pieces later, it's finally done:

I've learned that puzzles are fantastic at keeping me from snacking, but they are also fantastic at keeping me from getting other (more necessary) things done ;)  I'll probably do another one, but I'm going to take a break. I haven't taken this one apart, because I put so much work into it, but it can't sit on my coffee table forever. I'm tempted to put puzzle glue on it and mount it. It's a pretty picture!

Yesterday was a hard day for me not to overeat. I was feeling really snacky all afternoon. I'm glad I worked on the puzzle, because once I got busy on that, I stopped thinking about food. My food log from yesterday:

I hadn't made Cabbage Casserole in a long time, and I forgot how much I love it. I'll be making that a lot this winter, I'm sure.

I have no idea what the heck happened between yesterday and today, but I woke up and my foot was absolutely killing me. It's the tendonitis pain that I get when my shoes are too old--but my shoes have less than 200 miles on them, so it's not that. I don't *think* it's the fact that I switched to the Altras, because I've been wearing them for two months without any problems.

I'm wondering if my jump to 12 miles for a long run on Sunday was too much. I would never advise someone else to go from an 8 mile long run to a 12 mile long run in the matter of a week, but that's exactly what I did. So, it could just be from overuse. It didn't hurt during my run yesterday (I just ran 3 miles at an easy pace), but this morning it was really bad.

I was supposed to do hills today, but I took an unscheduled rest day instead, and I barely moved from the couch all day. I really want it to get better ASAP, because I have the Santa Hustle Half-Marathon on Sunday. I'll rest again tomorrow, and reevaluate on Thursday.

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Jerry and I were doing some online shopping for Christmas last week, and we had the idea to get the cats a new cat tree. There were some really fun looking ones on Amazon, and after reading a ton of reviews, we finally bought one. It arrived today, and of course I wanted to put it together right away. It came in a large box, but I still had no idea how it was going to be as large as the specs said!

Estelle jumped into the box before I even got all the pieces out. She was so excited, and she didn't even know yet that it was for her. Every time I built a new layer, she made herself at home on it while I screwed it together.

When I was done putting it together, all three cats were pretty happy. (It seems kind of empty without Paolo, though--he would have loved that empty perch on the left!)

I had no idea if Chandler was going to be able to fit into one of the two boxes on it. He squeezed through the opening, and was SO content all day long (six hours and counting right now...). Anyway, the tree is huge, and kind of an eyesore, but what can I say? We're cat people ;)

(ETA: A couple of people have asked for a link to the tree that we bought. Here is the link it on Amazon. We got the 50"x26"x74" one. Armakat Cat Tree Condo)

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Motivational Monday #90

Happy Motivational Monday! I hope that everyone has had an awesome week. I've managed to have a great week as far as counting points (and I've stuck with my goal of posting my food logs every day). Speaking of which, here is yesterday's food log:

I have a few stories for you for Motivational Monday. Enjoy!

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Carey (on the right) just completed the Via Lehigh Vally Half-Marathon! She wanted to finish it after a "failed attempt" last October, and she started training in May. She set a goal of 3:00, and crossed the finish line in 2:43! She has also lost 60 pounds in the process of training.

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Lori just ran/walked her first 5K! She said she hated running, and never imagined she'd do a race, but after finding my blog, she decided to give it a try. She used Hal Higdon's 5K training plan, modified slightly by her personal trainer, and successfully completed the Reindeer Romp in 43:27--15 minutes faster than she could complete a 5K prior to her 5K training! She makes a fitness goal each year, and her goal for 2015 is to do a 5K race each month--and she hopes that she'll be running the whole race by this time next year.

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Kathryn had always struggled with her weight, and then when her weight was at its highest, she had an accident that caused her to crush her ankle. She needed a steel plate, screws, and bolts to put her ankle back together. After recovering from that surgery, she was at her all time highest weight and very depressed. Along the way, however, she quit drinking, quit smoking, and gave up Diet Coke to get healthier. She dropped 70 pounds, and then after she'd quit smoking, she decided to start using the treadmill. She gave running a try, but was only able to make it about four minutes before she thought her lungs would explode. She kept at it, and as her lungs healed from quitting smoking, she pushed herself more and more. She ran a couple of 5Ks this fall, and she is training for a 10K in the spring. She is proud this week for completing her farthest distance yet--5 miles! She never imagined she would one day be able to run 5 miles straight. She loves running because it has made her more confident in life, and helps her to realize that she can do anything she puts her mind to with patience and perseverance.

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Meg said she almost didn't submit this, because she thinks her time is slow compared to everyone else's. But the whole point of Motivational Monday is to share the health/fitness accomplishment that you're proud of--and she has every reason to be proud! She ran the Detroit Turkey Trot 10K on Thanksgiving, and finished in 1:16:07. That was a PR of over 4 minutes!

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Brandon ran a 5K with his "big brother" Thomas yesterday (Brandon is Thomas's "little brother" from the Big Brothers Big Sisters program), and he set a new course PR by 1:20!

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Don't forget to check out more stories on the Motivational Monday Facebook post!

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A run for a brownie-filled chocolate chip cookie!

My PointsPlus total was a little low yesterday, because I didn't have an afternoon snack (I was working on my puzzle, and didn't want to stop!). Normally, the day before a long run, I try to have a little more food than usual. But anyway, here is my food log:

Today was my long run, and I knew it was going to take me around two hours (for 12 miles), so I headed out as soon as the kids left to go to church with my parents. It was a cold morning--just 27 degrees. I wore my Eddie Bauer clothes, along with my Camelbak. I hadn't used the Camelbak since probably August.

Because I'm running the Santa Hustle Half-Marathon next Sunday, I wanted to keep my pace easy today. I did an out-and-back route that took me past the house where Chelsea Bruck went missing in October. She still hasn't been found, and there aren't any clues as to what happened to her. I thought about her pretty much the entire time I was running. I really do hope that she's found.

My thighs were SO cold the entire time I was running. My hands warmed up and I took my gloves off after a couple of miles, but my thighs were freezing cold and then numb. My face was frozen, and my lips were so dry I thought they were going to be a cracked mess when I got home. Aside from being cold, though, it wasn't a bad run.

I kept my pace on the easy side, 10:15-ish per mile, but it didn't feel as easy as I'd hoped it would. My plan for the half-marathon next weekend was to aim for a 9:23 pace (2:03 finish), but now I'm not so sure I can do that. I think I may aim for a 2:05 finish time, which is a 9:32 pace. My last half-marathon, on November 9th, was a 9:44 pace, so I'm hoping that the 9:32 will be do-able.

The last two miles were really tough. The farthest I've run since my last half-marathon has been 8 miles, so 12 was definitely pushing it. But I never slowed, so I'm happy with that. I really just wanted to get in a 12-miler before the half-marathon next weekend.

It was such a relief to get home. I took a hot shower, and I was a little horrified to see the bright red patches of skin from where the cold really got to me. It was kind of weird looking--a big red circle on each flank, and candy apple red thighs and butt. I put on some warm clothes, and then worked on my puzzle some more. I was hoping to finish it today, but my neck is aching from bending over the coffee table. I'm about halfway done--the whole top part is all leaves, which is going to be extremely difficult to put together. (It looks upside down in the pic, but that's the bottom I put together already--a reflection of the trees in water.)

I was absolutely ravenous all day, likely because I'd burned 1,366 calories on my run! Since I'd earned so many activity PP, I decided to get a treat from Monica's. I got a chocolate chip cookie with a brownie center--these are SO good!

They're not nearly as big as their regular chocolate chip cookies, and I weighed it to calculate the PP. It was 1.75 ounces, which is 6 PP total--not bad at all! I'm also going to have a couple extra ounces of wine tonight. I certainly earned it! ;)

Tomorrow is Motivational Monday, so if you have a photo of a health/fitness accomplishment to submit, you can email it to me with the subject "Motivational Monday" at Katie (at) runsforcookies (dot) com, and I may include it on tomorrow's post! (It's helpful if you can get them to me by Monday morning, because I like to write the post while my kids are in school.)

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Dinner at La Pita

Dinner last night was fantastic! Jerry and I had a "date night", so we decided to either do dinner at La Pita or go to the movies to see Mockingjay. La Pita sounded so good, and we hadn't been there in a long time, so we opted for La Pita. (I suppose we could have done both, but we are getting old--we don't stay out late anymore!)

I wasn't sure what I was going to order, but I ended up getting a new-to-me dish called Ghalaba. The description on the menu was: sautéed carrots, broccoli, onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, and green peppers, served with rice". I love sautéed vegetables, and La Pita's rice pilaf is awesome, so it sounded really good to me. I got a salad to start--I had planned to only eat half of it, but it was so good I ate it all.

I was hungry, and it was hard not to eat the deep-fried pita chips that they put in front of us while we waited for our food! When the food came, it smelled delicious.

The rice portion was HUGE--I estimated 2 cups of rice total, so I just divided it in half (I only planned to eat 1 cup, which is 7 PP). The Ghalaba was amazing--I don't know what they seasoned the veggies with, but it was really good. I estimated that it was 7 PP (veggies are 0, but they were sautéed in oil).

I also ate one small pita (2 PP) and a smear of Jerry's hummus (1 PP). I counted the salad as 3 PP, so the whole meal ended up being about 20 PP. Totally worth it! I love that no matter what I order at La Pita, I never feel gross when I leave there. The food is all healthy (well, maybe not the deep fried pita chips!).

The kids love hummus, so I ordered a large side of hummus to go.

It came with five large pita breads, so for dinner tonight, I made a mock version of La Pita's Chicken Tawook wrap. Chunks of chicken breast, pickles, and hummus, wrapped in a large, thin pita--it sounds really strange, but the ingredients go together so well! The pickles just seemed so odd when I saw it on their menu, but they are definitely necessary. I ordered it once when I was at La Pita, and I never would have thought I'd have liked it that much.

Anyway, here is my food log from yesterday:

Today was a rest day, and I spent it being completely lazy. I didn't even change out of my pajamas until around noon, and then Jerry and I decided to work on a puzzle I'd gotten several months ago.

We learned that Jerry is terrible at puzzles, haha! He was getting so frustrated, while I thought it was almost therapeutic. I didn't even eat an afternoon snack, even though I was hungry, because I didn't want to stop working on it. I haven't done a puzzle since I was a kid, but I really like it! This is a tough one, and right now, I only have the edges and the bottom left quarter of the puzzle done. Maybe I'll finish it up tomorrow, after my long run. Twelve miles on the schedule! Tonight, we're having a movie night with the kids.

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Almonds

Sticking with my goal of posting my food log every day this month, here is my food log from yesterday:

The tuna with Dill Triscuits was SO good. I used to eat that pretty often for lunch, but hadn't had it in a while. I would probably eat tuna every day for lunch if I weren't worried about the mercury warnings!

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I was kind of looking forward to my run today--four miles at an easy pace. For the past few months, I've really been focusing on doing my easy runs at a truly easy pace (the way they're meant to be run), and it makes the easy runs much more enjoyable. The weather was decent today, too--36 degrees and no wind.

I was a little bit cold for the first mile, but after that, I felt really good. I'm starting to really get the hang of the rhythmic breathing technique that I learned from Budd Coates (he describes it in detail in his book, Running On Air). Inhale for three steps, exhale for two. I'm getting to the point where I can do it without even thinking about it. Today, I just focused on the rhythmic breathing to try to keep a steady, easy pace. I was surprised to see how close my splits were when I was done!

The first and fourth mile were only one-tenth of a second apart; and miles two and three were identical down to the tenth of a second. Being a numbers-person, I found that really interesting! Anyway, it was a nice run this morning.

After a shower and some tea, I headed out to Victoria's Secret and Sam's Club. I had a free panty coupon for VS that was going to expire soon, so I wanted to use it. I needed a couple of things from Sam's Club, so I went there while I was out that way.

I wanted to get some more almonds, but those can be a binge-trigger for me. I've been doing well with tracking my food, but I ended up getting the single serving bags of almonds. Normally, when I eat almonds as a snack, I'll measure out 1 ounce, which is 5 PointsPlus. The single serving bags are 1.5 ounces, which is 7 PointsPlus. I never buy the single servings because 7 PP is a lot to spend on a tiny handful of almonds!

Since I tend to overeat them when there is a big bag in the pantry (I might grab a handful a couple of times a day without really considering how many extra calories that adds up to), I thought it may be worth it to just get the single serving bags. This way, I can't just grab a handful; I'll have to open a little pouch, knowing that the contents are 7 PP. It's more PP than I would like to spend on them, but I think it may work out better that way. (Now, if only they sold my beloved dried cherries in single-serving pouches, I'd be all set!)

Well, I've got to get ready to go out tonight. Jerry and I are having a date night, and we decided to go to La Pita. It's been a long time since I've been there! I haven't decided what I'm going to get yet, but I'm going to log it and stay on plan. Warm pita bread sounds so good right now!

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13 Going on 30

First up, yesterday's food log:

I know that my diet is far from perfect, but the reason I chose to post my food logs this month is for the accountability of tracking over the holidays. I'm going to have some good days, and probably some really not-so-good days as far as my diet goes, but my goal is just to track it no matter what--good or bad. The accountability of tracking helps me not to grab a handful of almonds here, or lick the peanut butter knife there. I know there are lots of things I could do better, but this month, my main goal is accountability.

I recently reactivated my Active Link, which is why I earned an Activity PP on a rest day. I always go back and forth with the Active Link; on one hand, I love that it pushes me to be more active outside of my running, but on the other hand, I think it gives me too many Activity PP. I'm going to use it this month, just to see what happens.

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Today, I had 3 miles at a hard effort on the schedule. Lately, a hard effort has been anything under 9:00/mile, so that was my goal. When I walked Noah to the bus stop, it was really cold outside, and I thought for sure I wanted to run on the treadmill. But then after walking back home, I realized it wouldn't be so bad, and it was only 3 miles. Last winter kind of turned me into a big baby about the cold! I used to love temps in the 20's for running.

I decided on my favorite three-mile route, and then headed out in Cold Gear and a fleece jacket. I always feel nervous about running at a hard effort for some reason. It's not like anyone is going to care if I don't hit my goal of sub-9:00's, but I get nervous just the same.

The first half-mile, I felt pretty good, and thought, "I can do this!" But it got hard after that. I wanted to slow down, but I knew I could make it three miles at that pace. I think the problem may have been that I hadn't eaten breakfast before my run. A couple of years ago, I would always run on an empty stomach, and I really preferred that. Then, I started marathon training, so I would eat breakfast before running. And I must have just gotten used to it. Since I was going to be running hard today, I thought I'd wait until I got home to eat; but I probably could have used some carbs beforehand.

Miles one and two were almost identical in pace--8:46.5 and 8:46.8. I started slowing down at the beginning of the third mile, and saw 8:50 on my watch. Then I tried hard to bump it up a little, and managed to pull off 8:32. I took a walk around the block to cool down a bit and catch my breath. It was a tough run, but it felt SO good when I was done! I always love the way I feel after a run at a particularly hard effort.

It feels really good to hit some running goals again! I felt like I was just getting slower and slower all year, which was deflating my confidence in running; but with a little effort, I'm getting better. And it's fun to start dreaming big with my goals again.

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This afternoon, I made some tea and somehow got caught up in a movie on Lifetime Movie Network: 13 Going on 30. I had meant to sit down and read, but with the movie playing, I ended up watching the movie and then reading my book through the commercials.

I was reading "It Was Me All Along", a memoir by blogger Andie Mitchell (mine is a galley copy, but it will be released publicly in January). I'm sure I'll write more about the book once I finish (love it so far!), but it was kind of freaky at one point--I was reading along, and Andie mentioned the movie 13 Going on 30 in the book as I was watching the movie (I had never heard of this movie prior to today). Quite the coincidence!

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Well, I've got to research some German desserts! Noah brought home a paper from school yesterday asking if I can send in a German dessert (because our background is German, the kids are writing reports on their backgrounds). I'm clueless as to what desserts are German, so this should be interesting ;)

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Dates

I never knew that dates (the fruit) could be so complicated! After my post yesterday, there was quite the discussion about whether they were fresh or dried, or if they contained Weight Watchers PointsPlus or not. It was interesting, and prompted me to learn a little more about dates.

The reason I counted them as 0 PP is because according to Weight Watchers, fresh dates are 0 PP; and dried dates are 4 PP (for only 2 dates!). The dates that I bought were labeled as "fresh", but apparently there are different types of fresh dates: soft, semi-soft, or dry. And get this--the "dry fresh" dates are NOT the same as "dried" dates. If that's not confusing, well, I don't know what is! But after typing in "medjool dates" on the Weight Watchers app, low and behold, they are listed as 4 PP for 2 dates. So I guess the medjool dates are a different category from "fresh dates" and aren't included with the 0 PP fruits.

I ate a lot of dates when I was doing really well with my weight loss/maintenance in 2012-2013, and I always counted them as 0 PP. But, that said, I only ate 1-2 per day at most (that I can remember, anyway). If I had been eating several of them each day, there may have been a problem. But for now, I think I'll just count them as 0 PP, as long as I only have 1-2 per day. If I had to count them as 2 PP each, there is no way I'd choose them over something that's pure junk. I like dates, but they aren't worth 2 PP each!

That said, here is my food log from yesterday:

Today was a rest day. I ended up going to Target to get a couple of Christmas presents, and while I was there, I bought an electric kettle. I've wanted one of these for about 10 years, but just never got around to buying one. I make tea so much now that it was worth it to buy one.

I'm not sure if there is any advantage to having that over my stovetop kettle, but I tried it today when I made some tea, and I really like it. Noah likes to make tea for me, and the electric kettle seems safer (and it certainly pours better).

I finally got around to cooking our turkey today. Jerry's employer gives all of the employees a frozen turkey for Thanksgiving; the only problem is, we only get it two days before Thanksgiving, so it's never thawed in time. I've had this turkey in the fridge since last Tuesday, and it was still partially frozen this morning. I was tired of it taking up half the fridge, so I ran it under warm water for a few minutes thaw it out.

I've only cooked a turkey a few times in my life (we usually give it to my parents), so I don't really know much about cooking them (the first time I made one, I left the bag of innards inside! hahaha). I roasted it for four and a half hours. And then at the last minute, I realized I should probably make a couple of side dishes (I'm so used to making one-pot meals that I rarely make sides). I quickly made some mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, and corn. Then I realized I had no gravy, so I made homemade gravy for the first time in my life. It all happened so fast, and then it looked like a tornado went through my kitchen. But the food was good! The kids were very impressed with my gravy ;)

I spent more time cleaning up my kitchen mess than I had making it, and now I'm really looking forward to sitting down with a glass of wine (and Breaking Bad) tonight!

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