Photo Update: Vacation Days 11-21

Since I have never been much good at keeping a journal (a sad fact for a writer, but there it is), I resolved this month to keep track of my vacation by taking at least one photo every day. This practice admittedly makes for lazy blogging, but has happily helped me remember in vivid detail much of what has transpired over the past ten days (an impressive feat for me at any time, let alone during a month of unstructured, unscheduled living, considering I routinely arrive at our Friday fellowship meeting unable to answer the classic, "How was your week?" with anything more than a blank stare and a hazy feeling of being busy but lacking concrete recollection of a single thing I have accomplished during said week). And so, without further ado or another long-winded aside, I present you with this photo update of the "middle third" of my vacation.

BBQ on the patio (July 11)

Quality time with out of town friends! (July 11)

Nothing says summer like being wrapped up in a blanket on the couch watching Netflix, LOL!  (July 12)

Homemade iced lemon mint courtesy of the lovely L (July 13)

The perfect low-key hangout day: swimming, movie night, nachos (July 13)

Summer treats - cooling off with an iced capp (July 15)

The requisite feet by the pool shot (July 15)

Friend dates ftw! Ending the best day ever with bubble tea! (July 16)

Because 48 goals didn't seem like enough, I added 2 more "official" goals and 8 "bonus" items, LOL! (July 18)

Milk and cookies :D (July 19)

Glorious late night sunsets (July 19)

Summer in a bowl (July 20)

Grow little buddy, grow! (July 21)

That light, those clouds (take 1)! (July 21)

That light, those clouds (take 2)! (July 21)

13,000 Words

If a picture is worth a thousand words, do these thirteen pictures from the first ten days of my vacation make up for seventeen months' worth of non-existent posts? I'm pretty sure that's how this whole blogging thing works, right? (Nailing it!)

#poolsideproblems #toorelaxed (July 1)

#chanfamjam (July 2)

#vacationgoals (July 3)

#thatombresky (July 3)

#IKEAdates #favefroyo
(July 4)

#FindingDory #fishface #duckface
(July 5)

#clutterfreecubbies (at last!) (July 5)

#solitarysunsetswims (July 5)

#glamorousvaccinationgoals (July 7)

#specialdelivery #TraderJoe's (July 8)

#cottoncandyclouds (July 8)

#afternoontea (July 9)

#introverting (July 10)

One Step at a Time

There's a poster my parents have always had up in their basement (both at Old Home and in their current place) which says, "The way to get anywhere is to start from where you are." (Or, words to that effect.) It might sound trite, but I believe those are truly words to live by, especially when it comes to tackling a daunting task like overhauling one's eating habits and improving one's fitness level.

I've been thinking that much like our new eating plan, which I suspect has been effective largely because it is a structured program that gives clear guidelines on how to achieve a specific goal (losing weight), my workout plan could use a bit of a shake-up. I have been lax in my gym time over the past few weeks, and while I'm trying (and succeeding, for the most part) to be more active overall by walking more and sitting less (etc.), lack of cardio does not a more fit person make. Plus, the lovely Lindsay has been totally inspiring me with a ton of great exercise resources, goal-setting tools, and encouraging updates about her own progress getting in shape. All that inspiration has to result in something, right?

So today, when my workout buddy came over for our usual Monday afternoon gym session, I brought my tablet down and we let Jillian Michaels kick our butts with her "30 Day Shred" workout. 20 minutes and one "level one" workout later I couldn't walk properly on my jello-legs, but I comfort myself with the knowledge that my friend was also exhausted afterwards, and she is much fitter than I am! (I hope I can remember that when I'm unable to roll out of bed tomorrow and have to limp along to work on my trembly legs and burning thighs. It WILL be worth it!!!)

Things I Learned from Today's Workout:
1. I need to wear tighter clothes for this particular program, as my pants kept falling down. (Way to make me feel even MORE self-conscious while doing jumping jacks!)
2. You can call it "jumping jacks," "jump rope," "butt kicks" or whatever else you want - it is ALL THE SAME and pretty much made me want to die by the end of the workout. I'm on to you, Ms. Michaels...
3. Any form of jumping is SERIOUS BUSINESS, people. Serious cardio business - no messing around, here!
4. Arm weights that seemed dinky at the beginning of the workout can suddenly become much heavier by the end. (Actually, I already knew this. It's just that now I know it, know it, if you know what I mean.)
5. I need at least two sets of arm weights to get a really good arm workout in, because for some of the exercises I couldn't even handle my measly 2.5 pounders by the final few reps, but for others (I'm looking at you, butterfly press) I could have at least doubled what I was lifting.
6. Dynamic stretching (ie. stretching through movement) is the best way to warm up your muscles, while static stretching (ie. the typical "holding a position" stretches most of us are familiar with) should be left for the cool-down period.
7. The correct way to perform a quad stretch is with the opposite hand grasping the foot. (I've been doing this wrong for so long, no wonder I used to find this stretch kind of painful!!)
8. 20 minutes is shorter than you think - I wanted to quit around what I thought was the halfway mark, but it turned out that we were less than 5 minutes away from being completely finished! Mind you, that was quite possibly the longest 5 minutes of my life... o.O
9. This workout will not, in fact, kill me. No one is more shocked than I am! ;)

My plan is to do this 20 minute workout at least 5 times a week for the next two weeks (ie. until my trip to Florida!)* and then see where things stand when I get back from the conference I'm attending. Tomorrow I would love to keep up my momentum, but I'm working an 8 hour shift (on my feet the whole time, I might add) and then have to scoot off to a guitar lesson uptown, so there's no way I will have the energy for a workout. But Wednesday, it will happen!!


*I have an exciting announcement about this later! But that's all for now... I know, I'm such a tease! ;)

Food Blog Update

Just a quick note to update the url for my visual food log. You can still follow my progress here, on my spiffy new blog (I actually just gave the old one a facelift and new name). And to all of you who have written or made comments in person, thanks for all the love! xx

Progress makes Perfect?

Sometimes when I reflect on some of my main goals (like eating well), I can't help but feel overwhelmed by how far I still want to go. Healthy eating in particular seems a daunting task in today's frenzied fast-food culture, with sugar lurking behind practically every label (bread! yogurt! pasta sauce!), different opinions on what constitutes a healthy fat (to wit, the butter vs. margarine debate), and the cold hard reality that buying local and/or organic produce costs at least double the price of your average grocery store option. (I'm sorry, but I get really fed up with all the people who say that eating healthier foods does not cost more. It does! Do the math, people!!)

While I'm doing my best to navigate the sheer bombardment of food choices we are faced with on a daily basis (a blessing or a curse - you decide), there are inevitably days where I get to the dinner-making hour and just run out of steam. And in those moments, I would dearly love to drop a packet of ramen noodle into some boiling water, toss in a handful of veggies, and call it dinner. (Or better yet, just order a pizza.) Fatigue just makes everything seem bleak, I find. Making a dinner that at 2:30 pm seemed like a wonderfully balanced and not too time consuming option suddenly becomes The Impossible Dream right around five o'clock.

It doesn't help that I seem to be prone to severe bouts of sleepiness anytime between 4:30 pm to about 7 pm or so, and have been every since I was a child. (My mother used to have to force me to keep moving/do something active in the late afternoon/early evening when I was little, because otherwise I would fall asleep and then end up awake for the entire night.) This natural (genetic?) state of fatigue does NOT help matters when one is trying to pump out healthy dinners night after night (all those veggies won't chop themselves, you know!) and resist the urge to be lazy and just eat something convenient (read: unhealthy).

Last night, as I attempted to ward off sleep by plugging away in the kitchen (and calling my parents for a pep talk ♥), I was feeling kind of discouraged. (Along the lines of, why does something so basic (ie. feeding oneself) have to be so ridiculously complicated? What if after all this work I'm still not able to make any progress? etc.) And then it hit me, that just because my eating may not be perfect*, just because every goal I've made has not yet been reached, does not mean there has been no progress!

Thus, I decided it would be a good self-encouragement tool to document some of the lasting changes I have already made that are fine evidence of how I am working towards my goal of improving my diet and health.

In no particular order:
-Cutting out all soft drinks (Not that I used to drink a lot of soda, but I would often order a diet coke when we went out for lunch or dinner. No more!)
-Increasing vegetable intake (There used to be days where I wouldn't eat anything green. No more!)
-Eating more kale (Or other dark leafy greens. I read or heard somewhere that you should have at least one serving of dark leafies (as I like to call them) and one serving of bright orange veggies per day, and I try to hit this as many times a week as I can.)
-Replacing simple ("white") carbs with complex (whole grain) carbs (Except on Sundays, we get all our carbs from whole grains, fruits, and veggies. This is a HUGE change from my old white flour, white rice-eating ways!)
-Vastly reducing our sugar consumption (Not only have I greatly reduced how much refined sugar I'm eating straight up (to almost none), I'm also much more aware of sugar in foods like bread and yogurt, and have changed what I buy accordingly.)
-Replacing vanilla yogurt in my smoothies with plain (unsweetened) yogurt (Just one concrete example of how I'm eating less sugar.)
-Eating less meat (I used to scoff at the palm-sized portion idea, but now I try to follow that pretty carefully.)
-Eating more fish (Aside from the last couple weeks, where fish has not made an appearance on our plates, we usually eat salmon or some type of white fish about 1-2 times per week.)
-Reading package labels (I was REALLY good at this for a few years, and then I just became lazy or stopped caring. No more! I am now super scrupulous about reading every food label on the products I buy. Of course, it's best if most of what you buy doesn't come with a label, but some healthy stuff like oatmeal is still packaged, and I want to make sure I'm getting what I think I'm getting, with no added sugar or ingredients that can't be pronounced by normal human beings.)
-Cutting out juice (I used to only drink 100% fruit juices (none of that sugary "cocktail" stuff, please!) but now, except for the rare occasion we have orange juice, it's pretty much just milk, soy milk every so often, and lots of water.)
-Not letting sickness be an excuse (So, confession time: I used to be awful at eating well when I was under the weather. I figured that I was feeling lousy anyways, so I might as well eat whatever the heck I wanted (both to feel better and I guess because I thought it didn't matter since I was already sick?). Well, no more! I now have a mental list of Sore Throat Foods, for example, and am overall SO MUCH BETTER at sticking with healthy options even when I'm not feeling well. Of course, there are exceptions to this, but not nearly as many exceptions as there used to be. I call that a win!)
-Controlling portion sizes (I'm not sure I'm entirely hitting the mark on this one, but short of measuring everything (which I have done before, what a pain!!) I'm doing my best to eyeball using the hand-sizing method. At any rate, I'm doing better than I was before, although I'm sure there's still room for improvement...)
-Keeping track of what I eat (Another thing I used to sort of brush aside, but now I'm a believer! I think this is such a helpful tool in sticking with any kind of eating goal that goes against the mainstream.)


*And by the way, who defines what a perfect diet looks like? Scientists, doctors, dieticians, governments, and everyone else do not seem to be able to come to a consensus, though for the record, I think Michael Pollen's take is pretty spot-on.

P.S. A longer article about why butter IS better! ;)
P.P.S. In case you're wondering, Sore Throat Foods are foods that are cool, soothing, and not in the least bit acidic (ouch!). They should also not be deep fried (or too fatty), sugary, or contain much dairy, as these can also irritate the throat when it's at its most tender. Examples of my favourite Sore Throat Foods include watermelon, cucumbers, bananas, frozen blueberries, and steamed green leafies. Watermelon is one of the best because it is also super hydrating, which helps the body flush out toxins and recover faster. Plus, who doesn't love watermelon? :)

Visual Food (B)log

In an attempt to stay motivated to eat healthy, whole, natural foods (in a world of highly processed "food" full of too many types of sugar to count, super cheap fast food on every corner, and an ever-growing number of unpronounceable ingredients in mainstream products), I've started a visual food diary to document everything I consume for the next little while. My hope is that this will not only be a faster/easier way to keep track of what I'm eating (and how much) than writing it down or logging it into an online calorie counter, but also act as a type of accountability to curb those indulgent desires that can easily go from "enjoying a once-in-a-while treat" to "let's eat macarons for lunch and have fried chicken for dinner" on a regular basis. Because nothing good happens when you visit Popeyes twice in one week and cram your face full of sugar.

You can check out my progress here, or go to the "visual food log" tab at the top of this blog, where there is a page with the permanent link to the site. And while you're at it, Erin's food blog (my inspiration) is totally fantastic and encouraging (yay, lots of veggies, complex carbs, and whole foods in general!!) and has much better photography, so you should take a look-see at hers as well. Plus, how awesome is the name "No Sneaky Snacks"?!

Book List: January

January first, a day for new beginnings and resolutions and dreaming big. There has always been something that draws me to fresh starts, whether it's the start of a new month, a new week, or even a new day. But when a new day also occurs on the first day of a new month, which also occurs on the first day of a new year? Well, my friends, then anything can happen.

So to kick off 2013 on my little slice of the Internet, we shall begin with a list of books. Now let's be clear: I am not promising, resolving, or in any other way making a concrete goal to read the following books this month (way too many and I'm not remotely that ambitious) or even this year. If I'm going to be making resolutions (which I'm usually a little dubious about to begin with), they will be few in number, well thought out, and serious enough to become true priorities in my life. (And you may, or may not, hear about them later!)

This is merely a compendium of titles I'm interested in reading, recorded here for posterity my own benefit, and yours if you like to see what other people are interested in reading and/or get inspired by such lists. Plus, recording the books I'm going to possibly read this year if I feel like it/get around to it (but no guarantees) makes me feel all organized* and kind of like I'm back in school again with a list of titles I have to get through. Except, without all the icky stress and pressure that went along with a for-credit course, and I don't actually have to get through them all. Way to avoid commitment, Kate!

The one thing I do plan to do with this list is "update" it every month. Some titles will get crossed off as I read them, others will be added, others will probably be dropped as I lose interest, and others will most likely stay on the list for the whole year and never get read. Which is totally fine. Maybe I should call this Kate's Non-committal Book List for 2013. Because doesn't that just roll off the tongue?

Kate's Non-committal Book List for 2012: January

[in no particular order]

The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
The Lord of the Rings trilogy (J.R.R. Tolkien)
In Defense of Food (Michael Pollan)
The Smitten Kitchen Cookbook (Deb Perelman)
The Edible Woman (Margaret Atwood)
Les Misérables (Victor Hugo)
The Narnia series (C.S. Lewis)
Seeing with New Eyes (David Powlison)
Speaking the Truth in Love (David Powlison)
The Meaning of Marriage (Tim Keller)
Home: A Memoir of My Early Years (Julie Andrews)
This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence (John Piper)
Quiet: the Power of Introverts in a World that Can't Stop Talking (Susan Cain)
Casino Royale (Ian Fleming)
Still Alice (Lisa Genova)
The Hiding Place (Corrie ten Boom)
Fear of Food (Harvey A. Levenstein)
Yours, Plum: the Letters of P.G. Wodehouse (P.G. Wodehouse)
A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)



*As you can see, given that this is a completely haphazard list that will be constantly changing and could ultimately be considered meaningless seeing as how I am not actually stating any intention of reading through these titles but instead reserving my right to follow every capricious whim and flight of fancy I may (or may not) have in regards to the quantity of books I plan to read this year, my standards for organization are not at an all-time high right now. Maybe check back in a year or two. Or ten. (Give or take).

Reunion

Hmm, left you on that cliff a bit long, didn't I? Oops! Sorry about that.

As you can well imagine, by this point Dynamics of Biblical Change is over (I'm still waiting on my final mark, but I do know that I passed, which is always a nice feeling) and I'm enjoying a shockingly non-jam packed summer schedule with plenty of time to rest, work out, and take in the excitement of the XXX Olympic Games. Sweet deal!

In the meantime, Eugene (my beloved laptop) has been having some health and wellness issues. That was a lot of fun to manage during an online course with frequent assignment deadlines. Thankfully I have a friend who was able to loan me a netbook for the duration of the course so I was able to stay on top of things. (Well, on top-ish. Am I not the Queen of Procrastination?)

Dynamics wrapped up at the beginning of the month, I started my "vacation"/staycation the second week of July and promptly became unable to sleep properly for a week and a half, and Eugene and I were reunited on Sunday (thank goodness for extended warranties!). So here we are. Happily, I can report that I'm regularly sleeping through the night again, as opposed to staying awake all night and falling asleep between 7 and 8 am. Blegch.* There's nothing like out-of-whack sleeping patterns to play havoc with your workout schedule, believe me.

For now, though, I've settled into a nice rhythm of working out 3-4 days per week, which I'm hoping to bump up to 5-6 days by the end of August. Working out, eating well, and sleeping regularly will be my focus for the next few months. And, I hope, blogging! But one never knows... so no promises. Just hope that springs eternal. ;)

*(Go ahead, say it out loud!)

My One and Only

Like many others, I've been thinking about goals and resolutions as 2011 draws to a close and we begin another calendar year. I was actually hesitant to post about such things, as it seems like such a cliché to blog about resolutions on the eve of a new January. But then I realized that although I don't really get excited for New Year's or celebrate it in a big way, my favourite part of this post-Christmas holiday is that it is a natural time for us all to reflect on the past year and look ahead to the coming one.

During one of my sleepless nights this week (there have been a few, recently), I grabbed the journal on my nightstand and started making a list of my goals for 2012. There are a lot of them, mostly self-improvement related rather than adventures/activities I'd like to experience, but taken as a whole they make for a somewhat formidable task. Ever the optimist, I usually have a lengthy list of things to accomplish during the new year, the summer, my week off, the month before Christmas, etc. And while goals are healthy and can provide great motivation, sometimes they can be more daunting than helpful when they stack up like a pile of dirty dishes.

Thus, in the spirit of simplicity and to focus on what's really important, I have only one resolution this year. I will not let anything (aside from a true crisis/emergency) get in the way of spending intentional, daily quiet time with God. Too often I choose other things, less important things, over this necessary discipline, foolishly allowing the general busy-ness and seemingly "urgent" matters in life to crowd out what's truly essential. If I wouldn't go a day without eating and sleeping (that wouldn't be healthy!), why would I go a day without feeding and giving rest to my soul (also not healthy)?

To help me stick to this resolution, I'll be following Professor Grant Horner's Bible Reading System for each of January's 31 days. There's nothing extra-holy or super-spiritual about this plan over others, but since I usually just work through a book of the Bible at a time during my devos (reading a chapter or so per sitting) and have been doing so for years, I thought this emphasis on reading for quantity so you become familiar with the whole of Scripture would be a nice change of pace. We'll see how I feel after a month, but I've heard a whole lot of positive feedback from others who have tried this method so I'm hoping I will find it as beneficial as they have. For other options, including a very tempting choice which is chronologically organized, you can check out this list by Ligonier Ministries, which includes some of the most popular Bible reading plans.

Psalm 1: 1-3

Blessed is the man
   who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
   or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the LORD,
   and on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
   which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
   Whatever he does prospers.