Thanksgiving Prep

This marks the first year I am cooking nearly the entire Thanksgiving Day feast, including the bird.
I've never cooked a turkey before, and encountered serious challenges earlier this year when trying to roast a chicken, so in preparation for this important occasion, I've done quite a bit of research on the best way to go about cooking the perfect turkey.

While there are many ways to make a tasty turkey, I've opted for soaking my turkey in a salt brine which, if done correctly, should produce the most succulent gobbler.

I reviewed countless of turkey brine recipes and finally settled on one that consists of brown sugar, maple syrup and soy sauce, as well as a few other seasonings. After assembling the first batch of brine, I realized I didn't have enough brine to cover the 20 pound beast we're going to roast on Thursday, so I headed back to the kitchen and made another batch.

As I prepared the brining bag and made room in the fridge for the turkey and brine, it occurred to me that Thanksgiving is probably not the best time to start experimenting with new techniques.

Too late now, I'm in way too deep.
At least the brine smells yummy!

The first batch of brine; turns out this won't be enough.

A second batch of brine to ensure we have enough to cover the entire bird.

I'm using Reynolds Oven Roasting bags (turkey size!) for brining. I've double bagged in case of leakage.

The BIRD. 20 pounds of succulent yumminess. Unless, of course, my "experiment" goes horribly wrong.

Feel free to say a little prayer for me and the gobbler. It's okay.

I won't mind.

Tune in tomorrow for the cooking of the sides!

Stress + Speculation = Distractions!

Last week we learned that our company would, for the third time in 12 months, be downsizing. While this is normal for our country these days, you must understand that presently, our company has about 41 employees. To downsize yet again means reducing our workforce to roughly half what we have now.

I can't decide what's worse, knowing we're downsizing, that the senior leadership team asked for volunteers to separate from the company, or the uncertainty of what happens next.

I do know that this week, so far, has been filled with a lot of stress and some serious speculating. This effectively results in a whole lot of distractions. There is so much work to do, yet I would bet maybe half of it is getting done.

Is it better to know what's coming, or is not knowing the right thing?

Life is an uncertainty; maybe our real job is to just try and make the most of each day we are given, starting with the present one. After all, no matter how much we worry, stress, or speculate, we can't change tomorrow before tomorrow even gets here, right?

~Matthew 6:34

And the Turkey Rolled

It was all over Facebook and Twitter yesterday, my completion of Denton's 27th Annual Turkey Roll.
Yep - I did it. I completed a 47 mile bike ride, and I did it in 4 hours and 18 minutes.
Now, while that is certainly not fast by racing standards, it is fast by my standards. Especially considering that I started training for the event about a month prior, and have only been cycling for about 2 months.

That I finished at all exceeds my expectations.

Some things I learned as a result of this event:
1. I LOVE cycling
2. I don't like chip seal
3. I still have a lot of training to do before I'll be ready for a century ride
4. I can reach my exercise and weight loss goals if I stay committed and keep working at it
5. The support of friends and family is everything

I biked this event with good friends, one of who happened to be my boss. She is an experienced cyclist and completed the event in what I suspect was half the time it took me and my other friend, both newbies. Nonetheless, when we crossed the finish line, she was still there, waiting patiently to cheer us in. I can not begin to describe how much that moved me.

I am glad this first event is over and grateful for the lessons I learned and the experience I obtained, and I'm ready to start training for the next event, what I hope will be a century ride, which, for those who don't speak cycle-ese, is a 100 mile ride.

Crazy, right? Yeah, I think so too.

Here's to good health!

Fiber and Water

Some things that have helped me succeed in losing weight have definitely been eating less, being mindful of what I eat, and exercising, mostly in the way of riding my bike.

But I would be remiss if I didn't mention the importance of drinking lots of water in the battle against the bulge. It's what helps flush the fat out of your body. Not to mention, water is good for you. I won't get into the science of it all. After all, I'm not a scientist. Or a doctor. :)

What I have found, however, is that water alone is not always enough to help flush my body. I suspect it's because I'm consuming more protein, though I do try to balance that with low carb veggies that are high in fiber. Still, it felt as if I wasn't getting enough fiber, and things weren't moving quite the way they should.

Since I don't want to eat more food, even if it is high in fiber, I have to find another way to ingest more fiber. I'd heard of Benefiber, but was a little leery about adding it to my water, fearful that it would make the water taste funny. Then I found these little, individual serving, citrus flavored Benefiber packs, you know the type - you pour the little pack into a 16 ounce bottle of water and voila, you've got yummy tasting water chock full of fiber! Tastes a little like Tang. :) And it turns out they've got an assortment of flavors!

I must reiterate that drinking straight up water is critical, but having one of these Benefiber packs a day has really helped get things back on track! Be forewarned: if you're counting carbs, each one of these packs contains 2 Net Carbs, so just be mindful of that and include it in your daily carb counts.

Here's to good health!

New Found Love

Ask any of my friends. They'll tell you I hate working out. Yes, HATE it.
Even the great endorphin high wasn't enough to convert me into a fan of exercise.

Then, I met a bike. Now, this bike and I actually had a history. It was brief, and the bike had been relegated to collecting dust in our garage. But about two months ago, I pulled it out, tuned it up and next thing I knew, I'd ridden 10 miles. It was then and there that my love affair began.

To date, I have invested in a new bike, one designed for long distance, fitness rides. I've completed a 20.25 mile ride. I've signed up for and am training for a 47 mile bike rally.

And I have a goal.
100 miles by next July.

Did I mention I LOVE riding my bike?!

Here's to being fit and healthy! :)

(and here's a photo of my new bike! Isn't it a beaut?!)

It's a Compulsion. But That's Not Really an Excuse

Okay. I have a question. What do you do if someone makes food for you, but you've already eaten and aren't hungry?

I found myself in this very predicament last night. I was satisfied from a snacking binge I'd had earlier in the evening (pork rinds, NO CARBS) but had a knife skills class at a nearby gourmet grocery store. The class involved prepping our dinner, and then, eating that dinner.

When the food was ready, the instructor prepared a plate for me and handed it to me. I was torn. I knew I wasn't hungry, yet I didn't want to appear rude by refusing it. So I ate it. Now, to give myself some credit, I only ate the bits that were protein or low carb; I left behind the starchy rice and skipped on dessert. But the fact of the matter is that I ate, even when I knew I wasn't hungry.

I know it's a compulsion, one that can be triggered by oh, so many things. Last night it was a need to please others. Today, so I could have lunch with a friend, even though I really wasn't hungry. I've got to get better about just refusing the food, or extracting myself from situations that might result in these exact setups.

Compulsions, by definition, are difficult to control. But that 's exactly what I have to do in cases like this. I have to remind myself that it's okay to say no to food. After all, if I don't start saying no, the weight won't come off.

Remember, "nothing tastes as good as thin!"

Bon apetit.

Small Victories, Small Rewards

As of this weekend, exactly one month after I started my weight loss program and new life[style], I have officially lost 17.6 pounds. I am, to say the least, ecstatic!

Since I get to celebrate this small victory over Halloween weekend, I allowed myself a small reward. Now, please know that as part of my new lifestyle (I wonder when this lifestyle will no longer be new?) I would not even consider rewarding myself with food. I mean, come on, that's what got me in trouble in the first place!

But yesterday, my husband informed me he wanted to spend Sunday watching football and that he felt like having spaghetti for dinner. Apparently, he likes spaghetti when the weather turns cooler, and fall is definitely in full swing, spaghetti we would have.

Now, you must know, spaghetti, no matter how I prepare it, is chock full of carbs. I mean CHOCK FULL. It's pasta, for pete's sake. And then there's the sauce, which normally has tons of sugar added (you'd never have guessed that, would you?).

But, just because I'm on carb-strike, doesn't mean my husband should be denied. And I refuse to cook two different meals. I figured I'd allow myself a break and just eat a controlled portion of the spaghetti. Of course, I also set out to make it as low in carbs as possible. So, off to the grocery store I went!

I found some fabulous thin spaghetti that had the absolutely lowest carb count of all the pastas on the shelves (34g of net carbs). Then I rounded up some marinara sauce that had no sugar added and was gluten free. about 6g of net carbs. I just don't think you can do much better than this when it comes to carbs and spaghetti.

I cooked up our spaghetti and had a medium sized serving (after all, I hadn't eaten much else today!) and it was delicious! I made sure to eat just enough to feel satisfied, without stuffing my face (which is SO easy to do with spaghetti).

After that, I treated myself to a cup of coffee along with a yummy Halloween cupcake. The cupcake was no doubt way off my carb chart, but again, I deserved a treat. And I only had one, even though there was a second one to be had. It's all about self control and making sure I remember these are small and infrequent rewards, and that over-indulging will tip the scales in the wrong direction.

I feel good about today's choices. No guilt. It's a great feeling. I won't make eating like this a habit, not again. I realize I am loving the weight loss way too much to slip back into old, bad habits.

Biggest takeaway? I'm way stronger than I ever gave myself credit for.

Happy belated Halloween to all! Let the holidays begin!