A little bit of sunshine has found its way to me
Whew, sorry about last week's blog. I know it was kind of a downer, however if I don't vent it I might explode.
I spent the weekend cleaning the house and doing laundry. Today I woke up with a clear head, a smile on my facing and raring to go. I also had my weekly measure on the Wii, which registered (drum roll please) 272, which I verified on the regular scale. It feels so good, I feel so good.
I find myself giving people suggestions on how to lose weight or drop to a lower calorie diet. The funny thing is people actually listen.
Have a great week! And keep us in your prayers, by husband goes in for surgery on Wednesday and we are both a little freightened that it might be cancerous.
Posted by: dayoopergal on 2/01/2010 at 12:27 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: bemidji, exercise, family, local, surgery, weight, wii
Week 5 update
It has been a pretty tough week. However, I managed to stay lower than 2,000 maximum per day. I also continued my exercises on the Wii, although I didn't want to do them. I am 277.8 and seem to be losing at least a pound a week. I have taken four inches of my waist and 3-4 from my hips.
This week I realized that I am emotional eater and I had a lot of emotional things happen this week. However, I stayed the course and used Willpower. My body wanted chocolate, cake, sweets, etc. I was able to tell myself I don't want that and stuck with a low-calorie snack or treat.
I will sum up the tough week for you:
Monday: Fine, things were normal
Tuesday: My husband, Moose, found out that he has to have surgery, again, for a testicular lump. He is not in the least bit happy and does not want to go through this surgery again.
Wednesday: 6:30 a.m. I backed into a parked super-duty pick-up truck with my Lesabre.
7 a.m. Called in claim, only to discover that I don't have collision coverage, only comprehensive.
8 a.m.: Got an estimate from Bob Lowth Ford for $1,994; from Steeles Auto Body for $1,994 and from City Auto Body for $1,661.
12:30 p.m. Uploaded a new update for Picasa last week, found out today that it uploaded all of the pictures from the drive at work. Did the same thing I did before when this happened. Found out the new update, actually links the drive to Picasa. So when I hit delete on the folder in Picasa it deleted everything in the drive. Our computer department in Fargo, was able to retrieve almost everything, thankfully.
5:30 p.m. GOOD THING! Seussical practice has begun, I am so excited. We have about 13 new children, which brings our cast up to about 40 kids.
Thursday/Friday: Great!!!!!!!
I will continue on this journey, I am proud of myself for sticking with the low-calorie diet and the exercise. I feel good, although a little sore in muscles I previously didn't know existed. In spite of the few minor (major?) hiccups this week, I have my family and friends, a roof over my head, gas in the car and food to eat. All of which I am very thankful for. Have a great week!
Posted by: dayoopergal on 1/30/2010 at 8:08 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: bemidji, exercise, family, local, musical, surgery, weight
Week 4 update
It is week 4 on the journey towards a better me. I was up two pounds from last week on Monday, because we ate at Granite City Brewery in St. Cloud, where nothing is good for you and everything comes in huge portion sizes. I am now back down to 277.4 as of this morning. (I know I am not supposed to weigh myself everyday)
I had a physical with my doctor this week and he said he was extremely happy because in November I weighed 294 pounds. He told me to keep up the good work. My cholesterol was great, blood pressure and all those other important numbers were within the normal ranges.
Working out on the Wii is getting easier, which means I need to switch it up to the next level. Although, I am still awfully out of breath when I am doing a long obstacle course, which involves running, high knees, cranks, forward and side lunges, stride jumps and lateral jumps. Anna is working out with me after I do the initial workout. She says "oh mom, that's so easy" and then gives up in the middle of the exercise because it was harder than she thought. We encourage each other. She is an excellent personal trainer and really knows how to keep me going.
My husband is losing weight fairly steadily and has lost more weight than I have, which makes me mad. I know that it is not a competition, but it doesn't seem fair that men can lose weight quicker than women. Especially when he is doing nothing but counting his calories. He doesn't work out, he doesn't walk or run and spends most of his day parked in the recliner while either on the computer or watching television.
The other frustration that I am feeling is coming up with recipes and foods that taste good and are low in calorie. I am looking for a low-calorie dessert that can satisfy my sweet tooth, without breaking my calorie budget. I am open to suggestions!
Posted by: dayoopergal on 1/21/2010 at 4:31 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink
Tags: calories, diet, exercise, family, food, recipes, wii
Yum! Pasties
Last week Dennis Doeden, publisher of the Bemidji Pioneer, showed me the story that his wife, Sue Doeden had written about Pasties. Here is a link to her article http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/event/article/id/100015019/
He knew I have a fondness for this "Yooper Food of Da Gods" or Yooper delicacy called a Pastie, which is pronounced pass-tee. The next day he brought me samples of Sue's version of the Pastie. I brought them home and baked them up for the family. We usually eat our pasties with ketchup, but this pastie required no ketchup at all. The crust was absolutely amazing. It was buttery and flakey, unlike the crust of a typical Yooper pastie. The filling was typical of most pasties which includes potatoes, carrots, rutabagas and diced meat, although the meat was much better quality then we were used to. My daughter ate the entire pastie, rutabagas and all, which is highly unusual, because she usually doesn't eat rutabagas. Sue did a fantastic job with these pasties, especially since it was her first time making them.
Thank you Dennis and Sue for a wonderful treat from home. I am happy that you enjoyed your experience with pasties.
I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, near Marquette. Pasties were weekly meal at our house because they were relatively inexpensive to make and were a way to disguise vegetables. We always ate our pasties with ketchup, instead of gravy. Although, gravy is the preferred way in the U.P. Below is the recipe that my mom used to make pasties.
Pastie dough: Combine 3 cups of flor and 1 1/2 tsp. of salt. Cut in 1 cup, plus 2 Tbsp. of lard and add 7-9 Tbsp of ice water, mix. Divide into six equal portions, dust lightly with flour. Wrap in wax paper and refrigerate for one hour or longer.
Meat mixture: 1 pound of round steak, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch cubes, 1/2 cup of dry sherry; 2 cups of peeled and diced potatoes; 1 1/4 cups chopped onions; 1 tsp. salt; 1/2 tsp of pepper; 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley and 1/4 tsp of thyme.
Glaze for pastie: One beaten egg.
In bowl combine steak, sherry and potatoes. Set aside to marinate for 15-20 minutes. Drain steak, discard liquid. Combine in bowl with other ingredients. Roll out dought, place filling in the middle. Fold and pinch seams. Brush with egg glaze. Place on baking sheet, bake at 400 degrees for 45-minutes or until golden brown. Serve while warm with ketchup or gravy.
Our favorite pasties in the U.P. are purchased at Jean Kay's Pasties in Marquette. We have bought them online and had them shipped. When we are home, it is the first place we stop to eat. We also buy about 20 pasties and a couple bags of mini-pasties and bring them home. The web site is www.jeankayspasties.com.
It should be said, that no pastie is alike. Every family has a different recipe and each person prefers their pasties from one store or another. Jean Kay's are the only pasties I will eat in the U.P. Although, there are plenty of other companies that make them.
Again, thanks to Sue and Dennis, for this fantastic treat! Excellent and my compliments to the chef and her husband.
Posted by: dayoopergal on 1/18/2010 at 4:28 PM | Comments (1) | Permalink
Tags: dinner, family, food, friends, michigan, pasties, recipes, upper peninsula
Pants on the Ground Commentary
Recently an article was posted on the Bemidji Pioneer web site about a 62-year old man who performed a song called "Pants on the Ground" for the show American Idol. If you haven't seen the video please check it out http://www.bemidjipioneer.com/event/article/id/100014974/group/home/
"General" Larry Platt sang an original song shaming americans for wearing there pants around their knees. I love it! In fact, I hope the song becomes a number one hit.
Here is why I love it, my eight year old and I were standing in the check-out line at K-mart. A young man was in front of us, reaching into his pants pocket for his wallet. My daughter kindly pointed out that she didn't know how he could find his pocket, when it was down below his knees. She also pointed out the glaring fact that the young man was standing there in his underwear. His entire boxer shorts were in full view, the waist of his shorts were at the back of his knees. I politely told her to be quiet, because the young man would here her and that we would talk about it when we left the store.
We left the store and we instaneously burst out laughing. We talked about it and decided that it was not in "good taste" to wear your clothes like that. She decided that she wouldn't be wearing her pants like that either. Thank goodness!
Posted by: dayoopergal on 1/15/2010 at 4:37 PM | Comments (4) | Permalink
Tags: american idol, bemidji, fads, family, fashion, pants on the ground
