Fat Breakfast

Thanks to an article posted recently by South Beach Steve, I've revamped my breakfast meal.

Steve linked to an article not too long ago that said research shows a good-sized breakfast (not huge) with a nice mix of healthy fats and some carbs could help balance your eating for the rest of the day.

I lurve me a big breakkie, so I decided to change it up a bit. Funnily enough, my calorie count is the same, more or less. Just a change in food. But oh, what a difference in how my day goes.

I went from eating a big serving of cottage cheese and blueberries -- about 450 calories worth -- to having two eggs, scrambled in water not oil (not as gross as it sounds) on a corn tortilla with slices of tomato and two slices of low-fat cheese, salt-n-pepper and one more tortilla on top. These tortillas have tons of fiber and are low-fat. Total cal count is about the same 400.

The result is amazing. I am not hungry for lunch as early anymore, and my hunger kind of arrives slowly, like a growing awareness of emptiness, instead of that sudden rush of "feed me now!" hunger I used to get at like 11:30 every morning. And I seem to feel fuller throughout the day -- my late afternoon shakes haven't come back. I wonder if it's the carb in the tortilla that's helping me out?

I still love cottage cheese, but I'm glad I switched things up for awhile.

Also trying to keep my focus on portions. Here's a handy dandy cheat sheet I've found:

* A medium potato should be the size of a computer mouse.
* An average bagel should be the size of a hockey puck.
* Three ounces of fish is the size of an eyeglass case.
* One ounce of cheese should be the size of two dominoes.
* One cup of pasta is the size of a baseball.
* 1 teaspoon of peanut butter or cream cheese is equal to a lipstick cap.
* 1 teaspoon of salad dressing is the size of a half-dollar.
* 1 ounce of chocolate is equal to a pack of dental floss.
* 1 ounce of snack food (such as pretzels) equals one large handful.

Lots of walking this week, which is just so fantastic. The other day I walked to work, home from work and then got to the gym for a quick 30 minutes. Felt great.

Also making good use of my kindle -- easier to workout and read from my Kindle than a book. Kind of helps to have that option sometimes - especially on the elliptical machine or when I'm walking and I get tired of my own thoughts (hey, it happens).

Hope everyone is well, especially Lori, who hurt her back. Catch up commenting on your blogs over the weekend, I hope.

Twice Around The Park

I've been keeping up with everyone's blogs over the past week, but have just been too knackered to comment or update my own.

Here's where we are with the MIL situation: nowhere. After weeks of intense effort, we still can't get these leeches off our backs. It's almost Shakespearean in it's tragic-comic drama.

Long story short, if we could prove that this ridiculous company did not serve her the papers alerting her to her debt correctly -- and they did not -- we could get this tossed. However, since she moved from her old address in March 2008, and the USPS only keeps address request changes for one year, we can't prove that she had her mail forwarded to her new address. And apparently that's the only way to prove that these sleazeballs didn't do their due diligence. Because if they send it to the last known address as THEY knew it, then that's alright then, legally.

The tons of mail we have with forwarding labels on them and new voter registrations we have showing her change of address are all for naught, it appears. The only that matters is that USPS paper. And since they only keep them for one year, and she moved over a year ago, well .... that's it then.

We could keep fighting, but at this point there are larger issues in play. Do we want to spend $3,000 in lawyer's fees to get back her $3,000 in stolen money? No we do not.

Do we want to waste time and energy on this when the bigger goal is to get her in a place where this can't keep happening? No we do not.

So we're struggling to be rational when all we really want to do is lash out and scream and jump and down. It's not fair! It's not fair! It's not fair! This poor woman worked hard her whole life and now when hit with dementia gets preyed upon by these bloodsuckers.

But so little in life is fair, innit?

We're pretty stressed and fairly exhausted by all the running around this has caused us. It's really tiring to try to keep track of all the documents and what we have to do next and when we have to meet with this person and that lawyer and call this post office and so on. We're wiped out. Plus taxes, and work, and oh yeah, my best friend's grandmother died two nights ago.

In the midst of all this, how am I doing? How am I handling the stress? Well, not too badly, I would say.

My craving for chocolate has only somewhat abated. I still want a big chunk of it everyday. I allow myself some. And so far I've been able to keep it under control.

Friday I had a carb urge, and ate a scone, and then later a bagel with cream cheese. Saturday it was a bagel with lox, but I only ate half the lox. It didn't taste right.

But still, those have been the worst of my forays. I'm still walking to work, hitting the gym, sticking to my routine.

On Sunday, the b/f and I went to Van Cortlandt Park in The Bronx. It's huge! We had a great three-hour walk, not really that taxing, but interesting and a nice change. I really wanted to go do a hike -- that was what I was craving on Sunday. But we hadn't planned far enough in advance to get to one that day.

Maybe this weekend.