ning | Keeping up with Kate

Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Restart

Posted on January 28, 2014 by keepingupwithkate91

How many times have you used the Ctrl+Atl+Delete to Restart your computer? I can say I’ve done it more times than I care to count (plus Task Manager to unlock the multiple windows I normally have opened) – I’m pro!

This Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Restart is a bit different. This is about me and my journey. I haven’t posted much lately on my weight loss. Quite frankly there hasn’t been much to report. So why am I writing about Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Restart today…read on…

I had an appointment with my nutritionist at the beginning of December. This appointment was an early morning appointment so I could have my metabolism test done. The good news my metabolism is still firing on lots of cylinders! 🙂 The not so good news is I had lots of CO2 in my body – so what does that mean? – I’m not burning my fuel efficiently – mainly the carbs (I’ve mentioned before I’m carb sensitive). Oh and I was up a pound. The one warning I took away from that appointment was if I’m not careful – I will gain weight back – starting a bad trend (I’ve kept that comment in the back of my mind for the past 6 wks). I wasn’t as disappointed in the 1 pound up as I was scared of the potential impact of the CO2 messing up all of my progress.

Fast forward a couple of weeks and my stress level was quite high with some deliverables at work right before going on vacation – which meant workouts suffered and my eating probably wasn’t at my best (it wasn’t awful either). Although I enjoyed my Christmas break with my family – I ended getting a bacterial infection which messed up my progress even more. The positive is – I didn’t go super carb crazy (based on feedback today) – I made some good choices. And this whole time you know I was checking the scale – and it was all over the board no matter what I did.

So the end of last week – I was up over my December appointment – I was not happy. I tried to really focus on eating the right things this weekend, while still going out and enjoying time with friends (if you can’t do that – what is the point of going out!) and getting some exercise in (a nice walk Friday night, yoga on Sat and Spin on Sunday) – mission accomplished! Or so I thought…

I got on the scale yesterday morning – not where I wanted to be – at this point I would’ve been happy with flat to December – and trust me I wasn’t there. So of course, I start trying to rationalize in my head – I have a lot going on at work this week – maybe I will move my appointment tomorrow to a couple weeks out. I know I’ll get a reminder call and I’ll have an opportunity to move it to see if I can get this under control. Then the next thought was – what if I don’t get it under control and I’m up even more – that would just completely de-motivate me. I got absorbed in a project and put it out of my mind. So I get my reminder call – and it isn’t my nutritionists assistant who calls to remind me – it was him! Now I couldn’t re-schedule – because I knew I would get grief :-). So my flip / sarcastic response was “If this job doesn’t kill me today – I’ll be there tomorrow”. We had a good laugh and I hung up.

So I was optimistic this morning when I got up – yesterday was a good day – ate the right foods, drank lots of water, no snacking and even got about a 30 minute walk in last night before I finished my project. I always jump on my scale the morning of my appointment to see how close my scale is to the ‘official’ scale – plus I know I check because I want to know what I’m getting into at my appointment. Surprise – Surprise – no movement! It was an 8:00 am appointment so no turning back now.

I’m glad I went today – it was a good appointment – we really talked through my struggles in December / early January. Discussed that being sick and the holidays do really mess things up. And the food choices I made while sick (I swear I was living on soft boiled eggs and English muffins) were not that awful (think lots of pasta – which I didn’t have any). We talked about getting me back on track – doing the things I know I need to do – focus on the protein, vegetables / salad and hydration (and the structure I need). Limit my carb intake. And really watch how full I get and when are my triggers – and what I’m doing to address it (drink coffee and if I’m still hungry – what am I selecting to eat). We also talked about how this appointment really helped and how I almost cancelled – and that his phone call probably made it so I didn’t cancel. I had the option not to get on the scale – I chose to get on the scale. As I knew – I was up 2 lbs from the beginning of December. However, I wanted to be accountable to myself and my progress whether it was what I wanted to see or not. I’m not going to beat myself up over this – another example where it isn’t all about the numbers (but most of you know I still believe that deep down). 🙂

So today was my Ctrl+Alt+Delete – Restart – instead of restarting a computer – I’m re-starting my focus – which right now it is all about giving my body the right type of fuel that I need to be more efficient.

Thanks for reading – Post #140!

Back in the Saddle

Posted on January 26, 2014 by keepingupwithkate91

Today was a great day! It was my first time back on a spin bike since before Christmas and I loved it!

I got sick right before Christmas and it had me down and out for awhile (and then I had some Saturday conflicts – Saturday is my normal spin day).

I got a nice surprise over Christmas – an Amazon gift card – one of my purchases (that I just ordered last week) a pair of tri-spin shoes (and no I don’t have any plans to do a triathlon – my spin instructor suggested tri-shoes since they are lighter). I had my SPD cleats put on yesterday at a local bike shop.

Aren’t they pretty?! 🙂

So the class I did today wasn’t at my normal studio. It was a benefit ride for Gearing Up (we raised $13K – WOW!). It was a 90 minute ride. I was more than a touch nervous. The longest ride I’d ever done was 60 minutes and I hadn’t been on a bike in over a month (and my cardio workouts have been minimal – with the exception of last weekend when I was in Tampa).

Our ride was an endurance ride of the ‘Lake Placid Iron Man route’ The descriptions of the route were fabulous! It was like we were there. 🙂 After we finished our first loop – I could feel my adrenaline pounding – it was AWESOME! What a RUSH! Time to start saving for that road bike!

PS: Just hope I can walk tomorrow!! 🙂

Weekly Challenge

Posted on January 12, 2014 by keepingupwithkate91

I haven’t posted too much lately on my transformation as I was sick prior to Christmas and it took me over 2 weeks to start feeling better. I haven’t been to my HardBody workouts or SPIN classes since before Christmas. I’ve had gone to a few yoga and yogalates classes and some walks.

My brother got a FitBit Force over Christmas and he gave me his FitBit Flex (with the caveat that if the Force dies on him – I have to give the Flex back). I’ve been wanting to try the FitBit (I have an UP band by Jawbone) to see if I want to upgrade my band (I plan on doing a side by side comparison shortly).

I started using the used FitBit on January 1, 2014. I have good days and bad days. I don’t belong to a typical gym and I don’t have any real equipment in my house (although I have gotten some steps on my BOSU and I do have a manual stepper) – so to get lots of steps I’ve had to brave the cold weather. Earlier this week, I didn’t really get a lot of steps in – unless you count some of the pacing back and forth and going up and down my actual steps. 🙂

One of the things I like about the FitBit (besides the fact that is bluetooth enabled) is that it gives you a 7 day running total. My 7 day total is just under 44K or 6.3K average per day. My daily goal is 10K steps. My challenge this week is to increase my activity by 30% per day or to 8,190 steps per day. My weekly challenge goal is 57,330 steps or better by next Sunday. I’ll check in Wednesday night on my progress.

My Adventures in FreeCycle

Posted on January 7, 2014 by keepingupwithkate91

As I mentioned in my Declutter 2014 post, my goal this year is to really declutter my house. I’ve accumulated so many things and never had a chance in either of my big moves to get rid of things.

Over the past year, I’ve been donating quite a few things via Good Donor. I love it – they pick up and leave you a tax deductible receipt.

So my new favorite is FreeCycle. It encourages recycling via reusing – all items must be FREE. I love this concept as I really hate throwing items away because I no longer use them and they are still in good working order. And I’ll be honest some of the items I’ve recycled aren’t necessarily items that I want to deal with selling via eBay or at a Consignment store (note: I do have some items I’ll be using eBay and Consignment Stores in the area – I’ll share my experiences in later post).

I belong to the Mercer County FreeCycle Yahoo group. I’ll be honest with you, I was a little apprehensive to list items on a site and then have people come and pick them up at my house. However, it is super easy – I leave the items at my front door and people pick them up. Anything you want to Recycle you post as OFFER. Once you get a response you post PPU (pending pick-up) and once it is picked up you post TAKEN. If you are looking for something in particular you post WANTED. I’ve been completely impressed with how quickly some of the items get responses or how many responses I actually get.

Here is what I’ve FreeCycled already:

OFFER: 4 Head VCR and VHS tapes – 4 interested; first email in less than 10 minutes
OFFER: 3 Unopened bags of Halloween candy – 5 interested; first email – 4 minutes after posting.
WANT: Table Lamp and Clip on Light.
OFFER: 50 Misc (non dry cleaner hangers) – 1 interested; less than an hour
OFFER: 4 Ceramic Tile and Stone Grout Finish – 3 interested; less than 10 minutes on first inquiry.
OFFER: 35 Historical Romance Books (and yes I like to read trashy novels on vacation! 🙂 ). – 1 interested; 4 minutes from posting and picked up within an hour of posting – WOW!!

So I’ve gotten rid of quite a few things in a short period of time and I’m not cluttering another room as I stockpile waiting for the larger good donor pickup. I will still use Good Donor – I have a pick-up already scheduled for February (and remember with Good Donor you get a receipt – so tax deductible).

What I’ve learned – delcuttering can be very overwhelming (I haven’t even made a dent at my house – I have a long way to go) but also liberating – I get pumped once I post something to see how long it takes for a response. I know I’m odd! But is also encourages me to continue to focus on this decluttering journey! 🙂

Dusting off an Old Favorite

Posted on January 4, 2014 by keepingupwithkate91

Good afternoon. Happy Saturday. Hope you are staying warm.

Although I enjoyed my Christmas and New Year’s with my family – it wasn’t without some not so fun times. I’ve been sick since the Monday before Christmas. I thought it was just a bad cold but it gradually got worse. I finally went to the Doctor’s on Thursday (they squeezed me in – thank goodness) before the big storm. I have a bacterial infection and I’m on the mend thanks to the zip pack I was given. I’m actually getting some energy back. (Yeah!)

I’ve been laying low – getting rest, drinking lots of liquids and even eating soup. I’ve missed working out (I’ve gotten a few walks in) and hope to get back on track on Monday.

Last weekend I dusted off a simple, favorite breakfast from my childhood. Soft boiled eggs! I did a couple of google searches on the timing – as although I like my eggs over easy – I like my soft boiled eggs really an in between version of hard / soft boiled eggs.

Here is my recipe:

2 – 3 room temperature eggs
bring a pot of water on high to a slow boil
add the room temperature eggs to the water
set timer to 6 minutes (while eggs are cooking – toast you favorite bread or english muffins)
once timer goes off take pot off of the burner – add cool water
quickly peel eggs
chop up eggs in a bowl – salt and pepper to taste
Serve with buttered toast or english muffins

A picture from my breakfast this morning:

Soft boiled eggs (2) with English Muffins (Thomas’ of course)

Enjoy!

The Coveted Christmas Present

Posted on January 1, 2014 by keepingupwithkate91

In our family there is a present we all receive – it isn’t an expensive gift. It is a gift of time and tradition. It is a treat from my childhood and it was made for special events. I think the first version of it was the Chex mix that my grandmother made. And at some point became the Crispix Mix. A nice savory treat.

I’m not quite sure when my Mom started giving it to us as one of our gifts. I do know she has expanded as to who receives one. There isn’t just one for each household – each member of each household gets their own tin. And it is coveted! 🙂 This year my Mom added an additional one a House Mix – for the family hosting Christmas (and for sharing with guests). It was yummy as usual (recipe posted below).

Not much left of my mix (note: it was a small tin) 🙂

Crispix Party Mix (Xs 2)

3 T margarine or butter (my Mom uses margarine, but I’ve asked her to try unsalted butter for next year) (although if I only have a portion of 3T of margarine a year – I don’t think it will kill me)
1 t Season-All Seasoned Salt
2 t lemon juice
4 t Worcestshire Sauce
6 Cups Crispix Cereal
1 Cup Pretzels
1 Cup Salted Mixed Nuts

Melt margarine or butter in a 13x9x2 inch pan in a 250 degree oven. Once melted remove from oven. Stir in Season-all, lemon juice and Worcestshire Sauce.
Add Crispix, Pretzels & Nuts – stirring until coated.
Bake at 250 degree for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on absorbent paper to cool (brown paper bages work well).
Yields 8 cups

Enjoy!

Decluttering 2014

Posted on December 30, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

I’ve been off for the past week with hopes of doing some major house cleaning (and maybe even decluttering) since I wasn’t hosting Christmas this year. Well – the best laid plans. I ended up with a nasty head cold / bug (no fever luckily) all week – I didn’t do much except sleep, Christmas gatherings and look around on Pinterest.

I received an email from Pinterest highlighting the best of 2013. One of the highlighted items was Inspiration to Live with Less – Best Becoming Minimalists Posts 2013. I scanned through it but the post that caught my attention was 10 Decluttering Principles to Help Anyone Clear the Clutter. Her tips seem easy enough. And I know I’ve accumulated many things over the years. I was never able to declutter when I moved from Dallas back to the east coast – I tried when I moved to my condo but I haven’t done a major declutter in a long time. I do make donations but I also seem to feel ok letting more stuff in since I donate – that needs to be on of the things to stop and it is on the list. I think the two that I really like are declutter one thing at a time and declutter the easy stuff.

Once I went through the blog post, I actually went to Colleen’s blog: 365 Less Things. Lots of great posts and ideas to really made me think about how much stuff I really do have and haven’t touched in years. I know there will be some items with sentimental value that I may never let go but if I declutter some of the other things – maybe I can actually enjoy some of those sentimental items which are packed away still.

I think one of the things that keeps me from decluttering is I really hate throwing things out that still work. I used to sell things on ebay, but I honestly don’t really have the time to sell things on eBay anymore. Most recently, I’ve been using Good Donor – you register online and they have scheduled pick up dates in your area – they pick up at your door and leave you a receipt for donations. Another local group I like to use is Homefront. You have to drop off, but it is for a very good cause and the items stay local.

A recommendation from Colleen’s blog is Free Cycle – all items are free – you can search for your town or county. You can post if you have OFFERS (items to get rid of), WANT (if you are looking for something) and TAKEN (if someone has accepted your OFFERS). I found a freecycle group for my county and I posted a few things today: VHS Tapes (4 different categories) and a 4 Head VCR. Since I’m new to the group, my posts have to be approved and they haven’t shown up yet. I’ll let you know how it goes. Anything that you have used in the past that have worked?

So my goal for 2014 is to really focus on decluttering – 1 item each day. Anyone else interested in joining me?

Keeping Up – December

Posted on December 29, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! I know I did. I know it has been awhile since I last posted in December – sorry. December just kind of got away from me with a busy work schedule and getting ready for Christmas.

Here is a recap of December – pictures to boot!

Pictures of my trees – as you can see they are tiny. I was just too darn busy to get my big tree up and since my brother was hosting this year. The ceramic tree, my Aunt painted in the 1960s. I just love it! The white reindeer around my tabletop tree – my Uncle made – a nice reminder of him (he passed away 5 years ago).

Ceramic Tree – circa 1960s

Tabletop Tree with cute white Reindeer

Girls Day Out in NYC on 12/20 – we were total tourists. Hit Bryant Park, Becco for dinner (I just love this place – I convinced the people next to us to order a bottle of wine – it is only $25 there – so my new friend Laura insisted I have a glass before we left :-)), Radio City, the TREE and a new place for a nightcap – Jack’s.

Bryant Park

Fabulous vanilla and chocolate eggless custard dessert with raspberry sorbet – Becco’s

Radio City in RED

Across from Radio City – Just love the Red Ornaments

Rockefeller Ctr Tree

A great view of the Tree

$325 Santa – yikes!

I tried the Vesper at Jack’s – once I got used the gin – I enjoyed it! 🙂

Our nightcap at Jack’s

A great place to stop before heading back to the train station.

While at Rockefeller Center – it was great watching everyone enjoying themselves, getting their pictures taken, the random Christmas carols being sung. But the very special memory I will have is running into Nonna (a grandmother who drove in from Upstate NY to surprise her family who had just moved to NC and were homesick). My friend and I kept her company until she got the word to surprise her family. We had heard so much about what was going on – we just had to go with her. We were a bit of a human shield to keep it a secret until the very last second. It was just amazing! I’m so glad I got to be a part of it.
The Sunday before Christmas we had a family get together at my cousins. It was so much fun. Not everyone was able to make it but it was great to see everyone who was able to make it. It was so great to catch up with everyone and especially great to see my cousin and his wife from OK. We had a lot of laughs as usual.
Last year my parents and I dusted off an old family tradition of Chinese food on Christmas Eve. When I was a kid – it was take-out. There is a place not too far from me where it is just easier to eat in for the 3 of us. Always a good meal. And in the tradition of A Christmas Story – my Dad had the duck! 🙂
Christmas Day was Mass with my parents and then off to The Wisdom Diner in Bordentown for breakfast (we found it was open a few Christmases ago). Later in the day we went off to my brother’s for gifts, appetizers and dinner. It was fabulous. He made this awesome beef tenderloin that just melted in your mouth! Below is a picture of his Clark tree (tied down in lots of spots so it doesn’t fall over). 🙂
Griswold family tree

Keeping myself on track…

Posted on December 5, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

I love this time of year because I get to spend extra time with my family and extended family (and friends), the great decorations (I love seeing all the light displays), extra treats and of course listening to Christmas music. This time of year is also a challenge for me to keep myself as a priority! Anyone else have this challenge? I have lots of errands (I host Christmas day with my family – I love it – but I want everything to be perfect so I go into overdrive :-)) and work/personal commitments this time of year.

Something I’ve realized over the last couple of weeks is that if my work or personal schedule get in the way of my planned workouts – I don’t have a back-up plan.

I have all the right tools to have a back-up plan – I just received this 5×7 workout – who doesn’t have 5 minutes a day? And the weather is still quite warm in NJ (I think today it might hit 60+) so I’m able to have my 1:1s with my team while I walk (I had one yesterday and we were both walking talking via our cellphones – I was told – this is such a great idea – I love that I’m not only helping myself but helping my team too!).

My personal goals for the Christmas season:

Drink 80 ozs of water per day (I have a handy pitcher that I fill up either before I got to bed or when I get up first thing in the AM). Note to self – add 1 hydration tab per one large glass (I get dehydrated pretty quickly when I workout)
Get 7.5 – 8 hours of sleep per night (super important)
Plan my day to incorporate the 5×7 workout and walking into my day (target = 10K steps per day).
Get my 3 weekly workouts each week (Hardbody, Yoga, Spin or TRX)
Add more salads to my meals (I’m good about getting veggies into lunch / dinner – I’m not as good as adding salad to the mix)
Take my vitamins
Have FUN – enjoy the extra time with family and friends this Christmas season! 🙂

What are you doing to make yourself a priority?

Holiday Favorite – Adult Beverages

Posted on December 1, 2013 by keepingupwithkate91

A family tradition that I remember my Dad telling me about was a drink called a Grasshopper. It was a drink my Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop served on Christmas Eve as everyone opened presents. Over the years they added other drinks too (Manhattans and Brandy Alexanders) – although the Grasshopper was still made for my Mom-Mom. I love the Grasshopper because it is such a pretty green – and who doesn’t love, spiked chocolate mint with ice cream! 🙂

It was a drink continued at our house – I remember either been near the end of high school or maybe even college having a Grasshopper before Midnight Mass.

It is such a festive colored drink for the Christmas Holidays. Here is the recipe for a Grasshopper:

1 pint of vanilla bean ice cream
3 cups of crushed ice
4 oz green creme de menthe
6 oz white creme de cacoa (clear)

Put all ingredients into a blender, cover and process at frappe for a few seconds. Strain into cocktail glasses.

Another drink that is fabulous is my Dad’s Egg Nog recipe. In our family this is an Easter drink; however, I know many families drink it at Christmas. This recipe does call for raw eggs. I found this article from ABC News about Raw Eggs in EggNog

Here is the recipe:

4 oz eggs
20 oz milk
2 cup eggnog (or french vanilla) ice cream
2 tsp granulated sugar
2 oz rum
2 oz brandy (preferably cognac)

Place all of the above ingredients in a blender and mix well. Serves 8 cups. If you wish to make egg white topping, be sure to separate the 4 eggs and place the yolks in the blender only, setting the whites aside until last. Place whites in separate bowl and mix with beaters at high speed, slowly adding a little sugar (about 3 tsps) and 1/8 tsp of cream of tartar. When the whites form peaks, serve on top of each cup with a small sprinkling of nutmeg, if desired.

Do you have any holiday beverages that you love? Feel free to share!