Wino weekend
by Christine on December 12th, 2011
filed under Christine's Life Updates, Diet, Food, Nutrition
This weekend I went with a friend on a wine tour in the Mid-Hudson River valley area. We were sort-of, kind-of following the Shawangunk Wine Trail, but with a few additions thrown in. A few wineries are not on the official Shawngunk Wine Trail, but are worth visiting nonetheless, such as Robibero Winery & Demorest Hill Vineyards. This weekend was the Wreath Fineries wine tour — which means for a big whopping lump sum you get free tastings at all the Shawangunk Wine Trail wineries, plus a little food at each place. Plus they give you a little wreath at the start of the tour, and each winery has a little ornament to put on your wreath. And oh yeah, you get to keep a souvenir glass too. Well, we had intended on signing up for the tour this Saturday, but tickets were sold out. No big deal–we would still do the tour, except pass on the wreath and pay for tastings at each winery, like normal.
Well, we were at our first winery (Adair Winery) when we chatted with a very nice couple. Turns out his brother-in-law and wife couldn’t make the tour, so they gave us their wine tour ticket. Furthermore, it was a 2-day ticket, which was even more expensive! THANK YOU VITO! It was a really unexpected, lovely gift! (They wouldn’t take any money for the tickets, either.) What nice people you run into on the wine trail!
My favorite winery is Demorest Hill, which is not on the official route. The cutest little old Italian man runs the place, and he makes something ridiculous like 60 or 70 types of wines, spirits, vinegars, etc. Delicious! I love that place.
We stayed at the Thayer Hotel at West Point Military Academy, which is a wonderful hotel that looks a little bit like a midevil castle. Very pretty location.
I did a great job packing snacks for the trail. In addition to the little snacks they had at each place (I do believe Applewood Winery would win the award for best snack…a spicy cheesecake that was really fantastic!) I had packed some cheese, pepperoni and crackers, some carrots and grapes, bottles of water, packages of almonds, etc. I didn’t overdo it during the trail or afterwards at dinner….I was holding steady at my maintenance range of 126.0 this morning.
Showing off my new hands-free wine cozy! hahahaha! So tacky but so much fun! (And holy crap when did I get SKINNY, people?? That’s a padded ski jacket I’m wearing there….and I don’t look like that kid from A Christmas Carol. Freaky!!!)
Chickens!! Omg, one winery had chickens. I hopped out of the car and tried to chase one down to pet him, but he wouldn’t let me get close. What a chicken chicken! Bawk bawk! See, you might find exercise at the oddest times when you’re on a wine trail. You better be prepared!
Mentally preparing for Thanksgiving
by Christine on November 23rd, 2011
filed under Christine's Life Updates, Diet, Food, Nutrition
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, and I want to take a few moments to mentally prepare for the day insofar as “what and how much food will I eat?”
It shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone that busting your calorie budget on Thanksgiving can be incredibly easy to do. Assuming a typical Thanksgiving feast…
6 oz white and dark meat turkey = 340 calories
1/2 cup of stuffing = 180 calories
1/2 cup mashed potatoes = 150 calories or more
1/2 cup gravy = 150 calories
1/2 cup candied sweet potatoes = 150 calories
2 dinner rolls = 220 calories
Butter for those rolls = 50 calories
1/2 cup green beans = 50 calories
1 glass wine = 120 calories
1 piece pumpkin pie = 200 calories
That’s a whopping 1600 calories for a meal that has “reasonable” portion sizes. Wowza! And that doesn’t even account for 2nd helpings, pre-dinner snacks, football snacks, etc. Talk about easy to break that calorie budget! That’s two days worth of calories for me!
So in my mind, it’s even more important to pre-plan what I’m going to eat. It’s important to me that I get to eat all the stuff I really love even if it’s not really low-calorie, but I’m okay with passing on the stuff that I don’t absolutely love.
I LOVE: turkey. my cranberry sauce. mashed potatoes and gravy, carrot cake.
Stuff I can go without: stuffing, green beans, sweet potatoes, dinner rolls, pie.
So if I just cut down on my portion sizes, I can still have all the things that I love!
3 oz turkey: 170 calories
1/4 cup mashed potatoes: 75 calories
1/4 cup gravy: 75 calories
1/4 cup cranberry sauce: 60 calories??
Small slice of carrot cake: 150 calories
Water instead of wine
Total calories for the meal, which includes all the stuff that I LOVE, is 530 calories. That’s higher than 1 average meal for me, but completely reasonable nonetheless. That’ll be my plan!
Do you guys plan ahead with your dinner to make sure you won’t go over your calorie budget? What do you do with the leftovers? How do you make sure that the leftovers don’t break your budget day-after-day for the next week?
I remember when!
by Christine on November 2nd, 2011
filed under Christine's Life Updates, Diet, Food, Nutrition
3 years ago, I’d go to Moe’s for lunch and eat a whole Triple Lindy (which is a burrito with rice, pinto beans, steak, shredded cheese, salsa, guacamole).
Calories: 845, not even including the side of potato chips they give you, which is easily another 400-800 calories. No joking, kiddos.
I can’t believe selling food that high in calories is even legal. It’s not even tasty!
Or my co-workers would head over to the Cheesecake Factory. I’d have the Pasta Carbonera, which has 2134 calories. Granted, I wouldn’t eat it all, but I’d eat a good 3/4s of it.
Oh my. Those were the days, huh?
Who is on your cheerleading team?
by Christine on November 1st, 2011
filed under Christine's Life Updates, Diet, Food, Nutrition
This morning I came across this fantastic post by Krisz over at Chained to the Band. She was writing that she doesn’t give herself enough credit for her achievements, and that led into a discussion about who would you want on your personal cheering team, rooting you on for all your weight loss and weight goals?
Assuming that we’re following Krisz’s lead and accepting 4 cheerleaders on our own personal squad, here would be my picks:
First would be my husband. I’d choose him because his compliments and cheers are really scarce, but when he gives me a compliment I know that he means it. He’s not just saying it to make me feel better. This weekend he actually told me that I looked sexy, and I was like, “Woah…if he thinks so, then it must be true!” Also, my husband is a great voice of reason. If was trying to give myself kudos when they weren’t warrented, he would let me know, but he would also be the first to tell me if I was selling myself short. Yup, hubby would have to be on the cheerleading squad.
I’d also choose my friend Danielle. I see her about once a week, since she lives down the street and often stops by the house to take her dog for a walk. Danielle is fit and beautiful. She claims she struggled with her weight when she was younger, but for as long as I’ve known her it all just comes so easily to her. I admire her for that! Danielle is the type that is always game for trying some new exercise program. She got me to go to bootcamp with her when I was still losing weight. She tried yoga with me. She keeps trying to get me to sign up for spinning with her, and I really should make time to try that. Whenever we have friends over or go to a party, Danielle ALWAYS brings fresh veggies to munch on. She’s never a food pusher. She’s brought over healthy food options just for me, just because she knows that I’m trying to lose weight. Wow, that’s a good friend! Danielle would be on my list because she is always ready to encourage me to try something new and support me when I feel weak or like giving up.
And the last two cheerleaders would have to be my online besties, Sandy and Amanda. They’ve known me for, what, 7 years now? Maybe longer? They’ve seen me struggle with my weight and have been nonstop encouragement when I’ve tried different diets or exercise programs. They’ve kept me on task every single day (“Have you gotten your workout in yet? No? GET ON IT!”) and have given me advice when I’ve asked for it. (“Try cooking your chicken like THIS instead of like THAT to save a few calories!”) They’ve totally been where I’ve been with the whole weight-loss and self-image issues, so they’ve been able to relate to where I’m at, literally, at every stage of my life. They understand, and they get me. And every single day they are there to encourage me to get up, keep moving, try something new, and to be the very best Christine that I can be. Amanda and Sandy are extraordinary women, and I’m quite sure that I would not have been as successful with my weight loss if it weren’t for their constant support and encouragement. (Thank you ladies, from the bottom of my heart!)
My personal cheerleading squad:
What a good looking group, huh?
Who would be on your personal cheerleading team?
Microbrew weekend
by Christine on October 17th, 2011
filed under Christine's Life Updates, Diet, Food, Nutrition
Good morning Revolutionists! Did everyone have a good weekend? I hope so! Mine was great, but not long enough. I could have used a lazy day to relax a bit! Friday night I did a little clothes shopping (apparently I’m still a Size 4, hooray!) and then I went to the “Racino” in Saratoga, which is a combination harness track and electronic slot machine facility. I love people-watching there! I lost about $10 over the course of about 3 hours (not bad), and I hit a really fun 50-free-spin game! Everyone kept staring at me though; I felt really self-conscious. Did I have a booger hanging out of my nose? Toilet paper on my shoes? Weird. So I left and went home.
Tuesday I went to Peekskill, NY with a friend for a small brew festival. It was at the Peekskill Brewery, and they had several different breweries’ beer, some craft vendors, and some live music. We went to hear the Folkadelics play–what a great band! The beer was good, the price was good, the weather held out, and we made a few friends…a successful outing!
Beforehand we stopped for lunch at 12 Grapes. I had a glass of Austrian wine (not good) and a crab cake (delicious). Unfortunately my band was giving me problems, so I ended up barfing up all the food. Some days are good, some days are bad. Go figure. On the way home we hit up a new brew pub in Catskill, NY call the Crossroads Brewery. Again…good beer, great venue, and a fun live band! I would definitely stop by this brewery if I was going through the area again!
By the time I got home it was late, so I went to bed. I think we missed dinner….
Yesterday I went over to a friend’s house for a homemade card-making class, put on by a Stampin’ Up consultant. We made 20 homemade Christmas cards, and they turned out so cute! My friend had a great spread of food, and oh! The quiche! I had two slices! Piggy me! I was super hungry, which is no surprise after the day I had previously. I had lots of water, a few fresh veggies & dip, and a few crackers and cheese. Super fun!
Scale today was 128.0. It’s a much-needed coffee kind of morning!
What did you guys all do this weekend?
