The pig sty is my welcome home gift from the husband [...]]]> It’s 6 o’clock in the morning and I’m sitting in my pig sty of a house, still stuffed from the overdose of pizza the night before, just pondering the weekend and how I’m going to make it through the rest of this week.

The pig sty is my welcome home gift from the husband and little guy. I bring them t-shirts from Boston and they present a sink full of dishes, plates of food on the kitchen table, more items on the floor of the living room then I can count and a basement loaded with laundry.

Upon my return from any weekend trip, I not only have to rally the troops to get the house in order–which I failed at miserably last night– I must hit the grocery store so that we actually have food in the house all week. I’ve learned from the ghost of weekend’s past that by far grocery shopping is the most important thing to do on a weekend. It’s the only way to ward of–or shall I say REDUCE–the number of times we eat out during the week.

My plane landed around 4PM and I was home by 5. After a quick reunion Little Guy and I headed off to the grocery store together where we stocked up on tons of fresh foods, veggies and a few convenience snack item for our lunches. After spending about an hour at the store I realized there was no way I was going to go home and cook. Not after the day I had.

I woke up at 6AM after a horrible night of sleep. My allergies are in full effect. It’s hard to catch some Z’s when you can only breath out of one nostril. Especially when breathing out of that one nostril causes your throat to feel like it’s been rubbed raw with sand paper. What a crappy way to start the day especially when you are headed out to run a 9k race.

But I sucked it up and ran the race anyway. Which put me in a much better mood. Nothing makes me happier then to wake up and experience the sense of camaraderie and motivation at a running event. Any running event.

So after the 5.77 mile run, I walked the mile back to the hotel, packed up, checked out, navigated the local mass transit and headed to the airport to return home.

I don’t know about you but traveling takes a lot of out me and the last thing I want to do after a day of traveling is cook. Especially in a kitchen that looks as if a bomb exploded.

So succumbing to the husbands request for pizza was a much easier decisions last night then it has ever been.

It’s really not that big of a deal to order a pizza. It really isn’t or at least it shouldn’t be.

But It’s like a gateway drug for me. My nemesis. My Achilles’ heel.

I ate 2 pieces for dinner plus little guy’s leftovers and 3 of the husband’s hot wings. Not a big deal right?

Like I said, it’s really not that big of a deal. Until…. after the little guy goes to bed and the husband and I snuggle up on the couch to watch TV. Mr. Leftover Pizza in the fridge starts to call my name.

"Roni…. Roni…. you know I’m in here. What are you going to do, save me until tomorrow. You don’t want to eat me tomorrow. I’ll ruin your day. Just get over hear and finish me off now. You know you want to. You know how good I taste reheated in the oven. Come on. You had a great weekend. you deserve to enjoy me again. I’m totally worth it. I’ll taste great. "

I have learned to ignore Mr. Pizza on the few nights we actually do order but last night he was just too powerful. I heated up the last two slices in the oven and while I waited I devoured a huge peanut butter egg I had leftover in the fridge from Easter. She just simple whispered, "You might as well, you’re already about to ruin your day anyway."

So I do not lie when I say I’m still stuffed from the night before. I woke up with that yucky feeling in my gut that happens when I eat too much too late. I know this feeling all too well. It’s how I woke up every morning in college.

I’d being lying if I said I wasn’t disappointed in myself. I really did have a great weekend. I even kept my food journal on vacation perfectly. I made great choices. I felt fantastic, motivated, energized.

I want that feeling back and the only way to get it is to forgive myself. I know some will think I’m crazy. That I ate what I ate and I shouldn’t feel guilty or ashamed. That those feelings are the bane of the dieters existence. But truth be told, you just can’t shut off your response to certain situations. Instead you can recognize your triggers, avoid them when possible, and forgive yourself when you don’t.

It’s the only way for me and it’s been working quite well these 5 years.

So I’m off to shower for work. I’ll grab my packed lunch and healthy snacks and remind myself that life is and will always be a day by day battle.

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Today started off with NO TV. I swear, if I put it on first thing I lose at least 1-2 hours to shear nothingness. It’s unbelievable! Today we started with the radio instead. It really makes all the difference for [...]]]> One day I will run out of Sensational Sunday titles, now won’t I? :)

Today started off with NO TV. I swear, if I put it on first thing I lose at least 1-2 hours to shear nothingness. It’s unbelievable! Today we started with the radio instead. It really makes all the difference for us. We then made breakfast and cleaned up. The toddler and I played a few games while the husband…. slept! Of course. He’s the sleeper of the family. I don’t even try to get him up with us anymore. It’s not worth the aggravation. :)

Then it was time to get ready for our guests! My friend was coming over with her son for a play date. I decided we would make pizza with the kids and Lynnea brought blackberries! So we decided to make Black and Blue Dessert cups for a sweet treat! The were was so good! After lunch we played the Wii until the kids started to get cranky. Well, my kid… Jackson was a little angel. :)

During the toddler’s nap I decided to drive down to a possible home site (we *may* be attempting a move if you haven’t heard) and run in that community. Not only did I fall in love with the area I’m spying up (again) I had an AWESOME 3 mile run.

Running Graph taken from Nike+

It was almost effortless, mostly (I think) because my brain was preoccupied with possibilities of moving. I’m in love with this location and will be making some decisions this week. The only thing that worries me is getting all excited and then let down if something goes wrong. I guess the roller coaster of emotions I’m going through is pretty normal. I’m just supper exited of the possibilities at this point and having fun dreaming.

When I got home the husband declared he wanted out of house! (poor guy worked all day) So we decided to (yet again) drive to the "target" area and hit Panera for dinner. As you can tell by my menu I made some pretty good choices. Panera really is one of my favorite semi-fast food places as the husband actually enjoys it AND I’m just thankful it’s NOT Burger King. :)

Now? Well now I’m sitting in quite a messy house even though I cleaned all morning. I have to write one more post before bed and I’m getting hungry. I’m thinking of making some bean dip, maybe a new recipe using my new food processor! :) So I’m signing off to make my snack, straighten up and get ready for tomorrow to end my Sunday in a truly Sensational way, by preparing.

Stay tuned for another podcast tomorrow, I should have it up by then. Have a great night and I hope Monday treats you well! :)

P.S. Join me tomorrow for lunch in the BlogToLose chat room! Hope to see you there!

Table provided by Roni’s Food Tweet, Eat, Post Generator.

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While trying to get myself out of the funk, I decided to organize [...]]]> AACK! I could complain about a lot of things but I don’t want to get into them. The point is, I’ve been in a FUNK all day. And what do I want to do to solve that funk? EAT! Of course.

While trying to get myself out of the funk, I decided to organize my pantry. It’s in desperate need. In doing so, I found a box of stale chocolate chip cookies. These cookies are a huge weakness of mine. They are big, full of chips, and soft, in my opinion, all the best qualities a cookie can have. Well, even after discovering they were stale I STILL proceeded to chow down. WHY? Because I’m in a funk and that’s what I do. I try to “cure” the funk with food. I’m not quit sure why, but I do.

This time though, I caught myself and I TREW THEM AWAY. Then I proceeded to eat a nice big bowl of homemade chicken soup. I figured it would fill me up (I’m not really hungry, mind you) and be a much better choice to cure the funk craving.

Well it worked for awhile and then my brain started turning, “Hmmm it’s football saturday, we can order a pizza, yeah. That would be good, a PIZZA. Maybe we’ll get a side of those chicken tenders too. And I’ve always wanted to try one of their new desserts.”

Ok, I’m not kidding, that’s EXACTLY what when through my head. That is the way my brain works when I’m in a funk. It’s like I start to scheme and plan how I can consume the most frivolous calories. That’s my solution, I guess? Or maybe it’s a symptom. I’m not sure.

Anything can start the funk, feeling sorry for myself, mad at someone, lonely, ugly, fat, distant, really it could be anything, but the cure I always seek out is the same. Food.

My logic, sane, self (she’s able to somehow stay afloat in my funk-afied brain and I hear her more and more the longer I’m on this journey) realized early there was no way I could pick up the phone to order that pizza. It would be a disaster. So instead I decided to make what I wanted out of what I had. I made pizza.

Does that make sense? Let me explain.

Now I’ve said this before. For me, the actual act of cooking food starts to satisfy the craving. I think there is something about the short delay in preparing the food that helps. If I just grabbed a bag of chips or ordered the pizza I’m instantaneously satisfy the craving. That’s too easy. I don’t want to make it easy on myself, I’d rather go with hard. Hard decision are normally better for me in the long run. If I have to work for it then the time I’m planning, preparing and cooking all lead to the satisfaction.

So instead of ordering a pizza that’s made with hordes of full fat cheese, greasy meats, non-nutritious white flour I decided to make my own. Today I went all out and made my Thin Crust Whole Wheat Pizza Dough but I could have made Tortilla Pizza, or English muffin pizza. I could have made in on a pita, in a crepe, in a wonton, as a salad or even on top of eggs. Even when I don’t have sauce I make do and sometimes a craving can turn into some quality family time. Can you tell I have a pizza addiction? All these ideas came from curing pizza cravings.

My point here is (and I swear there is one) the next time you are confronted with a funk, a craving, or a “I just want something” mood, get creative. Don’t just give in and and take the easy way out, Make What You Want out of What You Have. I think you’ll be ultimately more satisfied if you do.

I wasn’t going to post this but I made a commitment to journal for my 8 week challenge, so here you go. I’m really making an effort to do what I say I’m going to do.

Want a food journal like this for your blog? Try the table generator.

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"NOPE! Totally NOT worth it!! Time to get back on [...]]]> I don’t like to waste food but we had pizza leftover from the babysitter last night and it’s been calling me all morning. I took a look at it, thought about how crappy I feel becuase I ate too much yesterday and then said,

"NOPE! Totally NOT worth it!! Time to get back on track, today is a new day!"

I have to confess this decision took about an hour. Can you believe that? I was consumed with the thought of that pizza for that long. What is wrong with me?

Instead I split a healthy breakfast with the toddler. We had an orange, dry Frosted Mini-Wheats and yogurt. I feel SO MUCH BETTER and ready to face the day.

This morning I’m off to Lowes to get garden supplies. I’m taking my hand at a real garden in the GROUND not just tomato and pepper plants in pots. This is a big step for this garden immigrant!

Then it’s off to a party this afternoon and I’m planning a run this evening.

So raise up your water glass *ting* here’s to a Sensational Sunday!

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A few weeks ago I wrote about a goal to make every Sunday Sensational. I wouldn’t say I’ve failed this goal but I didn’t attack it with the same vigor as that first week.

Today started [...]]]> You thought I forgot didn’t you? Well, more then likely you forgot but I’ll humor myself. ;~)

A few weeks ago I wrote about a goal to make every Sunday Sensational. I wouldn’t say I’ve failed this goal but I didn’t attack it with the same vigor as that first week.

Today started rough with a grumpy toddler and a hung-over husband. By mid morning we decided to suck it up and take advantage of the 90-degree October day (what’s up with that?!?) by going to a local farm. We took a hayride, picked out pumpkins and I got to do one of my favorite things, peruse the produce (yes, yes I know I’m geek).

This all sounds fabulous BUT on our way out of the farm, our car battery died. It took us 15 minutes to get a jump and then I spend the rest of the afternoon hunting down a battery. So not fun.

To make it worse I didn’t eat anything after breakfast. By 4PM I was famished and I hopped on the husbands idea to get pizza. Why oh why?!? You know my pizza history and I should know by now this is a recipe for DISASTER

Overeating Disaster

Mix all ingredients at local pizza parlor and serve.

So why am I still claiming this Sunday Sensational because I’m not letting one meal control my mood and ruin my day. I still got a lot accomplished (I’ve updated my workout progress, weight progress and recipe photos) and I still had a great day!

So I’m throwing out the idea Sensational Sundays again and I will be back next Sunday with a full report! Feel free to join me and use my cheesy graphic. ;~)

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Friday night the husband and I had plans to go out.   Not wanting to worry about dinner, I decided to order pizza.  Before we left I had a [...]]]> Seriously, let’s discuss this.  I know it may sound silly but I truly believe I have a problem. They say admitting it is half the battle, right?

Friday night the husband and I had plans to go out.   Not wanting to worry about dinner, I decided to order pizza.  Before we left I had a few slices. When we came home, I had a few more slices. When I woke up this morning, I had a even few more slices. It was as if someone put me on autopilot.  Pizza was available so I ate it, a lot of it.  I don’t want to say I couldn’t stop myself because I could have, right? I mean I could have just put it away, right?

Honestly, truly doing some self-analysis and soul searching here the answer is no.  I really don’t think I can. When there is pizza in the house it’s as though I have to eat it.  I mean eat it ALL. It’s like I can’t handle knowing it’s in the fridge. It consumes my thoughts. I feel as if I have no self-control. What am I saying I don’t feel, I really had NO self control.

So I started digging around on the web.  Surely, I can’t be the only one out there with a pizza addiction.  While on my hunt to find others that have similar odd addictions I uncovered this older article entitled Chocolate cake addiction: it’s real which let me to Exposure to Food Increases Brain Metabolism. 

Is it that far fetched that food addiction is similar to drug addiction? These articles say no, and I feel a little bit better about my 24-hour pizza binge.

There is a good thing to note about this, a lesson learned if you will.  Even though I succumb to my addiction, I’m not using it as an excuse to return to old habits.  After 2 years of living healthier, I’ve learned a momentary lapse now and then puts what I have accomplished in prospective.  The way I ate in the last 24 hours is pretty much how I ate my way through college. The key is not to use it as an excuse.  No ones perfect.  Tomorrow I’m hitting the grocery store for my weekly supply of healthy fresh food and I will journal to be accountable. It’s about being healthy MOST of the time not all the time. 

Right? …  Right? Please tell me I’m right?  ;~)

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