Yesterday I ate...
Breakfast - 1 bowl of burnt oatmeal (it's gross) and 1/2 cup of coffee. After the burnt oatmeal I couldn't get anything else down. Plus we were out of milk and I drink milk in my coffee. It was just a bad breakfast all around.
Lunch - We finished up the last of the veggies in the fridge and made a salad. The salad included cabbage, green peppers, red onions and carrots. Plus a couple of pieces of cut up ham. Topped with oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and sage. It was really good. Cabbage is a lost vegetable. It's so tasty, it lasts forever and it gives things a nice crunch. You should buy cabbage and eat it instead of iceberg lettuce.
Dinner - We had to go to the grocery last night because our fridge was BARE. It was strange though because we're starting to taper what we're buying. So instead of buying a big box of 12 milks, we only bought 3. And instead of buying the big flour, we bought the little one. Strange! Anyways, it was late and we both had headaches when we got home. Ryan's eyes are bothering him with his contacts so he's been wearing his glasses all day but the glasses aren't the right prescription, which is causing him to have headaches and to be sleepy. I've just had a headache for weeks now. Who knows? Anyways, back to dinner. Ryan had made flatbread dough during the day. So when we got home I just cut up some veggies, assembled and popped them into the oven. Homemade flatbreads are really super easy and not too bad for you either. To our crust I added: a drizzle of oil, a layer of tomatoes, caramelized onions, wilted spinach with basil and garlic, a smattering of 'mozzarella' cheese. Bake for 7-10 minutes and eat! YUM!
We watched 2 episodes of LOST and then hit the hey.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Food
Yesterday we signed up with Anderson Organics for our first ever CSA! I'm super excited! We're going to be receiving a half share every week from June until October of delicious organic veggies.
Our signing up has been a long time coming. Ryan and I have had lots of great conversations about food since we've been in Ecuador. We've both seen some pretty dramatic weight loss (yes, Ryan too!) with the change in lifestyle that Ecuador has brought. We feel livelier, we have less cravings, we eat better and we get regular exercise.
So as the 'regressamos' looms less than a month away, we've been talking about our attitude towards food when we're in the USA. Here, as you know, we really stock up on veggies and fruits. We eat a lot of rice/quinoa/beans. And we mostly only eat chicken. I'm sure the chickens that we eat here aren't the cleanest or really organic in the way that the USA would deem them. But the chickens are normal sized, they eat grass, and they aren't full of hormones. We rarely eat beef. But when we do it's life is similar to the chickens'.
What does that mean for us back at home? Neither of us want to put the weight back on, neither of us want to go back to feeling tired and sluggish, and neither of us want to support the corporate food industry in the States. (If you haven't watched the movie FOOD INC, please do.)
These are the principals rolling around in our heads...
1. Grow an organic garden. We're really excited about this because we'll be living with a gardening expert (my mom) and we have Grandpa Jo just down the street! We're going to build a raised bed and go from there!
2. Buy local and organic. I understand that these cost more and I know that we don't have a lot of money, which I know will be the argument of some. But it all comes down to priorities. Our priority is not quantity, it's quality. My priority is my health and the health of the Earth. If we keep eating food with pesticides and hormones, the industry will keep producing them. Which will continue to deteriorate the health of the nation and the health of the Earth. Plus local tastes better. It tastes more real, fresher. This is where Anderson Organics comes into play. I'm also so excited to hear about this great farmer's market Rockford has going! Go Rockford! I know that we'll run into problems come the winter, but we'll deal with them then.
3. Avoid processed foods. We rarely buy something in a can or a jar or a box or a bag that has already been processed. Here, in Ecuador, we eat slow food; real food. And that's been probably the biggest contributing factor to our health improving. I like to have a snack in the afternoon but it's usually a piece of bread, a piece of fruit or a bag of papas or chifles (potatoes fried or plantains fried). It's amazing to me what happens when you remove corn syrup from your diet and replace it with real sugar, or better yet with panela. Your body has to work (burn calories) to burn those types of sugar down. This is a good process. With corn syrup, it breaks down so quickly that there are very few calories burned. This is a bad process. So we're going to try and avoid it. At least in our home and when we are in control of the food on the proverbial table.
4. Keep moving. We walk, run, hike, climb, lift, and swim here all of the time. In the States we drive. Granted we have convenient weather and we live in a big city with public transportation. In IL that will be harder because of the location of my parents' house. But I'll be training for a marathon and Ryan can't wait for regular soccer games and basketball games. Plus we've got Chuki to walk and we both want to start lifting actual weights (not the water bottles we've been lifting here) together. There are tennis courts just down the street, bikes to be rode, and hikes to be had within hours of Rockford! We're looking forward to doing a lot of exploring in our own neighborhood for new hikes and forests to enjoy, something we've gotten extremely used to here.
There you have it! There's really nothing more important than your health and doing what you can to preserve it for as long as you can. Everyone owes it to themselves to take care of your body in a healthy, non-abusive, non-judgmental way. It's not a competition of who can be the skinniest. Life is so much more than that. It's about maintaining your health so that you can enjoy all that life has to offer: the people you love, the smiles, the laughter, the tears, the adventures, the delicious food, the nature, and the beauty of this Earth.
MULUB,
Taylor
Our signing up has been a long time coming. Ryan and I have had lots of great conversations about food since we've been in Ecuador. We've both seen some pretty dramatic weight loss (yes, Ryan too!) with the change in lifestyle that Ecuador has brought. We feel livelier, we have less cravings, we eat better and we get regular exercise.
So as the 'regressamos' looms less than a month away, we've been talking about our attitude towards food when we're in the USA. Here, as you know, we really stock up on veggies and fruits. We eat a lot of rice/quinoa/beans. And we mostly only eat chicken. I'm sure the chickens that we eat here aren't the cleanest or really organic in the way that the USA would deem them. But the chickens are normal sized, they eat grass, and they aren't full of hormones. We rarely eat beef. But when we do it's life is similar to the chickens'.
What does that mean for us back at home? Neither of us want to put the weight back on, neither of us want to go back to feeling tired and sluggish, and neither of us want to support the corporate food industry in the States. (If you haven't watched the movie FOOD INC, please do.)
These are the principals rolling around in our heads...
1. Grow an organic garden. We're really excited about this because we'll be living with a gardening expert (my mom) and we have Grandpa Jo just down the street! We're going to build a raised bed and go from there!
2. Buy local and organic. I understand that these cost more and I know that we don't have a lot of money, which I know will be the argument of some. But it all comes down to priorities. Our priority is not quantity, it's quality. My priority is my health and the health of the Earth. If we keep eating food with pesticides and hormones, the industry will keep producing them. Which will continue to deteriorate the health of the nation and the health of the Earth. Plus local tastes better. It tastes more real, fresher. This is where Anderson Organics comes into play. I'm also so excited to hear about this great farmer's market Rockford has going! Go Rockford! I know that we'll run into problems come the winter, but we'll deal with them then.
3. Avoid processed foods. We rarely buy something in a can or a jar or a box or a bag that has already been processed. Here, in Ecuador, we eat slow food; real food. And that's been probably the biggest contributing factor to our health improving. I like to have a snack in the afternoon but it's usually a piece of bread, a piece of fruit or a bag of papas or chifles (potatoes fried or plantains fried). It's amazing to me what happens when you remove corn syrup from your diet and replace it with real sugar, or better yet with panela. Your body has to work (burn calories) to burn those types of sugar down. This is a good process. With corn syrup, it breaks down so quickly that there are very few calories burned. This is a bad process. So we're going to try and avoid it. At least in our home and when we are in control of the food on the proverbial table.
4. Keep moving. We walk, run, hike, climb, lift, and swim here all of the time. In the States we drive. Granted we have convenient weather and we live in a big city with public transportation. In IL that will be harder because of the location of my parents' house. But I'll be training for a marathon and Ryan can't wait for regular soccer games and basketball games. Plus we've got Chuki to walk and we both want to start lifting actual weights (not the water bottles we've been lifting here) together. There are tennis courts just down the street, bikes to be rode, and hikes to be had within hours of Rockford! We're looking forward to doing a lot of exploring in our own neighborhood for new hikes and forests to enjoy, something we've gotten extremely used to here.
There you have it! There's really nothing more important than your health and doing what you can to preserve it for as long as you can. Everyone owes it to themselves to take care of your body in a healthy, non-abusive, non-judgmental way. It's not a competition of who can be the skinniest. Life is so much more than that. It's about maintaining your health so that you can enjoy all that life has to offer: the people you love, the smiles, the laughter, the tears, the adventures, the delicious food, the nature, and the beauty of this Earth.
MULUB,
Taylor
Project Number 2 - Day 28 (Tuesday)
I don't know if I've said before, but knowing that I am going to blog about what I ate really, at times, helps me eat better. Anyways...
Yesterday I ate...
Breakfast - Yogurt with a small spoonful of honey and peanut butter.
Lunch - A take on a fry up... beans, 2 eggs sunny side up, and a tomato
After run snack - I split a piece of bread with Chuki. He thought he should run with me yesterday, and then it decided to rain. It wasn't a very good run. But I did manage to get in about 5 minutes of sprints, sandwiched in between two longer jogs. The problem is Chuki thinks sprints are for him too, and I can't run that fast!
Dinner - We had breakfast for dinner! So that means we both had breakfast for 3 meals yesterday. Last night I made egg free oatmeal pancakes and banana oatmeal. Banana oatmeal was super good. Egg free oatmeal pancakes not so much, we each only ate one topped with a little honey and peanut butter.
Yesterday I ate...
Breakfast - Yogurt with a small spoonful of honey and peanut butter.
Lunch - A take on a fry up... beans, 2 eggs sunny side up, and a tomato
After run snack - I split a piece of bread with Chuki. He thought he should run with me yesterday, and then it decided to rain. It wasn't a very good run. But I did manage to get in about 5 minutes of sprints, sandwiched in between two longer jogs. The problem is Chuki thinks sprints are for him too, and I can't run that fast!
Dinner - We had breakfast for dinner! So that means we both had breakfast for 3 meals yesterday. Last night I made egg free oatmeal pancakes and banana oatmeal. Banana oatmeal was super good. Egg free oatmeal pancakes not so much, we each only ate one topped with a little honey and peanut butter.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Project Number 2 - Day 27 (Monday)
Mondays...
Yesterday marked 30 days left in Ecuador. To celebrate I ate yogurt and granola for breakfast. Soup with a scoop of rice for lunch. And Ryan made a chicken wing for each of us, baked potato wedges, canary beans - menestras style, and carrots for dinner.
I also managed to get in a 5K recovery run in just around 30 minutes.
Yum!
Yesterday marked 30 days left in Ecuador. To celebrate I ate yogurt and granola for breakfast. Soup with a scoop of rice for lunch. And Ryan made a chicken wing for each of us, baked potato wedges, canary beans - menestras style, and carrots for dinner.
I also managed to get in a 5K recovery run in just around 30 minutes.
Yum!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Project Pichincha - Day 18 (Monday)
I realize I'm missing a weeks worth of photos of Pichincha. Sorry about that. Let me see what I can do. Here's today's.
 |
| 4 April 2011 @ 8:00am |
Project Number 2 - Day 26 (Sunday)
Oh Sundays... How I adore you! I used to dread Sunday evenings because all of the anxiety from work would come rushing back. I would start to compose a TO DO list a mile long of things that I was behind on, people I HAD to call, etc. But not anymore! Thank God! Now, I love Sundays. It's one more day to relax. Yesterday, we woke up slow, like bears. We chatted with my mom and dad. We went to the park with Chuki. We came home and watched A LOT of LOST. We're into season 3 now because we found a site that we can reliably and quickly stream the episodes even here in Ecuador. It's great! Or terrible, depending on how you look at it and your propensity to LOST.
What did we eat yesterday.... hmmm.
Well for breakfast I had 1.5 cups of coffee and a bowl of yogurt, granola and 1/2 a banana.
We had a banana snack at the park.
For lunch I had left over soup and left over fried rice. It was a BIG lunch.
I munched on 3 pieces of chocolate during LOST.
And for dinner I made chicken, garlic smashed potatoes, and oregano green beans.
That's about it!
What did we eat yesterday.... hmmm.
Well for breakfast I had 1.5 cups of coffee and a bowl of yogurt, granola and 1/2 a banana.
We had a banana snack at the park.
For lunch I had left over soup and left over fried rice. It was a BIG lunch.
I munched on 3 pieces of chocolate during LOST.
And for dinner I made chicken, garlic smashed potatoes, and oregano green beans.
That's about it!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)