Gratefulness

Is that a word?

For some reason, the word 'grateful' has come up a lot lately. I'm reading it and hearing about gratefulness all over the place. I always take these things as being some sort of sign, so I figured I should be thinking about and talking about gratefulness. This post is very much inspired by many happy posts I've read of late.

I'm grateful for so many things - let me share:

~ I live with the kindest, more tolerant, gentle, generous man I could ask to share my life with.
~ I have a wonderful family - we love each other more and more every day. Our newest little family member is really changing our lives for the better. We are so lucky to be blessed with her.
~ We are healthy, and happy, and very fortunate.
~ I have more people that I consider friends than I ever have before, no matter how far apart we are from each other physically.
~ My dog. I love that fuzzy little being. He's made me a better person.
~ My job. I may not always jump out of bed eager to go to work, but I have great co-workers and a very good job - certainly nothing I should be complaining much about.


So there you have it. What more can a person ask for?

Monday Menu - I know, another boring food list

I know it's Tuesday, but I want to talk about yesterday's food too. I'm looking for suggestions and critiques. I'm trying to eat "cleaner" and incorporate more whole foods and more protein.

Here's what I ate:

Breakfast: Oats with greek yogurt and raisins, coffee
Snack: none (still full)
Lunch: Salad (spinach, tomatoes, mixed beans, feta stuffed peppers, flax meal, vinaigrette)
Snack: 2 Turkey Bites
Dinner: Turkey Burger (whole wheat bun, cranberry chutney, and grainy mustard), sweet potato fries with herb mayo for dipping
Snack: 3 Clementines

Because I don't trust myself not to overeat, I'm still figuring out my nutritional totals:
1530 cals, 197 grams carbohydrates, 46 grams fat, 95 grams protein

I think the only thing I ate that wouldn't be considered "clean" was the mayo, and maybe the kaiser roll I had my burger on. It was from a local bakery, but it doesn't list ingredients.

Thoughts?

This Week's Grocery List

I've really been trying harder to focus on whole foods and shopping the perimeter of the store. Here are today's finds:

Light Eggnog

1% Milk

Light Cream (for a specific FFwD recipe)

Coffee Cream (for a specific FFwD recipe)

Fresh Salmon

Lean Ground Beef

Ground Turkey

Orange Juice

Sugar

Fat-Free Greek Yogurt - Plain

Fat-Free Greek Yogurt - Strawberry (!!!)

Low-Fat Olive Oil Mayonnaise

Canned Crushed Tomatoes

Swiss Cheese

Tassimo Lattes

Garlic

Old Dutch All-Dressed Potato Chips (I have no idea how they got in the cart - Steve?)

Clementines

Onions

Honeycrisp Apples

Green Peppers

Baby Spinach

Baby Lettuce

Portabella Mushrooms

Roast Beef

Whole Grain Artisan Bread

Coarse Salt

Smoked Tuna

Multigrain Hamburger Buns

Cranberry Orange Chutney

Chili Oil

Coke Zero

C-Plus Orange

I cannot wait to have turkey burgers for supper this week!

Take Some Time to Think

I went for a run today at lunch, all by my lonesome. It's been quite a while since I'd done that, come to think of it. I'm usually out with the tall geeks from the other side of my floor, one of whom is learning to run. Needless to say, I haven't been challenging myself as much as I should be.

Today I decided I'd go by myself - completely all alone, by myself. No distractions. This also means no music. I also made sure I wasn't wearing any gear that would drive me insane while I was on my solo journey. It was just me and my garmin.

It was great just listening to myself breathing. Nice rhythmic breathing. And I took time to think about my body - where my shoulders were, whether any part of me felt tighter than it should have, and whether my shoes were comfortable.

I also thought about which parts of my body were actually getting tired, and when I really analyzed the whole thing, I found that I could actually keep going longer. Can your legs handle a couple more minutes? Yup. Can your lungs handle a couple more minutes? Yup. Better keep going then.

It was great. I need to do that just a bit more often.

Silence is Golden

Have you ever had times when it seems like you're saying everything wrong? As soon as you open your mouth and say something you wish you hadn't?

I am very much in that space now. I am regretting everything I'm saying, not necessarily because I don't feel it, but I just feel like I'm saying everything wrong.

I sound needy, and whiny, sensitive, and insecure. I am saying the wrong things to the wrong people.

Even my comments on Facebook and my emails sound all wrong.

Please, everyone, give me the benefit of the doubt. I'm a good person, I'm confident, and I really meant for that to sound better than it did. Really.

I think I'll just keep my mouth shut.

Sh!t My Boyfriend Says

We're watching TV. The dog is curled up on his bed on the floor.

Him: "What do you think of the dog?"

Me: "He looks suspicious, doesn't he?" *grinning - our dog is adorable*

Him: "I think he looks like a gnome dog."

Me: "You mean he looks like gnome? That's not very nice."

Him: "But if a gnome had a dog, it would look like him, you know?"

*sigh*

Sh!t My Boyfriend Says

We're driving.

Him: "Do you smell something funny?"

Me: "No. What do you mean funny?"

Him: "Oh nothing, I just thought I smelled a toot."

Me: "Are you asking if I tooted?"

Him: "No, maybe we just drove through a toot or something."

This is my life.

This Week's Grocery List

This one definitely looks a little better than the last couple...

• frozen vegetables
• old white cheddar
• flax oil
• butter
• tzatziki sauce
• sugar
• 100 calorie snacks (for Steve's lunch)
• canned tomatoes
• vegetable broth
• low-sodium cream of mushroom soup
• low-fat cream of broccoli soup
• 2% evaporated milk
• lean ground beef
• extra lean ground turkey
• brown eggs
• unsweetened soy milk
• chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream
• toothpaste
• dog food
• simply bars
• 1% milk
• spinach (2 bags)
• red onion
• garlic
• yellow potatoes
• milkbones (for the fuzzy man of the house)
• canned pumpkin
• broccoli
• green pepper
• bananas
• granny smith apples
• coffee
• papier de toilette

I think I'll be in much better shape this week.

If you hadn't already noticed, I'll be making some green monsters for breakfast.

My Personal Happiness Project

Is it selfish to want more happiness for yourself? To put other people aside for a bit and focus on what you want and who you want to be, then set out to do what you need to do to achieve those things?

I don't think so.

I've recently decided to embark on a personal happiness project. I plan on changing the things in my life that don't make me happy, so that I can ultimately be happier and a better person to the other people in my life.

My happiness project isn't an original idea. My soul sista Jan turned me on to a great book by Gretchen Rubin called, 'The Happiness Project'. We both agreed that we don't usually tune ourselves in to books like this - you know the ones, the self-help, change your life types. We also realized that not everything in this book will ring true to both or either of us, but the book has proven to be a great read and a bit of an eye opener.

I hope no one has the wrong impression about my level of happiness. I'm generally a very happy person with more than one person should have the privilege of being thankful for. I have a loving, wonderful, healthy family; a great guy who loves me unconditionally and a fuzzy animal to keep us laughing; friends, near and far, whom I love and who will always be a huge part of my life; a warm, safe, stable home; a good job; a full tummy; and plenty of everything to spare. I have nothing to complain about.

Even though I have an enviable life, there are lots of things I'd love to change about it. I'd like to feel more accomplished. I'd like to find more time to read. I'd like to be a bit more easygoing. I'd like to do less rushing around and more savouring. I can do better, and I can be better to myself.

I have a plan for achieving some of these goals. I realize this isn't something that can happen quickly. I know some of these changes won't be easy for me, and that a lot of them will make me uncomfortable. I also know that small changes can make big differences and that no one ever got better at anything without some discomfort and some effort.

Mark my words, change is a comin'. Stay tuned.

It's Been a Week Already? This Week's Grocery Shop

It's already been another week come and gone. Not quite, but almost.

Steve and I decided to get groceries before Hurricane Earl hit so that we can stay in tomorrow and do nothing but eat delicious snacks, you know, in the name of survival.

Here is the list of purchases today:

• Reese Peanut Butter Puffs cereal
• Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream (I can't believe these are the first two things on the list)
• Blue Menu angus burgers
• Light sour cream
• Hot pepperoni
• Whole wheat macaroni
• Peas
• Corn
• Coffee
• Dog food
• Root beer
• Whole wheat english muffins
• Hamburger buns
• Whipped peanut butter (whipped!)
• Dill pickles
• Cool ranch doritos
• Renee's ranch dressing
• Renee's Light caesar dressing
• Tassimo chai tea lattes (FREE)
• Tassimo Starbucks cappuccino (FREE)
• Yves original veggie ground round
• Vachon Ah Caramel cakes
• Maple pepper smoked salmon
• Rainbow trout
• Honey oat bread
• Ancient grains bread
• Coffee cake
• Kibbles
• Plums
• White mushrooms
• Fresh cilantro
• Garlic
• Cauliflower
• Romaine lettuce
• Buttercup squash
• Vidalia onion
• Green pepper

So in hindsight, I guess I didn't make stellar choices. I yelled at Steve when he put the coffee cake in our cart.

There were two things I couldn't wait to try. I dug into them as soon as we got home: the smoked salmon (not because I don't know what it tastes like, but because I LOVE it and I was famished). I also had to try the whipped peanut butter.

I know, I'm eight years old.

We spent $138.