The Faire is Over

Well the faire is now over. Everyone survived and the weather gods fulfilled my request for wonderful weather. I of course ate all the wonderful foods that I planned (meat pies, spiced nuts, and funnel cake) and only gained 1.5lbs. Now I am working my way back into my planned mini menu. This week will be pizza casserole and chili. Since I am making the pizza casserole up as I make it I will have to submit the recipe after I create the dish and let everyone know, whether or not it is worth the time. I'm leaning towards worth it since it will have all the ingredients that I like in my homemade pizza, minus the crust.

I also have to work my way back into my usual work out routine. I didn't do any of my regular workouts for the last few days due to all the walking that I did while we were there. I have found though that when I am put in a situation where my ankles would normally swell up, like walking around in warm weather all day, my full calf boots work like compression socks and reduce the edema caused by me being on my feet all day. I was sure that my boots were going to cause the exact opposite and that I was going to regret wearing them at the end of the day. Once I pulled my boots off though, yes it was an "aaahhh" moment because my legs were hot and sweaty, but I did not have that tight swollen calf feeling that I was expecting. This is good news though since I got the boots to wear with my green lantern Halloween costume and I can't imagine that swelling in spandex would be fun.

So all in all the faire was a fun experience. I ate more than I should have, spent more than I should have, and the fact that the new venue is much bigger than the previous space caused me to walk more than I figured I would. The only downside is that given the fact that the venue was so roomy I wish that the people in charge of selling vendor space at the faire had sold much more space. The vendor spots were listed on the website as being sold out, but they could have spread the booths apart, instead of wall to wall, and still had space for more vendors. A bigger variety of shops would have been nice. It seems like everyone this year was selling the same various pieces of garb with a scattering of trinket or art stores mixed in the middle every once in while. Even with the lack of shops, or lack of what could have been, the faire was very nice this year. The space made it very relaxing, as opposed to the normally overcrowded and claustrophobic feeling you normally get when trying to go just 5 ft. For those expecting documentation, don't worry there will be pictures. I will just need a little time since this week is all about studying for my upcoming tests at school.

Mini Menu

In trying to stick to a low-bad-carb diet I have planned out a mini menu for the next week or so.  I say bad carbs because many people are under the impression that either all carbs are bad, or what they think of as carbs, or if something has a magic word in the title that it automatically becomes an acceptable food to eat, like natural or whole wheat.  A bad carb is basically any carb that your body can not use as long term or sustainable energy, but instead turns the carb into a fat to sit in a part of your body that you don't want it to be.  Natural and whole wheat when shopping in a regular grocery store tend to be misnomers.   Always read the ingredients on the food that you buy because there may be a hidden ingredient that either isn't so natural, or the ingredient is not what it was when it was harvested.  Whole wheat bread that says enriched flour in the ingredients means that the flour was stripped of everything that was good in it when it was plucked from the ground, then the bakers of the bread decided to "enrich" the flour with the vitamins that they originally took out of it.

Now back to my mini menu for the next week.  I am making Split Pea Soup, Italian Sausage Spaghetti, and Chili.  For many people I am sure that all of these recipes could be turned into bad-carb meals, however, I am either doing without or I am substituting my bad-carb with something that is much healthier for me.  As difficult as it is for me, I am going without the crackers and extreme amounts of salt that I would normally add to my split pea soup.  When I make chili I am doing without the cornbread, or for some of us that grew up with a different side to a bowl of chili, a cinnamon roll.  For those of you who are sticking your nose up at the thought of a cinnamon roll with chili just try it next time you have chili.  The sweet and salty, or spicy, go hand in hand.  If you aren't the best of bakers then buy some rolls from Cinnabon, you will never look at a bowl of chili the same way.  Last my spaghetti is not exactly low fat, due to the addition of the Italian sausage, but I can make it low carb by substituting spaghetti squash for the spaghetti noodles that I would normally use.  Yes there are better types of pasta out there, like brown rice pasta, but the spaghetti squash has not been altered and turned into a intestinal glue that keeps your body from flushing out the bad junk.

In addition to trying to keep my eating habits in check, I have also been very obsessed with my exercise routine.  Right now I am doing some form of cardio every day with some weights mixed in for various areas of my body.  Since I started my weight loss journey at the beginning of the year I have lost 60lbs and several inches from head to toe.  While I am very pleased with my progress I feel like I have hit a wall when it comes to toning and minimizing certain areas of my body, specifically my legs.  As much as I work out my legs my "knee fat" doesn't seem to be going anywhere.  If anyone has a new workout that maybe I haven't tried yet, please share with me.

For the next month I am hoping to lose more weight, but if I don't I would at least like to tone down some more.  Halloween is coming and I have decided to be the green lantern (female version).  This is of course a spandex costume, normally a dangerous decision for someone that still needs to lose 40lbs, but being 60lbs lighter than this time last year has given me the confidence to put on a spandex jump suit and walk around the neighborhood for all to see.

My Pledge to My Fans

•   I promise to always try my hardest when my will power is wavering

•   I promise that at some point I will want to cheat and will give in to my cravings at least once in a while. (after all I am only human)

•   I promise that I will try and motivate those in my same predicament.