Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 Tracking

Calories Burned:

General sleeping, sitting, reading, brushing teeth, showering, hairstyling, driving – 1319 calories burned

PM Elliptical - 30 minutes, intervals, 220

Calories Consumed:

Breakfast
Granola Bar - 140

Lunch
Sandwich -2 slices of toast, cheese, tomato, lunch meat chicken - 250
Cheez-its serving - 167 (a serving plus 3)

Dinner
Honey chicken 120+100
asparagus (oil) 50
toast with garlic butter 100

Total Consumed: 927
Total Burned:1539
+

Tuesday, May 11th Tracking

I realize that I'm posting these a day late, but it'll probably be that way often. So far I've recorded the dinner calories the next morning in my tracking journal, thus they show up the next day.

Calories Burned:

General sleeping, sitting, reading, brushing teeth, showering, hairstyling, driving – 1319 calories burned

Calories Consumed:

Breakfast
No breakfast today – had a crisis this morning (no exercise for the same reason)

Lunch
Leftover taco salad from last night – 300

Snack
Granola bar 160
With an apple 80

Dinner
Chicken pot pie and Caesar salad at home – 400
Cobbler and ice cream – 300

Total consumed: 1240
Total burned: 1319
+

Monday, May 10th Tracking

Here is the info I'm tracking with my exercise and nutrition.

Calories Burned:
General sleeping, sitting, reading, brushing teeth, showering, hairstyling, driving – 1319 calories burned (I'm not entirely sure about the accuracy of this, as I got it from an internet calorie estimator, but I'll go with it)

AM Ellipitcal – 30 minutes, intervals, 2.15 miles, 220 calories burned (this info I got from the machine)

Calories Consumed: (these numbers come from the labels/restaurant's website nutritional info)

Breakfast
Granola bar – 140

Lunch
Subway Turkey Breast – 280
With Apples slices – 35
With lemonade – 10 (they didn't have any diet coke, and since I paid for a drink, it's hard for me to choose water)

Snack
Carrots - 35

Dinner
Taco salad at home – ground turkey, taco seasoning, crunched up taco shells, salsa, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, shredded cheese – around 600

Other
Lots of water, I probably won’t record this because I always drink a lot of water.

Total consumed - 1065
Total burned - 1539
+ (this means I was on the positive side, more calories burned than consumed; I will put a minus sign if I consume more than I burn for the day)

And, we're back

Well, I'm back after a few weeks of absence. Actually, quite a lot has happened since I've last posted. Maybe my blog will be interesting now, haha. Well, I've been to Destin, Florida and Baltimore, Maryland over the last two weeks. I'm so glad to have gotten to visit the beaches before the effects of the oil spill shows its ugly face. I'm from the coast and am SO sad about what might happen to our beautiful beaches.
Anyway, both locales were very nice. This was my first time to Charm City and I liked it, but I was really ready to be home after having been gone for 2 weeks.
Another thing that happened in the last week is that I've made a very important life decision. I'll report on this soon...

Coming up this week is the deadline to sign up for a local Farmers Market which is now open to home bakers! I think I'll do it! Yay!

One of the most important things that happened since I last wrote is a new challenge, surprise, surprise. This one feels different though. I don't think this is something that I'm doing just because. I experienced a turning point, an aha moment, if you will, while I was in Baltimore.

I've fought the weight battle forever, as many have. I've tried a million "diets" and exercise programs. I'm not going to say that these programs don't work for me, I'm going to be honest. I did not give them the effort. I did not stick with them. I gave up long before they could present results. It's probably not so bad that I didn't continue some them, as they're not all the healthiest approaches.
So I told you that to tell you this. When i was in Baltimore, I was standing by the sink area of a ladies' room waiting on a friend of mine and I just happened to look in the mirror. That was the moment. I had a realization. The question came to my mind, how did I let it get this far? That was it. Right then and there I decided it's time for some changes. And it's not just about the way I look, it's about health.

As of yesterday, Monday May 10th, I, and my husband actually, have started making some healthier choices. It comes down to it - you have to burn more calories than you consume to lose weight. You also need to include not only low cal items, but nutritious elements like fruits and veggies - they're naturally low in calories mostly anyway.

This feels different to me than other "attempts". I feel fed up. I'm tired of being defeated by something that is 100% in my control. I can do this. I think I'll use this as a forum for tracking my progress. Who knows, maybe someone will be inspired!

Even though I have a new outlook, there will be some challenges. Other than the usual food temptations, as I mentioned before I will likely be participating in the Farmers Market. That means I'll be preparing numerous baked goodies every week. As a rule, I cannot serve something that I have not tasted, so this should make this pretty interesting. I suppose we'll see!

Yesterday's tracking info to follow...

It has arrived!

The info pack with the pastry program info came yesterday! I'm so excited! It has a little more about the full-on culinary program versus the pastry track, but it's still good! I really hope that this will happen in the future! We'll see! (I am very attached to the exclamation point apparently. (guess it should be "...apparently!")

Response

I got a response back about the pastry program! The email said that they are mailing me an information packet in the next few days and that I can call if I want to make an appointment to come to the campus and discuss the program. Yay!! I'll be in the area very soon so I'll probably be able to do that shortly! So excited!

Exciting Possibility

I have been doing a lot of thinking over the past few months and very in depth-ly over the last couple of weeks (yes, in-depthly) about what it is that the Lord has for me to do. I know that He has a special purpose for me in His plan and a place and task for me as a part of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:1-31). I have been praying for this to be revealed to me. I am not absolutely certain yet what my calling is, but I know that the Lord empowers us all with natural tendencies, talents, and gifts through which we are to contribute to the glory of God and the expanding of His kingdom, according to the scripture, as well as my own experiences (I have found that we are equipped to handle what we are led into).

So looking to what I feel are talents and interests of mine, I have such a strong desire and pull toward baking and culinary endeavors. I have no idea how or if the Lord plans to use this, but I am oh-so drawn to it. I feel that the Lord has really given me a heart for feeding people and perhaps He plans to use this as a way to help feed the hungry. Speculating about His plans, however, has proven to be quite futile in my walk (I say this with a little chuckle). He always blows my mind and my limited idea and comprehension of what He'll do by proving that He has something much larger or totally different in mind.

So without trying to figure it all out and leaving it in His hands, I have come to what I think may be the next step in cultivating a baking/food-related pursuit: culinary or pastry school. Now, what is interesting about this idea is that as a teenager in high school, my plan was to get a business degree while pursuing a culinary degree in order open a restaurant! Very interesting - this is quite a recurring theme in my life.

Of the two, I would MUCH prefer pastry school. I definitely ere on the side of desserts, decorating cakes, etc. There are some culinary education options relatively nearby, however the problem was that I could not find any pastry school options anywhere close enough to be able to stay even in the state...

UNTIL TODAY! I had resigned to the fact that if I wanted to stay close to home, I would need to go to culinary school, where I knew I could still learn a lot. So today, I decided to look at the website of the community college near my home town, just to read up on their culinary arts program. To my excited, ecstatic, elated surprise, they have a pastry/baking program!!! I still can't believe it! No search I've ever done online for pastry schools has ever shown this - and apparently, somehow, it's a really good program! I am SOOO excited!

Earlier today, I called the admissions office to find out if some of my undergraduate non-major courses (you know - the no getting around them Englishes, histories, and maths) would count toward the program (which would be an associate degree, a certificate, or a training certificate, depending on which one I chose to do). Unfortunately, I couldn't find out very much today, but I sent in an info request on the pastry program page. Hopefully I'll hear something soon!!! I'll report on that soon!

I don't how or when I'll do this, but I feel so ready for it. As I browsed the curriculum of the program, I just got more and more excited. I feel like that was confirmation - the fact that I really WANT to go to the classes. I can't say for sure truthfully that I ever felt that way about the classes I took during my previous college years.

Anyway, we'll see how/if the Lord opens that door! I'm just so relieved to know that I can count on Him to lead me where He wants me to go, even if I can't see where that is yet!