Body by Swiffer

Welcome to Day 3 of "My existence seems to be for the sole purpose of food in some stage:. I have no idea why it happened this way this week but by about mid day I was ready to scream about it. It seems that a lot of people were having the kind of day yesterday where they just felt like they were working hard for the millionth time and getting no where !

I got up, started to tackle my Reiki work ( I do distance healing sessions and the morning quiet is a definite plus for this), and then checked the menu to see what was for dinner and what needed to be defrosted. Here I discovered that I needed to cook another batch of beans, make a batch of Cole slaw and a couple of other things. So I set out to do that, spilled something on the counter and floor which meant whipping up spills for the first of a million times this day. It was also the day I was supposed to tackle the big weekly housecleaning, begin teaching my son Calculus ( or as i jokingly called it find something more painful than gouging my eyes out with a dessert spoon), exercise and about a million more things. Big mistake- I made myself feel very overwhelmed before breakfast ! This habit never bodes well.


Breakfast was quinoa with fresh fruit salad. I picked up more of the regular variety over the weekend, and there was rejoice ! Quinoa has a mild sort of nutty taste and is chewy in texture. It is a high protein grain (14 g per half cup) and is a complete protein, unlike rice , beans or wheat. It is really tasty with fruit and lasts with you through the morning.

We began school with a half hour session on the Wii and I decided to turn coleslaw making into a science lab with my son. We were making a sweet and sour cooked dressing as opposed to a mayonnaise one so it became an experiment to see if dates ( high in fructose) would work as well as sugar or Splenda to balance out the sour in vinegar. Answer is no- but they do add an interesting note to the dressing.

Lunchtime rolled around , and I was on a complete frustration roll, so these roll up sandwiches seemed to be perfect. Roast broccoli with hummus and arugula on a multi grain wrap. I reached for a banana because I thought part of my problem might be PMS, and the potassium in bananas help to relive some symptoms. Didn't work, but I noticed that I laid my lunch out to look like a headphone wearing veggie head. Freudian food styling perhaps ???

After lunch I checked my internet things and came across someone who was implying that one of the most important tools in weight loss was exercise, best done at a gym because of the awesome calorie burn you get. Not the best thing to read in a stressed frame of mind on a day when it feels like fitting in a shower requires a calculus equation, and you also need to get the house cleaned. This is the stuff that makes a person really struggling decide that weight loss an life improvement is just too hard and they give up. I am a brat, and I like to defy all manner of things. I reasoned that my muscles just know that they are moving at a consistent level , be it lifting weights or lifting grocery bags. So has someone ever broken down the calorie burn you get from housework ?? Answer is yes. The following is for a 150 lb person doing the listed activity for 30 minutes
Doing laundry 73 calories
making the bed - 68 calories
Ironing- 78
dusting- 87
sweeping-112
vacuuming-119
floor scrubbing 129
yard work- 170
washing windows-102
carrying a small child up and down stairs- 285
rearranging furniture- 204
cooking-68
sewing- 40
painting- 190

If you weigh more, you burn more. If you do it longer, you burn more. One source rounded it our to say that the overall burn is about 160 calories for a half hour house work. Most stay at home moms know that there are days when housework happens from the moment you open your eyes till you melt into bed that night as an exhausted mess. In short, if you are actively doing housework, even following the Fly Lady's 10 minute timer sessions, your home can become your gym, and you will feel a lot less stress through living in a clean, organized environment.Information is power and that bit of information de-stressed me a lot.

The rest of the afternoon was busy and we managed to get out for a short walk. Dinner was bean burgers on Deli flats, Swiss chard and veggie medley and fruit salad. I made a big batch of bean burgers so that I could freeze the leftovers and have some quick go to lunches and dinners on hand. I let them cool, wrapped in plastic wrap and then flash froze them on a cookie sheet. To use, pull from the freezer and microwave on high for 3 minutes( or pop in a 350 oven for 20 minutes). I also stocked my freezer with a fresh supply of cooked garbanzo beans which I cooked all day in the crock pot. I take a bag or two of dried beans, place in the crockpot, fill it with water and let it cook all day on low. In the evening when the beans are tender I drain them, rinse and then package in 2 cup portions in zip locks. Each bag is the equivalent of a can of beans with a lot less salt and a fraction of the cost. Stocking the freezer with healthy options goes a long way to keeping you on program and making your wallet smile !

Today is supposed to be sunny and I have NO COOKING CHORES or cleaning chores ! Going to get out in the sunshine and see if the robins survived the snow this past weekend .