Paperwork Anxieties

We will most definitely move. Yesterday I worked all day researching the law and putting together paperwork for the renters to sign in the evening. Oh, the anxiety! I really wished we had enough money to hire a lawyer. I really wished I had more time. I really hope that it doesn’t bit us in the ass somewhere down the line. Anyways, it’s done now. They’ve signed and it is official. Yet, I am still anxious.

The strange thing about anxiety is that I am oblivious to eating. I have no urge to eat my meals, but if Teresa leaves her crackers on my desk, I will definitely munch on it. And I don’t forget to take breaks for chocolate.

Moving Anxieties

I haven’t been doing anything regarding my goals: eating, procrastinating, etc. It’s been hard for me to focus on anything else outside of the fact that we might be moving soon and renting out our current house. It has caused me great anxiety, and I wonder why I ever agreed to do this. I haven’t been sleeping too well, and I’m fortunate that I have the option to take a nap with Teresa or I would be dysfunctional. Our finances will be razor thin after the move, and I can’t seem to find the time to look for work when looking for renters and researching about land lording and laws has occupied all my time.

Despite all this, I have continued to include exercise in my life. It really have become a habit, and it helps when I tell myself that it’s a stress reliever. As planned, I went hiking over the weekend, and I totally enjoyed myself.

Early Spring

Hunter brings home a weekly newsletter from his kindergarten class that gives me a brief of what they have been up to. Apparently, his class had voted that the groundhog DIDN’T see his shadow so there’ll be an early spring. It was cute, but they may be on to something because it sure feels like spring is here. The rain has stopped, the sun out, and it has been warmer. I went biking and the trails were crowded. My sister and I are also talking about doing more outside activities such as biking and hiking. Next week, if all goes well, we may go hiking with our cousins.

I’m definitely a creature of the sun, gathering all of the warm and nice days as I can and going outside whenever possible.

Orange Sunday and Southwestern Bean Dip

I hosted a Superbowl Party on Sunday. Before that, my mother-in-law gave us a bag full of her homegrown sour oranges. And you know what they say when life gives you sour oranges make orange something, and that’s what I did for my party. Here was my menu.

Appetizer: Southwestern bean dip with chips
Salad: romaine lettuce with ORANGE vinaigrette
Main: ORANGE vinaigrette chicken with wild rice
Dessert: ORANGE bread

When I watch Iron Chief, I always thought it would be fun to make a three-course meal incorporating one ingredient. Now I done it, and it WAS fun. However, by the end of the evening I was oranged out, and my acid reflux was none too happy with it.

Not surprisingly, the big hit of the party was the bean dip, the only thing on the menu that didn’t have orange. Originally, I had intended to make it using a recipe from Eating Well, but I ended up omitting half of the ingredients and adding more of what I did use for compensation, coming up with a whole different recipe. I thought I would share it here:

Southwestern Bean Dip

1 16-ounce can refried beans
4 scallions, sliced
1/2 cup prepared salsa
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 medium avocado, chopped

1. Combine refried beans, scallions, salsa, and chili powder in a medium bowl. Transfer to a shallow 2-quart microwave-safe dish; sprinkle with cheese.
2. Microwave on High until the cheese is melted and the beans are hot, 3 to 5 minutes.3. Scatter with tomato and avocado.

Makes 6 servings. 198 calories, 12 g fat, 16.5 g carbs, 3.3 g fiber, 9.2 g protein

EatingWell also has a tortilla chip recipe that I used to accompany this dip and was delish.

Marshmallow's Contest

So I completed my fourth day of recording food in-take, and I went over my calorie range. This time however it wasn’t snacking that done me in, but the French bread I had for lunch. Damn you, carb-based foods! But the good news is I completed it.

In other news, Marshmallow has issued a contest with prizes! It’s a similar contest to Dietgirl’s in that I will be gathering pictures in a scavenger hunt. Wish me luck.

1. Something Brown - Is this low-fat turkey burger vegetable soup that I’ve made that surprisingly my whole family loves!



2. Something Orange - My favorite color! For this one, I didn’t search past my own blog. Here is my profile picture of an orange flower.



3. Something Purple - In high school my basketball jersey was purple, although I never was THIS sexy wearing it or ever will be no matter how much weight I lose. Well, maybe in my imagination.



4. A Marshmallow - This is the marshmallow monster from the movie “Ghostbusters."



5. Someone Sleeping - Sleeping beauty. A fellow blogger had noticed that we put our lives on hold for when we reach our target weight like sleeping beauty waiting for the prince, but life is worth living NOW! Very insightful.



6. A Cat - Garfield. He's fat and lazy like me!



7. The Letter M - M is for Mardi Gras, which will be this Tuesday.



8. The Letter W - Umm… W is for watch. Sorry, I lost all my creativity. If only I knew how to make those talk and thought bubbles!

Recording in Small Doses

Today’s the last day of recording, and it’s strange to say but I think I might miss it. I had stopped recording early December after recording for 9 straight months, because I was tired of it and at that point it felt useless. I was going over calories constantly and just didn’t care. So I decided to take a break, resuming January 1st. Well January 1st came, and nothing changed. It was still a drag. I managed to record for a whole week before giving up. But now it feels different. I’m actually enjoying myself and seeing the results of the day is fascinating for me for the first time in a long time. I’m not making my calorie range, but I am learning something. So far, I discovered that currently I am snacking too much. Every day the past three days I managed to overdo it. Very interesting. Here’s hoping that I’ve learned my lesson for the fourth day.