Run for the Wild

On April 28 I ran my first ever 5K. I have done 5Ks in the past, but I always walked them, this time I ran. My finish time was 35:15. Not a great time by any means, but for me, that’s my best time ever so I’m happy. The race also benefitted the Wildlife Conservation Society and their efforts to protect the habitats of lions, which are losing ground across the African Plains. The funds I raised will go toward the WCS’s projects to conserve lions and other imperiled animals around the globe and at the Bronx Zoo.

Lions now live in only a small number of African countries. The nations of Morocco, Algeria, Congo, and Gabon have lost all of their lions. If we don’t act soon, they could also vanish from Nigeria, South Sudan, and Uganda. The donations I collected will go toward WCS’s efforts to monitor lions and work with local communities to co-exist peacefully with the big cats. I encourage each of you to visit the WCS Run for the Wild website and support their work. I believe they are still accepting donations. Its important work and we cannot let these animals be pushed out!

Knife skills

After years of saying I wanted to, I finally took a knife skills course. In the last few years I have become obsessed with the Food Network and have been trying out new recipes. To go along with my recently acquired confidence in my cooking ability, I felt I needed some confidence with the knives I used. Lesson number one that I learned last night...I totally have crappy knives. Not cutting yourself in the kitchen, I have learned, is totally dependent on good knives that are sharpened properly…and properly used. Here are some of the pointers I took away from last night:

1.    Sharpen your knives once a year and always sharpen them in the same direction every time.

2.    Always store your knives in a block or in a drawer with a special cutlery insert. Storing them loose in a drawer with other utensils will dull them.

3.    Never wash your knives in a dishwasher. (I’m TOTALLY guilty of this one.)

4.    For someone like me who’s just an average (read: NOT chef) cook, you really only need a chef’s, utility, bread, and boning knife as well as a slicer.

a.    The chef’s knife is the workhorse and is designed for chopping, mincing, dicing and julienning fresh fruits and vegetables.

b.    The paring knife is ideal for preliminary cuts, peeling, trimming or squaring off small fruits or vegetables

c.    A utility knife is handy for peeling and slicing as well as carving small cuts of meat

d.    The bread knife is great for crusty loaves and food with a hard exterior and soft interior like tomatoes and citrus fruits (I totally had no clue about this)

e.    Also important are a slicer which allows you to produce thin, uniform slices when carving roasted meats and poultry and a boning knife good for precision control when you remove meat and poultry from the bone.

Don’t ask me to give any demonstrations on uses of these knives, in the demo part of the class I found myself going back to my usual (read: wrong) ways of cutting. It will take time and practice the teacher said. The biggest thing I need to learn is how to hold the knife and how to use “the claw” which is the grip you see the chef’s on TV use when cutting and chopping. Guess this means I just have to cook more to put in the practice. Just one more step toward me gaining ultimate kitchen confidence!

The best Valentine's Day ever

As strange as this may come across, yesterday was the best Valentine’s Day I have ever had. What made it so special? A couple of things. One, I was with two of my best friends in the world whom I love dearly and love more than I ever take the time to tell them. Two, we went to donate our platelets yesterday to a dear friend who was recently diagnosed with Diffuse Large B Cell Lymphoma.

Our friend, Maryann, is at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. There are no better hands she could possibly be in. A complication of her cancer is that she has immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). Literally, her body is attacking her platelets as if they are foreign cells. She has had many platelet transfusions but still requires more. I have never given blood or platelets before. Not because I’m somehow against it or can’t give, but mostly because I had a slightly traumatic dealing with hospitals and needles at a very young age (but that’s a story for another day). When the hospital said we need to get donations for Maryann I didn’t hesitate to make my appointment. My traumatic experience be damned, a few hours of discomfort I might have could NEVER compare to what Maryann is going through. I was glad and happy to do it and I’d do it again in a heartbeat however many times she needs. Unfortunately for me, I was unable to complete the process of giving platelets or blood. The nurses tried, but my veins just wouldn’t cooperate. Fortunately for Maryann, I was the only one with that issue and as of last night she has two new bags of platelets coming her way from people who love her dearly!

I pray daily for a speedy and quick recovery for her. Between that and attempting to donate platelets it’s really the only thing I can do (considering I’m not a doctor or fairy Godmother who could just take this all away from her!) I have friends who have never even met Maryann but as soon as I  mentioned her situation they immediately made appointments to donate platelets and/or passed the information on to their coworkers, family and friends to get even more donations for her. It’s been overwhelming to see the response of how people can really come together and rally around someone in a time of need.

In the last few years cancer has touched one too many people I love. For far too long it always felt to me like something that happened to others. Quite recently it’s become all too real to me how cancer does not care about your race, age, gender, social status, or monetary status. It touches us all in one way or another at one time in our life or another. I can only do what I can to help my friend and I can only pray that one day those super smart minds in the research facilities can come up with a cure to ALL types of cancers.

If you would like to donate platelets on Maryann’s behalf, please call 212-639-7648 or visit http://www.mskcc.org/giving/blood. When making the appointment please specify it will be a platelet donation and on behalf of Maryann Adesso.

For more information on lymphoma, please visit http://www.lls.org/.

Girl gone primal

My box (CrossFit) started a nutrition challenge on January 31. I have dabbled in paleo/primal eating, but have never 100% committed to it. I decided to take on this challenge for a variety of reasons. One, I felt like it was a good way to get to know some of my fellow CrossFitters. Two, I wanted to see what kind of a change I could see in six weeks by really committing to this. I feed off positive energy and the more I see results, the more I want to keep doing what I’m doing.

In this challenge we are placed on a team with others who have similar goals and are required to log all of our food and workouts. We are encouraged to talk to one another, share recipes, ideas and information – as well as most important support one another. I have to say my team has been great. We all fell off the proverbial wagon Superbowl Sunday and agreed to do burpees for our infractions. I hate burpess, but I owe what I owe and will dutifully turn them in. Week two was far better for me than week one. On Sunday I went to the grocery store early and bought my supplies for the week. What’s funny is I often have read if you stick to the outer aisles of a grocery store that is where you will find the healthiest food. Without even meaning too that’s exactly what I found myself doing as I went from location to location getting what I needed. Once at home on Sunday I made a veggie and egg frittata that I was able to cut up and portion out for breakfast for this week which I had with some berries and bacon. I also made some salmon that I’ve added to my salad for lunches this week. I also cooked up a Cornish game hen which I had for dinners on Monday and Tuesday (with veggies and sweet potato for sides). I also bought a London broil which was my dinner Thursday and Friday (with veggies and salad for sides). It worked out great because without having to worry about it this week I’ve been able to stick to the plan. I have noticed a few things. One being I need to increase my veggie intake. I think instead of fruit and nuts for my afternoon snacks at work next week I’m going to have veggies with a protein. I also have noticed that more than I ever did before I sometimes find myself craving something sweet. I’m not a desert person, or very often a sweet person. I am more of a savory person. I’m not sure yet what this is a reaction to. Am I truly craving sweet or do I just think I am? I’m waiting it out to see how next week goes. I also have had an extremely stressful couple of weeks and have been very proud of myself for NOT allowing myself to use food as a comfort more often than not. I am starting to realize food doesn’t make you feel better. After you’re done eating the crap you still feel like crap and now have the added guilt of asking yourself, “why did I just eat that?!”

I am still having my coffee in the morning and every great once in a while I’ll have cheese. What can I say? I love cheese. But I try to really limit my intake. I also every once in a while allow myself a soda, but I’m really, really trying to get that out of my system completely. I know how bad it is for you and I just don’t need it. But sometimes I want something more than water and when I do (so long as not at work) I have decided I like wine better than soda so I’m trying to retrain myself to forgo the soda, have the water, and then later at night if I’m still craving something more, have that glass of wine.

Overall, I think it’s been going well. I don’t know if I’ve lost anything, my scale’s batteries need to be replaced. I took my measurements before the challenge started and won’t check them again until it’s done. I might just hold off and wait until the six weeks is up to weigh myself again, too. I don’t know on that one though b/c if I see I’m losing it’ll just push me to keep at it, so we’ll see! All in all I have to say I’m finding this to be a great lifestyle change. The food I’ve been making is yummy and filling. Other than the slight craving for sweets, I’m honestly not craving anything the way I used to. Girl gone primal. Yes please!

 

Resolutions revisited

So, as for my New Year’s resolutions…I haven’t been as on track as I had hoped. It’s been a tough 2012 to start and I have allowed the stress to get to me. No longer allowing myself to make excuses here is where I stand on working toward my goals (not just my New Year’s goals but my 101 list as well):

1. I didn’t eat paleo every meal in January; however, I did better than expected considering my stress level. My CrossFit gym started a nutrition challenge on Jan. 31 and aside from two meals in week 1 I stuck to it!
2. Run 3 times a week…I was doing well at this but then I got sick so I stalled. I signed up for a 5K on April 28 so I need to get back on track if I want to be able to run the entire thing! Run a 5K is also number 3 on my 101 list so I can’t wait to get to be able to check that off as an accomplishment.
3. CrossFit 3 times a week. Ok, 2 out of 4 weeks I did this, again stress and sick (I swear I think the two go hand in hand!) but I can say I went at least once or twice every week since the year began and the week of Jan. 31 I did go 3 times.
4. Every day remind yourself of something you’re grateful for. Some days were better than others. We’re all human, we all forget to remember and we all need to remember
5. I haven’t lost sight of my end goal and every day is a new day…and I just get up, smile (ok maybe not smile, for those of you who know me I’m so NOT a morning person), but I get up, get coffee, and then smile, and face the challenges of that day head on and know that one day I will find myself on the other side of my end goal.
6. On March 6 I will be taking a knife skills class and that is number 40 on my 101 list and I can’t wait to get better with the knives in the kitchen. Mostly so I don’t end up one of these days with my thumb in my meal!

That in a nutshell is where I’m at. I feel like 2012 is going to be a year of amazing things, great changes, and happy times to come as well as I looked forward to accomplishing many, many goals. One goal I want to add for 2012 that isn’t on my 101 list is to do at least ONE pull up by the end of the year without a band. Those things kill me but I won’t let them win! This year is about ME winning!

New Year's Resolution

Ok, so not one to fall victim (again) to the “I’m going to lose 1 million pounds in 2012” (ok, not really) resolution trap I’m trying a different tactic. Generally resolutions aren’t met because they are too vague or too impossible to meet. That being said, I’ve decided to come up with a list of mini things I can do in 2012 that will help me accomplish certain goals. They are:

1. Paleo every meal in Jan (and work to make paleo a part of my lifestyle from then on)
2. Run 3 X a week (following the couch to 5K program)
3. Cross Fit 3 X a week (simply b/c I love it and I do still have those damn last 10 pounds I want to lose)
4. Every day remind yourself of something you are grateful for (because although I don’t always recognize it, I have much in my life to be grateful for)
5. Every day keep your end goal in mind; and remind yourself that every day you are one step closer to that end goal (well, just because)

So that, in a nutshell, is my New Year’s resolution. I’ve read it takes 21 days to make something a habit. So, I’m hoping by Jan. 24 each of these items will be a habit in the way that you don’t even think about doing it, you just do it. These are all mini goals that will help me to achieve some larger goals that I set forth for myself in Aug. 2011. I just have to believe in myself and motivate myself because the responsibility is solely on me to do this.

Here and now

I read an interesting article today. The article started off, before you rush into resolutions and creating high expectations for 2012, celebrate what you accomplished in 2011. However big or small, celebrate what you accomplished and your past year. The article continued to explain about practicing contentment with who and where you are right here, right now. This is something I could relate to because I am someone who struggles with being content both with who I am and the here and now.

I feel as if sometimes I live my life as a drug addict. No I am not addicted to any drugs, nor do I even recreationally participate. But in the way a drug addict is always seeking that next high, I am always seeking that next great thing in my life. That “thing” could be, literally a new “thing”, or it could be marriage, children, a new/better job, more money, to lose more weight. Whatever it is at the moment, I’ve realized something about myself over the past few months; I struggle with contentment in the here and now.

Looking back over my 2011, I’ve had quite a few ups and downs. I’ve had some really high highs and really low lows. I’ve spent a lot of this year locked in my own head. It’s been a year for me of discovering a lot about myself that I never knew before. I’ve owned up to myself about fears I have, things I’ve done, and what I truly want for myself, my future, and my life. But in doing so, I still find myself saying; once this happens then life will be perfect. If I can just get this done, then life will be perfect. Instead of sitting back and saying, life is perfect, right here, right now, just as it is. I find myself so often saying, I want, I want, I want. I don’t know how often I find myself saying, I give, I give, I give. Whether that giving be of my time, my money to a charitable contribution, or just giving of myself to those I love. I have been quite selfish in 2011 and it wasn’t until recently that it hit me just how selfish I have been this year. I locked myself away into myself, purposely pushing people away and only seeing the world from my eyes…all of which were selfish acts. I do believe that we as humans sometimes should be selfish. If we don’t take time for ourselves and always give of ourselves what do we have left? However, we cannot be selfish all the time either. There has to be a balance. A yin and yang in life.

So, learning from my mistakes I plan to correct that. Looking back on 2011 I have more good in my life than I could ever imagine. 99.9% of the good in my life is each and every person I am lucky enough to call friend and family. Am I still on a quest for the life I hope to achieve? Yes! As a classic Type-A personality, of course I am. BUT, learning from those around me, learning from myself, I not only vow to be better about being content in the here and now, I vow to be a better human being. One of the items on my 101 list is to lose nothing from this past year and always carry it with me. This year has been one of learning about me, the good, the bad, and the ugly and one of learning more about life than I ever knew before. I just hope by carrying this last year with me I put more positive effects out into the world than negative.