Beer Bread, Breathing and No Nonsense November

**Are you going to FitBloggin ’10? I AM! I just bought my ticket and would love to find out who else is going.

Good news, everyone…after reading this post, Lucas assures me that he would save me in a fire. But before you get all mushy, you should know that he qualified it by telling me it’s because I have two hands and could carry the beer while he carried me.

Hard to be too mad, since his latest homebrew is especially for me: pumpkin spice ale. That one’s bubbling away, and we celebrated by drinking some of his most recent creation: Practice Makes Porter.

I’m not only the brains behind the name, I’m an official taster!

Isn’t that pad adorable? A not-so-anonymous fan sent them to Lucas in a care package.

Speaking of beer, I’m on a baking mission today. I’m taking part in something called Foodie Fights and I have to find a tasty way to combine pumpkin and Bulgar Wheat. While I may need to beer to soothe my frayed nerves, I’m actually thinking of putting together a pumpkin barley beer bread.

Never mind the fact that I:

• Am a terrible baker, especially when it comes to using yeast.
• Am not sure that barley makes for a good bread grain.
• Am not really a fan of either beer bread or bulgar wheat.

I’m going to try and make it vegan, too, but that may be the first thing I throw out. Because as Top Chef fans know, trying too many new techniques turns you into a pumpkin:

Stay tuned. I have a few backup plans in case my bread goes bust.

NEW PRODUCT ALERT!

Yes.

Ohhhh heavens yes. I found this baby at Whole Foods and couldn’t leave it behind. You all know how much I love Stonyfield Farm, and to find organic frozen yogurt and ice cream for a very reasonable $4/pint was awesome.

And it tasted great! I think next time I would get the ice cream because the yogurt was just a little too thin, and when I indulge, I like the real creamy thing. But the fudge ripples were delicious and they had lots of flavors.

On the health front? I’ve had a rough week. After finishing my triathlon and then taking a week off of exercise, I really fell of the wagon in a big way. I’ve been eating (and eating and eating) and while none of it has been unhealthy, it’s just been out of control. So, I’m starting something I’m calling:

No Nonsense November

It falls perfectly in line with the Pile On The Miles challenge that I’ve already signed up for. The rules for NNN go as follows:

1. Be smart. This just means that overall, I will not put myself in situations where I feel overwhelmed or out of control. I will eat regular meals, at regular times and will remember that I can have whatever I want…so there’s no need to eat like chocolate is disappearing forever!
2. Remember the goal. Once you’re a big loser (weight-wise!), you’re always worried about that slippery slope back to being overweight and unhappy. I need to put that out of my mind and remember that no matter what the scale says, I am stronger than ever before, more fit (hello? triathlon?) and much, much happier.
3. Portion control! I’ve started to slip back into bad habits…so when I serve myself, I need to take a small portion of everything and go back for more if I’m hungry. No more loading up the plate and telling myself that anything I don’t eat can be saved as leftovers. It just doesn’t happen.
4. Regular meals, regular times. I know that there is a lot of debate about strict numbers of meals, but for a while, I need to go back to eating Breakfast, Lunch, Snack and Dinner. And no more! I’ve been falling into the trap of eating an extra pre-dinner snack. It’s been ruining my appetite for dinner, but that’s not stopped me from eating anyway. And then I feel like, since I’ve already blown it, I might as well have dessert, too, and lots of it!
5. Breathe. This isn’t an eating goal so much, but I think it will stop that feeling of “oh my gosh so much is going on must cope with that peanut butter!” feeling. So this means:

• I will take time every day for quiet moments, whether it’s reading a book at lunch, taking a walk with my ipod, doing yoga or just turning the TV off and talking with Lucas.
• I will get as much sleep as I can, even when it means going to be early or postponing a morning workout.
• I will drink lots and lots of water. It makes me feel full, helps me to stay on target when it comes to NNN goal #4 and gives me the feeling of flushing the bad out and making room for the good.

That’s enough for now…I am going to spend the last day of October cleaning up the house, making my pumpkin barley beer bread and enjoying the amazing Florida weather.

And, my latte that loves me (has Kath‘s coffee been giving out lessons?)

What are your goals for a healthy, happy November?