Day 9

TODAY'S BODY

jumprope:   

Actually managed 100 in a row!!! Woo hoo!! 

(but after that, it was 8, 15, 10....)

shoulder raises:

Another exercise which makes my upper lip twitch (!?).

eating:   

After reading a lot of posts and emails about condiments, punch and flavor, I started thinking of stuff we could do within the confines of the rules, but still satisfying our palettes.

After reading  Mimi's thought on the blue cheese dressing, I thought, Is there something we can do out of yogurt, from our breakfast allowance? Well, even though salad is not something a lot of us have in the morning, I thought about it and it led me to an old breakfast favorite that I'd abandoned- the bagel. 

I started channeling a bagel with vegetable cream cheese. A real one. (if you live in Tokyo, you can get one here. It's totally authentic. She's got all kinds- just like at home. Even better than a lot of bagels I've had in the US, that is- outside of the Tristate Area and Florida.) I didn't have all the ingredients (like chives) but I started chopping carrots, parsley, red onion. I chopped an amount equal to my veg allowance and Arnaud's.

 

I thought, why not mix this in with the yogurt tomorrow, add pepper and some seasoning, and have it as a spread on my bread tomorrow morning? Like this...

After tasting it this morning, it made me think it would've been great with some smoked salmon and dill, but my protein needs to come from eggs so scratch that. It was all right, but it still missed some kick. I added fresh garlic and it gave it the punch I wanted. Fortunately, I don't have any am meetings. 

I find low fat yogurt a bit runny- I think this would be much better with Greek or strained yogurt (in which case, not sure how we'd measure it. Will ask Patrick) and then with lemon juice and zest (if organic, and if lemon is kosher to PCP)  I read Jeff's post and thought savory yogurt concoctions would probably be good in breakfast burritos as a substitute to sour cream, as well.

The only thing is that our veg and yogurt allowance yields...

A LOT!!!! I mean, there was MUCH MORE spread than the bread itself!!!! This portion is just for me- Arnaud has another bowl like this but bigger!!!

Maybe if I'd had thicker yogurt and a bagel, I could have slathered and heaped it on, and it would look like a bona fide bagel with cream cheese coming out of the sides....

TODAY'S MIND

Further to what Arianna posted today on missing out at a fantastic restaurant- I can totally relate, as an ex-smoker. 

I guess once we get used to the "new normal", we'll feel less and less like we're missing out. As far as I know from quitting smoking, even though the idea of pleasure (of smoking, of drinking, or eating in excess, etc) is appealing, when we have a new "default" (in my case, non smoking default), if for some reason, we go back to the old pleasures, it's never as good as we thought it was going to be. I still get cigarette cravings, but every time I cave and have a drag, it's never as good- actually, it's disgusting! It feels like sandpaper in the mouth, and I ask myself why I had it! blyerck.

That said, I’m absolutely convinced there there will be times that I’m going to feel like an observer to the life that’s happening around me during the run of the PCP. In order to make the best of this, I’ve decided to create a list of things I’d like to do, to accomplish, and be mindful of over the course of the project.

There's so much that I've been meaning to do over the past couple of years. If I find myself at home more than before, then I will:

• commit to a deeper yoga practice
• spend more quality time with my family
• create a better balance between work, family life, and personal time
• sleep better, and more!!
• act: have a better attitude and concrete actions toward challenges 
• create a new habit of: prioritize, do, and balance
• get my driver’s license
• set one mini goal for myself on a weekly basis.
• organize the box of photos (that I've put off for a few years now...)
• clean out and redecorate my office

I guess it should be this AND making sure I go out, see friends (who are not on the PCP)!

This is a lot... I’m going to have to pare it down. I mean, I have exercises and chopping to do!

Good luck today, guys!!!!