A musical Halloween gathering

This morning was my Halloween studio class.  Naturally, don't we all look for another reason to sport our costumes and seasonal couture?  

This morning as we heard Debussy, Schubert et all the students were adorned in costumes. 

Present and accounted for this morning was Harry Potter, Mr. Peanut, A Nerd, A Kitty, Maid Marian to name a few.  It was quite something. 

I was happy to host a few of my students this morning in our freshly painted studio space (aka my living room/sunroom), after the bedlam of having everything out of place it was nice to have things back in position. 

To quote my father, "Light refreshments were served, and a good time was had by all."

Happy Halloween!

A group shot during our Halloween studio class

During our flashcard trivia game

As we were wrapping things up

Photography Outing, South Main-Memphis, TN

Today my Memphis Theological Seminary photography class had an outing to the Downtown Memphis South Main District. As I am clearly not shooting with high tech equipment like others, I have to milk it a little bit.  So here are some photos....which ones do you like kids? 

The polls open now!

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Some of these photos are for fun...So no harsh critics please (wink, wink).

Week 8 went down...

Yesterday was the end of week 8.  As I thought, it wasn't as successful as other weeks have been.  But I guess they can't all be wonderful can they?  I can feel changes in "my person" as I am officially 2 months in, or 1/3 of the way through.  Hard to believe that two months have come and gone.

Week, NINE please be kinder.

Psssst.....

That's right...I said..."Psssst"......(in my best whisper voice)

We've got a few projects going on over here, I think you're going to like them.  But guess what... you've got to wait a few more days!

Weight in tomorrow....and it's probably not going to go so well.  Just sayin'.

7 weeks down, 19 weeks to go

Today is day 50 of 183.  Sounds good right?  I'm trying to think of this as a positive, rather than to think of it as..."Oh gee I have 133 days left."  But, the good news is I have 133 days left.  (Have I confused you yet?)  This morning I went for my week 7 weigh in and was rather pleased that I shed 4.7 pounds. To date, I have lost a total of 24 pounds. I do have a little goal I keep in mind that I would like to hit before the study is over.

After weighing in I picked up my menu for the week and my two cooler bags. Here's a little view at what I'll be eating this week.

Friday

Breakfast: 1 whole egg, 2 egg whites, 2 slices bread, 1 can peaches, 3 Canadian Bacon

Morning Snack: Dark Chocolate Zone Bar

Lunch: Bean and Cheese Burrito. 1 cup vegetables

Afternoon Snack: Dark Chocolate Zone Bar (2 on this particular day because they're my favorite)

Dinner: Spinach and cheese pizza, 1 cup vegetables

Evening Snack: Slimfast high protein shake

Saturday

Breakfast: 2 Yogurts, 30 almonds

Morning Snack: Fudge Graham Zone Bar

Lunch: 7 Boca Chicken nuggets, 1 cup vegetables

Afternoon Shack: Dark Chocolate Zone Bar

Dinner: Mahi-Mahi Burger, 1 whole wheat bun, 1 cup vegetables

Evening Snack: Slimfast high protein shake, Zone bar

Sunday

Breakfast: 3/4 cup Special K protein cereal, 1 cup 2% milk, 1 can peaches, 15 almonds

Morning Snack: Peanut Butter Zone Bar

Lunch: Cheese and vegetable enchilada, 1 cup vegetables

Afternoon Snack: Dark Chocolate Zone bar

Dinner: Bean and cheese burrito, 1 cup vegetables

Evening Snack: Slimfast high protein shake, Zone Bar

If you are curious to see what these foods look like please refer to this post.

As you're reading this list, you're probably thinking "gee whiz, this is a lot of food" to consume in one day.  My answer is, "yes it is" a lot of food to eat in one day. The nutritionist determined how many calories I should consume based on my resting metabolic rate (so how many calories my body can burn if I were to sit/sleep 24 hours a day).  Some days I can eat it all, some days I can't.  The Zone bars are sometimes what puts me over the edge for the day, those puppies are fillll-iiinng!

This really doesn't look so bad does it?   And remember, all of the foods on this list are available at grocery stores in Memphis.  Nothing shipped, nothing phony.  The Zone Bars are available at Target in the nutrition section near the Pharmacy.  If you're interested in injecting a healthy dose of protein into your daily diet, I'd highly suggest starting with these.  They come in about 6 flavors and they're way better than the vast majority of snack bar options.  Had I not been involved in the study, I probably would have never thought of them as an option to consume.  Bonus!


Week 8...here I come!

I already loved her...

Over the past 2 1/2 years my feet have grown accustomed to wearing shoes from a particular designer.  I've always heard that "if it isn't broke, don't fix it" and these shoes just happen to fit my feet really well.  So today I was visiting this designer's blog and saw this ever blessed trike.  Naturally, I love most all of her things and I especially got a chuckle out of this one.  As it would happen, they aren't readily available so this picture will just have to suffice.
Couldn't you just see Handsome and I riding around on this get up? I tell ya' what...it might draw more attention than the dogs on the buggies down by The Peabody.  As I attempted to show Handsome, he just yawned and put his head back down.  I don't thin he's the tricycle type after all. Bummer.

End of Week 6

Today was the end of week 6.  Thanks be to God, 6 weeks down, 20 (gulp) to go! Despite all my worry wart efforts, or lack there of, I still managed to lose 2.2 pounds this week.  

In 6 weeks time, this has helped me reach the (almost) 20 pound mark.  WOO-HOO. 

I hope the next 6 weeks bring be some success, and the next 6 after that, and the next 6 after that. 

A friend of mine posted some photos on Facebook this week of her favorite wines.  Oh goodness, they looked FABULOUS.  I'd say that is the one thing about being in this process that has been difficult, letting go!  There are a few things I genuinely miss....wine and popcorn. Everything else, I've pretty much learned to do without.  It is really surprising to me how much my habits have changed even over the span of 6 weeks.  

In the months and years before, I've tried various other "diet programs" to help me maintain my weight or help me to lose weight.  I've done, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig (which turned out to be way to expensive) and the super nasty Nutrisystem. All of the programs work, it is just a matter of how long can you stay on them.  I think that's the trouble with a so called "diet program".  You only can do it for so long.  All this being said, of the programs I mentioned, Weight Watchers is the only one that seems to be realistic towards the needs of human social life.  

With Weight Watchers you can eat what you want to without feeling bad about it.  If you choose to go to McDonald's and eat a Big Mac, that's fine....you may run yourself out of points for the day but you've picked your poison. If you want to eat 17 cups of veggies, so be it.  If you want to, oh say for example, have WINE and POPCORN, go for it.  There are lots of options, and you quickly learn how to get the biggest bang for your buck.  

Jenny Craig has fabulous foods, the only problem was that it was really expensive. On an average week the cost would be $125.  I'm fine with spending that much per week on food, it just needs to feed than 1 person.  

Now as for the Nutrisystem, which is currently flooding the market with commercials, their food is awful.  A person could potentially stand to eat if for 1 month. I don't actually know of any person who has consumed their product for longer.  I myself made it a month barely, but only because I was desperate to lose weight.  Barely, could I eat it. I actually think I lost weight because I didn't eat the food and was afraid to eat anything else in it's place because I had spent a gob of money to buy the kit.  I think you get my point on the Nutrisystem. 

Several times a week I wonder how I'll do once this medical study is over.  The whole point of this study is to track the effects of how a proper diet changes your body (all things relating to diabetes).  Me losing weight is just a bonus because I'm actually eating a proper diet as prescribed by a doctor and a nutritionist. It is kind of amazing how much I'm learning in this process too, which leaves me with the question..."Why in the world aren't kids learning more about their nutritional needs in school?" Seriously, it is called a REQUIRED CLASS, everybody needs to take it, just like drivers ed. 

Halloween

There's some Halloween spirit roaming around our house....here's a little view of what's up. 

I don't know who I like more, the whimsical pile
of pumpkins or the giant pear!

This chair has traveled with us to several houses.
Once upon a time (aka 5 years ago at Halloween)
this was the chair that Handsome
would sit on while waiting for us to come home.

Handsome asked if he could sit on the front
 porch as the Halloween cat like he used to...
 My answer was no.

A little green pumpkin bling on the inside.

This came in several colors...I wanted black but decided that
it looked a little like Darth Vader and that is not what I was going for.

The Anniversary Day

October 1, 2010 was an awesome day.  Geoffrey and I spent the entire day together, which for us is quite rare even on a Saturday.  We started the day off with a little road trip down to Tunica, MS.  Right now you're probably thinking, "Hmmmm Tunica...didn't I hear a quote about Tunica in an Oceans movie?"  The answer would be "yes".  I believe the quote was something like this..."Tunica, where games go to die. "  Our trip to Tunica wasn't for gaming...it was for fooding. A few weeks ago we saw a segment on the Food Network about this delightful little whole in the wall called The Hollywood Cafe. 

With no real plans in mind and never having been to Tunica, we decided that this might be a fun little venture.  So we made plans to hit the road on our anniversary to have lunch at Hollywood Cafe. 

In one of my previous posts, I was questioning how my diet would affect the day.  I decided that with clever choices, that I would celebrate this anniversary just like I would celebrate any other milestone in life....GOOD FOOD and DRINK!  Fortunately, because I've been on this diet for approximately a month my ability to eat has drastically changed.  At lunch, I had only a few bites before I was full!  I couldn't believe it...seriously...FULL. Which was helpful since I was eating fried green tomatoes.  YUM.

In addition to the tomatoes, we had a glass of wine.  WOW, was it ever good.  

5th Anniversary glass of wine

 After lunch, we went for a little stroll through a couple of casinos.  It was wildly amusing.  We played a few slots, won some money (about $5) which we promptly lost.  No harm no foul, they were just penny slots.  The walk about did me good after feeling the guilt set in from eating lunch.

Hollywood Cafe in Tunica, MS where we had lunch

Inside Hollywood Cafe, cute as a button

The original Hollywood Cafe sign 

My 5th Anniversary foot photo-outside Hollywood 

I sneaked a photo

completely goofy, full...and goofy

 After spending a few hours in Tunica, we drove back home to Memphis.  Our kitty, Handsome was there to greet us at the door with a big "MEOOOW"...as if to say, "where have you been, I've been sick with worry"....he frets so.  He's kind of a little worry wart.

After some consideration, we decided to walk for our dinner.  The little evening stroll was good for the mind, and for the hinny.  Round trip, it is a little over a mile to and from our house from the restaurant.  Albeit a short distance, the walking did me good.

While walking to Cafe 1912

After dinner before walking home

Our dinner at Cafe 1912 was delectable.  We shared an order of mussels and split a steak.  I was absolutely stuffed to the gills as we left the restaurant and made our way towards home reminiscing about how we spent the day together, on our 5th wedding anniversary.