Our M and J Show

I’ve been getting ribbed about this being Margi’s blog, so I finally decided to see if I could figure out my login.  Only took me 3 guesses. So now to figure out how to make it work.  If this posts successfully then I will have excuses no longer

Today is Monday and I made it through the weekend keeping to the elim diet just fine. I woke up this morning with a headache that doesn’t seem to want to let go, but I’m drinking water and thinking about crawling under my desk for a nap!

Jon returned from Oklahoma Saturday afternoon and we shopped the perimeter of the grocery store (just like Michael said, it makes things so much easier and faster!). We found brown rice tortillas that are wheat and gluten free and they’re pretty doggone yummy with all natural (no sugar) peanut butter. Mmm! I warmed on one a skillet and it made the peanut butter all melty and gooey and yummy.

I made my favorite chili yesterday and thought I’d share the recipe. If you have any recipe suggestions to get us through this month, please share!! I got this recipe from Amy L in Denver during a CWC (Cool Women’s Club) get together. Yay!!

Chili (the original recipe is vegetarian with no turkey, but I added it for protein):

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 2 onions chopped
• 3 garlic cloves minced
• 1 can (or two to total up to about 28 oz) diced tomatoes w/ green chilies, undrained
• 1 can (15 oz or so) Pinto Beans, undrained
• 1 can (15 oz or so) Black Beans, undrained
• 2 C cubed/seeded/peeled butternut or acorn squash (this is a HUGE pain, but so yummy!)
• 3/4 C water
• 3 dried chiles or jalapenos
• 1 t cumin
• 1 1/2 T chili powder
• 1 package frozen corn

Cook turkey in large sauce pan. In the meantime, heat oil in skillet until hot. Add onions, cook 2-3 minutes. Stir frequently. Add garlic; cook & stir 1 minute. Add to turkey and stir.

Stir in all remaining ingredients except corn. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, partially cover. Simmer 20 minutes + or until squash is tender. (I cooked it about an hour and the squash was perfect.)

Add corn, cook at least another 10 minutes.  Makes 5 servings of 1 1/2 C each.

Enjoy!

I decided to take the next step in my fitness efforts. Troy (the trainer I’ve been working with) suggests this elimination diet to help with fat loss, to eliminate crapola from your system, and to sort of boost the whole fitness thing. (One of the women in my class did this in November and lost 11 pounds. That’s a boost!) It took me almost 2 months to decide to start it because of traveling and holiday plans. It’s designed to be a 30 day program, where the first two days are planning and shopping and preparing and tossing. So I went through the cupboards and fridge and at least put things aside that I won’t be eating. I’m not sure whether Jon will do this with me, so I’m not throwing anything away, except the expired milk. Ew! The point is that you get rid of a lot of the yucky stuff in your system and once you get rid of the cravings to eat like that, you’re unlikely to want to go back. This also helps you figure out what your body can digest easily. I learned last weekend in Oklahoma that I just can’t eat ice cream anymore. It’s such a bummer, because I love Braum’s, but the way I feel after I eat it just isn’t worth it anymore. Darnit! (As soon as this elim diet is over, I’m eating a slice of cheddar cheese!) The elimination diet, in a nutshell, says you can (and should) eat as much as you want of the following:

• lean protein (chicken, turkey, fish)
• fruits & vegetables (fresh or frozen - canned is ok, but not preferred)
• eggs
• live yogurt (also called greek or strained yogurt. Loads of protein and actually pretty tasty.)
• healthy oils (butter, olive oil)

The elimination diet says you should avoid the following:

• dairy (except the live yogurt - no milk, cheese, or ice cream.)
• wheat & gluten (do you know how much stuff these two things are in?! This is going to be a challenge for me.)
• alcohol (that’s easy)
• caffeine (also pretty easy for me)
• sugar (ooh, this is a little tougher, but it just means I need to pay more attention and I can’t put honey in my herbal tea.)
• sugar substitutes (yeah, that’s easy to avoid. That stuff is gross anyway. Here’s the snippet about sugar substitutes from the pamphlet: “Avoid them entirely as they are linked to conditions like multiple sclerosis, lupus, Fibromyalgia, spasms, shooting pains, numbness, cramps, headaches, joint pain, dizziness, memory loss and numerous other medical problems.” EW!)
• red meat, unless you can find grass fed, organic beef (easy, since I was already doing that)
• processed food (like lunchmeat)
• microwaves (hold the phone. What?! I can’t use a microwave?! Nope. Ok, that’s going to be tough when it comes to eating lunch at the office. Hm, cold salads with chicken and hard boiled egg, here we come!)

Alright, what other “rules” are there?

• drink at least 1 liter of water for every 50 pounds of body weight (I already do that)
• eat protein at every meal (I can do that)
• eat regularly - every 2-3 hours (hm … ok, I can do it. It’ll just take planning and preparation.)
• eat freely from foods not on the “banned” list (sweet! I can do that!)
• variety - don’t get wrapped up in the exact same thing every day (ok!)
• oils - use only olive oil, butter, or coconut oil for cooking. No vegetable oils as they are highly processed. I already knew this from our tour at the Olive Mill. Throw away all of your cooking oils except extra virgin olive oil. Period. The rest is total crapola.
• get lots of sleep (this one is perfect for my fave sil named LS!)
• get lots of sunshine and fresh air (I live in the desert, so this shouldn’t be too hard. Well, except the “fresh air” thing since we keep getting notices that the pollution level is nearing harmful levels for sensitive individuals.) Ooh, that means I have to step away from the computer. Ok!

There is a warning with the elimination diet that people often experience headaches and just generally not feeling all that great at the beginning. These are withdrawal symptoms, and the toxins from your body hitting your system on their way out. Especially for those folks who were used to a lot of caffeine and sugar, the withdrawals can be pretty tough to take. Since the whole point is to rid your body of toxins, you’re not supposed to take anything to combat the headache. Just lots of water and lots of sleep and lots of fresh air. I’ll keep you posted. So far, I feel fine. I woke up with a smidge of a headache and some lower back pain, but that started before I decided to do this. I’m going to go drink some water and maybe take a nap in the sun! (Note to self: we need a hammock!)

Jon and I have a new niece as of this morning in Idaho! Riaynn arrived just after 10, weighed in at just over 8 pounds, and 19.5″ long. Gus sent me a picture to my phone, but I can’t seem to copy it to my computer. I’ll work on it!

Congratulations to Gus, Natalie, Clayton and Caidence!!

I decided to start a new (for us) tradition and put together a list of our most prominent memories from 2008. We really enjoyed this trip down memory lane!

January

• I began my 5th semester of grad school, still wondering if I was ever going to make it.
• I helped a friend move from Phoenix to Denver and managed to avoid my desire to stay there with her!
• I got to meet a guru in the eLearning field and tried not to giggle like a teenager. 
• Jon spent 3 weeks in Delaware launching a new datacenter for work.
• I finally started hanging pictures (we’d lived in this house for over a year by then!).

February

• We took the plunge and booked our trip to Peru. Holy smokes!!

March

• I went to Colorado for Tubbs annual Romp to Stomp out breast cancer snowshoe event in Frisco. A group of 6 of us went up there, ate too much food and snowshoed and visited and giggled and had a great time. (Here’s to a 3-peat in 2009!).
• I acknowledged the 5 year anniversary since we lost my Dad.
• My aunt Anita and cousin Julie came to visit from the northwest and we had a great time. We went to Sedona with a stop at the Out of Africa wildlife park (I wouldn’t recommend the park, but Sedona is awesome) and tooled around. It was hot at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, but we enjoyed ourselves nonetheless.
• Jon and I went to Arizona’s Renaissance Festival and I gave up red meat. Weird coincidence there, I know

April

• I traveled to Seattle to support my cousin and his family in the heart wrenching and sudden loss of their son Ryan. It was a sad time. That week, I finally felt reconnected to my Dad’s side of my family.
• For Jon’s birthday, we spent a fun weekend in Durango, rode the train, and visited Cliff Palace. I was even given the title of honorary park ranger for helping to lead a tour group (that still makes me giggle!). That was a fun trip and something I’d recommend doing if you’re in the Four Corners area.

May

• We were so excited to host a visit from Jon’s mom and 2 youngest sisters. Yay! Boyce Thompson Arboretum turned out to be a fun way to see native plants and wander around. And there’s almost nothing more fun than gettin in da poo, with wetsuits and everything, even though they didn’t let me take pictures of that part!!

June

• We tried not to sweat ALL day EVERY day.
• We went to Oklahoma to celebrate Jon’s parents’ 35th wedding anniversary and hung out with family.
• I flew back to CO to support and cheer on a friend doing the Rocky Mountain Avon Walk for Breast Cancer and again squashed a desire to just stay there instead of return to the desert.

July

• My portfolio for school was due this month, so I was super busy trying to get that done.
• I traveled to Salt Lake City to attend an eLearning Development conference for work.

August - This was a super busy month!

• I finally wrapped up grad school.
• We went to Idaho for my Grandma’s funeral, which of course was sad, but we were able to spend some really good times with some family we hadn’t seen in a LONG time.
• I went to CO for our cohort’s grad party weekend.
• My brother Alex came to visit from North Dakota and we went to a Diamondbacks game.
• We flew to Lima, saw Cindy & Jose, flew to Cusco, hiked the Inka Trail, stood in awe of Machu Picchu, visited Lago Titikaka, the highest navigable lake in the world … whew!

September

• We finished up our trip in Peru.
• I went to St. Petersburg for work stuff and got stuck overnight in Atlanta while Hurricane Ike ripped up parts of southern Texas.
• Red came out to visit for my birthday and O’Kerri joined us for GIRL CAMPING!

October

• O’Kerri moved in! This started 2 months of too much fun, lots of pedicures and giggles and hikes and just fun times. O’Kerri introduced me to KY and SA and really, my world hasn’t been the same since!
• I traveled to Colorado (are you counting? That’s the 6th trip to Denver this year!!) for work for a few days.

November

• We participated in the most historic election I can remember. We watched in awe as an incredibly inspiring man, who also happens to be African American, won the US presidency. Then we started counting down to 1.20.09!
• I finally decided to take my health seriously and started working out with Troy at ATS. I had a physical with my doctor and learned that I’m pretty healthy, but need to start thinking about my cholesterol.
• We went to see Trans Siberian Orchestra (for the first time) and really enjoyed the show.
• We celebrated Thanksgiving with the Castoros and enjoyed ourselves (and Chris’ cooking!!) very much.

December

• We got to see Wynonna in concert in Mesa, which was a fabulous experience.
• We flew to Colorado (again!) so I could walk in my graduation ceremony. We got to see Peaches (fresh on her return from China - woot!), Paulie, and Mad Kat again. It’s always fun to reconnect with friends and family.
• O’Kerri moved to Oklahoma and I tried not to cry.
• We drove from Phoenix to Albuquerque, then on to Oklahoma City and surprised the OK family on Christmas Day. Well, not all of them. Some aren’t easily surprised, apparently. Hmph
• We visited with my aunt and uncle in Denton, and finally got to meet Sofie T. Yay! Jon stayed in OK for the rest of the month and I flew home to Phoenix to finish some work projects.

That was a fun trip. Now I have to start thinking of what I want this list to look like in a year, so I’m going to go plan some fun stuff for 2009. Happy new year!