It's what's for breakfast!

Part of trying to lose weight is eating better. Part of life is being close to payday but not there yet, LOL. So for breakfast today I made something between a quiche and a casserole. I took some sausage, green peppers and onion, and fried them up. I then cooked some broccoli that is getting a little old, but is still good. I put that all into a pie pan and poured some whipped eggs with a tiny bit of salt over meat and veggies. Stuck it in the over for a while. I sprinkled some parmesan cheese on top, put it under the broiler for a minute and voile! I have a somewhat healthy breakfast for today and the next few days.

Weight-loss Challenge 2012

Each year my employer runs a weight loss challenge. Last year I finally decided to join a team. It's been a few years since I lost over 120 lbs on Atkins, and since I went off it, the weight has crept back on. I did it last year in hopes of running a 5k by the end of it, but I overdid things with poor footwear and ended up giving myself plantar fasciitis. This had made me less likely to be active, which in turn undid all my work last year in losing weight.

This year I decided try again, but to be smarter about things. I started by getting shoes for work, since I stand all day long. I can't say enough about my Docker's dress shoes. That has made a huge change. My feet hurt a lot less.

I joined a new team this year, and tried a new strategy. Instead of walking or jogging like I did last year, I have been swimming. I have not really been dieting per se. I have been making some better choices in what I eat, mainly cutting back on unnecessary carbs, especially white foods (processed sugar, flour and milk.) The biggest thing is only eating if I am hungry. Have I overeaten using this strategy, sure. The results so far have been good though. I have 25 hours of activity. (We only need 35, so I am over halfway there.) Most telling however is that I have lost 20 lbs in the last 2 months. As we go down the stretch here, I plan to quit the eating before bed, this should give me a huge boost, since it is one of my worst habits.

Last year our team lost first place by a quarter of a pound. So far there are 3 of us in the top 10 for individual weightloss, and next week hopefully it will be 4 out of the 5 of us. I like that it is a competition, because it is much more motivating for me.

Green Thumb II

Here are some pic from my little patio container garden.

 Habenero peppers in the bottom pot

 Jalapenos in the front tan pots, hops in the second row.

 Green bell peppers in the front row and cucumber in the hanging pot. (Willamette hops in the wooden pot.)

 Red Onions

2 garlic bulbs (in with a cascade hop plant)

 Red Bell Pepper

Finally, my topsy-turvy tomatoes which have some promising blossoms. I am very lazy, and my ice maker makes far more ice than we will ever use. So I pile up a bunch of ice on top of the topsy-turvy. As it slowly melts, it acts as a lazy man's drip irrigation system.

Green Thumb 2012

It's been a crazy 2012 so far, maybe I will write some about it later, but for now we're on to the garden -

The garden this year is a bit of a mess with the move, but I have 4 hops bines in containers that have survived the move in various states. The willamette, which never took off at the old house, is the one hop plant that survived the move well. It is up it's rope about 5 feet and the leaves are green and healthy. My top cascade bine was up over 15 feet when we moved, and it died off, so I cut the bines off at about one foot. I thought it might be dead for good, but in the last couple days, new shoots have started and it is growing well again. The jury is still out on the goldings. It looks okay, but is not really growing. I do not expect a harvest from any of them this year, but there is promise for next year.

We have some veggies planted too. The bell pepper seeds I saved from a store bought pepper never took off, so that was disappointing. I have 2 tomato topsy turveys that are going well though. I just planted garlic, onions and cucumbers in containers as well. I am keeping my fingers crossed on those. We might plant a few herbs too, some chives and cilantro maybe.

Other than that, Heidi's rosebush is thriving in it's new container. It has two big flowers forming. Her begonias and marigolds are looking promising too. So far so good.

The patio is a little messy from me planting the onions and garlic just now, so there probably won't be pictures until there are some results to see.