Eighteen Years

Not my typical post today: sorry to those of you hoping for a Smoothie
recipe or a zucchini protein muffin recipe that I might have promised
at the beginning of the year (oops).

Yesterday was our 18th wedding anniversary. I'm fully aware that I am
one lucky girl to have found Derek back when neither of us had grey
hairs. Thanks to Goldwell 6NN/5NN, I still don't ;-) Speaking of
which, why can men like Derek pull off that grey look so flawlessly:
think George Clooney or Anderson Cooper?

I'm far away from my laptop and I hadn't even had email for four days.
But this was our view minutes ago and I wanted to share it while I had
a signal.

Next week, I'll make good on that zucchini protein muffin I promised,
and you can thank my newest de-lurker extraordinaire Lindsey for
calling me out on my 'promise' (sorry, Lindsey I can't hyperlink from
my iPhone)

Q: have you recently celebrated something special? Or will you soon
(cough, Eden, cough)? Any grey hair confessions?

The Truth about Sunshine

Here is my first official PSA. I have some young and impressionable readers. Or just young. Or just impressionable. Or not young. OK, I'll speak for myself: I'm not young, but I am impressionable. I went to the dermatologist a few months ago and she talked to me for two hours about my sun-damaged skin and the importance of prevention. Boring? Yes, but I sat up and paid attention and I hope that you do the same. If you don't click the red "x" in the upper right part of your screen, I promise, I'll say the word "boob," which I realize is very PG-13. If you want R-rated words, you'll have to visit Eden.

Most of us have read articles about sun safety. According to dermatologists, 'safe tanning' is an oxymoron like "healthy cigarettes." The sun is only safe if we avoid it (the vitamin D-connection being the gray area-more on that later). There is no such thing as a 'good tan' or a 'healthy tan' according to my dermatologist (and others).

Some facts from my dermatologist:

• We should stay out of the sun in order to prevent skin cancer as well as wrinkles.
• If in the sun, we should cover up: long-sleeve shirts, pants (moisture-wicking if necessary), hats, glasses. Avoid peak hours of 10am-4pm unless you are in Iceland in the summer - then just never leave the house (kidding). Wear UV-protective sunglasses as your eyes can become damaged as well.
• If we MUST have our skin exposed (think: lunch date in cute sundress), we should use A WHOLE SHOT GLASS of sunscreen for our entire body. Or a whole Tablespoon for your face and neck. (This feels like a huge amount as you are rubbing it in and it takes For.Ever.) Reapply every two hours or more if sweating or wet.
• Sun damage is cumulative, which means the more of it you have, the more damage. It's never too late to start preventative measures. Every day that you expose yourself, you increase your risks.
• Sun damage occurs even inside, near windows. Put on sunscreen, even when indoors near windows.
• Any tan is a bad tan unless it comes from a bottle. The actual darkness of the tan indicates the extent to which DNA has been damaged. This can lead to cancer. And wrinkles. And looking like Snooki. Nobody wants that.

So where did I go wrong?

1. I worshipped the sun as a teenager. My cousin once mistook me at the beach for an African-American girl when meeting her at the beach. 100% true story.
2. I was read the riot act by a dermatologist in my 20s and I began using sunscreen religiously. Problem: I was using a small fraction of the necessary dose. I figured 'a smear' was good enough. Not so.
3. I was not covering up, believing falsely that my (smear of) sunscreen was going to protect me.
4. I STILL proceeded to tan because I had applied my (smear of) sunscreen, which I did not realize was bad in and of itself. I thought that a tan was OK since I was wearing sunscreen, but it is NOT OK. During my appointment the dermatologist pointed to my bare boob (THERE IT IS!) with a pen and said "You do see how milky white you are? THAT is your natural color". She pointed at said boob again. And again. With her pen. Um, awkward, but she drove her point across. Not to mention that I had no idea that I am really milky white!

I was a teen who was always 'working on her tan.'

The result of my time in the sun?

1. I have been getting suspicious areas removed and biopsied for years.
2. Thankfully, all biopsies have been either negative or precancerous- so far.
3. Some of the biopsies are leaving marks that are unaesthetic and I've been warned that this is 'just the beginning' if I do not change my habits regarding the sun.
4. My eyes are showing signs of sun damage which can lead to cataracts and retinal problems. 

Band-aid covers my biopsy site. Ellie consoles me.

Janetha took this photo of me in June. But let's look a little closer...

Thank goodness for fillers, is all I'm saying.

How have my habits changed since learning all of this?

1. I now slather myself with sunscreen first thing in the morning, and throughout the day (and I do mean 'slather')
2. I find shade when possible.
3. If I must be in the sun, I either wear long clothing, or a hat or I use an umbrella. Yes, an umbrella. Or I use a combination of all of the above.

Even while driving, I now wear long sleeves and often a hat. Not fun.

Thanks, Eden, for the sending me this photo, complete with label. I think.

I have a small umbrella that I keep in my purse and I use it ALL the time.

This is not me. It's a model wearing a western-version of a burka from Coolibar.

The vitamin D dilemma:

The only problem with avoiding the sun is that your body decreases its vitamin D production which is the new golden-child of vitamins. It is purported to prevent everything from diabetes to bone health, mood disorders, cancer, Multiple Sclerosis and other autoimmune diseases. Now listen to this: I was tested not long before my appointment and despite my sun-worshipping habits, and the fact that I live in Southern California, I was LOW! So now I supplement with D3 per the advice of my endocrinologist, and current tests are normal. You can read about the Vitamin D connection on WebMD, The Mayo Clinic and the Harvard newsletter. It is widely accepted that the current recommendations of 200IU are far too low to be effective and many doctors are recommending anywhere from 1000IU per day. Check with yours.

There is a ton of information out there on skin cancer. I hope that you'll pay attention better than I did.

So there you have it: A dry post about sun damage that I hope will help even one person out there. And you got read the word "boob." I hope it was worth it.

On the up side, a small dose of chocolate daily just MIGHT help to protect us from the sun's damaging rays.

Oh goodie.

 Q: Are you a sun worshipper? Avoider? Are you naturally olive-skinned? Or like a porcelain doll? Do these un-fun posts make you fall asleep or want to poke your eyes with a Slurpee straw?

Five months without counting calories: Is it worth it?

The reason that this update post is so delayed is because I believe that I was waiting for a miracle. By now, I had hoped to have glowing reports about my un-counting experiment complete with weight loss and corresponding photos of my success depicting me performing deadlifts in booty shorts. Totally kidding, I'd only do bent-over reverse flyes. 

I had hoped to be eating intuitively like a "normal" person does...you know, eating until I'm satisfied; eating what I really want and not 'dieting'; effortlessly losing weight (or at least maintaining!). No obsessing, no counting. Is that really too much to desire? Apparently so.

(For the record, my booty would never dawn booty shorts, ever. Yours certainly may, but mine never could).

What I have not been doing: 

• Eating copious amounts of rich foods 
• Throwing dietary caution to the wind  
• Sitting on my butt.

What I have been doing: 

• Being careful (as usual) about my diet but without restricting
• Often eating main meal salads when I'd rather have a burrito, as this has helped in the past.
• Dressings, sauces, cheese, bacon, carbs, calories 'on the side' 
• Allowing for treats but nothing crazy or excessive on a regular basis.  
• Lifting weights, going to gym classes (Step, boxing, Body Pump, Zumba, Hip Hop, Spin), hiking, walking, mixing up my workouts... everything all the experts recommend.

(I mean, even if I had the perfect booty, sometimes, there really is too much of a good thing, no?)

It's not working out as I had hoped.

One of my big salads

Lean protein

I know I'm impatient, but really is 2-3 minutes too long to wait for a meal?

**Here's the bottom line: I have gained about 5 pounds since I stopped counting 5 months ago and I'm at my maximum level of comfort. I am nearly crawling out of my skin.**

(Sure, there are smaller articles of clothing than booty shorts. I wear them when I'm swimming, or dancing around poles).

Why am I not succeeding?  I have some theories:

• I got careless with BLTs (bites, licks & tastes), especially while hungry and prepping my next meal. I reversed this a few weeks ago.
• I have been listening to my hunger less and less. I tuned back in a few weeks ago.
• I had some niggling injuries that forced me to cut back on my training for a while. But again, I've been back to 'normal' for several weeks.

What I'm noticing:

• Despite addressing the above issues for several weeks now, my weight continues to climb. Perhaps I'm impatient? (see above photo).

• As I have no way to gauge my progress based on calories & numbers, I'm very tuned in to things 'physical'. In other words, how clothes are fitting and how I feel in my skin. Typical banter in my head: "Were these jeans this tight last month?"  "Is that a new stretch mark?" That sort of thing.

• While I feel ridiculous focusing on something so superficial, I know that it comes from a place of fear. Having been obese, and hating every minute of it, there isn't a day goes by that I am not terrified of revisiting my past. My anxiety is just fueled by this recent weight gain that doesn't seem to stop.

(You do realize that I don't often dance around poles, right?).

The plan:


I will give this one last shot. If at the 6-month mark, there is no sign of hope, then I will go back to counting with Daily Plate or by hand.  Or perhaps do some sort of a part-time counting scheme.

Rather than unsatisfying BLTs, I should make these filling treats more often

Okay, enough bitching already! So for some fun, I thought I'd share some of my favorite keyword/google searches that brought readers to my blog. Ha, they must have been disappointed when they arrived:

• "photos of moonbeam zappa"
• "do pillows have feelings?"
• "kath eats eden eats" (a girl-on-girl feast?)
• "japanese girls strip themselves upon entering massage parlor"
• "cat cuddles but doesn't fall asleep"
• "SUN BURNED BUTTS"
• "bad allie" (Which is totally untrue)
• "Festive season means extra calories...grrr I can't stop eating"
• "ooh turds"
• "barf looking smoothie"
• "hot hot smoothie girls"

(I did take that one pole-dancing exercise class and the truth is that it was a whole lotta fun.  My booty was fully covered, however).

And finally, for my cat-loving friends, here's a photo of Ellie singing in the car on a recent road trip.

She just loves Gaga

 Q: Have you ever stopped calorie counting, and had it backfire? If you don't count, what is the secret to your success? Have you done a search for keywords if you have a blog? Any funny ones? Do you/can you rock booty shorts? Have you taken a pole-dancing class?

Be your own barista: Making milk foam

Who needs Starbucks?

Nothing says "I'm treating myself" like sipping my morning coffee with huge clouds of poofy milk foam. OK that's a lie. There are lots of things that say "I'm treating myself", for example, Thrifty Ice cream in Chocolate Malted Crunch flavor, red velvet cupcakes with frosting, and sweet potato fries any time they appear on a menu. But this morning, I'll focus on easily making your own special coffee drink at home. No need to spend $4 or get out of your jammies.


The expensive way to achieve fabulous milk foam is to invest about $100 and buy an Nespresso Aeroccino foamer. The cheapest way is to spend less than $5 at Ikea on their frother. I have had wildly variable results with the Ikea frother: sometimes mindblowing foam, sometimes no foam at all. When my Aeroccino died, I wanted to see if I could make do without buying another one and it turns out I can!

Bust out your blender. It does not need to be a fancy one. Mine cost $20 at Target- nothing fancy here. Once I decided that I loved this Back To Basics Blender, I hunted it down on Amazon and bought the set that has different containers (big, small) and blades (for grinding coffee and nuts). I just spied it for $35 on the above Amazon link: a good deal in my opinion. I've had mine for years and it's a little trooper.

Part of the Back to Basics Blender Express set

Flat blade for grinding coffee, nuts and as luck would have it, for making foam

Big fluffy foam made with the flat blade and icy cold milk

So thick it almost needs help getting onto the coffee

The best foam is achieved by using a flat blade if you have one, although the standard shaped blade (four-pronged) works too. You just need to make sure that you have enough milk in the container to cover the blades while it blends. Ideally, you don't want the milk bouncing up and down- you'll know what I mean when you see it.

The next trick is to use very cold milk or even partially defrosted frozen milk cubes (totally optional). This isn't such the pain that you might think. Simply freeze some milk cubes (I have all types of cubes of milk in my freezer in ziplocks at all times to add to smoothies). Grab a handful of milk cubes and put them in your blender container (or any container) and leave in fridge overnight. By the morning, some of the milk will be defrosted. When you've finished with your foam for the day, add some more cubes and let them sit in fridge again. Note: almond/coconut milk does NOT fluff up like cow's milk does. Not sure on soy milk, as I haven't tried it.

This is the blade on most regular blenders- it works, but perhaps not quite as well

Regular blades produce bubbly milk and some foam (but not as much thicker foam as a flat blade produces)

Fluff from a regular blender blade- foam is pretty good.

Still festive even if the foam isn't huge.

And the finishing touch: a sprinkle of sweetened cocoa on top. I have a container on-hand with cocoa and stevia powder already mixed together.

Cocoa powder with stevia- at the ready.

Sweet cocoa atop milk foamy coffee

However, in my opinion, the most important part of the morning coffee routine, is having someone special with whom to share it:

Ellie is the head barista in our house.

Q: Do you drink coffee? Like foam? Do you freeze cubes (of anything? What?) What is on your "I'm treating myself" list?

SmoothieGirlGuestsToo

Despite the fact that I'm on hiatus from blogoinstafacetwit, I was happy deliver a couple of guest posts for fellow bloggie peeps who asked me to help out.


The first blogger is Gillian of HealthyTastyCheap. She has a solid & informative food blog that she writes with her cousin, Ayah. It's a post for "Smoothie Month" and provides some links to my favorite smoothies (see photo below).  Also included is a video that I made in January 2011, explaining why I feel that smoothies continue to be so beneficial for me in my weight loss journey.  

Click here to see my guest post over at HealthyTastyCheap. Don't worry that my coloring makes it look like I'm going to barf. I blame the blue/green colors in the room. And that my hair has considered starting its own blog due to the fact that it has a mind of its own. The highlight of the video is that I fall into a warm embrace with one of the most fabulous bloggers on the planet.

Wha wha? My Kettle Corn smoothie of course!

The second guest post is very raw and honest.  The post called,  "What it's like to be 'heavy' " was provided to my good friend Eden, who is hosting a "Not my blog" extravaganza while she's out of town. There, people are writing posts that they wouldn't publish on their own blogs. Truth is that I absolutely would publish my post here, but I simply hadn't yet done so.

The following photo wasn't included, but I'm posting it here. As you can see, I'm not kidding when I say that I know what it was like to be 'heavy.'

Me, circa 1996

By the way, for something different to your usual blog reading, you should check out some of the other posts in the "Not my Blog" series as there are open and wildly entertaining discussions about sex, blogging pet peeves/observations and blog name spoofs, among other great topics ... entertaining, thought-provoking and/or funny...sometimes all at once!

Is this even legal?

Ellie and I were so happy to be on our way back to the mountains that we decided to have a celebratory smooch in the car (see photo above).  Once I leave this coffee house with free WiFi, my bursting bladder and I are going back into hiding. 

Q: Would you drink something odd-sounding like a kettle-corn smoothie? Would you kiss your cat on the lips?  Do you order 74 iced coffees in order to get "free" WiFi?