Eat. Live. Be. #16: What We Can’t Live Without

That picture is for Sarah.  It has nothing to do with today’s topic, except for serving as a promise that the breakdown of this Griddled Goodness Sandwich is coming tomorrow.  Swear!

This week’s Eat. Live. Be. topic is sharing what we can’t live without.  I know my answer isn’t going to be popular.  Both in terms of what other people may have chosen or in favorable opinion.  But I’m ok with that.

I headed out of town a few weeks ago, and as I packed my bag, a friend gave me strict rules.  “Cut loose.  No exercising.  No hard-and-fast clean eating.  And no scale.”

I promised I would do my best.  And I did.  I did eat pretty cleanly, but I did indulge too.  I didn’t exercise in the traditional sense, but I walked.  A lot.  Miles and miles and miles.  Every day.  And the scale?  Well, I didn’t bring it with me but that was certainly the hardest task he gave me.  It was all I could do not to throw down my suitcase when I came home and jump on it.

I can’t live without my scale.

I weigh myself twice a day, once in the morning, once again before bed.

I completely understand how weight fluctuates.  Between water weight gain, stress, heavier meals, later meals, more exercise, less exercise, it fluctuates.  All over the place.

But I want to be accountable.  I want to be hyperaware of the little changes and the big ones.  As in…

… now that I see that number, I know I shouldn’t eat dinner quite so late.

… or wow, that extra hour of exercise yesterday really paid off.

… or what the heck did I eat yesterday to see that big a difference in the scale today?

I’m all over it.  And for me, it works.  I have it in check.  I’m obsessed.  But not obsessed. And now some 16 months into Cate Version 2.0, I know it’s an obsession in a good way, for me, and it’s worked.

Now for what other ELBers can’t live without, go check ’em out:

• Sarah from Sarah’s Cucina Bella
• Joanne from Eats Well with Others
• Chris Arpante – Melecotte
• Jenna – Stop, Drop and Blog
• Casey – The Starnes Family
• Patsy – Family, Friends and Food
• Claire – Cooking is Medicine
• Jen – NJ Epicurean
• Rivki Locker – Healthy Eating for Ordinary People
• Jennifer Schulz – Lick-a-Plate
• Sarah Rogers – Sarah’s Sweet Creations
• Gwen – Simple Healthy Family

Project 365
April 25, 2011, Photo #114 (and a few bonuses)
I discovered this little gem yesterday at Trader Joe’s. If you have a Trader Joe’s near you, go buy this. I think this might be my new favorite yogurt. So creamy. And light. And so darn good, I would make a special trip just to stock up on it (and the other two flavors I didn’t get).

This, on the other hand, was an epic fail. Like in Charlie Sheen proportions. It caught my eye and I added it to my cart yesterday. I’ve heard good things about roasted kale as snacks. Why wouldn’t this be good? I wanted to like it, I really did. But it was so bad I actually spit it out. Couldn’t even bring myself to swallow it. Gave the rest of the package to my mom. Jury is still out on her opinion.

Nope, still terrible.

I can’t remember the last time I ate mortadella. Well, aside from the past few days. I rarely eat cold cuts, but had a piece last week and got hooked again. Slightly salty and too hard to resist. Craved it all weekend. Succumbed again today.

Growing up, we always had soft butter in the kitchen cabinet. The perfect thing to spread across warm toast or pancakes. I hate how cold butter tears into your bread. Of course we always have soft butter in our cabinets here too. I blame my mother.

Rice with butter. Total comfort food. Another carryover from childhood.

I was trying to get dinner ready and Nick yelped behind me, and promptly started whining about a canker sore, blaming it on his dentist visit last week. I gave him the “man up!” speech, explaining that no one has ever died from a canker sore. His response was that I had never had one and didn’t know the pain he was in. Quite the contrary. Canker sores sometimes come from stress, and believe me, I’ve had them. I said I don’t whine when I have a problem and sometimes we just have to suck it up, put on a brave face and deal with it. I said, for example, that I had a headache, was tired, and I still had more work to do after dinner, bath and bed. He looked at me for a moment and asked if that was true. Yes, of course. Then he kicked me out of the kitchen and finished getting dinner himself. Of course, he didn’t serve what I was cooking, but he told me to go finish my work while he took care of the food. So incredibly touching. As I was working, he brought me this basket, lined with a cloth napkin, making sure to remember the straw and the requisite piece of fruit with dinner. Made the sandwich himself.  He said he knows I don’t like Coke, but thought I deserved soda. Best kid ever.