January 7 - Street

This street is closed to vehicles now. It was less expensive to build a
new road and bridge than to repair this beautiful old one in Hinton, WV.

And on the seventh day …

she crashed.

I don't know what happened yesterday around here. It was a grey and chilly day, but that hasn't stopped me before. I simply could not put one foot in front of the other to do any kind of walk or elliptical workout. I was fatigued beyond belief. I managed to throw together a pot of vegetable beef soup before I took a nap, and right after we ate it (well a couple hours later) I went to sleep. In the past 24 hours I've been asleep for 15 of them.

Good thing I'm flexible. Today's my rest day, but I'll get out and walk anyway and count yesterday as the day off. (I'm feeling quite normal, as if I've had a good night's sleep. WHICH I HAVE!)

Calories were well below normal all last week. See? (Pay no attention to Tuesday! I forgot to eat lunch and it was New Year's Day and I thought I'd be eating enough football-watching snacks to make up for it. But I didn't.)

Flexibility will definitely pay off this week, as I will be traveling beginning on Thursday. Being away from home always, always, always screws up my food-and-exercise plan. Not the exercise so much as the food. I just think when I'm not at home I can go crazy, and you know what? I CAN'T!

It will be easy to get the daily walking done. I'll probably skip the yoga and weight-training sessions on Friday and Saturday. Most of all, I'm going to enjoy visiting with my daughter and her family, who I didn't get to see during the holidays.

As I look back over what I've written, it appears that this 'diet' or 'plan' or 'whatever you want to call it' could be construed as a roadblock to having a good time. I prefer to look at it as a bridge. And I will be dancing across that bridge all the way, to the end of my days. Eating reasonable portions of healthful food and moving my aging body will never be a reason to sit in a corner and wish life were different.

The reason I'm back in the saddle again is me. Just as the reason I need to be back in the saddle again is me. I'm trying not to think about all the times I've been back in the saddle and not seen results. I'm sticking my fingers in my ears and babbling "lalalalalala." I'm seeing the miles add up and the calories stay within limits and counting those as results.

But I saved a couple pairs of too-small jeans when I cleaned out the closet. Just in case.

January 6 - Mine

Ray at Knitivity does a fabulous job dyeing yarn. I think I'm going to use
this hank in combination with a solid grey sock weight to make a faux Fair Isle tam.
Beneath the yarn is a personalized blank MayBooks notebook.

I give you … dinner

Oh, my, we had the best dinner last night. I spent a little bit of time during the day cruising the interwebs for a curry recipe that used chickpeas and chicken, of which there are plenty. I ended up kind of throwing together a concoction using ingredients from this one and that one, trying to keep it low in fat and full of flavor.

I succeeded beyond all expectations.

Chicken and Chickpea Curry
Serves 4

Ingredients
Cooking spray
3 small chicken breasts (about 12 ounces), cut in bite-sized pieces
1 lb. sliced fresh mushrooms
1 red pepper, cut in large dice
1/2 cup frozen sweet peas
2 Tblsp. curry powder (or to taste)
2 Tblsp. chili sauce (optional)
1 cup chickpeas•
1 can low-fat coconut milk
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
Hot cooked rice

Method
Spray a large, deep stainless-steel pan with cooking spray. Add chicken pieces and sauté until browned and nearly cooked through. Add sliced mushrooms and diced pepper to pan, cook and stir for three to five minutes. Add peas.

Stir in curry powder and chili sauce, if using. (The chili sauce adds a lot of heat. Use less or eliminate it altogether if you don't care for spicy curry.) Add the chickpeas, coconut milk and tomatoes.

Mix thoroughly, bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and let simmer until the liquid has cooked down considerably. This should take about 45 minutes.

Serve in shallow bowls over hot cooked rice.

• I used cooked dried garbanzo beans rather than canned chickpeas. You could use canned, but the sodium content of the finished dish will be higher and the texture of the beans will be mushier. 

Nutrition information per serving:
Calories: 305
Total Fat: 8.6 g
Sat. Fat: 4.5 g
Cholesterol: 54.8mg
Sodium: 221.1mg
Carb: 27.5 g
Fiber: 4.4 g
Sugars: 8 g
Protein 26.6 g

This was a seriously tasty dish.

I spent part of the afternoon cooking the garbanzo beans and rice. I never make enough of either for just one meal, but instead cook huge pots of them (I also do black, kidney and navy beans like this) and then portion them into quart-sized freezer bags, two cups of food per bag. Once frozen, they store flat and are so handy to just thaw (or nuke) and add to a recipe. That's your kitchen tip du jour.

Bon appétit!

January 5 - Movement (and Waiting)

Well, since I talked about both photo ops earlier today, I thought I'd throw them both up here. Thanks for looking!

Lifting a dumbbell in one hand while shooting with the other.

Waiting for water to boil. Sometime today we will be eating curried chickpeas.

Clash of the photo ops

The first 2013 Instagram Weekend Hashtag Project is 'waiting.' (#WHPwaiting)

Fat Mum Slim's word for the day is 'movement.'

I'd say those are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

I haven't decided to jump on board with a year of Weekend Hashtag Projects. I only did a couple last year – easy ones I knew I could complete without too much thought or trouble or travel.

I've definitely decided to jump on board with FMS's photo a day project. Again. For some reason I am able to make some part of my daily life work with Chantelle's prompts, while I tend to make the weekend prompts a little more complicated.

AND IT DOESN'T MATTER ANYWAY! Since you and I are the only ones who see them. Heh.

Yesterday, approximately 3 p.m. Looks like it should be 10 p.m.!

I waited until fairly late in the afternoon yesterday to walk, hoping to get outdoors at the warmest part of the day. It was windy and still very cold (upper 20s) when I left the house. Three miles and an hour later I was back home and STILL cold. I was cold all evening.

I. Don't. Like. Being. Cold.

We should hit the low 40s today – it will seem absolutely tropical compared to yesterday. I have plans to meet a friend this afternoon to walk along a little creek. We've managed to do this several times in the past two or three weeks; it's so much more fun to walk with someone who brings walking topics with her.

Her first topic was 'why do they call it – # – a hashtag instead of a number (or pound) sign?' My guess was that it must be part of computer language nomenclature, and I also noted that those who tweet use it more than other groups in general. I had no idea at the time if I was right or not, but she bought it and we moved on. Heh.

We actually don't need prescribed topics, as we always seem to have plenty to talk about. And if it's really cold this afternoon, well, between the two of us we'll have plenty of hot air to blow around.

It's not too late!

If you're still dithering about your New Year's resolution, have I got a website for you!

I don't need to add anything to my list, but I'm curious and geeky and I do love me an interactive resolution generator. Here's what I got:

Isn't that GREAT?!?

Okay, your turn. Leave a comment and tell, tell, tell.