February 25

breakfast: english muffin, raw milk

lunch: artichoke heart and fresh mozzarella panini

dinner: gnocchi neopolitana, salad, tiramisu

workout: Callanetics 10/10

I've been so busy lately I feel like I'm about to crack. Between running my own business, starting another, helping my mother with hers, and doing a friend with his, I literally feel like a chicken running around with it's head cut off. Okay, so mine is still attached, but I'm not sure it would be if it wasn't screwed in so well when I was born.

Been having an interesting experience with a neighborhood cat. It's figured out how to get under my house through an access panel. It likes to bring back it's dinner and/or breakfast - still alive. It seems to prefer food that smells like skunk.

I've tried so many things to keep it out from under the house. It's a great digger - imagine a 3-foot long entrance tunnel being dug in an hour). It can move boulders with feats of strength a cat shouldn't possess. It doesn't mind cayenne. Chicken wire staked into the ground with 5-inch long stakes isn't a problem.

I find it quite ironic that at a time I've gotten so busy, a neighborhood cat has decided to deprive me of sleep. It really isn't fun to be awoken by death screams and skunk stench.

So, if you have an outdoor cat, for the sanity of your neighbors, I beg of you to make sure it's inside at night.

February 24

breakfast: granola

lunch: broccoli soup with goat cheese and walnuts, crostini with swiss chard

dinner: toast, raw milk

What a Weird Day or Grocery Stores Giving Everything Away for Free

breakfast: raw buckwheat granola, raw milk

lunch: salad, gf margarita pizza

dinner: salad, english muffin with smoked mozzarella and fried egg

I went to the grocery store today. The teller was someone who's been there for ages. A friend of hers was in front of me. I noticed she was only ringing up about half of her friend's items. Kind of odd! I wasn't sure what was going on.

When it was my turn, she again missed a few things. Then she said the total was "$45.71. Wait, I forgot the two bottles of olive oil." They wouldn't scan so she keyed them in manually and said, "$45.71." The exact same amount. I told her the olive oil didn't go in. She said, "No, I got them." Okay, then. I just got over $30 off at the grocery store.

Now, the store didn't have one key item I needed so I went to another store to get it. I saw a couple of other things while I was there - shopping while hungry produces interesting purchases. When I went to check out, the same thing happened. This time I got about $5 off.

I guess money can come to you in some pretty unexpected ways.

February 20

breakfast: apple, sao jorge cheese

lunch: gf panini with provolone, avocado, tomato, japanese eggplant, and cucumber; salad with sesame vinaigrette

dinner: quesadilla de maize y queso

workout: Callanetics 10/10

February 18

breakfast: raw milk

lunch: masala dosa

dinner: carrots, apple, green beans, tofu

workout: Callanetics 10/10

It's so nice to go on a weeklong holiday - just to get away from everything. A change of venue, new people to see, new things to do, new foods to eat - it's just great to experience something different every now and then.

February 10

breakfast: granola

lunch: portabello and chickpea tart, salad

dinner: peas, cabbage, macaroni and cheese

My results with Callanetics are slowing down. I know it's because I'm so close to my goal. How much is half a size really? However, I can see more toning going on so at least changes are still happening. Too bad clothing size isn't affected by whether your triceps are tightening up.

February 9

breakfast: raw cheese, apple

lunch: giant salad

dinner: raw milk

workout: Callanetics 10/10

I wasn't hungry for dinner. I've never had a salad fill me up so well before. Usually I'm hungry shortly after eating just a salad. Interesting change.

Danish

breakfast: pear, raw milk

lunch: mushroom and chickpea tart

dinner: broccoli, roasted turnips, kale with garlic, half cheese danish

I made danish for the first time today. I changed the recipe a lot - replacing the wheat flour, using maple syrup instead of sugar, cream cheese instead of ricotta - and they came out perfectly. They are so light, fluffy, and delicious. No one could tell they weren't made with wheat and sugar.

I'm so surprised how easy danish are to make. You'd think it's be this intense laborious process, but you just throw some ingredients together, chill them, roll out, chill, turn into danish, let rise, and bake. Most of your time is spent doing nothing. I think the total amount of labor involved is about 40 minutes and that's spread out over hours.

February 7

breakfast: quesadilla de maize queso frioles

lunch: falafel, hummus, baba ganoush

dinner: yogurt with dried apricots

My legs are feeling better today. It's so nice to be able to sit/stand/walk like a normal person again.

February 5

breakfast: granola, pear

lunch: kale and cannelini soup

dinner: egg burrito

It's so nice to have some rain. I think this is the first real rainstorm we've had. All of the other couple of days have been soft drizzles, but this is the nice pounding kind where you can actually hear the rain coming down as it hits the roof of the house. Does this mean that winter finally decided to start after groundhog day this year?

Squeeze by Tracy Effinger

On Wednesday, I did Tracy Effinger's Squeeze for the first time. It's a combination of Callanetics, yoga and isometrics.

The Callanetics related movements use far less than 100 movements, but I believe are just as effective as those found on Callanetics 10 Years Younger in 10 Hours, if not more so. The arm, inner thigh and outer thigh movements are definitely better than those in Callanetics.

There is one movement on Squeeze called "the L" which works the thighs and buns. My legs were shaking so badly during the move that it was like watching the ground during an earthquake. I've never had my legs shake so much. I could barely do any of the thigh movements 20 minutes later in the bun & thigh section. It's been 2 days and I can still barely move my legs.

For the arm section, she recommends 2 pound weights, but says that even if you don't have weights you'll get an effective workout. I agree! If you really focus on isometrics (stretching yours arms as far as possible and resisting the movement - what Tracy calls squeezing), you'll probably never need weights.

My only complaint about the workout is that Tracy is more flexible than the average person and it would have been nice if she had shown how to do some of the stretches at different levels. Modifications are pretty easy to figure out, but I think most people would like to see someone demonstrating modifications just to make sure that they're picking the best way to do it.

The first time you do this workout, you might want to take it a little bit easier. For me, my muscles are sorer today even though it's been two days since I did the workout. If I had known this would happen, I would have worked out a little less intensely so that I could pace myself better, workout again today, and slowly build up my strength.

February 4

breakfast: apple, sao jorge

lunch: ravioli di spinaci

dinner: kale and cannelini bean soup

workout: Tracy Effinger's Squeeze -- The Compete Workout

February 3

breakfast: quinoa flakes, raw milk

lunch: tempeh and vegetables in lemon-coconut sauce

dinner: bread with raw butter, apple, yogurt with dried apricots

Okay, that's a pretty strange dinner. But it's what I really, really wanted. And it tasted soooo good.

February 2

breakfast: apple, manchego

lunch: really bad Indian

dinner: tempeh and vegetables in a lemon-coconut sauce, chocolate bread and rice cake

workout: Callanetics 10/10