I did it! I earned the credit for it, and now the new tat is done! It looks–well, it looks like a new tat, which is to say at the moment it looks like a bandage on my shoulder, and then it’ll look like a scabby wound in the shape of a sun for a while. I’ll post pictures when it’s properly healed. For now, for those of you who missed it when it was linked to in the sidebar, here’s the design:

It’s a couple of inches across, placed on my right shoulder. (Same size and positioning as my other tat, just on the other shoulder.) I must at this point pause to highly recommend Genuine Tattoo on south Walnut. This is the second tat they’ve done for me and I’ve been very pleased with the whole process and the results both times.

I also want to say thank you very much to Tim for coming up with this whole plan. I feel better about myself than ever, I’m back on track, and I feel like I’m physically ready for the next phase of this whole clean-living thing now. (What? You thought this was the end? This is only the beginning, I promise you. I had drop-dead dates originally for a reason.)

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Hush now my sweet little noisy boy
There is trouble enough in the world
Pick up your feet little lazy boy
Come dance with your little girl

Spin me ’round this kitchen floor
Like a carnival
Troubadour
I know we’re only two-bit clowns
In a one-ring circus

–Over the Rhine, “Hush Now (Stella’s Tarantella)”

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Yesterday I started in on the “variety in exercise at home” thing with some exercises designed to target the back and abs. I was reminded of why I hadn’t been exercising my poor, underdeveloped abdominal muscles. Because they’re poor and underdeveloped.

The crunches and variations thereon I did all right with, but had to stop and rest every 3 or 4 repititions. Plank turned out to be less impossible than I’d feared (due in no small part to the “beginner” position–the “real” position involves full extension of arms and balancing on your toes rather than your knees), but I think you’re really supposed to hold it for 30-60 seconds and I only made it 10-15. That “dead bug” thing looked like the second-easiest of the bunch (behind “super humans”), but oh boy was I wrong on that count. You’d be surprised how much effort that thing takes. Then the rest was actually not bad at all–maybe I’ve managed to actually pick up back muscles somewhere.

I expected my abs to be killing me today, but they’re not. I mean, I’m definitely feeling the workout. It was work, it was work those muscles aren’t used to, and yeah, they’re a little sore. But just that kind of “muscles getting off their lazy asses” sore, not “ow, don’t do that again” sore. Which tells me I am probably on the right track; it’s challenging without being impossible and without killing me. I think I’ll keep this workout in my rotation.

About.com actually has a fair number of workout suggestions which look useful. There’s a couple of total-body things I intend to try, and they have some suggestions for the exercise ball when I get it too. There’s even an office workout, which could be really handy on days when it’s rainy outside and I can’t walk around the building on my breaks the way I like to.

(The yoga book, incidentally, is still hiding from me. Along with my 3 lb. dumbbells, which would also be useful to have. I suspect they’re hiding together somewhere, snickering at my futile attempts to find them.)

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This recipe was pretty simple. Dump beans, rice, onion, garlic, ketchup, chili powder, cumin, oregano and something called “nutritional yeast” into the food processor. Process. Form into six patties. Fry each one for a few minutes on each side until browned. Serve with a whole wheat bun and your choice of condiments. For extra fun, toss in some sweet potato home fries (cut up, toss with oil, bake 20 minutes at 350 F) and fresh fruit.

This particular kitchen adventure is a rare one in this series; I was cooking for both myself and Tim. He unexpectedly decided to eat at home tonight. Well, I guess it was a hit. He devoured the first burger and asked for another. Granted that he was really hungry, but still. Although not quite as enthusiastic, I also enjoyed it very much.

Out of curiosity… $1.20 for the beans, 10 cents for the oregano, $1.30 for an onion of which I only used a small slice (call it 25 cents worth, that’s probably overestimating), 30 cents for the chili powder, 35 cents for the yeast, 60 cents for the rice. Ketchup we had on hand anyway. That’s about $2.70 for six patties. My recipe=45 cents/patty. Boxed=$4.50/box of 4, so $1.13/patty. Sounds like a good savings to me.

So anyway, the verdict is, this recipe is definitely a keeper.

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This is sort-of crossposted to my reading blog. And sort of not.

This week is Banned Books Week. I love this week when it rolls around every year, even if I usually forget about it until halfway through (as I did this year, obviously). It’s a good opportunity to add to my reading list. Granted that not every banned book is going to be interesting, but given that nearly every reason for them to be banned involves something interesting, there’s a better than average chance.

I have discovered that several of the books I read in school (for class, as opposed to for purposes of ignoring class) are on the banned-books list. To Kill a Mockingbird, for example, and Of Mice and Men, and Huck Finn of course, and a couple of Shakespeare plays… And then there are several like Lord of the Flies and The Grapes of Wrath that my particular class didn’t cover, but I know others in the same school did. I think this is pretty damned cool. My high school wasn’t the best, I’ll admit, but for the most part it had a kick-ass English department.

I was thinking about my experiences reading these books, and others that are on “the list”. I was trying to think whether I ever had that nagging feeling that I shouldn’t be reading something. I can come up with only one instance. Early in my high school career, I smuggled some of Mom’s romance novels up to my room to read. I say “smuggled” because at the time I didn’t think that my parents would want me reading something with s-e-x in it, but I should note that this was an entirely internal conclusion. I hadn’t actually asked, I just sort of assumed. (And let’s be honest, if I had asked and gotten the OK for it, it wouldn’t have been half as fun.)

In thinking about this, I came to the conclusion that if Mom and Dad ever censored what I read, they did so quite subtly. And I doubt they did even that after a certain age. I think they were probably generally aware of what I was reading, but not too worried about me coming into contact with any particular subject matter or language. I think pretty much if I felt like I could handle it they were willing to let me try it. That’s how it feels to me, anyway, looking back on some of my reading selections. Many of which, in high school, I borrowed or heard about from Dad, so I know there was some sort of parental awareness of what I was reading at that point.

And, you know, I think that was a good thing. Looking at these banned-book lists, I would hate to have been restricted to “acceptable” materials. (I mean, for crying out loud, what is acceptable, exactly? I think there is someone somewhere who could come up with an objection to nearly anything. If Where’s Waldo? can be banned, anything can be.) I think it was a very, very good thing.

So thanks, Mom and Dad, for the continued good parenting.

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Local Greek restaurant has a sandwich they call a VIP, which I presume stands for Veggies In Pita.  Grilled and fresh veggies drizzled with tzaziki and wrapped in a pita.  I love this sandwich, and it has occurred to me that it should be easy enough to duplicate at home.

As it turns out, it is.  The sauce was first, because it has to refrigerate for an hour before use.  Yogurt, grated cucumber, dill, garlic, olive oil, vinegar.  Mix and stick in the fridge.  Then when it’s ready, cut up a slice of onion, a quarter of a small red and a quarter of a small green bell pepper, and a couple of mushrooms.  Grill ‘em.  Cut up some tomato and lettuce.  Heat up a pita.  When the veggies are done, cut the pita in half (mine wasn’t going along with the wrapping idea very well) and stuff each half with the grilled and fresh veggies, then drizzle with about a tablespoon of tzaz per half.  Serve with your favorite whole-grain snack chips.  Nice light dinner.

They turned out pretty well.  I mean, no, they’re not exactly the same.  But I knew they wouldn’t be, and what they are is good even if they’re not exactly the same.  I think my sauce even measures up to the restaurant’s, if I do say so myself; the dill flavor is a little stronger, but I like that.  This is one that came out well enough I’ll probably suggest it to Tim for dinner one of these nights.

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Well, I’ve gone on and on about food.  Now let’s look at the other side of this diet/exercise category…  Exercise.

Tim and I signed up at the university’s fitness center.  Turns out it’s fairly cheap for a staffperson like Tim, who can get both of us and any potential future children in for approximately the same cost as getting a membership for just him at the YMCA.  This really is an adventure for me.  I’ve never been to anyplace like this before.  If you’ve ever seen that episode of the Simpsons where Homer is all, “Gym?  What is this…  gym?” pronouncing the Y as in “eye”, well, that’s me.  I know what most (not all) of the cardio machines are, and some of the strength stuff, and I can identify weights as being weights on sight, but I’ve no idea how to use any of it.  I also don’t know how to exercise properly, how to stretch, what to do to warm up or cool down, etc., etc.

This weekend, I went with Tim for the first time.  (And the second–once each day.)  I started out on the treadmill, which turns out not to be too scary.  It is a little bit disorienting, but otherwise I kinda like it.  Sunday, I tried one of those cross-trainer eliptical whatsits.  Big mistake; I went about two minutes before my legs were cramping up and I just didn’t think I could do it anymore.  (My thighs are still sore, and as I didn’t do anything unusual on the treadmill, I kinda think the cross-trainer whatsit must be what did it, even though I was only on for two minutes.)  Tim thinks perhaps I just didn’t have it adjusted properly.  He may be right.  I’ve promised to try again next weekend.  (I think I will mostly be going on weekends since I don’t have a university parking tag, which makes parking in the lot there risky and possibly quite expensive.) 

I don’t want to stick to just walking-type stuff, though.  I have lately realized that I’ve gotten too stuck on the whole exercise=walking mentality, and that there are other areas of my body I maybe should be working on.  Some more arm strength wouldn’t hurt me, and I really could use some abdominal muscles that are a bit stronger and perhaps better-toned than, you know, limp dishrags.  There is equipment at the fitness center to work on these things; I want to use it.  I find myself somewhat intimidated by it, though.  Especially when other people are around; I know that they’re not really watching me, but it feels like they are nonetheless.  What it comes down to is, I hate feeling like a total n00b, and that’s pretty much what I am in this area.

“Intimidating” really sort of sums it up right now.  But…  Not entirely in a bad way, despite what I just said.  I mean, intimidating can get you down really fast, and Saturday I was really really down.  But somehow, Sunday, I managed to turn intimidation into motivation.  Push through it, learn what to do, and so forth.  I’m so motivated I’ve asked Tim if I can borrow his parking tag tonight so that I can go on my own, which I didn’t think I’d be ready to do for weeks and weeks.

I would like to add more variety than just going to the gym a couple of times a week, though.  So I’m also looking at taking up yoga again (if I can find the book I borrowed from Dad), getting an exercise ball, and looking at other things I can do to exercise.  And of course, as I said, trying to do other things at the gym, including trying different equipment and swimming.  (Maybe taking a yoga class there.  They have one specifically for the flexibility-challenged!  We’ll see.)  I’ll continue to walk, especially once people’s schedules clear up and Mom and/or Dad and/or Tim and I can walk together again.  And if I lose my motivation, it is something I can fall back on anyway.  But I want to make a serious attempt to do more than just that, too.

In the meantime…  I’m off to do a little research on things like stretching and ideal heart rate and stuff.

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I’ll spare you the picture this time. They look the same as they did last time.

I had another go at the gyoza last night. This time I cut the carrots down and added some chopped green onion, fresh ginger, and just a dash of soy sauce to the filling (not much, just enough to give a little flavor without making the whole thing a salt lick). I think this time I’ve got it. Well, I’ve got the filling anyway. It could maybe use a touch more soy, but it does taste good as-is and I don’t want to put enough in to jack up the sodium content too much.

I still have problems with actually cooking the dumplings, though. Once again I failed to get that crispy texture on the bottom. And they stuck to the pan too much; when I tried to get them out, they fell all to pieces. I have 28 in the freezer now, though, so sometime next week we’ll see if the “from frozen” thing is important or not. I am determined to get this right.

Next week: Homemade veggie burgers, veggie pita sandwiches with tzaziki, and hopefully the conclusion of the gyoza saga. (What happened to the Thai food? I decided to put it off, as it was going to require collecting more ingredients than I’d realized and this is a non-paycheck week.)

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I looked at myself in the mirror as I was getting ready for my shower the other night and realized that I’m beginning to develop sort of an hourglass shape… Well, sort of. As much as I want to anyway. Not that I was bulging out the other direction before, but I think my waist was kind of straight up-and-down. I have a waist now. I’m curvy and stuff.

It feels good.

I am under no illusions here. I will never be skinny. My bone structure and proportions prevent it entirely. My hips can lose all the flab they want, and the bones will still be where they’re at now. (Actually, I don’t think there’s much padding on the joint left to lose; the bone’s pretty close to the surface right now.) I can lose all the weight off of my waist I want and I’ll never be a size 6, not healthily. I know this, and I’m just fine with it.

Is my figure perfect? No. I still have this odd paunch in front that will not go away (perhaps because I don’t do a lot of exercise that works my abs). My thighs are still all big and flappy, my butt is oddly-shaped, my posture often leaves something to be desired, and my upper arms have all the tone of a used dishrag. But right now I’m feeling slender, thin perhaps. I’m feeling the weight loss and I’m feeling healthy, and I like it.

And what I’m not feeling is need to force the rest of me into perfection. I had better watch out. I think I might be in danger of being well-balanced or something.

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Once long ago, Tim and I tried making our own pasta sauce. It came out fantastically, and we always said we ought to make more, but never quite got around to it. We’ve recently started watching sodium intake closely again, so I thought maybe it was time to try again. I’m not using the same recipe; I’m trying a new one. (Mostly just because I feel like it. The other recipe was very good too, and we probably could manage a low-sodium version of it, but I’m interested in trying plain old marinara.)

I got the recipe from LyricFox, and I think she said she adapted it from Cooking Light. Sweat onions. Add red wine. Then some olive oil, garlic, herbs and spices, and tomatoes (crushed, diced, and paste). Simmer for hours. Comes out really thick and fairly sweet.

I did that Tuesday night. Then Wednesday I cooked up some whole wheat pasta and chicken and added some of the marinara. The sauce is not the world’s best pasta sauce ever, but it’s certainly good enough. Particularly for only being my second attempt ever at homemade, and the first attempt having been a long time ago. I think I shall keep this recipe around. Next time I’m going to remember to cook it on a weekend, though, I think, so that I don’t have to worry so much about getting it started right away after work and whether it’ll be done before bedtime.

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