I am not doing well today!! I’ve wasted way too much time on the Internet and haven’t been working on my to-do list (ironically I was searching for new to-do list programs but decided ToDoist.com is still my favorite because of the elegant look and color coding).
I stayed up late last night and ended up having a bowl of berries and cream! I was going to have a little cereal, but I decided that the nutritional information on the all-natural strawberry ice cream was so close to that of 1% milk I should just have the ice cream for the texture instead 😉 With a little H2H for a little fiberific staying power:
This morning I continued the blueberry theme with a yummy bowl of oats.
The combo was typical of my current favorite:
- 1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup 1%, 1/3 cup water
- 1/2 banana
- 2 tbsp ryeberries
- Vanilla bean pasta
- About 1/2 cup blueberries
- Granola plank
- PB
With tea –
Normally I like a rainy day every now and then, but today I just want to go outside and play! Guess I’ve been spoiled with lots of biking and sunshine. Maybe a little yoga is in store?
National Thank You Day
While at the merci chocolates booth at BlogHer, I learned about National Thank You Day , which is coming up on September 22. In celebration of saying thank you, there is a contest where you can nominate someone you appreciate to receive "the ultimate thank you gift," a gift you choose for them valued up to $20,000! And 100 first prize winners will receive an autographed copy of the book Excuse Me But I Was Next…The Top 100 Manners Dilemmas and a box of merci European Chocolates! So take a moment to say thank you and share some chocolates – the deadline is FRIDAY!
(PS. I am not saying nominate me!! Pick someone you know well – your mom, grandmother, teacher 🙂 )
Fitzalan says
Hope you have been able to get motivated.
mmmm, berries and cream. Wish I had the self control to think out my night time snack instead of just going for the cereal.
sweetsandsweats.wordpress.com
C says
You have the best looking oatmeal in the world!
suzanne says
I was trying to look at the Todoist.com and it says error??
caitlin (see bride run) says
national thank you day — what a cute idea!
i dunno kath… you did introduce me to banana oatmeal. i kind of owe you my life. 😛
Heather says
I had blueberry oatmeal this morning, too! With a spoonful of peanut butter- so it tasted like a PB&J.
Cool contest!
Jenn says
Good call on the ice cream instead of the milk 🙂 And thanks for the heads up on National Thank You Day – that sounds like a great contest!
By the way, your haircut looks fabulous!
Betsy in Pittsburgh says
I need to rant and I figured this would be the best place to do so given the topic…
I work at an arts center that has summer camps running all the time. We have vending machines which the kids use frequently, but not to excess… usually. However, for the past 2 weeks a 9 year old girl who is quite overweight has come up to my office almost every day to ask for change for a $5 bill. She spends about $5 every single day on vending machine snacks (none of which are the least bit healthy). Yesterday I saw her walk outside with Sour Patch Kids and a Twix bar in hand… at 9:45 am. This is all on top of her packed lunch and snacks from home.
This morning she came up to my office with a Snickers bar complaining that she got the wrong item out of the machine. She desperately wanted more money to buy the “right” snack. After she left I kind of went on a rant to our director about overweight children and how mad it makes me when parents give their children money… ($20 a week!) to buy crap out of a vending machine. He told me to relax. But what kind of nutritional lessons are children being taught when they eat 5 candy bars a day!! Ughh… rant over.
Nicole says
The first picture of your oats is mouth watering!
Heather says
yum…should’ve had oatmeal this morning!
BTW I love your haircut! It looks great!
I too get frustrated when most bread products have HFCS and ingredients lists a mile long! Does HT carry Ezekiel products? I’m wondering b/c I will be going to North Carolina for vacation in a year, and that’s where I’ll be doing my grocery shopping!
Justy2003 says
Betsy in Pittsburgh: Overweight/obese children are one of my pet peeves. Not the children themselves, but the parents that allow them to be that way and teach them poor eating/exercise habits. Whenever I see an overweight child I just feel so sorry for them because you know that they don’t know any better and it’s not their fault. You can only hope that someone will eventually teach them.
Did anyone ever watch the show “Honey We’re Killing the Kids”? I loved it (not sure if they’ll have another season soon?). Sometimes parents don’t even realize what they’re doing to their kids but that show let them know!
Foodie (Fab and Delicious Food) says
I agree with Nicole; the first picture of the oats is mouthwatering!
sammypie says
The link doesn’t work. Where do you go to nominate?
Thanks,
sirenjess says
Betsy and Justy2003 I agree with you as well. It drives me crazy to see the way people feed their kids. My sister is really bad and lets my nephews pretty much eat crap. Like for dinner my nephew will have a like two sprites or dr. peppers at dinner when we eat out then he will switch to water because she makes him and he doen’t even touch it. I have another nephew who has the dark rings around his neck which is an indicator of diabetes. He is only seven years old (or 8) he weighs more than me. And i’m 28. It pisses me off (sorry for the language) because my brother who is a complete no show in his life and his mother feed him crap. My mother works at his school and she told me that he once took a lunch that included and I am not making this up a huge bag of M&M’s. Not the little vending machine bag a huge bag. So I feel you Betsy to me personally you did the right thing saying something. People don’t realize that their killing themselves or their kids slowly. Sorry this is so long and that I’m also ranting. But I made a complete 360 with my life. I got my VO2 tested yesterday and found out that I am pretty much in the best shape of my life.
Camille says
Hi Kath,
I commented a few times a while back and I continue to read your blog daily. It has helped me so much! If you wouldn’t mind, could you tell me what brand of heart rate moniter you use? How much is it? Do you recommend any brands?
Currently, I am eating healthier and I just began running. It would be nice to know how much I am burning…(I still kind of have a control issue thing going on, but it’s getting better!)
Thanks Kath for keeping such a upbeat and beautiful blog!!! You’ve been a great role model in my quest for a healthier body and life.
HangryPants says
Ooh I had berries this morning, too, but in the form of a homemade mango blueberry oatmeal muffin! 🙂
Thanks for the tip about Thank You do – such a nice idea.
Heather
Becky in MD says
Betsy,
I totally relate to where you’re coming from. You said it was a summer camp program, so perhaps talking to the director of the camp would be in order. They should be able to regulate when the vending machines can be used (at lunch only-not 9:45 am! or maybe not at all) Maybe this would cut down on the amount of unneeded, unhealthy snacking that goes on. Although, the kids might just get 5 snacks at one time, instead of throughout the day, but I think it is worth a shot. Also, I know its an arts camp, but maybe you could ask the counselors to incorporate some kind of nutrition/art project to help the kids learn a little more about proper snacking. Good luck!
Becky
Jo says
My god that oatmeal looks good! So excited, I went to Whole Foods today and managed to find a can of pumpkin! So now I can make all your recipes with pumpkin… but still can’t find wheatberries – erggghhhh..
Anyway, a while back there was some chat about dessicated coconut and how it didn’t really taste of much – I have solved the problem! I toasted it in a frying pan (grilling would work too) plain, without anything, stirring it until it went golden brown and it was delicious. I can now taste it in my oats/cereal/yoghurt etc… (I’m probably just stating the obvious and everyone knew this already – then sorry for being a bit slow on the uptake).
DaisyMay says
camille look in frequently asked questions
tfh says
I like to think most parents are fundamentally loving and just want their kids to be happy and safe. I ate total junk food as a kid. I know my mom often gave us food– often junky– as a sign of her love for us because that’s what her mom did. She also thought being a chubby kid was “healthy.” I’m not quite sure how I’m going to navigate all this once I’m a parent myself, but I do wish we could get those darned vending machines out of schools and camps!
caitlin (see bride run) says
that vending machine story sounds horrible! i agree, you should talk to the director about shutting it down during non-lunch hours.
i think obese children are really sad. it’s not their fault, it’s their parents. you can’t go mcdonalds when you are five, but your mom can buy it for you! i think this all goes back to americans being uneducated about nutrition and falling back on fast food more often than healthy food.
however, my biggest pet peeve is people who smoke cigs next to their children. i honestly believe people should be arrested for that. i saw a man sitting on a park bench with his newborn, smoking a cig. i wanted to slap him!
caitlin (see bride run) says
camille- i have a polar f4 and its awesome. i think thats the one kath has. its about 99$ but its totally worth it.
JJ125 says
I agree about the unhealthy children. When I see kids that are grossly overweight or obese (not just “baby fat” that is normal) I get so angry… at the parents! A 9 year old child does not know about nutrition and calories and he/she only eats what is given to them. When a child grows up on crap, junk food, sweets, etc, it is all they know. When I was younger we rarely had sweets in the house, or soda (only soda we had was Diet Pepsi… for my mom) we went out to restaurants maybe once a month and for good report cards and I can’t remember having fast food EVER. We had neighbors that the kids were our age and they ate donuts for breakfast every morning (um.. gross!) and lots of deep-fried food as is common in the South. The children always had weight problems and the parents were on all sorts of meds for blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. It is a vicious cycle and parents that perpetuate these poor habits are guilty of neglect!
The obesity problem in this country will NEVER stop unless we teach our children the benefits of a nutritious, active and healthy lifestyle. One that does not include a vending machine meal at 9 in the morning. If this child’s parents have enough money to give her $5 per day for that crap, then they have enough to at least buy healthy food for a real meal or snacks. I don’t know what the food policy is at your camp, if they can bring in food from home, but I would definitely talk to a higher-up about this. It is time we take matters like this into our own hands and stop killing our children.
Mariposa says
Hi Kath!
Where is the dinner for 23 people (??!!!! wow!) I will be happy to take the last two spots, but would need to know where and what time (I get out of work at 5… would need to hike up to town..) Ironically… it is my B-day on the 19th and am going into town anyway that night to celebrate.. so even if the dinner is too early for me and my hubby, we might be able to slide in there for a hello!
DaisyMay says
Kath,
You know what would be a fun contest? If you gave people like three different items to cook and see what kind of creations they create? like create a whole balanced meal. give them a starch, a protein, and a vegetable. and then have them send in the pictures of their creations.
hk says
cute new ‘do- layers add volume pretty effortlessly 🙂 I have pin-straight hair- no matter what I do, haha so now I just let it do it’s “thing”….which is nothing, ahha
boo to the weather, gray, dreary days definitely zap energy
Betsy in Pittsburgh says
Thanks for all of the feedback/discussion from my story. I do think it is an important issue, and I will definitely give my bosses some suggestions about vending machine rules for camp next year (we only have 1 week left! thank god!). It does sadden me to see a child treating their body that way, but it is not their fault. I just know how hard it is to change bad habits that start at such an early age.
And also… DaisyMay I think that is a great idea!
Jenn says
you know whats the WORST! is seeing a pregnant woman smoke!!
caitlin (see bride run) says
kath – thanks for the nice compliment on my blog! it made my day!
Monica says
I love the new haircut! Super cute 🙂
Kath says
Betsy in Pittsburgh,
Yikes! When I was a camp counselor, the kids brought the most horrible lunches. A lunchable, plus oreos, plus a soft drink, plus chips, plus cheesy crackers. It was ridiculous!
Heather ,
HT has EZ products, but they are all frozen. Just the basic breads and tortillas – no english muffins or fancy rolls. EarthFare or Whole Foods are in all the major cities now so you might be able to go to those. HT also has Rudi’s brand (a few selections), which I like a lot.
Jo ,
You can order wheatberries (and rye and spelt, which don’t need soaking) from Bob’s Red Mill online.
Mariposa ,
Send me an email and I will forward you the dinner details. Happy birthday!!
DaisyMay ,
Great idea!!! So you mean say “You’ve got corn, tofu and raisins – come up with something?”
I’ve got 2-3 more contests in que so I’ll definitely use that.
Kath
Jordan says
http://www.rememberthemilk.com/
is a realllllly nice to-do list site!
Kath says
Jordan ,
I really liked RTM except there’s no color coding! It’s just not pretty to look at. TodoIst is so much prettier, but RTM has more features I like (Google/gCal integration). Sigh… The woes of online to do lists 🙂
K