Adventures in dieting.

I have started dieting and exercise again - after a trip to my doctor who gave me a surprisingly clean health bill, and the realization that part of the rent I'm paying is towards the clubhouse gym, and though the exercise part is easy (go downstairs, get on the elliptical, work out, get off, go home), the dieting part is another thing altogether.

Good food is one of the things that get me going. I enjoy eating out, discovering cuisines, and cook at home when I can. I am taking a healthy approach when cooking at home but even then, dieting often means letting go of some favourite foods for a while.

One thing is for sure though. I cannot do without carbs. I can minimize fats from my diet, but carbs? Forget it! Living only on protein and vegetables is not going to happen. I never feel full after a no carb meal and their lack from my system makes me pretty cranky too.

So, I am following a moderately low calorie diet - I am using an iPhone app called LoseIt!, in which you set a weight loss goal, then log your food and exercise and keep track of your daily calorie quota. Pretty simple, it's like Weight Watchers w'out other people. Which is good for me, dieting with strangers would not motivate me in the least. And it doesn't tell you "du must eet zis and zis and zat" with a Frau Helga accent.

Today I was craving roasted vegetables, but the fridge was sadly empty. I only had a couple of tomatoes that don't roast well at all. So I opted for the second best thing which was:

1 of said tomatoes
1 bag of instant microwave basmati rice
1 good tablespoon of shredded parmesan
1 dash of my Italian Herb Mix

Instant comfort food that will stay with me for a while. Unfortunately, it doesn't photograph very well!

Made it to the trees!

The weather forecast was right for a change, and this Monday afternoon came with a temperature of 14oC and lovely blue skies - a perfect setting for visiting the Morton Arboretum as mentioned at my previous post.

If you do the clickity on the link you'll find out that it is quite a vast piece of land in the township of Lisle, IL, hosting trees and shrubs from all over the world. For $11 a person (adult price) one can stay on the premises till its closing at sunset. It is trailed with one way paths for cars with a no-rush speed limit of 20 miles per hour, which is great if you want to take the car half way and then get down and walk in one of the walk-only trails around the main paths.

Hubby and I got snap happy and took about 70 pics, and we liked quite a few of them. We hope to go back in the spring when the trees will be blooming again - I don't think that it'll be of much interest in the winter other than for the evergreens.

Resting at the mall

I unearthed my real camera just the other day and renewed my habit of carrying with me just in case. I'm loving my iPhone, but the quality is nowhere near the real thing.

Location's the Fox Valley Mall in Aurora, a nearby township. I normally avoid shooting towards people for a variety of reasons, unless I'm out at some festivity or something, but I don't think shooting ceilings from below fits into that :)

I had plans to visit the Morton Arboretum today, but the weather was less than cooperative (the nice blue sky that you see in the picture turned into a nasty overcast in less than 30 minutes!). It is supposed to be better on Monday, though.

Fall

It's fall for real. The colors on the trees and bushes around my apartment complex speak for themselves :)


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A new day yesterday

I rediscovered this blog and thought that maybe it's time for a post and a pic.



view from my bedroom window

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Changes.

Aloha all,

This blog cannot be named "Greek de Burgh" any more, for the simple reason that I do not live in the 'burg any more.

Hubby and I moved about a month ago to the depths of Chicagoan suburbia. He was made an offer he couldn't resist, as they say.

I do not know whether I'll be doing much blogging, but then, who knows?

Cheers,
Sal

Whoa, it's been forever!

Shame on me!

Truth to be said, there was a lot going on that I did not feel like blogging - holidays that went smoothly but with horrible weather, dental troubles (3 wisdom teeth and an acre of Vicodin later I 'm ok, thanks for asking), and now my mother is visiting.

It is her first time EVER under my roof. And she's taken over already. I decided that fighting takes away too much precious energy, so I decided to let her do whatever she wants - after all, she'll be off before I know and I want to remember only the fun things we do. Like playing poker while watching WWE.

I couldn't take any time off work, but that was really a blessing in disguise as I am a quite private person (Hubby and I spend a lot of our time in separate rooms and we both like that) and having sometime just with the company of myself is vital. That is not expected to happen for the duration of her visit, and it's not right to make her bored anyway :)

Oh well. Bottom line - I'm doing well, just have been silent!

Why is it July already?

More precisely, where did June go? Wasn't it May last week or something?

Time flies when you're having a blast, I guess. I'm eying 4 weeks till my summer vacation and I am both excited and stressed (as my vacation requires some prep work on my behalf), and simply can't wait, I haven't had any time off (other than the 1 week between temp jobs) since I started working here. Boy it is needed.

On other matters: We watched the new Die Hard on Saturday. It was larger than life of course, and I was pleasantly surprised to see Timothy Olyphant in a villain role. They suit him like a glove - not that his Deadwood role was any worse, of course. He reeks of authoritah!

Construction Blues

The first time I heard the jackhammer 2-3 days ago, I thought it was the paramedics chopper from UPMC Montefiore trying to land on the roof of our apartment building and take one of our many senior neighbors with them. Then I heard it the day after. The exact same time, too early o'clock. Can't be, I said in my semi-sleepy status. Two folks need the chopper, this is just not right.

Then hubby muttered next to me "Tis the jackhammer".

Appears there's some construction project going across the street. Splendid.

Rawr. Thanks for getting me up 30 minutes earlier than I need to get up. There goes my beauty sleep!

Dentistry final update

Oof. The root canal is over, and I won't need a crown! Woot! This saves me pain, agony, desire and at least 200 bucks. Without even switching to Geico.

On the other hand, I got completely soaking wet on my way home today. Mm. Summer in da Burg is always on the moist side. Where is that umbrella again?

Thunderstorms

and what they can do to your mood and schedule.

1. Medieval dance practice. I have absolutely no desire being in a small classroom over at CMU instead of dancing barefoot on the green. I might pass and vegetate in front of the computer for an unseen amount of time.
2. Driving range. Let's just not go there. Swinging a metal rod in a thunderstorm is just stupidity a la carte.
3. Headache. Please, go away. Or something.

At least I won't need to mop the balcony. Always look at the bright side of life (whistle, whistle)

Let's talk about the Spurs, baby :)

So, hubby is Texan. Not only that, but his alma mater is UTSA, which makes any sport event that contains a San Antonio team A Must To See. And, when the S.A. Spurs make it to the NBA quarter-finals, then it's just a special occasion! (no, actually not, they are a damn good team and they are placed high in the tree almost every year. But you know what I mean).

Hubby is also pretty benevolent. He has absolutely no problem in abandoning our home (and two high-def screen TV's) to yours trully and go to the neighborhood sports bar (which has a high-def screen TV, just to make this one certain) and watch it and drink rum and diet or Killian's and scream along with the rest of the testosterone-ridden crowd.

Because, don't get it wrong, I do enjoy watching most sports (with the exception of baseball which I am certainly doomed not to ever understand), but I don't have that level of dedication.

Unless of course it's some semi-quarter-final or quarter-final of Champion's League, which I will watch rather religiously.

Back to the Spurs now: They pulled together a great game, Utah Jazz was a noble opponent, but we beat the living crap out of them anyway :D

I guess we'll see Cleveland at the finals then!

Greek Food Festival..

Every year since I have no idea when, St. Nicholas, the greek orthodox church of my neighborhood hosts a food festival. Since I don't cook much (I'm more like the kind of girl that like to use no more than one pan or pot for cooking), and hubby really really likes lamb and pitta, we go there, and every, but every time, I get annoyed for the same reasons.

The food is the same every year. A fish plaki, a chicken riganato, a beef stifado, soutzoukakia, tiropita, spanakopita, mousakas, pastitsio and pilafi. Along with dolmades, various desserts (including kourambiedes and melomakarona completely disregarding the fact that they are supposed to be eaten during Christmas), a salad that has more lettuce and small whole peppers than it should and absolutely no cucumber, and bread with butter (totally unheard of anywhere that sells traditional greek food).

But it's not just the menu that is completely uninspired. The flavours are watered down and boring, except for the desserts, and the prices are simply outrageous. Every year I am considering buying a piece of spanakopita, but I just cannot bring myself paying $3 for a 4"x4" piece, when in Greece I pay half for double the portion. I understand that it's supposed to be a novelty and a fundraiser, but I doubt that any of the ingredients (save for the feta maybe) are imported at all.

And, more than anything, it is annoying how the rest of the Pittsburghers think that THIS is what Greek cuisine is about. Oh well.

One could tell me that I should find a solution instead of complaining about the problem, but unfortunately I don't exactly get paid by the EOT, so...

Speaking of golf..

I read in the news today (late, as it seems, according to hubby), that they want to rename the Schenley Park Golf Course after our late Mayor Bob O'Connor.

Why oh why.

Was Mayor Bob THAT bad? Schenley is easily the worst golf course in the Tri-State! But what do I know (other than the fact that their tee boxes are made of artificial turf that makes teeing off next to impossible, that their fairway grass length is as tall as everyone else's rough and they only have one set of tees)?

*Sigh...

There are certain reasons why I love this city.

One of them is the abundance of golf courses that one can play w'out paying with an arm, leg or firstborn. Both hubby and I are avid golfers (although not particularly good, just good enough not to be frustrated), since the weather finally decided to bear some resemblance of sping, we cleaned the clubs, arranged with a couple of hubbie's friends and hit Meadowink Public Golf Course.

Not resembling the PGA guys in any form or way, we had a great time being out and around, getting even a mild tan, and hitting the occasional miraculous shot that makes you come back to the game no matter how many bad shots you had before the good one. The golf course might not be nature per se, but in an urban setting, getting as much away from the noise of the motor cars etcetera and just spending some times among cliffs, trees, grass, ponds and bird chirping is not to be taken lightly.

Now I can't wait for the next round!