Weekend Reads 3/13/2010

I've checked out some essiential pre-med "leisure books" I'm currently reading Atul Gawande's- Complications: A surgeon's notes on an imperfect science I must say, I was worried about not being able to stay interested but It is keeping my attention. Hopefully, I can read instead of watch TV!

ETA: Lady Gaga tweeted THIS link: a blogger's very insightful analysis of her Telephone music video featuring beyonce. I simply saw the video as visual and auditory bliss/overload. I love reading the analysis and digging deeper!

If you haven't watched it yet




I was inspired by Ella's March Mantra is about respecting yourself and others--personally it is exactly what I need to be doing each and every day.

The Glamorous Grad on the Parisienne beauty philosophy: French inspired makeup and why women of Paris always look fabulous.

Do you really need that fancy DSLR? Lifehacker reports on how to Get the most from your point and shoot camera,

Some things to consider the old Rent vs Own debate for housing

Helpful advice on decluttering your home--base the worth of an item on its value NOW not when you bought it.


Featured Recipe:


Roasted Red Pepper Pasta
*my version inspired my TGI Friday’s red pepper pasta with sausage and chicken. I usually serve this as a side dish, but it can be made into a main dish by adding italian turkey and chicken breast.

1 container of  good Alfredo Sauce
3-4 medium slices of Roasted Red Pepper
½ red onion
Some oil for sautéing
1 box of prepared Whole Wheat pasta
Parmesan cheese (for flavor/garnish)

Slice the onion and sauté for 1-2 minutes and set aside.
Heat the alfredo sauce and red peppers use a stick blender to combine. Add onions to this sauce.
Pour this over prepared pasta and mix and top with parmesan cheese.
Can be served immediately or saved for later.

Weekly Weigh In 03.13.10-Seeing behavior patterns

 -12.6 (no change)

Sigh...

I have no valid excuses. Yes I've been busy but I've managed to get my workouts in. Its staying on track with my eating thats getting me off kilter and it only takes a little planning. After I eat or prepare food at home for about 2 weeks, I get bored and start to eat out more. 

Maybe I should start having weekly diet/fitness goals to help keep me motivated to stay on task..

For next week it will be to eat out only once next week, track my calories daily and exercise 4 days next week and do one session of 30 day shred. 

I walked in the park twice this week, its warming up nicely around these parts. I know I haven't posted much this week-- I've been busy with work ( I worked a whole bunch of days in a row)

Since I'm staying off machines (the dreadmill and my favorite the elliptical) I need a method to keep up with my heart rate so i can tell when I'm hitting my target. 

My favorite hairdo--a vintage-y updo also an alternative protective style

I promised I would do a hair post last week. I was doing a photo-tutorial for this hairstyle and my camera died! I tried using my video phone but it wasn't working out too well. I can explain in text and if there are any questions I can clarify..

Here is the do.

The pic isn't so good because I had to use my webcam to take a photo.

Tutorial.

1. Start with freshly washed, towel dried hair.

2. Part hair in three sections 1/4 in the front (the bangs/pompadour) 2/4 in the middle (the updo part) and about 1/4 in the back, back for the rest of the hair that won't fit in the updo.

*note* Try and see if the back can fit into the updo part before you have the back section.

For the front:

You can use the rolling method and just roll the wet hair inward and bobby pin down as you go. That doesn't work for me because my texture is looser in the middle and tighter on the sides.

Or you can do it this way--

What I do is take the front section and pull it into a pony tail with the hair band close to the end of the hair.

Then tuck it back intothe part of the ponytail that is loose and secure with bobby pins if needed.

For the middle:

I pull the hair up and at the very ends I french braid making sure I get all the edges in then when I get to the end I tuck the free part of the braid back into the "french braid" so it is invisible. The trick is, when the hair dries it will puff up giving you more texture/volume.

For the back:

This is the part I have to redo almost everyday, I just pull into a low ponytail and tuck the ends under (making a little bun in the back) so that my ends are protected.

XOXO

enjoy!!

I'm not the best explainer, hence the reason I was trying to do the photo-tutorial. I alternate between this style and 2-strand twists every other week.

Questions? Ask away in the comments!!

Weekend Reads 3/5/2010

Sheryl from Bitch Cakes writes about figuring out what's working for you for your personal weight loss?, there are alot of good ideas mentioned in her post. 


Exercise or Not: Why sitting at a desk all day is bad for you


Fabulously Broke: goes into how (almost) everyone is making less and less money, but still refuse to cut back on non-essentials to be able to live on less. 


Recipe of the Week:
I have none this week, but I do have a cookbook recommendation and feature recipes!

Book to checkout: Rocco DiSpirito's New cookbook Now, Eat this. is a cookbook that remixed calorie laden classic comfort foods into slimmer ones under 350 calories a serving! I have not read this book or tried any of the recipes yet, but he was on the Rachael Ray show today a made a few and they looked delish! I think this book is worth checking out at the library or even paperbackswap! When I get my hands on a copy I will do a more thorough review. 

Note: You can get a few feature recipes HERE from Rachael Ray's site.

I listed them here as well: 

Rocco DiSpirito's Deep Dish Pizza

Rocco DiSpirito's Crispy Mozzarella Sticks Fra Diavolo

Rocco DiSpirito's Strawberry Graham Cracker Tarts

Weekly Weigh In 03.05.10

-12.6 overall (+.2lbs from Wednesday/Thursday)

I weighed myself yesterday, to see if the creep was trying to come back. It wasn't :)  I bought a tape measure so that I can also keep track of the inches lost, as well. I think i'll do that next week.

In other news, I think stepped down on my foot wrong while exercising or something because when I was trying to do my side steps for WATP, it started throbbing. I tried to rub it and continue but that wasn't an option. I think I'm going to lay off the lateral movement and pushing off on that foot hurts

This week, to give that foot a rest I should try & do more strength training and just walking on the mill, we have one that i can dust off I just dislike walking on it. Its warming up (50s) around here for a few days, I can hit the park!

I tried on those LB dresses and they are lovely and fit perfectly when I'm standing, but as soon as I sit..it looks awful--let me explain. I am a true apple shape (Top heavy/large stomach/skinny legs) and it looks a mess when I sit down and the dress has a split that opens when i sit. It really looks like I'm ready to flash the goodies any second. So sigh, dress is not for me..yet. I may want to get it altered if I decide to get it..

Shopping adventures

I broke the shopping fast and got this lovely knit shrug from TJ maxx for 10 bucks! It normally retails for $298 I had no idea what to do with myself. I even though its holey, its very warm. Perfect for fall/spring.I really like knits so I'm trying to stock up on them and comfortable wedge shoes while they are in style. I am very proud of myself -- I was in TJ Maxx for about an hour, and the shrug was the only clothing item I bought. I spent less then $20 on a TJs adventure. Normally I get sucked in by TJ's clearance items and buy much more then i intended. An item I would really like to get for the spring/summer months is a versatile dress, preferably a shirt-dress. I got a Lane Bryant print ads in the mail the other day, and I was shocked and delighted to see these beautiful dresses.

I'm particularly in love with the denim one, I see so much potential there, but it is the safer option.. i think the polka dot one is more interesting and its classic, too! LB has been surprising me lately, now I just need to mosey into the store sometime and which one looks better on me so I can start making spending decisions.

I'm still abiding by my shopping ban terms--I can buy no more then 2 items (clothing items) a month AND they must not be similar to anything I already own and lastly I may buy wardrobe staples that I currently do not own (ie shirtdress :))

Mid-week weigh in 03/03/2010-- I knew it!

I suspected as much but that random weight gain about 2 weeks ago was definitely PMS/period related..boo hiss. I can't take fluctuations like this..I wonder if there is a way to decrease the amount of bloat for that time of the month.
I got on the scale, to spot check this morning and I was down 12.8 lbs..sigh of relief!
I'm really glad that I didn't devour everything in sight during the past week and a half.. I crave sweets badly during that time.. I had more sweets that I should have but not as much as I usually do and I think that is because of me keeping up with the exercise, it keeps me happy :)

Today, I really didn't crave sweets, I really can say for the first time in a long time, I didn't have a dessert today..Shoot, I take that back I just had a mini-almond joy but technically its Thursday now So i didn't have a dessert all day yesterday :)

endnote, It better not creep up by friday.. you know how that dredful +2 likes to taunt me..