Clean Plate Club- Are You a Member?

Background: All week I have been thinking about Pumpkin Ice Cream. I knew from blogland that the Edy's Pumpkin was out but I haven't made it to the grocery store to actually buy it. It's to the point where I sit in tutoring plotting how I can make it to the grocery store before the next thing I have to do, but...still all I have done is dream about it.

So tonight after my kettlebell class I headed to my parents to hang out and eat dinner. My mom said she had a surprise for me and I was immediately hoping Pumpkin ice cream. But really, why would it be Pumpkin ice cream. I hadn't told her I wanted pumpkin ice cream...But obviously Mom's have psychic connections because...

Pumpkin Ice Cream!!!!!!!

Definitely made my night. I'd say my week but even I cannot claim ice cream beats out major job security. I am trying to stay focused on the baseball game on TV (Yankees vs. Twins...guess who I am rooting for?) and blogging so I do not go back for my third serving of Pumpkin Ice Cream ha ha.

The other night when I posted about how you eat, I got a lot of responses from women who eat quickly because they grew up in a big family and you want food, you go quick! This got me to thinking about how much our early influences with food shape who we are when we grow up. That's why I find it so scary when my kiddos at work eat some of the school lunches. Once they actually served "Nachos"- which was chips and dip for lunch! Now I love chips as much as the next person, but where are your nutrients? Kids need little protein and fiber in their lunch please, any meat with those chips? beans?

A big habit that is formed during childhood is the "Clean Plate Club." Fess up- who is a member? This is going to sound funny but I am sort of a member of the Anti- Clean Plate Club. I never noticed this about myself until I was in Australia. One day one of my friends pointed out that I always left a tiny bit of food on the plate when I was done in eating. She questioned if I possibly could be SO full that I couldn't eat that TINY piece of whatever was left. After that I started to notice that I do that all the time. Funny enough, I also do it in other areas of my life. I'll finish a paper except for proofreading, or except for the conclusion etc. I'm not sure if the food thing had to do with feeling like, "well at least I didn't FINISH the meal..." I'm really not sure. Now that I cook my own food, I portion control a lot more so I usually do finish every last bite of my meal. When I am out a restaurant and portions are *crazy* I like to play a little game. I leave enough left of my food that the waitress asks if I want to take the rest home. It's me vs. the waitress. If she asks if I want to take the food home, I win. If she doesn't, she wins. I win almost every time. Ah, the joy of competing with unsuspecting individuals...

It's safe to say I would be kicked out of the "Clean Plate Club" if they ever let me join. However, I know so many people who are serious members. I think it's okay (and good for your wallet) to finish your plate at home, assuming your are giving yourself a reasonable portion. However, I encourage you to join in my little game with the waitress when you are out at a restaurant. Some relatively healthy meals at restaurants have over 1,000 calories in them. You don't want to finish that! Besides, you'll be thanking me when you have leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day :)

Are you a member of the "Clean Plate Club?" Why do you think you are, or are not? I think as a parent it must be really hard to try to steer your kids away from the "Clean Plate Club." On one hand, you want to instill good habits of eating until you are full but on the other hand, you probably do portion control the meals so you do want them to finish, and plus- you don't want to make dinner #2 in two hours. Do you have any tips for getting kids to eat all of their meal without leaving them with any long term feelings of "I have to clean my plate, there are starving children in the world!" ?

Pumpkin Pancakes and Big Accomplishments

First of all, I started off the day with a DELICIOUS pancake thanks to- where else? Trader Joe's!

If you have a Trader Joe's near you and you like pumpkin, there is really no excuse not to try these pancakes. I halved the recipe, but I really could've probably ate the whole thing. You were supposed to add an egg, milk and some butter. I changed it to make it friendly to my tummy by using egg whites, soy milk and oil instead of butter. I only needed 1 tablespoon of oil (2 for the whole recipe) which really isn't bad. I am not a big maple syrup person (and we didn't have any) so I mixed blueberries in. It was delicious and a great way to start the day. Some day I'll stop eating pumpkin stuff...but not today!

Tonight was my big *Professional Status Celebration* For those of you who are not teachers (and do they even call it that in other towns/states?), that means that I now officially have tenure. Which means...they can't fire me, well at least not without some serious effort. The past 3 years they could just decide they didn't really like me and bam, I'd be gone! Fortunately that did not happen and I made it to tonight. I'd like to say I knew all along that I would make it tonight but I definitely had some doubts my first year. If I had this blog that year, things would not have been so positive let me tell you. Plus there would've been less healthy eating and exercising and more comfort food and falling asleep at 7pm!

So tonight the School Committee had a meeting to recognize those of us who achieved Professional Status this year. They said the name of each teacher and then talked about us for a bit. When my friend first told me that they talk about you, I was a bit confused about how they knew what to say (do I know these people?), but it became pretty obvious that my principal wrote it, which was nice. My principal is pretty tough, she has really high expectations for her teachers. She had a reputation when I came to the school of never letting a year pass without getting rid of a year. In my irrational first year teacher state I thought for sure that teacher would be me since all of the other new teachers had taught in other towns and were already fantastic teachers. But, she really has pushed me to be a better teacher than I ever thought I would be at the age of 25. Isn't it funny that people who are the toughest on you can really make you push yourself? Oh, and also she didn't get rid of any teachers that first year, whew!!!

We got to go up and receive a certificate and a present:

Close up (aren't you getting SO curious about what is inside? haha, I knew it!):

Okay fine, I won't leave you in suspense any longer...

It was also special because I started teaching with 2 other amazing kindergarten teachers: Kathy and Katie. They were both already teachers before, but we started in my current school together. Kathy was there with me tonight receiving professional status, which was quite fitting. I sorta feel like Kathy and I have pulled each other through the last 3 years. At times kicking and screaming, at other times laughing and really having a lot of fun. I am so lucky that I really enjoy and like the people I work with, that makes every day so much better, especially when I am not loving the kids that day :) Katie (the other girl I started teaching with), moved back to Minnesota where she is from. She was such a positive and fun influence that we miss her every day, but we are happy she is back with her family and having her first baby later this month, whoa hoo!

This is a little more corny than my originally scheduled post tonight, but I couldn't let tonight pass without mentioning it. Even though I had to drag myself out of the house tonight to go to this "reception", it is a pretty big accomplishment in the little life of me :)

How Do You Eat?

So, have you foam rolled today?

NO?!?! C'mon look what I did before my nightly ice cream treat tonight...

Yup, my high density foam roller on the hard wood floor...pretty intense. But look, I'm still smiling...

And you know when else I'll be smiling? When I am back here...

How about we all learn from my mistakes and prevent injury? Good I'm glad we are all in agreement.

Okay I'll stop now.

On a different note, let's talk about how you eat. Not what you eat, but how. I am a big health magazine reader and I constantly read about how you should always sit at the kitchen and not focus on anything except for your food. That way you will not "forget" that you ate, your body and your mind will know you ate and therefore you will not be hungry right after. I'm sure this is great advice for some people but I have to say I completely disagree.

For me, it is far more important to eat slowly. If I eat slowly, I improve my stomach's digestion AND I ensure that my body has time to realize I am full, so I will not eat more. I believe I have read it takes 15 minutes for your body to realize you are full. If I eat too quick, it would only take me 5 minutes to grab for more food. For me, eating slowly means distracting myself while eating. I eat breakfast at work while getting things ready for the day, and dinner with my computer or a book. It has been known to take me 45 minutes to eat my morning oatmeal if I am sending e-mails, prepping lessons etc. Although I pay almost no attention to my breakfast, I am still not hungry until morning snack time. If I ate at home, I know I'd eat quickly and then be searching for breakfast #2 before I even got to work.

When I used to teach half day kindergarten I ate lunch while prepping for the next day, or sometimes in my car on the way to tutoring. Now, when I have 30 minutes to eat lunch- with nothing to distract me except conversation with coworkers, I have to literally force myself to not scarf down my lunch in 10 minutes. This is not to say I am an extremely fast eater. When Eric and I are at a restaurant, it will normally take me twice as long to eat my meal than it takes him. I just find it much easier and more practical to distract myself while I'm eating so I eat slower. What can I say, I love to multi-task. Since football started, Eric hasn't been home for dinner anyway so I don't have to worry about not sitting down to dinner with him. I may change my tune a bit when I have kids, but I am sure they will distract me enough to not put too much attention into my food :)

I realize what works for me, may not work for anyone else. But if you find yourself eating too quickly when you focus only on your food, try doing some other things and see how it goes. You may "forget" you ate like they claim will happen in magazines- but perhaps you will find it works well for you.

If you feel that you have eating down to a science, how do you eat? What works best for you?

And don't forget to foam roll :)

All About Foam Rolling

Everyone who has a foam roller can probably relate to the love/hate relationship I have developed with my foam roller since I got it in early June. I have to say that up until my meeting with a running coach last Tuesday, that relationship was leaning much closer to hate than love. That thing hurts!

Turns out, I didn't even have the most painful version. According to my consultation with a running coach, I need to be using a high density foam roller on hard wood. Previously, I was tortured enough with my regular density foam roller on a nice carpeted floor, but apparently not quite enough. I have to say if you are not injured and already own and use a foam roller, you probably do not need to invest in a new one. However, if you are just thinking about purchasing one, might as well get the high density foam roller. I bought mine on amazon and I went for 6" by 36" round. If you are trying to cut costs, I would go with the 6" by 12" round, rather than going for the half round. I genuinely don't understand what you would do with a half round one, or how it would work. If you do know, please enlighten me but for now I say don't get it.

So what is this foam roller you ask? It has been called the poor man's massage therapist...ha ha. Seriously though, that's what it is. Basically, it would be great for our muscles if we could all get soft tissue massages every day, but since we can't, the foam roller is a good second choice. By giving your muscles this massage, you improve your soft tissue extensibility which relaxes the muscle. As I have learned lately, a lot of our injuries that we attribute to the specific part of the body that hurts (our knee, our shins etc) are really a result of deficits in other areas of my body. For example, when thinking about the pain in my knee, my running coach focused on my feet (such as, do I have problems with overpronation? do I have high arches? etc) and my hips area (am I unbalanced?). It turns out my feet are just fine, but my hips are unbalanced and my calves and quads are too tight. Maybe some of you would've made these kind of assumptions, but I certainly didn't! I thought for sure my knee issue was a knee issue, but nope. Even patellafemoral syndrome, which was I originally diagnosed with involves the quad muscles not being strong enough to hold the patella in place.

So back to foam rolling. My physical therapist told me to do it twice a day, but since I hated it- I did it more like...maybe once? NOW...I am doing it 2-3 times per day and still stretching in addition. After only 5 days of this, my knee was almost completely pain free today. So I'm sold.

You should be too. Even if you are not injured now...why wait until you are? Prevent it!

I've convinced you? Good. Here is what to do. Go here and buy yourself a foam roller. Trust me, if you get injured you will spend way more on doctor's visit co-pays and physical therapy co-pays. This summer I was spending $45 per week to go to physical therapy, the most expensive foam roller is less than $30. Then, check out this video for examples of how to use the foam roller. I use mine to stretch out my IT band (they are doing that in the video when they are on their side), quads, hamstrings and calves. On the video, they also roll on their backs, which I have not tried yet. I also think you can roll on your butt but I haven't QUITE mastered that yet.

Also if you are a runner, I recommend reading this article from Runner's World about foam rolling specifically for runners. They mention all the specific areas that runners should roll and briefly explain how foam rolling can increase your flexibility and improve your performance. They say you should run, roll, then stretch. I have read in other places (and been told by my physical therapist to roll FIRST). I myself am rolling firs thing in the morning so that I can increase my flexibility at the start of the day before I walk on my knee all day long. I think at the end of the day, the important thing is to use the foam roller- no matter WHEN you use it :) That's right...go foam roll, right now!

Birthdays and Fall Arrivals

The weather in Boston has been GROSS this weekend and it has matched how I feel exactly- sore throat, exhausted and other fun things that go with either fighting a sickness (what I tell myself I am doing) or actually being sick (probably what I am). I did take an hour and a half nap yesterday afternoon so I'd be somewhat alive for Ronnie's B-day Party last night. Ronnie is my friend Tiff's fiance and he turned 30, wooo!

A little background on Ronnie/Tiff because I think its a fun story. I have been friends with Tiff since 7th grade. Back in 7th/8th grade, Tiff and I basically lived at our other friend Lisa's house. Here we are at Tiff's bridal shower a few weeks ago:

Our friend Lisa (right) also has three older brothers who also always had friends over. I was a pretty shy(ish) 7th grader, so I wouldn't say I really talked to the brother's friends all that often but I did remember one of them in particular because he was Lisa's brother's best friend at the time, he had a memorable name and red hair (always memorable) and that was Ronnie. Flash forward about nine years later and I am talking to Tiff on the phone. She tells me she is dating one of Lisa's brother's friends and asks, "do you remember Ronnie?" OF COURSE I remember Ronnie! Flash forward 3 more years and they are engaged, 4 more years and it's 40 days from their wedding. Crazy, huh? This guy we used to "hang out with" (as in, in the same room) is now Tiff's fiance. Since they were four years older than us, we didn't see them much when we were in high school/college because they were in college and then we were, but once we were all out of college- this is where they ended up.

Also important to note that Ronnie is by far the best guy Tiff has ever dated. Although, thats probably not giving him enough credit since some of those guys were absolutely terrible. But really, they are great for each other...truly! Here is the cake that Tiff made Ronnie:

And me, Tiff and Bruschi:

And Eric with the dog form of himself haha

Bruschi was so cute...I just could not stop taking pictures of him haha

And last one, Ronnie's birthday cake...

On a different note, this morning I noticed some arrivals in my front yard. #1- the official sign of fall, a beautiful tree with a bunch of leaves around it (I suppose at some point I am going to have to do something about those leaves, ugh!).

And #2 my new "high density" foam roller:

I tried it out really quickly and all I can say is...oww! I promise to do a full review once I use it a few times :) I have to go get ready to take my sister and 2 cousins into Boston for the final measurements for bridesmaid dresses. After today all my girls will be measured and we'll be ready to place our order. Whoa hoo!

Bringing Back the Yoga Love

In the summer of 2008 I was on a quest to ease my stress and I found a yoga studio about 4 minutes from my old apartment called Prana. For the first time ever (and yes I've tried many times before) I actually enjoyed yoga. I expected to be a bit intimidated by the yoga-types, but everyone was very nice- they didn't correct my every move, but still challenged me and, best of all, I would leave there feeling like I really had a good work out. I went consistently for about 4 months, but then I bought a house and paying $12 for yoga became a little less of an essential. Little did I know, that maybe if I had kept up the yoga- this lovely knee injury may not have happened.

Even without the house, I may not have keep up the yoga. I thought I was so hardcore back in February and March between the shred and running. I remember actually thinking to myself that I couldn't believe I would do yoga and consider that my work out for the day, psh- I was so much more tough with running and the shred obviously. So tough that I ended up injured. Good work Kelly. So tonight after my enlightening *free* consultation with an amazing running coach I dusted off my yoga mat and got all of my yoga equipment ready:

Going back to the studio was familiar, but yet I could tell it had been awhile. When I first started going there it was a very new studio, now you can tell more people go and everyone knows each other. I put on my "I know what I'm doing" face and set up my mat. We started in child's pose and I immediately knew yoga is what I need. I was so tight than even child's pose felt like an intense stretch. An hour later I felt awesome and I enjoyed every single $12 I paid for that yoga. My goal is to go 3 times per week, probably once or twice to Prana and then fill in the others with free yoga at the gym- much as I hate it, it's free and probably good for my body. I don't know if I'll ever be a yoga person...you know the kind I mean (and I don't mean this offensively to those people, I think it's great, it's just not me). But that doesn't mean I can't benefit from yoga...and insane amounts of foam rolling.

I came back from yoga tonight and made myself a late night dinner (well late for me...7:30 haha). Making dinner was more of an adventure than I was going for. Eric and I have a grill that is very ghetto. It was under $100 at Target, but in our defense we could not have a better grill at our apartment or it would have been stolen very quickly. However, we haven't gotten around to buying a new one so we still have it. It's newest problem is that it does not ignite by itself so I had to use some crazy lighter that it took me the last week to figure out how to light. Now, I should just say right now- I am deathly afraid of fire. I blame this on my first grade teacher who insisted that I could not bring my teddy bear out of the house if their was a fire because I cannot take the time to take ANYTHING out of the house (hmm, even something I was already sleeping with?). Anyway, I never lit a match until I was in college and I have probably lit only 2 or 3 ever. So here comes the girl deathly afraid of fire lighting the grill and it FLAMES UP right to my face- it was seriously scary. I am not sure if it's supposed to do that or if I did something horribly wrong but I am really happy I did not burn the house down. See why Eric needs to be home at all times? I clearly cannot be trusted to do things on my own...

Anyway, all this to grill my salmon burger from Trader Joes. My sides of raw carrots and Harvest Grains Blend were much easier to manage.

If you have not tried Harvest Grains Blend from Trader Joes you need to. It's made of Israeli Couscous, Orzo, Baby Garbanzo Beans and Red Quinoa. Yum.

Going to get to bed early tonight and probably will be sore tomorrow. Contrary to my own beliefs earlier this year, hot power yoga is indeed an intense work out and it definitely kicked my butt today. As soon as I get my new high density foam roller I'll do a review :)

Just Another Day in Paradise

I have a lot of very random things I could vent away about right now, like how my doctor's office keeps stalking me to see if I have scheduled an appointment about my knee (no I haven't and why do you have so much free time on your hands to call me 3 times a day to see if I have?), or how I am really not a fan of events that involve ungodly late dinners at restaurants with no food I can actually eat. BUT, I am not going to vent (minus that small rant) because I just got home from the "ice cream social" at work. Basically, every year the Parent/Teacher Association puts on this ice cream fundraiser where the kids all come and eat ice cream and play games.

The teachers don't have to go but I promised the kids I would this year because, let's be honest, there is ice cream involved! Even though I had to go back to work at night it put me in a REALLY good mood. It's so fun to see all the kids and parents from the past four years. Even the kids who drove me crazy are fun to see in a social environment (where I am not in charge of them). The kids get so excited, the parents are so appreciative that I am there and meanwhile I am eating ice cream with a bunch of people I really like. If only all obligations could be this enjoyable. So...in honor of this new found good mood I decided to count my blessings.

• My wonderful class of kids this year. Today was a "bad day" in my classroom which I blame on the fact that it was Picture Day and we had to stand outside in the freezing cold for a half an hour before we had even had a chance to say good morning to each other. Still, even this "bad day" was better than I ever could've hoped for last year...on a good day. Seriously. I saw some of those lovely 1st graders (that I had last year) today at Pictures. They were going insane. Ah...not my problem anymore! That could be a blessing in itself!

• Ice cream. It's high fat and dairy...two deadly things for IBS. And yet, the God of Ice Creams decided it would be much too mean for it to hurt my stomach and so...it doesn't!

• I had to stop taking my soluble fiber supplement because it may be hurting my liver (doubtful, but just in case). I was very scared it was going to kill my stomach. It hasn't been AWESOME, but it hasn't been nearly as terrible as I thought it would be. Thank you tummy.

• My foam roller. Sure, it hurts. It may have bruised me yesterday I used it so much. But if it is the key to me running again, I'll count it as a blessing. Want one of your own? I searched for "high density foam rollers" on amazon and I ended up buying this one. I got the 6 by 36 to get the most of the foam rolling goodness. Right now I am using my non-high density foam roller. It still works but when I met with the running coach he said the high density ones are better- I felt one of his and I could tell the difference. I think I am going to hate the new one. But hopefully the pain of the foam roller is going to take away the pain of the knee and so, blessing it is!

• Work out friends.

• Blogging. I love it. I love writing in it and I love reading other people's blogs. Ask my friends at work, I am the queen of getting things from the internet (they nicknamed me "internet queen") but before blogs that was only teacher stuff, now I get TONS of ideas on everything and it's amazing.

• My wonderful family and friends. I am very lucky to have them and I tell myself that every day.

There are also other blessings. The fact that I have a house, and a job, and enough money to pay my tax bill that came in the mail today, wahoo! It's probably a great tribute to my life that I have too many blessings to name them all. Amazing what ice cream can do for my attitude!

Tomorrow my goal is to get back into yoga. If I blog again without going to a yoga class, yell at me. Got it?