THEN - we went sugaring!!!! For those of you that don't understand the concept of making *REAL* Maple Syrup, not the fake shit they sell in Wal-Mart, it's a heck of a process! One where I don't understand how anyone actually makes any money at it! We just do it for fun. It's a great time to bond with my kids, Dad & Scott.
First of all, you have to plow ALL OF THAT SNOW out of the way. We started plowing out the 'sugarbush' last week, then on Monday we had over 2 feet of snow dump on us, so we had to clear it all again! Don't you just LOVE Mother Nature???? Next, you strap on the snowshoes & start hiking into the woods with a drill & hammer. If this is the first year you string a run then you also have about 500' of plastic tubing slung over your shoulder. Luckily we were tapping a run, we call it the "Red Line", that is already established. So all we had with us were some pieces to repair chewed or broken lines. The REALLY fun part is that you're hiking uphill, with snowshoes on, for 1/2 of the time. Then, for the other 1/2 of the time, you're sliding down some pretty steep hills on your butt! We were out there for about 4 hours and we ALL had such a good time!!!! The boys declared that sugaring was more fun than TV! I think I had the biggest grin on my face the entire time! I love it when the boys have more fun outside than inside!
Anyhoo - once you 'tap' the trees, which means you drill a hole in the side & plug it with a hollow plastic part that fits onto the tubing. From there gravity takes over and you end up with a bunch of tree sap. You then boil 35 - 40 gallons of the sap down into Maple Syrup!
We still have quite a bit of tapping to do, but we finished the "Red Line" and we'll move on tomorrow. It is a great workout & a great opportunity to get outside. And the BEST part will be on Sunday when we're boiling the sap down into syrup! It smells SO good!!!!
Last year I was dubbed a sap sucker because I kept drawing off sips of boiled down sap. As it starts to boil down the sugars are concentrated & you pretty much can't HELP but want to drink it all!!!! Unfortunately, at 1 PointsPlus per Tablespoon, I won't be able to just drink it willy-nilly. I think that is going to be hard not to do! I decided I'll keep a Tablespoon out there with me and allow myself 2 T. per night. I'll just have to budget it in. But, since I'll be tracking it, it will be easier not to just hog it down. PLUS, we'll probably end up with at LEAST another gallon!!!! :)
On to my food day......
I cheated. But really - it was on purpose!!!!! I weighed myself this morning and I'm down almost 2 pounds from last week. I ate a healthy breakfast (that isn't usually my problem). In fact, I even showed restraint this morning! Scott pulled out George Foreman and cooked BACON!!!!!! Oh.... how I LOVE me some BACON!!!!! But I said - no thanks! I had to decide if it was point-worthy. It wasn't. I knew I was going to be cutting it VERY close today, and I know that I'm usually VERY good for breakfast, so I didn't want to blow it on breakfast!
Well, then I packed up a lunch to bring to my parent's house. Usually if we're over there for lunch time we'll find something to eat, or we'll head to the store in town to grab a sandwich. I didn't want to do that this morning, I wanted more control, so control I did! But THEN disaster started to strike. I made the boys a snack of some peanut butter covered pretzels (LOVE 'EM!) & grapes. Of COURSE I had to test some of the pretzels, do some squats, THEN I figured out how many points they have. Why oh WHY do I do that to myself?!!??!?! I need to know the points BEFORE I stuff them in my mouth!!!!!! SO, 4 Points later, there I was. Grrr..... I quick ate some clementines to counteract the pretzels, but the damage was done..... So, I tracked, and moved on.
I ate my lunch at my parent's house and of COURSE I brought the molasses oatmeal bread I'd made the other day. (Oops - I just realized I never posted that recipe. It was ok, but not great, so I think I'll skip it and give you another bread recipe instead. I just have to get it from my Mom. It is SO damn GOOD!!!!) Anyhoo - 1 slice of the molasses oatmeal bread has 4 points. Add to it the butter that it HAS to have and you've got yourself a 6 point piece of bread! I usually just eat my tuna plain, so eating a slice of bread with it shouldn't be a 'bad' thing, but I'm usually so good about NOT having the bread that it felt evil. Bad. NO GOOD! But still, it's just BREAD! Plus, I made it with part whole-wheat flour & oats - so it was healthy! Right? Just agree with me, ok?
All of this transpired before I went out to tap trees - and I did NOT bring a snack for tree-tapping! BIG MISTAKE!!!! I got back into my parent's house at a little before 5:00 and I spotted the Cheetos. What in the HELL are Cheetos doing in my parent's house!?!?!?!??!?! Well, I ate 3 of them and wasn't going to track it. CAN YOU FREAKIN' BELIEVE IT?!?!?!?! All of this hard work AND I WAS GOING TO CHEAT!!!!! Well - SCREW THAT!!!!! I've worked too hard to cheat myself!!!! So, I went to the bag, saw that a serving was 7 curls, grabbed 4 more & STUFFED THEM IN MY MOUTH!!!!!! I did this to teach myself a lesson. If this is going to work I have to be honest with myself. I can cheat myself & wonder why the scale isn't moving down or I can own up to my mistakes and learn from them. I choose to learn. I punished myself for sneaking 3 curls by eating 7. Does that even make any sense? As I write this it makes much less sense to me now than it did then.
The my parent's & brother decided to go to Fire & Ice for dinner and invited Scott and me. It was SO tempting to go, but I only had a few points left by then, so I decided we'd go home, I'd eat a salad (that would bring me over points - but so what), and we'd save not only my health but some money too! And, I've got to tell you, the salad was a WORK OF ART!!!!!! Both my Mom AND my Dad suggested we go to Fire & Ice, but that I just get a salad. Yeah, RIGHT! I'd get the salad - but I would've added every bad thing POSSIBLE to it because I'd want to get my money's worth. So, I've got to say, as much as it would have been nice to go out to dinner, I'm glad I made the choice to stay in. The food was good and Scott & I sat in front of the fire for a while with the lights out and talked. A very nice ending to a very nice day.
Old habits die hard. I've spent most of my 30's being overweight, but I STARTED my 30's at my goal weight! I have a picture of myself in early 2002 looking OHHHhhhhhh SO good. I've got to dig that thing out and post it sometime soon. I didn't realize how good I looked! I was always searching to lose that elusive 5 pounds. WAS I NUTS?!?!?!?! If I could snap my fingers and be the weight now that I was then, I'd be at goal!
This is a slow process. I will mess up. I will gain weight. BUT - I will also lose weight. I will be focused like laser beams. I will get to my goal. That's just the way it is!
Tomorrow is a brand new Weight Watchers week for me. I weigh in tomorrow morning. I am excited to see how this week will end for me! I started it with Zumba, got sick in the middle & ate Cheetos at the end. I am human......
Nutritional Diary 3/10 36 Total PointsPlus
Breakfast:
Jenn's Coffee (2 PP)
Jenn's Oatmeal (5 PP) + 1 c. raspberries (0 PP) & 1/2 banana (0 PP)
Lunch:
5 oz. tuna (4 PP)
2 t. light mayo (1 PP)
1 serving Molasses Oatmeal Bread w/ 2 t. butter (6 PP)
Dinner:
3 c. spring mix (0 PP)
1 oz. smoked mozzarella (2 PP)
3 oz. grass-fed sirloin beef (3 PP)
1 oz. dried apricots (2 PP)
2 chopped tomatoes (0 PP)
1 c. grapes (0 PP)
1 T. maple syrup w/ 1 T. balsamic vinaigrette glaze (1 PP)
Snacks:
1 oz. peanut butter covered pretzels (4 PP)
2 clementines (0 PP)
1 Cheetos Twisted Puffs (4 PP)
Jenn's Coffee (2 PP)
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