But they tasted good

The Boot Tracks turned out to be a big hit, and not one person said they looked like poo. And not one person knew they were made with whole-wheat pastry flour, raw sugar, organic cocoa powder and cage-free eggs.

Shhh. Don't tell anyone I've turned into such a hippy.

Biggest Loser and Big Bad Trends

I've noticed that one of the new fitness trends is for trainers to scream at and belittle their clients ala "The Biggest Loser." The lovely and talented Moardy over at A Motivated Notion has even seen this phenomenon in yoga classes. (Go read her account of this yoga experience. It's freaking scary.)

And maybe it works for some people. As Moardy says, "The class was packed and the studio continues to bring in new students with the promise of helping them lose weight."

But for me, not so much. If my trainer talked to me the way the trainers on "The Biggest Loser" talk to those people, he'd be drinking his Power Bars through a straw. And I'm not the only one in my workout group who would give him whatfor.

I don't find yelling motivating. If you're yelling how hot I look, OK, sure, that's motivating. But I don't want my Boot Camp fitness workout to feel and sound like a real Boot Camp. I've joked about my trainer being an "evil drill sergeant" but I wouldn't have stuck with this workout program for nearly a year if he ever made me feel bad about myself.

You know, I can belittle myself just fine without having to pay someone else to do it. I want my trainer (and especially my yoga instructor) to tell me I'm doing a great job and encourage me to push myself a little harder. Tell me I'm lazy or weak or that what I'm doing should hurt, and I'm out the door.

Big Punch

That's for the woman with the big mouth. Don't I look like a big bad ass?

Big Red Nose

Allergies suck.

Apparently, the entire country is experiencing record high pollen counts. I guess I'm selfish because I don't really care about the rest of the country. I just care about my raw nose.

For me the worst part is that I never even had allergies until I was in my late 20s. Now I never know what might trigger them. Dust? Definitely. Animals? Some. A dog with any amount of Lab in its blood will set me off like nothing else. Even my own dog (who is certainly Lab free) will sometimes cause me to break out on my arms.

I never really thought pollen was my problem. And around these parts, it might not be pollen. With the high winds, it might just be dirt and dust blowing around. All I know -- and I don't need a doctor or some other expert to tell me this -- is allergies suck.

Big time.

To sleep, perchance to dream

Lately, I've been feeling pretty tired and run down. I went to the doctor. She ran a bevy of blood tests and came up with nothing. I figured it was my thyroid, because it goes crazy every now and again. But it wasn't that. I'm still waiting on the results of one of the blood tests. Maybe it will hold some answers.

In the meantime, based on all the information I gave her, my doctor prescribed a sleep study. If you've never had to do one, I suggest trying not to. Even though I've been so tired I feel like I could fall asleep anywhere, I had a lot of trouble sleeping there. For one thing, I was covered with electrodes. Plus, there was a camera on me all night, and they asked me to sleep on my back. Which isn't all that comfy. I ended up taking a sleep aid so when they woke me this morning, I felt really groggy. The S.O. drove me there, so he picked me up and took me for coffee. Still, it wasn't until after lunch I started feeling somewhat myself again. Just a few hours later, and I'm already starting to fade.

The rest of the evening will be spent watching movies and relaxing. Tomorrow, we are cooking Korean food, playing video games and watching movies. I know I won't hear anything until next week, so -- despite my inclination to worry about everything all the time -- I'm going to try not to think about it. I'm actually more worried that they'll say there's nothing wrong. I know that sounds silly, but at least when they find something, you can work toward fixing it.

I found that when I'm lying awake in a strange place, my mind works hard to entertain me. In my head, I am one awesome guitar player. But then, I bet you knew that.

Look! Pie!

For the past few minutes, I was working on a post about how I didn't feel good and WebMD can turn me into a hypochondriac with every condition from the flu to lyme disease. But that post felt whiny and boring. But I have just a few days left of NaBloPoMo and I'm not about to fail now. So look at my beautiful Frozen Pumpkin Mousse Pie and enjoy the recipe below.

Ingredients

Crust

• 30 small gingersnap cookies (about 7 1/2 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons raisins
• 1 tablespoon canola oil

Filling

• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 pints (4 cups) frozen low-fat vanilla yogurt, softened (see Tip)

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan with cooking spray.
2. To prepare crust: Combine gingersnaps and raisins in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add oil and pulse until blended. Press evenly into the bottom and up the sides of the prepared pan.
3. Bake the crust until set, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
4. To prepare filling: Combine pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg in a large bowl and mix well. Add ice cream and stir until blended. Spoon the mixture into the cooled pie crust. Freeze until firm, at least 2 hours. Let the pie soften slightly in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes before serving.

• Tip: To soften ice cream quickly, microwave on Medium-Low for 30 to 60 seconds.

Focus on the positive

Knowing that the gloomy, wintry weather would probably keep me housebound this weekend, I got in a Saturday workout with Joe and a couple Boot Campers I don’t get to see other days of the week. We did a lot of boxing, which can be a lot harder than some of our normal exercises. It’s also very empowering. There’s nothing quite like punching something as hard as you can — safely, of course.

As we were finishing up, I commented to one of the other campers that she had great legs. Her response: Who me? It made me realize (1) many of us are not very good at taking compliments and (2) we have a tendency to focus on the negative things about ourselves.

When you look in the mirror, do you see the good things or do your eyes immediately settle on your trouble zones? I know that my eyes settle on my midsection — the part I like least about myself. Joe suggests taking a full-length photo of yourself. With a Sharpie, write your goals on the photo. Additionally, you should write good things on the photo. How about things like “I want to tone my middle” and “I love my strong, toned arms.”

I know “self-talk” is a bit of a cliche, but sometimes we have to say nice things to ourselves. We have to remind ourselves that we’re stronger, have more energy, feel better and yes, look better thanks to our workouts. Maybe your trouble area isn’t as toned as you’d like it to be, but I bet you can find something about yourself you do like. Give it a try. You may feel silly at first but you may realize there are a lot more positives than you originally thought.

Cross posted

An interesting read

This article from Newsweek is quite enlightening (if a bit long). It talks about how Oprah is promoting some misleading -- and maybe even dangerous -- health practices on her show.

An excerpt that made me laugh:

But (Dr. Christiane) Northrup believes thyroid problems can also be the result of something else. As she explains in her book, "in many women, thyroid dysfunction develops because of an energy blockage in the throat region, the result of a lifetime of 'swallowing' words one is aching to say."

I have thyroid problems, and as the S.O. will attest, and most of you reading this already know, I don't really hold back when I want to say something. As the article's writer says, "An interesting theory—but is there anyone who believes that what Oprah suffers from is an inability to express herself?"

Another funny little bit:

On one of the Secret shows, Oprah gave an example of the scientific power of the concept. She said that once, while she was hosting an episode about a man who could blow really big soap bubbles, she was thinking to herself, "Gee, that looks fun. I would like to blow some bubbles." When she returned to her office after the show, there, on her desk, was a silver Tiffany bubble blower. "So I call my assistant," Oprah told the audience. "I say, 'Did you just run out and get me some bubbles? 'Cause I got bubbles by my desk.' And she says, 'No, the bubbles were always there. I bought you bubbles for your birthday and you didn't notice them until today'."

There are many lessons that might be drawn from this anecdote. One is that if you give Oprah a thoughtful gift, she may not bother to notice it or thank you for it. This is not the lesson Oprah took away from her story. Because the way she sees it, her assistant hadn't really given her the gift at all. She gave it to herself. Using the power of The Secret, she said, "I had called in some bubbles."

As I said, it's a fairly long article, but worth the read. I admire Oprah and -- as the article points out -- she worked hard to get where she is. But it just goes to show you can't believe everything you see on TV.

[crosses self and prays for Oprah's mercy]