13 March 2007

Could it be spring?

Mood: Mild and good
Music: National Public Radio podcast

I cannot believe how beautiful the last 2 days have been. Spring flowers have truly reached out into the new warmth; like crocuses and other ground flowers. Folks' natural hedge fencing are all gettin' green too. Doug and I (and the rest of Swedes) took advantage and went to parks and took their bikes out for fun rides to enjoy the "warm" and cloud free days. It makes studying all the more difficult!!

I'm so studying my brains out for this exam. Tweaking what I know and trying to learn from my mistakes. It's weird and tough. It makes me remember how tough I found English throughout life! But I keep on studying my text book and I'm trying to fit in a grammar workbook on the side to keep fresh on grammar rules and well, learn more details about how stuff works, like all the extra pronouns in this language. I'm optimistic though... and I think I'm doing pretty damn well.

I send kudos and awe to all my vegetarian friends out there. We've taken the Lent season to diligently try vegetarianism with allowance for dairy, eggs, and fish. We've been so hungry! We have to eat all the time! IT'S SO BIZARRE! In the last 3 weeks and today, I've baked a cheese herb bread, a sunflower seed whole wheat bread, 3 huge pizzas (big cookie sheet sized pizzas) [and plans to make 2 more tomorrow], 3 banana walnut breads (2 with blueberries and 1 with dark chocolate chunks), an apple granola bar thing and just now an apple bread and a banana walnut chocolate chip bar... like a cookie/brownie thing. The very surprising thing about our extra intake of carbs and even sweet things is.... here's the punch.... We've both lost weight!

That's not cool for Doug, he's such a thin guy! But no worries, we're taking extra precautions to eat more pasta and rice when those are in the meals, more bread yet.. like carrot bread or garlic bread toasted up. So, we're sure it'll be OK, but boy was it a little of a surprise.

I'm not sure how you guys don't just eat all the time. Do you, vegetarians, have any special tips? Is it just a period of body adjustment? How often do you find yourselves dining or snacking on something? I don't want to fill my diet with more pastry-like options, but it seems that is what is happening. Fortunately, they're all homemade! We buy organic sugar, eggs, milk, and flour is whole grain and/or organic too! So, they're good things and contents!

I'm gonna go back to my schoolwork, but vegetarians, I'd love your input!

3 comments:

  1. From about 16 years of experience, I can now confidently say that a healthy vegetarian diet is amazingly simple and difficult to practice. It's wonderful to hear you two are diligently trying a (nearly) vegetarian diet for Lent. I think it is an amazing time to try it out, like a cleanse from the heavy savory foods of winter.

    My advice: get more beans into your weekly foods, whole cooked grains, way less bread and pastries, as many veggies and fruit with meals as possible (or even as snacks), water and appropriate herbal teas, a very good b12 supplement (every other day), and raw unpasturized sauerkraut everyday. ALSO, up your zinc through pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, and ginger (fresh and/or powdered).

    I am usually hungry a lot, and that seems to cause me to eat impulsively, quickly, and poorly. I am finally realizing that it takes a great amount of time to eat well. Our culture doesn't focus on balancing this aspect of our lives, which I sadly resent. Work and social responsibilities tend to keep me from eating well and maintaining my health.

    Best of luck to you both, and to me too, for that matter. I'm about to eat some rice, pear, nutmeg, cinnamon congee porridge for breakfast.

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  2. Anonymous3:08 AM

    Soooooo saving the date. On the calendar in marker, not just pen, but a permanent marker that might have bled through to the next month's picture.

    Heidi

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  3. Yay! Yay yay! I'm so glad! Even that the next month's picture may even be ruined! Ha!

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