What does 10 teaspoons of sugar look like?

Another weakness I used to have, that I'm slowly starting to forget about is Mexican Coke and Throw Back Pepsi. Something about that super-sweet-fizzy-jolt that is nectar from the gods to me.  I'd take one of those drinks over wine any day.  And there are some meals that seem incomplete without these accessory beverages (e.g., for me, it's Mexican food and pizza). 

But...now knowing that a teaspoon of sugar has 4gs of refined white sugar carbs...check this out. 

Throwback Pepsi:  40gs of sugar, or 10 teaspoons.    This is what 10 teaspoons of sugar looks like.  This is one of those Pyrex custard cups that holds about 1/2 cup liquid...so this is about a scant 1/4 cup.  

Interesting.  So needless to say, these beverages are only for the most special of occasions as "drinking" this on any sort of regular basis doesn't seem quite right. 
 

Starbuck-zy Drinks for the No Sugar Set

It's been a while since I've been on the blog, but I'm back again.  Teacher says I need to "write every day." 

Here's an interesting topic to most.   Weight Loss.   There are three types of people:  1)  People who think about food constantly with no discipline and reckless eating abandon (me, or the old me), 2)  People who think about food constantly, yet have discipline and 3)  people who eat "just to get it out of the way."  I no longer hate this third category of people, I revere them. 
I've recently cut out sugar from my diet (and white flour) as much as possible.  Just doing those two things resulted in a 10 pound weight loss rather suddenly.  And here's the crazy thing, I'm not difficult to be around.  Imagine that? Unlike WW and some other programs I've done in the past, I've found that I don't think about food as much and I'm rarely hungry.  Oh, one more thing...I cut out watching Food Network and the Cooking Channel.  Yep, it was time to break the addiction to food porn. I also quit getting magazines that were food porn focused.  All in tandem, it's helped. 

There are two things that I miss though, Iced Mochas (and pizza!)  Oh, the milky chocolately goodness of a coffee drink on ice with a kick.  So these days, I allow myself one a week (okay, maybe two) and at least one of those I try and make myself--just to be a smidgen healthier than the Starbucks, Panera and McCafe varieties.  Here's my recipe:

Iced Mocha (12 oz. size)
1 T of good quality chocolate syrup. By "good quality" get a kind with no High Fructose Corn Syrup. 
1 t of instant espresso (use 2 t if you want it strong)--At my Kroger, this is on the Italian/Mexican food aisle
1/8 cup of boiling water
1 1/2 cups of milk  (Lately, I've been buying Acidopholus milk...it tastes the same and has a healthy dose of pro-biotics.  Yes, I was even a dork and took my own milk to Bluff City Coffee the other day so they could make my requested drink with my own milk.)   
Ice

Directions: 
In a Pyrex cup or large plastic tumbler cup, combine the syrup, espresso and boiling water.  Stir to dissolve. Add milk and stir.   Pour concoction over ice in a plastic cup to feel "Starbuck-zy". Sip with straw. 

Calories:  190
Sugar:  25g (8 from syrup which is white sugar, 17 from milk or the less offensive lactose sugar)

As compared to the Panera version (which is delicious and we can see why--oh how I do miss you!) 
Calories:  380
Sugar:  42g

As compared to the McCafe version:
Calories:  260
Sugar:  28g

As compared to Starbucks version (non-Skinny--as those are inedible) BTW, I'm questioning their web reported accuracy here on the calories--seems like the milk alone would be this, what about the chocolate?

Tall size
Calories: 130
Sugar: 21g

Now...what if i could even cut back even a bit further?  Keep in mind, I don't do artificial sweeteners.  I then decided to switch to Iced Lattes. I can easily make these at work as we always have the world's strongest coffee around! 

Iced Latte (12 oz. size)
1/4 cup of brewed espresso (or very strong coffee)
1 t of sugar
1 1/2 cups of milk
Ice

Stir the coffee and the sugar together to dissolve.  Stir in milk, then pour over ice. And yes, put in a plastic cup and sip with straw to round out your cafe experience.

Calories:  180
Sugar:  21g (4 gs is the white sugar, the rest is milk sugar)

So a little bit better when it comes to managing sugar.  And every bit helps!  Plus, these home brews save money too.  Enjoy! 

One Bicycle

A friend of mine has a mom who lives half of the year in India at a monastery taking care of orphan boys. (I say that with ease like, hey, tonight I'm having spaghetti for dinner.) It's a heavy thought that makes me pause and praise God that we have people in the world that do those sorts of things and then pause and ask my self, why the heck am I not one of these people? Oh that's right, I do advertising which clearly makes the world go round (sarcasm). But I digress...


Anyway, below is the cut/paste of her email she sent that will make us all grateful for our homes, our families, and our "things."


Some of the words I don't understand (lost in translation but I imagine have to do with the faith) but the gist of the story is beautiful so I didn't want to alter it at all from the original posting. Enjoy.





Several years ago when Jim Bradbury was here the two of us purchased two bicycles. One large one and one small one. With 12 boys using them they had a rather short life span and have spent years stacked behind the dorm. I had never looked at them but in passing and thought they were finished. On Losar I bought them a new soccer ball with a very good pump. This pump was able to breath new life into the small bike and the 4 younger boys take turns ridding it every day.


There must be some reward from ridding khora I am sure. Somedays I even see the 18 year old Tenpa Nyima giving it a whirl. See photo of Mouse (Sonam Phunstok).


The thing that amazes me is that it is shared, no fights, no MY TURN, no impatient haggling . One just rides it until he is tired and then he carefully parks it, and the next guy goes and gets on and rides. This bike is like a dirt bag beat up rusty wired together number, but to them it is wonderful. It is not jumped off and left lying around on the ground, it is treated with the respect that a guy with a brand new car would take. They take a rag and dust it off each night, and kiss it good night for all I know.


Earlier I watched them make two skate boards out of an old pair of roller skates and two old boards. They ride those around the monastery laughing and racing as if they were the greatest toys ever.There is something about this that humbles me and makes me realize how much we all take for granted. I think the most amazing thing is that they do not see anything unusual about my admiration. Every day I learn a lesson that I too often forget when I leave but feel like sharing this with you and maybe you can do better.

Complete Streets

So...most of you know I'm in graudate school to get my learn-on and more letters behind my name and with that comes occasional homework. In this case, I had to attend an Ignite Memphis speaking event and write a paper on the speech that most resonated with me. In this case, it was a presentation about urban living in pedestrian friendly neighborhoods that is on my life's to-do list.

Below is a cut/paste of the paper, enjoy! The quote in red is particularly good.


In my fantasy parallel universe world, I ride my bike to the local market. I’m usually in some white capri pants complete with an Audrey Hepburn scarf on my head and big Jackie-O sunglasses on my face. While there, I buy fresh cut flowers that I put in my little bike basket and ride home. I ring the little bike bell.

In my fantasy parallel universe world, I walk to my local barista to get a coffee drink, then relax on the patio watching the passers-by.

In my fantasy parallel universe world, my family and I pop around the corner to get a bite to eat (let’s say Italian), then leisurely walk back home holding hands and talking. We stop for ice cream cones.

Now for reality.

I live in Poplar Estates. There is no farmer’s market in walking distance, and a trip to the neighborhood Kroger requires crossing a busy six lane street. The closest Starbucks is about eight blocks away. There is an Italian restaurant nearby, but it’s never once dawned on me to walk there and there is no patio and if there were, it would overlook a parking lot. It feels strange to walk or bike anywhere.

People in cars look at you funny when you walk on Memphis streets. Is she homeless? They sometimes even call out mean things. On a bike or walking, am I safe from reckless drivers who are so unused to seeing pedestrians that I almost become an inadvertent video game target?

With this context in mind, John Lawrence’s presentation at Ignite Memphis on March 1 was of great interest. His topic: Complete Streets. His goal: To transform Memphis into a pedestrian haven with sidewalks and street infrastructure that makes walking and biking both easier and safer. It makes fiscal sense too. In the decade between 2000 - 2010, Cooper Young residents, who experienced this urban living, pedestrian-friendly atmosphere, saw property values increase 32% vs. 3% for the rest of Memphis. In short, evidence from around the USA supports that residential property values increase when they are in settings that have pedestrian friendly sidewalks within walking distance to parks and shopping.

In addition to saving gas and transportation costs, this arrangement also makes better use of time and land. According to Lawrence, “We spend more time commuting in the car than many other cities. We spend a disproportionate amount of our income on transportation. We have overbuilt then abandoned second-tier suburbs and started building new communities that are 100% auto dependent because they connect to nothing.”

Furthermore, getting out and walking and/or biking with your family is not only environmentally sound, but healthy too.

Pedestrian-friendly cities also attract talent to their areas (vs. brain drain), and put such spots on coveted “best places to live” lists and not, as Memphis tends to be, on “worst places to live lists.” As a native Memphian, I despise being on a “worst anything” list, especially the fattest city list, albeit true. The shift towards walking to the park and biking to the market within an infrastructure that makes it safe and easy to do would easily be a win-win situation, for both the individual, their family and the city. I support Complete Streets and this movement and will do what I can to be a part of it.

Does he hate me?

The artist continues. This time, with my portrait.

Note the frown.

The six eyes.

The giant hands (although props for getting the number of fingers right).

To make sure there were no mistakes, note that he also labeled my name on it, albeit not quite in the right letter order.

He must have read my previous post.

Mine is the Prettiest One

I have accepted the fact that my four year-old son hates art projects and likely will never be a painter, and I'm okay with that. But one thing he has plenty of...and that's self confidence.

Today at school when viewing the obligatory child hallway art, the conversation went like this:
Me: So which one is yours?
His: The prettiest one of course.

Note that his is on the left. And compare that to the one on the right with discernable fish.
There is hope that he'll be strong in math.

I'll Go Approve My Head Shot Now

I get up today and decide it's a day to look more smashing than normal so I select my smartest black wrap dress, faux fishnet leggings and patent leather shoes. It's a good hair day and make up day and I'm feeling sassy and chic or at least as sassy and chic as I can possibly get. It's a Moxy* 10 day.

So a co-worker asks me and another female colleague to interview his daughter who is a senior in high school to help prep her for he college interviews forthcoming.

This young woman is smart, articulate, charming, lovely, and the list goes on. She has strawberry blonde hair--like a princess. She talks at length about her debate club and her variety of topics, her goals for college entrance, her goals for graduate school, her dream to work in genetics and try and cure diseases while babies are still in utero. At one point, I think I slobbered on myself so absorbed in the conversation. She goes on to discuss how she shuns alcohol and drugs because she is solely focused on her studies right now. She is 17 years old.

Me: "Are you shopping for your prom dress yet?"

Yeah, that's about the smartest question I could come up with in her glory.

So me and my colleague leave this little chit-chat afterward and it goes something like this.

Me: "Well, not sure where I went wrong in life as I didn't have a clue about my future and still don't most days. Clearly, I need to work on my parenting skills if I'm ever going to have a kid like that."

Colleague: "Yeah, guess I'll go do some PR now."

Me: "I think the next thing on my list today is to approve my head shot. Does the photgrapher photo shop?"

Colleague: "Yep, any way you want."

My moxy now? About a three.

*Author's Note: I wasn't sure I was spelling Moxy right, so I looked it up on Dictionary.com (not there) so then I went to urbandictionary.com and here is a cut/paste which made me roar with laughter.

A word that would be better suited to being on the 'oldtimey-dictionary.com' website. If you are told that you have moxy it means one of three things:
1.) What the Hollywood world today calls 'it.'
2.) You have an great amount of courage or bravery to do what you want do to.
3.) You have Herpes (which was originally called Moxygoshthisitchesherpes but was shortened to just Herpes in the mid-60's)

Examples:

1.) You, my good boy, have moxy and with your dancing monkies you will soon be the toast of Vaudville!!
2.) Barnabus must have a great deal of moxy to just whip it out in front of his girlfriends parents like that.
3.) Sheryl is disgusting...I think she gave me moxy.