Weight watching and Calorie counting!

So, the J-man decided to get in shape before his Philippines trip in July. He is on a boys only vacation with his buddies he had met in Shanghai. And he's going to be gone THREE WEEKS. Yucks.


Anyway...

My friend S at work introduced me to this website My Fitness Pal. It's a free site, anyone can join, so I thought I'd join in the fun. I've never really paid any attention to the food I eat. I'm not picky. I grew up eating whatever that was served to me at the dinner table. My mother was strict that way, we were not allowed to pick and choose favorite foods. And so I stayed that way. Of course I do have foods that I dislike more than others, but when I'm hungry, food is food is food.


What I meant to say is that we have started to really started to watch what we eat, so J can get in shape before his beach vacay. Although I don't think I am at the point that I need to start losing weight, I think it is pretty interesting to pay attention to calories and carbs and see how that'll work out for us!

On this site, you decide on your goal : to lose weight, to maintain etc. You punch in your height and weight and they calculate how many calories, carbs, proteins and fats you are allowed to consume in a day. Then you keep an online journal of your meals everyday, as well as a record of the exercises you do. A very simple process that takes less that 5 minutes, and at the end of each log, it estimates what you'll weigh at the end of 5 weeks if you eat according to that day's consumption.

I like it because after I punch in the numbers, I can decide at the end of the day if I have any leftover calories to consume a chocolate bar or drink a soda. That's my "treat" for eating well during the day! And sometimes it's alarming to find out how many carbs / calories are in certain foods. For example, I drink a cup of Dunkin' Donuts K-Cup coffee at work everyday. That's at 10 calories. Pretty low right? But the crunch comes when i add 3 tablespoons of liquid creamer, then BOOM i add 10 times the calories to this drink!

I mean, it makes sense, I just wasn't THAT aware all this time.


So, I guess this is a good exercise for me personally. I encourage everyone to be more aware of your food consumption too! Eat well!!

News from the garden: Our garden spilleth over

Did somebody say spill?

I meant surprise, tangle and overtake!




Hmm... When did they grow so big?
By the way, I was in the picture just for perspective.



So this is the "sandbox" that J and his friends built. He filled it with mulch and dirt and planted around 19 squash plants. We have the regular yellow squash, zucchini and scalloped squash. They're all starting to bear fruit! Yummy!!!

Birding: Surrogate Mothering for 3 baby Starlings

We always knew that we had a starling's nest in our roof, where the vent is. Last evening we heard the distressed chirping of a bird. After further investigation, we found a baby starling on the ground, right below it's nest! It had fallen out and was chirping for it's mama's attention.

So we looked up at the nest, and seen another baby dangerously close to the edge. It was chirping and sticking its head out so far we were afraid it was going to suffer the same fate as the first. True enough, in a few minutes, I saw the little thing fall out. I wasn't quick enough to catch it!



As we were about to leave for a friend's dinner party, the nest was too high for us to replace them, so we hurriedly filled a box with some earth and laid the two babies in it and kept it in the house. When we returned, it was quite dark. We were afraid to find a third on the ground. But we did.

We didn't know how long the nest had been abandoned. I haven't seen Mama the whole day today. Usually, when we are gardening outside, we would catch glimpses of the mother flying in and out of her nest, presumably bringing food to her babies. And why would the starlings try to leave their nest one after another?? I think it's safe to say that something has happened to the mother and these poor little babies have been abandoned.

We knew they needed some food, but probably something with protein in it. So we had to make do with some almond nuts we had at home. And since they were only babies, I had to chew them up, and feed them regurgitated nuts. Once they were nicely settled, I had to call someone.

It was a Sunday night, nobody was going to assist me, I knew.

So I left messages with the Raptor Center, and googled a little more about caring for young starlings.

I found some pictures which helped me guesstimate that the babies were about a week old. And then I read some more, and realised that i should not have fed them until we have contacted a wildlife rehabilitator. Well, too late now. But the birds seemed to gobble everything up and were fine with the nuts.



I changed their bedding and lined the box with fresh towels instead, to keep them warm throughout the night. This morning I checked on them. They were still breathing and each of them did a little Number Two, so I took that as a sign that they're doing well! I'm going to work now, J will have to watch the birds while I call the Raptor center again at lunch. Hopefully I get some help and answers.

Found: A Nautical Affair

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Now that it's summer, I'm longing to hit the lake!

And I actually sat down and created a mood board for it too! Phew! It was time consuming but super fun! Here are my picks from my favorite sites!



:: Swimsuit :: Bib necklace :: Heels :: Maxi Dress :: Tote Bag :: Ring:: 




I love stripes, the color palette red, white and blue. So one weekend I whipped these up!


Here and here




Have a wonderful week ahead! There's time yet, to plan for a nautical weekend!

Found: Crates and Barrels

Ever since my weekend on the Chadbourne Farm, I've been dreaming of redecorating our house, or just adding special touches to the home.

Here are some nifty ideas refashioned from crates and barrels. So neat!






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I'd love a beautiful organic bucket like this!



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Crates on wheels!


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Half a barrel makes a whole side table!


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Be creative with your spaces


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Vintage barrel repurpose


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This one is my favorite. Repurposed from pallets into wall shelving units. How creative!!

Have an inspiring home decor week ahead!