Sunday, July 5, 2009

HASAY: Perilous times for patriots



Great news! Casey, fearless leader of Club HASAY (Half As Small As You, a blogger fitness group) has announced members can reduce their post frequency to once a month instead of every Monday. Given the pace of my next 40 days, traveling all over the USA, I appreciate the change.

Now to the moment I've been dreading - public confession that I am not yet ready for the Ironwoman competition. Not even the Aluminum Foilwoman competition. We'll see how I fare tomorrow when we begin hiking in Glacier National Park. Suffice it to say that we won't be doing more than a couple of hours. And there will be no massive elevation gain.

I blame the fourth of July. It is all the fault of Independence Day eating. Never mind the years prior to yesterday which contributed to my fitness level. First I took Super Son to the incredible Vancouver Farmers Market, where he met up with friends and I succumbed to the temptation of the tiny doughnut booth. These little gems can fit in the palm of your hand, hot off the handmade batter-filled fryer. Warm, greasy ectasy. You can keep your Krispy Kremes. It'd be really super easy to forget that they are a kajillion calories - FAT CALORIES - apiece, and eat, say, an entire dozen while talking to a friend at the market.

Yeah, it would be real easy.... it was, in fact. Bad me.

Then it's back to the 'hood, for a fun-filled barbecue with all the families. This could be a terrible weight gaining event, except the other mothers are all really smart about limiting what people bring. I was assigned watermelon. That's a good, healthy choice, right? Yay, me! One neighbor made this amazing homemade potato salad, though...and I had a large buffalo burger. Still, we were pretty restrained. Just one plate of brownies with ice cream, and the portions were really really small to keep everyone from getting too sugared up. So what could have been a pound-packing extravaganza was kept to a very moderate meal level, thanks to the smarts of my fellow citizens.

Now the challenge will be eating light while we sit on our butts several days during this road trip. I'm determined to keep it down as much as possible while still enjoying regional specialities. We stopped in The Dalles, Oregon on the way to Idaho today. A billboard for the The Dalles Burgerville is a warning sign to drivers that it is the "last Burgerville for 24337 miles."

We had to stop.

The fam just listened to an audio book version of Fast Food Nation, and we've all vowed to try to stay away from fast food places. But Burgerville is different. It's got lots of locally sourced food, really good quality stuff, and engages in sustainable business practices, including treating their employees a bit better than the average burger place. Even the kids' meal toys are better than other places' - Daring Daughter got a little pot no, not that kind! and tomato seeds.

And they have Walla Walla onion rings!

I will have to hike a LOT the next two days to make up for these tastes of goodness, but it's well worth it.

My name is Fantastic Forrest, and I am a foodie.

But hopefully, I'll be a more fit foodie after this summer.

12 comments:

FoN said...

Hey, it sounds like you did okay, all things considering! Don't feel bad. No reasonable human being can resist the mini donut. It's just not possible.

Kathy Amen said...

Love the watermelon pic! Wish I could pick one of that perfect ripeness....

I'm envious of your being in Glacier, one of my favorite places on earth--enjoy!

shrink on the couch said...

Aluminum Foilwoman..haha! That really makes me chuckle. And I know what you mean. My summer has turned into one long break from all of my regular exercise. I like it / I don't like it. I will dread it terribly whenever I try to make my comeback.

Bee said...

Watermelon, doughnuts, burgers . . . you are hitting many of my favorites here. Yum,yum,yum.

Did I ever tell you that my uncle lives in Walla Walla?

kyooty said...

Remember you need energy to exercise, it's not all about not eating. :)

Anonymous said...

Mini donuts mean mini calories don't they?? Wow, I was salivating whilst reading your post..lol Aluminum Foil Woman made me snort some hot tea through my nose. Great Post! You'll be back on track in no time!

La Belette Rouge said...

Seriously, that watermelon looks so good that every fat food you describes doesn't sound at all good.

Casey said...

I think I just gained ten pounds from reading this post. You sound like you did good limiting your food on the fourth though, it could have been WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY worse. It's hard to eat on the go, good luck this summer. At least you'll be doing plenty of walking to burn off those extra calories? Make me proud and we'll see your update next month!

Lisa Wheeler Milton said...

This fit foodie thing is hard to pull off, especially during a holiday weekend.

We will swim when you get back. It will do our souls good - and it's not bad for our health either.

Fantastic Forrest said...

Thanks, all, for the encouragement and appreciation for my humour. :)

Lisa - I am definitely going to take you up on the swimming! Thanks for the offer.

shrink on the couch said...

Hi FF -- At my blog post request, you kindly left a book suggestion: "Have you read any Anne Perry? She has two series, set in different periods of historical England, that are simply splendid."

Here are a couple of my choices:

Buckingham Palace Gardens: A Charlotte and Thomas Pitt Novel

The William Monk Mysteries : The First Three Novels

Death By Dickens

Thanks!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you did better over the holiday than I did (we won't talk about what I ate on the 4th!). It can be so hard staying on track while you're travelling...good luck with that!