harvest snaps snacks

Say that five times, fast!

I recently tried these snacks and I have to say, I'm in love.  It's something different and I can honestly say I'm not eating potato chips.  I try to stay away from crunchy carbs, like chips, pretzels, etc., but once in awhile I want something crunchy that isn't raw veggies.

I can't seem to do anything without one or more of my cats being involved....

When I first saw these--pea snacks, in general--in the store, I remember thinking, "Who would want dried pea pods??  People who like twigs and bark, that's who!"  ("Twigs and bark" was the name given to bran cereal by a friend of mine.) At the time, I didn't know that they're more like a puffy cheese doodle in texture. Anyway, I recently discovered them in the grocery store and decided to buy them. I noticed they also make snacks with red lentils, too, so I bought a bag of those as well; they were two for $3.00.

So, what are Harvest Snaps? They're pea pod-shaped snacks that resemble, in texture, a puffy cheese doodle.  They're made with peas or lentils, which are ground into a flour, and they're baked, not fried.

And what do they taste like?  They taste a bit like peas, but not quite as strong.  I'm not a fan of peas at all, unless they're buried in a pot pie, but I like these snacks. The lentil snacks taste a bit like lentils. The two flavors I tried were really good.  The lentil snack had a nice onion-y flavor and I could taste the thyme.  The pea snacks were really good, too.  They had a Caesar-ish taste, though not as strong as Caesar salad dressing.

Are they healthy?  Not really.  Are they better than potato chips and other kinds of chips?  Probably. There are less calories, about half the fat, and more protein and fiber.  The carbs are about the same. Below is a pic of the nutrition labels.  Peas on the left, lentils on the right.

Would I buy these again?  Yes, as long as the price is right. I thought $1.50 was pretty good. However, it's not something I would buy often because I tend to have a really hard time eating just one portion.  And that goes for any snack, not just these.  Crunchy carbs are a trigger and I try to limit exposure.

more kitty troubles

It's really been an awful couple years for the cats.  First was Lou, who had to have part of his tail amputated due to some sort of attack (not sure what happened).  Then we lost Riley to possible hemophilia.  Prince never came home.  Max had urine crystals and Baily, his brother, was sick for a bit.  George had to be put down due to old age.  Leo had to have most of his teeth out due to stomatitis.  Then, most recently, Thomas had to have most of his teeth out due to severe gingivitis; he had some other issues, too. And now, Leo went for his recheck this week for the stomatitis and they discovered he's lost a pound since the beginning of April (it's tough to notice because he's so furry, so we didn't notice it). I keep wondering what's going to happen next.

This is Thomas. It's an older picture.   

Thomas is doing well in terms of his health. He's eating well and his mouth is healed; however, he's hiding constantly now.  He was always skittish--he was a feral kitten--but it's gotten much worse since we moved to the new house.  Since then, he's usually in the back of the closet next to the kitchen, or he's under one of the beds. We see him maybe a couple times a week, either early in the morning or late at night. That's really our only indication he's alive.  And that's why we didn't know he had anything wrong with his mouth.  We had noticed a couple months ago that he had really severe mats in his fur.  We were able to catch him and confine him in one of the bedrooms.  We then shaved all the mats out and checked his mouth, which didn't look good.  (He was such a good boy, too!  He was calm and didn't try to run.  He's one of those cats where you scruff him and he just goes completely still.)  We got him to the vet a few weeks ago and he had to have most of his teeth out.  They also found some other issues, which weren't serious. Since the surgery, he won't come out from under the bed in the upstairs bedroom.  Even with the doors closed and just us in there,  he won't come out for us to pet him.  In order to make sure he eats, since the others will bully him, we have to put the food down and shut the doors so the others can't come in and eat it.  I know he's eating, so at least that's one good thing.  But I just don't know what to do with him, or how to get him so he's not so scared all the time. He was always scared, but never this bad to where he won't come out for us to pet him. I'm thinking he's traumatized by the surgery and long vet stay.  My cousin mentioned the possibility that he could be depressed or have some other sort of mental problem.  He goes back for a checkup soon, so I will have to ask about that. For now, he's under the bed upstairs.  We close the doors to feed him and then reopen them when he's done.

This is Leo.

And then there's Leo.  He went for another checkup this week for the stomatitis.  He's been on a daily dose of liquid minocycline.  I was hoping the vet would tell me I could stop the medication, since it's getting pretty difficult to medicate him; he knows exactly what I'm doing every night when I go the fridge.  Even though I've tried to mix up the routine, he's wise to it and runs away or fights me.  The medication has helped quite a bit, but his mouth is not 100% yet.  He still has some inflammation in the back of his mouth.  Unfortunately, Leo has lost over a pound since early April; a pound is typically a lot for a cat. During his last blood test they found he has low albumin, but they chalked it up to his mouth issues.  The vet ran some new blood work this week with a GI panel, so I'm waiting on the results.  There was a mention of possible lymphoma and I'm really hoping that's not the case.

Let's hope the rest of the year is relatively quiet and no one has any major issues.

chicken tortilla soup

I was scrolling through my Facebook feed last week and came across a blog post by my bariatric surgeon.  I took a peek at the recipes that were posted and found this recipe for soup.

I'm not much of a soup eater.  I don't feel as though it fills me.  I used to like it when I first had surgery, because it was easy and the warmth was easy on the new stomach.  But nowadays I really have to be in the mood for it. Plus, as a gastric bypass patient, this kind of qualifies as drinking with my meal.  And that's something I'm not supposed to be doing; it can stretch out the new stomach by forcing more food through it, and it washes my food down faster, which leads to hunger faster.  I decided to make it, though, because wanted to use up some ingredients.  No, strike that.  I wanted to use ONE ingredient:  a little 4 ounce can of chopped green chilies. (I bought it at some point and never used it.  I don't even remember what recipe I wanted to make.  I have lots of stuff like that in my cabinets.) I had all the other ingredients except enchilada sauce, which was easy enough to buy. Conveniently, it used up the open carton of chicken broth haunting my fridge, as well as the black beans I was likely holding onto for another recipe I can't remember. Oh, and I finally finished up the bag of frozen corn!  OK, so maybe I had more ingredients I needed to use up.

This was super easy.  Just chop up the onion and dump everything in the crock pot.  Viola!  Dinner is ready when you get home from work.

I liked the way it tasted. Just a little spicy, but not much.  If I make it again, I might reduce the amount of broth, but that's just because I prefer something more like a stew.

If you're interested in the recipe, you can find it here:  Crock Pot Chicken Tortilla Soup

The nutritional information is posted on his website, but here it is.  Note:  This assumes 8 regular-sized portions.  Bariatric patients will likely get at least 12 out of this, depending upon how far along they are.  This recipe fills a large crock pot.

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 8
• Amount Per Serving- about 2 cups
• Calories: 168.6

• Total Fat: 2.5 g
• Cholesterol: 35.0 mg
• Sodium: 311.2 mg
• Total Carbs: 20.3 g
• Dietary Fiber: 4.2 g
• Protein: 17.4 g

Source: SparkPeople

today's breakfast: spanish fried egg

This morning I was looking for information about how to fry an egg in butter without the grease splattering everywhere.  It seems I get a lot of violent splatters every time I fry an egg and it can be a little scary sometimes.  And painful!  I figured it had something to do with the water in the butter, and I was right.  But the general consensus seems to be that there's nothing you can do to stop the splatters.  So, I gave up.

During my hunt for information I came across an article on theKitchn.com (love this website!) and it talked about Spanish-style fried eggs.  Basically, it's a fried egg, but you fry it in olive oil instead of butter; however, it's fried at a higher temperature, which cooks the egg quickly.

I used my small cast iron frying pan and filled it with enough olive oil to cover the bottom and then set it over medium heat.  It took a couple minutes, which I used to butter a piece of toast.  I flicked a tiny bit of water into the pan and it started to sizzle, which meant it was ready.  I cracked an egg into a mug and then put it into the pan. I don't usually do that, but I didn't want to chance any splatters of screaming hot oil.  It immediately started to fry.  I tilted the pan and spooned the hot oil over the egg. This isn't a fried egg that gets flipped over; the hot oil spooned over it cooks it just right.  When the top was cooked and the edges browned, it was ready.  I scooped it out and put it on a paper towel for a minute to absorb some of the oil. I then put it on top of my toast.

The process was easy and the white was nice and crunchy around the edges; however, I don't think I would use this as my default method for frying an egg.  It tasted good, but to me it's just easier to fry it the usual way.

Here's the article in case you want to read about this method:

zoodle stir fry

Until recently, I hadn't heard of zoodles.  My trainer mentioned them to me and said I should try them for something different and as a pasta alternative. I recently tried them, and I was pleasantly surprised.

What are zoodles, anyway? They're zucchini "noodles."  You take a zucchini and use a little tool called a zoodler to make long noodles that resemble spaghetti.  It looks and works like a manual pencil sharpener.  Here's an example.

I decided to try them, because the local grocery store had them already cut.  I don't have a zoodle maker and I didn't want to buy one, just in case I didn't like the zoodles.  The package contained yellow squash, zucchini and carrots--the carrots were julienned--and cost $4.99.  Since I didn't have to do the work, I figured it was a good price.

I found a recipe online at Nerd Fitness (a new favorite website).  It's a stir fry made with zoodles, chicken breast, veggies, and a sauce of lime juice, fish sauce and red pepper flakes.  It has a Thai flavor and it seemed like it would be interesting.  (For once, I read through the entire recipe--I'm famous for not reading through, and then I'm surprised when I'm missing a couple items or I'm not prepared for a step that requires some prep work or waiting.)  I did all the prep work of chopping the veggies, mixing the sauce, cutting up the chicken and beating the egg.  I'm glad I did, because it would have really delayed meal time.  It was easy to cook once I had all the prep done and it tasted great.  I was very surprised at how much I liked the zoodles.  The texture wasn't mushy.  The key to this is to leave the raw zoodles out for a couple hours so the water evaporates; zucchini and squash have a lot of water.  I could really taste the lime juice and all the flavors worked well together.

Here's the finished product:

So, zoodles.  Do they vaguely resemble (in looks) spaghetti?  Somewhat.  They're long and thin.  Do they cook like spaghetti?  Not that I'm aware of.  All the recipes I've seen call for sauteing the zoodles, not boiling them. Do they taste like spaghetti?  Nope.  This is not something that will fool you into thinking you're eating pasta.  Some people treat them like spaghetti and put all the trappings of a pasta dinner on them--sauce, cheese, etc.  I don't know that I would like that, so I think I will stick to recipes that call for Asian flavors.  Or, really, anything other than pasta sauce. Do they taste like nasty vegetables?  Well, if you don't like zucchini and squash...the answer is yes.  If you like those veggies, then, no, they don't taste nasty.  Are they mushy?  Some people say yes, but they key is to not overcook them and to put them in a bowl or on a plate for a few hours before cooking. Yes, in the open air.  This lets some of the water evaporate from the zoodles.

Here's the recipe:  Thai Noodle Stir Fry.

What I did differently from the recipe:  I used pre-made zoodles, used peanuts instead of cashews, and didn't use any of the optional items--I just didn't have them on-hand.

 If you want something different, go try this recipe.

why is vacation scary?

 

My poppies are blooming!

I'm at the tail end of my vacation from work. Vacation was scary for me this time around.  Normally I live for vacation from work.  I typically plan out my weeks as soon as possible, regardless of whether I'm going somewhere or not.  Months in advance, I'm thinking about what I want to do while on vacation.  When I was a kid waiting for summer vacation to come along, I always envisioned the weeks and months stretched out ahead of me, so full of promise.  I'm the same way when planning vacation from work.  And as soon as I return to work, I'm thinking about the next vacation.  I was looking forward to it this time around, but not as much as usual.

Saw this little guy in my tree yesterday.  

Apparently there are several squirrels living in my tree.

I had no plans on going anywhere, which meant I'd be home by myself all week until Bob gets home from work. Which also meant I'd have to keep busy, as I typically eat out of boredom, and because I'd be home alone with full cabinets, fridge and freezers. (This is historically a Bad Thing for me.)  There were several days I would be pretty busy due to doctor appointments, my training sessions, a visit from my sister, and other things going on. But that left me with several days where I'd be "on my own," so to speak.  Meaning, nothing to occupy me and I'd have to deal with it as best I can.

I made this breakfast twice.  I toasted the heel of the bread loaf, 

put some goat cheese on it, then topped with a fried egg and some leftover 

pesto I found in the fridge. 

It went...OK.  I would say that Monday and Thursday were my best days.  Monday I was busy with...I don't remember what. LOL.  Thursday I was busy cleaning my house.  Tuesday was tough because I had nothing planned, so I sat around watching TV and wanting to eat.  Wednesday I had several things in the morning, but I found myself wanting to buy food; I was in a department store that sells specialty food items, which is like a giant magnet for me.  Friday wasn't bad, because my sister came down to visit and I was busy during the day.  Yesterday was tough.  Although I went to Ikea for several hours (at least I got in some walking!), I spent most of the night watching TV and wanting to eat, which I did.  One issue this weekend was the extra piece of cheesecake I bought for my husband on his birthday.  He ate one slice, but the other one was still in the fridge.  And it was covered with cannoli cream and crumbled cannoli shells. And it was NY style, which is my favorite. Basically, I took two or three bites of it several times a day and it's now gone. (Sorry, dear!)  

Here's a breakfast pizza. It's a Fiber One tortilla topped with goat cheese, 

pesto sauce, and an egg.  I cracked the egg on top and then baked the whole thing 

for about 12 minutes on 400 degrees.

I wish I could say I tackled the weeding in the garden, or that I did some other project I've been meaning to get to.  But no.  One would think that having a week off would motivate me to do those things, but really it just makes me want to relax and do nothing. But that's really what vacation is for, right? I did make the kale chips I planned on making, though!

Cat TV.  These guys loved watching the bird feeder.  

Tiffany is on the left, Bailey in the middle and Max on the right.

I'm looking forward to going back to work just so I'll have some structure again.  Vacation wasn't quite as scary as I thought it would be, but was still a bit scary.  The next one isn't until October, so I have a bit of time to work on it.

oh, my aching back (and knees)!

I've had lower back pain for many years due to a sedentary lifestyle, a desk job, and mild scoliosis. Up until about two months ago, pain from inactivity was helped by periods of activity.  In the last two months, however, it seems no matter how much activity I do, it isn't helping the pain anymore.  My lower back stiffens up after about 15 minutes of sitting, which is tough because I have a desk job and really need to be at my desk to do most of my job.  I'm working out 5 days a week and doing about a 1/2 hour of walking on the two other days, and it's not helping. Sleeping has become dreaded rather than welcomed.  I'm usually tossing and turning from 4 am, on. And now the pain has shifted from my lower right to my lower left; I have no idea why.

I finally went to see an orthopedic doctor for my back.  I've been through physical therapy and chiropractic, so I didn't want to go that route again; sitting at a desk for 8+ hours basically undoes whatever is done by a therapist or chiropractor.  Instead, I was happy to be prescribed an anti-inflammatry drug...until I remembered I'm not supposed to be taking those anymore; they can cause damage to my new pouch.  I was prescribed Celebrex, which is a Cox II category anti-inflammatory drug.  That means it isn't as hard on the stomach as things like Ibuprofen and naproxen, supposedly.  I checked my gastric bypass surgeon and I have to take a break from them every few days so as not to damage the pouch.  Hopefully it still helps me.  I also now have a back brace, which reminds me of a corset; however, it's not sexy in the slightest.   I'm supposed to wear it when sitting for long periods of time, like at work. I was worried the doctor would tell me I need to stop working out, as that would make my final weight loss goal even further away.  Luckily, he didn't.

My knees have been bothering me ever since I started working out.  It doesn't hurt all the time.  It's mostly when I go up or down stairs.  I'm really nervous about arthritis in the knees, and it's one of the biggest reasons I had weight loss surgery.  My grandmother was bedridden at an early age due to her arthritis in her knees.  She was very overweight and so was I.    So, now I'm wondering if it's arthritis, or if I injured myself.  Or maybe all the damage from being overweight all my life is finally surfacing.  I'll be going to another doctor for that soon; however, I'm going to wait and see if the Celebrex also helps my knees.

Although I feel great overall since I lost the weight, I can't help but feel like I'm falling apart now due to other issues. But I'm grateful that it's just my back and knees.  It could be worse.

my first curtain in the new house--it only took two years!

Yes, you read that right.  It took me almost two years to choose my first set of curtains for the new house.  There are several reasons for that:

1. The house was built in 1735, so I wanted to find something that didn't scream 2016; I really obsessed over this!
2. I didn't know what color to choose.
3. I didn't know what style to choose.
4. I really didn't want to cover this particular window--it looks out over the backyard and the barn; however, someone is building a house behind us and I want a little privacy.
5. Curtains can be expensive and I'm not willing to spend $200.00 on them, because I have multiple cats who will inevitable ruin them.
6. I obsessed over the right hardware from which to hang them.
7. I suck at matching colors and choosing decor.

This is what I ended up with for the den.  I started with this room, because it has only one window to cover.  Plus, as I mentioned, someone is building a house behind us and it's time to install curtains in this room.

I chose a white sheer with a dark blue satiny curtain.  The hardware is antique brass color.  Although I love how the curtain setup looks, it's a very dark-wooded room and I'm thinking I might move these curtains to the upstairs hallway.  The wallpaper is beige with little light blue and white flowers, so I might go with a medium or light blue curtain just to brighten it up in here.  This color kind of gets lost in this room.

I lightened up the picture a bit so you can see the detail.

This is close to the real color.

Onto the next room...only 19 more windows to go!!

recipe experiment: kale chips

When kale became all the rage, I couldn't figure out what was so special about it.  I'm not a vegetable lover anyway, but I read how kale could be tough and somewhat bitter and  I thought, "Why would someone want to eat that??"  (But I think that about most vegetables...)  Then came kale chips and I thought the same thing:  "Kale in the form of chips? How could these possibly be good??"

Last month I took a ride to Trader Joe's and saw kale chips on the shelf.  I decided to buy a bag; my trainer mentioned that they're very low in calories and I could eat a ton of them if I wanted to.  Obviously, the thought of being able to eat a large quantity without adding a ton of calories appealed to me and I decided to by some. I believe it was $3.99 for a small bag, which was two servings. They were flavored with tahini and chili powder, and they were pretty good.  Not like potato chips, for sure. But I wish I'd known that they leave a ton of green flecks in your teeth.  I ate some in the car and lucky for me I had a bottle of water so I could rinse.

I then decided I wanted to try making them on my own.  I heard they're very easy to make.  I did the usual Google search, but it was obvious that all I really needed was to remove the stems and tough ribs of the kale, work in some olive oil, add whatever seasonings I wanted, and then bake them until crispy.  It looked super easy.

I walked into the grocery store thinking the kale would cost me five or six bucks a pound, or that they wouldn't have it.  Probably because it gets so much hype, and it's an item I tend to associate with Whole Foods, which is an expensive store for most things.  But no.  I strolled into the local store and found it right away.  And it wasn't sad-looking like some vegetables can sometimes be at the regular grocery store.  AND...it was only .99 a pound!  I grabbed two bunches, which filled one of those plastic veggie bags, and it only cost me .63!  I didn't even have a full pound.

So, the process was super easy. The only snag I ran into was that I didn't have a big enough bowl to mix all the kale at once, so I divided it into two batches.  I added garlic powder, chili powder, and kosher salt. I baked them in two batches, since they have to be in a single layer on the cookie sheet. They were done in about 15 minutes or so.  The recipe I followed said 12 minutes, but I don't have a salad spinner to dry the kale, so it took a little longer.

Freshly washed, stems removed, and torn into pieces.

All seasoned and ready to go!

Before baking.

After baking.

Ready to eat!  Very crispy...and salty due to pilot error.

As you can see, I started out with a good amount of kale, and then it cooked down to about a large cereal bowl-full of chips.  It's like spinach in that way.

These tasted good; however, I over salted them.  If your recipe says 1/4 teaspoon of salt, believe it and follow it.  Don't just toss more in because you think 1/4 teaspoon won't be enough.  Once that salt is baked in, it isn't coming off so you're stuck with salty chips.

Here's the recipe, just in case you want to try them yourself.  You can really use any seasonings you want to use. Just keep in mind that they will be concentrated once baked, so don't go overboard.  Less is more in this case.

My recipe contains:  87 calories, 4g fat, 10g carbs, 5g protein, 3g sugar per serving.

Kale Chips
Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

1 pound kale, stems and tough ribs removed, leaves torn into bite-size pieces
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. 
2. Place kale in a large bowl, drizzle with oil and toss. Add chili power, garlic powder and salt and toss again. 
3. Arrange kale on the prepared baking sheets in single layer.  Bake until crispy and the edges just begin to brown, about 12 to 15 minutes. 
4. Remove from the oven and let cool for a few minutes on the baking sheets. 
5. Transfer to a bowl and eat!

happy mother's day!

I'm not mom to any humans, but I'm mom to my kitties.  I was hoping they would make me breakfast in bed, or maybe clean their own litter boxes, but that didn't happen.  Because cats.  I'm just happy they didn't leave any "gifts" in the house for me to step in.  That's about all a cat mom can hope for really.

I made my own breakfast:  a one-egg omelet with herbed goat cheese and a veggie sausage patty (doesn't it look pretty?!).  I had Lipton tea, too.  (BEFORE breakfast, not with it!) I usually don't drink tea at home, but I figured I'd treat myself today.  Plus, it helps me get more water in. (For work I buy flavored teas, such as cocoa coconut, chocolate peppermint, and vanilla almond.  It really helps when I'm feeling the head hunger at work.) Bob got a three-egg Swiss cheese omelet, sausage patties and hash brown patties.

I did some laundry and then we took a trip to Cabela's.  I was looking for a travel alarm clock, since my one from LL Bean finally died, but I didn't find anything.  I did, however, buy a thin fleece jacket, which was less than half price. Then we stopped at Stew Leonard's for eggs.  They sell an 18-pack of extra large eggs for $1.99, which is super cheap; I bought four packs!  I'll use them for hard-boiled eggs, egg muffins and Bob's breakfast.

The sun has FINALLY come out, so I'm headed outside in a bit to do my exercise routine.  So glad I don't have to do it in the rain!  And seeing the sun after a week straight of rain is motivating me to get moving.

Happy Mother's Day!!

updated exercise routine

The time has come for my home exercise routine to change. In preparation, I bought two kettle bells--15 lbs and 20 lbs--and two sets of free weights--5 lbs and 10 lbs. I'm really happy that the routine has changed, because I was getting bored of the old one. 

The new routine consists of:

• Jogging in place, jumping jacks and mountain climbers, alternated three times for a total of 8 minutes
• Total of 50 walking lunges holding two 10 lb. free weights
• 2 sets of 15 kettle bell swings with a 10 lb. kettle bell
• 2 sets of 15 reverse lunges using a 10 lb. kettle bell
• 2 sets of 15 squat jumps (I HATE these!)
• 3 sprints, 25 yards each
• 4 sets of how ever many push-ups I can do: I still can't do a full push-up, but I'm getting there. I can do about 10 to 12 per set now.
• Plank, as long as I can hold it (I'm up to over a minute now!)

Last night was my appointment and I did a lot of reverse lunges, step-ups, sumo squats, and kettle bell swings. And he made me do squat jumps instead of pushups. 

We typically talk quite a bit during the session: nutrition tips, obesity amongst children (44% of children 12 and under are obese!), and some random stuff. Last night Mark mentioned that I should check into whether insurance would pay for the training, since it's related to the bariatric surgery and the need to have the excess skin removed. That would be great, because personal training is not cheap. I plan to check into it soon, because I'm already worried about how I'll do once the training sessions are done (I paid for three months). 

I also need to find a plastic surgeon once I get close to my goal, so that I can determine how much more weight I need to lose before the surgery. Also, I can then check into whether insurance will pay for some of it. Insurance may pay for the skin removal, but it has to be considered "medically necessary," which means that it causes me pain or infections. I'm not at that point yet, but it's definitely getting uncomfortable, as it pulls on me when I'm in bed on my side. And it's tough to shop for pants. I either have to buy them to fit my waist and the excess skin, or buy them to fit my legs. There's never a happy medium between the two, and it's frustrating. I've had a few rashes, but nothing that required medical attention.

Current weight: 219.4

small victories

This weekend's small victory:  I broke the one minute mark on the plank! Well, considering I beat my own record by 13 seconds, I'm thinking that qualifies as a big victory. :) I think it took about two and a half weeks to get to this point. My baseline was 14 seconds, so 1:05 is a big accomplishment. The goal is to eventually get to three minutes, which will mean I have a very strong core.  The short-term goal is 1:15 a week from now. I think I can do it.