Chicken:
1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves
3 tblspn fresh lime juice
2 tblspn unsalted dry-roast peanuts
2 tblspn fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves
3/4 tspn salt
2 tspn honey
1/2 tspn dried crushed red pepper
3 tblspn olive oil

Process all the above ingredients in food processor until smooth, and toss with sauteed chicken (or shrimp) until coated. (If you’re sugar/carb conscious, leave out the honey)

Rice:
Combine 1 cup light coconut milk with water and bring to boil.  Add 1 1/2 cup uncooked jasmine rice, reduce heat and simmer 20-25 minutes until tender and liquid is absorbed.  Stir in 1 1/2 tblspn fresh lime juice (and 1 tspn of lime zest if you REALLY want it to zing!)

Serve chicken over rice for tasty chicken dinner of awesomeness!  (or without rice for slightly less awesomeness)

P.S. You’re welcome!

I swear to God ya’ll!  Either that or the skunks have formed a suicide cult and the location they picked was backwoods here.  Being from Florida, we don’t see skunks…at least not in central Florida…or maybe they’re just private skunks who know how to look both ways before they cross the street.  But not here.  NO WAY!  It’s like hillbilly skunk heaven where the only thing to do is play chicken with cars in the middle of the night.  Poor skunks.  They need something more to do that can result in a lower mortality rate.

Did I mention that even dead, if you run over one, you’ll regret it for like fifteen minutes?

Anyway, now that I’ve had my morning rant (less fattening than a latte’) I can tell you how awesome I did yesterday.

I stuck to my food plan all day/all night.  Well, mostly.  I cut out a serving of carbs for my mid-afternoon becuase as much as I tried to enjoy them, my sweet potato fries were like sweet potato fries of humiliation.  Poor things, I murdered them for no good cause.  Onion powder, chili powder and whatever the hell else I put on them is no substitute for good old oil/salt/pepper combination.  Man ate them, pretended he enjoyed them (God love him), but he was allowed to salt the shit out of them and use ketchup (fucker).  <—I mean that as a term of endearment there, just so you know.

I have however, discovered a flaw in the mass consumption of water; and that is the basic function of having to pee ever 45 minutes.  Seriously guys…I might wake up once in the middle of the night.  Not last night…nooooo…four times because it was emergency status, which I guess is better than wetting the bed.  That would be embarrassing enough, but now that I’m cohabitating with someone…yeah…I bet I don’t have to describe it really. 

I feel good though.  From the beginning of the week where I was brooding and depressed and just unhappy over all, today, I’m in a completely different place.  I’m like a winner, for real!  Sure, it might be my own private contest where no one else really gets to participate…and in one corner there’s awesome, powerful, motivated me (who looks fucking amazing in her skinny jeans) and in the other corner, there’s that fat, bitchy me with the french fries in one hand and vino in the other.  (You’d be amazed at the power of the left hook from fat bitchy me with a hand full of french fries!)  Anyway, yesterday was like round 2 and skinny jean me totally kicked f/b (fat & bitchy) me’s ass! 

Day 2.

Yeah, I started over…again.

6 week body makeover bullshit.  I’m working on finding some foods that aren’t bland and boring, because let me tell you what, no salt, no oil, no sugar = no fun.

I’m doing a countdown.  42 days is way less daunting that looking at it in other ways, because I can break it down so my wee little noggin’ thinks that I’m really doing short term goals. 

…at least that’s what I’m telling myself.

I got through day 1 pretty ok.  I was really hungry during the day, but by the time evening rolled around, I was doing better.  Today is better than yesterday.

My tyrannical friend who has done amazing on this diet says that once my body acclimates, that I’ll be really surprised by what I no longer want or need.

Right now, I find it VERY hard to believe that I won’t want some of the things that I love, but we’ll see.  Once I get the weight off, then I can moderate myself nicely I think.

Anyway…lunch time.  I’ll savor my one pea and morsel of turkey burger and let you know how it was!

That is all.

Had a week and a half of rock solid progress!  I was feeling great, starting to see a little bit of result between my chins…and then it happened.  What exactly happened, I don’t know, but -IT- did happen and I’m standing at the starting line again.  Know what I have to say about that?

SON OF A B***H MOTHER F****R!!!!

I’m not going to give an excuse, honestly I don’t know what happened, I am going to dust myself off and get back on my horse made up of good foods and no booze.

What I am doing now though is punishing myself.  I have a deadline to be in the 100’s, and that deadline is my New Orleans trip Easter weekend.  I’ve pissed away most of February now so it’s crunch time.  A girlfriend has had amazing results with a 6 week body make over.  It’s rigorous, it’s time consuming and it’s going to not be much in the way of fun.  My desire for those 100s however is bigger than this. 

The Man gave me a 2.5 hour spa treatment including a swedish hot rock massage for V-day, and it’s going to be my reward to myself for 20 lbs.  He’s so wonderful that he told me he’ll send me as often as I need to reward myself with to keep me motivated.  I’m SO going to hold him to that.  20 lbs - swedish massage.  It’s like I win for winning!  How is that anything but awesome?

6 weeks, starting tomorrow.

1.  I’m finding it difficult to live my life, work my job and keep up with 3FC forums, a Fit Day journal and my dear diary here. 

2. There really isn’t a number two.

So, I’ve been doing AWESOME!  The scale isn’t moving fast, but it’s definitely moving, which is the most important thing.  I’m the type that likes immediate gratification (hey, who doesn’t, right?) but I’m trying to be patient on this one. 

I haven’t revisited the scale at the gym yet, just the one at the house, but I REALLY think I met my 10 lb Singles Awareness Day challenge!!  I haven’t boasted it yet, because I want the confirmation of the scale I started my venture on. 

Today has been a bit of a fail day.  Not terrible, but I DID indulge myself in a hanful of cheetos from a co-worker as well as some McDonald’s french fries at lunch.  I was going to make myself some breakfast for dinner tonight, one of my all time favorites, but I think I might sidestep that this evening in lieu of some tofu and summer squash to try to play a little bit of catch up.

Funny, I hate tofu, but for some reason, cooked up with that summer squash and a bit of EVOO (thanks RR), it’s uber tasty.

I think I’m starting to see the results of a few lbs falling away from my face, but it’s a baby step at best right now.

Big win for me this past week, I’ve been pretty depressed…stupid boything being stupid and humiliating me in front of his friends in a drunken stupor.  I forgave him pretty quickly, of course under the pre-req that he doesn’t pull that shit with me again, but being here in this new place where I don’t really know anyone save a few people who are NOT my type of folk, him doing that to me, blah blah blah has had my brain in a weird place.  I know, that doesn’t sound like much of a win you say, but the win part actually stems from me NOT falling into comfort food/booze to make myself feel better and doing more meditation and yoga in an effort to cope.

YAY WIN!

Sorry for the boring blog, I’m not feeling very entertaining today, as is probably evidenced by this post.

Conversation last night with the man.

Man: Wanna log in and do some dailies with me?

Me: No.  I think I’m going to go lock myself in the spare room, do some yoga and meditate instead.

Man: Does that mean you want me to leave you alone:

Me: Yes.

Now, this might not mean anything to you.  But if any of you suffer from the online gaming addiction that I do, you would know that a milestone this is for me.  Sure, part of it is a bit of gaming burnout…but the fact that I would rather focus on myself and exercise than play a game was HUGE for me!

Yoga.  It’s rapidly becoming my new drug.  It’s hard, it’s challenging, but OMG does it make me feel wonderful!  I have grand plans to redesign my spare bedroom into a meditation room for myself.  Happy birthday to me (even though it’s no where near my birthday).  I’ve already started purchasing the deco for it…just need to get some time and paint and there is a weekend project for myself.

I came out of my session last evening, only half an hour mind you, but plenty long enough calm, quiet and at peace with myself.  Man likes it because things are always easier on him and for him when I’m not being a psycho hormonal hosebeast, so he’s on board with me doing these things too!

I’m doing awesome sticking to my calorie goals, even with a little stretch of things I maybe shouldn’t be eating here and there.  The bathroom scale this morning gave me another couple of pounds to rest at 231.  I’m super excited by this, though I’m trying to make myself acknowledge the fact that in these first stages, water weight and such is going to just fall off like it’s been doing.  It will slow down.  But every day this week, I’ve looked at the scale to see a smaller number than the day before. 

Loving it!

…hell if I know, I’m not a Star Trek fan! 

Dear diary, I have been neglectful in updating you.  Please forgive me, it’s been five days since my last confession.  Normally, I would have three bloody marys and tithe a $20, however, I’m doing my best to stay away from the booze for a while.  So, since I’m broke, we’re both out of luck! 

Truth is, I shamefully continued on my fail trend through the weekend.  (Stick with me though, by the end of this post there will be success and optimism, I promise!)  I had avoided the scales, knowing full well the number there would only make me feel worse.

I told myself that I wasn’t going to “start again”, especially on a Monday.

Guess what I did?  I started again on Monday!  >.<

I did great!  I am back onto logging every single bit of food I ingest and I managed to stay within my calorie goal!  I made the decision that if my lazy ass doesn’t want to get out of bed in the morning to hit the gym pre-grind, then I will force myself to go after, which I did.  I got to the gym, stepped up on the scale and the numbers said to me “hey heifer, you’re up another 4 freakin’ pounds, BAZING!”

Instead of getting upset, I simply offered the scale a simple one-handed gesture and hopped up on the treadmill.  I definitely dislike the fact that the gym is more crowded in the afternoons, but too bad.  The deal with myself is, if it’s that important, get up.  If not, suffer through the numbers. 

Yesterday was great…same eating routine followed by an after-work workout.  I realized as I was settling into my Mortal Kombat Annihilation driven groove that it really wasn’t that bad.  I could actually enjoy this!

Despite our prior misgivings, I stepped upon the scale once again, and it bowed it’s head in defeat, giving me back three of those pounds I had gained since my last doctor’s visit.  Small victory, I know, but it’s definitely incentive to keep on track.

Artist: Jack Kirby Inker: George Klein Letters: Artie Simek

Breakfast - Grapefruit, Calories: 100 Protein: 2 Carbs: 25

Mid morning snack - Handful of Planters, Calories: 170, Protein: 5, Carbs: 6

Lunch - Turkey & spinach wrap w/spinach salad, Calories: 250, Protein: 20, Carbs: 25

Mid afternoon snack - Grapefruit, Calories: 100 Protein: 2 Carbs: 25

Dinner - Eggs, bacon, hash browns - Calories: 287, Protein: 14, Carbs: 11

After dinner - BEER!  (I had 3) - Calories: 306, Protein: 0, Carbs: 33

Summation: I’m definitely staying within my alotted calorie limits, but I really think I’m screwing the proverbial pooch by drinking.  I need to stop it, but I don’t really want to.  But I NEED to, but I don’t want to.  :( 

I have to beat it through my head that the weight loss is more important.  I’m unhealthy right now.  Stomach fat scares me, it’s bad for my heart.  Extra boobage scares me because they’re big enough already (and OMG fat bras are expensive…and ugly!).  Face fat scares me because extra chins just aren’t sexy. 

I’m giving myself my own personal valentines day challenge.  10 lbs.  That’s a little bit over two weeks.  My boyfriend is taking me out to dinner that Saturday before, and I WILL be ten pounds lighter. 

“We are what we repeatedly do.  Excellence, therefore is not an act but a habit.”  ~Aristotle

Here is my marker for yesterday.

  Yes, I could go ahead and start logging everything I ate yesterday.  But guess what?  I don’t want to.  It was fail start to finish.  I had cokes, I had McDonalds, I had beers.  I was foul, I started my period and I told myself yesterday I just don’t give I shit, I’m going to have what I want.  Today, as I had to get dressed up for visitors at work today, I realize yet again how poorly everything fits and I’m miserable for it. 

Someone responded to one of my forum posts with the statement of “Just stop doing it.” and while I wanted to extend my middle finger and tell them to eat it, I realized just how exactly right they were.  Why don’t I just stop?

I drew myself some motivation in paint, I know, my artistic abilities know no bounds, it’s ok to be a little bit jealous of them if you’d like, I won’t judge you.  But anyway, I don’t want to end up like this.