Hi, tortoise ones.
Erin, that's interesting what you said about having trained your body for 10 years and now getting that rush of endorphins when you push yourself. I think I have a mild version of that. After I've been working out for 20 minutes or so, I feel like I could just keep going forever. (This is relatively new, by the way.) Those first 20 minutes are a royal pain some days, but then it gets much easier. I don't have the big rush yet, though. I just basically feel more energetic after those first 20 minutes. I found it encouraging to read your post, because I feel like if I just stick with this, it'll only get better. That's great and another reason to keep at it.
Judy, good for you, writing down the buns and talking about the emotional eating with your class. Your class sounds terrific. I'll bet they appreciated you bringing up the subject.
Lin, your dinner sounds FABULOUS. How was it? (And if it's today, what time should we show up?
) It's funny that you had game hen. I think that's what I had at our fabulous dinner last night. I had something called guinea hen. I don't know what that is, but it was mighty tasty. It was a bit tougher than a domestic chicken, but the flavor was outstanding.
Let's see ... my meal started with scallops that had been roasted and just melted in my mouth. Best scallops I've ever had. They were nestled in a puddle of a very light, fresh cream sauce with diced red peppers and, I think, cucumbers. The cream sauce was underneath them, so I didn't have to eat much of it (and I didn't, though it sure was good). Then I had their mixed greens, which had dried cranberries and seeds and a mild white cheese and other stuff, in an amazing dressing -- it tasted of carmelized onions. DH had the pear salad -- pears poached in cloves and other spices, and mixed with the freshest gorgonzola cheese imaginable.
Dinner for me was the guinea hen, which was lightly sauteed in ... hmmm ... I tasted thyme, onions, and I think rosemary, and then it was baked with homemade noodles (out of this world; I've never had better), diced rutabegas, other veggies, and an incredible fois gras in a poultry reduction. The fois gras did me in, I think. It tasted lightly roasted, and it just melted in your mouth -- but I can't even guess what the points were. It was about the size of a mushroom cap. (That's what I thought it was at first.) (DH had salmon dusted with fennel flour with a bunch of other stuff -- amazing.)
Dessert was a sampler for me -- including stuff like mousse, a frozen cappuccino thing with creme fraiche, fresh mango in a mild soft cheese I don't recall the name of, and a little creme brulee with blueberries and cinnamon. I love their dessert samplers; each item is about two bites. Perfect.
We had a merlot with the whole thing. The price was obscene, but it sure was fun. I also had serious indigestion afterward and this morning. My body just isn't used to all that rich food! I still haven't tried to figure out the points. The portion sizes were small, as they often are in restaurants like this, but I was still stuffed afterward. Not that I didn't practically lick my plate!
Anyway, enough talk about food. I'm eating light today, as you can imagine.
Oh, I did my pilates tape yesterday, and I was able to do the whole thing for the first time! Must be the ab crunches I've been doing with the Paula Abdul workout. My stomach and fronts of my thighs are very sore today, though. Funny; I didn't feel like I'd done that much. Interesting workout, pilates.
Onward and downward,
Lauren
274/194/189 by April 17 80 pounds down!
