So I have good news, and bad news…

The good news is I tried my bridesmaid dress on last night, and it “fits”… I zipped it up, and well, it fits. The bad news is that it doesn’t quite fit right. Besides some minor altering, my stomach isn’t as flat as I want. To give you a better idea, here is the dress I’m referring to:

https://www.alfredangelo.com/collections/productdisplay.aspx?productID=8fac57ed-403a-4b43-b49d-c4a7f2986fac&categoryID=772f03c9-de43-4942-bfa0-da77e21ebd65&pg=0&colorId1=  The color is “Claret” not the black below.

It’s a gorgeous dress, stunning in the deep dark red color too. And if I looked like the chic above, I would look stunning in it too. But I definitely don’t.  So back to the bad news… I weighed myself this morning and I’m 12lbs from my goal. 52 days to lose 12lbs. Hopefully in the stomach area… maybe tone up my shoulders and arms… that would be ideal.

And I’m on it. Day 2 back on my diet track and it’s on. Lots of lean protein, veggies, some fruit, and tons and tons of water. Yesterday’s workout was killer, and tonight’s workout is going to be even harder for sure. I slept like crap last night… pretty sure I had at least one night terror and woke up with a migraine.  I’m thinking it might have something to do with watching Dateline on ID before bed… its possible LoL.

Anywho- today I made up some lean ground turkey and sautéed/braised cabbage with bacon, onion and garlic. I love braised cabbage and this recipe turned out OK. Not great, but ok. But, cabbage helps the digestive system, cleans ya out. Always a good thing. The bacon is right on track with the Whole30 (all natural), and the ground turkey is just great to have on hand. Put it on a salad, have it with some eggs for breakfast, or over a sweet potato for dinner. I think I actually will do that tonight for dinner.

I’ll check back in tomorrow!

53 days… is it enough time?

Happy Tuesday everyone! God I love three-day weekends. Especially Memorial Day… its pretty much my favorite family vacation weekend of the year. My family and our significant others go up to our house near Yosemite, go out on the lake, bbq, play a little drunken wiffle ball. So much fun.  This year was no different. We tend to have a tradition of getting in your face drunk on Saturday night, and I was the lucky winner this year. Go me.  All over a heated (and hilarious) debate started my Don Signori. His question was, ” how can you eat a pound of food and gain more than a pound?” Oh man did we come up with some good answers… and the theories got better and better as the empty bottles of wine accumulated in the middle of the table. It was a lot of fun!

So you’re probably asking what’s in 53 days? Welp, that would be my sister’s wedding. I have my bridesmaid dress that I havent tried on since we ordered it, and really need to do so. I’m nowhere near my goal weight, and I’m feeling pretty discouraged. I fell off my Whole30 train, ate some (delicious) but terrible for me foods and drinks. And now I’m back at ground zero. Or at least it feels that way. So I made a decision last night. Today is day 1 of 53. I have 53 days (or 7 weeks and 4 days) to get to my goal of losing 10-15lbs. To stick to my diet, to exercise 6 days a week, sleep 7-8 hours a night, drink lots of water, and hopefully not die in the process.  Theoretically this is doable. If I can lose 1-2lbs every week, I will hit my goal of 10lbs no problem. But I have to stick to my diet. I have to not eat the cake, have the margarita, or that piece of bread at dinner. I have to watch my portions, drink enough water, get in enough exercise.

Here’s how I’m going to do it:

1) Actually do my cook-up every week. Whatever it takes. Make the time and just freaking do it 🙂

2) Add in more cardio, specifically HIIT intervals on my (still broken, but hopefully soon-to-be-fixed) treadmill

3) SLEEP: this is huge for me. I’m a mess when I don’t get enough sleep. I’m already blonde, so this is devastating  <– I once drove past my office three times due to not enough sleep…

4) Get the junk out of the house, and keep it out! Honestly, we don’t really have that much “junk” since I’ve been doing the Whole30, but I gotta keep the chocolate chips out and sour patch kids.

5) Minimize eating out: Steven and I like to eat out, especially during the week. It’s easy, convenient, and were both so tired by 8pm that Chipotle sounds pretty good.  I just need to be smarter about this. Eating out doesn’t have to be a disaster, nor does it have to be the only thing I eat. I can get chipotle and add in some stuff I have at home. Or get the protein style burger, and have a sweet potato on the side.

All of this sounds so easy. Now I just have to do it. This blog is going to keep me accountable. It has to, so I’m asking all of you (the few that read my little blog) to support me in this as well.  Hold me accountable when I don’t post by the end of the day, ask me how the previous day went, and make me tell you what I’ve been eating!

I appreciate all of your support and time you take out to read this funny little blog of mine. Until tomorrow, enjoy the rest of your day back from vacation!

Cake, Bread, and Bangs…

Good morning and happy Monday everyone! Ugh who am I kidding. Its monday. FML.

This weekend was a blast though. Saturday started with a beast of a workout at the CSM track. I took Friday off to rest and had a lovely date night with the Stevenator instead. We went to CPK for dinner and I had a huge California Cobb with dijon balsamic dressing. I ate the whole thing. It was delicious. Back to Saturday. My mom’s best friend put on a gorgeous bridal shower for my sister. I wish I had some pictures to put up so I’ll be as descriptive as I can 🙂 The theme was a beautiful myer lemon color and light green. The flower arrangements had hints of pinks and purples, there were signs hung as you walked into the house and outside int he back yard. The food was incredible: peach and raspberry champagne cocktails, mini dulche de leche cheese cake bites, home-made chinese chicken salad, the best sugar cookies you will ever eat (in the shapes of tulips and daisies)… I could go on and on. It was a beautiful day and so much fun. My sister had a great time and enjoyed every minute of it.

After the bridal shower most of us came back to my parents house to check out their newly remodeled backyard. My moms a sucker for a project, and this was quite the project. Again, I wish I had some pictures to show you. Next time I’m over there I’ll take some. The waterfall she designed and put in is incredible.

We were all sitting in the family room talking with one of my aunts and cousins (who live in Davis and we don’t see nearly enough) and I suggested we all go to our favorite restaurant Cafe Figaro for dinner. I was pretty much stoked when my dad said yes, so we all headed over there and enjoyed another awesome family dinner. I absolutely love those. Food, conversation, wine. It just doesn’t get much better than that.

Saturday I stuck to my paleo/whole30 plan relatively well. I had a glass of champagne and one cheese cake bite. But other than that I ate fruit salad and chinese chicken salad. Dinner I had some wine and a new york strip with grilled veggies. I felt pretty good Sunday (despite a headache I had Saturday night… definitely from the champagne. Champagne and I don’t get along too well). And then Sunday happened. Mothers day and my brothers 23rd birthday. Two cakes, fresh rosemary bread, meats and cheese from italy. Heaven on earth. And I had some. And I’m paying for it.

I haven’t had bread in just about a month or so. Almost immediately after having a piece of the rosemary bread, I started sneezing, my stomach bloated up and I didn’t feel well. The cake put me over the edge. It was beyond good, and I ate way too much of it. But I felt sick about half way through it. My stomach is still upset from what I ate yesterday and I woke up with another migraine. I know for a fact that sugar and wheat just don’t agree with me. It’s better if I stay away completely from the bread, and only have a little of the deserts. Because really, chocolate is  worth so much more than bread. Especially chocolate cake.

I’m sure you’re wondering why the title says, “Cake, bread, and Bangs…” two weeks ago I went in for my usual highlight and cut and told my stylist I wanted a change… in the bang region. Apparently Kim Kardashian is rocking the bangs (and starting a trend of course) so she suggested I try something like that. So I did… she cut off about 6 inches from the front of my hair.  I’ve been wearing them pulled back a lot because I can’t quite figure out how to style them. But this weekend I had sort of an ah-ha moment, and wore them down Saturday and today. Usually when I get a new style it takes me about 2 weeks to figure it out, get use to it, and style it right. I’m almost at two weeks so were right on track.  Again, no pictures of this, but maybe tomorrow you’ll get an awkward self-portrait of yours truly.

One last note- thank god for spell check. You should see how many words I mis-spell as I’m typing. And most of them are easy words. Like parents.

Toodles!

Where are all the plantain chips?!

This weekend at my good friends Erin and Jim’s wedding, I discovered something that I haven’t quite been able to forget. The wedding had a Cuban theme throughout the cocktail hour (Erin is part Cuban) with some amazing Cuban inspired snacks and drinks. Gazpacho, Cuban sandwiches, and Plantain chips. Not banana chips, no no no. These are straight up plantain chips. Savory, crunchy, slightly salty, and ridiculously good. And I cant find them. Anywhere. Whole Foods doesn’t have them, Safeway doesn’t have them, I’ve heard Trader Joe’s has them… but mine doesn’t apparently. So I’ve resulted to Amazon. I have a couple of bags on their way. I’ve already started planning how I will consume each bag, how long it might take, and when I should plan on ordering more.

If you’re in an area where you can access fresh plantains, and have a dehydrator. PLEASE MAKE THESE. And then tell me how good they are. And then, if you really like me, send me a bag. I will give you  a virtual high five. Maybe even a fist bump.