Gabbagoolia: I Can Not Has Cheezburger

Twenty-first week, and an anniversary

This weekend was my fourth wedding anniversary. My husband and I have now been together for nine years- we got married on the fifth anniversary of our first date (really the first time we hung out, it was not actually a date date). We had dinner at Summer Winter, and I'll just pause to allow you to check out their menu.

On Friday I had my usual sensible breakfast and lunch, and gave myself 'permission' to order whatever I felt like having when we got to the restaurant. And man, did I chow. We started with the yam fries with garlic aioli, a cheese plate, and a salad of leeks and baby greens with tarragon vinaigette. I think the greens might have been the best single thing I ate- they were so tiny and airy, it was like a mouthful of crunchy, savory freshness. Perfectly seasonal.

For my entree, I had the Kobe beef burger- more later.

Sixteenth Weekend

Saturday morning I went to the gym as scheduled. On the way home, I stopped at a different supermarket from my usual- the market itself is not as nice but it is certainly more convenient. I swear there wasn't an employee over 17 in the entire place, and the staff were struggling a little bit. For example, I usually bring my cloth grocery bags with me and put them right on top of my groceries as I load them onto the belt. As I finished unloading my cart, I noticed that the bagger was putting all my stuff in plastic bags. I asked him to take my groceries out of the plastic, and the cashier asked me "Oh, did you want us to use those cloth bags to pack your groceries?" I managed not to reply "No, they just like to go for a ride on the conveyor belt."

Breakfast was an egg white scramble with turkey kielbasa and vegetables. I've gotten G into the multigrain wraps so we are a breakfast burrito-nomming family. Then we cleaned together for most of the rest of the day. Again, Spark says you burn 400 calories an hour doing heavy cleaning- I did about four hours of moderate cleaning, so I figure it equals out.

Dinner was multigrain pasta with homemade sauce- I should have done something else because there was a lot of Italian food going around this weekend.

Calories 1775, Carbs 238, Fat 32, Protein 144.

Sunday was Mother's Day, and we took G's parents out to dinner- Italian again! I tried to eat moderately, but I have no idea how to count up what I ate. I ordered well (beet tartare with walnuts and gorgonzola, warm zucchini salad with almonds and pecorino, pan-roasted chicken breasts and garlic mashed potatoes in a pancetta white wine pan sauce) but I also had a taste of what everyone else ordered, and there is no way I am going to parse out ONE BITE of each of the following: cream of mushroom soup, crab cake with avocado salsa, tomato and buffalo mozz bruschetta, meat-stuffed cannelloni, scallops in mustard sauce, veal chop milanese, citrus creme brulee, chocolate layer cake. So my numbers are probably WILDLY off, especially in terms of fat and protein, but I'm not too concerned. It was delicious, but I'm glad it's over- after we were through I just felt horrible. Too much fat and salt and richness. Back on the low-fat multigrain train!

Calories 2315, Carbs 185, Fat 124, Protein 125.

Sixteenth Week, Part 2

Thursday was a really exciting day. I started off at the gym like any other alternate Thursday, then as I was on my way to work, I learned that our two good friends were moving into their new apartment, in our town, that afternoon. After a quick consultation with my boss, I decided to take a half day and go home to help them move in. I was thrilled to see them, of course, but I would be lying if I said I didn't think of it as an opportunity to lift heavy stuff.

I helped them from 2 until 5, and then we went to Subway to get sandwiches for the crew. After a short picnic, we did two more hours of work and then I showed my friend the beauty that is Idylwilde. Spark says you burn 672 calories per hour of moving, and I estimated that I did two hours of real work in five hours, so that was a nice bonus. Plus, good helping karma! By the time I got home I was ravenous, and I thought about ordering something for dinner, but was too hungry to wait for it- I microwaved some leftover lentil soup and some veggie pakora G'd left in the fridge.

Calories 1813, Carbs 223, Fat 69, Protein 93.

On Friday I had dinner plans after work with a former boss/current friend, so I ate lightly during the day. We ended up at a little Italian restaurant that seemed to be one of those best-kept-secret, where-the-locals-go places near where I work. Everything was delicious, and I ate and drank moderately. I still went over on calories and fat, but it was a busy, active week.

Calories 2404, Carbs 262, Fat 97, Protein 82.

Fifteenth Weekend

Friday morning I went to the gym, then made it through the workday with a minimum of incident. There was an all-company 'Cinco de Mayo' celebration in the afternoon (which I persisted in calling Dos de Mayo, because really) to which I did not go. I don't really socialize with people at work, although I like most of the people I work with- but to me, my friends are the people I hang out with because I want to, not because I am paid to. And there's probably very little on a Cinco de Mayo buffet that I would be willing to eat (at least, prepared by someone else). I am no fun.

G was home late, so I had a big salad for dinner: spinach, sprouts, red pepper, broccoslaw and a big scoop of lowfat tuna salad. Later on I was hungry for a snack, so I warmed up some Chavrie in the microwave and dipped pretzels into it. Of all the things I have cut out of my diet in the last four months, I miss chips-and-dip the most. I could go forever without another bite of a donut, but kettle-cooked potatoes with zesty ranch still call out my name.

Calories 1808, Carbs 229, Fat 64, Protein 101.

On Saturday, I went on a date with my husband. It was a long-awaited occasion- since he's been working 11 to 8 in the city, and I've been going to bed early, we haven't seen much of each other. So we drove into the city and went to a little art museum that we both love. We did a lot of walking and talking and, I will admit, possibly some making out in public, and it was just a perfect day. After all the art and architecture, we felt the need for huge plates of red meat, so we went to our favorite barbecue joint to refuel. The huge joke is that my favorite item on the menu there is the house green salad (with cornbread croutons!) but I had a little side of pulled pork to get into the barbecue spirit.

For dinner, I made orange-peanut tofu with asparagus. Poor G pointed out as I was serving it that I usually make rice to go under it... but it completely slipped my mind. My body has been asking for protein and vegetables lately and I find I could care less about carbs. I am not planning to go over to the Atkins dark side, though, because that way lies madness. Dude, eating the right stuff is hard!

Calories 2014, Carbs 164, Fat 123 (barbecue!), Protein 81.

Sunday I did the gym first thing, and came home fiending for protein. Made a quick scramble of egg whites, provolone cheese and salsa and rolled it up in a lavash- it definitely took longer to cook it in the microwave than it did to stuff it down my gullet. I should note that my weekend workouts are much longer and more intense than the ones I do during the week and eat accordingly!

Lunch was leftovers from the fridge. Dinner was mango salsa over black bean and roasted pork tacos, which I actually made using lavash (100 calories of whole-grain bread vs. 340 of white? no contest). Then with the calories I saved, I finished off the vanilla bean ice cream and mixed frozen berries leftover from Baseball Brunch. Totally worth it.

Calories 1873, Carbs 207, Fat 60, Protein 150.

Lunching, Legally

This afternoon I met my former boss (who's doing some consulting work for our company for the next eight weeks, yay) for lunch at Legal Sea Foods. She's very concerned with the quality of what she eats, and thoughtful about how her choices affect her health, so I could do a lot worse for lunchtime company. She is definitely a role model for me in many ways; if I were telling anyone about what I am doing she would be one of the first people I'd choose.

I don't know why I ever read a menu at Legal's, because I always get the same thing: baked scrod with a buttered-bread-crumb topping. I wasn't quite sure how to code it for SparkPeople (what is scrod, anyway? Just a New England way to say baked haddock? My dad maintains that it's the past perfect tense of screwed) so I called it two fillets, half a cup of seasoned bread crumbs, and 2T of butter. I hope that's not wildly inaccurate- I felt full after lunch, but not stuffed, and I didn't have the feeling I usually get after eating a giant ball of grease. Even so, it was a big meal compared to what I've been having lately. I think dinner will be leftover vegetable salad to compensate.

Although I love beets, I won't be sorry to finish them off (their last incarnation is giving color to my cold veg salad). Without being overly crude, I keep freaking myself out in the bathroom.

OK, I will be crude about it: I am tired of pissing VitaminWater. It's been four straight days. Enough already.