Gabbagoolia: I Can Not Has Cheezburger

Nineteenth Week, already over. Twentieth week, underway.

I didn't get around to posting all week because I was so busy doing other things. Most excitingly, I bought a camera. I've wanted one for a long time, but now that I am spending so much time thinking and talking about food that it might save me a few thousand words to be able to photograph it:













Without you I am nothing.

I made some 'egg muffins' over the weekend. The recipe is from one of the South Beach Diet cookbooks, but I got my info from Kalyn's Kitchen, as linked by one of the MATHletes.

Ingredients:













Cooking up the filling:













Finished product:













I also put together some tofu-tuna salad for lunches:













So I should have breakfast and lunch taken care of for most of the week.

I'm also glad to be able to take photos of myself. For a long time, I didn't like to look at my own pictures because I had an image of myself in my head that no longer resembled what I'd see in them. This weekend I weighed in at exactly 25 pounds down from when I started this whole thing, and I look like I think I look again. If that makes sense.

Here I am in my bathroom mirror, with a quarter balanced on my neck to show you how wide my shoulders actually are:













Hey, that looks like me!

Fifteenth Week

This week has been all about leftovers. Sunday afternoon I'd made turkey burgers with crumbled blue cheese, bacon, portabellas and scallions mixed in with the meat (so moist! so good!) and those leftovers were Monday's lunch. Dinner was Middle East Feast- low-fat hummus, tabouleh, feta, whole wheat pita, sliced cucumber, shredded carrots, alfalfa sprouts, fresh baby spinach. I dined alone on Monday, so there were plenty of leftovers! I also had some ice cream, left over from Baseball Brunch- but I had 1/2 cup serving mixed with 1 cup of warmed frozen berries, for a super-awesome treat.

Calories 2029, Carbs 218, Fat 90 (way too high- I blame ice cream and bacon), Protein 96.

Tuesday morning I went to the old gym for what may be the last time. I decided to cut cardio short and focus on getting a really good round of strength training done. So I did 16 minutes on the elliptical, then did a good long set of all my core and upper body exercises. I finished up, left the gym, got on the highway... and Rt. 495 was a parking lot. I took the first available exit, looped back around to the gym, and did another 30 minutes on the bike. Hey, I was going to be late to work anyway, might as well use the time productively rather than sitting in traffic honking and bitching.

That afternoon, bored at work, I decided to take a half day and get some errands done. I had my eyebrows waxed and my teeth cleaned, then made a trip up to Nashua to look for more clothes. And OMG, the Nashua Target is the greatest Target in the history of Targets. So many cute clothes! I bought a whole bunch of new stuff there, then window-shopped my way to the food court, where I was confronted with Chik-Fil-A. I have been trying to avoid fast food, and mostly have done so, but it is so rare that I even see a Chik-Fil-A that I couldn't resist. I had the grilled sandwich and a small order of fried chicken strips because they are just so delicious.

Then I went to the Gap and bought a couple pairs of beautiful jeans in my size off the clearance rack. Whaaaaaaaaat?

Later, dinner was more Mid-East Feasting. I can't find a calorie count for shopping on Spark but you cannot tell me it's not a physical activity.

Calories 2048, Carbs 246, Fat 78, Protein 108.

Thirteenth Weekend

Saturday I had a salon appointment- first leg wax of the year- and then to check out a different gym. I've been thinking of making a change, because my current gym is too crowded and (except for my trainer) the staff are terrible. I liked the place I saw today, and I have two more to visit before I make up my mind, but  it's good knowing what else is out there.

When I got home, I had a turkey sandwich with leftover zucchini, and then took a nap. Dinner was takeout- cheese pizza and spinach salad with my own Newman's dressing.

Calories 1012 (dude, I know, I thought the pizza would have more than it did), Carbs 127, Fat 36, Protein 49.

Sunday was my gym day this weekend, and then I went to meet a friend for a long-overdue shopping mission. We spent almost 5 hours wandering the Natick Mall, trying on anything and everything that might look good on me. The good news is that I am definitely a size 16; the bad news is that no matter how skinny I might get, I am still too long-waisted to expect to find tops that work on me. I wish I'd remembered to wear my borrowed pedometer!

After our shopping trip, I had to go to Whole Foods for supplies for Baseball Brunch- namely, Guinness and ice cream. I picked up a California roll for dinner while I was there, but it wasn't enough to prevent me from eating half of a big choco-chip cookie.

Calories 2079, Carbs 324, Fat 52, Protein 84.

Monday was Baseball Brunch, hooray! In case I did not already explain what that is, on the day of the Boston Marathon, the Red Sox play an 11 AM game at home. Many, if not most, people who work or go to school in the area get to take that day off. So I host a small brunch at my house, where we all start drinking at 10 AM Monday morning and watch the game.

I had already promised myself a 'free day'- meaning that I would eat whatever I wanted and not worry about fat or calories. Considering that I have been rigorously monitoring every damn bite for 3 months, I did not feel bad in the least. I had one Guinness float-style (pour beer, add scoop of vanilla ice cream, YUM) and one plain, and greatly enjoyed every bite of home fries and scrambled eggs with fresh dill and sharp cheddar. My guests brought fruit salad and a chilled fruit soup, which were very good.

Then, of course, as soon as my guests left, I cleaned the kitchen and took a nap. For dinner, I made my lemon-poached fish, with brown rice and asparagus and a massive salad.

Calories 2186, Carbs 203, Fat 98, Protein 85. Not bad for a free day!

Day 60

Overslept a little, but not too badly, considering how much trouble I usually have on Monday mornings. Breakfast was some instant oatmeal I got at Whole Foods, and an orange I'd left on my desk Friday. Midmorning snack was cheese and crackers, lunch was leftover fish and vegetables in yummy sauce, late afternoon snack was leftover fruit salad and yogurt.

I did a quick Idylwilde run after work, then did two loads of laundry and made tacos. I stayed up somewhat later than I would have liked, because the Celtics game was super-exciting, and still felt hungry, so I had an apple. This pushed me right up against my daily calorie limit, but I knew I was going to the gym on Tuesday morning. In happier shopping news, I ordered a properly-sized sports bra online- not cheap, and more closely resembling some Victorian corset nightmare than a cute racerback Lycra thing, but I am a firm believer in having the right tools to do the job.

Calories 2024, Carbs 277, Fat 60, Protein 108.

Day 57

Friday morning I had trouble getting out of bed, and I blame sugar. I poked G until he got up to make the coffee, which meant I slept in until 8:30. Rolled into work at 10, having missed the CEO's mandatory all-company quarterly meeting, oops.

Breakfast was two small apples and some oatmeal. Lunch was a can of Chickarina and some pretzels. In the late afternoon, I had a big snack, because I had plans to eat a special dinner with G to celebrate Friday night: string cheese and crackers, some turkey breast, and a plain Stonyfield yogurt. I also knew I would need strength for my next task: attempting to walk into a store and buy a new sports bra.

I can never remember a time when I enjoyed clothes shopping. Even when I was at my thinnest, standard sizes don't fit me well- I need larger clothes that are not plus-size. Pluses tend to be cut bigger in the waist, and that is never my problem. If my shoulders and hips fit into something, the waist is enormous. I realize now that the solution is to bring everything to a tailor, but for the last three or four years, I've given up. Every day, I put on jeans, a t-shirt and a hoodie (sweatshirt in summer, sweater in winter) and call it good.  I've pretty much solved the jeans problem: Old Navy Women's 18+ fit pretty well. Tops are another story. The last two tops-shopping trips that I can remember have ended with me running out of a mall to cry hysterically in my car, having found nothing remotely suitable. In sum, I fucking hate shopping. But, I only own one sports bra, purchased in 2000 (?) and not doing the job at all.

So: Lane Bryant, where I buy most of my bras, no longer carries sports bras. Nordstrom had one with an underwire and one without, which I tried on, with hilarious results. Lululemon had nothing even plausible. Then I figured I'd look at less high-end stores- Sears had nothing. I finally ended up at JC Penney's, where they had one bra that was two sizes too small, rather than six, so I got it. It is painfully obvious that I'll need to order bras online if I want them to fit correctly, but I'm hoping this one will tide me over until I can get one shipped.

Then I drove home and made dinner- steak, roasted potatoes with rosemary and sea salt, sauteed onions and mushrooms, eggplant with garlic and lemon, and a quick salad of cucumber, shredded carrots and grape tomatoes. And I skipped dessert.

Calories 1821, Carbs 228, Fat 54, Protein 107, hissy fits 0.