Day 30 - Monday

So how do you politely tell your spouse NOT to follow a 13 year tradition for Valentine's Day? Every year, we have given each other See's Candies for the Most Romantic Day of the Year...but this year, I just don't want that around here...I know I could just tell him, but I think that he'll then feel like he needs to do something bigger. I'd be fine with a) nothing, b) a book, c) Starbucks, or d) nothing...Obviously I just need to let him know.

The picture above is a simple part of a dinner I made when I didn't have time to cook - prawns, a little cocktail sauce, and a big fat salad. Sooo tasty...

On Saturday, I woke up early (or earlier than the rest of the family) and made Devin's Sausage Biscuit Sandwich. First, I have to say that I think this was the most time-consuming of any of the recipes I have made so far. The biscuits were homemade, the sausage had to be mixed with herbs and so forth (so tasty!)...so it took time. Secondly, I have to say this was the perfect choice for Saturday morning, as The Girl read her first book cover to cover Friday night...and not one of those "one word per page" kind of jobbies. The title? "Biscuit Goes to School." So when she saw what I was making, she was very excited to recognize a word from her book the night before. The biscuits were tasty - The Boy liked the biscuits as much as or better than those little blue tubes of biscuits. I couldn't find sausage that was AS low in fat as Devin recommends, so I just made 6 sausages instead of 5 to balance out. Nana and Poppy got to try the sausages Sunday morning (yay leftovers), and both enjoyed them very much.
This week is a little crazy for cooking...The Boy has his birthday, so his once-every-few-months treat is due again. Ba da ba ba ba...he's lovin' it. Then he chose Chevy's for the family dinner, thanks to sombreros, singing, and El Machino. I will be as healthy as I can be, just before running away for business to Frankfurt. Wish me luck!
40% of goal met in 16% of the time frame. I think I'll be able to set my next goal sooner than expected!

Day 26 - Thursday

I sat down yesterday to share my excitement about this week but found I was so exhausted from the excitement of my week that I fell asleep in front of the laptop...so I'm going to try again to express my amazing excitement, gratitude and enthusiasm...

I am so incredibly excited! Previously, I wrote about the frustration of not always having the time to cook healthy meals and the need for extensive forethought in order to succeed at weight loss (especially with the craziness of traveling to Sin City and so forth...) On Monday, I received a gift from Devin. Included were three autographed cookbooks: Fast Food Fix (great for when you're craving a Big Mac but looking for something under, say, 500 calories), The Most Decadent Diet Ever (the book I've been working from so far - which is good, 'cause this one's getting ratty from going EVERYWHERE with me), and a brand new book (I don't know if I can even reveal the name) which is designed for those who don't have the time to cook! Having tried a variety of recipes now from MDDE, I'm really excited to try some of these new recipes.

So after my absence, here's a brief recap of some of the recipes I've tried: I did a "Fit Into Your Skinny Jeans" gathering, which allowed me to make the Skinny Mini Cherry-Topped Cheesecakes and Tiny Tacos, as well as the Mediterranean Dip and pita triangles. All were good, although the Cheesecakes were by far my favorite. Great for curing a craving! The Skinny Scampi was ah-mazing and the Chicken Quesadilla was good as well. So far, the two recipes I am least fond of are the Chocolate Not Only in Your Dreams Cake and the Potato Chip Crusted Chicken. Of course, I don't eat potato chips to begin with, so that may be a factor. This week, I'm looking forward to trying the Godiva Sundae, the Sausage Breakfast Sandwich, Chicken Cordon Bleu, and the Cobb Salad...who's coming for dinner?

Day 21 - Saturday

One week later, and I'm half a pound heavier...after having eaten crab, lobster, prawns, steak, desserts, sushi, tempura, more steak, dessert, flatbreads, chicken, foie gras (won't need to do that again), dessert...all I can say is, "thank you, God." I am always up on the scale the day after flying, so I am fairly confident that by tomorrow I will have at least managed to maintain during a challenging week.

The first day of the trip, I went to the closest store where I could find produce (Walgreens on The Strip) and purchased half a dozen oranges and half a dozen bananas. That should get me through two to three days, right? Notsomuch. Everyone at our booth ate it within the first day, and thanked me for thinking to get fruit. Hm. Unfortunately, we were so busy, I couldn't get down to the 'Greens again all week, so I was forced to eat the bananas from Starbucks and the Oranges from the Convention Center as my fruit for the rest of our trip.

What did I do differently from past trips like this? I made SURE I drank a LOT of water. Most of the foods are so high in sodium, I thought that if I continued to drink, I might at least keep the water weight off. My friends from House of Knives made this easier by bringing us all beautiful stainless water bottles with thermal lids to use. I know this contributed to my success, as I had to pee every other hour. Other Boss asked if I was in kindergarten because I couldn't hold it.

I also limited my portions (thank you, Devin...) and only ate about three bites of any course. OB was a little freaked out by the waste of food, but so be it. I was able to get him to consume most of the alcohol that was poured for me as well, thanks to advantageous seating and his willingness to consume. I wasn't able to get out and exercise, as we were at the show from 7:30 am to 5 pm and doing dinners from 6:30 or 7:00 to 10:30 or 11:00, so the shoes and iPod sat useless in my (incredibly dark) hotel room.

On a totally separate note, the hotel room, aside from the lighting which made it impossible to tell black from navy (not good when you only have two colors of shirt to wear), had a fantastic view of the Bellagio fountains, thanks to a little snafu with the front desk. After checking in and heading up to room 3548, I was a little surprised when I used my key card and heard someone from inside shout, "Give us 10 minutes!" Oops. Upon returning to the desk, I mentioned that someone seemed to be "busy" in my room and could I please be moved. They looked up the room and immediately sent security up, as no one should have still been checked in, and I was moved to a Room with a View (just not the kind of view I'd almost had...)

So with many many weeks to go, I'm still 8 lbs down, 17 to go to hit the original goal, and raring to continue in a positive manner. Wish me luck!

Day 14 - Saturday

I am growing more nervous about the upcoming trip. Can I pack my scale? Maybe they make scales that you can easily take with you...if so, I need one now, as well as a good way to pack produce when I'm traveling, since you can't take it through the security. I didn't lose any weight the last two mornings, although with the pizza Thursday night I certainly understand half of that. As for yesterday, I wasn't good, but I wasn't bad either...I would like to lose half a pound more before leaving tomorrow...
Today we celebrate Mark's birthday, so the kids have chosen a restaurant where people will sing to him for dinner. I have to find my copy of "Eat This Not That," and look up what I can do at Red Robin.
Last night was the Chicken Piccata (I told you I'd make it again!) and Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing. I learned two lessons: don't leave the dressing on the stove for two long because it thickens too much (a great argument for mise in place), and don't put all the dressing on if you don't think you'll need it. It was zesty and had lots of flavor and I didn't need as much as I made. I want to try this recipe again with a little more care taken to preparation...let's hope in the meantime that my family eats all the fresh spinach and produce that we have in the house before it spoils...
Wish me luck this week!

Day 12 - Thursday

So after the crazy madness that has been the last two days at work (see below), I came home tonight to find darling husband with the can of ant spray and the refrigerator pulled out. The six-legged little vermin apparently overtook the fridge tonight, including the gaskets in the doors. The sitter says she can't figure out why the cleanest family she knows gets ants more than anyone else. Within twenty minutes, the pizza man was at the door, ruining the diet plan for the day. Thank goodness I stuck to it the whole day up until that point. Hopefully with some water, today's dinner won't become tomorrow's thighs.

Other Boss and I sat down yesterday to work out the details of our working relationship. The new org chart was released in the morning, listing OB as the VP of Sales and Marketing and my new title as Marketing Coordinator. Big Boss told me that this was simply a retitling to match what I actually do for the company, but now I report to OB instead of Boss 1. I'm not sure if I just hopped back in the frying pan or if I just made it into the fire...I guess we'll know by how hot it gets!

8.5 pounds down; 16.5 to go...or more or if I can get there in time...

Strange Days - Wednesday, Day 11

Here's what I have discovered in the last ten days: I have discovered that I can't cook Devin Alexander's recipes every day, but that with a little forethought I can plan meals that won't totally kill my calorie intake for the day. I have discovered that a little tiny sparkly donut from Starbucks will kill a craving just as well as a giant Voodoo donut. I have discovered that every day that I choose to drink at least 70 ounces of water, I wake up the next day lighter. And I have discovered that after just ten days of eating smaller portions, I feel fuller with smaller portions.
What I still need to learn is how to maintain a healthy regime when I'm travelling (Lori, input here please). Preparing for a week in Vegas, with dinners at Smith & Wollensky and Japonais, has me a bit nervous. Apparently I need to visit a local produce seller when I get there, because most of what I've been eating is fruit or veggies. Wish me luck!

Wednesday - Day 4

I don't think I have ever weighed myself in the evening, aside from after a round of serious flu-like symptoms, and found that I weighed less at night than in the morning...and yet...today I jumped on just because I was feeling good, and I weighed less than this morning! This puts me at a total of five pounds since Sunday. I swear to God, I am going to build a shrine to Devin Alexander in my kitchen and pray to it before I cook.

I spent the entire day at work peeing every other hour. I know this means that all the weight I have lost is water weight, but I still consider it a step in the right direction if I have cut down enough sodium to spend my day peeing instead of working. That is true progress! On a side note, my bosses were kind enough to infuse some humor in my day when Boss #1 made a comment to Other Boss about how he knew I wouldn't ever let any task go until it was done right, and Kurt looked him square in the face and said, "You better watch out. You're lucky she still works here." Dead serious. I had to choke not to snort laughter in both their faces.

Unfortunately, dinner tonight was ruined (or not entirely) by my lack of forethought. I forgot to pull out chicken to thaw so the chicken quesadillas I promised my family will have to wait until tomorrow. Tonight's substitute ended up being spinach salad (I'll be making Devin's spinach salad later this week, after we buy some bacon) and crab cocktail. At least the crab and cocktail sauce were both fat free...