Switching Gears-Starting P90x

My sister's wedding was last Saturday. It was so beautiful. She looked amazing, the venue was elegant, the food was great...just generally perfect. I wore the dress I wanted and looked great too.

Now that I've accomplished my goal, I have been making excuses diet-wise. I've worked so hard to get here, I can't go back. No way, no how.

For me, I need to have a tangible, short term goal to keep me on track and motivated. After some late-night TV viewing, I decided to do P90x. You have to be totally committed and work out an hour a day, 6 days a week for 13 weeks.

A friend of mine loaned me the DVDs, so I'm all ready to go. Counting out the workouts on the calendar, I decided to make Saturday my rest day. That means I start this Sunday! It's going to be a big change for me. I'm going to get up early in the morning during the week to do the workouts before I go to work. On the yoga days, I'm going to my bikram studio. It'll be perfect.

To be honest, I watched a little of the first video and I'm a little intimidated. I understand how they can make their claims, the workouts look HARD. I'm willing to commit so no matter what, working out that much has got to make a big change.

My goal is to look super fantastically hot for my birthday in October. I'll keep you posted.

So Fun to Shop

I know I've been remiss in my posts due to my addiction to facebook. I'm sure my friends are sick of my diet-related posts. I've struggled with my weight basically my whole life. I'm so excited because I finally got into the groove and have lost a bunch of weight. Since four years ago (at my heaviest), I've officially lost 100 pounds. For real.

That means I went from wearing a size 22W to an 8. Along the way, I've learned a lot about myself. I'm really proud of the emotional and mental changes as well as the physical ones. I feel better about myself in every way. People even treat me better. And more men drop off their documents in person.....subtle, guys.

Now I get to shop for new clothes. I actually got to tell a sales clerk yesterday that the medium was too big--can you bring me a small? She probably thought I was crazy when I got kind of teary right after I said it. In any case, I get to buy all sorts of cute clothes that I always dreamed of getting. What's even better, is that I look good too.

I owe so much to the people who loved and supported me the whole way. You know who you are. Big hugs and kisses! I'm not done yet but I feel like I've turned a corner and wanted to share.

Easter Baking Disaster

I promised an update on the Easter baking...monstrously bad. I tried 3 things: eggnog bundt cake, petit fours and yeast rolls.

I have NEVER had a problem with the bundt cake before...I mean never. Well, I decided to use a new fancy pan-release spray instead of trusty Crisco and flour. Wouldn't you know it, it stuck..badly. So badly, I had to turn it into a trifle. Luckily, I had planned to serve it with macerated strawberries and real whipped cream so I just made three layers of each and called it a trifle. Whew.

Petit fours are my arch nemesis. For the life of me, I cannot get the glaze right. So, I found what looked like a promising recipe on Martha Stewart's website for the glaze. I made a genoise, put a layer of cherry preserves and was ready to go. I tinted the glaze too dark but otherwise it worked just fine. Then, came the taste. Waaaay too sweet. sigh. back to the drawing board. If anyone has a good petit four glaze recipe, please, please, please send it to me.

Here's what they looked like freshly glazed:



Final Product:



Looks good, tastes yucky. grrrr.

The yeast rolls looked promising but never rose. At the end, I had small, hard little dough balls. gross. I used a Martha Stewart recipe which I thought I followed exactly right. I am convinced it's the recipe. I still have a packet of yeast so I'm going to look up a new recipe and try again. I had to stop at the store after mass to get a can of Pillsbury crescents--which were yummy.

I usually have much better success baking, but I guess you can't win 'em all.

Easter Baking

As you know, I have been on total diet lockdown for a while now so that I can look decent in my bridesmaid dress. The wedding is in June and I only have one dress size to go before I'm at my goal. For the record, my goal was to drop 10 dress sizes in 6 months--from an 18 to an 8. So far, I'm at 10 so I'm aaaaalmost there.

Keep your fingers crossed for me...I'm baking again. I love to bake for people and especially for holidays. I've decided to attempt my old nemesis petit fours, mini strawberry eclairs and yeast rolls. The genoise is cooling right now and smells like heaven. Now, on to piping buttercream flower decorations for the petit fours.

I'm hoping that I can keep the old jaw shut while I make the yummy, tempting treats. I just can't afford any back sliding after coming so far (and spending so much money).

Lately, I've been having trouble posting pictures, but if I can swing it, I'll try to post pictures of the results. If not, I'll keep you posted.

New Bridesmaid Dress

After all the consternation about my bridesmaid dress for my sister's wedding, I found this dress that I like better.

Since I'm busty, I was worried that I may be fighting the strapless all night. I like that this one has sleeves...and even a little train.

The black lace/nude strapless will be delivered this week and this one will come next week. I'll try them both on and see which one I like better.

Hot Yoga

I've been going to hot yoga classes for the past 3 weeks. The classes are 90 minutes long and are challenging but it's been great. You sweat a ton! If anyone is looking for a good place to go, this studio has a full schedule of classes from early until late. Bring towels and water...

Great Dress Debate

My sister's wedding is coming up in June. I have the honor of being the maid of honor. She has been very kind and will let us wear any dress as long as it is floor length and black. I've fallen in love with this dress but it's black lace over nude fabric.

I've asked my sister for her thoughts and I'm hoping I get the nod. Cross your fingers.

Update: I went ahead and bought it. Let's hope it looks as great in person as it does on the website.

Best Hand Cream

With the amount of papers I handle on a daily basis, I'm always looking for good hand cream. You know, super moisturizing but not too greasy. It's gross to leave greasy fingerprints all over my desk.

My friend H. recommended this hemp lotion from the Body Shop. I always have scratches and burns on my hands (because I'm a total klutz) and it even heals them. I can't recommend it highly enough. If you're looking for a hand cream, this is it!

Enjoy! If you find something better, let me know.

Please Take Me Back

Okay, so I haven't posted anything for a long ass time. I admit it, it's true. I'm addicted to Mafia Wars on facebook and spending all my time there.

I keep seeing funny things all the time that make me want to blog but never got around to it. Well, I decided that I can't leave you and will try harder.

Please take me back, my pretties! I promise to try harder. See you soon...

New Favorite Sticker

I saw this sticker today and thought it was hysterical. Feel free to plagiarize.

Oh my God!
Are you okay?
I saw the short bus
Flip over and I know
How you don’t like to wear
Your helmet because it’s
Hard to lick the
Windows :)

Kitty Hijinks

Do you want to see the cutest picture ever? Feast your little eyes on our new friend Sophie. She drinks water out of the bathroom faucet by getting her paw wet and then licking her paw. All together now: aaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Cooking JC's French Onion Soup

I belong to a book club and this month was Julie & Julia to coincide with the movie coming out. I grew up watching Julia Child's cooking show on PBS. I always loved her shows, especially with that cutie-pie Jacques Pepin. She always made it seem like a super-complicated recipe was actually possible for a home cook.

I'd never made one of her recipes before, but I was inspired by the book. I'm a decent cook so I was determined to tackle one of her recipes. Since I'm finishing up the last of the strict phase of South Beach, I also selfishly wanted to have something that I knew I could eat. After some thought, I decided to make french onion soup. I could eat it without the bread and cheese topping and be satisfied. Awesome!

I had to stay late at work on Wednesday so I didn't get home until about 9:30. I sliced up 6 pounds of onions--think about it, it's 2 big bags from the store. Then, I set to carmelize them with a stick of butter and some olive oil. I stirred, stirred, and stirred but after an hour and a half I gave up. The onions were sweet and had broken down into small chunks but never got that beautiful brown color. My back ached the whole next day from stirring so much.

Then, I added the beef broth and simmered for a short while. Somewhat lacking carmelization, the soup wasn't as rich and beefy tasting as I wanted. Luckily, I dug in my refrigerator and found some beef demi glace. Between some lovely beaujalais and the demi glace, the broth was much improved.

While the soup was simmering, I shredded swiss cheese and prepared the bread rounds. Basically, you slice up french bread and toast with a little olive oil until all the moisture is removed.

At book club the next day, I reheated the soup, placed the toast round and shredded cheese on top and set in the oven to get all melty and yummy. It was a big hit.

Thanks to the book club for inspiring me to FINALLY have the courage to attempt one of JC's recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I was so bouyed by my success, my husband bought me the 2 volume set. I've been reviewing the volumes and have selected a few more recipes to try. Maybe you'll have to come over one night for some beef burgundy, orange bavarian cream, lobster gratin...the list goes on.

Souhaitez-moi la chance! (Wish me luck!)

Baby Stealing

I went to visit my friends in the hospital today to see their new baby. The baby is so cute and snuggly. Normally, babies instantly squirm and cry when I hold them so I was prepared for the worst. I was as shocked as you are that the baby was totally cuddly and relaxed!

So I have a fantastic idea: instead of getting pregnant, going through labor (ouch) and risk having an ugly baby....why not steal one? Oh yeah, foolproof plan. Of course, my friends might recognize him so I'll have to come up with a cover story. Any ideas?

Walgreens Doesn't Sell Dirt, You Dummy

I was at a Walgreens last Thursday afternoon with my co-worker. We were waiting in line to pay for stuff I can't even remember now but was vitally important at the time. This dude comes in, eyes the long line, and then walks directly up to the cashier.

Side Bar: like most urban Walgreens' cashiers, she looked less than pleased to be there. In fact, she looked like she was hungover or possibly still drunk--sort of like a meaner version of Droopy. So awesome.

Anyway, so our friend random dude tries to butter up the cashier by using her name and asking her where is the (here's what I hear) "potting mix". Mean Droopy asks if he means for alcohol mixers. He's frustrated and says that he's from the South and he drove all the way to this Walgreens (?) to find "potting mix". My co-worker then suggests that if he's looking for a mix of different kinds of candy. At this point, I'm sorely confused because I think he's asking for potting soil. So, I ask "Do you mean dirt?" To this, he shoots me a nasty side glance and complains that we are all comedians or something.

Then he more helpfully explains he's looking for pretzels, Chex mix, etc. Ahhhh, you're looking for "party mix" not "potting mix". Oops, sorry for making fun of the awesome Southern accent. I was wondering why he thought Walgreens sold dirt.

So Thirsty on South Beach

Okay, so I'm on Day 6 of South Beach. I'm supposed to drink sugar-free, caffeine-free stuff. I'm also supposed to stay away from sugar alcohols so I have to stay away from diet pop. Hmmmm.

At this point, I am drinking water and iced SF, decaf tea. I'm getting kind of bored and majorly thirsty. Anyone have any good suggestions for me?

Twilight Movie Kinda Sucked

Okay, so I try not to publicly identify myself as a twitard in public, but I have to admit that I really, really loved the books. Of course, my favorite was Midnight Sun (please, please finish it Stephenie).

Since I'm late to the party I wanted to wait to watch the movie until after I read the books so that it didn't spoil anything for me. So, last night my favoritest husband in the world surprised me with the movie in hand. YEAH!

As I was watching it, I just couldn't get over all the weird directing decisions and the changes from the book. I understand that a 500 page book needs to severely edited to make it into a regular length feature...but why would you add dialogue that doesn't exist in the book? Catherine Hardwicke was just trying too hard to give the movie an Indie vibe with the camera movements and music.

What really killed me was the casting: Nikki Reed as Rosalie? Ashley Greene as Alice? Wrong, Wrong, Wrong. Nikki Reed just isn't pretty enough and Ashley Greene's personality is right but doesn't come across as a tiny pixie.

Of course, like any good geek, I'm going to re-watch the movie to see if my opinion changes. I think now that I know where she decided to change things, I'll be able to calm down. Even my husband (who hasn't read the books) admitted that the trailer for New Moon looked better than Twilight. Hopefully, he's right! He usually is...

South Beach Continues--Day 5

I'm on Day 5 of South Beach. It's still tough saying no to all my delicious carb-friends, but I feel a lot better than I did at the beginning of the week. I suspect that most of my problems are really from caffeine withdrawal.

I must say that the recipes in the South Beach book are awesome. It's much easier for me to stay on target if I can eat something that doesn't look or taste like diet food. Tonight I'm going to have grilled steak and vegetables. I'd eat that with or without South Beach so that's great.

Plus, I'm a total dummy and didn't notice that the "Foods to Enjoy" list goes onto the top of the next page..duh.. I can have some treats like sugar-free gum and sugar-free fudgsicles! That may not seem like much to you but it's the world to me.

Keep your fingers crossed for me people, I am almost at the halfway point of the hardest part--and I've already lost some weight! Yes!

South Beach Day One

I've gained some weight lately and didn't want it to go any further....so...I had to make some decisions. I thought and thought with my little pea brain until I came to the conclusion that the diet that worked best for me was South Beach.



For those of you who haven't done South Beach, it's like a less-strict Atkins. You still have the 2 week cleanse phase but then you get to add in things like fruit, dairy and whole grains. Honestly, it's the stuff you know you should eat: lean meat, vegetables, fruit, whole grains, etc. (Etc. sadly does not include moose tracks ice cream with bittersweet chocolate sauce)

Anyway, it's Day One for me. I must say I feel like crap. I don't remember feeling this badly the last time I did this. I am hungry, tired and my head hurts. I also have awesomely bad breath because I can neither drink pop or chew gum. Gotta bring my toothbrush tomorrow. Of course, some well-meaning but very evil person brought in at least 3 types of homebaked goodies today for the whole office...that makes me want to punch that person in the face. This is how it would go:

Me: Hey, did you bake those yummy cookies in the break room?
Satan: Yes, did you like them?
Me: [punch]
Satan: Ow.

Wish me luck tomorrow. On a 1-10 pain scale, today has got to be a 7.

First Time on the Reservation

There are lots of firsts in our lives. Today, I went down to the reservation of:




I bought some yummy ice cream treats. I have a receipt and everything to prove it but cannot get it to post. I'll do it later. It's so awesome, you'll love it!

Since I'm from Indiana, Indian reservations are few and far between (or try none)...so setting foot on one is a big deal. It's less than impressive in person, but then again, you folks know how little it takes to make me happy.

Happy Thursday (my Friday)!

Flying Bitch Slap

Somebody in your life needs one... Or is it you?