Help! Summer is here;)

Help summer time is here! Ok it’s technically spring but I live in California. The back yard parties are in full swing. The wine & tequila are flowing. Not to mention chips & dip. You would think summer time means more exercise and lighter meals but not for me. It means it will be too hot to due anything by July. If you don’t exercise in the morning forget it until 7 pm. Lucky for me Thai Kwon Do is at 7:30. It also means I must practice mindful eating especially at all these parties I plan to attend this summer. I love to party. I’ve lost 35 lbs in this journey. It’s slow but it’s not a race. I plan in loosing 20 more pounds. I will not let summer stop me. It on now ! Me vs summer.

It’s Ok To Indulge!

It’s ok to indulge once in a while. I just make sure it’s worth it. I took my husband out to lunch for his birthday it was definitely worth it. We went to Underdog Wine Bar in Livermore,CA. It’s on the grounds of Concannon Winery. They serve small plates and wine flights. My kind of place. I love being able to taste things and not eat a lot. I had crab cakes on salad greens and a Pinot Grigio flight ( Three two oz servings ). I topped it off with a port and dark chocolate tart. It’s finally cool enough to sit outside. I loved it. Such a great date. Happy Birthday Honey.

Poached Figs Anyone?

I love fresh figs. My friend down the street has fig trees on her ranch. She introduced me to fresh figs a few years ago. Prior to that the closest I’d come to a fig was a newton. I looked up fig recipes because I got a lot of them this year. I was feeling a healthy dessert last night. I found poached figs in wine. I used a Shiraz. This was awesome. I combined wine, honey and cinnamon with a hint of red pepper flakes in medium-sized saucepan and bring to a simmer, then reduce heat. Add figs and poach until soft about 15 minutes. Remove figs and reduce sauce to a syrup consistency. I added a few dark chocolate chips and almonds. It’s kind of my grown up trail mix. I will be making this more often. Mmm!

The Morning After

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It’s the morning after. Great time had by all. My husband made great grilled salmon and did shrimp with Old Bay Seasoning on the grill. We had hot links,potato salad,green salad. When we do a backyard party I leave desserts to my friends. They didn’t disappoint. Dark chocolate cake, red velvet cake,chocolate dipped fruit. Dessert wine. How do I recover from this. I leave for a conference in DC on Friday. I think I’m going to work on maintaining this week. I want to get back on track today but my husband invited half the people back this afternoon;) wish me luck !

Vending Machine For Wine

Ok this is off the topic of weight loss. Actually maybe not. I think it could be a great way to get my wine on and save on calories. It a wine tasting vending machine. I was at the M resort in Vegas. It’s on the far end of the Las Vegas Blvd. The restaurant is Veloce Cibo. We did Sushi and wine. That is a favorite combo of mine. They have these vending machines for wine. Its cool! You use a prepaid card and just put it in machine and it dispenses 1-3 oz pours. Its chilled to the perfect temp. The bar we were at had 25 types of wine. Red ,white and sake. They have one down stairs that has 160 wines. It’s a good way to taste different wines without drinking a whole glass. I will say I felt like crap this morning. I have stayed away from alcohol recently. Even wine. I think that and the heat yesterday left me dehydrated this morning. Live and learn. I had a great time. The wine vending machine is the bomb as long as you don’t go overboard .

Boredom makes me eat!!

Boredom makes me eat! This has not been a great weekend for me eating healthy. Date night , take out ,then a way to long kids birthday party. Not to mention I didn’t work out because I worked as well as did  all these activities. I only planned to snack at the birthday party but this isn’t your average kids party. It was at the country club. They have good fancy food. Tortolini, prosciutto, sliders,red velvet cake. I was doing good but these dang waiters kept coming by. Then as the party dragged on and my child didn’t want to leave I started grazing. I can only smooze so much. I was not hungry. Just bored. It was a doctors party. I can only talk about work and kids so much. Then I walked around and ran into the country club bar. Wine was calling my name. I guess I deserve a weekend off. I will not feel guilty. I started right back on track at dinner. None of that, I already blew it crap! One good thing I noticed that my jeans are getting loose. All but the belly. That’s always the last to go.I  will have slip ups but I’m going to lose weight and keep it off.

Feel Like Binging

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Today would have been a normal binge day. Its friday. Work was busy and frustrating.  Everybody needed something extra. When I stress I want to binge. This would be a day I would have gone out to eat or ordered take out. It would have stated with  large glass of wine and ended with dessert. I usually start planning on my way home. I can still have wine but a small glass. Not my 12 ounce goblet. I can still have snack or dessert but something that fits in my calorie range.  Once I get home ,I still have charts to finish which I can do from home. Oh joy! I finally finish. Now I  can relax and decide I no longer want to binge. I let my family pick dinner. Yeah, they want Taco Bell which I find disgusting.  Good they can feed themselves and  I will eat at home. I still have a craving for snack time . So I  make my new favorite snack. Hot popcorn. Did you know you can pop popcorn in the microwave with a paper bag. I add a tsp hot sesame oil to popcorn kernels and shake. I put in brown paper lunch bag for about 2 minutes. Its great, hot & spicy. Now if my husband didn’t drink the last of the red wine I’ll be happy. Tonight bingeing was easy to control. I know it won’t always be that way but I plan to take  it one day at a time.