Hot Bodz: South Beach Diet, Day 8

You know what? I think we're through the worst of this. It's been a week, the scale says I've lost close to 8 pounds, and I feel good. Yesterday, John and I got up and prepped for another week by making a broccoli, cheddar, canadian bacon and egg casserole. I spent my Saturday prepping 5 quarts of crock pot chili. We stocked up on veggies and protein at Fred Meyer...and everything feels like it's on autopilot. I went out for Happy Hour on Friday and wasn't tempted to drink AT ALL. In fact, I had steamed shrimp and asparagus for dinner - I must be possessed, right? Working out consistently has been more challenging, but we have a neighborhood jogging route and a slew of P90X DVDs on their way. And I know that these habits take time to build.

And that's about it. So I guess the moral of the story is: so far so good. Woo!

Pass it on

I just read these words on the blog of a local photographer, and it's uncanny how impeccable the timing is for me. How could I not share?


"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate,

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. 

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. 

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented,

       and fabulous -

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn't serve the world. 

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people

Won't feel insecure around you. 

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us. 

It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone,

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously

Give other people permission to do the same.

- Marianne Williamson

Guess where I got these?

St. Vinnie's is my new favorite hang out!

On my desk

I think he needs a mustache...

Thanx Lotz: 10.27.2011

I just read somewhere that it's Thankful Thursday. So, what am I thankful for today?

1. A full night's sleep. Mmmmm. This can make or break my day.

2. This cup of green tea - on fall days like these I just cannot get warm!

3. My husband, with his dashing good looks and quick wit he's certain to woo you into a lively conversation about cinema or his arch-nemesis: condiments.

4. My hot rollers? These guarantee a good hair day. Seriously.

5. Friends who continually pursue me, no matter how far away they live or how snarky I get.

6. The captivating sunrise that accompanied me on my bus ride this morning. The reason I'm a self-proclaimed morning person. Nothing humbles me quite like one of these.

7. Tomorrow is Friday, duh!

Hot Bodz: South Beach Diet, Day 3

Well, here we are. Three days in and I'm feeling OK.

John and I started South Beach on Monday. I spent Sunday afternoon prepping and packing lunches to make sure that we didn't have to think about it at all when we were at work. I know that I'll be more likely to succeed if I can let myself go on auto pilot through the roughest phase. So, on the menu this week:

Breakfast: Egg, Cheddar and Canadian Bacon Muffins - prep them all at the beginning of the week and you have an easy, grab and go breakfast!
Snacks: Reduced Fat String Cheese, 15 almonds
Lunch: Romaine with tuna, radishes, celery, mushrooms and a lemon/evoo vinaigrette
Dinner: This is where we feel like we can be a little creative, since John and I can support each other while we're in the kitchen. Last night we had THE best lettuce wrap turkey tacos. Tonight? I'm thinking pepper lime marinated chicken with some roasted veggies.
Dessert: This is the most important part of the day for me. If you've never had sugar free jello pudding with lite cool whip mixed in, today is the day. It's amazing and DOES NOT taste like diet food.

PS - This is fun to do with my husband...and he's the best accountability I've ever had.

Hot Bodz: South Beach Diet

Tomorrow the Portanova's (yes, both of us!) go on the South Beach Diet. I just spent the last two hours prepping food for the week: egg muffins for breakfast, fresh carrots, cucumbers, radishes --- any vegetable I could get my hand on to prep ahead of time. Our refrigerator looks like a garden. I know I have to invest time on the front end of the week to be successful. I don't know about you, but I have a bad case of the "I don't want to do ANYTHINGs" when I get home from work in the evening. The more I get done today, the better the shape we'll be in as the days pass.

This afternoon I'm inspired and ready to go. I'll let you know how we feel tomorrow!

Three things

1. Hilarity ensues here.

2. And here.

3. And this is pretty.

That is all.

Thanx Lotz: 10.18.2011

1. I have these girls in my life, all so different, and so beautiful inside and out. I've spent a different day this week with each of them and I'm blissfully exhausted.  I'm inspired by these relationships - the kind where you take care of each other, the kind where you talk things out until 1 o'clock in the morning over wine, the kind where you go out of your way to make time, the kind where there's no judgement but instead choose to learn from each other. Always lifting each other up and asking "So how are you? I want to know."

It's not taken for granted - I hope I pour out half of what I receive from these friendships.

2. Coffee has really been saving my butt lately.

3. Every day at my new job feels a little better than the last. If only I had time to decorate my desk...

4. God's been teaching me to lean on Him for everything this year. And I think something pretty cool is on the horizon. I'm nervous. And I'll have to trust Him more than ever.

5. We're buying our tickets for Paris very soon - the dates have been set!

Glamorous life: I got my glasses!

I was once told to smile with less teeth. My response was "I don't know how to do that." - which is absolutely the truth. If I'm going to smile I want people to know that I'm happy...which means I will throw some teeth at you. Mouth agape with explosive laughter is me at my best.

I've been trying to take a picture of me with my new glasses on sans teeth for the last ten minutes on my web cam. The results have just been...awkward. So instead, I excused myself to the restroom to take an awesome-iPhone-myspace-profile-shot. It's all nonsense...probably not any less awkward. But this is what you get.

Ta da!

Don't I look intellectual?

Other things about today:

1. It's hard to see with glasses. I am continually distracted by the box I'm looking through.
2. I haven't had any coffee...yet.
3. I've been working on some very grown up stuff at work today...all of these numbers and expenses and blahblahblah.
4. I'm getting kicked out of my house tonight for a script read through. But, the joke's on John...I'm going to go have pizza and watch movies with Melissa!

Glamorous Life: My weekend in pictures

 I got a haircut! I know the lighting's bad - but it was much needed. A trim + a little color + plus coffee talk with Ashley! She always makes me feel pretty.

It was absolute beautiful on Saturday! It hardly felt like October.

On my way home from Capitol Hill I stopped at Value Village - I'm always after a bargain. Guess what I found? A juicer for $8! It's European, which means I couldn't test it in the store (no Value Village does not have outlet converters). But, after digging out the converter from our Mexico adventure I was in business making the greenest, grassiest juices around. They're really pretty good, but after only a few hours my body was telling me that I'll need to ease on into a juicing. I'll keep you posted on that. :)

In love with: Chicken with couscous and orange

Every once in a blue moon I get motivated to make dinner. It doesn't happen often - one day I'll be Martha Stewart in the kitchen - but until that day comes I'll be inspires by her simple recipes on the days I do cook. Today all I could think about as I walked to the grocery store was this amazing couscous recipe. I tried it for the first time last year, and it quickly became one of my favorite dinners for those nights John works late.

The recipe, from Everyday Food, is as follows:

1 cup couscous
1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken
1/3 cup pistachios, toasted and coarsely chopped
1 navel orange, peeled and coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons red-wine vinegar
coarse salt and ground pepper
Directions


In a medium bowl, pour 1 cup boiling water over couscous. Cover and let sit until tender, 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. In another medium bowl, combine chicken, pistachios, orange, mint, oil and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Toss couscous with chicken mixture.

Voila!

Glamorous Life: A trip to the Optometrist!

The verdict? I need glasses. We'll call them desk glasses, since they will assist me on my marathon work days as I gaze intently at the computer screen. I am so cool.

Hot Bodz: Have you seen this yet?

So, I snuggled up on the couch last night with a cup of tea in my pjs and decided to rent a movie --- something I hardly EVER do. But, John's been gone and I'm caught up on all of my tv shows (the usual suspects: Glee, Grey's Anatomy, The Office, Parks and Recreation, Modern Family, How I Met Your Mother, New Girl) I started perusing Amazon on my Roku and came across Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead.  The only thing I knew about this movie is that it's about juicing, and my friend Victoria promptly went out and bought a Jack LaLanne juicer and started coming to work with Mean Green's after watching it. I love a good documentary so I invested the $3.

It's got my wheels turning...I may do something drastic. Who wants to go shopping with me tonight? :)