Can't blame Thanksgiving

So, I was quite proud of myself on Thanksgiving - I limited my calorie intake to just 1600 calories for the entire day! I didn't eat until I was uncomfortable and I didn't go home feeling guilty for overindulging.

And then the weekend came ... and so did my mom.

I am proud to say that Mom has lost 25-30 pounds on WeightWatchers and we love to share recipes and weight loss tips. We are both concerned with what we eat and how much - until she comes to visit. Then we go a little hog wild - pun intended.

Kansas City is a wonderful town for those who like food. Sure we have great barbecue here, but there are many other good eateries as well. When I get visitors I tend to take them on an eating tour of KC - and it's pretty tragic for any diet, much less one recovering from Thanksgiving damage!

I honestly can't blame Thanksgiving for the weight gain I've seen each time I've stepped on the scale since Friday morning. Friday was a lovely day for me and the scale - I saw 141.8 for the first time ever! But it was fleeting - Saturday gave me 142.8, Sunday showed 143.4 and this morning was a lovely 145.4. Gulp. I can only blame a food-packed weekend. At least it was good food instead of junk food. I can use that an an explanation, at least.

Saturday started with diet-friendly A-muesling French Toast. But then the day saw the obligatory visit to Oklahoma Joe's (Mom's fave bbq in town) for a lunch of ribs - no comment regarding the calorie count there - and a visit to Julian for dinner. Julian is a restaurant owned by Mom's fave reality star, Celina Tio, who lost in the semi-finals of the Next Iron Chef a couple of weeks ago. Ms. Tio actually delivered our food, cleared our plates and stayed to chat with Mom for a few minutes! It was a great experience and just another reason I love Kansas City.

The food was good too. I had seared whole trout, brown and wild rice, and braised celery with lemon. It seemed healthy, but who knows what actually went into it. Kevin had pasta and Mom had pork tenderloin with brussel sprouts and parsnips. Oh, and we ordered a side of Boulevard Pale Ale Mac and Cheese (Boulevard is our local brewery). All I know is that it was all super tasty! Plus, we shared three desserts that were amazing and I know they weren't healthy: butternut squash cheesecake, "banana cotta" with strawberries and chocolate, and salted chocolate puddin' with ginger donut. "Good" doesn't even begin to describe it.

On Sunday, following a breakfast of cinnamon and sugar monkey bread and cream of wheat, I then arranged lunch for us Sunday at Hereford House, a KC original and famous steakhouse. The idea was to have a light lunch of steak soup. But we decided to split the 8 oz KC center cut that helped make the steakhouse famous. Kevin ate 4 ounces of the steak and Mom and I each had a couple of ounces. Plus, the soup was as thick as gravy! It was very filling and I ended up bringing half of mine home.

Overall, I think we did a good job of mitigating damages while still enjoying, tasting, and savoring, but I certainly didn't stick to 1300 calories a day this weekend. And Thanksgiving isn't to blame one bit. I shifted into some form of vacation brain and lost my mind a little. I made my dinner selections with calories in mind, but wasn't nearly as meticulous as I usually am. It didn't help that I failed to drink my usual 80 ounces of water each day and drank about 80 ounces of coffee instead.

Sunday dinner was the Thanksgiving Meatloaf recipe I posted yesterday - and it was healthy and very low in calories. At least I didn't let Thursday get out of hand!

Emotional and nutritional challenges

I weighed myself this morning and am thrilled to say I am a grand total of 30 pounds lighter than at the start of this! Before I get too excited, I have to ground myself. I have the week off from school - my break between spring and summer semesters - and am at the start of a pretty difficult trip to Texas.

First, I am here to help my grandfather sort through my grandmother's belongings. Her death has had a big impact on me and I miss her every day. She died in January and I spent that week helping my grandfather get as settled as I could in his new routine. Today, I am heading to his house (which is why I weighed today - he doesn't own a scale) to help him decide what of hers to keep and what to donate to charities.

Of course this trip will be emotionally difficult, but it also holds a lot of nutritional difficulty. Texas is full of fat people. Yep, I'm fixin to say it: even my family struggles with weight A LOT. I know the culprit: restaurants. My dad eats out just about every meal - my grandfather too (though he eats like a chicken and doesn't weigh hardly anything anymore).

There is a silver lining, though. My grandmother, Bunna, had GREAT taste in clothes. She modeled for local stores until a year or so ago and was a perfect size 10. There will be many clothes coming my way.


So, this next week will hold a lot of challenges for me. Pray that I can make the right decisions and be helpful where it matters. Corsicana, Texas is hardly the health capital of anything. My grandfather eats breakfast at Roys Cafe everyday (and has for 40 years). His friends are there and I am grateful that he has a reason to wake up every day. However, Roys serves you grease with a side of eggs. Lord help me.

I just wanted some flavor!

I spent most of last week trying to cook tasty, healthy meals and had a a lot of fun doing it. But I was really looking forward to Date Night on Friday so that I could take a rest from the forced creativity and try new foods that could inspire me for more dishes. I told Kevin I wanted something "ethnic" mainly because I was craving "exotic" flavors that I don't normally use to cook.

Apparently, he wasn't feeling the same cravings. After a drawn-out hunt for a restaurant, we finally ended up at some bar and grill. Bratty Natty reared her ugly head and, though I should be more grateful since Kevin was paying, I was pissed that he won the "what should we eat for dinner." In my defense, I cooked him dinner all week - at my expense. I don't think it's asking too much to take my desires into consideration.

Anyway, I was too tired to fight and starving so I gave in and we ate at "Harpo's," a cool patio bar and grill that would have been fine with me last summer, but just upset me this time. I looked at the menu and pretty much started crying.

It was your usual bar and grill food: nachos, burgers, chicken tenders and dinner salads. There was nothing exotic and nothing healthy. Maybe I'm just bored with the usual food at places like that, or maybe my taste buds are maturing, but nothing on the menu looked appetizing. Nothing. I had saved almost 1000 calories for that meal and I was going to waste it on a patty melt? No, thank you.

I've decided (and I know this is hardly a food revelation) that restaurants have us "addicted" to grease. They take food - normal, yummy food - fry it, and tell us it's tasty. For some reason we believe them. But, after several months of no fried foods, I am over it. Potato cut up and dripping with grease? It's just gross to me now. I tried one of Kevin's fries. It tasted familiar, but was so close to the roasted potatoes I'd made a couple of nights before that it just wasn't worth it. Plus, it was boring. There was nothing creative about it. No hint of rosemary or taste of basil to be had.

I ordered a chicken taco salad, no sour cream and skipped the (FRIED) taco shell that it came in. I asked for extra salsa and it came with jalapenos. At least it had some flavor. But it's a food I serve myself at least once a week at home. Sigh.

Part of me feels bad. I never wanted to change my eating so much that it affected Kevin and made it difficult for me to enjoy a night out. But after cooking things with real flavor I just can't justify asking Kevin to spend his money on such gross foods.

Whose idea was it, anyway, to take wonderful foods, slap them together, fry them and call it dinner? With a side of fries?

Glory! Glory!

This weekend Kevin and I were out getting last minute things for the party and stopped for a quick bite to eat at Foster's Grill in a suburb south of Kansas City. Foster's is home of the chargrilled something - basically fast food that isn't fast and what looked like tasty burgers.

After studying the menu, I decided on a veggie burger (a lot of sodium can be hiding in those by the way!), no side and a water with lemon. As we waited the 12 minutes for our food to be ready (yes, they tell you it will be twelve minutes), I watched fellow diners and took note of what they were eating.

I wasn't thinking about obesity, though there were examples of that on show. No, I just was looking at the decisions my fellow diners had made. The place was full - I'm pretty sure it was new - and everything smelled amazing. But watching people drink soda, eat at least 500 calories of french fries AND take huge bites of mayonnaise-covered burgers really just made me sad.

If people were more educated about the nutritional information in food, would they make the same choices? I saw it a lot of the first few episodes of this Biggest Loser season: They were always shocked by the number of calories in the food they ate. And to be honest, I've become pretty calorie-fascinated as I've progressed. "Can you believe there are that many calories in that little bag?" "There is only 60 calories in this, how awesome is that?!?"

Well, I didn't even know it was a dream, but it looks like it's finally coming true. Did you know that THIS is part of the Healthcare Bill that just passed? Do you hear the angels singing? Can I get an AMEN?!?

Here is an excerpt to the awesomeness!

Calorie Data to Be Posted at Most Chains
By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM
Published: March 23, 2010

Buried deep in the health care legislation that President Obama signed on Tuesday is a new requirement that will affect any American who walks into a McDonald’s, Starbucks or Burger King. Every big restaurant chain in the nation will now be required to put calorie information on their menus and drive-through signs.

In other words, as soon as 2011 it will be impossible to chomp down on a Big Mac without knowing that it contains over 500 calories, more than a quarter of the Agriculture Department’s 2,000-calorie daily guideline.

The legislation also requires labels on food items in vending machines, meaning that anybody tempted by a king-size Snickers bar will know up front that it packs 440 calories.

Fabulous Food Finds!

I am totally stoked about recent food finds in the new neighborhood!

First there is an all-vegetarian restaurant less than two miles form my house. This doesn't excite Kevin at all, but I am totally thrilled! I can see some girlie lunches in my future!

Last night we discovered Rudy's Tenampa, a Mexican food restaurant just a few blocks from my door. Normally, this would prove a challenge to my diet, but they have a wonder item on their menu: A La Carte Fajitas!

Usually, fajitas are super expensive, right? But, most often, chicken fajitas are the healthiest option on a menu. Well, lovely Rudy's offers one chicken fajita for only $3.69!!!

They also offer ceviche as an appetizer and I gave that a try with my fajita since I was kinda hungry. It wasn't what I was expecting exactly, and I may not order it again, but it's nice to know the option is available for calorie-conscious friends.

Rudy's also offers low-carb options and vegetarian and Lent-friendly foods. And, as an added bonus (to me, not the boyfriend) chips and salsa aren't complimentary. You have to specifically ask for them. Skipping that temptation is fine by me!