Kitchen Kibitz at Shojo

On Sunday night I went to my second Kitchen Kibitz popup at Shojo! I've been wanting to go to Shojo for a while now, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity.

I've already talked about what Kitchen Kibitz is, so I'll get right to the good stuff.

I went to this event alone and was a bit nervous. People tend to go to these dinners in couples or groups and I'm quite introverted when it comes to meeting new people. When I got there I randomly chose a spot at a big table and spent the first 5 minutes trying not to be awkward and mostly looking at my phone. Eventually conversation spread across the table and I ended up having a fabulous night! I was sitting with 8 others and had a great time talking about Iron Chef, restaurants in Boston, nonprofits, traveling, etc. etc. It just turned out really great!

Sunday's popup focused on fusing traditional Jewish cuisine with traditional Chinese cuisine in a fun, modern way. As the Chinese New Year is coming up (Friday), each place setting had fun trinkets to celebrate, including various red envelopes filled with gelt (Hanukkah candy coins, instead of real money per usual Chinese tradition). My red envelope meant "good fortune for the new year." I'll take it!!

As soon as we sat down we were poured cold tea -- oolong tea infused vodka, peach de vinge and lemon. This was so delicious and I helped myself to a few cups throughout the night!

The first food of the night was black & white challah bread (black from using squid ink!) served with a miso honey butter. Apparently is was guest chef Mark O'Leary's first time making challah bread, but you could never tell. It tasted like it came right out of the oven of a bakery on Long Island!

Next up were the appetizers: matzoball ramen and a pastrami rye bao.

[apologies for crappy photos]

One of my favorite parts of the evening was that many of the guests I was sitting with were excited to share with me stories of growing up in a Jewish home/family. When the soup came out, the guy sitting across from me explained the "battle of matzoballs" and how he was a "sinker" lover at heart and wouldn't go near a "floater". He was thrilled that the matzoballs in our soup were "sinkers" -- made with schmaltz (rendered chicken fat), fluffy on the outside but dense inside so they sink to the bottom of the bowl.

The pastrami rye bao was one of the more hilarious mash-ups for me. The perfectly steamed Chinese bun was made with rye flour and filled with thin sliced pastrami and kimchi instead of your standard Jewish deli cole slaw. So creative.

The rest of the meal was served family style. Three HUGE entree trays were passed around the table:

Luobagao latke with green tea creme fraiche and smoked salmon. This dish was so delicious -- the latke was very soft and made from parsnip. The smoked salmon and little chip on top paired surprisingly perfectly with the cakey latke and the green tea creme fraiche.

Good harvest stir fry flanken. I could have eaten this whole tray! Flanken is a cut of meat taken from the short ribs of beef. Apparently it's a big cut of meat eaten on Jewish holidays. Who knew? The flanken was served with thin noodles and veggies -- a fun play on a noodle and beef dish!

Chinese 5 spice kugel with dried longan. Again, I loved how heated the diners at my table got when arguing over what the "right" kugel is. As a first time eater of kugel, everyone was fighting to tell me what kind of kugel their mom makes (which of course, is the *right* kind of kugel). It was too cute. The kugel was probably the strangest thing I ate all night, but also the best! Kugel is a mashed up egg noodle pie, and Shojo added an Asian twist by seasoning it with Chinese 5 Spice and topping it with crispy fried wantons.

For dessert, we first cleansed our pallets with a tangerine honey shaved snow. Then we were treated to mochi, coated in a Manischewitz syrup and covered in black sesame seeds. Everyone at the table was hesitant to try this (apparently most people think Manishewitz is gross) but it was actually really delicious! Personally, I loved it.

Overall it was a great night! I'm so glad I decided to go despite having no one to go with. Nights like these are good reminders to push myself out of my comfort zone!

Saturday Circuit

Hope you are enjoying your weekend!

This morning I attempted to make "2 ingredient pancakes" for me and Tom. They are all over the blogosphere and seemed pretty easy, but unfortunately it was a major fail. The pancakes are just a mixture of eggs and mashed banana (I also added a little vanilla extract and cinnamon) but the texture was all off and they got really stuck to the pan I used. Womp womp.

Yesterday I hit up the gym for some strength work. I made up this total body circuit workout beforehand to do:

Warmup:
5 minutes jumprope
100 jumping jacks

Complete each circuit 2x

Circuit 1:
15 bicep curls to shoulder press
15 tricep kickbacks
15 lunges with dumbbells (each leg)

Circuit 2:
15 tricep dips
15 pushups
15 glute kick backs (each side)

Circuit 3:
15 side lateral shoulder raises with twist
15 bent over rows
15 squats with dumbbells on shoulders

Circuit 4:
60 sec. wall sit with front shoulder flutters
30 calf raises with dumbbells
15 back flys

Circuit 5:
30 sec. plank
30 sec. superman
15 bicycles (each side)
15 russian twists with dumbbell (each side)
15 V-ups

The whole workout including warmup and stretching took about 50 minutes. Those lateral raises with a twist kill me!!!

Catch ya later.

365 Days Clean

Today I celebrate one year of being diet coke free! How the heck did that happen???

Let's share a diet coke to celebrate! Or perhaps a diet coke shaped cake?

[Source]

Quick recap: 

After several failed "diet coke challenges" I didn't so much decide, but really just stopped drinking diet coke without any grand announcements. It didn't start off as a plan to stop drinking DC altogether, but it somehow happened. Now I'm 365 days clean!

Cravings:
Yes. I still crave diet coke whenever I see someone else drinking it, but only if it's a fountain soda and I can actually SEE it. I don't care if people drink from cans. Otherwise, I have probably only craved DC without seeing it a few times in the last 6 months or so, or if I've been really hungover (although that happens rarely these days).

Feelings:
For the most part nothing really feels different, or at least what does feel different can't be associated with no longer drinking DC. In the past year I've made a lot of changes exercise and eating wise, so I imagine the changes in my energy levels and overall health are more related to those things. What quitting diet coke has done though is change my attitude. Ready for an overdoes on cheesiness? Quitting diet coke has made me feel like I can do anything! Seriously!! Anytime I'm faced with a challenge (usually related to my constant health-related struggles) I think to myself "If I can not drink diet coke for X days, I can do X and X." For the most part, it works!

Other Drinks:
I've started having some other drinks, but for the most part, it's water straight up. Some other drinks I stick to:
- Seltzer - I love ordering seltzer with a splash of cranberry at bars or at trivia)
- Naturally flavored water - cucumber + mint + lemon is my fave
- Diet Peach Snapple - I try not to drink this TOO often as it contains a lot of the chemicals that exist in diet coke, but I haven't been able to write it off completely...yet!
- Green juice from the cafe downstairs at work - my favorite is kale + broccoli + spinach + apple...no clue how this tastes so good
- Regular soda - in the first few months without diet coke I drank regular soda (ginger ale or sprite usually) about once a week or every other week. A few times at work when I needed a severe pick-me-up I'd grab a can of regular coke. Besides as a mixer with alcohol or feeling overly nauseous (ginger ale), I don't think I've had regular soda in months!

Cheers to another clean year! ::clinks glass of cucumber water::

Friday Five

I had my annual review at work today and it went great. I'm feeling relieved, so why not celebrate with some fun Friday Fives!

5 Recipes I Want to Try:
1. Minestrone soup with quinoa & kale
2. Cinnamon french toast bake
3. Beef & broccoli
4. Crock pot sesame honey chicken
5. Cucumber watermelon martinis (summer!!!)

5 Things I'm Thinking About Today:
1. When can I go on vacation?
2. Should I go to the gym tonight or tomorrow?
3. What should I order for lunch at Douzo?
4. My Grandpa was born during the Great Depression (he's 85 today).
5. How to celebrate TKO's bday in March!?

5 Places I Want to Travel to:
1. The Grand Canyon
2. Tanzania
3. Galapagos Islands
4. Bora Bora [Bora] (Inside joke for any "Orange is the New Black" fans)
5. Tokyo (ya, know for a casual meal at Sukiyabashi Jiro)

5 Dresses I Want:

5 Things I'm Looking Forward To:
1. May weddings! Specifically, Maja & Tom's wedding on the 30th and Missy & Dan's wedding on the 31st.
2. Going to Killington, VT for a weekend in March with friends.
3. Kitchen Kibitz at Shojo on Sunday. I went to my first pop-up for the Thanksgivukkah celebration and loved it, so I can't wait to see what's in store this time.
4. The Beanpot! I wasn't sure if I wanted to go this year, but now that I bought a ticket I'm excited to go and cheer on Northeastern.
5. Tom's company party next week! I'm excited to meet his co-workers and to check out The Beat Hotel in Harvard Square.

I Couldn't Say It Better

I read a post this morning from Honey, I Shrunk the Gretchen that so perfectly summed up my emotions and fears. I just had to share it here.

When it comes to weight loss, I don't have anyone close to me (besides my Mom, kind of) who can truly relate. This is why I turned to blogs oh so many years ago. I don't think my friends can relate to what it's like to work so hard to lose a major amount of weight (I'm talking 40-50+ pounds), just to turn around and put it back on in half as much time as it took to lose. Sometimes when I hear about their struggles with a 5 pound holiday weight gain I have to stop myself from rolling my eyes. Everyone has their own body issues and it's unfair for me to diminish the real struggles of my friends, even when they seem so small in comparison.

At the ripe age of 25 I've already lost and gained three times. Finding other people who existed (somewhere in the blogosphere...) who actually faced the same struggles and fears I do on a daily basis was so helpful in my weight loss journey last time, and it's proving to be just as helpful this time around.

Like Gretchen, I think I'm more scared of what happens once the weight comes off than the fear of actually achieving my weight loss goals. Back in March 2011, around the time of my half marathon I had hit a low in my weight that I hadn't seen since early high school. And yet, I still wasn't satisfied with how I looked or the number I saw on the scale. Once I completed the half, I watched (or rather, closed my eyes and ignored) as the healthy habits I had spent years building slowly disappeared. I spent the next few months before graduation drinking way too much beer and eating way too many french fries and slices of pizza. I figured once I graduated things would go back to normal, and they did somewhat, but my weight crept up. By October of 2013 I had regained all of the weight I lost, plus a decent amount extra.

I know how to lose weight. One might even say I'm an expert at this point after three successful endeavors. But I suck at maintaining. I suck at living a normal, healthy lifestyle. I suck at being content with my body and the number on the scale.

When I was in South Africa, it was the only time in my life I can remember not being consumed by food and my weight. In my normal life I obsess -- whether it's obsessing over losing weight or gaining weight, or thinking about my next meal. When I was in Cape Town I didn't obsess. For the first time in my life I was with a group of people who just didn't seem to care too much (at least on the surface) about their body image or what they were eating. We never once discussed how many calories were in what we were eating or what celebrity we wanted our bodies to look like. We didn't climb up mountains every day to burn calories or get a good workout, we just did it just to get to class. We didn't go canoeing in the Okavango Delta because we wanted to tone our arms, we did it because it was a freaking amazing once-in-a-lifetime experience! We didn't hike to the top of Lion's Head to sweat off the partying from the night before, we did it for the incredible view at the top.

[Gah I was so tan and blonde!]

Still the most amazing view I've ever seen -- sun setting on one side of the mountain, moon rising on the other.

I had a lot of money to spend in South Africa. I had a decent amount saved for the trip and the currency exchange made me feel like Warren Buffet. I spent my money on the freshest seafood I could find and the ripest, juiciest, exotic fruit that filled the markets. I ate when I was hungry and otherwise, I didn't think about it. Instead I was thinking about what museum I'd go to that day, or whether I wanted to spend 2 or 3 days exploring Kruger National Park, or if I wanted to buy the cheaper Malaria pills that would give me hallucinations (for the record, NO). I didn't once step on a scale in the 6 months I was there, and I came back from South Africa a few pounds lighter than when I left.

It's been a long time since I was in Cape Town (4 years!!). How do I get back to that mindset? How do I eventually feel content with my body? I worry about this all the time and it's a perpetual topic of conversation with my nutritionist. She's told me I need to recognize the worry and then dismiss it; I should only be focusing on the present. I don't know if I buy into that. I'm a planner at heart and almost always feel like a game plan is necessary. I don't know how to end this post because there is no end. I don't have it figured out yet.

So, to be continued...

What I Ate Wednesday

I'm really digging these weekday alliteration posts lately. So here's one for today!

I started off the day with a Sticky Bun Uber Larabar and an orange.

I was really excited to try this but I hated it. It was rock hard. I don't know if this is normal but I thought I was going to break my teeth on it! I just bought it from the store a few days ago and the expiration date is far away so I don't know what the deal was. I'm a big fan of Larabar but I'll be sticking to the regular ones for now on.

For lunch I had tuna with a bit of real deal mayo and chopped pickles. On the side is this ridiculous creation of cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and olives. I also had some grapes.

Before heading to the gym I grabbed a few cashews and 1/2 a homemade larabar...

I did my "long run" at the gym tonight -- 31 minutes (1 minute longer than last time) at a steady pace. I don't want to jinx it, but slowly and steadily running is becoming easier.

When I got home I had dinner all ready, a new crockpot recipe! This morning I added to the pot:

- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 can of enchilada sauces
- 1 can of diced tomatoes
- 1 packet of taco seasoning

When I got home I shredded the chicken, added some corn to the mixture, and served it with 1/2 a cup of brown rice that I got for $2 from the Japanese restaurant by my apartment. I hate making rice and I always feel like my brown rice comes out terrible. It's so worth the $2!

On the side I had some more cucumbers. I crave cucumbers all.the.time.

Also, even though it was last night's dinner, I want to share this! I bought some steak tips marinated in chimichurri sauce at the grocery store this week and was excited to cook it up. Here it is with some spinach and sweet potatoes:

I overcooked it but it was still good! I will master the art of cooking red meat soon enough.

Things I'm Loving Tuesday!

My new workout top from Old Navy. I bought this a few weeks ago when it was on sale for just $8! I looove it...it fits perfectly, is so comfortable and breathable, and is great for running.

Tarte BB cream: I bought this at the beginning of summer to replace my normal foundation. I'm surprised that I'm still using it through the winter but I just love it.

Prosciutto & cantaloupe. I can't get enough of this for lunch! I feel so fancy when I eat it and it's soo so good.

REI wool socks. I bought these for my trip to Iceland and have been wearing them constantly as Boston goes in and out of the "Polar Vortex." These socks keep my feet crazy warm!!

Fitnessblender.com. This website is so great for FREE, easy to follow workouts. There are tons to choose from and many don't require equipment. So far I've tried two: this arms, shoulders & upper back quick workout and this 40 minute barre workout.

Painting. I go through stages with painting and sometimes get really into it. I HATE the cleanup though. Here are some things I've painted the last few weeks!

Avana Sushi. I finally returned to this sushi place after almost a year hiatus! For $34 me and Tom got ALL this (+ a water bottle and a diet coke -- which I DID NOT drink).

What are YOU loving this Tuesday? (This is not a rhetorical question, TKO).

Friday Five

Happy Friday ya'll. Can you believe it's January 17?? WTF???

And now it's time for Friday Five!

5 things I'm eating (or ate) today:
1. Oatmeal with flax seeds, peanut butter and honey (a staple breakfast these days)
2. Prosciutto and cantaloupe
3. Cucumbers (I've been craving them for days)
4. The last of my homemade meatballs
5. Trail mix (cashews, craisins and dark chocolate chips)

5 things I'm doing this weekend:
1. Buying new pillows
2. Filing a police report (long story short: someone stole things from my apartment)
3. Skyping with Rose in Mongolia!
4. Relaxing -- I love long weekends
5. Watching the Patriots on Sunday (probably...)

5 recent workouts:
1. Barre: Last night I went to another Barre class at Athleta! Muscles I didn't know existed are hurting today. Muscles I DID know existed feel fine, which I think is a sign of progress! :)
2. Pace run: On Wednesday I did my first "pace run" in my "pre-training for 1/2 marathon training plan." Ha. I eeked out 30 minutes on the treadmill at a 5.0 pace while watching Jeopardy. The goal with these runs will be to increase speed each time I run, but keep the length to 30 minutes. On this first run I went exactly 2.5 miles in 30 minutes.
3. Total Body Strength class: I seriously love this class. It's the best part of my Mondays! And I really love seeing how much I improve in terms of weight I'm lifting and exercises completed without breaks.
4. Hills run: On Sunday I did my first "hills run" on the treadmill. It was so freakin' hard! I sprinted up the incline as fast I could go, then slowed down my speed to a jog or a walk in between. Torture. I was sweating like a monster.
5. Long run: Last Thursday was my first "long run" of the pre-training plan. This turned out to be exactly the same as my first pace run -- gotta start somewhere right! The goal for this run will be to maintain speed, but increase time.

5 restaurants I want to try (remember that list of 55 I mentioned?):
1. No. 9 Park
2. Puritan & Company
3. Westbridge
4. Ward 8
5. State Park

What are you up to on this fabulous Friday?

Coppa - South End

I'm sure you were anxiously awaiting this post when I mentioned charcuterie, house made pasta and hamachi in my last post. If not, too bad!

Tom and I decided last Saturday that a date night was in order. I have a ridiculous list of over 50 restaurants I'm dying to try in Boston, so we glanced it over and decided to head over to Coppa in the South End! I had heard mixed reviews about Coppa (some raving it was incredible, and some saying it was just okay) but I'm SO glad we decided to give it a shot.

Coppa is a small eatery created by Chefs Jamie Bisonette and Ken Oringer (chef/owner of Clio, where I went on my 25th birthday). It's tucked away on a side street in the South End and has a menu right up my alley -- filled with Italian cured meats, homemade pastas, pizzas, and unique entrees.

We arrived around 8 PM on the rainy evening. The Patriots were playing so we figured we'd have a better shot at snagging a table at prime time without a reservation, and we were right. We were told it would be about a 30 minute wait, but within minutes seats opened up at the counters lining the windows and the bar. We decided to wait it out for a table, and only ended up standing by the bar for about 20 minutes.

We started off the evening by splitting a Smuttynose "Pure Biss" (Chef Jamie Bissonnette's Unconventional Whitbier), which while out of season, was a treat to try on Jamie's home turf.

[Source]

Deciding what to order was tough as everything on the menu sounded delicious! In the end, we ordered a bunch of items to split:

- Kampachi Crudo (Raw kampachi, yuzu, caviar, pistachio, dashi) -- we decided to order this because we wanted something fresh and the words yuzu and dashi are heavily used on Top Chef! :-D This was so delicious. It was just the perfect way to start the meal -- crisp, flavorful and unique.

There were 5 of these little piece on the plate -- I just forgot to take a photo!

- Salumi sampler (we ordered Beef Heart Pastrami, Gentile Salami, Coppa, Lingua and La Quercia Prosciutto) -- from my experience, typically when I order a salumi/charcuterie sampler the restaurant chooses the types of meat that will be featured. I was happily surprised that we could choose our own 5 meats, and was completely shocked when our board (shaped as a pig!!) came out. On the board were five heaping piles of thin, freshly cut meats, as well as marinated mushrooms, sweet pickles, and pickled greens. The meat and vegetables were fantastic. I was especially happy we asked our waitress for a prosciutto recommendation and went with La Quercia -- it was by far my favorite of the group.

Pig board!

- Arancini (traditional fried risotto balls stuffed with fontina) -- for $6 we received two large arancini in sauce. They were very good, but compared to the other outstanding food we received it was the least memorable.

We finished with two half portions of pasta:
- Spaghetti alla Carbonara (egg pasta with smoked pancetta, sea urchin and farm egg) -- delicious. I loved the combination of the pancetta and sea urchin and the spaghetti was cooked very well. I would have liked this dish with a slightly thicker pasta.

- Rigatoni con Sugo (extruded pasta with Brambly Farm pork ragu, cabbage, sage and Parmesan) -- this was my favorite dish of the night. The sauce was so flavorful and the pork was cooked perfectly. I could eat this for dinner every. single. night. Hmm...maybe I will!

Overall we had a fantastic experience at Coppa and I will absolutely go back. I may even try to order some salumi to pack up and bring home!

Coppa is located at:

253 Shawmut Avenue

Boston, MA 02118
(617) 391-0902

Food is....

LOVE: Growing up, food was a major part of the way my family interacted. Every Sunday we'd all head to my Grandma's for an Italian Sunday dinner. I love my family, but sometimes it felt like I was being judged based on the amount of food I ate.

Only having 1 serving of pasta? You must not love it (or me).

Didn't say you loved the meatballs after your first bite? You must hate it (and me).

I notice that I do this often to Tom. Speaking of meatballs, I made some homemade meatballs in the crockpot on Sunday that I've been eating all week. I shared them with Tom, and when I didn't feel like he expressed "enough" enjoyment of the meatballs I felt offended. My mind: he hates the meatballs > he hates all my cooking > he hates me. Okay, it wasn't THAT drastic, but you get the picture.

I've also used food to "love" myself, or in a better word, to comfort myself. Through all of the tough times and major changes in my life, food has always been there for me. Nothing has been able to fill an empty void in me like a huge, greasy meal. It was there for me when I've been disappointed, or stressed, or let down, or even hungover!

A REWARD: Let's jump back in time to the late 90s - early 2000s. I was an all star gymnast, but the sport was beginning to take a toll on my body and my mind. At some point in my gymnastics career, after 4 or 5 hour practices I started to get extreme headaches (so extreme that I went in for multiple CAT scans). I remember feeling trapped by gymnastics and felt a lot of fear and guilt at the thought of quitting. The sport was a huge part of my life and my parents had invested so much time and money into it. Plus, I was good. Really good. How could I quit? I pushed through the physical and mental pain and exhaustion that would overtake me after each of these practices. And what got me through? The promise that I'd be rewarded with some good old Burger King on the ride home. The XL chicken finger value meal was my poison -- at one point I was supplementing with a [necessary?] side of mozzarella sticks. When I think back on this time I must not have been REALLY enjoying it. I used to scarf this down in the car in 5 minutes -- I was probably starving after exercising so long.

This mindset of food as a reward has stuck with me. When I reached my DietBet goal last week my IMMEDIATE instinct was to grab something unhealthy to eat. It was 8 AM, but I started planning out my lunch -- I wanted a salami sub and french fries and pizza and cheese on cheese on cheese. The craving was crazy, and I couldn't believe how obvious it was that I was equating food (unhealthy food, that is) with rewarding myself. Before scarfing down a block of cheese, I decided to take a breather and think about it. I told myself to eat a normal breakfast, give it a few hours, and then decide what I wanted to do for lunch. I had my typical breakfast of eggs and fruit, and by lunchtime the crazy feeling had subsided. I had leftover salsa chicken that I made in the crockpot and was excited to eat it with some ripe avocado. I ended up buying myself a new $8 workout top from Old Navy instead. Sounds like a more appropriate reward to me.

FUEL: These days, I'm trying to look at food in a different light. I should use food to fuel my every day movements. If I'm working out, I should eat more protein to help my muscles recover and get stronger. If I need energy, I should eat fruits and vegetables and drink lots of water. Food shouldn't weigh me down; it should supplement my life. It should carry me through tough times (like hill workouts on the treadmill, ugh) and be there when I need a pick-me-up (which I swear, a clementine or a bowl of watermelon can do a WAY better job of than french fries or candy).

...BUT STILL EXCITING: I can't help it. I'm a foodie at heart, and interesting food still excites me. This is not a part of my life that I'm willing to give up, but I'm learning how to make better manage these experiences. Do I really need to go to the bar down the street from my apartment every week and order the same burger? No. Do I really need to go to a new-to-me South End eatery to try charcuterie, house made pasta and hamachi crudo? YES! Update coming soon.

The point is, I needed to re-balance my life. I needed to CHOOSE to use food as fuel in my daily life, and to keep those special restaurant trials special. I needed to stop turning to food for love and comfort.

I'm still a work in progress, but I'm giving it my best each and every day. I think that's all I can ask of myself.

Quick Update

Congratulations, your weigh-in for Round 1 has been verified! You are now an official winner in this round!

Woo hoo!!! I weighed in this morning and made my dietbet goal! It's a good thing this is 6 months long, because my greatest feeling right now is that I want to celebrate with food. Changing this mindset is something I really need to work on. There are other ways to celebrate and unhealthy food should not be used as a reward!

I'm so thrilled to start the weekend this way. Next weigh in is 2/10!

Happy Friday!!

Nerves

My first DietBet weigh in happens tomorrow or Saturday (they give you about a 36 hour period to weigh in). I'm nervous! The last time I weighed myself I was very close to my goal, but you never know how things may go. I don't know why I'm so nervous. This really isn't a big deal and I only lose about $15 if I miss the goal.

I'm trying to tell myself that win or lose, this is huge progress! I've managed to lose a decent amount of weight in the past month, where I attended countless holiday parties, stared at cookies and chocolate every day at work, spent over a week in NY, and ate what I wanted on Christmas Eve, Christmas and New Years Eve. So go me!

I had to make a couple of tough choices this past month -- turning down dinner/drink invites, choosing tuna tartare over the burger and fries I really wanted, trekking to the grocery store in 10 degree weather instead of ordering in -- but overall it wasn't THAT difficult for me. This DietBet has brought being healthy to a new level of consciousness for me. My nutritionist tells me every time we meet that remaining conscious and aware is my biggest battle. My struggles rise to the surface when I forget (or choose to forget) about my goals and desires to be healthy. Before every food choice I've made I've thought "will this bring me toward my goal of being more healthy?" and if not, "how will I make this up later?" (at the gym, with other food choices).

I've been bad at taking photos of my eats lately, but I'm getting back on it! Here's some of what I've been eating these days:

Crockpot salsa chicken with avocado!

The best snack: homemade trail mix

Also, random! I won $500 on a scratch ticket last week!!

And we won 1st at trivia on Tuesday!

Memories :)

Goals for 2014

And here we are, one week into January!

How cute is my new desk calendar? Love love love it.

So it's about time I put some of these in writing huh? Here are my goals for 2014!

1. Focus on diminishing bad habits:

- Stay diet coke free.

- Keep on trucking with the pen chewing.

- Make flossing a daily habit. I go through stages with flossing where I am diligent for a few months then totally drop the ball. My gums are sensitive so I have to do this!

2. Come up with a password system:

- As TKO teased, "I could do this today," but I am not doing it today so it's one of my goals for the year! I need to protect my stuff AND start using a password on my phone. I know, I know, I'm terrible!

3. Create a savings plan:

- I'm a pretty good saver but I think with a little effort I can be even better! I want to organize my spending and set myself limits/month.

4. Increase fitness level:

- Walk more often to and from work, especially when it's nice out!

- Run a half marathon (AH!).

- Run 5 races (including the half).

- Knock off at least two items from my Fitness Bucket List.

- Keep strength training - come up with a plan and associated goals.

5. Keep eating real food:

- Grow more herbs. I grew basil this year and loved it. My mint never took off but I will keep on trying!

- Help Tom with the garden again this year.

- Keep food shopping consistently.

- Keep focusing on more protein, veggies and healthy fat, less grains, cheese and anything processed.

- Go to farmers markets.

6. Lose weight:

- Achieve DietBet goal

- Keep seeing nutritionist

- Re-evaluate goals in May

7. Be a good GREAT friend, girlfriend and family member:

- Send birthday cards.

- Express gratitude.

- Make time for skype/phone calls.

- Visit!

8. Travel:

- Always a goal :)

9. Go to the doctor throughout the year:

- Dermatologist ASAP.

- Eye doctor for check-up in March.

- Dentist in 1-2 months.

- Annual physical in December.

10. Read and write
- Read 30 books
- Write ~100 blog posts
- Be a good Elite yelper!

And there you have it. Nothing too crazy this year, just constantly trying to make myself my best self!