Social Life vs Weight Loss

Years ago I came to the realization that I could not be both a social butterfly and a weight loser. Those calories man...they just add up and up and up...

I've gained a little weight since July. Nothing TOO terrible, but I'm not happy with it. It's affecting my clothes, I can see it in my face and body, and I can feel it when I work out. To help jump start my efforts to get back on track, I joined another DietBet! This is just one month long, with a goal of losing 4% of your weigh in the 4 weeks. I felt so ready for this when I signed up, and here I am one week in....and its struggle city.

My biggest struggle is coming from the fact that I have a lot of plans (gah...have I already lost my Israel perspective?? This is not a real problem). Aaaanyway, I started the bet last Tuesday -- that week I had plans to go out 3 nights during the week, then had a friend visit on the weekend. I actually managed to control my eating choices the best I could, but the drinking slipped a bit.

Same issue this week. Not only did I spend Monday and Tuesday locked in my apartment walking between the couch and the kitchen, but I have plans 5/7 nights of this week that involve food or drinks.

I don't want to give anything up. Going out makes me happy. Feeling good about my body and health makes me happy. I don't know how people do both.

But I'm trying. I've been food shopping and cooking and exercising. One big success in the kitchen last week was the improvised jalapeno poppers:

Baked "Inside Out" Jalapeno Poppers

Ingredients:
- 4 jalapenos

- 2/3 cup of fat free cream cheese

- 1/4 cup of shredded cheese (I used a Mexican blend)

- pinch of garlic salt and pepper

- 2 pinches of paprika

- pinch of cayenne pepper

- bread crumbs for sprinkling

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Wash and slice jalapenos in half. Using a knife/spoon, remove seeds from the peppers. **If you have rubber gloves, USE THEM. I didn't. Trust me on this one**
3. Combine cream cheese, shredded cheese and spices in a bowl and mix.

4. Lay jalapenos out on a baking sheet and fill with mixture. Sprinkle bread crumbs over the top and bake for ~20 minutes. Finish with a quick broil on high (about 2 minutes).

I had them for a Meatless Monday dinner. Caution: these babies are hot, even without the seeds!