dining out

Good Morning, My Dears…

When I checked in last Monday, the weight loss process wasn’t going so hot. I had logged my first significant weight gain, and had devised a plan to work my way back on track.

I am VERY pleased to let you know that despite an incredibly stressful week… and temptation around every corner, I stayed on track and have a weight loss to report!

This Week’s Weight Loss: -3.7 lbs

Total Weight Loss: -78.9 lbs

I can’t even begin to tell you how THRILLED I am with that number. It’s a “week one” number, so a little higher than what I’ll see in weeks to come, but I’ll take it!

How Did I Do It?

I logged everything I ate all week long. The weekend has been a little spotty, but Monday-Friday I was strong!
I packed snacks to take to work every single day. Bananas, pears, grape tomatoes, and of course, roasted beets. I ate snacks steadily throughout the day so I never got that HUGE uncontrollable hunger. I even made another batch of the Mustardy Cole Slaw I love and enjoyed that each day after lunch.

I planned my meals. For me, that meant eating Jenny Craig cuisine all week long. Something I reflected upon during the week was that it REALLY takes that thinking out of the process. My meals are what they are… there’s no deviation, choices, or potential for second helpings. I LOVE this program for that reason. I’ll be employing a Jenny plan again this week to be successful.
I used social media to track my progress - If you follow me on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook, you probably saw extra posts of what I was eating this week… posting my meals helped keep me on track, and you guys were SO nice to root me on! The encouragement helped a LOT.

I dined out, but had a plan. I went to a restaurant I really like, but fully had a plan for what I was going to order. I ate no bread, but did enjoy a glass of wine with the ladies.
I spent time on the mat. I attended 4 yoga classes this week. While I didn’t hit the YMCA for cardio, I needed the yoga more than cardio this week as a stress-reliever. I feel amazing after yoga, and plan to practice once again this week.
I had a slip-up on Friday, but didn’t let it ruin my week. My office delivered Gigi’s cupcakes on Friday for the entire staff… I said no once, I went back and said no a second time, but when it was just me and the Coconut Macaroon cupcake in the breakroom, I caved. I only ate somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of the thing, but these cupcakes are just LOADED with calories…

What’s the Plan for This Week?

Lather, Rinse, Repeat. See above, we’re going to do it all over again! This week, I’ve already prepped all of my snacks, have fruit handy to take to work, and made a tasty kale salad that will be this week’s “cole slaw.”

I’ve even got dinner plans this week again, and my plan is to check out that menu ahead of time. Denver hosts an AMAZING Restaurant Week, where you get a 3 course meal for $26.40. I am not going to participate and instead find a salad on the menu… afterall, THREE courses (usually including dessert) is WAY too much for this girl.

Ok… Let’s do this!

How was your week? Any successes/challenges to report?

Disappearing Act

Weigh-In Update and the New Scale

Guest Post: Hilary's Story

Tea Time

After a very lazy weekend, Sunday arrived all too quickly and I had to set that dreaded alarm clock. Are you the same way? Does the idea of setting an alarm clock on the weekend make you wince?

Well, the good news is that I had a fun event to go to. I am involved in an alumnae chapter here in the Denver area, and a group of ladies and I get together on a somewhat monthly basis at different venues throughout the city. When I first moved to Denver, joining this group made it SO much easier to meet people and I’ve always had a fondness for it as a result. I especially love seeing new faces at these events of people that are also trying to connect after moving cross-country.

I usually play cruise director when it comes to our monthly events, but for January, my friend Jillian offered to help coordinate the event and chose Boulder as our backdrop. Things have been so hectic that it was nice to have someone else to do the planning for our group – - Thanks, Jill!

Not only did we have brunch planned at a lovely teahouse in Boulder, but there were also arrangements made for the group to tour Celestial Seasonings! Having a busy Sunday planned, I opted out on the trip to Celestial Seasonings (which I had already toured), but met the ladies for lunch.

The Dushnabe Teahouse was actually a gift from Tajikistan, believe it or not. Boulder established its sister city ties back in 1987, and artisans in Tajikistan went to work crafting this beautiful teahouse in its honor.

The exterior of the building is just as gorgeous as the interior, with hand crafted tiled panels surrounding the building. Once you arrive inside, you are greeted by the Fountain of the Seven Beauties and exquisite tiled ceilings. No detail was spared in the creation of this beautiful tea house.

Fountain of the Seven Beauties

The Ceiling

We had quite a large group and the restaurant was awesome to accommodate us so well. We all started off with some tea. I’m not a HUGE tea drinker, but I do enjoy the herbal infusions (i.e. Candy Cane Lane, Sleepytime Tea, etc.) so I picked a flavor that was called “7 Chakras.”

It had a blend of berries and flowers and tasted AMAZING! The little teapot had a strainer with loose leaf herbs, which was also a first. Our server brought out a timer to let us know when our tea had steeped long enough. Delish! I only wish I had drank more of it before it got cold!

The menu really had a large variety of international cuisine. Everything from Polish to Indian to Thai, the menu had a ton to choose from. I went with the Asian Chicken Salad. It came with soy and sweet chili seared chicken, napa cabbage, greens, red pepper, carrot, and a soy vinaigrette. Per the menu, it also is served with crispy wontons, but I asked them to leave them off this time.

It was REALLY flavorful and JUST what the doctor ordered. I can’t even begin to tell you how good this salad was, and the dressing was really interesting as well. It was mostly soy sauce, but in the best possible way.

After lunch and quite a lot of chatting, we got to enjoy a few tasty treats. My friend Jillian surprised us all with teapot shaped cake pops in honor of the event.

Just a bite of cake and frosting was EXACTLY the right amount of dessert… and she may have even stuffed them with a little surprise chocolate chip cookie dough! Yum-O!

BTW… Jillian blogs all of her fabulous creations over at Good Morning Sweetums. Check her recipes out… they are amazing!

If that weren’t enough sweetness, one of the ladies has been living in Switzerland and just happened to be back in town in time for the event. She treated us with Swiss chocolate… decadent, to say the least! And, somehow, the chocolate just kept multipling within her bag… Eeks!

I stopped at two little mini squares, but wow… the Swiss REALLY know what they are doing over there.

Before heading out and splitting from the group, we took a quick picture outside of the teahouse. To my friends who like to travel to Denver, make a note… we’ll be going to the Boulder teahouse when you come into town. I love this place!