Easy like Sunday morning

My mom has these tea cups. This is one from the set of four. They've always been there, on this rack that hangs on the kitchen wall that has pegs to hang coffee cups. They sit on the shelf it has above the pegs. No one ever uses them. I've always thought they were the ugliest things. Suddenly in the last month they have become the sweetest little tea cups in existence. Each cup has a different image of bright little flowers and are quite happy making. How things change as we get older and appreciate a simpler time. Today I made a cup of green tea and put a skosh of Silk Light Vanilla Soy Milk in it. Delish. It almost made a day of homework bearable.

With my tea I had Kashi Heart to Heart Warm Cinnamon with more Silk. I can't seem to find this cereal in my town so I occasionally snag a couple boxes whenever I get to Whole Foods. I also snagged a bunch of LARABARS while I was there. I still had never tried them and hear so much talk about them.

This one was Key Lime Pie. Not one I'll get again and I'm hoping the others are better. I got quite a few different kinds. Maybe my first LARA experience shouldn't have been so exotic. Peanut Butter Cookie sounds about right. Will give that a shot tomorrow.

For lunch I cooked up two Black Bean Chipotle Gardenburgers and made an open-faced sandwich. It seems like so much more food when you do it that way. I used my homemade hummus instead of mayo and slapped a little lettuce on there. I love love love these gardenburgers. Yet another thing I can't find in my town and have to get at Whole Foods (have I mentioned how eager I am to move back to Portland)?

I might have had another Jell-O Mousse Temptations, too, but don't try and guilt me. They are only 60 calories and that is fat free Cool Whip my friends.

Oh...and according to Steaz, I am balanced. Though I am successfully sitting on a stability ball with utmost balance, I don't FEEL very balanced. Thanks anyway, Steaz.

I'm considering doing a little challenge or giveaway or combo. For the last few summers I have donned the hat of Sergeant Shrinkabootie and coordinated a weight loss boot camp with people that expressed interest through weightwatchers.com. It was a LOT of work and I don't have the time for it as it was previously defined. I was thinking, though, that I could take some of the weekly challenges that I used to come up with and pose them to you all. I'll keep track of who wins week to week and winner gets a prize...from me (which is more than anyone got from me during previous boot camps). Lose weight AND get a prize? That's win win right there. Any interest?

Can you smell...what the Rock is cookin'

The Rock, in this case, is not a muscle bound, rope climbing, body slamming, actor of the wrestling ring. The Rock? Is me. Though I shall never be able to pull off a pair of itty bitty man panties the way he does. Black is slimming, but it ain't that slimming. For breakfast I cooked up a little bagel breakfast sandwich. Whole wheat bagel with ham, 2 eggs, and reduced fat mayo. I didn't put cheese on it because, you know what? I decided a long time ago that I don't like fat free cheese slices. I kept eating them because I like cheese. Fat free cheese slices are not cheese. They are sad little squares of puke dressed up like cheese. I threw it all in this little infomercial sensation my brother and sister-in-law gave me for Christmas and it cooked it all right up, even the eggs. That thing is a miracle with a heating element.

Lunch is when I went overboard. Not "Oh no, fat girls gone over." kind of overboard where everyone panics and tries to find enough people to pull her back in. More like a super hot, confident, hair tossed over her bronze shoulders in slow motion, going to gracefully dive into the water kind of overboard. Intentional, poised, and no regret kind of overboard. I put a salmon steak in a piece of foil and circled it with broccoli, yellow squash, baby carrots, and cauliflower. I sprayed it with I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray (Mom and Dad could take a lesson here) and sprinkled it with a seasoning/herb/spice trifecta that I will likely never be able to match again. I wrapped it all up, put it in the oven, and voila...


I know, good right? There's more, as I ate it and thoroughly enjoyed it, I recognized I was satisfied and threw out about a quarter of the salmon (I know, I know, kids, somalia and shit. Well, me, fat and shit. If they wanna dig it out of my garbage, have at it). I'm starting to get a little hungry now and debating what my snack will be. Dinner is a couple hours away and I already know Mom and Dad are making hamburgers. They usually get the lean beef so I am going to go ahead and have one, but I might have to rethink the actual bread aspect. Maybe only the bottom of the bun, open-faced if you will, and none of those squares of puke dressed up like cheese for me, thanks.

Day 4 finds me still very much in control. It's made all the difference in my mood. Life has still been kicking me in no man's land and being in control of this one aspect has made all the difference. I feel like I can do anything, survive anything, when I can control this. Some of my past recruits of my Boot Camp weight loss challenge have sought me out for another one this summer. Because I have classes this summer, I can't do it the way I have in the past. Instead, just four of us are going to challenge each other and responsibilities are being divided so that it doesn't just rest on my shoulders. I think it will help keep all of us accountable to each other. First aspect of Boot Camp this year? The Crime and Punishment jars. Stay tuned.