But then it hit me, my life, my happiness and my husband’s happiness is affected by me not trying to get into shape.  I know it’s not impossible, I’ve done it before.  I guess I just needed my team back so that I can really hit this thing full speed.  I had a great workout today with one of my favorite people in the whole world, Melody!!!  And I’m in therapy again, once a week, yikes!   I think I need it though.  I am having a really hard time this week.  I can’t go into detail but lets just say Eric and I have been fighting a lot since we moved back to Santa Barbara.  He was doing so well in Tahoe, but I wasn’t.  I was starting to wither, like a flower, I needed more sunlight.  And now that I’m back and loving it, he is starting to get grumpy and sick.  Ugh!  I guess we just can’t win, not for right now anyway.

I am going to start keeping a log of my food and workouts since that’s what seemed to help me lose weight last time.  I want to keep it up, I want to get these fucking pounds off my body.  I want to fit into a fucking cute dress every once in a while.  Ok sorry about the potty mouth, sometimes I get a little carried away, and well, I enjoy talking like a sailor.

I didn’t really eat anything good for me today.

Breakfast-Acai bowl —yummmm!  Lunch– non-fat cottage cheese and a pita  Snack– Raw veggies  Dinner– Chicken salad with beans, salsa and cheese (oops)

But today being Valentines day, my man and me decided to splurge on Chocolate!  It is like one of our most favorite things, we go to this little shop called Chocolate Maya here in Santa Barbara and buy all kinds of goodies like the heavenly little green tea Buddha and the dark chocolate with lavender.  Oh I am drooling just writing this.  Ok so this might not be in my “Slim for Life” plan but it is a holiday and my husband did buy them for me so what’s a girl to do.  So today I am taking a break since I have been such a good girl and lost 20 lbs, I think it’s time for a treat.  

So yesterday I ate:

• gluten free waffles with strawberries and banana
• aduki bean cassarole
• hummus and veggies
• grilled chicken breast with honey dijon glaze
• brown rice 
• spinach salad
• handful of sunflower seeds
• 1 square of 75% dark chocolate yum!

Ugh!  I know I’m going to miss this place once I leave for Europe, so I had better enjoy the quiet while I can.

So today I ate:

• smoothie of raspberry, blueberry, banana and strawberry
• leftover turkey meatballs from last night yum!
• blanched broccoli salad with lemon, cherry tomato, pine nuts and basil
• crudites of carrot, cucumber and celery
• chicken breast baked with cinnamon and lemon
• salad with asparagus, tomato, capers and walnut
• 1 piece of dark chocolate
• 3 coconut covered dates

Ok so after a week of not blogging and going out to eat I am so so so stuck in the mud.  I have maintained my weight sort of for a whole week, which is sooooo sucky.  I am trying so hard to get the scale to say something other than what it says.  But alas I have only myself to blame.  I went out for Thai food 2x and went out for lunch.  I also had a superbowl party yesterday and ate a couple of handfuls of popcorn.  So maybe its going off the plan or maybe its my thyroid.  Whatever the problem is I am really tired and discouraged that I can’t eat anything other than what’s in my book.  How is that fair?  I made good decisions and only ate healthy things each time I went out.  

The only thing I know how to do is go back to the beginning.  How did I lose the weight in the beginning of the month?  I followed the plan religiously and I blogged/ food journal almost every night.  So I guess I have to start doing that again.  Lots of work but worth it I guess.

So today I ate:

• Gluten free hot cereal with raisins and banana
• a pear
• veggie crudites with cashew dip
• salad w. tofu, tomato, cucumber, beansprouts and oriental dressing
• veggie juice of: beet, fennel, celery
• turkey meatballs with tomato sauce
• 1 piece of dark chocolate

August 2008

January 27, 2009

So today I ate:

• Bob’s Red mill Mighty Tasty Gluten Free Hot Cereal with Banana and rasin
• Avocado with tomato, pinenuts and balsamic
• Spinach soup with onion and turnip
• Teriyaki Salmon Salad 
• 2 pieces of 75% Chocolate. . . hehe

I am doing this post a day late. . . . so yesterday I ate:

• Gluten free hot cereal with rice milk
• an apple
• leftover cabbage soup
• cashew nut dip with veggie crudites
• Cinnamon chicken breasts
• spinach salad with tomatoes, peas, cucumber and mint
• 3 coconut covered dates

  Spinach salad 

Rules: Copy the rules and place on your Notes application, and then write 16 random things (facts, habits, or goals, etc) about YOU. At the end, choose at least 16 people to be tagged, including the person that tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about YOU

1. I wake up every day and stick a small teapot full of saltwater up my nose so that I can pour it out the other nostril so that I can breathe. (that’s a netty pot in case you were wondering)
2. Over my school career I have been to 2 preschools, 2 kindergartens, 2 elementary schools, 2 Jr. Highs, 3 high schools and 2 colleges. 
3. I secretly love Barry Manilow. I’m a Manalooney, or a Fanalow depending on how you swing. 
4. When I was young I only wanted to be as tall as Paula Abdoul because she was a great dancer and I figured that I needed to be short to be a great dancer too.
5. I enjoy throwing or smearing things on my brother’s faces. Dustin got jello, Christian got pudding. If you’ve never tried it, I highly recommend it, so much fun!
6. I am waaaay freaked out by the cotton balls that come in bottles of pills. Or just cotton balls in general. I am getting tense just thinking about it. 
7. I don’t know the phone numbers of anyone in my contacts, not one person besides Eric. Not even my parents. 
8. I am an uber nerd and can recite and perform almost any movie musical you throw at me. Oh ya I know Sister Act II very well.
9. In high school I hated pop music so I listened to Oldies radio instead and now have a lot of Herman’s Hermits songs bouncing around in my head. 
10. My uncle’s nickname for me growing up was “Amber Nickel” or “Amber 5-Penny”.
11. I’ve lived in 6 states including: Washington, Minnesota, New Jersey, Texas, California and Nebraska.
12. My voice can be heard on one of my brother’s demo tracks for his album. 
13. I’m an aspiring amateur photographer and salsa dancer.
14. I have an impeccable sense of direction, I can always find my way back to where I need to go even if I haven’t been there in years. 
15. My first and last boyfriend were both named Eric. 
16. I have never successfully peed in the wilderness.

17. I gained weight over the weekend  Not cool.

So today I ate:

• smoothie, banana, mango, pear, pineapple
• oriental salad; carrot, celery, cucumber, pepper tossed in sesame dressing
• miso soup
• avocado with sunflower seeds and hummus
• cabbage soup with navy beans
• 6 coconut covered dates
• sliced strawberries with honey

I think the key is to travel ultra prepared.  I should have included some kind of protein in my snacks, but I made it in one piece and didn’t stop to eat junk food.  Tomorrow hiking and possibly a fire ballet?  How cool is that!?

So today I ate:

• half grapefruit, banana
• pear
• trader joe’s garden salad with sesame seeds
• sunflower seeds and walnuts (handful)
• honey crisp apple!!
• sushi, 2 sushi rolls, 3 nigiri, 2 veggie rolls
• and hot sake. . . . mmmmm

Today was long and busy.  I feel like I haven’t sat down all day.  I went to therapy, worked out for an hour, and cooked and cooked and did laundry and packed and I am wiped.  I am going to San Francisco tomorrow for the weekend with my friends.  I am going to actually see if they will let me cook so that I can make all my healthy meals up there and not stray from my progress.  And my friend Leigh has offered to take me hiking, which is perfect because I wasn’t sure how I was going to get any exercise. 

So today I ate:

• smoothie of: cherimoya, banana, strawberry, rice milk
• grapes
• quinoa and beet salad with green beans, peppers and cucumbers
• radishes and brazil nuts
• Black bean soup with guacamole
• bananas drizzled with agave syrup

But then it occurred to me, I do have a team.  I have a team of people and they are helping me reach my vision.  In our mission statement it states, “for Amber to achieve, health, happiness and find her passion”.  My team includes my wonderful husband Eric who helps me stay motivated and has even changed his diet to help me be tempted less.  Eric is in charge of helping me find my passion and taking me outside of my box that I love to live in.  It also includes my therapist, who works on the happiness part.  She keeps me accountable for my health issues as well which really is part of me being happy.  And the final person is my trainer Melody, she is a wonderful motivator, a great friend and someone that truly gets excited about every single pound and small achievement.  

I have the perfect team to reach my goals and vision.  I don’t have to manage them, but they are on my side they have “bought in” to the vision and they are helping me become the better version of myself that I truly want to be.  

So today I ate:

• banana and pineapple
• avocado
• leftover adzuki bean bake
• salad with sprouts and cabbage
• turkey burgers with leeks and garlic
• hummus and veggie crudites 
• carrot juice
• small piece of dark chocolate. . . a moment of weakness