We all love our moms. I love mine, a LOT… I love mine so much I have her handwriting tattooed on my body… however today is Mother’s Day and I am sitting here, while we watch “Four Christmases”.  Why? I dunno, because it’s May and she just so happened to BUY this movie for my DAD, for his birthday?! What the HELL is going on here???

Anyways, I am turning out to be a terribly irresponsible blogger.  I thought I’d have the time to do this every week, yet I find myself having to literally leave myself a post-it, stuck somewhere in my daily path, that says, “Update your god damn blog already”….stuck next to “Eat lunch” and “Go home”.  You’ll have to bear with me (I know, all 1.4 of you desperately miss reading about my weight loss adventures) I’ll be better, I promise.

On the weight loss front, my 12 pound loss has stayed lost!  That’s the good news.  The bad news is, I have yet to shed a single additional pound.  That means…to my dismay….that it’s time to start hitting the gym… big time.

When I actively go to the gym, I love it.  But… it’s been a long time.  Also, getting to the gym and committing to working out is my least favorite thing in the entire world.  Packing the bag, losing the extra sleep, getting there and realizing i forgot my headphones and wanting to off myself as I complete my third, music-less minute on the elliptical, running into co-workers dressed in an old Ben N Jerry’s employee tshirt and shorts, working out so much that I develop a GI Joe appetite….

Regardless, I must just bite the big one and make working out a part of my daily life.  Yes, daily.  I currently belong to a gym, and I only make it over there a few times a month (if that)  The willy nilliness of planning gym time at the end of a 12 hour day just isnt cutting it.  Gotta commit.  Eep.

SO - all you gym rats out there… I need your help.  I need to know what the hell I need to do - beyond ellipticizing and treadmilling and biking - to get into excellent shape. Unfortunately my body has caught on to all of the fruit eating and oatmeal and calorie counting.  Time to kick it up.

In other news, after many hours of practice and collaboration, The Backup Factor, my band, are playing our first show on May 20th at the Middle East, upstairs!  Can’t wait…you should come out.

Speaking of bands… my new favorite band, is Surfer Blood.  They are damn good and you should check them out as soon as possible.  They remind me of so many things I love about music…The Pixies, Weezer, Fugazi, Broken Social Scene… such a special, wonderful sound.  I can’t say enough good things.

ALSO - The First Annual, my favorite guys in the world, just released an EP on Triple B records.  Come see them play TT and the Bears this Friday!

Wow this movie sucks… phewww………….I’m spent.

It has been quite some time since my last post.  Lots of updates!

First and foremost, our Biggest Loser competition was a huge success… though I did not pummel the women’s team as I’d hoped to do, I did pretty well.  Overall I had lost 12 pounds but somehow, gained a couple back before the final weigh in - huge bummer.  However I’m now back down to my 12 pound loss.  The winners of the competition lost BIG numbers - Lisa lost 17 pounds and Steve lost 33!  They looked amazing, a little shaky from the drastic measures they took to shed last minute lb’s (Lisa even cut 17 inches off of her hair!!) and in an awesome turn of events, were featured on the front page of the Boston Business Journal!  All losers were rewarded  with bagels, munchkins… and a mind-blowing MAKE YOUR OWN ICE CREAM SUNDAE BAR from JP Licks, courtesy of Picture Park!!  We were beside ourselves. It was quite a big, delicious, deal and a huge suprise.  If you’ve never eaten a sundae at 10am, I highly suggest you try it.

 I cannot tell you how weird the last month has been.  I did take a wee little break from the insane diet that I’d shackled myself to, and let me tell you, I felt the aftermath.  I am now back in the game and trying to focus on having a most excellent spring.  Looking forward to warmer days and somewhere off in the distance - a week at the Cape, in a house, with 17 friends.  It shall be glorious.

My Easter was fabulous… I was lucky enough to spend it at good old Salisbury Beach with my family enjoying dreamy weather.  I spent an Easter morning eating Italian Easter bread and laying in a chair on the beach - a diet could be seen for miles.  I couldn’t believe my feet were in the sand… such sweet relief.   I don’t know if you are aware, but I was basically hatched from a seashell -  a tride and true beach lover.  Every summer of my life has been spent at the cottage, and any minute that can be spent there during springtime, is absolutely priceless. 

Traditionally, my first days of summer are always marked with a family dinner of lobsters and clam strips at our favorite and yours - MARKEY’s.  We have been friends with the Markey’s for generations and I long for our first warm-weather trip to their tables, all winter long.  Lucky for me, our dinner came early this year.  We went, we ate, we laughed, and we rolled onto our next summer staple… Newburyport’s own - Cafe Di Sienna.

Cafe D, as we call it, is a tiny little cafe that offers some pretty tasty coffees and teas, and some pretty outstanding desserts.  I had a coffee and a little Italian cookie favorite called a “Toto”… it’s one of those little guys with the icing and rainbow dots on top…lemony goodness.

There’s always an awkward semi-annoying musician playing at Cafe D, right in front of the dessert case…We always heckle them under our breath while we wait in line, and one or two of Anthony’s remarks may or may not land into dead air between songs, and hit said awkward musician in the face.  However this time, I got to walk in on said awkward musician, in the bathroom - JOY!  Cafe D is always hilarious.  This time it was hilarious, and pantsless.

Another beach tradition, is taking a little walk to heaven, aka Tripoli Pizza.  Though the Markey’s Vs. Brown’s and Tripoli vs. Cristy’s debate will continue for decades, I am a Tripoli’s girl as much as I am a Markey’s girl.

Why? Well because I know mind blowing pizza when I taste it.  Take a perfect square of crisp, crunchy dough… top it with sweet-but-not-too-sweet tomato sauce, and sprinkle it with a modest handful of mozzarella cheese (modest enough to request “extra cheese” which = 1 slice of provolone melted on top… it’s ok, I’ll give you a minute while you get your car keys)

So, needless to say, beach eating can be dangerous, but if you limit yourself to a tasty steamed lobster and a slice of the best pizza in town, I’d say your diet will thank you. 

This weekend, I cleaned out my fridge and gasped as I had not used up as much arugula as I’d hoped… SO…I made a fantastic Arugula dressing that turned out to be re-god-damn-diculous if you ask me.  Get your Magic Bullet out and try it….

Ingredients:

2 cups of fresh Arugula greens

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Sprinklings of salt, black pepper, garlic powder - to your liking

1-2 tablespoons of Olive Oil (adjust amount to change the consistency of the dressing)

Blend all of these together and voila - you have a delicious salad dressing, dip for veggies or breads, or marinade for chicken… I swear you’ll grab a knife and spread it on toast! I think I’m going to marinate some scallops in this and grill them.

That’s all darlings, til next time…

Studies show that crackheads and food addicts share a common bond…

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2010/03/29/2010-03-29_fatty_foods_may_be_just_as_addictive_as_heroin_and_cocaine_study.html

Jaymay performing “What About Bob” back in 2008.

Hello hello!

Ok, I’m sorry readers (all 4 or so of you) I’ve been caught in a work/life/etc frenzy for a bit, but I’m back to update you, and hopefuly enlighten you with a few nuggets of weight loss wisdom… and random updates!

First off, regarding what I said about this diet feeling normal?  That cannot be applied to the past 10 days or so.  For some odd reason the week following my last post, I got sick.  More frustrating than being sick however, was how hungry I was!  Though I was eating the same old things, those same old things left me starving (which is strange, normally I’d feel the opposite effects while sick) I also didn’t work out at all, because I was feeling terrible… and it all snowballed into feeling craptastic for a few days.  There’s nothing comforting about soup and salad when your sinuses are weighing you down.

Due to this little hurdle I don’t have any major losses to report however I’m feeling strong again, and, feeling determined to crank things up a notch in these final 2 weeks of the competition.  I really can’t believe it’s upon us - oh - muh -god.  More importantly, I’m feeling strong for the long road ahead as I’ve barely scraped the surface of my own goals beyond this competition.  I am in this for the long haul.

At the risk of sounding like an uncultured fool, I must tell you that I ate Indian food in a restaurant for the first time a couple weeks ago!  My friend Alyce and I ventured out to India Quality in Kenmore Square for this momentous occasion. 

http://www.indiaquality.com/

(Now that I look more closely at the sign, I guess this is the place for North Indian food - thank you Northern India, for being so delicious!)

We sat at a cute little table for two, and Alyce walked me through the menu (this place is her favorite)

For our appetizer, we ordered Papadums, which are light lentil crisps, served with 3 delicious salsa-like sauces. These were FAN tastic…crunchy, light as a feather, and delicious topped with the sauces which ranged from sweet to hot.  I chose Alyce’s old standby dish - Aloo Palak - as my entree.  It sounded Marian-friendly, featuring baby potatoes cooked with chopped spinach in special blend of spices.  Though it sounds basic, it was oh-so-amazing. The spices weren’t overpowering, and since I’m a big fan of spicy-but-not-too-spicy food, this was perfect.  Our entrees were served in little silver handled bowls, with family-style portion of delicious flaky rice, and a generous portion of subtly Mint Pratha bread that we ordered to share.  To top it all off we toasted the occasion with a couple Chimay Red’s.  Plain and simple, the whole experience was just dreamy and I cannot wait to go back!  A huge plus, is that the prices at India Quality were very reasonable.  Also, it’s conveniently located right next to Nuggets on Comm ave… a little used record shopping and some incredible Indian Food? What more do you want, c’monnn.

(I’m happy to report that though I ate all of this delicious food without the foggiest clue of its calorie content, it turns out that Aloo Palak was a good choice.. only 203 calories per serving - delightful news.  No, I didn’t look up the bread calories!!)

This past Friday night Jeff and I ventured out to Northampton MA, a place I’d always heard so much about but never visited… (no, I don’t live in a black hole)

Though we set off on our ride around 6:30pm, riding Rt 2 mostly in darkness, I’ve heard that this drive promises some pretty landscapes in the daytime.  I highly suggest going out there if just for the beautiful drive itself.  Downtown Northampton blew my mind.  It has everything I could ever want from a town.  It was quiet but busy and everyone looked sane and happy for the most part!  There were dozens of unfamiliar, amazing looking stores, and food, food, food everywhere food. 

We were there to meet up with our friend Seth, and have a fun evening seeing Jaymay perform at The Iron Horse Music Hall.  We had a nice pre-show dinner at The Toasted Owl.  I had a veggie burger, and though it didn’t stray too far from the standard Gardenburger variety, it was delicious and dirt cheap!  The Iron Horse, despite its modest, postered exterior, turned out to be a quaint little 2 floored music hall with table seating. Super cozy.  It also has one of the best sound systems I’ve heard in a long time.  Jaymay gave a fantastic performance.  I wasn’t too familiar with Jaymay until this night, however I was told she had a song called “What about Bob”…. a girl after my own heart.  Tell me you wrote a song with that title and you can sell me anything.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39GPJsIGCAk

Needless to say, this night alone made my weekend.  It’s so refreshing to hear such inspiring songbirds lately - so many inspiring women playing good music!!  Speaking of inspiring women, I’ve joined a local band as a vocalist, and am very, very, psyched beyond words about it.  Sarah Korval invited me to join her band The Backup Factor in which she sings lead vocals (I will sing harmonies and occasional lead vocals) and in just the two practices we’ve had, we’ve made some great progress.  I’m going to be performing with some very talented people. This is something I’ve wanted to do for longer than I could possibly say, so I’m really excited.

Saturday night I had the pleasure of supporting a great cause at the Central Catholic High School Catwalk 4 Cancer fashion show.  I’ll have to get back to this later - but let me tell you - there isnt enough credit in the world to give 300 students for raising over $23,000.00 for Dana Farber’s cancer research.  To be continued!

Ok who can teach me how to knit?!? And FAST??

http://www.curiosityshoppeonline.com/redapplejacket.html

Part 2

David Lynch LOVES the Quinoa.  He’s so friggan adorable I can’t stand it.  Watch part 1 & 2.

I raced into work this morning, running late due to my always-disfunctional and off-schedule 77 bus…  I was absolutely d e s p e r a t e for a cup of coffee, to a degree that put the dude sitting next to me at risk of being silenced in a death grip for his Dunkin’ “regulah” (an old familiar aroma so engrained in my memory that I could detect it from thousands of miles away while suffering a frostbitten nose, in an arctic tundra) I couldn’t stop to get my Dunkin’ black (I’m old) not only because i was late, but because today is FRIDAY, a weigh in day!  I didnt want any ounce of coffee - not a sip - to tip the scale.  Though that sounds ridiculous, let me remind you that this is a competition against people who would go to far greater lengths to save a droplet of an LB…

As soon as I got here I visited my pal Liz the weightkeeper, and delightfully pranced around her office, because to my delight, I lost! I can’t remember how much exactly, I was too excited to subtract it from last week but in total, I’ve lost 12.5 pounds.

This week I finally felt this “diet” becoming a normal routine.  I use the term diet loosely because, not only do I despise the word, I’m not on one… I’m just changing things.  I’m adopting a few selected healthy items, and just making sure to eat those instead of other things…and abiding by new little rules of thumb.  This week, it finally felt comfortable.  For example instead of not eating breakfast, I have an apple every morning when I get to work.  Then mid-day I might have another apple, or some baby carrots as a snack, instead of having just another cup of coffee or a diet coke.  I now crave those apples, just like any other food I love, and it genuinely makes me feel good to be eating breakfast every day (I used to HATE eating early, it made me feel gross.)  Believe it or not, eating more food, as long as it’s natural, and throughout the day, is a lot better for your weight loss than going without or filling up on caffeine.

….and now for another “Q” food!!!!!

QUINOA!!!

According to Wikipedia…“Quinoa (KEEN-WAH) was of great nutritional importance in pre-Columbian Andean civilizations, being secondary only to the potato, and was followed in importance by maize. In contemporary times, this crop has become highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high (12%–18%), making it a healthy choice for vegetarians and vegans. Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source.^[4] It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron.”

Again, I’m not a vegan, nor a vegetarian, but I love me some QUINOA because it’s a wonderful source of protein that is very low in carbs, like meat is.  Though a bowl of quinoa salad doesnt taste like a chicken finger, if you’re just looking to fulfill your protein needs in a delicious low-fat, low-calorie and low-carb way… look no further!!  If you like fluffy things like cous cous (the food so nice they named it twice) get yourself to the store, and pick some up.  If you do, you can make this!

Quinoa & Tempeh Salad

Adapted from Mark Bittman, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian
Serves 4-6

1 cup raw quinoa
2 cups water
8 ounces tempeh, crumbled
1 tablespoon grated, peeled, fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup cabbage, or mung bean sprouts {optional}
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
kosher salt & freshly ground pepper, to taste

Rinse the quinoa. Bring 2 cups of water to boil in a medium pot. Stir in the quinoa, cover & reduce the heat to low. Cook for 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, put the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the tempeh to the hot oil & saute for 10 minutes, or until it is golden brown & crispy. Stir in the ginger, garlic & cabbage {or sprouts}, and cook an additional 2 minutes, or until the cabbage begins to wilt.
Remove from the heat & add in the vinegar, sesame oil & soy sauce. Transfer to a bowl.
When the quinoa is cooked, fluff with a fork. If there is any liquid left in the pot, it can be drained first. Transfer to the bowl with the tempeh mixture & toss well.
Taste for seasoning. Add the salt & pepper, if needed & serve.

One of my best friends in the whole wide world, Carol Fahey, sent me this recipe yesterday and I cannot wait to try it.  Though it involves “Tempeh” which is another great source of protein made from soy, you can certainly make this without it if you’re not familiar.  I’ve never tried Tempeh but am going to seek it out… it sounds interesting, and is a common ingredient in Indonesian food (which I’ve never eaten!)

Tomorrow I will be cooking some of this, and spending some time outside, as it’s going to be one hell of a weekend.  If this dismal gray nightmare of weather hangs around any longer, I am going to lay on top of the highest point in Boston wearing a light reflecting snuggie while pile-driving Vitamin D capsules.  Needless to say, I will surely join every other asshole in Boston, in wearing flip flops on the first 50 degree spring day - aka vis a vie with fingers crossed - TOMORROW.

PPS - Speaking of obsessions…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfzAQPt-IXE

This song is so good you’ll scream “MARRY ME!” on a crowded street and/or subway.

::siiiigh::

By the by…

….I just did 10 miles on a bike.

…..what?!