Sunday, February 7, 2010

Birthday Weekend Extravaganza.... and Julia Child

Friday, February 5th was my birthday.  My adorable husband took me out for dinner - to the Wild Onion, a new little restaurant here in my little town. The menu was extraordinary.  I had bison. Done to perfection. And a wonderful chocolate mousse for dessert.    I kept thinking "eat in moderation... you are weighing in tomorrow morning."  I tried.  I truly did try! The food was absolutely fantastic.

From the Wild Onion, we walked over to the Uxbridge Music Hall to see "Guys and Dolls".  I love community theatre.  People in Community Theatre have such passion!  Guys & Dolls was fantastic.  I highly recommend supporting your own local community theatre.  It was a long evening, but great.

After a short night sleep, I was up and showered, dressed, and on my way to my weigh-in.  I was scared... I had done great all week, but having such a huge dinner the night before I knew would interfere with any planned 'success.'  I was right, I was up 1.4 lbs.  RATS!  I'm sure it had to do with the wine, the garlic mashed potatoes, the chocolate mousse.  

Well, birthday weekend extravaganza continued and Scott and I ended up going out for breakfast after my weigh-in.  We went to The Buttery, a nice little place in Newmarket.  Poached eggs, rye toast, peameal bacon, and I substituted the home fries for some sliced tomatoes.  That was a good thing!  Overall, a successful breakfast.  But the food fest continued.... and I ate my way through Saturday, ending with a favourite recipe from my childhood.  My mom used to make this wonderful "Pasty Pie" which was basically beef, potatoes and onions in pastry.  So delicious.  Mind you, she used to use stewing beef... I modified the recipe years ago to some good quality steak!  Much better!

Scott bought me a pre-viewed copy of Julie & Julia and that was my favourite part of my birthday.  I watched it last night and loved every minute of it.  It is my favourite movie.  I'm watching it again today. 

I'm back on track today, and planning the rest of my week...  I have a few business meetings this week, out of town, which always means food. 

Oh food, glorious food! 

Monday, February 1, 2010

Define 'Indulge"

This weekend I had a successful weigh-in. Well, let me clarify. Every weigh-in is successful by definition because if you step on the scale and get an accurate number, it's successful. However, this past weekend I had a successful "hey you weigh less" weigh-in. Yep, down 3.2 lbs. I got a Bravo sticker for it. What I really wanted was a bag of potato chips! But, that would really be an indulgence.

My weekend was quite busy. I won't get into details, suffice to say it wasn't nearly as exciting as my weekend in Niagara Falls! *sigh*. That was quite an indulgence.

I got on my stepper on Saturday for a bit, just a bit, and felt justified in indulging in a snack. My snack was an apple and a 1 pt WW bar. Again, what I really wanted was a bag of potato chips!

So, I got thinking....is a bag of potato chips REALLY an indulgence? By definition, to indulge means to give free rein to, or to take unrestrained pleasure in, or to yield to the desire of, or to treat with excessive leniency, generosity, or consideration. I decided that a bag of potato chips was not an indulgence at all, mostly because I take no unrestrained pleasure in eating potato chips! Rather, I enjoy the salty crispy taste of the little snack! I mean, I guess the size of the bag would matter! In this case, apparently size DOES matter! :) I guess if I ate one of the "MEGA" bags of chips it would be an unrestrained pleasure.

So, I had no potato chips on the weekend. I did have some mini rice cakes, carefully counted out and written down. I had lot of water, and I had lots of fruit and veggies. I ate well, and I indulged.. .er, I enjoyed every morsel that I ate. For my weekend eating habits, I treated myself with excessive consideration and enjoyed a good chunk of a baguette with some delicious butter, fresh from a local bakery!

Now THAT was an indulgence! Unrestrained pleasure!
I wrote it down. Hmmm, does that make it 'restrained'??