well, shit. 3/12/09

so, it's been over a month since i posted. the healthy eating took a [predictable] turn to shit, and the job has become unbearable. 14 shifts left, a quick trip home, a week off and hopefully a brand new (or just revisited)lisa will be in the making.

in the mean time, i will count down my remaining shifts, decorate the new apartment, and try to make it to the gym at least once in the next 30 days. aim high sistah, aim high.

1/25/09 - Sunday, 1/26/09 Monday, and 1/27/09 Tuesday

1/25/09 - Sunday

A whirlwind trip home. In some schools, one might say I ate very well. In others, I ate poorly. Given my goal of being somewhat healthy, I'll go with the latter. Lots of carbs, delicious Italian food, late night snacking...something about being home in Boston that makes one yearn for comfort food. It may have had something to do with the low teen temperatures and the 18 inches of snow...but it all boils down to me and poor choices. It was lovely to see my family. Even though I've been gone for two weeks, the luxury of being able to see family and friends whenever is something that makes me long for their company. And I am so glad I was able to swing over the Brighton late night and have a much needed, albeit quick, cup of tea with Jenny. I haven't really had the chance to make many new friends here yet. And even when I do, there are certain people that I need a dose of to stay sane. Such is Jenny.

banana
grapes
roasted red pepper, tomato, artichoke (from antipasto)
broccoli and chicken (from chicken/broccoli/ziti dish)
1 square of eggplant parm
(and here comes the downfall)
slice of cake
1 biscotti dolci
2 slices of deli pizza
handfull of m&m's
leftover thin crust veggie and chicken bbq pizza from Uno's
1/2 cup mac and cheese
handful of cheddar goldfish

1/25/09 - Monday

Flying back to Boston. Long flight. Back hurts...huge time. It may have something to do with all the standing and running and lack of sitting down combined with no sleep and draining flights, but I blame it on three days without the hot tub. And the crappity eating continued. Also, there is no way The English Patient should have won so many Oscars. It was crap, with exception for the good use of olive oil and a positive portrayal of nursing (which has been lacking in more recent entertainment genres). The characters were empty and boring and I frankly could not have cared less for them.

mini weight watchers bagel with low fat philly cream cheese
100 calorie pack of goldfish
thin bread turkey/cheese/mustard sandwich (thanks mom)
2 fig newtons
banana
(and here is where i go wrong, or right, according to jim)
double-double animal style with fries from In-N-Out burger
salad with tomato, orange bell pepper, avocado
whole wheat tortilla's with provolone cheese...
and I finished off the rest of the provolone cheese

1/27/09 Tuesday

Back on track. But my back still hurts despite rest and hot tub and ibuprofen...so no gym. Even though I'm not going to be focusing on weight, I went out to Target this afternoon and purchased a scale. I though I had been doing well (sans the past two days). Guess not. A scale may serve as a better reality check than writing things down I suppose. At least it shocked me back into eating better today. And a better movie was watched as well, Let the Right One In. Leave it to the vampires to set everything right in the world.

hard boiled egg
whole wheat tortilla
GoLean crunch cereal with Activia yogurt and sliced banana
spicy seafood (from dinner with P.T., Amy, and Jeromy at chao krung)
popcorn (of course, at the movies!)

http://www.chaokrungrestaurant.com/
http://www.lettherightoneinmovie.com/


chao-crumb

1/23/09 Friday and 1/24/09 Saturday

Friday - work was much better. Chalk the previous post up to drama and lack of sleep. Things were better today, and I will leave it at that. After work, there was dinner at a Brazilian restaurant called Tropicalia. I had never had Brazilian food before, and will not likely ever have it again. It was decent enough while being consumed...but not so much when vomited up just before trekking to the airport early Saturday morning. I blame the "aged" mozzarella. Brazil is now off the list. After dinner (and pre puke fest) there was an MPW revelry at The Little Bar Lounge, which happened to be an East Coast themed bar. And much to my dismay, there was a false Cat Lady sighting, which may or may not have lead me to hitting P.T.'s friend Brad.

Caramel fiber bar
hard boiled egg
salad with grilled chicken, green apple, grapes, tomato, red bell pepper, and light Italian dressing
Chocolate fiber bar
Tomato and aged mozzarella cheese app at Tropicalia, followed by their seafood delight dish (shrimp, veggies, rice, plantanes = yum).
3 stella's

www.tropicaliabraziliangrill.com
www.littlebarlounge.com

Saturday

Whirlwind trip back to Boston for a family event on Sunday. Mostly flying, eating carbs, and drinking diet coke while watching Direct TV on Jet Blue (when it was working). The flight changed over in JFK, and I got to check out the new Jet Blue terminal...it sort of looked like the bar in Total Recall. Once in Boston again, I enjoyed a nice dinner with my mom, and now it is time for some hard core sleeping. I will also mention that in my short time as a "Californian" I have become a complete temperature wus. I am now wearing 2 pairs of pajama pants, a long sleeve t-shirt, 2 sweatshirts, and my hat. Brrrrrrrrr.

plain bagel
animal crackers
crabcake sandwich (minus the bread), a few sweet potato fries
1 thin crust individual Uno's pizza: 1/2 chicken bbq, 1/2 eggplant/spinach/tomato.

1/21/09 - Wednesday and 1/22/09 Thursday

Tough day Wednesday. First day "on my own" at the new job. Thought it was going to be liberating...not so much. I was sent to work on a floor that was not the floor I trained on, and just couldn't keep up. I knew this was going to be a difficult transition, but the challenges I have been facing are far worse than I had imagined. I won't get into it...but basically it lead to me eating in an unhealthy manner. As in I didn't have a morning break, ate lunch after 3:30 pm for the third time, and no afternoon break...because I was running my ass off and still couldn't get things done. And it wasn't because I was lazing about or sitting...because there are no chairs for nurses on the floor I was floated to - because the seats are for doctors. Get me the hell out of here (but keep me in LA). 11 weeks left of this assignment. 11 weeks too much.

6:00 am - caramel fiber bar
3:30 pm - salad with turkey, tomato, weight watchers shredded cheese, avocado, hard boiled egg
strawberry banana yogurt
(and finally after two hours of hardcore crying when I got home)...
9:00 pm - an eggwhite/whole wheat tortilla with tomato, red onion, and broccoli, ww cheese
and a second burrito with just the extra veggies and some more cheese
and a plain tortilla...maybe with some cheese. maybe

And today is a new day...and I'm off. Too bad I will be stewing over the deplorable conditions NOT by the pool because it is cloudy. I will gym it, hot tub it, and spend the evening in the warm and comforting arms of VH1.

And...I didn't gym it, I couched it. And managed to make my way down to the hot tub. Back to work tomorrow - I hope I survive.

hard boiled egg
caramel fiber bar
bag of popcorn banana
turkey, ww cheese, tomato, broccoli, red onion, mustard in a whole wheat tortilla wrap
yogurt
breaded chicken breast with roasted red potatoes
whole avocado
another bag of popcorn

1/20/09 - Tuesday

1/20/09 Tuesday

*workie work. Didn’t get to catch any of the inaugural proceedings, but I did get pooped on. What a day. Came home and literally melted infront of P.T.’s (or wait, was that meltdown?). It was the latter. Rejuvenated with crystal light and American Idol. So wrong that I was so comforted and relaxed by a simple cup of tea at the end of the day…but I was. And it was so homey and warm and all became right with the world. And just when things can’t seem more homey and warm and relaxing and great, I went in the jaccuzzi…my new nightcap.

Caramel fiber bar

Peach yogurt

Banana

Salad with tomato, avocado, hard boiled egg, orange bell pepper, lettuce, turkey, ww cheese

Green string beans

½ baked chicken breast, roasted potatoes

Salad with tomato and TJ dressing

Steamed carrots and sugar snap peas with EVO

Chocolate fiber bar

CUP OF TEA (hell’s yeah - the things one craves can really be surprising!)

What I did well: finally opted out of the fatty salad dressing at work. Didn’t overeat after work - which was quite the feat seeing how stressful a day it turned out to be.

Healthier decisions I could have made: have lunch earlier than 3:30pm – there were multiple things going on at work, but I really should have just broke off and taken some me time – even short breaks can completely refresh the body, and more importantly the mind (since it seems I am losing my mind at this job).

Activity: 12 hour shift baby!

1/19/09 - Monday

1/19/09 Monday

*slept in! sat by the pool (finally) and got a reasonable amount of sun – wow that felt so refreshing. Drove down to the Santa Monica Pier, ate lunch on the pier, watched the sunset (damn I forgot my camera), rode the famed ferris wheel, food shoppingat Ralph’s ( so unfair that it is way more expensive to eat healthy than not), gym, jaccuzzi, prepared lunches for work and baked chicken and potatoes for the week (easy, quick meals for when I get home from my long draining days at work).

Fiber bar

Tortilla chips and salsa

Seared ahi tuna with fruit salsa and mixed vegetables

½ hamburger bun

4 of P.T.’s fries

Blended ice pomegranate/blueberry/green tea from the coffee bean

Slice of monetary jack cheese in a whole wheat tortilla

What I did well: asked for my entrée without the rice (substituted for extra vegetables. Opted for the blended ice tea instead of ice cream. Went to the gym, even after a long day of being out and about!

Healthier decisions I could have made: just couldn’t resist those dang carbs! Omitting the rice was a strong move, but led to me eating some of P.T.’s hamburger bun and some fries (which he omitted for having some sort of sauce on it – for those who don’t know, P.T. doesn’t do condiments and has a strong aversion to anything containing vinegar. If you have the chance, ask him about the time we washed the new tile kitchen floor with vinegar for extra shine). The rice would have been a healthier choice, and would have satisfied that carb craving

Activity: 20 minutes on the elliptical, 15 minutes of arms on the weight machines.

www.santamonicapier.org

www.rustyssurfranch.com

www.pacpark.com

1/18/09 Sunday

1/18/09 Sunday

*slept in! gym, walking, VH1 overload!

Left over Baigan Bortha

Yogurt

Banana

Popcorn

Salad with avocado, hard boiled egg

Steamed sugar snap peas, carrots, and brown rice

Orange

What I did well: lots of activity, used up all the produce before it went bad (always a challenge to judge how much to buy and to use it all before it goes south).

Healthier decisions I could have made: I did a good job today…but definitely needed more protein.

Activity: 20 minutes on the elliptical, 45 minute walk around Silver Lake Reservoir

www.silverlake.org/about_silverlake/aboutSL_frmset.htm

1/17/09 - Saturday

1/17/09 Saturday

*slept in! went to the gym, lifted weights, day time Jacuzzi, drove to studio city for Indian food, and then walked around Universal Studio’s city Walk.

Yogurt

Banana

Mulligatawny soup

1 piece naan

White rice

Baigan Bortha (roasted eggplant simmered in spices with medium curry flavor)

Orange Sherbert (served in an orange rind)

Blended ice green tea from The coffee Bean.

What I did well: spent a long time in the gym, ate out, but did so within reason. Omitted the whipped cream from my green tea smoothie. Took leftovers of my eggplant dish home (hooray, didn’t eat the whole shebang!)

Healthier decisions I could have made: gone lighter with the white rice at Lal Mirch

Activity: 25 minutes on the elliptical, 20 minutes of arm weight machines.

www.lmdining.com

www.citywalkhollywood.com

www.coffeebean.com

1/16/09 Friday

1/16/09 Friday

*work (although a bit of a rough start to the morning, a much better day overall), drove down sunsent blvd, went to yogurtland, and then to the arclight to see “the wrestler.”

Fiber bar

Yogurt

Banana

Salad with tomato, avocado, hard boiled egg, orange bell pepper, lettuce, turkey, thousand island dressing.

Breaded chicken breast

Yogurtland fro-yo: NY cheesecake, strawberry, and mocha with graham cracker crumbs and rainbow sprinkles

Medium popcorn

What I did well: prepared my meals, rewarded myself with fro-yo for a week of good eating.

Healthier decisions I could have made: again I fell victim to the fatty salad dressing in the café, better portion control with the yogurt – it was so delicious though…and it was a reward.

Activity: 12 hour shift.

www.yogurt-land.com

www.arclightcinemas.com

www.foxsearchlight.com/thewrestler

1/15/09 - Thursday

1/15/09 Thursday

*hooray for cable! Cable and hot tubbin’ and more cable.

Egg white burrito with egg white (duh) broccoli and cheese in whole wheat tortilla.

Fiber bar

Banana

Salad with tomato, orange bell pepper, tomato, and TJ’s dressing.

Shrimp, whole wheat pasta with vegetables and mixed with fat free cream of chicken soup – sort of tasted like shrimp pot pie…if there were such a thing.

orange

What I did well: props to me for thinking of the breakfast burrito – is was AWESOME. P.T. and I only had a serving each of the “shrimp pot pie”, unlike the last time I made the dish (although it was teriyaki for the sauce and not the cream of chicken. Hooray for leftovers!

Healthier decisions I could have made: I think I did pretty good today.

Activity: gym, 30 minutes on the elliptical runner!

1/14/09 - Wednesday

1/14/09 Wednesday

*Work day 2, VERY stressful day, hot tub, bed*

Fiber bar

Yogurt

Salad with tomato, avocado, hard boiled egg, orange bell pepper, lettuce, turkey, parmesan peppercorn ranch

Green beans

Turkey, cheese, tomato and mustard sandwich in a whole wheat tortilla.

Steamed carrots and sugar snap peas with olive oil and salt.

Popcorn

What I did well: prepared all my meals, and ate plenty of veggies – had a very stressful day 2 of work, and I managed to keep everything under control.

Healthier decisions I could have made: gone without salad dressing – the parmesan peppercorn I got in the cafeteria, but I should have brought my own low-cal dressing I bought at trader joe’s – if you haven’t tried TJ’s champagne peach vinaigrette with gorgonzola. Delish.

Activity: 12 hour shift. Ugh.

1/13/09 - Tuesday

1/13/09 – Tuesday

*Venice Beach for people watching, survived my first drive in LA rush hour on the way home from the beach, and went to the gym/hot tub, watched “O Brother Where Art Thou” on the laptop*

Slice of provolone cheese, swig of orange juice

Open faced egg white omelet (open faced due to small cheapo-chester frying pan that would not allow for the folding of omelets) with tomato, avocado, broccoli, garlic salt, and provolone cheese. Medium glass of OJ, half a banana, two pieces of whole grain bread (would have been toast, but we don’t have a toaster)

¼ orange bell pepper (while preparing lunch for tomorrow)

1 whole wheat tortilla (to stop the burn in my mouth from the chili pepper I tested out)

2 soft tacos on whole wheat tortillas with lettuce, brown rice, reduced fat cheddar cheese, homemade salsa (tomato, garlic, red onion, medium chili pepper, black pepper, sea salt, splash of EVO and two squeezes of lime juice) and homemade guacamole (avocado, tomato, red onion, garlic, and two squeezes of lime juice.

Note: If one has recently relocated from the northeast of the US to southern California, I do recommend purchasing a “medium” chili pepper unless the kick of a “ultra hot” chili pepper is desired. I do enjoy a good hot pepper, and this was far beyond my tolerance. In the event one do not head this warning, I advise having a tortilla or something on standby to put in your mouth goes up in flames. It helps.

What I did well: prepared both meals with fresh ingredients, experimented with new recipes (salsa and guac), brought lots of water to drink along to the beach, prepared my lunch for work for Wed and Fri (salads, see tomorrow’s post).

Healthier decisions I could have made: only ate 2 meals, no snacks. Could have done without the slice of provolone cheese at 5am, but I woke up and was starving…and that stopped the grumbling of my stomach. Perhaps just one slice of bread with the omelet, but I think that was ok. The extra whole wheat tortilla was a necessity – that “medium” chili pepper was a bitch.

Activity: went to the gym, hooray! The equipment is rather limited, but it works and is free. Did the recumbent bike for 45 minutes. It helped that each cardio machine is hooked up with an invidual TV. Since we still don’t have cable, it was a quick ride watching VH1. Sweet, sweet VH1.

www.venicebeach.com

1/12/09 - Monday

1/12/09 - Monday

*first day of work, dinner with P.T. and Amy.

Hard boiled egg, large glass of orange juice

Caramel fiber bar

Breaded chicken breast with 2 roasted potatoes

Large diet coke from café, extra large diet coke from café

Restaurant “Buddha’s Belly” - hot green tea (no sugar!), diet coke, 1 chicken potsticker with soy sauce, green curried chicken with vegetables and white rice (although I was totally jealous of Amy’s pad thai when our entrées were served – note to self: next time at Buddha’s Belly – get the pad thai!). a few sweet potato fries off of P.T.’s plate

What I did well: prepared my food for work, keeping in mind that old Weight Watchers (and life, at that matter) adage, “if you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.” Had protein in the morning and a high fiber snack mid morning to help prevent hunger from prevailing.

Healthier decisions I could have made: a medium glass of orange juice instead of large – that’s a lot of sugar (albeit natural) to ingest to start the day off. Trying to limit my soda intake – one is ok, but perhaps I’ll bring a water bottle to work next go round and add some crystal light. Ask for brown rice with my dinner instead of the white rice. Although I ate half of the rice, I had the entire bowl of curried chicken – not an unhealthy selection, but I could have taken home leftovers. And I definitely could have shown more control and not had the sweet potato fries. But I forgive myself.

Activity: I have made the executive decision that when working a 12 hour day shift, I need not push myself in the activity department. Ask any nurse, and she or he shall agree.

www.bbfood.com/index.php

1/11/09 - Sunday

1/11/09 – Sunday

*return trip to Target, tag team cleaned P.T.’s old room at Jessica’s house, went to Ralph’s supermarket and FINALLY found a pitcher suitable for crystal light, chillaxed prior to my first day at work; hot tub = awesome

TJ mixed berry yogurt, slice of provolone cheese

Split fiber bar with P.T.

Turkey and provolone with mustard and tomato on whole wheat pita, tangelo

*hooray for crystal light!*

2 granola balls, homemade by Jessica Koslow

Salad with tomato, orange bell pepper, TJ champagne pear gorgonzola dressing

Breaded chicken breast with 4 roasted potatoes, steamed broccoli and carrots

What I did well: prepared meals again! Taking a lesson from the previous day’s portion issue (and out of necessity for packing lunches for work), went out and bought the Gladware for leftovers. Drank plenty of fluids given the new pitcher for crystal light.

Healthier decisions I could have made: overall, it was a pretty good day. Instead of the slice of provolone with my yogurt, I could have chosen to have a tangelo or banana. One granola ball instead of too (yet another enabling excuse, but they were so delicious – thank you Jess!)

Activity: lame, but we cleaned at Jessica’s place. Definitely broke into a sweat though!

1/10/09 - Saturday

1/10/09 – Saturday

*P.T. purchased TV from Costco, picked up Jeep from DAS in Gardena, food shopping at Trader Joe’s, miserably and sorely lost Wii games to P.T., watched Super Troupers and Thank You for Smoking on DVD via laptop

Caramel fiber bar

Turkey and provolone with mustard and tomato on whole wheat pita, tangelo, water.

Salad with tomato, TJ champagne pear gorgonzola dressing

Whole wheat pasta with shrimp, mixed vegetables, and soyaki sauce.

TJ buried treasure (knock off of Pirate’s Booty) - split bag with P.T.

What I did well: I cooked and prepared my meals today, no eating at a restaurant!

Healthier decisions I could have made: used the enabling excuse of “no tupperware” to justify having a second helping of the shrimpy pasta, could have portioned the buried treasure instead of splitting the large bag.

Activity: still a lot of running around doing errands and getting affairs in order. I was a bit emotionally exhausted – having my car arrive was a bit of a shock, and made the move real – technically an excuse, but the days have been really jam packed and my brain is melting slightly from all the anticipation of my new adventure.

1/9/09 - Friday

1/9/09 – Friday

*move in to Archstone Los Feliz, Target super shopping*

Caramel fiber bar

Restaurant “Andeamo” with P.T. – Greek salad sans feta cheese, with grilled vegetables and lemon/olive oil dressing, a small piece of P.T.’s margarita pizza

Restaurant “Viet” with P.T., Jessica, and Anjali – number 11 – Vietnamese noodle soup with chicken, shitake mushrooms, and red onion, Sparkling apple cider

Restaurant “Alcove” – blueberry bonanza smoothie, hershey kiss from P.T. chocolate bunt cake, bite of frosting.

What I did well: selected the salad at an Italian restaurant – difficult task given all the wonderful fatty Italian aromas, asked for the salad without the feta cheese. Alcove is small restaurant featuring decadent desserts, I chose the healthiest option on the menu and enjoyed it thoroughly!

Healthier decisions I could have made: omitted the piece of P.T.’s pizza, ask for the salad dressing on the side, omitted the bits of chocolate from P.T.’s dessert

Activity: moved in to new apartment and unpacked

www.archstoneapartments.com/Apartments/California/Los_Angeles/Archstone_Los_Feliz

www.andiamotogo.com/main.html

www.vietnoodlebar.com

www.alcovecafe.com

1/8/09 - Thursday

Hello again friends. I had stopped blogging quite some time ago. Infact, my old posts are no longer available for viewing as I cancelled my previous blog account. A lot has changed since I last threw together a post – I now have a new job (travel nurse), a new locale (Los Angeles), and my relationship with P.T. has evolved to a state of blissfull betrothment (bling!). I don’t think betrothment is a word, but I like it, so it stays. The area of LA I’m living in as of last Friday is called Los Feliz, similar to Brighton in it’s sense of community and aggravating parking scene, but with a decreased student population, save P.T., and an increased hipster quotient.

A lot of this move and life change was so that P.T., who has been exploring his career as a fiction writer by way of getting a master’s in fiction at USC, and I can be together. But there also a lot of this adventure that is solely for me. I had expressed interest in becoming a travel nurse in 2003, wanting to live in San Diego - a dream inspired by my then obsession with Jason Mraz, and fueled by a desire to branch out from Massachusetts. For reasons I need not divulge, that was not the path I chose at that time.

After several months of squandering around making not the best decisions a young twenty something could make, the life change I opted for was to leave NEMC and work at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Thus far, that was one of the best decisions I have made (and hopefully will become second to the current alterations). Here is my “goodbye” email to my colleagues, for those who would like a snippet of how much I loved it there:

Anywho, here I am in LA. The move is mostly for love, somewhat for me, and somewhat in honor of the adventure I longed for six years ago. It will be difficult not seeing family friends with whom I am very close, but with the technological advances in communications, homesickness on my end and Lisa-sickness on theirs will be eased, although probably not enough to my mom’s liking.

So that leaves me with this…what to blog about? Cultural differences betwixt the two coasts? The catharsis and self discovery that comes with a major move? The insanity that is working 12 hours day shifts at a community hospital? Planning a wedding?

Answer: none of the above. I have decided to focus on me. In particular, my health. And in particular of my health, what I decide to eat (with little snippets of goings on and photos at times). For those who know me well, my weight yo-yo’s pretty much on par with Oprah. I have participated in all sorts of programs and fads, but none seem to stick. This past spring I participated in a program through work at BIDMC that focused on healthy eating for women ages 18 – 29. It was the most successful I have been so far (although I lapsed over the summer and fall…and winter). Rather than obsess over calories or “point” counting, the program encouraged those in the group to simply select the healthier option when presented with a choice. The instructors, a women’s physician at BIDMC and a nutritionist from Simmons College, also provided scientific information that helped explain what constituted a healthy choice and facilitated group discussions, a little bit a GI Joe if you will. A large component of the program was self awareness and learning from one’s choices, which was executed by keeping a food diary and then reflecting on what choices were good, and how different decisions could have been made to improve upon the health factor of said meal or snack. The experience of that class expanded beyond food though; I found myself examining life choices and the reasoning behind them. There was no such thing as an excuse, only decisions, accountability, and learning. It was empowering to say the least. And that new train of thought is what led me to LA. I decided to, and that was the healthiest choice. Reflection so far – awesome.

Through being honest with myself about the decisions I make with food, I hope to achieve a better sense health. I will not be weighing myself; the focus will be making healthy choices, not results in terms of weight loss (although in theory healthier selections will inherently foster a slimmer waistline and lower numbers upon a scale). I am not doing this because of impending nuptuals, a desire to be heroine chic thin, or to lead a health revolution. Posting intimate details (and what information is more intimate that what one chooses to ingest, and fuel their body with – wait, don’t answer that) embraces the notions of accountability and creates a format for reflection. And instead of talking about eating better, I’ll just be doing it. And friends can follow along, offer tips, and maybe take something away.

So here goes. My new blog, “What I ate today in LA."

1/8/09 – Thursday

*8am direct flight from Boston to LA*

Turkey and cheese on thin weight watchers bread with mustard

100 calorie pack of cheddar goldfish

Tea with sugar

2 diet Pepsi’s

4 waters

1 package “Shanghi Dumplings”

Caramel fiber bar

Restaurant “Allegria” with P.T. – crab and shrimp over brown rice with salsa verde, diet dr. pepper

*reconnaissance mission to Best Buy, Costco, and Target to price TV’s and house wares*

What I did well: stayed well hydrated on the plane, although dumplings not the best choice, there were far more unhealthy selections at the airport to purchase for a six hour flight, chose the healthiest option at the Mexican restaurant – no cheese (note – I did want the grilled salmon with vegetables, but the salmon was out of season and unavailable)

Healthier decisions I could have made: Tea without sugar, fruit bowl instead of dumplings, eaten half of dinner and took home leftovers.

Activity: day of rest – I’m moving after all!

www.alegriaonsunset.com